barrier

i had an interesting (perhaps 'frustrating' would be a better word) conversation this past weekend, much to the amusement of my chinese-speaking friends. here's how it went:



i was sitting by myself at kl sentral's lrt station with my headphones on. i was waiting for a friend, who was arriving on the next train. from the corner of my eye, i noticed a middle aged chinese lady hurrying towards me and looking at me with a somewhat expectant and hopeful expression on her face. suspecting what was coming, i took off my headphones somewhat reluctantly.

as i'd anticipated, she was asking me something in mandarin. i expected this because looking around me, i'd noticed i was the only chinese person sitting there. unfortunately for both of us, i did not understand a word. i told her in english, that i was sorry and i did not understand mandarin. she looked at me blankly. i repeated the sentence, but this time in mandarin, which is, i'm sorry to say, the only sentence i can speak.

a look of comprehension dawned upon her face. she pointed towards the direction of which the train would travel and asked me, 'gombak?'. that, i understood. i told her, 'yes, gombak is that way', relieved that i could be assistance to her after all.

amazingly (and much to my chagrin), she proceeded to strike up a conversation, still in mandarin. she asked me if i was malay. i groaned inwardly. couldn't she give it a rest already? since she didnt seem to understand english, i answered her in cantonese this time, telling her that i am chinese but that i was born in england. hey, maybe she'd think i was a tourist. she didnt have to know how long exactly i'd been living in malaysia.

i realized belatedly, however, that she'd then assume i was fluent in cantonese. oh boy, what a predicament. apologetically, i told her the only other phrase i knew. 'sorry, i dont really speak cantonese'. (well, i do know other phrases but i couldnt exactly call her a 'sei pat por' or go 'honey, i'm home!')

finally she realized what a lost cause i was. she sat beside me, looking somewhat stumped. and me feeling somewhat embarrassed and stupid. thankfully, the train arrived within the next few seconds. she asked me again, 'gombak?'. i said 'yes, gombak'.

phew.

poison

i cannot believe how much venom and rubbish can spew out of one's mouth. so disgusting, so vile, so hurtful and so disappointing. but you know what, instead of caring or feeling unnecessary stress or emotions, i hereby choose to not acknowledge Poisonous Person's existence.

childish, but effective.

brigade

geez im so bored!

ok, so i've been neglecting my blog. not that anything really interesting/worth-blogging-about has been happening. the only reason i'm typing this is cos, well, the title of the post says it all. to sum it all up, i had an awesome christmas/new year break. spending my favourite time of the year with the people i love & cherish the most... seriously, everything else just disappears during those moments :)

and oh, happy new year. yeah yeah, i'm two weeks late. i started mine with a bad flu, and bad cough. not forgetting the gastric pains and sore throat. ugh. hope everyone else had a better start to the new year.

managed to catch up on some films. Avatar, as you've all heard (and surely witnessed), was awesome. though i am kind of bummed that it's bumped Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King down to 3rd place on the highest grossing films of all time. don't ask me why i know that. lol.

another film i really liked was Moon. i don't think it saw release in malaysia, so uh.. shhh. lol. speaking of sci-fi space films, has anyone seen 2001: a space odyssey and understood it? cos i watched it way back and i really enjoyed it... up until the last part, which just made me confused as hell. or maybe i'm just not intellectual enough to get it. heh.

i watched Inglourious Basterds yesterday. i found it funny as hell. was it supposed to be? lol. i couldnt figure out of it was supposed to be a comedy or a drama. i was bummed that michael fassbender had such a short role. i mean, geez, he was the best looking thing in there.

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus was pretty cool. it's weird and funny, but probably not for everyone. and i liked princess and the frog! looking forward to Rapunzel :)

moving on to other things, this couple came into the boutique today looking for a wedding gown. seriously, they looked so young. or maybe it's just good genes. hmm. i don't understand how people can get married at such a young age. maybe it's just that i've never been in a relationship long enough to consider being married? lol. it kinda got me thinking though. like, holyshit, what if my friends are all married with kids and i'm the only one without even a boyfriend? i dont wanna be the nice single auntie who treats her friends' kids to ice cream and pizza just cos she doesnt have kids of her own (or, for that matter, the weird cat lady who little kids are afraid to visit cos she's just so weird and cranky all the time). lol.

on a more serious matter, the church arsons. yes i know everyone's ranting about it. but seriously, what is going on in our country. taking matters into one's own hands. what the hell is this supposed to be, vigilante heroics? uh, i think not. it's disgraceful. like a friend said, how does one expect others to respect one's religion when you're pulling of disrespectful stunts towards other religions? please.

i've personally never been one for religion. i don't judge anyone who chooses to be part of any religion. therefore i hope no one judges me for my decision to not commit to any. but i have experienced first-hand religious fanaticism and it really hurt, especially considering who this person is. it still hurts. it made me realise that sometimes when you get too far in, it clouds judgements, it becomes an excuse for flaws and apparently pardons you for whatever sins you've committed. (and then there are the weird ones who go "oh i prayed to God for a miracle last night, and look! i've got bigger breasts!" this is a true story btw). lol. but you know, it's really not difficult to be a good person, religious person or not.