The small karaoke room

If there is one thing I can never say no to, it will have to be karaoke.

I love singing. The dim room. The loud music. The back-up choir friends.

Singing is one of the best forms of release, be it anger, frustration, sadness, happiness or joy. While others release themselves by going on roller coaster rides, I prefer to sing (I bit my lips so hard till it bled the last time I was on a pirate ship as I just couldn't scream).

Singing allows me to really immerse myself into the lyrics and express whatever I feel through the music. Don't think that I am being exaggerative here, or maybe I am an exaggerative personality? The point is I escape when I sing.

After a few songs, usually I will be floored by my emotions and begin imagining myself being in this picture where I was standing alone on a big stage in a big stadium with no audience. The same ol' picture all the time.

I have a loud voice! But I can never bring myself to really scream or throw my voice out without a care of the world. I tend to hold back and not hit the max point.

I really admire people who can live their lives carefree instead of being bound by all the man-made societal or corporate rules. Those who can shout "I Love You" to that special someone without thinking twice. Those who bounce off into the ocean on an unexpectedly hot Melbourne day. Those who stand up for a friend without hesitation.

Whenever I see Teru singing onstage, I really wish I could be like him. To sing with all his heart without holding back his voice or antics, letting music and feelings control his body. I really wish I can live a moment like that.

And that moment for me, is in the humble Karaoke room.

Sure I am not as carefree, adventurous or courageous as I would like to be. It is not a big stage but a small karaoke room I am singing in.

But I am happy.

There is so much that I want to accomplish and so much that I wish I could do right now. Just like how I struggle to break through to my max point in the karaoke room, I am trying everyday to accomplish whatever I set out to do.

Being in the small dark karaoke room and Glay songs never fail to remind me that.

Life can be as sweet as cupcakes if you want it to be.

A Chinese movie on a warm night

I can feel summer here in Melby already.

Time to roll out the shorts, minis, tank tops and. . . . gym-membership for the bikini moment! (Panic time all over again!).

Last night, it was really warm. I was just wearing shorts with a sleeveless top. I went out to a movie with some friends. Point is: it was a Chinese movie! Acted by Loius Koo and Lau Ching Wan, it was a comedy called Poker King.

I am usually not fond of movies from Hong Kong, after disappointments such as Ghost in the Office where green ghostly skeletal faces appear in computers as. . . screensavers. If you cannot scare me, chances are you cannot scare anyone.

But I am a sucker for comedies like Le Brassiere (Chut Sei Hou Bra) etc with Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wan. I am also missing Cheung Ka Fai awwww.

But the happiest thing about the movie last night was:-

The warm temperature

The Cantonese-speaking movie

The group of friends

It really made it seem like I was back in Malaysia, if not, back in Sandakan where I would go to the cinema (there is only one cinema~) with the gang from high school and wrap up the night with supper at one of the pasars (there are a lot of pasars~). Even if it was Norbit we were watching!

The Break Ups

Whenever you feel like you have waste - time, youth, effort, tears - in a failed relationship, please don't. Sure you can feel sad or even angry over it but never see it as a waste for no matter how bad or painful it was, you will have learnt something out of it and had moments of happiness you never experienced before.

To begin with, don't see a bad relationship as meaning he/she was a bad partner. The fact that you fell in love with this person and took the plunge to start a relationship must mean there is something which attracted you - something you love, something you wanted. But relationship is a funny thing filled with complicated dynamics of human interaction, high level communication skills and personality matches. Couple it up with time and changes in people and environment, you have a whole lot there to think about!

No matter how badly it ended or loud the final scream-match was, there must have been happy times. For why would you have gotten with him/her if not for happiness? The beautiful thing is, the form of happiness in each relationship is different. So, with every failed relationship, you get to know a different kind of happiness.

You take away things from a relationship. It becomes part of your personality.

In my previous relationship, I found:

The game I love in Final Fantasy.
The music I love in Glay.
The confidence I need in myself.
The courage I need in being adventurous.

All these make up part of who I am today. Surely you remember little things like this as well.

Most importantly, the memories. Happy memories from fresh break-ups are more heartbreaking than the unhappy memories. Happy memories from break-ups-you-have-moved-on-from are more nostalgic, they make you heave a sigh with a smile. The unhappy ones? They are more often than not, more forgotten than you expect it to be.

I don't think anyone should ever try forgetting a relationship just because it ended badly or the pain it caused. There is always something there worth remembering.

At least, it made me reminisce and realise how far I have come.

Chicks ad ducklings

Have you ever touched a baby chick before?

The first time I did that was at the A Famosa Petting Zoo a good few years away. They were so tiny, fitted into my palm. Snuggly and warm. Fragile.

It is funny how some people are afraid of small fragile things when they are not of dangerous things.

Like my Grandma who faced off with a cobra and is afraid of chicks.

Like my Dad the toughie who fought in high school and was afraid of holding me and my Sis as when we were babies.

Like my late Grandpa who lived a life of gambling and smoking, and built small delicate houses from coconut shells.

I guess it is because we realise life is really precious and fragile most at its begining.

We fail to remember this most of the time in our life.

We fail to appreciate this very apparent fact.

There is so much we should treasure and smile about right now.

For we are alive and there is so much to look forward to.

Fluffy-ended Sausage

How I wish I were Shiro.

With his daily occupation being cuteness and jobscope covering eating and sleeping and playing and being cute.

Most importantly, how I wish I were Shiro. To be instantly slim once dressed up.

. . . so uncute!

I spent the next 30 minutes mocking Shiro for looking like a fluffy-ended sausage while it struggled/scratched trying to get outta his new doggy sweater.

For once, Shiro was looking uncute. That's getting back at it for being all cute and angelic in front of strangers and barking/biting us at home!

Jells Park with Shiro

Parks will not seem the same once you get yourself a puppy.

You begin thinking of things like, "I wonder if they allow puppies on leash here?" and "What other dogs will there be?" instead of the usual, "I have to run the hell out of 45 minutes to burn that crappy pizza off" or "Let's go carnivorous-BBQing in the park!"

Jells Park is located about 10 minutes away from Clayton. We love bringing Shiro there for walks because the place is huge and because lotsa other dog owners love it there you always get to see many different dogs - big, small, furry, groomed-blad, fat, skinny, shy, over-friendly.

There is also a lake which looks amazing on a good day with the ducks playing around and kids running around.

Because Shiro still is a fidget-ty puppy that cannot seem to walk calmly beside us, we figured out the best strategy would be to tire it out by running alongside him, drain its energy before training him to walk properly with snacks!

The running task was assigned to . . . ? Astro Boy! Er, . . I mean Me, the Astro Boy for the day! I so want to watch the Astro Boy movie. So much so that I have been wearing my Astro Boy jumper all over the place! Gone were the days when the others mocked me for being an otaku wearing my Astro Boy jumper. Right here right now is when Astro Boy is hip and cool again. See my jumper :-D

Shiro loves the grassy areas. Or maybe all dogs love grassy areas. One observation. While the adult dogs walk properly right beside their owners (through years of training I suppose), young puppies are always seen tugging onto their leash, forcing themselves onto the grassy areas while their owners are walking on the pathway.

And don't be fooled by the blue skies and seemingly bright sun. It was very windy. Proof?

Shiro's fur - wind blowing towards the west!

. . And now the air is still.

The park is certainly more fun with a puppy. Shiro being a confusing dog, attracts not only attention but funny questions. Some memorable ones include:

1) Kid asking Mum, "Mummy, is that a dog? It's a Teddy Bear!"

2) Woman asking, "How does his hair stand like that?"

3) Kid saying, "Woah, a snow fox!"

4) Housemate saying, "Here kitty kitty kitty."

Here is the director of the aptly titled 'Shiro: Cloverfield' video below. Enjoy :-)

Before you comment anything about the video: Hey, Cloverfield is about the end of the world okay! You think people can still logically think of the orientation of the camera and hold their hands still for a good quality video???? Come on!!

About Love

There must be a reason why love is still such a hard thing to understand.

Or is it something to be understood at all?

The reason you fall in love can stem from something as small as a quick glance or a kind smile or even that cute cheesy red jumper.

The reason you are in love can be as simple as fate or taking chances or working hard at it.

The reason you fall out of love can be as easy as boredom or another person or that bad little habit you cannot stand.

Maybe it is because the reasons as so simple that we cannot understand love.

Maybe it is because we don't believe love is this simple that we cannot understand love.

But maybe we do not have to understand love at all because it is not work for the brain but fruit from the heart.

Maybe love really is as simple as coming from heart to that special someone.

Or to make it easier to the brain: From Point A to Point B.

Shh, don't tell anyone

Let me tell you a secret.











I have always wanted to write for a lifestyle magazine.








With the internet, I wonder if I shoud live my dream a bit?

My period love to travel

I am Loretta's Period.

Being a big part of Loretta's life, we are like soul sisters, BFFs since her awkward puberty years. You know what I love doing most with Loretta?

:-) Travelling with her.

To see new places. To experience new culture :-)

Our first travel experience together was to the Sports Centre of Sandakan. Not exactly travel, you said? Well, what if I tell you that it was her first time there? See, first time for the both of us. A very important memory.

Then there was this time she left for KL and I almost did not make it. But, with my determination, I managed to arrive just to 'meet' her at the airport and join in for the rest of the family holiday. It feels good to be partof the family.

Call me whatever you like but I had never been overseas before, so when Loretta was going to Japan and Korea years ago, I went berserk. This was a tricky one. The itinerary was to fly from Sandakan to KK (1 night) before flying from KK to KL then to Seoul, Korea (3 nights) and finally from Seoul, Korea to Japan (5 nights). Gosh. I can only be present for almost 5 days and I wanted to see all these places. Loretta must have been dismayed when I did not greet her at Sandakan Airport. Little did she know that, her dear ol' friend Me was going to appear with a statement in her hotel in KK, thus successfully seeing both Korea and Japan with her.

(Taken from www.travel-destination-pictures.com)

But of course there are downs as well, due to Mother Nature's miscalculation or my own impatience sometimes. I so wanted to see Bangkok with her but I must have messed up the dates and ended up lazing with her right at home the few days before she left for Bangkok. In the end, due to again my perseverence, I was able to see the airport in Bangkok. But I could have gone swimming with the dolphins with her, you know! Isn't that a miss? They say that is one of the things you have to do before you die, or menopause for my case!

I love how Loretta goes around Aussie so often - the road trips, the interstate trips - I have been and loved all of them!

Hey but don't see me as a mere leecher, I go through tough times with her too. The intense exam periods, stressful events like proms and her L'Oreal Competition, exhausting marathons. And I know she appreciates me being there. Yes, I do.

Oh, wait. The reason I decided to for the first time talk to all of you through Loretta's blog is: I just arrived today and I am so excited. Loretta is going to Tokyo, Japan next month and on the 23rd of November she will be going to the hot springs. *Beams* Guess what is the date for today!!!

Guys, I have a strong feeling I am going to the hot springs next month. Another item crossed out from my list of things to do before menopause.

XOXO

The Travelling Period

Bizarre Canberra Trip

I went to Canberra to have my passport renewed on Thursday. Cause I rejoiced over my tickets to Japan only to find out that my passport was gonna expire in 5 months' time.

What I expected to be a boring long day trip to Canberra turned out to be a strangely whimsical ride.

Train to Southern Cross Station. Last thing I saw was Hughesdale Station and the next blink it was Southern Cross Station.

Skybus to the airport. Again, I was nodding to sleep, memory of the ride similar to the flickers of old films played.

Airplane to Canberra. My body defied all the usual spoilt demands for food, water or entertainment opting to sleep all the way. The flight was a bit turbulent. At one point, it seemed like the whole airplane was engulfed into a grey blob of angry clouds. But I was too tired to panic.

Taxi to the High Commission of Malaysia. It was freaking expensive for a 15 minute ride. Went into the office in a daze. The office was filled with Malaysian chatter. Nasi lemak, lah's, mah's, walau's, uncles in golf pants. It felt in a way familiar. Submitted my application. Took a set of passport pictures with me looking like a candidate in amaid agency. Was told to pick up at 3pm.

It was only 10.40 am. 4 hours of boredom and possible death from boredom?

Is there anything else interesting around this place, I asked. No, they replied.
Are there any places to eat around here, I asked. No, they replied.
How is the weather like out there, I asked. Rain, they replied.

Do you want to go to the city for lunch with me,a lady asked. Yes please yes, I replied.

BMW ride. Yes, in a turn of luck, I got to ride around town in a BMW 530i. Catching not only lunch, but coffee and great company. Befriended some Malaysian Melburnians and back to the office to collect our passports. All of us looked ugly in the shots, apparently although no one was willing to share.

Walked around the city looking for a cab while talking about property investment, family and career. Everyone is having a 2009 filled with change and surprises, it seemed.

Taxi to Canberra airport. Flight at 7.20 pm but it was only 4 pm and no I was not allowed to catch the earlier flight. Why oh why did I purchase the cheap tickets which did not allow me that flexibility? *Pretty obvious why huh?*

Read in the book shop, sudoku-ed, read some magazines, listened to my MP3 player. Finally it was time for boarding.

Airplane back to Melbourne. Another lapse of sleep. Not much memory here.

Skybus back to Southern Cross Station. Woke up in time to hear the driver saying . . "This used to be called Spencer Street Station. . " before sleeping off again.

Train back to Huntingdale Station with WenJi. Talked about life, girls, family until we were forced to come down at Caulfield Station to take some service bus back to Oakleigh Station. The horde of people from the train into one tiny bus?

Bus 900 back to Huntingdale. Took almost 30 minutes plus almost missing out stop thinking someone else must have rang the bell.

Back home and showered.

Woke up with a ringing headache the next day and fever in the afternoon. What an adventure. I feel like Alice, in the Wonderland. Oh make it Alice in Resident Evil. Umm mm.