Yesterday I decided to get up a bit earlier to the lab, the make a quick stopover at a nasi lemak stall on the way. One of my colleagues had recommended it; I tried a bite and it wasn't too bad. A few days ago I wanted to try it but unfortunately it was sold out.
Well, I was in luck this time - it was almost finished and she was gonna close shop already. As she was dishing out the rice and condiments, we made conversation like whether I'm studying and where I'm heading. And then suddenly she she popped this question.
"Adik ni Melayu ke Cina?"
I was practically stunned. This was totally a first for me and out of nowhere. So I was like, "Huh? Apa dia?
"Adik ni, bangsa Cina atau bangsa Melayu?"
I managed to get my head back, and decided to play along. "Kak rasa saya ni nampak macam Cina ke atau Melayu?"
"Cina ada, Melayu pun ada." She answered shyly. I gotta admit, I was practically laughing my ass out inside. As she was packing up the nasi lemak, I told her that I was really Chinese, aesthetically at least.
My colleague and I had a good laugh about it later. What made this incident hilarious was that this was the first time I've ever been asked this question.
I recalled how during uni where 99.99% of the time, a Chinese dude will strike up a conversation with me in Mandarin, if they happen to be a complete stranger or don't know me well enough. Or the time when I mentioned that I've never went to a Chinese school, they looked aghast and shocked beyond words. Which is probably not too far from how most of our politicians looked when they saw the results of the recent General Election.
When I mentioned this to my friend, he said that's because I have a, to put it crudely, a typical Chinese. With slit eyes and rather fair skin and all. Hehe, I guess the kakak above would disagree with him.
Saturday 29 March 2008
Sunday 23 March 2008
Just woke up bout an hour ago, completely exhausted. This has been a long and somewhat unanticipated type of weekend. I was quite gung ho bout using this weekend to work on my attachment proposal, manuscript and put in some extra lab hours, since I got some pretty good results on Friday. Let's rewind...
So I was sitting there as prettily as can be just doing work in the lab when a friend suggested we meet up in SS2 for the night. So I thought *fine*, since I have a whole day tomorrow to catch up on work. Unfortunately, as I was driving by on the right lane on the stretch of road of Jalan Universiti (I think)-SS2 which is really dark, and I went over a really, really deep pothole. Like seriously, and I was like *oh shit*. I could hear the sound of something sliding off below my car and next thing I know, there is a loud rattling sound as I continued driving. Immediately I pulled by the road side and checked briefly. The tires looked fine, and well it's not like I can slide in under my car to take a look.
So I took a deep breath and considered my options - get the car fixed right now or continue driving. Option 1 is a little hard as I'm not sure where is the nearest workshop, and whether it's still open at this hour. So hoping for the best and crossing my fingers, I chose option 2. So then I drove a little bit further, albeit very slowly and the rattling sound getting extremely with any speed increases, I reached SS2. And as I parked my car, I realised the reverse gear wasn't working too well; I need to step on the gas to get the car to move in reverse. Anyway I met with my friend and asked if he could put me up for the night and and then next morning I could find a workshop. Thankfully he was totally cool about it. And me being me, I could only snatched a few hours of sleep before giving up and surfing aimlessly online.
Which led to some workshop-hunting this morning. The ones we saw at SS2 weren't open, and then my friend suggested one near KDU which luckily was open. All the while I was really worried about the cost of repairs, me imagining the gear box/clutch/what-nots thingamajic being severely damaged. Turns out that the suspension, car chamber etc was damaged...and it cost around RM250. Well, I guess (sorta thankfully) that it's not a huge amount, but it's still a dent in my pocket. And one of the tyre rim was also damaged and needs to be fixed, or worse, replaced, and that cost is still not known.
Sigh...as if I'm not broke enough already with getting a new monitor. And here I was so glad that this month I was running on healthy surplus and meeting my budget.
So I was sitting there as prettily as can be just doing work in the lab when a friend suggested we meet up in SS2 for the night. So I thought *fine*, since I have a whole day tomorrow to catch up on work. Unfortunately, as I was driving by on the right lane on the stretch of road of Jalan Universiti (I think)-SS2 which is really dark, and I went over a really, really deep pothole. Like seriously, and I was like *oh shit*. I could hear the sound of something sliding off below my car and next thing I know, there is a loud rattling sound as I continued driving. Immediately I pulled by the road side and checked briefly. The tires looked fine, and well it's not like I can slide in under my car to take a look.
So I took a deep breath and considered my options - get the car fixed right now or continue driving. Option 1 is a little hard as I'm not sure where is the nearest workshop, and whether it's still open at this hour. So hoping for the best and crossing my fingers, I chose option 2. So then I drove a little bit further, albeit very slowly and the rattling sound getting extremely with any speed increases, I reached SS2. And as I parked my car, I realised the reverse gear wasn't working too well; I need to step on the gas to get the car to move in reverse. Anyway I met with my friend and asked if he could put me up for the night and and then next morning I could find a workshop. Thankfully he was totally cool about it. And me being me, I could only snatched a few hours of sleep before giving up and surfing aimlessly online.
Which led to some workshop-hunting this morning. The ones we saw at SS2 weren't open, and then my friend suggested one near KDU which luckily was open. All the while I was really worried about the cost of repairs, me imagining the gear box/clutch/what-nots thingamajic being severely damaged. Turns out that the suspension, car chamber etc was damaged...and it cost around RM250. Well, I guess (sorta thankfully) that it's not a huge amount, but it's still a dent in my pocket. And one of the tyre rim was also damaged and needs to be fixed, or worse, replaced, and that cost is still not known.
Sigh...as if I'm not broke enough already with getting a new monitor. And here I was so glad that this month I was running on healthy surplus and meeting my budget.
Thursday 20 March 2008
So sad...and so broke. Just spend around 500 bucks to get a new monitor. My old one just upped and smoked last night. I found out that monitors usually come with 3-year warranties, and mine just expired like 2 months ago. The unfairness of it all!! Though I'm quite enjoying my new monitor and all - a 17" LG LCD monitor, which is larger, sharper and more vibrant than my old one.
And I also realised how dependent I have been on my comp. Without it I was feeling bored pretty quickly, and the bright side would be I managed to be quite productive without my a computer screen staring in front me.
And I also realised how dependent I have been on my comp. Without it I was feeling bored pretty quickly, and the bright side would be I managed to be quite productive without my a computer screen staring in front me.
Tuesday 18 March 2008
Song: Say It Again - Marie Digby
Unless you have been stuck in an underground bomb shelter, chances are that anyone who's a citizen of this fair country would be aware of the massive changes in our political landscape. Most notably, BN has been denied its 2/3rd majority in Parliament, and 5 states are now being governed by the the loose coalition of DAP-PKR-PAS. This has also gotta be the most exciting election ever, with it being my very first one, heh. I was logged on to Malaysiakini and following the updates by the minute - XXX leading in area YYY; Opposition in trailing closely in state Z. It was pretty damn exciting, I tell you! And exhilarating too, as one by one the states fell - Penang, Kedah, Selangor (!). I followed till 2 am, with the final breaking piece of news of Perak falling into the opposition.
The local mainstream's seemed to have a (poorly) hidden agenda of provoking the loose coalition and painting it the most negative light possible, while at the same time giving (undue) positive spotlight on the BN. So lately I've avoided reading the local newspapers like The Star/NST (though The Sun is one of the few independent ones), and choose to source my news from sites like Malaysia Today and KTemoc Konsiders.
Perhaps some of you might be wondering the rather dearth mentioning of the general election prior in the last few weeks. Well, I sincerely doubt that but I'll go on anyway. As much as I do try to keep somewhat abreast of the political happenings locally, at heart I'm not a political activist. Sure I might mention it bits of politics and social happenings here, but I'm a pale comparison to individuals like Daniel and Shi Jun. I guess I'm more concerned with the environment, and perhaps one day I might actually take up the mantle of an animal/enviromental activist.
But on to myself, things are just generally alright. I've been making some progress in my lab research, so at least I'm moving forward. Nothing else of interest happening lately, other than the recent St. Patrick's Day which originated from Ireland and now is just a good excuse for people from other countries to drink themselves silly. Here's how a high-profile local 'celebrity' celebrated it.
Unless you have been stuck in an underground bomb shelter, chances are that anyone who's a citizen of this fair country would be aware of the massive changes in our political landscape. Most notably, BN has been denied its 2/3rd majority in Parliament, and 5 states are now being governed by the the loose coalition of DAP-PKR-PAS. This has also gotta be the most exciting election ever, with it being my very first one, heh. I was logged on to Malaysiakini and following the updates by the minute - XXX leading in area YYY; Opposition in trailing closely in state Z. It was pretty damn exciting, I tell you! And exhilarating too, as one by one the states fell - Penang, Kedah, Selangor (!). I followed till 2 am, with the final breaking piece of news of Perak falling into the opposition.
The local mainstream's seemed to have a (poorly) hidden agenda of provoking the loose coalition and painting it the most negative light possible, while at the same time giving (undue) positive spotlight on the BN. So lately I've avoided reading the local newspapers like The Star/NST (though The Sun is one of the few independent ones), and choose to source my news from sites like Malaysia Today and KTemoc Konsiders.
Perhaps some of you might be wondering the rather dearth mentioning of the general election prior in the last few weeks. Well, I sincerely doubt that but I'll go on anyway. As much as I do try to keep somewhat abreast of the political happenings locally, at heart I'm not a political activist. Sure I might mention it bits of politics and social happenings here, but I'm a pale comparison to individuals like Daniel and Shi Jun. I guess I'm more concerned with the environment, and perhaps one day I might actually take up the mantle of an animal/enviromental activist.
But on to myself, things are just generally alright. I've been making some progress in my lab research, so at least I'm moving forward. Nothing else of interest happening lately, other than the recent St. Patrick's Day which originated from Ireland and now is just a good excuse for people from other countries to drink themselves silly. Here's how a high-profile local 'celebrity' celebrated it.
Monday 3 March 2008
Song: Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
Sometimes we forget how the little things can rankle you for a disproportionately long time. Like yesterday night when I wanted to refill supply of drinking water at one of those RO water vending machines that's getting quite inconspicuous these days. So I brought along my bottles and a slightly larger amount of coins than needed.
There were 3 of those machines side by side, and luck would have it that the one I picked happened to be spoiled that very day. It swallowed in my coins but won't discharge any water. And I have with me 3 empty bottles with few coins left. Hating to return to my room just to get more coins, I decided to change a RM1 note which I happened to have with me.
So I went into my college cafetaria. Sitting at the counter was the owner, a near middle-aged guy, chatting with a young lady worker. And so I asked if I could change some coins. "Duit syling tak ada," he answered gruffly, when it was in plain sight that even a naked mole rat could see, was large stacks of coins lying in the opened cash register. I was quite annoyed, and asked again, "Seringgit pun tak boleh?". He then decided to liken my existence to an annoying gnat and just looked around in a nonchalant, bored way. I stared at him and then to the lady worker next to him, who at least had the decency to look slightly embarassed.
I mean I can totally understand if he doesn't want to change, something along the lines of "Oh, kami nak guna syiling untuk esok" or even a short "Sorry, tak boleh tukar duit syiling" would have been kinda acceptable. But to blatantly lie , rather rudely, and then ignoring me was seriously in bad taste. What ever happened to customer service, or even decent manners?
Well, I've never been much of a fan of this new cafetaria management that took over this semester. The previous management was quite good actually, lots of food variety and quite tasty too. This current owner had less than half the variety of food, poorly stocked bread/snacks/drinks, and just alright food. Like during lunch hour, it will be packed and semi-packed during dinner that I usually plan my way around the crowd if I want to go to the cafe. Right now, it barely picks up the few stragglers here and there. With this kind customer service, I won't be sorry at all to wish its speedy demise.
Sometimes we forget how the little things can rankle you for a disproportionately long time. Like yesterday night when I wanted to refill supply of drinking water at one of those RO water vending machines that's getting quite inconspicuous these days. So I brought along my bottles and a slightly larger amount of coins than needed.
There were 3 of those machines side by side, and luck would have it that the one I picked happened to be spoiled that very day. It swallowed in my coins but won't discharge any water. And I have with me 3 empty bottles with few coins left. Hating to return to my room just to get more coins, I decided to change a RM1 note which I happened to have with me.
So I went into my college cafetaria. Sitting at the counter was the owner, a near middle-aged guy, chatting with a young lady worker. And so I asked if I could change some coins. "Duit syling tak ada," he answered gruffly, when it was in plain sight that even a naked mole rat could see, was large stacks of coins lying in the opened cash register. I was quite annoyed, and asked again, "Seringgit pun tak boleh?". He then decided to liken my existence to an annoying gnat and just looked around in a nonchalant, bored way. I stared at him and then to the lady worker next to him, who at least had the decency to look slightly embarassed.
I mean I can totally understand if he doesn't want to change, something along the lines of "Oh, kami nak guna syiling untuk esok" or even a short "Sorry, tak boleh tukar duit syiling" would have been kinda acceptable. But to blatantly lie , rather rudely, and then ignoring me was seriously in bad taste. What ever happened to customer service, or even decent manners?
Well, I've never been much of a fan of this new cafetaria management that took over this semester. The previous management was quite good actually, lots of food variety and quite tasty too. This current owner had less than half the variety of food, poorly stocked bread/snacks/drinks, and just alright food. Like during lunch hour, it will be packed and semi-packed during dinner that I usually plan my way around the crowd if I want to go to the cafe. Right now, it barely picks up the few stragglers here and there. With this kind customer service, I won't be sorry at all to wish its speedy demise.
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