It's all about the money

Yesterday, I got asked for money by two strangers off the street. Two times in one day! Coincidence?

First incident:

It's afternoon. I'm alone in my car. An old chinese guy knocks on the driver's side window. I rolled down the window just a little. Conversation translated from hokkien:
Old Man: Do you have 20 ringgit?
Me: Huh?
Old Man: I don't have any money and I need to buy food.
(I had two 50 ringgit bills in my wallet at that time)
Me: Uhhh...sorry but I didn't bring out my wallet today.
Old Man: You don't even have like 10 ringgit with you?
Me: Sorry...
Old Man: Okay.
He leaves on his bicycle.

Second incident:

It's about 10:30pm. I'm walking back to my home from Gurney Plaza, alone. The street was void of pedestrians. An indian guy on a motorcycle pulls over and stops me midway. He's in his early 20's and speaks fluent english.
Him: Umm...excuse me, I don't mean to bother you but can you help me?
Me: Yes?
Him: My handphone fell from my pocket and my bike's out of petrol. Can you spare me some money?
(At this time, I had about 15 ringgit and I was wondering what does his handphone falling off have anything to do with his need of money for petrol. Furthermore, I didn't know how much fuel was required to travel a certain distance)
Me: I'm sorry I spent most of my money in Gurney earlier.
Him: Come on, are you saying you don't even have 1 ringgit?
Me: I'm really sorry but I can't help you.
Him: Alright, thanks.
He rides off and I walk back home...fast.

I hardly meet with such incidences and thus I can't distinguish the people who truly need help and those who're faking it. Plus, i've heard stories from my friends who have been conned of their possessions before and so, I was really skeptical. And when I called Jeff later that night to relate the incident he was all like: Yeah what if you whip out your wallet and he snatches it from your hands and scoots away! I do feel a little bad for having to reject their wishes but I do not want to have to risk myself for such meager things. I am sorry but I have no regrets.

If the same thing happened to you, what would you have done? Have you had any similar experiences?

On a seperate note, guess who I spotted folding clothes and wishing 'Welcome' to customers!

It's Jeremy! And he's working in F.O.S. in Gurney Plaza! His supervisor was apparently away so we talked until he didn't even wish the following customers 'welcome'. Then we walked around in the shop and he abandoned his duties (if he had any) to become my personal shopper...muahaha. He would tell me which ones are new arrivals and which ones are popular among the shoppers and stuff like that. Then summore let me use his employee's discount. I sure hope he doesn't get fired for doing all that! Haha.

Of movies, lasagnes and telephone calls.

Over the past 3 days I watched 2 movies. 'the number 23' on Friday with Zhi Xiang was great. I thought the movie was really intriguing. It's nice to see Jim Carrey in a thriller rather than a comedy. And the significance of the number 23 really makes you wonder (at least it did to me and Zhi Xiang. After the movie, we couldn't stop trying to find things related to the number 23!). It was a short outing for us. The movie started 10 minutes after our arrival and by the time the movie ended, some stores were already beginning to close and I just barely got a glance of items on sale.

On Saturday, after a really good indian dinner (I finally satisfied my mutton craving) Jeff, Al and I decided to watch a movie coz' the night was indeed still very young. We had a major debate over which movie to watch. I wanted 'Wild Hogs', Al wanted 'Sunshine' while Jeff was indecisive. But after much persuasion (and threats not to drop them home...*snicker*) we decided on 'Wild Hogs' It was really hilarious. Really good. Laughed my heart out! The bad thing about it was that it was censored like a dozen times! Damn censorship board! Also, the ending kinda fell flat a little. I don't wanna elaborate more to avoid spoiling it for others. But it was worth watching. Thanks for watching it with me guys! And I must say, I enjoyed the game F.H.F.V. (just a little game we invented)!

The lasagne I made is all finished now. To me, it was satisfactory. I probably won't make it for like another month or two coz' i'm a little sick of it. I totaly forgot to take a picture of it until it was down to the last piece which happens to be the smallest and let's face it, non-photo-friendly one. So here it is:

Karen called on Saturday and we talked for like an hour and a half until my ear went really really red. Thanks so much for calling! Thank god i've had practice before. I think the longest i've ever been on a telephone was like two and a half to three hours. I don't quite remember with who though. But most of my telephone conversations are like 50% crap...maybe more. And I ain't denying that crap is good. Who would?

No gig, no life.

So, yesterday I went out with Kelvin, Ivan and Al to catch the movie 'Hannibal Rising'. I've got one word for this movie: Gore.

This prequel to the Oscar Award winning 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Hannibal' is quite gruesome and pretty much sadistic with all the decapitation, gorging of human flesh and slitting of tendons and ligaments. Oh,the tendons...*grimace*. I kinda have this weird thing with tendons and ligaments but especially the achilles tendon (at the foot). It creeps me out when I see it get cut or injured or torn.

-Jeepers! (just a random photo from the internet. Fyi: right now i'm cringing in fear)

After the movie, I like had this craving for meat...particularly lamb. Yummy! Maybe it was just the sound when Hannibal feasted on human flesh. All that slurping and munching sound he made sure made me hungry...if not for the flesh that is.

Speaking of food, two days ago, I made lasagne! I accidentally used too much of the meat so instead of making one, I had to divide them into two, otherwise there would be this massive overflow. I still have some of it left if anyone is interested. I've given some of it away dee. I'll post pictures up later.

Other than that, i've got movie plans tomorrow, and I was supposed to catch the Good Charlotte performance in Kuala Lumpur! My cousin got these 2 free tickets for it and I was all psyched and everything! I may not be their biggest fan, but safe to say I do like their songs. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, everyone I know who are interested in the band are either having exams, having a field trip, having classes or having church camp!!! Damn you!!! Damn all of you!!! I really really want to go but without going with someone I know, it just won't be fun! So I have to turn it down. Story of my unfortunate experiance. So here I am...stuck here this weekend in dumb old Penang. Nothing to do. Nothing exciting. Maybe i'll just binge on ice-cream all-day on the day of the gig.

PS: I don't mean the "Damn you!!! Damn all of you!!!" part above. It was just an expression of exasperation and utter dismay of my own bad luck that no one is free to go with me.

KL...

Here's a picture from my Wednesday outing with friends when we were bidding farewell to Jee Mee who was returning to Manchester, England.

- Jee Mee was trying to climb onto Al's car...don't ask me why.

Right.... so anyway, i'm back from my trip to KL. Upon reaching KL, we immediately headed for the college. Taylor's college looks pretty alright. I think I am willing to take it into serious consideration. Apparently, it would save my parents a hell a lot of money than if I were to go straight to Australia. But all my efforts I have placed into HSC will go down the drain. One year gone to waste. On the brightside, I got some experiance. And best of all...friends.

For lunch, we travelled all the way across to the other side of the city to have the renowned Ampang Yong Tau Fu. Now, I only ate the aubergine...but it was gooood

-Ampang Yong Tau Fu


- Another thing we had...Paper bag wrapped chicken with a marinade so good.

Then we were off to 1-utama. Shop, shop, shop and neither my parents nor I bought a single item (with the exception of food). We had dinner at a shop specializing in ramen in Bukit Bintang. And that was pretty much it for the day.

The second day, we shopped in Midvalley megamall where my mom bought like one piece of clothing. There's where they gave me this member's coupon for a birthday treat which entitles me to a lousy 20% discount on Topman merchandise. 20 lousy percent...so little! Sad case. That was pretty much it for the KL trip...oh, and we also had dinner in Nibung Tebal on our way back...or somewhere there. All-in-all, it was alright. A nice and easy, no-rush trip coz' the main purpose of the trip (checking out Taylor's) was accomplished first thing!

If all goes well and Taylor's is the best option available, then it's goodbye Penang and hello KL...not for another 3 months that is.

PS: Thanks for calling, Yong Ming!

Not Unlucky

As you all know, today's Friday the 13th. But I so far I haven't been unlucky. But I don't really believe in these things anyway. So things are going fine. Taking 'em slowly a day at a time. Read, read, read...watch, watch, watch...eat, eat, eat. Normal things.

I'm heading down to KL tomorrow. Checking things out here and there. It's not going to take long so i'll be back on Sunday night. Arghh...thinking about the 4 hours it takes just to get there makes me sick. As usual, my parents and I would be crashing over at my cousin's place in Sri Hartamas. I'm totaly not looking forward to this trip coz I know I can't buy anything since i've already passed my spending limit. Haih...damn. Kinda sucks.

So off to KL then!

And fyi to the cherished readers out there...since i'm not exactly in an educational institution right now, i'll probably be posting less. It's just 'coz there are fewer experiances for me to narrate. Either that or i'll just post random crap up here to supress boredom.

Movie Friday

Friday was movie day again. Zhi and I decided to catch some random flick and I suggested 'The Hitcher'. Evidently, the movie is a remake of the 1986 movie of the same title. Now, having not watched the original movie, I have no frame of comparison. But in my opinion, the movie was watchable. It's there to entertain not to garner awards. Staring Sean Bean and the sexy Sophia Bush, this thriller/horror is fairly okay with it's share of 'boo' moments. The only reason I wanted to watch it was because Sophia Bush was the lead actress. Her acting wasn't very great but it wasn't bad either. But it's Sophia...who would complain?





In the end I was quite surprised that I didn't shut my eyes throughout the movie (which I usually do many times when watching a horror flick). HAHA! I guess this might be a stepping stone to go on and watch more horror movies. Well, not for now anyway...I was a bit paranoid while I was driving home after the movie. I kept making sure my car doors were locked. Hehe.


Next weekend I might be headind down to KL to check out colleges. But Mei Zhi recently told me her friend who happens to be in the college i'm interested in declares that the course is hell. Kinda making me nervous here but I would rather be in said hell than not study at all. But what happens...happens...

Bad Laundry Day

Note: If you don't do laundry, then don't bother to read this.

Yesterday was laundry day for me. It all went well with the colours but the HUGE problem occured when I was washing the whites. I accidentally left this dark green garment in with the rest of the whites. And now, a few of my white t-shirts are STAINED! STAINED I TELL YOU!! And now I have to try and bleach the damn stains out. But thank god the stained t-shirts are my pj's. But still, just the thought of the stain is just...arghhh...agitating. And to further fuel my fury, I think I may have misplaced one sock. CRAP.

STAINED! Damn you SEED!

Other than that, i'm heeding Ivan's advice to think it thoroughly before deciding on whether I should take up a job. But I honestly enjoy my current regime of waking up, making breakfast, reading my book and watching some TV and just coursing through the day like a vagabond.

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Everything's just swell in Penang. Good old Penang. Nothing beats the comfort of your own hometown, eh?...where everything is familiar...where people know your name. Seremban was an experiance...well actually it's barely an experiance, but i'm just really glad that that's over now.

There are some things from my 3-week stay in Seremban which I will remember. My first time in the commute, my first chicken rice ball in Malacca, my first time in a pasar malam (I know). And there are some things I wish to forget:

~Damn line to get on the commute


~Damn amount of people in the LRT


~Weird comforter. Who would use a comforter with ants crawling all over it?!

Anyway, that's all over now. I'm glad to be back. Infact today, I just went out with Mei Zhi for lunch and a little catching up. And several days ago, got together with Ivan and Al. And also Jeff...which reminds me, the movie we watched, 'Stomp the Yard' was awesome. Dance movements and all. But the plot is predictable. I can't help but see it coming.

People have been asking about what I am gonna do for my future studies, and the answer is still vague. I have a few options, but they are kinda still on the drawing board. So, i'm not revealing it yet for fear of dissappointment not only to myself. It's tough when you're not bright. Sigh. But since the college/uni intakes are in July, i'm considering taking up a class (any recommendations?) or maybe find a part-time job (Oh please, don't sound so shocked!). But other than that, it's like i'm finally getting the 5 month break I would have enjoyed, had I gone to Form 6.