Burning down the highway skyline

First day of school ended with a meeting and a revelation of the work load that is ahead of me. Wow. Smashing pumpkins!


Must.Get.Sharper.Jawline

Wore the purple Mary Jane heels and urgh, after 2 months of heel-hiatus, it was pure hell. At the end of the day, I couldn’t even walk properly, let alone climb the flight of stairs. What? Don’t wear heels? But they make me feel powerful…until I stand and walk.

…and until I stick a plaster over the blister…

I reached home at 1700hrs, read the papers and went to bed, totally unconscious. Woke up and realised it was already 2230hrs. Where did the day and night go? It is 0300hrs and I am disappointed that that I couldn’t catch Grey’s Anatomy on StarWorld cause the father decided he wanted to watch a Bollywood DVD.

Oh well.

On Tuesday, I met my author and he brought me to a coffeeshop in Arab Street and treated me lunch. He planned to take me to Hajjah Maimunah (or something like that) place to eat but it was closed. So we ended up at another famous eatery…Sabar Menanti or in English, “Waiting patiently” at Kandahar Street nearby.



Lunch was long. I kept wanting to doze off. My author is a man with many stories and yes, they are all interesting. But I was just god damn sleepy. Met him at 1230hrs and we finally parted at around 1630hrs. I took a walk to Bras Brasah Complex and checked out the stores there. Hmm…interesting.

Continued walking after that. The initial plan was to walk from Bugis to City Hall to take MRT. But ah, the mood kicked in and I walked on.



The tree is in SMU grounds. Very strange. It’s like the tree is placed in a centre of a sitting area, waiting to be revered. I can imagine Plato, Socrates and many Greeks sitting around it in togas.


I finally saw the National Museum. And well, I had to go in one more time. The first time I went there was when I checked out the Cartier diamond exhibition. I didn’t have the chance to check out other stuff. So yeah…I went in.





A lot of the exhibits require a ticket to get into the exclusive rooms. I was too cheap poor to get a ticket so I just stood outside and watched. I did find some free displays and exhibits…like these flying lanterns, some local cartoons/animations and wall video displays.




There was also a Maria Theresia - Mother Empress of Habsburg Austria exhibition. Didn’t go in. 'Nuff said.


Such history did she make!
Oh she was the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and was also the mother of Marie Antoinette.

Anyway…I ran out of places to roam.



A time capsule?
Did you remember this?
I cant seem to remember what is inside.
I think I read it somewhere before.
Anyone remembers?





And soon, I was done.


What bulbous nose.

That was what I did on my last day of freedom…the day before the daily grind begins again.

A thousand times goodnight, happy feet.


P/S: CY is making me sing Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me at her wedding this Saturday. Guests better run or hide under the table and refrain from choking on shark’s fin.

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Mind numbing moment in school

I slept at 0415hrs and woke up 2 hours later. Everything went on well until I decided the skirt I was wearing wouldnt "cut" it. So I decided to change...and ta-dah, came to school when the national anthem was already blaring.

I rocked!

Anyway here I am...1150hrs and just done with lunch - a $1 mee soto. I have done NOTHING since 0800hrs. Read my Malaysian Cleo and chatted with Fairuz, my fellow relief teacher. My HOD hasnt given me my duties and timetable and now, I have an English teacher acting as my supervisor. Wah... stress.

But I shall worry about that some other time...when I get my timetable, my duties and my Literature texts. They better hurry because I cant wait to start sprouting nonsense to innocent kids, creating pictures in their paintable minds. And oh, talking Shakespeare in Mandarin.

Classic.

I am sure my friends remember me relating Macbeth and the prophecies to them in Mandarin. Da hen evil!

Gah. It is almost 12 noon. I cant go home early after that cause Principal wants to see all the relief teachers at 1430hrs. What am I going to do? The batt is dying and I didnt bring my cable/charger.

Brilliant.

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Ushering the new year

Am having a freaking fever right now...38.5C!
I am so hot I steamed up my glasses.

Had a long day. Met up with the author, had a super long lunch at Arab Street followed by a tea session. Then I took a heritage walk down Victoria Street…and ended up at the spanking gorgeous National Museum. Will put pictures tomorrow.

Anyway, let's recap my last days of 2006.
Hah.


Friday 29th December 2006
It was 1927hrs and Sha was still nowhere in sight. The mother was getting worried and the father, who accompanied us to Golden Mile, was starting to nag. Proof to how I got my kancheong spiderness. Anyway, the bus driver was already getting up and ready. Begged him to wait ten more minutes. 5 minutes later Sha boarded the bus.


Phew!


After being shouted at by a rude *Malaysian custom officer (a PMSing woman I suppose), we finally reached KL at about 0100hrs. Checked in and 30 minutes later, Sha and I decided to check out the bazaar downstairs.

*The sign said “All Passports”. Any smart people would have thought that would have applied to a Singapore passport as well. But when we queued in front of her, she signalled us to clear away. When Sha asked why, she screamed “I want to clear the Malaysian passports first!” Biatch.


Saturday 30th December 2006


Wahlao.

The mother woke both of us up damn bright and early at 0730hrs. After breakfast, we accompanied her to wait for Cik Kamariah. She would then bring the mother to Malacca to meet some village people (why does Y-M-C-A come to mind?) . Aiyah no offence. But they are people living in the village, what!


Was damn bored sitting at the lobby.
Cik Kamariah was very late.
I was sleepy.


Anyway, we both went back to sleep and woke up at 1500hrs. After a short trip to the heartlander shopping mall - Plaza Kota Raya - and late lunch (where we almost thrashed 2 tables) at A&W’s, we headed to Masjid India…their version of Little India/Arab Street to check out the bazaar and to soak in the Hari Raya mood.

We then had a slight bimbotic experience taking the LRT and Monorail to Bukit Bintang.



Hello…Bukit Bintang!


We were resting our asses at Dome cafe at Lot 10 when we noticed a commotion outside. Being the kiasu Singaporeans that we were, we decided to check out the scene. Then we saw him and his entourage.


It was the former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir.



Must take photo right?


After that we proceed to do some shopping. Sha bought MNG jeans and urgh, I had to throw my white Havaianas Brazilian Praias because the strap snapped. Went to FOS to get me a pair of cheapo rubber slippers and a green Ben Sherman tshirt. I am such a Nancy boy.


Mine looked like these…but white, remember?
I so need a new pair.


At about 2100hrs, we took a long walk back to the hotel. Along the way, Sha suddenly thought of her ex-"boyfriend", Ismail, and made me do this.



The mother contacted me and then we all went to dinner with Cik Kamariah and her daughter Norrehan. She brought us to this Nasi Lemak eatery somewhere. Quite an experience. Then…man..the mothers wanted to go to TESCO, this huge ass supermarket which closed at 0100hrs. We reached there at midnight and the aunties went crazy.

Me?
I was just fascinated by this Chinese broccoli.


Had never seen anything like this before.


Sunday 31st December 2006
Selamat Hari Raya Haji..mmbek..mmbek. After breakfast, the mother brought us to Plaza Kota Raya again. Then we went to Mydin…the Mustafa Centre of Malaysia. Went back to laze around and at 1400hrs, we took a cab to Cik Kamariah’s place. She had invited us over for lunch.




Cik Kamariah stays at in an apartment in Desa Pandan, near KLCC.
Her neighbourhood is very ghetto-cool.

Anyway, we had yummy chicken rice and many other dishes at her place.



After Cik Kamariah’s place, we (mother, Cik Kamariah, Norrehan and me) followed Sha to her friend’s place nearby. Along the way, we stopped to get lemang, a traditional Malay food of glutinous rice cooked in bamboo.


Bakar bang, bakar. Jangan tak bakar!

Sha, thank Nana for her kind hospitability…letting 4 strangers into her house to celebrate Hari Raya Haji yeah?

KLCC was next on the agenda…followed by dinner at this happening place nearby.


Sha and Norrehan, our gracious new friend who chauffered us around.

The mother, Sha and I reached back to the hotel at around 2100hrs. Sha and I then both headed out to Petaling Street to check out the scene. She got a few CDs. I couldn’t find Little Miss Sunshine so I sulked my way through.

Got back to the room and we both got ready to meet CY2, Vinz, Steven, Wei-xiang, Zhenni and her brother @ Bukit Bintang. Taking the monorail was a killer cause it was ultra packed. We had to brave through a maddening crowd to get to them. We all then made our way to Jalan P Ramlee (I think) to check out the party scene. Halfway, we heard fireworks.

Why…it was midnight already.
Happy New Year, people.



After a long walk, we finally settled on Nouvo. RM40 cover charge plus Coke…okay lah. CY2 was a hot property that night…hahaha. She had a Malay boy asking her to dance. There was this India Indian man who gave me his hand…but yeah, I couldn’t see what he was trying to do so I just shrugged it off. He then decided to stay in the group and danced with CY2. Think CY2 turned him so bloody on, he got very excited and lost control of his limbs and balance. He elbowed me in the ribs and jabbed me in the face. Gah!!! Gave him a hard push and he bent down to touch my feet, expressing his apology.

Appy-polly-logy!
Hahahaha.

After a while we sat outside, chatted a little and cam-whored a little. A little lizard too managed to fall on Sha, losing its tail in the process.



The feeling of being flanked by 2 very slim girls was…erm..not very great.

Clubbing ended prematurely at 0300hrs…cause that was KL’s standard closing time. So we headed to a nearby hawker to have supper and chatted over teh tarik and maggi goreng.



Zhenni and I.
I saw her dance…weeeeeeeeeeeeee.


Limped and cabbed our way back.
Couldn’t sleep well.
The mother was snoring.


Monday 1st January 2007
Happy New Year!

Woke up at 0845hrs to do a little packing. Breakfast ensued…totally had no appetite cause my cramps were killing me. Plus, I was still very stoned because I slept for only 2 hours. Went to the Pudu bus station with the mother after that because she wanted to get some food items. Sha went to Plaza Kota Raya on her own to do some last minute shopping. I was just walking around feeling damn grouchy.

Went back to the hotel at 1130hrs…lazed around for 30 minutes and it was time to check out. At 1300hrs, we boarded to coach and made our way home. Cik Kamariah managed to come to see us off…minutes before we kicked off.




Bye KL…and then we concussed.

We reached Singapore at about 1830hrs. Boy…glad to be home. And we were greeted by a rainbow. How gay the new year would be!




And with the tepid New Year sunset, our KL trip was wrapped.


Shit.
0340hrs.
School in 4 hours’ time.

A thousand times goodnight, innocent-students –who-will-soon-be-tainted. Muahahahahahaha.


P/S: 2 Panadol extras and the temperature is down to 37.1C.

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KLed and back

It is 0340hrs on the 2nd of January. Technically it is still not too late to wish everyone well and

helloooooooooo...2007!

The mother, Sha and I got back to the motherland from Kuala Lumpur at around 1900hrs just now. Did I have a good time? Depends. Depends on if you think sleeping beside the giant snoring machine is a good thing.

Hahahaha. Yeah the mother snores like crazy. Sadly, I am the kind who needs minimal noise (or should there be any, let them be soothing) at night. So for 3 nights, I didnt sleep well and got terribly grouchy in the morning. But otherwise it was fine. Sha was there to entertain the mother and her good friend.

Anyway hope Sha didnt find the trip with the squabbling mother-daughter repulsive. Must have been an eye opener. Met Vinz, Steven, Wei-xiang, Cai Ying, Zhenni and her brother on NYE and we went to Nouvo. Always nice to see more friends.

Mentioning friends, we were crossing a major road when Sha saw someone wave from inside a car. It turned out to be our polymate Caroline. Small world, indeed.

And mentioning small world, we stumbled upon the Malaysian former PM, Dr Mahathir Mohd outside Lot 1 10 Shopping Centre. Blah blah...we took a picture with him and I almost called him "Cik" (Uncle).

Will update more with pictures tomorrow. Think I shall retreat to my bedroom soon. Am meeting my author tomorrow and erm...it's another lunch date again at Arab Street.

A thousand times goodnight, post-party trotters.


P/S: Had a nasty bout of stomach cramps throughtout the entire trip. At some points, I was really clutching my gut and was almost bending double in pain. That didnt stop me from dancing and being punched and jibed in the face and ribs at the club.

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