Hey June...

So here's my June in photos.

I went to KL with my colleague Rinto for the Vote for Sipadan campaign early June. It was a tiring five days, considering it was a two-man show (dumb-ass arrangements but hey, we don't call the shots). I love this view of KLCC.

We were at the KLCC Aquaria - we had the best response here. Maybe all the fishies put visitors in the mood...

...it definitely put ME in the mood. The management at Aquaria are EXCELLENT people - kudos to them for being such stellar hosts! They even let us take a free tour of the aquarium after we packed up.

Carol playing with the sharks. So cool. Here she is, hoping she'll leave with ten fingers intact.

Rinto gets so much attention for his dreadlocks (yes they're real - some people even ask if they can touch it. Okaaay). So here's the best impression of Rinto I can muster, heh heh.

We were also at 1 Utama and Sunway Pyramid. It started off as a 2-man show but Carol showed up and saved the weekend. Hooray!

You see how much barang we have to lug everyday? And that's including the laptops, nimloks and giveaway goodies! Can you see the Carl's Junior paper bag peeking out? A lunch for 2 set us back some RM40.00 but it was worth the burger experience! Punya besar.

Thumbs up eventhough there were some people I would've liked to strangle with the laptop cables. But tourism industry players are conditioned to 'smile through everything', no? Mmm ya lah tu.

The highlight of each night was none other than the after-hour drinks. Our hotel was at The Curve Damansara so it was pubs galore. JJ brought us to this Belgian Bierhaus where the foot-long pork sausages are to die for.

Carol and her Hoegaarden. Yum.

I always love meeting up with my chicas, no matter how fleeting. I miss them - but everyone's happy where they are and that's what matters.

Back in KK, I attended the World Environment Day at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. Speeches, bird show, clap clap, plant some trees, clap clap, build a compost heap, ooh ahh. The end.


With my colleagues. You need each other to stay entertained during the formalities.

Dragon Boat Race at Likas Bay with Melina. Ya, I'm getting sick of this green t-shirt too.

Orange! Much better. This was on the first day. Yes, it's panas.

Contrary to popular belief, there is more to my life than work. So on days when I want to blow up the office, I turn to H. Who will happily peel pears for me, heh. Last Saturday, he surprised me with a picnic at the beach. He had packed some lovely sandwiches, apple juice and Cheezels. Oh and pears of course.

Sometimes, we need to break out of the routine and just wing it. The picnic was a great way to 'wing it'. We played cards, ate cheesy sandwiches and did Mafia mobster impressions. I tell you, it doesn't take much. It turned out to be quite the eventful day. Stay tuned.

Just thought I'd share a shot of one of my favourite makan spots, the roti kahwin coffee shop in Damai. And they serve delicious teh C ping! The nasi lemak isn't as great as before - dunno why. But whenever I have a case of the munchies, you can find me here.

This doggy was with us during the picnic. He got tired of waiting for 'snacks' and actually fell asleep! Now THAT'S the kind of contentment so rarely enjoyed by humans. Don't forget to stop and roll in the sand once in a while, my friends.

Sunny.

How I love watching the days go by! As I put my head to my pillow each night, I smile thinking of how tomorrow means I am a step closer to so many things. NEW things. And new places. And new opportunities.

I haven't felt this excited about life for a while now. I still don't know what tomorrow will bring but it feels damn good to know I've moved on from darker places and empty spaces. Over the last six months, I have had to slowly detach myself from people and situations. Change my marching beat, so to speak. And as I turn my attention back to nothing else but ME, everything starts to fall into place again. All I had to do was step away from the circus.

I am so in love. With life. With you. With what can be. I know that tomorrow all this could very well be snatched away from me.

So watch me as I embrace every second of this :)

Let's go for a drive.

Grumpy. I was annoyed. Immensely.

He looked at me, a sort-of smile - a cross between 'Please don't bite my head off' and 'Hey beautiful'.

I refused to step out of my angry shell. I was (foolishly) adamant on staying angry. And it wasn't even at him.

"Let's go for a drive."

The air-conditioner was too cold. The air freshener too strong. Why is the car so noisy? He injects my grumpy silence with stories of difficult clients and pretty streetlights. He winds down the windows and turns off the air-conditioner. We drive some more and watching the city go by actually makes me a little happier.

But just a little.

He lets me choose which roads to take because he knows I like things to go my way - Yes, I can be a brat like that. And we look at more buildings. He points out the scenery and how pretty it is. We imagine owning our own studio and all the things we could do with it. We talk about his next gig on Sunday. Sunday? Next Sunday, he says. And I mentally take note and see if I can swing by to see him play the guitar. Sometimes I think his band makes too much noise - but he knows I'm proud he's part of it.

And then he squeezes my hand. I squeeze back. We talk some more about cars and the weather (I hope it rains, I tell him). I still want to be angry but I can't quite remember what for.

He asks me, "Which road you want to take?" I point to the left.

I went home. More happy, less angry. Because he just knows me.

Jump.

I've lived most of my life with the utmost caution. I analyze, scrutinise, worry and wonder before making any decision. Even deciding what to eat for lunch is a life-changing moment for me. I'm the kind of girl who dips her feet into the water but will never jump in because it's safer on dry land.

But as I enter my 30s, I think it's time I start living precariously - yes, I know most people do that in their first part of their 20s but, hey, I'm a late bloomer.

Perhaps not always knowing or being uncertain isn't such a bad thing. Maybe unpredictability is what I need to push me further along in my life. I like safe, yes, but sometimes 'safe' isn't good enough. And maybe it's going to be difficult and maybe this could be the biggest mistake. Then again, this could be the best thing that as happened to me.

I've given it plenty of years and if I don't step out of my comfort zone now, I probably never will. And I keep giving it another year, another month, another week but deep down I know I'm just too chicken shit to do anything about. Everyone's going to have an opinion about whatever decision I make but ultimately I have to do this for no one else but me:

It's time to jump with both feet in.

Lazy bones.

I'm so lazy today, it's not funny.

Plus, who starts the week with a management meeting at 8:30am?

And I'm bitter that I haven't had a proper weekend in the last two weeks AND I have to work this weekend. On the upside, I finished two articles today although I think my brain is bleeding internally for that. When you don't want to write...You just DON'T.

But seeing I had better produce something today - it had to be done. Albeit kicking and screaming. Annoying colleagues did not help. There's this guy in my office who keeps saying I have too much make-up on and gives me so much hell if I as much as paint my nails over the weekend. At first, I used to brush him off because I thought he was just teasing. Now, it seems like he's insulting - no, mocking - me underhandedly. What is your freaking problem? Do I mock you on your Proboscis Monkey-like belly that grows by the day? And for the record, I can put on war-paint to work if it pleases me!

Boys are so annoying. Please go away.

And now it's past lunch time and I sincerely cannot be arsed to do any work. I'm so malas. Really. Malas. Today both the spirit and flesh are not willing so rather than producing half-baked work, I'll choose the lesser evil and blog. Let me share photos:

This is my office wall. I keep tidying it up but it's quite futile. It's got press releases, phone

numbers of people I never really call back and to-do lists that keep changing so I don't really know why I have a to-do list to start off with. See that pretty map on right? It's hand-drawn by Haw. I love how it looks like a treasure map. He's so clever. Oh and on the bottom left of my board is the Prayer of St. Michael the Archangel. I turn to him when I need to overcome temptation and in times of sickness. Yeah, the office is evil that way.

It's all about footwear. When I meet clients or

attend meetings, two inch heels do the trick. When

I drive, it's gotta be my Adidas flats so I don't

ruin my heels. But for pure comfort when nobody's looking...It's those furry brown slippers that come to the rescue. Now you know.

My table is messy. I know. But i think 'messy' gives it character, no? After all, what kind of 'creative mind' would I be if everything was organised alphabetically? I got my Fortune Cats waving at me everyday and Strepsils because my throat gets scratchy. The lighter is to light my tea candles and scented oil - because my office is always full of funky smells. And yes, every table needs a novelty Cat Pen.

Yes I am bored. And I'm lazy. One of the worst combinations on a working day. St. Michael, I fervently pray to you to give me the strength to resist the temptation to take a nap at my table right now.

It takes all kinds.

I was in KL recently for the Vote Sipadan campaign where I spent three days talking to over 400 people about the same bloody thing till I was frothing.

Basically, it was a two-man show (until Carol showed up to save the day, yay!) throughout the weekend. We started at 1 Utama, followed by Sunway Pyramid and finally KLCC's Aquaria. We set up a booth from 10:00am to 8:00pm and by the final day, I was ready to vomit blood if I had to pass out another flyer smiling ear to ear while hollering "Vote for Sipadan!". All I can say is I have newfound respect for people doing booth duty at any public area because, I tell ya, you meet ALL SORTS of people. I mean, ten hours is more than ample time to encounter various species of humankind, especially in a city like KL.

Let me identify some of them for you:

1. The Ignoramus
This species is usually found residing under a rock and can be identified by their huge eyes and perpetual look of surprise. Their favourite phrase is: "What's this? What for? Hah?" And because they don't know, the come with the attitude of 'Don't care'.

2. The Missing-The-Point-Completely Clan
Even after I've explained to them six billion times the objective of the campaign, they seem to look completely past you and say the most irrelevant things. My favourites include:
a) "You all selling package ah?"
b)"Can win trip ah?"
c) "You selling t-shirt?"

3) The Scaredy-Cats
These people cringe or start to melt when approached with a flyer, as Superman would when offered kryptonite. They can be identified with their increased walking pace when passing the booth or pretending to study the "Don't let Erectile Dysfunction dampen your love life" banner on the wall with such interest when you try to approach them. I approached a middle-aged woman with a flyer and barely got a 'Good morning' out when she put her palm out, turned her head away and said, "I been to Sipadan oredi, dowan, dowan..." and scampered away. This was a unique hybrid of a Scaredy-Cat and Missing-The-Point-Completely.

4) The Whatsthecatcharoonies
On the bright side, this species will actually let you finish explaining, upon which their eyes dart left and right and they tilt their head sideways and say the classic line,"Okaaaay, what's the catch?" Even when I say, "Nothing. We just need your vote." He/she replies,"Okaaaay and then what's gonna happen?" Then I say, "Well, hopefully we get to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature." He/she goes, "Okaaaay but..."

"Nothing happens! We don't charge you. You don't get spam mail. You won't get bad luck for the next seven days. NOTHING. WE JUST WANT YOUR SUPPORT AND THERE IS NO CATCH."

*pause*

"Okaaaay but..."

At this point, I call security.

5) The Gatals
They don't really want to know about the campaign. They don't really care where or what Sipadan is. You could be talking about dishwashing liquid for all they care - they just want to undress you in their head and that polite smile on their face isn't polite at all. I had a middle-aged guy - in the presence of his WIFE and KIDS to top it off - suddenly stroke my beaded bracelet while I was filling in the form for him. He said, "This is pretty...Is it Sabahan made?" As I recoiled in disgust and pulled my hand away, I politely replied, "No" and ignored his attempts at small talk, which included his insistence that I looked like a singer whose name he could not recall. If I had my choice, his vote was one that I'm sure Sipadan could do without...

6) The What Do I Get Willies
I've learned that some people just cannot do things from the goodness of their heart. For them, there better be some back-scratching involved. They just cannot fathom why oh why should they give their support if they're not going to benefit from it directly. Umm, how about national pride? How about not being an ass and just give me a break because I've been sitting in this mall for the last 6 hours and all I need is your bloody vote? Some girl actually said, "Oh I'm not from Sabah..." as she walked away in her overpriced leggings and lalat sunglasses. And all I could think was, "Thank God you're not."

7) The Supportive Sams
I've saved the best for last because for every five idiots you meet, you get 1 Supportive Sam. And this is the person who will sincerely listen to you, not give you a hard time, not ask stupid questions like "Do they throw rave parties on Sipadan?" (Yes, someone asked us this) and at the end of 2 minutes at our booth, cast their vote without fuss. Some of them were scuba divers and needed little persuasion ("Sipadan is beautiful. Definitely gets my vote!") . While others did it simply as a show of support for Malaysian pride.

Anyway, it was quite the experience and I want to take the opportunity to thank all the great people who supported us during the roadshow. Even if you couldn't swing by the booth, thanks for sms-ing me your e-mail addresses which allowed us to cast an online vote on your behalf.

Ah KL. A melting pot of the Weird and the Wonderful.

"So let me do the dishes in the kitchen sink,
put you to bed when you've had too much to drink...
All I wanna do is grow old with you."
-Adam Sandler, I Wanna Grow Old With You. Yep, I've been watching The Wedding Singer again.

Built to last.

Cause this is real
And this is good
Warms the inside just like it should
But most of all...

Most of all, it's built to last.

The F Word

It's been three days and I've stayed away from the F word.

No, not that F word. The other one - yep, Facebook.

I've made a spontaneous decision to give FB a break indefinitely. As wonderful a social tool it may seem, it is my humble opinion that it has turned many a life into a fishbowl experience. Not that I'm Angelina Jolie and everyone wants a piece of my fantastic Brad-full life, but sometimes the constant barrage of where what why when who why on FB can be suffocating.

Don't get me wrong - I am grateful for what FB has done for me, especially in terms of getting me back in touch with many missing links. On the other hand, sometimes
I find myself enslaved by FB. Admit it: how many of us start our day with logging on to the magic of FB?To the point that sometimes I feel guilty should I fail to log in within 24 hours! What if I have an e-mail? What if someone needs to ask me something important? What if I miss out on so and so's latest pix of his/her wedding, birthday party, drunken night out, trip to Batu Caves bla bla bla? What if someone sends me poker chips?

Plus, at the risk of sounding pretentious or minta puji, I currently have 367 friend requests from random people. And I don't know whether to decline or accept their requests as:
a) I have no idea who some of them are but we seem to have plenty of 'common friends'
b) I might have met them before but I can't remember so it would seem thoughtless of me to decline
c) I don't want to appear unfriendly but I REALLY don't know who you are!

And i figured something out. The people who really do need to get in touch with me KNOW how to find me. If i wanted to share something dire with those who matter, I'd also find a way to let them know. Whaddaya know, they have things called handphones, e-mails, even postcards. Or what was that thing we used to do before all this technology....Ohhhh that's right: MEET people.

So i'm just laying low in FB for a while. Besides, I know my coolest friends will find me right here at my blog, no? :-)