I Went To Sabah. And Stuff.

I went to Sabah last weekend for my dad's old friend's daughter's wedding. This is my second visit to Sabah. I enjoyed my first time there immensely and I enjoyed this trip too.

My last dinner at home before I left for KK. That day was awesome. I stayed at home, cooked a total of three times and sat at home watching TV and eating. All day. Awesome. It was at the spur of the moment too. I suddenly decided that I wanted to eat meatballs. So I went down to Carrefour and bought some minced meat and spaghetti. Then I used all the leftover ingredients from my open house and made some awesome meatballs and put them in the spaghetti sauce. And TA-DA! Spaghetti meatballs!

The verdict? It's as good as it looks.

Anyway. I have been watching (listening) to anime these days (forefully). My interest in it has dissipated long ago and nowadays if not becasue of the prospect of failing JLPT, I wouldn't be putting myself through such torture. I selected anime of the right cast of characters, setting and timeline. To ensure I don't suddenly stun my sensei with vocabularies that would have made his grandfather proud. Since I don't like dramas, so I've chosen these two animes;

K-ON.

I could only take two episodes per day. I turned off the subtitles and let the words run wild. With subs I'll just end up reading. I've finally finished all 12 episodes. Only 2 OVAS left! Yay me! This is not an anime review blog so I shall not review it. I'll just say their Sawa-chan-sensei is my favorite character hehehe.

And Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

The guy at the store said that it's kinda old now, comparatively. But Ive been eyeing the manga at work you see, but I'm too lazy to read them (or have enough resources to start collecting. It's up to vol 7 now). And besides, I previewed the first ep on youtube. And aside from the slow start, I like the voice actor for the sensei hehehe. The art is fresh too hehe. The store only had a compilation of seasons 1-3 plus OVAS. So I have no choice but to swallow all 38 episodes eventually. I hope the story is interesting enough to keep me going.

When choosing these two animes, I chose those that I think are interesting enough to follow yet I don't really care enough for the storyline to want to know every single thing that was happening since I'll be watching them with subs off. With K-ON I only turned on the subs a few times on only 3 episodes. Just to the part that I was curious about. But so far I'm amazed at how easily I understand them and how much I understood if I just listened carefully. Thus, headphones are imperative.

Okay time to shower! Ta'ra!

Am I Invisible?

For two nights in a row, I was almost cut in the queue by bloody rude foreigners! Here's how!

Last night, after coming back from work, I stopped by McD Bukit Bintang for the triple cheese burger. As usual, it was crowded with tourists. After living here for four years, you become weary of their "rudeness". No, it's no longer a cultural thing. They were being rude. Don't let them make you think otherwise. If it's a dirty look you're given, it is a dirty look. End of story.

Anyway.

I was queuing. Like anyone should. Normally the queues at McDs go quite fast because the person who takes your orders and the one who fulfills it are two different people. So basically there are two queues at each counter; order making and order taking. You go to order making first, and then order taking. So there I was, queueing. Suddenly, this big guy found himself in the order taking queue and was surprised that he didn't get served. After a while he realized he was in the wrong queue and started standing next to the guy in front of me! So I glared.

And glared and glared. He didn't take the hint.

Since I was fourth in line, I was quite curious to see if
1) he will seriously jump queue in front of me
2) knowing that, will the staff serve him first, and
3) If I was patient enough to wait until I humiliate him.

I was third in line.

Pissed, mainly because I'm hungry, tired and am generally pissed at being treated like crap by foreigners at work, I approached him. Remember, he was standing too closely to the guy in front of me.
Me: Excuse me, are you with them? *points to an Arab looking couple in front of the guy in front of me*
Guy: No.
Me: Then you're cutting queue.
Guy: *looked down at me and talking as if yes, I acknowledge you, but I see no problem in standing here anyway* You are after him, right? *indicating the guy in front of me*
Me: Yes, and the back of the line to you.

My words were sharp and clear and he obliged, BY STANDING BEHIND ME! Seriously, which country is this guy from!? THERE ARE PEOPLE BEHIND ME! HE SHOULD BE BEHIND THE PEOPLE BEHIND ME! RAWR! He must have thought he's behind me so he should be after me, but he joined the queue wrongly so he should rightly be at the END OF THE LINE! But despite him being inappropriately close to me after that, I got my rightful place. It's up to the people behind me whether they wanted to put up with him.

I thought that was the end of it. Tonight I went to KFC. KFC has a terrible waiting time because they use the same staff to take and fulfill orders. But I was quite full and I just wanted a snack so I didnt mind the wait. KFC has one of the stupidest system despite this being one of the busiest outlets. But I am used to the stupidity and I was not hungry. And I had a drink to keep me occupied.

KFC had four counters and only two counters, the two at the ends that are open. The two in the middle are perpetually closed. Like I said, stupidity. So there I was, in the queue.I started off being fifth in line. The people at the head of both queues happened to be same group, so while they occupied both counters, once the one in my queue had finished taking his orders, his friend on the other queue canceled, which prompted a cursing frenzy from the tired staffs. I totally understand. And yes, they were foreigners of caucasian looking people who do not speak good english.

Suddenly, a group of men, all with broad built and short cropped hair entered. at first a few of them stood at the closed counter looking up at the menu. After a while of asking for service, they were told (rather unpolitely) by the staff that the counter is closed. Dismayed, they started standing BESIDE THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME, AGAIN! RAWR! I was second in line damn you!

Again, since this guy was the same height as me, I glared at him. If my eyes could shoot lasers he would have had two holes in place of eyes that time. The people in front of me were locals; father and son. the foreigner was bretahing down their necks and they were getting uncomfortable. It's obvious they wanted to cut queue and it was me, AGAIN! SERIOUSLY, AM I INVISIBLE!?

You don't think I'm going to stay quiet did you? Of course not!

Me: Excuse me sir, there is a queue.
Guy: Well there was this thing with the counter.
Me: RIGHT! (I DONT CARE). *GLARE*

He slunk away to the back.

You think a small (comparatively) local girl like me would be intimidated by your foreigner superiority complex?? YOU WISH! If you think that Malaysians are just like some third-world country people bent on extorting money from rich foreigners, then you are wrong. Those are just the taxi drivers. There are plenty of well-educated proud Sarawakians along the streets of KL and we are not to be bullied and intimidated. You, sirs, have picked on the wrong Malaysian.

If I hadn't stood up for myself and let these bastards cut me in queue I would cause a scene somewhere along the lines of:

This guy jumped the line! I was here first! What? YOU HAVEN'T EATEN IN TEN YEARS IS IT!?

I would like to see how they would have reacted to that.

I do admit that Malaysians in general has a too laid back attitude when it comes to foreigners being rude to them. They don't want trouble, they say. Well bullshit! I've had enough of being bullied by the likes of you people who look down on us! If our country is not good enough for you, then WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HERE ANYWAY!? GO BACK TO WHICHEVER HELLHOLE YOU CAME FROM! RAWR!

Being corteous is too hard? Indeed it is.

Ta'ra

Kanji Will Be The End of Me!

It's done. I registered. I paid. I'll be taking N3 and N4 both this end of the year. After I found out on the website that N3 and N4 are going to be in separate times, I pounced! I mean, I just have to register anyway, as long as I didn't pay it's not official. But I paid. I knew it was RM80 each, but in case I saw it wrongly and it's RM120 instead, I only asked for RM120. But I ended up paying RM160. Uugh.

Not surprisingly I am not the only one who registered for the N3 class but is taking N4 as a safety net. On last count my JLPT preparatory class had 8 people. I missed the last two classes on purpose (sleeping) mostly because I felt that the sensei wasn't really teaching us anything new. Outside students might find it useful, but for someone like me who is currently attending a course there, I'm better off asking my own class sensei.

But 7+7+14 pages of revision per week!?!? SERIOUSLY!? I'm already falling behind, needless to say. The grammar and vocabulary exercise are 1 page a day each, but the kanji is 2 pages a day and can be finished in 6 weeks. Because I have three months, I am taking my time on purpose. When I first got the kanji exercise book, I found that there are only about 300+ kanji inside it. N3 has 600 basic kanji, so where did the other 300 went? Well apparently the other 300 are all N4 kanji. Therefore studying for N3 assumes that you are acquianted with the N4 kanjis as well.

600 kanjis...I'm having problems with just 10 kanjis a week T_T. Kanji will be the end of me.

Ta'ra!

Redang Trip

I know I said I would post up pictures two days ago, but I got lazy. Anyway, here we go. From KL we took the overnight bus to Kuala Terrengganu; a journey that would normally take 7 hours including rest stop, but was only 6 hours and 20 minutes (the driver drove like a madman). But despite arriving early, our ride was already waiting there for us. I arranged this trip through a travel agent and we were picked up by a sightseeing van (van persiaran that's typical of travel agencies). Throughout our trip, our land rides have always been punctual. So this is a very good travel agent and I reccomend it to everyone on their first trip to Redang! This is their website: http://www.pinganchorage.com.my/.

Between arriving at KT and getting to the jetty, we did nothing much but have breakfast and took a nap at the agency's backpackers' inn. Anyway, when we finally got to the jetty, we were greeted by this:
Yup, that's our boat. Not very big but everyone and everything fit in there, surprisingly. The left walkway actally leaned sideways and creaked like it was going to collapse anytime. When I first arrived, it freaked me out because I was walking freaking sideways! But surprisingly, when we returned from the island, it didnt bother me at all. I must have gotten my sea legs by then hehe.

When we arrived to our jetty, the operator said we have another 45 minutes before the boat leaves so we could go and have a look round first before we leave. Each resort operates their own boat in Redang so there's no issue of being left behind. So, while we waited, what else to do but...shop? xD


The jetty was littered with stalls selling souvenirs like these, in addition to t-shirts and island themed shirts. I bought a pair of colorful pants and a shirt to wear for our snorkelling trips and some souvenirs for people at work.

When it was time to board, the journey to Redang took about 45 minutes. It wasn't unpleasant, and I wasn't seasick, but it was incredibly boring. But we finally arrived!

It was almost noon by then so it was pretty hot. The boat was at the direction of the sun so I couldnt take a good picture of it. We got off the boat at a jetty by the beach, but we had to trek up the beach to where our resort is, and that's where they dumped our bags on the beach, which was quite thoughtful of them. Since we won't have to haul them all they way in the hot sun.

The legends are true. The beaches ARE BLUUUUUE!

After lunch we went snorkelling. My friend rented mask and life jacket while I only rented life jacket because I have my own mask. Snorkelling gear and snorkelling trips are all organized by the resort's Snokeling Center. xD

The first island we went to was THE BEST! It was my first time snorkelling and conditions couldn't have been better. The water wasn't too deep and the sun was shining brightly, giving great visibility. We were hauled to the snorkelling sites on an old fishing boat and it was...weird. But at least it has no barrier which means you can jump off the boat from whichever spot you like! Hahahaha.

The resort staff were very helpful. They told those who can't swim to leave last after they have prepared the floaters. My friend couldn't swim, so I had to wait as well. :P But unlike other resorts who just tossed the floaters out there for non-swimmers to cling to, they stayed and guided the floaters in addition to teaching them to swim. One of them is a man we now call Pakcik (Uncle). He's really not that that old, but with that overly tanned skin he might as well be.

Anyway, since my friend couldn't swim, I hung out around the floater alot, as he gave the hanger ons a tour of the coral reef. After some time, he dove down into the water and produced a large, black, and pointy S-shaped sea cucumber! I was freaked out! Not only did he raise it out of the water, he put it to his ear and said "hello? Hello?"

Me: "WTF IS THAT?!"
Pakcik: "It's a telephone. Hello? Hello? There's a call for you." puts the sea cucumber on the floater.
My friend and I screamed. You should have SEEN that thing! BIG BLACK POINTY! RAAWR.

It was the only time my friend who clung to the floater like her life depended on it, let go of it. I asked him again and again what it was, and he insisted that it was a telephone. It was hilarious, but at the same time freaky. After he was done freaking out everyone around him, he dove down and put back the sea cucumber on the sea floor.

On our last day he finally admitted that it was not a telephone, but a sea cucumber. In fact, the one that he held was a male and has a very fragile nature despite its hard exterior. It can die from just a simple cut.

This pic is from our last snorkelling trip. There was a sudden influx of people, so the fishing boat was not enough.We had to use this baot too. This boat couldn't go to the jetty, so everyone had to board from the beach. xD I asked Pakcik what the delay was about, he said the trip is canceled and we're going hiking instead. "With life jacket and snorkel?" He said yes. My friend stayed in the boat coz she was not only unable to swim, but is also afraid of the water. Sighs.

So we spend our days snorkelling and eating, what do we do at night? Why, we go sightseeing of course! Along our stretch of beach there are seven resorts. Our resort is at the end of the beach and we could easily walk to the four resort during high tide. But during low tide at night, we could go all the way to the end of the beach!

We met this sister in one of the neighbouring resorts. She works in the gift shop and was making a bracelet for her friend. We stood around admiring her work for a while and took pictures. She was seriously very good at it. She should sell her own bracelet instead of those manufactured ones in the shop!


On the second night Pakcik escorted us all the way to the end of the beach where we took pictures, had tea and snacks and talked about kueh lapis! IT WAS TOTALLY FUN! It wouldn't have happened if he hadn't tagged along with us because the bend that connects the two parts of the beach is dark and too dangerous for two girls to traverse alone. PAKCIK YOU'RE AWESOME!
Not only that, he has turtles for pets! YEAH!


Our resort may be the cheapest and the most minimum, but its strategically located at the end of the beach, above the rocks, which give you this kind of view 360 degrees. I left Redang with a heavy heart. I looked forward to going back to KL, but I did not enjoy the thought of going back to KT. It was a miserable place for me. I wanted to just go straight from KL to Redang.

One of the reasons was because we made a lot of new connections there. There was a group of students from PTPTL College during our trip and we met a Sarawakian and immediately hit it off. And then there was Pakcik who was one of those rare genuinely nice people out there. My friend sms'd him on the first day of fasting and he called back. It was funny because he was in the middle of shopping and I just blathered on about crap. He said the most words when he was going to hang up because he had to pay for his stuff hahahaha.

I am definitely planning to go back there next year! I don't know yet if I'll be staying at the same resort. Depending on my company, I may go to Laguna Redang instead of Redang Holiday, simply because the resort was cooler and has ice cream shops and coffee shops. But the beach is not for swimming as it is an active boating area. But I doubt we'll get the same sort of 'old friend' feeling with the staff. Whatever it may be, one thing is for certain; I am not going to take the bus there ever again! RAWR 7 hours is enough to drive anyone crazy, especially with a selfish and inconsiderate bitch sitting in front of you! I'm flying there next time around.

I'll post up more pictures in facebook. Ta'ra!

p/s While doing this post, I did the dishes, cleaned the table, cleaned the stove, and had dinner. Just goes to show how low my interest in blogging has become.

p/s/s My feet was so tired last night that I decided that I was going to soak it in some relaxing concoction. At first I thought of buying some salt from the Body Shop, but then I didn't want to spend any money on it so I thought of maybe tea? I found some old earl greys in the pantry and used two tea bags. It took a while to get the temperature right, but it was so worth it! I soaked my feet while watching CSI, so it was about 45-50 minutes, which I think is really more than enough. But it was SOO relaxing! Not only that, when I took out my feet, they did not smell of earl grey! Hahaha. In fact, they didn't smell of anything at all! Usually even after I shower there will always be a faint lingering of damp socky smell. If I am bothered I would put foot cream, but after the tea, the smell was completely gone! Tea is deodorizing. I knew that, but to see it worked is amazing! xD So if you have smelly feet or you just want to relax your feet cheaply, just use the cheapest tea you can find and soak your feet in them. You'll get fresh feet for sure! XD

Redang Prologue

Yes, I've been too lazy to update my blog these days. No reason. I am simply lazy. No wonder my mental state has not been very good lately too. Anyway, I ralized my two-year dream of going to Redang the weekend before Ramadhan. I'm just wasting time before going to class, so here's a picture of me holding up a baby turtle. O_O <<--my eyes. My eyes aside, the baby turtle is just too cool. It kept on swimming even as I held it up out of the water. It was like *swim swim swim* *looks* *swim swim swim*. Too cool. I'm still vigorously attending my Japanese classes. I must have spent a fortune on it I think. But this year just when I thought I was ready to finally take on JLPT, a new syllabus presented itself and I just HAD to register for the brand spanking new level N3 instead of N4 which is a guaranteed pass at my level. But noooo, I just had to burden myself unnecessarily. So in order to help me pass, I signed up for the prepatory class and was smashed down to earth by the realization that it was probably out of my league. Probably. I was practically shot dead and became a zombie throughout the class. We did three tests. At least I know as long as it doesn't involve reading (kanji) I actually did well in listening.

But that's little to celebrate about. I have to memorize 600 kanji characters, which is double the amount of the previous JLPT 3 now JLPT N4. The sensei already warned us that its not going to be easy, and the classes only help little, and we have to put in the effort EVERYDAY. With NO BREAK. She told us to go buy the kanji workbook ourselves seeing as we don't have enough class time to cover kanji. Only Kino sells those kanji workbook and I have staff purchase to cushion the price.

In addition to the kanji workbook I also bought a new Japanese-english dictionary. I wanted only Japanese words you see. Now that I think about it, maybe I should buy a kanji dictionary too, pending I could learn how to use it. Raaawr. I'm SO glad I decided to forfeit my cousin's wedding for this. She is so not worth it.

Okay time for class. I'll post up Redang pics later tonight. Ta'ra!

p/s I need a new theme for this blog. The sushis have gone way past expiration.

New Year's Resolutions Revisited

I wrote down my new year's resolutions in my B5 ring binder on new year's eve before it went on my blog. I just happened to read them the other day and measured my success against it, and man am I proud! Here goes!

My 2010 New Year's Resolutions, mid-year review:

(in no order of importance except for the first one)

1. To graduate! Needs no explanation! Well it's not the end of the year`yet, but my reports are going along fine, so I hope it'll be realized soon!

2. To go on that Scandinavian tour xD. Okay this had to be postpone. So now it's NORWAY 2011 BABY! MY TICKETS ARE BOUGHT! I AM COMIIING!!!!!11111

3. To complete my Japanese lesson Advance 1 and 2 and JLPT level 3. I am most proud of this one. I completed Advance 1 and 2 and am now in Advance 3 yay me! JLPT changed from 4 to 5 levels so now I am aiming to take JLPT N4 and N3. I know that N4 is a sure pass, but since N3 is only slightly harder, I decided to take my chances with it anyway. They said N3 is now equal to Advance 4, which is starting around August so I am on track! Whee! Wish me luck! xD

4. To eat my supplements everyday (coz they are expiring soon heheh). Have completely gotten off the supplements wagon! I do prefer fresh veggies but I just forgot D:. I'll try to do better. I promise D:.

5. To come up with several plans (for my future) for the coming year. Holiday plans and carreer plans are up!

6. To have RM1087.92 in saving by the end of the year (that's my yearly loan repayment from nov 2010-oct 2011 btw). I have that amount now, but I have other plans for that.

7. To achieve my targeted amount of Snackelery sales. I haven't made any sales since the start of the year! Someone please buy! D:

8. To clean the house every two weeks. Is once a month good enough? xD

9. To check my monthly planner at least once a week. I don't really check it weekly, but I do update it often enough that I remember what's when and such. Thus my cute planner is sufficiently utilized.

10. To exercise 3 times a week and lose 5 kg! (This is a must every year!). Exercised. Scale is broken? xD Enough said.

Looking back it's amazing how frivolous my new year's resolutions seemed. And I'm not even sure if frivolous is being used in context. I mean yeah, graduating and Japanese lessons' targets are important, but supplements?

If I could make modifications I really should have added my goal of finishing my ISP reports by August 11th when the fasting month begins. At least I only have to worry about my thesis and pending paper. Pending I passed the one I sat before. I'm scared.

Anyway, I AM FINALLY GOING TO REDANG THIS YEAR YAAAY!!! I finally coerced one more person to accompany me and we are off just before the fasting month! I AM SUPER EXCITED! I have been wanting to go there for 2 years now! Now all I have to do is buy the bus tickets to K. Terengganu. I've never purchased a bus ticket before, so I'm a little intimidated. After that I'm heading to Masjid India to buy fabrics for my work uniform. HR Basically told me to put up with my short uniform because I am not important enough for a longer cutting uniform which are all BRAND NEW FIRST-HAND UNIFORMS RESERVED FOR MORE IMPORTANT PEOPLE THAN ME! So fucking pissed. What? Just because I'm a part-timer means I'm not entitled to good fitting uniforms!? I do more physical work than any of the full-timers in my unit okay!? Stupid HR! FINE! I'll make my own! AND IT WAS YOUR MANAGER WHO TOLD ME TO GET AN EXCHANGE!

Grr tomorrow (or today since its 3 am already) I have to go shopping full circle. My plans are like this:

Putra Bus Station --- Masjid India ---Mid Valley

Bus station for tickets, Masjid India for fabrics and finding a uniform tailor, Mid Valley to go pick up my L'Occitane card and to do some vain shopping. I totally deserved it. *Glares at my VISA*

Taxi to Putra, maybe taxi to Masjid India too. I know, there is a train that goes directly there from Putra, but it's such a long journey. I'll take the bus to midvalley, maybe? xD but definitely taxi on the way back home. will be a long day. Must wear comfortable shoes. Anyway, so excited! xD

Ta'ra! And my report is 99% finished! Just have to put up the references.

Nothing Speaks Louder than Insincerity

I heard you the first time. The second time is me being kind. The third time is me being uncaring. The fourth time is me annoyed. The fifth time...let's hope there isn't one.

Do you seriously think coming off as a friendly everyone's friend is going to score you points with everyone? Sure, everyone can be civil enough for you to expect the 'well, she didn't do anything to me so I'm fine with her' attitude, but do you seriously think that nobody would ever notice your real self? I've seen it and as I expected, I didn't like it.

And of course, the people you call your 'bossom buddies' also seemed to think the same way. If not, why do you think you've never been invited to our outings? Cause you're too busy? Are you sure? It's really because we just didn't want you there. You name never even gets mentioned. I'm sorry, no matter how hard you whore yourself out, nothing speaks louder than insincerity. And while we're on the subject. You're too clingy for taste.

That was just me venting out some supressed stress while waiting for the dawn prayer time. And yes, I was talking about EF. You may remember her from the previous post. Yesterday Kino had a massive stock-take, the only day of the year when the shop closes. EF must be shaking with exictement or something, with everyone working at the same time. It didn't matter that MY FRIENDS (who didn't give a damn about you by the way) reserved the tables first. You just came down and labeled the seats with people of your unit! WHAT IS THIS, KINDERGARTEN?! You're lucky I only disliked you and UHAW in that unit and I like everyone else, if not there would have been blood. Yours, of course.

Childish behavior notwithstanding, the tables soon filled up with a lot of unlikeable people so we, the original people moved away to a far away table. It's very ironic, but it was better that way. But seriously...

If I had been in a bitchier mood I would just sit down on any of those seats just to prove a point. What is she going to do? Send me away? Who is she to even talk to me when I don't even acknowledge her? 24 years old yet still acting like she's 4. And no, it's not cute.

Anyway, enough about EF. It's a known fact that I don't get along with friendly people in general. This is because I like exclusive friends. One or two close friends whom I get along with, hang out with and can talk about anything. It's small, it's simple, and easy to handle. And it goes both ways. 'Friendly' people are friends with everyone. They may be 'friendly' but they are friends with everyone but are close to none. They just want to appear friendly and approachable to make themselves popular. Popular for for being an attention whore of the wrong kind (I do admit to being an attention whore myself, but only of the good sort). Insincere people are such a waste of time. I sometimes wonder where they get the energy to put up all that act?

Again, this is just my opinion. If you disagree, you may prove me wrong. But not with more useless words. Word is cheap. Action speaks louder than words, but nothing speaks louder than insincerity. So please be careful with your words and actions. I am sensitive to these things, and can detect even the smallest hint of insincerity. Most of the time I brush it off because they are insignificant and one must not dwell on insignificant things, but if I pay attention to it, it means there are larger things afoot that I will look out for. Of course, my friendship may mean nothing to a 'friendly' person who is friends with everyone, but my actions will speak louder than words, and sooner or later people will notice. In the end, you're the only one who thinks you're friends with everyone while we all secretly look down on you for being such a pitifully lonely and annoying creature.

And yes, I am that mean. See if I care.

Ta'ra.