Where are we?

Some time ago, I posted this regarding my fav TV series. Yesterday, that series, Lost, won the Emmy for the outstanding drama series for 2005!!!


That’s (the title for this post) what Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) asked in Episode 2 of this excellent TV series, “Lost”.

Cast of "Lost"

I was a TV addict when I was much, much younger. I grew up watching TV series like “The Six Million Dollar Man” (seems quite a bargain today, rite?), “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “Combat”, “BJ and the Sunshine Bear” and one of me all time fav, “Macgyver”.

But I actually stopped watching TV sumtime when I was 17 years old to concentrate on me studies! Really! Exams (O-Levels) were like 2 months away and I decided that if I stopped watching TV now, I could easily make up for it after the exams – watch non-stop and me parents won’t have a cause to complain. It worked. In fact, it worked so well that after that, I din have the desire to watch anymore. I was “freed”!!!

I actually survived 1 year in London without a TV – of course there were special occasions when we gathered in me fren’s room to watch but that was it.

Even today, I watch mainly for the live footie matches. With a few exceptions. They were:-

1. Ally McBeal
2. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
3. The Practice

I did follow some reality programmes like Survivor and The Amazing Race but not so anymore. Now, I do catch CSI whenever I can (only Vegas and NY). But I make it a point to watch ALL the episodes of “Lost”.

I had a feeling it was gonna be good cuz I enjoyed watching Alias – the same creators. But I never thought – or expected – it to be this good! These are the reasons why I like this series:-

1. It revolves around a small cast stuck in one place.

I’ve always enjoyed movies/plays like that – it really puts the actors to test. It can work brilliantly or just fall flat. (see movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “12 Angry Men”, and plays like “The Mousetrap” at London’s West-End where it worked so well)

2. It tells the story in flashbacks.

Again, flashbacks are an excellent tool if used properly. It’s like seeing the pieces of jigsaw fit in together. (see movies like “The Red Violin”, “Rashomon”, “The Usual Suspects”, “Memento”, “Courage Under Fire”, “Hero”. See also “non-linear” films like “Pulp Fiction” and “21 Grams”)

3. It’s got twists!

Now who doesn’t like a nice twist at the end? (think “Sixth Sense”, “The Usual Suspects”, “Memento”, “Snatch”, “se7en”, "Saw" etc.). Of course these days, it seems to be the “in thing” to have twists at the end that it no longer surprises the audience anymore.

4. It keeps you guessing

We are like stranded with the cast on the island, discovering as they do, each other and wondering where they are and wat is going on.

The movie starts of with Jack waking up on the island after the crash. As he tries to recollect wat happened, it was like we have just woken up after the crash, trying to recollect wat has happened. And together with Jack, we are filled with shock, fear, and perhaps a littled awed when we first laid eyes on the plane wreckage!

5. The most important – it has got HEART!

This is where it pulls away from CSI (for me, personally). While CSI is entertaining, it lacks heart, it does not get me involved – although I must say that Gary Sinese in CSI:NY is doing a good job to add some human aspect to the techinically brilliant series.

Each of us have our own story to tell. And it is true for “Lost”. Each episode focuses on one character showing in flashbacks, how he or she ended up there, why he or she is behaves in such and such a manner. We see that there is more to the quiet Korean lady, more to the weird man wif knives, the rock star, the typical bad guy etc.

Oso, it occasionally (I’ve only watched 8 episodes) touches on simple things in life that we take for granted. And it does so without getting too preachy or corny. There was this episode when it ended with a nice song and showed clips of the characters enjoying each other’s company despite of the situation they were in.

I love episode 8 as it showed why the “bad guy” behaved the way he does. And it oso ended with this brilliant scene between Charlie and Claire over a bottle of peanut butter! I won’t say anymore for those who have not watched it!

My fav scene of episode 8! Brilliant! :-)

Sigh... gotta wait til next Thursday for the next episode!

All pics obtained from the ABC website

What to look forward to!

Ok. After the depressing note on me previous list, here's sumthing to brighten up the mood!

1. Fish and chips! Really! And Kebab too!

2. The 4 seasons!

3. The leaves changing colours in October!

4. The library reading room which is opened 24 hours during term time!

5. Meeting up wif my mates there - Kok Choong, Kevin, Brenda, Daniel, Hsueh Ling, Fred, etc.

6. The National Gallery (and Tate modern too!)

7. Travelling around the UK - the Lake District, Edinburg, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Belfast...

8. White Christmas? Keeping me fingers cross!

9. No more mozzies!

10. Cheap Doc Marts boots! ;-P

Fear factor

I'm scared...

...of waking up one morning and realising my family and my mates are halfway around the world

...of going back to study again after a break of 10 years

...of the loneliness of being alone in a foreign country during the cold miserable winter

...of seeing my mom cry at the airport

...of leaving the comforts of home

...I won't be able to fit in wif my flat-mates

...of realising that doing my Masters is not wat I really want to do after all

...of not being able to secure a part time job to defray the cost of living in UK

...of missing home

...of hearing the voices of my family over the phone but unable to reach out to touch them

...of sumthing bad happening to my loved ones here when I'm over there

...that things wif my best mates will never be the same again

What I’ll miss the most*…

*Besides the obvious – me family and me mates!!!!

1. Me bed and me bolster!

2. Me action figures – which I have to leave behind…

3. Wednesday RM6.00 per movie!!!!

4. Having me mom to wash and sew for me

5. Going out at anytime of the day and still find food – good food!

6. Having a car

7. The rain (it is so different here!)

8. Speaking in Cantonese

9. Watching live footie matches in the wee hours of the morning (watching live EPL games in the afternoon is gonna feel weird)

10. Not standing out in a crowd – yeah, everyone here has black hair and dark eyes. Well, almost everyone!

Why I enjoyed my trip

This post was done after a trip to Penang which I made way back in February this year:-

Just got home from Penang! Totally wasted (meaning really tired!). A crazy 3 day 2 nites whirlwind trip there – and I really enjoyed meself (in spite of the Penang drivers and the fact that I din go on-line at all!!!) Here’s why I enjoyed it:-

1. I had loads of good food!

Yeah, the char kuay teow was really good – and it comes with big juicy prawns!!! Yum!!! Even the “Wan thun” mee was a nice surprise – the “wun thun” was really good – unlike the pathetic mini ones they serve here in KL!

And we stumbled upon this Honkie café called “Iceice Baby” (shud be read as “Ice Ice Baby”). So we decided to be adventurous and walked in while humming the bass riff line from Vanilla Ice’s song (for the younger generation, his song is “Ice Ice Baby”). I had the Watermelon Rambutan Smoothie – it was simply excellent – the perfect antidote to the blazing hot afternoon! Me mate had the tuna cheese toast which was stuffed generously with tuna and cheese – totally unhealthy but simply delicious!
2. I finally managed to walk all the way up Penang Hill – sumthin which I was supposed to complete years ago! (Read my other post for details!)
3. Closely related to no. 2 above, had a nice time enjoying God’s creation - being in the jungle and in nature surrounded by the flora and fauna was really refreshing.
4. Manage to catch up wif a fren working there whom I have not seen for months.

5. Had sum excellent time sharing with my travel mate
Caught up wif each other , gossiped bout other people, talked bout problems facing our local church, etc.
6. Wandered round Prangin Mall
It has nice little shops selling interesting stuffs. Even the action figure shops there have better choices than here! I managed to buy an Angelica Lee’s movie DVD – can’t find in KL :-)

7. Had a nice drive there and back.
I took the scenic route, not the tolled highway. It was really fun travelling in the small windy roads, passing many a small village and Orang Asli (the native people) settlement, although I had to avoid the chickens which love to cross the road in front of me car!

Spontaneously made a turn-off to explore a waterfall near Tapah town. Excellent place!

The "Lata Kinjang" waterfalls near Tapah (for those who travel from KL to Ipoh, you can usually see this from the highway)

On top of that, despite driving on me own, I had my new CD player accompanying me all the way – with me singing like crazy!
8. I had time to spend on my own!

9. I had time to just sit and read.

10. Reminiscing the good times I had with frens whenever I passed a familiar place.

It was my kind of ideal holiday – flexible and spontaneous plans, being at one with nature, shopping (mostly the “window” kind!) in interesting shops, good food, great company, wonderful memories.

Why I miss work!

This was a post I put up in February after stopping work at UMW Toyota Capital. Oh, there's a reference to CGWNH - if you dun know about her, then you'll never know who she is - so dun ask!!! ;-P

I’m serious (with reference to the post title). Of course, sum of me mates thot I was just tryin to rub it in – but I really do. I kinda envy them that they get to go to work the next day!!!!

Here’s a list of reasons why I miss going to work – of course, in the context of going to work at me last work place!

1. I enjoy the work

Sure, there’s not much job satisfaction in the sense that I’m not changing the world in wat I do but I enjoy legal work and the work there is simple enuf not to stress me up but difficult enuf to be sufficiently challenging.

2. I get to tell lawyers what to do! ;-P

3. It feels good to be useful.

There’s this sense of achievement when I complete my assignments or clear my work. I guess I’m a little bit of a workaholic – I’m the first to be in (most of the time, I turn on the lights!!!) since I go early to avoid the jam and I’m almost always the last to leave (yes, I turn off the lights when I leave!!!) and Weng usually has to come over to convince me to leave!

4. I enjoy the company of me work mates.

I’m really thankful that I ended up sitting with the Recovery team – I just clicked wif them! They enjoy music (our work area is the only place in the whole office where the radio is blaring all the time during office hours), football and they are just as lame as I can be!!! There are also nice and amusing people in other departments! It’s interesting to note that despite me being there only around 2 months, when it was time for me to go, it felt like I’ve been there forever – it just shows how easy I managed to click with the people there.

5. I get to see CGWNH every working day!!!! :-)

6. I have a great boss

Forget all the horror clichéd stories about terrible women bosses. Me boss is fun, funny, appreciative and good at her work! Nobody knows this but one incident happened in her room which made me decide to extend my stay at the company (which since then, the company withdrew its ofer) – me boss was asking and pleading with me to stay on and I was in such a good mood that I broke out into song saying “All my bags are packed…” to which she immediately responded with “…I’m ready to go”!!! I mean, come on – where can you find a boss like this? I know I’ll never find another like her!

7. I’m treated like a “king”.

In the land of the blind, the one-eye man is king!!! The whole company looks up to me in awe cuz of me “superior” knowledge in law!

8. I enjoy my lunch time

It’s usually spent by the lakeside reading and praying – just chatting with Jesus. Love it.

9. I get to go to Court again

…and I dun have to be stressed out!

10. I actually lost weight!!!

I found that I could go thru the day without eating much – just survive on coffee!!! And since I sleep early, there’s no such thing as supper! Now, I eat non-stop at home, day and nite. Sigh…

What makes me smile

1. Receiving an e-mail from a fren

2. Playing wif me nephew and/or niece

Adorable, aren't they?

3. Looking thru me old photo albums

4. Finding money in the pocket of a shirt/pants that I have not worn for a while!

5. Reading my old journals

6. Finding ice cream in the freezer

7. Finding a parking space with shade

8. A total stranger smiling at me

9. Reading Zits comic strip

10. Finding out sumone left a comment on me blogs (Hint! Hint!)

(Note: not exhaustive and will be updated from time to time)

What I want!

Posted previously on 5th February 2005:-

Was just reading Breakup Babe’s blog – she compiled a list of things she’s looking for in a man! It’s quite amusing – so it inspired me to do the same – a list of wat I’m looking for in a woman!

Of course, I’ve omitted obvious things like “must be filthy rich and willing to spend money on me”, “thinks I’m the best-looking guy in the whole world”, “will wash my car for me”, “when I ask her to jump, she’ll ask ‘how high’”, “must bear a striking resemblance to Liv Tyler”….;-P)

Dream girl?

Here goes:-

1. Must be a Liverpool FC fan (or at the very least, NOT an Arsenal fan!!!)

2. Must be able to speak Cantonese dialect (being able to speak and read Mandarin will be a plus point too! But canto is non-negotiable!)

3. Must be able to play a musical instrument – or loves to sing!

4. Doesn’t think that collecting action figures is too childish.

5. Loves watching movies.

6. Loves travelling.

7. Say what she means (no “Dun call me” and then after a few days “Why din you call me???”!!!! Or “You go ahead and have dinner with your frens” and then sulks for days because I went to have dinner wif my frens!!!!)

8. Does not threaten to commit suicide when she doesn’t get her way!

9. Is not terrified of cockroaches (can’t have the both us freaking out when there’s one around, can we?)

10. Loves to eat and is not afraid to do so (can’t stand those who starve themselves just to look like a supermodel)

11. Is willing to do crazy and/or spontaneous things;

12. Must be able to let me have time alone!

I’m not asking for much, am i?

Wonderful to the nose!

This was posted earlier on one of my private blogs on 22 November 2004 (and edited before being posted here):-

I was annoyed when I saw this man sitting on MY park bench by the lakeside. I could see him even from across the road, way before I even step foot into the park. Of all the benches all around the lake and in the park, why did he have to choose mine??? Sheesh… Fine! I’ll take the next one.

As I approached the park, my senses were assaulted – well, in a nice way! My smell senses, to be exact. It was one of my favourite “smells” – the smell of freshly cut grass! Oh, how I love tt smell. Dun ask me why. It’s jus one of the things tt agree wif my smell senses. Well, more than agree, actually!

I started trying to recall wat other smells I love. Here’s a short list I came up wif as I sat there and enjoyed the smell (in no particular order):-

1. Polo Sport cologne!!!!
No, no, wait. Hear me out! It’s not jus any cologne. It was wat W use to wear. I’ll never forget once when we went down to Kajang after work one nite to surprise one of her frens there. She wore the Polo Sport cologne (given to her by one of her secret admirers!!!) and I smelt it all the way down to Kajang, all the time in Kajang and all the way back! Yeah, she accidentally put on too much! It was a wonderful nite. When I woke up the next morning, it was almost like a perfect dream… until I picked up my shirt from last nite and smelt the lingering smell of her perfume on it! :-)

2. The smell of freshly baked bread!
Enough said!

3. The smell of clothes which are brought in after being dried in the sun!
When I was a kid, I used to sleep on the cool floor in the hot afternoons next to the nice, clean clothes washed in the morning and dried in the afternoon sun! Even tho there was hardly any sun in London, I used to be reminded of tt smell whenever it was laundry day and I had to dry all my stuffs by turning up the heater in my room!!!!

A similar smell is wat I get when me mom washes my blanket amd suns it during the day. When I get home, sleeping on my blanket is jus lovely!

4. The smell of coffee!
Wat can beat that? I remember it was a cold autumn morning when we stepped out of the tube from Heathrow and walked into Barking station. The first thing tt greeted us was the smell of freshly brewed coffee at the front of the station. It warmed us up immediately!

5. The smell of new money!!!!
Ha! Really! But only cuz it brings back memories of Chinese New Year eve. We’ll all be filled wif a wonderful reunion dinner and have cleaned up the house. We’ll be sitting together watching sum old Chinese movie which is being screened for the 23rd time on local TV and my mom will bring out the new crisp money to be used as "ang pow". Then we’ll help her fold the money and stuff it into the red packets while waiting for the sounds of firecrackers signalling the new year!

6. The smell of Famous Amos choc chip cookies! ;-P

7. The smell of my fav cologne – Clinique Happy!
Very refreshing, very natural! My "sis", BK, bought it for me first!

8. The smell of books –
yeah, even old books! Esp old books...

9. The smell of oil paintings!!!!
Actually, to be exact, the smell inside the National Gallery in London where I spent most of my time whenever I was in town!

10. The smell outside after the rain!

Top 10 Best Movie Experiences

This was the first list I ever churned out - way back in November 3rd, 2004:-

Have been watching quit a lot of movies lately. All kinds – serious dramas, romance, action, brainless comedies. Yeah the works. Really love movies (as most of u who knows me should be aware by now!)

And i got to thinking back not onli of my all time fav movies but oso, my all time fav movie experiences!!! I have had a lot of interesting experiences in cinemas – there was once when the cinema got flooded! Another time, the usher stopped me from going into the cinema – they were screening “Powerpuff Girls, the movie” and he thought I was going into the wrong cinema. And the other times when I simply walked out because the movie was jus so bad!!! But thank goodness there were many other really good experiences!

Here my Top 10 list of all time unforgettable movie experiences:-

No. 10 Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom – at Sentosa Cinema, PJ

I was onli in my early teens when a big bunch of us went to the old Sentosa cinema (which has since burned down). We took almost a whole row of seats. Not onli us but everyone else in the cinema was in the mood for a good time. And we did. We were all gasping at the same time, screaming out loud, laughing crazily and basically enjoying oursleves. It was nice when the whole cinema erupted into spontaneous clapping when Indy managed to get his tram to jump tracks, fly across a huge chasm and safely to the other side.

No. 9 The Mummy – at Bangkok

It was a long day (we were there for some mission/fact-finding trip) and we decided to relax wif a movie. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cinema but the most memorable incident was just before the movie started. A message flashed across the screen “Please pay homage to his majesty, our ruler”. Before we finished reading the words, we could hear the seats all flapping backwards as the other cinema-goers got up to their feet. We followed suit and all of us stood in silence as the National Anthem of Thailand was played!!!

No. 8 Troy – at TGV 1-Utama

I went with Jit Tat and when the movie started, we were shocked at how bad the quality of the picture is as the opening credits were being screened. After watching for another 10 mins or so, the quality of the picture was still really bad and we decided to walk out and demand for our money back. The usher asked us to go to the next cinema hall where they were just starting to screen the same movie. We went in and found it to be empty save for a small group of malay guys sitting at the back. The picture quality was good. We stayed on. The movie was alrite but wat made it really memorable was those malay guys behind us who were giving a running commentary throughout the movie. It was hilarious!!! The classic was during one of the more serious scenes – Paris was going to fight Menelaus and Helen was watching anxiously from the “royal box”. Priam, seeing Helen watching at the edge, called out to her and aked her to sit nx to him. Immediately, the commentary behind went “Wah… tahu anak akan mati, dia pergi 'conquer'!!!!” (translation: “He knows his son is going die so he goes and “conquer”!!!)

No. 7 Maverick – on a British Airways flight

This was in the days when we dun have our own personal screens and we had to watch the bi screen at the front. It was gonna be a long flight and everyone was trying to sleep. Not me, tho. Perhaps a little excited at the fact that I’m going home? Maybe. Anyways, the movie started and it was really funny – Mel Gibson at his comedy best! The thing was that this guys nx to me was trying to sleep and I was trying sooooo hard to stifle my laughter – not very successful! I din make many new frens on that flight!!!

No. 6 True Lies – at Trocadero Cinema, London

This was back in 1994. The cinemas back home were still quite pathetic and this was my first movie I went to watch with the state-of-the-art sound system (at that time). It was brilliant! When Arnie shot his machine gun, I could hear not only the gun shots but also the empty shells falling on the ground all around me! And when the Harrier appeared on screen, the sound of the jet just blew me away! Now, tt’s what I call a true cinema experience!

No. 5 Die Hard 2 – at Cathay Cinema, KL

I was in Form 6. It was a school day. The 4 of us skipped school, cramped into my class monitor’s yellow mini and went to Cathay – none of us knew the way there at that time!!!! It was a great movie. Jus wat we needed – senseless violence to give us a break from our studies. I guess the idea of playing truant and going to watch a movie made it even more sweeter! ;-)

No. 4 The Firm – at Romford Cinema, London

Our first movie in London. Again, there was a big grp of us Malaysians there and we jus made a nuisance of ourselves, talking loudly, calling out to each other (we were seated all over) and Stephan and I were singing at the top of our voices during one of the Nescafe commercials! Can’t remember much bout the movie tho… but the book was good.

No. 3 P Tinto’s Miracle – at GSC Mid-Valley Cinema, KL

I managed to get 3 of me closest frens to watch this relatively unknown Spanish movie. It was really unknown cuz there was no one else in the cinema. It was a private screening for us!!! And yes, we talked loudly, phoned each other on our mobile phones, changed seats now and then and even talked to the projector person!!! He din reply us tho….

No. 2 King of Beggars/Hail The Judge – at Leicester Sq, London

After months of being deprived of Cantonese movies, we jumped at this chance of a special screening – 2 movies of Chow Sing Chi back-to-back! When we stepped into the cinema, we were transported back home!!!! It was like we were at Sungai Wang Plaza’s cinema. All Chinese ah bengs and ah lians!

It was so refreshing to watch some no-brainer nonsensical Chow Sing Chi movies again. Me mates said that I laughed the loudest in the cinema! It felt like home.

No. 1 Lord of the Rings Trilogy – at Sunway TGV

The best of all! 3 movies back-to-back. I went wif a bunch of die-hard LotR fans (a couple actually intended to name their kids Aragorn and Arwen…). We had the front seats!!!! I watched The Fellowship of the Ring seated at the front seat on the right side – yeah, my neck was killing me. When the Two Towers started, I went to the back wif Kok Choong and we sat on the floor nx to the entrance. KC fell asleep on the carpet there!!!

And everyone else was all psyched-up for it!!!! We clapped (some girls were jus clapping each time Orlando Bloom appeared), cheered, cried, screamed and enjoyed the movie together.

At the end, we wandered out into the bright daylight, feeling dazed but satisfied! And yes, we were given a free t-shirt and a certificate confirming we survived the marathon screening! :-)

Why this blog?

Here are the reasons why I decided to compile all my "Lists" and put them into this blog:-

1. Some mates have complained that my posts are too long to read. So it is prolly easier for them to just come here and look thru the lists which are not so taxing on them! (See how considerate I am!!!)

2. I have come up wif some pretty good "Lists" in the past and just like music singers/bands who/which run out of good stuff to come out wif, they put up a "Greatest Hits Albums". This is my "Greatest Hits Album" for my Lists!!!

3. I enjoy reading lists (most of mine are actually inspired by real-life blogs!!!) and I assume most readers do too!

4. Some of my previous "Lists" were actually posted on me "private" blog so this is actually a chance for me to "go public" about it!

5. I am simply too free now!!!! So I better do this before term starts next month!