Some random thoughts because I need a break.

Tomorrow is my technical assessment. You go in, sit in front of two panels, and explain your work. They ask question, and you answer. They will rate your technical understanding based on that 1.5 hour session. Might influence your promotion.

On Sunday I am joining the Penang Bridge International Marathon. But I am running the Fun Run only, which is still a 10-km race (for other races, the Fun Run is usually 4-5 km). It has been a while since I raced, so I really want to do this. Except now that closer to the event I realized I haven't practice much and naturally, I am going ting-tong with this: nak lari ke tak? But then if my own sister is also running in the same event, half-marathon pulak tu, plus on a weekend before her wedding (she's getting married the next Saturday), then I think I have no excuse. Hahaha..

Potensi untuk dilaukkan pada tanggal 17 Nov: 50%.
Potensi untuk disayurkan di tengah-tengah Jambatan Pulau Pinang pada tanggal 22 Nov: 90%.

Good luck je la.... hahaha

The Bread vs. Single People

I think breadmakers are prejudiced towards single people.

They should make a specially designed loaf for single people. I just could not eat sandwich for every single meal for 3 consecutive days just to chase the tight expiry date. I tried twice, and failed both time. The bread was not even half gone when I had to throw it away. No matter how I tried to disciplined myself to eat only sandwich, people are always asking me out for lunch date and dinner. Apparently I was quite popular, and being popular equals you-can-kiss-your-sandwich-dream-goodbye. If I live with my family, at least the burden is shared among a few people.

Seriously. I think it is a revolutionary idea to make smaller loaf catered for us lonely souls. There is a big market out there, Gardenia!!!!!!!!!!!

p/s: And if you do take this idea seriously, you know where to send that percentage of royalty.

Hate That I Love You

Ah, Facebook. I love to hate you, but like an Isetan members sale that I’d sworn I won’t go to ever again, I kept coming back to you. You are my guilty pleasure. The little red flags popping out at the bottom corner of the webpage are irresistible, and I jump gleefully when the number of comments and ‘Like’ increase. It seems than in this virtual world, my coolness and popularity are measured by how many people responded to my Facebook post. It does not matter that I haven’t seen that person in ten years. Neither that it is a problem if I have no idea who the person is (In my defense, I accepted her ‘friend request’ because she is a mutual friend of 38 of my friends thus by default, I should have known her… right?)

Well, it does not matter – as long as they leave a comment or click “Like”, they validate my presence on this earth.

I almost discontinued my Facebook account last month when it struck me just how weird it was to display a big part of my life online for the world to read. The allure of a woman (and a man for that matter) is that aura of mysteriousness she projected. The less you know about someone, the better. A girl should let the man do some extra work to find out what kind of flowers she likes and who her favorite author is. It is called The Chase.

The Chase has now been reduced to The Click. With a single visit to the profile page, one can find out about a person’s political affiliation, favorite drink, frequent hang out – even nick names close friends should have not disclosed in public. No mystery remains! All my stalker has to do is to visit my Facebook page. He does not have to tail me when I’m running my errands. He no longer has to secretly photograph me by hiding in the bushes – he can freely choose from an array of 250+ pictures tagged of me.

The amount of information that people share can be dizzying, ranging from useful to downright pointless, annoying and self-discriminating. Does anyone really care that I have a huge crush on Anuar Zain? (Well, the 60 responses received when I wrote that fake Ramadhan wish from both of us proved that some DO care - you guys are soooo going to get the VIP invite to our wedding!!). Who wants to know what book I am reading or which Youtube video of dancing baby or cute cats that I find the most adorable? Obama says it best, people: “Be careful what you post”. I probably won’t command much respect from my future constituents as a YB once they discovered that I once thought Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” is one of the coolest video ever or that I ended most of my comments and conversations on Facebook with “huhuhu”, “hehehe”, “hohoho” and a myriad of smiley faces?

Note: I am guilty for all the above… hehehe :)

Yes, I almost deactivate my account. Facebook is becoming too time-consuming to manage now. An integral part of my daily visit is spent hiding or blocking annoying postings and applications, which is still rather useless because too many new applications and quizzes are created each day. It does not help that apparently some people have too much time in their hands to try all those – all during office hour too – and think the result is interesting enough that they click ‘Publish’. I mean, do you really need a quiz to tell your percentage of happiness for the day? Or how lucky you are? On top of that, does others have to know about it too..??

(Honestly, I also try some of those quizzes, but I skip publishing the result, thus saving the world from knowing that I am really THAT lame.)

It has also becoming taxing in managing friends who post something genuinely interesting compared to those who update their statuses every five minute with mundane stuff. Example:
Person A status at 6.50pm: “I am eating a cake now”
Person A status at 6.55 pm: “I am eating another slice of cake now”

Well, eat what you want, post what you want, I have my ‘Hide’ button.
(Thus at 6.56 pm, ‘Hide Person A’ was clicked. Sigh… now I only have 483 friends left)

Tips: the ‘Hide’ button is also useful on friends who constantly aired their dirty laundries or post insulting remarks on some person they are mad at, often about their own colleagues, family and friends. People, chill… I think your maniac rant on something so personal belongs to a diary, the one with a huge lock which no one else can and should take a peek at.

But then, who am I to be a Facebook Nazi, to dictate what is interesting, and what is not. Perhaps I am the only person who thinks that the Youtube video of a little girl dancing with the Korean pop group Wonder Girls deserved to be shared with the world (the video is quite fun actually. Check it out on the Link section of my profile page). Perhaps to you the same video is the stupidest video ever. Perhaps you are annoyed with my posts too. Maybe you have blocked me already. I am sorry. Will you forgive me if I send a hug to you through SuperPoke?

I guess Facebook is a virtual, lifeless analogue of a bad boy that a good girl keeps falling after, even though she knows well enough to stay far, far away from him. I tried to cut ties with FB, but I only ventured as far as changing my Privacy setting and hiding people who I don’t care much of their updates. I could not quit it, as I thought of all my friends scattered all over the world who I would completely lost in touch with if not for Facebook. It is nice, even if I have not spoken to them for ages, to see a picture of their new babies, a note on their recent travel adventure and just some random things that keep me smiling and laughing from thousands miles away.

(And yes readers, go ahead. I know you ‘Like’ this. Drop a comment).

I Am Not Lost... Just Undiscovered

Hello.

Miss me?

Don’t worry. I had not gone missing while hiking up the Kilimanjaro or kidnapped during a humanitarian effort in Sudan. For the past months I was merely down with a severe bout of laziness and writer’s block. Hence, the lack of updates.

I was also undergoing one of the phases when I’m rethinking my presence online. Why do people share so much of themselves virtually? Do people actually care to read about my happenings? Even I myself am bored with my life, so should I be extending the mundane-ness to everyone else too?

And then my attention-seeking, publicity-whoring and the-world-do-care-about-me diva emerges and here I am, tinkering at the keyboard.

So my dear, I shall continue to annoy people with petty things and self-absorbed thoughts.

To kick off (and because sharing is caring), enjoy these!

One:

Ah, if Youtube and Go Fug Yourself are not enough to while away those boring minutes, go stuff yourself silly at Cake Wreaks. Recently featured in the New York Times, the site is choked with lots of outrageous and plain silly pictures of cakes go wrong, and a few that are quite cute or beautifully designed. My favorite cake is below (as quoted from NYT article which you can read in whole here):

"SOMEONE who decorates cakes for a living should possess certain skills. Spelling is an important one. For example, success is not quite as sweet when the inscription reads, “Contralulation’s Ronan.” An eye for color helps, too. Piped dark brown swirls are never a good idea on a cake dotted with plastic farm animals. Finally, a few words about customer service: When someone requests that nothing be written on the cake, “NOTHING” should not be written on the cake."

NYT - 13 October 2009

Two:

If you’re looking for a different sound than the usual emo or sugary pop songs you’ve been listening, try listening to Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder’s “Talking Timbuktu”. What an amazing album. I’ve been listening to their collaboration “Ai Du” all this while, which in my honest opinion is the sexiest sound ever, but only recently I managed to get my hand on the whole album. What an amazing album. Have no idea what Toure is singing about, but that what music does – it transcends language and cultural perception. And Ry Cooder’s guitar work…? Folksy, bluesy, sexyyyyyy *melt, melt*

Three:

And speaking of guitar, I would like to feature a recent writing from my rock star friend, Asrif. I think "You're Beautiful, and We're Late" is my favorite among his many excellent writings so far – his flair for writing and comedic timing are priceless!

Sandwich!

I just got off the phone with mom. She just got back from umrah with dad a few weeks back. One of the doa I kindly asked her to pray for is of course "Semoga mendapat jodoh yang baik dan menjadi anak yang solehah". Hehe, noticed that it does not say "semoga mendapat jodoh dalam waktu terdekat". I even added the disclaimer "menjadi anak yang solehah" - this is to lessen the sense of desperation, I guess? Hahaha. Anyway, I playfully mentioned to mom that the doa has yet to come true.

The thing I like most about her and dad is that they never asked "When are you getting married?" or "When are you getting a boyfriend?" bla bla bla. As a single, that is a much needed blessing. I don't need someone else to remind me that there is a high possibility at my age that I am going to ended up alone - I am well aware of that myself, thank you very much.

Anyway...

Come November, my elder sister and younger sister will get married on the same day (which is also my mom's birthday, so that will be triple the celebration, wuhooo! Kek tiga puluh tingkat!!). Now, I am the middle sister, and yet is as carefree as a bird, never even bothered to get hitched. Seriously, to me, I will just wait until God is willing me to find someone right, at the right time. I am okay with all this waiting. Life can't always be complete, but you can always make it perfect in your own way. But my guess is that the fact that the middle sister is yet to get off the market will cause a big stir among the very concerned aunties and uncles and neighbors and mom's friends in the November wedding.

I shall put on my poker face and will just say to them, "Yes, I feel like I am being sandwiched in between, with the big sis and small sis getting married. But didn't in a sandwich, it is the middle part - the filling - that is the best part? That's where you find the lettuce, cheese and all kind of meats. Some people even toss the bread out. So I am not going to complain by being the most delicious and good part of a sandwich. I am the meatballs and the salami and the tuna - I am the best".

Hehehe...

p/s: I ate Subway sandwich for lunch today. As I munched away, I suddenly realized how a part of my life is represented by two breads holding together the vegetables and meats. Hence, the story... Perhaps in the future, I can be inspired by nasi lemak and roti pisang as well, who knows.... hmmmm. Lapar la pulak.