2 Wow..Midvalley wins it hands down

They did it! I really think they deserved the win and here's why:

Isn't it enchanting?

I'm captivated by the dancing fairies too, who coincidentally were the same people who performed at 'The Pavilion'. I wonder who they are...

3 Dinner at our place

It was dinner at our place for friends we rarely met, on 23rd Dec :) Around 20 people who were close to our hearts turned up (err....didn't really start out this way).

I had only intended to invite a family of 3..I'm still trying to figure out how we got 20.. wait..did I say 3? No...no...in fact, I never planned to open my house for Christmas - it just happened! One said her family's looking forward to it..blah blah...and so it carried on from one friend to another.

Then Jen came along looking sad and depressed. "Hey, what's wrong?", my big mouth enquired. Before I knew it, her sob story made me offer my home to her, to host a dinner for some of her close friends.

I roasted 2 chickens (turkey's out of my budget), stir fried mixed vege, cooked spicy dried chilli cuttlefish and deep fried some kiddie food (chicken wings and chicken balls). My partner's specialty is fried noodles and rice, so that's what he did. Jen baked a cake and prepared sweet and sour fish.

Tadaaa..here it is, our work of art:

In between, we carolled and exchanged gifts ;) It was a fantastic evening. I would have it again.

Close ups for my online diary:

2 An inspiration from a poem

I am just so amazed by PJEFC’s efforts – The Christmas play was mesmerizing to say the least. It started with an ensemble of ‘stargazers’ who read a poem about the birth of all creations. The light shone on each stargazer as he/she spoke in poetic motion.

In between were beautiful Christmas carols sung by magical voices – the choir was harmonious and they were so in tune with one another. I was drugged by their serenity. The play ended with a scene on the birth of Christ.

Our friend, Cynthia was part of the play as a ‘stargazer’. Hence, we thought we’d come lend our support. She was very modest about their efforts – but that effort touched a lot of hearts.

It seems that the 'stargazer' scene was inspired from John Masefield's poem 'Lollingdon Downs V':

I could not sleep for thinking of the sky,

The unending sky, with all its million suns

Which turn their planets everlastingly

In nothing, where the fire-haired comet runs.

If I could sail that nothing, I should cross

Silence and emptiness with dark stars passing,

Then, in the darkness, see a point of gloss

Burn to a glow, and glare, and keep amassing,

And rage into a sun with wandering planets

And drop behind, and then, as I proceed,

See his last light upon his last moon's granites

Die to a dark that would be night indeed.

Night where my soul might sail a million years

In nothing, not even Death, not even tears.

0 I am Legend...am I not?

I am legend…really?……I wish!!

I went to the movies with a gf and my partner today. After much tussling, I managed to convince them to watch "I am Legend" In return, I had to watch "Alien vs Predator 2"….gah!

I found both movies to be in good taste..though non-Chrismassy, which was out of tradition for me. I had wanted Alvin & the Chipmunks. Seeing the 2 people beside me cringe at the suggestion was such a joy….but I lost the war and settled for Will Smith. He was so well oiled…err…built in the movie. No regrets here. If he were the last man on earth, I wouldn’t have minded being the last woman.

On Alien vs Predator 2 - I would be Predator..in my dreams – Alien’s just so gross. In this movie, the Alien was bred out of a dead Predator (following on from the first movie), hence inheriting some of its traits (hair - to be precise). I was pretty excited about the battle scenes between the Aliens and the Predator (so cool – one creature against many) .... pity, they didn’t put up a good long one for us to savour. Too many scenes on battling other insignificant Aliens in between is a waste of good movie time. A major battle scene between the best would have done the job nicely.

And what’s with these Aliens and their obsession with mass breeding anyway? Food is already scarce. Go figure. Alas, the Alien did not inherit any human trait...that would have been a change - Alien with human hair.

Next challenge - I have this thing about watching feel-good movies on Christmas. It’s probably just a silly thing BUT I GOTTA WATCH A FEEL-GOOD SHOW BEFORE CHRISTMAS ENDS!! I JUST HAVE TO!! Alvin, here I come…

0 My Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree of mine....

Errr... horizontal? Because it's artistic...really.... I'm no video genius. I wish I can help myself...

Happy Christmas everyone and Merry New Year!

0 Christmas at The Pavilion

Magical - that's what is was. I spent the entire day at 'The Pavilion' recently with a gf, right from 9am to 1am. What? There was so much to see! Things were a bit pricey, so we window shopped.

There were carollers making their rounds, and singing along the way. There was a jazz singer on the ground floor singing the best Christmas songs. More carollers in Parkson.

And more on this huge Xmas tree, lined all the way to the top singing their hearts out.

Then there was this fairytale musical - such fine execution of dance moves. I felt like Cinderella at the ball all over. I love their costumes and vibrant portrayal of characters.

To complete the already wonderful day, we caught a movie (The Golden Compass) at 11pm, at the new GSC cinema. Nothing beats sitting in a cosy, fresh smelling cinema.

0 Lost ....in translation

Another church play, you say? Tis the season to be holy..falalalala

Recently attended this 1 hour Christmas play at DUMC entitled 'Lost' - sorry guys, I really lost the message here..there were just too many distractions. First, we were encouraged to sit upstairs, then we were stopped and held up until there was clarification.

Props moving in and out - short breaks here and there. Terrible out-of-tune whining of the violin which did not match the carollers. EeeEeeeEeee..coordination was off all round.

I couldn't catch the flow of the story but its about a little lost lamb and how the sheperd sacrificed his precious staff to save his sheep.

Were they trying to tell us that the Jesus is our sheperd and he would save us?

Wondering thoughts of a lost soul...

0 Silver Aeroplanes - Forgiveness is in!

Silver Aeroplanes - it was an amazing play by PJEFC. Way beyond my expectations...how a church play could bring in so many emotions and how the actors and actresses portrayed their characters brilliantly.

It was a touching story of how a brother learnt forgiveness from his mentally challenged sibling, who loved playing with his silver aeroplane. He had left this brother behind, with much reluctance, to pursue his dreams but never really forgave himself for it. He then started neglecting his loved ones to focus on his job.

A success many years later, he met with an accident and was bedridden. It was then that his patient mentally challenged brother brought him hope. He responded in anger initially but this brother continued to care for him, encouraged him to walk again and showered him with forgiveness freely.

This act of love made him realise that all he had to do was ask for forgiveness and all would be forgiven.

I sure hope I got the message right :) I'm not an excellent example of a Christian but its great knowing that there could be someone out there who'll forgive my shortcomings and encourage me with love instead of judgement.

0 Voucher = Shopping Spree

A shopping spree in Carrefour? Sounded weird to me..I've never done it. But after some motivation from the folks at home, I spent a day at Midvalley Carrefour cracking my head over who should get what this Christmas.

Yeap..all my gifts are going to be from Carrefour this year...they asked for it. This Santarina responded.

0 Lost In Euphoria

Yahoo! This must be my lucky month – Just found out that I’d won James Blunt’s “All The Lost Souls” CD this week.

Am I one of those people who join every contest? Nah..only when the mood gets me (usually during the holidays) and only those with slogans.

You’ll never catch me going for lucky draws because I just do not have the time to submit multiple entries and I don’t believe I’m as lucky as some people out there….hehehe. I just love writing slogans – silly slogans.

The last time I submitted an entry was sometime during Merdeka month – didn’t expect to win two out of the three I joined, with the results released almost the same time.

Online contests are my favourite – my usual haunts are Fly FM, Hitz FM, Mix FM, The Star, Cineleisure and GSC.

0 Starless Stadust vs Crazy Black Sheep

Starless "Stardust" - That just about sums up my take on the movie – a poor attempt at a fairy tale romance. I couldn’t feel any spark between the two stars. The leading lady who played the fallen star wasn’t exactly starry – she was a nag (forever grumbling) dressed in a drab silver gown…*god knows who designed something so unimaginative*..

There are some silly shows which I like and then there are some which I just don’t. This is just one of those I that don’t.

“Black Sheep” was tolerable – it was such a poor make, it had me laughing non-stop. It was simply outrageous. Imagine this, you get zombie sheep tearing people apart *Can sheep actually behave so violently and look so gory?* ;)

In this movie, they can. Get bitten, and you start turning into this zombie sheep yourself - a man-sized walking sheep …sheesh…

My favourite scenes:
1) The evil man who had a hand in creating the zombies walked nude into a group of zombie sheep like he was their pharaoh - the sheep attacked his..uh..you-guess-where and started pulling the flesh long out …never knew flesh could stretch so far. It looked darn obscene :p

2) The hero wore sheep skin and tried crawling through a group of zombie sheep undetected. He was f***ked from behind by one of the zombies midway…*rofl*

3) When an infected person swallows the antidote, they shake uncontrollably and presto, they’re human again

0 Down and out but not without reward

It was amazing - finding out that I'd won a contest while I was sick. I'd been on MC the previous day. When I came back the next day, I was still a little weak....no, very weak.

I'd been coughing for the past month - spewing phlegm tinged with blood every ten minutes or so. Just an infection, the Doc days. Well, I completed the course of medication but the darn cough remained. I really didn't want to disturb my colleagues with my incessant barking but hey, who's gonna give me a month off for this?......*perils of not being filthy rich*

In my depressed and tired state, I decided to google my own name out of vanity. And there it was - gosh..I'd won RM500 of Carrefour vouchers. Thank you, God !

It was a contest organised by The Star where we had to make a sentence out of a list of 50 things Malaysian (Eg. Lah, Sudirman, Nasi Lemak, etc).

News spread quickly without my knowledge.

The Star newspaper wasn't exactly popular in my hometown because it only arrived noon. I hadn't expected anyone in my family to know. But lo and behold, it seems that while they were on a flight home, the air stewardess gave them a copy to read.

Amazingly, my aunt spotted my name (in small print) while flipping through the thick pages. My excited mum took the paper home. They got the news before I did! By nightfall, they had this to tell me - all our Christmas presents are going to be from Carrefour this year...hehehehe..

Boy, am I going to have fun splashing RM500 worth of vouchers....life is bliss in coughing fashion

0 The Magic is Lost

My partner has always been a fan of Copperfield. So when he heard that his idol was coming down, he was thrilled.

One fine day, my Mr Gung Ho called me at the office and said, “Ling, I book you 31st oredi. I have bought tickets for David Copperfield..muahahahahaha!!”.

I was dazed and amused at the same time. Dazed, because we had an exhibition to prepare for the next day. I was downright busy. Amused, because I could feel the child-like excitement emanating from my partner.

And then it happened – FBI probe, Sexual misconduct, Copperfield may not be coming after all!!

Don’t be too sad Darling – we can still make it for the Black Eyed Peas concert…kekekekeke ;)

0 On my own with "The Seeker"

It was one of those days when I'm left alone to do whatever I want ...and I love starting the day by catching the earliest movie.

So off I went to Cineleisure to see if I could make it for Brave Story. Unfortunately, the earliest time slot for that was 1.00pm..*yawn*. So I decided to go for The Seeker instead.

Then I called my partner because I felt that I had to report in - see...we have sort of a 'thing' between us about watching movies without each other. The last time I watched Superman on my own, I ended up catching the movie twice on the same day when my partner gave me that sad, sad puppy look when he found out that I'd watched it once in the morning without him. So the evening was spent on Superman again to make my man happy...*snort*..not that I didn't enjoy it.

The Seeker was normal fare - really didn't excite me as it should have. It was about a teenage boy who has to seek out some items to save the world (really didn't get what the items were for).

I felt that the star of the show didn't put in enough 'oomph' into it. Hence, I was more worried that he'd blunder his part than not saving the world. I didn't mind the story line, I'm just disappointed they didn't choose someone with more character for the starring role.

0 Building up the Merdeka mood

Mission accomplished:
Take girls at office to register as voters at post office - check
Mini flags for office girls – check
Huge flag for home balcony – check
Mini flag for car - check
Book table for Merdeka eve dinner – check
Brush up on National Anthem - check
Remember principles – check

1. Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan (Belief in God)
2. Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara (Loyalty to King and Country)
3. Keluhuran Perlembagaan (Supremacy of the Constitution)
4. Kedaulatan Undang-undang (Rule of Law)
5. Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan (Mutual Respect and Morality)

Why, I believe I’m all set to celebrate this momentous occasion!

1 The Tooth Fairy

I've had a series of dental check-ups recently - thanks to poor teeth maintenance and a gobble-whatever-you-can-life-is-short mentality.

Finally removed the stitches, had my fillings done and voila! I'm back to my old habits? No. I brush my teeth more now and eat with care. This lesson is costing me RM2.7K.

But I had a wonderful time at the dental clinic - Think super positive nurse + words-laced-with-sugar Dentist. I'm so touched by their kindness that I'm ready to send them a fruit basket and flowers.

I've been avoiding the dentist because over-imaginative me scared myself silly into believing that they're tooth demons.

But now, I know that they're really tooth fairies in disguise. For being such a well behaved? patient, they gave me an MC although I took leave from work to do this. Awwww ...

0 We roll...

The weekend was spent in Cineleisure again with Harry Potter and another round of Transformers. I’m still giving many thumbs up to Transformers but for Harry Potter, I found it a tad too dark and rushed. Definitely won’t be catching Potter mania anytime.

Just another normal conversation in the office today …

Angie : Here’s a couple of places we could try for lunch.

Ang and MS : Let’s hurry up and decide. We have a habit of delaying till the last minute and ending up at the usual.

Me : I will decide for all (from experience, this saves time). We all eat at blah blah, call dishes and share out the bill equally. All butts must roll out at 12pm sharp because we have a meeting shortly after that.

ALL : Agreed. All butts must roll out 12.00pm sharp!

Me : Autobutts, roll out……we roll.

0 Transformers and Die Hard 4

It's always amazing to see how watching movies in the cinema can bring people together. I watched Transformers twice last week, once at Cineleisure and again at Digi's Imax Theatre because my partner and I didn't want to miss the big screen experience.

People clapped at the start of the movie. There were enthusiastic responses in between which made it a really exciting watch. Of course, sexy siren Megan Fox, who stars in this movie, helped move things along. The movie ended with a standing ovation.

For those who are watching DVDs on a small screen in the comfort of your home, you don't know what you're missing ;) ....besides good popcorn.

After that, we watched Die Hard 4, an action packed movie with a sexy old man (I do find Bruce Willis sexy-just my opinion). In both movies, I noted something along the lines of mankind being too dependent on computer tehcnology, so much so that if the system crashed, we'd be in utter chaos.

0 Tooth Surgery

Sigh...the story of my life. I was supposed to watch Harry Potter at GSC Midvalley last Friday but lo and behold, it just happened.

I had a terrible toothache after I bought the tickets (which was last Wednesday) and the next day, my right cheek started sagging and my neck started swelling. Reluctantly, I gave away my tickets. I was pretty sad because it would have been my first movie outing together with my colleagues.

Then, I thought chin up. Yes chin,..please get up. I thought a visit to the dentist on Satuday would do it and it would be a minor tooth extraction. Half my jaw was completely swollen by then. I felt as though my face would fall off.

At the dental clinic - Midway, after much tugging and pulling by the dentist, "I'm going to have to perform a small surgery", said the dentist. Whoa...didn't know that a rotten tooth could be stuck so firmly.

Sigh.. next saturday, I'll be going back to remove the stitches. In the meantime, I totally miss having decent food. Decent food, as in 1901 hot dogs, sap ham tan har, tandoori chicken, curry chicken, nasi lemak, roti canai....grrrrr!

0 Elmo for kids?

Another birthday in the office – We’ve always gone for cakes from Secret Recipe but the rich flavour was getting to us. We needed a change.

So we got a simple 1.5kg chocolate cake with an Elmo design. I was adamant that this girl should get an Elmo because of her cute character and I was really proud of my selection until lo and behold…

Yes..we all started giggling because the two protruding eyes really resembled breasts.

Hey..how was I supposed to know that it would be shaped 2 inches high!

0 To be fat or not to be

I'm not the kind who's slim by nature. 60kgs - that's my ideal. Strict diets and exercise were never my forte. ..hahaha. I'm blessed with a spare tyre around my waist in case anything happens...

The only year I'd ever lost weight was when I had two good friends who wanted my company when they visited the gym. So it was Mon, Wed, Fri with Shirl and Tue, Thu sessions with Tonia. I lost 10kgs without realising it because I never changed my food intake. Oh bliss. I was totally motivated by these 2 individuals. It wasn't about weight. I was just pure fun exercise with 2 wacky girls.

I am blessed with good friends and a loving family who accept who I am with much gusto. While I can forgive close friends and family who sometimes cross the line with much humour , there are others I can't because these are people who have never bothered about the other aspects of my life, of me.

Occasionally, I meet individuals whose ONLY opening line for any occasion is "Oh, you gained weight" or "Oh, you've lost weight!". Phew ! I feel so important because they spend years of their lives monitoring my size. Why, I have never had to keep track of my weight. I've dedicated serial weight watchers doing the job for me !

Truthfully, I know that they need me to be fat so that they can feel better about themselves ;)

The most disappointing moment in my life was brought on by a so-called long time very educated friend, "hey, you pregnant!", she said. Flabbergasted, I told her frankly that she was extremely rude. Sure, she tried to retract her words as a joke about my spare tyre, but I didn't find it funny since it's been said a second time and in a wedding function we attended together.

All I can say is this, if you have a problem with fat people and have nothing else to say, just stick with thin friends. It's not worth ruining your reputation over being labelled as an ill-mannered person.

In life, they say, what goes round comes round. Three days later, she called me up because she desperately needed money. Well....don't ever call someone you've been rude to for help. It doesn't work that way.

0 No Silver Surfer For Me

I was so excited when I read an ad in the papers mentioning about a contest to win a life sized silver surfer statue from Cineleisure. All I had to do was buy a Fantastic 4 (F4) "jumbo combo". Easy enough, I thought.

And so I went to Cineleisure with high spirits of winning. At the popcorn counter upstairs, "Can I have the F4 jumbo combo?". .... "Ape?", went the person attending to the counter. He'd never heard of it.

Not to be outdone, I decided to try downstairs and showed my partner the ad in Cineleisure itself just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. My partner left me to make a fool out of myself (he probably suspected that I wasn't going to get anything of the sort). The 2 people manning the counter had never heard of the F4 jumbo combo. Sigh....

Words from my partner, "I sacrificed the Digi Imax cinema for Cineleisure because you had so wanted to win that statue". So sweet. Chin up, I told myself. A box of popcorn did me wonders.

F4, on the other hand, wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be. It was light and time passed very quickly. Would have loved to see more of Silver Surfer. Bah...perhaps it was just plain disappointment that I didn't get my F4 jumbo combo.

0 Pirates of the Caribbean

"Tickets have all been sold out", my colleague informed me. No way, I thought. I have to watch the movie this week itself ! Call it kiasu, if you like ;) Sunday afternoon, my partner and I made our way to Cineleisure but detoured to Times Square when all the car parks were FULL.

At GSC Times Square, all the tickets were sold out for the day! *horror*. No wonder the ticket counters were empty*double horror*. We crossed our fingers and headed where we knew / hoped not many would go - Digi's Imax Theatre on the 10th floor. Largest screen in South East Asia here we come. After all, it only costs RM4 extra per ticket. Lucky us got great seats at the back.

The movie itself was a great adventure to me. It was a look at the darker side of many characters (including Jack, Will and Elizabeth) who each had their own interests at heart when they embarked on a journey together to save the pirate world. Each did what it took to achieve their personal goals along the way.

I never thought I'd find Jack Sparrow irresistable but he was, even in his untidy state. Oh and Elizabeth Swann's legs - long, smooth and sexy. I especially love the way little bits of humour are thrown into the movie.

Other than that, don't expect a great plot. I was a little disappointed that Calypso's character wasn't explored further but I'd still watch this movie over and over again because it's a great way to unwind after any lousy day.

0 Blades Of Glory

I’m never one for gross comedy (Think : Hong Kong movies). Therefore, I always think twice before deciding to watch a comedy on the big screen but Blades Of Glory took away my trepidation.

It was light and funny especially Will Ferrell who played Chazz Michael Michaels. Hehhee…imagine that - a big hairy manly character in a body hugging costume doing twists and turns on skates. I didn’t know whether to feel disgusted or to take in the hilarity of it but it was too hard to resist and I ended up laughing all the way.

The movie’s about two male rival figure skaters who hate each other and had to team up to join the pairs figure skating competition after they were banned for life from participating in the singles competition.

This is a good Sunday movie – not exactly great fare for children though since Chazz is a sex maniac ;)

0 The Malay Mail Big Walk 2007

I took part in the Malay Mail fun walk recently (Apr 30). Only 3KM, but for someone who lacks exercise, it was a tiring affair....tiring? I was flat out. The weather was cool and wet, thanks to rain earlier in the wee hours of the morning which had stopped by the time the walk started.

I was accompanied by my partner and Jen. Jen, my best friend, was more busy looking at that kid with braces from the reality show One In A Million (can't recall his name). She was gushing,"He's soooo cute !!". I'm like, "Dudette, he's a kid. We're almost mid-thirties.." (Eyes rolling) I'd rather look at Faizal...hehehehe.

We all crossed the muddied line together in 45 minutes. Yay ! we got our certs. I thought the fun was just beginning but it was downhill after that.

"Let's go get our goodie bags!", we shouted excitedly. An hour and a half later and squeaking weakly, "Let's...go..get...our..goodie..bags...". The queue was horrendously slow moving. We were squashed like sardines, sweat to sweat, old and young. Pity the grandmas and grandpas who had to endure it because they didn't have a line for senior citizens.

Jen and I cheered up a bit when my man offered to take on the crowd himself and get the goodie bags on our behalf. I was so touched by his actions.

But all was not lost, we had the lucky draw to look forward to, didn't we? Jen and I walked to the main stage..."huh? the draw has started?!..we didn't even hear a thing!!" Sad to say, some deserving winners did not turn up to collect their gifts. They were probably still queueing for their goodie bags :>p

We left shortly after that because we were starving ..Here's an event with no food served or sold...except for cereal which were all gone by the time we arrived. Unlucky?

Well, this won't stop me from joining the biggie next year. I had great fun walking with two people I love. It's just that after crossing the finishing line, I won't be be staying around for the goodies next time.

0 Spiderman 3 on the BIG screen

We (My BF and I) took the opportunity to watch Spiderman 3 in Digi's Imax Theatre since we knew there was a high chance that tickets would be sold out in the other cinemas. It was after all only the second day of screening. Tickets cost RM15 each but it was worth it.

Being the kiasu fella that I was, I smsed my mum and aunts, "In a few moments, I will be watching Spiderman 3 on the largest screen in South East Asia! What will you be doing..?"

Replies ranged from,"You don't be naughty" to "At homelar!". They weren't moviegoers nor were they keen on Spiderman. Oh well.

The screen was so large, I didn't want seats at a far end corner because I knew it would strain my neck. Instead, I chose seats in the middle of the 4th row (not to say that I had a lot to choose from). I thought it would be the perfect spot.

Entering the cinema, I patted myself on the back for the brilliant choice I made. My partner and I walked excitedly to our seats. The movie started shortly.

Everything was fine until......Oh...did you see him? ! Where'd Spidey go?! oh there! left screen..no..no..all the way right...no..up..! down! ..ok..ok...my eyes rolled and zipped all the way to the left, then to right and back again trying to catch the spider in action. The screen was so huge, I couldn't focus. I soon realised that my eyes couldn't take in the entire screen and sitting on the 4th row was a bad idea.

Adding to the excitement were 2 hyperactive children sitting beside us, who enhanced our cinematic experience with their bouncing. They bounced up and down their seats many times excitedly cheering Spidey on.

At the end of the movie, I walked out quietly assuming that I'd been the only one who got crossed eyed that day.

My take on the movie? It was fantastic ! But you should never ask me because I'm a sucker for superhero stuff.

0 Eye On Malaysia - April Fool?

Tasik Titiwangsa. It's a beautiful place to visit. My partner and I went to Tasik Titiwangsa on April Fools' Day for a romantic walk in the evening. The "Eye on Malaysia" ferris wheel was a wonderful sight to behold. There were many people queuing to get a ride.

At 9.00PM, there was a water show with cool water skiing stunts and fireworks. I was enthralled by the friendly performers. A short video clip was projected on a screen of spraying water. It was so unique, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

The night was simply magical until we all heard a loud "clang" from the "Eye on Malaysia". I was shocked to see that one of the bars had come undone and was dangling from the wheel. They had stopped the wheel and within minutes, an engineer climbed up to retrieve the dangling piece. Luckily, there were no casualties.

The wheel started moving again but as you can see from the photo we took, the missing piece was not replaced. April Fool?

0 What's in a popcorn

I love going to the movies and having my popcorn. Not just any popcorn but GSC Midvalley's popcorn.

I love turning up at 10am on a Saturday and being one of those who'll be first. Aaahh..the first show of the day is always the best. Peaceful and quiet, I take a leisurely walk in with a box of popcorn in hand.

I wasn't always a big cinema fan. In the past, I used to sit in front of a small TV recording copies for video rental. Those were my childhood days, watching every wrestling videotape that my dad ordered. I was only 7 or 8 then but I knew every wrestler like I was born into it.

When Gremlins arrived, it was one of the greatest moments of my childhood. I watched it 8 times in just a couple of days. I lied to my parents about homework and studying. God knows why I was obssessed with the movie. And who could forget Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

My dad insisted on doing business the right way. Every tape was licensed. One day, competition arrived in the form of piracy. Who'd want to rent at my dad's when they could easily buy a pirated copy from the shop downstairs. The CD era was upon us. It was downhill from there save for some lovely souls who felt supporting piracy was wrong. They were my dad's loyal customers.

After my dad closed shop, I rarely watched movies because I wasn't comfortable paying so much for an original or buying pirated copies. Until today, my dad just refuses to watch any pirated movie.

It was only when I came to KL that I started enjoying the cinema experience. Well, my partner started it. He loves going to the movies. I tagged along and soon I was hooked. If you were to ask me to watch a movie on a 21 inch TV these days, I'd rather skip. Nothing beats surround sound, a huge screen and good popcorn.

0 Sports and Me

A sports fan? Hahahahaha ! :D That's a laugh. I've never been into sports in a big way but after being left out by my partner a few times, I decided to take a 'little' interest by reading the sports pages daily and listening to what my partner had to say.

Gradually, I was able to have a fairly decent conversation with the guys in the office about sports. I soon started doing what I'd never thought I'd do..... sit through a football match, watch our squash queen play, curse our badminton players, drool over Roger Federer. I actually survived without falling asleep on the chair. That's good enough for me.

When the World Cup Finals were on last year, my partner and I painted our faces before we stepped out to book the best seat at the mamak (sigh..no astro). We didn't have face paint but we were adamant about doing it so we used my eyeliner and lipstick to do the job...seriously.

We painted one side of our cheek with France's flag and the other, Italy. Deep inside, we were both rooting for France...hehehe....they didn't win.

When the match ended, those who saw the side of our cheeks with the Italian flag cheered us and those who saw the other side, offered their sympathies. We bonded with everyone. Awwww...don't you just love sports?

0 The Reunion Dinner

We decided to start a tradition in our home this Lunar New Year. For the past 5 years or so, the eve was spent waiting until midnight for the fireworks and firecrackers to go off.

This year, we decided to prepare the reunion dinner in remembrance of our childhood and to keep tradition going. Of course, we didn't know how to start. Daevid and I had to call our mums to hand down the recipes. I even called my aunt and she decided that she will write a cookbook just for us young ones (at 30-something, I'm glad I'm still her little girl).

We settled on mixed vege with fatt choy (the fatt choy being a must), roast chicken and pork leg soup. Well, of course the pic is too small for anyone to see anything but I can tell you that it was delicious...hahahaha..self praise !

We realised the importance of keeping traditions alive because we felt that should we have kids, we'd want them to have what we had...the reunion dinner, the cheesy songs and decorations, firecrackers, lion dance and the works.

We played some small hand wielding fireworks that night..God knows what it's called. The next few days were spent visiting friends and collecting ang pows ....phew..it's tough being at this age. You get fired for not accepting ang pows.

We made sure the radio was tuned into a Chinese channel too. It's been our tradition from the first CNY we've been together.

2 The Fuji Xerox Printer

It was pure Chinese New Year luck.

My partner and I went to Cineleisure Damansara on the second day. I've always disliked the movie atmosphere there. I complain constantly about the state of their popcorn, the dangerous gap between the seats, the booking system and even the fact that it was the talk of the town that this was supposed to be the place to go for movies. GSC would have a competitor to match or so I thought. I was never a fan.

Perhaps God thought that I needed to be bribed a little. ..we walked into the cinema to watch Ghost Rider and I wondered silently to myself , "why here?". Before the start of the movie, there was the usual show of advertisements. Suddenly, a congratulatory message popped up going something like this, "Congratulations to the winner of the day". I was like duh..now what's this.

The lights turned on and a verbal announcement was made, "Congratulations to the winner sitting in seat no. J5!"..my heart dropped. I turned around to check my seat number twice..it was me!! Gosh, I need to hide!..I snuggled myself lower where no one would see me. With the lights on, it seemed futile.

The show started after that but I was too excited by then. My cheeks were glowing with joy. My partner was as excited. The minute the show ended, we went straight to collect the prize. Service was slow and disappointing but the organisers were courteous. I hate to admit it but I allowed myself to be totally bribed into forgetting all their shortcomings..how weak was that ! All of a sudden, I was a fan..pathetic..I know.

They took a photo of me with the prize..some smart aleck in the background said, "The cost of the ink cartridge will kill you". It probably will but who cares :)

1 Port Dickson, here we come !

The day had finally arrived. After months of cancelling out on each other, 7 of us finally got together for a trip to Port Dickson.Phew !

It was my second stay at the Tanjung Biru (Blue Lagoon) Condo. The first time was when everyone cancelled out leaving my charismatic partner of 5 years to volunteer to go with me. Yes, just the two of us in a 2-room apartment with beds for 5 people.
Anyway, 7 of us ended up in an ostrich farm not far from the blue lagoon beach having the time of our life riding the ostrich, eating ostrich satay, getting our hands snapped in the feeding frenzy and playing with other animals in the farm (rabbits, crocs, parrots). We also watched the monkey show and had our photo taken with the really funny and friendly monkey. One of us even had our hair messed up by the monkey.

If we had time, we would have bowled coconuts and tried out the blowpipes. Unfortunately, we had to rush to check in because we brought fresh meat for a BBQ dinner!!

Gosh...the 2-room apartment had more beds than the first one I stayed. It could fit 7 people. Unfortunately, the 2 guys in our gang of 7 had to stay in a hotel within walking distance because we had a Muslim girl with us and it was innapropriate for them to sleep over..hahaha.. :D
The afternoon was spent frolicking at the beach and going for canoe rides. We had an hour and 30 minutes with the canoes but in just less than half an hour, I wondered why everyone was paddling back. I gave it a try after much persuasion. My canoeing partner was hilarious. She was the perfect canoe instructor, shouting "left! left! paddle left!! whenever a wave was coming or "right! right 3 times!" After one round, my arms were aching :p Darn..no wonder.

BBQ night was fairly romantic. It was a starless night with a soft breeze. Everyone was nicely hungry and tired out. We managed to squeeze in a game of cards before calling it a night :p

Early next morning, the guys showed off their culinary skills and threatened us with diarrhoea. I was hungry. Who cares.

By noon and after a final walk at the beach, it was sayonara blue lagoon and back to KL we go.