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.