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The last time my hair was this short
I was 17 and still in high school. Back then, we had monthly checks to make sure everyone's hair was short enough, our nails were neat enough and our hemlines were long enough. That's Chinese school for you, not that I regret it now that it's been almost nine years since emancipation.Reta and I are trying to feed Dawn a fry and a soft drink in her absence.
When Y wouldn't let me tell him all about the latest novel I'd read - Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper - I whined, "But you have to let me tell you. It's so sad!"
To which he replied, "You always say that. Everything you read is so sad."
To which I stopped, and realised that he was right. Why is everything I read (and love) so sad? Just off the top of my head, I've recently finished The Kite Runner, A Mighty Heart and The Time Traveler's Wife, and yes, they have all induced tears, some more than others.
The sentiment crosses over into films as well. I seem to admire sad movies more than I do happy ones, although I did like Finding Neverland very much. That's not to say I don't appreciate a quality romantic comedy - I've watched Love Actually four times - but I think the sadness in books and films (and music) resonate with me because, let's face it, we live in an often very sad world.
I guess when films and books give me something other than the cliched happy ending, it strikes me as more real somehow, a stark reminder of how life isn't always fair, and things don't always turn out for the better, and good doesn't always triumph over evil, at least in the temporal. Many people watch movies to imitate art, but in a very depressing way, I'm glad art has also been doing its share of imitating life.
Ironically, these are thoughts from an avowed musical lover - the very genre of musical having been built on the foundations of escapism and happy endings. Maybe that's my exception, though to be fair, not all musicals have happy endings anymore. And oh how I love those that do not.
that I've just watched the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy and now I have to wait like a week for my next dose.
It can't be healthy - this desperate addiction to a pseudo world.
The alcohol last night made me sentimental.
A friend has gotten engaged and I am truly happy for her and her new fiance. She's a great girl and he seems like a really cool guy. As the wedding invitations taper off after the boom of last year (or was it the year before last), I am reminded every time somebody takes the plunge that I, too, took the plunge, and have been swimming for the last almost three years.
I can't believe I've been married that long, even though it really isn't very long as far as happily ever after goes. People still ask me how's married life because in most of the circles I traverse, I'm a minority. Married life is great, thank you for asking, I've finally succeeded in teaching Y to actually glance in my direction when I start one of my rambles. I reckon it'll be another ten years' worth of work before he learns to make suitably responsive noises.
No, seriously, married life has been/is great. And I thank God almost every day that I got lucky. But that's not what I really wanted to blog about. A bunch of us went out last night - friends from my university days, either my age or give or take one to two years either way. And it struck me that right up to the day we graduated uni, we were pretty much on par in terms of where we were in life. We all went through school, we became friends, we hung out, we shared meals, we earned our degrees, we knew the same people, we were even fairly similar in terms of background...
Then we graduated, and everything changed in a flash. We got jobs in different industries, we saw each other once in a while, I got married, others were dating then they got married, others broke up, others remained single, some of us climbed the corporate ladder, I still wear slippers to work when I feel like it, others travelled the world, I wished I did, and really, we were not 'on par' in any sense of the word anymore. Each of us were on dramatically different journeys that we had forged for ourselves, sort of yelling across the grass to our friends on their respective paths every time the jungle cleared enough that we could see each other. And it had all happened so quickly.
It's no groundbreaking revelation, I know, but I guess it never hits me hard until I actually come face to face with these friends. And I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say, except maybe I had a good time. It's always nice to catch up and see how we're all so different now, that even though life has thrown us for so many different things, whenever we get together again, it reminds me of when we were back at uni.
We want:- Graphic designers
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If you know anyone who is interested, please email me at sophia@hotpotato.com.my
Hot Potato publishes hot and HELLO! magazines. We have an ongoing commitment to not scaring new people.
I have somehow managed to do absolutely nothing the entire weekend. Okay, so there was that one load of laundry, but other than that... hmm. It's been good, this mindless relaxation that everyone should probably indulge in once in a while, though I am a little surprised (and not in a good way) by how many hours I'm capable of whiling away doing nothing. Now I have no excuse to whinge about the week(s) to come, because frankly, I'm itching to be up and productive again.
This is what Saturday looked like: Get up, watch TV, go on the Net, go out for lunch, come home, watch TV, go on the Net, have dinner, watch TV, go on the Net, meet the boys for supper, watch DVDs.
And Sunday: Get up, go on the Net, journal, have lunch, watch TV, nap, watch TV, go on the Net, have dinner.
No idea what's going to happen after dinner yet, but something tells me it's going to be along the lines of 'watch TV' and 'go on the Net'. The amazing thing is, I have nothing to watch on TV and nothing to do on the Net. If anything good has come out of this, other than I'm feeling very relaxed, it's the certainty that I am never going to be a successful bum.
The sudden onset of heat and humidity after two months of continuous, almost daily, rain is not sitting well with me. It's 6.14pm and I want to go home. Not entirely sure what I'll do once I get there, but I'm in the mood for a very lazy weekend. Soon, soon, once we close the magazine and mark yet another week, yet another issue for the potatoes of hot and HELLO! magazines.
There is also far too much junk food in the office, but we intend to rectify that very, very soon.
It's always fun to have a four-day week, even if we're going to near kill ourselves trying to meet the deadline with one work day less and one man short. But I can think of worse things in the world to whinge about than this, so I shall not.
On a much, much cheerier note, the long awaited new season of Grey's Anatomy has begun. Plus, I've finally hopped onto the Gossip Girl bandwagon. It's not bad, though it amazes me how they've managed to literally cast an entire show with only stick-thin girls/women. Still, I'm on it, and guess who else is? Y!
I know he watches just about every TV serial ever made, but I never thought there'd come a morning where this would happen:
S: Get up!
Y: I'm soooo sleeeeeepy...
S: That's it, no more Gossip Girl!
Y: [jolts awake] Huh?
Well, I must say, some of the girls are real pretty.
I never thought I'd be able to walk some 7 to 10km, half of it in pouring rain, get back, clean up, put on four inch heels and really dress up for the evening (for me, that means two coats of mascara), then get up before 7 the next morning to climb 200 steps and do some more walking. It's practically a weight-loss expedition. But it was so totally worth it. Mulu is stunning.
The Mulu Canopy Skywalk is 480m long and the longest tree-based walkway in the world. It hangs 15m to 20m above ground and only two people are allowed to get on any one section (ie. between trees) at a time.
Some places get a bit wobbly, which only adds to the fun.
You can't really tell, but I'm dripping wet because it had been raining. It was the first of four sometimes-really-heavy showers that afternoon. The rainforest was living up to its name.
The procession making our way into Deer Cave. This is the world's largest natural rock chamber, said to be able to contain 40 Boeing 747s side by side. We're told that every day at 5pm, millions of bats fly out of the cave to look for food. Too bad we didn't get to witness that famous spectacle, because - you guessed it - it was absolutely pouring.
This is called the Abraham Lincoln. I have no pics of the interior of the cave because it was too dark and my point-and-shoot wasn't good enough.
Taking the longboat out. Definitely one of my favourite bits of the trip. I love water more than I do rocks and forests.
The view along Sungai Melinau. This is around 8.45am and you can still see the mist over the mountaintops.
Limestone cliffs. Plenty of these in Mulu.
Climbing all those stairs to see this was worth it. Clearwater Cave is really spectacular.
You're looking at part of Asia's longest cave system, measuring some 107km at last count.
The water here is so clear you can see right to the bottom. I wished I brought my swimmers.
Meet three very wet but happy campers. That's Doc, the boss, and his lovely wife, Nene. Check out the size of that tree.
And of course, the reason we were even in Mulu in the first place - His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. All in all, His Highness was a pretty good sport, walking all that way in the rain (but with an umbrella) and even performing a cultural dance during dinner. I came away liking the guy, even though I didn't so much as shake his hand. Royal protocol and media don't exactly mix.
The rest of my Mulu pics are here and here. And here are some that Doc took. Thanks, Doc!
and therefore my very good intentions of blogging about my trip to Mulu are moot.
Unless it resumes normalcy very soon.
I think the new chat function is evil.
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