Sunday, February 19, 2006

JB Chingay 18/02/06 (3)

We finished watching the chingay at one spot and went to another, where Johor Sultan was watching. We were so lucky, just when our car reached there, a police car was already there and began to stop the traffic so that the chingay can continue here.

Er.. this is not real, it's not real person under the lion.

踩高跷. We only saw one group of these. KR said it used to be more than just one group.

Johor Sultan wanted to see the parade this year. Because Sultan was here, the emcee kept urging the performing groups to go faster because there were still many festooned lorries have yet to come. By faster, I mean, he gave the performing groups like, 5 to 10 seconds to finished their performance.... That's quite unreasonable...

CK took some of these photos. I was wondering where the heck was the emcee. And CK took his photo together with reporters.





This looked like something has exploded... The light came from 3 very very big spotlights...



大头娃娃ready to charge...Sometimes they will compete with one another to see who runs faster... without seeing where they are heading, mind you...

Everyone was looking on the floor... we wondered what the heck were they looking...
I couldn't believe we were there for more than 2 hours. My legs were aching because I kept standing on tip toe.. hahaha...

Friday, February 17, 2006

Possibly alone

Hmm.....I am thinking, possibly, I shall be alone now and for the rest of my life... What makes me say that? Well, superficially, it seems that I don’t set a very “high standard” when looking for that special someone, but the truth..?

First thing, I love animals. My that special someone doesn’t have to be as passionate about animals much as I do (though it’s best if he does) BUT he CANNOT be someone who’s afraid of animals… Some people are scared of dogs (or any other animals) due to some traumatic experiences in the past. That’s totally understandable. But some guys do scared of bats, (usually) harmless pythons in zoos, etc... I just cannot accept that... If he’s more scared of these animals than I do, how do you expect him to protect me?? Do I have to protect him instead??

I once helped out at a place where people can take photos with a 3 year old tigress. Most of the time, girls are very keen but their boyfriends usually try to discourage them. More guys than girls that I saw were more afraid to stand behind the tigress and take photos.

And I've also stood beside a cheetah, hand on her head and took photos (not wild cheetah in Africa of course), some people think that’s extremely scary and couldn’t understand why I did that (my mum, for one, thinks I'm crazy). But it was ok, it got my adrenalin running, but not THAT scary. Again, if a guy thinks such an act is crazy and scary, how to expect him to protect me? Oh, don’t ask me to tell it here, where and how I got to stand beside a cheetah (with me back facing 2 other very-tensed-not-so-friendly-looking unchained cheetahs..). I can’t tell. And I’m not bullshitting. I have the photos but I can’t publish it. I’d get somebody into serious trouble if I do. I’ll show the photo personally if anyone wants to see it. But as much as I love to, I can’t publish it.

(Oh I have to add this, having got the chance to see cheetahs upclose and touch one of it was AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE.... They are magnificent creatures, very very beautiful. I've always dream of a chance to get close to cheetahs and I've got my dream fulfilled. You can't understand how happy I was when it happened. AMAZING... Like I was in a dream... I couldn't believe how lucky I was... I was smilling all the way back home. hahahaha... My next dream is to be able to hug baby chimpanzees and orang utans.. When will I get the chance? )

Secondly, if I realized my common or general knowledge is better than the guy… Then let’s not waste each other’s time… …… I’m not a graduate but it doesn’t mean that I’m NOT clever, I merely chose a different path. And I’m NOT saying I’m so clever or anything like that. But exactly because I’m not so great myself, if the guy’s general knowledge is worse than me…… then... it’s not acceptable. Some guys’ common knowledge and common sense are really bad, you know... Perhaps… because my ex-boyfriend is really knowledgeable, so I got used to that...… I know it’s not fair to compare… I tried not to. But if, through conversations, I feel that I know many common things and the guy doesn’t, then...
I need someone who can take care of me in all aspect.. not the other way round……

This reminds me. I used to ask my brother when I came across English words that I didn’t know. (Yes, I was lazy to look up dictionary… at that time I haven’t got my e-dict and yes, I hate book type dict). And of course there’ll be times when he doesn’t know the word and I’ll go, “HOW COME YOU DON’T KNOW???”… Then he will say something like why must he know everything? And he 拿我没办法 and laughed and said, “It’s really tough being your brother leh…”

So…I guess it’ll be tougher to be my boyfriend, eh? The first criteria, he has to be my “walking dictionary”… hahahaha… just kidding… I’ve got my e-dict now, so he can shed this responsibility of his shoulder.. LOL…..

Speaking of “walking dictionary”, I used to asked my English teacher for the meaning of words that we don’t understand, instead of bringing a dictionary to school as she had instructed us to. One day, she got fed up and said something like this, “Asked you all to bring dictionary don’t want lah? Some of you think I am a walking dictionary.” …and she “accidentally” looked over to where I was sitting………


p.s. Through my posts, you can easily feel that I'm super zi-lian(自恋), and maybe, think very highly of myself. hahaha.... but I wasn't like this many years ago. I used to feel inferior because of my height. But height is something that I cannot change (unless I spend tens of thousands of money and have my leg bone broken, not be able to stand or walk for months to "extend" the leg bone). I came to accept this and feel good about myself (though I still hate to stand beside people taller than 175cm.. ). And I love myself more each day, love it to the bone. muahahahaha... When you love yourself, you'll have confidence. No matter how one looks, confidence is very very important. How you poise yourself, the way you talk, etc.. And having confidence will actually make someone looks prettier or more charming~

Thus, I love the way I love myself. Period.

For those who reads my blog, I say, "Thank you." And thank you for enduring with most of my 自恋posts and not puking... hahahahhaa.. well, perhaps you did puke.. but that's ok, as long as you read my blog. hahaha...

Thursday, February 16, 2006

DISCRIMINATION! DISCRIMINATION!!

I haven’t been writing that much. I had been so preoccupied with my hard lense therapy thingy. It’s better to have 8 hours of sleep while wearing the hard lense. So I have to hit the sack at about midnight. Which means I don’t have much time to do things that I would usually be doing after midnight such as writing and reading.

Anyway, I have something to say about Wisma Atria’s toilet.

It’s DISCRIMINATION! DISCRIMINATION!! Yes, double discrimination.

First of all, the indications outside the toilet were only “male” and “female”. There was no pictorial indication showing the gender. Ok, I know MOST Singaporeans are very well educated and possibly 99.99% of its population can read. But you got to admit there must be some people out there who cannot read English or cannot read at all, however tiny that population is. And there might be China tourists who can’t read that as well. Even though chances are very very low, but I feel they ought to show some respect to these people. Is it so hard to put a pictorial sign to indicate the gender?? The whole world's toilets have it! Or they simply are saying “If you can’t read, we don’t welcome you.”

And secondly, DISCRIMINATION against short people!! See this :


That mirror is not the usual ones you see. I can only see the top of my head, ok?!! Perhaps I shall see it as a good chance to check if I have got dandruff on my head every time I go to Wisma Atria. If this is USA I shall sue the management for discrimination and cause trauma on me and demand millions of compensation. Even though there’s a full size mirror on the wall but that’s not the point. Because of this mirror, people who are taller would look at me, ok? They DO look at me. Have you any idea how embarrassing that can be?? Or maybe they, again, are simply are saying “If you are short, we don’t welcome you.” What the #$@#%$&*..........

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Valentine's Day

I came home after class, saw the cat who has taken the lift with me twice. The first time I saw her (actually, I don't know its gender... For the sake of convenience, I just use “her” instead of “it”. I dislike using “it” when describing any animal), she hesitated before going into the lift with me. Possibly not because she's scared of me or the lift, but I felt that she was hesitating whether to continue wandering at the ground floor or go home.

The second time, she was right outside the lift, should be waiting for anyone to give her “a lift” to the upper level where she belongs. She saw me approaching and immediately she went into the lift. So cute.. We exchanged a few meows with each other…

Yesterday, I saw her for the 3rd time, I said hello to her. “Hello” as in “meow…”…. I even talked to her, asking her whether she wants to take the lift. For this, I used human language of course, NOT “meow meow, meow meow meow meow..?” …..

She only came to the lift after some consideration. I asked her which floor she wants to go, of course she couldn’t answer me… even if she answered I wouldn’t have understand..

Anyway, it was Valentine’s Day. Undoubtedly, lots of girls were holding bouquets of roses. When I was attached, I never really celebrate V day. And I think buying roses on V Day is… hmm.. kind of waste money. Unless my boyfriend is loaded, someone who drives a Mazda 8 for eg… mm..... Mazda 8 isn’t THAT expensive actually, so.. someone who drives a Mazda 8 need not be someone who’s really loaded…

Anyway, I digressed.. I was saying, unless my boyfriend is really loaded, (loaded till he doesn’t know how to use the money that kind.. haha..) I wouldn’t want him to buy me roses on V day. A gift is ok but NOT flowers. To me, it’s kind of stupid to buy roses on V day, you help increasing the load in the seller’s pocket. Think this way, your money decreased at least 5 times in value when you use it to buy roses on V day… ... I’d rather use that money to buy something else that would last more than 5 days. But, all I wanted for V day is to be able to be with the person I love. Need not have a celebration, just be with each other, be it at a food court or cook Maggie mee at home, to be able to accompany each other on V day, is sweet enough for me.

Another thing, I saw so many girls who carried a bouquet of roses taking the bus. That’s kind of ridiculous isn’t it? (I don’t know if any of my friends do the same… if so.. ehm, no offence, okay? Just my personal thought. ) Most of the girls (who carried bouquet of roses) I saw were accompanied by their boyfriends. I mean, come on, you spent so much money on the roses, why not spend a little bit more to send her home by taxi?? The bus was so crowded.. wait your roses kena squeezed and squashed and died. Ok, I’m exaggerating.. but.. it’s just sooo… unglamorous holding a bouquet of roses but taking bus. Haha…

Oh, I know I know~! Must be that, the girls prefer to take the bus, because MORE people will see that this girl has got roses on V day~ Yeah, that must be it.. hahaha…

And speaking of bus, nobody gave up their seats for an old couple in the bus yesterday. They were standing at the front half of the bus, I was sitting at the back half of the bus. I felt so guilty not giving up my seat. But that old lady was about 4 rows’ distance from me. You can’t possibly expect me to yell, “AUNTY~ YOU WANT TO TAKE MY SEAT OR NOT~?”……… And if I don’t yell, there’s no way she will know I wanted to give up my seat for her. If I walk towards her, “gualentee” someone will take my seat once I stand up…

What was I to do? I always feel guilty in such situations. My advice to elderly and pregnant women, when there’s no empty seat, please DON’T stand near the entrance in the train or places where there’s no seat, where people are standing, in the bus. They should stand where lots of people are sitting, chances of people giving up their seats for them is much greater this way…

Friday, February 10, 2006

My Miko again

I can't resist to put my Miko's most recent "大头照". Isn't she adorable? hahaha....
I will have to part with her for 10 days when I go Sipadan end of this month. I hope she will be fine in the 10 days.... Very worried... And I hope she won't be angry with me for leaving her for so many days. I had left her alone for many days during Chinese New Year... My poor Miko...

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

It doesn't work on me...

I had wore the orthocare hard lense for 6 nights. It's suppose to reduce my nearsightedness drastically by now, but it didn't.

It's so upsetting, so disappointing.

People with perfect eyesight are so blessed. And I'm so envious. I can't wear normal soft lense either because the shape of my eyeballs are different with the majority of people. So normal disposable lense won't fit. That's so sad, you know. People like my friend Natasha had been wearing it for years and years and there had been no problem whatsoever. You will ask what makes me say that soft lenses don't fit on my eyes? Well, every time I blink, the lense moves up following the eyelid and slides down. Now imagine that. The lense moves, mean only one thing : blur. So every time I blink, my vision goes blur, until the lense slides down to where it's supposed to be.. by then, I need to blink again already... so blur blur blur and blur.

Sigh..will try for one more week. If it's still not working for me.. then I'm back to square one and back to my spec. And perhaps consider Lasik in future.... No money no talk. Let me strike Toto this Friday and I'll go for it immediately. hahahahaha~~~

Monday, February 06, 2006

The origins of bungee jump

Have you ever wonder where and how bungee jump came about?

The other day Arts Central showed about weird rituals in the South Pacific. This particular one was in Vanuatu. I read about this before in Sir David Attenborough’s book – Life On Air. But it didn’t mention about the connection between the ritual and bungee jump. But I might be wrong. I could have forgotten about it if it’s only been mentioned in a sentence or two.

Anyway, this ritual in Pentacost, Vanuatu, is about yam harvesting, the most important food there. If first involves collecting vines by an experienced man. The vines chosen are crucial. To make the story short, they build a tower on a slope, using tree trunks or wood or whatever the name. A tower up to 100 feet tall, with platforms on different heights. They tie the vines between the top of the tower AND a man’s ankles. The vines are crucial because different thickness of vines is suitable for different sizes of people in order to withstand the man’s weight. And the springiness of the vines are equally important.

Men of different ages (as young as 8 years old), volunteers himself for this dangerous rite. Each time, one man, starts from the youngest on the lowest platform, will jump from there. The length of the vines tied on the man’s ankles is carefully calculated. As little as 4 inches too long would potentially kill the man.

The man then jumps, head down to the ground below. The other experienced person at the back has to cut or chop the vines at the right time after the volunteer jumps. The man’s head should touch the ground. If the vines are cut too fast, the impact between this man’s head and the ground will kill him. If the vines are cut too slow, he will spring upwards, and his head wouldn’t touch the ground. And THAT, means they wouldn’t be blessed with good yam harvest.

I know my English sucks and it’s actually very difficult for me to describe something like this. I hope anyone reading this can understand what the heck I’m talking about.

And here’s a crude sketch :





(It made my jaw dropped when I saw this on TV… When I saw the picture in Life On Air, I wondered how was it possible. I didn’t really understand how the ritual was done until I saw this footage on TV).

And then, when more people began to visit Vanuatu, this ritual became known. And visitors find them fascinating. Locals began to jump for tourists to earn some extra income. Even the British Queen came and requested to see it. But it wasn’t the harvesting time. Some locals worried that it might cause bad luck if they perform the ritual at that time. But still there were volunteers agreed to do it.

The first 2 “performers” did the jump safely. However, the 3rd one, both the vines tied on each of his ankles snapped. What bad luck… both vines snapped… It was raining heavily before that and the soil was damp and soft (I’m not sure if “soft” is the right word..). His head trusted into the soil, his backbone (or neck bone, I forgot) broken and he died…

Amazingly, that was the only death in history of this ritual. One man survived totally unharmed when one of the vines snapped. In some other incidents, they were never able to walk again. But death, that was the only case.

And slowly, this sacred ritual was transformed by fascinated westerners into – the bungee jump, in their countries.

I think the narrator mentioned that the organization of bungee jump agreed to put up a sign to state that bungee jump originated from a sacred ritual in Pentacost, Vanuatu, as to show some respect.

I supposed the people of Pentacost are still performing the ritual annually. It’s really an incredible “stunt”…

Friday, February 03, 2006

Photos in the pool~

Took some underwater photos today at a pool. It was so much fun~~!

Nice right? Gabriel’s hair became central parting... so cute... Haha...

I wanted to shoot the "shadow" but too much ripple, not so nice.

Diving diving...


The pool water was very clean. I like the dark blue in the background.

My pose was very ugly I know...

I wanted to become underwater "ballet dancer"...I thought it’s easy... I tried and tried… but it only rendered my ugly posing... ... sooo...damn ugly... hahaha... couldn’t open up my legs any wider......



Act cute

Halo~~! Come have a seat~

They say water magnifies an object by 25%, right? Does this look like 25% magnifying to you? I think it’s more than that.

I wanted my body to become horizontal...but my legs were too heavy.. and they sank very fast... difficult to stay still...




Of all the photos, my prettiest one :

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Ahhahahahaha....... "她…以为她很美丽, 其实只有背影还可以………"

This one not bad lah...
Yeah, I know, I am super 自恋. But that, is better than low self-esteem right?
Heeheeheee……

Taking photos in the pool was so much fun. I want to do it again.