On an island in the sun...

Langkawi Island…

A land with an epic legend.

A land with a town named Gravy (in Malay).

A land of duty free liquor, cigarettes and chocolates.

But most importantly… it is an island. Yes, with beaches and all; palm trees, smooth sands, refreshing winds, killer sunshine, gentle waves and seagulls or the likes.

How could I pass up an opportunity like that? Though it did take me a considerably long time to decide on the offer; I’m not fond with postponing another lunch with Rachel and the exams are close.

Yup, so I’ve been there and back. Langkawi Island. Land of the freaking cheapest can of beer I’ve ever bought (RM1.20 per can, which is DIRT cheap compared to the price you get at restaurants. Not that I drink anyways, but heck is it cheap).

left on Monday and came back Friday morning (yeap, skived a lot of classes in the process), though I just spend 3 days on the island. Monday was a day reserved for paying a visit to my great grandmother at Butterworth. She’s still fine, to my relieve. 101 years old, and she can immediately recognize me as the silly great-grandson who would return home from school and slide around the floor in his school uniform. I can’t understand a word she says though; she speaks in traditional Teochew, but she understands a great deal of Cantonese. As in every of my visits, she cried when we left. It’s painful to see her eyes well up in tears… those eyes that saw so much and so far, and so gentle yet fragile. And she’s so lonely now, and so far away, so it’s hard for us who lives at the southern side of the country to constantly travel up and visit. Sigh.

Spent the night at my eldest aunt’s house… on a sofa which tormented my neck... without mercy.

For some reason, I found the journey to the island somewhat arduous. The jetty at Kuala Kedah was shrouded in a stench that reminded me of decaying prawns 100 times amplified. The ferry was swarming with cockroaches, not to mention packed and stuffy, and I had the unfortunate pick to be seated right next to my grandfather who is grumpy, boring, and very feisty (and smells of the cigars he smokes… oh God). We rented a van at the island, which was a rusting microwave oven without power steering, and had lunch at Kuah town under the immensely murderous heat (I had 4 glasses of iced barley drink, and guess what the food was? Fried Keow Teow, Asam Laksa and Prawn Noodles. Oh lordy). Then there was that 30 minute drive to the hotel… well at least the scenery is beautiful.

Right, I was very, very patient and tolerating throughout the whole thing, because I know that soon I get to beach… and there’s nothing like the beach; sands like wheat flour, the serene falling of the waves, the winds with the sweet scent of the ocean and the bikini clad hotties basking under the sun… all these soon and very soon, as soon as I we reach the hotel…

What the fuck?

Hath mine eyes deceived me, cruelly and as relentless as Darth Vader force-choking an imperial pilot? Is that the freaking airport I see right behind the hotel, with its planes and stretches of tracks, and around it was nothing but trees, growths, padi fields and murky puddles of mud? And with the airport so near… it means…

Where’s the beach? Where are the smooth sands, the serene falling of the waves, the winds with ocean-smell and bikini clad hotties?

Miles away from the hotel. MILES.

What’s even the point of going to the island in the first place? What’s an island WITHOUT a beach? What in the bloody damnation of hell is this? Holy shit.

First day wasted on… shopping. Oh, look at the joy as my ignorant relatives frolicked to the plethora of duty free shops buying the cheapest fags, booze and those brown sweet stuffs in the nation while I tag along like a walrus being told that the artic had melted. Well I took time to time to grab a couple of Smarties and keychains, so it’s not all that bad… but they had to do it EVERY FREAKING NIGHT. When you wanna buy a cheap luggage bag, you buy the cheap luggage bag. Don’t waste the beautiful star filled nights of a tropical island returning to the same damn shops contemplating the same bags over and over again, when we could’ve driven to the closest beach and have a nighttime stroll. C’mon people! You were in a bloody beach-haven and you’d prefer to shop for luggage bags which are probably imitation goods because of the price tag. What the bloody hell is wrong with you?

(You might realize that I’m thoroughly biased to the beaches, ignoring the fact that my relatives are all adults in a land of duty free stuff. But try and understand…).

The second day fared better, at least. Had a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel, and I believe I tasted every single thing at the buffet table except for the fried noodles which looked like my high school rendition of “worst noodles ever”. We went to the Underwater World aquarium, which was somewhat disappointingly lackluster compared to the ones at KLCC or Sentosa Island, but I had fun all the same. Instant noodles lunch at the hotel (if you’d believe it), and at 2 we went island hopping. This boat took to a couple of famous islands around Langkawi; we went to Pulau Dayang Bunting (Island of the Pregnant Maiden, with the hills forming the image of a pregnant lady lying down. Legend has it that if a woman bathes at the lake in the island, she will conceive a child), Pulau Helang where sea eagles gather and this island with a beautiful BEACH where we spent an hour at.

That was about the only time we got to a beach, and I’m not in swimming apparel. Damn.

That night we played cards with drinks and snacks at the hotel corridors, and I drank my first Vodka with orange, which got my head woozy when we wrapped up (I’m not good with alcohol), but I cleared it up with a good, long soak at the tub with a novel.

We were supposed to leave the next morning, but my aunt decided to have some last minute fun, and we went and took the cable cars to the highest grounds on the island. And man was the view magnificent… I almost forgot the fact that there were no beaches in this trip. Well, almost…

It’s sad that we didn’t visit the Telaga Tujuh waterfalls and the Anna and the King movie set (which was a waste, because I wanted to see the set when I heard that they shot the movie there, and I liked the movie).

Well the fun at the cable cars caused us a considerably long delay to head home, and by the time we arrived to the mainland it was already 7, which means I reach Kajang at 2 in the morning, and thus I had to spend the night at grandmother’s house (and had to postpone Rachel’s lunch for the second time). We had a late dinner at Tambun; seafood at the seaside. I didn’t arrive home until Friday afternoon, and by then I was already homesick. No place like home…

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun this time around… I just wished we saw more beaches. Well my aunt is planning for another trip there, and this time we’ll be staying at a BEACH resort. YES!

Now’s just the matter of waiting.

Oh shit, my exam’s 2 weeks away.

Goodnight people.

Word of the day:

habitue
One who habitually frequents a place.

Movie of the day: 50 first dates (sweet, funny and charming… what else can go wrong? 3 ½ stars out of 5).

Anime of the day: Bleach ep 97.

Currently reading: Tall Stories by Tom Holt (which contains ‘Expecting someone taller’ and ‘Ye Gods!’)

Currently playing: The matrix: Path of Neo.

Dirge of Cerberus.

Battle Stadium D.O.N

Le Random.

What am I doing here? I should be sleeping, I mean, I have to wake at 5 tomorrow in the morning and drag myself to college and if I have any sense of learning through my past mistakes of sleeping-late-&-waking-horrendously-early-for-crappy-day, I should really be lunging myself to bed right now with sleeping pills as a last resort in case insomnia kicks in.

Alright, my bad, I should’ve done this earlier and not sit myself in front of the old TV playing Winning Eleven 8 (or PESoccer 5). If you’re asking why I should even bother doing this and just go sleep instead, well, this blog is made under the request of mon very fascinating (in a weird sense, but fascinating nonetheless), enthusiastic and (with all due and ultimate respect) adorably lame coursemate Pei Ling. She popped to me on MSN and requested this on her first words coupled with emoticons and a *dances*, so if I refuse to do it I’ll be

1) An AssHOLE and

2) (Since I’m an asshole anyways and the previous doesn’t apply) going to sleep ignoring the fact that a pretty friend took time and care to ask me to blog and keep this hellhole of a site alive, and ridden with the painful haunts of guilt.

But to be real honest:

3) Going to sleep achieving nothing for the day, and if answering to a friend’s request to blog is in a way doing something WORTHWHILE for the day, well, I GOTTA do it.

So here I am, sacrificing sleep and rest so that I can post something that’s probably not worth anyone’s attention, so that I can comfort my conscience with a pretence that I did something that in a way is achieving something.

*cue HALLELUJAH song here*

Naw, just kidding (kinda). I wanted to take time to blog anyhow, so in a way it’s a win-win situation. Screw sleep and tomorrow. Nothing a good plate of Chee Cheong Fun (all chilli) can’t cure.

hanks Pei Ling =). Appreciate the request *bows*

Well, I’ve practically planned nothing for this post so it’s pretty much random stuff (which Ling says I should do when I’m out off things to blog).

Not that I plan for any of my posts anyways.

The weekend has been a lazy and carefree one, and I had a 4 day break from college (the first 2 days are self-declared ‘break-days’). Things had been pretty busy and hectic before, and I guess my biological clock and schedule kind of tuned itself to ‘slow and lazy’. For the past days all I’ve been doing are:

1) Glutton away (shit).

2) PS2 my ass off.

3) Spread myself in front of the new TV and watching DVD.

4) Surfed the net aimlessly.

5) Sleep. Like a walrus.

Very relaxing. Exam’s a couple of weeks away, you idiot.

I just realised that I haven’t felt hunger for 4 days. Not even a TINGE of it.

Shit.

Everything seems to have dissipated into a chill and take-it-easy pace after the assignments. No, ignore the fact that exams are as close as a bone to the pelvic. Everything has settled for a vacation and lazing out under the summer sun. Slow, cheery, ignorant…

Where’s the urgency? Where’s the sense of dread of impending doom?

Heck I want urgency and I want dread. I don’t intend to laze away until Exam Day when I wake up and “Oh shit. What’re my subjects again?”

Hey, it happened. Serious.

But everything is just so… so… chilled out…

t’s hard not to go “Fuck exams! I’m playing Shadow Hearts!”

*Sigh*

Come to think of it, everything IS chilled now. I’ve not been thinking about her, nor whatever that comes with her. I’ve not worried myself with a plethora of idiocy and self-inflicted torment (no I’m not saying that I do shit like cutting myself or drilling holes to my soles. Just questions). In fact, I found myself rather more interested with a peculiar relationship this friend of mine is starting (and somehow concerned… feels like I’m watching soap dramas).

Looking forward to lunch with Rachel. I think it’s about the only time I actually asked a girl out to lunch without another friend suddenly tagging along (wow! I feel like a loser. So familiar a feeling…).

The Superman theme song is stuck in my head…

By a stroke of luck, I managed to catch Napoleon Dynamite on HBO yesterday. I have no idea of what the movie was freaking about, apart from the fact that it’s kinda hyped up by a couple of programs I glimpsed. Turns out to be an interesting watch, though not as funny as I hoped it would be.

Perhaps, in a morbid and real kind of way, I feel like Napoleon. Outcast, loser, nerd/geek/noob, impediment, etc. It feels so familiar, watching it. Guess it’s undeniable that I’m a geek.

Though it’ll be hell the day I choose to name myself Napoleon Dynamite…

Whoa, cripes, it’s 20 minutes past midnight. I guess I really should head to sleep.

Goodnight people.

Song of the day: Eleanor by Low Millions.

Currently Reading: random cookbook.

Movie of the day: Superman Returns. (despite falling somewhat short, this movie celebrated the return of a superhero icon with flair and style. 4 out of 5 stars)

Currently Playing: Shadow Hearts: From the new world

Pro Evolution Soccer 5.

I LOST…

To someone named David (why does the name piss me off? No, it can’t be because I lost to someone with the name… yeah well it is), whom I somehow knew but never met. He’s mates with Amanda and Michelle, and I saw him about at Monday, though how he knew my name and how I look somehow eluded my memories. He just walked up to me with an oddly determined look, and said “You’re JE, right? I’m David.”

Have we met?

We had a little practise session, and he beat me flat out (I wasn’t well ready to go seriously, so I kinda let lots of shuttles go on purpose, but I have to admit that he gets his ball placing done). Fate did a job in getting us to play each other; both our opponents didn’t turn up, and we happened to be playing after another.

I lost by 21-18 and 21-16… I think.

I’m know I’m being hubristic and a sore loser for saying this, but given practise on singles games and a better control at nerves, I could’ve won. He’s not that good to the point that I have to run around the court like a desperate lemur, and frankly speaking his points came more from me making stupid mistakes. And in my desperation I couldn’t get my smashes down, and kept netting my drops. Practising with him earlier was both a mistake and a smart choice; he knew my forehand defence is weak and kept hitting at hit, but in time I can anticipate his placing. Not enough though. I also lost on stamina and experience.

All in all, I lost with satisfaction, but I’m going to get back at him another day.

Yep, a sore loser, I am.

He said something to me after the game, which (in my fatigued and blurry state) sounded like “You know, I gave you a lot of chances to catch up with me just now, but you couldn’t, so… hehe.”

I hope I heard right because…

Pompous, self-conceited bastard… bloody arrogant son of a-

But I guess didn’t intend any ill-will in saying that, because I got invited to a game on the 23rd of August and possible future Counter-Strike matches (it’s rare to find a couple of people playing this after the Warcraft 3 DOTA upsurge).

Still one can’t help but feel…

Haughty, pretentious, supercilious assho-

I stayed back to have a few friendly games with the organising committee, a bunch of cheerful and friendly people from the Multimedia course. Had good laughs and fun, though I didn’t manage to get their numbers (much to my regret).
Had a lonely dinner at a restaurant… ate crappy prawn noodles and downed a can of 100 Plus.

It struck me that no one came to watch me compete… and that I’m the only one without someone supporting (though Teh Derwoei said he supported me ‘spiritually and magically from the comforting confines of his mess-strewn apartment room’. He asked me if I ‘felt’ him. I told him I felt like puking and crap, and I wondered if that was him).

Well I brought it upon myself… and I did miss out on the girl’s finals game yesterday… unintentional, of course. I followed mom’s car. But if I had the determination I would’ve stayed. I had the half-notion of calling my mother to head home without me and then turn around and head back to courts, but I dropped the thought. My presence won’t matter anyways.

Goodnight people. Sweet dreams.

Word of the day: animus
1. Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention.
2. A feeling of ill will; animosity.
3. In Jungian psychology, the inner masculine part of the female personality

Song of the day: The Freshman by Verve Pipe.

Anime of the day: Blood+ ep 38

Movie of the day: Disney’s Dinosaur (I admit while it’s horrendously cheesy and clichéd, it’s somehow rather enjoyable. 3 stars out of 5)

Took long enough...

To the anonymous commenter of my previous post: Thanks for reminding me… time to get the vacuum out.

Haha, how long has it been since I blogged? 3 days actually… I DID manage to post something up, but took it down because it’ll definitely piss off a couple of people (I wrote it in under frustration and some caffeine. Bad combo).

Anyways, the previous few weeks were a marathon of lethargy (I’m aware that you tire after a marathon, no pun intended actually). Last minute assignments, failed attempts at book reviews and competition fiction essays, all that jazz. I reach home everyday feeling like a tofu. The rest is cliché; too tired to blog, yada yada.. you get the picture.

Not to mention that stupid frustration from some silly, childish endeavour that I had to face, and my feeling horrendously unfair to be chucked a handful of it without the chance of explaining myself.

And Monday. Let’s not talk about Monday.

Let’s just say that what happened warranted me to yell in the middle of the college parking lot and fumed into my sleep.

But good dim sum and tea this morning washed it away into the gutter… I have no idea how well it does to soothe the soul.

Funny, you’d think that my absence should provide me with plenty of things to crap, and yet I’m sitting here with absolutely nothing to blog about.

Haha, I guess this will do for now. I’ve to prepare for tomorrow’s badminton game anyways.

I’m so gonna lose.

Word of the day: Sough

Song of the day: Heist by Ben Folds

Anime of the day: Bokura ga Ita.