A couple of leftovers.

From the Penang trip. I didn’t take a lot of pictures; comparably, anyhow, to Langkawi or Bangkok, or even Betong. And I didn’t write a lot about it either, mostly because I know everything else would be comprehensively covered the good people whom I went with.

The guard.

This was a weird house. It had a helmet guarding the barbed wires where the gate should be, and looking inside was a manner of oddities. Most interesting, at the window sill, was a deity of Kuan-yin with three D size Eveready batteries in front of it; you’d wonder why the incense were substituted. I noted that candles were lighted there at night, when we passed by.

(It was very obviously occult, though if Bryan hadn’t pointed out its immense peculiarity I would’ve ended up walking in and checking it out and, quite possibly, manage to get something else following me out.)

Anyhow;

The Penang Baptist Church. Which has interesting architecture, and a neon cross. See the red?

These were all taken during the walk shortly after arrival, in which the destination was;

Biscuits. Ghee Hiang.

For all that's worth; that red thing there looked tasty.

Which conjured this odd individual here doing these things;

What the...

Stop getting into my shots

And then; Mansion!

The taking of Pelham 123

Le Gurney Drive;

The smell of fish markets and bogus dead-sea mud

The Maharajah had everything; a grand kingdom, treasures in mountains, personal harems, exotic summer getaways and an awesome turban.

Yep, life is good.

And the he lost everything.

"NOOoooooo..." "GYAhuaaAhuaahAaha!" (ok, he's gonna kill me for this)

And then we got all pose-y, and Li Mei took this shot;

Huff! Happy Birthday XP


Right. I’m all lazy now. Goodnight people.

*********
Maybe some music before i go:




From Sword of the Stranger, composed by Naoki Sato.

For the record, Sword of the Stranger is a decent movie. Nothing too new or too great, but you'd dig the fight scenes, the characters and the sweeping score.

Ah, and also:



From The Sky Crawlers. Composed by Kenji Kawai. The score here reminds me of another Mamoru Oshii movie, Ghost in the Shell. Wait. It's the same composer.

This movie, on the other hand, was refreshingly engrossing, even if it has fewer dogfights and high-flying action as the title might imply. Instead, it's more of a character study type of movie. Riveting.

Life, the Universe, and Everything.

I am standing on the threshold about to enter a room. It is a complicated business. In the first place I must shove against an atmosphere pressing with a force of fourteen pounds on every square inch of my body. I must make sure of landing on a plank travelling at 20 miles a second round the sun - a fraction of a second too early or too late, the plank would be miles away. I must do this whilst hanging from a round planet, head outward into space, and with a wind of aether blowing at no one knows how many miles a second through every interstice of my body.

(Arthur Eddington 1882 - 1944)
- British astrophysicist. -

That was taken from A Treasury of Memorable Quotations, courtesy of Bryan and Li Mei, the former having tricked me to walk a good distance across a mall and into the parking lot to retrieve it. I haven’t complained; it was an excellent present. I can’t thank them enough.

On the other hand, I have to books to write things into; one a Moleskinne planner from Pauline (by jove, she better be truthful about it being on sale), another a completely empty hardbound journal by the 5th Aunt, who saw well enough that the one thing I really wanted was a book with empty pages.

Ah, that was just about the birthday I neglected to write about, above many other things.

*****

This will be a long post.

Undoubtedly, because I neglected to update at all for the past… gee, two months.

Truthfully, it’s because I told myself that I wouldn’t write anything irrelevant to work until I’ve handed up my FYP and finished my exams.

Truthfully truthfully, I broke that oath by writing a short story in the course of 8 hours (into the wee hours of the morning, and completed close to noon after a quick snooze), which I submitted to the MPH short story prize, which I expected not to win anything or even mentioned at all.

And I’ve procrastinated several more weeks so that other post-exam pleasuring would take up my free time.

And now, with most of the fun done away, I have lost all excuse not to start.

Right. Take it away, Mr Sulu.

*****

Hmm.

There was a class party. Yeah.

Here’s a picture:

The quintessential class photo

The food was great. And there was a lot of picture-taking.

Funny thing is, thinking back at it now, it felt nostalgic. Maybe because there was something magical about it. Great nights do. Then again, maybe it’s because I went to the club later that night and drank some J-Walkers and, hating it (and the place, of dark and noisy sobriety), went out and played pool before driving home with the windows down.

(I figure if I had written about it shortly in the days after the party, there would’ve been more pictures and more thing said, but it’s been 2 months now and I don’t quite remember what I had wanted to say about it).

************

My last day as a student.

Probably not.

I think someone said that we’re always and perpetually a student of life.

Until we die, that is.

Then again, whoever said that we never learn in death?

I guess I should be writing a credo, or a memoir, or a passing expression of farewell and gratitude, to my last days as a student. Sometime ago it was at the tip of my ‘to-dos’, but now, if I would have written it, I wouldn’t be entirely truthful.

If I’m being truthful, I would say, It’s been a jolly good 2 years.

And would’ve left it at that.

**********************************

Post exams;

1) Ensure, with immaculate planning and good judgement of parental behaviour, that I do not pass myself off as a loafing, goofing, and ultimately lazing unemployed man, but rather a loafing, goofing and ultimately lazing graduate.

2) Think about the future. The next 10 minutes. Garlic bread will be nice with VONO instant soup (just add hot water… genius, genius).

3) Go on a trip with friends. At least once.

Number 3 did indeed materialise. I found myself on one fair Monday sitting at the backseat of a car prepped in both equipment and spirit of a road trip down to Penang. I had packed a small bag which eventually grew bigger as the mother decided that enough is never enough (for it has to be sufficient, with extras for emergencies; what if a tsunami were to hit and you run out of dry socks?).

So it’s about food. And a lot of picture taking (not necessarily on my part). And the sea. Ah yes, the sea.

And here, Li Mei caught me reminiscing about the cold arctic ocean of which was once my home.

Stay cheap, by the way; go to YMCA.

These are tourists, by the way. You can tell from the slippers

And as fate would have it, we actually ran into classmates on a west-coast adventure, going North to South.

All i can say is; It's a really small world

With most of my money allocated to food, the only things I bought home were 11 odd DVDs (going for dirt cheap) and a remote-control car.

It’s something else, going with friends. The liberty is at the expense of our stamina and durability of our feet. The pacing entirely at our leisure. And we can literally go high and don’t give a shit about anyone else.

You have to have it, you know. At the end of something, it’s always good to go to the sea.

I swear to God, it skipped. Twice.

Feels like you’re there to throw something back. And watch the waves swallow it.

***************************************************

Ah, about Number 1 earlier. Let’s just say: Mission Failed.

I’m now officially, in the eyes of my parents, unemployed. Means I’m currently a parasitic entity and some sort of weeding has to happen.

Means I need to get out of the house, and do something.

Only that I don’t feel like doing anything yet. At least, for this week. I’m still in a lazing mood.

I haven’t written my resume yet.

Oh heck.