Red-Hot

I headed back to my parents on Saturday morning and had almost reached the bus stop when I realised that I’d forgotten my red toiletry bag. Duh! Had to retrace my steps and before long, I was drenched in perspiration (it didn’t help when you had a backpack) – it was so humid and hot. Cursed myself for being forgetful.

Stopped by at KLCC and then at Ampang Point for my dental visit. The process took shorter than the waiting time. I like to think that my pearly whites are in good condition – no filling required and no tartar build-up sighted – now if only they are whiter. The Payless Books at Ampang Point was having a sale and I ended up buying six books to add to my burgeoning collection.

Abah came to pick me up and dropped me off at the barber for my long overdue haircut. Dark clouds were already gathering overhead and the first and only thought that entered my mind was, ‘Oh God, if it rains, please let is top before 7 pm so that I could watch football tonight.’ Heh. If you think that was a weird request, wait ‘til you hear of my other numerous requests to God.

The 2008/2009 Premier League season finally kicked off Saturday evening with Arsenal hosting newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. Samir Nasri made an impressive debut by scoring his first Premier League goal for Arsenal and the first goal of the season too. Alas, the Gunners didn’t score any more after that early goal and I was getting increasingly frustrated. They were doing what they do best all right – playing beautiful football ... and making a lot of passes. Passed, passed, passed, passed, passed, passed ... but failed to score. They had plenty of possession but lacked penetration. I started getting red-hot and shouted at Arsenal (oh, I’m sure they could hear me thousands of miles away), so loudly that when my parents came back from the madrasah, they were surprised to hear the racket coming from inside the house only to find their red-blooded youngest child slumped in front of the tube. Abah remarked with a smile, ‘I was wondering what was going on in the house. It sounded like there was a quarrel going on.’ Mummy added, ‘Oh yes, she was arguing with the TV.’ Yes, I inherit my dad’s passion for football. And I can never watch footie quietly.

Went to the factory outlet Queen’s Park on Sunday but it was a disappointing visit. Watched the men’s badminton final along with millions of other Malaysians and was disappointed too.

Turned out I didn’t just forget my red toiletry bag (which I remembered to return back for) but also my scarf for today so had to hunt for a scarf, any scarf, at my parents’ to wear to work today. And because I could find only one floral red scarf that I could wear to work, (which doesn’t go with the skirt I initially planned to wear), I had to search for a suitable skirt or trousers ... now, if only I had not been so ditsy eh!

And the only available skirt in the wardrobe was the almost-forgotten Tangs chilli red skirt. Of course it goes along with my new pepper red LeSportsac hobo.

If anyone decides to comment, I’ll say that red is the auspicious colour for the Chinese and I’m wearing red today in view of the on-going Olympic Games and the coming mid-Autumn festival ...

Or that I’m on red alert.

Either way, the colour of my dressing is not worth a red cent (but y’know, some people just like to comment on my dressing).

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I also watched the Everton-Blackburn match. Paul Ince’s (who made his Premier League managerial debut) Blackburn was brilliant and quite dominant especially in the first half. It was an exciting match though Everton took a while to find their tempo falling back before equalising just before the half time. Then they doubled their lead but they forgot the old saying: you are always at your most vulnerable shortly after you score. And they were punished by dishy Roque Santa Cruz before losing the match in the 90th minute. I wonder if David Bentley and Mark Hughes have started to regret their decision to leave Blackburn already (and whatever was the former thinking by moving to Spurs when most of Spurs actually dispersed?! Silly guy). Liverpool’s Nando struck a late win to defeat Sunderland by a scoreline similar to Arsenal.

Elsewhere, newly promoted Hull City made an impressive debut to come back from behind and beat foolish Fulham. Fulham are never good at defending their lead and it seemed they have not yet learnt the lessons of the past season. And on Super Sunday, Chelshit beat Pompey impressively, Villains beat Man Shitty and ManUre held to a draw. Hahaha!

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Am just back from a lecture. It was quite interesting for an economics-related lecture. But what caught my attention (besides the presence of Eric) was the cat which appeared on stage twice; it then ran the length of the auditorium before returning to the stage and slipping away. Who let the cat out, eh!

10 Things I Hate About You

Not in any particular order:

1. You are full of yourself.
2. You are bloody arrogant, cocky, conceited and pompous.
3. Your puking strutting makes me sick. Heck, your very puking presence and existence make me sick.
4. You’re so vain – even though you’re downright ugly (I have nothing against ugly people because I’m a plain Jane myself)
5. You are nauseatingly boring.
6. You think the world of yourself.
7. You think you are invincible.
8. You think everyone loves and adores you.
9. When things go wrong, you think the whole world is against you.
10. You don’t accept defeat gracefully.

Yes, I hate you. All of you. The whole squad of ManUre (which reeks so badly, I’m refusing to even acknowledge your full name). And I hate all the naffing lunatic fans too. Why, only yesterday afternoon, some ManUre supporter had the temerity to comment on Arsenal’s silverware-less state of last season. It was all I could do from telling him to eff off and punch him in the face. Why not tell me something I don’t already know instead of insulting my intelligence? It’s OK for Gooners to criticise the Gunners but not for others, and especially not supporters of the stinking club, to do so (just like it’s ‘acceptable’ or understandable for Malaysians to lament the way things are done in the country but it’s never OK for outsiders to do so). Get it?

And I hate your Froggie too.

ABU!

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The 2008/2009 EPL season kicks off tomorrow finally. Hope Arsenal will do another stunt on West Brom as they inflicted upon then promoted Derby last season. And I hope that Arsenal will start scoring in the first half instead of coming back from behind or scoring in the last 15 minutes as they are increasingly prone to doing.

Twente Questions

I woke up unaided by alarm somehow this morning and decided to watch the delayed match. Was surprised to find the local supporters singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ (it turns out this anthem is sung before every kick-off) and for a while wondered if Astro SuperSport was showing the Liverpool-Liege match again by mistake.

Arsenal scraped a win thanks to goals from Gallas and Adebayor but the team looked like it really missed Fàbregas, Toure and Diaby. So whatever Twente questions that may have been raised before are now answered. Arsenal must be very good or very lucky to win with that kind of performance and especially with the absence of their influential midfielder matador.

The difference between Arsenal and other teams is that the Gunners are interested and passionate about playing football. The other teams are interested in winning matches. Of course, we also want to win but it’s not the sole aim. There’s an important distinction there which is manifested when you see Fàbregas make an unexpected pass but which on hindsight seemed completely logical and inevitable. But sometimes, a win is more important, especially if they have been playing a lacklustre game.

Toure and Samir Nasri should be fit for the league opener but it looks like my fabulous Fab will still be out for the Saturday match. So until then, let’s look back at a wonderful summer (though it’s not yet over of course!).

Yes, Fàbregas, we know what you did there during your summer break.

Olympic Weekend

The 29th edition of the Olympic Games kicked off on Friday evening with much pomp and splendour – alas, I missed the Malaysian team make their appearance. It looked like the Chinese have handled everything pretty well so far and orchestrated everything to a tee. I couldn’t help thinking how magnificent and what an honour it’d be to any athlete to be representing his country.

Saturday morning was TheOrganisation’s annual dinner. I went out in the morning with a view to returning home by afternoon for a rest and did what I’d never done before: got a manicure and pedicure (OK, I’d gotten a complimentary manicure before) and no, it wasn’t because of the dinner but it was something I’ve wanted to try out and experience. The Filipino nail person (I couldn’t quite figure out if she was actually a he or a genuine she) told me that my nails were dry and that manicure and pedicure should be done on a monthly basis. Righttt... doubt I’ll be doing another any time soon, what with the new Premier League season (finally) looming over because I’m sure I’ll be chewing my nails as I watch the matches. I like to keep my nails short and the nail person reacted with some surprise when he/she saw my short toenails and asked if they have problems growing.

I then did a quick grocery shopping before having lunch. Oh, and I did something I never thought I’d do: buy a pair of Crocs! I’m getting nervous at the ease with which I’m using my plastic now.

I was starting to feel sleepy after lunch and did another thing I hardly ever do while shopping/window shopping: yawn. That was a sure cue as any for me to head home for a rest as it would be a long day and evening ahead.

My buddy, Elle, arrived shortly after half past five. We caught up with each other before I realised I needed to shower or we’d risk being late for dinner. The traffic wasn’t too bad for Saturday evening and we reached the hotel – coincidentally, the hotel has part of the current Olympic games tagline in its name - in 20 minutes (at one point when we stopped at a red light, the driver next to our car kept staring at us making me real uncomfortable. I asked Elle if we should engage him in a staring match but she said it’d be a waste of time and effort and I agreed).

There was an announcement that while there’s no theme to the dinner, everyone should at least be dressed in ‘smart casual’ clothes with jeans and t-shirts expressly forbidden. I noted though that while the girls were smartly decked out in their clothes, there were guys who couldn’t make the extra effort to dress up: I guess it takes too much time and effort to make oneself look presentable, to dress appropriately according to the occasion for a once-in-a-year event at a good hotel. Surely it’s not asking too much? While I for one would like nothing better than to dress casually on Saturday evenings, heck, on weekends, I try to make an effort. It’s not too much but clearly some guys felt otherwise. Why, there was this bloke next to our table in jeans!

This reminds me of wedding ceremonies and receptions here especially those held during the day. The girls would be demurely dressed in their traditional baju kurung or modern kebaya while the guys, well some guys would mostly be in shirts, t-shirts, or worse, footie jerseys. Like WTH!

Anyway, back to Saturday evening (I’m prone to digressing in case you haven’t noticed!): thank God Eric was in a smart lounge suit. I was The Lady In Red (well, various shades of red anyway).

I had a good time and enjoyed myself: the MC was good and not too OTT; Buddy Loren was wickedly fabulous and he had me in stitches – I was laughing so much and enjoying myself tremendously throughout his brilliant performance; Sheila Majid gave a professional performance; the food was good; the company at the table excellent; and no smokers milling about outside the ballroom. I was as usual involved in the spirit of things, singing along to songs, swaying to the music, laughing hard at jokes, even playing the angklung enthusiastically.

Alas, I didn’t get what I never got before: win a lucky draw prize.

We left after midnight – we spent the arduous wait to exit the car-park in heavy discussion – but not to worry, I’m no Cinderella.

Sunday was spent with a brief sleep-in, watching the Olympics and finishing my novel.

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Arsenal came back from behind after trailing by two goals to beat Ajax Amsterdam in the last 25 minutes of the Amsterdam Tournament match on Friday evening (hmm, wonder if the host were going ‘Amsterdamn it!’). I was glad to see my magnificent matador in action again. And though they went on to draw with Sevilla, it was still enough for Arsenal to lift the Amsterdam cup.

One World, One Dream

On this day, 08 August ‘08, at 08:08:08 pm, the 2008 Summer Olympics will be officiated. Boycotts and protests particularly over human rights violation and Tibetan independence have marred the preparation for this 29th edition of the Olympic – just as they had occurred at past Olympic Games. And as if those are not enough, China has been beset with environmental concerns – natural catastrophes and environmental issues.

But the show must go on and so it will.

Good luck to the host city and all athletes!

Isn’t this Google logo (or whatever you call it) of the five Fuwa mascots carrying the Olympic flag simply cute?

P.S.: Happy birthday to Odie who celebrates his birthday today!

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Arsenal came back from behind to beat Huddersfield in two late goals (how typical of Arsenal, even for the young Gunners!). Three goals in the last 15 minutes (including the opening from the host). Not bad at all (and Nacer Barazite is pretty cute too)!

Go East

Abah and Mummy had wanted to make a return visit to the Islamic City and when I heard of it, I decided to come along to ensure they are all right. So I headed back to Ampang on Saturday (but not before stopping en route at KLCC; it seemed as if the whole Klang Valley had descended upon KLCC that Saturday) for our flight out was on early Sunday morning.

I was in KB (it wasn’t a city yet then) last with my friends. We had just finished our week-long orientation programme at Seri Kluang Camp in Besut and decided to follow the majority of other fellow students to the Islamic City by bus and back to KL from there. I can still remember us arriving at the bus station and being approached by a cab driver. He looked at me (I had yet to don the scarf then), smiled and asked, ‘You want to go to town?’, yes in those very words. I stared back at him uncomprehendingly and wondered, ‘Why is he talking to me in English?’. As if he heard my thought, he repeated his question, ‘You want to go to town?’ I would have remained there confused until one friend replied yes, we did indeed want to go to town. She then turned to me and said, ‘He must have thought you a Chinese.’ I wasn’t insulted but I couldn’t help wondering why the cabbie specifically directed his questions to me when I was with my friends. And I hope it’s not the same anywhere else: that service providers don’t just single out those who don’t look local (even if they are) at the expense of the others. But we know some salespeople prefer to serve Caucasians (even though they are shabbily dressed) and ignore local customers.

Anyway, back to the present day. We touched down at 0830 (so imagine what time we left home for the airport!) and took a cab to our hotel. After dropping our bags at the concierge, we walked over to Laman Siti Khadijah for breakfast. Then we entered the Siti Khadijah Central Market and spent some time there. This central market is abuzz with local produce at the ground floor; dry food (fish crackers, dried fish, anchovies, meat floss, chicken floss, fish floss, dodol etc) on the first floor; and handicraft and clothing items on the second floor. The traders are mainly women and boy, are they entrepreneurial. It was also a bit hot in there so make sure you go there early to pick your bargains. And, yes, bargaining is a must!

We left around noon and went back to the hotel. Had lunch at the hotel and guess where and what we had for lunch. No, not nasi dagang (red glutinous rice served with mackerel dish and a mixture of vegetables), not nasi kerabu (multi-coloured rice dish served with fresh vegetables and fish), and not even laksam (rice flour served with coconut gravy and fresh vegetables)... but we had dim sum lunch at the hotel’s Seasons Chinese Restaurant! The dim sum was good though and our fellow patrons were mainly Kelantanese Chinese who speak very fluent Kelantanese dialect, that if you don’t look up, you’d probably think it was the local Malays conversing to each other.

After checking in, we rested before going out in the evening to get dinner. This time, we bought nasi dagang and also some local delicacies. It rained very heavily shortly after so we missed the sunset over the Kelantan River. I had to ask my mate to update me on the F1 and Arsenal-Juventus match as there’s no Star Sports in the hotel room. She replied to say it was good of me to visit KB especially as I supposedly always go abroad. Replied back to say that I had been to KB before besides Kuching and KK (I’ve covered all states in Malaysia, alhamdulillah). And KB is AirAsia’s eighth most popular destination after KK, Kuching, Langkawi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Macau and Bali; and it is more popular than Shenzhen and Phuket.

On Monday, we left the hotel after breakfast and walked to Buluh Kubu Bazaar (selling mainly batik materials). I detoured briefly to Bank Pitis at Padang Bank, near The Grand Place (Istana Balai Besar). Then I went to Istana Jahar (a traditional and cultural museum – I didn’t go in though) and Masjid Muhammadi (the state mosque). It was getting very hot already and it was only 10 in the morning! So I rejoined Mummy and Abah and we went to the Central Market (yes, again). I parted with quite a bit of dosh here today. We also had mid-morning meal and lunch at the food court of the market. Vegetarians would have problems finding food though as a lot of dishes have meat (or bones) in it. If you like rice, there are a lot of heavy dishes such as big, fried prawns and cuttlefish and animal organs. The drinks stalls do not sell Coke, they prefer Pepsi: the choice of a new generation (I was tempted to buy a can bearing Fàbregas even though I don’t drink carbonated drink). We had to take a cab back to the hotel (the driver was handicapped, he had a stump where there should be his left hand) because we’d really spurred the local economy today!

That evening, I walked around alone and took some pictures. There were quite a few Caucasians around the city and I was pleased to note that they were brave (or curious?) enough to explore the city (and I know some Malaysians who have yet to set foot in the state, what more the city!). After traipsing around, I headed back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool area with my novel. Wanted to catch the sunset but alas, it was a hazy evening.

On Tuesday, I made another trip to the market area, to pick up my bangle which I sent for repair on Sunday. If you don’t already know, there are a lot of goldsmiths in KB (as in KT) and the price of gold in the East Coast is much lower than that in KL. I understand this is because the two states have their own price for gold and they do not adhere to the price fixed at the federal level (so you can imagine how powerful and rich the East Coast goldsmiths are). And the repair cost me a fraction (15%!) of what the goldsmith at Ampang Point quoted me!

Rushed back to the hotel and checked out. Had lunch at a nearby stall... like I said, vegetarians would have problems eating in Kelantan! Then we relaxed at the hotel lobby before taking a cab to the airport for our afternoon flight home.

To the tune of Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Go West’:

(Go East) Life is peaceful there
(Go East) In the open air
(Go East) Where the skies are blue
(Go East) This is what we’re gonna do

So, what are you waiting for? Go pack your bags and travel! (And not just explore the travel brochures!)

I’m So Vain

I’m so vain, I know this entry’s about me
I’m so vain, you know this entry’s about me
Don’t you, don’t you

Yes, this entry is about me, specifically about my wins over my friends in our online Scrabble games.

My first game: I scored the first bingo ‘AIBLINS’ then my mate retaliated with a bingo ‘SIPHONED’ and I put down the third consecutive bingo of the game ‘NAUTICAL’.

In my second game, I scored a hat-trick of bingos, ‘INSTEAD’, ‘NOISIER’ and ‘VANTAGES’.

And in this third game, I scored two consecutive bingos again, ‘NIMRODS’ and ‘SUNNIER’ and my mate retaliated to the second bingo with his ‘RECIPES’.

I love this game (and especially if I win/am winning of course!)! Hmm, when will I start competing internationally, if ever? Congratulations to Nigel Richards for winning the Scrabble Championship 2008.

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I can’t wait for the new Premier League season to kick off (and can’t wait to watch Arsenal and Fàbregas in action)!!! It’s been more than a month since Euro2008. I’m resigned to watching the Champions League reruns now besides tuning in to other sports (speaking of which, good luck to Lewis Hamilton for this weekend’s F1 in Hungary. Oh yes, Arsenal did score a perfect ten against Burgenland XI and subsequently beat Stuttgart - and Lehmann - 3-1 this week).

I’m sure Fàbregas can’t wait for the new season either.