All I Wanna Do

'All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die,'

Says the man next to me out of nowhere

So sings Sheryl Crow.

And what I really want to do?

In the words of Sheryl Crow again -

All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard

Yes I do want to have fun, within limits of course. After all, life is short. Too short in fact. We gotta make the most out of our short stay on this planet.

And while Cyndi Lauper insists that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, I want to do so much more before I die.

Like going for an underwater stream boat ride accompanied by an orchestra [OK, I am inspired by that trip Samantha Brown made to Mallorca] with someone who loves me and whom I love.

I want to sleep in a tent Underneath The Stars somewhere along the Silk Road.

I want to go ride a horse and feel the wind in my face as I gallop off to wherever the stallion brings me.

I want to go conquer my fears – no, not the Fear Factor way – and go sky diving, parachuting, white-water rafting, spelunking in caves, bungee jumping...

I want to continue travelling, exploring and visiting foreign countries, learning new cultures, customs, beliefs and traditions and maybe pick up some local lingo, soaking in different atmospheres and blending in... I want to make another return Haj trip, insyaAllah.

I want to go to the steppe, the savanna, the desert, the ocean... [not too sure if I’m cool about going to the Artic or the Antarctic though - I don’t much care to get frozen].

I want to visit all the Seven Wonders of the World. I have climbed the Great Wall of China but only that. I want to go explore the Great Pyramid of Giza and even the Inca pyramids in Peru. I want to go to the Taj Mahal.

My secret wish is to visit Israel too, yes, the land forbidden to us [as stamped on our passports so I may need a fake passport and identity] because that place is so steeped in history.

I want to have a fun job, not unlike that of Samantha Brown. I hope I can have my own Passport to ... [Asia/Africa/the world] or Globe Trekker programme one day.

I want to have the courage and determination one day to volunteer myself to worthy causes. To help with the MERCY rescue team, to help with the poor in Africa, to help with conserving wildlife and the environment, in short, to offer help and support to those who need it, human, animal or even plant.

I want to do all of the above and so much more... So much to do and so little time [and money!].

I want to be able to look back upon my life one day and be satisfied that my life has been well and truly lived. I don’t want a life full of regrets and despair and misery, so self-absorbed with my problems that I’m oblivious to others.

After all, as Abraham Lincoln said it, ‘And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.’

What do you wanna do?

Mad

I returned to micasa after work on Friday and was not at all pleased to discover a ripped plastic bag with yellowish gooey stuff in my porch. I wasn’t feeling that well yet and was reluctant to tackle domestic chores but because of the mess created by the unsightly trash, I decided to roll my sleeves and clean the place, leaving the porch for last. When I tried to remove the plastic, I was surprised to discover that the gooey stuff actually had viscous quality, not unlike that of honey. But it wasn’t honey as I discovered seconds later, it smelled of paraffin or kerosene instead! I was just so mad - who would do such a malicious, spiteful thing as throwing a bag of paraffin into another’s compound anyway, what purpose did he/she expect to achieve and Why, Why, Why?! I tried in vain to wash and scrub it off but it didn’t quite work. I was so angry that I actually cursed the culprit, ‘I hope you enjoy rotting in hell later,’ under my breath.

Then later I discovered a plank of wood in my backyard, quite near the kitchen windows. It looked like it just got there. And so it was as I discovered the next morning ‘cause the grass beneath it was still green and not deprived of chlorophyll. The plank was about a foot long or so with nails protruding from each end. How could the plank have ended where it was? It surely couldn’t have moved on its own. So, someone must have flung it across or, worse, held it as he crossed over the fence as he made his way to my kitchen windows. But somehow the intruder’s progress was halted and he left that piece of evidence behind.

I’m beginning to wonder if some weirdos are trying to spook me off. One Ramadhan night in between prayers, I was sitting happily in front of the tube when I heard some noise in the backyard and upon inspection, I found an empty mineral water bottle suddenly taking residence there. What followed were my colourful hollered curses piercing and cutting through the sanctity of that Ramadhan night.

Yes, Adek can really curse like a sailor and swear like a trooper so you’d better not annoy me. And yes, I'm working on stopping vile language from escaping my mouth. So do your bit by not ruffling with this chic chick's feathers please.

~~~~~~~~

Groan! It’s back to the grind for most people today [though I was back on Friday as mentioned earlier]. And the return of the working population means that it’s back to mad clogged roads and with that, mad impatient drivers honking incessantly and the air becoming polluted with exhaust fumes; people, people and people everywhere; and… the end of the festive sale. The last is a relief, really, honestly. I must really watch my spending. I’ve been spending quite a bit during Ramadhan and even though I’m a shopaholic, I can’t let it continue. Must absolutely stop, pronto. I hereby declare November a no-shopping month for me until I can say YES to Y.E.S. [Year End Sale].

Adek needs to exercise discipline and maintain a tight grip over her wallet. And she’s got her mate to help make sure she stays on the straight and narrow for the next month. *Sigh* Oh what an ordeal. I can already sense a few November Rain scenes [where despite the cry in my heart, I simply must say no to whatever that may catch my fancy]! Boohoo!

~~~~~~~~

Footie footnote: Arsenal drew with bad-attitude Everton on Saturday. Hmmmph! If you can’t play exciting football and not man enough to try, then it’s just sheer cowardice to me. Check out the full report here. The other EPL ‘giants’, Chelsea, ManU(re) and Liverpool all won. Grrr...

The Same Yet Different

Every single year, I will get an Eid card from H all the way from England. He Always makes these ‘home-made’ cards where there will be a picture of him and family in Eid attire in front - same man, same wife; different year, different attire, different pose. And every year, I am reminded again and again of what could have been... and that it could have been me instead in that Family Portrait.

Every year, I will get a call from England, be it from H in those days of yore [except he called from Ireland before he moved to England] or from my good mate or someone else. Sorry I missed your call dear!

Every year, we will boil instant ketupat and you’d think we’d be masters at it already. After all, what could be easier than popping packets of rice into boiling water and let them grow and transform into fat and round and nice bags of ketupat eh. But no, this year, they didn’t turn out that well. Oh, they were still edible but a bit soggy at the edges. But we finished them all, all eight packets of ketupat! And I actually told Mummy before she popped in the eighth packet that surely seven was more than enough!

Every year, I will attempt my Syawal fast on the second or third day of Syawal [while I’m still in the mood for fasting! Provided I can fast of course!] and I started it on Wednesday but by noon, I had a slight fever and gosh, there was so much wind in my tummy! [I blame it on my endless gorging of coconut-enriched food on Eid...] To top it, the clinic was closed too due to the festive season. So there goes my hope of finishing my six days on Monday evening. Oh well, man proposes, God disposes...

Almost every year, Mummy will not be able to finish her month of fasting, no thanks to her stomach ulcer and/or gastritis. This year, she had a bad case of food poisoning, so bad that she missed the last three days of fasting. We even brought her to Gleneagles at dawn on the day before Eid but thankfully the sleepy doctor said she need not be admitted. [I already had visions of celebrating Eid in the hospital looking after Mummy but if it came to that, I accept it because she’s my mother and she’d do the same for me]. She recovered since that visit, syukur alhamdulillah - and now I think I’ve gotten her wind.

Every year, my aunt and uncle will celebrate Eid at one of her children’s house. Last year, they celebrated it in Kiwi-land. This year, it was in Shah Alam. And since I haven’t seen them since Eid two years ago, I was a bit shocked to see how aged and fragile they looked this time.

Every year, there will be insensitive people who ask me the million-dollar question of when I am going to tie the knot. This year, because my paths have yet to cross with such insensitive oafs, I have been spared that question. So far. [Although I almost panicked at my cousin’s place when my aunt called to chat with me].

~~~~~~~~

[to the tune of I Can See Clearly Now]

I can see clearly now, the haze is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark gray smog that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day

Yes, the haze is gone... for now.

~~~~~~~~

Belated Footie Footnote: Missed the Arsenal-Reading match ‘cause was back at HQ. Anyway, as we all know, Arsenal celebrated Wenger’s birthday in style. For full report, go here. Man of the match? Fab Fab!

Eid Mubarak

Today is the last working day before the long holidays of Deepavali and Aidil Fitri. Syawal moon sighting will be done on Sunday evening although with the current haze, I doubt it is possible to sight anything!

Am going back to HQ this Sunday. The plan is for my parents to come and pick me up on Sunday Morning [knowing them, they'd probably come knocking at 7 am when everyone is still asleep!] - and bring along a new packet of rice for me. Heh. Call me spoilt or pampered, but I have tonnes of things to bring back home - I think this is how Santa Claus must feel like - and simply can't [and refuse to] take the public transportation back to HQ while at the same time trying to hang to them all and making sure I've somehow not managed to lose something along the way [which is pretty normal for a scatterbrain like me!].

We have Always celebrated Eid in Kuala Lumpur and I can't Imagine celebrating it elsewhere [well, apart from England]. Over the years though, my spirit and enthusiasm of celebrating Eid have become more and more subdued. Perhaps it's because I'm no longer a kid and hence no longer eligible for Eid money [duit Raya] and in fact must fork out my own money to give to my nieces and nephews. Who ever said growing up is fun? And hey, since I'm single, I must and should be flush with money, right? Wrong!

I found it more fun to celebrate Eid as a student in England - we would go visiting each other at night [if we had lectures during the day] or during the weekends; Lin would decide to bake a cake [her mother's recipe] and I would help out [you'll be glad to know the cake Always turned out fine somehow!]; we would boil instant ketupat [thank God for such inventions!] the night before and ate it on Eid morning and lunchtime with some flossed meat [serunding] that Lin's mother sent over. Yes, no Eid money received on the day itself, no fire crackers in hand that we could play, and celebrating Eid far away from family could be a tad sad but we were determined to have fun anyway and we did.

Nowadays, I don't quite look forward to Eid, what with the financial obligations [thankfully it's only once a year - this must have been how my parents felt then!] and the dread I Sometimes feel about meeting some relatives [and siblings] during Raya [what with the inevitable endless questions of when I am ever going to tie the knot. Like are you going to help finance my wedding anyway? Sheesh!]. Do you now wonder why I prefer to stay in during Eid and why I don't take super duper extended leave during Eid?

I think Abah looks foward to Raya and having all his children come home. But I don't quite see the point of them coming when they come empty-handed. Oh I never expected to get anything from them [I'm realistic. After all, I'm only their half-sister. I don't think two of them had ever given me Eid money when I was a kid, yes, they can be quite thoughtless siblings. And I Always envy those who get Eid money and presents from their elder siblings 'cause I never get anything] but surely it's not too much to buy your old man something, especially if it's only once a year?

Our usual Raya rituals: day before Raya will be spent boiling instant ketupat and atending to last-minute preparations. Abah will go for his takbir the night before Raya and come back late enough for me to be already in bed ['cause I have to wake up early the next morning and help Mummy!].

Raya morning: Our usual Raya morning menu is ketupat with lodeh [mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk], chicken curry and fried chicken [don't ask me why, it's staple Raya celebration food for us]. Then it's off for Raya prayers. Upon return from Raya prayers, it's time to seek forgiveness. My aunt and family will come visiting after that. Raya afternoon: tired of waiting for visitors and stuffing ourselves again and again with ketupat etc, we will all have afternoon nap...

Wishing everyone a blessed Eid!

Paid My Dues

It’s been a rollercoaster week thus far [and the week’s not over yet!]. Have some things to attend to at work [ever wonder why work somehow has a way of dropping into your tray when the holidays are just around the corner?!]. On the personal front, I thought I’ve Paid My Dues and done my penance but apparently not.

~~~~~~~~

[Spoken:]
You can say what you want about me
Try to do what you want to me
But you cannot stop me

I've been knocked down
It's a crazy town
Even got punched in the face in LA
Ain't nothing in the world that can keep me
From doing what I wanna do

'Cause I'm too proud, I'm too strong
Live by the code that you gotta move on
Feeling sorry for yourself
Ain't got nobody nowhere

So I...(held my head high)
I knew I (knew I'd survive)
Well I made it (I made it)
I don't hate it (Don't hate it)
That's just the way it goes (Yeah)
I done made it through
Stand on my own two
I paid my dues (yeah)
Tried to hold me down
You can't stop me now
I paid my dues

~~~~~~~~

I’m only into the fourth gear of fasting and getting into the swing of things, I decided to brave the Ramadhan Bazaar during lunch. It was an experience alright what with all the last-minute shoppers all deciding to throng the pedestrian walkways and narrow corridors made a lot narrower with the new stalls set up. Gosh! In one word, it’s MADNESS. Earlier in the morning, I endured a mad 15-minute queue for the ATM earlier this morning and thankfully I brought along something to read and pass the time.

Mental note: Never ever go out during lunchtime of the last few days of Ramadhan to check out the Bazaar or arcades, unless I want to be mobbed by other mad shoppers.

~~~~~~~~

I’ve managed to do, in eight months, what I didn’t manage to do during my one year of MBA: finish my 10 kg packet of rice. I don’t normally eat rice twice a day, every day. But because it’s Ramadhan, I decided early on that it’s wise for me to eat rice for dinner and during sahur [or risk fainting at noon] - yes, almost every single day. That’s why.

Whoops, gotta dash off now!

Celebration Continues - As Does The Haze

It was a good weekend – at times. Rewarded myself with retail therapy after the usual weekend morning chores on Saturday by heading to both Isetan - ‘cause one is not enough [back in London, I could traipse from one NEXT to another ‘cause some stores may stock a little different collection]. Bought some clothes for the kiddies [gosh, kids’ clothes Sure cost a lot, don’t they?!] and a pair of sandals … for Abah [let’s hope he’ll wear it instead of storing it away for the next five years] and of course, something for myself to show up for all that browsing and walking around! There was a power failure at Isetan side of Lot 10 and customers were not allowed in so I walked off to BB/Sg Wang and then to Times Square before retracing my footsteps back to Isetan. It was raining pretty heavily when I emerged out of Lot 10.

Don’t even ask how much the day’s damage was. I shudder to think of it myself too!

Another de-weeding project was endured Sunday Morning followed by the inevitable ironing. Moan groan mumble grumble! So I went for another well-deserved treat to another mall in the outskirts of town but you’ll be glad to know I exercised much restraint this time. [But the damage had been done…]. Another heavy torrential downpour greeted my exit from the mall but despite the two weekend days of Rain, I doubt it helped much with lifting the haze.

Somehow during the Shopping spree, I got to thinking of my current situation, my career and love life [or lack of] which remain in limbo. And I got depressed. But I resolve to do something about it. I really must.

~~~~~~~~

[to the tune of Love Is All Around]

I feel it ‘cause it lingers
I feel it in my toes
The haze that's all around me
And so the feeling grows
It's not blown off by the wind
It's everywhere I go
So yes, it really does bug me
Come on and let it blow
You know I loathe you, I always will
My mind's made up by the way that I feel
There's no beginning, there'll be no end
'Cause solution for this haze it’s like a dead end

~~~~~~~~

Footie footnote: Arsenal’s midfield mainspring Cesc Fabregas, was the Saturday afternoon's [GMT] most dazzling performer while Emmanuel Adebayor, at a comparatively advanced 21, forced the opening goal and later crowned the scoring. Fabulous Fabregas's [aye, I shall now refer to him as Fab Fab] floated left-wing free-kick was headed goalwards by Adebayor but deflected into his own net by Stewart under pressure from Toure. Then Henry, simply Too Hot To Handle, left two defenders stranded with a cheeky piece of footwork and then fired his shot just inches wide in the 43rd minute. Fabregas slotted through a slide-rule pass to again set Henry free and the striker eased the ball inside for Adebayor to knock home into an empty net in the 67th minute.

And it was celebration time for Arsenal, for their past, present and - hopefully - future.

Man of the match: Cesc Fabregas ‘Fab Fab’.

Friday the 13th

And so today is the second Friday the 13th of this year. And this is my 113th post, how apt!Not that I suffer from triskaidekaphobia, or for that matter paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. For more on this matter, check this out. [See, this blog is actually quite an intellectually inspiring and mentally stimulating read. Heh! Oh, on another note, this is an update on the Ig Noble Award I mentioned earlier.]

Anyway, I’m feeling Lucky today. And blessed. And so I Thank You, God. Thank You for everything: my parents and family; my network of friends; my good health - although I may not be fit and my hips and thighs are big and disproportionate to the rest of my body ‘cause hey, no one’s perfect and least of all me [I still have baby fat in my thighs/hips and my Hips Don’t Lie, dang! And I’ve discovered long ago that no amount of walking is ever going to break down those fat]; the roof on my head; the rezeki I’m blessed with; the clothes on my body and the shoes that shod my feet; the education I’ve received and am still receiving; the job I currently hold [despite my moans]; and, yes, even my marital status - ‘cause I get to do what I what and please with my money and not answerable to anyone when it comes to that. But I also need to be shrewd and wise in my spending just in case I remain a SINNER [that’s short for Single Income ‘N Not Enough Reserves] ‘til I die.

Let’s hope the day won’t turn into a Freaky Friday now. Speaking of freaky, it was a humiliating loss for England, thanks to what they call a freak goal and lacklustre and dismal performance. Now, who would you blame? Gary Neville – the ManU(re) player who back-passed the ball to the goalie - or Paul Robinson the goalie who missed his attempted clearance? Or maybe England’s new coach Steve McClaren? I saw the replay of that freak own goal and couldn’t help laughing at England’s sheer stupidity and carelessness. Silly sods!

Can’t wait for the weekend. Bring it on!

Never Say Goodbye

Never Say Goodbye - Mario & Nesty
* Track 2 of My Girl OST

Yea, what’s going on, 2006, Mario and Nesty
Brand new classic
Ride with us, it’s about two guys and hot girls
Yo keep it up keep it up
Two steps with me, come on
Let’s do it do it do it like this

1, 2 baby clap your hands
Everybody let’s go ha ha ha ha
I want y’all ladies clap again
Let me hear u say what, what
Just us two it’s my story
The scar in your heart, the tear in my eye
The times with you are too long too long
I beg you to come back to my warm heart
The ghetto follows your heart, just as it is
Never say goodbye so get up

If you go away
You will see me cry
Don’t you let me go
Baby don’t you let me down
Even when we’re always together, we never get closer
A stale love with no meaning

You never say good bye
For a while I sat absentmindedly and emptily
And I thought over again
But I couldn’t stop
I despise myself for having no choice but to think about you all the time
Don’t you let me go
Baby don’t you let me down

(Mario) And we the best ain’t no need to stress
Mario and Nesty ain’t no need to impress
(Boram) Yo! Accept your heart, my heart won’t change
But I will never drain my heart and make it empty
(Mario) Call it a fling or a love thing
I don’t care I can handle any drama that you bring.
I stay up all night filling my heart up with love
(Mario) Without you I’m better no one could do it better
Hello cute Nesty best MC
Mario right tight err night that’s right.

I am still in love with you hey
Even though you never understand me
I’m still in love with you hey
Let me hear you say hey hey, hey

Yo check it, you say you will leave me
That you’re the only woman in this world
I stand firm and like a man I won’t give up
Only you, only you, only you I won’t forget
Baby 1, 2, 3, 4 I got the mic check

If you go away
You will see me cry
Don’t you let me go
Baby don’t you let me down
Even when we’re always together, we never get closer
A stale love with no meaning

You never say good bye
For a while I sat absentmindedly and emptily
And I thought over again
But I couldn’t stop
I despise myself for having no choice but to think about you all the time
Don’t you let me go
Baby don’t you let me down (one more time now)

You never say good bye (come on come on)
For a while I sat (wanna ride with the homie right?)
Absentmindedly and emptily (wanna get right then get high)
And I thought it over again (ride with me I’ll ride with you)
But I couldn’t stop (you go down on me I’ll go down on you)
I despise myself (yeah)
For having no choice but (just me and you come on)
To think about you all the time (one more time now)
Don’t you let me go (say what)
Don’t you let me down (one more time now)

1, 2 baby clap your hands
Everybody lets go ha ha ha ha
I want y’all ladies clap again
Let me hear u say hey hey hey

Love doesn’t change, my heart doesn’t change
I won’t lose my dreams, I won’t give them up ever
Ill logic real toxic switch quicker than tiptonic
Heterosexual the kids flow is incredible
Love doesn’t change, my heart doesn’t change
I won’t lose my dreams, I won’t give them up ever yeah

~~~~~~~~

My Girl was concluded last night with an all’s that ends well ending *sigh*. Don't get me wrong, I do love happy endings. But I'm going to miss Wookie so!

My Eccentricities

So I thought I’d bore you with my list of eccentricities that, at last count, number a baker's dozen [I’m Sure there are more but a baker's dozen should suffice for now].

1. I apply the 20-minute rule to cooking which I introduced to myself during my MBA days - thanks to the hectic schedule of the programme and sharing the kitchen with a dozen other people (who mainly hailed from the most populous nation on Earth and not exactly known for their hygiene). This means I will (attempt to) clean, wash, slice, dice, cube, chop, fry, boil, sauté my meal in that allocated time. Of course, inevitably and unfortunately, there is a standard deviation of usually plus five minutes and more. Duh! Practice does not make perfect in my case.

2. I don’t taste while cooking my meal. I am not one of those who taste at every stir and go guessing what ingredients need to be added – I just can’t be bothered. See, I have neither the passion nor patience for cooking like that. Because I will eat it no matter what; whether it tastes nice or not, overcooked or undercooked, salty or lacking taste. [Although back in university, I threw the cheesecake I laboured over ‘cause it didn’t work out and I didn’t tell anyone ‘cause I was too embarrassed. And that was the last cheesecake I’d ever make again. Hmmph]. Again, practice doesn’t make perfect.

3. Still on the subject of cooking [strange as it’s hardly close to my heart!]: almost every time I cook a dish I’ve cooked before, it turns out differently. For instance, every time I make, say fried rice, it tastes differently. But I can’t be bothered to check what the difference is - because it’s for my mouth and tummy only! [By now you should know I don’t aspire to be a Delia Smith. I like watching The Naked Chef in action though, he’s so cute but I can never be able to cook like him or Kylie Kwong. It’s not fair, it looks so easy peasy lemon squeezy to them! Sheesh].

4. I talk to animals: passing cats, grazing horses, perching birds. I yell at others like cockroaches, lizards and other nasty creatures. I suspect I’ll do a Prince Charles later and talk to plants too. Does that make me a cuckoo?

5. I have obsessive compulsive disorder. I double-, triple-, heck, Sometimes, even quadruple-check the locks and bolts to ensure they have not somehow mysteriously moved on their own since my last check only seconds earlier. Gosh, am I weird? Help!

6. Sometimes when I walk [especially after a visit to the washroom], I wonder if my skirt is in place or whether it’s hitched up, resulting in me showing some flesh [or much, much worse, caught like Rachel of Friends in The One With Barry and Mindy’s Wedding].

But on the other hand, I don’t make it a habit to check myself when I leave for work. I only realise if I have light smudges or streaks on my face when I visit the washroom at work [thankfully it’s not often, phew!].

7. Sometimes, I'm too lazy to brush my hair. It's short anyway and not likely to be tangled. I figured that by not brushing my hair often, it'd get all curly and wavy. [FYI, my friend told me that was how she got her curls - by not brushing her hair. Now unless she was pulling my legs...]

8. Sometimes I am too lazy to shower especially when I’m at HQ. I normally have very late weekend morning showers - they can be as late as at 1 pm ‘cause I do house chores prior to that - and so don’t feel the need to shower again after a mere 6 hours when the afternoon, by contrast, consists of light activities such as reading the paper and taking a nap. [I think if I’m an animal, I must be a cat and can just lick myself clean. An aristocat at that! Meowww].

9. Having said that, I can be a clean freak. I won’t go to bed with the sink piled with dirty plates and cutlery. I clean and mop the house every week and wash the washrooms. But I am still too lazy to tackle the windows. I loathe ironing too. So I’m not quite a domestic goddess. And doubt I’ll ever be one. No, I don’t suppose I’ll ever be a Martha Stewart in this lifetime.

10. I apply the five-second rule when eating food I drop on the floor or on the table. I’ll blow and puff the food first to rid it of germs though [haha!]. Anyway, do you know that someone actually won an Ig Noble Prize for Public Health for doing a study on the five-second rule? I think that’s more hilarious than me eating dropped food! And it just shows that there are crazier people out there and I’m quite normal in comparison! Oh, and by the way, I eat expired food too... so much for eating healthily!

11. I get all involved and worked up in the characters of novels and movies/dramas that I read and watch. But I’ve already mentioned this before.

12. If I have trouble sleeping, I either reminisce about my happy childhood days and bask in the glow of love and peace and contentment that I felt when growing up or resort to my Fantasy. Now in my Fantasy, I’m this lady of leisure walking in an upscale mall happily Shopping with two bodyguards following silently behind me, struggling with my bags of luxury goods purchases and not at all complaining either over the heavy weight or the fact that they have to follow me around as I sashay into stores. I’d be passing Gucci and Ferragamo and Prada, even Hermes [my Fantasy doesn’t go deep into pondering who the mysterious benefactor who helps sustain my leisurely lifestyle is and how I even managed to snag him. And of course the benefactor is a he!]. This normally works and sends me into slumber in no time but of late, it hasn’t been all that successful so I must think of a new Fantasy. Now why does my escapist Fantasy feature retail therapy?! And why don’t I fantasise about some dreamboat instead and later upgrade that Fantasy to a happy, laughing little unit of us captured in a Family Portrait? I honestly don’t know. Do I need psychiatric help?

13. I can’t stand pain or unpleasantness. I can’t even stand to hear any talk on pain. I am moved by photos of people living in wretched conditions. I once cried myself to sleep a few years ago after watching a post-Bosnia war documentary which among others featured a toddler with only one good foot [and yet he was gurgling and laughing. And I thought what kind of future does the baby have?]. After that, I make it a point not to watch any more documentaries that show people [and animals] living in miserable conditions or suffering. To me, it just shows how much we are failing as a country and as humans to allow these segments of society to exist. Refund me all those taxes I’ve paid over the years, why don’t you. I’m sure I can make better use of that money! But wait, is this eccentric anyway?

Rarus Avis Robin!

This is going to be another quickie ‘cause I’m busy! Anyway, I had quite a good weekend. Managed to get some much-needed rest [but my stubborn cough still lingers. Oh well… not long now before I’m fine, insyaAllah]. Of course some retail therapy helped too [although my wallet may beg to differ]. I must hide my credit card from myself after this.

To my delight, I discovered there was this mini Ramadhan Bazaar at BB where rows and rows of stall were set up selling all kinds of food glorious food. I walked happily among the crowd, blending in with everyone - and by that, I mean everyone: Muslims and non-Muslims, locals and foreigners. And I was sorely tempted to join in and buy some food too but not after I sighted the cooking oil which they used, which was no longer yellow but black and obviously had been recycled too many times. No way was I going to buy carcinogenic-coated food; in fact I lost my appetite there and then.

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Watched some footie after tarawikh prayers over the weekend and man, van Persie sure ensured a happy 10th anniversary for Wenger. He made some stupid attack earlier on Hasselbaink and was Lucky to be yellow-carded only and not be sent off. But he redeemed himself because before the half was out, van Persie levelled after intricate footwork from Alexander Hleb. Receiving Henry's low corner at the near post, Hleb twisted and turned his way out of trouble before lifting the ball across to van Persie, who thumped a shot past Scott Carson.

*Photos courtesy of Google links.

The Dutch striker did it again four minutes into the second half, but much more spectacularly. Running to meet Emmanuel Eboue's deep cross from the right, van Persie leapt into the air to meet the ball on the edge of the penalty area and with a breathtaking move, karate-kicked [or maybe kung-fu left-foot volleyed - I don't know why but when I saw it, I heard this echoing in my head over and over again: 'Hiaahhh! Karrrcheeennggg!'] the ball into the far top corner. I can’t quite get enough of that fine shot. ‘Cause ladies and gentlemen, that second goal is definitely a contender for goal of the season. Excellent. Stupendous. Brilliant.

So it was Robin van Persie who capped an excellent performance as Arsenal came from behind to beat Charlton 2-1 at The Valley as Arsene Wenger celebrated 10 years at the club.

On another note, Thank You Villa for drawing with Chelsea. West Ham was hammered by Reading as early as in the 2nd minute of their match and never did recover. I actually watched AC Milan played Siena last night but Milan was unlucky; they had so much possession of the ball and so much action in the box but not quite able to convert those opportunities into goals and when Kaka Finally scored, his goal was cancelled. In fact, it was quite an exhausting match to watch.

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I feel like a small kid embarking on her first fasting attempt, feeling weak and exhausted at times – and especially when I’m indoors too. Sheesh.

OK, gotta go back to work 'cause this chic chick is a busy bee!