The Body Remembers

When observed that we seem to know the moves for Bodycombat and Bodyjam quite well, we just reply, "We don't memorize the moves or anything, it's just that after a while the body remembers the tracks and the moves."

Somehow, it's not good to just let the body take over like that. This month, Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" is playing in the stores. Gotta remember not to swing them hips!!!

Tax(ing) Income, 2005

Sigh. Last year, I totally totally left doing my income tax until the last week, because I never realised that the income tax submission dateline was nigh plus never realized why my company sent me an EA Form. The final week for submission saw me heading over to Randall's for a crash course in income tax form filling, and then the next day to submit the form at the Inland Revenue Department at Kelana Jaya.

Only one problem: I hadn't had a registration number, so my form wasn't complete. Plus I hadn't any tax to pay, since I only started work in September 2004. So, I spent an hour there trying to register only to be told that I need not submit my BE income tax form in the end. Blah. So, I'd marked down on my phone calender to get my registration number by February 2005.

That calender reminder, I must say, was just ignored for about a month until I got a letter from the Inland Revenue Dept informing me of my registration number etc (phew). No escaping income tax submission for me this year, then.

Should be easy, hor, filling up the income tax form after having done so?

AAAAARGH!

Burn you, horrible horrible forms!

By habit I print out 2 copies, one in English for rough filling, and the actual BM one for submission. This year instead of printing out the BE form I'd print out the B form instead, which has yonks more sections that did not relate to the employed but to those that opened their own business. Wasted my resources printing out some 14 pages.

And then, instead of the quick within-the-hour of filling up the forms, I'd decided to look for my book receipts to claim. Another habit of mine is to use the receipt of the book I bought as the book's first bookmark. So, it's just a matter of flipping through my books to find the receipt and hope it's for the correct year.

A treasure hunt that turn out to be. I ended up finding a measly few (hey, I'm allowed to claim up to RM700, and I know I buy books aplenty) and wondering where the rest have disappeared, but the treasures...

The Discworld Almanak. April 26th, 2006, Thursday: Rain of fish a high probability. Be prepared to find forgotten currency.

A crisp, new RM50 note and an unopened angpow.

Well. A final bit in me EA form caught me off-guard as I never had that bit in the previous year, so I'd to leave completing the form until I'd someone instruct me properly. Once done, it's just waiting for next year to once more go through another bout of treasure hunting.

Puppy License

And a wonderful thing it is to have. Wee'd inside the house? "Aiya, pee here ar!" in that symphatizing voice that states: Aren't you CUTE! Equally, "Aiyo, why you pangsai there?" Variations in Cantonese and other baby talk also feature heavily with this license enforced.

And people don't get angry with you for any reasons! Bite this, crap there, whine about...all people can do is let their hearts melt, get mildly upset, but never, ever really get angry having to clean up (or whatever) after you!

Nice hor? Not only that, you get cuddled, carried about, loads of attention...Aren't you the baybee? Aren't you? Aren't you the fuzz-wuzz cute thing now?

Here's hoping: never grow up. Sigh. You only go through this once.

I Dream

I dream:

• Of how my future home will be - how each room is decorated, the layout of the garden, the pool...
• The kind of cushy job I can have
• That financial issues will never be my issues
• That I can enjoy life and remember all the enjoyable bits instead of being so forgetful
• Of Heroes of Might and Magic V to come out very very soon (I would buy the original for this)
• That perfect, credit-card-thin PDA
• That perfect Nokia phone
• For more people to trash compete with in Tetris DS
• For that bachelor-for-life to find a partner-for-life
• Of joining a choir
• Of weird dreams
• Of getting a Citroen (I may entertain the thought of a VW Golf...maybe)

I Just Like The Colour Green...

Following njapf, we got this:

Your Personality Profile

You are nurturing, kind, and lucky. Like mother nature, you want to help everyone. You are good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive. A seeker of harmony, you are a natural peacemaker. You are good natured and people enjoy your company. You put people at ease and make them feel at home with you.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Sins that we give in...

Now, if there's a thing we cannot resist, it's treating ourself to some good sinful chocolate. Chocolate will set us a-flutter if we need to do some self-pampering, and in a non-destructive sense too (no-ooo, we don't think getting fat counts as destructive. Non-productive maybe.) And so while walking about The Street at The Curve this afternoon (our third home, nah, not yet...) we decided to head for the Chocolate Fountain stall for choco-covered marshmallows. That hit the spot. But it wasn't enough. The day was still young.

So when we were at our second home we stopped by Bakerzin to havva try at their wares. Delightful, sinful wares. Enter the Sumatra: a mix of white and dark chocolate blended with Sumatran coffee beans...

One bite, and it was ambrosia. Ab-so-lute de-lish!

Every bite to be savoured. The lemon macaroon in the background served as intermission, to allow the taste buds to recover from the onslaught, much like lemons given out during half-time at lacrosse.

And at the end, the mental equivalent of loosening the belt and slouching in the chair. Who needs books telling you how to detox or relax when the simple pleasures of life are everywhere?

Says it all.

Exactly about how we feel about looking for a job.

Introducing a new member to the family

We have a new wog. She be unnamed as of yet, as there were nothing suitable that everyone can agree on. Say hewwo to the new Maltese woggie.

Hmmm. Let's try again. Say hewwo to our new woggie.

We hope the parents come up with a easy nice name...

McDonald's throughout the ages...

Like, McD's was always there when we were born lah...since we were young already there were Happy Meals, Value Meals...toys galore...

Then when we grew up, McD's just keep on spurting everywhere...even when we were in Taylor's College a McD's popped up just down the corner!

And now. Like never change hor?

How To Eat At A Buffet

Here's our friend Lemon to show the correct attitude to assume during a buffet, especially at one that closes after 2.30 and not remain open till after supper.

You will see the starting up pose. Lean towards your dominant hand side for the pull-up...

Now, once you have enough energy pented up, unleash it in a powerful burst of speed!

Use the speed to guzzle the dishes! No waiter/waitress is gonna stop you!

And this was how we devastated Restaurant Sogo...nah, probably didn't make so much as a dent in their budget. Food was fair for a buffet lunch, really. It wasn't like tasting ambrosia, but at least whatever we had could put a satisfied smile on our face.

There was teppenyaki beef...

There was salmon...

And there was wee octopus...

Oh yeah. Now only if Rakuzen had something like this...I absolutely love their unagi!

How do you read?

I'm a skim reader. The books that I read, which tend to be non-serious, easy-reading, put-down-pick-up books suits me fine for my purposes. Skim readers go through books fairly quickly because we don't have to read every word, our brains really interpret what we read into contexts that we're familiar with. Example, with my Pratchett's Discworlds, conversations or actions become sounds and pictures, and this has been reinforced what with watching the Discworld plays.

Plus, I'm a fairly forgetful person. While forgetful skim-reading easy-reading fiction this is fine, it's a absolute horror with textbooks. Informative texts that require steady attention to what it is trying to get across, not good on nonattentive forgetful fellow who, while able to get the concept pretty quick, will forget what the whole thing was about later on.

Anyways, the point is thus: I'm capable of re-reading most books because there's a novelty value of coming across some part that I didn't notice before. With the Discworld series (especially the early books) there're lots of gems to look out for.

Which leads us to the reason for such long-winded nonsense. Today, reading back Guards! Guards! I learnt a new word. To quote the line:

'We hath got the crown, i'faith, and we will kill any whoreson who tries to take
it away, by the Lord Harry.'

This be my Lord-knows-how-may-times-I've reread that book, I guess still within two-digits, but it's the first time I saw that word. Skim reading really reinterprets similar-looking words and that was a gem.

Wondering which word I learnt? In Interesting Times a similar word would be 'lovechild'.

Job choices

Bummed on finding that dream job? Come, join the Asian profession: piracy!

Yeah! I mean, most people indiscreetly support the piracy culture that is now so ingrained into Malaysian life. After all, why buy a good quality copy album of an artist you like when you can get a pirated copy that has near-same (or slightly lower, normally cannot hear the difference one) quality, especially since you only want two or three songs from the entire album? Why pay RM10 to watch a movie where you have to squeeze in with an absolutely aggravating mix of people that cannot behave decently in a cinema when you can get a RM5 DVD clear copy of said same show, to watch at your own leisure?

Why?

Like the store says: Why Pay More?

Really lar, iTunes did wonders selling a song at 99 cents. Only thing the buggers do was make online purchasing available in Malaysia. But thankfully there are stores like Victoria Music Station and Rock Corner that do have CDs going on for some RM35. That's a RM10 difference you know! Singles are still not worth it, unless you're after the B-sides that you can't get elsewhere.

Not that I'm so stuck-up that I only buy original. If I really like it, then only I support it and will get the original la. After all, sometimes generic sudah cukup. See what you're after la. Just one song? Need whole album meh? Singles CD oso costs RM25 already. Where to find Zoolander DVD around here that you can grab off-the-shelf? Plus who wants to take the trouble really to go all the way to Singapore to catch Brokeback Mountain 'cos they won't show it here?

Should watch Sepet also, open your eyes a bit. Isn't all fun and games, this job.

End of nonsense.

Lazyman's Wrapping 102

This time we've a tie to wrap. Since the tie didn't come in a nifty box to thwart gift-guessing, we'd to use an alternative. Presenting, the envelope.

Requires:
One medium-sized, long envelope.
Wrapping paper.


This was a nice tie until I added a couple of Magic: The Gathering mana symbols and the Selesnyan sigil. I was trying out the iron-on transfers. Anyways.

Fold tie nicely and place in envelope. Preferably one that has the government letterhead or from the Revenue department and addressed to person receiving gift.

Wrap letter.


Voila. Wrapped-up present does not feel limp nor difficult to wrap.

Snapshots of Glasgow 1!

Now that I have a scanner I can start putting up some of the photos I've taken in the past! Ooo! What fun! Nah, not really. I have loads of pictures (maybe not as many compared to some others) that are sitting in the packs that Jessops place them photos in after developing, with no albums to arrange them in. Come to think of it, I wouldn't know how to arrange the photos too! Anyways.

Welcome to City Sightseeing, Glasgow tour!


You see, somewhere during our final semester my and my housemates decided to take the bus ride around Glasgow. Imagine, one year living in Glasgow, practically our second home, and not even going around the town! Yeah I could have done that, actually. I'm actually inert enough not to care much about my surroundings. But, since I'm not going to be able to stay there for indefinitely and since we'd the energy, we made the trip (and am thankful that we did).

So. Today's photo tour will be on the Riverside Route (actually we did Riverside Route on Day 2 of our bus ride!).

Here's the Tall Ship. I've been rather economical with my picture taking because 1) it's a conventional camera requiring film, not a digital camera, so cannot simply snap anything as my heart desires as worry may not have enough film to last; and 2) I wasn't a camwhore back then. So that means I didn't get to take a shot of the ship in it's entirety but only had shots on board.


Honestly I wasn't interested in much of the history of the ship (the S.V. Glenlee she was) but you can read all about her and the Glasgow Harbour at http://www.thetallship.com/.

Just look at the size of that! The wheel is as big as me man! Makes you wonder just how big Scotsmen were in the past...


For us, the Riverside Route only presented 2 interesting stops: Tall Ship, and SECC aka Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre where we were heading for the Glasgow Science Centre. Hmmm...think KLCC and Petronas Science Centre without the shopping elements? Yeah, this place is something like that. Somewhere after our tour about the Tall Ship and before entering the SECC, we'd lunched on fried rice that Ming cooked.


And what did we do here? Well, like children we'd had a hand touching everything touchable...and watched a 3D movie at IMAX! Rummaging through my box of memorabilia, I even found the tickets!


Whoa. Into The Deep 3D at 1.30pm, costing 4 quid on student price. Convert that price and it's RM28! But hey, it's an experience!


I remember Ming almost fell asleep during the movie. Seats were super comfy man.

Anyways. Wasn't really much for me to talk about. Just some snapshots into a day of my life. In fact without these snapshots even I'd have difficulty remembering what happened that day. Oh dear.

Making our way to work of late

MidValley is very bad for me nowadays.

This is a tough joint I have to pass by this week. Walking past the Polo Black concourse booth is by no means an easy feat when the smell simply addles you.

<"A bold fusion of iced mango, silver armoise and patchouli noir."

Simple mind-blowing!!! Gah gah gah gah gah who needs drugs when all they need is the correct perfume? Everytime I walk past the booth I aim to get a sample card to use as a bookmark, even though the scent only lasts a few days.

And somehow, since I've started parking at MidValley when I commute to work in KL I've made JuiceWorks a regular stop. Mostly when I'm on my way home. Have been chugging the Detox range of drinks and occasional fruit blends. Very refreshing, I must say. Their wheatgrass shot reminds me of a tequila shot...

There's a small shot of wheatgrass, all nice and green, and a slice of orange for after you 'shoot' the stuff. It isn't as if the grass taste bad in the first place, I find it palatable.

Gah. It's expensive, working in KL...

How time flies

Egads. Just look, we're now into March. How quickly time just suddenly seems to fly by, yeah? Just not too long ago we were just thinking how fast it was near the end of 2005, then 2005 came and went and we were thinking how that, since it's 2006 the year will start out slow...

End of January and early February was nice, whatwith it having nice long holidays (Chinese New Year being somewhere during the middle of a week leading to a lovely long weekend...) and now, we're already in March! Whoa!

How slow time passes when you're experiencing it and how quickly it leaves you behind when you're not looking, only to be so far away once you do.

Mealtime mysteries 1

Here. Have a guess at what I had for dinner at Ming Tien (large happening makan place at Taman Megah) last week. This kind of picture occurs because my phonecam cannot take night shots. Answers with next mystery!

Let the answer hit you like a spark of inspiration, like thus:

Testing our printer.

Welcome to ay-cee's printing centre.

So we'd decided to put the printer through the wringer and see how many photos it can churn out before the colour cartridge empties...no, we tell a lie. We'd offered to print out any digital pictures mum took on her vacation, still being rather proud of our printer. Except...mum wanted to have all the shots printed, and the count was 133 photos! One hundred thirty-three!

So...preparations. Went to 1U today to buy A4-sized HP Everyday Semi-Gloss Photo Paper, a black ink cartridge and a colour ink cartridge and a book to while the time printing (we had to make use of our MPH RM5 voucher before it expires).

Once home we started printing. This was...some 7 o'clock we gather.

All beds not slept in were utilized in the drying of the prints.

Well...our colour cartridge does some 60-odd prints before giving up and printing somewhat sepia-filtered shots. Sob. Thank goodness bought a new cartridge after all. So swapped that and continued.

Was around 10.30pm when the new colour cartridge also gave out! Waaah! Expensive! Expensive! And I haven't finished printing everything yet! There was about 15 more pictures!

Calculate this: 133 prints at, say, 65 sen apiece. That's RM86.45. Give or take a bit due to service charges or offer prices that's still about RM85 lah.

Now, three colour cartridges, RM70 a cartridge. One black-ink cartridge, RM50. A4-size photo paper, RM44. Wahlaupiang RM304!!!

No more, no more...shall only allow selected shots to be printed next time. Our heart (and wallet) hurts.

Dinner and DVD nite

On Sunday we'd thought of having a dinner-and-DVD nite on Tuesday night. Reason? Sunday was too impromptu, and Tuesday was the 28th, the last day of February. Nah. It was mainly because I haven't watched Zoolander before and people were going on about it being a very good comedy, plus I thought me mum was returning from her holiday on March 1st (last checked proved me wrong, she'll be back on March 4th, phew).

Well, I decided to make it a small one and just called the guys only (considering the turnout I could say it was a GC occasion). All in all we had 4 large thin-crust Domino's Pizza (courtesy of their very valuable Gold Card): Crispy Chicken and Beefy Crunch (promo pizzas), Extravaganzza (personal favvie) and Super Deluxe to be shared by goodsheet, ladthelad, Lemon and me while watching Zoolander. Oh yes with guest Russell/Rascal who was adorably sleepy.

MrWho came by after Zoolander (very very good, especially if you're Malaysian with sense of humour) and after we'd cleaned out all four pizzas (so sorry!), and with goodsheet and ladthelad having to leave that just left the three of us eeeeeviiiiilllll people to watch 'Long Khong' or 'Long Thong' or summat - Thai horror movie. Arrr. Wasn't really scary or anything, in fact none of the gruesome bits that appeared on the VCD cover was in the movie. Problem laid in subtitles with poor visibility and movie direction.

Methinks things were just 'okay' for tonight. Why? Well...a poor host, for one. Furniture that doesn't complement dinner-and-DVD, for another. IMO appropriate furniture would be - distance between couch and table: within arms' reach so one doesn't have to get up; table large enough to accomodate 2-3 large pizzas plus place for drinks and at comfortable height. And doing a movie on weekdays are sometimes iffy because people may have work pressures and won't be able to stay late.

More to come? Hopefully, and that it'll get better.

Many faces of ay-cee

ay-cee's mood is: Very Mindscrewed

We're happy that we have our new printer-cum-scanner. Now we can draw out much better pictures although sans colour effects. This also reminds me of when I stayed in James Blyth Court, where occasionally I will stick a little picture something like that on my door to reflect my mood to my mates.

I hate my brain for being so able to mindscrew myself and leaving me rather defenseless to further mindscrewing.