Once upon a time..

in 2007

he was a cute lil boy. as cute as button mushrooms

a great company to be with

with the cutest brightest smile

don't think he talked so much then

as happy as a lark at all times

with squeezable cheeks and butt

Well, maybe not. He may already been annoying, noisy, talkative, bossy then. But these pictures sure don't tell much of those nasty bits.

Currently I think he is annoying, noisy, talkative and bossy. But next year or the year after next, in retrospect, I will probably think it wasn't that bad after all.

The question now is should I delete this post which will remind me that pictures can be deceiving indeed?

Ops..too late. The 'publish' button wins.

Weird humour

So the other day.. a friend wondered how I could stand Papah being away so often?

I droned away the well rehearsed lines in a robotic mode - i-am-used-to-it. it's-due-to-unavoidable-circumstances-that-he-has-to-travel. i-have-long-accepted- and-understood-his nature-of-work.

I reckon it was a little bit like answering one of the judges questions in a beauty pageant (for my level, it has to be at least Ms. World...).

You know.. answering the right way like this -


What would you wish for for Christmas?
I would like WORLD PEACE! *flashes sparkly smile*

*judges nod and audience clap*

I wasn't lying when I answered my friend's question, you know. What I said was partially true. Not the entire truth cos there are times that I didn't want to be understanding. There are times that I sit on bed and go wawawawawa, why is papah going again? But most of the time I am subdued in manner. Why did I skip the wawaawawawa part when answering my friend's question?

I donch know!

Maybe I am carved out to be a Beauty Queen - diplomatic, predictable, unoriginal (like sinkar's Dvds) and boring to the core?

Either that or I am just a bloody liar.

And a hypocrite.

Anyways.. for conversation sake, I reiterated the topic to Papah - what my friend asked, and what I have answered.

He nodded a bit, with his fingers scratching his protruding chin and replied, "Good girl.."

WUT?? Gud girl?? You gotta be kidding me. That's not in your script. Check and read your next line again, papah.









Movie title: What A Good Wife
Scene 1/take 2

Mom : So I told her, that I am used to it. Not that you want to travel all the time. If you could, you would want to stay with us. I still love you..

Papah : Gee, wife. You are a gem. What would I do without you? Let's go get you another new bag.



Teehee..humour. What do I do without it?

Quote of the day

In the car, Gooly and Ada were having a conversation only two of them could understand. Well, actually Gooly was monopolizing the whole conversation. Like this-

Him: Look, my eggs are hatching. They are baby dinosaurs. Oh, pterodactyls are coming to eat them.. Can you take care of them, Ada? You become the mother, or grandmother..or father.. or sister..

Her: But..

Him: No.. you listen to me first. I have something important to say.

And he went on for another 3 minutes (minimum) at bullet train speed about those damn flying dinosaurs. Ada looked like she was listening. I began to salute her for her ears' ability and patience to endure such noise pollution.

Finally, when Gooly stopped to breathe for air..she said, in a meek voice:

Sometimes when you talk so much.. you make me sleepy.

Bwahahahhahaha... gotta love her. She actually allowed him to finish his yawn-winning story before she conceded her awfully-true-to-the-guts opinion.

And what was Gooly's response?

Oh you are? Sometimes I am sleepy too..then I have to take a nap.. Bla.. blaa..blaa....

Gawd! Earplugs puhleeeeeeze~

What channel do you like to watch?

One day, a friend asked, "Which channel do you like to watch?"

I said, " I don't like watching Tv. Don't have the time." (sic! sic!)

And then, the next time he saw me, he asked, "Which channel do you like to watch?"

Huh? Again? Nonetheless, I repeated myself, "I don't like watching TV. Don't have the time.." And the topic was switched to another one.

And then, for the third time, on the same week, he asked again! - Which channel do you like to watch?!

I had a nagging feeling that "I don't like watching TV. Don't have the time.." is not what he wanted to hear. So instinctively I lied, "Oh.. the one with Martha Steward.."

And he continued, "No way! That's what I like too..! Bla..bla .. bla... And Travel and Living..Bla..bla..bla.."

See, I made him happy. And if I am lucky, since I have placated his need to discuss about Tv programs, I won't have to hear, "What channel do you like to watch?" another time.

So, what channel do you like to watch? Tell me, I can fine tune myself to carry a decent conversation.

An encounter I almost forgot

Did I tell you the time I helped a blind man to cross the street? (oh boy..here we go again..)

OK, seriously..that actually reminded me of something. When I was in Uni, I was involved in a linguistic conference which a blind lecturer participated. I have seen this lecturer around the campus, always walking very swiftly with his cane. And I have always observed and marveled at his ability to know his way around.

Co-incidentally, I was seated next to him during the first lunch. As he groped around for his glass of water, I carefully and silently placed it near his right hand. I stole glimpses of him, not wanting to stare cos despite his blindness, it was still rude to stare. At times, his movements were very gentle and gracious, as though he could see where he touched. And of course sometimes he seemed a bit unsure about what was in front.

Soon, a conversation began and before long, I found myself volunteering to help him for the next two days as the hotel where the conference was held was a new venue for him, and thus he wasn't accustomed to the surroundings yet.

He gracefully accepted my offer, telling me to escort him and his wife (who is also blind) to their room, and then to the conference room the next day. As he stood up, I told him, "Please tell me what to do as this is the first time I am helping. Where should I put my hand?" I was nervous.

He put his hand on my shoulder, and said, "This should be the way." And he held his wife's hand with the other hand.

While walking, I asked a lot of things. You do know that I am curious by nature. But of course, I asked permission to ask. His answers were really jaw-dropping. These are some which I remember. I wish I had jotted them before I forgot the whole conversation.


How do you walk so fast in campus?
(I fell many times before. I still do at new places. )


How do you colour co-ordinate your clothing?
(There is a label on the sleeve. Each with different texture so I know roughly what colour is the shirt. My pants are mostly in dark colours. So they would match easily.)


Your lecture notes are all in Braille. Are there lots of books in Braille for you to refer to in Uni?
(No, I have to hire some people to read me the text which I translate into Braille so I can bring them to lectures. The university isn't very helpful in this matter. I have to do everything on my own to deliver my lectures.)


What about marking the papers?
(The same. I have to hire people with my own money to read them to me.)


What about your own school exams before you were a lecturer?
(I had to sit for STPM a few times! It wasn't easy at all. Again, someone had to help me to read the books, and I'd translate into Braille for my own reference.)

Wow.. wow ..wow. I remember feeling that way. And as I am typing this, I am still awed. By sheer determination, he became a lecturer in a university.

There were loads more that we spoke about but unfortunately I have forgotten. That encounter was over ten years ago.

The next day, as he gently put his hand on my shoulder to be escorted, he politely asked, "Are you wearing heels today?" Indeed I was. Just a few inches taller, and he could sense it. When he couldn't see, he was more sensitive with his other senses. That was another jaw dropping moment.

When the conference ended, I thought of him often but somehow couldn't bring myself to visit him. There was probably a lot of emotions which I was afraid I couldn't handle. I was probably thinking that I asked too much.

But before I graduated, I remembered to say goodbye. I knocked on his office door. At the sound of 'come in', I said, "Hi, Mr. Ooi.."

At, "Hi', he was already smiling..and said, "Hello Kiki.*" He recognized my voice even after one year of not hearing it.

I said my goodbyes.. was a little afraid that I may cry. I am always crying, just so you know. About things like this. (Things like what? Even I can't explain.)

So that was my brief encounter with a very determined sight-impaired man. I salute him!

*I could have used a pseudonym but I still remember his smile when he called my name. So nah, I'd savour the moment by keeping it as real as possible.

Random kindness

While taking a dump, I was reading Reader's Digest. Yeah yeah.. I am geeky in that sense. I *heart* Reader's Digest, Chicken Soups and Ikea Catalogues during shitty moments (literally.)

So there was this section in the latest copy of RD about random kindness. The gist of the story:

A heavily pregnant lady was walking toward her car in a light drizzle. She was carefully treading the puddles of water when a car stopped, and out came a chap, holding out an umbrella. He escorted her to her car. And the next day, to pay it forward, she gave her umbrella to two construction workers caught in the rain in front of her house.

That happened in your country, Tuti. :)

What random kindness have you done or received before?

Well, I have once helped a blind man to cross the road. That was like ..heh.. 15 yrs ago. But yeah.. I once helped a blind man to cross the road. *proud*

I think I may have received acts of kindness more than I have done. Just this afternoon, when I got down from the cab, holding Gooly's bag, and a grocery bag (while attempting to dig my nose), the guard hurried over to hold the cab door for me. I quickly abandoned my gold digging mission

Not only that, he carried Gooly's bag even with my protest of mai pen rai ka.. I can manage ja~.

And then he pressed the button on the lift, held the door open, asked which floor I live in, parked the bag next to me, and 'tabik'-ed me.

Ah... nice.

I must have kapkunkaa-ed and smiled and bowed my head slightly a million times. Just my gestures of appreciation.

Any kindness stories you wanna share? Oh.. did I tell you the time I helped a blind man crossed the street..? *voice fades out*

How do you know when to change?

Long long time ago, I was told by a girl friend, "Wednesday is laundry day."

Not too long ago, another friend said something similar pertaining to fixed schedule for house chores - "Friday is the day I clean everything thoroughly."

I nodded intellectually during both situations, obviously pretending that I did those stuff too. Actually, I don't. I was perplexed at the sound of such seriousness for something as banal as housekeeping.

Out of curiosity, I ran a survey over on MSN:

Me: How often do you change your bedsheet? Once a week? When there are stains? When you can smell the stench?

Yup.. most of them said Once A Week (except for one who said, when my mom nags.)

Instinctively I responded - Once a week? How do you know when to change? Did your mama teach you? Cos my mama didn't. How often I change mine? Why do you wanna know? (I know, I am such a pain in the arse.)

This is my 4th year holding this position as the Household 'Charfityan', I am still trying to figure out things like, "How often does one change the bedsheet?" and "What about the curtains?" "Should I wipe the top of the electric meter box?" and "Crap, what do you mean we have to clean the inside of the cabinets?"

Mind you, I do know loads of trivia stuff like, 'Worms are Hermaphrodites'..but I just don't know how often I should change the damn bedsheet.

Obviously I am not doing a good job as a maid. Should I quit?

And be a princess instead?

P/s: I just learned that when you don't throw out the water from the spritzer after ironing, it will be colonized by little green martians called moss.