questions and answers, there can be too many

September 29, 2006 at 5:32 am (the daily banter)

sometimes you wonder if you’re really in your senior year when questions like these regarding exams are still being asked

random girl (directed to the prof): so if you’re not going to ask definition questions, are you going to ask application questions?

lorelai (impatient, mortified and whispered a little too loudly): duh 

i mean lady if she isn’t going to ask you about dfinitions, how else is she going to test you besides asking you to apply what you have learnt?!!!

and if you think the theory of evolution has not been overused, think again.

random girl (directed to prof): i think that people who think that they are too close to their partners are afraid of getting hurt

prof (paused for 2 secs): no, i’m sorry but that’s not true. this argument goes against last lecture.

finally, someone is telling them that there is such a thing as a stupid question/comment. i am so sick of lecturers encouraging people by claiming that there is no such thing a stupid/comment, that i have been subjected to hearing too many insipid words strung together by the speaker who is masquerading it (the words) as something intelligent they spouted out. not all knowledge are meant to be shared, contrary to the belief of a lesser-liked-friend. i’m glad Dr. B said what she said. it was a little harsh but i’m tired of people pretending that it was an interesting statement instead of telling the person straight up that his/her belief/argument is incorrect. stop walking on eggshells being afraid that an honest assessment from you is going to bring a crashing halt to the person’s life. maybe the person in question may get embarrassed (which is only normal, if you ask me), but come on (s)he will get over it. i’m not saying that one should refrain from speaking up in class, but one should think before speaking. at least i do before i share my opinions with a hundred other homo homo sapiens in class and i think everyone should do too.

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being what you fear: a broken recorder

September 25, 2006 at 11:31 pm (friday nights are alright for fighting)

i knew when my dad called and asked if i thought it was a good idea that my brother came over to study as well, i would have to step up. i would have to step up from being just the older sibling who don’t really care to the sister turned parent who has to look out for her somewhat sheltered sibling. my parents (God-bless-them) are good providers. they made sure that we wouldn’t have to discover prematurely that the working world is more on manipulation and less on diligence, they made sure we grew up not knowing how to use a washing machine, iron, stove and the numerous household appliance invented to make the lives of the average housewive (and in the singaporean context the life of the hired help easier). they made sure we didn’t have to lift a finger working out the logistics of living in a civilized world where every move we make is complicated by paperwork (and more paperwork if you are a singaporean male going on 18 someday and is currently away somewhereas to study). my brother’s lack of urgency or ability to handle such paperwork is in my opinion made worst by the fact that he is not ONLY the male decendent in the family but also the apple pf my mother’s eye. i remember wanting to throw a hissy fit when my mum insisted that our maid should carry her 12 year old, 55kg baby up the stairs 3 storeys high because he was tired. i mean come on, baby? in some societies, he has already grown to the size of an average adult and has certainly overtaken me in the weight department.

yes so what’s the latest grouse? i hate it when i am pushed to the point of being a nag. i think for my brother’s sake he needs to learn how to handle his own paperwork. however, on my part, i’m a little afraid that if i have not pushed him enough, he would have forgotten to handle it and thus facing the possiblity of remaining here illegally. if that becomes a reality i can just imagine what my mother would say. so it’s a real toss up, my principles or my mother? it was easy after awhile, principles foregone. so i filled out the application, asked/nagged my brother daily to get the other documents in and ferried him around while he tried to settle the bank accounts. i reached the last straw when just before we arrived at the post office i asked if he had gotten the address we were supposed to send the application to. his reply?

don’t you have it?

DON’T YOU HAVE IT! i wanted to scream at him but i knew that i wouldn’t help and resigned to go into problem-solving mode.

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fear of the road

September 21, 2006 at 1:10 am (TTT - the toilet talk, psyching myself out, the daily banter)

for all who have sat in a vehicle when i am driving, many have commented (in)directly about my reckless driving habits. some have witnessed the road rage and, if you’re like ms tang who have gone cross country driving with me, have experienced a near-possible-car-crash because yours truly fell asleep on the wheel while speeding on a rented car. note to self: never let the person on the passenger seat sleep hence leaving the driver (ie. me) unsupervised while driving on boring uneventful expressways such as the I-5 and the like. despite all these near accidents and once running a red light right in front of 2 otherwise engaged traffic police officers, i’ve never reach the level of paranoia as i have recently.

on friday, i finally got to be the passenger and not the driver and also finally got to experience what is like to be pulled over. mundy after picking up ms tang at the train station did an illegal u-turn (like i always have, for many many many times, whenever i picked her up from the same spot) and the moment we turned a stationary vehicle on the side of the road lighted up. gosh, yes, that was the infamous unmarked vehicle that had been the money making gem of the traffic force of many countries. so we got pulled over asked a couple of questions, mundy got threatened to have his license suspended but we eventually got let off with a warning. then on sunday, i drove instead of him. i wasn’t all that shaken by friday’s incident because the knowledge of probability allowed one to understand that the odds of getting pulled over once in a long long long time was probable and shouldn’t be dwelled upon. however, (this is where if i was superstitious i would believed mundy to be jinxed) on sunday just as i was about to illegally reversed mundy spotted a cop car and then on the way he spotted 2 more unmarked cars causing me to exponentially increase my tendency to obey traffic rules that sunday afternoon.

i mean what the heck? 3 unmarked vehicles and many visible cop cars in one weekend? i know rationality and my studies have taught me to not let part equals to whole but that weekend either signifies that i have used up all my odds for years in 3 days and hence safe for a long time to come or just letting me know that probability is just plainly against some. the past few days i have been more paranoid than usual, partly due to the rain, witnessing other vehicles hydroplaning and this insane fear that there is an unmarked vehicle at every street and intersection hiding trying to hunt me down. so canada is that safe huh, that there is nothing much for cops to do but stake out amongst leafy green living organisms in order to catch non-law-abiding-drivers who drive above 50km/hr. well at least the michael moore movie that i have watched yet again this afternoon for class really wanted us to know that canada is that safe, at least compared to the US (well, that’s another story for another day cause my school shootings class MEMBERS’ attitude deserves a psychological dissection of their own.).

all that being said, i still haven’t displayed my N-plate (or P-plate) and if i get pulled over without it…    

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September 17, 2006 at 7:53 am (friday nights are alright for fighting)

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I know you think your kid is cute

September 13, 2006 at 3:10 am (friday nights are alright for fighting, psyching myself out)

cimg0192.JPG In my opinion they currently hold the title of the oldest and youngest hotties in the clan.

There are many, in my bias opinion, good-looking people that exist in my family (found mostly on my mother’s side). Therefore growing up I always seemed to like my cousins and from those experiences concluded that I probably liked children. Moreover, I always remind others who are overtly intolerant of other people’s children and who “tsked” at some parents today for their kids running wild that they were once children too (yet there is a limit to what is acceptable lack of control over your kids, if they are brats like those in charlie and the chocolate factory, these parents should seriously reconsider further procreation because they have demonstrated severe lack of parenting skills. It would be wise to watch nanny 911 to pick up a tip or 2). Anyway, I said seemed because I realized that I had, from past care-taking experiences, not been all that warm towards all children. Plainly stated, if they are not cute, then misbehaviour is judged for what it is, no viewing that through rose tinted glasses. Okay, I know that was harsh and most people generally think that babies/young children are cute, I agree that the first day of our lives we probably look very much alike except for eye and skin colour, but after a few months some babies are cute and others not just like how adults are. Hence it is only logical that I need to be ensured of a semi-good-looking kid so that my parental functions are not compromised by my inability to be non-superficial.

I’ve been showing a picture I have of my baby/toddler cousin above to many people and the consensus is he is cute, so last saturday night it got me thinking – how can I have a baby in future that elicits such responses too? I started thinking about our common gene pool, Joel and I, and found to my dismay that we only share a common great grandpa. Not good. Though my great grandma is prettier than his great grandma but he has this whole other gene pool that I have no access to on his grandpa’s side (maternal cause his paternal gene pool does not interest me).

Then the next solution would be to marry someone with a come-hither gene pool, the risk though remains because as we have seen good looking people do not necessarily produce good looking kids. It’s all about whether the parents looks are compatible. Consider this, would Brangelina’s kid look better or brannifer’s kid look better? I vote the latter cause I think the probablity of brannifer’s kid looking like a greek god(dess) is pretty high or at least higher than the brangelina combination. Of course, there would be no conclusion to my hypothesis cause the marriage of brannifer as we know produced no offsprings. Pity, or I could do a compare and contrast now.

So I think if I can’t gurantee a good looking kid I think I’m better off adopting because honestly I think I would be a very strict parent and without good looks the kid is not going to have a chance!

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so why do you want to work for banana republic?

September 10, 2006 at 12:25 am (psyching myself out)

lorelai: because i like the fashion, (almost like an afterthought) although it’s out of my price range

totally unnecessary the last statement and what’s with the lame answer? it’s not fashion, it should be style. i mean i could have talked about the company brand and how gapinc makes staples and stuff like that. not highly trendsetting but offers customers pieces that will go with most wardrobe, also that banana republic is the higher end and that they were one of the main sponsors for project runway! but i said none of that! not even anything remotely close!

these few days have been very very draining and school wasn’t even the bigger part or actually of no concern to me. i have been job hunting without much success, though that’s not really true cause they take a longer time to get back to you here even if they’re desperate. the concept of time in this land of inaccessibility is very different from the land of mobility where i grew up. so that’s irritating cause i need to or i want to know my schedule for certain for the rest of the semester. the job is not the only thing running my life. i have very little patience for uncertainty, something i need to change if i do end up living here. then there is the whole car situation, to change or not to? maybe not, cause i don’t think it’s very saleable anyways, but how much is it going to cost to repair the leaks? not changing would remove a lot of the increasing current stress that is bugging me.

now i just need motivation to finish out the 7 resumes that i’m handing out come monday.

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tracks that one leaves behind

September 4, 2006 at 10:57 pm (friday nights are alright for fighting)

i look around my room and realize that it does look like my mum and i have been living in close quarters for the past 10 days. mostly her living in the room since i was either sleeping over somewhere or on the couch for a few of those 10 days.

i have lived with a broken chair since january and figured that i would probably be able to survive sitting on broken furniture for the next school year but now i would not have to any longer. evidence one of the mother staying in the same room – she takes notice of broken furniture and fixes it. well, she didn’t really fix it, rather she just bought me a new chair. nonetheless, i’m still using the old broken one. i’m not sentimental like that, i’m just too lazy to move the old one out and the new one in.

also from the time i was 7, my mum has a habit of taking a day or 2 off work annually to clean my room with me. this includes emptying out drawers, clearing out wardrobes, cabinets and the pile of stuff i push under the bed. i have always claimed that my parents give me quite a lot of privacy and have never gone through my stuff (at least not to my knowledge), but come to think about it, my mum does go through my stuff when we’re cleaning up and with my consent. that woman is shrewd i tell you. anyway, as i grow up i don’t really join in the cleaning and i can get away with it because i’m no longer 8 and my parents can’t just make me do what they want me to. however that doesn’t stop my mum from trying. so the other day while i was around the room trying to get some work down, my mum started asking me how i would like to organize and sort out my documents, accessories, beauty products and every other thing that was lying around in the room on the top of the cabinet, table, floor and chair. it took a lot to not say,” don’t bother mum, it’ll just be messy again after a week unless you want me to stop living in this room.” plus i don’t like people messing around my stuff because i know where everything is amidst the mess and even if i can’t find it for that moment, i don’t bother because i know it’ll come up sooner or later. i’m patient in that aspect, many things have been recovered after a year of absence. so a little anecdote on that

lorelai: where’s my brush?

mum: i thought i saw it in the bathroom

lorelai: oh i don’t see it (picks up some other one)

mum: you should pack your stuff, see you can’t find your brush

lorelai: well, that’s why i have many lying around, i wouldn’t put it back in the exact same spot anyway

mum: you should look for it now, i saw it here earlier

lorelai (getting impatient as was running late for an appointment): mum, it’ll come up later

aunt bends down under the my toiletry basket and picks up said brush.

lorelai: see mum, why did i tell you.

i don’t get why my mum likes to organize my room when my house in my opinion is one big mess. probably she feels it’s one of her must-perform motherly duties.

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car trouble

September 4, 2006 at 12:44 am (the daily banter)

some bonds have to be broken. this car is a goner.

i have been having car trouble all week. basically, the car was dead when i got back and i was pretty much trapped at home save for mani-j (thank God for mani-j, or i would be a no-life mountain troll stuck at home watching summer specials. what a way to end the summer shenanigans, oh the horror).

dear mani-j, i pledge to you free rides home from sfu for being my designated driver the past week and the half.

i mean i have enjoyed the relative freedom in this land of inaccessibilty my own set of wheels have allowed me since i have acquired it a year ago. i almost had to take the train to watch phantom the other day because i was without my own ride (depend only on yourself and God and most recently mani-j, when it comes to cars and rides), of course come tuesday i would have to take the glorious 143 to school. it’s gonna be hot. 

so the car saga. last saturday i received a call from my favourite person to be told that my car insurance could not be renewed because it needs to be inspected. apparently, my previous inspection became invalidated when i cancelled my previous policy in june. ah… what? you didn’t tell me that when i cancelled the last time, you didn’t mention there would be so much trouble. that’s one of the reasons why insurance agents are always viewed with suspect (no offence to lariena), they answer affirmative when you ask them if a course of action is feasible without outlining the complicating steps that are involved inbetween. of course then again, the consumers are always told to read the fine print themselves, so my bad, can’t blame the guy for not safeguarding me right? anyway, on monday after 10 000 phone calls between, insurace guy, mechanic and me, i managed to save the cost of a day-to-day insurance and still get my car to the inspection centre without lifting a finger. no thanks to my insurance guy on that part, it was all the handiwork of my very kind mechanic (who probably by now is afraid to receive yet another phone call from me).

after all that drama that ended on wednesday, i thought i was all ready to be pimping rides around town, but no….! when i drove out of the parking lot from church this morning my car died. midway. it just died. no even after 3 jump starts. i gave in and called a tow truck. i’m taking it as a sign, it’s time to change my ride.

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prospects

September 2, 2006 at 3:15 am (the daily banter)

today i finally sent out the first resume of my life. earlier i was freaking out cause i saw honky tongs’ resume and was sure that i would not be a very impressionable candidate for any job (well, of course not any, but “any” as in any of the jobs i am interested in). however, after an hour and the half of summarizing my work experiences since 2003, i say i had a pretty eventful work history. i mean how many people can boast of a more depressing summer internship than interviewing men who had just discovered they have prostate cancer. really when it concerns men and their fertility, there is really no tactful way to conduct an interview except to pretend that they are not breaking down when they are. they have already lost one of the most important thing that they feel defines their maleness, i wouldn’t rob away another definitive quality (inability to emote) by acknowledging their emotions. 

anyway, i scored an interview for saturday. i’ll cross my fingers that it’ll all work out and i’ll be looking at speaking in cantonese on the job for the next year.  

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