Sinking school

Apparently part of my former high school is sinking.

One of the double storey buildings and the Hall have been placed off limits.

There are cracks in the walls and there are sink holes, the biggest of which is 3 meters in diameter and 3-4 meters deep.

No thanks to the Malaysian Education Ministry who has warned the school against alerting the media.

They might as well wait till the whole blinking place colapses.

Imagine the publicity then.

Cohabiting

If you had the option to live together with your boyfriend/girlfriend before you get married, would you?

I've been getting rather mixed views on the topic so I'm curious to know what the general sentiment is like.


If you're family, don't get excited. I have no plans to cohabit.

Book binge

Nine new Terry Pratchett books in one month.

Oh wait. Make that ten. I'm reading The Colour of Magic so it's not in the photo.

Best thing is they were all half price.

*gleeful grin*

Experiment

If you know me personally, you'll know how much of a chocolate addict I am. I consume it on a daily basis in quantities that horrify friends and scandalize family.

To list a few; Tim Tams, Toblerone, Crunchie and Pods are among my favourites.

And they are sweeeet.

Just thinking about them makes me crave that sugary, divine creamy goodness.

*cough*

Well, actually I shouldn't be using the word "goodness" because it really isn't all that healthy. In fact I'm trying to cut down on my sugar intake.

The way I figure it is this. 

If I control what I eat now, I'll still be able to eat sugary treats in future. 

No point in gorging on sugar-laden food now and getting diabetes some time down the line.

So my solution?

I've started consuming dark chocolate in place of the milk chocolate I usually eat. There's a lot less sugar in dark chocolate. Compared to usual stuff I eat, 85% cocoa with 14 grams of sugar per 100 grams of chocolate is hardcore. I sought out the chocolate with the highest cocoa content on purpose. The more the cocoa content, the more bitter it is and the less likely I am to eat a lot. 

 

This is my second week on it and the funny thing is that dark chocolate is actually becoming palatable. So yes. I'm re-programming my taste buds.. and I'm winning. :)

PS- Apparently there is one with a 99% cocoa content but I haven't seen it. Just as well because I'm not sure if I can handle something that bitter. My first bite of  the 85% cocoa chocolate already had me cringing.

Randomness

Vegetarian.

The one thing I'll never be.

Relief

I spent much of the weekend in a tussle with my conscience over something I thought I did wrong.

And after much angst, reflection, deliberation and discussion, I've discovered that what I did was right after all. 


These things are probably best left unsaid but its been bothering me for three days and I feel like I'd just burst if I didn't say what I need to.


You should know better. You've known me almost all my life. 

I have always respected you and treated you accordingly.

I can't imagine why you'd think I'd suddenly want to snub you.

Give me the benefit of the doubt.

I deserve that much.


I am hurt that you think so little of me... and after this episode, I will never be able to see you in the same way again. 

Parenting

I saw the most ill behaved child while in a crowded tram today.

She was probably about five and was kicking, hitting and shouting at her mother.

Mind you, in a packed tram with nowhere to go, this can be really nerve-grating...

And all the mother did was say:



"Please don't do that"

"Tell me, are you angry or sad? You seem to be very frustrated"


That style of parenting might work on some children. Not all.

Some children need to be smacked. This was one of them.



Come to think of it, that mother deserved the smacking more than the child.

What kind of lousy parent would ask their brat of a child "Tell me, are you angry or sad? You seem to be very frustrated"?

It just sounds so... textbook-ish.

Lost and found

I found my pen!!!

*GRIN*

On a particularly busy day, one of the enormous client files ate it while I was busy with the filing.

I was quite mournful when it went missing. I tried looking through as many files as possible in the days and weeks after… but as there are hundreds of files; it was like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

And now, two and a half months later, I find it behind some of the files in the back of the cupboard. It must have fallen out of the file at some point in time.

Its an old, ordinary blue Faber-Castell fine ballpoint pen and people might laugh at me for being so happy over something so small.. but its mine and I'm so glad I found it again. :)

Joy~!

Book love

Four new Terry Pratchett books.. all half price! *GRIN*

My collection is growing at an unprecedented rate.

Oh Borders, you bring me such joy! *jump skip twirl*

What an excellent start to a wonderful, relaxing, long weekend! <3



Update (18 June 2008): I'm currently reading The Colour of Magic. I bought The Truth a week earlier but since I have yet to read it, I included it in the photo anyway. :)

Yay! The reader in me will be satiated for a while. 

Political drivel

Headline as seen in The Sun:

Zero-death target for NS


OH? And it wasn't a priority before?!


Shouldn't it be the intention of every national service program from the outset that none of the trainees die?

Those whose duty it was to ensure the well-being of those trainees should be held accountable.

Heads should roll.

But this is Malaysia.

What should happen never does.

Baptism

Baptism. Its a public affirmation of the Christian faith.

I have yet to be baptised though. I know this may sound odd but I just never got around to it. Recently I've been giving it some serious thought.

Ideally I'd like to be baptised in my church back in KL because I grew up there. However, that means I'll have to attend classes for three months... which is not possible as I am now in Melb.

I do attend church in Melb but I'm a smidgen hesitant to get baptised in this particular church. 

It is usual practice for those people getting baptised to testify in front of the congregation about how they came to know God.

Most people have a coherent story about their walk with God.

Mine is somewhat disjointed and it incredibly random.

I can't tell you when I first came to know God.

I know that He is with me, always has been and always will be.

There was however, a period of about three or four years where I couldn't bring myself to speak to Him.

I suppose I needed time to find myself again.

It took a long while but I did eventually make my peace with God.

Strangely enough, a month after that I met my better half... and it was under such an elaborate set of circumstances ... that we can't help but be absolutely certain that God had a hand in it.



So... I'm not entirely sure what sort of testimony that is going to make...

Or whether it constitutes a testimony at all.

I'm planning to get baptised in 2010. That's when someone I really want at my baptism will be in Melb.



On a random note, my Communications lecturer used to tell us that narratives (e.g. stories) are unnatural constructs. We force incidents and occurences into a set, rigid order to make sense of the world around us.

Winter

We are three days into winter.

News reports say that this is going to be the coldest winter in ten years.

I'm inclined to believe them.

The past few mornings have been very foggy and temperatures have ranged between 2 and 7 degrees.

*grin* I love winter.

Currently sleeping with two duvets and a blanket. Its so nice to be able to lie warm and snug in bed while its cold outside.

Ah yes, and the best news I received today is that our newspaper subscription will expire on the 22nd of this month, thank God. No more waking up first thing in the morning every day to hurry out to get the newspaper before somebody swipes it.

Just The Way You Are

I love the song Just The Way You Are.

Despite being about twelve or younger when I first heard it, it remains the sweetest song I've heard to date.

Its also shaped my take on love somewhat.

Love is simple, accepting and undemanding. You're happy when the person you love is happy. 

I've always believed that if a person truly loves someone, he/she would love that someone unconditionally and would never consider changing him/her in any way.

People are not bonsai. It is not fair to contort and twist them into something that they're not... to fulfil a selfish personal ideal of "the perfect partner".

I love it that I'm able to be myself when I'm with my better half. I love the comfortable conversations we share... how we're always on the same wavelength. 

Its nice. 

Its nice to be loved for who I am.

And its natural for me to love him for the amazing person that he is.



Don't go changing, to try and please me,
You never let me down before,
Don't imagine you're too familiar,
And I don't see you anymore.

I would not leave you, in times of trouble,
We never could have come this far,
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times,
I'll take you just the way you are.