Up...Bruno..

As mentioned in my previous entry..my blog is my new-found best friend..so here i am, dating my blog on a rare free Wed nite..

Suddenly got the inspiration to blog about movies..

Caught Bruno(yes, tat Bruno) the other day..it was one show that i practically had my eyebrow raised throughout the whole 90minutes..i went like 'Oh my...', 'like tat also can', 'i can't believe it' every other minute..best thing was, the only other people in the cinema(besides us) was this couple with a baby in the stroller..and this is an R(A) movie!

Compared that with the previous movie i caught the week before..it was the 'u-can't-get-anymore-family-friendly' Up..heartwarming little tale..i like..

From the wholesome end of the continuum, i dived straight into the raunchy end..the culture shock was like fwah!

So..anyone got Borat to lend??

-

I have 1835 items on my mind now..of cos, i picked the 1836th item to act on - blog.

I guess when it comes to the crunch, i just want to 'fa xie/fa lao sao' a bit..and these days, my blog has become my best fren..which explains the explosion in entries..

Managed to establish contact with long-lost frens in UK..very tempted to take off again..

Speak Ang Moh

Was at not-young town the other day, and i tossed a casual remark to the waitress 'I added in some orders'. The said waitress gave me a somewhat blur look before confirming my orders in Mandarin.

After she left, someone asked 'Why did you speak to her in English?' Well..the waitress did not exactly look like someone who didn't understand ang moh..and well, i'm in bloody Singapore and English is our official common language..

No..i'm not adding on to the debate about how a lot of service staff cannot converse in english these days..this is my blog remember? i'm not those who blog about the current affairs or comment about the latest UN policies..I'm going to blog about ME..

For those who know me, i'm definitely not a 'kantang'..right? In the first place, i'm not very conscious of whether i'm speaking ang moh or cheena to others(maybe i'm truly bilingual..hee!) But i've received enough comments/queries on how i seemed to speak angmoh more than i do cheena to wonder about it..do i really??

And if i do, is it really very surprising?

It's not like i speak in some slang..nor do i speak in the Queen's english..yes, i do converse with quite a number of friends in angmoh but i'm sure they're all comfortable with that..in fact, a lot of their ang moh is more powderful than mine..and more often that not, i speak in broken ang moh 'later go where to eat leh?'

Btw, if a person speaks in broken ang moh all the time, will the person be considered kantang??

Kuching! - Day 3/4

Supposed to depart for city after breakfast..but somehow, wei & i were 'randomly' picked to 'stay behind'..due to the fact that there weren't enough seats for all of us(12 or 13 of us, the american family, british family & the Italian couple) Wat happened was tat the Italian couple decided to leave today as well(original plan was tmr but think the guy injured his leg or something..

Somehow the driver(same one who fetched us in) turned to us and said, 'how about u stay behind for a while, i'll come back to pick you after i drop them, will give u a free lift to the cultural centre too' i think he probably felt 'friendlier' towards us since we're asians(& of cos Singaporeans too) Well..since Wei & I also didn't exactly have a lot of plans, we were like 'ok lor, anything lor'

So back into the longhouse we went..we nuah around, read our books, got a 'free tour' to the river where we nuah somemore..listening to the lifestory of our guide..we suspect the kampung is quite small..cos everyone seems to be his 'auntie, niece, brother'..even a random man who appeared at the river is his uncle..

After a reminder from our stomachs, we ambled back to the longhouse where we had more of the chicken curry for lunch(how much did they cook last nite? or do they cook chicken curry everyday?!)

The driver appeared during lunch and so we finally left the longhouse..but not before host Edward declared his liking for Wei..hahaha

Along the 1.5 hours journey, wei & i talked..talked nonstop..talked about a business oppportunity..& i rven helped her planned her life(as if my life is way better than hers..but i think i make a good counsellor..ha)..

As promised, after we checked in and dumped our bags at the hotel, the driver sent us to the Sunday market upon our request(though technically it was a Sat)..We walked for maybe 10mins before we concluded it was a little too hot and sought refuge(i realised how much Wei loves the aircon on this trip..the best part is coming up soon)at the shopping centre across the street..

There, we made some half-hearted attempts at shopping..and when the sun went down a bit, we ventured out to the market again..we sort of agreed we can skip dinner tonight so we can try a bit of everything we came across..we had fish fritters, durians, some pancake, some unknown kueh and sat down for some satay and da bao some mangosteens & chicken wings back for supper..

When we're done and wanted to head back to the hotel, we realised there're no bus service and no cabs in sight..after a few fruitless(& pointless) minutes of stretching out our hands, we approached this lady who very kindly called a cab for us..even this random lady has a relative in Singapore, as did the driver & the people in the longhouse..

Ok, the INCIDENT of the trip..

Back at the hotel, we got into the lift and Wei pressed '8'..'not 9 meh?' i wondered aloud..'i think it's 8 lah'

At the 8th floor, we walked to the room and tried to open the door with the key..the door wouldn't budge. We tried again..and again..and again..we weren't sure if it's the key is not working(cos when we came up for the first time, the chambermaid was just done with the room and we walked in straight - without using the key) or it's the wrong room..since Wei had 'dismantled' the keychain - the big tag with the room number from the actual key, and left the keytag in the power switch to keep the aircon running(told ya she loves the aircon) before we went out..

After about 10 mins of struggling with the door, i finally turned to her and said 'i think we're 9th floor lah, not 8th' 'really? u think so?' So off we went..up 1 floor to the 9th..and open sesame! Wei & i quickly got into the room and shut the door behind us..'do u think there was anyone in the 8th floor room?' 'do u think the security saw us trying to break into the wrong room???!!'

Tat's was the classic 'Wei moment' of the trip..

Wei..wat would you do without me? :Þ

Wednesday, 12th Aug 0020 hr

Someone smsed me 'Thanks for spending the worst day of my life with me..'

That's one of the weirdest thanks i've ever received *o*

Kuching! - Day 2/4

Woke up at 7ish today, someone supposed to come pick us up for the longhouse..we quickly washed up, checked out and went to the kopitiam round the corner for breakfast..

Being in Kuching obviously meant we need to try to the kolo mee..so we did..i ordered ayam kolo mee and when it came, i must say it didn't really look like the one we get back in sg..it looked more like maggi mee with chicken toppings..

With breakfast out of the way, we went to the prearranged pickup point and after a bit of waiting, the car came and we hopped on, where 2 ang mohs from Italy were waiting(more about this couple later)

It was about 1.5 hours drive to the longhouse..upon arrival, we were shown where we're going to spend the nite..which was this little house which looks suspicously like someone's livein house..complete with photos in the living room, toothbrushes in the bathroom and softtoys in the bedroom..

Put down our bags and went to the host, Edward..we were giving 2 options - Waterfall trek or hotspring. I'm not a fan of hotspring and wei din exactly bring the appropriate attire too, so it's the waterfall(which i indicated when i first made the booking anyway)

Our guide Rambo appeared and off we went..the trek was quite alright..the terrain was rather similar to bt timah, but with a lot more river crossings on those shaky make-shift bamboo bridges..

It took us nearly 2.5 hours to reach the waterfall and our guide started preparing our lunch, chopping bamboo, plucking leaves, starting fire..n both of us happily just nuah around the waterfall...and wei started singing..

哪里有彩虹告诉我 能不能把我的愿望还给我
为什么天这么安静 所有的云都跑到我这里
有没有口罩一个给我 释说了太多就成真不了
也许时间是一种解药 也是我现在正服下的毒药

看不见你的笑我要怎么睡得着 你的身影那么近我却抱不到
没有地球太阳还是会绕 没有理由我也能自己走
你要离开我知道很简单 你说依赖是我们的阻碍
就算放开能不能别没收我的爱 当作我最后才明白

This was once 'the' song for me..and now, it's 'the' song once again..

*************************************************************************************

Soon lunch was ready and boy, was the bamboo chicken good! While Wei and i stuffed ourselves to the neck, our guide didn't look as excited as us..well, i guess if u have the same lunch everyday for N years, u wouldn't be as excited too..

When we finally made it back to the longhouse, we're greeted by the topless angmoh guy wrapped in a bath towel..oh well, angmohs..

After washing up, we joined the rest of the guests for a tour around the longhouse..and after tat we just hung around the common area and joined the other 2 families for a bit of UNO while waiting for dinner..

Dinner was a simple but tasty affair of curry chicken and veg..of cos pineapples were served..too bad i'm not a fan..maybe i never will be one..

A 'cultural show' was up after dinner and the other group of angmohs volunteered for it(wei and i were invited too but of cos we politely declined)..and so they got all dressed up as the local tribe and put up a dance led by the 'genuine' tribe people..

Best of all..while we're just nuahing, Wei turned to me and said 'i'm hungry leh'..'oh, so am i!' and so, i cajoled her to ask Edward if we can have some supper, his answer? 'just help yourself to watever is in the kitchen' Tat's what i'm paying RM400 for..good hospitality..and so, we tucked in to a second round of curry chicken..at 1020pm..watever calories burnt during the trek are happily welcomed back to our waistlines..

Just as we're getting ready for bed, someone knocked on our house door..wei went to answer it - it was the 2 young girls from the other families..apparently they were looking for the italian guy..so wei went to pass the message and from my room, i saw him walking out to the door in his briefs..only his briefs..all angmohs are the same..anyway, wei & i concluded that the 2 girls had a crush on him..well, i must say they're really 'bold' as the guy is obviously attached to his female travelling companion..in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if they were on honeymoon..sigh..angmohs..

Oh darn..

Darn for Wei beating me to it..blogging about the the trip that is..

And darn for totally failing my diet plans over the long weekend..while frens politely claimed they were not hungry, only thirsty..i happily wolfed down ngoh niang, complete with beehoon and again a mee soto later at nite..i'm forming the habit of having dinner twice now! *.*

Well, wei's is the condensed version(oh but she has video of the bamboo chicken!)..while mine is the cheong hei(& incomplete version), so check out her post @ http://grouseland.blogspot.com/

Review of Diet

Mon - Dinner at 6.45pm AND dinner again at 10pm
Tues - Teochew muay for dinner (still, there's the gulou meat ordered for someone)
Wed - Dinner at 6pm AND supper at 920pm AND durians at 1030pm
Thur - Dinner at 7pm AND beer at 9.30pm AND chicken wings(in a carpark) at 1030pm
Fri - Prata Pizza(!) for dinner AND cookie & cream cake for supper

Grade: F

Kuching! - Day 1/4

830am - Was woken up by a string of smses..including one tat read 'wat time is the flight ah?' This set the tone for our super relak, super nuah, super clueless(N.B. applicable to only ONE pax) 4D3N trip..

845am - Our second proper preparation for the trip was a hurried 5 mins converation while wei was rushing to work 'i have a conference call at 9am'..at least we got some items settled..we confirmed the flight time, agreed that we'll each get our own travel insurance and decided that wei will bring along a duffel bag as checkin luggage..

130pm - On the train to airport..Wei called: i'm packing now and i can't find the duffel bag leh..what bag u using? can we check in yours instead? ZXL: I'm using a backpack which can't be locked..AND i'm already halfway to airport.. Wei: OH..ok, how about we just check in my whole bag lah? ZXL: i guess so..

155pm - A sms came in 'Wahaha..i reached the ariport faster than u'

Upon arrival in Kuching, we took a cab downtown and arrived at this budget hotels area. With no prior bookings, we basically went into a few hotels(more like motels) and asked to look at their rooms - Wei commented 'i feel like we're shopping'

Settled upon a decent looking room, struggled a bit with the reception who spoke as limited english, as we did malay..and we're ready to explore the area. The receptionist vaguely pointed out a direction to us and off we went.

Came to this shopping mall..where we went around the dept store no less than 3 times, just trying to figure our way to another level. Managed to locate an exit and went out into the streets. We were hoping to find some authentic local cuisine..With not much clue(all we had was this map torn off from a magazine), our stomachs dictated we spend no more than 15mins searching and we ending up at a safe but nondescript jap restaurant.

We had no particular plans for the evening..'maybe we can catch a movie..IF we find a cinema'..so we continued wandering around the area..And just across the street from our dinner place, we spotted this happening makan place and we turned to each other 'how did we miss this place just now' Nevertheless we went to take a look but found no way in/out other than through the carpark..'building design is not their forte' is a phrase that we found ourselves repeating N times during the trip..

We made our way back to the first mall where we found out that they do have a cinema afterall..Of course, we spent another 15 mins just trying to get out of the dept store, discovered a lift, took it and voila, the cinema is right in front of us. Harry Potter at 830pm, timecheck: 830pm, perfect! Bot the tics & we made our way into the cinema in the dark..all the while trying to find the seat number on the ticketstub..until we randomly asked someone where to see the seat number? 'Free seating lah' ohhhh...

Never the HP fan..i din quite understand the movie(nor the previous 5 installments)..but well, it was 2 hours' entertainment for RM9..no complaints :)

When the lights came on, we only had one question. No, it wasn't 'So who was the half blood prince?' but rather 'how do we get out of this place?!' Taking the lift did not seem viable as it would only lead us to the confusing dept store with no exits(and we doubt it was still be opened at 11pm)..so we did the next best thing, we followed the crowd to this staircase which led to the carpark(again!). With no better idea, we decided we would just walk our way out through the carpark..for the 2nd time in a nite..does nobody here take public transport at all??

Building design is definitely not their forte..

Love it or hate it..

Facebook that is..

Was just talking about it over dinner with the JMs and BF..FB can be great for finding long-lost friends..but annoying when every-other-person-whom-u-had-vaguely-said-hi-to starts adding you..NZ JM goes as far as to untag her names from photos posted by friends..

Finally, i had a moment when i was rather grateful for FB..at first i was still sceptical when a certain 'Marcy' added me some 3 days ago..a quick look at her friends list revealed no common links..plus the fact she's from an overseas network doesn't help much..

Today i received an email from this 'Marcy' : 'Remember Thorpe Park in 2005?' Oh my!! It's her!

People who had followed my blog religiously(tat will be you, wei and probably only you..haha) would know i had a working stint in this amusement park in UK couple of years back..and Marcy was one of my best friends in the park(only she wasn't 'Marcy' then, think it was her middle name)

If she's back in her home country of Jamaica(if i remember correctly)..i have a new holiday destination :)