Urban Exercise

Many urban dwellers don't get much chance to walk or jog in a real park these days. A park surrounded by lush greeneries with watering holes for our fine feathered friends is a rare find. The KLites are constantly suffocating from the rapidly dwindling number of green lungs within KL making way for development. The most convenient place for a decent exercise would be either your home or the gym. The former...well, though highly convenient but it seems to be a rather boring place to do our sit-ups and push-ups, not to mention the lack of motivation to wear proper attire when we exercise. When we exercise at home, naturally, we tend to be in our most comfortable apparel, namely the XL size t-shirt and an old pair of shorts while watching Cindy Crawford doing her sit-ups on tv. Not forgetting the need to keep ourselves motivated while being confined to the four corners of the concrete walls. Many of us who exercise at home tend to show our lazy bones after a few sessions, opting for the seat as a couch potato.

On the other hand, if you opt for the gym, well...it may burn quite a hole in your pocket depending on the kind of membership those gyms offer. A one-year membership fees could cost around RM1,400. With that amount of money, you had better be consistent in getting yourself to the gym religiously a few days every week for the next twelve months or you are as good as dumping your hard earned money into the sea. The rewards, other a well toned body, if you do turn up at the gym may be the chance to ogle at beautiful bodies (of the trainers there) or the hugh relieve realising that you are not the only one that urgently needs some immediate body sculpting repair work.

However, do you know that there is an alternative to your exercise venues other than the park, your home and the gym?

Once a month or so, I would have a 3 hour walk at a large spacious venue, ogle all I want at beautiful boys and girls and the best of all, no membership fee is required. =) I call it the 'Urban Exercise'. Last Sunday, I had one of my Urban Exercise sessions. A good 3 hours of walking. This time, I had picked a newly opened hyper-supermarket, Carrefour, for my walk. I went as soon as it was opened in the morning after a round of hearty breakfast. I walked at a consistent pace from aisle to aisle, at the same time exercising my arms by pushing a 15kg cart filled with 2 sacs of rice (10kg & 5kg each), can food, 2 dozens of toilet papers, among many other household products.

At the end of my urban exercise *ahem* (grocery shopping), I've walked 3 full hours, stopping just to put stuff into my shopping cart, carried more than 10 kgs and also completed my grocery shopping. I felt completely energised (obviously from the walk), refreshed (being away from the blistering mid-afternoon heat outside), entertained (by looking at the people around me) and happy (being surrounded by so much food!). Hahaha! BTW, the parking is free.

The other good places for the urban exercise would be the Mid Valley Megamall and Berjaya Times Square. Just covering on foot all the floor spaces in those huge shopping centres will help to tone your legs. Remember to take the stairs when possible while holding on to your shopping bags. It helps the motor coordination of your arms and legs.

Don't you agree that the Urban Exercise is so much more interesting than the usual trip to the gym? Try Urban Exercise today. Who knows, you may like it more than the gym. And, girls... “Happy (Window) Shopping!”

YOGA

Last year I developed a strong interest in yoga. I read books to understand everything one needed to know about this ancient exercise. Then, I bought those DIY yoga cds to practise at home. I started off with basic yoga for beginners. Each session lasts 20 minutes. Then, I advanced to yoga for intermediate. Each session expanded to 40 minutes. I was in great shape. I stopped short of learning the headstand. I believe this pose should be learnt from an experienced guru in person. It’s too complicated and dangerous to learn it on my own.

Then, with all the actions, I wanted to add in some meditation. Finally, some substance to all my actions! So, off I went to Speedy’s to buy a cd in Yoga meditation. I was very excited anticipating being able to take my mind up to another level by just repeating the word ‘Oooooooooooooooommmmmm’ for 20 minutes. I was expecting the guru in the cd to reveal the secrets of meditation but all I have gotten from watching the cd was one yoga buff sitting crossed leg in lotus pose, both palms turned up with the index fingers & thumbs touched on her thighs. She remained in that pose for the whole 20 minutes!!! I had paid RM29.90 to watch a woman sitting crossed legs for 20 minutes!!! I don’t think I had left my home base at all.

From that day onwards, I stick safely to the actions and left the substance to the experts.

Tour de France

Europe is one of my holiday destinations. I even took up language classes so that I could enjoy chatting with the locals, immersing myself in their cultures. I dream of sipping coffee from the café on the sidewalk. Yesterday I had a glimpse of how my trip to Europe may turn out.

I went on a holiday in France with my family. We walked around beautiful architectures, lovely parks and checked out shops on the cobble stoned street. We came about a shop selling food stuff. Mum took a tomato, broccoli and cauliflower to the counter for me to pay.

“Mum, why are we buying vegetables? What do you want to do with them?” I asked.

“Daughter, Euro dollar is very expensive. We could save a lot cooking our own meal. I’m cooking porridge,” mum explaining her economic theory.

“But mum, we are on holiday. I can’t be eating home cooked food,” I protested.

“Plus, we can’t cook in the hotel, remember?” I reminded mum that we are not staying in an apartment with cooking facility.

‘Don’t worry, darling. We can eat them with oat meals,” mum smiled at her own brilliance.

I paid for the vegetables at the counter. I can’t believe I’m going to eat oat with tomato in my hotel room.

“Combien?” I showed off my newly acquired French skill, asking how much I must pay.

“Huh?” the cashier wasn’t sure what I was saying.

“C’est combien, sil vous plait? I repeated. This time I remembered to add ‘please’ after asking for the price. French are very particular on manners. I thought she didn’t want to answer me because I didn’t say ‘please’ initially.

“Excusez-moi?’ she asked me to repeat.

Oh, dear. Did I pronounced my French sentence wrongly? Shit.

“How much, please?” I asked in English this time. My face was blushing in embarrassment.

“Ah, c'est de sept quinze euros, sil vous plait,” the cashier replied.

“Huh?” my turn to ask. I can hardly understand a word she had said. All I heard was “Gee lee gu lu, gee lee gu lu”. Geez, this can’t be happening to me after slogging myself to learn basic French conversation for a year.

“Cezz, seven fifteen euros, please”, the cashier translated to English to ease my pain. Either that or she was trying to get me out of her face as fast as possible. I know I must be a pain in the rear end for her.

I quickly paid the cashier and took my red lobster face out of the shop. We continued our sight seeing on foot. Before turning into another street, I noticed that my sis was missing. We back tracked our way to the vegetable shop and I found sis at the counter arguing with the cashier. Yes, the same cashier that I wanted to hide my face from.

“Sis, what are you doing? Let’s go. Everyone’s waiting,” I asked trying to get sis out of the shop before the cashier remembers me.

“I want to buy this packet of chocolate. I don’t have any Euros with me. So, I’m paying her Malaysian Ringgit and she refused to accept it,” sis explained.

“Can’t you just pay by credit card? They won’t accept Malaysian Ringgit la. Do you think you are going to accept Tonga’s currency in Malaysia? Duh….?” I tried to talk some sense into my bird brain sister. How embarrassing can this get….?

“Look, this packet of chocolate costs 2 Euros which is about 8 Malaysian Ringgit and I’m paying you 10 Malaysian Ringgit. You won’t lose, do you know that?” sis tried to get back into the bargain with the cashier, forcing her Malaysian currency into the hands of the cashier.

“No, no, no….” the cashier shaked her head and pushed the note back to my sister.

“Please! Can we just forget about the chocolate and leave?! All other customers are looking at us. This is sooooo embarrassing!!!” I pleaded to sis.

I was lucky that I managed to wake up at this point. Any later than that, I think my boiling blood veins will burst.

Lesson learnt? Definitely. Firstly, I have to brush up on my French. Exam’s next week. Secondly, if I do go to France for my holiday, I’m going to bring lot’s of Euro currency with me. I don’t plan to eat porridge in the hotel nor force the cashier to accept my home country’s currency. If I don’t have enough Euros, then I guess the best plan would be to leave mum and sis behind. Hehehe!

Romantic Things Married CoupleS Do

Hmm… The list of romantic things in the previous post was more for couples who are still dating each other. Couples who are in a relationship that has no strings attached….. yet.

When you are married, life is different with additional commitments mentally, physically, financially, etc.

Here are some romantic things that married couples do (compiled from my happily married friends).

1. Make sure your other half gets a decent meal when he/she comes home from work. late at night & accompany them for the meal just to find out how was his/her day.
2. Learn to cook his/her favourite dish even though you can’t fry an egg.
3. Take care of your other half when they are sick or invalid.
4. Make sure they are well covered with the blanket in the middle of the night so that they won’t catch cold.
5. Wear their clothes to feel them & smell them when you miss them.
6. You know you will not be afraid to fall because he/she is always there to catch you. You trust them with your life.
7. Snuggle under their arms to keep warm.
8. Do housework together. Wash the car together.
9. Spend your hard earned money on them to make them happy when you have to think twice to buy that pair of shoes to replace your worn out one because it makes you happier to see them smile than wearing a new pair of shoes.
10. You would rather risk your life than seeing them suffer in sickness. Donate your internal organs like one of your kidneys or corneas to save his/her's life.
11. Make up after being angry with each other. No matter how the other half made you angry, you always forgive them and love them just the same. Stick together through thick and thin, for better or worse.
12. Still think that your other half is the greatest person even though they dig their nose, fart, have bad breathe, rings of spare tyres on their waist, have orange peel skin thigh, etc.
13. Groom each other, like cut/comb their hair, shave their beard, dig their ear wax, etc.
14. Work your guts out paying for mortgages to put a roof on your family.
15. Take good care of yourself so that he/she wouldn’t need to worry about your well being in additional to the pressure they face everyday.

The list is endless but the bottom line is saying, “I love you” is not enough nor the romantic gesture of dedicating a song over the radio for your loved ones. When it comes to spending the rest of your life with someone you love, commitment, sacrifice, understanding, communication and actions speak louder than saying “I love you’.

When the both of you are really old and wrinkled like 80 years old and still hold each other hands when you walk, now that is really romantic.

50 Romantic Things to do with Your Loved One

Interesting replies to an email sent by a single girlfriend who dreams to fall in love with her knight in the shining amour.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Yours truly
Sent: November 14, 2006
To: Single girl; Married man
Subject: RE: 50 Romantic Things to do with your loved one


Another example is the 3G phone.

Romantic thing to do for your bf/gf

- Buy them a 3G phone as birthday present. Then, call each other, video call & look at each other day in day out telling them I love you...


After married...

- You crazy ah waste so much $ buy the 3G phone?!!! Who wants to pay to look at your face wor? Everyday look not enough ah? Take me holiday with the $ lagi bagus (better still).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Married man
Sent: November 14, 2006
To: Single girl; Yours truly
Subject: RE: 50 Romantic Things to do with your loved one

Dear ... dear.. after married.. here is the answer..

50 Romantic things to do 4 your B/GFriend

1. Watch the sunset together - no time
2. Whisper to each other - What? Can't hear you
3. Cook for each other - you cook cause I am lazy
4. Walk in the rain - stupid idea
5. Hold hands - after the kid's hand there are no more hands to offer
6. Buy gifts for each other - no budget
7. Roses - waste money
8. Find out their favorite cologne/perfume and wear it every time you're together - bath more often and forget about cologne
9. Go for a long walk down the beach at midnight - mosquitoes
10. Write poetry for each other - Now we don't say love.. we just make love..
11. Hugs are the universal medicine - comforter offers better insulation
12. Say only when you mean it and make sure they know you mean it - do I have to repeat and repeat..
13. Give random gifts of flowers/candy/poetry etc. - told you no budget lor...
14. Tell her that she's the only girl you ever want. Don't lie! - cannot cause still have mother, mother in law, daughter and *whisper* girlfriends..
15. Spend every second possible together - why, have you not hear before one mountain cannot have 2 tigers...
16. Look into each other's eyes - to check who is lying...
17. Very lightly push up her chin, look into her eyes, tell her you love her and kiss her lightly - she'll think that you have done something wrong..
18. When in public, only flirt with each other - peoples say you crazy or what..
19. Put love notes in their pockets when they aren't looking - we prefer cash or money
20. Buy her a ring - You think Lord of the ring ah?
21. Sing to each other - To all the girls I loved before...
22. Always hold her around her hips/sides - Don't be horny.. wait till get home..
23. Take her to dinner and do the dinner for two deal - McDonalds can or not...?
24. Spaghetti? (Ever see Lady and the Tramp?) - more for kids....
25. Hold her hand, stare into her eyes, kiss her hand and then put it over your heart - you've done some very serious damages..
26. Dance together - cannot dance anymore... backache
27. I love the way a girl looks right after she's fallen asleep with her head in my lap - You just numbed my leg..
28. Do cute things like write I love you in a note so that they have to look in a mirror to read it. - She will be more in love if the note say :- Honey, there is RM 5,000 in the envelope for you to enjoy yourself at spa...
29. Make excuses to call them every 5 minutes - for what..???
30. Even if you are really busy doing something, go out of your way to call and say I love you. - prepaid no money..
31. Call from your vacation spot to tell them you were thinking about them - yeah.. go on your own.. never take me along.. are you looking to be skinned alive?!!!
32. Remember your dreams and tell her about them - How come I am not in the picture..?
33. Calling each other cute names...like honey bunny, sweetheart, etc. - (behind her back) porkchop
34. Tell each other your most sacred secrets/fears. - She will blackmail you from now on.. dead meat..
35. Be Prince Charming to her parents. - Must be asking for financial assistance..
36. Brush her hair out of her face for her - You hand dirty or not.. don't touch me again..
37. Hang out with his/her friends. - don't disturb .. go find your own friends..
38. Go to church/pray/worship together. - One worship God the other worship devil.. how.. 39. Take her to see a romantic movie and remember the parts she liked - "Rose, You jump, I jump..." then you better jump yourself.. remember to leave the will to me..
40. Learn from each other and don't make the same mistake twice - Leopard never lost their spots..
41. Describe the joy you feel just to be with him/her - How?
42. Make sacrifices for each other - compulsory
43. Really love each other, or don't stay together - can tell before that.. now? too late la...
44. Let there never be a second during any given day that you aren't thinking about them, and make sure they know it - how about mortgage..?
45. Love yourself before you love anyone else - how about my mother in law?
46. Learn to say sweet things in foreign languages - wife not Einstein la...
47. Dedicate songs to them on the radio - might end up to the wrong girls.. dangerous..
48. Fall asleep on the phone with each other - why waste money.. just chit-chat rubbish..
49. Stand up for them when someone talks trash - better take her back home quickly
50. Never forget the kiss goodnight and always remember to say, "Sweet dreams" - zzzzzzzzzzz

THEREFORE the bottom line is "expect the un-expected" ... It is easy to fall in love but not easy to have lasting relationship and that is why I always admire couples who made it to their golden years...

Still Searching…

A diary or personal journal used to be just that…personal. We used to keep our diary in a locked drawer or hide it in between our clothes in the cupboard. Determined to keep it away from the prying eyes.

Since Bridget Jones and then the creation of blogs, suddenly everyone wants to share their most personal thoughts with the whole world but at the same time wish to remain anonymous to the people who know them personally. Why? Two ends of the extreme.

*sigh* So many questions….no answers…

Why Blog?

Both my blogs (tortoise-tales and bellesbubbles) have just crossed my personal milestone at the 200th hit. 3 months ago, I was clueless as to what a blog is. After googling on the internet, I found out that a blog is actually the 'fancy word' for a personal journal (Doogie Howser's style) except that it is kept or posted on the internet. Bloggers can write about anything from the mood swings of model wanna-be to up to the world news, politics and commentary for the whole world to see.

Not wanting to miss the fun, I jumped onto the bandwagon. Having a blog will provide me with ample practices to write a book on my pet tortoises. Like any proud parents telling endless stories of their cute babies, pet owners do exactly the same. Thus, tortoise-tales was conceived. There, I write about my tortoises (mis)adventures which hopefully one day it would be published into a book.

On the side, I also have some frustrations which was bottled up, especially when you have been breathing in smog for 60 days continuously every time some jungle in the neighbouring country goes on fire and being caught in a massive traffic jam for at least an hour every time it rains cats and dogs when you are on the verge of peeing in your pants. I do not want to let my frustration and negative feelings kill the lovely thoughts that I have for my tortoises. Therefore, trishasbubble was conceived.

Eventually, bellesbubbles has managed to vent out progressively my negative thoughts and feelings. Soon, I began writing on a happier note, moving away from the stressed environment that we lived in. Writing can be as addictive as it can be therapeutic. It only takes a couple of posts before I started obsessing over how many hits I got. Therefore, for a blog of 1 month old, having 200 hits is a big thing to me.

Now, the euphoria of setting up a blog and writing has gradually sizzled out. I took a back seat and searched for some sort of enlightenment over the weekend.

At the moment, I don't feel enlightened yet. My train of thoughts is making a pit-stop at the moment, waiting for something to make my adrenalin rush again. I hope to discover new reasons to blog again.

Have you experienced the same feelings that I have in my blogging adventure above?

ps: I guess bellesbubbles is experiencing some kind of depression, huh? Hopefully, it is not contagious.

The Plot - Operation Itchy Hands

Since the acknowledgement of my itch for bowling yesterday, 10 team mates have plotted against me behind my back.

This morning like any other morning, sleepy head dragged herself out of bed. I must admit that my early morning routine is so well choreographed that I don't even need to open my eyes to see where I am going. My senses will guide my way to the toilet in the dark. This choreography is designed to help prolong my sleep as long as possible even if by a few more minutes. Hey, every second counts when you are darn sleepy! So, technically I wake up sitting on the throne. =)

This morning a hitch occurred in the routine. I managed to touch base at the toilet in my sleep walking mode. When I closed the door behind me, I had no idea how it happened but it was fast. My eyes flipped open by the silent scream inside me. One of my fingers was caught between the door and the door frame. Ouch! Luckily, I didn't bang the door hard. Nonetheless, it was painful and a spot of blood clot developed under my finger nail. I have to keep pressing and massaging my injured finger to disperse the blood clot before my finger nail turns black because then it would mean bad news! A blackened finger nail is a sign that blood has stopped flowing into the nail. In other words, the nail is dead.

I only know of 2 ways to deal with a dead finger nail.

Option #1: Wait months for the new finger nail to grow and push the dead nail out of its nail bed. However, you will risk the nail growing unattached to its nail bed. No more pretty nails. Pain meter: Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Option #2: Get the doctor to be the bad guy and pull out the dead nail with a pair of pliers. The new nail will grow out sitting perfectly on its nail bed as if nothing has happened. Pain meter: Out of reading range.

Right now my finger nail is injured but still very much alive because the blood clot is still red in colour. I'm sure that it will heal soon as long as I keep pressing on it, encouraging the blood to un-clot itself.

Point to ponder: Of all 10 fingers, why only the ring finger on my right hand was injured?

The plotters were good because they made sure that even with an injured finger, it will not disrupt my daily life, such as typing on the computer keyboard. The only thing that I can't possibly do right now is bowl as bowling requires the participation of my thumb, index finger and ring finger. I guess my fingers are not as eager as I am to play bowling. They don't even want to go through the sport and tire themselves. So, they all plotted to have one of their members injured. Muahaaha!!!

Operation Itchy Hands Post Mortem:

Itchy hands: Unruly scratched.
Bowling plan: Scrapped.
Casualty: 1 team member injured. Now recuperating under massage therapy.

Operation: Successful.

Itchy Hands

A conversation with a new friend over lunch brought out my craving for the day.

“You know how much I wanted to check out IMAX in Times Square. So, yesterday I went to buy a ticket at 5:30pm for the 8:30pm show. Aiyo, then I had to walk aimlessly for 3 hours. Worse still… When I went back to the IMAX entrance when it’s show time, the ticket counter announced that the show was cancelled,” my friend relating her disappointment to me.

“Times Square? Er… Since you have been wandering in that building for 3 hours, do you know if there is any bowling centre?” I asked oblivious to her disappointed tone.


After reading a fellow blogger sharing about her bowling outing, I can’t help craving for bowling myself. Can I use the word craving for something that does not involve food?

Right now… I don’t know and don’t care because I kept having vision of myself rolling the bowling ball down the lane since reading that post 2 days ago. It felt like those pregnant women craving for certain food. It’s a pretty strong feeling of urgency to just be at a bowling alley and rolling that ball. Never mind if it goes down the drain. Accomplishing the act itself is satisfying enough.

Do I sound like someone with an unbalance mind (hormone)? Hey, who knows? I might be writing this post from my humble abode in Tanjung Rambutan (a home for mentally challenged patients).

Ps: Actually, I have another post to write in this blog but my absent mindedness strikes again. I forgot what I wanted to write about. =P

Holy Water

The zombie antidote started to wear off when I came back from work. Nap time!!!

I dreamt again. Yeah, even when I nap… I guess it’s something I do quite well. Haha!

This time I couldn’t remember much except that I was in my house but having trouble finding the bearings of my surrounding. The layout of the house started rotating like those 3D computer graphics. When I finally gathered my bearings, I saw that I was standing in my room. It was raining outside and the wind was blowing the rain water into the house. I quickly rushed to close all the windows in the house. The rain water was splashing on my face. I felt wet…

Guess what happened next?

My face felt so wet, it jolted me up from my nap. Holy, macaroni! It’s raining cats and dogs outside, I had left the windows in my room open (I enjoy the cool breeze in the evenings when I nap) and the wind was actually blowing rain water onto my face!!! Like in my dream, I rushed to close all windows but in addition to that I had to wipe the rain water off my books on the small table near the window.

Sometimes, I really amaze myself. Imagine getting a preview of the weather forecast in my dreams (special effects included). =P

Zombie Antidote

Nap time taken yesterday: 1/2 hour.
ZZZ time yesterday: 4 hours.
Battery level today: Super Low.

Had a late night yesterday catching up on our leisure time on a week day. Mr. Dragon, my other half, is a late bloomer entrepreneur. He's sprinting in the rat race trying to make up for the lost time. Thus, every second we spend together without falling asleep is priceless.

Watched "Dawn of the Dead" midnight movie on our very own mini Cineplex at home yesterday. Got a set of home theatre as our wedding gift. =) Long live my little brother in-law!

The movie was about the government experimenting with a kind of drug or virus for warfare purpose. Somehow it got out of hand & turned the residents of a small town into flesh eating zombies. The show was ok-la. Not too scary but it kept the suspense running. I think it's better than "The Grudge 2" because it managed to keep me awake (watching the show from the gap of my fingers covering my eyes) till the end of the show, which was way past my bed time. My favourite part of the show was how the still-human residents spent their time hiding (more like indulging) in a shopping mall from the zombies while trying to figure out a plan to escape. Ok, before this post turns into a movie review, I had better move on. Sorry, got side tracked.

This morning, I woke up a zombie myself. Had difficulty going through the usual morning routine of brushing teeth, washing face, dressing etc. Well, I got through brushing my teeth, alright but I think I had washed my face twice and I only realised that I was holding a bottle of talcum powder instead of my food container only on my way to the car. This was in addition to my mum's consistent reminder to take my food container with me to work. Geez.....

I realised that this zombie needed a quick kick on the butt before she embarrasses herself in front of her colleagues later. So, I quickly downed my last bottle of good’ol zombie antidote, a.k.a. Brand's chicken essence, for an immediate energy booster. Maybe it's really all in the mind but I did feel energetic the whole day today. Not a single yawn was sighted.

Note to self: To stock up on zombie antidotes.

Dreams and Déjà Vu (Part 2)

This afternoon cousin May called. We updated each other on our lives since we last talked on the phone 7 months ago. We only get to meet each other during family gatherings which take place twice a year; during Chinese New Year and Cheng Ming (sweep tomb’s day); as we live on different sides of the peninsular. Other times, we keep in touch via phone.

“By any chance you are expecting?” I asked, recalling my dream about the baby yesterday.

“Oh, yes! 3 months already,” May answered proudly.

Guess the stork is coming for a visit but to the other side of the peninsular.

Oh well, “Que sera, sera”. What will be, will be.

Dreams and Déjà Vu

I dream a lot when I sleep. Sometimes I dream of adventures Indiana Jones’ style. Exciting dreams which I tried to slip back into immediately after making the trip to the toilet in the middle of the night with my eyes closed; opening them slightly just to make sure my water fountain doesn’t miss the spot. I was eager to know where King Solomon’s treasure was hidden or whether I would get to kick some butts, Charlie Angel’s style.

My favourite dream when I was a little girl was being able to fly. Well, not really fly like superman but a little like hopping from building to building and wadding my hands and kicking my legs breast stroke swimming style. Yeah, more like swimming in the air.

I had also dreamt of meeting foreign life forms; i.e. aliens and traveling to space. I remember admiring the magnificent sight of twinkling stars in the darkness of the space. It was really an out of this world experience even if it was just a dream. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe I was kidnapped by the alien and my memory wasn’t erased completely. Who knows?


“Dreams are rudiments of the great state to come. We dream what is about to happen” ~ Bailey

I have so many dreams every night. At times when I experienced déjà vu, I wonder if I could have seen it in my dreams before. Just like when I dreamt of two of my girlfriends, Ms. Month and Ms. Visa, giving birth to a baby boy each 3 years ago. I was excited because Ms. Month was expecting and she told me that she was going for a scan that week to determine her baby’s gender. I called her the next morning and true enough, she was expecting a baby boy!

Three days after my dream, I met Ms. Visa by chance at the cafeteria in the building where I’m working. She was coincidently working in the same building. I haven’t kept in touch with her since we had graduated from high school 10 years ago. Imagine my surprise to find her tummy bulging under her maternity dress. She was 6 months pregnant then and was expecting a baby boy! Déjà vu or a coincident? You decide.

Yesterday, I dreamt of visiting an old friend, Ms. Porridge and her baby. We used to hang on the phone for hours, hogging the phone lines talking nonsense day and night for the first 3 years of secondary school. This was in addition to seeing each other everyday in the same class for those 3 years. There is a Chinese saying to describe this act. It’s called, ‘cooking porridge’, where the amount of time spent on the phone is enough to cook a pot of porridge. Bear in mind that the amount of time to cook a pot of porridge is way longer than rice. The porridge cooking stopped when we moved on to different classes in our senior years of secondary school.

Told Ms. Porridge about my dream today. She reminded me that I had my 2 previous dreams months before the babies were born but this time my dream happened after the fact. She had came back from her maternity leave a month already. She said it must be a good sign that the stork would be paying me a visit soon. I keep my fingers cross and hope this is a déjà vu in the making.

Song Bird

When I was a little girl, mum asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up.

“I want to be a doctor by day but I want to be a singer at night”, the little girl answered with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Why do you want to be a doctor and a singer? Won’t you be tired working day and night?” mum asked with a curios glance.

“I can make a lot of money being a doctor and I can also enjoy singing at night”, said the little girl.

At a tender age of 5 years old, I already knew that money makes the world go round and discovered my passion for singing. I remember pretending the holder of the skipping rope to be the microphone in which I had sang my hearts out to my Barbie dolls over tea.

25 years later, I grew up being neither a doctor nor a singer. I discovered pure science wasn’t really my forte but I still believe money makes the world a merry go round. The dollar sign $ has been my loyal working companion.

I still enjoy singing now though not on the stage in front of hundreds of audience. I had a shot to stardom when I was 12 years old. I was part of the school’s choir team, singing the alto section. We were the winner in the inter-school choir competition in the Klang Valley. It was fun singing in a harmonious group of alto, melody and soprano although it always raised the goose bumps on my skin whenever everyone sang at the same time in different octaves. After the competition, we went on the national TV to perform patriotic songs for national day celebration. So, in a way I did perform in front of audience.

I stopped performing professionally (ahem…publicly) as I entered high school when the invention of karaoke gave new meaning to singing. My friends and I began exchanging lyrics of our favourite songs. Many songs were in Mandarin and Cantonese dialects; which being non-Chinese educated; we had to translate painstakingly every syllable into familiar English sounds over repeated replaying, rewinding and pausing of the cassette in the good old radio. Then, we would memorized the translated phonetic lyrics until we know them like the back of our hands and perfected the Mandarin or Cantonese pronunciation just so that we could sing our favourite Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop songs at Song Bird Karaoke. Back then, Mandarin and Cantonese songs do not have ‘han yu pin yin’ (Chinese phonetic alphabet).

Many moons later and working, the karaoke craze has worn off on me. But I still enjoy singing. Today I caught myself singing Sonia’s ‘End of the World’ in the shower. The echoes of my voice in the shower cubicle sound great. It gives the same effect as singing on the microphone. I guess I could live with being a bathroom singer. =)

Tongue-Twister

Remember how much fun we had mastering tongue-twister in school so that we can out twist our friend's tongue?

Here are some good ones:

My favourite one:

She sells sea shells on a sea shore, so the shells she sells are sure sea shore shells

A longer one (try saying it in one breath!):

Betty Botter bought some butter, "But", she said "this butter's bitter, If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter! But a bit of better butter will make my batter better!". So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter! So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

And a well-known short English one:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

The hardest tongue-twister in the English language is supposedly:

'The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.' ~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Tongue-twisters are available in various language. Yesterday, I learnt my first French tongue-twister. It involved a lot of saliva spitting and phlegm gargling.

Sacha le chat sortant de chez ce cher Serge (Sasha the cat exits from dear Serge's place)


I thought that was fairly easy. So, I ask the teacher to give me some more challenging ones. 'Come on, bring it on!'

Trois foies gras d'oie frais, trois foies gras d'oie tres frais (I guess it has something to do with three very expensive goose livers)

Sache que ça se cache et cache que ça ne se sache (I'm getting blur...)

C'est si cher chez serge que ça se sait chez tout le monde (??? Lost in translation) =P


I find the one below the hardest. I am absolutely clueless as to what this whole sentence means. I can only guess that it has something to do with mowing tunas and tons of horseflies with an uncle.

Avec tonton, tondons ton thon et tondant ton thon, tondons donc ta tonne de taons

I have tried to say it but the only sound that came out was, "Avec ton ton, ton ton ton ton et ton ton ton ton, ton ton donc ta ton de ton". =(

Imagine the agony of sitting through a french dictation test with these tongue-twisters. C'est impossible!