Hair and Harry

Dang! I forgot to wash my hair again. I woke up this morning to a greasy hairdo not unlike Professor Snape of Harry Potter. Writing of Harry Potter... I am so excited about the next installment of HP. I was so wrapped up in the books that I feel so intense about Harry that after a while, Harry became a beautiful name to me... eeks! Check out the stories written as a spinoff from JK Rowling's characters in the following website:
http://www.sugarquill.net/
Here you can read about what was hinted in the actual books itself.. like the fluff between Ron and Hermione, Severus Snape's past, a glimpse into the lives of Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, & Prongs, Voldemort's beginnings.... stuff like that.. some of the writers are good!

Back to my itchy hair... I really must remember to clean them every alternate days. I remembered during a time when the hair was to my waist.. that was roundabout when I was 18, that i only washed it once a week. That was bad! I have oftened wondered now why my so thick 'Indian' hair diminished to "Chinese" hair after that looonnng hair and not much washing episode of my life. Seriously, I had hair that if I tied 2 pigtails, the ONE pigtail looked like my other friend's ponytail. Gone were those days. Now I just get my hair permed for the fake more volume look.

Marido was upset when I dyed my hair once.. and that was when I only dyed it mahogany.. can you imagine if I had gone blonde? So now, I just keep it black or dark brown.. whichever you call the colour. You know, I wish that I could dye Marido's hair to darker shade. But he thinks I'm crazy... but hey.. he streaked his hair blonde once and I was upset. I don't like blonde... dark is good... dark brooding type... nothing which Marido is. Hey! But no one's complaining.. ;)

Hijos

Hijos mean "children" in Spanish.

I think about what it means to have kids. I think about it especially since one of my dear friends has just given birth to a giraffe (kidding.. the baby is a bit on a long side.. thus the nick given). Also because 3 of my oldest friends are also currently pregnant with their 2nd child. Goodness! I am surrounded by these great women who have braved childbearing once and are determined to have a go at it again.

So what does it mean for me to have kids? Sure, people have this wonderful notion of having kids because they like children (but these kids become adults and leave you!). My grandparents used to say that they wanted kids so that the kids can take care of them when they are older. If one kid gives RM100 a month, then surely 10 kids will provide RM1000. Alas, that did not happen. In fact, they are living an almost hand to mouth existence in a large bungalow in Labis, a small town way far south. But they are my deceased mother's parents and I have hardly any contact with them except for the annual trip home during Chinese New Year.

I see all the parents beaming when they talk about their children. It is as though the children represent their achievement in life. The kids doing things that the parents were never able to. The kids accomplishing dreams that parents were only able to fantasise in the snatches of time they had when they were not too busy with trying to raise them and earning their keep in this world.

I also see parents 'give up' their lives so that their kids can have a better life. Denying themselves new clothes so that they can clothe their children. Feeding their young with salmon and cod when they themselves ate ikan kembung or selar. Buying a bungalow so that the kids can run around when growing up when they themselves have lived in a small apartment and never suffered for it. Rushing around in the night after working all day in a fulltime job to ferry the kids from one tuition to another so that the kids will 'get a better education'.

I see all this and feel so weary. Yet, there was one colleague at work- Angie- who told me that all the weariness of work and stress and disasters of life seem to melt away when your child opens his arms and calls you his term of endearment for you. Another saw her kid like a wonderful plaything only that the plaything is alive and will follow everything you say and do - a "minime". 2 more in their forties (they could not bear children) emphasised that the children whom they adopted were now like precious gems. One even mentioned that even if her husband left her, she will not care as long as she gets to have custody of the child. Yet another tells me that it is in the design of nature to have children.

I guess I will never truly understand what all this means until I have my own child. And perhaps the decision then to have children is not from the fact that I SHOULD or WANT to but because I CAN. And because I can learn and savour in my journey on earth before I leave it.. the myriads of feelings and the adventure that God has in plan for me.

ScotchGarding my stuff

3M Malaysia is sometimes I believe quite ridiculous in packaging their product. Here I was trying to clean my knapsack with Fabric Cleaner and lo and behold, the instructions to cleaning was stickered over by a piece of white instructions about how dangerous the thing was if put into the fire.. boleh meletup dan lain lain. Granted that it was a must by the Kementerian Kesihatan but do they have to stick it on top of the instructions? So the bodohnya!! What is worse is that I could not peel it off. Try as I may, but no amount of peeling worked. In the end, I took a knife and sliced the sticker into many 'checks' and scraped off the stupid sticker. Really must complain to Ai Kee from 3M.. her copackers must really botched up the job.. either that or she did not give clear instructions... duh!

Sigh.. in the end, I just washed the bag in water and soap.. hopefully it is not damaged. But when it dries, i will definitely Scotchgard it. Wonderful product the protector is.. keeps fabrics from being dirtied and also from being wet. Great on sport shoes too ;) Here's to my travelling spree!

Benny's dance gals

We just had a "Shall We Dance" dinner and dance thingy by Benny School of Dance PJ at the Royal Selangor Club in the heart of KL. The RSC is such an old place and it started in 1884 and the 1st president of Mr Rodger - some chap from England then.

Richard came to pick us up.. he is not featured in the pix but the man (he badly needs a hair cut.. his hair straggly and touching his shoulders - to think that he used to be a hairdresser- I would dread for him to be mine) is the cute teddy bear of a guy who owns a laundromat. All the way, Sieg moaned that she was not dressed up enough and not pretty either. I looked at her and was so amazed by her smooth porcelain skin, silky long straight hair, hazel eyes and her row of teeth held by Damon 3 braces (it actually made her look so adorable)... and her lovely greeny silvery dress.. and loopy earrings. It was quintessentially her. In fact, she is so lovely that everyone can't keep their hands off her.

Even Benny, our dance instructor would put his fingers under her chin when he is talking to her. Or pat her hair. She always cringes when he does that. Hey, the man is like 70 years old, ok? See the pix! But he is still strutting his booty or what is left of it after shrinking for the last 30 years.

The dancers (from the school in KL) dominated the hall. The school from PJ only occupied one table out of 15. What was most fascinating was that there were so many beautiful girls and not so many handsome man... in fact, there were hardly any men. The ratio 4:1.. poor guys have to keep on dancing with so many ladies to keep them happy.

Sieg and I were critically checking out the women's clothes. Our scorn of their attire was pure sour grapes. What was worse.. they danced divinely... prancing around during Rock and Roll, swaying their hips to the merengue, looking so seductive in the salsa, gliding like swans in the waltz... sigh... twas a bad case of sour grapes.

We finally took to the dance floor after much persuasion from the guys. Benny twirled me on the floor.. made me look darn professional. Peter and Alan were also very helpful in making me look graceful. Sieg was stuck with Richard the whole time and looked like they were engaging in other things rather than dancing. They were dripping with sweat by the time they were finished. I did not even glisten.

Poor Marido went for Cell Group and had to tell them that I was dancing away with other men. The rest of the group were not impressed. Har har. To think that I am gonna continue with this dance thing. Hey.. it's not as if there were any wildly stunning Spanish men there... BEG (big evil grin)
That all happened on 17th June 2005.

My sister's frog painting

I so jealous.. my sister can paint...!! And I cannot.. Oh well, at least someone is artistic in the family. I love the Australian Tree Frogs.. aren't they cute!

Marido...

Sitting by the computer and writing this blog with Marido moving around in the background doing his work and answering his work calls is very reassuring. This is so when you have a man who is always going away. He is going away again tonight on the midnight flight.

How does it feel like to have a man who is constantly not there for the days of the week? Actually, it's kind of nice. I get to do all the stuff I want without having to worry about him. And I have been so used to be single that it's actually great. You know, I still have problems sleeping when he is in the same bed. Eekss.. there is a body next to me!!

But I love the weekends when he is around. We get all set to go out and enjoy the world.. lovely things like a long breakfast at La Bodega (absolutely fav place of mine..love their soup.. did I mention that I am crazy about soup.. remind me to ask Spot for the great kiam chye soup slurping session), a walk in the Astaka park where the footballers will stare at us cos we so the weird looking, looking into pet shops and cooing at the little perros and gatos, shopping for stuff or just looking at the windows in awe of the beautiful things that man have created and the most delightful highlight of our weekend is sitting on our pale yellow couch by the window and chatting about how our lives have gone by the whole week.. Que bonito!

She jumped ship and jumped back in

I can't believe it.. my ex-boss (Little Momma) is actually going to retract her resignation! All for the love of money.. ok ok.. maybe not entirely true but hey! Hen (I shall call him that but he is actually the man in total charge of Consumer division) did counter offer. She was already so highly paid. GBM (grp Biz Mger) better paid than the NSM(Nat Sales Mger)??? Shockers! I wonder what she is getting now??

However I think that what really was the pull to stay was that she will be out of Big Momma's clutches (BM being the nasty one I mentioned in my earlier "ex-boss" blog). Little momma will now head a new department called Business Development and she is absorbed into the group instead of just Consumer. She will be in the loop about which company should be acquired, which company they should pitch to in terms of distribution offering.. and etc. She asked me if I wanted to join her.. is she serious???

Another chap resigned recently to join a greater FMCG company but mana tau.. after discussions, he was "coerced" into staying back. He had not made up his mind to stay or leave but his decision to stay back was simply announced during a conference when he was not there to defend himself. The other company got wind of it and called him to confirmed. The poor chap was so bewildered (cos he did not know that he 'had already decided' in a meeting that he never attended) that he was too shocked to respond in a professional manner and pissed off the other company. Ok Ok.. so he is very young in the working world. Sigh! What a mess, right?

Hope it's for the best for him... as for me..I sometimes wish I was still working.. all the adrenalin rush for the deadlines, the chats with principals, brainstorming for sales, projects to organise and spending and spending company money, travelling to branches and meeting up with the lovely and hospitable branch people... all these are so exhilarating. But I think about the IDOG.. damaged goods beyond my control, warehouse sales which I so so dread....working like a dog on weekends, at the beck and call of the Momma and other bigger shots, late nights, pimple laden face, red eyes, itchy skin, fickle minded people, product recalls (oh goodness.. you don't want to deal with product recall.. you will never recover) .... those bits I don't miss.

But I am leading a different life these days.. but more of that later.

Sian

Thought that I have more time to write the blog now that I am not working but neh! It's not true. By the time I get back from all my activities at night.. I just want to curl up with a good book and my assorted range of herbal teas. Will try to share what the heck I do all day for weeks. Hmmm.. sometimes I wonder..

1st watercolour painting in 15 years

This is so ugly but it's the first piece in my art class today at Kolej Intec in Old Klang Road. The teacher is Cikgu Afni and she is younger than I am.. abothen?? Getting older leh! Anyway, I am on this bet with Marido that I can and will paint just as good as that acrylic painting of "birds of paradise" on my wall which is a pressie from my in-laws. It was painted by Anita Siedlecki, an up and coming artist in Australia who happens to be Marido's friend's wife and my FIL services her swimming pool. They had to barter trade pool services for that painting. Have a look at the painting at the link below
http://art-by-design.com.au/Frames/Aboutuspage.html

2nd painting - improvement

This one of the tulips is much better, don't you think? I so the kiasu.. will be painting loads these few weeks.