Life has changed, especially during the last few years. Things have mellowed down rather drastically. Noticed too that this post took over a year from the last one to appear.

Excitement has taken a new meaning. It is all done that, seen that, tasted that and been there kind of feeling. Responsibility takes precedent over all things now.

I am officially settled down, I shall say.

I really believed that the Malaysian Government BN Government is gonna lower the price on the 1st of September 2008. As always, they lied. I remember some bloke in Perak even boasted that the fuel price is to be reviewed twice a month, all craps! I hate them politicians. Well, I supposed they are natural hate magnets when they go around shooting yesterday’s meal through their mouth.

Lame post this, yeah. But I felt better.

So told there was this bird, *born without legs. It learned how to fly while falling from its nest up high. It was pushed down by its parents. From then on it keeps flying.

It cannot land for fear it cannot take off again. It has neither friends nor mate.

If it is sleepy, it will fly up high and sleep while falling from the sky and wakes up before hitting land. It has no choice but to keep flying to survive.

One day it will land. It is the day when the bird dies.

*note: born not hatched as was originally told.

The “Sales” culture is so embedded in the life of Malaysians. If it is not on sales, don’t buy yet, wait.

“What you do not have now is what you do not need” holds water here. Most shopping centres and complexes, huge ones, are quite deserted nowadays if there is no promotion of sort to draw em crowd in.

So I went and bought meself three pairs of trousers and two pairs of socks. All on 30% discount. Smart move eh!

Why buy so many freaking pairs for? My waistline is playing havoc on me. Sometimes big, sometimes small, really. Got some wide range of sizes, these trousers of mine. Next I ought to get a bigger wardrobe to stuff em in.

So short are my legs that all three pairs of trousers need to be altered. “We do not have alteration services during promotion sales” says the saleslady.

Very well, I will buy a pair of scissors from the stationeries dept and cut em myself. I just need you to fold em up and sew them, can? Cannot!

Ended up paying RM8 each pair for alteration at one rundown tailor shop near my place. That is 40% of the purchase price of RM19.90 a pair. So much for the 30% discount smart move purchase.

Heck!

There is this lady who came near my table asking for permission to take some empty chairs over to her table.

Lady, pointing to the empty chair: Ada orang ke? (“Is there someone?” *in Bahasa Malaysia)

Me: Lei kong mat chat? (“What are you talking about?” *in rude Cantonese)

In Malaysia, most Malays cannot understand the Chinese language. However, most other races can understand and speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia. The Malays are often very reluctant to speak in other languages than theirs. Even if they speak in the English Language, they will have accent, with their own flow and generous fare of lah’s. I am not in the mood to make her understand, not this time.

The lady was taken back slightly and looks quite surprise at my response. Somehow she summed up her courage to ask again.

Lady, pointing to the empty chair: Ada orang ke? (this time much louder)

Me: Ni Mah Ter. Ni suo seh meh? (Some vulgarities and “What are you talking about?” *in Mandarin)

She scoffs and walks off.

Moral of the story? There is none actually, just fed up.

It is boring having to eat alone. Looked around, there are couples, families, friends, all eating together and chatting happily. My mood sank lower. Well, fine, I just have to finish my meal quickly and get out of there.

Somehow someone must have noticed my new haircut that day. A nice pretty little lady walks toward me and she looks happy to see me. I am sure she is smiling at me because I have my back to the wall and there is no one behind me.

My heart beats faster as she comes closer. Uninvited and in a most gracious way she sat beside me.

She blabbered, “Hello Sir, I am from this @#$@$ foundation and I am collecting some donation. Please donate Sir, any amount will do”.

What the @#$%&^!!

Why me? Why don’t you go get some donations from some big companies or something. Like Petronas or Maybank for example, heard they make billions every year. You can go and collect a few millions from them. I am sure they can spare some millions.

Why me? Don’t you know the general public has barely enough to spend with all the inflation and rising fuel prices? The banks are not paying a lot of interest on our savings either.

Why me? I just don’t believe your foundation even existed and I don’t believe my few ringgit gonna make any difference to it.

Go get lost! And I don’t believe you are doing this voluntarily without pay.

If you put as much effort into writing a blog so much so that it will make you a decent income to enable you to forgo your regular job, you would be a doctor in real life with the same amount of effort put into your studies. Those who are still skeptical can proof me wrong by starting a blog now and talk again after six months.

Well, I did not put enough effort into my studies previously and I am not a doctor now. So might as well put some effort into what I am doing right now and do not make the same blunder. Yeah, right. If I can do it now, I am already a doctor. Spoiler, yes I am.

Again, it boils down to what exactly one want to do with a blog. Find a niche, they say. Flaming the government is popular although not safe looking by the trend of bloggers getting arrested ever so frequently. Food blogs are a dime a dozen. What you taste and puke may taste just right for me. Likewise you may eat what I puke. Food criticisms are so subjective.

I will leave it at that for now.

Movies and unrealistic advertisement back then depicts smokers as idol and cool dude. I still remember the advertisement where the bald eagle of America flying over the outback plains. Two cowboys then emerges and brew coffee on a bonfire while smoking. Smoking represents the free spirit, peace and style. That is the power of advertisements.

I stopped smoking more than two years ago. Smoking is making my teeth yellow and I reek of smoke smell all the time. Food is tasteless and I have to take too many breaks to smoke. I made a resolution and I stopped cold turkey.

There is a price to pay, however. Food taste nicer now. Food makes me grow fat. Fat people sweat more. Instead of smoke smell, now I smell of sweat.

I am having a new resolution. I am going on a diet.