28 posts tagged “family”

My family was in a state of quiet anxiety last weekend, because Bush had been missing since Friday. None more so than my mother, funnily enough, who originally had been rather reluctant to allow a cat as a pet, what more into the house. Like it or not, I kept receiving Bush!Watch updates from my mother: no-show for brekkie, lunch or dinner.

Told myself not to worry. Being an almost-full grown adult male cat, it could just be Bush's tomcat instincts to the fore. Or as Maybelle puts it: "HE KNOWS ABOUT HIS IMPENDING CASTRATION." I mean, he could be having one last wild stag weekend, who knows what goes on in the world of tomcats. But in any case, the fact remained he was gone throughout the weekend and everyone's wibbling. Everyone was straining for the tinkling of his bell but no dice.

But today -- today I'm operating on a night of interrupted sleep, because at about 4am, my brother comes in, with Bush in his arms. He and Carina were pulling an all-nighter, when the cat meowed from outside his window. The funny thing was, my mother and I woke up in less than a snap, taking turns to coo at the thing. ^^; The maid already fed him once at 3am, but he got another helping again at 4.30, and my mum let him in again after that, just to keep him in the house. And he spent the rest of the morning sleeping with me. My mum is now spinning ideas of keeping a big cage in the toilet for him to be in at nights, haha.

On his part, Bush seemed to miss us very very much. I wasn't awake enough to notice, but apparently he was very freaked out in the beginning. I guess the big bad world was too big and bad for him. In any case, the insides of my arm is now tenderized from all the kneading he did (he pretty much kneaded any body part he could reach. ^_^). Sure, it's a sign of affection, but, owowowowow.

A summary of last night:

My brother, the very vain creature that he is, oftentimes reminds me much of a modern-day Narcissus. In other words, PERASAN NAK MAMPUS.

So anyway, he comes out of the room, his gf in tow, exclaiming, "You know, sometimes (not always, but sometimes), I look at the mirror, and I just think, 'wow, I'm so pretty.'"

Me, at my usual spot at the pc, can only go, "Uhuh." His long-suffering gf just rolled his eyes.

"For serious! I mean, wow man!"

Now, this is no new thing. Frankly, I'm not surprised, because I have my moments too. (Yes, we are related by our shared mutual love for ourselves). XD But it's best not to layan that sort of thinking, especially when the fellow is going on and on and on and on.

Still not facing him, I simply put up my hands up, thumbs and forefingers up like so: VV

"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... WHATEVER."

Hey, I got his gf to ROFL.

YET! The moment I need to be somewhere (business OR pleasure) outside of Klang Valley, they immediately have no objections. None. Just a "be careful! Don't forget to call (if you can!)." It's like, as long as it's in some armpit of the world, NO OBJECTIONS. But if it's reachable with a 30-mins drive, OH NO YOU WON'T YOUNG LADY. It boggles my mind. Observe:

[me at the photo lab, back in uni during the semester when I took my Photojournalism course] "Hey, it's already 7pm, where are you?" "Hey, it's almost 10pm, are you heading back?"

[later the same year] "Oh, you want to go on a holiday in London with Haz?" ("yeah, I dunno, maybe... was just thinking about it...") "Sure! That sounds like a great idea. You go on ahead!"

[in my uni years] ("Ma, I think I ought to live on my own. I mean, the uni's in Shah Alam, and it'd be more convenient if I live closer to the uni...") "NO WAY JOSE. We can put you up! And it's only a 30-mins drive each way!"

[uni still] ("My class is planning to go to Pulau Pangkor...") "Oh you should totally go."

[generally] "Hey, aren't you coming back for dinner?"

"Ah sure, Bali's lovely. Have fun!"

Seriously.

In other news, I know a lot of people's mantra would be TGIF, but my own personal one is WTFITA?!?! Or, in proper-speak, WTF IT'S THURSDAY ALREADY?!?!

Camnilah... aku buat list jer, yek?

Ok, Nina, apakah perkembangan terkini hidup kau?

- Pagi tadi aku bawa Bush pergi klinik. Mulanya nak kembirikan si mamat tu, tapi rupanya kena vaccinate & deworming dulu. Bush ni, memang pantang tengok benda lain, mula nervous semacam. Btw, anak kucing kuning yang adik aku selamatkan dulu dari longkang (yes, namanya masih lagi Drain) sekarang tinggal dengan kawan dia. Bush tak boleh nak dekat langsung. At least aku dah tahu umur Bush: 6+ bulan. Huyooo, maksudnya bila kita jumpa dia memang baru dilahirkan.... kecian.... Anyway, habis aku kena cakar dengan kucing bertuah tu. Who is btw, semakin hari semakin manja, pantang nampak family balik rumah. EEEEEEEE rindu... nak balik....

- Khamis ni, sebab dapat tiket free, akan ku tonton 'Tunku: The Musical' dengan ibuku. Tunku dikatakan tak muncul dalam pementasan ini... apa, dia ni macam Nabi ke, takleh tunjuk muka?

- Aku naik gila, beli Skin Food products by the dozen. Korang macam tak tahu je, tahap perasan lawa aku ni. Dah almost two months, aku buat facial pakai bahan tempatan - nak support industri tempatan satu, lagi satu murah hihihi. Tetapi AG2000 tu buat kulit aku break out.... kwaaaa, tak rela. Aku makan lagi produk gamat Healin yang lain, not bad juga, tetapi quite pricey juga. Just so aku boleh makan pati gamat yang payau tu. MMMMBESTNYA.

- Berbalik kepada Skin Food, mari aku senaraikan apa yang aku ada. Sumpah lillah takkan buat perbelanjaan sebesar ini lagi. (...well, Benetint nak ku beli tapi itu boleh KIV) Untuk kosmetik/skincare. At one go. (Kereta nak tak nak duit akan tetap terlayang -- wtf wtf bulan Nov road tax kena renewwww). Sorry ya, tak boleh nak link... English-language website dia asyik down (well, you can try here), the Malaysian one still under construction (sampai bila? apahal sama cepat dengan MBSJ? :P), dan sorreh, aku fail Korean & Thai. :D

• Honey & Black Tea milk cleanser
• Honey & Black Tea bubble foam cleanser
• Potiron Au Lait Toner
• Black Bean Essence
• Peach Sake Pore Serum
• Potiron Au Lait Emulsion
• Black Bean Moisture Mist
  
• Black Sugar Mask
• Black Sesame Hot Mask
• Papaya Yoghurt Mask
• Watermelon Mask
• Nail colours (Base + Topcoat + many many colours)
  

heh. ^^. Kulit aku combi-dry, jadi pore serum for the t-zone and everything else for my dry skin. Korang tengoklah banyak mana... sampai salesgirl ingat aku and I managed to fill up the loyalty card to the max -- moisturizer ada lagi so aku angkut nail colour sampai 4. I'm wearing now a shade I call Sailormoon Pink. :D

- Apa lagi yang baru ya... banyak lagi, tetapi sampai di sini jer ler. Malas. But one more thing, semalam aku sakit hati dapat forwarded email... sebab it's that chain mail lapuk yang Microsoft-AOL nak merge and tracking emails and rewarding them. Lapuk, sebab it's almost 10 years old! And yet, sebab ada joker yang tambah message before the body yang kononnya diorang dapat duit, habis inbox aku. AAAA nak aku gigit je... benda ni kira legendary, among the common urban legends netizens should know, and yet.

My brother isn't allowed to name things again. EVER. Also, Bush is a very spoiled kitty. Trust me, these two things are related.

The story is this: my brother rescued a ginger kitty on Saturday. I needn't tell you from where as the name my brother bestowed on him says it all: Drain. He's a wee little thing, with a gimpy right hindleg and a tail bent twice at the tip. In the end however, we gave him away, as Bush wouldn't go near him, hissing and clawing. Bush is never the most psychologically well-adjusted cat at the best of times, still a nervous thing, though somewhat affectionate with us his family, so in the Bush won and this house is still his.

Financially, I'm still under some very unlucky stars, but I won't dwell on that as there are other things in my life that deserves more joyful contemplation:

1. It's hard maintaining Bush's mellow mood if we carry him inside. Him being an outside cat meant that if we bring him indoors, he'd be too excitable to stay mellow. But today was a drowsy lazy afternoon, and I plopped him next to me on my bed and we had a nap together. It was awesome.
2. Double-faking friends is very exhausting but also very enjoyable. Making Fabian organize a surprise party while we're actually doing something to surprise him requires a rather epic entry in itself.
   
3. E-royce' chocolates are teh awesome. I was naughty and had some of the champagne liquor ones, but there was hardly anything to be intoxicated by and oh... the texture. I had dreams of cocoa so much I had to go down and make myself a mug of rich hot chocolate. Perhaps, if I can afford it next month.... ^_^
4. Incidentally, oh what comedy of horrors when you find yourself having to speak broken Japanese to a Japanese operator with no fluent English. It's right laugh riot I tell you, what more when your senior was sitting across you. Aaaaaaaa. ^^;
   

As one Selina Kyle said to a certain wild-haired millionaire in 'Batman Returns'.

Haz either had a slight touch of clairvoyance or she jinxed me last Friday: following her statement that Middle Eastern guys are crazy over me, my Arab nephews (and niece) were excitably all over me when I went to visit them. I remain bemused that children like me -- not that I don't like them, but it's a weird feeling all the same. My mojo won't work once they've passed puberty though, which really says a lot about my mental age. XD

Mostly they were amused by my name. My real name translates (partially) as "ship". Which reminds me, if I ever pop up and make yet another online handle and it's "shiplights"... you heard it hear first. Anyway,you gotta admit, it's pretty cute that one of them drew me in a ship. I burst out laughing because I can appreciate that kind of perspective. "Safina safina!" was the refrain of the early part of the evening. ^^;

That's the one bright spot, I'm afraid. As for the rest of my life, a lot of my troubles this month is money-related. The best kind, don't you think? :P

Thing the one: My office found my dad's Malay Dilemma!!!!!!!!!! I am so beyond happy no exclamation marks are enough. I shall bake Vani apple pie, no lie. ^______^

Thing the two: I believe I have turned Lil into a Benefit girl. OOPS?

Thing the third: A little outdated, this observation of mine, but I have to say, one must give 'props' to the revamped Black Eyed Peas (and thus, of course, Fergie) for their unwavering commitment to literacy. I mean, what with their nursery rhymes (my humps... my humps my humps my humps) and unrelenting desire to SPELL EVERYTHING. C'mon everybody, how do we spell 'glamorous'?

Thing the fourth: Regardless with my problems with Neil Gaiman's actual fiction-writing, he and his daughter are bloody adorable bloggers.

Thing the fifth: You know lolcat is everywhere when Chaucer's doing it. <.<

Also I went to a candlelight vigil the other evening. Was the only person wearing a baju kurung, though certainly not the only Malay-Muslim (haha, I be representin' mah peeps). Am a little embarrassed when this lady, another first-timer, gushed about how brave we were etc. And I'm like.... "I'm just holding a candle man, it's not like I'm part of a human wall facing the anti-riot police."

Oh la, public disclosure! NINJA GUERILLA ATTAAAAAKU~~! *scurries off into hidey-hole*

(this is the face of your future generation, ladies and gents.)

What I am reading now: Arab agenda: Fragmenting or unifying?

You know, it's not even a fun game anymore when one can crack open the foreign news section of NST, and tell, with utter certainty, all the UK-centred bullshit stories come from the Daily Mail. The pages aren't worth wrapping nasi lemak in.

Waaa, my office lost my Malay Dilemma! I am now v. sad. First edition and it was my dad's!!

A conversation with mum:-

Mum: Hey, are you still at gym?
Me: Well, I'm about done, I'm about to head to the LRT.
Mum: Ohh... Do you need me to fetch you?
Me: Nah, it's okay.
Mum: You sure? It can be quite dark and all.
Me: Well... if you want to, I'll be there in about 5 minutes.
Mum: Oh, you're on the LRT already?
Me: About to, yeah.
Mum: Well, I still want to watch Raja Nazrin's [the Crown Prince of Perak] wedding.
Me: .... *mental facepalm* Well, in that case I'll walk.
Mum: Ok, be careful ya!
Me: ... Uhuh.

Hmmm, oh gosh, I may be able to go home on time today.

Shallow news first: I'm rocking the bob, now that Maybs got me a hair straightener. Bye bye undecided-swing-vote-sorta-wavyish hair! I got chatted up by a personal trainer. Win? Maybe. Bought a facial steamer. And promptly mauled my nose trying to get rid of the damned blackheads. Mmmcoffee. Does that need explaining? Bush is fat little kitty. But I fondly call him Fishbreath, for obvious reasons. He keeps wanting to play by pouncing on my hands, but why does he hiss so when I take up his offer? Crazy cat. Job offers! But nothing concrete. Bleah. Dramallamas are damned useless things. But in the working world, it's everywhere. Might as well enjoy the ride. Oh, office politics. It's the sort of situation that calls for the abuse of hard liquor, if one is so inclined, ehem. Have I mentioned how awesome my hair is lately? Yeah, I did.

Went for a job interview. Rather heavy duty position, God knows if I'll get it, what more if I can cope with it. In any case, had the most singular experience of having the interview with my mother next to me. How positively Victorian. What happened was my mother dropped me off (now that we're sharing a car), and was content to stay and wait in the car, while I go have my interview. But the fellow I was supposed to meet was late, and we're both invited to wait inside. Looong minutes later, he arrived, and the next thing I know, I'm being interviewed with my mother next to me like I'm an 18-year-old virgin that needs chaperoning. Scenarios like these only happen in dreams, people! When one is sleeping off a massive heartburn!

New book on May 13 1969 out huh? Based on recently declassified documents, eh? Should be interesting. Oh hey, should give my old boss a quick heads up about that. *goes off to do so*

BACK.

And how about more Malaysiana trivia? Courtesy of Time magazine, in a correspondent report dated 20 Sept 1963. Geeky fun times: going through Time's online archive. They go back to the 1920s y'all. Go crazy.

When pretty Catherine Loh was elected Miss Malaysia last April, the
pert beauty from the oil-rich British protectorate of Brunei fully
expected to preside over the independence ceremonies of the newly
formed Federation of Malaysia. But that was before Brunei withdrew
from the planned federation in a state of pique, leaving Malaya,
Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo to go it alone. Brunei's defection
not only left this week's joyous celebrations without a beauty queen
but it also took Malaysia out of the running for the Miss Universe
contest.

Your geeky linkage of the day: The Economic History of Malaysia. Also, yes, here be the book I'm working on: The Chronicle of Malaysia.