libromanic.com » 2008 » March

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Sarah — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:00:27 +0000

The Malaysian F1 race is over. And no rain?? What a disappointment. Raikkonen won, and Massa spun off. Nothing much to say, right? Raikkonen definitely stamped his authority on this race.

I bought my most expensive pair of shoes EVER. I’m really not a clothes / shoes / fashion kind of person. When I see people around me going crazy over sales, I think, ‘What’s the big deal?’. In fact, I even prefer non-sale periods, when there aren’t so many people in the store and clothes are hung up nicely instead of dumped in those big square thingies, where you have to dig around to find nice clothes. Anyway, I walked into Aldo the other day because they had sales up to 70%! And I fell in love with a pair of shoes…and bought them. Don’t even ask how much it cost.

Isn’t the heel gorgeous? I just love the heels of Aldo shoes, they’re so slim and elegant! After buying it, I got the urge a few days later to check on their website how much they cost in the US. Boy, that was a mistake. Can you believe, Malaysia marks up the price by about RM200+! So, even with my shoe on 50% discount, it was almost the same as full price over there. *sigh*. And of course, they only ship within the US. So, Shu, expect a few more boxes to be delivered to you before you come back! I haven’t worn it yet, the few times I went out, it was raining, and I didn’t want to get my nice new shoes wet. Heheh…

I went for an art exhibit by Chang Fee Ming on Saturday. It was my first art exhibit ever, and I kept on thinking of that episode in Boy Meets World, where Topanga asks Cory what he thinks of an art piece. He says that he thinks it’s aliens coming to attack earth, and she looks at him in disbelief, and says that it’s God protecting the people.

Anyway, a friend of mine invited me to go, and she said that he was the most highly paid artist in Malaysia, where a painting could go for up to RM60,000. I’m always looking for new things to try, so I went. It was a really interesting experience, I felt so grown-up! He is really good, but a lot of his paintings don’t appeal to me. They’re just too bright. When you see the paintings in real life, one of the things that strike you is how textured his paintings look. There are some where the hair actually looks like it’s coming out of the painting!

Just look at this one. I can actually imagine the texture of the rough woolen gloves, and how itchy it would feel. Amazing, isn’t it? I only wish I could paint like that.

Alright, that’s enough for now. Signing off…till next time!

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The Green-Eyed Monster Rears It’s Ugly Head

Sarah — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:43:13 +0000

I was having a nice, normal Friday at work, just passing the time till I could slam my notebook shut and yell, “It’s the weekend!”, when I got a call from one of my closest friends. She works in Singapore, but comes back on weekends. We were chatting and then she told me that she just got her bonus of FOUR months pay. Four months bonus, in Singaporean dollars!

Wow, it was so hard to feel happy for her, but at the same time lamenting that my bonus is such a pitiful amount compared to hers. We’re planning a trip to Egypt at the end of the year, and she said that she’s covered now. I’m going to need to save, and save, and save!

I know that working in this company, it’s unlikely my pay is ever going to jump up by leaps and bounds. Most unfortunately, you only seem to get a really big raise when you leave to join a new company. I’m happy here and don’t want to leave, but it also means that my pay won’t be jumping up anytime soon.

The only other option is to find another source of income. Again, due to the recent election results and the recession in the US, it’s resulted in all my unit trusts taking a nose dive. More bad news. I’ve been selling things on eBay for the past couple of months, which results in a hundred dollars or so extra each month (that might not sound like a lot, but it’s enough for…two new books a month? Or 9 movies a month?). Although that seems to get pumped back into my eBay purchases quite often.

I just discovered that eBay Malaysia, unlike it’s international counterparts, doesn’t charge you a listing fee or a final value fee. This is probably due to the fact that it’s still not as popular as it’s competitor, Lelong, and it’s user database is still not that large. However, if I’m not charged anything for putting items up for sale, I might as well put all sorts of things up there in the hope that it MIGHT get sold, right? I’m not losing anything, after all!

Yes, I know that money is not the most important thing in the world, and I should be thankful that I am blessed with so much already. These are all things that I should remember all the time, but sometimes…just sometimes…’The Green-Eyed Monster Does Rear It’s Ugly Head!’

Of rainy days and F1 races

Sarah — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:31:54 +0000

It just finished raining. Again. It seems like it’s been raining almost every day lately. That’s what happens when you are in Malaysia during the monsoon season, isn’t it? Rain always makes me feel like settling in with a good book and a hot drink, which practically never happens. At work, I usually get the initiative to walk to the pantry to put the kettle on, but then I walk back to my seat, and forget about the boiling water. By the time I remember, the water’s not hot anymore. At home, I usually can’t be bothered at all, and end up taking a nap instead.

I hope it does rain during the Malaysian F1 race this weekend. Rainy races are always much more fun. And can you imagine a rainy day with no traction control? Accidents galore! It seems rather macabre of me to hope that, but I’m sure F1 fans have to admit that I’m right, and it makes for a much more interesting race. (PS: do you know, I had no idea how to spell macabre and I had to look it up in Dictionary.com! I came up with macarbe, macarb, and they all resulted in no results. It’s amazing, the number of words a person may know the meaning to, but not how to spell it.)

Anyway, back to F1. Australia’s race was quite fun, albeit I only watched about 2/3rds of it. For some reason, I thought it started at 4.30pm Australian time, when it actually started much earlier. Favourite moments of the race would have to be Timo Glock’s flying car, Raikkonen’s numerous mistakes in trying to overtake various people, and Barichello’s pit stop debacle. Poor pit crew! Although it wasn’t Barichello’s fault, the lollypop guy gave him the All OK sign, and Barichello drove off, not knowing that the fuel pump was still attached to his car. He knocked down two guys, I think. You put your trust in your lollypop guy not to mislead you, so Barichello is innocent in this affair, I think. At any rate, if the Malaysian bomohs don’t do their job, there will be rain, and a fun time. 3+ days more to go!

The last race

Are you a nerd?

Sarah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:31:36 +0000

I don’t take online quizzes very often, but every now and then, I see one which I just have to take. Whilst browsing through someone’s blog, I came across this Nerd quiz, which so attracted me. Haha, I suppose by just saying that I was interested in a Nerd quiz, that makes me a nerd by default!

I do like many things, which I suppose some people might call nerdy, so I took the quiz! I scored highest as a Literature Nerd, no surprise there! I’ve always been a huge reader, although I don’t read that much nowadays compared to back then. Now, I’m pretty much limited to a few minutes before work (whilst brushing my teeth and getting dressed!), and awhile at night. Second highest was Science / Math. I was never a big fan of Science, Biology was OK, I suppose, but I loved Math! Especially Additional Mathematics. Hehe..whilst other people around me were struggling and failing, I usually scored pretty high. I liked doing the previous years papers, and I’d usually do them multiple times!

Oh yes, and I was also in the school band, for 7 years, if you count my years in the primary school band. I played the pianica (like a mini-piano, but you blow into this tube and then only the music will come out). Then, I got promoted to saxaphone, then violin, then back to saxaphone once again. I even went to a band camp. And this is where people who have watched American Pie go, ‘One time…in band camp…’ I also love playing the PS2, more towards RPG games.

So, if that makes me a nerd, then so be it! I’d rather be a nerd than one of those bimbo-y girls who love to go shopping, spa treatments, facials, mani-pedis, etc. That’s just SO not me.

How time flies…

Changes afoot

Sarah — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 14:43:39 +0000

Two posts in one day! A record for me…I’ve been watching the results of the general elections on TV for the past couple of hours. It’s very, very slow. According to the results on the TV, it seems like BN has been winning a lot of the parliament / state seats. According to Malaysiakini, it seems like the opposition is winning almost everything they’re running for. Whatever the actual results are, it looks like BN will lose 2/3rds majority. All I can say is that most of the Christian churches have prayed for God’s hand to be upon the elections, and that whatever the results are, we have to trust in him.

Several strong BN big guns have lost unofficially as of now, and reports of scuffles have already broken out. Unofficially, it seems like Shahrizat, Samy Velu and Koh Tsu Koon have lost. My mum’s friend has said that in Klang, there is trouble brewing. I pray that there will be not be any serious trouble tomorrow! Peace to all…

EDIT: Malaysiakini site is down, visit here instead for the latest news on Malaysia’s election news.

Happy 29th of February!

It’s Election Day…have you voted?

Sarah — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:45:53 +0000

There’s half an hour more before the voting period ends here in Malaysia, if you haven’t voted yet, it’s pretty much too late for you! I woke up early this morning, and looked out of my window. I can see the school from my bedroom. It was a few minutes before eight, and there was a small queue waiting to enter and vote.

My brother and I only went to vote after having breakfast with our parents. As I walked through the school, it reminded me of the times when I took my theory exams, I got the same sort of feeling. Anyway, I envisioned it to be a really crowded affair, with cars parked right up to my house, and difficulty navigating through the crowds. Yes, I am a first-time voter so I really didn’t know what to expect! It was a surprisingly smooth procedure, they checked my IC, and directed me to the correct room. When I reached the room, they searched for my name on the paper, marked it off, and gave me the papers to mark my vote. My one comment is that they should have some sort of example on how to vote. You read in the papers that there are always lots of spoilt votes, so to prevent it, shouldn’t you have an example on the polling station? There weren’t even any instructions, so I’m not surprised that some people tick the boxes instead of putting crosses!

Whilst putting my vote in the ballot boxes, I felt very Malaysian. Although many of my friends have not registered to vote, I think that it’s my responsibility as a Malaysian to take part in this process. Most people will argue, it’s just one vote, what difference will it make? Well, I think that every little part helps. It’s the same as environmentalism. When people go grocery shopping, they say, it’s just one plastic bag that I’m taking, what difference will it make if I bring my own bag or not? If everyone refused one plastic bag whilst buying their groceries, don’t you think it would make a huge difference?

I’m quite interested in the results this time round. The last time we had our general elections, I was in Australia and returned too late to register. Probably that’s why I wasn’t as interested as compared to now. I’ve also been chatting on line with Polytikus and she’s answered many of the questions I had. Thanks for all your info!

Here’s to hoping that we get good men & women in power, who will not abuse their power for evil. Sounds like an evil cartoon villain, doesn’t it? Heheh…