GA

last thursday, i had a conversation with the parents of my housemate regarding homosexuality. although it wasn't so much of a conversation as a one-way dialogue with them hammering their disapproving views of such behaviours and me playing the part of the meek respectful and submissive Asian youth. the reason for this was because, during their (then) 5 days in Sydney, they became enlightened to the fact that our neighbours opposite us were citizens of the gay-er side of life.

the conversation swung from,

"Did you know that the people opposite you...."

and

"....saw 4 grown men cuddling on one sofa watching tv!"

to

"Recently, Singapore wanted to legalise homosexuality. But they FAILED!"

apparently, our neighbours down south have been attempting to become more 'open' (for want of a better word) and to adopt a more liberal view. what with the opening of a brand new casino, an establishment which was once considered a hotpot for vice and other damning attributes, it seems the Singaporean government tried to continue the ride on this 'liberal-minded' wave by pushing forward the motion to have homosexuality legalised. their reasoning was, that by doing so, Singapore would be seen as the first Asian/Southeast Asian (??) country to embrace the homosexual culture and adopt Western ideals.

my guess is that they wanted to do it because it was glamor and also very possibly the K-word. but cannot mention here...very sensitive issue.

anyway, according to her parents, this sparked a wave of protests from the Christian community in Singapore and all good faithful followers of Christ were called to mass-swarm internet forums protesting against the legalisation of homosexualism, sign internet petitions comdemning the legalisation of homosexualism, write letters to the Prime Minister expressing their anger against the legalisation of homosexualism* and just basically let their dissident voice be heard. and of course, being a democratic country; the people won, the government lost.

the conversation ended with this statement:

"Homosexuality is WRONG. If the government had legalised homosexuality, then this will mark the end of the country. Our values will crumble and be taken over by vice."

this got me thinking.

i am Catholic in faith. the Catholic church has a very strict view on homosexuality (henceforth known as Gay Activities, or GA for short...because i'm sick of typing out homosex..blabla) in that it is an abomination, an act against the law of Nature and should be condemned. this is because, in the Bible it is written as 'God made Adam and Eve' and not 'God made Adam and Evan'. and just because it is written in the Bible thus it is Law (in a Canonical sense).

however, i am also a firm believer in love (oh i'm so ashamed) and if two men or two women are in love and find comfort and happiness with each other, then i'm all for it. i honestly can't see the WRONG in it. such a weak argument, i know.

i can't see how legalising GA will lead to a crumbling of values in a society. i have gay friends in uni who are the nicest sweetest and funniest people i've ever met. most designers in the world of fashion are gay and they are successful and certainly do not promote a crumbling in societal values (although if you think of them as producing handbags with accompanying vomit-blood-inducing prices and promoting greed in women (and some men) then yea, i guess that's a crumbling society there). T.R. Knight is gay and he's about the sweetest and cutest gay doctor i've ever seen.

with such conflicting views i.e. Faith vs Belief, where do i stand?

anyway, i'm going off tangent. all i wanted to say was: Singapore tried to legalise GA when in fact they should be concentrating on legalising chewing gum**. HAHA!

*i made the last part of that sentence up. Prime Ministers do not bother with such trivial matters like reading letters penned by concerned citizens.
**is chewing gum still banned in Singapore? the last time i checked was back in 2001.

Bang!

"...here's looking atchu..."

or

"the fringe that didn't quite make it and is currently conjuring up old nightmares involving the words China and Doll intermingled with visions of much pointing and laughter."

Yes, i cut-ted my hair.

devastated

Set in stone

i don't usually con drinks from people. let alone people who are younger (and hence, more lacking in worldly experience) than me. it is just not my style.

susu-atari says:
so how?
susu-atari says:
you want to shake on it or not?
susu-atari says:
DEAL?
[滅]-cX_47>.{66}*.:.can't get enough says:
okla since i so nice n i haven met u in so long...going out for a drink paying for 5 cocktails should be ok
[滅]-cX_47>.{66}*.:.can't get enough says:
DEAL
[滅]-cX_47>.{66}*.:.can't get enough says:
damn -.-

there you go, child. this is our contract.
2 cocktails last year.
5 cocktails this year.
something tells me i've upped my ante.

My week.

last friday i did the unimaginable. i cooked a 6-course dinner for a party of 10. not only did my kitchen, my wok, my pots, my stash of cooking sauces and miscellanous seasonings and i survived the ordeal but we, as a team, emerged triumphant and victorious!


N.B.: soya sauce and cooking caramel in the background and a bottle of BS in the foreground to help my keep my wits together in times of trial.

on the menu was:
1. curry chicken (which was fabulous)
2. sambal ikan bilis (mindblowing can rival the makcik yg jual nasi lemak kat gerai tepi jalan)
3. pork in plum sauce
4. shredded cabbage with dried prawns and glass noodles
5. a mix of broccoli, carrots, straw mushrooms and dried beancurd stir-fried with oyster sauce
6. kueh dadar (fucking awesome on par with the ones offered in that peranakan restaurant in Malacca with the huge cardboard cutouts of a Baba and a Nyonya..fucking can't remember the name right now)

the reason for my seemingly overambitious feat was because a friend (white) was pressuring me to cook malaysian food for him...and me being a spineless pushover, naturally succumbed to pressure and consented towards the idea. nevertheless, i must really thank him for i'd never know my hidden talents within the culinary department if not for his persistence.

so sorreh, no pictures of the food because i was an hour behind schedule and ended up being really flustered and was working under pressure to get the food served on time. by the time the lauk dihidangkan, they fell upon it like ravenous beasts and all thoughts of snapping pretty pictures for the masses (or rather, for my mom to assure her that i am capable of producing decent home-cooked meals) had left my mind.


3/10 satiated.
oh, presenting my new couch btw.

although, knowing how things work themselves out eventually, i have a feeling another malaysian night will be on the cards soon enough. and by then, i'll probably have mastered the art of time management and will have some sense left during the aftermath to take food-pics.

in lesser news, spring is here! and with it comes unpredictable bouts spring-showers, the occasional thunderstorm worthy of being called tropical, endless days of bright sunshine, the cooling winds, and of course, FLOWERS!





I thought about my kailan when i snapped this photo.



it's strange to think that this might potentially be my last Sydney Spring.

Lightness.

Have you ever stood in the rain with your eyes to the sky and smiled up at the rays cascading down your face?

It is a glorious feeling.

Brain...in case you didn't know.

So apparently my lecturer for Evolutionary Genetics and Animal Behaviour has a wicked and biting sense of dark British humour too.




This is my reward for finishing up his assignment WHICH IS DUE NEXT MONDAY! oh i'm such a model student...always finishing my assignments way ahead of time. i think a pat on the back or a congratulatory word is appropriate for such occasions.

Idle thoughts.

Good evening, everyone.

everything that i type in today's post will be highly irrelevant, this being because i've really got nothing much to do. i'm currently sitting on the extreme right of this couch that me and my housemate picked up from the basement..obviously abandoned in that desolate corner of the apartment block through lack of want. we've had this couch for about 2 weeks now and i have to say i'm terribly pleased with it. it can seat 3 people comfortably and can even be converted into a bed, if the need arose. it is much like yours, dan. in fact, it is exactly like yours.

so here i am now, sitting on the right side of this very comfortable couch, and Passenger Seat by DCFC is playing through the speakers. yes, i've already gotten speakers for my laptop albeit they were my housemate's...my headphones have fallen apart. literally: fallen apart. anyway, this setting is highly conducive for losing one's thoughts. there's a really nice sunset out there now; not the ones with pinkish-purple hues that i've posted on this blog before..neither are they of the same fiery standard as the ones i saw on Heron. this sunset is of a soft yellowy-gold with tinges of the very lightest blue sitting above. and over this bi-chrome are grey clouds spreading towards the horizon. and it's true, you know. every cloud that i see now DOES have a silver lining.

everything's pretty calm outside. Karma Police has replaced Passenger Seat. you know, there's something very haunting about this song...perhaps it's just Thom Yorke's voice and the way he sings the words. when he tells me that "This is what you get when you mess with us" i actually find myself believing him.

two planes have already flown through the sky since i first started typing this post: the first was a Virgin Blue carrier while the other was what looked like a long-haul Qantas plane. this reminds how attentive i have become towards aeroplanes since the commencement of my degree. each time i walked out in the open, i'd unconsciously pick out aeroplanes which flew above and over me. my reasoning was that it was due to my longing for getting on to a plane and flying back home. and each time i pointed my face towards its underside, i'd think to myself how lucky those people were, to be able to go where they wanted to and then i'd mentally tick off the months/weeks/days i had left before i too, hopped on to my own plane and took off from this land. maybe it's because i've been doing this so often now that i unintentionally snap to attention each time i hear the roar of the plane's turbine engines. however, thoughts of home no longer accompany my sight...no. there is something else. and maybe i will give an explanation one day.

the neighbour in the apartment directly opposite ours...he's on his laptop too and his balcony door is open. he's gay, you know. one night while i was watching tv, i accidentally glanced over in to his unit and looked through his room window. it was all lighted up and there he was, his bottom half in stark naked glory...and i could roughly make out a silhouette on his bed. upon hindsight, it's really nothing, because i didn't actually see anything much, except yellow skin but at that very moment, it felt so shocking and embarassing...i was embarrassed because i felt i had stumbled unknowingly into something which i was not meant to see. sort of like a violation of his privacy. needless to say, the blinds throughout his apartment was tightly drawn and i MADE myself not glance towards his direction throughout the remainder of the night.

you might not know this, but privacy to me is everything. sometimes i truly wonder why i blog at all considering that i'm so anal about privacy. it seems so awfully hypocritical to demand some semblance of privacy yet reveal my thoughts on everything over the internet...which is the last place you should go to if you wanted to hide. but then again, no. it's not like i'm trying to hide anything. everything that i say here i'll eventually tell my friends anyway. haha. so now not only am i being hypocritical but i'm also contradiction personified. maybe it's just my unwillingness to be seemingly advertising my sense of vulnerability to the masses.

many songs have passed since Karma Police. now i'm listening to Grazed Knees and i must say that it has become one of my favourites. i've actually been trying to play it on my housemate's guitar...but the positioning of my fingers for the second chord still befuddles me. my excuse is that i have short non-guitar-compatible fingers. but truly, it is a very awkward position. for the seasoned guitarists out there...it's actually 013010. i can't seem to figure the placement of my fingers...i've tried 1-2-4 but it just seems so awkward. anyway, i can't wait till my cousin gets back from malaysia cos then she'll be able to pass me my very own guitar. it's really nice of my housemate to let me monopolise hers...but i still don't feel too good about it.

the sun's really starting to set now and from where i'm sitting, my eyes are blinded by the dying rays. i feel like i should really shift my position because it might be bad for my eyes but then i really like how the orange rays glint and throw their shadows on my hair and on the contours of my face. and the funniest part of it all is that the sunset has morphed from it's original gentle, soft and unassuming form to one that now currently resembles the fiery Heron sunsets. it really strikes a chord in my memory and everything seems terribly deja vu-ish because just 9 weeks ago, i was similarly blinded.

to say that i miss Heron has now become an understatement. even i myself cannot begin to fathom how much i long to be back there. to me, that place feels like my very own Utopia...somewhere far away from everything i was familiar with, a haven from the crazy workings of a city life, an environment which did not pass judgement upon me, one that could only offer me beauty and serenity and nothing else. for once i felt like i could truly escape, to calm my thoughts and all the turbulence i had collected over the week prior and just start over new. escapism? perhaps.

it's starting to get cold now. about a million aeroplanes have passed since i first started. i can hear the cars on Missenden Road making their way home. and soon i will, too.

Patrolling for Snow on a Friday night.

live music sends fire through my veins. it is THAT good. and considering i've had a whole can of Mother that was distributed F.O.C. after the concert...i figured i'd better just write it up now just so that I can concentrate on my work tomorrow.


Obligatory self-whoring pre-gig photo which i've not been churning out of late. Hello everyone.

Snow Patrol is TEH BESTNESS! they are absolutely fabulous live! this year has been a relatively quiet year gig-wise for me and i've nearly forgotten how the first beats resounding from the drums when the band starts up can literally send your spirits soaring and begging for more. the first peal from the lead guitarist, the first note from the bassist...and you, my friend, are in Gig Heaven.


One of the opening acts: Silversun Pickups. They were pretty good! Remember, you first heard of them here, if ever they make it big.

some might think that Chasing Cars is over-rated but it still makes my top-songs list and the moment the first riffs sounded through the arena...everything just seemed so surreal and i was left wondering.."hey..i just listened to this song a few hours ago on my laptop using my crappy earphones and now...here i am, being serenaded by Gary Lightbody!"


Snow Patrol. In the midst of turning my knees to jelly and my heart all a-flutter.

they played all the songs i wanted them to play...the only one notably missing (and much to my disappointment) was You Could Be Happy. but hey, i'm not complaining. the final encore was just out of the world...they ended they're performance with You're All I Have and i swear to God, nearly everyone jumped up from their seats and started jumping, dancing, screaming, shaking etc...me being one of them HAHAHAHA!


More people! I cropped myself out because no-face is better than half-a-face. Meet gen, david and step.

it was more than i could've asked for. they are just so so so good. Gary Lightbody is an amazing singer. i'm listening to You're All I Have now on my WMP but it's just not the same. it's anti-climactic. boo.


How To Be Dead...Snow Patrol-style!
Don't they sound abso-fucking-lutely BRILLIANT live?!
So much better than on their CD..SO MUCH MORE!

i want more.

Picks of the day!

My dear little emo drunk sugar plum, i can't really do much considering that i'm a thousand miles and one from you but i hope these will cheer you up.











Yes, i will forever be stereotyping you with this particular floral species you'll get so sick of it in the end. But for now i hope they make you smile!

Dinner party.

Politically and racially incorrect post not for the faint-hearted or morally righteous. No indignant outrage please.

Nothing says 'Up Yours!' more than having sushi for dinner on Merdeka's Day.

Why?

Well, my little unattentive Malaysian History student...it was because the Japanese fucked the Colonialists so hard and basically beat them in the Occupation game (that is, until they got their shit bombed out of them by the Yanks) that they had no other option but to scurry back to their Motherland with their Pommy wigs trailing behind them.

And who did we gain independance from?

Hwhuuuaaiii, theh Col'nial Bri'ish of course! Touche! Up yours!



My housemate and her squeeze.

My teriyaki chicken with egg and cucumber roll. Fucking awesome.


Ok no la. It's cheaper to eat sushi. You know, student housing...cannot afford to have 8 slabs of steak to commemorate our release from the British.

p.s. Girls, sushi night when I'm home!