The Lovers

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

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I grew up watching the Hong Kong movies on Saturday nights at 10.30-12.30pm.

Too many for me to remember every single one of them.

But I can vividly recall the movie, "The Lovers", adapted by the famous Chinese novel, The Butterfly Lovers, that I almost switched off my television set, thinking it was some boring "dynasty" show.
Thankfully, I didn't.

It has remained to be one of my favourite movies of all time.

Charlie Young, the saccharine-sweet face, pretending to be a boy in college to study, and Nicky Wu, gorgeous with a hot bod who fell for her, thinking that he was gay but eventually knew she was a girl. Their on-screen chemistry was perfect, alongside with the fact that they were dating for real at that time.

Movies that remain on my favourite list have the extremes. Firstly, those that made me cry buckets over and over again. Secondly, those that have made me wonder why I still laugh with tears even though I knew those jokes were coming. Lastly, those with plots that struck an indefinite chord in me such that I can never forget them.

The Lovers fell into all three categories.

I knew those teary moments were coming, but I still could not hold back my tears.

Blame it on missing the other half too much maybe, but this classic tragic love story is one that ANY SUCKERS FOR ROMANCE should watch.

Technically, I am not really one. Yet I still bothered to load the whole movie on Crunchyroll.

And cry through the 3rd hour in the morning.
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Yes, I probably am missing someone that much now.

Ps: If you are thinking why my first line is so, please watch The Lovers on www.crunchyroll.com.

When Cats Wear Socks

I had the urge to draw. So I took my sister's pillow of Baby Sylvester.

Not bad, considering the last time I drew was... err... seriously, can't remember at all.

But what was different this time, was the attention from my brother that I got when I showed him this picture.

"Eh, kau tengok, Sylvester betul-betul macam Stokin. Kau tengok, kaki dengan tangan dia putih, badan dia hitam. Kenapa kau draw dia? Sedih ah!!!"
(Look at Sylvester, he is really like Socks. You see, his feet and hands are white, and his body is black. Why did you draw him? SAD!!!")

A brief introduction to Stokin aka Socks.

He is our favourite neighbourhood stray cat, a male cat that somehow captured our hearts with his errant headbutting and lovable stroking against our legs.

He's been missing.

Its been 2-3 weeks since I last saw him.

He responds to the name we gave him, Stokin, which we thought was apt due to his white paws.

We don't take care of him, nor do we feed him (the last time I tried giving something for him to eat, he refused it, probably the 2nd floor neighbours gave him cat food regularly).

But the reason for his existence is to be loved by us.

We don't know what fate he has met, whether he was finally brought home by some kind neighbour, or the worst possibility, whether he was culled or run down by a car.

No matter what his fate is now, I'd like to share of my brother's and my grievances towards him being missing.

He was there when I was happy and he loved me when I was sad. Stroking him whilst enjoying the cool breeze at the void deck was something therapeutic that I became dependent on.

He even followed me and DH like a dog to a flat 2 blocks away despite that not being his territory (that was Brownie's territory and that's another story). Snarling and guarding us from Brownie was practically his self-declared job scope that night while we both were chatting away.

And it is depressing me that he's not been around for weeks now.

Whatever your fate is, I'll always remember you.

I love you always, Stokin.

When It Starts To Hit Me

To date, long-distance relationships (LDR) are nothing new in this world, what not with the presence of the internet. While it may seem unconvincing for some to work, there are many others which are grappled by the hope of the best to work out in time to come.

Personally, I'd never thought of myself going through the exact situation. Until my partner was posted to work in KL three months ago.

And personally, I'd appreciate it if people stop telling me, "KL is so near, not so bad what..."

Well, you can try being in my situation.

Even in the saddest case scenario, I found myself joking that he's now my part-time lover. One whom I'd date 12 times a year.

12 times in 365 days. 21 times in 21 more months to go.

Doing the maths has never gotten more demoralising than this.

For three months, I've been contented with irregular internet chats, being unable to Skype (due to some security reasons on his side), lagging video chats on Yahoo, 5-minute phonecalls every 2-3 days or so and even lesser smses.

For three months, I've been spending my free time mostly at home, sending CVs, watching Korean shows online, saving up my money and occasionally going out with the few friends I have whom I feel lucky enough if they were to have the time to meet me.

And during these three months, I have learnt some things on how to cope with LDRs:

1) Having a personal blog for each other. Decorating the blog with one's own pictures would be a bonus, although that would not exactly be viable if the couple have not taken enough pictures, or rather, could not be bothered to. Anyway, this personal blog would be a private channel of emotions between the parties, hence the link to connect each other through this portal. And a blog isn't enough actually. Sending e-mails constantly would help too.

2) Attributing an album for the partner on public websites like Facebook. Even though I like the idea of privacy for photos (no, stop thinking Edison Chen), uploading these pictures of some moments with him would somehow portray my crying out loud as to how much I badly miss him.

3) No matter how bad the connection is, having video-conferencing takes a partial load off missing the other party. I admit, I do not have to deal with time-difference, but since its so difficult for him to get online, its like a battle won when I got to see his face on the screen once every week.

4) Being busy would help a lot. So I'd hope to land a time-consuming job soon to get me not to be too absorbed in missing him too much.

5) Telling myself constantly, writing it everywhere such that I face the words all the time, everything would be for the better of the both of us in time to come, hence, carrying the hope of delayed gratification.

There are definitely other ways on how to cope with this LDR, but so far, these have been all that I've been relying on to cope with his absence. I was reading on tips online that they provide to cope with LDRs and there are definitely some which are worth trying out.

Like, having a shared moment everyday (having both parties to do the same thing at the same time that remind both of each other) and as simple as having a framed picture of us (as much as I can be a camera whore, I do not like the idea of displaying pictures of me and boyfriend, so I have to start embracing this idea).

Well, its not only I who have to stay strong, but he himself too.

So, for all those couples in an LDR now, hopefully, we'll get by it in no time.

"And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." -- Kahlil Gibran

Its a Girl!!!

I got this from an article online.

"Is my Turtle a Boy or a Girl?"

This is difficult to tell is most turtles, until they are older. The males of all turtles will have a longer, thicker tail, with the cloaca located closer to the tip of the tail, whereas females with have a smaller, thinner tail with the vent closer to the main part of the body. In some of the more commonly kept turtles (Sliders, some Maps, Painteds, Cooters), males will also have exceptionally long foreclaws; the females having smaller ones. Males in some species will also display a concave or dented-in plastron. This is to allow the male to better mount the female when mating. Adult females which have laid a clutch of eggs will have a semi-pliable anal section of the plastron.

MALES		FEMALES

The females, however, in most species of turtles, will be larger...sometimes 4 x larger...than the males. And just be on the look-out - if you have a male, he might just prove it to you one day. This is called Fanning. This is completely normal, however, sometimes this fanning can lead to health issues - especially if tankmates believe it to be something edible and bite it.

Guess what?

I just realised, that Jazz, my fat terrapin, is a GIRL.
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After MORE THAN ONE YEAR.

The Power of Words

The virtual world hails its name for the main reason that there is no need for two to see each other face-to-face or hear each other's voice like over the telephone. When chatting on mIRC became rampant, many schools demanded the students to write essays on how this could cause some detrimental effects on the new generation who were over-reliant on these tools. Not touching on virtual identities, the second most widely discussed effect was how words in the virtual world could cause misconstrued intentions or some breakdown in communication, such power of words.

In any case, I admit on having a larger exposure to the virtual world compared to some of my peers. Its harder to avoid such things if one is addicted to Facebook, has an auto-log-in to Windows Messenger and writes her opinion on a blog. While so, there have been a few instances where I encountered certain experiences that have since left me thinking, "Huh?"

I have an obnoxious reputation to do self-appraisal and sarcastic humour, but only reserving that to people whom I generally know well enough to take a few punches of that. No, in case you're wondering, my level of bitchiness has not gone overboard others' I know of, but that's besides the point here.

What kept me thinking, was how some people, who could claim to talk with such "humour", could take certain topics into an entirely different outlook. And what I've analysed is that syntax plays a whole load of difference when it comes to getting intentions or meanings across.

For example, we come across situations when some guy boasts that he could clear the pool table in less than a minute.

For someone who knows that he was just plain bullshitting, there are 2 possible approaches to that:

1) Please lah!! I know you better. So full of crap.

2) So, are you implying that you are good then?

Notice the different syntax in both sentences. The Singlish lah actually softens the first approach, whilst the incomplete sentences sends a message of a joking comment. Now, looking at the second approach, the complete (and correct) structure actually indicates rudeness or an emotion of dislike for the intended person, even if it is not intended that way. No doubt, everything is grammatically correct, but that's what I mainly reserve for my topics in my blog (with exceptions of correcting my friends' grammar while talking, plus making my own mistakes too, hey, I'm not perfect). Topics that I write as articles. Understandable, isn't it?

You could argue, maybe it is just me being sensitive to some people's so-called satire. But then again, was there such a need to use such language in a very public and non-threatening environment? Unless they bear a grudge against me, that is.

In these few instances, I cannot conclude everything to be true. Everyone has the right to say anything in the virtual reality. But many a time, there are more common situations where things are misinterpreted as easily as over the SMS, another virtual domain. You know, couple fights over unknown emotions that was meant to be sent across in those messages but was not perceived as so to the other party, I mean, how many times could those things happen to any of us?

I could only conclude that syntax and usage of words could either add to or weaken the power that words have. To add to the power of words in this context is to add to the sarcasm level such that there is a blurred line between enjoying humour or plainly being rude, whilst to weaken the power of words is to soften the meaning in the name of fun. By all means, choose either if that is your intentions, though bearing in mind, there is always a fine line that separates satire and rudeness.

Ps: The above example of guy who boasts about playing pool is purely fictional whereas the personal experience is true.

Flowerpot

My plans since the past week has gone a bit haywire.

First of all, TORRES scored the Euro 08 winner. Oh my darling, I think you and I are just made in heaven, El Nino and La Nina. Perfect.

And I've gotten hooked to a Korean variety show, no thanks to No-Rain.

No, no, I don't mean that Korean singer Rain. Its my friend, she's had that nick even before that Rain thought of raining.

Anyway, this show is a must-watch.

Titled "We Just Married" (in some translations, "We Got Married"), it arrows in in 4 celebrity "couples" who are actually paired up for this show to depict a real marriage life.

Of course, its impossible to say the whole show is not scripted. But these celebrities are acting based on their real personalities so in some parts, you can witness the awkwardness between the couples as they struggle to get to know each other.

Call it a commercialized matchmaking service, maybe.

The title of this entry is actually a song that was featured in a very moving episode for a certain couple.

Alex and Shin Ae, the almost-impossible-to-exist couple. Not only they look good individually and together, their personalities are also almost the "match made in heaven" kind. Guy takes the main initiative for everything, guy cooks and sings for the girl, and be patient to her extreme shyness and introverted ways.

Like I've said, almost impossible to exist, maybe not the girl, but definitely the guy. Which real guy does that now?!!!

*suddenly remembering DH singing continuously in the car, everywhere and thought that I was partly lucky until I realised that he does not dedicate those meaningless songs to me. Plus he can't bloody cook nor takes the main initiatives most of the time.

But anyways, here is a video of the no.1 couple in Korea with a song I can only dedicate to the beloved who is working hard in KL with the translated lyrics.

And I'll always look forward to the fortnightly weekends like a flowerpot at the window still...