Next trip: Port Dickson?

Last month, I went to Kuala Terengganu for my cousin-in-law’s wedding. I’ve only been to Terengganu once before, and even then it was a day-trip (for work). So it was nice to spend the weekend there and get to see the city a bit.

That trip was made especially more memorable because we drove all the way from Shah Alam and back. That is a loooong way, in case you didn’t know. The journey is roughly six hours with some breaks in between.

This month — April — is my wedding anniversary. And my husband and I are planning to book a night’s stay at Legend Water Chalets that weekend.

I have heard about this place from my two female colleagues who spent a night there after one of them won a night’s stay at the chalet.

To be honest, the rooms look gaudy but the “attraction” is its open bathroom (with a jacuzzi-sized tub and separate shower) and lighted solid glass panel for viewing the sea beneath the floor. I’m also a little put off by the room rates. They’re pretty ex!

I’m still undecided about this place. The more I look at the rooms, the more I’m thinking: “Maybe not…” We’ll see…

Budget aside, it shouldn’t really matter where we go. I’m happy to just stay somewhere in town, even at home, as long as we get to do things together — preferably something that is out of the ordinary.

But I won’t say no to checking in to a hotel for some privacy

Well, I’ll keep you posted on this. I’m going to take a hot shower and call it a day. Tomorrow’s another busy day!

On to another book

Maybe this is a bit premature but I’m just about 10 pages more to finishing Light On Snow (Anita Shreve).

This is my first Anita Shreve book and I have been curious ever since I read the review in a magazine about three years ago. I got this book as a birthday gift from my sister this year.

I don’t know about other people but for me, this book engages me in waves. Sometimes, I’m really engrossed, and at other times I don’t think very much about the writing nor the plot.

But I noticed that I love reading about the relationship that 12-year-old Nicky developed with Charlotte, the 19-year-old unwed mother. Somehow, to me, Charlotte is the character that I remember most. I actually had to go back to the book to check on Nicky’s name. Not that she is a forgettable character. I think Nicky is so taken by Charlotte (charlotte this, charlotte that) that I think it rubbed off on me

Finishing this book means that I now have to decide on which book to read next. I think I should finally attempt Three Cups of Tea which my sister lent me early this year (or was it late last year?). TCoT is a bigger, thicker book so carrying it around will be more difficult. But I can always read it before bed, even if that means only reading two pages a night before I pass out.

Well, at least that’s better than not reading at all, ey?

Yay, happy 2nd anniversary to me!

Two years ago today, today was a Saturday. On that hot Saturday morning, my husband and I were married.

So, yeah, happy 2nd anniversary to me and my husband!

We haven’t planned anything special tonight. Truth be told, I completely forgot the significance of today until I was keying something into my Outlook calender and saw the date. These days, I operate by days, not dates. I can tell you today is a Tuesday but don’t ask me what date it is. So yeah, that’s the story of my life.

Anyway, my husband incidentally got two tickets for the premier of Ironman tonight. So, we’re watching that as a way of celebrating our union. These days, I’m up for just about anything. Because it is normally the last minute plans that end up being the most enjoyable.

Since the cinema is near The Curve, we may just have dinner at Marche, where we normally go to treat ourselves. See how it goes.

I know anniversaries should be big deals but not to me. I’ve never been one to celebrate, not even my own birthday. So not surprisingly, I didn’t get any gifts for my husband and neither did he for me. We’re broke this month anyway.

If I have the money, I’ll probably surprise him with an Ipod or something. But we’re the type of couple who splurge on each other for no real reason. I would have made some effort if I weren’t so freakking busy this month.

Whatever it is, I’m glad that I’m able to get one story out of the way. It’s not mine but I’ve been tasked to rejig it. So rejig it I did. I can’t say I enjoyed it. How can you enjoy ripping apart someone else’s work and changing it beyond recognition. On second thought, it sounds like utter pleasure, esp if the story belongs to your enemy.

But I have no enemies (at least I’d like to think so), so I was doing the (re)jiggy like I was treading on eggshells. I hope I made a decent job.

Oklah. Tomorrow is American Idol day for me. Whatever Jason decides to sing, please, please, please make it so good that Simon says its BRILLIANT and ON THE MONEY, Paula starts bawling her eyes out and Randy gives a standing ovation and urges the audience to do the same. Coz I just want to see this boy in the Top Three. That’s not too much to ask, right?

The sweetest things

On Yahoo! News today:

Verizon recovers man’s missing recording

An 80-year-old man can hear his late wife’s voice again, any time he wants. Verizon has recovered a lost message recorded by Charles Whiting’s wife, Catherine, before her death in 2005.

When Verizon upgraded the man’s telephone service, his wife’s voice disappeared from his voicemail system. The message said “Catherine Whiting,” and her husband said he listened to it every day for comfort.

Company spokesman John Bonomo said Tuesday that a contractor found the recording in an archive and restored it to the new voicemail system.

Charles Whiting says he’s very happy.

Tell me this isn’t the sweetest piece of news you have read today *gets all teary-eyed*.

My colleague, As*wad says Obama’s speech (the last portion of it) tugged at his heartstrings. When I have the time, I shall read his speech too.

P/S: Tonight American Idol is on tv. Don’t miss it!

P/P/S: According to my pedometer, I took nearly 7,000 steps today. I walked and ran for 32 minutes this morning on the treadmill (warm up = 5 mins; switched between walking and running = every 1 min until minute 27; cool down – 5 mins). So that alone gave me about 3,838 steps. Cool eh? The daily number recommended by health experts is 10k steps. I got 7k. Not bad, not bad at all!

Good riddance!!!

I tell you, a bully will always be a bully.

I got an annoying sms from this guy abut an hour ago bearing news that I already knew. Well, he thought I didn’t know but in fact my husband had told me all about it.

What I hate about the sms is his “threats” of involving people who should not be involved. That’s not only unnecessary but imature as well. This is just between kita-kita aje, no need to involve other people lah.

I don’t even want to reply to the sms. I realise that by not replying, he probably thinks I am so livid (with my husband) about it and that he was doing me “a favour”. Nak aje reply: Tell me something I DON’T know. Btw, thanks for the advice but I don’t need it. And yeah, hasta la vista @ssh0le!

But no, I’m going to leave it at that. If you think I am scared or that I have nothing to say, think again because boy do I have PLENTY to say. But sometimes silence is golden. Actually, silence IS golden MOST of the time. Besides, I don’t want this to be anymore complicated than it already is.

It’s not that I’m closing one eye to the “problem” or that I am sweeping it under the carpet. Let’s just say that that the wrong and the one wronged have sat down to discuss this matter maturely.  Sure, I am not so happy with what had transpired but I’m willing to focus on the bigger picture. THIS is something which I’m sorry my boy YOU could never do.

You know, I am actually glad that this happened. At the very least, now I know that, and to quote Mary J Blige, we’ve been too strong for too long. This ain’t going to shake our foundation. YOU certainly won’t break it down.

I’m a positive person and I can see the silver lining in this situation. The No 1 benefit from this whole mess is never having to see or hear from you ever again. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

I don’t feel sorry that this had ever happened. I’m just sorry that (a) we met, (b) your significant other met you, (c) you’re an obsessive freak and a bully and that (d) I wasted this space talking about you.

I guess there is only one thing left to say: Good riddance!!!!

Made

I watched a very interesting episode of MTV Made last night. This episode is about a high school student named Jason Yu, an American-born chinese – parents originally from Taiwan – who’s the typical Asian kid who prefers to study for his exam than hit some club. But this boy has a secret longing – to be great in “b-boy-ing” aka break dancing!

It is quite interesting to know that this guy – who revises for his exam every opportunity he gets – wanting to be a b-boy. When MTV assigned him a mentor, apparently a really good break dancer nicknamed Mr Freeze, mayhem ensues

Jason didn’t become an excellent b-boy in 8 weeks – it took Mr Freeze himself 6 years – but he pulled through. At least he could do the 6-step and freeze (where he lifts his lower body off the floor using the strength of his arms).

This is the second time I’m seeing Asian kids be MADE. The first was Nadia (Korean) who wanted to enter a school singing competition. The problem was she had never even sung in front of anyone except her best friend. As someone who loves to sing, I know that I wouldn’t need to go to the record store to find inspiration on what to sing. I’d just pick one from my “repertoire”. But she needed that and she actually went to the CD store to “research”. And guess what she picked? Lady Marmalade

Her performance was okay I guess. But the moral here is that if you devote yourself to something and you put your 110 per cent into it, you’ll get somewhere. It’ll probably take your just two steps ahead but you’re definitely moving.

I wanted to know more about what life is like after the show for these two Asian kids, so I went to the website. In the process, I found another interesting reality show by MTV called Engaged and Underage. It’s a new show about teen couples who have chosen to make commitment early in life. So far, there are four episodes and none involving Asian couples yet. I have a feeling that Asian kids are discouraged from getting married too young in the States

It was fun to read the episode guide. Some of the couples faced real life (adult) problems – like overbearing MILs, unhelpful spouse, being the sole breadwinner because one of them is still in school etc. I don’t know whether MTV is trying to encourage young people to tie the knot or to discourage them. But I personally think it’s for the latter

When the internet connection is better, I will watch all four episodes online. Watch this space!

What would you do? Part II

The last entry was actually half done and I accidentally posted it up. But Kamm has already commented on it [thanks Kamm], so I’ll leave it as is and continue where I stopped…

….Apparently, according to Far1dz’s senior colleague, this guy’s marriage is on the rocks. Yeah, well, every guy has a sob story to tell especially when they’re looking for someone new. “My wife doesn’t understand me etc etc”. Sure…

But he still stays with his family. He probably still sleeps with his wife. I don’t know this for sure… I’m just talking crap… anyway whether or not he sleeps with her is none of my business.

What I’m trying to say is we all have a choice. As adults we ought to make responsible choices. Of course, having an affair is also a choice but it’s an irresponsible one. So stay or leave, not stay and cheat!

Whenever I speak about this, I am reminded of a guy in the office.

He admitted to me a while back, out of the blue mind you, that his marriage is failing and he was filing for a divorce. The only thing that stopped him from doing it sooner was the fact that his wife was expecting their third child, a girl. They’ve always wanted a girl so her birth recently was a bittersweet experience for him. Everyone was hoping for him and wifey to patch things up but he doesn’t see that happening.

I respect this guy because he chose to get out of a dyeing relationship. It must have been a hard decision to make – to leave his young boys and pregnant wife and move out of the house – but he stuck by it. But he still did his duties as a husband. He accompanied her to perform umrah last year because he felt that a married woman should go to there accompanied by her husband.

Some people, including my husband, believes that a divorce destroys children. Stay for the sake of the children, they say.

I think that’s BS. I say staying under one roof with a spouse you no longer love for the children’s sake is more damaging to the kids. Staying apart without actually divorcing is just plain dumb. Staying in a failed marriage and having an affair is just downright irresponsible.

I spoke to my colleague Je*han and she said that if ever her marriage came to that, she prays that someone would give her a slap and tell her to get out of the whole mess. If my marriage fails, I hope someone would do that to me too.