Double standard

Theresa (my colleague) and I went for lunch @ far east. We missed the chicken rice so much! We made a trip downtown cos she apparently had to collect her MTM for her eyes. (She's totally obsessed about her eyes. Mine seriously look worse than hers! Right possum?) Forgot to mention MTM is freaking expensive. Goodness.

Anyways, went around and window shopped abit. Saw this shop which had loads of nice vintage dresses and pants. We got into the shop and there were 3 ang mos inside. Young twenty plus ang mos, getting excited over the dresses in the shop. Undressing brazenly just to try out the stuffs. The salesgirl was basically making herself available around them, introducing this and that, while they were trying at the 2 miserable fitting rooms.

While Theresa was trying on a dress, I saw one hanging on the wall. Queried the salesgirl if there were any sizes for that. She gave me a look and told me the price was 139 or 179 bucks. She was giving me that look which says, "if you are interested to buy it then I will show it to you". I felt offended since I hadn't asked for the price in the first place. But isn't it bad enough how she can judge if I was going to buy just by looking at my face or the attire I am wearing (I am not lok kok, probably just plain and not stylo enough)! I would be laughing my head off if the ang mos bought nothing in the end!


I saw a top in the end (and I checked the price this time) and asked if I could try it on. Immediately she motioned me to a mirror (at the shop entrance!) and said I would have to try it with my shirt on, cos they (the ang mos) are using the dressing rooms. At that moment, I felt abit wierd when she made that comment, because I will wait, and there were 2 dressing rooms. And one is free at the moment. It was when I realised she had volunteered the rooms just for their highnesses. (I have nothing against them, seriously.) And please imagine trying at the door, how pathetic does that look?!

Goodness, I cannot understand if that is the way you should be treating your fellow comrades. I've constantly been commenting how locals are being treated as second class citizens the moment they are compared next to someone from the west, and in our own country. It's like you are being discriminated in your own motherland! Totally absurd, but evident in our everyday lives.

I do understand the notion of having to be polite to tourist and guests so as to make them feel welcome, but please, the people who will be constantly buying from you will be the locals. So please be nice!

We walked for a few shops and realised we got almost the same sub-standard service from everywhere. Maybe it's just far east, but seriously even if I had the budget, I'm not going to buy a 200 bucks dress from you and getting a way below tolerable service attitude!

Got so pek cek after the whole thing. Wished I told her off right in front of everyone. Perhaps that would get the fume off my chest.

I hate being disciminated. Gross.

Perpetual Excitement

I've been so excited this whole week planning the LA trip. Every message from wy on msn is discussing where we should go and what we could do when I reach on 19 July. There are of cos the down parts during discussion when we (only me actually,) realise the tight budget we are facing. The cash that I am bringing over is a miserable sum. But we have gotta try to make full use of the time there. Which means less shopping, but perhaps more feasting for the eyes!

Just confirmed the hotels which we will be staying at Las Vegas and Yosemite. Las Vegas would be Treasure Island (the one featured in Miss Congeniality!!! - www.treasureisland.com), and yosemite would be an inn called Narrow Gauge Inn (www.narrowgaugeinn.com)

As mentioned, the super down part of the trip is the money outs. The car rental is gonna cost us a bomb! Especially since we are under 25, and the rates would be upped 25 bucks (USD!!!)per day. I am also quite apprehensive about the road trip since it's the first time I'm travelling alone (on air) and driving around in a totally new area! The stories of murders and robberies along highways are really scary!

This is the tentative itinery we came out:

19 Jul - Reach LA
20 Jul - Yosemite
21 Jul - Yosemite
22 Jul - Anaheim
23 Jul - Disney
24 Jul - ?
25 Jul - Las Vegas
26 Jul - Las Vegas
27 Jul - Las Vegas
28 Jul - LA
29 Jul - Head home

As you can see the time is pretty limited. I'm only staying 2 nites in Las Vegas, which is very very short (according to my colleagues). A colleague of mine stayed for a week and said there was so much she didn't see! Another attraction I really want to see is the shows at Las Vegas! The shows are super ex! We will be catching Phantom of the Opera (I insisted) and one of the production by Cirque Du Soleil. On average, they cost about 100 each (USD again). Freak, never watched a production more than 100 sing, and here we are paying 160 sing per show. And it's the cheapest! *Pui*

The budget is scary (all in USD):
Narrow Gauge Inn - $160 + $40 (entrance)
Treasure Island - $215
GPS - $260
Petrol - $300
Food - $500
Shows - $400
Car Rental - $500
Total - $2375 (S$3800)

And the fees does not include any amount spent in LA. *Pui*

Alright, 21 more days to my trip! Counting down everyday! Haha, or maybe I just can't wait to stop working. Hohoho.

Kids!

Went to my granny house today. Was goofing around and playing with baby Kai-ian (17 months) when suddenly I caught a glimpse of his big brother, Keanne (5 yrs), poking his head out of the toilet door. Immediately, I yelled over and asked what he was doing with that sneaky look in his eyes. Kai-ian had a habit of playing with the water in the toilet bowl so I thought it could have been a family habit. (He thinks it's a play pool!)

He gave me a look and rolled his eyes (yes, he rolled eyes) and told me he wasn't up to anything funny but had just shitted. Then I gave him a look that says "huh?". He confirmed my horror by saying he needs someone to wipe his butt.

The maid was busy with something so I shouted for my mom for help. Then she said just wipe. I walked into the toilet with his tiny shorts and undies sprawled all over the toilet. Stared at him hoping for some advice. And he responded just like the Uncle in him. (His nickname is Uncle...)

He said, " Just wipe my butt.." I was horrified. I finally did the grotesque swipe on his small behind. He stared at me still. I thought we were done. Then he said," my mummy washes my butt". I felt horrified. He actually came down from the toilet seat and pointed out the hose for me.

So I asked him, " How does your mummy wash? Does she wash like this?" ( I was doing the action of rubbing my hands on the backside) And he nodded his head. After the hideous encounter, he came down from the seat and said now's the time to wash his hands (and mine too!).

After that, he commented in an uncle-ly manner. "You know my mummy only splashes my backside with water when she washes, you're different".

Gross.

Chocolates

They make you sad and happy all at the same time.

It's an oxymoronic treat.

The chocs are almost finishing.

=(

Daily rantings

I believed if someone were to ask me what is the most sia suay thing I ever did, I would have problems remembering. Such things happen to me almost everyday, and they have become such a commonality, I would feel wierd if I didn't get them.

Take for example, I slipped on my way to work near Amoy. You those those slips where you get caught offguard momentarily, just in time to catch hold of your footing in that split second. You'll feel funny about it because right at that moment, if you facial expression was in slowmo, it will look disgustingly hilarious. I laffed at myself after that.

Oh, and I choked on fish bone yesterday.

Plus, my granny thought I had a bald patch on my head when it was the blond area of my hair. I am officially a redhead now.

Bad thing that happened, I am going to shift my desk to the top floor, and that means no more possums having fun in the office. That is really sian. Theresa is someone I look forward to spending time in the office. So much fun. =( I sound like a les!

Bummer.

The Essence of Life

My dad was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. It was good that he's in, at least the doc had a chance to observe and find out the reason his body seems to be malfunctioning lately.

He had been having severe headaches, with the tendency of heartburn. He said he can't sleep without sleeping pills, and lying down often leaves him breathless. Often enough, he actually felt he was losing it. We were worried of cos, but his stubborn nature didn't allow us to coax him into the clinic. Finally, he gave in when he realised he could not sleep without the help of pills. Call me sadistic, but to me, his admittion was good news.

My dad got admitted about the same time as my colleague's mom. Contradictingly, both have very different outcome. My dad is OK, perhaps the condition was due to stress over work, or maybe his spinal problem. The news my friend got was much much worse. Two days ago, she mentioned they found a lump in the mum's intestine, and that needs an op to remove it. Today, the doc said it is cancer and it has spread to the lungs and liver. To me it was a shock. An illness can be inside for so long and the person is ignorant about it. The mum doesn't know she has cancer, cos the children knew she cannot cope with reality. She has only 6 months to live, and with chemo, max 2 years. If she doesn't react to chemo, it's back to 6.

I ran a google on her condition, and this is what it says. Stage 4 colon cancer will usually be treated with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, lengthen life, and improve the quality of life. Sounds politically correct, but you realise it is an optimistic way to say that death is the only route to go.

I feel super sad when I heard the news. Came to the office after a day out with wenyao and saw her eyes red. Think floodgates opened when I fingered an OK sign to her for response. I wasn't feeling especially great today since wenyao will be leaving the next day. Then I came to office and heard the news. Imagine this person who is struggling is my dad. I seriously dunno what to do.

During lunch with wenyao, he was telling me his take on life. He said life is something to be grasp but something not to be held on too dearly. You treasure life so you try out new stuffs, take the road less travelled, challenge yourself continuously, learning new things. If you treasure life by protecting it all the time, avoiding new experiences because you are afraid to lose your life, you are wasting it.

It came to a point when I realise people don't treasure life until someone tells you how much time you have left. I'm not saying my friend's mum doesn't treasure hers. I'm just saying if someone tells me I have 1 more year to live, I'll probably try my best to do more in that 1 year than what I tried in my previous 23 years.

I'm not sure what I want to get out of this. It's just that sometimes I tried protecting myself too much I am wasting my life. The thought that the time I wasted could be somebody's extra time irks me. I feel suddenly life is so short. I perhaps used up 1/3 of my life now. But it's because of the thinking that I'll probably die at age 75, which leaves me complacent about the time I have. I guess it's not so for others.

39 days later

Woah..haven't been blogging for 39 days. But I guess nothing much happened within this period. Job's the same, person getting abit wacko (my colleagues can vouch that), daily momentum getting abit slower, working hours abit later. Haha. And the thing I noticed, blogs are updated monthly. Less people are blogging recently, is it age related? Or stress related? Or simply can't be bothered. But seriously, why do people blog? esp when it's the few miserable bones reading it. Hah.

Yeah, typing an entry to make sure I still keep my a monthly habit (at least)!

Well, job's still the same. Bleah.