Appalled.

I saw this cat leashed to a cage at the apartment block where I live. It stayed there like that for about an afternoon. I’m pretty positive that its owners are the family who lives 2 floors beneath us. And yes, the owners were at home, indoors, dwelling at about 7 feet away from the cat and the cage.

I could empathize if you were walking your cat on a street and had to pop into the video rental store to return some DVDs, which would validate your need to leash your cat to the nearest tree or lamppost. But having it leashed to a cage, where it probably sleeps, and leaving it within close proximity outside of your own compound?

Unbelievable.

What also baffles me is that the building’s rules actually prohibit pets.

What gives?!

The Malaysian Cuisine

Here're the long requested and awaited shots of food from Malaysia. Some of you might not be used to images of food like these ones, but fear not! They're very succulent (uber fresh seafood!), highly palatable and, needless to say, extremely appetizing; there weren't enough of them to go around even after we had ordered extras.

Behold! The Steamed Clams at Taiping. These babies won't hit you as impressive until you've sucked them in from their shells together with bits of the rice wine sauce.
Refreshing!

Unlike Taiping, Penang or Kg. Sg. Batang, Cameron Highlands is hardly known for its culinary landscape, except for this snack, the Glutinous Chicken Rice. One mustn't underestimate this measly lump of sticky rice. They take up to 3 hours to prepare and less than 15 minutes to be sold out!

Squiggly octopuses at Kg. Sg. Batang. We didn't even look at the menu for this dish. We simply walked into the restaurant (more like a shack), saw what the other table was having and ordered the same thing. I don't even know what this dish is called. What I do know is that the octopuses were amazing with the peanut-chilli sauce!

When done or cooked right, the Oh-Jian (fried muscles with egg) is one of the most addictive dishes that you can find in South-East and East Asia. There is no secret to preparing this dish other than using fresh muscles and eggs (without over-cooking them); anything stale would conjure the yuck-monster, which should never be a part of any dish.

These unfriendly, alien looking fruits are known as durians. A durian connoisseur (my dad) would tell you that the goodness of a durian can be determined from the pungency and bitterness of the fruit. In other words, the more intensely these fruits display the signs of "I'm smelly and bitter tasting, please don't eat me," the more likely they will get eaten, savoured and appreciated in memory.

The durians' guts...which I don't even have a word for...anyone?

An Interview at the Career Fair

This little lady interviewed me at a career fair
For a position her boss had posted on customer service care
She sat down with a sigh, which I’m sure she must be tired
And told me how inept I was after skimming my application
I defended my opportunity by articulating all my experience
Surprised, she put on her glasses to re-read what I’ve written
“I agree that you have experience,” said she
“But your forte is in media coordination.”
“I’d like to work in media coordination," said I
“Since I’ve a BA in communication. ”
But recruiters in media coordination would never grant me employment
Since I’ve got no such experience
I’ve only worked in customer care and administration
By which she responded with a smile of a world class beauty queen
Said she’ll forward HR my CV and we’ll have to wait and see
I said "sure thing!" and thanked her for the time that she had spared
Then turned around to realized, who on earth gives a care?
Tough luck keeps twirling and prancing, orbiting in silly circles
Like a dog chasing its tail while the cat contently watches
Will I be a coordinator, a writer or something I'm meant to be?
As long as I remain alive, opportunity might just find me
Then again, reality bites, how more cliché could it get?
I shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn't and daren't count much on it.

Image photographed on 24, October 2010 at TO's Black Creek Village. Time speeds by with edgier than cutting edge bio-engineered turbo wings!

1st Posting from Home, Malaysia

The alley by the 譚公爺 Temple in Tapah, Aug 5th.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I’ve been back home. Things seem to be settling fine with a few ‘oooh’s and ‘ahhhhh?’s and a few minor glitches. It’s nice to be with the family again until they suggested the prospects of introducing me to a "husband". I plan to ignore that for as long as I can. Meanwhile, here’re some pics that I took on our week-long Penang-Taiping-Cameron road trip.

Batang, Aug 5th.

Batang, Aug 5th.

Sunrise in Taiping, Aug 6th.

Before the rain at Cameron Highland, August 8th

Am Rolling it Down Now: See You at the Other Side

The crowd gathered at dusk for the fireworks spectacle on Canada Day.

Having to work 2 jobs can be a pain in the behind:

• You commute more often than the regular 9-to-5-ers. Your are always rushing from one location to the next. The only time you get to eat lunch is when you’re riding the subway.
• You have more bosses to answer to and therefore, by definition, more crap to deal with.
• Occasionally, you need to sacrifice your weekends to secure your wages.
• You have to sit through the annual performance evaluation twice.

But, the good parts of working 2 jobs are:

• You could take vacation-time off at one place to go work at the other place to earn extra wages.
• You get to have 2 farewell parties, 2 goodbye cards signed by everyone and 2 goodbye presents.
• You get to have 2 sources of professional references when you look for a new job.
• You leave with contacts of co-workers who have become your friends and/or your Facebook friends at both places.

Things I shall miss most in Toronto:

• It goes without saying, my friends.
• The year-long non-stop arts and cultural scenes.
• The Toronto Public Library.
• The convenience of the TTC even though heaps of people complain about its failing services.
• Spring and fall.
• Camping out at the deck during the summer nights when my room is smothering hot!
• The Canadian currency.
• And many more :)

Many thanks to Monica and Sylvia for inviting me out to join them for the event, Jul 1st :)

The End of the Toronto Chapter

Christie Park, Jun 11th.


Submitted one of my resignations yesterday.
Submitted the other resignation today.

Leaving Toronto in 35 days.

Tim Burton Exhibit

Compliments to the curators and organizers:
A job well done with depicting the director's artistic progression in his film making career while keeping a strong emphasis on his idiosyncratic styles - the grin, frequent employment of Johnny Depp and stop motion animation techniques...etc.

The not-so-great part:
The $35 admission fee is too steep for the size of the exhibit, which is divided into approximately 10 sections and has an average viewing time of 45 minutes/person. It is as compact as it could get. Granted that the Tim Burton name is a brand/pop-art cultural representation by itself, it is still very much overpriced for a glimpse at a few of Burton’s learning pieces, art works, scribbled notes, film props and synopsis as well as less than a dozen sculptures by Rick Heinrichs. A lot more could have been shown given the repertoire of Burton's works but the organizers probably ran out of space.

Top 4 Tim Burton’s film moments (none of which were illustrated in the exhibit):
(1) Nightmare before Christmas - Kidnap Mr. Sandy (Santa) Claus musical scene
(2) Big Fish - the concept of a fish that cannot be caught as it shows itself in other forms other than a fish
(3) Beatle Juice - dinner over Banana Boat song scene
(4) Batman Returns - Suicidal penguins strapped onto candy-cane coloured explosives scene

What's yours?

April is Daffodil Month

The Canadian Cancer Society is fundraising again during this time of the year. Instead of going full frontal with live daffodil sales, which had been the tradition for the past 50 over years, the organization has adopted the Remembrance Day poppies approach and are selling daffodil pins, which are more practical for outreach in terms of cost efficiency, easy transportation and flower longevity. These plastic flowers are more likely to last a month long without wilting.

Since we inhabit a somewhat conspicuous consumerist society, at least according to people like Bourdieu and Baudrillard, please conspicuously support the fight against cancer and help promote cancer awareness by wearing a daffodil pin for the people you know whose lives have been/were touched by cancer. Here's to my aunt whom I’ve never met who had lost her battle to leukemia while she was in her thirties and to my grandfather who died from metastasized colon cancer. The last but not least, to my grandmother who followed him a few years after.

Quebec - l'hotel de glace

An out of the world experience on the account of cold as hell weather and expensive everything. I highly recommend the tour; the interior structure of the igloo as well as the intricately ice sculpted furniture and art pieces are worth checking out! On the other hand, not too keen on staying there for more than 1 night as it takes quite a bit of effort to unzip yourself out of the the mummy sleeping bag (which contains 4 layers of padding and fabric), get dressed in full winter gear, make a dash outdoors to the washroom located in a separate wing from the suites, then dash back to your room, undress, change into a new set of dry clothes and zip yourself back into the layers of the sleeping bag when nature calls.

Quebec City - la nourriture

Need I say more?

Vieux-Québec - la romance

A walk at night around the Old Quebec will reveal to you the romantic character that the city has. Period architecture, street lights with warm hues reflected on cobble-stone pavements, and lovers strolling in the arms of each other - that is , if you have a romantic half to go with. Otherwise, it is as good as getting drunk by yourself on the crate of vintage that your ex had returned you as a result of his new girlfriend’s fancies. Bloody depressing. He was is a jerk anyway. And if you happen to fall into the demographic that has neither ex nor boyfriend, well then, life sucks, doesn’t it? At least it has been decent enough to enable you health and some form of small wealth through pathetic wages, therefore an overall independence for the modern day women. My brain will stop whining in this entry here.

As the daytime are usually grey and jangly during this time of the year, the city grew alluringly hearty, romantic and beautiful as the night approaches. The bitterness tones down and the city glows as people warm themselves to supper and a glass of wine. I found such a transformation captivating. It carries some fragments of what used to be 'H210' and '12 Jln Hujan Gerimis 1,' but a lot more prettier, cleaner and atmospheric. All in all, Quebec City is definitely a place that I’d like to visit again in the spring. Hopefully, with the winter blues gone, it won't be as depressing the next time.

Québec City - le shopping

Dear passengers, bienvenue a Québec. We have touched down at le Vieux-Québec, also known as the Old Quebec City. Here, you will find the oldest shopping district in North America. Please ensure to empty your wallets and max out your credit cards by the end of your stay. We wish you a pleasant trip towards bankruptcy and thank you for flying with Don’t You Wish You Were Richer Ha Ha Serves You Right Airline. We hope that you will fly with us again soon.

Attention! All salute to Sir "GUTS!" Arr!

Let’s say that one evening in the dead of winter, you crashed into a bar, met a fascinating dude and shared a few drinks with him. The two of you drank enough to get drunk, drunk enough to feel invincible and invincible enough to chart an imaginary voyage on a dug-out-canoe, departing from Victoria, BC, Canada, destination: Sydney, Australia. Hammered as both of you were, you guys probably figured that it is naive to journey across half the planet simply by rowing a canoe and had therefore decided to put in some sails to make it more efficient. The next day after you and your newly-found buddy had sobered up from the booze, would you still honour this awesome plan that was madly devised the night before?

Norman Luxton and Jack Voss met on a somewhat similar encounter and they did made their journey on that canoe. The upper hand that they had was that Jack was a seasoned sailor albeit his tendencies to be notorious. Their journey came nothing close to a smooth sailing one. Not only did they endured the weather’s temperament, they also survived numerous ship wrecks (in this case, canoe wrecks), threats and attacks from various marine animals and pirates, almost being trapped into an arrange marriage with a native princess (in one of their island stops), immigration and landing permit issues as well as the worsts of each other. Both gentlemen barely made it to Sydney alive. They were both hospitalize shortly after arrival. Upon recovery, Norman did not join Jack on the canoe ride back home.

The Pictures Paint a Way Better Picture than What My Vocab. Could II: Down by the Valleys

Bow River & Valley, Jan 1, 2011

Lake Vermillion, Jan 2, 2011