Ms. Weather

I'm heading to Batu Pahat, Johor tomorrow evening to do journalisty things.

Though it was supposed to be my day off, I do admit that I'm a little bit psyched, because as we all know, I'm not a real journalist til I've been to the scene where a disaster hit. And Malaysia has not been hit this hard for a long time now.

What's intimidating about the whole business is that I will actually be seeing — this thing that I've been describing for the longest time — how bad it actually is.

I don't know what the weather's going to be like, but a colleague has adviced me to bring an extra pair of shorts.

For those who don't know about it, read this.

It's not going to be a pretty picture.

So instead, here's a nice one I took at the Digital Mall in PJ.

Suku chabo

I am your typical cina woman, who will probably one day be your typical cina aunty.

Why? Because I am kiam siap.

I've never had a manicure or a pedicure.
I've never bought myself any beauty product over RM50.
I've never bought perfume - and quite frankly, can't stand most of them.
The only pair of Levis I've ever owned were hand-me-downs, so lets not talk about CK or DKNY.
I've not owned a dress since... oh, I don't know, when I was 10?
I fear Tiffany & Co, Chanel, Coach, Ferragamo and other such shops and their heavily mascara-ed retail people.
I save and save and have enough money in my bank account at present moment to pay my way to London and back - but I don't.
I don't even have a bloody passport.

Instead, I do the sensible, cina woman thing.

I give loans. I pay for 'necessities'. I save the rest to gather measly bank interest.

But still I stay up worrying about my monetary future.

Moobs says I'm better off than many.

But I can't help thinking that I could do better still (save more - for what purpose, I don't know).

Another cina woman trait.

Always dissatisfied.

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Glossary for the uninitiated:
Suku chabo (hokkien), means silly woman
Kiam siap (hokkien), means stingy
Cina (malay), means chinese

Just January

It's odd how yonks ago I'd declare a blogging hiatus but be back the next day, yet today I post for the first time this year without noticing it has been 22 days since I last wrote.


Things I've been thinking about so far for 2007:
> Going home - Feb 15 to March 3 baby!
> To blog less and live more - I get home later and later these days, and have hardly enough time to enjoy my dinner, let alone talk about eating it
> To fix problems more and get offended less - after all, the latter gets me nowhere
> People management - I don't shout at you, I deceive you into thinking that you want to work with me
> To work hard (but still go home by 7pm)
> Other options: is news - hard, serious, policy-changing news really my thing? I'm drained. Poo poo to serious stuff
> Understanding depression - it is not due to weakness of nature, but caused by fucked up brain hormones


Things that have made me want to just go lie down:
> I lost 50 bucks for no reason
> My pullout of 8 pages was reduced to a 4 page run-on issue this month due to lack of ads — and I feel responsible
> A meeting was had, and the pullout will be more commercial and stupid easy reading from now on.
> Dosh: Going home (RM400), family member got into a car accident and I had to give a personal loan (RM1,000), trip I'm planning for my entire family during CNY (RM1,000) - and Moobs wonders why I'm too stingy to get myself a proper hairdryer that doesn't eat my hair


Good things that have happened so far:
> I got my first front page byline *beams*
> I went on a trip to Langkawi and lugged home nine bottles of alcohol (not for myself mind you)
> Moobs bought me Nintendogs (it's a beagle and his name is Platipu)


"Every day is a winding road, I get a little bit closer."