Introducing Mikaela

Despite the tough-handling and getting-used-to,
I am in love. My dream bike, finally, a reality.

- M.A.

That Night

It's been three days since that incident.
I won't go into details but all I can say is,
if I had the means, the jurisdiction, the ability,
I'd have that drunk bastard mutilated and murdered.

Don't tell me what's done is done.
Don't tell me it's over. It isn't over.

Keeping grudges only eats us up inside, yes.
But within that split second, only a moment to react,
when you see your loved one bleeding and hurt,
while you're helpless and unarmed,
What would you have done?

Would you have just sat there and watched?
Or would you do something about it,
regardless of how futile your attempt may be?

Wouldn't you have the same murderous intent?

- M.A.

Randomification. If That's Even a Word.

I have a lot of things on my mind lately. Been wanting to write about each one of these trains-of-thought before a rail system sets up in my brain. However, I can't seem to form more than a few sentences for most of them. So, as my occasional favourite, here they are, in miniscule, random, bite-sized, comprehensible pieces.

1. I found that when you get overly excited about something, something else usually happens to thwart your plans, or foul-up your mood. As my bestie says it, perhaps there is a reason why the older generation keeps telling us not to be over-excited about anything.
   
   
2. Don't you realise that the first month to a new job is probably similar to the last month on the job? Case-in-point -
   
   First Month on The Job: You are nice to your boss, your boss is nice to you, because you both are just starting out a healthy working relationship and neither wants to jeopardise anything. You do your job enthusiastically to prove your worth. You wake up and get to work with a certain joyful gait that makes everything so rosy, because you're employed.
   
   Last Month on The Job: You are nice to your boss, your boss is nice to you, because you probably can't stand the sight of each other, but would not want to risk ending everything on a bad note for fear you may professionally bump into each other again someday. You do your job enthusiastically simply because you want the last thoughts the company has of you to be positive. You wake up and get to work with a certain joyful gait that makes everything so rosy, because you're leaving for some place better in a few weeks, or you just can't stand the awkward over-niceness. This, is of course, my general opinion and may not apply to every case.
   
   
3. Has any of you heard of the term called: collateral damage? I'm sure some of you have. But to the design geeks alike out there, why do you think, for some unknown reason, do we call our creative pieces, collaterals? Makes you wonder doesn't it?
   
   
4. A old friend's mum once told me: To prevent rapidly depleting memory loss, we should not succumb to forgetfulness, we should always try to remember the things we forget, even if we need to take a few minutes (or more) to sit still and focus to remember them. I put it into practice over the years, and I have to say, it is effective. Maybe not as quickly as effective as you may like, but effective nonetheless. And today, I remembered something I forgotten for a while, and it felt great! Oh, since we're at the topic, I notice we usually tend to remember things when we're halfway into sleep too. But by that time, we're usually too lazy to get up to note it down, because if we do, it would take a while to feel sleepy again. Funny how our body works...
   
   
5. Song of the week, meaning to say, it's been playing in my head quite often: Layla by Eric Clapton. Layla... You've got me on my knees, Layla... I'm begging darling please, Layla... Darling won't you ease my worried mind... And of course the song Marc dedicated to me, A Promise I Make by Dakota Moon. -swoon-
   
   
6. I have a rumbling in my tummy. It could either mean,
   
   A: I am nervous (about God-knows what, I'm not expecting any nervousness today, it's pretty drab from here on end...)
   
   B: I'm excited about something (maybe it's the post-excitement of my cancelled date with bestie as she was down with a fever, this morning, the excitement was building up, and then got thwarted, refer to case point number 1) or
   
   C: I just needed to do the number 2. It's really funny, no wait, it's not that funny when you get the same feeling when in three different situations. Sometimes you gauge wrongly and end up doing or saying the wrong things. Trust me, I've been in more than one of those situations. Erk.
   
   
7. I need a new phone. The present one is really bad with the network, keeps sending me 3 replica messages with every other message I get (say for example somebody wishes me Good Morning, I'd be getting the same message from them another two or three times... what a way to prove a point), but the senders only sent it once. Oh, and don't start with me on this one, I have been getting frequent complaints that whenever people call me, they need to call a few times before they can hear the ringing tone instead of the operator saying:
   
   This number is currently not available. Please, try again later.
   
   I've been with SingTel for EIGHT years, and so far, it is the first time this is happening. So hopefully, since I have NO PLANS WHATSOEVER (hehe...) tomorrow, I shall go scout for a phone, for real this time. Probably not gonna get the Samsung PDA I wanted so much earlier on, but I don't mind settling for less. Mental note: Bark SingTel for that long-awaited upgrading voucher again.
   
   
8. Marc and I got couple rings yesterday! It was so corny. -seriously, laugh out loud peeps- BUT! I LOVE IT! Love it love it love it. Just because it's corny, and sweet, and high school-ish, and funny all at the same time! We even got our names engraved. I know!!! How cute is that?! His name on mine and mine on his. -seriously rolling around laughing now- Oh, this is not the first. We've bought each other a lot of other corny, funny stuff throughout the time we know each other, racing cars keychains, little mushroom characters, tasmanian devil plush toy, and the list goes on. And I love each and every one of the gifts.
   
   But the best part about this couple rings thing is, it makes me feel 18 again.
   
   Ah, the thrill of luuurrrvvveee... Heeheehee...
   
   
9. I'm going for a one week break in August but still have yet to decide on a place. Worst come to worst, I'd probably bunk in at my brother's place in JB, but not too keen on that one because I'm looking for a break, not tending to 5 screaming kids made up of my nephews and nieces. No offense to them, they're lovely, but a break should be a break. So, any suggestions? Please bear in mind I may be alone. Well, Marc's schedule is erratic as always, so you never know. Heh.
   
   
10. I'm at point number 10 and trying to remember everything that I wanted to write about... -scratches head- Oh yeah! I was doing this rush ad earlier today and had to quickly download relevant images from Getty for placeholder sake... Check out the unorthodox stop sign at the bottom... Hehe...

- M. A.

Playing With Fire

Just who are you?
No, no, really, who ARE you?

You're treading on thin waters and playing with fire.
This ISN'T funny anymore.

It was questionable to begin with,
it got cute the next day, but the joke is over.

And if you're not joking, this is insane.
There's only so much desperation one could have.

If I really knew you, I hope I have the guts to break your neck.
And if I don't, please, just go, you'd only end up hurting yourself.

- M.A.

Clueless, Redefined

"...when ignorant, isn't even the word to use anymore."

I took reference and inspiration
from a girlfriend's blog and decided,
I too, have some things, in the past
few months, I failed to say out loud.

1. I do not think the look suits you.
2. Why do I always have to go over?
3. Moron.
4. I. am. NOT. a. toy.
5. I don't find that funny.
6. Excuse me? Did you just slap that thing?
7. It's not them, it's you.
8. I love you, more than you'll ever know...

oh man, what a sob story.

- M.A.

Seeking Understanding in Everyday Things

I honestly do not know why I gave the title such a title.
If you know what I mean. Duh.

anyway, I'm getting kinda tired,
so I'll let the imagery and the
little captions do all the talking.















my attempt at making colourful kueh.
which turned out well enough to look at and to eat.
now, all gone. haha!



















this baby I lurve! Marc's adorable newphew.
on 2nd Syawal.















sneak peek into the bachelorette pad.
I clean my room after raya.















this bloody cost me over 3 bucks!
talk about daylight robbery!



till next time...

-M.A.

Uh-Oh

Glory glory Man United!

Oops, I forgot.
I'm a Liverpool supporter.
Damn! It's difficult okay.
Not with Marc drilling into me
the 101 on his team's great points.
(Que: Roll eyes.)

Okay I admit,
I may not be a strong supporter of any team, really.

But I just love the game as it is,
even if my understanding of it may not
be as far-stretched out as Marc's is.

And today's game was awesome.
(Despite the fact that I was really tired
and snoozed a couple of times.)

And as the first line suggested,
Man. U won 2-0 to Chelsea.

Sorry to my darling Aludra,
I have nothing against Chelsea.
I'm sure you're disappointed,
but really, they put up a pretty good fight.

So kudos to that!

While I try to figure out where my favour stands,
you all have a good night. Or morning.

-M.A.

The Last 10 Days. Or So...

Second entry for the day.

Okay, so it's been officially 10 fasting days.
I'm hoping to get through the whole of Ramadhan
this year without having to get that red call.

I reckon my faithful readers here (which aren't much, really)
would probably be thinking I've abandoned this blog.
Come to think of it, cobwebs are forming.

No!!! Fret not, Tish comes back with another entry. Haha!

How much lamer can you get.

In anyways, last trip to Tekka market was pretty uneventful,
other than the fact that I got dubbed "first-timer" to the market,
simply because of my love for capturing anything and everything.

Pfft!~

I love this particular potato tomato shot.















Last weekend I went to Marc's for break of fast,
and believe it or not, one of the cats there decided to uh...

...do a display of the full monty, cat-style?





Ooops alright!

Speaking of cats,
the resident cat at
the nearest LRT station
passed away last week.

And how sweet of
a person to display
the following sign...




It says:

Dear friends & neighbours,

Our dear cat has gone to heaven.
Please do not leave any food here.
Thank you.















Sweet innit!!
Even came with a pink carnation and paper hearts!

So then, yesterday was spent basically with Marc,
after all, don't get to see him on weekdays at all most times.

He sent me home but at one point my heels hurt so bad.
See, my Mary Janes weren't made for long-distance walking.

So, I took it off, and walked barefoot for about 400m,
which is approximately the distance from the major road
bus stop to my place. The feeder takes too long to arrive.















That's Marc's Adidas Bounce sneakers by-the-way.
I'm so jealous. Pfft.

I got nothing much else to update anymore,
the pictures did most of that anyway,
so here's a parting shot. The sky on 1st Ramadhan.















Not bad for a camera-phone yeah? Heh...

-M.A.

Bintan 2007

I realise I've yet to blog here about
my company trip to Bintan in August.

Lemme just try and give an accurate
and short summary.

With this picture!















Heh!

Well basically it's pretty much self-explanatory.
Bintan is really a lot like Sentosa, only in another country.

The stuff isn't cheap, the currency is in SGD,
but the beaches are perfect. Just look at it!















This place is good to go, for corporate events.
Where it costs much less, you get chauffeured around,
have your own personal tour guide at your beck and call,
and it's free for the mere mortals in the office.

But nonetheless, still good to go for a honeymoon or to relax.

Oh and by the way, I got to meet some hot French guys too. Haha!

- M.A.

Genuine Query

seriously now,

is it just me,
or do people screw up even more
the minute we praise them?
how pathetic is that?

and please don't bother me about capitalizations.

-M.A.