Entries from April 2008 ↓

Last week, I had 2 iExperiences, both of which made me think of LB and his love for the Apple Mac. One was the iPhone - can anyone say drool-worthy? and the other was an ad in the papers for the iPod Touch.

I’ve been doing a bit of traveling lately for work and am mostly relying on 3G to access the net on the go. But I thought having wifi on the phone would be better won’t it? And then, I opened the newspaper and lo and behold! A half page ad on the iPod Touch!

Internet browsing! Email! Stocks! (not that I know how to deal with the latter)

I was smitten. It was iLove at first sight. So during the weekend, I took my brother, dressed down significantly and trooped off to the Apple store in Bangsar Village II.

First of all, let me rave on about the gadget. It was so slim but I did not expect the weight. It was heavier than it looked and heavier than I expected. The screen resembles the iPhone and basically, other than the phone and camera function, it is halfway there to being an iPhone.

I was super impressed by the way the screen switches to landscape mode when you flip the gadget on its side, and the way you can zoom in and out just by touching the screen. All very iGadget-y. I could see myself messing around with it in a wifi hotspot, reading my mails, updating my blogs (ahem!), surfing the net… but 8MB costs RM1399. Ouchies!

Now, for the rant. Don’t read if you don’t like rants. Continue reading →

Have you noticed how common stereotypes are here in Malaysia? Be a Chinese female up to a certain age and inevitably you’ll be tagged “Ah Moi”. Maybe its me, but I feel a certain bristling when called Ah Moi because:-

(a) No Chinese calls a girl Ah Moi unless that’s her name
(b) It is usually accompanied by a leer or jeer

Besides, I don’t call a Malay lady a “Siti” or an Indian lady a “Rani” so why call a Chinese an “Ah Moi”?

Anyway, racial ranting aside, I was thinking about this because I was called an “Ah Moi” this morning by the cleaning lady in the office building. I did not bristle, mainly because there was no leer or jeer to her friendly tone. To her I suppose it was a way of identifying myself to her. Which I suppose in the end, is the same for everyone else (leering and jeering aside).

Though how “Ah Moi” stuck as a reference or description for a Chinese female is beyond me. Anyone has any ideas?

I suppose I should be grateful I’m not known as an “Ah Lian”!

Go on then, tell me what went through your head when you saw the title of the post

No me hearties, nothing to do with matters of the heart. Today my musing is on the Olympic torch which is now passing through Malaysia on its way to China in time for the Opening of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on 8 August 2008. Don’t you “love” the Chinese fascination with the number 8?

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this issue once every 4 years - how do they keep the Olympic torch burning throughout its journey all over the world? We know that its started on the sacred Mount Olympus in Greece and the torch must be kept burning throughout the journey to the site of the Games.

But how is the sacred olympic flame kept burning on flights etc? You cannot have a naked flame on an airplane right? And you can’t transport the fire by boat because it takes too long. And, you can’t extinguish the sacred flame lit by the light of the sun and then relight it upon arrival at the new destination with a zippo lighter, yes?

It bugged me unusually more today than usual, so I did the next best thing. I googled it!

Here is my answer. They use a private plane and a miner’s lamp! And they even have backup flames!

Zeus would be so proud of them keeping the fire burning! Have a happy weekend all!

Yours fluffily

I was out for a meeting yesterday evening in the Wisma UOA II area of Kuala Lumpur. Anyone who knows the area will know that there are 2 open space car parks serving the buildings where office workers and visitors alike park their cars.

There was a torrential downpour yesterday as it happens in KL these days and this was the sight that greeted my eyes as I parked my car up on a slope.

The neighbouring car park was flooded! The water was rising and all the cars parked there were slowly and surely getting wet. I’ve had water enter my previous car before. It smells like wet dog for months afterwards and you never really ever get rid of the smell. That is, if you can even drive it after all the water has flooded the engine.

Like everyone else, I stood under my umbrella-ella-ella (!) and gawked and being a blogger, quickly whipped out my trusty phone camera (Oh! My camera phone! What shall I do without thee?!) and snapped a couple of pictures. Thankfully, I have a colleague who is fast cottoning on to the fact that any strange or not so strange event has me merrily snapping away so I was not rushed

Here is a before and after picture of the same car park at almost the same angle 2 hours later:-

The water subsided quickly and the rain had stopped 2 hours later. But the mess was not over for I saw many people staring at their cars in horror. I don’t know how many of them managed to get their cars drivable to go home that night. That red Satria was badly hit because it is so low. I’m sure the water was all the way in the car already and the electrics must have short circuited for the alarm was blaring away with lights flashing. The owner was also nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was still unaware of what happened.

I dread to think of the hassle with insurance and repair costs that will follow.

On another car related note, look at what I was tailing this morning on the way to work:-

Excuse me? How does one see out of the rear windscreen with that flower arrangement right in the middle of it all? Elaborate flower arrangements belong on a table or sideboard or at the very least, in a HOUSE!!

A car, no matter how comfy and how much it costs, is not a house. Isn’t there a law against blocking the view from your rear windscreen or something?

Following on from my fun with blogging yesterday, I’m happy to report that I did finally meet fellow blogger Pablopabla (who has professed secret ambitions of being a chef! And I have no doubt that he will be a good one too!) over a very Malaysian breakfast of roti canai and nescafe/milo.

The thing about meeting someone you have only ever joked with and communicated with online is that you build up this image in your head of how they are, how they look, how they should behave… and then you meet them in the flesh…

… and in this case, found that it was all true!

Pablo is truly pleasant, friendly and helpful and we spent a happy hour or so talking about blogging (a fount of information he is!!) and other more humdrum stuff. I’m eternally grateful for the fact that he did not once call me “Paris”!

Then, I got into work and found a very helpful email from LB whom I had contacted about some wordpress stuff. It was a case of “Elementary my dear Watson” and some time shifting, but something I’d never even thought about!

So blogging is fun and you do learn something new everyday!

On an unrelated note, it is 3.30pm and I’m suddenly craving for Sarawak Kolo Mee.

DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!