Angry Yellow Bird

It is so YELLOW and so ANGRY!

Angry at those who haven't an ounce of brain! How did you guys slip past natural deselection?!

YELLOW bird is angry. YELLOW bird wants every PIG knocked out!

*GRRR*

Tummy "Exercise"

At the end of the yoga class I went for earlier, our very sexy (yea, I just have to include this description!) instructor made us do some abdominal crunches. Now, abs workout being a part of a yoga class is very normal, for core strength is indeed important for a lot of poses, especially the balance ones (along with back strength, arms strength, legs strength, etc., but let's leave that for a different post). Therefore, I didn't think much of it. After the crunches though, she told us to lie flat on our backs, and massage the tummy area. Although my thoughts instantly flew to the conversation I had with my roomee about slimming, I still had the notion that all that rubbing was just to relax the recently-cramped abdominal muscles.

Then she said, "Now, pinch your tummy!"

I just had to laugh because I thought of my tummy now being the piece of char siew to be treated without respect! Anyway, being an obedient student, I proceeded to pinch my fats lovingly...

"Pinch harder, until it hurts! Otherwise, the fats won't go away!"

I stopped short - pinch until it hurts? What, do I look dumb? I'm not going to hurt myself!

"This is what they do when you go for slimming massages... so you might as well do it yourself - for free..."

Gah! No way I'm going to pinch my fatty tummy until it hurts!

"Now, slap hard the area around your tummy..."

And I heard ferocious slappings *piak piak piak* all around the studio. These people really were abusing their fat-filled middles with a lot of enthusiasm. I respect their determination! Meanwhile, my tummy got some endearing pats from me.

I guess slimming centers exist for the likes of me, who find it impossible to inflict pain upon themselves, therefore needing a therapist to do it instead. Now, I can understand what my roomee went through. Crazy! If this is what it takes to have a totally flat tummy, I'd rather be content to live with *some* flab!

Guan Huai Fang Shi

Earlier in the evening, before I left for home, I dropped by someone's office to collect something. Music was softly playing and while he was telling me about all the work I need to get done (gah!), a distractingly familiar song began.

It was one of the very first songs that I'd performed on stage with Mee Mee and a few other girls. We were accompanied by a single guitarist, the arrangement exactly as the original. I never listened much to Chinese songs, therefore I had never heard of the song before I learned it. But once I'd learned it, I loved it. It's called, The Ways of Care.

关怀方式 (陈汉炜)

寂寞开在心事旁，随手种一些伤感，
不让星星来窥探，找个沉默的夜晚。

找个沉默的夜晚，不让星星来窥探，
随手种一些伤感，寂寞开在心事旁。

我的关怀方式是你无法察觉的悲凉，
只能在你不经意时才锁上我心房。
你往常的亲切友善是我今生的遗憾，
受伤后无悔的埋在不流露的脸上。

Out of the eight of us performing it, only one or two could actually read Chinese - the rest, including me, were all *ahem* bananas. So for the majority of us, the song was simply referred to as "Ji Mo", and the lyrics were:

Ji Mo Kai Zai Xin Shi Pang
Sui Shou Zhong Yi Xie Shang Gan
Bu Rang Xing Xing Lai Kui Tan
Zhao Ge Chen Mo De Ye Wan

Zhao Ge Chen Mo De Ye Wan
Bu Rang Xing Xing Lai Kui Tan
Sui Shou Zhong Yi Xie Shang Gan
Ji Mo Kai Zai Xin Shi Pang

Wo De Guan Huai Fang Shi
Shi Ni Wu Fa Cha Jue De Bei Liang
Zhi Neng Zai Ni Bu Jing Yi Shi
Cai Suo Shang Wo Xin Fang
Ni Wang Chang De Qin Qie You Shan
Shi Wo Jin Sheng De Yi Han
Shou Shang Hou Wu Hui Di Mai Zai
Bu Liu Lu De Lian Shang

The song is beautiful in its simplicity and the casual manner with which it is performed. We still love it very much, Mee Mee and I.

=)

Powder

This has the significance of being the first movie I'd sought out because it was the one the music for Sarah's No One Like You was composed for. It has long been a favourite of favourites of mine, and I thought a movie from which such a beautifully haunting piece came, must be beautifully haunting as well. Well, I've been known to be wrong countless times before, so what's once more?

I find the film pretty awful - read the synopsis here - for though I find the idea of a misunderstood, outcast, extraordinary individual with supernatural abilities very appealing and somewhat romantic, the execution of that idea is a letdown. For one, Powder, the protagonist, is extremely underdeveloped and his incredible intellectual ability, in my opinion, isn't exploited quite enough in the plot. The social worker lady - at least I think she's a social worker - is a rather shallow character and therefore inconsequential and forgettable. The sheriff - I don't even know why he's there - and the sub-plot about his wife (who I thought was comatose, but could apparently cry and sob - but couldn't open her eyes - when Powder was communicating her thoughts to her husband) is just weird. The other teenagers who bullied Powder for being different never actually learned to appreciate his being, or learned acceptance, which, although cliche, I feel is important at the conclusion of the movie. And the "love interest"... what love interest?

For the very first time indeed, I found myself focusing on the background music all-throughout the movie. I am definitely partial, but I don't think it is outrageous to say that the best thing about Powder is the soundtrack. For without, I probably wouldn't have sat through nearly two hours of it.

So, yea, I wouldn't recommend the film... but do listen to the song, if you can find it on YouTube =P

Please Respect My Fats

My wonderful Roomee and I were discussing ways to get slimmer and she told me that slimming centers are nasty places that we should never go to. At the very least, that one to which she went for a trial session, is. She started by saying she thought it would be spa-like inside, but it was like she paid to suffer.

"I was like - my fats, although are fats, are still a part of me... why wanna be so mean to them?"

I laughed right out, and couldn't stop. She went on:

"I was positive the lady who treated me had this idea that my tummy was a piece of char siew*! Raw one, of course..."

I don't know what exactly the lady did to her - probably pressed real hard - but it was definitely pain-filled.

"Like wanna make the meat tender that kind. Might as well bring out the tenderizer!"

By then, I was laughing so hard I'm sure I was burning quite some extra calories.

"See, your tummy isn't treated with respect, right? Crazy place!"

For obvious reasons I should not disclose the name of this "crazy place", but I can say, very assuredly, I am totally convinced I should never pay it a visit. Not that I would need it, after all that laughing... I feel tighter abs already (though I'm sure that's from the resultant cramps, but a little self-delusion every now and then doesn't hurt)!

*char siew = Chinese BBQ pork

Embracing Misery

This day is a significant one. Whether positively or otherwise, time will tell.

I remember the time when my weekdays were completely consumed by work, weeknights and weekends, if not also occupied by unfinished work, then by additional work I had imposed upon myself. It was the time when there was absolutely no room for leisure nor indulgence. Every moment spent watching TV, reading a novel or a magazine, writing tales, even sleeping, was laden with guilt and afterwards, regret. Bouts of despair, panic, helplessness, leading to depression were common, and afflicted me often. Misery, is what it was. Yet, is it possible that something in me revels in being miserable? How else, could I explain my tendency to make choices that I know will cause me to suffer? And yet...

Today marks the beginning.

We're taking the road less traveled by; let's hope we'll at least have some fun alongside the pain =)

Farewell, Cruel World

Weep for me when I am gone,
Think of me every so often,
Miss my voice, my lively conversation,
Miss my gait, my cheerful countenance;
Every now and then, give thought
To the delight and laughter I had brought,
However small, trifle and dispensable
Which gave you joy, even if just a little.

Weep for me when I am gone,
Weep a while, but do not mourn -
Dwell on the days when we were happy,
The days we felt our hearts could be free,
And their yearnings, longings so fulfilled
That they know not want nor guilt;
Dwell on the best times we had shared,
Or dwell not at all, should you be sad.

Farewell, indeed, all things earthly -
Isn't death grand, isn't it lovely?

Now, should this be the last post I write, those would certainly be the last words I'd leave the world. Well, not that I believe the world really cares. And why should it? Every one dies, so why not I, why not today, why not in two weeks? After all, I will be embarking on a journey so perilous, I was told the chances of surviving it, with the necessary safety gear in place, would be fifty percent.....

Right, it's just whitewater rafting. It's going to be my first time, but I doubt it's crazier than Bukit Tabur, and I highly doubt I should die attempting it.

I don't wish to die; at least, I wish it much less than that all the horribleness on earth would just drop off the face of it. That, which I have absolutely no control over. That alone made saying farewell to this world just so satisfying in itself. Ha!

Ode To A Lizard, Trapped In The Rim Of A Tyre

Upon first sight, I greeted thee
With a gasp, with disbelief -
It's a puzzlement, an oddity,
No reasons my mind can perceive
For the manner thou art caught
And the horror that must've been;
I wonder what it was thou sought -
Some curiosity, or some prey unseen?
That led thee right in there
Between the unforgiving metal,
Thy life which it would not spare
And thus, this venture thy final.

*RIP*