I am finding it harder to write after moving back to Penang. Time continues to be the disruptive agent.
Despite my personal resolution to reincarnate my blogging life – turn it into something impressive like an art of Da Vinci, I am still stuck with a cheap free xml layout I grabbed from somewhere. Family commitment and work obligations continue to be an obstruction to my desire to write, and the current availability of Streamyx and Astro in my house doesn’t help much. FYI, the Astro came with free decoder and free installation – I found the offer too tempting to turn down.
Re-associating with my old Penang buddies have given my inspiration a new leash of life, stories were developing rapidly in my mind, but somehow, these stories – I couldn’t breathe life into them. Life is moving with exponential speed, and every time I want to sit down and write, something else comes along.
And thus, before I am completely and thoroughly over with my lover of some sort –I called it the spirit of writing, I manage to steal some time in office to write a few words. This is by no mean a great loveletter, and far from even a loveletter, but it is a message – a message that I still remember and once when time is merciful to me, I will come up with something. Till then, maybe I should find some time to create a facebook account 1st.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Durian FestMess @ Subang Parade
Eat Durian for Charity! Sound like fun, right?
But in this world ruled by Murphy’s Law, whatever sounds like fun would always end up in a disastrous stunt.
When I heard about the charity event organized by this Children Wish Society, I was thrilled. Eat-all-you-can durian fest – and you only have to donate only 10 bucks. What’s more – you are doing a charity, dude!
Obviously though, none of my colleagues around me is interested in charity or durian. Too heaty, some said. Those same buggers never said too heaty when I introduce some hot chicks to them. Two-faced idiots! Anyway, in the end, I managed to get one of the nicer colleagues to go with me.
Since the event was supposed to start at 11am, we met around 11:30 and arrived at venue (Subang Parade’s LG compound) around 11:45.
I don’t smell any durian, my companion said when we approached the crowd. This does smell fishy.
And she was right, as always. We were told the durians haven’t arrived yet. Please come back in 12:30, one of the volunteers told us.
What? My companion uttered in a semi-curse tone. Apparently, she had only eaten only some cookies for breakfast and was saving her stomach for this event.
Cursing our luck (and the organizer - silently), we were forced to walk around aimlessly in Subang Parade for another 45 minutes. I tried to go to this optical store famous for its cheap contact lenses – located next to Toys’R’us but found that the store had been replaced by a furniture shop. My companion ended up buying a short pant she needed but didn’t really like in a sports chainstore.
Come 12:30 we proceeded to the venue again, my companion and my stomach both complaining along the way. There, we registered and was given a receipt for our donation – which says Received by Durian Fest.
This time the unmistakable durian smell was in the air. But to our agony, smell is the only thing we could do, as the organizer had invited a few VIPs to the stage to say a few words to commemorate the event – before letting us feed on the durians.
Up on the stage, the Subang Jaya assembly woman Hannah Yeoh was called to give a speech. This was actually the 1st time I saw her, whom I was told was a former-classmate of one of my colleagues and married to an Indian dude. Chicks who are willing to go interracial always strike my fancy, so I listen to what she had to say.
You know why you are here? She opened her speech in a confident well-rehearsed tone. You are here to do charity. You know who this charity is for? It is for Children Wish Society. You know what this society is doing?
Her way of talking was definitely interesting. It always starts with a question and it answered itself. Interesting but annoying. Like a few aspiring bloggers there who keep on taking pictures with their cameras. I found myself trying my best to avoid being photographed by these amateurs – I don’t want to end up on their blogs with their watermark stamped on my stupid face.
YB Hannah was followed by YB Roziah, no idea who she is. This YB Roziah also has a special way to make her speech interesting; she would always start her sentences with: “The bottom line is…”
Half an hour passed and we still couldn’t get our hands on the durians. On the stage, the VIPs are having a durian eating contest, the one where they couldn’t eat with their hands. You can compete with the VIPs in another session later if you donate another 10 bucks.
When the feeding times finally started at around 1:10pm, people broke towards the durian hordes. Like a herds of hungry animals, they pushed and shuffled their way through. The king of fruits was grabbed greedily – despite its thorny surface. There were supposed to be a group of volunteers who helps people crack open their durian, but there were like only 3 or 4 of them and 3 or 4 hundreds of us.
I ended up with 2 unopened durians on my hands. My companion and I found a quiet corner and sat there to figure out how to open the durian. She managed to get some rambutans and mangosteens along the way, so we ate those 1st.
I tried to use my house key on the durian shell, but didn’t get anywhere. Luckily a friendly uncle brought some wood opener; (he must a pro to bring along those) and he helped us with it. I went to get another durian when we finished ours and at the 1:45, the family besides us announced that all the durians were gone.
Imagine. Totally wiped out in around half an hour. And this charity even were supposed to run till 7pm.
The quality of the durians was nothing to shout around. We couldn’t finish ours so we handed it to the family with hungry kids beside us. Some of the durians are not even ripe yet, the mother from the family beside us said. The rambutans also were not really fresh, some of the flesh were watery when I peeled the skin away.
Let’s find somewhere to wash our hands and mouths, I suggested to my companion, who were more than willing to comply. On our way to my car, she said next time we should have just gone to SS2 to eat durians.
I nodded. At least it’s for charity, we know we had done something good today, she added – perhaps as a way to soothe our disappointment.
Me – I don’t know which is more disappointing – the durians or the lack of goodness I feel even after I donated 10 bucks for charity.
But in this world ruled by Murphy’s Law, whatever sounds like fun would always end up in a disastrous stunt.
When I heard about the charity event organized by this Children Wish Society, I was thrilled. Eat-all-you-can durian fest – and you only have to donate only 10 bucks. What’s more – you are doing a charity, dude!
Obviously though, none of my colleagues around me is interested in charity or durian. Too heaty, some said. Those same buggers never said too heaty when I introduce some hot chicks to them. Two-faced idiots! Anyway, in the end, I managed to get one of the nicer colleagues to go with me.
Since the event was supposed to start at 11am, we met around 11:30 and arrived at venue (Subang Parade’s LG compound) around 11:45.
I don’t smell any durian, my companion said when we approached the crowd. This does smell fishy.
And she was right, as always. We were told the durians haven’t arrived yet. Please come back in 12:30, one of the volunteers told us.
What? My companion uttered in a semi-curse tone. Apparently, she had only eaten only some cookies for breakfast and was saving her stomach for this event.
Cursing our luck (and the organizer - silently), we were forced to walk around aimlessly in Subang Parade for another 45 minutes. I tried to go to this optical store famous for its cheap contact lenses – located next to Toys’R’us but found that the store had been replaced by a furniture shop. My companion ended up buying a short pant she needed but didn’t really like in a sports chainstore.
Come 12:30 we proceeded to the venue again, my companion and my stomach both complaining along the way. There, we registered and was given a receipt for our donation – which says Received by Durian Fest.
This time the unmistakable durian smell was in the air. But to our agony, smell is the only thing we could do, as the organizer had invited a few VIPs to the stage to say a few words to commemorate the event – before letting us feed on the durians.
Up on the stage, the Subang Jaya assembly woman Hannah Yeoh was called to give a speech. This was actually the 1st time I saw her, whom I was told was a former-classmate of one of my colleagues and married to an Indian dude. Chicks who are willing to go interracial always strike my fancy, so I listen to what she had to say.
You know why you are here? She opened her speech in a confident well-rehearsed tone. You are here to do charity. You know who this charity is for? It is for Children Wish Society. You know what this society is doing?
Her way of talking was definitely interesting. It always starts with a question and it answered itself. Interesting but annoying. Like a few aspiring bloggers there who keep on taking pictures with their cameras. I found myself trying my best to avoid being photographed by these amateurs – I don’t want to end up on their blogs with their watermark stamped on my stupid face.
YB Hannah was followed by YB Roziah, no idea who she is. This YB Roziah also has a special way to make her speech interesting; she would always start her sentences with: “The bottom line is…”
Half an hour passed and we still couldn’t get our hands on the durians. On the stage, the VIPs are having a durian eating contest, the one where they couldn’t eat with their hands. You can compete with the VIPs in another session later if you donate another 10 bucks.
When the feeding times finally started at around 1:10pm, people broke towards the durian hordes. Like a herds of hungry animals, they pushed and shuffled their way through. The king of fruits was grabbed greedily – despite its thorny surface. There were supposed to be a group of volunteers who helps people crack open their durian, but there were like only 3 or 4 of them and 3 or 4 hundreds of us.
I ended up with 2 unopened durians on my hands. My companion and I found a quiet corner and sat there to figure out how to open the durian. She managed to get some rambutans and mangosteens along the way, so we ate those 1st.
I tried to use my house key on the durian shell, but didn’t get anywhere. Luckily a friendly uncle brought some wood opener; (he must a pro to bring along those) and he helped us with it. I went to get another durian when we finished ours and at the 1:45, the family besides us announced that all the durians were gone.
Imagine. Totally wiped out in around half an hour. And this charity even were supposed to run till 7pm.
The quality of the durians was nothing to shout around. We couldn’t finish ours so we handed it to the family with hungry kids beside us. Some of the durians are not even ripe yet, the mother from the family beside us said. The rambutans also were not really fresh, some of the flesh were watery when I peeled the skin away.
Let’s find somewhere to wash our hands and mouths, I suggested to my companion, who were more than willing to comply. On our way to my car, she said next time we should have just gone to SS2 to eat durians.
I nodded. At least it’s for charity, we know we had done something good today, she added – perhaps as a way to soothe our disappointment.
Me – I don’t know which is more disappointing – the durians or the lack of goodness I feel even after I donated 10 bucks for charity.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Cinema O Rama
The first year of my primary school – I managed to claim the first spot in my school. I couldn’t remember very well how I managed to achieve that, but because of that – my father decided to reward me by taking me to a cinema.
It was the first time I ever been to a cinema and the movie that was showing at the time was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The cinema itself was a run-down Cathay (we pronounced it KokTai in Hokkien) in our small town of BM. Back in those times, we still do not have Cineplex, so the cinema was an old-fashioned building with no popcorn stalls and an old hunchback ah pek is the one who shows you your seat with torchlight. I also heard that the chair will snap your ass up if you are not careful.
My first impression was – the cinema was a cold and creepy place. My father bought a pack of corn crackers for me and we sat like 3 row from the back.
And then the movie began. The giant screen flickered to life and I was completely swept away. Somehow I got the amazing feeling of being swallowed by the screen, sucked into the world of the movie. For a kid my age at the time, I couldn’t find the words to describe what I felt. My mouth was a gaping hole where if a mosquito were to fly inside at that particular moment, it could fly straight into my stomach. I was completely awestruck.
Till this day I could still remember the story vividly. I laughed till my tummy hurt when the Chinese kid run around with his antic. I squirmed when I saw the tribe eating the monkey’s brain. I lost myself inside the movie for the entire length of the movie. I entirely forgotten about my father’s presence till when the credits rolled out and he put a hand on my shoulder, saying: “Time to go, son.”
That night Little Sean fell in love with the cinema.
*****
Over the adolescent years of my life, I tried to go to the cinema whenever I saved up enough money to afford a ticket. I didn’t get much of a pocket money, so I had to pick only movies I really like – unlike some of the filthy rich friends of mine who could go to cinema simply to watch any movies, sometimes even for multiple times.
I remembered one time I was watching a forgettable Hongkie movie with a few friends and this particular girl told me this is the third time she was watching this.
“Then why did you still wanna come?” I asked her, perplexed. “It is certainly not a very good movie.”
“Oh, I don’t mind” she said. “Just come here because you guys want to come.”
I scratched my head. If she were to say it’s because of the atmosphere of the cinema and the thrill you get when the big screen jumps at you, I would have saluted her, but clearly she just came because she had nothing better to do and too much money in her purse. It was like an abomination to the cinema – how could you treat such a significant place with such insignificance?
I myself had never been to a same movie in a cinema for more than once. Even when the Titanic mania hit us in the early 2000s, when people compared the number of times they watched that movie in cinema, I would rather scourge the internet looking for that particular chopped scene where Leonardo Di Caprio was painting Kate Winslet.
“This is the 7th times I am watching this,” one of the girl who were watching the movie with me – I was in college at the time – giggled happily and whispered to my ear. I didn’t tell her I had watched that downloaded painting scene more than 7 times.
“7 times?” one of my less illustrious college friends asked. “I would rather have sex 7 times in one night.”
“Can you?” one the girls asked, followed by a round of well-rehearsed chuckle.
At the turn of the century, technology had forced most of those old-fashioned stand-alone cinema houses out of business, replaced by the smaller Cineplex – cinema in a shopping complex with Dolby sound system; not to mention those seedy Laser disc theatres which show compromising uncut pictures. The enjoyed only a short-lived fame though after a few scandals involving people doing compromising stuffs in the theatre while watching compromising scenes.
Like an endless cycle of existence, you started working after those honeyed years in college. My fiery adoration for the cinema was still burning at the time so I joined these movie gang colleagues who go to cinema every Friday night. I wouldn’t say their choice of movie are exactly my cup of tea, but I did tag along from times to times – meeting some interesting people, some obnoxious people and some pretentious people.
Normally after these movie sessions, the movie gang would go for supper in Sri Murni at SS2 – where as expected some people would ask questions like “What do you think of the movie just now?” And where as expected you hear replies like: “Not bad, not bad,” even though I could swear I heard the guy replying snoring in the movie just now.
Well, that’s what you get when you go out with a large gang for movies. After some time, I wondered whether the real intention of that gang was to enjoy the movie at the cinema or to enjoy the close proximity of other human beings, eh, social networking I means. I couldn’t enjoy it much because instead of being overwhelmed by the big screen, I was overwhelmed by body odours and sound or people snoring.
Then the inflation hits.
People became more reluctant to go to cinema. The cineplex tried to counter by introducing Wed discounts and Ladies Nite discount, but still business was a bit slow in the times of downturn.
“It is still the best choice for dating couples,” a cineplex operator told me while we were smoking. “You know la, when you are dating in country like Malaysia, there’s not much choice of activities. Outdoor? The gals are afraid of sunburnt. Going to cinema is still the cheapest and logical option.”
I nodded in agreement, silently wondering when I would have a chance to bring a particular gal to movie for a date.
It might be difficult because the girl I had in mind was already engaged and possibly getting married early the following year. I had this infatuation about her from the first day I met her but never had the courage to tell her. She was the girl I have been looking for - but never found before. So we remained best of friends, and from times to times we would go for lunch or dinner together.
“I think the reason we have so much in common is because we both comes from a small town,” she told me once. “Plus we are both Virgos.”
“Too bad I did not meet you much earlier – before you met your fiancée,” I tried to crack a joke, but it turned out to be awkward and induced a long silence.
When I finally took her to the movie, I was nervous. It was two weeks before her marriage ceremony. If this were a normal date, I would normally choose a horror movie, so when the scary part arrived, you can pretend to calm your date or if you are lucky, you can even get to hold her. But this is not a normal date, I kept reminding myself. This is a girl who every time I see her falling I want to get down on my knees and pray – waiting for the moment when she would said the things I couldn’t say (ok, I stole this lines from the song Bizarre Love Triangle).
So we went to watch Spiderman 2. Never for once that would I expect that movie is to be so emotionally moving. I thought it was a superhero movie – but the unspoken tension between Peter and Mary Jane was played to the utmost, making the unrequited love scenes between them almost unbearable. Who would have expected a director like Sam Raimi who made the quirky and comical Evil Dead trilogy could come up with something like this? It was more like a love story than a superhero story. Especially the part when Mary Jane left her wedding altar to look for Peter – it really killed me.
We didn’t speak much on our way back. I drove her back to her home, my emotions welling up in my heart like the bubbles from a quickly poured beer.
“2 weeks from your marriage…are you nervous?”
“Very…”
Maybe I would never have the chance to say it if I didn’t say it now.
“I have a confession,” I began. “You know how much I love going to the cinema since I was a kid, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “Everybody knows that.”
“Well, to tell you frankly, tonite when I went to the cinema with you, the joy was multiplied.”
She was silent for a while. “So what are you trying to imply? We could still go to the cinemas after I’m married.”
“The truth is…” I told her. “I have always been passionate about movies and cinemas, but after I know you, I realized the passion I had for them is nothing compared to the passion I have for you.”
Another long silence.
“Oh, damn it, Sean. Why do you have to say it? I hate you so much…” she suddenly erupted. “I hate you so much because you make me like you…”
Her lips were on mine before I could say anything. Not that I would want to say anything at that moment.
It was the first time I ever been to a cinema and the movie that was showing at the time was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The cinema itself was a run-down Cathay (we pronounced it KokTai in Hokkien) in our small town of BM. Back in those times, we still do not have Cineplex, so the cinema was an old-fashioned building with no popcorn stalls and an old hunchback ah pek is the one who shows you your seat with torchlight. I also heard that the chair will snap your ass up if you are not careful.
My first impression was – the cinema was a cold and creepy place. My father bought a pack of corn crackers for me and we sat like 3 row from the back.
And then the movie began. The giant screen flickered to life and I was completely swept away. Somehow I got the amazing feeling of being swallowed by the screen, sucked into the world of the movie. For a kid my age at the time, I couldn’t find the words to describe what I felt. My mouth was a gaping hole where if a mosquito were to fly inside at that particular moment, it could fly straight into my stomach. I was completely awestruck.
Till this day I could still remember the story vividly. I laughed till my tummy hurt when the Chinese kid run around with his antic. I squirmed when I saw the tribe eating the monkey’s brain. I lost myself inside the movie for the entire length of the movie. I entirely forgotten about my father’s presence till when the credits rolled out and he put a hand on my shoulder, saying: “Time to go, son.”
That night Little Sean fell in love with the cinema.
*****
Over the adolescent years of my life, I tried to go to the cinema whenever I saved up enough money to afford a ticket. I didn’t get much of a pocket money, so I had to pick only movies I really like – unlike some of the filthy rich friends of mine who could go to cinema simply to watch any movies, sometimes even for multiple times.
I remembered one time I was watching a forgettable Hongkie movie with a few friends and this particular girl told me this is the third time she was watching this.
“Then why did you still wanna come?” I asked her, perplexed. “It is certainly not a very good movie.”
“Oh, I don’t mind” she said. “Just come here because you guys want to come.”
I scratched my head. If she were to say it’s because of the atmosphere of the cinema and the thrill you get when the big screen jumps at you, I would have saluted her, but clearly she just came because she had nothing better to do and too much money in her purse. It was like an abomination to the cinema – how could you treat such a significant place with such insignificance?
I myself had never been to a same movie in a cinema for more than once. Even when the Titanic mania hit us in the early 2000s, when people compared the number of times they watched that movie in cinema, I would rather scourge the internet looking for that particular chopped scene where Leonardo Di Caprio was painting Kate Winslet.
“This is the 7th times I am watching this,” one of the girl who were watching the movie with me – I was in college at the time – giggled happily and whispered to my ear. I didn’t tell her I had watched that downloaded painting scene more than 7 times.
“7 times?” one of my less illustrious college friends asked. “I would rather have sex 7 times in one night.”
“Can you?” one the girls asked, followed by a round of well-rehearsed chuckle.
At the turn of the century, technology had forced most of those old-fashioned stand-alone cinema houses out of business, replaced by the smaller Cineplex – cinema in a shopping complex with Dolby sound system; not to mention those seedy Laser disc theatres which show compromising uncut pictures. The enjoyed only a short-lived fame though after a few scandals involving people doing compromising stuffs in the theatre while watching compromising scenes.
Like an endless cycle of existence, you started working after those honeyed years in college. My fiery adoration for the cinema was still burning at the time so I joined these movie gang colleagues who go to cinema every Friday night. I wouldn’t say their choice of movie are exactly my cup of tea, but I did tag along from times to times – meeting some interesting people, some obnoxious people and some pretentious people.
Normally after these movie sessions, the movie gang would go for supper in Sri Murni at SS2 – where as expected some people would ask questions like “What do you think of the movie just now?” And where as expected you hear replies like: “Not bad, not bad,” even though I could swear I heard the guy replying snoring in the movie just now.
Well, that’s what you get when you go out with a large gang for movies. After some time, I wondered whether the real intention of that gang was to enjoy the movie at the cinema or to enjoy the close proximity of other human beings, eh, social networking I means. I couldn’t enjoy it much because instead of being overwhelmed by the big screen, I was overwhelmed by body odours and sound or people snoring.
Then the inflation hits.
People became more reluctant to go to cinema. The cineplex tried to counter by introducing Wed discounts and Ladies Nite discount, but still business was a bit slow in the times of downturn.
“It is still the best choice for dating couples,” a cineplex operator told me while we were smoking. “You know la, when you are dating in country like Malaysia, there’s not much choice of activities. Outdoor? The gals are afraid of sunburnt. Going to cinema is still the cheapest and logical option.”
I nodded in agreement, silently wondering when I would have a chance to bring a particular gal to movie for a date.
It might be difficult because the girl I had in mind was already engaged and possibly getting married early the following year. I had this infatuation about her from the first day I met her but never had the courage to tell her. She was the girl I have been looking for - but never found before. So we remained best of friends, and from times to times we would go for lunch or dinner together.
“I think the reason we have so much in common is because we both comes from a small town,” she told me once. “Plus we are both Virgos.”
“Too bad I did not meet you much earlier – before you met your fiancée,” I tried to crack a joke, but it turned out to be awkward and induced a long silence.
When I finally took her to the movie, I was nervous. It was two weeks before her marriage ceremony. If this were a normal date, I would normally choose a horror movie, so when the scary part arrived, you can pretend to calm your date or if you are lucky, you can even get to hold her. But this is not a normal date, I kept reminding myself. This is a girl who every time I see her falling I want to get down on my knees and pray – waiting for the moment when she would said the things I couldn’t say (ok, I stole this lines from the song Bizarre Love Triangle).
So we went to watch Spiderman 2. Never for once that would I expect that movie is to be so emotionally moving. I thought it was a superhero movie – but the unspoken tension between Peter and Mary Jane was played to the utmost, making the unrequited love scenes between them almost unbearable. Who would have expected a director like Sam Raimi who made the quirky and comical Evil Dead trilogy could come up with something like this? It was more like a love story than a superhero story. Especially the part when Mary Jane left her wedding altar to look for Peter – it really killed me.
We didn’t speak much on our way back. I drove her back to her home, my emotions welling up in my heart like the bubbles from a quickly poured beer.
“2 weeks from your marriage…are you nervous?”
“Very…”
Maybe I would never have the chance to say it if I didn’t say it now.
“I have a confession,” I began. “You know how much I love going to the cinema since I was a kid, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “Everybody knows that.”
“Well, to tell you frankly, tonite when I went to the cinema with you, the joy was multiplied.”
She was silent for a while. “So what are you trying to imply? We could still go to the cinemas after I’m married.”
“The truth is…” I told her. “I have always been passionate about movies and cinemas, but after I know you, I realized the passion I had for them is nothing compared to the passion I have for you.”
Another long silence.
“Oh, damn it, Sean. Why do you have to say it? I hate you so much…” she suddenly erupted. “I hate you so much because you make me like you…”
Her lips were on mine before I could say anything. Not that I would want to say anything at that moment.
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