It tells of the hardship of two Afghan women during the war and political unrest from the 1970s to the current day, and to compound it further, the oppression of women there.

There were spurts of years whereby women could go to school, hold jobs, walk out into town and bazaars openly without scarves or a male relative as a chaperone. Until the extremists took over and made it so that all live in the world of men to serve only men.

I guess reading the book made me feel very, very thankful to have been born in Malaysia in the 1990s. I can’t imagine having to go through what the female characters went through in the book. Born as a harami (a bastard child), living in a shack making ends meet, if at all… Being married off to the first paedophilic pervert who knocks on the door and then be forced to serve his every whim and fancy without a say in anything, just to be beaten when he gets into a fit.

I cannot… cannot… cannot imagine how women continue living under that oppression, only able to hope for the better for their children’s generation.

And then to know that it still happens today in certain parts of the world, I felt this sudden selfish thankfulness that I am here, in Malaysia, free to get an education, a job, use my laptop and say whatever I want to on this virtual space… Free to live as I wish, with my family and friends.

And yes, many Malaysians have been more openly voicing out how bad we have it here. How our ‘administrators’ have been making a fool out of what’s ours and also making a fool out of themselves on the side. How our country pales in comparison to our neighboring countries. How we could be so much better off if someone did something instead of doing something else. It’s so easy to point out faults.

I don’t intend to point out any.

But I’d just like to take a moment of appreciation for the calm and serenity of 2011 in this lovely city of Kuala Lumpur.

Where the only kaboom you hear is from fireworks at KLCC and not artillery.

A belated Happy Merdeka Day, and Happy Malaysia Day!

I do. I do it allllllllllllllllllll the time.

My friend is getting his exam results in 3 days time, and then he asked me today, “Should I go cut my hair before or after Friday? Could it be bad luck to cut before?”

HahahaHAaaaaa….. 

Man, he reminded me of myself.

I guess it’s because I grew up in a Chinese family that practised Taoism and all the other Chinese beliefs that seems a bit silly, but no one dares to go against the family elders la.

No sweeping the floors on the 1st day of the New Year.

No wearing black on “happy occasions” such as New Year, weddings, birthdays… (BUT I LOOK SO GOOD IN  BLACK, NOHHHHH)

Don’t bring books in on “happy occasions” as well, because books, in Chinese, is “shu”, which, due to the multi-meanings-per-word in the Chinese vocabulary, sounds like LOSE/LOSING.
And you know how Chinese aunties love their mahjong games. Harry Potter and 10-year old me learnt the hard way never to bring books near Chinese aunties.

When Longevity Noodles are served, especially at someone’s birthday dinner, you are supposed to eat the noodles without biting them off, letting the remainder fall back into the bowl. Unless you want to cut birthday boy/girl’s life short… :p

When scooping rice into a bowl for dinner, always scoop more than once, because 1 scoop is when you serve rice for the dead at the altar.

The list can go on and on and on…

Makes me feel kinda dumb, but…

WHAT IF… I decided to go against it and the consequences really happen?

:-o

Oh noh.

The fear of what-ifs may just haunt me forever…

You know what else haunts me forever?

Misfortune in the romance department.

More specifically, I can’t seem to find a nice, unattached fler.

Somehow they either come with weird issues or a girlfriend.

And that’s when you just back off in case they have crazy gfs who will call upon her street gang to beat you up or somethin somethin.

Heh..

Maybe I broke some superstitious stuff that brought me such terrible luck with that department.

Hmm.

*whacks some lime tree leaves around*

BE GONE, EVIL!

Nyeh.

Truth is, I have been neglecting the social side of life a little.

My lovely friends have been coming back to KL from UK/HK/all over the world where the partying studying takes them.

But I have been stuck at work quite a bit :(

So much that I got so sick of the food around the office, that I actually called for the super expensive Tapau Specialists, GoGourmet. These people are so cool, they have almost everything you could think of, so go check them out here!

I called for a Duck Rilette Spaghetti and this was what I got:

Price: RM 22 + RM10 delivery charge, less 5% discount for online ordering.

Delivery time: They said an hour, for the delivery to my office at Jalan Sultan Ismail, and they came in righttttt under an hour :)

Verdict: The chef could’ve put in more effort to shred the duck more, rather than serving up big, chunky duck pieces… It was meant to be cooked in a garlic and chilli confit, and it was, but the flavor was a little flat. Fortunately, there was the duck to cover for the lack of taste. It’s probably because we shouldn’t have pastas delivered anyway, it should be consumed fresh from the kitchen and not over an hour’s ride.

I think I shan’t order pastas from them anymore, but I bet the other cuisines would taste better (their Thai and Indian range look reallllly yummy).

NO MORE McD’s delivery for a longgggg time to come! Yesssss!

Downside is, it’s pricier. But… that’s the premium for having a lazy ass.

And their words of wisdom to me?

“Aiyo… Don’t choose the guy who buys you one stalk of rose… Go for the guy who bought the whole bouquet!”

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAAHAHA

Oh aunties.

Well, over the years since I’ve hit puberty and thus, at a marriage-able age, my aunts have been infiltrating my mind with the teachings of the Great Ching…

KA-Ching.

Always find a rich boyfriend.

Marry a wealthy man.

Live happily ever after.

The more distant relatives start by asking if I’m now still in uni or have already started working.

And I tell them, hey I’m doing both at the same time, ain’t life grand?

And they go, “Oh, I see, hard work huh. Faster finish your studies then find a rich husband lo”

WAHLAUUUUUUUHHHH

I STUDY AND WORK SO HARD JUST TO FIND A STUPID RICH MAN MEH???

I might as well stop studying/working, stop the stress factor so I can preserve my youth, sit around, go for facials and all so I can look pretty and fish in the Ka-Chings. RIGHT?

Sigh.

Relatives.

Chinese families.

I know they mean well…

They just want you to be comfortable, as in, financially comfortable.

But…

I think I would like to give a shot at finding someone who can make me happy…

…without the help of constant cash outflow.

Because what’s the point of $$$ if he’s bad in the boudoir?

;)

Speaking of Chinese families and money,

I read an article, quite recently, on the Macau’s casino mogul, Stanley Ho.

His whole family (of 4 wives and dunno how many children) are now contesting for their share over his estate as Mr Ho is now…

Well…

Very old.

He has 4 ‘wives’.

Apparently, before 1971 in Hong Kong, a concubine can claim her share of her man’s assets as much as the wife can.

Then a ruling came in that year, eliminating those rights, making them mere mistresses.

Interrrresting.

Concubines used to be unofficial wives.

Hmmm.

So I don’t know what the status is with his families’ disputes, with some case of one family manipulating their shares over the estate, or one family stating they have been completely left out of the will even though he said he was going to divide it equally in 4…

[Read more here]

Pure Hongkie TVB drama.

In the flesh.

All I have to say is…

Ho ho ho…

:P

Terrible.

I know.

:D

You know… when you’re sleepy and yet you still fight to stay awake and somehow end up in this state of……..limbo?

Then after 5 or 15 minutes, SNAP – you wake up feeling totally awake and wonder how long you’ve been out for.

Or maybe that only happens to me?

Hahhaa..

Unless this is what they meant by ‘micro-naps‘ in the latest Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) movie.

Hmmm.

And before I forget, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! :D

Lady Luck was with me for the first 3 days of CNY gambling…

On the 4th day however…

Hehehh.

Tak mau cakap lagi lah. Geram betul.

But you know…

Easy come, easy go.

:(

Which reminds me of the new song by Bruno Mars and it’s called Grenade.

It goes a lil something like this:

Easy come, easy go, that’s just how you live
Oh, take, take, take it all but you never give
Should’ve known you was trouble from the first kiss
Had your eyes wide open, why were they open?

Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked
‘Cause what you don’t understand is

I’d catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I’d do anything for ya

I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for you, baby
But you won’t do the same
No, no, no, no

My question is…

WHY a grenade???

WHY would you throw your hand on a blade???

WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT BRING?????

Whaaa..?

Am I the only one who changes the station every time some supposedly-lovesick puppy requests for this song to be played on the radio??

And HOWWW do people kiss with their eyes wide open?????

O O
*

Hahaha… Oh Bruno, mdear.

There’s a limit to cheesiness and trying to find words to fill up your song.

Sing about what you’d wanna do to me tonight, why don’t you… like what Enrique’s done.

Lol, okay so it’s a bit lame la. But because he’s Enrique Iglesias…

He can get away with it.

If any other Apek did this song, sorry lah. Gagal.

:D

And now it’s time for some goooooooood schtuff.

This has been one of my favorite songs since… I could listen and remember things…

Jumper – Third Eye Blind

It just makes my day the moment he starts the song :D

It’s just about the perfect song to sing out loud when you’re feeling all…“GRRRRHHHHH”

:D

And a few years ago, while watching Yes Man, Jim Carrey whipped out the guitar and started singing to get the suicidal dude not to jump off the ledge, literally. (And I got sooo excited, I almost wanted to sing along in the cinema)

Gotta love this.

YOU gotta love this.

Or else.

GRRRRRRHHHH.

Stationary shower heads.

Those stuck to the wall.

How do you shower and clean the tricky parts of yourself?? Shower acrobatics???

BODOH punye orang only designed that piece of metal stuck to the wall la.
Every time I step into the hotel room, the first thing I look at when I get in the room (after putting my bags down) is to look at the bathroom, and the first place my eyes zoom into is…

A big disappointment. 95% of the time.

WHY do you have stationary shower heads?? Very pretty meh??

GRRRRRR.

Show me just ONE person who appreciates them.

And I will stop being so noisy about it. :P

I mean, are hotels afraid of their customers stealing their shower equipment? Really?

ARRRRHHHHGHGHGHHHGHG.

And the hotel I stayed in when I was in Penang…

It self-claimed its hotel to be a hotel of “refined corporate luxury, where business and pleasure are intertwined to meet the discerning executive’s needs.”

I don’t know how many stars this hotel is rated at, personally, I give it one. Or even a motel status.

There were so many tiny things that made me really geram…

Whoever heard of paying RM10 a night for wi-fi in year 2010??

Don’t know about you, but wi-fi in every kopitiam and in all hotels are free.

In that hotel, it was free, but only for one user.

Secured connection, so every day, you had to go get the password from the lobby.

But I was sharing a room with a colleague, so that makes 2 users.

And the hotel reception guy actually said we will charge RM 10 for wifi.

At first, I’m like, fine. Cos I was staying 10 days so I thought the extra RM10 would last the whole ten days.

But apparently it didn’t and I got so ‘grrrrrrh’ I just called their manager up and asked them what kinda “refined corporate luxury” hotel this is when a simple thing as wifi is charged per night.

WAHLAUUUUUUU.

Lol. Then the management said ok lah ok lah, bagi you je lah.

Well, not in those exact words, but something along those lines la.

And the staff were obviously either not paid enough, or not trained at all.

They were so rude! I would imagine that in the service industry, they would be trained to treat customers as king…but nooo… Maybe they didn’t make enough profits from selling their wi-fi usage to send their staff for training.

Heheh. Customers from hell.

But seriously, yknow? Corporate hotel, mah esss.

Okay, now that the angry rant is done, it’s time for some music re-introduction.

Re-introduction??

I don’t know what word to use.

But I would just like to post up a few songs every time I post here…

For you to listen to, if you like.

I don’t promise that you’ll like it, but I think it’s pretty damn good.

So in my previous post, I posted a duet love song.

This time, it’s a bit noisier, with lotsa riffs and more grit.

The Last Fight by Velvet Revolver

If you see Slash in it, yes, he was here with VR after GNR..

I don’t really listen to them, but when their album Libertad came out in 2007 (I remember the year because it was my SPM year… SPM, the last fight, geddddit?? Haha, oh how mistaken I was :P), I was so blown away by this song.

The opening of the song, the guitar, just made me sit back and listen even more, if that was possible.

I just wanted to absorb alllllllll of it. It felt so good.

And then Scott Weiland’s vocals came on; his deep, rich but smooth voice…and I just knew the song was going to be one of my favorites from then on.

Here’s an acoustic version for a more intimate feel.

Next up, something classic.

U2 – With Or Without You

I was surprised that so many people didn’t know of this song…

It’s U2… helllllohh??

Okay la, forgiven if you watch this video :)

This song is really uplifting, for some reason I can’t put my finger on.

It ‘s the same for most U2 songs actually. Maybe it’s just Bono’s voice?

Mmmm… I can listen to it on repeat all day and karaoke to it :D

It starts off with Bono taking it very tenderly with the first verse… Then the song progresses with an upward swirl of energy (or at least, that’s what I felt :P) and after a few bridges/choruses… then… Bono just bursts into this time and space where the world just stops to him let continue his melodic screaming.

No, for real.

His “ohhhh-ohhh-oh-ohhh….. Ohhhhhh-oh-ohh-ohhhhh” in the song?

I don’t know how to describe it. Melodic screaming was all I could think of. LOL.

And you give yourself awayyyy-eyyy… And you give yourselffff awayyy-ehhh….

Totally transports you into a dream-like state, doesn’t it?

And finally, ladies and sexymen,

Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer.

Whenever this song comes on the radio, I just gotta sing scream along… Hahahah… And I can only ever remember the lines of the chorus… So I always scream along when the chorus comes. Lol.

It’s such a nice song to listen to at the end of the day, better when you have someone to teman you in your mini karaoke to Bon Jovi.

Woooahhhhhh we’re halfway there-eh!

WOOOOOOAAAA-OHHH WE’RE LIVINNNN ON A PRAYER!

Take my hand, we’ll make it Ah swear-eh..

WOOOOOAHHHHHHHH WE’RE LIVINNNN ON A PRAYER

:D :D :D :D :D

Epic.

A bra.

Cos I was too lazy to find a new dress for the firm’s annual dinner this Friday.

No, I’m not gonna waltz in with just the bra on.

I just needed to find something to go with my bareback dress :D

Which I don’t know if it is appropriate for something your boss is attending as well.

But oh well.

I’ll just not turn my back against them when I see them.

Mwahahahha.

SO!

Back to the shopping.

Buying underwear.

But gasp!!

It’s NO PLASTIC BAGS DAY!!

So how?

Sling the bra over the shoulder and walk all over the mall ah?

(My mum seems to be okay with that idea when I told her when I got home.)

But no.

Thank goodness no.

I forgot they used to wrap goods up in paper bags before plastic was invented.

:)

So they wrapped it up like a present for me, as if someone bought me them sexy lingerie.

Ooohh yehhhh.

Okay.

Cukuplah tu.

And now, as a first, I will introduce you all to lovely songs, one post at a time:

Today, it will be a lovely duet…

(K, so there’s a copyright infringement on me posting this video, so they’ve blocked it, but click on it and it will lead you to their site on youtube, you won’t regret it :)

But if you’re lazy, here’s just the audio:

BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE

I thought this song was an original by Dean Martin and Doris Day, because that was the first version that I heard many years back. I still love it.

Further research; ie- Wikipedia, showed that my thoughts were erroneous and it was actually written by Frank Loesser in 1944.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby,_It’s_Cold_Outside

And if you read further, there was a controversy of the song being a Date-rape song!

*gasppp!

I mean, I LOVE THE SONG.

It’s so flirtatious, coy and delicious!

But I have NEVER, EVER thought of it as a date rape song.

Which kinda makes sense now that I think of it, since the girl is always saying no, then being offered a drink, and finally says okay, just a drink more, then saying okay to the guy again, and then asking, what’s in this drink?

Ah-haaa…

I see.

But I’ll still never think of it that way.

Not when I have the flirty, fun GLEE version of the song! :D (see above)

The video of Kurt and Blaine singing that song, with Kurt singing the girl’s part to PERFECTION.

The way he moves around so coyly and gracefully, especially with the look in his eyes… Wow.

Even better than a real girl can do it.

:D

And there are countless other covers of this song as well, if you’re interested… I’ve heard one by Ella Fitzgerald and this guy called Louis Jordan, it was just as nice, more upbeat, but still good.

There’s one by Norah Jones and dunno who, but I found Norah’s exaggeratedly slow tempo annoying. So scratch that version.

There’s also one done by Anne Murray and (MY FAVORITE) Michael Buble. But as much I love love love him… This duet doesn’t do it for me, there’s no chemistry at all! Listening to the ‘duet’ feels like I’m playing two separate songs simultaneously!!

Okay, so I’m fussy.

Okay.

That’s all for this post, folks!

MWAHHH.

:)

For an assignment actually. With a few colleagues.

The client’s office is near Autocity, and I’m staying in a hotel in Prai.

But since I’m in the place much overstated for food…

I shall do a meal-by-meal blow of my daily food intake!!! :D

However, I didn’t bring my camera, thus this will be a picture-less food review, completely depending on my fabulously flowery vocabulary to arouse your imagination and senses.

Ahahahahahahahha.

My vocab is limited to oohs and aahs and ew.

Consider me not posting any pictures being very considerate to those reading this while on a diet/studying overseas where there’s no Malaysian food/etc :)

Day 1

We found a hawker centre a few rows behind the hotel!! Called Green Wellesly something.

The first stall that caught my eye was SATAY!

They had chicken satay, pork satay and prawn satay… Which was basically skewered prawns on the satay grill :P

The satays were tiny. But nice :) Though the peanut sauce was a bit too bland. But at that point I was too desperate for any kinda satay ‘cos I haven’t had any for decadesssssss!

Then I had Orr Chien (omelette fried with oysters)… Too eggy. Never liked oysters actually :P

and Char Kuey Teow! Though not the type cooked over a charcoal stove, it was okayyyy la. I never really tasted the ‘famous’ Penang char kuey teow that blow minds away… Got meh??

But what really blew my mind away was…

The leong sui.

The meek, tepid, watered-down herbal tea.

Not because of how normal it was…

But because I had to pay less for watered-down drinks than in KL!!

Hahahahha…

In KL, it would cost RM1.00 ++

Maybe RM1.50… or RM1.30… or RM1.20 if you’re lucky.

But the guy said RM1.00.

Just ONE RINGGIT MALAYSIA.

I was like, Heh?? Still got one ringgit food ah?

:P

Day Tw0

I had the typical Malaysian hotel free breakfast… Yknow, nasi lemak, fried noodles, porridge, the egg station, cereal, fruits, coffee or tea…

Nyeh. Bleghhh. I don’t know whaaaat kinda nasi lemak you call that **************…

Then for lunch, there was the ever-reliable McDonald’s :D

And for dinner, we went back to the Green Wellesly food court, where I had Claypot Lo Shi Fun!! :D

But it was a bit too moist for my liking.

I miss the Claypot Lo Shi Fun near the office!! The one behind Menara Sime Darby… :) :) :)

The one you’d have to walk like crazy under the 12.30pm hot sun with hunger pangs for, juuuust to wait nearly an hour for the food to arrive with the grumpy Auntie barking to take your order.

It’s the experience that adds on to the food’s yumminess?

Lol. It’d be different if it was served by a young girl in a Lolita maid costume in an air-conditioned, nicely-decorated cafe. Not so nice, right? :P

OKAY! Back to my Penang food log.

After dinner, I tapau-ed onde-onde from the stall at the food court where I had dinner.

WHICH GAVE ME A STOMACH ACHE!!!

GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3

Hotel breakfast, again.

I settled for Koko Krunch with milk.

After going through another disappointing round of nasi lemak :P

Had Hongkie cuisine for lunch! At Boston.

Some Kim-Gary-meets-Old-Town-White-Coffee place.

I will never, ever, ever order Cheese Baked Rice, ANYMORE!

Such disappointment.

Cheese sucked, fish fillet sucked, Mushroom sauce non-existent.

Eeeeyer…

:P

Am I too fussy?

For dinner, we went to a few more rows behind the hotel…

And had Lok Lok!!

You know, you take whatever sticks of uncooked food off the counter…

Then bring it back to your table to cook it in a mini pot with boiling water to play chef.

Wooooooo!!

Fun :D

Then they had a few sauces to mix and match the ‘cooked masterpieces’ with… Including the peanut sauce (score!)

Annnnnnnnd no more onde-ondes for supper after that…

But had Leng Chee Kang instead!! :D

You can have it yit [hot] or bing [iced].

You can have it ngalat [in the bigger glass mug]. In the more commercialised term, Venti (Starbucks measurement for Large).

Yes, the kopitiam might be a little grimy.

Yes, the ceramic cup might have tiny cracklines, and they might be older than me. The furniture too, with the marble table top showing signs of antiquity.

No, there isn’t fancy jazz music playing in the background. You can probably hear the cacophony of the Chicken Rice hawker chopping the chicken on the board and the Wantan Noodles seller banging her cooking utensils la…

No, the serviettes aren’t made from recycled paper. There’s no serviettes at all, if you would like to try asking.

Yes, the drinks there only costs an eighth (1/8) of your normal latte’s price.

And yes, the kopitiam kopi is wayyyyy better than Starbucks or Nescafe.

KICKASSSSSSSSSS

Especially if it’s a kopitiam in Petaling Street where the coffee shop has been there since your Dad was a kid and the operations is still run by (probably) its original owners since its opening.

Although it’s a little odd to have people your grandparents’ age running around doing the work… (Odd because…personally, I would like my grandparents or parents to not be doing heavy work…)

The coffee is still :D :D :D

There’s no word.

So I shall just express in emoticons.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

On a different matter completely… Remember back in primary school, there were Writing lessons?

Not sure if it was just my school, but there were classes held once a week to just write.

It was meant to develop better handwriting.

And probably to learn cursive writing.

[However, my writing class was conducted by the headmistress herself, so, some classes were delayed, ladida, and in the end, I never got to learn cursive writing :(  ]

When I was in primary school, the one-PC-per-home was only starting to gain attention.

So I can still understand the importance placed on our handwriting back then.

But I wonder if it still is? Now that everyone has their own personal computer.

Or is handwriting now “obsolete”?

And again, on another different matter completely, completely…

I found some old pictures!!

Ahahahahahahhahaha.

I found them and my eyes just went o.O



That’s my friend Amelia and I, in a school production. We were supposed to play men, since our all-girls school had none. That’s a bowtie, wei!! Okay my hand is blocking most of it in the picture, but yea. Men with boobs.

Hensem, tak?

I had such bad hair in school. Sigh.

Everyone, meet my pet monkey.

Okay, she’s my sister. And she doesn’t know I put this up, but this picture is soooo funneh!!

Well, funny cos her face is usually expressionless or the emo-kid kinda flat face.

But in the spirit of caught-with-the-mouth-open pictures…

No I don’t remember what I was doing/saying.

I was out for the day actually. And so were everyone else, out for the whole day.

I went for a movie about Bruce Lee, a story as told by the legend’s brother… The movie was aptly named, Bruce Lee, My Brother. Lol.

His first ever fight on the street (with another young dude over territorial rights of that part of town) was an absolute amateur. The sequence of the first part of the fight went exactly like this:

“Wa-chaaaaa-aaahhhhh!”

*grab ‘n’ crush enemy’s balls*

“ZHAO AHHH!!!” [English translation: “RUNNNN!!!!”]

:D

I mean, who needs fancy killer moves when you have THAT?

So…

When I got home, no one else was home yet. But when I walked into the rooms, every room was in a mess.

A thief managed to get in and take his own sweet time to go over so many things.

(I’m assuming the bastard thief’s a he)

Fortunately for him, he had already left when I got back. I didn’t get to use my new Bruce Lee skills on him.

Apparently he broke in through the roof and went out through the back door when he found the keys. I hope as he ran, he tripped and fell on the road, and a lorry couldn’t stop on time and just ran him over.

Ohhh yeah.

I could do a lot worse than wish him that, trust me.

Years of watching Criminal Minds and Bones and weird forensics shows has input many ideas to my head. Nyehehehehehhehehh.

When the police came (four of them – one to take report, one to investigate, one to take pictures and dust for prints, one to smoke his Marlboros), they all had the same reaction.

“Hah? Tak ambik laptop ke? Hah. Ini mesti orang Indonesia.”

Lol. “Oh ye ke?”

Well, damn you, Indon guy. Just don’t get run over by the lorry in front of my house cos it’ll stink and look gross.

So after estimating the losses for the police report, I realised that the fellow actually didn’t get much from me. :D

HEHEH.

He ransacked my whole room, and only managed to get RM18.

Why RM18 exactly?

I kept the old-fashioned RM10, RM5, RM2 and RM1 notes in a box :P

Hahaha… And no cash was in my room.

All my cash had materialised into other assets (clothes, shoes, etc). HEHE.

Back to the no kids thing, it’s something about the hotel mainly catering for business travellers, “and it would be disruptive to have minors running around.”

Lol.

As much as the statement is cocky and family-unfriendly as the guy had made it sound…

I actually concur with his sentiments.

There are some moments which I cannot tahan, in regards to having kids running amok.

When you’re shopping, especially in shoe boutiques… The aisles between the shoe racks and shelves are ALREADY NARROW ENOUGH…

Then you add on the crowd of people during a sale period… it can be pretty hard to navigate especially with one shopper trying on that of pair of shoe, grabbing on to the rack for balance, blocking the passage completely for other shoppers.

AND THENNNN you have that shopper punye kids, bored outta their minds, either:
-playing ‘catching‘ with his/her equally-bored sibling, which gets very noisy and chaotic in the already chaotic shop (this was worse when the roller shoes were the “in” thing for kids, zooming by dangerously without warning, something like me during my first driving lesson :D );
-or having his/her eyes glued to their PSP/iPhone/etc, thus walking around aimlessly with the eyes on the screen and bumping into walls or other shoppers.

Another situation I cannot tahan is when you’re at Subway… And the parents let their selectively-quiet kids order what filling/toppings/whatever they want, knowing full well there’s a line behind them.

Actually, I just got back from an outlet near my place and this family in front of me…

OHHMAIIIIIGORRRRE I SWEAR I WANTED TO SLAM THE DAD’S FACE ON THE GLASS PANE OF THE SALAD BAR LORH!!

His two kids were damn talkative riiiiight before they ordered… But then their turn came, and the Subway staff asked them, “So which vegetables do you want?”

And the kids just went mute.

Their dad kept asking them, “Which veggie you want? Which veggie you want?”

And the Subway staff kept pointing at each type of vege and asking “You want lettuce? *point* You want tomato? *point* Cucumber? *point point pointttt*”

And the kids kept shaking their heads and their mouths shut.

This went on foreverrrrrrr.

Til MY sandwich was out of the oven and moved to the salad bar. And they juuuuuust finished concluding that they wanted stupid lettuce and cucumber after the Dad chose for the kids.

Next, it was worse…

The Subway staff asked…

“Which sauce do you want?”

“Mayonnaise? *point* Ketchup? *point* Mustard?”

Yeah they probably introduced all the 15,000 types of sauces they had to the kids, five times over, before the Dad chose whatever it was for them.

I don’t know if it’s me being a very easily-irritated monster, or if some parents just don’t realise that there are other people living in this world other than them and their kids.

Hello??

If you know there’s a crowd and if you know your kids don’t like looking at you look at a million pair of shoes… leave them with your spouse, outside the shop.

If you know your kids are indecisive/don’t talk to strangers (which is good), then please make decisions for them at an eatery if there is a line behind you…

SO SIMPLE LA, PLEASE.