Roses and a Note

I was 16 when I first received a bouquet of roses. I never really gotten any bouquet of roses (or any types of flowers) since then.

Last week, someone delivered a bouquet of red roses to my office. Along with it, was a note.

I brought the bouquet home and my mom placed them in a vase for me.  

Now, the question is, who made the effort for such a romantic gesture?  

The floor is yours.

Mural for Autistic Children

I can’t draw. I can string along decent sentences, but I can’t draw.

I've avoided any form of drawings because I hate letting people down.

It seems that when people perceived you as the ‘creative type’, they expect you to know how to draw like Van Gogh. When I tell the proverbial them that I can't draw, they let out a disappointed oh, but i thought you're the creative type.

[I do, of course know who Van Gogh is. I’m just not a creative genius]

But this is why it's so fun to have a garden. You get to draw all sorts of birds, flowers, bees, and in my case, I get to immortalize my love for cats!

And when your ugly drawings could help develop the beautiful mind of autistic children, it’s even better.

I hope they don’t get scared by my version of the Grumpy Cat.

Thanks Ina, Kerm, and Mimie for the invitation. 

I am blessed. :)

The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) school in Alor Setar

No Crying, No Yelling, No Hitting, No  Biting, No Kicking, Speak Nicely. Yep, pretty much summed up my life , too.

Oh My God, this kid is very adorable!

After taking his picture, he just had to see his own picture for approval.

This little girl has severe autism.

Kerm, Mr.Melting Bites, outlining the drawings we did

Mrs.Melting Bites working on a mural

Me and Ina taking a break

Off to work

Attempting a flower

GRUMPY CAT!

The complete mural

Children running around

Siem Reap: Of Ancient Temples and The Remnants of an Evil Past

Children selling souvenirs

With the boatman at Kampong Phluk

Angkor Wat

You don't have to wear shoes in Cambodia if you don't want to. Nobody judges you. Children walk around the street bare feet and no one judges them.

Except me.

I suppose it was a shock to me, watching kids all snotty, dirty, and bare feet. It's pretty hard on the spirit to see how the Cambodian live. Children as young as five years old are already selling souvenirs or taking your food orders. And to entice the tourists, the kids adopt English names too. I've met a skinny Harry Potter and a very Cambodian Tiger Woods.  

I was whining to a friend about how despondent it is to witness the poverty level in Cambodia. He laughed and said, "You sound like a white tourist. The Cambodians are happy people, you know. They are the kindest folks I've ever met."

When Khmer Rouge was in power in the 70's, everybody in the cities (such as Siem Reap and Phnom Pehn) were forced to move to remote villages and work in the rice fields. To avoid uprising, Khmer Rouge started its own social re-engineering by killing government officials and intellectuals. Even those who wear glasses are killed, because well, people who wear glasses are the nerds who read a lot. All the Khmer Rouge wanted was submissive, model agrarian citizens.  Back then, nobody can own anything. Not even houses, lands, or the produce they grow. Everything belongs to the Khmer Rouge. If you are caught stealing the potatoes you grow, they will kill you too because the potatoes belong to the Khmer Rouge, not you.

And they don't kill you with rifles. No sir. Only a few were given that luxury because bullets were expensive. The Khmer Rouge used hammers and hammer your head until your brain is exposed. 

Even the Gods in the ancient temples such as Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were not spared. Most of the stone statues and lions guarding the temples were beheaded or defaced on the pretext that there should be no religious idolization for the people of Kampuchea. The only idolization they demanded from the people is their devotion to the Khmer Rouge.  But in actuality, the Khmer Rouge sold these statues to Thailand to fund for their wars.

But it has been decades since the Khmer Rouge left, but these folks seem to still be living in the past. Particularly the 70's.

The country is having trouble developing because all the intellectuals were killed in the 70's. What was left then was farmers and fishermen, agrarian folks who had no problem living in the villages in wooden huts with no rooms.

Cambodian youths are still sporting 1970's fashion. Young men peddle their guide books in the Angkor Wat temple wearing wide bottomed pants, slim fit shirt, and their hair parted on the side with hair cream. 

My sister and I were having coffee at a bakery in Pub Street one evening when we saw the waiter wearing something more current. I said, "Look, this is the only guy who looks current."

To which my sister replied, "Even so, that's the 90's fashion."

But if their fashion sense are still stuck in the 70's, you can't help but to notice that there will be better days for the future of the country. Youths in their 20's and 30's from remote villages has begun to move to cities like Siem Reap and Phnom Pehn to work in the tourism industries to better their lives, learning English and taking computer course along the way. Tuk tuk drivers and the folks taking your food order could speak basic English. 

One thing that I like about Cambodia. Instead of saying Good Bye, they say Good Luck For You. Because trust me, you'll need it when you're in a tuk tuk ride. 

What? Isn't there supposed to be traffic lights, you say? Well, the traffic lights are there but everybody ignores them. 

Or as the Italian dude in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun says, "Green means Go. Yellow is just a decoration. Red is just a suggestion."

The One Where I Run in Public for the First Time

This is going to be my year. I'm going to eat healthier and continue to resolve to stop smoking. I'll spend more time with my family.  I'm going to visit Angkor Wat in February and hopefully, the Sistine Chapel in December. I'll continue to volunteer with Charis Hospice. I'm going to live my life, write the book that I've been meaning to write, and Mila Kunis will play me in the film version of my book!

That's why I signed up for Penang Run 2013. Waking up at ungodly hour to run is something I never did. I was quite excited about it, actually. I had the day all planned out. I am going to wake up at 4 a.m and go about my morning ritual, which now includes 15 extra minutes of Sudoku. Then, I am going to be at the field where the Penang Fun Run 2013 begins, run the entire 4 kilometer under thirty minutes, get to know other runners, go home, and strike this off my To-Do list.

Easy.

But I slept late the night before watching 50/50 starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, followed by Dream House starring Daniel Craig. 

I woke up really late and I didn't get to shower and perform all the morning rituals that could make me a super runner! I was sleepy, grumpy and cranky. I walked with my eyes closed and dreamed of my bed the whole time. The thing is, the running route actually passes my flat. I could just wave goodbye to the other losers and head back home and sleep. It was a hard a decision to make when I'm cranky, grumpy, and sleepy, and the smell of nasi lemak from the roadside stalls made me hungry. So now I was cranky, grumpy, sleepy, and hungry. 

I completed the run looking like shit. Didn't wait around for the lucky draw.

I'll do better for the next run. 

Penang Run 2013 Fun Run Crowd

My Big Sis and I

My Niece and I

Wergh!

Langkawi, Tom Cruise, and Star Fish

I want nothing but the beach in Langkawi. I packed two bikinis and brought along a book for this intent. Seven of us drove two hours from Penang and embarked on a 90 minutes ferry ride to reach this island.

I hit the beach the first opportunity that came by. It was 8.00 in the morning and there were only a handful of people on the beach. Picked a spot that overlooked Pulau Epor, laid on a deck, and consumed the surrounding.

My tanning spot at Pantai Tengah that overlooked Pulau Epor

And then a mat salleh walked in front of me, dragged a deck chair, and turned the chair around so that his chair was facing my crotch instead of the sea. 

Never giving myself much credit, i thought maybe he just wanted to tan his back, so he could walk around looking like a piece of white bread with Nutella spread on top.

I didn't mind at all. He had Tom Cruise qualities in the movie Risky Business, with his chocolate hair and his  Wayfarers. Actually, no, he looked like Tom Cruise in the movie risky business, on the cover of the book by Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary.

Tom Cruise in Risky Business

The cover of the Rum Diary

If he were going to pick me up, i hope it's not like this. I haven't even showered nor brush my teeth. I woke up in the morning, put on my bikini, and brazenly walked to the beach looking like a trash because i had no intention to meet anyone.

He looked my way and I looked his way. I know how this routine goes. We were searching through our brains for a pick up line.

And we had none. 

Which got me to thinking, how do we pick up dudes at the beach anyway? Compliment him on his outfit seems like a sure win, but people don't wear Armani at the beach, you know. You don't say Hey nice looking shorts. 

No conversation can start around shorts.

And then I thought, why are you thinking about talking to this dude? Sheeesssshhhhh!

I gathered my belongings, and much to my annoyance and his, I headed for a walk along Pantai Tengah. 

But it was not for nothing because I met my first real life starfish. I called it Patrick. It wasn't pink. I found it submerged in the sand, star-shaped like.

Submerged Starfish

When I first stumbled upon it, I asked, are you coming or going? What's your intention, little one? I don't stumble upon you for no reason. Why are you here? 

Makes you think that your destiny don't come appearing in your face like that. They are submerged somewhere. You must be aware of your surroundings, dig it out, and it will reveal itself to you.

Not that I'm saying my destiny is a star fish, but you get the message.

This is what it looked like after I dug it out

Here are some pictures from the trip. I enjoyed it tremendously. Thanks to Audrey and Sinn Wee for organizing it.

Wen Ting, Mili, and Mam goofing off the Kuala Kedah Jetty

Emily and I in the Ferry

Me and Jer 

Emily and I at the Langkawi Jetty

Sinn Wee, Emily, and Mam lining up to the ferry

Day 2: Pantai Tengah

Wen Ting, Emily, Mam

Sinn Wee

Mam and Emily Chilling

At Underwater World, Langkawi

Wen Ting, Emily

Day 3: Langkawi Cable Car

Troops!

Emily and I

Wen Ting, Emily, Me