Random Solitary Thoughts

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Zounds...

I am back! After a day on MC, I'm finally back in the office, working my @$$ off! Yeah right. Medicine doesn't help as it makes me drowsy. Anyways, here's something I drew last week when I had bit of free time on my hands. I applaud the people who invented the tablet. 

The pic doesn't seem to load, so here's the link. Click here.

P.S. Since I'm still reeling from the medication, I shall continue the Canadian account sometime tomorrow...




Sunday, July 25, 2004

Why do people hate Mondays?

An interesting question. Why? Because...
1) You have to wake up early after spending a long weekend (short for this poor writer... I like have only like a one day weekend?) waking up at noon.
2) You have to go to work! AGAIN!
3) You will have no life for the next four days... (five and sometimes six for this poor writer...) 
4) No more late nights for the next few days.
5) Mondays' just suck!!!

For three weeks, I've been having trouble keeping awake during work. I think it's because I haven't been resting really well lately. Today was the worst so far... I felt like I went on a 20km run. My whole body was just failing. I think I'll 'MC' tomorrow... just to make sure that I'll be awake on Wednesday...

Now, for the Canadian run...

The museums...

Early in the morning... we went to the er... I seem to have forgotten what this museum is called... but it's definitely some historical museum. Anyway, this particular museum was built to resemble the shape of a canoe, and the pillars, the oars of the canoe. It was a nice museum, and we saw the history of Canada, told in Chronological order, with interesting displays that would shame our National Museum to no end!

We spent the day there, taking in the breathtaking exhibits, and then we made our way back to the guest house. I can't remember what we ate or where we went afterwards, and there were no photos to remind me of what happened.

So anyways, the next day, we went to the market for breakfast before the worst thing in my life happened. I decided to be generous and buy some souvenior t-shirts for my fellow friends and family back home. So Kotak and I made my way to this shop which shall remain unnamed, and looked around. After finding what I wanted, we proceeded to pay, when the cashier looked at us suspiciously and started rubbing the 50 dollar note vigorously.

No doubt, this sparked off much curiosity, but being ignorant tourists, we just stood there. Then, the truth dawned on us. The cashier told us the note was fake! We freaked! No way! How can I know? How can I tell? We're just ignorant stoopid tourists!!! SO anyways, the guy was 'nice' enough to let us go without reporting us to the police! But instead of running away like busted criminals, we decided to take it up to the authorities.. (coz 50 Canadian dollars is about RM 150 and I ain't prepared to lose that kind of money... )

So we sought help from our nice 'landlord', and he tried to 'convince' the cashier to return us our cash, but it didn't work. So next, we called the police and the police were prompt to arrive (unlike their local counterparts here...) and the nice female officer took a look at it with the manager of the store and everyone (except maybe the cashier) agreed that it was likely to be genuine (hahahah! Baka! That's for making a fool outta me you over-paranoid and cautious cashier.. you!!!)! They told me to keep the note but to verify it at first opportunity and have it broken down to tens and twenties.  

With that in mind, we thanked our rescuers and were off to the bus station for a ride to Quebec City! A tip to all travelling to Canada, always, always, make sure you have small notes... the counterfeit problem there is serious! (a note of pent up frustration from the author... BAKA!!!)

Friday, July 23, 2004

Wonders of wonders...

Wonders of wonders! My boss is away for the weekend! When the cat is away, the mice will play... muahahahah!!! YESH!!! MERDEKA!!! I am freeeeeeeeeeeEEEEE!!!!!

Okay, enough of that. The past few days have been a sort of digital artists' euphoria for me! Playing with the new tablet which my company got recently, is simply... wonderful! I'm wondering why I never thought I getting one earlier. Shucks... Soon, there will be images being posted on this site! Muahahah!!! Watch this space...

Now, for Canadian updates...

Ottawa...

Morning beckons... it was early. The wind blows... it was cold. The taxi driver knocked on the door and seemed somewhat agitated by our 'asian' lack of punctuality. We didn't care...

Reached the airport, and checked in. Had breakfast, then boarded the plane to Ottawa. Phhhwiiiiish!!! Reached Ottawa. Took shuttle bus to town. Walked insanely long road carrying insanely heavy luggage. Arms grew two inches in diameter.

Reached dodgy looking 'guest' house. House was situated next to PM's residence. Nothing to shout about after seeing the inside. The place was musty! And dodgy! It stank!

Met the very first of many other 'challenges' regarding accomodation! Apparently the culure here is such that if you booked for two people, you get a room for two. No way you can suggle in twenty people like most Malaysians do. Hence, when we booked a room for two, we got ... (taaa daaaaa!!!) a room for TWO!!! Cool eh? So after a lenghty discussion, and thanks to our host's understanding of our 'asian' lack of moral values, he finally came to an agreement with us. Plus, the guest house wasn't really full at the time, so he decided we could 'rent' two more 'beds'.

After trying to settle in, we decided to move along to the town. Upon arrival, Agent Cryptobia called her friend, and that is how we eventually met MichaelAngelo 'not-the-ninja-turtle-and-not-the-artist' (name changed to protect identity). He shall henceforth be known simply as Mike.

Mike is a cool guy who's very into comics. So needless to say, I had a great time discussing with him the evolution of comics and of nostalgic and historic events in the comics industry. We headed down to the market place, where we looked around and enjoyed the beautiful and now warm Canadian weather.

Stopped by a shop to get some gelato, a type of ice-cream that's so compact, there are no air bubbles in between. I had the peanut butter chocolate flavour and have been experiencing the after effects (coughing) until now. Then we headed towards the Marche (it means market in French) restaurant, where we had lunch. After that, we took a walk to see the parliament building.

After that, the 'mother' wanted some Malaysian food, and backed by Agent Cryptobia and the Box, (notice it's always the women who want the local food? Exception is Agent Cryptobia, who hasn't seen the light reflect off a roti canai in ages) Kalamari, a.k.a. E-gore, a.k.a. Porter boy, a.k.a. He-who-shall-not-be-included-in-room-bookings-and-shall-be-smuggled-in, a.k.a. The writer, had no choice but to follow.

After a long bus trip, we finally arrived. We sat, we ordered, we ate. Nuff said. We took the bus back and somehow made our way back to the guest house. There, we enjoyed the mustiness of the room and finally slept mainly due to exhaustion. Tommorrow, we visit museums.... how interesting...

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Falling sick!

I felt totally crappy today. I must be falling sick!

The Great Canadian Adventure... by Kalamari

The story continues from where I left on in my previous post. It was I think the fourth day, when the party left to go to Toronto in the morning. This time, everyone was miraculously early. I think for breakfast we had some really good yogurt, plus peameal bacon with cheddar cheese... or was that they day before?

Arrived in Toronto and proceeded to find parking space. The city is almost as ridiculous as KL, where parking is scarce, and expensive. Even more expensive here, as the exchange rate is almost triple.

Anyways, we went down to the harbour front to see the sea... or was that the lake? Wait. Before arriving in Toronto, we stopped by the coast of lake Ontario and saw ducks swimming in polluted waters. Ate some cherries, and I proceeded to attempt to plant cherry trees all along the coast. Okay, back to Toronto.

Harbour front was definitely cleaner than any you'd find in Malaysia, but having grown up living next to one, I didn't find it all that appealing, except for the cleanliness. It does bring back memories of home tho...

Had great lunch nearby and then the party took a walk to the Magestic Canadian National Tower! Tower wasn't too magestic up close as we have three of those in KL alone. Damn you KL...

Saw an interesting sculpture nearby, and took some pics. Then walked to some shops and window shopped and all. I think I bought a comic here. And then some chocolates.

Decided to have a tea break at Kensington Market, which is this cool Canadian marketplace full of local goodies like cheese and meat! Went back to car to discover that the hood was overflowing with engine oil. Popped the hood and saw engine oil cover missing.

At that time, the silly fella at the carpark were chasing us out and asking us to pay extra or something. Also discovered that we parked at the Port Authority car park which is off limits to everyone. Apologised and port security seemed nice enough to excuse a bunch of us lost tourists.

Now, silly carpark person was being an @$$. So after a fruitless argument with the imbercile, we drove off without the cap and ended up somewhere in Chinatown (again).

Called up the car rental service and waited for a backup car to arrive. Walked to Kensington Market (which is closed by now... everything in Canada closes early except you know whay shops... ahem..) and saw all the lovely goodies locked up. Kotak and her mum bought some veggies.

Car people arrived and we took the replacement car home. Car was a Pontiac (never sat in one... in fact never saw one before in Malaysia... me so Jakun... woohooo).

Arrived home, ate dinner (home-cooked), tried to return car, (but failed) and finally slept. Next day was an early morning flight to Ottawa, capital of Canada!

Sunday, July 18, 2004

WeekEND?

Last week ended way too fast. A hectic work week, followed by a full weekend, and a Sunday with too little time.


Among the things I did during the weekend:-
1) KTAR Capoiera performance. (Sexta feira)
2) Getting stuck in the KL flash floods where four crocodiles were sited. I didn't personally see them tho... (Sexta Feira)
3) Capoiera training (Sexta Feira)
4) Work (No ONE should EVER have to WORK on a SATURDAY! ... I am clearly a disgruntled employee...)(Sabado)
5) Capoiera Music Class (Sabado)
6) Capoiera Performance (Sabado)
7) Sunday!!! Play games! Sleep! Play more games! Surf internet! (Domingo)
8) Dinner with cousin! (Domingo)
9) Shopping for groceries at Giant (Domingo)
10) Think about the extremely short weekend, and the dreadful thought of working on Monday... maybe I should get an MC... (Domingo)

Now... a little update on what happened in Canada.

I think this was the second day in Canada. The party woke up early enough to leave the house
early enough to take a drive to this place, I think it was YochDale or something. I could be
wrong...

Anyway, the women couldn't resist some shopping even though everything is pricey and nothing is
worth the money and half the stuff is the same as those you can get in Sg. Wang only three
times more expensive. So in the end no one bought anything, and everyone wasted a good morning
in a dank shopping mall instead of enjoying the nice freezing, bitter, and cold Canadian
weather...

By the time everyone was ready to move, it was close to noon... and surprisingly, no one was
hungry! Anyway, a quick train ride later, and we were in the Middle of Toronto, right in front
of the Royal Ontario Museum. Party more or less decided to visit the musuem. I personally had a
great time there... especially the dinosaur fossils... nice!

Musuem closed soon after we went in. Why? Because it closes at 5 pm. Why? Because we arrived
late! Why? Because... read second paragraph above. Anyway, by this time, I was hungry. Most
people were hungry. Everyone took a walk to Chinatown.

(Here's what I don't get. Any self-respecting chinese just HAS to visit Chinatown in some other
country where Chinese aren't the main religion.. I mean race. No matter where, in the US, in
Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe,... any chinese relative... Mother, Father, Late-Grandmother, Aunt,
Uncle, Nephew, Niece... you name them, they will definitely go or request to be taken to
Chinatown! Hence, what I don't get! This weird fascination for something chinese! I mean, you
see the same things and the same people everywhere, and you still wanna go there! And there
isn't even anything particularly interesting there to see that you can't find anywhere else
that has some fraction of chinese living there! If this chinese attachment is too hard to
resist, why leave your country to go someplace where you can't find a generous amount of
chinese?)

Okay, enough chinese ranting... While at chinatown (bluergh!), I forgot what we ate, but it
definitely isn't something too memorable, otherwise I'd remembered. Anyhow, spent the day
walking around and all, and in the end, went back to YochDale or whatever it's called. Arrived in Gluelph very late at night. Was sleeping most of the way. Those late nights at work has taken a toll on me.
The next day awaits...
 

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Bluergh!!!

I was hit on the nose last night. During class. Capoiera class. Not to say that class is dangerous. It was mostly my fault. You could say it was my carelessness which resulted in my nose being hit. Or rather, I hit someone's leg with my nose. But that's not quite the way it happened. Actually, my hand was protecting my face (remember all new capoeira students, 'sempre', ALWAYS protect your face!), but for some reason, I was too close to the leg, and the back of my hand was already on the leg and not mobile anymore. Therefore, I hit the leg with my hand, but because my body was still moving forward, I trusted my nose into my hand (which, if you remember, is already on the leg and not liable to move without some substantial amount of force) and therefore bruised it.

So in the extremely long-winded hypothetical analisys of the situation, (which shall be politically correct, by the way), I actually bruised my nose by hitting the back of my hand which was stuck to the leg which I had moved too close to.

Simple, isn't it?

Anyways, I felt bad about not being able to deliver my full account of my trip to Canada. Therefore I shall write a bit more, based on where I left off.

Second day. Woke up close to noon. Had brunch which could easily pass for tea. Went to Agent Crytobia's secret overground laboratory and hung around watching her dissect fish for her secret plans to take over the world (said in an overwhelming echo which resounds for no particular reason other than to dramatise the situation... ... Plus, it actually makes no sense as there's no way that sound can echo in such a small enclosed area like this...)

I can't really remember, but I think shopping trip took place somewhere and someone bought some cherries or something. Anyway, back to secret hiding place and had home-cooked dinner, Malaysian style... makes the situation really ironic since it has only been a day of not eating Malaysian food, and I don't miss it at all. Had nachos. Made with much authenticity. Not like the crap we have here in Malaysia. No one knows how to make nachos here... sad sad...

Felt tired and crashed out on the couch in front of television. Night was cold. Shivering throughout the night. Doesn't help that I'm sleeping on the couch downstairs while the cat is prancing around in the middle of the night. Next day arrives soon...

Monday, July 12, 2004

Canada...

It was almost midnight when the Jetsgo plane landed in the unchartered region of Toronto. Agent Cryptobia had been waiting for almost an hour without having her Canadian coffee. With her was the unusually cheerful Fish girl, her sidekick who studies some part of fish which I can't remember for the life of me.

Trotting along the carpeted halls to get to the arrival hall, Ms. Kotak and her mother (who shall hence be known as 'The Mother') rushed to meet Agent Cryptobia! Following a few metres behind, and lugging along a massively insane amount of luggage (most of which wasn't his), was none other than E-gore, the humble servant of the Squid Clan.

E-gore was a nicely built creature with eight arms, (some of them virtual) and almost willing to do anyones bidding, like carry insanely heavy bags, and food stuff, and lugging around other people's snacks and knick knacks, without too much complain. In other words, he was the perfect assistant (except when he's had a bad day or if his football team loses or he didn't get the pay increment that was previously promised).

After what seemed like eternity in the carpetted halls of the endless Canadian airport, the trio finally arrived in the arrival hall and was greeted by Agent Cryptobia and Agent Fish Girl.

An exchange of hugs was followed by realisation that they were obstructing traffic and after a brief moment (in which E-Gore was partially relieved of his bag lugging duties) they headed towards the parked car.

As fate would have had it, the lift was a long wait and therefore, E-Gore once again proved the prowness of the Squid Clan by carrying the heavy bags up the stairs. After finding the car, they headed off towards the dark streets of Toronto.

The road was foggy, with visibility only a few metres ahead. And after about an hour of driving, they finally arrived at the small town of Guelph, where they would be staying at times throughout their trip.

Being hungry, they all had some spicy instant noodles from Malaysia, and after a quick shower, everyone was sound asleep. And the rest is left well alone...


Time is not easy to come by

Seeing that I haven't been having enough time to get my life back, (as well as get some sleep) let alone blog, I shall totally suspend the exploits of the Insignificant Trio of Jakun-ism, and their trip to Canada, for a more non-committal and slightly more flexible topic. Namely, one that arrives just as I have that extra five minutes to blog. Having said that, my five minutes are up and I shall blog when my time allows it.