The Cheeky Monkey Turns 4

my younger niece, sabrina, was notoriously known as samseng dari kampung dusun (the gangster from a rustic village). she hasn't quite shed that tag yet (she still packs a mean punch...literally!) but she has also grown into a charming young lady of 4. she loves the colour orange, she likes to sit quietly in the car and watch the scenery as it passes by, she loves music and dancing, she's independent, she works outside the system (she had refused to participate in a colouring activity despite consistent cajoling from her teacher and she had to sit in the 'naughty chair' during the first week of kindergarten), she has a cheeky sense of humour, she has finally perfected her funny-walk and she's my no. 1 fan despite me being a bad aunt.

so here's to sabbie- my personal bodyguard, family clown and loving niece.

The Melancholic Film

ady and i went to catch last life in the universe yesterday and i was kinda looking forward to it. it's been a while since i've watched a film made in asia by asian film makers and with how january went, i'm almost euro-saturated. ALMOST. it also seemed to match my mood. moreover, i've heard of its healthy run at last year's venice film fest. the film's an interesting watch although i feel that the director overdoes it sometimes when he tries to portray poignancy- but still not as bad as what tom tykwer did for heaven (now that really put me off!). i really enjoyed sinitta boonyasak's performance as the aggressive tough cookie, noi, who lost her sister and develops a friendship with kenji, the film's other protagonist. there're some abstract elements in the plot that ady and i have yet to figure out. we didn't come to a precise conclusion after discussing it some, although i have a theory but it seems a bit of a stretch... ok, a lot of a stretch. i shall ponder further...


Retail Therapy

arfah and art talked to me during my time of pain and brood (read previous entry). surround yourself with positive things, arfah had sensibly suggested. i kinda snatched and nursed that advice in my own warped world of interpretation... so i started BUYING the positive things to surround myself with. i forked out about 38 smackeroos at kino yesterday to buy a.s byatt's little black book of stories- a novel consisting of 5 short stories. my mum helped pay a percentage of a pair of shoes i wanted this morning and my dad got me the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring extended edition 4 disc-set dvd!!!!! *rabid* i've got the two towers already so... i just haveta wait for the return of the king. ehehehe. buying me things eh... i smell guilt!!!

Attacked and Hounded

whoever was out in town yesterday... were you attacked by Andersen Ice Cream's droids? first a middle-aged man intercepted my route to kino and launched into a rehearsed explaination about the coupons he was selling. remembering how i had to go around asking people to help me complete survey forms recently, i politely declined and told him i was in a hurry (which was true) but he was persistent... he tried the age-old tactic of breaking the ice. he asked if i was a student and where i was studying. i told him uwa as i walked away and he followed. sensing that he's already losing me fast, he blurted, "miss you're very beautiful."*that desperate huh??* to resort to arse-kissing. i stopped, looked at him straight in the eye and apologetically told him that i really had to go. he said thanks and let me off. phew.

ady and i were assailed again by another andersen droid, this time a girl who popped out of nowhere (like one of 'em dinos in jurassic park) and rattled off her sales pitch at 1000 miles an hour. we declined but she had this faraway look her eyes and she was completely unfazed by our refusal. she just continued to talk and talk and talk about the coupons despite ady telling her, "no thanks" umpteen times. seeing as how that didn't work too well, we decided to ignore her and walked away... but she tailed us, still prattling on about those darned coupons. i desperately didn't want to be rude although my patience was wearing thin, so i turned around, looked at her and said with finality, "sorry but no thank you" and we crossed the road. mercifully the pedestrian lights turned green at that exact moment. it was freaky... it's like she was automated or something and there was no way we could turn her off.

i understand that they're trying to make a living of some sort but sales ethics 101: don't hound people who decline. i had to do something like that before and my superiors had listed down the dos and don'ts of making a sale. aggressively insisting that the product be bought by a customer who has already made it clear that he or she is not interested, is a definitive no-no.

americano idolo tonight! more trash on tv. hoorah!