I’m Just Not That Into You!!!

Understanding Women 38 Comments

Girls, please do not read this one. This entry is for men only.
.
.
.
.
Still here? Why am I not surprised? Pfft! Girls! Well, International Womens Day is over so I get to complain about girls. Right, moving along.
He's Just Not That Into You

He’s Just Not That Into You because you’re just so fucking annoying.

Apparently, the hottest book on the market for women right now is He’s Just Not That Into You: The No Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys authored by the story editor of Sex and the City et al. Simply put, its a no-nonsense guide book for women about men. The book has taken the world by storm, translated into many different languages, and selling faster than a $2 prostitute. Seriously, its the next big book on love and relationships since Men are from Mars, and Women Love Penis.
Men are from Mars Women are from Venus

Yes. That’s my book. I know. Shut up.

I’ll be honest. I’ve not yet read the book. I’m not much of a book reader. In fact, the last book I’ve ever read from start to finish was Sam’s Teach Yourself Visual Basic in 21 Days.
But judging by the transformation of girls I know who have read the book *cough*alli_talli*cough*lc_nguyen*cough*lilyng*cough*, I think I have a pretty good idea what the book is all about.
Man says “I’ll call you” to girl. But man never call after 5 minutes. Girl over-reacts “OMG OMG! Does he love me? Does he love me not?!? He doesn’t love me!!! I’m DOOOOOOOOOOMMMMEEDDDD!!!”
GIRLS! Calm down! For god’s sakes, us men are not supposed to be the creature that’s hard to understand! That’s YOUR job! But hey, I don’t see them publishing a book titled A Guide to Understanding PMS do they? Why do you even need a book to understand guys?!
Think about it… a book about understanding MEN? What the fork? Men are the easiest species to understand!
Hey, we’re not the species who takes 3 hours putting on make up only go to a totally pitch-black cinema! We don’t have 50 uncomfortable shoes from Vincci instead of 2 comfortable ones from Nike! We don’t find excuses spending RM2,000 on a Louis Vuitton handbag when we can have an X800 Radeon graphics card! (PS. Its ok Nicole baby, I still love you!) A BOOK ABOUT UNDERSTANDING MEN! What next? A book for women about how to read a map?
How to read a map
Still, I give them props to be able to sell a book that essentially tells you straight to your face you are not loved! And then tries to act all sweet with that You are exceptional, not the exception line.
Girls who have read He’s Just Not That Into You usually describe it with “That’s sooooo true!”, praising it like its the most factual book since The Bible. They become enlightened because after reading the book, they understand the reasons to all their woes. Then, they suddenly transform into relationship experts for all their friends, writing a 5000 word reply at one go, repeatedly quoting “If he’s into you he will BLAH, but because he’s just not that into you so BLAH”. Yet, somehow they still manage to become even more confused than they are BEFORE they read the book. Example (plagiarised from the comment section of www.xanga.com/alli_talli without permission. 😉 Thanks Alli!):

sigh – strap yourself in girl, cos this is going to be a long reply. remember what greg said: YOU ARE EXCEPTIONAL, BUT NOT THE EXCEPTION – if he really is into you, then HE would have done all the things in his power to make you happy, not sad and to please you by now. no ifs, no buts, no i’m busy with school or work or your family is weird or any of that bullshit. when he doesn’t call or be at a place when you expect him to be, if he has an answer for everything and criticises you, if he takes hours or days to reply – thats your answer. if he really is into you, he would move effing mountains! i know – it was so harsh when i read it but its true, isn’t it? because if u put the situation in reverse, ANY guy that we’re in love with, we’d put first – so the fact taht they’re making us do all the work or jerking us around (“you call me” bullshit) shows that “they’re just not that into us.” its hard to walk away, especially if you’re a loyal person – sometimes its like youre so strong and take three steps forward but tons of steps back. i dont think you should take what he says with a grain of salt jen —- THIS IS THE SALT! ahaha. this is the cold hard UGLY DISGUSTING SICK DEPRAVED, SO SOO DEPRAVED truth – omg i so feel like alanis morissette right now. if he wanted to: he would have. as for being kiss deprived … 1.5 years is long. then again, i waited like 21 years for a DECENT one (i’m excluding ones from high school and that one girlfriend I kissed… thats for another time) – and sure, like its sad when the person you SO WANTED to be kissing for a bloody long time isnt there to kiss you anymore (because he’s just not that into you) and you when people tell you “youre young and there’s so many more to come” – they tell you the best way to get OVER someone is to get UNDER someone else but its like aaargh – i dont want a hundred men, i just happen to want the one … one who “is just not into me”. so that’s the answer, i think. not really an answer because i ‘ve managed to confuse my own self even more but i know how you feel! ahaha. i mean, you know ridiculous it is right? to pine and PINE like some pathetic creature meanwhile they’re happy and contented and settled and have TOTALLY MOVED ON? when you think about how much of *your* GORGEOUS LOOKS you’re wasting (it’s a different story for me, but YOU! HELOOO!), when you think about how much time and ENERGY this is taking away from you, when you think about how much this is distracting you from things that REALLY matter like school or your career – when you think about all this when he couldn’t give a flying fuck – when you think about it in this light, welll, i dont know about you ,but it makes me just want to say “fuck this” i’m so over feeling like this – it’d be better (so i’m assuming, i wouldnt’ know) to know that they wanted you but … “they’re just not into you”. you may not be over him, but i think being OVER IT is the first step. so my dear there’s just one thing to say: DONT WASTE THE PRETTY! (even if youre still hanging out with him and he performs conversational masturbation on you … he still isnt that into you) 😉

(Diplomatic message interjection: No offense to Alli and the other girls that I have mentioned in this entry. Nothing against you all. 🙂 I think you are all smart beautiful women, exceptional not the exception and all that kinda stuff. But I’m just a little bit annoyed but the book… just a little bit. Anyway, you can always flame me back later! heh)
All I want to say to girls who have read that book (or those who are about to read that book) is CHILL OUT! Just because we didn’t make you the super-duper-number-one on our priority list doesn’t mean that we don’t love you. We could be sitting on our throne taking a dump before we decide to call you, because hell, shitting is more important than calling you, you know? Please don’t expect us to move mountains when its difficult enough trying to decipher what “Anything-lah” means when we’re ordering food for you at the restaurant and then having to put up with your black face because Anything-lah actually meant Grilled Fish instead of Chicken Pasta.
LADIES! If you want to understand men, let kennysia.com tell you in one simple line.
There’s only one thing, just ONE THING that on our mind when it comes to girls. And that’s the three-letter-word that starts with “S” and ends with “X”.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen.
Us men think of the number ‘SIX’ all the time.
And that’s beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, and BEER!
Mmmm... beer

A Change In Profession

Distinctively Kuching Engrish Life Documentary 20 Comments

This week, I started my new job.
I apologise I can’t say too much about the company I’m working for (no, its not the FBI). Suffice to say that I’m now on the company payroll, working for my father, wearing suit-and-tie to work instead of Tshirt-and-shorts, and addressing my workmates by Mister and Madam instead of by their first name. Still, the working environment here is very different to what I am used to at Spectra Engineering.
What I used to wear Vs What I now wear
Oh, to those who are related to me, much appreciated if you keep the existence of this blog to yourself. To others, I hate the fact that I can’t just say it here. My apologies for being so secretive. My job is not that much of big deal to be honest. But Kuching is a small place, many Kuching people whom I don’t know read this blog and I rather them not know. Anyway, if we ever do meet in real life ask me again ok?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I hate it when the forms you fill ask you redundant questions.
I visited the newest gym in town today, a government-owned gymnasium called Gym Masyarakat. I was ready to give them my RM250 to sign up for an annual membership, but instead they asked me to fill in the application form and wait 2 weeks for approval.
I wave RM250 cold hard cash in my hands, and they want to wait for approval. So I ask them.
“Why would you need approval for going to the gym and staying healthy? Have you ever rejected any applications?”
“Yes we have many rejections!”
“Why?”
“Mainly because they didn’t submit their photos.”
Go figure.
Stupid Gym
So fine. I was presented with the stupidest application form I ever had to fill.
Full Name: Kenny xxx xxx xxx
IC Number: 821127-13-xxxx
Date of Birth: 27-11-1982 (What the fish? Can’t you read my IC number?)
Age: 23 (Can’t you bloody deduce my age from my birthdate?!)
Nationality: Mongolian (OF COURSE MALAYSIAN LAH! I just gave you my Identity Card number didn’t I?! Bloody!)
Damn angry. I had to pay RM10 for a single visit because they need TWO BLOODY WEEKS to have my formal membership approved.
The gym itself was pretty crap. Its nice to see familiar faces though. There’s the heavily tattooed guy who spent all night doing bench presses, the steroid-induced muscle dude helping a scrawny kid spot as he yell profanities at him as a form of encouragement, and that la-la girl who wore hip-hugging jeans and stiletto heels to the gym just to use the threadmill. Nice.
Does anyone know of any good gyms in Kuching?
Fitness First is the only gym I know that seems to get everything right. I’m struggling to find another fitness center here that can deliver a similar quality of service.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Went to Red Tea Road for bubble tea this morning when I noticed this sign.
To Run Business
To WHAT?

Bad Engrish at the Education Expo

Distinctively Kuching Engrish 25 Comments

Bad English spelling and grammar never fail to humour me.
I still recall a story my father told me. Once, he was driving around the rural area of Kuching when he saw a big vacant land. In front of it is big sign board proudly proclaiming “LANG FOR SALE.”
Lang for Sale

‘Lang’ = ‘People’ in Hokkien

I have nothing against bad English. kennysia.com has never been good in English. In fact, I think its very much a Malaysian culture to speak/write English in a less than perfect manner.
That’s not to discount the efforts of education institutions highlighting the importance of the language. Yes, good English is important in a formal setting. But ultimately, the purpose of language is to communicate. We are Malaysians. So long as we understand each other, that’s good enough. No need to speak with the accuracy of BBC grammar, using words Kim would be proud of, complete with an accent to be able to use a language effectively, right?
*cough* Wellll…. now that I’ve say all the nice nice things I wanted to say, let’s all laugh at the people at Engrish.com 😉
Kuching Civic Center

The Civic Center building, a proud landmark of Kuching… no more.

Well, last week I went to the Kuching Civic Center because I wanted to take photos of the Kuching cityscape from the top of the building. I was about to take the lift when I realised that the lift was broken.
Lift wants to break it down

The only thing that’s broken is the English

…
WHAT ‘LIFT BREAK DOWN’ LAH! Either ‘Lift is Broken’ or ‘Lift is Out of Order’! What the fish is ‘Lift Break Down’?! The lift wanna break dance issit?
Actually it doesn’t look too bad if you put MC Hammer in front of it.
MC Hammer 'break it down'
Coincidentally, the Sarawak Education Exhibition was going on at the time so I popped in for a visit. After all, I am planning to pursue an MBA degree when the time is right. I got the information I needed off the Curtin Sarawak booth, which unfortunately was the only education institution I recognised there.
Curtin Sarawak Booth
I actually hated education exhibitions like this due to the fact that they shameless show the money-grubbing side of higher learning. I know its something I have to accept, that universities are businesses and students are customers. But education fairs like this are no different to, say, a computer fair where midriff-baring teenage girls shove pamphlets to your face and the main motivation is to sell, sell and SELL. It really is commercial exploitation of tertiary education at its worst.
Stamford College

The Stamford College booth is as empty as the head of their students.

Apologies for going off topic.
Anyway, there’s not much else to look at at the University Education Fair, so I decided to leave the place… after I filled out a quiz form.
Quizze
I mean, QUIZ-ZE form! Must be a new word the big shot Universities at the education fair there invented. My bad. 🙂

Long Distance Love Triangle

Favourite Entries Understanding Women 77 Comments

Last evening as I was talking to a friend, I was told of a friend’s father’s mother’s son’s wife’s daughter (heh) who apparently is caught in a love triangle.
Its a classic scenario. A recipe for disaster.
Girl has boyfriend back home. Girl goes overseas for studies. Girl meets new boy overseas. New boy goes after girl. Girl hooks up with new boy. Old boy oblivious to the whole thing.
(Btw, ppl who knows me or them in real life… much appreciated if you don’t luan luan guess who I’m talking about. ;))
Sydney Cityscape in sunset

Girl goes to big city to further her education, and gets more than she bargained for.

I was shocked by the whole thing. I knew that the new boy has been going after her for a few months now, in full knowledge that she has a boyfriend back home. It was a few months ago when her boyfriend was visiting her that I saw them hugging intimately in front of the new boy. And now, the new boy is with the girl.
I asked Nicole.

“Can meh?”
“Can… the boyfriend not here. And he doesn’t know bah! Why not?”

Gee. Thanks for making me feel better, my long-distance girlfriend!
Can this really be done? Can a girl have another boyfriend overseas, when she has a boyfriend back home? Can she be allowed to subscribe to third party insurance, before the current insurance policy expire? Can she allow multiplayer for a game that’s meant to be for single players only? Can she install a back up hard disk, in case the current hard disk becomes corrupted?
Sorry for the cheesy analogies. 🙂
Is love a multiplayer game?

Is love a multiplayer game?

It reminded me the wise words of my friend Alston back in 2001 when Nicole and I were having our first bout of long-distance relationship. The wise one said “You are qualified to have another girlfriend if your current girlfriend is more than 500km away from you.”
Of course, this is coming from the same person who once said “A girlfriend’s expiry date is exactly one year from the first day of usage.” Well, Alston has been dating his gf for more than a year now. So I take what he said with a grain of salt.
My friend Alston

Alston and his theories on long distance relationships.

I am worried. With Nicole in Perth and me in Kuching, she is in a perfect position to “find another one” if she wanted to. After all, she’s this smart, beautiful girl its only a matter of time before someone decides to hit on her and make her totally disregard my existence.
But she’s my girlfriend of four years. I should trust her. I know I should trust her. We had 1.5 years of long distance before and we survived dammit!
Then again, if she wanted to, she can do it and I wouldn’t even know about it. It makes me really vulnerable. I probably knew why the girl did it. The new boy is a fun and caring person, a great alternative to her boyfriend. She needs someone to fill in the void left by the current boyfriend when he’s not physically by her side.
Maybe I should be involved in a scandal myself

Maybe I should be involved in a scandal myself.

Yet, she’s not willing to part with her current boyfriend because he’s someone she sees herself having a future with. The new boy is just a temporary one to fill in for the job, but she wouldn’t discount possibly having a future with him if he can prove himself right.
I could never approve of what the girl does, nor what the new boy did. I symphathize her current boyfriend for not knowing anything. And even if he knew, there’s nothing he can do about it.
I know many people would disagree with me, telling me that my thinking is old-fashioned and stuff.

“They are all young 20-something people, why restrict themselves to one person? All is fair in love and war, whattttt.”
“If she doesn’t mind, he doesn’t mind and the boyfriend doesn’t know… Why you so busybody?”
“Sometimes people know what they are doing is wrong, but they do it anyway… That’s called LOVE!”

They say it as a bright golden halo appears over their heads and a single tear rolls down their cheeks.
I say BULLSHIT lah! Now you get two for the price of one, and you find it so fun. Next time people do it back to you, then how? Are you gonna kau peh kau boo over it? At least you should break up with your current boyfriend if you were to pursue this new relationship bah, right? What if your boyfriend find out? Then how? And how long can this go on? Forever? I don’t think so! In the end you have to choose and when that happens… at best you have one broken heart, at worst you have three broken hearts!
Maybe eventually they can settle it WWE style in a 10-foot-high steel cage ladder match.

Maybe eventually they can settle it WWE style in a 10-foot-high steel cage ladder match.

Then again, that’s just what I think. Judging by the number of people going overseas for studies, I’m sure many people would have experienced long-distance relationship at some point. So I’m interested to know what you think.
Is my notion of love and relationship too traditional to be applied in the 21st century? Are we allowed to have a temporary partner if our current partner is overseas, provided everyone keeps hush about it?

Hair Port ’86 Hair Saloon Review

Reviews 35 Comments

One thing that constantly amuses me with Kuching is that businesses here can come up with rather funny names for themselves. Examples include Nemo Bistro in Jalan Ban Hock, or Titanic Lounge in BDC, complete with Finding Nemo and Titanic themes respectively. There’s nothing wrong with that, but somehow I’d find it funny if someone were to ask me “Hey! Wanna go Nemo Bistro drink beer?”
Hair Port '86 - Silly Name, Serious Hair.

Hair Port ’86 – Silly Name, Serious Hair.

There’s a hair saloon in Jalan Ong Kee Hui (near Soon Onn Furniture) called Hair Port ’86. The first time I saw that name, I thought “What a stupid name. Hair Port… sounds like AIRPORT! What lah! The hair dryer like aeroplane so noisy one is it?”
It did pique my curiousity though. Perhaps Hair Port was meant to be like a central point for all things hair! That’s why its named like that.
Anyway, I’m about to start work again next Monday and I hadn’t visit my hairdresser since before CNY, so I figured its probably time for a hair cut. As I’m always up for trying something new, I popped in the saloon earlier today for a hair cut and wash.
The interior of Hair Port '86

The interior of Hair Port ’86, stylish and contemporary

I am rather impressed by the interior of the hair saloon. The variety of bright colours marry well with each other, and the design of the furniture are all stylish and contemporary. The soothing music playing in the background makes it all the more inviting. This contrasts other hair saloons I’ve been to that’s usually filled with patches of hair on the untidy floor, and the stench of hair care products permeating through the air.
I was greeted by Ling, who quoted me RM30 for a men’s hair cut and wash. That’s rather expensive by Kuching’s standards, but considering a similar 15-minute service in Perth would cost AUD23, I thought the price is rather acceptable.
Comfy Chairs of Hair Port '86

One of the nice comfy arm chairs in the hair saloon

I was seated on one of their comfy chairs in front of the mirror. Ling placed a stack of Cleo magazines in front of me, which I never touched. Here’s a shot of me before my hair cut.
Kenny - Before Hair Cut

Kenny – Before Hair Cut

To my horror, Ling proceeded to pour shampoo and water onto my head while I was still sitting on the chair! Holy Cow! Wouldn’t that drench my top? I would have though that they would wash my hair in one of those basin instead. But apparently, that’s the SOP for hair wash here. Talk about a culture shock.
In Seat Hair Wash!

In Seat Hair Wash!

Somehow Ling managed to defy gravity and removed all the foam from my hair before it reached my tee. I was also treated to a good 20 to 25 minutes of head and neck massage, which was so good it made my neck numb. I was then led to the basin for a rinse of my hair. Ling wrapped a towel around my head, which made me look like Osama bin Laden.
Kenny bin Laden

Kenny bin Laden

This is what I look like after the towel dry. I reminded myself of a young Aaron Kwok. Teehee.
Kenny Kwok

Kenny Kwok

The actual hair cut was done by the taukeh-nio (proprietor) herself, Lina Chung.
Hair Wash by Ling, Hair Cut by Lina

My hair is done by the taukeh-nio herself.

Lina is friendly and chatty. I learnt that Hair Port was established in 1986 (hence the ’86 suffix in the name) and used to be located in Kuching Plaza until December last year. As patrons to Kuching Plaza dwindled, Hair Port relocated to this new area. Lina’s father is the owner of Soon Onn Furniture, and the interior of the saloon was designed by her nephew Ronald Chung – coincidentally also a graduate of Curtin University.
Here’s Lina’s name card.
Hair Port '86 Name Card

Hair Port ’86 Name Card

After Lina skillfully snipped and buzzed my hair, I was once again led to the basin to rinse off the residual hair. After a blowdry and some minor touch up, Ling returned to apply liquid hair wax on my head.
And this is what I ended up like.
Kenny - After

Kenny – After Hair Cut

So what do you reckon? Good? Bad?
Or had I just wasted RM30 looking exactly the same as I did before?

Kuching is owned by Maxis, DiGi and Celcom

Distinctively Kuching 15 Comments

Celcom, Digi and Maxis banners are everywhere in the streets of Kuching

Maxis, DiGi and Celcom banners are everywhere in the streets of Kuching

I was just driving around Kuching today, trying to re-acquaint myself with my hometown, when I noticed a rather disturbing trend. It seems as if no matter where I travel in Kuching, I am bound to encounter some form of promotional material by Maxis, Digi and Celcom – the 3 major mobile phone carriers in Malaysia.
Bahhh... Siti Nurhaliza!

Bahhh… Siti Nurhaliza!

I can’t go shopping without walking past a life-size cardboard cutouts of Siti-freakin’-Nurhaliza promoting Maxis. Lamp posts that were previously just lamp posts, are now adorned with banners advertising DiGi’s 1c SMS promotion. Overhead briges that used to be in plain cream colour now bear the logos of Celcom instead. In fact, I couldn’t drive 5 minutes in metropolitan Kuching without encountering any one of those ads.
Telco ads are everywhere. EVERYWHERE!!! ARrgghhhh

Telco ads are everywhere. EVERYWHERE!!! ARrgghhhh

Its terrible. I had expected Kuching to be that laid-back, relaxing little city that I grew up in – not some over-commercialised town who happened to have sold its soul to the highest bidding corporate company.
Some people may say, “Its not that bad whattt… just some posters here and there. At least we don’t have to pay so much taxes!” Well of course, extra money is always good. But as an example of how too much of something is a bad thing, see Kuala Lumpur.
During my last trip to Kuala Lumpur, I had the experience of taking the new KL Monorail (which finally re-opened after one of its wheel fell off). The experience was great. But to my horror, I noticed that the naming rights of almost all the monorail stations are owned by major corporate companies.
Coca-Cola Bukit Bintang Station

Excuse me, its not Bukit Bintang Station. Its COCA-COLA Bukit Bintang Station!

Bukit Bintang Station became Coca-Cola Bukit Bintang Station. Imbi Station became Maxis Hotlink Imbi Station. Even our national telco company joined in on the action – Titiwangsa Station became Telekom Malaysia Titiwangsa Station. Bloody ridiculous!
I don’t know, I’m just very much against selling the naming rights of our public properties to private corporate companies. Unfortuantely, almost every single government entity is privatised these days.
Why stop there? Why not sell the naming rights of, say, our police stations to Celcom?
Celcom Sarawak Police Station

Celcom Sarawak Police Station

Maybe we should increase the Sarawak General Hospital’s funding by selling advertisement space to Maxis?
Celcom Sarawak Police Station

Maxis Sarawak General Hospital

How much is too much? Who knows, maybe one day this website will be big enough to be able to afford purchasing the naming rights to the Sarawak state.
Welcome to kennysia.com Sarawak!

Welcome to kennysia.com Sarawak!

Maybe. Just maybe! 😉

My Final Moments in Perth

Reflections on Perth 23 Comments

I’m back in Kuching, Sarawak. Nothing much to say except everything up to this point was very hectic. I had not had a proper sleep for 2 days, and my body was overdosed with Red Bull. My last few days in Perth was spent selling off everything that I can’t bring, packing everything that I can bring, helping Nicole move to her new place, driving Nicole’s parents around, and removing 8 years worth of junk in the house so that the new owners can move right in.
The amount of junk in my bedroom

The amount of junk in my bedroom

Nicole’s parents are such a cool bunch. They were in town to attend Nicole’s graduation on the 26th February. Funnily, her parents seems to be happier on that day than Nicole herself. Her mom and dad are ever so ready to pose for my camera, whereas the graduation girl would hesitate like its no big deal. “Its just Curtin Business School, not Harvard Business School.” Sheesh, KL girls! 🙂
Curtin University of Technology Graduation Ceremony

Curtin University of Technology Graduation Ceremony

The graduation ceromony was held outdoors in the courtyard on campus grounds. The weather that evening was cool and soothing, which makes it ideal to hold such event outdoors. The ceremony itself followed the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) – boring speech, give out some awards, inspirational speech, give out more awards, one more trying-to-be inspirational speech, the end.
Fireworks

Fireworks! Oooooh…. Ahhhhh….

Probably the funniest moments during the ceremony was listening to the ang-moh MC trying to pronounce the long and complicated Indian and Thai names with great difficulty. The ceremony concluded with a spectacular fireworks display.
Asian food stall

Maybe the Asian food here was meant to be for the Kwai Lo?
There were several foodstalls serving international cuisine later that night. Here’s the photo of the Asian food stall. Pardon my rusty Mandarin, but I think the Chinese word on the stall said Gui, which means literally – Ghost. Whoever designed that food stall must be a very disgruntled employee. 😉
Perth Cityscape on the 28th February 2005

Perth Cityscape on the 28th February 2005

By Sunday evening with a few hours left to board the plane, we managed to clear everything out of our house. Without a bed to sleep on and reluctant to rent a hotel room, Nicole and I went on a car ride around the city and ended up in King’s Park where we had a brief heart-to-heart talk. I took one last photo of cityscape of Perth.
The taxi to take me away from my home to my home

The taxi to take me away from my home to my home

When we returned home, the taxi was already there waiting for us.
I arrived at Perth International Airport, still relatively calm. Perhaps I was sedated by the fact that I did not sleep for 2 days. Ignoring calls asking passengers of MH126 to go through the gates, Nicole and I spent our last minutes drinking coffee at Dome Cafe. I was still calm.
Perth International Airport

Perth International Airport

We hugged, and I walked through the sliding doors into the departure hall. Then I remembered how long it was going to be before I see her again, and all of the sudden I just lost it and cried. Say what you want about men crying, but I teared and wept even when I presented my passport to be stamped. What made it even worse was that Nicole’s parents were at the departure hall as well waving at me happily like nothing happening.
Kuching International Airport

Kuching International Airport

So now I’m back in Kuching. Hot, wet, humid. And for someone like me who have been away for 8 long years, I’ll probably experience reverse culture shock. As much as I try not to, I’ll probably inadvertantly try to compare Kuching with Perth. Well, things are more or less back to normal now, and kennysia.com is more or less back in action.
Only this time round it’ll have more of a Malaysian laksa-flavour.

Reflections on Perth – 2004

Reflections on Perth 16 Comments

Re-editted from draft.

5 hours left.

5 hours left! Surprisingly I’m relatively calm, but I suspect
not for too long. I apologise I cannot visit blogs/reply comments/take a piss
these few days without paying $4 an hour for internet access here whilst being
surrounded by dozens of pimply-faced teenagers screaming obsceneties whilst
playing Counterstrike. Dammit, 5 hours left – I should be I standing tall by
the beach watching the sun rise, one foot stepping on a rock, wind blowing
my hair, acting sad yet strong, whilst Leaving on a Jetplane plays
in the background.

Xiao Sha

Stupid Hollywood.

Well guess what? I ain’t leaving Perth till I finish the final entry of my Reflections on Perth.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The year was 2004.
Ok let’s jump straight to the point – 2004 sucks. Big time. You may remember
that in 2004, Bennifer became
no more. J-Lo married Marc Anthony. Rebecca Loos and Malaysian-born Sarah Marbeck
all claimed to have slept with David Beckham just so that they can earn a few
extra bucks from the gossip magazines. Britney Spears married Kevin “Golddigger” Federline
who happen to have two kids. And then there was The Nipplegate Scandal when
Janet Jackson’s left tit said "Hello!" to the whole wide world.

The Nipplegate scandal

“Hello everybody! I am Janet Jackson’s left boobie! :)”

On a more sombre note, George Bush and John Howard lied about the WMD, spent billions of dollars in iRaq and both won re-elections, confirming two things: lying gets you to places, people care only about themselves. Sad but true. The largest natural disaster of its kind – The Asian Tsunami crisis took the lives of over 200,000 people on 26th December 2004.

I had mentioned numerous times in my previous entries how much I disliked 2004. That’s no secret. For many people 2004 is the year the world went through war, famine and suffering. For me, I went through a near-crisis in my relationship, multiple burglaries and the beginning of a difficult journey when the news about my father come about.

In front of the School of Physics

Fresh grad ready to kick ass!

The year started steady and strong. I was 22 years old. I was a fresh graduate who only just started my employment with Spectra, and still earning a few bucks here and there tutoring Business Statistics.

Nicole had just finished her course at Curtin University in July. With her
Student Visa finishing up, she applied for Permanent Residency in Australia.
So while we were waiting for her application to be approved, I encouraged her
to work casually as a farmhand in a place called Gingin, where a lot of backpack
travellers are also working there to earn some cash. Looking back, I regretted
letting her go.

Gingin - the place that took my girlfriend away

Gingin – the place that took my girlfriend away and changed her into a different person.

Gingin changed Nicole almost into a totally different person. The people Nicole
stayed with in Gingin were mostly Europeans in their late-teens/early 20s on
their gap
year. The fact that they are so independant at such young age make Nicole
feel that she missed out on the best times of her life. I do not disagree with
that. In KL she lived with her parents, whereas in Perth I played the role
of the restricting boyfriend. One night in September while I was lying next
to her, she turned to me and said "I needed my own space."

I agreed, thinking that every couple need some time to be apart from each other for the relationship to grow. It was just a temporary phase that most couples need to go through. I could handle it.

But I was wrong. What I thought was 3 days become a week, then 2 weeks, then
a month, then 3 months. During this period of time I prevented myself from
trying to meet her. She was in Gingin with her German friends and I was in
Perth alone. We grew apart and many times we felt like just normal friends.
She would rather stay at her friend’s place for the weekend instead of meeting
me. The worst part was when we are supposed to go out with our group of friends,
I went there alone and when I was asked "Where’s Nicole?",
I had absolutely no idea. There was no longer ‘we’ in our relationship,
just ‘her’ and ‘I’.
I was in a relationship, but I never felt more single in my life. I gave her
the space that she need, but many times I fear that the relationship is just
not going to work out.

As if things couldn’t get worse, my car was continuously burgled. Those low-life scumbags would smash my car window ($250 repair) and took whatever was inside the car – sometimes nothing at all. I had my car broken into 3 times that year. Among the things stolen were some spare change ($10), my speed camera detector ($200), my jacket ($100), the faceplate of my CD player ($170), digital camera ($200) and my time spent to process the insurance claims (priceless). The stupidest thing was that I deliberately left my car unlocked so that they could steal anything inside if they wanted to – yet they still smashed my car window! Gerammmm….

My house was broken into

My car, my house were broken into many times throughout the year

I had tried many ways to calm myself down, entertain myself a little and take my mind off all the commotion. So I bought a Microsoft XBox gaming console one evening as a Christmas gift for myself, wanting to spend time with it because Nicole was away in Gingin and the rest of my family were away in Malaysia. I had it for one night, just a one night stand. Until someone broke into the house and ran away with not just my XBox, not just my Playstation 2, but also my pride, my dignity, my love.

Dear thief, if you are reading this, I have only this to say to you… You can take away my XBox, but you can never take away MY FREEDOM!!!

At that point in time, it seemed as if everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong. None of them seemed to prepare me for what was about to happen on the 26th October, when I learnt that my father has contracted cancer. All of the sudden, my plans changed totally, and nothing else seems to be as important anymore.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This is the last of my Reflections on Perth. If you have been following this memoir of mine, thank you. I know its such a dry read because I fell asleep several times whilst I spell-checked it.

And so, this closes one chapter of my life, and opens up a new one.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the beach watching the sun rise, one foot stepping on a rock, wind blowing my hair, acting sad yet strong, whilst Leaving on a Jetplane plays in the background.

Goodbye Perth

Goodbye Perth. The past 8 years was simply bloody amazing.

My Last Day with Spectra

Life Documentary 9 Comments

Re-edited from draft.

I just sold my computer monitor. And here I am sitting in a cyber cafe opposite my place. Not exactly where I expected myself to be at 2 days before I’m supposed to leave Perth for good.

From my desk at Spectra

From my desk at Spectra Engineering

Yesterday was my last day working for Spectra. I finalised my projects, handed my works over to my colleagues (sort of) and after work, we had a mini farewell party. Bill suggested that the reason they are celebrating is because I’m leaving. 🙂

Seems like only yesterday that I stepped foot into the company. I was a fresh graduate who only just entered the workforce. Spectra is a very small company as there are only say 20 people working there, about 10 of whom are engineers. There’s a culturally diverse mix of people from Taiwan and Vietnam to South Africa and Switzerland. Yet despite their small workforce, everyone there is extremely good with what they do.

Steve Robinson (in his goofy self) and 'DJ' Steve Edwards

Steve Robinson (in his goofy self) and ‘DJ’ Steve Edwards

The people at Spectra are a colourful bunch. Whilst in the morning they are people hard at work trying to make a living, when they go home, they changed into different character like toys out of the Transformers cartoon. Gary and Hieu would don on their fishing gear and go deep sea fishing. Alan would sing at gigs in various pubs. Steve E (Edwards) become DJ Stephen Tranz0r at The Rise Nightclub. Despite the silly DJ moniker, he’s definitely one of the best trance DJs in Perth, and I believe its only a matter of time before he makes it big locally and internationally. I was known as the healthy one. In a place where people read geeky engineering newsletter and Ralph magazines, I brought copies of Men’s Health magazines to work. There was a period of time when I was crazy about my diet. I would eat plenty canned tuna and smoked salmon, and I lost a lot of weight. In turn, I accidentally inspired many people at work, including my boss, to start eating healthily. 🙂

Company party on the river cruise

Chistmas dinner with the bunch on the cruise

Working in Australia is very different to my past experiences working in Malaysia. Malaysian companies usually obey a strict hierarchy system where the boss is always feared and respected and the staff should do whatever the boss requests without question. The working environment in Australia on the other hand is very casual. People wear jeans to work, sometimes even shorts if they wanted to. There’s no such barrier of respect between the staff and the bosses – everyone is a friend of everyone, and you don’t have to treat your superiors like some army officer. People still respect each other, but these are also people that you can sit down at the end of the day, play some darts and have a nice cold beer.

My farewell gift... a pack of SMOKED SALMON?!

My farewell gift is… a pack of SMOKED SALMON?!

Anyway, the bunch gave me a nice collage of photos as a farewell gift. They also gave me a pack of smoked salmon, which is an obvious rib at me. Later that evening, we retreated to one of our workmates Simone’s place. Nicole joined us and Julie offered to pay for the A$40 taxi ride. When I was about to leave, there were handshakes, there were hugs, and for Julie – there were tears. It sure was damn difficult to leave such a close knit group.

Well, these past few days has been really hectic with all the packing that’s going on. I am overwhelmed not just by all the tasks at hand, but also by the multitude of emotions I felt because I am leaving this place for good. I wished I can just calm down and blog nicely for once – but probably not today. My flight is at 7:50am on Monday, so I shouldn’t really be here in the first place!

Thus, I shall put kennysia.com on hold. I’ll be back by Tuesday.

My Take on the Hilton Hacking fiasco

Thoughts & Musings 14 Comments

I’m so busy these days packing away all my stuff that even finding time to shit is a miracle. I admit this is gonna be a half-arsed entry.
By this weekend, someone will be coming over to take away my computer monitor. That doesn’t mean I won’t be able to blog. I can still blog, just that I won’t be able to see what I’m typing. So teh wrods mgiht npt comw out clrrektly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Paris Hilton

The divine Miss P

I think by now most of you would have heard of the news about the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, the divine Miss Paris Hilton, who had her online mobile phone book hacked. For those not familiar with Paris Hilton, let’s just say that’s she’s more well known for her wild party antics, lack of general common sense, and her infamous sex video. The contents of her phone book and other stuff like notes and camera pictures are published on hiltonhacked.com. Among the list of about 500 contacts are phone numbers and email addresses of prominent celebrities, such as Eminem, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, Jay-Z, Avril Lavigne, Ashley Olsen, Ashlee Simpson, etc.
Ashlee Simpson?! I don’t know what those two airheads can talk about. Imagine Paris sms-ing Ashlee (1-310-254-7114).
Paris Hilton and Ashlee Simpson

Paris and Ashlee. Airhead vs airhead.

Paris: hey what’s up?
Ashlee: not much… what’s up?
Paris: errr… nothing major… i’m just hanging… what’s up?
Ashlee: dunno… well you messaged me first, so… what’s up?
Paris: just… partying… ummm, what’s up?

Fascinating stuff.
Eminem is another odd person to be on Paris Hilton’s phone book. One is always so disturbed and angry, and the other one laughs for no reason. What would Paris Hilton and Eminem (1-917-776-7643) talk about?
Paris Hilton and Eminem

Paris and Eminem. What can they talk about seriously?

Paris: hey what’s up?
Eminem: Alright. Now lose it.
Paris: AH-AH-AH-AH-AH
Eminem: Just lose it.
Paris: AH-AH-AH-AH-AH
Eminem: Go crazy.
Paris: AH-AH-AH-AH-AH
Eminem: Oh baby.
Paris: AH-AH
Eminem: Oh baby baby.
Paris: AH-AH

To her credit, Paris Hilton has the number for Feed the Children (235-933-98001) stored on her mobile phone. Tell me seriously, how many people have phone numbers of charities stored on their mobile phone? Do you? Of course not! Because NO ONE STORES PHONE NUMBERS OF CHARITIES ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES!
Its as if she’s the kind of person that would feel sorry for the children in Africa all of the sudden. So much so that she would ring up Feed the Children and say “Hey! Let’s give those children from Ethiopia the penthouse suite of the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas!”
Maybe Paris Hilton isn’t donating to Feed the Children at all. Do you see how sicky and skinny Paris Hilton is? And then it struck me. Maybe Feed the Children is giving food to Miss Paris Hilton instead!!! THAT’S IT!!! Remember, you hear it first on kennysia.com. 😉
Feed the Children and Paris Hilton

Feed the Children and Paris Hilton

(Feed the Children is a legitimate charity btw. So if you haven’t given enough, give more. Because some people need it more than we do.)
There are even two doctors on the list, Dr Pat and a Dr Randy Harris. Frankly speaking, I reckon the name “Randy Harris” sounded more like a porn star’s name than a doctor’s name. Could Paris Hilton be wanting to expanding her video library? Would we ever see One Night In Harris? Only time will tell.
Its as interesting to note who is on the phone book as it is to note who is notOne Night in Paris co-star Rick Salomon?
There’s Australian mobile phone numbers of herself and tennis *cough*star*cough* Mark ‘The Poo’ Phillippoussis. I did try calling both numbers, and not surprisingly their accounts are already cancelled. Someone called DJ Am, who happened to be Nicole Richie’s boyfriend. He answered the phone call with an annoying tone, “This is the FBI speaking…”
You know what, looking through all these is kinda fun! Its a bit like looking into someone’s private life or reading someone’s blog (hey… what are you doing here?) Then again, I kinda felt sorry for Paris Hilton. After all, this is such a huge invasion of privacy and I’m sure she’s copping a lot of shit from her acquaintances.
Then I remembered how much I hated her, and miraculously, my guilt suddenly fades away. 🙂

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation