The business of flossing.

Although this blog seems to be inundated with dental hygiene of late ...

But I'm still going to do it one more time (at least) ...

I'd like you to meet my new friend:

I am happy to report that, in less than a week -
1) Flossing is no longer torture (although it hasn't stopped being a chore).
2) I now can do it in under 5 minutes. :D :D :D

See my happy smile!!

(Although technically that photo of me was taken in August. Haha. But you get my point.)

And now, what I have been up to for one Internet-less week...

(I am also happy to note that living without Internet *won't* kill me! Hahaha)

Tuesday

Went down to Brickfields again for a meeting at ARROW's HQ. It was like the shortest meeting, ever! I was this close to volunteering to help lift boxes or organise files just so I wouldn't have spent an hour's travel time for a 1 hour meeting and head back home. May Yen and I got there about 1pm - we were done by 2.30pm. >.<

Wednesday

Like I said a few blog posts ago, it's as if I simply cannot keep away from campus, even when we're on holiday! Hahaha.

The 5th Commonwealth Diversity Matters Forum was held in Monash University, Sunway campus this past Wednesday and Thursday - and because the Crown Prince of Perak (Raja Dr Nazrin Shah) was giving the keynote address, a couple of friends and I couldn't turn down the chance to set our eyes on a real-life PRINCE (hahahaha) and went to listen to his speech.

We were also not allowed to wear yellow. Which the Prince didn't wear either, fyi! :/

[Picture credited to http://web7.bernama.com/bernama/newspic/am/RAJA_NAZRIN%20SHAH.jpg ]

I didn't bring my camera, so the pictures are with Malati. But she can't find her camera cable, so no pics! :(

But picture this: Plenary Theatre. Crammed full of people. Like a rock concert. No room to breathe. Even the steps were turned into seating places by students. The rest had to stand (think LRT during peak hour). Pin-drop silence from the moment he walked in until the moment he walked out. Whoaaaaaaaa.

Raja Dr Nazrin's speech was definitely my favourite among the ones I attended. :) You may already have seen summaries of his speech in your mainstream newspaper - but anyway, he basically spoke about how diversity is important, especially in a multi-racial and multi-cultural country like Malaysia. He spoke about how we should accept and celebrate our differences (integration) instead of trying to mould and conform anything different into one dominant culture (assimilation). If I could vote for him to be leader of my nation, I would - but I'm not 21 yet, and princes can't be politicians.

And as a reward for staying for speeches besides the prince's, Malati and I got the goodie bags!! (Which were very unfairly reserved for media, delegates and staff only. >.<)

Thursday

Cleared away a day in my calendar for Family Day! :D My parents and I took my maternal grandma out for dim sum and shopping at my favourite hypermarket. :)

Oh, TESCO!

Oooh and my favourite hypermarket (TESCO) is doing a very lovely Christmas deed! :) There is a Christmas tree at the entrance where children can put their Christmas wishes - and TESCO people will pick 5 kids and deliver the gifts to them personally! So, what are you waiting for? Go take your daughter/son/cousin/neighbour's kid and let them drop their gift-wish into the box! :)

Also, even if TESCO doesn't fulfill the kid's wish - you just might be able to anyway! :)

Friday

The Miracle Necklace a.k.a. International Love Pendant a.k.a. "How Many Ways" Necklace from Eclectic Eccentricity arrived *SAFELY*!! :)

I was so smitten that I spent a good part of the day taking dozens of photographs of it! Hahahaha! Thank you again, Lucy Averill! :)

And then I was so inspired that I pulled out a pair of pliers and another plier-shaped tool from The Family Toolbox and started "making" jewellery too! ;) I've been working on my newfound jewellery project for 2 days now - new hobby! More on this later. :D

Haven't been so intrigued by anything since Neil Strauss' "The Game".

Shall end this blog post by sharing with you one of my favourite cartoons! :)

Have a good week(end)! :)

SOS.

Eurghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

This round of assignments is really, really challenging!

FTV1010's major essay is no easier on the MIND.

"Question 1: Textual Analysis: Genre, Form and Style in Television Fictions.

Choose one of the episodes of a television fictional program shown in weeks 2-6 that made you think and feel strongly about one of the following social categories or issues: gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, violence, family, community, or childhood. Your discussion of this episode (and, if you like, the series as a whole), should analyse how relevant textual aspects of this episode (such as genre, narrative form, visual style, sound, etc.) help to influence the viewer's emotional response to the action/story/characters and to shape their understanding of a specific social category and/or issue (such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, violence, family, community, or childhood."

CRAZY.

It's 2.06pm Saturday afternoon already,

and I have approximately 195 words completed

in what is supposed to be a 2300-word essay.

I only have the rest of today and the whole of tomorrow.

How can??!?

I blame it on this:

But for those of you out there with the privilege of having an assignment-void weekend, here is some entertainment:

[Pic above: The profile photo for a secret Facebook group I'm a part of.]

[Pic above: This is funny. Haha.]

I've also developed overnight aspirations of wanting to be a tutor at Monash Uni's School of ASS (Arts & Social Sciences) someday. :) That probably means I need to get invited to do an Honours, though. :/ Bah.

The Groove is Back in 1-Utama: On Sushi!

As a post-exam celebration for Carmen, we went to 1-Utama and decided to eat something "adventurous". Now, now, before you start thinking of Fear Factor-ish live cockroaches and bull's testicles or something, bear in mind that we are suburban youths who do not leave the house after dark.

Ha, ha, ha.

Kidding lah. But anyway, we went to that fairly new restaurant called "Sushi Groove". And I gotta say, it's such a cool place! It's like a newer concept than the usual conveyor-belt sushi plates, which frankly I'm not such a fan of, 'coz everything's so expensive and before you know it, you've picked all the prettiest sushi and simultaneously burned a hole in your wallet. :(

But here, you order things off a menu and 98% of the dishes are below RM10. There were also a couple of "communal tables" in the restaurant, so if you want, you can sit with total strangers and chat with them. Hahahaha.

Suffice to say those tables were all empty.

But I have to commend them on their new ideas, yeah! :) I've heard about those communal-type restaurants overseas before, usually in Western countries, where you can have dinner with total strangers and make new friends, but here - maybe Malaysians are not so used to that idea yet. :P Give us time, give us time!

Sushi Groove had something else to offer, besides refreshing new ideas:

M O C K T A I L S !

They also serve cocktails, wine, beer, soft drinks, the works... but mocktails are the best! :) Non-alcoholic cocktails. Hahaha. Besides, the actual cocktails were, like, more than RM15. Our moctails probably only added up to RM15.

And F O O D , G L O R I O U S F O O D !

Heheee. Delicious! :) We had the Flying Geisha, Takoyaki Croquette, Golden Gate and Mayonnaise Dream Rolls.

My favourite. :)

This was described in the menu as octopus and beef filling, but we only tasted flour and yam/potatoes. Haha. Kids will like this, but not the best dish to order.

Raw fish sushi: salmon and tuna. Delicious! :) And this is a lot coming from me, because I've never eaten raw fish before. There are also other types of sushi in the menu, like cod fish sushi, which I didn't order - but you could try it. Let me know how it goes! :P

Verrrry nice. Very dreamy. Hahaha. The topping was warm, so the whole thing just melts in a savoury swirl in your mouth. Makes my mouth water just remembering it, haha.

Moral of the story: Sushi Groove is a restaurant I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fresh Japanese experience. :)

Besides eating (always an activity for outings such as this, haha), we went shopping! Well, actually, we went window-shopping - but it was fun to try on clothes (we bought a couple - although, unfortunately, the JUSCO sale has ended and all the prices are jacked up again so we explored the other sales in other stores).

Then, before going home, we decided to conduct a social experiment to count how many people will stare if you take out your camera and start taking photos of yourself in a public place:

Haha, only joking. We really just wanted to take photos to kill time.

Ooh, and we bumped into Nirumala! She's an old friend of mine from primary and secondary school, and Carmen's classmate in upper secondary. :)

And the last thing I wanted to blog about (this will sound really stupid to anyone other than me, so you can just stop reading here - but I guess now that I've said that, you'll feel even more curious and want to read on): I finally found a cap that was within my budget in The Reject Shop! :D

I'm not sure if it's called "Reject Shop" or "The Reject Shop" or just "Reject", but you know which place I mean. All the other caps I see around are ridiculously pricey, between RM50 - RM100, and that's like - why, why, why on earth would anyone spend that much on a cap? But obviously, people do, and that's why those things sell like hot cakes.

But those are hot cakes that I refuse to afford, haha. So this, this I got for RM19.90 -- which is already pushing it! But I like it. :)

This is what it looks like:

Unluckily, the real world is not a snowflake fantasy land, so here's a dose of a classic bubble-burster:

I returned home all pleased with my "moneysaver" purchase, only to have Mum remark that it looks like a Chinaman's cap. :( Apparently the top is flat and not round, or something like that. It's torridly frustrating when I have no idea why something is bad. I wonder if anyone else understands what I mean.

And An Nie goes on to say it makes my head look big. But at least, to that, I have a ready answer: "My head is PROPORTIONATE to my body size".

Don't you just hate it when people don't tell you what you want to hear? Ha, ha, ha.

But now that I've received every possible criticism about the cap - "you look like a construction worker, etc" - I am now more or less immune to disses re my precious new acquisition.

But if you see me wearing it and you insist on making a negative comment ...

I will still be able to take it off my head and smack you with it! :(

Ho-hum. I really shouldn't let it bother me that my family and friends think the cap is shitty. I mean, I only need to wear it when I'm forced to be in the sun! And when you're in the sun, everybody's eyes will be all squinty to keep the sun out of their eyes, so nobody can see my cap clearly anymore.

So, really, I could have gotten a cap with green flamingoes on it and nobody would notice. I just wanted to get a cap (I've never bought a cap before, so I'm allowed to buy ONE, right?) because I'm tired of the company-logo caps around the house, although I still might wear the "Rock Hard Cafe" one. :) And hey, it turns out there really is such a restaurant in Phomn Penh! The "Rock Hard Cafe". It's supposedly really famous, too!

That's all for now. Good luck to those of you having exams, like Vanessa and An Nie! :)

PS: If you'd like to try Takoyaki (octopus, etc), there's a shop in 1-Utama that sells 3 balls for RM4.30 - cheaper than at Sushi Groove. I didn't try it, but Carmen loves it. My mum says it's just okay. So anyway, if you want to give it a try: it's this shop called "Tako" at the JUSCO supermarket place, where all the food is. :)