Donuts

Let Down

Last Saturday, I went to watch 2012 with my friends at 1 Utama. Before the movie, we went to have dinner at Bubba Gump at The Curve. The dinner was pleasant to say the least but what happened next really boggles my mind.

You see, when we left the restaurant my friend realized that he had left his handphone on the table so he went back to take it. The duration of us leaving our table and him realizing he left his handphone is not more than 3 minutes. Unsurprisingly, when he went back to our table the handphone is gone case already.

This is the best part of the story: just right before we left our table a new group of patron just came in to our area and they sit right next to our table. Guess what, when we went back there they are gone. Now, I do not like to make any accusations but I think it is quite obvious what just happened right?

I can still remember clearly how they look like. A Chinese family of 4; a fat father and fat son, aged around 10, a daughter around the age of 14 and the mother. I am seriously ashamed to be a Malaysian. Can't we all just lived virtuously? In Malaysia if we saw somebody drop something and return it to the owner we will be laughed at because we are stupid and does not know how to take advantage of the situation.

The biggest problem that I have with this whole ruckus is that if they are able to afford having dinner at a fine dining restaurant such as yours truly Bubba Gump, surely you have enough dough to buy your own freaking handphone? When I told my mum about it, she told me: "Son, this is the real world. People are always so realistic." Sigh...

You might argue that they are just among the small percentage of rotten apples in the basket. Well that may be true but I know... deep inside everyone, there's a shadow telling them to claim it for themselves.

I have long given up on Malaysian... Curse them all... curse them all to oblivion. What happened that day only served to strengthen my beliefs that courtesy among people and honesty are overrated. Look at how people drives and you will see my point. At this point I will say that one day, I will leave Malaysia. I'd rather lived in a jungle than this miserable place...

However, I have recently found something that I can hold on to... So, I will stay here... and hope that one day we will see improvements... even if it is by the smallest margin...

sketch

A sketch I drew long ago... when I lived at Boredom Kingdom... I wondered if anyone recognized who is this...? For those who can't, try harder. For those who can, ain't no rewards for you.

Stupendous

adj.

1. Of astounding force, volume, degree, or excellence; marvelous.
2. Amazingly large or great; huge.

For a few years when I was a child, I always thought that Stupendous means someone who is extremely dumb... Back then I did not bother to consult the Great Book of Gazillion Words and Its Meaning.

I Survived 8 Days in Taipei (and came back to tell the tale)

Part 2

Day 2 (20/10/2009)

Today’s trip is both painful and rewarding. Painful because it is such a pain in the ass to spend most of our time inside public transports and rewarding because we are treated with beautiful vista. Our destination today is the Yeliou （野柳）Geo Park. To go there, take the MRT to Danshui (淡水)　Station for about 30 minutes and from there take a bus. The journey from Danshui MRT Station to Yeliou Geo Park will take you about 2 hours. Yup, 2 hours.

When you reached the final station, you will still need to walk for about 15 minutes to the Park. Along the journey you will come across a fisherman harbor. Well… it is a harbor; do I need to explain more? In the park, there is also a water park, called Yehliu Ocean World, featuring aquariums and dolphin show, much like Hong Kong’s Ocean World, I guess…

You can opt to have a look at the Ocean World or just proceed to the main attraction of the place: several rock formations that had been given imaginative names due to their shape, with the Queen’s Head (女王头) being the most famous of them all. It is so famous that they have decided to make the stone formation to be their town’s mascot.

To truly see the formation you have to look at it at a certain angle. Otherwise it looks just like a pile of… dong. Fortunately they have been kind enough to tell you exactly where to stand to see the formation; by drawing foot print on to the floor.

Well, that’s pretty much sums up how second day went through.

Day 3 (21/10/2009)

Nothing much special about Day 3 of Taipei adventure… We went to another shopping market, this time at Wufenpu （五分铺） Commercial Area. To go there, just take the MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua （忠孝敦化）Station. Once you reach there, just ask people how to go alright? I can’t be bothered to include every minute detail. Oh yeah, be sure to go there after 11am, because the shops start to open at around 11am.

Henry and I can’t be bothered to shop again. We end up sitting at a coffee shop for at least 3 hours talking about life’s big issue and all… you know, those kind of stuff. After that we went to YET ANOTHER shopping district and surprise, surprise, it is inside Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT Station itself. There is a long stretch of tunnel featuring shops and restaurants, and at the middle of the tunnel, there is a stage for public to use as community center or whatever. There is old people practicing Tai-chi and kiddo doing break dancing, and stuff.

One thing I really like is how convenient Taipei’s MRT are. Located at strategic location, bus station and taxi stand is all there once you step out of the MRT station. Best of all there are multiple metro lines, 4 to be exact in Taipei and they are all centralized. You only need to pay once and all you need to do is get down from the appropriate station and walk a few steps to the desired metro lines. Tickets can be used at all metro lines. Much unlike *ahem* LRT *ahem* Putra *ahem* Monorail *ahem ahem*.

Day 3 of Taipei adventure leaves some bitter taste in my mouth…

I Survived 8 Days in Taipei (and came back to tell the tale)

Part 1

Day 0 (18/10/2009)

The clock is ticking… 4 hours before the time to leave our house and yet I still have not begun to start packing seriously. All I did was procrastinating, checking the ‘net and chatting with friends. To hell with it, I think I will stay up tonight to pack my stuff. Besides, I can sleep inside the plane…

Day 1 (19/10/2009)

6.30am. It is time. Bid farewell to Toto our family dog and HERE WE COME TAIPEI! The flight took approximately 4 hour… Touchdown at Tao Yuan （桃园）International Airport at 4pm+ with bloodshot-eyed and lack of caffeine… Damn.

The time zone for Taiwan is more or less the same as KL, which is convenient. The weather during this time of the year is very nice; breezy… it is autumn here by the way. Our hostel is at Jian Tan (剑潭); to go there we took a bus for 30 minutes to Shih Lin (士林) and took MRT for one station. Oh yeah, before I forgot, our trip to Taipei is all by our own, we did not follow any tour group. What this mean is we have to find our own way to go to the places we want to go and to find our own food. Kind of like survival in the concrete jungle, no?

We finally reached our hostel which is just a few blocks away from the famed Shih Lin Night Market (士林夜市) at about 6pm. The owner of the hostel is kind enough to provide us with advice and suggestion as to how to explore Taipei. The room we are living in to be honest is not that big, just about the size of an apartment room in KL, but with its own wash room. There is a double size bed and 2 additional bed for me and my sister’s boyfriend, Henry. Obviously my mom and my sister will sleep on the double size bed. Hey, I’m not complaining, eh? It’s not like we are going to stay here for a very long time. Just a place to sleep and shower is good enough; no need for penthouse or anything, no?

So, we reached our hostel and put down our luggage. What next? Hit the Night Market of course, you silly. The Shih Lin Night Market is basically the same as our very own Petaling Street, but 3 times as large. I tell you, I had been here for 8 days but I am still never been able to fully explore the Night Market. Stuff here is quite cheap, well, girls clothing most of the time anyway. There is a lot of junk food to choose from here that you do not know which one to try first, but the bad thing is that these junk food is mostly deep fried.

Sometime I wonder if woman’s legs are born to shop… How can they shop for 5 hours and still does not show any sign of fatigue? I guess this mystery can never be solved by science and logic; it is just what the nature intended to. My own legs however, are starting to feel numb. I can’t go on any further… please let me fall here and remember me as a war hero… Remember, I want Karma Police by Radiohead as my funeral song.

Anyway… my first day in Taipei ended with sore legs and bloodshot eye. Time to recharge...

Disenchanted

Oh dear blog, you are still alive even after I abandoned you for so long?

Alright then, let's get started again.

Rest In Peace

Today is a sad day. 

I had just learned this afternoon that Sillan, an ex staff of my company I worked for was unfortunately involved in a robbery and was killed.

Although I am not very close to him but we had met for a few times and it is easy to know on the spot that he is one of the few nicest people around that you can find. 

It is true the saying that goes: "You never know what is going to happen tomorrow". So please cherish everyone around you because you never knew... So to all my friends out there, even though I never say it, but please know that I always love you guys. Well, maybe not Mohan.

My deepest condolences to the family of Sillan and I hope that whoever did it will sooner or later caught by the hands of law.

12/2/2009

Jerkass Customer: Hi, I need to get a passbook for this account number. Apparently you guys did not make one for me when I open the account here. 

Bank Employee A: No, we give passbook to every account opened.

Jerkass Customer: Look, I told you that you did not make one for me.

Bank Employee A: It's impossible. I'm sure each customer will have one passbook upon registration.

Jerkass Customer: You go check with my company. That time when I opened the account you people  gave me an option of whether or not getting the passbook.

Bank Employee B: What seems to be the problem? (Taking over from Bank Employee A)

Jerkass Customer: Look, I already had this same conversation last 4 month. All I want is to get the frigging passbook so I can print the frigging bank statement for my frigging loan!

Bank Employee B: But we are certain we issued passbook to each new customer!

Jerkass Customer: (Annoyed) OK! So be it! Let's just assumed I lost the book! So can you just make me a new frigging passbook so I don't need to have this conversation AGAIN next time?

Bank Employee B: That will be RM20 sir.

Jerkass Customer: Yeah, you take that bloody 20 bucks.

Bank Employee B: Sir, you opened your account since 2006. You really don't have a passbook?

Jerkass Customer: YES I DON'T HAVE IT FOR 3 YEARS!

Bank Employee C: (Barge in) Did I hear you want to get a loan? What loan you're getting sir? Car loan? Would you like to apply from us?

Jerkass Customer: NO! I just applied from your bank last few month and it was slow as hell. 

Bank Employee C: But different people different working style. Maybe the agent is just slow, we are faster.

Jerkass Customer: (Growing a horn, beard and tail. Reddish eye.) Look, can we not talk about your bloody loan before this issue with passbook is settled?

Bank Employee C walk away, pissed off.

Bank Employee B: Please fill in these forms please and sign here and there. Please take a seat first.

Jerkass Customer: (Thinking to himself) What the hell is wrong with these people? I'd told them time and time again that they did not give me the passbook. Don't they understand English?

Bank Employee B: Sir I can't give you the passbook today because there is still unsettled transaction in your account. Can you come back again tomorrow?

Jerkass Customer: What??? (grumbling) Fine I'll come back tomorrow. Then can you print me  the 3 month bank statement for my loan?

Bank Employee B: I'm sorry but we can only print one month bank statement only for you.

Jerkass Customer: What? But last time one of you just printed it for me! (and they did) How come now you can't?

Bank Employee B: I think only credit officer can do that. Can I know the officer in charged that time?

Jerkass Customer: How would I be able to remember her name? It's like 4 month ago!

Bank Employee B: I really can't do anything...

Jerkass Customer: !@#$%^& (mumbling to himself again) Fine I'll come back again tomorrow for the passbook.

[On the way back]

Jerkass Customer: I'd told them repeatedly that I don't have the passbook! Why can't they just listen? Keep telling me I had it... Fine, I'll search my drawer. If I can't find it they're doomed tomorrow.

[At home, searching his drawer]

Jerkass Customer: Maybank... RHB... Alliance... see? I told them I don't frigging have it! Oh wait, what's this? If it isn't...

... FUCK.

[The Jerkass Customer is too embarrased of what had happened and decided not to go back to the bank for at least another 3 month.]