Mood: Too darn hot!

Song: Ice Ice Baby

It’s still terribly hot over here. But it’s been quite a fun second day of CNY. For starters, I met this friend of Rina’s from Australia who spammed me as soon as we were introduced. Literally. But this kinda spam, I like :) Thanks, TypeB – for the humor, the spam and the Tim Tams!

This is a file pic, but the spam I received looked like the one on the right.

And here’s another Coolcat with a cute baby pic. This time, it’s with Ashley aka Baby LY who is quite a little lady now.

Tomorrow, I hope to post a pic with the nemesis of the doggies who seem to rule this year. It still befuddles me why there is no year of the Cat. I can think of a hundred reasons why cats deserve a place in the Chinese calendar. So why didn’t they (those Chinese calendar creators)?

Gah.

Mood: At peace with my world

Song: Still tong-tong-tong-chiang-ing!

This CNY… I made peace with my loved one. We’re on peachy terms again. Whee!!!

This CNY… I broke tradition by not visiting a friend’s house because everyone was just too tired. And I discovered that we did not get hit by lightning or anything. Even though we broke a ’sacred’ tradition :P

This CNY… I realised that I missed someone a lot. Someone whom I have shared some of the best CNY moments with. Wherever you are, I wish that your CNY’s a truly good one.

This CNY… I am blessed by the numerous sms-es and calls from dear ones. Thanks for thinking of me :) Here’s the funniest one of the lot:

Economy is bad, budget is tight
Can’t afford an RM1 CNY card
Petrol price is up, stamp price also up
Al least still got
10 sen to send you sms
Gong Hei Fatt Choy!

And last but not least, this CNY… has been darn hot. Good for making visitations and such. But sure saps the energy outta ya. Pheee-eww!

Mood: Chinese New Year mood

Song: Chai Seng Tau or Tong-tong-tong-chiang!

Had a most wonderful family reunion tonight. It was a great treat seeing my two sisters and having the whole Coolcat family reunited once again.

And of course, my niece could always melt my heart with her cheeky smile and warm hugs and kisses. She very much decided that I would be her best friend for this evening and stuck to me like glue the whole time. This little kid really has a mind of her own, can hold her own in conversations and loved to pose for pictures. Gee, I wonder where she inherited this narcissistic trait? It must come from her father’s side :P :P

After a sumptious dinner at my dad’s favourite restaurant, we watched some TV and opened up a bottle of sparkling grape juice and clinked glasses. Seeing each and everyone of my family members chatting so gaily with each other filled my heart so much warmth and happiness. I shall always be thankful that I was not born an only child. Food always tastes so much better if there are other siblings to fight them over with. And for all our differences, we always come through for each other in the end. Truly, there is nothing like family.

To all my Chinese readers and those who are celebrating Chinese New Year, have a good one.

Mood: Get outta here… You’ve gotta be kidding me.

Song: The Twilight Zone theme song

I have such weird colleagues. I work closely with one of them. Outwardly, he looked like a nice decent chap. A bit weird in the manner of speech, but still decent as decent can be.

One day, he confessed to me that he trembles on the inside whenever he has to talk to other fellow female colleagues.

So naturally, I asked, "So do you tremble when you talk to me?"

"I knew you would ask that!" he exclaimed. "Actually, CC… I’m a very shy person."

Heh, for a shy guy, he does have a good inkling of how the minds of females work.

But the fact that he’s shy actually explained quite a lot of things. On why he has trouble talking coherently whenever he’s face to face with me and also the other girls in the office.

The poor thing. Thus, I resolved to be more patient towards him whenever he takes too long to get to the point of the matter. And to close one eye when he lapses into horribly bad grammar.

However, this self-professed shy person can say the darnest things over online communication. My jaw dropped when I saw what he said to me this morning:

He: Licking me? Hahahah. Thank!
Me: Eeeee… I don’t wanna lick you!!
He: I want!

Somehow, my brains just couldn’t compute a shy guy boldly typing this to a fellow female colleague. That’s hardly professional behavior! Or maybe it’s a case of really bad grammar?

Haiyo. Patience… patience…

Mood: Full (after lunch). Also in a holiday mood.

Song: Rice and curry (Dr. Bombay)

I think I’m overly idealistic when it comes to marriage. Perhaps I am heavily influenced by the romantic story of how my parents came together. And watching all those chick flicks didn’t help much either.

As such, I would never consider walking down the aisle with a guy unless he can give me butterflies in the stomach.

However, talking with friends prior to their marriages seems to indicate otherwise.

"Am I marrying him because of love? Love ah?? What is love?"
~ Friend 1

"What is marriage to me? Errr… nothing much lor. It’s just a piece of paper to legalise moving on to the next chapter in my life."
~ Friend 2

"I want to experience motherhood and all the joys and pains that it brings. Marriage is the respectable way of doing it."
~ Friend 3

Aisey man, I was aghast to hear all these answers. They sounded so so jaded. So so… practical. What happened to romance? Heck, what happened to sharing life’s journey with your soulmate – someone to call your own?

I dunno. Maybe I haven’t reached that state of jadedness yet – and hence, am still wearing rose-tinted glasses and am still unmarried.

For all I know, my friends may have a valid point of view. Although when my turn to marry comes, I hope I shall not have to say those words in that resigned tone of voice. Realistically speaking, how long does the lovey dovey butterflies in the stomach last anyway? 2 – 3 months? 6 months tops?

I am a believer that if it’s there at the start or in the middle, it can be re-enected later on but hopefully, by the time the majority of the feelings fizzles, it would have been replaced by a bond more solid and stable to withstand the test of time.

"Marriage is walking the journey called life hand in hand with my best friend. The one who accepts me for who I am, believes in who I can become and brings out the best in me. And I to him."
~ Coolcat

Mood: Experimental… with new features

Song: To Take… To Hold (Yanni)

Thus far, due to some unavoidable circumstances, I was able to miss out on going to certain places. And was able to avoid bumping into a certain person. But I know I couldn’t avoid this person forever.

The last time I saw this person face to face, I experienced something close to rapid heart palpitations and shaky hands. My mind was totally blanked out. Everything else dimmed.

I thought he had a sad look upon his face. And that he gave me a sad, sad smile.

I wanted to reach out and hold his dear head and tell him that I miss him.

Instead, I mustered up a smile and said a soft and friendly hi. As I walked past him, I felt as if I was leaving my heart behind.

My head said, “Walk on”.

My heart said, “Stay”.

I followed my head. Which was a good thing because in retrospect, he could have looked sad for an amalgamated number of reasons. Or he may not have been sad at all.

When our paths crossed again months later, I was in a different place. Settled, secure with who I have become and most significantly, healed.

This time, it was different. This time we waved at each other. My smile didn’t feel forced.

Who knows, maybe one day when we feel comfortable enough with each other, we can be friends again. Maybe.

It’s always nice to find new meal partners to hang out with and just chill without having any agenda whatsoever.

To the extent that she keeps bumping into some of those lunch kakis from other offices at every lunch hour for three working days in a row. Coincidence? I think not. I think it’s more to do with having a good Lunch Karma.

A girl needs a few things to keep herself chirpy and happy all the time. Well, at least this girl anyway. Happiness (to a girl) is…

1. Seeing people volunteering themselves and even their babies for casting. I mean, how often do you encounter people who give so generously of themselves, their time and their kids?
   

   “Sometimes, a girl needs to get the right people for the right job at the right time.”

   
   

2. Finding new meal partners to hang out with and just chill without any agenda whatsoever. To the extent that she keeps bumping into some of those lunch kakis from other offices at every lunch hour for three working days in a row. Coincidence? I think not. I think it’s more to do with having a good Lunch Karma.
   

   “Sometimes, a girl gets bored of eating alone.”

   
   

3. Having friends who love snapping photos of you and having those photos turn out good.
   

   “Every girl should have her very own personal photographer.”

   
   

4. Having family and friends who know you inside out and still love you anyway.
   

   “A girl needs a refuge where she can just hang loose and safely share secrets with.”

   
   

5. Having family, friends, colleagues and even strangers who go out of their way to help you out of a jam without expecting anything in return.
   

   “Any girl, no matter how independent, will find herself in the role of a damsel in distress some day.”

   
   

6. Having a bezzie and close friends who care and watch out for me.
   

   “No girl is an island.”

   
   

7. Finding the perfect coffee brand.
   

   “Chek Hup – This girl never leaves home without it.”

   
   

8. And last but not least, finding lovely accessories to match my attire :P
   

   “They ain’t kidding when they say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But a girl can make fake jewellery shine just as bright.”

   
   

I guess to sum it all up, I have a good God who brought these awesome folks into my life at just the right time and place. Indeed, as a wise friend recently said, He is never too late.

Now you know why I’m so happy these days.

Jane has a fallout with a boy. She regularly asks a mutual friend to find out what’s going on in his life.

Joan has a fallout with her daddy. She communicates with him solely through her mom these days.

Jean has a fallout with a dear old friend, Joyce. She tells a mutual old friend not to share any updates of her to Joyce.

Obviously, relationships are such fragile things and fallouts happen too often for comfort. I hate it when it happens. At the same time, I think fallouts are a necessary evil.

When the relationship is too painful to sustain. When both parties hurt each other more when they speak to each other than when they are silent. When one party just can’t trust the other again. When both parties are just too tired to have another fight and go through the same vicious cycle again.

I’d like to even think that fallouts are probably just time-outs in disguise. A period where both or one parties can recuperate from the wounds inflicted upon each other before the relationship can be healed and reconciled.

Sometimes, a fallout serves to strengthen the relationship. That’s where the adage where friends are not true friends until they have their first fight came about. But sometimes, even though reconciliation happens, the relationship is never quite the same again. That distance, that wedge is always there, at the back of one’s mind. Especially when fallouts are a frequent and habitual feature of that relationship. It’s like living with a perennial time bomb. You never know when the next fallout is going to occur.

With Chinese New Year reunion dinners and such coming around the corner, it is my fervent hope to have a particular fallout in my life healed. I have to be honest and say that I’m petrified of what will happen when I grab the opportunity to proffer an olive branch to that loved one of mine. At the same time, I’m tired of going through that same old cycle.

I guess this is what Jesus meant when He says to forgive each other 70 x 7 times. He knows it ain’t an easy task. But God shall give grace when the burdens grow greater. And to multiplied trials, He multiplies peace. I trust that He will give me the strength to do the right thing.

Note: This story has been rated TD (Traumatic and Disturbing) by guys, no less. Proceed at your own risk and if you lose your lunch, don’t blame me :P You have been forewarned.

Ok, as promised, here are some of the lovely pics Joe took yesterday with his swanky camera. I decided to make a story out of them. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, there lived a lass called Octavia. She is a normal and healthy person for sure. Except for one peculiar habit. She loves to dig for ‘gold’.

This is ze best hobby ever!

Unfortunately, her disgusting habit had alienated people from getting close to her. The minute the conversation starts to get juicy, out came her pinkies to dig her nostrils ferociously. As such, poor Octavia was a lonely soul. Her benovalent (but rather ugly) Uncle and Aunt came to visit. They were appalled at the dismal state of her being.

“Don’t you know that noses are not meant to be dug alone?” her uncle chided her.

Octavia gulped. “You mean, it’s not just a solitary sport?”

“Heavens, no! No wonder you are miserable, girl. You need a nose digging partner. Just like how your uncle and I are to each other,” her bubbly aunt said cheerfully.

The ugliest looking pair of Uncle and Aunty in the land. Yech.

At first, Octavia thought that they were quite mad.

Aiyo, I really have the craziest rellies ever!

But then, as loneliness continued to engulf her, she decided to send a prayer to the heavens. For a nose digging partner. Little did she know how soon her prayer was going to be answered.

Please send me someone, God. Anyone!!

The minute she heard the booming voice behind her, Octavia was thrilled!

Here I am to save the day!

But still, she needed to confirm that this was indeed a suitable ‘gold’ digging partner.

“Tell me your name and what you are here for?” she asked the cute girl in an interviewer-like manner. Her pinkies were firmly clasped down. She didn’t want to unnecessarily traumatise an innocent stranger mar.

“I am Gracie,” the girl introduced herself. And proceeded to say the sweetest words imaginable.

You dig my nose, I dig yours.

Octavia went straight to high heaven!

Welcome to my kingdom, dear fellow nose digger!

Then they proceeded to do what they do best.

Dig for ‘gold’.

A match made in heaven

~ The End ~