Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year was ok lah. Not awesome, but not the please-kill-me kind of event. So it's another new year in the chinese calendar and yeah it's now the year of the dragon.

I guess I'm not too excited by it.

You see, I'm a dog. And we dogs, we don't like dragons much. Bad year, this, they say. A year where bad things will happen to us dogs. Yadda yadda yadda. It's not that I'm turning my nose up at this kind of things, but seriously? C'mon man, there are good and bad things every single year. There are highs and then there are lows. So what, right?

But what I want this year, is for Clarissa to do well in her studies, cos she'll be taking her SPM this year. I still can't believe my baby is almost 17. 

Look at her. So grown up and so pretty. And for once, she dressed ok, so I'm putting this picture up. She doesn't normally. I mean, the stuff teenagers wear nowadays! She'd put on a dress, then pair it with jeans and pull on a cardigan and tell me it's da bomb. The latest chic in fashion. Hmmpph. And I'll still always say you're not wearing that honey.

Anyway, CNY coincided with my baby sister's birthday this year. She looks nothing like me tho. Poor her.

That's her with her 3 kids and 1 hubs. My baby sister. Who tortured me when we were young. Who bit me and scarred me for life. But that's another story for another day. Happy Birthday Jojo.

And Happy Chinese Ney Year, y'all.

Happy Birthday Alex & Nat

Alex's birthday was on 7th January. Nat's was on 16th January.

Just days apart, I always try to persuade them on how much more fun it will be to have a joint birthday celebration. So it's either I have really good persuasive skills, or my kids are just the best at humouring me.

This year, we had a really modest celebration, at my parents' place.

As I watched the kids gustily sang the birthday song, and in several different keys (ouch!) I can't help but marvel at how they have grown. And how proud I am of them. Nat's my angel, the sweetest of hearts, with the most generous, giving spirit. Alex, my lion heart, fiercely independent, witty, funny, and almost, a man.

Love you, my darlings.

Happy Birthday.

Oh, to be fit..

I've indulged too much. Overdone every part of the "eat, drink and be merry" thing.

New Year Resolution. I want fitness. I want muscles. But without the hulkness, can?

And the great thing is that here, there are just so many good fitness centres and gyms around. I can even choose my very own personal trainer. Excited.

Give me six months. I'll show ya.

Hello 2012

I'm back! 

And here I am, finally settled in, happy and comfortable in my new pad.

Never thought that after 17 years in Kuching, I would one day pack my bags and go. Damn it was hard. I truly miss my friends and the life there. But of course some things I will not miss.

This might well be the hardest year ever. Yes, I've moved on to a bigger city, and to a job that is gonna challenge the daylights out of me. I do truly like my work, because it so consumes me. And that's what I like, because it's not just a job. But now, here, this is going to be totally new. A different ball game altogether. Maybe even a different league now. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't collapse and die.

So cheers to a New Year, and to greater happiness. 

You know you are getting old when...

1. You start having more white hairs. I found 2 white hairs this morning!! Help. My melanocytes are dying.

2. You eat less. A lot less. This is either due to a decreased metabolism rate or because you have become allergic to exercises. Any form of exercise.

3. You need less sleep. I used to love sleeping. And now suddenly I can do with 6 hours of sleep. At times, even 4 hours. This can't be good.

4. Your student tells you that you were her mother's lecturer.

5. You start having really bad eyesight. Small prints become ridiculously tiny and in dim lights, there's no way I can even make out the words.

6. You start getting pins and needles every so often. This is when you sit cross-legged and when you attempt to get up, you find your legs have gone to sleep. And they take quite awhile to wake up.

7. You start getting wrinkles. And even your wrists have wrinkles.

8. You go around the house searching for your car keys and yell at your kids to find them. Then you realised you were holding them in your hand all the while.

9. You start blogging like Dr. M.

Guilty No More

OK. So I have never liked healthy foods. I can't understand why people like salads or wholemeal bread or worse, multigrain high fibre cereals. Uggghhh. I love meats and seafood. I adore white bread and I take nasi lemak or laksa for breakfast.

But every once in a while I get sucked into the whole health fad thing. Especially when my mum comes to stay. She would cook healthy food, hide all my fizzy drinks and make me take vitamins and supplements. And I'd humour her, in part because being mollycoddled like this is so rare, and in part because I feel a little guilty that I don't quite do the healthy lifestyle thing.

But now, hah! I was right all along. 

Dear Job Interviewee

Dear Job Interviewee,

Please do not offer to shake hands if you have a sweaty, clammy palm. I know you are nervous, but I don't like to get that intimate with you. You can keep your bodily excretions to yourself, okay. And speaking of sweat, if you do tend to smell, please do try and get your hands on some deodorant. Please.

But if I do offer to shake hands, please try not to crunch my bones, can? And don't make out like a limp fish either. Why can't people just do a normal firm but gentle handshake? Surely it's not rocket science.

Do try to be punctual, and please try to leave your mother at home. And that goes for boyfriends and girlfriends too. I really just want to interview you. It's not like it's going to be Buy 1, Get 1 free, right?

When I speak with you, please look back at me, and you know where my eyes are. They are not at my chest. 

That chair you are sitting on, well, it's not a rocking chair. So please, do not try to rock it. I have motion sickness just looking at you. Oh and if you have a leg that simply must shake, please try to control that too. I am sure it takes considerable talent to make your leg do 500 shakes a minute, but please, not with me.

And when your handphone rings, can you just ignore the call or keep it short? You are 4 feet away from me. Guess what. I can still hear you whispering sweet nothings. Geli. So hang up. Now.

Try to talk with some enthusiasm. You don't have to be super hyper, but can you at least try not to put me to sleep? Keep it simple and sound interesting. Can?

And you know, if you got mostly C's in your academic transcripts, please don't tell me how hard you studied and how brilliantly you did. I can't keep a straight face that long.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
A Job Interviewer

Shock Advertisements

I get it. Advertisements are meant to create an emotional connection. We want to evoke emotions to a level where there is a lot of buzz, and hope it might even go viral.

I used to like Benetton's ad campaigns. Their slogan - United Colors of Benetton had this underlying message of love across bounderies, love is colour blind.

Nice, cute, pretty.

Then they gradually got controversial and finally came out with a series of Unhate ads last week.

Really, Benetton ??

Ugghh. I must confess. I find them disturbing. I know these are photoshopped pictures but still. Can't get these images out of my head. So I guess, in that, Benetton has succeeded. My utterly conservative heart is shocked to the core.

But shock advertisements like these are nothing new. In fact, they even have a term for it. Shockvertisement.

Wikipedia has this to say :

"Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a type of advertising generally regarded as one that “deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals.” ^[1] .. Shock advertising is designed principally to break through the advertising “clutter” to capture attention and create buzz, and also to attract an audience to a certain brand or bring awareness to a certain public service issue, health issue, or cause "

Yes of course. There are just too many ads. There is a need to stand out from the clutter.

I will go with deliberately startle, yes, if that might provoke a buzz. But to deliberately offend? 

One university in Belgium tried shockvertising.

The Hilary Obama ad by the Hogeschool-Universiteit (HUB) in Brussels Belgium - why choose between a college and a university when you can combine?

Hahaha. I won't say it shocked me much. Tickled yes. Hilarious.

So. Does shock advertising actually work? I think the jury is still out on this one. But I think, as far as provoking a response, yes, of course. But is it the right response? Maybe not.