Posts (page 2)
because explosions are coming. it was like a silent wish I had this year, three seconds of my time I never had much faith in and let pass.
(photos by the band)
but now they're coming.
just ended. I knew there was little chance of me winning against Jacob, but that doesn't change the fact that it's definitely one of the best games I've had. This also means that its the toughest most claustrophobic head wracking game yet, and I'm glad that it's over so that I don't have to ask myself if I'm making up words or they really do exist. (I never thought I'd see the day I could play scrabble with friends overseas).
Plagiarism! Local bloggers have (inevitably) found that local celebrity N. Hudson's book of Malay poetry for children (written apparently when she was a teenager) contains at least three plagiarised poems in it (cute English poems by other people translated into Bahasa Malaysia). I've taken up the call in various comments pages for people to do a 'Hudson' too. Only this time give credit for it, of course.
But honestly, this is no light matter. The first of the three poems 'caught' was a Top Ten Comic Poem in the UK back in 1998. Although some were doubting the first capture, two more poems surfaced which really should erase all doubt for anyone. Bloggers have informed at least one author of the plagiarism. Read the poems & more at Being Chech and Gee Wheez Sudah Malas Menulis, and a long discussion at Bibliobibuli.
So here's my 'Hudson', and since my Malay isn't perfect (yet), I'm doing the reverse, to a Malay poem I remember studying for class in my final year of high school.
Son Of The SeaFresh sea winds
recover his longing for the wooden boat,
that fine bubble on the surface
a gateway to his daily
crab shell
squid head
and
prawn feet sympathies.Wooden boat upturned
embraced by the sand,
Nets; veins, broken and aged,
The son of the sea sees it all.
he is sailing, almost there
at a more permanent gateway.
translated from the original Malay poem by Rahimidin Zahari,Anak Laut
Segar angin laut
mengembalikan rindunya pada kolek
bagai buih kecil terapung di air
menjaring sedikit rezeki
kulit ketam
kepala sotong
dan
kaki udang yang bersimpati.
Seperti kolek terdampar di pasir
menampakkan urat jalur-jalur tua
anak laut itu sudah dapat menerka
langkahnya sudah tiba
pada muara Pencipta.
What do you do with the cards and letters you receive? Do you keep them all, just keep the photos, throw them away?
Inspired by jacolily.
I'm a sentimental junkie, I keep as much as I can, wherever I can, and only sort it out a few intervals a year. I didn't ask to be this way, I wish I was one of those people who could remember everything just fine without needing triggers, but alas, my memory deteriorates faster than myself.
PS: if you'd like to add to my wall, please email me and I'll give you a postal address or something.
I feel like I have been holding my breath for about three weeks. I've lost my footing in my own life, I feel. I've lost track of time, I can't recall what I've been up to; memories and yearnings stretch, other areas are fenced off.
It helps when I've disappeared like this to be reading, a lot, and to watch movies I've been meaning to see. I was happy with the way Atonement was adapted into a film. It's probably one of my most favourite book-to-film adaptations yet, and makes me really worried to see Kite Runner. I also saw Last King Of Scotland because I'm a fan of Whitaker and a side dish of Mcavoy is a plus. That was a pretty ruthless film. I know they compressed a lot of history to get everything to fit in the movie but its pacing made me seriously edgy nonetheless. There really isn't a plot to it (I was screaming for one since I didn't read any synopses prior and the person I was watching it with had already seen the film) just a series of intense events, prefaced with tiny moments that you'll miss if you blink. I thought it was a smart thing to draw the viewers in with a (yummy) Scotsman, since Idi Amin declared himself the last king of Scotland. So it was interesting to see how two completely different people interact alongside each other with that one similarity in mind, sociopolitical blahblah.
I also saw The Good Girl, even though I never cared much for Jennifer Aniston (she was a Friend, a good Friend, and that is all). I did hear rave reviews about the movie and how she anchored it solid (also, a Mike White script!). I was pleasantly surprised. It's one of those quirky dark comedies, uncomfortable but strikes enough chords to stick (I feel bad for describing it like this because it would also be how I describe Punch Drunk Love and I love that movie on a much different level).
This has to be the most self-indulgent post I've written yet. I'm not even caring to make it pretty, or more concise or coherent or readable, I just need to get the movie stuff off my shoulders so I can go accumulate more. Oh okay, maybe I can make it a little more pretty. I'll combine a screenshot and a quote from two of the movies I mentioned in the post. If you don't read the whole damn thing its okay (too late?) but at least read this quote, because I like it.
After living in the dark for so long, a glimpse of the light can make you giddy.Strange thoughts come into your head, and you better think'em.Or are you going to the grave with unlived lives in your veins?
From Sungai Dua (which was back on the peninsular) we went back to Penang island by ferry. This scared my mother to death, because she kept imagining her precious car collapsing into the sea (never mind her children, apparently).
Penang is full of strange names. At least that was what I noticed while I was there. Sekolah Kebangsaan Perempuan Island (Island Girls Middle School). Love Lane. Oh Klinik Mata (Oh Eye Clinic). Chinese Swimming Club. Take Dat Photo One Stop Digital Shop. Jalan Assumption (Assumption Road). I swam again for the first time in over six months, and I was ecstatic. I guess I will always be a water guppy. I happily did 30 laps in two days and it made me feel so much happier to be rid of the bloated feeling I'd accumulated from overloading my tummy.
So after some doubtful hunting across the bridge back in the mainland, we found Sungai Dua. Apparently the best thing to eat here is the mee udang (prawn noodles), and people make large detours to come here just for it. You need to drive cause it's pretty deep in rural area. You'll pass by mee udang stalls every few seconds or so, but I heard Selera Sri Tambang near an old floating bridge was one of the best. So that was where we went. They charge by the weight of the prawn. The coconuts were good too.
This is a three person serving, so they say. But we wolf it down easy, and ask for a two-person serving. The gravy is delicious.
For some inexplicable reason the two-person serving is larger than the three-person serving. It was equally delicious but we left with one prawn still in the bowl. :(
At night to appease my mother I tried to find some halal/kosher char kuey teow for her. She was pretty down because all the kuey teow places that were good were Chinese and non-halal, and good Malay kuey teow is for some reason mysteriously elusive. I heard of one in Tanjung Bungah so we went on a blind hunt. We picked this guy:
He was in a foodcourt in Tanjung Bungah, near a Happy Mart. Apparently his competitor in the stall in front cooks mean Western dishes and was a former chef at the Hilton, but we didn't try the Western this time around. I didn't take any photos of the kuey teow but it was good. I tried some but I was still unbelievably full from the prawn noodles. Ordered an omelette instead.
It was gorgeously crispy, packed with squids and prawns.My mother had laksa on the last day before we headed back, near Fort Cornwallis. She said it was okay. For some reason during the whole three day foodtrip, I got strangely addicted to iced Horlicks. Yummy. The 30 laps in the hotel swimming pool weren't any help after all. Plus we had Baskin Robbins on the highway back home. Fail.
