Most of us are busy people. We rush to work, look into issues after issues after issues. Then we rush home to get dinner ready and to finish the house chores. It becomes a daily routine, something we are so used to that we become programmed.

In the dark for earth

Let's talk about sex

I’m betting that the title caught your attention right? Because like most people, you’re probably interested in sex. However, like most Malaysians, sex is not something you talk generally about it. You may read about it, you may have looked at photos or you may have even watched it on video in private. And some of us love watching Sex and the City which of course is mainly about sex. But to actually talk about it? No way…. because we Malaysians (or at least people from my generation and older) are shy to talk about it openly.

I for one do not think there’s anything to be shy about. I mean, I’m a married woman. I should be enjoying a sex life (with my hubby of course). It’s a very normal part of life. I’m simply stating a fact. So is it so outrages to mention that fact aloud?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not crazy over sex. I do not watch porn because I’m just not interested in it. I personally belief that sex is an intimate relationship between two people so I'm not interested about watching other people doing it, nor would I like to look at other people’s photos of it (though I do not find anything wrong about people watching porn).

Just that I get amused when people shy away from this topic. My sister can’t even bring herself to say the word “sex”. She prefers to use the term “making babies”. When I come out of the room with Yin How looking pleased, she’ll ask me with one eye brow raised, “Finish making babies ah?”. And I’ll give her a big contented smile, “yup”. One day she suddenly asked me suspiciously, “Eh, did the both of you ever make babies on my bed?”. I couldn’t resist and I gave her an answer which turned her expression into pure horror.

My mum can’t use the word sex. It’s just too vulgar. She only uses the term “make love’. “Humping” is also too vulgar for her. When she saw Russell (my dog) humping Sparkle (my other dog), she said, “Please stop Russell from making love to Sparkle”. I’m thinking… erm.. I seriously doubt what he is doing has anything to do with love.

Even Yin How initially was shy about it. When I shop for something and there’s a range of it, I like to take my time choosing exactly what I want. So when I’m shopping for condoms, there’s a lot of interesting stuff to choose from. At Watsons or Guardian, I’ll usually take my own sweet time at that section going through all the different types before I pick one. This horrifies Yin How who would make it a point to stand as far away from me. When I ask him to pay, he would say, “A lot of people at the cashier… wait for a while la..”. And he would purposely buy all sorts of unnecessary stuff along with it hoping that it won’t be so obvious. But of course now Yin How is no longer shy about it. He now joins me at that section comparing all the different types. :)

Anyway, I just think there’s nothing uncomfortable about talking of it generally with close friends. Of course I don’t go into specific personal details, but as a general topic, it’s sometimes hilarious to talk about it. I laughed during lunch just now until my cheek muscles hurt which made me come up with this post.

And by the way, Genny, we have not made babies on your bed before. I just wanted to horrify you. :P

Ramblings before I go home

My waist, arm and chest muscles hurt. My butt hurts... really really hurts... It hurts so badly that even I shift my foot from the brake to the accelerator I can feel my right butt crying.

I think I overdid the squat exercises (I'm continuing to exercise at home so that when I'm ready to join the dance aerobics again, Ian and Looi won't be able to laugh at how unfit I am). After stopping dance aerobics, I suddenly feel like I'm so unhealthy. FYI, Dr. Oz says we should exercise 3 times a week. He also says that having sex 3 times a week can prolong a man's life by a few years (not sure for the woman though...)

Well, I'm not doing anything to increase my health lately... And I'm currently having my freaky obsession with KFC. Can't remember how many times I've eaten that after the surgery... Probably 4 or 5 times already. What would Dr. Oz say? Tsk.. tsk...

I am hungry. Need to go home... all I can think of is KFC... shall I be tempted? Hmmm.... *in deep thought now*

It's no excuse

I'm feeling lousy. Sometimes I'm so busy trying to keep up with life, I tend to forget about the people around me. Meant to drop an email, meant to catch up during lunch, meant to say hi but intentions kept getting lost in the many things to do in a day. And suddenly weeks have rushed by.

Until I hear the news, different things twice in one week, and I realize that things were not going all too well...

I wished I had stopped to say "How are you doing?". I wished I stopped to listen.

I'm sorry. :(

The Sire

I usually don't write about restaurants I go to because I'm too lazy. But today I was talking about The Sire with colleagues so decided to share some photos of it.

The Sire is a museum restaurant at the house where Yeap Chor Ee used to stay (I got mixed up with Cheong Fatt Tze heritage mansion which is another place in Penang open to the public). The people behind The Sire are the same people from the Ferringhi Garden, another absolutely gorgeous romantic restaurant at Batu Ferringhi (so gorgeous I almost wanted to change my wedding venue to that restaurant).

Anyway, back to The Sire, the food there is good but a little pricey. The restaurant is really charming with a wonderful cosy ambiance and after the meal, you can go over to see the museum section where you get to see some of the personal belongings of Yeap Chor Ee's family. What amazed me was that from the outside, the restaurant looks so small, but as you explore the museum, you'll find that it's much bigger than it seems.

When I saw the antique stuff there, I started imagining what it was like to live in that era. Then I started wondering whether a century from now, will they be displaying laptops and ipods and LCD TVs in a museum where people will point and say "I can't imagine living in that century".

Also, there are pictures of Yeap Chor Ee's humongous mansion (now donated to Wawasan University). If I lived in that mansion, whenever Yin How pisses me off, I'd just run off and hide in one of the gazillion rooms there and Yin How would never be able to find me. Ha!

I went The Sire twice last year. And I had a great time during both occasions. But honestly I wouldn't really go back unless I'm bringing somebody there who has never been there before. Because this is the kind of restaurant where you pay more for the environment rather than the food so once you've seen the museum, there's nothing much left to make me want to go back again and again.

Enough yapping.... here are the photos. We are only allowed to take photos of the restaurant and not the museum (but I curi-curi took a few photos until Yin How scolded me).

9 words woman use

I received this forwarded email from my sister who said that it reminds her of Yin How and I. I have to say, it's very true. :)

1. Fine : This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
2. Five Minutes : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
3. Nothing : This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
4. Go Ahead : This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
5. Loud Sigh : This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)
6. That's Okay : This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
7. Thanks : A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.
8. Whatever : Is a women's way of saying FUCK YOU!
9. Don't worry about it, I'll do it : Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.Then you RUN!
   

Now this is my own reasoning for those 9 words.

1. We say this because we could argue and argue and the point won't get through so we don't want to argue anymore.
   
2. Girls just need more time to get ready. It's just a fact. We have to pick out the right outfit for the right occasion. Then there's the hair, the makeup, the accessories. Guys wear the same type of outfit for most occasions. How hard is it to match the same looking T-shirts with all the same looking shorts/pants? And they only need to comb their hair and they are done (some don't even need to do this). Then why is five minutes only five minutes when we ask a guy to do something? Refer to #9.
   
3. Girls say this because we want to know whether guys are sensitive enough to know whether something is wrong even when we say "Nothing". If a guy is observant enough, then he would know that there's something and not nothing. So there's nothing to fear if you are sensitive to your girl's needs. Of course if you think there's nothing and do nothing, do not fear for we will definitely let you know there's something.
   
4. Girls do not like to assert control over guys. If you really want to do it, then go ahead la... Just that you'll be doing it knowing that we are unhappy about it and if you still go ahead and do it, then it will hurt us very very much. You don't want to hurt us right? :~(
   
5. The explanation there is already good enough. Sometimes a loud sigh also means "there's something wrong and I want you to notice and to ask me about it".
   
6. Same reason as 4.
   
7. There's nothing wrong with saying thank you. And when we say it, we mean it.
8. I don't say the former, I get straight to the point. In some situations, whatever means "leave me alone, I don't care anymore".
   
9. This is when a girl repeatedly asks a guy to do something again and again and AGAIN and each time the guy says he will do it and never does. I don't understand why can't guys just do it the first or second time when we ask them nicely? It's always, "Ok, later", "Ok later", "Ok later".. one month later and it's still "Ok, later". So girl gets fed up, "FINE.... I will do it myself". And suddenly the guy will have the time to do it immediately.

So given the interpretation and the reason behind those 9 words, it's pretty simple to understand what a woman wants right? :)

Today I had one of those "I do not belong here" moments again. Makes me think how long

2 weeks, a weird looking belly button, and 2 samurai X scars later...

.... I'm back at work.

Since I started working 5 years ago, I never took a break longer than 1 week before, even when I switched jobs. So after 2 weeks of ultimate boredom, I was eager to go back to work.

I was in a good mood when driving to work yesterday. Ahh... look at the pretty trees outside my workplace.

And when I entered the office, I was just about to sigh my regular morning why-is-the-office-so gray sigh, when I stopped. Eh??? A new color! The color green. Oooo00....

Back at work, I asked people whether they wanted to see my weird looking belly button. They politely declined... Spent the first day at work dazed. Had to start my cold engine.

Today leh was a tiring tiring day. Issues after issues. And I'm not 100% myself yet. Was dead tired at the end of the day. And I know I'm tired when I wear the wrong pair of shoes back home (my gray company requires us to have indoor and outdoor shoes).

There was once I was so tired, I wore one side of my indoor shoes and one side of my outdoor shoes back home. One was black, the other was brown and one heel was higher than the other, but I didn't notice until I reached home and got really confused for a while when I looked at my feet.

Even though dead tired, there's always that sense of satisfaction that it has been a day where many things were achieved.

I don't love my job but I don't hate it either. And I shall still continue to whine and complain about work like I usually do. But I have to say that I'll rather work than to stay at home. It's those small little satisfactions that keep me going. :)

It smells like...

Last night while watching TV with Yin How, I asked him,

"Hmm... I smell something... Smells like Milo... Did you make Milo?"

"Nope, I just farted"

@$#@$!

Digusted, I believed it... until he told me that he did the same thing to his colleague.

@!%#@