Lesson of the day:

Never, never try to eat a mouthful of pasta laden with seasonings and garlic, and then wash it down with a cold Milo drink immediately after.

The sensation of that combination is not something you'd want on your tongue; unless you don't mind having your taste buds screwed, perhaps for good.

On one hand, I'd consider the experience an unexpected experiment. On the other hand I'd say it was one of the worst mistakes I'd ever made in my life.

Question: Can there be such people as sado-masochistic gourmets; people who like to push their tastes to the limits (if such a concept can exist) with experimenting new flavours, even if it means eventually numbing their sense of taste?

Guess that is a possibility, although it also kind of takes away the whole idea of being able to taste and appreciate good food and drink. If there such people about; oh well, good luck to them, the poor sods.

A post-New Year post

Before I start the post proper, let me just point out that usually a post-New Year post would mean that it was done a day after New Year itself, or something to that effect anyway. But instead, I get it done three days after New Year. Oh yes, that's like soooo recent that is.

Ok then, now that I've got my peevishness (which apparently pretty much means grouchiness) out of the way, I can get to writing about the most recent happenings in the miserable issue that is my life.

Let's see...

Obviously, the most recent thing that's happened not just in my life, but all over the world, is the arrival of the new year - 2007. Whoop-dee-doo. A new year, a whole new set of events in the future to kick this world in the arse. It's damn pessimistic of me, I know. But at this point, I'm not really looking forward in time. I can't and won't look back because that'll cause a lot more emotional havoc for me. So I'm pretty much stuck in limbo in the present, which means I just live and take each day as it comes and goes...for now anyway.

Speaking of New Year and anything to do with it, here's what happened in Hong Kong during the New Year countdown: at the stroke of twelve, it sounded like the entire city had either suffered multiple road accidents or all the carhorns in the city had gone haywire because every vehicle up and about in the streets was honking away long and loud. And then as if that wasn't enough, the ships at the harbour added their foghorns to the noise. Not exactly my idea of sounding out the arrival of the New Year. Benefit of the doubt should be given to the fact that this was a festive occasion to mark, otherwise the place should've been called "Honk Kong" instead.

And for those that didn't know it, I went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen for a holiday with my family during the last few days of Christmas and then into the New Year. One of the most prominent things about them two, it was bloody friggin cold. And it wasn't like there was snow or ice around or anything, but it was still cold as the inside of a freezer if not colder. My last experiences with a cold environment are all but forgotten so I had no idea what I was in for.

What can I say of Hong Kong, it's a city like any other city in Asia, almost no different from KL or Singapore and the likes. But two things which still stick in my mind about that place which is not in KL anywhere. One is the McCafes in Hong Kong, which we don't have anywhere here in Malaysia's McDonalds. Another which are all the buildings around Hong Kong's urban areas with construction frames made of bamboo. Reminds me of all those old Jackie Chan's Police Story films for some reason; must be the fight scenes I remember.


The Disneyland in Hong Kong is probably one of the city's most popular sites. But that I suppose also depends on what you're going there for. If you're looking for all the thrilling rides and stuff, you're better off going to the Disneyland in Los Angeles. But if you're looking for "gentler" (for lack of a better word) forms of entertainment in a Disneyland, then this one should do nicely. Spent pretty much an entire day there and went on nearly every ride and saw nearly every show there. Staying there for the New Year countdown wasn't such a bad idea at first, until we learned that we had to find our own way back to the hotel since the tour bus wasn't going to be on call at 12 midnight. So we decided to scuff the idea since we were all already dead tired by 9 pm.

Shenzhen is very much in the same mould like Hong Kong (which should only be because they're neighbours after all) . It's a city, it's big, it's got about several million inhabitants; of which only one million are apparently from Shenzhen itself. But its also got its own charms, like the Window of the World, which is a theme park with minatures of famous buildings around the world like the Pyramids, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Taj Mahal and a whole of others. Some of the minatures are about the size of hobby models, others were large enough to be life-sized in their own right.

Aside from that, we also visited the Splendid China, another minature historical and cultural museum this time centered upon China itself. Not a bad place either, especially since they also had performances based on the various sub-cultures found in China.

We also learned a lesson about the city's inhabitants from our tour guide by way of wise, old saying:

"When you put your wallet in your front pocket, it's your own; when you put your wallet in your side pocket, it's someone else's; when you put your wallet in your back pocket, it's everyone else's"

Wise words indeed.

In case anyone's wondering if there were any photos taken during the entire trip, yes there were, but you'd have to look up my Friendster profile to see it. I'm too lazy to try and upload it onto the blog. Bite me.

That's all for now. If there's anything else, I probably won't be posting it until much much later.
And we all know when that will be, won't we?

It's been a while...

...since I wrote something on this damned blog. Actually I'd say it has been a very long while since I've written anything on it. But that's just stating what's obvious to anyone who's updated on current events and whatnot. Here's what may not have been so obvious since the time of my last post...


I've been bopping about with depression ever since I got my results from 1st year law school and learned that I screwed the entire year over simply because I screwed up one paper, badly. And it wasn't like I got sterling results for the other papers either. It’s a crushing feeling; believe me, and one that's not really easy to get over at that. Especially if you've got parents like mine (especially my mother, again) who like to breathe that failure down your neck over and over again. But then again, I don't even need my parents to make me feel like shite over my results. I’m still feeling the weight of guilt over my head and my heart. Man I hate this…

Moving on to more current events…

I’m taking up membership classes in Wesley Methodist church in order to be officially declared a member of that church. However they’re more like sessions on the psychiatrist’s couch, except without the couch itself. I seem to be getting counselling for my personal issues rather than learning more about my religion and the particular denomination I belong to. So much for the classes… But there’s progress, however little it may seem. And I guess that’s a good thing. Hopefully it’ll be permanent too.

Applied to four unis in Western Australia, of which three have answered so far. And here’s the funny part: the uni that I intend to go to, UWA, had given me a positive reply for my application – 13 days ago apparently, but they haven’t sent me a letter of advice to accept that offer. And so I feel like I’m caught between a rock and a hard place, and there’s tumbling boulder heading my way to smash me some more. The sickening irony of it all is killing me, really it is.

Joined the church choir in preparing for a concert this Christmas eve; had been since what, October? Seems to be turning out well, which I’m thinking is the best thing I’ve experienced all of these few months. Well, maybe not the only one that’s happened, but it’s the only one that I can think of at the moment. I just hope we don’t waste about three months or so preparing for this just to screw it up in one fell swoop on the night to be. It could really just kill some of those who had practically put their hearts and souls into the whole darn thing, present company excluded.

Well, that’s all I can remember to say at the moment. If there’s anything else, I’ll update this blog again, assuming I actually remember it long enough and that I’d care enough about it to put it down at that. In the meantime, have a nice day you all. :)


Yours truly,
KTTJ


P.S. You know I wasn't sincere about that last line, right?

The wilted flowers

Memory…
Where have you gone to?
Why have you left?
Why am I dead to you now?

Tis the cruelty and sorrow of time
We go on, we go away
As we go away, we fade away
Like autumn leaves, we fly with the wind
And winter sets in

It is cold, it is bitter
Nature goes into hiding
That which hides not, is dead
Dead to the cruelty of weather
O, how a blow has fate dealt

Where have you gone to, friend?
Were you ever my friend?
Or was it all a lie?
A sweet, cruel illusion?
Nay, I dare not say
Would I then remain in this infernal bliss?

It has meant nothing
Only a time to have met
Only to be forgotten…
A bitter photograph
A taste in your tongue with every view

But alas it cannot keep forever
Perhaps it was never meant to
And so I bring my last flowers
Here I shall lay them at the stone
The sombre monument that marks the end
And here I shall bid my adieus
Goodbye to you

Changing, and moving on...

There’re a lot of times when you feel you’ve hit the bottom
But no matter how many times you do, there’s always an option
Stay down there and rot; or get up, get out, and move on with your life
There’s no doubt, it’s damn difficult to swallow failure
Especially when you’ve only just begun
But the time of life goes on, and you can do nothing about it
Nothing, except to do whatever you can with what’s left of it

Would it help you to keep putting yourself down because of it?
Will it all go away just because you hope for it?
Will anything in this world change to suit your whims and fancies?

No
Nothing will change
And most certainly not to suit your fancies
That’s reality for you
Stark, cold, bitter reality
There are no dreams
No sudden miracles
Nothing that can make everything become alright again magically
And if you can’t accept that, you’re better off living in another world

At times, you really feel like nothing goes right with you
Everything you touch turns from gold to dust
Everything you do gets screwed up one way or another
You annoy the shite out of everyone you meet with
Everything about you gets out of control
Especially out of your control

In the end, you feel you’re left with nothing
You don’t know what to do
You don’t even know what to think of the situation
You feel so frustrated with the way things go
You just want to crawl into a grave and stay in there for good
Just to rest in peace forever
There’s just one little problem with that
You’re not dead yet

No matter how dead you think you may be
Or how empty and unfulfilled your life seems to be
It’s not time yet to say goodbye.
Well, I guess it also depends on who and what you say goodbye to
The point is though, your life’s not over yet
Therefore, you’ve still got time, however much or little it may be
So, go on, seize it, and do something worthwhile with your life
You had just better make sure you know damn well what you’re doing it for, and that you’re damn sure you want to do it.
Because otherwise you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life
And then, it’ll really be over

Lonely, Silent, and Pointless

I have said nothing thus far
Simply because there was nothing to say at all
There are times like that, I guess
Times where you feel you’ve got so much to say
But you just can’t
Can’t, or won’t
Or just don’t feel like doing it afterwards

Times when you want to contradict what someone has to say
You know you’re right
Or you feel that you’d be right
Whatever you may think, you don’t say it anyway
Why? Only you can answer that
I mean apart from the fact that you’re probably the only one who knows what’s going on inside of you…
Do you really think people are going to waste their time wanting to find out what you have to say?

The answer is: Of course…not
People aren’t interested in what others have to say
Or if they are, they aren’t that interested
Maybe there is interest, but they don’t say it
They’re waiting for you to make your own move
That’s the way it is all the time now, isn’t it?
If you don’t do it yourself, you’ll get nowhere
No one’s going to be there for you all the time
No one’s always going to save you when you fall into the pit
You’re on your own

There’s always a helping hand out there, somewhere
But what good is that hand if you’re not going to grasp it first?
You’d have to want to be helped
Which means you’ve got to do your part in the situation, whatever it may be
Otherwise, there’s no point

Come to that, if one were to look through a different screen...
They’d come to a baffling conclusion
There’s really no point in anything
No point in sleeping, eating, doing the things we do to live
We’re like machines that function for the simple, meaningless purpose of just existing
But if there’s no point in existing then why do we exist all the same?

God only knows…
After all, He knows everything
But I don’t think He’s about to tell us anytime soon

This is yet another glimpse into the empty, gloomy, decrepit place that is my life’s story
The supremacy of Pessimism…

The old home

It’s been a while
Gone, but back again
Like returning to an old home
Where all the spirits linger

You’ve got the good ones, the bad ones
The sweet ones, the bitter ones
It makes you want to cry
Cause everything just comes rushing back

The air’s thick with memories
Flitting about like restless ghosts
They’ll never leave you alone
Because you’ll never want them to

Step upon the floor
Listen to the hollow mimic
Call with your voice
Listen to the hollow mocking

No one’s home
Because there never was anyone
But as you go on further
You realise Someone’s there

Someone’s always been there

Why He stays when everyone else has left
Only He will ever know
But He doesn’t care
He’s only been waiting for you

Time will pass
Things will change
People will go
But He will not

He was, and is, and is to come
His Word will never change or fade
Nor will His Love
For that is who He is