I asked Ryan if the newspapers would have the times for the badminton matches and he said maybe. So I sat down on the sofa next to him as I looked for them. He then asked if I'd be supporting Malaysia or China. I replied that of course I'd be supporting Malaysia. Hello, I'm Malaysian?

'But you're Chinese.'

And I thought he had already gotten it. Why's it so hard to understand?!

'It's not like I live in China. I've lived in Malaysia my whole life.'

'But your parents are from China.'

Fricking. Hell. =.=

'My parents are not from China!'

'What? Then why are you Chinese?'

'My grandparents are Chinese! (If I'm not wrong) I'm 3rd generation Malaysian-Chinese!'

'But... that doesn't even count then. I wouldn't even call myself Chinese.'

Oh. my. God. Someone knock some sense into these... arghhhH! Even if my parents were born in China, I wasn't! Why the heck would I support China?! And not to call myself Chinese! Completely blasphemous!

My race is Chinese. I AM Chinese. I cannot imagine myself to be from some other racial lineage. What the hell is so hard to understand about that?!

'My grandparents are from England and then they moved here. But I don't call myself 3rd generation Australian-British.'

To put it lightly, my reaction was explosive.

Does British sound like a race to you? I feel like bashing him in just for that whole 'don't call yourself Chinese' crap. I refuse to take that from anyone. Your nationality is Australian, argh. You shouldn't need me to tell you that. There is no racial lineage for you, but there is one for me. I'm proud to be Chinese. The Chinese race may have originated from China, but I've lived all my life in Malaysia. I don't know China. Heck, I don't think I can name more than 5 cities there! I know nothing about their politics or whether they throw big shits over petrol hikes. And I'm not bothered by that.

But I can draw the Malaysian map blindfolded. I can name every capital, if I rack my head a little. I can sing the entire national anthem without referring to anything, unlike some of the Australians. In fact, most of them probably can't venture past the 1st verse (or did some of you not even know that there was more than 1 verse?). I'm quite confident I am able to recite the entire Rukunegara, rhythm or not. I can tell you what it's like to live in Malaysia, be a Malaysian.

But to be a Chinese in China is nothing I know about and I don't feel any obligation to find out. This might sound rude, but I see myself as having little ties with China. Being Chinese is a completely different matter. I celebrate Chinese New Year, every year without fail, including last year when I was still in boarding school. I speak decent and passable Cantonese, Mandarin and Hokkien. Sometimes I accompany relatives to the temples. I play mahjong and slam tables with tiles. There're many things associated with being Chinese, and if I'm not Chinese, well.. what the heck else would I be?!!

If you think about it, Malaysians have so much to be proud of. I often have people here asking me what I'm going to do after uni. I always reply that I'm going home, and some continue to ask me 'why'. WHY? Why what? Why do you have to ask me why, like it's a sin to come home, to my country, to earn a living, to maybe even contribute something to society? For all you bastards out here who think that Australia's the greatest place in the world when you have NEVER even ventured outside this country, this is a big FUCK YOU for your ignorance and stupidity.

Malaysians don't need to brag about enjoying tea on the balcony. Because we can do that, AND we have the best culture that we created: mamak. We don't need to brag about being a society that welcomes diversity. Because we already are a diverse, multicultural society. And your broadband is a complete joke, with weird restrictions and limits, making the Internet seem slower than real life. Streamyx owns your ass any day. I could make lots of digs at Australia, but I won't, because I know they can make their share of digs too. Malaysia sure as hell isn't flawless, but don't automatically assume your ass that Australia is better.

As you can see, I stopped bitching about the fact that Ryan can't tell why I support Malaysia and not China in badminton a long time ago. Major digression.

Back to my usual stuff and 3 comments at the most! :) Sorry my blogging was on pause for a couple of days. Another lesson I've learnt about uni: doing required readings the night before for two subjects with MSN calling out to you can be a bit  too hot to handle, even if it's speed-reading! So I'm devoting Fridays to study from now on, unless I get a job, in which case I will find another day to replace it. Yay for the responsible me showing its pretty face, I hope it stays!

You might've noticed that I've changed my header image. There's a link to my old one that was designed by Tim (thanks again!) over 1 and a half years ago on my side panel. I found out last night that my camera has nifty effects, and proceeded to cam-whore a little. I then uploaded the pictures, only to find myself inspired to take more. When I saw this one picture, bits of poetry, for once coherent, hit me, and I began typing like it was right in front of my eyes in ink, on paper. I know it's a depressing piece of work, but the words just.. flowed. Just like that. From the heart, alright?

Note that I'm currently not depressed. :) As a matter of fact, I haven't felt so carefree for a long while now. Maybe it's because I'm not one to write something that implies 'happy happy joy joy'.

I still haven't heard from any prospective employers. Come on, people! I love working! Don't you want an annoying bitch of a perfectionist on your team?! Every team needs one! Just tell me you're not a fast food place, and I'm there! Better yet, tell me you want me to work on admin, and I'll let you have half of my single bottle of Vodka Cruiser to celebrate! I make decent coffee! I don't sound rude when I answer my phone (I hope)! Argh, just employ me so I can go shopping!

I really think years of experience utilising retail therapy ought to be counted as one of my plus points. :P

Now, I shall talk about my housemate, Eddie!

Meet Eddie. *virtual handshakes* He's from Hong Kong and is here to study English. He's 19, lives in the garage next to my room, and I wish that I'll meet a guy (preferably sometime very incredibly soon, like tomorrow) who will love me as much as he loves his girlfriend.

They've been together for a year now. The other day, he stayed up till 6 am, when she got home from partying. He normally stays up till 2 am or sets his alarm on the nights that she works to make sure she gets home safe, or just to hear her voice. He waited till it was 12 in Hong Kong to wish her a happy birthday. He said he never does it for anyone else. He hates diets, and doesn't understand why girls subject themselves to it.

'If I wanted a skinny girl, I would've asked a skinny girl out.'

He tells her not to diet, and that girls who are not just bones are nice to hug. And I feel like chocolates really aren't all too evil anymore. Before he makes himself a bowl of noodles (he can't cook to save his life, lol), he asks everyone if they want one too. He tells me he thinks his girlfriend is beautiful. And I already know she is. Who wouldn't be when they have someone who loves them that much? Everything's beautiful then.

He calls me 'mei siu lui', which in Cantonese means 'pretty little girl'. I think the reason why is because I suspect he can't even pronounce my name. It's one of the rare times that I'm not bothered. Maybe because I like him (not in that way). He seems to be exactly the way he portrays himself to be, which when it was first revealed to me was a bit of a shock. How often do you meet people like that, true inside out?

Sleep on that, guys. I'm tired. Here's Eddie saying goodnight to you all in his dreams.



Shhh.. he doesn't know I took this. I'll tell him tomorrow. Really. :)

That last post of mine caught Lilian Chan's eye and is now on Blogs Malaysia!

Lol, I know it's been there for 2 days now; it's just that I've been studying. Yeah, really. :P Anyway, I most definitely did not expect that. Thanks to Lilian for noticing that one obscure ping in PPS. She's one of the editors of Blogs Malaysia and owns a really interesting and funny blog so it's extremely flattering. I followed you from 5X Mom (her old blog)!

Kenny Sia, my friend said I sounded like a fan in my comment on Blogs Malaysia. That's because I AM a fan. :) Thanks for sharing your insight.

(Don't you think it's weird that Sia must automatically follow Kenny? It's almost like you can't just say Kenny. Well, not the people like me who don't know you in person anyway.)

Anyway, going back to where I was. :)

I'm especially flattered that Minishorts and Lainie, both editors, dropped by as well (heaps and heaps of thank yous), though I still don't think Minishorts shared her view on the subject. Vincent, you didn't do what I asked you to do, did you? *Shoots Vincent dirty looks that will never transmit through lousy Australian broadband* You ought to be sentenced to a week of no Calvin & Hobbes. At the very least.

All the other guys who shared their 2 (billion) cents: Milly (leave a link next time!), Justin (I loved your Malaysian Idol post), Swifty (great reviews, as usual, even if the pretty chicks aren't my thing :P), thanks so much.

No thanks to SpyMy, please go spam elsewhere. I'm not a free advertising space even if I owe it all to Blogdrive that this place exists.

I do realise that this post is not entertaining at all to the people I didn't mention, but this is the overwhelmed little girl expressing her gratitude, so shush.

Big thank yous and the warmest virtual hugs for all of you! I swear I just took a shower and I don't bite. ;)

This post is for those big on blogs. Quite big. Okay, pretty damn big.

If you've never heard of Blogs Malaysia, it's a site where you plug posts that you find interesting and would probably interest others. And I've always liked that concept. I mean, it's like a filter. You automatically know it's worth reading and there's a short 'synopsis' with the link.

But see, I always thought that the concept involved plugging other people's posts, NOT your own.

I'm not talking about the editors plugging their own posts, because duh, they're EDITORS. I'm sure they know what they're plugging on Blogs Malaysia. But is it right for ordinary members to be plugging their own posts?

'So whatever you have read and think is notable regarding anything and everything under the Malaysian and global sun, please do rekomen it here.' BlogsMalaysia's About page.

I don't know. Is it right to think what you have written is notable and to plug it in a site like Blogs Malaysia? Its concept is of course different to Petaling Street, where everyone pings their own blog and your main attraction could be your blog name or title of your post. So why, in my opinion, is it evolving into another Petaling Street that is different in that it might just be a little bit more exclusive? Just a little.

Is there really any difference to plugging your own post on BlogsMalaysia and going to any other blog in the blogosphere and leaving messages to visit your blog? Or, I daresay, pinging your blog on Petaling Street?

No, I'm not plugging this in Blogs Malaysia. It's going to Petaling Street. :)

 

(11:01 am, GMT +10)

P/S: I hope I didn't offend any of the Blogs Malaysia creators/editors/etc. and if I did, please accept my sincere apologies. This post was written purely due to curiosity, and we all know what curiosity does to the cat. :)

You're not going to believe this! I'm looking through vacancies now on my university's union website and I've just applied for a position as a...

Speed Dating Sales Consultant.

:P

Okay, if you're cracking up now, wait till you hear read how much I get paid.

$100 to $400 a day.

Dear. God. Now that is motivation enough. Besides the fact that the other reason why I put the application in is because I find the idea of me working in such a company very incredibly hilarious.

So, do you think I'm a 'vibrant, outgoing, energetic and motivated salesperson'? Or at least have the capacity to become one? *wink*

Alright, so this isn't the only job I'm applying for. Whew. :) I'm putting my resume in for the usual retail and babysitting positions.

Wish me luck, and I don't mean just for the speed dating one!

Upon Izzy the quiet stranger's recommendation, I visited BlogThings for rubbish quizzes. I think it's a sinful pleasure that no blogger or anyone big on Internet in their right mind would admit to, but then again, I always do stupid things like that, so if you didn't already know, anyone who has explored the Internet would've done something silly like this before. Trust me.

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

 

This is not where I tell you whether I think it's true or not. ;)

Er.. I realise I've blogged three times today. It's what avoiding textbooks and 4-day weekends do to you, especially at the start of it!

I'll go out tomorrow. Promise. :)

I was in the middle of a round of pool with Ryan.

Then I chose the wrong song. It reminded me of you. So much. Every beat, every damn thing about it. Maybe because it is almost the exact same one that made me feel something stirring within me. To know that someone out there was actually listening and knew me better than so many others... It's the pulling factor.

For the past few days, I've sometimes found myself wondering how you are. If you're alright, if you know that someone is always gonna be here for you. But today, I just couldn't help but wonder what could've been...

But then I've always known that there was no foundation to start with... I just happily discarded that in my head with the tiniest hope that just maybe... maybe...

Suddenly I realised that there were so many other things out there just calling out to me. And I'm prepared, ready for anything that comes my way.

It was my turn. I got up, picked the furthest ball that was mine to drop and whacked the white ball as hard as I could.

I could hear the last strains of the song that slowly begun to fade.

The yellow ball went in.

Ryan turned around in shock and said, "Good shot."

I just smiled.