Now aside from it being such a primitive uncivilized form of demonstration on the group’s part, am I the only one who finds the humor that these people actually went to THAT extent to show insult to Malaysia?

When I first heard of the story yesterday morning, the first thing that I asked myself was “Did they all decide to poop in bags and bring it with them for the demonstration? Or did someone had an urge to do number 2 during the demonstration, hence it was just by chance they HAPPEN to have shit in hand (literally)?”

And then another thought crossed my mind. When I saw the news it wasn’t just one person flinging crap and smearing it, it was a FEW people. So the thing that crossed my mind was “Was it their own shit? Or was it somebody else’s?”

Because what a coincidence it would be that 3 Bendera people (that were also arrested) had the urge to take a dump during the demonstration.

Seriously, I wouldn’t even look at my poop after I’m done on the toilet, what more to say holding it in my BARE hands and smearing it across any surface.

And while I’m on this point, why the fark would I want to grab a wad of someone else’s shit???

This group calls themselves Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat, yet they use such primitive ways to show discontent. Democracy? Huh? More like Demo-shitty, as in a shitty demonstration (literally).

Okay, perhaps these people were very passionate about what they were fighting for and in the heat of the (fart) moment , they decided to chuck some chocolate cake around.

I guess that makes sense….NOT.

So here’s a turd..ummm food for thought.

The next time you’re not happy about something, fling some butt nuggets around.

Thank you for your attention.

-The End-

My thesis is finally binded after one year of submitting it to the university. It cost me a hefty RM80 per copy and I had to do six copies because FOUR were for the university (I initially thought 3) and I had to bear all the cost!

Hmmmph.

When I got there, the staff told me “Oh what a coincidence. They just arrived YESTERDAY.”

Of which I was very sceptical but that’s beside the point.

My point is this;

She handed me a copy to look at and left for a couple minutes. As I held and laid my eyes on it for the very first time, I said “wow” outloud.

Wow not because I think I’m so great but wow because of how similar it looked like to a book.

Wow because I felt it was worth the money I spent.  *chuckle*

Look, it has my name on the side too!

Wow because exactly one year ago I was told that I might not make it to graduation in time.

Wow because exactly two years ago I cried tears of disappointment for not being able to graduate.

Wow because this thesis is the epitome of my blood, sweat and tears. Blood from papercuts, sweat from lugging all those books to and from the libray and tears from…well I already explained that many times in this blog.

Wow because I can finally close this chapter of my life.

I cannot help myself.

This is probably one of the cheesiest songs ever but it’s OH SO ADORABLE and damn catchy.

I finally did a search for the music video on YouTube and after having watched it,  I still like the song (even though the music video is even cheesier than the song).

But…there’s a but.

The singer, Jason Castro (although pretty goodlooking and was a contestant in American Idol which I also just found out) has long dreadlocks. Now that’s all fine and dandy BUT (again), it is LONG. Like really long, like longer than my hair kinda long which is pretty long if you’ve seen me in person.

(Yes I know I’m doing that whole babbling thing.)

(I digress!)

ANYWAY.

So not only does he have long LONG hair, I bet if after some treatment and straightening thingy majig, he will look like a girl. I am serious.

I don’t think I’m that vain of a person but seriously, I don’t think I can handle dating a guy who could probably look ‘prettier’ than I am (as a girl). Seriously.

Okay I know I’m being vain. But I can’t help myself.

Turn tables around. Can a (straight) guy handle dating a girl that looks…oh well more macho than him? Say with a muscular body and deep voice and a visible Adam’s apple?

See, I thought so. 

I shall let you judge for yourself.

I still like the song though. Gonna make Rob dance with me to that song when he eventually comes to visit. Heh.

As many of you (especially people who know me personally) are aware, I have been working as a journalist aka reporter with the Borneo Post.

My first day on the job, I wanted to quit. The second day I planned to quit at the end of the week. Eventually I was determined to finish a month and at least get paid so that I could have some spending money for a while.

When I finished my first month (and got paid), the plan was to quit before my probationary period ended because I could give 24 hours notice during that time.

Why you ask? Well, I am a person who values some structure in her life and I’m sure you know that there are not set hours when it comes to being a reporter. On the first day, I was assigned to cover a function with another reporter until 9.30pm. I have to say, I was not a happy camper back then.

Some days I started work at 2pm, other days I have to be at a place at 8am while the night before I worked until 11pm.

Eventually I received a letter notifying me that the probational 3 month period was over and even though I was not given a raise (I was promised a raise after probation during my interview), I stayed. I was in no hurry to leave. That was December last year.

Although there were a couple of times that certain people in the office pissed me off to no conceivable end, I held on. I was as patient as I could be, even though the temptation to walk out of the office forever kept nudging at me.

I have to honestly say that one of the two things that made me stay were a few people in the office. These people made the office fun and the thought of leaving them for no logical reason seemed to be unfathomable. I actually looked forward to going into the office. We had even more fun out of the office.

This past year or so (2009 and part of 2008) was one of the the years that I wish to forget, but it has made such an impact on me that it’s hard to erase it from my memory. The hurt, disappointment, anger, and devastation was just undescribable. Ironically, some of my thoughts can be read here, here and here. Oh and more here and here.

I became quite a sceptic. It was hard to trust people and let my guard down. As days passed in the office, I realised that I had quite a lot in common with some of them. As cliche as it sounds, “time heals all wounds” found its way through the wall I have made around me.

These people accepted me, understood me (to a certain extent, because frankly I can be WAY too weird sometimes) and let me into their lives without any ulterior motives (or so it feels that way. See, I’m still a sceptic at times).

Most of all, I felt comfortable with them. I was comfortable to be who I really am with these people. It was like a breathing a breath of fresh air (yes, cliche again I know) as compared to some issues I went through.

The other thing that I enjoy was the writing. I truly enjoyed writing stories/ reports/ articles as stressful as it could be at times.

I knew I always loved writing but the past 7 months have shown me what I could really do with writing. I was amazed at how I could come up with a story in a matter of hours and read by thousands of people the next day. I felt accomplished, I felt contented.

The job has also opened my eyes and given me the experience of meeting so many different people from all walks of life.

When I do street polls, I have to go up to total strangers and asked if they want to be interview. Many times they are reluctant because their pictures and name will have to be published so I would have to convince them in a way. I think the thing that I have gained the most from working as a reporter is knowing no shame.

Yes, that’s right. I now know no shame.

I think the best experience was the trip to Thailand. Although I’ve been there before, it was a totally different experience. The press were put up in really posh hotels, hotels that I know I would never stay in and paid for myself because the rate was simply too expensive. I would have never eaten all that good food, the gormet meals.

Now I have left this job, the experience and the people whom I have grown so fond of that has made a mark in my life. People whom I can call friends.

I am thankful to have met these people and relieved that I have gotten an opportunity of a lifetime to write for a newspaper.

On my very last few minutes in the office, I left MY mark by pranking a few people.

I was so happy. (Photo credit to Georgette Tan.)

From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and everyone of you for making a good start out of 2010. You know who you are!

P/S: Most importantly, the one person who has been supportive, understanding and accepted me throughout my hardships is Rob. I love you honey and thank you for always being there for me.

Anyway, this is just a quick note to say: I’M HEADING TO BANGKOK!

Will be leaving for KL tomorrow night, and take the first flight out to Bangkok on Thai Airways the next day (Wednesday). After a day at Bangkok, I’ll be heading towards Pattaya.

After 4 years, I’m going to be back in both cities again. Feels surreal somehow.

The best part about all of it is that it’s all FREE, courtesy of LG Electronics.

Yes, that means I am covering an event for LG in Bangkok. I think it’s a new product launch or something like that. Regardless, I don’t think I am able to release any more details even if I did know what it was all about. :P 

I’ll be back in Kuching on the midnight Saturday, of which I am glad to be getting Sunday and Monday as my replacement off days. Then I go back to work on Tuesday and once again get my off days on Wednesday and Thursday. I like how well that all works out.

Will try to update more frequently and thanks to the two or three readers that constantly come back to check. You know who you are!

P/S: I love you Robbie

And when I actually get to writing a post, I end up deleting it because it has no substance or just sounds very lame.

I enjoy the writing part of my job and I think now I can say that I’m used to the hours.

Today I finished writing an article that I’m quite proud of. My goal was to write something that will touch the hearts of people who read it. I showed it to Rob and he liked it a lot. He showed it to his mom and she teared up (I was told).

So with that, I emailed it to the ‘boss’ and we shall see if it gets published. I’m not aiming for a front-pager or anything but I just hope that it touches some people. It’s a sad story but in the end a lesson can be learned from it.

I had my first experience of being a paparazzi of sorts a few days ago. I’m sure many have read about the 14 year-old student who got bashed up in school but 4 strangers in the local newspaper. If you have no idea about it, refer here.

Anyway I was assigned to do a follow up on that story the day the report was published. Trying my luck with another fellow colleague, we drove to the school where the boy was beaten up to see if we could speak to the principal. Little did we know that when we arrived, several other reporters were already there waiting.

In fact, one reporter told me that a couple of them managed to get into the school undetected but was later ‘escorted out’ by security guards and since then security was tight in the front entrance of the school.

So there we were, about 10 of us, waiting outside the school under the drizzling rain for something to happen. Eventually a VIP showed up at the school and we later found out that there was an investigation going on in the school at that very moment we were outside.

It was later learned that the boy and the father was at the school being interviewed by education officers, so we waited and waited until they came out of the school. Upon seeing us, the father sped off in his car. However, we managed to stop the VIP for some information and comments.

Anyway, my report on that is here. There is another story but it’s not in the website so if you’re interested to read up and have the newspaper, look it up on Wednesday’s (Feb 3) edition.

I pretty much rambled on from north to south, east to west so I’m going to end here for now.

Maybe I will update again in another two months.

Hah! Hope not.

This year I felt betrayal
This year I felt devastation
This year I felt desperation
This year I felt depression
This year I found new friendships
This year I drifted from some
This year I rekindled an old friendship
This year I graduated with a Master Degree
This year I started working full-time
This year I got my first front-page article
This year I am able to help financially at home
This year I found myself lost (oxymoron I know)
This year I found my way back
This year I learned again that ignorance is bliss
This year I felt what true determination was
This year I realised I’m not a quitter after all
This year I am more in love than I have ever been

This year…

I’ve changed…

By the time  I get home, am too brain-fried to come up with something creative to write about.

However, I am loving some of the freebies and food tasting I get when I cover events, e.g the opening of The Body Shop at Boulevard. I think it was smart of them to give me freebies considering I got one of my colleagues hooked on the perfume and she is going to buy it.

Heck I am ever so tempted to go get myself a bottle. It is a combination of vanilla and jasmine. Then again I think to myself if I want to spend the money, considering I need to save up for a possible visit from Rob next year. Decisions decisions decisions.

Hmmm perhaps I can justify buying it for myself for Xmas?

By the way, the scent is called “Love etc…”

The Body Shop is also currently having promotions for their Xmas line of which I got freebies too. I got a Merry Berry shower gel, body lotion and soap. It has a fruity smell to it.

I wish I could show pictures but since I started using my digital camera for work, the memory card has contracted a gazillion viruses from the computer at the office (no we do not have up-to-date anti viruses). So I refuse to plug the camera on my laptop because I am not risking it!

Oh yeah, my off days are switched from Mondays to Tuesdays AND Wednesdays now. The office is trying out the 5-work days thing so I get two days off from now on. It’s currently on trial so we still get called back if there are too many functions/events to cover.

Anyway I’m babbling. Will figure out what to blog about tomorrow.

I’m just starting to get used to my working hours and don’t feel as tired as I did when I first started the job.

It’s an interesting job when it comes to the people I get to meet. Sometimes I hit a block and can’t find the perfect angle to start the story but I’m slowly getting there. I suppose it’s true when people say things get easier with time.

I got paid last week and have already bought myself an early birthday present; a handphone. Not just ANY handphone but a PINK(!) one. Coincidently the moment I paid up for the phone and was about to leave, I bumped into a friend of mine whom I have no seen in a while and somehow seeing her made me way too happy for my own good for the rest of the night. It was Siew Pin AKA Soupy!

Then again, I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not because she knew I was going to be there (but didn’t know what time) so I almost suspect that she headed over that general direction just to see if we would bump into each other. I should ask her that. Hehe

Either way, seeing her really made my night. I almost wanted to hug her but felt self-conscious to because there were tons of people around.

It’s strange because I haven’t felt that sort of happiness in a while. Work is taking a lot of my social life (as if I had a lot of social life to begin with). I do enjoy interacting with my colleagues whom I’ve gotten to know more and more everyday.

Anyhow I think I’m babbling away so I’m going to stop here. Have to a function to cover tomorrow at 9am. Will write when I get the chance too. Au revoir!

P/S: Pictures of my front page article! *jumps in joy*

P/P/S: You know when I said I meet interesting people everyday? This is one of the SIAW “interesting” ones.

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=60691

I wrote a 4-page article today. Wondering if it’ll be published tomorrow.