Lol. I don't know why, but being in a foreign country makes me feel more patriotic :p
I'm quite excited about having a reason to celebrate being Malaysian. Woo hoo. Merdeka!
I hope it is a good weekend.
I miss home :(
I'm reading 'The Kite Runner' and I must say that it's one of the best books I've read in a looong time. The story, the setting, the characters, the way it has been written... everything about it! It's all so good :)
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Friday, 22 August 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Politically INcorrect
I still cannot believe that despite living so close to Asia, Australians are still so ignorant of certain cultural and geographical information pertaining to Asia. One big one is that Aussies use the term 'Asian' to describe any East Asian person. The last time I checked, India was part of Asia... But no, in Australia, Indians aren't considered to be 'Asians'. Go figure.
So what trigerred off this attack? I am so absolutely and totally tired of explaining to people that Malaysians are not all Chinese! There are Malays and Indians and even a few other kinds of people who are Malaysian too. Get that right!!
So in the beginning, I found it amusing that despite sounding totally un-Indian or Sri Lankan (and sometimes even ohsoMalaysian), people still mistook me for being from India or Sri Lanka. And when I say "no I'm from Malaysia", they just look a little surprised and I leave it at that. We move on to talk about other things and all is good.
Today however, at one of my classes, this girl asked me if I was born in Australia... Yeah, coz I sound sooo Australian right? Mate? :p Lol. Obviously I set her straight by telling her, in a very friendly and polite manner, that I was Malaysian. Then came the usual 'look of surprise', but no, she didn't just stop there.
She had to say "But you don't LOOK Malaysian".
Wtf? Do Malaysians have only one 'look'? Ermm... This was where I started getting annoyed. Didn't show it of course, but I was boiling on the inside. And who can blame me?
So I asked her "What do you think Malaysians are supposed to look like?".
Well, I don't know if that was a good question to ask her or not considering my very annoyed state of mind because her answer just very nearly tipped me over the edge.
She said, "I dunno, Asian?".
Me: Gggrr... *no comment*
As you can imagine (or not) I was dangerously close to saying something mean to her. But I didn't. Yay me! :p
So what trigerred off this attack? I am so absolutely and totally tired of explaining to people that Malaysians are not all Chinese! There are Malays and Indians and even a few other kinds of people who are Malaysian too. Get that right!!
So in the beginning, I found it amusing that despite sounding totally un-Indian or Sri Lankan (and sometimes even ohsoMalaysian), people still mistook me for being from India or Sri Lanka. And when I say "no I'm from Malaysia", they just look a little surprised and I leave it at that. We move on to talk about other things and all is good.
Today however, at one of my classes, this girl asked me if I was born in Australia... Yeah, coz I sound sooo Australian right? Mate? :p Lol. Obviously I set her straight by telling her, in a very friendly and polite manner, that I was Malaysian. Then came the usual 'look of surprise', but no, she didn't just stop there.
She had to say "But you don't LOOK Malaysian".
Wtf? Do Malaysians have only one 'look'? Ermm... This was where I started getting annoyed. Didn't show it of course, but I was boiling on the inside. And who can blame me?
So I asked her "What do you think Malaysians are supposed to look like?".
Well, I don't know if that was a good question to ask her or not considering my very annoyed state of mind because her answer just very nearly tipped me over the edge.
She said, "I dunno, Asian?".
Me: Gggrr... *no comment*
As you can imagine (or not) I was dangerously close to saying something mean to her. But I didn't. Yay me! :p
Monday, 11 August 2008
I Love These Lyrics!!
Could you cry a little
Lie just a little
Pretend that you're feeling a little more pain
I gave now I'm wanting
Something in return
So cry just a little for me
- from 'Cry', performed by Faith Hill
Lie just a little
Pretend that you're feeling a little more pain
I gave now I'm wanting
Something in return
So cry just a little for me
- from 'Cry', performed by Faith Hill
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Who Sets the Rules?
In a relationship, how do you know when the first 'official' day of being a couple is? Ok, so if you were getting married obviously the registration ceremony would be it. But in a basic relationship, when is that day? Do we need to have one set date so that yearly or even monthly anniversaries can be celebrated? Do you really need to announce to the world that you are going out with someone special in order to make it more real? Or are these 'procedures' that have been created merely to show the people around you that you are in the perfect relationship (on the outside)? Are relationships sans all these frills not real relationships?
Who sets the rules anyway? Aren't things like this subjective? Does it not depend on the 2 parties involved and how they want to define things themselves? How many people do you think actually have such stereotypical relationships anyway? Surely most of us will find ourselves in some sort of gray area where neither 'rule' applies.
Are grand romantic gestures the only way to show your affection for someone? Don't silent thoughtfulness and patience count for something too?
I guess that some people need guidelines like these to give themselves some peace of mind - the methodical types who usually study engineering or maths :p, the people who cannot adapt to the concept of subjectivity and abstractness (if that is a word? :p).
In the end, none of these external things matter as long the the pair are comfortable with themselves and what they have between them. But then again, it is only human nature to care what others think and only those who have managed to move beyond this are able to be truely satisfied with their lives.
Who sets the rules anyway? Aren't things like this subjective? Does it not depend on the 2 parties involved and how they want to define things themselves? How many people do you think actually have such stereotypical relationships anyway? Surely most of us will find ourselves in some sort of gray area where neither 'rule' applies.
Are grand romantic gestures the only way to show your affection for someone? Don't silent thoughtfulness and patience count for something too?
I guess that some people need guidelines like these to give themselves some peace of mind - the methodical types who usually study engineering or maths :p, the people who cannot adapt to the concept of subjectivity and abstractness (if that is a word? :p).
In the end, none of these external things matter as long the the pair are comfortable with themselves and what they have between them. But then again, it is only human nature to care what others think and only those who have managed to move beyond this are able to be truely satisfied with their lives.
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Wicked!!!
Yes, I am going to watch Wicked here in Melbourne. I can't wait!!! I haven't watched a live musical in a very long time. Saturday night... Just under 2 days to go :) Yay me! :p
Life...
Thanks to my superly weird timetable, I have totally full Wednesdays and only 1 hour on Thursdays. Needless to say, it is now Week 2 and I have never made it to the Thursday lecture. Naughty much? ;)
That said, I forsee my Thursdays being spent doing totally unproductive things like watching shows on my laptop and aimlessly browsing ebay for cute outfits (I have made it a rule to only start shopping in September).
So after doing a bit of the above, I decided to check my deteriorating blog out. Then I went to my friends' blogs (the ones that I've linked from mine). I never knew blog reading could be so fun! So now, I have been inspired by the enthusiasm of my dah-ling friends to blog more! :)
Right now, I'm in my oh-so-comfy single bed with my fluffy doona and 4 pillows, listening to Sara Bareilles (she's really good!) and thinking of what else I can say in this post. I really should be doing some work, but procrastination has always been a weakness of mine :p
Already my head is flooding with ideas for posts, but it would be a little weird to suddenly start from here. So I guess this is the end of this post.
Stay tuned for more folks!! :)
P.S. Sara Bareilles' album is pretty darn uplifting. I highly recommend it :)
One of my favourite pics from the last weekend's ski trip.
That said, I forsee my Thursdays being spent doing totally unproductive things like watching shows on my laptop and aimlessly browsing ebay for cute outfits (I have made it a rule to only start shopping in September).
So after doing a bit of the above, I decided to check my deteriorating blog out. Then I went to my friends' blogs (the ones that I've linked from mine). I never knew blog reading could be so fun! So now, I have been inspired by the enthusiasm of my dah-ling friends to blog more! :)
Right now, I'm in my oh-so-comfy single bed with my fluffy doona and 4 pillows, listening to Sara Bareilles (she's really good!) and thinking of what else I can say in this post. I really should be doing some work, but procrastination has always been a weakness of mine :p
Already my head is flooding with ideas for posts, but it would be a little weird to suddenly start from here. So I guess this is the end of this post.
Stay tuned for more folks!! :)
P.S. Sara Bareilles' album is pretty darn uplifting. I highly recommend it :)
One of my favourite pics from the last weekend's ski trip.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)