Mont Kiara Jazz
Mood:  suave
Topic: Night life & other action
Last weekend I finally visited the Sunrise Jazz & Rhythm Festival 2005. Cipto came home late after a surgical battle with the old man… Having no energy for anything else and me being sick & tired of MCQ’s we decided to go there for 2 hours. Good choice, it turned out. I should have brought my camera cause the setting was quite ok. As the matter of fact, it was a bit similar to the Jazz-in-Duketown-thing in my own country. While sitting down and actually realising that I miss my country the way it is in Summer time, I also felt a bit at home, for the mere reason of ending up in a similar atmosphere. To make it even more complete, I even managed to get my hands on a 2 bottles of White Hoegaarden beer from Belgium… It cost me dearly, but it was definitely worth it and for a moment I was back home again. And as far as the music was concerned, it was definitely worthwhile and good for a second round, either next weekend or next year.

The Italian job
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Starbucks
Well, thought it was about time for a tribute to my barista's; the people who make sure my cafeine levels keep on flowing on steady levels without too many fluctuations, unlike my life... I must say that the absolute summum of their service extends to even getting me home. Having spent another heavily intoxicated evening with me, my laptop and an occasional ICQ-er intruding my study activities (huh-huh), they were so nice as to bring me home @ the end of the evening. This meant that all 5 of us managed to get ourselves in one of these small, "mini"-like cars you see so often around here (Kancil). Well, my salut for its horse powers, for the driver (who would have done a good job in the F1) managed to steer the thing around the catacombs of the parking basement in the way they drove those mini's in the above mentioned movie (they have more than just espresso in Italy I guess).
Anyway, turns out I'm not the only one maintaining his blog here, so here some attention for another blog that might bring us some interesting topics in the future. I must say that the topic on panty liners was very educational hehehe... Check it out on the "Mi log"-link @ the left. Unfortunately I couldn't leave comment, one apparently has to log in, but here's my cheers for the site...

Flat tire...
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: House & Garden Philosophy
The sound of one of those squeaky children’s shoes comes from around the corner, even before I can see the kid. The novelty was introduced some time ago, I cannot even remember if it was before or after I came to live here. Children are given these shoes that make a fairly irritating squeaky sound at every very step these children take. Till this very day I still haven’t figured out why people buy their kids such shoes. I’m sure it’s not like tying a little bell to the cat’s collar, as if they would otherwise attack some harmless little bird. I still feel it’s more like this guy I once knew, who gave his hyperactive son a drum set as a present…. And severely regretted it afterwards. This time, however, it’s different, being… more monotonous than normally. It takes me a few seconds to figure out why, but soon enough I realize; this kid has a flat tire. Somehow the sole of the shoe got punctured and killed the little bird inside, silencing the kids’ foot forever. I wonder if its parents now feel 50% relieved, having only one intact sole left…

Better in bed....
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Everyday life (weirdness)
Sometimes it is better to just stay in your bed cause nothing possibly good can happen when you close the door of your house behind you...
What am I talking about ?? Well, could be anything, you flunked the exam you had been studying for untill the extent your brain felt as if it went through the microwave, your boss might not allow you to take up your saved-up leave from your unpaid job, forcing you to just "burn" it, you might take a last minute to Jakarta but get stranded at the airport cause the option of getting visa from the airport is not an option anymore. The stupid aircon in your not so cosy new home keeps you awake, rattling all night and while you're walking to the LRT station you manage to fall in a man-deep sewer pit. Ah life is sure fun. I actually hate myself, for not being as meticulate in these things as I usually am and taking more time for the few fun things I plan to do for myself. Then, to compensate for my lost outing, I went to a book shop and afterwards hated myself again, having bought 2 books instead of 1 only. Money money money... the eternal headache. Nevermind, I just bought a book that attracted me so much that I had to buy it. "Shantaram", by Gregory D. Roberts. Basically it's a book about not giving up, I guess, but.... well, just read this short summary below and think of it.... this guy actually had to rewrite the book twice, for prison guards in India destroyed the first two versions... Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it's got 900+ pages !!

Shantaram is a novel based on the life of the author, Gregory David Roberts. In 1978 Roberts committed a series of robberies while addicted to heroin, and was sentenced to nineteen years’ imprisonment. In July 1980 he escaped over the front wall of Victoria’s maximum-security prison, in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia’s most wanted men for what turned out to be the next ten years.

His journey took him to New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and Europe, but his home for most of those years was Bombay — where he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for one of the most charismatic branches of the Bombay mafia. He even got involved with a Bollywood movie...

Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Everyday life (weirdness)
Seems as if every single day is getting hotter. Relieve comes when - almost invariably - by the afternoon rain starts pouring out in a way I hadn't seen before. The sky will turn dark within 15 minutes something. Then, even still dry, the thunder will start, threatening, low grumbling of colliding clouds, as if close to a nearby war zone. While the rain turns the whole premises into a small lake within minutes, the thunder keeps rolling, one after another, like a sea full of angry waves.
I suppose it has nothing to do with my sea of frustration... studying for the exam covering most of the undergraduate stuff, it reminds me of those days when I had my high school exams, in the middle of an already hot summer. Or that time, 7 years later, when I was sitting for my internal medicine re-exam while I had already started working in a local O&G department. Back then, I made it, but I don't know about now...

Mood:  not sure
Topic: Everyday life (weirdness)
Last week one of my colleagues told me I reminded her of Ross, from "Friends"... I guess she didn't know even half how right she was... Last night I was called in the middle of the night; long distance call... To pick up and hear her voice was not a surprise... I already grew accustomed to the fact that she is probably gonna be part of me for the rest of my life, regardless of what happens in the future... Strange how cannot let go of some ties...

Shocking events...
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Everyday life (weirdness)
Shake it baby !! No don't you worry... the whole building was waving and I felt like on a cruise ship... unfortunately it was not the love boat but some standard kind of ferry ship. Anyway, in 10 minutes everybody in the building was outside, but this morning the building was still standing and we are all ok. Actually, since my roomy was too afraid to go back immediately, we decided to go for a spin. He wanted to kill time in the nearby A&W fastfood restaurant, but I managed to persuade him to go to the Waikiki Bar, since it was a 2 minutes walk anyway. So out of all the excitement we entered the totally different Waikiki world, where a damn good live band was steaming, rocking & rolling. And so in the end it was worth it after all, holding a good glass of beer while seeing the E-quake news on CNN.

Easter rap
Mood:  silly
Absolutely brilliant my dear... thanx....
http://i.flowgo.com/greetings/rapeasterbunny/rapeasterbunny.swf

BTW, better use my newer hotmail in the future, inbox has a tendency to crash...

Major bummer...
Mood:  blue
Topic: Everyday life (weirdness)
Ayo, it's sickening... Sometimes it's just too much too take and other moments I'm reasonably @ peace with the thought... Just that hearing this week that the contract already offered will most probably not bevome effective after all... Meaning another 3+ years without income... bleeehhh...

Mood:  quizzical
Topic: Starbucks
When I woke up most of the heat of the day had settled. I took a quick shower to get my day started and planned for my afternoon of shopping in the Mid Valley mall, to see if I could get any good deal from the Chinese New Year discount offers. On going outside however, I changed my mind. I nice fresh breeze cleared the air of any remnants of the usual offending heat. It reminded me of warm summer evenings in The Netherlands, getting ready to settle on one of the Maastricht terraces of one of its many cosy pubs, after not having had more than just a nice fresh salad for dinner. I decided to refrain from any silly purchases of things that were actually discounted all year round, for reasons of whichever occasion came along. Instead, I went up back to the apartment to fetch my laptop and started walking to section 14, to nestle in one of the chairs of Starbucks.
Having been busy most of the evening with arranging banking business and chatting with some friends and my mom on internet, in the end of the evening, just before I want to wrap up my things and go to do my late shift, this lady approaches me. “You don’t happen to be German, do you ?” she asks me… Cause I’m actually looking for a German person. I’m afraid I have to disappoint you, I have to confess to her. A conversation unwinds about her ex-husband who is a Finnish guy and how I should avoid ever getting one for a husband. I assure her politely that the day I’m gonna have a husband is most probably never gonna come. And so she keeps twisting around, trying to make it not too obvious she wants me to meet two of her friends who “would be interested in practicing their German with someone, cause you do speak German don’t you ?”. I don’t know what to think about it and getting rather anxious to leave I manage to short circuit the whole thing by giving her my hp-number and getting myself including notebook in a cab asap, only to arrive late (again) for my night of unpaid consultation labour. What happens next we’ll have to await…