To be Simple is Simple

It all started one simple day when Yen-san came to me with a book and excitely whispered
"I have something to tell you." It was amusing to see someone being all excited yet trying hard to keep her volume down since we were at our workplace after all. 

She handed me a book and said "You guess what I want us to do..." and ran off just like
that as she made her way to another department to pass some prints. 

So I skimmed through the book and when she came back with her hopeful eyes
staring back at me, I replied "Umm... take photos?" 

 It was a close answer. 

Yen-san replied, "Well yeah... but there's more!" 

She flipped to the chapter "To be simple is simple" and there it was a photo of six pieces of clothing displayed out for the world to see and under the photo reads
"six pieces of clothing for a month's worth of wearing... try it." 

The author shared a simple yet provoking thought, "So what if we were not as fortunate enough to have a closet full of clothes in every colour? What if you are in a place with bare necessities and you are lucky even to have clothes over you?" Ever wonder these what if's? 

Well... 

"Obviously we can't go for a month's worth... but let's try for a week!"
exclaimed Yen-san. 

So I guess the cause behind our little project is not as worldly and bold as the author himself but it's still going to be one heck of a memory to remember. How we fussed for an hour in picking the ultimate six pieces that's going to last us for seven days. How we are going to lose some good little brain cells thinking about the variations to these six pieces of clothing so as to not look like we are poor unfortunate souls in dire need of some donations. Indeed, it's going to be an interesting week ahead. 

And so it begins. 

Six pieces of clothing, seven days to live in them. 

Here we go! :)

Rainforest Bakery: Rich Bread, Poor Manners (Part I)

As some of you might or might not know, I managed to get myself caught on the online coupon craze not too long ago. Bought myself one coupon after another and finally decided to stop at coupon number four, because all that coupons have not materialise to tangible or even edible items just yet. So I said to myself, "Hey hey! Slow down girl. Wait till you at least try to redeem one of them and see how it goes."

So I did!

I finally used my very first Groupon on my own!
(Note the keywords "on my own". My first was with my fellow colleagues

and I just tagged along for a pre-paid lunch.)

Head over to Rainforest Bakery at Chulia Street after dinner with the family and bought myself RM20 worth of b.r.e.a.d. I know. I know. Omg right? Hahaha. Before you go all out thinking this young lady must be crazy, let me justify that the deal was I got RM20 worth of bread for only RM10. Yup. A good deal especially since Rainforest Bakery is known for its really good but slightly pricey bread.

So I came home loaded. I even paid an extra RM3.60
for ummm.. 'overspending'. :P

Need a better look?


Here you go! So what did I get?

Two thick slices of Yogurt Limonata Cake for RM4.20 EACH. Told ya. A loaf of Mixed Grain Bread for RM5.40. A Foccasia for RM3.90 and a gigantic loaf of Poppy Seed Bloomer for RM5.20. Yup, you read it right. Poddy seeds.

These were not my initial choices but unfortunately I went late after dinner and all the other good stuff were already sold out. *sad face* Now here's where the story begins.

Obviously the bread is good. There's no denying about that. In fact, we had a wonderful lunch yesterday from all that. More details later okay? But first back to bread shopping shall we? Well, there was obviously a lack of choices when we were there and mom went on to ask if these were all there is and the below conservation took place.

Conversation 1:

Mom: Is this it? But there are so many choices on the flyer.
Guy: You came late. That's all there is. You want you come in the morning.

Gee. Felt like I just got slapped by the truth.
I admit what the guy said is true but it wouldn't hurt to be nice about it, no? Say maybe...
"Sorry 'mam. That's all there is since it's late already. We have more in the morning."

*shrugs*


*******


Conversation 2:
Mom spotted some stuff behind the counter near the baking area.

Mom: What are those? Are there more buns inside?
Guy: No no. That's not... *mumbles something.. I wasn't paying much attention at first till I heard...* Why would we want to keep anything. Of course we want to sell everything.

Alright. True. I accept that.


*******


Conversation 3:
Mom spotted a basket of little pre-packed strawberry jam
like those in hotels and restaurants served together with bread.

Mom: Is this free ah? *excuse the Manglish*
Guy: *gives mom a are-you-being-ridiculous-stare*
No no no. You have to pay. Everything here you have to pay.

Hear that?

Everything here you have to pay.

As much as I felt embarrassed about mom's typical aunty-like antics, I was also very not pleased with the man's poor social skills as a salesperson. Hello. Know the words 'Please, Sorry & Thank You'? Guess not. Since mom was being an aunty, the man was being a jerk,
I might as well be the bigger person. So I paid for my extra RM3.60, smiled and say my "thank you" and enjoyed seeing confusion swept through the man's face for an instant in not knowing how to react to some proper etiquette and finally muster out a little "thank you" in return.


Sigh. Took a young to teach the old. Not cool.


Now as for the bread, well...

Mount tak Mau?

[SCENE 1: 20 minutes before Boss leaves for his meeting with a client]

Cik Datang: Eh... are you done with that? I need to mount that.

Me: *left hand holding the visual, right hand pointing at something else on screen, lost eyes wandering between the two*

Me: Mount lah!

*hands Cik Datang the visual and decides to concentrate on what's on screen*

Cik Datang: Need to mount right?

Me: Mount.

Cik Datang: Sure mount?

Me: Mau mau mau!

*Cik Datang leaves scene to do her 'mounting' duty*


[SCENE 2: Two minutes later...]

Cik Datang: *comes in and stares at me in all seriousness* Dia tak mau.

Me: *stares back* .......

Both burst out laughing.

The Walking Talking Typo Detector

So apparently as a copywriter I'm not just responsible for the things I write but am also a walking talking typo detector to everyone in the office.

Situation 1: In the studio discussing about cameras.
Cik Anai was fussing about getting a waterproof camera that allows her to take good shots underwater and the discussion went on behind my back, literally, while I was minding my own business. Then suddenly...

Cik Anai: I heard Olympia is good, too.

Paprik Lover: Yea yea. Olympia is not bad.

*conversation continues*

Me: Huh?

*detecting something is not quite right*

*spins around*

Me: Olympia? Olympus wei! Olympia is College lah.

Cik Anai & Paprik Lover: Oh ya! HAHAHAHA....

Situation 2: On the way to lunch. (the same day)

While in the car, we saw a young Malay girl riding behind her mom on a motorcycle with her tudung flying over her head. As she was attempting to pull her tudung back down...

Ms Easter: See... tak pakai topi keledek.

Me: *again in another huh? moment*
Me: Isn't it topi keledar? Keledek is ubi keledek! POTATOES!

Ms Easter: Oh ya woh. HAHAHAHA...

And mind you such conversations take place on a daily basis. Such as the case of the pirated father. I will never live that down. HAHAHA.

Till next time!

I've Dug Myself A Hole...

...and now I'm... choi choi choi!

*frowns*

So my boss reads my blog and therefore read my last headache post. See see. Buat pandai give blog address during interview to convince boss I can 'write'. Now I pay the consequences.

Boss:
"So how's your headache?"

Me, got caught by surprised and replied:
"Ark. Apparently work got rid of it."

Instantly my thoughts went wild!

"Shit. shit. shit!"

"I did not just say that."

"Dang you mouth, you're too fast!"

"Dang you brain, you're too slow."

"I DID NOT JUST ASK FOR MORE WORK!"

Boss:
Yeah. That's why I always come in on weekends as well.

Me:
*sheepish smile*

No boss. No. Work do not get rid of headaches.
It simply mutates the pain to... well another 'pain'.
It... it simply gives headache a purpose. A reason for a headache.
Work just make the ache a little less significant, because there's more important things to be done than being concerned about a headache... it... it...

Oh never mind.

The Pirated Father

Apparently four days of holiday kind of took a toll on all of us upon returning to work on Wednesday. Everyone's brain gone a little kaput. LOL.

Mr Cool: So, the one that's working as a manager is his original father is it?

Cik Datang: Ya.

*noticed something isn't quite right here*
Me: Eh, so what? The other one is the pirated father?

*silence*

Cik Datang: HAHAHAHA!

Mr Cool: Then what do you call him then? Real father?

Me: There's a word for it.
*thinks hard*


SEE! Physically present at work but brain not quite 100% there yet.


Mr Cool: What? what?!

Me: Arrgh! What's the word again. *mumbles* genetic... nope...


Cik Datang and Mr Cool continued to laugh and banter over "pirated" and "orginal" fathers. Leaving me on my own in my quest for the 'truth'. Totally not helping. Hmmph! Then finally!

Me: AH! Biological!
*felt like I just won a jackpot there... LOL*

Mr Cool: Oh ya! Biological. That's the word.

Me: Original pulak!
*gives Mr Cool 'the look'*

Everyone: HAHAHAHA...

*sings* I Know.. I Know... I Know..

Oh I Know!

Got an ex-colleague's wedding invitation earlier this week and the following conversation ensued...

Mr Clean Hands: When is it ah?

Me: It's on a Tuesday.
(in a matter-of-fact kinda voice)

Mr Clean Hands: Oh... so you're going?

Me: Ya! Of course. Why not?

Mr Clean Hands: Well at least it's near.

Me: *blinks* Near to where?
(Note: I live across the sea from this place... not near at all!)

Mr Clean Hands: Near to the office loh.

Me: We're not working on that day lah!

Mr Clean Hands: *confused* Who's not working?

Me: You? Me? Neither of us.
(again in a matter-of-fact kinda voice)

Mr Clean Hands: Eh? WHY?!

and before I could answered...

Mr Clean Hands: Oh... Raya is it? Oh... I wonder if I'll be going anywhere... *thinks*

Me: Even if you do go anywhere, you'll be back here by then. (another matter-of-fact statement)

Mr Clean Hands: Eh?! How you know?
*once again staring at me in surprise*

Me: Well.. we start work on Wednesday. You'll definitely be back by Tuesday night. (answered with a straight face)

Mr Clean Hands: *thinks* Hmm... true!

Me: Hahahaha.. you must be keep thinking "Eh? How she knows ah?"
*finally started to laugh*

Mr Clean Hands: Hahahaha... YALAH!
*also started to laugh*

*grins*

Oh I Know. I always do.

A Japanese Summer: Chapter Six (ii)

"...In Kyoto, when you walk on the street,
every corner... every street, you will find Japan."

With a scenery as such, you kind of expect a samurai to walk right pass you, and yet it will still feel so right. Lost in time. Back to the Edo era. Well, we did get the next closest thing, Geisha! *grins*

But remember it was still lunch from where we left off over here. And our Gion Tour was scheduled in the evening, so we were pretty much still on our own throughout the afternoon. Like the young travellers that we are, we hopped on the bus and headed towards Kyoto's most iconic architecture, Kiyomizu-Dera. *note: the slope*

It was a long walk up from where we got off the bus but a walk was always never just a walk when there's so much to see.

The first sighting of what's going to be breath-taking views one after another. *note: the stairs*

People-picture time!
It's always an exchange gesture between other tourists. Hahaha...

"Can you please take a picture of us?"

"No problem!"

*clicks*

"Can you do the same for us?"

*clicks*

"Thanks!"

*smiles*

Lookie at the houses behind, we're definitely at higher grounds.

*Note: more stairs!* It's all serious exercise wei!

If you read Kanji or Chinese, you'll know the big red word that reads (缘: yuán) which means "fate" or "predestined affinity". Heh.

So it's no surprise to find all types of charms for relationaship. ^^;;

Somewhere along our climb upwards, we met Usagi-sama. At least that's what I thought when I was there. Now that I'm blogging about it, I finally saw the word (えんむすび: enmusubi) on the mallet I'm holding. Went googled and turned out the word means "marriage". AHAHAHAHA... Such ignorance! That's the thing about knowing how to read the words but totally clueless about the meaning.

Finally. The famous scene you'll see on postcards, movies, etc.



Of course, it's necessary to stamp our faces there. LOL.

*stamped stamped*

Ah... listen to the crickets... listen to nature. Admire the view.
*hearts*



Break time! It's mid-summer wei, so dem hot! And we were running low on water supply. *dies*


Nothing like a refreshing bowl of... of... jelly stuff. HAHAHA. No, it's not memory that failed me. It's our ignorance. Had no idea what exactly we were eating, it's just that everyone there was enjoying it as well. So we figure we can't really go wrong with that. XD

On our way down, we met them. Them being Taiwan tourists. Haha. They had payed for a total Geisha make-over and was strolling the streets of Kyoto. Ah... oh well, we're budget travellers with no money to lavish on such get-up. *sigh*

After that we went on a crazy quest in search of the designated meet-up place for the Gion Tour. And the funniest thing was we knew we were in the right area and was asking a lady for direction. Poor lady was as clueless as us about the place. DOT. And all this while, we were standing next to building while asking her. HAHAHAHA. And and... guess who found the place in the end? ME! Me and my survival Japanese knowledge saw that big kanji word on top of the building and actually recognised it. I was pointing upwards "There! There!" and the lady was like "Ahh.... " and learnt something new together with us. Hahaha... it was a moment of "achievement" on our end. *grins*

Meet Tet. Sounds so Ang Mor right?
It's short for Tetsuya. Hahaha... works both ways. I like.

Me and Cubbie were the only two Asian looking gals in the group with another guy seemingly having a tinge of Asian blood in him but speaks very Ang Mor. Turned out he hailed from US. That explains the American slang. He was also the only one that actually talked to us... or to everyone else for that matter. Probably caused he was on a solo trip whereas everyone else seemed to be in pairs or groups. Everyone else just stuck with those close to them. Us included. Shy lah, shy lah. Both of us are just not so out-there enough. *sigh* (Out of topic: Cubbie... I don't remember the guy's name.)

Ah... wait! On to Tet-san. Tet asked us where we were from and we told him we're from Malaysia! And guess what... he started speaking Malay to us! Woot?!? *10 points to Tet for being such an awesome individual*

Us: Wow! You know how to speak Malay!

Tet: Ya... I used to work in Malaysia.

*Us in another "Woot?" moment*

Tet: Quite famous... big company. PERODUA!

*blinks*

Us: Perodua! That's a real big company! HAHAHA...

That's when we decided "Must take picture with Tet-san". MUST! Hahaha.. thick face also must ask someone help us take a picture. XD

See see! That's our group following Tet. Haha.


Hah! The river. The river!

*cough cough*

This is where they shot the movie "Memoirs of Geisha".

I WAS HERE.
No. I did not watch the movie.

*fails*


This shot is for the guys. Japanese girls in yukata set in old town Kyoto, giggling away. Now say thank you. XD



Welcome to Gion. A district of Kyoto, Japan.
It's also one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in Japan.

"The geisha in the Gion district do not refer to themselves as geisha; instead, Gion geisha use the local term geiko. While the term geisha means "artist" or "person of the arts", the more direct term geiko means essentially "a child of the arts" or "a woman of art."" - explanation pinjam-ed from wikipedia XD


Geiko School. Yes. There is a school exclusively for this. In fact, nowadays it's like going to college. Students are required to finish their conventional studies in school (up to high school)before signing up for a Geisha School.


"Support your favourite geisha." ^^;;

Each fan has a specific geisha's name written. And it is an unwritten rule that once you pick your geisha, she will be the one to serve you from then on. And you are not to find another other than her. It's somewhat a means of respect to the geisha.

Geisha's accessories. Expensive stuff. And the only maker in town.

I can go on and on about Geisha but I'm worried about the credibility of what I know. So why don't you head over to Google and discover them on your own. *smiles* You'll find some really really interesting stuff.

Mr Moon finally making an appearance.
And the tour was coming to an end.




Tet-san's "closing speech". Hehehe... and if you listen closely enough to catch what he is saying you'll hear that quote I wrote up there in the beginning of the post. I am thankful I managed to record that part. Touching memories.

Took this mesmerising shot on the bridge while we were on our way back to our hotel. YES! It's another loooooong walk again. See that bridge over the other side, that's the one we walked pass in the afternoon and now we're walking on this one to head back. No wonder I looked thin and tanned after my two-week-trip. Hahaha... god knows how many kilometres we walked each day. ^^;;;

I think somewhere along the way, we gave up and took the train. Hahaha...

And come on lah, after all that exercise... it's no wonder we're hungry! So we headed over to McDs located just at the corner of the street from our hotel and experienced Japanese McDs!

Ebi-Filet! HAHAHA... it's Prawn Burger wei!

Excuse the messy and exhausted me.

Anyway, Japanese McDs passed with flying colours! We loved it so much, we went back there again for breakfast. HAHAHA... but that's another post to come. *yawns*

Next: *god knows when* Ferry rides, gigantic Tori gate, juicy Oysters!

One and a Half Freaking White Hair!

And this is not the first time I've been caught "aging". It's pretty depressing actually if you think about it but! BUT! Positive Thinking my friend. It's all in the mind. White Wisdom I'll call it. *roll her eyes* Yeah right.

Cik Datang: Woah, you got white hair!

Me: *groans* Oh no... not again..

Cik Datang: Eh wait, got two. I think got two... or one and a half. The other one macam not very sure.

Me: Wait wait... the hair root is on the left or right side of the head?

Cik Datang: *pokes a finger on my head* HERE!

Me: In the middle? Hahahaha... that just proved I use an equal amount of my life brain and right brain. *beams*

Cik Datang: Hahaha... I guess.

*******

Articulate Imagination. How about that?

I Don't Want A 7 Series

Mr Skimmer came the other day, sat between me and Cik Datang. Buat kepoh, picked up a magazine and started his usual big talk.

He went on and on until we earn big money.

"And then we earn big money and drive big car.
I'll drive a 7 series. And you... "

*points to Cik Datang*

"You'll drive a 3 series lah."

*turns to me*

Before he could say anything else...

"I'll have myself a driver"

XD

Dorkiness Spreads!

Was out having lunch here yesterday, when I got a msg from the Queen of all Dorks herself asking me if I'm online.

I replied to Queen Dork:
"Am out having korean atm. Glad you had a day off..... "
*personal stuff after that*

And Dorky Highness replied:
"OH R U MAKING BABIES? Having korean XD lol"

See! Someone save me from the Queen of all Dorks.
(-_-)