The Horror, the Fun.. and the Coconut?

Today, I woke up at 2pm.

I was bored.
I was terribly bored.
I was about-to-clean-up-my-room-for-the-fourth-time-this-week bored.

So I called up Jonathan and Jason - and just like that, we went out. You gotta love the spontaneity of it all.

We bowled a little and later, watched Drag Me to Hell at Summit.


WARNING: For those of you who haven't yet watched the movie, SPOILER ALERT! But come to think of it, the movie's been out for quite awhile. So if you haven't yet watched it, my money's on the fact that you probably aren't going to anytime soon. So...

The story's about Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a loan officer who refuses to extend the mortgage credit of an old lady, Mrs Ganush (Lorna Raver) and shames her in public. Mrs Ganush then attacks Christine in a car park and curses her. Christine then has 3 days before a demon called The Lamia comes to.. well.. drag her to hell.

While the movie itself was rather mild on the details and the plot was a little inconsistent, the horror was definitely present - particularly since the cinema had only about 10 people in it.

If there is one thing I have the guts to do, it is to admit that I haven't got the guts for much; particularly horror movies. So there we sat in the 7th row with our hands over our ears, jumping at each onscreen surprise.

I read on wikipedia that the moral of the story was how even good people can make mistakes out of their greed and end up paying for it. All I got from the movie was to never EVER piss off old ladies.

Mrs Ganush is the cutest thing, ain't she?

Several eons later, when the horror finally ended, we staggered out of the cinema freezing and surprisingly hungry. Nothing like guts and gore to whet an appetite.

We then -after wondering the entire mall for half an hour thinking about where to eat- decided to have some steamboat.


Yes, I do know how to use chopsticks.

But I like all the familiar things and inevitably, went back to the good ol' fork. Four sharp prongs over two blunt sticks for me any day. Call me uncultured, but I'm a fan of practicality.

Don't get me wrong, I do admit that a little culture's good for the soul. I just never really got down to exploring even my own; much less others'.

Hm.. Perhaps if I were Chinese, I'd be a banana; but since I'm Indian, I'll just have to settle for being a coconut.

Get it??

Pheromone

Just by looking at this pic, makes me smile!
Melted when I saw him playing the saxophone
in Boys Over Flowers 2 months ago ~
Only if he could really play it in reality too! fuhh.

-

The 28th morning..

Thank you all for making my birthday a happy, awesome and memorable one!

Thanks for reminding that I'm old.. Haha. Love you guys!

...smses, phone calls, facebook comments, msn, blog posts, presents, cards, sleepover, movie of the year, free breakfast, lunch, dessert, dinner, & the surprise. (:


Ahh, yes. I'm finally 18. Not like it makes a lot of difference cos my dad was angry at me for coming home at 1 am for 3 nights in a row, so I got a curfew few days before my birthday =__=

p.s. I ate RM100+ worth of Japanese food on my birthday. My stomach and taste buds felt really happy! Haha. Thanks!!!

Köln

Hahaha I like your post, Nick! Maybe in a few months you can be my chaffeur. =D

Anyway, I had a short two-day trip to Köln (Cologne) during the 23rd to 24th of June. It was a four-hour journey from Freiburg with the train. And so I arrived at 7p.m. at the Köln Central Station.

(Train) Central Station.

A wonderful view of the Köln Dome greeted my eyes the moment I stepped out of the Station. Lots of young people were just sitting around the stairs at the foot of the cathedral.


This is how the Dome actually looks like, I only captured half of it in the previous picture.

From there I went on foot in search of my hostel, walking along the Rhein river.



Again, there were lots of people just chilling out along the bank of the river. It was a beautiful day with beautiful weather!

I finally found the hostel after around 45 minutes. It's actually only a 10-minute walk from the station (according to the hostel website).


Am Rheinauhafen Hostel

I had so much trouble locating it at first, even though I was standing right in front of it, cos at eye level it just looks like a bar! Apparently the people even check in at the bar counter. =.=

The hostel was quite small, but at least clean.

For 39 euros per night, I get this and public bath and washroom. But it was supposed to be a single room lah, I duno what the double decker bed was there for.

In the evening I went walking around a bit, and I saw this!

Monty Python's SPAMALOT Musical =D
It was in London and New York and now in Köln! Too bad I was only there for two days. =(

The next day after depositing my luggage at the station:


I went and visited the Musikhochschule (Music Uni). It looks horrible.

Dark grey rubbery, plasticky floor. Light grey pillars. Light grey ceiling. Light grey walls. (They're all cement.) And funny splashes of gaudy colours like bright green, bright yellow, bright red, all in funny places. Eww.



Then I went walking around in the Central Station, and whiled away the time reading Agatha Christie's Three Little Pigs. I was so nearly finished when a salesperson came and told me that if I want to finish the book, I'll have to buy it. What on earth right! But I just went and put it back, walked around a bit, and then finished it anyway. =D

Saw this in the station too. It's a model of the trains in Germany. If you put in some coins, the trains actually move!

But anyway, the saddest thing about that trip is, I actually went there for the entrance exam at the uni, and I failed. =(
So now I only have one more chance: auditioning here in Freiburg. If I fail that, well, it's back to Malaysia for me.

I spent the trip home reading and drowning my sorrow in this, on the train. Reading about this crazy dog certainly cheered me up a lot. I would strongly recommend this to everyone, if you haven't read it already.

That's all for now. =)

Driving in the Wrong Lane - Occasionally

Finally, after months of watching my friends flash their 'P' licenses about and endless bugging courtesy of my parents, I've started on my driving course.

Needless to say, like any road virgin (although I have a slight suspicion I'm uniquely terrible), I'm hopeless at handling even a petite Kancil on the road.

On the first lesson, my instructor took me to the industrial park near my house (at USJ 3A) for the basics. Poor man, I think I may have took a few years off his life just maneuvering on the empty roads.

Honestly, my mantra for the first few rounds of the area went something like this:
Clutch! gear! clutch! break! gear! Turn! Accelerate! OMG sh*t! Ahhh! Break! Engine dies..


Yes, my face did resemble a great work of art during an "OMG!" moment..

Now I wanted to take some pictures for this post, but I think given my, shall we say 'lack of expertise', both my hands are best placed on the steering wheel. So I've provided a blank space below for you to focus on and imagine a car swerving around the corner and accelerating - in the wrong lane.


Now as time went on (I've just completed my fifth lesson now) I did get better - well, sightly anyway. But fortunately for me I have the most patient instructor ever. Not only does he say things like "That's OK" each time I jerk the car to a screeching halt or when I let the engine die on the highway, he keeps telling me that it's perfectly normal for some people to take time to adjust and get used to driving.

I'm not buying it though. I can't help it if I go into a catatonic state each time a huge truck passes by, or if I slam the accelerator instead of the break pedal when approaching a traffic light (although I must say, dear Kancil manufacturing people, putting two very small pedals with opposite functions side by side in a terribly small space is NOT a good idea!).

So for my sake and for the sake of all drivers out there (aren't i thoughtful?), I don't think I'll be driving on main roads for quite awhile once I get my 'P'. What can I say, some people are meant to drive; others are meant to have chauffeurs. ;)

Talking Walls

I find the human brain quite fascinating. Human words can tell lies, but the brain can't.

Anyway, here's an interesting info :

When telling lies, people use their left brain cos it requires logic thinking, and also, the left brain interacts with the right side of the body. Thus, when people tells lies, they tend to unconsciously look up, and to the right!

I'm not sure how far this is true though. Should try observing from now onwards! Heh.

p.s. today's fathers' day! (:

Sarah's Guide to Effective 'Tudung' Wearing

Since Sarah left for UIAM, she has opted to wear the hijab full-time.

And whilst we hung out at Starbucks, she obliged us with the 'how tos' of proper tudung wearing. So, pay attention kids!!!

Step 1: Adjust the back.


Step 2: Pin it firmly.


Step 3: Make sure the back falls just right. You may stand to do so.


Step 4: Brush the shoulders. (Whilst holding a bag of chips, of course.)


Step 5: Adjust the corners.


Step : Tada! Smile.


Go Sarah! You're our pro. =)

(Sarah: FYI, I did NOT pose for this. You guys can thank Nick for his handy candid camera work.)

Sweet Stuff.. Very Lightly Salted

Today a few of us hung out for a bit: Lily, Yihui, Sarah and myself.
Destination: Secret Recipe! Well.. initially at least..


Durian cheese cake.. Not as terrifying as it sounds.. Kudos to Secret Recipe for pulling that one off!

And later..


Starbucks!

Where we..


had childhood flashbacks.. Lily won btw.





Lily then got a little excited and morphed into Batman. XD

I come in peace, I mean you no harm, and you will all die.

XD

That day I went to taylors pj for fun..

..and saw many many macs around!! The screen's sooo huge.

Was sooo jakun. Not like I nvr seen macs around before.. but to have macs in college is like sooo cool!! And anyone can use them!! (my college doesn't have any.. i think. or even there is probably only IT students can have access to it)

Oh, did I tell you monash library has a lift in it? and the buttons have different sounds.. you can make music out of it! (my college library doesnt have lifts so.. heh.)

I watched monsters vs aliens again. here's my fav character.....

BOB
he's soooo funnyyyy!

Dr. Cockroach Ph.D.: Might we ask for your name, madam?
Susan Murphy: Susan.
BOB: No, we mean like your monster name. You know, what do people scream when they see you coming?
Like "Look out!!! Here comes...?"
Susan Murphy: Susan.
Dr. Cockroach Ph.D.: Really?
BOB: [spookily] SUUUUSSAAANN! Ooh, I just scared myself! That is scary!

Haha, you'll probably get it if you've watched the movie.

teehee ~

So I've been thinking...

about my name and how I'd be called in the states. Yihui seems like it's gonna be a 'mouth'ful for the western tongue to handle if my sister's friend was to be a judge. He called me 'nee ha' and 'nee way'.

I'm imagining a situation like in Harry Potter where Hermione teaches Viktor Krum the pronounciation to her name : Her-my-on-nee.

Hmm let's see:

Yee-hoo-ei
Yee-who-ay

hmm let's try again, without the yi.

Who-a-ee

say it reeaaallly fast. :D

Now with the yi......

That might have been 5 mintues already.

It doesn't really help either that my last name is also the name of a film full of gore, blood and severed limbs. There's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of them the last time i counted which rendered the film imprinted into eveyone's mind.

When I was in London, my uncle introduced me to his colleagues in an all-too-cool way as 'H' like Horatio in CSI Miami. And I get to sign my name as "Haitch".

About 10 minutes ago, I had a new idea... hence the post whoops
What about combining my first and last names to get something like Sawyer? But it sounds quite boyish.

So what say you? :)

I love Holidays!

Frankfurt is said to be the most boring city in Germany but I think otherwise. The beautiful weather which hovered somewhere between 13°c - 17 °c was much welcomed compared to Malaysia’s hot humid one, which all of us are unfortunately sweltering in now.

Asians are not an abnormality there and not only that, the German-Korean mixed guys with gravity defying hairstyles resembling Cloud, Final Fantasy are cute (haha… too bad didn’t get any of their pics)

It’s just… HAZEL!!! I’m seriously jealous of you. I don’t want to come back & I haven’t even been to Cologne yet which I was supposed to have visited but the rainy weather wouldn’t permit it. Btw, I love the pictures you took... the only thing missing was you! :)

Anyways, german language can be kind of confusing and a little awkward cause the way the words are spelled are not exactly how they are pronounced but yea… GERMANY ROCKS! (well at least Frankfurt does)

Dawn, a fine line between night & day

Cotton Candy! I wish I could just float among the clouds.

One of the skylines in the city


Cherry Cherry Boom Boom...

Environmental friendly, but did they copied the beca?

German road side stall, more mobile than the ones in Malaysia The Zeil, an innovatively architectured but slightly 'heavy for your pocket' shopping center

The office district here are surrounded by greenery that it's even reflected on their buildings

The train station, Haupwache

Germans do have a sense of humour & are not shy to express it through their ads

From My Dormmate's Laptop, Next To My Lime Green Iron

There are a lot of things that signify the crossing over into adulthood. Getting your first job is one. Receiving your first paycheck. Cashing in your first paycheck. Leaving the nest to further your studies...

A lot of things. Things which seem so far away way back when. Sigh.

Anyway, you know when you're in primary school and you're made to write essays on your ambition? Well, I pretty much waxed lyrical about how I wanted to become a teacher and how much I would help my beloved nation and feel good about it.

I have since learnt two things since writing that essay. One, kids are naive to believe that being a teacher would be so easy, and two, (now that I've actually tried out teaching) I don't want to be a teacher anymore.

=D

Still, that's not to say I don't appreciate the experience i gained from giving it a go. Seriously, every student should give teaching a sincere try. It puts things into perspective. I for one definitely feel remorseful about how I treated my teachers. However, I'm not writing this post to preach to you the mistreatment of teachers and the like.

I'm just bored.

Kidding!!! =D =D =D

Ok, yeah, I know that was pretty darn lame...(We, the bloggers at Rojak Lah, appreciate lame jokes like a can of de-carbonated soft drink. You wouldn't wanna waste it, would you?)

Anyways, I'm writing this because I want us to look at how far we've come, how far we've gone since we were itty bitty kids. I can't help feeling that it's the end of an era. It probably is the end of an era; some final threshold is being crossed as we speak, or already has been...

We no longer write essays about who we want to be, we're starting to live it out and write the thesis on how to keep it going. Suddenly, what had seemed so far away, is staring at us in our faces.

...and the beauty (or nightmare) of it, is we're too close to look away.

Animal = Humans

Something touching & cute which caught my eye :

I was happily snapping away photos at the park nearby our hotel when I noticed 7 cute adorable signets by the road trying to climb over a curb in order to join their mother at what seemed to be a ‘greener pasture’ across the busy road. Unfortunately, due to their short legs they couldn’t no matter how much they tried. It was comical to see them tumble and yet still keep trying. Their mother on the other hand was there to see them throughout the whole process.


She even came down to help them up but to no avail, they were just too small!

We wanted to carry the signets up but didn’t dare to as their father was quietly observing from the corner. And every time we tried to go near, he would turn around and spread his wings as if preparing to charge at us dare we harm his offsprings.

The 'Father'

Ironically, in a modern, dignified and post Nazi country, its people can still learn to cultivate caringness and thoughtfulness. A lady took the initiative to stop and pull over by the road side just to ensure these signets wade to safety. Crazily, we started cheering as the mother patiently directed her precious children to safety. I’m in awe of how disciplined animals can be as the signets moved in a group in a single file. Try asking a bunch of humans to move the exact same way; high chance is that they’ll all go helter skelter in whichever direction that pleases them.

A line straighter than those made by students during assembly

Once all the little white feathered animals were out of danger, their two parents gave them instant permission to roam freely and bask under the pleasant summer sun. As they playfully chase each other in circles around their mother, the father continued his responsibility; watching over his family like how a master watches over his most treasured possession, cautious yet eager to let his young learn how to survive.

It’s amazing how animals are able to clearly define the role of a father, mother and children in a family. At the same time it makes me wonder whether man should instead emulate animals which are perceived by many to be less significant than the so called homo sapiens.