A City Called Cat

I was in Kuching not too long ago for the Rainforest World Music Festival or fondly refered to as RWMF. You can read about my adventures *here*, *here* and *here*. During my 5 day stint in Cat City, I took loads of pictures of the beautiful city. The sights of Kuching is nothing like the ones I've seen before. While Melaka do boasts a host of historical buildings, Kuching does a pretty good job at that too but with a different taste in archicture. So armed with a camera with me trying to absorb the colours, textures and structures, here's Kuching through my eyes or lenses in this case.

The Hainanese Building along Carpenter Street

The new government complex to be completed by the end of the year

Fort Margaritha (i think). Taken during the River Cruise.

Forts to protect Kuching from invasion

You pay RM0.40 to cross the river with these boats

Brooke Dockyard. When Bee and myself saw Brooke Dockyard, we were so excited because during my internship, the company had a large project with Brooke Dockyard where the fabrication of a now running platform took place. But we were so surprised at the state and condition of the building. No way my company was going to let a place like Brooke Dockyard which looked like it was falling into pieces to handle such an important task. We later learnt that they have relocated and this was a very very very very old site. Phew....

We see children playing and taking baths here

The state Mosque. I love the picture because the granduer of the building is futher accuented with the dark clouds and water

Kuching Hilton

A really expensive service apartment which i forgot its name. Superman was not impressed with the way it was designed.

Khatulistiwa Cafe

Buddha on the pillar of a Chinese Temple

Look at the intricate sculpture

The altar

A completely random picture. Look at the number of summonses piling on up the car windscreen!

X-Files: I Want To Believe

I caught the movie on Friday night wondering how much I would like the movie. I watched X-Files for years as a child, glued to the TV, begging my mum to extend my bedtime for that one Sunday a week from 9.30-10.30pm on TV2. I have no idea how come I still remember those details except that that show was pretty big back then. So off I marched to the cinema to see what will take place and how much has changed after 6 years since the show went off air.

The movie picked up from where the show ended. Dr Dana Scully and Fox Mulder no longer work for the FBI. One day, Scully was approached by an FBI agent looking for Mulder to get his help in an investigation of a missing FBI agent. Mulder jumps right in with help from a physic who sees the missing person in his visions.

Now let’s see what the movie has:
Scully and Mulder – check
Scully’s red hair – check
Mulder eating his sunflower seeds – check
Lots of dark and night scenes – check

What the movie is missing:
A good story line
Extra terrestrial phenomenon
Suspense, thriller and that *magic* factor

When the physic first made an appearance, I thought that it was part of a bigger picture as I waited for something with more meat to show up. The whole idea behind X-Files was to investigate strange and unexplainable incidents, creepy creatures, aliens, bizarre underground experiments etc. However, this movie has none of those pull factors like the show had.

In fact, the movie has a number of loose ends which defeats the fact that the movie was suppose to conclude the mystery of X-Files. The lack of paranormal activities unearthed was quite disappointing. Not once did I grip my seat, heart pumped so hard and mind raced over what is going to happen next. There was just no anticipation or tension build up to the story line, so much so, I actually missed the climax if it had one.

Verdict: I would give the movie a miss. I really wanted to believe the movie was going to be brilliant with a huge impact the way it had me as a child.

So you know what I did on Saturday night? I watched The Dark Knight again!! *yippee*

I Got A Nose Job

And you reading this right now have absolutely no right to judge me. Hah. I got the plastic surgery done simply because I can do it, I felt like it and well, I hated my original nose of course.

Well, I wanted to write about this earlier but I was in quite a lot of pain and my face really swelled up so I literally cooped myself up at home. But the bandages have been removed, the swell has completely gone and now I feel *much* better, I can write what happened.

I have always never quite liked how my nose looks like. There is a slight bump on it and that bump seem to be magnified over the years as I grew more and more conscious of it. I personally felt the bump was a scar to my confidence. I have always find it hard to believe people when they tell me I look just fine and that I should be thankful that I’m still perfect in every other way, I have all my limbs perfection functional, the mental capacity of a person my age, independence, a good education. But when put on a weighing scale, the bump weighs a tonne in the con over all my pros.

If you believed a word of the above, you have been conned! Oh, but the bump on my nose is completely true. Kiss of Cupid and not swear to die.

I did not have a nose job! Siow ah.

Instead, I had a surgery to remove a wisdom tooth. I wish I had a picture of my X-Ray to show you the angle and position of my tooth. It was so awkwardly positioned because of the lack of space and the tooth had to force its way up to grow.

See the crooked wisdom tooth in the pic? Now imagine my teeth was lying 90 degrees flat and part of tooth peeking through the gums!

The dentist noted this problem about a year ago but I was really not up to the idea of a surgery. Like come on, it’s a tooth for crying out loud! And since I didn’t feel any pain, I basically left it alone somehow hoping the problem would vanish. But I’m too smart to know that it wouldn’t but the thought of going under the knife is scary. As a teenager, I endured 2 years of torturing braces treatment followed by a year of wearing retainers that made me talk funny and now this??! Sigh

Well, the dentist used reverse psychology to scare me into the surgery which I’m afraid didn’t work because I knew exactly what was he doing. These were factual no doubt but I swept them to the darkest, furthest corner of my mind so that I will not be affected by it.

a) When you are stressed especially during exams, naturally your immune system will be more vulnerable. And it is in times like these you will experience agonising pain but by then it will be too late. Swelling is also common and mere painkiller will not do the trick.

b) If I stubbornly leave the bad wisdom tooth to naughtily have its way of things, it will pressure and move the adjacent teeth. The long term effects is that I will start to lose my teeth 10 years before my peers. *Eekss*

So while I’m home, I told myself, let’s solve this teething problem and voila, I went for my surgery. Incisions had to be made on my cheek flesh and there was a huge risk on this procedure because there is a muscle running right through it. If not properly done and the muscle gets cut, I will lose all sensation on my right side and will no longer be able to fully control my mouth movement and speech. Phew…. So I gulped down my fear of all these and put in faith in my dearest dentist hoping for the best.

I was put under local anaesthesia but the dentist insisted I closed my eyes so I cant tell you what when on except that there were weird sounds of the suction and a drill – yes a drill to break my apparently very monstrous wisdom tooth into smaller pieces to remove it more easily.

The stitches have been removed and the wound is recovering very well. I had a day of porridge and when the anaesthesia wore out, the pain was !@#%^& painful. Oh, guess what I was told, I may have to undergo the same surgery for the wisdom tooth on my left. Ggrrr….

Let me ask you this, I’ve lost both my wisdom teeth on my right side (top and lower jaw each) and will be removing the two on my left side. Does that mean I will be less wise?

Happy?

I’m not really sure what has struck me but I’m not exactly me, at least not for the last few days. I’m in this really weird mood or phase. I get upset, frustrated and even lose my temper more easily. I whine, I complain and then i make a 360 turn reverting to my old self like nothing took place previously. I can’t figure out what has triggered this in me.

My days have been pretty routine for a long time. Nothing new ever takes place here. I’ve not had any good nor upsetting news so why should I feel this way?

It’s a nagging feeling inside, like an itch you scratch but to no relief. I’m not angry but I do feel the temperature rising pretty damn fast which scares me because I don’t have a temper to begin with. And I have no intention of developing one. But I don’t like the little devil inside me.

And then it hit me. I may be up and about (very very little actually, but that’s another story altogether) and sitting at home, kononnya chillexing (chilling + relaxing), I hang out with my friends but there is one important ingredient missing. And I feel that that could be causing the tiny turbulations of rebellions eating me inside, thinning down my walls, chewing into my heart. I’m not happy.

Rainforest World Music Festival Part 3

RWMF Day 3 & 4: Saturday 12^th & Sunday 13th July 2008

You can read Part 1 *here* and Part 2 *here*

This time around, i'll let the pictures do all the talking.


I call this the Fish Bone.



Myself walking through the "Bones"

Ah Nee sempat berposing some more :P

I love the backdrop of the place. It's actually a bar which opens at night with the cutest plush pillows thrown all over the place. It has a very welcoming, cozy ambience with really simple decor. I guess Less is More.

Being Miss Paris Hiltons with Ah Hua



Check out the dude's hair! I bet he used an entire bottle of gel to get that look!



Thank god i had a fan with me, comes in really handy with the sweltering heat!



With the Hair Dude and the musicians from Kasai Masai



With Duggy!! That's the amazing part about Rainforest, it brings people together. I've known Duggy for almost 2 years coz Mr G-5 talked about her quite a fair bit. We're on each other's Friendster and Facebooks but have never seen each other face-to-face until here in Santubong! How cool is that?!



Right before getting my tattoo! Oh and the tattoo artist was really friendly and we were chatting away. Pity Ah Hua coz her artist was literally mute!



Ah Hua getting her henna tattoo done


How her tattoo looks like

I'm in love with a VJ - with Dominic!! Aiyoh, this woman ah took forever to go up to him to ask for his picture. But its totally worth it. Ah Hua couldnt stop smilling for the rest of the night!

Booking seats. We get to the field area about one hour before the show starts to get fantastic Gold Class Seats :)



The Rainforest Balloon. Doesnt it look like a moon? I want one for my room too!



Ah Ren and Ah Hua



This dude was actually sleeping while waiting for his turn to perform during the Accoustic Guitar Heroes workshop. It was so funny seeing him nodding off while in full view of everyone in Dewan Lagenda!



Oooh, the so very sinful Coffee Bean Mocha Frappucinno. It kept me pumping till the wee hours of the morning. I dont know whether it was just me (coz i havent had coffee in forever) but the coffee there tasted extra EXTRA good.

Audiences were invited on stage to learn the Kelabit Dance during the Drums and Dancing Workshop. It was the most happening and super packed workshop i attended. Even i couldn't resist from thumping my feet and eventually joining the rest on stage to dance :)

With Su Ann of Pink Pau.



With Kenny Sia. I tell you this fellow, he was so freaking shy to dance when we were near the stage dancing that night. Dancing not his thing he claims. Hehehe. I pulak dance like crazy!!



With our new friends Esther and Sabena



Near the stage where all the action was taking place



The whole entire big gang!



The Dancing Kaki.

Right as the music was getting more groovy, it started to rain so the whole gang quickly rushed up to Dewan Lagenda for shelter. But after awhile, i got really agitated just sitting there. I spent good money coming here (ok la, technically my parents paid, but still!) and I dont plan on going back without dedicating a decent amount of time to dance. So i kicked off my shoes, and passed all my valuable belongings to dearest Ah Nee for keepsake while i joined the crowd in the World Festival of Mud. Here were the bunch of people i went with while the rest were squirming about the rain and mud. But guess what, i think i must have been superly lucky coz within minutes of being out, the rain completely stopped! Yippee!!!

The rest joined the dancing but at a different corner from Sabena, Yazid, Superman and myself. While dancing, we made more friends and guess what, i had no idea we all stayed in Singgahsana until the next morning when they were checking out. Small world indeed! Yazid squeezed and squirred his way through all the way to the front with me following him close behind. We were right in FRONT of the stage during the last dance. The adrenaline rush was exhilarating!


Verdict: The music played got better over the days with the best night being Sunday. I think if i were to come back again, i'll probably skip Friday's show.

Ultimately, i had an amazing time in Kuching and Santubong. Meeting up with my friends, the yummylicious food and the addictive Teh C Peng Special which i totally miss, the company of new friends i made everywhere i went, the atmosphere people share over beautifool music, all these add ingredients to a very savoury holiday.

Like the dude from Kasai Masai says, "I love this beautifool place, with its beautifool people and beautifool music." (yes, he says beautiful sounding like fool at the end of the word). Aawwww