The Painted Veil

I watched one of the most heartbreaking films today. It's called The Painted Veil. Based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, director John Curran brought this timeless love story to life. Set in the outskirts of Southern China, the set is most certainly beautiful and pleasing to the eye (if you can stomach the dead corpses that pop up throughout the movie). It's been noticed by them award givers, too!

• Winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat

• Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat (Los Angeles Film Critics Association)

• Winner of 10 Best Films (National Board Review)

• Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay: Ron Nyswaner (National Board Review)

• Best Male Lead Nominee: Edward Norton (Independent Spirit Awards)

• Best Screenplay Nominee (Independent Spirit Awards)

Not bad, huh?

The plot starts off a little slowly but by the time the love story within starts blooming, just when you find yourself being drawn into the lives of its characters, it ends. It ends so abruptly that my mind still lingers on it. My mind is haunted by the echo of its sad romance.


The story revolves around the lives of a man and a woman – a married couple. Their marriage is far from perfect. There are, by far, more downs than there are ups, more pain than there is joy and happiness. Sigh. It's a strange sort of love story between two very different people, one of whom loves the other and one of whom eventually learns and grows to love the other. A love story that speaks about love gained, love mishandled, love renewed and love lost... in that very order. Sigh.


It plagues my mind and infects my thoughts with so many questions I have not answers to. So many Why's. Too many Why's.


Why is it that we only learn to love with all we've got when we go through difficult times together? Why is it that we break the hearts of those who love us dearly for the sake of others whose measure of love doesn't even come close? Why is it that when we have those who love us more than life itself, we fail to love them in return until that life is taken from them? Why can we not show the people we love how much we love them? Why do we not tell them that we love them although we feel it so strongly deep inside? Why do we always wait until it's too late to show how much we really care? Why?

"Sometimes the greatest journey
is the distance between two people."
– The Painted Veil

I couldn't agree more. You see, I've always thought that distance between two people who love each other was unbearable torture. I still do. Long distance relationships are far from fun. Not everyday's a happy-happy-joy-joy day when you can't physically be with the one you love. Plus, it's a lot more work than I-see-you-you-see-me relationships. It takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of understanding, it takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of faith and trust.


But when put into perspective, physical distance is nothing compared to emotional distance. You can love and continue being in love with physical distance. But it's impossible to do the same when emotional distance comes into play. The former brings pain. Sure, it does. But the latter brings even more pain, especially when only one party sets up barriers distancing them from the other and consciously creates that emotional distance. Yes, indeed. Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people.

-----------


Love before it's too late; live before it's too late.

The Virgin Click

The very first picture from the very new toy.

The unadulterated virgin photograph,
untouched by filthy Photoshop hands.


The first of many to come.


p/s: I know la, a bit underexposed.
Night time di ma. Give face a bit can bo?

Jesus People

Everybody has favourite kopitiams they frequent, don't they? Well, I'm no different. Worse, I always order the same food from the same stall and the same drink from the same uncle. Heh. It's been that way for the better half of the last decade... maybe more! It's been so long that I can't remember when my family actually discovered the place. Haha.


So the question of the day is this... What happens when one frequents a kopitiam as often as my family and I do? Easy. The aunties and uncles tell you your order before you even open your mouth cos you've probably ordered it for the millionth time, and they start giving you really weird nicknames cos it makes talking about you amongst themselves a whole lot easier. That's what.


Listen to this. We paid Aunty 1 for our drinks and while we were on our way out, we heard Aunty 2 ask the funniest serious question. (Hmmm. Looks like I'm all for oxymorons today.) And mind you, she asked it with a straight face.

Eh, Ia Soh eh lang hor lui liao ah boay?
(English Translation: Eh, Jesus people give money already or not?)

Whoa.

So, yeah. Turns out my family and I are known as the "Ia Soh eh lang". Haha. Terror-ness. You see, the only time we show up is on Sunday morning. EVERY Sunday morning – give or take a Sunday or two when we're out of town or are already running late and need to rush off to where we're headed – church.


And with that, superficial things like baju becomes a defining factor. Whilst most of their other customers appear in shorts and sweaty T-shirts (probably straight from a morning jog), we're one of the very few who're decked in our Sunday best. Haha. Okay la. Not that best la. But cukup best. Asalkan pakai jeans dah kira best. =)


Heh. Jesus People. It's really funny when you think about it. Trust them to come up with something so simple yet so unbelievably appealing (to me, at least). Jesus People! Yeah!


I think that the name gives me a feigned sense of possessing some sort of divine aura when I walk in and out of the shop. You know? Almost like walking around with a halo miraculously hovering over my head and wings sticking out from behind my back. Put on your sunglasses, sit back, relax and watch as I glow and radiate, People of the Shorts and Sweaty T-Shirts!

Haha. Funny.

Call us People. Jesus People.

Waaa. Does it make us sound cool or what!?


*blink blink*

But heck, that nickname comes hand-in-hand with a whole lot more responsibility than what 11 letters should ever warrant. Siao siao. Dun play play ah. I sket.

*gulp*

I Want You

When you're tired, bored and lonely, blog. It helps. And if you're anything like me, blog about anything remotely baby related – a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g! Sounds relatively simple but it does wonders for the baby-crazed soul. Heh.


So, what I did was I went on a hunt. And after some page flippin' and some online clickin', I found just the thing I was looking for. Haha. Bye bye, Monday blues... and it's a great big "Hello!" to blue skies! (Yeah, yeah, I know. It's past seven already. Pfft. Spoilsports. Who cares? Your blog or my blog now? I'm gettin' my blue skies even if it's already dark outside.)

*takes deep breath*


Tada!

My miracle cure.
Wee hee hee. Fa la la.


*blink blink*


Okay, wait.
Just hold on there.


*blink blink*


This is backfiring. I feel it already. Die.
My baby blues are creeping in! Nooooo!

I Can't Think Right Now

I don't feel too good. My head's spinning, I feel like vomiting my guts out and the floor is swimming at my feet. Ugh. I blame my sleepless night. It's all its fault. Sigh.

-----------


And on a separate note altogether...

• I wanna go back.

• I wanna feel pride in what I do again.

• I wanna feel like I'm useful... and that I'm not just some kind of stand in for a part that's not even mine to begin with.

• I want ownership of my job.

• I want my friends back.

• I want my life back.

Midnight Irritation

What could possibly irritate me to the point
of blogging at 4 in the morning?

The knowledge that I've got an early morning,
a long hard day ahead, it's already 4am...

...and I'm still awake.

Sigh. Si liao la.

This habitual sleeplessness is definitely not good for me. Sleep so needs to come now or by tomorrow, I'll be walking and bouncing to the tunes of the dead march. And honestly, I don't know if I'll even be able to walk in a straight line. Experience tells me that perfect balance bids me bye-bye when I'm faced with a lack of sleep.

Sigh.

I need to stop thinking, turn off my ever-firing neurons, and get some good solid rest. Sounds like a good plan, no? Good plan indeed, save for one problem...

I need the rest, but I'm so not getting it.

Sigh.

How do I force myself to relax enough to fall asleep?

Heh.

FORCING one's self to RELAX
– how oddly ironic and oxymoronic.

Whatever.

Any suggestions, guys? I could certainly do with the help.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Remember my posts entitled "No Fight"? Well, Ms Brainiac here was dumb enough to pay PHOP, Queensbay Mall, Penang another visit just last week. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did I not remember the fact that the pancakes don't even taste half as good as the ones in KL's PHOP outlets?! Prime example of ke-bodoh-an to the max.

Sigh.

So, there I sat – right smack in the middle of Queensbay Mall, Penang. Out came my order without a second thought or a further glance through the menu, "Uh, one Treasure Box please."




Heh. Same order as always. I've only ever ordered that. Never one to try anything new or out of the ordinary, I readily admit to being such a plain-vanilla when it comes to food.

"And one warm water and a glass of ice please,"
I continued, without skipping a beat.

The guy blinked. I smiled. He blinked again. I smiled again. Oh-kkaaayyy. What's goin' on here, man? This is making me reeeeally uncomfortable. So hard to understand, meh? Hmmm.

"Uh miss, I need to checking wid da kitchen, ok?"

Haih. Check la, check la. So difficult. Water + Ice = Happy Customer. Must think so much, check so much, meh? I think the equation's pretty clear, innit? Just bring la! Haiyo. Customer's always right, okayyy. Sigh. Nehmind, maybe new staff. I give face.

*waits*

And then he returned with a not-so-right look and an apologetic smile on his face. Damn. Bad news for sure.

"Uh, sorry miss. Management say kenot la.
They kata if want sejuk mesti order bottle punye."

WHHAAATTTTT?! Forget it. You can just forget it. I'm not about to let you suck me (and my wallet) dry, you lousy bloodsuckers! There's no way I'm paying RM2 (or more) just for tempered cold water. Just bring me my blasted pancake and warm water la. Fed up.

And even that took all year to come.

Not good.

The waiting gave me time to think. And the more I thought about it all, the more I seethed on the inside. The more I seethed on the inside, the more it came out in mumbo-jumbo grumbling. Soon after, I was well on my way of successfully pulling off a rant rampage.


Too much. Remember my gripe on how they charged 50 sen for warm water? Well, they still do. The thieving swindlers! It's obvious that none of the owners read my blog. Pfft. Stupid, stupid, stupid people. They'd have learnt much from my writing – my constructive criticism. Help improve their business, it will.

Stupid.

The thing that pisses me off most is that now, they've wised up! Darn it! Stupid people! (Don't ask me how they've successfully wised up and increased in stupidity at the same time. I don't care how it happens. It just does when it comes to these PHOP folk.) Why? Cos they no longer allow orders of free ice, that's why! And what's worse is that you can't even order a glass of ice even if you're willing to pay for it. Goodness! What is the meaning of this!? It's outrageous. I'm utterly outraged. Bah!

Stupid.

*grumble grumble*

And finally, after taking all century, my orders arrived. I was not happy. You know what pissed me off even more? They stopped the nice pancake deco, too! Come on, man! If I'm paying good money for flour, eggs, sugar and milk, I could (at the very least) be given the blasted pancakes with an artistic touch. What rubbish is this la? Even my trash at home is displayed in more creative ways than this. It looked like they just dumped everything into the bowl and hoped it all stayed put.

Bleh. Tengok pun meluat. Phooi!




PHOP, Queensbay Mall, Penang's goin' down, man.

65 Hours

It hasn't been that long.

Or so I thought.

*blink blink*

Come on, it can't have been that long, right? After all, it's only been a mere two-and-a-half days of silence on my part, right? Wrong. There are some who have already begun to comment on my posts... or rather, the lack thereof.


Sorry la. Have been really busy. And when the day's up and I'm not as busy, I'm so dead tired from whatever it is I've been doing, that all I wanna do is sleep and sleep some more.

*slow smile spreads at the thought of sleep*

*blink blink*


FOCUS, Pam.


*blink blink*

Sorry.

So, here I am again, all ready to ramble on,
after 65 hours of post-less-ness.

Hi, y'all.

*toothy grin*

I've got complaints. I've got them a-plenty. But to be honest, I kinda have to run... uh, right about now. Duty calls. My rant will have to wait. But my dears, worry not, for I shall be back. The rant begins tonight, tonight, tonight...

*blink blink*


Che-wah. Terror-ness.
Got echo summore. Heh.


Dun dun dun duuuunnnnn.


*eerie music plays in background*