Monday, November 24, 2008

Puedo ir al bano, por favor?

Hola. Como estas? Doña Materia, a Señora living in Borneo, was always mistaken as a Mexican girl when she was much younger. Friends in her swimming team, The Dolphins, would help Dona to combat The Barracudas when Dona was bullied because of her looks. Only to learn when growing up, it is ok to look like a Señora. Family would take Dona to Amigos, a Mexican Place in Brunei for dinner outings and Dona would always be the first to finish the complimentary Nachos. Even when Dona was not in town, she would go to Al-Patio in Singapore and have burritos for dinner. Last night, the Dona spirit came to life; she was dressed in her Mexican Kahloism skirt that floats to the ankle, a brown top and accessories complementing it. She had some fajitas and other dishes that tasted too good that she couldn’t remember. The only thing missing from her meal was… tequila.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I do trust you with a pair of scissors

Goodnight you, my spiritual, wickedly funny and devilishly handsome gent. Grrr...nom nom nom...A sex addict, diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder...Why do I have the hots for him? He has resigned from his Radio 2 show over that prank call he made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, we all remember the actor as the much-abused Spanish waiter, Emmanuel. Here is a picture of my love at the Hare Krishna temple. I heart you Russell!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Getting to know my mama's hometown:

Its not the birthplace of my mother but Ipoh, third city of Malaysia, is where mother spent most of her adolescent years. Mom's sister was classmates to Ipoh`s famous citizen, Michelle Yeoh. We all know the actress from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and former Bond girl in Tommorow Never Dies. I headed back to my roots a few months ago to attend a wedding and cousin Joanne took me to a few of the limestone caves. The caves are mostly Buddist temples with an impressive work of art with statues of Lord Buddha interspersed among the natural stalactites and stalagmites. The use of lighting helped a lot in the caves as it gets darker when you climb deeper inside, however made it harder to snap pictures of the karst formations with my mini cybershot. Once you reach the opening of the cave, you can just sit down for hours, do your meditation and enjoy the splendid panoramic view.

Monday, November 10, 2008

When religion collides

Was watching this episode of Comedy Central the other day, this comedian was talking about how great it was when Tiger Woods won his first major, The Masters, becoming the first winner of an African-American descent. How great the African-Americans felt to have its first black golfer to make a mark in history. Tiger Woods went on winning more tournaments and the world too wanted to be associated with him. The Asian part of the world would have headlines going ‘The first Asian-American to win the Masters’. As you know Woods is of African and Asian heritage. The more titles he won, the less black he would get. The only time when he was really black was when his father was standing next to him. And if ever Woods did something terrible, headlines would go, ’Black Golfer …’ That’s when Woods is back to being all black again.

I started to think about the recent elected black president of the United States. Barack Obama’s father was from Kenya and his mother was a white Christian. His middle name is Hussein and his late, estranged father was of Muslim descent. The global media started questioning whether Barack Obama is a Muslim. He however identifies himself as a Christian and responded that he was not raised by his Kenyan father but rather his stepfather from Indonesia. The world knows that Obama is moving towards his Kenyan heritage, even the Kenyan government called it a public holiday when Obama won the election. But is he all that black after all?

With a middle name like Hussein, the Islamic law would say, ‘if your father is a Muslim, so are you. And once a Muslim, always a Muslim. You cannot go back. In Islamic eyes, Obama is certainly a Muslim. He may think he's a Christian, but Muslims do not.’

The media questioned: How would it be like when America is fighting the war of their lives against Islam?

"What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon -- that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize." – Barack Obama, June 3, 2008

I guess, there may be many Americans who are scared of Muslim terrorist; the numbers who are scared of Muslim congressmen is small indeed.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

My pink Obama 'HOPE' tennis ball

... After a 2 year study, the National Science Foundation announced the following results on America's recreational preferences:
1. The sport of choice for unemployed or incarcerated people is: basketball.
2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is: bowling.
3. The sport of choice for blue-collar workers is: football.
4. The sport of choice for supervisors is: baseball.
5. The sport of choice for middle management is: tennis.
6. The sport of choice for corporate officers is: golf.


Conclusion: The higher you rise in the corporate structure, the smaller your balls become. The day will come when I decide to take up golf but just not today.

Soul Searching

Pap and I took the 4WD down to the northern side of Malaysia on the island of Borneo which is easily accessible by road from Brunei Darussalam. It has been yonks since I’ve last been to Miri. It took us longer than expected to get to where we were heading. The slippery road and damned weather condition were not only the reasons slowing us down but the roads from Tutong , Seria and Kuala Belait were shielded by men and women in uniform awaiting for the arrival of Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla at the helicopter base of Seven Flight. FYI, I’ve got the hots for Prince Harry, soo…dreamy. Pap and I were just passing by witnessing numerous helis in the air thinking how great it would be if the helis were performing some sort of an air show. Back to the road trip, the first place we went to was the Gurdwara Sahib. It’s a temple for the Sikhs built in the 1974/75. I had no clue; the Gurdwara was in our itinerary of places to visit. I, who am of mixed parentage, Sikh and Chinese, do not really have much of a clue on how to perform the prayers. Pap really caught me by surprise this time, he yanked out a green ‘chuni’ (Punjabi headscarf worn by Sikh women)from underneath the car seat and instructed me to put it on before I enter the Gurdwara. He demonstrated how to perform the prayer and told me I can do my prayers in English or Chinese as I wish. It was truly a surreal experience for me as it was my first time in a Gurdwara and being 24, some say ‘dontcha think you’re a little too late’ but it’s never too late to officially perform my first prayer in a temple. I just wished I came fully dressed in a Punjabi wear instead of my skinny jeans and indie top. Then again, maybe one day I’ll own a Punjabi dress that comes along with the matching shoes! I wonder what my Chinese mother or my siblings would think about this. They had no clue what went down in Miri. Sat Sri Akaal.