absolut ginger

The weekend has been rather fulfilling. I ended 2009 having dinner in company of very good friends, watching fireworks and drinking wine moderately. Haha! Then, spending the next three days watching Avatar (2x!) in the cinema, shopping, having lunch with friends from Penang, attended my brother’s house warming for the family, etc.

Last night, I was supposed to pack for my Guilin trip this coming Wednesday but Keanu Reeves was on Cinemax! I didn’t manage to watch “The Day the Earth Stood Still” when it was on theater last year so I made it a point to watch it last night. My cousin brother was saying that I was watching this movie because of Keanu Reeves. He was complaining that the movie was a waste of his time. But I was glad I watched the movie. I enjoyed the movie (yes, 50% of it is due to Mr Reeves!). I think the movie has an important message to everyone on earth to start loving our planet. It was almost surreal that, this might happen. An alien from outer space acting as a galaxy environmental police and punish those by death if they do not comply with galaxy laws.

Even Avatar, the movie portrayed human greed which caused detrimental repercussion when humans do not respect the earth. They just take and take, and never give back.

This morning, I read in the papers that, most consumers were caught off guard of no plastic day on Saturdays at major hypermarkets and they actually complained about not given ample notice of the new ruling. Ample notice? Earth is heading towards destruction and you need a memo??

I guess most people are just giving lip service whenever they talk about helping the environment and yet, go shopping without bringing their eco bags. I have started to carry my own shopping bag in my handbag whenever I am out, even if I don’t intend to buy anything coz we will never know. So people, please act, and not talk only. I also carry my own tumbler now and do not buy mineral water.

Here’s hoping that 2010 would be the year that human race takes it seriously to protect and do whatever they can to sustain planet Earth.

PS. Our premier proudly aired his speech at the Climate Change in Copenhagen on his blog but at the same time, it’s in the news that forest in Bakun as big as the size of Singapore being bulldozed to the ground. Malaysia boleh!

6 Comments | In: Contemplation, Society | | #
Posted by Gina

For the past few days, I have been asking and asked a lot of questions related to “Why?” it’s not negative things though…

Why #1

We were at karaoke and we sang a few numbers in Malay, bahasa jiwa bangsa. Why is it that we pronounce the now defunct bahasa baku in the songs? For example, instead of tiade, we pronounce tiada? Why is it that the word sounds good in baku during songs but not when we speak?

Why #2

A friend asked me to join her for new year’s celebration on 31st December at Desa Park City. She said, she hopes to celebrate it big this time to usher the new year and hope year 2010 is a better one. I asked her, why do you celebrate something that you don’t even know what’s going to happen? Maybe year 2010 isn’t going to be that great after all. I know I am being a wet blanket here.

Why #3

Why is it that we feel insecure whenever we forget to bring our handphones when we go out? More than 12 years ago, before I own my first handphone, everybody was on time to meeting friends in Sg. Wang or Central Market.  It was just fine and dandy. But not now.. even with handphones, people always give excuses to be late and sms each other to inform of their lateness… and sometimes didn’t even bother to show up.

Why #4

Why was the cinema not full with people watching Muallaf on Christmas’ morning? Late Yasmin Ahmad’s fans were too busy partying? I almost took a bus down to Singapore when it was announced that, it won’t be shown here in KL due to some censorship issue as well as… you know lah. Well, I managed to catch it on Christmas’ morning and enjoyed it.

7 Comments | In: Bitch & Whine, Contemplation | tags: yasmin ahmad. | #
Posted by Gina

I was talking to a few friends online whom I haven’t spoken to for awhile. So, they tend to ask this question, how are you? Apart from the usual and boring, “I am Fine” or “I am good” or the energy-draining kind that nobody likes, “Life sucks” – I replied, “Can sleep, can eat, can shit, so I am happy.” This answer would generally generate laughter and would act as an ice breaker.

Jokes aside, I do believe in what I’ve said. Can sleep, can eat, can shit. It’s not merely to crack the person up. I think not having enough sleep or insomnia is probably the worst thing to have. You would be easily irritable, your immune system would be low, you would be susceptible to diseases and even worse, probably would suffer an emotional melt down if this continues. When I was younger, I tend to be a worry wart. I worried about my exams, I worried about death, I worried about the world’s coming to an end, I worried my family and loved ones won’t be able to make it to heaven if they don’t believe in some religion. I worry about tomorrow. These made me lose  precious sleep. I know, it’s very lame. Then, I start to understand life. There are many things in life that would take care of themselves eventually – The happiest people don’t worry too much about where life is fair or not. They just get on with it.

I believe food is food to the soul. If your belly is full, and you get to eat whatever it is to make you happy, then you will be contented. I find life is too short to be deprived from the fragrant sambal of nasi lemak, the mouth watering bak kut teh, the creamy and greasy roti canai, etc. But of course, the key word here is moderation. If everyday you eat like that, God also cannot help you. I pity those people who are on perpetual diet. They make the worst meal companions. Life just doesn’t revolve around celery and lemon juice.

Movement of bowel is probably the most important function in bodily system as it eliminates all waste and toxic which might make the body ill. Well, I think you must have read about how the asshole eventually became the boss? No? Well, here’s the story for those who haven’t read them in chain mails:-

When the Lord made man, all the parts of the body argued over who would be boss.

The brain explained that since he controlled all the parts of the body, he should be boss. The legs argued that since they took man wherever he wanted to go, they should be boss. The stomach countered with the explanation that since he digested all the food, he should be boss. The eyes said that without them man would be helpless, so they should be boss. Then the asshole applied for the job. The other parts of the body laughed so hard at this that the asshole became mad and closed up.

After a few days… The brain went foggy, the legs got wobbly, the stomach got ill, and the eyes got crossed and unable to see. They all conceded and made the asshole boss. This proved that you don’t have to be a brain to be boss… Just an Asshole.

Silliness aside, I think as long as one can shit, it would make him/her a happier person.

So, how are you today?

8 Comments | In: Contemplation, Empowerment | | #
Posted by Gina

I was watching a repeat of “The Heartbreak Kid” on HBO on Friday night. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why men always don’t want to be the “bad” one in breaking up a relationship?”

In this movie, you have Ben Stiller trying to break up with his newlywed wife when he found out that he couldn’t get along with her (secondary reason) and of course, he met another terrific girl during his honey moon (main reason). He gave all kinds of reasons not to be with his wife – she should take the job in Rotterdam, he’s not a very nice guy to be with, there is nothing wrong with her, it’s all him, blah blah blah! And he couldn’t simply tell her – Sorry, but I just don’t love you anymore.

Then I thought of a friend who is getting married end of this year. He’s getting married not because he wants to. He’s getting married because his girlfriend is pregnant with his child.

He said he tried to get rid of the girlfriend in many ways but could not. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that it’s over. He is really a jerk and he even let her wait for him for 3 hours a few times for a date. He tried very hard to be as aloof and as irresponsible as possible in hope that, the girlfriend would think he’s a douche bag so she would leave him. The poor girl, even after being stood up for 3 hours, was not even angry at him and even tried to be nicer to him, and asked him what did she do wrong to upset him?

I told him, he must be damn lucky to have a girl who loves him that much and so blindly! He should treat her with utmost respect and love her in return!

Is it very hard for men/women to open your mouth to tell the person, “It’s over!”

I think it’s very cruel to drop hints, in order to “save face” or to minimize hurt by “direct” approach. I think as adults, it’s better to talk things over, to see if the issues affecting the relationship can be solved, giving it some time, etc. Seriously, if your guy or girl promised to do something for the better and if the promise was made some 10 years ago or so, believe me, they never will. It would always remain an empty promise.

If all these fail to save the relationship, then by all means proceed to splitville.

It’s better to get out than being stuck in a loveless relationship. It’s not good to let one hanging by the thread every day, creating false sense of hope for the relationship and being totally delusional. It’s more practical to let the person know that you don’t love him/her anymore and move on.

14 Comments | In: Contemplation, Empowerment, Journey of the Soul | | #
Posted by Gina

Well, I just finished reading another great book from Haruki Murakami – What we talk about when we talk about running. A memoir.

I am not going to review about this book. I just would like to share with you some spot on paragraphs found in this book.

“And now here I am living in this unimaginable world. It feels really strange, and I can’t tell if I’m fortunate or not. Maybe it doesn’t matter. For me – and for everybody else, probably – this is my first experience growing old, and the emotions I’m having, too, are all first-time feelings. If it were something I’d experienced before, then I’d able to understand it more clearly, but this is the first time, so I can’t. For now all I can is put off making any detailed judgments and accept things as they are. Just like I accept the sky, the clouds, and the river. And there’s also something kind of comical about it all, something you don’t want to discard completely.”

“But in real life things don’t go so smoothly. At certain points in our lives, when we really need a clear-cut solution, the person who knocks at our door is, more likely than not, a messenger bearing bad news. It isn’t always the case, but from experience I’d say the gloomy reports far outnumbered the others. The messenger touches his hand to his cap and looks apologetic, but that does nothing to improve the contents of the message. It isn’t the messenger’s fault. No good to blame him, no good to grab him by the collar and shake him. The messenger is just conscientiously doing the job his boss assigned him. And this boss? That would be none other than our old friend Reality.”

How do these two paragraphs ring true to you?

Sometimes when life is good and happening, it’s always too good to be true. As we may be happy that things are finally going our way, but we also should be ready to accept it when good things are abruptly taken away from us. Even the brightest stars in the sky would fade over time. Even the most beautiful and famous actress would grow old and grey. Yet, most of us are still too clingy and refuse to let go.

Sometimes, when reality catches up with us, we do not know how to react. We blame God. We blame others. But we never blame ourselves.

When reality hits us, then only we scramble out from our comfort zones and start to think hard. Till then, would it be too late? We hope we could foresee before reality strikes but not all of us are that lucky. So, we have to be prepared all the time. Do not let our guards down.

If reality strikes, we prepare to embrace it – like it or not. We mitigate. We try to do everything we can to return things to normalcy. After all, we humans are creatures of habits. Is there something call normalcy when reality had struck, especially bad ones? I guess the definition of normalcy depends on individual’s perception.

When reality does strike, we may be lost for a moment of time. We may be lost longer than we expected. But that doesn’t mean we have lost ourselves. We must not give up. For the time being, we just need to stay true to ourselves and cultivate an understanding of who we actually are.

3 Comments | In: Contemplation, Empowerment, Note to Self | | #
Posted by Gina