Author: bimbobum

You see it everywhere. Both banners and adverts for Chinese New Year AND VALENTINE’S DAY celebrations are in your face.
Bugger.
Isn’t it a bit early? Who buys Valentine’s Day presents now? I bet some of you HAVE bought them already.
I flipped open the Astro Guide to have this jump into my face.

VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL!!
I HATE POCAHONTAS. That’s the only Disney cartoon I’ve boycotted since it first came out – because I don’t think she’s pretty.
(I know you were going to say that I am racist, just because she’s not fair!)

Continue reading 25 days away!

During my summer break one day, a British friend gave me a letter and told me to read it when I was on the plane back to Malaysia. He told me that besides a letter, he had written a story he would like me to be the first to read.
I read the story first, which didn’t make sense, and then the letter, which went something like this:

Dear bimbobum,
Thank you so much for coming to my birthday party the other day. I was very pleased that you came, and was especially pleased you sat beside me. Thank you for the box of chocolates! I am keeping it hidden in my drawer away from my wife.
You looked pretty that day. I liked your blouse. Your blouse was nice, but it didn’t obscure the shape of your breasts …

I can’t remember the rest of the letter.
As a young (and innocent) university student then, I was shocked by his bluntness. I was horrified!
My mum was not pleased when I repeated the details of the letter to her, neither was my aunt.
“Hmmph! What a dirty old man,” my aunt commented. “Better stay away from hamsup (perverted) old men.”
His letter scared me and I couldn’t help being affected by it, that I stopped being friends with him. He emailed to ask why I was avoiding him, and I told him. Why I found him scary, is because I started to wonder whether he preyed on Chinese girls as a hobby. I wasn’t the only Chinese girl he befriended – there were other girls from mainland China, Taiwan, etc who he’d go all out of the way to help them out.
I mean, what the hell, man, what if he had been checking out my breasts all the while we met up for coffee and while working on a project together??
At that time, he was 56 years old, so yes, my aunt labelled him a dirty old man.

Last week I ate at a fast food restaurant. I paid for my food and occupied a booth. Halfway through my meal, it occurred to me that the cashier had short changed me.
Before I ordered my food, I had asked if she would have change for RM100, knowing sometimes cashiers would have to go through some trouble for change for the big notes. She said yes. So I ordered, and gave her RM103.20 for my meal of RM13.20.
Halfway through my meal, I realised (and checked my purse) that she had given me RM86.80. She had assumed I had given her only RM100.00. I checked my receipt, and to my dismay, she had keyed in RM100.00 as cash paid for my meal!
RM3.20 may not be a lot to you, but I’d say it’s still money.
Luckily, the assistant manager accepted my explanation when I approached him, pointing out the cashier to him. He apologised and gave me back the exact change. I smiled gratefully.
As he returned my money, the cashier asked him what was happening. He explained that she had short changed me.
I repeated the facts to her, explaining what had gone wrong, but she stared at me blankly, oblivious to her mistake.
I was frustrated and annoyed with the shit-face look she gave me. She just glanced at me for a while, and then looked away, as if I was invisible. Don’t you just hate it when some people deliberately don’t want to listen and learn from their mistakes?
Is this an example of the “tidak apa” (don’t care or don’t give a shit) attitude?
If I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, I would have told her off.
I just walked away, muttering, “ignorant bitch” under my breath as it would have been a waste of effort making her understand that we have to learn from our mistakes in order to be a better person.

“Mari Kita Amalkan Sifat Suka Membaca!” – now that’s positive!
(translated as, “Let us Practice the Love of Reading as a Habit” ….. I THINK!)

I accompanied a nerd friend to the sale today. The amount of cars parked by the roadside was incredible, you’d think it was a weekday and not the weekend.

There. If you happened to get lost in Section 13, PJ, look out for the banner and you know you’re at the right place. It’s on the 2nd floor of Dataran Hamodal, right beside Colgate-Palmolive.

Continue reading Times The Bookshop Warehouse Sale

Sometimes I just want a simple meal because sometimes I’m to lazy to cook.

Yeo’s can of Vindaloo Chicken caught my eye at the supermarket the other day, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Continue reading A Bachelorette’s Simple Meal

Everytime I’m out with my friend or we meet up for coffee or meals, his phone will ring.
“Hello?” he’d answer softly, so I’d know right away that his girlfriend was checking up on him.
If coffee is extended because we have a lot of things to talk about, his phone would ring again. The girlfriend calls again.
One day, I decided to be straightforward and asked, “Do you have to speak to XXXX (his girlfriend’s name) every hour of the day? Is it compulsory?”
You’d think I was a jealous b*tch trying to steal him away, but noooooo, it’s just that if he’s helping out with something, let’s say my computer or my car, and it takes time, so when his gilfriend keeps calling, isn’t it annoying for him? He’s trying to get some stuff done but the girlfriend keeps checking on him!
He said that it’s not what he wants, but it’s what his girlfriend wants to do, that is, to have lengthy conversations with him when they don’t meet.
I suppose it’s understandable, but if he is busy and he doesn’t call you back an hour later, will you bug him every hour until he finally cuts his outings with friends short, so he can call you back and chat til bedtime?
I’d feel suffocated if my partner did that to me, calling or sending me text messages every hour when I’m busy!
However, love is a funny thing, I guess. When in a long distance relationship, every small bit of effort is compulsory to keep the relationship going strong!
But it’s still annoying – super possesive!
How frequent do you check on your partner – every hour, every 3 hours, every 6 hours, once a day or less?

My friends and I tried to bring back our childhood games during my tiny new year countdown party. One girl suggested Spin The Bottle. Some innocent ones didn’t know how that game is played.
Everyone sits in a circle and there’s an empty bottle in the middle. Someone may decide to spin it first, and he or she will kiss the person the bottle faces when it stops spinning. Of course, if it is of the same sex, you need not kiss the person. Well, unless you don’t mind. It is then the turn of the receiver of the kiss to spin.

When it faced me, the spinner gave me just a peck on the cheek. Phew, and he was booed for being a coward. Luckily he didn’t kiss me, because I think I would have fainted!
When it was my turn, I was horrifed to see it facing my friend’s boyfriend. I said I’d just kiss his hand, but some of my girl friends (nasty b*tches!) insisted i kissed him properly. I said noooooo, he’s someone’s boyfriend! But they egged me on, and I refused, seeing how his girlfriend was not comfortable. (He used to chase me high and low when we were younger, and she is still not comfortable with the fact that we’re still good friends.)
One girl finally decided to demonstrate how it was supposed to be done. She grabbed the guy by the neck and gave him one long French kiss.
I just sat and stared. What the hell!
Don’t think his girlfriend was happy about it, either, as she was pretty red in the face.
This reminded me of one of the episodes in Desperate Housewives, where Gabrielle kissed Tom, and Lynette revenged by kissing Carlos back!

What the heck is FENG SHUI all about? You hear it so often until you’re bored with it. I’ve got friends and their parents who are firm believers of it.
It began as a Chinese practice of arranging things and space around to enhance harmony with the environment. It also involves the philosophical, astrological, mathematical and religious elements of the person, for example, your Chinese astrology animal, and your birthdate and time of birth, your sun sign, etc …. A lot of stuff!
I realised my friend has a lot of feng shui stuff in her house.
I asked her, “What’s this thing for?” as I pointed to a dangling thing.
She’d reply, “I dunno.I forgot.”
“What about this?” I asked, as I pointed to the yellow cat.
“Er, you know that one. The cat that welcomes wealth …. that a lot of Chinese shops have at their cashier counter?” She answered.
“Hmmmm.” I was not entirely convinced that it worked.
“So, you’re expecting money to walk through your door?” I asked.
She gave a sheepish shrug.

She even has magazines for feng shui tips! But she tells me that her parents bought it, and she doesn’t read it. I can believe that, because when I picked it up, it was covered with dust. ;P
That 3 ancient coins tied together, if kept in your wallet or purse, helps create wealth opportunity, or something like that. I can’t remember, I read it somewhere. ;D
The arrangement of many things can lead to good feng shui. For example, the direction the main door of your house is facing, which direction you’re facing when you sit in your room in the office, where toilets in your house are situated, which direction you’re facing when you’re sleeping and a lot more.
Leading feng shui ‘masters’ in Malaysia who both have been on tv are Lilian Too and Joey Yap. If I’m not mistaken, Joey Yap is pretty young and not as commercialised as Lilian Too.
Even the western countries believe in feng shui. They’ve got consultation for building feng shui. [link] Nowadays, architecture and real estate are often linked with feng shui, too!

I was rushing around the supermarket for food and drinks to buy for my tiny party tonight and I actually saw this:

Heyyy, when did they start selling Barbie dolls at supermarket?? Twenty years ago, Barbie dolls were considered upper class toys which were only available at toy stores at a pretty steep price. Now that market is competitive, with the Bratz dolls more popular than Barbie, they’re not that expensive anymore.

Nor are they as nice as before.

7-Eleven is going to start selling emergency Barbie dolls, too, last I heard.

So where are you counting down tonight? ;P Have a happy new year 2007!
I haven’t finished with my new year resolutions yet, oops.