looking good

my plants look right at home in my car porch. of varying heights, they seem to give the bland wall character. plus they cover up the autogate control. i was so happy to see them in my porch last night, i gave them a generous spattering of water when i arrived home at around 7pm last night. and another generous spatter of liquids when i came home from class past 11pm later.

so green, so green!!

green fingers

" hey poh ling, get that bougainvillea. it's beautiful"

poh ern points to the quaint bougy that's got it's thick branches all curved and twined around each other. so i ask the guy in charge of the nursery, "berapa harga?" and point to the plant in question.

"itu seribu lebih."

"HAH??!! fuyo!! mahal sangat!" i almost choke.

and so we went around pointing at pots and plants. rizal had set his sights on bougys and i kinda like them, so first priority was finding one. in the end, i found a reasonably sized bougy for RM50. not as elaborate as the first one we saw but it would do.

also spotted a fern of some sort which looked nice and green going for rm25, so we took that too. and then i spotted a pleasant looking 'tree' that looked like it had a central trunk with branches spreading out to the sides in different planes, as if you could step up the branches like steps. i thought it was a bougy but was corrected when the guy said it was a bonsai. some bonsai, it had to be at least 3' tall. but it looked like it had character, so i took that too. and when he was tallying the total damage, i spotted another green beauty. this one looked almost like a flat spruce or one of those fir/pine trees. except that instead of growing straight up, the branches sprawled out.

i just can't resist green. so i got that too. final damage came up to rm260, heavily bargained for and discounted.

a fruitful day, i would say?

the blessings in life...

everyday i have to remind myself how lucky i am. and most days i forget. there are many who aremore fortunate than me but then again there are many who are not.

• i am thankful for my parents (even though i am so bad at showing it, to them especially)
• i am thankful for my loving hubby (who tolerates loads of my crap)
• i am grateful i don't have to want for much (materially anyway)
• my job is stressful and not much fun, but it's a challenge and well, i'm obligated and it brings in the dough
• i am not a babe but am not butt ugly

there's more and i need to add them on...but later...

feeling the heat

i love these things. they are so in now. salt crystal lamps. they give a place a warm red/amber glow. they're great as a night light too! there is just something about a warm glow of red light that makes for the comfort of home.

cold fish

striking the stuck-up pose while on the cable car up to the summit of ...damn! what's the name of that hill? in langkawi. company trip. short. quite tiring. but the view up the summit was awesome. cooler and more refreshing than genting.

never take for granted...

i received an sms from sensei today. mr. robert choong, a great benefactor of yoshinkan aikido, and a gentle man, passed away this morning. we'd just been with him a week ago during the aikido festival.

i was stunned. shocked immobile. terribly, terribly sad. not only because i know sensei thought very highly and very much of mr choong, but also because i felt he was a very kind, gentle soul. and i'd just spent time with him last week, for god's sake!!!

i'm bad at receiving news about death and even worse when at consoling people. what to say? what to do? how to say? what to feel? especially when the news comes unexpected.

here's to a great man, and to all who knew him, i'm so sorry.

tables

we finally found a table we think is perfect for our space. we made a compromise: a cross between my desired round kopitiam table and a rectangle one best suited to the space and preferred by rizal. we went for an oval teak table with a marble top. plus kopitiam chairs.

perfect!

now we'll just have to wait for a sample of the chairs before we confirm on them. but the deposit's been paid on the table and we also got an antique looking lamp to replace the common looking porch lamp we have.

i also have my eye on a 50's style dressing table in the shape of a kidney bean. it would look so weird in my bedroom (everything's square) but i think i gotta have it. it is just too cool!!

who knew we could find such gems in taman tun? almost right by applied imaging too. thanks to ivan, of course. damn! now i have to see him about the introducer's fee. such a spud.

close encounters

i should have had my guard dog with me when i went dancing on friday...

it was my first night out in yonks. and i ended up being plastered to a pint sized peruvian. no need to wonder why, the phrase pint-sized is enough for anyone to harbour a guess: i was one of the few who wasn't towering over him.

all i know is i was trying to look over everyone's heads to catch a glimpse of anita leading the men (it was her b'day) and when i tried to go up to her to wish her a good one, this...person grabs my hand and asks me to dance. how did he even pick me out? of course i go onto the dance floor, i'm a polite person and always willing to dance with anyone. little did i know what was in store for me...

let's just say i couldn't escape the following few salsa tunes nor the merengue nor the bachata. and it only ended after i'd made desperate faces to c.lai when he passed me dancing nearby about coming over to rescue me. which he did, thank gawd, bless his soul!

i got honed in on by this pint-sized guy for a few more times that night. even june was contemplating coming over to do a quick rescue but by the look of my animated conversation, she thought i was having fun. talking was better than getting plastered. to this person. i must remember make desperate faces to my friends even when i'm talking.

it got to the point i made sure i was dancing with someone, anyone for most of the night and not just sitting down. and when i did sit down, i made sure to be either a) animatedly talking to someone or b) looking totally bored out of my wits or c) looking at the on-two's dancing away.

i need higher heels...

foiled!!

my plans for a nice and pleasant dinner has been foiled. by my very own father. the details are too tedious and irritating to get into so i'll skip it. i'm wondering...should i go eat on my own or grit my teeth and have dinner with them as planned. dunno. but am hungry...

at least i'll be heading down to salsa havana for some skirt swirling tonite :)

found film

i dropped off my roll of film at the lab yesterday. and found the four that i misplaced during the move. yaaaaaayyy!!!