A Book (Possibly Xmas) List

I just went on a splurge but I already have a list of books I want for next month:

1. Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War (Abarat) by Clive Barker

2. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

3. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants) by Ann Brashares

4. Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black


















5. Girl, (Nearly) 16: Absolute Torture by Sue Limb



















And possibly:

6. A Wish for Wings That Work by Berkely Breathed (which I have an inkling suspicion I may have already.)

The Book I Bought

I couldn't resist. I keep picking up these books that people discard thoughtlessly on a shelf where they don't belong. Today was Berkeley Breathed's Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers at the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound.

Take it from me, what's inside is even funnier. But it also addresses the issue of people leaving their dogs at the shelter for superficial reasons.

Well worth my ringgit.

Temptation

I went to Borders today. Please don't ask if I bought any more books.

The fact that I went there again today (after last night) says it all.

I now have RM30 worth to exchange for books for the coming January.

I am beyond hope. I am beyond redemption.

Smiles

Sam's smiling!

The cloud has passed!

Hugs all around!

Warm fuzzies...

Borders @ The Curve

I was gonna diss the Borders @ The Curve.

No really, I was.

As is with most bookstores, I head for the YA or kiddy book section of the bookstore the moment I step into it. I stopped by the islands propped up in the middle of the path on the way to the kiddy section.

"Not bad," I thought to myself. They look like they've got almost as good a selection as Kino.

And then I turn into the kiddy section. Immediately I disliked the way they organized the books: in alphabetical order by author but still the authors were jumbled up. And I could not find the YA books as the shelves had tags that said 'Ages 8-12'. I circled the kiddy section a few times but could not find Louise Rennison of Angus & Full Frontal Snogging fame. Neither could I find Libba Bray, which was a mystery to me as they had her first book, A Great & Terrible Beauty up front in the islands. Patricia C. Wrede was also nowhere in sight. Rick Riordan was mixed up with Gary Paulsen. Huh?

I was convinced that Borders was another con. Had already given up and picked up Peter Carey's Wrong About Japan. Went on a quick round in the CD section. Could not find Shakira's Oral Fixation II. Took the elevator downstairs and was gonna pay but the line was too long.

I headed back upstairs since I remember that the counters were less busy. I was at the counter with my wallet out and ready to pay when the guy at the counter gave me the clincher: if I bought one more book, I was entitled to a 15% discount. Sigh...I am not one to give up on discounts especially for books. So I reluctantly but quite excitedly headed off to the shelves again to see what I would willingly buy to get a 15% discount.

I passed the islands again. I was seriously contemplating Clive Barker's second book of Abarat when I chanced upon the Young Adult section just off the islands. I had missed them completely!! And there I was looking high and low for the YA section in the 8-12 section. AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!

I was affronted by a YA section that could almost (and I mean ALMOST because I reserve my favourite for Kino; they still have a better - should i say best? - selection and arrangement of YA and kiddy books). Spinelli, Bray, Rennison, Cabot, Bauer, Frank and more in all their glory. Sigh...heaven!

I have to stop buying books.

I really have to.

I have to stop, stop, STOP!!

STOP!!

That outburst was brought on by my ending up buying the whole of Patricia C. Wrede's boxed set of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. All four books. And the only reason I ended buying them was because Kino had not replied to my email request for an order of the same boxed set.

I still can't believe I bought the boxed set and Peter Carey just to get a 15% discount. I walked away from Borders RM110 poorer and one needless bargain book richer (it was the spawn of a lucky dip that I'd earned from spending RM100 and above).

So, as I was saying...

I was prepared to diss Bprders @ The Curve.

Keyword here is: was.

In all fairness, I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised by Borders' YA selection. It's 8-12 selection is measly and badly arranged by far, compared to Kino's. And of course, Kino still has the wider selection in YA than Borders. But for a start, Borders is doing pretty fine.

I still don't understand why they separated the YA from the kids. There shouldn't be an age discrimination as I would read books from both sections. It's quite dumb really.

I would still count Kino as my favourite. They've got a great book-wrapping service going for them and their staff are the friendliest by far. But as a neighbourhood bookstore (Borders @ The Curve is only 5 mins away from my house), I wouldn't mind dropping in at Borders for a quickie. And this Borders is gonna KILL MPH. If MPH doesn't die a slow and agonizing death, they're gonna either languish into obscurity or die a quick but painful death. If you don't know what I mean, just go ahead and step into the MPH at The Curve, then drop by at Borders on the same floor.

Judging by the various promotions that Borders is spewing out - 15% discount on normal priced books, another RM15 off your next purchase the next month, lucky dips, etc. Kino had better come up with a plan to counter the aggressive marketing efforts put out by the team at Berjaya.

So there you have it. I didn't diss Borders. Even though I thought the first Borders store at Berjaya Times Square was absolute CRAP.

I think I'll give this one at The Curve a fighting chance.

For now.

Cracked

I was behind a Kancil or Kelisa (who can tell the difference? they're both tiny.) at the toll booth today. Most Smartag users tend to go through the lane quite fast, including yours truly. Note the key phrase here: used to. I don't anymore.

Anyway, so this woman in her Kancil/Kelisa drives through the Smartag lane but doesn't slow down. Of course she ends up hitting the bar at the toll. I see the bar swing away from her car so that it now sits away from the lane. And then I notice the Kancil isn't moving and I start to press on the brakes. Then I take a second look.

Stupid woman went so fast that the impact of hitting the bar cracked her windscreen. Women! They're the most gawdawful drivers around, I swear.

So she's still not moving from the lane and I move the gear to reverse, all ready to turn into the next Smartag lane. Thankfully, she figures there's more cars behind her and moves ahead, stopping behind/in front of the toll booth (depending on which way you look at it). As I go through the toll, I notice that the crack on her windscreen is quite huge. It's like a spiderweb that starts in the middle of the screen, spiralling out towards all four corners.

Serves her right for not slowing down at the toll booth, Smartag or not. (I can say this now because I now slow down considerably when going through the Smartag lane.)

Chiang Mai

It’s official.

After debating, hemming and hawwing, we’ve finally settled on Chiang Mai as our vacation destination.

Did a mad dash on booking the tix. Found out that MAS doesn’t do direct to Chiang Mai but the travel agent kept insisting that there is one daily flight. More ding-donging around and finally we were proved right. The travel agent had heard Chennai instead of Chiang Mai, duh! And I was on the verge of booking the AirAsia tix because the connecting flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai via Thai Airways was supposed to have been sold out. Luckily my trusty admin person is super efficient and managed to sort it all out for me before I hit the Enter key. Hubby and I were adamant in taking MAS because hubby has enrich points that he could at least use against the KL – Bangkok leg.

Phew! Now that that’s settled, I can look forward to planning for activities in Chiang Mai!!

We’ve already been booked in for the spa package at Ban Sabai Village Spa and Resort. All that’s left now is to plan our activities for the 5 nights we’ll be there.

High on my list are:

1. Elephants


2. Shopping


3. The Old City


4. The Night Bazaar


5. Food


6. If I have time, take a cooking course

It’s starting to look crowded for just 5 nights’ worth in the city.

I did hear that shopping’s better and cheaper in Chiang Mai than in Bangkok though. Woohoooo!! Am gonna go berserk!

I can’t wait. I can’t wait!!

A Foot In The Mouth

Me and my big mouth. I must remember:

1. To sugarcoat my blatantly blunt and direct remarks


2. That not everyone can take my directness


3. That some people are just very, very sensitive


4. That I can be insanely insensitive


5. To just keep my big mouth shut?

Topics that should be avoided:

1. Weight


2. Smoking


3. Age


4. Any negativity in all these areas and others (basically, I have to remember my golden rule, which I tend to conveniently forget: if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all)

I should know better, since I’ve lived with two hypersensitive people in my family: my sister and my father. (Hey, it’s not just me! Go ask my mom)! However, experience in this instance doesn’t seem to have been a very good teacher. I still go around blurting out painfully direct opinions and observations, apparently with no regard for the other person’s feelings.

I’ve always wondered if I’d survive in the corporate world, and something tells me I’d die a very quick and probably painful death even before I step foot up the third rung on the ladder.

Thank goodness I have friends like Sam to knock me back on my butt when I’ve overstepped my bounds. In no uncertain terms it’s made clear that my mouth has gone too far. Who could mistake the suddenly frigid and icy air that descends upon all conversation? The curt replies. And then the line, “I don’t want to talk about it!” Oops. Too late. Sigh, the big mouth strikes again.

Luckily for my sensitive friends and family, I’m thick skinned enough that I don’t go wailing and moping after a particularly thorny episode. I tell myself I should know better. Then I keep my big mouth shut. If I remember to apologise, I will. And then a few months or so down the line, I probably blurt out something else that’s painful and the whole process starts again.

Unfortunately for them, the hide can be quite thick. And most people don’t have such thick hides.

Salsa!!

Last night I discovered how blurdy hard it is to video cam a performance in a dark, crowded environment. I almost got a stiff neck as an added bonus. Looking at the performance through the LCD view panel is also not the same nor as exciting as seeing them with your own two eyes, unencumbered by the four constraints of the viewing panel.

The salsa competition at conlay saw its last heat last night. It was just as entertaining as the previous heat the week before. Of course, the HE couples shined amongst the competitors. Kenneth, for once looked cool and suave. I think if there were Chinese teenage schoolgirls in the audience, he would have picked up an instant throng of fans. Wendy and Kenneth made crowd favourite that night. Another HE feather in the cap. Sad to say, there were more sleazy old men than the cute Chinese teenage chicks. I did like the chemistry displayed by an older couple in the group. They also made use of the floor by sashaying across diagonally a number of times. It was a pleasure to watch.

By the end of the night, we had 12 amateur couples vying for the top spots in the finals next week. All eight couples from the open category made it to the finals. They should have just scrapped the open category heats since everyone made it through anyway. It seems rather silly to have four couples from each heat make it to the finals. Twelve couples seem too many for a final event. It seems more like a semi-final than a final. I know what conlay is trying to do: they’re just trying to bring as many people in to the club to stimulate sales of alcohol and liquor. That’s the only reason I can think of why they would want 12 couples for a final showdown. It’s mindboggling to have to decide between so many. Oh well, I’m not competing or even part of the panel of judges, who am I to say?

It’s another week of grueling practice for all four of our HE couples. It will be a final worth watching, if only for the fact that there are so many couples competing.

I can’t wait.

Asthma?!

A little bit longer and I would have turned my perfectly healthy lungs into asthmatic ones. It’s a wonder what phlegm and a cough can do to your body.

I think I had an overdose of beer on the night of the Conlay competition. It bought me three votes for crowd favourite but also resulted the next day in a racking, hacking cough replete with phlegm. It kept me up almost the entire night on Friday. But still I refused to go to the doctor and admit defeat at the hand of antibiotics.

After hacking and coughing the weekend away, and still showing no signs of improvement by today, I headed to the Chinese doctor (Note the aversion to antibiotics. I grew up ingesting antibiotics, which is one of the reasons I think why my body is so weak now).

He put the stethoscope to my back and asked me to breathe. Halfway through the breath, I could hear myself wheezing and building up to a cough at the end of the breath. I heard the doctor mutter, “This is bad.” I took a couple more breaths and wheezed some more, then coughed some. Then I turned around to face him.

“The next stage to your cough would be asthma.”

Huh?

“Asthma?”

“Yeah, well that’s the next stage. Luckily you came now.”

Oops.

“Anyway, stay clear of chicken, seafood, eggs – half and hardboiled eggs are off limits fried eggs are ok, sweet foods, spicy foods, sour foods.”

I looked at him stunned.

“So what can I eat?”

“Pork, beef.”

Haah?!

“It’s only for a few days, until your cough clears.”

“And if it doesn’t clear?”

“Come back and see me.”

Oh-kay.

So I ended up with 4 packets of Chinese herbs, one for each day. I love seeing the Chinese medical shop people picking out and measuring the various herbs that they use to brew these potions. They use those tiny little handheld weights and they’re so good at using them.

The taste is another issue altogether but I find it curiously mind-boggling to watch the people behind the counter: so many herbs, so many shapes and sizes, so many smells and textures. And it’s all going into my brew.

Give me Chinese herbs any day. When that doesn’t work the third of fourth time around, then I’ll concede to taking antibiotics.