Coolcat's Jottings

Nianci lost in an ice-breaker game at cell group last Fri.

"Sing something!" We all demanded as punishment. "Negaraku (our national anthem) also can!"

"Don't want!" she dug in her heels. "I rather cook Shepherd's Pie for all of you instead!"

Crispy on the top and succulent on the inside. Yummy!

Being Malaysians who love any and every opportunity to eat, we all decided that it was quite a reasonable trade-off. So we graciously allowed her to change her punishment.

It quickly turned into a full blown food fest. Then the cheeky girl volunteered me to bring the ice-cream dessert.

Amanda volunteered to bring yummy baked potatoes with bacon bits and sour cream toppings, and fizzy drinks.

These are simply to die for!

Rina got the mushroom soup to add on to Nianci's garlic bread. Eugene and Dianne got the ice and coleslaw. The rest brought their ravenous tummies. And we were all set!

Sing for your supper!

I want!

"Are you done taking pics? We wanna eat!!!

Finally can eat! Nyam!

Eat until sweat kau-kau

And we licked the platters clean

And to think it all started because a girl preferred to cook instead of sing. I'd take the singing any time

Three girls were talking, reminiscing on friends who have been swept away by the waves of love.

"So, how did Renee* meet her boyfriend? Same town ar?" Girl A asked with a busybody glint in her eyes.

"They met at Mount KK. Syiok wor!" Girl B said with relish. "In fact, there are quite a number of people who met their mates up there."

"Wah sei... What kinda mountain is this? Sure or not?" Girl A cocked an eyebrow jadedly.

"Eh, Girl B could have a point lar. I have another friend who also met his girlfriend at Mount KK," Girl C furrowed her brows thoughtfully.

"Halo, I went there before and nothing happened to me wan," Girl A said proudly. "But then of course, I went with my boyfriend lar. And..." Suddenly the normally chatty girl went awfully quiet. An "Aiyo!" abruptly escaped her lips.

Girl B and C could hardly contain their excitement. "Eh, what? What? Share lar!"

"We fell in love at the mountain lar. On that very trip itself!"

Girl B giggled so hard that she nearly fell off her chair. "Hahaha, see? I rest my case lar. There's just something lovey dovey about that mountain!"

Girl A nodded. That night, the three friends gained a newfound respect for the tallest mountain in South East Asia.

* - not her real name, of course

Photo Credits

It was a hot and balmy night. Jase and I were sitting in the cool vicinities of KFC in deep discussion about something when suddenly this uncle came along, pointed at Jase and said, "Are you an engineer? You sure look like one."

I could see Jase's face lit up appreciatively like a Christmas tree. I guess that's what creative market-ty folks feel when they are mistaken for someone in the geeky line of work.

"That's not fair, Jase. I never get mistaken for an engineer or even an IT person. People actually think that I look like a lawyer!" I shook my head at the injustice of it all.

"Ok what. Hey, now that you mentioned it, you do look like a lawyer! Haha! Got intellectual look mar."

Ok, looking intellectual ain't half-bad. That perked me up a little. "Well, typical lawyers are normally verbose and argumentative. I am not argumentative wor."

"No, no, of course you are not argumentative," he hurriedly appeased me.

Seeing a big opening at the goal, I took the opportunity to lay it on real thick. "Yalar, I'm so sweet..."

"Yes, sweet."

"...demure"

"Errr... yeah, demure."

"Gentle and nice..."

At that Jase stopped short of his affirmations and gave me the evil eye. We both burst out laughing and went back to work.

That's the thing with Sanguines. When no one praises them, they take it upon themselves to exercise self-praise at any available opportunity they can get.

A Phlegmatic would shrug and say, "Ah well. No one noticed ah? Never mind lar, who cares?"

The Melancholys would sigh mournfully and wait patiently for someone to notice and appreciate their efforts.

The Cholerics would go out and terrorise people who dare to even suggest that they are less than great. Heh.

"Self praise is an international grace," so says my former lecturer.

I beg to differ. A little dosage of it once in a while truly lifts up one's spirits.

Try it

Helping some friends plan for their wedding. This is where my smallish Canon Ixus 40 camera came in handy. My d50 was simply too big and bulky to bring along in our expedition. It's hard taking photos on the sly with it since it practically screams - "Look at me!" everywhere I bring it to. So with some sadness in my heart, I left it behind.

Anyway, I snapped lots and lots of pictures so that we can show them to her family and fiance. I was particularly taking pains to tweak the bridal gown photos that she fell in love with so that her fiance will bowl over at the effect of it all. And bask in his good taste for choosing such a lovely creature for a wife.

After that I tweaked and resized photos of the restaurant which we thought was suitable to host the wedding dinner. Sent those files to the fiance and we waited for his feedback.

First thing that came back from those quarters was, "Wah, nice venue! Food looks yummy!"

Eh?

"Oi, what about the dress lar?"

"Oh, didn't look at that yet."

I was flummoxed. "But aren't you the least bit curious about how she looks like in all splendour and glory? She looks awesome wor!"

"Nope, bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony mar."

Wah, like that also can ar?

I'm not sure about the bad luck thing but I do know that girls would dearly love to hear compliments on her appearance especially from the ones very close to her heart.

A simple, "Honey, you look so beautiful and stunning in that dress" would earn you an obscenely high amount of brownie points.

But nope. Food venue takes precedence over that. Luckily, that guy's not my fiance. Otherwise...

:P

It's been a most wonderful weekend spent with my favourite people. Here's one of them:

[IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/coolcatalyst/bezziebdaycard.jpg[/IMG]

Through bad hair days
And lousy mood days
You've been there

Times when I am off-center
Directionally challenged and blur
You were there with me

You make me believe
That there's a better tomorrow
By doubling my joys
And halving my sorrows

For all that you are
And have been to me
I thank you, bezzie dearie

Happy birthday!