an entire month went by...

Apologies for the few-weeks' break. I'm blaming an excess surge of happy hormones and lack of machinists that make keeping my feet on the ground (and blog-posting) that little bit harder. I find myself staring onto the screen some nights, working out what to say (complaints? socio-economic observations? education?) whilst rolling about and giggling. Not exactly the first image one would come up with reading this blog, but it was truthful.

On the current affairs front, the delays involved with sprucing up the SEA Games complex reminded me of the Delhi Commonwealth Games fiasco last year. It made me think what is seriously wrong with this side of the world's propensity towards lax time-keeping in project management and execution? Does it have something to do with countries whose name start with I-N-D? How much of this inherent cultural laxness that resides in me that I can expel, reduce or control?
(I felt tempted to float the idea 'channel laxness towards other more lax-friendly areas in life', but laxness is like rotting teeth - not good.)

On the analogy front, I came up with a good phrase at the end of my gastro-intestinal problems. I haven't been in my physiologically prime since I came back: twisting my ankle, getting a cold, falling into a ditch... but nothing beats October's spectacle of eating cheap ice-cream. My sister suggested it; in the heat of the day (and worlds away from my favourite gelateria) it seemed like a good thing. Until I finished the two sticks I bought, realised they weren't that good to begin with, wondered why I compromised myself in the ice-cream stake... and got diarrhoea. It was a bit like going for one-night stands and getting a nasty VD. (Well, toldja.)
So I got an ice-cream maker at the end of the month and started churning my own stuff for personal consumption. My grandma's feedback was that 'it was cold and it melted'. Yes grandma, it's ice-cream.

On the socialising front, I'm spending a lot more time with my sister compared to what it was like between May and August. Also, I bumped into a certain Mr, which was enjoyable and quite funny towards the end. Maybe we can swap yams with gelati, or even do a yam-flavoured collaboration.

(If my dad asked to do me a gelati flavour I'd do cassava leaf, in honour of his fondness of the stuff.)

Anyway, more serious posts coming up. I've got a teaching gig starting in early December, I've gone through each subject's syllabus, and I'm doing prep work for them. Stay tuned for actions from the classroom front, on earning a 'Miss Killer' moniker without creating any mutiny, running a workshop and heavy-duty socialising. Challenging days ahead!

progress on the skating front

Yesterday, the adult learn-to-skate group I'm in passed the informal test and progressed to a higher stage. I am glad because it was about time to move on to something else! Such as going forward with one leg up and arms flailing ungracefully.

It was quite funny/frustrating that it took me a lot of unlearning to be able to stop (those instructors I had when I was 13 - grrr!), and now that I managed to do all the basic things correctly, I'm struggling to do what I had learnt when I was 13.

I do have little kiddo envy, because:
1. They're tiny enough for instructors to hurl and hold whilst they keep their feet up in air, so they can get a foretaste of 'what it feels like to hold that move'.
2. There's a lack of awareness that there are knives on their feet.
3. Arse-to-ground distance is one foot. Much lighter mass. Fearless, basically. At times like these, I wish I hadn't known anything about physics and the force of gravity. And therefore, when they jerk, they shake less.

So basically, I have to work on dropping my fear reservations issues to improve my balance because it translates into a very funny stance: neck craning, arse backward... not right at all (it's a pity how cameras are off-limits at the rink.) And start jumping higher, because although I can run fast, I don't think I can jump high enough to save my life.

Must eat more veg and dairy.

what was the name again?

Mustering up the appetite to post...

1.
This has been a bit manic. Actually, that's an understatement. The task of writing for someone else, which (after a few years' practice here) is tricky as I'm so used to writing on my own behalf. I'd rather edit a non-pedant's work than do it from scratch myself. Not least the onerous task of sampling, sourcing, cutting, making and promoting the stuff in order to SELL it. Oh yes, we've got a sales manager...

2.
And, because of #1, this has taken a back seat....... ummm that's not a commendable habit dearie.

3.
There is such a thing as interning after graduation...

4.
...and to add to the roster, my little claim to good exercise habit (aside from mad nighttime cycling to collect receipts) is furthered by the fact. That. I'm. Learning to skate. Again. When I started 13 years ago, I wasn't anywhere as naturally good as Rez. Time will tell whether all those tambourine- and ballroom Latin dancing pays off in some form of grace, torque or gravity-defying leverage. Last weekend's new lessons were gliding backwards and stopping. Well, I'm still learning to stop 13 years on (the lady instructor pulled out a trick that incited a scream, but still I glided a few further metres before stopping. Trick FAIL.) The helpful thing is I learnt to fall safely and get up this time around, instead of hurtling down and scraping my shins on ice the way I used to do towards the end of a session. Serious stuff.

5.
There is such a thing as forgetting a word in one's native tongue.
Chef: "Western tourists really tried all the normal stuff natives do"
Me: "Like what?"
Chef: "Like, not be fussy and eat local food."
Me: "Well yeah. And they need carbon tablets afterwards."
Chef: "Each part of the country has its own specialties, like in Sumatra..."
Me: "Like beras (rice) in Berastagi? And in Prapat, that fruit...?"
Chef: "Yeah, that fruit."
*silence*
Me: "The one that's black outside and yellow inside?"
Chef: "Yeah, that one."
*silence*
Me: "It's not passionfruit, is it..."
Chef: "No, it's not."
*silence*
Chef: "I forgot the word for it."
*silence*
Me: "I know what you mean, it's the one made into syrup?"
Chef: "That's the one, what's the name?"
Me: "Dunno. I can't remember too."
The following morning, at shower-time, only did I remember the fruit we were talking about was markisa. Ouch.

Anyway. Off to bed. Interning tomorrow.

mysterious symptoms

The weather gets colder, the woolies come out, and the clocks roll back an hour: it's time to dig out Tiger Balsam. I've been hovering between states of coldness, flatulence, recurring hunger (not that I didn't eat normally) and mental distraction before speculating... hmmm maybe this is what people call masuk angin. Or cold.

Thank God and my dad for the Tiger Balsam.

P.S. I will go to bed earlier (like, 10) and wake up at 4:30. This is a regime I want to ingratiate myself to. I work better in the small hours.

(30/32 update)

Seventeen hours on...

Bleeding has stopped, anaestheses wore off much quicker than anticipated (could it be due to drinking or reduced morphine dosage?), slept for nearly half a day, I don't stink as bad as expected, and... I ate nice, spicy, rich foods. The pain has subsided, too.

...which means today is a normal day. Hooray! ^o^

P.S. there's slight bleeding when brushing teeth and un-boiled water is still off-limits, but everything else is fine.

(30/32)

An hour ago, I walked out of a dentist's room with one less wisdom tooth in my mouth.
(And a bloody gum to take care of.)

Since I was little, I've never shirked away from going to the dentist. I quite enjoy going, to be honest, as there were so many books and magazines I could read whilst waiting for my turn (or my mom's turn). The only thing I really despise is having one's [wisdom] tooth/teeth taken out.

Now, why do I dislike having my tooth taken out?
- it grew out alright, although it was essentially a root canal maker-in-breeding
- my teeth, despite their small sizes, possesses what is collectively known by Indonesian dentists as gigi orang batak - grippy roots. This necessitates extra elbow grease (and resulting pain) upon extraction.
- the throbbing sensation on the operation site, sign of blood pumping and leaking through the stitches (big eeek factor.)
- temporary facial paralysis... I can't smile.
- I smell like anaesthesic, which is not exactly my favourite fragrance
- no nice-tasting food for the next couple of days D;

Anyway, I'm quite glad I can still think straight and type out this post. I'll let you know how I fare in the next 24 hours. In the meantime, have a good time folks! ^__^

(spices and endorphins)

Spices and good food can make you high.

Today I had dinner with Anne, Mag and KY... in a Malay/Indonesian restaurant (one of the two reputedly original Southeast Asian cuisine restaurants in Europe.) As it is located in SoHo, we have passed through it many times before, but tonight's dinner was our first taste of this restaurant. The spices are tastefully mixed without giving much concession to there-might-be-too-much-spices culinary suspicions, and all of us enjoyed our meal. Highlights of the night were kangkung belacan (staple veg dish), sambal kambing (interesting with a hot/zingy aftertaste) and ayam mas derwaji (leave no sauce unlapped.)

We got high after the meal and kept on laughing on what seemed to be funny... arguing on how the combined sounds of elephant and monkey would be, afterlife shopping, the jelly fish man event tomorrow, and how good our next-table neigbours' food look like - mussels! The thing was, we didn't order any house wine to go with the dishes (despite Anne's initial persistence.) It was the right thing to do because I honestly don't think spices, mutton and red wine would mix. And even without any alcohol, we managed to stay high throughout the night...

Is there a strong, direct correlation between eating/ingesting certain spices and subsequent release of endorphins?
I want to find out more about this :))

In the meantime, we folks will be staying clear of alcohol and sticking to spiced Southeast Asian fares. The food does us good when it comes to keeping our bottomless appetite satiated ^__^

Take care!

Sagittarius

Humans are transient, yet the works of their hands are a legacy that lasts longer than their mortal existence.

With the death of Taufik Savalas, the Indonesian blogging community went into mourning. Many were saddened by his sudden departure, some more critical on how how his death overshadowed another transport disaster. As for myself, I am affected by his loss but at the same time I'm unfortunate enough to have not watched much of his now-infamous impersonations of public personalities (hence the lack of overpowering grief.) I hope his surviving family would have enough support to see through the future... somewhere along the way the Irwins have done after their loss of Steve, a.k.a. the Croc Hunter.

On a deeper note, I went to the Heart Exhibition in Euston. I was a bit surprised to find my visual studies tutor gazing at an exhibit case... finding your ex-tutor outside school premises and during vacation counts in as a nice surprise. The exhibit ranges from the cute, the religous to the scientific and the gruesome. It's an exhibition I wished Anne could see, for all the things she finds interesting.

I steeled myself to watch a heart transplant operation recording, casting a glance with my right eye when the scenes got a bit too stomach-churning. Why I used my right eye to have a peek is because the right eye is linked to the brain's left side, which handles logical work... my nerves would be too squeamish to hook up the gory images into my brain's right side. An opened-up chest cavity does have that beef rib layer look, and putting in the donor organ turned out to involve more work than removing the failing organ. I was somehow amused to learn how surgeons tack the inner chest cavity and blind stitch the skin... there are so much similarity shared with my current line of study. I simply have the luxury of being able to undo a faulty stitch with relative ease and little damage to the fabric structure; these surgeons can't do a wrong stitch at all!

All those tubes, machines and liquids were so needed to sustain the existence of a person. The human body is an amazing piece of living machinery in its own right. Medics devote so much time to learn about bodily functions that seem to happen as simple and assuring as how the sun rises from the east. Attempted mistreatement to the body is simply unthinkable o__o

I took down so much notes last night.

Finally, on the issue of how the heart is perceived as the centre of humanity. We have those moments when our hearts seem to have skipped a bit when that important, much-treasured name is mentioned (the other possibility is when the heart seems to calm down when that name is mentioned.) This diagram largely outlines my train of thought...


How do you think we relate to each other in a social setting?

It does make me think that the physical body is a vessel for our consciousness. The consciousness creates humanity, and in turn the humanity it creates gets passed down to the following generation. We are more than just DNA coding and bits of stardust floating around the universe; we are surely more complex and fine-tuned than that ^__^

Humans don't just exist because of a blip or due to some divine whim... there is a greater purpose in our existence, and it has much to do with sharing our lives with others around us.

I really get carried away with this post... I'm really satisfied ^__^ Also, I managed to get the MP3 file for this song - yippee! :D The song is important not only because it's freshly procured or it's in Japanese, but because the lyrics share a lot with the rambles I have in mind.

Well then, just got a call from my friends, so I better meet them and go watch Harry Potter... that is, if I can procure tickets for tonight's session :))

Zutto mabushii koe de
Kitto eien ni aru
Furueteta mune wo tomeru
Natsu no kizumi tsuzuite

Sotto kimi wo kanjiteru
Fuu to nagareru gensou wa
Nami mo kamo koko kara
Saratteku yoyuu de shizuka ni

Kasanari atte tojita me mitsumeru kokoro wo
Wasurenai de, wasurenai de

Aoi namida no kazu, hoshi no kazu
Musunda sora ni
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Itsuka kiete yuku
Tsukamu hikari hitotsu, hitotsu dake
Egaita yume wo
Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere
Nagamete iru

Motto hohaba otoshite
Yatto yoko naranda rizumu
Mayonaka no odayaka na
Nami ni osare tabi suru

Ima kasanari atte tojita me ga mitsumeru kokoro wo
Wasurenai de, wasurenai de

Hajimete no sekai ni kono basho ni
Kinou no kage wa
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Katachi ushinatta
Mimimoto de sasayaita ima tsubuyaita
Kimi no kotoba wa
Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere
Asu ni nageta

Wasurenai sa, wasurenai sa

Aoi namida no kazu hoshi no kazu
Musunda sora ni
Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere
Itsuka kiete yuku
Tsukamu hikari hitotsu, hitotsu dake
Egaita yume wo
Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere
Nagameru futari
Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere
Kono kimochi goto
Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere
Wasurenai de...

(this summer's sweatshop)

What do you call a working group of fashion students? A sweatshop.


(Featuring Helen, Anne, KY and an unseen Jeanne.)

I didn't help them much today; all of them have finished their garments and are doing the paperworks (illustrations, technical drawings, compiling, binding etc.) There wasn't much I could do other than cooking and cleaning - for me, I was being more of a domestic helper than lending a hand to help finish their work. Nevermind, I'm quite happy with the helper role, and I'm going to see them submit their work tomorrow. I might be able to sneak in and have a look at what other students do, too... ^.^

Mmmm. The hunt is on; ...I wonder, who stands in my position this year? The internet yields no news so far... and the night is less than a week away. I wonder whether these ladies are being grilled through the routines right now, who is the artistic director, and who would have enough guts to speak up against him/her... :s

Also, if Barbie was a real-life figure, her body would be attainable only through plastic surgeries and tightlacing. Yes, you can try to grow naturally to 5'9"... but there's no way a waist circumference of 45.72 cm is naturally attainable (this comes from a girl whose measurement 'grew' only 5 cm since she was six.) And no, you can't possibly support all the above-mentioned attributes on a pair of European size 33 feet. I wonder why Mattel has not adjusted Barbie's unrealistic proportion, since the doll is one of the earliest female body image role models available to children in today's postmodern consumerist society.

Oh well... here I rest my case.

(what would you do...)

...if you were a minister of Women's Affairs in Indonesia?

My answer last year was "to assure women that their gender difference [to men] is irrelevant when it comes to measuring themselves against men, as women are men are different yet they are equals."

I want to make a difference and contributes substantially into whatever 'good' people around me may need. If holding a ministerial spot is what entails my desire, then I would take it on. The problem with such delegated power/responsibility is the factional politics any civil servant in a ministerial post would be thrown into. I am not keen on participating in factional squabbles when there are things other than vote-chasing to do. I'm not saying that voters' support is unimportant; I just believe that you would do what you're passionate about regardless of how much support you can gather. Well... when there is a will, there is a way.

Since I'm a gourmand and food plays an important part in life, [hypothetically speaking] I would encourage home businesses to harness the climate and create nutritional food of good quality. In specific, that would entail tempeh production. On a lesser note, Fresh & Wild in SoHo sells tempeh (£1.99/cake) but the fermentation is somewhat stunted due to Britain's erratic weather, resulting in dismal-looking tempeh cakes with minimum spores covering their sides. I still crave for the soft and white cakey-looking stuff peddled by tukang sayur on Jakarta's streetsides. In the meantime, I'm getting my soya-based protein fix from nattō, miso soup and soya milk.

I understand that polished white rice is ubiquitous to today's Indonesian diet, thanks to who meneers who elevated its status as "the food to eat everyday". Indonesians' obsession to polished white rice is akin to that of the French's on fresh baguettes. Polished white rice is packed with energy... and nothing much apart from sugar. Also, meats from domesticated stock animals are seen as desirable foodstuffs on the dinner table. I bet my love of red meat *must* have been influenced by this general view that "the meatier the dinner is, the better".

On the other hand, I'm lucky to have parents who provide me with consistent examples of good nutritional habits. My love of vegetables stems from oh-so-boring red bean soup with beef and veg (I tend to fish ALL the tomatoes and carrots.) When I was little, my mum used to make her own soya milk, to which almost no sugar is added. Even today the house remains largely MSG-free and sodium-deprived, although mbak Parni could easily produce a huge chunk of salt from the kitchen if you asked her for it. When I started working at AAB, my workmates were suprised to discover I looked forward to ordering stirfried kangkong and snacked on fried tempeh on lunchtimes, as opposed to spag bol.

My point is, a weekly serving of fish and lean red meat is good for your health, but you can get your protein fix from the so-called kampong foods by which tempeh and tofu are often derogatorily referred to. Mind you, bodybuilders here often jostle for these kampong foods due to their high protein content! Plus, tempeh also increases your immunity. For those living in Indonesia, looking good and feeling great has never been so affordable - just go to your neighbourhood's tukang sayur to get your hands on tempeh and tofu.

Oh my, I'm speaking on behalf of the association of tukang sayur se-Indonesia (if there is one) - if you're not enticed enough to eat tempeh and tofu, buy them to give these peddlers some good, ol' fashioned honest profit!

Finally, back to this post's title... if I were a minister:

I would make good tempeh and promote it to all corners of the world.

I shall be known as the designer with a passion for tempeh. As simple as that.

Here I rest my case ^__^ Have a good day!

(marketers' speak)

Just checked this article my Dad sent me some time ago. I couldn't access it from work back in Indonesia, so I forwarded it to myself and just came across it this morning. It's a particularly useful thing to know in our bogus claims-filled world. Check it out for your own caveat emptor in buying health products.

The other thing is about the date/timing. The post couldn't be time-specified because the posting time bar didn't appear (technical problem?) I registered when I was in Melbourne, hence they took in my Melbourne time as the default. Yikes and sucky. Oh well anyway, it's just before 8AM when I'm doing this blog, so you may count the time difference yourself.

Keep your eyes peeled.

(Supermi time!)

Glutton at work. I mean... the glutton, at work.

There is this thing with me, hunger at work and instant noodles. The way it was with me, hunger while studying and instant noodles (infamously dubbed 'midnight snack'.) The midnight snacking has stopped largely due to my changing sleep pattern, which implies I am already fast asleep when the midnight hunger strikes.

Alas, it didn't happen so with the mid-afternoon hunger.

I've been trying to cut back on carbs and fat lately... the job consists of very light physical activities (typing and filling up my glass with water amongst other things) which does not need the amount of energy generated by the amount of food I normally consume. To keep eating a lot, I have to reduce the energy yield per volume proportionally... or else I'll be as fat as Bandit! Instant noodles didn't make the cut, so it was [planned] not to be part of my daily diet. Originally.

Looks like now it will be hard to get rid of the habit...

(For those who didn't know, I already bring with me a bagful of food to munch on during the day. When these run out, I resort to noodles. Well, whenever I feel the urge to eat something gluttonish.)

Take care! ^.^;

Awesome

I've been working for three days now, and I'm glad I still keep my sanity intact whenever I'm driving myself to and from work. I'm also thankful God has been waking me up a couple of minutes before my alarm rings - yes, and He is telling me to go to bed now too! ^.^;

On Saturday evening, I went out to have dinner with my family. We decided to eat seafoods: my dad ordered fried fish, my mum ordered otak-otak (yum!), and I ordered mussels and a crab. Since my dad was allergic to eating crabs, my mum and I happily lapped the crab. And then... on Sunday evening, we started feeling unwell. We kinda suspect we got food poisoning from eating the crab, as my dad was the only one who was in a relatively well condition compared to both of us. Earlier in the morning, I didn't really want to go to work because of the food poisoning (went in and out and in and out of the restroom many times), but I argued with myself (get-moving-or-lose-the-job arguments) and dragged myself into work today. Luckily, I recovered. As for my mum, the last time I saw her a couple of hours ago, she was still unwell she took time off from work (which is rare.) Hopefully she'll get better by tomorrow.


Lastly, dear Ponky and Andri, thank you for the book! It's really awesome!! TTvTT Can't believe it... hehehe... thank youuuu ^^

Alright, going to bed now... take care. I've decided that I will be a civilised/courteous/well-mannered driver regardless of how silly or futile others think the effort may be. To change a society, one needs to change oneself. It's a challenging effort, but I'm sticking up with it anyway. At least I drive on my own, so when I get irritated I can always sing on top of my lungs without turning anybody else deaf ^^; Tee hee. Take care, good night, sleep well!

P. S.: I miss my Ban Ban, PK and ICM the most. My sister, you rank in later ^^ (we chat quite often anyway.) Hope you'll have better eyesight than me soon! Although I would still like to be the one with better eyesight... hehehe...

Maravillado estoy de ti
Maravillado estoy de ti
Santo Dios
De quien la gloria es
Maravillado estoy
Maravillado estoy

(caveat emptor)

Just went through a Google search for hydroquinone. This material is widely used in all sorts of things, and particularly in topical skin lighteners. Just to clarify some things, I've included several links to clarify what this substance really is. Here's link #1, link #2 and link #3 (you can also ask Mr. Google for more information.) Hope this helps those who are about to buy their skin lightener/brightener make the right decision.

To be honest, I cringed when I heard one TV ad says, "this product contains 2% hydroquinone to effectively lighten your skin". Growing up reading ingredients list labelled on the back of skincare/cosmetics products, listening to that phrase spoken to aspiring ladies out there made me shiver at how greedy all these producers are: luring them to buy their products with a sweet promise of clearer, lighter-toned skin. Once the products are bought and the money flows, it became of no concern to these producers that these ladies are in considerable health risk. I don't know whether it's their ignorance or their unwillingness to research for the best that makes them to resort to such actions. The fact that not a lot of people actually read labels off adds to the potential time-bomb of mutations and carcinogenic reactions.

And what about me now? As usual, feeling sweaty. It had just begun raining a couple of minutes ago. Practically this is my second last day of vacation before work starts on Wednesday. Yesterday the whole family went to Mango Two on a shopping trip; I got a suit. Anyway, it was surprising to see how big the whole place is right now, as compared to years ago. For today, me and Poink are going to Monalisa, to Freeze Frame (I wish there'd be no blotchy makeup job later on), and to the dentist's (I actually love going there ^^) Oh yeah, Michael is coming tomorrow, and tomorrow is also Irene's birthday... just an early note, happy birthday Irene! ^^ As for my mental note, I'm learning to contain myself while being ignored. Heheheheh...

Alright, that's just about everything. Take care and see you around! ^^

What About Me

It's good, I managed to have a safe touchdown and some pretty interesting episodes of my life in the past couple of days.

Let's begin with the day trip in Singapore. Went to see Yosh and had a good chat with her (apart from the part that she's a heavy smoker >.<) That part went on well, and we had a good conversation. She was actually really open in terms of the way she thinks and reacts to things around her. I was actually relieved to hear that the Tokyo office actually recruits English-speaking graduates to work as a language editor up there. Apart from that, bringing a small bottle of whiskey proved to be a good strategic move as she was able to put it in her bag. It would be hard to conceal a 1L bottle, and most likely most people in her office would assume she's a midday drinker! She drinks, but not when the sun is up. Plus I was so shocked to hear first-hand that in Singapore the Government directly manages how its people behave by levying high tax rates on articles such as alcoholic drinks. Gee, it goes a long way doesn't it.

Secondly, I went to meet Jojo in Orchard. Actually felt really bad with the fact that she had to take taxi (as opposed to MRT) to go to the meeting, especially that it is so expensive. Then she made me be paid for lunch (ouch! >.<) We talked about a lot of things, especially with how we are coping with our lives. I really miss her, and I just hope that despite the fact that her environment is not supportive of her faith, she continues to keep holding on.

Thirdly, I got this really bad case of rashes on my body. The areas mainly affected are the torso and the back. Went to see a doctor in Singapore and got some medications too (I got to a point where I scratched my skin with my nails because it was so hot and itchy to touch.) When I got home and thoroughly checked it out, I looked like some boiled crab...

For that one, I hope it was only a bad case of weather/climate change.

Lastly, I've been thinking about this supposed five-year period that I have left. I've got plans to go abroad and do some island-hopping before settling down. Vivin and CIpi's wedding triggered some sort of chain reaction that prompts some girls thinking about that part of their life. Honestly, I am more scared ending up with the wrong person and/or at the wrong time rather than not getting married at all. You see, we've got this biological clock ticking on top of our head. Nowadays even my grandma has started talking about it. I've been wearing a Russian band on my hand to keep myself relatively free of harasses. OK (this is a distantly related topic), just earlier today we went to church and socialised with some people afterwards. When they shook my hand I realised that the ring kinda squeezed my finger and to some extent it was uncomfortable. In some sense, a marriage is not about looking 'bling and glam' for the rest of your life; it protects you although sometimes it hurts to be in it (the same way I feel about my Russian band.) I need nerves of steel, self-restraint and a calm composure to get through it, especially remembering about that guy who is yet to reveal himself. I wonder if he is reading my blog. Probably later on (as in "in the years to come") we're gonna laugh on top of our lungs about how impatient and childish we were when we were young, when we recall that everything we experience was actually worth the price paid.

Alright, enough blab to keep you going. I'm moving next door to the air-conditionned room before the rash breaks out (need to take my medications too.) Take care, and see you around ^^

What about me?