Written by lainie at 05:33 PM on June 2, 2008.

I accidentally scared a friend working in Zouk by asking (through Smile) about the dresscode, he was worried some negative review was coming up. Aiyah, I'm in Zouk almost every week, it'd be a strange form of hypocrisy if I actually wanted to hentam that place. Also, I'm not that scary yeah .

Rachel had been scheduled for the ICU ward and blood transfusion, but yesterday her platelet count finally went up, so she might even be discharged tomorrow (and taken back to Ipoh where her family is). This means the bunch of us who had been attending to her can all breathe a sigh of relief (but no louder than Rach, who's probably thankful she doesn't need the blood transfusion).

The nurses in Pantai are all nice. But I can't help but wonder if they're severely understaffed. Pressing the "call nurse" button does little more than set off ringtones all around the ward and flashes your room number, but they don't necessarily appear within ten minutes. Rachel's drip ran out and it took them nearly half an hour after I called them to change it.

Maybe Rach's dengue case is low priority, but still. I told my friend it'd be deeply ironic if I had some sort of heart attack, and pressed the button, and some aide saunters in fifteen minutes later to see what I wanted. They'd better not be charging for the damn nurse-button pressing thing.

I was sleeping in a chair next to Rachel, who's a very light sleeper, when I suddenly visualised my giant pet chicken. I do not have one, but every so often I get visuals of it (Jemufo can probably testify I've discussed walking it down the streets of Bangsar). This time, I imagined my embarassing, feathery friend entering the lift but being too fat to get out. And her eyes widen like she's about to explode as she tries to struggle out.

Hospital aides will be staring, as will the patients nearby.

Then I burst out giggling, realised how weird I looked laughing for no apparent reason, and giggled even more.

Trying to find ecologically responsible tourguides for stuff around KL is like....an exercise in blood-vomiting temptations. This is the same problem I've had with both tourguides. Celaka.

Dear tourists, can I trust you to leave the place as you found it, to make sure your fees go where they're supposed to, and to not allow your children to practice slingshots on the wildlife around you?

Written by lainie at 12:25 PM on June 3, 2008.

Captain Karat's post on the origin of Melaka's name is the best morning laugh I've had in a while: More Important Matters.

Today, I'll be writing about food and drink in Malaysia - not here, I mean for work. Hefty. Not individual restaurants, mind you, but the different types of cuisine available in this country.

I usually get a steady supply of food at Bernice's place (she made pumpkin potato soup yesterday, which was yummmmy). Today, when I'll be writing about all these appetite fanning stuff, I'm working from home. Where I have Maggi mee. And Maggi mee. And Maggi mee. I've been eating so regularly at Bernice's place I've not gone grocery shopping in a while. I have good reason to sulk when I open the fridge now - that being said, we have a lot of alcohol here.

Fortunately, I'm gonna have lunch with Kat, because I've not seen her in a long time. And I've made myself some Ribena. I will survive, hey hey.

I also uploaded a whole load of stuff on Flickr, and there are some photos of me and Bosco from my birthday dinner at LanLanPrrr, Bosco, Lainie, Life!.

Written by lainie at 02:28 AM on June 4, 2008 in Events, Arty stuff.

The Oral Stage will be presenting How I Learned to Drive this week, under Biggstage. I don't know who's responsible, but someone in that company has been choosing interesting plays, I liked the previous pick of The Illusion too. Ben has been nothing but conscientious in reminding me to plug this play on the blog:

And, the accompanying promo write up:

The Oral Stage returns with one of the most honoured American plays and the winner of numerous awards including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. KUALA LUMPUR –

The Oral Stage (TOS) proudly brings to you Paula Vogel’s HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, the company's second production under its BIGGSTAGE division - the creative outlet for its more advanced theatrical works. Directed by company founder and Executive Director, Kelvin Wong, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE weaves the tale of Li’l Bit, a woman whose adolescence was shaped under the tutelage of her uncle.

Growing up in a family with thin, penetrable personal boundaries, Li’l Bit becomes the victim of incestuous
intimacy: Uncle Peck does not only teach his teenage niece to drive, but sexually abused her too. Narrated
through a series of bittersweet flashbacks, HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE is an honest, coming-of-age account of forgiveness, healing and growth – an exploration of how it's possible for something positive to arise out of even the unhealthiest of relationships.

HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE was first produced in 1997 in New York City and has since been awarded, in
addition to the Pulitzer, the Obie, the Drama Desk Award, the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer
Circle Critics Award, and the Lucille Lortel Award.

The Oral Stage’s performances of HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE will run from Wed 4th June to Sun 8th June
2008 at The Actors Studio Bangsar.

You have been informed. This is the most active youth theatre available next to that of the college work (ie: Sunway). At the very least, I expect this to move beyond a certain other popular theatre company's idea of interpreting plays in a local context by making everyone speak with caricaturised accents.

I'm not saying I know what context it'll be done in. I'm saying if anyone's set the bar for interpreting foreign plays, it's been put ankle-high, and I certainly expect much much more by now from Oral Stage.

I just came back from a night at Stirring Odissi 2008, for the female solo night. I love watching Indian classical dance, and it's been a while, so the moment I knew about Odissi I was already making plans (beyond my budget) to catch more shows.

This is under Sutra, and I couldn't help but notice that there were a lot more familiar faces than at a typical Temple of Fine Arts event. Then again, tonight's performers included January Low, much approval there.

The first time I watched January dance was almost a decade ago, while I was still in secondary school. She was a good dancer then, and she's a fine one now. More than worth my time, I enjoyed her performance very much. Also liked Muhdavi Mudghal's. I would ask you to watch January Low dance, but you missed it, nyeh nyeh nyehhhh.

However, Stirring Odissi has a host of other nights that you can go for. For the womens' solo, these two nights are recommended, at the Malaysian Tourism Centre (where the rip-off restaurant Saloma is, next to Zouk).

There are also group performances at KLPac. Please note ticket sales are dependent on venue, if you want to watch it in KLPac, you'll have to get tickets there, which is hideously inconvenient for people like me, reliant on public transport.

On the other hand, MTC charges a booking fee for tickets you buy at the door. It makes no sense. Still, don't let this deter you. Try to go for the recommended nights if you want to catch female solo performances.

I don't know what to recommend for Group Night performances, but anything that says Sutra Dance Theatre ought to be a safe bet.

To top it all off, if theatre and dance are not to your taste, how about a night of charity and music combined? Funky Friday at The Attic!

As you can see, some excellent singers are banding together. You have Janet Lee, Zalina Lee, Nicole-Anne Thomas, Doreen Tang, Maria Yasmin, Peter Ong etc etc, with Zalila Lee on percussions. Proceeds shall go to the Independent Pet Rescuers, a group of people I respect (and contacted frequently for help with stray dogs when I lived with my aunt in KL). They're wonderful people, I think it's great that this night is being held for them.

If you're interested in all the shows I've listed, I recommend Friday for Attic, Saturday for Oral Stage, and Sunday for Stirring Odissi.

Have fun.

Written by lainie at 12:51 AM on June 5, 2008 in Family, Daily Life, Friends.

Al-fatihah, Toni.

Upon waking up, I received the sad news on my cellphone that Toni Kasim has passed away. I was dismayed when I realised I wasn't going to be in time for her funeral, for some inexplicable reason I wanted to say goodbye in a more formal ceremony. But yknow what. There's no sense saying goodbye. Not the way I pictured it. Wonderful people will always leave their mark on us, and that part of them always remains wherever they go. I have a bit of Toni imprinted on me, and so do a few of my friends. And it's a good mark.

I'll rather remember Toni as I do. Big personality. So warm. Intelligent. Witty. That big hair and her smile. Her distinctive voice, which Bernice and I kept hearing when we think of her. One of the ways I describe Toni is, if the woman runs for Prime Minister, I'll gladly vote for her. It'd take a damn perfect opposing candidate to sway me.

I think my goodbye to her, will be to hit the pause button on my favourite mental image of her, for a time being.

Kakiseni obit by Kathy here. The good die young. It's been raining heavily over here, which seems apt for the mood.

Hey Toni - hugs and kisses in heaven. Miss you already.

Above was written when I initially found out about Toni. I talked about her with a mutual friend later in the day. I think that helped, in a sense. That, and a constantly smiley, frisky bundle of love in the form of a manja, super-fluffy puppy.

As you guys may know, I want to apply for an Australian visa (and will, once I get the time to go to Aussie Embassy and sort out some questions during office hours!)

It should happen next week. Wish me luck, yes, even the dear friends who don't want me to go, okay?

My elder sister Gazel has been based in Melbourne for years, now with her husband Tommy. Was chatting with her online as to my wish to move there. She sent me two excel file sheets, one with links to useful websites (categorised according to function), and another detailing cost of daily expenses (monthly / weekly are listed too, but broken down in another column to daily), in Aussie dollars and in Ringgit after conversion.

It includes cost of rent per week, hospital insurance, groceries, travel, monthly bank fees. Eating out (separated into Western / Eastern, with or without entree/drink), sandwich for lunch, car rental, winter jacket,
a regular cofee, movies etc.

Before she emailed me, I'd never used Excel in this computer. Heck, this is the first time in years I even have Microsoft office suite (because the dude who reformatted my laptop is a bit presumptuous).

I'm looking at the entry under Groceries (Weekly) AUD$100, (Daily) AUD$14.29, (MYR) RM42.86 and imagining my food for the next year or so. MEAT.

It also lists the cost for Taxi, under "don't even think about it", AUD$ -, Daily $-, MYR0.00.

Lainie: ......

Gazel's very organised. In one MSN chat conversation she has covered more ground than I have in a month. It's help I need and I'm grateful, but also tickled at how differently we approach the matter.

The conversation that never happened:

Lainie: I'll go there and wing it / survive / draw a lot!

Gazel: Do you have ANY IDEA what's happening?

Lainie: I'm not a crazy hippie no matter what you think (or how true it is)!

The conversation that did happen:

Gazel says: can you pls stop referring me as geeky accountant
Gazel says: what if someone googles my name?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Lainie says: then they'll know you're my sister and we're very different la
Gazel says: now you google my name the geeky accountant shows up VERY CLEARLY and i am certainly not happy about it

[ The blog post responsible for that: World's Greatest Shave ]

I apologised because she thinks it's rude, but I really don't mean it that way (though I can see how it happens). See what I mean, we're very different people .

After our talk, Melbourne is more of a reality on my side now. I just need my visa approved. Structure, zomg.

In other news:

I'll be shopping for a digital SLR soon. Most likely a Nikon D40. Why? Kerana Erna Mahyuni is evils and now I want one. Bad. Frankly, it'll be handy for the work I do, as I cover a lot of arts events, and the dinky office camera I use is....Well. Let's not complain too much, at least I can borrow it.

Say I'm willing to spend about RM2000 on a digital SLR camera. What would my other options be? Any suggestions? Presume I have my issues with Canon / Casio, and my pet peeve is noise - but am nevertheless open to recommendations.

Wow. Massively effective targetted ads. I accidentally clicked one and it brought me to the Sigma DPI website.

Written by lainie at 02:03 PM on June 5, 2008 in work?, Friends.

Because sometimes Google and Wikipedia disappoint (also known as Lainie's Spelling is Crap).

me: annushia  i'm about to do some racial stereotyping and i'm sorry

  

*speaking from experience and subscription to stereotypes - they also can't tell one herbal tea from another.

Usually, my primary source of Indian cuisine (especially desserts) will be Nessa, cause she loves them, but she's not online. Damn the nerd.

Written by lainie at 03:47 PM on June 7, 2008 in work?, Friends.

I think, for the first time ever, I'm gonna have to claim travel expenses from Kakiseni, cause Kajang is VERY FAR AWAY.

Just got home. My Friday night was spent working, my Saturday wearing off my feet at a parade, in the morning, under the blazing sun, surrounded by kids. My lifestyle seems to have taken an about turn.

After hours of work / travel, I got out of the cab in front of my house and didn't recognise where I was. I am pooped. You know the cure for such desperate times? It's Ribena.

One long distance phonecall with Rish last night, just so we could sing Lion Sleeps Tonight together when she heard it at a party.

Some friends can feel really near and far at the same time. Hey, we got to sing .

Written by lainie at 10:37 PM on June 7, 2008.

Hey - I'll like you guys to meet someone:

A doodle I came up with because I've recently been doodling this face over and over again. This is him, watching paint dry (possibly intoxicated by the fumes), sitting next to his pet. You read that right, that ain't a toy, that's a living, breathing, pretty lil girl by the name of Winter.

In my head, Winter's usual way of communicating is a throaty, purring-mewing sound.

The guy's name is Guy.

This is the first sketch of Guy I did, and something about his dopey, morose expression I am rather attracted to. And that's also one of the first doodles of Winter I did too, at the edge.

The one thing I really like about drawing as a hobby is that there's this whole open playground, where imagination meets surface and pigments. Sometimes my friends don't draw because they feel self-conscious, that they aren't good enough, etc. It makes me feel a bit sad when that happens - I guess when I like something, I like everyone else to enjoy the process too.

I don't think anyone really needs to be skillful to enjoy drawing. The love for it, having that is the talent. Yknow?

Written by lainie at 11:37 AM on June 8, 2008 in Friends.

Dabido recently hosted a Blog Awards, and I've won two of Silver Surfer schlongs! Wheee!

Best art blog, and

best original video on blog:

You can check out the other winners and nominees on his website: And The Winners Are....

Thanks Dabs.

Written by lainie at 03:59 PM on June 9, 2008 in work?, Stupid, but fun..

Suddenly feel the overwhelming need to know how the nursery rhyme "I'm a little teapot, short and stout" ends - you never knew for over two decades and that was fine, but in the face of a wordcount to meet that numbers at tens of thousands, nothing else is more important than knowing

"Here is my handle and here is my spout, when I get all steamed up, hear me shout! Tip me over and pour me out!"

Giggle at the idea of miming all these at Bernice, who is expecting those tens of thousands of words in her inbox by the end of the day. Proceed to update your Twitter. Tell all your friends. Blog about it.

Written by lainie at 02:10 PM on June 12, 2008 in Rants, Daily Life.

Moment of pause, in the midst of a job rush - I'm doing okay. Really. It's nice to be aware of it.

I have great friends, jobs I like writing and designing (pay could be better), a cool social life at my convenience,  involvement in an arts scene I sayang, and I have a hell lot of fun at night and over weekends.There isn't much I want to do here that I can't or haven't.

I work at Bernice's place and even at the peak of our stress over looming deadlines, it's a good vibe. I have plans for my near future, involving travel projects. Overall, I'm doing more than okay. I'm doing great. I'm happy where I am. And this is me in PMS mode.

Then again, sometimes things happen that I find are so wrong, and they leave me feeling helpless. So I contact people, because my way of dealing isn't to spearhead anything, it's to collect concerned or informed people - but my resources are limited. I feel like a kid in the very adult, yet childish, world of bureaucracy.

You know, I pretty much lived two roads away from Pudu Jail. I can't say I like that place, it creeps me out.

But what I like isn't about what is right and wrong, and tearing down one of our historic buildings to build another shopping mall and condo, that speaks volumes about our lack of regard for our own history, built or otherwise.

I have here an excerpt from Yahoo's Uproar over looming demolition of historic WWII jail

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Plans to demolish Malaysia's historic Pudu jail, where allied prisoners were imprisoned and executed during the brutal Japanese occupation, have Second World War veterans up in arms.

The site of prisoner-of-war tortures, interrogations and modern-day infamous hangings is set to be torn down later this year, to be replaced by a commercial centre and condominium complex on the prime downtown location.

"Pudu jail should be preserved," said Charles Edwards, 89, who was a private in the Australian 8th Division, part of Commonwealth forces that defended Malaya, as it was then known, at the outset of the 1939-1945 war.

"So many Australians and allied soldiers died in places like Pudu, defending democracy and the lives of the people of Malaya," Edwards said from his home outside Melbourne.

"They made the ultimate sacrifice and Pudu is a reminder of that sacrifice which led to the freedom we enjoy now," he told AFP.

I'm working on a travel guidebook (for Insight Guides). Trust me, when I say we have ENOUGH SHOPPING MALLS. What we need to preserve, for ourselves and for our guests, are precisely buildings like Pudu Jail, our nature reserves, our historical landmarks.

I don't want to eventually write or read this about KL: "We look like the faceless land of shopping malls, but with some time and effort from you because we don't make our goodies easily available, here's a guide to what's hidden, out of the way, and would have been really awesome if anyone bothered to conserve / restore / provide accessible public transport to them. By the way, try not to skip anyof the entrance fees, they're nominal and about the only things keeping the employees there. And visit them before we put a mall over it".

I don't feel optimistic, in the face of what happened to Bok house and BBGS. But I don't want to give up either. Like I said, I'm doing okay, I'm not the easiest person to spiritually flatten.

And, as Sarchan succinctly put it: Who wants to live where Pudu Jail used to be?

It's working time now, so I have no business updating my blog. I'm on the nature reserves, parks and gardens section now. I never thought all those treks, nature walks and whatnots I used to get dragged for would one day come in handy for...work. Hah. I've not had to navigate the polite linguistic terrain of guano and spelunking yet (ie: batshit + caves = BAHAHAHAHA!).

Gotta go, y'all have a good day.

Written by lainie at 12:17 PM on June 19, 2008 in work?, Friends, Links / Email.

Hello world, I'm back.

I went for Toni Kasim's memorial over the weekend. Most of it, I was in a daze. Quite a big reason for the lull on the blog was, I suppose, the quiet shock that took me a while to process. It takes a long time for reality to settle into me, but I think the bulk of "Toni's gone" hit me over there. Amidst all the people who knew her, you can sense the heartache, the process of acceptance that it was a blessing we ever had her.

Some people spoke about her, sang songs, read poetry. Lina Tan screened a video that showed Toni as she is loved - funny, intelligent, beautiful, warm and so, so charming. Many more who were exceedingly close to her kept their memories more private. Unlike most who were there, my memories of her were not based on the good work she di, though I did benefit from them - mine were mostly parties, arts events. My last encounter with her was a very drunken one (on my part), and I was hitting on her (and with a lil bit of drunken sleaze) . I had no idea that would be the last time I'd see her.

There is much around my life that Toni had a hand in, or inspired. You really had to meet her to understand, there's no way you can feel low about yourself around her - she could give that much. It was a celebration of Toni. It's so hard to say goodbye to someone when so much of her legacy is around me, and the people I know. But like I said, I don't really intend to say goodbye, not that way. I'm a hippie atheist, perhaps my intuition on afterlife is slightly different from yours.

Yknow, one thing about knowing Toni is realising, you can be a good person. And that's the thing about her, she does make you want to be a lil more like her. A lot more to give to the world. I think we all could learn from the love Toni had. I'm not great at public displays of grief - barely so even most of my friends, but it's evolving beyond that now.

Hugs n kisses in heaven, Toni.

And moving along:

 Friend and excellent comic artist Chee  would appreciate your help: He's in the Wizard's Universe WAR HEROES cover voting contest, in Heat 10, as H) Chee Yang Ong. You know this dude, and like his artwork, then vote for him!

Bernice and I have handed in quite a few proofs of the sections in the travel guide, about 20 of them. Anyone needs a tour guide?

Had dinner with Nicholas, and squealed over his lensbaby because it was so cute. He handed me the programme book for The Oral Stage's production of How I Learned to Drive, because an advert I designed is in it:

Since it's on the last page, after many pages of decent cast and crew writeups, it raised a few eyebrows.

I'm sure we all know Firefox's Download Day is behind us.

On a minor note, open source media player Songbird is at its first public alpha release. Supports Last.fm, and a host of media formats, and generally not bad la. I must say the prior version was too buggy for me, but hopefully this one works better.