Written by lainie at 01:09 PM on April 21, 2009 in Friends, Arty stuff.

I think if I want to keep this blog, I have to change how I update it. It sounds pretentious, but my social life (and work hours) doesn't leave time for me to recollect it.

There's this Andy Warhol quote I read on Joyce's blog that has stuck with me. It's from her post wishing me happy birthday.

"I have social disease. I have to go out every night" -- Andy Warhol

IT'S BECOME TRUE, I'M A SOCIAL WHORE. Heh. 8 years ago I came to KL a shy, teenage Ipoh girl. Subang made me a mutant, I suppose.

As for my blog, I need to stop planning epic blog posts. Cause that's where they stay -- in the planning phase. It's okay, it's the age of Twitter, Tumblr, and overglorified ADD. I'll deal. 

A smattering of events that stick out more than others:

I designed this poster for the retrospective film fest happening in London.

This is, of course, way after the actual event. What can I say, Umno general assembly, triple by-elections, coupled with some graphic design jobs, it's been frickin' hectic.

I didn't foresee myself doing FreedomFilmFest designs again anytime soon (I did the entire festival's identity some time back), but Lola, bless her giving soul, volunteered on my behalf while I was asleep.

Gabrielle, a TiltedWorld blogger, messaged me online many days ago. With apologies to Gabs, here's the beginning of our chat:

Gabrielle: you know what happened to Yang Jerng right?
Lainie: what?
Lainie: what?
Lainie:  what happened?
Lainie:  what what what?
Gabrielle: mugged
Gabrielle: ER
Lainie: HUH?
Gabrielle: skull fracture
Lainie: where?
Lainie: when?
Lainie: fuck
Gabrielle: brain spillage
Gabrielle:  critical
Lainie: first, can we confirm you are NOT joking?
Lainie: cause i'm about to ask my friends and i dont want mass freakage from a joke
Gabrielle: NO

I learnt that the news was: Jerng had been mugged one night, while walking home. His head had been cracked open by the robbers, and half his brains were spilled on the floor. That he had been taken to the emergency ward, in University Hospital.

There was no further information available (Gabrielle ran off to do an interview). I started getting phone calls from worried friends presuming I'd be in the know. Everyone skirted around the topic of Jerng's brain spillage before finally admitting that's what they had HEARD, but not been able to confirm.

Never thought the day would arrive when I had to check if Jerng still had his mind.

I was at work when I found out. Zedeck, (my ex-housemate along with Jerng), was in the office that day, so we planned to go to the hospital to see how Jerng was doing. And at least to make sure this was happening. We agreed that the idea of Jerng with brain damage was most difficult, and uncomfortable, to comprehend.

Much later, while I'm still at work, Michelle calls me, and says she contacted Jerng's parents to check what happened. Jerng's parents had no idea -- but he sent a text last night saying he wouldn't be coming home.

So, either

1) Jerng didn't plan to go home, or

2) someone stole his phone (we couldn't call it at the time), or

3) his brains were NOT spilling out, and he told his parents not to expect him home, without actually saying why. Which is a Very Jerng Thing to do.

I eventually get a call from someone who's visited him, saying Jerng is in University Hospital, and "kinda chirpy".
*huge sigh of relief*.

Zed and I visited him (Zed actually told Jerng "I can't believe I paid five bucks to come and see you!"). Jerng's head had been cracked open, there were dried spots of blood on his sheets -- but the serious injury was his missing pinkie finger. It had been walloped off by four robbers.

Well, by the time I visited Jerng, he'd had microsurgery and gotten it sewn back on. But he DID whip out his phone to show me pictures he took of himself, and his missing finger.

Of course, while waiting in the Emergency Ward, Jerng takes notes of his situation AND camwhores. He then posts it online.

It starts at this post: Day 219. You read everything else on Jerng's blog at the peril of your own reality.

[ Fine, I took so long to post this up Jerng's removed his blog. Sorry ]

Written by lainie at 10:32 AM on April 25, 2009.

"You do realise if you overstay your visa they will JAIL you right?"

-- thanks, Josie

For those who haven't heard, I'm going on a holiday (with no intentions of overstaying any of my visas, what kind of jerk do some of you think I am? -___-").

I'm starting off in Melbourne, where my sister stays. Nessa and Daph (and quite a lot of friends) will be meeting up with me there. I intend to check out their arts scene.

What happens from there? I'll travel around Australia. I don't have a fixed itinerary, because most of my friends have not been able to confirm their schedules with me. So I'm not sure which state I'll be in when it's time to leave.

From there, I want to head to the solar eclipse in Japan (July), where a group of us will travel from Aust over to Amami. That's the plan anyway. I leave today. You people have fun, yo.

[ I'm taking a short break from work at The Nut Graph, and starting again in mid-May ]

Written by lainie at 10:32 PM on April 26, 2009 in Friends, Holidays / Road Trip.

I'm in the chilly arms of Melbourne. Got my luggage, breezed through customs (nothing like what I'd heard of), headed out to arrivals and the first person I saw was Daph, mouth open mid-yawn. "Well, that was anti-climatic," she grinned. She was wrong, I was delighted. And freezing my butt off.

Daph drove out from Jan Juc to pick me up by 7am. I'm impressed, even I don't think I should be loved that much.

If she weren't there, I might have been a tad cranky. Not from the long flight, but from the triple death combination of watching Twilight, Quantum of Solace and Bedtime Stories.

Luckily, Mas Airlines provides alcoholic beverages.

Daph: Omigod, you're here :D. I was so worried I'd drive one and a half hours to get here, and you'd be turned back at customs! ARgh! I'm so happy!

It was quite a long drive (for me) from the airport to Melbourne's city centre, but Daph assured me twenty minutes wasn't long at all.

Lainie: Where are we? Where's the airport based?
Daph: Oh..I don't know. Far away. Tullamarine is like, really far away. Somewhere, out there. Which highway are we on?
Lainie: ....(just got off the plane twenty minutes ago)......

She wanted to take me to a Chinese restaurant for breakfast, near my new place. We decided to leave my luggage in the car, because she assured me it'd be safe, even though it was highly visible in her boot. When we realised it wasn't open till 11am, we headed back to the car.

Daph: (tries my door) Ooops, I forgot to lock it :D.
Lainie: -___-" Luckily my luggage is still here.
Daph: Oh my car boot (which opens into the car) doesn't lock either :D.
Lainie: -__________-
Daph: I haven't locked my boot in nine months! It's cool!
Lainie: You're such an idiot XD

It's very hard for me not to be happy around Daph. We decided to drop off my stuff at Gazel and Tommy's place first. It's in the city centre, and with her dodgy car, perhaps it's safer for my stuff, ei?

Here she is terrorising the apartment's alpha-male pet prawn, Pillai.

Gazel and Tommy suggested breakfast at a cafe nearby called European. The food, coffee and ambience was awesome. Great start to Melbourne for a famished person. Bacon, yummmm. Smoked trout, yummmm. Avocado salsa, yummmmmmm.

Sticker from St Jerome's laneway. Testing out my phone's camera.

After brekkie, we walked around a lil bit so Daph could show me the laneways she liked in Melbourne. Unfortunately, it being Sunday and post-Anzac Day, a lot of places weren't open.

She also wants to bring me to Eurotrash Bar, and I trust her to know what I might like. In fact, I can't help but notice Bag Raiders is featured on their website -- this woman already got me hooked on their music. She's also pointed out the graphic design bookstore to me, I'll definitely have to camp out in there.

And now, lack of sleep is catching up with me. I'll update later when I can. It's nearly midnight here, and nowhere near my actual bedtime in Malaysia. Just an update to say I'm alive, I'm here, I'm happy, and I love you.

It didn't feel like I was leaving Malaysia till I looked out the plane window, as the sun was rising, and that little light at the tip of the airplane's wing was winking at me. A sunrise viewed from a plane is always a beautiful thing.

I'm going shopping tomorrow!

Written by lainie at 10:21 PM on April 29, 2009 in Family, Holidays / Road Trip.

Continueing where I left off the day before:

Nhu Lan Bakery on Victoria St. This place has good, buttery, mini pork pies. You know they be unhealthy from the first nibble yo!

To keep it brief, after hanging out with Daph, I met up with my brother-in-law's side of the family. Gazel's in-laws live near a wall of graffiti:

From what I've seen so far, the average quality of tagging in Melbourne is better than KL, but not the illustrations and 3D stuff. Still, I'll have to hit more graffiti lanes to know for sure.

We went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Footscray, for some pho and spring rolls:

Pretty good pho, though Melbourne food portions are so big they take me some getting used to. Gazel said there's another popular pho restaurant nearby, because they are willing to cook more varieties of dishes for those who aren't looking for pho. I'll have to check with Tommy which restaurant it was.

Sunset in Footscray. I started off the day in a hoodie, and ended it more realistically with a thick Timberland jacket. 7 degrees Celcius yo.

I was pretty knackered by the end of the night. I fell asleep before the Malaysian equivalent of midnight, and if you know me well enough, I'm so uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping early I have to be severely doped and sick to even consider it.

Melbourne Day 1 Morning