Confucius says; Chinese New Year house no red, not Chinese
True story.
You know come Chinese New Year we’d (the older us) would go, yeahh no need to buy new clothes lah. Yeahh no need to buy decoration la. Yeahhhhh no need to buy all red red la.
Lies all lies.
Or maybe it’s just me. I say all these things because I’m cool like that. But then as Chinese New Year approaches, I find myself in a flutter to get new clothes, at least one set. I want to buy festive decoration. And I want them all in bright red!!!
I think it’s my subconscious training thyself towards inevitable auntiehood. I really can’t help it, bright colours make me happy! And so the world will have to live with that.
I was very happy at IKEA recently when I went to check out their Chinese New Year offerings. It’s my thing: you know how some people like to go to shopping malls and for the elaborate festival decorations? Well my equal is at IKEA. I love themed + colour coordination items and knick-knacks especially during our local festivals, i.e. CNY, Raya etc.
See their displays, so red SO HAPPY!
They have these dragon patterned wash cloths, mats and pot holders. I was so tempted to get them and I had to stop myself ‘cos I have too many of these things that I don’t use.
(But they have DRAGONS… 
)
The CNY dragon shades are for sale too. The small ones for RM6.90 each, the bigger ones for RM9.90 each. So cool, right?? But I don’t have anywhere to place them
Chinese New Year isn’t Chinese New Year without… PUSSY WILLOW! It’s supposed to be lucky… or something but that’s like saying Chinese people like money, duh 
I like it ‘cos it’s tradition.
Enid Blyton had a story about fairy kittens and pussy willows. Do you remember it?
There are pots of Flaming Katy for sale for RM6.90 each. I think they’re gorgeous and I’ll go back and get a couple.
So, are you like me in that the older you are, the more you gear towards things you remember, were accustomed to and loved as a kid?
The silliest Chinese New Year-related argument ever
This has to be it.
It has been on-going for a while now.
So much grey matter poured into this debate.
And it’s a really non-life changing discussion.
So one day I tweeted something along the lines of,
“I CAN’T WAIT TO TONG TONG CHIANG!!”
K obviously it meant Chinese New Year, right?
Tong3 tong3 chiang1.
Perhaps I should have included the intonation.
So that it doesn’t come off as:
Tong1 tong1 chiang3.
Apparently one sounds like CNY,
and the other sounds like a Chinese funeral march.
I insist that it sounds like CNY.
But my friends got into this argument also.
Horng especially has been trying to convince me..
that the CNY tone is: tong tong tong tong chiang,
and not just tong tong chiang.
On Twitter, Facebook, in person…
In Carrefour when they played Chinese New Year songs..
So just now AhFa told us that there was a CNY procession at her office.
And they played TONG TONG CHIANG, TONG TONG TONG TONG CHIANG!
Not.. qi de long tong chiang tong chiang.
Then I realised…
That this debate has to be the silliest CNY-related one we ever had.
That’s why friends make everything so fun <3
Customers’ rights: do you pay for non-service?
My friend Shirley is upset.
She bought a deal from her local group buying site. To cut the story short, she felt that the vendor was not fulfilling its promises, thus she wants her money back.
So she wrote to the vendor telling them so. Good for her, I hope she gets her money back.
It reminded me of an incident years ago. Actually it happened to my eldest sister and she related it to us. It left a deep impression on me because it was the first time I learned that customers have rights.
Li suo dan ran de shi qing but I was a lot younger and very sheltered back then lah.
My sister was at a (now-closed) restaurant in Lot 10. It was the same restaurant where she’d went with a Caucasian friend earlier and received prompt, excellent service.
This time she was alone. She ordered a drink.
She waited 45 minutes. Then she stood up and went to get her drink herself.
When the bill came, she asked to see the manager. She explained that she would pay for the cost of the drink, but because of what she experienced, she would not be paying the 10% service charge so could they remove that from her bill please.
They were puzzled. They didn’t understand the concept. After all, isn’t it a given that your bill comes with RM xx ++ ? Everyone pays it, no one questions it.
But my sister was patient. She explained it to them over and over, and insisted on not paying the service charge as she did not receive any service. After a long while, it was sorted: she paid the full bill and the manager gave her back the 10% in cash.
A lot of people would have grumbled, complained even. Then pay up. If it’d happened today, it would be on their own Facebook, Twitter or blogs. But not directly confront the vendor.
After all, why make such a big fuss over a few ringgit? That was what I thought and did, until I learned to stand up for myself. These days, I’ve no qualms making a fuss over things. I don’t feel *shy* anymore because when things are not right nor fair, you’ve a responsibility to speak up.
In my case, it’s especially drummed into my head as I’ve strong-minded siblings who’d have no problems telling things as they are.
Of course the purpose is not to be antagonistic but to be fair. If I was receiving due service, I’d happily pay what’s fair. In my sister’s case, she’d leave additional gratuity even though it’s not the norm here as the 10% service charge is already included in the bill.
If the service was above average or exceptional, she’d make it a point to write them a compliment and e-mail it to the company HQ. I think it’s a nice thing to do.
So, any thoughts? Have you ever been in a service situation where you thought you weren’t treated right? Did you speak up or let it go?
Smiling in the face of cancer: Daniel Hedlund
I came across something amazing last night and I just had to share.
There’s a campaign called “In Search of Incredible” by Asus and Intel where they team up with Jason Mraz for inspiring stories. One of the few stories they gathered was of Jesse Billauer, a champion junior surfer who broke his spine in 1996. You can watch his video here: *click*
So they asked the public to share their incredible stories and the public did. People voted for their favourite stories and the winner of the “In Search of Incredible” competition is one Daniel Hedlund. As winner of the contest, he will have a professional crew at his disposal to turn his inspiring story into a short film.
This is his entry, verbatim:
Feel sorry for cancer…
… cause I just kicked it’s butt. Or so I think. I’m not really sure. That’s my incredible story. I live my life not knowing what the future holds. I guess we all do to an extent, but I guess you could say that I live my life with a bit more uncertainty than the average Joe. I live my life three months at a time. That’s how often I go back in for scans to see if my bone cancer has returned. It has twice. But here I sit…still alive, for whatever reason. Twenty rounds of chemo, 10 surgeries, and 4 years later. I found out the news 3 weeks after I had been married. That reminds me of another incredible thing. My wife. She went to school, got a degree, worked to support the family, all while maintaining the home while I was sick. Incredible. She even tells me I look good bald. Very incredible. It’s incredible that I had a stage four cancer, and I’m still alive. It’s incredible that the doctors thought I would lose a leg, and didn’t. It’s incredible that they gave me a 30 percent chance to live, and here I am.
Review: Relationship Status
I was at the premiere of RELATIONSHIP STATUS thanks to TGV. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie and I highly recommend it to my smart, intelligent readers 
RELATIONSHIP STATUS is written and directed by Khairil M Bahar who also stars in it. It boasts several notable names: Gavin Yap, Davina Goh, Tony Eusoff, Daphne Iking, Baki Zainal, Ruzana Ibrahim, Alfred Loh, Shuba Jay, Benji Lim, Amanda Ang, Susan Lankester etc
In short, it’s a movie about relationships and how Facebook plays a role in fucking up affecting communication. Very relevant to the world today.
Good:
- Good casting. They seem quite natural with each other, makes the whole movie very believable. I know it’s supposed to be a given in movies, right? But have you seen some of our local movies before? That’s why it’s something that I always mention when I talk about local productions. I like actors who know what they are doing, i.e. constant dialogue like in real life, instead of reading off a script then pause and wait a couple seconds before the 2nd actor responds. OMG THIS IS NOT ACTING SCHOOL OKAY, THIS IS THE REAL DEAL! /end rant. Happily in RELATIONSHIP STATUS this is not a problem. + Like.
- Soundtrack. Absolutely fresh and rocking.
- Storyline and script. Tight, smart, funny and witty, well-delivered by the cast who can pull it off, no problems. For comparison sake, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa despite all its failures actually has a lot of smart, funny lines which unfortunately was lost on the actors who couldn’t bring them to life. Wasted.
- Seasoned performances. Gavin Yap shines in his role in RS. Davina Goh just shines. Chemistry between them = win. Susan Lankester made me tear up… just a bit.
- MISC: locality references to Sid’s Pub, yay! No hardcore selling of sponsors’ products hahah. Thank you sponsors, I can’t tell you how friggin’ annoying it is to bulldoze your way into the storyline and making it all so unnatural *cough* Sumolah *cough*.
Bad:
- camera work. I’m too old for too non-required shaky
- camera angles. Feels like too much paparazzi-style
- because of the camera work, it feels more like a university project
- which I think is a shame because the storyline + script is potential max
That said, I’d love for you to go watch it, I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
I’d also love for it to do well though I foresee some problems with that. It’s a mostly English movie and the jokes are catered to urbanites. You’d also appreciate it more if you understood certain references e.g. H2G2. And we know that these people are the hardest to convince to go watch a local movie in the cinema based on previous blah experiences or impressions.
Still I hope for the best and I very much look forward to Khairil M Bahar’s next project.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS opens in selected TGV cinemas from today onwards. Check the TGV website for listings and showtimes.
Watch the full trailer: