F E L I N E R S

do not grey my rainbow..

uh-huh! u can stop rubbing your eyes now, kit, some of us have been quite m.i.a. but we somehow managed to meet up on friday. what a surprise, right? we were at la bodega, bsc.

kap, cheryl, june, evonne

bee, grace, june, evonne, shareen, cheryl

lilian, cheryl, june, evonne

tabby & garf

evonne intends to show u something on this picture. can u tell what it is?

shareen & sri

grace & zahrin

a public affair

and this, is ALLOVUS.. woohoo.. quite a full attendance eh? except for poos la.. she had somethin' on.. just in case u're wondering, that dude next to me is Jaya, an old friend of mine from sunway college.. it was good fun, really.. some of us were there for a few hours or so.. we were all talking & talking.. criss-cross conversations from 1 end to another.. updating & catching up with one another.. and, oh, we did manage to take like, 5 - 10 minutes to talk about u a little bit, kit. heh. =P ok ok. all of us DO miss u, and u know that. =)

have a great time in Amsterdam - the do-whatever-u-want place..!

this is a picture taken for me by a friend, Eve. thank you. so sweet. this shows that u think of me when u were holidaying in Bali. hehe. =P mwahaha.

OOIYOH, Hot Spot Zone, yo.

we should enjoy each other's difference instead of drawing lines & building barriers..

dwell not in the past, my friend, for you might miss out the fun you could have in your current days..

Friendship 101 - A regular maintenance through thoughtful cultivation.

You might want to scroll down and take a quick glance of what’s about to come. Yes, this urge of wanting to place many words on screen has hit me – this is due to the decision of a weekend-stay in. Also, I have our local internet service provider who has such ennui manner to thank for, the internet in the apartment has not been set up, with which, I might be obsessively browsing facebook.com instead. Haha, yes, very juvenile, as puss says.

(Pardon my long post but I have to build an introduction of a character before going on to the climax in order to create a desired outcome.)

Before I started this piece, I was briefly reading what I used to write on another page – things that I made myself write in order for me to recall back on things. (I am proud to say, I have written a charming amount of ELEVEN entries in my many years of life. Bravo.) Nothing much has changed. The person that I was before is still very much the same – having the same Wants, Inspirations, Thoughts, Feelings, Perspective on Life, facing the Never Ending growing up Pains and mostly other lifely things. There is One thing though, which had me change in such a way that discovering it is considered as great as The Enlightenment. I naturally went into a soul-searching and self discovery phase which I enjoyed immensely as I see myself from the outside, walking beside myself and able to think from outside my head. (No, there’s no need to forward a psychiatrist’s number to me, thank you). All I’m saying is that I have grown up and things that I see are rather different, in a good way. Most of my Actions and Reactions are of a different path now and are constantly backed with a solid reason – something of essence and truthful to myself. This, authentically, gave me a new sense of meaning.

Before, I often find myself saying things that deemed to fit a situation, (at least I think so) but not knowing Why it came about. But today, as if conjured to me like magic, I tend to have countless instances and insights. Given a same situation to me a decade ago, I might have faced it with a same kind of reaction I would today, but if I were to explain Why, I would not know then. People would be left in oblivion because I did not know how to express my own feelings and reactions and I left it at that.

Many a times we may not know who we are growing up – the undiscovered inner rock star angst, the quiet and shy person in school who might grow up to become a social butterfly and all. You know what I mean? These are things that are not told to us. “Hello, you are born into this world. You are supposed to be a brilliant trombone player.” Uh-Uh. *flexing the index finger from left to right* We are to discover ourselves together with peers. I never knew I may have the tendency of liking the colour Green when a friend asked, “You must like green. I notice u have a few green stuffs”. Oh. I Could like green, without noticing it before. So, wow, this friend found out that I liked green and told me about it. This is fun. And from then on, I gathered more and more stuffs and I would, of course, take notice of others too. We would start knowing one another, and oneself more as we hold more conversations. Awesome. And with that, I grow up alongside many wonderful people who contributed in my life discovery.

(At this stage of the karangan, if you are getting restless, u can skip the rest of my Artful words, unless u have a Want to share my rambles, then go make a cup of coffee and read on.)

Growing up with parents who go for dancing competitions and bringing back medals, it is not hard for me to make a decision in wanting to take dance lessons. The lack of interest among young people make me see it as an uncool thing to do and being a teenager who was afraid to be different, I stopped showing interest in it. I shoved the idea to the back of my head until I stepped into college. I see other kids with characters walking about – there’s the rocker chick with punk hairdo who always had a red item with her, or some dude with tattoos all over his body I could hardly see his original skin colour. I told myself to Do Something. Be Someone. Join a Club. Don’t be just another person who’s afraid of things.

I signed up in a dance class.

A classmate got interested and started asking me for details. I did not possess a car then and she offered to drive me for the classes. I was so thrilled with joy especially to find out that she lives in the city, which, I think, is considerably far for her. Instantly I felt like I have met another uncool person who digged dancing too! I stopped feeling different.

You have no idea how an 18-year-old, small towner feels when she first stepped out from her parents’ house compounds. Being in a new environment, with no friends, no means of transportation, low self esteem, I was seemingly lost. And having a mother who has a bizarre way of bringing me up, she always told me scary things like going to a school camp might end up being eaten by a panther or crossing the road to the playground might result in a deadly accident caused by big trucks. All of which, I understood her good intentions but she instilled fear in me that when I first stepped into an unfamiliar world outside from home, I feared more until I started getting some particular phone calls. Ah, yes, the uncool-whiny-voiced girl who chauffeurs me to dance class. She would ask to hang out at clubs, for coffee, short travels to the beach, barbecues, stay over, have chats etc. Awesome.

I love conversations. About Boys. Life. Girly matters.
I love ideas. Go travel. Take a language class. Go for dance class.
I love growing up. Talk about current & future activities. How we would take each others’ children as god children. How we would open a cute li’l café/ book store with jazzy & scary tunes. And of course, a cute li’l cake shop too.

I love the fact that I can say whatever that I want to say to this whiny-voiced girl. She is always so diplomatic, indulged in me and my nuances, with such genuine interest. That was when Right and Wrong eluded me. There was never a time when I was deemed wrong or hard-headed, as things would be considered as mere differences, that’s all.

At the same time of the whiny-girl era, I was living with a bunch of students who rented an apartment near college. There was this one rather feisty girl whom one would not miss as she is always fond of merry-making. I often find myself chatting with her with such candour because of her conviviality. She may be feisty, but ironically, I felt the most comfortable with her. We often discuss matters by bringing out our opinions. This belief of having to discuss things had so much to do with her confidence in me. This could be one of the key things to becoming soulmates, as I was once told. (and no, I’m not gay). We may have our occasional kicks in our bums from one another, but these only shows how natural and truthful we are.

I may be late for an outing with her, she okay-ed it by making herself comfortable waiting that extra half hour alone. This, I truly believe, her goal is to have a quality time, therefore she could so over look the fact that I was late.

I may cry calling her on the phone, feeling lonely sitting on the floor of a mall, with woeful problems, she replied saying that she’d be there with me soon. During the woeful phase, she’d follow up with phone calls of concern.

I may be bored to death at home and felt lazy to hang out, she would come over despite needing to pay two toll fares, a half hour ride (on a clear traffic), and risk having her car tyres being clamped for parking at illegitimate parking bays. (which, up to date, she has spent a total of RM120 just visiting me)

I may have happy stories to share regarding my latest travels, or my wildest dreams, or my latest thoughts, new movies and stuffs. She would see things through my eyes and celebrate my happiness without any tinge of jealousy or judgment. Instead, she would parade my happiness and spread it among her friends, whom I meet up occasionally.

And of course, there’s the rock/ grunge chiqa who is always with a red item on her wherever she goes. She’s a little bit like myself. A Capricorn. Born only 5 days apart. Remember when I told u about the visual of a halo above your head with an accompanying arpeggio tunes on an electric organ, a bright light shining from behind u? Haha. That was what it was like when I discovered the softer side of this rock/ grunge chiqa. A whimsical young girl, with such strong wills and dreams, whose poem once made my eyes trickled a tear. With open arms, she welcomed me over to her house last Christmas eve, allowing me to meet her Whole Family, there were about twenty over guests and truthfully speaking, I have never felt so accepted in a family who addressed me by my name. Don’t be surprised. Most of my own relatives do not know of my existence, let alone my name.

Over here I have allowed my mind to run free. Why are you reading this rather narcissist, long-winded post? Haha. Blame it on this rock/ grunge chick! Blame it on her! Haha. Well, she has always given me a nudge; but I bet she doesn’t know. From her, she inspired me to write. To draw. To take photographs using a funky method. To listen to scary songs. To step on a train and forget the rest. To throw sarcasms in each other’s face, like totally, kinda thing, ya knowatta mean? Like The Secret kinda thing??

I have entered a world where I am free to express myself, a world where I won’t be excluded, judged or wronged.

I have been shown Love in friendships - be it in good or bad times, continents apart or just a block a way.

I am given the chance to build on my self-esteem that I once lacked thereof.

As quoted by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “the sign of an intelligent person is the ability to keep two contradictory ideas in his head at the same time and still function.
With friendship, the 2 contradictory ideas are,
friends can be immense complication, huge burden, and a royal pain in the bum, and
without friendship, we are all lost.”

I’m glad to have met intelligent people.

I often wondered, do those contestants of reality tv singing competition know what they are doing? Some stand in the middle of the room, with no idea that they cannot sing, but yet have such indescribable confidence that they can sing. Often enough, we get to watch them make quite a fool of themselves on the national tv, or worse, the international tv. Do their family and friends not tell them beforehand? Why do they not stop them from furthering their humiliation? Perhaps they just want to let them be?

Well, in regards to this matter, I don’t have say for these contestants, but for me, I personally feel that I would never want to be out in the limelight looking silly. I ought to have people around me pull me down when I lose my gravity, to tell me when my tummy bulges out in that dress, or informing me that the food I cook is nowhere near edible etc. Now, This is what I call a True Friend. One who will keep u grounded when u needed to know before floating high with false beliefs. One who is sincerely true to herself and yourself - no acts, no bluffs, no ugly intentions, no greed.

Let’s have some interactive moment here. May I ask you, my faithful reader, how many True Friends do u have? Think hard. One to whom u can bare all, without needing to wear a mask, or be guarded?

I’d say u are damn lucky to have even just One.

Disclaimer: this post has the word ‘I’ and ‘me’ for so many a times, but please, be kindly noted that there is no intention of pushing egotism; this merely acts as a celebration of friendship, which creates the occasional royal pain on my bum.

Rock on. *whistle* *whistle* *whistle*

To anyone who embraces friendship as much as I do, feel free to Rock my World. I will be sure to Rock yours too, if given the chance. *wink* ;) or else, I’d just stay the way I am – shy & quiet.

Rotterdam central isn't that big. Everywhere is sort of like walking distance by my standard but maybe because my 'walking distance' definition is something like 14 blocks.

I saw quite a lot today, and I've even come to a conclusion. Rotterdam is cool; it has great architecture, yes. No doubt about that. On the other hand, I'm not exactly smitten with it.

The city has a clean, spacious and modern feel. I think I'm more old world. I like narrow cobbled streets, quirky neighbourhood, pre-war buildings, windmills (Garf, I know you're too cool for windmills but I like them). Rotterdam was bombed flat during WWII; hence the contemporary, modern and courageous architecture.


This Dutch guy that I spoke to today said to me that there is a Dutch joke which goes like this: Money is earned in Rotterdam, distributed in The Hague (the country's administrative centre) and spent in Amsterdam.


Rotterdam has a reputation as a working city. The 'business' city. It is has the largest port in Europe. It became the world's busiest port in 1962, until it was first overtaken by Singapore, and then by Shanghai since the 1990s.

The Kubuswonig, or cube houses, was one of my first few stops. They are a set of innovative houses designed by architect Piet Blom on Overblaak Street. The architect tilted the cube of a conventional house 45 degrees, and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. There are 32 cubes altogether, all attached to each other. And people do live here.


When I said courageous architecture, I really do mean it! This is Blaak metro station.

Stadhuis (town hall). One of the three buildings in the city center that miraculously survived the bombing.

Sylvette, a sculpture created jointly by Carl Nesjar & Pablo Picasso. Apparently Picasso admired the woman in real life.

Art at Witte de Withstraat, the 'artsy' street in Rotterdam.

Garf, is this windmill IN-YOUR-FACE enough??!

Blits restaurant by the Maas River

Willemsbrug

Erasmugbrug links the northern and southern parts of Rotterdam, which is separated by the Maas River. It is nicknamed "The Swan" because of the shape of the pylon.

Historic boats/ships at Oude Haven

First skyscraper in Europe, The White House, was built in 1898. It is an 11-story structure in the French chateau style. At the time of its completion was the tallest building in Europe.

Here are some other architectural eye kandy:

Netherlands Architecture Institute by Jo Coenen. It reminds me of KLPAC.



I also found some cool graffiti. Puss, these are dedicated to u:

Hallo, Goedermorgen! (Hello, Good day! in Dutch)

I've finally put up our apartment for house swapping on www.homeexchange.com after much copywriting and photo-taking. Just in case if you're wondering if it is always this tidy, yes it is.


I think our walls are kinda bare and in need of artworks. It'd be nice to have some wooden blinds for the windows in the lounge area. A standing lamp and vase. A rug too.

What do you think, Ms. Interior Designer?

But since we're giving up the apartment in a couple of months time, there won't be any artwork, lamp, vase or blinds purchasing taking place. We've been in the apartment for a total of 10 months now and everything we have, we picked them together which is part of the reason why we haven't gotten around to adding the finishing touches.

When we moved into the apartment in September last year, our worldy possesions were our luggage. During our first few months, every weekend we were on the prowl for the basic things - mattress, bedframe, tv & dvd set, media stand, sofa...the list goes on and on. From eating our Thanksgiving turkey on the floor, we upgraded ourselves to the coffee table only in March this year.

Now that I look at the photos, I think it will be quite hard to let go of it when the time comes. It holds so much of our NYC memories.

And this, is what I've written about the apartment and the neighbourhood. Peter said the neighbourhood write up makes him salivate. Maybe visit here if you want to read more.

The Home
Our bright and sunny one bedroom apartment is located in a charming pre-war walk-up building in the heart of NoLiTa. Furnished with love and art decor furniture, it features exposed brick, hardwood floors and recessed lighting.

The bedroom is furnished with a Queen size tempurpedic bed and pillows. One wall is painted olive while another features exposed brick.

The tastefully tiled bathroom comes with a bath.

The kitchen, albeit quite miniscule in size, is equipped with standard kitchen appliances - full size fridge, oven, gas stove, sink, microwave, toaster etc.

The lounge room offers Sony TV & DVD Dream system, high speed internet and a Vladimir Kagan coffee table. Windows look out to the quaint tree-lined street below.

Feel free to dig into our small but diverse collection of books. Leave your guidebooks at home - we have NYC guidebooks as well as Zagat guides.

There are no washer/dryer in the building but there are a lot of dry cleaners and laundromat within a block or so.

The apartment is compact and cozy therefore ideal for no fuss, mature single travellers or couples. We do not have children and think that the apartment is too small and unsuitable for children.

The Neighbourhood
North of Little Italy, or NoLiTa, has grown to be one of the most desired neighbourhood in downtown Manhattan. Dotted with designer boutiques and cute cafes, it attracts the hip and the trendy, the artists and the professionals. NoLiTa is shopper's paradise without the infuriating Soho crowds.

When in NoLiTa, everything is a stroll away. Walk to Chinatown for dim sum, go postcard shopping in Little Italy, discover the many hidden gems of Lower East Side/East Village. Make sure you don't miss out on the flea markets around the corner from the apartment! And check out the nightlife - Nolita and its surrounding area boast some of New York City's hippest bars and lounges.

The neighbourhood also includes St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, which opened in 1815 and was rebuilt in 1868 after a fire. When hungry check out Cafe Habana & Cafe Gitane. Craving Greek, Vietnamese or Ethiopian food? They're all in the neighbourhood. If you're an indie film aficionado, Angelika Film Center and Landmark's Sunshine Cinema are just a brisk 10 minutes walk away. Go grocery shopping in Dean & Deluca or the Fresh Foods Market.

Brooklyn Bridge is just two subway stops away. Want to go to Central Park? The apartment is a hop and skip away from the 4,5,6, N,R,W and B,D,F,V trains.