Just Rambling...

Dear Readers...
I haven't been able to religiously update my blog. I dunno, maybe because I have so much to talk about but not a lot to say about each topic.. So today I decided to just ramble and see where it takes me..

I started off my day okay.. I was sleepy but that's not unusual. Towards the afternoon a guy who couldn't pay his road tax 'sembur' me really badly.. He just wouldn't admit that his car was fined in 1995. Kononnya he checked his fines everytime he pays his road tax and there weren't any fines until today.. Yeah right.. Mau bullsh*t pun tengo lah tempat weh... He even threatened to call Bukit Aman. My response? 'Ya encik, kol lah Bukit Aman. Senang lagi, direk terus' Full stop.. Malas mau layan.. Layan orang bongo last2 kita pun jadi bongo juga..

The next to come to my counter was a man with his wife and child. He was there when the idiot shouted himself hoarse at me so dia pun tunjuk taji lah. He say its not fair that he didin't know about the speed trap fine until he was about to pay his roadtax and find that he couldn't. Memang lah not fair, tapi don't forget that he is not the only person who gets fined and not know about it.

The system is not perfect. I'll be the first to admit that but instead of pointing fingers to others why don't we ask ourselves are WE doing OUR part? Ada kita pigi check sama ada kita ni ada saman atau tidak periodically? Tiada kan.. Cuba kalo check sekali dalam 3 atau 6 bulan, manada jadi macam ni kan. I just ask him if he want's to pay or not? If he does then pay up, if not then just go to a higher authority and make his plea. Dia nda lagi puas ati ngan istilah 'merayu'. Whatever..

Bored to tears until after luch where we had a dialog with our Pengarah.. Bored to tears some more during the dialog. I got a plastic chair with a 'broken back' so I couln't really lean aganst the back of my chair.. I didn't know it was broken at first and when I leaned back it made a cracking sound. Thankfully, it wasn't that loud and I managed to lower my squeel of surprise to a mere squeek instead. After the dialog came teatime. The fried noodles and fried chicken were really nice.. Maybe because it was FOC? Hehehe... After tea balik umah and tidied up what needs to be tidied up.. Then came to this cc and ramble..

Gosh, what a poor existence I live in.. What happened this afternoon really made me hate my job.. I suppose if I expect to work in a place where there are no backstabbers, unofficial 'reporter's and customers who irritate the Hell out of me, I might as well retreat into a cave because that job doesn't exist. Sigh! It did make me question myself, can I do this for the next 34 years of my life? And the answer is... NO WAY! The thought for doing this everyday for the next over 3 decades of my life left me with goosebumps.. I can't live like this.

So what do I want to do for the rest of my life? I want to do something I like.. The problem is, I don't frickin' know what I like! Ugh! Ni lah masalah kalo nda kenal one's own strengths and weaknesses as well as not having a clear ambition that I can work towards achieving.

Maybe I just need a vacay.. It's been ages since I've had fun, real fun where I just let my hair down and let loose.. The weather is not permissible for a trip to the islands.. Bowling? Never played it.. Maybe I'll just go for a movie.. I'm thinking 'Despicable Me'.. Or have a picnic at Tg Aru Beach with my honey.. Oh well.. Will figure that out later. Apapun, tonight is the first eve CSI Trilogy! I'm so excited! I've been looking forward to this since 2 weeks ago when I first saw the ad on tv.. Hehehe.. *Rubbing hands together gleefully*

Anyway...I guess that's enough rambling for the mo'.. Cheers!

My First Experience Cutting Open A Durian... All By Myself!

Dear Readers...
Welcome to another 'First Time/Experience' post. This time is about my first experience cutting open a durian fruit all by myself. I'm sure some of you are so accomplished at this that you can open a durian up by flinging it up in the air, cut it into quarters with one hand tied behind your back and not causing yourself or anyone else mortal injury. Not me though.

When I'm at home my daddy becomes the 'Durian Surgeon'. All I know is that when whatever he does is over a plate of creamy, buttery and sweet durian flesh materializes in front of me.. Yeah, shameful I know. Whenever I'm away from home and I crave to eat durian I would just buy the ones packed into styrofoam containers.. Sorry Mother Earth for contributing to the increase of undegradable waste because of my selfish pleasure..

Anyway... Yesterday evening a generous officer gave me a few mangosteen and a durian from his own orchard. I was thinking to myself, 'How in the world am I going to open this durian?' After leaving it overnight, this morning I decided to risk a few scratches (and stitches if anything went wrong) and attempted to 'operate' said durian armed with only a regular kitchen knife. Surprisingly it wasn't so hard! The skin is quite easy to penetrate especially if you follow the natural ridges on it.

 I did this by myself... Yay!

My trusty knife... And a durian seed.. Haha...

The bounty? 3 moderate and 4 small pieces (betul kah penjodoh bilangan sy tu?) of durian. It was delicious! FOC kan, musti lah sedap.. Hahaha.. It could have been 8 pieces all in all but unfortunately one of them were super mushy and suddenly out of the durian skin's crevice a maggot crawled out and went towards the mushy piece.. Eewww... Not a pretty sight. Looked through each piece of durian carefully before consuming after that.

Which meant I ate durian for breakfast today.. Definitely not the smartest thing to do since it's a 'heaty' fruit. Well done Phoebe.. That's a first for me too by the way. It's believed that mixing water with a pinch of salt in the pocket of the durian skin and drinking from it will eliminate the heat of the fruit from our body. Being the cheat I am at cooking, I only have Maggi Sedap granules (cz its all in one) and not a grain of salt so I had to skip that step.

Undeniably badan memang rasa panas at first and I even thought that I may go down with fever but by mid morning everything went back to normal. Besa lah kan, tulang besi urat dawai... It will take more than one durian to take me down.. Chewah! Hehehe.. Anyway, cheers people!

Common Misconceptions: Traffic Police, Fines, Etc.

Dear Readers,
As the Guardian Of The Traffic Fine Money (or cashier as it is unglamorously known as), I accept and process payments from those who were fined for doing traffic-related misdeeds. So everyday I sit in a chair at the counter, get questioned by confused individuals, sworn at by pissed off people and generally ranted at by those who just can't bear to part with their money to pay for the fines. Through this I have discovered there are a lot of frequently asked questions and a helluva lot of misconceptions about fines, traffic polices and such. Thus, I have taken it upon myself to address these FAQs the best that I can. So here goes:

Why does the traffic police just hands out fines even though we didn't do anything wrong? Don't they have anything else to do?
Traffic police officers don't just hand out fines whenever they want. They just enforce the Law and fine you for something that you have ALREADY done wrong. THAT'S what they do plain and simple. And yes, even if you managed to put on your seat belt 10 seconds before you were pulled over, that's still counted as doing a traffic-related misdeed because they saw you not wearing it from the distance and the police have the right to fine you accordingly.

Why do the traffic police keep fining people even when it's raining and in the middle of the night? Don't they have any consideration? Give us a break!
They are doing their job people... They are abiding the order of their Head Officer. Do you seriously think that they love doing road blocks in the rain in the wee hours of the morning and dealing with people who obviously can't walk straight to save their mama's yet insist that they are not drunk, people who curse at them for doing their job, people who try to wriggle out of a fine by giving a 1001 illogical excuses? Why don't we give THEM a break for a change?

The IPD must have a lot of money from all the fines they issued to us right? Swindlers!
If that were true then every staff would have their own desk with Mac Computers instead of having to bicker with each other on who gets to use the only one PC that can connect to the Internet, we'd be working in an office with beautifully tiled or carpeted floors instead of an ugly cemented one and we would have the latest model of printers instead of an evil-menopausal-neanderthal-muzium-worthy printer that jams up every 5 minutes. Sorry to disappoint you but no, all fines collected are banked in to the Government. Not one cent goes to the IPD that issues the fine.

How can they fine me for parking on the road? Its not as if the car was empty, my son/daughter was in the car at that time. Have a bit of consideration..
If you parked your car where it is not allowed then you will be fined. Why? BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO PARK THERE BUT YOU DID ANYWAY. It doesn't matter even if the whole village is in your car, you still get fined. However, IF there is someone in the driver's seat OR there is a passenger in the car with a valid driver's licence that can move the car IMMEDIATELY, then the police would just ask you to move your car. That is pure consideration on their part.

I'm fined for abstructing the road? But there's still a lot of space on the road for the other cars to manouver..
Wah, your daddy owns the road is it? Or maybe the road has been in your family for 7 generations? Roads are public property and everyone has a right to use it safely and comfortably. Why should others have to manouver around your car and risk having an accident or something just because you took it to your head to park wherever it is convenient for you? Even if there is enough space on the road for Titanic to get through, you are parking where you shouldn't be and that my friend still make you elligible for a parking ticket.

Why didn't I get a letter or a ticket for speeding (speed trap)? I didn't knew I was fined until today when I couldn't renew my road tax!
Speed trap uses a camera to capture the licence plate of cars that are going more than 90KM/H (Or is it 100M/H?). A notification letter would then be sent to the owner of the car (the person who's name the car is under) through mail to the address of the owner. Sometimes when the owner changes address and doesn't update their their info, the notice won't reach them because it's sent to the original address. Another way to prevent any unwanted (not to mention expensive) surprises is to periodically check with the Traffic Cops at your nearest IPD if there are any fines under your name or car.

Why can't I pay my roadtax if I'm fined? 
When you get fined and you don't pay it for more than a year or two JPJ will block you from paying your roadtax. You can only pay your road tax after you've cleared the fine that was blocked. Normally blocked fines are speed trap fines because the owners are unaware of it especially if they didn't receive any notification.

JPJ blocked me from paying my road tax because of an unpaid speed trap fine. Will I be unable to renew my driver's licence too?
Nope.. When there is an unsettled speed trap fine, JPJ will only block you from from paying your road tax. It will not prevent you from renewing your driver's licence.

So there you are folks, the FAQs regarding traffic police and traffic fines. Traffic police are not ogres that issue fines left, right and center just for the heck of it. They are people too.. Do put ourselves in their shoes.. Has any of you been a prefect in school before? If so then you'd know how difficult it is to do your job AND keeping your friends at the same time. I hope next time you see a traffic police you'd honk, raise your hand and smile. If you have any questions please leave a comment below.. Cheers!





   
 

Living In A Small Community..

Dear Readers,
It is believed that in a smaller community, the people are more caring and friendly. I too felt the same way at first... However, after living for the past almost 2 months in such a place I discovered a dark side to it...

Nosiness
I know, I know.. People in small communities are caring people. They show concern for your well being, etc.. However, there is a vast difference between being concerned about others and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.. Watching my house to ensure no one breaks into it while I'm away for the weekend is being a caring neighbor. Watching my house to see whether my kitchen light is on as an indication that I'm cooking that night or not is being nosy, not to mention creepy.

Tattler
Most of the women (and men) can put even E! Channel to shame when it comes to tattling and gossiping.. Trust me when I say you CAN'T TRUST ANYBODY. I casually mentioned in passing one day that most of the time I just eat instant noodles for dinner (and breakfast.. and lunch..) because that is the only thing I can cook without a stove and by the next week even the Big Boss knows I eat instant noodles for almost every meal, everyday. And I told only one person. Imagine that.. By the way, I've started cooking and eating 'real' food now because I have an electric cooker. So there!

Story Time
Spreading facts about people is one thing you know, but making up stories? Mean stuff some more.. These 'story tellers' (normally housewives) hang out in their cliques and spin stories about others like you wouldn't believe... What's even worse is that they even spin tales about each other when that particular person is not with them. Seriously.. I'm not sure whether it's a natural talent for making up stories borne from an overactive imagination or it's just an incurable disease caused by boredom.. Whatever it is, please exclude me from your 'Collection of Short Stories', I have have no interest on being one of the unfortunate 'heroines' in it...
  
Suspicious Minds
Ah, woe betide any single young woman who lives alone in an easy-to-access area. The married women in the area won't be liking you very much. Expect to be inspected and scanned from head to toe with their laser-like eyes and whispered about behind their claw-like hands.. Oh, and be prepared to be treated differently from their 'clique'. For example, when they start passing food like a really delicious looking chocolate cake? It would be a normal occurance for the 'cake distributor' to be strategically distracted by something nonsensical when it comes to your turn to get a piece and you suddenly get passed over. Yeah, whatever...

Just so we're clear, I'm not shedding ugly light about living in a kampong particularly but rather a small community which can be anywhere. Quarters, housing area, etc. Also no offense to all married women or housewives out there. My own mum is a housewife and if you have read my previous posts, you'd know that I hope to be a 'Suri Rumah Yang Berjaya' one day. There are those who are not like that but they are a rare and endangered species. Anyway, cheers...