who ever said paintball is fun deserves to get shot!

Seriously, whoever started this whole paintball thing has got to be kind of sick. Or simply a masochist who loves the very idea of war. Maybe I'm too girly girl after all, but still does not explain why most guys love this game (and some girls too, not that I'm being like "oh, girls can't do that, or girls don't like that").

You wear this mask that's supposed to protect you but it's kinda foggy and restricts your vision and it totally makes you feel like you're at war. You can't see people coming at you and you can't see what you're shooting at. We played at this abandoned carpark out at PJ area in the night, so it even enhances the war feeling (although, of course, it would be much much worse in a war, but I'm just saying). I had this hanging dread of fear and anxiety but I figured that I should try it once before shooting it down.

And this, my friend, is the reason why I'd never ever play paintball again in my living existence. Besides the fact that unnecessary fear and anxiety is ridiculous but unnecessary pain is even more ridiculous.

I was totally blindsided and got shot twice. The first shot hit my bare arms and the second shot hit my back. Maybe I'm starting to sound like a baby, but the shot tore my flesh and I was in a state of shock while my tears just started pouring as the pain seared. It was definitely more than an ouch.

By the way, the guy who shot me is my new colleague from the Singapore office who's American (imagine tall lanky blond white dude). I'm pretty sure he shot me less than 20m away (the allowed shooting range) and he could have aimed for somewhere else that was covered!

I gotta say, having a scar mark on my really really tanned arms that is fair and still pink-fleshed is not exactly what I had expected to get out of this experience. I've heard of the bruising (which by the way, was not insignificant either!) but no one told me I was going to get hurt like this. Boo!

So the next person who comes to me and tries to get me to play paintball, go shoot yourself first!

This is....

is not meat but rather this is...

...ICE-CREAM.

Specifically, it's called kulfi (Indian ice-cream). I was happily eating my buffet alone at Hyatt Regency Mumbai while waiting for my flight to London (which was delayed from 2am to 4.30am!) when the waiters appeared with kulfi, asking me to try it. Wikipedia said it's made of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream...no wonder it was quite yummy!

eating out at Jalan Alor

Given that I'm not from KL, I'm not very familiar with the ins and outs of the city. I didn't even know Jalan Alor was called Jalan Alor till this September -- I only remember there exist this street full of hawker stalls/local cafes behind Jalan Bukit Bintang. Even mr. boyfriend's dad who has visited KL a few times knows how to find this street without knowing the name as well. I've heard that it's not the cleanest place to eat but it's the most strategic in location and always open...

See! Even tourists know that this is the place for some quick Malaysian food. If you've been out partying in KL city and craving for food on your way home in your half-drunk stupor, you'd probably stop by here for a quick bite too.

I took my colleagues from the other offices to Jalan Alor for dinner. Not exactly the best Malaysian food in town but hey, it was just a short walk away.

I must say, even for KL, for this quality of food, I really shouldn't be paying so much. Rojak was RM8, which is pretty damn expensive for a plate of chopped cucumbers etc.!!! The penang curry mee was RM5 (not too bad), the oyster omelette was RM13 (not expensive compared to the rojak, but it was a small plate of burnt egg!), the penang char kway teow was RM5 (not too bad).

The best fun of the night was of course, introducing durian to our American colleagues (!!). I'm personally not a huge fan of durian but I still enjoy it considerably...

...and there is some sort of initiation to South East Asia that involves durian and it's true that you've never really experienced South East Asia till you've tried durian. Or so we (my Indonesian colleagues and I) keep telling them to convince them to put it into your mouth!

I guess one really can't make foreigners enjoy durian, not even the Asian-American dude who was born in China! They explained that there's this oily bitterness that they couldn't stand (which is the "skin" or outer layer of the durian flesh) and that they just didn't like the texture. The taste took a lot of getting used to (we convinced them that after the first bite, it gets better...=p) but they were still not a fan. Surprise surprise!

In the end, it was up to us from South East Asia to finish up the durian. Surprise surprise!!

Good job guys! For being so brave to try it and for finishing it up like a trooper!

from one thing to another

It's been, what, more than a week since my food poisoning incident and I'm still suffering from its after effects. This is ridiculous...I cannot simply flush out everything from my system everytime I eat because that'd mean that my body is not getting the most out of the food I eat! I feel weak and lethargic and I just want to stay in my room the whole day...not good. But I'm also really wary about seeing a doctor, you know la, how doctors can be sometimes. I can SO imagine them telling me to just let my body flush everything out and I'll be fine. But, no, it has been going on for too long, don't think my body is that amazing on its own this time round because my period has been affected too (shout TMI if you want). I guess I'll HAVE to see the doctor, just in case.

Thank you Vincci for taking the time to burn me my favorite TV shows and sending them to me so I can watch them without a problem! It was the BEST gift to see waiting for me in my room in KL when I just arrived back from Mumbai...smiles =)! So I get to watch ANTM (the high tech-y stuff is so last decade!), Gossip Girl, 90210 and the new show Privileged! By the way, Amazing Race Asia 3 is amazing...5 teams left and 2 are Malaysian teams!

Something random...guess what this is:

the shortness of it

To give a little perspective as to how short this dress is, I thought I should post this picture of my sister's wedding entourage of jie meis (please do not ask what that guy on the far right is doing in the picture, because he's neither family nor a jie mei and definitely shouldn't appear in this picture). The dress covers my bum alright but any sudden bending will reveal more than I would like to reveal...

By the way, could you tell that the theme is pink from this picture? I was so disappointed to see them turn up in jeans and non-pink outfits.

Unpredictabilities

Hmmm...I'm actually back in KL for good (till the next project). WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! *pumps fist into air*

No more India, no more food poisoning, no more miserable nights. It's SO cliched but I gotta say it because there's no other way to express it: "there's no place like home". Though, technically, I don't really consider KL to be home but I do have my own room and bed in KL so that works.

This brings me to the point on unpredictability. I didn't know I was coming back to KL for good until 6 hours prior to my flight back. And before, I didn't know I was supposed to stay a full week (which is not the case anymore!). It's just SO unpredictable. I cannot really make solid plans for dinners, for flights, for anything. One of my CSP friends is back in KL and I've been going from "yes, I can see you" to "hmm, I may not be able to see you" to "sorry I won't be in KL" to "hey, I can meet up with you after all". I cannot confirm my dates to book my tickets to HK for christmas and I cannot confirm my availability for Maggie to visit me in december...basically I cannot confirm anything till the very last minute. I think I have to learn to be much more flexible to changes, though, not being able to plan for anything and having to succumb to sudden changes at this frequency is tough.

I had a hair scalp treatment today, ate lots of Malaysian food and bought many fashion/beauty magazines. AAaahhh...it's good to be back! =)

aftershock

Hormones and food poisoning certainly got the best of me this past week and made my life extremely very hard to be liveable (shoot, did I spell it correctly?)...a little more clear-headed now and only feeling traces of the side effects of hormones and food poisoning, I feel that I may have overreacted a little in the larger scheme of things. Nonetheless, crying myself to sleep almost every night is not exactly very normal...

I've gotten requests to update the blog more often, with pictures, with stories about Mumbai and my trip to London, and I do apologize that it's really hard when I barely have internet in the hotel rooms. I do have pictures to show, but they'll have to wait till I'm back on Malaysian soil =p.

In relation to my last post, yes, I've decided to go ahead and go back to KL for less than 12 hours. After much debate with myself when my head's cleared up, it's the difference of being more miserable next week and of being much prepared for what next week brings. So...a tad stupid a tad crazy a tad insensible you may say, but it's my sanity on the line. If I don't go back, I'd have not seen a friend for 3 weeks and that's just hard for me. And you have no idea how sick I am of just eating Indian food and hotel food...I'm SO bringing back my good 'ole instant noodles for next week =).

A little reminder of happier times:This is a picture of me and my cousin at my sister's JB wedding where I was one of the jie meis. The theme was obviously pink and I finally got to wear this pretty dress I got from Tokyo...the dress was actually very short because you know how petite Japanese girls are (the dress was one size only too!) so I was surprised my parents didn't say anything. And yes, I've gotten much more tanned because I got sunburnt (*gasp* tanned girls are not supposed to get sunburnt!) and you can see the bikini tan line clearly. I had nude pumps on and OMG I cannot believe how my cheap Vincci shoes are waaaaaaaaaaay more comfortable than my more expensive BCBG, Kenneth Cole shoes *shakes head* this makes no sense at all...

m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e

I am completely miserable.

Just a few weeks ago, I found out that MBTI indicated that I prefer Extraversion over Intraversion. I didn't quite agree because I like withdrawing from the crowd and spend time alone. But after being away in India for so long, I cannot help feeling very lonely and desperate to have my friends around.

I am now down with fever, working on a Saturday in a fully air-conditioned room and was informed that I'd need to stay another full week in India after the final presentation.

I have to reschedule my flights, make my hotel reservations and change my dental appointment back in Kuching.

I am SO tempted to fly back to KL for less than 10 hours just to see familiar faces. That means arriving in KL Sunday morning around 7-8am and flying out again at 8pm.

Do you guys think that's crazy?