Browsing through my photos on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I was just thinking how fireworks are so ruddy difficult to freeze on a camera. And that led me to another thought: I don't bring my camera out with me as much anymore. There's only one reason for that - I can't be arsed to keep switching from wide to telephoto lenses, which upsets me. Because those lenses cost me a bomb, and now I'm implying all I need is an 18-200mm versatile lens????? Geez Louise......

BACKEREI (because I'm in the mood but the equipment's wrong)

Two things glared at me today:
1. I spend too much time in front of the Mac, iPad and iPhone.

2. For once, I made time for a paperback and my journal.

And then I discovered, just as I snuggled into my seat at Backerei, with wonderful bready smells wafting from their ovens, that my fountain pen is dry.

Bloody hell. I skipped my regular kickass yoga for a dry fountain pen.

Never mind. Since I'm here at Backerei, Kuching, I'm telling ya, drop by and check out their pastries. Pretty kickass themselves. I'm counting 27 varieties so far. And that's not including the sandwiches. Plus, the coffee is only rm2.90. That's pretty fantastic for a deli-setting like this.

I don't normally advertise a place for free, but I like this place and I want to see it around for a long time to come.

Why Hello, Awesome

I'm supposed to be cleaning out my kitchen cabinets. Which is why I've decided that it is crucial that I write this post right this very second. It's a post so urgent that I have to drop everything to complete, especially if 'everything' means 'to clean out my kitchen cabinets'.

So 2012 dawns sunny, wonderful and smelling of awesome. In fact, smelling awesomer than last year. And the year before. And the year before that. You get the idea.

No resolutions this year. Just get on with it. Live life, joy through every pore. Love everyone, including the a@#h!@#s; but at a distance. And it's perfectly ok to steer clear of them because life's too short and you shouldn't be wasting time on them. Wish them well and move one. They have a right to enjoy life as well.

Through circumstances completely outside of my own planning and doing, I ended up going out of the country this Christmas, which felt very weird because Christmas was always parties and friends at home. And so with some trepidation, I flew the pad and ended 2011 with a bang. Why do I always get so drastic? Tattoos and dreads? But oh so fun! They are pretty heavy, and they tug on the scalp somethin' fierce. But I love the rasta effect. Definitely my kind of look. Gonna have them permanently when I retire to my beach front home. :-P

In the meantime, I think I'm gonna go practice writing 2012 instead of 2011. The kitchen cabinets can wait.

Oh, by the way, I brought dreadlock extensions back. I think my hairdresser is the only joint in town that has them right now. Just in case anyone wants to try them out.

White Tropical Christmas and other thoughts

If there could be an equivalent to a white Christmas in the tropics, today would be it. It hasn't stopped pouring since last night. It's as if there's a leaky pipe in heaven and the angels are in the middle of fixing it. Meanwhile, divine water trickles, pours, trickles down to earth, leaving me somewhat anxious for my flight to my secret getaway in a few hours. It's complete misery out there.

Ideally, Christmas would be filled with people I love and like descending on me all at once. And if I had that every day, it would be Christmas all year long. This year, the people I love and like have been descending on me. Just not all at once. And for the first time EVER, I'm going away for Christmas. As usual, a part of me screams "GO! FLY! DON'T COME BACK! GO OUT AND LIVE AS MANY DIFFERENT LIVES AS YOU CAN!" By and large it's a part that has been dormant for years. It rarely rears up; only when I'm feeling pernickety beyond belief (PBB) and I only feel PBB once in a while, especially when it's that time of year combined with when I have so many things and projects I want to do but haven't done any of them because life happens.

But thankfully, I'm also surrounded by old and new friends who are more than decent human beings. That means I shall not fly just yet.

I wasn't going to blog. I almost gave up on blogging. But, one indulges oneself in one's diversions and little distractions. So, against better judgement, I am drawn to a Christmas day blog entry.

Ah, the rain has stopped, and the anxiety is assuaged a little. The pipe must have been fixed.

A blessed Christmas. Don't wait all year to show goodwill toward men (and women).

Photo: The celebration at church last night, which I enjoyed immensely.

My Grid-it

This is my Grid-It organizer system, entirely perfect for the messy organized scatterbrain *points at self* who:
1. Gets lost even with those girly organizer bag-inside-a-bag systems.
2. Prefers something that doesn't scream "YOU'RE SUCH A GIRL"
3. Prefers to have all her things stuck to a medium like Velcro so she can rip them off and put them back easy-peasy.
4. Has a weakness for functional things which are really cool-looking at the same time.
5. Likes to be a little different. Just a little.

This thing fits everything from my hand cream to my back-up portable charger. There's also my eye drops, Thai hot oil for reviving fainting yoga buddies, fountain pens, refills and adaptor wires. How much can a girl (or guy) ask for? The system comes in various sizes, from pen and key-holder size to mine, which is the ideal size I reckon; to really big, almost A4 sized.

Lessons for marketers and businesspeople...

...I went to a Digi shop at a shopping centre in town, the one near a major bus interchange. I wanted to change my package. I was there four days ago, paying my bill; and a the man behind the counter told me I could do it. Tonight, it was a woman behind the counter. She didn't say hi, she didn't ask how she could help, but gave me a what-the-hell-do-you-want-look. I told her what I wanted.

She said, "Gimme your IC", without asking for it. Then she said "Gimme your phone".

I asked if she just needed my number. She gave me a black look, stretched out your hand and snapped "I STILL NEED YOUR PHONE".

Then she said, "You can just do the swap yourself or go to the main Digi Centre."

"Your man told me this could be done here", I was this close to telling her to go soak her underwear in ice and chill.

She shrugged.

My decision: I'm switching to Maxis. I went to them last week and they gave me service with a big smile, even when I didn't sign anything with them.

Lesson No. 1:
Treat every single person that walks through your door with courtesy; because if you're anything like Miss Digi Sourpuss, honey, I don't know how many old customers crossed over to your competitor, nor how many new ones you lost.

I wanted to buy one of them steam iron thingamajigs because they're so much easier to use than conventional irons. The little stall didn't take plastic, I didn't have enough cash. I asked them how long they'd be there. The girl insisted that this was their last day and this was a special price. I was filling in the warranty card already when a closer questioning of her colleague revealed that they were going to be their for another two days.

What I did: walked away and said I would probably come back tomorrow. But on second thoughts, she lied and I think I'm going to save my moolah.

Lesson No. 2:

Never lie to a potential customer. Never lie. Period.

Lesson No. 3:

Nice or nasty, people can and will blog about your behaviour.

Pondering

I sat here in Oxford and pondered the wonders of travel. Then I sat there in Dubai and chatted to the waiter from the Philippines; and we pondered the necessity of money. Once again I sat by a road side in Kerteh, enjoying a coffee and pondered the perfection of an original nasi dagang recipe. Before I know it, I was pondering my roots in Sandakan town. And then I pondered the traffic from Sipitang to Kota Kinabalu. Finally, I ponder the miracle of unconditional love my dogs give me as I await my flight home.