Making A Move

Some time last year, Jim and I received work of a possible future assignment posting for him in Singapore in 2013. Whilst in the back of my mind, I've been very much aware of it... the reality of it never really sank in. Until now. 

It seemed like just not that long ago that he and I made the decision to move here to the Netherlands for a change of environment. Yes, KL-PJ was sucking the soul out of us (or maybe just me, I don't know). And although the move here was fraught with a mix of both excitement and fear, our journey through it all, albeit harrowing, allowed us to emerge stronger and more appreciative of life, love and each other. 

Looking back the three years (almost!) that we've been here, it has made me see that the world is so big, and it is filled with endless opportunities and boundless possibilities. If we could just disentangle ourselves from the negative experiences, we'd be able to see and appreciate so much more. Of course there would be bad experiences, otherwise it isn't life, right? :) 

On a Tulip trail

Life here isn't free from complaints. Far from it! Haha... Maybe I'm a serial-complainer, I don't know. But what I do know is that the good outweighs the bad. We've never really made the decision if we would grow our roots in the Netherlands, as we were still getting used to life here, not to mention the language. And I tell you, that is the biggest barrier for me. The Dutch Language seriously, seriously kills me. To even want to say something in Dutch, I got to crack my brains and ultimately come up with something so wrong that it makes everyone laugh out loud.

Us in Volendam with our Klompens

But before we found out about the assignment to Singapore, we were thinking of making things more permanent. We were thinking about a move to Central Holland (near the city of Utrecht) and to make plans settling there. Just a side note, Leeuwarden's not that bad.. But it can get pretty boring and it's so far away from everything else. What ties me to Leeuwarden the most are the friends that I've made while I was here.

With the Windmill in Kinderdijk

It's just that now, when we are finally settled in The Netherlands (barely!), we are packing again. Even though we've only been here for a short time, and it's also only a 3 year assignment to Singapore, it's ironic how burdened I feel about leaving what I know here. And I can't believe that I find myself looking forward to coming back here again after our 'adventure' in Singapore is over.

I know, I have some ridiculously random photos on this post. But it's just a reminder to myself the good times I've had here :)

 

What's In A Face

Calvin Klein achieved what Gucci couldn't in a single page ad.

I'm biased, I know... Hahaha...

CK Ad from Glamour Magazine UK March 2013

Double Page Ad from Glamour Magazine UK March 2013

Grammar

I came across this statement some time ago and thought to put it here, lest I forget!.. Haha..

I'm actually not even sure if the word "grammar" can be used  in this context but I'm no expert linguist so I'm using the term "grammar" in a broad range. If words like "pronoun", "verb", "adjectives", "propositions", "adverbs" and whatnots are thrown in my face, I think my eyes will just glaze over and my mind will travel to my happy place.

Truth be told.. My command of the language is slowly seeping away from me as I age.. I wonder why that is...

Not From England

Jimmy and I went for a day out in the centrum today for some shopping and walking around. We were just walking in one of the stores, a departmental store called V&D, when we stopped to browse through some sweaters on a rack.

We didn't notice but there was a lady about 2 feet behind us and I suppose we stopped too abruptly and got in her way. We only realized when she heaved a loud sigh and shoved right past us!

Jimmy was pretty miffed and called out after her, "An 'excuse me' would be nice!". Then she turned around and retorted:

*brace yourself for this*

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"I Am Not From England!"

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Huh?!? Whaaaaa...??? Okay... It's just that I never knew that common courtesy was indigenous to England. I always just assumed that civility was practiced in all cultures. Hmmm... I've met a lot of wonderfully well-mannered and polite Dutch, so I'm don't really know where that lady was coming from...

I am not one who is easily rendered speechless but this one really did a good job of temporarily dumbing me. It took a couple of seconds before the statement really sank in and for me to come up with a few snarky remarks. I didn't manage to use any of them though, because Jimmy was ready to get into it further and I just told him "Don't stoop to that level" and he reluctantly let it go.

It's interesting how complex human nature is... Although unpleasant, it was definitely an eye-opening experience.

Classy!

That is so, so true :)

So what if Osama is dead? 

There is about a gazillion others out there just waiting to take his place and another gazillion others who are capable of other forms of terrorism. 

Japan's Tsunami Distress

Was just scanning the news to know more about the disaster that struck Japan and when I came across this and did a double take!

Geez... What gives??

I mean, seriously?! Shouldn't the little red box first give info to Malaysians in Japan on how to handle themselves in a disaster instead? With contacts of the embassy, what to do next and what-nots?

Talk about priorities..

If I were a Malaysian stuck in Japan, you think I'll be in a state of mind to give you a blow-by-blow on the situation there?

What a joke...

*snorts*

...our fuel dilemma, that is. Or is it?

In early March 2008, an announcement was made that there would NOT be any increase in fuel prices in 2008.
In June 2008, fuel prices rose to a bloody RM2.70/ltr (an whooping 40%)!!

Last month, the govt announced that petrol prices would not be reviewed for reduction until Sept 2008.
As of 12:00am today, petrol price went down to RM2.55/ltr...

Points to take into consideration:

1. General Election was in March 2008 - ruling party lost highest revenue states like Penang and Selangor to opposition and barely won by a hairsbreath.

2. Permatang Pauh by-election will be held final week of August.

Timeline seems to be of the essence, no??


My points of view:

1. The people are not stupid. On the contrary... we are aware of the mind-blowing activites that are coincidental with the timeline

2. According to The Star Online, a certain member of the parliament seems annoyed about the lack of appreciation from the public on the fuel price reduction (source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/23/nation/20080823172837&sec=nation) and says that the people should be thankful for the fuel 'rebate' otherwise, the rebate would be used elsewhere. However, whilst this particular person only SEEMS annoyed, I AM, TRULY, DEEPLY ANNOYED. Reason being - just because you inflict pain and anguish on someone everyday and decide to take a break by inflicting less for 15-days (? subject to review...), you think that someone is going to APPRECIATE you? wtf?! Someone here is deluded and it isn't me...

3. Someone important went on a joyride on our trusty old KTM and LRT and decided that it's in a sorry state!! *hysterical laughter* (He truly didn't know!? *raise eyebrow* & *roll eyes*) Why now? Why after so many years of sitting in that comfortable seat that he decides to go for a ride? Perhaps it's got something to do with a certain big-thing happening in Permatang Pauh...

4. Lastly... this whole debacle since March 2008 reminds me of a certain US President who said these evergreen words:

"I DID NOT sleep with Ms Lewinsky"

only to say this after several weeks:

"I DID sleep with Ms Lewinksy"

What a bloody stinking joke.

The problem with us is...

.... our government. To be specific, our federal government.

It's true. The hike in petrol has been confirmed. From RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70 per litre = a whopping 40% increase! What next? 40% increase in toll prices too? With the massive jump in fuel prices, no doubt the price of everything else would just skyrocket! Somehow, I doubt there'd be massive skyrocketing in our salaries.

In the eyes of a disgruntled citizen as myself, I wished that there was something that we, a collection of ALL disgruntled citizens, could do about this situation. Isn't it bad enough that we are forced to settle for miserable excuses for vehicles with the likes of Proton cars when the taxes for all imported cars are preposterous?! These cars that shake and rattle so much that you can barely hear yourself think when you drive along roads with excessive potholes like Jalan Universiti??

These are the same cars that we, citizens of this country, are forced to buy because every other car that is imported that provides us with the bare necessities that our local carmaker cannot provide to us! And these bare necessities that I am talking about are not only in terms of performance and fuel efficiency...

I'm just bloody asking for an affordable car within my budget, within all young working Malaysians' budget, that doesn't have headlights that retain water when it rains. A car with power windows that actually works for more than 2 months. A car with doors that doesn't rust within the first year of purchase. A car that doesn't creak and groan and shake and rattle and basically sound like it's about to fall to pieces everytime you go over a bump or a pothole. (Speaking of potholes, why the f**k doesn't the government do anything about these road menace in PJ especially!?)

With the petrol subsidies pluging like birds' droppings, you would think that the government would reduce the taxes of imported cars so that us, citizens of Malaysia, would be able to afford better quality cars... right? That would be a sensible and logical next step - to keep our best interests at heart.

*scoff*

Best Interests at Heart? hmmph... that would be a first...

We're talking about the same people who issued a statement to the press about taking back everything that they've given to the Penang state (like the RapidPenang Bus System) when they lost the elections. Just one example of the many other childish post-election issues that were raised 2 months ago...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the ruling government's next step to 'get back' at the public for letting the opposition win more than 40% of the seats contested. And if someone who is as politically-illiterate as I am can see this, I'm sure that there would be millions more out there who can.

From the looks of it, Malaysia is just the federal government's playpen and we are the pawns with everything to lose...

********************

For those who have been following the election news and info, this is something that you would have guessed would happen when Khairy won the Rembau seat and there was speculation that it was not a clean win:

Rembau Election Petition Strikes Out (The Star Online, 4th June 2008

Sometimes you just wonder where we are headed to, where this country is headed to...