Perkier Than You

Update Your Bookmarks - Perky Has Moved!

2010-04-02T15:54:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone,

Just wanna drop a quick note here. I have moved my blog to The Restless Pixie, so do update your bookmarks to point to http://restlesspixie.com/The_Restless_Pixie/Blog/Blog.html.

My old blog here will remain here until the domain expires at the end of the year. But I doubt that I'll be updating it.

I'm quite sad to let this blog go but it just felt like it was time to say goodbye and start new. Anyway, I do hope to see some familiar faces at my new blog!

xoxo,
Perky.

Ushering in the New Year

2010-01-15T15:20:00.004+08:00

Ok, so I'm like 15 days behind from wishing everyone a happy new year. So "HAPPY NEW YEAR, FELLOW BLOGGERS!!!!" :D

I ended 2009 pretty much with a big bang. I had never been so busy year-end but 2009 was pretty exceptional (hence, another long MIA from me... urgh.)

Anyways, I got myself some new 'toys' to play with, which has been keeping me occupied most times. I finally bought myself a MacBook Pro (which I HEART so much that I don't know how I managed to use Windows-based PC in the past. lol). I even bought myself a Crumpler bag specifically just for my Mac. lol.

To add on to my "Apple" family, I even got myself an iPhone. Now that I'm on the iPhone, I have no idea how the hell I'm ever going to go back to your average just-for-calls-and-SMS type of phone. I love the fact that I'm always connected on the internet. I love how supportive the iPhone communities are (we all share Application tips and what not). I love the cool and fun applications on the iPhone and how easy it is to download them (and I've recently discovered Podcast materials, mainly Stand Up Comedies... which is awesome entertainment btw).

Can you tell how in love I am with the iPhone? Lol.

So I ended 2009 with a bang.

And starting 2010 with an adventure.

My 2 girlfriends and I are doing our trip to Europe this coming February. YAY!!! We'll be hitting Paris, Vienna, Prague and Berlin on this trip. Planning for this trip has been really time-consuming as we're trying to keep within our budgets.

We've started our travel blog for this trip. So head over to We're Not That Lost in Europe: The Chronicles to read about our "little" adventure. And if you have traveling tips or know of places we should do or things we ought to try over there, just hit us with your comments! :D

The Thing About Size and Men...

2009-11-03T01:30:00.001+08:00

Spending an afternoon with a bunch of straight guys made me forget that I almost have to tone down my ~~bitchiness~~ honesty just 'cause straight guys 'don't get it', unlike my gay friends.

Anyway, I had plans to meet up with the boys, *Beavis and *Butthead, at a coffee shop. I drove up in the Ford Hurricane, which usually draws a lot of unwanted attention to me because of my hobbit-like stature.

*Beavis: Isn't that truck a lil too big for a tiny girl like you?

That drew fits of laughter amongst the boys, which, I'm not going to deny, shattered me emotionally.

Cheap shot, boys. You know that scene where a boy kicks a girl in the crotch and he's expecting the girl to react the same way he does when he gets kicked in the nuts, but that doesn't happen coz HELLO! girls don't have balls, and then he gets a knock-out punch from the girl in return? Yeah, isn't that some funny shit?

Oh hold on, did I just say, "shattered me emotionally?" Me, shatter emotionally? Must be the crazy pills talking.

Anyhoo, I felt that it was my duty as a servant of god, that I gave these boys a lesson on size and perception.

Perky: Hey *Beavis, that Audi Q7 is yours, isn't it?
*Beavis: Yeah. Isn't she a babe?
Perky: Yeah, totally. I guess you must get a lot of stares from people, right?
*Beavis: Oh hell yeah. That's why I got it in the first place.
Perky: Right. There's nothing like that high you get when people comment "Omg, check out that dude driving the Audi. Guess he bought it so people won't pay attention to his face".
*Beavis: I'm not ugl....my mother said I was her pride an...
Perky: Does it not bother you when people ask you, instead of spending all that money on a car, why don't you do something about your buck teeth and ape-like nostrils?

Then I turn to my next victim, *Butthead.

Perky: Hey *Butthead, you're slightly bigger than the average Malaysian, right?
*Butthead: I don't like where this is going, but yeah.
Perky: Do you not feel cramped up in your Kelisa?
*Butthead: Hey I fit in it just fine. I'm comfortable in it. It gets me to places. It's a fuel-saving car.
Perky: Wow, you actually have to psych yourself up every time you get into your car, huh? Doesn't it make you feel small when you see me driving in my truck? Think of all that leg room, all that height and all that power a truck has that a Kelisa doesn't.

My ultraman's bigger than your ultraman!

[Photo credit: Ultraman Avatars at Avatarist]

I would've stopped right there but I couldn't resist and added this for the final blow:
Perky: You may walk tall and big, but on the road you're just an ant next to me. And you're ok with that?

The silence from the boys was a sweet victory to me as I sipped my smoldering hot coffee. If it were not for the moment we were in, I would've squealed like a wuss for I had burnt my tongue while trying to maintain the macho look I had over the boys.

*Butthead: You're hungry, aren't you?
Perky: Yeah, I'm starving! And I think I'm PMS-ing too.
*Beavis: And I think you may have forgotten to take your crazy pills today.

[Writer's note: *Names has been changed to protect the boys' identities. I fear that if their actual identities are made public, they may never recover from depression if people knew that they secretly cry when watching chick flicks and that they enjoy long walks on the beach.]

*Disclaimer: No one got offended during this seemingly brutal exchange. That's just how we roll.

There's No Place Like Home

2009-10-31T16:18:00.003+08:00

As I sit here in my mother's living room, staring out at her beautiful garden, I can't help but feel so at peace. Some people may dread that it's pouring heavily outside, but I love it. The smell of rain touching the grass, now that's something you don't get in the big city.

And with a cuppa next to my laptop, I'm truly having a much deserved "me" time.

Gosh, there really is no place like home. Or in this moment, shall I say, mom's garden? There's plenty of space in her garden that we can have a backyard party. Oh but if we had a pergola, I wouldn't mind having my wedding reception in our garden.

Mom's beautiful garden is a real testament to the hardwork she's put into it. I can't imagine watering the garden on my own (which is something she does every evening).

And it's not just having to water the plants. You also got to fertilize and trim them. It's just way too much work if you ask me.

But still, it's nice to have a garden that's tastefully done and well taken care of.

Reviving My Lost Love

2009-10-28T00:36:00.004+08:00

My schedule has been so erratic lately that my blog has really taken a back seat huh?

To be honest, I haven't quite settled into the rhythm of having a puppy. I've started to take Sasha out for walks in Central Park, which should sound like a walk a park (no pun intended).

But I'm so unfit these days that walking for an hour literally takes my breath away. I'm so tired from walking my dog that I end up sleeping early! And Sasha, being like a 3-year old on speed, she never seems to run out of energy.

If you ever get the chance to see me beg my dog to be tired and go to sleep already, it's very likely that you'll think I'm the most pathetic dog owner in the world. I wouldn't blame you ;)

And yeah, it also doesn't help that I spend whatever available time I have now on Facebook playing Mafia Wars.

That game is totally evil.

But if you're playing MW, you should like totally ADD me on Facebook!!

It is sad to see what my blog has become. It's collecting dust. Even the dust now has dust. It's almost like I've lost my voice (or my mind, or on some days both).

Then I thought to myself, what can I possibly do to make me return to my first online love? All these while, it has been you, my dearly beloved readers (particularly Granny Twilight and Anton), that has been reminding me of my blog.

I can't keep getting nudged by my readers to update my blog. I need to take a proactive role here... afterall it is my blog.

So I'm thinking of turning my blog into more of a collaboration effort. I'm gonna post a weekly question in which you readers can either mouth off in the comment section OR you can submit your post to me via email and along with a link to your blog I'll post it up on my blog. In other words, you'll be a contributor on my blog.

Or you guys can ask me questions and I'll post my answer on my blog. (You may ask any questions except the size of my panties, you perv!)

On a side note: I can't wait for this Thursday. Am going to watch Michael Jackson's This Is It! in 1Utama's GSC. If you're a fan of MJ, you owe it to yourself to watch the late King of Pop on big screen with surround system.

Confessions of a Bookaholic

2009-09-30T23:39:00.000+08:00

Here's a confession for you: I love books. New books especially. Which is strange because I don't particularly like to read them.

Unless of course, if it were the Twilight saga. Which btw, I'm proud to say that I bought all 4 books AND finished reading every one of them within weeks. Hah! Take that, Harry Potter!

My weak spot? The Borders bookstore.

I simply cannot step into Borders and not buy anything. Just breathing in the air in Borders can do wonders for my soul.

It almost feels like aromatherapy.

These are some of the books I bought over the past 2 months:

The Cinderella Effect by Miriam Morrison and Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death by Gyles Brandreth was one of those mindless purchases. I had simply waltz into Borders, bored and was simply itching to buy something.

I had attempted to read The Cinderella Effect, but it was so boring that I didn't even finish reading the first chapter.

Do Ants Have Arseholes? is a pretty good book. It's funny. It's entertaining.

And yes, you guessed it, I didn't finish reading this book.

Why?

Because I had bought Cesar Millan's Be The Pack Leader book... which is like the bible for raising good dogs. Cesar is amazing and it's too bad that Nat Geo doesn't air his shows here in Malaysia. If you're a dog lover, you should definitely read his books or watch his shows.

As you all know, I'm big on vampires. Since I started downloading The Vampire Diaries series, I was curious about the book. So I bought L J Smith's famous book today.

Wait a minute. Wasn't there a Miley Cyrus book somewhere in those pile of books???

Ahuh.

Hey, don't judge me.

Don't you think it's odd that an almost 30 yr old lady would buy a book written by a teenager???

Erm, she is the biggest teen star in the world right now, isn't she?

I was curious as to why the world was so obsessed with Miley Cyrus. Why is she so successful? So I bought her autobiography to try to understand her mind better.

And after reading the first chapter, I slammed the book onto the floor, cussing at myself for being such an idiot.

Damn you, Borders! You make me buy things I don't even ~~need~~ read.

Furry and Green Distractions

2009-09-15T00:33:00.001+08:00

HOLY COW!! Have I really been away from blogging this long??? My last post was dated Aug 1st and today it's Sept 15th. That's real bad of me and I do apologize to my readers for being away for so long.

But it's not like I didn't have a valid, good reason, ya know.

I did just recently adopt a puppy, ya know.

But that was MONTHS ago!

I did have this huge event to organise and I was simply taking a break.

Erm... that was last month's news and you should've been well rested by now.

It's kinda hard to type coherent sentences when a puppy is begging for attention.

And you wonder why your puppy is such an attention whore?

OMG, and just when I was in the mood to blog sometime 3 weeks ago, Bibik introduced a game on Facebook called Farm Town and I've been so addicted to it ever since!

Get a life!

My onion-filled farm. It drives me nuts that most of the things I want are still locked to me :(

Seeing that I've been spending so much time playing Farm Town on FB, my brother introduced a new game called Restaurant City! Should McChef decides to set up his own restaurant one day, this game will provide me with plenty of practise in being the ~~mama san~~ restaurant manager.

GET A LIFE!!

I just started this restaurant called "The Usual Place" last night

I can even picture the tv ad for my restaurant:
Boy: So where do you wanna have dinner?
Girl: The Usual Place.

Lame, I know. But you gotta admit, it's genius!

So here I am, alternating between playing games on Facebook and watching the U.S. Open.

Seriously, you need to get a life... or get some new friends!

Ok, fine I'll admit it. The real reason why I've finally found the time to blog is because my puppy is in Melaka. ~~She's been sent there to be disciplined by Bibik's Grandmother Dowager~~.

Yes, Sasha is being taken care of by Bibik's family as I'll be going back to Kuching on Thursday and will be there until the end of the month. And with her away, that gives me plenty of time to get back to life on the blogosphere!

So I'll be visiting all your blogs very soon and there'd better be some good juicy gossip for me to read! :)

4 Shoes and a Wedding

2009-08-01T19:51:00.003+08:00

One of the cons of having a puppy is that my shoes always goes missing. And when it finally does reappear, it always comes back to me looking like it went through a mine field or something. No points for guessing what my beloved Sasha did to my shoe.

Perhaps it’s time I get one those shoe tree, something high to place my shoes where it’s out of Sasha’s biting and jumping range.

When your shoe is bitten beyond recognition, you got no other choice but to get a new pair. Shoe shopping is something I’d try to avoid as much as possible. It’s not that I’m hopeless when it comes to buying shoes. I don’t need a guide when it comes to buying shoes. When you have enough gay friends, it’s very unlikely that you’ll end up buying an ugly pair of shoes.

It’s just that, I don’t have the attention span to look for the pair that I really, really like. I’d browse along the aisle - sneakers, golf shoes, running shoes and good God, bike shoes! - before realizing that I’m looking for shoes in the wrong place to begin with.

Yes, I am quite the mindless shoe shopper. It usually takes an extraordinarily looking pair of shoes (or in most cases, stilettos)to catch my eye. And of all the shoes that has ever caught my eye (and eventually my wallet), never did it occur to me that a pair of wedding shoes would make me go “ooooh! I gotta have that shoe!”

And somewhere in the back of my head I can almost hear the wedding bells ringing…

Taking the Client for a Dump

2009-07-01T22:26:00.002+08:00

There are many places to close a deal with the client. Some choose to do it in the meeting room, some do it while on the golf course (something my dad excels at) and some choose to close the deal over a glass of beer, such as yours truly.

However, there are certain people who choose to do it while taking a dump in the toilet!

How do I know this? Hey, don't jump to conclusions so fast. It wasn't me, I swear! I happened to be in the next cubicle when I overheard the whole thing.

Oh, but wait, here's the best part. The lady was on speaker phone. She took her mobile phone with her to the toilet and put it on speaker. SPEAKER PHONE!

Obviously, she has never even heard of this little thing called bluetooth headphones, or whatever it is you call that wireless earpiece thingy that connects your ear to your mobile phone. Yeah, that cool thing.

Imagine listening to this:

Lady in the Next Cubicle: So do you agree with the 20k price?

Client: Yes. But what else can you throw in for me?

*karplunk* <-- that's the sound shit makes as it hits the water in the toilet bowl, in case you're wondering

Lady in the Next Cubicle: Erm... erm... *pooot!* *PLOOP PLOOP* I'll give you and your friends tickets to watch Transformers in GSC's Gold Class.

Wait, what? Your client is giving you 20k and all you're giving is some shitty Gold Class tickets to go watch a movie? Man, you're cheap! I would've thrown in a treat to the spa or something.

So you can imagine, apart from feeling sorry for the client for having to listen to the "melodic sounds" of shit making an exit from one's body, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it's kinda hard not to when the conversation is being put on speaker.

Man, don't this make you wonder whatever happened to common courtesy? I think it's just plain rude to be talking to clients in the toilet. You do not shit or piss on the hands that feed you.

Anyway, I hope that the Lady in the Next Cubicle remembered to wash her hands after that phone call. In all the excitement of closing a 20k deal, I won't be surprised if she didn't. And that, my dear, is just plain eew.

Michael Jackson's Really Gone

2009-06-27T19:32:00.003+08:00

When it comes to icons and legends, I kinda wish that they'd live on forever. I remember when Freddie Mercury passed away years ago, I asked God, "Why can't You just leave him with us for a little bit longer? Afterall, you do have eternity to hang out with the guy."

Then when news of MJ's death broke out, I found myself asking God that same question again. Suffice to say, I was broken hearted.

"He can't be dead. I've been looking forward to seeing him make a comeback!"

As it finally sank in, I broke down and cried. I can't believe he's really gone.

To comfort myself, I bought a tub of Ben & Jerry's, sat in front of the TV to watch MTV and Channel [V] pay tribute to the King of Pop, and ate the whole thing on my own.

A whole friggin tub, man. Who the hell eats a whole friggin tub of ice cream on her own??

In memory of MJ, here's my Top 8 list of what I will remember most about him:

1. He was tremendously talented.
He was 5 years old when he first stepped out with The Jackson 5. FIVE YEARS OLD, man. Remember what you were doing at that age? I was still learning my ABC's (and failing miserably at that, too) and was still wearing diapers. MJ was already singing and dancing on stage.

2. He was the coolest thing that came out of the 80's.
How can you not agree?

3. He revolutionized music videos.
Be it Thriller or Smooth Criminal, MJ's music videos was really in a class of its own (be it the most expensive or most mind-blowing). And he did it without having girls prancing around in skimpy outfits and showing their ass and tits on video.

4. The Moonwalk.
The Moonwalk, which was his signature move, and his dancing style was unlike any other. Many have tried to imitate MJ, be it Justin Timberlake, Usher or Chris Brown, and they all don't even come close to the Gloved One. And hey, he was and still is the only person who can get away with that crotch-grabbing move.

5. He broke down racial barriers.
Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend of MJ, said it perfectly: "Way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama, Michael did with music what they later did in sports and in politics and in television."

6. People worshipped him as if he was Jesus.
I used to catch his concerts on tv and I remember looking at the crowd that attended his concerts. My God, he could form his own country with the number of people he attracted in just one concert alone. Girls fainted. Girls cried. And so did the men! They even dressed like him (okay, I'm kinda guilty on this one too. I used to put white tape on my fingers, and wore the black arm band just like MJ did).

7. He wanted to make the world a better place.
Man in the Mirror, an emotionally-charged song with a great message is one of my fav songs - if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change. MJ was also known for his charity work. As much money he was making at the peak of his fame, he was also giving away just as much to help the needy.

8. He's Michael Jackson; the music genius, the great entertainer, the guy who made music that will live on even after you and I are long dead. And that's how we all should remember him.

Road Trip and the New BFF

2009-06-19T19:06:00.000+08:00

I'm off for another road trip with Bibik, Mama Diva and Fung Couture. Yes, it's gonna be one very gay weekend indeed!

This time we're heading down to Melaka and will be staying at Bibik's. We're actually there to celebrate his niece's full moon, but I have alterior motives to be there.

Remember this post where I said I wanted to get a dog? Well, thanks to Bibik's dad, I'll be getting a toy poodle! :D She's just perfect for me: tiny, low maintenance, suitable for condo living and most importantly, very sociable (although reports of her barks sounding like Mama Diva kinda worries me.. hmm... ).

I'm so excited and I can't wait to meet her.

I suppose this is how a woman would feel when she's waiting for the birth of her child from a surrogate mother, huh?

Here's a glimpse of my Sasha Fierce:

The World's Most Unphotogenic Poodle!

Sorry, I haven't been able to stop by all your blogs as I've got 10 mins to pack before Bibik screams at me. You guys have a great weekend ahead and talk to you guys soon.

xoxo,
Perky.

Addicted to Evil Monsters

2009-06-16T01:03:00.003+08:00

I have no one but myself to blame for not updating my blog for so long.

Nope, it wasn't work. Although I am gonna see a huge increase in my workload next month due to the upcoming big event in August. Crap, I'm so not looking forward to July!

Nope, it wasn't writer's block either. As a matter of fact, I had plenty of stuff to blog about... only it never made it to my blog.

Actually.... they were more like halfway written before I got distracted with something else.

Here's what I've been doing the entire time since my last post:

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PLAYING BUBBLETOWN ON MSN GAMES!!

This evil game is the reason why I haven't been replying emails, haven't been checking out your blogs, haven't been replying to the comments on my blog, haven't been updating my Twitter page...

I'm so addicted to this brainless game and it's so irritating that I can never go beyond Level 11. Therefore, I keep trying and trying until I get so exhausted that I don't have any energy left to do anything else online.

Man, I'm so lame. Who the hell stays up until 3am to play some stupid online game??

I can't keep this up when my new puppy arrives ;)

Writer's note: This post took 2 hours to complete due to the distraction that is Bubbletown.

ToughGirls Vlog: Why Take the Fighting Art?

2009-06-10T00:42:00.001+08:00

Sorry for being away for so long. My parents were in town last week, so I haven't been online as much.

Anyway, after guest posting on the Fight Like a Girl series on Kat's blog, here's our first vlog together.

The contributors are Floreta Chui (her Fight Like a Girl post can be found here), Rialeilani (her post can be found here), Kat Argonza (her post can be found here) and myself (my post can be found here).

Yes, that's right. This marks my very first appearance in ANY vlog, so do forgive me for appearing nervous and uncomfortable (lol!). The other 3 girls were fantastic in the vlog (wish I could be as confident as they were when speaking in front of the camera!). The editing was done by the awesome Kat.

Hopefully this video will inspire others to take up martial arts.

Queen-Size Bed for SALE

2009-06-03T15:10:00.006+08:00

Hey guys,

I am selling off my queen-size metal framed bed. Am refurnishing my home, so it's out with the old and in with the new :)

My Queen-size Metal Frame Bed.... pls ignore the surrounding mess ;)

This bed was bought a few years ago at the price of RM539 (which was NOT inclusive of the queen-size mattress btw).

I am selling this bed for RM280, and is inclusive of:
1) the mattress (as shown in the picture above)
2) the delivery to your home

If you're interested, or know of someone who is looking to buy a queen-size bed, pls drop me an email at perky(AT)perkierthanyou(DOT)com.

p/s: This sale is only open to residents in the Klang Valley area.

Wished I Had Shit for Popcorn

2009-06-01T20:06:00.002+08:00

I've been looking forward to watch Terminator:Salvation since it opened in our local cinemas last Thursday, and this afternoon I had the opportunity to do just that.

I don't want to play the race card here...

BUT...

I think the Chinese are the noisiest, most inconsiderate and clueless movie-goers.

Sorry if that statement offends my Chinese readers but hey, I'm of Chinese descendant too, you know.

Fine, fine, I'll be more specific then.

The typical Ah Bengs and the Ah Lians are the noisiest, most inconsiderate and clueless movie-goers. They forget to switch their handphone to silent mode, they speak LOUDLY while the movie is showing, and they shake their legs that the chair in front of them gets rocked as well (2 hours of that uninvited "massage" and you'll understand just how annoying it can be).

Seated next to me (unfortunately) was an Ah Beng-Ah Lian couple. From the way they dressed, I knew they were going to be annoying the moment they sat down (and trust me, I have very good instincts when it comes to people).

And I was right.

The girl started speaking LOUDLY, in Mandarin, to her boyfriend from the moment the movie started. I don't have to understand Mandarin to know that she's asking her bf to tell her what's going on.

Every. Single. Second.

Now, I don't understand Mandarin but when I watch a Chinese movie, I don't turn to my friend and ask him to explain everything to me. I read the subtitles. Sure, they're not always accurate (and sometimes they can be corny) but it helps me understand the movie without ruining other people's fun.

Numbnuts, that's what subtitles are for. And in our cinemas, we have subtitles in Malay and Chinese. If you don't understand English, then READ the damn subtitles.

As she just kept talking on and on and on, I just lost it.

Ah Lian: Ching chong ching chong ching chong.

Perky: Sssshhhh!

Ah Lian: Ching chong ching chong ching chong.

Perky: Quiet!

Ah Lian: Ching chong ching chong ching chong.

Perky: Eh, cibai, shut up lah!
(*cibai: a cuss word that means "pussy"/"vagina" in Chinese.

Writer's note: I thought only the Hokkiens use this word, but apparently it's universal regardless of whatever Chinese dialect you speak)

Ah Lian: Ching chong ching chong ching chong.

Perky: OMG! Are you that stupid, you can't read the subtitles instead?

Ah Lian: Ching chong ching chong ching chong.

Perky: You're so stupid, the reason why your bf is with you is 'cause you're the only pussy he can get.

Sad, isn't it? I need to learn to speak (or more importantly, cuss) in Mandarin. I was thisclose to throwing my popcorn at them but I was hungry, so I needed my popcorn as food.

Look, I'm generally a nice person but aggravate me enough, and the bitch comes out. We don't like it when we turn nasty like this. I was hoping her bf would get up and challenge me to a fist fight, but we all know who's gonna whoop his scrawny ass if it ever did come to that.

I don't know why I even bother writing about idiots like these. It's not like they read blogs (especially an English-written blog!). Even if they did, it'll probably be some food blog, where it's heavily-laiden with pictures and uses very little words (doesn't take that many brain cells to decipher the words like "mmmm yummm" or "tastes good/ok" or "yucks").

Anyway, that's my rant for today. If anyone's offended by this, go ahead and spam me with hate mail. It's been awhile since I last stirred shit on my blog.

Getting in on the Girl-on-Girl Action

2009-05-31T00:28:00.000+08:00

Earlier this week, I had learned from a friend that someone accused me of being a closeted lesbian. But before you go throwing insults at my accuser, pls bear in mind that I'm not mad. Really. On the contrary I find it rather amusing. I came from an all-girls school, so being called a lesbian is nothing new to me.

I have always been the kind of person who is touchy and affectionate, even among friends. Giving hugs and kisses is nothing strange to me. As a matter of fact, it comes naturally. When I was in high school, many thought that *Sheep (my best friend) and I were lesbians because everywhere we went, we would be holding each other's hands and we were always seen putting our arms around each other.

What can I say? We were both brought up in families where physical contact was encouraged.

Anyway, here are some of my accuser's theory on why she ~~thinks~~ believes that I'm actually a lesbian:

I'm Too Friendly with Girls

On the few occassions that my accuser has seen me, it's usually at TGI Friday's where I meet up with my girl friends over drinks. Our standard greeting: a hug and 2 kisses on each cheek. I'm sure you've seen girls do this all over the world.

But apparently, according to my accuser, when I hug and kiss my girl friends, it looks like I'm trying to get some lip-lock action. It's as if I want turn my greeting into a full blown make out session.

Like, huh? Seriously?

Makes me wonder what she think of European ladies, considering we adapted the kiss-on-the-cheeks culture from them. Surely they can't all be gay, can they?

I Have Crushes on Various Women

Erm, on celebrities to be exact. Angelina Jolie. She's a goddess on earth. Megan Fox. Oh, those eyes... and legs! Kate Beckinsale. Hottest vampire ever! Jessica Biel. Woman with the perfect face and body to match!

I honestly don't see what's wrong with admiring other women. It's kinda like admiring a piece of art, no?

I Hang Out with Gays. All. The. Time.

If I hang out with girls who are gay, then I can totally understand where this is coming from. But I hang out with GUYS who are gay. They scan other guys and talk about gay sex with me. If I really am a lesbian, hearing another dude talk about doing another dude should invoke my gag reflex (and give me nightmares). And besides, wouldn't it be more appropriate for me to hang out with other lesbians?

I Like Rough Sports

No, I'm not talking about kinky sex here, you dirty single-minded people. My accuser knows that I'm into extreme sports - from aggressive inline skating to white water rafting, from doing martial arts to rock climbing. Not exactly the kind of sports a girly girl would do, but I don't think that just coz I like to do physically demanding sports, doesn't automatically make me a lesbian.

My god, I can already think of the all the sports athletes that would take offense to such statement.

Anyway, here's my theory. I think my accuser has a secret crush on me. You see, she's trying to do this reverse psychology mumbo jumbo on me. If I were to admit that I'm gay, and since she's gay too, then there's no reason why we shouldn't hook up right? Look lady, even if I am a lesbian, I doubt I'd have feelings for you.

But I'm available if you want to treat me to a free dinner ;)

The Very Inspiring Scrubs Magazine

2009-05-30T17:35:00.002+08:00

If you’re a nurse, or in the health industry, or if you’re into health topics in general, there’s a new pretty cool online magazine website just for you. Scrubs is unlike other nursing sites as it has a lot of information on good living – from mind, beauty, health, work, love, money to news & entertainment. This site is very inspiring, uplifting, and timely yet original.

The site can be pretty fun, too. There’s a nursing poll in which you can vote for your favourite fictional portrayal of a nurse. I voted for Greg Focker (the character that was portrayed by Ben Stiller in the movie Meet the Parents). I voted for him because I love Ben Stiller and he was so hilarious playing the part of a male nurse. However, he’s currently 3rd on the list 

The tip jar section is also something I enjoyed reading. It’s a place where you can find great tips that seasoned nurses give to the new ones on the floor. Though most of us are not nurses, we all have at one point or another have been through a heartbreaking or sometimes comical situationsand it is in this tip jar section that you will find the answers to challenging situations.

For instance, how do you deal with an angry patient? Well, no one likes to be yelled at, so our natural response would be to yell back at the person. If you want to know how to deal with such situations, the tip jar is the section to read. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed reading the articles on the site, so do spare some time to visit their site.

Quickie Tuesday

2009-05-26T19:06:00.002+08:00

Hey guys, hope everyone is feeling well this Tuesday. Today's post is gonna be a quick one as I'm in dire need of sleep (only had 4 hrs of sleep these past few nights).

On Adam Lambert

I know I'm a slow in putting this up. I was a tad bit disappointed that he didn't win AI BUT I'm so over it. I've just read the best piece of news on Adam - he could be Queen's new frontman!

You all know how very much Queen-obsessed I am, so I'm very particular with who fronts this legendary band (Paul Rodgers didn't quite cut it for me, sorry). But I do believe Adam can make it work with the remaining members of Queen. This guy is theatrical, he's queer and he was practically born to perform in arenas and sold-out crowds. And the voice, oh my... the voice! So keeping my fingers crossed on this union :)

On Being a Lesbian

I was told that someone suspects that I could be a closeted lesbian. Best rumor I've heard about myself in years! Not gonna go into too much details on that as that warrants a post on its own ;)

Fight Like a Girl series

I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to do a guest post on Kat's blog about my experience doing Taekwon-Do as part of her awesome "Fight Like a Girl" series. Do me a favor & check out my post. I haven't been this excited about blogging in a long time, so do check it out!

Other great reads from the series include "Face Your Fears: The Essential Tough Girl" and "Pain is just weakness leaving the body".

I'm gonna go blog hopping a lil bit, then it's off for some shut eye for me. Good night my lovelies! :)

Definitely NOT Bleeding Love

2009-05-19T22:27:00.004+08:00

There's a line from South Park that I absolutely love: "I don't trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die". Don't you just love Mr. Garrison?

I don't know what is up with my mensus and the crazy mood swings this time around. Most times I'm still able to function like any other decent human being, but once in a blue moon I'll go weird.

I'm suppose to be writing a post on women and martial arts for Kat's blog (sorry Kat!), which I'm really super excited to do. BUT. My brain just couldn't put the words together that would best sum my experience/hardship being a Taekwon-Do fighter (hah! bet you guys didn't know that about me. Well, if you wanna know more, you guys will have to wait 'til I finish the post ;) Stay tuned for that).

I suppose you can blame it on writer's block, perhaps?

Another blogger had commission me to custom make a card for him. What would normally take me a couple of hours to finish is now taking DAYS. I stared at my design, stared at it some more and was just unable to move forward. I can clearly see the design in my head, but somehow my hands just didn't want to work with me. I felt stuck. Do I even dare to go as far as to say I feel uninspired? Oh God.

I suppose you can blame that on crafter's block, perhaps?

Then, Sunday night pretty much confirmed that it was neither one of the above. It was in fact my PMS doing weird jujus on me.

I was practising John Mayer's song called "Waiting on the World to Change" on my guitar last night. The chord progressions are simple but this being a John Mayer song, it's actually quite tricky to play it the same way he does. Plus this song is played in shuffle beat, which I'm not good at because I don't have that blues feel in me. (Damn you John Mayer. Why can't you write more songs in straight beat?)

I just couldn't get the song right. Never mind the tempo, but even the simple chords I couldn't get them right. Frustration just kept building up until *gasps* I felt like smashing my guitar because I was so pissed off with myself.

Me destroy my most prized Fender Stratocaster??? That's like a mom flushing her baby down the toilet (although there are people out there who do this. Psychos). But that's not me. At all.

It's as if the amount of blood lost is equivalent to my level of creativity.

What does that say about me, that I need blood to be inspired? Geez, I know I can be obsessed with vampires but I don't think I can pull off being a vampire. Fangs don't suit my teeth and if I have to spend eternity being short and chubby, I'd rather stake myself with a wooden spoon.

Oh btw, remember this pic from my post in April 2008?

This month marked the first time I had to buy pads since then.

They Pay You to Hack?

2009-05-17T13:22:00.003+08:00

Remember that Hackers movie that came out in ’95? It was about a group of kids who discover a plot to unleash a dangerous computer virus and they use their great computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the NSA and the mastermind behind the virus. This movie practically made being a hacker a pretty cool thing.

But you know what’s not cool? Hackers writing viruses that have the capability to cripple major Internet sites. Imagine having someone switch your identities with another person or emptying your banking account as you’re about to make an online transaction. The hacker did all that from the comfort of his living room while he’s munching on burritos.

It is because of threats like this that companies everywhere around the world are taking measures to counter the attacks of hacking. This has seen a growing demand for ethical hackers to test the security of companies systems and networks.

“An ethical what?” you say?

An Ethical Hacker is someone who is usually employed with the organisation and can be trusted to undertake an attempt to penetrate networks and/or computer systems using the same methods as a Hacker. The goal of the Ethical Hacker is to help the said organisation take preemptive measures against malicious attacks by attacking the system himself while staying within legal limits. This concept is the same as the proven practice of “the best defence is a good offense”, or “to catch a thief, you got to think like one”.

The CEH Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. The Certified Ethical Hacker certification will strengthen the application knowledge of security officers and professionals, auditors, site administrators and anyone who is apprehensive about the integrity of the network infrastructure.

Basically, a Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker.

EC-Council can train you to become an Ethical Hacker and you can benefit from rising pay/jobs IT Security sector despite the economic downturn. They offer training in Security Fundamentals, Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing, Computer Forensics, Disaster Recovery and Secure Programming categories. For details, please visit the EC-Council website.

Looking for a New BFF

2009-05-14T02:30:00.001+08:00

I was never a dog person. I had always feared them ever since I was a little girl (and for good reason too, but that's another post altogether).

For my first Christmas with McChef, he brought me to his home to officially introduce me to his family... which also included his dog, Petals.

As Petals was kept on a leash outside his home, obviously she was the first one I had to pass in order to enter the house. She barked at me, tried to jump on me, ~~tried to chew my toes off~~... which McChef kept telling me was her way of greeting people.

Erm... right.

But to a person who is terrified of dogs, this behavior is more than likely to be seen as an attack.

McChef, being a dog person himself, wanted me and Petals to get along with each other. So he would coax me into doing things with Petals, such as bribing her with treats, patting her and giving her a bath.

It was from Petals that I learned how wonderful it was to have a dog. Her love for her master, though it was adorable, did make me jealous at times (she would always go to him whenever he called. And she can be possessive with her master). That kind of loyalty is not something you can ever find in cats.

Petals (1997 - June 2008)

Anyhoo, even before Petals went to doggie heaven, McChef had always wanted to get a new dog. ~~Perhaps as a way to test what kind of parent I'm going to be.~~ A pug to be exact. Why? Because he says that a pug is a dog version of me (in terms of behavior... although I can't deny we're almost similar in size).

And also a pug reminds him of my butt.

MY BUTT!

Geez, I know I've put on some ~~cellulite~~ weight, but I'm confident that I don't have wrinkles on my butt! Argh! So we've been ~~arguing~~ disagreeing about the type of dog we should get.

I actually wanted a Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) because I wanted a dog like Frasier's dog - smart, obedient, small and quiet. Oh boy, how wrong I was about this "tiny" dog (this just goes to show that you can't really believe what you see on tv).

JRTs were originally used as hunting dogs; which means that they are high in energy, needs to run (a lot), hyper and noisy. They are smart to the point that they are always looking for ways to outwit its master and testing its boundaries. If untrained, JRTs can grow up to be like Marley, the world's ~~supposed~~ worst dog. But most importantly, they are not suitable for first time dog-owners.

That pretty much tells me that I can't keep a JRT. And so I took a test to see what kind of dog would be suitable for someone like me - lives in a condo, not always home during weekdays and leads a somewhat active life.

The result came back and I got a silky terrier. I know only of 2 friends who has this dog - Bibik and Samantha. I've met Bibik's dog and she's really lovely and sooo adorable. As for Samantha's Roccio, my sister had nothing but praise for Sam's dog (up to the point where she wanted to kidnap Roccio). And this has got me really excited about getting a silky terrier.

Bibik's bitch

Now the only question is, what am I going to do about my 2 cats?

This is Just Too Cute

2009-05-05T22:27:00.005+08:00

This was an awww moment for me. I saw this picture on Yahoo! two weeks ago. Been meaning to blog about it but kinda forgot about it until now.

This is a picture of polar bears Bill (right) and Lara react at their first meeting at the Zoom Erlebniswelt zoo in Germany. Bill came from the zoo in Czech Republic as a new partner for Lara.

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

How cute is that? They look like they're lovers reuniting after many years of separation. In a way, it kinda reminds me of the movie Notebook...

Launch of Perky Designs Shop

2009-05-04T00:00:00.002+08:00

Hey everyone,

Finally (yes, finally!) I have my online shop set up on Etsy. Click here to check it out.

I had created a separate blog for my papercrafting hobby/business. You can check out my designs at http://perkydesigns.blogspot.com/. Also, if you're looking to have a card custom-made to your liking, I'll be more than happy to work with you. Just drop me an email at perky(AT)perkierthanyou(DOT)com.

I've also recently joined Twitter (yes, yes I know, I'm kinda slow with the latest internet buzz. Hey it took me years to get on Facebook btw. lol!). Slowly getting the hang of it. You can ~~stalk~~ follow me on Twitter here.

Lotsa luv,
Perky.

Shopping Can Be Stressful for the Clueless Girl

2009-04-29T21:42:00.004+08:00

Though shopping is fun for most people, but for me, I find shopping to be a rather strange experience sometimes. Unlike most people who shop for the sake of buying something new, I can only shop when there's something I need.

It seems that the only time I'm able to find and buy something I like is when I shop out of necessity, such as having fashion shows or weddings to attend, where I'm required to dress up for the occassion. Even then I usually leave my shopping up to the very last minute.

So it's times like these that I'll round up my girlfriends and drag them along for some ~~impulsive~~ last minute shopping. I need them to keep me focused on shopping (and not get distracted by wanting to stop and eat every half hour) and also someone to help carry my handbag and shopping bags. Plus I could always use the friendly advice.

When it comes to fashion trends, I tend to follow what I see in tv shows or movies. As I've been hooked onto the Gossip Girl series, I find myself wanting to follow Blair Waldorf's style (I have a girl crush on Leighton Meester btw). However, I'm not tall and slim like Blair (I'm short and have tree trunks as thighs, plus I'm still carrying my "Christmas" weight), so it's not exactly the figure-flattering kind of style for me.

Perhaps I could hide my bulging tummy with a trench coat instead. I mean, anybody can pull off the trench coat look right?

With a few more weddings coming up in the next few months and a fashion show to organize at the end of this year, there's still plenty of time for me to look for inspiration for my next splurge by browsing through the various clothing lines from different designers.

With people still buzzing about the recent Earth Day, I won't be surprised if more people go green with their wardrobe. I think that's a pretty cool thing to do.

Good Things Comes in a Box

2009-04-24T23:47:00.007+08:00

I have a team of fantastic suppliers (sound & lights, printing, construction, etc). Being in the events industry, who you work with can either make or break your event. I treat my suppliers like as if they were my extended family. We've worked together for so many years that there's a level of trust where I don't have to keep a close eye on them to check if they're doing a good job or not.

I think that what also makes our working relationship go so well is partly because I don't squeeze my supplier for every single penny. Some people love to "milk" their suppliers dry with that lame excuse of "sorry, we don't have the budget so you need to give me discount". For as long as the price is reasonable, I will never ask my supplier to reduce his price. You know what they say, "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". And I don't do monkeys.

My relationship with my sound & light supplier goes beyond work (and I don't mean that in a scandalous kinda way). Uncle J (as I fondly call him) and I (his beloved niece as he fondly calls me) could spend hours on the phone chatting about the most ridiculous things (from politics to gossips to me blaming him for the hot weather), he would often treat me and my partner to free lunch and when there's a special occasion (like Christmas or birthdays) he'd give presents, birds nest or ang pows.

But this present he recently gave me really took me by surprise.

A brand new Portable DVD player.

It comes with a 7" screen and it's so small and light that I can bring it anywhere I want (this will definitely come in handy for future road trips. It can even be charged in the car!).

And the best thing about this Portable DVD player is that it can also play stuff from the USB drive.

So just imagine all the stuff that I don't have to burn onto a disc. I could just download my favorite shows like The Tudors onto my external drive and watch it on this player.

And yes, it can be connected to the tv should I feel like watching my stuff on the big screen.

I think Christmas came a bit too early for me this year :D

The Effects of Gaming Weekend

2009-04-23T20:03:00.006+08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I went for a gaming weekend at Nora's, who is a very good friend of mine from my college days. Not only does she have a PS3, but she also has a Wii, 4 Nintendo DS and PSPs. Cool huh? We were joined by Big Fat Witch and Hanie (also another very good friend from the good old days).

Hanie, Nora and I made quite the trio back in college. I think we played more than we studied. They were the people who made life in college so much more fun. We would have sleepovers, watch Japanese animes all night (instead of studying for exams, lol!) and played PlayStation. However, when college ended, we went our separate ways and sadly, lost touch with each other.

Hanie went off to study in a different uni, while Nora left Malaysia to live in Japan. Thank God for Facebook for reconnecting old friends. Almost 10 years has passed since we last saw each other, but seeing them again, it was like as we never lost touch (or never grew up! We're still the same peeps that we were in college).

This is Prince, who belongs to Nora's sister. He's from Switzerland btw... and he's really huge! He's really adorable and very well-behaved.

Don't believe me? He's almost as big as Ryan (Nora's younger bro), who is 12 years old!

I haven't quite recovered from gaming weekend actually. My arms kinda gave up on me after hours & hours of playing Wii all 4 types of video game consoles. Which would explain the crappy shaky pics above...

Yes, it was that crazy.

Gearing up to play Mario Kart on the Nintendo DS. Mario Kart is a vicious, vicious game!

Anyway, having the Wii Fit tell me that my body age is 46 years old gave me a rude wake up call (my actual age is 27 in case you're wondering, thankyouverymuch). I mean, I was one of the fittest girls in school and college. I used to run 3km every day (8km on weekends), worked out in the gym (thanks to the intensive Taekwon-Do training my instructor put me through since high school as preparation for the many competitions I was sent to), go rock climbing and I had only 12% of body fat. My body was lean, compact and tight.

How the hell did I let myself go like this? Though I'm not obese, having my body spill out in places where it's not suppose to isn't very good either. Lolz!

So I've been taking the stairs instead of the lift this week. And will try to lay off the fatty fried food... *sigh*

After days of unable to lift my arms up, I finally gained almost full use of my arm muscles again. My arms don't ache anymore. Lol!

Damn you, Wii. You're evil. You tell me I'm old and you almost rendered me paralyzed.

I received a very good surprise yesterday, which I'm going to share with you guys in my next post. Anyway, I'm off to shower. Anyone wanna help me scrub my back? ;)

Adopting a Pigpo

2009-04-18T03:36:00.006+08:00

I have never really been interested in pure breeds. Being a child from mix parentage, my world has always been rich with multi-racial relatives and their culture.

So naturally, I would be inclined to to adopt a child who is also of mix heritage.

Introducing my new pig, Sir Oinkserlot!

No, really, his name is Sir. It's not a title given by the Queen. He just likes to pretend that he's royalty.

Sir Oinkserlot is unlike the typical pigs you see. Not only is he purple in color, he may also look a little hippo-ish. That's because his great great great great Great grandmother married a hippo also because of her far-sightedness, near-sightedness and night-blindness plus colour-blindness (although he assures me that he's every bit a PIG at heart).

True to his piggy nature, he loves to eat and sleep a lot. But he says that his favourite past time is dancing with the ladies (a trait I believe he got from his groovy hippo side).

Check out the heart shape butt. Bet he's wiggled that butt many times in front of the ladies. hehehe...

Sir Oinkserlot is a charming young ~~pigpo~~ man who is also respectful to the ladies. What can I say? He just loves his ladies. But hopefully he'll love me the most *fingers crossed*

I can't wait for him to arrive at my doorstep. Oh what a wonderful addition he'll be to my family! :D

Note: Sir Oinkserlot was designed and handmade by my sister's FOSTER sister, Samantha (she says that makes us family. lol!). You can check out more of her creations at http://amicutecritters.blogspot.com/ or you can visit her shop here.

p/s: I'll be away this weekend for a much needed R&R. Spending the weekend at Nora's, where we'll be having a Wii marathon. Have a great weekend everyone! xoxo.

ATV Rollover Danger

2009-04-15T19:24:00.004+08:00

There's this show on TV called Whacked Out Sports that I enjoy watching especially when I'm feeling down and in need of cheering up by laughing at others. I like the ones that highlight the crazy things people do on skateboards, rollerblades, motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Oh, especially the ATVs. People do all sorts of crazy things with it, such as going on steep hills, jumping into the river while still riding on the ATV and so forth.

Me being the adventure seeker that I am, I've tried riding the ATV plenty times before. Sure enough, the ride was so thrilling that I completely ignored the potential dangers such as rollovers. Thank God that nothing bad had happened to me. Imagine my petite frame being crushed by the big and heavy ATV *shudders at the thought*

Recently, Yamaha had to recall their Yamaha Rhino Side by Side (SxS) ATV as it has serious rollover risk and there were a lot of ATV riders that got injured as a result. I googled Yamaha Rhino Rollover and there were pages and pages of lawsuits regarding this issue. It's that serious.

The cause for the rollover is believed to be in the flawed design of the Yamaha Rhino such as high center of gravity, narrow wheel base, no doors on the passenger compartment, no handholds inside the passenger compartment and small tires.

The most common injuries were crushed leg (it's just instinct to stick your leg out to try and prevent the ATV from rolling over). Other injuries include broken arms and legs, as well as head spinal cord injuries. If you get crushed by an ATV, unlike what you see in cartoons, you can't pump your flatten body back into shape. You get crushed, it'll be a long painful process to nurse yourself back to health.

So if you or your friends have a Yamaha ATV, then please click on the following link to get more info about the Yamaha Rhino Rollover.

Clash of the Ego

2009-04-13T21:50:00.000+08:00

It is a universal fact that couples enjoy doing things together. Some couples wear matching outfits, some have matching hairdo (I swear, one of my gfs had a mullet haircut once just so she could match her bf's hairdo), some couples sit facing each other at Starbucks but engrossed in their own laptops.... so yeah, you get the drift.

McChef is no exception to this rule. He loves getting involved in the things I do because to him, it's the same as doing things together. Though I find this behavior of his rather endearing, there are some times when I feel that he's verging on hovering and just plain being a busybody.

Case in point - when I blog, he loves to read over my shoulder and tells me how to write (oh the nerve!). Or when I practice my guitar playing, he'll be like this vulture and waits til I put down my guitar. He would then pick my guitar up and "plays" like he's some guitar hero god. *sigh* The things I have to put up with sometimes.

Anyway, as you are aware, I've recently picked up paper crafting as a hobby, which I'm turning into a business. While I was making a card for Twilight Zone, McChef was (no surprise here) hovering near my work table, ~~snooping around~~ checking out what I was doing.

Since I was concentrating on my work, I couldn't be bothered with what exactly he was doing. When I first looked up, he was sketching something (using my sketch book nonetheless!).

The next time I looked up, he was cutting some of my materials and assembling them on the floor.

Nose-deep in my craft, he then shoved his first handmade item in front of me. And to be honest, I was jealous. My first creation was 2 flowers in a vase. His was a cool skull head which he named El Poco Loco, that loves to eat tacos and smoke a certain plant.

This is El Poco Loco, who taunts me by asking "Hoo's the cutest?"

He even wears a sembrero with a pink feather attached to it. He loves tacos (that thing near the right cheek)

El Poco Loco smokes and eats at the same time, which has made his teeth crooked

I don't deny that McChef is the more creative and artsy one between the two of us, but I think that life is a bit unfair to me. Between the two of us, he's the better looking one, he's better at business ventures and he can cook. As for my talent, well let's see... selective memory (read: forgetful), selective hearing (read: short attention span) and able to entertain others with my acrobatic skills (read: clumsy). Isn't it "great" to be me?

I Cheated on....

2009-04-09T22:18:00.000+08:00

My BLOG!

Omg, I have treated my blog the same way a husband cheats on his wife.

For the past couple of weeks I had been staying late in the office due to a big event I had last weekend. You see, that's another thing I realize about being an event organizer. When I don't have an event to work on, I'm like the most free, laidback, got-all-the-time-in-the-world-to-lie-in-every-bed-in-the-Ikea-store kinda person (and you'll see me blogging and blog hopping everyday!). But when the event is just around the corner, the only time I can spare is used for me to eat and sleep. Even taking a dump is something that needs to be done in under 30 seconds! The fast and furious crap job, that's what I call it.

That's how crazy it can get with my line of job.

Having to attend to 700+ emails from guests, clients and sponsors, being online was the last thing I wanted to do. Instead, when I got home, I went into my zen mode by playing my guitar. My guitar became my secret lover. I'd rather be "canoodling" and making sweet ~~music~~ love with her than look at my ~~blog~~ wife. However, these past couple of days I've been too lazy to spend time with my secret lover (read: my nails have grown longer and I've been too lazy to cut and file my nails. For those of you who's never played any string instruments, having short fingernails is a pre-requisition when playing the guitar).

Oh, let's not forget, there's McChef, who came back last week after spending almost a month in Terengganu due to work. Of course I had to pay some attention to him, too. Afterall, he is my dirty lover. And just like the dirty lover that he is, he skipped town last night to go back to work in Terengganu. Biatch.

No lover to pamper me, and ~~no event to organize~~ almost jobless at the moment, has made me think about the one who has always welcomed me with open arms and ready to listen to my ~~nonsense~~ thoughts.

And just like a husband who regretted his affair and wants to go back home to his wife, I "showered" my blog with some love. Check out my new header, designed by Aimee. She made a cartoon version of me from a picture I gave to her. Cute eh? Nothing says "I love you" like giving a picture of yourself to your loved one ;)

Ok, ok, enough about me talking like a narcissistic adulterous husband ;)

All I'm saying is that I'm back in the blogosphere!

Also, I'm in the midst of setting up my online shop. Thanks to Aimee again for doing my shop banner (p/s: If you're looking for a graphics designer, I highly recommend Aimee as not only is she very creative but she also works very fast. She gave me a few designs to choose from and did so within a few hours after I told her what I wanted. You may email her at starofseraph(AT)gmail(DOT)com).

So yeah, I'll soon be launching my online shop for my handmade paper goods, so stay tuned for that! :)

xoxo,
Perky.

Diamonds are NOT My Best Friend

2009-03-29T11:26:00.004+08:00

Turns out that the phrase "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" doesn't apply to me. Which is quite sad actually when I think about it 'cause it either implies that I'm not a girl, or worse, that diamonds don't like me.

I've been having problems with the ~~engagement~~ promise ring that McChef gave to me. Actually, I don't quite like the ring if truth be told. I don't like rings with protruding diamonds. Solitaire diamond rings with "leaves" at the side... is so not my thing. I'm no "delicate flower" or ladylike, and I'm accident prone. So, my promise ring never stood a chance. One of the diamonds came off.

The first time it happened, we took it back to the jeweler for repair. And a few months later, another diamond came off. This time, I can't be bothered. I want a new ring, damnit.

The other ring that McChef gave to me, which is my favorite btw, also shared the same fate. What I love about this ring is that the diamonds are embedded into the ring, so I don't have to worry about knocking my ring into things... right?

Blargh! In the hands of the destroyer, no diamond rings are safe!

p/s: Taking photos of diamond rings are so hard, especially with a camera phone!

New Hobby - Paper Crafting

2009-03-22T14:59:00.007+08:00

I've realized that my blogging pattern has been rather erratic these past couple of weeks. It's been rather hectic at my 9-to-5 job that when I get home, I'm just too darn tired and sick of staring at the PC screen.

Anyway, while I was "away" from the internet, I actually picked up a new hobby - Paper Crafting. It actually combines my love for stationery and my nature of being a very meticulous person.

Check out my very first handmade card:

I was quite surprised that I was able to cut a foam sheet into a flower petal. Cutting curvy corners is definitely not for the impatient people. Lol!

I also made this dove tag for my sister as she ~~demanded~~ requested that I made something for her.

I've got so many ideas on what to do next, and so I've been busy sourcing for materials, cutting and gluing the pieces together to make something nice. Let me know what you guys think of my hobby ya! :D

Gone Too Soon - Natasha Richardson

2009-03-19T23:20:00.003+08:00

I was shocked to read on People.com about the death of actress Natasha Richardson due to a head injury after taking a fall on a ski trip. I feel just as sad as I was the time when the news of Heath Ledger's death broke out. I don't know them personally, but I do admire their work greatly.

I've only watched Natasha act on 2 movies (The Parent Trap and Maid in Manhattan). I absolutely loved her in Parent Trap because she was so classy, elegant and was really captivating to look at. Her performance was so memorable and her on-screen chemistry with Dennis Quaid felt so real that I've watched Parent Trap dozens and dozens of times.

(Photo credit: AFP File/Tiziana Fabi)

My heart & prayers goes out to her family - husband Liam Neeson and their 2 kids, her mom legendary actress Vanessa Redgrave and her sister Joely Richardson (star of Nip/Tuck).

Natasha was only 45 years old when she passed away. Only the good die young...

This is Rape of THE Worst Kind

2009-03-17T00:07:00.004+08:00

Here I am, trying to go as "green" and as environmental-friendly as possible, trying to do my part to help our dying earth. I separate my garbage, I recycle, I switch off whatever I don't use, I take short showers and try my best to conserve energy and water. My part is very small, but hey at least I'm doing something about our global warming problem. I would love to drive a Hybrid car and have solar panels installed, but at the moment, that's not something I can afford.

And yet unknown to me, my own native land is getting raped by sons of bitches who wants so much money til they shit gold. No, not just shit gold. Maybe have gold diarrhea.

Fuck. I. Am. Pissed.

I come from Borneo, a land that prides itself on its beautiful rainforest and everything that comes with it (the orang utans, the native tribes, the rare plants, etc).

WHAT RAINFOREST??!?!?!?

Why on earth do they need to build another 12 more dams when the Bakun dam (scheduled to be completed in 2011) is going to generate so much power that we'll never ever have shortage of electricity.

Dirty politics. Greed. Corruption. That's what those 12 dams reek of.

We need to tell these motherfuckers to stop raping our Earth. And it's about fucking time that our local newspapers pick up on this. Having to read this on Times Online, as a Malaysian, shames me.

This is not just a Sarawak/Borneo problem. This is EVERYONE'S problem. We all need to get off our asses, use our voices and tell these motherfuckers to stop raping our earth. This is OUR earth. This is OUR responsibility. We DO NOT need these 12 more fucking dams when we're going to have the Bakun dam. We DO NOT WANT to make assholes richer while the Earth suffers gravely. Enough is enough.

I'm using my voice and trust me, I'm not going to stop at my blog. Although I'm not sure what the next step is going to be.... yet.

Please read this article and tell me how not to be furious.

When the Cat Brings in Dinner

2009-03-14T20:19:00.004+08:00

I know I'm not the greatest cook in the world but I am the most resourceful when it comes to preparing dinner - I'm damn skilled at opening canned food, placing it in a bowl and heating it in the microwave. It's my style of "hunting" for my dinner.

It's not the healthiest way to have dinner, but it works for me. Why bother slaving away in the kitchen preparing dinner from scratch when I can just "hunt" for it in my kitchen cabinet and get everything done in 5 minutes?

However, my sister's cat, Kelloggs, thinks that I either need to change my diet or is trying to "teach" me how to really hunt for my meal.

Look what she brought back after her "hunting trip" on our balcony:

Kelloggs couldn't find a fridge to store the bird, so she decided to put the bird in our old unused CPU!

She also thinks that nothing should ever go to waste. We can use these feathers as pillow stuffing.

Hmm... come to think of it, maybe she's the one who's sick of eating ~~Friskies~~ processed food and wants live poultry for dinner instead. But looks like she will have to stick with the Friskies and Whiskers diet ~~because the bird managed to fly away~~ unless she wants to starve to death.

3 Women Who Rock My Boat

2009-03-10T22:25:00.001+08:00

There are currently 3 women who's on the top of my music playlist. One of them I've admired since her American Idol days, while the other two really took me by surprise. I do admit that I can be quite the music snob. If the artist can't perform their song live, regardless of how great the song sounds in the studio, I don't really bother about the artist. I would say I like their music but am not a fan *cough* Madonna *cough cough*

These ladies, however, have great songs and are able to perform them live and perform them well.

Kelly Clarkson

The most successful American Idol and certainly most versatile. She can do ballads and she can definitely do rock songs. She used to do a lot of crazy thrills with the notes, which drove me nuts (and not in a good kinda way), so I'm glad that she's cut down on the "over-singing". Oh, but make no mistake, Kelly can really sing. Huge voice with excellent control, I am a fan.

My Life Would Suck Without You (Radio 1 Live Lounge)

Katy Perry

When Katy Perry came out with the catchy "I Kissed a Girl" song, I liked her but the radio gave that song too much air time and it wasn't long 'til I found her to be rather annoying. Then she has somewhat won me over again with "Hot n Cold". However, I don't think her live performances has been consistent (she tends to sing just under the notes - which gives out the slightly flat sound, but maybe she's one of those who can't sing and dance at the same time). She's certainly very beautiful and has a certain quirkiness to her.

And just when I think she's just an okay performer, Katy blows me away with this performance:

Thinking of You

Katy plays guitar and sings beautifully on this song. *Open mouth, insert foot* I am a fan.

Lady GaGa

I heart Lady GaGa. But she's just one of those artist whom you either love or hate. But I love her to death. She looks great, she sounds great and she's got such an enormous talent. Don't be fooled by the music genre she's in. This lady has got the singing chops. Just click on the 2 videos below if you don't believe me.

Just Dance (Live at Sommarkrysset)

She sings live and dances well. I know there are some of you skeptics who says she's lip syncing. I do believe that it is her singing because there are moments where she's slightly off key and you can hear her breathing in between the phrases.

Poker Face (Acoustic - Live)

You guys just need to check this one out. She's performing on the piano for this hit song. I just love her on the piano coz I can see little hints of Freddie Mercury's influences with the "theatrical" act and voicing that was Freddie's signature. You may not know this but her music is hugely influenced by the works of Queen and David Bowie, and that just makes me love her even more.

On Being a Lousy Friend

2009-03-09T17:40:00.001+08:00

I had installed the Blog List widget (pictured below) with the intention of bookmarking the blogs I read. The other cool thing about this widget is that it displays/sorts the blogs based on the most recently updated (because nothing can be more frustrating to me than visiting the same blog that hasn't been updated since my last visit).

Apparently installing the Blog List widget alone isn't enough.

For some unknown reasons, there are certain blogs where its rss feed doesn't get picked up by my Blog List widget, such as Savante's blog. Even though his latest update doesn't show up on this widget, I still hop over to his blog knowing that there's always something new to read (I have no idea how this doctor is able to blog every single day! lol!).

However, in the case of Samantha, this one hit slightly close to home because she is someone whom I personally know and is one of a handful of my sister's friends whom I instantly liked the moment I met her (I think I just gravitate towards crazy people *wink*). So when I didn't see her blog update on my widget, I just assumed that she had stopped blogging. So imagine my surprise when I read about her updates from another blogger! Lol!

(Anyway, turns out the reason why her blog updates didn't show up on my widget was because she had changed her url and I didn't update her link *Doh!* My bad!)

Though it's good to have a Blog List widget, in my case for instance, it's not the most reliable when it comes to staying in touch with my fellow blogger friends. I find that it's also better to subscribe to that person's blog *insert my shameless plug here*

By subscribing, you will instantly get updates straight into your mailbox. This works great especially if you're at the office and you don't have time to personally visit your friend blog.

There are some companies who are a bit anal with how their employees spend their working hours. Some have even taken the liberty to block certain websites, such as Blogger, thus making us blog-whores a unhappy bunch. Though my company is way too cool to be doing such thing, there are certain days where the internet connection is so slow, it feels like we're back on the dial-up connection days. Some blogs/websites take forever to load! But if you've already subscribed to that person's blog, then this wouldn't be an issue because you would've already gotten the updates into your mailbox.

So yeah, subscribing to one's blog is a pretty good way of always being in the loop. If you haven't done it, it's really worth considering.

This Week's Associated Content

2009-03-08T23:30:00.001+08:00

Do check out my latest article on Associated Content below, which was inspired by the wife of a good friend of mine.

Dealing with Your Good Friend's Spouse
You're having a hard time getting along with your good friend's spouse, who's proving to be quite a pain in the neck. Here's how to keep your interaction with the "spouse from hell" as civilized as possible.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1527851/dealing_with_your_good_friends_spouse.html

Self-Imposed Exile

2009-03-05T18:53:00.002+08:00

The fever came, and brought along the cough with it. Then the fever left, leaving behind the lingering effects of running nose otherwise known as the flu. The cough, which stayed behind, has some nasty mood swings, too. There would be days where it's dry but most times it comes with chunks of gooey liquid.

Nasty stuff.

I have been sick for over a month now. But it is the cough that gets to me the most. My cough now resembles the clucking of a goose. So 2 days ago, I sought medical help. That was my third trip to the doctor, and coincidentally that makes it the third time I'm being put on antibiotics.

I've been given until this Saturday to get well. Failing to do so will result in me having to go for chest x-ray. I'm sure it's just as a precaution, but the doctor seems more concerned that the 2 previous rounds of antibiotics did nothing to cure me.

Trust me, nothing's more scary than getting the "concerned" look on your doctor's face.

I'm now on medication with no signs of improvement (so much for trying to get well by Saturday, huh?). So naturally, I'm a bit freaked out.

I had to give up on certain indulgences as part of my recovery process - no ice cream, no fried food, no chocolates, no cold drinks. Try doing this for a month and you get the idea of how depressing it can be. This is tough for someone who loves to indulge.

I also had to put my social life on hold, partly because I don't want to infect others with this shit (doc says it's highly contagious, which would explain why everyone in my house and EVERYONE in my dept has it).

But mostly I'm no fun to hang out with right now. It's hard to be part of the conversation when I keep coughing. Even the simple joys of laughing can be taxing on me as that causes me to cough non-stop. Me being a people person, not being able to socialize is very hard on me.

No ice cream, no talking, no laughing... talk about a buzz kill huh?

I Want a Baby

2009-03-03T00:10:00.000+08:00

Here's something I can no longer deny: I want a baby. No, seriously, I want a baby. Not right now. But soon, say within the next couple of years... preferably before I hit the big 3-0.

It's not the ticking of my biological clock that I'm hearing. I think it's more of a maternal instinct that's been plaguing my mind. You see, I don't mind if my first child doesn't share my genetic makeup. At this point, I'm more keen on adopting a child (and that's not coz Brangelina made it uber cool to adopt kids). I feel like I'm ready for motherhood.

There's something very noble about adopting a child. It takes people who are so unselfish to want to love and care for a child who isn't biologically theirs. I salute you, Brangelina.

By adopting, I don't have to go through the pregnancy process. Yeah yeah, everyone especially my girlfriends say I need to go through this at least once in my life. I'm not saying that I never ever want to get pregnant. I'm just saying I don't want to get pregnant right now.

Currently, I view pregnancy as a constant state of worry. I'll worry about the growth of the fetus, I'll worry about getting stretch marks, I'll worry about having to sit in a car and having to wear a seat belt over my bulging tummy, I'll worry about bumping into things/people with my pregnant belly, I'll worry about having to constantly pee. And when the time comes to deliver the baby, I know I'll be freaking out on having to push a life out from between my legs. I can even imagine myself during labor and screaming at McChef, "I'll pay you $1,000 if you could take over my place right now!!!" So yes, pregnancy scares the shit out of me.

Adoption means I can skip all that and jump straight into diaper duty and spoiling my kid rotten. I really do want motherhood... but minus the pregnancy part.

For the Moms-To-Be Out There

2009-03-01T16:09:00.003+08:00

When a girl friend of mine got pregnant, I was so thrilled that I wanted to learn all I could about pregnancy. We’ve known each other since we were teenagers and we’ve always been there for each other. So it was only natural for me to want to be there for her all the way during her pregnancy. Perhaps I was taking the role of being an aunt a bit too seriously (being over excited is such an understatement). I mean, I had almost transformed myself into becoming a human version of Google on pregnancy.

A woman undergoes many physical changes during her pregnancy. Most changes are welcomed; others (such as stretch marks and pregnancy acne) are not welcomed at all. Beaute de Maman is a health and beauty product line that helps to control those unwelcome changes. They are not only allergy and obstetrician tested, but also contain only natural herbal ingredients and are safe for both mother-to-be and her fetus.

Many Hollywood celebrity moms-to-be such as Chyler Leigh (who plays Lexie on Grey’s Anatomy) and Brooke Mueller Sheen (wife of actor Charlie Sheen) have been seen and heard referencing various products in the Beaute de Maman line.

If you’re an expectant mom and would like to keep those stretch marks and pregnancy acne at bay, you may order now for the products from Beaute de Maman.

Misplaced Faith

2009-02-28T19:59:00.005+08:00

I really do admire my guitar teacher, *Rockstar Dude. I think he's awesome and he's got some serious killer guitar moves. He's very encouraging, he's very patient with me, he tries to build my confidence on the electric guitar (which btw, is a totally different ball game than the acoustic guitar) and he's funny. Plus, he is kinda cute.

So yeah, he's effing great.

But I think he's got some seriously misplaced faith in me. I think he was moving too fast with my lessons, especially today's lessons. I believe I fumbled my way through his class. I was overwhelmed with what he was trying to accomplish with me today. I did tell him about my difficulties in coping, but he just shrugged it off and said, "Nah, you're doing great."

Erm... right.

My homework this week is the toughest lessons to date. Instead of covering only one chapter, he went all nuts on me and gave me another chapter to learn. AND he gave me a classic rock song to master.

So, I tried to "reason" with him once again, "Maybe this is all too much for me to learn right now. I don't think I can do all this and get it right in one week's time".

He replied, "No, I believe you can do this. You're doing so well. You just need to believe in yourself a lil bit more."

I told you, he's very encouraging. (Hmm... come to think of it, my dad told me the exact same thing my guitar teacher said. But he's my dad and he's biased, plus it's his job to believe in me).

Either *Rockstar Dude is high on dope or I'm just not listening to the same tune as he is. Oh, what the hell am I doing blogging right now? I only have 7 days before my next lesson. I should be practicing! Lol!

Boys and Their Toys

2009-02-27T02:31:00.001+08:00

Back in my hell-raising days almost 10 years ago, I had dated or "fling-ed" with a number of guys. True to my nature of living life in the 5th gear, the guys I had dated seemed to have shared something in common (apart from me, that is. Lol!): A hot ride.

I love cars just as much as I love to drive. The faster the car goes, the better (getting speeding tickets is almost expected of me). I don't know how to drive slow (read: going slower than 60km/h), especially when I'm on the highway and the road ahead is clear. Perhaps the only time when I do drive "slow" is when I'm lost, or when I'm looking for parking, or when my mom's in the car (coz she freaks out if I go above 50km/h)).

The terms "cruising" or "Sunday driving" does not exist in my dictionary (although to some people everyday IS a "Sunday drive" and they seem to take their "passion" for driving slow onto the fast lane on the highway. Idiots.).

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you the kind of cars that my boys had. Damn, blogging about this makes me miss them. The cars I mean. Not the boys.

BMW 7-series

Now this was one heck of a car. It belonged to the doctor I went out with once (who turned out to be Dr McStalker, btw). When you're in college and you went out with a doctor who picked you up in a BMW, you pretty much became the coolest girl in class. Think along the lines of dreaming of becoming a socialite and you can get the picture of what went through my head while I was sitting in his car. Unfortunately, I was more in love with the car than I was with the doctor.

Ferrari Modena

The cream of the crop, that's what this car ~~was~~ is. It belonged to *Dave, who at 5ft 11" was too tall for my petite stature. He also had a mean streak of sense of humor. You see, because the seats in his car was very deep, you could barely see me when I'm sitting inside his car. So for my birthday he specifically got me a cushion for his car (the joke was that it was pointless for him to be showing off his car when no one can see his girlfriend inside the car). My lack of leg length and body height was also the reason why I never got to (and never will) drive a Ferrari.

(Photo credit: www.freewebs.com)

Toyota Supra

This was the "it" car back in the late 90's/early 2000. And when *Crazy Mofo let me drive it, I was like a kid in a candy store. At first I was driving around 80km/h because I was afraid that I might get us into an accident. It wasn't my car. Also I didn't have the money to pay for the repairs should there be any mishaps when I'm behind the wheels . But he encouraged me to step on it and before I knew it, I was driving at 200km/h. That was the fastest I've ever driven a car. The experience evoked the feelings of thrill as well as "fuck, I almost pissed in my pants!" at the same time.

(Photo credit: www.fastcoolcars.com)

BMW X5

I actually have mixed feelings about the X5. I love the rugged look on this SUV, how smooth it felt when driving on the highway, and not to mention how safe I felt while driving despite the size and height of this car. You really don't feel like you're "flying" even though you're driving at speeds of over 140km/h. But what I didn't like was the iDrive system on the dashboard, which was so confusing for me. So when I wasn't too busy fidgeting with the knobs/buttons on the dashboard, I actually enjoyed driving the X5.

(Photo Credit: http://www.aagcars.com)

Daihatsu Rocky

This one is nowhere near as fast or as cool as the cars above. It literally was a crap car but I liked it. The exterior was tough, and it gave the aura that it was indestructible. However, it was very difficult to handle and I had to step on the clutch real hard in order to shift gears. But still, the car gave a sense of adventure, and that was always exciting to me.

(Photo credit: http://www.autoevolution.com)

What kind of car do you like most? Or which car gave you fond memories?

Being an Associated Content Producer

2009-02-24T23:42:00.002+08:00

Thanks to Kat (who btw writes great articles on how to be better bloggers/writers), I now have another outlet for my writings. You see, there were certain things that I wanted to write about, but they didn't quite fit in with the theme of my blog (that's not to say it's sad or gloomy. Perhaps I should've used the words "more mature" instead of heavy).

Therefore, as of the end of January, I became an Associated Content (AC) Producer.

And what exactly is Associated Content, you ask?

AC is a place where anyone can submit a content in any topic in any format (text, video, audio and images). For instance, if you love all things fashion, then you can submit in articles on fashion tips (e.g: how to hide your love handles, fashion do's and don'ts, etc). Or say, if you've just finished listening to Kelly Clarkson's latest album, you could write a review on what you think about her album.

The topic is completely up to you. And if you happen to run out of ideas, they give you ideas on what to write about(under the "Calls for Content" section).

What's great about AC is their ability to connect contents to consumers, partners and advertisers. Let's say, I have an article about tips on how to select a guitar teacher. Any time someone looks up "how to choose guitar teacher" for instance, my article and other related articles pops up in their search engine. What this means is that I have a high chance of getting more exposure for my article.

Show Me the Money!

The money part, too, provides extra incentive to come up with better articles. Not living in the U.S. does have its disadvantages as that meant I won't be eligible for Upfront Payment (where they PAY you an average of USD $3 per article you submit).

The good news is that I'm still eligible for Performance Payment (or "royalties", as I like to call them). My first article was published on 3rd Feb '09 and as to date I have written another 3 articles. About 115 people have viewed the combination of all my articles since then and I currently make USD $0.18.

Which by the way is paying me FASTER than my AdSense and Nuffnang ads. Just do the math: Barely a month on AC, with only 4 articles written and already making 18cents. How long have you been putting your ads up before you even see a single cent?

And unlike paid blogging, AC doesn't limit the number of articles you can submit in a day. There's also no time limit on when you need to submit your post, and there's no need to wait 30 days to get paid.

This figure will continue to climb each month for as long as my article stays in AC. That's why I prefer to call it as royalties. You can just let your article sit there and watch as it continues to make you money.

My plan as an AC Producer is to publish a content each week (afterall I still have a blog to maintain). So far I've written about:

The Relationship Between My Mom and I
I used to cringe whenever someone made a remark of how closely I resembled my mom. "Me, look like that nagging woman? Impossible!", I'd often told them. But I've learned over the years that I may not be so different from her after all.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1427327/the_relationship_between_my_mom_and.html

Tips on How to Choose Your Guitar Teacher
A guitar teacher can either help hone your guitar playing skills or stunt your growth in becoming the best possible guitarist you can ever be. Here are some of the things to look for in a guitar teacher.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1433673/tips_on_how_to_choose_your_guitar_teacher.html

How to Avoid the Wedding Bug
You just want to register your marriage, but your mom insists on you having a wedding reception. Here's what you can tell her the next time she bugs you about having the wedding reception.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1465777/how_to_avoid_the_wedding_bug.html

It's Still Too Early to Crown Who's the Next American Idol
Regardless of what happens in American Idol, I believe that Danny Gokey has what it takes to make it big in the music industry.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1496468/its_still_too_early_to_crown_whos_the.html

I have also created a widget located on my sidebar especially for my AC contents.

You can view my Associated Content Producer page here. Alternatively, you can also choose to subscribe to my rss feed and get the latest articles I publish when I publish them.

If you enjoy writing, perhaps you should look at Associated Content as another outlet for your creativity.

Denial of the Big But-t

2009-02-21T12:59:00.010+08:00

One of my favorite stores is WH (which is kinda like the Gap of Asia). I actually didn't know that this is a concept store created by Malaysia's Pat Liew (who is the same person who created BritishIndia - the Malaysian equivalent of Banana Republic).

I love the clothes from WH. I think a third of my closet is filled with this label. I usually wear WH to sleep. For instance, below is the picture of my favorite shorts that I wear to sleep:

It's not the prettiest looking pair of shorts, but I love this shorts as they're very comfy.

So, imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and found out that the shorts I wore to sleep last night has been torn!

Here's a picture of the right side:

The hole is so big, I can actually put my hand through it!

Here's a picture of the left side. I can put a finger through the hole:

And who's the culprit, you ask? Well, the culprit happens to be my BUTT! It has grown! Well, not overnight, I'm pretty sure of that. Hahaha. I know I should've done something about my "holiday weight" the moment I came back from my year-end vacation. But there were so many weddings to attend, and they were serving all this delicious food that it was hard NOT to eat. And we all know how much I love to eat!

I believe somebody's trying to tell me something, either I should stop wearing skimpy tight-fitting clothes OR I need to start working out (already I can hear Mama Diva lecturing me on how I need to cut down my food intake and start hitting the gym. Urgh!). Working out would be a cheaper alternative than having to buy new clothes to fit my "fuller" figure.

p/s: Notice that the hole on the right side is bigger than the one on the left? Should I be worried that could be a sign that my right butt cheek is bigger than the left side? Hmm.... ;)

The Unconventional Boyfriend

2009-02-18T22:07:00.004+08:00

I had decided against writing about my 3-year anniversary with McChef on the actual day itself (which was 1st February, btw). I had also refrained myself from writing a Valentine's Day post regarding our relationship.

At the time, I wasn't inspired to write about V-day or our anniversary. What was there to write about our 3-year union? Granted, 3 years without a single breakup is quite an achievement for someone who's fickle minded when it comes to being in a relationship and for someone who gets bored easily (in case you're wondering, I'm the fickle-minded one, and he's the one who gets bored easily).

So I thought and pondered on what else was there to write about my beloved partner. Sure, he's thoughtful enough to give me flowers once in a while. We all know he cooks for me (hence the nickname "McChef", d'oh). He's also a romantic with a twisted sense of humor. Let's not even mention about the time he got me a yabby prawn as a pet (now, who in the right mind does this???).

Anyways, I thought it was high time I said something nice about my man (to make up for the fact that I DIDN'T get him anything for both our anniversary and V-day. I'm a terrible girlfriend, can't you tell? Traveling and attending weddings are expensive affairs, and when one has to do both many times in February, one becomes broke).

I'm not big on material stuff like jewelry or clothes (although a brand new MacBook would be nice *hint hint HINT*), which makes it a little bit tough to buy me gifts. Flowers are nice... for about 5 seconds before I decide that they're better off in the rubbish bin. Chocolates are sweet but shows that the giver lacks imagination. He did get me a spa voucher but that was as my Christmas gift, which I have yet to use. Thankfully, McChef is always thinking out of the box.

So as an anniversary gift, he got me a firework. Now, just how cool is that? I mean, how many of you have ever received a firework from your partner? Well, granted that fireworks are banned in this country. But still, I thought this was a pretty awesome gift. Definitely better than a yabby prawn, if you ask me.

When we first hooked up, he lit up some fireworks for me. He even let me light one up. I really love watching fireworks, so getting to light one up (and it was a pretty big one too), that was exhilarating! And not to mention how shit scared I was.

This baby can shoot 25 flowers into the sky. I didn't get to play it on our actual anniversary day when we were both in Kuching because it was raining every single damn night. So this baby will have to wait 'til my next trip home :)

I Didn't Get the Cranky Memo

2009-02-16T21:57:00.003+08:00

It is a universal rule that Monday is the suckiest day of the week. It is the day that tells you the weekend is over. It is the day that forces you to get out of bed and earn a living. It is the day that reminds you why you're required to punch in at ungodly hours in the morning, and why it sucks to not be the boss. It is also the day that depends heavily on your caffeine intake in order for you to function properly. So yes, it's understandable that everybody is grumpy on Monday.

However, on very rare occasions, I do feel happy that it's Monday. A new week has arrived, perhaps a sign of better things to come.

Don't tell me you just bought that bs I wrote.

My Monday started off on a good note. I woke up eager to start my day. I was excited even. That was strange considering I only get excited after getting my dose of caffeine in the morning. Maybe, just maybe, the stars aligned perfectly straight that it set up how great my Monday would be.

Or should've been.

But when you're dealing with Monday blues, you've already lost half the battle no matter how happy you were when you first woke up this morning.

Walking into a room full of people who've made it no secret that Monday is THE crappiest day ever, that's uncomfortable, and not to mention how awkward it was too. Being the only person who has a smile on her face singled me out as the elephant in the room. People were shooting cockstare arrows at me - "Why is she happy?? Why isn't she part of our cranky gang? Our salaries aren't in yet, so what is she celebrating about?"

I tried to diffuse the situation by making some jokes. That only made me feel like the bomb squad crew who picked the red wire instead of the blue wire to cut. It appeared that everyone was perfectly happy to be feeling crappy. As time went on, their negative energy began to creep its way into my veins. And before I knew it, I too was feeling just as crappy.

Mondays. You can't win no matter what.

Hot Air Balloon

2009-02-13T19:27:00.004+08:00

Everybody farts. Oh, come on, don't go all "eeew!" and all hoity toity on me. You do it, too. We've all farted in public, in our car, in the lift, while sitting down at work, in the shower... basically just about everywhere (although it's highly preferable that we do it when we're alone).

But occassionally, not sure about you guys, I'd have a sucker fart. Don't know what that is? Well, allow me to elaborate.

A sucker fart is the kind of fart that has all the symptoms of being a loud one (or a smelly one, depends on what you've been eating prior to farting). Since you don't want to go pooot in front of your colleagues or other people, you run off to some private area to 'release' it. But when you finally get to a place where you can have some private time (for instance, the toilet), the fart, instead of going out of your body, it goes back in. And you kinda get that feeling that in that very moment the fart is saying to you, "Hahaha! Sucker!"

I mean, what the hell is that about??? Things that wants/needs to get out of the body shouldn't have the option of changing its mind at the 11th hour and causing its host bodily discomfort.

*Photo credit: City-Data.com

The Constant Traveller

2009-02-11T23:09:00.003+08:00

Based on my blog, I think most of my readers could make the conclusion that I'm constantly on the move, and that I can't stay put in one place for too long. I do admit that I enjoy going on road trips; I love driving to a different town and experiencing new things there.

I believe that the love for traveling has something to do with my upbringing. Due to my dad's work, we were constantly moving, living in different cities in different countries. I've lived in places as rural as Limbang (where you need to take the speedboat upriver for 4 hours to get to my father's village), to big cities such as London.

I hate flying, though. I wish that we could just drive to any place in the world. Flying sucks for me. I hate being strapped to the damn chair, I hate being in the air, I hate that I can't sleep in the plane, and I especially hate the fact that I have absolutely zero control on the plane.

Anyways, as much as I love traveling, I don't really like the packing part. You men got it easy when it comes to packing. You can pack a pair of boxers and that can last you for 4 days. We ladies have it hard - bras take up a lot of space in the bag, need at least 2 fresh pairs of undies each day, facial products, toiletries, make-up, etc etc etc...

After years of having to go through the hassles of packing my stuff, I actually developed a peculiar habit, which is I don't unpack my bag when I come home after my trip. My bag from my trip to Australia - still unpacked. My bag from my recent trip - it's still unpacked and will remain that way until my next road trip.

Sure, I do take out the dirty clothes and my toiletries from the bag. But the rest of the stuff (like the clothes I buy), they're all still in that bag (I only take them out if I need them or when I remember about it).

It's just so much easier this way. Should I need to skip town for some emergency, I just need to chuck my toiletries and fresh undies into the bag and I'm good to go. Now, whoever said packing was hard?

A Box Full of Brown Goodness

2009-02-10T20:36:00.003+08:00

With Valentine’s Day just lurking around the corner, some of us will have panic attacks because we haven’t gotten a gift yet. These panic attacks are made worst especially if you have no idea as to what to get for your loved one. If there’s one gift that I think will always work no matter the circumstance, it is definitely chocolates.

But you don’t want to just give any kind of chocolate. Valentine’s Day is a special occasion, so you’d definitely want to go for gourmet chocolates. Gertrude Hawk Chocolates has one of the most delicious gourmet chocolates. Well, from what I read on Wikipedia, they’re the same company who supplies chocolates and confections to Nestle, The Hershey Company, Fannie May Candies and Marshall Field’s/Macy’s of Chicago.

So when you’re looking for the perfect Valentine Chocolate, think of chocolate smidgens, or a combination of dark and milk chocolates, CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES, caramel dipped apples, sugar-free candy, milk chocolate almonds! Oh my, oh my, oh my, just typing those things out has got me salivating. So can you imagine how happy your lover will be if they are to receive gourmet chocolates from you on Valentine's Day?

The Tuk-a-Klook-Klook Spotted Around Malaysia

2009-02-09T23:35:00.000+08:00

The photo below is proof that the tuk-a-klook-klook species is NOT a myth.

The female species doing the tuk-a-klook-klook salute

This female species of the tuk-a-klook-klook has been spotted wandering around Malaysia. She was first spotted in Kuching two Saturdays ago, where she met up with her tuk-a-klook-klook mate.

The male tuk-a-klook-klook is not known for its hostility

An unidentified source has confirmed that she was indeed in Kuching and that her purpose there was to attend her human friend's wedding. She first met Bart back in 1994 when she was sent to study the lives of the human species ~~for future hostile takeover purposes~~. Throughout the years they underwent military training and specialized in the fighting discipline of Taekwon-Do. They fought many enemies together and often took home the spoils of war.

Over the years, they forged & maintained a great friendship. Although he enjoys picking her up & throwing her into swimming pools (or in some cases, the sea), he does entertain her with human stories. She even counts him as one of her tuk-a-klook-klook brother-generals. A useful friend to have should she ever be captured and tried under the human's court of law.

The female tuk-a-klook-klook in her human form in order to blend in with society

On last Wednesday there were rumors that the female tuk-a-klook-klook had landed in Kuala Lumpur. It was said that due to the weakened stage when she was in her human form in Kuching, she had contracted the human virus strand known as the F.e.V.Er virus. Our scientists claims that this was because the tuk-a-klook-klooks do not tolerate rain and high levels of alcohol.

Just when our local authorities were about to capture and quarantine her, the female tuk-a-klook-klook took off to Melaka. This time she was joined there by her "unique" friend, Bibik Nyonya for his sister's wedding.

As of yesterday evening, we have received reports that she is back in Kuala Lumpur but is currently in hiding.

Please do not engage the female tuk-a-klook-klook in any way as it appears she has a secret poisonous tentacle in her pants as evident in the photo below (unconfirmed reports say that the poison from this tentacle will leave you laughing shits & giggles):

If you encounter this tuk-a-klook-klook, please avoid making direct contact with her as she is now carrying the Fl-U virus (a less dangerous version of the F.e.V.Er virus but just as contagious). But rest assured, she will not elude capture much longer.

How To Open a Can of Cornbeef

2009-01-30T07:38:00.006+08:00

(A Guide for a B.I.D.)

This is something I'm not proud to acknowledge. However, after last night's incident with the can of cornbeef, I guess it's time to come clean. People, I am a B.I.D., which is the short form for Blonde In Disguise.

Now, to be fair, in my defense, there was no manual whatsoever on the cornbeef can on how to open it. So it's not entirely my fault for being this clueless. If there's anyone to blame, it should be the manufacturer.

I've been eating cornbeef for many years. Love it. You can fry it or you can eat it straight from the can (personally, I prefer the latter). But I've never liked opening the can of cornbeef.

One thing, the pin at the side of the can (the one you're suppose to use in order to open the can), is not very people-friendly. It takes forever for me to open the can. Also, using the pin hurts my tiny, talented fingers.

Anyways, apparently, according to my brother who witnessed first-hand on my "struggle" last night, I've been going about this the wrong way.

To my fellow B.I.D. sisters, here's my contribution to you: A guide on how to properly open a can of cornbeef

1) Take the paper wrapping off the can.

2) Take note of the pin thingy at the side of the can. The head of the pin is currently facing the bottom. Yes, I know, your first instinct is to just turn the pin to the left. That's how I've been doing it all these years as that's the most convenient way.

Wrong! You need to fight that impulse, dear sisters.

3) You need to take the pin off from the side of the can. Unhook the pin off from the strip of metal that's jutting out from the side of the can. However, leave the strip alone. It's supposed to be there.

4) Next, you need to turn the pin upside down. That means, now the head of the pin should be facing the top.

5) Then you need to hook it back onto the strip of jutting metal. Make sure that the head is still pointing upwards.

6) Now you only need to turn the head clockwise. Doing so will make the pin move to the left and will ultimately open the can.

Yes, I know, dear B.I.D. sisters, this requires more work than our brains can compute. But believe me, this way is worth the trouble as you can cut down the time it takes to open the can. Also, this way doesn't hurt your delicate hand.

Do give it a try and good luck!

Review: ArchmailleDesigns.com

2009-01-29T23:50:00.003+08:00

If you’re looking for handcrafted jewelry either for yourself or as gifts to loved ones, you could give this jewelry store a try. At ArchmailleDesign.com, their products are guaranteed to be sterling silver jewelry, copper jewelry or chainmail armor and is 100% handcrafted by the artist, Cody Sortore.

After browsing through his website, I found Cody to be a man who really cares about the quality of his work. He buys his own material and crafts each piece himself (so these things are not mass produced, therefore ensuring quality control). The only thing he doesn’t make most of the time is the clasp, and even then his Italian-made clasps are forge with extremely high quality standards. He also tells you the benefits of wearing the material he uses. For instance wearing copper jewelry can help ease the pain of arthritis as well as keeping our immune system strong and healthy.

This easy-to-navigate jewelry store is definitely worth looking at if you’re searching for something special or you just love collecting jewelry.

Just So We're On The Same Page

2009-01-28T19:29:00.004+08:00

I don't know how many times I've blogged about my distaste for onions (such as the time I nearly choked to death because of it). The only way I ever eat onions is to have them blended. Yes, blended onions. Mmm... yumm!

Other than that, it's HELL to the NO to onions. I always tell the chef to omit the onions from my dish. If I do find them in my food, I'll just simply take them out (even if it'll take me an hour to finish my meal).

Some people find this behavior rather odd. I mean, if you don't like something, you just don't eat them. What's so odd about that?

But people (and by people I meant my clueless friends) place my reason to hating onions on the same level as one of the world's great mysteries. It's so bizarre (their thinking, I mean). So our conversation would normally run along the following lines:

Perky: I just don't eat onions.
Friend: *gasp!* Oh dear God, why???
Perky: I just don't.

Friend: But onions are good for you. They prevent the growth of cancerous cells, lower cholesterol, stimulate the immune system.....

Perky: Bla bla bla! Says the one who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and solicits hookers. You're more at risk of dying than I am.

Friend: ........
Perky: Getting hit by a car is more likely to kill me than not eating onions.

So I'm gonna test my reasoning on my readers.

Onions - Why I Don't Eat Them

Have you ever smelt someone's body odor (B.O.) or your own B.O. (assuming that you're not immune to the smell that you don't even know you actually stink)?

Well, that's how onions taste like to me (not that I'm saying I smell or what. Btw, I smell lovely thankyouverymuch). I'm just saying, it feels like I'm eating body odor. It's just.... gross.

Photo from iStockPhoto

So what do you think? I'm not that wrong to say that, am I?

Shopping for a Special Occassion

2009-01-27T19:30:00.001+08:00

This coming February 1st will mark my 3-year anniversary of togetherness with McChef. The downside of this particular date is that it’s fairly close to Valentine’s Day, so that means I would need to get him something really special to mark both the occasions. Well, of course, the good thing about these 2 dates being so close to one another is that I only need to get him just one gift.

So immediately I thought about the Playstation 3. Yes, the one that he was supposed to buy after selling off the Nintendo Wii months ago. Now apart from the Wiimote controller (which was why I love, love, loved the Wii), I don’t know why is the PS3 better than the Wii. But since my boy wants it, I better start getting to know this PS3.

So I turned to the bible that is the internet and read on what to look for when buying a PS3. Since what got me hooked onto the Wii was its controller, I thought I’d start my research there. Turns out, the PS3’s controller is also equipped with motion sensor technology. So what that means is that it follows the user’s movements, just like the Wiimote but with more buttons.

I can’t believe I gave him such a hard time for selling off the Wii. Think he’ll call it even if I got him this one instead?

Saying Goodbye to Entrecard

2009-01-26T22:44:00.001+08:00

One of my goals this year is to be a better blogger, and recently I had joined Associated Content (thanks to Kat for introducing this to me). I had been spending the past couple of days doing my research on AC, and found it to be a great place to expand myself as a writer.

Then I came across an article written by AC_Miguel. The article, titled "Autosurf and Traffic Exchanges Will Get You Banned from AC", definitely made me rethink my position on being an Entrecard user. With Entrecard being a traffic exchange program, that would definitely put me at risk in getting banned from AC.

Surprisingly, this choice wasn't a difficult one.

So to my readers from Entrecard, thanks for stopping by my site and I hope you'll come back to visit from time to time. All the best and take care.

Perky.

Utilizing the Space that You Have

2009-01-26T18:28:00.005+08:00

Over the years, we tend to accumulate junk. Most times these so-called junk would end up in the storeroom or the garage. Many may not realize this but your garage can also be treated as an extension of your house. If you plan properly (or to save you from all that trouble, you could just call in the experts), you can actually maximize the space that you have by turning it into a garage storage. Not only will you have the extra space to keep your things, but it will also make your place tidier and more organized.

Open Letter to My Screaming Neighbor

2009-01-24T17:23:00.005+08:00

Dear Mrs. Screaming Housewife,

You may not know me apart from the fact that we may have crossed paths in our condo's elevator. I believe I live a few floors below your unit. I may not remember how you look like but I am almost ashamed to admit that I know you quite well.

I know that you work hard to earn a living. I also know you have a rotten man for a husband. He drinks a lot almost every night and this displeases you. It makes you upset because he spends your hard earned money to support his drinking, he comes home late and smelling like a #&@(#&#* (sorry, I couldn't catch that foul word you used).

I didn't mean to eavesdrop into your weekly arguments with your husband. But it's hard not to seeing how loud your voice is, especially at midnight.

I'm not trying to interfere with your life. I don't know you well enough to understand why you have such a loser for a husband. I mean, I'm cool if you dig idiots like him. But from woman to woman, I feel sorry for you. And I hate to feel sorry for ~~weak~~ other people.

I've been around drunk people before, so I know very well that they are the last people you want to talk logic with. So to save you from ruining your vocal cords screaming at that drunkard, here's some non-lethal ideas you could use to torture the guy:

1) Spray animal pheromones on his clothes and shoes. It'd be interesting to see what other animal would want to sleep with him apart from his slutty mistress. Or you could use octenol on his clothes. I heard that it attracts mosquitoes. Oh btw, isn't it dengue season now?

2) Instead of chucking the microwave out the window, perhaps you could throw money. By doing so, you are stopping yourself from "sponsoring" his night activities. And if you don't have money to give, maybe he'll stay home more. Or get a job. Or whatever. (Plus money doesn't destroy your neighbour's car ;) )

3) Switch his diet pills with estrogen pills. Wouldn't it be fun to compare whose boobs are bigger?

4) Instead of slamming doors at midnight, perhaps you could use a quieter approach, like cutting up his clothes. Or you could soak his clothes in the toilet bowl. How's that for cleaning his dirty laundry?

But lady, all the above suggestions don't offer permanent solutions. The best solution would be to kick that parasite out of the house and out of your life.

Still Got the Blues For You?

2009-01-21T19:38:00.000+08:00

2009 is proving to be the year of weddings. I've got 6 weddings to attend from February to March. I'm more concerned about what I'll be wearing to each weddings coz I ain't gonna get caught wearing the same thing twice!

Anyways, here's a quiz for you guys.

If an ex-bf or an ex-fling or an ex-whatever-you-call-someone-who-used-to-be-important-to-you-but-not-so-much-anymore, invited you to attend their wedding, would you go?

I can pretty much guess the kind of responses I'll be getting.

So I'm going to narrow down the question a little bit further. Would you go if he was the guy-who-got-away? The one who once in a while still pops into your mind and makes you wonder,"Hmm... what if we had stayed together?"

I'm in a dilemma. Don't get me wrong. I'm more than happy that he's getting married. There was no bitterness when we ended. Though I'm not in love with him anymore, I still love him, get what I mean? But I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to go.

Just getting his invitation card gave me an emotional roller-coaster, so I can't imagine that it'll be any easier for me to watch him say his I-do's with another woman. And I'd really hate to be that girl who looks at the groom with those sad nostalgic eyes.

So should I or should I not go?

Traveller’s Guide: International Phone Calls

2009-01-19T20:20:00.001+08:00

When I left for my Australian trip in December, one thing that had "magically" slipped out of my mind was how expensive international roaming could be. Well, granted, that my mind was occupied with trying to not forget my passport.

But still, I thought it was good enough that my mobile phone could make calls when I’m overseas. Hah! Wait ‘til the bill comes, and you’ll be crying your eyes out.

So I learned a pretty expensive lesson, considering that I was making phone calls to McChef who was in Malaysia while I was basking away under the Australian sun.

Oh if only I had known how much I'd be saving with a calling card instead of depending on my international roaming service

So guys, if you’re going to be traveling or working overseas in the future, remember to bring along a calling card so you can keep in touch with people back home.

Let's say, you’re in Malaysia and you happen to be seeing someone from US and trying out that whole long distance relationship thing, having a calling card will definitely help reduce the stress in your relationship. Just check out how cheap it is for him/her to call you from the US. Now you guys can talk for hours and hours and not burn a big hole in your wallet ;)

The Skills That I Should've Acquired

2009-01-16T21:21:00.001+08:00

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a certain level of appreciation towards alcohol. But as much as I love drinking it, I wish that I could be more involved in the preparation part.

Back when my days were filled with trying out all sorts of cocktail beverages, I used to sit at the bar and look at the bartenders preparing the drinks. I envied them, the ones who could do flares, I mean.

It's so Coyote Ugly, minus the dancing on bar counters. Though in my case, I did more of that than learning how to do flares with liquor bottles.

But when you're a natural born klutz, throwing liquor bottles in the air is definitely something that needs to be avoided at all costs. My brother tried to teach me once (he used to be a part time bartender many years ago and he was pretty good at flare bartending). Anyways, the skill that I acquired at the end of his lesson was how to catch the bottle with my head. And I gotta say, I'm pretty good at it, judging from the number of bruises on my head ;)

So I've lived with the fact that I will never ever be that cool person who could do cool stuff when mixing drinks.

Next on my agenda was to learn how to open champagne bottles with a knife.

Now this is a cool skill to have, especially if your job revolves around hosting parties. But I'm not very good with handling sharp objects. I mean, I can't even cut a package without nearly cutting the tip of my index finger off. And that was with a pair of blunt scissors! Can you imagine what disaster I'll be inviting with a knife?

But I haven't given up entirely on trying to acquire this skill... If only McChef would allow me to handle knives.

Anyways, if there's one thing I'm ashamed of is my lack of ability to open wine bottles. I'm quite the avid wine drinker, but I have never ever opened a wine bottle on my own successfully. Even with the easy-to-use cork openers, somehow in my hands, I'd still be able to damage the cork to the point that the only way to open the bottle is to break it. So over the years, the skill that I acquired from drinking wine is the ability to avoid opening wine bottles myself and getting others to do it for me.

I guess I'll just stick to being the drinker huh?

Is It Time to Get a Restraining Order?

2009-01-15T21:10:00.002+08:00

*Skip this post if you don't want to read about the drama that has forced itself upon my life. This post is intended for this particular person, so the rest of you need not be involved.

I'm really sorry for having to put this on my blog. This is an unpleasant episode of my life and I didn't want to taint my perkylicious blog with this crap. But this was the only way I could tell him to leave me alone without having me communicate with him directly. Because if I see his face, I wouldn't know whether to punch him or whether I would throw up. He repulses me.

In my previous post, I warned him of my next course of action should he even attempt to contact me. But this guy, he must be so desperado to have friends again, that he would dare to post his pathetic apology in the comment section.

Seriously, if this guy isn't gay, I would've believed he was some sort of crazy ex bf who keeps begging me to take him back. It's so suffocating. It irks me. It makes my skin crawl.

So, dear Mr. Extremist, you've been warned but you did not listen. I hope by "airing my dirty laundry" here, you would just leave me alone. I don't want to reconcile, I don't want to have anything to do with you at all. This friendship is beyond repair, so just STOP trying.

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(Click all images to enlarge)

1) We had an earlier disagreement which was resolved (or supposed to be) when he sent the following apology letter:

2) So after receiving such a beautifully written email, I forgave him and I had wiped the slate clean. People make mistakes, we forgive and we move on. Except in this case, only I did the moving on. He did the apologizing and yet he's the one who harboured resentment.

This was evident when we met on 2 occassions, in which I was greeted by his sour black face (which I call as "muka kelat") and awkwardness. So I emailed him the following letter (he's not easy to talk to face-to-face because he always cuts in and he gets oh-so defensive. So email is best... plus it gives him time to think of how to respond)

3) The following is a combination of his reply to that email, and you can read my response to him (the ones in red are my responses)

The following was his last email to me.

And after saying all those things, he wants me to forgive him? Now, why on earth would I want to do that?

Dare to Live Different

2009-01-15T18:52:00.003+08:00

On some evenings, I enjoy driving around a housing area and looking at the types of homes people have. I call it my little escape from reality before I head home to my tiny condo.

I love landed properties. Some people have really exquisite homes, while others just have a “huge box” for a home. But once in a while I’ll happen to drive by an area where all the houses look the same that I begin to wonder if I’m stuck inside the Matrix.

Don’t the residents feel a bit weird? I mean, if it were me living there, I might have trouble finding my own home, especially on nights where I’ve had too much to drink. Can you imagine being tackled to the ground by your neighbour because he thought you were some robber when really, you just got home to the wrong house?

So won’t it be nice to custom build our home? To build a home the way we imagined it? Of course you’ll have a hard time trying to find the best custom home builders. Sometimes it’s good to do your own research by reading unbiased opinions from others before you have gone through, just like the ones written for Schumacher Homes.

Schumacher Homes Reviews are opinions submitted by people who have had their homes custom-built by Schumacher Homes. When it comes to forking out money to make your house a better home, finding a good contractor is very important. That's why it's a good idea to read on the experiences of those who have tried the services provided by Schumacher Homes as that will let you know what to expect when engaging one of the most popular custom home builders in the U.S.

Fan Mail: Dating Tips

2009-01-12T22:00:00.002+08:00

My very first Q-n-A email sent from a fan. I was pleasantly surprised to receive such an email in my inbox :)

"Hi. I've been reading your blog since 2007 and I've been thoroughly entertained. Ms Perky, I got a question for you.

You were quite a serial dater before settling with your current beau. Got any dating tips to share?

Social B."

Gee, me a serial dater?? Hahaha! I've never seen myself that way. I'd much rather call it actively dating. Being called a serial dater makes me sound like a predator ;)

I'm not sure if the following qualifies as dating tips but they're some of the things that had worked for me:

Dating Tip #1: Have No Expectations

If you're making wedding plans in your head after 5 minutes of meeting the guy, you need to stop and reconfigure your brain.

If you're comparing him to your ex, again you need to stop. The reason you're dating again is so that you can meet someone new and start a new chapter in your life.

Don't build the guy up, don't crown him your prince charming (at least not on the 1st date). Maybe the only expectation you should have for the guy is that he should at least pay for the date. Other than that, just keep an open mind on the guy.

Dating Tip #2: Don't Be Stupid

You must always exercise caution when going on dates especially if you don't know the guy well. If you're meeting him for drinks, never ever leave your drink unattended. Get your own drink, don't give him the chance to slip in something nasty into your drink.

Make sure someone knows who you're seeing and where. Even better, go on double dates. Another thing that I always do when I'm dating someone new is I always choose to drive myself to our date place and meet him there. I don't trust him enough (yet) to let him know where I live, plus I always want the option to be able to leave whenever I want to.

Dating Tip #3: Who Says It Has to be Exclusive?

When I was actively dating, I would date up to 5 guys in a week. Who says you gotta date just one guy at a time? If you're not ready to commit to a relationship, I say casually date as many guys as you ~~can handle~~ want at a time.

Some of my gfs have a hard time with this one because they say it's similar to cheating. Look, it's not cheating. It's not because you're not in an exclusive relationship. Dating a few guys at the same time means you don't have to waste time looking (or waiting or hoping).

For instance, my Friday nights were never short of dates because if my first option couldn't make it, I just move on to the next guy. Can you imagine just dating one guy? If he can't make it for the date, that means 1 day gone. Remember 2 things: life is short and dating should be fun. So go out and explore your options :)

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If you have questions or if there are certain issues that you want me to discuss on my blog, feel free to email me at perky@perkierthanyou.com.

Forgiveness is an Act of God

2009-01-10T16:30:00.001+08:00

When someone says they're sorry, it has to mean exactly just that. Sorry.

It's not something you do because someone gave you an ultimatum "do it or the universe will screw with you some more".

When you're sorry, you gotta mean it.

It's not something you throw around just so that you don't get stressed out about it (oh btw, that stress is the daughter of something called guilt, which is the product of another thing called I-Did-Something-Wrong).

When you're sorry, it means you've learned from your mistake and vow to never repeat it again.

It's not something you say just for the sake of saying it, hoping that by uttering the magic word your universe will be alright again. I am not the reason you lost your friends. So I doubt saying sorry to me will make things right again with them.

I won't forgive you, and it's not because I'm a cold hearted bitch (or maybe I am simply living up to the name you bestowed upon me - anjing pendek).

I just... can't forgive you.

How do I forgive someone who finally showed me his true self - a bitter person? Whose last words to me were intended to do nothing but hurt me? Who had insulted my friendship and called it as something I made up to make myself look good?

I'm not angry. I'm not sad. I'm not disappointed. Well, not anymore. I don't feel anything towards you and that's not a good thing... for you, that is. You see, if I had felt something, anything, that would indicate that I still cared for you. But there's nothing there.

If it's forgiveness you're looking for, I suggest you take it up with God coz I ain't got nothing to give ya. I've learned my lesson from the last time I had forgiven you, and I will not go down that road again. I will not be fooled into forgiving someone who isn't sorry, who isn't sincere about it, and who continues to be a jerk.

And if you do happen to read this post, pls do not try to contact me anymore. Because if you do, not only WILL I post the last "beautifully" written email you had sent me, but also I WILL post the link to your blog. You've been warned.

For Cleaner Insides

2009-01-08T16:54:00.002+08:00

A new year, a new body(?). Okay, let me rephrase that: A new year, a renewed body. My former boss first brought up the idea of colon cleansing or Body Detox a couple years back. She had taken a few days off work for some “personal” time, but when she came back to work, she was looking more radiant and slim.

So we asked her what her secret was, and she told us that she underwent a detox programme (something she does twice a year, apparently). Although our bodies are design to eliminate toxins, however, over the years it becomes clogged up and that reduces the body’s ability to function at its best. So by undergoing the detox programme, we are helping our own bodies to heal itself and release unwanted toxins in a safe way.

She did catch my attention when she mentioned benefits like more radiant skin and hair, and feeling more energized. No, I'm not being vain, but who wouldn’t want to look better? To feel healthier?

Of course she also mentioned things like going to the toilet more frequently when you go through the Body Detox programme, but that’s to be expected as the body is getting rid of all those toxic build-up. So the next time you have a few days off away from work, consider giving yourself a Body Detox. As much as we care about looking after our body on the outside, it is equally important to care for our body from the inside.

Featured Blogger: Kat Argonza

2009-01-07T22:29:00.007+08:00

I met Kat (or more like she found me) through SocialSpark. But before I knew her as Kat Argonza, she was simply Tough Girl 101, the American blogger who had served in the army and is someone who loves to run. She definitely caught my attention from the very first post that I read on her blog, and I thought to myself,"Wow, a female blogger with substance".

You see, the many female bloggers I found on the blogosphere were either talking about trivial stuff, or were bitching about their ex-bfs to the point I felt sorry for the poor fella, or treated the blog like as if it were their hour-by-hour diary (e.g: "went to the doctors at 10am. It wasn't good news, so I went shopping. 2pm I went to my neighbour's so we could watch soap together. It's 4pm now, I feel like taking a dump. Must be something I had for lunch....").

Some in my mind were talking too "blonde" that it just irritated me (e.g: "like today I was like so blown away by like how polished my nails were after the manicure that I could like see my own reflection in like my nails"). There was no weight to what most of them had to say, hence it was hard to follow anything they wrote.

But I can definitely relate to how she views the world and the people around her, and maybe that's why I find myself hooked onto reading her blog. She's opinionated but not to the point where we think she's a feminist set out to cut off men's dicks.

I wouldn't mess with a lady who knows how to shoot a gun

She tells us that our bodies are instruments, not ornaments and that we should admire being strong, more than being skinny. And to think that she's only 23 years old! I wished I was that confident when I was her age!

Kat, who is a professional blogger, is also the creator of KO Bloggers, a network that I'm more than happy to be a part of. She hosts exclusive blog contests for its members and I believe that 2009 will see more interesting and fun great things happening inside the KO Bloggers network. Hey, you all should join, too, and you'll see just how right I am about this ;)

I'm glad that I know Kat beyond the blogosphere and that I have her on my Facebook (though I believe that if we had met in real life, we would most likely get along just fine). So guys, go check Kat Argonza's blog at http://katargonza.com/ and http://www.toughgirl101.com.

This feature was done as part of Kat's 1st prize entry for the blog competition I hosted last month.

The Australian Double Chin

2009-01-06T21:50:00.000+08:00

I’m finally back to my blogging life after my long vacation. I should’ve gone back to updating my blog last week but for some "strange" reason, the internet connection in my hometown was so bad, that I abandoned the idea of going online altogether. I believe it was a sign telling me ~~to enjoy an extended break from blogging~~ I needed to recuperate first before going back to my old routine ~~and eat more fatty food, since my hands were free from the keyboard~~.

I’ll try to keep my experience on Australia as short as possible. 11 days there definitely gave me plenty of things to do, hence more things to write about. So it’s best to sum it all up ~~as I don’t have the will power to write lengthy posts~~ so as to not bore my lovely readers.

We stayed at Quest on Arlington Serviced Apartments. It's expensive, but that's the price you pay for one of the best accommodations in Perth (or so I was told).

My days in Perth started as early as 8am. That’s pretty early for someone who enters the office at 10.30am. My “job” in Perth was to be driver for my mom and her friend, G. And when I’m not driving them around, I carry their shopping bags and “help” them eat. And boy, do they "need" help! By Christmas, I was already sporting a *gasp* double chin! (I better start working out soon. The fat jokes are getting old hehehe. Plus I'll be attending a couple of weddings in Feb, and God forbid if I look anything less than fabulous).

We drove to Fremantle a lot. The men spent most their days on playing on all the best golf courses (such as The Vines and Joondalup Resort), so that left us women with nothing else to do but shop. Mom and Aunt G were pretty determined to buy everything they can, while I was determined to eat all the fish-n-chips I could find (we don't get very nice fish-n-chips in Malaysia).

The Fremantle market, a place where you can find all sorts of stuff at cheap prices

Doing the whole tourist thingy by buying souvenirs for family and friends

Aunt G and my mom, who almost broke into song and dance in the picture above. Shopping has that effect on her ;)

Mom and I on the harbour

Cicerello's - they serve very good fish-n-chips here!

You throw this at the seagulls to keep them from landing on your table. No, j/k. This is the buzzer that let's you know that your food is ready for collection.

The evil stuff that was my daily diet. This is the no. 1 contributor of the whole lotta "extra" that I brought with me all the way from Australia. hehehe ;)

Apart from the constant eating, I was also constantly boozing out. Not to say that I'm an alcoholic or what, but when it comes to drinking, I can pretty much stand on my own. I believe I’ve tried almost all types of beer available in Perth.

The Windsor - our constant hangout

This thing definitely comes in handy if you drive!

Christmas Eve was spent in our apartment unit. Try cramming 27 people in a small apartment, and you pretty much can guess the chaos. Food was plenty, everyone was having a jolly good time and the kids were happy (which was evident from the mess they left behind).

Christmas was spent at my Aunt Helen’s. She married a British man named Roy, and together they have two kids Joanna (who's got 2 very adorable kids of her own, Chloe and Ben) and Andrew.

My very warm and lovely family :)
L-R: Mom, Aunt Helen, Me, Andrew, Dad, Joanna, Yaduk (grandma) and Uncle Roy

I also got a chance to meet up with an old friend and made new friends. We went to the beach together, I tried my hand at body boarding (I think that's what it's called). It was tough considering I’m physically unfit to challenge the Australian waves but it’s definitely something I would love to do again.

Queue with his gf, Wee Leng, and their friend Billy

I've known him since we were 13 years old. But I don't think I can deal with him teasing me with a strip show!

Oh phew! He was just changing into his wetsuit. How, erm, embarassing it was for me to hope for a strip show ;)

All geared up now. The body board and wetsuit were new btw.

This is what happens when you get bitchslapped by the waves ;)

We also went to Swan Valley to do some wine tasting.

But I didn’t get the chance to see the koala bears and kangaroos as no one wanted to go with me. Not surprised, considering all they had in mind was shopping, shopping and more shopping! Oh, and eating too. Shop and eat, that’s all we ever did in Perth.

I guess this pretty much sums up my Australian adventure. I would love to go back there ~~and not come back to Malaysia~~. Australia really grew on me; I love how warm and friendly the people are, love their weather, and I truly really enjoyed driving there as you don't find idiots on the road (their drivers don't run red lights and certainly don't abuse the disabled parking lots unlike a "certain" country that I know of).

Oh, Australia, I heart you!!

The Feline Fabulosity

2009-01-06T19:31:00.003+08:00

We can definitely thank Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls for making hooded jackets an "in" thing when their video Don’t Cha came out few years ago. Before that, I’ve always regarded the hooded jackets as something practical to wear and definitely not something that I see as fashionable. If you mentioned hip-hop and fashion, almost immediately I have mental images of baggy jeans, sweatshirts and oversized blings, which I don’t find to be very fashionable if you ask me.

In my opinion, when it comes to high-fashion feminine hip-hop styles, no one does it better than Kimora Lee Simmons with her Baby Phat collection. I’ve been watching her reality show semi-religiously and from what I’ve seen, I could tell that she’s very hands-on with her fashion line as her over-the-top personal style radiates through the Baby Phat collection.

Though they have practically everything from accessories to lingerie, it is their hip-hugging signature jeans that really stands out. Catering to ladies of all kinds of shapes and sizes, Baby Phat jeans represent everything that is feminine and fun, glitzy and glamorous.

But it is the BabyPhat Coats that caught my eye though, as it kinda looks like something Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl would wear. And you all know how much I worship Queen B.

The above trench coat with collar stand is currently on sale for less than $100. Anyone interested in buying me a belated Christmas gift? ;)

Off, Off and Away!

2008-12-20T12:50:00.005+08:00

Final check list before I leave the house:

Passport. Checked.

Singapore dollars. Checked.

Tickets - Jetway (to Singapore) and Singapore Airlines (to Perth). Checked.

Aussie dollars. Checked.

Luggage. Checked.

iPod, Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, Sudoku. Checked, checked and checked.

I know I'm forgetting something here....

Bikini wax. *gasp!* I forgot to do a bikini wax! I can't prance around the beach with a full bush down there. God, no!

Lol!

I'll be away from my blogging for about 10 days or so. I'll miss you all while I'm away (who would've thought I'd be this addicted to blogging and reading all your thoughts).

Well, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Eat well, shit well, and be good to one another! :)

XOXO,
Perky.

Movie Buff

2008-12-18T19:36:00.001+08:00

I love watching movies. I think a good chunk of my money is used to buy dvds every week. Most movies I tend to watch them only once, but the really good ones, like the really, really good ones, those I can watch over and over and over again.

Here's my list of the 8 most memorable movies (in random order):

Braveheart

I love epic movies and this is, to me, the best epic movie ever made. There's just so many moments where I felt like fighting along the Scots because I wanted to follow wherever William Wallace went.

This movie has everything, from drama to romance, awesome battles scenes (I'm so glad that they don't depend much CGI coz without it, the scenes just looks extra real), and great orchestra works. And the scene where he gets tortured before being executed, that was the most heartbreaking and yet most heroic scene ever captured on screen (I cry like a baby when Mel screams "Freedom!!!").

The Last of the Mohicans

"The photography belongs in a museum, the music is a symphonic magnet, the acting and sparsely spoken words fit like little pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create an immaculately magnificent picture." - Mark Worrell (nuntukamen@hotmail.com)

This movie is second only to Braveheart simply because I'm a Mel Gibson fan. I absolutely love Daniel Day-Lewis in this movie. Seeing him run with his long rifle in one hand and a gunstock club in the other, now that's a man right there.

Twilight

This is the only romance movie I truly enjoy. I've watched this 7 times in the cinemas and I can't wait for the DVD to be released. It's got some cheesy lines and corny scenes, but what makes it bearable is the chemistry between Edward (played by my beloved Rob Pattinson) and Bella (played by the talented Kristen Stewart).

I love all the cast/characters in the movie and the books. Yes, I've read the books (except for book 3 because it's SOLD OUT everywhere in KL!). And I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Transformers

There are so many things that could go wrong whenever you take such iconic characters and put them on the silver screen. But in the hands of the great Michael Bay, those iconic characters come to life. My favorite Autobot is definitely Bumblebee.

There's nothing that I didn't like in this movie. The casts were awesome, I love how the robots transformed, the scene where the Autobots were at Sam Witwicky's home was my favorite, there was plenty of humor from Shia, and the action scenes were effing awesome! I just love this movie.

Dark Knight

One name: Heath Ledger. Even if he hadn't died, this movie would still have the same effect on me. Heath as the Joker, now that's a performance.

Iron Man

I've watched Iron Man so many times on DVD, and that's hugely because of Robert Downey Jr. I absolutely love his narcissistic wit and charm. And the red that they used on the Iron Man suit, that's hot.

Hairspray

John Travolta singing and dancing, even as a woman, is worth watching. Michelle Pfeiffer as the over ambitious b*tch is fun to watch. The movie has a great ensemble (the cast sings and dances with such flair and passion its infectious), and in my mind probably one of the best studio musicals to come out in years.

Queen's We Will Rock You Musical

Okay, this isn't a movie, but seriously, they should make it into a movie and cast MiG Ayesa as the lead. I've watched the musical twice (you can read about my experience watching the musical and meeting the cast AND MiG here, here and here), and I just thought to myself, "They need to put this onto the silver screen!"

So there you have it, my 8 most memorable movies ever. I think I did miss one or 2 movies out, but at the time I wrote this I just can't remember what they were. So what's your most memorable movie?

Winners of My Blog Competition!

2008-12-17T20:31:00.002+08:00

Here are the winners of the blog competition I hosted:
1st Prize ($20 paid via PayPal and a feature on my blog): Kat Argonza (Post: If I Could Turn Back Time)
2nd Prize ($10 paid via PayPal): Jojo of Mojo (Post: Eternal Life or a Quick Fix)
3rd Prize ($5 paid via PayPal): Dwayne (Post: What Would I Change if I Could?)

Other Posts Submitted:
Journal of a Rock Angel (Post: A Competition)

To claim your cash prizes, please email Kat at ToughGirlKat@gmail.com with your PayPal account address so she can send your prizes immediately.

Thank you everyone for participating in my blog competition! :D

Kat or other members of the KO Bloggers network will be hosting more blog competitions in the future (which I'll be more than happy to tell you guys about :D). So be a part of our KO Bloggers network (sign up is FREE and EASY), where you can participate in contests and score some cool prizes!

The Land Down Under

2008-12-16T00:48:00.007+08:00

I'm pretty psyched about my upcoming trip to Australia this Saturday. Yes, people, I'll be celebrating Christmas and New Years in the Land Down Under! Woohoo!

But as much as I love the sun, I'm really not looking forward to the summer heat. That, and the bugs and spiders that are Australia's version of cockroaches to me. *shudders at the thoughts of those God-forsaken creatures*

Anyways, I'll be spending about 10 days in Perth. So I did some Googling and realize that Perth and I don't have much in common. I'm not much of a shopper kinda girl. I don't buy material stuff. I prefer to "buy" the experience/adventure... and food.

I definitely wanna go surfing (although Perth isn't well known as a surfer's paradise). But still, it's better than nothing. Hopefully I'll get to see some hot surfer dudes, like the ones you get in Gold Coast ;)

I envy Carly Smith - pictured here doing what she does best

Oh, and I definitely wanna go to the Zoo coz it won't be an Aussie trip without me hugging a koala or feeding the kangaroos.

I dont' care how much they stink or how rough their fur feels. I just wanna squeeze a koala

The one that's at the top of my to-do list is visiting the vineyards. Mmmm... Australian wine. Just thinking about the wine tasting trips is already making me warm and bubbly. I absolutely love wine (something I "inherited" from my dad, much to my mom's displeasure).

The second closest thing to paradise on earth - vineyards!

I'm not quite the wine expert like my dad, but I'm slowly getting there. I can basically tell you where the wine's from (Australia, France, South America, etc). Some people can tell the year the wine was made, the flavor, the body, etc. I'm not there yet, but I'm sure with practise (and I don't mind lots of it), I'll be quite the expert myself ;)

I could do this everyday! (Taken from the movie "A Good Year")

So apart from these 3 things, I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with my time. I didn't fly there just so I could get drunk on wine and eat fish-n-chips everyday. So, if you guys have any suggestions on how I can fill up my time in Perth, let me know! :)

A Ride with the Perverts

2008-12-12T22:15:00.000+08:00

(*Warning: Post contains obscenities. If you're a minor or a family-oriented kind of reader, pls skip this post)

Yesterday was a public holiday for Selangor, I decided to head down to KLCC to catch a movie as well as do some shopping.

KLCC

I have no issues about driving there and have no issues paying the expensive parking. If I were to be stuck in traffic jam on my way there, I doubt it would've bothered me as that would give me the chance to listen to my recently purchased Twilight soundtrack (when you live 3 minutes away from your office it gives you very little chance to listen to any music at all).

But yesterday, perhaps due to lack of sleep or lack of alcohol consumption (or both), I decided to take the LRT to KLCC. Aaaah, the joys of public transportation. I thought, you know, I'd give Mother Earth a break by choosing not to pollute her ozone with the exhaust fumes from my car.

The "ever so efficient" LRT

Now I have certain reservations about using our public transportation. It wouldn't have mattered to me if our LRT was slow, or if it broke down even. I mean, I'm on holiday so I've got the whole friggin' day. I could very well stop and smell all the flowers on my way to KLCC. So yeah, time means nothing to the jobless.

However, the thing that bothered me most was my bizarre encounters with all sorts of people on the LRT. All sorts meaning perverts.

I was sitting next to this uncle, who I assumed had balls the size of watermelons because he sits with his legs wide apart 'til one of his thighs kept rubbing against mine. So I looked down at his crotch area trying to see if indeed he had watermelon balls 'coz I was getting annoyed with all this rubbing and touching.

Nope. I was disappointed. No watermelon balls. He's just another perverted old man.

If he was David Beckham sitting next to me with his legs wide apart, I wouldn't have mind

And yes, he really was a perverted old man because when he got up at his stop, he brushed his hand on my thigh... with his palms down!

As just when I thought how much more comfortable my journey would be without that old man, a younger man comes in, only this time he decides to stand directly in front of me. Let me tell you something. Sitting down facing someone's crotch is bad enough. But when that person sways back and forth on purpose, now that's something else!!

I don't think that staring at a stranger's crotch qualifies as looking at "art"

So I looked up to glare at him and for some strange reason, everytime I did that, he would have this sick twisted smile on his face. So I pondered on about that for a while and realized what it must've looked like from his point of view when "shoving" one's crotch into another person's face (*insert your own imagination here*)

Get what I mean?

Eerrrggggh! I will never ever take public transportations anymore.

Surprises are GOOD!

2008-12-10T00:39:00.005+08:00

Oh I do believe that good things come in 3's. While one was something I had pondered on for quite a bit, the other 2 caught me off guard.... in a good way that is. It is because of things like this that makes me super excited to log on into the bloggersphere (somehow that Forrest Gump quote keeps popping in my mind - "Life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're going to get").

First, the super awesome blogger Kat from Tough Girl 101 gave me another award.

I never saw myself as a creative blogger. So it was a nice surprise to me that someone else looked at me that way :)

And I'd like to pass this award to Fable Frog (you'll understand why in my next point) and my bestfren~~enemy~~ Le Queen Bitch.

The second pleasant surprise came from Fable Frog. God bless his creative soul for making me look this good.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Fable Frog went and took my pic from my previous post and performed some magic to it! I absolutely love it! LOVE IT!!! :D

The third good thing that I wanna share with you all is... I finally got myself a domain! My new website will be called perkierthanyou.com, but Blogger will continue to host my blogsite. So I don't think you guys need to worry about changing the url to get to my new website (fyi, my new website isn't active yet, so going there right now will only lead you to a page full of ads. hehehe).

So yeah, good things do come in 3's :)

Reminders and Poll

2008-12-08T11:31:00.001+08:00

Hey people, it's still not too late to join my blog contest. So far, only one person has submitted his post. Surely my question isn't that difficult to answer, especially since you all are very creative people! ;)

Click here to be redirected to the original contest page.

To be eligible to enter the contest (and more importantly, the cash prizes), you need to join KO Bloggers. Sign up is FREE and EASY.

If you're worried that this contest is a scam (dear God, you should know me better than that! Shame on you >:P), really you shouldn't. I joined Kat's Blog Competition (she's the creator of KO Bloggers btw), where I won first prize for my Thanksgiving post. She paid me my USD $20 immediately after I gave her my PayPal details (unlike paid blogging, I didn't have to wait 30 days to receive my $$$). So making money has never been this fun and quick!

Also, I've placed a poll on the right regarding my idea of naming my new domain as "Perkier Than You". Since my major ~~face~~bloglift is going to affect my readers, I thought why not get some feedback from you guys on the matter. So vote away!

Promoting Fair Play in Music

2008-12-07T23:45:00.001+08:00

I’m a huge fan of music and it doesn’t matter what genre, as long as it’s good I’ll listen to it. I can’t help but wonder, how tough it must be to be an artist in this day and age. It can’t be easy getting signed to a major label and certainly must be even harder to deal with piracy (or what you and I call as "free downloading").

I know it’s morally wrong to download music when the person who labored very hard to make and get their record out isn’t getting paid for their hard work. But it’s hard to resist the temptation when there are websites letting us download music for free (and we all are suckers for free things, aren’t we?).

So it’s great that there’s Kerchoonz, which while it provides free music (streams and downloads), it also ensures that the artists and labels are getting paid (through advertising revenue). On top of that, they will also pay you for referring other bands and artists to their site (do you know of any friend who’s an aspiring musician or unsigned artist? Why not refer them to Kerchoonz where they can promote their music and you can get paid for “putting out the good word”? ;) )

I'm already on Kerchoonz and I'm slowly building my playlist - been busy browsing through the music section (dear God, there are so many fantastic Indie bands out there!), watching videos, playing games, and seeing what gigs are coming up (unfortunately there's none that's close enough for me to attend). It almost feels like I’m on Facebook, except this time I belong to a unique social network for music lovers.

If you believe in promoting fair play, I encourage you to join Kerchoonz. Artists gets paid, while you can still listen and download music for free. It’s a win-win situation. I see there is great potential for Kerchoonz to be a real alternative to the pirates for free music.

Undecided on My Facelift

2008-12-06T23:33:00.007+08:00

I've been toying with the idea of getting my own domain for quite some time now. It's most likely going to happen... I've been reading up a lot on this matter, so I suppose the transition will be rather smooth (I'll still have my blog hosted by Blogger as it's easier that way).

Anyways, getting a new domain does bring out certain issues. I mean, I like almost everything I've done for my layout, except...

Except my blog header. I honestly hate it. I simply put those pictures up because
I couldn't come up with anything better (I don't have pics that hid my face or me looking too hoochie).

So Big Fat Witch took some pics of me this evening. Mind you, the following pics are just concepts of what I intend to put up as my new blog header for my new domain, so it's very raw.

Concept 1:

Concept 2:

Concept 3:

Concept 4:

As you can see, my new prop is the pink feather boa. The reason behind that is my new domain name has got something to do with the pink feather boa (doh! Do I really need to state the obvious??) Currently, I have this wacky idea of calling my new domain "Chronicles of the Pink Feather Boa". Wacky, but my darling McChef thinks the name is too long & boring.

So I'm really, really torn. Anyways, let me know your thoughts on the concept for my new blog header as well as my new domain name. And don't hold back on the ~~bitching~~ criticism! :)

Bitten by the Lovebug

2008-12-03T01:38:00.001+08:00

Fuckidy fuckidy fuck. Just when I thought I've gotten my polygamous hormones ~~subdued~~ reigned in, there I go again with that all too familiar girly giggling and blushing and "Omg! Omg! Omg!".

Damn it. I am an adulterous little 'ho.

And god bless McChef's loving heart for still wanting to be with me. Oh, the stress I must be putting him through. Poor guy. The last time this happened, I told myself that would be the last of my affairs (well it should've been especially since McChef threated to poke my eyes and make me blind!). But a leopard doesn't change her skin.

It was the intensity in his eyes that shot through my heart. He had that mysterious air about him. He kept me mesmerized. Everything about him invited me in - his voice, his face, even his smell.

Oh Robert Pattinson, I HEART you!!!

Robert plays the uber-sexy vampire, Edward Cullen, in the movie Twilight. Before this movie, I knew nothing about Robert apart from he was the guy who played Cedric in the Harry Potter movie.

I wasn't too crazy about him then.

Then I went to watch Twilight. I have no knowledge what the movie's about. I've never read the book (didn't even know it existed).

All I knew about the movie was what my colleague told me,"It's about a vampire being in love with this human girl and he's constantly struggling between how he feels for her and how much he wants to eat her".

Yeah, that's something I can relate to as I too tend to have that kind of relationship with my food.

So, on Saturday I went to watch Twilight (I've watched it 4 times since that Saturday - yes, I've been going every single day!). I went to the cinemas with an open mind, uncorrupted by the hysteria surrounding the movie, untainted by the movie reviews. I didn't bother Googling about the movie whatsoever.

And the scene where Robert first came in, ooh la la... I was smitten! And as the movie continued on, I fell in love with him. I was also captivated by the chemistry between Edward and Bella (his love/food). The intensity of his eyes, his gesture.... OMG!

For those who hasn't watched the movie Twilight, go and do yourselves a favor and watch it. Hey, I went to watch it again the next day. I even bought the first two books! (and mind you, I don't read books).

Oh Robert, BITE ME!!! BITE ME!!!

Perky's Blog Competition Give Away!

2008-12-01T12:15:00.000+08:00

Here's my very first blog competition give away (and thanks to Kat for giving me the opportunity to play a more active role on KO Bloggers).

A genie came up to you and asks you to choose between 2 options:
a) To live life as an immortal, or
b) Go back to a point in your life and make a change in your past (yes, you will still be a mortal).

Question: Which option would you choose and why?

How to enter:
1. Write a post answering my question - the more creative you are, the better!
2. Make sure that you link to this blog/competition on your post.
3. You must be a member of KO Bloggers to be a part of this contest.
4. Contest runs from Dec 1st to Dec 15th, 2008.

The Prizes:
First Place: Wins $20.00 paid via PayPal and get featured on this blog.
Second Place: Wins $10.00 paid via PayPal.
Third Place: Wins $5.00 paid via PayPal.
Everyone will get a link back from on this blog.

Just leave me a comment to let me know you did it!

Be Part of a Knock Out Bloggers Group

2008-11-30T19:00:00.003+08:00

My dear blogger friend, Kat from ToughGirl101, recently became an Izea Insider, which is part of an experiment by Izea (for those of you who don't know Izea, well, they're the great minds behind SocialSpark and PayPerPost). As an Izea Insider, Kat has created a network called KO Bloggers, where I'm a proud crew member.

KO Bloggers is a place where we bloggers can promote our blog, be a part of exclusive blog contests and work together in creating better blogs.

I've recently taken part in my very first blog contest hosted by Kat and I sure had a helluva good time doing it. It sure was a nice break from doing all those paid blogging. Don't know who won the contest yet coz the other guy that submitted his entry post sure did one heck of a job!

Here's a heads up for you guys. I'll be hosting the next blog contest which will run from Dec 1st to Dec 15th. So if you wanna win some $$$, now's a good time to be a KO Blogger and join in future contests. According to Kat, the bigger the contests gets, hopefully she'll be giving away electronic prizes :)

So be our crew and join us at KO Bloggers!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T23:16:00.008+08:00

The Malaysian version of Thanksgiving, or at least the Borneo version, is very much different than the American Thanksgiving. In Sarawak, we Dayaks celebrate Thanksgiving in end May-early June and it is known as Gawai (in Sabah, Thanksgiving is known as Pesta Kaamatan).

The Gawai is a festival to thank the spirits/Gods for a good harvest. Unlike how the American Thanksgiving revolves around turkey and worrying about the stuffing that goes in it, Gawai revolves around rice wine (known as "tuak") and worrying about how wasted/drunk you're going to be.

Okay, I was kidding about the getting wasted part. But after years of celebrating Gawai, it's hard to not get wasted during this joyful occassion.

Like Thanksgiving, as Gawai approaches, the amount of stress and preparation increases. The house needs cleaning, food and cakes needs preparing, and the tuak needs to be stocked up (and lots and lots of it, mind you). Most of the food and drinks will end up being consumed by people you barely even know or hardly even like.

Some of us will go to church on the eve of Gawai while the more traditional ones will visit their ancestor's graveyard to clean the site and offer offerings to the dead. All sorts of rituals will take place. As I'm not involved in any of the rituals, I can't really tell you what goes on.

An offering to the spirits

I'm more involved in the drinking and dancing part which could last for days. There are so many friends to visit and each home that you visit, they will serve you tuak. So as you can see, it's kinda hard to stay sober when the host keeps shoving drinks into your hand (and it's rude to turn away the drinks offered to you).

Although the two Thanksgivings are different from each other, the meaning of it, however, is surprisingly similar.

It's about... being thankful that you didn't get as wasted as you did the previous year.

It's about... being thankful that you didn't wake up in strange places.

It's about... being thankful that your health permits you take part in this year's Thanksgiving.

It's about... being thankful that you have enough patience to not take a knife and stab the relative you so hate but just had to visit.

It's about... being thankful for having so many friends to share Thanksgiving with (not to mention the amount of free food and booze you'll be getting).

It's about... being thankful for what a blessed life you have. At least you still have a life.

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This post was written as a submission to Kat's Blog Competition. To enter the contest, blog about "What does Thanksgiving mean to you?" and post your entry by Nov 30th. Please visit Kat's Blog Competition for more details.

Come See Me in Person!

2008-11-24T22:19:00.005+08:00

My sis, Big Fat Witch, begged me to use my blog to promote her upcoming activity. As the good, obliging sister that I am, I can't possibly say no, now can I? (although I've got tonnes of other things to write about, such as my Thanksgiving post)

If you don't have plans this Saturday afternoon, come join us for a moment of happy, fluffy, slightly sappy but totally adorable movie time.

HANA YORI DANGO FINAL! SCREENING

DATE: 29th NOVEMBER 2008
VENUE: CINELEISURE DAMANSARA
PRICE: RM30 (inclusive of movie ticket and F&B)
TIME: 1:30pm
SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY: PERKY

Yes, I'll be there to sign autographs & take pics with my fans. Lol! Oh you know me, if there's food I'm definitely going to be there. And it's so unlike me to pass on any chances of making new friends :)

This movie stayed at #1 at the Japanese box office this year for a really looong time. It's the conclusion to the hugely successful drama of the same name which ran for 2 seasons. FYI, "Hana Yori Dango" is the Japanese version of the Taiwanese drama, "Meteor Garden". It's romance, action and comedy all rolled into one. And how often do you see a leading man who's prettier than his leading lady?

Matsumoto Jun

We will also be celebrating OHNO SATOSHI's birthday!
*Ohno Satoshi is the leader of Matsumoto Jun's group, Arashi. Matsumoto Jun is the lead actor in the movie. You don't have to be a fan to join in the fun* ^^

For more information/booking/confirmation of attendance, kindly contact the person in charge through

Phone : +6012 3992505
Email : sitisalwa.ali@gmail.com
Livejournal : salwaphoenix
Vox : salwa

Or you could get in touch with me either by leaving a comment below or using my "Contact Me" page located on my navBar. Hope to see you there!

* Hana Yori Dango Final is also known as Boys Over Flowers.

Haven't I Learned My Lesson Yet??

2008-11-21T22:40:00.003+08:00

It happened to me before and I thought, geez, NEVER EVER will I get myself into that situation EVER AGAIN.

But noooOOOoooOOooo, me being a slow learner, it'll probably take me another 271 times to finally stop making this mistake again.

Lesson to Learn?

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Never let dirty panties pile up for a week... especially if I'm going away for another weekend roadtrip.

*Perky will be joining her best fren~~emy~~ Le Queen Bitch in his hometown for the weekend. You guys have a great weekend and see you all next week! :)

Some Things Never Get Old

2008-11-19T22:00:00.000+08:00

I'm not the flowers kinda girl, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy receiving them. Yeah there are some ladies out there who insist on a bouquet of flowers for every special occassion. But if I don't receive flowers on my birthday, it's not going to be the end of the world for me.

McChef would sometimes give me flowers to accompany a certain special event, such as Valentine's Day, anniversaries and birthdays.

But it's a pleasant surprise and a nice change to be getting flowers for absolutely no reason at all, other than him simply being sweet to me.

Flowers he got from Cameron Highlands

No, don't be silly. He didn't go all the way to Cameron Highlands to just buy me flowers (although, that would've scored major points with me)

Flowers are cheap in Cameron Highlands. Half a dozen of roses cost RM5!

And they smell really good too! Unlike the ones they sell in most florist shops.

So yeah, it's nice to receive flowers that doesn't come with messages like "I'm sorry", or "I didn't mean to blow you off for a drinking session with the boys", or "Hope this makes up for the burnt kitchen!".

Looking for a New Virtual Space?

2008-11-19T19:26:00.002+08:00

As I was going through the hassles of changing the layout for my blogsite, I encountered quite a number of issues with Blogspot. I hated that I was unable to create new pages (although there is a way to go about doing it, but that way is just too technical and tedious for me). And because of that, I have to depend heavily on widgets. Which are fine, except that using too many widgets will make the site look cluttered.

So I’ve been toying around the idea of getting my own dot com. Should I decide to make that leap of getting my own domain, I will definitely be reading up on web hosting reviews to see which web hosting service can best suit my needs.

There are so many great web hosting services out there, and at WebHostingGeeks.com there’s a section that lists down various categories such as Best Dedicated Hosting, Best Budget Hosting, and so on.

So it really boils down to the theme or direction of your website. I’d most likely look for something under Best Blog Hosting.

To help make your decision on which web hosting service to go with, you can always read up reviews from the webmaster or other customers. So you’ll be getting real feedback from people who’ve tried their services before you.

So if you do decide to get your own domain, do read up the web hosting reviews on WebHostingGeeks.com. A little bit of research in making sure you get the best hosting service that suits your requirements will do more good than harm. Afterall, no one wants a lousy service right?

I Used To Be a Whole Lotta Fun

2008-11-15T14:10:00.003+08:00

I woke up today realizing that I'll be in my 30's sooner than I'd like to be. The thing that striked me most was that I've kinda stopped having fun. I mean, I'm not saying that I'm miserable or depressed or going through some premature mid-life crisis.

Oh I'm anything but that. It's just that I've stopped doing some of the things I truly enjoyed. It's tough being a working gal. By the time I come home from work, all I wanna do is chill out in front of the tv and sleep.

Once in a blue moon I'll pick up my trusty Fender (she's trusty because she's never failed me no matter how crappy I play). But other than that, you can most definitely find me on the couch watching tv.

My underused white Strat... but she still sings like a beauty :)

I used to

inline skate. This was almost a daily ritual for me and was a good way to keep in shape. Cuts and bruises were worn like a badge of honor. When I moved to Kuala Lumpur to work, I left my skates back home, leaving this hobby behind too.

Me skating at the skatepark (or what used to be)in Kuching... probably moments before my face landed on the tar ;)

I used to

go rock climbing. I have a fear of heights and this was one way of overcoming that fear. I used to rock climb once a week with my friend. But he left to study in Australia and I just couldn't ~~be bothered to~~ find a replacement.

Pic from Arrowhead Pine Cone Festival

I used to

party ~~excessively~~ a lot. The routine was simple - the nights of Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays were devoted to clubbing and downing Vodka-related drinks (which was either served on the rocks or screwdriver).

Oh I lived for Fridays because they were a little bit special. Fridays would be our pre-clubbing get together, and that involved me and the girls sipping Margaritas at TGIF first. Then we'd head to one of the girls' home to shower & get ready for a whole night of dancing (and more drinking, of course). Most of the times (if we weren't all too drunk by then) we'd be the last to leave the club.

Pic from Online Toast writer

But these days the only drinks I drink is either beer or wine, or in other words the drinks for old people. These days I prefer to be able to hear and remember my conversations with people. And besides, how do you feel when you see a 30-something year old lady drunk and dancing on table tops? You kinda feel sad for her, don't cha? ;)

My Very First Blog Award

2008-11-12T22:40:00.003+08:00

It was so sweet of Kat at Tough Girl 101 for giving me my very first blog award! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Now it's my turn to spread the love. My 5 award recipients are:
Le Queen Bitch
Jojo of Mojo
Savante
Twilight Zone
Nick Phillips

These are the bloggers I've been following for a while now and I always find myself getting a good dose of laughter from reading their blogs.

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Here are the rules:
1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Link me for giving it to you.

3. Link the originating post here.

4. Pass the award on to five more deserving people.

5. Post these rules for your recipients.

My Next Gig: Modelling

2008-11-11T21:35:00.003+08:00

I believe that in an alternate world I could've been a pretty successful model. Or at least a successful leg model. I mean, let's just forget for a while that I'm 4 feet tall and that my legs make up half my height.

Check my legs out, man:

Have you ever seen such shiny and smooth legs??

The secret to such naturally beautiful-looking legs? An unknown herb called GeneticaliNo Hair. It works like a waxing cream but minus the actual waxing and shaving. I'm still trying to find ways to put this rare herb into a bottle so I can market it to the masses (oh don't you just love capitalism). But til then, you can all admire my shiny, smooth, hairless legs ;)

Picture is 100% original. No photoshop editing was done to enhance the pic

*Writer is still searching for a herb that can promote height growth.