Posting Gone Missing

Sorry people that I had to delete the article on Pizza Hut. Just had dinner there by the way. They are nice, fair people and don't charge you unscrupulous tax. PERIOD.

On why I had to delete this article is because some Anonymous character wrote a lot of irrelevant things (to a certain point defaming me though the individual I think did not intend to do so) and I did not enable comment moderation. So, I had to just get rid of the whole post to get rid of the comment. If you guys have any idea on deleting comments when comments moderation is not on please do tell!

HELP!

Dishing out more stuff on myself ...

Guess people (at least 66.67% of the poll on your bottom left) want to know more about myself. So, back by popular demand is a survey which you can recycle for a great many times from bulletin boards, anyway just loved those musical bullets:

1 . Lets start with your name?
♫ Ravi (ah ah .. so that it is why it is Raving me).

2. What do you think about smoking?
♫ An ultimate sign of stupidity and an effective way to kill people you love.

4. Whats your favourite drink?
♫ Too many to name one ... Ribena, calamansi, lemon juice, Peelfresh orange
(and I insist on Peelfresh) and so many more.

5. What is one thing you question a lot?
♫ The unknown future.

6. Do you lead people on?
♫ No and people find this irritating (especially when I lay those unnecessary warning words that I cannot assure you 100% on so-and-so) , sad though.

7. Are you married?
♫ No and I don't think i believe in it anymore (I hear those happily-ever-after couples sharpening their knives).

8. Have you ever told someone of the opposite sex/same sex you loved them?
♫ Too bad ...

10. Do you miss someone?
♫ Yes, my best friends.

12. Are you single or unavailable?
♫ Single and ... (well you can fill in the blanks).

13. Are looks important?
♫ Unfortunately yes, that is how the world works.

14. What were you wearing just now?
♫ T-shirts and short pants of the same brand (coincidence).

15. Are you mad at someone?
♫ Maybe?

16. Are you taking anyone for granted?
♫ I don't know.

17. Where do you keep your money?
♫ And why would I advertise to the World Wide World?!

18. Would you kiss the last person you kiss?
♫ The kiss would had have to happen in the first place.

19. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone?
♫ Alone and I somewhat cannot share my bed with anyone else.

21. What time did you wake up this morning?
♫ Well it was a p.m..

22. Quick, say a line from any song
♫ twinkle, twinkle little star ...

23. How was your day?
♫ Exceptional.

24. Do you live near a friend?
♫ No, sadly.

25. Are you scared of spiders?
♫ No.

27. Do you believe in love?
♫ Hmmm ....

28. How old do you want to be when you have kids?
♫ Do i want kids in the first place? Even if i do, it would be after 30 and now I think you will want to know my age?!

29. What do you know about the future?
♫ A murky cloud with specks of sunshine.

33. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?
♫ Depends on what they did on their first, not everyone is a Severus Snape.

35. Most hated food?
♫ Anchovies and prawns; makes me gag therefore an absolute NO-NO!

36. What is a major pet of yours?
♫ Animals and I have a respectable distance from each other for the greater good.

37. Do you wish someone would call you?
♫ Yes!

38. Do you miss your childhood?
♫ Seriously yes! When life had no deadlines and expectations of holistic development crap.

39. What's something you wish you could understand better?
♫ Making money!

40. If someone doesn't like you, it's usually because?
♫ Because of me I guess.

41. What are you excited about?
♫ The upcoming holidays after this one ends.

43. Kissed someone in the last half hour?
♫ Refer no. 18, you people just love to have a go at me!

44. Have you lost friends in the past?
♫ Yes, but they were never "friends" in the first place so it is not my loss.

45. What did you do four days ago?
♫ A haze of laziness with occasional profiting of time.

Well, there you have it folks! If you want to more about me, just ask me on what you want to know or send me one these surveys!

33 Things On and About Me

According the poll in the blog (if you search hard enough ... it is somewhere in the bottom left corner of the page - unless it got expired, then too bad!) , 50% (considering only a total 2 people have voted thus far - anyway thanks!, deeply appreciate both of you) wanted to know more about me.

So, instead of me spinning a "Long-Before-Your-Time" tale, I thought a savvy survey would do it. Before you thank me for my creative genius, this survey was extracted from a Friendster bulletin (people always to brag about themselves indirectly) and guess it would tell you a lot about me indirectly and hopefully will bring you back to this blog indirectly often (I am crossing my fingers!). So without further nonsense from me, here is the survey:

1. What do you think of the most when you are alone?
Dreaming about myself being rich and successful; hosting a talk show. In short, living the high-life which I hope is good.

2. When it is a rainy night, what do you do most of the time?
You can do SO many things. Rainy days are a great excuse for most activities. I just simply prefer to go out in the rain walking under the umbrella next to a friend or by myself. However, I usually end up either sleeping or fixing the best cozy meal for myself.

3. When was the last time you were out?
Just now, I went out of the gate to see the non-existent man with the axe after going to out to the mall.

4. What do you do when you see a full moon?
Just check whether it’s a new moon or an old moon. I simply don’t feel anything by the moon.

5. Would you rather swim in the lake or dive in the ocean?
Tell you what; I will swim in the nearest swimming pool. When I see a lake, I remember SUPERNATURAL and oceans remind me of JAWS. Anyway, most of the lakes and oceans are too polluted to be swum in the first place. So, PEOPLE DON'T POLLUTE! IF WE ALL STOPPED OUR BAD HABITS, ONE DAY PEOPLE LIKE ME CAN GO SWIMMING THERE AND IT WOULD BE A BETTER WORLD TO LIVE IN!

6. Who would be the best partner of a good cup of coffee?
Me and Myself. I LOVE coffee too much and I will probably drink the other’s coffee, so it is SAFER for you that I am to be alone with my coffee.

7. If you'll ask yourself a question now, what would it be?
Why am I telling my sinful side to the WWW?

8. If certain things in your life fell apart, what will you do?
Pick up the pieces and move on to be better than before. PERIOD.

9. Favorite month/s?
December and March (just because a VVIP was born then).

10. When your friends forget you, what will you do?
A tough one … Well, there are always so many other fish in the sea and friends who forget you were not your friends in the first place.

11. Do you talk to yourself?
Yes and I’m PROUD of it! Helps me to calm down, think clearly and creatively plus solve a lot of problems and plan my day.

12. Is there anything that you are craving for right now?
To be in KL with a friend. I am addicted to that place.

13. Would you like to have a chocolate right now?
NO! It seems weird but I don’t like chocolates. To be honest, I only eat chocolates when there isn’t any other better food around.

14. Ever cried for something stupid?
People only cry for stupid things. Tears are far beneath the pain of serious issues. Stupid things; yeah when I was little, I did cry all the time for things like drinking medicine and stuff.

15. Do you like anime?
If the story is good, why not? Pokemon counts, right?

16. How about Japanese music?
What is Japanese music??? (Blank ... blank)

17. Do you have a girlfriend?
What do you think?

18. First thing you do after watching a movie?
Get up from the seat and rush out of the theater.

19. Do you wash the dishes in your house?
Rarely but when I do, I do them really good and spotless.

20. Can you last two days without a bath?
I think so as I have high endurance but ... two days without a bath, I will probably be nuts by then, so what's the point?!

23. Still go to the mall with your parents?
Yes, most of the times actually. It’s not as bad as you think. Firstly, you don’t have to spend your own money. Secondly, you don’t end up buying crap that you don’t need. Finally, you get a free, comfortable, safe ride to and fro and free eats on the way!

25. Are you brand conscious?
Unfortunately, yes but not to the extent of spending wads of cash on my favourite EIC or Passages shirt which costs a bomb. I wait for sales. Patience ... patience (you now know what to get me for my birthday).

26. Ever fell in love?
Not sure about what is love in the first place.

27. What time is it?
1.45 am, sorry for the late post, y'all!

28. Where are you?
Home Sweet Home.

29. Is it in you to kill someone?
I don’t think so. But you can never be too sure?

30. Daydream a lot?
Yes. Like duh!

31. Happy with your life?
Could be better but yes, satisfied for now.

33. Favorite place to eat in a mall?
Depends on which mall. Any place is fine by me as long as it is clean and has good food to eat.

So, if you thought you knew me, now you know better and if you didn't know me before, now you know me!

Cheers.

Winds of Change

Someone recently told me that when you starting talk politics, it is a clear sign you began aging. So, it beats me to surprise when I read the following article in The New Strait Times last Sunday.

Seems to give a whole new tangy flavour and sizzle to politics, doesn't it?

NEW STRAIT TIMES (English daily in Malaysia)
2008/01/06

NewsFocus: 'I'm pro nothing, but Malaysia'

Sarah Chan and Michelle Gunaselan (right) are members of a Facebook group named VotED who take politics very seriously.

'Apathetic', 'ignorant', and 'lazy' are labels hurled at Malaysian youth who are shirking their citizenry responsibility this coming election. But there are also those who make spreading political awareness their task, albeit in a less conventional way. The cyberspace, after all, doesn't just belong to the converted few

GOOD friends Michelle Gunaselan and Sarah Chan are your typical chic youngsters who work the week through just to live on Fridays.

Come weekends, the girls will hit clubs and party till the break of dawn.

And in-between sipping vodka to the thump of the house music the pair will ask other clubbers if they have registered to vote in the coming election.

Behind the party animal mien are two young people who take politics very seriously.
For far too long, politics had been associated with long, boring talks on issues that the young could not relate to, but that's a misconception, said Michelle, 25.

"People don't understand that politics pervades every aspect of their life.

"Whether you study in a private or public institution, what your first job is, what your salary is, the price of the shirt you bought from Topshop -- they are all political decisions."

On nights when they are not shuffling on the dance floor, the duo attend political forums.

They, in fact, lent support to the people of Myanmar at a candlelight vigil before hitting a trendy nightspot in October last year.

Despite being in the know of the country's social development, Michelle and Chan said they did not know enough, especially about elections.

"Being in the media line, my friends and I consider ourselves quite savvy in terms of what's happening socially around the country," said 22-year-old Chan, who writes for a magazine.

"We were born in the 1980s, and the coming election will be our first.

"But we have no idea how it works, how the ballot box looks like, how to vote -- we don't know the specifics. We know the issues, but not the process.

"This is quite worrying."

Textbooks, said Michelle, could offer only fundamentals and technicalities, but not other things young voters might like to know, such as who their MPs are, what they are doing for their constituents, and how local elections are carried out.

The women, along with four others, decided to search for answers collectively and also reach out to similar-minded peers.

The idea, mooted spontaneously at a barbeque in November, has now spawned into a Facebook group named VotED, which registered some 500 members within three days.

The account has now more than 800 members, made up mostly of young urbanites who have inked their names onto the electoral roll, or are beginning to take an interest in the political sphere.

In line with the group's aim to educate peers about the voting process, the women had initially planned to hold an event today, but it fell through due to lack of funding and the failure to get a venue.

Contrary to typical political seminars, the event was not to preach ideologies, but to educate young voters through talks, with the incorporation of vibrant lifestyle features such as music and films.

"Older people say that the young are not political, which is true to some extent, but who understands the dynamics better than us?" said Michelle.

Chan added: "We know what young people like and don't like. It has to be education, but in a fun-loving way.

"You know, we are the MTV generation with very short attention spans. It would be like attending a gig or party, but for a different cause."

On whether choosing not to vote should be respected as a right as well, Michelle answered in the affirmative.

"I completely agree with that, but in order to make any decision, one must be educated.

"You can choose not to vote for anyone, but have you completely gone through all the options? Or is it an emotional decision?

"It is a decision all right, but let it be an informed one."

Efforts to find a venue for the event came to naught because establishment owners, linking the group to political associations, were reluctant to host the event.

Chan, in stressing the group's neutrality, said that it ws not affiliated to any party.

"We all have personal opinions, but we're not going to put that into the agenda of the day. The point is education, not conversion."

Michelle added, "The moment you say something, you're instantly labelled as an opposition, that's really unfair.

"As a Malaysian group, we want what's best for Malaysia, and whoever offers us that should get the vote.

"I'm pro nothing, but Malaysia."

from the NST online (www.nst.com.my)

A Day-trip Checklist by Yours Truly

Well, if you read about my not-so elaborated and not-so wonderful KL trip, here's a bit more about it. I was initially planning a post on it but decided against it (the trip was just a haze of tiredness peppered with very few good things, so I rather not write about it).

However, what I did do right in the trip was to prepare a small backpack which saved me a great deal of trouble. Indeed, when you go on a day-trip relying wholly on public transport and your sneakers in a big city, it is good to be well-prepared. If not, plan to fail. The following are some must-haves in your bag (some of which were there in my bag and others especially number 1 which would have greatly improved the quality of any trip to begin with):

1. A bottle of water (a must have in tropical cities ... unless you want to fork out cash for over-priced isotonic drinks to prevent you dieing of dehydration).

2. Sufficient cash in your wallet which must have all your important personal documents. Extra cash hidden in your bag (in case you get pick-pocketed).

3. Maps (big cities = complex navigation).

4. Bus, train, cab, trishaw, auto or whatever public transportation schedules (refer 3).

5. Important phone numbers along with a charged cellular phone with sufficient credit (what’s the point of a 3G phone with 12 cents credit?!). If not, get yourself some coins for the public telephone.

My otherwise rundown, rammed-down phone would be certainly a thumbs down if not for its reliable and cheap POST PAID line. Thank you M&D!

6. Working pens, pencils and other convenient on-the-go writing apparatus like a small notepad (chuck away those cap-screwing pens; fountain pens in the hustling of a train station?!).

7. Mini-personal grooming kit (a hand-towel, a comb, lip-balm - if your lips crack often in heat and whatever else you need); the point being that you should be able to spruce yourself up before your destination so that you don't look dragged across the city even though you have been.

8. A jacket (to cover up spills and stuff that you never knew were there in the first place).

9. A spare change of light clothes (another just-in-case and worst-case-scenario lookout).

10. A small medical kit (in case you trip on the stairs while rushing for the train or feel woozy after a tiring trip)

11. Extra space in your bag (you don't want to clog your bag heavy with stuff that you will never use in your life and get a backache, plus that extra space could be used to store items that you are bound to pick up on the way).

That's about it till now to travel light and easy. This list ought to be updated from time to time. So, do drop in stuff that you think is important in your day-trip backpack. Cheers!

A Rainy Weekend to Review on Raincoat

The weekend was a damper; me recovering from a whirlwind KL trip last Friday by getting lost with three bags of books in the KL trains across Sri Petaling to Jalan Pahang. PLUS, all of those without that much sleep. However, I had put much thought into a movie I just saw recently; in fact the Saturday before last on the tele.

It's called Raincoat and it's not English; Hindi to be exact but honestly you don't need much of language to understand, provided good subtitles are there. I even read subtitles for English or other known-languages movies. It's just the irritating habit that develops if you like to read too much up to the extent to the failure to understand legible speech.

Let my worries sleep aside.

This movie is in fact an epitome of how much Bollywood has evolved to suit the themes of a global audience from its jingling, bulb-screwing and dog-patting song days. This movie has no songs! It is not just that, excellent direction, beautiful cinematography and surreal acting is what that makes this movie really a class of its own. Not straying from the simple formula of failed-love by economic compulsions, the story deals with the meeting of estranged lovers. Ajay Devgan, (who plays Manoj@Manu) seeks Aishwarya Rai (who plays Neeru) for financial assistance thinking that the other who married a rich guy was really rich. The harsh truth being both in similar financial destitute.

Both Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan (left: thanks to www.bollywoodpremiere.com) have done a splendid performance acting as impoverished individuals in limited sets (actually only a rainy day, a rainwashed road and three houses if I am not mistaken). Both try their level best to conceal the truth by spinning lies woven with the truth hidden subtly and when the truth comes out unexpectedly through other means, both continue the drama more eloquently and try to help the other in unexpected manners. How and why the Raincoat is in the movie? That's a question too beautiful to be answered.

The beauty of this sad tale is its dialogues of fake cheeriness, the hidden meanings of the false boasts of their "wonderful lives" and how all that on-screen happiness both try to convey to each other leaves such sadness in the hearts of the audience. Therefore, it is truly a movie for the intelligent who are willing to dissect beyond the acting during commercial breaks to discover the true pain of loss and the human spirit in such bare terms.

In short, Raincoat deserves an applause for being another example of how Bollywood films have moved to a different league of their own compared to their other Indian counterparts.

So, what do you think?
Leave your uncensored comments along with messages of grammatical errors your sharp eye spots (I was chopping onions before this post; so I am quite teary, blurry and irritated; in the eye only!).

Where are the ribbons? Where is the scissors? ... It's a Grand Opening After All

Confusing isn't it? Creating post after post for only one comment (which I am very grateful for despite the lack of enthusiasm).

Anyway, that was the sad, old past in Friendster blogs where readership is limited to your nearest who rather say things to your face (or behind your back), instead of wasting precious ATPs typing it out for you.

So, with that out of the way and all rumblings of the past well-justified, WE ARE MOVING HERE TO A MUCH GREENER, VOCAL YET VICIOUS NEIGHBOURHOOD!

--- And I have to say, I am truly excited! (Ahah! For once! Better make a mental note here to think about during the days when life seems purposeless) ---

I am pretty sure by now you would have got some idea about what I have got to say (that is if you read the above but if you did not ... well, keep skimming and scanning in your English comprehension passages, will you?).

I AM:
Plainly blunt, sarcastic with a touch of emotion about things that matter to me and hopefully to you!

Connect with me and comment without my picture in your head with an axe!

SO, THAT'S ABOUT ALL THE GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOU TO FOLLOW

and

CATCH YOU LATER!

P/S Of course, I will sprinkle some spice into the whole thing with little bit of aunties tale, gossip and day-to-day happenings of my life (which if it kept you awake and thinking, BLESS ME, I have found my purpose!).