It's a love-hate relationship

I was in a store earlier when it was playing a nice CD. It's a collection of Korean drama soundtracks, and it reminded me of the Korean dramas that I have watched before. But before you start concluding that I'm a huge Korean drama fan, please hold on a while.

Ever heard of the love-hate relationship? Well, that's the kind of relationship I have with Korean dramas :p Cannot help falling in love with them, but if I had too much at a moment, I got sick of them.

I still remember the first Korean drama I watched. It was Autumn In My Heart (蓝色生死恋/秋天的童话). It was love at first-sight. It marked the beginning of 'our relationship' :p .... Winter Sonata (冬之恋歌) was already a big hit at that time, but I did not watch it until very much later.

I went on to watch a few other Korean dramas such as The Successful Story of a Bright Girl and My Love Patzzi starring the cute Jang Na Ra, Hotelier, My Sassy Girl (ok, it's a movie, not a drama), My Girl and Princess Hours/Goong, just to name a few. But I did not watch Jewel In The Palace (大长今), Full House and All-In, which were also big hits. That's because it's an 'on-and-off relationship'. Like I said earlier, I could not have too much or I'd get sick of its repetitive theme. Except for a few exceptional cases, Korean dramas can be generally categorized into two.

Category 1:

The heart-wrenching love story (get ready with some tissue papers!):

-Heroine: kind, sweet,nice and soft-spoken but easily bullied. Usually has problems such as (1) a poor family; (2) low social status; (3) illegitimate daughter of a rich man; (4) legitimate daughter but with a wicked stepmother and stepsisters

-Hero: Usually rich. Loves the heroine very much but they cannot be together because: (1) he's engaged; (2) family tradition or objection; (3) different social status; (4) they found out that they could be siblings!

-Supporting actor: He's either rich (the hero's best friend) or poor (the heroine's best friend). He also loves the heroine very much.

-Supporting actress: She's either the heroine's rival at work or in school, the wicked stepsister or the hero's suicidal fiancee. Willing to go to great lengths (including bullying the heroine) to get the hero.

Ending: usually tragic.... sob.. sob...

Category 2:

The rib-tickling romance comedy:

-Heroine: Super-innocent, super-naive, super-playful, or a naughty cili padi. Daring. Do super-silly things sometimes.

-Hero: He's either (1) serious (opposites attract, haven't you heard? :p); (2) as silly as the heroine (so together, they embark on a silly (but sweet :p) adventure called romance)

-The best friend: as silly as the main characters, but a loyal and true friend

-The bad girl/guy: another wicked big bully

Ending: usually ends happily...

To all Korean drama fans, please do not be mad at me though. I just need to get some time off this relationship. Do not plan to really 'break-up' :p

The status of our relationship now? Well, I'm calling it off at the moment. The last I heard of it was a few months ago with the drama Yu Hee, The Witch (oh did I mention that they like to include the main character's name in the drama title? :p). Anyway, absence makes the heart grow fonder. So, I'll just have to wait for the next getting-back-together..... :p

Killing me softly with the voice....

Ear plugs... ear plugs.... I need ear plugs....

The auntie staying opposite my house (or is it the daughter?) is singing karaoke again! They like to sing quite often (not to mention very loudly), offering good entertainment sometimes (I get a good laugh sometimes when they go off key :p), but it can be quite a torture when you need some peace while they try to hit those high notes... almost there... but not quite :p But I better stop commenting on it... I'm not such a great karaoke singer myself :p

I remember during secondary school when a few classmates and I sang karaoke at a friend's place. You would have thought that it's a bunch of aunties instead of a bunch of teenagers singing... cuz we were singing the late Teresa Teng's (邓丽君) songs! :p Her songs were the only ones all of us knew, with simple lyrics and melodies....

I still sing karaoke with friends now... sometimes at a friend's place...and we like to sing Chinese songs from the 80s and 90s hahahaha... dunno why but I'm quite familiar with songs from that era... I somehow know the melodies and the lyrics even though I do not know the song titles or the original singers.... :p But we also sing current songs like those by Jay Chou, LeeHom Wang, David Tao, Michael Wong, etc....

Don't think that I'm outdated though... I also listen to the latest hit songs on the radio :p ..... although not all of these songs are karaoke material... On the English front, I don't have any favourites currently. Besides, it's not as fun singing English songs in karaoke... the music videos are very weird! Instead of the original video clips featuring the original artists (probably due to the copyright thingy), they like to use 'yellowish' videos (post-black-and-white but not quite as colourful as the digital image we have now)... and the videos are often of a man and a woman (dressed in the 70s or 80s with old-fashioned hairdos) walking at the park or on the street... prefer to sing Chinese songs in karaoke...

Some of my latest favourites are songs by Hong Kong artists Justin Lo (側田) and Janice Vidal (卫兰)... maybe I'll get to sing them when I go visit my friends in KL... my friends here mostly listen to Mandarin songs.. but my friends in KL like Cantonese songs too... and we like to sing outside..... not on the street :p... but decent places like Red Box and Neway (they don't offer any PRO to accompany you to sing though :p)...

The only problem of me singing Chinese songs is that I sometimes cannot read the words... so I just hum through it or make up some words myself :p .... or sometimes, I ask my friends for the pronunciation of the words... Hmmm.... they should really consider including pinyin in karaoke music videos... just like how they provide subtitles for movies....

Talking about subtitles, I like to read them even if I can understand the language spoken in the show... the subtitles sometimes give extra 'entertainment' :p I remember reading an article in The Star last time about the joy of reading subtitles... it gave an example where in a horror movie, for the words 'serial killer', instead of pembunuh bersiri, guess what the translation was? Well.... pembunuh bijirin :p

It was about "living"

My kettle broke down today. So I went to Jusco and bought a new one. I was about to leave with my new kettle, but decided to stop by MPH, just for a glimpse at the books.

I knew what it was the moment I saw the title and the author's name.

I received an email from a friend last week with the link below:

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

I cried at the end of the video.

The title of the book was "The Last Lecture", by Randy Pausch. I stood there browsing through the pages, and the content of the video came back to me. I could not help it but my eyes were watery. Luckily my fringe was quite long so I could hide my eyes behind my fringe.

...."time is all you have... and you may find one day that you have less than you think"....

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand"
- Randy Pausch


Hope the video inspires you as much as it does me.

P.S. I have bought the book. Something worth re-reading.

Rojak I'm not!

I'd like to talk about another type of food today. Also a favourite of mine (but only from that particular stall). It's called Hakka lei cha (客家擂茶). Some of you might have heard of it, some might not. Some might like it, some might not. And I did not like it the first time I tried it.

That happened one day during my secondary year. A Hakka classmate mentioned it, saying how nice it was. So I went home and asked my mother to buy me a packet. She tried to discourage me (because she did not like it herself :p and knowing how picky I was with food, she did not think I'd like it). No offence to Hakka people or lei cha lovers, but her description of it likened it to pig feed. A mixture of 'leftover' veggies that farmers used to feed their pigs. But I insisted on trying. And her prediction was right. I did not like it. Could not even finish it (and my mom had to finish it for me :p)

I did not like it the second time either. That happened a few years back. A coursemate wanted to thank me for helping her with her homework. She gave me a surprise visit, bringing with her, her favourite food lei cha as a treat for me. Well, I could not possibly reject her offer or tell her I did not like it. It would not be good since it's a sincere treat from her to thank me. Well, at least I managed to finish it that time (though it took me very long to swallow each spoonful :p).

It was only at the third time that I began to like it (someone told me it was the kind of food that you'd only like after trying a few times but not sure if that's the case here though). That happened last year. A friend told me I might change my mind if I tried the lei cha at that particular stall. And he was right. I loved it. Have been loving it since.

In case you're wondering why I'm promoting Hakka food, here's one thing I would like to emphasize:

Ngai ng hey Hakka yin. Wa si Hokkien lang. Zoi ka zong gong Guangdong wa. English-educated. Boleh berbahasa Melayu. 现在生活在一个讲华文(普通话)的社区o

(Translation: I'm not a Hakka. I'm a Hokkien. Speak in Cantonese at home. English-educated. Able to speak in the Malay language. Currently staying in a Mandarin-speaking community)

So what does that make me? Rojak (a type of snack, which is a mixture of fruits, vegetables and crackers in sweet sauce and groundnuts powder)? I don't think so. Instead, I think that makes me a lei cha..... well, you know, a mixture of 'leftover' (of what I was and what I have experienced)..... but it tastes good! :p

Another season gone.....

And the winner is....... drum roll, please..... David! David Cook! The rock star! I'm sure this topic is the talk of the town these few days. I'm excited too. Actually, if you ask me, I didn't really like the performances during the Top 2 night (not the result show). They sang well (I think), but I did not like any of the songs... Nothing that made me go "Wow! He's so good!", if you know what I mean.

But if we look back to their past performances, then my vote would have gone to David Cook (ok I did not get to vote, but I would have voted if I were in the US :p). I loved his performance during the Mariah Carey week when he belted out 'Always Be My Baby' Edwin-McCain-style (think 'I'll Be' and 'How Am I Supposed To Live Without You' :p). If you have heard of that song (it was a hit song!), you would know that Mariah's version is more of the catchy R&B style. But the creative and talented David managed to turn it into a slow and sad love song. And as Paula said, his version should become a movie soundtrack (and I agreed with her for once :p)! I especially liked the part when he first went into the chorus, accompanied by a group of violinists. Go watch it on YouTube (live version, not the studio version) and you'd know what I mean (and if you have never heard of that song before, listen to the Mariah's version first).

Not that I think the other finalist, David Archuleta, was not good. He has a very good vocal. Just a different style. Well, at least he got to drive home in a brand new Ford Escape Cruiser (both finalists were rewarded with one each). The grand finale also brought back the un-talented, a Mr Lapuz, who sang a song he wrote himself called 'Friends and brothers forever'. And they even got a school band marching into the hall to accompany him! Hahaha...

Another season. Another winner. And some nice memories. In a few days' time, people will forget the whole thing and move on. And in less than 6 months, there'll be another new season to look forward to.....

Another dumpling affair....

This time, instead of rice dumpling, we have meat dumpling (饺子). I learned how to make it in Edinburgh. My colleague and I were invited one Sunday to have lunch with a post-doc and his family who were Chinese nationals. And we had meat dumpling for lunch that afternoon. I kinda miss the taste and so suggested to friends to try it. So there we were, making meat dumpling (first picture). And to save time, we bought ready-made skin. Too bad we bought the wrong type. The skin was too thick and hard. Well, maybe we should knead our own next time.... we're supposed to dip the dumplings in vinegar... but we did not buy any.... so, it was a far cry from the taste I expected :p

Anyway the dumpling was just a side dish. The main dish was a speciality from Sibu called 'fen gan' (粉干) (second picture), prepared by my friends, a married couple from Sibu. Talking about Sibu, the town has quite a lot of nice food. I was there last year to attend the couple's wedding dinner. And I took the opportunity to go sight-seeing and food-hunting. The third picture shown above is another of Sibu's specialities. It's called 'ting bian hu' (not sure about the Chinese words... if i'm not mistaken, the name is in the Fuzhou dialect, the main medium of communication in Sibu). A friend described it as a bowl of 'floating flour' (hey, hope you don't mind that I am borrowing your description :p). And I had the opportunity to see how the 'floating pieces of flour' were prepared as the kitchen was in open view to the public. A special 'pot' was used. Anyway, other famous food in Sibu include 'kampua' (something that resembles dry wantan mee without the wantan :p) and 'kongpia' (small burgers stuffed with pork and eaten with gravy).

Someone has commented that this blog was turning into a food review blog. But I can assure you that it's not. It's still about ME. But you gotta agree that food is very much part of our lives, especially if we are living it the Malaysian-style! :p

Blistered toes

Had my third dancing class last night. And guess what the instructor brought with him.... shoes! Nah, not to use them to knock on our heads if we danced the wrong steps :p But he brought dancing shoes.

One look at them and I was horrified. Not because the colour or the design was ugly.... but because they were high-heels! Now, you might think that someone my height (I am only about 150 cm) would have lots of experience wearing high-heels. But, no, I don't like to wear high-heel shoes. Prefer slippers and sneakers. But I do own a few pairs of high-heels. I'm sure guys are asking, "Don't like them but still own a few pairs?!" :p

Well, we have to have a few pairs of different designs and colours for different occassion (formal or informal), to match our clothes (pants or skirt) and match the colours too. So you see, sometimes we don't have much choice :p Anyway, my few pairs are quite old and considered not much compared to some of my friends' collections. Some have shoe-racks filled with shoes while some have that space under their beds filled with boxes of new shoes!

Everytime I wear high-heels, I have to watch my steps and move carefully, especially when walking up the stairs. I once witnessed my friend's heel stucked in between two wooden planks and she had to pull it out real hard. So the idea of dancing in them was scary.

But the instructor said that sooner or later, we'd still have to wear them. He also said it'd be easier to dance wearing dancing shoes! So I decided to get a pair. Better get used to it earlier.

The dancing shoes are specially-made for the purpose. The soles are not rigid but can be bent easily. I put them on right away. Luckily, I managed to dance through the class without any mishap :p Had different partners for the night as there were not enough male dancers. So, everybody took turn dancing with different partners.

Went home with blistered toes that night. Especially at the places where the straps tugged at my toes when I was doing all those turning and twisting (while making sure I did not fall!).

Ever heard that when you have a wound, you tend to scrape on it accidentally all the time? Well, that's what happened to me. And one of the blisters has burst! Ouch!

But I would not give up just yet. If other girls can do it, then why not me, right? :p I'll just have to get ready ten pieces of plasters for the next lesson hahahaha...... :p

Stay alive!

It's Wesak Day today. Got a surprise SMS from a long-time friend. A hometown friend. But we seldom keep in contact. Only meet once a year during Chinese New Year. Anyway, she said that she just wanted to check on friends and see how everybody's doing, due to all the tragedies happening around us.

Yes, a lot have happened within these past 10 years, be it natural or man-made. Global warming, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, suicidal bombings, wars.....

And recently, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and a massive earthquake in Sichuan, China....

I was listening to the radio earlier and the song 明天会更好 (which means 'tomorrow will be a better day') was played in dedication to all the victims, their families, people on the relief squads and humanitarian service... it also reminded me of the song 'Heal the world' by Michael Jackson. These songs have a message to deliver. Of hopes.... dreams..... and how the world should come together as one. I sometimes get goose bumps when I listen to the chorus, especially when the choir sing together gospel-style.... really meaningful and touching... showing strength and unity... perhaps political leaders of the world should really pause to listen and stop fighting...

We should really be grateful that we are still alive, with all limbs intact.... our daily problems are just so little compared to those fighting for their lives out there. As my friend said, stay alive and stay happy!

Are you hungry?

It's that time of the year again.The fifth month in the lunar calendar, when you see lots of rice dumpling (you can actually see them all year round :p) sold in the market or the pasar malam. And once again, a few friends and I gathered together to make our own rice dumplings (zhong). Last year was the first time I ever made my own rice dumplings.

I grew up watching my grandmother make dumplings. She knows how to make a lot of traditional Chinese delicacies (rice dumpling, mooncake, 'nian gao', etc.). I remember helping her to separate the normal rice (transparent) from the glutinous rice (white-coloured). Anyway, she is now too old to do anything. She doesn't really recognise us anymore everytime I visit her when I go back to my hometown.

There are two types of rice dumplings (at least they're the types my grandmother used to make that I've tasted :p). One is the salty rice dumpling (ham yuk zhong), brown in colour with meat, mushroom, beans and salted egg yolk stuffed inside. The second one is the sweet rice dumpling (gan sui zhong), green in color with red beans cooked in sugar inside. I like both. They offer different tastes. For the salty rice dumpling, most people dip it in soy sauce, but I like to dip it in sugar :p You might think that's strange, but I like the combined taste of sweet and salty. I dare you to try it! :p (hmmm... maybe I should consider sambal belacan too :p)... As for the sweet one, I like to dip it in kaya (my mother makes nice kaya! :p).... Hmmm.... maybe I should really find some time to learn all those recipes from my mother and grandmother.... as an apprentice... I'm sure the talent runs in the family (ahem! :p). Well, who knows, if I suddenly become jobless or after I retire, I might find them useful :p Besides, it would be such a waste for the recipes to become extinct!

Anyway, as I was saying earlier, a few friends and I gathered together last night to make salty rice dumplings. I was not the main chef, of course. I only learned it last year :p A friend prepared most of the ingredients. He was the main chef and our supervisor. Yup, a 'he'. While the rest of us ladies only help stuff and wrap them :p

I have uploaded some pictures taken last night (the ingredients and the finished product). Fancy a bite? :p .... Sorry, that's mine! But here's a napkin.. to wipe that drop of saliva at the corner of your mouth :p

Who is it gonna be?

It’s gonna be a battle of the Davids. I’m talking about American Idol Season 7! It’s the Grand Finale next week! And a head-on collision between David Archuleta and David Cook. It’s really hard to decide who is better. One’s a rocker, the other a crooner. I like the Top 2 Finalist this season. Both of them are so talented, and yet humble. I like humble people. There’s no need to shout and brag about your talent. Stay humble and your talent will still shine through.

I do admit that I like one more than the other. I like David C. Because he rocks and plays the guitar! :p And he reminds me of Chris Daughtry of Season 5, my favourite contestant of all. Not just their music, they even look alike! I can still remember Daughtry’s rendition of Bryan Adam’s “Have you ever really loved a woman”. Ohhhh…. That performance was so real…. and touching….(no wonder he is selling more album than the winner of that season, Taylor Hicks). I’ve always liked that song, the more so after that performance. Guess that’s what Simon Cowell means by a ‘defining moment’ :p

Talking about the judges, I like Simon :p You may disagree, but his comments are the ones I look forward to the most. Oh come on, you gotta admit that he’s right most of the time. And he’s sincere too, especially when he told those who obviously could not sing (but their family and friends were too nice to tell them that) to forget about singing and do something else. And he has a good sense of humor too! I still remember his reply two weeks ago during the elimination episode when someone called in to ask why he had not been knighted by the Queen yet. He’s a British, you see. And his reply? “This is a question I ask myself everyday. So, Your Majesty, if you are watching, I am available.” Hahaha... he was so funny.

But the show is not about the judges, of course. Looking forward to the finale next week. But in the end, it doesn’t matter who wins. Both of them will get record deals. And winning doesn’t guarantee success. As one eliminated contestant (cannot remember who) put it, it’s not the end, just the beginning….

Then, now, soon....

Went to the weekly pasar malam today. Sometimes I go with friends. Sometimes I go alone. Went alone today. I like to go out alone sometimes. I call it my own personal space. Just doing things on my own, however and whenever I like it. Of course it's nice to have company sometimes too.

My main purpose of going to the pasar malam is usually to buy food. Almost always end up buying the same kind of food from the same stalls :p If I am in a hurry, I'd just walk straight to the stall, get what I want and leave. On the other hand, if I am in no hurry, I'd stroll aimlessly, stopping by some interesting stalls to look at the things on display or just observing and anticipating any 'strange' or 'weird' incidents :p It's amazing how small little things can sometimes be thought-provoking and inspire us....

Was passing by a stall selling toys when I saw a little boy standing with his mother by his side, looking at a toy-train chugging on its railway.... I wondered what the boy was thinking.... I could not recall anymore what kind of excitement I felt for toys or what attracted me to them when I was a kid. Anyway, I'm not one who's crazy about soft toys now... you won't see any in my room... the few that I own are gifts from friends, which I keep in bags and boxes in a corner of the room... because I could not find any use for them .... except to collect dust maybe? :p I prefer practicality.... having said that, I would not mind a dust-collector (or any thing in this sense) in my room if it is from loved ones to remind me of them everytime I look at it :p after all, it's the senders and the sincerity that count....

I could not recollect much about my childhood. But I remember that it's divided into two... girlish on sundays and tomboyish on weekdays :p Every sunday, my cousin sisters, who stayed at a nearby town, would come over to visit me and so we played Barbie dolls and masak-masak :p On weekdays however, I played with my brother and another cousin brother.. we played with figurines of Ninja turtles, Transformers, etc.... occassionally, we hung out with our neighbours, playing hide-and-seek, police-and-thief or just wandering our housing area, catching insects (not me doing the catching of course! I don't like creepy crawlies... ok, I'm afraid of them :p)

That reminds me of something my parents told me... during my time, our game of hide-and-seek only covered the row of houses where we were staying.... but back when it was my parents' time, the area where someone could hide covered the whole town! And sometimes there would be some mischievous players who actually went home to bath and take a nice nap while the seeker went around the whole town looking for them! Well, that was then, this is now.... don't think that is possible anymore, especially in Malaysia... it's not safe anymore to roam that street outside your house or venture into that (poorly maintained) playground opposite your house....

And I can just imagine it.... 10 or 20 years from now.... when we tell kids of the next generation about our 'adventurous' childhood games while they 'enjoy' their virtual hide-and-seek.....

Twist, twist, twist and turn.....

Had my second dancing lesson last night. With more steps added to the ones we learned in the first lesson. More twisting and turning around ... and the songs played had a faster beat too! Most of the time, we followed the instructor's rhythm... but occasionally we 'mis-calculated' and couples bumped into couples :p luckily nobody fell, else it might cause a Domino's effect! (Now that would be disastrous :p)

My partner was a lady but she played the role of the male dancer so she had to lead me in the dance. We had different steps, with the female doing most of the twisting and turning... but she always forgot to wait for me during the twisting part and kept on with her steps. I had to rush to keep up and sometimes almost lost balance :p ..... and we ended up dancing faster than the others :p .... luckily, she's a friendly and cheerful lady, so we just laughed through the chaos :p Unfortunately, she would not be able to attend the class next week, so I'll have to find a temporary partner for the next class... Anyway, she kept reminding me not to be shy to grab a partner next week... as long as not someone's boyfriend :p

All in all, it was another fun-filled lesson. And I loved every minute of it!
More (mis)-steps to come next week. Stay tuned!

My yummy little obsession

Savoured a plate of tom yam fried rice for dinner yesterday. Uuuuuu... my favourite. I like tom yam fried rice, especially from this particular food stall. I've tried all the tom yam fried rice from different restaurants and hawker stalls around this area, but none as good as this one. That's why I order it everytime I go to this stall. Could not help it :p... oh, I do tell myself to try other choices on the menu sometimes, but I always end up with tom yam fried rice hahaha.... guess I really like spicy and sour food... that's why I love curry noodles, asam laksa and tom yam (be it tom yam soup, fried rice, noodles, mee hoon....)... they are all my favourite! But I dare not claim that I can stand very pungent food, not with people like my father around, who munches 'cili padi' like we munch carrots! :p ... ok, maybe I exaggerated a little :p

But I do like 'sambal', especially 'sambal belacan'. You won't believe this, but there was a time while I was still in secondary school when I was hooked on it. Once upon a time :p, my mom bought a bottle of home-made 'sambal belacan' from the black market... err... I mean wet market.... I liked it so much that in order to have an excuse to taste it, I practically dipped every dish put on the table in 'sambal belacan' during every meal! Yes, even fish, meat and veggies like cabbage, cauliflower and brocolli.... not to mention Maggie mee and 'mee suah'. I know that's a weird addiction... but the taste was so tempting! But of course I'm no longer addicted to it... don't remember how I overcame it .... but I always say, a nice bowl of noodles must be accompanied by either a tasty soup base or nice chillie sauce or both.... probably due to where I come from...we have nice home-made chillie sauce and soup... no matter which food stall you order from :p
So, to all the creative 'chefs' from my hometown..... good job! Proud of you guys! Err.... can I have another spoonful of 'sambal belacan'? :p

Oh my cheese, where are you?

Life is about balancing sometimes. Trying to find a balance between what you want, what other people want and what the world (rules, laws of nature, norms....) allows you to have. It's difficult sometimes to draw the line between determination or perseverance and pure stubbornness (like a mule). Nevertheless, we have to find it. Else, we'd be trapped there.

I received a forwarded mail from a friend yesterday. It was written in Chinese (luckily, I can understand it, thanks to my parents for sending me to extra Chinese lessons and tuition classes hehe... you see, I was not Chinese-educated). The main point of the mail is that there are times in life when we feel like not having a choice. That's when we should try to look at things from a different angle. We might see something new and different. "Not given a choice" does not necessarily mean "dead end". It is just a warning and sign that it's time for a "U-Turn" or a "venture into a new path". It's time for a change! Who moved my cheese? :p

My first step

My first step. I still remember my first baby step.... ok I don't remember :p ... too young to remember.... but based on my mom's description, I think I can imagine how it was... I took my first baby step quite late... later than the average toddler... not that I was a slow learner.... you see, I was a timid little thing back then, so afraid to take my first step on my own and always holding and gripping my parents' hands... they became worried after some time, and one eventful day, they forcefully let go of my hand... and guess what, I started running! It turned out that I already knew how to walk, but I was too timid to take the first step... and when I was forced to do so, I finally discovered that it's not that difficult after all, and so I took off.... started running around the house after that :p Lesson of the day? The first step is always the hardest, and once you get through that, things become easier...
Oh ya, I forgot to mention.. I was a chubby baby... heavier than the average baby when I was born :p ... with round eyes and thick, black curly hair hehehe... cute eh? :p well, you can still see traces of that now (Ahem! :p)

Hmmm... why did I suddenly talk about my first baby step? Oh ya, I initially wanted to talk about my first 'dance' step... attended my first dancing lesson the other day hehe... now that I think of it, that was not my first dancing experience.... my first dance dated back to when I was in kindergarten :p I remember performing a few times during kindergarten and primary school (even won some trophies! =>).... but that reminds me of an embarrassing moment... I was about 6 years old at that time, performing a birdie dance on stage... yup, birdie... we had to dance around the stage flapping our hands like birds... wearing a blouse and a skirt... but I was skinny at that time (despite me being a chubby baby :p) and the skirt kept falling! It did not really fall off, but in between flapping, I kept pulling up my skirt! And the whole audience saw it!

Anyway, fast forward a few years (ok, more than that :p), I attended my first dancing lesson... no leotard (thank goodness, if not.... :p).... learned cha-cha... we started by learning numbered steps little by little before practising with music... quite a lot of aunties and uncles hahaha... only a few young couples... I did not have any partner, so I partnered up with an auntie who also did not have a partner :p .... it was so much fun! I got confused with the steps sometimes and ended up with tangled legs hahaha... but got them right after some practice.... oh I cannot wait for the next lesson! Hehehe....

Mr Feminine vs Mr Macho

Just enrolled myself into a dancing class..... to learn social dance (Latin, cha-cha... you get the picture). The class will start next week, right after my yoga class. Yup, I've been learning yoga for more than two years now... my final aim? Well, ever watched the movie Running on Karma (大只佬) starring Andy Lau? Remember the scene in that movie where someone had managed to fit himself into a small box? Well, that's my aim... to be able to, one day, bend and fold myself any way I want :p Just kidding... for health purpose and a good sweat of course... I can really feel its effects... hard to explain and too personal to tell :p... but yoga really helps... I know of some guys who laugh at this... guys who think that only sports and exercise involving lots of fast action are considered healthy sports... Well, I can tell you, even some of the best football players or MVP basketball players might not be able to perform some of the yoga postures :p ... not trying to be cynical :p ... just think that yoga deserves an equal spot (maybe someday they will include that in the Olympics :p hahahaa.....)... that's only fair :p Well, you cannot blame me... After all, we of the Libra sign have been known to be a 'fair and balanced' bunch :p Don't believe me? Just look at the symbol of our sign :p

Ok, back to the dancing part... I've always wanted to learn dancing, especially after watching the TVB drama Steps (舞動全城) ... coincidentally my yoga instructor announced the other day that the centre would be starting a new dancing class... she told us they have hired an instructor who has won some international accolades.... sounds fun... but she also said that it would be a male instructor.... and the first image that came to my mind? Men in leotards and tights :p ... and that somehow led to another image... Mr Feminine :p... no offence to male dancers, I'm sure there are macho and very 'man' male dancers out there :p... at least the lead actor in Steps looked great in a handsome suit while leading the lady in a dancing competition :p ... well, we'll see next week... not trying to discourage guys from taking up dancing lessons though :p ... go and take lessons if you like dancing... just make sure you do it in a 'man'ly way :p