wake

just got back from my father's 2nd sister's husband wake. several things kept popping up in my head over the nite..

1. i really don't like going for events on my dad's side of the family. dad has like 10 siblings (he's the 2nd youngest), so you can imagine, it's a huge family. i don't see these people very often, and while i can recognise my own aunts and uncles, i have trouble remember who the heck my cousins are and worse of all, who their children are.. so i meet someone older than me, if it's not my aunt or uncle, it's most likely that he/she is my cousin. but several times today, i called a few people uncles and aunties only to realise that they are my older cousins and so i shd be addressing them kor kors and jie jies instead. drats.. and when i meet someone slightly older than me, i have to take a gamble: is he my junior or my cousin? so i called this one guy kor kor only to find that he's my nephew.. gr... i propose next time we have a family function like this, everyone wears a t-shirt with their family tree on it, preferably with pictures. that would make my life a whole lot easier man..

2. and another thing i hate about attending functions on my dad's side is that everybody seems to know who *i* am, but i have no freaking idea who they are. honestly, my dad will call out to someone and he/she comes over and my dad will ask "you know who this guy is?" and the person will always say "of course! he's your son lah. i remember when he was this (points to waist level) high. now so big liao!"

3. apparently, i am the splitting image of my dad - bald heads not withstanding. almost everybody agrees that i look like a younger version of him. funny thing is: we both don't think so leh. oh well, i guess in this case, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. heh

4. i am constantly amazed by how everybody seems to know how everybody is doing. everytime my dad gets together with his siblings, they will inevitably start toking about this auntie and that uncle, who has died and for long, who has how many children and wat names, who's working where, who is down with cancer and watnots.. geez!

5. and whoah! phyllis quek is really pretty in real life! turns out my cousin's wife is some big shot in marie france bodyline and so phyllis being the spokesperson for the chain, attended the wake too. i dun really think much of her when i see her on tv, but man, she looks absolutely gorgeous in person! *drools*


and on a totally unrelated note, some hot dancer girl tried to pick me up last nite!! wat? despite my devastating good looks, it doesn't happen very often leh.. so just let me revel in the moment for a while... haha.. just too bad it was too bloody noisy, so we couldn't have a decent conversation.. oh well.. next time, there'll be a next time.. heh

KL!

was up in KL over the weekend with Jacq, Jasons Koh and Tay, Pat, Shirley and Pat's sis Steph with Julian showing us around town.

man, we sure started off the trip on the wrong foot. the plan was to catch a coach from Larkin Terminal in JB all the way to the capital. the girls went up earlier on Friday morning while the guys will take a night coach and meet up with them at KL.

so the Jasons and me reached the bus terminal nice and early to catch the bus, only to find that all the smaller bus companies have some kind of flexible arrangement to maximise the seats on their buses, so there was a bit of confusion as to which bus we were to take exactly. but eventually, we managed to get on a coach and we were on our way to KL.

i dunno if it's just me, but i would expect the bus to stop at another bus terminal in KL. turns out, it doesn't! the coach simply stopped by the side of the road, at 3am+ in the middle of the nite where we can't see the street signs properly and people started getting off. now of cos, i was expecting the bus to end its journey at a bus terminal, so i thought maybe the driver was just letting some people off early first cos they dun intend to go all the way to the terminal.

then the driver called out feebly "Kuala Lumpur!" and started driving off after a minute or so. so i thought, ok.. we should be reaching the terminal soon. and he just kept driving and driving and driving.. wait, is that the toll booth for the expressway? uh oh.. how come we seem to be leaving the city? aw.. crap! dun tell me we missed our stop?!

so an hour later when the bus finally rolled to a stop at some restpoint, we asked the driver where exactly will we be stopping next. his answer?

Ipoh.

Ipoh??

freaking Ipoh??!!

so, no choice lah.. got on the bus again for another half and a half ride to ipoh and reached there about 6+ in the morning. found the bus terminal there and bought tickets for a 7am bus back to KL. man, this is one bus ride that we won't be forgetting for a looong time to come! haha

so we finally met up with the girls in KL at ard 10 - 5+ hours overdue.. ya, ever wanted to know how long it takes to go from KL to Ipoh and back? you got your answer right here.. haha

Saturday - basically a day of shopping at the mega malls of KL: One Utama, the Curve, Ikano Power Station and KL Convention Centre.. i guess after you've seen one mega mall, you've seen em all.. heh

night shot of the petronas tower from KLCC

the next day, went for mass in the morning at the nearby church of St Anthony which reminds me so much of Nativity back home in terms of the layout and how it looks.

after mass, went to the nearby Time Square. heard from a colleague of mine that it was super huge and it even had a roller coaster inside. woo, interesting.. gotta check that out man.. and lookie wat we found...


yup, a mini theme park within the mall! how cool! well, at least the concept is cool, the implementation however, was sadly disappointing. altho the roller coaster had 360 degree turns and all that stuff, it was wayyyy too short lah. it was over before it even began!! bummer. heard that the rides at Genting were much bigger. ah.. guess i got another place to visit on my list.. heh

but hey, at least julian looks like he's enjoying himself.. ;-)

after that, it was a quick lunch at Kenny Rogers and then it was time to leave. sad.. a day and a half was way too short for my liking, but oh well, it was sure better than nothing. all in all, it was fun and a great eye-opener, altho i wish i had bought more stuff! haha..

and oh ya, Ipoh wasn't too bad either!! hahaha