A middle-aged American guy and his wife came in and ordered drip coffee.
The guy seemed friendly and nice enough, talking and joking around with the three girls.
Then a huge crowd went past the store. Men, women and children passed by carrying placards,shouting and chanting.
"Ohhh what have we got here. Better take out my camera!"
He began filming the protesters.
Some in the crowd were angry. Some were sad.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever. Who cares?" The old guy said to the girls.
The girls just kept their heads down. One was still wondering whether or not it's right to say drip coffee.
"Hey, my son's Jewish!" He chuckled.
The pins on his green cap, each from the states or countries he'd been to shone brightly under the sun.
**
Yes, I didn't say anything. I'm weak at confrontations or debates.
But Mr. American drip-coffee guy, here's what I would like to say to you-
I care. Those who died, they have names. That's someone's son right there. Pity that you've been around the world and yet you haven't really seen it.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0901/S00051.htm
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
The Best of 2008
Movie(s) of the Year:
No Country For Old Man
So so dark. I like.
Pineapple Express
Can't ever remember laughing so hard. Worth every penny. I still haven't seen Milk, Revolutionary Road, Changeling,The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The band's visit, etc
Song of the Year: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
The new version is better than the old one definately. The perfect summer song.
Book of the Year: White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Indian writes are geniuses.
Drama of the Year: Nodame Cantabile
Well the drama came out a couple of years back but I just recently watched it. Let's all enter Hentai Mori!
Best Trend: Leather jackets? Brogues? Can't decide.
Best (re)discovery: Jdorama
Now I'm addicted. I sleep at 5am just to khatam 10/11 episodes. Shame.....
Learnt a lot in 2008. Here's a list-
1-Learnt how to make ikan goreng
2-Learnt how to make nasi lemak
3-Learnt how to make kuey teow goreng...cekodok pisang(selalu hangus)...mung bean drink...
My cooking may not be great I've gotta admit, but at least I'm learning?
4-Learnt how to remain calm when customers ask incredibly stooo....
Farewell 2008, hello 2009!
Oya sumi...zzzz
No Country For Old Man
So so dark. I like.
Pineapple Express
Can't ever remember laughing so hard. Worth every penny. I still haven't seen Milk, Revolutionary Road, Changeling,The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The band's visit, etc
Song of the Year: I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
The new version is better than the old one definately. The perfect summer song.
Book of the Year: White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Indian writes are geniuses.
Drama of the Year: Nodame Cantabile
Well the drama came out a couple of years back but I just recently watched it. Let's all enter Hentai Mori!
Best Trend: Leather jackets? Brogues? Can't decide.
Best (re)discovery: Jdorama
Now I'm addicted. I sleep at 5am just to khatam 10/11 episodes. Shame.....
Learnt a lot in 2008. Here's a list-
1-Learnt how to make ikan goreng
2-Learnt how to make nasi lemak
3-Learnt how to make kuey teow goreng...cekodok pisang(selalu hangus)...mung bean drink...
My cooking may not be great I've gotta admit, but at least I'm learning?
4-Learnt how to remain calm when customers ask incredibly stooo....
Farewell 2008, hello 2009!
Oya sumi...zzzz
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Happiness is...
Watching Coldplay performing Yellow...LIVE.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'll finally see them right before my eyes.
Tears.Of.Joy.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'll finally see them right before my eyes.
Tears.Of.Joy.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Cut and Paste
Feel a wee bit guilty about abandoning my blog for the past 2 months but I really don't have anything innneresting to say so I've decided to just 'cut and paste'.
Kauthar had given me some Japanese drama series to watch over the next couple of days since I ain't gonna work. Did a marathon of One Litre of Tears last night (cried buckets) and now I'm hooked on the song 'Konayuki'. And possibly the main actor. Maybe.
Some inspirational stuff to keep in mind when you're down?
It's okay if you fall.
You can just get up again.
Why don't you look up at the sky, while you're down there.
The blue sky spreads across above you.
Can you see it smiling at you?
You are alive.
I want to be like the air. The good-hearted person whose kindness overflows and people realize how important she was to them, once she is gone.
I want to be that kind of person.
I wonder where happiness is.
I wonder what happiness is.
Why did the illness choose me?
The word fate isn't a good enough explanation!
I don't have the right to pick my options. I can never go onto the same path as my friends.If I make myself feel better by thinking that I'm going to walk the same paths as my friends, my own path will disappear...
I wanna go somewhere...I wanna hit something really hard, yell and scream like crazy, fall down laughing...
I really don’t want to say things such as “I want to go back as how things were before” . I recognize how I am right now, and I will continue to live on. Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing.
From Kitou Aya's diary
Kauthar had given me some Japanese drama series to watch over the next couple of days since I ain't gonna work. Did a marathon of One Litre of Tears last night (cried buckets) and now I'm hooked on the song 'Konayuki'. And possibly the main actor. Maybe.
Some inspirational stuff to keep in mind when you're down?
It's okay if you fall.
You can just get up again.
Why don't you look up at the sky, while you're down there.
The blue sky spreads across above you.
Can you see it smiling at you?
You are alive.
I want to be like the air. The good-hearted person whose kindness overflows and people realize how important she was to them, once she is gone.
I want to be that kind of person.
I wonder where happiness is.
I wonder what happiness is.
Why did the illness choose me?
The word fate isn't a good enough explanation!
I don't have the right to pick my options. I can never go onto the same path as my friends.If I make myself feel better by thinking that I'm going to walk the same paths as my friends, my own path will disappear...
I wanna go somewhere...I wanna hit something really hard, yell and scream like crazy, fall down laughing...
I really don’t want to say things such as “I want to go back as how things were before” . I recognize how I am right now, and I will continue to live on. Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing.
From Kitou Aya's diary
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Short Entry Part Uno
I plead with all my heart...DO NOT WATCH The day the earth stood still.
Unless you like cringing.
Unless you like cringing.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Raya in Auckland
This year saw a much more festive Aidilfitri celebration for me.
On the eve of Eid, I made some Honey Joys (a success!)while Kak Zaidah cooked up a storm. Lontong, nasi impit, rendang daging, kuah kacang, and sambal udang...Our apartment smelt like a proper malam raya.
Last year, my apartment had smelt of multi-purpose cleaner and bleach. I was living alone, had nothing else to do but to go on a cleaning frenzy.
Back to this year-Right before I went to bed, I realized I hadn't changed my sheets! The horror! This is a ritual of mine. My room HAS to be spick and span for Hari Raya. So even though I was mighty sleepy, I managed to replace the sheets and tidied up the whole room.
Early in the morning Kak Zaidah and I took the bus to Ponsonby Mosque. I managed to get myself a source for my news story. Sweet.
Unfortunately for me though, I had a tutorial at 3. No one else in class knew it was a special day for moi and millions around the world, except for my tutor. Good on him.
Neway, Kak Zaidah's open house was due to start around 6. So we waited for people to come over.
And waited.
And dozed off.
When our very first guests rang the intercom thingy, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Hahah.
By 8 our apartment was jam packed with people. Having heaps of people around, even though I had no idea who most of them were, certainly made me feel like I was at home. Good food and good company equals great fun. It really did feel like the first day of raya this year in Auckland :)
Reading mokciknab's blog reminded me very much of beraya kat kampung. So I've decided to go down memory's lane.
Every year from when I was 1 til about 17, we would make our way back to Bota Kiri for Eid. The drive there, depending on where we were living at the time, could be very very long indeed. Long and WINDING before PLUS highway was built. Bless you PLUS.
Then petang before raya, nenek would get her api ready. Yup she made her own lemang. Aunty Ayang and Mama would start preparing all the dishes. Usually Mama would work on her laksa Sarawak and rendang while Aunty Ayang would be making her special ketupat.
My siblings and I would be in front of the TV of course. The older I got though, the more I was in charge of cleaning the dining and living room. I was also in charge of filling up the glass jars with biscuits. And ah yes, changing the cushion covers. Then we'd wait patiently for my cousins to arrive from Ipoh.
At night, we would main bunga api and mercun. Man I miss bunga api.
Nenek would crank up her radio to hear takbir raya right about this time.
Sometimes late at night, she would put inai on our lil' fingers and we'd hold our hands over burning candles to make it dry faster. But that stopped as soon as I turned 13...I think. Inai is not something I miss to tell you the truth. I find it terribly ugly. On my fingers at least.
On Eid morning, we'd have breakfast/brunch together. Then the usual salam salam stuff, which I dread. Guests would start coming over with pesky lil' kids (only there for the money and fizzy drinks). Later on, we'd make our way to relatives' houses. Pak Din, Pak Lah..and ntah siapa siapa lagi. Most of them were really poor and I remember they'd always say stuff like, "mintak maaf le takde apa nak hidang". And yet they still managed to serve us awesome teas and biscuits.
I would say the thing I miss most is not hari raya itself but malam raya instead. I think the whole atmosphere-mom cooking all night long and frantically decorating the house, Aunty Ayang on the floor still weaving her ketupat,neighbours coming over to see what mom's cooking, crappy Malay movies playing on TV...I miss the whole chaotic air about it.
Being in an actual kampung for Aidilfitri is a unique experience.
I miss it teribly. But now, my kampung dah jadi kampung orang lain. Haha. So I shall not dwell on it any longer.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin all the way from Aotearoa.
On the eve of Eid, I made some Honey Joys (a success!)while Kak Zaidah cooked up a storm. Lontong, nasi impit, rendang daging, kuah kacang, and sambal udang...Our apartment smelt like a proper malam raya.
Last year, my apartment had smelt of multi-purpose cleaner and bleach. I was living alone, had nothing else to do but to go on a cleaning frenzy.
Back to this year-Right before I went to bed, I realized I hadn't changed my sheets! The horror! This is a ritual of mine. My room HAS to be spick and span for Hari Raya. So even though I was mighty sleepy, I managed to replace the sheets and tidied up the whole room.
Early in the morning Kak Zaidah and I took the bus to Ponsonby Mosque. I managed to get myself a source for my news story. Sweet.
Unfortunately for me though, I had a tutorial at 3. No one else in class knew it was a special day for moi and millions around the world, except for my tutor. Good on him.
Neway, Kak Zaidah's open house was due to start around 6. So we waited for people to come over.
And waited.
And dozed off.
When our very first guests rang the intercom thingy, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Hahah.
By 8 our apartment was jam packed with people. Having heaps of people around, even though I had no idea who most of them were, certainly made me feel like I was at home. Good food and good company equals great fun. It really did feel like the first day of raya this year in Auckland :)
Reading mokciknab's blog reminded me very much of beraya kat kampung. So I've decided to go down memory's lane.
Every year from when I was 1 til about 17, we would make our way back to Bota Kiri for Eid. The drive there, depending on where we were living at the time, could be very very long indeed. Long and WINDING before PLUS highway was built. Bless you PLUS.
Then petang before raya, nenek would get her api ready. Yup she made her own lemang. Aunty Ayang and Mama would start preparing all the dishes. Usually Mama would work on her laksa Sarawak and rendang while Aunty Ayang would be making her special ketupat.
My siblings and I would be in front of the TV of course. The older I got though, the more I was in charge of cleaning the dining and living room. I was also in charge of filling up the glass jars with biscuits. And ah yes, changing the cushion covers. Then we'd wait patiently for my cousins to arrive from Ipoh.
At night, we would main bunga api and mercun. Man I miss bunga api.
Nenek would crank up her radio to hear takbir raya right about this time.
Sometimes late at night, she would put inai on our lil' fingers and we'd hold our hands over burning candles to make it dry faster. But that stopped as soon as I turned 13...I think. Inai is not something I miss to tell you the truth. I find it terribly ugly. On my fingers at least.
On Eid morning, we'd have breakfast/brunch together. Then the usual salam salam stuff, which I dread. Guests would start coming over with pesky lil' kids (only there for the money and fizzy drinks). Later on, we'd make our way to relatives' houses. Pak Din, Pak Lah..and ntah siapa siapa lagi. Most of them were really poor and I remember they'd always say stuff like, "mintak maaf le takde apa nak hidang". And yet they still managed to serve us awesome teas and biscuits.
I would say the thing I miss most is not hari raya itself but malam raya instead. I think the whole atmosphere-mom cooking all night long and frantically decorating the house, Aunty Ayang on the floor still weaving her ketupat,neighbours coming over to see what mom's cooking, crappy Malay movies playing on TV...I miss the whole chaotic air about it.
Being in an actual kampung for Aidilfitri is a unique experience.
I miss it teribly. But now, my kampung dah jadi kampung orang lain. Haha. So I shall not dwell on it any longer.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin all the way from Aotearoa.
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