Frozen Peas + Smoke Alarm

   In my third year at Swansea, I lived with 4 other girls in a house about a 10-minute walk from my university. It was a beautiful house, with a nice kitchen and a great backyard. Lovely as it was, the grill was a bit dodgy. Every time we closed the grill door, and left it for about 10 minutes or so, then opened it again, the smoke and heat from the grill would set off the smoke alarm. 

   It was a normal thing to walk into the kitchen when the alarm was off to find one of the girls standing on a chair in the middle of the room, with a bag of frozen peas [or burgers, whatever was at the top of the freezer] pressed up to the alarm. 

   The first time it happened to me, I was jumping around trying to figure out what to do. The second time it happened, I grabbed my bag of frozen peas and dragged the chair over to the alarm. Unfortunately I wasn't quite tall enough to reach the alarm. I had to tiptoe to get the peas to reach it, and I was praying I wouldn't fall flat on my face.

   One of the girls figured out, after a few of these incidents, that it was best to leave the grill door open. Duh. Took a PhD student to figure out that one.

p/s I do miss living there with those girls! It was such a blast.

Such A Small Thing

Such a small thing. A smooth, flat pebble. Yet, with a flick of the wrist, that little pebble skips across the water, leaving ripples before sinking into the depths of the lake.

Such a small thing. Barely the size of a child's finger. A little nail. Yet, that little nail is strong enough to hold the foundations of a house together.

Such a small thing. It fits snugly in the palm of my hand. A harmless lighter. Yet, if the fire from the lighter were to be mixed with the wrong chemicals, the results could be disastrous, even deadly.

Such a small thing. A word. Spoken without thought. Yet, enough to cut through a heart and leave scars that may never heal.

Such a small thing. Who knew such a small thing could do such big things?

Swan Go Bye-Bye

     Next to Swansea University is a little park with a pond and a pub, aptly name 'Pub On The Pond', that does fantastic food.     On the pond, they rent out those water bicycle thingies, shaped like swans [of course!] and dragons [for Wales]. Those things are so cool, but my plans to ride them with my friends never quite came to fruition. [There were passionate debates about who got to ride the dragon, as there was usually only one dragon.]

     I heard this story from a friend.

     Oh, before I continue, opposite our university is the beach. I know, how lucky are we?

     One night, a couple of male students got drunk. [As students do.] While on this joyful buzz, they decided that it was a great idea to kidnap a swan from the pond, and carry it across the road, to the beach opposite and ride it in the sea.

     I can't quite remember how many of them they were, it was either 2, 3 or 4 of them and they managed to do just that. The kidnapping part, I mean, and carrying it across the road. I don't recall if they actually rode the poor thing in the sea.

     I do remember that the poor swan was broken and they found the students responsible for this travesty. Those students were fined a few hundred pounds. 

     I wonder if they thought it was worth it? Hmm...

Just a note...

I'm going away with the family for a short Eid break! Yey, yey! I so need to get out of KL. City life doesn't suit me any longer. More and more I find myself yearning for the peaceful pace and fresh air of Swansea.

Anyway, I'll be leaving on 30/9 and will be back on 6/10. There will still be a couple of posts during this time, though, as I've scheduled a few posts already. [I promised myself I would write something everyday so... I'm going to keep that promise to myself, by writing a week's worth of posts beforehand.]

We'll be going to Johor for the first day of Eid, so, yeay! Food! Then it's off to Cameron Highlands where I plan on deluding myself that I'm back in Swansea and enjoy the fresh air. and the scones. Woohoo!

To all my friends, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Love you all loads and miss you all loads.

To Eja, Farina, Fadzilah, Nurul, Maryam... keep on rocking the raya festivities over there.

War Of The Notebooks

Me:   Hey, I got the coolest notebook today.

Him: Really? Who got it for you?

Me:   (confused) I got it for me. It's really cute. It's pink.

Him: You got a notebook? (even more confused) Where from?

Me:   The bookshop. Where else?

Him: Oh, you mean, a notebook. Not a Notebook.

Me:   (thoroughly confused by now) Yes, that's what I said. (the penny drops) Oh. You thought...

Him: Yeah.

Me:   No. How on earth would I be able to afford a new laptop? 

The battle between myself [a wannabe writer] and him [a computer geek].

I shall emerge as the victor!

2 Girls In The Kitchen; Or, Fettucine Carbonara Anyone?

Two 19 year old girls, living together on their own for the very first time. Ah, the freedom! They wanted to fully embrace this experience. Feeling like the adults they were not, they decided to venture forth to the bookstore for a recipe book. As both girls adored pasta, they got an Italian cookbook.

Now, these girls were not completely inexperienced. One was a great baker and the other was an expert chef of scrambled eggs. Both wanted to try to make the fettucine carbonara. So, they boiled the pasta then started on the sauce. They started by sauteing the onions, etc.

Being rather enthusiastic about this wonderful 'adventure', they failed to read through the recipe until the end. When they reached the end of the instructions, they were rather horrified that they were supposed to drain the pasta, mix it with the sauce, then take it off the heat and crack a raw egg into it.

Both were disgusted at the idea of the raw egg. Then, one of them said that she had a brilliant idea. The other one, trusted her completely as the two girls have been best friends since they were 12.

So, the brilliant one took the pasta mixture and slid it back into the pot. Then, she turned on the hob and waited a minute for it to heat up. When it was deemed hot enough, she cracked the raw egg into it as instructed.

The other girl, though being a great maker of scrambled eggs did not foresee what happened next. What happens when you crack an egg onto fettucine in a pot on the hob, then stir it around to mix it thoroughly?

Here's what happens. It turns to scrambled eggs.

Needless to say, heated exclamations ensued.

The conclusion? This masterpiece was chucked into the bin before both girls decided to go out for dinner.

P/S The one who came up with the 'brilliant' idea was not me.

Letting go...

   You were there when I stepped down from that coach, to see my new home for the first time ever. You stayed with me through the bad times, and the good times. Sometimes, when things got so bad, you were the only comforting touch around.

   You understood my excitement as I skipped down the cobbled lanes of Florence. You laughed with me as I looked out gleefully from the water taxi at the waters of Venice. You were awed into silence when we reached the ancient theatre of Dionysus and shared in a part of history.

   You ran along with me as I rushed to get an essay in on time. You helped me when I stumbled along on my first hiking trip ever. You sat with me as we sat by the beach and enjoyed a picnic. Who could forget that first touch of snow on bare fingers? 

   We were together for so long. We shared so much and went through highs and lows. But I had to close a chapter on my life as an end was approaching. I had to start anew. To do that, I had to leave you behind.

   Not only did I have to leave you behind, I had to discard you completely. How my heart ached at just the thought of doing so. How I wanted to cry when I actually had to do it. I couldn't bring you along with me, I hope you understand. The distance was just too much, I couldn't handle it.

   And so, I let you go. I still think of you. I still have the photos to remind me.

   And I shall always remember you in your glorious beauty, instead of the ragged mess I left behind. My beautiful first pair of trainers.

Multi-Tasking Wonder Woman

     In the past 5 minutes, I have [been]...

1. dragged myself out of bed
2. brushed my teeth
3. washed my face
4. checked my phone for messages
5. read the messages
6. replied the messages
7. thought about those earrings I saw in the magazine
8. answered a phone call
9. ignored a phone call
10. thought about buying those earrings
11. spoke to my sister
12. asked her to get me those earrings if she's going to the mall
13. argued with my sister about the earrings
14. logged in to my blog
15. checked out my friend's blogs
16. am now posting this blog [which is to be scheduled for tomorrow]
17. still thinking about those earrings
18. starting to get depressed at the thought of him flying off home tonight
19. turned on the TV
20. flipped through a few channels before deciding on Grey's Anatomy 
21. missing Swansea again
22. am still typing while listening to the tv
23. thinking about him
24. thinking about the earrings and how gorgeous they are
25. thinking about him and how gorgeous he is
26. thinking about scones and cream and jam
27. missing him
28. finishing this blog

The Ultimate 'Duh' Moment

A few weeks ago, I went to fetch my sister from school as it was raining heavily. I loved the rain because [1] it's not hot!!!! and [2] it totally reminded me of Swansea and since I'm still homesick for Swansea, that was a nice little reminder.

Anyhoo, so I went to fetch my sister. Was waiting in the car for about 10 minutes, alternating between watching the wipers flick back and forth and looking out for my sister. She finally drips into my car and I drive home.

Once we were in front of the gate, I completely blanked on how to turn my wipers off. Excuse me, what was that all about??? I knew how to change the speed of the wipers, but for the life of me, for just those few minutes, I just could not remember how to turn them off.

I spent what took-way-too-long trying to figure it out. I flicked and turned and twisted, turning on the back wipers in the process and spraying windshield fluid while my sister laughed her a$$ off.

Finally, finally, one of the flicking movements worked and they blessedly stopped.

And so concludes the ultimate 'Duh' moment. I think I deserve applause for that. And for the record, I'm still a 'P' driver, but I'm pretty good on the road. In case you thought I shouldn't be allowed to drive because I didn't know how to turn off my wipers.

Re-re-mix...

I'm going to take the 8th line of every song on Duffy's album, 'Rockferry' and  piece them into a new 'song'. 

Why? Simply because I'm bored. And because I can.

Plus, Duffy rocks.

I got a feeling, deep down inside [Serious]

Cos the feelings in me oh yes in me are burning strong [Stepping Stone]

With a picture of your face [I'm Scared]

To show me that you're mine [Delayed Devotion]

Don't you be out all night [Syrup and Honey]

Cos you got me good [Mercy]

Cos I'm not that kind [Rockferry]

All the things [Distant Dreamer]

It was just my false hope [Hanging On Too Long]

You hurt me bad, but I won't shed a tear [Warwick Avenue]

I thought that turned out pretty nice. Hmmm... just some gaps in between the lines. Anyway, love her!