Truly Asian

I got asked this yesterday by an Indian contractor who’s working on my team:

‘What are you?’

I replied, ‘What do you mean what am I?’

‘Yes, what are you? Indian? Chinese? Malaysian native?’

Interesting choice of words I thought. ‘I’m Malay’, I replied. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Oh, nothing. You look Indian. If you go to India, people will think you’re Indian. I think you have 40 – 50% Indian in you’

I thought about it for a short while and then it dawned upon me that I am quintessentially Asian.

I’ve been told I look Thai when I worked in Thailand a few years back. I’ve had Filipinos speaking to me in Tagalog in Malaysia and the Philippines because they mistook me for one of them. Similar incidents have happened with Japanese and Chinese tourists. And with my near-perfect Bahasa Gaol (the lingo used by Jakarta urbanites), I could only blend in in Jakarta.

Malaysian, Truly Asian.

Tag, You're IT

7 things to do before I die
Dive with whales and dolphins (in the ocean, not in a bloody aquarium)
Dive in a volcano lake – don’t have a specific one in mind yet, just the idea is enough to excite me
Be super fit (the image of David Belle leaping from rooftop to rooftop and sliding through window openings in Banlieu 13 come to mind) and finish respectably in a marathon
Have a Bali-esque house (my bedroom shall adjoin a huge walk-in closet and my bed shall face the rising sun)
Learn to make all the desserts I love (or find someone who can make them for me)
Learn the piano and sing a decent tune for that special someone
Find that special someone

7 things I just cannot do
See my mom upset
Make small talk
Tolerate bigots
Buy something that doesn’t really fit me or I don’t really want just because it’s on sale
Walk slowly, especially in a mall
Resist a good dessert
Start my day without coffee

7 celebrity crushes (this list for me changes quite a bit)
Sting (I’ve had a crush on him since I was in primary school I think)
Kevin Bacon (dunno why, I’m a sucker for bad boys and he’s always a baddie in his movies)
Beyonce (that booty is dangerous)
Angeline Jolie (I don’t think an explanation is needed)
David Belle (watch Banlieu 13 and you’ll understand why)
Calleigh from CSI Miami (smart, gun-savvy and cute)
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn

7 oft repeated words/phrases
I can’t be arsed
Shite
Di manakah?
Hmmm…
Do you think…?
But why???
Sesama kita pun… (only with Fazu)

7 things that attract me to someone
A hot bod
A hot behind
Intelligence and sharp wits
Wicked sense of humour
Self-confidence (not to be confused with arrogance)
Ability to scorch the dance floors (with dancing skills, not arson)
Wicked sense of style (not to be confused with fashion/branding victim)

Spamticipation

I was about to make a permanent record of my musings today by blogging (which I seldom do judging by the frequency of my postings).
As usual, I would normally start by re-reading all my postings (all 5 of them, prolific writer aren’t I?).
I was about to re-read my most recent posting when I noticed 2 comments on them.
Interesting since not many know of my blog site (and those who know of its existence know I seldom write anyway).
With anticipation, I clicked on the comments hyperlink to see what words of wisdom have been left behind by the 2 cyber-prowlers (yes, I had hopes they would be 2 different people).

The first wasn’t really a comment on the posting, more like a friend who’s been out of touch wanting to re-connect.
The second was a spam mail.
Yes, that’s what happens to inactive blog sites I guess.
They get bombed with spam mail.
My wake up call I guess :-P