Marsha Maung:: Freelance graphic designer and writer

First, read this. It’s an excerpt from Sure Signs you’re the mother of boys by Sharon O’Donnell. I am quite picky about who I like as a writer and for me, Sharon O’Donnell has this way of writing that either touches you or tickles you. Everything that she writes about parenting and being a mother is so true that it makes you want to cry!

 

Excerpts from: Sure Signs You’re the Mother of Boys

by Sharon O’Donnell

• you find Power Ranger parts under your sofa. Sometimes your vacuum cleaner finds them first.

• your weekend schedule includes more total hours of little league sports than it does sleep

• they think PMS is the new Play Station video game system

• you have to chase down the playful family dog to retrieve your son’s jock strap

• the most romantic movie you’ve watched in the last five years is DieHard II

• you have to arrange two weeks ahead of time to take a bubble bath – and then must lock the door and scream “I’m in the tub – ask Dad!” every three minutes.

I not only find Power Ranger parts under the sofa, I find it in my underwear drawer, in the fridge in the wok and many other unimaginable places. And I have not been able to find the time to sit down to plan the next five minutes….a bath? Out of the question!! The only bath I get these days is in the condo pool. And I don’t think they allow red wine there….

I don’t know how they do it. I spend 99% of my time with them, watch them cuddle together on the couch watching Playhouse Disney and then the next moment, they’re trying to dismember each other! I just don’t know how they do it! They love each other to….erm…..life…and yet, they try to punch out each others’ teeth the next. I am talking about both my joys and boys…Joshua and Jared.

 

By virtue of the fact that they were born on the same date and also only 2 year apart, they practically share everything and have LOADS of things in common but why oh why do they have to fight about everything? They fight about who gets to choose the last book for me to read at night. They fight about who gets to use the green spoon. Funnily, the green spoon was not all that popular to begin with. It only began when Jared said that he liked the green Power Ranger and he wanted to use the green spoon to commemorate the green Power Ranger that he adored….and that is also precisely when Joshua started to think that the green spoon (and Power Ranger) was indeed pretty cool too.

 

Oh, but my boys don’t always fight all that much – only almost all the time. Joshua would be building his dominos (he’s really patient with these things) and Jared the destroyer would trot along with Ultraman in hand, and knocks his whol domino setup to bits and pieces. Needless to say, Joshua would be crying Red murder and Jared would claim innocence. “But Ultraman is trying to save people. He kills monsters” and Joshua cries harder. “There are no monsters, mom!!!”

 

I don’t know how they can be so cute and adorable at the same time? Kids have this talent, I believe.

 

Joshua would be so sensible and logical sometimes that I would like to think he was mature. But then he proves me wrong the next minute by kicking up a fuss about something as trivial as using the wrong colored bowl. Josh is really sweet and logical most of the time. And perhaps it’s because he’s got my temperamental genes that he’s not able to keep his temper and anger under check all the time. After all he’s only 6 and I am like….30+++++…and I still have trouble controlling my own temperament. So, why should I expect him to perform better than me, right?

 

As for Jared, I don’t know what to say. He’s the absolute cutie pie who knows exactly how to win your heart without much effort. If he did something wrong, he knows exactly what to say to get back into my good books – no doubt about that. He could have knocked my precious vase over – he would look at furious me, shuffle his feet, pout, squint a few tears in his eyes and say “Oops. I’m sorry, mom. I didn’t mean to. It was an accident” and I would have given him all the cookies in the world.

 

I don’t know if they do it consciously as well – but they both always like opposite things. Joshua likes to cover himself with a blanket from head to toe before he would sleep, Jared hates the blanket and would have slept naked if I allowed him to. Jared like cookies while Joshua prefers Oreos. Jared like rice while Joshua likes noodles. Joshua likes sketching while Jared likes coloring.

 

But I have to say that watching them grow up is pretty….erm…interesting, if not challenging. Sometimes I have to literally slap myself across the face and say, “They’re not the same person – you have to love them differently and yet the same”. They have their own individual characters that is just shining through so brightly that sometimes, as a parent, I am overwhelmed.

 

I, therefore, cannot understand why some people prefer not to raise their own kids. It baffles me completely! There’s nothing more precious than the time that I have spent single-handedly raising, nurturing, guiding, teaching, parenting, mothering, caring for and LOVING these two monsters.

 

I SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY wouldn’t have it any other way. I wonder why some people can’t see how wonderful the parenting experience actually is….it’s their loss, really.

 

By the time they miss it, it’s too late.

The extra couple of hours of sleep, it seems, may not be the best thing for your body, I’ve just discovered. Why am I interested in the topic of sleep?

 

1. I suspect that my kids lack sleep (Joshua’s dark under-eye circle and Jared’s constant yawning could have something to do with it

 

2. My inability to wake up in the morning in time to send my kids to school on time could ALSO have increased my interest in the topic of sleep.

 

It seems that Eskimos sometimes sleep for 14 hours a day. Lucky them, I get something like 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night…if I am lucky. Sometimes, I have endure a full day with 3 hours or no sleep at all per day! And like they say, while no sleep is no good for the body, the Eskimos may not be leading all-that-healthy a lifestyle either.

 

Everything done is excess is no good and without a smidgen of doubt, if you don’t get enough of something (vitamins, food, water or sleep) it’s also detrimental to the mind and the body. Therefore, it’s important for kids to get about 10 hours of sleep and adults 8 hours of sleep per day. But Napoleon said that a man needs 6 hours of sleep, a woman need 7 hours of sleep and a fool needs 8. So, you decide.

 

And the most amazing thing is that most of us think that we are getting enough sleep because we can function during work. but researches in the US takes on a different view. They seem to think that the reason why people tend to sleep longer hours during weekends or holidays is because they are sleep-deprived during the week day – which is logical, if you ask me. Therefore, you start yawning while driving, it’s your body telling you that you need to spend more time sleeping.

 

During Victorian times, people used to think that sleeping 8 hours = idleness and laziness. During those times, men sleep 6 hours and women tend to sleep about 15 or 30 minutes more than men. It’s an acceptable fact that women sleep a little bit longer than men although they, during those times, are required to do less work (yeah, like housework is not really work, right? Bah!)

 

And preschoolers? It’s funny that my kids still continue to take naps even when they’re already BOTH attending preschool. I’ve read somewhere that preschoolers typically need about 10 – 12 hours a night! My goodness, then I have been doing everything wrong! Joshua and Jared sleeps at about 12 midnight and then wakes up about 8 in the morning. Which works out to be 8 hours of sleep a night. No wonder they still need an afternoon nap. By Western standards, I am probably a terrible parent! But I do intend to turn this around. soon, I will be reducing their afternoon nap to nothing and getting them to bed about 10 so that they can wake up bright and smiley in the morning. In fact, experts think that we can replace afternoon naps with a little bit of quiet time or reading…and maybe just lying down on a mat, listening to music or watching a little bit of educational TV. Hhhhmmm….I’ll try to work this one in.

 

And that works for me too. People who’ve lived with me know that I have this problem going to sleep and waking up. The funny thing is that even if I had enough sleep for a night, I STILL have problems waking up in the morning. I give the saying ‘Sleeping Like A Log’ a brand new meaning. My mother-in-law, mother and grandmother used to say that I sleep like the DEAD.

 

But all this is about to change. I no longer have the maids and my mother-in-law thumping over my leg and face to wake me in the morning so that I can send the kids to school. I only have the alarm clock that I can’t hear (the clock is really loud, by the way) to wake me.

If girls, particularly teenagers, are allowed to idolize female singers or actresses, how come male are called FAGS and other unkind names when they tell others that they idolize a particular male singer or actor? Females can obsess over female idols and yet when males do it, they get the ‘eye’, you know what I mean?

 

I idolize female singers and actresses all the time, young or old alike and shamefully, I visit some forums on these actresses too – just to find out inside news about these people. Nosy Parker but I am not a lesbian. In fact, even if I WAS a lesbian, what in the world is wrong with that? Lots of people are like that and we should never be judged because of our sexual preference. I like Angelina Jolie, Michelle Yip, Maggie Cheung Man Yuk, Charmaine Seh, Charlize Theron….blah blah blah…does THAT make me a lesbian.

 

I think it’s wrong for people to think that it’s OK for girls/females to have idols and whenever a male have a male idol, they’re not straight. My husband used to ADORE George Michael (who happens to be gay, just a coincidence, I assure you) when he was young. He collected all CDs, posters and everything he could get his hands on and I personally don’t think that gay-ish. I think it’s called modeling after someone you admire. Admiring someone is always good and always natural.

 

And besides, I feel very strongly about people who have prejudicial thoughts against Gays and Lesbians. It’s not their fault that they are attracted to the same sex! They have no control over this. I can say this very frankly because I used to be very good friends with guys who are gays. In fact, I had a crush on one of them, he told me he was gay and then we became sort of bestfriends! Seriously. He confided in me his problems with the REST OF THE WORLD who considers him a queer (including his own parents) and treats him coldly and unkindly. I think it’s unfair.

 

I am strong believer of ‘personal choice’. in this case, whether a person likes the opposite sex or the same sex, it’s not our business to judge. It’s their inborn preference. And as mentioned, they don’t have any control over it. You cannot simply tell yourself to like the opposite sex and viola, you like the opposite sex? You don’t have a treatment for these kind of things. it’s inborn. It’s hormonal. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s God. I don’t mean to be disrespectful but hey, he’s our maker and he gives us whatever we have today. There must be a reason why he did the things he did, the way he did it, right?

 

And back to the point, males can have and should have male idols too. I mean, this is part and parcel of life and it’s natural. When I admire a male actor or singer, I think he’ll look good in my bed (AHEM!!! Cough, Cough!). If I admire a female singer or actress, I like her and wish that I can be like her (or whatever she projects to the rest of the world), I respect her and thinks she rocks.

 

Plain and simple. So, if this rule applies to the females, why not males?

It’s been…what…6 days since I moved out of the safe confines of my in-laws’ home. Gone are the days where you sleep until there’s food on the table. Gone are the days where you surf the net until someone tells you it’s time to fetch the kids. Gone are the days of peacefully working behind the computer while the kids entertain themselves with other cousins.

 

I have spent 90% of the time in this new apartment washing one thing or another. It’s amazing! Every time I finish washing something, there’s something else to wash. The kids have this radar thing going too – when the floor is clean, their radar spots it and they run around in the clean area until it’s dirty again.

 

My fingers are coarse like sand paper and no amount of lotion is going to repair this!!! My back aches. My nails are chipped. I call out ‘Joshua’ and ‘Jared’ in my sleep. I’ve pissed off at least 6 clients because of this house moving thing that has taken FOREVER!!! And I almost poisoned the whole family with overnight ikan bilis (anchovies) broth left wrongly in the refrigerator instead of the freezer!

 

So far, everything’s really…..swell?

Roger Kwok reprising his role as ‘Ah Wong’ and Jessica Hsuen reprising her role as ‘Low Por Chye’. Anyway, ever heard of the old adage of the first time is always the best. Yes, I watched Square Pegs and LIKED the show (Note: not loved) and I thought Roger Kwok’s portrayal of Ah Wong was indeed, very loveable and extremely funny. He made a new name for himself with this role and even his opening speech had to be carried out in this child-like manner of speaking. His mannerism, which he said he copied from the average kids out in the street (he probably meant playground), was infectious. But there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing may be bad after all.

 

In the case of Ah Wong, this is true.

 

For one thing, it’s not Kwok’s fault that he portrayed the same character the second time. But after a while, you will feel agitated and extremely irritated with the exgaration. It’s cute for a while…and then it gets irritating.

 

Jessica Hsuen’s reprisal is the same as the character she played in Square Pegs….BORING and ordinary. Her role is merely there to ‘balance out’ the out-of-ordinariness of Ah Wong. As much as Ah Wong is imbecile, Jessica is too normal. Did I already mention that too much of a good thing can be bad? Well, humor me…let me say it again…too much of a good thing can be bad.

 

Surprisingly, I found that I liked the supporting characters better….as in Leila Tong, Bosco Wong and Raymond Cho better.

 

For TVB series fans, if you’ve watched Leila Tong better, she’s blessed with an angelic face that attracts goodie-two-shoes roles. She’s been portaying nuns and cute girls for far too long. In Life Made Simple, Leila Tong takes a turn…for the worse. Her performance was good….excellent, if I do say so myself. In fact, I always thought she was a pretty ‘stiff’ in most of the series that she has performed in. and yet in her portrayal in this Series, she’s cunning, she’s mean and most of the time selfish and inconsiderate. She betrays her friends, her boyfriend, her family and herself for the sake of money. Leila Tong in Life Made Simple changed the way we, TVB series fans, view her as an actress.

 

Bosco Wong portrays a rich man’s son who has everything. Apart from the beginning which was too farfetched (in my personal opinion – the yatch, lateness, the swooning girls and attitude is wrong), other parts of the show was believable. When I found out that the younger Bosco was going to have a fling with the older Jessica, I was skeptical. Would his baby face be able to carry out of the older-woman-younger-man relationship on screen? It was. Period. So much so that I was pining for the Jessica-Bosco combination instead of the Jessica-Roger ending.

 

Raymond Cho has always been one of my favorite actors. He’s good looking and can be much diversified when required. The opportunities are not there – but he can carry a bad character as well as he can carry a good character. In the meantime, Angelo Tong took on a ‘MONSTER’ challenge – like Charlize Theron in Monster, she took on a transformation from va-va-voom to ‘blergh’. The fake teeth and painted-on freckles were not high-tech nor are they believable but she did a good job except for some scenes where she took things too far. Being funny and professional is different from being too animated. We’re not talking cartoon here, right? But she did an incredible job and in return, she won an award for being the most outstanding Supporting Actress award.

 

Overall story line is boring, boring, boring, Because a lot of things are based on the original story, there’s almost no mystery or suspense at all. You basically can make a second-guess and come up with a close enough answer.

 

My guess is that this whole Life Made Simple series is filmed just to satisfy the many Ah-Wong and Low Por Chai fans out there who wants to see the couple (Jessica and Roger) come back to life…in modern life. For others looking for a good story, skip this series.

Remember the age-old accusation of cursing at a road hogger as Auntie, Uncle, Woman driver? Well, apparently, the world has changed so much that the automatic accusations we’re so accustomed to before…no longer applies. I remember when I first got my driving license, I drove so slow that a child on a tricycle overtook me. I refused to press the horn and think that everyone (THE REST OF THE WORLD) should patiently snail along behind me. I give them a nice little finger gesture if they dare honk their horn. Road hogging was, not yet, an offence. I am not particularly sure whether road hogging is an offense today or not – I am not interested to find out, anyway.

 

Things took a slight change when my mother learnt how to drive. Say, if I had my mother in the passenger seat and I was driving, if I dare shout, “Oy, Auntie, drive faster lah!”, my mother will turn around and glare at me. “Why you got no patience and no consideration one?”

 

“Er….mom, that was like 20KMP? Not slow meh?”

“Be nice, just wait lah. We’re not in a hurry. And don’t honk”

 

So, out the window went the accusation.

 

My driving slowed down ever since I got my kids, as with many other mothers out there. Once you have kids in the car, the brakes are used more often than the accelerator. And today, I was driving to a popular mall at around 60KMP and rounding a mighty tough bend when I heard a honk from behind. I frowned….”What in the world was that for?”

 

I looked into the rear view mirror and there was thing young lady with tudung sitting behind the wheel thumping her steering wheel impatiently! Oh gee! 60KMP is not to slow, young lady and mind your manners!

 

I continued the pace and kept the car from swerving. My kids have this tendency of telling me when I am driving too fast – they’re busy pretending to be Power Rangers or Ultramans in the backseat and if I turn a corner too fast, they won’t be able to FIGHT nicely. And angry or injured kids in a car is a death wish.

 

So, I kept my eye on the rear view mirror noticing that the lady was trying to overtake me but the consistent flow of cars from the right kept her from doing so. As soon as the last car on the right went past, she literally bucked out of the left lane, sped up to my right, glared at me, gave me her middle finger and mouthed the word that looked a lot like “Auntie!”

 

Boy, was I shocked. Auntie? Oh wait, yes, I am probably auntie by her standards, huh? But hey, this Auntie is not a road hogger. I think even a decent driver can tell you that 60 is not too slow a speed to take when rounding a bend! What in the world has happened to polite young ladies who drive at the speed of snail? From the look of the lady, she was no more than 23, dressed in traditional clothing – but boy, looks can be deceiving.

 

The speed limit by which we use to gauge an ‘auntie’, ‘uncle’ or ‘woman’ driver last decade no longer applies. It seems that the limit has been raised and we all need to be in a rush just to avoid being honked at. And last but not least, there’s no such thing as a ‘woman’ driver anymore. Decently dressed woman drivers are now as fast (and impatient) as their male counterparts.

 

That leaves us the auntie and uncle drivers.

 

 

 

I am not a very superstitious person and sometimes can be quite aloof when it comes to things like stepping over cracks and under ladders….but still!

My book review for “The Star” on the book ‘It’s called a breakup because it’s broken” is published on FRIDAY the 13^th (hear the Twilight Zone song yet?)

So far, nothing untoward has happened to me today…yet...partly due to the fact I've been sleeping the whole day because of late night working on client’s website and is still kind of groggy right now. Touch wood, touch wood.

But sometimes I think the famous Friday the 13^th is all fiction and no fact. Why would it be bad luck day only on Friday the 13^th? Fear of Friday the 13^th has a scientific name, by the way, and it’s called paraskevidekatriaphobia. (I dare you to try to pronounce that!)

 

Points to ponder:-

• If Friday the 13^th is an unlucky day, the whole world will suffer at the same time and nobody will win lottery on this day.
• Friday the 13^th is really all fiction because it’s a complete national (International?) unfounded trepidation
• The stock market will crash on Friday the 13^th
• It’s all in the mind. Ever heard of THAT one? If you think Friday the 13^th is going to be a bad day…by golly, you’ll get nothing but bad luck all day. But if you snub your nose at the notion, you will have none of the ill fortune
• Nobody should go to work on Friday the 13^th because nothing will go right. The printer will not work, the coffee machine will explode, virus will penetrate the intranet, files will be corrupted, clients will leave, documents and legal agreements will be lost…etc
• Nobody gets married on Friday the 13^th
• Nobody will ever give birth on Friday the 13^th
• Nobody will go to the doctor or dentist on Friday the 13^th
• Nobody will start a new job on Friday the 13^th, lest they get fired on the spot for no apparent reason.
• Nobody will buy insurance or shares on Friday the 13^th

 

Imagine, the world would have complete stopped spinning because…it’s black Friday.

Anyone watched Astro Wah Lai Toi’s award-giving ceremony on Saturday? I did! I couldn’t not watch since some of my favorite young stars were present and were being nominated. Among them, my faves were Raymond Lam and Myolie Wu. Well, Christine Ng and Chilam (Julian Cheung) rocks too.

 

<picture of Raymond Lam Fung>

Unlike people my age who shy away and restrain themselves from admiring younger stars, I have no qualms about it. In fact, me and my mother (who is also a TVB fan) share faves – Raymond Lam Fung.

 

For those who didn’t watch, Raymond Lam won the favorite leading actor and Charmaine Seh won the favorite female leading actress award.

 

Others

Favorite Drama – War and Beauty

Favorite Theme Song – Point of no Return

Favorite couple – Charmaine & Chilam

Favorite Dad – Damien Lau (Point of no return)

Favorite Mom – Christine Ng (Twin of Brothers)

Favorite Lethal Beauty – Gigi Lai (War and Beauty)

Favorite Shot – Wong Hee (Net Deception)

Most memorable moment – War and Beauty

 

Favorite Actress

Charmaine Seh Si Man won the award as Yee Sun in War and Beauty. I had it all planned – if Gigi Lai won the award, I would throw myself off the KL Twin Towers in protest!! No lah, I like Gigi Lai but I think Charm deserves recognition as well. Considering the fact that she’s got a huge following here, her win was expected. She did an extremely good job as well. Read on to the Favorite Lethal Beauty where I write why she deserves to win. Her portrayal of evil is superior to Gigi’s.

 

<Charmaine Seh & Raymond Lam>

Favorite Actor

I was in a limbo as to this award….Chilam or Raymond? Raymond or Chilam? If Ron NG Cheok Hei won, I would, once again, throw myself off of KL Twin Towers in protest. Raymond, Ron and Chilam are big here so it was really a toss. Roger Kwok did well too and he’s got lots of fans here too but his role in To Get unstuck in Time just wasn’t good enough. So, to me, it was between Chilam and Raymond.

 

And deep inside, I wanted Raymond to win and yet I knew Chilam was going to win. There they were sitting all in a row, Raymond with his arms crossed, Ron leans forward and Chilam staring straight ahead like in a trance. Miss Lok (the presenter) announces “Twin of Brothers” and the hordes of female fans SCREAMED. ChiLam is out – there’s only two left…Raymond Lam Fung and Ron Ng Cheok Hei. I was thinking….God, NNNNOOOOOO, NOT RON NG…..PPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!”.

 

<poster of Twin of Brothers>

Ray and Ron sat there glued to their seats, expressions remained the same. And then “Khow Chung” (Ray’s character) – no one moved – not even me, just in case it was a mistake. Then “Lam Fung” – it took several nanoseconds to register. Then, YES! Raymond beat other bigger stars to find his footing in Malaysia. Well-deserved, well-deserved. I don’t care what others have to say about Twin of Brothers (some people say that it was boring and too lengthy) but to me Raymond’s portrayal of Khow Chung was remarkable. It was one of the best portrayals ever – his one-screen chemistry with his long-time friend, Tavia Yeung Yi is expected – BEYOND EXCELLENT. But his chemistry with mainland China actress, Li Qian, was even better which goes to show that he has chemistry with just about anyone he acts with.

 

<pix of Ramond Lam & Li Qian in Twin of Brothers>

From a young and innocent (penniless) bloke to someone in love, from someone with ambition to someone with power, from someone with evil thoughts to someone who sacrificed his life (whoops, DEAD giveaway here) for the country – Raymond Lam Fung’s portrayal was formidable. There was depth and diversity on his side. Although Chilam did a good job too but we’ve seen Chilam do it before…but for Ray, this is the first time and it left a very big impression on me.

 

Good on you, Raymond Lam Fung!

 

Favorite Drama

War and Beauty took the award. What can I say? I secretly wanted Twin of Brothers to win but this result is totally predictable. We all expected it to win but considering the popularity of Raymond Lam and Ron Ng has here, I was cheering on their behalf anyway. And besides, I think it’s a really good ancient drama despite what others have to say about it. The shots were really good and revolutionary. It had many great scenes and fighting sequences that some people don’t take notice of. If you watched ‘the making’ of Twin of Brothers, you’ll agree with me. But not everyone is as fanatical as me, so, I forgive everyone who voted for War and Beauty.

 

Favorite Theme Song

I wanted, once again, Raymond Lam to win with his Twin of Brothers theme song but…my conscience comes a-calling. I like Chilam too and if I pitched Raymond Lam and Chilam together in a one-to-one singing competition, I would choose….Chilam. Not only is his singing slightly better (more experience) but the song is very difficult to sing with extremely off-the-beat kind of way. Most of the time, you’ll find Chilam chasing after the beat but it’s supposed to be that way – make no mistake about it. Even I have problems knowing where to come in and when to go off when I try to sing the song with him (AS IF I KNOW HOW TO SING A SINGLE WORD IN THE SONG).

 

Favorite Couple

Chilam and Charmaine deserved to win – period. They were formidable in other partnerships and in Point of no Return, they really rocked. No contest.

 

(pix of Charmaine & Raymond Lam with their awards on Saturday)



Favorite Dad

Personally felt that Ben Hui played a better father in To get unstuck in time. Ben Hui literally had no contact with Roger Kwok except for the end of the series. And the tears we see him cry in the show were all done over the phone. And yet, there was so much emotion there – it was simply brilliant. But Damien Lau won for his fatherly role in Point of no Return as a father to Chilam. Damien Lau did an exceptional job as the rotan-yielding rich man who had a hard time taming his son. A lot of times, I feel like picking up the rotan myself and whacking Chilam’s character too and his portrayal was intense and exceptional.

 

Favorite Mom

Despite her image as a sexy lady, Christine Ng won the favorite mom award. Although I feel that Gigi Chiu deserved to win this award more, I like Christine Ng, so…… J It was during the filming of Twin of Brothers that she built a very close relationship to her ‘sons’ in the show, Raymond Lam Fung and Ron Ng Cheok Hei. In real life, they got along so well that they become God mother and sons off the screen.

 

Favorite Lethal Beauty

Gigi Lai won the role – but I think Charmaine was more evil. Gigi’s character was out rightly evil, maybe too much so. There’s something about the way she blinks away that totally irks me. She’s pretty and very, very talented but in terms of being evil, I thought Charmaine was more so. Because? Well, Charm’s subtlety had something to do with it. Very quiet, very smooth, very evil. Some people think that in order to be evil, you have to SHOW that you are evil but Charm’s portrayal was better because her movements were very slight, a single look, a pause, a blink, a soft smile, a lingering glare, a slight raise of the eyebrow….bbbrrrrrr!!!!

<pix of Kevin Cheng Kaw Wing....yum yum)

 

Favorite Shot

Wong Hei won this award. The shot was him yielding two guns, Chow Yun Fatt, style shooting off at bad guys. No fight, no fight! Sure win, sure win. I would have wanted Kevin Cheng Kar Wing to win this award because he looks damn good in a suit with a gun in his hand too. But no one can compare to Wong Hei when he has guns in his hands. His upturned face, arrogant look, that smirk and that grin that totally speaks of confidence. He’s like saying, “Come on, you b******s! Shoot me, shoot me. Otherwise, if I pull the trigger, I won’t miss! Come on!”

 

The attitude, to me, is incomparable. Not even Chow Yun Fatt has his attitude. The only person I can think of who has mastered the GANSTA attitude is Simon Yam. The arrogance is despicable yet so loveable.

 

Most memorable moment

War and Beauty. The moment was when Yu Fei (Sheren Tang Sui Man) cried to the ‘sky’ (God) with her baby in her arms. I felt that Point of no Return should win. The scene that I chose was where Chow Ming Hin announces to his family that he was going to marry Yuk Heng (Gigi Chiu). His first wife objected, he’s married, but he shunned her and told her that if she didn’t like it, she can just pack up and leave. Otherwise, she’d better be contented with her position in the family. His wife begged and cried and asked Meng Hin not to be so cruel to her but Meng Hin has already given up on his first wife.

 

Oh, the shame. Oh, the embarrassment. Oh, the humiliation. By the way, she stayed on.

I am a mess. No, not mess as in mess but messy as in messy. Ppphhhttt, as if THAT made sense but I loathe the idea of calling myself messy so I will settle for calling myself ‘organized in a messy way’.

There.

Since I am going to be moving out to my own place next week (my grandmother found the PERFECT lucky date to move, so, there’s really no escaping. Unless I like the feeling of having a knife in my rear end planted there by well-meaning elderly people in my family – BOTH sides), I thought I’d write a little about housework, mundane and pain-in-the-butt chores like picking up your own clothes, doing your own laundry, sweeping your own floor, mopping the damn floor, wiping and dusting tabletops and computer tops and TVs and….see, I get even get TIRED writing about it. Plus, I have this sinus problem that makes it impossible for me to sweep or dust anything without popping a few blood vessels in my nostrils.

I’ve used my sinus problem as an excuse quite successfully over this lifetime but I guess I will no longer have a choice when I move out without my maid in tow.

Yeah, I have a maid but we’re leaving the maid with my mother-in-law since I am younger, more energetic and supposedly more able than her. Sometimes I question this logic. She may be older but if you look at my mother-in-law, you’ll see that apart from creaking knees, she moves without much effort around the house. In fact, she runs faster than me! But since all the families congregate in my mother-in-law’s place (my current residence) everyday, it would make sense to leave the maid here instead of having to get another maid and contend with another full-blown ‘How can this maid be so dense not to understand what ‘’o-oi’ and ‘mum-mum’ mean?’ problem. They don’t teach maids our baby-language (which they should, by the way) as in mum-mum means eat, shee-shee means pee, mm-mm means big business in toilet, o-oi means sleep…etc.

I think housework is a stupid chore. Why can’t we live in organized clutter? I mean, isn’t it OK if we all know where things are and where the broom, the mouse, the speaker phone, the handphone charger and the fork and spoons are? Isn’t that enough already? Do we have to live in hotel-like environment in order to function? Isn’t it enough that we have clean clothes to wear, half-decent shoes to put over our feet, and a home that does not smell like the insides of an ashtray? If not, then let's all move to Hyatt Saujana or something.

I mean, let’s look at it this way…you wipe, mop, sweet, vacuum…and whatever else it is that you do to a home….tonight, you go to sleep in a this sterile environment feeling extremely proud of yourself and then you wake up in the morning and there’s dust everywhere. DUST, DUST, DUST!! It’s frustrating because you’ve worked so hard to keep the place clean and then all you get is a night sleep without enjoying the cleanliness at all! Why bother?

My table is the messiest place in any place that I live or work. In the bank I used to work, I heard the receptionist say to my client when he came to visit me, “There, see the table with four piles of files stacked up on the front of the table? That’s Marsha’s table” You can’t see me coming in from the door because the files form a sort of protective wall from public eye. Eh, I like it this way, ok? But my office mates laugh at me and my boss asked me if I had enough space to write anything when I pile everything on top of my table and I say, “Sure”. But in the end, they got me a special second table where I pile MORE files on top of it. The extra table did not help me clear the original table but instead, I built a longer wall of files!

It is ironic that when I was living with my parents, I shared a bedroom with my sister. Now, she’s someone who is totally opposite of me! I couldn’t care less and she cares about everything - sad to say, she’s my YOUNGER sister. I make a mess, she cleans up. She puts her toiletries in organized compartments, mine can be found under the toilet bowl. She organizes her perfumes and lotions in sections, mine can be found dumped inside my underwear drawer. In fact, she’s so meticulous that she used to iron my school uniform when we were in school!! She complained but my mom has given up asking me to do the task because I was never home, anyway.

Now that I am married, my HUSBAND has taken over the role. He is the kind of person who WANTS and NEEDS to stay in a hotel-like home and don’t want to lift a finger to do anything! Therefore, in my personal, opinion, he should just take his ass to Indonesia and find himself a bride there! Harumph! Accordingly, many Indonesian women know how to clean a home (any home) with their eyes closed.

And as I was saying, housework is tedious and mindless. Why do housework when you know that everything is going to be messed up again – especially if you have kids? You put their toys back into their organized toy boxes with special labels, and the next minute they are everywhere again. Why bother folding the blankets and comforters when you know they’re going to be used again tonight? Why bother mopping when you know one of the kids are going to spill their VITAGENS on the floor again?

But even if my own personal space is cluttered, I have to keep the rest of the place clean and as organized as I possibly can. In other words, I will clean every other spaces that affects others. When it comes to my own space, leave it alone! I like the organized mess that I am living in right now.

Written in jest, of course. Sometimes, I DO wish someone would clean my mess up for me......any takers?

House cleaning tips

 

House-cleaning schedule (there’s a SCHEDULE??)

 

Springcleaning

 

Getting organized

 

Cleaning up after pets (Urgh!)

 

Marsha
www.marshamaung.com