“YOUR A B***** F***HEAD WHO’S AS DEAD AS A PIECE OF CONCRETE! GO F*** YOUR F****ING WHORE WHEN YOU’VE THE CHANCE FOR I AM ABOUT TO PAY SOME PEOPLE TO CASTRATE YOU AND DROWN THAT F****ING WHORE. AFTERWARDS, I WILL KICK YOUR BE-DAMNED BODIES INTO THE SEWER TO ROT!  I FEEL CURSED TO THAT I COULDN’T CHOOSE THIS. NOW PISS THE HELL OFF!”

* The author is experiencing blinding rage and will probably be doing (or has done) some hasty things. Do not mourn for the author for the author will not take her own life. The author is in a rage but not stupid.

Dinner parties are swell. Got invited to one atop the hill. The restaurant was good from what I heard and read. Choice cuts and only quality stuff that goes into their plating. I had hoped that the food will justify its labelled price.The place was booked and I was ready to go.

Somehow I felt rather uneasy when I was told the name of the restaurant and that it was on The Hill. A nagging feeling at the back of my head served as my first warning. My gut told me that this place is more than meets the eye; more than what it was advertised to be. The name of The Hill when mention made my gut wretch. I couldn’t back out now since I was expected by all to turn up. I flagged down a taxi and hopped in. The cabbie told me that the place is reknown for restaurants and also its not too far from the hustle and bustle of the central district.

As the taxi approached the locale, I started to see. Started to see ‘life’ that no mortal eyes, with the exception of a few ‘gifted’ or ‘cursed’ mortals, should ever gaze upon. ‘Life’ stuck in a loop. ‘Life’ as it was before these fanciful restaurants came about. ‘Men’ in uniform carrying out drills. Armed ‘Men’ bearing different weapons. ‘Men’ in shackles, being moved, with a forlorn look on their faces. Shackled ‘Men’ looking malnourished and tortured.

Cold sweat started to break out all over. Nauseous gripped me and I felt sick. My head reeled as I struggled to walk straight toward the restaurant from my drop-off point. The hostess opened the door and greeted me. The scent of stale body odours, blood, urine, excrement and burning meat met my nose. I struggled to keep myself from hurling. The floor was sticky and crimson like the abattoir. On the right, I saw Asian-looking men shackled to the wall. Their gouging eyes, filled with fear, looking to me for clemency.

My ears heard their silent cries. Many proclaiming their innocence of the war crimes they’ve been accused of. Many screaming out in dire pain. I could hear the gruesome lashings of the whip breaking the prisoners’ skins. This used to be a torture chamber. I sat at the table which was at the far left corner of the room and started to weep. Sad that I see all this and wasn’t able to help. ‘Men’ with broken limbs crawled toward me, pleading that I aid their escape.

I bolted out of the restaurant and got into the first available taxi I saw. I was only in the restaurant for a few minutes but it was too overwhelming. Back to the hotel, I vomitted the negligible contents of my churning stomach. They were with me, they followed maliciously. They always followed – for a time. I had to keep moving…

_______________________

I later found out that The Hill was an old army camp which had been converted to a commercial district. I found out too late…

Eminem & Rihanna Perform Live in Los Angeles!

Singers who get caught lip-syncing are labelled as strictly studio artists. They don’t deserve as much respect as singers who are able to perform well in live concerts and studios. If you’re gonna lip-sync, make sure you’re not caught. You wanna fool your audiences, make sure you don’t make a fool outta yourselves.

Then there is the other issue… The phor thor or the night show. The government here has made an issue about it. There is an issue to be made actually. Most of the performers in the modern por thor are scantily dressed. This does pose to be an issue. If you wish to know more about Phor Thor in detail, just Google the term and there are many articles.

What’s the difference between the old and new? The old style is when the performance is a Chinese Opera where the costumes and make-up are consistent with ancient traditions. The modern or new type is when songs are sung by local singers. These performances are likened to karaoke standards for most as these singers often do not sing well and are clad in little clothing. In the performances of both types, there is often DOM (Dirty Old Men) who will stand near the stage in hopes of getting a glimpse of flesh.

Let me tell you a little about por thor. Phor thor is performed during the 7th month of the Chinese calendar as part of the Hungry Ghost Festival. A stage is set-up by the road side and the performance is made there. The first few rows of seats or the front area of the stage is kept vacant. This space or seats are kept for the VIPs of the month. By VIP, I don’t mean Very Important Persons but Very Invisible People. Some of you may wonder if there are actually VIP attendees or not. So are there?

Let me sum up the whole thing by saying this

“There are more attending the old than the new. Bigger range and more types. The new have less.”

It was a time like others, just browsing and picking up a few things. It’s a routine like any other – pick up a basket, get the stuff that I want or need and put it in the basket; pay upon exit.

Starting in the fresh produce section, I was picking up some fruit and veg when I heard the appearance of Spinach Boy. Yes, I heard him before I saw him. Interestingly enough. He was with his mother, 2 sisters and a Caucasian lady. I am not sure if he is trying to impress the Caucasian lady or not but he was talking rather loudly at the 3 ladies. He spoke of what ingredient would go with what for what he was gonna make which is just plain ol’ pasta. They were about to leave the section to go to another section when I heard him utter loudly,”WE NEED SPINACH! FRESH SPINACH! GOTTA HAVE FRESH SPINACH…” Spinach Boy proceeded to stomp up and down the fresh produce section, all the while muttering his sacred mantra of:

What did Lizzy do upon hearing this mantra? I just smirked and laughed to myself at his boisterous behaviour. From the corner of my eye, I sighted various types of spinach but Spinach Boy did not even recognize what he sought. It seems that the more you seek something, the more it eludes you. I could see the ladies just rolling their eyes at his ridiculous behaviour.

My Lizzy ears encountered Spinach Boy’s booming vocal chords again. This time at the noodle section. After all the inaccurate teachings and philosophy of pasta to his sisters, he merely picked up regular spaghetti alongwith 2 bottles of ready-to-eat pasta sauce. ROFL

All that talking and he ends up using bottled ready-to-eat sauce. I’d be embarrassed if I were him. I for one, do not use ready-to-eat pasta sauces. I usually cook down my sauce from scratch and I pride myself for that.

At the check-out, Spinach Boy proceeded to justify to his mother why he needed those McCormick spice/herbs. All he said was that it’s used for Pasta. =.=” He continued to mutter his spinach mantra…  It seems that he only knows how to cook pasta.

It was not surprising that I could still hear him reciting his spinach mantra in the car park. Sigh… By the spinach gods and all things green, I hope to never encounter Spinach Boy again…

Bruno Mars – Just the way you are

Wait! The post ain’t done yet! Lizzy has something mores to shares with you peoples! Says Lizzy in her grammatically challenged England lingua. LOL

I did some searching on Youtube and came across many remakes of the song but there is one that really stands out. Anyway, this group has done many cover songs of other groups such as Eminem’s “Love the way you lie”. They also have a knack for mash-ups and collaborating with other non artistes as well. Comprising of 4 men, they go by the name Ahmir who release their songs via iTunes. Here some videos for you people to enjoy. More videos!!!! Muahahaha!

Bruno Mars – Just the way you are (Ahmir cover)

Nothing on you + Hey soul sister (ft Ahmir)

Love the way you lie – (Ahmir cover) – Eminem (ft Rihanna)

Bob ft Hayley Williams – Airplanes (Ahmir ft Traphik)

Only when I was studying overseas did I experience it first hand. It was then that I learnt that this condition is not a joke nor a story but is rather serious. My housemate, here dubbed Jessie, was a sleepwalker. She was my direct neighbour (room is directly next to me).

Jessie had several sleeping disorders and went through sleep studies as part of her treatment/diagnosis. She had bad snoring problems which she later rectified with surgery. I could literally hear her snores through the walls while I worked. LOL

Unlike me, Jessie had already finished her studies and was working. I was working on my final year thesis then. I slept during the day and worked on my thesis from mid-afternoon till about dawn. Yes… Dawn as in sunrise. Jessie worked so she kept normal human hours.

One night, I thought I heard someone walking up and down the corridor. I went out of my room to check but saw no one. This went on for a while and progressed to me hearing someone playing with the light switches in the bathroom. (Both our rooms were in front of the bathroom which was separated by a corridor.) Not only that! I heard someone going in and out of Jessie’s room. This normally occured between 3-5am.

After establishing the time pattern, I would kept alert at these times. When I am certain that I hear those sounds, I’d slowly open my door and peep. Every time I caught Jessie sleepwalking, she’d be doing something different. She’d always be barefoot in her pyjamas with her eyes closed whilst wearing a sleeping expression on her face. She’d sometimes still be snoring while sleepwalking.

Episode 1 – Jessie playing with the bathroom light switches.

Episode 2 -  Jessie walking up and down the corridor with her eyes closed.

Episode 3 – Jessie opening her room door, stepping into her room and closing the door. Subsequently, opening her room door again, stepping out into the corridor and closing the door. The action would be repetitive like a .gif clip.

Episode 4 – I open the door and she’s standing in front of my room door. Static. When she does this, I’d let out a scared yelp which wakes her up. She’d wonder why she’s in the corridor.

Episode 5 – Similar to Episode 3 but with the bathroom door.

Episode 6 – She’d walk around the house, opening and closing all the doors in the house.

When I spoke to her of what I saw, she confirmed that she had sleepwalking problems. Adding that  she had not been sleepwalking in a long while.  Jessie has no recollection of her nightly rendezvous except she’ll feel really tired in the morning. Her mom, Mrs K told me that if I were to see her sleepwalking again, I was to tell Jessie to go back to sleep in a firm but calm voice. So I became Jessie’s night guardian. I’d say,”Jessie go back to bed.” when I saw her sleepwalking. She did go back to her room to sleep.

Mrs K later revealed to me that her own uncle was also a sleepwalker but a very different sort. He’d walk about and shout at ppl. Its hilarious to imagine a middle-aged man trodding around in his PJs and shouting at ppl he comes across.

Recently, I read an article that a man had sleepwalked off a balcony and almost killed himself.  He’s still hospitalised with severe injuries. No one knows exactly how sleepwalking occurs. There are only theories. My house-mate stopped sleepwalking after a while coz she sought help from professionals. So if you or someone you know sleepwalks, pls get checked up by doctors as it could be dangerous.

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Is it really such a taboo to admit one’s weakness? In my short walk of life, I have learnt that one should be discretionary on letting persons know your weakness. We should not blindly open ourselves in thinking that everyone is our friend or a saviour. However, we ought to be understanding toward the weaknesses of others in hopes that others will do the same.

“Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism.” Hubert H. Humphrey

In reading a series, I learnt something very profound which in reality no one had shared with me;

“That which yields is not always weak” Jacqueline Carey

Perhaps in admitting our weakness; we may find strength. I was frequently told not to be unyieldingly stubborn. I was taught to endure and keep it under wraps by my ancestors. They taught me that I would do less damage that way and grow strong. Unfortunately, their lesson of life on this never really had a lasting effect on me.

“Endure. In enduring, grow strong.” Dak’kon

My mentors of life taught me that there are other aspects to knowing one’s weakness. They taught me that I should show my weaknesses in situations deemed appropriate and to always apply discretion when doing so. They taught me that exposing of one’s weakness can be advantageous in winning battles, wars, negotiations and more. ’tis why I am a still a student of life.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mohandas K. Gandhi

“The acknowledgement of our weakness is the first step in repairing our loss. ” Thomas ã Kempis

We all yearn to be stronger than our adversaries and piers. When one endures hardship, strength within is scarcely and difficult to be found. Mayhap we may find a friend or a saviour who’s strength will be strong enough to carry 2.

“You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?” Robert Louis Stevenson

“The strength of a person is often weighed by how they deal with their weaknesses.” Nathaniel Summers

I always wanted to be able to soar in the skies. You may think me childish to say this.; but I am deeply envious of animals are able to fly whilst I am weighed down by gravity with feet grounded to the earth. The ease of flight makes me think how quick and easy we’re able to get places. The convenience as well. Then again when too many humans take to the sky, sunlight will soon be obscured from our eyes. Why? Too many flying humans equals sky jam likened to traffic jam.

Sigh… It’s back to the drawing board for Lizzy to dream up of other more plausible ideas and theories. Project Flying Lizard is not yet destined to be.