A fortune teller

Earlier this year, I met a fortune teller. He said our meeting was destiny. When he first introduce himself and tell me that he's there to read my fortune, I laughed. Not because I'm mocking him but because I never met a fortune teller before except the online tarot reader which I'm fully aware a computer. It was lunchtime so I thought why not let the poor guy entertain me and let me amuse myself.

So I started by asking "When will I die? I'm going to die before 40, aren't I?". He took one long look at my face and said on a serious tone "No, you're going to die at the age of 88". And just like that I stopped laughing.

Next, he asked me to write down my name, and i did. Then he said, "I'm a holy man, and I'm gonna make you believe in my power". And what happened next was he listed down all the thing about me by making some calculation from my name and he happened to be right about all of it. Bear in mind, until that moment I only provide him my full name and I didn't even bother to remember his.

This is what his list looked like;-
1. My birthday ( He is probably a computer hacker. Thus, he know my birthday and made a research about me before approaching me. But I never put my real birthday online. I even lied about my birthday on facebook. It shows who your true friends are.)
2. My mother's name (Again, he's a computer hacker)
3. My brothers and sister (Super genius hacker)
4. My favorite flower (Duh, I'm a statistic, cause I like rose)
5. My most challenging year (It's when my father passed away. He probably read my blog. I wonder if I ever wrote about that though)
6. My car plate no (He saw me earlier getting out from my car)
7. My savings in the bank (Again, he's a creepy computer hacker)
8. My money in my purse (This is hard to explain because I never know how much money I would have in my purse left. Even at this very moment, I never cared how much money left in my wallet. So I told him that I have no idea how much money I have right now. Then he asked me to count right there, in front of him. And the amount was the exact amount as he'd written down, $392.00. How creepy is that?)
9. My life problem at the moment (This was also tricky. I told him that I don't know what my life problem is. I have a lot so I don't know that to say. He said, "Just choose something". After giving a lot of thoughts I finally said "I'm not satisfied". And then he revealed what he wrote, just 2 words "NOT SATISFIDE". And yes, his spelling was wrong.)

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, there were a few more questions. And of course he knew what my favorite colour, my favorite number, all the normal horoscope stuff. A warning to those who loves to have their fortune told, it's only fun until it get serious. Imagine if you have a secret so dark that you keep it locked so deep in your memory and never once you reminisce, only to have it discussed so openly in front of your face.

I've always considered myself to be a free person. Not chained by a past or secret. Or that's what I thought until I met the fortune teller from hell. He can read the past and future like a book, but apparently not my feelings. NO, I don't want to talk about the most shameful thing ever happened to me. And I don't care how can I get over it. I just don't want to know anything about it, ever. It was the longest one sided torturous conversation I ever had.

I don't even care the future prediction he done for me. All the time I wish for it to be over. And after a lengthy amount of time it was finally over. But not without being reminded of my problem at the end. He said, he'll pray for me to heal. And I paid $150 for his service. Before leaving he said that our path will cross again in the future.

Now, that is one fortune teller that I do not wish to cross path again.

Few days after meeting him, I got the feeling that he really did pray for me. Cause that night, for the first time ever, my mind was clear. And I slept like I've never slept before.

So, fancy a fortune reading? Think again.

Batman

Can I tell you a secret? I'm not Batman. I am a whistleblower. Not like Snodden tough. I'm not interested in politics or fighting a war or any of the hardcore we saw on TV's stuff. That's kind of calling is for a one of a kind man. Bigger calling for a great man. Like Snooden, indeed. What I did was gave up information about the ezploitation of protected animals. Mainly, Polinang. Yes, anagram that. So, the evil enterprise went down today. Believe me, such evil exists. Why I did what I did? I saw a Polinang's tears. If you ever seen one, you'll know that they are non-violent creature. They are shy and their diet consist of ants and termites. The other day, one was lost and wandered into my relative house. Knowing how much they worth my relative quickly catch it and put it in a cage. Everyone was excited, it's like they hit a jackpot. Most of them never seen one so close. So when the Polinang started crying, they became more excited. It's like seeing a rare event. They were taking photos and sending it to everyone they know, including me. That's how I got in the picture. I beg them to let it go. Even threatened them that bad things will happen if you do bad things to the poor animal. But I have better chance at winning a lottery than having them listen to me. All I got from speaking up was free insults. But it was worth a try though. I got laughed when I offered to buy it from them. The market price was ten folds than what I can afford. And apparently I was being 'even stupider' when I offered to pay in instalments. I was fighting a losing battle from the beginning. They already had a buyer. That's when I learned about the evil enterprise.

To this day, the Polinang's tears still haunt me. I felt that there's a lot I could have done to save it from being slaughtered. I could've sold my gold, my phone, or even steal it from them. But I was a coward so I made excuses to feed my conscience. At the end of the day, when the lights were out, I was on my warm bed sleeping with my skin on while the Polinang's not.

Rains

I just found out how to upload video from my phone. Yeah, i'm from the Ice Age, thanks. Anyway, it's the view from my office. I think the rain is beautiful. That's why i took the video.

Supermoon

I took a couple photos of the supermoon recently. Here's what i think my best shot.

Told you, i'm a romantic. 

By the way, the moon was definitely blinding that night.

Japan trip in April

I've been meaning to write this entry for a long time. But for some reason I kept on postponing. Anyway, the Japan trip was in April this year. 

This was literally what's in my bag. Pardon the granny panties. I travel light. Heck, i didn't even bother to bring camera. Therefore, all the photos here were taken only by my iphone.

Our first stop was Kyoto. 3 words. Plain, simple, boring.

The 4th trip to Japan, I finally made it to Ghibili Museum. Tickets were 'mission impossible' to get. They were almost like the urban legend. Impossible but still attainable.

Those who watched Laputa would definitely recognized this.

The 2nd day fell on my birthday. We went to Disneyland. All i can say is it was a wrong move. At least, it was for me. My sister was pretty excited. Well, i thought i'd be excited too but i don't. Probably because i grew up and all i saw was the monstrosity of capitalism and it's slaves.

Anyway, next we headed to Hiroshima. One thing that struck me about Hiroshima is that the people there are actually really REALLY nice.


A-bomb dome.

 Morning stroll in Hiroshima.

The next day we went to Osaka for the final leg in our journey. And the first thing we do once we arrived was to feast on..

...king crab!!! I'm allergic but it was worth it. To this day the grill crab still haunt my dreams.

 On our last day in Japan, i went to Tsurumi-ryokuji park. Alone. My sister prefer shopping than park strolling.

The park is so big that i have to stop a few times to relieve my feet and pretend on feeding the birds.

 Beautiful isn't it?

I almost believe that i was going through some enchanted forest. Like those in fairy tales.

 I tell you, Japanese does make the best park.

Updates

So last week I went to Il Divo concert in Genting Resort. The concert was okay, I guess. The guys were wonderful, but I'm still disappointed with the sound quality of the amphitheater. I'm not an audiophile, mind you. All I want is to enjoy live music with decent sound that's not trying to rip my eardrums out. I'm still beating myself for choosing the concert in Genting. I should have gone to the one in Jakarta.

Anyhow, overall the concert was still amazing.



Lea Salonga was equally amazing. I can understand why my friend was crazy about her.

On a different story, my ticket to Ghibili Museum has arrived this morning. This ticket is probably one of the most hardest to get. At least for me. It can only be bought in Japan and you have to get it 1 month before. Most dates, especially weekend are sold out. So I bought mine through Bridge.Jpn. It's a miracle that I could get ticket for Satuday slot.

I'm so excited. 3 more weeks until Japan!

Birdy

I've heard Skinny Love a long time ago but I never got to check out all her other songs though. Until now. Don't know whether it's the lyrics or just her voice but almost all her song brought me to tears. Maybe it's just the estrogen messing around. Or maybe it's the dark clouds over my head.

#MH370

Have you heard of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane yesterday? I haven't had a good sleep since yesterday. And I've been checking and refreshing my web browser for the latest news every 15 minutes. Not that I knew anyone on the flight. It just felt that it could've been me on that plane, you know. I boarded MH370 to Beijing before. It was years ago but just the thought of it, chills me to the marrow. Before going on a trip, I have this habit of telling myself that it would be my last trip. I always prepared myself for the worst so I would say to myself "This is it" or "This could be it". It's one of my bad habit.  I also often joke that the best way to die is through a plane crash, so that you won't have to be afraid of "going" alone. That "fantasy" usually ended at the thought of being lost in the middle of the vast seas. I'm terrified of the sea.

Until now they still have no clue of what had happened to MH370. Most likely it would be a crash. But I hope it would be anything but a crash. I rather have a terrorist hijack than a crash. Even UFO kidnapping would sound much better.

I haven't try praying in years. My knees are sure rusted and I'm not sure if I still remember correctly how to do the sign of the cross, but I think I'm going to try to give one tonight. A prayer, I mean.

Last

So, I'm planning my (almost) yearly trip to Japan, apparently again. I swear this will be my last. To Japan, of course. But this time I'm gonna explore the land from head to toe. My sister will be accompanying me. I warned her that it will not be a leisure trip. Meaning, there's no room for shopping. My exact words were, "It'll be your ultimate backpacking experience".

Next year will be different, though. I'm starting to save money for the next trip but I still can't decide between Europe and Middle East. Both are equally charming, don't you think?

Say something

I'm giving up on you..

What a nice song isn't it?

Harbin Winter Vacation

Earlier this month I flew to Harbin with my sister. Why? I, myself have no idea. On a fine day, the temperature would be around -22 degree Celsius. Not that it feels less colder. There's no such thing as taking a stroll down the avenue. I can only walk for 10 minutes before rushing to any shops that I can find and pretending to be interested in the items they're selling. And you have to keep your hands (already in gloves) in your pockets all the time. Once I did the mistake of buying a souvenir and I had no choice but to hand carry it to the hotel. It was the worst 15 minutes of my life.

When you're done with the Ice & Snow Festival, you can either take the cable car or walk across the frozen Songhua river on foot. Choose the later. It's so much fun. And it's free.

 Moonwalk on Songhua river, checked!

I think the highlight of this trip is the visit to the Siberian Tiger Preserved. The picture doesn't do them justice. They are so big that if you put your arms around their belly, your fingers won't be able to meet.

The best time to visit is when the feeding time. Not because they fights for food. It's because the noises they made. It's unnerving to hear them roar and growls.

A white tiger.

 I forgot what the name of this creature is.

 This is a Liger. Lion + Tiger = Liger.

Jaguar. I don't know if that's a frozen drools or just his whiskers. But he's sure looks funny with that.

I only manage to take a few photos because as I have said before, it's a torture to take your hands out of your pockets (where it's nice and warm).

I'm suppose to keep this secret but I won't be able to move on with life so long I keep this to myself. So here it is. Ready? I didn't visit the Ice Festival. The one with colorful lights at night. I know. It's the biggest flops in the history of holiday vacation. Who missed the Eiffel Tower when they're in Paris? Who missed the Ice Festival when they go to Harbin? Apparently, I do.

Why?

Because it's freaking -35 degree Celsius in there!

2014

When I started this post the clock shows 1.11am and the date is 1/1/2014 at the bottom right corner of my laptop. What a nice coincidence.

Anyway, I know this post is long overdue. And I has been off the radar longer than I anticipated. I was caught off by the waves and sort of drifted along with it for a moment. A pleasant moment, if I may say. It was not hard to sever connections with the outside world. I terminated my tv's paid channels the moment I realized that I haven't seen the remote control for more than a month. Which was not lost, by the way. It was still where it was supposed to be. Under the coffee table. Immaculately covered in dust (cleaning is not the issue here). I guess I just lost interest in tv. Yeah, just like that. Puff.. and it's gone. Even now, I still don't have the desire to turn on the tv.

Things I've busied myself with lately. Reading. That's it. I read a lot of books. But I'm not as intellectual as you think. No. Most of the time (99.9%) I read fiction. And 98% of it was romance. I'm a woman, it's only normal to read romance novel. While we're on this topic, I want to point out that 50 Shades of Grey is definitely not my kind of cup of tea. I prefer Judith McNaught, Lisa Klepas, Linda Howard, that kind of taste. Yeah, I have a sweet tooth. But I can understand why that book intrigues most people. Just like the forbidden fruit. Or when you are told not to enter that particular room. Or to not push that button. I grew up in a house where disciplines were enforced by punishment. To go out and play before 5pm or come back after 6pm will earn you a flogging. Or fail to do your homework will also get you flogged. And so is late coming home from school, fail at tests, caught lying, fight with my brother and the list is long. Saying a vulgar word will get you a slap on the mouth, though. Let me clear one thing, even with all that, I never hated my father. He was my rock. I understand his ways. And look where it got me today. Anyway, what I'm trying to say, flogging is not fun. Pain is not fun. Degrading another human being is not cool. I miss the days where the romance book cover was anything but a man's abs.

In 2013, my goal was not to succumb to materialism. Well, I failed. I bought the new iPhone 5s. And the new iPad mini. Now, I got 2 iPads. Then I bought 2 more iPad for my mom and my niece. I spent a lot but saves only a little. So, this year is going to be different. I mean, the goal is still the same but I'm going to make a difference. I'm going to pull through until the end. Yeah, that's how excited I am about 2014.

1. I'm not going to spend even a cent on gadgets.
2. By the end of 2014, I will have 20k in my savings.
3. There will be only 2 holiday trips this year.
4. Before the year ends I'm going to weigh 30lbs lighter than I am now.

I think that covers what I want in 2014. Oh, I assure you I have no doubt of achieving it all. I did get rid most of my debts in the past year, didn't I?