Tough Cheese

I had, by far, the worst of luck last Friday.

I drove to One Utama after uni to buy Ip Man (pronounced Yip Mun) movie tickets for the next day cause mummy dearest wants to watch it so badly. And well, I, who don't watch Chinese movies for the reason that I don't understand Cantonese, am obliged to accompany her...just cause.

It was mid-afternoon when I left uni, hence, to avoid the jam I took an alternative route and reached OU in possibly the shortest time. I felt smug. But that feeling didn't last very long. Having parked my car, I fumbled through my bag in search for my wallet to keep the parking ticket, only to realise, to my utmost horror, that I didn't have my wallet with me. So not only had I driven to uni and then all the way to OU without my license, I had just parked my car in a shopping mall with no money to pay for parking ticket. Geezus.

Few thoughts came to mind. I could

1. call someone
   
   My mum - Right...like she's going to leave her office, which is in Glenmarie, and drive all the way to OU to bail me out of a shopping mall. I don't think so.
   
   A friend - The ones I could think of were either at work or scattered all over the place. Heh.
   
   My maid - "Kak...saya di OU sekarang dan takda wang untuk bayar parking kerana saya terlupa bawa dompet la. Tolong. Please." And what could she do? Take a cab and bring my wallet to me? Pfft. (Hey...actually this didn't seem like such a bad idea. Dammit. Why didn't I think of it then?!)
   
   
2. withdraw money
   
   Genius! Why didn't I think of withdrawing money earlier??
   
   It took me a few seconds to realise that my ATM card is in my wallet and my wallet is not with me. Idiot.
   
   
3. beg
   

I guess the latter seemed like the only thing to do.

I checked myself in the rear view mirror. I looked so frazzled. I wasn't even sure if I could even get a dollar even if I went down on my knees and pleaded. Nonetheless, I had to try. I ran my fingers through my hair, fixed myself, and into the mall I was, to beg for RM1. Swt.

Are you mad?? Of course I did no such thing. Beg for a dollar. Pfft. I have more dignity than that.

I was lucky to have coins in my car. RM1.70 worth of bloody coins. RM1 went into paying parking and the balance of RM0.70 can be used to bribe the police should I get pulled over.

I reached home, grabbed my wallet and headed back to OU for the second time. My mood was further agitated by the difficulty of finding a parking space. I finally decided to park illegally next to a wall. I ran up to the cinema level and finally bought the best seats in the house for Ip Man after all the afternoon's hassle.

I started to feel light headed for having not had lunch yet. And seeing it was the 19th, I decided to get a 1901 hot dog as every 19th of the month is Lucky 19th time where selected hot dogs are sold at only RM1.99! But as my luck had it that day, the store in OU had closed down. *mother toot*

I left OU feeling very disgruntled and my stomach, unfed. Thus, I stopped by Ming Tien to 'ta pau' lunch home. While I waited for my food, my mum called.

Mum: Where are you now?
Me: Buying lunch. Oh...I've bought the tickets already.
Mum: What time?
Me: The first show. 12pm.
Mum: 12pm?? I can't make it at that time. I've my all-girls lunch.
Me: What??
Mum: Why didn't you check with me first?
Me: How am I supposed to know?! You said you wanted to watch the movie!
Mum: Do you think you can change the tickets?
Me: I highly doubt it.
Mum: Then pass me the tickets. I'll go to OU myself in the evening and see if I can get it changed.
Me: Never mind. I'll do it.

I was rattled at the end of the conversation. I collected my food, walked back to my car, started my engine, and then I saw it, from the corner of my eye, a piece of paper clipped under my wipers, flapping in the wind. A bloody fine! I half-stomped out of my car, snatched the bloody piece of paper off my windscreen, scrunched it up and threw it away. By now, I was just flipping mad and was boiling from within. I could have sworn the car I had parked opposite of didn't have a parking ticket either and it was parked there before me and instead, only I got fined! The MBPJ officer was either sexist or racist...or both! UGH.

I sped home, chowed down my food, took a time out, *breathed*, and in less than an hour, found myself in OU...again...finding for a parking space for the third time that day. Geezus.

Earlier efforts to calm my nerves failed miserably as I started to feel flustered from the crowd. Oh god...I hate shopping crowds. HATE. Absolutely loathe them. Despise them. Anyhoo, I made my way to the GSC ticket counter and asked if I could get my tickets changed. And as expected, the answer was no. The person attending to me however said he could help sell my tickets for me, but only on the next day. So he told me to come back the next day (i.e. Saturday) around 12.30pm to collect my money from him.

And well......

I never did.

Wear White

It is fairly obvious that my posts of late have been verbose a-lacking. I am saddened to think that I have lost the intellectual capability to string a few simple sentences together just to create a proper paragraph. And it has only been 3 weeks since I last put my brain under great strain. Does it only take such a short span of time for my brain to atrophy? I would hate to picture my brain cells depleting and leaving my brain looking akin to a dried prune. Arid and shrivelled. I digress.

Turning to news that is probably worthy of more sympathy than my current vegetative state, the city of Mumbai which was a target of terrorist attacks a few days ago—though thankfully has come to an end—raised a death toll of more than 170 and caused grave injury to 290 others. It is a great tribulation for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones to have to endure; an ordeal I couldn’t possibly fully understand even if I tried to place myself in their shoes as the emotions run far deeper than a wail of sorrow or a lament of death. They are sealed within every blood cell, coursed through the veins and harbour beyond where the heart is. An abysmal agony. Unfathomable. Unimaginable. Unintelligible.

It is thus befitting and respectful that a day—today—would be served as a memorial to the victims of the Mumbai attacks. It is today we will gather together to mourn the passing of the lives lost. It is today we will stand in harmony to commemorate the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. It is today we will promote world peace, unity and support.

So wear white today—the global colour of mourning and the symbol of world peace. You can make a difference.

My Heart Goes Out To You

For the unborn children that never got to the chance to see the world,

for the human lives lost through induced abortion,

this one's for each and every one of you.

R.I.P.

Snatched

I've read countless reports of snatch thefts in the newspapers. Heard numerous stories of them. Seen my neighbours (note the plural) get robbed. The last thing you would expect is for it to happen to you...or in my case, my mum. But that's probably the one thing all snatch theft victims share in common prior to getting robbed, they'd always think it would never happen to them...until it does.

At about 12:30pm today, my mum's handbag was snatched as she was walking into the house. Two malays/indonesians (which, she was unsure) on a motorbike sped towards my mum and grabbed her handbag, dragging her along the road as my mum stubbornly refused to let go. Thankfully, she escaped with only a few minor cuts and bruises but her handbag was gone. Scarily enough, she saw it coming. When she stepped out of the car, she saw the motorbike from afar and instinctively knew what would unfold. However, petrified and unsure of what to do, her first thought was to dash into the house. Unfortunately, everything happened in a blink of an eye and it was all too late. It's a sad ordeal for my mum but I know she'll get past it.

I hope no one would ever have to encounter such an experience but it is never by choice, the cards we are dealt. So to everyone (especially the ladies), always be aware and be safe.