I was there, reading frivolous beauty magazines, and as I left, I saw you. You were yelling at me.
I came back, but I couldn't find you.
Where were you?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Serendipity
I was there, reading frivolous beauty magazines, and as I left, I saw you. You were yelling at me.
I came back, but I couldn't find you.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Book Review #5: The Chase
The Chase by Clive Cussler
Anyone familiar with Clive Cussler would be familiar with the genre that he writes mostly in: Adventure.
So it doesn't come as a surprise that The Chase is a book about exactly that.
Isaac Bell is a renowned detective with the Van Dorn investigation agency. In The Chase, he is tasked with hunting down the "Butcher Bandit", a notorious bank robber back that kills and robs banks that are brimming with money used for miners' payrolls back in the days when there was the gold rush.
Old steam engines that runs on rails and dirty towns filled to the brim with whores that entertain permanently drunk miners come to mind.
The Butcher Bandit is actually a rich guy, a banker fueled more by the thrill of the kill than the need of money. His accomplice is his sister, a vivacious young lady of fine breed and beauty.
The book does well with the suspense, keeping the audience captivated with page after page of good old fashion adventure story telling. This is one to be recommended if one is in need of a easy read, a no brainer, perfect for the holidays.
Rating: 4/5
" It rose from the depths like an evil monster in a Mesozoic sea."
Isaac Bell is a renowned detective with the Van Dorn investigation agency. In The Chase, he is tasked with hunting down the "Butcher Bandit", a notorious bank robber back that kills and robs banks that are brimming with money used for miners' payrolls back in the days when there was the gold rush.
Old steam engines that runs on rails and dirty towns filled to the brim with whores that entertain permanently drunk miners come to mind.
The Butcher Bandit is actually a rich guy, a banker fueled more by the thrill of the kill than the need of money. His accomplice is his sister, a vivacious young lady of fine breed and beauty.
The book does well with the suspense, keeping the audience captivated with page after page of good old fashion adventure story telling. This is one to be recommended if one is in need of a easy read, a no brainer, perfect for the holidays.
Rating: 4/5
" It rose from the depths like an evil monster in a Mesozoic sea."
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Book Review #4: The Secret of Lost Things
The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
Oscar, in all his neatness and obsession with note taking and profound knowledge of everything, intrigues Rosemary. She is soon drawn to him even though she knows that they will never be together.
The Secret of Lost Things tells the story of Rosemary Savage as she travels to New York in search of the outside world after her mother passes away. She leaves her small home town in Tasmania and at first feels overwhelmed and alone in the big city.
She soon stumbles upon the Arcade, a huge second hand bookstore and its band of misfits of employees. This starts from the owner, Pike who often refers to himself by the third person (can you say weird??) to the manager, Geist, an albino whose eyesight and health are rapidly failing, to Pearl, a transsexual, who works as the cashier and aspires to be an opera singer even though the hormones which she takes are slowly destroying her voice.
Then she meets Oscar.She soon stumbles upon the Arcade, a huge second hand bookstore and its band of misfits of employees. This starts from the owner, Pike who often refers to himself by the third person (can you say weird??) to the manager, Geist, an albino whose eyesight and health are rapidly failing, to Pearl, a transsexual, who works as the cashier and aspires to be an opera singer even though the hormones which she takes are slowly destroying her voice.
Oscar, in all his neatness and obsession with note taking and profound knowledge of everything, intrigues Rosemary. She is soon drawn to him even though she knows that they will never be together.
Rosemary is soon unwillingly pull into a web of deceit when a hunt for a priceless manuscript by Herman Melville pulls the employees of the Arcade into its game. It does not help with her uncontrollable feelings for Oscar and Geist's somewhat perverse and desperate feelings for her as well.
Amongst all this, she seeks solace and counsel in Pearl and Lilian, a caretaker in the hotel at which she first stays at in her first few days in New York. The motherly figures offer her the let out and love, lacking which, one would believe Rosemary would be lost and forgotten like many in the big city.
When I first picked up this book amongst all the books, I felt the same way as Rosemary did as she stepped into the Arcade. Caressing book spines seemed to be something both of us can relate to. The book showed promises of a good read, like The Shadow of The Wind. Such a good read that was, something that had the musty and mysterious setting of a book store too.
Alas, this is not to be. The Secret of Lost Things did not impress me. Rosemary was bland, like a bowl of watered down soup. I felt none of the overwhelm-ness (is there such a word) that one would feel when first in New York city. And I felt none of the loneliness and sadness of a girl who just lost her mother. Rosemary's tendency to talk to her mother's ashes, which she brought over from Tasmania with her, did not convey this.
The story lacks a climax, and it did not feel gripping to me. Even the revelation of the mystery at the end was not captivating.The only thing lost i feel then was my time reading it.
Overall the book felt like something you wish you had not purchase full price at a bookstore.
Rating: 2/5
"I was born before this story starts, before I dreamed of such a place as the Arcade, before I imagined men like Walter Geist existed outside of fables, outside of fairy tales."
Alas, this is not to be. The Secret of Lost Things did not impress me. Rosemary was bland, like a bowl of watered down soup. I felt none of the overwhelm-ness (is there such a word) that one would feel when first in New York city. And I felt none of the loneliness and sadness of a girl who just lost her mother. Rosemary's tendency to talk to her mother's ashes, which she brought over from Tasmania with her, did not convey this.
The story lacks a climax, and it did not feel gripping to me. Even the revelation of the mystery at the end was not captivating.The only thing lost i feel then was my time reading it.
Overall the book felt like something you wish you had not purchase full price at a bookstore.
Rating: 2/5
"I was born before this story starts, before I dreamed of such a place as the Arcade, before I imagined men like Walter Geist existed outside of fables, outside of fairy tales."
Monday, December 21, 2009
Book Review #3: A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The story of A Thousand Splendid Suns is mainly about maternal longing and love to me.
It tells of Mariam, harami (an illegitimate child) and Laila. Mariam was born in a deserted part of town, placed there her father, a man too absorbed by shame to do the right thing and admit his mistake. Week after week, her father, Jalil, visits her. And her world revolves around these weekly visits. She trusts entirely in her father and that he truly wants and loves her, despite her mother's obvious scepticism.
On her fifteenth birthday, Mariam asks her father to take her to visit her 'other family' . Jalil dodges this. The end result was such that Mariam runs away to town to visit her father, but entry was denied to her at the gate.
She is sent home after one night of sleeping at her father's gate and sees her mother hanging by her neck on a tree. She believes that her abandonment of her mother caused her suicide. She is soon married off by her step mothers at 15 to Rasheed, 40ish , a friend of Jalil's.
Laila, however, is much different. She is well educated by her father, a former school teacher. But she soon finds her life destroyed by war and she is left without her parents and love interest, Tariq. Laila is rescued from the bomb that killed her parents by Mariam and this is how their path crosses. Things take a sour turn when Laila ends up marrying Rasheed, Mariam's husband.
But all is not blind happiness for both the women.
This story appeals to me because of the highlight of the rights of women, the suffering and the endurance that abused women have to go through. Reading about the war and the oppression of women by the ruling regime in Kabul and Afghanistan, I sincerely wished that it wasn't so. Education of women was not allowed, no singing, no dancing, no tv, no adequate hospital for women. Much depressing it was that such things exist in a modern world. Is it truly an unfathomable thought that women are intelligent and are able to contribute to society as well?
Nonetheless, what I feel when reading the book... The Kite Runner was written by the same author. Having read The Kite Runner before A Thousand Splendid Suns perhaps did spoil the experience for me some what as I am sure that if it had been the other round, I would have enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns so much better. Not that it was a good read, it was. It is just that some how it did not pull me in like The Kite Runner did. The whimsical games that children play in The Kite Runner really connected with me, whereas A Thousand Splendid Suns only managed to grip my heart by that little bit. I did not feel a substantial amount. Which leads me to think:
Are we really so jaded and numbed by the happenings of current society that we are unable to feel empathy for those less unfortunate?
The story of A Thousand Splendid Suns is mainly about maternal longing and love to me.
It tells of Mariam, harami (an illegitimate child) and Laila. Mariam was born in a deserted part of town, placed there her father, a man too absorbed by shame to do the right thing and admit his mistake. Week after week, her father, Jalil, visits her. And her world revolves around these weekly visits. She trusts entirely in her father and that he truly wants and loves her, despite her mother's obvious scepticism.
On her fifteenth birthday, Mariam asks her father to take her to visit her 'other family' . Jalil dodges this. The end result was such that Mariam runs away to town to visit her father, but entry was denied to her at the gate.
She is sent home after one night of sleeping at her father's gate and sees her mother hanging by her neck on a tree. She believes that her abandonment of her mother caused her suicide. She is soon married off by her step mothers at 15 to Rasheed, 40ish , a friend of Jalil's.
Laila, however, is much different. She is well educated by her father, a former school teacher. But she soon finds her life destroyed by war and she is left without her parents and love interest, Tariq. Laila is rescued from the bomb that killed her parents by Mariam and this is how their path crosses. Things take a sour turn when Laila ends up marrying Rasheed, Mariam's husband.
But all is not blind happiness for both the women.
This story appeals to me because of the highlight of the rights of women, the suffering and the endurance that abused women have to go through. Reading about the war and the oppression of women by the ruling regime in Kabul and Afghanistan, I sincerely wished that it wasn't so. Education of women was not allowed, no singing, no dancing, no tv, no adequate hospital for women. Much depressing it was that such things exist in a modern world. Is it truly an unfathomable thought that women are intelligent and are able to contribute to society as well?
Nonetheless, what I feel when reading the book... The Kite Runner was written by the same author. Having read The Kite Runner before A Thousand Splendid Suns perhaps did spoil the experience for me some what as I am sure that if it had been the other round, I would have enjoyed A Thousand Splendid Suns so much better. Not that it was a good read, it was. It is just that some how it did not pull me in like The Kite Runner did. The whimsical games that children play in The Kite Runner really connected with me, whereas A Thousand Splendid Suns only managed to grip my heart by that little bit. I did not feel a substantial amount. Which leads me to think:
Are we really so jaded and numbed by the happenings of current society that we are unable to feel empathy for those less unfortunate?
Rating: 3/5
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami."
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami."
Monday, November 23, 2009
It is.
It is kind
to those too young to understand.
It is cruel
to those who do.
It is merciful
to those who watch.
It is not
to those who feel.
It is devoted
to those who remembered.
It is forgetful
to those who didn't.
It is punctual
to those who were reminded.
It is persistent
to those whose hearts did not need reminding.
It is pretentious
to those who cried for vanity.
It is sincere
to those whom it embraces in the core of one's heart
Grief is.
to those too young to understand.
It is cruel
to those who do.
It is merciful
to those who watch.
It is not
to those who feel.
It is devoted
to those who remembered.
It is forgetful
to those who didn't.
It is punctual
to those who were reminded.
It is persistent
to those whose hearts did not need reminding.
It is pretentious
to those who cried for vanity.
It is sincere
to those whom it embraces in the core of one's heart
Grief is.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
For the Love of Pigs.
The Chinese have an obsession with pigs.
They buy the piglets,
feed them,
talk to them,
take care of them,
make sure that they are all comfiie,
then KILL them and EAT them.
Of course, pork plays a HUGE part in our diet. (Needless to say, all things with its back facing the sun are not excluded.)
The Chinese eat all kinds of pork:
from the few-week old suckling pig, staple for every Chinese wedding.
source: www.lovelymomentos.com
to the yum barbecue roasted pork, aka char siew,
source: www.jphpk.gov.my
source: www.jphpk.gov.my
to what I claim to be the king of all pork dishes.
Behold mortals,
I present
BAK
KUT
TEH.
(chinese stewed pork with herbs)
Just in case, you weren't put in awe by the mere mention of its name,
I present
its
PICTURE.
They buy the piglets,
feed them,
talk to them,
take care of them,
make sure that they are all comfiie,
then KILL them and EAT them.
Of course, pork plays a HUGE part in our diet. (Needless to say, all things with its back facing the sun are not excluded.)
The Chinese eat all kinds of pork:
from the few-week old suckling pig, staple for every Chinese wedding.
source: www.lovelymomentos.com
source: www.jphpk.gov.my
to the succulent siew long pau (translate: small dragon bun)
(Ok now, please stop laughing at us unimaginative Chinese people who can't seem to name things with names that do not include the word dragon or tiger or rabbit or phoenix or laughing buddha or royal china or happiness gardens. Ok whatever.)
(Ok now, please stop laughing at us unimaginative Chinese people who can't seem to name things with names that do not include the word dragon or tiger or rabbit or phoenix or laughing buddha or royal china or happiness gardens. Ok whatever.)
source: www.jphpk.gov.myBehold mortals,
I present
BAK
KUT
TEH.
(chinese stewed pork with herbs)
Just in case, you weren't put in awe by the mere mention of its name,
I present
its
PICTURE.
Perfect for breakfast, branch, lunch, tea, dinner and supper, this dish is the undefeated king of all pork dishes. Stewed to perfection with its special blend of spices, it is best savored with steamed white rice in a deep set bowl to capture the awesomeness in its juices.
As you can see,
there is much reverence paid to the great almighty pig.
Now, the strange thing is the ancient Chinese also punished adultery by trapping the horrible offenders in pig traps and drowning them in rivers, aka the act called cham chu long (translate: soaking in pig cages). Serious, no joke.
As you can see,
there is much reverence paid to the great almighty pig.
Now, the strange thing is the ancient Chinese also punished adultery by trapping the horrible offenders in pig traps and drowning them in rivers, aka the act called cham chu long (translate: soaking in pig cages). Serious, no joke.
source: www.stockphotopro.com/photo-thumbs-2/B02B3J.jpg
Hmmmm..........
Oh well, I'm sure they tried really really hard to think of a better name.
Hmmmm..........
Oh well, I'm sure they tried really really hard to think of a better name.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
You Had Me at Elasticity....
This spotted on the cardboard cover of a makeup brush. The mandarin bit at the top:
"The brush is produced using top quality hair. It is thick and stiff and at the same time soft. It will be able to put forth the actual colour of your make up, allowing you to present yourself at your most beautiful."I'm totally digging the translation.
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