15

What I Have Been Doing October 2016

It has been some time and I was quite busy leading my life as a teacher. We are approaching the end of the year, hence school holiday is looming not far away. So everything must be documented, filed, frowned upon, shaken all about, maybe with some panicky screaming and sometimes a few sobs.
My students had finished sitting for their final exam and I must admit, on behalf of all the teachers on this planet or beyond, dead or alive, this century and before that...
WE HATE MARKING PAPERS!
This is my lab, which was fortunately devoid of students. So I can take naps and maybe play some online game with my new phone (oh yes I can. No more class as everybody has finished their final exam). Observe the pristine white tables (benches?). I had them all wipe, scrub and polish the entirety of the lab when I found out there were some writing on my table surface two weeks ago. I hate vandals. They should be kicked ceremoniously by the whole community as a warning to all. 

My table in the staffroom yet again... I only sit here for the air-conditioning, or when the rest of the teachers mumbled about how antisocial I was, staying quietly inside the lab. For the record, I don't consider myself to be socially inapt, I just treasure my alone time a lot more.
So much paper to mark... (they are not on my table still). 

My nightlife nowadays consist of playing games, watching tv or go outside for dinner / supper. Heck, when I was way younger I did go to the disco or any other inappropriate establishments. But I had decided that such places had no hold over me, and remember, I like to be alone by myself.
The restaurant above is near my house and we call it the 'purple' shop. The place has blue and purple lighting and chairs. The waiters, I admit to be a bit dumb (hey, I am a teacher. So when I acknowledge someone to be dumb, he is!) but the food was ok,
(My housemate was the one who labelled the waiter as an idiot when he forgot our order twice.)  

And this other restaurant is the one I frequented when I am on warden duty at school. The place is rather huge but not crowded, which I like. All the time I would bring a few of my students to have very late supper with me here (1100 pm upwards). Oh, and as you see in the photo, it is a seafood restaurant. But I refrain from ordering the seafood items because they are costly and maybe not even fresh (this place is far from the sea).
Do you have a favourite restaurant?  



And the picture above is of a typical Malay wedding community dining. Huge tents (or for those who can afford , huge banquet halls) are filled with people for a free meal, celebrating the wedding. Food nowadays are served buffet-style, for the great convenient of the host (less dishes to wash) and guests (no need to wait to be served). But I do remember when I was younger when people serve your meals at the table while attending a wedding ceremony. Good old days...
 Oh, and the wedding above was of my Vice Principal of Students Affair's son.
You can say most of the adults you see in the picture are all teachers or related to the call.

This is the other part of the wedding ceremony in the hall. The bride and bridegroom were on the stage, but surrounded by wellwishers and family members. Usually the tables near to the stage are special because they cater to the close family members of both party.
So non relations like me and sundry just keep to ourselves at the tents...
(MY own wedding was way bigger than this :P) 

I was in the city for two days, attending a science course for teachers. So during my break time, I wander around in my car killing time, and not people, mind you.
This is BSN, Bank Simpanan Nasional (or National Savings Bank). I snapped this pic after extracting my pay from its ATM. Several years ago this was the National Bank of Malaysia, Melaka branch, so the building was understandingly huge.
  The National Bank withdrew its business and BSN took over. This building is actually in the middle of the city centre. But hey! Where are the skyscrapers?!
We only have a few, so they do not matter much.

As Halloween is upon us already, how about a bit of spookiness?
Yep, above is an ancient Chinese tomb. They were a few of these tombs next to the General Hospital and I chose this one because it was in a open space for lighting.
[My Chinese friend told me that it was quite unacceptable to take photographs of cemeteries and my reply was thus.... This cemetery is exactly next to a VERY busy street. People can shout, scold, scream or even shoot at me if they want. But they didn't. And I believe the ghosts would feel pretty proud that someone is showing interest in their grave site.
My friend laughed at this]. 

Two stone lions...
There is a stone with a wad of paper above this gravestone. 
I am wise enough to let them alone.
(Have watched enough horror films about touching stuff you are not supposed to...
And some people said you never learn anything from horror flicks...).

They are two stone elephants. So I took a picture of one.

Another stone lion. Bigger. 
The old Chinese style depicted this lion to be roaring, but as you can see, it was almost like the thing is smiling. I don't find this creepy though. Even looks like a friendly puppy.
Only those with great riches and power put statues of noble animals at their grave.
(That's why I believe these graves were untouched, even by the city council). 

And here is Melaka Sentral.... my state central hub of public transportation, bus and taxis. This building have two wings, like an airport, one for domestic and the other for out of state travel.
I have stopped travelling on buses since I got my own car.
This palce is great for people watching though.

And last and not least. I bought a Zippo lighter today! 
For what you say?
I am not a frequent smoker, in fact I rarely smoke. But I can smoke like a locomotive if I want to, preferably if someone else is paying for it.
I just love metal stuffs, and this one is burnished copper, but not too shiny as I would be unhappy if it is scratched. Oh and did I ever told you good people I like to play with fire?
Mwahahahahahaha! I do like to see things burn :P
(Ok, enough of the pyromaniac confession).

16

Camera o Phone-camera!

This post is filled with pictures taken from my new phone. It takes amazing pictures, and if you see any inferiority, well, that's my fault. Unlike some of you good people who actually travel to find beautiful scenery to snap, I just take the pictures of things around me. I had a decent small Sony DSLR (8 megapix) and used it extensively during my travelling days. Took many amazing photos of rivers and the jungles.... and alas, I lost ALL of the pictures when I neglected to back them up.
Moral of the story; back up your files for peace of mind. 

Now this is a student of mine I let him use my phone for a selfie. (Last night there was a discussion on talk tv about the dangers of selfies. They concluded that people who frequently selfie has a mental problem! Really?!) As I don't have a face that can stop traffic, I refrain myself to take and post selfies on social media. (Damn those beautiful people...) 
Anyway the boy's skin is spotty a bit because he has gluten intolerance. 

And this is of the same boy with the BEAUTIFY function on. (Most new smartphones have this function). Notice the difference? The phone has a beautify scale from 1 to 10 and this picture is taken only on 5. I tried 10 once and my face looked pasted with make up foundation an inch thick. It was flawless and also horrifically artificial to look. Oh the terrors of modern technology is a sight to behold (or not). 

This is Qasrina Sofea once again. She accompanied me and my brothers to get shots from the clinic. We are going to travel overseas this middle of December, hence the shots to avoid catching diseases. I will tell you where soon.


And this is the contents of my black leather bag. From the top (clockwise) is my leather wallet, a smaller version as the previous one was too big for a sane man to carry. Then my white power-bank (which I confiscated from a student in school, no gadgets policy). My red Sony headphones (because why you want to use earphones when you can go bigger for a statement?) My compact mirror, I bought from a travelling Chinese salesman. A small bottle of scented oil for my skin (I get it why the Evil Witch melted by Dorothy... If my skin got too clean, it goes dry and flaky). My car and house keys, with the Doraemon keychain. Some candy (I am diabetic, the sweets are sugar free) because I like them. And my yellow aluminum bank-cards holder. 


This was taken last week when a friend invited us for a barbeque meal. He has finally cleaned up his yard and house and is happy to invite guests now. In the picture you can see my housemate (in purple) sitting under a grove of bamboos. My friend had just started to light the charcoal by the small pond. I like that pond. I had my feet in it the entirety of the cooking process.  

The pieces of chicken over the charcoal.... My housemate had to pitch in as I am almost useless in this kind of job. They didn't use longer thongs so there were lots of ouchs and owws. They barbecued two chickens that evening and they tasted great, burned bits and all. 


This is the front of my house (yes, I have a request for this pic). Nope, it's not pretty. The gates are rusty and the grass is not brown because of lack of water...  They were dully poisoned by my housemate who had enough of using the grass whacker every month. He even accidentally killed some of the flowering and fruit plants with the poison. As he was the one who planted them, I have no reason to be angry (I'd go ballistic if they are mine).
This is the left side of my house. The yard is quite big and the rest of the homes here had already used theirs for expansions and renovations. I don't have a reason to use mine other than growing weed :) The Japanese rose bush on the left has sweet smelling flowers, almost vanilla like. Again, notice the brown patches... Weed and grass have finally won and they have started to conquer my lawn once again (and I believe my housemate shall poison them once again soon). 

I think I should update something more serious.... But people rarely like me when I am serious.
I always get my way and I will always win...
Heck, so we shall continue on fluff pieces...

14

It's almost 11 PM, and I Should Blog Something

Tomorrow is a school day and I should sleep early. But I had spent this afternoon napping for hours and I don't feel sleepy quite yet. You see, before the nap I went out and bought myself a new smartphone to replace my still usable (innocent) one. I need a bigger internal memory for a phone and my old HTC 816 measly 8 gig is too small for convenience. The new Huawei Honor 8 has 64 gig memory and I added 36 gig more externally. And the double camera is amazing.
So I tested the new phone camera tonight... 
This is my betta fish I keep in a mason jar on the table. I called him Justin, and yes, he is male. Justin cost me thrice the usual price because he got metallic scales, which is quite prized by betta lovers. Once I had a betta fish twice the price of Justin and gosh! He was BEAUTIFUL. (Betta males have more colourful scales and bigger 'sails' than females. They can live up to 5 years).

I was cleaning my leather bags and wallet earlier this evening and the stuff are still lying on the floor. I just adore good quality leather goods. But I will not waste money to buy exclusive brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach mainly because.... there are a tremendous amount of pirated items out there, there is no need to feel that special swagging your Prada when a 'Prado' cost 90% less.
Oh, and I put my bank cards inside the yellow aluminium case. Sometimes I only carry this to shop and leave my wallet in the car.

These are actually women's brooches. I bought them from my sister's boutique shop and they were imported from Korea. I used to have tarantulas and scorpions as pets (but never snakes) and I pinned them to my messenger bag and sling bag, both black leather.
As for the time being, NOBODY commented that I shouldn't wear women jewelry. Some female colleague s asked if my sister sells 'cuter' brooches, and I said yes.
Crystals.... I have many crystal bracelets. But I don't think guys my age can wear crystal bangles anymore :(

I snapped this outside my home after locking the gates. Looks ominous doesn't it?   

Same place, but with my flash on. Now you can see a bit of my front yard. On the further right in the gloom you may see my pomegranate tree. I love this tree, not only because it produced huge fruits, both my pet ferrets and Kiki, my cat were entombed underneath it.
And no, I don't eat the fruits. Here, people plant pomegranate trees for aesthetics and luck.
A heavily laden tree is considered very auspicious.

Well, that's all folks. Time to hit the sack (1131 pm now).

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