“Apa tengok luar tingkap wei?” (Loosely translated: Why are you looking outside the window?)
“Huh?”, I was reluctantly brought back to reality by James.
“Tengok je...”, was my short and brief reply. (Just looking...)
James and I were in Syimah’s bedroom. She shares a flat with Belinda and another person whom I failed to remember the name and gender (and who also wasn’t present on that day, so give me a break!).
Anyway, James got to know Syimah over a year ago and she invited us over for some nasi lemak one Saturday afternoon. I remember exactly how James introduced me to Syimah when we arrived at her place five minutes earlier;
“Syimah, this is Ijun. Ijun, meet Syimah.”
“Hi”, I offered a smile and feeling a bit awkward.
I was always unsure if a lady wants a handshake. I usually wait to see if she would offer one first. If she sticks her hand out, I would shake it.
“Hello”, she said. “Please come straight in. I’m still cooking.”
No hand sticking out. Looks like no handshake here.
“Oh ok. Come Ijun”, James was making sure I was well looked after.
James and I were led straight to her bedroom. It would seem that this flat was either missing a living room, or it has simply just been converted into another bedroom.
In any case, there we were, trying to make ourselves comfortable in Syimah’s bedroom. She had gone back to the kitchen. James was having a browse on the bookshelves while I was more intrigued by the bedroom window, for some strange reason.
“Ah, look! Sepet!”, he grabbed an authentic VCD copy (complete with SIRIM's holographic sticker) from the shelf, sounding like a miner who had finally struck gold.
“Come, let’s watch it!”, he continued.
He walked out to the hallway and started to holler,
“Syimah, can we watch your Sepet or not???”
“Go ahead!”, was a very distant yet audible reply from the kitchen across the flat.
James quickly closed the door. My Javanese nostrils were flaring to the scent of sambal tumis as it crept rapidly into Syimah’s bedroom. The walls of my mouth soon filled with fresh manly saliva.
“Ugh. Lapar.”, I thought to myself. (Ugh. Starving.)
After fumbling exploring through Syima’s DVD player and sound system, we managed to get Sepet on the telly. I have actually seen the film before so this time round is purely for James’ benefit. He was really keen on watching it.
About forty minutes later, it was time to swap to the second VCD. Syimah entered the room,
“So have you guys finished it?”
“Not yet. We’re about to in the second disc.”, James explained.
“Korang tak pernah tengok ke?”, she continued. (You guys haven’t watched it before?)
"No", said James.
“Dah”, I boastingly replied. (I have.)
“Best kan?”, Syimah offered her opinion towards the movie. (Good, isn’t it?)
“Boleh lah.. tapi ada ke family Melayu macam tuh?” (It’s passable, but is there truly a Malay family like that?)
“Wah pandai you cakap Melayu. Takde telo langsung. All your friends cakap macam ni ke James?”, Syimah expressed her amazement. (Wow you speak Malay fluently. No accent at all. Do all your friends speak like this James?)
“Eh?”, James had a bewildered look on his face.
So did I, which include my left eyebrow raising itself by two inches.
James turned his head towards me, back at Syimah and back again towards me.
“You’re Chinese aren’t you?”, uncertainty was clouding Syimah’s judgement.
“Errr...”, I turned toward James.
“Errr...”, James looked at me.
“Yes. Yes I am”, I said confidently.
I had no idea why I said that. I could clearly see the white of James' eyes from five feet away as they grew larger.
“Ok I’m heading back to the kitchen. Once you guys have finished the movie, we can eat.”, Syimah went away again.
As the door closed behind her, both James and I broke into the most silent laughter we ever had, complete with our hands slowly slapping against the carpeted floor, like that of a wrestling referee.
Artist: Daniel Powter Album: Daniel Powter Song: Bad Day
Where is the moment we needed the most You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost They tell me your blue skies fade to grey They tell me your passion's gone away And I don't need no carryin' on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low You're faking a smile with the coffee to go You tell me your life's been way off line You're falling to pieces everytime And I don't need no carryin' on
Cause you had a bad day You're taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don't know You tell me don't lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day The camera don't lie You're coming back down and you really don't mind You had a bad day You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday The point is they laugh at what you say And I don't need no carryin' on
You had a bad day You're taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don't know You tell me don't lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day The camera don't lie You're coming back down and you really don't mind You had a bad day
(Oh.. Holiday..)
Sometimes the system goes on the brink And the whole thing turns out wrong You might not make it back and you know That you could be well oh that strong And I'm not wrong
So where is the passion when you need it the most Oh you and I You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
Cause you had a bad day You're taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don't know You tell me don't lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day You've seen what you like And how does it feel for one more time You had a bad day You had a bad day
Had a bad day Had a bad day Had a bad day Had a bad day Had a bad day
I yelled whispered loudly and got up on my feet in a flash. It was way past one o’clock in the morning. Anuar and I had just finished watching Hearts in Atlantis on DVD and were discussing the differences between the movie and the novel, when all of a sudden, in the corner of my eye, I saw something dark with eight legs went crawling under the gas-fireplace.
I turned to Anuar, who had a estranged look on his face and said,
“Apa?” (English translation: What?)
He was at the other side of the coffee table, he couldn’t have seen it.
I gave the fireplace a few taps.. and immediately realised that it was probably a stupid thing to do. Why provoke something that you are scared of in the first place?
“How are you with spiders?”, I turned to Anuar again.
“Not too bad.”
“Really? What about rats or snakes?”, I squatted down on the floor again, with my legs stretched beneath the coffee table.
“Cockroaches.”
He proceeded to tell me what happened when he was child (Yeah, why do these things always happen during childhood?). Anyway, I won’t disclose the story here, but it was bloody funny as hell.
As the both of us were recovering from our laughter, something crawled pass me on my left side with blazing speed and went under the sofa. I swear to God, it must have been less than four inches away from me.
“SHITTTT!!!!!”, I got up on my feet again and jumped to the opposite side of the coffee table.
Anuar had both his feet up on the sofa. I could tell that he wasn’t taking any chances there.
“Did you see it?”, I asked him again.
“Something went under the sofa.”
I went to get my foot-long Maglite and used it to illuminate the area under the sofa.. from a safe distance of five feet away.
Anuar was laughing at my precautionary measure, but I paid no attention to him.
“There’s nothing there, but I was pretty sure it went in there.”
That’s not actually true. I could see some dust-bunnies.. and what seemed like reminiscence of my battle with a packet of Kacang Mengelembu Cap Pagoda a few weeks back, but I thought I better not try and frighten my guest with such findings.
After being absolutely sure there was nothing under the sofa, I proceeded to walk to the kitchen to make a hot drink. Lo and behold.. there it was right next to the stairs.
“Oi tengok ni!” (Come look at this!)
Anuar came rushing and said,
“Gila besar sial!” (That’s huge!)
“Apa ko ternak sini wei?” (What are you breeding here?)
“Quick, grab a picture of it”, I calmly instructed Anuar.
He grabbed his digital camera and took a shot..
*click*
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout Down came the rain, and washed the spider out Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain So the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
Amy: Perfect! That is just perfect! That would be just like me to go and fall in love with you! I have tried every unavailable man. A gay guy would really round up my collection! Man! What was I doing.. I’m losing my mind!
Oscar: You’re not.
Amy: I mean, you have been so good to me and what do I do? I tried to kiss you! I am so sorry.
Oscar: Don’t be sorry.
Amy: It’s just that sometimes.. you and I seem so.. I don’t know. Man.. I’m such a fucking mess. You know what.. you know what? I’m just being dramatic. I’m tired. I’m gonna be fine. Let’s go.
Oscar: Yeah well. You certainly look fine. Yeah listen Amy. I bought this tough girl routine for about five seconds.
Amy: What?
Oscar: Look at you. This is killing you! What are you doing with him?
Amy: What are you talking about? It works!
Oscar: It works.
Amy: Yeah it works!
Oscar: Oh come on. Where is this really going?
Amy: Honestly, he’s straight for Christ’s sake!
Oscar: *smiles* Now that’s.. that’s really great.
Amy: I get what I need from him.
Oscar: Yeah? Well so does his wife.
Amy: Oh..
Oscar: Well then just give me one good reason you’re with him? Just one good reason.
Amy: In a year and a half we haven’t had a single fight.
Oscar: He doesn’t care about you enough to fight with you. He wouldn’t know how!
Amy: God I can’t believe I’m getting griddled by you of all people! You haven’t had a date since I met you! You don’t know a single thing about relationships. You just stick around with me and play it safe!
Oscar: Yeah well. I don’t know about you but I’m getting a littie tired of playing it safe.
Amy: So what are you waiting for?
Oscar: *silence*
Amy: You know, what I have with Charles is not perfect.. but what I have with you.. is what? ...WHAT?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that.. a lot of you know what it’s like to be in the closet. So you know what it’s like to have a secret. Constantly worried about slipping up. Having to hide your feelings from the people that are supposed to..
..mean the most to you. And what I admire about all the people here tonight, is that you’re not afraid to be honest about who you are. You’re strong enough to stand up for the simple dignity of telling the people that you love.. how you feel.
Now I.. I know a little bit about this.. because for the last three weeks.. I’ve had a secret. And I think it’s time for me to come out from the closet.
I’M NOT GAY.
Amy, I love you.
I haven’t been honest with you, but I love you.
I never felt that way about anyone.
And I know that just by telling you this.. I might have lost any chance that I ever had.. to be with you.. but I believe you deserve..
..that everybody here deserves..
..that kind of honesty.
*Scenes taken from the movie entitled Three to Tango, starring Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell and Dylan McDermott.
"Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone." - Octavio Paz, Mexican Poet
"The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress." - Joseph Joubert, French Philosopher
"The life of a man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." - Thomas Hobbes, Natural Law Philosopher
"Every passing minute is a chance to turn it [life] all around." - Sophia Serrano from the movie Vanilla Sky
"There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"You can always do work, it'll never be finished... but you can't make up for lost time with people you care about." - May of Month-of-May.blogspot.com
"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not." - André Paul Guillaume Gide, French Author
“Ah, look! Sepet!”, he grabbed an authentic VCD copy (complete with SIRIM's holographic sticker) from the shelf, sounding like a miner who had finally struck gold.
*Scenes taken from the movie entitled Three to Tango, starring Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell and Dylan McDermott.
