Shy Guys Finish Last

I went out for meals with C a couple of times. There was also a period when he emailed me every morning asking how's work.

C exhibited all the signs of a guy who's interested in a relationship, but I was not sure because he never said anything. He never asked if I'm seeing anyone or if I had a bf.

But common sense tells me that a guy who consistently asks a girl out and emails her every single day is most probably a guy who's interested in becoming more than friends.

One day when we were casually talking about relationships, I seized the opportunity to ask C:

Me: Are you looking for a relationship?

C: Whenever I meet a girl I'll size her up to see if she could be a potential candidate for my clients (C is a headhunter).

With a crappy answer like that, I didn't probe further because I didn't want to embarass him. He came across as a loser for not having the balls to say something.

I decided I'm not going to bother asking again, and that we should just remain acquaintances. A guy with no balls is not worth my time. Moreover he's not my type.

Soon C was in-between jobs and there was no contact for a couple of weeks.

About 2 weeks ago I received a call from a friend asking if I knew any guy to introduce to her colleague's sis-in-law. I immediatly thought of C!

So I sms-ed him and this is how our messages went:

Me: Hi C. How are you? Hey, just out of curiosity, are you interested in looking for a relationship?

C: I am. How about you?

(I think C must have thought I was the one asking and must have been thrilled thinking I was finally making the first move. But to assume that would have made an ass of you and me. So I told C the reason I was asking ...)

Me: A friend of mine is looking for a decent guy to introduce to her colleague's sis-in-law. I immediatly thought of you. Nothing serious, just get to know each other first. Would you be interested?

C: Friend's first, right?

Me: Of course! You don't have to think about buying a ring yet!

C: I'll buy a ring for you lar. Ha ha.

Me: :-)

(This is the part when I thought we'd discuss how to introduce the both of them. But I thought wrong. Read on ...)

C: Sure you got plenty of guys who are willing to buy you a ring, right?

Me: What does that suppose to mean?

C: You surely got many guy friends who are keen on you.

Me: What makes you think that?

C: You are ... blah, blah, blah (a string of compliments).

(My head swelled for like 1 second, and I politely replied: )

Me: Ah yo ... Don't say like that lah ... Thanks, I'm flattered! :-)

C: True mah.

----- Messages ends -----

C must be disappointed that I wanted to introduce him to another girl. All his efforts to hint that he likes me had gone down the drain. I guess that's the reason he probed to see if I had a bf. If I told him I had one, he would be thinking that's the reason I'm not interested in him.

And he thinks that by complimenting me I might finally get the hint.

Before the string of messages, C never asked if I had a bf, did not say he's interested to become more than friends, nor did he compliment me in any way. He just treated me like a friend.

Now when I want to introduce him to another girl, then only want to talk like that.

When I attempted to play matchmaker, C could have said something like:

"I don't want to be introduced to another girl; I want to get to know you better. That's why I asked you out a few times."

But he still didn't have the balls to speak up. So I gave him the girl's email hoping he'd contact her and let things be.

The moral of the story is that if you like a girl, for heavens sake, please tell her!

There's no harm in letting a girl know how you feel. At least things would be clear between the both of you. Don't do things that will make a girl get all confused about your intentions. She can't read your mind.

If the girl rejects you, so what! At least you showed her that you had the balls to tell her how you feel. Who knows, she might feel cherished and might want to explore the relationship further, even if she does not have any feelings for you yet.

But what's worst is that she might think that you're treating her as just a friend. And when she becomes someone else's gf, that's when you'll be banging balls.

I know that confessing your feelings is definitely easier said than done, and not everybody has the guts to do it for fear of rejection. But it has to be done or you might regret it.

So guys, speak up or forever hold your peace.

My Travel Expenses ... So Far ...

Boat ride to Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand

I have a habit of keeping a record of all my expenses whenever I travel. Be it a snacks bought from a roadside stall or even toilet fees, I'll jot the cost down into a notebook.

After the trip ends, I'll transfer all the expenses to an Excel spreadsheet and keep the file in my thumbdrive. I have a separate spreadsheet for each of my trip.

The other day I was spring cleaning my thumbdrive and glanced through the spreadsheets from 2005 till my last trip to Manado about 2 weeks ago.

I decided to add up all the expenses. So after 8 trips which brought me to 26 cities in 6 countries, my travel expenses came to RM12,246.09.

Hunt Down All Non-Moving Water Meters

This world is full of morons.

I received a letter from the management of my apartment. The letter informed that my water meter was not working. I had to get a new one within one week, otherwise they'll simply bang a higher water bill for my unit.

So I called up the management office yesterday to ask how did they know my meter was not working.

The moronic officer who answered my call said that all units that have a low meter reading or meters that didn't move will have to change their meter because it is assumed that it's not working. WTF!

He cannot make such an assumption because each apartment unit would have a different number of residents - some units have small families, some have big families while some are vacant units. So the water consumption varies from unit to unit. And how the hell would he know how many residents each unit has?

Eventhough I was boiling inside, I held my cool and explained that I live alone with a housemate who is perpetually not there. I mop my whole unit once every 2 weeks and I send most of my clothes to the dobby. So my water consumption should be low.

Moreover I moved into the brand new apartment with a brand new water meter about 2 years ago and the reading has been consistent since then. So how can it not be working?

After giving Mr Moron my unit number, he rechecked and said that my meter is indeed moving albeit slowly, and therefore I don't need to change it! Wah ... so fast change mind ah?

Now I'm going to wait and see if my water bill next month will be higher than usual. You see, there's nothing in black and white to indicate that I don't have to change my water meter. Only the first letter remains. And if another moronic officer decides to follow-up on the case, I'm bound to get a higher water bill.

If that happens, I'm personally going to see whichever moron that's left in the management office and give him a piece of my mind.

Foot Got Bitten By Bugs

My left foot got bitten by some bloody bugs. Must be from those damn court shoes because it felt prickly when I slipped into 'em the other day.

Doctor gave me antibiotics and poisonous cream to kill whatever that's making my feet look so pathetic.

And vengence was mine when I sprayed my entire shoe rack with Shieldtox Attack.

Manado - Of 'The A-Team' & Fairy Tale Castles

Throughout my 4 days in Manado, I spent a bulk of my time on Bunaken Island. I didn't get to explore the outskirts of town or to climb Mount Tukun - all 'thanks' to AirAsia.

Manado is situated in Indonesia, in North Sulawesi to be precise. Apart from being a gateway to Bunaken Island, Manado is a town with many mikrolets.

The ubiquitous mikrolets in Manado town.

There're so many mikrolets that sometimes I think there are more mikrolets than people. Each ride cost less than RM1.00. Cheap, huh?

These mikrolets reminds me of the 80s television series called The A-Team because they move around with their doors wide open to enable passengers to get on and off easily.

Despite being in Indonesia which has the largest Muslim population, 80%-90% of Manado's population are Christians. That's why you'll find churches in every corner instead of mosques.

Even a small tropical island like Bunaken has its own church.

Church on Bunaken Island.

Spires of the church on Bunaken Island.

The spires reminds me of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle (Pic from internet)

which was the original inspiration for the infamous castle you see in all the Walt Disney cartoons.

Walt Disney Castle (Pic from internet)

In Manado town, there are also many sculptors in the middle of the roads.

This one reminds me of Tugu Negara.

This one is artistic.

My flight to Manado landed late in the evening when there were no more boats to Bunaken Island. As such, I had to put up a night at Celebes Hotel which is situated beside the harbour before taking the boat to Bunaken Island early the next morning.

View of Manado harbour from Celebes Hotel.

Grandma's 90th Birthday

Madam Wong Siew Fong celebrated her 90th birthday last Saturday.

The whole brood gathered at the Loke Fook Moon Restaurant in Jalan Meru, Klang for the birthday do.

After 7 children, 13 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren, here is my maternal grandma:

I wish her good health, good health and good health. May she reach the 100 mark!

Our Beautiful Chalet on Bunaken Island

This is the chalet that Angie and I stayed in whilst we were on Bunaken Island.

Swaying coconut trees and blue skies provide a superb background for our chalet.

This is how the inside of the chalet looked like:

Check out the mosquitoe net hanging above the beds and the antique fan on the table.

The unique part about this chalet is it's open air washroom.

Whenever I took a shower, I look up and see this:


It's even prettier at night when I shower under millions of twinkling stars.

And every night after a tiring day of snorkeling, we'll sit on the veranda of our chalet and enjoy a bottle of Bintang beer.

What would life be on a tropical island without the Bintang.

Obnoxious People on the LRT and Bus

By the time you read this I'd be on Bunaken Island in North Sulawesi.

And as I snorkel with the rich marine life here, I'll try not to think about the obnoxious people I meet daily in the LRT and bus in KL.

I'm leaving them all behind for 4 glorious days!

1) People who refuse to move further into the LRT or bus. Their action deprives others from getting onto the train/bus. Everytime I encounter people like that, I feel like giving them a tight slap for being so inconsiderate.

2) People who take their own sweet time to get into the LRT. There was once I was rushing to get to work. The Monorail was just pulling into the station when I arrived. After grabbing my card from the turnstile, I made a dash for the train.

By that time the last few passengers were already stepping into the train, and the alarm (which signaled that the door was closing) was already ringing. And there was this girl who was swinging her arse as she slowly got in.

I made a dash and pushed the stupid bitch into the train before the door closed. I got clipped a little by the door but I managed to get to work on time.

3) People who lean against me on the bus. The other day there was this woman who leaned her tummy on my shoulder as I sat in the bus. And her tummy looked like it contained triplets, so imagine the toil it took on my shoulder. Luckily she moved further into the bus soon after that.

Oh yeah, I've also encountered a guy was getting a hard-on using my shoulder. WTF !!!

4) People who sit 'kangkang' (legs wide open). The culprits are usually guys who need ventilation for their 'goods' or they are just being hum-sup (cheeky?) and want to brush their legs against the girl sitting beside them.

5) People who lean against the pole in the LRT or bus where you hang on for dear life. When I encounter jerks like that, I normally squeeze my fingers around the pole and they get the idea and move away.

But there are some who don't; like an incident I saw whilst on the KTM Komuter. A young girl was leaning against a seat, depriving an older lady of hanging onto it. The older lady advised the girl to move so that both of them can hold the seat together. The young girl just stared at her blankly and continued leaning!

So bye-bye obnoxious people, till we meet again ... soon.

What I Bought at the MPH Distributors Warehouse Sale

I was so happy when I heard that the MPH Distributors Warehouse Sale was on.

Thanks to the slow economy, I decided to zoom in on the books I wanted instead of going on a buying frenzy like before.

I've heard and read so much about Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series. So I decided to buy 2 copies (RM20 each). So happy managed to get the first book in the series - The Colour of Magic because it's quite hard to find this book in bookstores.

Lately I've become a fan of Neil Gaiman because the fella's work is damn brilliant. So I specifically went there to hunt for his books and managed to get Interworld for RM30.

And of course being an avid traveller, I got a few Lonely Planet guides and also Bill Bryson's Neither here Nor there (RM30) because I heard he's a fantastic travel writer.

(LP England: RM66.00, LP Scandinavian Europe: RM75.00)

Grand Total Damage: RM241.00

Now I so must get a bigger bookshelf.