My aunt and uncle were down in KL recently, staying over at our other apartment unit a minute’s walk away. Endless chatter into the wee hours of the morning is normal when it comes to this family, and I particularly like it when discussions about ghosts, fairies and such arise — and it always happens, as the stories told are what actually happened to my aunt and my mom. I love paranormal talk!

While she was over, Auntie Girlie passed me a little Nazar bead attached to a pin. Apparently there’s a little stall in the Mont Kiara fleamarkets that sell these in all sizes and decorative style. A Nazar or Evil Eye Stone, is an amulet from ancient mythology that protects against the evil eye. They originate from Turkey. I’ve never owned one before, but I’ve seen palm-sized ones watching over the front entrances of some of my relatives’ homes. Do I believe in it? I don’t know, but I do know that it’s bloody cool to have one.

More about Nazars here, and Evil Eyes here.

On the Aussie-bound front, there’s still no news from the visa department. I went for my medical on Monday — peed into the obligatory tiny cup and had doctors grope me and stick their hands down my pants (hernia check) with a smile on their faces. Maybe someone’s trying to be funny with me. I never had a breast exam on my first medical for my first trip to Australia, and I could pee into a kidney-shaped pan too, so I didn’t have to aim! But anyway, I’m fit like a champ

I had two preventive fillings on the sides of two teeth at the dentist today, no scaling was needed as my teeth were still in tip-top shape and didn’t need to remove my wisdom teeth that recently grew out over the months of work stress. So I guess I also have great teeth? W00t for Wolfy!

It’s 9:30am and I think it’s time for a quick roundup of awesome videos I saw on YouTube this morning.

But before that, did you know that there is a new genre of rock music? It’s called ‘wizard rock’, spawned by no-life fans of Harry Potter. ‘Emo’ now has a competitor

And now, on to the videos:

The White Stripes playing a one note show:

Jackass David Blaine (Part 1):

Jackass David Blaine (Part 2):

Pool meets dominoes:

…and Heavy Metal Fight (thanks, Albert!):

… and you know what? I can’t ever be happier at the moment. But that’s all you’re getting outta me.

Did I mention that I’m really looking forward to sleeping on benches in Perth? No? Coz I’m not.

Anyway, I got myself my new black Adidas Country Rip today at SACC Mall… 20% off for being a Celebrity Fitness member — saved me 56 bucks w00t! FYI, Celeb Fitness members can get these discounts in the KLCC, KL Sentral and SACC Adidas outlets ONLY.

Tried to find this particular pair in KLCC on Sunday and they never freaking carry black Country Rips, ever! Not even my old ones with orange stripes. Boo.

Didn’t make my day any more productive than watching a man in front of me at the KLCC LRT stick a business card into the ticket slot! Like, WTF, seriously. Can’t you tell a business card from the train ticket you retard? After many a times of telling him that it isn’t the ticket –patiently– he successfully finds the train ticket on him and proceeds to stick the ticket in the wrong way. Repeatedly. And the line behind us started getting longer. So I grabbed his ticket and slotted it in for him, to which then he proceeds to stand in the middle of the walk-thru, waiting for the ticket that has expired that will never pop back out. So I told him to fluck off (ok, I just said “go away” nicely…) and breezed through with my Touch N Go card.

Freaking villagers. ffs.

For those wondering what the fluck has been going on as I’ve been declining hangouts and catch-ups, I’ve finally gotten the offer letter from Curtin Uni and I’ve been running around setting the motions of my trip back to Australia. Visas, medical checkups, banking, etc… gah!

As an LUCT alumni, I decided to let NextGen do the worrying for me instead of going around like a headless chicken! They’re really helpful, and they even helped me with my first transfer to Curtin for a BA degree a couple of years ago. What surprised me though is that the University Placement Exec, Jesse, still remembered me after all these years. Amazing!

Flights are mostly fully booked and uber expensive… but I now have a confirmed flight on the 24th of July. STOKED!

Oh yeah, Erica Underwood House told me that they’re fully booked, so I’m left to sleep on the streets. Anyone got a room for Wolfy?

… or something along those lines.

Last Tuesday was my last day at work, and now I’ve been hitting the gym regularly again! Ahhh, it certainly feels good!

But… I’ve realized that I’m setting myself up for a somewhat hypocritical dilemma. A party-lovin’ health freak. And parties = plentiful booze.

It’s been easy for me since coming back to Malaysia. I fell back into my anti-social mold and invitations to go out would be hampered by the fact that I had no free access to a car, no public transportation services in my area, and the big city was an hour’s drive away. Add those with the lack of desire for midnight activites in Malaysia. Well, bugger that.

In Malaysia, losing the ‘Party Pounds™’ I gained as a senior in Perth (I managed to dodge the ‘Freshman 15‘) was only made easy because of missing temptations, even though I currently have an unopened bottle of Absinthe with me right now

And as I plan my escape route back to Australia, the land where beer is breakfast for some, I wonder about the fate of my physical health.

I’m not too worried, however, as I have good control and I can only hope that I can afford a gym membership after I score an Aussie job. Which shouldn’t be too hard, right?

p/s: For some hard-nosed facts about how alcohol can put your body to self-destruct mode, Wolfy recommends that you read this.

Chris Evans aka Johnny Storm of Fantastic Four.

Ow, prepare to be hunted!

I AM ME

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me
Everything that comes out of me is authentically me
Because I alone chose it - I own everything about me
My body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions,
Whether they be to others or to myself - I own my fantasies,
My dreams, my hopes, my fears - I own all my triumphs and
Successes, all my failures and mistakes Because I own all of
Me, I can become intimately acquainted with me - by so doing
I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts - I know
There are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other
Aspects that I do not know - but as long as I am
Friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously
And hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles
And for ways to find out more about me - However I
Look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever
I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically
Me - If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought
And felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is
Unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that
Which I discarded - I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do
I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be
Productive to make sense and order out of the world of
People and things outside of me - I own me, and
therefore I can engineer me - I am me and

I AM OKAY

© Virginia Satir, 1975.