In Too Deep

I have two new obsessions since a few weeks ago, both stemmed from my work.

k.a.k.i p.i.c.n.i.c

s.i.m.p.l.e l.i.f.e d.i.v.e.r.s

Yes, the art of Iban tattoos and diving.

You don't have to remind me how weird I can be at times. Hubs and close friends are doing a great job at that. Nothing much I can do for my first fixation as it's self-mutilation (though if I could I would've started with a dolphin) but after reading up on the tradition and the culture, I grew more interested in the Iban people themselves. There were so many things I didn't know about them even though we're in the same country. Not only that specific ethnic group but also others like Bajau, Kadazan and the like. Going to the museums and doing more reading will help tremendously in understanding them but I'd also love to visit their homes. That calls for a trip to Borneo.

Which brings me ideally to the second fascination - getting PADI certified in Sipadan while I'm there. That also means I have to be a fairly good swimmer so I have about four months to make sure of it. I'm getting more comfortable in water (Rafiee's training me twice a week and one of his techniques is to let me drown or bump my head on the pool wall... lovely husband, isn't he?) and in fact I'm getting addicted to swimming so I predict this will be a long-term pursuit (unlike the tattoo art which will most likely fade after I've exhausted my reading material).

On another topic, hubs and I took a hop-on hop-off tour around Kuala Lumpur today and saw a number of incidents that made us recoil in shame and disgust as fellow Malaysians. Will write about it soon enough.

Love Never Really Dies

Rafiee and I somewhat adopted a little kitten last Sunday. He must be at most three months. He was found in a wet market, looking really frail and I was told that he had a sister / brother but was hit by a car, leaving him all alone. 

He was so clingy, I think he assumed we were his parents. He was always following us, half running and half jumping, biting and licking our feet. We noticed something was not right with his anus and it was really, really red. We started to look for a vet on the same day but they were closed. On the first night he had diarrhoea so I took him in the evening to see a vet but it was a public holiday in Selangor so mission failed again. That night, he had bloody diarrhoea. I knew from my past reading that it's never a good sign and for a motherless kitten, it's almost always fatal. I was worried sick and he was crying endlessly. I was planning of taking a half day off to take him to a vet the very next day.

He couldn't wait. He died in the morning and I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't even look at his lifeless body. I blamed all the vets, the public holiday and I blamed myself for taking him in. Then Ayah reminded me that we had given him probably the only love he ever knew in his short time on Earth. Like a child, I asked him if I will ever see him again. He said yes. Until then, I find comfort in knowing that he's in a better place and it's the same place that my late Smigel is now.

Malaysian Drivers

Some Malaysian drivers can be so mean. You know those people. They swerve with no signal, they tailgate you with such urgency that one usually gets when they need to pee, they refuse to give way when you're obviously stuck, they ignore you when you slow down to give way and don't get me started on those who casually toss their trash out of the car. 

r.a.d.z.i.f.a.s.h.a.

Most of the time it's easy to follow suit. I mean, why should I let that snooty kiddo merge when he doesn't bother to give the signal? Well, it will make you feel wonderful about yourself when you do good deeds without expecting anything in return in spite of those oblivious people. Yesterday I gave way to two cars even though they should've waited and they didn't even have the courtesy to wave. I thought I would be pissed off, but I guess because I didn't hope anything in return, I felt great anyway.

The moral of the story that can be applied to other circumstances as well is that, there will always be that kind of people who have no common sense and sometimes simply unkind. Perhaps they've gone through so many terrible things, who knows? But we have enough of them so don't stoop to their level. Make others happy; you'll see it's contagious and it will only do you good.

Amber

It has been raining a lot these days and I'm going to blame it for my inability to write a long post this time. Also, I've been daydreaming more than I should. I guess I just miss the sea so this video and song right here will have to do until next time.