It's funny how my previous post talked about how angry a person I am on a daily basis and today's post talks about how calm I could get at times. It's like a complete clash that makes no sense to anyone; perhaps to myself too. Yet the fact remained as such that I have never felt more peaceful than I have today. So where do I begin?


I finally took the time my butt off the chair and went out for a swim. I've always been putting it off for various reasons like it's too hot out or I'm too lazy to wash my swimsuit later and the best one being..."Clubhouse too far!" when it really is just about 3 minutes if I drive out. I have no idea why I always had excuses to my laziness but I suppose when your heart isn't in it, you just can't go for it. In fact, today's swimming plan was made with Ashley but she cancelled it this afternoon and I...was left hanging for a bit. I didn't know if I should have even gone because it felt pretty sad to go swim alone.

It was only at about 4-ish in the evening when my father and uncle came home that I felt the urge to change into my swimsuit and go take a dip. I don't know why but the feeling was almost like, "OMG LEAVE NOW ELIE LAM OR YOU WILL DIE." It was so weird considering I was halfway talking to my cousin who was dying of boredom in her office. But I took the plunge anyway and headed to the clubhouse alone only to see that there was no one at the pool. PRIVATE POOL YAY!

The initial touch of the water to my feet was so chilly, I thought I was going to get hypothermia. Fine, that's a little exaggerated but it was cold. The sun was out but there were also gusts of wind so the water was cold. "Better get it over and done with," I thought. And I jumped in. It was probably the most amazing feeling I have felt in a while being in the city and living the life. In fact I pretty much scolded myself for being lazy to take a swim for the past few months because it was just so majestic to be in the private pool where I could lap around without anyone judging my retarded swim.

The very next thing that the pool gave me was a sense of calmness. It was like a sanctuary that I have always looked for and it was so silent, I thought it was the best place to have been for the longest time ever. I'm a terrible sinker - I always float; but today I tried hard to stay underwater and put myself off oxygen just so I could feel the silence a little longer. I have to say, it wasn't an easy task but it felt amazing. Loads of things ran through my mind as I swam around the free-form pool and the quicker I lapped, the faster things went around.

This post; just as the one before serves no purpose to mankind but it was simply a sharing of what appeared to be a regularly boring day with a zing. It felt great to be in the water and much more to have been allowed to just lay there where no one cared how I flabby I looked in my swimsuit. I'm sorry, I often feel like I'm being secretly judged for turning into a Nippon paint Blobby like the ones I used to see in the Nuffnang office and it's always been one of my weaker points. In case you have no idea how a Blobby looks like...

It actually feels a little surreal to have to spend my everyday at home now then get out for really long hours in a day and be trapped back at home. That's right, I'm living the typical post-graduate lifestyle what with the waking at 1 p.m. and stuff. Results were also released last Friday and it's simply safe to say that I will not have to re-take or re-sit any papers or subjects at all. Bottom line, I will be graduating and I most probably will be attending the convocation next year. After all, I did get a screwed up high school graduation because of a teacher who was incompetent in handling it.

So today's rant is truly in all it's natural forms...a rant. But it isn't a rant of anything or anyone else. It's simply a rant of myself. In fact, I think it's terribly rampant and I really should have a good control over it before I get into trouble for it. The problem? My attitude. And anger management. And maybe a little of both that really connects to each other. Perhaps I've always realized this...or not but either way I felt like I owed myself an explanation.

The fact is, I get fairly agitated over the tiniest of things. Late dinner, people who can't hear me over the phone or when they don't explain stuff clearly...it drives me nuts. A tiny part of me puts myself in place and goes to say I'm a little on the OCD side (I demand that all volumes are of even numbers, never odd. If it's odd, it better be a multiplication of 5!) but another part tells me that it really is a problem that needs addressing. Like proper addressing with an exact fix for it. And then I realize...I don't have a fix for it.

I used to shout at the Maxis operator when they throttled my internet even when I haven't hit 50% of my quota. I got agitated with the registrar of my college because they told me there was a good chance I wouldn't get to study what I actually WANT to study in my final semester. I scolded numerous service staffs because they were slow and never got me my food. Wait hang on, I did the right thing there, didn't I? I was pretty fierce over the phone at the taxi driver who brought my uncle home from KLIA because he apparently had no idea how to come to my house yet he picked up my uncle last night.

In fact, it was this poor taxi driver who made me realize that it was time I killed off this terrible anger habit. He came into the house and told my mother, "Saya orang baik, ma'am. Awak banyak garang dekat telepon." (I'm a nice person, ma'am. You were really fierce on the phone.) Granted, I didn't hear this because I was taking a shower when he reached my house and my mother repeated it to me. I'm really sorry, taxi driver. I was pretty worried you were going to kidnap my uncle and kill him when you said you didn't know how to come to my house and yet you picked up my uncle. My bad.

Long story short, I've pledged last night to bring some things to an end. This attitude / anger problem. It just really has to go and I've got to learn to control it. So here's a promise to stop being such a b*tchy person with a terrible temper and an impatient manner. If I'm raising my voice the next time, it better be for something else than some fool cutting in front of my car or some waitress not bringing me my water. And speaking of anger managements, I found this video on YouTube that I found hilarious. I should learn to control my temper this way.

Remember when I mentioned in my Modbox post I would have a recap of my facial session with New York Skin Solutions? While typing this there's just about one tune stuck in my head and it's the extremely annoying "New York Skin Solutions" tune that 988 FM plays at the end of the commercial New York Skin Solutions airs. No offense but the tune is plain irritating but at the same time really gets to your head which irritated me further.

Coming back to the point, I finally went ahead for my complimentary first trial facial with New York Skin Solutions on Tuesday (13/08/2013) after postponing it for a week due to the Raya Holidays. Speaking of which, everyone had a good break? I had registered for it when Sarah (I think?) posted it out on her Facebook timeline that we could try and see if we were the first 100 participants who wants to have a go with the facial they had to offer. And the Chinese in me was completely excited because...EXCUSE ME FREE FACIAL OKAY?

They called me up about a week later when I was on a random day out with Steven who wanted to look for the right clothes to go clubbing to fix for an appointment and I just shot a date to them completely forgetting the fact that it was the Hari Raya week. So when they called again to remind me that I had an appointment for the 6th of August, I panicked and switched it to the 13th instead because I knew the traffic in the "golden triangle" of The Curve, IKEA and Tesco would be havoc. They seemed pretty nice on the phone though, allowing me to just throw off my appointment to another day without going all, "Ohhhhh okay laaaaaa," or any of that crap.


I had picked out the branch at The Curve to do my facial because it was closest to home but they have branches elsewhere such as Midvalley, Empire Subang and The Mines just to name a few. It was placed on the 2nd floor of The Curve and there were a few girls who happily greeted me when I walked in. Settling in a room aptly called "Manhattan", I was served by a really nice lady called Jasmine (or was it Annie?) who gave my skin an initial scan to see how it really was. It turns out that my 101 worries of oily skin and clogged pores were...true.


My pores were seriously congested and I had tons of little plugged out holes even deep within my skin. The scan was thorough but non-intrusive because they had this weird scanner that really just resembles the scanner from supermarkets to take "photographs" of your skin condition. I thought it was cool and cleanliness is definitely top in New York Skin Solutions because I noticed how Jasmine cleaned off the scanner with an alcohol swab before scanning my face.

If you know me well enough, I'm all for cheap stuff. I mean, I've talked about it before on my Save 22 post and I'll definitely say it again here...I'M A CHEAPSKATE ASIAN. Or Chinese. Whichever is more cheapskate. That being I would go to mad lengths just so I could milk the most out of my every ringgit and today's post is no different.

You know how beauty boxes and bags are a mad fad nowadays with pint sized beauty samples coming in sturdy boxes and pretty bags? Well I've always wanted to subscribe to one but with price tags such as RM 35 or RM 59.90 being pasted on them...I turned away. There is a little inch in me that refuses to part with my RM 35 for some beauty products. I mean...I could be eating Baskin Robbins instead! I'm just really stingy in that sense.

I got really excited last week however when I saw Isabel talking about this thing called the Modbox that features beauty products for only RM 9! And the things inside looked really cool! It was one of those days when I woke up really late (Totally living the post-graduate life now especially when my dad doesn't wake me up for a morning run) and rolled over to check for new stories on Imotiv. I immediately got up and turned on the laptop and surfed the Modbox site hoping to get my hands on my very own one.

And today...

This is probably going to be one of those recap posts that bores the living light out of many people but it is also one of the weirdest dreams I have ever had. And take this from me when I say it: I have terrible memory. Seriously it's a wonder I have ever passed any of my exams with whatever I've memorized. Or maybe I'm a good bullshitter. Either way, I remember this very dream so clearly that I actually think something is being told...in some way.

For some reason, I've always been a vivid dreamer. Everything I see when I close my eyes are in full colours but I don't remember what happens in it. Last night or early this morning (I don't know what time exactly I began to dream of this) however, I dreamed of the most ridiculous thing. It doesn't make sense, but bear with my weird mind here.

It starts off with me buying bus tickets for myself and a partner whom I have no idea who to go to Genting Highlands. I believe this is due to me talking about going to Genting endlessly before they close up the theme park in September to make way for the 20th Century Fox theme park. Thing is, I have no idea who this partner of mine is but I believe it's got a hint of Wai Kin incorporated in "him" because "he" was late and I had to buy the tickets myself. I think I'll just call him B for now. Don't blame me, I never got to see his face.

Switch scene and we're in Genting Highlands together. It's weird because B and I don't seem to be that close but we're just up there having fun on rides and what not until B says that we should leave now. And I somehow agree. (WHAT IS THIS, BRAIN? YOU DON'T JUST FOLLOW WHATEVER A STRANGER SAYS!) Before getting on the bus however, B notices lights coming from...a beach. To which I am really trying hard to get a grasp of this at the moment because...was I not at Genting Highlands?


Switch scene again and B drags me to the source of the light at whatever beach he notices. Don't ask me what happened to being in Genting Highlands. I don't get it either. Some random uncle who seemingly sells lightsabers (This must come from excessive Criminal Case gaming on Facebook) tells B and I that there's a party happening at this beach a little over 6pm. Notice how crystal clear these tiny pieces of information comes to me? So B asks if we could stay instead and I said yes. (BRAIN, YOU'RE NOT CO-OPERATING HERE!)

I think this is the final switch scene whereby there's me partying at the beach with B...only. I think the uncle just lied to us and wanted to sell us his fake lightsabers because there was no one else who would buy them. And then it started raining and for some reason, B and I didn't run away. We just stayed there waving our lightsabers at the random waves that were crashing on the beach until we noticed how ginormous one of the splashes were. Are you catching my drift here?

Yes. A tsunami happened. Like smack in front of my face although in all technical terms I have no idea how a tsunami looks like up close. The closest I can imagine is a cut scene from the movie The Impossible but that was just it. I remember that B and I ran for our lives towards land but he had kicked the "Lightsaber" uncle's table and fell. I ran back for him (My God, I'm so awesome!) and took his hand before we continued running. And the last thing I saw? A tsunami waving over my head while I stare at B and...my dad knocked on my door.

"Oh...I am God today and I saved you from deep shit," dad said this morning during breakfast. Yeah, thanks uhm...God.

So that's really just my dream. I don't get it. I've been online looking for dream interpretations and these are the things they have come up with for me. Here's the links to what they have to say to my dreams. Beach. Tsunami. Theme park. I don't even know what it means. Maybe I just need a getaway. Without the tsunami. Pretty sure daddy "God" won't be there to save me then.

It actually feels like it's been a while since I did a personal piece - one that isn't review based or to talk about food and movies. So here I am to update everyone on things that has simply been going on. I think the last I've really talked about myself was in my hiatus PSA post when I raged about my final assignment and exams.


What's new? For one, I've finally graduated I'm now waiting to see if I will be an official graduate with double diplomas from IACT College and some marketing body in Malaysia. It's an add on to my current holding in LCCI (That pretty much equals to a diploma apparently?) so I'm really hoping that everything goes smooth and I wouldn't have to pay extra to resit or retake any of my subjects.

That said, look what came into my postbox the other day!


Like hello, I've just finished with my exams and assignments, I haven't even gotten my results and you're asking me to pay my loans already? *Throws it aside until I find a job to repay whatever I owe the government* And the postman didn't even hand deliver it to me. He technically ripped the sticker of the registered post thing; possibly signed it off himself and left it in my postbox. WHAT THE HECK YOU LAZY SHIT. So really if there's anyone from the loan board reading this, I DID NOT RECEIVE YOUR LETTER IN LEGAL TERMS BECAUSE I DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE ARRIVAL OF THIS DOCUMENT OFFICIALLY.


Moving on, I've finally come around to doing something I have wanted to do since aeons ago but I never had the chance because I couldn't focus enough...


My days have seriously just been full of "A I U E O, KA KI KU KE KO" and so on and so forth for now. I'm practicing written Japanese in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji although it's really just Hiragana for the start. Spoken lessons also follows through and I'm really happy to be blessed enough and be attending Japanese classes with my uncle's friend, Arakawa-san.


Other things in life has also been taking twists and turns while I take the time to accept each and everyone of them. I think it's called "Growing up", something all adults hate and I think I'm not really enjoying it that much either. Then again, what would I know about being an adult?

Fatty strikes again! So technically this whole post-graduate life is treating me fairly well with attempts to exercise in the mornings so I stop growing...sideways. But when my dad said, "Let's go for Thai food", I was sold. Immediately sold. Nobody stops Elie from having Thai food! NOBODY!

This is such an unexpected movie for me to watch because number 1, I have never watched anything Marvel besides Ironman (ROBERT DOWNEY JR. HOMAIGAWD) and number 2, I really wasn't interested in watching a hairy man with claws swiping around the big screen. But I did it anyway and I regret nothing!

So first of all live I've just said, I have never watched anything Marvel which means no I have not watched any of the X-Men movies or any other things that has a link to The Wolverine. This also means that I have a tendency to be blur like 90% of the time in the cinema what with the storyline being Logan living in fear, anger and nightmares on a daily basis. I just don't get it. Sure, it does have its own stand alone story here but I think you would need at least a tad bit of knowledge to the series before you truly understand it. BUT please stay for the after credits. STAY even if the cinema you go to turns the lights on. Just STAY.