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 I declare this blog officially closed.

Say “Ahh!”

I never used to like dentists. They meant pain, drills, and hooked metal instruments that look like they have no place in an oral cavity.

So there I was, waiting for about half an hour. Interesting characters you encounter in waiting rooms. There was this one guy who smelled sickeningly sweet… sort of like those pens with perfumed ink. And one lady kept dabbing her eyes with a tissue and clicking on one of those little metal counters.

Anyhoo, my turn came up and I went in. Dentist lady was really sweet and all, and asked me all sorts of questions. I told her about the broken filling and she said she’d take care of it another time, and that this time was just teeth cleaning. Or tooth scaling, to be exact.

The thing sounded pretty screechy. Something to do with sonics, I think. Didn’t ask how it works, but possibly uses concentrated sound waves to break plaque? I dunno. But hell, it was like I had an insane miniature banshee in my mouth.

After the sonic ordeal, dentist lady told me that I had bled a lot, and that it was an indication of unhealthy gums. When I spit, it was like haemophiliacs anonymous.

Dear lord, the blood.

My next appointment is on the 9th. Something to look forward to, eh? And incidentally, Higglytown Heroes is on and today’s hero is a dentist. It’s a sign! Of what, I don’t know.

It’s almost time

This blog has 2 weeks left to live.

I’m me

I’m a jealous person, even in friendships. I find myself struggling with envy at times, especially when people have company that I would like to have. But I’ve been learning time and time again that I have a unique role in the lives of the people I care about. A role that no one can take away from me. No one can replace me in their lives, just as no one can replace them in mine. We all have people we wish would see us the way they see someone else. And yet, we always forget how they see us, and how, if only we realized it, we would not want to trade our relationship with them for that of another.

I guess I’ve discovered that I’m happy with who I am in people’s lives. And if I’m not? Hell, I’ll make it so that I matter to them. What better way to be a friend than to be so great that you prove to people that they will miss you when you go?
With the days flying by, I’ve been left to my own thoughts. What have I been thinking about? Well, many things, really. But mostly, people.

Ah yes, the people.

I think about those I’ll leave behind. The people I care about. The ones I find myself thinking about and missing, even though we see each other regularly. You know who you are. And if you don’t, then I apologize because that means I have not proven to you that you matter to me.

Keasberry

My brother recently told me about the Keasberry family website. I’m pretty thrilled at the realization that there are so many of us out there beyond Bruneian borders.

I’d always known that there are Keasberrys scattered about, but this is the first time I’ve seen them come together in a compilation. I intend to read up on it and keep tabs on everything as well. I’ve started a little research of my own into our family history, beginning with a bit of discussion with my dad and brother concerning who’s married to whom, and whose children are whose.

It’s really cool delving into our family history and genealogy, but by far the coolest part of it all is our coat-of-arms.

We have our own family crest. How wicked is that?

Blue = water

Kids say the darndest things.

In other words, kids are retarded. See Nikki’s post on August 15th for proof.

Side note: I finally found a theme I’m happy with. Truth be told, it was the constant theme-obsessing that drained me when I used blogspot. Due to my slight OCD, I find it quite soothing to be held back and limited when it comes to theme customization.

ARRR!

How many of you had this reaction when you watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2?

I know I did.

Click pic to enlarge.

Red = blood

Felt like a change. And I’ve been really inspired by the whole ΙΧΘYΣ thing. That, combined with my recent meditation on 2 Corinthians 12, brought on this change.

Somehow it seems like this transition to the ixthus theme makes me look like an evolutionist turned creationist. Not that I ever believed in evolution. Or that I was ever really smitten with monkeys.

I just like the shirts, just so we’re clear.

How to know you’re a Bruneian

1. People ask where you’re from and the easiest explanation is saying that it’s next to Singapore.
2. People are still clueless about where Brunei is and then you mention how the Sultan of Brunei was once the richest man in the world and everyone instantly remembers.
3. You either hang out in Coffee Zone or Coffee Bean or have children that do.
4. Your closet is full of designer gear but all you wear is the same old t-shirt, shorts and ’selipar jepun’ that cost $2 from the ‘kedai kaling’ next door.
5. You don’t wear Versace because only the older Datins & high society people wear it & because you have the suspicious feeling that it was made in Brunei.
6. You travel all the way to Miri just to get bargain priced goods but spend twice as much there as you would back at the shops in Brunei.
7. Your family has at least 4 cars, almost always including a large car like a ‘Land Cruiser’ (for stocking up at Miri).
8. You don’t drive second hand cars.
9. You don’t drive a car that is less than $40,000 because it is just unheard of.
10. You complain like hell when the food is slow at a restaurant, but when you are at a ‘pasar malam’ you can wait hours for your gourmet satay from that Mamak stall.
11. McDonalds is halal & you can order a ‘Bubur McD’
12. You don’t take public transport because it’s for workers.
13. You are used to the wolf whistles of deprived men when you walk past them – even when you’re with your parents.
14. You are used to seeing large crowds of Indian, Indon, Filo & Bangladeshi workers hang out at shopping malls, especially on Sundays.
15. You have called someone a ‘poklen’ or have been called one before.
16. You buy mee-goreng by the boxes.
17. You are obsessed with imported food from England.
18. You fly to Singapore to go to the hospital because you don’t trust RIPAS.
19. You go to Singapore to have a good time.
20. You go on holiday ANYWHERE with 2 empty luggage’s and come back with at least 10 full ones.
21. You go to Singapore or Malaysia at least 4 times a year.
22. You own an enormous private collection of pirated VCD’s, DVD’s & CD’s.
23. You have a few specialised number plates for your cars.
24. You go to the pasar malam with tatty clothes & slippers but a LV/Gucci bag.
25. You actually believe the roads have no speed limits.
26. When singing the national anthem, you mumble parts of it because you can’t quite remember/understand what some of the words are.
27. You Believe in Bomohs & pontianaks (vampires?).
28. You have Astro satellite.
29. You don’t feel bad living in your mansion across from a kampong or even in a kampong itself.
30. You change your mobile whenever a new one comes out.
31.You know that the beach is the place to go to conduct illegal activity such as drinking & fornication although you swear you’ve never done it yourself.
32. You know all the places that sell illegal alcohol.
33. You must send your kids overseas or else they will have no future.
34. You fly out at least 10 times a year to many different places.
35. At least one member of your family lives in England, Australia or the US.
36. You have the cash to pay for a $100k Car.
37. You complain when something goes up in price even if it is only $0.20 & try to haggle over the price even at a department store.
38. You have to wake up early to go for Sunday breakfast with your family (all 40 of them) & most probably it’s Dim-Sum.
39. You know all the swear words in Malay, Tagalog & Chinese.
40. Have bad bahasa melayu even though you have been studying it for your whole life.
41. You buy your monthly groceries on or around the 26th of each month.
42. You avoid supermarkets on or around the 26th or each month.
43. You think a 7 year loan repayment plan is a reasonable way to own a car.
44. You have 5.3 kids.
45. Your younger children go out in their pyjamas (barbie for girls, spiderman for boys) with a bottle of Milo clenched between their teeth.
46. Your younger children wear massive gold chains.
47. You PAWN your children’s massive gold chains in order to finance the upcoming Hari Raya.
48. You wear black trousers, a multicoloured blouse and a tudong everywhere. Younger females, just swop the black pants for jeans.
49. If you are over 40 and female, more often than not, you are overweight and ‘phone box shaped’.
50. You think nothing of carrying your new born baby complete with quilted plasticky pastel changing bag, while dangling a LIT cigarette between your lips.(men)
51. You think 5 cars in front of you anywhere on the road is a traffic jam
52. You think $0.03 for an SMS is still expensive!
53. You earn only $500 a month but can still buy a new car somehow and are willing to pay up to 10 years for it for those who do not apply to point #36 & who exceed point #43
54. You complain that a $1 hike in cigarettes is way too much when it still comes up to only $4 max a pack
55. You know you can get away with buying only $2 worth of gas cos your car modifications used up all your loan money from point #57
56. You will pile your 5.3 kids in the car and brave the more than 5 car jam to the Istana for some religious ceremony in order to get $5 per kid.
57. You consider taking out a maximum loan to extend your house (leaving no space for drains on your land) just cos the neighbours are renovating too.
58. You will spend thousands on car modifications but will hang around curbs/ roadsides with friends cos got no money to pay for coffee at Coffezone or Coffeebean.
59. You ride a Harley with a bunch of friends & park in front of Coffeezone/Coffeebean but only order water or coke & think its still macho.
60. The 26th of each month is the only time you dare to buy more than $2 worth of gas cos you need to go cruising aimlessly around Gadong (a major hang-out place for Bruneians) after grocery shopping.
61. Cruising aimlessly is defined as driving round the Centrepoint & Mall (located in Gadong) strip a minimum of 4 times while revving your engine loudly for all to hear.
62. The typical male wears only Premier League team t-shirts, jeans, baseball caps & slippers as passable casual wear to pick up tudong-ed chicks in.
63. You slow down to 10km/hr whenever a car breaks down is being towedaway / has an accident just to see if you know who the driver is & to get the number of the car to buy 4D later.
64. You take out a business loan to start a business but buy a brand new Lexus immediately (refer to point #36 on cash) with the loan & then start the sloppy business with the remainder of the money.
65. You do not know or have never spoken to 80% of the people you’ve invited to your wedding and who take the liberty to bring their 5.3 kids
66. 4 generations stay in one house & there is 1.5 cars per person in the household who have a driving license
67. You think leaving work at 5:30pm is ridiculously late.
68. You don’t bat en eyelid in any yoga class even though the instructor is referring directly from a book.
69. The local newspaper is still readable even though the front page always has some sort of story about illegal immigrants being caught for overstaying or soliciting as in point #31
70. Every year, since the 80’s until last year, you dont want not miss HM birthday titah (because you guess HM will increase your salary)
71. When you want to get some service from the government sectors, you will find your saudara first
72. If something goes wrong, you will say that one of the datos or pehins is your relative (or at least they know you)
73. You go to a new shopping mall to beat everybody else even though it’s just another Hua Ho
74. Yyou know most of the people here…”Eh si anak si anu eh saudara si blabla”
75. You miss call instead of calling/sms
76. When you see a local tv camera around you during the day, at night you will watch the local news… and hope to see yourself on tv.

- from The Daily Brunei Resources

A Painting

Before that hour I looked back in time and saw a white sheet of nothing.
I look at you now, the ocean of dreams that call out to me like a whistle in my ear.
I look at thoughts and remember what I would normally forget.
I saw you, the sky, in a room of black you glowed white.
I saw you, the sun, burning red like a candle in the dark.
I saw you, and I smile for I did.

I wake up now, weeks, days, hours have passed.
I look back and see what only a blind man would see once he has a second of sight.
I see what only flashes of beauty combined could make me see.
I see on that white sheet of nothing, that empty canvas is now a painting.
A painting… of you.

- Calvin Too