English

Danny's aunty sent this email across, and I find it interesting.

ONLY THE ENGLISH COULD HAVE INVENTED THIS LANGUAGE

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple...
English muffins weren't invented in England .

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?
AND IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES
THEN PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES
AND THE GERMANS, GERMS
(no offence)

Shopaholic

Influenced by my very eng-lit friend Chien Fen, I am determined to read at least a couple of English novels.

So I walked into WHS Smith several weeks ago right before my fashion course.
After picking up some chocolate bars, I quickly browsed through the novel section.
Was very tempted to pick up 'Twilight' since my sisters were pretty crazy about it for quite some time, until 'The Devil Wears Prada' came into my sight.

Wait! That's my book isn't it?
I am attending a fashion course in five minutes time.
I should be reading something related to Prada or Gucci or Dolce & Gabbana.
Not Shakespeare or Michael Crichton (sadly he passed away in a battle against cancer)

So I took a quick look at the back of the book.
'Sassy, insightful and sooo Sex and the City'.

Alright! Sex and the City! That's it!
I walked to the till with a copy of 'The Devil Wears Prada' by Lauren Weisberger.


***

Again, I was standing right in front of WHS Smith at London King Cross yesterday.
Again, I was feeling like a literate - I have to read something while waiting for Danny.

But this time I am going to get something different.
More philosophical perhaps.

So I went straight to the top-selling chart.
These books should be good.
If not, they are at least popular.

Fiction? Nope.
Twilight...AGAIN?
Few weeks have passed, and it's still on the rack??!
One very cynical thought suddenly crept up on me - do they actually update their charts?

I think they do.
They should.

OK. Let's see.
Many eye-catching yellow labels sticking on the books, so yellow as if they are going to pop out any second - 'Buy one and get another at 1/2 price.'

This is one thing I like about England.
The musuems are free. The papers are free. Correction - some papers are free.
And now even the novels are on promotion.
How can it not be a civilised nation??!

OKOK.
About the 1/2 price thingy - it has nothing to do with civilization. I guess it's just one of the after effects of the economic crisis.
Hehe..but who cares?

Then I glanced through the titles, which I was supposed to do at the first place.

'Confessions of a Shopaholic'. OK no more 'fashion literature'.
Next.
'Shopaholic Ties the Knot'. What? Again?
Next.
'Shopaholic and Sister'.

Fine.....
This author must be really good, and rich of course. (provided that the chart is truthful though)
It is even made into a movie - it must be good then.
But I guess mostly because a part of me (I have to admit - a very big part of me) is very interested in this interesting shopaholic series of novels.

So here comes the very predictable ending - I bought two of the series.
And I finished one of them yesterday.
And IT'S SO GOOD.

I experienced most of the things she said - like got tricked into Spring bags and all sorts of promotional strategies. And all those excuses you came out to feel less guilty about buying something totally unnecessary.

***

Well I guess we should somehow get inspired after reading a novel.

So here you go - my inspirations:

First. I should go get the other books in the series.

I thought it should be inspirational??

Well, I've to say it's good market positioning. For very obvious reasons - targetting on shopaholics is always the right thing to do. And it's absolutely brilliant to write an entire series on it. Because shopaholics will ALWAYS come back for the next season. :)

- Right, I guess this is one good inspiration. -

Second. I am a shopaholic afterall.

- Sincere confession and realisation - very inspirational! -

Third. One great thing about being a shopaholic - I AM NOT AT ALL ALONE! :)

- Very very inspirational. keke. -

So what are you waiting for? Another thing on your shopping list:
Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIN!!

To my always pretty and smart sister Wan Jin,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Unbelievable! She is now sixteen years old!
I can still remember her being that small little girl, who used to check every night if our house doors were locked; and that chi-cha-po who started talking at a relatively young age. ;)

But now she has grown into a beautiful young lady.

Wish you:
1. Score flying colours in your exams!!!
2. Enjoy your time in Young Enterprise and whatever commitments you are having!!
3. Stay happy, young, beautiful as always!!!

Wish you all the best my dear sister! Have a great year ahead!

剪爱

Whenever I listen to this song, I cannot help but cry.



人变了心,言而无信.
人断了情,无谓伤心.
我一直聆听,
我闭上眼睛,
不敢看你的表情.

满天流星,无穷无尽,
我的眼泪擦不乾净,
所以绝口不提.
所以暗自反省.

终於,
我挣脱了爱情.

把爱,剪碎了随风吹向大海.
有许多事,
让泪水洗过更明白.

天真如我,
张开双手以为撑得住未来,
而谁担保爱永远不会染上尘埃.

把爱,剪碎了随风吹向大海.
越伤得深,
越明白爱要放得开.

是我不该,
怎么我会眷著你眷成依赖,
让浓情在转眼间变成了伤害.

我剪不碎旧日的动人情怀,
你看不出来我的无奈.

Dr. M's visit

Tun Mahathir visited Cambridge today.
I have to admit that he is a very good politician and a man with charisma.

:)

Random peeks

Came across these random videos on youtube.
Our very professional photographer JinYang has filmed some of the Cambridge's events, and I realise it only now. LOL.

Malaysian Night 2007



Kenrick practising Malaysian Night 2007



New Year Gathering



Malaysian Food Feast



Last but not least, the coming Mnight trailer:



Missing them already. :(

10 Recent Addictions

Recently I have developed some 'weird' addictions. Don't ask me why and how I caught up with them - because I have absolutely no idea..-.-

1. I enjoy staying up alone at night, sometimes even until 6am in the morning. Do nothing but to listen to different songs and to indulge in my own thoughts. Weird but I find songs nicer to hear when it is quiet at night.

2. I love to shop after lectures and during weird times like 5pm when the shops are about to close (those are times with least customers). After a long, stressful day, nothing beats a good evening retail therapy. :)

3. I youtube A LOT. It's like the hottest link in my browser now. I watch random series from U.S, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan or even China (yes China..I have just finished Justice Pao recently keke). But most of all, I love the Taiwanese entertainment and variety shows. I used to perceive them as 'shallow'. But I was SO WRONG - the hosts are simply hilarious.

4. I constantly check my email, almost every half an hour. It's like one weird habit I cannot help but to do it again and again. Am I nuts? Pretty much.

5. It is a must for me to check out the kitchen section whenever I walk into a departmental store. I even collect catalogues from Lakeland (retain chains selling household items). I guess pots and pans really help when it comes to fantasies for a warm, cozy home.

6. I read fashion magazines before sleep. But the thing is I always fall asleep even before I finish one damn article. Don't ask me why.

7. I love clementines/mandarin oranges. And now it seems like I am having a permanent sorethroat.

8. I read scripts of series online. Yes, no motion pictures, no sound effects, just the scripts. I find it the easiest way to learn English, especially in terms of daily conversations. This is the best excuse I can come out with so far.

9. I shop online nowadays. Albums, books or fashion items - just a few clicks and it will be right in your pigeon hole after a week. I am now very close to buying my groceries online.

10. Finally I drink Kopi O at night. Hmm..maybe that explains the staying up late bit. And it has to be that very specific brand - NanYang Kopi O from white coffee beans. YUM.

I couldn't help but to wonder: is England this bad that I have to come up with these obsessions just to ease out the boredom??!