stories from the brink of insanity :P

Moved to:
www.linzhilau.blogspot.com

Not sure how long i’ll keep it b4 i disappear from the blogging world again But if u just wanna see what i’ve been up to, feel free to visit

Hello everybody!
Linzhi in scotland now. Going to move my blog over to blogspot soon, since everyone says its sooooo goood hahahah.. we shall see!

Yes yes, i know i said im getting rid of my blog

I’m now back in Malaysia and I’ve been doin a bit of a disappearing act lately. Doris and Deb have been broadcasting this fact to me so this is specially for them See, dun u guys hav such a wonderful friend? *wink wink*

This update is also for those of you who are so bored you check up on blogs that are presumably dead teehee!

Anyway, during my last days in Beijing I:

- bought new glasses!!

Got poor little Jiaxen to model them for me. He went a bit dizzy after that, oopsy *sheepish grin*

- decided to satisfy the architect in me by visiting the bird’s nest, meaning the Olympics 2008 stadium.

 

This is the conversation i had with Liz the next day on msn (extracted from Liz’s blog):

linzhi says: oi

linzhi says: guess wher i went today?

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: Beijing?

linzhi says: smack head

linzhi says: i went and looked at a bird nest

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: Ooo

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: why for?

linzhi says: THE bird’s nest

linzhi says: do u know which bird’s nest im talking about???

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: some random bird whose name is unknown that made its nest ma

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: no?

linzhi says: smacksmacksmack

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: hahaha

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: why? do you noe it’s name?

linzhi says: this bird’s nest!

linzhi says: can u see my little picture thingy??

[t w o w a y m o n o l o g u e] says: OOoooo wat a big bird

linzhi says: sei liz

*Turns out the bird nest she’s talking about was the Olympic stadium designed by Herzog and De Meuron…my ‘au cheong’*

—end of liz’s blog ramblings—

- went to the recording studio to hear how my piano playing would sound on cd

My very first Beijing tuk-tuk ride! And the last this was on the way to the studio. I was so scared I didn’t want to listen to my own recording. It sounded so sub-standard compared to my shi-fu’s! (my teacher, ms marlene lo :D) So I went outside and nursed my flu instead. Oh yea, I was sick my entire last week in China. How sad!

The guy sitting in the green shirt is an incredible sound engineer. He’s freaking good! He put together my endless takes of piano playing and made it sound bearable. Thank God for him!

Part 2 of my update is from Malaysia…

Came back to KL on the 16^th, will be going back to Miri on the 2^nd of August. Anyone around? Do give me a ring! My new number is 016-9857470. Would love to hear from all of you!

I went to visit my grandma in Ipoh last week, and to see my “new” little cousin who’s absolutely ADORABLE!

Introducing baby Eanne Diong! Cool name huh?

She’s 3 and a half months and she loves to smile. So cuttteeeeeee!!!!!

This is me and Jia taking a candid shot in Ipoh:

Jiaren has a new Nikon D80. He’s been snapping pics all over the place! I shall post more photos from his camera when I get the chance

Well, I think that’s all for now. Busy running around KL getting documents done for my parents’ move to Holland. Then I need to get my visa done to go to Scotland for my masters.

Oh ya! I sold my car today. I’m so sad, my baby’s gone! Sniff sniff… I shall miss my trusty little kelisa!

So to end, if you’ve read till here, could you drop me a comment to say hi? If you do you’ll always be one of my darlings! Haha! Ok, that doesn’t count for much. But please do leave your mark, pretty pretty please? With sugar on top??

I have decided that I will not be writing my blog anymore. Well, not till the next time I’m bored and have nothing better to do In the past err…year?… my posts have been rather eratic. To be perfectly honest, I just can’t be bothered! I’ve moved on from blogging to my newest craze, photography! So go visit my flickr account at www.flickr.com/photos/linzhi/ and COMMENT FOR ME!!! So I’m now one year older, and one more hobby to move on to

Yep, i guess that’s it! For those of you who have so kindly taken the time to still check in on my defunct blog, thanks so much If I do start blogging again, I’ll prob do it on another server like blogspot or something. Okie then, Ciao!

I didnt know this until a few days ago, but apparently there’s sandstorms in beijing in the spring! My parents said there was one day when they woke up last year, and the balcony was covered in a layer of sand! wow… i think im going to wear my swimming goggles while walking to work if that happens.. hehe… will become linzhi-the-goggle-eyed-frog.. hmm…

linzhi’s new invention: the sandstorm goggles, complete with wipers. buy 1 free 1!! *linzhi gone crazy*

My little workplace is actually my boss’ desk. So he’s stuck wandering around while i sit in his extra comfy chair. Well, more comfy than any other chair here. Poor guy. I think he just doesnt dare to tell me to go sit somewhere else. haha, and im not going to mention anything, cos i LIKE it! *evil grin* Only thing is, everyone else is on the other side of the office. he arranged it so that he’s facing everyone else on the other far side of the room. So its pretty lonely on this side. Sigh! But then, when i think abt it.. there is a grand total of 4 ppl in the office most of the time. So its only 3 ppl on the other side of the room. Haha, so im not missing out on much really

i was just chatting to marlene just now. And was saying, life is so sad here. We both said there’s nothing to look at here, no leng zais anywhere in a 10km radius. In a city of how many billion, i have not seen a single handsome guy when i get on the train every morning and evening. I have not seen any when i go out shopping or jus walking around. Where have they all disappeared to? they’re prob all on tv already cos there really isnt very many! The only ones seem to be in church she said, haha! now i know why she goes to church haha, that’s not true la.

Andy said he’s lucky to have me. I say its not luck, no one else wanted me!! haha unfortunately, that one IS true.. Of course la, i have so many stunning girlfriends, cannot compete la Anyway, here in Beijing, there’s plenty of pretty girls. So i said if he comes here they’ll be climbing up trees to get him (imagining that in my head is actually pretty funny!) Yup! Tis a sad sad life when there’s nothing to look at *grin*

I loved the weather today! it’s finally warm! I can finally thaw in the office! I no longer have to shiver my butt of in the toilet everyday!! Yay!!! Signs of spring are everywhere. There’s little buds coming out, the trees are turning green again I must rmb to bring my camera to take photos one of these days. It took me forever to get to the office, cos i was smiling away to myself all the way there. Hehe, must have looked like some orang gila who has never seen a spring before haha, but really, its so beautifully nice to walk along with the trees and everything. and you see little kids being pushed by parents, old men and women sitting along the road, enjoying their breakfast The only thing bad about spring is the sudden smell of dog shit that assails your nose once in a while, and the over the top PDAs everywhere.

PDAs, for those of you who are a bit slow, is Public Displays of Affection They are worse than the smell of dog shit anyday. At least dog shit u can hold your breath and pretend its not there. However, having two Chinese people gropping each other and hugging around the train and/or road is just so in-your face that its impossible not to look. They’re not detered by the endless stream of little kids and old people next to them. In fact, they’re so totally in their own world, a car could probably hit them and they’d be like "huh? what?"

There’s one couple that ive seen more than once at the bus stop i pass everyday on my way back. They seem to enjoy an extreme fascination with each others mouths. Then there’s the couples on the trains. Now, ive told you how cramped it can get in there. Some of these folk though, think its their own bedroom. I’ll let u imagine yourself…

Sigh, i thought that my parents brought me up strict cos it was in their culture, its our way of life as Chinese.. hmm.. Obviously, ive gotten SOMETHING wrong there

Just got to work, im lazy to start yet, so will blog first then become "rajin" so to speak. I’ve realised that when i type, i forget all forms of grammar and vocab taught to me during my younger, "smarter" days And as liz says, my "england" is veryyyy good haha.. sigh, unfortunately, im way past my days as a perfectionist. Nowadays, its more on how to finish fast and dont sweat the small stuff!

This morning when I came in to the office, the "Ah yee" was cleaning the office. She was going on and on about this rat on the floor. Well, to me it looked more like a tiny miniature mouse. and it was dead, so it didnt bother me at all.

Then she asked, "Im sure in Malaysia you hardly see rats right?"

I replied, "err, we do. They’re biggg!" To which she shuddered.

I kindly refrained from mentioning that the rats can be as big as small cats

The weather today is much warmer than it was a few days ago. Thank god! Why? Because the office doesnt have any insulation. If its cold out, its cold in too. The table im using is marble, such a thoughtful way of conducting the cold straight to my body. which is like telling me,

"Linzhi, welcome to Beijing! While you are here, we shall try to strengthen that warm and lax immune system of yours with a good dose of cold!"

Going to the toilet is the worst. The office is in a old 700 year old building of what used to be a temple area. To get to the toilet, u have to expose yourself to the freezing temperature outside and walk around to the other side. The toilet isnt heated,so its colder than the office. You try exposing your poor butt to that! The toilet seat is freakin cold, so u can imagine Sometimes i wish i was a guy, sigh! but a guy’s might get too cold and jus wrinkle and die No wonder the chinese invented the squatting toilet (err, did they??). No need to touch butt to ceramic! The worst thing is that cos its so cold, you keep needing the toilet cos you dont sweat!

I went to the local market once. And tried about a million types of tea. It was nice of them to tell me AFTER that tea is a laxative. So off i went to the toilet. It was the middle of winter, and i could still smell the stench! I do not want to imagine it in summer, oh noooo… But this is the only "bad" toilet ive seen so far, so China’s improved alot. Worst thing is, no doors! None, not even a piece of cloth. Basically its:

charge in, dont look down.

Find empty hole.

Squat.

Shit/ Pee

Get out as fast as u can.

Eh-hem… beijing-expert-subway-user i am NOT! i take it back

This morning was late for work. i thought i was so smart. i stood at the doorway, ready to sprint out, and took the carriage nearest the stairs. Was one of the first to get out and ran up the stairs. usually i go right which takes me to the end furthest from the exit. Today, i took the left cos it would be nearer. Ran down the stairs and saw the train there. Ran for my life and hopped on as the doors closed.. Phew!!

…. And then i realised… I was on the wrong train… Wrong side of the track…

ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Im bored again.. in the office, nothing to do… yawn yawn.. wanted to go disturb doris. forgot abt time difference.. so i woke her up bye messaging her like a million times on msn. haha, poor girl. lesson to be learnt, dont leave ur msn on if linzhi writes that she’s bored.

ok, im now going to proceed with a whole bunch of randomness… cos im B-O-R-E-D

China is a weird country. The traffic rules are so different here. When the light goes green, u must go. whether straight, turn left, turn right.. u go, unless it says otherwise. so u can imagine cars coming from the opposite direction, and ur trying to turn left, so u need to go straight thru them… and pedestrians light is green too! so the cars going right need to give way to the ppl walking across their road. well, no, the pedestrians have to give way to the cars.

so ppl like me, who arent used to roads here, find it the scariest thing in the world to cross a road. i have to cross a big road everyday on my way to work. i scream in my mind everyday when i cross. i use the zebra crossing, but it might as well not be there, cos the cars still zip by and beep at u. ive become smarter. i now cross the road in not at the crossroads, but half way down the road. usually in malaysia we cross at crossroads where the traffic lights are, cos its the safest. well, obviously that doesnt apply here (read up there la). i did that the first few days. but when the light turned green, i spent most of the time giving way to cars and bikes. by the time i crossed, the light was red again and i had to sprint. blah…

And the subways here are two times worse than kl ones. u know how packed they can get right. well, over here, its packed, but ppl still get in! Ive seen a few walls of ppl, and someone still manages to squeeze in. ive been in trains where im jus standing in my squashed little spot, then some guys decide they wanna join the flattened ppl, so they grab the top of the door, turn so their backs are to everyone, then proceed to bodily squash everyone behind them using butt power so they can get in. now im standing in the middle of the carriage, abt as far from the door as u can be, but when they push, i hop. i say hop cos there’s no room to shift, move or fall. you’re basically carried with the crowd

I have to take the subway EVERYDAY to work. so i deal with this everyday. once i almost lost my bag cos it was floating out of the door with a sea of people. it took all my strength to maintain my grip on it and force it back to me. but now, after 2 weeks, ive become a smart subway user. i know just where to stand so i can get out fast, which rail it is so i can run faster to the tunnel. There’s one point where i hav to change trains. if u get out too slow, u get stuck in the backlog of ppl, and u have to wait abt twn mins to get down a 2 metre tunnel. u can imagine, 500 ppl, 3 metres of space. yea.. and that can cause u precious time cos it’ll make u miss the next train. there’s also an exact carriage which has less people so u dun have to squeeze thhaatttt much. hehe..