Money is Everything. So is the World.

I have never felt so body-sore ever in my entire life. This is worse than having sex five times a day! Haha, just joking-la … *ahem* I mean, of course sex is better and more pleasurable … *wink, wink*

Anyway, I can’t believe I got sucked into joining the curling tournament, which was organized by the company’s social club. Curling is a team sport played on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared ice by two teams of four players each. The competing teams take turns to slide heavy, polished granite stones down the ice towards the target, which is called the house. You can think of this house as a ring of circles, similar to that of a dart board. Two “sweepers” with “brooms” accompany each rock after it has been set in motion to direct it to their resting place. The purpose of the sweep is to melt the ice so that the stone will slide on a thin film of water. This (supposedly) helps to keep the stone in motion.

I thought this game originated from Canada. To my surprise, it actually originated from Scotland. There was this painted mural at the curling arena, and it depicted the Scottish people playing this sport in their bell-like skirts. I found it to be truly amusing. Moreover, they were using the old-style brooms to sweep on the ice. It was just too hilarious that I started to wonder how dumb this sport could be. For more information, seek my bible … Wikipedia

And so, I have never played curling before. I had no idea whatsoever how the game worked. Even though there was a short training for beginners prior to the tournament … I was convinced that it was not going to be fun. And I was right … I fell about eight times on the ice. There were three blows to my knees, which landed a bruise of about 2 inches wide. My whole body aches whenever I try to stand, squat, sit, lift … I feel like I have to be a statue for the next few days. It won’t be enjoyable at work …

I will never, ever join this curling bonspiel again. NEVER. I think it is dumb, at least. It is such a fine mark between sliding the rock too short of the house, and sliding it over the house. It is not as plain Jane as skating on an ice. At least, skating has logical techniques that make you stop where you want to. I buy that kind of friction. Not by melting the ice for a split second or two just so that ridiculously-heavy $5000 rock will be able to zoom into its landing spot. I swept like I was scrubbing wine stain off a carpet. Seriously … how much energy can you put into melting that damn ice? And to do it while catching up with the sliding stone? AND to do it twelve times (three times for each end; we played four ends with each opponent) in one hour? The only fun part was to slide the stone. The sweeping was far-fetched to me. I don’t mind sweeping garbage on the floor. Don’t ask me to waste my energy sweeping with intentions of moving a rock forward.

Bottom line is … I did not like the sport. But I thought we put in good effort in coming up with a theme! Our team was called RockStarss. We had our face painted; a red star on the left cheek, and the curling rock on the right cheek. Also, my colleague did an excellent job in making the pom-pom for our toques!

Oooh … the Malaysian election fever remains high with unwavering hopes. Perhaps, this depicts what every first-world country experienced during their development years. Fighting relentlessly for citizen rights. Beaming voices of inequality. Stretching far to reach over the wall of corruption and hypocrisy. Seems like time has caught up quite a bit after decades of gruelling history.

I cannot step foot in my homeland to feel the grounds shaking from the citizens’ stampede, but it is a good thing that I can feel it through the news media. Personally, I don’t even know what is going on back in Malaysia. Not to detailed, of course. Having read numerous posts on petalingstreet.org regarding voting opinions … I started to recall my younger days when daddy used to teach me how to check the poll results on TV …

There were a few images sketched in one part of my memory. Barisan Nasional (BN) flags flying proudly on any possible place you could hang them. The posters were pasted until the whole lamp post was devoid of naked metal skin. Lots of people on the streets attending campaigns and listening to speeches. At that time, I felt the excitement even though I was only 9 years old. It never occured to me why it was so important to vote for the right political party. However, as a kid, I knew it was a big thing because it was an event occuring throughout Malaysia … in every town, district, and city. Anyway, I did remember having much fun watching the news and highlighting the poll results in the newspaper checksheet (Gee, I really did thought it was a fun assignment, eh? *slaps self*).

This one day, before the polls … daddy told me that some uncle and auntie were coming by to visit. He then told me not to say a word about who he was voting for. Prior to that, I asked him about it, and so I knew his voting decision. Eventually, he came to note that I should not simply go round telling others who my parents were voting for. Now that I look back, it seemed so weird … why did they wanted to keep it low-key? After all, look at the current spell … others are broadcasting their voting decisions out in the open!

This got me thinking, are these few people just trying to help campaign for the support of their desired political party? In light of the whole “BN is Evil” and “Vote for A Stronger Opposition”, is it just an important change citizens of Malaysia are trying to make? On the contrary, are there people who just don’t want to be too involved? I am not saying discussions are not permitted … although that was the impression I got when I was 9 years old. Then again, it could just be the fact that I was a kid who had a big mouth and the tendency to spit unnecessarily. After all, parents know their children best, right?

Just wanted to share that funny thought I had amidst the elections. As I am still confused whether it is okay for me to publish my voting decision out in the open … I will just say “All The Best!” to you folks!

I know, I still have to check in with daddy to find out what was the deal 14 years ago

Oh, I am so proud to be an alumni of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Recently, a team of researchers discovered a gene that is able to prevent the assembly of HIV virus in cells thus further preventing the onset of AIDS.

Article

Still, there is more work ahead. For this team, it is a mystery as to why the gene itself does not work in people already infected with HIV. The mighty battle prevails as the challenge to apply them in drug-delivery methods (e.g. medications) remains a tough shell to break.

Then again, I feel that it has been so long since I heard anything about HIV/AIDS. The fog is clearing up, and hopefully we will see an sun-kissed end to this journey.