50 years and ho hum...

31 August
I spent the Merdeka weekend catching up with friends and running errands. Managed to go for a facial on Friday, only to have the lady at Dermalogica tsk-tsking at me for missing my appointments for the past 3 months, hence my splotchy, dry skin.

At night, there was MH's housewarming. He's the guitarist in the band I play with and he's got this awesome pad at The Maple in Sentul West. I've heard alot about this place but I've never been inside before, and whoa. Very nice. The party started at the poolside next to the landscaped gardens and we later adjourned to the apartment upstairs.

From the balcony, there was a beautiful view of Sentul Park (home to KLPac), the Twin Towers and the city skyline. Just beyond the park was the half-completed Saffron, reason for my lifetime of debt. But that's on the East side of Sentul, where an apartment unit is half the price of The Maple, or less. But I suppose you do get what you pay for. Hahaha!

Anyway, I didn't really know anyone apart from CC and MI from the band, so we pretty much did the anti-social thing and stuck with each other, talking about the current state of affairs in the country (it was Merdeka day after all). They were both lawyers, and even they felt it was hard to stomach certain things they deal with on a daily basis. These days, it's apparently not a question of race biasness anymore. It's all about the money. Even with the right skin colour, it's hard to run a righteous business even if you wanted to. No details were divulged, but they'd seen their fair share.

From there, the conversation strayed to stories they read about the May 13 incident and stories they heard from some actual survivors (the ones who were involved in the riots and not in hiding at that time). They were quite shocking. It may have happened decades ago. But it's not hard to see why the undercurrent of resentment still runs strong today. It seems like we're a broken family putting up false pretenses in front of the neighbours, when it's less than cheery behind closed doors.

I may be politically apathetic at best. But I'm quietly patriotic at heart. And it's sad to think that after 50 years of independence, the country doesn't really have much to shout about apart from some tall shiny buildings and several white elephants. After 50 years, that group of people (or rather, the politicians who represent them) still want to play victim. And after 50 years, the whole rhetoric about racial harmony and opportunities for all is getting a little stale.

Lazy Saturday
Went window shopping and then to the gym with LY for an easy 45-minute session on the cardio machines, followed by sushi. We sat there watching the sushi train go by, in a sleepy daze thanks to the dreary, rainy afternoon. Later, it was a long night of playing Magic the Gathering with D, SM and NT. Still getting the hang of it and it's been fun so far. The artwork on the cards were really cool too.

Catch up Sunday
Spent some time playing with Sunshine. She got a bath and was all sweet smelling and I could bury my face in her neck. I love how she looks without her collar on. All gorgeous and fluffy after a bath and blow dry although she simply hates the hairdryer. It was a wet drizzly day, so it was a must, or she'd be a wet dog scampering about. Good thing about bath days, she gets to come inside. And she'd hop next to me for a nuzzle. My camera batteries are dead so no new pictures of her. Must get the batteries soon. I'll need them for Hong Kong too.

Met up with some girlfriends for coffee. EL's leaving for London in 2 weeks to do her postgrad in Dentistry for 3 years. It was good catching up with the gang cos we rarely spend time together unless someone's getting married or back from abroad or leaving for somewhere. I miss them. Later that evening, D and I went to buy DVDs, made salmon and cream cheese dip and sat down to watch Ocean's 13. George Clooney Dip and crackers. Yummy. Not a bad way to end a Sunday.

For some strange reason, my Streamyx's been acting up at home the past few days. My wireless is working but I get no connection. Or it's super super slow. And Blogger won't load. Neither will Yahoo at times. Realllllly weird.

Sigh. Happy Monday everybody.