2 things happened last Thursday and Friday that just amazed me how extraordinarily small our world is - when you get about to exploring it...
1stly, on Thu I found out that my DESK-mate in the translation course I've been in, was my ex-schoolmate's younger sister! How amazing! I mean, I did initially notice that her father's name sounded vaguely familiar, but I didn't even think to ask her about it. And in the process of getting to know each other in the first few days, I mentioned my school, and voila! The rest is history...
2ndly, on Friday night, when I checked my FB requests, I received a friend request from someone I didn't know. The name was foreign to me, and I almost clicked on the "Ignore" button, but I decided to check out her profile. It took me a moment to re conciliate her picture and her name, but when I did, I gave a loud squeal that even took G by surprise.
It was an old, old, friend - my pet sister, actually (G already started thinking dirty thoughts) - from school. She was my senior by 2 years, I think. Needless to say, a whole lotta memories came flooding back, as well. I lost all contact with her when she left school. So that makes it (mentally calculating) about 21 years ago? Wow! And to think we re connected in FB. Well, it's hardly unbelievable, but it's truly amazing. Well, to me, at least.
She's been in Australia a little more than a decade. And it so happens that she's coming back to Malaysia the first 2 weeks of Aug. "We must meet!" she typed, while we chatted in FB. Another reunion in the works. It's going to be busy, busy, busy...
Next week Saturday, my understanding of the techniques of translation will be put to test... Horrors! I haven't had to sit for any type of exam in a decade.
Today's pace was a bit different from the past 4 days, namely because today's lecturer is a different person. But we had some good exercise in translating newspaper articles. And already I have homework. That's another thing I haven't had to do in a while.
As expected, other projects have been put on hold - my writing, my other two blogs... Hopefully I will have more time to spend on those once I'm done with the course and get things going where I want them to. Power of positive thinking, y'all!
Tomorrow I'm going to make some price comparison on several reference books I need. Now I do need to get that particular bookstore's membership card...
I haven't heard this saying for a long time - language is the soul of a nation. I suppose I have forgotten it. And in the past few days, I have been shamefully reminded what it truly means...
This course I'm attending - Course in General Translation - is unlike what I expected. In 3 days, I've learned more about my own language than I have in the past 35-odd years of my life. And in addition, I learned about history, communication and culture. It's more than what I signed up for, for sure.
Just to share what new Malay words I've learned so far (look it up in Kamus Dewan):
taslim = analogy
andal = reliable
ketaksaan = ambiguity
lema = entry
tuntas = meliputi/menyeluruh = comprehensive
pencar = diverge
All thanks to a certain passionate and dedicated patron of the Malay language. You'd have to take her class to believe it.
...THAT is the question.
I bought D two new books from MPH on Saturday, since we just finished the earlier book I got for him - Stories for 6 Year Olds. He's got a voracious appetite for books nowadays. I hope this lasts forever.
So there I was, at the counter, and the cashier asked me, "Do you have a member's card?"
I glanced at the sign on top of the cash register - Extra 10% off for members when you buy ANY children's book (or something to that effect) - and sighed glumly, thinking that we all could use an extra 10% off of everything, and answered, "No."
And while waiting for the cashier to scan the barcodes, I looked into my bulging purse, which already had every space available for cards filled, and wondered, do I really need another membership card?
I've already got membership cards for - let's see - the gym, a hypermart, a petrol station, a department store or two, a gift shop, a toy store, one book store that I hardly go to these days, several clothing boutiques, a golf club...
The ones in my purse are those I go to quite regularly, so I can get quite decent discounts and rebates or such. And I've also got another card holder for those cards that I don't go to so often, but would come in handy when I do. At the rate things are going, I may need another card holder.
Of course, the credit cards that I have also offer discounts or rebates at participating merchants, but I don't use the cards often nowadays (I'm trying!). And different retailers collaborate with different banks, anyway, so if I'm so desperate to get discounts, then I'd probably need a credit card from every bank in Malaysia.
And there are times that different credit cards offer different promotions from the same retailer. I tell you, it can be so very confusing.
I see the problem - every seller have their own terms and conditions on offering discounts, and members get the info on the latest promotions more effectively if it is managed by the sellers themselves. It's not that nobody came up with a solution to merge the retailers and offer one card for consumers to use - e.g. Bonuslink, Real Rewards.
But these are more on points collection, rather than discounts and rebates offers; the J card, however, offers both - points collection and discounts at participating retailers. If only you would remember to show the card to qualify for the discounts - I can never remember (!), and it would only occur to me when I read the card's newsletter or such. Of course, by then, it's only an afterthought.
Now, when people offer me membership cards, I would usually decline; my normal excuse is, "I don't have anymore space in my purse." And even if I'm tempted to, I would think of the form I would have to fill in, and the time to do so. I would also think of my details would be stored somewhere, and being on the receiving end of un-ending promotional messages on my handphone, as well as calls from unknown corporations offering me more discounts and/or rebates and business opportunities (!) - although I believe this is more from the credit cards...
So, no more membership cards. For now.
But...since I'm buying books more often, that extra 10% off would really save me a lot in the long run... Hmmm...
Firstly I want to apologize to those on my email notification list for those 2 out-of-the-ordinary blog entries that were mistakenly sent to you (I completely forgot about the notification, but of course...) prior to this one. Just so you know, I'm starting to dabble in the art of freelance writing jobs, and those 2 were purely work-related, so... again, I apologize.
On the other project I'm working on - a.k.a. the story - I am, yet again, hit by writer's block. I'm stuck at re-writing the first chapter - torn between too much detail (meaning unnecessary exposure) and not enough (meaning unimaginative writing). It's oscillating between being sickeningly bloated and anorexically lean. It's a nightmare.
And unfortunately, this is also the time I'm hooked on Bejeweled Blitz on FB. I just can't get enough of beating my own best score. It's uncomfortably addictive, and I should quit cold-turkey. I SHOULD. Sigh.
I want to go to EPF, and do some money management, and also wire some money to Oom's home account, and oh... Papa is here.
I can't divulge the details, but he's in a spot than I so DO NOT envy. I don't even want to know. I just can provide moral support and hope things will work out for the best. I'm really sorry for him, though. I know it's not his choice to be involved in all this...
