This week’s roundup
I feel like a deflated balloon.
I’ve always enjoyed training for dance competitions. Even if the outcome isn’t fantastic, even if I don’t make the break rounds, even if I flop, I still enjoy the training nevertheless. That has always been the best part of the competitions for me. The medals and trophies attained are just an added bonus. For the MODF, we had practice 3 times a week. Now my nights are free and I get to sleep early, but I’m feeling lost instead…
Well, on the bright side, I met up with three different friends for breakfast/dinner/lunch over 2 days. My social life seems to be on the rise. Hahaha.
Just to fill up space, here’s my bragging rights:
My trophies from the Malaysian Open Dance Fest 2009
That’s my trophy for modern jazz individual (2nd), trophy for line dance individual (3rd), and medals for team events (3rd). I’m short of a medal for one team event, because there was a mix-up during the prize presentation, which the organisers haven’t fixed to date.
Here are the photos Pei Ru took during the night of the finals at Shangri-la.
In other news, I dropped my watch! My favourite watch!!! *sobsob* This watch was given to me by my website clients – a very sweet couple who thought of me when they saw this watch. Notice the brand of the watch in the photo below?? Best watch I’ve ever had! No one has ever had a watch with a brand in their name… mind you it’s not custom-made!
I dropped it as I was taking it out of my bag to put it on, and it fell straight onto the floor with a resounding crack. The impact not only caused cracks to appear on the glass front, but some of the diamantes were severely broken too 
:(:(:( Fortunately it’s still running though.
I dropped my watch! Notice the cracks on the glass front??
So I had to dig out one of my other watches to get the battery changed at a watch shop in One Utama. While the battery was being changed, I showed this watch to the sales assistant and asked if the glass face could be replaced. Admittedly, this isn’t a famous brand and obviously the shop I went to doesn’t carry the brand. The lady just handed it back to me and said, “It’s not worth it to change. Some of the ‘diamonds’ have already dropped off.”
I couldn’t believe how snooty she was. I mean, this watch is important to me for personal reasons, and it’s not some RM20-piece-of-junk picked up from some night market. So I just paid for the battery change and went off. I was actually contemplating buying a new good watch from the shop since they were having a sale, but her attitude completely put me off.
I’ll just have to go look for another watch shop to get it fixed then; probably a family-owned watch shop, if they still exist. Going to watch shop chains are of no use; some shops are so snooty, they won’t change the battery of a watch if they don’t carry the brand. At least if a shop is run by a family, they’re nicer and more willing to do what the customer asks.
Anyway, while I was in Midvalley today, I saw a Swatch roadshow and went to poke around. I asked a sales assistant to show me their waterproof watches (almost all of them are) because I have always wanted to get one for a long time, especially one that I can go swimming with. (Sometimes when I swim at the pool in school, I lose track of time. It would be good to have a watch so that I can check on the time.) She helped me pick out a really pretty and trendy white watch.
My brand new Swatch watch!
Yeeha!!! I haven’t had a watch with a rubber strap for a long time. Come to think of it, I haven’t bought myself a watch for a long time. Some of my watches were either free gifts with items bought, or given to me by friends. My watches in the past few years have all been either metal straps or leather straps. So yay!!! Now I’ve got one I can wear even when I’m exercising or dancing.
And… this is my first Swatch in my entire life!!! Hahaha!!! When I was in school, I’ve always wanted a Swatch because all my friends seemed to have them, but they were pretty expensive and I never worked up the courage to ask my parents to get me one. And I didn’t save for one either, because I felt that it was really too expensive, and I could easily get a working watch for less than half the lowest price of a Swatch. So this is like a childhood wish that’s been finally fulfilled. The only thing missing now is the rubber watchface guard that was the rage back in school.
I consider this my belated birthday present to myself, and my reward for my achievements at the MODF 
Actually I spotted another Swatch watch that I also really liked; it has a metal strap with crystals in the them. But I can’t afford to buy too many watches And I’ve still got to fix the glass on my Zyenn watch.
Pretty good week so far, in spite of the cracked watch. And to top it off, it’s the second three-day weekend in a row! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!
July 15, 2009
Bad night and a stupid phone call
Had a bad night of sleep last night. I was exhausted, but I kept waking up in the middle of the night. And for some strange reason, the term “MgCl2″ kept coming to my head.
In case you were wondering, MgCl2 is the chemical symbol for Magnesium Chloride. I’ve been in the lab all week doing experiments with the students.
Oh. And some idiot has given me some missed calls (I was not there to pick up the phone), so I when I finally called him back, he demanded, “Who are you looking for?” in Cantonese. When I tried to explain that he called me and I was merely returning the call, he hung up on me instead. What an idiot! And it’s not like he called me only once. He called twice today and once yesterday. Bodoh, kan? His number is 016-2228790. I’m putting this here as a reminder to me.
May 7, 2009
70% Dark Chocolate. Yum.
So, Teacher’s Day is next week.
- I love dark chocolate. The darker the better. I prefer those with AT LEAST 70% dark chocolate. Anything less doesn’t qualify as dark. But, NO FERRERRO ROCHER, PLEASE!! That’s my least favourite chocolate brand. Seriously!
- If you think I deserve something more intellectual, book vouchers would be great!
- Have I mentioned how I like photography? I could do with some new lenses to go with my Nikon D60. Or one of those LED flashes.
- My videocamera is dying on me. It’s been having problems for a while, and now the lens holder at the camera is getting loose (as in, it seems like it’s going to fall off my videocamera). I actually sent it in to fix a while back, and obviously it wasn’t a good job. Sigh… what to do, it’s a Sony.
I really could do with one of those new HDD HD videocameras. - I’ve never been to Club Med before, would love to go there…
*Hint hint* 
February 18, 2009
Weird Names
I got tagged in Facebook for this. It’s really cute. I took liberties with some of the real/middle/first name thing though to get a “cooler” name… hahaha.
1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Hoo Sze Yen
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle).
Szeizzle [gosh, how do you pronounce this?]
3. YOUR SPY NAME: (favorite colour and favourite animal).
Purple Dolphin [now THIS is cool!!]
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on/or neighborhood if it’s a number).
Sze Taman Megah [how unglamorous!!!]
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, and first 2 letters of your first name).
HooYe or YeHoo. Take your pick.
6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (your 2nd favorite colour, and favourite drink).
Blue Milo
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your last name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, and 3rd letter of your dads).
Zohwk [If I add the "!" in front, will it sound cooler? !Zohwk!]
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents middle names).
Hokswee [still sounds Chinese]
9 . YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets).
Black Kimoputih
10 . YOUR HOOD NAME: (first 3 of your first name, and add -iqua).
Yeniqua
February 10, 2009
25 things you’re dying to know about me
[This was taken from my Notes in Facebook. Too good not to share on my blog 
]
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s supposedly because I want to know more about you, but I don’t really mind if you don’t do this note; so it’s more like I’m tagging you because I want you to know these 25 random things. Anyway, most of you’d already know most of these 25 not-entirely-random things about me.
And the main reason I’m doing this is because I got tagged by 2 people (curse you, Lyn Li and Sean. Ok not really, I love you two too) and this note is way overdue. I was supposed to complete it before the Internet became obsolete. It?s not obsolete yet (at least, I hope not) so I?m still early. In a manner of speaking.
If you do decide to this list too, remember to tag me!
1. I am an adrenaline junkie. I’ve tried bungee jumping, tandem skydiving, Zorbing, surfing, skiing and snowboarding. Dying to try paragliding, hanggliding, and those crazy roller-coasters in Disneyland. Name me an insane adrenaline-kicking activity, and I’ll be the first to sign up.
2. I love dancing. Really, really love dancing. I would like to try every dance form just once, if possible – with the exception of breakdancing and the Melbourne shuffle. But I can’t really dance to save my life.
3. …. and yet I like going for dance competitions. As in competing in them, not just watching them. It’s that adrenaline rush, I suppose.
4. I love dark chocolate. The darker the yummier. Other chocolates (milk choc, white choc) are also good, but I LOVE dark chocolate.
5. …. but I can’t stand cheapo chocolates, especially those horrible cheap fake-tasting things they sell to kids. And I don’t like Ferrerro Rocher.
6. I’m always late. I have to make a conscious effort if I ever want to be early. Tardiness seems to be part of my DNA.
7. I hate it when people try to tell me what to do, in the everyday sense. Oh, I can take instructions from my superiors and clients; that’s different. But I mean when people tell me, “You should do this…” as if they know so much more than me. There’s only one person I can take this from, and it’s not my mom, and it’s certainly not you. [The one who is, well you know who you are :-* <3 ]
8. I always like to finish what I start, in a very complete sense. If I?m taking up a course, I would try if possible to go through the entire course from beginner all the way to advanced.
9. I can?t speak any Chinese language or dialect. Enough maybe to order food, but not enough to carry on a meaningful conversation.
10. I have a civil engineering degree. But right now I?m a Science teacher in a private high school, and on the side I do website design. And prior to teaching, I was working in the IT line for a few years.
11. I?m a very technical person. I usually drive a lot of people nuts by talking about angles and parallel lines, and relate everything back to Physics as much as possible. In fact, I even look at dancing as one big Math problem (which is why I remember dance steps so well. Weird but true).
12. I?m a gadget geek!!! I love computers and the Internet. And other things with bits of electronics in them. I spend most of my money on things like computers, cameras, and the like. And I don?t like going into IT shops because I?ll be seeing too many things I want to buy but can?t afford to
13. And unlike most girls, I don?t like shopping or window shopping. I don?t like going into store after store to look for pretty clothes or just to try things on. Whenever I go shopping, I typically have a shopping list or know exactly what I need to buy, and I make a beeline for those items.
14. I don?t like my hair because it?s frizzy and wild and so hard to manage. But yet I wouldn?t trade it for anything else. I would never straighten my hair or go for a permanent perm.
15. Bad spelling drives me nuts. Bad grammar I can live with (provided I understand what’s trying to be said), and typos are forgiveable but I can’t stand bad spelling. I’ll be itching to circle the misspelt words with a thick red marker pen.
17. I love reading!! I like curling up in bed or on the couch with a really good book. Some of my favourite authors include Terry Pratchett, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Roald Dahl. And yes I also read Harry Potter.
18. … but I DON?T like reading romance novels and chick lits. And I?m proud to say that I?ve never read any. *pats self on back*
19. I?ve got scoliosis. Yeah, that was random (it IS supposed to be 25 random things). If you don?t know what that is, look it up. And I?ve also got flat feet, which is a killer when I try to walk for a long time, plus it makes dancing much harder.
20. I don?t watch much TV. But I do have a few favourite series, including Bones and Heroes. But I don?t watch them on the telly. I erm, have other sources (not stating them in case the Internet police clamp down on me).
21. I actually don?t like dressing up. I?m most comfortable in a T-shirt, sweat pants, and sports shoes.
22. I?m not the type who can sit still. I like to be doing something all the time. Idleness drives me nuts.
23. I don?t believe in ?dieting?. I have never dieted or starved myself in a bid to achieve ?beauty?. When I put on weight, I usually go, ?Oh well.? And somehow that extra weight usually goes off by itself eventually.
24. I can say the alphabet backward. And no, I never practised. It’s just that I know the position of each letter in the alphabet without much effort; name me a letter and I can tell you which letters come before and after it without much thought. One day I decided to test myself and found that I could rattle the alphabet from Z to A without pausing much. I think it’s because I saw the alphabet as a big Math problem. Yeah yeah, I’m weird that way.
25. By the way, did anyone notice I skipped #16? Waahaahaa….