Confessions of a City Slicker

The results are out - it’s the two Davids going head to head next week at the grand finale of American Idol 7.

Yeah, I know, this update is a little late, but do bear in mind that poor me doesn’t have Astro and I keep track of the results through Yahoo.  But I still wanted to watch the results show before I say anything.

Actually, this year’s Idol is kinda predictable.  From the start I already foresee that cutesy David Archuleta will be in the finals, and after his rendition of Billie Jean, David Cook will be another favorite.

Who do I think is gonna win?

Based on statistics and previous Idol results, my money would be with David A.  He is more mainstream pop culture and voters go for that.  I must say that David A has a very unique voice and with his soulful eyes, shy demeaner and adorable face, winning shouldn’t be a problem.  I had been rooting for him since Hollywood Week.

On the other hand, Cowell thinks that David C will win.  After this week’s show, I’m inclined to agree with him.  I think David C shines throughout this week’s competition, even if some of the judges don’t necessarily agree.  Cowell tends to be pretty accurate in his predictions.

David A seems to be struggling since they banned his meddling dad from being around him during rehersals.  He really needs to step up during the finale if he wants to win.

Still, David C is a rocker and this could be detrimental to his chances.  Rock is pretty much a niche genre dominating a fraction of the music industry.  I mean, look at Doughtry.

Closer to home, look at Faizal Tahir during the One In A Million competition.  Although he was obviously the more talented performer with outstanding showmanship, in the end, the public still for voted Suki who is more mainstream, although less seasoned and less talented as the winner.

On a side note, Fantasia performed tonight.  Sheesh, what a shocking performance it was, even if it was energetic.  The camera managed to capture Cowell with his, "I don’t know what that was," face :)))))))

Yeah, I agree with you, Mr Cowell.  It was loud, Fantasia’s dancing was grotesque, her red hair was hideous and she still sounds like a cat howling after all this time.

Can’t wait for the finals.  It will really be a close competition.  But one thing is for sure.  Whoever the winner is, his name will be David.

I finally got my TV remote back from the shop.  It was damaged after Dad dropped it.  I can’t believe how difficult those 2 days without the TV remote was, having to stoop down to peer at the TV control panel to change channels.

Sigh…channel surfing just ain’t no fun when you can’t lie back on the couch and do it with the remote.

Which leads me to realize exactly how spoilt we have become with all the modern conveniences available today.  Personally, I can’t imagine life without them :p

Digital watches - I love digital watches, but they have to be feature packed.  I don’t mind not having a diamond encrusted Rolex or Tag Hauer.  They may be classy but so old school.  I once had a watch that in addition to having the usual stop watch, alarm, world time features also allows me to program phone numbers and is super slim!

The washing machine - I do hand wash a few of my clothes that are more expensive and require delicate handling, but that is a once in a blue moon affair.  My other clothes get tossed in the washing machine that does all the washing for me while I watch TV.

The vacuum cleaner - that thingy they call a broom, why the heck do people still insist on using it when it is so troublesome and bad for your back?

Cell phones - Ahhh…who can imagine not having one of these nowadays huh ;)  They are practically my whole life.  I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost mine.  It’s got all my contacts, details, diary, important appointments and reminders in there.  Also very useful during seminars to take notes, or even better, snap a picture of the information being projected on the screen.

Massage chair - Tired/stressed and need a massage?  No need to book an appointment at the spa for one.  Just sit back and relax while the chair kneads and squeezes your tired muscles.

Water heater - I remember when I was a kid, wanting a hot bath means having to boil water.  Now, just flip the switch and instant hot bath.

Air conditioning - I’ll move to the North Pole if it doesn’t exist :p

Keyboards - I was once really dependant on this thing.  It’s so much more convenient to type than write.  It got so bad that once during an exam, holding a pen felt so alien to me.  My handwriting looks like shit nowadays due to lack of practice :p

The Internet - with big corporations and even small businesses being so dependant on it nowadays, can you imagine the chaos that will reign if one fine day, it stops working?

I love progress, especially it keeps making life easier for me

The second workshop for the day focuses on Turkish style belly dance.  I had a big plate of mom’s chicken rice for lunch so was starting to regret it a little.  But how to resist?  It’s mom’s chicken rice.

Turkish style is a little more bold compared to Egyptian style.  It’s more energetic and in your face.  Another big difference, the dancers all wear heels.  The elevation of the feet allows for different movements.

Oh, and there is also floorwork.  This is something hardly seen in Egyptian style.  Badia demonstrated the many different things that can be done on the floor like changing directions.  She also gave tips on the dos and don’ts when doing floorwork, you know, just in case we unintentionally show the audience too much :)))))

One thing is for sure, doing lots of yoga will help with the floorwork.  There is one undulation movement that I find most impressive.  Lie back on the floor with knees under you then pull yourself up with your stomach muscles to a kneeling position, scoop forward with your head while keeping your butt on the floor as much as possible then raise your chest, completing the undulation.

I tried to lie back but the strain was too much on the thighs :p

Oh, I hate being on my knees and since the floor is covered in carpet, I found out later when showering how much skin I lost from my knees and feet.  Ouch!

There wasn’t much coreography during this workshop, mostly a demonstration of the different combinations that we can do and travelling moves, most of which required us to be on our tippy toes.

I think one valuable tip that I left the workshop with is that you don’t want your dance routine to be full of all the cool stuff that you can do with the music.  You want to also layer it with dancing as well.  This is one mistake that a lot of people do with a drum solo.

Yeah, I know what she means.  When I listen to a drum solo, I think about all the stuff that I can do with the different beats, but that’s not what’s going to make the dance captivating.

Six hours of dancing, that’s quite a record!

The first workshop for the day will explore Egyptian style belly dancing.  Cool!  Something familiar.

I wasn’t feeling up to it because I had stayed up till 2 am the previous night watching Shrek 2 and a certain inconvenient "relative" is in town visiting, making it really uncomfortable to dance.

When I arrived, I found that the girls were in an adjoining room looking at the belly dance paraphernalia that Badia brought along with her.  They were all in USD, bummer, else I would love to get my hands on a few of the veils that were on display.  They were softer than the chiffon material that we use and their color were so vibrant.  How beautiful they would be to dance with.

I recognized a few girls from CF’s hafla, there was also PC, an ex schoolmate who attends one of Conny’s other classes and all the teachers from Penang were there - Lisa, Beatrice and Azlina.

Badia decided to teach a coreography that she performed from the night before.  The first thing she told us was that when dancing to music with lyrics, the dancer must be able to convey the song not only through her movements, but through her facial expression as well.  So she definitely encourages us to make friends with people who speak Arabic.

Ha ha…no problem for me.  Coach is Arabic so I can get her to teach me.

Throughout the workshop she gave us a lot of valuable tips while performing and how we can interpret the movements in the dance if we were to perform it ourselves.

Egyptian style belly dance allows us to be a little playful and coy.  The movements can be flirty and cute if we want them to be.

This particular dance tells the story of how a guy is in love with a girl but is afraid that the girl will break his heart.  So it leaves it up to the dancer how she wants to interpret this message, how she wants to react to it.

I’m not sure how much of the dance I will be able to remember, especially since I don’t have the music so I can’t practice.  As it is, I’m only remembering bits and pieces of it right now and can’t really piece them together coherently.

The steps were really basic, well, either that or I’ve come a long way.

So after all the anticipation, the day finally arrived.  The program for the night features an impressive line up of performers both local and international.

The night kicked off with the opening dance, the dancers all dressed in their batik costumes.  The costumes were beautiful in their simplicity.  See, belly dance costumes need not be so elaborate with all the sequins and blings.  I swear, some will blind you with their glare.

I was especially impressed with the winners of the kids belly dance competition.  Of course, these girls were from dance studios all over Penang, therefore they have had some training.  However, it is their sheer joy of the dance that was most attractive.

Sigh…sometimes, I feel that this is what is missing in adults.  We are so caught up in all the technicalities, coreography and whatever that we miss out on just enjoying performing.  These girls were able to express their carefree abandonment through their dance.

Best of all, they were not self conscious about their figures or what they look like.  They just love doing it.  Not so for most adults, I think.  Personally, I know when I first started belly dancing, I was really shy about pulling up my shirt to expose my middrift, mostly because I had a less than flattering figure.  I’ll only do that if I’m standing together with other women who have equally unflattering figures :p

The other professional dancers were as impressive as well.  I really admire their ability to give the illusion of being able to dislocate their pelvis bone.  I mean, how else is one suppose to thrust the hips so far out to one side and make the movement look so sharp, right?

I haven’t figured that one out yet.  Guess I haven’t managed to unlock the energy from my pelvic area, as Conny always calls it.  This, unfortunately, is something that I’m gonna have to figure out for myself.  No one can teach me how to do that.

The most impressive one is the finale dance by Badia, who will also be conducting a workshop the next day.  When I saw her balancing the blade of a sword first on her head then on her hips and manage to dance without it falling off, I knew that my investment in her workshop is money well spent.  You’ll have to see it to believe it.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos or videos during the halfa, else I would have shot to the front of the stage to take a picture of that!

Because we purchased our tickets quite late, our table was quite far away from the stage.  I think we were the fourth row from the back.  But we were right in front of the projector screen, so we still get to see a close up of what happened on stage.

Oh well, I guess we can always purchase a copy of the DVD as a keepsake.

8TV has a new show on its lineup – Kan Cheong Kitchen.

This is a reality cook show, not unlike Iron Chef.  The difference is, Iron Chef is manned by professionals with years of experience and the ability to improvise under any circumstances.

Kan Cheong Kitchen sees 2 team participating. Each team is made up of 2 contestants, a Can Cook and a Cannot Cook.  The Cannot Cooks will do the actual cooking.  The Can Cooks, meanwhile will supervise them from a booth through a mini camera which the Cannot Cooks will wear.  The mini cameras will transmit everything that the Cannot Cooks see to a small monitor in the Can Cook’s booth.

Each team will have a total of 30 seconds to gather the necessary ingredients once the dish of the day has been revealed.  They will then be given 30 minutes to whip up the dish.

Of course, the main attraction of Kan Cheong Kitchen is not the recipes or any fancy cooking skills.  It’s the chaos that reigns during the cooking sessions that people will be tuning in to watch.

To ensure that the kan cheong factor is turned up to the max, the Can Cooks are required to shout instructions from their booths to their Cannot Cook counterparts in the kitchen area.  I’m sure you can imagine the ruckus that 2 ladies bossing 2 guys around the kitchen can make.

The dish for today is sirloin steak with mixed vegetables, mashed potato and sunny side up.

Memorable moments in the show:

• While gathering ingredients, one guy couldn’t find his “sunny side up”.
• One of the guys was resourceful enough to use a rolling pin to tenderize his steak.
• One guy almost flambé his steak when the fire from his stove suddenly surged up.
• “Lenyekkan kentang” means mashing the potatoes.
• “Eh shaddup lah you!” was frequently heard throughout as both ladies shouted to be heard above the din.

The results, both sides actually managed to whip up a somewhat palatable looking dish.

• Both teams had their mashed potatoes declared a disaster. Team A put too much milk in theirs which had the judges calling it bubur cha cha, while Team B didn’t cook their potatoes enough so it became lumpy.
• Team A had an overdone steak while Team B’s steak was underdone.
• The guy from Team B was creative enough to artfully arrange a small salad on his plate instead of using the usual boring peas, carrots and sweet corn for the required mixed vegetable.
• Team A put the mixed vegetable under the steak, a big no no.
• Only Team B managed to complete the whole dish as required while Team A didn’t manage to do the sunny side up.

The dishes were judged on both presentation and taste. Team B won.

Kan Cheong Kitchen is hosted by Rina and Fat Phabes, the laugh a minute duo from the 8TV Quickie.  Man, I love those two.  Too bad they don’t do the Quickie together much nowadays.

Watching the show reminded me of the kitchen in school.  I often hear the teacher who teaches home science screaming at the students in there.  I can just imagine how kan cheong it must be for the students, especially if they are virgin to the kitchen like me.

I turned up my nose at home science when I was in school.  I saw myself as destined for the rat race, which at that time I thought to be oh so glamorous.  So for me, home science is meant for those whose life plan was to finish school, get married and settle into the life of a see lai.

Ha ha, I didn’t know I would be missing out on an essential skill.  Oh well, it’s never too late to learn, is it?  Some good recipes and an adventurous spirit are all it takes to brave the kitchen and whip up something delicious.

And with the convenience of modern kitchen appliances, cooking need not necessarily be the drudgery it was back them.

Now, if only I can talk mom into getting one of those induction cookers, that would be real cool.

Yesterday I went to the Mr Key & Show at Tesco to replace the soles of my heels.  Guess how much those goons wanted to charge me for that - RM12.00!

Excuse me?!?!

RM12.00 just to replace 2 tiny pieces of rubber that are half the size of a 10 sen coin?  You’ve gotta be kidding.

"You know I can easily get them replaced for 1/4 of the price you are charging me from any one of the roadside cobblers?" I asked the guy behind the counter.

"Different quality mah," he said.

Yeah, right.  Brother, unless those things are made from some state of the art materials that can withstand a nuclear holocaust, it doesn’t justify charging your customers so much.

Anyway, they have been known to charge cut throat prices for their services.

A few months ago, the guy from my office went to see them for a quote to duplicate some keys for us.  The price they quoted - RM58.00 for 2 keys.

Of course, our guy had to get approval from our boss first before proceeding.  The next day when he went back, their price had gone up by RM10.00 and the day after, another RM10.00!

Mr Key & Shoe?  I think a more apt name for them would be Mr Cheat & Screw.

So boss gave us the opportunity to work from home yesterday so that we can have a break from the office.

Lemme tell you this - working from home ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Once in a while is fine.  It was nice that I got to chat with the boss through MSN in my pyjamas, facial mask on my face and the TV on in the background.

But as long as you are still reporting to someone at the top with deadlines to meet and a productivity report to submit at the end of the day, it takes the fun out of the whole equation.

You still have to put in the hours, so there’s no sneaking out of the house in the middle of the day to go to a movie or shopping.  And there’s precious little to watch on TV after Martha Stewart, anyway.

Was actually hoping to catch a little of the proceedings in the august house, but apparently with the circus that was the first telecast, it was put on hold until the PTBs can decide whether to carry on broadcasting or not.

My hats off to those who can do it day in and day out.

My colleague was right.  He used to work from home before the boss asked him to join the office.  It’s like being in prison, he says.

The only people who do enjoy working from home are running their own business, like my boss.  He works anywhere, even at Starbucks.  The difference is, he gets to shut down his computer and decide not to work for a day if he wants to.  He’s the boss.

Which leads me to something I’ve been thinking about for some time now.  Maybe I’ve been reading too many of my boss’ courses, but lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no real money to be made in this makan gaji lifestyle.

I mean, what do we get at the end of it?  Retirement with our KWSP money and whatever savings, man, that’s not gonna get us very far.  In fact, a lot of people take their retirement money and splurge it off on a grand vacation or something.

What we need is something sustainable that will continue to generate income for us, post retirement.

That’s why I’ve been looking at several things that I can do part time for the moment.  The internet has offered a whole new world of opportunities for part-timers.

I wouldn’t have found out about that if I hadn’t taken this job.  Right now, I just have to master the kung fu that is needed to get started.