Passion is Thy Name!

8 March 2008 was a historical day for many Malaysians, especially Penangites.
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For me, it was a day I will remember for a loooooonnnnggg time.
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Morning
Woke up to a slight hangover from the partying with Austin friends the night before. Left maid to clean the apartment while I nursed my aching head.
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Noon
Sweetheart called to ask me over for lunch with his family. As usual, his mom cooked YUMMY food and consequently, I overate. Felt uncomfortable with my overstuffed tummy but the food was too damn good to resist!
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Early afternoon
Headed downtown to fulfill my duty as a ‘rakyat’. Got drenched in the heavy downpour. Still soldiered on to the voting station to cast my vote. *Found out later my vote was totally worth it! I made a difference!!!*
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Mid afternoon
Headed to the gym with my mom and spent 30 minutes in the sauna steaming ourselves. Mom thoroughly enjoyed herself and reminded me to do it more often. "Your job is so stressful. You should try to do this at least once a month lah. Very relaxing."
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Late afternoon
Galfriend called to vent her frustration with her man. With some time to spare before dinner time, I decided to drive over to her place to calm her down. After hearing her out, I told her point blank that in this instance, she was in the wrong. I am known to call a spade a spade. If my friends fucked up, I will tell them they fucked up and go clean up the mess, not take their side just coz they are my friends. That was precisely what I told my galfriend for picking petty fights with her man who was just defending some issues close to his heart. Poor guy. *chuckle*
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Early evening
Time for dinner. Picked up Sweetheart and headed to one of the many eat-all-you-can-steamboat-cum-BBQ place that seem to have mushroomed all over Penang. Food was so-so (hey, what can we expect for RM19.90 per person, eh..) but company was FUN! Also discovered that some of my friends have bottomless pits for their tummies and yet, are so pint-sized!
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"Eeeyerrrr…these are so damn kewt!" - Emily ended up not eating those ‘kewt stuff’.
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And of coz the guys will always play with their food at every opportunity.
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We learnt the art of de-shelling mantis prawn from Mrs Ivan Oo. She was expertly removing the shells off those buggers in 3 easy steps and passing them around the table.
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Sweetheart and I didn’t eat much. Food there was just below average for us. Guess it’s really the company that matters. Also, we walked out of that place smelling totally smoked! Urgh.
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Towards the end of dinner, conversation got rather exciting as our phones got all charged up with text messages and calls with updates on the election’s ‘unofficial’ results. All of us agreed to head to some place more comfortable (for starters, not so blardy smoky!) to catch up on ‘live’ news of the latest count. New World Park was the selected venue. Why? Coz got free WiFi mah!
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So, we trooped over and planted ourselves at a comfortable spot to wait for the ‘good news’. With the laptop wired up, we sat down and waited.
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The guys anxiously checking out the Malaysiakini updates.
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And this was how they were when they read about the ‘unofficial’ update that for the first time in 40 years, the Opposition topples the goverment in Penang!
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After midnight, we started getting calls and text messages from family and friends.
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"Better stay home tonight. Riots already started on the mainland."
"Where are you? Get your ass back home soon!"
"Delete all SMS’es you received on the Opposition’s win. Cops are checking phones at road blocks!"
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Did that mean that we went home after that? Hell NO! It took Sweetheart all of 3 seconds to decide "Let’s go pick up the Austin dudes from their hotel and go have some fun!" So, while our friends obediently headed home to their families, two rebellious devils headed downtown for some Saturday night clubbing.
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Andrew, Al and Daniel made fast friends with the cigar lady over the weekend. They were happily lighting up what they couldn’t get back home in Austin - Cuban Cigars.
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No disrespect to my smoking friends but I miss smoke-free clubbing. Like California, Austin has declared non-smoking zones for all indoor places and of coz, it was a dream come true for folks like me and Sweetheart. However, I also realised that kinda ruling will never fly in clubs here. Oh well…
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I guess what really matters is that we are with those we love, eh?
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The night ended with smiles on our faces and hopes in our hearts that Penang is getting a new Life … Finally!