Comedy Guide (Klang Valley Edition)

Are you feeling like laughing with a bunch of people (rather than laughing by yourself) for a change? This is also a cheap way to entertain yourself during the week as tickets start as low as RM10 (with or without GST).

Here’s a schedule of weekly comedy events in Klang Valley:

Tuesdays -

1) One Mic Stand at General Space, Petaling Jaya

 9-11pm

Tickets RM15 at the door RM10 (students)

Follow them on Instagram @ 1micstand or One Mic Stand on Facebook

This open mic show has been running for years. At the time of writing the show has had 275 episodes.

One Mic Stand at General Space, PJ (Stole this from Instagram)

2) Work in Progress with Ahmed Ahmed at Crackhouse Comedy, TTDI

9-11pm

You can follow Crackhouse comedy on instagram @crackhousekl

Ahmed Ahmed is an international comedian/actor who has moved to Malaysia to show us a good time. 

Wednesdays
 Open Crack at Crackhouse Comedy, TTDI

 9pm-11pm

Tickets are RM15 

This is also an open mic show. If you are interested to try it out you can just come around 8:30pm to get a slot. If not,just come by for a laugh. 

Women's Day show at Crackhouse Comedy organized by I Laugh KL

Thursdays

Laughing Gas at The Flaming, Subang Square

Tickets are RM15

Follow them on Instagram @d.laughing.gas or The Laughing Gas on Facebook

Another open mic show in the heart of Subang. This is a moving comedy show and they are currently at The Flaming almost every week. 

Fridays
Comedy at the Oasis at Mind Space Theater, Oasis Ara Damansara
8 - 10pm
Tickets are RM15

Weekends

There are generally shows at the Crackhouse Comedy featuring international acts. Checkout Crackhouse Comedy instagram to see who is performing that weekend.

You can also follow @ilaughkl on Instagram or I Laugh KL on Facebook which organizes monthly events.

These are just the shows that I know of and are regularly held. If you know of any other shows that deserve to be on this list, lemme know.

In case you haven't realized, this is a propaganda to get you to come see me perform at these open mics.  You walked right into it. 

Kitties

So I decided to log in after a gazillion years and I found three items in my draft. I thought the one below is pretty interesting.


If my cats were human beings (first to last cat)

1) Brownie - A religious old lady who sits around the house reminiscing. My mom took her from an Islamic class that she went to, that the cat frequent.

2) Bruno - Spoilt brat. I remember one time he fell from the fridge he was sleeping on and he was limping a while and everyone was just like "awww. poor bruno". And then there was that time that he broke a vase and then hid behind the curtain as my dad was yelling.

3)Bruni - She was a tomboy who moves at lightning speed. Whenever she came into my room I would kick her out through the front door of the house only to be back in my room and find her there.

4) Nana - Gay kitty

5) Nina - The godfather

6) Nini(You can see how creative we were with the names) - The adopted child. Seriously she wasn't from the same mother cat but we thought she was, so we took her and the two cats above from my grandma's)

7) Mommy - A mom who plays favorites. Her fav was Bushy

8) Bushy - Narcissistic beauty who thinks she looks cuter when she sleeps in basket

The old draft ended here. So I updated it to include my current cats

9) Michi - Overweight cat who made herself right at home when I found her at my door on the 19th floor. I wasn't even thinking of having a cat at that point but she fit right in

10) Henry - Michi's cat. A regal grey cat. Named after Henry Ford

So that was my cat list.  I still don't think I'm a cat lady. #indenial

Turning Forty Eleven Years Too Soon

No I'm not really turning forty just trying to be ahead of the curve. Why do I have to wait 40 years to turn 40?

I am talking about the concept of turning 40. Just this past weekend my friend who is turning 40 next year told me about his extravagant plan to celebrate his birthday by conquering the peak of Mount Kinabalu. In case you didn't know, that mountain is the highest in South East Asia.

I keep thinking what's so great about turning 40? Many have told me that it is really something compared to turning 30. So I decided to examine why people above 40 think that blowing 10 extra candles is so great and how The concept of turning 40 can be applied in my life.

1) they just don't give a f&$@ what other people think of them and their decisions. Subject (this kinda makes me feel like I conducted a proper experiment on them) almost always do what's best for themselves without worrying much of what people think - okay I think I can go full blown(alomst) on not caring about what other people think. My limit is my mom and sibblings and also things that could majorly jeopardise my career. Emphasis on the word majorly coz I definitely don't like to be someone I'm not but sometimes I have no choice.

2) subject is self sufficient financially and emotionally . After working for more than 15 years most people are financially ok so they don't need help from others and therefore they can apply point number 1. They've also learned that they dont necessarily need others to comfort them coz people suck anyway and that they are the best at comforting themselves - I think I can work on being financially more stable faster so I can 'turn 40' but the emotional part might be tricky. I am a fragile soul and it may take some time (or maybe even 11 years) for this to happen

3) they feel more attractive and comfortable in their skin. I think there is strong correlation between this and point number 1. 40 year olds vary from hot milfs and dilfs to my-god-you-look-like-you're-past-the-expiry-date. But do they give two f's and feel insecure? No way! Whatever mirror 40 year olds are looking at please give me one. Haha - okay this should be doable even in your teens. Key is to love yourself including your body. Love every scar you have coz each tells a different story. Let me side track a bit, I was asked by my mom today about a scar on my elbow and I kid you not i remember exactly how I got it. Over twenty years ago, my nanny's son put up a tent behind their house and i tripped over one of the ropes from the tent. But I certainly had a lot fun playing in the tent. See! Every scar has a story. If it's a good happy story cherish it, if not learn from it or if it's traumatizing block it out of your mind.

4) enjoy life. People above 40 seem to enjoy life a whole lot more coz they worry less compared to youngins. Well it's probably because of point 1 and 2. - okay some things in my life is really not worth worrying so I shall apply this concept immediately

5) accept that people are made differently. You know the saying sugar and spice and everything nice. Well for some people god forgot to add sugar, sometimes spice and sometimes everything. People above 40 tend to cut them some slack and don't let these ppl annoy them. When they don't like someone they just limit or simply don't allow the person into their lives

6) be patient. People over 40 have the patience as if they have another 100 years to live - Us gen-y's just want things now now now. I'm not saying that it is completely wrong to want things fast but sometimes things take time whether it be your career, relationship etc. So just roll with it and you can easily apply point 4. Of course I still need to work on this but there's progress for sure.

A lot of these points overlap and I may have over simplified the life of people over 40. Of course some are unfortunate and dont feel the same way . 

So my wish is to speed up my ageing process (not physically but mentally) so if you have any tips for me lemme know.

Okay so I failed my CFA exam.. now what?

I started pursuing the CFA exams last year to keep myself occupied coz it seemed that my weekends were pretty full of just partying and recovering from partying. Well that's a lie. Maybe some weekends I just sleep a lot and then try to recover from sleeping too much, if that makes any sense.

For those who are not familiar with the acronyms, CFA stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. It is relevant for people like me who is working in the financial market. There are three levels of exams and you are required to have relevant working experience before you can become a charterholder. Which means the institution I work for will have to spend a bit more ink to put the designation on my name card when I qualify.

I took my last exam in June and recently I got my results and I failed. I was sad but I wasn't severly affected by it coz I've had a similar experience with my actuarial papers (google that if u didn't already know what that is. It certainly isn't related to agricultural).

Those who are close to me probably knew I was going through some tough time so close to the exam. But I refuse to put the blame on the incident coz even I knew I was slacking from the beginning.

So what now? Here's my plan. Oh my mentor have been asking for my strategy for passing this exam at the next seating and instead of giving it to him I am writing it here. Maybe he should blogstalk me.

Anyway, here goes.

1) register for the next sitting. I believe that leaving a gap that is too long(in my case if it'd be 2 years if I dont resit for the exam in june next year) would make me lazier and maybe even give up the whole thing.

2) refocus on the reason why I took this thing in the first place. Mmmm initially i just wanted to kill time and I got killed instead. So maybe that wasnt a good reason. I guess now my main motivation is just to make more money.

3)Make my home study friendly. By that I mean, get a desk, set up my study room. Previously I was just studying at the  dining table. Weehee desk shopping. And if I study in a closed room I can keep cats away from bookjacking me (refer to evidence below, not my cat but I definitely adore him).

4) start early.  Yep, this is definitely necessary. I started way too late for the last exam and so I failed to cover everything

5) Get organized. I was losing notes and some of my books because I was so disorganized. This happened when I took the first level as well but I definitely can't half ass the second level.

6) Protect my zen. You read that right. When I first heard Redza Minhat(he's an indie actor who is also a charterholder) said that we need to find our zen when the exam day comes as in don't be too excited or too scared but just chill, I thought okay this guy is just pulling his artsy fartsy act. Turned out when the unfortunate incident happened to me so close to the exam I completely lost my zen, which i didnt know i had before. So this time, I shall guard my zen like it's my firstborn.

So those are my strategies for the next exam. I hope people who are taking the exams or any other exams would share some tips with me.

I shall update you guys next year on my progress with regards to the exam.

K-fit KL

K-fit made its way to KL recently and I thought I'd give it a try. For those who don't know, K-fit allows you to use a bunch of gyms, classes and facilities like pool tables, swimming pools, driving range and even the ice skating rink at Sunway pyramid for RM 99 a month.And you get RM 50 off your first month and another RM 20 if you refer a friend. You can also terminate your membership anytime you want but if you terminate it halfway through your billing cycle, your membership will only end the next month.

I find it convenient and much cheaper than a gym membership (I used to pay almost RM 200) for my gym membership which I gave up more than two years ago. Of course nothing beats using the office gym for free but since they don't offer any other classses but zumba and personal training I prefer to use k-fit for now.

Since a couple of years ago I have been having issues with my knee which the doctors diagnosed to be patellar tendonitis.It is the result of overuse from all that running I did before (the standchart runs, penang bridge, putrajaya night marathon, you name it). here's a picture from the Port Dickson night marathon in case you didn't believe me.

I scheduled my first appointment last Saturday for a beginner's yoga at Classic Yoga in USJ. Finding the place was pretty tricky coz I looked it up manually on waze when Kfit already have the address linked to google maps( of course I only realized this later). Anyway, google maps sometimes says address not found when you click on the map shown on Kfit's site. 

See!! You can just click on the map on the right side of the page.

But sometimes google map just shows you the whole world(fail!) and by the whole world I mean north and a bit of south America. Turns out the studio is very close to one of my favorite pan mee place. Maybe it'd help if Kfit gives landmarks around the place you're looking for.

Anway, try to leave for your class earlier if you don't already know the location. You dont want to be a no show coz there's a fee for that. I am yet to find out how much it is.i find this to be a motivation for me coz i cannot back out at the last minute just coz I'm feeling lazy.

When I got to class the instructor was the one manning the desk too(guess it's a one woman show) and she wasn't shocked that I came under Kfit but she said Kfit was supposed to email her names of attendees who are attending her class. Oh well that's between her n Kfit. She also mentioned that under Kfit i can only go to her studio four times a month. If i need more yoga than that(or ooga as my niece would say it)  I can always go to other studios.

Her class was easy enough for a beginner like me and I enjoyed it thoroughly that during the relaxation part/cooling down, I fell asleep. When I woke up, everybody was already rolling their mats. Oh well. So i will definitely go back to Classic yoga and will definitely try more activities under Kfit. I'm thinking that I should make at least two appointments a week to make it worth it. Maybe I'll go for a swim at PJ palms, maybe the driving range and a few of the gyms.

I will write an update on my knee after more yoga sessions. Let me know your experience with Kfit if you have any. And if you're gonna try it use my code please so I can get referals discount (My code is :QEIVM).

Horsing around with 25 Questions

One of my close friends, Sarah, decided to play this 25 question game and tagged me. So here goes.

1. Do you have a middle name?

Not really. My name is already long enough so I'm glad I don't have a middle name.

2. What was your favourite subject in school?

Math for sure. Followed by chemistry. Least favorite was physics.

3. What's your favourite drink?

Coffee or green tea latte

4. What's your favourite song at the moment?

The one that goes "I keep going to the river to pray"

5. What would you name your children?

I like classical names like Embun. Or if i were to go with a hipsterish name maybe Amerina.

6. Do you participate in any sports?

Not anymore. i used to play lots of badminton.

7. What's your favourite book?

1984. I suggest you check it out. it's out of this world. I also love fight club, great gatsby and wetlands. You need a strong stomach for wetlands.

8. What's your favourite color?

Turquoise. 

9. What's your favourite animal?

Dogs for sure. I love bulldogs, pugs, boxer, pitbulls, shih tzu

10. What's your favourite perfume?

Lady Dior

11. What's your favourite holiday?

Halloween of course. I was a Zombie school girl last year.

12. Have you graduated from high school?

Yes

13. Have you been out of the country?

Yes

14. Do you speak any other languages?

Malay, English and a bit of mandarin like I know enough to save my life

15. Do you have any siblings?

Yes! Three elder sisters

16. What's your favourite store?

Not much of a shopper but i love lovisa(sp?)for accessories and sephora for makeup. wish we has Ulta here in Malaysia. For online shopping my go to site is zalora, from which i only buy stuff that is on sale.

17. What's your favourite restaurant?

I love that thai joint in section 14 pj. not much of a fan of high end restaurants. Another good joint is the. food court in old town pj. omg yum!!

18. Do you like school?

Nope. I disconnect from work pretty easily but not from studies.

19. Who are some of you favourite youtubers?

none. i watch all the make up and hair tutorials but can't remember the names

20. What's your favourite movie?

Total recall. like the old one

21. What are some of your favourite TV shows?

The Mindy Project, Orange is the new black and breaking bad.

22. PC or Mac?

PC for sure

23. What phone do you have?

Samsung s3. time for a new phone i think.

24. How tall are you?

5'3"

25. Any pets?

i have two cats. Michi and Henry

Fussie Cat for those fussy cats

About a year ago, shortly after I moved in to my apartment, I came home to a tiny little kitten meowing her hearts out at my door. At that point I was still pretty much a dog person but that poor kitty seemed like it was in trouble. I often wonder how the little kitten ended up on the 19th floor.

Well I took her in and she acted like she belonged at my place. One thing lead to another and she became my beloved cat named Michi. I got another cat soon after to keep Michi company. Michi's cat is a grey male cat named Henry.

Anyway I just thought I should share my thoughts on keeping cats in an apartment. It will be slightly tougher compared to keeping them on a landed property coz your cats are gonna run, play and shit in your barely 1000 sqr ft home.

When it comes to food I recommend Royal Canin Indoor cats. The food is low in energy so your cats don't need to run so much to burn off the energy. I put my cats on that for a few months. I've seen it work better on other people's cats. Maybe because mine are still too young that they will run a lot no matter what I feed them.

Be prepared to pay around RM 100 for a bag of 4kg and don't expect your regular supermarket to be selling that brand. 

Another important thing to have is good cat litter. By good I mean it keeps your place smelling shit free. I've gone through quite a few brands including Tidy Cats, Fussy Cat, Speedmart cat litter that comes in green bags, Premier and another brand that they sell at Sogo supermarket which sounds like English gone wrong (it was like happy katty with some Japanese writing on it).

Anyway, the best brand was the happy katty but I am too lazy to get it from sogo coz sometimes it's there sometimes it isn't. the next best is Fussie cat (I've seen some shops display it as Fuzzy Cat so I really don't know what is the actual name). This brand comes in multiple different smells including green apple, lemon, lavender (guess this will help me sleep) and jasmine. My favorite is lavender followed by jasmine. I hate lemon smells coz it reminds me too much of bathroom cleaners.

This cat litter comes in 10 litre bags and it is priced between RM 24 to 25. All the cat litters i mentioned are the clumping sand type. Just don't get it on damp floors coz it turns into clay and that's a real b*#%€ to clean.

let me know if u have any tips on keeping cats. Or having cats as your master like I do.

Update: The brand of cat litter sold at Sogo is called Ketty Love and they're about RM 16