The Chronicles of Jenny

Well, fuck a duck (that's for you Antonia!), it's that time of the year again. Independence Day. Merdeka. Julie's birthday (the last being the most important). Thankfully this year, since we were robbed and most of Jules's valuable stuff taken, picking a present was easy.

I made it easy for my Chubster of a brother too.

Phone beeps. Chubs answers.

Chubs: Yeah?

Me: Hey Chubby Chub Chub. Wanna share Julie's present with me?

Chubs: What you want to get ah?

Me: Camera. She lost hers, remember?

Chubs: Oh what were you thinking of getting?

Me: SLR lar. Monkey wants to be photojournalist what...think we should support her.

Chubs: Expensive what?

Me: That's why we share lor.

Chubs: Aiya OKlar. How much?

Me: Um, your share will be....

Chubs: OKlar

(one thing about the chubby boy - he may be lazy to go pick presents by himself but he's usually quite generous if you pick one for him)

But Julie didn't want an SLR. She said it would be too expensive. Not to mention heavy. She said she was touched, but she wanted a camera she could carry around and use. So I took her to a shop in Megamall and we spent all of half an hour picking one. A Canon Ixus - small, cute and about 8 megapixels...

The photoshop guy kept trying to sell us a cheaper Nikon which didn't seem half so cool. Julie and I politely indicated we weren't interested. Man kept pestering. Finally, I asked in exasperation:

"Hey, don't you get more commission if we spend more money?"

"No."

OK, so it figured.

Anyways, we got the one we wanted and made tracks for chicken rice upstairs. At least, I made tracks for chicken rice. Megamall chicken rice is the best in Malaysia, I think. Julie had sushi because she's more of an arty farty babe. (the guys at The Attic actually know who she is, I mean to say what? Of course, they know who I am as well, but that's only cos I went there a few times and was noisy as hell and made myself known, n'am sayin'?)

The Mumster is back from England. She had a great time but hated the food. She is so very Malaysian and intends to stay that way thank you very much. She got along like a house on fire with most people there, talked to strangers, asked the guy at the Kerala restaurant where he was from and discovered that he lived up the road from us in JB and had gone to St Joseph's, flew business class where she had the royal treatment, indulged in chocolates and desserts that she was not supposed to, drove a Kew Garden's buggy like it was stolen - Jackie sent me an email: "senior gets fined for speeding at Kew..." and generally bugged Jackie about her hair and how she dressed. She also sent me an SMS which was the weirdest bit of all, wishing me luck for a presentation. I didn't have any presentation, but I thanked her anyway. Then I texted Jackie to ask what the Big M was doing SMS-ing me. Jackie said:

"She wants to show you she's down with the latest technology, n'am sayin'.

I called her yesterday and she was nineteen to the dozen about her trip. I can't go back this weekend (what with it being Julie's birthday and all) but will probably go back next.

She said Helen (Simon's mother) sent me a big book. A biography of Thomas Hardy. OK, counting the Wodehouse and CS Lewis biographies - that makes three literary biographies I have to read. Cool!

If you are too lazy to be a writer, read about other writers. Or books about writing.

Katherine, where are you when I need you??????