Seriously, what about the telly? Friends who came over to my “palace” (as how my friend Rose put it) will go, “Hey, you don’t have a telly?! Oh my god!” and my response will be, “Yes, I don’t have a telly. I don’t NEED one.”. Then they will go, “What?! Everyone need to have a telly. How do you survive babe?”. They seemed genuinely surprised and curious.

My brother said to my youngest sister something along this line, “Telly is “mainstream”. You are too mainstream.”. Am not too sure about the telly being too mainstream but the reason for me not having a telly is simply because I do not watch that much television. I have things to do like cleaning, sweeping, wiping, laundry, fiddling with all my toys & gadgets (yes, girls have toys & gadgets too, not just boys and I love my BlackBerry and Sony Alpha DSLR camera the most!). When I do sit down after all the cleaning, sweeping, wiping and laundry, and should I decide not to fiddle with my toys & gadgets or play the Sony PSP, I will be in front of my beloved laptop. Yes, I love my laptop too. I love gadgets but I do not consider the telly as a gadget nor it is a toy. I use my laptop to watch all the series that I like (on-line streaming or via dvds). I watch movies on my laptop too! Most people (if not everyone) would prefer to watch series and movies on the telly due too reasons such as bigger screen, better sound system (if you have one of course) and it is far more comfortable sitting on the sofa. All are valid and good reasons but I have a problem. I have a minor disorder. I can not concentrate. I can not give my full attention when something is played on the telly. I have ADD! LOL. No, seriously, I can not seem to focus on what is playing on the telly. However, when the same thing is being played on my laptop screen, which is like in my face, it will get my full attention (unless of course it is something I do not want to watch). My latest fixation (as in starting from last night) is over Cheryl Cole’s music video for Parachute. I have it both in my laptop and in my BlackBerry! I was watching it on my laptop but it felt like something was missing and so I watched it on my BlackBerry. Then I was like, “Aaaah. OK.”. I can not explain it.

My point is, I have never been fixated by the telly. I remember not having one when I was staying on my own during university years and I do not have one now. Sometimes I find it a hassle as in when I have one, I would have to subscribe to Astro for better (not really) reception of channels and paid channels. I am fine not having all that. But I have a very nice sound system. It can play everything from a dvd, vcd, mp3, radio and even the cassette. I played my Hamlet dvd there and just listened. I imagined the scenes as I have seen the movie far too many times. Perhaps as much as I had seen The Shawshank Redemption!

So, when you come over to my “palace”, where I rule and rule from, think of it like you are on a holiday. You do not sit and watch the telly when you are on a holiday. You go out and about. You go down for a swim (yes, there is a nice swimming pool here). Do things. Have a nice holiday like time here at my “palace” and nearby and surrounding territory. It is anyway a wonderful place here.