Quirky names

People ask me a lot on how I name my novel or story characters. Names like Alaris, Vohne, Kustaz and so on... I shrug at that question. Naming things, especially quirky names, is like my true nature.

Let's see what I have named since I was a child:

KUKULELE (pronounced as 'koo-koo-leh-leh')
It is a fixing toy bricks, with equal sides, equal height and equal width. A cube. For me, it sounds like 'squaredy square square', by naming it as such.

BINGBONG-HIHI (pronounced as 'beeng-bohng-hai-hai')
Guess what, it is a road bump! Bonggol jalan! Know why I name like such? Go feel it in the car as it ram over the 'bingbong-hihi'. It feels BING (first pair of wheels hit up), then BONG (as the 1st pair of wheels touch the tar again), then HI (2nd pair of wheels hit up) and finally, HI (as the 2nd pair of wheels touch the tar again).

ABULILA (pronounced as 'ah-boo-lee-laah')
Heaven knows why I called it as such. It is the 'mango tree', you know, those Malay wedding or special event, those girls would carry a pole with bright sparkling filaments like a coconut tree thingy. Till now, I am figuring out why I name it like this.

LONGLONG (pronounced as 'long-long')
It is yet another fixing toys. It is very long, in fact, the longest fixing toys unit. About 6 spots long, and only 1 spot wide. KUKULELE is 2 spots wide and 2 spots long.

BICKBICK (pronounced as 'beek-beek')
Another fixing toys unit. It is 4 spots long and 2 spots wide (you can achieve that by placing 2 KUKULELE together). I think I know why I name this. It is big and fat, as well as it looks like a brick. Hence... BICKBICK.

STOMACHBURST (you know how to pronounce this!)
Ha, bet you all don't know what this is! It is actually a food colouring. Go buy one and see. The red cap glass bottle. You know why I call it like this? Because you look at its symbol. It's a combination of different-sized stars of blue, red and gold stacking on top of each other. I remembered mum used to say cannot it 'raw', or your stomach aches. There is a starburst warning of STOMACHBURST, I guess!