Festivities

It is festive season here in Malaysia.

Tomorrow, 01 Oct 08 will be the celebration of Aidil Fitri (aka Eid in some places), later in middle of the month, it will be Deepavali (Festival of Lights for the Hindus, aka Divali in some places), to be followed closely by Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year in most other countries)

This would be the season of expanding waistline, thinning wallets, increasing expenses, decreasing savings, additional holidays, lesser working days, good for workers, bad for bosses!!

Still, everyone enjoys festivities, and to have it in straight consecutive months are like one long celebration. It will be fun. It will be hectic. It will be truly a Malaysian event. As with all festivals, the main itinerary would be food, food and more food. I am already planning some food galore with my staffs, risking my hard earned weight loss. But, hey, anything for the festive mood, eh?

Don't Call This Love

Remember my post about Leon Jackson, how a humble guy make good?

I think the new album is coming out soon and that his first single, due out on 13th October 2008 has been leaked out on the internet....

I listened to the song in YouTube and I would say, it's a nice enough song, not really in the league of Leona Lewis Bleeding Love but it is a very nice song nevertheless.

Posting here for your listening pleasure. Enjoy...

Double Parking

Inconsiderate people deserves worst possible penalty for them.

I was passing by a commercial area just now. You know how brainless our local government can be, permitting construction of buildings without a wee consideration for parking and traffic and congestion.

People were parking haphazardly and double parking are so common that it has become a total nuisance!!! One guy's car was blocked and he had to horn to get the owner's attention. The thing is, the owner is nowhere to be seen and the poor chap keep on honking his car for like 20 minutes!!! Not only the inconsiderate driver causing congestion, he is the cause of sound pollution too. That is why sometime, I prefer to be driving an older car, should I come across such inconsiderate driver, I could just bang their car without any remorse nor any serious damage to my car either. See if they dare to park and block my car in future!!

I don't know what is our local council doing, they in most probablity are sleeping in their job, if ever the report to work at all. There are so many of them and none of them is enforcing the rules. Don't compound them, just tow the errant cars away, lock it up for 24 hours before releasing it to the owners. Let the owners pay a fine but can only redeem their car after a 24 hours penalty period AFTER settling the fine. Such simple solutions and they can't think of it!! Nobody will dare to leave their car and obstructing traffic if they cannot access their car for 24 hours.

Free Food For All

You can tell it's a Malaysian from the way they talk about food!!!

Seemed like we extreme passion for food, you can take Malaysian away from food but you can never take love of food away from Malaysian. On many occasions, I have observed that while we were tucking in some good food, the conversation inevitably will turn to next food excursions or where there will be nice foods or where will have better food than what we are eating at that material time, etc etc.

I guess being blessed with multi-racial society, your taste buds would be pampered as each ethnic have different emphasis on food and the variety tasted since young is just mind blowing. You can have Indian food for breakfast, Malays food for lunch, Chinese food for dinner and many other foods IN BETWEEN!! No wonder we are fighting an obesity war.

Yesterday, there was an official opening of a vegetarian restaurant in Bukit Tinggi Klang, near our place. And official opening of restaurant normally would be accompanied by free food, opened to all and sundry. You wouldn't believe that some people really would just walk in and eat, not knowing anybody in the place. I normally would only go when there is invitation, except once, when a Malays restaurant nearby my office were having their opening with free flows of food. It was my first (and only) time to attend a opening without invitation and even then, felt very awkward. I really admire people who can really go about eating like they owned the place!! And the best part is, I wonder if they ever become a customer of that place!! I know I do at least go back a few times.

Food always brought people together and to be enjoying food with family and friends is an experience unto itself. To be eating alone in a restaurant opening is not what you would call fun. Food obviously is good, the owner would be killing himself if their grand opening does not impress the would be customers, right? It is the follow up that sometimes, leaves you wanting. Seemed that the magic touch sometimes is just not there. I guess the novelty of a new place does play an important part and the taste bud is equally important as the mental bud....

Self Rewards / Dreams Realised..

Jamie just posted a comment about self rewarding and I concur with his view.

In our zest to pursue the life that we want, we tend to forget to sit back, take stock and check our list of the dreams of our life. When we were younger, we always dream and fantasize. Lucky are those who follow their dream and realised their dreams. It is not mean task and many people, in their day to day fending on the assault of daily challenges, forgot all about their dreams.

Jamie made me realise that one ought to have some dream and one ought to at least try to realise one's dream. Like what he said, rewarding yourself with a dream come true every decade of your life as a reward doesn't seemed to be a greedy act and I sincerely think that one should try to walk this path. I mean, how many decades would you have in this lifetime. Everyone is only given so many decades per lifetime, some more, some less but if end of every decade, you rewards yourself with one of the bigger dreams, life itself would seemed more full.

Being caught up in work, family and friends, some people would forget about themselves. How nice if every now and then, this people just take a chance and pursue their dreams or make true their wish lists? It will make for a happier people and a better world. It doesn't have to be expensive wish list. When we were children, the wish list is much more simpler. Probably having a tattoo, having braces to fix your teeth (that's me!!), piercing your ear/nose/naval (I am considering one!!), buy a sports/expensive/powerful car, backpacking in Eastern Europe, bungee jumping in New Zealand etc etc.

Like Jamie said, every decade one, so, I have two more wish list to realise before adding one more in a year or two time.

Good Food Good Time

Food, in the company of good friends, always taste better.

I have a group of friends, whom I know from joining our industry's association and the few of us just clicked, I think I mentioned it in a few post earlier. Mostly, whenever someone in the group is having a birthday, we will organise a dinner get together to enjoy each other's company and tell some jokes and sing some songs.

The people in the group are mostly half centurions, yours truly being one of the youngest, BY FAR...ehem.. Anyway, they are a bunch of fun loving jokers and any outing with them would normally be filled with laughter and at times, you would really be hard pressed to catch your next breath.

That being said, today we had a celebration for another two friends who were born in the month of September and we gathered for a dinner in one of the Chinese restaurant in Klang. Me, having the braces can hardly chew the foods but as it came in the fine dining format and the food itself taste good, ate despite the inconvenience and eating like each morsel was a torture. But the company is good and the food is good and when I am not chewing and wincing in pain, I have some good laughs over the jokes and stories.

I must also mentioned that I hitch a ride in my "God-brother's" brand new Mercedes, I don't know what it is called, S-Board? It is damn sporty, low cut and costs nearing half a million ringgit. I took some photo for this post and I must say, it is a "fine driving" car. What an evening, fine driving, fine dining, fine company.

The Car.

I forgot to take picture of the food until much later but what we had were like, 5 seasons, shark fin, sea cucumber, fish in cheese, noodle and desserts, all served individually. Personally, I don't take pork, as such, many of the stuffings were left untouched but overall, the foods were good, I mean for the price we paid, it was a good value for money (about 1000 ringgit for 11 pax)


It taste as good as it looked.








A Tad Too Sweet

Ripped Off!!

You know, sometimes, you would know when you were being ripped off and it pisses you off to no end.

My friend the architect got ripped off by Top Chan The Ripper! The irony of it is she herself is an architect and I guess, would have known how to fix the thing herself, unless it is a major one where it required hacking and cementing, then probably would have to give it to the blue collared professionals.

When I am in such situation, I would be very angry with myself for being stupid but I always tell myself that, what goes around, comes around. That will always make the pain less painful. I am one of those people who have the knack to do small repairs, so, I am able to save quite some sum over the long run. But I will sweat buckets when I do the repairs, not some much out of exertion, it is the sweat of anxiety!!

To call for a handyman normally costs a bomb! Even for my lawn, to cut the grass, the Indonesian worker who are doing the cutting are charging RM 80.00 each time!! I was like, "Huh?" They thought we all print money or what? Even to water the plant is charged at RM 4.00 per watering!! I just went and bought myself a sprinkler, better.

Except things that are really beyond me, wherever possible, I try to avoid engaging the handymen/repairmen. Anybody have any idea how much painting a house costs? I salute those people who can change their house paint every now and then, as if painting is free of charge.

Oh, last note, I have to mention this. I have a neighbour who works in Singapore, bought a house a few doors away from mine, come back every Friday, go back to Singapore every Sunday midnight. The thing is, every time they are back, they would be doing something in their garden. From just plain grass, they progress to shrubs and now trees. They installed some English garden lamp posts, built a gazebo, install wooden plank etc etc, all by themselves. I really salute them for their "hardworkingness". Me, once I reached home, I would just want to lie down and sleep, or get my fix on my addiction of internet / watching movies.

To Pet or Not To Pet

I am all for freedom. Freedom of everything.

Firstly, I don't like to keep pet. I feel that we, human shouldn't lock up animals and call them pet because that will be restricting them and raising them against their nature.

I mean, imagine calling all the inmates in Kamunting as the government pets. Okay, that's a bit bad taste but you get the gists. How can one restrict another life's freedom of movement and expression and call it caring?

If you love someone or something enough, you must also learn to let go. It is the hardest thing to do but it will be one of the greatest thing you will ever do. Pet lovers might argue the point but like what our government did to our instantly famous journalist who were detained because the government cared for her, trying to protect her from possible threat to life and many assissins in the country, the government decided to lock her up like other criminals and put her among them even. Like they said, the most dangerous place is the safest place, isn't our government a genius?

Sorry, I got sidetracked. The point is, for better or for worse, freedom of movements, of expressions is the most basic of life's right and as much as it applies to human, it should be applied to all other living beings too.

Lethargic

Lethargic.

Every now and then, I would be hit by lethargy. I just don't feel like getting up of bed and even if I opened my eyes, I would have to practically drag myself off the bed and go through the routine for the day.

When I was working in Singapore, my first job's was a shift job, the time very irregular. I missed having normal hours like everybody else. Then, on my second job, I have office hours, every friends from the old company was so happy for me and envied that I found a job, near them, but with nine to five working hours. What they don't realise is, there is no perfect time. For regular hours, I have to battle with human traffic, which added about 1/2 hours to travelling time. I have to routine like clockwork, get up at 6.30 a.m., leave at 7.30 a.m., reached office at 8.30 a.m., and after a quick breakfast, start work at 9.00 a.m., finished at 5.30 p.m, reached home around 7.00 p.m, do some personal stuffs and have to be bed by 11.00 p.m the latest, if I want to wake up on time the morrow. Never failed, tick tock tick tock. Then I envied my friends who were still in shift works, hahaha. I guess the grass IS always greener at the other side.

Nowadays, my working hour is still the same but with a little flexibility in the sense that I can do some from the comfort of home and turn up in office around 11.00 a.m. Still, every now and then, lethargy kicks in and I just don't feel the zest to work. When I am like that, productivity drops and I normally will try to take a break, probably by travelling or do something different, but normally, it's travelling, for a week and I will come back full of zest. It will last probably another 3 - 6 months and then, I'll itch to do something different again, something out of the ordinary tick tock tick tock.

I guess that's the price one paid for being a person who gets bored easily and always have to have something new to amuse him. Probably, I will need to dream more so I can put more effort into realising my dreams. Well, I guess I better be getting ready for office. A container went turtle yesterday evening at a customer's premise and I am not too sure if the transporter resolved it already. Ciaos..

Childhood Dream

I had my braces on today.

I spent like 2 hours on a dentist's chair and I think, I fell asleep at certain part. I am not definitely sure but it felt like it. I mean, TWO hours on dentist's chair, I had to doze off somehow, considering that I slept late the night before.

Now, I have to learn to talk with some obstruction in the mouth and it felt funny. Not to mention the maintenance and food control. But I am so looking forward to see the final result, after the fittings only I noticed there are more teeth that are crooked, hahaha.

Later, I am going out for lunch with a group of friends and I think, this will be a big subject. They don't understand why I want to go through all this hassle. People don't understand a childhood dream, I supposed. I am going through pain and inconvenience, on top of spending some good money, to realise something I had been longing for years and years. Finally, I am doing it and I hope the result will be what I have always wanted.

Life is like a box of .....

To some, life is living out of pills box.

I was just having a conversation with my staff earlier today. He told me one of his customer just told him that he has cancer. The guy is like 40 years old only. The guy told him to do anything he feels like doing and not wait for things to happen, like him, where every new day is a bonus to him. I concurred with each of his words, it's the doing it that is the hard part. You know the theory, it's the practical that always provide the challenge, to live life to the fullest.

Don't we all want to live life the way we want it, everyday of our life? Life is also about making compromises, give and take. Life is so full of challenges that we don't really need to carry excess baggage, occasionally, we have to let go.

Choices, choices, choices.

Each one we made, we have to live with it, good or bad. It's difficult to make choices but hey, life is also like a box of chocolates, you would be pleasantly surprised with your choices too, most of the time. Some bad decisions turned out to be good decision after all, after some time. Life do have silver linings, if we care enough to look deeply.

I don't know what I am rambling about but I do know that some people will find sense in what I am rambling here about.

So, to life which is like a box of chocolate, cheers.

Bloggerzoiks?

New species of homo-sapien - Bloggers! or in the words of my online buddy's date's description :- Bloggerzoiks? ** TM and C - copyright owned by Boi2 - though Bloggeroids sounds more hightech, like Androids..

It is funny how others' view bloggers like us. It is there at the back of our minds and now, it has come out to the open. The description as observed by my online buddy's date is pretty spot on.

To be fair to bloggers, many are either extrovert or closet-extrovert. I think probably as bloggers, we have pent-up desire to be famous and to express our inner feelings? But blogging is very much your own diary as it is a online journal. Sharing your deepest secrets and that kind of feeling sort of like open up doors for human interaction like never before. Oft times, people find it hard to express their feelings verbally; thus the advent of letters (snail mails to the overtly techie / geeky types), pagers, emails and the latest, blogs, sees the conveyance of thought like never before. Noticed I didn't include telephone and mobile? Because many would still be tongue-tied if they have to express themselves verbally. I have very good hunch some of my online buddies would be like that, this one in particular...

Even for myself, I probably articulate better in writing than in speech. I still get stage-fright each time I was requested to go on stage. I so admired people who can go to stage and do it well, like another online buddy here. Even when singing in karaoke in a darkened room, I trembled!!!

Blogging is a passion and hobby, much like my other passion; treasure hunting and reading. It is the kind of thing that you would do the minute you have the opportunity to do it. It will be in your mind, at least at the back of your mind for the whole waking hours. I can't start a book without finishing it as soon as possible. That is why at times, I do not want to start reading a book unless it is a weekend because I won't be able to sleep until I finish the book itself, or I read until I fall asleep, which is bad, I know but hey, to each his own, right? Or may be it is obsessive compulsive disorder? I certainly hoped not....

Frustration!!

Saturday and Sunday past would be one of the most frustrating Treasure Hunting days I have ever had!!!!

We have had Hurley with us for the second time, this time, we were as clueless (pun intended) as a newbie!! We weren't in our elements at all and some bad decisions were made. For me, it's the lesson that I never seemed to learn well. I have been at this for years and they people who set the questions never ceases to come out with new ideas to test the limits of contestants!!

For people like Hurley, winning is everything but for my teammates, we are hunting because we loved it. The challenges of breaking the clues, of finding the answer, of being dumbfounded by the explanations to the clues we were not able to decipher. Seemed like I am still a long way from being Professor Robert Langdon. We have very high respect for the winners, not only because they good, thus winning almost every hunt, it is for the respect of NOT missing a single hunt. That is why they are so good, practice makes perfect. So, we have to grudgingly concede defeat as we are not as fanatics as them. Still, one can hope for miracles, right? It is not as if we have never beaten them before, though it was long time ago, where we too were as crazy to the extent that, all of our weekends were taken up by treasure hunts, we barely have time to rest!!!

Anyway, enjoying something for the love of it is important. I was never frustrated of not winning, but I am very frustrated when people get the better of me, I was not able to see through the questions, that is the most frustrating part for me. Winning is just the cream on the cake. My teammates and I are addicted to this game and we do hope to improve our rankings - seemed like newbies are overtaking us and I don't know where went wrong!

Footnote - just came back from the Dentist again and had the other tooth removed. Next week will be brace week and two years of steely smile for me....

Play Tag!

I hate being tagged, so, this will be last I am entertaining a tag, out of courtesy.

The tagger's answer about herself...

Question:
Share 7 facts about yourself; some random, some weird.
I've have no fashion sense (serious)
I am a coca cola addict (never drink water)
I spent money for movie previews and invite strangers
I love 2 buy gifts for people
I have friends who take me for granted
I am a tomboy (don't believe the pink!)
I am a very shy person often mistaken for being snobbish.

==============================================================================

My random answer in line with above :-

I am very adventurous fashion wise (I was born in the year of Rooster, you know how Rooster loves to strut their stuffs, well, that's me!!)

I am NOT a soft drink aficionado (I try NOT to invite diabetes and soft drink is FATTENING, really!!)

I love gifts (nudge nudge wink wink to MIU - well, include me in your list ya)

I also have friends to take me for granted but if I can help, I will still help, KNOWING I might be taken for a ride at the same time!!

I don't tolerate idiots.

I am practically a loner who keeps pretty much to himself.

Where possible, I will try experience all kind of things, at least once in my life, except of course eating pig's snout and bungee jumping and roller-coaster ride. If not too scary or embarrasing, mostly, I am game.

==================================================================

Well, that's the simple reply to the TAG. I am not tagging anyone, the reason being, I have a motto, DON'T DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU DON'T WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU - you hear that, Miu & Hur? (The real half truth being, I don't have anybody to TAG, I am a loner, remember?)

Lastly, to the tagger, well, as I posted in the comment box, I have learned not to get angry but to get EVEN. So, I have planned out a host of things that is NOT going to happen to the TAGGER, one of which, I have thought of buying (after I have checked the availability) a set of SCRAP BOOK MAKER for the coming Christmas. Now, the best thing is to tell what I would have bought and am NOT buying it already. Isn't revenge sweet? Na na na na na na...

Enter Frame

Normally, enter frame is a Malays slang to say butt in uninvited.

Today, I would like to use the same words to explain how kids and some adults can just pick up from anywhere of an ongoing things and proceed without any hitch or hiccups.

Just yesterday, I sent my daughter to kindergarten and the kindergarten is having a school concert soon. All the students are tasked to a performance and they usually practice in the morning when the weather is a little bit cooler (I hope, cause I never checked whether they were asked to practice under the hot sun)

My alarm didn't sound off yesterday, so, I woke up late (in fact, was woken up by my daughter) and I quickly get ready to send her to kindy. When we reached there, the students from her class were dancing, halfway through their practice. She just walk in, put her bag down and went to her partner's side and started to dance, as if she was dancing with him since the beginning. This is what I admired about kids, they just proceed with such casualness that at times, I made me wonder, where have OUR casualness gone to?

I guess the ability to pick up and proceed has been honed for working life, where at times, you would have to second a colleague's job and you go in and just continue from where they left off. You must be well versed in it of course, otherwise, you would be like fish out of water. So, it always pay to be observant and learn more about our job, right?

Thinking Machines

Will the day come when machines think for themselves and we have D-Day as in Terminators?

Did you ever experience a situation where the machine you are using just wouldn't work despite checking everything you know about them, ie, ink for printer, paper for photocopier etc? So, what you going to do? Call the maintenance people, right?

Now, the best part is, did it ever happened that after you have called the repairmen, the machines just worked!? You know, like it was doing it purposely to embarrass you? Or like when the repairmen came, they just power on the thing and it worked too? Where you have powered in on and off a couple of times and the machines just played possum?

The best part is, after you have apologised and depending on the repairman, paid (or not, since no repairs were done), the minute the fella leaves, the machine stopped functioning again!! What would you do? Kick the machine? I have encountered this a few times and I have also observed that at times, my staffs would face the same awkwardness in trying to explain to the repairman what's the problem with the machine which is working perfectly fine during the whole time the repairman was there.

Lastly, I was told by some of the service workers that this thing didn't happen to us alone, as if that is a consolation. Apparently, many places that he went to service the machines, many times, it is in good perfectly working order and after doing some cleaning, wiping etc, right after he leaves, he would received calls that the machine gone bonker again! As if the machines are playing hide and seek!! I wonder do the machine really thinks?

Disappointment

Sometimes, you just know when you can click with people.

I have been an ardent fan and follower of Roti Kacang Merah and somehow, we just clicked, though we don't even know each other personally. Same goes for Jamie. It is a wonder that people who never set eyes on each other knows just how the other general feelings would be.

The other day, I expressed my disappointment over the non-event of 916, I was so looking forward to something happening on that day, the promise of change will materialise. Yet, it did not. Of course, RKM was right to say that, we have been bullied for 51 years, what's a few days more? I so totally agreed but I still have to express my disappointment of what is beginning to look like an empty promise. I think it is not fair for a follower to be led on blind faith alone. We have had that for 51 years, it's time for change. When I am promised something, I want the promise to be fulfilled. If unable to, let me know in advance, so I don't feel the crushing disappointment should it failed to materialise. I am such a person. I hold dear to my ideal of honesty.

Well, when I posted my comment about the non event of 916 in her blog, I knew RKM might feel slighted, yet, I still posted it. Reason? Well, for true friendship, honesty is paramount, one must always express general opinion openly. If your friend didn't hear it from you, they will hear it from someone else. Hearing from someone else is even worse because then, they don't analyse the reason with you, whereas, as friends, we will give our honest and sincere view, hoping we can make the other sees the general views. Others will gleefully tell you off or rub salt to the wound, whereas friends will just tell with some cushioning and without any gloating involved, right? Thus my belief that friends must be able to agree to disagree on everything.

Snobs

Miu called me, saying she is in trouble!

I was like, Huh? The first thought that cross my mind was like :- "How careless of Boi2. Did he really used expired condoms?" hahaha. Jokes aside, I could tell that Miu was worried about something.

Then she confided in me that her friend who knew someone in C#@^%L don't like her post about C#@^%L Warehouse sale. I told her that as long as what she wrote is the truth, there is nothing to fear. We are not in a communist or police country, my dear, though it looked like we are fast turning into one.

I told her, if she felt so uncomfortable about it, just remove the post, though she is not obligated to, unless C#@^%L wrote to her formally to ask her to remove it.

I felt that all this branded SNOBS are just too much to tolerate. Why would you guys still want to supports snobbish brands like this? Boycott them would'ya? Just like I have boycotted a fast food chain selling pizza for the racist undertone and I used to frequent their outlets on weekly basis!! Though they come out and explained the reason, and subsequently removed their offending racists forms, I still refused to support them.

The same goes for a local bank that fronted a tiger. The bank was equally racists and till today, I didn't used a single of their service, be it credit cards, savings et al. I have loads of credit cards from other banks, except that particular one, I simply boycotted them, alone I might not make a difference but if there are many more of me around, then, they won't be that arrogant anymore.

As for Miu, I think she should just remove the post and don't have anything to do with THAT brand anymore. AND spread the words to everyone you know NOT to use THAT brand too. If they are people with principles, understood the reason for the call to boycott, then, they should follow suit. Why help to promote them and in the end, not only they don't appreciate it, they call your site cheap!! The cheek of some holier than thou snobs!! Rich and famous brands are always arrogant but they still want your money. Take your money elsewhere.

We only support good and polite brands like FUJI FILMS, yay.

Window Shopping

Holidays!!

Yes, it's a holiday here in Selangor on Wednesday.

I thought it was a Sunday and I even took paper and pen, list down ALL the warehouse sales that is going on from Miu's site and planned to go and practice my shoving in the sales. Then, I remembered, this only happens on Saturday / Sunday, so much for my hope of honing my elbowing skills.

Plans hampered, I took the whole family out to Berjaya Times Square, the reason being that I got 50 Ringgits MarryBrown vouchers to spend, courtesy of BTS, as such, it's only "spendable" in BTS. So, the lot of us left around 12.30 p.m and got there around 2.30 p.m. I forgot that KL is not on holiday that day, thus the jam was there when we reached the fringe of the city.

We went to BTS and proceeded to MarryBrown, had our late lunch there and spend all the 50 Ringgits vouchers in one go, hahaha. The food was not bad, considering that it was fast foods, though, they could have dropped the 'fast' from their vocabulary. They are anything but fast. We ate our lunch sitting in a swing! That's something new. It was fun for the kids, definitely.

After than, I got around to do some window shopping and real shopping. Bought myself a 160GB external HDD for RM 190.00. I don't know if it is value for money but it's the cheapest I can find. I need the extra space as I am now hooked to downloading loads and loads of movies, series, cartons etc. And my present 160GB in the laptop is running out of space. I also bought 100 pieces of DVD-Recordables. I burned some of the downloaded movies to the DVDs and delete it from my laptop to free up some space. I will try later whether it can be watched using normal DVD Player or do I need to convert is before burning it in the future. My DVD player claims to be able to play back Divx files, we shall see.

I also got myself a car MP3 player/transmitter, for RM 20.00 only. Hehehe, it is so convenient nowadays. I just copy my favourite MP3s to my thumbdrive and plug it in, I can have loads and loads of songs to listen to. Though I have been doing it with CD all this while, this is different in the sense that I can delete and copy any songs I like, anytime! The wonder of technologies never ceases to amaze me.

Rambling Of Nothing

I am bereft of ideas to write.

It is not that I have writer's block or what, it's just that I was like, so many things to tell but then, nothing in particular to tell. Isn't it oxymoronic? I have a few nice things to tell while driving but when I am facing the computer, all the things seeped back to the grey cells and refused to rear it's head or tail or whatever it is that it is supposed to rear.

Anyway, as I was chatting with Hurley just now, about how life at the early stage is okay to be unpredictable but towards the later years, some form of stability is necessary. My words as follow :-

Thomas says:
well, to have kids, you have to have the factory first
Thomas says:
to have the factory, you have to build first
Thomas says:
to build, you must have the plot too

To the ladyfolks, please pardon me as it wasn't my intention to sound so MCP but I was just explaining "FACT OF LIFE" to Hurley using tangible and simple example, hahaha. Not that he had any comprehension problem (he is reading this blog too, have to be kinder in words, ehemm)

Well, I guess that wraps up today's post and though not my best post, still, I hoped it will be enjoyed.

Wise Men Say

Quotable Quote

"The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love."

William Somerset Maugham

Received the above from the many junk forwarded mails. Thought it would be a waste not to share it.

Rocky's Bru: 18 hours with ISA

rocky's bru: 18 hours with ISA

Above link is to Rocky's Bru blog which has the accounts of the detained journalist from Sin Chew Jit Poh.

Mom's Cooking Is The Best

Every mother have their specialties.

I was having a chat with Roti Kacang Merah and in passing, she mentioned that her mom cooks the bestest rendang (her words) and I sincerely don't doubt that.

I believe God, in His wisdom, blessed all moms with individual specialty. All children normally will miss their moms' cooking, IF ever they have to leave home. Those who never leaves home will never appreciate it though. That is why, it is very important for children to at least venture to the outside world, out of their mother's shield, at least for a few years. That way, all children will realise how much their moms' sacrifice has been. May be it is due to this reason alone that "home-cooked food" or "home-cooked recipe" restaurants are extremely popular, everyone is still looking for their missing cravings, the indoctrinated taste buds in all of us.

I am also biased, in the sense that I believed that my mother is one of the best cook and her cooking was not limited to following recipe. Many of the best cooking, she cooked by using estimation and "feeling". I don't know how to describe it because, I think I have inherited the same traits where you can feel just how some ingredients will go with some other ingredients, and where, upon eating, you will know that something is missing from the end result.

Some people will worry when they have to cook but I have not feared cooking at all. Some people will have to buy lots of thing just to cook whereas, for me, I will just look inside the fridge and make do with whatever available inside there and only resort to buying only if there is absolute necessity.

For those who are still eating mom's food, appreciate what you are eating now as it was cooked with TLC and no one will cook with so much loves for you except your mom. So, do appreciate your mom more...

Lantern Festival

I will try to keep this post short.

Today is the Lantern Festival, or Moon Cake Festival, or Mid Autumn Festival, take your pick.

There were many stories pertaining to the origin of the festivals but I guess, any story is a good one, for as long as it is for festivities, people just want to celebrate and forget about the ugly world for a minute.

One of the best story I have read about the origin of this Lantern Festival was written by a very talented blogger, whom have gone into "meditation" and "hibernation" mode, it was such a waste of talent.

But to the uninitiated, please click on this link to go to his version of the Lantern Tale, we need some humour in life and do take his tale with a pinch of salt and get rolling on the floor laughing out loud. I know I did when I first read it.

Other than that, I guess Malaysians are pretty much not in the mood for major celebration though the Lantern Festival do come in handy for the call of Candle Light Vigil, in support for some of our mistreated friends by the power that be. I do hope that the black mark would be rectified as soon as possible and even for a non-graduate like me (in other words, lesser educated one) who can see the sheer stupidity of then lame reason/excuse for the actions, I can't believe that ones who called themselves leader of the people could be so dumb to give such reason/excuse is beyond me.

Kudos to the de facto Law Minister who said he will stick to his principle and resign if his effort for just Malaysia go to waste over this incident. I hope he meant what he said because after so many days of idiosycrancy, this is the only lone voice from the side of bully that dare to make decision affecting himself, whereas the loads of others are just giving non-committal response. To those, I say to H@## with them, the load of them.

And before I sign off, I do want to wish all of you a pleasant Lantern / Moon Cake / Mid Autumn Festival under the circumstances and do remember that the sun always come out tomorrow, no matter what transpire today.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah

Today In History

Every thinking Malaysians were shocked! The first arrest was anticipated, there were rumours abound. RPK knew what's in store for him, justly or not. He is a man of principle and he stood his ground. In a world of flip-flops, to have such a steady principled icon to lean unto, it is a blessing for Malaysians, irregardless of colour.

The shockings were the arrests of journalist from Sin Chew Jit Poh (released earlier today) and Member Of Parliament Teresa Kok. Our very own leader (one of them, anyway) was detained for ALLEGEDLY inciting hatred. Who would believe that? She was accused, alleged to have questioned certain things and for that, she is a threat to national security? OMG, what are we coming to? Zimbabwe? Economically, we seemed to be heading there, now politically too? It is very sad indeed when even an MP can be bullied, that speaks volume for people who are not knowns, short of saying nobodies (no one should be nobody, they are always someone's child, someone's spouse, someone's parents)

Then, there are loads of other under the watch list and target list, according to some information made available and should that come to be, I guess all hell will break lose and it will set the nation back, many many years in term of economy and politics. Whose fault is all this? Who is standing up to be counted?

If this is democracy, then, many non-democracy have higher respect for freedom and human's right. I am praying hard that there will be light at the end of tunnel soon and that we can only expect improvement from hereon, there can't be any lower ebb, can there?

To my new found friend Roti Kacang Merah, you take care and may the force be with you and your husband. To the rest of the heroes and champions of the common, voiceless folks, namely, but not limited to YM Raja Petra Kamaruddin of Malaysia Today, YB Teresa Kok and (just released) Sin Chew journalist, Ms Tan Hoon Cheng, the righteous people pray for you and wish you all strength to endure this challenge and emerge much stronger.

Energy Sapping Emotional Draining

Tear-jerkers movies always touch the raw nerve.

I have yet to watch Money Not Enough 2 but the comment from Miu and my colleagues make me want to go and grab the next available ticket.

Meantime, I watched another movie, Tagalog movie this time, titled All My Life, courtesy of Torrents, hahaha.

It was a tear jerkers movie, quite well acted out and by the end of the movie, I felt quite drained. Why do people sat through this type of movies?

I always admired the actors in this genre, it is not that easy to touch a raw nerve, push all the right buttons to induce some wet and red eyes. It has to be one of the toughest genre to act in.

I am so looking forward to watching MNE2 and come out, feeling emotionally drained but exhilirated at the same time.

Half An Hour Of Air Glamour

What now, you say?

Hahaha, further to my earlier post on 10 Minutes of Fame, I want to share another experience, when I was in Form 5, I wrote in to a Radio Station and got a slot for a programme called Guest DJ of The Week.

The programme was on air for like half an hour and the recording took exactly that. The actual DJ said I did very well as there was no re-take, hahaha, for a minute, I thought that must be natural talent.

But I cringed when I heard myself on air. I don't sound like me at all! I sounded like a frog croaking...oh, it was me alright!!! The moment of truth and it was very humbling. I guess that's how my nick come about...

I don't understand how some people can have such sexy, deep voice going into microphone and come out deep, rich and powerful. Whereas people like me, we came out sounding like frog croaking, OMG!!

Looking back, I am quite surprised that I dared to try all these things, I mean, going on air in both radio and TV, which, at that material time, felt like just a natural thing to do. That's why, life is really a learning curve...

What goes around....

The law of Karma says that you will get your just in the end.

It is believed, in all the faiths, a variation of the law of Karma. Irregardless of your faith, you have to believe in Karma or justice, if not in this world, then in the world next. I don't believe that there is no world after next but I also don't buy the textbook concept of the next world. Noticed that I didn't use the word after world because,though I believed that we will move on, our conscience, our spirit, our whatever that is make us human, will move to a world and it might not just stop there. It could be a transit point, as much as present world.

Therefore, to believe that there will be rewards as well as retribution is only logical. Scientists believed that the world is made up of mathematical equations and that, I believed, will be the basis of all rewards and retributions. In the end, the sum have to be added up and it as to balance, the good and the bad.

Ten Minutes Of Fame

I have been on national TV on prime time.

Yup, that's right. At one stage, one of the hottest show on earth was Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and like all other average Joes, I dreamed of becoming a millionaire. Who don't want money to drop from heaven? It was the rage and the catch phrase, "Anda pasti?" were the IN phrase. (Anda pasti? loosely translated as Are you sure?)

I remembered that we have to call in and the shows were like quite a few season. I don't remember which season that I got through but it is definitely NOT the first season. I was going like, yeah, what a load of bull, I mean the call were like a few ringgit per minute and I thought it was a plain rip off.

Yet, one fine night, being unable to sleep and for lack of better things to do, I just called in. I got automated answer, blah blah blah and after a while, I got to the questions, I think there were 3 questions, I can't remember actually but I am pretty sure that I got all of it right. Then I was to record my wish should I win the million, blah blah blah. Still, I was no putting much hope in it, as I don't believe that it was genuine anyway.

Some weeks later, I received a call from the people from the show and I was asked another question, just like that, off guard. I gave it my best shot (Q - what was the length of the skybridge of the KLCC Tower) - I think I answered 50 meters or something like that and that's it.

Again, some weeks later, I got a call to inform me that I qualify for the show and that the recording in the studio is set on a date and I am to make myself available on that day. And I was to find a partner as they are doing a couple show instead. My wife didn't feel up to it so I called my sister instead.

The day came. We were told to be at the TV station before 8.00 a.m. So, I left pretty early and we got there around 7.30, I think. There were pretty much nothing to do as we have to wait for the host to come before shooting can begin. It was so boring with nothing to do and we were not really allowed to explore the place, which is understandable, we might disturb's ongoing recordings. Lunch came and went, still no recording. In the end, I think at about 4 - 5 p.m, we were ushered to the make up room, got changed and off to the ring, so to speak. Finally. The big lights.

First round, there were 10 people and the one with the fastest answer will get to go to the middle of the stage to have his shot at 1 million ringgit. I missed...I answered wrongly, huhuhu.

The lucky guy was out by the 8,000 ringgit question, he gave up and his life lines were used up. The rest of the 9 contestants will have another shot and off we go. This time, I got all the answers right in the fastest time!! To the middle of the ring I go. Obviously, I didn't win the million ringgit, otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here blogging about it.

The thing is, the show was so popular that for a minute, you get a certain fame. People looked at you and smile at you and some pick up the courage to ask, you were the guy in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Those kind of things.

The experience of watching yourself in the TV, the experience of everyone who knows you, rooted for you, screamed their lung out at the answer, it is priceless. My phone rang off the hook the night the show went on air. It was fun and it was an experience of a lifetime.

So I guess, I can understand those people who crave for spotlight, doing all kind of things, silly and otherwise, in prime time TV, just to get attention and fame. Been there, done that. And not many people have those kind of opportunity and I am truly fortunate to have experienced it.

Life and How to Survive It

Another nice junk I would love to share with you all.

If I have infringed on anyone's copyright, please inform me via comment box to have it removed. Meanwhile, please read this, though a bit long but it's good.

Address at NTU Convocation 2008 by Adrian Tan (author of Teenage Textbook)

Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It's a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable. Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife. And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you've already won her heart, you don't need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You're done learning. You've probably been told the big lie that 'Learning is a lifelong process' and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters' degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don't you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they're wrong.

The bad news is that you don't need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You're in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I'm here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan , and tied with San Marino . It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There's very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you'll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they're 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn't meet their life expectancy. I'm here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy. After all, it's calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much. That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste. If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don't need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life's a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don't expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over. Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term 'Karoshi', which means death from overwork. That's the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there's nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There's a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are 'making a living'. No, they're not. They're dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan 'Arbeit macht frei' was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn't do that, I would've been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction - probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don't imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I'll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don't, you are working. Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I'm not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It's not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it's often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one's own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn't say 'be loved'. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one's looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone. Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We've taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work - the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn't happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone.

You either don't, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don't work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You're going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there's no life expectancy.

Britain's Got Talent

I know, I know.

The title is a bit lame. But I was just watching the Season 2 of Britain's Got Talent yesterday and I am only up to episode 4. Thanks to torrent that I am able to enjoy shows like this, which never get shown in our national TV - not that I have access to national TV anyway, as I didn't fix any aerial to get the free transmission.

That said, I just want to comment that some people are just purely talented. The last season's winner Paul Potts surprised everyone when he sang Nessun Dorma, it was hair raising to say the least. I am not an opera fan but hearing him sing, the hair at the back of my neck stands, that's the effect he had. Probably because we didn't anticipate that, him being shy and not good looking at all. You know, how people tend to sum up things before they know for sure. Guilty...

Well, last night, I watched and was captivated by one of the participant. He is a young boy of 13, by the name of Andrew Johnston, who, like what Simon Cowell said, lacks confident and was shaking like a leaf. He was nervous, you can see that. He also mentioned being bullied in school, etc etc, probably to get some sympathy (the cynics in me, thanks to bad influence from Hurley)

The thing is, the boy sang something, I think it's opera and his voice is so beautiful that it tugs at your heartstring. My eyes were wet and though I didn't cry outright, I probably would if he sang the whole way. Here I am, not understanding a word that he sang and I was just moved by it, like totally. The camera works zoomed in on many of the audience, there were many teary eyes and some cried outright! I was like, wow, that is the power of beautiful singing. He sang right into your soul. I have never experienced a feeling like that, having my emotion tugged by mere singing, at a language I don't understand at that!

I am putting in the youtube for this audition for your benefit, listen to it and let me know, is it me or is it the boy's talent that moved me that much?



That's Andrew Johnston for you. I know a few who read and listened can't control their tears but as always, we always root for the underdog, the underprivileged. I am so looking forward to continue watching the following episodes and see how he progresses (though I have searched the official result in the internet)

Pen-pal

Until I read from +sizekitten's post, I didn't realise that pen-pal still exists!

Years ago, when I was like 13, I started to have pen-pal. You know, there was one TV program where you were to write in with your address and they will give you one pen-pal located somewhere in this globe? I only remember something like Dear Pen-pal and the address was somewhere in Santa Barbara, CA, USA.

Well, I did write in and in the process, got myself three pen-pals, one from Zambia, Deborah Chiluba, one from Thessaloniki, Greece by the name of Karafilia Vasiliki and lastly, another one from Trinidad & Tobago, Michelle Marcano. It was very exciting for a village boy like me, to be able to write to someone so far away, totally in different time zone and different corner of the earth! For me to able to remember their name after so many years, it must account for something, right? I wonder why we stopped writing to each other? People moved on and don't bother to keep touch?

Then there was one pen-pal from United States by the name of Lam Thuy Chinh. I got to know this pen-pal from my God-sister who were studying in Canada at that time and she was boarding at the cousin's place. I started to write to her, after the address were given to me, around 13 and we stopped at around 18. The reason? She met with an accident during college outing with a group of friends and all of them didn't survive the accident. It's really sad, for a group of people so young, so full of life, to be taken away just like that. I remember how we used to write to each other, almost every week, where her letter to me normally will arrive every Monday and I will mail my reply that evening itself.

To imagine, someone who had seek asylum, escaped from the Viet Cong, braving the seas, got quarantined in an island for 1 - 2 years, got resettled to USA and just as life was going full speed, she have to meet her maker already. Life is such...

As we moved on in life, we didn't notice how snail mail is slowly fading to the background. Now, everyone is on email but there is something about snail mail that is hard to get from email. There is a sense of mystery in snail mail and it is more personal. The handwriting, the paper, the envelope, everything, showed personality. Email is more sterile, everything is more or less standardized.

I think everyone pass through this stage of life where you will have a pen-pal or two and you sort of share everything, a role more or less taken by instant messenger. Call me old world but I always love the feeling of paper in my hand, the smell of paper and ink and the excitement in opening an envelope. I miss those day. I should probably go and dig out those pen-pals' addresses and try to write them and pick up our friendship from where we have left off? Not with the USA one of course, though, she was the one that I were most close with, among all my pen-pals. Another life, perhaps?

Sleeping Marathon

I slept for like 12 hours from midnight yesterday to noon today!

Yeah, that is true, I have not slept like that for very long time. Life priority changed but probably today I can sleep through is because I have informed my office that I will not be coming in for the day that probably relaxes me more.

I remember years ago, when I just started work in Klang, I was staying in the office, where it had a spare room at the back. That was to be my residence for at least 7 - 8 months, until I got a flat for myself. The thing is, in that room, sunlight does not shine in, as it doesn't have any windows. You lose sense of time. No sunlight, it's like night time all the way if the light is not switched on.

I remember some weekends, being in a foreign place with nothing much to do in the off days, I would sleep in. The record I hold was sleeping from around 11.00 p.m, right up to 6.00 p.m the next day. Woke up, took a shower, had some dinner and then back to sleep again! At times, when I woke up, I don't even know what day it is, I was wondering whether I would have slept through Sunday!! I guess, sometimes, sleep is the best gift of mankind. When you sleep, you either be in somewhere else or nowhere at all and all else is forgotten. Blissful..

There was a period of time where sleep just eludes you and those time would be very hard to pass. Personally, I find sleep to be one of the best therapy but somehow, am not getting enough of it. Must strive to sleep more, hahaha.

Nasi Dagang

 

The picture above do not do justice to the delicious fare I blogged about earlier. It is a simple meal of gulai ikan tongkol (tuna curry) and brown rice. That's all. But the gulai is simply delicious. The taste is rich and flavourful, it goes very well with the rice. The salted egg is there because it is my favourite but it enhances the rice even more. Simple treat but extremely tasteful fare.

I will try to snap better picture, somehow this stupid Vodafone is not doing a good job. I think in most probablity, the Vodafone do not have stability program where just a very minor jerk will cause the blurriness.

Nasi Kerabu

Don't you just loves street food?

In spite of lesser teeth, it didn't stop me from going to the Ramadhan bazaar, yet again. As said earlier, this time around, I bought the Nasi Kerabu.

I don't know what it is actually about street home cooked food that is so tasty and delicious. The picture followed is of Nasi Kerabu, it is just a simple fare of rice, blue because of certain flower's colour, salted egg, some raw vegetables, some I don't know whatisname fried coconut shavings and stuffed chilly. That's all. One meal in one packet. It is very delicious, the flavour mixed up just nice. Not everyone will appreciate it's taste but how some simple ingredients just goes with each other is a journey to discovery.

 

 

 

Even though I was not sure I can eat as the "hole" is not properly covered yet, it still bleeds even if I were to gargle forcefully, I managed to finish off ONE packet of the Nasi Kerabu. Once a glutton, always a glutton, huh? Chewing it slowly like a toothless old man, I took a slow bite after another and before I knew it, I have finished off the whole packet. All this while being very cautious of not letting any grain to fall into the "black hole"

Fear Conquered!

I survived!!!

I am alive and kicking! (it is the anesthetic speaking - as it slowly wears off, I can feel the pain, albeit a mild one)

D-Day and hour came and gone. I survived! Got two tooth extracted out. Credit to the dentist that the discomfort was kept to the minimum. Though it is not that painful as I have anticipated (Jamie is right, the imagination is worst than the fact) but to be hearing some "bone" cracking sounds really make you shudder. You feel the pressure, the movement minus the immediate pain. I felt like Naomi Campbell though looking in the mirror, my lips looked the same. Pouty lips apparently is very much over-hyped, eh? The most strange part is, since lips and the surrounding areas are numb, why I still feel a certain itch and scratching it, I don't feel anything? How am I to scratch the itch if I can't feel the scratch but I can feel the itch? It's a very strange sensation.

The dentist have put in the cap for brace and in another two weeks, the brace will be fixed. Another round of painful procedure, huhuhu.

Now the ultimate test is the one Hurley described as the tears that can't help falling procedure. I hope I don't have to face it in the interim, I will delay it as long as I can. Thanks you guys for the support. I am a step nearer to my dream or rather, my wish.

Sleepless In Klang

I was quite sleepless last night.

First off, I think it was due to being nervous. As many are aware, today is D-Day. Did not face any problems getting sleep until yesterday night. Probably the looming prospect of needles and forceps have this effect on people?

Anyway, here I am, in the office, blogging away as I am not sure if I will be blogging later. The appointment is at 1.00 p.m and it is now 9.00 a.m. Tick tock tick tock......

Well, que sera sera, what will be will be. I have chosen a path and I have to tread that path, scary as it might seemed. I hope it will be over soon enough so I can move on. I think this should do for the time being. Will be keeping an update later.

Bummer!!!

It has been raining since this morning...

I love rain. Make no bones about that. Despite it being a rainy day, both my sister and I are persistent and went to the Ramadhan bazaar. My wife called and reminded me to buy for her the kacang kuda and wadey. My staffs asked me to buy for them the nasi dagang.

Happily, I went to the bazaar and guess what? In the same place today, another weekly market is in session (pasar malam). Not being daunted easily, with umbrellas and puddles of water, my sister and I still went and survey the market, hoping that the once a year bazaar businesspeople will be there too. Alas, what a bummer, all of them were not there. They are being edged out by the old timer.

What a disappointment. I was so looking forward to snapping some pictures and tasting other traditional fares. I guess, I will have to go back there next week then. I should be fasting myself from tomorrow onwards as Armageddon is here again (did the earth turned faster? How can it be Friday again!!)

Anyway, I shall not give up and will definitely be back there to sample all the yummy spread available.

Ramadhan

The fasting month.

The fasting month or we just call it the puasa month is the month that I would look forward to. Only during this particular month, there will be food bazaar to cater to the people who are too busy to cook and at the same time, to provide a variety of food to feast on.

Today, I went to a food bazaar nearby my office and bought myself Nasi Dagang. It was the first time I am buying this, albeit hearing about Nasi Dagang for ages already. The thing is, Nasi Dagang is simple fare, consisting of rice and gulai ikan tongkol (sort of like tuna curry). Well, what can I say? It is simply delicious. Typing it now my mouth waters. It is that good or may be the stall I bought from is that good. I would recommend you guys to at least try it. The litmus test? My son and daughter loved it very much. They normally are not that picky on food but those that they don't like, they would just take a courtesy mouthful and decline the rest. But those that are delicious, they would finish it off. So, I would say that Nasi Dagang passed with flying colours.

I also bought kuih pelita, sort of like coconut milk jelly, it is slightly dearer compared to last year, what to expect, what with inflation and all. And I found my favourite stall that sells wadey, a kind of Indian fritters. It is simply delicious. Especially when it just came off the wok. They also sell kacang kuda which, instead of the normal steam, they cooked with some curry and some other ingredients, needless to say, it was delicious and finger licking good.

Tomorrow, I would be going to the same stall that sell the Nasi Dagang and help myself to second helping of it AND try their Nasi Kerabu too. I tasted once last year, not as delicious as the Nasi Dagang but I am going to give the stall that sell the fabulous Nasi Dagang a chance to change my mind about Nasi Kerabu.

I have the picture of the Nasi Dagang, I will post it later, unable to locate my cable for the phone to computer. And tomorrow, I will take picture of the simple food of Nasi Kerabu and Nasi Dagang at the stall.

This is why I love Ramadhan month, food galore everywhere, those home cooked food by housewives, sold for just one month only. Not the commercial variety, laden with MSG and not cooked with secret recipe or recipe handed down through the generations. The commercial variety is just to fill stomach but the bazaar variety normally, I meant there are commercial ones too in the bazaar, but if you found the home cooked one, the food sure never disappoints.

Sign Up Pay Per Post

Can you guys try this?

On the right side bar, there's a sign up form for PayPerPost. Just try to sign up from there, apparently, I would be paid 15.00 once YOUR post got paid 20.00 (after sign up, you would have to post something, as a starter, to get paid. I got my 20.00 about a month after I posted my maiden PPP)

After you have set up your account in PPP, then, kindly click the button BELOW to give something semblance of a review on this post and for that, we would be paid 7.50 each! Install the same thing in your blog and when other people reviews, if they are PPP members, then, they get paid 7.50, you also get 7.50.

Can we try and see if we really will get paid? No harm trying, right? Hehehe. Happy trying and clicking and get some money along the way...(by the way, get your paypal account ready, they only pay to paypal account)

** if it doesn't work, let me know too, then, I can delete this post and the sign up form beside, it looked out of shape..

Syabas To Crooks

SYABAS !!!

Syabas in Malays means well done, or congratulations. It is also the acronym for the piped water provider in the state of Selangor (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor)

Syabas for being such a blood sucker in providing basic amenities. Why did I say that? Well, I so happened to have an empty commercial lot and after receiving the C.F (certificate of fitness), due to some convenience issue, the place is not being used presently. I just went there last week with a contractor to get a quote on renovating it and I saw STACKS of water bills!!

Syabas for being efficient. Though the premise is so obviously empty, they still do their round and read the meters. Now the best part, all my bills for the past one year showed minimum charge. Fair enough. The minimum charge is for RM 36.00 PER MONTH !! I was like WTF!?? The electricity board minimum charge is RM 7.20 PER MONTH and SYABAS is charging RM 36.00 PER MONTH ??!! Why the big hoo haa? Well, presently, in my present office, my electricity bill comes to averagely RM 1300.00 PER MONTH. My water bill? RM 36.00 PER MONTH (with about 15 users). Compare that with the VACANT unit presently, without using one drop of water, I still have to pay the blood sucker RM 36.00 EVERY MONTH!! WTF!! It is not as if the water is crystal clear like what it used to be.

Syabas to our government for rearing leeches on big scale.

Syabas to our government for being blind to the bullying done by their cronies.

Syabas to our government for being deaf to the complains of abuses.

Syabas to our government for MUTING any dissent.

Syabas to our government for practicing selective memory loss.

SYABAS. SYABAS. SYABAS......my foot.

Moving on

People moves on.

I stumbled across an old chat-pal's blog in the internet, while surfing. It has been years since we last chatted. I dropped her an email and she replied. It was nice but one of her line caught my attention, "Everybody has moved on." How true. It was sheer chance that I stumbled across her blog and touched base through there. We might not be as close as before but hey, at least I try to keep in touch ok. I remembered that we used to chat until the wee hours of the morning in Starchat (now defunct) and there were a few of us crazies and regulars in the chatroom. After it defunct, we just stopped. Period. Lost touch. Then, I guess, we moved on.

I was thinking to myself how people inevitably moves on. New friends to be made, new adventures to be had, new experiences to try but where does that leaves the old, the antiques and the ancients?

Presently, I have a few categories of friends and many of them are very dear, I always try to make an effort to call them every now and then, or drop them an email, or meet up when time permits.

There is a group of very very old friends, back from secondary schools. We have moved on, goes our separate ways but once a year, at least, we will meet up and chat. Inevitably, the chat would last for hours, I don't usually remember what we chat about but it was the comfort, familiarity that we enjoyed the most. We practically grew up together. We have been friends for decades, gosh, I do sound ancient.

Then, there is another group of friends whom I know from my working stint in Singapore. They too are pretty close because all of them were like me, first job and in a foreign land. Naturally, we all bonded and took care of each other, like how marooned people would. It is the familiarity of it, coupled with daily encounters with each other, during work AND after. These friends are the ones that sees us through our young adulthood, from wooing girls, got married and then have children.

Naturally, when I came back to Malaysia to work, a new set of friendship were forged and a new era began with them. Many remain very close friend, one of them became my best friend, till this very day.

Then, there is the friendship made over the cyberspace, whom surprisingly also become sort of like close friends, closely knit anyway, the above chat-pal for example, people who somehow, felt like someone you have known for years. People just clicked. And when you don't expect much, you would be surprised and that is the ultimate joy in friendship, small (and big) surprises to spice up your life.