Saturday, June 09, 2007

social conditioning & Concepts in life

most if not all of the things we do in our daily life is socially conditioned. We grow up being told what is right and wrong, which is good and bad, and sometimes we are just told to do something without being explained to, the reasoning behind it.
This has developed a mental attitude of accepting what has been told and given without questioning. I, on the other hand, was one who rebelled against this idea. I refused to be boxed into a type. Refused to follow what was expected of me and went against the stream at any opportunity i got. Of course i learnt it the hard way, i also had my fair share of banging my head against the wall, burnt and crashed along the way but isn't that what life is all about? Falling and getting up at my own pace and crying over the pain so that when the pit comes along again, i will know better to fall in a way that i don't end up crying :)

Anyways, coming back to the former thought, there is no such thing as good or bad. Values are attached by us humans. This is to prevent crime and keep the society in a more controlled situation. Imagine if there was no rules or law in the world? people will go on killing each other and there will be chaos. Human mind has been conditioned to follow these rules to ensure peace.
Here's an example:
what is good in war? it decreases world population, allows reformation, makes some parts of the world realise how blessed they are and grateful they should be...
WHat is bad about it? the innocent die, there is hatred, in humane killing, disaster and destruction, fear in the young and women, no evolution or growth.

thinking of all these issues are boggin my mind when there are tonnes of things to do in my plate now... i need to take a break and continue my work be4 it gets too late. i'm trying to get into the habit of discipline and kick out procrastination... ciao now..

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Dubai trip

Dear blog,

just got back to my workstation after a week long break. Left for Dubai on the 26th May. Water Congress was on till the 29th May. Went for drinks with the team. The non drinkers left shortly after for dinner and a trip on the 'Abra' - a river boat which is their form of transport from one area to the other. I wasn't keen on the idea of gettin onto one, really so i stayed back and ended up chattin wit Em since we won't be physically meeting for the next 5 months or so.

Checked out frm Hyatt that night into this dingy looking Picaddily hotel. Extremely regrettable decision, very deceiving web-site description of the hotel coz it wasn't even close to the given description. Anyways, by the time we reached this hotel, it was past midnight so we dumped our bags and slept in our rooms for a fresher day out. Good thing about the trip ths time was tat we extended for another 2 days to walk around, which we did the very next morning. We had a distasteful breakfast at their coffee house. Left after a quick bite of the only thing edible - cold fried chicken.

Walked around Nasr square, this is near the Gold Souk, an area filled with gold shops. The entire street was full of nothing else but shops selling gold!! Gold is apparently very much cheaper in this part of the world. I ended up with Hobsons choice ere. Couldn't find the earrings my mum requested for, they were either too expensive or not the size i wanted. But i was giddy with too many choices. I didn't like having too many choices. Anyways, we walked into another street and ended up buying nuts i.e almonds, cashews, pashminas, hand woven cushion covers etc.

It was noon by then so we walked into this iranian restaurant nearby and had chicken and mutton briyani. Wat a wonderful meal tat was... yummy...
Then we split into two groups. The ones going for the night safari and the other going for a city tour around Dubai city.

Me, Chees, Foow attempted to stop a cab and to no avail, crossed the road, in the middle of the blazing hot sun and walked back to the streets of Nasr to look for more souveniers instead. Ended up in this little shop in an alley selling all kinds of souvenirs, the kinds we were looking for and ended there for about 3o mins or so. There, we decided to go to the City Centre, Carrefoure to get the chocolates since we figured that there won't be enough time to do so the next day or wen we get back from the safari at night. We flagged a cab and went to city centre, which is actually the name of the shopping mall. At this point, it was already 4 pm and our pick up frm the hotel to the safari site was supposed to be at 430pm. After a quick supermarket sweep, we ran out to queue for a cab in a snaking long line. I thought to myself, no, we are not going to make it thru this line so i quickly called the hotel and requested for a pick up from the city centre itself.
After another quick phone call, that was arranged and they arrived shortly. There were about 4 other men in the 4 wheel drive. They were from all over the middle east. We drove for about 1 hour to the desert and for once in my life, i saw the desert for real.

it was a breathtaking view, the layers of sand that formed different patterns was simply beautiful... Look out for the next entry, there's more details to the story

Friday, May 18, 2007

when u believe...

there can be miracles... when you believe.... somehow you will achieve...

They don't alwiz happen wen u ask and its easy to give in to the feeling... but never give in or give up.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

the day after labour-day & Wesak Day

i usually hate coming back to work after a long break however, dis time its different. There's lots of work pending to be completed. I've learnt to take a break from work completely without a single interruption, including not even checking my e-mails. The only calls i entertain are those with caller IDs.

There are 2 trips to be planned. The World Rainforest Music Festival in Sarawak @ July & an extended Dubai trip end of this May. The former needs full planning whereas the latter is sort of partially done. Now back to my work, gonna start enquiring. Will be back later...

Sunday, April 29, 2007

super-f*^**in-fabulous trip to Penang!

juz finished Rocs blog & i had to pen this down before it goes too stale to be told...
this weekend is the following weekend from our unforgettable trip to Penang. Well said Roc bout this being the first of many more trips to come.
She n another well meanin friend, Jay arranged tis weekend get-away for me since its the weekend just befor my official turning into a 26 year old. It was a surprise to me until i got to the place. Every single moment of our journey together was memorable. We took the train wher Preshnan followed us. Thank God it was a berth that we chose. We slept for some good 7 hours, the first hour was spent recording the departure. N then we sat n chit chatted for a bit before sneaking around in the train looking for the cafeteria for some food. We ordered a hot plate of fried rice and keay teow.
Of course me, as usual had to check out the toilets in almost all places i go to. The toilet was very basic. I went in when the train stopped at a station. but we never left the train at all throughout the journey. When we got back Preshnan was already fast asleep. We got into our own bunks and slept off. I kept waking up frequently during the first hour, afraid that we might miss our stop and end up at the borders of Thailand.
However, my anticipation lessened after a while coz i was being lulled by the swaying of the train while it was moving. It felt very comforting to feel the train move since it brings back many many memories of the past...

The train has always been our only mode of travel between cities coz anya was a KTM staff. So he had many privilleges we could use and besides that, it was always more convenient for both anya and ma to handle all of us children who were very little then on a train than they would in a bus. So yea.. we've had many memorable trips up-North and down-South on the train, in the mornin, afternoon, night.. we've been thru it all.. So part of me was re-living all the memories throughout the journey.

Okay... now i'm reminising again... BUT i've smttg more important to do at the moment. The Income Tax submission is due tomorrow! ANd i'm still tryin to get thru the online submission which is to no avail. N i've 3 other important tasks at hand as well... so i've gotta pen off for now... Will continue over the 'holiday' if at all... till den... chiaos de mous

Thursday, April 19, 2007

countdown to relaxation.... :)

Countdown to secret vacation wit Roc is down to ONE day today. Leavin on a train on Friday evenin. Yay...
Dis' gonna be my train ride to a different state after a very very long time. In fact, its been years since i last did. Details of the trip will follow once i get back. For now, the preparation is keeping me excited. Nothing seems to be that interesting except for that one particular object of affection which never seem to leave my head. Anyways, will drop by again to fill dis in... Chiaos

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

re-alignment of focus

Well well well... it feels like ages since i last visited this site.. if it was a house, i'd have had to clear go through cob-webs to get to in.. sigh.. Lots had happened around me and to me tht i could nt spend time to write it all down but had to live it first. Finally, when the storm has finally calmed, here i am, penning it down again.

I din exactly wake up to smell the fresh bloomed flowers. Neither did i had to hang by a thread, day in day out. Its been an in-between state. There were moments of joy n there were pain as well. one day i was in cloud 9 and a complete fool the very next - on April 1st to be exact. For once in my entire life, i felt as if i've lived April 1st to its traditional "April fools day". Why? Becoz i felt like a complete idiot on that day... in fact... i still do. But guess what ? Life goes on...

how exactly would i put this... i can't seem to string any english word that i know of to make a sentence out of it that would make sense to the person reading this. But you know what ? you are not alone coz i am as confused as you are.

My life has become a joke to myself... Bt u know what... above all the shit holes i got myself into here and there, i am still very grateful for the people around me who are very dear to me...

My closest frens... my mum... i love you all.. thank you so muc... for putting things into perspective for me. wher would i be without y'all....


muaaazxxx.... n hugs!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

smtg i copied frm somewhere...

wish i cld claim dis as mine bt unfortunately not...

""Lucky is the man who is the first love of a woman,but luckier is the woman who is the last love of a man" ..... and I love him, will love him for the rest of my life."

Monday, February 26, 2007

intrinsic finality...

I've realised tat in actuality, i believe in the theory of intrinsic finality which is the idea that there is a natural good for all beings, and that all beings have a natural tendency to pursue their own good. It is an underlying principle of teleology, and moral objectivism. The concept of intrinsic finality was summarized by Thomas Aquinas in (Contra Gentiles IV, xix).

We were havin this so-called debate over the good and the evil, y is there war and ended the nite with the ultimate question - what's the opposite of evolution or does such a thing exist? i mean, if things are evolving, can there come a point when they start going backwards or devolving, which i also came to find out later that note over a quick google tat such a theory or concept has been tossed but not proven, even theory of EVOLUTION for the matter. The former is called devolution of extinction.

Anyways, its been quite an interesting adventure this past few weeks wit these thoughts.

Monday, February 19, 2007

the headless girl in search of love

y are there wars n y doesn't poverty end?
y are there still primitive humans in this moden world?
y aren't there some understanding or giving in among humans?

the power craze still goes on, who is greater n who is not..
the news are still full of nations at war with each other..

Are they blind or deaf?
don't they see that the ones who truly suffer are the innocent ones,
the ones who really cry are not their hurt soldiers but..
its their mothers n children..
their own future..

future?
there is no such thing for them.
they live for the here & now
for the only noise they would have listened to while growing up is that of gun shots,
the only colour they know is red,
from that which is gushing out of the freshly dead bodies outside their homes,
the only touch they know is that of a mother,
for that is the only place they cling onto at all times out of fear...
they grow without role models...

no one to call papa...
and here we are... in a greener pasture, scowling and getting irritated with our parents,
they eat rye bread day in, day out and occasionally porridge, & meat is luxury
and here we are... irritated when the food served at home has no meat or something we particularly like

Y does all this happen? There are still marginalized lot in the community we live in,
they never cease to exist... & the lines of poverty & war doesn't seem to meet a common ground...
of compromise or of any love...

love... tats the missing link in it all... there is none.. The world lacks some love.. in all things big or small. The past 14th February saw majority in the world celebrating love, of special kind, in the name of a man who died to also, save love.
Everyday has to be Valentines then, if thats' what it takes to inject some love into the world. But for now thats' what the world lacks... a bit of love...

Sunday, February 18, 2007

you're my everything... by SANTA ESMERALD

one of the best things in life is to hear ur favorite song being played on air.. Dis' exactly wat happened at 2.17 am, this Sunday morning. It's one of those rare weekends during which i left the radio on while i slept to the music on Light fm. I was awakened suddenly to tat song n i felt so much of love and peace within listenin to it. Anyways, wen i tried to get the music into my head again wen i got up that mornin, it was to no avail.

suddenly, at the most unexpected time, wen i was on my way back home frm some shoppin i got out to do, while climbin the stairs at the lrt station, i felt a gush of wind against my face and as cheesy as it sounds, i suddenly heard tat same music again, it automatically played in my head, without any effort. I realised this was a psychological thing. It was the same feel of peace and calmness i had wen i listened to the song earlier tat mornin. So, i associated the music to that feeling and wen i felt it again, i heard it play all over again...

The human mind is such an amazing thing...

So... here goes.. the lyrics for remembrance of the moment..

You're my everything
The sun that shines above you
Makes the bluebirds sing
The stars that twinkle way up in the sky
Tell me I'm in love

When I kiss your lips
I feel the rolling thunder to my finger tips
And all the while my head is in a spin
Deep within, I'm in love

You're my everything
And nothing really matters but the love you bring
You're my everything
To see you in the morning with those big brown eyes
You're my everything
Forever and a day
I'm need you close to me

You're my everything
You never have to worry, never fear, for I am near
For my everything
I live up on the land and see the sky above
I swim within her ocean sweet and warm
There's no storm, my love

You're my everything no nothing really matters
But the love you bring
You're my everything
To see you in the morning with those big brown eyes,
You're my everything
Forever and a day I'm need you close to near
You're my everything
You never have to worry, never fear, for I am near

When I hold you tight
There's nothing that can harm you in the lonely night
I'll come to you and keep you save and warm
Yet so strong, my love

When I kiss you lips
I feel the rolling thunder to my fingertips
And all the while my head is in a spin
Deep within
I'm in love

my own game

The past week is officially the busiest and the most hectic week for the year 2007. Had to do all the running around coz boss left for her annual leave. Had to put everything other social activities on hold. Including Valentines' Day. (It's not exactly a day that i would have taken to celebrate otherwise, anyways)
2007 marks the 26th year that the V-day has come n left with me being single in each one of it.
Don't get me wrong though.. i ain't bitter about it. It's become a personal decision which i have learnt to live with. I've officially become a work-a-holic. I think of nothin but work, KPIs, leads, research, companies listed on KLSE, Financial news, boring, boring and more boring stuff.

I was havin dinner wit Roc n Kams at Bangsar last weekend. The 6th weekend for 2007. That was a great weekend. Went to the movies after dinner with the two. The Holiday. It was a great movie... REALLY it was. A romantic comedy. It was already midnite wen the show finished. We went outsid n ROc suggested another one. i was very skeptical about it coz i didnt wanna spoil the fuzzy good feel l i had after THE HOLIDAY. My question was... what if that one isn't as good or is borin n it un-does the nice feel from the first show??

Anyways, we ended up lining up, we took the chance and went for this show called "Stranger than Friction". Will Ferrel was a great comedy in the show "Taladega Nights". & so we thought why not. Ended up in the cinema n i almost fell asleep twice throughout the movie.

Anyways, did i forget to mention that we din have enough cash to go for the 2nd one, we were short of rm4 n had to go withdraw n come get the tickets. By this point i was already too embarrased to go back but braved to do so anyways... screw it i thought.

Reached home at about 2 smtg that Sunday mornin. n quietly crawled into bed like a mouse. Slept till abt noon tat Sunday. Realised tat once work gets sorted, i need to get a life. it's been on pause for a very long time now...

Anyways gotta go get some more water now... read on.

you're just another piece of art in his gallery

Monday, February 05, 2007

without you!

Its just another day without you.
How can we be lovers if we can’t even be friends?
I don’t wanna find another way.
I will make it through the day without you because… it is just another day without you…

Sunday, February 04, 2007

love is love is love is - an imaginary flower that never fades

You know when you give your love away
It opens your heart, everything is new
And you know time will always find a way
To let your heart believe it's true

You know love is everything you say
A whisper, a word, promises you give
You feel it in the heartbeat of the day
You know this is the way love is

You know love may sometimes make you cry
So let the tears go they will flow away
For you know love will always let you fly
How far a heart can fly away

You know when love's shining in your eyes
It may be the stars falling from above
And you know love is with you when you rise
For night and day belong to love


----- sounds familiar to any1..... ?

Weirdest Occurence

This is wat happened...

i crossed the road in front of StanChart. Which gets me across the road to Wisma Cosway. There's a bus stop right in front of this building. Wen i was on this side of the road, i noticed a chinese man in his late 30's and an indian lady. the guy was sitting on the short wall right behind the bus stop. The lady was in pain, this can be seen.. she was in a fix-like state. People were just passing by them and the man was asking around to borrow a phone. He asked me too but i was too scared to stop. I was very very curious to help though coz the lady seemed to be in so much pain, so did the man with her. He was trying to calm her. The one who was physically in pain was the lady. I walked abt 20 more steps further away from there, n stood in a distance watching them. The man kept asking out for anyone to borrow their phone. But ppl juz ignored him n kept walkin on.

I went back to him and asked him y he needed the phone for. He explained that the lady was his wife and that he needed some help. He wanted to call the hospital to get an ambulance. I have never called for an ambulance be4 so i was kinda lost. i just dialled 911 which is actually 999 btw...

A chinese man in his late 20's (i think)also happened to stop by at the time so i asked him for the phone number juz to double confirm. He said tat he's gonna get the guards frm the wisma to help get an ambulance there. I just called for an ambulance immediately, gave them my phone contact and figured that i should just wait till they come. Shortly after, the chinese man who stood frm afar told me that the lady was just drunk!

He notioned me to ask the guard to double confirm. i spoke to the woman guard who said the same. i was shocked. i did get the strong smell of alchohol but didn't bother much about it, thinking more of the lady who was in pain.

I sat there with these two be4 meetin the guard. It was a very sad but touching scene... really... .there in front of me, i saw true love... of a caring husband towards his wife. There was nothing physically beautiful about them.. In a glance, the general public would dis-regard them as trash. They were dirty looking and i assumed that they might be homeless because they carried clothes in plastic bags. The only hunch i got about the couple was that they were probably abandoned by their children or the lady became emotionally unstable due to something bad that happened to them or even to her personally...

I mean, she is definitely all screwed up for turning to alcohol for solace but the man who was married to her stood by her.... now that is LOVE! He was angry and imagine the amount of ambarrasment he'd had to go thru.. he could have simply walked away frm there, from her that very instance but he didn't!....

Shortly after the ambulance came... i hope they got the woman into good hands.. n the man some peace of mind..

I saw LOVE come alive before my very eyes that day! amazing...

4th & 5th Weekend post-mortem

ok i missed out on last weekend, the last weekend 4 the month of Jan 2007. But there wasn't much tat happened thats worth the update. For once, in a very long time i found myself in the office on a weekend. Got some very important leads printed out for the States. & Thankfully we left for badminton shortly after.

Sunday was no different either. Went to the office again! this time to sort out my papers coz my place was in a complete mess! Oh yes, which reminds me, i need to move those two boxes away frm under the table..

Today, the 5th Weekend & the 1st for Feb, i was on leave since Friday. On which i was at the office again! Ok.. now that doesn't sound right.. i met up wit Roc & FS for lunch n den walked to the office to chase a cheque frm Malakoff & GB. & i HAD to get to the office coz my papers weren't wit me.

Anyways, got it sorted n den i left 4 KLCC to get my bill sorted wit Maxis.
On my way, the weirdest occurence happened... Read on the next blog entry for this story. (Weirdest Occurence)

By the way, did i also 4got to mention tat i onli reached home at 5am on Friday. Went for yam-cha wit team after work @ Jalan Alur. Had fish ball soup n lotsa chinese tea. Have been havin a LOT of tat lately.. Wen i got home, i couldnt really sleep, just like the past few days. i reckon my system got kinda confused with the weird waking n sleep timing i suddenly got in2..
So falling asleep on Friday morning at 5 was a task. I knew Sat would be no diff unless i tire myself that Friday nite.

So tats exactly wat i did, although it was subconsciously actually... I walked up to KLCC, n then had to walk back to the office to charge a credit card, n then walked to KLCC all over again! n from there, i took a train to Jame, n then back home n walked to the church 4 mass. How happy was i to see both my sisters there. Feels like ages since we met at mass together. Anyhow, after mass, i got back home n crashed on the couch while watchin tv.. (until mums' fav serials came up of course!) N then had my shower n ate some rice. Wen to bed shortly after...

Slept like a baby tat nite. Woke up at 10a.m. Had a very good rest.. finally.. after a week! had badminton @ 2 today. After which wen 4 some buffet bbq & steamboat dinner. This followed by some gamin n drinking session @ Sunway. Dis place called 1-cafe. Cool place but very chinese. But they placed beautiful english numbers.
Its more like a student chill-out n drinkin joint near Taylors.

Went home after dat.. already got Sunday plans in-place. Gotta make something for lunch n den juz laze in front of TV till every1 returns home frm wherever they went to.. for now, my eyes are already pullin.. it's time to switch off den.. so nitez..

Thursday, February 01, 2007

too much to write!! aaarrgghhh.....

ok.. ther's TOO many things to jot down. My fav salsa music is playin now.. n i'm already dancing in my head. can't possibly turn the music on n tango wit my chair rite now becoz... it's 4:24am n my mum mite think i'm drunk if she sees me dance with a chair @ dis hour.

Covering the states this week till Tom. Usually i'm half dead wen i get home at this time but today has been very different. Quite the contrary to my mood wen i stepped into the office dis mornin, i ended the day wit so much of energy n enthusiasm, i'm surprised myself. I really wanna make the salsa class work. I'm gonna push to meet Nim on Friday to kick start dis off. There's Q-Ba as a start, muz go check on the dates when they've got ladies nite tho.

Once i get that started, i can begin recruiting. Already have a few enquiries in fact. Am in my most happy and comfortable moment when i'm engaged in listenin to salsa music or dancing to it... Something worth venturing deeper into.. something close to my heart.. Discovery of yet another personal space or comfortZone
:)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Love is all around...

it's been very windy lately.. & this morning was no exception. Woke up just in time for brunch n made my breakfast. Took de train n left 4 star hill. While sittin in de cab of de train, i was completely oblivious to the crowd around me.. There were this kids who were maiking some noise out of excitement when the train started moving but i was not disturbed at all.. i was in a very comfortable state of being.

I could see the love in the family with children sitting in de train n i realised that love does exist of course it does. Of course this is smtg that i've already come to acknowledge a long time ago but during the past weeks, i've been toying and doubting this statement "love... does it really exist?" I mean, a guy must really be 'in-love' with a girl to actually marry her n make babies n live together for the rest of their lives. That must be the truest kinda love, the one that never dies. A colleague actually tatooed his arm with his wifes' name. Her name is engraved on his skin til the day his body disintegrates, 6 ft underground. Althought separated, he still loves her n mind you. Thats the truest kinda love.

Of course its harder now than then for partners to hang on to each other. Divorce n separation rates have naturally peaked caused by human lifestyles... There's more space for infidalety.. they find it easy to go sleep around n not feel guilty about it toward their partners.
This is wen trust n confidence link is broken.. wen there is no more 'us' & more of individual 'me'. sad but true..

at the end of my journey, i found myself smiling at the thought of it.. The point of time when i finally meet that someone who doesnt get enuf of me and wants to spend eternity with me. I realised today.. tat truest kinda love does exist after all.. Else, i would not have existed... :)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

3rd weekend

a lil sweating out, a lil pleasure n A LOT of piggin out - defines dis weekend.
Friday nite was 3-hour badminton game. We played till 12 midnite til i had muscle cramp in the 3rd hour.

Sat.. Went for a hair-theraphy session at IU wit Sunan. She got her hair relaxed n i had mine washed. As usual the stylist was trying to upsell me his other range of products n services.. sigh... these ppl make very good sales people.

so anyways, the hair wash was very therapeutic indeed. Wen shoppin after dat n bought a grey skirt n a pair of white heels. Had a vanilla + strawberry ice cream n den left to my next stop... STEAMboat dinner wit team.

Actual plan 4 de day was bowling n den follow em team to steamboat dinner. had to skip bowling coz got caught up wit hair-do. By the time we left IU, it was already 1900 hours n it was raining cats n dogs outsid. Em n Ian came all de way to IU to pick me up n den we were off to PJ for dinner.

Had soo.. much of food.. n it was GOOD food. Direction to the place.. eerrm.. i'm not exactly sure bout tat though.. all i know is that its next to the highway, near a housing area. Anyways, was home early after dinner so was quite bored.

Played Nims salsa CD n wore my new salsa sandals n danced wit a chair. Felt really good coz salsa hasn't been practised for a long while now. Made a mental note to meet up wit Nim for a session dis week.
Whats next? Tom n Jerry show on TV wit all at home, includin Charlie. For once, there was no tamil serials goin on.

n den spoke on the phone fer a bit n hit the sack.. dis time, no problemo to sleep. Naturally felt tired... there goes.. another self-pampering weekend :-)