On drivers in Malaysia

I was forced to buy my first own vehicle when we moved office this year. As a "new" driver on the road, I came across many F1 drivers wanna-be. They all are merely living their dreams of what COULD-HAVE-BEEN and cheating themselves by practising their old "road bully" tricks on regular roads, populated by the vast majority civillians - women and men alike and occasionally children.

Some of the irky moments i have encountered on the road so far are as follows (take note this is an inexhautible list):

- tail gaters, flashing their lights on any lane you're on, cutting into many lanes with no indicator light
- perhaps most cars here don't have a functioning indicator?
- driving up so near to my bumper so close you can kiss the bumper - which I have no issues of because I can always make a police report and make the driver face the music
- bullies who threat to see your IC or driving license as if they're working with the police force! (Although they are at fault in the case)

Then there is the long-end debate on women and men drivers - who is better? I don't think this debate will have an end to it. But most of the times, the ones who tail gate or flash at my car are the men. & there has been an equal number of women and men who has given way to me when i'm at a junction or so. Which gets me to think - at this age and time, when humans are generally more civilised, a single act of driving on the road, using the vehicle man-built, with good road manners shouldn't be that difficult can it? Why should we allocate gender discrimination to the tab of "bad drivers" when the traditional men and women roles are interchanging these days?

this remains a puzzle...

Saturday morning

It's a wet Saturday morning. Rushed out to run some errands n now checking my mails at the famous old town kopitiam. It's been a fruitful day so far, with some flips but it's all turned out to be fine. It's pouring out there, rain is getting heavier. So cosy and nice to cuddle now... And be under blankets. How i wish, i could. Hey wait a minute, i actually can... It's the weekend :)

Choices we make...

Our daily lives are results of choices we make.

I choose to sleep in early to get enough 8-hour sleep. Wen I open my eyes in the morning, I can choose to continue sleeping or jump out of bed. I can choose to sulk and stay home or I can go to work. I can choose to take the NPE and pay RM1.60 or I can take the Sungai Besi road. I can choose to be negative and talk nonsense all day or I can start off my day with a list of things to do and do it all with a positive mind. Even in writing this post, I can choose to sit or I can stand.

For all the above, I choose the latter... & that makes all the difference.

I was inspired this morning wen I made a choice, turned out to be a "bad" choice. It was a simple choice of taking a route to go home. Had to drop by the office in Kuchai for a bit to collect some documents and head to KL. Took the NPE instead of the other 2 roads - Jalan Istana & Mid Valley. Paid the RM1.60. Not very far from the toll, all cars were stalled.. How could I have forgotten?? It's heading towards KL. Of course Bangsar will be jammed. Unfortunately, whether I like it or not, I am already there. I need to get thru the jam somehow.

Switched on to Serena C & Piedro. Sat back on my seat and didn't think about the jam at all & I was in Jalan Bangsar in no time! How relieved I was. Eventually reached home in time to run my errands and start off my day. What a wonderful experience on choices...

Random entry

Men love to play with kitchen utensils

On dis-illusionment

When a man is overcome by emotion and clouded by huge ass "ego", he'll only "listen" to things he wants to hear....

This leads onto losing focus on the goal at hand, in the best interest of all parties involved. Why do human beings become selfish and self centered, refusing to think of the others in the battle field - the innocent ones?

These are classic psychology profiles of power crazy humans who refuse to give in until they win - explains why war never ends and never will. As long as humans as such exist.!

---- disillusionment.

Business Ethics

Practise what you preach! Do not tell others to do something which you will not do yourself.

It's been an amazing 9 month long journey since I left the arms of an employer and became one myself. It was not easy and it still isn't easy yet. It has been a long struggling period for everyone and we still are.

However, in the midst of it all, I have learnt that there are many lessons to be taken away from this situation. Changes in people, attitude, behaviour and character which all sums to relationships with fellow humans. Surprisingly, so-called ethical and decent people I have come to know has turned around to a 180degrees and become somewhat Godzillas - people I wouldn't want to have known in the first place. But, I guess this is part of the lesson too. We all need to thrive through the pace and win the race.

One main thing to remember is - the sea water only looks calm on the surface. But underneath it there is a whole world of chaos going on. And getting to the centre of the ocean cannot be done without proper equipment and clothing. Armed with the right tools, one can surely conquer the ocean too. The same applies...

Preparation is the key to any battle. Without it, a soldier can be wounded and dead within seconds if not minutes in enemy' hands.

On caning and pointing fingers

I was shocked to learn about this girl Kartina who has been sentenced to caning because she was caught drinking in a club! I guess the religious authorities managed to find a scape goat to point their finger at.

My only thoughts on this matter was a chapter from the bible about the crowd which wanted to stone a prostitute woman to her death because of her "sins". And at this point, Jesus asked the one who has never sinned amongst them to be the first to throw a stone. And the crowd dispersed.

This story was a lesson - which makes sense even at this age. I find it very much related to what is happening these days - finger pointing and blaming game. A classic application is the above mentioned story of Kartina. Any club in any part of the world surely has patrons of all race and religion. WHat is to stop them from drinking? Religious authorities don't sit around the clubs screening the patrons to put a stop. Clearly they are trying to set an example and show the world what happens if you are a muslim and caught drinking at such public places.

One question I have to everyone out there - can you all testify that you are all clean from the so-called sin of "drinking" or "smoking" or "adultery"?

Everything done in moderation should be good for the soul. Eccessiveness is what causes the pain. A very simple teaching I follow which is only for the short time we spend on earth. Why point fingers and blame the other when we don't even check ourselves first?

Another sentence comes to mind - why do we humans constantly try to remove the speck from our neighbours eyes when we can't even see the log in our own eye? Think about it...

A true merdeka celebration

I recall writing about the merdeka celebration I had for the past few years (ref to my previous posts). This year, one of my 1st cousin (dads' youngest sis son) tied the knot during the Merdeka weekend. This led us to travel up north - the whole bunch of us, including sis n her babies - all of us jumped in to my baby car and went on our long road trip.

It was a great trip. The function went well despite the low number of guests. Dinner was at Cinta Sayang Golf Resort. Theme was traditional. The best part of the entire function was we could spend some good quality time with our long lost cousins, aunts, snapped loads of pictures, and ate a lot.

Booze came as an after party exclusive invitation only... I went home and slept with 2 cranky babies :)

End of Day1

the next day started with mass at the Christ the King Church nearby their home. Following that, an excellent breakfast for a king served at home - food from the function last nite and some of us went to the hotel for breakfast.

Packed and ready to leave, we left their home at around 12. Headed towards Tambun Ipoh to visit mums side relatives. Her eldest sister lived ter with her son and daughter in law who happens to be my cousin and her 3 children my nieces. Haven't seen them since she got married - which is more than 18 years ago. Now, the eldest is around 18 and the youngest 10.

A good quality bonding time with them took us to 5pm which is when we left for KL. Since it was tea time, we decided to go to the original old town coffee shop in Ipoh town. Unfortunately, the shop was closed. Of course! How could I have forgotten? It was a Sunday evening!

Anyhow, we walked up to another shop which was a few steps away and had white coffee nevertheless.. Not what we wanted exactly but a substitute for that moment.

Left shortly after and reached KL at 8pm. Excellent and fulfilling trip. Can't wait for the next one.

On the realities of life

It's a rude awakening to the truth of the moment... the world in all its cruelty. How can i survive this jungle of wild life?

On a rough sea at the moment

The waves and tides are pushing me into the deeper end of the sea... It's so overwhelming, i'm struggling to keep my head up high. But my will is too strong, I will not give up too soon. As long as my eyes are on my Saviour, he will bring me out of this storm. Of course, I have to keep paddling and swimming for effort on my side.. I'm not expecting a rope to drop down from heaven, but a boat will do...

It's not about me - it's not about you then what's it all about?

Seriously... Does this make any sense at all to you??

On being emotionless

Excitement that is built over a gradual period of time has been killed and buried immediately with just a shrug or cold shoulder...

in seconds... the passion and excitement that i have felt came to a halt with no reciprocation from the other one concerned! Such a bummer, waste of energy and mental space.

Now, i've passed onto the emotion-less boat.. in a very quick span of time! Need a break &

Yay it's Friday again!

I'll Be Happy When...

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire. The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.

It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with ... and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting ... Until your car or home is paid off.
Until you get a new car or home.
Until your kids leave the house.
Until you go back to school.
Until you finish school.
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married.
Until you get a divorce.
Until you have kids.
Until you retire.
Until summer.
Until spring.
Until winter.
Until fall.
Until you die. There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and, dance like no one's watching.

------------I received this article as one of those forwards, can't remember by whom or who the original author was. But I found it to be very very true of us humans, at some point or another. Some of us have come out of it yet some of us are still trapped in this "i'll be happy when.... " syndrome.

So, if you are reading this, can you testify if you have honestly broken free from this syndrome or share if you are really waiting for something to happen in order to be happy?

Yoga experience 2

As the many asanas of Yoga starts to unveil itself to me, i began to marvel in this amazing journey in my path of life....

A wonderful YOGA experience

it began in January 2009 - until March 2009... Came to a pit stop for about 1-month, despite the weekly classes I was going for on Sundays.

Last class was on last Sunday - for beginners. The next step is the intermediate class which i will be officially starting next week :)

I was overwhelmed when my instructor said I can proceed to the next level. I was hesitant initially due to my lack of daily practise of all the asanas. But this is green light to the next level. However, I should not take this lightly. I need to keep practising and improving my flexibility since my head still doesn't touch my knee for the head-knee position and still can't touch my feet for the posterior position.

Too many back logs

There's too many stuff to write about. Will revisit this place soon...

It's a brand new year of the Ox, with brand new visions and goals to achieve to make the most of the new year.

Some might renew their previous year goals, some others might come up with near ones which I believe most of these will go along the lines of - improving health, reduce weight, join gym, quit smoking, change jobs etc. By mid-year, if none of the above has been actioned on, they will just stay where they started - on paper.

And a very handful others - might not even have any goals at all.!

I am one who flactuates between having goals and not. Not being much of a disciplinary myself, i find it hard to keep at goals, leave alone achieve them. So, i usually yo-yo between coming up with a goal and not year in, year out.

2009 - is in!

First goal - in progress is YOGA. To my very own surprise, I have begun to like this activity. My following few posts will explain why. For now, I need to grab a quick lunch.

Gua Tempurung ~ brave the cave trip

It was the Malaysian 51st Independence Day holiday. A few of us from the office decided to make a trip up north to Ipoh on an adventurous cum eating trip.

I and VJ were all geared, from top to toe, from the headlights right down to the old school shoes, we were prepared to brave the cave. We reached on a Sat night after his class. We had our dinner at the ever famous Ipoh Salted Chicken restaurant before calling it a day.

The following day we were up as early as 7a.m for dim sum breakfast before starting our journey. I was extremely excited since this was my first trip into a cave. I've been to Batu Caves before when I was very young but this is different. We're going to go through the dark waters in the cave and get our hands all dirty.

We arrived at the cave at about 9 and was included in one of the first few batches together with a Korean tour group. We took a more difficult path to thread through the waters.

There were at least 7 of us in the team. The first part of the trip in was easy, straight path, passing small river flows. After about 25 - 20minutes into the trip, we started to crawl under big stones. The limestones were gorgeous. During these crawling stints was when Me and VJ were envied because we had our headlights wrapped around our heads and we didn't need to carry a torch light as the only thing we had to focus on was to get to the other side and our chin had to touch the floor of the cave. Some crawling was done in shallow waters and some was on damp ground.



The experience was mind-blowing. The cave was gorgeous! And the stalaklite and stalagmite, stuff we learnt in geography finally stood erect ahead of us. Some of the stones were formed and is still being formed more than 1000 years now. Such a prehistoric and legendary site!



The last leg of the journey was to go up a few hundred fleets of stairs. These were a killer for me as my knee was starting to hurt by then. But the beauty you see along the way is non-describable. Beautiful beyond words! At the exit of the cave, there is a small river where we washed ourselves a little before hopping back into our vehicles. We missed the white water rafting though.



That's for the next trip I suppose. Our next stop after that was to visit Foos grandma who lived very closeby. We stopped over at her place and had our shower there. We took turns to shower so we could get going on our journey back home. Having driven ourselves there allowed us time to spend on our own and we were not entirely tied to the group events. We left a while after. Her grandma was the sweetest person.
We bid everyone goodbye and left. On our way out, we stopped by an ABC stall to get some thirst quenching ais kacang. Apparently the ABC there was very famous. Indeed it was good. It was sold from a van by this mamak uncle and his son. Good business especially on a hot day.





After ABC was us heading back home. Yet another pitstop we made was to buy some tau sa piah and limau Bali. Afterall, a trip to Perak is not complete without these 2 main items as they are famous in those cities.
Can't wait for another road trip of the same.

i need a massage OR a holiday OR both...

Symptoms of a long over-due break : back ache, dreams of a vacation, constantly checking out the next public holiday date...

All the above checked. Yes, i do badly need a get-away.

On Loans, Insurance & Credit cards

I'm somewhat not a very risk averse person. After sometime of scouting around for a good deal on credit cards avail in town, I came to a dead end... There is no such thing as a 'good deal' after all, isn't it?

I mean there are thousands of offer on credit cards, loans, and many other financial help. Each has its own perks. But whether or not its a good deal really depends on what an individual need is. However, in the long run, I realised that no matter how much research or effort you put into finding out the details, there will eventually be a point where you see something much better down the line.

Example taken, my current insurance package. When I first bought it about 3 years ago, after an x amount of research and effort put into deciding on which to choose, I went ahead with the package i took coz the company was ranking between one and 2 as the top providers in the market, at that point of time. To my shock or horror, I came to realise that the ranking has dropped, a few ladders down!! But whats done is done. I still pay my premiums now. And I do believe that should anything happen to me someday, no matter what, if the company does survive this global crisis that is, my beneficiaries will get paid... So, its not all lost...

I just need to take it easy...