Last Day of 2009

It's the last day of the year 2009, which has seen so many celebrity deaths and Ponzi schemes exposed and financial meltdown... and on a more personal level, a couple of changes and new experiences with many moments of self-doubt and also immense unexplainable joy. It's been another crazy year but nonetheless enjoyable - especially December!

So how am I spending these last hours? Reading about a murder case whilst savouring good bossa nova by Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. What irony!?! Some Chinese PhD candidate at Virginia Tech decapitated the girl who rejected his love at a cafe on my birthday earlier this year. And now he's sentenced to life in prison. He doesn't even look like a murderer. He looks decent. Just proves again that one can't judge what's going on in the mind.

How strange that life just goes on. A death, however devastating or heart-wrenching at the present time, is just another ripple that eventually fades away and becomes a shadow which people remember at the back of their minds. Nothing really stops the world from turning.

P.S: this is the mid-afternoon lethargic mind high on bossa speaking...

Christmas was Here

A good friend (RC) had been spreading the Christmas spirit to me via sms! And I got infected =)

There's just something, dare I say 'magical', about Christmas. There's no other time of the year that I feel an anticipation for something special - even when walking around in the mall. And as RC said, the Christmas carols being played over the PA system of the shops just makes us happy! As a Christian I'm just glad to hear these songs played in the open, however commercialised they may be, because they're all singing of the Good news - the birth of Jesus, our Saviour! As for the other shoppers, the carols are good cheery music, but if by chance they were to meditate on the lyrics - it would truly be a blessing to them!

I used to think that Christmas was over-commercialised and the spirit of the celebration was gradually being watered down. Perhaps it is, in a way. But then I learned something in my Alpha Bible Study class:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill...

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

(Philippians 1:15,18)

So I think this is a good subtle way of evangelising! :)

How was my Christmas? The busiest ever! I had morning Christmas service in church, RC's Christmas tea party to attend and a Christmas family dinner at night.

I stayed up till 4am trying to ice the store-bought banana cake that was to be my contribution to the tea time pot luck. It was pretty frustrating because the colour of cream cheese frosting basically doesn't give much space for creativity and as much as I tried to make a Christmas log cake, the icing just looked so drab - like a wet cloth all scrunched up! But after poking in some plastic Christmas decorations, it looked more "festive" (I guess). Judge for yourself!

Due to the late night (or rather, early morning), we couldn't get up in time to attend the Christmas celebration in DUMC. So, we went straight to our church. Met YC and her sister there. I'm really thankful that YC joins us this Christmas! I hope and pray that this will be the beginning of His work in her. Christmas service was good - the main sanctuary was packed and the usually super cold air-conditioning was barely keeping me from sweating (that's how packed it was!).

After service, we had lunch with YC and her sister. Before I knew it, my watch was showing 3pm! Amazing how time flies on the sly! So I had to cut it short and rush back to Shah Alam, pick up the cake from home and head over to RC's. I was late (but not the last haha *winks*). It was super hot outside and I was melting, but thankfully the cake wasn't! It was refreshing to meet up with half of the gang! And sad to say, but... we're getting old! We were even taking out our school year books and pointing to pictures inside it! On TV, you'd only see that sort of scenario with a group of people in their 30s reminiscing about their past... hahaha.... well, well, that's the reality of life, I guess! Anyway, since K brought her other half, the tradition of grilling the boyfriends commenced! hahaha... He did well! Our OSC was relentless! hahahaha... it was so funny and seriously cute!

However all the fun time had to come to an end. I had to rush off for the family reunion. We were super late (again). Mum had been non-stop cooking since 3pm... and I was no help because I was at the tea pot luck! But her efforts were all paid off, as it was the only dish that was finished without any leftovers! She prepared Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio). And although during the Chinese winter festival dinner on the 22nd, the host  said the "cha gio" did not match the Western menu they were planning, his wife gave us a 'go ahead'! It turned out well! Sort of gave that 'umph' to the bland fine dining feel to the whole dinner table! But I've got to hand it to my aunt, she really knows how to set a table! Looks like something out of Martha Stewart or O!

I would rate the communication level of that night as pretty good! We all had quite a lot of fun talking, joking and thanks to my nephew's antics, the scene was liven up. And I've come to think that raising kids in Singapore is not so bad - you just need to have really good parenting skills. I've noticed that the three niece and nephews from Singapore are really great kids! Not at all 'kiasu'... Kudos to their parents - my cousins!

This Christmas was also special because CL came back to KL for 14 days. And although we didn't spend Christmas day with him and Ah Yee and Uncle, we did see him quite a lot when he was back here - maybe too much... I even fell asleep twice! :S

Doosh!

Don't fall for the ploy! Don't fall for the ploy!

Eeek! Plop...

You did. You always do. Ah well, it's just part of life right? Always falling for the same old crap that caught you in their snare an age old while ago...

Ooh, btw, I've been having this memory lapse, where one day I just woke up and tried to remember what I learned in STPM Biology... and I couldn't remember what word was used to describe the appendix... the word bugged me for quite some time and today I rediscovered what it was! Vestigial!!! (although that is kind of an old school thought about the seemingly useless appendix... it has been discovered that the appendix does have its purpose and is not just another thing rendered redundant by the process of evolution)

Nasi Lemak Makes Me Sleepy!

In the past, I've always complained of uncontrollable sleepiness in office (as those who IM me during office hours will know). However a couple of months back, I started to use my free time to study The Word, and my sleepiness problem got better. So it has been awhile since I've had a terminally sleepy day.

Last week, I decided to buy a pack of 'Nasi Lemak' for breakfast. When I came in to office, I did my work first before attacking my 'Nasi Lemak' (directly translated as Fat Rice). The effect was not immediate, but I suddenly started feeling so helplessly sleepy and at first, couldn't explain why I felt so. I had had a full night of sleep save for the few minutes when I woke up with an ENT allergy (which Xyzal helped to cure). Then it dawned on me that it was the effect of too much carbohydrates! Even my brain was working slower!

While in uni, I took a course on Food and Nutrition by Dr Salihin Baba, and he told us in a humorous way, why we felt sleepy after a meal. It was because more blood was needed in the stomach area in order to hasten the digestion of food. As an effect, less blood is pumped to the brain and so, comes the sleepiness as the brain cells receive less oxygen. Perhaps he said it in a too light-hearted way that many of us thought he was joking. But in actuality, it is a fact! Anyway, here's an article that explains this process better.

I think perhaps I should decrease my 'Nasi Lemak' consumption. A friend said that it makes us "stupider" (in her own words)! Hahahaha...

However, if we try to break down what goes into preparing this Malaysian specialty, it doesn't seem like such an evil food. Take a look:

The 'lemak' rice part:
polished rice (high glycemic index - BAD for sedentary people like me)
coconut milk (medium chain fatty acids - GOOD, fast digestion)
ginger (anti-cancer and GOOD for getting rid of 'wind' or 'foong' in Chinese)
screwpine leaves (gives nice aroma)

The 'sambal' part:
cooking oil (too much is BAD, it's better to use palm oil)
onions (gives great flavour and aroma - GOOD as antibacterial, antifungal)
anchovies (GOOD source of calcium)
belachan (too much is BAD I guess - due to chemicals used during processing)
chillies (GOOD - has many benefits, while too much could burn your stomach)
tamarind (GOOD antioxidant)
chilli paste (might be BAD if it's store-bought)
sugar (too much is BAD)

The sidelines:
cucumber (GOOD for skin)
hard-boiled egg (GOOD - protein)
fried anchovies (fried - BAD)
roasted peanuts (roasting kills the good in it, so its BAD - especially if fungus is accidentally overlooked)

So there seems to be a tie between the GOOD and BAD. I started out thinking there were more GOOD ingredients than BAD ones. So I guess I was neither right nor wrong...

(Suddenly lost interest in posting... this post doesn't seem to have hit the point I was thinking off... Sorry)

Happy Keropok

Look! There's a face on my keropok! I didn't arrange that, honestly! ;)

Have You Crossed That Thin Line?

I'm sure everyone has had a friend or acquaintance complain about an over-clingy partner. Or perhaps that experience could be hitting even nearer to home.

I was searching for Technology news when I came across 'Youth using phones to harass and spy on partners'
which reminded me of a few cases I've came across. What I've always thought of as pettiness and immaturity is actually harassment. Sometimes when the offender is someone you trust and have a close relationship with, we tend to overlook things like these - our basic human rights, saying "nevermind... I should be more understanding."

It's quite sad to see that someone who supposedly loves you would do such things to you. Obsession can really take over a person, eating away his/her conscience till there is none left.

Anyway, if you think you are a victim or guilty of such harassment, you can take a quiz here. BTW, for the record, I'm not speaking of my personal experiences (I have none! hahahahaha), but this comes from conversations I've had with close friends and family.

After the Lightning, Comes the Thunder

In an electrical storm before the rain starts, there is the warning signal of a symphony of lightning and thunder. The lightning flashes first, warning of an impending gloom. Then comes the thunder, rumbling its second warning. And finally the rain storm comes, bringing with it torrents and waves of angry blows upon those who are left out there in the vulnerable open spaces.


The lightning has come, fading away with time. And yesterday, the thunder has sounded the impending woes. Next will be the rain. I just pray it does not get ugly. Pray is all we can do.

Emptiness Syndrome after Study Cessation

As of 1745 hrs on December 4th, 2009 I was freed from the pressure of studying for my ICSA Corporate Governance and Corporate Secretaryship papers. (Not that I actually suffered much from that pressure, in fact I effectively ignored it and am hoping I won't need to learn the hard way)

So what did I do to celebrate this "MERDEKA!" of mine? I went shopping with mom. I don't know whether the shops were just plain uninteresting or I was still in the post-exam state of mind, but somehow, I didn't really relish it. However, I did buy a blouse from Forever 21 on 'credit mom' and so, am broke again before the month has even reached its maturity. Great work SM!

Again, as with all the past examinations I've sat for, I've got the post-examination emptiness syndrome. It's a directionless feeling I feel when I suddenly stop studying (after the culmination of the exam) after routinely cramming for an exam for a period of time. It's that loss of momentum that throws me out of balance. All the wonderful plans I was dreaming up to realise after the exams suddenly disappear into thin air! Maybe they were just that proverbial "carrot" that I subconsciously dangled in front of my eyes as motivation. Haha... the wonders the mind can do!

December will be a good month for meeting friends and family. Although that sounds like a Zodiac Star prediction, I do really think December will be lovely. Christmas is coming and there'll be people to meet, meals to eat and... some plans to make.

More to come when time allows!

Cloud Computing To Warm Homes

Okay, last post for this week! I promise! (naughty SM, rule-breaking again!)

Up till a few weeks ago, I had no idea what 'cloud computing' was and had only heard of the term a few months back. I feel ditzy for not knowing where all my emails and blog posts and Facebook activity logs were being kept at all this while. I've always wondered but was too lazy to find out. But at last I've kind of gotten a rough idea of what 'cloud computing' is! Thanks to an informative and cute tutorial on CNN.



Anyway, the boundaries of our world, as we know it, is evolving into one that has no borders - whether we like it or not - as most of our lives have gradually become entangled with the 'online' world. And for this reason, cloud computing is so important. What is cloud computing? It's basically an infrastructure filled with racks and racks of servers, or better summarised as data centers (yes, so unimaginative when compared with the term 'cloud computing'). At least that's the gist I'd grasped from reading about it.

As we know servers generate a lot of heat and a proper cooling system needs to be in place for the machines to operate efficiently. According to this Reuters article, Google already uses around 1% of the world's energy to sustain its data centers and in a typical data center, only 40-45% of the energy is used for the actual computing - while the rest powers the indispensable cooling system.

Now to deviate a little: Personally, I've found my laptop power adapter a very good source of heat to warm my freezing fingers when I'm in office or a place with super-numbing air-conditioning. I usually feel very self-conscious when I need to defrost my digits, and so, I stealthily creep closer to the adapter and rest my frozen palm onto the hot plastic like it was an everyday thing to do! This is called 'let not the energy be wasted via loss through heat radiation.' haha

Well, referring back to the Reuters article, Finland is going to use the excess heat from a data center to be located beneath the Uspenski Cathedral - which is one of Helsinki's tourist attractions - to be channeled into the district heating network. A system of water-heated pipes will warm homes in the Finnish capital as well as recycle the heat generated by the servers, which once was a lost cause in the energy cycle.

Now, that's a green idea!

Tongue Discipline

I'm glad that I just bit my tongue (literally) and didn't say what I wanted to say! That would've burst someone's bubble... although that would have been one up for me! But yes, I'm determined not to be evil to people who've been evil to me...

In a totally different case today, I discovered that my boss 'ciplak' (plagiarised) my leave record MS Excel template and implemented it in our office! He didn't even change the months of which I've worked here!! hahaha Should I be angry or flattered? I think I'll choose the latter.

Hope the rest don't find out I'm the one who started it (all the red tape)... Shhhhh!

What We Call "Diarrhoea Mouth"

Note: I'm breaking my rule of becoming a hermit till my exams are done and over with, by writing this post. But I just had the urge to compose something...

The term 'diarrhoea mouth' was introduced to me by my aunt a couple of years back. I've never heard anyone else use it before, so perhaps it was something she coined or for some reason, it has not caught on (I tried Googling for it, with no satisfactory results that point to the meaning of this term).

Well, basically 'diarrhoea mouth' refers to someone who simply condemns a subject when he himself will be a partaker of the said subject. A common example would be someone who hurls insults at a particular food and ends up finishing the food till the last grain. So the term diarrhoea comes into play because this person is not selective of his words and all sort of rubbish comes out from his mouth, somewhat like the loose stool you get when you have a bad case of food poisoning.

In some cases, the phenomenon of 'diarrhoea mouth' may have undertones of sarcasm, meant to shoot out at one of the audience. An example would be, a very-soon-to-be-married guy watches Mrs World on Star World channel while expounding "it's a fact that ladies get fat after they get married!" and the silent listener thinks to herself, "Hmm, tough luck to you then... you're getting married next month! Since you believe that's a fact, then it will become a reality that you'll be facing in the very near future," and *smiles*.

So kids, moral of the story is "always think before you speak" because you don't want to show the brain constipation you're having through your diarrhoea mouth!

This is another community message from SM. Lets all work towards a better world!

We Came, They Came...

Today's turnout was pretty surprising. In a way, I'm glad, because it shows that the congregation still has faith in the leaders. At 10.30am, we looked around and there were so many empty seats and thought to ourselves that 'it was only to be expected' but the crowd came later on and I didn't feel so uncomfortable then. I guess that people will gravitate to where God is, and today is evidence that He is still with us, as a church.

He will never leave you  nor forsake you. - Deut 31:7

I don't know what to think, what to believe and who to trust. Unfortunately ever since finding out about some of the details (it's been more than a year now, so that 'article' was not a total shock), I've found it very hard not to second guess every word said or action done and this has been a source of distraction for me. And for this, Lord, I'm very sorry! I just pray that He will have mercy on us all and on ALL who's directly involved with the matters.

Let's Learn Something From Our Neighbours

Our dear politicians could learn a thing or two from Singapore's former PM, instead of pointing fingers at one another and subjecting the 'rakyat' to their fickle face-saving decisions (i.e. PPSMI or teaching of maths and science in English). Although PPSMI is already old news here, I was pretty put off when the government announced that we were going back to teaching maths and science in Bahasa Melayu (after that whole hoo-ha in the Dewan Rakyat in June). This shows that our education system is just another political battlefield for our "leaders" to win votes.

I just don't get how the government could implement a policy without doing a proper study or consulting professionals in the linguistic field and instead, they made rash conclusions from the results while the project was still in a transition state. Don't they realise that it takes time to see the fruits of the change? Maybe the government should work on change management instead of taking the easy way out and reverting to the old system (of which I am a product of). And personally, I found that first few months transitioning to English while in Form 6 (STPM) a little confusing, but ultimately it made the whole learning process more interesting and eased the search for extra resources. Thank God 80% of the courses I took in university were in English! I really can't imagine how I would have survived researching and writing my thesis in BM. Seriously.

Anyway, the article below is from http://southeastasiantimes.com . I reproduced it here because they update their news content daily and I don't know whether they have an online archive.

Lee Kuan Yew concedes language mistake
From News Reports:
Singapore, November 21: Singapore’s initial enforcement of the teaching of Mandarin by rote had been a mistake, the republic’s founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, said at the opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language.
“A language is first listened to, heard and then spoken,” he said.
“It's not read or written - that follows later. (But) we started the wrong way. We insisted on spelling and dictation.”
The way to correct the mistake was to encourage a child’s interest in the language, regardless of their linguistic ability because, with interest in the language, they would have it for life.
Students forced to memorise a language without applying it, would aim just to pass their exams and then forget about it, he warned.
“Successive generations of students paid a heavy price because of my ignorance and my insistence on bilingualism,” he said.
“We had teachers who were teaching in completely Chinese schools and they did not know how to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese,” he said.
This turned children off completely and caused parents to waste much money and time on extra tuition for their off spring.
Lee Kuan Yew said he had mistakenly equated intelligence to language ability but later, his daughter, neurologist Lee Wei Ling, told him that they were different.
As a consequence the Education Ministry in 2005 had increased the weight of primary-school oral Mandarin over that of their ability to memorise Chinese characters.
This followed the recommendation of a Chinese-language review committee in 2004 to put more emphasis on speaking and listening.
The Southeast Asian Times

Itching To Post About Sesame Street!

For the past week, I've been seeing Sesame Street everywhere on Google and CNN! Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary! It has brought back fond memories of how I used to watch that everyday in the 80s and early 90s... I loved those puppets to death, and still do find them really entertaining!

I have a post outline forming in my head but I'm afraid it will take up quite some time to actually get it into formation. So, I'm postponing that post till the second week of December (onwards), as currently I need to concentrate on Corporate Secretaryship and Corporate Governance. Trying really hard to disregard all the temptations that seems to be popping up at every corner I turn to! :S

Anyway, Happy Birthday Sesame Street! I love you, Cookie Monster!!!

Paper or Plastic?

I've never had a credit card before. "Why?" - you may be asking. During my studying years, I didn't see the need to have one - I was staying at home and studying reasonably nearby. Plus, my dad didn't want to give us, children, a supplementary credit card for fear of us running up the bill irresponsibly. So, while in school, credit cards were a no-no. I just relied on physical paper cash (and the occasional 'tumpang guna' of mum's card... haha).

After a year of working, and a couple of people pestering me, I decided to go ahead and get one. It took me a couple of months to actually start looking around for the benefits each bank offered for the range of credit I was qualified for. I'd pretty much settled on which bank to sign up with and was waiting to catch my friend online to ask her more about it, since she is in that line. And then came Budget 2010... and the RM50 tax the Government was going to charge per principal credit/charge card and RM25 for each supplementary card. And so, now it's back to credit card-less me!

After all, the only need I have for a credit card (at the moment) is convenience when buying petrol. And also, some retail outlets such as Starbucks and F.O.S have discounts when you use a certain credit card to pay (but I've cut down patronising these places for the past few months, so... again, I'm not missing much). Otherwise I'm pretty content using cash for all my purchases.

Therefore, until the Government decides to abolish that policy or the banks decide to absorb that tax, I'm not going to sign up for any credit cards! (unless, for some unforeseen reason, in future I start traveling overseas a lot... then that's a different case.. haha) So, I'm going paper all the way! hmm... but our Ringgit isn't really made of paper these days... some sort of plastic-paper hybrid material... RM5 is completely plastic though... yeah, I'm losing my thoughts again... Here ends this post.

Scientific Evidence for My Rants

I don't mean to defend my 'ranting' posts, but when I read this article, it got me thinking. So now there is actually scientific backing as to why I write/express myself better when in a bad mood. From the Reuters article I had hyperlinked earlier, psychology professor Joseph Forgas at the University of New South Wales commented, that their research suggested sadness promoted information processing strategies. And when I read:

The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style."

It was like, "Yes, that is so true!!!"

Personally, I find writing my grouses out is the best channel. The more I talk about it to people, the more worked up I get. So when I write, it all comes out and the hate leaves me and I feel much better! The only downside is that it's all archived here and I'm not in the habit of taking off my posts whenever I feel like it. So if some people happen to guess that the post is about them, then that someone might get his/her bubble burst. But then, why am I wasting my time worrying about hurting those people's feelings (in the future) when they have so freely done so to me? I think I would only feel guilty with those that I have reconciled with.

But as my blog name "my life... as it is..." all my posts reflect how I felt at that moment in time and human emotions are not static. So let it be known that something from the past may not be the same in the present or in the future.

Nonsensical Comments on Facebook

A couple of days ago, a friend on Facebook posted a status update and I was in the mood to 'crap.' So this is what I commented (click to enlarge):

Note: Excuse the bad cover-ups as I don't have Photoshop on this notebook, only GIMP available. The image is saved in GIF to retain the picture quality, and not to make your life difficult. ;P

Hahaha... I just couldn't help it! And our very brilliant-but-weird mutual friend, who's notorious for his 'one of a kind' comments, notes and practically everything, responded to my comment (excuse the typo errors):

sm.. i know youre cheeking your mania meds.. u know you need to take your meds if u wanna get better dont u

I couldn't help bursting out laughing when I read it and then asked him to prescribe me some when he became a certified doctor! hahaha... Sometimes it's just so fun to write nonsense and take the cue by continuing the story. I guess we Generation Ys love to 'crap' - big time!

A Little Sugar To Sweeten The Bitterness (of the previous post)

So... That last one was a little edgy eh? Yes, that was in the thick of the storm. Plus that with the extra emotional state I've been in these days... Kaboom! All the hate and fury burst forth! Still can't believe the pettiness and two-facedness of the said person. Lesson learned - colleagues are not your friends (unless you were friends before becoming colleagues), so henceforth I will consciously put a barrier between personal and office life.

Anyway, after that long long day, I decided (no, actually this was planned a week earlier) to induce the production of some endorphins - by going for a jog/walk. I'd told my friend that it was highly possible that it would rain in the evening (because it had been so everyday for the past week) and we'd have to cancel. However, when 4.30pm came... it was sunny. Come 5.30pm, it was still sunny! Praise God! It really was a miracle! I guess He knew I really needed that time of fellowship. And indeed, it was a good solid hour of sharing and laughing. When we parted ways, my spirit was lifted and I felt blessed. I always feel nice and fuzzy when such seemingly tiny unassuming miracles occur. They are like pleasant surprises in a mundane day.

After my jog, I took the new highway that cuts from the Subang airport road to the intersection near Summit USJ. And as luck would have it, I got stuck in a massive jam just around the cornering at the highway ramp. At one point, I was stationary in the same spot for over 15 minutes. The highway had become a parking lot where no one could exit. And to add salt to the wound, heavy rain started pounding down on my car at an angle which hit my rear window in full force and since the ramp was probably over 5 storey high, I could feel the concrete swaying a little when cars on the opposite road sped past. It was scary in a way. But with my spirit in an uplifted state, I did not start panicking and getting impatient (unlike the white VW hashback driver, who kept trying to weave in and out and squeezing through two parallel cars in a two-laned road), instead I prayed a "breath prayer" which I'd read from the book, Purpose Driven Life. After waiting for some time, trying to rehearse my testimony for Thursday's Alpha celebration dinner, the traffic started dissipating and when I reached the traffic lights (which was a long way from where I was stuck at), there were policemen directing the traffic. Godsent! On top of that, the rain had reduced to a shy drizzle and when I was on KESAS nearing my exit, it was completely dry! The rain had let up momentarily. As when I reached home and was contentedly eating dinner, the torrents of tears from heaven resumed its tempest.

Although my day started out on a lukewarm note and brightened as I said "good morning Father" on the way to work, and later unfortunately went totally black when I was attacked by that person with a "god complex" (see definition below; please note the use of lower case 'g'), I'm glad for the two miracles in the evening. I still feel the soreness from the attack, but somehow I feel I have the assurance that with God on my side, no one can harm me (in terms of morale). And this verse just keeps jumping into my mind (one of the few that I remember well... haha):

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.     - 1 John 4:4 (NKJ)

So ends the sugar topping that was purposed to sweeten the bitterness of the unsavory event of the day. Goodnight.

P.S: I'd forgot to add the definition of "god complex." I had simply put the words together and surprisingly it DOES exist (I just Googled it)! Very much surprised indeed! Here's what one definition states:

Definitions of God complex on the Web:

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the diagnostic classification system used in the United States, as "a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy."

The Irritant

Let the one who's always asking others, "wanna die fast?", DIE first! It's very simple... in his very own words. And since you believe in karma, what goes around comes around. So watch out what you say, as it may bite you back in the butt any time.

If it's so bloody simple, then you can bloody well do it yourself and stop creating history of what you 'allegedly' (but DID NOT) say. Woe to you who put me in a spot for something I'm not in charge of and out of the blue give me shit because you feel like screwing some poor unsuspecting delivery guy.

To think that your supposed working experience in an MNC has not taught you to practice a little diplomacy and hone your EQ by not putting that 'accusing' tone on people when enquiring on something that was never expressedly stated in my job description. Bloody hell, I'm doing you a favour by giving you an answer already.

From now on, all civility on my part will be an act - just to get things done. No more genuine goodwill for you, you snake, who writhe on the ground and is only fit to eat dust!

P.S: Sorry, I'm very angry now. Will post something more pleasant when I cool down.

Good Sleep, Weird Dreams

I've been unconsciously having good sleeping habits for the past week or so (this due to my unsuccessful attempts at studying for Corporate Secretaryship and Corporate Governance) and the funny thing is that I've been having weird dreams almost every night! I can't recall half of the dreams, but one was about taking home an iPhone to try it out and in the end I gave it back because I didn't want to subscribe to the Maxis package. When I woke up, I was wondering whether it was a dream or reality, and when I realised it was all part of my lala-land, I was like "WTH???"

Another dream was about driving somewhere near Amcorp and I was turning at the traffic light when I heard something bump into me behind, but I carried on driving and in some magical way, I could see my car from the outside and that I had ran over a motorcyclist. I was horrified but then I started trying to rationalise the situation (while still in the dream) - how could I run over someone when the motorcyclist had knocked me from behind and I was moving forward? Well, that's when I woke up. And felt quite disoriented for quite some time.

The third dream that I partially remember was about me buying a Sony Ericsson cellphone. It was supposedly the latest model from the Walkman series but it looked quite similar to my current cellphone - strange! However, the stranger part was that the phone could be unfolded twice into something that was almost half an A4 paper size. I can't remember what that function was, but the cellphone could run on AA and AAA batteries too! At that point I started to feel that the cellphone was kind of outdated. However, I ended up bringing the phone back to the shop for a refund after discovering it lacked a feature - I think it didn't have a camera (or something). Anyway, the giveaway that it was all a dream was when I started thinking to myself - how could I buy a cellphone without researching on it first? And then I woke up.

There was another dream that involved a number of my friends (but I really can't remember who). Although I don't remember what the dream was about and the other details, but I know that those friends were from different cliques I've had and did not know each other. So how come they were so at home with each other?

Weird! I don't know what to make of all these 'dreams'. Is it even possible to interpret them? Well, to me, it all just seem like a bowl of crap. Hahaha... anyway, they're amusing as to how much emotion they stirred up and that I actually remember how I felt at that moment.

Urgh... Imagine all the wriggling reptiles

This is from Reuters. The highlighted line made me LMAO! hahahaha...

Norwegian caught with 24 reptiles taped to body

Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:07pm EDT

OSLO (Reuters) - A man was caught by Norwegian customs carrying a tarantula in his bag, and a further 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body, media reported on Monday.

The 22-year-old Norwegian was stopped in a routine check by Kristiansand customs after arriving on a ferry from Denmark, newspaper Faedrelandsvennen reported.

Customs found the tarantula, before deciding to give him a full body search that revealed 14 stockings -- one for each snake -- taped around his torso, top selling tabloid VG said.

Reptile smuggling is not uncommon in Norway, which prohibits people holding many reptile species as pets, but office manager Helge Breilid at Kristiansand customs was quoted by VG as saying customs officers had been "horrified" by Sunday's catch.

"Customs officers quickly realized the man was smuggling animals, because his whole body was in constant motion," Breilid told VG.

When the man dropped his pants, the officers found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing a lizard, he said.

The man was still being held by police on Monday, Kristiansand police attorney Johann Martin Kile told VG, adding he would be released upon agreeing to pay a 12,500 Norwegian crowns ($2,256) fine.

The reptiles were handed over to a security firm until Norwegian authorities decide what to do with them, Breilid said.

(Reporting by Richard Solem)

I'm hungry

I'm hungry. I'm hungry for chocolate-coated digestives! No thanks to my MSN buddy who keeps talking about it! hahahaha... the temptation is too great! I seem to be hungry all the time, especially when trying to find food to write about in our cuisine news. Which reminds me, that I have not had the chance to satisfy my craving for escargot! Will need to take a rain check on that as I'm quite broke again... Where does my money all go to? That's the biggest mystery of all time!

Anyway, changing the topic, I downloaded Google Chrome yesterday (because Firefox was screwing up my Gmail logout process) and I've made it my default browser. It's nice, fast, smooth and I installed a skin - it looks cool! I don't mean to imply Firefox has lost its lustre, but I think we all should have some change from time to time and I'm just giving Chrome a try and so far, it's been good! However, I probably would switch back to Firefox in the near future because when a popup window loads new content, it doesn't jump out to the front of the screen, I have to select the browser to view the content. This makes my news compilation process to be a slightly more tedious task. And another thing is the tab title doesn't refresh for my company email account. So I'm always panicking when I see "Inbox (4)" when actually I had read all the 4 emails in the morning! Well, that's just some of my grouses, bearing in mind that I've only used Chrome for less than 24 hours.

Oh oh, and someone in Taiwan is trying to change my Gmail password... Why am I always a target for these low-lifes? Grrhhh...

Haha... Lost My Own Bet!

Referring to a past post, I guess I lost my own bet (against myself *winks*). Earlier on, I managed to catch the TV commercial with that 'Through My Window' song, and well, I was right that it was some telco company... however it was not my guess... it was TM! hahaha

I wonder whether they're trying to rebrand Streamyx? (since Streamyx is also associated with orange...)

Oh well, I'm happy again today! It's funny because I don't know why I feel this way and in fact, I should be panicking since revision classes are less than 2 weeks away... But I thank God for this peace I'm feeling!!!

I'm hungry. Goodnight (or more accurately, good morning!).

Nice Friday Night

I'm guilty of emotionalism. What is this swinging in and out of happiness? It's just probably silly hormonal changes.

As I'm typing this, I'm watching Notting Hill on HBO (multitasking is fun! ;)). And I'm giggling away at all that dry English humour. And I'm smiling myself silly at the impeccable way the film was planned - great soundtrack at the right moment, love the dialogue and that walking through the street with season changes shot!

It's funny how I can remember what a friend said about Hugh Grant 6 years ago during one of our sleepover things! "Love those crisp shirts" - or something similar to that (correct me if I'm wrong, CCMC ;P )

For a day that started off fine and took a 180 degree change once I reached office and then unsteadily headed south, with slight hints of uptrends, the day (and also, week) wrapped up nicely with a yummy Thai dinner with a friend and re-watching Notting Hill (feeling all warm and fuzzy).

This post is a brainless pointless one. But tonight I am happy (which seems to be the trend these past 2 weeks). Praise God! I think I've overlooked blogging about the peace He has given me... I hope I'll get down to it soon! :)

In The News, Today

These are a couple of interesting articles I came across today. They may not be what you would categorise as 'Breaking news' or they may not even be written for today but nevertheless amusing (to me, at least!). Note: I've hyperlinked the Webpages I referred to at the beginning of each paragraph.

So, number 1: UK-based firm, Vicon, will be launching a camera that you can wear around your neck to record everything that you do in your life. The camera automatically takes photos every 30 seconds with an accelerometer and light sensors to detect when the user enters a new environment and an infrared sensor to detect body heat from a person in front of the wearer. I suppose these sensors will trigger the camera to capture a photo although it is not within its 30 seconds rhythm. Anyway, does this vaguely remind you of that movie Robin Williams starred in - The Final Cut? According to the article, this camera was originally invented to help Alzheimer's disease sufferers but could one day be used to create "lifelogs."

Numero duo: Can you imagine 14 hours of 'dikir barat', non-stop in a train journey from Singapore to Kelantan? I don't know about you, but I can just imagine the headache coming with each pounding of the drum. And in case you're wondering what 'dikir barat' is, it's a traditional Malay performance where there are two groups taking turns to sing, accompanied by instruments such as rebana and kompang, in response to each other. Yes, it is a culturally rich tradition, but 14 hours straight? Not forgetting the unfortunate few who suffer from motion sickness? I believe there is always a right time and place for everything and this here... hmmm... doesn't seem quite so (in my honest opinion and purely relying on my imagination of the situation).

Number three: Good news for shorter and plumper women! Apparently we, humans, are still evolving. Okay, that sounded cynical... But yes, I do think we are still evolving, just that evolution takes millions of years and so we don't get to witness visible results at the moment. And here comes the cliché phrase: "Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's non-existant" (or something along the lines). Anyway, the reason behind the good news - shorter and plumper women have healthier hearts and longer reproductive windows. These women tend to have more children on average than their taller, lighter counterparts. So according to the theory of natural selection, the more fertile individuals will succeed in passing down their genes and so, we will probably be seeing more shorter, plumper women walking the earth in the future! (OK, that last part was added by me just for the heck of it! haha) Yay, I'm short! And slowly leaning towards the plump side too... :P

Nombor empat: I'm referring here to the bottom half of the Webpage (not the upper half, although it might have proven to be a more spicy interesting topic to blog about... hehe). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) is seeking an amendment to the National Language Act 1963 and the Education Act 1996 so that they can penalise private sector and agencies that fail to use Bahasa Malaysia in official dealings. It is also mentioned that these 'official dealings' include meetings, preparation of minutes and official functions. So does this mean secretaries have to start writing meeting minutes in BM? If so, I am going to die (if I decide to pursue a career in company secretaryship)! hahahaha... anyway wow! The DBP D-G said Bahasa Malaysia is ranked 5th in the world in terms of the number of speakers... Sure or not? tsk tsk tsk...

I admit it - I've just got bitten by the blogging bug again. 2 posts in a day! Wow!

Self Bet

I was looking at the frontpage of The Star newspaper today and read a line: 'INSIDE: Unknown song rocks the nation >N12.' With my curiosity piqued, I turned to page 12 to find out what it's all about.

Turns out that radio DJs received a song 'Through My Window' yesterday and there was a buzz about the mysterious song that was only linked to a Website, everyoneconnects.net. And yes, I gave in to the trap and scored them another hit to their Website... streamed the song, and in my opinion, it really sounds like a local production. It had one of those whiny American pop-rock tunes, very popular with today's youths (with me as the exception...).

So, this is my bet (with myself, not with anyone of you!). Based on the orange colour theme of the Website and past experience of marketing schemes by telco companies (usually our famous yellow service provider), I'm guessing it's got something to do with Umobile. I may be wrong, I may be right, let's just wait and find out!

P.S: While typing this post out, I remembered the launching of the Happy prepaid plan. I clearly recall cute and colourful stickers being distributed with our free newspaper - The Sun - a couple of years back. Anyway, that got me to search out their official Website and somehow I suspected it was tied to DiGi (although they did not mention it on their Website, or at least, I didn't find it after poking around) and Google managed to dig this out for me. So I was right! haha... I think/suspect the other campaign sometime back (thetruthaboutprepaid.com) was also by DiGi, but I'm too lazy to confirm that... ;)

Would you eat meat grown in the lab?

Last week CNN highlighted a story on in vitro meat. PETA is offering US$1 million to the first company that brings lab-grown meat to consumers by 2012. The TV programme featured New Harvest, a non-profit organisation, who is in active pursuit of this research.

The whole idea is to stop farming animals for meat and instead grow animal muscle tissue in the lab through cell cultures. This is supposed to effectively stop animal cruelty, as the harvesting of muscle cells which would serve as the precursor for the cultures, do not harm the animals. Other benefits is said to be the lower cost of production, and in vitro meat is supposed to be cleaner - free from disease and microbial contamination. To know more, you can read this Wikipedia page.

My initial reaction when I heard this was... horror! It sounded like some Frankenstein-ish project. Images of muscles grown in petri dishes and incubators flashed in my over-imaginative mind. And when I came across the 'bioreactor' part in Wikipedia, I started picturing a slurry of cell culture and how the process engineers would have to deal with reducing frothing and ensure proper sterilisation of the nutrient media. Taking things to another level, I started thinking what kind of nutrient media they would use and what if they added some sort of growth factor that could impair our genetic makeup in the long run?

Bottom line at that moment - I was dead against it. But then, thinking more about the matter, it does have its pros. For example the 'cleaner' advantage in vitro meat has. We would be able to prevent epidemics or meat-related diseases such as mad cow disease, red tide and flesh-eating bacteria contaminations - provided that the cell sample collected from the source animal was not already contaminated. Another benefit would be preventing environmental pollution from seeping into our diet. Currently, we worry about where our fresh meats are from, what the farm animals are eating and drinking. We get countless forwarded emails warning of fish caught from the Mekong river having high levels of heavy metals and unscrupulous farmers feeding their cattle with meat-based feedstocks to hasten muscle growth via a high protein diet. Heavy metals, prions, radioactive waste, deadly algal toxins... and the list goes on. You'll never be done worrying about what goes into your food!

Oh, and another interesting pro for in vitro meat is the decrease in the need for farming cattle (for meat). I think most of us have heard that cows and their methane farts and burps are one of the causes of global warming? A weird-ass funny but supposedly true fact (hope it's not just another over-exagerated fact/excuse that certain parties are using to blackmail us into adopting their policies). Anyway, in vitro meat could cut down that unwanted bowel expulsion of methane gas from these 'highly explosive' ruminants. And so, we get to save the world! *puts on a Miss Universe smile*

But when it comes down to the moment where you have to decide whether you will eat in vitro meat, what would your response be? Yes or No? For me, I think I would still say No. Don't get me wrong, I'm an animal lover and all, but there's still something uneasy about the idea of growing meat in a lab (or factory - once this idea is successfully commercialised). It's the same feeling you'd get about genetically-modified (GM) plants. Although companies like Monsanto would swear by their GM products' safety, we still prefer natural plants or even better, organic or wild species plants as our food source.

Just a thought: If this idea of in vitro meat were to actually take flight in the future, I wonder whether one day we could see chicken meat in our supermarket with fancy shapes like hearts, flowers and the likes? Knowing the Japanese, with their ever-innovative ideas of repackaging common place items, someone could experiment with growing these muscles in a mould or something!

Nights of Music

On Saturday night, I followed LK to Alexis in Jalan Ampang to catch the Lewis Pragasam Quartet. We were anticipating a performance with an Akai EWI (Electric Wind Instrument) but alas, we were let down as there were none. The quartet, which had 2 Cuban members, played jazz songs, a Santana song and that hit song by Latin pop group, Son By Four. We left halfway through the second set, after I finished my semi-dinner of a petit quiche lorraine and cranberry-raspberry soda. Was kind of let down after all the fuss of arranging to meet up, driving all the way to KL, finding a parking space at the road curb, waiting for a place to sit and not getting what we went there for. Anyway, an experience is an experience -be it a good or bad one.

On a different note, I really enjoyed Double Take's performance on Monday at the MPO Hall in KLCC.


It was a bit of a last minute plan but NP was kind enough to book the tickets for the three of us. We got our tickets just in time before they were sold out by Wednesday. Our journey to and from KLCC were adventures in themselves - "kaedah cuba-cuba" - as NP puts it! Truly works, although we did go round and round in the carpark trying to find the exit to Jalan Tun Razak! haha... That was cute!

The performance. Mia Palencia's vocals were just so beautiful. Perfect pitching and timing. She even managed to imitate trumpet sounds in one of the songs - I think it was the Raul Midon number that she sang. Roger Wang was her match in his guitar playing skills and although they were only two, the overall sound was adequate and complete. With Roger's miked-up foot tapping keeping tempo and providing rythm, they both put on a great show.

However my only critique would be Roger's solo performance. I felt that there was a slight irregularity in the tempo, but then again, perhaps that was part of the song? Anyway, this is coming from a pair of untrained ears, where I'm only used to critically commenting on LK's music.

Now to the educational part of the performance. What we learned from Roger: harp guitar. That was a strange-looking instrument with its roots from the Celtic (I think) and it must've been pretty heavy (from the looks of it). What we learned from Mia: Raul Midon. A black jazz/soul singer songwriter who is blind but plays like a acoustic guitar version of Stevie Wonder! Check out his song below and do note how he executes harmonics in his guitar riffs with such skill and tastefulness!



Somehow, I can't seem to escape Michael Jackson's Human Nature. As if it wasn't enough getting an overdose at home while LK was working on his project the past few weeks, it was a pleasant surprise to suddenly hear that familiar tune coming from Roger while Mia gave hints to the next song. They played 2 MJ songs in the latter part of their set. Which reminds me that I haven't given a commentary on their song list! They performed a couple of jazz standards, a P. Ramlee song, another by Raul Midon and one of their own composition.

Becoming Aunt Agony

I don't know why I'm always ending up becoming Aunt Agony (someone to listen to your problems and is expected to offer advice). Why do people ask me about relationship matters? Do I look like I have tremendous experience in that department? The funny thing is even after pointing out my inexperience, they turn back with a reply "these things don't need experience to know" (erm... huh? yeah, they do!?!)

All this listening and advising makes me feel old - like some big sister. When the fact is I'm nobody's big sister! I am and always will be the younger sister in my family. Sometimes I just don't want to know (ignorance is bliss), but if a person insists on telling, what can I do? Can't be saying NO to a friend, right? So there I am, feeling like an alien, giving words of advice that I have never taken or seen the need to use before, but seems like the right thing to say in the situation.

Well, I hope I did not go wrong in offering my point of view. And although it was a bit self-destructive in one case, I think I feel better for choosing to say the right thing. Anyway it all comes back to you in a vicious cycle, doesn't it? You deliberately sabotage someone, and down the line you get the same treatment. Well well, all the best to them! Hope happiness is just around the hill...

Online Bible Study, Anyone?

I was reading past posts, back from the days before I started university, and found that I used to sound so kiddish! (maybe I still do... haha). It got me thinking - I used to mention full names in my posts, so this blog isn't as anonymous as I'd perceived it to be. Anyway, I'm not in the habit of going back into my archive and editing away the slips of information that I may have unwittingly leaked. So, que sera sera for whoever that discovers this blog and happens to guess who I am. I think I can rest assured that I did not flame anyone using their full name in the same post.

OK, moving on to the next topic. I've signed up for an online Bible study, where a study helper is assigned to you and he or she sends you lessons (from a fixed curriculum) via e-mail. I'm currently in my third lesson now. I've never seriously taken Bible study before (well, with the exception of that one short stint in UM, where I just could not concentrate on what my 'teacher' was teaching... feel bad for wasting her time). Anyway, what I was trying to get at here was that I find the WBS (World Bible School) lessons interesting - relevant to what I'm searching for. However the tougher part is the discussion questions, where I really need to evaluate what are my beliefs (and me not used to analysing my own heart) and searching for more understanding online. However the thing that I like about this is that I am not under pressure to memorise and answer the questions correctly within a short time frame. The time factor also allow me to phrase my questions properly before sending the reply e-mail.

Last Minute Plans Always Work Best

I don't know about others, but I've always found impromptu or last minute plans work out the best! Somehow, premeditated plans always tend to fail before they can materialise.

An example would be today. Initially I had made plans to meet up with a couple of friends for dinner in Kota Kemuning - this was made more than a week in advance. However, come Thursday, suddenly everyone could not make it. And the funny thing was that I suddenly realised it was my close friend from uni's birthday on Saturday. It had completely slipped my mind and I felt bad for having my whole week booked full.

So it came as a relief that my Friday plans suddenly folded - of course I did not voice this out! haha And then came the challenge of contacting this friend to enquire whether she was free on Friday night. Thank God she was!

We almost did not get to meet up due to our work commitments, but in the end we DID meet up and it was good! Sometimes simplicity is the best. Too much planning spoils the fun.

A Bout Of Directionless-ness

Being the 'recently-evolved-into-an-emotional-wreck' that I am, today I had another bout of directionless-ness (career-wise). I don't know why I can't seem to find any peace about where my career path is headed towards. I pray about it but I don't know what specifically to pray for. And it's constantly niggling in the back of my mind, showing up whenever I feel 'emo'...

So, today was one of these instances. It's a curiosity that I was never like this (over the top emotional) when I was in school. All this nonsense began when I started working. Perhaps too much free time, where my mind becomes an ideal workshop for the devil to spin his lies and deceptions.

Anyway, I just tried out a career/personality quiz and this was the outcome. I think it does speak much about how I am 'wired'. And perhaps it's a bit too late now, but I've always had a sort of interest in advertising. However I've always thought that my personality is not suitable for such a line - so this contradicts what I've thought I'd known so far.

You would be very happy in a career that utilised your level-headedness, and allowed you to work mainly on your own. You want a career that allows you to be creative, without having to be involved with lots of people. Some careers that would be perfect for you are:

• Artist
  
• Historian
  
• Banker
  
• Novelist
  
• University Professor
  
• Photographer
  
• Vet
  
• Paralegal
  
• Graphic Designer
  
• Online Content Developer
  
• Webmaster
  
• Producer
  
• Managing Director
  
• Nutritionist
  
• Advertising
  
• Nursing

You like working and being alone. You like to avoid attention at all costs. You tend to keep to yourself, and not interact much with the people around you. You enjoy spending time with a few a close friends. You like to listen to others, but don't like sharing much about yourself. You are very quiet and private.

You are very practical, and only act after thinking things through. You don't like being forced to answer quickly. You have to evaluate the situation completely. You make decisions based on what you can verify with your senses.


You like to be deeply involved in one or two special projects. You like to be behind the scenes. You are very logical and fair. You feel you should be honest with others and protect their feelings.


You trust your gut instincts. You are easily inspired and trust that inspiration. You are very innovative. You analyse things by looking at the big picture. You are concerned about how what you do affects others. You worry about your actions and the future. You tend to use a lot of metaphors and are very descriptive and colourful in your choice of language.


You are very creative, and get bored easily if you don't get to express yourself. You like to learn new things. You don't like the same old routine. You like to leave your options open.

'Malu-fying' Malaysian Bad Habits

Not being in a really good mood today after yesterday's accident where my car was knocked by an old-school Proton Saga who was trying to squeeze past the car in front of him turning out at a junction in Kelana Jaya while in the thick of the jam (I was on the main straight road giving way to the aforesaid "car in front of the offender"). And further peeved that the detritus-of-a-driver was giving hand gestures to me implying that I was in the wrong! It really peeves me that someone could be THAT dumb (or perhaps just too Malaysian - the "I didn't do it" Syndrome)! I'm just too b****y sick of explaining what exactly happened, but I can vow that I was in the right this time and that if anyone wants to bring it up to the police, they would pronounce me as the one who was wronged! Anyway, bottom line is I didn't stop to argue because the driver and his 'oh so brilliant' (pls read that with oozing sarcasm) passenger looked like thugs and well, I'd rather not sacrifice my life for a couple of scratches on my bumper.

Yeah, that briefly explains the "crap" I had yesterday evening... now on to what I originally set out to blog about - two articles that displays the ugly side of Malaysians.

First, prank calls. This Bernama article - Prank Calls: Mobile Phone Dealers, No Angels Either! I particularly found these lines shocking:

"The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has discovered that mobile phone dealers also abused the 999 Emergency Service by dialing 999 to check activation status of new SIM cards sold by them."

"In June alone, of the 1.073 million calls received by the centre, 63.84 percent or 685,516 were prank calls, noted the MCMC."

Don't they have anything else better to do? Perhaps if they put the same effort into something more constructive then we could cease being called a third world country!

Now to the second article - PLUS To Screen Off Minor Accident Spots. This action will be taken to prevent jams caused by kaypo-chis (busybodies). Check out what the Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said:

“Sometimes it is just a small knock on the bumper, but it causes a massive jam. Other motorists slow down to look at the accidents.
“Some want to take down the number to buy 4D (lottery), others are busybodies who want to check out the condition of the driver or the severity of the crash.”

Boy, do I know what he's talking about! Once, I was already late to work and was driving on the NKVE and there was a massive jam. In the end, the jam was caused by busybody drivers trying to get an eyeful of the accident which happened on the OTHER side (opposite) of the highway! WOW... Incredible!

Ok, the sarcasm is getting a bit too much to be considered healthy. I'd better stop now.

Is it just a car sticker?

It's funny how most of the day's thinking occurs during my drive to work in the mornings. Today I randomly noticed a car sticker on the back windshield of the car in front of me. It read:

UiTM - Hak Melayu dan Bumiputera

I don't know what to think of such 'statements' or 'publicity materials'. Does this mean that the driver (a young lady) is a racist? a supremacist? Five simple words that may seem innocent at first glance but can be interpreted as a means to stir disharmony. Do people actually truly understand what messages they are sending by thoughtlessly endorsing any freebie that comes their way?

Monkey Business

So, this whole week has been a school holiday. You'd think that leaving the two 'old folks' at home would be fine... but lo and behold, they end up in monkey business! Now, now, keep your creative juices to yourself... when I say "monkey business" I literally mean m-o-n-k-e-y business!!

Well, it goes like this. Mum wanted to wash her car (not required to rush off to work, for once!) and that was when she noticed this primate looking down at her from our porch roof. The cheeky monkey had a faux leather belt at its waist, signifying that he must have been someone's pet. The straw that broke the camel's back was when the monkey started peeing on the roof and so mum started shouting and dad came out to investigate.

Naturally, the nosy joke-of-a-dog doberman pinscher was yapping away when he discovered the long-tailed intruder on his turf. Zack's bark was such an annoyance that the monkey was trying to rip off my roof tiles to throw at the dog - to shut him up!

So, together my parents embarked on their first attempt at shooing the primate away, by spraying water at him. This made the furry friend flee. However in defiance, he came back. And thinking that the tactic would work again, they hosed the monkey down, but this time, our little friend stood up and enjoyed the stream of water - trying to get a mouthful of water, in the process! The cheeky monkey must have been thinking "if you can't beat it, join in the fun and enjoy it!" hahaha

Seeing that the "water cannon" tactic was not working anymore, dad went looking for the PVC pipe device thing that we used to use to pluck mangoes before we cut down our tree. With that long wobbly pipe, he tried to scare off the monkey. However, that little cheeky bugger tried to catch the wobbly end of the pipe with his small hands - failing many times to grab a hold of it. In the end, he managed to catch hold of the pipe and tried to chew it to smithereens! Somehow or another, my parents gave up the pursuit and decided to leave the animal alone so that he would get bored and go away on its own accord.

Mum just continued on with washing her car. The monkey looked on. When she was done, she went in and my parents watched behind the drapes at the window. Mr monkey attempted to climb down the wall but could not find his footing half way down, so he climbed back up. After some time, the observers lost patience and retired to their daily chores and so, the monkey saga ends there.

It seems that today, the monkey was plaguing one of the opposite neighbour who was preparing food for her business (assuming that it's for Ramadhan bazaar). According to dad, there were shouts in interval coming from that direction. I guess the cheeky Mr monkey decided to take a tour of the neighbourhood and paint the town red with all his antics!

Competitive Flatulence

Something weird has been happening in my office for the past fortnight. There has been this farting competition (for the record, yours truly did not participate! I still believe that that sacred act of letting off air should be saved for the privileged few *wink*). There has been countless instances of fart ambush taking place among the older generation.

Being one who is uncontrollably tickled by stupid fart jokes, I've found this behavioral display quite amusing. Thankfully I have not become one of the targets for a fart ambush. I guess my gender still offers me some sort of protection!

It's funny to see how fart is used to:

1. wake people up
2. attack people
3. make people stop watching movies on company time
4. announce his presence
5. tease people
6. just an excuse to make people jump up and run away

Ah, the many uses of fart! Of course, what I'm referring to are the loud ones, and not the deadly silencers.... hahahahahaha

Sugar-Coated Vility

I remembered reading an NST article online last week while scouring the net for news - it made me think about the world, how it is today. The article was about how kids these days are exposed to sexually suggestive materials at such a young age that they do not even understand the severity of what they are watching/listening/imitating. The writer mentioned watching a little girl barely out of her toddler years gyrating to some hip hop songs, which seemed cute at first but upon pondering deeper, was disturbing.

It's shocking how some parents actually think such acts are cute or adorable, and they encourage their kids to perform these seemingly innocent dances for friends to watch. The truth is that most of us don't think and analyse whatever we see or hear anymore. We have become like rubbish cans, consuming anything that is thrown at us. These days, we can't afford to be too lax about common day-to-day things which we are exposed to. Think about it. Every day as we drive to work or walk to class, we are likely to see at least a dozen billboards or pin-up advertisements. Without us knowing it, we are gradually being brainwashed to 'want' to live a certain lifestyle or 'own' a certain product or 'yearn' to eat a certain food. Advertising and media have adopted a subtle way of weaning us into thinking that "bad things" aren't "that bad after all."

I don't mean to be preachy, but I've found that this has already happened to me. It really is a surprising discovery for me, and at times I worry that I might just sway towards the wayward side if I am faced with a decision at any future time in my life. I guess ultimately I will never know how I'd react until I cross that bridge.

Not long ago, I was listening to my iTunes DJ and came across Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl, which got me thinking of the said article. I must admit that I find this song very addictive. The tune just gets into your head and sticks there for hours! Kudos to the song writer. However when you listen attentively to the lyrics, it's not something that you would recommend your younger sister to listen (for the record, I do not have a younger sister... I'm using that phrase just to prove my point). It's disturbing how so many negative messages are nicely wrapped up in seemingly fun and innocent packages. And the worse part is that we accept these things willingly into our lives, sometimes even making it our favourite songs/videos.

Moral of the story is that we should take everything with a pinch of salt. Always spend some time to meditate on what we are about to consume.

Ranting While Its Still Fresh In My Mind... Pls Excuse Me!

Blood is thicker than water - that is total bullshit! I don't know why such a small thing can make me cry so much (and it's been months since I've cried), feel so much hurt and disappointment, hate someone so much!

At times like these, you really get to see what are the priorities in someone's life and how far down the line your position is. Family is more important? Not any more, I guess. Silly of me to have always thought that.

Just to clear the air, I'm not talking about my parents. For unlike someone, I still consider my parents as priority in my life. Along with my ah yee and uncle.

It's sad, but the reality is this. And there's no denying that the situation could get worse. As the decision to set priorities in one's life is up to the person himself. No one else can do that for the person. So, I guess its gone-case situation - looking as what has been happening lately.

I guess this is goodbye.

Prayers Answered, Note the plurality

Something miraculous has been happening. God has been answering my prayers and all in His timing. A friend recently told me that we should be careful of what we pray for - and I do agree to a certain degree, but I believe that sometimes when we are just so moved to pray for something impromptu, it is all in His plan (although the prayer answered may prove to bring future hardships) for your life. When I hear true life stories of people ending up leading a totally different life than the one that they had planned out earlier, it scares me of how powerful God can be, but when I ponder deeper, it is what that person has gone through which makes him who he is today. A stronger person who has made more impact than he had originally set out to do. And as hard as it is for me to admit it, I do wonder what is His plan for me.

Recently, I've been praying for a number of things (which I will not disclose here, but some of my Christian friends will know what I'm talking about... thanks for the prayers!) to happen in my life. And I find it weird, in a good happy refreshing way, that He has answered them all after I quit worrying about them and relinquish all authority over the matters to Him. "Casting my burdens upon the Lord" has never meant so much to me as it does now. Within the last few weeks, God has answered several of my prayers in the same pattern where I worry my heart sick of the matter, then I give up and surrender it all to Him (I literally tell Him that!) and within a few days He answers my prayers! My aunty says I'm too impatient. Perhaps God is trying to teach me to be patient and that all will come to pass in His timing, not mine.

One other thing I had and have been praying for is encouragement. And He has sent me that indeed, without me having to physically ask for it, it has been offered to me! I did not tell anyone about this and it came as a shock to me when I realised that my prayer had been answered. It definitely is a sign from Him.

However (ah, that evil word that can be equated to a "but"!), being the weak human being that is in a comfort zone way too snug for anyone's good, I feel a fear of the changes that has to occur. On one hand, I can't wait for the positive development but on the other hand, my feet feels like they are made of lead and I keep turning back to gaze longingly at my security blanket. I need to overcome this fear of change. I need to stay true to my resolution of trying many new things this year (only four more months left). I need to start tuning the distractions out and listen to Him. Now, how do I do that?

Running 10km

I'm still surprised that I managed to finish the 10km category of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009! And to do it all in just under 1 hr 26 mins is a BIG accomplishment for me! For one who has never had any interest in any form of sports before... and the only thing which resembles exercise was the time when I was staying in my hostel in UM and without any form of transportation to the Faculty of Science, I was forced to walk for around 10 - 15 minutes to attend classes (which after some time, people did say that I lost some weight).

Below is the route map of the race. The category I participated in is pictured in turquoise blue.


Although my position is the 717th, at least I managed to finish the run within the qualifying time, which is 1hr 30mins. In view with how I'm such a sedentary creature, you may be asking (along with quite a number of others), how on Earth did I get myself into joining such an activity? The story began about 10 weeks before the event. ML had asked me whether I'd like to join the KL Marathon with her (this was a few weeks before), but I had procrastinated in making up my mind... then came the deadline for early bird sign-ups... and I made a snap decision to join in the fun! ML entered my registration in the nick of time... in fact, she had a glitch and we thought that I didn't make it for the early bird sign-ups... but we did! and so, we were left with 10 weeks to prepare our bodies for the challenge.

Initially we had worked out a schedule to train once every week. However, eventually we had to do our training on our own as work commitments and weather fluctuations came in the way. So I had to find training buddies, of which most of them were one-time jogging partners. The only loyal jogging partner I had was Zack! He served as my protection and a cute over-enthusiastic four-legged running partner on a leash... The only downside was the fact that Shah Alam was really hazy and Zack got tired out after 2 rounds around the playground.

Surprisingly, mum accompanied me quite a number of times at the ttdi park. Those were good times - when we both had the motivation to go to the park.

Then came the big day. We took the LRT to Masjid Jamek. The whole train was packed with runners, most of them wearing the official marathon singlet. I was one of the very few who wore long sweat pants! (I'm a bit shy of showing my legs... and I don't have any shorts! hehe)

The 10km runners started at 7am. There was a sea of runners and we had to go slowly at first. Later the crowd dispersed as each runner jogged to their own pace. Surprisingly, we managed to jog most of the way - I'd say around 75% of the route. There were a few water and 100 plus stops, but we only stopped for a small paper cup of 100 plus. This wasn't a wise choice, as I felt abit uneasy after drinking it. I think it was due to the carbonation.

In the later leg of the run, ML and I separated (as I was wearing out! hahaha). I must say that my iPod really helped motivate me to push on! Thanks to the Raconteurs, the Darkness and Jamiroquai!!! Kept me in pace.

ML finished way ahead of me (more than 5 mins difference, i think). I was really tired when I saw that I was approaching Dataran Merdeka... that spurred me on to jog the last leg... and as a result, I looked very dorky in the videos that were taken of the runners.

After the race, we followed ML's colleagues to replenish our fat stores - dim sum in Damansara Jaya. Ironic way of ending a day of intense exercise. ML was saying that when body fat is burnt, the first fat store to go is from the breast area; and when she said that, I was thinking "oh no, I can't afford a reduction there! And to think that I'd been diligently eating papayas (ML had told me this before) in the hopes of enhancing a certain anatomy" (hahaha... the real reason was because mom had an obsessive fit of buying papayas)... oh well, it's not like I actually notice any positive or negative development occurring there! haha

A funny thing occurred when we went home and slept off our exhaustion. I woke up with a sore throat, so did ML. I was really worried I'd caught the Influenza A(H1N1), being the paranoid person that I am, since we were in a highly crowded area all morning! Thankfully, it turned out not to be so.

Making A Resolution

I'm back to my little self promises that I make to myself. This time it is to read the Holy Bible (as much as possible, I dare not challenge myself to set a goal of completing it!). The 'soft start' began late last week after I obtained a pdf version of the Bible. I say 'soft start' because at that time, I hadn't thought of committing part of my day to the reading. I had only decided to seriously start reading regularly over the weekend, when I realised that I'll be missing church service for about 2 months.

Why am I recording this in my blog post? I'm taking this as a form of 'black & white' proof to hold myself accountable to this 'self promise' I'm making. Somehow a promise always carry more weight when it is recorded down and is witnessed by more than one person. I tend to value it and honour the promise made.

However, in true tradition of SM, before the hatchling can take off, I've already broken my promise! I did not bring back my laptop today, and so I'm missing a reading session supposedly scheduled for now. I hope I can make up for it tomorrow.

Oh, the reason I did not bring my laptop home was because I went to watch a free screening of Confessions of a Shopaholic! It was good! Can you imagine how outdated I am! Oh, and again, today I realised how sometimes things just work out the way it does... although you may percieve it as something negative at first... there's always a reason for things to turn out the way it does if you look hard enough! :)

Short Post

I've always seen how some bloggers put up one line posts... and then I think of my blog posts... *reader thinks: When will this post end!?!* So here goes my short post...

I've recently noticed that I tell people way too much stuff about myself. I've got to stop giving out free information before it comes back and bite me in the butt. Time to clam up! Since I find it so hard to lie, I've got to learn how to evade questions which I don't want to answer.

The Weirdest Thing

Something weird just happened. I was reorganising the files on my desktop, thinking of putting the pdf version of the Holy Bible on it for easy access. For the record, the pdf file is inside a folder on my desktop.

I had clicked a different folder and upon realising my mistake, I closed it. Then the Holy Bible pdf file launched by itself! I was puzzled. I minimised it, mentally noting to read a few lines later. However, after springcleaning my desktop, I could not find the minimised pdf file on my task bar! It had closed all by itself...

Extraordinary occurrence or computing mistake? I'll never know.

I'm Sleepy

Why am I always sleepy when reading news? Maybe I:

1. ate too much carbs during meal times.
2. don't have enough sleep.
3. bored with reading news.
4. don't have enough oxygen (due to bad ventilation in the office?).
5. don't have enough people interactions
6. lack praise & worship songs (funny thing, they do actually wake me up!)

Reacting To People

In continuation to my "Self Sabotage" post, I will now elaborate what effects certain people have on me. I don't know what causes me to react the way I react, but it just happens.

When I'm around knowledgeable people, I become dumb. I will ask the most basic questions which will get them talking. Then I will be agreeable and slip in little bits of my opinion here and there.

When I'm around smart alecs, I listen half-heartedly and point out their errors. If I'm in a good mood, I'll be agreeable and entertain them with questions probing for more information.

When I'm around goody-two-shoes people, I try my best to be a badass (which sometimes I go overboard with). I don't know why I keep trying to prove that I'm such an unsuitable friend to these people.

When I'm around badass people, I try not to sound too nerdy but always end up sounding like one without even trying.

When I'm around people who practice speaking good English, I do so too. Proper punctuation and grammar and spellings.

When I'm around Manglish speakers, my England becomes powderful!

When I'm around foreigners, my 'lah', 'meh', 'hor', 'wat' pours out unbidden.

When In Doubt

When in doubt, always remember to conduct a self assessment of the situation. Ask/Tell yourself:

1. Has there been any conflicting occurences?
2. Are you reading more than necessary into a particular situation?
3. What is the basis of your initial assumption?
4. Reassess every detail, weighing the positive and negative implications and deciding on the most logical option
5. Practise being a skeptic
6. How would a 'person outside looking through the window' perceive the situation?
7. Perhaps you are the one complicating the matter?

Only then can you make an assumption on what the situation is all about! :)

Scratching the Itch

Why do I keep wanting to blog? Even when I have nothing to blog about! I guess this is what we call 'getting bitten by the blogging bug' - as mentioned in an earlier post. The ironic thing is that before this, there were many a times when this blog has had its drought season, sometimes spanning up to several months of inactivity! (which probably only I noticed). And then revived/resurrected from its virtual grave. (ah, isn't this a common phrase used here)

So, I started on this post earlier in the day - thinking that I would blog on the music I was listening to, Andrea Bocelli. Although I have something else on my mind, I think I will blog a little about music. I'm in the mood of collecting a diverse collection of music on my iPod. So currently I have pop, jazz, funk, rock, disco, classical, opera, pop rock, gospel, swing, progressive rock, country, folk, chinese, bhangra, R&B, world, glam rock, bossa nova, alternative, Brit rock, singer songwriter, latin, dance, blues, acid jazz, big band... next on my list is raiding LK's room for progressive rock.

Now, to the issue I had on mind. Today's lunch was a bit disturbing. I was the butt of the jokes. Thinking back, maybe I should have skipped it. Since I'd already predicted that 'someone' would fire all sorts of jokes about pairing me up with a 'certain person', whom we were celebrating his birthday. The worrying thing is that the jokes are becoming more degrading and suggestive, to a point where I feel uncomfortable. Most of the time, all I can do is look away, politely fake a smile or shake my head. Occasionally I would speak back, but that more than not always backfires. As usual, I'm always choosing the wrong words to say... giving a leeway for a brand new avenue of crude jokes.

Maybe I'm just being petty. I don't know what would be the appropriate actions to take in order to alleviate myself from this 'torture'. I've thought of quietly confronting this 'someone' about my discomfort of the issue, but thought better not to take such hasty actions that could jeopardise my future. Perhaps when I am on better terms with the 'certain person', I could voice out this issue and see whether he feels the same. However I doubt that he is as uneasy as I am, as he's probably gotten used to being treated as such over the years.

All I can do is pray that the 'someone' will realise his folly and quit putting me in a spot.