Heroes

Heroes Episode 8 on Star World last night was mind blowing and revealing. But the character that caught my attention was Ted, the radioactive man. Actually, I was gripped since last week when Star World showed preview clips of this week’s show. It wasn’t so much of his ability but the thing he did in the interrogation room.

He boiled a glass of water with his bare hands; sort of like a dream I had and posted in X-Dream, October 20th, 2006.

And I quote; “…The conversation was strangely about heating a glass of water with bare hands. The demonstration was done by the wiser elder. Both his palms were holding the side of the glass and I could see the water starting to bubble. Vapors were appearing and finally the water boiled. I was so impressed that I took the glass and tried my hands at it. I clasped the now warm glass tightly. Nothing happened at first. I began to intensify my concentration and regulate my breathing. I remember someone said that breathing helps in meditation.

Or was it child labor?

Anyway, I soon saw small bubbles appear but the action was disrupted by my breathing cycles. The water seemed to be heating and bubbling when I inhaled deeply and stopped when I exhale. But I was pretty ecstatic with the result. I could actually heat water with my bare hands!”

Well, not exactly similar but close. And the interrogation room looked like the class I attended for the workshop.

When I saw clips of the scene last week, I thought "Hey, that looks really familiar. Wow! I sort'a dreamt that scene some time ago. Haha..." And that got me excited the whole week. After watching the show, I still am.

I'm easily amused like that. Plus it's a damn cool show!

Maybe it's time I pay a visit to the pirates, get the whole season pack of DVD. Or look for friends who's done it already.

'Save the cheerleader, save the world'

Cofree

I heard a guy named William announce on FlyFM that today is Starbucks Free Coffee day. He said Starbucks is giving free drip coffee to customers between 10am and 12 noon.

I'm not sure if it works in all stores nationwide and how many cups per person but I'm heading out to Starbucks to get my breakfast shot, free, I think. A sandwich would help it go down nicely.

Egg'cellent

Okay, so you’ve got tons of cool wishes for the Lunar New Year. I got three! Yay!

My maternal grandfather is Chinese and that’s about all the oriental heritage that runs in my family. During the Japanese occupation, his family was forced to integrate into the Bidayuh community and embrace the tribal way of life deep in the rural villages. Being one with the tribe, his family and many others escaped bleak future, torture and even death by the Japanese. Inevitably, their cultural heritage dissolved into a thin layer of memory which occasionally makes its way through the generations during small talks and as a pick up line at the bar, or as a sideline issue in a blog entry such as this.

It does make an interesting article, that is, once I gather all the data from the man himself and his children; my uncles and aunts. Yup, another item to add to my to-do-list-soon, real soon. For now though, like I said, the only connection I have with this culture is a hint (a quarter to be exact) of Chinese facial features and a handful of good friends.

Friends I’m proud to have. Friends who wishes me a prosperous Chinese New Year when they know I won’t be tossing any shreds of fish and vegetables to welcome the auspicious year. Oh but the fire boar is always good to greet. Good to eat. Pit roasted and all.

All kinds of wishes came my way too, including this one;

“My wish for you is to be continuously reincarnated as an egg. This way, you’ll get laid every morning, get sucked every day and get hard in 3 minutes. Happy Chinese New Year!”

Okay, I get most of it, the meaning, except for the second reason that sucked. Hey, don’t ask me. I haven’t a clue. Besides, it’s just for fun. Something to crack you up on New Year’s Eve, or during breakfast in bed, or whatever. Spouse’ presence highly recommended.

And by the way, it kinda’ gives you the assurance to that age old question of which came first. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I believe the egg always comes first.

I might be totally wrong. After all, I’m just an egg.

Happy New Year everyone!

La Luna

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.
It'll be a long holiday in Malaysia.

Happy Holiday!

The year of the Fire Boar this time. That's hot!

Yellow

I woke up on Wednesday morning with a few groans, some huffs and several sighs.

“Huh… what were those about?” I asked myself.

My body felt unusually warm.

My limbs were not their usual steady selves in the shower and there were traces of aches in my muscles and joints. Driving to work required more focus and effort than usual.

I started to feel very cold in the office. My body temperature felt otherwise; especially my head.

That was it. I knew I was down with high fever. And the thought that I might get another dose of yellow fever sent chills down my spine, in every sense of the word.

I immediately started the remedial procedure. Based on my previous yellow fever experience two years ago (or denggi as we fondly call it in this part of the world), the only known remedy is to keep yourself sufficiently hydrated. Drink like there’s no tomorrow. For there will be none if you fail.

I quickly looked up facts about yellow fever from multiple web sites to get confirmation - The signs, diagnosis, remedies and also prevention (yeah, a little late for that) made my fever stink very much like denggi. A bloody denggi deja vous!

My productivity declined as anxiety attacked but I decided to stay a while for some pressing matters. I drank gallons of water and convinced myself the cool office temperature would help keep mine down, thus avoiding any possible brain cell damage, despite instant chills and shiver every few minutes. Needless to say I went to the rest room to pee every 20 minutes or so.

I left work at half past five and continued drinking (good ol’ plain water this time) and resting through the night. I struggled to finish my dinner which fortunately didn’t taste like bitter medicine. Then I drank some more.

Laying my head on the pillow (with a wet towel) didn’t help with the high cranial temperature. In fact, it worked like a heat insulator for my head. Horror! So I slept in a reading-in-bed position, with the fan blowing in my face, my head leaning against the wooden headrest.

The night went by ever so slowly, as I drank every last drop of water I can possibly swallow. Peeing several times in an hour caused a slight burning sensation, a piercing feeling.

My effort may have all gone down the toilet but it was never flushed in vain.

“I better be well when I go for a check up tomorrow. This rear-right-side headache is bugging me like a cancer! And I’ll be damned if it’s denggi again.”

The next morning, feeling considerably better, no more body aching, except for a ‘lumpy’ residual headache at the back of my head, I went to University Malaya Medical Center as planned. I reached the reception counter at 8.30am, took a number and waited as told.

And boy did I wait...

After three hours I finally saw the doctor.

“How long since you had this fever?” she asked.

“Yesterday afternoon” I said, half hoping that her next question would be 'and how long did you have to wait outside?'

Tough luck.

“Any coughs?”, “Body aches”, “Vomitting?”

My response were all “No”

“Any denggi cases in the area you’re staying? This could be denggi.”

“Oh my place is denggi prone. I’m concerned this might be denggi as well. I was hospitalized here two years ago because of denggi. I spent three nights at the denggi ward upstairs.” I explained.

“Ok. Your blood pressure is quite good. Let’s test your total blood count. Once the nurse has taken your blood sample, get it to the lab and as soon as the result is displayed online, we’ll call you in. Hang around nearby.”

I was expecting a kind of enthusiasm from her considering this is my second time here for a somewhat similar reason, although it wasn't her the first time I came. But she was indifferent about it. No extra notes for repeat patients either.

On second thought, maybe there was nothing good to say.
Definitely not 'Oh is that right? Wellcome back then. It's a pleasure to have you here. Although I'd prefer not seeing you here, being sick and all. I'm not saying I don't want to see you but... well, you know what I mean'

25 minutes later,

“Your blood test came out negative for denggi. It's not denggi. Just regular high fever” said the doctor.

“Oh that’s good news” I said.

“I’ll just give you panadol ya. Drink a lot of water and get some rest.” She concluded.

That’s exactly what I did, my good doctor. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you very much.

After wating for a good 20 minutes for the common aspirin at the perscription counter, I took the rest of the Thursday off and recovered just in time for a good night’s sleep.

Today I’m as good as new.

Random Sunday

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. Outside St. John’s Cathedral Bukit Nanas were droves of people catching up after the first early morning mass, mostly Pilipino, some African and the rest Malaysian. The church bells rang for the next service session, and I looked at my watch, 10.30am. “That’s my cue” I thought, rushing through the crowd as I try to locate my friend, Diego, waiting for me at the entrance.

“Right on time” he said, and we walked into the church with many others. We made our way to one of the pews at the balcony upstairs.

“It’s good to have a friend at church. It feels a bit weird sitting through the Sunday service alone” he said.

“Uhuh” I agreed.

“At least there’s someone to talk to, exchange notes and stuff. Usually, when I’m alone at church and the pastor slips in funny remarks during his sermon, I just keep it all in while everybody savors it with their friends and families; quite frustrating you know” he explained.

“Well, when you’re alone, you talk to God. That is what you do when you go to church”. I said, flashing a cynical smile.

Blimey! If we were anywhere else, we’d burst into a hysterical laughter.

Fortunately, both of us realized that we were in the house of God and kept it all in. There was plenty of time to laugh our heads off (which we did) after church; no heresy intended.

After church, on our way for lunch we chatted, updating each other on the latest happenings, about life, friends and families.

“You know, James’ been going to church every week with his new girlfriend” said Diego.

“Yeah? Haha, very much unlike the two of us” I added.

“He’s becoming more warak (Malay word for pious) it seems” Diego noted.

“If he’s warak, we must be rawak (Malay word for random)” I concluded.
And we were in stitches again.

Touched

I’ve got mails.

All 65 of them were manually deleted. They’re junk. All the anti spam wares, rules and alerts settings in the world couldn’t possibly keep them out. Not that they ruin my morning or anything. In fact, my morning routine is to manually delete every spam that manages to creep into my inbox, and I’m sure many do the same.

Once in a while however a certain subject caption screams for attention. Like so,



At a glance I would just happily press the delete button and get on with life. I would then go to the deleted item folder to scan for accidentally deleted genuine mails before they’re gone permanently. Most of the times I do it just to amuse myself, why waste eh? Seriously, check out the tagline.

How the hell do you know it’s so small, my dear Britten? Am I supposed to be moved by your query?

Pas de touché.

On second thought, maybe just a little bit, for amusement purposes of course.

Go ahead. Read the content.

Well, you don’t say…

Only 85 percent? Ladies, surely more of you care. What’s wrong with 100 percent?

Oh, yea, I forgot, it’s just junk.

Greetings to 007

Receiving countless text wishes for Christmas and New Year was such a delight, but the guilt and frustration came just as swiftly, because like many others, I was unable to respond to any incoming text messages due to overwhelming traffic. Honestly!

I’m on DIGI, see.

I couldn’t even make a single call after frantically trying to reply text wishes. I gave up trying after accepting the fact (and believing) that one could be sending the same message to numerous people in his contact list. Remembering one another on the occasion then becomes mutual, whether there is a response or not. It was just a matter of who does it first, with the help of one’s contact list of course.

“Haha! I got to you first!”

Scrolling down the list will also make you say “Hmm, I didn’t know she’s still in my contact list…”

And how about that delayed response eh? I got a crazy new year wish from a friend which managed to squeeze the words suck, lick, thrust and ejaculate in a single sentence. I tried hard but I still can’t reproduce it here, or ever, but all it meant to say was have a great new year ahead. It gave me the broadest grin of course, and so I drafted a simple and appropriate response. However, due to limited bandwidth, I couldn’t send it out until the next day. I don’t know how my friend reacted when he read “You crazy b*tch! Happy New Year!”

I just hope he gets it.

P/S: I know I’m not the first one to wish all of you a Happy New Year. Heck who does? It’s been said since human counted the first year ever. Even then it was not accurate. Maybe if I wish you a Happy New 2008?

Nah… anyway, have a great 2007! We might just be lucky enough to get a surprise 007 flick this year. Unfeasibly appropriate don’t you think?

Hanky tanky

About a week ago I went to a petrol station to fill my car’s empty fuel tank. I filled it to the brim. I reset the meter to zero like I usually do but the fuel gauge pointed to half.

“Heh, it must need a few moments while the engine runs to fully erect” I thought.

Several kilometers went by but the gauge was still halfway. So I went at variable speeds, did a few sudden brakes, jerked my ride and drove uphill and down. Nothing happened.

“Damn! It’s stuck!” and I even tried knocking on it.

“Damn! It’s still stuck!”

It stayed that way for days and days. “Oh geez! Just what I need! My car’s first faulty instrument. Should I be expecting this? It’s not even three years old yet. I wonder how much it would cost to get fixed, or worse, replaced! Looks like I have to rely on the meter to estimate how much fuel I have left, for now.”

For diagnostic reasons, I planned to let the fuel run low, very low. Maybe, just maybe, thirst would bring it back to its senses.

Then yesterday morning as I was halfway to work, I glanced at the meter which indicated that I have about 50 kilometers to go before my next pit stop.

“How I wish the fuel gauge’s working” I sighed and checked the fuel level. I took another good look because the needle seemed to be pointing to ‘E’! Good Lord! I have never been so glad to see my fuel indicator show empty before.

“Hey! You’re back!” I exclaimed in joy and smiled all the way to work.

On my way home that evening I refueled my tank to one third and the gauge responded nicely. Maybe it choked when I last refueled; maybe it’s just playing with me.

All decked up!

25 December falls on Monday this year. Wish it would fall on Sunday so we Malaysians could use Monday to recuperate after a long and hard Christmas party. All ready and willing for work on Tuesday. Those fortunate enough to get leaves days after that, rejoice.

But whatever.

Hear me cheer.

Bring all your merry bells out and jingle them all about!
Christmas’ right on time this year, can you hear the red nose reindeer?
Some dream of white, others have a blue, but you know what? I don’t have a clue.
See I’m running out of schnapps, and I’m too old (and heavy) for Santa’s lap

So all I want for Christmas is to do whatever I want to do.
Be it dim, be it bright, it sure won't be a silent night.
As for a holy night, well, you go'head'n decide.
While you’re at it, add to this bit by bit, just don’t give me any sh*t.

It's Christmas y'all.

Sealed...

One week after I was grounded by AirAsia, I flew to Kuching on Wednesday. This time, nothing unfortunate happened on my cheap fare flight. Besides, it was four days ahead of the deadline. I was on my way to my best friend’s wedding reception, scheduled on Saturday, 2nd December 2006. No, it’s nothing like Julia Robert’s.

Many months before the wedding date, after he announced his wedding intentions, I shamelessly told him “I want to be your best man”

And he said “Trust me, you’ll be the first one I’ll ask”

“Great! Just tell me the date in advance so I could get cheap airfare. You know how AirAsia works… tickets are usually cheaper months before flight date”

But things change and plans get reworked.

He e-mailed in March, “…This a top secret project (if you tell anyone I’d have to kill you). We (you know who) is planning the ‘BIG DAY’ maybe early December. One item in the checklist is emcee of the night. Since the guests would be multi-racial, if possible, the emcee must be able to speak Iban+English+Malay (Bidayuh also can). There are professional emcees but they are $$$$$$$. So I thought about you (how nice of me). Do you think you can handle the crowd, throw in a few jokes, do what emcee normally does?? You would be famous, well at least for that night. And if you are lucky you might grab the attention of pretty (or not so pretty) chicks (or aunty). Give it a thought and let me know.”

I replied;

“YES! I DO! Ehehe.

Tell me the date and I’ll kill to make myself available.

It is extremely delightful reading your mail. Not the ordinary forwarded stuff.

I’ll be your emcee alright. I’ll have a good exposure during my brother’s wedding in a longhouse in Bintulu. He’s marrying an Iban girl. Scheduled 3rd June. Time to brush up on my Iban then. And, I’ll be ready to go for your wedding. As for the crowd, I’ll work them like dough. Oh no, does that mean I’m not your best man? Anyway, if I have to choose, emcee is more exciting and involved”

Finally December came and I was excited to attend the wedding, despite being not quite ready with the emcee job. Work and socializing took much of my preparation time. Well, that’s just an excuse. But I was determined nonetheless.

I was also assigned with the video camera for the Church blessing in the Morning and the photography session at the Taman Sahabat park thereafter. Everything went well and as planned. Here are the morning pictures, starting with the make-up session at the bridal studio.

The groom in the background

While the bride was getting made, we took advantage of the various interesting sets and props at the studio.

The groom with the father and brother in law, and a friend.

The bride with the make up artist and the bridal's coordinator

At the altar.

After the church blessing ceremony.

Photo session at church. This went on for well over an hour. Too many cameras and guests, too little time (and patience; well, it's a once in a lifetime occasion after all.).

The married couple with two of the groom's highschool buddies (we're housemates).

The photo session tour at the park late that morning. I swear, everyone got unnecessarily tanned, especially at the forehead.

One of the many oriental themed structures at Taman Sahabat, Kuching.

These couples look cute. Cats and all.

Ok, make enough benches like this and one idiot is bound to get weird ideas. Foolish enough to post it here even. And you know what, I think this marriage is sealed solid, with a kiss!

.

.

Wedding reception pictures and story to follow soon.

Grounded

Less than three weeks ago, I had to make an urgent hand delivery for a tender submission to Miri. It was rather unexpected since we planned to send the package via courier. However, since we didn’t receive the relevant information in time (2 days before deadline), the only option was for me to hand carry it there. The submission time was Thursday, before 3pm. So I bought tickets to board the low fare airline, AirAsia, to Miri, departing at 7.20am. Arriving at 9.20 that Thursday morning should give me enough time to deliver the package and meet our clients the rest of the day.

The normal air fare would be around RM1000 by Malaysia Airlines but my return flight with AirAsia cost only RM500++. I figured I could help save company’s money this way. Plus, an uncertain tender submission should not cost so much.

I arrived at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal as scheduled. The cabin was only half full so I managed to get a private seat by the window at the right wing portion. I tried to catch a nap as the aircrafts around mine make their way to the runway. The high volume of morning air traffic dragged the flight’s take off time to 8am.

The take off wasn’t quite as smooth but we were fast ascending in mid air nonetheless. There were several notable irregular sounds coming from the engine and wing segment. One was a rather loud mechanical gear sound and the other sounded like someone blowing into a microphone at a constant 30 seconds interval; except it wasn’t coming from the speaker above. It was transmitted through the body of the plane and it seemed to originate from the wing segment. That went on throughout the ascend.

I was so sleepy and dying to start my hibernating process that I didn’t give the sounds much thought.

[intercom *ding…]

“…please fasten your seatbelt, put your seat upright and stow you table to its original position.”

The announcement woke me up, ‘Oh great, bad weather. Just what I need’ I thought.

Heck, I’ve been through a few notoriously rough plane rides to hate this situation. 8.15am was the time on my watch and I went ‘yup, we’re not in the right altitude to dodge these nasty clouds’

Another five minutes passed before I heard the pilot say ‘Cabin Crew, please be seated for the landing’

What the ….. we’re landing? Now? How long have I been asleep? It’s only twenty minutes after take off. We can’t be landing now? We must still be above KL!!!

I looked out the window and saw a familiar sight; the runway I saw 25 minutes ago. Hey, there’s LCCT, AGAIN!

[Tires screeching, jet engine buzzing violently] “Welcome to LCC Terminal, Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Please remain seated until the seatbelt sign is switched off. Please make sure all electronic devices; especially your cell phones are switched off until you are in the terminal building. Please bring all your hand luggage with you when leaving the aircraft and wait in the departure hall for further notice” came the announcement.

‘Ok, we’re really back where we started 30 minutes ago. What the hell happened. Why is everybody so calm and not curious at all? Clearly I’m the only one missing the vital info’ I thought.

As I approached the exit door I asked the flight attendant “Uhm, excuse me. I missed the announcement earlier, but what happened?”

“Hydraulics problem” she said calmly, conveniently smiled and turned the other way.

“Oh, ok” I replied. The answer was simple and precise enough for my tired and sleepy brain so I left it at that.

Walking down the stairs slowly got me out of daze. I looked back toward the plane as everybody was making their way to the departure hall.

‘How bizarre is this?’ I asked myself.



I gazed up at the crimson morning sky and these words rang in my ears ‘there and back again’

As soon as everyone was in the terminal building, the engineers opened up the plane’s belly and started fixing God-knows-what. Here’s a thought: What if they caused another problem while trying to fix the faulty hydraulics? Don’t they have spare planes for situations like this? It’s not exactly a bicycle which can be used right after it’s fixed, or is this AirAsia’s idea of a bicycle?

Of all the planes parked here that morning, all took off without a glitch but mine.



Chronologically,

9.30am : They announced that they were still unable to determine the flight departure time. After waiting for an hour, that was the best they can tell us.

9.31am: We were made to wait indefinitely.

10.30am : They finally announced that departure was scheduled at 11.45am. It was a temporary relief since that would enable me to deliver the package less than 15 minutes before closing time, 3pm, tentatively of course. Provided there are no more unknown glitches surfacing.

10:45am: They distributed 500ml of mineral water, small packs of Swiss roll cake and a bun with traces of sardine paste in the middle; rationed like butter during World War II.

11.30am: We boarded the plane.

11.50am: Take off.

Everything went as per ammended schedule, after more than four hours' delay, with an uncertain flight's fate. Praying mode: 'ON'

Soon after we were at cruising altitude, the flight attendants were out with snacks to be purchased. They’re basically instant noodles, sandwiches and packet drinks sold three times the normal price. Things do get increasingly pricy with altitude. They should really teach that in school.

I was tempted to say “No thanks. I’m not buying another crap from AirAsia, not today”.

I kept quiet instead.


NOW EVERYONE CAN FLY KITE

How you doin'

For a long while this space has shown ‘Jealous and insecure’ without any hint of a refreshing change. What a statement to leave eh…

The past month has been filled with all sorts of interesting events, from bizarre work-related flight delay right through a beautiful wedding. Gosh, I really need to document them before I lose all the details and emotions worthy of posting. There’s one magical word which describes the way things went all this while. It conveniently explains everything and it says ‘Busy’.

But this post is not about an apology (neither is it necessary). I’m just giving myself (and those who still visit) advance notice of the things I should see here. Sometimes I do ask myself ‘I wonder what I’ve been up to these days’. Because lately things happen so fast that I could barely keep track. It’s almost Christmas and pretty soon it will be two thousand seven!

Meanwhile, the fun keeps on coming!

Come next weekend I will be in Kapit for another round of my best friend’s wedding reception. All in good times.

Jealous & Insecure

Is there anything worse than having a jealous and insecure partner? How about severe bitchy attitude? How about having limited friends and dictating how you should go about keeping yours. How about not making up for the things that she lacks; looks and charm? But instead going about being possessive and feeling threatened by every girl that comes near you. The world could end if she ever forgets to wear that long face every time she’s not happy about something. As if that’s not enough, she’s making all kinds of absurd accusations about you being disloyal, flirty and scandalous.

How does anyone keep being this way? Why is there so much distrust and senseless judgment? The negative psychological behavior is not only irritating others but eating the person as well. And don’t even get me started about the effect it has on the relationship. And how long can this kind of relationship last? Would it surprise you if I told you one still exist after more than three years of endurance? Yeah, more grueling than Le Mans and Paris-Dakar Rally I tell you.

Is there an end to this baffling journey? Can the relationship be saved? Is it worth the headache and mental disturbance? Is she worth all that?

I guess it depends on the other party’s priority, reasoning and whatever else that holds him back.

As a friend, I have to accept the decision he makes in charting his own life's path, even if the reason is beyond me. He has after all repeatedly acknowledged the problem and tries to address it from time to time.

He has not however asked my opinion and advice on the course of action.

Seriously, if it was up to me, the title of this post should really read ‘Dump’. A freaking long time ago I must add.

Damp no more

Is it raining outside? Do you sometimes end up with damp and smelly clothes from the indoor air dryer? Do you wish you have a cheaper way to get fresh and dry clothes without spending a fortune on a dryer or paying for the electricity cost of running one everyday?

Guys (and handy girls), here’s one rainy day project that’s perfect for, well, rainy days!

I just made one last week since my apartment’s drying section never gets any sunlight and it used to take days to dry my clothes during this rainy season. I've been wanting to make one for a while. I call it my 'active clothes aerator'.

The frame is best made of wood. It can be used wood lying around the house or a premium item from your favorite hardware store or wood mall. If you have welding tools and a metal fetish, by all means, erect a metal frame. It pays to build a sturdy frame, including braces if necessary. Wouldn’t want your clothes to tumble dry-NOT.

It would be wise to first buy a ventilation/exhaust fan from your favorite store or have the measurement ready before you build the frame. It’s nice to have it sit nicely on top so that replacement or an upgrade will be a breeze. The cheapest go for less than RM60. But size does matter; it has to suck (air) real good. If your clothes could talk, they’d say ‘suck me dry baby’.

Sorry, I’ve slipped off course again.

Anyway, don’t forget to fit the hanger rail and castors for portability. Your neighbor might want to borrow your portable dryer. Of course it doesn’t hurt to charge rental. And you don’t want to operate it in your room while you’re sleeping, unless pneumonia is okay by you.

Finally, cover every sides of the frame with plastic, leaving the bottom open for air intake. This includes the top section, where it’s not covered by the exhaust fan. Choose either transparent, print decorated or solid colored plastic for plain or artsy finish. I use a transparent plastic shower curtain. This way, I could see my clothes dance themselves dry. It’s entertaining but don’t throw away your TV or fish tank. They are there for a reason- to keep you sane.

That’s it!

Say what? Step by step guide? Measurements?

Well, you’ll just have to figure it out yourself. This is not a sponsored site. Plus I hate to insult your intelligence and creativity.

If you find the concept a tad difficult to follow, just picture the much adored Marylyn Monroe. That'll help your creativity juice flow, and may your clothes get the much needed blow.

Ooooozaah.....

Hello...

I received a text from Francis while going about my routine at work.

I was just about to make a business call then. Upon reading the message, I put down the office phone and started to digest the intention and draft a response

It read (and I hope you don’t mind me disclosing) “You must be having a LIFE as you hardly blog these days! Cheers.”

How delightful! I wrote back “Hello! Great to hear from you. Yeah, I sort of forgot about blogging. Not so much of a happening life, just relatively occupied and not much to blog about. But I’ll post one later today, attributed to your greeting. Cheers!”

It has been a long while since anyone seen an update here. Things keep on happening everyday but none found its way into this sphere. Maybe I’m just lazy. Or maybe they’re not profound enough. Blogging about life was fun and interesting and all but over the months (and years) they start to build a monotonous structure and the big picture that one gets is the routine I go through, no mater how interesting it got started.

After a while you start to think ‘Hey, didn’t the same thing happen last month? Only different time and place?’

Let’s talk about life. Wouldn’t this space be filled with days and days of activities. Stories that tell people the things I do, the places I go to and the people I meet? Yeah, I do stuff, go places and meet loads of wonderful people. I wonder if telling would classify me as a show off…

How would it feel like for someone to read all the nice things another goes through when he or she is not getting any? Boy, that would be depressing indeed.

And what about stories of dissatisfaction and complaints? All the bad luck one gets make it seem like the world hates the blogger. Did I hear someone yell ‘oh stop whining!’ ? True, everyone has problems.

And then there’s self censorship. With all the things happening today, it’s hard to ignore and not speak up - sensitive issues blazing the front pages of local and international media. Two words, ‘Bloggers Beware’. And let’s not even start about self preservation; the need to refrain from overexposure.

Finally, there’s the stale factor. Like I said, many things happened; the good, the bad and the f’ugly. They stirred like el-nino while they lasted but by the time you start typing, everything fizzes down. Nothing beats reporting ‘Live’, but it’s not practical unless you’re paid to do so.

Where is this rant going? Well, I guess it just serves to remind myself that what ever I put down here boils down to responsible behavior. That it’s totally my choice and everything comes with consequences. Always be prepared.

And one more thing, the blogosphere might be virtual but the community is real. Bloggers care when neighbors go missing. I got texts messages, instant messages and e-mail just to say “Hi, how you doin’? ”.

Ain’t life sweet…

Oktoberfest

September ended and I’m wide awake. The holiday season came with candies, cookies and cakes. It’s almost the end of October and I’m not quite sober. Because yesterday I had beer, beer and more beer!

Last week was Oktoberfest in 1 Utama, KL. It was the best! Locally speaking of course…

The real Oktoberfest may have ended on 3rd October in Munich, Germany but it is never too late in October, especially in Malaysia!

I kept typing and deleting words here. *Hick*

Have a look at them pictures instead, aight!

Now that's a sign that would turn any beer drinker into a happy redeemer.

This is the last day, Sunday. I was here on Saturday with a longer 'Q'

Only Warsteiner beers go cheap. The rest go by the bucket. Four in a bucket costs 50 bucks. Heh, payback time I guess.

After my third bottle, they ushered in the roast pig. No, my vision's not blurred yet, it's just my camera.

Guess where a part of that little piggy went... on a plate in front of me. Ruff! That'll do pig, that'll do.

Loads of bucket; the other brands.

The band from Germany, Inntaler Musikanten. That lady can sing!



We sang and we danced to Bavarian tunes. Jolly good times!

And we took part in the beer drinking competition. Those are my fellow competitors/drinkers from the crowd. The first one to finish a bottle with no hands, no spills, strictly mouth to bottle contact, wins.

Guess what, a lady won. Go figure! Look Ma! No hands!*

The Bavarian dancers. They're all local though.

The tricked-out-cars' ladies of the track.

Can-can dancers?

Fiesta!

Hawaian flavor.

And the fun kept on coming.

I had to leave around 10 to hang out with friends who came late. They couldn't make it on time so I made a few new friends to get by. Isolation is not good for me.

What a great way to end the month. I'm wishing upon a star to be at the real thing.

X-Dream

Last night gave me the weirdest but most delightful dream ever. Somehow I was sitting in a common area with two elders, it was approaching dusk. We were each sitting on an armchair, a round coffee table in the middle. The conversation was strangely about heating a glass of water with bare hands. The demonstration was done by the wiser elder. Both his palms were holding the side of the glass and I could see the water starting to bubble. Vapors were appearing and finally the water boiled. I was so impressed that I took the glass and tried my hands at it. I clasped the now warm glass tightly. Nothing happened at first. I began to intensify my concentration and regulate my breathing. I remember someone said that breathing helps in meditation.

Or was it child labor?

Anyway, I soon saw small bubbles appear but the action was disrupted by my breathing cycles. The water seemed to be heating and bubbling when I inhaled deeply and stopped when I exhale. But I was pretty ecstatic with the result. I could actually heat water with my bare hands!

Not long after that I found myself in a special talent workshop. More like special powers workshop. (You know how dreams are, we get removed seamlessly from one place to another with no apparent reason) There were many other teenagers, (yeah, it didn’t feel awkward, I felt like one of them) all excited to start the session. The group was divided into two.

My group was taught to turn on light bulbs with just a touch. After most of us managed to do that, we were taught to control metals. By just pointing toward the metal object, the instructor orchestrated the movements of the white square metal plates forming the ceiling and the walls of the room; they seemed to twist, turn and wriggle. I don’t know how we managed to do it but one by one, each of us successfully attained the skill. One kid even rearranged the ceiling, opening it up before replacing it with fancy decorations.

“Hey, this is almost like having Magneto’s powers” I exclaimed in delight as my left index finger did its magic.

The two groups were then combined and I heard the other instructor said “Ok guys, show them what you’ve learned”

To our amazement, one kid started to float after another. They performed the skills that we were taught. Light up bulbs and bend metals, all this while floating.
“Ah, these could be the advanced kids” I assumed, all green with envy.

Everything seemed real and possible, it didn't occur to me that this might be a dream.

The workshop session ended and we mingled. Not long after that, we were dismissed and I found myself in a small group walking in the fields. Some of us were floating delightfully, happy with what they have learned.

Suddenly I heard someone yelled “Duck! Quick, into the bush!”

We scrambled toward a thick bush of high grass and thick vines. I looked up and saw a green dinosaur. It looked like T-Rex but uglier, and scarier. We were pissing terrified and the inconsistent bush didn’t help. Some of us were occasionally exposed as we cautiously maneuvered our way through.

“Geez, I hope it doesn’t see us before we get to safety” I thought as I rustled my way through the thick grass and choking vines.

And then I woke up.

How come so weird?

It could be the “Goblet of Fire” DVD rerun session last week. The floating and light bulb touches could be the effect of watching Justin Timberlake's 'Rock Your Body' during my daliy dose of MTV before bed. Add to that the holiday season just around the corner and life feels like a summer blockbuster.

Happy Deepavali to Hindu friends.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to Muslim friends.
And to everyone, Happy Holidays.
Let's all be safe.

Happy hours

Exactly last week, I was at a bar with some friends. Nearby was this middle aged man drinking with his friend. Our friends talked and it was only a matter of time that we did. We introduced ourselves and got the small talk going on. I asked him what he does and he told me he was in the insurance business. He didn’t reciprocate immediately. But when he did, he added one startling question, right after asking ‘where do you work and what do you do?’ Guess what the question was…

‘Are you happy?’

What the …..am I happy?! What’s that suppose to mean?

“I’ve been there four years. I’m happy with the environment. I like how things are done. No permanent stress. Heavy work load is seasonal. It suits me just fine.” I explained.

“It’s all about excelling in life. Where do you see yourself five years from now? You must have a plan. Even the government has a five year plan” he said.

“First you set what you want to achieve in five years and the steps to get there. After that five years you evaluate where you stand and trace your steps, improvise and customize your strategies. Set your plan for the next five years” he added.

I just smiled and listened, that’s as polite as I get.

“You see, there's not as much time as you think. When people graduate, they’re in their twenties. As soon as they finish their studies, they look for a job. After a while, you know what they do? They look for another job, a better one. And it goes on like that until they're satisfied with their positions. When people reach my age, there's not much time left. People my age can’t afford to change jobs anymore. Options are limited. So it's very critical to step on it while you’re still young and full of energy” he passionately elaborated.

All that left me thinking ‘when did I seek career consultation? Who does he think he is?’

“I train people to earn half a million each year. On average. Even those not doing so well earn two hundred thousand a year! I’ve been in this business for quite a while. Let me give you my card. Give me a call if you’re interested.” He concluded.

I took his card, gave it a quick look under the dim lighting and put it in my pocket. He was quiet for a while. A glance to the TV made him change the subject. “Hey, how about Schumacher in Japan eh?” he said to another regular. They talked long and hard about the race in Japan. I added the little that I know.

“Eh, switch to 8TV. I think they’re replaying the A1 race. I want to see how Malaysia won the race.” He requested to one of the bartenders.

I waited for him to turn to me and close his recruitment deal but I was spared. I was ready with the backhand smash should he decide to press on. I guess the lack of interest to earn half a million gave it away. Not everyone has the same priority and purpose in life. Sure we all want to earn a fortune, but the end never justifies the means, and neither is it fixed.

I too learned my lesson. If someone asks ‘are you happy?’ after asking about my job, I’d say I most definitely am. I come to drink and have a good time damn’it! Not to be told that my job is less rewarding and I could do better. Much better. I’ll change when I want to. When I see fit. I don’t mean to be rude but it’s my life. Have a nice day *Insert Bon Jovi songs here*

And the nerve. It’s almost like asking ‘how’s your marriage? Are you happy? Can I butt in?’

Oh, and it’s a good thing that he only goes there on Monday nights. There rest of the nights he’s at home. Including weekends! How’s that for a life.

Lil' Miss Me Not

Yikes! It's Thursday, almost the end of the week. I could make myself belive that I don't have a blog if I keep this up. How time flies when work weighs a tonne, and you're not even having fun...

This space has been idle for so many days, even I felt reluctant to drop by. I actually squinted when this page loaded. Sorry guys.

"Hey! I read your blog" said a friend.

Yeah, it's been a while since I updated and I was tempted to say "Huh! You read my what?"

Hmmm... looks like I'm not really into it after all. Damn if I do, damn if I don't.

Catch'ya later, lil' miss me not. *Oh, I'm just talking to my blog.

Later good people.