Travel & adventure

I would like to write a bit about my love for travel & adventure. Which is definitely influence by my parent. Every single school holiday, the whole family will be off to somewhere... No matter FAR or NEAR... that's why when I was younger, I could never understand why NO ONE else go for vacation except for my family although I'm not from a RICH family. I traveled the whole of Malaysia even before I went to high school. Those road trip were just awesome. We would stop by for a swim at some waterfall.

By the time I finished high school, I've traveled to most of our neighboring country. Once SPM was over I flew to INDIA & stayed there for 2 months serving at the Baha'i Lotus Temple. Then volunteered as a teacher in Thailand (a Baha'i school) for 1 month before starting college. All the expenses paid by my parent & the experience are etched forever in my mind. I've learn so much. Being in a country so much POORER than us really make me appreciate what I had at home.

From young, "EDUCATION is the KEY to SUCCESS" & "KNOWLEDGE is POWER" are instill in our mind. But the weird thing is, my parent never check our homework or send us for tuition. They don't even care when I was 3rd.. from last... keke... I still remember although it happen in primary 1. ooo... did I tell you, my parents went to school & told the teachers that I was not supposed to be canned even if I don't answer her correctly or failed in exam. I had the GREATEST MUM I tell you.

And my parent forced send me for Piano Lesson but I stop at Grade 8. I was also in Computer classed. I was the only 1 in primary school who owned a computer (that was in 1986 where the teachers don't even know computer exist). I was so proud to be able to print HUGE banner for school party hehehhee... using dot-matrix-printer le.

Although I get to travel, hav piano & computer lesson but from young I don't have the luxury of buying clothes or other material stuff. I wore mostly hand-me-down. I had to work for extra pocket money. I teach piano lesson & gave English tuition class. That really made us appreciate the value of money & encourage us to think before spending it as it really is HARD EARN MONEY.

I owe everything to my parent. What I am today is all because of them. I love you, Mummy & Daddy!!!

Comparisons

I found this interesting paragraph while blog-hopping on
Why Comparisons will Kill your Spirit:

“There is no exterior cure for looking in the mirror and not liking what you see there. It all has to do with how you’re feeling on the inside ... comparisons will kill you. That goes for everything. The minute you find out at work that someone makes more money than you, you start to think, I’m doing just as good a job. Why am I not getting that? Or if someone has a better car than you or a better shirt or anything, it will kill you. You really have to look at what you have and be happy with it.”

Boldboss finally G.O.N.E

When my BoldBoss announced that he was leaving us for good, I was in denial. I just could not believe it. I cannot accept it. How can he leave us??!! But after hearing him out, it's just NOT FAIR that we blame him for chasing after his DREAMS... but still... he went into the Infamous LIST.... Can you spot yourself, traitors????Since he was VELI FAMOUS in our department, there was not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 farewell dinner organized for him...

Monday: 1st dinner was with the group of PAEs (the LIFE BLOOD of Line Sustaining) who really loved him to bits, as BoldBoss really help them through thick & thin. I did not join them as I hav prior appointment & missed out on it.

Tuesday: 2nd was dinner at Mr. Ho's Fine Food at Crown Towers. A small group of us, so-called "old" people with our Director, who was once our Module Manager... We used the private room which was supposed to be smoke free but instead it was SMOKE-FULL as NO DOOR separating it from outside @##$%^^%@#$. Nevertheless, it was a nice dinner. I really enjoyed the food. And the plan to get our director DRUNK enuf to spilled some juicy gossip failed...

SexyLips was a real gentleman & bought a 1.5l of Sparkling Grape Juice for me as I do not drink wine. Yea, I'm lucky to hav him as my best bud. But as I was the only 1 drinking it, with some help from Wilron mama (who dare not drink much as the sugar contain was 40g per 500ml)... I almost die of SUGAR Poisoning lor...

Wednesday: The 3rd dinner was at Chia Heng Restaurant, behind Hock Lee Centre, fully paid by our Module Manager, Mr Kang JT. BoldBoss was his lifeline, his heart. I pray for JT to get a new heart transplant soon... here's BoldBoss trying hard to b cute!Thurday: The 4th was a dinner at Da-Om Korean BBQ Restaurant... YUM YUM YUM! A lot of 3 layer pork which I liked. It was again a small group of us "old" people with the EQP Section Manager, Mr. Lee MG, who belanja us. We bought a leather bag for BoldBoss as he's gonna need it in S'pore to carry a lot of tissue paper to wipe his tears missing us all in Kuching.

As a last momento from the office, I got almost every1 ( in our department) to write something for BoldBoss. Some were really funny. Some were begging to tag along. Some were angry. Some were threatening him, but MOSTLY we told him NOT TO FORGET US and what a GREAT BOSS he has been & will surely be missed!

Now that you are not here anymore at your table... I really miss you! I dun hav any1 to bug. I dun hav any1 to turn to when I need to troubleshoot some problem. No ears to listen to those ridiculous question. I dun hav a boss to bully. How am I gonna survived this?

Have or NOT have children??

Am sharing an article I found that's interesting & the 1st point had me laughing out loud.

Tell me, have you thought about this question???
What do you think???
Have or NOT have children?

20 Reasons Not to Have Children

1. Birth. Imagine pushing a grapefruit through your anus. Imagine it taking ten hours. Imagine that after ten hours of trying to push a grapefruit through your anus and failing that doctors cut a big hole in your belly to remove the grapefruit. Don't believe anyone who says that they forget all about it in a few months.
2. Responsibility. All of life's prior responsibilities pale in comparison. If you decide to have a child, that new person must absolutely be your top priority. As your child will remind you when he or she is older and something goes wrong, "I didn't ask to be born." A child is a life long commitment to a person who is innocent of this choice.
3. Diapers. Disposable diapers these days absorb lots of liquid, and they don't leak. But you still have to change hundreds of them. Often they contain more than liquid. As the child gets older, diapers become smellier and bigger tasks. Then there is toilet training, with its inevitable setbacks and accidents.
4. 3am wakeups. Caring for a child takes a lot of physical and emotional energy, made all the harder by babies that only sleep for ninety minutes at a time. Many parents of much older children seem to forget how hard the first few months were as they look at the past with rose colored glasses. Don't believe them. Parents need sleep to work well, and they often can't get it.
5. Hard on marriages. A baby takes so much time and attention that spouses must already have a great friendship and work well together before the baby arrives. It is a certainty that one spouse will disagree with the other about decisions on how to care for the child. It is likely that one spouse will resent the lost time with the other. A marriage with some difficulties will get much worse when a baby is crying and the parents are sleep deprived.
6. Advice. Total strangers leap forward to offer advice about how to raise your child. Most of the advice is contradictory and flat out wrong. Strangers will be much easier to ignore than your friends and family, many of whom have raised children quite successfully. Some advice you may want, but lots of it will be unsolicited and unappreciated.
7. Changed relationships. When your family expands by the addition of a child, your relationships with everyone, and I mean everyone, changes. Your child is at the forefront of most of your thoughts, and those people without children cannot relate. Those people with children are finally happy to see that you can relate. Everyone will watch how you raise your child and will at some point cluck and disapprove, including those who raised ten children and those who raised none. Some strong bonds will weaken, some friends will not been seen again. Some may improve, but with your energies and devotions directed towards your child, that is much less likely.
8. Free time. You will have none. Most time not spent with your child will be spent catching up on work you need to get done. You and your spouse must carefully plan any time away from your child, and very little can be done spontaneously. To pretend otherwise is probably neglectful of either your child or your spouse.
9. Worry. Parents always worry about their children, monitoring how fast they reach each milestone and how well they grow, eat, sleep, crawl, walk, read, make friends, and so on. And yet there is little a parent can do beyond allow a child to proceed at his or her own pace. It can be frustrating and scary when your child isn't eating well, or cannot read at his or her grade level, or is socially inept.
10. Money. Children are expensive in several ways. One parent loses wages while caring for a child. Children need to eat and be clothed. They need toys with which to explore the world. They need health care, they need education, they need activities and hobbies. They will need car insurance. The proper raising of a child is not cheap.
11. Laundry. Children do not contribute to household chores until they are older, and even then they generate more work than labor. Having a child means that your living space will need more cleaning than before, not only as your child makes a mess of it but also because you cannot let your child crawl around in dust and dirt. Your child will find all sorts of vile things to put in his or her mouth in the cleanest of homes. Your laundry and dishes will double, and you will do all the picking up after your child for many years.
12. Tantrums. Many times you will tell your child that they cannot have what they want, and they will scream to get you to change your mind. You will need to avoid saying "no" as much as possible, but then stick to your decision when you do. Otherwise you will encourage tantrums. However, younger children cry because that is the only way they have to express themselves, and you need to be attentive. It becomes difficult judging when a child is having a serious problem and when he or she is having a tantrum. Tantrums are not just for two-year-old children, they will continue for years in many different forms as your child will attempt to change your mind. At some point children figure out how to get what they want despite you, and that opens another can of worms.
13. Rebellion. Children need to assert their independence and individuality. All will feel stifled in some way by their parents or other authority figures, and they will attempt to subvert the dominant hegemony. Didn't you? It usually isn't pretty.
14. Dissonance. Lots of adults do not get along with their parents. Perhaps they forget all the work that their parents put into raising them, or perhaps they resent that the work that their parents did was not enough. At some point your child will probably be very angry with you, and may even hate you for years. This is not uncommon, and you know it because you can name a dozen people who don't get along with their own parents.
15. Pain. Your child will cry and you won't know why or how to fix it. You will mess up and let your child get hurt. You won't be there and your child will get hurt. Your child will get really sick. Your child will fail at something and feel humiliated and worthless. Guaranteed. The world is a hard place on everyone, especially small, naive, fragile people.
16. 6 billion. The world is already overpopulated. Do you really have to add to it? Do not answer this question lightly. Every new human draws on our limited resources, tramples over previously undamaged land, creates more waste, and accelerates worldwide instability.
17. Failed expectations. You may expect your child to be interested in things that fascinate you, and then be disappointed. You may be brilliant and your child may be dull. You may be athletic, unhappy to discover that your child has trouble walking a straight line. Your child may abandon your religion or main beliefs. Your child may grow up to be someone you have very little in common with. In fact, your child will definitely not be a little version of you. Any thoughts about what kind of person you want your child to be are wasted thoughts, and probably detrimental.
18. Lost freedom. People without children can easily pack up and move. They can be without work or change careers. They can break up with their partners and find new ones. Children, while often flexible, must be accounted for in all major life changes. In fact, they demand that the world not change around them so fast while their own understanding of the world grows and changes at the same time. Stability and routine allows a child to explore life from a vantage of safety and consistency. You must be willing to give your child such stability at the cost of your own freedom.
19. Hard work. Raising a child takes more than love and time. You must concentrate on all methods of communication that your child attempts so that you may properly understand his or her needs and wants. You must introduce your child to new stimulation and situations regularly. You have to figure out best ways to teach your child at each age, what to teach them, and when to teach. You must be available and responsive to your child even when you are tired or sad or very busy.
20. The unthinkable. The death of a child, while unlikely, is devastating. It often destroys marriages, as both spouses need comfort that the other cannot provide. Frequently one parent will blame the other. So much emotion, time, and energy gets poured into a child that to lose it all at once is crippling. Many well meaning people say hurtful and stupid things in a misguided attempt to help. This is one case where it is better to not have loved at all than to have loved and lost.

10 Reasons to Have Children

1. They're cute. In fact, your own child is adorable. Every sigh, every laugh, every motion is bliss. You fall in love with them.
2. Re-experiencing childhood. Regardless of how good your own childhood was, your child allows you to vicariously relive childhood. Usually it's much better the second time around, when you have all the wisdom of age but can enjoy the energy of youth. Playing with a two-year-old feels like being two years old again.
3. Learning. Watching your child learn is fascinating and fun. Each new skill or idea or word learned is a little victory. If you watch carefully, you will see that something new is discovered or conquered every single day. Your child will need to learn a lot from you, as he or she starts without much knowledge at all except for perfect sense of his or her feelings. While you are busy teaching your child about practical aspects of the world, your child will be teaching you emotional sensitivity. The active teaching and learning process is rewarding and fulfilling.
4. Reflection. Everything that you already can do probably take for granted, but your child will remind you that all those skills had to be learned. It reminds you of how far you have come in life, and shows you the sorts of difficulties you probably had when you were your child's age. Your child will also notice things that you have long since filtered out. I didn't realize how many birds there were outside my house until my daughter showed me.
5. Reincarnation. Your genetic makeup is a small part of your identity. More important are your ideas, beliefs, manners, and stories. All of these things will be taken up by your child and then changed around. Your child will never be a clone of yourself, fortunately, but instead will be a new variation of you and the other people that raise him or her. If you like yourself then this is very satisfying.
6. Socializing. Every society has a subculture for people who raise children. At every age you can find people also raising a child in a similar situation. You can make many new friends with whom you have a lot in common. The comradely and shared experiences ease some difficulties.
7. Control. You must not tell other people how to raise their own children. However, if you raise your own child, you get to do it your way, which you presumably believe is the right way. People might disagree with your methods, but if you have thought at great length about it--and you should if you plan on having a child--then you probably have good reasons for all the decisions you will have to make. When you find that your methods are not perfect, which you will, you can change them appropriately.
8. Adoption. There are lots of children in the world without parents. Adopting a child is an excellent way to greatly improve the life of someone who would have a very hard time otherwise.
9. Entertainment. Children have lots of energy and can be lots of fun. They develop imaginations, a sense of humor, and lots of excitement. Little kid laughs are infectious. Playing with children is very enjoyable.
10. Love. You are the center of your child's world, and as much as you may love and need your child, he or she will love you more. Children that are shown love and affection show it back many times over.

Resolution for 2009

This entry I guess will be the final entry in my blog for 2008. My 1st attempt at making a New Year Resolution.

1. Exercise & keep fit!

I would loved to lose some weight & that stubborn love handles. But fat chance of me losing any weight. I would be happy to maintain my current weight and try to exercise more. I've stop walking around my apartment after the 3rd attempt as it is always raining *cough*excuse*cough*. So I've bought a new spanking badminton racket for those weekly sweat sessions, hopefully I can keep it up.
2. Take better care of my skin.

I've been neglecting my skin care regime, too lazy although spent $$ for the product but seldom use. I noticed the skin around my eyes are in bad shape. Small wrinkles can be seen due to dryness of the skin. OMG! is that pigmentation??!! Dang, getting old is so ma-fan! So I've start the year with these NEW purchase and promise myself to used it daily. **brain ah, pls remember hor**
3. Travel to a new place

It does not have to be some far. For the coming year, I'll b supporting VISIT MALAYSIA Year as u know, economy not good lar, must save some $. It can be somewhere near like Borneo Highland & Mulu.


4. Do or learn something new

Anything out of the ordinary. I might just take up scuba diving. I've not decide it yet as it seems like an expensive hobby to take up & there are not good diving spot near Kuching. Still thinking...


5. De clutter my wardrobe room

It's urgent!! It looks like a pigsty now. Kids can get lost in there, heck even I can get lost in the super big mess! MUST De-CLUTTER ASAP.


6. Improve my management skills

As I was promoted recently & more shit responsibility are on my shoulder now. Supervising a group of technicians, is TOUGH. I need to learn to handle difficult situation. I need to improve my management skills. Motivate myself, and others in my team. HELP!


7. Have more control on my $$

In the past, so much money wasted on unnecessary stuff. Always buying stuff on a whim. CC statement of $$ spent at Ta Kiong & Cold Storage amount to RM2+++ (!!!) for this year alone and I don't cook -_-". I need to control my JUNK FOOD BUYING SPREE. MUST Start saving monthly with hubby.


8. Finish my Book 6

Try not to skip those weekly devotional meeting & continue with my "Reading Study". I did not finished Book 6 and hopefully I can join a new group to start all over again and finished it.


9. Be thankful for what I already have

Appreciate what is already in my life & don't bitch about things that are out of reach. Need to remind self to never take things for granted. Must make time & have more quality family time. I never realize the staircase way in my apartment was a sight to behold.

What are your resolutions for 2009?

p/s: Hubby is so sick he skip dinner and headed straight to bed, poor baby. I'm spending my New Year count down in my room reading a book. yea, I love my life!

What a SHOCK!!

We, as in hubby, me, MIL, SIL & 2 year old niece Esther were on our way to dinner few nights ago. Some of the conversation in the car got me really awkward.

Stopping at the traffic light junction, Esther impatiently scream : "Aiyooooo!! Meh meh lo" (translate : faster faster lo). We all just laugh & said she's a parrot & copied from hubby (yea, he cursed most of the time when driving, but not in front of family members).

Some1 driving slow in front of us, Esther: "Ki si lah **start blabbing something** (which translate to : go die la...) I quickly start to calm Esther down & told her not to say that.
SIL was starting to ask, "So who teach you to say that, 2 sim **me-_-"** or 2-chek **hubby**??
Me & hubby start to deny & playfully point fingers to each other & just laugh, trying to change the topic.

Then when hubby's window got stuck & did not wind-up, Esther scream: "Oh NOooo!!! SHIT!!" I started to cold sweat. But I thank god she din scream, "F%$K!!"

Note to self, have to remind hubby to control his flowery language in front of Esther. Too much vocab is not a good thing sometimes.

The innocent & cute Esther...

On Looking Back

2007 was a great year.
It was truly a memorable journey.
I grew up this year. I really did.

Hope that everyone had a GOOD year too.

Below are the Top 10 Highlights of 2007 that my rusty old brain still can remember:

1. Created our own Wedding Album. Thanks to our trusty Nikon D70 & my cousin Ah Soon's skill in taking such beautiful pictures (hahaha self praising).

2. Our 1st (& hopefully only) Wedding on 3rd Feb 07. It's the Happiest Day of my life!! A new phase in life & totally excited.

3. Our very own Home Sweet Home. I loved it to bits.

4. Our honeymoon in Phuket (then to Melaka, KL & S'pore). The money spent was totally worth it.

Phuket Feb 07Melaka Mar 07

KL Mar 07 (15th day of CNY, longest Yee Sang in the world)Singapore Apr' 075. Learn to make Sushi
6. Started a BLOG! so that I can record down HAPPY stuff.

7. My 1st Treasure Hunt & BumBlurB ROCKS at it!!!

8. Our new ride RX8

9. Traveled to Europe (Germany, France & Italy)

Frankfurt, Germany

Erfurt, Germany

Pisa, Italy
Rome, Italy
Paris, France
10. Stella , my niece born on 23rd Dec 07 (early X-mas gift). That's my bro, the happy new father.

hOpE that 2008 will be another grEAt yEAr for every1!

blOg ActIOn dAy!!

October 15th is Blog Action Day, where bloggers sort of get together & tackle the issue of the environment... yea yea ... I know, I was supposed to post this up like 2 weeks ago but never got to finished writing it until now.

The key thing is "Awareness" and in our own small ways what we can all do to make a difference. It is impossible for any one person to change the world, but everyone just needs to DO THEIR PART.

Be it swimming instead of using the boat, or shower only once per day, or educating others the dangers of spontaneous gas leaking... it's ok as long as we try our best to do our parts.

It may be insignificant, but if everyone just do it (free advert for Nike), it WOULD make a Difference. Some of you might be asking me, "So what have you done?"
Well, I'm blogging 2 increase your AWARENESS le!!!!
hahaha ... ok ok serious.
I pledge to stop being lazy and sort out my rubbish and recycle them.

3R - Reuse, Recycle & R ee..er... ok lar 2 R concept.

Here a list of things that we can do to entertain ourselves that won't harm the environment in the process:

- Planting cactus.
- Sexercise
- Swimming in Sarawak River
- Watch & search where the rainbow start or end
- Playing PS2 (noise pollution only lar)
- Pillow fight
- Play ho lo chim / 21 tiam

What have you guys decided to do today, to contribute to this cause?

crOpIng & cOpIng

To get through life, to cope with all the ups & downs of life, I usually activate my 'crop-out' mode, by cropping the unpleasant or painful things that I don't want to know about. Because to me there are something that are out of my control. So to accept it, I rather be optimistic about it & focus on the positive side & remove the negative part.

I might sound like closing an eye to the bad things around, but I find that if I concentrate more on the good things, I'm more grateful & happy. It reminds me that it's not all that bad.

Here is an example from a snap I took when out for tomb raiding over the weekend. Other people were curious why I can take so many photos in a grave yard. But I find that there were many beautiful things that are not being appreciated enough.

Although on a glance it's awful with the area full of weed & stuff.

But if you zoom in, there are so many beautiful plants & flowers. Such as below:
I think this can be helpful to a certain extent.

But if it's something that it's in our power to make it right, then it's unhealthy to deny rather than face the truth or problems that we need to work through in order to grow.

So what do you think?? How do you cope??

Home Sweet Home

I've moved into my new home since getting married on 3rd Feb 07. The preparation for the wedding & home simultaneously nearly killed me.

Used up so much Time, Energy & MONEY.
The TONS of phone call, the petrol usage Rocket UP (going from place to place), the TIME to meet the prospective vendors & wasting my saliva Complaining to the Developer of my apartment $%&#&*@#.

Am now pround to present to you my labour of love....

1. Living Room
2. Entertainment Room3.Changing Room4. Dining Room5. ActionPack Bedroom :P
As now you can notice, there's a certain area that I did not pay attention to ... hahahhaha .... bcoz I prefer eating out. It's tastier, there are more variety & more economical. See, it's not bcoz I'm lazy to cook ok.

After pouring all the HARD WORK into it, I am now a VERY HAPPY HOME OWNER.

There's no place like home!

Journey of my life

I created this blog to record the journey of my life.

My great times, my normal days, my feelings, my friends, my family, and everything!

I'm embarking on a new phase of life, as in MARRIED Life!
So I'll be flashing back to events starting from beginning of year 2007 and as I go along.

I blog for me, myself & I.