Friday, February 27, 2009

Everything

X: You don't drink?

Me: No

X: You don't smoke?

Me: No

X: You have no life!



I do.





*I was randomly looking for a Lifehouse song, and I stumbled on this video...*

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

May I take your order?












Okay, Imagine this.

You walk down the street outside a up market shopping mall. You were supposed to meet your family at Burger King. After walking to the end of the street you turn into the fast food place and can't find them. Only then you realize you're in McDonalds not BK.

BAh.

So you walk back to the other end of the street where it is, go in and your family bombards you with orders, then leave you to buy the food while they find seats.

Ok... You walk up to the counter and cant seem to get the orders right

"Two sets, one ice cream, two burgers, wait, no - the sets one of those and the other one, vanilla ice cream and...err... Hold on"

Move away from the counter to the nerest table, take out a pen and list down the orders, but even so - for some reason you just cant! You start to cry. To make matters worse, the staff behind the counter are all laughing and pointing at you, as you miserably sit frustrated and unhappy, trying to recall the orders.

Suddenly, you wake up.

What a strange dream!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Slumdog vs Button

Within a week I managed to watch both films -







After watching the two, I personally hope that









the Oscar goes to...

























Both were original and fresh ideas -
Growing old backwards vs A slumdog on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

Both have great actors-
Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett vs A quarter of India

Both have breathtaking visuals-
Time passing from 1918-2005 vs The backstreets and slums of Mumbai

Both have deep themes woven into the stories-
Death and Identity vs Poverty and Evil

Both had romance-
Long drawn out love vs Love at first sight

Overall though I thought Slumdog Millionaire had more feel compared to Benjamin Button.

I felt The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was trying too hard with making the story great, but missed out some of the smaller details that didn't complete the scenes to make it real.

But that just me.

We'll see what happens at the Oscars.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Couple Mania

Was working today, went into the office for a while.

After that, I walked past KPMG/IBM tower, into One World Hotel, up the stairs, past the lobby along the corridor till I reached the heavy doors that lead to One Utama.

As soon as I passed those doors, i was HIT by the wave of COUPLES that were EVERYWHERE!

Duh- I knew what day it was but I didn't expect it to be a tsunami of Couples.

Normal Saturdays would have a decent mixture of families, groups of friends, individuals and couples. Today, suddenly families ceased to exist and groups or individuals were few and far between.

I don't know how to put it into words, but even the amount of couples wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that the couples were being overly coupley and affectionate. Extra doses of hand holding, hugging and mushy-ness. Blek!

Walking alone from the Old Wing to the New Wing GSC to buy tickets (yes, crazy but I did manage to get tix) was irritating. The couples seemed to be very "In your face, you Singlet". Later I found out that one of my friends couldn't take it so he went to MPH to escape the glances and nervousness.

No, I have nothing against Valentines Day.

Its nice to be able to spend the day with your loved one, but there's no need to go over the top. Especially in public. The sun will still set, and the 15th of Feb will come. Life goes on and you'll be wishing didn't waste so much money on overpriced flowers/chocolates/soft toys/couples set meals.

But that just me.

=p


Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Be a frog

Last month, I entered a fully fun for fun's sake event.

It was the Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur's Aquathalon 2009.

Having never joined such an event before, I thought why not give it a shot.

Initially I thought I had to both run and swim, and was pretty worried since I know how to swim but I don't know how to swim properly; so I thought I'd be doing my 'frog stroke'.

Thankfully it was a relay event and I managed to recruit Joshua (Lee not Hooi) to be my partner - he swim, I run.

Bright and early Saturday morning we entered the school, and upon looking around at our competition, we started to freak out... I thought they would be just average fit people like me, around my age but no......

They were all less that 4feet tall and on average 7years old.

Seriously!

Josh and I vowed to NOT participate if we were up against humans that barely reach out waist. Super adorable though, mostly Jap kids. Comel!

Only much later on did we spot some 'older' people - 16year olds. Sigh.

The idea was Josh would swim about 300m and I would run 3km. Doesn't sound to bad...Till I found out:
















Yes. We thought it was a relay event BUT more than half who were in my category were completing it SOLO! So shy.

Moments before the race- Team Miracle Mile.
















We didn't do too bad... Sorta.
(Truth is we were one of the last few... Overtaken in both swimming and running by the SOLO participants)

My run wasn't good because I didn't pace myself properly;
starting too fast causing me to 'pancit' early.

These babies helped though, very comfortable and weightless.















On the whole I'm glad I went. First time joining such an event, first time going to JSKL, first time in a 2-person relay...

The 'Man of the Match' so to speak was this guy -
















Master of Ceremonies who alternated between
Japanese, Ein-ga-liesh and Ma-lay.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Take five

Hi guys,

Just to share a thought, an old friend passed away on Wednesday. Markus Ng, born 1985 - only 23. The cause of death is unknown. Even after a post mortem, nothing was found to be wrong with him. He passed on in his sleep...

I went for the wake last night, and I know we Christians should be 'glad' for he is with the Lord, but it still makes the heart ache.
It also proves the uncertainty of life - not only what will happen in life, but how long we have here.

Many of my primary n secondary schoolmates were there and i think the one thing that struck me was the importance of having Relationships and Investing in other people. Not necessarily friends, but people - people in need and people you just meet along the way. Doesn't mean investing a lot - Even the smallest of things can have the largest impacts on some.

Markus, so young, yet was someone I can honestly say had run the race and fought the good fight all the way.

I hope the same for all of us, that we can
"Run Faster, Reach Higher, Change our World Together." NC 2005

I'm not sure if you have heard this poem before, but I re-read it and realizing how life is not in our control, how much more our 'DASH' matters.


The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Too Late To Say Thank You











Markus Ng went to sleep last night and didn't wake up this morning.

He was a childhood friend; a good person with a big heart.

A loss to all of us.

Wake service:
5th & 6th Feb 2009 at 8pm.
Gui Yuan Modern Casket,
Jalan 229, Section 51A, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Funeral service:
Saturday, 7th Feb 2009 at 9.30am.

Will then proceed to:
Subang Lutheran Garden Cemetry