Knock Out

This is a down period for me.

Today, I wanted to go jogging for an hour at 2.30pm. I had gotten an injury on Sunday and it was recovering. So I thought doing a little bit of jogging would speed up the process of healing.

As I was serious about jogging, someone offered me an alternative. A basketball was presented to me and the idea of jogging and playing ball sounded too good to reject. I went to the basketball court and shot some baskets. It was really fun as I could combine my initial intentions with play at the same time.

It was all fun till I collected a ball, dribbled and sprained my left ankle. I yelled out and collapsed. I was in agony. My friend was shocked. I grabbed my left ankle with both hands as tightly as I could as though it was about to detach from my leg. It was painful. My friend could do nothing except staring at me. I was on the ground for about 5 minutes before I could slowly lift myself up. I wobbled to the side of the court and tried to walk the pain away. It didn’t go away. It was like a déjà vu of my previous injury about 3 years back. I was out of action for about 2 months.

In the morning, I just promised my friend that I could play soccer this coming Sunday. And I just called him to say I cannot now.

Bloop Bloop

Yesterday, my wife told me that she could concretely feel the movement of the baby. It was like a bubble in her. Very exciting. Ha!

Tomorrow, we are going to have the next check up. Wonder how is the baby’s development. Hope everything is fine and progresses smoothly.

Waste Time

Some people criticize constructively, while some criticize for the sake of criticizing. For the second group of critics, what is their purpose on earth?

Today, my team had a presentation. It was the worst presentation I have ever had. We presented on a project that encompasses bringing children out for excursion and allowing them to enjoy the freedom of expression in the form of art. It was planned to be conducted in a span of 1 month.

After the presentation, the audience bombarded the team with many contradicting questions such as “1 month is too short to achieve anything. Why don’t you extend it longer?” and “I think this project takes too long to complete. The children may feel bored. Why don’t you shorten it?” Hello! Please come to consensus. What is the time frame you want? Is it too long or too short? What is it that you want to tell us and we can alter constructively?

In the end, the presentation ended abruptly because it was taking up too much time. The issues were not solved, and there was no conclusion. Waste my time.

On a positive note, presentation considered adjourned.

Wilson's Wedding And Friend's Gathering

Finally, I made it home riding on my bike.

Just attended my friend, Wilson’s wedding. Met a lot of friends there. Brought back many fond memories.

I was really in a state of concussion when I set off to his wedding (I’ve got no idea why). I brought along the camera to take some of his wedding pictures. But I was late. I missed his march in, thus I didn’t take his pictures. In between the dishes, I wanted to take pictures of my friends. But I couldn’t turn on the camera somehow. Finally, I realized that the batteries had run out. How foolish of me to bring a camera with used batteries. I failed to capture the moments.

During the second march in, I decided to check my camera again (my sixth sense in action). This time, it came alive. Seemed like the batteries were able to work all along. It was me that wasn’t working. What was I doing?

After realizing that the camera worked, I went trigger happy. Snaps after snaps, I tried to capture every moment I could.

Of course, I made use of this opportunity to drink with my long time pals too. Beer, red wine, beer, red wine. Couldn’t recall how many glasses I had. It was a happy occasion. At least to the bride, the groom and me.

Enough said. Too drunk to continue. Still have a presentation tomorrow morning.

Exercise Day

Today, I was determined to workout. I wanted to be healthy.

I packed my bag and decided to go to the gym. I was looking forward to it. It is not often that I exercise, especially after working in the society. I had grown lazy. But today is different, I feel energetic and not only do I want to go to the gym, I want to swim too. Very ambitious.

I went to the gym at about 3.30pm, walked through the doors, put down my bag, and looked around the gym. There were unfamiliar faces. It was so boring to work out alone, I thought. Then I saw a sign that said something about bringing towel. I didn’t bring any. Couldn’t exercise because I had no towel. Excuses flooded my mind. I left.

I decided to swim at a club near my place, which I had not been for many years. I remembered that it had a small pool and thought that it would be great to swim there, even if I was alone. When I reached the club, I was the only visitor. Great! All facilities to myself. I went straight to the pool and started to swim from one end to the other. Then I realized that I couldn’t because on one side was 10m deep, while on the other side was less than 80cm deep. I could only swim half the length which was about ten steps if I walked. My goodness! I didn’t expect the pool to be so small.

In the end, I dipped in the pool for about 25 minutes, got up and went home. I will workout another day.

When The Sun Rises

It is a blessing if one is in good health.

Many people think that health is related to age. Young people are healthy, while the older ones should have more illnesses. This is deemed natural.

This is definitely not true, because I know people who have serious health issues, such as brain tumor or cancer, at young ages. They have to undergo operations and take drugs to cure their sickness. They then suffer from the effects of the drugs that many may not understand. How ironical can the curing process be?

I had a friend, XS, who was very close to me when we were studying in primary school. We would play together, draw comics together and bully other kids together. When we graduated from primary school, we exchanged our autographs and contact numbers, wishing each other well in our future endeavors.

About less than a year after we graduated, XS passed away. At a young age of 13, he had brain tumor. The doctor was unable to save him. My first encounter with death, I guess. His leaving was so sudden that it seemed like a bluff. At a tender age of 13, my peers and I were speculating if it was true. In retrospect, who would play such a stupid prank? I hope XS will be my first and last friend that I lose from brain tumor or any other illnesses. Everyone deserves to live till a ripe old age!

I wish all those who are healthy to stay healthy, while the rest, may you be at your prettiest health as soon as the sun rises.

Be Grateful

I watched a video clip about Sue today. Who is Sue? I had got no idea.

As the video went on, I realized that Sue was a lady who had multiple dysfunctions trying to survive in the world of perfect beings. What did that mean? This meant that she was not able to talk, only making occasional growls. She had to converse via sign language in delayed jerking motion as her body was not able to coordinate and she had to walk in an uncomfortable manner as well.

Despite her physical inconvenience, Sue is working in a pizza place and earning herself a living. And now, besides her job, she is also working part time as a volunteer, teaching children who have similar traits like her to use sign language. She finds meaning and happiness in helping and working with those children.

Sue is married to Ludell, who is in a worse state than her. Ludell is unable to control his movements, thus he cannot walk or talk. He can only point at words on a board to indicate his intentions and Sue will reply via sign language. However unbelievable it may seem, they are happily married. They seem to have a kind of spiritual bond between them. Never have they thought of giving up their lives but instead, they strive to lead a normal life as they can best possibly achieve.

I am touched after watching the video clip. I realized that I am in a much fortunate state than them. Definitely no complains.

Crash Course

I had a tough game of soccer today and I seemed to have injured myself.

I was dribbling towards goal when my friend, Harold, came in from behind with a tackle. I got the ball, and he got my left ankle. I fell in an awkward way. Fortunately, I was fine. (No free kick was awarded.)

Minutes later, I was going to shoot at goal when my friend, WT, gave me a hard tackle. Although it was legitimate, I felt the full force of his feet raging at my left ankle. I limped off for a while to rest my legs.

I returned shortly. Then came another swift challenge from Harold. He gave me a sliding tackle and I had to tumble a few rounds before being able to stop. Such aggression was the tackles I faced today that right now, I can feel the strain in my left ankle. I hope the pain will go away in a couple of days, so that I can play again this coming Sunday.

(Currently, applying all sorts of ointment I can find at home.)

Smile Again

There is an old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” (although the statement is not true, as there are many fruits more nutritious than apple and we need about 5 servings of different fruits a day to be healthy, it is still a nice statement because of the rhyme). However, I believe that “a smile a day makes everyone’s day” is truer. Not only does one looks better when one smiles, but one also cheers up the others around them.

I woke up from my afternoon nap at about 7.30pm, turned on the television to watch the Birmingham vs Liverpool ‘live’ soccer match. About 10 minutes into the match, I got hungry. As I have gastric problems, I need food pretty urgently. As my wife was not at home, I had to think of settling the dinner by myself. I had to make a decision to forgo watching part of the match and buy dinner or endure till half time to buy dinner. Probably, by then, I would have died. As the game went on, I grew moody. It was 20 minutes into the game.

Finally, I decided that health was more important, as Liverpool wouldn’t notice my absence anyway, so I went to buy dinner. I put on my long face and dragged my feet to the nearest place that sold food, thinking I would miss seeing tons of goals. I stopped at a vegetarian food shop.

When I stepped into the shop, I was greeted with a wide smile by the shop owner, who was having his dinner too (bread and coffee only). Out of courtesy, I returned a smile. What a difference I felt immediately. I felt awake. I felt rejuvenated. I felt happy. After placing my order, we started an interesting conversation. We were still chatting by the time the food was ready.

I returned home to watch the soccer game. It was already in the second half. Score was still 0-0. Seemed like I didn’t miss much. No goals so far anyway. But I was happier. What a difference a smile can make! (Probably, a full stomach helps too. By the way, the match ended 2-2.)

Pack Up For The Holidays

One week had passed since my holidays ended. And I am back to the reality of meeting deadlines after deadlines.

How time flies. The holidays have just vanished at the blink of an eye. Playing Lego seems like yesterday. I could still recall playing with my younger cousin who often visited our place during the holidays. And now, he is married for 2 months already. And many of my other little cousins are graduating from school, one by one, to face the harshness of the society.

Very soon, I may probably be straining my wrinkled eyes, trying to read this blog and may find it difficult to move the mouse and scroll the page. Hopefully, by then, I can have the assistance from my grandchildren.

Time waits for no one. And right now, I have two deadlines to meet next week. All these will end very quickly. Next holidays will come real soon.

Linoleum

Not often does an opportunity knock on my head. When it appears, I usually screw it up or I will realize it only after the opportunity has gone.

Today, I wanted to do another art piece because I was pretty happy with the first one that I did few days back. Many people had commended on my first piece of art work and thus I was motivated to prove that I could do another good one. I did a draft on a piece of paper before I actually carved the picture on to a soft material known as linoleum. As I only had one piece of linoleum (a piece of linoleum is quite costly), I was very cautious with my carving. I was trying not to make any mistakes due to my pathetic carving skill and waste the material. After several hours, my end product was miserable.

When I know it is an opportunity for me to prove my worth, I will be very anxious to excel. I will be very stress, having tummy pains and increase in toilet visits. Then I will eventually deliver a piece of failure.

When someone asks me to do some work, usually, I will aim for the minimum level of acceptance. Actually, this is the time for me to demonstrate my capability. But again, I will only realize it after I have produced a mediocre piece of work.

This is a self fulfilling prophecy!!! I must stop this negative thought!!! Tomorrow, I will salvage my work and change it into a master piece!!!

Destiny

What is the meaning of tongue tied? Is it when you are about to give a presentation to your boss and your tongue gets locked in your briefcase? Is it when you get caught, sneaking home tipsy at night and your tongue gets entangled with the bottle? Is it when you meet the girl of your dreams and your tongue gets zipped to your pants? Of all the possible tongue tied situations, which one is the worst?

Yesterday, I was having coffee with my friend, Steven. We were having guy’s talk as usual when I spotted Vae. I signaled her over and she sat down. Immediately, Steven disappeared, not literally, but spiritually. He started to slouch, lower and lower down his seat, and he appeared to be invisible to the conversation between three of us, or should I put it as Vae and me. When Vae left, Rizzy, another of my guy friend, appeared. He sat down with us. Suddenly, Steven was back. His chirpy self returned. 3 of us really enjoyed the session. When Vae came back, Steven did his disappearing act again.

After Vae and Rizzy had gone off, I asked Steven, what was all the “magical disappearance” about? He told me that he was tongue tied. Loss for words. Mind blank. He simply couldn’t believe that the girl of his dreams was actually sitting right in front of him sharing a table. I thought he had simply gone bonkers.

What a time to get tongue tied? I told him that if he was not going to grab his chances, he would eventually regret for the rest of his life. He told me that he was going to be a monk. Ridiculous guy.

I did an art piece recently. There were two birds. One bird flew away when the other bird landed on the branch. Just a fraction of a second apart, the two birds didn’t get to know each other. There were two mountains side by side as the snow melts from their peak. I thought that the art piece resembled Steven and Vae. Will they be like the pair of birds that never get to chat with each other or will they be like the mountains that are together forever? I was not sure what name to give to my art piece. But now, I think I am naming it, “Destiny”.

Fast Pace

Today, I had not been my usual self. I was forgetful, forgetful and forgetful.

I reached my workplace and realized that I had forgotten to bring an important document when the deadline was today. So I sped home to get it. When I reached the doorstep of my place, I realized that I had left my house keys at my workplace. As my house was very far from my workplace (about 30km), I decided to zoom over to my mum’s place for the spare keys. I got the spare keys, rushed home and retrieved my document. When I wanted to leave home with the document, I had forgotten where I left the spare keys which I took from my mum. She had reminded me to return it to her the next time I meet her. I searched high and low for it. Finally, I found it and returned to work. All these happened in approximately 1 hour.

It was such a mad rush that for the rest of the day, it was pretty much of a blur to me. Fortunately, it was pretty peaceful and I had a great dinner at night with my parents. I reached home and realized that I had forgotten to return the spare keys to my mum.

Sick Men Suffering Women

What happens when a man hits a woman?

I know of some men who punched their wife or girlfriend. I know of some women who were slapped by their husband or boyfriend. Very often, it ends up in the termination of the relationship, either divorce or break up. However, I know of some couples who still remain together. These couples are able to make peace with the fact that such incident happened (usually the guy is very remorseful and the girl is super forgiving) and faithfully stop it from ever happening again.

Most of the women cannot tolerate such behaviors of their partner. However, I know of some women who are able to withstand such physical abuse. These ladies even thought that they were in the wrong. They felt that they were the ones who provoked their partner first and they should accept the consequences imposed on them by their partner.

Why do these women harbor such thoughts? No matter how wrong a woman is, there should not be any physical violence in the first place. This is because, if there is a first time, very often, there will be more to come. In severe cases, the poor lady may even end up throwing her life away under the hands of her beloved.

Personally, I cannot stand the idea of men hitting women. Those men that hit women must be sick to the core to do it, probably like those invaders in World War II.

Why Look At The Dark Side Of Life

Life may tough sometimes. Life may be rosy sometimes. Life may be pressurizing sometimes. Life may be meaningful sometimes. Whatever the conditions life dawns upon us, it comes with a mandatory condition of death. So why seek death when it will come looking for us eventually?

Today, I was at the scene where someone wanted to commit suicide because of some reason. He was standing at the ledge of the roof of a 4 storey building. There were a group of onlookers. His every action brought about screams and panic as the onlookers worried for him. Some onlookers were quite skeptical about the suicide attempt, saying that he would not die by jumping off from such a low building. I thought otherwise. Finally, the SCDF managed to pull him away from the ledge and brought him to safety.

I wondered what made him want to end his life. What was it that he could not handle and thus he had to jump? Was it because of relationship? Was it because of money? Was it because of work stress? Whatever the reason was, I felt that there would definitely be an answer. All we needed to do was to look for it.

In life, the really lucky ones are born with a silver spoon, great family, great health, a beautiful mind and a gorgeous physique. The average ones are able to spend some years in formal education and work hard till they drop. The less fortunate ones may have to spend the rest of their lives using life support systems. Although the lifestyles are different, each has their own set of problems and each has their own way of searching for happiness. This is the beauty about life.

Life is already very short. Don’t shorten it.

Mid Autumn Festival

Today is Mid Autumn Festival, which means that today is the 15th of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. It is a night of gathering and partying for families as they celebrate the special occasion.

We, too, celebrated the occasion with a feast. My wife cooked chicken stew, vegetables, and baked beans with ham. My mum bought Ngoh Hiang from Jurong Point, while I bought sweet and sour pork and also Furong Egg. I bought 2 bottles of Heineken too. We feasted and drank beer. I especially love the chicken stew. It was my wife’s first attempt at cooking the dish. Good thing she made it great and my family enjoyed it.

After dinner, my dad and I went out to walk the dogs. As we were walking, he looked up into the sky and admired the full moon. He mentioned that, in the past, he used to bring us out for walks with lanterns during Mid Autumn Festival. There would be groups of children from the neighborhood, strolling around the estate. I could sense that the occasion brought back many fond memories for him. Although I was quite young then, I could vaguely remember holding a fish lantern. I felt a sense of sadness. Quickly, I changed the atmosphere by saying that instead of holding the handles of lanterns now, we are holding the leashes of dogs. My dad laughed. We appreciated the moment and carried on enjoying the stroll. After that, we returned to have mooncakes.

I find that this is a happy yet sad occasion. My dad and mum are getting old. I wish to have many more years that we can celebrate Mid Autumn Festival together. Not many people are as lucky as me to be able to celebrate the occasion with all my love ones around. No matter what happens, I will try to make the best of every visit and be filial to them while they are still kicking!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!!!

Start Quacking

Never collect stamps. Or you may post out a huge parcel that will hurt everyone involved in sending and receiving of it.

This was from an article I read about six to seven years ago when I was studying in University. It simply means that one should communicate one’s unhappiness to the party involved, as soon as the unhappiness occurs, whether it is a big or small issue. Never keep the unhappiness to oneself until the unhappiness grows and rots one’s heart. By then, it will be too late to salvage any relationship.

Communication is especially important in a marriage. Anything deemed unimportant may be a bud leading to divorce. For example, the “always cool” husband may be too cool when it comes to giving the wife support when she is in desperate need. He may think that the issue is small and simply ask the wife to “relax”. The wife may not like it. Or the “always hardworking career minded” wife may think that she must share the load of contributing to the household income and thus often works late. The husband may think otherwise. Such misaligned thoughts, if not communicated, may lead to bigger issues of drifting apart in the relationship. If it is not voiced out, the stamp will start to collect. And it may post out in the end.

It does not matter how long one is married. Communication issues do not arise overnight. It hurts everyone involved if there is a divorce. The only way to salvage is to prevent the bud from growing in the first place. So, start quacking. Only through effective communication can a couple truly enjoy the companionship for a lifetime.

Nagging Game

Today, I visited my parents. Unexpectedly, it was my sisters’ Chinese birthday. To celebrate the occasion, we had a relatively sumptuous dinner and had a game of Mahjong.

We were pretty excited about the mahjong session when my mum suggested the idea. Personally, I have not been playing mahjong for quite some time and thus I am rather rusty. And although my mum is quite good at the game, my two sisters are beginners. Therefore, I expected a killing. Ha! Ha!

We had dinner and moved on to the game. Gosh! It was really slow. My sisters had to think and ponder over every move. I agree that you need to consider your strategy but the time taken was a little too long. Furthermore, my elder sister kept asking about the “wind”. The constant repetition of the question was causing me headaches. Anyway, we played on. Then my mum, due to her kind heart, kept reminding my elder sister about the “fan” (license to win), and my elder sister did not seem to register even after nagging reminders.

I guessed, as the game progressed, my brain started to react to my sisters delayed actions and hence it started to slow down too. And the consequence was that I made several crucial mistakes in the game.

We played 1 round for 4 hours. In the end, my mum made a killing, sacrificing my two sisters and me. My elder sister suffered the greatest defeat, while I lost the least. Besides, my mum winning, the other great winner was my dad. He fell asleep cozily while watching TV.

Little Bubble

New stage of development! Today, my wife told me that she could feel the baby moving in her tummy.

My wife was lying on the couch after dinner. She was lying pretty still, staring in to thin air. Probably she had eaten too much for dinner and she needed to rest her tummy, I thought. All of a sudden, she told me that she could feel the baby. She could feel the baby as if there was a bubble in her tummy, rising and floating around. My wife told me that some of her colleagues could feel their baby’s movement when they were about 4 to 5 months pregnant. And she thought she was experiencing it too. She was pretty excited.

Now I know… she was lying still because she was trying to feel the baby, not because she had eaten a lot. I was pretty excited too but due to yesterday’s soccer and lack of sleep, I did not have a huge reaction. Still pretty daze.

Goal! Goal! Goal!

Goal!!!

Arsenal finally scores the winner against an unknown FC Thun, all thanks to Dennis Bergkamp, my hero!!!

Arsenal played much better when they were down to 10 men. (Stupid referee made a stupid decision by giving Van Persie a red card unnecessarily.) I have not seen the fighting spirit from Arsenal that made me sit at the edge of the seat for a long time until now.

FC Thun played real dirty and rough. And they needed a lot of help (misjudgement) from the referee. Finally, justice was done! Done by a great international veteran.

Now, I can go and sleep. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Blur Blur

Today is a “nua” day for me. I woke up at about 10.30am, bathed, ate a chocolate for breakfast and went brain dead.

I was wondering what to do today. Somehow, today, my brain did not seem to be in working condition. Probably it was due to the heavy dinner yesterday. Ha!

I went to buy lunch at about 4pm. I went to “Lao Di Fang”, the affectionate name my wife and I gave to the food market near our place, thinking of buying otah. I had been trying to buy otah on 2 occasions and had failed on both occasions. Both times, the otah stall was not open. Today, I tried again. It was closed. Again? I couldn’t believe it! In the end, I ate Nasi Lemak for lunch. Definitely not satisfying.

I then ordered Marinda Orange soft drink. The drink stall lady asked if the newspaper I was holding was taken from her stall. I gave her a blank look. She asked again. Then I registered and replied. I think it was the way that I dressed (in singlet and shorts) and the blur look on my face, that I think the drink stall lady thought I was retarded. She gave me a peculiar look and responded to me like speaking to a little boy. Who cares? Anyway, I went home and slept till 7.30pm.

I am still daze as I type this blog. Probably, I am saving my attention span for the soccer tonight at about 2.30am, Arsenal vs Thun FC. Yeah! I have got my supper, peanuts and beer ready!!!

Happy Birthday, SS and SY

Today is my twin elder sisters’ birthday. We decided to visit Bottle Tree Restaurant for dinner as my dad wanted an alfresco dinning, so as to appreciate the mid autumn festival’s moon light at the same time.

My eldest sister and I waited for my 2nd sister to end her piano lesson, my dad to bathe, my mum to get back from work and also to pick up my wife on the way. Finally, the whole family arrived at the restaurant at 8.15pm. We were very hungry by then. Quickly, we took the menu and ordered my sisters’ favorite dish, Black Pepper Crab. Then we ordered Chili Crab, Special Sauce Pork, Clay Pot Tofu, Mushroom with Vegetables, and Noodles. I thought of ordering Roast Chicken since my elder sister likes that also, but she decided against it. She was afraid that we might not be able to finish the food, just like the previous visit.

The food arrived very quickly to our delight. We plunged in to the dishes and gobbled up the food. Our pace was fast at first. Towards the end, we were slow like tortoises. Finally, we managed to finish the dishes except for the noodles. We packed the noodles in the end. Even my dad did not feel like ordering plain white rice, his “must have” dish for every meal. We were stuffed. (Luckily, we did not order the roast chicken.)

When we returned to my parents’ place, we sang the birthday song and my sisters cut the birthday cake. It was a strawberry cake from Bakerzinn. It was very good and I had two slices despite being very full.

After the celebration, about 11.40pm, my 2nd sister sent my wife and I home. And I had tummy pain. All thanks to my greediness. (But it's worth it because it is a special occasion!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SS AND SY!!!

Umbrella

It is raining at my place as I am typing my blog, so I decide to change my topic for the day and write about the rain.

It is pouring outside. Lightning striking, thunder roaring, wind howling and vehicle’s alarm going off. The rain is so heavy that it is like a curtain that blocks all views around my vicinity. Usually, I can see Suntec City from where I am seated at my PC. But I can see none of it now.

I pity those who want to go home now after work. They are probably being trapped somewhere, unable to go home, as umbrella seems to be useless in this kind of weather. Hiding in shelters, especially bus stops, will not help either, as the wind will sway the rain right into the shelter and I believe that, by this time, many bus stops should be packed with people.

I love it when I am at home and it is raining heavily outside. The whole surrounding is so cooling especially when the wind blows into my place. I cannot stand heat. It will be great to take a nap now. Something like hibernating, I guess.

But before that, I need to wait for my wife who is one of those struggling outside, battling against the rain, to try to come home from work. Fortunately, her colleague is giving her a lift.

Huff And Puff

This morning, I had a game of soccer. Usually known as the “Five Minute Wonder Kid”, I lasted the whole game today.

As I eat a lot and do not jog regularly, I have not been having good stamina since my army days. In fact, I seldom exercise except for this Sunday short soccer stint. So it is only natural that I am not fit.

In the past, I would chase after balls and run at defenders. After a short while, I would then stop at the side of the pitch to pant and later render myself useless for the rest of the game. I would have given up, thinking that it was too tough to get back into the game as I needed rest very often. What a loser!

I decided to change. I was actually huffing and puffing after a while into the game as usual. But I told myself to carry on with the workout. I wanted to use the game as a form of building up my stamina. I wanted to improve and thus I endured.

And in the end, I had a great game and our team won 5-3.

A Story

Few days ago, my friend asked me, why I wanted to write a blog. My reply was rather simple, or so I thought. It was to let my children and my future generations know more about myself and the people around me when I was living.

Many people live a 2 dated life, which are the birth date and the death date engraved on their tombstone. The many in betweens in their lives are often forgotten, of course, unless they are famous people like Albert Einstein, Bruce Lee, or Princess Diana, where they will be remembered forever for their contributions to the world. Most of us, after we pass on, soon become anonymous to everyone, even to our descendants down the years. Only a tombstone shows our identity, not our life. I find that this is quite a grieving situation to be in.

I wonder if I would ever be as ingenious as Einstein, or as popular as Bruce Lee, or as glamorous as Princess Diana for my future generations to take pride that they had me as a forefather. I feel that, as a commoner, leaving a legend behind may be a difficult task to achieve and thus the future generations may not be able to trace their heritage, even if they wish to. So, with the hope of leaving some traces behind, I feel that writing my story via blogging is the best way to achieve it.

Step Out

I love holidays. I can do whatever I want during holidays and it is usually the only time that I can take a rest, although this is not always true because of the tremendous mental stress in work these days.

I am taking a one week break from my work to do the things that I love to do. Finally, there is a break for me after all these periods of slogging and flogging myself to meet deadlines after deadlines. A breather at last.

Although I may not be able to go overseas like some fortunate souls, I am planning for a big event that may prove to be a turning point of my life, something that I really like and wanted to do all along. I am venturing out again! It may sound stressful, but I love the excitement of facing uncertainty. Surviving from day to day, just like a hungry lion hunting for the next meal, never to know when the meal will ever come.

This is my plan. I will carry it out and try to make the most out of this one week break. Having holidays are great!

Choosing Partners

I have been making mistakes all my life. But I always try to learn from it and try not to repeat the same mistake.

I started a design and build company several years back. Being able to bring in sales, I started to grow my business from a home office to a JTC office and a factory. I needed a helping hand to manage my business. Immediately, I thought of a colleague whom I used to work with. Although he was not very efficient in some of his dealings, I thought his experience would compensate for it. So I approached him and proposed the idea of him quitting his job and work for me. That was my first mistake, selecting a wrong person.

Subsequently, I made him a deal that I will never forget in my life. I gave him 50% of my shares free of charge for him to join my company. I was actually blinded by the amount of business dealings I had and I was desperate for a right hand man. I grabbed the first person I recalled without considering the pros and cons. Until now, I cannot believe my stupidity and impulsive decision back then. I must have been possessed. My second mistake, getting zilch for the transfer of 50% of my shares to him, and worse, giving away my control of my company.

Our business grew. Our opinions started to differ. It never happened before because he had always regarded me as the final decision maker, as I had started the company. But money blinds. Finally, there was a tense situation between me and him, and since there was no longer a major shareholder in the company to put an end to it, I felt that the situation would never be resolved. I decided to sell my company. I sold him my shares. However, I had simply forgotten that I had given him 50% of mine previously for free. Third mistake, I should take note of company accounts and good will of the company more seriously, rather than just trying to get him out of my sight.

Till now I regretted choosing him to be my partner. I felt that I should improve my judgment of people. But I have to learn from my folly. And today, I repeated my mistake by choosing a wrong project mate. Not again! What was I thinking of?

On a positive note, I did choose one person correctly to partner with. I made the ultimate right choice of choosing my wife.

Still Dating With Kids

How many of us can have a long and lasting relationship nowadays? Each is having less and less time spent with one another due to work and other commitments and hence the drift apart in the relationship. (Sometimes, it seems like having an intimate relationship with a PC monitor.)

My friend, Sau, is definitely not one of them. We were having lunch today when she talked about her youngest son's 2nd birthday yesterday. She has 3 kids. And yesterday, they had a great time together as a family. Sau has been married for more than 10 years.

I asked her if she still goes dating these days with her husband after having children. To my surprise, she said yes. I thought couples usually end their dating once they were married with children. In fact, it is quite often that she goes dating with her hubby. How romantic.

How does she find the time, especially with, not 1, but 3 kids? She shared a trick with me. If her husband and she were to plan to go dating at night, during the same day, she and her husband would try their best to tire the children. For example, they would let their children run wild till the children’s clothes were dripping wet. The kids would be so tired that they would fall asleep very early and quickly too. By the way, afternoon nap is definitely forbidden on that day! How smart! After the children were soundly asleep, the lovely couple would create romance through the night.

Great trick to learn from a mother of 3 and happily married to a lecturer. And still dating.

Beyond Limits

Hurricane Katrina had wiped out many families in the United States. This created a lot of sympathy around the world. It reminded us of the Boxing Day Tsunami in Phuket in 2004, killing many innocent lives. The tsunami was much closer to our home, only to be saved by the Indonesian Islands.

As people around the world gathered to help the poor souls in the States, I wondered, why didn't those who survived help each other, when they were closer to the victims as compared to waiting for the help from across the globe. Yet the victims themselves were stealing, robbing and raping the other people, who were in equally sorry state as they were. Does it take a disaster to show the ugly side of mankind? Maybe we can begin looking from a micro view as compared to such a big and threatening picture.

I was doing work in the library today. Concentrating on my work, I was deep in thought. A group of girls came and sat near me. They started chatting. They got louder. And louder. "Hey! This is a library. What's up, man?" I thought. Why weren't they considerate enough to lower their voices in the library? Why weren't they sensitive enough to be aware of the people around? Did they think that they were the only ones in the library? Irritated by them, I politely told them to speak softly. Count their blessings that I controlled my temper and did not get up and ask them to shut their gaps. I was fuming. They disturbed my thoughts. I carried on with my work but could no longer concentrate. I left.

It takes only a few self centered people to make the world a nasty place. They may think it is cool to be indifferent. But beyond a certain limit, it becomes irritating. And beyond humanity, it becomes unforgivable.

I Need A Drink

Today does not seem to be a lucky day for me.

I woke up at 7am, feeling sick, so I went back to sleep. I was determined to take medical leave for the day. However, when I woke up at 8.20am, I felt better. So I thought the doctor might not issue me a MC. So I had to quickly jump out of bed, wash up and get ready for work. I had to start work at 8.30am. How am I going to reach my workplace at 830am?

In the end, I left house at 8.40am, reaching my workplace only at about 9.05am. I reached my workplace and did not feel well again. Stupid body. Anyway, I decided to endure with an option of seeing the doctor, if I was too ill.

We were in a middle of a discussion, when I saw West having sandwich for breakfast. I felt hungry. I asked her about the purchase of the sandwich and she gave me a glare. It was piercing. I was stunned. She said she was in a bad mood and asked me not to talk to her. She seems to be very unfriendly towards me nowadays and I wonder why. Puzzled, I kept quiet.

Just then, Fendi asked if I saw the PowerPoint presentation sent to me. I was caught off guard. I thought we were only supposed to discuss the PowerPoint contents tomorrow. So I did not look through, anyway, it was no excuse. She then said that she was very disappointed with me. Gosh. I felt so bad.

After the various events, the rest of the day was not worth mentioning about. I still had a deadline to adhere to by tomorrow, still uncompleted currently. Got to get some ice cold beer fast and toast for a better tomorrow.

Give Me A Break!

Today, I had a great rest day. I decided that it was time that I threw all my work out of the window and declared a day off. It was a great feeling. Felt reborn. Shoulders seemed light.

Slept till 10am today, had a great breakfast of soupy noodles and 20 otahs. Then went home to sleep again. Woke up at 430pm, felt hungry, and ate a sandwich. Watched some TV, bathed and went over to my granny-in-law's place and had dinner. My sister-in-law bought my wife some clothes, which my wife may be unable to wear in no time, while she bought me a nice blue shirt from Esprit.

Went home and ordered Macdonald’s home delivery. Ordered a chicken burger, 2 large fries, 6 pieces of nuggets, 1 lemon lime juice and a sundae (on a Sunday). Felt sleepy now. Brain is a little bit dead.

But reality is unavoidable. First deadline, Tuesday. Look at the amount of work and deadline. Too lethargic to start my engine. But have to.

Munch Munch

My wife and I decided to have Japanese food today. We planned it during the week and had waited patiently for Saturday to arrive.

It was about 6.30pm, when our long awaited date begins. We got dressed up for the occasion and left the house. We wanted to be early so as to avoid the crowd at Sushi Tei, our usual hunt for Japanese food at Serangoon Gardens. (It reopened at 6pm.)

When we arrived at Sushi Tei, we found that it was packed. There were no seats and we had to wait. Unbelievable to be so crowded because it was only 7pm and they had just started operation, I thought. I asked the manager, and he told me that they had been operating since morning. They have their daily breaks, from 3pm to 6pm, only on weekdays. As for weekends, they work from morning till night without a break in between. My memory failed me as I thought otherwise.

Anyway, my wife and I did not wait for long. We got our seats. It was nearest to the entrance. We were browsing through the menu, when we heard some noise. Hmm... wondered what it was. Then, we realized that it was the munching sound of an unclosed mouth beside me.

This man, seated beside me, was chewing his tempura with his mouth open, with occasional splashing of the sauce out of his mouth. He kept pushing tempura after tempura in to his already filled mouth. Then when he choked, he snorted and then coughed to clear his throat. It was an awful and unhygienic sight.

He was not alone. His partner, a lady seated beside him, sucked her chopsticks passionately and then poked the chopsticks into her freshly made sashimi salad. She then toyed with her salad, stirring and stirring, until it looked too gross to eat. I wondered if she preferred it that way. Then she started talking to the man. The man, not noticing that his mouth was stuffed, replied her. She seemed to have an invisible shield that protects her from the man’s spillover.

I saw a couple walked towards the cashier. Immediately, I requested for a change of seats. We got our request, stood up and left the dynamic duo. Fortunately for the nice waitress, our date was saved.

Dream On

Vae is a friend of mine that I got to know recently. She is a pretty girl who is almost flawless in her complexion. (Ha! My wife will kill me for this.)

Anyway, Vae loves to dance. In fact, she loves ballet. She had been dancing since the young age of 5. And she had progressed on until she was about 17. At that young age, she had to leave her country and come to Singapore to further her studies. She wanted to carry on with ballet, but due to the high cost of learning ballet in Singapore, she had stopped dancing.

Vae had a dream of becoming a ballerina. But because of various factors, she had to give it up. I felt that it was a waste that she had to forgo her passion and seek an alternative in her life. She could have been a great ballerina performing around the world!

How many of us are living in a compromise? I am definitely one of them. Very often, we have to let go of our passion because of reality and our livelihood. I always admire people who stand up for their dreams and succeed in fulfilling them.

Recently, I watched a television program that showed an undergraduate opening his 21st cake store in Taiwan. According to him, he had many obstacles when he wanted to open his first store. His parents were against him. He had no money. He had no experience in making cakes. He had thousand and one problems and reasons that pointed to the direction of “Give Up, Fool”. But he also had very strong desire. Finally he succeeded. Now his parents are supportive of him. (How typical.)

Anyway, I feel that it does not matter if one succeeds in achieving the goal, although achieving the goal will be great. I believe that it is the effort and the process of pursuing one's goal that makes life touching, meaningful and complete.

Bon Voyage, Mister

My dad flew off to Macau, China today. He went with his group of old friends, 50 over years of friendship. It was upon request that he went. This was because they wanted him to be the tour guide.

My dad used to be a very sporty person. He loved to play sports, such as badminton, table tennis and basketball. He also loved to travel and thus, he had been to many places. However, due to his weak heart, he had to give up playing sports. But he still travels a lot.

I remembered, in year 2000, our family went to Mandarin Hotel at Orchard Road to celebrate my birthday. My wife, girlfriend then, had never tasted ink squid linguini before and hence she ordered it. Ha! It was horrible. She had to bear the weird and disgusting taste and finish the whole dish because she felt that it was not pleasant to reject the food. So she quietly swallowed the linguini, downing plenty of red wine in the process. All of us had a bit of liquor and we were turning red. It was a happy occasion and all of us had a great time.


We left the restaurant at about 9 plus. While we were taking the lift down to the lobby, my dad felt a tingling sensation in his chest. We asked if he was fine. He said that he had forgotten to bring along his medication for his heart but he assured us that he would be fine after taking it at home.

When we reached the lobby, his face turned green. He could hardly move. He wanted to go home to consume his medication. We thought otherwise. It was probably a heart attack! We quickly drove him to the A&E of Singapore General Hospital.

My dad was admitted and he had to undergo a surgery immediately. He was saved. The doctor said that if we were to delay for another 15 minutes, they would not have been able to save him. Phew! We almost lost him. Now, part of his heart is damaged and he is not able to play any sports anymore.

Sometimes, when I see him engrossed in a badminton match on TV, I really wondered how he felt. Whatever it is, I am glad, he is still around and enjoying traveling.

Bon Voyage, Mister!!!

Money Matters Not?

Yesterday night, I had a late dinner with my wife. We went to a small market at Upper Thomson Road and had Chong Pang Nasi Lemak for dinner. As I was very hungry, I ordered a lot of food. I ordered chicken wings, vegetables, tau hu, otah, ikan bilis and peanuts. And we ordered guava fruit juice.

After satisfying my hunger, I wanted to satisfy my craving. I wanted to eat dessert, so I walked over to the dessert stall. The stall lady was back facing me, so I had to call out to her to order. I asked if she had grass jelly dessert. She turned around and told me that she was closed for the day. I was shocked! Closed? Oh no! What was I going to do? I had a craving for dessert at that very moment. So I asked her again. “Is it possible to make one last dessert?” I was trying my luck. The answer was “come back another day”.

I had about $200 dollars with me at that moment. However, I believed that money was not her issue. She was not willing to barge and she wanted to go home. It seemed like money was unable to solve my problem.

Disappointed, I had to crack my puny brain for another location that sold dessert. Unfortunately, the lack of sugar in my brain causes mental block. And I had to do home unsatisfied.