Half and half...

Wanted to call the Missus but decided not to. So expensive-mah. I'll just wait for her nightly 9.30pm calls, as planned. God, I miss her. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Well, it's true. The house seems so empty. I guess many long-married men will be happy to have so much freedom but, nah, not me. Silly-hor?

The children have been extremely well-behaved but then again, KK has always been mature despite being only 10. His occasional tiffs with the Princess are, I guess, only natural. If kids don't fight, then I should worry, eh?

Anyway, I've decided to let KK be on his own at Sunday school despite the fact that I'll be working. He'll be okay. He's actually an extrovert and loves being with other children, unlike his sister who's painfully shy. I'm still trying hard to convince her to join KK. Maybe next week.

Speaking of work, it's getting more and more difficult to drag myself to the office on Sundays. Mo yee see (literally, no meaning anymore).

The man himself

We had a surprise visitor at yesterday's meeting. Pr Chua turned up, much to our delight. I actually saw him drive up and park in front of me, and for a while I froze, as I always do in the presence of authoritative figures.

But, as it turned out, he does his rounds of the various cell groups occasionally. We had a good turnout -- I counted 13 adults and quite a few kids -- and while everyone was in their best behaviour, the meeting was relatively formal. The jokes, however, still flew. It is always fun when Lih Juin, Peter, Pam and Xiao Meng are there.

Pr Chua was a wonderful guitar player, and he stayed in the background, not leading the meeting, which I think was so professional of him. Chris, as usual, was his eloquent self, and while he turned it into one of sharing, I was so glad he did not pick me to say anything!

Anyway, the kids also had fun -- Kin Kit clicks so wonderfully with SJ -- and they also enjoyed Pam's hot dog buns. I think there weren't enough to go around too (and KK later told me in the car that they were so delicious he had four! Oops!)

This thing called life

When I was younger, much, much younger, I believed that life would somehow plan everything out nicely for me. I never worried. I never doubted for a minute. Naively, in my confident mind, it'll be along these lines: I'll go to school, then Form Six, then university (where I'll meet a very pretty girl who will fall in love with me), then get a fantastic job that pays lots of bonuses with fat yearly increments, buy a big house, have five kids and enjoy life for the rest of my life.

What has happened thus far: I went to school, did not make it to Form Six, flopped STPM at a private college, repeated the exam and, just barely, made it to varsity, met a lot of pretty girls but none fell for me (ha ha), got a nightmare of a job working shifts and Sundays, working at it for almost five years before ending up where I am.

Along the way, I've realised that, for all the times I have read that life is never smooth or fair, I've gradually come to accept that, well, life is never smooth or fair.

Funnily enough, I am a contented enough soul. I realise that while I may never, ever get behind the wheel of a BMW, I'm happy with my Waja. I'm comfortable in my tiny double-storey link. I met and wed the most beautiful girl south of KL after graduation and am still as much in love with her as the day I first set eyes on her. My two kids bring me endless joy and, despite occasional parenting woes, they give meaning to my existence. My job does not pay well and I work most Sundays (no shifts though) but I actually love doing what I do so I guess that is what matters.

Which, if you think about it, is what life is all about. Somehow, despite the hiccups, everything does fall into place.

It lights up my life

Check out this lovely Philips table lamp from Carrefour. Fell in love with it at first sight. Just perfect for my study table, don't you think? Costs a bomb but I just had to have it. Yes, I know, I sound just like a woman...

Stuff of dreams

Went to the PC Fair, spent three hours there and all I had to show for it were two back issues of Stuff magazine! Not that there weren't any bargains.

Tempting: a Canon all-in-one printer for RM299 (normal price (RM338)

didn't get it because: it started to pour and I'm not about to lug it all the way across town in a crowded LRT just to save RM37.

Tempting: a 2-gigabyte pendrive/thumb-drive from this company called, what else, Pendrive for RM200

didn't get it because: I already have two thumb-drives which I can hardly fill up anyway.

Tempting: a 50-piece CD-R cakebox for only RM29 from Imation

didn't get it because: I still have about 30 pieces at home.

Tempting: a DVD-RW external burner for, gosh, only RM450.

didn't get it because: my CD burner serves me well for my purposes -- burning songs and storing pictures -- and I don't have extra cash to splurge.

Tempting: those lovely 17-inch and 19-inch LCD monitors

didn't get them because: no money-leh!

So sigh, I only got these two gadget magazines which, you will have to agree, I just must buy as they are only a couple of months old and only cost RM2.50 each (normal retail price: RM9)

Sun-loving, that's me

Just came back from Stefanie Sun's PC. She will be holding her May 6 concert up in the highlands and it's one-night only so make sure you get your tickets fast.

Isn't she just the sweetest thing? Her voice is, oh, so heavenly. If it is still not that obvious, yes, I am a BIG fan.

Florida... and boo hoo, I'm not going

The Missus just left for the airport with her best friend for Florida. Waving goodbye, enjoying the recollection of that last hug and mentally storing her final smile at me from the taxi window -- all conspire to make me quite depressed ...

As usual, as with her annual company incentive trips, my emotions (when she goes off) will run the gamut of:

* feeling a bit lonely (the house, small as it is, can suddenly feel very empty, two noisy kids notwithstanding); to

* happiness (that she is living her life fully and richly); to

* pride (that she is making something out of her life and doing what she loves in the process); to

* feeling it's a good time for a break and do what I like to do without having to worry about what the Missus thinks.

This year's trip is affecting me more than usual because:

1. she nearly lost her life last week during a rafting excursion for a team-building exercise in Gopeng. You know how such incidents always make one feel very guilty... like why one should always, always be there by the spouse's side... :(

2. she qualified for two tickets to Florida but I, being the silly one, has decided to NOT go as I cannot leave my kids for two weeks. Actually, I can but truth be told, I always dread company outings as spouses are always trying to fit in amidst all the office colleagues and cliques.

3. I really should have gone because there's not much work at the office and we are all twiddling our thumbs.

I'm so proud of her. She's the perfect example of how someone without even a decent SPM result (the result of poverty, not laziness) can achieve what she has achieved. Let's put it this way, she qualifies for her targets every year (Million Dollar Round Table, no less) -- and she gets to go for her dream holidays every year.

Which is more than I can say or achieve with my English degree merely working my butt off for peanuts... Hee, hee

Not the end

Really, really tempted to end this blog -- it's been a month already and that was the plan I set when started this exercise.

I am quite pleased with myself. While the learning curve had been pretty steep, I think I've mastered most of the hard stuff. Now I won't grow old and die with this big Question Mark hanging over my head -- How the hell does one set up a blog? Hee hee.

Anyway, my Other Half will be in Florida for the next two weeks and I really don't know what to do with my time (other than finally getting around to painting the house, writing an article or so, watching my DVDs, attending cell group meetings, planning that long-delayed book, and bonding with the kids.

Yes, actually lots to do but don't really feel like doing any of it without my Other Half around. That's life. So I guess writing this blog should be a diversion.

So there.

Bedtime story

My kids always say I'm a good story-teller (ahem!). Most of the time, I just make one up to get them to sleep as I can't remember much of children's tales that I have read. In fact, my Princess says I should compile them into a book and make lots of money. Wah, if only.

Anyway, here's one that just came out of nowhere, inspired by my nonsensical conversation with my 10-year-old before bedtime.

"You know where your teachers will bring you now that you can't go to Bukit Merah (bird flu-mah)?"

"Where?"

"They will launch you guys into space. So that they will have some peace and quiet. Ha Ha!"

"Kaboom! Now tell me a story, dad."

"Okay, I have an idea for one. Do you know how our solar system came about? Once, there was a rich family with 10 children. They would have been a perfectly happy family if not for the fact that one of the children was a jealous, unhappy brat, always harbouring bad and envious thoughts about his siblings.

"One day, their father asked them to go out into the world to seek their fortune as he did not want them to be weak and depend on him all the time.

"So they all went to pack and say goodbye to the parents. Their mother was, however, sad that she had to part with her dear offspring and so she slipped each of them a magic stone.

"'Use the stone only if necessary as it can be used only once,' she warned her children.

"The evil child, however, had only one bad thought in his mind. He thought: 'If my nine brothers are no more, I will be the only one left and what little effort I put into my endeavours will be praised by my parents.'

"With that, he summoned the magic in his stone and turned all his brothers into stone.

"What he did not realise is that his mother had forgotten to warn him that the stones cannot be used against the family as they were forged from her soul.

"His dastardly act engulfed her in fire which grew in magnitude and size until it too engulfed everything and everyone in sight. The heavens opened up and she became the sun around which all her sons revolved around her, for are they not part of the same soul?

"As for the evil son, he too became stone because of his folly, condemned to revolve around the fertile Earth as the moon, always alone, cold and desolate. Occasionally, when he could, he would peer in the distance at her mother, the sun, but from the glare, he knew in his heart that she would never forgive him..."

How's that? Do you think I make a good children's book author? Hee hee...

A helping hand

Want to do a good deed? Here's an opportunity ... and you get a lovely framed poster of a stunning scenic view for your home or office too!

Biz Buddies, a Kuala Lumpur-based business network group, aims to extend help to two Christian-based homes – Stepping Stone Home and the Kenosis Home – through the sale of posters.

Stepping Stone Home, located at Taman Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur, provides care for underprivileged children. At present, there are about 90 children there, as well as six mothers and three senior citizens.

Kenosis Home is a non-profit drug rehabilitation centre which aims to empower its residents to lead purposeful and drug-free lives via a conducive and supportive environment. It is located at 24 Lorong Jugra, Batu 3, Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

A company called Picture Library Malaysia will provide the photographs to be converted into posters. These stunning photographs feature scenic views of waterfalls and mountains.



The framed posters will make ideal decorative fixtures in companies, restaurants, offices and living rooms. A small sum to pay to help the less fortunate.

Call 03-7710-8462/012-210-8448 (lau) or log on to http://www.picturelibrary.com.my/index.php?section=charity for more information.

So sian!

LIFE is never fair. We all know that, right? But sometimes, when things happen to you personally over and over again, you rant and rave inside and wonder why the One up there is SO UNFAIR.

It's like he doesn't care. No one cares. I endure pain fairly well but when it drags on for years and years with no end in sight, the body and mind can get very tired.

Of course, there will be people who will quote wise words, pat your shoulder and say things like how things will work out soon enough, how the whole sitation is not as bad as it seems and how some people live worse lives.

Well, I am not other people. I have given my best, tried my utmost and put in more than my fair share. Why should my life be any different? Why do some people get away with almost everything or have it so easy?

Nowadays, it seems like everything is like a sacrifice. There is little joy in going on. No one appreciates. That seems to be it. I can try and I can try but the end result will always be ziltch. Life sucks.

So. hard. to. get. mind. and. body. working.

Still shaking off the effects of a week of sleeping way past midnight and waking up early to catch the magnificent sunrise. A day to go before I go back to the grind of, horrors, working for a living.

As the cruise director joked on the last day of the tour, he's got good news and bad news. The bad news is that we all got to go back to making our own beds. The good news? Our bath rooms will look very spacious when we get home! Ha! ha!


The eagle has landed... on Langkawi. It never occurred to me that Langkawi came from the word "lang". Helang, eagle, geddit?


On the dusty trail in a tuk tuk in Krabi

A week in paradise

When can we go again? Those were my heartfelt words to my other half at the cruise terminal even as we were waving goodbye to our new Aussie friends Lindsay and Barbara on the ship.

They waved and we reciprocated until they were practically a speck in the distance. I will miss them a lot, as will the rest of those we met and clicked during the days and nights on the ship. Thanks for the memories, Peter, Jane, Jennifer, Myla and Charmaine.

Along the way, we got to know some of the ship staff so well that photos, e-mail addresses and hugs were exchanged.

It has been a memorable six-day, five-night voyage that took us from Port Klang to Langkawi to Krabi (Thailand) to Phuket and then back to Penang.

Great food, luxurious ambience, friendly staff, excellent service and fun activities. What more can one ask for?






Spendid views from the ship (above), equally sumptuous fare (below) in the dining areas



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