At the core...
Was having dessert with my bro-in-law yesterday and had one of those random profound conversations. He does indeed have an opinion about everything - as I always joke with him about. Anyway this was what he said:
"At the core of every man, is a bastard".
Hahahha... I thought that was hilarious coming from a man but yet, how true. :P He went on to say that the forms of the 'bastard' could be a lying bastard, selfish bastard, cheating bastard etc. etc... you name it. So I asked "Is there no good man out there anymore?".. and he replied that a good & mature man would be one who
acknowledges that he has the potential to be a bastard, thus exercises self-control, and is honest and sincere about it & faces the consequences of his actions.
So may I add, the worst kind of man is one who
does not admit that he could be a bastard, performs bastardly acts and covers them up with lame excuses to avoid facing the consequences...and to top it off, thinks he has done the right thing. :)
May you girls out there not meet those kind of men, and may you men out there not turn out to be those bastards. :P
Courage
Courage comes in many forms. To me, the best form of courage comes not in doing crazy stunts to impress but the simple acts of courage that not many out there would be capable of doing - dare I say, possibly not even the nuttiest of stuntmen.
The courage to admit your mistakes is one. The human being, having so much pride that sometimes failure is not even something to be mentioned. My respect goes out to those out there who are brave enough to admit that they have done wrong and face the consequences, rather than the cowardly act of lying through your nose and hiding the facts in an attempt to avoid the consequences of your mis-doings.
Another form of courage I truly respect is the courage to fight through disease. The battle of cancer and what-nots truly proves the triumph of the human spirit.
But most of all, the courage to die in the place of another. That I don't think I have the guts to do. A story was told to me of a priest who died in the place of a family man in the torture camp because he figured that he didn't have wife and children like the family man did. The priest then went to the torture camp and touched many lives before he died. The family man in turn was so touched by this act, he spent his whole life telling others about what the priest had done for him. What an awesome act of courage. And to think that Someone has indeed died for me, I'm truly in awe...
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Yuppie-fied!
I've come to the realization that I've been yuppie-fied! Aahh!! As much I do not want to admit it, but I guess it's a transition from overseas life to back home.. and searching for substitutes to what I miss. Plus it doesn't help that my close friends and colleagues are all in the same boat, so there we go.. a bunch of young people, working hard, playing hard. Guess when I run out of energy, I'd finally have some time to read the many books beside my bed that are all half read, and the piles of DvDs that I haven't got time to watch ;)
My substitutes list...
- Good coffee: San Franscisco Coffee (can you believe that this is actually local?)
- Cakes, Desserts: Marmalade (Toffee Banana & Cookies n Cream cheesecake), Ms Read deliCious (brownies!!), Vanilla Box, Bakerzin, Alexis (tiramisu - the best I've ever tasted)
- Shopping: Singapore, Bangkok (haha... ok those were crazy impulsive trips I admit), blook, cats whiskers, Zara, Nine West and other secret locations ;) .. I love to find unique items ;)
- Hangouts: Alexis Jazz Bar (really really nice), Bangkok Jazz, Moon Bar in Bangkok (would love to go to Luna Bar - an apparent rip off of Moon Bar)
- Restaurants: Rakuzen, Courtyard Garden, Bangkok Jazz (and more to be discovered..)
I guess after being away for 5 years, I didn't realize that KL has indeed everything! Including the things that I miss. I would say that the only gap so far is the shopping.. you just gotta go further to find what you want but a friend of mine who came back for a short trip from Melbourne went crazy at this boutique I recommended, so perhaps the grass is always greener on the other side. ;) And yes, they do have Laura Mercier here... :)
Birthdays, birthdays..
Birthdays are sacred events - the
one day in a year to make someone feel special. If you are reading this, happy birthday Jes!!! :) A friend emailed me and said that with technology being so superb nowadays, we have very little reason to forget birthdays, especially with the Friendster birthday reminders etc. ;)
So here's my MANY MANY
thank you-s to all those who made my day special!! Last Friday, I was surprised with a yummy big chocolate cake during the weekly gathering with my colleagues!! Thanks Seow for the cake & organizing everything! Thanks also to those who came - Mich, Yuet, Jeremy, Ai Rin, Javier and friends... and for that flaming drink hahha ;) I had a blast!!
Also got crazy wee hour phone calls after midnite.. Jessey was the first, and Farah, Zi and SMS wishes from Jon, Sah, Jason, Evienne.. thanks Uncle Kee & Aunt Peggy who came from Melbourne and gave me a call - so great to hear from you all!! Crazy Jes sang me a full birthday song over the phone, thanks for lunch Eawei, and my wonderful wonderful friends - Lisa, Chin Ai, Angeline, Shauntaine, Jessey, Jes, Fuddy for the pressies, yummy cake and for making time to come for dinner. :) Looking forward to the facial, my dear chickies. ;) De necklace and perfume are ultra lovely too. :)
Many many thanks (don't think I can end this..hope I didn't miss out anyone) also for the presents - Jon, Johana, Adry and Niza.. very thoughtful of you all though I don't know what they are yet, u really didn't have to. And of course my lovely sis and bro in law who bought me lunch at my fave place and for the makeup set! Love it! And my other sis for calling all the way from S'pore, got me an early bday present when she was down and my brother & sis in law who called from US but I wasn't around.. thanks for the sweet card & pressie all the way from the States ;) Mei called me from Melb!! What a lovely surprise.. and Sin Yee (wish you were in KL..just got the card & pressie, xie xie), Lay See, Geraldine, DiNg for the SMS greetings ;) Bee8, Teck, May Ann, Soon Yean, Ewan, Anne,Yinsern as well! Oh and Mel for sending SMS to my OZ number haha.. ;) Really hope I didn't miss anyone out!! If I did, sincere apologies!!
Thank you for every little thing! I'm so, so very blessed! ;)
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17
Le seul constant est le changement
Je croyais toujours que je vous connaissais mieux, mais quelquefois je ne savez pas si ce n'est vrai plus. La personne que j'ai eue l'habitude de connaître est maintenant très lointaine, presque comme une mémoire se fanant. Pourquoi les gens ont-ils toujours des motifs derrière leurs actions, se plaire ? L'altruisme est un article très rare et ceux qui le pratiquent souffrent seulement, bu t encore je choisis le motif nobler.
Mission: accomplished!
I made it!! Survived 2 and a half weeks without my manager around. She went for training in the States and everyone was like
"You're so lucky, get to leave work early etc etc" but the opposite was true.
I was overwhelmed with responsibilities. It was like having to fly when you have just learnt to crawl. Looking back, I asked for an opportunity to build trust with my clients, to do more than my scope and in a strange way, that did it for me. From sitting in meetings and taking notes, I was running meetings all of a sudden. From jotting down issues, I was forced to manage the issues. From noting down status updates, I was preparing the updates. It was an express learning curve, and I realized it's when you are given the responsibility that you learn the most. Somehow or other, the fastest way to learn is sometimes through being thrown in the deep end.
I'm somewhat relieved that my manager's back. She's great at her work, learn heaps from her.. and has an amazing way of dealing with people. So it's time for me to take a breather for a bit, and start walking... ;)
