Moving in

It has been a hectic past few days. At least the moving was without any hitch. The house is still in a bit of mess, with boxes and bags still unpacked and pieces of IKEA furniture still un-assembled. Out of the few things I bought, the 'Fisher & Paykel' fridge does not work, the 'Delonghi' air port leaves a funny tasting drinking water and the leg rest I picked from IKEA is of the wrong colour. Okay, the last one was my fault, but the other two tells much of the quality of electrical goods nowadays. It is like for every three items you buy, one is defective. There should be a penalty against the manufacturer for poor quality control. Like a $50 voucher or a discount on the initial price.

Sorry, I 'm sidetracking. Anyway, the house will keep me busy for the next one month. A paint job maybe, more IKEA shopping, do up the study and guest room, christmas decorating, etc. It's like I've taken up a new hobby, and that's not including the compulsory house chores. Oh well, this is the price you pay for owning your own place.

Here's a pic of my place before the move-in.

And here's how 'moving house' is done in Malaysia.

TGIF - The John Cage Way

Here's a wacky Ally McBeal video to warm up your dancing feet on Friday.
The one where Ally and friends all dance to Barry White singing 'You're the First, the Last, My Everything'. The look on John's face when he sees Barry is priceless ...

"Oh Baby, Oh We really got it together Baby"....

Barry White performing on Ally McBeal
Uploaded by leimsieder

Beyond Hope

An account of a personal battle against cancer by my colleague's husband.

Of Endings and Beginnings

On Friday, my company’s MD officially announced the death sentence. The company was winding up and all employees had less than seven months to help out in the transfer process, find new jobs, collect whatever retrenchment benefits that they are owed and clear out. Well at least that put at end to all speculations and rumours that have been circulating since early this year. But I guess many had not expected the axe to be brandished so soon. The hardest hit will be the ones above forty as the working culture in Singapore is not too kind or accommodating to older workers. Old doesn’t necessarily mean gold here. With that said, it is time to pay more attention to the recruit section again.

And on a totally different note, on Saturday, 11 Nov at 11am, under the watchful eyes of 11 family members and one toddler, I officially denounced my ‘single’ status and was officially wedded by the local Marriage Registrar. We are doing it pretty much the Singapore way, ie. book house – register marriage – wedding dinner a year later. A bout of food poisoning (from either the Nasi Lemak Rendang @ Larkin Station or Prawn Noodle @ Bentayan, the night before) literally gave me cold feet (and hands) that morning. Just had enough strength to last the short ceremony and lunch afterwards. A new journey begins …

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The True Love

There's a faith in loving fiercely the one who is rightfully yours
especially if you have waited years and especially if part of you never
believed you could deserve this loved and beckoning hand held
out to you this way.

I am thinking of faith now and the testaments of loneliness
and what we feel we are worthy of in this world.
Years ago in the Hebrides I remember an old man
who would walk every morning on the gray stones
to the shore of baying seals, who would press his
hat to his chest in the blustering salt wind and say his
prayer to the turbulent Jesus hidden in the waters.

And I think of the story of the storm and the people
waking and seeing the distant, yet familiar figure,
far across the water calling to them.
And how we are all preparing for that abrupt waking
and that calling and that moment when we have to say yes!
Except it will not come so grandly, so biblically,
but more subtly, and intimately in the face
of the one you know you have to love.
So that when we finally step out of the boat
toward them we find, everything holds us,
and everything confirms our courage.

And if you wanted to drown, you could,
But you don't, because finally, after all
this struggle and all these years,
you don't want to anymore.
You've simply had enough of drowning
and you want to live, and you want to love.
And you'll walk across any territory,
and any darkness, however fluid,
and however dangerous to take the one
hand and the one life, you know belongs in yours.

~ David Whyte ~

Uniquely JB

I was over in JB last Saturday for a short day trip at the invitation of Chern Yin. As a proud JB-ian, CY wanted to show us the less common attractions in this southern city while educating us on some of JB's geographical and historical facts. So you see it was not the usual foray into JB for VCD or cheap groceries.

For a more detailed write-up, go read Ravi's post on the visit, cause here I'm just putting up some random pictures. Enjoy!

Wat-do-you-know, we were on time to witness the arrival of VIPs at the SJER launch in Danga Bay.

Main event-hall of the SJER launch. Recognise any familiar bald patch ?

JB's own Dato'Shahrir talking to reporters outside the hall.

Spotted. CNA's Melissa Goh in mid-run.
Yeah, CNA reporters can't just sit around waiting, they got to write online reports too!

Bikes all proudly displayed. Their owners ? Lepak-ing under the shade while uninvited guests walk around the place unchecked. Well, that's just Malaysia's open styled security.

I found a 'Rumah Muar' at Danga Bay! Ok, we are not unique, every district had their own house too ...

A beautiful and quiet spot in Danga Bay - the Orchid Garden.

Had this JB version of the Laksa near Taman Nong Chik.

A couple spotted at 'Hutan Bandar' (the forest park in JB). Who wouldn't want their wedding pics taken near brown murky waters?

The grand old Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque.

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"Nothing like jb in early morning! sun shining ... birds singing ... snatch theives running ..."

- a quote from one of the guys before he admited in his latest post that there was more to JB then being S'pore's Tijuana. Name of person withheld .

The Great Equalizer

e-qual-iz-er [ee-kwuh-lhay-zer] :
any device or appliance for equalizing strains, pressures, etc.

courtesy of dilbert.com

Reminds me of the time when I was without Internet for almost half a year; though I forgot how I passed time during those dark ages...

So what is your 'equalizer'? Korean TV Serials? Free-to-play Online Games? Jodi Piccoult novels? Home making (seriously!) ? Or don't tell me you are one of the lucky fews with jobs that you just love to bits. Gahhh !

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"Businesses used to be like Christianity; if you were faithful and obedient, you could obtain bliss in the afterlife of retirement. Now its more of a reincarnation model. If a worker learns enough in his current job, he can progess to a higher level of employment elsewhere."

- Dogbert