Choices

In less than 24 hours the new year of 2006 will be here. At this point I think it's appropriate to bring back the 3rd and final post from my old blog that I had saved. I wrote about choices and what making them meant to me then. Now more than a year later, as I read it again, it serves as a sobering thought while I contemplate on where my priorities, goals and plans should be heading for the year to come.

This was first posted on July 22, 2004.

Everyday I find myself faced with a multitude of choices:
- Do I get out of bed now or later?
- Should I eat rice or noodles?
- Do I get angry or get even?
- Do I speak up or do I keep quiet?
- Should I keep this or throw it away?
- Should I rest a while more or get back to work?
- Should I stay here or go there?
- Should I take the job or say no?
- Should I click here or type this?
choices, choices, choices....

Every choice has a consequence of equal impact on my life as well as that of others around me. But as I thought deeper I remembered the following images.

Thaipusam at Batu Caves, KL. Feb 2004






When I took the above photograph I wanted to illustrate the pain that the devotees go through in the name of their faith without actually being gory, as was common in pictures of Thaipusam. But while I was mulling over the point of this entry, I realized that the image can also be seen as the choice made by the devotee and the consequences of that choice. Much like the hooks with its sharp points, the consequences of my decisions leave their marks on me with each one I make.

Thaipusam at Batu Caves, KL. Feb 2004






As I continued to dwell on these thoughts and viewed through my images, it dawned upon me that the consequences where not just the markings made by the sharp ends. There where chains attached to those hooks. The decisions I make all have chains, strings, ties, links (whatever you want to call it) attached. Either to someone, something, or some other set of decisions. I was thinking to myself 'No wonder I feel so bogged down by stuff'.

Some say free will is a gift, some call it a curse. Me? I'm somewhat on the fence. Sometimes it's great to be able to make your own decisions, but then with that freedom also comes a certain amount of responsibilities. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to choose, that things were decided for me, I just needed to act accordingly. But then where's the fun in that?

Having biblical teachings 'drummed' into me during my formative years kinda makes decision making a lot more difficult at times. Especially when it touches on issues of morality, faith and ethics. Sometimes I cringe back from calling myself a Christian. I am far from being what that name proclaims - a follower of Christ. Of all my decisions that I make throughout the day, few (and sometimes none) are in the ways of Christ. It is difficult to decide when it seems to be going against every natural grain, fiber and instinct of my being, even when I know deep down that it is the right thing to do, or in some cases the wrong thing to do.

Regrets are another by-product of the choices and decisions I make. Actually regret in itself is a choice. I only feel regret when I choose to dwell on the mistakes or missed opportunities. Regret is the choice to cry over spilt milk. And yet knowing full well what it is still doesn't stop me from sighing, bawling and at times even cursing over the spill, when instead I could have simply wipe it up or walked away. There are several wet patches in my past that I keep afresh by visiting them periodically. What can I say. It's a choice.

Movie Thots: The Chronicles of Narnia

Just saw the movie 'The Chronicles of Narnia' with the hubby last night.

I must say that I was rather disappointed by the movie. The actors that portrayed the 4 kids and the white witch were terrible. The acting was extremely stiff and the expressions did not vary much. To me, the best acting came from the beavers and the lion. There was a real sense of weight and believability to the CG characters that are often missing in such animations. When the lion walked on the ground it didn't looked like it was floating.

Anyway, acting and effects aside, the story was ok I guess. As with most movies that are adapted from a series of books, there is only so much you can put into it within the limits of time. Well at least the main parts of the story were told.

All in all it wasn't as great as I had expected it to be. Maybe I was just expecting too much. But after being disappointed by 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', I was perhaps hoping for a different experience with Narnia.

Oh well, at least the hubby was ok with it and didn't fall asleep even though the movie was almost 3 hours long.

Next movie on the list before it ends: King Kong
(I know, I know. It's already been showing for over a month and I haven't seen it yet?? Hey, we've been busy :P )

And we are looking out for 'Superman Returns' coming in June.

And So This Is Christmas

Well Christmas this year was not too bad. There was a bit of mad rushing around for us during both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But other than that everything else for ok.

Christmas Eve:
This was one of the most rushed Christmas Eve I've ever had. And the weather was far from helpful. Having last minute wrapping and a bunch of things to carry didn't help either. So got my bro to come pick me up along with the gifts and Christmas tree*. Picked up the dinner along the way, spent close to 1 hour waiting for him to get a last minute gift, and arrived at my parent's close to 7pm. (I was suppose to arrive at around 1pm for lunch!) That's not the end. I wanted to decorate up the place to create a more Christmassy mood. So was rushing to put up the deco on the walls and also the tree. We were suppose to be at his sister's at 7pm. So when my bros & family started arriving everyone chipped in to do something: the dinner needed re-heating (unexpected), the walls were decorated (put I found out later that sticky tape won't stick on the walls 'coz of the finish), and the tree was dressed up by the kids and my mom. We then rushed over to his sister's close to 8pm, stayed there till about 9.30pm and then rushed back over to my parent's just in time to give out the gifts. We stayed till close to 1am, got home around 1.30am and finally went to bed at about 3am.

What a night!

*Since we have not celebrated Christmas at my parent's for many years, they didn't have a tree anymore. What would Christmas deco be without a tree. So I took it upon myself to make one from scratch for them. Took me 2 1/2 days to complete. Anyhoo, here are some pix of the tree from beginning to end result. But the final look wasn't really how I had planned it though. There were supposed to be lights and more frills... oh well.

Materials used: Compressed foam, aluminum foil, double sided tape, pva glue and glitter dust.

Christmas Day:
For the first time in many years, we attend church service on Christmas morning. Somehow it just felt right that we should be worshipping God on that morning. Although the service wasn't what we were both used to, the important thing was our purpose for being there.

We were slightly late for lunch at the Wee's since the service ended late and we had to go home to change as well as pick up the gifts. We spent the entire day there just lazing around, playing silly games and singing Christmas carols. We brought the dog over and it was rather amusing to see the small fart terrorizing the much bigger dog of the house. But after awhile the barking just got a little too much to bear and we had to keep them apart.

Gifts - from each other:
I got the hubby a new HD wallet that he's been eyeing and the Spiderman 1 DVD Collector's Edition that I ordered in specially from the US. He got me got 2 HD polos, 1 HD ladies t-shirt and a pretty M&S dress that I wanted.

Gifts - from others:
He got a box of Hawaiian Host, 3 boxes of Chinese herbs for his bad back, a miniature cruiser (bike) made from copper, $20, a few boxes of coffee and tea, and 2 ball candles.

I got a good dive bag, a book about Japanese cuisine with recipes, a miniature old-fashioned printing press made from copper, $20, facial scrub and mask, a snowman glass plate, and a Room & Linen spray.

We both got 2 oval plates and a set of instrumental inspirational Christian CDs.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas this year.

'Tis The Season

To all who have dropped by, is currently viewing, and will be surfing through....

Have a Blessed Christmas!

The Christmas weekend is finally here! Yay! It's been a crazy week of last minute shopping and wrapping of presents. I am sooo looking forward to the dinner at my mom's and spending Christmas day at Philip & Sheila's.

Christmas Presents

The result of the frantic last minute shopping done in the past week. Took a picture of the loot before I started wrapping last night. But the list is still not complete yet. I still have a few gifts to buy and I need to get them all by today!

I would be enjoying the opportunity to go shopping everyday more if it wasn't for the time constraint and stress of trying to get the best gift for each individual. Christmas shopping is only fun if I am able to take my time to carefully search and pick out the ideal gift for everyone, even if it means having to walk up and down Orchard Rd several times just to be sure. But it's not so fun when you have limited time and no idea what to buy or where to buy what you want.

And that is the problem I'm having this year: not knowing what to get for everyone, with the exception of The Hubby. That means thinking about gifts for 22 people! That is also why I still haven't completed shopping for gifts yet. It's just soo frustrating sometimes when I just can't seem to find a suitable gift or at least think of one.

Well I'm heading out much earlier today so that hopefully by late afternoon I can finish shopping for the last 5 gifts. And then treat myself to a good and relaxing manicure and pedicure.

My long nails are almost driving me nuts, but I was reluctant to chop them off seeing as how Christmas was fast approaching. At least it will give me an excuse to get a manicure done, and since I'm already there to do my hands, might as well get my feet done too.

Today will be an especially long day. It is more like a continuation of yesterday since I've not slept the entire night. Gosh! I hope I can keep awake for class later. Watashiwa ima totemo nemui desu!!

Amazing Plastic Building Bricks

Read about this on mrbrown's.

It's an auction on ebay for an 8-ft long model of a Star Wars Rebel Attack Cruiser built out of LEGO blocks. The detailing on this model is awesome. It never ceases to amaze me the stuff that can be built from LEGO bricks. It seems that they can be fitted together to form almost anything.

They have been around for a long time. I remember playing with these little plastic bricks when I was a kid. Although I could never piece anything even vaguely resembling any known items together. So most of the time I would sit and watch, fascinated, as my brother Sol would build small planes, ships, cars and buildings. Now his 6 year old son shares in his love of building stuff from tiny plastic bricks and watches, like me before, as his dad create models from the many small pieces. However, it's MEGA BLOKS for my nephew though.

My nephew told us that he wants to gather enough of the bricks so that he and his dad can build a model car that is big enough for him to sit in and he even wants to be able to 'drive' it around. How he proposes to power the car he doesn't know yet. The simplicity of a child's thinking.

Well anyway my gift for him this Christmas was easy enough to get. But that still leaves another 8 more gifts that I need to go shop for and wrap before this weekend. Yup, Christmas is in another 4 days!

Kawaii!!

Another new addition to the list: Cute Overload

A site dedicated mostly to posting images of really cute animals. Some of the images really make you go 'aawwww'.

New Addition - man of lettuce

A new addition to my list of bloggers: man of lettuce

From the view point of a Sydney cab driver.

It's an interesting read especially with the recent racial riots in Sydney. Gives a perspective that is not mentioned or covered by main stream media.

A snippet from one of his recent posts about what's happening in Sydney:

Like all Australians my passenger loved the beach yet was worried his planned Christmas vacation up the North Coast was now in jeopardy. ‘But I‚’m not so sure now after all this trouble. Maybe I'll have to stay clean shaven’, he laughed, rubbing a classic Mediterranean beard shadow.

I asked for his opinion about the trouble. 'I can tell you this’, he said raising one finger. ‘These hard heads aren’t gunna back down 'till they get what they want’. "And what do they want?’. ‘Respect’, he replied. ‘What, respect through fear?’, I suggested. He then simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘Unfortunately, yes".

Race and religion - two of THE MOST sensitive and volatile topics in human history. And so therefore also making them the preferred choice of 'weaponry' for extremists, terrorists, criminals and sometimes even political leaders to achieve their motives.

Even in the most innocent and peaceful of circumstances, things can turn ugly if religious or racial topics are brought up improperly or handled callously. Especially in this day and age where you can get beaten up while 'sunbaking' simply because of the colour of your skin.

Sigh!

Image of the Moment - Sentosa

Some background info about the current 'Image of the Moment'.

It was taken at the musical fountain on Sentosa island quite some time ago. I was still using the Canon D60 then. There was no Photoshop effects done to the image. What you see here is exactly what I got that night. We were learning how to take multiple exposures using a digital SLR. It was great fun as the techniques are quite different from how multiple exposures are done on analog (film) cameras. Although the principles are still the same.

Since the lights and water formations are changing all the time, you really won't know for sure what you got until you are done. And no two images are a like either. Here's another image taken that same night. But I still prefer the other one.

Why Did God Give Us All That Hair?

Here's another post from my old blog that I could not delete. Had quite a laugh while reading it again. This was first posted on July 02, 2004.

Just spent 30 mins pruning myself. I am blessed with hair in all the wrong places! As I contorted myself to facilitate the removal of the offending follicles, my mind wandered as it always does (helps to cope with the pain). And it came to rest on this topic of body hair.

There has to be a reason why God gave us hair on varied places of our topical anatomy.

So why should certain hairy regions be looked upon as unsightly while other areas are meticulously pruned and maintained?

So many products, treatments and techniques for temporary, and some permanent, hair removal. But isn't it ironic that there seems to be an equal amount of products and treatments to encourage hair growth?

Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow channel hair from one area of the body to another? Then we won't have to worry about not having enough hair where it matters and too much where it's undesired.

But then back to my first point of why did God give us hair in all those areas to begin with. I don't believe God is a frivolous creator who creates without reason or purpose. Well I'm sure there must have been and must still be a reason for us to have all that hair. We are just not seeing it. And we have created so many other reasons for ourselves - aesthetic, hygiene, medical, even religious - to continue in our pursuit of hairless underarms, smooth stubble free legs and a beautiful head of hair or lack of (depending on your religious obligations).

So what's your take on this: why did God give us all that hair?

Lost Budgie Blog

I've just added a new site under 'Other Folks Who Blog' called Lost Budgie Blog.

Interesting postings on world affairs, both widely known and lesser known. Offers his own views and comments on events and happenings that he comes across.

Racial unrest
Community violence
Political statements
Corporate comments
etc.

Good read if you are into such stuff.

My 1st Dive Trip

I got an Open Water Scuba Diving course for my birthday from my hubby this year. It's something that I've been thinking about doing for a very long time. Finally I got to experience first hand what all the fuss was about. And it was GREAT!

The feeling when you are breathing underwater and swimming with the fishies is just incredible. There was some anxiety just before the first two dives but after that it wasn't so bad.

For the open water dives we headed up to one of the islands along the West coast of Malaysia called Pulau Dayang. It was 3D2N over the weekend. It started with a 3 hour (approx.) drive up from Singapore to the jetty at Mersing (M'sia). Then it was a 3-4 hour boat ride out to the island. We did 3 dives on the first day and 2 more in the morning on the second day before leaving the island in the afternoon.

I so loved the entire experience. The feeling of weightlessness was quite liberating. But the best part of it all for me was simply the ability to breath normally while staying underwater.

My instructor passed his underwater camera to me on our 4th dive and it just suddenly opened up another whole new experience. And needless to say I loved it.

To top off an already great experience, we encountered a pod of dolphins while on the way back to the mainland. That was such a thrilling experience. Prior to going up our instructor was telling us about how he had seen a pod of dolphins on his way back just a few weeks before, and about how that was quite a rare sighting. So when we encountered the pod it was really unexpected. According to our instructor, that was only his second sighting in the whole of this year and he has been making trips back and forth almost every weekend. The encounter was just absolutely exciting. Especially when the pod swam right under the front of the boat.

That was my first dive trip but it most definitely won't be my last. =)

Photo sources:
Image 2 is courtesy of Frank. To see more of Frank's images from the trip click here.

To see more of my trip images, click here.

The Girls

The six of us have know each other since we were kids. Now out of six, 4 are married and 2 are mothers. How time really flies.

It is interesting how the topics of our conversations, when we managed to meet up, has evolved over time, according to what stage in life we were at. We used to talk about movies, exams, boys and other girlie stuff when we were teens. Then when we each started working, stresses at work, career paths and relationships came up. Now the topics mainly revolves around marriage, children and work stress (though not as much). The only topic that has remained constant in a way is our faith. It has been brought up in different ways at different times and for different reasons, but somehow it would be brought up at least once every time we met up.

Well I'm looking forward to meeting up with everyone again when C comes back for CNY. I know the one update that will be brought up will be LJ's.

Show Me The Money

Yay! I got my 3rd payout from 12DP today. Can't wait till end Jan to withdraw my principal sum plus profits. After that it's all profits!

Yay!!

Visit to Geylang Serai

In early November, I played host for 1 day to 2 Japanese youth on their 1st visit to Singapore. They are part of a group of 13 youths who came over on a cultural exchange program.

Since it was close to Hari Raya Puasa*, I thought it might be an interesting experience for them to visit Geylang Serai*. This was the best time to go since the main road was decorated with lights and there was a big bazaar with hustle and bustle as the locals prepare for the festivities.

Got them to try a few of the local 'delights' like bandung*, steamed corn kernals, steamed peanuts and cut ice-cream*. They really loved the ice-cream (image 2). Nastumi got a pretty henna design done on her wrist for the first time. Hiroshi tried on a songkok* and tried to look good in it. And they were both very pleased with the little souvenir they got: a design of their names cut out of coloured plastic and made into a key chain. It was rather well done actually.

It was a pity they had a curfew to observe and so we had to leave early. But it was nonetheless an enjoyable time for them and I certainly enjoyed being the 'local guide'. :)

Actually to be honest I think that was the most fun I've ever had at Geylang Serai. The place is usually rather quiet at other times of the year.

To see more photos of the visit click here.

* Glossary:
Hari Raya Puasa - The celebration of the new year according to the Malay calendar, following a month of fasting. Much like the Chinese Lunar New Year, except for the fasting month.

Geylang Serai - An enclave for the Malay community. Similar to Chinatown and Little India. Click here and here for some interesting photos and videos.

bandung - A drink favoured by the Malays. It's a mixture of Rose syrup, condensed milk and water and it's usually drank cold.

cut ice-cream - A thick slice cut from a huge block of frozen ice-cream. Placed either onto a slice of soft bread or clasped between two thin wafers. Sold mostly from mobile freezers on motorbikes. (Part of it can be seen in image 2 above. We had the wafers.)

songkok - Traditional headgear for Malay males, worn together with their traditional outfits during festivals or important events such as weddings. (My spelling might a little off here though.)

Banquet Manager from H***!

After reading through posts from my old blog again, I decided to bring back three that were too good to delete. I'll be posting them separately over time. Here's the first and my favourite. I can still remember how immensely stressed out I was by this incompetent manager from the Equinox. It was posted on July 29, 2004.
===

I had one of the most frustrating conversations with the banquet manager in charge of my wedding, which happens to be in less than 10 days!

She is so inflexible, unaccomodating and just bordering impossible! Not to mention repetitive and has the comprehension level of a child!

All I need to know from her today was the following:
- what time can my coordinator and I meet with her, the floor manager for our night and their florist next tues;
- the floor plan for the evening so that I can arrange the seating arrangements since the tables are oval and not round;
- what sort of arrangements can she help me with in regards to my wedding cake, that will be coming with me when I check in on Sat.

Those don't seem like too difficult to understand tasks, are they?

Point 1 - the meeting
Instead of giving me a straight answer of yes, no, let me arrange with them and I'll get back to you asap, she gave me this 'round the whole world' answer: i'm not sure if the manager can make it; I thot you have already seen the room, there's no need to see the sound room as there is only 1 cd player (my music coordinator requested this point so that he knows what his limitations are on that day, which I totally agree); .... and a whole lot of other stuff that I can't even remember.

At the end, after repeating myself twice over that I need to know the time by today, she said 'Oh I can only let you know after I've checked with the manager's schedule.' Well DUH!

Point 2 - the floor plan
I gave them my own version of how I thought the room could be laid out last week during the food tasting. But I remember repeating more than twice that the plan wasn't accurate and it was only my suggestion. I asked that they tell me what they think was physically possible instead since they are more familiar with the room than I was, or so I thot!

Today when I asked her if she can at least let me know how the table are facing she referred to my drawing and said ' I'm looking at the plan you gave us and your tables are a lot more oval than ours, so the plan would be different. If you want me to give you a floor plan the tables will be drawn as rounds, not ovals.' I couldn't believe what I was hearing from her!! So I slowed down my speech and tried explaining to her as I would child:
- I have already told her the plan was not accurate;
- how can she give me a floor plan showing round tables when the actual tables are oval;
- no matter how close to round the tables are they are still ovals and ovals have a definite point on two sides (I also reminded her that I have seen the tables physically and know what they look like)
- it is crucial to me to know how they will be arranging the tables so that I know how to seat my guests (I actually had to repeat this point twice throughout the conversation on this topic)

Actually a simple 'Ok I will look into it for you and let you know asap' would have suffice and the matter settled. But oh no, not her. She kept bringing up the plan I gave her and how it's not accurate, and that the plan she does will show round tables instead of oval. Talk about repeating oneself!

To top it of, she starting telling me how they will be laying the room out: tables first, than stage, than dance floor. Super DUH!! I know what will be in the room since I requested for the stage and dance floor, and I don't need to know the procedure. All I wanted to know was where the tables will be facing in relation to the aisle and stage!!!

In the end she said, rather unhappily, 'I'll get the floor plan done for you.'

Point 3 - the cake (the conversation on this topic really took the cake! pun intended)
She knows I will be bringing my own cake and I distinctly remember mentioning to her that I will be checking in with the cake and I'll need help to store it before my cake lady arrives to fix it up.

The arrangements on my side was such that the cake will be sent to my place a few days prior to the wedding for reasons too long to mention here and is of no concern to the incident that I'm talking about.

All I needed to know from her today was what sort arrangements will be made for the storing of my cakes (my cakes will be in 5 boxes). Gosh the moment I mentioned about the cakes I could almost hear her tense up over the phone.

(I wanted to say that this is a summary of the conversation, but as I read thru it again... nope this is it. All I took out were the various versions to my questions and her repeated answers.)
Q: Where will my cakes be stored?
'Since your cakes are not from us I'm not sure if our fridge is big enough to store them.'
'Since your cakes are not from us we have to give priority to our own cakes and may not have the space for yours.'
'Since your cakes are not from us I cannot be responsible for them.'

Q: Where will my cakes be stored?
'Our fridge upstairs is not very big and is used to store the ingredients for the day, so there may not be enough space for your cakes.'
'No we do not have a freezer upstairs.'
'I don't understand why can't your cake shop deliver the cake for you on the day. That's how others usually does it.'

Q: What if your chef really says that the cakes can't fit. Can you help me come up with another solution?
'What solution can you suggest?'
'See even you can't come up with a suggestion, what do you expect me to do?'
'You can't push it to me to solve this for you.'
'Why can't you get the cake people to deliver the cakes here on that day for you?'

Arrggghhh!!! God help me deal with stupid people!

Party with Sensei

In August of this year we said farewell to one of the best teachers I've ever been taught by. He was our Japanese language sensei. He had completed his three year contract at the mission centre and has to go back to Japan.

It was a great experience learning from him. He was extremely patient. Really humorous in a slightly geeky, 'Mr Bean' sort of way. But his teaching methods and notes was the awesome bit. We were all saddened that he could not stay on with us to the other levels.

Well a few of us got together and gave him a farewell bbq dinner and also brought him out to party at Bar None one night. It was a fantastic night. We made him drink so much that he almost passed out on the lobby chair. But we all had a great time nonetheless, and sensei most especially.

Here's a pix of us at the club that night.

New and improved!

Well I'm back! For the few who have been to my old site and still remembers it, you will notice a whole different look and a different title. But all the old posts have been archived away where no one will ever read them again (hopefully). Might bring a few of the better ones back .... but probably not...

Oh well.... Yay! To my new and improved site.

ROARS!!!