Chinese New Year

It's there more days man! I used to be very excited about it because it was the time that I was allowed to drink and get fat ang pow from the old folks. Well not anymore...:(
Anyway, to all my Chinese friends, Happy Chinese New Year, Cong Xi Fa Cai or Kong He Fatt Choy!

Something to share with

It makes me rethink about what other people view their religion believes in this country. Do they view it as a way of life, or something that they believe that they would gain benefits from it?

Few days ago, when I was about to take Little David for his evening exercise at Pearl Hill, a group of people approached me. A gentlemen who appeared to be the leader of the group asked if I could spare few minutes to speak to him. I could see he was a pastor or some sort since he's wearing a high collar front button black shirt and matching trousers and shoes. To my own expectation, he would like to give me something free to read about. I politely decline because I did not want to be wasteful by accepting something that I would not read, even it was free. You know, saving environment is a sacred act too. He did not give up and started to talk about calling to GOD. I told him that I was a Baptist so it was ok.

As I was about to ask him what was his denomination and where the church he was servicing, he started to pursuade me to follow his since I might find his a better one. You see, I am trying to be open minded and welcome others to approach me to share their experiences with the religion they believe or follow. I even welcome intellectual discussions about Quran, Bible, Tao De Jin or any other holybooks. Because through discussion I find myself to understand more about other's ways of life or the philosophy that lies behind these scriptures. We may not agree to each other. But it helps to understand each other's more.

I have made lots of friends through this. We call it spiritual exchange. We don't try to talk each into believing theirs. We just exchange our views on certain thing, i.e., Should we review the Ten Commandent? or other things like that. We leave it to each of us to decide if the issue of conversion arise. That means we never tell others that ours is better so they should join us. Tis I call an open mind, and it really really helps me in dealing with people with different faiths. Of course, I must apologize for being mischievious sometimes since sometimes my evilself takes over, and I can't help it...;)

Coming back to this pastor/preacher, I totally disagreed with what he said. What the hell was he thinking about when he said I should try his because I might find it better? Religion is not a merchandized item. It is a spiritual thing. We can't use money to buy it. If we do, it's not a religion or something that means evil. I felt sick and disgust by his statement. He should be ashame of saying it. I told him bluntly that I am my own boss, and I don't need others to talk me into choosing what religion or in this context what denomination I should follow. In othe word, I told him to mind his own business and fuck off. Maybe he sensed my annoyance of his remarks. He quickly apologized and walked away.

Just something to share with. But this incidence really give me a deep thought about it afterwards. I am really dissapointed of his remarks.

So buddy, next time if you have a chance to preach for your believe, be careful for what you are saying. Try pick the right word and don't criticize other's believes. You are doing a good deed by spreading the wisdom of GOD. But it is also a sin to criticize/insult others.

Something to share with. Yup, I am in a zen mode now...:)

God bless!

"You're Beautiful"

I happen to listen to this when I tuned into WBLI, a radio station based in Long Island, New York. It's amazing how sometimes we can relate our experience in life to the song. Anyway, just something to share with. The singer is James Blunt. I think it's a hit in Malaysia too. Anyway, I don't listen to local radio stations much.

"You're Beautiful"

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Flying high, [ - video/radio edited version]
Fucking high, [ - CD version]
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

Crabs

I saw this bunch of crabs when I was geocaching at Pulau Betung, a place that's located at the south western corner of Penang island. At the first glance they look like common mud crabs but they are apparently not since mud crabs live in mangrove habitat. So I decided to search on the internet to see if I could find any info about it. To my dismay, I could only see anything that's related to the study of crustaceans in this area from NUS, the National University of Singapore. Touted to be an expert in Marine Biology with a state of the art research facilities in Muka head, I couldn't find any similar guides posted on the website of USM.
It was not long ago people were creating hoo-haa about dropping in rankings of the local universities here. They came all sort of excuses why they drop in rank. Of course the most famous one is the body that evaluate the ranking is not Asian and they are more biased towards those in the west. But if you look at the list, you will find that others like Beijing University, Hsing Hwa, National University of Taiwan, NUS, Waseda, India Institute of Tech etc are all in the top 25. They are being biased? You tell me!
I am getting more and more worried about the academic future of little David. I once used to feel bad about not able to enter local U. Now, I feel blessed because I got a chance to enjoy what university life is really about in Taiwan and US! I hope I could provide such opportunity to him too.

NUS Marine life guide: http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/001.htm

Muka Head Research Station:http://mukahead.tripod.com/
(Take note, they don't even have their own domain name!)

Tennis Babes

Ana Ivanovic, Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, Sania Mirza.... What do they have in common? Yup they play tennis professionally, and they are stunningly beautiful. I wonder why don't we have bed...err...badminton babes or football babes? It is a thing to ponder, don't you think???

Ana Ivanovic
Anna Kournikova
Maria Sharapova
Sania Mirza


Just out of my concern, I gave my lunch partner a call to see how she was doing. I am glad she comes out of her shitty mood now, and have decided to give her boyfriend a chance to prove himself that he is worth her time. That guy will have an uphill battle to prove himself, that's one thing for sure. I know her for some time, and I understand what she expects from her loved one!

Lets hope I will not receive her e-mail about being shitty mode and need my shoulder for her to sob again! I don't think I will be gentle next time!

In Zen Mode Again

Zen mode one: Ming was pretty upset when he got to know that I may give it a pass to attend our youngest brother's wedding registration ceremony. He thought I should give it a chance by showing kind of "support". I don't like short notice. Because it screws up my schedule. I always plan things weeks in advance, i.e., if I want to go mountain biking on Sunday after two weeks, I start planning now. Short notice likes this will screw the whole thing, and I hate it when people do it to me. It doesn't matter if that people were my wife, my old folks or even my brothers. If you really care about me attending your occasion, two weeks at least in advance please. Otherwise, unless it is a life threatening, I will put yours at the bottom of my priority list.

Zen mode two: Lunch partner is having a problem with her relationship. My worst nightmare is not a really a dream so it seems. I feel bad about her relationship turn sour. I hope it is not because of me. From what she told me about her boy friend, I can tell it would not last long(I didn't tell her of course). He's a mama boy. Everything must refer to mama first. He is also a nice kid. You can say he's your aunt Ann favorite son in law as he doesn't smoke, he doesn't do drugs, he doesn't gamble, he doesn't use foul language, he doesn't listen to pop music, he drives a Honda City and he stays at home during the weekend watching soup opera. In anther word, he's boring. He doesnt even send her flower or small gifts. I feel bad about saying this but I can't help it. I had a chat with her last night and offered my shoulder for her to sob. So I told her few jokes to cheer her up. Suffice to say I am not very successful until I added few salt to the joke, ahem. To spice up the mood lah, so to speak! Buddy if you read this please listen. If you think it doesn't work out, please talk to him. The earlier the better. Don't wait until it's too late. This is a cruel world. I know it hurts to say sorry-you-are-not-my-type-because-you-stink-and-I-have-to-say-bye-bye-to-you. But it will be temporary. Don't wait until you get married and have a kid with him. Until then things will be very complicated since it involves a child. Imagine how traumatize the kid will be by knowing that his parents would go separate ways. I'll pray for you!

"I don't know how am I going to fit you into my department."

That was the open statement before I was even given a chance to tell my story. Sad? I felt cheated! If I were not the one they are looking for, what's the point of asking me to come over for the second round?

I was so down even I told my lunch partner off when she asked me about the interview. Of course, I felt bad afterwards and apologized to her.

Anyway, keep on searching now.

My wife's new cafe premise

These are the pictures of the new premise. A beach front motel that run by the old couple. She's thinking maybe she will take over the motel if the business at the cafe were good. I could see potential there to become a popular B&B for backpackers since there are not many beach front budget motels in Penang.
Oh yes, the one that I went for an interview last year called me again just now. It is for the second interview. My lunch partner told me that they could be interviewing me for a post of department head. Department head, me?? Wow, that's the hat that's too big to fit onto my head man. Anyway, the interview is tommorow. If what she said were true, I am going to ask for more than what I initially requested. A fat traffic allowance maybe? Or a 5 figure montly salary? Haha, dream on!

Rice Gen2 ;). Dun pray pray. Beach front one!


The Bar Counter


Chairs and Tables at the back of the stage.