| You Are Super Spicy |
 You're a little bit crazy, a little bit naughty, and a whole lot of sexy. You go beyond hot - you set people's senses on fire! |
Yeah baby yeah! (say it the way Mike Myers do…)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I'm Too Sexy...
Did one of the many million tests they have in blogthings when my brain shut down and I kept failing to jump start it at work today. And what have I found out about myself?
Yeah baby yeah! (say it the way Mike Myers do…)
Yeah baby yeah! (say it the way Mike Myers do…)
The Post Holiday Blues
It is my second day at work, and already I’m feeling overwhelmed by work. Of course I was prepared for the barrages of work that was waiting for me after being away from the office for a week, but what I wasn’t prepared for was new tasks that my new boss have only thought off during the one week she was away from the office. And suddenly I have like 5 deadlines to meet in a space of a month, and I have to say we’re talking about big deadlines here. And with my brains and basically whole system been turned off for a good week during the festive season, I almost suffered from systems jam when faced with all this yesterday. I genuinely thought I was going to get a heart attack yesterday and went to bed early just in case. Ok la… I exaggerated a bit about the heart attack but lesser mortals than me might not have been so lucky.
It took me a week to rediscover my zest again over the holidays, and it just took one day to spoil all that. Sometimes I think my life evolves around work too much that it’s killing the very essence of the person I am. I hate to complain, because I know complaining takes you nowhere here. I woke up this morning pondering how much longer can I stand all this. The working environment, the colleague-from-hell who doesn’t seem to get any smarter by the day, a boss who has no clue what he’s supposed to do, and a new department head who seem to trust the dumb colleague more than anyone else, at the expense of some people (myself included) who are already frustrated with her legendary incompetence to begin with. At times, I can’t help but feel I’m stuck in a lost cause.
*Sigh* Ntah le..
It took me a week to rediscover my zest again over the holidays, and it just took one day to spoil all that. Sometimes I think my life evolves around work too much that it’s killing the very essence of the person I am. I hate to complain, because I know complaining takes you nowhere here. I woke up this morning pondering how much longer can I stand all this. The working environment, the colleague-from-hell who doesn’t seem to get any smarter by the day, a boss who has no clue what he’s supposed to do, and a new department head who seem to trust the dumb colleague more than anyone else, at the expense of some people (myself included) who are already frustrated with her legendary incompetence to begin with. At times, I can’t help but feel I’m stuck in a lost cause.
*Sigh* Ntah le..
Friday, October 27, 2006
My Raya This Year
The beginning of Raya Aidilfitri in fact begins on the night before 1st of Syawal, when muslims all over the world will recite the takbir, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan and the beginning of Aidilfitri. The takbir signifies victory for the muslims, for having gone through a month of restraint and supposedly rehabilitation in the month of Ramadhan. For the Muslim who managed to achieve this objective in Ramadhan, there is a reward of purity to the soul and that he/she would come to the 1st of Syawal with a soul as pure as a newborn, Insya-Allah. The only sins that are left to be cleansed are the sins with other human beings, which is why you will see Muslims (in Malaysia at least) seeking forgiveness from one another on the 1st of Syawal.
I spent the 1st day of Raya in KL with my family. This has become a more regular feature in our family's raya plans this last couple of years. In the past, we used to drive back to my parents' hometown (my parents were childhood sweethearts, and they lived about half an hour's drive from each other) in Pontian a few days before Hari Raya. The last few days of fasting in kampung and the fun of playing with firecrackers used to be the order of the day for us kids back then. Those really were the days. Now that all my cousins have grown up, and having children themselves, spaces in my late grandma's house is at a premium. At any one time, there could easily be more than 50 of us if everyone showed up at the same time. So these days, when I do get the chance to go back to Johor for Raya we'd have no choice but to put up in a hotel. Yeah... I know it's sad but hey that's the price of overpopulation.
"Smile, smile at the camera!". Insyirah and my father. Seronoknyaa...
Performed my Aidilfitri prayers at the Wilayah Mosque in Jalan Duta. There were loads of people, foreigners were quite many amongst them. After that, our beraya adventure began. And that meant a lot of food and outflow of cash in the form of duit raya. Hehe... after fasting for a month, I have to say it took a little getting used to to eat again during the day, let alone to indulge oneself into a food galore as most of us would on this special occassion. I just managed to go beraya to 2 houses on the 1st day, and even that was too much for me. Some people could manage to go from one house after another all day and end up going to a dozen open houses and still come home hungry for more food.
Just looking back to the Aidilfitris I've experienced in the past, I can't help but feel that this special day has different meanings to each and one of us, at different stages in our lives. I'm not talking about it from the spiritual aspect though, as when it comes to that I think most of us Muslims already know what it means and how significant it is. What I mean is the social aspect of it. For instance, a kid's perception of Aidilfitri is definitely different from that of an adult. Just reminiscing my own experiences, Hari Raya meant getting new baju melayu, songkok, shoes, and the whole package of new stuffs to wear. It meant a 7 hour ride in the car on our balik kampung journey. It meant meeting all my cousins whom I don't get to meet very often because our trips to kampung at any other times in the year never coincided with each other. It was about playing firecrackers, even getting ourselves into a 'mini rockets war' with the children whose house was across the kampung street (thank god no one's house got burnt down or anything like that back then). And of course it meant going on raya rounds to houses in the kampung and getting duit raya. The rate at the time was in the region of 10 sen to a max of 50 sen. Not that the amount mattered much at the time, it was just the fun of walking around the kampung with your relatives in your new outfit that made it fun.
"I want this, and this, and this, and that!!". Insyirah dissecting Raya hampers with my mother in law.
Things are slightly different for the teenagers. Nothing changes in the clothing department, and we still expect to get new clothes when it comes to Hari Raya. But we were fashion conscious at this age. We wanted our baju raya to be extra special and different from the rest. My mum told me her teenage years was her most memorable moment when it came to Aidilfitri. And the moment most special for her was when my father came over to the house for Raya... it was an event she would wait for all year. Hehe... how sweet.
Raya this year is however extra special for me as my daughter Insyirah who is now 14 months old is old enough to understand what the fuss this day is all about. Well, at least that's what the people around her are doing to her anyway, fussing over what she would wear and stuffs for Hari Raya. Her behaviour has been very commendable as well, being well-behaved when we go for raya visits. She was only 3 months old the last Hari Raya and back then she was practically crying and screaming whenever we went for visits, so the number of houses we went last year was very few. This year, the crying and screaming were replaced with baby talk and chit chat and I noticed she has been very indulgent in conversations. She's turned out to be a very cheeky and friendly toddler with a very hearty and infectious laugh. Love you girl...
"Drive safely ok?"
My little family and I drove to Ipoh in the evening of the 1st of Raya, and we'll be driving back to KL today. To those of you who will be travelling today, have a safe journey. Drive carefully and not recklessly. Ingatlah orang yang tersayang. Do not make your future Aidilfitris a tragic memory as a result of an instant moment of madness and recklessness on the road. Let's make sure it brings only memorable nostalgias that we will like to recount over and over again.
I spent the 1st day of Raya in KL with my family. This has become a more regular feature in our family's raya plans this last couple of years. In the past, we used to drive back to my parents' hometown (my parents were childhood sweethearts, and they lived about half an hour's drive from each other) in Pontian a few days before Hari Raya. The last few days of fasting in kampung and the fun of playing with firecrackers used to be the order of the day for us kids back then. Those really were the days. Now that all my cousins have grown up, and having children themselves, spaces in my late grandma's house is at a premium. At any one time, there could easily be more than 50 of us if everyone showed up at the same time. So these days, when I do get the chance to go back to Johor for Raya we'd have no choice but to put up in a hotel. Yeah... I know it's sad but hey that's the price of overpopulation.
"Smile, smile at the camera!". Insyirah and my father. Seronoknyaa...
Performed my Aidilfitri prayers at the Wilayah Mosque in Jalan Duta. There were loads of people, foreigners were quite many amongst them. After that, our beraya adventure began. And that meant a lot of food and outflow of cash in the form of duit raya. Hehe... after fasting for a month, I have to say it took a little getting used to to eat again during the day, let alone to indulge oneself into a food galore as most of us would on this special occassion. I just managed to go beraya to 2 houses on the 1st day, and even that was too much for me. Some people could manage to go from one house after another all day and end up going to a dozen open houses and still come home hungry for more food.
Just looking back to the Aidilfitris I've experienced in the past, I can't help but feel that this special day has different meanings to each and one of us, at different stages in our lives. I'm not talking about it from the spiritual aspect though, as when it comes to that I think most of us Muslims already know what it means and how significant it is. What I mean is the social aspect of it. For instance, a kid's perception of Aidilfitri is definitely different from that of an adult. Just reminiscing my own experiences, Hari Raya meant getting new baju melayu, songkok, shoes, and the whole package of new stuffs to wear. It meant a 7 hour ride in the car on our balik kampung journey. It meant meeting all my cousins whom I don't get to meet very often because our trips to kampung at any other times in the year never coincided with each other. It was about playing firecrackers, even getting ourselves into a 'mini rockets war' with the children whose house was across the kampung street (thank god no one's house got burnt down or anything like that back then). And of course it meant going on raya rounds to houses in the kampung and getting duit raya. The rate at the time was in the region of 10 sen to a max of 50 sen. Not that the amount mattered much at the time, it was just the fun of walking around the kampung with your relatives in your new outfit that made it fun.
"I want this, and this, and this, and that!!". Insyirah dissecting Raya hampers with my mother in law.
Things are slightly different for the teenagers. Nothing changes in the clothing department, and we still expect to get new clothes when it comes to Hari Raya. But we were fashion conscious at this age. We wanted our baju raya to be extra special and different from the rest. My mum told me her teenage years was her most memorable moment when it came to Aidilfitri. And the moment most special for her was when my father came over to the house for Raya... it was an event she would wait for all year. Hehe... how sweet.
Raya this year is however extra special for me as my daughter Insyirah who is now 14 months old is old enough to understand what the fuss this day is all about. Well, at least that's what the people around her are doing to her anyway, fussing over what she would wear and stuffs for Hari Raya. Her behaviour has been very commendable as well, being well-behaved when we go for raya visits. She was only 3 months old the last Hari Raya and back then she was practically crying and screaming whenever we went for visits, so the number of houses we went last year was very few. This year, the crying and screaming were replaced with baby talk and chit chat and I noticed she has been very indulgent in conversations. She's turned out to be a very cheeky and friendly toddler with a very hearty and infectious laugh. Love you girl...
"Drive safely ok?"
My little family and I drove to Ipoh in the evening of the 1st of Raya, and we'll be driving back to KL today. To those of you who will be travelling today, have a safe journey. Drive carefully and not recklessly. Ingatlah orang yang tersayang. Do not make your future Aidilfitris a tragic memory as a result of an instant moment of madness and recklessness on the road. Let's make sure it brings only memorable nostalgias that we will like to recount over and over again.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A New Face
So there.
I've finally decided to give this blog a makeover. Well, with the Aidilfitri fever very much lingering in the air, and people celebrating Raya still fresh with the sweat and joy of decorating their houses, I felt it befitting that I gave my blog a new look as well. Perhaps it has been a tad overdue too. My blog had had the old look for too long that to be honest, I was beginning to feel a bit sick of the layout myself. I guess it is normal to feel that way with progression of time. Now I understand why my mom keeps changing the arrangement of the furnitures at home.
It didn't take me long to choose this new layout. I'd had something soothing and easy on the eye template in mind, and the color green was pretty much in the criteria. My wife commented however that the flower in the background at the top of the blog might give a bit of a feminine feel to the blog, but I didn't care. First of all, I like flowers anyway and having flowers as part of my deco. And secondly, traffic into this blog is comparable to the birth rate in Singapore that I don't think I should worry too much about comments.
Who knows with a new template, I will feel revived to make this blog alive again with updates. After having this blog for 3 years, I realise I've not really been able to live up to it. If I may be honest, it has been as much a source of an inspiration as it is embarassment to me. Inspiration as an outlet for me to pour whatever little literary talent I may (or may not) have. An embarassment for the lack of updates and substance that I have on it. Still, I feel compelled to allow this blog to exist rather than shutting it down. Surprisingly, I've made over a 100 postings here since it's inception. That fact alone is a worthy justification for it's existence.
Here's to a new face, and a refreshing future.
Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin.
I've finally decided to give this blog a makeover. Well, with the Aidilfitri fever very much lingering in the air, and people celebrating Raya still fresh with the sweat and joy of decorating their houses, I felt it befitting that I gave my blog a new look as well. Perhaps it has been a tad overdue too. My blog had had the old look for too long that to be honest, I was beginning to feel a bit sick of the layout myself. I guess it is normal to feel that way with progression of time. Now I understand why my mom keeps changing the arrangement of the furnitures at home.
It didn't take me long to choose this new layout. I'd had something soothing and easy on the eye template in mind, and the color green was pretty much in the criteria. My wife commented however that the flower in the background at the top of the blog might give a bit of a feminine feel to the blog, but I didn't care. First of all, I like flowers anyway and having flowers as part of my deco. And secondly, traffic into this blog is comparable to the birth rate in Singapore that I don't think I should worry too much about comments.
Who knows with a new template, I will feel revived to make this blog alive again with updates. After having this blog for 3 years, I realise I've not really been able to live up to it. If I may be honest, it has been as much a source of an inspiration as it is embarassment to me. Inspiration as an outlet for me to pour whatever little literary talent I may (or may not) have. An embarassment for the lack of updates and substance that I have on it. Still, I feel compelled to allow this blog to exist rather than shutting it down. Surprisingly, I've made over a 100 postings here since it's inception. That fact alone is a worthy justification for it's existence.
Here's to a new face, and a refreshing future.
Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin.
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