Happy New Year 2009

Although 2009 is already 19 days old as of today, I hope it is still not too late for me to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year!

The year 2008 has been most eventful and wonderful, for me and those who are close to me at least. Nothing really extraordinary happened, but when you've got your loved ones, your health, a job to ensure the paycheck keeps coming in and a shelter to live in, you can't really say it hasn't been good. Not extraordinary as I've said, but more than enough to make me feel grateful to the Almighty for the other blessings he's given me that could prove elusive to some others. Just read the news at what's happening in Gaza at the moment, and you'll understand what I'm saying. Imagine the price the Palestinians are willing to pay for a quiet night's sleep without the deafening sounds of bombings and the eternal fear. My prayers are with them always.

As far as the resolutions of last year went, there have been modest achievements. If there's anything I've learnt over the last year, is to set ambitious yet realistic targets, and build upon them. Get to know myself better, and work on my strength. I enlisted the things I intended to achieve last year specifically, although looking back while still in 2008 it made me think why I set some of them. Maybe I need to consistently relook and rethink my plans. I guess the theme for 2009 is flexibility, and to be more agile. Only recently has it dawned on me how straight I am as a person. I need to be flexible in learning new things while maintaining what's good in the name of my religion and family.

Here's to a hopefully beautiful year, for everyone, in everything that we do, in every dreams that we aspire to achieve.

May the Almighty keeps us in His blessings and protection always.

Amiin.

My 2008 Resolutions: A Review

The famous saying goes, time and tide waits for no man, and before you could even ask "what happened?", the year 2008 is almost 1/3 through. It feels like it was only so recently that I made a posting on my resolution at the beginning of this year, and walla, what do you know? It's already April and there's exactly 256 days left to the year.

Whoa!

Back in my studying days, countdowns can have quite an unnerving effect. I know some of my more nerdy friends used to make countdowns on the number of days before the beginning of the year end exams, which never failed to make my tummy turn. Which is why I never made a point to track the time I had left before such big and important events like my exams, interviews, or presentations. It was like my way of running away from reality and not wanting to acknowledge the eventual truth / reality that I would have had to face until it finally came, by which time of course it would have been too late for me to make any difference about.

Therein lies a long standing inherent problem about myself, which I've only recently came to comprehend. I run away from problems, and I am a coward when it comes to confronting harsh realities.

However, that's another story which I shall share with you some other time.

In the mean time, having gone through 1/3 of the year, I feel it's appropriate for me to review where I am in the scheme of what I've resolved to achieve in the year. Success is hard to gauge if it is not measured, and if I really am resolute about my resolutions, I need to know where I am as far as achievements of my resolutions is concerned.

1. To become a better Muslim
If I may be honest, I am rather ashamed that I have not made any significant progress in this respect. I should strive harder to at least achieve what I had set to achieve in this respect early this year.

2. To be a better son, husband and father
I don't know if in the eyes of my parents, wife and daughter, I have really become any better. But I have learnt to be more considerate and patient this year. I have been listening more than I talk. Problems can resolved better when you resort to listening and understanding others instead of talking or lecturing too much. Like a good friend of mine once pointed out, we have one mouth and two ears, but we somehow choose to talk more than we listen...

3. To be more organised
This is like having to move a big heavy rock from its resting place over the last 30 years; it's bloody heavy! My middle name could even be Disorganised! I have tried to improve in this respect. I need to plan better and spend more time on working this out. Short term target: Keep my workstation at the office neat for 1 month.

4. To lose weight
I had intended to record my progress here on a weekly basis. Later I decided to make it a bi-weekly exercise due to seemingly lack of progress that could be achieved in 1week to post any meaningful progress. It has been over 2 months now since my last update on my weight loss challenge and progress is akin to human population on the moon; non-existent. I have however resorted to an intervention plan this last couple of weeks to boost the effort a little bit, which I hope will spring in some results this next couple of weeks. I shall share with you what the plan is only if it reaps success. Malu la cerita sekarang. Sekali no change jugak...

5. To pass all my remaining ACCA papers in one sitting
I did pass the exams I sat for in December 07, after attempting it for the 3rd time! So the omen looks good for my next sitting in June 08.
To do: A set of past year paper for each of the paper I'm sitting for this June 08 on a weekly basis until the exam day. From this weekend onwards.

6. To learn and excel at my new working place
Still work in progress. Not much to comment as yet...

7. To have more regular postings in this blog
This posting inclusive, this year has witnessed the 3rd highest postings made in a year in this blog since I first started blogging. Horay to that, and I hope it will continue till the end of the year.

8. To develop a new hobby
Nothing as yet. I have not even had a look at the bike in the store room. Been too busy really. Maybe an easier hobby to undertake now? Hmmm...

9. To inculcate a habit of reading
I have managed to read a book thus far, and I've even made a commentary about it here. Been moving at a snail's pace with the second book though.

So much planned, and now so much to do and so little time. I had better get cracking...

Finally… Launching of my Holiday Blog

It has been a long while since I posted anything meaningful in here. Well, it has actually been just over a month, but if my resolution for this year is anything to go by, the rate of update has been rather poor. But it feels like my excuses are more valid this time, because when I say that I’ve been busy with work this time, I REALLY have been busy with work. Work in my previous place now feels like child’s play in comparison, and I really have been slogging just to survive and meet what is required of me. But it has been a very fulfilling learning experience at the same time, and not to mention humbling. The hard learning experience has somehow made me more receptive to learning and my surroundings and I am happy to say I feel a much improved person altogether.

The last couple of weeks have been rather eventful, and from the look of things to come, so will the next couple of weeks be. In fact just about 3 weeks ago, my family and I went on a vacation in Cherating Kuantan, a vacation which I had planned for as long as last December. We had originally plan to go for the vacation in February, but given work commitments we had to reschedule for a month later. It was a memorable affair by any account, and I have dedicated a specific blog just to capture the experiences that we encountered during that 5 days vacation.

It was actually part of my own personal project really, i.e. to create a new blog specific for the purpose of this vacation. I wanted to capture every tiniest moment that we had, and to capture the experience of the whole vacation in the mode of a road trip. My personal project was probably inspired by some road trip movies I’ve watched like RV and Eurotrip (although the latter is not exactly a good example to model for a family vacation!), and I endeavored to make sure my eyes were open to the tiniest detail. It actually had the effect of making the whole vacation a most memorable one as I was driven to plan our activities more carefully than usual, and was also more receptive to the things we were doing and the environment we were in. It sort of gave me a fresh pair of eyes to view probably the same world that I had been to before, only now I was looking at the pleasures that I could actually extract from our environment if I looked carefully enough.

If there is anything that I’ve learnt from this little project of mine, I would like to be more prepared with my camera the next time. For instance, it only occurred to me that I should have taken more pictures of the scenic views that we encountered along the way of vacation after the event, and even some landmarks of our journey that would probably give the whole trip a dramatic feel. Insya-Allah there will be more such similar vacations in the future, and hopefully yours truly will be better prepared then.

You can find the link to my holiday blog in the sidebar to this blog, or just click here for access.

Is This As Good As It Gets?

The weekend has been a hectic one for me. Basically, it has been hectic since the beginning of last week when I had to go to Jakarta for a one day business trip. There is just so much to do in so little time, it feels like being asked to eat 5 large super supreme pizzas in 5 minutes, only that eating pizzas would at least be a more attractive proposition.

In my quest to try get more things done in a day, I have trained myself to utilise as much free time as possible to do work, and am now training myself to begin my day as early as 4 in the morning to cover more ground. It seems like the only way out of this predicament that work has put me in.

It's just a bit sad when you think of it, how much we have to endure just to make a living. Well, I do not intend to sound ungrateful with the situation I'm currently in. At least I do have a job, a roof to live under, a car that I can drive around with, enough food to bring back home at the end of the day, and with some spare change to plan for the ocassional family holidays. I can still say that my situation is much better than probably millions of people out there who are probably not as fortunate to have these basic needs at their disposal. Given such considerations, I know I should be happy.

But is this as good as it gets? The lifestyle of leaving home for work at the break of dawn, and returning only once after the sun has set, not being able to spend quality time with your family? Getting stressed over the organisation's business at work, getting pushed to swallow 5 or more equally urgent things to get done in a week, resulting in consistent stress and pressure that you dream about the assignmens you've not done even in your sleep? Not being able to give more back to your parents now when they're still around and healthy, because there is just isn't enough time because of the work, and money because you make only a measly amount of salary? Wifey had to stay in the office yesterday till 10 at night to finish a report for submission today (yeah on Sunday), missing a family dinner we had last night.

Again, is this really as good as it get?

It has made me to reflect upon what we're doing, and why we're doing it. Is this life in the corporate world something that I have to contend with for the rest of my life? Am I really enjoying doing what I'm doing, solving the company's problems, dealing with difficult people and situations, and probably won't get rewarded as well as the other person who is a better employee and and high-flying 'servant' of the company? Do I want to be rewarded as such anyway, and being given even more work and having to give more of my time for the extra special perks that come with the job and position, and having no time to enjoy them anyway because the work will not allow me to do so?

Really it has got me thinking.

I was browsing through the net today and incidentally bumped into this article of how some teenagers in the USA and UK have made it big by pursuing ventures which they have real passion in, and pressed on those passion to become teenage millionaires. While the other kids in this teenage success stories made their mints from the internet, the succes of Fraser Doherty from Edinburgh, Scotland probably means much more as he made it big by only selling jams from his grandmother's recipe, which he started out by selling to his neighbours in his neighbourhood in Edinburgh. He practically started the business in the kitchen of his parents' home, at the age of only 14! And now at age 19, his jams are now selling at Tescos and Waitroses chains across the UK and his worth is estimated to be around $1 million - $2 million. I would probably get to that amount at 55 upon my retirement, and even then accounting for effects of inflations in the future, it would probably be good just good enough to put me in a retirement home! Doherty's advice sounds so simple yet inspiring, "Have an attitude of adventure, and enjoy the journey."

Teenage millionaire, Fraser Doherty. "I can't be preoccupied with the money," says Doherty. "I make jam because it's what I love to do." I hope I can say the same about what I'm doing for a living...

I wish I have that sense of adventure, and the courage to explore the possibilities out there. I need to open my eyes, and learn what makes these people succeed in these enterprises they are in. Life has so much to offer, and all I do about it is sit behind a desktop computer in the office over 12 hours a day, and getting paid just enough to last until my next paycheck. My life feels wasted in here to get by every month, while some people are getting rich doing something they have fun doing.

I am convinced this is not as good as it gets. And I endeavour to do something about it.

Of Mice and Men

I've been reading John Steinbeck's classic Of Mice and Men these last two weeks. The book can be considered to be a light read, with only 113 pages thick. An avid reader with better discipline and focus would probably be able to finish reading it in one sitting. However, I on the other hand suffers from the habit of wanting to take in word for word any literature that I read, hence I read very slowly. Coupled with the fact that I have a short term attention span, which means that my interest would quickly wane after about 30 minutes of reading, has contributed to the reason why it has taken me close to 2 weeks to finish reading the book.

I have had Of Mice and Men ever since I was in secondary school. In fact, I won the book as a prize for getting the best grade in the English subject in my school at the time (I have to admit standards were not high at the school at the time...). Although the book can be considered student-friendly in terms of its light content and size, I have to say the American colloquial language that the author uses in the book hardly makes it suitable for an English student who reads it with the intention to improve his command of the language. Not to mention some extent of vulgar language used in it. But apparently the book is required reading material in high schools in the USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, perhaps in part to bring awareness to the societal errors in which Steinbeck aims to bring into light in his book.

The Story

The book tells a story of two migrant workers in California, USA during the Great Depression in the 1930s – George Milton: small in stature, intelligent, and cynical, but caring; and Lennie Small: physically strong, but dim-witted. They come to work in a ranch in Soledad, California with the dream to make big money, with the hope that one day they get to fulfil their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land.

However, Lennie's dim-wits threatens this dream of theirs, and George keeps having to bail Lennie out of trouble, even at the expense of his own potential and happiness. In the Malay language, the best phrase to describe someone like Lennie would probably be 'bangkai bernyawa', or the living corpse. As I read the book, especially when coming towards the end, I couldn't help feeling how troublesome he is not just to his friend George, but even to himself that he would probably be better off dead. It speaks a lot of George's own patience and loyalty to Lennie and in the book it explains a little bit how and why George came to have this sense of duty to his friend.

Would this odd-couple survive the odds and come out tops with their dreams? I have to admit I did not quite expect the story to end the way it does. But if you have not read it and you want to know what happened at the end, you can always find a copy of it and read it yourself. It only has 113 pages anyway.

Interesting Fact

One of the things that baffles me a little bit about the book is the title. Apart from a reference made to a mouse at the beginning of the story when Lennie was caught hiding a dead mouse in his pocket so he could pet it, the rest of the story had nothing that you could associate with rodents. So I looked up the internet on the background of the book a little bit. Apparently, the author Mr Steinbeck took the title from Robert Burn's poem, To a Mouse which is often quoted as: "The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry." He had originally intended to title the book Something That Happened. Burns's poem tells of the regret the narrator feels for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing his field; it suggests that no plan is fool-proof and no one can be completely prepared for the future, which pretty much describes the outcome of the story.

A good read.

Weight Loss Challenge: Week 3

Due to various reasons, I didn't get to post the progress of my Weight Loss Challenge last week. I was preoccupied with the Family Day event last Saturday, and as you would note I wasn't feeling well the day after with high fever, which I suspect was due to the strong coffee that I had on Sunday morning. Or maybe it was the 1 and a half Domino's pizzas which I over-sprinkled with chilli flakes on Saturday night. These potentially dehydrating diet, coupled with the fact that I was probably already dehydrated from the exertions of the Family Day on Saturday, probably contributed to the fever that came upon me almost suddenly on Sunday morning.

Ok lah... Maybe I'm making excuses for missing the update. I didn't exactly feel like weighing myself especially after having that 1 and a half pizza that Saturday night.

In truth, I have not been able to give full commitment to my weight loss conquest these last 2 weeks. The work factor is to blame, and I have been stuck in the office till night time for the most part of these last 2 weeks. I do make a point to at least cycle on Saturday mornings, so I guess all is not lost.

I have also decided to make a slight change to the waistline performance indicator. Well, I've figured measuring progress by inches is probably a bit too much to track progress on a weekly basis. You can probably lose a centimetre or two in a week, but an inch? It may be possible, but hey these are fragile moments in the weight loss conquest when even a slight progress is considered victory. So I've decided to measure the progress of my waistline reduction by the centimetre, and hopefully there'll be some progress I can share.

My waistline dropped 0.5cm this week. Hoorayy!!

So here are the results of my Weight Loss Challenge in its 3rd week:

Physical Indicators
Start weight: 81.1kg
Target weight: 72kg
Achieved after week 3: 79.7kg

Start waistline: 38 inches (96.52cm)
Target waistline: 33 inches (83.82cm)
Achieved after week 3: 38.8 inches (98.5cm)

Can't say if there has been much progress. My weight has remained about the same since the last progress check, although you would notice some marginal reduction of the waistline by half a centimetre. Hehe... any progress, though minimal, is cherished here.

Exercise
I have only managed to cycle a distance of 13 kilometres this week, and apart from that one session on the bike, not much can be said here. Work has been taking up most of my time and it seems that the only time I can squeeze in for an exercise would be early in the morning before going to work. The new pair of swimming trunks is still waiting to be used and I do hope I can start swimming as part of my exercise regime soon.

Food
I've managed to reduce the number of times I consume fast food these last 2 weeks, but whenever I did I would unfortunately help myself to a blockbuster treat. Note the 1 and a half pizza bingeing. I've consistently had small helpings for my meals, but I do hope I can control the fast food urges better in the future.

Summary
Generally, I feel a lot healthier ever since I started on this Weight Loss Challenge conquest. I feel fitter, healthier and at the risk of being accused of being delusional, my body looks more toned than before. Although whatever delusion I might have with that regards was quickly dispelled when, looking at my own side profile in the mirror this morning, I asked my wife what she thought:

Me: Sayang... do you think my tummy is a little flatter now?

Wifey: (With a slight glance at my tummy, non-chalantly responded) No...

Yeah, I need to work harder...

Weight Loss Challenge: The 1st Week

Today marks the first week since the start of my Weight Loss Challenge. I wrote in my blog a week ago of my target to lose a certain amount of weight and inches this year, as part of my resolution for the year 2008. Goodbye to the old fat and unfit Izwan, and by the end of this year hopefully we can say hello to a brand new and fit me.

I believe one of the challenges faced by anyone attempting to lose weight would be to manage his/her expectations of the results achieved. You kinda expect to see the weighing scale to show a favourable reading just because you took half the usual portion of your lunch on the first day of your diet, and feel disappointed when the reading still shows the same weight (if not more!). I guess I'm no different here in that sense. I've been looking at my side profile in the mirror more regularly than usual in this last week, and I still look no different from a woman who is 8 months pregnant. Sheeshh... I keep having to remind myself this is only the first week, and I have over 40 weeks left in the year to meet the target. This Weight Loss Challenge is a marathon, not a sprint and it is important to keep that into perspective so as not to get easily demoralised.

So what have I achieved in this first week? The following are the KPIs I've set myself, and the results achieved after the first week:

Physical Indicators
Start weight: 81.1kg
Target weight: 72kg
Achieved after week 1: 79.6kg

This might seem a small reduction to some, but considerably huge leap for me. Breaking the 80kg barrier has been rather difficult for me and ducking it in the first week is a welcome result. One cheer here!

Start waistline: 38 inches
Target waistline: 33 inches
Achieved after week 1: 39 inches!

This has come as a surprise. With my weight pointing downwards, I was kinda expecting the waistline to move in a similar direction. Granted however, I did not actually measure my waistline when I indicated it as my starting weight, only based it on the size the waisline of the biggest jeans I've been wearing. Maybe the starting line was bigger, I don't know. I did get someone commenting saying my tummy looked slimmer recently. Maybe it was the shirt I was wearing... anyways, more work need to be done here.

Exercise
I have been rather bullish on this front. The exercise theme this week was cycling, and I had had 3 sessions of cycling covering a distance of 40km altogether. Bought myself a new pair of swimming trunks, so next week might see some variation to my exercise regime. Another cheer here!

Food
I have to admit that I've not been very disciplined on the food front though. For the record, I've been taking fast food numerous times this week (the most recent being the visit to Domino's Pizza this afternoon), and I've been taking ice creams and cheese cakes (it was Affeedz's birthday last week remember) like no one's business. I guess progress would have been more impressive had I had a stronger will when it comes to restraint on my diet. Gotta try harder on this one...

Summary
Although result has been mixed, the physical exercises have had the effect of making me feel active and more alert, hence having a multiplier effect on most of the things I do in the week. The saying a healthy body breeds a healthy mind is true, and I believe should this Weight Loss Challenge of mine becomes a success, I will reap more than what I am bargaining for. The first week has been a relative success. Hopefully i can shed the image of that 8 months pregnant man from my mirror in a couple of weeks time.

Fit For Life... Not Fat

Nope, I'm not pregnant...

The difference between the word 'fit' and 'fat' is merely the vowel that is between the letter f and t, but in physical terms the difference could not have been more significant. And not to mention the ease and difficulty to transfrom from one form to another and vice versa.

When I was younger, the issue of weight problem seem like someone else's problem. Up to my teenage years, I could munch down up to 3 Big Macs and still had a lot more space for some fries and a big cup of milk shake. And even after all that, I wouldn't feel like exploding like I do now and there would not be even a hint of a bulge on my hard and well-shaped belly.

I remember an incident when I was 13 when my brother, my dad and me were dining at Pizza Hut and we ordered 2 large super supreme pizzas. The waitress who was taking our order, out of a sense of duty, told us that she felt 2 large super supreme pizzas were probably too much for the 3 of us in one sitting. We insisted on our order, and when the pizza came, we gulped everything in less than 20 minutes. And I remember we later ordered some ice cream for desserts...

Those days now feel like distant memories...

Nowadays, maintaining my current weight is a constant struggle, not to mention losing it. Things were probably easier in my pre-married days, when I could gain and lose my weight almost at will. Nowadays, the easier way is always up the weighing scale and going down is tantamount to a small miracle. For the record, I've gained 5 kilos over the last year, 4 inches around the waist... pheww... heck, my belly is even bigger than my wife's when she was pregnant!

So coming to the year 2008, I've made a resolution to at least lose what I've gained in 2007, and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. A little cut down on the carbohydrates is required, and a little jolt with the physical exercise will be needed here. I've set myself certain key performance indicators in order to achieve this aim of mine, which are as follows:

Physical indicators
Current weight: 81.1kg
Target weight: 72kg

Current waistline: 38 inches
Target waistline: 33 inches

Exercise
On a weekly basis, I aim to do at least two times of any combination of the following physical exercises:
1. Jogging - 3km
2. Cycling - 10km
3. Swimming - 30 minutes

Food
This is probably the most difficult of all the indicators for me to adhere to. I've always been a lover of fatty foods like the skin of a fried chicken or McDonald's chocolate sundae and apple pie. And to make matters worse, I only take vege and fruits out of necessity, which usually means I do not take them at all most of the time. This is where most resolve is needed.

1. Cut down
Carbohydrates
- 1 scoop of rice per meal, and small portions of side dishes
- only 1 trip per month to any fast food joint per month. The Prosperity Burger season at McDonald's is not going to make this easy...
- only 1 sweet desserts per week.

2. Increase
a. Drink 2 litres of water every day
b. Take fruits for snacking at the office

I will be posting my progress here on a weekly basis. Hoping for a small miracle here. With lots of belief and will power, I might just be able to transform myself from fat to fit.

Wish me luck...

Happy New Year 2008

The Year 2008 began with a bang...

Welcome 2008!

I know the phrase sounds rather cliched, but time really does fly. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that we were celebrating the coming of 2007, and now lo and behold, 2007 has already left us. I realise that the older we get, the faster time seems to pass.

I read somewhere in a science magazine that explains why time seems to go by faster with age. It's got something to do with learning and what the human memory has experienced and. The longer you have lived, you are more likely to have developed routines and habits that you do everyday, hence every day feels about the same to you, giving you a sense that time never really passed. However, remember how a day took forever to pass when you were a kid? That's because a kid didn't have any sets of routines to follow, and every day is discovery for him. A kid has no set of responsibilities and obligations to follow, hence 24 hours could feel like forever. I still remember how I used to feel depress when night falls as a kid, as I felt it would take forever for the next day to come for me to go out and play again.

So perhaps the theme of my new year's resolution should be about making new discoveries, or exploring something new. Well, sometimes new discoveries does not necessarily have to be conquering the Everest or swimming across the English Channel. It could be as close as rebuilding oneself's character, and vowing to make changes in how we carry out our daily lives.

For what they are worth, here are my resolutions for 2008:

1. To become a better muslim
- To perform my daily 5 times prayer on time and promptly.
- To rekindle the habit of reading the Quran and do it more regularly than I am now. As a start, I am setting to at least cover half of the Quran by end of this year.

2. To be a better son, husband, and father
There's so much to learn and improve here. I hope to be more patient, more tolerant, and capable to contribute to my parents as a good son, and be a good example to my wife and daughter as a husband and father respectively. Although I've been married for over 3 years now, and a father in 2 of that years, it's surprising how I'm still dumb and slow when it comes to leading the family by example. And for this, I thank my wife for her patience.

3. To be more organised
Organisation and me have never been good associates. I realise that I do not seem to have the patience to sit down and plan my actions, and once I get things done, I'm never too fond of filing the documents properly. As a result, I have claims receivable outstanding over RM10k spanning over 5 years now. I know it sounds crazy. Which is why I hope to be more organised this year.

4. To lose weight
This has become a more serious issue as the years pass by. The year 2007 has witnessed the darkest moment in the history of my weight issue as I have ballooned to a waist line of 38(!) and exceeded the ceiling weight of 80kg. As a result, I've had 2 changes of trousers in a year from an initial waist line of 34, later to 36, and now 38! I need to pull out the stops at 38, and am currently working towards going back down to my original line. And to show how serious I am, I will be dedicating the progress of my weight loss programme in a weekly posting in my blog labeled 'Weight Loss Challenge'.

5. To pass all my remaining ACCA papers in one sitting
I've had enough of resits, and wasting money as a result. I intend to make it first time passes from June 08 onwards, en route to achieving professional qualification by June 2009. For the record, I have 5 papers to go, after having sat 7 so far.

6. To learn and excel at my new working place
I've only been at my current department for 6 months, and I still have so much to learn. I hope to be as good as most of my colleagues, through their guidance and my own hardwork by end of this year.

7. To have more regular postings in this blog
My mother in law, who now has her own blog remarked that I should make attempts to update it at least once a week. It is good to make the mind active, and detracts me from the mentally draining effects of my office work, which also has the effects of making my mind monotonous. We shall see...

8. To develop a new hobby
I hope to have a hobby which I can undertake weekly, and I intend to take up cycling. It can help me to achieve my weight loss programme at the same time. I have an old bike from the times of my studying days which requires change of tyres and chains. I hope to do this once a week.

9. To inculcate a habit of reading
- I am not much of a reader. I remember when I was a kid, my mom used to remind me like a broken radio that I need to pick up the habit of reading if I ever wanted to improve my English. My proficiency in the English language back then was awful of course, and i used to get nervous whenever I encountered into scenarios when speaking the language is required. I remember an incident when I was in a plane and sitting next to this gentleman which I later found out was an English working for Shell. He initiated a conversation, and I was struggling to find vocabularies to keep up with him. Sensing my struggle, he then chose to converse in good malay instead! Well, I am digressing quite a bit here...

- I hope to broaden my mind and horizon a little bit by picking up the habit of reading, aside from the sports pages of the newspapers and Soccernet.com. I've realised how I lag a little bit with my colleagues and certain friends of mine when it comes to reading interests and general knowledge. I hope to at least read 2 books of fiction and 2 of non-fiction this year, which I hope to be able to make reviews of them here.

Wish me luck.

To anyone out there reading, once again, here's wishing you a happy new year!