Sunday, November 16, 2008

fLY! To BahRaIN!


fLY to Bahrain!

fLY to Bahrain!


Yup. On a 2-week-working trip to this country called Bahrain. Never heard of it? So am I a while ago. Location: Middle East. Next to the Arabic Sea. It's my first time on a long journey flight. I nearly covered half the globe this time...nearly...

So, on the day of flight, me and my colleague Ding went to KLIA Airport as early as 8am to check in. But the airline was not as punctual as us. We were stunned after learning that the departure flight was delayed by 5 hours! Yes, F-I-V-E ! WTF! Ding and I were like...you know what I mean?...really makes me wanna say foul words again....Xx!@#@%$$!

So after checking in, initially we just wander around aimlessly until we found a McDonald's inside he airport. Both of us had some breakfast there, and started surfing through our laptops. Time passes so slowly that moment. But the battery life of my laptop is not that long. And there don't seems to have any power adapter available nearby. So, bye-bye to the internet. Still another 3 hours! What to do leh?!!! Ding's computer battery was more durable than mine, but he still do get bored with the surfing..."I'm SLEEPY..", he said. Stacking his luggage on his seat, he make a short nap to kill some time...zzZZZ

As for me, I just sat there like a dumbass, looking boringly out of the restaurant. Saw a "leng-chai" (handsome) pilot busy flirting around with a pretty air stewardess in the nearby table. The girl seems more than happy. Same also with the guy. Any, the pilot looked like a big time playboy to me...but anyhow, you can't judge a book by its cover, so I told myself.

Soon after the couple left, there isn't much things to look at, just the front view of the interior airport. It's a nice architectural design, especially the roof, whereas the columns was like a bunch of concrete tree trunks to me...


Ding's SLEEPY LooK

Ding's SLEEPY LooK


Feeling so boring, I just took some random pics with my landfill-camera. A few is Ding's sleeping look. Hope he don't mind.
I got so bored, I took a leftover McD tissue paper from my breakfast meal, and I do this...you'll know what I meant when u see this pic below.


the tissue paper and the peN

tissue paper + peN



Finally, it's already time for boarding. We packed our things swiftly and proceed to the departure area. Gulf Air is the airline name. Never heard of it b4 this. An hour later, I think I know the answer fo its non popularity, coz there's damn lots of things to complaint about! The worst of all is the quality of the entertainment system offered. Blurry LCD, faulty headphones (only one side got sound!), and the best part is, there is this constant cracking sound emitting form the headphones! Such a distraction! T.N.S.! Coupled with the narrow range of channels available, with 70% of them are Arabic, there isn't really much to choose from. The HULK seems to be the best, and so I watched, skipped to the next, and rewatch couple of times...till I get totally frustrated with the stupid 'cracking' headphone noise! Shutting the whole thing off out of anger, I took out the same tissue paper I brought from McD, resuming 'the work'.


The plane suCKS!

The plane suCKS!


Another thing that pisses me of is the way some of the passengers are behaving. Since I am seated at the very last seat in the ECONOMY class, where the toilet is a mere 2 feet away, you kind of feel *~stressed~* when some passengers have a habit of NOT closing back the door after their BUSINESS. Things become worse when you're in the middle of having your lunch at your seat! Can you imagine what is my *~fEELinG~* back then? But luckily, there is still this exhaust fan inside the toilet that keeps the SmeLLy air from coming out. But anyway, it really irked me! Can't you ppl have a better toilet manners? K.N.N.!


The last seat next to the TOILET!

The last seat next to the TOILET!


Still, there is something to be happy about. At least there is...ahem!.., some beautiful air stewardess around. That's the only consolation I could thought of. There is this funny instance where I was asking for a cup of "Sky Juice" from one air stewardess, and she can't make head or tail of what I am asking for. Then there one of the air stewardess (the prettiest one), explaining to her the meaning of Sky Juice = pure water. I should have said plain water instead.


The pretty air stewardess and the SKY Juice

The pretty air stewardess and the SKY Juice


From what I heard form others and info collection, Bahrain gives me a not so good impression. Desert land, temperatures as high as 50 C is surely a number one turnoff. Besides, the high exchange rate, 1 Bahrain Dinar = 10 RM also mean my wallet has shrunk by a factor of 10. It surely won't be easy...won't be easy...


Bahrain quick facts

Bahrain quick facts


The flight was sooOOOOO long, 8 hours to be exact. The feeling is like going on a space vacation form one planet to the other! Just wondering when can I reach the destination...


8 hours! It's like travelling to another pLaNET!

8 hours! It's like travelling to another pLaNET!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

thE attAck of the ReD bomb!

Need I to explain to you what is meant by RED BOMB? It simply a funnier way to mean a wedding invitation card. 'Red' is referring to the color of the card, while 'BoMb' is because the damages it inflicts on the receiver, though not in the form of physical injury of course. The damages will be in...err...well,...financial. For Chinese culture, when we attend a wedding dinner, we are supposed to return the "ang pow" - also a red packet containing $$$, as a gift in return for the favor of the couple inviting you for the dinner.


thE attAck of the ReD bomb!

thE attAck of the ReD bomb!



And the 8th month in the lunar calendar is always the 'preferred' month for most of the Chinese weddings to take place where most of the auspicious dates often drop inside this month. Maybe it's becoz of the "fatt" factor of the 8. Coupled with the Mooncake Festival, the restaurants will be fully booked well ahead in schedule. I've heard stories of couples having to book a year ahead! Since the lunar calendar is normally a month earlier compared with Roman calendar, so it means this peak period you always find it between September and October. Red bombs will be flying around like nobody's business, and many will get hurt. I'm one of them, especially this year. :) I could understand though...coz my batch of friends mostly are at an age where marriage is the 'IN' thing to do!


thE Trending of Red BomB frequency over the year

thE Trending of Red BomB frequency over the year


Well, I can actually sense the 'red Bomb' coming my way somehow or rather. This is especially true when all of a sudden you have got a call or sms or email from a friend that hasn't shown on your phone display for a long time. Ok, Brothers and Sisters out there, I'm not implying anything here, alrite...dun get misunderstood. I feel honored to be invited by you all, and I'm more than happy to attend, but sometimes truth is truth right? So, the moment you read the message or email, where it is written very politely...with all the flowery languages, and all the nice words. But if you really want to see it in an Ultra-Negative way, all the flowery languages will change to this; "I wish you could attend my wedding so you could help me PAY for the dinner!"


I'm getting MArrieD! GiVe Me your ReDpacKET!

I'm getting MArrieD! GiVe Me your ReDpacKET!


Speaking of ang pow, this is the more interesting part. The first question that comes to the mind will be...how much should I put? Well, one thing I can be sure of is...the price is getting higher and higher these days. Of coz the *amount* varies according to the level of friendship or relationship between you and the one inviting you. Not to be forgotten is that it also depends on where the dinner is taking place. You can't expect to get good angpow rates if you're havin it in a village compared to big cities. A table of 10 in a five star hotel ballroom certainly cost more than a grand, while half a grand will suffice for a same table in suburb area. So, the *amount*, you'll have to do the calculation. Considering my current assets and net worth, a 100 bucks packet will put an "Ouch!" in my mouth. Anything greater than that...it'll burn a deep hole in my wallet. And a few of these hole burning exercise in a row, and I'll have to take bread for the remaining days of the month.



how BiG is yourS?

how BiG is yourS?


So, when the big day comes, you will dress yourself up smartly for the event, where theoretically, you go there to witness and celebrate that very important moment of your buddy. But I don't know why, through many years of localized culture or whatsoever, the wedding dinner has suddenly become a place for endless "Yum Seng" and crazy "karaOKE-ing" by some. Sometimes, I do think that the real meaning of wedding dinner has gradually lost especially now. I dare to challenge anyone...that half of the attendees do not know or worse still, don't even care about what is happening in the front stage during the ceremonies. What interests them may probably be how the next dish will look like, or they might be busy looking for that bottle of Chivas Regal.


the UnStoPPabLe!

the UnStoPPabLe!


And the worst experience for me is always this...having to endure all those "UnsToPPaBLE" uncles and auntys karaoke-ing the whole night. They'll hold on to the microphone the whole night singing endlessly one song after the other. Things will get even worse when the "Tai Kam Jeh" (emcee for a Chinese wedding) is also of the same gang of karaoke lovers. Then, the whole night changed to a horrible concert venue. Only difference is, you get food served while watching it, and secondly, 99% of the time, the singing skills of them...sigh...let's just skip that part okie? ;)


But at a recent wedding dinner of my ex coursemate in uni time, I still do have to endure these typical moment. Just that this time, I choose to see it in a funnier way to make my day feel better. I was taking a pic of my other coursemates where the LOUD speaker is just inches away from their table. One of them even have to close his ear with hand while posing for the camera! Of coz we didn't talk much on that table...just too difficult to hear what others are saying.


I just can't stand it ANYmore!

I just can't stand it ANYmore!


I'm not against singing anyway. Just not too much. And just make sure the "standard" is there LAH...That day, there is this one man who had way too much of Chivas Regal, and he started to sing on stage. Oh...I tell you...The out of beat singing, the "super-singing-POSE" of his, and his never ending persistence is really funny to look at. But anyway, everyone had a good laugh that night, and that may be the best part of the performance.


the karaoke POSE!

the karaoke POSE!


I really wish that the future wedding dinner I attend will have less of those karaoke-ing. It would surely be better if the emcee focus more on the more important ceremony. One of it is the scene where you get all the relatives of the couple to take a group photo and to toss the champagne together and celebrate. Coz at the end of the day, you're going to a WEDDING DINNER, not a concert, rite?


group PhOTO! YeaH!

group PhOTO! YeaH!



The real meaning of Wedding Dinner

The real meaning of Wedding Dinner



p/s:
Congrats to those who is having married these few months. For those wedding dinners that I have attended, hopefully my ReDPacKet is acceptable LaR...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

aHa! neW hEadeR!

Finally! I've had finished making myself a new blog header! How do you guys think of it? OK or not? Whatever you said, I think I am not gonna change it anymore for the time being, coz I've already changed the design for many many times. TOO TIRED! But also very challenging at the same time. When I finish it, I feel a lil sense of satisfaction and most importantly...HAPPY. I don't know why. It seems like this feeling is a stranger to me long long time ago. MAybe THIS is really what you call JoB SaTisFactiON, the feeling that I don't seem to find much in my current day job. Is that a sign of anything?

Sure! At least I know I like using Photoshop more than AutoCAD or Solidworks or even AVEVA PDMS! For those who don't know what the heck I'm mumbling about, the few latter names are the software used for producing engineering drawings in 2D and 3D. All of them are much more expensive compared with Photoshop. The first one being 3 times, second one 10 times, and the last one is the king of all kings... a few hundred times the price of photoshop! Can you imagine that???

My process of making this header can be easily summarized as Sketching > Scanning > Coloring > Cropping > Finish! Tata! I would say the hardest part would be the sketching part...coz sometimes, I just don't have the 'correct feel' and 'inspiration' to sketch. Plus, the crazy work schedule and the 'paradise' working environment here, is sure to be a no.1 inspiration kiLLeR. Too much of rubbish thoughts cloGGing my mind. Get OuT, you RuBBish!


mY sKetCh!

mY sKetCh!


ONE: The pic above is the sketch on a paper scanned to photoshop. Very big file I tell you...


Clouds render effect

Clouds render effect

TWO: Then I try many to make a cloud to add this dramatic feel to it by using clouds on it. Hmm....too many clouds! I try another.


add coLoR to it

add coLoR to it


THREE: I put the color inside it lor, simple painting and some gradient...But the color choice is not that good this time around. Just seem to be lack of something, or rather too much color I think...oUT!


white background...

white background...


FOUR: I removed the cloud and try to make it in white background instead. But the background seems to be just too dirty...so this one is oUT! And the thing that this configuration doesn't seem to 'blend in' with the page background color of #333333 (grey), I gotta omit it liao. Then finally, I tried ThiS.


Finally! Blackboard + Chalk Effect!

Finally! Blackboard + Chalk Effect!


FIVE: This! Yeeeeaaaahhh! ;)
The color seems to blend in nicely with the background. For me it reminds me of the blackboard in my primary schOOL. The chalk and board is sOOoo...outdated! But I like it. ☻

This picture down here shows the pic of a person on the planet Jupiter? With the rocket departing...leaving him behind, the sun is made of a large filament bulb, the beautiful mountains and clouds...I think I can't explain to you the meaning of these, coz I myself draw these randomly out of nothing. Sorry bout that.


RockeT, dun Leave me HERE!!!

RockeT, dun Leave me HERE!!!


The second one, I can tell you something. It's a view from the airplane onto the clouds. ImaGinE! Imagine that you could ride on a skateboard and skate ON the clouds, how nice would it be! And imagine you could sit on a giant sized paper plane and go around without having to pump any petrol at RM 2.52 a litre? (heard they dropped it liao to RM 2.42). Imagine...you could lean on the moon curvature, and do some fishing once in a while, imagine... you could go on a trip of 'beanstalk-hiking'...where you can enjoy the superb view when you reached the top. Imagine...imagine...imagine....


I'm On CloUD 9!

I'm On CloUD 9!


Damn! I'm gotta be mad soon imagining these! Gotta stop liao...stop liao...Maybe it's the hangover from last weeks yam SeennnngGG section with my colleagues. (yam seng means cheers / to propose a toast in Cantonese)

Well, I could still accept these kind of 'side effect', at least better than one of my colleague's one. He got so 'hanged', he rammed onto an Estima while driving asleep. Yes, ASLEEP! But lucky for him, he woke up from his SLeeP. Lucky for him. Nevertherless, I will still say this...

Huan! Let's try another round! I'll fetch you home this time around!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

mY beLoVed CaR


mY beLoVed CaR
Click to view larger image.

I love kara'oke!

I am SORRY. First of all, SORRY to MySelf for not having the determination and disciple to keep blogging on frequent basis. SORRY again to Readers of this blog (as if there is...) for not updating. Ideas are just hard to come by these days, as I do not know what to sketch and write about. My mind is just blank for the past few weeks...myabe becoz of the hectic work schedule, and also...hmm...there is no more excuse for me. I have to admit! I am lazy! Alright?!

So, I got this nice idea spinning in my mind that day after I got my car's road tax renewed. The car has been with me since the day I landed myself on my first job which was a few years back. Bought a "second-hand" or "used" car instead of new one coz not enuf money lor. No oil reserve underneath my house mah, or anything near to that...if not, it will be Ferrari I tell you! OK. Enough of bullshitting.

15 years old. Happy birthday to YouUUU...



So the "used" car I bought that time was damn old. It was manufactured in my own country in the year of 1993. Which means it is already (2008 - 1993 = 15) fifteen years old. A check at the car's permit showed that this 'new' car of mine has already served 3 gentlemen previously. Well, for a 18k RM (USD 6k) during that period of time, it's considered a good deal. I know, I know. For this kind of price, I could had easily got myself an old BMW in the States or Canada, but SAD to say, this is Malaysia. People who could afford a Honda Accord Sedan here could easily afford a Porsche in the US. Why is it like that, you may ask. All I have to say is the stupid tax structure here. Purposely designed to make you feel envious of other countries. T.N.S.!

Let's talk about the car's specifications. This is the interesting part. Engine capacity = 1.5 Litre with a *superb* acceleration of 0-60mph time that is almost equivalent to infinity. A 12 Valve Single Overhead Cam (SOHC) which translates to Stone Age engine technology, an automatic gearbox that only has a max limit of 3 gears. Yes! 3 only. So few...Sigh. Best of all, this car model is known to be the worst in terms of suspension. The feeling is like riding on a rock. No suspension at all! Sigh....

The SpeC is damn "Good"!



But I don't really care much back then. All I need is a just form of transport for me to get to work and back to my hometown. Some more, with my limited budget, there isn't much choices left for me.

Having a 2nd hand car also means you gonna spend some money into the repair bills. Well, I am ready for that coz I've set aside some buffer for the initial repairs. But over the years, the repair bills just got bigger and bigger. Obviously, my car is getting older by the day, and many parts tend to fail due to wear and tear. The most serious one so far is the gearbox...yeah, changed the whole unit! Damn! Really burned a deep-deep hole in my pocket. Summing it all up, I would roughly estimate that the total repair cost till now shouldn't be anything less than 7k. Hopefully, nothing big is coming up in the near future. But I can 'FEEL' it's coming very soon...coz that day I saw some white smoke billowing out from the exhaust!

Repair Repair Repair...



I wouldn't really blame the car or anything else, since it has been my companion through many of the places throughout Malaysia over the few years. Together, we have traveled to almost 90% of the Peninsular, had crossed countless borders, scaled up mountains like Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands more than the fingers can count, I mean..., what more do you expect? I am satisfied, considering the happy moments that my car has brought me to all this while.

Genting Highlands!



Whatever it is, I still consider my car as my BMW, though of coz it is not. To have a real BMW is everyone's dream (including mine), but until that one become a reality, all that I have now is that old junk I am driving. It's either to cherish it or to treat it as a garbage. I choose to see it the better way.

And another thing I had come to notice through my experience is that, you can always find people driving luxurious cars, only to see them alone in the car, and the expression on their face is something you wouldn't want to see on yourself. On the other hand, I have seen a whole family packed like sardines in a small old junk, but still showing their sincerest smiles and happily enjoying each other's companion. Don't get me wrong. I ain't saying that you can't be happy if you're rich. It is just that...luxurious car won't make you happy, it's WHO SITS BESIDE YOU that makes you happy. It's the only thing that MATTERS. You get what I mean?

Happy Face VS Sad Face




It's WHO sits beside you that MaTTers



Oh...it's late already, I gotta sleep, or I'll be late for work. And a few hours later, I'll be driving my "BMW" liao... :)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

kara’okE, yO!


kara'okE, yO!
Click to view larger image.

I love kara'oke!

Yo! Kara'oke! Wanted to share with you all what I have been through for the last 2 weeks!. The "S-H-O-R-T" assignment back in Penang Island is finally over! And in the final days of staying over there, my colleagues suggested going to a nearby karaoke in the downtown area. It's a BoX painted with RED, so you should be able to guess which one I am referring to, right? Initially, I wanted to turn down their offer, coz that day was damn tiring after a whole day work. But since my colleagues are so persuasive, and thinking that I may never get see them after returning back to KL, I agreed to joined them finally.

So, once we reached there, we were greeted by the nice foods (coz we pay them NICE also) and we were seated in a pretty compact room with the karao'ke set in front. My colleagues and I started to queue for the buffet dinner and shortly after our meal, they began...and I still haven't finished with the ice cream. So, I just sit aside near the speaker at the end of a corner and hear them sing.

Since the singing of my first collegue is not that "acceptable" to the ears, I try to "divert" my attention to the surroundings. Then I see the karaoke set. 1st question that came to my mind was, "Who the hell in this world invented this?" He must be a damn genius! The karao'ke set seems to be quite simple, one microphone which amplifies the voice signals over the amplifier, which then channeled to the speakers. And of course there is this TV set with synchronized lyrics, and a computer with pre-installed software with a remote control. It's such a simple idea, yet no one has thought about it previously.

the INVENTION



My google searches found that the person responsible for this awesome invention is actually a Japanese guy by the name of Daisuke Inoue in the early 1980s. And the sad thing is, this so-hai never bothered to get his invention patented, so businessmen just used his idea and earn big buck$$$, with NO royalty fees paid to him! Sad...The world is just a unfair right? But though he is a sohai, deep in my heart I still salute this person 100% coz he has brought a lot of happiness and entertainment to the world through his invention. (BTW,so-hai is a Canto word, and it's quite vulgar, but i still prefer to use it...hehe...coz no other word can best describe it, so apologies from me if it offended you...)

the so-hai



So, half an hour has passed, I was forced to sing a song for them. I told them, you'll regret later. So I just simply choose a song, and at that time I choose an oldie, Hotel California by The Eagles. It is good to hear the original version, but not my version. Normally, I don't go to kara'oke for a reason. As far as I could recall, I think should be less than 10 times. So, now you know why i rejected their offer initially? The key are so hard to reach for me, and my voice range is just too narrow. If you wanna compare, this chart below shows where I stand. Among all, I am the WORST!

Voice Range Chart Comparison



If there is a better word to describe my singing, it would be "Pulling the Cow up the Tree" a.k.a 拉牛上树 in Chinese. Try to imagine the MOOOing sound of the cow! In the end, that is the only song I sang. By the way, I found out that most of the songs my colleagues sang are more or less from the standard few list of singers, mostly HK Pop and MandoPop songs. The one I could remember was Gary Chaw, Leo Ku, Guang Liang, Eason Chan, and Beyond. Talking of Beyond, one of my colleagues (Friend no. 1) could sing "Boundless Oceans Vast Skies" a.k.a. 海闊天空 [4th song on disc 1 for those who don't know] so well that he sounds nearly perfect. All of us in the room just went quiet and listen to him singing...I consider myself lucky to have him with us that night. So far, he is the best I came across.

Pulling the Cow up the Tree" a.k.a 拉牛上树 [MooOOOOO!...]



The way I see it, kara'oke is not just for us to show off your great singing skills, but somehow it has got more than that. It serves a place where you get to 'shout away' all your worries, pressure, and troubles, well, at least for a while. Then, when you're happy of sad, there is always a gang of buddies around to share it.

Shout off all your PRESSURES!



And one great thing about kara'oke is, it's role of search of new talent, and a training ground for those who wanna make singing their career. Ask any contestant of the Idol series, One Million Star or China Supergirl, I can be sure that they are super fans of 'kara'oke. At least I know Joey Yung, the current HK Singing Queen, is one of the super-patron of kara'oke during her schooling years.

Have any idea who she is?



So, kara'oke lovers out there, just dream BIG, and you may stand a chance of becoming someone BIG, but in any case you've got the singing talent like MINE, then I suggest you just...errhh...sit aside and enjoy the singing instead...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Make good use of your TIME


Make good use of your TIME
Click to view larger image.

make goog use of time


Two week before this, I have been assigned by the company I am working to this very "S-H-O-R-T" assignment in Penang island, a very beautiful island here in Malaysia. Initially, I was promised by my direct boss which sounds like "It's gotta be ONLY 2 weeks job! Confirm! No more than that." (I rejected in the first place coz the pay there is even less than peanuts. And being away from home unnecessarily is just a no-no for me). And by now the assignment has already reached the span of nearly a month...and that man who say "Confirm 2 weeks!" is nowhere to be seen. T.N.S.!

Being so lonely and bored to death, I decided to go and check one of my best buddy university mate, who coincidentally is also living in Penang. Haven't seen him for years but we do keep in touch over the phone and MSN. So we have a long chat that night about the goods and bads we went through after 4 years graduating. And in the middle of the conversation, he suddenly asked me this..."Sam, can you roughly estimate how many days were there in your life?"

So, I began to calculate in my mind...365 days/year x 70 years assuming the rate of a normal person. Halfway through the calculation, he stopped me. "Stop it. No need calculation. "You just have 3 days in your life. YESTERDAY, TODAY and TOMORROW". Then only, I know what he meant. "Yesterday is past tense, you can't chase it back. All you have is TODAY. And TOMORROW may never exist.

Past tense, Present tense, and Future tense



That moment on, I feel that I really need to cherish TIME more. All the while I have been wasting a lot of time, watching stupid TV programmes, surfing the internet aimlessly, and sleeping more than needed, procrastinate everything that is possible...the list goes on and on. Conclusion - I have very very bad time management. And I want to change this. I don't wanna regret not using my time to the fullest when I died. No! No! No!

24 hours only...



Have you ever heard about this phrase? "Everybody has the same 24 hours a day. Nobody gets more or less". Bill Gates don't have any hours more than you or me, but he managed to fully utilize his time to become what he is today. And I remember Andy Lau (HK Superstar) have spoken in an interview that he sleep roughly 5 to 6 hours only daily. When asked why, he replied "You can have plenty of time to sleep after you have died." At the time I heard this, I just had a good laugh. Now I truly know the true meaning.

Take Andy Lau's advice. But don't overdo it.



Now I am going to make a promise to myself to fully utilize every moment that I have. Mark my words! By he end of this Christmas, I am gonna write a post to check on myself, whether or not I do what I say. Hahaha!

My promise to myself...




You have got one whole day to plan and use your time...




Bill gates, you and ME!


Friday, June 27, 2008

Have you found your pUrpoSE?


What is your purpose...
Click to view larger image.

what are you sure about


I was working quite late on that night,and soon after back from work, I got myself bathed, and straight away, I headed to my comfortable bed. In my mind...I kept asking myself this 3 questions...over and over again...yet the question seemed so difficult, even harder than the hardest paper I have ever sat.

1. What is my purpose?
2. Why am I unhappy?
3. How can I be rich?

And later of the night, I just figured out that I had read on a book not long ago titled "Being Happy" mentioning about finding your purpose in life. I believe in the author. I believe that all the 3 questions will be answered if I can find my purpose. But the problem is...I haven't found my purpose on this earth yet! That is so embarrassing!

I am stuck here...heLP!!!

what are you sure about

My life right now, is exactly like the one in the picture above...stumbled upon a dead end with so many signboards showing you to nowhere. After all those years of hard work at school and at work, I feel like I am just a rat running in circles, getting pushed around by other people and circumstances. It just makes me feel down sometimes. Do I really have to go through all these in order for me to reach my DESTINY?

In English, there is one idiom that says "Every roads leads to Rome", but in my opinion, there are some faster and smarter roads. Lucky people got a better head start sometimes, the even more luckier ones may have the straight highway for them to use from the day they were born. The normal and the unfortunate ones may have to go through the longest, steepest and winding road in order to reach ROME. Some may not even make it...and that is something that I feel sad for. It is partly due to them already wasted so much of their time and energy in the beginning, until they were just too tired in the middle of the road.

Every road leads to ROME, but there is a highway for those LucKy ones.

what are you sure about

Whatever it is, I do believe that we can always TRY to change for the better. You can blame on your humble beginnings and environment, but that can never change anything. Instead, it only drags you down, and people just see you as not fun at all.

For me, if you can make the best of whatever you have got, then you are already very good. Somebody once told me, we just don't enjoy when we have reached our destination, but the best enjoyment came from going through the journey with people you cared about. That is true, I believe.

It's a matter of CHOICE...

what are you sure about

For those who is lucky to have a straight road ahead of them, congratulations. You can now concentrate fully on what really matters to you. Saves you a lot of time. But if in any case you came across people on the other side of the road, don't bully them. Share your wisdom and moments with them, maybe in the end, you may be the one getting some better advice from...

Friday, June 20, 2008

Oil oil oil, rise rise rise!


Oil Power...
Click to view larger image.

what are you sure about


I do not know whether you are having the problem of escalating fuel prices in your place, just in case you are living in oil producing nation that is kind enough to subsidize you. Well, I am living in a nation with some oil, but not as much as in Iraq or Middle East countries. And the people sitting on top just announced that the oil subsidy be reduced dramatically, hence we end up having to pay 40% more for fuel, and 60% more for diesel. The best part is, the announcement was made too suddenly, no warning at all...hence the condition you see in the picture below. And I am one of them stuck in the jam created by people queuing up to fill their tank. I tell you, the feeling is not good at all. You feel like being robbed, but the thing is, you have to queue up one by one...waiting to be robbed...just feels stupid!

Damn it!...I was one of them.

what are you sure about

Oil companies have been making lots of money these few years, and today I even came across this news:

"BAGHDAD - Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.
" - link to nytimes.com


The 'black gold' extraction from the sea

what are you sure about

Just to stress here that oil is a lucrative business here, and the big oil companies are not going to let anything block their way of earning $$$, not until all the oilfield in this world has dried up. Don't care about pollution, don't care about the fish dying, don't care about the poor people, just make sure we make $$$!. That should be the thinking of any CEO of Shell, Exxon Mobil, etc. Well, that is what I personally think, no offense.

Let's hope that some Einstein out there can invent something better to replace fuel, so we can save this world.