Looking back at 2014…

Compliments of the season to one and all! Tis the season to be merry and of coz’ to look back at everything that has happened throughout the year.

Now, if I had to use two words to describe 2014, it would be “interesting” and “confusing”. I know these are rather common words, but they are the best words I can think of to sum up the year.

The year was filled with ups and downs, a real roller coaster ride. I went through two deaths in the family: my paternal grandma and my maternal grand uncle.

I’m still dealing with some unresolved issues which I hope will be cleared up in 2015. I really hate dragging things on. I think it’s high time I made some decisions.

Well, work was same ol’, same ol’ for the first half and then it went crazy gruelling busy for the second half. This year saw me taking on new challenges and responsibilities. Them white hairs are popping up faster now! 😛

Anyhoo, I seem to be constantly learning new things this year, especially as I sojourn into uncharted territories at work and in my personal space. This new knowledge has kinda changed my perspective on life and on how things are in reality. People can change and not everyone plays by the same rules.

We are taught to follow the rules of society and so like little good children we do, thinking that everything will fall into place if we do. For some, yes and for some, no. Perhaps that might create some frustrations in us. I know how that feels. We strive to follow the rules, but at times we might bend them now and then in our quest to fulfil our desires. Hence, I really do understand the saying that “some rules are meant to be broken”. 😉

Not only that, I’ve also learned some new stuff about myself, call it self-discovery if you want, and I am not done making sense of them yet. This “new” me has me in a conundrum as it really requires loads of patience, control and a helluva restrain on my part. At times, acting nonchalant is a real challenge especially when I get more and more involve. Some of these stuff I’m going through are things I wouldn’t imagine myself ever experiencing or venturing into. It’s exciting and it’s like a dormant part of me has been woken up. I seem to be a different person. Wow, I didn’t see that coming! I keep asking myself: “Is that really me? Why is it happening to me? Who knew I had it in me?? Not in a million years!”

As I said this is a super confusing year as well. My beliefs have been shaken. I seem to have more questions and self-doubts. I do wonder whether it’s a test from God or is the Devil playing his tricks on me, taunting me. Things used to be compartmentalised into black and white. Now out pops a grey area. It’s so difficult to handle this grey area. The rules are different there. In fact, I think I’ve kinda thrown the rule book out and am just creating my own rules. Let’s see where this grey area leads us to.

In addition to that, I’m also confused with the infamous four letter word: LOVE. You would think that a 30 something would know what love is by now. Well, I used to. I think I used to, anyway. What is love? I really don’t know what it is anymore. What does it mean to be in love? What do you equate love with? How do you know when you are in love? Can two persons be together without love? Can you love more than one person? I guess I’ve been watching too many dramas. Sigh… The stubborn bull in me is having a tough time accepting changes. The things that are happening around me are just making it more mind boggling. Perhaps it’s time to fall head over heels in love with someone to understand it better? 😛

Anyhoo, I’ve kept my promised to myself to at least embark on a solo travel once a year. This year I went to Taiwan and it was an awesome experience. It was a bleisure trip: business + leisure. I took the opportunity to travel to a few cities in Taiwan since I was heading there to present a paper at a conference in Taipei. Taiwan is indeed a lovely country. It’s safe, the public transport is so convenient and the people are pretty friendly as well. Hmm… I will never tire travelling on my own.

So I can say all in all I have had a colourful horsey year. I have no idea what plans 2015 has for me. There are bound to be great challenges and battles ahead, but I’m definitely gonna try to embrace them the best I can or rather grab them by the horns as the saying goes! 😉

Let’s all attack 2015 with full of gusto!!

Happy 2015 in advance, everyone!! 🙂

 

Lethal Weapons

Someone recently shared that a woman’s boobs is considered as one of the mightiest weapon a woman has against men. Doesn’t matter whether it is big or small, covered or exposed, them boobies can create havoc in a man. 😛 If you ask me, I don’t really agree with it 100%. What’s so lethal about a pair of breast? But that’s the thing coz’ I’m a woman, so perhaps I don’t see them as being an “asset”. They are just something we women are born with.

Whereas, for men on the other hand, they see them in a whole different light. Some might even say that a woman’s boobs can be a man’s Achilles heel. If you ain’t careful, you’ll be drawn into the web of destruction.

Since women’s boobs are considered a weapon, what’s about the men? Don’t they have their own weapon as well?? Nope, according to my male source. They only have defences. Now, this is something I totally disagree with. Perhaps some men don’t realise it, but their biggest weapon ain’t any physical part of their body, it’s their words a.k.a. praises. The hardest heartless woman can melt in just a jiffy when the right words are used in praise of her. A man’s praises is indeed a very powerful tool. “You look really sexy in that dress today.” What a man says can make the most unattractive of woman feel attractive just with a few simple words.

Now, do I detect some raised eyebrows? Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. I am afterall a woman. We can be vulnerable and insecure at times, but when the right words are applied, bam, we can melt in your arms! 😉

That’s why guys, you all should never be flippant with your words coz’ every thing that you say ain’t just words to us gals. There is a weight in those words, a value. You’ve gotta think about the intention that you wanna achieve with those praises. Are you being sincere with your praises or are you just saying stuff to get into her pants?? Never lead a woman on if you don’t intend to follow through. We women, as you know are very analytical. We will dissect every little thing that you say and try to decode its meaning. Even though sometimes there’s nothing hidden in whatever that you say, we’ll still try to analyse it. 🙂

My advise to men is limit your praises if you are just trying to be friendly coz’ no matter how sincere you are, when you go overboard with your praises, they can get misconstrued. You wouldn’t wanna deal with that headache now, would ya?

As for women, don’t misuse your “assets”. Now, I can honestly say that I have never ever used mine as a “weapon”. If they are considered lethal to you men, so be it. That’s not in my control!  😛

Ladies, always remember that them boobs are God’s given gift, so take good care of them. Don’t just simply use them, be selective in your tactical warfare. Since they are considered a weapon, only flaunt them when you really must. After all, men already see them as a weapon, it’ll be a waste not to use them to your advantage. 😉

All is fair in love and war. Is it now?? 😛

 

whatever that comes to mind

This is gonna be a haphazard entry. I’ve just migrated my blogs from Friendster to WordPress. It’s easier for me to do updates here. Now, I’m just trying to recall what went on in the last few months. I doubt things would be written chronologically. 😉

I’m now having some quiet time as the students are away for their sem break. Classes will resume next month. So, better enjoy my “break” as much as I can now.

Err, I think I last put my thoughts down in February. Well, nothing much happened since then. Yes, people I live a pretty boring life.  Now, let’s see there were the usual classes. Sometimes I don’t feel like a lecturer when I step in to class. At times, I’m more like a mother having to remind her kids to do this and that. Nag, nag, nag…I hate having to repeat myself but with my kids I just can’t help it. Some of them can never remember deadlines even though reminders are given constantly, spoken, written on the board, uploaded on the Internet. What else do I need to do? Send them sms reminders?! Sigh…I do get oh so often driven up the walls. But I keep telling myself, it’s their future. There’s only so much I can do. The rest is up to them.

Well, at least I get to de-stress once in a while. Nope, I don’t go to a spa for that or hop on a plane for a quick getaway. I usually go to the movies or just take in a play or two. I find that pretty relaxing. The rest of the time is either spent in from of the tele or “resting” i.e sleeping lah!

Anyway, I attended a conference a couple of months ago. As most of you know, conferences can get pretty boring sometime especially when you attend them alone.  You need some company to make the experience less painful. I’ve noticed that many conference participants tend to come in “herds”, opps, I mean groups. I guess it’s somewhat like a security blanket for some people. These sticky people like to go to the same sessions, eat together morning, noon & night, some even sleep together! I mean in the same room. Don’t get the wrong idea, okay? It’s not easy to get into their very well guarded circles.

Anyway, I was pretty set to being alone most of the time but I guess God decided to take pity on me. I actually bumped into my former tutor, Emily from UM. I hadn’t seen her ever since my degree. That was almost 8 years ago. It was good meeting up. We had fun. She introduced me to one of our juniors, Charity & the three of us got to know this very crazy yet lovable gal, Shamala. Sham’s a Singaporean & yes, we did crack some Singaporean & Malaysian jokes.  I guess being with the three of them was the highlight of the conference. The four of us were pretty rowdy especially during the luncheon on the last day. How I wished I had a picture of Sham scrambling to the MC with her Malaysian 5 sen coin in order to claim a price. You’ll just have to be contented with a picture of us at lunch. 😉

Let’s take a pause for a second. I’m getting old & can no longer function as fast as I used to. My processor is slowing down a bit. Talking about getting old, I just turned 31 last month. Sigh, another year just whooshed by again. I got an ipod nano which I’ve christened “poddie”. Why? I don’t know. Poddie really created some havoc for a while. It kinda short-circuited something on my laptop. Gosh, that was really an unpleasant experience which I do not want to go through ever again. Thank God everything is back to normal now.

I was at an ex-colleague’s wedding reception two weekends ago. It was good catching up with friends. I still miss them loads! Anyway, I’ll see you guys at the end of the year at you know where,k.

Erm, I have a picture of me & my niece up at Facebook & some thought that she was my daughter. I know there is some resemblance since we are after all related. But read the fine prints,k people. Natalie is absolute adorable. Everyone dotes on her. I can’t wait for her to start walking in a few months time. Then, we can main kejar-kejar. I’ll sit down while she runs about! 🙂

Okay, my system needs a break now. I feel kinda embarrassed as I read what I’ve penned down. Some of the paragraphs are not in synced which one another. It’s a habit of all educators. You tend to correct everything you see. In this case, I really don’t care. No one’s grading my entry. 🙂

 

overdue

I’ve been lazy.…just wasn’t in the mood to write…there were a few things swimming in my head but too malas to typelah…will go blank every time I look at the screen…

 

Anyhow, let me recollect what happened end of last year…wait ah….memory a bit dusty….got to think back…sigh…getting old lar…errr, nothing really out of the ordinary occurred wor…work was as usual lor…a bit busy here & there…no one felt like working in dec coz holiday time ma…i took the week off during x’mas…had to run around to shop for presents…x’mas itself was a quiet one…juz had makan-makan with family…

 

I remember meeting up with ruth & marina…but can’t recall exactly when…i think it was in November…or was it december? It was great seeing them after such a long time…had a good time chatting…we’ve got to do it again girls…maybe this time can get some of the others… J

 

I also managed to catch a few plays at klpac…bottom top, oh my god! & x’mas carol…there’s a nice park at sentul west…too bad you can’t really roam freely there…but I managed to, one time only lah…the guard wasn’t looking…it’s a good place for walks…there’s also a koi pond there…took some pictures of the fishies, kois to be exact…they vary in sizes…got some really big ones…the small ones or rather young ones will all come crowding towards you when you stand near the tank…thinking that it’s feeding time…so cool! Old ones don’t do that anymore lar, dah pandai kononnya…  

            

Well, I would say the highlight of last year was watching the musical mamma mia! It was totally awesome!! The sound, costumes, colours, vocals….just so indescribable…really well worth the money spent…I know jk wouldn’t agree…after dragging him 2 all these plays, he still hasn’t changed his mind…they are still only so, so to him lar…such a harsh critic! aiya, so difficult to impress one…got no spiderman, transformer or even predator running on stage to catch his attention, that’s why…well, if want to see a spiderman musical got to wait until next year lor…but that one in los angeles…too far lah…

 

Moving on to 2009…so fast already coming towards the end of February…been busy with work since the new semester started last month…have other projects to work on as well…I just can’t escape all these thingies…got roped in by my colleagues…but good learning experience lor…especially when you are working with a team like mine…very cooperative…office is still freaking cold…we’ve already asked maintenance to adjust the temperature but still so cold, like north pole only…

 

I attended the new staff induction programme early this month at genting…it was ok lar…got to meet quite a number of new lecturers from different campuses…received my confirmation letter last month which was backdated to dec…yippie! Hr is pretty efficient here…not like some places which can take forever to get things done…this is my 9^th month in unikl…goodness, so fast!

 

We just had language day last Saturday…it’s something we have every sem…all the students taking english & mandarin classes are required to take part in a variety of performances….it’s a form of assessment…this time round we had choral speaking, poetry recital, pantomime, singing & short sketches…my subject was assigned short sketch…so, each group had to come up with their own script…they did really well, very dynamic & innovative…some scripts were really out of this world…kudos to them! It was so difficult to decide the winning teams…well, the important thing is we all enjoyed ourselves very much….i’ll put up the pictures once I get my hands on them…

 

Errr, met up with cousin ivan who came back from new york during cny…he was down in kl for a few days…we only managed to meet up briefly for lunch…haven’t seen him for a couple of years already…still looks the same though…can’t believe he’s in his 40s….looks more like 35 than 47…oppps, I hope you don’t mind me mentioning your age…anyway, let’s do more when you come down next,k…hopefully ian wouldn’t be too busy to join us…cousin ian, when are you coming down from penang? I miss my movie partner lar… L

 

Hmmm…what else is there….oh ya…remember I mentioned about the latest edition in the family, my baby niece, Natalie…gosh, she’s a handful…so super cute & terribly manja! What to do…rose among the thorns…everyone dotes on her…her daddy’s so proud of her that he’s created a wall of pictures at home, just like a wall of fame…jealousnya…

 

Ok lar…m gonna stop here…mental block again…

 

Time to let go…

 

 

it’s sometime difficult to let things go…but how can we hold on to things that are not meant to be? there’s always a time for everything…a time for love, a time for joy, a time for sorrow, a time for growth…a time to let go…

just remember, stand firm when the time comes for a decision to be made…

 

adios…

 

                                           Friends

                                  by Michael W Smith

 

 

Packing up the dreams God planted

In the fertile soil of you

I can’t believe the hopes He’s granted

Means a chapter in your life is through

But we’ll keep you close as always

It won’t even seem you’ve gone

‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Chorus:

And friends are friends forever

If the Lord’s the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

‘Cause the welcome will not end

Though it’s hard to let you go

In the Father’s hands we know

That a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends

And with the faith and love God’s given

Springing from the hope we know

We will pray the joy you live in

Is the strength that now you show

But we’ll keep you close as always

It won’t even seem you’ve gone

‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong, yeah yeah

(Chorus)

To live as friends

Though it’s hard to let you go

In the Father’s hands we know

That a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends

No, a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends

 

Time in memorial

i was just looking at some old photos & only just realised that time is passing me by too quickly… as i looked at these photos, they reminded me of the fun time I had with friends…now where are they? i still am in contact with some but have lost touch with most of them. sigh… what to do? now, it’s work, work work. so boring…. anyway, will be putting up more photos of the past for fun.