I'm supposed to do work but...

I hate queue-cutters, especially on the road. I think they should just burn in hell (yes, I really hate them!) I notice that a lot of young girls do that these days.. cutting into a long queue from the side without even bother to put on the signal light. Didn't their parents teach these girls good manners?? Grrrr...

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An old friend is in Venezia right now while I am here at home trying to start writing an essay and preparing a separate oral presentation for my PTK tomorrow. How I wished we could swap places. I love Venice for its colour and of course because it is surrounded by water. I am a water person, isn't it obvious by now?


This photo was taken using my old Minolta SLR somewhere back in 2000 or 2001

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I was already fast asleep when my door was knocked. My dad wanted to show some 1000++ photos from his recent Hongkong trip to my mom but he couldn't get the DVD to run on his laptop. With eyes half-closed, I got up and sorted it out or my dad would forever be on my back with 'But it run ok in the office!' statement again and again. Phewww..

I lingered around for awhile and watched the telly while both my parents busily going through the photos. The Hongkong trip was for the 60-year anniversary celebration of the Kuok Groups (yes, when you're the richest man in the country, you can afford to fly all your management staff to another country, just for a dinner!) and since my mom (and my sister too) used to work within the groups, she knows many of the faces in the photos. My heart warmed up looking at this 50+ year old couple chatting and gossiping on the 'who's who' in the photos... Life was never exactly smooth-sailing for them but they are still strongly together. They have what my own marriage was lacking before.. sense of responsibility, loyalty and trust..

My dad is not the lovey-dovey type of man but I know he loves his family very much. Now that my mom has stopped working, I regularly spotted my dad telling her the office and family gossips after work while they're having afternoon tea or early dinner together... quite funny really. And my dad could never keep any secrets from my mom so if we (the kids) wanted to know anything.. all we have to do is just 'korek' from my mom!

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Such a sad sad song...

Simple things in life

Conflicting ideas. Mixed signals. Unresolved issues.

A sure recipe for a chaotic mind.

There would be times when I'd wished for a crystal ball to help me make sense of the past and present in order to map out a better future.

There would be times when I'd wished for a magic wand to make certain things just disappear or to help make judgements and decisions when the mind ended up in total chaos or a state of fatigue.

There would be times when that all I wanted to do was just to hide in my invisible cave..forever.

But life goes on. It has to be.

So, it is really a bonus when eventhough life itself seems to be so complicated and screwed up, I still have the chance to enjoy some simple things in life which more often than not, are taken for granted. Simple things that are, in reality, as powerful as the magical wand or the crystal ball and can easily produce smiles and sighs of relief, even on bad days. Simple acts like sitting on the pavement of a 7-eleven, late at night, eating Magnum (the ice-cream that is) with a good friend. Such a bliss!

Merci beaucoup.

The best of Lembeh

The trip couldn't have come at a better time. The past few weeks (or even months) preceding to the trip were hectic and mental-draining, hence, when the day finally came, I gladly 'left' my thinking brain cells in my holiday gerobok back home and off I went.

Bastianos Resort on Lembeh Island was just the place I was hoping for.. A picture of tranquility. Great dives, scenic location, friendly and helpful staff and good food were the extra added values. A very relaxing holiday indeed and all that I had to think of when I was there was whether I have enough air to last as long as I could underwater (and not go into deco of course, although I did anyway!). Albeit the scorching weather, I slept like a baby each night there, the first in months. Wished I could stay there forever!

Here are some photos:

Bastianos Resort - where we stayed

I watched the sunrise at about 5am each day without fail.. It was very therapeutic indeed.

The old inactive volcanoes - a view from our rooms




Pygmy Seahorse@Nudi Retreat

Flamboyant Cuttlefish@Pantai Perigi



Banded boxer shrimp@Jahir



Long-armed octopus@Chompreng

3 Frogfish on a buoyline@ Teluk Kembahu

Wing-spined Seahorse@Chompreng

There are more photos of the weird and wonderful critters of Lembeh but I am just too lazy to upload them... the connection is very slow today!