a man after my own heart

Alain de Botton on TED.com about our ideas of success and failures. Also, he is helping to run The School of Life, at Central London which I read a couple of months back on NYtimes.com. Coincidentally, to add to the awesome-ness, we share Dec 20.

This TED talk will tell you why we dread of attending high school reunions, and the difference between unfortunate and loser; of success and failure.

He put it very nicely, and I quote,"Let's make sure our idea of success are truly our own" Unquote.

Chuck Palahniuk rocks Monday blues away

All of us need a Chuck Palahniuk (Paula-Nik), at least I think I do.

You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice.
To be or not to be.

Uh-oh, then you graduate

High School Never Ends By Bowling for Soup.

Highlights of the song:

The Whole Damn World is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and (who's having sex)
Who‘s got the money. Who (gets the honeys)
Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess

And I still don't have the right look
And I still have the same 3 friends
And I'm pretty much - the same as - I was back then

****

It's always fun reminiscing because you don't have to go through it again. It's like how Godfather 2 or 3 will never be as good as the original Godfather 1. Fun while it lasted, while you go for second helping, you're too full anyways.


Today, looking back at the decision I made 2 1/2 years, I have more, "I shouldn't have done that" more than "I should have" (s), which I'm truly glad of. The pain of regrets is worst than anything. If I haven't dyed my hair blonde (ugly, and still not proud of it), I wouldn't know what's a bad hair color for me, haha.

Well, that's not the point. What I'm saying is that if you have not jump into the cool water of opportunities (okay, I totally fail at that), you wouldn't know whether it is for you or not.

In life, I don't think there's a path set for you, you make choices, and you decide whether something is for you or not.

You play by the rules of the game, you know them well enough to break em, and make it your own along the way.

and this post will end abruptly. like now. it's friday, relax, have a great weekend! ;)

Somebody says that I should be afraid

All these feelings and emotions that comes flooding in makes you want to blog or twitter about it and it goes something along those lines, "Is it just me or..." and you will find one million other people feeling the same way too. Is it just me, or does that make you feel you're not alone, or more like, "I'm not really that unique after all?" *cue to laugh*

Don't you agree that we are all striving to be original, to do something different, and stand out of the crowd; everything has been that way from college essays to why your potential employer should hire you to also why you think you deserve to be financially free? To be No. 1 in class, instead of No.4, because they will award those Top 3 anyways.

Nothing in this world which is not a competition, one way or another. And that's the irony of it. To stand out or to be the best so that we can be different, or are we really?

We want to fit in, but we want to stand out. We don't want to be stereotyped, but we want to fit in the category of what the world thinks is okay.

I guess it's things that you can't solve like whether the chicken or the egg comes first, or like whether you go pro-choice or anti on abortion. Great for debates, but nothing will ever come out from it. Period.

*************

Moving on, let's move on and do some pimping, shall we?

The One Days:HK- See Through from the Wongfu boys.

About a guy on a trip with his brother in Hong Kong, who cannot overcome his breakup with his girlfriend 6 months ago. He meets a girl who is also breaking up with the boyfriend; and he sees her point of view as though from his ex girlfriend's.



6 months by Hey Monday. It would be a perfect soundtrack for the above short.

You think this song is about you, don't you?

We often discuss, debate, complain, having opinions about what's happening in the world. The war, the murders, global warming, this and that, even the noise your neighbors make, or how irritating a person can be. Don't worry, this is not about them, or you.

It's about me.

Yup, you heard it right. Me, myself and I.

The past 6 months has been a great ride for me. Excitement, frustration, challenges, fun, all in one. And when we often face all those that I mentioned above, you would tend to go, "Why does it happen to me?" "Why me?" Like it's not happening to anyone else but yourself. The problem is everyone thinks that way, so, it is okay.

The thing is, all these "external" things happening to ourselves, and most of the time, the only thing we can do is blame. "It's you, not me" although the words come out differently. It's always how you make me feel, how the world is changing that is affecting me, how people treat you affects your mood, how you're putting on weight and you're blaming McDonald's, the list goes on and on.


I don't know about you, but I think I'm going take today, to do what I'm supposed to do. If I needed to lose that few pounds, I'm going exercise 30 minutes, three times a day. If I'm going to make a lot of money, I need to do something that's going to work for me, if 3 liters is what I need, I'm going to drink 3 liters of water, if I need to read one more book, listen to one more audio, I will.


Truth is, I'm tired of complaining. We're often tired from hearing complaints, but don't you think, the real fatigue comes from our own? I believe our mind can only do one thing, find a solution, or make excuses. So, which one?

Find your center, know yourself, find your direction, decide on one, and move towards it. No point doing the same thing over again, and expect different results. Hell with pride, to hell with "I know this is my "destiny" but I'm silently suffering. Nothing is worth it if it's taking a toll on ourselves. If you want a better tomorrow, then do something!

It's not whether if I should, or I could, it's I will, and I would.

There isn't a bigger hypocrite than "sacrifice" oneself before saving yourself first.

The Meaning of Life

pic credit: Jeff Miller/University of Wisconsin-Madison

Canto, 27 (left)- on a restricted diet, Owen, 29 (right), eats whatever he wants

Roger Cohen written this article about "The Meaning of Life" on NYTimes based on the two monkeys (pic) Canto, and Owen, which is part of a study of the links between diet and aging. This study is being held at the University of Wisconsin, where Canto, the monkey gets a restricted diet with 30 percent fewer calories compared to his fat "I-can-eat-whatever-I-like" friend, Owen.

Preliminary conclusions published in the Science, two decades after the experiment began, "demonstrates that calorie restriction slows aging process in primate species." While 13 percent of the dieting group has died in ways judged due to old age, 37 percent of the feasting monkeyts are already dead.

Cohen's case in point is not to defy the study- but more on the monkeys' feelings. Low Cal- Canto seems to be depressed, while High Cal- Owen seemed more radiant and happy being fat.

Wait a minute.

In a funny way, I think Canto is thinking, "Oh great, I have been dieting my WHOLE life and this picture comes along and spoil everything by putting 10 pounds on me. In other hand, Owen looks like one the Balinese Temple Monkeys (still in better shape than them), 29 years old looking like a hollywood plastic surgery gone wrong. Note that Canto is actually better groomed than shabby looking Owen.

Based on the study, I still don't think we can use the study above to compare with people. We, unlike, Owen (although some of us doesn't look to far apart from that), have choices to eat, and you're saying he eats whatever he likes (it doesn't make any sense) .Owen is afterall, still in a cage, and if he hasn't been exposed to Burger King or McD's commercials, would he choose to have that? And I supposed shabby looking does not equal happy looking. I reckon that Canto is so much better looking (being biased this way).

And the whole thing about gain without pain, by looking for an alternative way to "help" (spoil) people to gain (life expectancy) without pain(of dieting). Utter Crap (with a capital C).

Cohen seems to take Owen's side. To him, "Living up to 120 years old holds zero appeal to him", which looks like he's saying that people who live up to 120 years old must be boring and always in misery.

I beg to differ.


There was a particular comment for this post that I'll like to highlight:

Comment #13 by StThomas1957, in which he said, and I quote, "Roger Cohen seems to have missed one thing in his analysis: free will. I suspect that the caged Canto's real misery lies not so much in the abstimeous lifestyle he is forced to endure, but in the fact that it is not his choice to make in the first place." Unquote.

I agree with him; if say, a person who chose to go on a healthy diet and lives up to 120 years old, I reckon he or she would be more happy and contented, rather than those who are forced to go on a diet when their doctor decided they need to do something like lose weight for instance. And I don't want go there.


Well, you are what you eat; you are what you choose. Life is defined by choices; there's no "Jai Ho" moments when it comes to what you'll become.

Cohen conveniently quoted "Life must be lived forward, but only can be understood backwards". Well, the truth is, when you're 65 and hopefully no pain-yet the last thing you want to look back is the counting of how much of McD double cheese burgers you had.

Take a chance, but not on your life, at least not on the expense of your life (health) and the things you want to realize.

Even I know that

Got inspired by this post.


1. It's never fun if you're at the losing side of the table (not for long!)
2. Soy nuts. Salty.
3. I miss my choco protein bars. Herbalicious.
4. Liquid lunch
5. Can't wait for dinner. What should I have? Can't wait to see you and you!
6. Good prep for dinner- 100 boxes done, 100 more to go. Hard labor, tau?
7. Best part, no sweat! ;)
8. Oo. I'm wearing my skinny today.
9. Asked my dad how I looked; well, wrong person to ask
10. OMG. David Choi covered Zee Avi's Bitterheart! Click!
11. Larry King asked: Why are objects in the rear view mirror closer than they appear?
12. Spam. more spam. I wonder why I keep the old email add.
13. Em Watson looks super lady-i-like in a tiered nude organza dress.
14. I have two hot dresses in which I needed to find two occasions to wear em.
15. I'm not regretting it, but I really don't see the point now.
16. Commercial break: Peach tea!
17. Self-censorship is too much.
18. Hwa Tai Crackers
19. Zac Efron- Ashton in the making. You can't deny the chemistry in 17 again, hello?
20. I'm still 20! I hope I'll do something amazing by the time I turn twentyone.
21. H&G. Hi and Goodbye. I know, C&C. Corny and Cheesy. I don't care.

It's easy to pick when one laughs like a Hyena...

and the other one looks like Meg Ryan sans botox.

Hyena Vs. Meg Ryan. Easy pick.

The problem with romantic comedies or any movies with lead roles as the main theme, is that they make it Love for Dummies series. They go to the extreme to make sure, we, the audience don't get confused.

Like seriously, who are you going choose? "You complete me" Vs. "It's my grandmother's, I sized them down, she had fat fingers". Less is more. Stick to three words, and you'll never go wrong.

I hate you, I love you; you eliminate room for misinterpretation. But women will always be blamed for thinking too much about the things men say such as, "It's not you, it's me".

Clearly by now, women are already known to have the ability to multitask, which also leads to "What do you mean by that exactly?"

And if you already read all this and nod your head, well, you know you want to agree that we just want to fall in love like the movies. If only we have obvious choice. Then again, we all don't live in the "perfect" movie world, even if we want to.

let's join in this ecstasy

Happy Proposal. Fake or real? I voted fake, but towards the end I voted real because life's too short for cynicism and skepticism.

this place could be much brighter than tomorrow

Sometimes, it takes something huge to make us start reflecting on our current self or situation; it took a passing of a legend this time around; not only an icon, but a human being, a man, no less. In the words of Maya Angelou, "We had him".

He may not be God, but he has lived his life on stage, scrutinized of every act on stage and off stage. He was God-like, people worshiped him but didn't spare him off the stage. Even until the very end, he had a mega solemn stage exit; life is indeed a brief's candle.

The testimonials, eulogies by his closest friends and family during his memorial struck me; could it be that this man lived a life of a friend, a son, a brother, a father? He was invincible, he was incomparable, he was anything but human-like in terms of his capabilities, but we do forget that he's fragile too, he has a heart and he is all human, but with a heart bursting with love and generosity; to share his talent to the world.

The world, the media was not able to take him as it is; he was powerful, he was in every household, he was something to everyone; his beat, infamous moonwalk, his high pitch voice, his persona, his soft spoken personality. In one way or another, we take it all in, we spit him out; taking for granted of God's gift, or messenger.

He was a messenger of peace, he was true love preacher; but always misunderstood for having personal hidden intentions. We are human, so is he. One man for the world, but it's not easy having the world against you.

"Smile, as though your heart is aching", this particular line from his favorite song by Charlie Chaplin is telling us his life on stage. Hurtful words, critics may have crush his fragile and innocent heart, but he is always smiling. And even that, people can still find fault in his smiling. The world is judgmental; we conform to the norms of society and we seek approval; he is one of the few that tried to make a change.

He lived his life like a prophet. I'm not saying he deserved to worshipped; but what I'm saying that this man, this unbelievable man; stripped of his talents, of his name, of his background, deserves our [final] respect. He who has sacrificed himself, and poured so much love and kindness for the world, deserves to be loved.

The world should celebrate his life; and life goes on after this. Take this as a great lesson; take this as a story shared throughout our generation and our children' generation. For a man who has raised the bars, and broke the bars; and knowing, "We had him".

you ain't seen anything yet

My real stage isn't here. but it did paved a way- through the ups and downs, friendships, politics; the learning curve is unbelievable, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

The warm up session is completed, now let's take on the real thing, and I shall take my place on the real stage; that I look forward to.

Our 20 years of education leads to...

Sit back and think, we studied for 20 years or more to wear a gown, to call yourself a graduate, to say I'm officially an adult, to cry out loud, "Why did I ever wished to grow up so fast?"


Like how the elders feel about nearing the end, fresh grads fear the real world. We grew up to aim for the moon and to ignore the stars, A+ if you can, C, you're no good. The more subjects you take for your SPM, the better chances of getting more As; the list never ends.

I think I'm a little feverish now that it has finally hit me, that I'll be officially a diploma graduate tomorrow[ ignoring the fact I have already been working for half a year, or we'll be the super seniors among the graduating lots] There are a few congratulatory messages, and yetI didn't feel a thing.

Some won't be attending the convocation. Some will. This seems like a 10th year reunion for our batch... Probably no kids, more like telling how amazing your current job is, or how much weight you lost or gained, or your new image, or the places you've traveled over the past year.


Oh, the feeling is all jumbled up, like salad, now I'm not sure whether to go with mayo, italian or thousand, maybe a little bit of olive oil, less calories that way, ;) I think you only go through this when you're waiting for your exam results, your reunion, convocation, marriage, preggus test, well let's not go too far in the future; but it's moments like these that make you go all jittery, speechless, and seriously there are no words for it.

If it was a pie, then it would be real messy.
If it was a scene in a movie, it would be the final battle in LOTR 3. ;p
If it was a moment, this would really come close to giving birth, the part where you breath in and out, and regret and then you cry, "My beautiful baby".

Now, I just hope I don't "deliver".