Rolling in the Deep with Half past 6

Although I have 10 years experience performing on stage, in various countries, I have never had the guts to sing covers out of the karaoke room. Fear of criticism, fear of judgmental comments, fear in general.

Singing in front of the Buddhist community is a bit easier, because I am singing original songs, so if I stumble or make any mistakes, people won't notice as much, or will be quicker to pat you on the back and say, "not to worry, well done!".

And all these, made stepping out of my comfort zones so much harder. That is why, one of my resolutions for this year, is to do exactly that. Pick up the guts and go perform 'commercially'.

After many empty talks and pushes, I finally did it!

Together with my dearest friend, PX and 2 new friends Sheryl and Jason, we formed 'Half Past 6' and our first live performance was last week at the Doppel Cafe, Annexe Central Market.

We did 3 main songs (all on youtube) and 3 more impromptu ones to fill up time. Here's one of the songs that I solo'ed on.

Enjoy :)

Sagittarius and Scorpio - The Research

I found the below in my email’s draft folder dated way back in 2009. I think I kept it there when we first started going out to serve as a refresher whenever we get too stressed up with each other. It’s always nice to read something like this that could reignite whatever you have felt in 2009. :) 

Sagittarius and Scorpio

If a Scorpio and a Sagittarius want to make a love match, they should be warned to slow down, take their time getting to know one another on a deep, significant level or else they run the risk of getting way ahead of themselves. This relationship could be over before either partner even realizes it's started if they're not careful! Their patience will be very richly rewarded. Sagittarius thrives on change, on the new and the exciting and on the power of positive thought. Scorpio just wants to get closer and strengthen emotional ties. Early in the relationship, Sagittarius could feel hemmed in by Scorpio's rapt attention and high expectations for love. If Scorpio can control their emotions, these two are in for satisfaction and excitement.

Both Scorpio and Sagittarius see each day as an adventure (or in Scorpio's case, a compelling mystery) and as an endless opportunity to explore, to probe, to learn. Shared escapades bring them closer. While Sagittarius may get fed up with Scorpio's stubbornness and inflexibility, Scorpio could be thinking their Sagittarius mate is just a little too hotheaded. They'll enjoy learning together, and travel could be very beneficial for this pair. Their relationship is always on the go!

Pluto and Mars rule Scorpio, and Mars and Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. Mars is the God of War, opening the door for Scorpio's determined, courageous character. Mars, when combined with Pluto, represents rebirth and renewal. Jupiter focuses on philosophy, higher learning, expansion, optimism, luck and travel. These planetary attributes -- of growth, expansion and masculine energy -- combine to create a sustainable relationship of mutual admiration.

Scorpio is a Water Sign, and Sagittarius is a Fire Sign. Sagittarius is the spontaneous partner, heading in the direction their whim leads them, while Scorpio's motives are more subdued, less easy to read. Even if they run into misunderstandings or misinterpretations of each other's motivations, crisis can be averted. If these love mates agree that their relationship is significant, their devotion and affection will see them through.

Scorpio is a Fixed Sign, and Sagittarius is a Mutable Sign. Both of these love mates can multitask like pros, keeping each other's interests at heart, juggling birthdays and special dates with family obligations, but it really takes Scorpio's follow-through to get anything finished in this pair. Sagittarius gets the urge to jump around from project to project, so Scorpio's stick-to-it-tivness comes in handy. Lucky for Scorp partners, Sagittarius notices all the work their mates put in -- and they definitely show their appreciation when they know it's needed. Scorpio can be stubborn, exacting and demanding, so this mate needs to give their Sagittarius love their personal space and time for their own interests. Scorpio leads Sagittarius' ideas fruition, even if Sagittarius has lost interest and moved on. So they're not all work and no play, Sagittarius comes through with their knack for flexibility, a positive quality that sometimes wins out over resolute determination.

What's the best thing about the Scorpio-Sagittarius relationship? The security and flexibility they can give one another. Once they open up to one another and to appreciate their different philosophies in love and in life, these two have potential for steamy relations, deep connections and heartfelt respect. As long as they communicate and celebrate their differences, theirs will be a passionate relationship.

******

Definitely something worth looking back upon once in a while and reflect upon. 

******

Just the other day, I had a strong feeling that August will be an exciting month. Probably it was influenced by this month's travel plans, but either way, the feeling came, and it came strong. I hope this feeling stays through and I have not jinxed it by saying it out loud. 

Month number 8

First day of August! Where did the earlier half of my year go? What a quick half a year it was before I opened this page and poise my fingers to create this post. A touch of what had happened in the past 8 months since my previous post:

1.      - My girl YLY had her beautiful wedding ceremony in Phuket. The whole group, boys and girls packed our bags and gears and celebrated their union by the Andaman sea.

2.      - Sold the first house, and bought another in the span of 2 months. Now we are in the final stages of minor renovations before our things can slowly trickle in to fill up the spaces. The only thing I’m looking for now that is proving to be a major hurdle is a nice, large shoe cupboard.

3.      - My girl YLL (extra L, one less Y than the above friend), recently got herself engaged!! What’s more exciting was the fact that we were all involved / there when it happened! Never would I have thought that GTHY was as romantic as he is. Super excited that we have another wedding to look forward to! J

4.      - Since the last post, I’ve clocked in at – Bali, Langkawi, Phuket, Singapore (twice), Hong Kong (twice).  

Another exciting travel plan coming up end of this month where the fam, sans bro and grandma will be heading to London for a 10 days break. Although my cousins have stayed at my house countless of times since our younger days whenever they are in the country, this will be the first time that sis and I will be returning the favor.

I'm sounding a little choppy at the moment, give me some time before I get back into the groove of writing again.

In the meantime, hang tight and hopefully another post will be up soon. :) 

A New Year, A New Beginning

How time flies. My last post was a couple of centuries ago and now we're already inching towards a new year. It's that time of the year again when everyone reminisces on how fruitful/unfruitful, exciting/unexciting, awesome/unawesome year 2010 was and to think and come up with new resolutions for 2011.

For the most part, my 2010 has dollar signs or Ringgit notes pasted on it, not in a good way though. So many things were happening that it just felt like it was taking forever for this year to end.

Even though there wasn't much to shout about, the changes that 2010 brought to us was very much valuable in terms of teaching us that life isn't the bed of roses that we were brought up to believe with disney movies. It made us aware of how easily something / someone can be taken away from us, without notice and without justification.

But what is a little rainstorm, without rainbows in the end? It has been only the first couple of days of 2011, and already we are forseeing quite a bit of good news coming our way.

Nothing much that can be shared at this moment, since I am a firm believer of not-sharing something before it is confirmed for fear of jinxing it. What I can say is this, if all goes according to plan, our troubles and woes from 2010 will not only be solved, we would be living our 1st dream. :)

I say first because who knows, as we grow older, our dreams grow bigger and better than our current ones.

So yeah, first week of 2011 and here's to wishing and hoping for my loved ones and myself a wonderful, smooth-smailing and exciting year filled with lots of love, happiness and joy all around.

Who says the bottom is the end? It's only the begining of our way up.

Monday morning pick me up.

This is something I'd like to share with everyone - something to move us forward even though we are hit and bludgeoned to the grounds.

Enjoy!


There's always someone who will be there to help you cross the finishing line. Be it family, friends, colleagues, strangers, etc. Do not ever doubt that.

Have a good week ahead all! I promise more posts soon. :)

Filler Post!

Ah mai gawd!

I am so swamped with work it's not funny! I have backlogged of pictures in my camera, not even transferred to my laptop. You can tell how busy I am just from that sentence alone.

Hopefully the dust will settle after the end of this month and I can shelter myself from targets after targets, expectations after expectations, and planning after plannings until the next couple of months.

Stay with me! I will be back soon. I promise! 

We're all glass in a world of concrete

One morning a few weeks ago, I was on my way to work using my usual route of passing BAT to Rothmans roundabout and then to Jaya One. From afar, I saw a group of men crowding by the roadside just in front of BAT building and I thought, "What's going on? Is that a union strike or something?".

As I reached closer, I saw a pair of feet on the ground in the middle of all the commotion. Then a body. The way the body was lying down, feet stretched downwards, I knew he was gone.

That incident got me realising again about how fragile life really is. The man probably was on his way to work after a nice happy breakfast with his family made by his wife. Little did he know that another person, also on their way to work, didn't have a good night and couldn't see the potholes on the ground. Before it was too late, they swerved a little and unknowingly collided with the motorcyclist who was riding just beside his car.

Life is an ironic little thing. Mothers tirelessly push hard and at times painfully to bring a life into this world and how easily that same life can be taken away. Just like a Vase. It takes hours of molding the glass into the desired shape, more hours to paint the designs onto the beautiful glass Vase that it will become. But in just a slip of the fingers or a twitch in an arm muscle, the beautiful Vase free falls to the ground. Pieces of colourful shattered glass then lay on the ground. The grandeur and beauty of what was once the Vase now becomes just another memory.

picture found online

How then does one decide on the value of a person's life? And should there be disparities in each and every individual's life value if in the end, all of us end in a basket of shattered-once-beautiful-vases.

Reflection of 2009

I've not been updating for awhile now. Mainly because I have been busy traveling and taking the easy way out by storing all the happenings and memories in a photo album on facebook. People say pictures paint a thousand words. But just a thought I'm throwing out here, how often do we misconstrue pictures with the wrong words?

As we inch closer to the end of 2009, I look back at the year with gratitude. A year ago, I was at the brink of losing my job with the uncertainty of my then company giving way to the world economy crash. Almost a year ago, I gave up on my 5 yr relationship and decided to soldier on alone in 2009. A year ago, I was eating hawker food and maggie mee five days a week as a staple meal, while leaving away from home. A year ago, I was a fresh grad still reeking of the stench of my photocopied university notes. A year ago, dad was living abroad as well, and the family was separated in 3 ways.

I started my 2009 with uncertainties and many worries. Not knowing if this year will be better than the last. But as fate or karma or buddha or kuanyima would have it, my life shifted gear and started picking up again. I am a firm believer now that good things do happen when you least expect it. It is when you relieve yourself of expectations and worry, and put things into action with the hope and faith that you're doing the best you can, things will fall into place. Call it the law of attraction or whatever, the power of optimism works!

I got a job offer from 3 companies in a week, met someone (or rather saw him in a different light) utterly amazing, accepted the job offer with an NGO, fell in love with amazing, dad got a good offer back home, family is still separated in 3 ways but we're good, had a wonderful year traveling both for business and leisure, had a raise and bonus after half a year, learn so much more professionally, enjoyed working with the company, in addition to having so much fun this year.

There's not a thing from my past I would trade as it had brought me to where I am today. So 2009, thank you for providing the space and time for such wonderful memories. I sincerely hope that 2010 will brim even more with happiness, love, joy and success for me and all my loved ones.

In case I do not post anything before that,
Have a Merry Xmas and an even Happier New Year!

Cheers!

I love Novembers as much as I love you

Wow, it’s been almost a month since I wrote something. Did I hear a snort?

Things at work is picking up full speed, my trip to HK was as those of you who had followed me on twitter/fb, very fruitful. Leaving me with a large burnt hole in my pockets in which I can still smell the stench until now.

Last month was the bf’s 25th birthday, and my proudest moment to date was successfully throwing him a surprise party! I roped in his friends, my friends, his sister, booked the venue, made up a cover-story, crossed my fingers and wished for the best.

His friends were quite skeptical of being able to fool him, after all, he is the master of tricks. So I was thinking, “Okay, I’m fine if he finds out prior to the surprise. As long as everyone can get together and celebrate this quarter of a century milestone of his life with him.”

Little did I know that my lovely bf was super trusting. I’m so happy really, that I played a part in making his 25th a memorable one. Too bad no one had a camera to capture his shocked face when he walked into a room full of his friends. Lots of love hon. :)

********

On Monday, the office doorbell rang, I looked up and what do I see? Lo and behold, a vase of beautiful white lilies. Really, where did I find you?
This card came along with the lilies
They have since bloomed into a bunch of wild looking lilies which looked utterly beautiful and smells heavenly!

The only thing left now is Friday - when you return.

TGIF!

I'm excited till I'm anxious!

Excited with the thought of seeing you again
Anxiously looking at the clock ticking away until I can leave to pick you up
Although it'll only be for a few days, we'll have lots of fun house hunting and costume hunting this weekend. And then it'll be back to phone conversations for another week.

It's a busy month ahead.

But no matter, you're coming home in approximately 2 more hours! :)

*****
Was just thinking last night as well. I miss spending girly time with my mom and sis. And also family dinners. Haven't had one of those in a while where previously we'd have one every weekend without fail.

Everyone's so busy.

Nevermind. It's Friday!

:(

It's the time of the month again.

I'm easily upset and irritated, I'm tired and sleepy all the time. Plus, I feel about as bloated as a hot air balloon.

Not helping is the fact that I have to be in KL at 830am tomorrow. :( Oh my sleep. I'll have to plaster a smile and switch on my PR mode and talk to people twice/triple my age - while acting like I know what the world is going through.

Why haven't you replied me? It's been 2 hours.

And, to think that you'd be gone. Again. :(

:(

Stupid p. Won't you come already! Bring back my sunshine!

weekend getaway trip

A few weeks ago, the bf and i decided to take the weekend and drive back to our hometown of malacca. Our parent's hometown to be precise.

Of course first stop is jonker street for my favorite chicken rice balls. Tho, he doesn't really fancy the balls much.

We checked in to this quaint little hotel in the middle of nowhere, unnoticeable if you don't know where it is located. Beautifully decorated with traditional nyonya decorations, jars, condiments, etc.
Definitely a recommend to all who enjoys elegantly dressed rooms with plush pillows and comforters with 5 star services.

Midnight cap at jonkers
More pictures can be viewed here.

Up next - bali trip update!

Mish Mash

Today was a pretty eventful day.

Before that, little brother is back. And dad is quarantining himself at my aunt's place. My boss was mentioning that perhaps I should quarantine myself away from my brother too since I can't afford to lose 1 week of work. Sheesh. No difference also, i hardly see my brother. When I wake up, he's in his room sleeping. When I'm back home, he's out. Does this help?

***
I paid a visit to my ob-gyn today. Some interesting findings, not that no one has told me this piece of news before but funny coming from her.
Doc: How old are you?
Me: Erm, 23..
Doc: Hmm, if you find Mr. Right now, better settle down soon.

Whaaa...?

A wave of mixed feelings was brewing inside me. I didn't know if I should be upset and worried or laugh. My reaction to her while she was explaining further after that last line, was me trying hard to surpress my laughter, I literally wanted to 'LOL' and at the same time, trying to calm my racing mind and heart.

This isn't really news to me la. But previously it was from other traditional doctors. So to hear this from a professional doctor, the whole thing kinda carries more weight now.

So, mr. right? This is NOT a proposal or a request for a proposal ah.. Hold your horses. heh.

23 is still too young la. Maybe 24. :p

Lesson of the day: The grass is not always greener on the other side.

After almost 2 weeks of living out of my suitcase, I am back in Tanah Melayu! Thank god time past quite quickly. But i think it was also attributed to the fact that I was drunk with exhaustion almost every night. The minute my head touches the pillow, I'm whisk off to dreamland. A few highlights were of course meeting the person behind brands that we know as well as the few shopping trips i manage to squeeze in between.

The final tally of this 2 weeks? Okla, not alot but not too bad for an accumulated shopping time of 3 hours = 2 tops, 1 working pants, 1 dress, 1 bag, 1 pair of pumps, 1 pair of sandals and 3 belts.

Why the lesson of the day? That 1 dress that I bought which i thought I got it at quite a good price, given the unique design and shape for SGD30, I saw an online boutique selling the exact same dress for only RM38!!!! Bloody hell right?

I paid more than double for the exact same dress. :( Excitedly brought it all the way back.. and found that out.

I could have bought some other things with that money. Like that MNG shorts.

First Biz Trip in the Co.

I've been in Singapore since Sunday. It's already the end of Wednesday and I haven't shopped yet!! This is so sad. Been going for meetings after meetings after meetings.

Argh, so miserable because I can't sleep properly, the bed sucks, the food, lack of sleep.. I really hope i don't have to come back next week. So many other things to do that has yet to be settled.

On top of all of this, the bf is also away on a biz trip to KK and according to him it's a joy being there. Without me.

But he's been really sweet by giving alot of words of encouragement, good luck la, think positive la, get a good rest la, i'll sayang you kawkaw when you're back la, don't stress too much la.. hehe. So kiut.

Argh, by Friday, Im definitely buying at least 1 pair of heels and sandals and at least 1 clothing item.

Yes. That's what I'm going to do. I don't care.

It's JUNE!!

We're now in the sixth month of the year! Oh my.

The Bf has gone for yet another one of his company's trips. It's quite difficult every time he goes away. Thankfully those trips are usually only for 3-4 days.

Remember the cute little curly haired girl? Yes. Apparently, I am now known to her as 'AUNTY LEEJEN'!!!

-_-"

Initially she refered to me as kakak leejen, as the bf is abang leejen. Now why la become aunty??

KLJ, u better teach her the right name ok. No aunty. Not yet!

I'm thankful to be here

Ahh..so much has happened since my last post. I need to make it a point to write it down as soon as it happens, if not, i'll never remember them correctly when I finally do take the time to sit down and blog.

Last week, we finally finished recording our second album after almost what, 5 months? And these are only the vocals. Now Greg aka MrProducer will have to put the finishing touches- strings, more lead guitars, polishing and tweaking of vocal pitches etc and we are good to launch!Not sure when will be the next time I'll fall asleep on that plush red sofa while waiting for my turn to record.

Last weekend as well, we were invited to perform at this inter-religion World Peace gathering at the Pure Life Society where groups of every faith were invited to share their religious musics to each other. So, we represented the Buddhist community and I'm proud to say we had the better singers present although I truly enjoyed the Baha'i group's chant that incorporated different languages.That same weekend, I played badminton again after a thousand years of not playing. My arm and calves hurt like mad after that for a few days. Gladly so. I desperately need more workout sessions. I'm starting to believe that my Belly Dancing classes alone isn't going to help much.

Oh yea, for those who hasn't known, I've took up Belly Dancing recently in hopes that I will sport a leaner, toner, svelt figure with a more defined waist in 3 months. Which I don't think can happen with just one hour class a week. Heh.

I walked in for my first class feeling all hopeful until I saw my teachers waist. Erm. Not very defined and flat.. But nevermind, I am enjoying the class tremendously! Maybe I'll sign up for their other classes. Like pole-dancing perhaps? :p

Things are going pretty well with the bf so far - 3 months into the relationship. We've done so many things together in this few months. And I'm happy. Very happy. But one thing that I am most glad is the fact that he makes the effort to bond with my family. I didn't want to compare my relationships but this was one of the main factor that irked me the most in my past.

Now, I have to restrain him from professing his love too much for my grandma. Haha. "Byebye, I love youuuu". I think my grandma is getting a kick out of him. =)

Without this turning into a fullblown love profession, I'll save that for more special occasions, I'm just truly happy that I'm with him. He's good for me in every way.

Lunch time rant #2

Have you ever wondered what would life be like now if you had done certain things differently in the past?

What would become of me if I had studied overseas?
Where would I end up if I had accepted the PR job in Singapore?
Who would I be if I hadn't been in a 5 yr relationship?
Would I have grown this much if I hadn't gone through everything I had? The good, the bad.

Something I ponder about occasionally.

I believe there are alternatives to everything. All of us are provided with choices. It is what you choose to go with that makes a difference.

People always complain about being left with no choice. But sitting down on your ass and complaining about being left with no choice, is already a choice you make. You could have gone looking for other alternatives. It may not be an excellent option at that time, but at least it's one step closer towards something better.

There are two people in this world- one, who accepts the choices in front of him; and the other, who makes his own choices.

Which are you?

A year ago.

I've been preoccupied with online shopping sites lately. VERY preoccupied i should say that it's slowly getting out of hand. I know I know, I am controlling. But a dress or two never hurts right? heh.

Another week and it's May. This will mark one year since I had graduated. It has been quite a journey from then till today, one that I believe have mould me further to become who I am today.

The time when I was freshly out of university, full of eagerness towards jumping into the working world. No fears of the economy or recession or strategizing to achieve high profits, no worries of monitory responsibilities. Untainted by the ugly side of being in the workforce, unguilty of playing office politics to protect yourself, unafraid of bullshitting your way to an A.

How many times have grown ups uttered the sentence, "Enjoy your student life while you can". I understood how good a life it was, but I never fully comprehended the depth of the meaning until now.

I am not detesting working. I like what I am currently doing now. Just that, once in while, during mornings that I am dragging myself out of bed or am suppose to make decisions that involves money, I would think "What I wouldn't give to still be a student".

Especially now, when I would have ample/more flexible time. For L.

To pacify myself, I am thinking back about the nice weekend I had. Full of quality time spent. =)

Four more days to our little runaway.

Lunch time rant

Arrggh... must. not. be. brought. down. by. sorethroatcoughfluheavyheadachingbody.

***

I remembered I wanted to write about a convo i had with the bf last night which was very interesting to say the least. But.. I can't remember it for the life of me now.

Maybe I should put a separate column for 'Interesting Convo of the Day' in every post, making it an official musing. I'm sure I'll have plenty for this section. Haha.

So Dad has been offered a lucrative job offer. Not too bad i say. Now we'll have a new car and driver to use.. hehe. Trying to see if he can fetch me to work every morning so I don't have to pay parking. :p And if he's as adorable as Chuong (pronounced as Gerng), my dad's driver in Hanoi.

Dang, how am I going to record backing vocals tomorrow in the current condition of my voice?