We chatted for a while, before I proceeded to show my documents. After getting the forms stamped and signed, I realized I had left out another set of documents that needed verification. I decided I would settle that the following day. I could go either go back to him, or to another place. I therefore did not fix an appointment with him.

When I went to a nearby coffee shop for my lunch, I saw him again so I invited him to join me. Things became less formal. We talked about what I’d be doing in Australia and about life in general. And then he related that his daughter also graduated from Australia, and was currently working in Malaysia. He said he didn’t really understand his daughter (who was, btw, single) well, and asked me how do young people think.

I offered him my views, albeit briefly. It was after all, over lunch and inappropriate to speak about things at length I guess. So that was it, not a single indication that I’d see him again after that day. The following day I decided to go back to him again because it was convenient. He was very happy to see me, a warmer reception compared to the day before.

He knew why I was there so it saved me the trouble of explaining. After we were done, he charged me only a minimal sum, much less than what I should pay. Then came the interesting bit. He said something like this; “I see you look like a nice guy. Do you think you can do me a favor? Make friends with my daughter, or introduce some friends to her because she’s at home most of the time and I’m worried she’s no friends”.

He said if his daughter were to expand her circle of friends, it was better to do it through people that we know, rather than strangers. “I now know you already mah”, he added. I honestly didn’t know what to do. He didn’t charge me the full amount for his services, and now he was asking for a strange favor. He then handed me a piece of paper with his daughter’s name and email written on it. “Damn,” I thought, “want meh…”

He said there was no obligation to his favor, just try to make friends and see how it works out. I said I understood, and that I’d see what I could do. As I was about to leave, he stopped me and guess what, he showed me a photo of his daughter on his handphone! I felt it was not very right and for some reason I tried not to look at the picture. But of course, it was shown to me like that already, and I wasn’t blind, so I saw.

What do you think? Since he was willing to show me her pic, obviously she had to at least look ‘OK’ right. It was a photo of her with her pet dog. Quite cute also lah. Both the dog and her. Anyway I left the place and immediately sent my friend an SMS saying some guy just pimped me his daughter. But you know what, it’s been about a year now and I have not followed up with that ‘favor’.

Feeling guilty as I might (for accepting a discount), I certainly didn’t promise anything. It’s probably better to let that girl find and make her own friends. What if she found out her dad had been ‘helping’ her? Sometimes such help is indeed of no help at all. She was 2 years younger than me. I didn’t think her dad should be too alarmed about her still staying single.

Thinking that it was one of those seasonal attacks, she was taken to our family doctor where she was given antibiotics and other meds for her persistent cough. When her condition did not improve, she was brought to a nearby hospital for an X-ray. The doctor there suspected that she had bronchitis, which startled me, who was 300km away from home at that time of course.

My family never had such medical history! How did this bronchitis even come about? I later learned that the hospital (medical center, hospital, same, no?) did not have anymore rooms for Sis, especially the single ones because her condition was contagious. An attempt at warding her in another neighbourhood private hospital was futile because it was also full house. Luckily a third attempt paid off – a private facility which was not too far away from home.

Because of the fever that came along, we were told that it could be dengue. The various diagnosis that cropped up in a span of just 3 days began to worry me. Then suddenly I received an update saying her fever had subsided. Thinking that she was already warded and that she’d have sufficient medical attention, I actually heaved a sigh of relief. And then the next day came the bombshell. ‘Pneumonia’ was by no means a small word! A quick check on Google with keywords ‘pneumonia’ and ‘h1n1′ only returned frightening results.

In view of the escalating numbers of H1N1 infections reported by the papers, not to mention the number of fatalities, I was worried sick. Within 3 hours after receiving that phone call, I hopped onto the next available MAS plane home, the last of the day, and the most expensive I had ever taken, plagued by anxiety and, believe it or not, fear. I was actually very afraid. I had never been that scared in my life before.

I applied for an emergency leave, and spent the remainder of the week shuttling between home and the hospital where Sis was warded. By then it had dawned upon us that it was actually H1N1 that we were dealing with, but since her infectious period was already over, the question of quarantine did not arise. She responded well to the treatment and the (mild) pneumonia that was detected earlier had gone.

And the fever did not return throughout that period. Her condition improved. By the 10th day or so she was allowed to return home. But because of her weak immunity she was given a further 1-week M.C. to recuperate. Thinking back, I was pretty sure god heard me when I said my silent prayers in my flight seat the night I flew home. Sis has now fully recovered, and everyone else in the family is as healthy as a bull.

I, for one, don’t do that. I always want to get the max out of my bedtime so I don’t like to be interrupted until I really have to get up. I’m also a light sleeper, so usually the first ring (which is also the lowest volume) will be enough to get me up and moving. So if I need to get up at, say, 0715 am, my first ring shall be at 0715 itself.

In my lifetime I have seen people who’re very much the opposite. They prefer to set the alarm to ring 15-30 minutes before the time when they would actually get up. There’d be a couple of snoozes. I look at that as a 15-30 minutes loss of quality sleep time. Why’d anyone wanna wake up and press a button (snooze) and only to go back to sleep again?

According to a friend, we can actually set a few alarms on a Nokia phone. Some people would utilize this feature and set alarms to ring 10-15 minutes apart. How does your body recognize if it’s time to wake up, then? If it isn’t the first ring, would it be the second? Do you keep count (in your sleep) how many times the alarm has rung?

Interesting isn’t it. Efforts should be made by scientists to study this behaviour and explain the cause and ways to overcome the problem. By the way, would or wouldn’t you call this a ‘problem’?

P/s. After 15 weeks of hardwork, stress and swollen eyes, it all came to an end with three important days. Don’t know how well I did yet, but I’m very relieved anyway! ;)

Music is my favorite remedy for stress. Never regretted flying my guitar down. (She had to be checked-in as an ‘odd-sized cargo’, something like that). Requested for ‘Fragile’ to be pasted all over. That said, I wouldn’t have thought of bringing it with me if I didn’t have a good hard casing to protect it. (Am thinking of getting a slightly cooler case from Bugis… hmm)

Ever wondered why when everyone says the world is not in good economic health, they’re still able to go about living like they’ve always been? Take a walk down Orchard and you’ll be left asking ‘bad times? what bad times?’ Friends are going places (holidaying in Japan, Bangkok, etc), people are buying stuff. Interesting huh.

By the by, I want to share some links with you. They’re my friends’. The e-commerce tsunami sure is big!:-
Steph’s – Little handmade treasures (Steph makes them all herself so check them out!)
Bello Cielo – Alotta Baju Kurung and Kebayas
My Sassy Tank – Fashion, accs…
Chilizky – Fashion, accs…
Just Shop Lah – Fashion, accs…
Sorry, nothing for the guys!

P/s. My friends and I were just watching one of MJ’s concert videos. Simply amazing! I think he will remain as one of the most inspiring characters of all time.

P/s2. Jason Mraz’s blog!

And Steph, who not only works for a huge MNC in Penang, but also runs her own small hobby-turned-business selling her own hand-made artworks – and it’s paying off! Big bucks at that! Totally awesome if you ask me. Business has been brisk and orders have increased. It’s a dream come true for anyone who could use her hobby to earn some income. In this case I think she doesn’t even need to worry if her company’s forcing its employees to take unpaid leave! Anyway, be sure to check out her online catalogue and drop her a line or two!

Yesterday was my happiest day in a long time! :)

*Pau: It means men keeping a mistress or, in the case of women, a toyboy.

We chose the Wednesday night classes and I would pick up sis on the way from work and we’d head to class together. It was the first time I sat next to my youngest sis in a classroom to learn something. She is 9 years younger. As we progressed I realized that I hadn’t regretted a bit in picking up a new language. In fact, when I was in Japan for about 2 months, knowing Japanese was my greatest relief! Despite knowing only the basics, it was certainly much better than not knowing at all, considering I was alone for more than a month out there.

Timing was just-nice too because my Japan trip came shortly after the completion of my beginner’s course. While I was overseas, sis advanced to the next level herself. As soon as I returned, I registered for the next level which was Beginner level 2. It took a while for me to get started because timing was odd and there were not enough students to start a class. When a class was finally formed, I was informed that I would be going to Japan for another project. A few weeks into Beginner 2, I froze my lessons (flexible language school! Two thumbs up!) and took off. When I was ready to resume lessons again, there was no immediate class that I could join.

I had to wait til end of October before I could join one. The sensei was great, my classmates were awesome. Class was always fun and enjoyable. Last night I sat for my final exam, chalking up another milestone in my learning journey. The paper was okay, oral exam was okay. I hope to move on to the next level – the one which sis had just completed recently. I’m glad that at least I have a ‘sparring partner’ at home and whenever I need help, I don’t need to sweat. Sis is much better than me in Japanese thanks to her obsession with Japanese entertainment (no, not the AV kind) and culture.

I hope to have the same classmates again in my future courses. The sensei, too. They make Japanese so much more fun to learn. I’ll continue learning, although I’m no longer attached to that same Japanese company. That’s because I discovered something else as I progressed. I discovered that there’s joy and satisfaction in learning itself. Of course best of all ‘least now I can tell people I speak the language. Hopefully before I hit 30 I’ll still be up for another language. Likely French, because I did the beginner’s course while in university about 3 years ago.

Anata wa Nihon-go o benkyo-shimashitaka…?

I recently read from a book (“Who Switched Off My Brain?”) borrowed from a nice friend and it says that in order to prevent this undesirable consequences of unpleasant thoughts, we need to control what we think. We need to control our thoughts, so that the brain only releases feel-good chemicals or endorphins. The brain can also be triggered to release endorphins when we do something pleasurable, like eating ice-cream or something. Exercise also helps release endorphins – which is why it’s a good idea to hit the gym if you want to de-stress.

I have not been feeling my best lately due to a host of reasons which include anxiety and worry. Therefore I always look forward to going to the gym because I know I’ll come out feeling refreshed and good. It’s like the bad mood and worry miraculously disappear after my workouts. Same goes to my Japanese language class. Sometimes I would feel tired and moody before class but everytime I will return home feeling happy, satisfied and stress-free. I love attending my Japanese class because there’s always so much laughter and fun. More importantly, I’m actually learning something, which is always a good thing.

I’m now going through a rather rough patch I’d say, as you can tell from my lack of updates and stuff. And I mean real updates – not just on my blog or FB, but in my life. At times like this I feel really grateful for having my friends around, who’re a great source of strength and motivation when I needed them most. Even more so those who refrained from asking me repeated questions, lest I’d get annoyed by them. I really appreciate that. Right now I’m really taking things one step at a time. It’s like inching a car slowly into a thick blanket of fog, with visibility down to almost a couple of feet. I can’t see or plan ahead.

I hope things get better once 2009 comes. I just can’t wait.

P/s. Weekend was great. I had the company of my little cousins, visited my little nephew and found comfort in reading and playing music. If only life was always that simple…

We were at this fish spa called FootMaster in Sunway Pyramid last night, where passers-by looked at us (through the glass windows) in amusement.

Not-very-cool. Elaine could tolerate better, but not before yelping and squeezing the towel and wincing in agony during the first 10 minutes or so.

I found a trick to distract myself from the psychological torment. I began taking more pictures while the toothless (or so they claim!) fishes sucked my skin. Ok that didn’t sound right…

They also dug my hair. By this time it didn’t feel as ticklish anymore. The fish would come to your feet in all directions and if you like to move they’d chew off your flesh swim away.

Elaine, too started to enjoy feeding them fishes. At one point I wondered whether we should be happy or sad. You could say the fishes liked us. You could also say we had alotta dead skin.

Suddenly a girl came over and asked if we wanted to try the bigger fishes. *Gasp!* I said I’d give it a pass. Elaine tried for barely 20 seconds. She said they sucked harder. I’m not surprised if they’re capable of leaving hickeys on you.

RM38 for half-an-hour. For the experience lah :). Didn’t notice any improvement on my skin though. We came out after dipping for about 40 minutes.

By the by…
Here are some random pics taken earlier before the fish spa, during our Arabian dinner at Tarbush.

The food was excellent. Ambience was top-notch, especially inside! Since one of us had tried sitting indoors before, this time we chose to sit outside instead. There were ceiling fans, of course.

Managed to capture this during magic hour. That’s the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel, standing majestically over the Sunway Surf Beach and Extreme Park.

Obviously I do not make a living out of taking photos. I don’t get paid for taking nice photos. Yet, I splurged more than RM3K for an entry-level SLR camera which I love dearly even til today. For those of you who may not know, I had been eyeing an SLR camera since my early days of blogging. It was because I didn’t have the means to get one, I had to wait til I joined the workforce. The burning desire (to get an SLR) peaked during my first working trip to Singapore. I bought my EOS 400D in less than a week after I got home, and I never looked back.

Anyway, photography is only a hobby, and I’m merely a blogger. All the nice photos you see on my blog, you can capture them just the same. Most of the time, you do not need an SLR camera to do it. I have many friends who take jaw-dropping photos with ordinary point-and-shoot cameras. So don’t rush into buying one unless you’ve maxed out the features/functions that your point-and-shoot has to offer. Also, don’t be deceived by all the photos you see on my site. Although not all have been digitally-enhanced, I do have my fair share of bad shots which require some divine intervention (ie. photoshopping) before posting them up.

In terms of blogging, I think my site is becoming less and less personal now. I know a good number of Narrowband.org readers who like to read more ‘personal’ entries – stories closer related to my life and especially, love life. Well unfortunately, I have a sad love life so I don’t like to write much about it. I also steer clear of family-related stuff. As for my job, I do share – once in a while – about what I do, but if you’ve noticed, I always try to be careful in disclosing info related to my job. I have had friends asking me to post more photos of my ‘workplace’ in Japan. You know it’s not appropriate ;)

Speaking of my job, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the impression that I have the perfect job and stuff. Truth is, I only write about stuff that I think is suitable for public viewing (so much so that a friend accused me of ‘too much filtering’), like the general, happy-go-lucky stuff. My job does require a fair bit of traveling but at the same time, a shitload crap is also happening behind the scenes. For example, I have problem communicating with my colleagues (yes, even though we speak a common language). Sometimes I’d rather keep mummed and talk only when necessary. This can sometimes be depressing.

So, yeah. My point is that, when I feel shitty I don’t tell it. More so on my blog, which, by the way, has found more subscribers now than it has ever had. Let me seize this opportunity to welcome my new readers. Thank you for reading me. As you can see, lately I do not have many entries that consist of only words. This must have occurred to you as odd, but you’ll soon realize that once in a while I like to throw in more words than photos. Today is one of the those days. (Actually it’s mainly because I’m taking two days off starting tomorrow, haha).

Anyway, it’s my one-year anniversary working in my company today. It’s been a bumpy but enriching experience thus far. I’ve had ups as much as I have downs. The learning curve has been steep. But more importantly they’re all healthy seeds of a fulfilling career ahead. Here’s to my first year into modern slavery. Yam seng.

Anyway, my impending trip to the land where everyone wears their own fashion label looks set to take off later this week, with the itinerary issued last Friday. It has generated quite a buzz, in that I got people asking me when would I be leaving, and some even expressed surprise when they saw I was still hanging around town. Embarrassed is an understatement. I’ve learned my freaking lesson. My seniors, who have had similar experiences when they were newer, told me that they would take their trip to be ‘confirmed’ only when the itinerary and visa are ready. They wouldn’t tell anyone until just 2-3 days before the actual flight. That makes a hell lot of sense to me now.

Last weekend was pleasant. Met up with old friends and had a good time. I realized that you don’t need to have a reason for barbecue parties. I attended two such gatherings, neither was in conjunction with any special occasion. Well, my classmate Lynn is leaving for Melbourne next month to do her PhD – I guess we could take that as a farewell dinner for her. Now don’t go all nostalgic over the photos yea, we’ll all be keeping closely in touch… and you can poke me anytime!

And the week before at Duncan‘s, we sort of played a mini gig at the porch, where we sang songs from *our* time – the 90′s. Songs we knew very well. Dishwalla, Def Leppard, 3EB, Mr Big, Matchbox 20, Verve Pipe, Goo Goo Dolls… it was just us and the guitar, and we had hours of fun. I would really love to do that again, but maybe the next time around we’ll get a set of tambourine and ‘pepper shakers’, you know… they’re essential for acoustic gigs!

I finally decided to use the RM500 Robinsons cash vouchers. Sis told me that I could probably buy only 2-3 items with the RM500 because the stuff over at Robinsons aren’t exactly cheap. But the sale was on, so all hell broke loose. Bought two shirts, and asked Dad if he wanted anything, to which he said no. Anyway I didn’t splurge them all in one day. The vouchers expire next April, anyway (that’s next year!).

Blogging momentum has obviously dropped, especially in recent weeks, no thanks to my hectic schedule. I sometimes returned to my office on weekends to finish up my work, too. And when I’m not working, I either go out with my family or my friends. It saddens me to see my readership decline sometimes. Oh well… there is only so much one can do in 24 hours. Anyway, I’ll leave you guys with a quote:

“Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one.”

Came across it somewhere, I couldn’t disagree. Have a blessed week ahead, guys.

Shorttalk: Uh-oh… Narrowband.org has found several new readers from my office! To many bloggers, this is nothing short of dreadful. You risk getting dooced, you see. But I think I’m reasonably prepared (no, not prepared getting dooced! Prepared to have my site discovered, that’s all -.-”). Luckily I haven’t been poking fun about anybody at my workplace…

Shorttalk2: Narrowband *is* going to watch the Singapore F1 this September! Tickets bought last weekend!