Progress ...

As I watch the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama on TV, a great sense of expectation is apparent. As a new president comes, so does new hope.

Even before the new president has taken office, before a new law has been made, the US has made much progress. In electing their first African American president, they've put their trust in a man who some time ago was considered inferior to their 'white' counterpart.

Good progress has been made, more progress to come.

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Summer's revenge ...

You know summer is here when you get out of the shower and start sweating in the bathroom *groan*. While our Christmas was rather cool compared to previous years, it was only a matter of time before the heat caught up with us.

After a sweltering week in the new year, the heat continues to build with 35 degrees tomorrow and a 37 degree day later in the week. Can't wait for summer to end.

I've always preferred winter, simply because you can always wear more clothes to keep the cold away. In summer however, there is only so much clothing you can remove before you get arrested.

[Interestingly, I'm watching 'COPS' when I'm typing this up. Keep cool everyone.]

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Another day ...

Another day has gone by and so does another birthday. When will it end? [errr ... when you kick the bucket, stoopid : ) ]

It has been a great day with many nice e-mails, SMSes and calls wishing me a happy birthday. I was on cloud 9 [how did that phrase come about I wonder?], so much so that I stopped at a T junction and was just about to turn left ... then [my brain kicked into gear and] I suddenly noticed the red traffic light in front of me. [Helloooo ... you almost ran through a red light!!!]

My sister sent me an e-mail during the day and mentioned it was "mum's special day too" which was quite profound. Here I was thinking that I was the 'star' of today yet when you think about it, it was on this very same day that my mum endured the pain of childbirth and also experienced utter joy [I hope] when I popped into the world. This was also her special day.

[So next time it is your birthday, don't forget to show your appreciation to your mum too!]

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So sad ...

Some sad news regarding Steven Curtis Chapman's family ...

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Foreign Words

Foreign Words, originally uploaded by ~g~.

My brother passed this on to me a while ago. Don't know where he got it but I've kept it safe in case I needed it =). This is a book of phrases really, from small talk "Where to you come from?", to swearing "sh*t", to what they call 'lover's language' such as "I'm crazy about you" or even 'break up' terms such as "I don't love you anymore". I bet you won't find these terms in travel books or dictionaries!

So here is a short Japanese lesson:

Haven't seen you around for a while. [Hisashiburi-dane]

Really? [Honto?]

I'm hungry. [Onaka-ga suita]

I like it alot. [Daisuki]

Stupid. [Baka]

Sh*t. [Kuso]

I'll always think of you. [Female would say:Itsumo anata-o ommotteru-wa
Male would say:Itsumo kimi-o ommotteru-yo]

My fascination with the japanese probably began when I was really young via their cartoons or ultraman shows. Then it was their cars, music, food, culture, cameras etc. My parents would say, "Things made in Japan are good quality", I guess that phrase stuck. I studied Japanese in my uni days, it was hard work with 6 hours of tutorials every week. I even visited a club where you would converse with japanese students or other students learning japanese. Alas I've forgotten most of what I've learn't since I haven't had much opportunity to practice.

Let's hope I say the right words to the right people. With my luck I'd probably unintentionally say something unkind about one's mother to a member of the yakuza (when all I wanted to ask was directions to the nearest toilet) and end up running for my life through the streets of Tokyo ...

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Lunchtime banter ...

[Warming ... this post contains unsavoury discussions about toilets so you should finish eating / drinking before proceeding further. It also contains 1 swear word which probably makes this a PG rated post ... soooo, ok here we go ...]

During lunch a few of my colleagues gathered in the kitchen to quench their midday hunger pangs and one of them mentioned that I am going to Japan for a holiday. Another colleague then said that while he was in Japan, he saw this nice establishment that was the most brightly lit building in the area. Feeling a little thirsty and thinking that it was a bar, he entered the building only to find out that it was in fact a funeral parlour. The coffins were a BIG hint that it wasn't a bar.

I then mentioned that there is this restaurant / bar in Singapore [at Clarke Quay?] which was decorated like an operating theater. The lights above you are the same as those used in operating theatres and your food are served in stainless steel plates / bowls. I think I heard that your knives are actually scalpels, I haven't eaten there before so I can't be sure of the utensils. Then another colleague mentions that the chairs in a cafe somewhere in Europe is actually a toilet. He suggested that our office should do the same because as you're performing your bodily functions, more blood is circulated in the brain. That is why you often get good ideas while sitting on the toilet. I have to agree 'cos I've produced some fantastic gems [ideas ... not the other stuff that gets flushed away] while sitting on the toilet.

Well, I responded "Nahhh ... then people will start complaining that we write sh*tty code" [for those who are unaware, I work as a computer programmer in my company]. It is amazing what kind of conversations are had between caffeine induced, sun starved computer people ... during lunch too!

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Man's Best Friend

Man's Best Friend, originally uploaded by ~g~.

Whoever coined the phrase 'A dog is a man's best friend' must have been married. =)

Now the trick is to figure out if the 'dog' he's referring to is his wife or a real dog ... Either way, doesn't bode well for the wife =)

[Haha ... sorry ... currently in a mischievous mood]

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Last chance ...

Ok, Valentine's day is tomorrow and if you're ill prepared, here are a few last minute emergency tips.

1. Luckily shops are open till 9pm so you still have time to pick something up.

2. I've always wondered why women like flowers, they die in the next few days so it doesn't rate highly in terms of 'value for money'. Why don't you get them something that lasts ... like a hammer, ever see a broken hammer? They last for ages!

3. On second thought, don't get the hammer. After unwrapping the gift, she may use it to 'hammer' you. Get her roses instead ... thornless ones in case she decides to throw it at you.

4. If for some oddball reason you can't get to the shops by 9pm and they're all closed, there is a 24hr pharmacy along Beaufort St. And no ... headache tablets, sanitary pads, laxatives are not appropriate gifts.

5. If your partner is not into gifts, tell her that she doesn't need gifts to know 'that you lub her'.

6. Also mention 'I said I lubbed you long ago, that should be good enough for you. If I change my mind I'll let you know.'

7. If all else fails, tie a ribbon around your head / neck, knock on her door and when she opens it, yell 'tada!'

[Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any injuries or break ups incurred due to these advice. Have a nice (injury free) Valentine's everyone ...]

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How things have changed ...

Eph 5:31 (NIV)

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

I used to think that this was a rather 'cruel' thing to do, "how can you leave your parents?" I thought. I've come to realise that sometimes it is necessary ... may even save your marriage.

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Less than a month ...

In less than month's time, Christmas will be upon us. Isn't that crazy? The year seemed to have disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before you know it we'll be wearing Santa hats, singing Christmas Carols and filling our stomachs with various Christmas treats. For those that will be traveling overseas for a holiday, I envy you ... please do enjoy yourselves.

In little old Perth, summer will come in full swing and the heat isn't the only thing to worry about. Insects of all kinds come out of their winter hibernation and [very much like us] would try to avoid the summer heat. Slowly but surely, they would eventually invade the house. Remember that donut you left on the kitchen table 10 minutes ago? Well, those little spots aren't chocolate sprinkles but legions of ants. Almost at every corner of a room, a spider or two would begin to spin their webs, marking their territory.

Needless to say, I've never liked summer. Winter is my kind of weather. You see, no matter how cold it gets during winter, you can always wear extra layers of clothing to keep yourself warm. In summer however, there are only so many pieces of clothing you can remove before you get arrested. Even in your birthday suit, you'd still be sweating profusely. Can't wait for summer to end!

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Courage ...

This weeks topic at cell was Courage and why we should lead a courageous life ... here are a few gems.

• We were made to live a victorious life. ie. our birth right ...
• We are more than conquerors.
• Doing so sets us apart. In effect, setting an example to the world.

It occurred to me that living a courageous life means taking action with the risk of failure. So for example, getting up on a chair and jumping down doesn't take any courage however sky diving from a plane does. So a courageous life goes hand-in-hand with trusting and depending on Him. Does that mean that as we build our trust in and depend on Him, we are then able to live a courageous life? .... Hhhhmmmm ...

So it got me thinking ... if there was a situation where you could do anything (ie start a business, learn a new skill) and it was guaranteed to succeed, what would you do?

Would you start a bakery, learn to paint, play an instrument? I haven't figured mine out yet, when I do I'll let you know ...

One of my favourite passage that instills courage in me is Psalm 27.

Have a great week everyone!

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Money money money ...

The last day of October also means the last day for submitting your tax return, otherwise you may have to pay a fine. If you've been caught unawares, no need to panic. Getting your tax return done with a tax agent provides you with an extension of a few months (can't remember how many exactly ...).

Just submitted my tax return online and I'm getting a refund ... YES!!! Probably took me 1 hour to go through it all. I used to get a tax agent to do my taxes however one year I received $130 back in tax and the agent's fees were $120 so received a grand total of $10 back. Ever since then, I've been doing my own tax returns.

More about diamonds! This was a comment I left on a fellow blogger's page regarding diamonds ...

Go to Linneys at Rokeby Road, Subiaco. When looking through their 2007 collection catalogue, my jaw dropped. Melissa George is absolutely gorgeous and I saw a ring for $18,000.00! [Yes, there are that many zeros at the end!]. Guys ... if any girl tries to persuade you to buy diamonds from Subi, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

Come to think of it, I do remember walking by Subiaco on a Thursday night a few years ago and popped into a very nice looking jeweler. Can't remember whether it was Linneys or not but I do remember that it was pricey and way beyond my budget ...

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Change of heart ...

Whenever a topic about wedding rings or diamonds in particular come up during conversation, I almost always joke about getting the cheapest or even a fake diamond, ranting that a small diamond just doesn't justify the amount of money paid. So there'll be suggestions such as getting a cubic zirconian diamond or a cultured diamond from Shhh Secrets. Heck ... I even had the gall to suggest getting a ring from Cash Converters! However during cell, we were studying a certain passage and I noticed the following:

1 Samuel 18:20-27

In the meantime, Saul's daughter Michal had fallen in love with David, and Saul was delighted when he heard about it. "Here's another chance to see him killed by the Philistines!" Saul said to himself. But to David he said, "I have a way for you to become my son-in-law after all!" Then Saul told his men to say confidentially to David, "The king really likes you, and so do we. Why don't you accept the king's offer and become his son-in-law?" When Saul's men said these things to David, he replied, "How can a poor man from a humble family afford the bride price for the daughter of a king?" When Saul's men reported this back to the king, he told them, "Tell David that all I want for the bride price is one hundred Philistine foreskins! Vengeance on my enemies is all I really want." But what Saul had in mind was that David would be killed in the fight. David was delighted to accept the offer. So before the time limit expired, he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines and presented all their foreskins to the king. So Saul gave Michal to David to be his wife.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Imagine having to kill two hundred people, let alone having to handle their private parts after and uh ... cut off certain bits!

Soooo ... spending a couple of thousand dollars to buy a diamond ring doesn't sound so bad after all ...

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Life is a beach ...

I was at Swanbourne beach on Sunday [yes, that is a nudist beach ... no, I wasn't nude. Well, unofficially it is a nudist beach. You have to walk northwards about 300m or so to the 'clothes optional' area]. Initially I had wanted to stop at Cottesloe beach instead but the car parks were full, alcohol starved men & women were enjoying their 'Sunday session' at their favourite watering holes.

With an hour or two to kill before dinner, I trudged along the sandy shores with camera in hand. I've always wanted to take shots of the beach. It was a warm day but the sea breeze made it quite pleasant. It wasn't crowded at this end of the beach; there were couples having a leisurely walk; families playing in the water; 3 guys with their body boards wrestling with the waves.

I walked to the shoreline, far enough where the water would flow below my knees and stood there while peering into the Indian ocean. With the expanse of water and sky before me, I never fail to ask this question "What's the meaning of life?" [I always ask myself this question at the beach...]

I didn't get a chance to dwell on my question. A little pug [for those who don't know, that's a particular dog breed] came running by with a young boy who was probably 4 or 5 years old with [I gather] his sister who is probably 2 years older. It was fun watching the dog dance with the waves at it came crashing down. The dog would chase the waves as it retreated then run when the waves returned. The kids were yelling 'Help! Help Molly!' in a bid to get the dog to jump into the water. The dog never went it really deep, always making sure the water reached only chest height. Even though the beach had signs that dogs weren't allowed, I enjoyed seeing the little pug run around.

Then the answer to my question came. All to often we psycho analyse everything. The 'what ifs', 'I should haves', 'why did I do that' cloud our minds with the past or burdens us with the future. Our heads filled with 'things to-do', 'people to meet', 'places to be'. Preoccupied with the past which we cannot change or the future that hasn't happened yet, we let the present just drift by. 'Now' only comes once.

So there I stood, for an hour or so soaking up the glorious sunshine. For an hour, nothing else mattered except the air in my lungs, the sand under my feet, the water swirling around me and the God above me.

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How about a simple 'Thank you' ...

I recall a few months ago, a japanese colleague of mine [male, married with a new born baby daughter] commented "that's a nice sweater (you have on)". To which I promptly replied "Oh ... this is just an old sweater". Then later I questioned why I said those words, is it an 'asian thing' to do? What probably started out as a practice in being humble is now a knee jerk reaction to every compliment that is received. Hope it doesn't get much worse ...

George: Hey Brad, you wife looks great tonight.
Brad: Oh, that's just something she threw on at the spur of the moment. Actually do you know why she wears closed shoes all the time? She's got a 6th toe.
George: ?????

Patricia: Hi Susan, your husband Brad is so charming.
Susan: Yes he is. However every time he sneezes, he's unable to control his bladder and he pees a little.
Patricia: ?????

[Ok, weird I know. The moral of the story is ... sometimes a simple 'Thank you' would suffice ...
By the way, sorry about the lack of posts recently, I've been quite busy of late. Take care!]

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Just Yellow

Just Yellow, originally uploaded by ~g~.

During my recent 'flower photography frenzy' [well, I have been taking lots of photographs of flowers recently], I do a lot of close-up shots of the core of the flowers. I do this mainly for 2 reasons, often we never notice what's inside the flower and just admire the colourful outer petals. The other reason being getting close-up often gives a 'wow' factor to the pictures. Looking at these flowers close-up got me thinking ... [beware ... my thoughts border and sometime teeter over to the insane department]

I started thinking of the purpose of flowers. No! no! ... I wasn't thinking of a romantic date of anything [what! are you nuts!?!?!?] but rather the biological purposes of a flower and my thoughts went back to the days of biology in primary school. The teachers [who often played God] would teach us about the stamen [a filament which holds the pollen] and the stigma [the part which receives the pollen]. Biology for dummies: Basically to sum things up, bees or various other birds / insects would be attracted by the flowers and go from flower to flower harvesting the nectar etc. As they do this, they would transfer the pollen from one flower to another thereby causing fertilisation. For more details ask your parents or just click here.

What's my point? Ok here goes. Ladies, you know how you feel loved then your significant other brings you flowers? Just realise he gave you a bunch of reproductive organs. So warn your man that you don't want flowers for the upcoming ball ok? [might be too late for that]. Now let me speak to the men here, if you find my post to be logical and liberating [yeah ... I know you've been thinking the same things all this time], tell your girl about this. Might save you some money in the process. Now I'm not against giving your girl gifts. Just make sure it's something that will last. Like say ... a hammer ... no, ignore that. A hammer hurts when she throws it at you. Ok ... how about a car wash sponge? That won't hurt.

If in the event that this does save you some dough and bring your relationship to another level, give me a pat on the back next time you see me. If the response is positive, I'll share other interesting thoughts like ... how to avoid: washing the dishes; doing the laundy; showering etc ... just consider this my service to the community at large.

[Oh ... by the way ... a fellow blogger said that my recent posts weren't controversial enough. Does this one quality?]

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Lefty ...

To some who may have noticed, I'm left handed. Which means, my watch is on my right hand. I write, eat and play sports with my left hand. So when a friend noticed that I was a 'lefty', he said that it 'explains why I'm creative'. I've heard the same story so I decided to look it up on Wikipedia. It has something to do with 'lefties' using the right side of their brain more which is [quote from Wikipedia] "found in some circumstances to be associated with genius and is correlated with artistic and visual skill."

Sounds great doesn't it? However the article also mentions that it has also been linked to [another quote from Wikipedia] "auto-immune disorders, learning disorders, dyslexia, and stuttering, as well as increased spatial ability."

So I'm either brilliant or dyslexic. Hhmmmm ... which one ... I know!

I'm brilliantly dyslexic.

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40 hour famine ...

Even though the official 40 hour famine has passed, some from our church will actually be fasting this weekend.

I'm not participating this year but if you'd like to contribute, mishi and marianne are going to be fasting.

Overheard a discussion at cell about some things that people can surrender for the 40 hours ...

+ underwear??? [heck ... some might do it for free]

If you're really stuck for ideas, I came up with a few of my own:

+ If you're attached, avoid all contact with your significant other for 40 hours.

+ Or if you're unattached, pretend that you're married for 40 hours.

+ An equivalent would be to tie yourself to a friend by the wrist and remain tied together for 40 hours. Now that'll be challenging.

Horhorhor ... might be easier said than done. Not sure if anyone would actually donate money for you to attempt these feats but at least they're unusual.

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I'm confused ...

originally uploaded by ~g~.

[Ok, I'll admit that it doesn't take much for me to get confused. Some might even argue that I'm always confused but women are certainly confusing.]

Recently, a couple of friends were talking about relationship issues and somehow the conversation drifted onto Josh Duhamel [the guy above]. The girls unanimously declared him as a hottie and well, I'd have to agree. He's not too pretty to be a pretty boy and had enough 'action hero' in him [demonstrated in Transformers] to gain the respect of the men folk.

Here is the confusing part. When asked if the girls would like to have a boyfriend like him, one responded:

"Nah ... he'd probably be unfaithful".

Confused? I certainly was. How does one's good looks and charisma translate to being unfaithful? This is one of those 'you can't understand women' moments. If a guy was to have a beautiful girlfriend [like Kate Beckinsale above], one would typically have a picture of her in his wallet and [for lack of a better term] show her off to his friends, not suspect her of infidelity.

Oh well, it certainly made for an interesting and funny conversation. In the end, we concluded for her that she needs to find an ugly boyfriend. [How about that guy? Nah ... he isn't ugly enough for her ... hahaha ... just joking ahhhh].

[If good looks and charisma means that one is probably unfaithful ... does that then mean I'm very faithful??? Hahaha ...]

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What would it be like ...

My current 'guilty pleasure' is Grey's Anatomy and most recently What about Brian.

A common thread running through these two shows [and many many other shows] is forbidden love. I often wonder what it would be like to be in a similar situation ... where you're irresistibly attracted to your colleague or attracted to your girlfriend's friend. Sounds very wrong doesn't it?

In my previous office building, a few other departments were on the lower floors and for a short period a beautiful surveyor joined the company. Her surname revealed that she is italian, brown hair tied back in a pony tail, very well spoken and with a great smile. Another colleague mentioned that she was 'very easy on the eyes' and that she was. A classic beatuy. Sadly she left not long after she joined. Our technical department has since moved to a smaller building and only houses us techies. Not to worry, my female colleagues are all married and in their early 40s so no risk of 'forbidden love' at this joint.

[Not to worry ... sometimes I wonder what would it be like to be a girl ... doesn't mean I'd actually become one!!! ... yes, I'm starting to agree ... I think too much.]

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