No Means Yes, Yes Means No, Maybe Means ... ???

Wow, I finally managed to pry the laptop away from the wife, well, not really pry. The only reason I can get online now is cos she's taking a nap (yeah, I know it's 9pm and it shouldn't be called a nap, but bear with me while I explain this one ... hehehe). If any of you has been reading my other blog, Spiff, The Spaceman, you'd know why I can't get my hands on the laptop all weekend. The wife has been busy playing games on it all weekend! And she's so bushed right now from playing all those games, she decided to take a short nap cos she says she's gonna be up late later and continue playing more games ... sighhh, so there goes whatever PC time I have available ... LOL!

Actually, I don't really get online on Sundays especially at nights cos I'm just too lazy to post anything, but today I thought I'd post something that has me stumped about the wife, well, about women in general :) Now, before all you ladies out there decide to string me up from the nearest tree, give me a chance to write this and explain what's really stumping me about the opposite sex.

Ok, a few days ago, I came home during lunch to send my youngest boy to school (which I normally do when time permits) and before I left I ask the wife,

'Honey, you want me to get you anything from convenience store?'

And she replied,

'Urmm, no, I don't want anything'

I went,

'You sure? chocolates? coke? sweets?'

She said,

'Nope, I really don't need anything'

So I left to sent my son and then came back home (since it was still lunch time) to catch some TV and chit chat with the wife and of cos I came home without buying anything. When I walked in she looked at me and said in this bewildered tone,

What, you didn't get me anything?

I replied,

'but hon, you said you didn't want anything'

She glared at me and said,

'Couldn't you have surprised me with something?'

I replied,

'Urmm, correct me if I'm wrong, but I asked and you said you didn't want anything'

She went,

'don't you know that when a woman says no she doesn't want anything means she really wants to be surprised with something?'

Now, by this point I was totally stumped. There I stood with a totally bewildered look on my face trying to figure out just which part of the 'I don't need anything' statement I missed out on! I'm still trying to figure that one out honey! Ok, never mind, moving on to the very next day, I once again came back to send my son to school, and I asked her again if she needed anything. Same reply from her,

'nope don't need nothing, dear'

But this time I was smarter, after having learned my lesson from the day before, I decided to surprise her and bought her something. There I was thinking I got it right this time and happily handed her the the stuff I bought and she looked at me and said,

'I didn't ask for anything'

'but didn't you say that no you don't want anything means to surprise you?'

'well, that was yesterday and you should be able to tell my no from a maybe or a yes by now!'

Argggghhhhhhhhh!!!!! I was totally going out my my mind already ... LOL! Don't worry people, we didn't end up arguing or anything. Oh and by the way, this wasn't really the first time something like this happened, it's just the most recent one and what I'd like to know is are all women like this? I'm not the only one who has gone through this 'guessing game' so to speak, I've had friends going through the same thing with their girl friends or spouses too and I'm just curious as to know if this is a genetic thing with the opposite sex? LOL!

I mean, for me (I can't speak for the rest of you guys) a no, means no and a yes, means yes. No two ways about it. I can't really read minds (oh how I wish I could though) or anything. I take whatever is told to me at face value. How can I even begin to tell that no I don't need anything means surprise me with something ... LOL! I guess you've just got to read deeper between the lines when a woman tells or asks you something, ya? So, guys (and even you girls) tell me some of your 'guessing game' stories if you have any (don't worry, you can always remain anonymous so your wife or g/f's don't kill you ... LOL!)

Man, I think the world would be so much easier to understand if women really meant what they said and we men didn't have to trying guessing all the time if that was really what they meant ... LOL! Ok, ladies, you can string me up from that tree already ... hehehe ...

A Lot More Things That Go Bump In The Night ...

This will be my third installment of supernatural stories. For those of you who are freaked out by ghost stories, (you know who you are ... LOL!) please be warned before hand and don't read any further if you're reading this at night ... hehehe ...

I've done two installments of my personal experience with the supernatural before. One was about something that happened to me personally, the second was something that happened to me and my buddy the Genie King and this one is about something that happened to me, the Genie King and our other good buddy.

This happened quite a few years ago, we were all still single back then (if I'm not mistaken). The three of us together with a few other went for a holiday in Port Dickson (a local favourite seaside town). We rented this bungalow with a swimming pool and all attached to it (yeah, I know I said by the sea, so why the swimming pool, but it was a nice touch). It was a nice old bungalow, surrounded by vegetation and situated about 2-3 minutes away from the beach. Totally isolated from anyone else. Great spot for a nice getaway.

We rented the bungalow for a bout 2 nights and 3 days and we brought our own food supplies and stuff cos we didn't want to have to leave the comfort of our nice secluded bungalow to go and find food, besides my two good buddies are great cooks and they were going to handle the meals. I was the driver who drove us all there. I used to love driving everywhere those days and I kinda became the self designated driver for our hang out sessions ... LOL!

Ok, let me not stray too much away from the topic here. So,we settled in and started enjoying ourselves at this bungalow, we decided that we just wanted to hang around by the pool and forget about the beach. We reached there in the morning and around noon, The Genie King aka Adrian's brother and family dropped by with their two twin boys to join us for awhile seeing as how they were around the area as well. We convinced them to stay overnight and they agreed, the more the merrier and those two twin boys were pretty adorable too :)

At first, we never even considered the place to be spooky or anything. Let me be honest, the three of us are plain cowards (that's probably why we're best friends) We stayed out in the pool almost all day even until midnight (of cos we did come out and eat and stuff, then jumped back right in again after that). By around midnight, Adrian's family and the boys retired for the night, but me, Adrian and our other buddy decided to still hang around the pool. It was close to midnight but we didn't realize it then.

Ok, bear with me here, cos I can't 100% recall this experience, it was a long time ago. Around this time, our other buddy said he felt kind weird, like something was watching us (remember, we were in this bungalow in the middle of dense vegetation and secondary jungle with no other neighbours anywhere nearby) . Being the cowards that we were and after looking around the dark jungle and dimly lit pool, we decided that it was time to call it a day. So we all jumped out, took our baths and headed to our rooms to get some sleep. The three of us shared one room with 3 single beds. Adrian's family took the other room.

We were still not sleepy yet cos we have this policy that we try not to sleep too much and too soon on holidays, make the best of it and all that. There we were in bed chit chatting when we kinda heard sounds from outside our window. We looked at each other and dismissed it as some stray dog or cat or something. But the sound kinda kept on going on and off. Now this is where we started freaking out a little. Then all of a sudden, the bed I was in started to move away a little. I'm freaking out by this point and like some superhero, you should have seen me jumping from my bed right on the my other buddy's bed ... LOL! The moving bed that I was on stop moving already, and it definitely did move cos it was much further than it's original position.

At this point we were all freaked out and we joined the two remaining single beds and all of crowded together on it all night long (not a nice picture, 3 grown men all cuddled up together on 2 joined single beds ... LOL!). I don't know about my two buddies but I hardly slept a wink all night and thankfully nothing else happened. And as much as I'd like to think that it was a prank played by one of my two buddies (which is not above them I tell you ... hehehe) but I know that bed moved and I know it would have been slightly impossible for either one of them to have moved the bed cos the beds were quite far apart. Besides, Adrian's nephews who were still little kids back then said they saw someone or something in the house earlier but no one believed them cos you know how kids see all kinds of things. And after what happened I'm inclined to believe they saw some ghostly image in the house!

We did stay one more night there (and yes, we did huddle together in one joined up bed again all night long ... LOL!) and thankfully nothing else weird happened, no more noise, no more ghostly images seen, no more beds moving. Besides that freaky experience, it was an eventful holiday :) And buddy, we should plan for one more of these holidays again soon but lets make sure the damn place is not haunted ... LOL! Happy weekend folks.

The Dating Game ...

A couple of days ago, me, the wife and the kids went to Subang Parade (a mall near my house) for dinner. We didn't feel like eating at home and besides I needed to get a blue tooth headset for my cell phone. Been using my cell while driving without a headset for quite a while now and I think my luck's gonna run out with the Police one fine day. We're not allowed to use our cell phones without a hands free set while driving in our country, not that it matters to a whole lot of people though cos I still see them happily chatting away on their cells while driving ... sigghhh ...

Ok, that's not what this post is about, I always get sidetracked with all my postings ... hehehe ... So, we went to Subang Parade and decided to eat at Secret Recipe (one of my wife's favourite places). The place was kinda empty, well, to be honest, it was totally empty. We were the only customers when we walked in and that's the way I like eateries to be cos you get all the waiters for yourself ... LOL!

We ordered our food (it came with a lot of free Ramadhan goodies attached to it which was a nice surprise) and started eating our dinner. Then this couple came it, a guy and a girl (I'd say in their early 20's) and they sat a few tables across from us. Ok, I have this confession to make. I have this habit of observing people when I eat. I'm not a busy body or anything (honest, I'm not ... LOL!). I just like observing human behavior. It does help in my advertising work, trust me on this one ok :)

These two were seated across each other and I told my wife that I'd bet every dollar in my wallet (which wasn't really very much) that the two of them were dating and were still new at it. She asked me how could I tell. Well, there they were seated in front of each other, looking everywhere but at each other, seldom speaking and when they did, they had this very shy look on their face ... hehehe ... And to me that is the signs of a couple not yet familiar with each other, hence the newly dating couple theory. They couldn't be office mates, cos office mates are familiar with each other and they couldn't be brother and sisters (that's what my wife said they could be - god forbid, what were you thinking honey ... hehehe). She came to the conclusion the they were brother and sisters cos the girl was too casually dressed and in slippers some more! She may have a point I guess. If you were going on a new date you'd probably tend to dress to impress, right?

Anyway, I know I'm right in saying that they're a first time dating couple. He probably wanted to impress her by taking her to this fancy schmancy place (well, the place wasn't really that fancy schmancy at all) but classy enough to wanna impress on your first time date with someone. It's in a nice shopping mall, and you could walk around with her after dinner, maybe catch a movie ... LOL! I know, I know, you guys are probably saying I know this cos I've probably done this before. Well, I'd have to say , urrrmmm, yes I have ... LOL! (but honey, that was way before I knew you ... hehehe). And I did take you to nice fancy shmancy places when we were dating, honey, remember that nice mamak (Indian Muslim) roadside stall I took you ? LOL!

Well, anyway, that's how their dinner went throughout the whole time we were there until we left so I can't really say if they did go to a movie or walk around the mall (I was half inclined to follow them and prove my theory right ... LOL!) Besides, my beloved thinks I shouldn't be staring at people too much, let alone follow them like a stalker or one of these days somebody's gonna wallop me ... hehehe ...

Okay, I know it's a bad habit but I have this fascination for observing people. You'd be surprised at some of the things people do when they think they're not being observed (I shall not go into detail here ... hehehe). Like I said, it does help with my work in a way, cos then I'd know how people would react to certain things in the ad campaigns that I do to con, urrmmm, I mean convince people into parting their hard earned cash for something they think they need but really have no use for ... LOL! Alright already, I'll admit, us advertising types are scums of the earth :D

So that was how I deduced that couple with us were first time daters, the looking everywhere but at your date gave it away for me ... hehehe ... What do you think? You guys think I totally misread the signs with that couple? My wife doesn't really agree with me, she still seems unconvinced with my theory ... LOL! Tell me some of your dating experiences or how would you know a couple was on it's first date? In fact, if you're like me, a perpetual busy body, tell me some of the weird things you've seen people do when they think no one is watching :D

Barbecue Nite ...

The weekend came and went faster than I could say 'weekend'! But it was a great weekend indeed. Only regret is that it ended way too soon and here I am again back at work on my most hated day of the week, Monday! Well, at least Chelsea lost ... hahaha!

Anyway, those of you who visits my other blog would definitely know I went for a barbecue over the weekend at my good buddy Adrian's place. We've actually been planning for the barbecue for ages and it finally materialized and we all had such a great time. I know I was stuffed silly from all the eating and drinking ... LOL!

The barbecue was actually in honour of our other good buddy who is finally going to tie the knot with his girlfriend. Adrian and myself have been looking forward to that day for as long as we can remember. And we're pretty happy for him. At least now he can join our ball and chain gang (as my buddy Adrian so nicely put it ... hehehe)

We've all been friends for more than 20 years now and it was fun reminiscing old times (well, we always reminisce old times whenever we meet, so nothing new there ... LOL!) I've never really known anyone else as long as these guys. In fact, we've know each other so much longer than we've known our own wifes!

Well, the barbecue proper started around 7 plus I would say. When I reached my buddy's house around 6 pm he was still busily trying to get the fire started, and there I thought everything would be ready and we could all start eating cos I was already bloody hungry seeing as how I refrained from having my lunch ... LOL!

I asked him what was taking him so long to get the fire started and he said, 'hey buddy, I've been here since 5pm trying to get this started, ok!' Yeah, right buddy ... LOL! I know you were online at that time ... hehehe. And me being my usual pesky self, told him to let me try. And after some effort, I gave up cos I sure ain't good at trying to get the fire going (at least I know I'm not gonna be able to cut it as an arsonist ... LOL!).

There we were struggling away when the guest of honour turned up and when he saw our miserable attempt at getting things going, he gave us this pathetic look and got the fire going ... yay, hour hero, I think not, that bloody show off ... LOL! Well, he did finally get the fire started and the food finally made it to the pit :)

I think the kids were already pretty hungry by then from all the playing they were doing earlier. Adrian had his nephew there and together with my youngest boy, they made quite a racket! Adrian's cute little daughter sat on one of the chairs outside and quietly watched the fun like a little angel :D Oh and she finally called me Uncle Nick that day .... hehehe ...

Once the food started getting cooked, we all had such a great time stuffing ourselves silly. I never realized I could get so stuffed on just sausages, chicken wings, fish (didn't touch the stuff) and pork strips but I was stuffed nonetheless. And we had loads of food leftover. To be honest, I was kinda worried that the food wouldn't be enough for everyone. The night before the barbecue, the wife and me went and bought the chicken wings and stuff and the wings were in low supply (for some strange reason ...) and we just bought whatever was left which was wasn't much to begin with.

The next morning we kinda said that maybe we should get some salad as well just in case the food wouldn't be enough, so we went out again and got some salad stuff and brought that along but in the end, we shouldn't really have worried so much cos the food was plenty enough :D The kids walloped as much sausages as their bellies could fit to the point my elder boy, who eats nothing but sausages (and he happens to love sausages) actually said he couldn't eat anymore ... LOL, which really surprised the wife cos that boy can eat a horse, a camel, a tyrannosaurus and still be hungry!

That was my first barbecue in such a long time that I thoroughly enjoyed myself :) We plan to make this a monthly thing right after our buddy's wedding and I thought that was a great idea. We'd be taking turns to play hosts and hopefully we'll be able to pull it off as a monthly thing.

Sadly the night had to end and we all headed home cos it was also way past the kids bedtime and I had to get up early to send the kids for Sunday School (which I ended up not going ... LOL!) For a different take on the barbecue night, check out my buddy's blog for his posting on it. (hopefully he gets it up soon ... hehehe)

Disco Houses.

My buddy and me were chatting over the phone a few days back about old times. Our other good buddy is finally going to settle down this November and we're both pretty happy that the bum, urrmmm, I mean good buddy of ours is finally going to be a family man ... LOL. It's about time too!

The three of us have such good times together and we still do have great times when we meet up. Well, we're planning a bachelors night out for him one of these days, just the three of us going crazy like we always do (What? No honey, there won't be no dancing girls and stuff, well maybe one .... LOL!).

Anyway, that brings me back to the days when we used to have house parties, with disco lights and live DJ's with their music consoles and stuff. Does anyone remember that? Those days, well, not too long ago anyway, house parties were the rage around town. You'd be a hit if your house was hosting one of these things :D

I remember these parties well cos my house has played host to quite a few these (of cos always with mom making such a big fuss about it before hand though) and I've attended quite a few myself ... hehehe ... It was such a fun time. We'd all be so excited fixing up strobe lightings with those rotating mirror ball thingy and those wide range of coloured disco lights we'd rent of some sound and light shop for the night. We'd turn the house into a mini disco.

Then the fun part came with all the invited and many a times uninvited guests turning up for these parties. Everyone came with their dates and those without tried to pick up dates during the party ... LOL! If you were invited to parties like this meant you were kinda popular. Trust me, I wasn't invited to many except the ones my cousins and me hosted. One of my cousins was the more popular one and these parties normally had more of his friends than mine (and I mean way a lot more!)

Normally a bunch of us would just gate crash these parties and end up being the uninvited ones ... hehehe ... (this was way back in my secondary school days before I met my good buddy Adrian and gang). Normally the host would never kick you out cos the more people gate crashed stuff like these meant the more popular the host was and normally the gate crashers would be the ones without dates who would be trying to pick up someone from the party (not me though, I was pretty shy ... hehehe). Sometimes fights would even break out at these things!

I remember one time, a year after I met my good buddy, we'd planned to have one of these house parties in my house. So after getting my mom's permission, we spread the word to all the girls in college we knew (yes girls, we tried to not let too many guys know ... hehehe) and besides we wanted to keep it manageable. We rented the lights and set up the music console, we planned to spin the music ourselves, well, some of us anyway (a few of us were too busy with their dates ... hehehe).

Eventually the party day came and the turn out was overwhelmingly frightening cos I think the entire college turned up! We were shocked to say the least. My mom was on the verge of calling the riot police but luckily no nasty incidents happened and everyone ended up having a good time, though the drinks and what little food we had were not nearly enough.

All of us had dates, I didn't have a date in the true sense of the word but I did invite this girl I had a crush on, nicknamed the 'Nose' by my two good buddies, in hindsight, she did have a nose as big as my fist ... LOL! (Yeah, Adrian, go ahead and laugh). And I spent the night, well, as much time as I could anyway dancing with her :D And after the party was over and the clean up was done, my buddies stayed over at my place and all three of us (we had a few more buddies around as well) were like love seek geeks all night long (hey can you blame us? We were only 18 or 19 years old then ... hehehe).

Those parties were really such great fun. A few friends and me even formed our own sound & light system called 'Echo Chamber, Acoustics, Sound & Lights' (name courtesy of my other buddy who is getting married) and rented ourselves out to people who were organizing parties. We did have a couple of 'gigs' and then eventually we gave it up. Too much of a hassle ...

I don't think they have house parties like these nowadays. People are more into clubbing now I guess. I've never been interested in the clubbing scene though my work took me there almost every week at one time when I was working in an event company. To be honest, clubbing just isn't my cup of tea, but I guess the times change accordingly. Clubbing is the in thing for the present, but I sure miss those house party days.

The Date ...

Yesterday, the wife and me went on a date. Well, sort of anyway. I really can't remember when was the last time we actually went on a date. I mean we go out and stuff all the time but we always have the kids in tow, and you know how romantic that can be, right?

Yesterday, the boys had replacement classes in school for some holiday that they had, can't really remember which one. My elder boy skipped school (they're both in different school sessions, one morning & one afternoon). The younger boy who is a stickler for going to school went instead. That little fellow doesn't ever like to miss school and would even resort to crying if you asked him to skip any classes.

So, after sending him off to school in the late morning, the wife, our elder boy (my mom wasn't home so we couldn't leave him home all alone) and myself decided to go out for a date at the mall near our house. We kinda called it a half date since our elder boy was with us but that boy is basically a very quiet child and doesn't give us trouble unlike the younger boy. That fellow is the exact epitome of Calvin from the Calvin & Hobbes comic character (which happens to be my favourite by the way). Always up to some mischief all day long!

Normally when we take the boys along with us, the two of them together would drive us both up the wall. We'd have to be yelling at them to not touch that thing, don't run around, stop playing with that stuff, etc, etc, etc. By the time we get home, the wife and me would be hoarse from all that shouting ... LOL! When the boys are not together, then shopping with either one is a breeze cos they're much more manageable when they're alone. The elder boy especially. He can be an angel when you take him shopping, he doesn't ask for anything and is always pretty well behaved when alone.

So, there we were at the mall, the wife and me finally getting a chance to be lovey-dovey with each other on our date, with the elder boy in tow, who would normally, I say normally be kinda invisible. But not yesterday. Yesterday that boy was the exact duplicate of his brother! I can't remember how many times I had to tell him not to touch this, not run around, not play with that, etc, etc. My wife and me were both totally caught off guard with his suddenly very different character.

Siggghh, there went our date, urrmm, I mean half date. We did have a decent time at the mall though. We had a nice decent lunch of Nasi Lemak (which surprising tasted excellent) and then went shopping at our favourite supermarket, Cold Storage. We both simply love the place, they give you a whole different experience. The vegetable and foodstuff they serve are pretty clean and fresh, you get all kinds of imported stuff that you can't find at any other supermarket or hypermarket for that matter (I get my stock of blue cheese from here, by the way). We ended up buying quite a bit of stuff from there, well, mostly my wife did. She had this cravings for this urrm, black pepper smoked ham slices and ended up buying the whole chunk of meat instead, and she gave me this teeny weeny piece for myself .... hrrmmpphhhh ... LOL!

Let me take a bit of time here to tell you about my wife, the woman I adore :) She is the woman of my dreams. She's my best friend, my confidant, my soul mate! We met eon's ago online (yes you read right, online) back in the days of 'superfast' 14.4kbps dial up modems. Back in the days when broadband was unheard of. She's from a different state in Malaysia. We kept in touch mostly through emails and chat rooms and eventually ended up falling in love and settling down :)

She means the world to me. She's a pretty decent girl who cooks for me, takes care of my needs, is there for me when somethings wrong with me. She can always tell if there's something on my mind that's bugging me. I can never hide anything from her, she reads me like an open book. In fact we both can read each other like an open book. And I put that as one of the factors why our love for each other has remained as strong as it all these years. Yes, we do have our quarrels about stuff, after all which couple doesn't. She has this super huge temper when she's mad. We've had quarrels that would make world war 2 seem pale in comparison sometimes ... LOL! Normally in most of our disagreements I'm basically the one who gives in. It's not really a matter of who's right or wrong but a matter of getting it settled. And she so hates it whenever I ask her 'what's wrong with you?' ... LOL!

But we've always come back stronger from all this. We NEVER ever go to bed mad. That's one thing we've always tried our best to practice. We've always communicated our feelings to each other. Nothing is kept inside cos we both believe that if a couple loses the communication aspect of things, then all is lost. Whatever that's bugging us gets out in the open as fast as we can and we try to solve it. We're both not perfect and we know that.

People always ask how can you be sure that she/he is the right one for you. well, that's a question that I cannot answer. All I know is I knew she was the girl for me. Every bone in my body said so. She's everything I've always wanted in a woman, well, except for that temper (sorry babe ... hehehe). And I know I'll always want to spend my entire life with her. You know, she's the first and only girl who ever sang to me over the phone. We were just friends back then, she called me one day from her work place and decided to sing me a song. It was Andy Gibbs, Rest Your Love On me and the very next day I went right out and bought the CD! I actually till this very day not know why she sang to me over the phone but it was such a sweet and nice gesture. And I still have that CD by the way.

Well, honey, I'm sure you're reading this post and hopefully don't decide to smack me silly for spilling the beans about you ... hehehe ... I promise I'll take you for a nice romantic candle light dinner (black pepper smoked ham included of course .... hehehe) and we will go on a date, just you and me, soon as I can find someone to look after the boys ... *hint, hint* any volunteers ???

The Fasting Month ...

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Muslim readers a very Happy Fasting Month. And as a sign of respect and solidarity with all Muslim friends, I'm gonna fast right along with you guys :D (well, I'll try to anyway ... LOL!). Just so you guys know I'm serious, I haven't taken breakfast yet and I'm not having lunch :D

During this holy month of Ramadhan my Muslim friends throughout the country would fast from early morning till late evening, round dinner time. They would diligently wake up around (urmmm, correct me if I'm wrong, k?) 4am for the start of the fast and would go all day till late evening without food or water. This is something which I utmost respect as even in my religion, there are times when I'm supposed to fast (Good Friday, etc) and that's only for one day and I have trouble just sticking to it, yet these guys fast almost the entire day and they do it on a daily basis at that! Now that takes some doing.

The wife and me simply love this time of the year, especially during the fasting month cos there will be loads of goodies available to everyone during the breaking of the fast in the evenings. I think everyone here, irrespective of race or religion happily joins in during this time.

There would be countless Ramadhan bazaars sprouting up all over selling great tasting traditional Malay goodies. I'm lucky cos near my place they have this huge Ramadhan bazaar set up and it's like food paradise. You can practically start smelling the food they're whipping up as early as 2-3pm!

And trust me, the food spread that's available at these bazaars are so diverse and tasty, that everytime the wife and me go there, we wanna buy everything on hand ... LOL! She's already 'booked' me for this evening to go get some goodies from the bazaar cos she ain't cooking dinner tonight she says ... LOL! Actually I'm seriously looking forward to it myself. In fact I think I'm gonna be putting on a little added weight by the time the festival is over .... groannn ... looks like I'm gonna have to step up the miles on my running.

These are the times when I find that it's great to be living here in Malaysia. (I'll tell you about the times when I don't find it great to be living here one fine day). We're a multi racial country and we get the chance to celebrate at least 4 festivals a year, which is the Chinese New Year (for the Chinese, duh, Nick!), Hari Raya (for the Muslims), Deepavali (for the Indians) and my all time favourite Christmas (for the Christians). Of cos there are many more festivals (like the Harvest festival, Hari Gawai, etc), but these four are basically the more prominent ones. And the good thing about all these festivals are that everyone joins in the festivities together. There are loads of open houses during this time and it really is a great feeling getting the chance to visit your friends and neighbours.

My neighbour two doors away from me, who celebrates Hari Raya would every year without fail send a nice tray of cookies and stuff to my house on the first day of Hari Raya and would always invite us for their open house, which so far I have not gone (my mom goes though) but this year I'm definitely going to make it a point to go (if I'm invited again that is ... LOL!). Remember, I'm being more neighbourly nowadays, well, except with my Neanderthal neighbour that is, him I HATE! :D

So, once again, Happy Fasting guys :)

Old Age, Aches & Me ...

I'm not as young as I used to be (duh!) I'm 40 years old (or 40 years young, depends on how you look at it) and there are days when my body feels like it belongs to a 70 year old man! It aches and creaks in places I never even knew existed. I guess old age (I'm only 40, how can I be considered old!!) catches up with everyone eventually.

It was only yesterday that I was 30 and felt so energetic in everything that I do. I'm still energetic mind you, but my body sometimes refuses to go along with my mind and soul! Half the time it rebels against what I wanna do. And the worst thing is I can't really do anything about it. If that uncooperative body feels like aching and giving me hell, it'll do just that!

There was a time, not too long ago at that, that I could stay up real late, like 3-4am and then wake up fresh the next day and go to work and do the same thing all over again. Now, I feel woozy around 10 pm, can you believe that? I still remember the days when my buddy and me used to hang out till the wee hours of the morning (sometimes with another friend) and then head home, get a couple of hours of sleep and go to work the next day. And we did this almost nite. And we felt no after effects at all.

Now, after I head home from work, do my regular evening run (which sometimes I find stupid excuses to skip), have dinner and the wife and me would adjourned to the family hall to catch a couple of our favourite shows after the kids head to bed, which normally runs until midnight, but most nites I'll be dozing off halfway through the shows ... siggghhh ....

I'm still a kid at heart, my wife always says that I clown around too much. I'm not a very serious person and I act and think like I'm still a kid at times (yeah, Adrian, don't laugh, we both act the same ... LOL!) I mean I do know when to be serious (like never ... hehehe). I do stuff that I used to do in my twenties or even thirties but then my body rebels against what I do and shows its displeasure with me abusing my body by aching and creaking like it was gonna fall apart right that minute.

There are days when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and the moment I put my feet on my bedroom floor and walk to the toilet, you can hear my joints cracking like it was the fourth of July of something! Every joint that could possibly crack would crack and half the time I fear my neighbors would wake up from all the racket I cause ... LOL!

I'm a person who really can't sit still for very long at home (well, unless I was blogging that is ... LOL!). I get bored sitting around being unproductive for too long. So I'm always finding some stuff to do, be it messing with my car, cleaning the house, etc, etc, etc. The thing is, nowadays after doing these things, I get pretty drained out much faster than before. And the aches last much longer than before also.

But sometimes it's weird, I can run miles but just following the wife grocery shopping drains me out. My legs would ache, my body would get tired and I'd be bugging her to hurry up so we could go home. And I'm not doing anything really strenuous except pushing the trolley!

Time really flies when you're having fun they say. It was only yesterday that I was so full of energy and suddenly one day it dawns upon you that you're no longer young, no matter how much you try to still do the things we used to do when we're younger it justs get harder to do them the same way. I guess this happens to almost everyone (there are exceptional few I guess).

With that said and done, it doesn't mean I'm gonna let that thing they call 'old age' get the better of me. I'm gonna give it a run for its money! No matter how much aches it throws my way after a strenuous running session, I'm gonna go out there and run some more. I still feel young at heart and I still act young at heart, aches and all. I always tell my wife I'm gonna live to be at least a hundred!

I may complain about this (I'm the perennial complainer by the way) but I'm not gonna sit on my butt and not do a thing about this. Like I said, I'm gonna fight this and before long I'm gonna be as close to being much more fitter and active like I was a couple of years back. You mark my words :) No more dozing off on the couch while watching TV (urmm, that one I can't guarantee cos I do so love to sleep ... LOL!).

That Genie King and His Harem of Women ...

Ok, I'm gonna have to post this meme here or the Genie King, his Genie Princess and their Genie Buddy are gonna put a curse on me for good :) Actually those 3 scheming genies kindly included me in their rounds of wish granting (which by the way has been granted yet for Spiff ... LOL!) and said I would get one wish (only one, kedekut nyer these genies ... hehehe).

Well, anyway, since that kind Genie fellow did so graciously allow me to put this tag up in my other blog even though he tagged Anything Goes!, I just cannot not post it here. Besides he threatened me with bodily harm ... LOL!

I'm not gonna go into specific with the legend of this Genie King, his Genie Princess and their Genie Buddy, but I'd advise you people to do as they instruct. After all they've been imprisoned for 100o years and you just can't be too careful with Genies that had 1000 years on their hands to plot and plan ... :D

***Start Copying Here***

Rules:

1. Write a short paragraph about your visit by the two Genies and include a link to the blog that passed on the Genie Symbol to you.

2. COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it on your blog.

3. List down your wish.

4. Place your name below the last name on the list and pass on the Genie Symbol to at least 5 other bloggers.

5. Please put up either one (or both) of the Symbols of the Genies on your blog to show that the Genies have visited your blog. Codes are given below:

Genie Princess Genie King


<a href="http://mariuca.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Genie Princess" src="http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/162/geniefrv1.th.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /> <a href="http://eddiejohn66.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Genie King" src="http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/2461/genieadrianlk3.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>

The Genie King, his Genie Princess and their trusty Genie Buddy have so far visited:

Mariuca would like to wish for success and fame!
Adrian would like to wish for good health and happiness!
Emila would like to wish for happiness and success.and peace!
Bobby would like to wish for the powers of Superman and immortality!
Jean would like to wish for stress-free work environment and happiness!
Trinity would like to wish good health for Jan's brother and Yah and Wan and success!
Jesse would like a great isp and a Yummy box of chocolates!
Speedcat Hollydale would like a pet acorn monkey named "Monkee"!
Spiff, The Spaceman would like a billion US Dollars! (Am I being too greedy here?)
MPG would like to wish for love and peace.
Rolando would like everyone’s hearts desire to come true!
Joezul would like to wish for all to get their wish come true.
Jay would like to wish for 10k visitors and readers per day!
kumo would like to wish everybody a better day every next day!

Promthep would like to be successful in everything!
Sam would like to wish for a happy & simple life and happiness to everyone!
NAFASG would like to build a better community for everyone!
Levian would like to be happy always!
Apple would like to be slimmer!
Menopauseprincess would like peace, happiness, love, health & prosperity for everyone!
Morgan would like to wish for love, laughter, sunshine & blue skies for EVERYONE!
Kellie would like to wish for happiness & love to be bestowed on her family & friends!
LadyJava would like to wish for love, health, beauty and wealth for one and all!
Keeyit would like to wish for staying healthy and happily with family!
Colleen wishes everyone be well and happy!
Spookygrace would like to have a busy traffic and making money blog!
Janice Ng would like to wish for good health for his brother!
Nick would like to wish for a set of new running shoes! (GK says: Hope you can catch them with your old ones LOL)
Shinade would like to send love,peace,wealth and good health to everyone!
Cbenc12 would like to wish for health, happiness and luck for my family and friends and me too!
Paris would like to wish for more publicity! Hooyah! (taps swollen head)!
Bokjae would like to wish for speedy recovery for j@nice's brother, yan and wan!
Giddy Tiger would like to wish for longer weekends and never-ending holidays!
Book Project would like to wish for total wealth minus one Solomons Wish!
MT would like to create a toys & games empire & have the will to c'tinue blogging!
Dawn would like to wish for world peace!
Cotojo would like Love, Peace, Harmony, Understanding & safety for all children!
Bobo would like health & wealth for everyone she loves (including her blogfriends)!
Auntie Dar would love to end animal cruelty!
Chinnee would like to wish for happiness and good health forever!
rinnah would like to wish for more good paying opps to come my way!
Ozzieblackcat would like to wish for success with her blog!
Bless would like to wish for more happiness & more blessing for family & world peace.
La Chanson de Phoenix would like to wish for a small bottle of sweet perfume!
Shireen would like to wish for good health, longevity and happiness for all her loved ones!
Lovelymummy would like to wish for good health, longevity, love, wealth, happiness!
Rachel would like to wish for good health, happiness, freedom, worry free, good luck, wealth, safety!
conancat would like to wish that Almond the Poodle will get fatter & fatter & fatter!
TingTitLei would like to be the richest man instead. Not satisfied!
Mr.Thief would like to have Jessica Alba as his wife! (GK says: best wish yet)
Vamp would like to wish to become a rempit!
Shoppingmum would like to wish for all her wishes come true!
LemonJude would like to wish for world peace!
Hui Sia would like to wish for love, health, wealth and happiness!
Cherry would like to get married!
Binding Ink would like to wish for A Humanity United in Harmony!
Mommy of 2 Angels wish for great joy for my family!
Adyla would like to wish for mighty stars so they will grant her others wishes forever!
Pinkelle would like to wish 4 lots of health, happiness and good results 4 my loved ones!
Sean would like to wish family members live healthier!
Mama Tang would like to wish for health, wealth, success and happiness for everyone!
Chew Lee would like to wish hubby for a successful business venture in Singapore!
Mel would like to wish that everyone would choose happiness!
Shooi would like to wish for peace on earth, love, good health and happiness!
Simple America would like to wish for more time to get the things done and rest!
Erisha would like success and that her traffic of unique visitors increase even higher!
Sandee would like to send happiness and good health to everyone!
Jam would like to manage Manchester United!
Anggie would like to wish for dream and wish come true!
Shooi would like to wish for peace on earth, love, good health and happiness!
Pookyma would like his one wish made into a couple more wishes!
Rebecca would like to wish for Powerpuff gal!
Sophiagurl would like to wish for the good health of her mom and dad, peace and prosperity for her brother's family, a baby for her sister, good health and blessings for her husband and two daughters,peace, love and happiness for everyone. (GK says: Err I think that's more than one wish!)

Sibbia would like to wish that Anne keeps her house and that she (and anyone else who finds themselves in need) is guided to the proper channels for the Universe to pour abundance and prosperity in her (or his) life!
S.E.: abundance, peace, health and prosperity for all!
Diamondssaphire would like to wish for her son to continue to be succesful in school.
1+2mom would like to wish hubby success on his business & good health for family!
Doodski would like to wish for good health, peace and happiness for his family!
Sweetpea would like another two extra hours in a day, excluding working time!
La delirante would like to wish for all our wishes to come true!
3POINT8 would like to wish for POWER!
Trenting would like to wish for a fruitful and healthy life inclusive of many riches!

Kristyn would like to wish for a peaceful, prosperous fall for herself and her family!
s3r whould like to wish for more wishes and achieve great success in life!
Jennifer wishes that all kids would sit down while riding the school bus!
Yvonne wishes for a happy and healthy life for her BB Ryan!

Sugar Queens Dream would like wish all Peace, Happiness, and what ever their Hearts Desire !

Mistyeiz would like to wish that all her wishes comes true when she wishes for it. :)

Chiwi would like to wish for the world to be filled with love and abundance!

Santa Claus didn't need to make a wish because he's Santa! :)

Everyday Healy would like to wish for family happiness & total stress free life for my family!

Shopping-kids would like to wish for luck, success & happiness 4 family and friends!

Mumsgather would like to wish for love, health and happiness!

Forumer would like to wish for happiness, peace and justice for all!

Christy wishes that every individual will realize and utilize their full potential!

FireHorse would like to wish for the only man I've ever loved to come back to me!

Annita would like to wish for [ …….. ] ^_^

The Sewing Mom wishes good health and peace for all her friends and family!

Consuela would like to wish for happiness, health, prosperity, peace, love & wealth!

misha would like to wish for more peace for the world. P.E.A.C.E!

Jacelyn would like to wish hubby may overcome his business downturn soon!

Girlie would like to wish for her cousin Marie to win in the coming barangay elections!

Francine wishes that hubby will manage to finish his big project before the deadline!

Krisa wishes that Ate Marie wins the coming barangay election & Ryan finds a job soon!

Juliana would like to wish for that much awaited "little one"!

Genny would like to wish for debt free life, happiness, success, health & lots of friends!
Vanidosa, Marie would like to win as Chairman in the Barangay Election & good health!

Ann wishes to be forgiven for meme tardiness!

Claire wishes for the bright future of her two bundles of joy!

Colin would wish for more hours in the day, as well as peace, health and prosperity for everyone!

Yen wishes to have a safe delivery with my 2nd child!
Digitally Diane loves A Handful of Surprises and wishes to have our own child!

Emmyrose wishes for more strength to cope with her Lupus disease!
Kathycot wishes for good health, happiness, love & wealth for family & friends!

Rosemarie wishes that my mother & cousins win this coming barangay election!

Yigae would like to wish herself and her family a happy life!

Rowena wishes for good health, inner peace and sanity, good health and happiness.

Tere would like to wish for continued happiness in her family life, good health and protection always!
Nita wishes to have a smooth and safe delivery for her second baby :)

Joyce wishes to have a safe and uncomplicated delivery of Baby JE any day now!

Jenny L wishes for good health, to find love, more wisdom & great family relations!

JennyR wishes to have her whole family migrate here and have a happy life!

Ivy wishes for happiness, good health, peace, ever lasting love & and a baby!

Liza wishes for happiness, prosperity, health & success for husband's business!

Darlene wishes for good health, success, good future for son & never ending love!

Irel wishes for happiness, good health & peace for family & to win the lottery!

Ana P. S. wishes for good health, solve problems with ease and to achieve goals!

Nora wishes for happiness, health, peace, harmony & protection for family!

--------

Welcome aboard the Magical Flying Carpet for the Ride of your Life!

Alakazam!

***End Copying Here***

And since I've already tagged a few fellow bloggers out there, I'm going to pass on tagging anyone but if anyone so desires to hop on to their magic carpet, please feel free to tag yourself. Besides, I know this Genie King personally and just maybe I can pull some strings to get you more wishes ... LOL!

Fun With The Neighbours ...

A strange phenomenon overcame me today. This evening I actually attended the neighborhoods community fair for the first time ever in my life. And that is a strange phenomenon for me indeed!

I've been staying in my neighborhood for about 12 years or so now and I'm not really the most social of neighbors (my mom is the social one here). This afternoon, after my disastrous lunch time excursion (you can read all about that one in my other blog, Spiff, The Spaceman) the wife and me decided to attend the community fair in the park near my house and we actually had fun there :)

A little background on the place I live - I live in a place called USJ Subang Jaya and we basically have a couple of different sections that has its own community events and stuff. The section I live in is a small little community in the middle (or at least close to the middle as I can make it out). This community fair has been held for as long as I can remember and my mom is an active participant in this fair, unlike her anti-social son ... LOL!

So, this year, in conjunction with our 50th year independence, the fair was held on a slightly bigger scale. There were loads of community advertisements in the neighborhood about the fair months in advance and as always I didn't give two hoots about it. But this year the wife and me decided to go and check it out since the 2 boys were going cos they have loads of friends from their school that would be there.

About 4pm today (that's the time the fair started) The boys walked over first (it's only 2 minutes away from my house) and the wife and me joined them a little over an hour later. When we arrived there, the fair was just about to get into full swing and I must say I was kinda surprised at the turnout and the activities going on. The kids were busily in the midst of some telematch or something (which unfortunately my younger son didn't win anything due to the fact he was paired with this other doofus boy ... LOL!).

There was this urmmm 'local' filipino band that was belting out some mixed numbers, a dancing trio of young teens doing some hip shaking routine (there were crowd pullers for obvious reasons ... LOL!) music was blaring, people were chatting and having fun, kids were running all over and the wife and me were totally awed by this. One of the committee members even came over personally and welcomed us to the fair. I was impressed! I've always thought of all the people around my neighborhood as a little stuck up. I guess they proved me wrong today.

So, after that, we joined in the fun. There was the entertainment sections, the telematch and games sections, the prize giving sections and the best part of all, the food sections :) And all this was actually for free, the music, fun and games, the entertainment and even the food and drinks! And they had loads of food and drink of various kinds. From the local favourites with the likes of nasi lemak ( literally means 'rice in fat'), fried noodles, goreng pisang (banana fritters) to western stuff like macaroni, sandwiches, muffins, cupcakes and loads more.

The wife and me had a blast, stuffed ourselves silly (gotta run a little extra tomorrow to burn it off) and sat around and enjoyed the entertainment they put on for everyone. In fact everyone had a blast, even the security guards who patrol the neighborhood joined in. Even my more anti-social than me Neanderthal neighbor turned up, though he didn't look like he was enjoying himself (the wife and me had a great time gossiping about him ... LOL) For those of you who don't know about my 'hatred' for my Neanderthal neighbor, you can just read one of my earlier posting titled Neighbour from Hell ... LOL!

I was really impressed by the community spirit that was in evidence here. All these years I've been giving this event a miss and have not really mixed around in my community and after today's experience I'm happy to say that I'll be there for next years event or even for any other events that they organize (they do have other events every couple of months) and may even try to play a more active part in it ... hehehe ... I'm actually surprised with myself for even writing this down cos I never used to believe in this community thing before. I guess I'm getting a little mellow in my old age ... LOL!

I'd like to share some of the pictures (well, 3 pictures anyway ... hehehe) I took. The quality is not that good, bear in mind it was taken with my lowly cell phone camera. So, to the USJ Neighborhood Community, thanks for the fun time :)

A Thankless Industry!

It's Friday and it happens to be my favourite time of the week, cos tomorrow is the weekend :) Yes, yes, I look forward to weekends. Anyone who doesn't would have to have their head examined I think ... hehehe ... well, unless of course you do work a 5 1/2 day week. Gosh, I can't see myself working a 5 1/2 day week anymore. I say 'anymore' because at one time I used to work on Saturdays too.

I really hated having to work on Saturdays. I'd have to drag myself out of bed to get ready for work. Somehow getting up for work on Saturdays was always all that much harder. Practically half the weekend would be gone cos by the time I get home. It would be late afternoon and I'd take a nap (yes, yes, sleep is still precious to me ... LOL!) and by the time I wake up from my nap it would be around 6-7pm. (See, I told you half the weekend would be gone!)

I'm just glad that I work a 5 day week now though there are times when I do have to work on Saturdays or even Sundays sometimes when the workload is pretty hectic. And in my line of work one can't really estimate when the workload will get crazy. There are times when we'd be free for weeks on end shaking our legs and doing just about nothing in the office and then there are times when just taking a breath is so difficult! The thing is I thrive on days like that.

Ok, since I'm on the subject of work, let me tell you a little about what I do. Most of you would probably know from reading some of my earlier post that I do some form of advertising, well, you're right. I do work in the advertising industry and it really is not at all as glamorous as some people make it out to be. I should know, I've been in this industry for close to 16 years or so! And I'm seriously sick of it but unfortunately I don't really know how to do any other kind of work.

I've always had this interest in advertising and drawing ever since I was a kid. I still remember back when I was young, if anyone had asked me or my cousins what we wanted to be, the usual answers from them would be 'I wanna be a policeman' or 'I'm gonna be a doctor' or 'I'm gonna be an air-steward' (don't ask me why air-steward, probably cos you could travel and see the world for free, I guess) but I'd always answer with 'I wanna be in advertising'. The weird thing is I didn't even know what advertising meant back then. All my cousins would look at me with this blank look on their faces ... hehehe ...

As a kid I was always doodling or drawing stuff. I even produced my own comic book ala Roy of the Rovers which I called, The Kid from Germany ... hehehe ... It was a football comic that had this on going saga of a young talented football player from Germany who played for this fictitious English team called Tynefield Rovers in this equally fictitious English League I made up. Once I finished an issue (it was single publication thing ... hehehe ...), I would mail the original drawing, bound and all like a real comic book to another cousin who lived in another state. He used to eagerly wait for it every month :) We were both around 8 years or so and he was my number one fan ... LOL!

I can't really remember for how long I drew this comic book, maybe about two years or so and I'd even have a six month colour special thrown in. Now that took me longer to do ... hehehe ... The sad thing is he lost the original drawings that I sent him (not that there were any good, mind you) but it would be great to actually see what nonsense of a storyline I created as an 8 year old boy ... hehehe ...

So, when I finally finished my education, at first I really didn't know what to do, yes, I know I was interested in advertising but back then there was really not many options to get into it. So for 2 years or so I wasted my mom's money taking a course in Stamford College (that's where I met my 2 best buddies) and after that I finally found a place that was offering a Graphic design course. I enrolled, took another 3 years to complete and upon completing it and getting my diploma, I was lucky enough to get a job immediately in a small design house.

I was ecstatic. Working in an actual design house, I felt I was finally realizing my dreams of getting into advertising. I still remember the day I first started work. It was the day the US invaded Iraq, by the way. I was so overjoyed to actually be setting foot in a real agency, though in true fact it was a small design house, but to me it felt like I was finally making it big time! I started on the lowest rung of the advertising industry back then, a lowly FA (finished art) artist earning a measly sum but I didn't mind and didn't care. I was in the industry I've always dreamed of and money didn't matter to me at that time (LOL!)

I was new and everything was an experience but then I learned the ugly truth of advertising. It was sooooo bloody demanding and stressful. That's when the late nights started. Right from the very first week I had to to call home and let my mom know I'd be late again. And apparently it was a normal thing to be staying back! But it was something I've always want to do, so I stuck with it. I worked as hard as I could to get the experienced I needed to go further in this industry.

And through time I did rake up enough of experience to move up the ranks, from an FA artist to a visualizer to an art director. It was hard work, the numerous late nights and with clients who always thought of their work as urgent, I decided to switch from the graphic department to the client servicing department thinking it would be easier and the late nights would be a thing of the past cos when I was in the graphic department I used to always see the client servicing people always heading home at normal hours. How I wrong I was in that assumption!

Client servicing, I later discovered was hell on earth. Now, instead of just doing my work in the comfort of my office, I had to face the clients in person and some of them were pretty nasty. And when anything goes wrong, who else would the clients call and scream at but the poor client service people? And worse yet, I had to do presentations. I am a very shy person by nature and public speaking was never on my list of things I could do. The first time I ever did a presentation to a group of big shot company directors (I was still new with servicing) I was sweating so profusely that if you collected my sweat, you could irrigate the whole Sahara Desert for 12 months. LOL! My shirt was soaked to the skin, my voice broke and trembled and it didn't help that they asked so many questions during the presentation.

Over time, I did become a little less nervous about doing presentations (yes, even till today I'm still always nervous before any presentation). And my days of going back late didn't end. I'm a stickler for getting things done properly. I always practice the hands-on approach. I can't stand people who work so bloody slow so most of the time back then, even though I was in client service, I stayed back and bugged the hell out of the creative people to get my work done fast. I was in the creative department before and I know how long it will take to complete something so when I see them taking so long, I get pissed off that I would actually ask them to move aside and let me do the work myself. Trust me, I wasn't very popular with the creative department back then ... hehehe ...

Eventually (though I still practice the hands-on approach) I backed off and let the designated people do what they were paid to do even though it bugs the hell out of me at the way some of them work! I'm no longer that young gung-ho person who adored the world of advertising. I'm much saner nowadays and and when I meet people who ask me what I do for a living and I say 'I work in the advertising industry' and they go 'wah, so cool and glamorous. You must be real lucky to be in advertising', I smile, grind my teeth and keep both my hands in my pockets for fear of smacking them silly!

The thing is my son loves to draw and doodle every chance he gets and he reminds me of myself when I was young. He's pretty good at it and I am so afraid he'll go into advertising. I want him to grow up and be Prime Minister or something ... LOL!

My Christmas Tag!

My best buddy, Adrian tagged me with this Christmas meme. And since I'm such a great big fan of Christmas (I have to thank my buddy for that) I'll post this tag immediately :) Besides my buddy is always complaining to me that I don't do his tags ... sorry buddy, you know how lazy I can be at times. I still have a few more tags owing to some nice bloggers out there so I'll just post it together with this Christmas meme. So here goes:

What is your favourite Christmas gift?
This remote control race cars that comes with its own circular racetrack and all.

What is your best memory of Christmas?
Spending a first ever Christmas with my beloved wife :)

Depending on where you live, do you have a hot or cold Christmas?
Bloody hot, unless it rains of course :)

Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once?
I would count that as the best Christmas present ever :D

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real?
I'd love a real tree and I'm reminded of this one Christmas eons ago, when my cousins and me actually went and stole, urrmm, I mean chop down this real nice tree by the roadside as our Christmas tree ... LOL!

What is your favourite Carol?
God rest ye merry gentlemen.

What is your favorite Christmas dinner?
Back when I was growing up, my grandfather would bake this great chicken pie that the whole family would dig into right after we came back from Christmas mass. Unfortunately he's no longer around to do it and the rest of the clan just can't get anywhere close to his excellent chicken pie recipe!

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas?
Yes, I do. And I was even Santa once :D (thanks for that opportunity buddy!)

Have you ever seen me delivering your gifts?
I hope to catch you in the act this year Santa. And this time I'm gonna keep Rudolf for myself ... LOL!

Wow, that was easy enough to do and I even enjoyed doing it :) I know I'm supposed to tag 5 people but I know for a fact most other bloggers are already tagged with this and some are not too keen on tags so I'll just tag these 3 nice bloggers and find out what their experiences of Christmas are :)

Nessa - Diamond Sapphire - Cindy

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Birthday Meme

This one was given to me both by Marzie and Barrett but as I always do, I sat on it for quite a while. Sorry guys. And since I was doing the Christmas tag, I thought I'd get right on to doing this now or it's never going to be done till next Christmas ... LOL!

Instructions:
1. Go to Wikipedia and type in the month and day of your birth.
2. Write three events, two births, one holiday and then tag 5 more buddies with it.
3.There are 5 slots in this Birthday Meme. As you are tagged, remove the name in the first slot and move everyone one place up, adding your name to the bottom.

I'm a Pisces, born on 15 March

3 Events

44BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic is stabbed to death.
1493 - Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.
1892 - Liverpool Football Club founded by John Houlding. (I'm an Arsenal fan, putting this just to piss off my buddy ... LOL)

2 Births

1713 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer.
1897 - Jackson Scholz, American runner.

1 Holiday

National holiday of Hungary celebrating the 1848 Revolution.

And the list: Teacher Julie Mommyness is Happiness This is a miracle Maurica Anything Goes!

That was easy enough. Thanx Barrett and Marzie for that exceptionally easy meme and for taking into consideration my zero rocket science knowledge of doing tough meme's ... LOL. And now, I'm off to tag these bloggers to continue with this birthday meme:

Nessa - Hui Sen - Bobo - Cbenc12 - Sharon

A Green Thumb I Have Not!

Whew, it's been a week since I last posted anything and to me that's like an eternity. I normally post something, intelligent or otherwise within the span of at least 3 days, so one whole week is pretty long for me. I've just been too busy with work and also with some personal stuff happening around me that writing a post was the last thing on my mind. Now that I've got all my stuff more or less sorted out, I can get back to my regular schedule of posting stuff.

And now that I do have the time to post, I have no idea what to write. Maybe I'll just relate my experience with gardening (yes, don't adjust that monitor, you read right). First of all, let me tell you, I'm not the gardening type, I don't think I've ever held on to any gardening tools in my life ... LOL! I love having a nice garden full of gloriously blooming flowers and hedges but I've no interest in doing them myself.

A few weeks back, not really weeks, maybe about two months back, the wife bought this, urmm, mixed flower seeds (the packed kind) to plant. She also bought a small little flower pot to put the seeds in cos she said once they start growing a little, she'll transfer them to the front yard where they'll (supposedly) bloom into charming beautiful flowers of various kinds. Apparently the seeds were supposed to show some signs of sprouting in a day or two.

Well, true to its advertising, the seeds did grow in 2 days time There was this tiny little shoot sticking its head out of the soil and the wife was ecstatic. I was kind of impressed that the things actually grew. The wife was painstakingly taking care of it for the next couple weeks or so but the seeds only grew up to about half an inch or so and kinda started fading away after that. So the wife decided to give up on them and threw the whole thing away. I was laughing my head off (sorry honey ... hehehe).

Right after that, I jokingly told the wife, maybe she didn't have a green thumb (which in fact she does cos back in her hometown, she has ton's of flowers and plants of various kind that she has successfully nurtured). I told her that maybe she didn't do it right and she said 'why don't you try growing them instead of talking so much!' (LOL) So, I took her up on her challenge. After all, it couldn't be that hard to make some miserable flower seeds grow, rite? (and Adrian, you don't laugh okay!)

I took the pot that she abandoned and cleared it out, added some fertilized soil into it and sprinkled a healthy amount of seeds into it. Then the process of waiting for it to grow began. Again, in two days, I saw some signs of new life, I was on cloud nine. I showed it to the wife and boasted about my gardening prowess. She gave me this, wait and see look. I watered the little seedlings every single day enthusiastically (remember, this is the guy who never touched a gardening utensil or did any gardening in his entire life). In a week, the shoots were now about an inch tall, much taller than the wife's effort earlier. The wife had to admit that they looked promising ... hehehe ... and I started to believe I was a gardening genius .. LOL!

Before I went to work everyday, I gave specific instructions to the wife to water them at 1.00pm precisely. I even called her check if she did water them ... hehehe ... I even wished them good morning when I got up every day (the first time this happened the wife thought I was loosing it). I came home from work and after the usual welcome home hug from the wife, I'd head to the room and start talking to the little 'fellows'. I'd water them again and ask them if mommy had watered them in the afternoon or not ... (yeah, the wife was on the verge of sending me to the mental ward ... LOL). I was so into getting them to grow and prove to the wife that I had a better green thumb than her.

By week two they grew to about 2 inches in height and that's when it decided not to grow anymore. No matter how much I talked to them, sang to them (yes, I did sing to them), coaxed them, but they refused to grow anymore. They started to wilt eventually and I was so bloody pissed with them. How ungrateful of them, after all the things I did for them, fed them, gave them an education, gave them a roof over their head and they go and start wilting out on me ... the cheek of them! LOL!

Eventually they started dying and the wife just threw them away. And there ended my endeavour with gardening. The wife was pretty smug with herself about my failed attempt at gardening. I was devastated (well, not really, but it adds a sense of drama to this post). The thing is I was so perplexed as to why it didn't grow, everything seemed fine, I did all the things the instructions on the seed packet said to do, and yet nothing happened. The soil was right, the conditions were right, the location were right ... siigggghhhh ... maybe it was the singing.

Instead of throwing the seeds, my wife decided to give it to my mom. My mom is basically the one who takes care of the front yard garden in my house. So my mom went and planted the seeds and what do you know, after a few weeks the bloody things actually grew. Flowers even sprouted from them! (yeah, that picture at the top is the actual picture of the flower I took) I was like totally pissed with them seeds! Maybe it just needed the motherly touch to it I guess. When my wife told me a few days back that the seeds she gave to my mom actually produced a flower, I just had to relate my failed attempt at gardening here. Oh well, at least I know I'll never make it as a gardener if I ever do give up Advertising ... LOL!