Back To Basic

I wanted to post this entry sooner, precisely immediately after my dad's minor accident. The reason being that at that very point I was really inspired but now writers' block has taken over.

I tried googling on whether are they any mode of transportation that faced extinction. What triggers me on this subject is bicycle. Bicycle was one of the oldest and first mode of transportation. It is a cheap and practical way of travelling although not for long distance.

I live on Penang Island in Malaysia, also known as The pearl of the orient. It's an island that has enough happenings of a city and yet it still maintains its heritage treasures.

The latest craze in Penang is cycling (the world has nothing else to create and goes back to the things once used by our forefathers?). The government actively promote this activity, many organizations took this opportunity to organise cycling events and the opportunist started making money from this whole cycling hoo-haa . My family participate too since we are true blue Penangites. Well, cycling is good for the air (no emission of smokes to pollute the air) and good for health because it's a form of exercise too. So, why not join in the fun?

On a rainy morning, while cycling downhill,my dad slipped over a wet leaf and fell from his bicycle. Luckily, he only bruised his leg and did not tumble down the hill. At that point, I realised that once we step out of our house, it is not safe out there (well, staying at home is not so safe after all but that's a different story).

Anyway, that made me realise that we have to be grateful that we made it to a destination safely no matter what mode of transportation we were on. We often take our loved ones for granted and casually say goodbye but have we ever thought that that could be the last time we see them? We have to appreciate the people around us and learn not to get mad over trivial things. After all, what is life if not for the other humans around us.

Will we be happy with lots of material possessions but no loved ones or will we be happy with enough material possessions but many loved ones to share them with? I am sure I will find happiness with the latter.

Lets check out my family members' bicycle.
Dad's bicycle.
Mum's.
Bro's bicycle. He was the first in the family to take up this hobby.
Mine. If you have not notice by now, mine is a stationery bicycle. I can only ride in machines that has three wheels (tricycle) or more. So in order to keep up with the family spirit, I got myself this.

Yay, It's My Birthday

This only happens once in every 100 years. Hopefully my birthday wish which was made at 10.10am today will come true. Yay, it's my birthday today.....and it's 10th of October year 2010 today. I feel so special but on second thought, it's just another ordinary day. Well, maybe not so ordinary because I have loads of presents and greetings from all my darlings. But seriously, I feel the whole getting-married-on-10.10.10 is so over-rated and I am quite irritated by it.

Anyway, no major parties or significant incidents took place for my birthday on this perfect-10 day. But I had loads of fun with my dearest family members and friends. All the sweet greetings from my friends and relatives made my day too. We might not keep in touch often but the annual birthday greetings surely bond us in a way.

Home is not a place but a time. Home is the time we spend with our loved ones - mummy, daddy, little bro, becky. It's Monday when I post this entry. I am suppose to be feeling the monday blues but I am not. I took a day off as a post-birthday holiday treat for myself.

Presents from family.
The presents. Love them all.
Presents from friends.

Birthday card from my company.

PS : I regret not taking any photographs during my dinner with family. Well, we were all too busy dining and wining and I was seriously trying to get tipsy.

Romance Department

I have never mentioned anything about this before but decided to do so because this is my journal. In 10 years time, I want to be able to read this entry and laugh it. Plus, isn't romance part and parcel of life? Isn't that why human are categorised into male and female?

My maternal aunties are currently trying to cope with their teenage daughters' puppy love life. They consulted my mum for some advice since my mum has already gone through that phase, or so they thought. Sadly, my mum could not comment much because her daughter did not face any 'boyfriend' problems during her teens. In her early twenties, her daughter still did not share with her any boyfriend stories, therefore she is an inexperienced mother in this topic.

I wonder whether is it normal for my mum's daughter to have never dated any guys although she is already at the right age. Neither she hates guys, nor is she a lesbian. So why? She is a little fleshy but certainly not ugly. Mum and the rest of the family members are quite worried that she has never hold a guy's hand or kiss. Some of her friends have left single-ville and head for the nuptial, even she herself is a little worried that she might end up alone on a rocking chair with a tonne of cats, all alone in a big house. Okay, I exaggerate, worry but not until that extend.

So maybe we should ask my mum's daughter all about it. She never think of guys back in high school because she believes her soul mate is some where out there but it's not time for them to meet yet. She did have puppy crushes on a few of her extra-curriculum activity mates but they are just passing moments. Then at college, there are a couple of stalkers, I mean pursuers but they are just not her cup of tea. She was quite attracted to another college guy but as they get to know each other, she found out that they do not click that well after all.

In the past year, she had a very strong crush on this guy but he is already seeing someone else. As a non-bitch, she resist herself from being a boyfriend snatcher although they keep in touch and flirt a lot through text messaging. She was enjoying a platonic friendship with him until recently, during a gathering, she caught him starring at her. She can feel that the guy is attracted to her (or maybe her judgement is wrong since she is inexperience with guys). She battled against her feelings for weeks to stop falling for this guy again.

Up until today, she is still battling the feeling which she thinks is love but is not sure. Today, she received a message on facebbok from a caucasian stranger. He is interested in pursuing her and she is pretty flattered. She always has the hots for caucasians but will not proceed further, not because she is afraid it might be a scam but because the stranger is a widower as old as her dad.

For the time being, she is enjoying life in single-ville. She has faith that Mr. Right is somewhere out there but it's just not the time for them to meet yet.

A Pleasant Night Of Music To The Ears

Cough! Cough, cough! This place is so dusty and full of cobwebs.......Yup, it had been ages since I last post an entry. Had been too busy leading a routine life. Learning to enjoy work (which comes with free lunch) and trying to get to terms that it is okay to be idle and lazy after working hours (ie. it is okay to learn and do nothing useful).

The following is an out-dated but meaningful event. It was a gathering of Beethovens and Yanni and Kenny G. Students from a music school as well as talents from around Asia and Australia took us on a musical journey with their saxophone, piano, guitar, drum and vocals. The event was in aid of a down syndrome home and the school for the visually impaired. Many among the audience were teary-eyed when the children from the home performed a number.

Performance by the special children.


The place where cello, violin, organ, piano and drum meet.

The star for the evening - Melanie Maslin. She is renowned opera singer from Australia. Melanie gives opera a new twist with her unconvetional voice and very theatrical expressions and body language.

She performed an Italian and knowing that members of the audience do not understand that language, she selected two audience to express the meaning of the song with her. It was a humorous and entertaining performance.

Marlene Fox belting out her mandarin number. She never fails to please the audience with her accurate rendition of the chinese lyrics.
The three awesome talents performing together.
The youth from a musical school performing the inspiring 'Don't Stop Believing' from the Glee series.
I was swept of my feet by this performer. He is young, gorgeous-looking, sings well, and he is also a teacher of the music school. Simply charming!

Multi-talented children strutting their stuff. How I wish I could play just one of the instruments.
Am not too sure where are they from, was not paying attention to the mc because was still star-struck by the charming fella earlier. This group belt superb music. The girl with the saxophone gives Kenny G a run for his money. She gets the crowd including those serious-looking gentlemen tapping their feet to her tunes.
Moses Chuah and Son. The name of the band says it all. Father and sons, famous performers for wedding dinners.
De Leon Family. Also a father and son team, the only difference is the sons are much younger and the little brother has a name in the Malaysia Guinness Book Of Record for being the youngest 8th grade drummer. Wow! Did I mention that the family is pretty humble too?
All performers for the night up on stage for the finale jamming session.

For once, pictures do not paint a thousand words. It is a night where all you need to be is to listen and you will leave the ballroom loving Jazz even more. Music is life!

Patrizio Buanne @ Georgetown

Patrizio Buanne. I knew that he is an Italian crooner with excellent vocals, but other than that, I am no fan of him. So when I came to know that he is coming to Penang, our lovely little island, I was wondering why such a famous person comes to our humble town? Right until now, I still do not know the answer but I am guessing that maybe one of the organiser is his personal friend.

He was here last Sunday for the Georgetown Ball, an event of fine dining with great music by the Italian crooner himself. Very soon, mummy ask me to attend the event with her. Did not know she is a fan of Patrizio but anyway, I treated her this as a birthday gift. We opt for the concert only tickets because the concert with dinner cost RM1,000 and above (gasp!).

It was held at a posh hotel, we get a complimentary wine with each ticket and there are lots of expatriate involved (I thought), so we dressed ourselves to the nines for this concert. It's better to be over-dressed than under-dressed, right? Plus, remember the name of the event? It's a ball, it will be grand.

When we reached there, I was not feeling very at ease because most of the ladies are dressed in evening gowns (so formal). But soon I knew that they were dressed that way because they were there for the dinner too, so I began to relax a little.

When we walking up the stairs, towards the entrance of the ballroom, I bumped into the Chief Minister of Penang. But this being a classy event and we were all dressed as Cinderella and trying to be sophisticated, I did not ask to be photographed with him. I am not crazy over him but how often do you bump into some big shots without any security pushing you away?

Once we entered the ballroom, we were directed to our balcony seat. It's a ball, so the seatings are not stadium style. There are tables downstairs for the dinner and we the concert-goers are placed at the balcony. Each balcony can only seat 10 people, so we felt very exclusive and important. Very Phantom of The Opera, I would say.

We waited quite a while before the show started. A live band complete with a grand piano accompanied Patrizio throughout the concert. Patrizio warmed us up with a fast Italian number and charmed us next with 'Fly Me To The Moon' accompanied by the grand piano only. It was amazing and he totally sweep my feet off the ground. He is not particularly handsome, I thought that he looks a bit old for his age but his vocal prowess is superb. He is a very humorous guy which makes him a great entertainer, and did I mention that I love his accent?

Then he did some fast songs, in a mixture of English and Italian which gets the audience dancing on their feet. He is a good dancer himself. Nope, not hip-hop but those charming booty shaking (male version of Shakira but in a macho way).

What he did next makes him totally deserve to be branded the Italian crooner. He went down to the audience, shook the gentlemen' hand and kissed the ladies on their hand. Then he picked one lucky lady to dance with him, a slow dance. After that, he took the stage with his guitar talent. Very soon, it was the end of the concert and everybody was very reluctant to leave but there is an end to everything, and we all went home with this amazing experience.

That night when I went home and for the next few days, his voice was stucked in my mind. He is a real charmer though not extremely handsome. I admit that I was totally swept off my feet by him and now I understand why mum is his fan (though not the screaming teenager type). Oh, and did I also mention that he waved and smiled to me? That totally made my day and my whole forthcoming week.