Having "Me" Time

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Even if you don’t celebrate it, I think it’s a great day to just go out, reunite with family friends and have an awesome day. Today what comes to mind is how we humans are indeed funny creatures (or maybe it’s just me). Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a decision, yet a zillion different choices come up? Which choice do you choose? What happens to me is that at first instinct, I say “This is what I like.I choose “A”. However, to be sure that THIS is the choice that I really like, I end up going through all the alternatives in meticulous detail. I go through the pros and cons, check details on websites, read reviews and think about the choices day-in day-out. The result? After painstakingly looking at all the details and having a pile of information, I go back to “A.”The first option I decided on. It makes me wonder, why do I go through all these motions of checking, going through details, only to revert back to the...

I need my sleep but sometimes I wonder, why do we sleep?  Do I really need to sleep? If I didn't sleep I could spend more waking hours doing a million more things. Why we sleep though is a question that has been asked for centuries and still no one really knows the answer.  I do not know why I sleep, but I know that if I do not get enough sleep, the next day becomes a waste of a day. I get headaches, feel groggy and my concentration level is low.   This lack of sleep is what scientists have been studying for centuries in an attempt to better understand why we sleep. Scientists study these various effects of sleep defiency to better understand sleep.  Without it,  our cognitive skills would be harmed and brain development probably affected. If you think humans sleep to save energy, the BBC article "The Science of Sleep" mentions that for eight hours of sleep, we only save about 50kCal which is very minimal.  One piece of my Peppe...

It's 2012. It's the year the world as we know it is supposed to end.  There's a whole movie dedicated to this year which I haven't seen yet, but many tell me it is strikingly familiar with earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and any kind of natural disaster you can think about.  Whatever happens, let's not live in fear about what will or could happen.  Let's approach 2012 from another perspective.  Let it be a year of new beginnings, new adventures and new life. Let it be a year you can say was your year. Life for me is a lot about what you make of it.   New Years is a good time for us to reconsider what is important to us, what it is we want to accomplish this year and most importantly, what it is we learnt the past year. I know I've learnt a lot and there is still much I have to learn.  One of the most important things I've learnt though is that your life is in your hands. If there is something about you that you don't like, you don't have ...

I want to write about so many things, but I cannot do it all in one night so today I thought I'd write about a little revelation I had today. It has to do with clothes. Yes, girls never have enough clothes, shoes bags and accessories.  We love our little fashion items and do not hesitate to buy more even though we have closets full of similar stuff at home.   Then we run out of space and need more. Today I went to pick up a suit I had made.   On the way out,  I passed by some stores and spotted several nice dresses.  Thinking to myself that I am always wearing the same style of clothes, a dark skirt and a shirt,  I thought to myself that I should get something different.  (I suppose that's the excuse I give myself.) I went in and tried on dresses, pants and shoes.  I eventually bought myself a dress and a jacket. Yes, I now have something new for this holiday season. I am happy. Upon returning home, as I always do wh...

For some things in life you only discover a love, a passion for it later on in life. I suppose it's better late than never as the old saying goes.   With this blog, I rediscovered my love of writing and with teaching I discovered my love of teaching. Nothing gives more satisfaction than the sight of someone's eyes sparkle in delight and understanding when something previously unknown is finally understood.   I had been teaching younger kids and have recently moved onto teaching older students getting ready for college entrance exams.  You may wonder what is so good about teaching?  You keep saying what you know to students again and again?  For me it's more than that. It's fun and exhilirating.  Teaching for me is not just about going to a classroom and lecturing so that students can jot down notes and memorize.  Teaching is understanding and realizing the potential in each student.  Teaching involves understan...

I can hardly believe the year is almost over already.  In just a few days it will be December and along comes with it Christmas, parties and New Years...Today I write about a quote that has been stuck in my head for weeks and believe it or not, it comes from Kung Fu Panda 2. (I know it's an animation, but I have to say I think the creators did a lovely job of not only graphics, but the plot and content is also quite thought provoking. ) "It does not matter what your past is, but what you will do with your future." Master Shifu said something like this (I don't remember the exact wording) to Panda when teaching him about "inner peace."  Despite Panda's success as a Dragon warrior Master Shifu says one needs to achieve "Inner Peace." Inner peace is essential for without it, in the face of danger one can lose one's grounding and fall flat on one's face.   Inner peace stablizes us and lets us stand ready for whatever happens next, ...

Sometimes your inner voice tells you not to do something, but you do it anyway.   Then later you end up thinking to yourself "Damn, why didn't I listen to my inner voice?"   This happened to me exactly this past Monday. Here's a funny story. This past weekend, Alex and I have been discussing when best it would be to bring my Baby back home.   Yes, my little White Baby Jazz (if you are wondering, it's my car :))   has been in safekeeping for roughly a month now away from the flood, away from the water that could cause it to choke, suffocate and eventually die.   It has only just reached it's second birthday.   Too young to die.   Monitoring water levels, canal drainage, potential flooding estimates, we decided that by this week, I should be able to take my Baby out for a spin. It should be safe enough as the chance of her drowning in water seems quite minimal.   She's restless and needs to get out of her little rectangle high up on the 7th floor....

It's my second day after evacuation and I feel somewhat lost in limbo.  I do not know what lies ahead.  I miss my home and I miss normal day life.  Forced evacuations are no fun even if you get to go out of town. Your mind is always wondering about what next.  What happens next?  No answer.  Now the dilemma is deciding when would be the appropriate time to go back?  If I go back too early, I may have to end up evacuating again.  If I wait, I do not know how long the wait will have to be. Will it be one week, two weeks or more? I need to go back to go on with my life.  Now nothing can be planned and there is no timeframe. I realize now how important it is to have certain basic certainty in one's life.  A safe home, clean tap water, electricity and a safe environment in which to live.  Most importantly though is to be surrounded by family and loved ones.  What good is having all the world's goods...

An eerie silence has befallen Bangkok once again.  It's as if the whole city is holding it's breath.  Breathe too loudly and you just might trip over.  Last time this happened was last year during the political unrest.  Only this time,  the eerie silence is spread much further out.  Not only inner Bangkok but now the suburbs too are subject to this eerie silence. Cars are not wanted now.  They are all parked on bridges, expressways, parking lots and anywhere that is above ground level.  It's too expensive to just let them drown in water.  With car taxes over two hundred percent, most cannot afford to lose the only car they have.  I cannot.  I'm still paying the monthly installments.  Even the taxi companies are saving their cars and few now roam the streets.  It's difficult to go anywhere.  Walking becomes the mode of transport. While walking, I sometimes wonder if I am living in a deserted town lik...

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,"                                                                          William Shakespeare I think Shakespeare was really right to compare our world to being a stage and us merely players.  We are all born onto this earth as a child, we play our parts, grow up, and then we depart.  Sometimes it's as if we are taking part in one giant movie.  Each life is a different movie.  Sometimes they interact, sometimes they each take their own path.   U...

On the street where I live, the streets are always clean.   Every morning an old man, who lives in a little unimposing house in a corner, gets up and sweeps the streets.  I call him "The Sweeper." He's not paid to sweep the streets.  He is an inhabitant of the street, yet every morning he sweeps the street for everyone.  He gently moves down rows and rows of houses with broom in hand sweeping away trash, leaves and whatever else is left on the street.   He asks not for recognition, he asks not for notice, he asks not for money.  He sweeps the streets because he wants to.  He sweeps the streets because he has a good heart. It's not easy to find a man like him in this modern day where no one wants to do anything for free.  Everything now must be bought, be exchanged, be in response to another good action.  It reminds me of what Thomas Hobbes wrote in the Leviathan about man being innately selfish. ...

It's the end of August.  This time last year I was in Malaysia visiting a good old friend just before Malaysia's independence day.  This year, I am in Bangkok, and am instead keeping touch with good friends through other high tech means such as Skype, Google+ and Whatsapp.  It really is quite amazing all this technology.  It brings people together.   Yet, it can also bring people apart. You might have noticed that since the advent of BB messaging and chat programs on iPhones, smartphones, androids, many of us (me included) sometime zone out of conversations and instead grin at our phones.  We are living in two worlds at once. One moment, I'm in conversation with the person next to me, the next, I'm in a conversation with someone else on the other side of the phone.  Maybe that person is in another country.  I don't mind it at all, but sometimes I think we ought to put down our phones and enjoy the person next to us.  Enjoy ...

Sundays are usually days I have to relax and contemplate a little. This past Sunday I watched a movie called "Never Let Me Go" and it is indeed an emotionally touching movie. I had tears in my eyes as I watched it on my computer screen, I suppose if I were watching it on a big screen it would be even emotional. It's a heartbreaking for it raises questions about the morality of cloning humans for organ donations. I remember debating the morality of all this in highschool.  Afterall, this was during the era when Dolly the Sheep became the first success story of a clone from an adult cell.  This was a scientific breakthrough, but was this moral?  Was this the right thing to do? To what extent is technology to be used for one's on good? "Never Let Me Go" addresses this question by showing us kids growing up in a seemingly normal English boarding school.  The only difference was that they were clones.  They took lessons, played rugby, and had emotions just l...

If you live in Bangkok, drive, and find yourself caught in rush hour rain, then your usual simple journey back home can take on an entire new life and become an adventure of sorts. An adventure from the seat of your car. Today it took me two hours to arrive home. It usually takes me half an hour. There’s something about rain in Bangkok that just causes havoc. When it rains, it floods on certain roads. These floods cause cars to drive slowly. Slow cars means slow traffic. Then you have the crazy drivers that think they can push their cars through the traffic and end up blocking everyone else’s path, therefore causing even more road blocks. Some end up causing accidents, thereby resulting in even more traffic. I see these cars like characters in a racing game. You have the good obedient drivers that follow the rules no matter what : the perpetually calm driver . You have the usual obedient driver that suddenly realises following the rules results in being constantly over...

Most days in the morning when I arrive at the office, I am greeted by the entrance by a certain guard who is always sitting watching everyone come and go, walking here and there.  Amidst all this hectic movement, he remains calm and ever so pleasant.  Such a pleasant start to the morning it is indeed to be greeted by this guard.  Who is it? It's our very own beiged coated dog with wagging tail and grinning muzzle whom I've nick-named "The Guard." I know not who the owner is, but he is a dog that knows no harm.  He watches those who enter and leave  and has a sleek and toned body that is a reflection of strength.  He's one active dog with a built of a soldier dog.  He stands straight, shoulders back and head raised towards the sky, his ears alert for the slightest disturbance. A guard he is, but a friendly one with a muzzle that makes him look like he's always grinning. He keeps out of people's way by sitting safely by the door...

Last night I opened up my email and read a lovely forward from an old childhood friend I've known since my age was still a single digit. We haven't lived in the same country for decades, but we always keep touch and she always sends such good forwards. This particular one though I could not let it past without sharing it with everyone. Thank you for sharing it with me. You know who you are :) The story is a bit long but please read it all the way through the end. It's a great reminder to us all of what is important in life, in relationships and how we view the world. Sometimes we go through life, trying to do everything that's expected of us, until we lose sight of the person we really are and the people who surround us. We are too busy performing our "tasks." Take a "pause" every now and then, look at the person next to you, and really see them. Are you spending "quality" time together? Are you taking care of each other and really unde...

Yesterday morning as I headed out to run amidst the rain, I felt like I wanted to snuggle back into bed and just enjoy sleeping through the rain. Then I turned on the news to watch while I run and saw the devastation in Japan. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time it is also a humbling experience. It reminds us how fragile our lives are. Lives could change in matter of minutes. No matter how much you anticipate it, prepare for it, you can never be sufficiently prepared. Who would imagine that this seemingly harmless "water" could suddenly rise up so high that it would topple buildings, pass the barriers and tumble down upon houses, obliviating all in its path and leaving nothing but a pile of debris and mud. A newspaper today showed a cruise ship balanced ontop of a two or three storey building. It's not architecturally constructed, yet it happens in real life like it were showing off the force of nature. And so with this giant of an earthquake in Japan, many ...