Having "Me" Time

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 ...

Today I'm taking a break from all the travel and want to share with you a funny story instead.  It happened to me this morning and thinking about it makes me laugh.  I do wonder though who is the culprit.  The active or the lazy me. You judge. The story goes like this.  Tuesdays being my running day, I prepare my things the night before and make a mental note before going to bed that I "must" wake up in the wee hours of the morning to get myself to the gym, run, shower, and then off to the office on time. It's a "must" because if I gave myself any excuse, I'll find myself in the vicious cycle of wake up late, no running, and sleeping late...Recipe for weight gain. So this morning as usual my iPhone alarm clock wakes me up with a lovely tune.  I reach out and turn off the sound. I get up, go to the bathroom and get dressed in my gym clothes.  Black running pants with an orange shirt today. That's my outfit.  I grab my things and I'm off to...

One day, I'll turn off all my gadgets, disconnect from the online world and just disappear.  I've had this on my mind awhile now, but its easier said than done.  If I'm not on the phone checking my email, updating my facebook, writing out a "To Do" list, making notes on thoughts that cross my mind, checking the news or messaging a friend; I find myself on the computer or in front of the television.   I'm perpetually connected.  You can find me easily just like that.  Send me a message or an email. With my first advent into the world of connectivity with first the symbian Nokia E71 and now the iPhone, I have become addicted to this world of "accessibility."  Everything is available at the touch of my fingertips, whether it's checking out the latest news, my portable notepad, my emails, photographs and of course facebook.  Whenever I get tired or distracted, I end up picking up the phone and go through the motions of checking my emails, mes...