Perpetual Tockism

There are times when you reflect back into a snapshot of what’s happening in your life right this instant, and these times don’t just happen for the sake of happening, for one has to be actually aware, prepared and ready to face decisive actions or decisions that has to be made when it actually arrives, otherwise we’ll face a “complacency period“, a term I use to describe time wasted that could otherwise be made into good use.

Today I’m found myself being in this situation, where I had my “moment” just early this morning as I got up from bed, right before moving to the toilet to wash up. It bothered me more than I thought, and continued to shadow my thoughts as I drove up to work. While proceeding to perform my daily routines, it plagued my mind more than ever and so I thought I’d give it a place in my blog. It’s about time I pin point the priorities of life in my long term goal to take over the world. Heh.
 

1. Serving Others

Now I’ve always been a strong believer of serving the needs of people, regardless of gender, age, background or other factors. Nevermind where you come from, or whether you are deserving or not, it’s typical me to provide help whenever I can. In fact, last Friday I had an Indian man coming up to me and requesting for monetary help, claiming to be the cost of his motorbike’s wheel replacement cost. I provided him with more than the amount given, and I wanted to see whether he’ll actually do anything to repay me back when he can, so I just gave him my card, some $$$ and turned around like a cool person would.

Yes, some might call me naive, some might say I’ve been used many times, but trust me, I’ve never been disappointed (except maybe once or twice) and most of all, I’ve always achieved pure happiness when results do show, that there IS something to be proud of to do what I did. I think I’m not assuming too much when I say I’ve many great friends whom I did as little as lending an ear to, who’d come to my help without me requesting for it. For that, I’m deeply thankful to them, and to God for blessing me with their presence in my life.

i once carried a lighter everywhere i went so that i will not disappoint random street passerby’s who may ask for a light for their ciggies

Honestly, I don’t think I deserve any of them. I’ve never claimed to be a very good friend, and deservedly so. However I still take heart from their sincerity for there are loads who do not even expect anything from me. And I can assure you, its great things like these that keeps me going strong, and that very same strength is what I return to all of you.
 

2. Nation Building Factor

Ever since I was roped in by Firdaus into UKEC, I never thought my “wanting to help and serve the Malaysian community” principle would come into such a good use. Being involved in projects that tackles issues such as the Brain Drain, Career Development, Nation Building awareness, MERCY aids and more has pretty much brought up my credibility among peers and others alike.

One day I will most probably write a detailed account on how we managed to get UKEC to where it is today, though right now it’s helmed by other people, I hope it will always stay true to its direction. We’ve created controversies and achievements that we’re proud of, and now we’re continuing our efforts locally here through the Young Corporate Malaysians, which we hope to launch soon.

The controversies on Jeff’s blog:
When UUCA is out-of-coverage overseas (my face here )
When UUCA is out-of-coverage overseas… ( 2 )
(of course my real personal happiness was fulfilled when jeff put my face on his blog )
and more of course!

The achievements?
The First Malaysian Student Leaders Summit held in Nikko (upcoming one here!)
UKEC Careers Fair for the last 3 years
Projek Amanat Negara for the past 2 years
and many more, which I feel contributed to the recent change of times in Malaysia.
(again my personal achievement was fulfilled cause i was able to e-mail to around 10k of students in United Kingdom and EIRE for updates, thus extending the number of ppl i can help with, and of course, for them to know my name wahaha)
 

3. Residential Community Factor

As a committee of our Bandar Utama 6 Residential Association, and soon-to-be BURA as well, my contribution has been recognized and many-a-time I was able to use some of my “skills” to contribute here, where I feel so blessed to be welcomed by the committee. More to come.
 

4. Going forward with Corporate Style

Young Corporate Malaysians is something the seven from the previous UKEC committee came up with, cause as we found ourselves working for corporate companies back home in Malaysia, none of us felt we could leave our past behind, thus the creation of YCM.

More details to come.
 

5. Alma Mater Responsibilities

I’m still waiting for the AGM to materialize, as Dato’ and I have already spoken in terms, and the coming of me into the current Imperial College board of Alumni is much anticipated. Ideas are floating, planning will be interesting and the outcome would definitely spark a lot of interest… Again, something I’m looking forward to!
 

6. Striking into the New Media Age

When Ewe Tiam was explaining to me aeons ago regarding his Nuffnang idea, I was overwhelmed by it and I wanted to help him see it through. However thanks to a setback in my university life, I was unable to dedicate myself and so I politely got myself out of the picture. But proud I was as I saw his idea materialized and grew to what it is right now, and with it I think I melded into the situation and without realizing it, I suddenly found myself being friends with a lot of blogger celebrities so naturally.

I guess I was in a really special position to be able to make it this far in the blogosphere, a position where I could garner support from popular bloggers *coughjoshuaongcough* to get me a new laptop completely free, to travelling to Bali and Camang Waterfalls with household name bloggers like KY, Suanie, KimCun, ST, pinkpau, Kenny, IQG, FA and Cheesie. Not forgetting knowing people from the Media like Shaz of Astro, whom I’ve forged a close bond with, and Zain of the recently popular RandomActs (KL Freeze etc). Definitely a position envied by some people I know

More about this soon.
 

7. Relationship Factor

Something that has been plagueing me, priorities between friends and family has always been one of the hardest to tackle. I should say it is exactly this factor that I’ve corrected temporarily so that my vision in life that has been clouded a little has began to dissipate, enabling me to take a good look at my life snapshot as a whole again. Sigh, I’ve come a long way in this, and I think I’ve emerged out a strong winner

More to come too.
 

8. Career Factor

This is by far the most important, as it is one’s life task should one want to be able to take care of their loved ones, and of course, themselves. Career wise, I’ve been in the lost for a few months now, though I’m really blessed to be where I am currently, especially for a starting graduate. This, would right now be something I need to solve in order to continue towards my greater ambition, and also would be the hardest. Effect wise, this factor could possibly change my life direction, style and aim, so I’m very careful when dealing with it.

In fact, while writing this post I feel as though it is the very same issue that has caused me to initiate this super-long entry which I’m sure is too long for a normal read, while the post style is very unlike me as well. I guess at times I do secretly want this blog to be my personal diary, and here it is, presented to you in all glory, unashamed if any one of my dreams should come to pass unfulfilled, and if it does, it is for all of you to rejoice with me and share my happiness, pride and glory (by belanjaing you, yes, that is what I most often do when I feel the sense of achievement lol).
 

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Anyway it’s been a far too long post. I think there’s a 9 or 10 somewhere, but it’s past my time to go back for a swim now. Tonight I’ll be sleeping at home, and be mulling over what I can do, plan it, and execute it once again knowing there’ll be support wherever I go and whatever I do.

You just can’t blame me for being overly optimistic about my own life, if you know the things I’ve been blessed with… Sometimes it gets so unbelievable even… Let’s quote something from Vironia:

No I don’t think you’re naive. There’s a big difference between the words naive and being optimistic.

Naive is when a person is living happily without any feeling of worryness, thanks to being oblivious to his or her surroundings, orto put in one term, ignorance – as they say, Ignorance is bliss

Being optimistically driven, however, comes from knowing the situation, both internally and externally, and being able to identify, sort, and come up with the best of solutions to know that anything can be done, and that’s what I see in you.

This came from someone whom I just met in 2 weeks. A very risky judgement to make, seeing that we’ve not known each other for long enough a time, however she admits that she came from a not-so-fortunate background and have grown to be strong against fate, battling all kinds of issues that would have broken her otherwise, and so I accepted her words with all thoughtfulness.

Thank you Vironia, and until then ladies and gentlemen, I’ll close this post with the result of my experiment from the beginning of it all: the indian guy never came in the end, much to my dismay. lol.

The good folks at Yo! Sushi, Pavilion decided to celebrate Shaz’s birthday by having their official grand opening of their branches in both Pavilion and The Gardens just before the actual date itself, which is today, since they know Shaz has this cumulative list of neverending dates/meetings/interviews/birthday celebrations for at least the next 5 days and a good 2 months, starting from today.

YAYA WHO AM I KIDDING HAHAHAHA! ANYWAY, on with the yummylicious pictures bound to kill half of you guys, all thanks to Eddie Kong of Yo! Sushi for the generous invites and the good chefs for providing us lots of extra food

This is Bryan and Jon, who were the first to arrive at the closed-for-private-function Yo! Sushi outlet that looked awesomely like some fine-dining place, except that it’s really just a classy sushi outlet that has a cellar of wine to boot.

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Turns out the event was pretty well organized, complete with a (very short and funny) speech made by Mr Jeff Cook of Kendall Jackson, Q&A sessions with prizes and a yummylicious selection of food that complements the four types of wine served.

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Ah, always feels good to be an invited guest, just seeing my name there oredi makes me happy So, first off we had a combination of fried renkon, salmon skin and edamame, served with KJ Vintner’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. This was followed by Salmon Tataki Sashimi below, which completed our Appetizer listing.

While there was nothing to shout about the assorted mix, the Salmon Sashimi definitely enticed my tastebuds, and I thought the salmon pieces went well with the savoury caviar coated in what seemed like Ponzu sauce. Certainly worth noting about!

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Second up was our Deep Fried Hairy Prawns, which really is black tiger prawns wrapped in Kadaifi pastry and deep fried til golden. Served with wasabi-ginger mayonnaise and fried Shirao baitfish (those whitish thingies), I would have to say a great play of texture was done beautifully here. Of course, this was served with KJV’s Reserve Chardonnay.

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Me, Cheesie and Shaz enjoying our Hairy Prawns lolol. Cheesie and Shaz were actually classmates back during their LUCT era, and the best thing is that though they’ve graduated a long time ago, they’ve both only just collected their sijils last week ahhahaha. It’s so much WORSE compared to Imperial who sent mine more than half a year late, but at least they had to courier it from London, UK ok!

Glad to have caught up with u la Shaz, u know I damn sayang you right? hehe
Dun so emo, Elmo! (no not you, Christmas!)

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Then came our Beef Teriyaki, made of Australian Ribeye Beef grilled lightly and rolled over some Enoki Mushroom and Asparagus, sprinkled in some eatable yellow petals lol. I kinda like this, as the asparagus adds a refreshing taste to the savoury and well-marinated grilled beef. Or just maybe the green colour of it tricks me into thinking that I’m eating healthily hehe, in cue with my supposed diet plan

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In the midst of it all, we had the Q&A session popping out and each of us were ready to take home a prize! Cheesie, fortunately for us, was the only one who won and received vouchers for Yo! Sushi. Automatically that voucher became Shaz’s birthday present, which we all conveniently forgotten to get for him haha!

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It was then when we were presented our final savoury food for the day, bar one dessert to come. The assorted Iso Rolls were made of a few specialties, namely: Eel Roll, Soft Shell Crab Roll and Spicy Salmon Roll. All were unique, and had a certain distinctive taste to them. I wouldn’t say it was orgasmic, but we certainly did ask for more later of these tasty bites

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The last wine served for the day was the KJV’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the red wine you see above. I’ve never had tastebuds for alcoholic drinks (though hard liquour is another story altogether lol) and so it’s sad to say I cannot appreciate fine wine, though I’d like to one fine day.

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And last but not least, we had our dessert to complete the Wine Appreciation Dinner set. The Pakistan Mango Pancake Roll with Italian Amedei Chocolate was nothing short of fantastic, as I loved feeling of the sweet, warm mango wrapped in crispy pancake roll melting in my mouth while the green tea ice-cream cooled the mixture down, giving a total yin-yanging orgasmic experience all kept within the confines of my mouth cavity, flavours toying with my tongue indefinitely before disappearing altogether. Urhhmmmm.

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And then while people were making their way out, we were waiting for Shaz’s “surprise” birthday cake that Eddie conveniently let Shaz know about beforehand. Yes, Shaz was still excited over it. lol.

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And there you go, the handsome boy with his yummy cake. Love this picture of you Shaz!

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Dome’s Tiramisu, if I’m not wrong. Creamy, ice-creamy texture, laden with sinful sugar icing. What more do you want with a cake?!

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And thus ends the exciting day for all of us. Once again it’s many thanks to Eddie Kong from Yo!Sushi who treated us really well despite looking like a bunch of no-named guests (haha!) who can be seen taking a picture with Shaz on the right, and of course, Shaz himself for being such a darling for inviting everyone else except for me (HAHA!) and he’s lucky I’m such a great friend to forgive him for calling me Marcus RIGHT ON THE next day after we met each other for the first time! URGH! lol

Haha I kid la Shazzy Wazzy. HAPPY 25th Birthday to you mate, have a blessed time and keep on rocking the world

Here are a few of my favourite pics taken at Bukit Tinggi’s Japanese Tea Garden… It’s really surreal, the weather, the green presence of life, the harmonious mixture of zen and nature gives this place a breathe of something special.

The fishes swam freely ‘neath the rivers, flowing through earth, rocks and bridges centered around the japanese-flavoured hill.

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White flowers littered the grounds, as if inviting peace and serenity into this calm, slightly breezy garden that many species of flora seemed to belong.

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Purple-ish flowers like these gave it a vibrant, colourful flavour that would have taken a breathe away if not for the life-giving moments that seem to sweep your feet off the soils.

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Cute little orange seeds (or fruits) would give the impression of fresh life, born of insemination between plants and insightfully showing the harmonious relationship that the insects have with them by being part of the seeding phase.

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These pink flowers shower the ambience with romance and love, symbolizing an ethereal beauty that is inexplicible to all…

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But what would be complete without a controversial statement to support the beauty behind a scenario? By having a Yin to the Yang, or the stark contrast between black and white, this little plant shows that even ugly sides exist, and can be made strikingly in awe, too.

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Eventually all time stops when you’re in this little garden located at the top of Bukit Tinggi, Pahang. The serenity of water fountains, the peacefully lush greens surrounding it and the ethereal beauty of the breeze flowing through your hair makes you forget the troubles of the world. It pays to enjoy the calmness of mind before embarking to the truth of reality out there, and with that, renewed vigour alongside as well. Why not give this place a little try?

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Up next:

continuation of our Bali trip, since none of our celebrity bloggers are free enough to continue writing about our beautiful trip!

peekaboo! – Cheesie

One fine day I found this little cap in Melvin’s little nook. This is how it looked like:

And it was soooo cute that I JUST had to find out what it was! Melvin told me to guess so initially I said it was a vase, and a cute one at that. He laughed, and laughed harder as I attemped more ridiculous guesses, until he finally made me put it on top of my head.

And before I knew it, he slammed it down my entire head.

So it WAS a hat! Damn freaky and it really DID caught me by surprise alright!

 

And if you think that was all, take a look at what happens if you turn it the other way round…

IT TURNS INTO A FREAKING RETARDED HAT LOLOL!
model is Jackie, current studying in Australia. We miss you!

I think I met my Postman Pat right here in Pavilion.

You know how we always sing that all-too-familiar song that goes like this:

Postman Pat, Postman Pat,
Postman Pat and his black and white cat,
Early in the morning,
Just as day is dawning,
He picks up all the post bags in his van.
Postman Pat, Postman Pat,

Postman Pat and his black and white cat,
All the birds are singing,
And the day is just beginning,
Pat feels he’s a really happy man.

[rest of the lyrics here, download this catchy music here]

Except that we rephrase the second verse to be “Postman Pat and his chao ji biet” HAHA ok bad taste joke lol. ANYWAY a few weeks ago I wanted to ship a pair of KEYS to London, and I was directed to the Mail Boxes ETC by my colleague, which just opened a few months ago in Pavilion.

 

Now, if  I were to do this alone, I would have to go through several mind-boggling security documents, understand certain procedures that I don’t even know why I need to just to send a freaking pair of keys to the UK!

Let alone the charges for this (and even CDs or DVDs, too!) can total up to a minimum of RM120!!

 

Fortunately for me, a Mr Kelvin Lee, who’s an associate there, was soooooo helpful (haha) and friendly that he even posed for me when I said I was so impressed that I will blog about this scenario!

 

Actually he has glasses one, but he removed it. That vain leh. haha! Anyways we had a little chat on blogging and he was really impressed and asked me if I will blog about him, but I told him la my blog no one visit one, won’t get famous hehe. He was nevertheless very enthusiastic, so nice right!

The place quite nice right

 

And there’s even internet kiosks!

 

So there you go, my experience in international shipping, which was made real easy thanks to Mr. Kelvin. I will add the address here in case anybody needs it, once I get in touch with him again, or when I actually find the business card that I sillyly misplaced!

Lot No. B1.03.00, Level B1, Pavilion KL
168, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603 2148 0380

This is my current family, without their children (2 playing at the dining table, 1 at the living area and 1 more permanently at the masterbed room)

 

Welcoming the latest addition to my family, let’s call her the XPSo!

 

All thanks to Nuffnang and Maxis, and of course Susan who’s the Marketing Manager for Maxis for waiting after-working hours so that I could come pick my latest baby up!

 
 

I LOVE MY BABIES!