a great getaway..
today i'll be going bintan for a weekend getaway..
you can say i am kind of looking forward to this trip, to relax and take my mind off work for awhile, after all the atrocities that i've been experiencing at work, not only this week, but every other week (luckily my direct supervisor is a nice guy, if not i had it worse)..
and i wonder if its good news to anybody.. my ability to hold my temper should increase tremendously after IA.. haha =p
counting down the hours now.. bintan here i come!
the true meaning of happiness
today is the first time i spent quite alot of the money at the arcade.. but i think it was money well spent.. let me tell you why..
i first went in to the arcade to play my usual games.. virtua soccer 95, virtua tennis 1 and street fighter etc.. while i was in the middle of one of my games, peipei came up to me and said she already spent over $10 trying to catch a small cat figurine (those usually to be put onto mobile phones for decoration purposes)..
after finishing my game, i went with her to see what she wanted.. the small cat figurine was indeed very cute.. so i went to change $10 worth of dollar coins and tried to help her catch.. however, i finished my coins and we still did not managed to catch one.. so she said she decided not to waste money anymore.. and pulled my hand to leave the arcade, however, i could see that she was quite sad not being able to catch the figurine..
hence i decided to change another $10 worth of dollar coins, this time very determined to catch for her.. indeed, we managed to catch a figurine this time.. and she was over the moon! the happiness displayed on the face could never have been bought with any amount money.. to me, it was just some money spent, but to her, i believed i brought her something which will etch in her memory for time to come!
i love you dear! =p
More Blessed to Give
Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish.." He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"
"Oh yes, I'd love that."
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front on my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shingled-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said, "It's more blessed to give."
fustration..
in this post, i shall not name any names..
sometimes i really wonder at the memory of certain people.. my girlfriend's colleagues are such fools.. not one, not two, not even three but at least four of them! after multiple times meeting up, and me taking a great effort to remember their names, they forget my name?
am i asking too much by asking others to remember my name? or am i so insignificant till it's not worth their brain juice to remember my name?
and the conclusion is.. i'm most probably just an idiot without any two cents worth.. ok! i shall do them no more favours (eg fetching them home after an outing with my girlfriend)..
barcelona through to the quarter finals!!
well what can be said? overall the game was quite boring, and it only lighted up in the last 10 mins when ronaldinho scored in the 78th min..
before barca scored, chelsea needed at least 2 goals to win the match.. but they did not display a sense of urgency to score at all.. and even after barca scored, chelsea played as though a draw would see them through to the quarter finals..
and the game ended in a controversy, with what was thought to be a clean tackle by van bronckhorst on terry ended in a penalty decision.. with virtually the last kick of the game, frank lampard scored from the resulting penalty but that was not enough to even get a draw..
it sums up a dismal champions league season for chelsea..
champions league last 16..
tonight, at 3.30am, lies a very exciting champions league last 16 soccer match featuring chelsea versus barcelona, to be played at stamford bridge..
last time, whenever any english clubs play against any other european clubs, be it from the german bundesliga, spanish primera liga or the italian serie A in any champions league tie, i would always support the english club, no matter which club is it.. however, ever since mourinho arrived at chelsea, everything change.. chelsea is the only english club now i will never support, no thanks to its manager..
in the first press conference representing chelsea as manager, he labelled himself 'the special one'.. that comment was certainly uncalled-for.. though no doubt in these 2 years, he did indeed lead chelsea to glory in the english premier league
let's hope barcelona can hold on to the end and defeat chelsea in what promises to be a pulsating game.. barcelona, you can do it!
a nice and happy family??
a nice and happy family?
i'm not to write about family matters, but this time, circumstances have left me with no choice..
sometimes i wonder about the phrase 'money makes the world go round'.. is it really true, even sometimes to my own family members?
i had a misunderstanding with my brother due to my forgetfulness and not wanting to leave any bad blood amongst any of my family members and me, i tried to resolve the matter amicably, but sad to say, not only did i fail to seek understanding from my brother, i also had an ensuring quarrel with my mum..
it is quite true that i used to be very careful with money, and some may choose to say stingy may be the correct word to use instead, but the reason lies with my mum.. when i was in my younger days, whenever i tried to talk back to my parents (come on, which young kid doesn't talk back to his/her parents?), my mum would threaten to deduct my pocket money.. it was even worse when i made mistakes, my pocket money would not be given to me at all! she never tried sitting beside me and understand why i committed those mistakes.. i remember once when i was caught smoking, i did not have pocket money for 1 month!
but i'm glad to say, with the help of some electives that i took in NTU, and some encouragement from peipei, i finally grew out of my shell, and i'm not as calculative with money as before..
now the ensuring quarrel with my mum.. she asked me why i always try to be so difficult with my brother, and AGAIN, she brings up the issue of why my brother gives her $$ when he's in NS and i never give, instead i take $$ from her (currently my brother is in the SPF serving his NS, and every month, from the allowance that he draws, he gives about $50 - $100 every month to mum).. the impression she gives me is that she believes that filial piety can well be defined by the amount of money one gives.. i do not have any excuses for myself, but would just like to state that my NS allowance back then was not as 'exorbitant' as now.. and ever since i started IA with motorola, i took the initiative to take over my own hp bill, but she never sees that.. when i got my first IA pay check, i treat the whole family to a sumptuous seafood meal at 'no signboard', and again, that goes unnoticed too.. sigh..
i'm preparing myself for a rough time ahead.. will my mum's mindset of forcing her ideas on me change? i don't think so.. it never will..
