I'm Contented..are you?

Almost every morning, I'll make an effort to grab my fave ohayo drink Teh-C from a stall at tekka market. Besides the really good quality tea and energy boosting dose of caffeine I look forward to, I'm also attracted to the auntie who makes the teh-c for me. She is efficient and always look like very on the ball, unlike many stalls who take their own sweet time but ended up still producing really sub-quality drinks.

That day, it was as usual. Except that I've been really irked by the roasting heat. I saw the auntie perspiring under steam from the hot water and of coz, from the weather.

I couldn't resist and grumbled, "Auntie, the weather very hot hor???? "

"Ya lor, very hot."

I peeped and tried spotting for a fan in her stall, " Do you have a fan in your stall?"

"No la, no fan. But never mind la. Treat it as losing weight, like sauna ma. haha."

"haha.. waa... you very good leh." I was full of respect for her optimism.

"Ya, cannot complain. Singapore very good liao, no earthquake, no natural disasters, no unrest, we're very lucky. Except for the weather la. haha. "

"Ya, I agree leh auntie. We must be contented."

"Ya, must learn to be contented." She quipped. I was in awe at the really meaningful message which made me more appreciative of everything I had.

This year, spent my bday with my best pals, sharon and zhe san @ J8 again. We ate at our fave wan zai HK cafe which is mostly our standard meeting place, for any gathering or occasion. We don't spend time wrecking our brains, deciding where to eat or where to meet anymore. We waste alot of time doing that when we were younger I think.

Instead, we spend more time enjoying the simple food we love, catching up and just being in each other's company.

~ @ Wan Zai in J8..our fave haunt~

Faith is free

Sometimes we just need a little more of that faith and positive thinking.

Firstly, it's free. Secondly, if it can make things happen, why not?

We woke up to a sky of stormy clouds which warned us against our ubin cycling trip today.

Both me and Ahmad decided to go ahead and meet at Changi Village for breakfast first and see if the cloud would clear. ES was pretty against it coz his iphone told him that it would rain with thunderstorm.

I was determined to go and true enough when we reached Changi Village Hawker, I heard the first thunder as the drizzling got heavier. ES nodded in agreement. WTH. Ahmad came and after breakfast, the rain came down even harder.

We were really hesitant by then and I even got scolded by the ferry uncle for asking him if he thinks Ubin is raining. He asked me look at the weather and the answer was obvious. Still, with the siti and ahmad never say die spirit, we went ahead.

The rain cleared as we started cycling. It was just so unbelievable and we were still in disbelief after our trip that the weather crumpled under our VERY positive thinking.

Ahmad and beau got to visit ubin for the very first time.

The weather was also cool after the rain which was perfect.

Me and ES had our very much needed exercise after I wolfed down a magnum gold and ES gobbling down a pack of Oregano chips the night before.

And we had lots of fun!

I think it's important somehow. It is easy to recall how many times we've lost to pessimism and negative thoughts when we face problems. Reason being, it's much easier to be negative than to positive, especially in times of trouble. If you never tried solve the problem, you'll never ever face the failure of not being able to solve it.

I was stuck in the peak hour jam yesterday and I took 1.5hrs to get from HG to clementi. BY CAR. I was cursing and swearing all the way, thinking what I should have done and what I should not have done. Not only it did not make me feel better, I felt worse! What I really should have done is not to let this stupid jam affect me!! but how many of us can do it.. seriously.

I'l start trying now.

Liar Liar

read something very interesting in the course of my psychological research on Pathological Liars... Apparently, there's a difference between Compulsive and Pathological liars. Compulsive liars lie about everything as it has became a habit. Pathological liars are...erm..slightly better? Usually due to background of history of that person's life or medical condition. Know anyone like that? heh.

Checklist of Pathological Lying Symptoms:

Pathological lying is not a psychological disorder, and it has no documented list of symptoms. However, pathological liars share the following common behaviors, situations and illnesses.

Suffering from Mental Illness
A mental illness such as personality disorder, depression or bipolar disorder is a common pathological lying symptom.

Seeks Attention
Individuals who want to have center stage wherever they are may have to make up stories to capture people's interest. These types of people crave an audience and get a high off it, and this leads them to lie more.

Stories Are Unbelievable
Almost everyone over exaggerates stories sometimes, but a pathological liar does it most of the time. If you find yourself with your jaw falling every time he/she tells you a story, it's probably because it's not true.

Defensive When Questioned
When you approach the pathological liar about something said, he/she is insulted and denies the lie.

Nothing Ever Goes Wrong
A pathological liar may never admit that life is difficult. Instead, he/she will either only discuss the happy times or make up stories to replace unfortunate events.

Life Is Always Bad
Someone who is always suffering from a different illness or always a victim of something either has bad luck or is a pathological liar. Just as some pathological liars will lie about the good in their life, some will make up bad things that happen to them for the attention.

Increase Self-Esteem
People with low self-esteem are more likely to demonstrate pathological lying symptoms because they are trying to make themselves feel better about how they look, their accomplishments and what they have in life.

Liars Only Get So Far
Pathological liars are good at lying, but it will usually only get them so far. After a while, many people will begin to see through them and realize that they are not as trustworthy as they seemed. Until you get to this point of realization when dealing with a liar, listen warily and double check before acting on anything he/she says..

E.S. I lover U!

Guess this is my most memorable birthday todate.

ES proposed to LS! Yep. Haha. Nothing very drama. When I found the ring, I even asked if it was for me or was it for me to take photo to test out the new lens ES got for me. It was simple but sweet. I did not feel extremely exhilerated, probably because I already knew he was the one I wanna spend the rest of my life with.

My vow to ES:

~ Be it through good shit or bad shit, we'll always be together forever.~

~ Frankly, I know nuts about diamonds. They have ZERO appeal on me and given a choice, I much rather spend the money on a holiday. Of coz, now given no choice, who minds? heh. Thank u ES! I totally feel the pinch for ES as he felt a diamond ring is a neccessary formality. Well, he's glad that he's got a choice to buy simulated diamonds in future.haha. ~

I'm blessed with great buddies at work and outside of work who are the colors of my life. Thanks for being there!

~ office buddies bought me a digital photo frame to help me save some $ from developing pics..hahaha. Thanks peeps. ~

~ my dearest friends... and sean of coz. muacks~

HK Trip 2010 - 3rd yr in a row liao

back to work. holidays are never enough.

3rd trip to HK. Nothing really fascinating but the expected feet breaking amount of walking. I can really understand why most HKongers are so super slim. Somehow I find their public transport really old and not very well-maintained. People are not educated enough to demonstrate basic courtesy not to rush into trains, allow passengers to alight before boarding and simple hygiene habits like not coughing loudly or noisily clearing their throats on the train. The aging population are not well catered to either. The numerous number of steps and limited escalators and lifts at MTRs are definitely the old fogeys worst nightmare. It's also time to remove the gawdy looking LED advertisements in the trains which are an eyesore and makes the train look really cluttered.

I'm probably more sensitive to these since I'm working in the land transport industry. Have I professed my love for SG's land transport system? Yup. I DO!

Feet suffering from some contractional cramps...not sure if i've pulled a muscle or two from excessive walking. urgh.

Weekend's near... I can smell it. yay yay yay. Shit..is there nothing else I look forward to in a week!!?!