I want one!!!!!

My birthday’s coming up in about three weeks and I’m salivating over a watch that I’ve been dreaming about. It’s the Mark XVI (that’s sixteeen for those not in the know) from IWC (International Watch Company). I think it’ll continue to be a dream as the watch costs almost 12K, hence effectively outside my budget! Argh, the agony!!!!

Here’s what it looks like…

  – Click on it to see the full size pic

Sweet is it not? Beautiful! A few of my friends asked “What’s beautiful about it?”. I can only say… beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I wonder if can convince my friends to get me this thing of beauty for my coming birthday. No harm in wishful thinking i guess!

-fin-

Another brilliant effort (NOT)!

Last saturday, I went to Tasik Titiwangsa to catch the much talked about “Water and Sky Show” celebrating Visit Malaysia Year 2007.  I went cuz with my mom, my wife, my son and my nephew who wanted to see the ‘bunga api show’. I’m not much of a fireworks fan, but anytime spent with my family is a good time for me, so I went with them (which was important since I was the one driving). Let me take you thru our evening…

We got there at about 8:20 pm since the show was advertised to start at 8:30 pm. When we arrived, the pre-recorded voice of the announcer was saying  “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, the Tasik Titiwangsa Lake and Sky show will begin in a few minutes”, which I shall refer to as the Announcement.  Hearing this, we hurried and found a spot next to the lake, right at the water’s edge. Fortunately, the water didn’t smell that bad, which was good (not to mention surprising).

Then, in typical Malaysian fashion, 8:30 came, and went, and all the we got were several more Announcements (five more actually). By this time, folks were already getting restless. Suddenly, the show started! Yay…. for about a few seconds at least. Instead of the fireworks display that we were waiting for, we got water skiing acts. From my view by the water’s edge , the performers were definitely not malaysians, which made me think, ‘Hey, this is visit malaysia year, where are the malaysian water skiers?” After a few seconds of reflection, i came up with the answer… this IS tasik titiwangsa we’re talking about, they couldn’t pay the malaysian skiers enuf to ski here. so that made sense.

the water performance was crap to say the least. if you dont believe me, ask my 3 yr old nephew. right in the middle of the performance, he suddenly chirped “This is boring!”. Ain’t that just a hoot! To make matters worse, the poor performance was accompannied by awful background music . Incidentally, there were NO malaysian music played to during the entiree performance (yup, no Dato’ Siti, not even Mawi…hehe). what, don’t we have local music that can beat rage againts the machine? another blow to our effort to promote malaysia, don’t you think?

after enduring this for god knows how long, the skiing ended and the fireworks started, which was almost a sputtering failure, except for the very end. and to make matters worst, both my son and my nephew started closing their ears cuz of the noise. and after 15 minutes, the fireworks ended and we went home. on the way back, i told my mom “Well, at least when ppl asked, we can say we’ve been here”.

I guess, we malaysian are trying to hard to live up to the slogan ‘Malaysia Boleh’, we forget to remember, just because you can do something, don’t mean we can do it well. Apprarently, ‘Malaysia Can’ have their own show at Tasik Titiwangsa, but that’s where it stops, being able to do it. Forget doing it well, forget excellence. What we should do is change the saying to Malaysia Bagus so that we strive for excellence, not just the ability to do something with the mentality of “melepas batuk di tangga”.

 So, to all the folks that plan to go there, i would advise againts it, unless you go thru a rigorous exercise of lowering expectations first. Then you’ll fit into one of two categories: Malaysian Boleh Tahan or Malaysian Boleh Kena Tipu, which will ensure that you’ll enjoy the show.

 -nuf said-

Beloved

This is a small something that I wrote for my wife….

My love, my wife,

For the harsh words uttered,

For the unkind looks given,

For the hurt of things unspoken,

For all the pain to you I have given,

A thousand apologies begged and a million kisses I give today,

For each tear you’ve had to waste my way.

 

My love, my wife,

I have not forgotten, nor will I forget,

That you are…

My light at the end of every struggle,

My balm that soothes away every pain,

My truth that chases away the rain,

The keeper of my soul, keeping me sane.

 

My love, my wife,

Every day i thank God for granting me you,

For the joy you continue to bring,

For the love you continue to share,

For teaching this sullen soul to sing,

For showing me that I too can learn to care,

For this and much more,

My love,

My life,

My wife.

Have and Have Nots

I am thankful of what’s been given

of what I have

a life that’s comfortable, easy even

a wife that’s a partner and an absolute joy

a wonderful child, my heartbeat, my boy

a mom that’s always there for me

a dad that allowed me to be me

one brother and a sister to complete the set

sometimes makes me think

this is as good as it gets

friends that i hold close and dear

close to the heart though they might not be near

grateful of these blessing and countless more

of things that i have

received things I’ve always hoped for.

 

Thankful too of things not given

of what I don’t have

diseases that pollute the body or the mind

of addictions that steal this precious life of mine

an abusive parent or spouse or demeanour

a lackluster existence of a hopeless dreamer

acquaintances without friends, lust without love

are gifts my life is wonderfully devoid of

these things i have not, hopefully not ever

my praises be to Him, the ultimate provider

 

A perfect mixture of have and have nots,

Grateful I am of my fated lot.