Curry mee stall at Jalan Seratus Tahun, Penang.

Today, the is 15th day of the 8th moon and  today, the Chinese celebrate the Moon cake festival.  This morning , I accompany my wife to pray to my belated FIL because tomorrow is his " birth date" after one year of his death anniversay. Tomorrow is a working day for us and we will not be available.

After the prayer at Kek Lok Shi temple, we went to pray for my MIL as this is the usual routine following my wife's request.  My daughter M was with us.

The curry mee stall is located in the middle of Georgetown and my daughter M have not been able to locate the stall for a new times and I choose to bring her for breakfatst there this morning. The entry to Jalan Seratus Tahun is the junction between Masji Pakistan and the steam boat restaurant located at Maclister Road.
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The name of road " Jalan Seratus Tahun" means "the hundred years old road" e and pre-war houses lined both sides of  the road and the curry mee stall is located at the corner unit of a row of houses.  The stall have been existence for many years and I think easily about 40 years.  It was very famous back in the old days and now, there are mnay competitors around but their business  is still good  but not like the yesteryears.

A small bowl of curry cost about RM3 while the big one cost about RM4.50 and their specialty lies in their soup and their chilly paste. 

I have recommended many of my friends from outstation to eat there and most of them like it very much. So, for your readers, try if you have not experience it.  Bear in mine , one person's meat could  be another person's poison.

Namaste.

Edo Ichi Restaurant, Island Plaza , Penang

Last night , I had a family dinner at Edo Ichi Japanese restaurant.  When we are arrived there , it was already full house and we have to quene for it. It took us 20 minutes to be seated.

This is the second time I have been to this restaurant.  The previous time was for lunch with my wife.  We seated in a room with two separate tables. We occupied the table next to the window and it has more privacy.

My wife ordered a beef sukiyaki, two sets of she ushi, one salad, two california rolls  and it was just enough for three of us.  My daugther M really enjoyed Japanese food.  She has been there two times before and including this experience, she has been there three times.  It cost us about RM145 for the dinner.  It was cheaper than what we have expected.

The restaurant is nicely done. Cozy and compact  and the good is really good.  As for the waiters and waitress, they are neatly dressed and pleasant looking.  Their services is also excellent.

The Island plaza mall is closed for renovation and there was sufficinet space at the basement car park . With good taste, spacious car park, good service and reasonably priced food, it is a winning formula for a successful food outlet.

Syabas to all those people wokring in  working in the restaurant . Keep it up and let my readers have a pleasnt evening of good food and joy.

Namaste.

Thai Massage , Farlim Penang

Last night, my colleague, F asked me to accompany him to a massage at Fima but I manage to cnvince him to change the venue to a Thai massage.  I remembered the place as I have been there several years ago and I just wanted to know whether the business have survived the weather of time. 

After work, we arrange to meet at Sunshine and  he parked his car there and I pick him up at the venue and sent him to the Thai massage in my car. When we reach the place, the old sign board was still there and  I parked my car and both of us went into the massage parlour. It wss the same gloomy place and the place is partition by curtains into small cubicles.

We were  ushered to a cubicle with two mattress and asked to stripe to our underwears.   The air con was full blast and it was very cold.  The masseurs were two Thai ladies , one for F and one for me. We have a choice whether we want a oil or a powder massage   Both of us opted for the oil massage,

My masseur was very good. He started with my back , then  my legs , my stomach , then my neck and finally my head.  Her skill was amazing especially when she used her elbow to massage my foot and my legs.  The pain was very painful in certain area but less in others . Even if the pain is enormous but after a few minutes,  the pain would disappear and I could sense the good feelings on the parts of my body which was very painful earlier on.,   I thanked the masseur and I gave her extra tips because of her good skill.

If you have a good massage, the pain should not stay and if it does, than your body could have been injured or hurt badly. For this experience, it was a really good massage and I could feel it.

However, F was not so lucky, he told me that the service by her measseur was only average and he was not satisfied with the experience. It was  difficult to judge as I have not been having body massage a long time now  while he was a regular  so, his expectation was much more than me.   He told me that the massage at the Straits Quay is much better but the charges is  slightly more expensive.

I must warned all of you that the place is not so new and nice  and it could be like your own home without the decorations.  Here the charge per hour is RM45  while at Straits Quay, the charge is RM60.  You have to  pay for the extras.

It was a recommendable experience if your expectation is not so high.

Namaste.

Canton-i , Queens Bay, Penang

I was with some friends at the Canton-i Restaurant at QB.  I was asked to order the food for all of them and as usual, I ordered some Tim Sum , noodles , congees and some pork and grilled chicken. The taste was very good and the restaurant is very famous and it is part of a franchise group. The restaurant was besides the point.

My friend, M is already  74 years old and he has not gone for any medical checks for the past 15 years. Recently, two of his friends came from Japan to visit him. He told me that one of them has a fourth stage cancer and he was only 60 , recently retired from work.  According to him, his friend is only waiting to die as the cancer is uncurable.

Their visit  wake him up and M went for his medical check a few weeks ago after his friends has gone back to Japan.  He was very happy with the medical result. His Doctor told him that he is 17 kilogram over weight  and otherwise, he is in perfect health. His Doctor's advise is for him to drink a lot of water and keep exercising to reduce his excessive weight.

It is amazing how he can maintain his good health.  He is staying alone while his family is in Japan.  He goes for one night stands to keep his sex life healthy   and perhaps, he has a female companion to take care of him.  He  loves to play mahjung , golf  and watch porns to spend his time.  He drinks and smokes very much.

Life is so strange. Those people who spend their time taking good care of their health , yet their health failed them and or those , who live as well as he can, they live a longer and a more healthy life.  It is so incredible and ironical as well in its outcome.  Life lives in a strange way.

Namaste.

Six basic principles of life

6 PRINCIPLES OF LIFE

1. No point using limited life to chase unlimited money.

2. No point earning so much money you cannot live to spend it.

3. Money is not yours until you spend it.

4. When you are young,you use your health to chase your wealth; when you are old,
   you use your wealth to buy back your health. Difference is that,it is too 
   late.

5. How happy a man is,is not how much he has but how little he needs.

6. No point working so hard to provide for the people you have no time to spend
   with.


Remember this - We come to this world with nothing, we leave this world with nothing!

Another star have fallen - Andy Williams

Today,there was a news on the death of Andy Williams at the age of 83, He died from  bladder cancer after suffering for one year. In this  "year,  Robin Gibbs, whitney Huston and now Andy Williams. Star after star have fallen and it will not stop here.

This afternoon, I attended a farewel lunch for my friend , S . He was retiring from his audit practice and I was joking with hm about being "born free again ".  At that time, I have forgotten the singer who make this song popular. I asked my boss and my guest who sang " born free " and there was a complete silence.  I told them , I have heard "born free" was sang by Frank Sinatra but after reading the news today, the original singer was Andy Wiliams .

Another great song sang by Andy was " Moon river".  Andy Williams was real good crooner. His silky and milky voice was a blessing to our ears. I used to watch his video clips and I have also bought a whole set of his songs in a DVD pack.

As I have said before " when GOD asked us to die at 3pm, nobody can wait not even a second more". Death is ineveitable and everyone have to pass through this way.  Let GOD judge us  on the  Judgement Day.

So, goodbye Andy . Thanks for your wonderful existence during my time and have given me many good memories., One of your favorite song is " Love Story"  which told of a lover who do not know how to re-act against love. A large portion of the young people have this problem.

Namaste,

The View, Equatorial Hotel, Penang.

I had a farewell lunch for my friend S , together with my boss, H.   The View restaurant is a very nice western crusine  restaurant  and  from the restaurant , it has a fantastic view of  the golf course and Penang 2nd bridge. 

The restaurant's serving have two parts.  The first session is the salad  and the pastry bar which is available for all the dinners  and the 2nd part is the main course.  The smoked salmon , prawns and the salads have excellent taste and dressings.  Wonderfully done.

As for the main course, I ordered a grilled tuna while my guest and my boss ordered grilled salmon.  The dressing and taste of  the fish was also excellent and I really enjoyed the lunch.

For the dessert,  I got myself  some cakes , pastries and chocolates and I drink sparkling water which goes very well together.

The price is about RM100 per person. It is really value for money and a truly wonderful experience.

On the way back, I talk about some personal matters and my boss bring up some incident involving a mutual friend or rather a former colleague, SM.  Our friend have retired a long time ago from our Company and he has a family in Singapore and he stays alone with a companion in Penang.  His lady companion have been taking care of him for 20 over years  and recently, she died of cancer  and our friend was also very sick. My boss told me that he is not in touch with SM and he wondered how is he being living ?  SM have lots of money but now, he is alone and dying.

Life plays a funny joke on us sometimes. When we don't have money, we have the energy but we don't have the time.  When we have the money, we have the time but no energy.  Nevertheless, we come with nothing and we go with nothing.  This is impermanance and emptiness.

Namaste.

How are you, my love ?

My love is my daughter M.  I worried very much for her as she is often obessive and over protective of herself and the things or person , she love.  I would say that she goes an additional for the things she love.

She fall in love with her classmate and both of them have been going on sometime ie the boy and girl friend thing. From her actions, I think she loved him dearly and of course, her BF also loved her very much in reciprocate. I have observed her very closely when they are together  and she gave the food she loved to him and also sacrifice the favorite drinks for him.  Most of the time, she would buy the things for him to eat using her money and of course, my money.

I have tried to tell her that she have to take care of herself more and be fair to herself.   They should be a "give and take"  in a relationship rather then just sacrifice from her side.  There should be a mutual respective and love. 

I do not know whether it is a childish love  or an infactuation or a temporary attraction and whether  time will wake her up or the relationship will last until the end.  I am not sure but based on my experience, there is alot of pain and sacrifice on both sides to make a relationship worked.  There are times of regret and there are times of tribulations and celebrations.  Like what Buddha says " if there is happiness , then there will be sadness" and in true life, this is what happen.  There is no such thing as " Romeo and Juliet" type of love affair  like love at first sight and love until the end without any incidents of unhappiness.  Even it there is, it will be only less than 1% chance.

I do not understand the behviour of the gen X and the gen Y generation and to thess generations , sex is a very normal thing and the trend now is Sexting where both sexes exchange video clips of their private parts in exchange just for the fun or excitements. This culture is something very strange and nonsensical.  The next step would be love making for the fun or the experience with no obligations.  The so-called one night stand.
In past , this culture is only applicable to prostitutes.

I related a story told by my friend to M and she look amused.  I liken a women's body  to a beautiful painting  and if there is a spot or dirt or paint on it , the value of the painting will depreciate very much.  She did not agree with me and she compare her body to an car. The more you used it , the more efficient it will be. But, what about the worn out parts ? She told me it will happen in many years to come but now, it is running perfectly.

This is what we called " generation gap" .  My mindset have to change to understand them and this is the way forward.  The past is stinky and gone. 

Namaste.

Love me, love me not.

It is a flower petal game. You take a full blown flower with many petals and you start to peel off petal by petal and altesrnately say the words " you love me " and the next petal "you love me not"  and the last petal will determine your answer.  This way to find a solution to your question or dilemma is an old fashion way. You let the flower petal to decide the outcome.  Are the flowers really alive and will tell you the outcome.  incredible and strange.

Love have many types ie fatherly love, brotherly and sisterly love,  boy girl love, friendly love and compassionate love or loving kindness. When we say love, it has many meaning and mixture of options.

Next, you may asked how deep is your love ? The degree of love varies deeply and widely.  Extreme, intermediate or a simple love.  The depth and degree of love is like the noise level knot , sliding  from low volume to the maximum volume of the loud speaker or Hi-Fi.  From low to high as the volume fluctuates.

Next, there is also an expression , how hot is your love? Does love burns? No, then what is how love is your love? The level of desire  and the feeling of attachment.  Some people behave like north and south pole, the attraction is very strong when " like poles, rebel".

All these expressive words is to measure a level of attachment and belongings. At the beginning of a relationship, the force of attraction is very strong and it will get weaker as the years passes by. This is the facts of life.

Namaste.

Good bosses , bad bosses

How do you define " good " or "bad" bosses ?  It is very subjective and it carries  a certain chemistry but there are some basic rules that we must follow .

The criteria for bad bosses :

1) Those so called leaders who do not follow protocol or  seniority of the organization
2) Those bosses who only take care of their position  and make themself important
3) Those bosses who takes all the credit and not giving credits when it is due
4) Those ball-less bosses who dare not defy the boss even when their boss is wrong
5)  Those bosses who bull shit alot  and hope that bull shit will bring them to the top
6)  Bosses who only hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. They are deaf in one ear.
7) Bosses who only see with one eye and blind on the other.
8) They are bosses with biasness and fixated opinion
9)  Those bosses with a twisted tongue , snakey heart and buddha face.
10) Those bosses with no understanding , no compassion and loving kindness.

If you have a boss, who have non of the above weakness, then he or she is a good boss.

Bless those weaklings and support the strong.

Namaste.

An eventful night

 I could not catch a good night sleep last night because of the pouring rain.  In the early part of the morning , there was a very heavy down pour but stopped for a few minutes before the second wave of heavy rain hit the roof.   I was awaken by the first and second heavy down pour.  My sleep was intermittently interrupted and  this morning was hazy .

Today is the first working day of the week and it was a Monday plus it was a raining day. Three factors can caused havoc to a lot of people’s mood and feelings.  

At lunch time, the sky is still gloomy and it was drizzling as well. Everything looks messy and unorganized.  Just like the feeling for most of us.  How do we change the day around ? 

We will need to engage our self in something which can bring us out of  the down cast mood.

·        A good lunch with  some good friends and some lively conversation

·        A hot drink to heat up the cooling body

·        Read some good news or interesting articles

·        Move around more to wake up our self from the sleepy mood

·        Write an interest news or contact a few friends  to say “hello”

·        Wear something warm to warm up the body

·        Engage in an interesting discussion or meeting

So, many other interesting things can do the trick to wake or spice  you  up.

Namatse.

The traffic jams are getting worst

The jam was very bad this morning due to the heavy rain fall last night and early morning.  Everything seems to be in a mess including the long waiting time during the jam.  What is happening to the Government ?  This traffic problem have been occurring for so many years as more and more housing projects in Farlim come up in the area.  The town is choking to death and now, a straits mall is going to open from mid November this year.

There are now so many developers in Farlim and nobody is taking any actions to over come the traffic jams in the area.  The bottlenecks in the area is getting choked and everybody is dying or be choked to a gradual death.

Some people would counter my comments , why don’t  you move out of the area as you have a choice ?  Actually, I have living there for 20 years now and  I have chosen the area because my Parents was living close by  and since both my Parents have been gone for so many years, my sister and brother is still standing nearby.  This was the main reason , I continue to stay in the area.

But ,why should I move ?  I lived here before all the developments  and it should be the responsibility of the developers to develop the area in an orderly manner  and provide assess to all the residents. This happening was not my doing and so why the f…k should I move ?  The developers must give us the solution..  I do not know whether there is any legal means or right  ie to sue the developers  for causing all the inconvenience to me and all the residents due to their disorderly development of  the area surrounding my house. If there is no such legal right, there should be a way to  make an official complain.

As the whole area is partly freehold land or lease hold under trust by the Khoo Clans, there could be little room to complain to the State Government as the first responsibility lies with the developers and the Khoo Clan ( not the Klux clan , I hope).

Further to the jams, illegal structures , temples and illegal hawkers are mushrooming in the area , making it a cow boy town .  The land surveyors are either corrupted , lazy or blind to all these things  or they are just sitting on their big fat asses.

What I can advise  these fat ass is that don’t be a hindrance to people’s welfare or well being, it is bad karma  and it will return to haunt them.

Namaste.

14th floor restaurant at PSC , Penang

Today, my wife wanted to do some cardio exercise and she suggested the gym at Penang  Swimming  Club, Penang.  we have not been there for many months since the passing of her beloved father last year.

We have been members of the club for many years  and since then, they have added a new multple car park, a restaurant , many more halls and studio, a well equipped library and a gym.   We set off to the gym at 5.30 pm.  On reaching the club, we proceed to took the usual long walk from the lobby to the gym passing through the club house and the swimming pool. 

On the gym, I was surprised that the gym have occupied the space of the former library while the pumping room still located on the basement level.   There was a very winding staircase linking the two levels.  The scenary at the gym was fantastic as now we can see the far horizon from the gym.   Breath taking views.

After about an hour at the gym, we proceed to the restaurant at the 14th floor.  Again, the view was fantastic as we can see further out into the horizon and it was so beautiful.  The restaurant was full as there was alot of reservations and we have to wait . While we waited, my wife wonder off to the belcony of the restaurant to enjoy the view outside.

After 20 minutes, we have a table and  we were told that we will need to wait for an hour for our chinese food order.  The faster order would be the set dinner and we took the advise from the waiter and true to his words, food was serve within the next 10 minutes.  My wife ordered a barbeque chicken while I ordered a chicken chop- combo , a soup and a salad.  The taste have improved much from the last time and the food was good and reasonably priced.

Many times, I have suggested to have lunch or dinner at this restaurant , my daughter M will complain and reject my suggestion because the taste was not good in the past.  But, things can change and this time, it has proven me right that the restaurant is doing better and their food standard have improved much.

PSC have been a place where I used to meet my friends  and as to-night I met a friend K and his wife. K was almost my aged and he took the same except his head was full of white hair.  My wife told me that we will need to spend more time at the gym if we retire in a couple of years.

Yeah, again, her remark arouse my feeling that time really flies and we will need to start another chapter soon and to let go and slip into our twilight years. 

Namaste.

Mizi Bristro, New World Park, Penang.

It has been quite awhile that I have not been to Mizi Restaurant for any meal.  I have been suggesting this place for several times to my wife but it did not materialized due to different reasons.  So, yesterday, I suggested to eat at the restaurant after my Saturday foot reflexology session.

It was quite early for my foot session so I suggested to my wife that we should try the the pastry shop located near to Giant supermart and it was located at the junction of Nagore Road and Burmah Board. After packing the car at Fima, we took a short walk to the pastry shop.  I have notice the pastry shop many times and have wanted to check out the outlet and the timing was perfect this time.

The pastry shop carries the name " Ritz pastry" and when pushed open the door, the wonderful smell of the pastry swell up to my nose.  Wonder smell. 

I ordered a hot mocha and my wife ordered a brownie cheese cake.  We share the cake and the mocha as we wanted to try the taste and not to over eat before the dinner at Mizi.  The shope was nicely decorated and with a variety of selections and the presentation on the cake was excellent.  As we sat, we could see many youngsters frequenting this place place and many took away their orders. 

I must say that this is a wonderful place for a good cup of tea or coffee and have a high tea session here but the place only can take in 10 person as the tables and chairs are limited.  But, it was a wonderful experience. My overall mark for this place is " excellent".

After a short while, we went for our painful foot reflexology session.  After the " torture" session, we proceed to Mizi. After we found our seat , my daughter M and my sister came to join us for the dinner.  My wife ordered her favourite  spehgetti  olio and I ordered a pasta while my daughter ordered a Gordon Chicken and a salmon for my sister. This time, the food was not so good.  The pasta and Spehgetti was very oily and salty while the salmon was not fresh but my daughter M enjoyed her chicken.  The total meal cost RM75 as  we have ordered s simple food for our dinner. The overal marks for the dinner was "average".  I would not be gooing back there for awhile until the salt and oily thoughts fade away for good but it will take time.

Nothing special for the night except there was a concert and a lantern festival celebration at the park and the atmosphere was quite lively and jovial. Yes, coming to think about it, the moon cake festival  is on the next Saturday.  I wonder how is the feeling of these people celebrating the ocassion. As for me, the time have passed and now, it is only fond memories.  I wish all these peope have a wonderful night and remained happy for themselves and their family.

Namaste.

A troubling thought.

I have a thought that is bothering me for the past week . It was not a serious matter but my ever fixing mind want to correct  the error of my peer.  It could be a judgement error by my peer due to his ignorance  and I could have stop it immediately but I let it happen anyway, thinking that some one will ratify it  later.  However, the error remained unratify until now.  It could be my imagination that the error could in the end hurt someone I loved.

The thought have been surfacing many times even in the middle of the night but I could brush it off and it disappeared to re-surface later.  Last night, it even bring cold sweat to my forehead.

Yes, my peer could have done it with a good intention but it could be a bad example and a morale degenerating error and could affect the teamwork as a result.  It could be nothing either and this error could have gone unnoticed.  However, my mind could not let it go and keep biting at it.

The thought makes me uneasy and I have wanted to go to my peer to tell him that his judgement is wrong. This should be the right thing to do even the error has no material impact.  But, each time, I put it off.

At times, I convinced myself that it is an immaterial error but at times, it is morally wrong or not a righteous act to hide the error. I am totally convinced by my flip flop decision or my effort to justify the wrong to be right.

In life , there are so many such  problems which caused our mind to go active and stressed up ourself in the process. For such problem, the longer it lingers , the error became to grow its roots and when we diecide , it maybe too late to change the situation.

We have to decisive and to re-act problem to resolve these type of problems.

Namaste.

When the rain is gone .....

I remembered a song with the title " I can see clearly now when the rain is gone". It was one of  the hit song of the 70s'. The song tell us a lot of things in life.

When we have a troubled thought or an unresolving problem,  it is like when we are caught in a rain.  It is wet and messy and we are drenched and cannot see clearly ahead. We are on focusing how not to get wet or wait for the rain to stop. We are hopeful and we wish the rain will go away and come back another day, so we can continued to play and enjoy ouself.

However, there are times, when the rain drops keep falling on our head  and this is the trouble times which we  need to endure and live it through. Nevertheless, there are also times,  we can "walk in the rain or dance in the rain " if we get wise or strong enough.  Walking in the rain could be romantic and enchanting.  Some people can still be happy in times of adversity.

During the rain, if we listen intensely and carefully,  we can hear a certain rythmn from the falling rain and it can bring nostalgia and calmness to our mind.  The rythmn of the falling rain. So, listen to the rain and listen to its fall.

Sometimes , the failling rain can ruin our thoughts ,emotions and stir our anger and move us to set fire to the rain when we cannot contain our anger.  Setting fire to the rain is a useless effort but it is a way to still and calm down the anger.

It is normal for the rain to fall when the sky is dark with clouds but some times, it falls on a sunny day. Have you ever seen the rain fall on a sunny day ? That is why the weather is unpredictable and so is life.

When the rain is gone, the sky become clear and  we can see our situation or our life more clearly. When the rain cleared , our troubled thoughts is also gone and eyes can see far and wide.  What a wonderful world ?

Namaste.

My battle - past 10 days.

I was down with flu and cough for the last 10 days after coming back from Bangladesh. I have not been feeling this way for years as my resistance against this virus have been very good after starting yoga and taking spirulina.  I think this time, the flu was a stubborn strain coming from a passenger from my home coming flight from Dhaka.

I have been feeling unwell despite controlling the cough within a few days but the flu caused my running nose and it was difficult to breath normally.  My body also feels the aches and my appetite was flat.  Some days , I could feel the hot flashes and a running temperature.  I drank a lot of water to flash out the heat from my body and I feel uncomfortable after consuming each meal as if  the digestive system was not working. The feeling of uneasiness and boredom due to the pains from my joints due the flu.

Life is like that , some times we feel good  and some times, we feel bad.  The emotions kept switching sides as our health swings from good to bad and vice versa.  However, for me , it was a blessing as I feel good most of the time.

Last few days, I read about the death of a young hard patient at an early age after she has gone through a heart transplant on two occasions.  Suddenly, her heart gave way when she was supposed to take up a job in the kindergarden.  Her parents tried to donate her organs but it was too late.  As I have mention, life is uncertain and anything could happen. By usage of a mechanical heart and two transplants , she got a few additional years but the new heart could not hold anymore and she died of a heart failure.

So, I remember a story which tells of a man, who blame that he have no good shoes to wear  and one day, he saw a man without his two feet , then he realized how fortunate he has been. Yes, we are blind to the facts of the outside world and we only look to the good sides of ourself.  How wrong can we be ?

If we dare to look, we will be more contented rather than searching for the good things we do not need.  We can actually contribute more of our energy , time and wealth to meaningful things like making the world a happier place to live.

No man is an island. So, we should like with compassion and loving kindness.  My experience and recovery from my flu make me realize that when there is suffering, there is goodness. The goodness to realize and to be aware of the  uncertainties in life.

Namaste.

The death of Mr Moon

Mr Moon, was the leader of the unified church in South Korea and he was said to be coming of the 2nd christ to finsh the unfinished business of Jesus Christ.  His recnet passing draw a cloud of 30,000 people who mourn and cry for him.  He left his religious and business interest to his sons.

He is a great leader who can control the masses and his followers runs into millions  as he build his religious and business empire.  But , he followed the foot steps of the Pope, Armstrong and the many great man before him.

Nobody can escape the cycle of life , not even when you are the king , Pope or Buddha hmself.  So, as a great leader who have achieved enlightenment, Lord Buddha knows that he cannot escape death. When there is life , there is death.  This is the natural evolution. So, he preach the  philosophy of impermanence. Everything is changing all the time and the end , it ceases to exit and we return to the ashes. To relieve pain , suffering and hardship in life, he preaches the eight fold path and 4 noble truth.

Mr Moon, like the Buddha came with his own idea. The idea to unified all the churches which have gone separate ways through the years.  He preaches that there is only one way and the way is to belief in Christ. Like any great leader, he is chrismatic and attractive. At one time, it was so powerful that it became a cult.

All religion have the same method , that is to teach everyone to be good.  It is like the many roads that leads to the same destination. Some takes a long way, some shorter , some more winding , some more steel or hilly,etc.  There are so many variations and each person have their own experience through life which is never the same.

Either you worship the Sun or the Moon or the clouds, everybody wants to reach their destination in the best and most comfortable way.  Religion is a power tool and it can make you fly without wings if you believe you can do it.  Only in your dreams.

Namaste.

Little Nyonya outlet, Gurney Plaza

On Sunday, my wife and I stumble into  a nyonya outlet at Gurney Plaza during dinner time.  We were supposed to eat our dinner at Nostalgia  but  my wife took more time than usual for her shopping and it was getting a bit late so we decide to eat at the food court at the basement level.

There was so much things to eat at the food court which is lined with many small restaurants selling a large variety of food from Japanese, Thai, Korean, Hongk Kong, Taiwaness, etc. As we stroll along , we saw one new outlet, it was a local nyonya food outlet.  What catches my eye was the big curry fish head on the poster.  It resembles my favorite curry fish head stall at Juru.  I pulled my wife in and we settle for a fish head curry. 

Once inside the outlet, we came to know that the outlet was a franchise ran by a famous local chef , Ah Keat , who run a nyonya food programme  in the AFC channel (703).  I could recognize his face on the poster.  There was a wide selection of food from kapitan chicken, satay,  fried kangkung, assam prawns, sambal , etc . Everything nyonya.

For some readers who do not know Baba and Nyonya , these people are the Chinese people who have adopted the Malay life style and culture. They speak Bahasa Malaysia and wear the traditional Malay costumes. Their daily diet is chilli, chilli and chilli . Spicy and hot stuff.

Surprisingly, the curry fish head was very good , comparable the stall in Juru because while eating the curry , I started to sweat because of the strong spice and chilli. We ordered a vegetable dish to go with it and it was sufficient for both of us.  it is highly recommendable.

Besides us , there was a couple  from Hong Kong and they ordered so much food  and they seem to enjoy it. If we have more people , I think I would want to try out as many dishes as possible and have a good crusine experience.

Who is watching their weight ?  Not me.  I live to eat and I enjoyed eating . That is life.

Namaste.

Blue Reef , Straits Quay

Last night, I was at the Blue Reef restaurant with my family and my daughter's BF, Y.   Before dinner, my wife and me took a tour of the Straits Quay.  It has been some time now that I haven't been to this mall.

The Mall was quite empty and there was  a flea market in front of the Mall. It was an early evening and I also took a walk at the marina.  The weather was good and the light breeze was blowing as I srroll along the marina.   It was a public holiday on Monday , a replacement for the official public holiday which fell on Sunday.

To maintain the maina could be quite expensive  and the boats that is docking at the marina can easily cost US$500K a piece.  I got the price from a poster advertising for sale of  boats and yahts. There were quite a few boats docking at  the marina and this background provide a peaceful and calm atmosphere.

After a short walk, we adjourned to the Blue Reef  and it was only 6pm and the restaurant was quite empty. My wife ordered a spehgetti ollio , a pasta for me and two fish and chips for my daughter and her BF. The Spehgetti was quite good but the pasta was too thick with the vegetable green while the fish and chips was very good.  i could not stand the taste of the pasta and I passed it on to my wife and my daughter's BF , who seems to like it.  The total bill came to RM144 which includes a salad and a mushroom soup.  It was not so pricey.

Before we left the restaurant , the place was getting more busy as the dinner time sets in.  The Blue Reef Restaurant was known for its good western food and it was quite popular among the locals and tourist.

As we walk out, the crowd outside remained quite empty and I wonder how long the Mall can sustain their business and eventual survival . The Mall belongs to the E&O prop0erty group and the group is doing very well in the property sector.  Maybe, it is going to survive forever.

Namaste.

Why do people want to hurt us ?

My staff was hopping mad that one of her colleague was trying to avoid talking to her and getting other people to convey the message.  I told her, this could be a trap or a plain childish or innocent act.

When people avoid talking to us or gets their message conveyed through another channel , this reflects the childishness in the person.   They have no confidence to talk properly or they are scared of getting into a querrel. Their lack of maturity often have adverse effect  and make the situation worse.  They thinking is that to talk less, it will make the situation better.  There are people who cannot manage their relationship well  and they acted in a childish way.

However, there are people who intentionally want to be hurtful  and irritate others through this means.  These people have madness in them  and they are provocative in their act.  This madness is normal and it could be a serious disease and needs to get help.

Whatever is the situation, it will depends on the receiver of these abusive acts.  If these people want us to be angry and hurting by these acts and if we fall into their trap, they will be successful and they will control us. But, if we handle the situation well and re-acted in  different manner and not to be angry,  they have failed in their mission. Who have the last laugh depends on how we choose to act. It all depends on us.

If we are victims of our emotions, then we will be angry and hurtful  but if we are the master, then the emotions will fade away and we are in control.  But , to be aware of this master-slave relationship, we have to control our mind and maintain a strong discipline to train the mind how to re-act.

It is not an easy thing but if we leave our mind on its own and let our emotions rule the day, we will be miserable and under the control of others.  If we can understand this logic, we should face our mind strongly and firmly  and re-direct our focus on something more meaningful and happy.  For a short moment, these feelings will be gone.

Trust me, we have the power to alter the stage of our mind and let our mind tame the emotions.  Just be aware and don't have any fear.

Namaste.

Quality life prolongs our living

I read an article which telyls us that quality life factor is very important for meaningful living into ripe old aged or for people suffering from terminal illness. What we do mean by quality life?

I think life style is the most important criteria of a quality life. The house we stayed in , the environment in the neighbourhood, the food we eat and the mentality of the people we are in association with.  But, different people react to the different life style.  If you put an uneducated person  in an intectual society or vice versa . he or she will stress out and die.

I could notice that when we get old, we want to move to a place full of sunshine and nature. Probably, a country side or a high rise condo , where we can see nature from afar.  Some people would want a single storey bungalow  or house in the country side where they can spend their  time with nature or near nature. Probably, this change in the mindset is the desire to wind down our active life  and eased into complete retirement  or into thw twilight age.

I have seen many friends or peers who have quiet down  and slip into oblivion.This is the most logical thing to do. Some friends would indulged in religion  or charity to repent  thier sins or wish for a peace passing or a better life if there is a next round.  This is the way , people will seek solace after spending years in stressful environment or unhealthy life style.

Life style is very indivdualistic and they is no one life style which can provide for everyone. So,it is up to us to change our mindset to fit the environment or make adjustment to the environment to fix us.  this kind of balancing is up to each individual.  A certain layback life style will become monotonous after a while and we will continue to adjust to ensure that we have a quality life that we want. 

Whatever life style we adopt for ourself, we have to manage it within our means. To do so, we need to simplify our needs to be contented.  The more simplify is our contentment, then the easier we can achieve the criteria of a quality life.  To simplify our contentment , we will need to learn to let go , learn to accept imperfections  and have to seek more wisdom from reading or from religious guidance.

In a congested neighbourhood, we can still find a quality of life we want if we pay attention to our needs and it all depends on us. Don't blame the envrionment , they are many things that we can do for ourselves.

Namaste.

Winter Warmers- GP, Penang

Sunday at Winter Warmer outlet, GP.

Before lunch, my wife told me that she wants to go shopping  and I say "why not?" since tomorrow is another rest say. Today, we are celebrating the Malaysia Day and we get a replacement off  day tomorrow.

For many , a long weekend is a good chance to get away but for my wife and  myself , we rather linger lazy in the house and do nothing. Both of us are lazy people.

After lunch and on the way to GP, 

There were so many foreign or out station cars on the road. Penang have become a tourist destination for short holidays and hell for the locals as the island became so busy and cars start to choke the town's busy streets.

At GP, it took me 20 minutes to find a parking space in Penamg . The multi-storey  car park was full. What the heck?

Anyway, I started to window shop and I walk for about one and a half hour, I started to feel hungry and I called my wife who have been shopping since I dropped her for a tea break.  I suggested Winter Warmer outlet and she agreed and we met over there.

Winter Warner in GP is located  near to Euro-deli and coffee bean and we can get a glimpse of the sea. 

My wife ordered a few pieces of tuna sandwich and a warm herbal tea for both of us. I have been at this outlet for about three times with my daughter M and she loved the sandwiches. Yeah, I have memories that sandwich was very good. But, this time around,  the taste was only average. Okay, some kind of disappointment this time around.

As usual the mall was busy  on a hot Sunday afternoon with a lot of window shopper like me trying lto escape the warm afternoon heat.

Since doing nothing after my wife left me for her second leg of shopping, I decided to share my experience at this outlet with all my readers.

Time waits for no one. You can choose to sit around idly or going out shopping or meeting friends or doing business or exercise, it is a choice you make and make sure you have no regrets. Whatever, you choose to do, time will definitely move on. The end will come eventually.

My wonderful Brownie.

Lately, I am quite attracted to my daugther M's dog, Brownie. Don't mistake with Lucky. My daugther have two dogs. Brownie stays in my house while Lucky stays at my sister's house.

The name Brownie was given by me and sometimes, I called her alternately, Ms Brown or Brownie. I named her after Gordon Brown, the former PM of United Kingdom.  There is no special reason, just that it is so easy to remember.

Brownie have a set of sad eyes and I have been playing with her when I am free and once, I took her on a car ride and she look so confused in a moving car. She is very playful and she nimble my fingers as I tickle her and she will turn over and let me stroke her stomach while her hind leg will shiver.  I just love to see her re-action.

In our life, we have a lot of disappointment with the people we have help in our life  and appreciation is so much lacking in this world. Of course, when we give something , we should not expect any returns but sometimes , there are disappointments which is very hurting.

I found that pets especially dogs have an untiring loyalty to their owners. If you love and take care of it, it will guard you well and can return passion you show it . Although, they can not talk or express their feelings but you can see it in their eyes and their actions. Of course again, we cannot compare them with human beings because they are of a different league. But, who cares?  It is the joy to see that your passion have been appreciated  and you will not be betrayed or hurt.

To all pet lovers or potential pet lovers, just reach your hands out to them and they will like roses blooming in bright red if you give them sunshine and plenty of water.

Namaste.

Thai restaurant at Tan Jetty, Penang

I have heard about this restaurant many times before and my friends have good words for it.  I have casually told my wife about this place and last night, she suggested that we go to this restaurant.  My daughter M and her BF followed as well.

After the foot reflexology at Wisma Penang yesterday, we set off to the restaurant. It was not difficult to locate the restaurant because all the jetties ie Chew , Tan and lim fetties are located next to each other and once, this location was make up of several fishing villages.  The lim, Chew and Tan jetties are occupied by the decendants of the three big families in the Chinese Civilization. The place have since grew from fishing viillages to several several food outlets.

We parked our car on the main road facing the main jetty and took a short walk to the Tan jetty and there was a sign board indicating the Thai Restuarant.  They never mentioned the name but just call it the Thai Restaurant at the Tan Jetty.  We have to talk a short walk among the  wooden houses and at the end of it , we saw the Thai Restaurant. 

The restuarant was located at the edge of the sea and there is several tables of diners  but it was not full. My wife ordered several Thai delicacies like pandan chicken, Tom Yam Kung, a curry fish, fried kangkung and an Otak. The captain of the restaurant is a Thai and the workers looks like Bangladeshis. Frankly, the food was only average and nothing special. I wonder why it was so famous among my friends. Well, it could be the dishes  we have ordered.

The scenery was quite nice facing the sea and the weather was cooling last night as lately , it was raining. The feeling is quite good as you can see all the wooden houses lining a bridge leading out to the sea. I could see alot of tourist walking towards the sea using a long wooden bridge.  If you let your senses loose abit , you could imagine the simple life at the various villages whose occupation is going out into the sea everyday fishing in their sampans.  It is a quite and simple life couple with peace and tranquility.

Anyway, the place and the weather help to compensate for my disappointment in the food. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and it has solved my curiosity about this place.

Namaste.

Meditation in a pose.

I having missing my yoga class for the past two session due a flu and a cough which I catch on the  plane and  I was down for  a few days,n during my return flight from Bangladesh.

This morning , I was feeling better so I decide to attend my yoga session,  My teacher started with the usual routine and finally, we did some serious stretching exercise.  When we were in a firm pose, she told us that we can actually go into a meditation and the peace and calmness.  It was an amazing information.  The meditation will take away the pain from the practice and shift it somewhere else.  Yes, we can relief pain by shifting our mind's focus.

We repeated the process by doing a sitting stretch , with two of our legs point straight and lover our hands to catch hold of our leg.  We bend our leg first but straighten it , pulling the hands with the sore of the leg and stretching the body.  We have to kept this pose in tension and us the tip of our tongue to touch the bottom  acing side of the tongue and push the tip of the tongue against the palate.  This position will hold to our mind and focus and it will relax our body which generate peace and calm.

I remembered that I read a bout about Ajahn Chad,  a deceased head of a Thai forest monk. In his book, he said that it is not necessary to meditate on a lotus position. Meditation can be anywhere and on any posture., Nevertheless, the lotus sitting posture is  a balance and firm position which holds the body up firm and well. So, the body can concentrate on the task of meditation.  So, if we keep our body firm , stretch and in balance , we can go into meditation and its firmness helps to support the meditation effort.

The practice of meditation should be under the guidance of approved masters or gurus because sometimes, the practioner intentionally go into meditation for a long while because of the peace and calmness but it became too passive and he or she could drift into illusion and a make-believe world. When we are in meditation, there are so many platforms to choose and we may drift into something harmful or became astray.

Please be careful when you are practicing and there should be absolute awareness.

Namaste.

Treat praise like a perfume

I have written an article about " praise" and I want to write something about it again.  Many a times in our life, we have receive praise from our love ones, peers, colleagues, friends , teachers and also strangers.  We feel a light when we hear that we have did something good.   Some of us will take praise deep into our heart, some will take it with a pinch of salt , some will just enjoy it for a moment and let it go.  Some different people behave and appreciate differently regarding to praise.

But frankly, the speaker who praise you would have forgotten his or her praise for you immediately after the moment he or she have said it or some could have kept it abit longer. So, if we keep the praise with us too long, it will sound silly.  We should feel escalated for a short moment and treat the praise like a perfume and enjoy it when the fragrance is there and let it go before it fade away if not , disappointment will sets it.

This is basic human nature and normally, people have short memories.  Only things or events which concerns them will be in their memory while good deeds or good jobs done by other people and do not concern them  will fly out of the window , the moment it is said.

Enjoy the blooming flower and its fragrnace when , it is there , alive and well.  Otherwise, it will fade and rot with a foul smell.  In life, it is like  that.  from 15 to 40, this is the prime of our life especially for women but after 40, the outer beauty will start to fade and when we go into ripe old age, we will start to rot.  So, during this prime time, we enjoy life and also the attention given to us for our external beauty  but after the limit, the admiration will be for our internal beauty ie our passion, our compassionate love,  loving kindness, our knowledge and our care and love for others.

There is no definite crossing point between our external beauty and our internal beauty , each person have their own crossing points where their internal and external beauty will switch sides to charm their admirers thorugh out their life.

Namaste.

Lack of concern for others

Human beings are basically very selfish creature.  When I was driving to work or home, there are so many bad drivers who could overtake on my left or my right without indicators or coming from behind.   I called them " bulls".

There are so many occasions that I was almost knocked by these bulls or I almost knocked them down.  The traffic in Penang is getting so hapzard especially on long weekends.  So, this coming weekend is another long weekend and many foreign cars will be coming into the island.  Not only their driving styles are annoying but also they will be packing everywhere or if any space allowed them.

Why are these bulls driving so recklessly ? Why are they in a hurry ?  Are they so conscious of time or are they rushing for the sake of rushing? A wrong move and it will spell disaster to the innocent by-stander.

Lately, I have seen so many accidents on the bridge or on the main roads leading to my home. Once, I could see a car hitting a tree after office hours  or a few cars involved in a chain accident on the bridge.  Luckily, the second bridge is almost near completion and it was reported that with the new bridge, it will shift about 40% of the traffic from the first bridge.  Hopefully, this is true.

This morning, there was a massive jam on the Penang bridge and this is getting frequent due accidents or breakdown of vehicles.  Another selfish attitude is that people do not maintain their vehicles properly and lead to breakdowns and jam the streets and the lanes.

Opera GODs in play

This afternoon , I went for lunch with my friend , ES and at the front of the restaurant , there was a stage.  After I sat down with ES, we start to order the food, then suddenly, there was loud bangs on the gongs and ancient Teochew music starts to play. It was quite loud and from the stage appeared all the costume guys and girls with their face beautifully painted.  These are the Chinese opera actors or actress.

These stage shows was once very common during my parent's era and there were plentiful in Penang and also near the place I was born and breed especially on the birthdays of the deities.  The Deities are Taoist Gods and the actors and actress dressed up like them and they will act out an episode from an ancient script.

These stage shows used to come in different packages  ie  Teochew, Hokkien , Cantonese ,etc  and it used to be very costly to stage such shows because of the skill in martial art, singing and acting.  In the movies, the actors and actress can repeat their acts if they are NG ( rejected) but for these opera singers, they are a live act. Just like the boardway live shows.  If the actors or actress are not skillful , they could disrupt the act or caused the whole play to be in a mes.  The precision in the music, singing and acting is very much needed to make the live shows reached a professional stage and meaningful.

The skill and the art is a dying breed and it is alot of hard work to preserve the strength and skill to do these live shows.  Because of its high standard needed, the actors and actress have opted for easier jobs and higher pay elsewhere.

For me, it was a walk back into the past where these musics are so familar to my ears and these live shows is part of  my life.  But, time have move on but it is wonderful to see that these acts are still on the streets.  Bravo to all these guys and gals who still make these acts relevant to keep local Chinese cultures.

Keep it up and long live the live shows.

Namaste.

Back in Penang from Bangladesh

My return from Bangladesh to Penang is like  the " back to the future" movie.  From a less developed country to a developing country shows a big difference between the two countries..  Back to my curry mee, hokkien me , char keow teow, etc.  What a pleasant feeling.

The leap from the two different cultures have caused my body and thinking to re-act in a different way.  In Bangladesh, the traffic was haphazard, environment was dusty and muddy and the smell was pungent while I  have a bout of fresh air in Penang despite the haze.  The time is Bangladesh was behind two hours from Malaysia and this time difference only caused minimum damage to my jet lag problem.  It is like more tiring due to the long distance travel rather than the time change.

It is so good to be home and from yesterday  morning when I was on my way home, I could feel a good feeling as if that something good is going to happen.  My usual routine , environment and food.  I wonder whether  this could be the same feeling if  I am coming back from Japan , US or China.

Basically, it is the same feeling as our body and thinking is complacent.  Even if we are coming back from a more advance country but our body and thinking needs time to accept.  There is a Chinese saying " A dog's pen is better than an Emperor's bag".  Yes, it is the familarity of the place which is more important than anything else.

Strange place may give us the excitements but when the excitement is over, we long for our familar bed , food and smell.   Now for me, Penang is the best.

Namaste.

My 25th trip to Bangladesh

I have written a few articles on my trip and experience to Bangladesh and my peers have joked that it had become my 2nd home. Even my boss, called me a " Bangla man".  Yeah, I have promote and nourish the Company's project for about 7 years and from nothing to a factory which have been operating for the past 12 months.

Do I love this Country ? Well, it is not a matter of love but rather it is  a place good for business. I have came to know a few good man in Bangladesh who is passionate about their  Country.  Frnakly, it has been a good few years since knowing the Country.

This trip I bring along  my staff K, who is a first timer and I told him to prepare for a culture shock. The population have grown to 160 million people and in Dhaka alone, it has a official population of 12 million people but unofficially, it had more than 16 million in the city. So, what can see is people , people and people everywhere. When there is people , you will find alot of cars and various kind of transports like trishaws , bullock carts, bicycle, buses and lorries. Full of traffic and you can experience massive jams in the city.

You also  can see groups of people walking on the five foot ways, standing in dark corners and even at 10 pm , the city is still vibrant and active.  So much activities going around.

Life is so cheap here and people can earned as less as US$1 per day and they are surviving happily and going on doing their daily routine with jest and passion.

Last nite,  I saw a beggar without one arm and one leg and he was on a clutch. Without his hand and limps , he could move faster than a normal man with all their body parts intact. It was amazing and incredible to see him moving around so fast and  begging  for money or food among the cars , lorries and buses at a traffic light stop. I have seen less and less beggars in Chittagong nowadays and shows that the Country have progresss much.

Bangladesh is just like this crippled young man, filled with corruptions, mismanagement  and other handicaps but progressing in its own ways at great speed.  I have great hope and respect for this islamic country , thought it is poor but liberal in many ways and have its own brand of democracy.

Cheers , Bangladesh !

Namaste.

My heart fell out from my mouth.

At the yoga session this morning, my teacher asked us to practice repeatedly the handstand post.  It was a very tiring pose  having to bend over with our hands touching the floor and to lift our legs  and balance it on our shoulder.  Sorry, this is not a freak show but it is just a simple handstand.

The trick of the pose is to balance my lower body and lift it up to a handstand.  I was not able to lift the legs but I was trying to perfect the balancing on the floor.  My teacher keep on reminding me to melt my heart . She repeatedly press the spot between my two shoulder bones and ask me to sink my heart.

I try and try but my heart did not melt as much as she wants me to  and finally, I told her my heart have feel out from my mouth.  What ? She asked and the rest of the class was giggling away.  She keep asking me how I feel and was it true that I felt my heart have fell out from my mouth.  I told her I was joking but she was worried. So, I told her I am fine.

My teacher's style is to perfect our pose  and we have repeat the stance many times and she will correct it . She is a perfectionist and she actually perform the pose and show us how to do it.  She is in her thirties and I am in my fifties. What say you ? Haiyooo..

The class can be quite exhausting if she is serious but sometimes, we asked for a more relax session especially when we are drained and tired.  She is quite understanding but she can be a bitch on her off days.

Based on my experience , Yoga practice is a very good exercise. Alot of stretching and power building but the basics can be pretty boring especially the warm up exercise.  I have suggested to her to use a fast music to accompany her warm up exercise , just like the aerobics but instead she put on a bird singing tune to give us the nature feelings. Something is better than nothing , so the birds' tweeting may help a little.

It is fun , start moving , stretching and you will be more flexible and mobile.

Namaste.

Lost in love

Quote:

If you meditate, sooner or later you will come upon love.
If you meditate deeply, sooner or later you will start
feeling a tremendous love arising in you that you have never
known before"

Osho

Unquote.


Today, someone sent this message to me  and after reading it, the message seems to make alot of sense. The meaning of love in the message is not the physical love for another person but the compassionalte  love for all human beings.

Everyone of us is inter-connected but somehow,the connection have been severed for some people and it remained strong in others. Some people can get into the meditation mood very easily but some people could not focus and sit still.  In the study of meditation, lazy and layback people are the ones who can go deep into meditation readily.

For others, it took a lot of patience and pain to go through the process and sometimes, they failed miserably and for some, they can only touch superficially.

When we reach deep in meditation, we are at peace and in total relaxation. The feeling of " we are here but we are not here" feeling.  A total absorption into the space and environment around us.

Buddhism have been argued to be a passive religion as the believers leave everything to the Sutra and the Dharma and do not involved in the worldly and materialistic things,leaving it to the non-believers to improve and control the evolution of the world.

Now, there is a more pro-active style of Buddhism which in the Engaged Buddhism where the believers became enaged with society and using the Buddhism teach and way of life to improve society and the world.

For those lost in love ie the physical love. Your love and marriage is arranged in Heavan and when it come, it will come at the right time but if it do not come, it is not mend to be. Look at it with an open heart and never forced things to happen.  We can only nourish, cherish and appreciate love at a distance and hope and wish it will come to us.


Namaste.

My love : a pet bird

Once, I had a friend who was very upset after breaking up with his girlfriend of many years.  He came to talk to me and I told him that love cannot be stored in a  glass or plastic container and if you hold on love to tight , it will just suffocate and die.  The only thing we can do is to nourished  and cherish it  and let it determine whether it will grow or stay around with you.  If we hold it by force, it will only bring us unhappiness.

To illustrate this advise,  I told him a story.

Once, I had a bird as a pet .  I lock it up in the cage  and talk to it everyday.  I feed, nourished  and express my love for it.  I also try singing to it. Initially, she love to play with me by singing back to me.

As time goes by,  we get very close and could hardly live without each other.  The singing to and flow was passionate and wonderfully.

After a longer while, the love matures and my pet bird start to knock on the cage doors as if  wanting to come out to see the world.  I ignored its pleading and turn a blind eye to it.

She gets more and more restless and keep knocking on the cage door stronger and stronger. She is starting to hurt herself.  I know I have to make a decision either I let her out or she will die by hurting herself.

One fine day,  I open the door and let her out.   She was flying around the cage and around me and was very happy with her new found freedom.  Later, she starts to fly further and further away  but she will return on the same day.

After a few attempts, she starts to come back the next day . I am tolerating her wild freedom but hope that she will exhaust herself  and will return to her cage. My wish was futile.   The bird starts to fly further and comes back only after one week and later one month  and later once a year.   I know  she have changed. She may have found a new love  somewhere or she is seeking the truth herself.

I can no more own the love but only keep the hope that she will realized one day , how I love her.  Love is a miracle , it happens when it is the time and it also ends when the time comes.  Everyday, we live with the hope and love and wish that our pet bird will appreciated our love  and think of us some day.

Since , the last she flew off,  I am still waiting for her to return.

Namaste.

Living for a purpose

What is your role in your family? To your immediate family? To your comminity ? To your State and to your Country . And to tyour world ? To your Universe?  If we go up higher and higher , our role deminished.  Finally, we are only a spec of dust in the Universe. When its life burns out, it will become a spec of dust.  Mixed with the current Haze.

It so dfficult to answer the question "  What is your prupose in life? "  To us , it is important , to your immediate family , you are important but to the Universe, you are faceless.

What is our role and purpose in a micro scopic level ? We live and our purpose is to live and not to hurt anybody. Let it pass with no regrets.

Namaste.

The money stays here !

I went for a lunch with a colleague, R today.  On the way, he told me a story as I drove my car to the Restuarant.

He told me that his nephew died a few weeks ago and he suspected that his nephew just dozed off as it was late in the night or was texting his friend when he was driving home. He died in an accident . From the autopsy report, he was not intoxicated and his blood was free of drugs. R , help to pay for the funeral expenses of his nephew.

He continued  to  tell me that he is also supporting his niece who is pursueing  a medical course in KL and it is a five years degree course. Apart from that, he also suppor his own brother who is suffering from a heart disease.  He told me that "Our money stays here after we passes on".  He is wise and everyone of us know this fact but we remained thrifty and selfish with our money.  We think we can live eternally and will be well forever.

We keep forgetting this wisdom and we only open our eyes or ears when someone remind us and after awhile , it would be back to normal. We can live forever. How wrong can we be " Life is so uncertain and unpredictable but we discount these factors as we always see the bright side to keep us happy. What is wrong with us?

I remembered a story about a good husband who keeps buying gifts for his wife when he was on a trip and each time, after his wife received the gifts , she would unpacked the gifts and keep it all in her cupboard. She will tell her husband that she will use it another day.  Unfortunately, she got a disease and passes on.  After her funeral , her husband open the cupboard and found that all the gifts were properly wrapped up and unused. 

There is a Chinese saying " old things don't go , new things don't come".  It means that we should us the things we have and replaces it when it is worn out.

So, if we do not use the things , give it away. Let the things be useful. For example, last Saturday,  I was looking into my cabinet for something useful to give to my niece and I found a neatly wrapped packet and took it out and open the wrappers , the cover of the box has already melted and became sticky.  I remembered that once I had a shoe which I kept it for special occasions.  It was an expensvie pair of shoe and when I took it out, the leather shoe broke into pieces. My wife have a similar experience, her pure leather  beg which she kept kept for sometime, just broke up in pieces when she wants to use on a holiday trip. We should know that everything is perishable and there is a definite life span for everything.

Things are mend to be used and that is why , there are cheap sales every season. The businessmen knows that it is better to sell the things at a deep discout rather than seeing it breaking up in pieces. Things we do not use , does not mean that it will last forever or a life time.

The message here is that we should not  only knows how to keep on  increasing  your wealth at the expenses of our health.  We have to be fair to ourself and pampered ourself sometimes. If we still have the excess after our normal expenses , we should do some charity rather than let it lie in the banks.  It is important to be aware that our money stays here after we passes on.

Namaste.

The Devil and the Angel

This subject have been on the  portal news after  Dr Mahatir’s statement that it is better to deal with the devil that we know rather than the Angel, we do not know.  At least , we know how bad it has been or how corrupted is our system.  Like when China took over Hong Kong, the China Government assured that “ the dances & parties  will continue , the horse races as usual “.

Yeah, it maybe so.  But sometimes, we can see clearly who is the Devil and who is the Evil.

As I have written before in an article, “ Can lovers remained friends after the relationship ends “?  In my Yoga class, only a class of 15 members , we could see the existence of the Devil and the Angel.

There was a dating couple . The male is a divorcee  while the lady was an innocent SYT. They met in our Yoga class and they got attached. He began to sent her to the Yoga class every day and we were like a family after a couple of years as yogis. One day, something change, they broke up.  Both of them started to come to the class in separate cars but there was tension when we did the Yoga.  The positive vibes was lacking in the class and I could feel some sense of uneasiness.

Then, the man became the Devil and start to befriend another SYT and begin to sent her to the class despite the presence of his old flame.  This incident makes me feel even more uneasy as the Devil should not be doing such things out of respect for her ex-flame.  If we are human, we cannot be seeking revenge through such kind of act.

Yes, we do not know what is happening between us . The Angel could be the Devil or the Devil could be the Angel.  What’s ever is  happening , it is a complete taboo to further deepen the hurt of another fellow human being even if he or she is a Devil.  It is a thing , a gentleman would never do. The best thing to do is to fade away and let time heals.

I cannot understand how can hatred go so deep to extend of killing or hurting each other. When the love is gone, let it go and let it be.  Let the storm subside and there will be clear blue sky.

Namaste.

Kindness makes your heart stronger

1) Kindness makes us happier.

 

When we do something kind for someone else, we feel good. On a spiritual level, many people feel that this is because it is the right thing to do and so we're tapping into something deep and profound inside us that says, "This is who I am."

On a biochemical level, it is believed that the good feeling we get is due to elevated levels of the brain's natural versions of morphine and heroin, which we know as endogenous opioids. They cause elevated levels of dopamine in the brain, so we get a natural high, often referred to as "Helper's High."

 

2) Kindness gives us healthier hearts.

 

Acts of kindness are often accompanied by emotional warmth. Emotional warmth produces the hormone oxytocin in the brain and throughout the body. Of much recent interest is its significant role in the cardiovascular system.

 

Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (expands) the blood vessels. This reduces blood pressure, and therefore oxytocin is known as a "cardio-protective" hormone because it protects the heart (by lowering blood pressure). The key is that acts kindness can produce oxytocin, and therefore kindness can be said to be cardio-protective.

 

3) Kindness slows aging.

 

Aging on a biochemical level is a combination of many things, but two culprits that speed the process are free radicals and inflammation, both of which result from making unhealthy lifestyle choices.

 

But remarkable research now shows that oxytocin (which we produce through emotional warmth) reduces levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system and thus slows aging at its source. Incidentally these two culprits also play a major role in heart disease, so this is also another reason why kindness is good for the heart.

There have also been suggestions in the scientific journals of the strong link between compassion and the activity of the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve, in addition to regulating heart rate, also controls inflammation levels in the body in what is known as the inflammatory reflex. One study that used the Tibetan Buddhist lovingkindness meditation found that kindness and compassion did, in fact, reduce inflammation in the body, mostly likely due to its effects on the vagus nerve.

 

4) Kindness makes for better relationships.

 

This is one of the most obvious points. We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is because kindness reduces the emotional distance between two people, so we feel more "bonded." It's something that is so strong in us that it's actually a genetic thing. We are wired for kindness.

Our evolutionary ancestors had to learn to cooperate with one another. The stronger the emotional bonds within groups, the greater the chances of survival, so "kindness genes" were etched into the human genome.

Today, when we are kind to each other, we feel a connection, and new relationships are forged, or existing ones strengthened.

 

5) Kindness is contagious.

 

When we're kind, we inspire others to be kind, and it actually creates a ripple effect that spreads outwards to our friends' friends' friends -- to three degrees of separation. Just as a pebble creates waves when it is dropped in a pond, so acts of kindness ripple outwards, touching others' lives and inspiring kindness everywhere the wave goes.

 

A recent scientific study reported than an anonymous 28-year-old person walked into a clinic and donated a kidney. It set off a "pay it forward" type ripple effect where the spouses or other family members of recipients of a kidney donated one of theirs to someone else in need.

 

The "domino effect," as it was called in the New England Journal of Medicine report, spanned the length and breadth of the United States of America, where 10 people received a new kidney as a consequence of that anonymous donor.

 

Namaste