I met an old friend for lunch. He is retired and now doing a small business to pass his time and earned some money for his daily expenses. This friend was a secondary school friend and he was a banker for thirty plus years before he retired. Yes, we have been pals during the school days and we continued to business with each other when he was in the bank.
We have came through life a long way and we know each other very well until this day. He has gone old with his bald head and rotten teeths but I am a bit better than him still keeping whatever hair I have and wearing my dentures. I think he is more hagged than me.
We talk about our old friends during the lunch and he updated me that a few mutual friends have actually retired. For him, he taking things easy and pass each day with gratitude. Yes, we have to live very day as a blessing and try to live happily. Whatever can we asked for after so many years of hard working life.
He has four children and all female and I keep teasing him whether he want a male child or not but he did not get his wish. His children have grown up already and two of them will be working very soon. Well, this is the phase in life. We grow old wither away while our children start rat race through this materialistic world.
Life is so funny and when we look back , it has been 40 years past and how many more 10 years left and the feeling is anxiety and helpless. However, we have to manage this feeling and try to have hope each day. Whatever hope it can be, otherwise, without hope there is no meaning to life.
Yeah, my time to retire will come one day and it cannot be denied as more and more of my friend retired ahead or together with me. This is a certainty and there is no need to hide. Life have to go on even if this fact cannot be denied. We have to remain useful and positive.
Namaste.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Competing with yourself
Competing with yourself
I met an old friend this evening and she told me that her husband and her shall be retiring soon . I asked her what is she going to do for her next chapter in life. She told me that she don't know what she want but she will leave it open and decide later.
She told me that her husband have several offers to sit on the board of listed public companies but she is advising against accepting these jobs as the risk exposure is very great and there is no need to take risk anymore especially after retirement.
For her she may pursue some hobby like reading and cooking to pass her time.
But what I really realize is that we are competing against ourself and only want to be useful like when we are working for so many years in our life. Doing nothing is not living and it is so wasteful. Our mind set have been program this way for so many years and it is hard to change. It is really stupid thinking and unless we are doing things that we enjoy , it is not working but enjoying.
You have to get yourself right on there matters and not foolishly following your silly mindset about life.
There are people saying like retiring is like waiting to die but working foolishly is also waiting to die in a harder way.
So it is really something personal. What do you want in life? What do you really want to do? Don't follow what people are doing or going to do ? What makes you happy ? Don't just compete with yourself or use other people's standard to measure or judge your own, There is no standard way and don't make yourself to believe there is only one and the only way.
Most of our achievements are targets set by ourselves using other people's standard and achievements and we make ourself to compete against ourself to achieve these standards. This is a meaningless way of competing against ourselves.
Wake up and be aware of this wasteful thoughts and really seek your true needs and no illusions before time runs out.
Namaste.
I met an old friend this evening and she told me that her husband and her shall be retiring soon . I asked her what is she going to do for her next chapter in life. She told me that she don't know what she want but she will leave it open and decide later.
She told me that her husband have several offers to sit on the board of listed public companies but she is advising against accepting these jobs as the risk exposure is very great and there is no need to take risk anymore especially after retirement.
For her she may pursue some hobby like reading and cooking to pass her time.
But what I really realize is that we are competing against ourself and only want to be useful like when we are working for so many years in our life. Doing nothing is not living and it is so wasteful. Our mind set have been program this way for so many years and it is hard to change. It is really stupid thinking and unless we are doing things that we enjoy , it is not working but enjoying.
You have to get yourself right on there matters and not foolishly following your silly mindset about life.
There are people saying like retiring is like waiting to die but working foolishly is also waiting to die in a harder way.
So it is really something personal. What do you want in life? What do you really want to do? Don't follow what people are doing or going to do ? What makes you happy ? Don't just compete with yourself or use other people's standard to measure or judge your own, There is no standard way and don't make yourself to believe there is only one and the only way.
Most of our achievements are targets set by ourselves using other people's standard and achievements and we make ourself to compete against ourself to achieve these standards. This is a meaningless way of competing against ourselves.
Wake up and be aware of this wasteful thoughts and really seek your true needs and no illusions before time runs out.
Namaste.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
My trip to KL
My tired eyes
The night before I was not sleeping well with my wife squeeze into a single bed in a hotel room. We were in KL attending a open house luncheon. What can I say , yes driving all the way for this purpose. I is an obligation we have to discharge. That was for the family.
It was nice to see my nieces who have came back for the university break while my daughter and others were on their holiday breaks. Time really flies and they have completed their second year in university in UK.
After my arrival on Friday, , it was shopping at KLCC and after the luncheon , it was shopping at mid valley. The break was die the open house luncheon. At the luncheon, I met a couple of friends and we have a very good chat about food, holidays and property investments.
Yeah, we catch up on so many matters. I will be seeing them in Penang soon and that is what they say.
Every time when I come to KL , I will be ending up eating a lot. We had a sumptuous lunch on arrival provided by my sister in law, M and we had a seafood dinner followed by cakes and from a new food joint call Pacifika in PJ. In Saturday morning, a big nasi lemah before Yoga and came the luncheon and the Thai BBQ dinner last night . It was fiud ,food and food all the way. Yet, my friend want to invite me for food again last night. Wahlauyeah !!!' Too much food. Help.
I will be traveling back to Penang tomorrow and it will be a day of simple food. But my sister is already in Penang and I owe her a dinner. Haiyooo, what to do ?
Namaste.
The night before I was not sleeping well with my wife squeeze into a single bed in a hotel room. We were in KL attending a open house luncheon. What can I say , yes driving all the way for this purpose. I is an obligation we have to discharge. That was for the family.
It was nice to see my nieces who have came back for the university break while my daughter and others were on their holiday breaks. Time really flies and they have completed their second year in university in UK.
After my arrival on Friday, , it was shopping at KLCC and after the luncheon , it was shopping at mid valley. The break was die the open house luncheon. At the luncheon, I met a couple of friends and we have a very good chat about food, holidays and property investments.
Yeah, we catch up on so many matters. I will be seeing them in Penang soon and that is what they say.
Every time when I come to KL , I will be ending up eating a lot. We had a sumptuous lunch on arrival provided by my sister in law, M and we had a seafood dinner followed by cakes and from a new food joint call Pacifika in PJ. In Saturday morning, a big nasi lemah before Yoga and came the luncheon and the Thai BBQ dinner last night . It was fiud ,food and food all the way. Yet, my friend want to invite me for food again last night. Wahlauyeah !!!' Too much food. Help.
I will be traveling back to Penang tomorrow and it will be a day of simple food. But my sister is already in Penang and I owe her a dinner. Haiyooo, what to do ?
Namaste.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Alan Watt - a teacher & philosopher
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British-born philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and populariser of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. Pursuing a career, he attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master’s degree in theology. Watts became an Episcopal priest then left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies.
Watts gained a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area while working as a volunteer programmer at KPFA, a Pacifica Radio station in Berkeley. Watts wrote more than 25 books and articles on subjects important to Eastern and Western religion, introducing the then-burgeoning youth culture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism. In Psychotherapy East and West (1961), Watts proposed that Buddhism could be thought of as a form of psychotherapy and not a religion. He also explored human consciousness, in the essay “The New Alchemy” (1958), and in the book The Joyous Cosmology (1962).
Towards the end of his life, he divided his time between a houseboat in Sausalito and a cabin on Mount Tamalpais. His legacy has been kept alive by his son, Mark Watts, and many of his recorded talks and lectures are available on the Internet. According to the critic Erik Davis, his “writings and recorded talks still shimmer with a profound and galvanizing lucidity.”
Read more at http://expandedconsciousness.com/2014/05/27/5-alan-watts-speeches-to-inspire-your-life/#cdTH0yQwCZ3GpxLz.99
Home sweet Home, my Love
My daughter M was back to Penang from Lang for a 6 days holiday and last night I pick her up at the airport. She look healthy, slim and fantastic but she wants to catch up with the Penang food. I told her to control herself and she seems illusional. Yeah, she is away for two months and she longs for the Penang food. I can understand.
It was raining last night and I really missed her and was delighted to see her carrying her bag out of the airport. She has changed much as I think she have given out her lazy life in the past . Just sleeping, eating and watching movies. I sensed a change in her thinking and mannerism. Yes, time and experience changed people and she really long for her home.
When She arrvied home, her dogs were after her jumping high for her and she knows that they really missed her. I could sense the excitement of the dogs and their high pitch screaming. Haiyooo, so sharp.
Before we reached home, we went to a food court and my wife ordered a lot of fried and grilled fish which they loved very much. I just joining them to enjoy the food.
I was very pleased that she came back on a holiday and before she came back I was there two times to visit her and she was really touched by our presence. For me, I will be going to see her there if she returns to her work. Now , she is at a cross road and there is a few options for her to choose. One is to work and another is to continue her tertiary education while the next is to start her own business. I left it to her to choose but life is not about degrees and academic achievements , I would want her to be happy doing whatever her passion calls for her.
Life is a passing tide and we have to move on with it. We should expect changes and challenges and treat it as part of our journey through life and while we are at it , we should enjoy the process. I justed wanted her to have that joy.
Today, she posted a wisdom in her FB:
If we die, we will not know about it but the people around us will be affected. The same thing if we act stupid.
Yeah, I think it is very true.
Namaste.
It was raining last night and I really missed her and was delighted to see her carrying her bag out of the airport. She has changed much as I think she have given out her lazy life in the past . Just sleeping, eating and watching movies. I sensed a change in her thinking and mannerism. Yes, time and experience changed people and she really long for her home.
When She arrvied home, her dogs were after her jumping high for her and she knows that they really missed her. I could sense the excitement of the dogs and their high pitch screaming. Haiyooo, so sharp.
Before we reached home, we went to a food court and my wife ordered a lot of fried and grilled fish which they loved very much. I just joining them to enjoy the food.
I was very pleased that she came back on a holiday and before she came back I was there two times to visit her and she was really touched by our presence. For me, I will be going to see her there if she returns to her work. Now , she is at a cross road and there is a few options for her to choose. One is to work and another is to continue her tertiary education while the next is to start her own business. I left it to her to choose but life is not about degrees and academic achievements , I would want her to be happy doing whatever her passion calls for her.
Life is a passing tide and we have to move on with it. We should expect changes and challenges and treat it as part of our journey through life and while we are at it , we should enjoy the process. I justed wanted her to have that joy.
Today, she posted a wisdom in her FB:
If we die, we will not know about it but the people around us will be affected. The same thing if we act stupid.
Yeah, I think it is very true.
Namaste.
Lunch at Ishin, Prai , Penang
I have a lunch with a friend who have been a great help to my trading business. He has volunteered to help me without any fees or charges and he did it at his own goodwill. He was quite down when I saw him and I asked him what have happen.
He told me that his brother in law just passed away recently in Japan and he has to go back to participate in the funeral. Including the travel , it took him 2 1/2 days until the whole funeral was over. During the wake, for the 2 1/2 days, he and his family have to stand to receive all the guest to the funeral and he told me that on the first day , it was about 300 people, on the second day was about 250 people and the last day, it was about another 300 people . For each person, he has to stand and bow two times and within the 2 1/2 days , he as bowed 1700 times and by then, he could not walk properly after the funeral. The bow for a Japanese is very low and proper. The impact is that he cannot play golf for one month and his body was aching over.
He told me that he would not like to go back to Japan as most of his friends have either died or their only topic is medicine, practice and health. There is no golf or mahjong in Japan which unlike here, there is so much enjoyments. Nevertheless, one common past time is drinking and drinking heavy.
For this matter, he was very frank and he has fond memories in Penang which he can recovered. During the early seventies, he was involved in setting up a factory with a few old friends and at one time, they requested for two message girls from Ipoh and they would be one massager to three person. However, one of the massage girl did not turn up and it was only one massage girl for six man. It was quite a rediculous situation at that time.
My friend have become a permanent resident and I would like to ask him to stay and do a few years of good job in Malayisa before he officially retire. But, I don't think he can retire because he don't have his mahjung kaki anymore.
Wish him best of health, wealth and luck.
Namaste.
He told me that his brother in law just passed away recently in Japan and he has to go back to participate in the funeral. Including the travel , it took him 2 1/2 days until the whole funeral was over. During the wake, for the 2 1/2 days, he and his family have to stand to receive all the guest to the funeral and he told me that on the first day , it was about 300 people, on the second day was about 250 people and the last day, it was about another 300 people . For each person, he has to stand and bow two times and within the 2 1/2 days , he as bowed 1700 times and by then, he could not walk properly after the funeral. The bow for a Japanese is very low and proper. The impact is that he cannot play golf for one month and his body was aching over.
He told me that he would not like to go back to Japan as most of his friends have either died or their only topic is medicine, practice and health. There is no golf or mahjong in Japan which unlike here, there is so much enjoyments. Nevertheless, one common past time is drinking and drinking heavy.
For this matter, he was very frank and he has fond memories in Penang which he can recovered. During the early seventies, he was involved in setting up a factory with a few old friends and at one time, they requested for two message girls from Ipoh and they would be one massager to three person. However, one of the massage girl did not turn up and it was only one massage girl for six man. It was quite a rediculous situation at that time.
My friend have become a permanent resident and I would like to ask him to stay and do a few years of good job in Malayisa before he officially retire. But, I don't think he can retire because he don't have his mahjung kaki anymore.
Wish him best of health, wealth and luck.
Namaste.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
A cuppa on a Sunday morning
A cuppa at Bibis at kerawai road , Penang
I met a friend S there for a drink while she is coming for an early lunch at the cafe. I arrived just on time but she was late for 15 minutes.
I have to Bibiss for a few times but she is only the second time. We have also cancelled our appointment at the Cafe due to our heavy work schedules.
It is a very small cafe and it was full when I step in and I managed to squeeze in a seat at the long table. Later, I could get a space for two on the long table.
I ordered a coffee latte while she ordered a Long Island coffee and a bread toast. The advantage of this place is that it is facing the new Gurney Paragon and there is a church behind the cafe. There was a.christian crowd on a Sunday after church service.
I want to open.a cafe like this after my retirement and spent my time lazying around drinking coffee or tea and enjoy the different types of bread and cakes or pasta.
But , it will depend a lot on my daughter who will be running and managing the place.
The coffee was quite good and the food taste acceptable bit it is a bit pricey at RM15 person for lunch. It will be experience for all of you to enjoy the food and drinks there.
Namaste.
I met a friend S there for a drink while she is coming for an early lunch at the cafe. I arrived just on time but she was late for 15 minutes.
I have to Bibiss for a few times but she is only the second time. We have also cancelled our appointment at the Cafe due to our heavy work schedules.
It is a very small cafe and it was full when I step in and I managed to squeeze in a seat at the long table. Later, I could get a space for two on the long table.
I ordered a coffee latte while she ordered a Long Island coffee and a bread toast. The advantage of this place is that it is facing the new Gurney Paragon and there is a church behind the cafe. There was a.christian crowd on a Sunday after church service.
I want to open.a cafe like this after my retirement and spent my time lazying around drinking coffee or tea and enjoy the different types of bread and cakes or pasta.
But , it will depend a lot on my daughter who will be running and managing the place.
The coffee was quite good and the food taste acceptable bit it is a bit pricey at RM15 person for lunch. It will be experience for all of you to enjoy the food and drinks there.
Namaste.
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