I love blogging in the mornings. :)

My ideal morning would allow me to : cook breakfast, do devotion, bath, read newspapers, update my blog, tidy the room, listen to music/sermon and of course manage my Manchester United. So far it has been pretty ideal today. =)

My simple American breakfast (without the toast, baked beans, fries). Gulped it down in 3 minutes! :p I wouldn't had been able to enjoy half-boiled eggs if not for Nick moving in. Thanks!

An attempt to enjoy potato wedges and curly fries while watching 'Psych'.

As 'promised', my trimmed hair. Thanks mom! Been a while since I last ate KFC. Sign of ageing?

Yesterday I went to see a skin specialist to deal with my toe corn. I tell you, freezing it was so painful, and now I've got a huge blister on my toe. All thanks to E Laine! ;)

Been asked to remove pictures of children I've taken at school. Just couldn't resist the temptation. They're so adorable!

A pair of twins. Double-double act.

*picture removed, lest I get into trouble

Reflection by Gayatri. Tons of cuteness!

*video removed, lest I get into trouble

Jia Jin in Manchester United jersey! Glory, glory Man United!

Been listening to Andy Stanyley, 'Washington can be trusted with power because he was willing to give it up!' Amazing stuff. Thanks Calvin!

Getting ready to Up In The Air. I know it's been showing for quite some time. Finally had time. George Clooney fan here.

Another movie I heard was great is Invictus. A true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country. And see where they are at now. World Cup host! Apparently there wasn't much publicity. And it's only showing once a day at GSC MidValley. :(

Tata for now. Will let you know how the movie turned out. ;)

The Book Of Eli was a good movie. Silvia liked it better. She concluded I don't like 'stories'. But anyways, plot was great, Denzel Washington was superb! =)

Would refrain from summarizing the movie as it's just hit Malaysia's cinemas. Got to watch it earlier thanks to Spolite again. ;)

A quote from a maid of my friend - "Dunia in sudah berubah. Orang kaya makan - bingung. Orang miskin makan - susah. (The world has changed. When the rich wants to eat - confused. When the poor wants eat - difficult.) A blow-away statement which bring us back down to earth. In fact this is very much in line with the movie above. Seems like God above has something to say. :)

Ben Foster - Manchester United and England goalkeeper. Calvin, is this how it's like after you workout in England. Smoky.

Nothing much to highlight from my life aside from the fact that Vincent has been bugging me to ask my boss for a month's leave to participate in Amazing Race Asia.

Have got to show an update of my toe corn. The most happening thing in my life now! My student also has some sort of 'thingy' on his side.

Got another ticket for going 93km/h on a 80km/h highway. Not that I was rushing for time, just a habit, a bad one. My fifth ticket since getting my car in Feb last year. Not learning from my mistakes. As my professor once said "smart people learn from their own mistakes, smarter people learn from the mistakes of others." Seems like I'm not so smart after all. :(

Got to meet up with 2 ex-classmates from Tshung Tsin. Both of them doing very well. 1 a lawyer in Hong Kong, earning more than RM10k a month, the other a corporate banker. Got a glimpse of how work is dealing with adults and professionals. I, on the other hand, face children and parents. Chatted about who's getting married, bosses, wake-boarding, diving spots, investments and politics. I really do want to get a diving license soon. Should make it as 1 of my new year's resolution.

Anyone noticed that Brand's Essence of Chicken has a new marketing strategy? Targeting younger audiences by promoting it as some sort of 'cool' drink. Seems weird. Anyways, an commercial a few years back.

Now trying my hand at Farmville and Fishville, 74 million and 24 million monthly active users. Outranking my current Mafia Wars and Restaurant City, both at 23 million and 14 million.

Ok, that's all folks. I'm off to watch 我猜我猜我猜猜 that I downloaded from a cyber where Edison worked. :p

Good morning!

Starting my day a bit later so here I am in front of my computer. Catching up on the news, doing some Facebook, surfing the iTunes Store, online banking, and blogging. How can we live without computers? :$

Last night was cell group. Atmosphere was great. 2 new friends. Icebreaker was a seaweed-on-lips kinda thing. Ended up with loads of wet seaweed no one dare ate. Sermon was about maturity. First ever sermon by prepared all by Hendra (the seaweed eater) himself. A few quotes from is preaching.

"mature person is positive, even when they are under pressure."

"focus on the promise and not the problems"

"mature person is sensitive to other's needs"

"to solve your own problem - use your brain, to solve other's problems - use your heart"

"mature person is a peacemaker not a troublemaker"

"gossippers are unity breakers"

"maturity is a choice"

Thank God it's Friday! Really hope I'll be able to get tickets for Sherlock Holmes tonight. They say it's really good. ;)

John Maxwell

'You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.'

'Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit'

'Success is not a destination to be reached, but a journey to be taken'

'People who have given up are ruled by their darkest mistakes, worst failures, and deepest regrets. If you want to be successful, then be governed by your finest thoughts, your highest enthusiasm, your greatest optimism, and your most triumphant experiences.'

explore DREAM discover

From a friend's blog, by Mark Twain:

" Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. "

A brand new year is on the horizon, I've really not much to look forward except a whole year's of work, work and work. Wonder what it's like to explore, to dream and to discover again? ;) Something new that I've decided to experiment this year is my resolutions. Instead of having a few at the beginning of the year. I've decided on 1 in January, then and another in Febuary if I've managed to either accomplished it or established the habit that will help me accomplish it. We'll see whether this works better on me or not. :P

words of WISEDOM

"Seven Blunders of the World"

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without principle

- Mahatma Gandhi

being WISE

It saw this personal message on Ivy's Windows Live Messenger.

"Think Smart, Act Blur (dumb)"

Though this might not be a 'genuine' quote, but I have always tried to live like this. The greatest example of a person that's like this is my father. He's really a wise man and at times we would like to think that we've outsmart him, to our dismay, we fail more often than not. Anyways, in Bahasa Malaysia there's a similar simpulan bahasa (idiom) - diam diam ubi berisi (the silent potato thats filled) and tin kosong (empty tin). Simply put it, the wise talks less!

COMFORT in life

Pastor had a quote in his sermon last night. I didn't catch the exact words but the meaning is still there.

"Man are created to look for comfort but does not stay in comfort for too long."

When you come to think of it, you realise its hard to be idle for a whole week. I can't believe how it is like for me not to use my brains for 3 days. Even if we hate work, we find leisure in solving crossword puzzles, sudoku, and other brain teasers. Many jokes also required us to use our brains. That's why he also mentioned that we should 'find rest in our work'.

arnold, ARNOLD

After staying up the whole night, I managed to finish the term paper about Arnold Schoenberg, but I had to teach again in the morning. When I reached my student's house, she also just woke because the baby cried the whole night. We had a short conversation before the lesson and she told me that her memory deteriorated as she had more and more sleepless nights. We college students better sleep right and eat right from now on!

I'll just try to introduce Schoenberg in just a sentence. He (1874-1951) was Austrian composer who made a revolutionary development in music through the introduction of the twelve-tone method during the twentieth century with the Pierrot Lunaire and Suite for Piano as his most famous works.

"Whether one calls oneself conservative or revolutionary, whether one composers in a conventional or progressive manner, whether one tries to imitate old styles or is destined to express new ideas—one must be convinced of the infallibility of one's own fantasy and one must believe in one's own inspiration. The desire for a conscious control of the new means and forms will arise in every artist's mind; and he will wish to follow consciously the laws and rules that govern the forms he has conceived "as in a dream.""

Arnold Schoenberg (composer)