From Gloom To Smile

Over the years, I've experience my fair share of lows, setbacks, and 'storms in the teacups'.. and recently, I encounter this again...

While, I've learned to let go, and not get so emotional of things anymore but then again, such incidents still makes me sad someway or rather.

If such incidents happened years back, I'm sure I will react worse, but even as I'm way more composed & matured now, the heart feels a lil pain..

And I couldn't help but just play some songs.. one of them is this:

Superman Cannot Fly.

I relate a lot to it in many ways.. though I'm no Superman nor Mr Jay..

那就让我在空中停一停 歇再次俯瞰这个世界
Then let me stop for a while in the air, have a break and to take a look at this world again

会让我觉得好一些
It will make me feel better

拯救地球好累
Saving the Earth is so tiring

虽然有些疲惫的我还是会
Although I’m tired, but I’ll keep going

不要问我哭过了没
Don’t ask me if I’ve cried

因为超人不能有眼泪
Because Superman cannot cry

Played this song for a bit, and yeah, the heart felt sad.. But that's not how I wanted to feel.

Coincidently, a friend shared this on Facebook.. and somehow I thought it was timely. I've never really paid much attention to this song by Miley Cyrus before, but this time I did..



As you can listen, life's really bout moving on cos there will always be ups & down, right? :) My mood changed a lil after listening to this song & its lyrics.

And how one thing leads to another, I stumbled on one of Uncle Kracker's song. I've never heard this song of his before.. but the title caught my attention, and so does the lyrics. Pretty awesome, I'd say.. and this sure lifted my mood!



Listen to the lyrics like:

"If you don’t like me, brother, that’s okay
I ain’t gonna let it wreck my day
I keep stylin’, smilin’, handin’ out the sunshine"

Now, how not to smile when I listen to such words...!

So from a lil gloomy nite, I managed to turned it around.. While I'd say the problem still needs to be solved, but at least, on my side, I can say let's solve it in a neutral if not happy mood.

After all, in every situation, we can always choose to either dwell into our problems & be all negative about it..

or we can find solutions, and work on them - in a good mood way! And that's what I'm doing!

So go away gloom & blues, and welcome smiles & sunshine! :)

*2 other songs that I also played to lift the mood is: Katy Perry's Fireworks and N Sync Bye Bye Bye! (and no, its not a personal relationship problem) :)

Some (Deep) Thoughts

Recently Ive been thinking a fair bit (some deep thoughts).. these are pretty random, and I'll just share them..

1. Getting a property...

I've been thinking about getting a property since last year.. and it is much stronger now. Paying rent is not an investment, and in some ways is similar to monies going down the drain (in the long term).

But like my tweet the other day

"buying a property is like choosing a spouse - there's so many options & things to consider".

I know I prefer a condo over any other houses for my first property. But that's not the only question to think of.. location, budget, long term evaluation, etc are the many others things to consider.

2. Many Ways To Achieve Ones Dreams..

I've always believed in one living his life to the fullest, and for one to take steps in living his/ her dreams.

Looking back, I've done the rather 'daring' step into being an entrepreneur to realise my dreams after graduation. The journey has been bumpy, but I've got no regrets for I have actually accomplished some of my life dreams through that journey.

Now the next question is... there are many more dreams that I'd like to do.

But do I need to really do it full time, or can it be done at a side? Funny that I maybe asking this question, but yeah, I got to admit that this is something serious which I've been thinking about.

There are many reasons for me to think about this. Partly, I'm a lil exhausted. No particular reason, but plain exhaustion (wonder if any of u felt this way before?).

And at the same time, I realise some of my other dream projects do not require full time attention.. except say for a very few - and that relates to the next point.

3. Acting & Mandarin, Tagalog and English..

I have this ambition of going into acting.. but I'm concerned about the industry and how the actors are treated (even celebrities for that matter). That to me is one big pull back factor. Besides, it's not easy making it big (but who says anything is, right?).

I've tried a few auditions and done a fair number of printed ads (the ones that appear in print eg on newspapers & even the wrap around the bus/ MRT), but yet to really go into acting.

Apart from the previous concern, I have questions like - where should I focus acting at? I think that for Chinese is a lil tough to be an actor here in Malaysia. Usually, the Chinese from wherever they are make it big in Taiwan (maybe HK). But Mandarin.. ahhh, that's really not my strength. I can pick it up, but recenlty in the past few months, I somehow don't have the drive & interests to master it.

Ahh, and then, there is the Philippines entertainment industry. Will it be better there? I don't know. Will it be easier? I don't know too. And is it worth a try? I also don't know. But I do know that Philippines speak English there, and Philippines talents are quite recognised in Hollywood. Plus Malaysia's Carmen Soo did make a bit of a name over in the Philippines.

Oh well, thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts. Anyway, I know I got to sort these out. I'm taking some steps already.. Hope to update soon :)

I Was In Jakarta!

Just about 2 months back, I was in the capital city of Indonesia. Went there to just celebrate the year end holidays and count down to the New Year.

Well, here are some of the things that I remember very well for that trip.

Firstly, like I've mentioned before during my previous trips,

their malls are huge! And very lifestyle centered.

And yes, I did go mall-ing again.. to the same malls that I visited last time (read: Grand Indonesia & Pacific Place).

While I'd say the region's malls are quite comparable, but so far the cinema here is the best! I've enjoyed the lazy boy chair in the Manila's (and if not wrong, Singapore's) cinema before, but not in Kay El.

However, Jakarta takes one notch up from Manila's (or at least the one I tried in Eastwood). The luxury cinema here has that lazy chair, and while food & drinks don't come free with the tickets, but blankets do.

It's so comfortable, that one can really fall asleep in the movies (but not if the movie is exciting enough that is - which btw the movie I watched was Tourist.. so no sleeping there!).

The one difference I notice apart from the cinema is the boldness of their fashion. Now maybe I hardly shop in Kay El, so forgive me if I'm mistaken.

But I notice that some of their tees can be quite bold & 'matured'... which are nice to me, of course!

Btw I got myself this tee, which I thought kinda describe me well! Haha!!!

And I got this Batman tee too! I thought that this being original was rather reasonable - bout RM60 or so.

And when it comes to patriotism, Indonesia (or Jakarta) really rank high there just like most nations in the region (except say Malaysia and Singapore?).

They got their patriotism even printed on tees! (and proud of it!)

Creativity in Jakarta despite we think it being more restrained (with news of like Peterpan going to jail) do seem otherwise! Would such a tshirt shop ever be open here in Malaysia (*cough cough, Singapore), let alone in a high end mall?

This was taken at one of the tshirt shops. Interesting aye? :)

I even got myself a car sticker of such! Cannot believe right? Now, I think I'll be the only car in Malaysia to have this sticker! Haha!!!

And when it came to food, we ate like a tourist.. ie pretty much! Especially when we are hosted by our local friends!

Now, the food was another eye opener too. Firstly, the nasi padang is done somewhat differently. The waiters will lay all the dishes on your table, and you can eat the dishes you like (you don't need to eat all). Just see the above!

While the nasi padang maybe tasty but it don't come cheap. I remember the meal above was close to about 455000 Rupiah (ie RM150!) for 4 persons! Even as 'greedy' as we were, that was a lil high for a nasi padang restaurant, to me.

Btw guess what dish is the above? Cow's brain!

Did I try it? You know the answer I guess. If I've tried the balut (duck's embryo) in Manila, what is cow's brain right? However, it was just a spoonful I had. Wasn't bad, but just too new a dish for me.

I also had the ayam goreng. Apparently there are a few good outlets & restaurants around, and we went into one of the more famous ones - RM Ayam Goreng. And as it goes, it was "Enak Sekali!" (Delicious!).

The one thing that one cannot miss when dining in an Indonesian restaurant is non other than the oh-so-thick avocado juice! And I'm glad to have one there (surprisingly as much as I ate there, it was only once I tried the avocado juice there).

The reason is most likely cos the other times I was trying out other drinks. The other favourite one btw is this es cendol tape.

On a more fusion food was at Waraku. However this restaurant's menu in Jakarta differs from the one I know in Singapore. And we just had to try the so called dessert above! What a fruit & bread feast!

Btw apart from the malls, tees & food, I also managed to take some shots when our local friends stop us by their rather famous river. However, the stench was a lil strong.

Also visited some clubs (hey, it was New Year's countdown after all! - but sorry no photos lah ehem ehem).

And then, the 3 day 2 nights trip came to an end, and it was about time to bid goodbye.But not till we did our final rest.. at this quite comfy open air cafe at the airport!

And with a cup of tea (no a teapot actually!).

With the drink done, and some interesting memories.. finally, we were off on the plane heading back (and to the start to the New Year of 2011!).

Owh.. Crazy Love!

Love, love and more love.

If you are connected with me online, you can see the many LOVE postings I've done - be it on this blog or through Twitter & Facebook.

And guess what.. here's one more to add to the many!

The current project that I'm currently doing is having a contest for the fans - with the prizes: 2 pairs of Michael Buble's upcoming KL concert tickets.

All the fans need to do is complete a slogan:

I love ______ because ___________ .

Yeah, you can guess who came up with that idea! Haha!!

Anyway, the contest has been running over a week now.. and we've received a fair bit of LOVE dedications that truly melts the heart. Here are some of them:

It sure touches the heart to see how a daughter loves her dad that much :)

Or the fact how a couple's love is so strong despite it being 9 years ago..

Simple, but sweet (can u see yrself smiling reading this?) :)

We all know a mum's love.. and it is nicely spelled out here :)

Ok, this is a lil funny, but still, we know the love for the mum is there!

Was sweet to see the love dedication to a sibling. Don't you agree that sometimes apart from our parents, our siblings can also be our best pals?

And as for this person, she values her friendships with her friends. And I'd agree with that too. Cos good friends are really the ones who shares our ups & downs.

For the fun of it, I too did 'join' the contest for the fun of it (tho yeah, as the organiser, I won't be allowed to win) :)

Here are shoutouts which goes to my mum & bro:

There's still time till this contest ends (6th March 2011). And maybe I'll dedicate a few more to the other people who I love cos in many ways, it feels therapeutic shouting this out - the feeling of being grateful :)

Anyway, till then, happy loving! :)

*Btw just in case ur keen, more details of this contest is at: Project O&O Fanpage. And if I may add, even if you don't want to win the tickets, try sharing your love out.. in any way/ medium. There's just some good feeling after doing it (well, at least it did for me!) :)