Time is gold

Though I seem relaxed, but time is certainly gold for me. Have been working weekends, attending seminars, going for night meetings and of course ..... entertainment. Its so seldom that I get time alone at home. To relax, have time to watch reruns and to mess up the whole kitchen.

I love to whip things up for my beloved bloated and ever expanding tummy. And its a bonus if its edible. So last Sunday, I felt a little adventurous so I whipped up my own lunch. With nothing on mind to cook, I just opened the fridge to see what could be used!

The result? Fried rice with eggs, lots of cabbage and mushroom stems. Yummy and chewy! Then my sweet tooth started to tingle. Had to reach for the mixer and bake some brownies ... search through the fridge again. yeah!! found some walnuts ..... so the result? Walnut brownie with a crunchy crust! Yum yum!

Then I noticed my dog staring pathetically at me .... *oh how dumb* dogs can't eat chocolate. And I felt guilty. Not to worry, I never neglect my Zeus. The result, honey butter scotch cookies.

Asian Psychological Association Convention

It was a very good experience. The APsyA ... 2nd Asian convention only. All psychologists, lecturers or those who were interested from around the world gathered in KL for this convention. There were people from Malaysia of course, Singapore, HK, Australia, Iran, USA Philipines, Taiwan and possibly more. All gathered for the love of psychology and research.

It was exactly like the research colloquims that we conduct back at HELP. Exactly. People will conduct research, then present it based on the intro, method, results  and findings. Then there was the Q & A sessions. And throughout the whole convention, there were perhaps more than 80 presentations that you could choose to attend. There were key note addresses and also those break out plenary topics.... sounds so familiar. 

Oh! Thank you HELP for giving us those guidance. I actually know about the whole Psychology arena and this further enforced it!

Well some of the topics were really challenging. It makes you think. Not that you are not aware of it, but sometimes, you just have to see it in a different perspective. In a way that makes you wanna do research and prove your thought. It was an inspiration. I wanna do a research paper!

grrr ... but at times, I felt a little disgusted at this conference. Come on ... its an Asian convention after all ... could the organizers have done better? People are flying halfway across the globe and paying USD 350 for this .. and you are down grading the venue from Hilton to a scrummy faculty in University Malaya? Toilets were .....urgh ..... normal government school toilets. Food was ... worse than a factory canteen food. Drinking water had to be taken from the water cooler. Turn out was pretty low too... they could at least promote it to local students? Can you imagine presenting your research to only 20 people?  And the emcees ... couldn't even speak proper English. They didn't even know who the presenters were and didn't know how to control timing.

Can you imagine? Each presenter was by right given 20  minutes to present his research. But because the others before exceeded the time, and it was time for 'lunch', this poor chap from USA only had 5 minutes, without Q & A to have the stage? Imagine the investment of flying over and the amount of time spent doing research? And this is the returns?

University Malaya, please buck up. Malaysia, please buck up. Please don't accept hostings like this if you can't handle it. It  only makes you embarassed. If I were to pay for this my self, I would have vomitted blood, or even toxins. Fortunately I was sponsored. ... but the good thing is, I left with more motivation for research and a love for psychology. And that is what counts. Passion!

We're 2 .. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Congrats and happy birthday to us. LCCH turns 2 today and I have to say that I am proud to be part of the team. Having come into Malaysia where everyone is skeptical in hypnosis and they think it's black magic, we have come a longgggg way, making our mark in Asia. Training new students in hypnosis and treating patients who have issues. LCCH .... its time to celebrate.

While our boss had her own mean of celebration ......(oh how I wish I could do that too) all of us got together for a congratulatory dinner. Off to Bubba Gump at the Curve. For some Alabama style country home feel ....

Ooh, the place is so cosy. Doesn't make you feel like its a restaurant, but your friend's cottage instead. We got this seat on the upper level with the decor of wooden walls, and car plates all around. There were also old vintage cookie tins, chili sauce, wooden plaques and lots of wall decorations. It gives you so much pleasure just looking around the place. haha ... some of the quotes on the wall was hilarious.
LCCH is just a small team. But big enough to dominate Malaysia, Singapore and possibly the world ... wuahaha and its even more fun when the staff there are narcissistic. Hours and hours of non stop fun. And for Jia Yin and I who love being in photos, its great to have a friend who loves taking photos. We used all sorts of backdrops, all sorts of angles, lightings and cameras. Even a super heavy antique camera in black and white that takes forever to focus. Ahmad, quickly develop. We even went to the extend of sitting in this cute little booth and were snapping away, little did we know, we were sitting in someone's cubicle. Or the time where we even posed with the washing basin??? Or when we cam whored at the stairs? There are weird people in LCCH.
Ahh, of course there was the good food .... Shrimp! The juicy and chewy fruit of the ocean. Pop corn prawn for appetizer was an excellent choice. hehe but if you pop it non stop, your cholestrol is going to pop too .. I had some kind of stuffed prawn with crab meat, served with cheese, garlic bread and jasmine rice. Quite a weird combination if you think of it ... but it tasted not bad. Then we also ordered Shrimpers Heaven. Something like the 4 seasons hot/cold dish all Chinese Restaurants have ... but this time ... its all shrimp. Talk about prawns and you have to think Bubba Gump. And ooh ..... the drinks were delicious as well . Frozen yogurt with blue berries? Thats dinner itself. Stuffed to the max man!!

A celebration won't be complete with a song or some cake. And this anniversary is special. Bubba gump style ..... and we've got our newest intern, Chian Shen to do the honors of the birthday boy. Wahaha .. he had to climb up on the chair .. and shake the booty . .. shake shake that boooty. wahaha pure ragging man. It ain't easy to be an intern at LCCH. The result? He got us a cream cake!! haha ... laughed at the talent of our new boy boy .. he can really shake ... but then, we needed him to really shake. Off to part 2!! But of course, that is censored buahahaha ....

The most precious of all gems

Nop, though diamonds are a girl's best friend, it is not it. Though investors like gold, it is not it too ... I am talking about life. Life is a precious commodity. Money can't buy it ... so treasure it.

Well ,it can be argueable. Money can buy you supplements to make you healthier, or it can pay for that life saving surgery. money also can preserve you till they find a cure for your deadly disease ... but would you be living your real life? Or would you be living on artificial borrowed time?

An event got me thinking of how precious and fragile life can be. And it can be taken away ... just like that. An accident, a sudden death or just anything not expected. You'll never know when it will happen. You may just be paying your bill at the stall and the next minute ....*poof* ... you're history.

But when that happens, it is not up to us to say we are ready or not. We are not robots, we just have to face it. If we go tomorrow (touch wood), are we really prepared? Lets not talk about the project you're supposed to complete by the end of the week or the car installment that you're halfway through. I'm talking about the true meanings of life.

Did you lead a happy life? A life that you can look back to and see that you have enjoyed it, a life that had no regrets or a life that was meaningful. Did you leave a legacy behind? Can you say you touched someone's heart and your leaving will make a difference. Can you say that even after you left, your existence had a purpose? 

It can be a small thing. Helping your friends, doing charity work, organizing an event, having a successful project or touching lives of others. make others smile, and when you do, that smile remains in their heart forever. Touch someone's heart and it remains in their memory forever. Teach others around you what you know, share with them what you have ... don't be an island.

I certainly don't want to leave this world not having achieved what a person should. I don't wan't to feel as if I am not needed in this world, or even becoming a pest. And I know that I have been leading a happy life. I don't want to lead a miserable life and leave tomorrow only to regret not being able to be brave to make the change. I know that I have left legacies and touched peoples lives .... knowing that I made a difference to society. 

The only thing I know I haven't done is let the people around me know that I care for them. Its a super difficult thing to say, both to my friends and family. But I know I've got to do it ...

Time is precious

This is my 5th time editing this entry. And every time I edit, I take away 1 paragraph. I guess time does heal. And so does a nice hug and a nice dinner and a nice comedy.

Certificate 5 Outing 1

It was pretty last minute ... but not to worry .... many more to come. And already we have lots of ideas on our minds ... but let's keep it a SECRET .

So barely 2 days after we parted ways from the examination hall at University Malaya, we were back again. Back for more fun , laughter and food. haha .. perhaps that day marked the official launch of Laughing College of Clinical Hypnosis (LCCH). But not to worry, London College of Clinical Hypnosis is still the best. Many more ambitions and dreams were realized too and the lucky few also got their new job titles. A truly fruitful day. 

A few of us met for dinner at Chilis ... the home of great American Food.... oh how I love it!! My cajun chicken sandwich was so juicy. There was the special sweet and barbequed taste to it and the buttered toast made it all the more delicious. Looking at my friend's dishes just made me feel even hungrier.

Good food plus lots of laughs made it the perfect dinner date. We were probably the loudest table there. Hopefully no one over heard us as some of our conversations got pretty ....interesting. Cameras were snapping everywhere, tomato sauce was used as a prop and my straw even flew out the cup with ice lemon tea splashing everywhere .... Thanks to beloved Jared!!

After dinner we proceed for movie. Its always nice to go for movies in groups. And especially so if you're watching The Happening, that has all the gory scenes of people killing themselves. An even better way to remember the outing by. Good things are meant to be shared by with friends. hehe ....

The bunch is crazy ...

Yup I am talking about my hypnosis class. They really know how to make noise and pose and say silly things. Especially the 'model' students who sit at the back of class. wahaha but the add to the life of the class ....

I thought exams are all about sleepless nights and last minute cramming. But there comes a time where enough is enough and anymore input would just crash the system and leave you brain dead. Well, or so I speak for myself and a few other classmates. An outing 9 hours before your practical where you put each other in trance might not be so appealing for many, but it sure is memorable for me. Especially having the extra spicy pad thai noodles which left me visiting the toilet quite often.  So this is us at the Tree House Damansara Uptown.

Look at them, or us ... after a long weekend, exams, practicals, hours of writing and brain squeezing ... where do they, or we get the energy to pose? haha the magic of hypnosis. And even with such a plain and boring back drop of University Malaya, we still manage to take loads of pictures. And we've got many more in our album. Talk about creativity. 

Post effects

Pimples sprouting everywhere ...
Ulsers making it impossible for you to talk ...
A blur mind making you speak nonsense ...
and a sense of humor that makes no sense !!

Yaya! Exams are over! Time for a good long rest before I pick up a new hobby. Any suggestions?

Mixture of cultures

Its was my first time .... and interesting too .. an Indian wedding. Too bad I couldn't make it for the official ceremony in the temple. Would have been an eye opener. But just the dinner itself was unique.

It was held in this community hall. where only about 30 tables could be seated. But the cute thing about it is that after the people had their buffet dinner, they just left! And new people came, sat and ate, then left. Only to be replaced by new people again. Interesting right?

Dinner was ok ... but entertainment was good. They blasted Indian music in the hall. Which I liked, cos the base was thumping and it will certainly be a good background for an Indian themed disco party. Ooh ... and they employed 1 dancer. Only 1 ... who danced to fast music only Where did he get the energy from? He dance vigourously for 5 minutes, rested a while, then danced again .... haha salute him.

The most interesting is the main entrance. They had a figurine of a god and also a very bright kolam (colored rice art). It was so pretty and inviting ... ooh! I love these traditional stuff.

Don't look back

Some unpleasant memory just haunted me. But I don't want it to bug me, to affect my mood .... Quick! Happy thoughts happy thoughts!! Ice cream and chocolates and puppies and sunrises ....

Argh .. too much food is killing me too. But how to resist the good food?
-My boss is bringing chocolates back from trips -
-theres a lady who sells chips from door to door at my office once a week-
-my classmates want to go out for dinner after class
-my colleague is introducing me to sinful but delicious food-
-my mum thinks I don't eat well in the noon and cooks loads for dinner
-meet up with friends are usually over dinner and desserts
-I always want to reward my self with good food over the weekends to compensate for office lunches

Oops, I'm going to be supersized me ... I have been gaining and gaining but I'm not complaining. Food is good, life is short and I am blessed with the ability to eat with a happy heart. So what I need now is just more exercise!!

Off to play fetch with my dog ... at least it stretches my arm muscles abit . . . haha progression!

We stand united as one

I spent the whole Sunday afternoon watching TV. But it was a fund raising program by the Hong Kongers to raise funds for the Szechuan earth quake victims... and it really touching.

So many lives were lost in just one minute. So many hopes and families were shattered because of this. Throughout the program, those stars mentioned so many stories, personal experiences of the people involved, and its just so touching to know how they sacrificed for each other. How parents would die for their children, how husbands were willing to give up for their wives, how strangers helped each other or how pets saved their masters. I am sure you have read so much about them. It never ceases to over whelm me. How the Chinese never give up hope in this time of desperation. How the dying tells the rescuers not to give up hope! The spirit of unity is so very strong.

May 12, 2008. A day where it is etched in everyone's heart. Though so far away, people still come together to help out in everyway. Those who had money contributed in cash, many contributed the skills and energy. Aid from all around the world reached your shores. Cash, food, medical supplies, and best of all ...... man power. Kudos to some celebrities who went to the disaster area to lend their support. Kudos to the person I know who traveled across borders to help them out.

I've heard stories of how a poor man gave his bottle of clean water to those in pain. If they can do it, why can't we?

It is with great admiration how the volunteers, the soldiers, the doctors and nurses came together to help the victims. The worked tirelessly and there have been countless numbers of stories about how you have sacrificed. The world looks upon you as heroes.

It is not enough to support them for a month or two. Experts predict it will take 7 years for them to build Szechuan up again. But material items are not important. We need to care for the hearts of our friends. Howlong would it take for hearts to heal? How long would you mourn for a loved one, how long would you take to recover from trauma of not being able to save the one you love? It is a long term commitment to help ... a long term commitment to love.

Jia you China! Jia You Sze Chuan!