Been wanting to write this post since a week ago. Since it's pretty quiet in the office (a.k.a still in holiday mode), finally here i am.
Last week, after an assignment, i decided to head to what 'this used to be my playground' Damansara Jaya for lunch. I realised i have not been to my fave Uncle Hainanese restaurant near Atria. It is not that the chicken rice there was the best...it was for old times sake and well, haven't spoken to 'uncle' for a loooong while.
The restaurant was the same. Well, almost. Been going there since i was 15,16. Uncle would always greet us with a big HELLO and warm smile. After a while, we went there out of loyalty. Last week, i entered and it was pure silence. I looked around and young guy came up to me to take my order. Unable to hold on to my thoughts, i had to ask him, "Where is uncle?" while getting ready for bad news. He said uncle has retired to look after his grandchild. What a relief!
I had my usual Hainanese chicken rice and taugeh, feeling all nostalgic about the place and knowing that it will never be the same. I doubt i'll be going there as often anymore. No more uncle.
Last year, i gave him some fruits and he gave me an angpow. Aww. And a few years back, when i went there during the fasting month, i remember him having a troubled look while taking my order. He then asked, "You tak puasa ah?". To which i answered," Uncle!! After all these years you think i am Malay??". Quite funny, really.
So that is the story of me and my uncle Hainanese. He's a good man and i hope the best for him - in health and happiness.
The end of another chapter. It is time to move on.... just like many other things in life.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
The best way you know how
Been reading this particular book and found some parts interesting......
In an age where the pursuit of happiness seems the only moral code, what do you do when your life falls short of your dreams? Is there wisdom to be learnt from the sacrifices commitment entails? Or is there something in the notion of compatibility that we tend to overlook?
Some thoughts that created ' wows' for me :
a) If you are going to BE with me, then BE with me. BE present. Be here and NOW and stop holding out for something better to come along because it never will. You're waiting for some flawless handsome stranger to come satisfy all your dreams but not your real life. It's an illusion for people who would nurture a romantic narcassism than love real flawed people like you and me. If only you would accept it, your ordinariness. Not every compromise is a resignation, you know, and it's not easy, it's the hardest thing in the world, but at some point you're gonna have to give yourself up or you'll spend the rest of your life alone - by Forster
b) Choosing monogamy is not, of course, choosing not to desire anyone other than one's partner; it is choosing not to do anything that violates one's idea of monogamy. Everyone flirts with their (mostly conscious) standards of fidelity. But one is only ever faithful to fidelity itself, never merely one's partner - Monogamy by Adam Philips
c) Marriage should be the protection of two solitudes - getting married doesn't have to deprive us of our freedom or independence. It'll just be something that makes us stronger. Going out into the world is just so much easier when you've got someone to come back to.
d) Love isn't something you can reason, but something inchoate, indescribable. Captured in the details that haunt a moment and linger on the body. Evaporate like steam when you try to hold on to them.
And the story continues......
In an age where the pursuit of happiness seems the only moral code, what do you do when your life falls short of your dreams? Is there wisdom to be learnt from the sacrifices commitment entails? Or is there something in the notion of compatibility that we tend to overlook?
Some thoughts that created ' wows' for me :
a) If you are going to BE with me, then BE with me. BE present. Be here and NOW and stop holding out for something better to come along because it never will. You're waiting for some flawless handsome stranger to come satisfy all your dreams but not your real life. It's an illusion for people who would nurture a romantic narcassism than love real flawed people like you and me. If only you would accept it, your ordinariness. Not every compromise is a resignation, you know, and it's not easy, it's the hardest thing in the world, but at some point you're gonna have to give yourself up or you'll spend the rest of your life alone - by Forster
b) Choosing monogamy is not, of course, choosing not to desire anyone other than one's partner; it is choosing not to do anything that violates one's idea of monogamy. Everyone flirts with their (mostly conscious) standards of fidelity. But one is only ever faithful to fidelity itself, never merely one's partner - Monogamy by Adam Philips
c) Marriage should be the protection of two solitudes - getting married doesn't have to deprive us of our freedom or independence. It'll just be something that makes us stronger. Going out into the world is just so much easier when you've got someone to come back to.
d) Love isn't something you can reason, but something inchoate, indescribable. Captured in the details that haunt a moment and linger on the body. Evaporate like steam when you try to hold on to them.
And the story continues......
Thursday, January 1, 2009
All i got for Christmas is..... a new ass!
So my holiday started on Dec 24, 2008. Had it all nicely planned - to go early to Seremban to hang out with my parents and brothers, etc. But come Dec 23 morning, as i was leaving One Utama after dropping off some books i was reviewing, a Citroen hit my car from the back. Sigh.
Anyway, to cut the long drama story short --- i got a new bumper. Spent the whole day sorting out the repairs + police reports, but drove to Seremban on Dec 24 with a new ass. :D
New Year's party this year was slightly tame compared to the past years...but all in good fun. Here's to a fabulous year ahead.....finding our bliss!!! Yeay!!!
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