How significant we are....

Pictures

Monkey Business

I remember this story told to me sometime ago by my relative from the 'kampung'. Monkeys are trapped in village to help villagers to harvest coconuts from the trees and like many other animals, they do not turn up in front of the villagers and volunteer themselves for the job. They are caught and made to work, whether they like it or not.

Have you ever wonder as agile, quick-witted and fast moving monkeys are, the villagers can still catch/trap them? The technique is simple and it works. They simply placed some peanuts in a bottle of a small opening. The opening has to be large enough for the monkey to insert their hand into it to grab the peanuts and small enough so that they are not able to remove the hand (in the position of a fist) with the peanuts. After the monkey grabs the peanuts, the villagers will come.

The monkey sees the villagers coming and knew he is going to be in deep trouble, but then again, he is not willing to let go of the peanuts. If only he is willing to free his hand, he would not be caught. A simple theory that everyone reading this post would figure out, right?

Reflecting back on ourselves, we can also learn from this ‘monkey story’

Message: All we have to do is to learn to LET GO. We often don’t realise that because of our reluctance to let go of something, we are missing/forgoing a better opportunity in life. And most of the time, the ‘peanuts’ are nothing compared to the ‘freedom’ the monkey is risking. Think bout it.

Pictures

Nice pictures...

Pictures

I received these pictures via email yesterday and I find them truly amazing.

One of the greatest Inventors of all time…

I enjoy most reading on the bibliographies of successful people, it’s a natural form of motivation for me. After reading uncountable stories on these people, I realise they have something in common and most common people lack of.

One of my favourite person in history is no other that Thomas Alva Edison

“Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. With only three months of formal education he became one of the greatest inventors and industrial leaders in history. Edison obtained 1,093 United States patents, the most issued to any individual.Edison's greatest contribution was the first practical electrical lighting.

He not only invented the first successful electric light bulb, but also set up the first electrical power distribution company. Edison invented the phonograph, and made improvements to the telegraph, telephone and motion picture technology. He also founded the first modern research laboratory .Edison was also a good businessman.

He not only designed important new devices, he created companies worldwide for the manufacture and sale of his inventions. Along with other manufacturing pioneers of his era, Edison helped make the United States a world industrial power. He and Henry Ford became friends after Edison encouraged Ford to use the gasoline powered engine for the automobile.

Reference “http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/edison.html”



Quotes by Thomas Edison

As you can see from his quotes below, he had a strong work ethic, and was determined not to give up. He presevered and had a positive attitude when he faced challenges.

Truly, Thomas Edison's persistence and determination is an inspiration to all of us!

I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.

There is always a better way.

We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.

Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.

There is no substitute for hard work.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are,
first, hard work;
second, stick-to-itiveness;
third, common sense.

Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.

Restlessness and discontent are the necessities of progress.

Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know of several thousand things that won't work.

Nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

Dinner @ 13 January 2007

It has been quite sometime since I have last prepared food for my friends. So I thought it would be a great idea to welcome year 2007 with a dinner with some of the closest people around me. The dinner was postponed a few times as we were all "busy" people, but finally got it set on the 13 January 2007.

Dinner was prepared for eight packs and we had lamb chops. This is truly a unique group of friends, everyone is so connected in one way or another. We are soul mates (share tonnes of secrets between us), diving buddies (6 of us graduated as divers in 2006), climbing buddies, “yam cha kakis”, travel mates and are even working on some potential part time business with some of them. Needless to say, for the past few weeks, we meet up almost everyday.

Allow me to introduce them in pairs....

The first pair to arrive... Eric&Ginn














I have known Ginn for exactly 10 years. We went through many things together during our high school days. Being the youngest among the 7 of us, she is the most 'manja' and demanding of us all and most of the time we gave in to her. One of the few girls I know that does not put on weight at all, even by eating a lot. Her nick name is Trigger Fish, as the name suggest, sitting either to her right or left spells danger. “Beware…Ginn bites when provoked” Eric is Ginn’s boyfriend. Got to know him only recently, quite quiet compared to the other 2 clowns in the group but a very charismatic guy who has a very sweet smile. Thanks Eric&Ginn for the Wine.


The second pair... Joshua&Pei San














Similiar to Ginn, I have known Pei San for 10 years as well. Miss those days where we will hang out at her dad's office after school for the girls talk and sleeping over at my house for the silly stuffs. Those were the days. Pei San is a perfect listener, someone who is very patient and understanding, and one of the girls I knew that rarely demand for anything (Note: Lucky Joshua). She is so close to perfection if not for fact that she reacts rather slowly. Thus she is nicknamed Sea Cucumber. An ordinary girl who is very special in the eyes of many.

I have only known Joshua for 6 months, but due the ample time we spend together, our friendship blossomed very fast. Someone who described himself as water, and indeed he goes along well with anyone. Someone who smiles a lot and who is always conscious of the feelings of others. It’s always fun to have him around.


The late comers...Sim&Winnie














Winnie use to work with me in my previous place and we clicked instantly the first time we met. It was recently when we agree to be pet sisters. She and Sim met on one of our rock climbing sessions and their relationship grew from there. Winnie is one of the young girls I knew that has big ambitions. Having the desire and the urge to achieve the best things in life will keep her going on. A sister that I will love and treasure always.

Sim was also my high school friend, we used to take the same bus to school and fought along the way. We still fight now, this is all because he is not someone who gives in to girls, well at least not me. Aside from the fights between us, we share some really good conversations too. He is a very caring guy and he takes good care of his female companions. That is why I have booked him as my diving buddy. Looking back to those days, we never expect to be the best of friends we are now, right? I cannot even imagine that now. *hehe*


The final pair...Cath&Me














Catheryn was my one year junior during high school. We’d recently teamed up because of diving. Fun girl to be around with as she is always very spontaneous and super friendly. Anytime you are down, she would be a great person to hang out with. Too bad dear, I don’t club, if not I think you’ll be a great clubbing partner. Looking forward to our dive trip the coming April.

Lobster Love

If you read one disgusting story this year . . . LET IT BE THIS ONE!

One morning around am 22 year old Susan DeLucci of Kittery Maine, woke up with a painful need to urinate. At first she thought she had diarrhea, but when she stood up out of bed, she realized that it was urinary pain. It was very similar to the feeling of having diarrhea, just out the wrong hole.

She wobbled to the toilet and upon sitting on it, her vagina erupted into the most horrific messy farting noise anyone has ever heard. In paralyzing pain, Ms. DeLucci for the next few minutes continued to push and squirt out of her vagina a burning tide of wretch and filth while she gripped the sides of the toilet, white-knuckled. She was screaming wildly, and the neighbors called the police.

When medics arrived they found Ms. DeLucci unconscious lying on the floor of her bathroom wearing nothing but her bath robe. Running down her leg, was a stream of brown and green syrup. The medic had to transfer her to a stretcher, so he grabbed her left leg which was bent crossing her other leg, to straighten her out. She was lying there all twisted up. When he lifted her left leg to straighten her body out, he exposed her vagina at which point a creature, no larger than the tip of a finger wormed its way out of her genitals and landed on the floor with a wet popping sound.

Shocked, the medic stared at the creature that was lying on the tile bathroom floor in a casing of mucous. It was a tiny mud shrimp and it sat there on the cold floor gasping for water while flipping itself back and forth. The horrified medic turned to the toilet as he felt the nausea setting in. When he put his face down into the toilet to puke what he saw was so horrific that to this day he cannot look into a toilet without convulsing.

The entire toilet bowl was boiling with baby brown mud shrimp flipping and splashing at a furious pace. If you think that is bad -- wait until you hear how it happened:

Ms. DeLucci official death was the result of a combination of shock and severe head trauma. She stood up over the toilet in pain and when she saw what she had done, she went into shock and fell, smashing her head on the toilet and then on the floor. It is believed by medical police that on two nights before the accident she had purchased a live lobster at a fish market. While lying in a tub, she gently inserted the creature's tail into her vagina to derive pleasure. At that point, she held a lighter under the creature's face causing it to flip its tail in a violent snapping motion.

The medics found a lesbian XXX video in the VCR and the TV was positioned on a table in front of the tub. The lobster was found in the kitchen garbage can wrapped in a paper bag. Traces of Ms. DeLucci's DNA were found on the lobster along with pubic hairs that had wedged themselves between the lobster tail joints. The lobster's face was lightly burned with the same fuel used in lighters. The lobster's digestive track and colon were found to be full of mud shrimp egg casings. Doctors believe that the lobster had eaten them (they are common in the water at fish markets and are usually harmlessly boiled to death) and the lobster had crapped them out into Ms. DeLucci's cunt when she was torturing it.

Maine mud shrimp only take two days to gestate and Ms. DeLucci was only four days away from getting her period, doctors believe that at that point of her menstrual cycle, her womb was the perfect pH balance to grow these mud shrimp which are a much larger version of the popular "Sea Monkey" pets sold throughout the US. Over night the eggs had hatched and the mud shrimp began doubling in size every ten minutes. You can imagine the pain she was in when she woke up that morning and gave birth to well over 1,000 mud shrimp in her toilet.

Message: Use the right equipment please... *hehe*

To my potential business partners/associates

Dear All,

This is one simple Geese fact that I wish to share with all.

The thought that we will be working together hand-in-hand towards a common goal instantly gives me the comfort that however difficult things are going to be in the future, we will embrace it together.

Next time when you see geese flying along in "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way:

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range, than if each bird flew on its own.

Message: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.

Message: It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs and leading the group.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Finally, and this is important. When a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

Message: We will stand by each other this way, and not let anyone of us fall out of the formation/direction.

Time Bank

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a bank.
Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back.
There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!

Message: The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

Treasure every moment that you have! And reassure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

Remember that time waits for no one.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!

Belaian Jiwa

This message is especially posted to the person who help me out a lot with the creation of this blog.

Do you still remember this song???

Seindah
Tiada lagi kau ku ingatkan
Sayang kau hilang
Menanti
Biar sampai akhir hayat
Ku di dunia ini

(Chorus)
Kau tahu betapa
Ku sayang padamu
Hanya bidadari sebagai ganti
Hanya takdir
Menentukan ia
Ohh Belaian jiwa

Ohh angin
Sampaikan lagu ku padanya
Yang sedih pilu
Terimalah
Lagu ku jadi teman
Hidupmu untuk selamanya

(Chorus 2 x )

I've played the song repeatedly over my MP3 player for 2 consecutive days, and it brought back profound memories, memoirs that I initially thought were not momentous enough for me to remember. I was wrong.

I know the message should have been conveyed over to you long before but these words came only after ~15 months.

You were such a darling, so thoughtful, tolerant, accommodative and loads of other things. Thank you for being so understanding [although you lashed back at me many times :)], all the little stuffs you took time to plan, the efforts you made to make me happy, the ever ready shoulder for me to lean on, the time you spare to spend with me (or should I say, wait for me). I was a fool not to realise nor appreciate your efforts then but I do now. Thank you for still being my best friend, for still standing by me all these time and for still being available at any time.

Message: I am so blessed that we are the best of friends now, heartfelt appreciation and being a friend who will standby by you is ALL that I can offer in return. I wish to hold and preserve the friendship bond between us it as it is till the end of time. It’s so precious that, I would not risk this relationship even for anything better. Thanks!

Don’t Hope, DECIDE

It's 2007, it’s another year and I have already set my milestones for the year.

2006 was a great year. It was a good 2 years I spend in the Bank, before I finally dappled upon an opportunity for me to build my own ‘empire’. I enjoyed my banking days, I loved meeting up with my clients, dining in posh restaurants, attending functions, meeting up with ‘big shots’…phew, it was just fantastic. I owe it a lot to the Bank and my ex-bosses for grooming and moulding me into what I am today. Thank you!

However, the gratitude I had for the Bank does not impede me from moving on (by the way, the Bank had also funded my university expenses). I know very well that my growth will be very much constrained if I were to linger on in the Banking line, or should I say, in the employment market. I had the urge to move on to have better control over my destiny, and the only option I had was to set up my own business.

Spoken to many experienced people and you would not be able to imagine the amount of negative feedbacks I’ve received, everyone was telling me that the economy is bad, that I should not give up the security of being under employment, and at 24, I know very little of the ‘jungle’ out there.

Their feedbacks fell on deaf ears. On the 1st June 06, I tendered. I know very well what I want in life and how to accomplish it, so I made the DECISION. I rather live my life out trying, that to imagine many years later with all the ‘what ifs’ that I would ask myself.

Message: Most of the time, we find regrets in NOT doing things that we should have done, rather than doing it.

I went head-to-head against my parents, relatives and senior’s advise and move on into the ‘jungle’. It has been a good 6 months being both physically and emotionally present in the jungle. Trust me, it is not easy at all. I have to cope with stresses from all angles and at all levels, in return I get a lot of free time to do stuffs that I enjoy. I have not regretted any choices I made in the past, and have DECIDED that I shall not regret on my decisions. Life move on, and we learn from mistakes, not dwell in the mistakes.

I do not hope for 2007 to be a good year for me…

I have DECIDED that 2007 WILL be a great and fantastic year.

Message: We do not just HOPE for things to happen, WE SET, PLAN and EXECUTE things.

The Uncertainty Principle

Two sailors ran into each other in a pub. Over a few beers, one of the men told the other about his last voyage: "After a month at sea," he said, "we discovered our masts had been eaten through by termites! Almost nothing left of them." "That's terrible," said the second sailor. "That's what I thought at first too," the first sailor said, "but it turned out to be good luck.

As soon as we took the sails down to fix the masts, we were hit by a squall so suddenly and so hard, it would surely have blown us over if our sails were up at the time." "How lucky!"

"That's exactly what I thought at the time, too. But because our sails were down, we couldn't steer ourselves, and because of the wind, we were blown onto a reef. The hole in the hull was too big to fix. We were stranded." "That is bad luck indeed."

"That's what I thought, too, when it first happened. But we all made it to the beach alive and had plenty to eat. But now here's the real kicker: While we were on the island whining about our terrible fate, we discovered a buried treasure!"

As this story illustrates, you don't know if an event is "good" or "bad" except maybe in retrospect, and even then you don't really know because life keeps going. The story's not over yet. Just because something hasn't turned out to be an advantage yet doesn't mean it is not ever going to.

Therefore, you can simply assume whatever happens is "good." I know that sounds awfully airy-fairy, but it's very practical. If you think an event is good, it's easy to maintain a positive attitude. And your attitude affects your health, it affects the way people treat you and how you treat others, and it affects your energy level. And those can help pave the way for things to turn out well.

A good attitude is a good thing. And a bad attitude does you no good at all. So get in the habit of saying "That's good!" Since you don't know for sure whether something will eventually work to your advantage or not, you might as well assume it will. It is counterproductive to assume otherwise.

Think about it. If someone ahead of you in line at a store is slowing everything down, say to yourself, "That's good!" They may have saved you from getting into an accident when you get back in your car. Or maybe, because you slowed down, you might meet a friend you would have missed. You never know.

Message: Life is uncertain, the only thing we can be certain of is the ability to work the uncertainty to our advantage.

Shake It Off And Step Up

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow.

"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

Message: THAT'S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US!