Gawd, this is scary…in a nice way. You see, I’ve been debating about purchasing Robin Sharma’s The Monk who sold his Ferrari. I’ve heard good things about this book but never took the trouble to look for it until recently (this is where the scary part begins). Two days ago I was at the bookstore and thumbing through it. I was so close to buying when a tiny voice inside me said “Hold on. Don’t buy it yet.” OK, so I didn’t. Then yesterday I was at the bookstore again, looking for another book when I stumbled across this same book. The tiny voice reappeared and repeated the same message. So again I held off making a purchase.

Today my student Sabrina came for her piano lesson and she asked me, “Have you got your Ferrari?” I was a little shocked and said “Umm, no. Why?” She pulled this book out of her bag and said, “Well you can borrow mine then.” I was like…!!! Not that I resented paying for my own copy (it’s only about $10 USD after all) but now I’ve saved some money. Not too bad, savvy?

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Just spotted this book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world that can’t stop talking by Susan Cain in Amazon. It looks very intriguing and interesting (watch the video below) so I daresay this could be my next book order.

You can even take a simple online 12-question quiz at Susan’s website here. I took it and I wasn’t surprised to find that I’m a complete introvert (and I love it!)

And check out Ward Sutton’s excellent graphic review of Susan’s book. Click here or the picture below.

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A few years ago, I was engaged in a conversation with my ex-boss when he remarked about my job position in the hotel. He said very casually, “You’re the electrician.” I was caught by surprise. Umm, I’m a pianist, or at the very least a musician. Not an electrician. My ex-boss didn’t elaborate. I didn’t quiz him about it. So we left it at that. Now I know what he meant.

Everybody takes electricity for granted, especially in an establishment like a hotel. Everybody takes it for granted, that is, until something happens and the juice runs out. No problem, the staff say. “Let’s call the electrician.” The guy comes along, ascertains the problem to be one of the circuits in the main electricity panel boxes, fixes it, and…we have power, folks. If the guy isn’t there or available for some reason, then we have a problem. But until such a situation happens the electrician pretty much isn’t in anybody’s thoughts.

I guess what can be gleaned from this is that we’re all important, in one way or another. We all have a role to play on this Earth, no matter how small we think it might be. For a long time I thought of myself as just a pianist. Another guy may think of himself as only a janitor. A clerk. A paper boy. A ______ (fill in the blank) We’re all interconnected, in one way or another. I might just be a pianist, but I like to think that I have given pleasure and comfort to people who listen to my music—I can recall numerous occasions when friends and even strangers have come up to me and said they appreciated my music.

There’s this guy who looks after the restrooms in the hotel. He’s quiet, looks foreign and probably doesn’t know much English, but each time we meet we exchange a smile and a hello. And with that, two people connect albeit for a brief moment. I guess no matter how bad his day has been he still acts in a cordial manner towards me. And you know what—I respond likewise. I feel good, and I’m sure he does too.

If we can treat people nicely in a simple way such as this, we can treat our lives in the same manner. Of course we have our up days and our down days, but believe me, you attract what you feel and say. If you wake up and tell yourself, “This is going to be a shitty day,” guess what—it’s probably going to be exactly that. If you think that this is just spiritual, new age rubbish, think again. This is fact. It’s actually the law of attraction. You attract what you think.

Norman Vincent Peale has one of the best quotes about this: “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Of course it might not change immediately; time has no hold on the universe and whatever is going to happen in our lives will happen in its own course. However, we have to set the stage for it. So the question is—how do you see your world? How do you paint it? Choose your colors wisely. Paint the world in dull tones of gray and black, and that’s what you’ll receive. Paint it in brighter colors and that’s what you’ll get too. The choice is yours, and yours alone. Choose wisely.

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One of my Christmas presents was an MPH book voucher from a student, so today I decided to head for the bookstore at Gurney Plaza. I remember that the last time I bought a Chicken Soup for the Soul book was way back in 1997. And gosh, the range has expanded tremendously…there were so many titles to choose from. However, two caught my eye, as you can see from the picture—Find Your Happiness and Think Positive. And look at those cute critters on the covers—I’m beginning to miss a certain rabbit now.

What can I say, I’m a self-help junkie.

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May you play more, laugh more, love more, live more, give more, receive more, and celebrate more!
May you open to the vast possibilities and boundless love and wisdom of your grander truer self.
May the doors to your brightest futures swing wide open.
May you know the full extent of your worth and deserving and open to receive all that your heart desires.
May gifts, synchronicities, serendipities and successes dawn effortlessly in your world.
May you connect to and experience more of the love, beauty and light that you are.
May you sparkle and gleam with merriment and magic.
May your laughter refresh the world daily, brightening all those around you, including yourself.
May you know that you are loved, loving and loveable, ever and always.
May you enjoy a blessed and happy life, a life you truly LOVE!

With thanks to Aine Belton.

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The 1885 was transformed into something fantastically different on New Year’s Eve. The balloons with trimmings, the table décor, the menu…everything looked so elegant and you could actually feel a charge of gaiety in the air. Later on it was packed with diners who were obviously intent on having a good time as the last hours of 2011 loomed. I was at the piano as usual, except that I “charged” myself up with two glasses of red wine, heh heh.

During my break I walked to the old Sarkies (which was very quiet now) and snapped some pictures with the lovely staff there. I’ve said it again and again, the staff make the hotel what it is—a home away from home.

(Above L-R) Me, Normala, Christy, and Azhar pose for a picture at the old Sarkies.

(Below) That’s me with Normala and Amisha.

Happy New Year, everyone.

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New Year’s Eve saw me working as usual in the E & O Hotel. Lately I’ve been taking my dinner at the new Sarkies, in the Victory Annex wing. This place is really big; I understand that it can accommodate close to 500 people including alfresco dining. I was there early and that’s why there’s no hustle and bustle yet. The photos show both the interior and exterior dining areas.

(Above) I met the lovely Kamelia and asked her to pose for a picture. This was taken just outside Sarkies; I had to use my Speedlite 580EX II and work fast as she needed to be on duty and it was getting dark.

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I knew my marriage was falling apart for the past few years. Like a plane going on a tailspin there wasn’t any other choice except to bail out. So I moved out in 2010 and earlier this year I filed for a divorce. It had to be done. It was the only viable and sane option for me. Now the ordeal is finally over, thank God.

I won’t go into details but suffice to say there are no winners in a situation like this. The attorneys can argue and fight for all it’s worth, but in the end a tinge of remorse still remains. However, I have decided to let go of all that has happened…life is beckoning me onward and forward and…I will survive.

Everyone has to face their vicissitudes in life, so we have to learn the lessons from them and then decide whether to mope about it or to move on. I have chosen the latter. I have dreams, hopes, aspirations but I need to stay rooted in the present. This is where we should endear ourselves to be. Not the past (it’s gone) or the future (it’s not here yet). The present is the only moment we truly have.

And the saga continues…

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Another tumultuous year has zipped by and before I knew it Mazeta was asking me to accompany the E & O Nightingales for the annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on December 1. Of course there were a few changes—we have a new boss, signor Marco Battistotti (who gave a rousing welcoming speech), we had the Chief Minister of Penang pay a surprise visit and he also gave a brief speech. The Nightingales had different personnel from last year, and the guests adjourned to the new Sarkies in the new Victory Annex after the choir thingy was over. I would like to thank Mrs. Fong for kindly loaning me a Yamaha PSR-E423 keyboard, because I can guarantee you one thing never changes as far as this event is concerned—the cacophony produced by the guests reaches stratospheric levels. It’s all in good fun and this event does herald the beginning of the festive season for the hotel. I lugged along my Canon 550D and Speedlite 580EX II to take some pictures. The first picture above is of the glorious Christmas tree on the morning of December 1. I shot this using bounce flash from the 580EX II and again words fail me—I love my 580EX II.

(Below) Here I am, posing with my Yamaha. I’m a wee bit underexposed because Eugene (the photographer) doesn’t know how to use AE-Lock on my Canon. He’s a Lumix guy, duh!

(Photos below) As usual I snuck into the Bombay Shop before the choir sang and took some pictures of the beautiful items on sale. Setting the 580EX II to bounce flash gives all these pictures a soft, natural look.

(Above) This year’s choir was splendid—they belted their hearts out and had a good time. A guy with an EOS 60D was present so I asked him to take some pictures of us. Fill-in flash saves the day, otherwise our faces would be in shadow.

(Below) Another picture of some choir members and myself. We were in a more relaxed mood now that the ceremony was over, ha ha.

(Photos below) No lack of beautiful women either, heh heh. The shot immediately below was taken with the ever-beautiful Beatrice (aka Mrs. Saxon. Mike, don’t come after me) and the following shot was taken with the lovely Marilyn and Mazeta.

After the event was over the choir members and myself adjourned to a restaurant for some dinner. It was fun and here’s looking forward to the next December 1!

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Oh how I wish I had WLM (Windows Live Messenger) while studying in the States in the early eighties. I remember how I used snail mail to correspond with my parents. A letter would take about ten days (count them) to reach me from Malaysia. If I had something urgent I would have to use my land line to call them (no cellphones in those days) or send a cable through Western Union. Ugh, ugh, and ugh. It would have been nice to have WLM then or even email, at least. I’ve been using WLM for almost eight years and there’s absolutely no way I would give up on it now. So what is it that makes me feel at home with WLM? Plenty.

• It’s free. This is a no-brainer. All you have to do is download and install it in your computer, and it’s yours. Period. And while we’re on this, Hotmail—the wonderful program for email, is free too and so much more user-friendly and fast now. And look what comes with the rest of the Live Essentials suite: Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Mesh, Writer, Bing Bar, Mail, Family Safety, Outlook Connector Pack, Messenger Companion, and Microsoft Silverlight. You can customize what you wish to install, or install all of them. The choice is yours!
• It’s easy to use. Invite your contacts in your Hotmail or any other list to add you to their WLM. Choose your font (or use the default) and type away. If you’re an emoticon lover you’re in for a treat. WLM has a pretty cool bunch of emotes and you can add third-party ones as well.
• Video capability. All you need is a webcam and away you go. Talk to your friends and loved ones and see them in a flash. I’m using the Logitech C510 webcam which is a great HD webcam with a built-in microphone. If only I had this in the eighties!
• With WLM you have the best of everything. You can choose either to type, to make a voice call, or make a video call. Needless to say these three options aren’t mutually independent. For instance you can still type stuff in even though you’re having a video conversation with a friend .
• WLM gives you time to think. In a normal phone call we normally talk. And talk. And talk. Sometimes we do it without collecting our thoughts first. The thing I like about instant messaging is that you can type at your own pace; you don’t have to give an instant reply, and as long as you don’t hit the Enter key your message remains with you (of course once you do hit the Enter key your message is on its way)
• WLM allows you to put up a display message. Not only that, you can set your status to any one of these—Available, Busy, or Away. There is one great feature too. WLM now allows you to appear offline to all your contacts, or you can choose specific contacts (very handy when you don’t want a certain someone to know you’re online)
• Busy? On the go? Fear not, because you can do the WLM thing on your cellphones and other devices. Just download the Messenger App for your device and it’s easy as pie to chat on WLM when you’re moving around. You can download the mobile app for Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, Nokia, and Blackberry.
• What if I encounter problems? Help is just a click away at the Messenger Help Center. There are also plenty of websites that offer help free of charge, like BigBlueBall, of which I’m a staff member. Generally each new version of WLM gets better and more reliable, so much so that you might not require any help at all *wink*
• What if I get tired of chatting? Game time then. Choose from a plethora of games to play with your friends when you’re online. You can even indulge in a video call at the same time you’re playing games. Great for really getting visual!
• Get all your social updates in one place.WLM can directly connect to Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Multiply, and a host of other sites. This is so useful if you’re into the social networking thing.

So there you have it. Windows Live Messenger is a godsend to me because it really is a jack of all trades. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to include in the next version!

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