Dinner with some old friends

002

Well it isn’t every day that you have a Facebook friend visiting your town. My friend Doreen did just that, with her husband Stan, all the way from Adelaide, South Australia. In fact she emailed me weeks earlier about her trip, but I (blush) forgot. However, it was a nice surprise to receive a Facebook message from her saying that she was in Penang and would I like to join Stan and herself for some dinner. So I did, and not only that, they brought loads of chocolate, cookies, and granola bars for me—awww, thank you, guys! I dunno, but it seems like whenever I’m hitting rock bottom the good Lord sends someone kind to soothe my soul. The picture shows the three of us relaxing after our dinner with Irish coffees and a Baileys for me. The last time I saw Doreen was in England, 30 years ago!!

Related posts

The song remains the same

Somehow or other I’ve been suffering from a lack of blogging juices lately…with the help of a little Diana Krall playing in the background hopefully I can get this post published. The crux of the matter is that this festive season has left me a bit depressed—not to the point where I have to resort to medication yet, thank God. After all I have many things to be thankful for (and I do thank the good Lord for my blessings, every day). However, it is hard to feel upbeat all the time when some treacherous curveballs have been thrown my way. Trying my best to duck out of harm’s way, not 100% successful though.

I’m going through a major crisis in my life—something that will probably get worse before it gets better. I don’t want to elaborate too much yet, but the constant source of support that I’ve gotten from friends and relatives has been very encouraging. Nonetheless, it hurts when I have time to ponder, which is why I’m trying to keep myself preoccupied with anything I can find—my teaching, blogging, reading, exercising. Idle minds do give fodder to the devil and his workshop…it’s a blessing that I can feel that there are people who are praying and genuinely concerned about my well-being.

I know it’s silly, but I wish the beaming technologies of Star Trek could be available now. Instead, I have to get onboard a 747 if I want to get out of here. And that costs money, damn.

Still, all it takes is a little warm encouragement from a friend, who says “Hang in there.” Or the smile of a student when I gently encourage her to play (that happened today!) And whaddaya know, a student gave me an early Christmas present—thanks, Jason and Sue! Little things do matter and mean a lot to me…and that’s what keeps me buoyant, instead of slumbering down and wallowing in a mess of self-pity. And let’s not forget music…that really helps to soothe my troubled soul.

Apologies if this post sounds downhearted—it’s the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ—a miracle of miracles. I’ll just have to shoulder on and hopefully God willing, next year will see better days ahead for me…

Season’s Greetings to all my readers. Have a joyous Christmas and Happy New Year.

Related posts

The ABC’s of Me (F)

F: Facebook, Friendships, Food

Ah yes, Facebook. The cyber opium social networking network—some people love it, others wouldn’t even touch it. I haven’t been on Facebook for very long, in fact I only signed up last year but I love it. I can understand why it has become the #1 social networking phenomenon—it has almost everything (text, photos, apps, quizzes, chats, groups, marketplace, etc.) integrated into one convenient center. You just decide how much and what you want to do with it. The wide range of options makes Facebook very customizable, but you’ve got to learn to be careful not to divulge stuff that might come back to haunt you later on (ah yes, heard the one about employers searching FB for information about their prospective staff?)

I use Facebook primarily to connect with my friends and to publicize my blog posts, whenever I write a new one. And the quizzes—well I won’t talk too much about them, because there are some absolutely stupid and banal ones there (imagine a quiz titled “How stupid are you?” and you get the picture) Still, it’s great when you have time to kill or you’re just about fed-up with computer work or games. The chat program is very rudimentary; I still prefer Windows Live Messenger. However, it’s convenient for a quick chat when your friends are logged in.

One thing I’m grateful to Facebook for is that recently I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend from my University of Arizona days. We haven’t been in touch for something like 28 years, and through FB I managed to find this friend and reconnect. It was wonderful, and I think this is something that FB excels in doing…thanks, Facebook!

Friendships and friends mean so much to me. I don’t have a lot of what I would call close friends. Just a few of them and with the exception of one (yes you, Boss!) all the rest are in the good US of A. I know, we can’t like hug or throw friendly punches at each other, but Windows Live Messenger more than makes up for it. To all my friends out there (and you know who you are) I love you all. Thank you for your friendship!

“I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Uh oh, someone’s going to call me a piggy when I mention food. I remember one of the best advice I received from my dad as I was about to depart for the UK was this: “You eat to live, not live to eat.” In other words, don’t be a glutton. And if eating isn’t enjoyable, then why do it? The same goes with sex, I suppose…but oops I am getting side-tracked. Many people are envious of me because I can simply eat whatever I like and yet not put on weight. What can I say, I have a high metabolic rate, LOL. However, I don’t use that as an excuse to pig out—no no no. I’ve been more careful with my diet now that I’m close to hitting the big 5-0.

Speaking of which, I’m absolutely a breakfast person. I need my breakfast! It has been cereal for the past years but recently I converted to oats because of their ability to purge the bad cholesterol away from my body. Honestly I am not a fan of oats but hey, if it’s good for me I’ll eat it. I have regular meals (and leftovers yes) and I indulge in the occasional pizza and burger, though not always. And since I’m managing my boss’ food blog it is sometimes a wee bit overwhelming to look at all those glorious food pictures and become hungry and salivate—but fortunately I can stand it!

As a fitting conclusion to this subject of food, just take a look at this whopper of a burger from Burger King. Can you finish this monster in 7 minutes? Tongue out

P/S Watch the video here.  The final comment from the guy who ate this makes this video well worth watching.

Related posts

Not my usual blog post

Those of you who have been following my ramblings so far would know that I had my second cataract operation on my left eye two weeks ago. While it has made a good recovery and my vision has improved, the downer was that a stubborn redness persisted in my eye (read my Second Sight posts) That has consequently dampened my mood and spirits for the past fortnight, so much so that I didn’t really feel like blogging at all.

I was told by the ophthalmologist to take this weekend off from playing at the hotel, so I decided to update my blog, lest my readers desert me (I hope not!) The redness in my left eye clung to me like a dark storm cloud over my head, and I realized I had to snap out of it—after all I was following the doc’s orders with the eye meds, etc. It was just a matter of time for it to heal, and I must learn to be patient.

Anyways, there are so many things I am thankful for, here they are in no particular order:

  • The enormous improvement in my vision after the two surgeries. Even though I have to wear reading glasses now, it sure beats wearing the old thick glasses.
  • The warmth, support, caring, and prayers of my friends (you know who you are) have helped me immensely throughout these past weeks—friends are definitely the best! Oh, and thank you, Windows Live Messenger.
  • My morning and evening walks, something that I not only do for exercise but also a time where I can be by myself, gazing at God’s creation as I walk (lovely), and oftentimes listening to music or a dear friend’s audio book in my MP3 player.
  • I have to smile with this one—I’ve gone back to consuming yogurt. Amazing, because when I tried that years back, the #2’s just kept coming. Not this time though. Yogurt is simply delicious! And my other vice aka coffee—mmmhmmm, one cup in the morning and another in the afternoon, now that’s pure bliss.
  • I’ve also gone back to reading—I like more action stuff, but Same Kind of Different is great too, Crystal! At the moment I’m reading a short novel by Clive Cussler called Treasure of Khan. I’ve also been reading Richard Carlson’s excellent Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff (and it’s all small stuff), it’s a wonderful book.
  • Many of you know I’m thin as a toothpick, but I still enjoy my food (and I do eat like a pig), even the leftovers. Once in a while I give myself a small treat when I’m out, nothing too expensive. But it makes me feel good!
  • Last but not least—I’m going to be 49 next month—woot! And by golly I’m going to treat myself to a nice birthday present, hee hee, wink wink. Suffice to say that I’m thinking of getting myself back to a hobby I loved way back about two decades ago—photography. Just checking with my bank manager before I “splurge,” we shall see.
  • Whoops, this is the absolute last—I never forget to thank God first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Gratitude works miracles for the soul.

Related posts