Overwhelmed

Too many things happening at the same time.

Not enough sleep not because the little one is keeping me awake (well partially) but because of the things I keep having to think about.

Stress!

Blog later. Ta!

Diagnosis please?

My lovely little girl was born just last week and now she's at home already doing the superman pose with the hand on the head and the hand stretched out. But that's not what I wanna blog about. I could write a 5 page essay on my daughter and that would just be part 1 but I doubt anyone would want to read that much about my pride and joy.

Anyway, I'd like to talk about this feeling I have in my chest. It's like the anxiety attack you get when you go for your first interview, or the feeling you get when you meet up with your penpal for the first time, except the feeling doesn't ever go away. It's been bugging me since my daughter was brought back home and I can't quite put my finger on what's causing it.

Is it because of my daughter's crying? This really gets to me. I feel totally devastated whenever she cries and all you wanna do is just smother her with attention... which apparently is not good. Spoils the child.

Is it because of my lost 'freedom'? I've totally lost interest in my hobbies. Well, maybe not totally, instead of 80% I'm now at 15% at most.

Or is it just because of gas? I dunno. I've been having an upset stomach and there's plenty of air. Side effects?

Diagnosis please!

Are fairies real?

I think everyone goes through a phase where they are forced to make drastic decisions that will change their life forever. Like the first time you had sex - it may or may not turn you into a nympho but it'll definitely open your eyes to the possibilities in relationships. Or the time when you bought your first house - the obligation of putting aside a large sum of your salary to pay for this piece of property means playing less pool and drinking at pubs with friends. Or how about when you proposed to your wife/husband - this usually means guys/girls stop calling you since you're off the market. It's true! My phone bills have gone down drastically since I got married. Same applies to my wife. It's gotten to the extent where we are forced to make random courtesy calls to friends just so that we can use up our minutes!

Anyway, basically sometimes we're forced to make decisions that'll alter our lifestyle forever. Sometimes it's a good change, other times it's bad or painful. Like Sharon's recent events and Mystery Lady's moving dilemma (well, it's not really a dilemma since she's committed to doing it).

Sharon's case was less than pleasant and unfortunately it took a toll on her emotional well being and she cracked. The change in her life had a negative impact but thankfully she is constantly surrounded by great friends who did their best to deal with the situation. IMHO that's a big positive out of a negative event. It's not everyday you get to see who your friends are and who your real friends are. Anyway, she has my support even though I do not know her personally and I can relate to her situation as I've been through similar situations before (maybe not the exactly the same but similar). All the same, she has the support of this 'stranger'.

Mystery Lady on the other hand made the decision that will definitely change her life and I'm quite sure the secret feeling of excitement of the unknown comes into play here. I've never been in her situation so all I can do is to wish her the best and wishes that she keeps blogging! Though personally I think she could do with jazzing up her blog a big with some colours. :) (Psst - Need help?)

Myself? Where do I start! A lot of people have come and gone in my life that have affected me in some way or rather. My parents on the other hand have always believed in having a hands-off approach with my upbringing and let me be or do whatever I want as long as it was reasonable. That had some adverse effects on my personality apparently because everything I did was always 'right'. Anyway, that's another story. The people that caused drastic changes in my life were surprisingly my ex girlfriends. These things called "ex's" usually have big impacts in anyones life, especially if he/she was supposed to be 'the one'.

I'm sure everyone of us who've been in a real relationship (those fling-of-fancy's don't count) would've thought at some point "She's the one" (or He). Then only to have the relationship crumble into pieces and the following distress et all. Some shatter in a thousand pieces and swear off the opposite sex and turn homosexual whilst others learn from the whole experience and grow stronger. (Me) being homophobic means I'm the latter.

What did I learn exactly?

1. I learnt that I suck at long distance relationships.
2. I learnt to drive better.
3. I learnt that I can't trust people 100%.
4. I learnt to be less temperamental.
5. I learnt that hiking is very exhilarating and that I love it (provided it didn't kill me first!!)
6. I learnt humility.

Yes... I really did learn to drive better with one of my ex's as the back-seat driver. Apparently I drove like a F1 driver on steroids. Oh well. Gone are the days when petrol was cheap to burn.

#3 was quite hurtful. Finding out things about your partner from others, then confronting her only to find out that what I heard was true got pretty disconcerting (to say the least!).

My last ex was an ardent hiker. She introduced me to the world of hiking mountains and waterfalls. This love for the open has stuck with me until today except I'm no longer as hard core as I was when I was dating her. We used to go climbing every weekend to some remote place with the gang and I'd discover all sorts of wonderous things. Pitcher plants, unbelievable sunsets and sunrises, fantastic scenary and the horrid leeches. Nowdays I'm game for perhaps a hike and camp every once or twice a month. The fresh air does wonders for the soul. I highly recommend it to everyone who needs to clear their head.

#4 isn't related to my ex's, it's related to my wife actually. It's funny everytime I tell the story to anyone who cares to listen. I was pretty infamous during my younger years for being pretty downright blunt and nasty. I've gotten into arguments with tonnes of people and my reputation preceded me apparently, my wife had heard about my temperamental attitude before she even knew who I was! Her friends all were strongly against our relationship and even threatened to boycott an event that I was attending. That's how bad I was (evil grin). Anyway, long story short, I am a changed man since knowing my wife.

Life doesn't stop changing for me though. Things will start to change even more with Izso Jr. in the pipeline. I'll post up a picture of my little darling if I remember to do it when I get back. Nope, Izso Jr. isn't born yet so hail the miracle of modern technology - Ultrasound 3D/4D imaging!

Anyway, if you read this whole post, congrats for having the patience to read through my babble. It's rare I get into the mood to write something this long so pats on the back for me.

Currently listening to DJ Tiesto ft DJ Hooligan "Hear you now" (Search for Sunrise 3)

Have a great day folks cuz you'll never know what'll happen next!

Translation 101

In the spirit of ridiculously labelled signboards, my friend Danny thought he'd share with me what he came across in China.

Trust the Chinese to have a poor grasp of English.

Anyway, enjoy.

What is the correct chinese word for this dish? How on earth did they get Bamboo Shoot Tip Explosion??



I'd personally lose interest in this dish if they named is "Chicken in vain". Sounded like the chicken put up a fight.

Uh... I'm quite sure this dish has no tiger parts in it.

Noisy bugger eh?

Again... how the heck do they translate? Burns the taste? And to top it off, double?? There goes your tongue that's for sure.

Erm... in some countries "Your goose is cooked" doesn't mean it's time to eat.....



I'm glad I'm good in English. Just that I'm sorry I can't read Chinese. Must learn.

Anyhow-also-can

I like cooking. Seriously. I enjoy watching AFC (Asian Food Channel) as well and seeing how those chefs cook is always interesting. I get envious whenever I see how these chefs make cooking seem so easy. Their ingredients are always so expensive and those condiments and herbs are always so easily accessible for these fellas.

Anyway, I like cooking.

But I'm not very good at it. My mom isn't either but she's got this nifty little skill that makes her cooking good. She has this interesting style called "anything goes" and the new stuff that she comes up with is always so delicious. Whenever she tries to follow a recipe the results usually are less than ideal. Still great, but not as good if she were to mix-mash herself.

So you can imagine how I cook. I mix and mash whatever that comes to mind (it's easier if I've already tasted the ingredients at least once before so I'd know how to mix and match). Just yesterday I came up with my own version Aglio Olio which was originated from the poorer blokes back then when cheese was too expensive. Anyway, it turned out quite good, even wifey said so! Here's the recipe :

Ingredients

Slightly less than 1/2 packet Spirals (serves 2)

5 to 8 cloves of garlic

Extra Virgin Olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

Mushroom sausages x 3 (or 2 depending on your preference)

Green bell pepper / capsicum x 1/2

Chili padi (seeded) or chili flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Chop garlic. There's no such thing as too much garlic.

Chop bell pepper into small minicubes. Chewable size - not too large.

Slice sausages into thin slices. This will have quite a strong taste so estimate about a handful.

Chop the chili padi and take out all the seeds. Chop until fine. If you're using chili flakes, you can ignore this step.

Boil the pasta with a teaspoon of oil and salt.

Pour 1cm of olive oil in the pan and add a teaspoon of salt and fry garlic + chili (padi or flake) until it's starting to turn golden brown and the salt melts. Then take it off the flame.

Toss the pasta with the oil + garlic + salt + chili. Put into 2 separate plates.

Using remaining oil, fry the sausages and bell pepper until the sausages are cooked. Add salt for flavour.

Throw all the sausages, bell peppers and oil into the pasta and toss.

Done. It's oily yes.. but it's olive oil. Olive oil (extra virgin) is actually good for you. So eat with no guilt!

Selamat Hari Raya

To all my muslim friends (Haters included), Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir dan Batin!

Signboards ?

As usual I get these from an email and I thought I'd share. The funny ones anyway.

Erm... Righhhhhhht.

School TARTS.. dream come true for hot blooded men?

Make up your mind!

For real? LOL

Tax money at its best.

This is so offensive. But it's also proof of not clearly thinking it clearly.

Erm.. to enter or not enter?

Okaaaaaay..

In case Batman forgets? LOL

And you thought your "special skills" wouldn't have any place in your resume. XD

Women of the world... take heed! And to think only 36% of women in the world can get this.

I have no freaking idea what this ad is for.

Hygiene is important. LOL

Tax money at its best again. I hope it's not THAT much an emergency.

My personal favorite. :D

Sasi the Don

I just heard the song from Sasi the Don on radio that's in collaboration with Doctor Alban - "Music in me". It's got a lot of Dr. Alban influence in the song.

It's good.

Me likes.

He has my vote. Screw the other guy who's competing for airtime on Hitz.fm. His song "Diamonds" is good, but Sasi's one is much better.

I might be biased though. In the 80s I was a huge fan of Dr. Alban. His song "It's my life" was the first song my group of friends would literally bounce to and even today it's still pretty damn catchy.

Vote Sasi's song at the Hitz website. Vote "Music in me" because it sounds like Dr. Alban. Vote that song cuz it gives you tingles whenever you hear it.

Me likes.