But i’m not complaining about how tough it is.  In fact, i’ll say i’m quite happy being busy and i’ll say i’m being fueled by my passion.  Teaching, project management and ability to be given a huge chance to make something good happen.  I must say, i actually feel empowered. 

Looking back at my life as it happened over the last 3 months since deciding to take the plunge and come back into my current workplace (but thankfully into a slightly different, extremely enriching, rewarding and character moulding place).  This journey itself is an extremely exciting and fruitful one.  Even if i work my ass off 12 hours a day, i must say i’ve actually started to discover myself much more than i did over the last 1 year.

People here are different, boss is different, environment is different.   I think for one, I’m extremely happy about my boss, why? If not for anything else, I’ll say that she actually cares a great deal for me…. as a person.  Not a machine.   I get to learn, grow intellectually(obviously i can’t spell well) and very importantly professionally. 

Today became one of the most exciting days of my life, after showcasing the result of many hours of work, sleepless nights and weekend burning, I can actually sit back and say I’ve done something GOOD and GREAT!  Terribly happy… 

The consultants that came in from overseas, a bunch of 40 year old, very experienced and very insightful people showed me a side of me that I never knew existed.  A smily person who can still smile despite all the weight bearing down on me.  I’ll say i never used to be able to do that.  This got me thinking on my way driving home… I think you can tell by now I think hell alot, when I can, about anything under the sun & stars.  What is the root cause of me being able to smile?  It all came to me quite abruptly…. my environment, my boss and myself. 

Environment – People working around me giving the moral support to push ahead faster and stronger

My boss – Providing me the space to discover myself, nurturing me, pushing me harder than normal, grooming me to be far better than anyone

Myself - This aspect was somewhat unique.  I wanted to do better, grow faster and make something great!  My determination, spurred on by my peers and boss made me much more motivated than normal and that’s probably why I’m so driven to perform.  

The theory of “small time big time” is in essence rather simple.  But because of our pressures from daily activities, we tend to do only Big time. 

So what is “Small Time Big Time”? 

Let me start with Big time first.  Big time is time spent on the big things in life, things either both of you guys come to a concensus on it or face utter doom.  It’s time that you spend talking about, “Who’s going to pay for the mortgage? How do we split it? Who’s going to pay for the kids’ education?  Do we want to buy a car? What kind of car? What kind of house do you want?  How do we raise the kids? What sort of values do we want in them?”  Things like these are very important, however, in discussing such matters, its very important that we don’t neglect what i would consider as small time.

So what is small time?  Small time is time spent together talking about… well… Nothing.  Not entirely nothing, but rather nothing important.  It’s time you spend talking about why the grass grows green, how many stars are there in the sky, what sort of hobbies do you like to do, have you read the new harry potter book… etc.  Things that if you don’t talk about won’t actually kill you.   BUT to me, it WILL and CAN kill you. 

You see… Big time is like big balls packed together, but if you actually put glue at the points where each ball touches the other, the surface area it covers is very minimal… meaning the bonding between each ball is weak.  BUT if you mix smaller balls (aka small time) between these bigger balls, then put glue, the bonding will be much stronger…  In essence, what i’m trying to get at is that, it isn’t big time that bonds people together, rather its the small time that couples spend together that keep them together.  People don’t enjoy big time, since most of the time its very strenuous on the brain.

Many couples after getting married for many years find themselves drifting from one another, with some either ending in divorce, extramartial affairs or something along that line.  You see, we tend to forget that we are still living things, and with all living things, it needs to be nurtured and loved.  Without such love, the living thing will die.

Which is why i say its terribly important that we not forget to spend little time together, its little effort from ourselves, but its rewards goes a very very long way.  So similiar to the book “Who moved my cheese?” I’ll ask you, “Have you had your dose of small time today?” Remember that life is constantly evolving, constantly on the change, are you on the same boat as your loved one?  If not, then i’ll say you better pull up your socks and get into that same boat before it starts to rock too much or move too far away from you!

Let me start.

First kind, the old school beng with the most amounts of integrity.  They follow the old code of conduct for bengs.  The conduct that teaches trust, integrity and most importantly courage.  Every word they say, they mean it.  In their word, their word is their integrity, they will deliver what they promise.  They will die for the very meaning of their lives.  They aren’t the kinds of beng wannabes that start a fight over stupid things like staring incidents, neither do they start fights over women.  The kind of fights these old school bengs start usually are over territories or over brothers who got into trouble.  They will always ”put time, put place”.  Once there, they would often negotiate with the other side first, failing which they would fight it out one to one.  Behind these old school bengs lies their ”gi na” or in english their men, 2 types of “gi na” exist.  This leads me onto my second kind of ah bengs.

The second kind of beng are usually the men of the first kind.  The younger yet most loyal to the first kind.  This group are usually the ones that carry out the order given by the first one.  This group will always stand strong whenever the first group fights.  They usually stand strong with machetes or “parangs” in their hands.  Not flinching nor showing any signs of fear.  Instead, when asked to fight, they will do so fearlessly until death.  Behind this group lies the last group, which is also the worst and most useless.

The third group will also stand behind the first and second group, also armed with the machete in one hand, BUT a handphone in the other.  What the handphone is for you might ask?  Well, when called to arms, they will be the first to split, dropping the machete but holding tightly onto the handphone.  The handphone is then used to call the police.  This group is the group that you’ll typically see fighting over stupid staring incidents and over childish incidents. 

I’ll like to believe i’m both the first and second group, but ill leave that to my friends to decide.   Question should then be asked to those who read this… which are you?  I know of one distinct person who falls into the last category…  Some of you guys will know who. 

Well, recently I had the great opportunity to put 2 people in touch with each other.  More business transaction than anything else.  You see, I believe the world is as round as it can ever get.  So what you do upon others, others would upon you too.  Especially if it is bad.  So i told myself I will not lower myself to the level of people whose hearts contain nothing but bad intentions.  Instead, I would concentrate on others whose hearts hold everything else.  Others whom I would consider to be more deserving.  All good comes to those who wait. 

I tell you, it makes you feel good that people would appreciate small BUT significant efforts to help them.  Think about it, how much does it cost for you to say, hey I know this friend who i think is extremely suited to this job.  Would you want to speak to him?  Truly, life is funny in its own special ways…. When you least expect life to do anything good, it actually does.  Alot of times, we take things for granted. 

When you are clearing out your office stores, and you want to discard loads of paper or cardboards, does it cost you anything to pass it onto the old lady that comes by everyday looking for paper to collect and recycle whilst earning that little amount of cash to live another day?  I reckon not.  That’s why I enjoy keeping all the paper that we would otherwise toss out the back, wait a few hours till she arrives before passing it onto her.  It’s a small effort on my part, but I tell you, the rewards and praises goes far beyond any amount of money can buy.  The non-tangible gratitude is far more reaching, really.

So really, stop for a bit, look at your life, and consider what sort of impact it would make upon others less well off than yourself for you to take a few minutes a day just doing something that essentially is worth nothing to you, yet worth a million to others.  I know I can sleep alot better each day that way.  How about you?

Moving from sales to non sales, I must say is an entirely different ball game all together.  Coming into this job made me realised that people seemed to be afraid ill steal their jobs or something.  It’s amazing.  I’ve always worked with a concept that everyone works for the greater good, in this case, the company.  Yet, people don’t seem to adopt the same concept.  Instead, they fiercely protect their job by doing miserable things just to prevent me from getting my job done effectively.  AND I can’t understand why!

I’m only interested in building the business, and if in the process i’m being restricted so greatly.. then i’m going to fight even harder to get what i want, no matter the cost.  On top of that, I’m going to be prove that even though they can try and “protect” their jobs, I am still going to get what i want eventually, whether they like it or not.  NEVER restrict my progress.

 Ok, as you can tell, i’m brain dead. I’m done for today.

Why call it the water of life? Simple. Although water is essentially the base material for alcohol, you don’t see people partying, dancing or talking shit over water. Maybe in 100 years time when all hell breaks loose on earth with the way we treat our Gaia, but at the current moment, you have to admit, alot of business deals occur over alcohol. Thats the way the world works.

Was at a club yesterday night, heart thumping music… short skirts shaking their booty around… men talking big and trying to be the man by buying a round of drinks… ME? I was just pretty much standing around absorbing everything that was going on, I’m no alcoholic, i don’t have to go to a club, drink loads of alcohol to enjoy myself. Yes, it does help, but not all the time.

First off, i must say this, i don’t condone getting wasted and getting violent. I believe that you should (especially if you want to drink) know your limits and where it should stop once that limit is near… and if you don’t know how to bloody control that, then you should not drink. Alcohol in moderation i say.

Ok, so back to why i call it water of life. I reckon it brings life into everything, maybe not in the most appropriate way, but definitely brings out the courage in people. Yup! Liquid courage. It’s probably the reason why most chessy pickup lines are used in clubs/pubs and not like on the streets. Simply because by that time, people would be happily high and would be rattling off their mouths. I decided to get online to find out how does alcohol affect us as a person. This is what i got of how stuff works.

The Effects of Alcohol

If you have seen someone who has had too much to drink, you’ve probably noticed definite changes in that person’s performance and behavior. The body responds to alcohol in stages, which correspond to an increase in BAC:

1. Euphoria (BAC = 0.03 to 0.12 percent)
   • They become more self-confident or daring.
   • Their attention span shortens.
   • They may look flushed.
   • Their judgement is not as good — they may say the first thought that comes to mind, rather than an appropriate comment for the given situation.
   • They have trouble with fine movements, such as writing or signing their name.
2. Excitement (BAC = 0.09 to 0.25 percent)
   • They become sleepy.
   • They have trouble understanding or remembering things (even recent events).
   • They do not react to situations as quickly (if they spill a drink they may just stare at it).
   • Their body movements are uncoordinated.
   • They begin to lose their balance easily.
   • Their vision becomes blurry.
   • They may have trouble sensing things (hearing, tasting, feeling, etc.).
3. Confusion (BAC = 0.18 to 0.30 percent)
   • They are confused — might not know where they are or what they are doing.
   • They are dizzy and may stagger.
   • They may be highly emotional — aggressive, withdrawn or overly affectionate.
   • They cannot see clearly.
   • They are sleepy.
   • They have slurred speech.
   • They have uncoordinated movements (trouble catching an object thrown to them).
   • They may not feel pain as readily as a sober person.
4. Stupor (BAC = 0.25 to 0.4 percent)
   • They can barely move at all.
   • They cannot respond to stimuli.
   • They cannot stand or walk.
   • They may vomit.
   • They may lapse in and out of consciousness.
5. Coma (BAC = 0.35 to 0.50 percent)
   • They are unconscious.
   • Their reflexes are depressed (i.e. their pupils do not respond appropriately to changes in light).
   • They feel cool (lower-than-normal body temperature).
   • Their breathing is slower and more shallow.
   • Their heart rate may slow.
   • They may die.
6. Death (BAC more than 0.50 percent) – The person usually stops breathing and dies

Hmm.. So far, in my history of drinking, i’ve only hit point 4. But that was only once a long time ago, now… its only at point number 2. How ’bout u? Alcohol has been around for thousands of years since men discovered that there exists such a liquid which can loosen them up, i reckon its going to stay around for a long time.

Man decides to run on the spur of the moment and start a business with the slogan…

“Your Death Our Business”

Workable? Catchy line BUT question is, will anyone buy it?

Come on…out with it, be truthful to yourself. Quit saying you have no idea what it is. It will be an absolute lie if you say that you don’t have a single clue what that is. Because to me, as long as you are below the age of 60, you DEFINITELY have at some point in your adolescent years owned one…. possibly still owning one. It can come in a form of a pillow, bolster or stuffed toy. I know of 5 people who know one up till this day.  Even Hope and Jasmine had the guts to admit they owned one.. *and possibly still do today*  I’m quite sure i spied one in Geraldine’s room… Or was that just Dion lying there?

Let me guess, you had one of these “chow chow” pillows that you used to keep chewing and twisting it till it became hard and you absolutely LOOOVED to hug, smell, play with the hardened ends till the actual string or corner of the pillow broke off? Or… get this… even better, your pillow changed from pure white to yellowish brown colour which to anyone else was considered hazardous but to you it is as if the angels flew down and entrusted it with you.

Its the kind that you’ll bring it along with you even after you get married, and your poor poor spouse has to put up with every night when you get to bed. The kind that the poor spouse turns around wishing to hug you, and ends up with his/her face in the pillow. Think about it, the poor fellow waking up the next day with full on pimple outbreaks! My God!

Soo… What do you think? Am i being to forward about it? Any confessions?

Where is this place? Its my heaven, my sanctuary and probably soon-to-be my FAVOURITE hangout place. Dempsey Road.

One place in particular i thought the Interior Designers did really well was at Ben and Jerrys. P-E-R-fect…! The very idea of making the floor look and feel old, rustic, rugged and simply cosy, was to me the perfect place to rent and stay. I reckon, i form a very small minority of people who has dreams to stay and an absolutely dilapidated colonial style house. N i mean one that has renovations done but not extensively, just making sure things don’t start falling down.

I loved the idea they used, using old bricks that possibly came from the very place itself. Red coloured bricks making up the overall look of the place, the “Fireplace” and the lounge area. The red bricks itself, provided the rustic feel to the place with huge amount of texture and a sense of how old the place is. I don’t think I provide a really good description of the place. All i can say is that you guys should and must go down to this place. It’s at Dempsey. Go in the night, it brings out much more of the place and atmosphere. I personally spent a good 45mins taking in the view, smell, feel and sense of the place before I needed to scrap myself off my seat and leave the place.

Aaron… if you are reading this, mate… We are DEFINITELY going to Ben n Jerrys when you come back, followed by drinks… I failed to mention something else, for some reason… the ladies at Ben n Jerrys were definitely all lookers man.. i can’t understand why. It could possibly be the ice cream or something, but man… my eyes were definitely full even though I felt dehydrated from the drooling…