happy leap day!

how was your 29th feb? i know mine's good (:

anyway, i was reading a book on how to be the one people like, listen to, and remember. i particularly find something interesting on 'how to turn every conversation into a connection'.

there's this 1 scenario on how to get the uninterested spouse to watch a football game on a sunday afternoon during football season. the winning communicator would say something along these lines, "the game comes on in a few mins & i want to watch it, start to finish. i know you don't like football, but i know i like hanging out with you. can i have my cake and eat it too? will you bring your laptop out here on the couch with me, or maybe just some light reading you need to do? it will make the game more fun for me to have you nearby. the game will be over at four & we can head to Home Depot to get the paint & brushes i know you want."

now the losing communicator, "the game comes in a few mins, & i thought even though you dislike football, i'd like you to stay out here. i work hard all week & this is my only chance to veg out. tell you what: as soon as the game is over, we'll head straight to Home Depot to pick up the paint & brushes you want. i think that's more than fair."

key pointer: replace building anger & an impending argument with tranquility & togetherness. it's interesting how the same scenario could lead to very different outcomes by just the little changes in the words you choose to use.

i guess, we would better appreciate and feel appreciated if words and actions aren't clouded by sarcasm and ill-feels.

more than just a shoulder

i'm not smiling at you or with you, i'm smiling because of you..

chapters in books, episodes in dramas. "how's life?" someone asked. "been sailing," i answered.

in life, it's simple economics..there is no constant. we may assume ceteris paribus to generalise the realities in mechanisms for easy understanding but in the long run, nothing is fixed. there are so many variables, no doubt never exhaustive if you list. it doesn't matter then what the sea condition is, why you sailing a certain direction, where you sailing to, how you sail or with whom. matter of fact is, you will still need to sail on..how rough the sea condition will be, how possibly wrong your direction is, how uncertain you are about the destination, how not right your method of sailing can be or how lonely you get without company on baord. no matter what, you've got a walk ahead.

the only constant i would argue for is ourselves. we are our imaginary friend, we are the ones who stick with us through thick and thin.

what's my point in this entry? the quote in my last.

have a thought, if you bother (:

p.s. guess what?

No one is guaranteed happiness,
life just gives us time and space.
It’s up to us to fill it with joy and meaning.

maklacooked

..that was what mentel ain named the zipped folder containing pictures from our mentel cooking session at her house. sungguh tak senonoh..BUT it was fun ah. hahahh..and so, featuring mentel makla as the cooking chef and mentel ain as the cooking assistant cum host for dapur mentel!

mentel ain: "nampaknya baunya sudah naik ya..ape perlu kita lakukan sekarang?"
mentel makla: "ya..puan puan..baunya sudah naik, jadi sekarang kita masukkan cendawan butang yang telah kita hiris tadi dan gaul lagi hingga sebati"
mentel ain: "puan puan saje? tuan tuan takde?" *giggles and stop stirring*
mentel makla: "ya..puan puan saje..tuan tuan jangan sibok. cakap pun cakap juga, tapi gaul jangan tak gaul..nanti hangus sosnya!!!"

a successful mentel cooking session! no worries. while i was there, i was well fed by ain. lemang and rendang, mac and cheese, donuts and rose syrup. yummy happy food! oh, not forgetting the 4 pairs of shoes and slip of the tongue..! ehehehehh...*mentel*

grouchy

my gigi is sakit. i'm getting a toothache, literally this time.

bored.

it's already the second week of my holiday break and this week is suppose to be study week for the midterm tests which is not next week, but starting the week after next. it's like..i'm having one test every week for 4 weeks in a row..den after those 4 weeks, my law of investments assignment will due. yes i know, the schedule is a little weird but i shan't complain? i have so much time (a whole week) to study for every test. I'm starting pretty slow on the revision..the progress hasn't been so wonderful and like every other student, blame it on procrastination! hahahhh..i can so see myself scrambling at the last minutes but oh well, i welcome the pressure. somehow, i think i work better under pressure..but i know i know, i shouldn't make that as an excuse to slack too much. So here i am, taking a break from burying myself in my texts, notes and review questions.

i want this week to past quick so that i will be more occupied with going to school, though just pathetically attending lectures. actually, i want every week to past quickly to make way for the next week and the next and the next and the next! it just feels great to have something to look forward to every week.. (: even if it's just having free nights for myself to do things that i like (and not tutor!) gahhh..i'm so glad i did not undertake the teaching path and i am where i am right now. i dread teaching (i don't mind lecturing though - there IS a difference). doesn't mean you are able to learn, you can teach just as well. please realize there is no such basis for comparing these two aspects of education.

i think i've rambled too much..so next week, come quick pretty please! hehe...

mentel date!

we had our mentel dinner at mad jack & mentel's crave for cold dessert at island creamery just across the street. oh, i really think that place is cool and cosy..though we went on weekend when it was quite packed. probably it'll be a lil nicer if there's less people (so all the more tak tau malu to bermentel & camwhore! hahah...) ;-b

we had nutella, burnt caramel & i cant remember what with mini m&m's topping & powdered milo/ horlicks..yummy happy food! (: sinful sinful..tsk.


mentel ain..tengok, "baca" mag pun nak tersengih sorang2..haiiiiiiii *shakes head*


Hi manis! SOMEONE's getting more mentel! dah lah aku kena teman send dzul off at the airport, nak pergi toilet laaaa...panas laaaa...berpeluh laaa..."jodoh tangan tuhan" laaa...paiseh laaaa...sedih laaa...nak nangis laaa..."biar ku bersendirian" laaa..
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Who doesn't long for someone to hold
Who knows how to love you without being told...

No Happy Ending

sometimes we tend to not think before we speak or react to certain situations. they say, that's when you think with your heart and not your mind. thinking with our hearts, albeit displaying our true feelings and emotions, might not always be of a good thing. when we respond passionately towards something (and not mindfully), we tend not to think about the consequences of our actions..that we may hurt other's feelings or be judged for our irrational behaviour. we are just on the verge of wanting to let certain things go and express it out like a bursting pipe without considering the after-effect of our impulsive dash. sometimes, the source of our display of expressiveness may not even be in close vicinity. it may be something so far-fetched that it seems so unfair some pretty innocent people have to bear the drench of our bursting pipe. so perhaps, thinking with our heads helps at times? *shrugs*

This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending.
No hope, no love, no glory,
No Happy Ending.
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever.
Then live the rest of our life,
But not together.
- mika

shopping getaway

The tanjung pinang shopping trip over the weekends was great minus the sea-sickness, home-sickness and all the other sickness ;-b clever me, popped the sea-sickness pills right before getting on baord when the pils take 1/2 hr to take effect. oh wells, i still think the pills didn't help much. Probably not "strong" enough. But despite the not-so-enjoyable 1 1/2 hr ride to & fro on the wave master, it was worth it! The itinerary was really packed. Reached, checked in hotel, "play water" in the pool, eat, out shopping, back for short rest, out shopping again, back & out again for seafood, sleep, out again for more shopping..you get the idea. (:

at the terminal..ready to go!

wave master turned out to be a disaster for me! hehe..the boat we went on.

reached hotel & the 1st thing i did was to venture out snapping pictures..


the pool was right in front of our hotel rooms..so obviously the tempt.



bagssssss galore. we spent hours at this shop..cheap fakes are hard to find these days. hahah!


along the streets..we even visited the wet market

ready made spices anyone?





and so at the end of it, contented with my shopping! mentel ain & dearest nab, i got your chloe & coach respectively. you girls better treat me! hahah..meet up soon~

tomorrow's tuesday, so yay!