New Year's Resolution

Many people seem to have a big thing for this so-called new year's resolution. Many like to have at least one. But very often, it proves to be far too ambitious to be achieved, just a dream or more like people simply talk about it but never put in any effort to try to achieve their goals. But still, that hasn't stopped people from making a new year's resolution, year after year. It's been like a tradition to many.

I have never made a new year's resolution before. Do i intend to make one this year ? Yes. I do. As a matter of fact, i am going to make two and this is going to be my first. Well, there goes my virginity ... LOL !

The first one is that i seriously have to stop planning things. I noticed that no good can come from planned things, not for me at least. Every one of them always go awry.

The second thing is that i need to stop having visions. Visions as in the kind entrepreneurs or those really ambitious guys always have. Visions do not work well for me either.

Barely 10 years ago everything looked so good. Okay, missing school is not a new thing for me. I was absent from school for two straight years in Primary 5 and Primary 6 but still i aced the exam and i did not even have a plan then. Most of my friends were like : "i want six As", "i want seven As" etc. and majority of them already knew which school they wanted to go to and i was like this idiot with no will to fight for a bigger slice of pie or a plan of some sort.

Then in Form 1 and Form 2, my grades were good and i became more and more ambitious. It was kind of hard for me not to be ambitious then as i was constantly surrounded by these lions that want to eat you alive. So in order to protect myself from becoming irrelevant in this very competitive class, i too became very ambitious and thrived. The fact that i did very well in UPSR barely two years prior was also a very big morale boost for me. By the end of the first semester in year 2002, i had 4As, 3Bs and 1C for core subjects (proof attached) and i was ranked 15th in the entire second form in the school. 15th place in the entire second form wasn't shabby at all considering the classmates i had, they were no ordinary people. Getting a straight A in the big exam the following year might not be a dream after all.

But then, next thing i remember is that i stayed in SMC for two consecutive weeks and i never returned to school that whole year. After having so many drugs injected to your body, your brain tends to process slower and the painkillers make you high. You see ? So much for having plans and visions eh ? I had plans and visions then and see how that turned out ?

Believe it or not, all the best things just kind of landed on my lap, out of nowhere. It just kind of happened.

Doing things extemporaneously is my thing. I ace it, all the time. No joke ! So from now on, there shall be no more plan, no more vision.

Just so we're clear, this isn't a boast. This is me reminding myself at the things that i once excelled at, like a morale support to me so i can get back on my feet real soon which is way overdue by the way.

Drive safe ! Happy New Year !

It Has Always Been About The Present

Whatever i wrote in the last couple of weeks are all about those still present in my life. People around me. People that i still keep in touch with.

I do not talk about those i had cut out of my life. Whoever i have told straight to their faces that i want you out of my life means nothing to me and they never will be. Those people are gone for good and i have zero interest in the going-ons in their lives. Unlike many people, when i tell you so i really mean it. Every single evidence showing their previous presence in my life will be destroyed by year end which i have done several times in the last few years and not sorry, by the way. Stuff like pictures will all be sold to Asia Recycle before 31st December each year. I do not question a decision that was made and i certainly do not doubt my own decision. That is why i do not get stuck !

All the posts were all mainly about my frustrations toward some of the people still around. I do not talk my feelings. I do not discuss my feelings. I do not simply sound my thought. I do not simply confront you. Instead, i write.

Did You Say It ?

Did you say it ?

I'm upset.

I'm furious.

You're a major disappointment.

You're a terrible Switzerland.

Oh wait ...

You didn't even make an effort to be Switzerland

(so much for being friend)

I am tired of faking my smiles.

I am sick of pretending everything is all right when nothing is.

I am sick of being the only one who's trying to make an effort.

I am sick of giving you the benefit of the doubt over and over again when you clearly do not deserve it.

You release too much negative vibe, all the time.

You always pine for things that you do not/shouldn't have to.

You are selfish.

I knew you can't be counted on.

No one can count on you.

You only think of somebody else when you're in need.

You're a hypocrite.

You can't be trusted.

You are not the most successful around.

You are definitely not the smartest around.

The world does not revolve around you.

It is not always about you.

Get over yourself.

Get a life !

Did you say it ?

What are You Going to be ?

I am not religious. But one doesn't have to be religious to believe in karma.

You might feel that you've been doing a lot of goods yet the whole world is mistreating you. But have you ever wondered that is probably because you are now paying for what you did when you were young ? You probably weren't such a good person then. You might have evolved but that doesn't change your past and this is where karma comes into play.

Indeed no one will be able to guarantee you that by doing good to others, others will treat you the same. There is no guarantee that everything will go on smoothly for you. But if you want to be a self-centered, self-absorbed jerk, then it is almost for sure that you are going to ride across a very bumpy road ahead.

We can't change what we were. But we can decide what kind of person we want to be now and in the future and hope for the best.

You can either be a deceiving, pretentious, self-obsessed, self-centered, self-absorbed, low-life pathetic little bitch and stand zero chance of befriending a loyal, trustworthy, good friend along the way

or

You can either be a good, generous, considerate person and get the chance of befriending someone that is sincere, loyal and trustworthy if you are lucky

The choice is entirely yours to make. Good luck !

Everyone is Talking About You

Everyone is talking about you

Everyone is talking about you not because you are famous

Everyone is talking about you not because you are friendly

Everyone is talking about you not because you are nice

Everyone is talking about you not because you are smart

Everyone is talking about you not because you are handsome or pretty

Everyone is talking about you because you are the biggest joke in town !

Wedding Reception at Promenade Hotel

Do you know what i like best about attending a wedding reception ? No. It's not because i am a hotel buff and the fact that i always enjoy eating at a fancy restaurant. It's the once in a blue moon chance that we get to meet our relatives from all over the world, some relatives that we do not even know of their existence until we are introduced to them.

I attended one such wedding reception last year around September which also happened to be held at the same hotel - Promenade Hotel. It was only then that i know just how many Sino/Kadazan-Dusun relatives i have. Almost the whole banquet hall was filled with people that hardly look like Chinese. My cousins and i are probably the very few ones look like Chinese inside the banquet hall and that made us felt like total outcasts. The fact that Bruneian Malay is not our primary language doesn't help much either.

The old female folks were all wearing the traditional wears that look almost the same as those of the Nyonyas in the Peninsular. Everyone inside the banquet hall was speaking Bruneian Malay, a language that my mom is so familiar with as she too, was raised speaking Bruneian Malay. It is the tradition of a mixed-parentage family from the Kuala Penyu, Beaufort, Weston, Sipitang, Membakut and Papar region to speak solely Bruneian Malay at home, a tradition that none of my mom's eight siblings including my mom carry on but one.

The wedding reception i attended just now was no different either. It was good catching up with relatives we have not seen in moons as well as meeting relatives that we have never met.

By the way, guess what ? I saw an old friend there ! Anyway, we'll get into that later on.

So, we got the invitation from the bride's side because we're relatives. Something i have mentioned earlier on. The newlyweds are Keeven Juksuan ( 黄 伟 文 ) and Jaclyn Tan ( 陈 秀 燕 ). Do not ask me why the groom doesn't have a Chinese surname in his Latinized name because i do not know why either. One thing for sure is that he is definitely not adopted. Both the groom and bride are of Sino/Kadazan-Dusun heritage.

Both of them just finished their undergraduate studies at UKM (or was it UPM ??) this year. So yes. Both of them are still very young. I believe they are only 22 because both of them came out from Labuan Matriculation College.

Do you know who's the guy circled in the picture above ?

It is our old friend - HOW YEN JET !!!!

Speaking of How Yen Jet (in picture 13th & 14th). No. He is not a relative of the groom or the bride. He was invited to perform a few shows by the groom's cousin. That's all.

**Pardon the quality of all the photos. All was taken using my cellphone camera. Should have brought my SONY digital camera with me.

Only For The Discerning Few

• It is the first quad plane that is able to fly non-stop for more than 19 hours at maximum capacity without refueling

• It was the longest-range commercial airliner until the introduction of Boeing 777-200LR in February 2006

• It still graces the title of flying the longest nonstop flight in the world to date :

Newark (New York) - Singapore > 17 hours 45 minutes in the air

Singapore - Newark (New York) > 18 hours 30 minutes in the air

• It is the first widebodied aircraft to be fully configured in a single class layout flying the transpacific route

When Singapore Airlines put the first example into service back in year 2003, the plane was initially configured with 181 seats in two classes (64 in Business & 117 in Executive Economy). The now defunct Singapore Airlines Executive Economy Class, was the name of Singapore Airlines Premium Economy Class. The airline opted to reconfigure all their Airbus A340-500 into an all-Business Class in June 2008 as those people in the accounting office felt the yield in Executive Economy wasn't high enough and there are many people willing to pay S$15,000 just for a seat in Business Class to New York.

The old Singapore Airlines Business Class' name. Now it is simply known as Business Class

The reconfigured Business Class. The exact same type of seat found on the larger Airbus A380-800 and Boeing 777-300ER

The old Business Class

(Raffles Class)

Executive Economy Class

(Premium Economy Class)

**no longer exist

The crew rest area located at the cargo compartment

(there is a tiny stairs at the back of the aircraft leading to the crew rest area)

The lavatory with a window

The aft galley

The "lounge" area located at the back of the aircraft