Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

Life as It Is

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 51 views

Life is a roller coaster. Life is a box of chocolates.  Life is full of surprises. You never know what you’re gonna get.

What a rainbow of emotions I was having for the past 2 days. On Monday, a good friend from Johor called me. Her father just passed away, 2 weeks ago. I used to work for her father, doing part time when I was studying in UTM Skudai. Early of this month, she lost her unborn baby in pregnancy. She was at her 34th week of pregnancy, it was just a matter of 1-2 weeks or days more for her to expect her newborn baby. I was lost for words trying to comfort her. Anything that I wanted to say would seem so insufficient and insignificant.

Then shortly after I put down my phone, another friend just relayed a not so happy news. Her son’s good friend  was playing badminton in front of his house on Saturday evening when suddenly fell over unconscious. The parents then rushed him to the hospital where they did a scan and discovered that one of the arteries in his right lobe of the brain had burst. The doctor said that this is probably a birth defect as the artery wall was unusually thin. They removed a portion of the skull because of swelling.

On Monday morning even though he was unconscious, he seemed to be responsive to voices around him. Then around 12.10pm, he started getting worse. The brain had swelled some more and was pressing against the skull. So they went in for a 2nd operation that evening. The doctor’s prognosis is not good. He told them that chances of survival are pretty slim and if he survived by some miracle, he would have severe n permanent brain damage.

A ruptured artery is caused by an enlargement of the artery wall in a specific area due to blood flow. Its called an aneurysm. Why this happens? Till today, there is no medical explanation for it, yet.

Listening to such news never fails to make me question if life is fair after all. I share the same sentiment with my friend, especially when she said that what she has always struggled with is finding an explanation for these kind of sudden tragedies. God is all about love, isn’t it? So why then does he cause this kind of suffering and pain to innocent little children? So we appreciate life more? What kind of BS is that?

Nope, the theory that God has a plan for everyone of us just does not work for me, I am afraid. I look around me and I see so much suffering in our world and I wonder where is God? I am sorry if I offend anyone here by my thoughts, but for me God is like a super parent and should care and protect us at all times, if he exists.

Then came yesterday, Tuesday. An important day for Malaysians, a big day for Permatang Pauh voters. Voting process started at 8am and I received sms-es, emails and chat messages from friends throughout the day and the topic of the day, of course - Permatang Pauh by-election.

In the afternoon, a friend told us (me and other friends) his wife was already in the hospital, ready to deliver his little man. He was still at Dubai at this time, while his wife is here in Malaysia expecting their baby, supposedly early September. My friend arranged his flight to Malaysia end of this month, on the 30th but his little man could wait no more, it seems like. Well, we congratulated him for the good news and the last I heard around 8pm, he managed to get on the flight to Malaysia and his wife just delivered a healthy 3.7kg baby. I guess he is now with his wife and busy cuddling his little baby. Congrats buddy!!

Of course, the next wonderful news (this depends on which side you are standing), Anwar Ibrahim won a landslide victory in the Permatang Pauh by-election. A thumping victory for the man that has promised and ready to change political landscape of Malaysia. Let’s hope he will deliver his words and stay true to the cause he made us believe and support. I am crossing my fingers and my hope if for achange and a new dawn for Malaysia! Congrats Saudara Anwar for your victory in Permatang Pauh!!

All things come in three it seems, both good and bad things. This morning, my friend informed us, after the 2nd surgery on Monday evening, the poor boy’s condition seems to have stabilized. The doctors were able to remove the blood clots from his brain. He is on antibiotics to treat a brain infection and fever, so he is heavily sedated. On Thursday, the doctors will stop the sedatives if his condition remains stable. They will then assess him further as part of his damaged brain cells were removed which may affect his speech, memory or motor skills. His condition is stable for now, and that is a relief to hear. Things can only get better since he is stable now. Let’s hope for the best yeah?

Life is fragile. Life is unpredictable.

Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we’re all of us looking for the key.

Life is like an onion - you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Carpe scrotum diem!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Manga-ish me!

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 71 views

Noktah Hitam is manga-ed. This is so cute! :XO:

1st picture: Me at work

2nd picture: The everyday me

3rd picture: Gaya me

Now, go get your own manga avatar! FaceYourManga rocks! :up:

Popularity: 5% [?]

Unidentified Flying Object? No, it’s not.

Friday, August 15th, 2008 74 views

I was walking to the car park and suddenly I saw something in the air, flying towards my direction. I wanted to run, but my knee wobbled and I was grounded to the spot. I decided to crawl into my car nearby and observed the flying object from inside my car. The object flew closer, then slowly descended down and landed on the tree. It is yellow and red in colour, with a string attached to it. I took a photo of it before I got closer to inspect it.

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It’s a kite! :grin:

I went and took the kite with me back :P

I was flooded with sudden burst of childhood memories, looking at the kite. I used to make my own kite when I was a kid. The simplest kite I ever made was using just ’satay sticks’ (the satay snack you bought at the shop and the stick is from coconut tree leaves) and a piece of paper, which I ripped off from magazines. Here is how you make this ‘cheapo’ kite.

1. Prepare 2 satay sticks.  The stick you are going to use for the horizontal piece has to be ‘balanced’. The way to test whether it is ‘balanced’, you make a mark at its center point, place the center point on your finger. If the stick drops to one side, shave a little piece from that end. Once you have shaved the piece off, test it again. Repeat this process until the horizontal stick is balanced. This is to ensure your kite will not fly side way because it is heavier on one side haha!

The vertical piece should be tested the same way except; this piece should be heavier at the bottom. Mark the end that dips toward the floor. If it is balanced, shave a piece off one side. Make sure you mark the end that is the heaviest. You will need to know this when you are assembling your kite.

Yes I know. I love MS Paint.

2. Then get a piece of paper, back then I used to  paper from magazine or old school workbook haha! Paper from newpapers is too thin. Take the center page of a magazine so I could make a bigger kite. Then cut out a square shape, and insert the satay sticks. Then you fold the paper on both sides of the satay sticks, secured the string at correct locations and ta daa!! Off you go!

The both sides of the horizontal and vertical sticks should be folded up, to give better wind resistance. LOL!

Ehem, this simple cheapo kite can fly okay.. for real! Tried and tasted many times when I was around 7-8 years old, battling my ‘cheapo’ kite with other kids. After a while, I decided to make a better and proper kite using bamboo, coloured ‘mahjong’ or tissue paper - nicely designed and decorated and went to conquer the neighbourhood ‘battle of the kites’ with ‘glass’ strings! So much fun! Probably one day I should do a post how to make a kick-ass glass strings. Heh?

The games we played as kids back then normally involved running around under the sun (or rain), not sitting on a comfortable couch and only moving your fingers, chewing on Mister Potato chips. We went fishing at ponds, catching small fishes at drains, cycling from one ‘ghetto’ to another, playing marbles, sand balls fight at construction sites, shooting game, police and thief, rubber bands ’shooting’ competition, flipping cards and many more. We went from one neighborhood to another and if you are good, people from other places would come just to ‘challenge’ you. We battled it out there face to face, not sitting behind a computer screen and clicking mouse. LOL! Damn, time flies, waiting for no one heh?

So anyone want to go fly kite with me? :wink: :wink:

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