Perhaps this is what you call love...

I believe most of us, young or old, married or not, sparkle and tear at a tale of a great love story. I believe that we too would want a love story of our own. No matter how your story begins, no matter how many times you've tore off those pages, i hope and wish you find a character who fills the gaps in your life and to journey through an adventure larger than you've ever dreamed of. You can paint your own happy ending. :)

Ok, i will not order more than i can eat ever again...

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Life Crunch

Wow, it has been a month since i last signed in to my blog or read any blogs. I guess there comes a time when we all have to choose, and prioritize our time. My time has come where it is physically impossible for me to juggle between work, life, holidays and blogging. Work has engulfed a big portion of my time for the past month and will continue to do so this month. I must have easily lost a size or two and aged years and more in the past few months. I hope all these sacrifices are worthwhile.

So until i get to have more than 5 hours of decent sleep a day, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone.

Breatheeee

.Almost collapsed at work last Saturday after a morning scare.
But all is good!

4 more days till i roam the streets of Cambodia. Huu huu huu. . .

The story of the 3 siblings

This is a story about 3 siblings (16, 10 and 9 year olds) who were abandoned by their parents and are struggling to make ends meet.

Their plight was covered by Iskandar and Liza yesterday and it has already received overwhelming response from Bruneians home and abroad. I believe some of us, and undeniably myself, at first instance would not hesitate to judge their parents for abandoning them. What i cannot understand is, from a woman's point of view... from a mother's point of view, how can a mother leave her young to the hands of fate. However, true to Reeda's words, more need to be known before they are labelled.

.Some facts about the 3 siblings.

Information extracted from Liza's site.

"Their home: The siblings are staying remotely within the squatter's area of Kampong Jabang Seria. I am sure you know make-shift houses are built illegally on the concession land so they are no proper numbering system there, which is a reason why i could not furnish you with the home address.

Their background: Their parents are jobless and his father is an ex-cop while their mother used to operate a food stall in Seria until few months ago, when they decided to move on Kampong Bangtajuh in Ulu Belait and start a new life as fishermen without their children. They do not leave behind proper food supplies or some cash for groceries. So the children survive on fishes they catch from the river and only drink rainwater.

Source:Liza

The eldest among the siblings is Bobby, and he has a 10-year-old younger sister, Maullena and 9-year-old brother Bonny, the youngest. But according to Bobby, his parents do drop by twice monthly and bring their catch home. They are not fully aware that they are being abandoned which leaves Bobby to be the breadwinner for his young siblings.

Source:Liza

Their suffering: During heavy downpour, these siblings are splattered with rain waters as a result of the broken ceilings and missing window panes. Messy and dirty kitchen utensils as they have no water supply; moldy mattresses and bed sheets.

They walk back and forth every day to school. And their school uniforms and bags are all worn out. They had to skip breakfast and lunch in school cuz they just have no pocket money. They are flat broke."

Source:Iskandar

The good thing that came out from this is not only bringing public awareness to their woeful condition, and rather than just a massive once-off donation, Liza and team has considered long-term support for these children. They are in the midst of discussion with a school to open a joint savings account for the children.

"This is to ensure that the funds will not be mismanage or misuse and utilized wisely. And furthermore it will allow people overseas to transfer or wire monies straight to their account. Once it is open, we will reveal the numbers in our blog.."

How you can help:

They have organised a date where the public can meet and offer their contributions to the children personally @

Venue: Anthony Abell College, Seria

Date: Tuesday, 16 September

Time: 1.30pm

If you are not travelling to Seria on that day, contact Liza babelizcious_78@yahoo.com to make other arrangements.

Please visit their site, Iskandar and Liza, for detailed information on the siblings and follow-up on their acts of love.

The inhumane death sentence

In my previous post, i wanted so much to tell people that dogs do not deserve the kind of death sentenced upon them. But i fell short of that by just venting, rather than really educating people of what they can do to avoid these gruesome acts.

I lost my Milo the same way too. Day in day out what we fed him came back out in seconds, day in day out we tried to make him comfortable, day in day out we have to watch him writhe in agony. No one could help and you cant resist but curse the real murderer who is probably smirking and boasting how he poisoned the dog that wouldnt stop barking at him. He resorted to poisoning my dog within the gates of our home.

The wretched pain is not just watching him die slowly and painfully before our eyes and in my dad's arms , but watching the helplessness of our family, flashbacks of his growth, the anger of losing him to jerks,... losing a loyal and protective companion....

The poo and i also lost Garfield, a pup we adopted 2 years back to poisoning. And just 2 weeks ago, my other half's Scooby Doo got poisoned right outside their house and they are left with nothing but unanswered "Why.s??" A dog that lives at the interest of his owners, a dog that protects his owners. Why would anyone resort to these measures? The thought of that person buying the poison, the thought of that person planning the whole process, the thought of that person wishing death upon these dogs.. sickens me! There is simply no justification for taking away the life of other people's loved ones purposefully, there is simply no justification great enough for punishing them this way.

I cant put these in words louder than this man can. I hope this video of his can put some right to the wrongs that some are committing.

A Dog's Life By David Cheok

View in HD Download 360p Version Visit David Cheok's ExposureRoom Videos Page

No doubt, there are strays in our neighbourhoods. Some may grow up to be fierce and most probably can be attributed to the abuse they received from passerbys. Can you blame them for their basic survival instincts? I think there are some things which is still within our control.

If you chance upon stray puppies, send them to the local animal shelter. Call Kirsteen on 8830556 or email Kirsteen@a-font.com. I'm sure she can help. They have put in great effort to setup this shelter. And authorities can DEFINITELY do their part to help reduce the population of street dogs responsibly, i.e. if they care enough!

Simply because dogs are not pest, and above and beyond what they offer in return to their masters for love, food and care, dogs has helped the blind, dogs are companions to the aged, dogs can teach humans a thing or two about loyalty and perseverance!

Love and Humanity

A simple example of how kindness, love and humanity between individuals will never be forgotten, even the bond between humans and animals.




This simply stirs the anger in me when people or authorities find it their every right to poison dogs for being a nuisance. I dont want to start a heated debate on this topic, but i do think if that's the way to rid nuisance, i wonder if one should also poison the real menaces to our society today.

Patience

This is me now.

This will be me in 29 days...

I just have to be patient, i.e. if i dont go insane between now and then.

Rush hour....

Ok, i know i havent been blogging much.

I am doing the balancing act.

I'm up to my neck with weddings, crunch-time at work and planning for my next adventure. I've stood up my schoolgirls twice in a week! Please switch to your understanding mode and do not threaten to keeeeeeeeeel me.

Above is the link to our Cambodian adventure. It's all about planning, planning and planning. It is rather raw at this point in time and seeing that we have one more month to go, it will be filled with information about food, drinks and places to visit in Cambodia. It might be useful for you when you decide to go to Cambodia someday. ;)

I am diving tomorrow after 6 long months away from salty water! I am scared, i am excited,
i wish i dont get sea-sick! ....balance....

Thought for the day

.Tutong Beach, Brunei.

"A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it,

A song's not a song 'til you sing it,
Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay,
Love isnt love 'til you give it away~"
Oscar Hammerstein ii

Last month, parrot Trace was out on her usual routine, with a faint hope, of bumping into her dog that ran away from home years ago. Instead she turned out to be the saviour of 5 very lucky puppies, whom were on the brink of being eaten alive by red ants, termites and basturdy bugs.

I brought one of them home with me one night thinking i could psycho the old man into letting me keep him, but i woke up the next morning half-going crazy and still got a no from the ol'man.

He took a potful of my sanity.

.Without much persuasion, he chose the most comfortable spot.

He was this precious little thing curled up on the rug...twitchy but fast asleep.

I was staring down at him from my bed, googooing over his cuteness.

I turned the lights off, and all is well...

Until i hrd faint puppy cries, the lil' furball was staring at me, whimpering then started sniffing around my bookshelf, my wardrobes, my rugs whilst i stared in confusion. Suddenly, i lost sight of him, there were no response to my calls, i crawled to the edge of my bed and there he was .. taking a piss next to my bedroom door. *$#&$! He tried his very best to mark every corner as his territory, and i was dutifully cleaning up after him.

From 1am onwards, the nightmare began, recurring like contractions.. every hour thereafter.

.Debbie giving him some loving and attention at 2 in the morning.

3.30 am he was chewing at anything and everything within his reach. I had to eyeball his every move, watching for that sign to lift him over to the newspapers i've spread for his leaks. It got to the point where i tried locking him up in the bathroom, what's a tired person got to do huhhhh. But he cried his way out eventually.

4.30am, he's gotten alot smarter over the last hour. He knows where to pee! He headed straight for the papers, took a whiff and peed! So smart!! Just when the thought of throwing him into the kitchen crossed my mind. I laid in bed like a rock, and he'd come towards me, make little hops and whine, seemingly wanting to hop up to my bed. That was utterly cute but seriously I begged out loud for him to sleep through the night. Pleaaasseeeeeee, pleaaaassseeee go to sleep.

6am. He woke up bloooooody hyper. He was running and skipping around my room, dragging my rugs from one corner to the another, he tried to kill the ff bear, he was shuffling around the papers making bloooooody annoying noises, he was driving me nuts!!!

Then it wore him off.
I texted Trace: "Babe, call me when you're awake, i need to send him home". No reply.

7.30am. I woke up and saw him in a funny position. He was doing circles, and started to squat >_ Life |

Tattered and torn

He walks all the way to the mountain
He looks around says Wow and walks back
Thirsty and tired

Rest and Relaxation
He gets anxious to go back again
He gets there, only this time he stays
Nervous and new

Beer and Buds
He found a place of beauty at last
He thinks he's gonna have himself a blast
Fearsome and fun

Time and Ticking
He finds years have gone by already
He thinks its time to travel back home
Family and friends

Love and Lingering
He gets thinking he doesn't want to go
He gets thinking he doesn't want to stay
Living and life

Dreams and Dreaming
He looks for reasons to stay; denial
He walks back anxious for home; arrival

Rest and Relaxation

Doing the balancing act

.It doesnt take an acrobat.

My brain is overloaded. I dream images of paperwork, colleagues, clients, deadlines, issues, milestones that sleeping seems like a second shift in the office.There are flashes of thoughts wishing for two of me; one of me would be juggling with the work load and running the corporate race, whilst the other would be enjoying the fruits of sweat, diving, travelling, yumming good food, loving, loafing, and perhaps sometimes livin' davida loca. Then we'll both be mighty happy, eh!

What lies ahead for me is 3 months worth of slaving for the better of our government, and attempts to have a life at least an arm away from my laptop. So here's 20mins of my precious time, though also spent staring at a screen. d'oh.

.What happened in the last 3 weeks.

Signs of being a winner at work and loser in life.
- Eating canteen food and working through lunch for 2 consecutive weeks
- Burning my pocket by buying lunch for the team to work through lunch
- Churning documentations at 3am
- Papercuts and bloody blue screens
- Running to my car in a huge, empty carpark
- Failure to catch the jokes my babes are telling because my mind is somewhere else

.Signs of getting a life back in between.
- Watching hongkong series which i have not for the past donkey years.
- Trying out new restaurants
- Spending a weekend in KB
- Doing totally nothing productive and snugged watching movies with someone you care about
- Watching the 2.45am euro match!
- Eating home-cooked meals by wonderful ladies
- Attending weddings
- Hangovers
- Dancing and bruises
- Hearing fantastic stories of things i did but having no recollection at all
- Planning for my next holiday!

Ahhh. It isnt all that bad.
See some of you on the road this Sunday. I foresee dosages of anagram attacks. Help. . .

Who I am makes a difference

Today i received something that i felt i have to share. It's such a simple exercise and the influence it has on a person is extremely rewarding. This is another example of how you can show appreciation to someone who might or might not know they have made a difference to your work, your dreams, your success, your recovery, or basically your life.

Who you are DOES make a difference...

Serendipity

is one of my favourite words in English.

... the randomness; or accidental; or unexpected discovery; of happiness...

Have you had one of those moments?

$%&#*

- You have an appointment at the local hospital at 11.00am.
- You arrived at 10.45am, register and pay, only to sit and wait until 11.45am for your turn.
- You enter the room to a doctor who's slouching on his seat with his eyes half-open.
- His sitting posture looks like he's just about to slide off his oh-so-comfortable chair.
- He is so effin' lazy that he cant get his $*% off his seat to put the xray on the light panel that is less than a metre away. Instead he choose to stretch his arm annoyingly to reach it.
- He then explains the results to you with his eyes closed whilst swaying his oh-so-comfortable chair left and right.

Disregarding the waiting time, what happened to the professionalism of doctors?? That is such a put-off! I left fuming and wishing i've smacked him across the head twice.

.Yea.
.It's the time of the month.

Sunday Nights

can be rather interesting...

.I have a confession.
.I am obsessed with feets.
.My feet particularly.
.That's right.