For a blogger who rarely blogs twice in a month, twice a day seems to say life's looking up.
This morning after getting the movie tickets for tonight, I had less than 2 hours to spare before doing lunch with friends. And I didn't know where to go. My instinct somehow took over and saw me driving around town encircling the vicinity of Main Bazaar, the oldest stretch of Kuching by the river.
It's a phenomenon not unlike an adult turtle returning to her birthplace to breed, or a human baby curling up into the fetal position. Main Bazaar is choke full of boyhood symbolisms it's both breathtaking and haunting just to be around the neighborhood. As if consummating some kind of redemptive act, I'm ever drawn to its physical locality and choppy memories of busy feet, candy shops, grandpa's drawer full of coins, skinned knees, grime-filled gutters, ghostly attics, silly pretend games, icy cold bath water, walled backyards pointing up to the skies...
... It's the safest place on earth to be.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Paradise lost
What a great day to start saturday by hiding under the sheets from the early morning chill. And then the worst that you can imagine happened. My neighbor's newly installed home alarm system got set off at 7:50 in the morning, waking the whole paradise with a rude and abiding cock-a-doodle-doo.
It happened that two gardeners weren't aware of my next-door neighbor's latest widget and triggered the buzz as they were trying the gates to enter. Thus giving birth to the first ever case of false alarm in the 20-year history of the idyllic neighborhood.
It happened that two gardeners weren't aware of my next-door neighbor's latest widget and triggered the buzz as they were trying the gates to enter. Thus giving birth to the first ever case of false alarm in the 20-year history of the idyllic neighborhood.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
"Her Jimmy Boy"
She liked to call him her Jimmy Boy
Though he was about two years older
Jimmy Boy loved her with all his heart
But then again he never ever told her
Whenever they entered the coffee bar
Jimmy Boy would play her favorite tune
They'd order a regular apple pie for two,
Rain or shine, every tuesday afternoon
Jimmy Boy could make her laugh real hard
With a tickle, when his jokes were in vain
And then one day he made her cry real bad
She never wanted to see Jimmy Boy again
So he wrote her a long, remorseful letter
Hoping that she would somehow forgive him
And when her friend handed him her reply
All she had to say in it was, "Sorry, Jim."
Monday, December 12, 2005
The solitary act of wishing upon stars
Had a potluck-style dinner at my friend Sam's newly renovated house two sundays ago.
Someone in the gang had suggested that everyone come out with a dish they never tried before. Turned out that evening around the table that all of us had terrific chef materials hidden inside. No culinary boo-boos committed except for Sam's self-confessed egg and potato tortilla, which still tasted fantastic with his secret soy sauce.
After dinner we gathered around at Sam's poshed-up living area sipping wine and playing a few rounds of In-between, which is fast becoming my favorite card game after some modest winnings at Damai Lagoon.
And it wasn't until late and some in the party had split that someone (I forgot who) suggested a star-gazing session in front of Sam's house, presently a darkened neighborhood. So we pulled up some chairs, Sam lit up some tea candles and mozzie repellent coils, and everyone started gazing skyward.
It was a very still night with an arched, deep sky bursting with stellar mysticism. We discussed the constellation Orion and other random stuff that crossed our fancy. Then I startled. That's from spotting a meteor shooting across too short a distance of the sky before disappearing again. The guys asked me if I made any wish. I said I did. But I didn't say it was a vague, namby-pamby sort of goodwill-ish wish.
Come to think of it, I don't really believe in wishing upon stars -- or for that matter, wishing upon a birthday candle. Aren't they both one and the same thing? Only that we pretend to have plucked a star from the sky and fix it on the tip of a candle above a cake and then make a wish on it. Then we blow it out as if we have exercised the power to dim a star after commanding it to materialize our desires. It's much too solitary an act and much too romantic a gesture to warrant credibility.
It is a modern myth straining for reason, yet we do it all the time.
Someone in the gang had suggested that everyone come out with a dish they never tried before. Turned out that evening around the table that all of us had terrific chef materials hidden inside. No culinary boo-boos committed except for Sam's self-confessed egg and potato tortilla, which still tasted fantastic with his secret soy sauce.
After dinner we gathered around at Sam's poshed-up living area sipping wine and playing a few rounds of In-between, which is fast becoming my favorite card game after some modest winnings at Damai Lagoon.
And it wasn't until late and some in the party had split that someone (I forgot who) suggested a star-gazing session in front of Sam's house, presently a darkened neighborhood. So we pulled up some chairs, Sam lit up some tea candles and mozzie repellent coils, and everyone started gazing skyward.
It was a very still night with an arched, deep sky bursting with stellar mysticism. We discussed the constellation Orion and other random stuff that crossed our fancy. Then I startled. That's from spotting a meteor shooting across too short a distance of the sky before disappearing again. The guys asked me if I made any wish. I said I did. But I didn't say it was a vague, namby-pamby sort of goodwill-ish wish.
Come to think of it, I don't really believe in wishing upon stars -- or for that matter, wishing upon a birthday candle. Aren't they both one and the same thing? Only that we pretend to have plucked a star from the sky and fix it on the tip of a candle above a cake and then make a wish on it. Then we blow it out as if we have exercised the power to dim a star after commanding it to materialize our desires. It's much too solitary an act and much too romantic a gesture to warrant credibility.
It is a modern myth straining for reason, yet we do it all the time.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Notice: Blogger on holiday
Away sunning in Damai Lagoon, Kuching from 27 to 29 November with two lovely couples.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Can you stomach the truth?
Friendlier people have tried to hide their wince whenever I steer conversations to touch upon the issue. Most I've met hate to take part in any of the arguments (a word which is sadly taken by many to bear an equal meaning to quarrels), either because knowing themselves, they fear they would turn hostile as the discussion gets interesting, hence hurting the acquaintanceship (which is a hasty correlation at best), or they really only fear to talk about something they never paid serious mind to.
But it's interesting to see that I was seldom the person determined to bring up the topic. Seeing the flag raised by another, I merely seized my opportunity and refused to let it slip off the conversation before it was amply addressed. When I did choose to take over the helm I did that simply because I've realized that such issues haven't been amply addressed in most cases, and that in turn has damaged our ability to think clearly about really important matters; namely, the perception of right and wrong conducts.
It is not my intention to expound my arguments here and demonstrate an upper hand over people whom I've ever engaged in this kind of discussions with. For the purpose of this entry I only want to accentuate the fact that it is most unnecessary for anyone of us to sidestep the issue as if treading a mine-filled territory. I know many people favor social congeniality over the pursuit of truth. But unfortunately for many (including myself), truth is not always something likeable by virtue of its nature. Unlike what some think, no wrong conduct can be made right or justifiable simply because we like it or hope something good to come out of it.
Truth is tough stuff, both intellectually and emotionally. But without truth that is not subjectively defined life instantly becomes a bondage of lies and delusions; it is the only basis upon which true and lasting freedom is built. And to my fellow believers in Christ: Are we to prize emotional and intellectual comforts above Him who did not spare the ransom to demonstrate to us the truth of our fallenness and to free us for His love?
But it's interesting to see that I was seldom the person determined to bring up the topic. Seeing the flag raised by another, I merely seized my opportunity and refused to let it slip off the conversation before it was amply addressed. When I did choose to take over the helm I did that simply because I've realized that such issues haven't been amply addressed in most cases, and that in turn has damaged our ability to think clearly about really important matters; namely, the perception of right and wrong conducts.
It is not my intention to expound my arguments here and demonstrate an upper hand over people whom I've ever engaged in this kind of discussions with. For the purpose of this entry I only want to accentuate the fact that it is most unnecessary for anyone of us to sidestep the issue as if treading a mine-filled territory. I know many people favor social congeniality over the pursuit of truth. But unfortunately for many (including myself), truth is not always something likeable by virtue of its nature. Unlike what some think, no wrong conduct can be made right or justifiable simply because we like it or hope something good to come out of it.
Truth is tough stuff, both intellectually and emotionally. But without truth that is not subjectively defined life instantly becomes a bondage of lies and delusions; it is the only basis upon which true and lasting freedom is built. And to my fellow believers in Christ: Are we to prize emotional and intellectual comforts above Him who did not spare the ransom to demonstrate to us the truth of our fallenness and to free us for His love?
Thursday, November 03, 2005
43 Things
Found this cool site called 43 Things that I can't help sharing with my visitors. You can create and add up to 43 things that you've been wanting to do but never got around to, chart and share your progress with the world, and check out what the rest of the world is up to. An amazing way to strap on and get serious about your life goals while keeping them under the curious and watchful eyes of the world!
With the same 43 Things account you can also add 43 Places to go.
Man, I got to stop sounding like a TV commercial host!
With the same 43 Things account you can also add 43 Places to go.
Man, I got to stop sounding like a TV commercial host!
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