Don't Quit Your Day Job

When I got back to KL, I sang at a friend's wedding. To tell you the truth, I wasn't fully prepared to sing. I thought it was gonna be a bunch of friends who will do the whole karaoke thing... turns out I was the only one PERFORMING!! There were no lyrics available! It's a good thing I sort of have the song memorized.

Please forgive the bad singing, as I was totally distracted the whole time with my friends (of which one of them was recording it.)

Enjoy!

Relocating... Relocating... Relocated.

I've got a good excuse for not updating this blog in a very long time... I've been really busy making arrangements to move back to Kuala Lumpur...

That's right... you heard right... I'M BACK, BABY!!

It's something that I've been looking forward to for a while now... it wasn't easy because I had to come home to something which would be a step forward in my career... and that's what they had waiting for me when it finally happened.

I've always thought that I would be 100% happy with leaving Penang. The place and I didn't get along... I'm just the most unluckiest person when I'm there... 3 traffic summonses, 1 surgery, 1 major viral infection, 1 accident, countless number of stomach flu cases, and way too many lonely nights...

But I wasn't 100% happy to leave. I was there for 19 months... during that time I did many things that I wouldn't have done if I was here in KL, busy as a bee. I was in a band, I wrote the lyrics for two songs (which my friend and I plan to record), I joined a gym, I hiked to a secluded beach, I had a barbecue on a beach, I wept when I visited an orphanage, I became a 'brother' in a Chinese wedding, I started to learn Hokkien, I bought my first guitar, I started this blog, and I forged bonds of friendship that will last a lifetime...

I have a group of friends in Penang that helped me get through my time there. Amazingly, we all met because we shared the same bad habit... we all smoked. We met at the smoking corner. It’s amazing how a bunch of people who just made small talk while smoking ended up as close as ‘brothers’... and we were the ‘brothers’ when one of them got married.

My last night there was quite depressing for me... we went out for drinks after work... and that final goodbye wasn’t as I imagined it... I always thought I would be smiling uncontrollably, but instead it was a bunch of sad faces... thank god my farewell party took place the weekend before, and there wasn’t a sad face in the bunch...

Of course, I also had other close friends there in Penang who weren’t in the ‘smoking section’... have to mention them as well, cause they also made my time in Penang memorable...

There are people out there who believe that they can survive on their own... they may be able to survive, but what is the point in achieving anything in life if you’ve got nobody to share it with. It’s not every day that you meet someone that would become your ‘BFF’... but if you’re lucky enough, then you’ll meet the right people when you need them most.

I guess I was lucky in Penang after all...

Some Things Never Change

I started this blog thinking that I would change as I get older... maybe be a little more laid back, a little more mature... but after a year of my 30's, I've realized that people don't change.

You are the same person you are now that you were when you were born. If you were happy when you were a kid, then you are most likely a bubbly person now. If you were boring as a kid... well, you get the picture...

I've found that I still have the same traits I had when I was a kid... I crave attention, I'm very sensitive, I have my mood swings, I have a lot of love to give and I require that love to be reciprocated. So much for becoming more mature, eh?

Don't start thinking how you've changed over the years... because you haven't. None of us do... we are creatures of habit. That's why people make the same mistakes again and again... you learn from your mistakes, but you are just driven to do it all over again.

This becomes a problem in relationships... we try to change our partners to suit our needs. We tell them how certain things are important to us, and they should make that change in their lives because you would do the same for them... that's what love is, isn't it? Sacrifice, give and take....

If you can't change yourself, then what makes you think you can change others?

Of course we try to cater to our partners... the most simple example would be to drop a bad habit like smoking... I've seen friends who 'quit smoking' because their partner doesn't approve... but give them a single opportunity, and they'll be puffing away like there's no tomorrow...

You can only change for yourself, not for others. We weren't built like that. Yes, we adapt... but are we totally happy with that adaptation? Or are we just lying to ourselves?

So here's my two cents... if you love a person, don't expect them to change for you... accept their 'shortcomings'... go ahead and be miserable... because your love for them would cancel out that misery...

Kind of depressing, don't you think? But if you've ever been in love, you know that love hurts...

Hehehe... I couldn't resist... this song's been stuck in my head for many years now.

There's got to be a point to this post, right... so here it is...

We are creatures of habit and will never change... you can try, but whether or not you'll be happy after changing is still up for debate. So just learn to love yourself.... cause no matter how awful you are, somebody loves you just the way you are...

Grief

I'm in one of my dark and gloomy moods... people around me have noticed it... they say I don't say much anymore, I'm often in a world of my own, I take way too long to answer questions... in other words, I'm the exact opposite of my usual self...

Something has obviously gone wrong in my life, and I'm trying to deal with it. I read about the 'five stages of grief' before this... so I kind of know what's going on. So in an effort to cheer myself up, I'm going to take a 'less than serious' look at the Kubler-Ross model... (by the way, the 'u' in Kubler has those two little dots on it, but I have no idea how to do that!).

The first stage of grief is denial... I LOVE this stage... what a better way to start things off by denying anything has ever happened? At this point, obviously things have not sunk in yet... as they say, ignorance is bliss!

Reminds me of story when I was in school... I was in the Interact Club (a junior version of the Rotary Club), and we volunteered to help out at the Malaysian Association for the Blind's family day. A few of us were in charge of the registration when this particular man arrived... when we asked him his name, he kept quite and went through the name list... he only told us his name when he couldn't find it in the list... after registration, he wouldn't accept any help to his seat, and decided to find it himself...

It's one thing to deny the fact that you've lost your job, or broken up with your partner... but to deny the fact that you're blind just takes it to another level... by the way, we let him be because none of us were blind and didn't know what he was going through...

Second stage is Anger... now this is fun... this is when you can blame everybody but yourself... nobody gets spared... if you get lung cancer from smoking, you'll probably blame the government for not outlawing the sale of tobacco... it's just nice to have somebody to blame, don't you think?

Stage number three - bargaining... you'll start to give up your believes and ideals to get back what was taken from you... It may involve a lifestyle change, or a change of heart... but usually it's something you wouldn't do under normal circumstances.... I have a friend, who fortunately stood firm at 'the bargaining table'... she broke up with the boyfriend, and when they discussed getting back together, the now ex-boyfriend put one condition... anal sex! All I have to say to that is "owwwkayyy"... (by the way, I know you guys must be wondering if she 'took the deal'.... she didn't... )

Stage four is the worse, which is depression... the moping around, crying, antisocial behavior... you will feel like just hiding in your room/house, not eating, doing nothing... you'll call your friends and ask them what they're up to. When they ask you to join, you'll politely decline... showering becomes optional... a smile nowhere to be seen... this will take a lot out of you... because amazingly, doing nothing makes you tired... there's no use cheering somebody up when they go through this... let them mourn their loss... it's healthy to let it out instead of keeping it bottled inside...

Finally, stage five... acceptance... YAHOOOO!!! This is when you realise that 'shit happens'... you do the best you can and hopefully it turns out well... if it doesn't, then there's probably a silver lining... either it's a lesson learned, or you are meant for better things... at this point you rejoin the rest of the human race... you continue with your life, slightly bruised, but better in the end...

They should add a sixth stage though.... PARTY!!

Way of the Future

Last night, I went out with my family... by that I mean my parents, sisters, their families... you get the picture... I thought it was just for our usual family get-together during the weekends, but it was actually to celebrate both my birthday as well as my niece's.

So, finally figuring out how to upload pics from my phone into my facebook, I started sending pictures of the food and the cake... as usual, friends started to comment... then I realized something weird... one of my nieces commented on the pics... only thing was, we were in the same house at the same time...

I've even heard stories about parents communicating with their kids through the facebook wall... all while they were sitting beside each other...

I seriously think technology is out of control... we are getting further and further away from normal human interaction. We have this false sense of connection by just 'adding' a friend on facebook... it used to be just for friends... now it has expanded to include your relatives...

I now have an excuse not to visit my relatives... when I do show up during the festive season, everybody knows about everything going on in my life anyway, so it even spares me the 'catching up' conversations...

I may be a bit old fashioned, but I really prefer to talk in person... yes, technology makes everything more convenient, but it's so impersonal... I like the whole human interaction thing... I want to spend 3 hours at a coffee shop, just talking... of course it's now regarded as a waste of time... if you 'chat online', you can get your banking done, write a blog, edit pictures, download songs and whatever else you do online at the same time... if you're at the coffee shop, you're just drinking coffee...

It's not to say coffee shops no longer have customers... you have a bunch of people who hang out there and use their laptops...

This lack of social interaction does have an impact on my creative juices... if you're not having conversations (and IMs do NOT count as conversation to me) then what could possibly inspire me? Am I supposed to write about how a contact IM'ed this really hilarious link that really made me LOL? I mean, really ROTFL... It was a good thing he caught me right before I was AFK... AFAICT, it was an original joke... I've seen some good ones but AINEC to this new one... I showed it to a friend and he asked me AYSOS? WTF!? So I told the guy to PFO...

Yeah... doesn't exactly sound like Pulitzer Prize winning stuff, does it?

We need to get out more... see more people... live life like we used to... in person... and we somehow must convince the younger Gen-Y folks to do the same... they are even more into this online interaction stuff... they were born into a world where online social networks already existed... this is now their world that we are living in... unfortunately, most people my age (and older) have a hard time relating to these people... not because we are not technologically savvy... but because they don't talk to you in person...

Do you know how frustrating it is to interview the fresh graduates nowadays... they don't know how to talk... I'm pretty sure if I put a laptop in front of them, and start to IM with them, I'll get better responses, though it will be in short form...

Unfortunately, if you ever say this to a Gen-Y kid, the most likely response will be PMYMHMMFSWGAD! (look it up, it's a real acronym...)

Trust Issues

Do you remember your first relationship? The initial stage was the best. You were innocent then. You had never been hurt, lied to, cheated on, disappointed by or any other bad thing that happens in relationships. You trust the person, no matter what they said or did. You basically didn't have trust issues...

But relationships don't always have a fairy tale ending... in fact, I've never heard of a perfect relationship.

So things start to happen to you... it may be small things like your partner is always late... or big things like your partner turns out to be an illegal alien trying to get citizenship.

Whatever the problems you face in your relationship, you carry it with you. Your partner may be late once, but later on, you expect them to be late. And when they are occasionally late, you go all nuts, telling them how they are always late...

If you think this is bad, then you're gonna cringe when you read what's next... you bring this problem with you to your next relationship... you expect your new partner to be late all the time?

Sounds too far fetched?

Look at your current relationship... do you trust your partner 100%? If you were to see your partner walking down the street with somebody else, would you wonder who that person was? Would your mind be at ease while you wait for your partner to explain? Would you believe their explanation?

I would like to think that I am an understanding person... that I am full of trust when it comes to people, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, deep down I know that I'm nothing like that. I worry. I jump to conclusions. I lose sleep. And that's just over the simple things such as being late... we haven't even touched the more serious things...

No statement would be complete without an example... so I'll give you one of mine... I have a problem when my phone calls are not answered... I'm not talking about a landline, but a cellphone. People don't go anywhere without their cell these days. If you're in a meeting, you can always excuse yourself to answer the phone and say that you'll call back... or just a simple text message to say that you'll call back... there is no reason (in my head at least) for you not to answer your phone... As a friend puts it, 'if you don't answer the phone during office hours, then you better be lying in a ditch'.

I've never thought about this 'thing' of mine until today... and I've finally realized the reason behind it. Many years ago, there was an event involving unanswered cell phones... and trust was betrayed... years later, I still don't handle it well...

What!? That's it!!?? No details!!??

Well, this blog is about my life lessons... not a peek into my private life...

When we take these distrusts and insecurities with us, we are constantly punishing our partner for one mistake... it's even worse if we take it into our next relationship. Your new partner will pay for somebody else's mistake.

Love is about trust. Yes, it's tough to trust. But you'll be happier if you learn to trust...

Your partner may have a good reason for the things they do... you might not like the reason... you might not even understand it... but hey, if you can't trust your partner, then who can you trust?

One Year Later

I started this blog around the time of my 30^th birthday… it was supposed to document my life’s journey for the next decade. Now a year has almost passed. I’m turning 31 this month. So what have I learned within this one year?

1. People don’t read blogs which are not updated often – ok, that was definitely my fault. I got busy and in my down time, I couldn’t muster up the energy to turn on my laptop and start writing. Have to thank you guys though for being loyal and reading this stuff…

2. Men age like wine – when I was turning 30, I pretty much freaked out. I’ve always liked the fact that I looked younger than my actual age. I’ve been asked for ID at a club when I was 28-29. Suddenly, when I ask people how old they think I am, they started saying I was 30+! But then, I started noticing something… women respond better to older guys… I don’t know, maybe it’s something about the illusion of wisdom and stability that comes with age… and it’s not only with women. The appearance of youth in men worries people in the business world. It seems that the older you look, the more people trust you.

3. I am horrible at musical instruments – I’ve been trying to learn the guitar for the past year. Still stuck at the first few chords. My guitarist (who just happens to be my guitar teacher as well) shakes his head when he sees me play… he says I need to relax a bit more… by the way, I’ve also tried drums… just as bad…

4. I am getting worse when it comes to remembering names and faces – I really have to do something about this. I’ve had this problem since I can remember. It’s really getting out of hand now, since I deal with hundreds of people for work. This is an actual conversation that has happened when I went for a meeting –

Me : hi, I’m Hisyam from _________

Client : yes, I know… we’ve had meetings together before.

Me : oops…

5. I’ve learned to relax – one problem with being young is that you have all that fire in your blood. You take offence to everything little thing that people do to you (or sometimes it doesn’t even involve you, but you feel ‘morally’ obligated to give that person a piece of your mind). One thing I’ve learned is if you can forgive others for their trespasses, then your mind will be at ease. It’s not to say you won’t protect yourself, but if it’s already happened, then it’s a lesson learned, and you move on. I’m much happier in traffic (and the time just flies when you don’t care that other people are cutting queue), I’m happier with my family and friends, I’m happier at work… It’s not to say I’m a saint now, but I’m moving in that general direction.

6. Karma is a bitch, and she holds a grudge – I’ve seen a lot this year to make me believe that statement. Never hurt somebody on purpose… seems that the payback seems to double of what you put that person through. Have you ever noticed how people that get where they are by stepping on other don’t ever seem to be totally happy?

I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of other lessons I’ve learned throughout the year. Though I think it’s going to take me some time to figure those out… So I guess I'll end this post with ...

To Be Continued... (at my own leisurely pace, of course)