Sunday, March 30, 2008

*Malu* (Earth Hour 2008)

So Melbournians - where were you yesterday at 8pm?
Yup - that's right - it's the Earth Hour which I supposedly signed up for (Refer here) - and what was I doing?

Here's where the "malu" (translation: embarrassment) comes in... I was cooking, with lights on - and complaining that the light wasn't bright enough.

Sigh! I really have to learn to know myself better and stop signing up for things that I wouldn't commit to.

Read another Melbournian's honest take on the Earth Hour 2008 here - posted @ Writings in keinism.

How did Sydney go this time?
Check out this cool video of Sydney entering Earth Hour 2008 or if you prefer picture, here in the Sydney Observatory blog.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Awesome Life Tips by "Dumb Little Man"

39 Ways to Live, and Not Merely Exist @ DumbLittleMan

Such an awesome post - can't quite get enough of it!!! GREAT work, Leo!

It began with a very relevant inspiring quote,
"The proper function of man is to live - not to exist."
-- Jack London
, it continues with listing 39 kewl different tips on living life!

It's a very tough decision, but here's my five favorites:
  1. Love."You've never lived till you have loved."

  2. Be in the moment.“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” - Oprah Winfrey

  3. Travel.“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” — St. Augustine

  4. Follow excitement.“The end is never as satisfying as the journey. To have achieved everything but to have done so without integrity and excitement is to have achieved nothing.” - Anonymous

  5. Savor food.“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” - Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright


Plus, (a little bit of cheat here), I'd really like to try to "Watch sunsets, daily."

I wish I can still include this in my Google Reader Shared Items - not sure how though cause this was posted in June 2007.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Craving...

"Chut Chut"
OR "perriwinkles" (says Eat Drink Man Woman Dog)
*u...enakkkkk...e!!!* the pic gets my mouth watering!!!


* Picture taken from three meals of goodness (kuala lumpur)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Easter Weekend Snapshots


The kind of sky that makes me fall in love with Melbourne all over again and again (and again..)


*Easter Feast*


*Julian's Performance @ Sippers, Carlton*


*James, Vikom, me, Shanon*
@ the Darling Harbour


*Roulette table that earns Vikom $100*
@ the Star City Casino


*Me & Shanon* -^.^- *James & Vikom*
@ Sydney Easter Show


*Sydney Views*

*Boris' place of birth*

There goes my long weekend in a blur... Back at work before I know it :P Thankfully it was big pile of fun!

Desire...

The winner is ...
Duh! Mau banget nih!
*Sigh* I wonder how much you would cost me... xP

The rest of the finalists are listed below ...

* Pictures taken from Tiffany & Co. | Home | Other Countries

Monday, March 24, 2008

My Most Recent Lack of Time Management Ability Costs Me ...

... my extremely useful and cute Baby Blue Rambler Victorinox Swiss Army that I bought during my 2000/2001 family trip to Switzerland.
Goodbye cutie! Thanks for being such a practical tool all these years and I'm truly sorry that you are now amongst other possible weapons (accompanied by my manicare tweezer) in the airport security bin. =(

Inspiration for the Day (25th March 2008)

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it."
- Michelangelo

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Craft Links for my artly-gifted-friend, Cath!

Instructables
"The World's Biggest DIY & How To Show & Tell!"

Squidoo homepage
"Everyone’s an expert on something! Share your knowledge and passion with the world. Click here to start."

Craftbits.com!
"Free Easter Crafts | Gift Ideas | DIY Projects"

craftzine.com
"CRAFT: The first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance in the world of crafts."

- meomi cloud house -
"A little design studio dedicated to play, delight and goodliness."

Enjoy!!!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Jason Mraz @ Prince of Wales (20th March 2008 21:45)

La la la la la la la ...
I had soooooooooooooooo much fun last nite watching Jason Mraz live performance at Prince of Wales (see here for details). Loved the venue! Loved the performance! Loved the songs!!!
As said by dreamscapescapade in this post, Jason Mraz is such an excellent entertainer, extremely charismatic with very kewl sense of humor!
I know this is a little wishful thinking, but - I really hope to somehow find top quality recording of last nite performance too... (Will definitely put some effort into this!)
And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes those tears to make it rust
It takes the dust to have it polished

Ha la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is so full of
Ah la la la la la la life is so rough
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is our love
Ah la la la la la
-- Lyrics of Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz

I was hoping he would sing "You and I Both" or "Wordplay" but I guess I should have ask for it. It's OK - I found a youtube video of him singing You and I Both in Melbourne (Aug 2006)!!!
Plus, even though I didn't know most of the songs that he sang (mixed of songs from his new not-yet-released album and old songs that I don't know of) - his very blunt and honest lyrics makes it very easy to enjoy listening to these songs for the first time "LIVE".
The remedy is the experience,
It is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy, is that it's serious.
This is a strange enough new play on words
And the tragedy is how you're gonna spend,
The rest of your life with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends
When it all amounts to nothing in the end.

I won't worry my life away.
I won't worry my life away.
-- Lyrics of The Remedy by Jason Mraz

My highlight of the night was when he sang the song that for some weird reason just pop up in my head 5 minutes prior ... Three Little Birds originally performed by Bob Marley!!!
Singin: dont worry bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin: dont worry (dont worry) bout a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!

Awwwwwwwwwww - I like you big time Jason Mraz!!!! :) *SUPER duper HAPPY*
So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours
-- Lyrics of I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

If you, like me, want to know more about Jason Mraz, check out his official website or his myspace page .
Also - do listen to his Mr. A-Z (2005) or Waiting for My Rocket to Come (2002) album.
Well - I, for one, will definitely be getting his new album We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things (2008) when it's released!!! It has such a cute cover!!!

Last but not least, the opening act was pretty good - Hayley Sales (Canada) followed by Gregory Page (US) - too! They have pretty different style, Hayley was very cheery & entertaining while Greg's voice was very soothing to listen to.

P.S: I'll add some pics later!

20th March 2008: Found the blog of this cute tiny girl that was in front of us taking very kewl pictures!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Dedicated to FV3! =)

I argued hard with myself whether to post this on my blog or not (considering the topic). Then I thought - heck - we're all adults here! If you do not agree - read the last sentence of the quoted extracts! :P
This is what we do all day in Wayan's shop. We sit and talk and Tutti draws pictures and Wayan and I gossip and tease each other. Wayan's got a bawdy (translation: vulgar) sense of humor, always talking about sex, busting me about being single, speculating on the genital endowments of all the men who pass by her shop. She keeps telling me she's been going to the temple every morning and praying for a good man to show up in my life, to be my lover.
I told her again this morning, "No, Wayan - I don't need it. My heart's been broken too many times."
She said, "I know cure for broken heart." Authoritatively, and in a doctorly manne, Wayan ticked off on her fingers the six elements of her Fail-Proof Broken-Heart Curing Treatment: "Vitamin E, get much sleep, drink much water, travel to a place far away from the person you loved, meditate and teach your heart that this is destiny."
"I've been doing everything but the vitamin E."
"So now you cured. And now you need a new man. I bring you one, from praying."
"Well, I'm not praying for a new man, Wayan. The only thing I'm praying for these days is to have peace with myself."
Wayan rolled her eyes, like Yeah, right, whatever you claim, you big white weirdo, and said, "That's because you have bad memory problem. You don't remember anymore how nice is sex. I used to have bad memory problem, too, when I was married. Every time I saw a handsome man walking down the street, I would forget I had a husband back home."
She nearly fell over laughing. Then she composed herself and concluded, "Everybody need sex, Liz."

* Extracted from Page 276 - 277 from Eat Pray Love

Gosh! It is such a well written book - I'm already planning to re-read it again even though I haven't finish the book!!! :)

Well of Positivity

"Help plant 250,000 trees!"

Buy a bottle of Mount Franklin, keep the bar code and visit http://www.wellofpositivity.com/ to punch the numbers in. Plant up to 5 trees a day!

As a reward - grab this pretty nature wallpaper... here!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

My Most Recent Life Lesson (Negativity)

Dumb Little Man blogged about his precious life lessons on his post "20 Things I'm Glad Life Taught Me".

After I read that interesting post, I can't help but mentally agreeing with his comments on Negativity...
Negativity will only bring more of it: When you focus only on negativity, obviously that's all you will see. You will not seek out positivity, and even when positivity comes into your life, you'll look for the negative part of it.

It is so darn true!! Every single part of it.

So here's my reminder to self, "Stay away from negativity!"

Pictures from Dandenong Trip (9th March 2008)






"Boris & Mino"


It was such a lovely trip... Thanks darling! :)

Ouch! Such Bad Luck....

The luckless 28 year-old's dreams of giving his sweetheart, Leanne, 26, the ultimate proposal have literally vanished into thin air.
Hajji, of Hackney, east London, had concealed a $12,000 engagement ring inside a helium balloon. The idea was that she would pop the balloon as he popped the question.
But as he left the shop, a gust of wind pulled the balloon from his hand and he watched the ring -- and quite possibly the affections of his girlfriend -- sailing away over the rooftops.

Extracted from Reuters, "Honey, will you marry... Oh. Never mind..."

Poor guy - let's hope he somehow found the balloon...

Saturday, March 15, 2008

New Soul - Yael Naim


This is definitely the most "spirit uplifting" song I've ever heard! I find it's hard not to smile when I hear it... :)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Earth Hour (29th March 2008 20:00 - 21:00)

I just signed up to the new Earth Hour website for 2008 and I thought you might like to take a look and possibly sign up too.

Earth Hour is on 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far, as well as Sydney, there'll also be Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Dublin, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver all turning off their lights for an hour in the name of fighting global warming. And I'm sure there'll be more cities joining.

Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting http://www.earthhour.org/user/wPQv and join the movement.

It's about time we give back something to the earth. Surely we can do without the light for just one hour!

Visit www.earthhour.org to find useful downloads, tools, tips and news updates or get creative and visit Earth Hour's Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and MySpace pages to add your video and Earth Hour pictures.

Please remember to shut down your computer when you've finished using it!

Friday, March 07, 2008

In Repair

"I'm in repair, I'm not together but I'm getting there..."
-- In Repair by John Mayer


I got my work done last nite (even though I had to stay back quite a bit) - went home to Shanon's place - had yummy home made pizza while watching "As Good As It Gets". (Very Nice and ,WOW, Jack Nicholson!)

Today, got up a bit later - cause I've clocked in enough working hours to do so.. Then decide on what to wear (which strangely for once I'm happy with), made the decision to go to gym at lunch time (which I am very happy with)...

Walked out of the house - was greeted a nice weather (by my standard of course) - it's breezy and the sky is a little cloudy grey; but it somehow gives me a very soothing nice feeling. Stopped at the station - bought a cup of coffee which lid comes with buttons. Quite happy that I get to press on these buttons cause it's been a while (I've been buying 2$ coffees which lid doesn't have buttons :P)

On the way to South Yarra station, a few strangers were smiling back at me, which create this very nice feeling... Then, on my way to work, as usual I walked past the guy who sold the 2$ ready made coffee. I felt a little guilty with coffee already in hand, but smiled at him and explained that I thought he might not have any left seeing that I was late. He was being very nice about it. :)

Got to the office, the lift was also being nice, it arrives at the time I get there (someone else already pressed the calling button) - AMAZING! It normally takes me at least 2-3 mins to get a lift. Small talk with the guy who got us the lift and then realized (cause he mentioned) that it's the Friday of a long weekend... That explains the joy in those strangers' smile :P Work begun.

In general, things are great lately. I've fixed my hot shower at home, it's no longer turning cold every 2 mins (thankfully!). I've updated my phone plans - hopefully this one suits me better! I'm on cancellation notification with Fitness First cause I've decided to give Bikram Yoga a try. I've finalised my Tax Refund for 2006-2007 with a highly recommended accountant (email me for details). I've fixed my PDA phone, my notebook, my financial situation... I'm reading a really good book.... Couldn't be any happier.

This book that I'm reading, "Eat Pray Love", talks about the main character being a control freak... I feel like I'm one too (although it's a little freaky, especially when you consider my previously written post... am I just "internalizing" what she feels?)... Or am I actually a control freak (considering my tendency to get excited about ticking things off my to-do list)?

Now - why did I titled this post "In Repair"?

Well - my walking journey to work that I talked about above, ended with the John Mayer song... For some reason, the chorus just goes right into my head... It feels like the statement is referring to my life at the moment.. I can feel that I'm getting things together.. Things are good in my life at the moment and they keep getting better... I'm getting there... Just like John Mayer sings repetitively...

"I'm in repair, I'm not together but I'm getting there..."
-- In Repair by John Mayer

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

My Thoughts Beautifully Written in Elizabeth Gilbert's book

It's as though she extracted my mind and write it out into a beautiful passage...
Like many humanoids, I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the "monkey mind" - the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl. From the distant past to the unknowable future, my mind swings wildly through time, touching on dozens of ideas a minute, unharnessed and undisciplined. This in itself is not necessarily a problem; the problem is the emotional attachment that goes along with the thinking. Happy thoughts make me happy, but -whoop!- how quickly I swing again into obsessive worry, blowing the mood; and then it's the remembrance of an angry moment and I start to get hot and pissed off all over again; and then my mind decides it might be a good time to start feeling sorry for itself, and loneliness follows promptly. You are, after all, what you think. Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.
The other problem with all this swinging through the vines of thought is that you are never where you are. You are always digging in the past or poking at the future, but rarely do you rest in this moment. It's something like the habits of my dear friend Susan, who - whenever she sees a beautiful place - exclaims in near panic, "It's so beautiful here! I want to come back here someday!" and it takes all of my persuasive powers to try to convince her that she is already here. ...
* Extracted from Page 138 - 139 from Eat Pray Love

These days - everything that I read (books, blogs), see (movies, tv shows), or hear (gossips) affect my thoughts.
Sadly, the effects are stronger than the affects I get from things that I do.
I'm on the verge of going crazy from my thoughts jumps. X(
But I didn't feel strong. My body ached in diminished worthlessness. I wondered who is the "me" when I am conversing with my mind, and who is the "mind". ...
* Extracted from Page 144 from Eat Pray Love

That is the JACKPOT sentence (the last one)!
So, tell me - which one of them is me?
And, who's the other one then?

Anyway - I'm loving my journey through this book...

Quote of the Day (5th March 2008)

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love.
In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."
-- Dr. Robert Muller

Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal."
-- Anonymous

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Desiring New York City

My head is spinning and overflowed with thoughts of how best to visit the "New York City".

I've been wanting to visit this stunning city for more than a few years now.
It's definitely time for me to do something about it, something more than desiring - which has proven to not bring me any closer to the city.

What do I want to achieve from my trip?
I want to get a feel of all four seasons in NYC. I want to see the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then see the Christmas tree in the Rockefeller Center. I want to try out the Central Park's ice rink or maybe try out the carriage ride in autumn (yup - even if i normally despised the embarrassment!). I wonder what the Central Park looks like in summer time. I want to know how it feel to watch the Knicks (not that I understand basketball that well :P) I want to see the impressive Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Hell - even the museum sounds interesting (please take into account that I, as a pure Indonesian Chinese, generally find museums repelling). What bout the Brooklyn Zoo? Of course, not to be missed, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Well - the list is definitely growing with the amount of New York tourist guides I've browsed.
On top of all those tourists attraction, I also want to get a feel of being a New Yorker.

The thing is...
I realise that New York life is very pricey. Bleh!

How should I do it?
When best to go?
What are the MUST-DOs, MUST-SEEs, MUST-EATs???
How long should I stay there for?
How much does it cost (on average) per day?

Who can answer these questions for me?

...

I guess, as a start, about.com has this New York City Month by Month.

Then, to deal with the pricey-ness, I'm considering a working holiday. :P

Indonesian Business in Melbourne Listing

Came across this accidentally when I was looking for Bamboe Cafe & Restaurant (Chadstone) contact for a friend. Could be handy.
I'll be sure to add this onto Zen's Melbourne Notes.

Perwira's Content Affiliates:
"Indonesian Business in Melbourne Listing"

Monday, March 03, 2008

short story about "borborygmi"

I came across this on a magazine when I was browsing at magnation quite a while ago and have been meaning to blog about this since - but somehow only got around to doing it now.

When I was younger, I find that whenever I have exam in the morning - my stomach likes to growl in the exam room (of course at its quietest moment) - and I get very embarrassed about this. Mainly because at those time, I hated people thinking I am on a diet (even though I know I could do with a bit of weight loss).
The very same growling ...
... has been of interest for so many years that the ancient Greeks came up with the rather interesting name for it: borborygmi (the plural of borborygmus).

The word actually translates as "rumbling."
Furthermore, growling doesn't only come from the stomach but, just as often, can be heard coming from the small intestines. Growling is more commonly associated with hunger because it is typically louder when the stomach and intestines are empty and so the organs' contents don't muffle the noise.

Anyway - basically the following paragraph explains why it happens...
The physiological origin of this rumbling involves muscular activity in the stomach and small intestines. In general, the gastrointestinal tract is a hollow tube that runs from mouth to anus and its walls are primarily composed of layers of smooth muscle. When the walls are activated and squeeze the tract's contents to mix and propel food, gas and fluids through the stomach and small intestines, it generates a rumbling noise. This squeezing of the muscular walls is termed peristalsis and involves a ring of contraction moving aborally (away from the oral cavity) towards the anus a few inches at a time.
*** Blockquoted texts taken from the SciAm link provided below.

For more information, please look at this article here at Scientific American site: "Why does your stomach growl when you are hungry?".

Ciao!