A tribute to Friendships

When I was 5, I remember trying to please my peers, claiming I had a huge collection of stickers and color pencils. The day came when I had to share my collection with them and they unfortunately they were disappointed because it was not good enough. Since then they rejected my company.

When I was 10 years of age, I still kept my willingness to please my “friends” because of the urge to be accepted. The “leader” of the pack would ask me to do this, that and all sorts of nonsense…and being ignorant I did as I was told. I had a crush on a guy but diligently tried to suppress that feeling because she liked him too. I remembered hitting him hard on the back to prove that I treated him as one of my “chi mui”...how embarrassing!

From the age of 15 onwards, I declared not to be anyone’s’ fool!

And fortunately enough I met people who sincerely wanted to be my friend. Not because I had long hair. Not because I was chubby. Not because I had a huge collection of Pooh merchandise. They liked and accepted me because I am me. For once, these people treated me as equals. I am extremely blessed to have so many good friends that care for me. Even though I get on their nerves by making ridiculous jokes, they laughed with me. Even though I was ignorant and naïve they guided me through my obstacles, hand in hand, without judgment. Even though I am a horrible cook, they ate without complaint. Even though I tend to be an ass, they would forgive me…

Remember the time when we ponteng school to get our ears pierced; the time when we snuck out in the middle of a sleepover to throw rotten eggs at some guy’s house; the Halloween party where we had to dress up like dead people; the time when we starved ourselves so that we could indulge in a large pizza the next day…

How about the time when we squeezed into my mom’s proton to get to Sunway and celebrate New Years Eve; the “Bye Bye Bye” dance that was the highlight among our embarrassing performances; the “meetings” that we had as an excuse to hang out together; eating ice cream at Genting and letting the cold night breeze blow against us to see who can survive the longest; our chatting sessions in the car after a devotional; the concert that we planned and performed at that school; the two weeks intensive teaching campaign at the center...

And the times when we would sit a stare at the starry sky and weep in awe of its beauty; the time when we took a train and explored Sydney suburbs, got lost, and accidentally stumbled upon a highly rated Indian restaurant; the time when we went for go-karting and I somehow managed to get into the top 10 drivers because I was a slow and safe driver; the Thursday evening Malaysian Society meetings; the chopping onion lessons ; the Lamb Vindalu and Chicken curry cooking lessons; the time when I accidentally burst out saying "I have a life..OK!" and will never hear the end of it; ...

As my future unfolds, I am more than certain that more memories will be added here.

Isn’t it amazing how little people did notice when all their lives they had been encouraged to ignore anything worth noticing? ...I guess I am just saying that we tend to take friendships for granted. We may strive to gain favor from one and at the same time neglect another...

Here are some pictures of memorable times...


Roya & I -- Countless embarrassing stunts we did when we were growing up! Its amazing that we turned out sane... ;)






Sabina & I -- Another gila one like Roya & myself. Hmm...maybe we should be the Dynamic Trio of Subang! Our specialty will be our contagious laughter! People won't even know what hit them as they laugh along with total ignorance of the situation.





From left: Shamir, Joshua, me, Ruhullah, Chia Sin and Mitra -- Street dancing! Need I say more...?








Ren Yi -- What are you doing in my kitchen??
Oh yea...you're helping me cook for the 20 friends who invited themselves over for a 3 course meal. How nice of you...for once! ;)














Ah Mei and Su Yin aka Hamster and GuineaPig...and myself the seal! Org Org =^.^=










Carny -- only recently added into our "chi mui-ship". :)









From left: Edison, Vivianne, Salina, Junda, me, Diane, Mo and Shaun.
The Making Activities Super Awesome Gang! ;)



Jenny & I -- An unexpected friendship, I must say. It started with Jenny being my boss (Ms.Boss) and how fortunate of me to discover a friend I can be extremely random with. I do apologize for my annoying-ness but look on the bright side, it means I am comfortable with you! Hahahahha... ;D

Friends are forever - - I shall publically accept this universally used statement. ;)

Lalala...I'm so lonely...sigh

Lonely...I'm so lonely...La.La.LA...and I can't remember the lyrics...Dam.Ta.Da.Dam...

Well, its the 14th of January 2009 and most of my friends have gone back to Malaysia. They will be back home with their families and friends, celebrating Chinese New Year and eating all the glorious Malaysian food. I'm envious! :'(

Dear dear friends...PLEASE COME BACK! I promise I will be a good girl! ;)






Jenny...I promise to help you decorate your cupcakes when Angeline isn't around. I'll make sure we have updating sessions at least once a week. And will try (very hard) not to wash your dishes when you tell me not to. Heh heh heh...









Diane...I promise to cut down on my eagerness to annoy you. It will be a huge sacrifice on my part...but I will do it for you!













Junda...I promise I will not not give negative criticism whenever you give a speech nor compare yours to others. And truth be told (I have never agreed to anyone before) I did cry when you gave that Good-Bye speech during AGM 2008. And I promise that I will not say that you are chubby (after this post)!


Edison...O Edison...
You are like a little kid brother to me...annoying yet adorable! I shall promise to stop giving you the "better stop what you are doing or I will give you a nice whack on the back" look.















Vivianne...I promise to have drinks (non-alcoholic) with you more often! And whack anyone (especially Shuli) who disturbs you.








Mo!! I promise to be more polite with you...with all the gestures of Good Mornings, Good Afternoons, and Good Evenings at the right time...








Sigh...So sad!

Who is LPL?

LpL is a normal person, living a normal life, with normal people surrounding her- family, best friends and friends she holds dear!

Having parents and brothers that love her, it is not surprising however to realize that she has been pampered to the extent that she is still that kind of child who closes her eyes and thinks that no one can see her any more.

She is a Sagittarian, and Sagis are said to be unreliable and impossible to pin down. The truth is rather more complicated; for she will stick to any task which is meaningful and stand by any friend who is loyal. She just won’t hang around if there is no reason to.

She is a neutralist. She gets uncomfortable with the thought of people fighting and looking down on each other. If you ask her to choose a side, most probably she’d refuse. If you backbite about her friends, she’d counter it with praise of them. (well, at least most of the time)

She used to be afraid to let out the sleeping bitch in her, but she realized that the goal isn’t always to be liked. It’s about being valued!

She tries hard to be an optimist. It was read somewhere that a sure sign of maturity is having a positive outlook in life. Why burden ourselves with depression and negativity when all it does is make us feel a paralyzing fear of helplessness towards the problem and not to mention demoralizing our capabilities.

She can daring and adventurous. But don’t dare her to cross a busy road blind folded; she’d do it even without you asking. However, when it comes to food, she diligently follow a strict rule of anything cooked (except slimy, smelly bitter food...) and not weird looking.

She has a fetish for spices, especially cinnamon and ginger. As a result, she tends to crave for Chai Lattes, warm Soya Bean milk with ginger, Cinnamon toast with butter, Cinnamon rolls, ‘Rasem’…she is a loyal supporter for the sales of legally addictive stimulance aka coffee!

She loves to sleep! She'd close her eyes and poof…off to dream land! In her dreams, she is not restricted by reality. She can eat all the chocolates she wants and not gain weight on the thighs. She can fulfill her dreams of being an artist. And most importantly she can be with the people she loves even though they are miles apart.

As you can read…She lives in a world of her own. It is peaceful, it is pleasant, and it is her sanctuary…

How we handle Stress

We all handle stress in varying ways...in fact we experience different phases during the process of reconciliation with one's problem.

Stage one: Denial
Bad things happen when we are not aware of it! It is true......when we are unaware of whats happening in our life, we do not take precaution and this act itself drags us into a black hole and when we are finally aware of the situation, most of the time we find it hard to crawl out of it as we are overwhelmed in this destructive vortex of conflict. On the other hand, there are people who chooses not to acknowledge the problem, hoping that it will go away - just like Piglet!

I find that with the support of good friends and a moderate amount of chocolate we are able to accept the situation we are in and embark on a strategy towards recovery.

I guess the main idea is for us to realize and accept that we are imperfect human beings and any decision we make in life is right as long as we keep moving forward.

Stage two: Anger
Why is this happening to me?? Its not fair!!
These are common things that go through my head when I am stressed. I begin to dislike being around people because any act they do will annoy me and whats worse...i start to hate myself. This is when binge eating occurs...one second I'm turning on my computer and the next moment I realize I finished a WHOLE packet of Tim Tams!

My friends tell me that Yoga and meditation works perfectly to solve this problem. And they are right! Meditating helps clam the nerves and relaxes your mind. Once you are such a peaceful state you are able to view your problem from a whole new different angle - from above and not in it! Pretending you are a third person can be weird, but believe me, once you take out the clog of self pity, interesting ideas will start gushing in!

Stage three: Bargaining
Please God, help me through this, I promise I will be a better person!
Hahha...yes I do bargain with God. It is horrible of me! I know!

I am leaning to pray to God not only when I need Him, but everyday as a sign of my love for Him. In doing so, I am sure that my actions will be carried out in remembrance of Him and not material attachment to this world. See, prayer is a powerful tool that elevates us and thus not being too hampered by the destruction's of this world.

"Pray to God that He may strengthen you with divine virtue that you may be angels in the world a beacons of light" ~ Baha'i Writings

Stage four: Depression
Sigh...Shit happens and life sucks!
I've heard that a million times and the only reaction I am able to provide is silence.

There was a time I was extremely depressed. I was angry and disgusted with myself. I did not want to be around people because I was too lazy to carry a fake smile. And the bad part is, I did not understand what I was feeling and why I felt such numbness...perhaps I refused to acknowledge the situation I was in.

During the period of a few months, this was how I lived my life...a silent cry of agony. I was very close to leaving this world.

One of prayer that drew me back was this:
"Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can hurt me and with Thy love in my heart, all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me." ~ Baha'i Prayer

Stage five: Acceptance
This is when we go...OKAY..this is the problem and I have a few alternatives to solve it! But do not get too excited with the options. Sometimes when we run out of information, it is time to make a decision!

Enjoy this clip...it virtually depicts the five stages that we go through...