Saturday, January 10, 2009
It sure pours!
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Result #1: One down, four to go!
Passed my development economics examination. Grade will be released after 18th January. I understand that the aim is to ace exams on top of learning something valuable and we are far from that until we know the grade, but thank you, God. Was not looking forward to resit the exam.
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
The Reason
Meeting and talking to friends from home on FB made me feel a little guilty about not informing them that I was leaving. Most friends (and extended family!) don't even know that I was planning the move, let alone that I have left and intending to experience a little bit more of the world before going back home.
The plan for the masters programme started as a seed of thought even before I left the newspaper in 2005. Back then it was just about finding a way of moving away from journalism without going through what seemed like an inevitable path of moving into communications and public relations for most former journalists in Malaysia.
After the short stint with UNDP, and the move into the inevitable path of communications with MII, and the soul enriching experience of DANIDA, getting a masters degree became more of a tool to get ahead in the field I believe in the most.
The primary issue resulting in the decision to 'do it now' was recognising the dreams that I have basically left to wither in the course of fulfilling what the society thinks i should be/have. And then there is the hazard of actually getting what you wish for. Again and again I was reminded of Marrianne Williamson's 'biggest fear' quote. It was my mantra for a long while, convincing myself that I was strong enough, and ready to go on a limb and take that leap even if it means i will fail.
Telling myself is one thing, telling others is another ball game altogether. You need to convince yourself once and the rest is just a matter of making things work. Telling others means defending your decision again and again, against unfair and uninformed judgements, i-know-better-attitude, prejudice, protectionism, insecurity and fear - yours and theirs. Many a time we stop what we are supposed to do to accommodate these internal and external interference at the benefits of nobody.
And so, the decision to leave was leaked to almost no one. By almost I meant some people were given the privilege sooner than the others. Mostly these are my most trusted friends and family members, my amazing support system, as well as people undergoing the same process. There were my sisters sara and hani of course. And there were Dee-d and Jojo, and Naa who are trusted, supportive and taking the same step. There were Nik and Rasem, Joanna and Fanim who are sounding boards and brutal opinion contributors. There were Neil and Azizi who are my buddies who always listen. And then there was Ib who was my inspiration. And my treedwelling friends of course. And that was that. The rest knew about it only when there was no turning back.
Of course, mostly, I was scared that if it were leaked to everyone and I wouldnt be able to make the financial commitment, i would be totally devastated and they would see it in my eyes. I hve too much bad pride for that.
And because of that, I had a short time to say my goodbye. Meetings were arranged hastily, dinner were always attended by a mixture of friends from many parts of my life and a lot of goodbyes were done over the phone. And even now, i sit here day after day explaining myself to those who would listen the reason i didnt tell them about it all.
It was not becase YOU werent important, it was more because I needed the space to make MY own decision privately. I think that is the rights of everyone, especially for a move that is so vital that it will make or break our life.
So, deal with it!
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
The plan for the masters programme started as a seed of thought even before I left the newspaper in 2005. Back then it was just about finding a way of moving away from journalism without going through what seemed like an inevitable path of moving into communications and public relations for most former journalists in Malaysia.
After the short stint with UNDP, and the move into the inevitable path of communications with MII, and the soul enriching experience of DANIDA, getting a masters degree became more of a tool to get ahead in the field I believe in the most.
The primary issue resulting in the decision to 'do it now' was recognising the dreams that I have basically left to wither in the course of fulfilling what the society thinks i should be/have. And then there is the hazard of actually getting what you wish for. Again and again I was reminded of Marrianne Williamson's 'biggest fear' quote. It was my mantra for a long while, convincing myself that I was strong enough, and ready to go on a limb and take that leap even if it means i will fail.
Telling myself is one thing, telling others is another ball game altogether. You need to convince yourself once and the rest is just a matter of making things work. Telling others means defending your decision again and again, against unfair and uninformed judgements, i-know-better-attitude, prejudice, protectionism, insecurity and fear - yours and theirs. Many a time we stop what we are supposed to do to accommodate these internal and external interference at the benefits of nobody.
And so, the decision to leave was leaked to almost no one. By almost I meant some people were given the privilege sooner than the others. Mostly these are my most trusted friends and family members, my amazing support system, as well as people undergoing the same process. There were my sisters sara and hani of course. And there were Dee-d and Jojo, and Naa who are trusted, supportive and taking the same step. There were Nik and Rasem, Joanna and Fanim who are sounding boards and brutal opinion contributors. There were Neil and Azizi who are my buddies who always listen. And then there was Ib who was my inspiration. And my treedwelling friends of course. And that was that. The rest knew about it only when there was no turning back.
Of course, mostly, I was scared that if it were leaked to everyone and I wouldnt be able to make the financial commitment, i would be totally devastated and they would see it in my eyes. I hve too much bad pride for that.
And because of that, I had a short time to say my goodbye. Meetings were arranged hastily, dinner were always attended by a mixture of friends from many parts of my life and a lot of goodbyes were done over the phone. And even now, i sit here day after day explaining myself to those who would listen the reason i didnt tell them about it all.
It was not becase YOU werent important, it was more because I needed the space to make MY own decision privately. I think that is the rights of everyone, especially for a move that is so vital that it will make or break our life.
So, deal with it!
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
In love with greece
According to myth, when the Gods decide to build a city on a rock by the sea that is now Athens, a competition was held to choose which deity will be the namesake of the city. The task was to produce the legacy that will be most valuable to mankind. Poseidon, the God of the sea, striked his trident on a rock and bring forth a horse, a symbol of strength and fortitude. Athena the goddess of wisdom produces olive that symbolised peace and prosperity. Athena's peace won over Poseidon's war, and that was how Athens came about.
I love Greece. It is so different from Italy, or Rome at least. Sure there arent as many monuments as here, but then who's fault was that? Between the Romans and the Turks, Greece's rich history was pillaged and plundered to non-existence. But what a charming country! The people are open-minded, educated and friendly. The men are big and manly. The food is diverse and delicious. The cats are dogs and the dogs are horses, but not an annoying yap was heard. Basically, my kind of country, Greece is.
More photos on Facebook, but these are just previews :)
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
I love Greece. It is so different from Italy, or Rome at least. Sure there arent as many monuments as here, but then who's fault was that? Between the Romans and the Turks, Greece's rich history was pillaged and plundered to non-existence. But what a charming country! The people are open-minded, educated and friendly. The men are big and manly. The food is diverse and delicious. The cats are dogs and the dogs are horses, but not an annoying yap was heard. Basically, my kind of country, Greece is.
More photos on Facebook, but these are just previews :)
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Cleaning Act: Of Hairy Plotter and New Year Solution
Starting from Christmas until the second last day of 2008, i am taking over Thais' shifts as she will be busy having fun in Turkey before meeting me in Athens to take a freakishly small plane to celebrate our New Year in Mykonos. Yes, the Malayzy Juya is cleaning house. There is God, i guess.
So far, I think I have done quite well. Striked a deal with Scott (Thais' house cleaning partner) that I will do almost all the cleaning, toilets included, leaving him with taking the trash out and bringing the dirty sheets down, if he will do my half of waiting at the desk for guests until the wee hours of the morning. As I have been trained by the best (scary seniors) in cleaning house every sunday for 5 years while in TKC (boarding school), the cleaning of the whole 2 apartment units takes me less than 2 hours. pretty good deal, huh, considering our shifts are 10-hour-a-day shift?
As a compulsive bed-maker, I love my time out making sure the beds are looking sharp. If I get bored waiting, i will take out a sheet and make the beds one by one, the unmade beds rationed like coveted pleasure not to be touched by Scott. He loves it that I love making beds so much!
Toilets though are another matter all together. I mean, can someone tell me how can a shower gets clogged by hair so quickly? And especially when room 24 has only 3 male guests, all with short hair. And what's with these hair? Do we actually need them? A human being lose 40-100 hair a day, that's a lot of protein going to waste, think about all the wasted consumed soy tempe, salisbury steaks and canned tuna. Evolution-wise, humans have so much hair to keep the pre-historic humans warm - that's why white men are so hairy and brown people are brown. We have now the ability to manipulate hair of other species into clothings for our species and synthetically manufacture warm textiles, do we need all these follicle-born keratinous filaments sapping the protein out of our skin? I beg of you to seriously consider these possibilities - thin haired women will no longer harbour envious feelings towards their big-haired-sister, excessive haircare products will cease to annoy us in elevators and and male pattern baldness will dissapear from psychology text books as a cause of self-esteem issue in men over 35.
I therefore move to vote for genetically modified hairless babies starting new year 2009. Trust me, their mothers/cleaners and subsequently wives/cleaners who will clean their toilets will thank you for it.
Happy New Year everyone!
Love:J
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
So far, I think I have done quite well. Striked a deal with Scott (Thais' house cleaning partner) that I will do almost all the cleaning, toilets included, leaving him with taking the trash out and bringing the dirty sheets down, if he will do my half of waiting at the desk for guests until the wee hours of the morning. As I have been trained by the best (scary seniors) in cleaning house every sunday for 5 years while in TKC (boarding school), the cleaning of the whole 2 apartment units takes me less than 2 hours. pretty good deal, huh, considering our shifts are 10-hour-a-day shift?
As a compulsive bed-maker, I love my time out making sure the beds are looking sharp. If I get bored waiting, i will take out a sheet and make the beds one by one, the unmade beds rationed like coveted pleasure not to be touched by Scott. He loves it that I love making beds so much!
Toilets though are another matter all together. I mean, can someone tell me how can a shower gets clogged by hair so quickly? And especially when room 24 has only 3 male guests, all with short hair. And what's with these hair? Do we actually need them? A human being lose 40-100 hair a day, that's a lot of protein going to waste, think about all the wasted consumed soy tempe, salisbury steaks and canned tuna. Evolution-wise, humans have so much hair to keep the pre-historic humans warm - that's why white men are so hairy and brown people are brown. We have now the ability to manipulate hair of other species into clothings for our species and synthetically manufacture warm textiles, do we need all these follicle-born keratinous filaments sapping the protein out of our skin? I beg of you to seriously consider these possibilities - thin haired women will no longer harbour envious feelings towards their big-haired-sister, excessive haircare products will cease to annoy us in elevators and and male pattern baldness will dissapear from psychology text books as a cause of self-esteem issue in men over 35.
I therefore move to vote for genetically modified hairless babies starting new year 2009. Trust me, their mothers/cleaners and subsequently wives/cleaners who will clean their toilets will thank you for it.
Happy New Year everyone!
Love:J
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Sushi of my heart
three months of no sushi - a shocking thing for a hantu sushi who gets her fix every week if not every other day! - i decided to ask sylvia if she would like to get some and help me break the long puasa. a fellow hantu, we decided on 'daruma sushi' on via cavour. walked from the hostel, we wolfed down 2 set plates of mainly salmon and japanese rice in record time. the selection was really bad but i got what i really wanted, so, i am still a fan.
needless to say, it felt like heaven when the orange gold melted on my tongue!
needless to say, it felt like heaven when the orange gold melted on my tongue!
i love sushi so much i want to marry sushi. yes, we are going to live and travel the world together forever and have lots of green tea ice cream babies! sushi, i am forever yours!
ok, perhaps that is a little too much :) what can i say, three months is a long time. maybe i just miss it a little too much :))
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Post-Examination Exploration: Greece
The examination looms ever so nearer, putting a damper on my excitement. New Year in Athens, who would have ever thought? i have always wanted to go to greece, mamma mia and sisterhood of the travelling pants just make me more excited. of course this being winter, i understand it will not be as beautiful.
but i still can hardly wait!
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
but i still can hardly wait!
All photos published by The Treedweller. All Rights Reserved. If you want to use it, drop a line to thetreedweller@gmail.com.
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