This Week in April

Well it's another month gone - salary's in.

I've been to 5 person's houses this month alone. Had 1 potluck in one, a big roast in another. Since last week have met quite a few new people (in life and in work)

Been sleeping late and neglecting exercise recently so that's the "not-good" bit. Get really cranky then.

Started playing ultimate which is the 'good' bit.

Worked in 2 airports - it's a time of change at work and am going to be moving from one to the other. Commute is really expensive and time-consumning but I look forward to the new development.

April was also the month of the London Marathon - quite exciting.

Celebrated Easter by playing for the church

Went on a mystery date

Finally went to Brighton with the girls and we had a lovely time.

Had some really good news from friends about
a. moving house
b. getting hitched
c. baby moving into 2nd trimester
d. found a boyfriend
e. Going home for good
f. coming back to the UK from home
g. changing career
h. buying a car


The weather is getting really warm now and I can't stand wearing a coat in the train. Now moving into the mid of the 2nd quarter of 2010 - you know you're enjoying life when it moves so quickly.

To all the Marathon Runners- Past, Present & Future

Tomorrow will be one of London's greatest days in the year, and probably one of the greatest in the sporting calendar- the Virgin London Marathon. If this is your first marathon, you'd been training for the past months now and have had your trial run around London.You probably have some sort of ailment i.e. sore knee, aching ankle or shints but what's more worrying is not the physical ailment but the risk of not finishing the race. For all you marathon runners, whether fledgling or veteran, the same feelings will be there: anxiousness, trepidation, excitement, anticipation. You've probably noticed that it has been a week now since they've put up signs on the road 'Road Closure for the London Marathon April 25 2010' Pubs are displaying free grub for marathoners - you start off on the Sunday morning on the DLR with the fact that the whole of London and the world will be cheering you on.

As a writer wrote "We're all involved in this somehow - we all know someone who's taken part - who's succumbed to, overcome, or been overtaken by, some guy dressed as a llama'

For all you london marathoners out there, past, future and present, whether running or not; the pain is temporary but the pride is forever.

God gives

Got a really nice message from Lat today

" I miss my friends. When I see some other gang sitting around, caring, slapping each other, their mischievous smiles switching to loud laughters. Though stranger to me, they represent a part of my life I lost somewhere. I miss my friends. I like you, love you all and miss you all"

I miss you all too! (to the Kajai gang) and also to Angie and the girls.

Getting nostalgic now with a few friends leaving the UK in the coming months. Especially being single in a foreign land, your friends tend to become your family here. There's also the realization that people are likely to move in and out of our lives quite frequently with London being such a transient city. (Am also coming to terms with the fact that some friends are also leaving Malaysia and I'd probably not see them for a very long time)

On another note, I spoke to my mum last week about Aunty Nora. Somehow I thought about her (funnily enough, mum was thinking very much about her too) She and Uncle Ibrahim used to come over and play golf with mum and dad, hang out at our place in the evenings playing 'pok-kuat', go on holidays together many years ago when I was a teenager (I remember the great East Coast road trip where a few families drove to Banting to Kelantan to Pahang, to Terengganu and all the way back to KL). I grew up, went to university, started working. But Uncle Ibrahim and Aunty Nora would still now and then come to play golf with mum and dad but less so. Unfortunately she is not here with us today as she's passed away a few years ago God bless her.It seems unreal that people move on from this earth but you'd expect to see them one day.

So the next time someone hurts or disappoints, makes us laugh or cry with happiness, we can comfort ourselves with this phrase:

"God doesn't give you the people you want, he gives you the people you NEED. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be."

"Happiness is a by-product"

How ironic it is that in the pursuit of happiness, we become unhappiness in itself.

Unforeseen Circumstances

The station concourse was practically vacant this morning - the 3 coffee shops were open (WH Smith was shut - due to an electrical fault) and there were a few millers and airport workers grazing the floor.

Everything else seemed alright, the sky was blue, check-in counters open, bus transfers active on the forecourt, but passengers and travellers strangely absent. Felt like a scene out of a Stephen King movie, "The Longaliers" where a handful of plane passengers land in a mysteriously deserted airport from another dimension.

According to my colleagues, it would be chaos to fly, as the planes were all crazily parked all over the piers. On the flight information screens, all flights were shown as 'Cancelled' or 'Check with airline'(north-bound ones)

All this is due to a 200-year silent volcano with a funny name a few thousand miles away which decided erupt. It seemed strange too as the weather looked so nice outside; bright sunshine, blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

Work fun

My colleagues are a really funny bunch - we all have nicknames for each other (can't believe they're all propagated by 40 somethings)

Andy Tarrant - Commission Manager - Tarantula
Tim Chopping - Senior Planner - Choppers
Rita Dunauskyte - Planner (North Terminal) - Rita Skeeter (ala Harry Potter)
Steve Arnold - Planner (South Terminal) - Steve (:P)
Me - Cost and Programme Reporting - Psycho Ninja

There's a printout of an arrow with the word 'Blame' and it's pointing at me. I put up another one pointing towards Choppers.

Every once in a while, Rita and I would play a musical toy (which amy's given me) to entertain or annoy the others. When it's serious, it gets serious but when it's balmy, it's just really funny.

Quantifying the Intangibles

A friend of mine came up with the concept of quantifying friendship by 'points'. It all started off with a discussion on one of the concepts from Covey's '7 Habits" i.e. the EBA (Emotional Bank Account. If we counted utilities derived from the friendship in 'points' and these 'points' are stored in a 'friendship account', and as time passes, we'd have a steady input(or even output) in the 'account'. The higher the balance, the loftier your friendship status is; and the lower the balance, the lower the ranks you become amongst other friends.

How simple it is to give a measurement to an intangible by representation but cynical upon the friendship on that part.