The One About The Dream...

Dreams... An expression of our emotions? A vision of things to come? The playing of our subconscious thoughts?

"Both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung identify dreams as an interaction between the unconscious and the conscious." (Wikipedia - Dream)


I suppose by now, you would be able to guess that I'm up at this hour because of a dream.

"According to Craig Hamilton-Parker, author of Fantasy Dreaming, many humans find certain dreams extremely difficult to recall." (Wikipedia - Dream)



I have to agree with the guy. So, I figured I may as well blog about it since I can't fall back to sleep, sighz.

It was quite real... at least it felt that way, cos I think I woke up whimpering...

I drove to someplace (I think it was some sort of school), parked right in front of the building and went into the building. I reckon that I was going for class or something. I had brought along my laptop in a computer bag, and I remembered my new camera was in the bag as well. After a while, I realised that I had left my bag in the car. I quickly rushed to the entrance of the building, it was raining outside. Dark skies. I could see my parked car from the entrance. I quickly ran to my car. Then everything went into slow motion (like the movie, Matrix). I was approaching the front of my car. Don't even remember if it was still raining, but felt like it wasn't. My mouth dropped, and so did my heart, as I fell onto my knees. Everything happened s-l-o-w-l-y. The car door was ajar. And it was opened from the 'wrong angle', as in, the door opened from the hinge instead of the erm... door. (I have no clue how that was possible! But, I suppose in dreams, anything can happen, right?) At that instant, I knew. The computer bag with my laptop and camera in it - gone! My heart fell to the ground before my knees touched the ground. Then slow motion picture of knees dramatically hitting the ground with a splash as the raindrops kept falling. The next scene was going home and telling my mom what happened. Crying from the devastation of my loss due to my absent mindedness.

I suppose it was then I woke up whimpering. I laid there wondering whether it was actually real. Sure felt real... Realized it was a dream and tried to go back to sleep. Obviously, that didn't happen.

I am reminded of how we should be good stewards of what we have. Often time, we take what we have for granted. Or, we don't use what we have. For example, the gifts, talents and characteristics that God has given us. How many actually serve others with what they have?

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. - 1 Peter 4:10 (NASB)

Moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. - 1 Corinthians 4:2

I have only just a minute,

only sixty seconds in it,

Forced upon me, can’t refuse it;

didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it;

But it’s up to me to use it.

I must suffer if I lose it,

Give account if I abuse it.

It is only just a minute,

BUT ETERNITY IS IN IT!

Long-time-no-see

Yeah, new post... Woohoo for those who've been waiting. *winks* See, Leishia, no mozzies here... cobwebs, maybe sometimes, hehe! *grinz*

"Long-time-no-see"... doesn't that phrase sound all too familiar??Sighz, I have to admit that I haven't been able to keep in touch with quite a number of friends. When each friend that I haven't seen in a while comes to mind, I realize that I miss them... their company... their friendship... just plain hanging out. So, wish list now is to catch up with old friends... If anyone I've not seen in a while reads this, contact me yeah... we'll go yum cha, okie?

One person I haven't seen in a while is Lorraine. We had quite a fun time catching up. =) Didn't really take much pics of both of us, but plenty of her cat, Hope... hehe! The last time we met up for a drink, Lorraine had just got Hope... a wee little kitten... Look at her now...


(Left to Right: Hope; Hope in her "princess pose"; Hope's sleepy face)

Lorraine and me... okay, we're getting sleepy as it was late liao... that's the best smile we've got laa... hehe!

And yes... Congratulations Lorraine on your engagement!!! =)

Speaking of cats, here's a pic of what I saw when I was out for lunch...



I counted... 7 kittens!! Wow... that's a lot! Usually I see cats with only 3 kittens, at most 4!

Who Moved My Cheese?

Had lunch by myself at a cafe next to Shi Wei's office. Went over but just missed her, so a solo lunch for me. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, as I picked up this book, which phrase is quite commonly heard - "Who Moved My Cheese?", and it soon became my new lunch buddy.

An interesting read indeed about 4 characters: Hem, Haw, Sniff and Scurry; where Hem & Haw were littlepeople and Sniff & Scurry were mice. Their mission is the same: to find The Cheese.

Basic principle:

Having Cheese Makes You Happy



The Handwritings On The Wall:

• Having Cheese Makes You Happy
  
• The More Important Your Cheese Is To You The More You Want To Hold On To It


• If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct
  
• What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?


• Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When Its Getting Old


• Movement In A New Direction Helps You Find New Cheese


• When You Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free


• Imagining Myself Enjoying New Cheese Even Before I Find It, Leads Me To It


• The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Find New Cheese


• It Is Safer To Search In The Maze Than Remain In A Cheeseless Situation


• Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You To New Cheese


• When You See That You Can Find And Enjoy New Cheese, You Change Course


• Noticing Small Changes Early Helps You Adapt To The Bigger Changes That Are To Come


• Move With The Cheese And Enjoy It!

In short, here's the "cheesy summary":

My recommendation: Read the book, hehe!

Motorcyclists - #1 Road Hazards??

My opinion... absolutely!! (To be fair, most of 'em lah... maybe a few rare ones who are not too bad)

- They weave in and out of traffic like nobody's business.
- They ride against traffic.
- They think they're so all that. As if lah they are so big liddat. Ish!
- They may be the cause of an accident but are labelled "innocent until proven guilty".
- They ride in the middle of mainstream traffic although taxpayers' money have gone into constructing motorcycle lanes.
- (Many many more reasons, I'm sure, but if I keep going on, this post will be pages and pages long!)

You must be wondering what's up with all this ranting. Well, first, a ding dong of a motorcyclist (have probational license only) fell down and skidded into the back of my car, as I was entering a slip road, last month. So far, I've paid for my own damages and not claimed a single sen from him (or his insurance). To top it off, that day, I even took the trouble to send him to the clinic and then my dad helped to send him to the hospital for x-ray. Missed attending my friend's wedding because of this whole fiasco. Two weeks later, he's calling me to ask me to pay for his medical bill (which, my insurance company advised against since I'm innocent and being kindhearted to help him out will only cause me to be assumed as the guilty party) or else he'll see me in court. The cheek of him!! Grrr!! Any one has any idea how to countersue (if he attempts to bring up a case) or sue this guy for my damages as well as mental stress? Please let me know.

Today, on the way to work, a reckless motorcyclist almost caused an accident!! Traffic in the morning, as usual, is pretty heavy. A motorcyclist was riding in the middle of traffic, between my car (right lane) and another car (left lane). Not only that, he was hogging the 'path' so other motorcycles couldn't overtake him unless they manouvered into either lane, which a few did... into my side of the road!! So, I was subjected to be an unwilling participant in a "game" of dodge with those crazy people. Later, I got a chance to overtake this silly motorcyclist and noticed that his helmet was on rather loosely although it seemed buckled, but traffic slowed a bit further on, so he caught up. Overtook me. Then, the most unbelievable thing happened right in front of my eyes: The motorcyclist raised his hand, stroked his helmet (like you stroke you hair... perhaps he forgot he had a helmet on??) and his helmet just FELL OFF!!! Right into the middle of my lane. Thank God I managed to slow down so that I don't crash into the helmet. The helmet bounced past the front of my car to the side of the road (right lane) and I drove past it. Not sure if the car behind me saw the bouncing helmet, but really thank God the car was not that close behind me and didn't crash into me when I slowed down to avoid the helmet. The motorcyclist (I dunno if he was sleep-riding the whole time cos he looked really blur) still looked as blur as ever and finally pulled over to the left side of the road, with a looked that could be 'captionized' as "wha...??? hmm... where'd my helmet go?". Siao-ness!!

So now I ask you - what do you think? Motorcyclists - #1 Road Hazards???

I've been tagged!!

Hey, to those of you who tries to be funny and liken being tagged to putting price tags on merchandise at the store or tagging animals with tracking devices... eewwww... think again!! Cos you must be crazy to think I'd sit still and endure that!! I don't like needles. Fullstop.

Well, first time being tagged (not counting those games of tag, or "catching") and I got tagged by Isaac so here goes the "4 things tag"...

Four jobs I've had in my life:
1. Music teacher
2. Telemarketer
3. Frontdesk assistant/PR
4. English teacher

Four movies I can watch over and over again:
1. Lilo and Stitch
2. Stitch the Movie
3. Shrek (1, 2 and 3)
4. (Can't think of anything else at the moment, but are the above considered 5 movies??)
Disclaimer: I wouldn't actually be watching them over and over, but I think having them as "background music" while doing some other things wouldn't be too bad, hehe!

Four places I've been on vacation:
1. Melbourne
2. Sydney
3. Singapore
4. A number of Malaysian islands

Four of my favourite dishes:
1. Fried rice
2. Ice kacang
3. Lobster
4. Desserts

Four places I would like to visit:
1. Australia (missing my family members there)
2. Singapore (cos I promised Lovy eons ago, hehe!)
3. United Kingdom (yes, supposed to go for a while liao)
4. Disneyland (before I get too old, haha!)

Four most overused words:
1. "Hehe"
2. "Haha"
3. "No worries"
4. "Hmm..."

Four gadgets that I have:
1. Mobile phone
2. PDA
3. Laptop
4. MP3 player

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Heroes
2. The Simpsons
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. C.S.I.

Four bloggers I'm tagging:
1. Eric (here... re-routing traffic to your blog la... say I steal traffic from your blog... ish!)
2. Sieh Jin (new blogger... wonder if he'll get to it, hehe!)
3. Leishia (now you'll have something to do other than slap mozzies on my blog *winks*)
4. Japheth (just thought of tagging you, hehe!)

Okay... time to work now... tata!!

KFC vs. Ikea Restaurant??

Okay, reading Eric's blog on 'KFC vs. Ikea Restaurant' had me craving for chicken chop today. So, since he has already reviewed the Ikea Restaurant's chicken chop in his blog and not tried KFC's, I decided today's lunch was going to be KFC Black Pepper Chicken Chop! Plus, Ikea would be too far to travel given my short lunch break today... KFC, on the other hand, is just a few kilometres away, hehe!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the KFC outlet I'd gone to had a Drive Thru. They probably had this for a while already, but I haven't been there in ages! So buying lunch took only about 15minutes from and back to office.

Okay... so based on Eric's criteria, here's my take on KFC Black Pepper Chicken Chop:

The Price:

I ordered just the Chicken Chop set, without the drink... However, due to unavailability of Mushroom Soup, it was replaced with a regular Pepsi! (Hence, sorry, no comment on Mushroom Soup) ---> after taxes: RM10.40 (before tax: RM9.90??)

The Drink:

As said above: PEPSI (Well, I suppose it's better than 7up Revive, which I think tastes a bit wierd anyways...) See comment on Eric's blog on what I think about 7up Revive.

The Side Dishes:

No mushroom soup!! I don't believe it!! (-.-") Not a fan of KFC coleslaw so that was yucky for me. Bun... is a bun. Fries... kinda cold.
Verdict: I think I may like Ikea's offering (Mashed Potato) better.

The Sauce:

Okay, Eric, I don't think that it's from a bottle... Unless bottled black pepper sauce looks and tastes like ground black pepper made into watery sauce. All I could taste is black pepper... and black pepper!! (Can get sorethroat with the amount of pepper!! Yikes!)
Verdict: Me no like very much. Definitely prefer Ikea's brown sauce... yummy!

The Chicken:

Yes, KFC Original Recipe fried chicken. A single boneless piece as suggested by Eric, but no thick coat of flour to make it look bigger la. Just the Original Recipe chicken style.
Verdict: I'm okay with the chicken here. Do enjoy KFC chicken every now and then... However, only one piece of chicken here, unlike THREE pieces at Ikea... if you're a big eater (like Lai San or Kenrick, hehe), you might wanna consider Ikea.

Okay, that's my take... Feel free to comment and vote for your preference, hehe! KFC vs. Ikea Restaurant... who will win???

*will have picture(s) here later on... in office now, can't upload the picture to the computer*