relax..

exciting things i do during my off work times in syria..finally i know how it feels like to have some time to relax...just relax

(me: fisherman on a lunch break)







just nice ain't it?

Life on the move

Almost one year have passed since i began another chapter in my life. A chapter that included many new challenges and many new views of life. beginning a new lifestyle..gypsy style. before that time last year, never before have i set foot out of Malaysia. a nut in the shell. not because i didn't want to, but because i couldn't afford to. well, a trip to climb Mount Kinabalu was as much and as far as i could go for exactly a year ago, which was great by the way and a childhood dream crossed off the list. i did get to the peak by the way if any of u people are wondering.

since then, i've been to places. places i've really enjoyed, places i didn't expect to be and some places which was, well, lets just say, i wouldn't go back again. the world started to get smaller. a 7 month working stint in egypt, a 3 week backpacking trip to europe, and at the moment, in syria for a little over 2 months now for work. work which never seems to end. but what can i say, it pays the bills and it puts food on the table. plus it crosses off more things from the list of things i want to achieve in my life before i die.

i'm in a situation i've never imagined i would be in. maybe i mentioned this a few times too much throughout this blog but well, it is my blog ladies and gentleman, so i guess u would've to live with it :) . a decent paying job, a chance to travel the world, a chance to meet people from all over and at the same time, enjoying life to the brim of my limits.

i met many kinds of people and made many new friends along the way, of which is a mixture of nice and not so nice people. people who offered me free coffee in cairo or the people who stole my laptop in london. oh well, if only i could document my life in a scrapbook that i can look back to when i'm bald and grumpy at 70. it's been fun anyway. for example, just few weeks back i was travelling together with my colleagues to an old castle here in Syria, 7 different nationalities crammed up in a van just wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle, and a few nights ago, i was having a late weekend night with a bunch of koreans and japs in my apartment drinking and sharing experiences, talking bout nothing like a bunch of aimless teenagers. all of which who just wants to have a good time and enjoy life.

not all's nice though. it was not so fun when i was being discriminated against for being an asian, being treated as a nobody because of skin colour. the sad realities of life. in the real world, u have to earn ur respect. if u don't want to be looked down upon because ur black, brown, green, blue or transparent. working abroad have really challenged my patience and my endurance.

but even then, i'm looking forward to the places i will ' conquer' next, some place nice hopefully. of course home being at the top of the list first before anything else. losing family and friends was never any part of the plan. homesickness have been apart of my body all these time but the desire to see more while i still have the chance to, is much stronger than the appeal of a hot steaming plate of nasi lemak and a glass of teh tarik, not when i can cook that in a kitchen somewhere halfway around the world!

Guilt addiction

it's been roughly 4 years and 4 months since i left university..which also means it been that long since i left my studying life and started the real world life...where it involves dogs eating dogs and where the rabbit actually win the race..despite what the story tells u when u were young..i think it was just a scam started by the tortoise at that time which involved some big multinational bucks

i remember when i was in the study life..hours not spent in the class were always "should be" designated to doing assignments, research on subjects, reading books...and so on and so forth..not like i really adhered to that but generally that was the rule and that was what i did 'sometimes'..more accurately..during desperate times..which maybe could explain why i was not the top student :p

and the times when i was not doing it..it was always filled with guilt...when i was watching movies when im supposed to be doing research for my thesis, when i had a night out with the boys instead of studying for the exams...but that period of time has passed now..at least for the time being..but the guilt feeling is still haunting me at times up till now..when i come back from work...switch on my laptop to watch movies or surf the net, go out for a coffee and a dose of people watching..i always have the feeling that what im doing is wrong and im suppose to be studying or something..

but in actual fact, im eligible to do that..i no longer have assignments, i have no more exams..i enrolled in the rat race..wake up in the morning, go to work, come back, enjoy life, sleep, and repeat the same thing again the next day..so...why am i still addicted to this feeling of guilt? did i forget to switch some buttons off when i left university?

Election fever!!

Hungry but determined to babble, that best describes me right now. Im working on shift now from 6am to 2pm, so i get to go home early and do lots of things, like for example, watch how McLaren trounce Ferrari at the Monaco GP just now. Haha. Eat my shorts dearest Ferrari fans!

Of course still i would love to see Louis Hamilton take his first win. Oh well, it's just a matter of time.

It's election fever now and today is election day in Syria and you can well, see the face of the Syrian President on every nook and corner of this country. Haven't look in the sewers though. I'm sure i might find a poster of him in there as well. It's just crazy the level of fanaticism shown by the people of Syria towards their President. Something which i admire and also find disturbing, kinda like the ulcers in my mouth now. Kinda freakish seeing him look at you every other place you go. Even in the control room which i am working in now. If only one of those lovely Syrian chicks ran for President..hehe

(Mr. President: Watching you closely)










Okie dokie..i'm off to cook something for dinner now. Even though i kinda lost inspiration on the pots and pans. Any suggestions on what to cook?
Write more later hopefully when my belly is filled!

yeay..new apartment!!

hey ppl!!!!







(Damascus Old City: selectively stoning its occupants)









finally i could access my blog properly...i just moved today to a new apartment...that means now i have a kitchen at my disposal..yeay! and for the opening ceremony just now..i made some spaghetti and it was really nice after having to survive with bread and luncheon meat for more than 2 weeks..

and the cannot access blog thingy...i guess the hotel's network was on some government controlled adsl connection..going through some blogs..i found out that the internet connection here in syria is heavily controlled and there is a lot of sites that one cannot access...for example the rantings of a cocker buller about things that doesn't matter in life..

work have been progressing really slow here in syria and for that..the initial projection of 4 mths for this project might take longer than expected...oh well..only time can tell...and oh...so can my commissioning manager actually..hehe..

(Coffee: makes you see things differently)

going through the lonely planet book for syria..i realized that there is actually a lot of things to see here in syria..lotsa travelling to do then..hehe...okie dokie loyal cocker bullers...catch ya later!!

new place..new challenges

hey ppl...im in syria oredi...still in one piece and well...come to think of it...syria is not a bad place at all..its kinda nice compared to where i was in egypt..i guess those comments of this being not a safe place just comes from ppl who dont know bout the place...at least so far im enjoying it here...

work is kinda complicated...lotsa new things to learn...fast that is..oh well..thats life

planning to go explore the Damascus old city today..which is supposed to be very nice..alas..will update them cockers bullers when its time...till then..Masalamah!

Syrian Charm

hey there ladies n germs..

well..alas, it was finally confirmed..im going to syria...in fact right now im in qatar airport waiting for my transit to damascus...its been a tiring time since i came back from egypt without even one day where i can have a proper sleep...and by that i mean something more than 10 hours..hehee



yesterday i sent my family and my gf and her family off for a holiday to macau n hong kong..which i was supposed to go as well...well...thats life..anyway i'll update more when im in syria and well settled down..till then...adios ppl!

p/s: sorry for those ppl that i din have time to catch up with when i was back...i was practically all over the place running errands...catch ya later k!