Something To Ponder About

Just some random stuff to think about:
You can’t have a front without a back. There’s no up without down. And there can’t be light without darkness. (Source: From a book “Gone for good”)

If you try to fail, but succeed instead. Did you fail or succeed? (Source: from the Newpaper)
If you are confident that you will fail, are you confident or unconfident? (Source: Myself)

我知道秘密了!!

I know the secret le! WOO! Watched 不能说的秘密 today. Here’s what I think:

• Jay’s funny. And he’s probably being himself again. So full marks for the acting
  
• Gui Lun Mei’s cute. Her smile is captivating and she sounds damn cute when she said “都喜欢啊~”.
  
• The piano battle with Yu Hao was phewwww weeeet. Made me practice more on my keyboard.
  
• I like the relationship they have at the start, where Gui Lun Mei likes to disturb Jay. Reminds me of my secondary school days. Very sweet~~
  
• The lines in the movie are great.
  
• The piano pieces are nice (Composed by Jay) =D
  
• The twist to the story was pretty good. I thought I had guessed it, and then the story twisted again.

Cool movie, overall! Reminded me of another romantic movie, but I'll give away the plot if I mention it. My very own secret is about to be out too~ *winkz

Masks

Just quit my job last week. It is an ultimate backstabbing company. And being a part-timer, everyone seems to be telling me who they dislike. What’s worse: A and B badmouths C. When you think A and B are friends… Nope ~ B and C talks bad about A. And it goes on…

Probably a very typical situation in working life. You don’t really know who are your friends or foes. Get stabbed once in awhile. Wear masks and smile to everyone, even if you don’t like them. Especially your bosses eh.

Unconsciously, we wear masks every now and then. When we like someone, we present ourselves in ways that we often aren’t. And then find out later they are not who they are. Tiring, isn’t it.

Thinkin, thinkin, thinkin...

You know how sometimes you wish people would think like you do? Gosh, I think of that all the time. That’s why I’m often disappointed with people. One of them is probably how people apprehend love.

It’s disheartening when people tell you they won’t accept people who are like this or like that, or only accept people with certain qualities. Sure, I have my list of criteria too. Long coloured hair (I think people look better with coloured hair), pretty face, tall, slim. Likes animals, especially dogs. Can cook (I’m not looking for a maid), do housework (seriously not looking for a maid =x). Must be filial, mature, non-smoker and loves the people I love (junior included).

But it seriously doesn’t matter when you really like someone right. Someone once asked me. “So would you like a fat and ugly girl?”
Well, not at first sight of course. But I wouldn’t rule out that possibility. Love could grow. It is something unexplainable. It’s not even what’s inside of her that’s important. It’s what your heart feels. If you ask if it’s my choice to like someone, I’d say no. Because a choice is something you choose. It’s something my heart chose, and I cannot deny it. It may probably sound stupid to you if you don’t feel like I do, eh?

Feelin blue~

I’m so damn tired nowadays. I miss the days in army when I can just “stone” for very long. It’s a term often used in army to describe someone staring into blank space. It feels rather good. Like the time has stopped and your mind stops thinking. It’s probably the only thing I missed in army. You don’t have many things to worry about.

Growing up sucks, ain’t it? Worrying about this and that. Missed my weekends when I don’t have to work. I also miss the carefree life when I was young. Played soccer everyday after school~ which led to me staying back in Secondary 3~ ahem. ANYWAY, yah I missed that life.

A girl once told me something like she would definitely choose someone who studies hard. Some guys might go “ohhh…. bitch~~” But there’s some rationale in it. She made me realize every thing we do not only affects ourselves, but our family too. I realized that if I didn’t work hard enough, my family’s going to suffer. While teachers always tell us it’s OUR own future. It’s actually a lot more than that yah.

Make This World A Better Place

I think this is one of the most meaningful drama Singapore has ever shown on tv. It’s just whether people would really sit down and think over the things said. I’ve lost count of the number of times I said “That’s so freakin true!” when I was watching it. And the show’s got great quotes! I’m gonna watch it over and again and take down all the quotes. I love great quotes! =D

I mean, the things they said are really very true. If only people could just listen to these advices.

Managed to get these quotes from the last episode:
"Loving a person is about acceptance, not tolerance.”
“It's magnanimity, not indulgence.”
It's support, not control."

And my favourite!
"Times of need bring out true emotions. Moments of rationale mask true emotions"

Top 10 Most Irritating People

1. Parents who don’t give a damn when their kids are misbehaving in the public.
Sure, the kids are annoying. But seeing the parents not doing anything is even more annoying.

2. People who you helped but made it sound like you should thank them for whatever nonsensical reasons. Eg. Helping someone kill a cockroach, but said to you “Ahhh see! I helped you build your courage!”

3. People who done you wrong but blames you instead, again for whatever crappy reason. Eg. Broke your stuff but said “Where got people put things there sia?” ……….

4. People who take advantage of your kindness. Ungrateful people!!

5. People who starts an argument with you but ends with “Aiyah, you won’t understand wan lah.” Makes it sound like you are definitely wrong. I hate to be wrong~ =x

6. Overconfident people. People who think they are better than what they are. Don’t like!

7. People who don’t leash their dogs, putting my precious Junior in danger. And what’s worse, the owners are like point number 1!!!

8. People who blast their music on the bus using their handphones. And some keep repeating the same songs!

9. People who denied what they said or did previously when you are 101% sure they said or did it. So frustrating when you can’t prove yourself!!

10. And err… irritating people. Irritating people are irritating, aren’t they? =x

Ps: They are not arranged in any sequence or order.

Christianity

I’ll be running out of topics to write soon. Haha. Do give suggestions if you want.

Since I was little, I liked crosses. I loved to buy chokers(those you put around your neck) with crosses. I lost it several times and I’m looking for one as nice as my old one now. The above picture is an accessory attached to my handphone. Broke a couple of months ago. =.=” One’s in my pencil box and the other miraculously ended up in my bag I brought to work. No joke! So I put it in wallet since then.

When I was in Sec 3, my friend came to talk to me about Jesus. I was very very interested. I guess that was when it started. Then my friend gave me a bible. It was IVAN!! See, I wrote something nice about you, Ivan. So nice of you. Then in ITE, my friend brought me to his church. But I’ve been there no more than 5 times. =X

See, I got a lot of reasons not going to the church. Some can’t be announced. But mainly because… I’m lazy~ But my faith for Jesus is as strong a rock. It’s commitment I’m lacking of. Nothing people say against Him could sway my faith. It’s not as if I agree with everything He does, but I believe He has His reasons. I had a Christian friend who was afraid to read Da Vinci’s Code because he’s scared he might be swayed. I read it anyway and instead, it made me wanting to find facts to prove it all wrong.
Some people call it blind faith. Maybe so. But God is already something unexplainable. You cannot simply use Science and stuff to debate against it. My knowledge of God is not that great so I cannot explain the 101 questions you have in mind. But I’m praying everyday for the people around me to believe in Him one day. I hope you do. And do not get pissed when Christians try to talk to you. Some might be close to pestering, but do consider their intentions. They aren’t getting any benefits. Kindly turn them away if you are not at all interested.

-quote (Psalm 4:8) my favourite verse! Explain next wk~
“I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”

The World’s Unfair

I just watched American Idol on Thursday night. The theme was “Idol Gives Back”. It was a special mission to help the needy people in America and some poor countries like Africa. It was the first time they held such an event and the response was pretty good. Afterall, American Idol is the most watched TV programme in America. The videos they played were very sad. Children dying of poverty every 30 seconds. And there are also many who died of malaria. And the cost of the medicine? $2. $10 to buy a mosquito net to prevent mosquito bites. It’s an amount we could all afford and yet there are people out there who die because they don’t have a mere $2 in their pocket. Isn’t it so sad that there are some people who are so obscenely rich while others are struggling everyday to live. There was this segment they interviewed the celebrities on the total funerals they ever went to. No one reached 10. This particular guy they interviewed. 200 over~

-quote from Simple Plan’s “Crazy” lyrics
“Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look I see
Rich guys driving big SUVs
While kids are starving in the streets”

Don’t Take Things For Granted

Just watched this korean movie online. Not bad. Yet another movie compared to My Sassy Girl. Yet again, not comparable.

I read the papers some time ago where they interviewed a few of our local celebrities on why marriages fail. And I totally agreed with what 1 of them said. Gradually, we take each other for granted. We are so guilty of that, aren’t we? Not only to your spouse, but the people around you or even the things around you. Ever thanked your Mom for cooking, washing and doing so many other things for you? I never did. THANKS MOM! Ok, I just did. Actually, at some point of time in my life, I included thanking God for everything I possess and constantly reminded myself everyday not to take things for granted. I don’t know if it would be just a routine prayer in years to come, but I try to keep telling myself so that I wouldn’t take things for granted.

Couples. How thrilled were we when our love ones cook for us for the very first time? Thank them? Hug them? Kiss them? How about a year later? 5 years later? Some people believe that such politeness can be spared when two people are much closer. Ok, words aside then. Are you appreciative at all? Or has it already become something he or she is obliged to do for you. In the army, I learned two words. ‘Entitlement’ and ‘Privilege’. A lot of things we possess are privileges, not entitlements. It is your privilege that your Mom cooks for you. She’s not entitled to do so.

Another factor I feel must exist in a relationship is compromising. In a family, we naturally grown used to compromising each other. Not in a relationship though. People break up nowadays with the slightest reason. Gone were the days couples were so embarrassed to do a divorce. Of course, there are pros and cons. But if divorces are going to be so convenient, less people are going to try making things work out. There’s this chinese saying that goes like “If you are happy, you be together. If not, do a break-up”. It reflects the society now, doesn’t it? Simple words with heavy consequences.

-quote
“Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”

Hectic Working Life

Another week of non-stop movies. Watched lesser this week though:

Zzzzz. Falling sick again. I think my working environment really sucks. And although my job is much much much more slack than my previous job(I get to sleep 5 hours everyday~), their pay system is damn sucky. In Toshiba(my ex company), I get to be paid overtime after 8 hours everyday. And if I work on a Saturday, it’s twice my hourly rate. In my current job, you must hit 44 hours per week(that’s a loss of 4 hours OT) and at least 8 hours everyday. Which means, if I work on a weekend without hitting 8 hours, I get my normal pay only. And OT is calculated at hourly basis whereas in my previous job, it's on half an hour basis. Unlike my supervisor though, I get to rest on weekends. He works EVERYDAY. 6am to 9 or 10pm.

If it wasn’t for my financial problems, I would have seriously slacked my way through my semester break. Working life is just so scary. You just keep working and working and working. My Japanese bosses in Toshiba practically have no life. I see them there when I reach work and they are still there when I go home.
I’m not being lazy, but to me, there are things more important than money in life. I would love to pamper my family and give them and luxurious life. But I would rather get a job that pays me ok and allows me to spend quality time with my family. I hope my future partner will be able to share the same thoughts….

"In every group there's one pain in the ass, and if you look around and can't find one, it's probably you."
- quote from my friends’s msn nick (haha. find it pretty funny. JW, it’s you)

Choose Your Children’s Names Carefully

=D Found a great website for online movies and I went movie frenzy this week. These are the movies I watched:

Loading these movies to watch today (Watched Borat halfway. NICE!):

Doing a short post today about choosing a right name for your children. Well, mine’s a great example of a sucky name! People who know me well knows that my full name is Tan Chee Liang Benne. Tan is Chen in Chinese. Sounds like 真. Chee Liang sounds like 凄凉. And together, you have 真凄凉~~ =.=”

Anyway, I have grown used to it. What else can you not laugh at when you can laugh at yourself eh. Here are the other funny names I’ve gathered:
Dean Windass – Soccer player
Nicky Butt – Soccer player
Frank Lampard – Doesn’t it sound like something vulgar in hokkien
Chin Sian – My army friend. Sounds like very bored in hokkien right.
Brad Pitt – You think it’s normal right. Wait till he name his son Arm. :x

“Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can”
- quote from the internet

Extend your Life!

Something enriching to share today haha. I suddenly remembered an article I read in a magazine years ago. So I tried to dig it out. And ta-da! The above picture is the magazine. It reads 姐妹, with a picture of Kristy Yeung(杨恭如) and it’s dated October 2001. It was the first, and probably the last woman’s magazine I ever buy take. She’s my dreamgirl! (*blushes) And it’s free, cause I took it from my Mom’s shop. :x

Yeah, so at pg 123…. There’s an article titled qi gong~ First sentence reads “Do you know how to breathe?” (*sniggers)
A lot of people don’t know how to breathe. (*grinz)
Ok, the reason they stated why Tortoises can live over a hundred years. It’s their slow breathing. In short, they know qi gong~~(interpreted by myself) In a minute, a normal person inhales about 10 times. A person who knows the way to breathe inhales only about 4-6 times. The secret is to breathe in and out from your diaphragm AKA 丹田. It is located 3 fingers below your belly button.

The method they taught to breathe from the diaphragm: First, you must sit in a meditating position (I don’t know why). Your back must be straight. Your eyes should focus at 1 inch away from your legs (I don’t know why also. Just do it). Relax. Now take a deep breath and imagine a white light going through your nose, throat, heart, stomach and then the diaphragm. The light must glow for a while in the diaphragm and then bounce back the same way out. Do this 7 times. Do this everyday and you will master qi gong, and probably live longer than any tortoise you have ever heard of!

Ps: This article is in Chinese and I’m not really good in Chinese. Do it at your own risks!

“It takes alot of courage to end yr life, but takes even more to live on and face the problem”
– quote from err… I forgot where I saw it

Smoking

It reads serial killer on the cigarette

There is always something about somebody we don’t like, don’t we? Ok maybe you do like everything about me. (*smirks)

For smokers, I hate their selfishness. There are nice people I know who are smokers (Mr I.T, you are not one of them haha). But as I said again, everyone has flaws and it’s their selfishness I’m going to be talking about. I’m sure it’s a common knowledge that someone who inhales the smoke beside a smoker (AKA the 2nd-hand smoker) suffers as bad as or even worse than the smoker himself. I see some hands raised up saying you always smoke alone. Fine~ Please proceed to the next paragraph.

Smoking also causes diseases such as heart attack, emphysema, lung cancer, etc. So isn’t it also selfish to expose yourself to such danger and risk dying young when you have family and kids? Ok I now see legs raising up and you saying that “Will die means will die mah! Some people live so healthily also die!” That’s a crappy reason. If I take a knife to stab you, would you not avoid it and say “Will die means will die mah!” I do believe in fate, but we do everything we can to produce the outcome we desire. When we can do no more, that is when fate comes in place. We don’t sleep at home and hope money suddenly appears. Don’t study and expect to score well. So, not smoking MINIMISES the risk of various diseases.

For most smokers who tell me they smoke because of stress, read this:
http://no-smoking.org/march04/03-15-04-2.html Smoking DOES NOT relieve stress.
For people who think they look cool. “………………………..”
I have friends who don't smoke in front of me or do not smoke directly in my faces. But read the previous paragraph and consider again.

Ps: i finished learning "Canon in C"!! YAY! choosing a jay chou's song to learn next. and err... since today’s post is about selFISHness, here’s a quote :x
“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he can eat for a lifetime”

Clubbing

I have a couple of friends who love clubbing man. I don’t like clubbing. Been there twice. Both times for Mr I.T’s birthday. Sucky friend who loves to chiong. :x
People usually go there to do 3 things.
-Smoke
-Drink
-Dance
If you do one thing less, it’s not really worthwhile lei. If you don’t smoke, you will be there as a 2nd-hand smoker. If you don’t drink, like damn weird lei. If you don’t dance, please proceed to the nearest kopitiam. You can smoke and drink there too. Paying so much and not doing the 3 is such a waste of money. Out of the three, I only drink. A little. Hate the feeling of having a headache.

And something else guys do when they club? Buah(rub against) girls. Girls? Get buah-ed~~ So, readers. Give up clubbing!! Mr I.T… Give it up!!

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."
- quotes I found in the internet

Women

This is a marquee i created for fun. you don't have to read it. but i guess u already have. ha...ha....ha
I wanted to put pictures of women clad in bikinis, but I have decided this should be a healthy blog. :x

For unknown reasons, I tend to find myself empathising problems women face. And due to these various problems, I fear of having a daughter in the future. Reason being, I’ll be over-protective and she’s gonna really hate me. There are just too many things girls should take care of and I definitely cannot protect her 24/7.

Read in the paper once about an artiste commenting that girls have to look pretty on tv whereas guys can look fat and stuff and no one cares. How true. Whether a girl is pretty, ugly, well-endowed, flat-like-阿雅, they get unnecessary attention.

In a normal courtship, it’s usually boys who go after the girls. Girls don’t go wooing boys they like(normally). Therefore, girls can only choose among people who like them. If they are fortunate enough, the love is mutual. So when the girl doesn’t like the boy. The boy starts doing romantic stuff and finally touched her heart. Now, does the girl really like the guy or is she just choosing to be with someone who loves her? And more than often, the romantic stuffs end after courtship yah.

Going on to marriage. Girl will have to live with the guy’s family. Personally, I feel that I MUST insist my mom live with me. Unless if she’s living with my bro. I’m not acting filial but this is a kind of responsibility. So what about girls who are so filial towards their parents? I feel that it’s rather unfair to women.

I told my dear 徒弟 once before and I shall share with you guys. I told her how dangerous it is to go to a guy’s house. It doesn’t matter if you are in a group or alone. If you are in a group, you are probably just safe from being raped or having your drink spiked(and then rape). There are sick guys who install pinhole cameras. So if you really have to go to a guy’s house, avoid drinking from cups, changing clothes and going to the toilet. And although the public is much safer, these things apply too.
(Ps: I’m not rich enough to install a pinhole camera and the best drug I have to make you drowsy is my panadol. :x so I think my house is rather safe.)

There are just so so so so many trivial things a girl shouldn’t do. They are so trivial you are going to punch my face when you hear it. Conclusion: I don’t want a daughter… I must emphasize that I’m not a sexist. I don’t discriminate women. I’m just hoping I do not have a daughter suffering in this dangerous world. If you are a woman reading this blog, please don't end your life haha. Take extreme care of yourself.

“It takes a lot of courage to end your life, but takes even more to live on and face the problem” – quote from the internet
(ps: the quote doesn’t have to relate to the topic ok. If you insist on one…. “no place is safer than home” – quote from benne)

Be Content With Your Life and Everything You Have

Happiness is defined differently by each and every one of us. As I grew older, I begin to treasure my life more and more. I love my life. No exaggeration. Whenever I’m sick, I would think “wow, life’s really great without bein sick man.” And the other time I had wisdom tooth. Phoooooooooo. The pain….. I was unable to eat. Swallowing my saliva was painful too. Countless times I woke up in the middle of night due to the pain. Going to the army also made me realize how comfy my bed is. How a warm bath feels so good. How to appreciate roti prata~ I missed my mom for the 1st time in 20 years during confinement period. And I almost cried when she told me my dog, Junior always went to my room to look for me.

I don’t have any illness. I can eat my food. My mom cooks good food. :D
I have a nice bed. I am not rich, but not that poor either. And seeing Junior everyday makes me smile. I used to always think I’m super unlucky. Now, I really feel blessed… just thinking of all these simple little things we overlook everyday.

Life is just wonderful~

"Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing."
- quote from a drama based on true life, 1 litre of tears

---

American Idol
These people are my current favourites~ They are not great singers, but they are rather unique. I don't know why, but female singers just don't appeal to me. There are great female singers, but somehow I just don't idolise them. I hope this is not a sign of being gay... :x Singers like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston. I really admire their superb vocals. But no "like" factor lei.. Except for Christina Aguilera. I do like her. YES she has bad fashion sense. But that's not the point.

dun hav a great voice. but he does beatboxing. only one in the competition.

one of the better singers among the guys. sings abit like justin timberlake.

funny guy wif quite a nice voice

Trends

I remember reading an article in the newspapers a long time ago. It was about whether people are really adapting to the fast-paced changes in life or are they forcing themselves to fit into the world we are in now. Personally, I’m a more traditional person. I can’t really accept a lot of new things. This brings me to something I wanna talk about.

My friend(JW) and I were talking about an old friend(XD). He was asking me the reason my old friend broke up with his GF(J) a few years back. I explained to him that J had found someone she liked in her poly and therefore broke up with XD. I feel that falling in love with another person when you are already in a relationship is acceptable. Because, humans have emotions. You cannot simply tell your heart not to like someone when it does. But knowing that if you are already in a relationship, you ought to have some basic responsibilities. J shouldn’t go out with the guy she could probably develop deeper feelings with.

JW was telling me it’s normal for teenagers to do that. Happens all the time. Yeah, I do agree it’s normal. But normal doesn’t mean that it’s right. Normal doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. I like to give exaggerated examples to highlight the point. Picture this: A very peaceful town. Due to a change in events, murder is so common it becomes normal to read articles of murder everyday. Now… it’s normal right? Acceptable?

The normal things in the world we live in today…. Girls smoking. Normal. Unplanned pregnancy BEFORE marriage. Normal. Increasing divorces, disrespect to elders, kids havin HPs better than mine(freak~). Normal stuffs. Acceptable? Not to me at least.

Ps: this post was not created to piss u, JW. :D
Just thoughts of mine

“a popular choice may not be a right one. a right choice may not be a popular one”
- quote from an email

Kicking Off

Just last night, when I was turning and tossing in my bed from 1am to 4am, I decided to start a blog. :x

It’s been quite awhile I’ve been toying with the idea but never really got started. In the past, I didn’t like the idea of blogging. To me, blogging is writing your life diary online. And you write secrets in your diary. But then, you don’t go posting your secrets online, don’t you? So, I didn’t thought it was a good idea at that point. But then, I’ve decided to start this blog to share thoughts of my own. I like to think a lot, you see. I’d like to think myself as a philosopher~~ ok ok don’t start slamming me. The keyword is “LIKE TO”. But I do like to inspire people with my philosophies, if they do think like me. But anyway, these are MY thoughts. So you don’t have to agree with them. You may find them weird or disagree with them. But like Garfield, (*winks) I am not always right, but I’m never wrong~

Yeah, so this blog would probably be updated probably a once in every few days, and then once a week, then once a fortnight, once a month, once a year, and i'll stop blogging.... Oh, and I love meaningful quotes. Some are from famous people, some from songs, some from me (*grinz). Hopefully, I can provide one every time I blog yah.
Have fun reading! Tata~



"Cause i can't make you love me, if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't"
-song lyrics from Bonnie Raitt