The Philosophy of Feeling Goood

Socially Responsible

I was planning to go for a swim, and almost did.

Then I remembered that as a socially responsible citizen, i should stay clear of the public pool until the 7-day semi-quarrantined period is over. Reluctantly, I put my bag down and slumped in my seat which has one broken arm-rest, courtesy of the previous inhabitant.

It is my sincere hope that some brilliant scientist do something about these irritating viruses. Put them under the microscope and disembowel and atomic-blast them, please. For they are a pesky nuisance disrupting my important life.

Man, I have not had any work-out for nearly two weeks. Yikes!

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Came out of meeting to be greeted by nice little big cupcake hidden in the pristine box. It was past 2pm and I hadn't had lunch. JP had left this on my desk, with a note that bears his trademark wit. I don't have the note now, but it goes something like this: 'i know this is not quite the cupcake from Jones, but you see i can't travel that far.' Nice one there, but the post-it could have been a better one to do justice to the words, you know. ;p But thanks, it's a pocket of surprise that brought a smile to me. By the way, the cupcake's huge.



Always notice and pay attention to details around you. Lovely things and surprises may just be round the corner, or laying somewhere waiting to be discovered. They cost nothing and pay good happiness dividends. Like this evening scene at 7pm that drew my gaze as i walked back to office from the toilet. The soft rays were peeking out of the mushroom clouds and the patch of red hinted of sunset, even as i looked at this from the inside of a concrete building in the midst of an urban jungle.

(In case you are wondering, no, I don't carry my camera when i go to pee. Don't say you imagine that's possible; that's NOT. I just quickly grabbed my camera out from the office. Oh, and the circular light, that's a reflection of the corridor light.)



Sometimes after work, I don't like to return home immediately, just to break the routine of everyday drudgery: wake up; go to work; knock off; go back home; go to bed. (For that matter, im still up at 2am writing this.) This being Little Red Dot with Little Night Life, there aren't that many places to go. I took the train down, alighted at Orchard Road, swung into the mall that was going to shut down, then inevitably concluded my sojourn at Borders.

Again, look around you, take pause for there're always things to see. I saw Ion Orchard, its intricate, dazzling lights sparkling and shimmering. I don't like big shopping malls (more in terms of patronising them), but I have to concede that Ion Orchard might just bring or return the sparkle to Orchard Road. This place is the shopping district, so it doesn't matter if another mall is added. For the brief interlude, i let the shimmering lights bedazzle me. Ah yes, that word that the marketing guys use, bedazzle. This being a Tuesday night, it helps that the crowd is absent. That afforded me some quiet.



I turned the corner, then noticed that there will be another connector soon enough, surely. Another point of connect that adds to the network and labyrinth of passages to allow seamless flow of Gen X, Y and Z. After innumerous brave attempts, I finally captured the moving words ION. Done. Now it's time to cross that most certainly well-used junction by pedestrains, over to the site of ION Orchard. A capsule, ion-like structure lay before me, and I walked right into it, down the escalator into the central node of Little Red Dot's Shopping district. The story ends here.

Either way, it's Freak

The streets, the traffic, shops, people in movement - these are the stuff of my travel. I am quite contented walking the streets, turning the corner, admiring places and scenery and people, finding pleasant surprises and, of course, capturing snapshots of the multifarious things i see. As so often pointed out in travel articles, walking is a good, if not the best, way to feel the pulse of a place.

Many people I know are very pleased when they scooped a good bargain or buy whilst holidaying. I am however even more elated when I snapped a good photo. The joy of capturing a moment, or of something interesting or beautiful, brings much joy and relish.

For the photo above, I was walking on the sidewalk when i glanced the sign board. Almost instinctively, I took out my camera and framed the as yet untaken photo while waiting for the right moment. It came shortly and I was rewarded with what I considered to be one of my favourite shots from the trip.

Cloud Ten

According to Weikipidea, Cloud Ten denotes a happy state brought about by the presence of scattered, white fluffy clouds with pockets of skyblue blue. Their presence alone is reason for the creation of happy feelings, and this is not a fluff. If a person can't experience Cloud Ten, then too bad. He needs to go back to Cloud One.

I luv Botak Trees! =)

'little packets of excitement'

Canuf has a knack for putting perspectives - nuggest of insights - beautifully. Always makes my heart fuzzy when i read his heartwarming lines, and smile. Love ur writing Canuf! And i've taken the liberty to quote from your blog:

once in a while, life doles out little packets of excitement just to remind us that we´re alive :)

... ...

loved the way the metal skin twisted and warped and glinted and shimmered in the summer sun... teaching us to stop and give a second look to that scrunched up aluminium foil next time before we throw it away. really, any piece of shit in this world can look beautiful if we look at it long enough, as long as we're willing to imagine that it's really really gorgeous.

... ...

sometimes words really are the safest places to hide. because they can be a shield, and a sword, all at once.

- My friend Canuf

Tash Aw on books

Mention e-books to Malaysian novelist Tash Aw and the mild-mannered 37-year-old gently but expressively winces.

"Books should first and foremost be about pleasure. And every time i turn on an appliance, it is not about pleasure, it is for work," he tells Lifestyle over breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel.

"I really enjoy books on so many different levels, not just what is in them but the aesthetics of books. There needs to be a connection between the reader and the book, you connect with the text and also the physicality of the book."

The Read Interview by Stephanie Yap, Sunday Times, June 14, 2009

Malaysian writer, London-based Tash Aw was in town recently to promote his second book. I read his debut - The Harmony Silk Factory - which was a pretty good read. Going by his replies in the above interview, well, let's just say he's scored more points with me. Couldn't agree more with his take on the appeal of books and one's love for them. My good friend SP always gives me that incredulous look when i say I'm going to buy a book; he would helpfully suggest that I go to a particular website where I can find what i want and read for free.

"Browsing in a bookshop is still a very pleasurable thing. There is something mysterious and alluring about books, what they contain and the way they look, and i think that will endure."

- Tash Aw (as quoted in Sunday Times)

Finding my innocence lost

It would be nice if I could remember my life as a toddler. How i think as a fairly new member to this world. What are my thoughts. What's the world like seen through my curious eyes. Most important, to re-live and remember the child-like, worry-free life a toddler lives through. Because as an adult I imagine that life as a toddler is so wonderful, so charming and innocent.

Words on a Wall

Orangy Blobs

Angled Aerial Aspiration

Incoherence

The weather is hot. It is divinely insane to conduct any physical activities outdoor, which is to say most if not all types of activities. I am in a crappy mood now. I am not unhappy with my new circumstances at work. But whatever excitement or gladness, is increasingly being sapped away by the prospect of busy weeks ahead. I am meeting up with EG tomorrow. Long time since we met. I don't want to stop running, now that I have started to run more regularly. There are some places I want to explore. But I haven't got the time to do so. It's got to be either in the morning or the evening, though the latter would be nicer. I like swimming. The only exercise I get to move like a fish, and I get an upper-body work-out without needing to lift weights. So I am incoherent. I shall post pictures then.