Protected: What was it about? (ask me for pw – u know where to)

Appreciate What You Have

Sometimes I think I, and perhaps other people, waste too much time obsessing about things we can’t have. The Jimmy Choo heels, Louis Vuitton bags, diamond rings, or even somebody…

So much time can be delegated instead to appreciate what we already have.

Obsessing and whining about things we can’t have does NOT help us get the things in any way. So why waste the time, the effort, the heart?

I think it’s either take action to get that thing, or step back, evaluate, realize, and start appreciate things that you already have.

I’m choosing the latter. How about you?

Unbearably Instant

Just some things to ponder about.

When I was in Jakarta, my littlest sister one day threw tantrums to her boyfriend because he had not replied her text messages for several hours. Or not @-replying her on Twitter. Whichever it was.

I was like, “Seriously, sis? Maybe he’s just busy doing something else?”. And my sister shot me a blank look, depicting something like “Even if he’s busy he should be able to reply me”.

Isn’t that the bane of today’s world? It’s unbearably instant (borrowing phrase from my friend Putu). Decades ago, lovers will send each other love letters and wait weeks, even months, for a reply. To even receive a reply is a lovely surprise.

Right now we have text messages, IMs, Twitter, and many other applications that claim to bring people closer together, but create attention-deficit impatient people instead. We don’t even send long e-mails anymore (except perhaps when your groupmate is acting really obnoxious. SMU joke – if you don’t get it never mind). When was the last time you sent an e-mail like a real mail? Something like how are you, how is it like at your place, what has been going on, and yadda yadda yadda. Never? I am not surprised. Too often the longest emails I received are from my aunt who just caught the e-mail forwarding virus (yes, in 2010!).

Do we not have enough time to stop and wait? Or are we expected NOT to have time? Because everything is unbearably instant…

Here’s a suggestion. You don’t even need to send a real hand-written letter via post (do people even know that postal service still exists?). Try sending long e-mails. Write to a friend. Tell him/her how you are doing, what have you been up to. Ask him/her about what he/she has been planning to do, or even about his/her quirky hobbies.

Send the e-mail.

And then wait for the reply.

Savour the time.

Comfort Zone

Here I am again, at my comfort zone. In a house where I don’t need to worry about food on plate and dirty laundry or room.

For how long should I be here, I don’t know. I haven’t even bought a ticket back to Singapore. It’s like I’ve been home for so long I almost forgot how Singapore looks like.

I think I have to convince myself to just go, to just dive in, to just step out and face it.

I’ve done it before when 4 years ago I came into Singapore, without anyone, without knowing anything. I survived.

But I dunno if I want to prolong it…

To Challenge Myself, is the next step

Found this brilliant comic by Stuart McMillen that portrays exactly how I feel to finally finish an education.

Though reluctant, I realize that to challenge myself, rather than overcoming challenges in education, is definitely my next step.

I can’t believe I cried while reading the comic.

Below is only the thumbnail of the comic (original comic is huge and long).

Please enjoy the full-sized comic at Stuart’s site : Recombinant Records

Does Service Matter?

Please tell me I’m not the only one who found the service level in Singapore is like 6 feet under. It sucks.

Almost every time I sit down in a restaurant, or simply ordering food at hawker centres, the server/hawker will only ask “Yes, order?”. Sometimes there is not even a question. They will only take out their order pads, or the best one – raising their eyebrows at me. It’s as if we have a telepathy going on.

Whatever happened to “Good morning/afternoon/evening, may I take your order?”?

That's not food, by the way

Pardon me for being particular. But I come from the land of smiles and I mean that literally. Doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant, a fast food joint, or an undignified “WarTeg” (small diners providing basic food, usually for lower class citizens), people always greet me with a smile and chirpy voice. Ok, not always, but most of the time.

Perhaps it’s the tips thing? It’s always customary to give tips to service staff in Indonesia, when it’s not a common practice here in Singapore. Already included in the bill, they say.

Small fact: I pay 21% service charge in Indonesia, and I still tip anyway. (we are all expected to)

Does tips really make the difference in service level?

Does service matter in the first place anyway?

For me it matters, a damn lot. I don’t care if the food is gourmet, if the service is bad the food will taste bland. I stopped going to MOS Burger at Novena Square because there is this super annoying auntie who doesn’t even speak when I’m ordering, or even look at me for that matter. That is despite my unrequited LOVE for MOS Burger. At the food court/hawker centre near home, I only buy sugarcane juice from 1 stall, just because the owners are nice, smiley, and always remembers me.

How about you? Does good service matter in your choice of where to eat?

Photo by remittancegirl, under Creative Commons NC-SA 2.0

Last Week of School. OMG Really?

Before I even stepped in SMU, I had already prepared a post in my mind to release when I’m about to graduate.

It would talk about my feelings. About my takeaways. About how I treasure the opportunities I have managed to attain. About how all my previous struggles had been worth it.

But seriously?

I actually don’t know what to feel right now. I know for sure, for years when I finish school after school, there was only joy. I couldn’t wait to move forward. I couldn’t wait to leave the past behind.

And yet now is the first time ever when there is no certainty after the finish line.

I kinda realized that it’s the last week of school really late. I just realized earlier this week that I have no exams. Only a final test this Saturday (3 April), summary and reflection paper due on Friday and Saturday, and then a short story due on next Monday (5 April), and then I’m done. Done. Finito.

I was like, really? This is it?

I suppose it’s the case with many people. You don’t really realize what you have been through until the last minutes of it. And right now I wonder whether I haven’t savoured the experience, the last days, enough.

And I still don’t know what to feel….

Depending on Yourself

Some days ago I wrote to my fellow choristers that people can help them sing better by singing the notes to them, giving tips and tricks for better sound production, making recordings/midi files to listen to, but no one can magically transform them into a songbird overnight.

And I thought, heh, isn’t it also relevant to other stuff beside singing in choir?

Maybe I, or you, or other people, depend too much on other people to change ourselves. Perhaps it’s rooted in the education system (Indonesia’s or Singapore’s at least) where we were conditioned to expect our teachers to spoon-feed us with information and knowledge (and test and exams!). We become so passive, believing that we will change once we find somebody who can help us.

But to change ourselves need the conscious effort, just like the conscious effort I took in practicing for my choir singing. The effort I took in utilizing my back muscles, positioning my voice so that it resonates, raising my eyebrows, and every single little thing to make my voice clearer.

But sometimes the bigger question lies in whether you want to do the conscious effort. Thinking of doing it and really doing it are two different things, and taking action to move from thinking to doing takes quite some time, or even bravery, for some people.

So, have you moved from thinking to doing yet?