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Saturday, 31 March 2012

March 2012: Turning 24 and Feeling Young

A highly desirable change/transformation took place within me this month. As the title says, I’ve once again begun to feel young in my outlook towards life. I’ve genuinely rediscovered the spark of a youngling’s enthusiasm, as opposed to laboring hard for it as has been the requirement in prior months. Maybe it’s the chubby cheeks, maybe it was Hamsa (Miss China) convincing me about my youthful exuberance in January, maybe it was the ‘child-ing’ around with Geethanjali sweetheart last month, or maybe it’s the interactions with the crazy Jigoon 5. Fact is, I’m much bubblier, quirkier, zanier, and whatever-else-ier compared to prior periods (spanning back to over more than a year, to be honest). Well, what a way to commemorate me turning 24 then! It’s a gift by itself, this shift in my intrinsic self and yeah, I feel really happy about it. With that, let’s take a look at how I spent my birthday month of 2012. (Btw, I've kept my introduction relatively short - a rarity eh? Haha! )
A) Study Book 3: Winning
If I were to describe my reading of this month’s business book, it will be as such: I devoured it. Yes, that’s right. I devoured all 359 pages, from start to finish, until I was done with the book, with 9 more days still left for the end of the month. Written by Jack Welch (former CEO of General Electric), the chapters were clear, concise, and straight-to-the-point, without needless ramblings that typically permeates less-stellar business literature. As such, I was very much motivated to cover as much ground as I could. Not that I needed copious amounts of it though. If you recall Study Book 1 (Business Stripped Bare), Sir Richard Branson mentions that it’s very difficult for an individual to be both a competent entrepreneur & manager, before going on to provide an exception (Steve Jobs). Well, if you know me well by now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I reckon I can also be one of those rare entrepreneur-manager breeds. Furthermore, if I do start out as an entrepreneur, I need to possess these vital management skills for the highly-demanding start-up phase. Last but not least, even if I work in a typical employee role, knowledge of the big picture is handy by itself, both conceptually and contextually. With that, it was a case of all systems go when it came to reading this book. Here’s a breakdown of the parts and the corresponding chapters in each of them:
§    Underneath It All (Missions & Values, Candor, Differentiation, and Voice & Dignity)
§    Your Company (Leadership, Hiring, People Management, Parting Ways, Change, and Crisis
     Management)
§    Your Competition (Strategy, Budgeting, Organic Growth, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Six
     Sigma)
§    Your Career (The Right Job, Getting Promoted, Hard Spots, and Work-Life Balance)
§    Tying Up Loose Ends (Here, There and Everywhere)
My favourites were candor (opening up, questioning, & conversing in a frank, genuine & candid manner), differentiation (ranking your resources – and yes, this includes people - in a fair way whereby everyone knows where they stand and hence be managed accordingly, resulting in a positive transformation for the organisation as a whole), budgeting, organic growth, and mergers & acquisitions. You know, I’ve got to be honest here: after getting to know ‘benchmark’ companies such as GE (and their organizational cultures), I don’t have much confidence in most Malaysian companies. I’m pretty sure the culture around here isn’t as optimal/effective as that demonstrated in ‘Winning’ so yeah, I might have to go it alone once I am ready. But let’s forget about that for now. I wanna conclude this book review by saying that I loved reading about management so much, I’m lining up Peter Drucker’s ‘Management’ to be read in 2013!
B) My Month’s Movie Exploits
Back in March 2010, I created a landmark milestone for myself by watching a total of 9 movies in a single month. Every time I think of this so-called ‘audacity’, I derive a tremendous sense of satisfaction and glee. Hence, I decided to attempt another movie spree again, this time raising the bar to a 10. Now, I wasn’t able to reach my intended target (thanks in large part to wise counsel who stated that one shouldn’t feel forced to watch a movie just for the sake of it) but I enjoyed the pursuit all the same. So here, in chronological order, is the list of movies watched for the month of March 2012:

1) The Devil Inside – Loges & Darma dragged Kalai & I for this, thus kicking-off the month’s movie spree. The concept of the movie was good, the theme centering on exorcisms and the film taken in a documentary-style found footage format. It was definitely freaky, without a question, but the movie ending arrived too abruptly, thus spoiling all the good plot work. Btw, for about 2 weeks, I was feeling considerable timid being alone downstairs in the middle of the night, so much so that when it came to switching off the lights and heading upstairs to bed, I practically sprinted each and every single time
2) The Woman in Black – A good cinematic watch, and it had all the classic ‘jumpy’ moments of a good horror movie. I have to say, I am not a fan of horror movies and this is exactly the reason why – you can’t relax for even one second in your seat! Hello, I go to the movies to chill & to have fun, not to put myself on high alert k! That said, I recommend this movie to those who fancy it, but you might find it a bit funny to see Daniel Radcliffe (the Harry Potter guy) act in his/this new different role.
3) John Carter – Now this is more my kind of movie! Johan Carter from ‘Vorgiiiniaaa’ unknowingly gets teleported to Barsoom (Mars) where he gets caught up in a conflict/battle which will shape the very fate of the planet itself. Well, you can imagine how hilarious it is, seeing him get used to his new low-gravity environment. Also, picture a myriad of Barsoom’s home creatures – the Tharks, the Green Martians of Warhoon, and the gigantic White Apes – and you get the idea of the whole adventure aspect of the movie. For me though, the highlight was, of course, Princess Dejah Thoris. Seriously k, what a woman!

4) Act of Valor - I watched this with the boys during our Wangsa Maju stay-over (as part of COD training) and it left us all feeling somewhat inspired at the end of it. The movie was quality from start to finish, and it was very comprehensive in detailing the life of a military personnel. The plot was good too, with the armed confrontations taking place in locations as diverse as Costa Rica, Mexico, Somalia, and Russia (international terror networks, in other words). Rescuing a kidnapped hostage, foiling a terrorist suicide plan, engaging in a battle with the drug cartels - the movie had everything. It was top class.
5) The Hunger Games – Ok, I found the theme of this movie rather dark. 24 children (picked randomly) being forced to compete in The Games, with there being only one winner (the last remaining survivor) while the other 23 are eliminated (death due to exposure, the terrain, animals/creatures, and – and this is the most disturbing part –being killed by the children in duels). I was slightly affected by the movie, and in the ensuing few days, I felt ill-at-ease as I replayed the Cornucopia bloodbath (where the participants make a rush to grab the weapons and supplies and hence the kills at close proximity), the Career Tributes’ joy at eliminating the other Tributes, the Gamekeepers unleashing the Mutts into the arena, and the whole concept of it being televised live on TV. So yeah, it took me some time to get over it but I am now sucked into the whole Hunger Games trilogy – I’ve skimmed through the first book, conducted research online, and had discussions with my sister. I guess the story does have a hold on people after all.
6) Wrath of the Titans – The perfect movie to wrap up my March 2012 movie exploits (and I watched it in Kajang cinema sumore). It was excellence of the highest degree. The follow-up to Clash of the Titans was as awesome and explosive as its predecessor (if more so) and I loved every second of it. Greek Mythology + Action and Adventure = PURE ADRENALINE!!! Watching Perseus take on the Cyclops, Chimera, Minotaur, Makhai, the renegade Ares, & Kronos as he made his way to Tartarus and back was high-excitement stuff! It’s easily one of those movies worth watching for a second time at the theatres! Gosh, I loved it k! It’s easily my number one pick out of the six I watched this month! Woooo-hoooooo!
C) Miscellaneous
v      Ashwini Meet-up – It was brilliant meeting up with my Australian kangaroo friend once again! Ashwini looked gorgeous as always and I for one was certainly in awe of her confidence as she went about doing her thing in a bold fashion number that day! What a girl k! This time around, we paid the ACCA Malaysian Head Office a visit, before heading out to Capsquare for a delightful conversation over lunch. I miss you Ashwini, let’s meet up k.
v      Jigoon 5 Karaoke Night-out – The Don had been pressing us on this lately, so we acceded to her repeated requests. It wasn’t a terrific karaoke session or anything, but oh well, at least I got to check out Kylie Minogue during ‘Slow’. Too bad Arvind the Kiwi wasn’t around in Kajang.
v       TTIS Colouring Contest 2012 – Being the secretary, I had to be present, lend support, etc etc etc. Given a choice, I would have rather joined in (and trounce the competition)!
v       Incepticonz Updates – We played a match against Christopher’s team and very comfortably won against them by a very big scoreline (they weren’t at full strength btw). I scored a total of 5 goals (a very conservative estimate) during the encounter. My current goal tally: 27 goals.
v       Wangsa Maju COD Stay-over! – Loges, Arvind & I went over to Prabha Annan’s house for a sensational COD weekend retreat! We took our COD training seriously, so much so we watched ‘Act of Valor’ to pick up some valuable combat strategies! Haha!
v Euro 2012 Italian jersey!! – Wooooo-hoooooo!! I’ve got my Euro 2012 Italian jersey, all thanks to Kalai The Don!!!! Wooooo-hooooo! You should have seen my excitement and celebration that night!
v 24^th Birthday Cake-Cutting Session – I guess the picture below says it all! Haha!
D) LDR Days
Now this is going to come as somewhat of a huge surprise to all of you. In fact, even I find it to be kinda unbelievable because quite frankly, I thought it was going to take me a considerable amount of time before I could reasonably attain such levels of assurance. Ladies and gentlemen, what I am talking about here is the idea of romantic commitment with sweetheart. You see, something happened during our February-March 2012 Dates which made me realise that I’d like & want to be romantically committed with sweetheart in the future. Not only that, I’d also like & want to get married with sweetheart in the future too. Now how did this all happen, I hear you ask? Well, in all honesty, I don’t have the slightest clue, seeing that sweetheart & I have been interacting like we always have! But yeah, I’ve always maintained that I’ll embrace something like this if it is genuine because it’s a case staying true to myself. That said, I have to remind everyone about our current status: sweetheart & I are still not in a relationship. (I know I know, you’re thinking I’m deluding myself and all that so do continue reading ) Sure I love my baby like crazy, sure I want to be romantically committed & get married to sweetheart in the future, but as of NOW, I don’t want to move the bf-gf stage. The reason is simple: I don’t want to be romantically committed now, I’m not ready for it, and if I were to rush it, I would not be true to myself and hence, there’d be no meaning to our relationship whatsoever. And I’ll tell you one thing k, sweetheart will slap/punch/whack me if this was to be the case! Haha! So yeah, as it stands, my current relationship status hasn’t changed, but I’m very much comfortable with the idea of romantic commitment with Geethanjali in the future. (And folks, stop complaining k, this is already a major development by itself! Haha! )

On another note, thanks to one of our Skype webcam sessions, I’ve managed to figure out my ‘base’ career (a ‘minimum’ career which will make me feel happy, even though it’s not something I’ll categorise as great or ambitious), which is that of a financial analyst. When I surprised sweetheart by saying that she resembles someone who’d like to have a financial analyst for a husband (I did my homework k ), she gave me a huge grin! Haha! Turns out that having a financial analyst for a husband comes second in her preference list (the first being a famous husband, which I have to say, doesn’t conflict with my ultimate career goal – me being famous myself). I suppose it’s the suits and the complex financial calculations that do it for sweetheart but for me, I think it’s really awesome that along with the coolness and flashiness of the job, I get to excite my wife via the nature of my job itself. Here, I’ll provide you with an illustration. Allow me to be a little naughty here k. Imagine me returning home after work (dressed in one of my suits) and going over to the desk and pouring over some calculations of equity returns and etc. Now imagine sweetheart (who’s already my wife) coming over to me in a dress similar to the one below (showing plenty of skin and thigh). Knowing sweetheart, she’s definitely going to distract me from my financial analysis work and make me focus exclusively on her so yeah, I leave it to your imaginations as to what exactly sweetheart will proceed to do k. I know what’s already in my imagination k! Haha! So you see, I think it’s really terrific that I have deduced that a financial analyst is my base career and I have my sexy naughty mischievous sweetheart to thank for k! Haha! Thanks baby!

With this, I shall now end my March 2012 blog. Yet again, this has been a very late entry (and I apologise for that once more) but hey, it’s my birthday month after all so yeah, no complaining!! Haha! See you in April folks!

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

February 2012: Crazy Nuts and Hopelessly in Love
It’s not often I begin my blog posts with such expressions/outpourings of love from the very onset. Normally, the details/developments of my love life comprise the grand finale of my monthly Xanga blog entries, no doubt because of its highly interesting appeal. This time around though, amore has been the central theme from start to finish. Granted, it is Valentine’s Day month after all, but the celebration of love wasn’t only confined to the 14^th but for the whole of February 2012 in general. The reason? Surprise surprise, sweetheart returned home for her 2-week semester break and of course, it was cue for me to put aside whatever I was doing and go out on dates with my wonderful baby darling! Haha! These meet-ups (8 in total) were dates in every sense of the word and yes, it has resulted in me feeling hopelessly in love with my Geethanjali sweetheart (as if I wasn’t already ). Anyway, more on that later. Bear with me (depending on your perspective that is) as I jot down a little bit about what other things I’ve been up to this month. There are a number of accomplishments included in the mix after all.
(A) Miscellaneous
v      ACCA December 2012 exam results:
F7 Financial Reporting – Fail (4 marks)
P2 Corporate Reporting – Fail (3 marks)
P4 Advanced Financial Management – Fail (17 marks)
P5 Advanced Performance Management – Pass (63 marks)
Astounding, isn’t it? Jones, Evra & Nani in one sitting? Haha! Talk about failing with flying colours! As for the P5 pass, now that is indeed something. Check this out k: the global pass rate for the paper was 29%. And look at me here, getting a comfortable pass, self-study sumore! Seriously, cue the celebrations – all 4 of these papers! Haha!
v      Diploma Boy – Due to ACCA’s introduction of its new range of qualification suites, I now officially hold a Diploma in Accounting & Business! Sure, it might be dated January 2009, but hey, it’s never too late to celebrate k! Diploma boy in the house everybody! Wooo-hoooo!
v      Counter Strike Condition Zero – I was awarded 2 valour medals for completing the Easy and Medium missions. Although I’m incredibly proud of my achievements, I’ve already abandoned the game by now because it stated to get very ‘kuew tiau-ish’.
v       24-hour All Boys PD Trip – Naiken, Theven, Esani, Mathia, Ghopi, & I really made the hours count, we did! Haha! Swimming in the pool, playing FIFA well into the night, midnight KFC feast in the room, & free breakfast as a result of Theven’s smart maneuver. It might have been a relatively short trip this time around but mark my words, messing about with the boys at the Admiral Cove was incredibly fun without a doubt.



v       Viral Fever – What a source of utter annoyance! In the beginning of the month, I was down with viral fever for nearly one week. Legs feeling cold, lack of energy, ‘prickly’ sensation all over my body, and minor headaches from time to time....it was indeed annoying!
v      TTIS activities – Group prayers at the Uchi Vinayagar temple & a motivation session for school students. Btw, I’ve not really been that professional in my role as secretary & committee member so far. This has got to change next month.
v      Catching up with cousins - My uncle was admitted for heart attack this month (thankfully, he’s okay now) so we paid him a number of visits at the University Hospital. Prabha Annan, Nanthini Akka & Arvind were all present and together with Loges, my sisters & I, we had plenty of chatting time to ourselves. The lunch at Grand City was my favourite (along with the Call of Duty session of course), because I was making Nanthini Akka laugh big time! Haha!
v       Valentine’s Day 2012 – I loved my Valentine’s Day, oh yes I did! Since my parents were not at home, I called 4 of my closest girl pals and wished them Happy Valentine’s Day! Wooo-hooooo! Talking to Geethanjali, Nisha, Kpritha & Ashwini, one after the other, was absolutely fantastic and I was super hyper for the rest of the day!

(B) Study Book 2: Borrowing Brilliance
When a book stakes the claim that the act of copying is central to the creativity & innovation process, you know that it is certainly worth having a look (of course, I went one better and read the whole thing). After last month’s materials & literature on entrepreneurship, I was in the mood for something more general yet conceptually powerful. David Kord Murray’s book fit the bill perfectly and not surprisingly, it turned out to be a highly satisfying read. As the cover says, the author listed out and explained the six steps to business innovation by building on the ideas of others (no worries though, these steps can be applied to any field or endeavor). Briefly, these steps consist of:
1)     Defining – Define the problem you’re trying to solve.
2)     Borrowing – Borrow ideas from places with a similar problem.
3)     Combining – Connect and combine these borrowed ideas.
4)     Incubating – Allow the combinations to incubate into a solution.
5)     Judging – Identify the strength and weakness of the solution.
6)     Enhancing – Eliminate the weak points while enhancing the strong ones.

The author also introduced a number of thinking techniques & tools to help implement, apply, and consolidate each of these six steps. Some of the more notable ones are the use of metaphors in constructing the overall skeleton of your idea, working with Freudian slips as a means of utilising your subconscious, and recombining via the means of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division & rearrangement. Now, I can’t give the whole comprehensive list here but if you’re interested to find out more on this subject, do visit the author’s website (especially the Creative Thinking Tools link). I assure you won’t be disappointed. I know I’m not! Anyway, a big thumbs up to Borrowing Brilliance – it was a highly intriguing read. I just can’t wait for Plan B later this year.
(C) February/March 2012 Dates with Sweetheart
And now, we come to the most-awaited segment of this month’s blog – my 2 weeks of non-stop glorious dating with sweetheart. As mentioned earlier, there were 8 in total and well, what can I say, each of them were simply wonderful, awesome, and amazing (the adjectives and superlatives could go on and on but I think it’ll be wise if I save them for the narrations below ). Every time I laid eyes on sweetheart or picked her up from her house, I felt such joy, contentment and excitement. I love my baby k, gosh I really do! Alright then, enough of the introduction, let’s get into the dates themselves!
1) The Crazy Nuts Meet-up
The first of our 8 dates got underway with this, The Crazy Nuts Meet-up. Our first stop was at the Mines Shopping Complex, where sweetheart was it need of some shopping. Mind you, ‘Traditions’ (Tan Cheng Goh at tolls being one of them) quickly resumed after the 5-month intervening absence and I for one was very much into them, thus prompting the term Crazy Nuts from sweetheart! Haha! Anyway, the two of us went shoe-shopping first, as sweetheart needed to get herself a new pair of platforms. As we looked at the ranges and choices on offer, I was giving out comments regarding their fit and suitability. Sweetheart was impressed by my fashion acumen ‘upgrade’ and she complimented me by referring to me as ‘smart’, which was very nice of her to have done so. And btw, the shoe which sweetheart bought was initially suggested by me so yeah, I guess I must have been improving in this sector after all! Haha! We then had our lunch at Popeye’s, where I held sweetheart’s wrist and enjoyed her Body Shop scent which she sprayed moments earlier. Btw, I have to say here that I really like sweetheart’s scent – she smells really good, be it whether she’s applied perfume or shampooed her hair. And of course, I love her natural body aroma as well. Lastly, we went grocery shopping, where sweetheart decided to test me on my, well, grocery shopping attributes. I’m glad to say that sweetheart & I share very similar tastes, be they milk lotion baths or furniture designs. So yeah, yayyyyyyyy I passed! Haha!

Anyway, once we had completed our task at Mines, we made our way to Putrajaya. Along the way, I received Tamil lessons from sweetheart. Upon initial assessment, sweetheart categorized my Tamil as ‘kampung’ (btw, we mean no disrespect to the suburban and rural Indian families out there – hey, I’m sure their level of Tamil is million times better than mine!). I need to improve on my Tamil grammar and vocabulary because yeah, they’re pretty much non-existent at the moment! Haha! Moving on, upon reaching Putrajaya, we went to the Taman Botani Putrajaya. We rented a bicycle each for ourselves and well, we went cycling among the trees and flowers – romantic eh? Haha! After stopping to take a few pics, we noticed that the clouds began to darken. And yeap, you are right, it indeed started to pour! Scrambling, we sought shelter at a nearby structure but there was another thing to consider – we had to return the bicycles within the stipulated time! So off we had to go cycling in the rain! It was soooo cute to see sweetheart frantically pedaling her bicycle, getting absolutely drenched from head to toe (needless to say, I got soaked too)! Haha! Does it get any more romantic and ridiculous than this? Haha! Oh boy, I loved doing this with my sweetheart k! It was immensely satisfying! Finally, before heading back to Kajang, we stopped by at the stables to see the horses as well as walk together around the Taman Cabaran area. What a way to begin our series of dates eh?

PS: When sweetheart & I were drying off in the car, the window panes became filled with mist. Sweetheart traced out the phrase ‘U r crazy nuts’ on the front windscreen. It was the perfect symbolization.

2) Sunway-Dehydration

After the intervening 3 Birthday Dates (which I shall go into more detail later), sweetheart & I decided to carry out our Sunway Pyramid plan, which was to initially go ice-skating. Not surprisingly, we scrapped it in favour of solely concentrating on one another. I mean, let’s face it k, why would I want to focus on keeping my balance on the ice-rink when I could instead lay my eyes on my very attractive sweetheart? The brown blouse, tight jeans, and black platforms were in leagues of their own! Furthermore, since I was experiencing a surge in boldness by now, it was only natural that I channeled it towards the gorgeous girl beside me. For starters, we took ‘mirror reflection’ pictures of ourselves and I have to say, not only did we look very good together in matching colours, we also looked very much the part of the macho boyfriend – hot girlfriend archetype. Next, when sweetheart went card-shopping, I placed my hands around sweetheart and proceeded to keep them there throughout the card selection process. The highlight, though, was after our Pizza Hut Meatball Bolognaise lunch (where sweetheart gave me spaghetti-eating lessons) - bookshop ‘layan diris’. As sweetheart was busy browsing the books on the shelves, I decided to indulge in this immensely satisfying activity, not only for the purpose of making ‘productive’ use of my time, but also to distract sweetheart who was standing very close beside me! I’m not sure whether I can pick a favourite ‘layan diri’ moment but the part where we were showed our prowess in reading foreign languages (sweetheart in Hindi and me in Italian) comes very close to doing so. You have no idea how excited I got upon hearing sweetheart read Hindi phrases to me k! Muax baby! Haha! Before we left Sunway, I bought for sweetheart ‘The Book of Tomorrow’. It was a very fulfilling thing for me to do and rest assured I’ll be buying sweetheart plenty of books in the future. I love the fact that my baby is a keen avid reader and I for one derive great pleasure in following sweetheart’s reading exploits. Moving on, since we had plenty of time left, we drove to a park in Cyberjaya and right there under the hot sweltering sun, we went for a romantic walk, keeping to the shade as much as we possibly could. Not only were we very tired by now, we also started to feel somewhat dehydrated. Now, I don’t know how sweetheart managed to carry out the whole Cyberjaya park photo-shoot but by the end of the session, she was totally exhausted – my baby needed her rest. So, I invited sweetheart to lie down on my lap and take a nap while I proceeded to make her feel comfortable by stroking her hair. Gosh, I loved doing this to my baby and as the time ticked by, I kept on thinking as to how much I love Geethanjali. It was indeed a lovely way to conclude our date that day. I love you my baby. Muax.

3) KFC Meet-up
Allow me to begin this sub-segment with a well-justified ‘Haha’! I mean, it’s not me to devote a whole paragraph to something as ordinary as a KFC meet-up. It is kinda funny come to think of it, isn’t it? But yeah, as far as I’m concerned, this counts as a date, even though it was technically a usual gang meet-up. There were about 12 people who were able to make if for the meet-up but I hope you wouldn’t mind if I pretty much focus on sweetheart from here on. I am hopelessly in love with her after all. Haha! Ok then, to start with, sweetheart & I both wore white t-shirts for this event (and no, it wasn’t planned, it was a purely random incident) - I had an all-white boyband-surfer dude look going on while sweetheart matched her white top with the very luring Trendy Tourist red shorts ! Haha! Not only that, sweetheart also agreed to go naked for me that night (‘naked’ being the name we give to the Elianto eggshell nail polish colour) You see, I’ve been buying many bottles of Elianto nail-polish for sweetheart during our shopping mall dates and my favourite has been the naked colour. So, when sweetheart asked me for my recommendation that night, I unhesitatingly picked naked, because hey, my baby looks great when she’s all naked k! Haha! (People, don’t get excited or shocked, I’m solely talking about the nail polish colour!). Moving on, I have to say sweetheart was a real darling at the KFC restaurant. She was very nice to my cousin Loges and made the effort to talk with him properly. Second, when I walked to the queue to place my order, she followed along just to keep me company. Now, I don’t know what the feminine synonym of the word chivalry is but sweetheart exhibited an abundance of it that night. What a girl k! Thanks sweetheart! On another note, I noticed how comfortable sweetheart & I were with each other in the midst of the gang. Previously, we would have been guarded and all, but this time around, we seamlessly blended together with incredible ease. We didn’t seem to be particularly mindful about the tiny physical space which separated us and there was even a moment when sweetheart delivered a slap to me (finally, a proper slap! Well done k! )! Haha! Finally, when the meet-up concluded for the night, I drove sweetheart back home first (before returning to KFC a second time to fetch Loges & Darma). I tell you k, being in the car with my sweetheart, holding hands, and driving slowly in the night....gosh, it was very very lovely. I told sweetheart how nice it’ll be if we could go for a long drive together at night. Oh, and one final thing before I wrap up this sub-segment (it is gonna sound Crazy Nuts, mind you): let’s just say that if sweetheart & I had been married by now, I would definitely have made love with sweetheart that night. It would have been a beautiful way to end a truly wonderful night. Ok I’ve said it, now on to the next sub-segment then! Haha!
4) Quirky Fine Dining
Before I begin, a quick word about sweetheart: there was nothing quirky whatsoever in her choice of fashion that day – a fitting blue top paired with a perfectly matching long flowing green skirt. Every curve was brilliantly highlighted and it made her look seriously huggable – gosh she looked gorgeous that day. You’ve got to hand it to her, she definitely knows how to capture my attention. Anyway, the venue this time around was Midvalley/Gardens and right from the very start, I lived up to the quirky nature of the date. Firstly, my outfit left a lot to be questioned: why would I wear something which made my gluteus maximus jut out in grandiose manner?! As sweetheart walked beside me, she noticed how big my butt was and started to giggle straight away! Haha! Now, I as much as I love the soft giggling of Geethanjali sweetheart, it left me feeling somewhat embarrassed k! I guess I have to do some lunges and tone up my GMs now. Groaaaaannnn! Haha! After that, we headed to the MPH and Borders bookstores where a second round of the ‘layan diris’ commenced. Sweetheart & I checked out our feng shui/zodiac sign readings for the year at Borders and it made for the perfect setting of the ‘layan diris’. Gosh, I loved them, and I’m sure you did too baby darling! Haha! Now, we come to the fine dining part of this narration. When it was time for lunch, sweetheart & I (who had by now covered most of the regular fast food outlets) were looking for some place inexpensive. At my suggestion, we went to Chilli’s and upon being seated and having glanced at the menu, we realised that this was one of those ‘fancy’ restaurants. Nevertheless, we decided to stick with Chilli’s and proceeded to enjoy our fine dining experience. The place had a private & romantic feel to it and we were given a table at the centre of the restaurant. After ordering our food, I took sweetheart’s hands and held them across the table, looking at her and making conversation at the same time. By now, sweetheart was very much enamoured by the boldness of our PDAs and responded by smiling continuously throughout. I have to say, it felt to me as though sweetheart & I were already in a relationship and that I was dating my girlfriend. The mood was such k – the lighting, the fanciness of the restaurant, the holding hands, etc. When our food arrived, we took our time in eating them and I, of course, fed sweetheart a couple of times. It was brilliant. And then, I made a total quirky scuff of it all when it came to paying! Haha! Firstly, instead of calling for the waiter, I went to the cashier to pay up a-la ‘mamak/burjo’. Then, when the waitress came to our table with the bill, rather than putting my ringgit notes into the restaurant bill presenter (yes, that’s what they’re called, I checked it on Google), I held it out to the waitress! Haha! Amused, she instructed me in the procedure and I’m sure I must have looked very silly – sweetheart was smiling teasingly at my direction k! Haha! Oh well, I guess I could say in my defense that it was a quirky-themed date after all! :-p Haha! Moving on, we met up with Geetha (who is as super cool as ever) and had a short chat at the ‘indoor food court’, before returning to Kajang. After sending Geetha to her place, sweetheart & I went to Metropoint for a short while. After an own goal in a highly tantalizing encounter (btw, sweetheart is very much an arcade person, as you’ll read later), I sent sweetheart back home. What a fun and thoroughly enjoyable date/meet-up, I have to say! I loved the quirkiness of it all!
5) Birthday Dates
I’m not sure whether I am in a position to pick a highlight out of the 8 dates because, as you can very well see from the paragraphs above, each date literally is a highlight unto itself. It is exceptionally hard to carry out such a ranking, seeing that whatever I do with sweetheart is nothing short of being awesome. That said, for blog purposes (if there is any such purpose ), I’m going to have to pick the Birthday Dates as the highlight of sweetheart’s homecoming this time around. Btw, it was not a single-day date, but consisted of 4 separate ones in total. Now, as much as I could write lengthy blocks for each one of them, I’m not sure whether I can keep within the Xanga blog-post word limit so, for the blog’s sake, I’m going to keep my narrations short and succinct.
(1) Birthday Date 1 – The financial & operational arrangements were very simple; I come up with the money while sweetheart selects the clothes, hence providing me with a new fashion make-over. First, we hit Sg.Wang but there was nothing suitable for me so we switched to Times Square. We first went ‘ice-creaming’ at Gelato Frutti (where I really struggled with the lime-iest ice-cream I had ever tasted), followed by lunch at Wendy’s. Then, we proceeded to carry out the task for the day, which, I have to say, took wayyy longer than a guy’s average shopping time. I had to tread in and out of changing rooms, in the ‘quest’ of determining the ‘best style-fit’. Sweetheart did a fantastic job in picking out my outfit, mind you, because my new look was indeed swell. On a different note, there was a new development on the PDA front: apart from the usual holding of hands, I now place my hand on sweetheart’s lower back as we walk side by side. It is really pleasing for the both of us. And here’s something crazy to round off Birthday Date 1: when we were going back home, I put my ‘free hand’ around sweetheart and we cuddled non-stop all the way to Kajang –while driving on the road! Now that’s Crazy Nuts for you!
(2) Birthday Date 2 – The venue this time was Suria KLCC and although it was a somewhat mixed-hmmmed date, I still consider it as special. First up, sweetheart & I entered a pet shop and decided that the Beagle is our favourite dog species – it is super cute beyond words! We then went to the cinema and watched ‘This Means War’, a movie which I really liked. After that, we went to the park and decided to cool off because it had been a rough day so far, seeing that I was ‘bad at stuff’. It only got fully resolved at KFC KL Sentral, thanks to the awesome balls. While eating, I SMSed sweetheart to tell her that I still love her even if we have conflicts from time to time. Moving on, we went to Coffee Bean where sweetheart presented me my birthday gift – a wallet specially bought from Indonesia. Thanks darling, I appreciate the gesture. Over the strawberry shortcake, we discussed about how to solve conflicts arising between the two of us and by the end of the day, we were okay and fine with each other. Before calling it a day, we took a few snapshots as picture memento. Btw, if it looks as though we are in close proximity, that’s because this was the only way to get some quality pics in! Haha!

(3) Birthday Date 3 – The cake made its appearance in this meet-up cum date and it says much about sweetheart’s acumen that she kept the whole thing a surprise not only from me but from Aaron as well. Credits to her k, that’s simply genius at work. In addition, not only did she demonstrate such intelligence, she also looked sexy while doing so – now that’s what I call highly appealing. Meeting up with Aaron and sweetheart at the arcades (I believe they went out for breakfast earlier), I found myself being distracted by sweetheart’s exposed thighs as she outmaneuvered me in Daytona USA (sweetheart was having a good day at the office). We then moved to Secret Recipe, where Aaron and I were each given a surprise birthday cake treat by the hottie in red shorts. I was pretty impressed to say the least so I showed my admiration by teaming up with Aaron and teasing the hottie in return! DSLR photo sessions followed suit and I had a great time checking her out she went about posing and taking pics, both with equal fervour. Moving on, Aaron had to go back I carried out a spot of random driving with my hottie and ended up at the Cyberjaya park mentioned earlier (btw, we first visited the park during this Birthday Date 3). What transpired over there was crazy, beautiful & sweet and we could have kept at it the whole day, if not for the weather and time. By then, Geethanjali was very much anxiety-ridden so I took it upon me to send sweetheart back home before her curfew. Well then, trust me to speed at 140km/h on the highway, weaving in and out among the vehicles, one hand on the steering wheel while the other firmly clasping sweetheart’s hands (and at times making contact with sweetheart’s lovely thighs)! We managed to make it in time and to say that my baby was impressed is an understatement – the hottie found my driving to be extremely hot! Haha! Well, what can I say, I love doing crazy things with my insanely hot sweetheart, especially if she happens to be wearing a pair of small sexy shorts, a sleeveless top, and a ‘cashmere-ish’ jumper/sweater.

(4) Birthday Date 4 – Technically, I shouldn’t be including this in here because this actually took place on my birthday itself – 4^th March – but yeah, for blog purposes, I’ll take my leeway k. Haha. Right then, since I didn’t get to spend Valentine’s Day with my sweetheart, I sure was going to spend my birthday with my baby k! This was one of our Out of This World meet-ups and I for one am really pleased that we had this date. There were plenty of highlights, ranging from me wearing my birthday outfit bought during Birthday Date 1, sweetheart feeding me McD hash browns while I was driving, and losing the direction to a particular Pulau, to sweetheart hugging me as she wished me Happy Birthday, sweetheart slapping my gluteus maximus incredibly hard, sweetheart looking very sexy in blue (not surprising, seeing how gorgeous she looks in the above pics), me ‘pujuk-ing’ a ‘merajuk-ing’ sweetheart, and us making each other laugh by our unintended tickles! Haha! To cap off the date, we had late lunch at a McD beside the highway and as I’m writing this now, I realise how wonderful sweetheart is, having taken such an effort to make my birthday memorable for me this year. Baby, thank you for these 4 birthday dates, I can’t tell you how much I love you k. Muax darling. And baby, I can’t help but be a little mischievous here k, but perhaps in the future, we should get married and consummate our marriage on my birthday? Haha! Muax muax! I love you sweetheart.
And so, we come to the end of the blog. Seeing that you are still reading this, I guess I must have kept to the Xanga blog space limit after all. Anyway, I just wanna say that although this has been a lengthy blog (and I have taken ages to come up with it), I loved writing in detail about each of my dates with sweetheart. I’m glad I took my time because yeah, these dates mean a lot to me, just like how sweetheart means a lot to me too. And of course, how I make use of my month means a lot to me as well. So yeah, I’ll try to publish my monthly blogs as quickly as possible but if considerable delays do abound, now you know the reason why k. Anyway, here’s a fond farewell to February 2012. And baby, I can’t say enough of this, but I loveeeeee youuuuuuu k! Haha! Muax!

Sunday, 29 January 2012

January 2012: The Italian and the Year of the Dragon

Saluti e benvenuti everybody to my first blog of 2012! The Italian is very much excited to see all of you here and in typical Italian fashion, would like to invite everyone to yet another year of memorable learning experiences, entertaining exploits, and meaningful encounters. As we enter the 3^rd year of me being in Xanga, I’d like to share with you my goal for the year of the dragon: to work hard on my student/career efforts as well as on having fun. I believe this is the way to attain my optimal state and hence, I’d like this to be a primary feature of 2012. Mind you, the last time the dragon visited us (2000), I had a truly phenomenal year, what with returning home from the UK and obtaining 5A’s in the UPSR exams, all in the space of 9 months! So yeah, I hope 2012 will be an equally – if not more – succesful year for me. I have to say though, I feel very much up for it so yeah, that's a healthy sign. Nothing like having an optimistic attitude and a positive mindset k! Right then, time for me to chart my way/path/course through 2012 and of course, to have fun along the way while I'm at it! Haha! Here's to a brilliant year ahead!
A) Study Book 1: Business Stripped Bare
I concede that I’m taking a little bit too long in finishing my studies. Now that I’m on ‘extended ACCA study period’ for at least one more year, I figured I could make up for the opportunity cost (of having to postpone a year’s worth of working experience) by picking up valuable theoretical knowledge from the many business literature that are out there. Hence, I have constructed my very own personal ‘study plan’ for the year and I’m aiming to read at least one business book per month. Happily, I’ve made a good start in this endeavour and I’m pleased to say that I’ve read the above book for the month of January. Being a huge admirer of Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin group, I wanted to know what made this organisation rack up one success after another. I wasn’t to be disappointed. The Virgin chairman really did indeed strip his businesses bare, providing detailed explanations and thorough accounts centred on these following 7 sections: people, brand, delivery, learning from mistakes and setbacks, innovation, entrepreneurs and leadership, & social responsibility. In one of the chapters, he talks about ‘branded venture capitalism’ and this business model certainly struck a note/chord with me. As you should be well aware of by now, I thrive on diversity and this approach to business is a welcome breath of fresh air!
Moving on, I was able to familiarise myself with the many business strategies that Virgin has employed over the years and I am particularly fond of the way this company has incorporated design, creativity, intellectual cheek, wit, and fun in its daily operations. When you look at the multi-array industries they’ve ventured into and established a name for itself – music, airlines, trains, mobile phones, health & fitness, finance, social entrepreneurship, etc – you can’t help but shake your head in disbelieve and clap your hands in awe. I guess it wouldn’t come as a surprise if I tell you that Virgin is one of the reasons why I’d like to be an entrepreneur in the future. I really want to have an autobiography-worthy career and become a celebrity in the process. I know this is a huge and lofty goal but yeah, it’s definitely worth a shot. I would say that the most important thing I got out of this book is the author’s thoughts on making mistakes and the concept of failure. It has managed to lift this huge burden off my shoulders and now helps me to take a look at life a lot less rigidly. Phew, now that’s what I call a big relief! Before I end this segment for now, I want to tell you about something Richard Branson says in his book: he stresses that entrepreneurs and managers are different from one another. Although he says that an individual can be both (e.g. Steve Jobs), he recommends that one shouldn’t try to be both. Well, I don’t know about you but I’d like to be proficient in both these aspects of business. With this, I shall conclude my ‘book review’ for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this segment.
B) My mild OCD-Perfectionism problem
Surprised? Well, it’s perfectly understandable if you are. I’ve not really disclosed this aspect of me in the past because it wasn’t a major part of my daily life. This year though, with the advent of the personal ‘study plan’, I’ll be facing this obstacle a lot more frequently. As such, I suppose it is the right time to shed some light on this OCD-Perfectionism related problem of mine. Well, we all know what perfectionism is and despite the negative connotations attached to it, there is a thing called healthy perfectionism. It’s opposite though – unhealthy perfectionism - can be a real source of frustration and manifests itself into many types of OCDs (Obsessive Compulsive Disorders). Now thankfully (a huge sigh of relief here!), I don’t have extreme cases of either but that’s not to say it hasn’t been a bumpy ride so far. The main problem I have is when I’m reading books that I plan on including in my online ‘reading records’ upon completion: suddenly, an overwhelming sense of perfectionism takes over me and in the process of making sure I read every single word, I get tangled in a mild case of OCD, resulting in me fuming in exasperation as I inevitably get held back in my reading. Anyway, I had a chat with Don (my sister Kalai) about this and she - having overcome a similar type of problem in the past - gave me some advice on how to overcome this pest of a problem. I’m glad to say I’ve made tremendous improvements in my reading since then and hopefully, I’ll be able to completely rid myself of this OCD - and who knows, even enter the realm of speed-reading - before the year comes to an end. So yeah, do wish me luck in tricky task, people. As for my other cases of unhealthy perfectionism, I believe I have found a really good ‘treatment’ for them. I’m currently ‘trying’ it out and once I’m done, I’ll post my review of it right here on Xanga. In the meantime, patience my dear Iagos, patience! Haha!
(Btw, if you very much want to know about this ‘treatment’, hit me a message and I’ll reply you with the answer asap. Hey, I’d love to help a fellow OCD-Perfectionist!)
C) Miscellaneous/Other Highlights
v       New Year’s Day – My family began the New Year by catching the show of fireworks at Mewah Club (Taman Bukit Mewah), although we arrived at the venue slightly late. And since the club is located on high ground, we managed to watch the multitude of fireworks going off at other places around Klang Valley. It was cool.
v       Taman Tenaga Indian Society 2012 AGM – This might come across as hard to believe but I got elected as the TTIS Secretary. I am pretty excited about it because hey, you gotta admit I am somewhat young to hold such a post (bear in mind TTIS is a registered NGO). That being said, my spoken Tamil is BAD (and I made a total hash of it at the AGM) so don’t expect me to conduct an official ceremony anytime in the near future.
v       Italian – I didn’t achieve last year’s goal of being proficient in Italian so here I go again with the endeavour this year! I hope I’ll be a fluent user of the language by the end of the year because yeah, I love my adopted Italian culture and mastering the language is of paramount importance.

v      ACCA – I’ve got to finish my (hopefully 3) remaining papers this 2012 and my plan is to concentrate on F7 (June exam) and then wrap it up with P2 and P4 in December. I’m still an Elitejaya student and so far, I feel good about F7 because I have a competent lecturer to help me navigate through the tricky pathways of financial reporting.
v      Counter Strike Source – This was the Jigoon 5’s game-of-the-month. Many a time were we seated in front of our respective laptops and engage in battles of wit and skill as we planted/detonated the bombs, rescue the hostages, and just plain gun down our opponents. It has been fun, but I’m glad we’ve minimized our CS sessions because personally, I was getting a little bit addicted!
v       Call of Duty – Perhaps the next game we should focus on is this! Because boy did Prabha Annan whoop our butts when we had a 2-on-1 COD gaming session against him! Talk about bullets piercing through asses! Daymn!
v       Real Estate studies – Similar to my Italian studies last year, my progress in real estate hit a brick wall after a few chapters. So yeah, here I go again this year and I hope I’ll stick to it this time around. I’ve switched to a new, more interesting textbook (Real Estate Principles: A Value Approach) and so far, I’ve read chapters on the nature of real estate and real estate markets & value and real estate decisions.

v      Meet-up with Miss China – Hamsa has returned for her holidays so we scheduled a one-day Midvalley meet-up session to update each other with one whole year’s worth of stories. 9 hours of conversation and 3 restaurants later (Krispy Kreme, Kenny Roger’s, & Secret Recipe), we just had to ask ourselves – where did the time go? Because believe me, the hours just flew by!
v       Incepticonz – We played the one match against and Saha’s team and though we gave a good account of ourselves, we lost to an undoubtedly better team. I picked up a mini injury around my right thumb region and it took me around 3 weeks to regain my mobility at the affected joint.
v       Sg.Tekala Waterfalls – If my friends had uploaded the pictures, this would have commanded a separate segment of its own but yeah, let’s carry on, shall we? I hadn’t seen my Tamil school friends in ages so when I got the invitation, I decided to attend the meet-up. Although I was somewhat tired, I’m glad I made the effort because it did feel good to see my friends after more than a year.
v      Underworld Awakening – I watched one movie this month and it was a 3D GSC Maxx viewing experience with Loges007 & Darma The Panthini (Loges’ and Darma’s Counter Strike names). Now, I know I should write some sort of a mini review about the movie but nah, forget about that k. When you have Selene (KATE BECKINSALE), the others can literally take a back seat. Kate Beckinsale looked gorgeous in her tight black outfit k! What a real eye-candy!
C) LDR Days

For those who are new to my blog, I have a sweetheart and her name is Geethanjali. She is currently studying for her tertiary degree in Indonesia and as a result, we have our own unique version of an ‘LDR’ going on. The LDR Days began way back in 2010 and we passed the LDR Day 400 mark earlier this month! I have to say, it is a swell way to begin 2012 k! Picking up from where we left off last year, sweetheart & I have been webcamming each other quite often. Geehanjali looks really attractive when she’s in one of her sleeveless tops and I for one find it very hard to shift my gaze away from her when she’s lying sideways on her bed whilst looking straight at me! Haha! Anyway, on LDR Day 400, I referred to sweetheart as ‘manaivi’ (which is the Tamil word for ‘wife’). Upon reading what I typed, sweetheart couldn’t stop herself from grinning! She found it incredible that such words were coming from someone like me! Haha! Mind you, I was somewhat confused myself. Hey, I’m supposed to be the one with the large inertia towards commitment! But yeah, I guess you could say that change is taking place. Moving on, when sweetheart posted the ‘Trendy Tourist’ pictures of herself on FB (I’ve included 3 of my favourites below), I somehow began viewing sweetheart as my girlfriend! And the unbelievable part? It didn’t feel at all unnatural! Gossshhhhh!! There were also a couple of times when I mentioned the word ‘girlfriend’ on Skype. In response, sweetheart tried her level best not to grin and credit to her, she managed to keep a straight face by being ‘macho’. That being said, when I called her up, she burst out giggling! Haha! Anyway, what do I make of this whole wife-girlfriend thing? Well, I’d say the word ‘extrapolation’ best describes what is taking place at the moment; it is rather hard for me to provide an adequate explanation, so that’s the best I can do for now. But I’ll tell you one thing though: I like what is developing between sweetheart & myself and I hope we continue to live in the moment and cherish each other like how we’ve been doing so far. I know I love Geethanjali very much and I am very happy to have her as my wife – eh wait – girlfriend – eh wait – sweetheart! Haha! I love you honey! Muax!

We’ve now come to the end of the blog and I have to admit, it has been a somewhat average month (hey, there’s not a single picture of me in this blog post k!). Nevertheless, January 2012 has been a productive month and I am pretty satisfied as to how it has turned out. Well then, here’s to a more exciting February 2012!

PS: Zombie lover loves his zombie darling very much! Muax muax!

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

December 2011: Prelude to Renaissance
Could this be my most favourite month of 2011? I mean, looking back at the multitude of activities that I’ve carried out this year, would this be an accurate (and fair) statement to make? It’s a hard one to call, this one. In fact, it would make for a very engaging year end review! Haha! In all seriousness though, it’s due to the fact that it touches on aspects of my psyche significantly. There were 2 instances this month where I carried out some deep thinking and it resulted in a ‘revelation’ of some sorts. The first was in the exam hall, where I had plenty of time to kill (you’ll read about this below): amidst the calm (), I was able to come up with an effective plan for my work efforts next year (ACCA, real estate, entrepreneurship, Italian, & overcoming my reading problem). The best part about this is that it provides me with a foundation which caters to my lofty goals and high ambitions (of my intended career). As a result, I can now feel the tingling energy and irresistible pull, something which won’t be there if the intended effort wasn’t big enough. The second instance was when I reflected upon my Year 6 (2000) student life: it made me realise that as a child, I had it (qualities for greatness – I hope I don’t sound too grandiose) in me all along. To obtain 5As in the UPSR examinations (after returning from a 3-year UK stint and feeling utterly lost in school), all in the space of one year, now that really takes something k. So yeah, it dawned on me that all I need to do is remodel myself based on my 2000 self: a perfect balance of hard work, intensity & focus, a measure of calm, a high degree of emotional intelligence, and the ability to live in the moment. Anyway, if the notion of December 2011 being my most favourite month of the year is fodder for debate, my next statement needs no such attention or drama. December 2011 was a splendid conclusion to 2011 and a terrific prelude to 2012. Now this, you can’t argue or debate anything about!
A) ACCA December 2011 Exam
The plan/idea was to complete the remaining 4 ACCA papers and secure an internship in a real estate development/consultancy-based firm. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite follow the script. Looking back, I would say that this is my 2^ndweakest ACCA exam session (the weakest being December 2009, where I was very lucky to pull through with passes in F5 and F6). That being said, I’m not exactly mad at myself. Perhaps the following analysis might provide some sound reasons/explanations:
- P4 Advanced Financial Management – This was a real pity / ‘sayang’ case. My work ethic was very good, I worked through all the questions set in the Revision Kit, but I didn’t have enough time to browse through and conduct an effective revision session. As a result, I stood no chance for the paper. It is disappointing but I don’t feel guilty or angry at myself. I suppose it isn’t a matter of wrong study technique, but instead, wrong timing. I’ll keep that in the back of my mind for next term.
- F7 Financial Reporting – Now this, cue the feelings of guilt! This marked the 3^rd time I sat for the paper and once again, I blew it! It’s my fault, and entirely my fault only. Ever heard of taking things for granted? That’s what I did with this F7. Banking on the retention of previous terms’ F7 efforts (which proved to be a false move), I underestimated the paper significantly. In other words, I wasn’t even 20% adequately prepared! As for the exam itself, gosh, it was catered to help candidates pass k! Urrrgggghhhh! A 70% prepared candidate would have easily passed it! Serves me right!!!!! Haizzzz!!
- P5 Advanced Performance Management – This is the only paper I have a chance of passing and happily, I feel that I’ve just about done that (but only just!). When it dawned on me that P4 and F7 weren’t going to turn out well, I ditched them and focused exclusively on P5. I feel I did the right thing and yeah, I think the decision will pay off come February 2012. So yeah, once again, fingers crossed! I hope I’ll be able to pass P5!!
- P2 Corporate Reporting – It lived up to its ‘sacrificial paper’ tagline and needless to say, I was totally clueless during the exam. Enough said, and I’m sure you’d agree.
So, that was the review of my exams this term. If I could do it all over again, I’d place emphasis on F7 & P5. I guess it’s better to pass 2 papers instead of 1...better blow 2 papers instead of 3...I should be more risk-averse...hmmmm. Anyway, forget about that. I’d like to state here that when I do eventually complete all 14 of the ACCA papers, I know I’ll be very proud of myself. ACCA has hammered my gluteus maximum countless times, so much so that I’m now experiencing a new-found love and respect towards it. So yeah, I know I haven’t said this before so I’ll say it k: I like my ACCA study experience. Even though I despise the career of an accountant/auditor, I love the ACCA subjects. I actually find it fun. So yeah, here’s a thumbs up for ACCA and a clap clap for me. Let’s have fun next year.
B) Miscellaneous
v      Darma’s graduation – My sister is now a law graduate and we attended her graduation ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (where the Chinese girls looked gorgeous in their cocktail dresses). This was followed by a studio family photoshoot and informal shots of Darma tossing her mortarboard in front of Putrajaya’s Palace of Justice.
v      Home Alone Nights - On the 2 nights my parents were not at home, late nights of revelry took centre stage. First, we partied the night away at Elixir (a bar in Changkat, Bukit Bintang). On the other night, we went for a karaoke and our very first midnight movie, both in Kajang. The selection of ‘Osthi’ could not have been any better and it blended well with the ‘pesta’ atmosphere inside the cinema. Btw, we returned home at 3am on both occasions. That’s the life k.

v      Incepticonz – With Naiken (our captain) back for the holidays, we played a couple of matches against Christopher’s team. Although they defeated us in the first match, we responded with a hard fought victory in the second. The victory was particularly sweet for me, because it was the first time we've won a match attended by Daiya's sisters Darmini & Sarshini. I was so thrilled about it, I ended up high five-ing the girls! I scored a total of 7 goals over the 2 encounters (including a hat trick in the latter, which I've dedicated to Sarshini) and thus, my goal tally now stands at 22.

v      Nude & Erotic Photography – The female body is a sublime creation and when images of it (in its natural state) is captured (aided by photographic subtleties), the end result is art in its glorious magnificence. I am drawn to nude & erotic photography.

v       Melaka Weekend Retreat – As unbelievable as it sounds, it was my first Jasin trip for the year. Activities carried out were playing with the Rottweiler puppy, dancing in the hall, movies at the MBO cinema (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows & Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), carom, and Counter Strike multiplayer at the cybercafe! HEADSHOT!
v       TTIS Annual Dinner 2011 – The final activity of the year, it proceeded along quite well, though I have to say last year’s function was considerably better. The KFC treat more than made up for it though.

v       Love Actually – I had a fun webcam session with Nisha this month. As I was new to the FB webcam application, I didn’t quite know what to do so I wrote my message on a piece of paper and showed it to Nisha on the oher side. Nisha replied with a ‘You think this is Love Actually ah?’ and we proceeded to send a couple more of these Love Actually messages before reverting to the keyboard. But yeah, it was fun though and it’s great that the more I interact/deal with Nisha, the closer our relationship becomes. It’s fantastic having Nisha for a friend!

v      Meet-ups with friends:

a) Yuva’s surprise mini birthday celebration – Malar, Theven, Nisha, Usha & I met-up at McD to carry out this surprise. Though the birthday boy was a few hours late, the surprise came together rather well. As for me, I had a great time chatting with Nisha & Usha.

b) Lunch at Chilli’s – I met up with Fiona, Thirumanggei, and Christine the panda at Midvalley after a time span of at least 6 months. They’re as cool as ever and it always is enjoyable meeting up with these 3 girls. They rock, full stop.

c) Gang Meet-up at Cheras Look-out Point – Ok, this was fun to the power of fun-ness! It was a hilltop dinner occasion accompanied by conversations involving a high degree of sexually oriented themes! Whoever knew that bisceps could be a major turn-on eh? Haha! And oh, the carpools were terrific as well. It certainly felt like the glory years of 2006 & 2007 all over again.
C) Reading Record
1) Talent Is Overrated – For those of you who don’t know me well enough by now (I don’t blame you), I happen be an extremely ambitious and very public person. As such, having a ‘moderate career’ doesn’t quite cut it for me. What I want is a wildly successful and highly visible autobiography-worthy career. As such, I need to be exceptionally good at whatever it is that I plan on doing. Now, most people subscribe to either one of these two notions: a) you need to practice and work very hard, and b) you must be born with an innate talent. This book invalidates both of them by revealing that ‘deliberate practice’ is the key for attaining world-class performance. In its most simplified form, deliberate practice consists of:
Ø Design of practice activities specifically to improve performance.
Ø Repetition of such activities.
Ø Availability of continuous feedback on results.
The book also touches on aspects of how deliberate practice works, applying the principles in our lives and organizations, how it is related to excellence in innovation, and the role of passion & motivation in the attainment of great performance. In other words, this book not only serves as a morale booster but also as an invaluable guide for those of us who like to push ourselves right up to the pinnacle. It gets a thumbs-up from me, that’s for sure.
2) Click – If one word could describe me, it would be passion. It determines the level & intensity of my involvement in a particular situation. As such, it also underscores the quality and depth of my social relationships. Now, I’ve always wanted to find out how was it that certain experiences had that magical feel to them (eg. my 2010 birthday experience, conversing with Nanthini Akka, etc.) while some were mundane by comparison. ‘Click’ did a great job in shedding some light on this. It identified and discussed the role of the Click Accelerators (vulnerability, proximity, resonance, similarity, & specific environments) and the nature of High Self-Monitors (people who are natural ‘magnets’) in establishing quick-set intimacy & creating the magical feeling. With this knowledge and awareness at my disposal, I’m looking forward to do some serious ‘Clicking’ next year!
If there is one thing I love, it is the state of flow and thanks to these 2 books, I have a rough idea of how to go about attaining it. So yeah, I can’t wait to apply the principles I learned (from Click & Talent Is Overrated) in 2012!
D) LDR Days
This month, I found myself reflecting upon a fundamental (and major) trait of mine: career being the main priority in my life, above (but not) at the expense of others. In a discussion with sweetheart, I asked her whether she’s ok at being number 2. Sweetheart flatly replied that she’s definitely not ok with that. If my profession was that of a doctor, fireman, or anything related to saving lives, she would have accepted coming second but not in the case of mine. Now, this is where the need for a change in paradigm surfaced. You see, all the while, I was of the impression that career was number 1 for the both of us, followed by the others. I thought sweetheart shared a similar outlook in this regard. Hence, this development definitely came as a surprise for me. It was certainly unexpected and I had to do some thinking. Well, what I have arrived at is this: first and foremost, I must be fair to sweetheart. If I marry sweetheart, I must not neglect her so yeah, she comes first. (Please don’t bring the topic of parenthood into the picture – the concept is extremely foreign to me!) Now then, what happens to my career dreams and ambitions? Does it get tossed out of the window? Does it get snuffed out as a result of this ranking? Well, that will depend entirely on me but all I can say is this: if I ever am that passionate about my career, I’ll find ways to keep on pursuing it. It is what I expect of myself, and furthermore, I don’t want to sweetheart to feel sad about the fact that my career got hindered because of her. That will be so unfair to sweetheart so mark my words, I’ll never place sweetheart in the position of a scapegoat. We both deserve much better than that. So yeah, sweetheart (and family –did I say family??!!!! FOREIGN!!!!) comes first, followed by my career pursuits. That is the proper decision to make. Anyhow, it also makes me ponder about this and it is something vital after all: it’s important not to lose my livelihood in the quest for fame and greatness. So yeah, thanks sweetheart for having the discussion with me, even though it was an emotionally challenging one. I love you k. Muax.

(On a lighter note, sweetheart has put on weight these past few months. But unlike me, who’s a big fat orange cat, sweetheart has added the flesh in all the right areas. As a result, she looks curvy and sexy. You know, I’ve always found sweetheart attractive when she was slim and slender. Now that she is slim and curvy, I still find her attractive! So yeah baby, don’t worry about the weight gain at all k, if there is one thing constant about you, you are attractive and sexy, be it whether you’re slender or curvy! I can’t wait to see you in February k, and we both know why! Haha! I love you baby! Muax muax muax! )

E) Top 5 Highlights of 2011
We’ve finally arrived at the last feature of my blogs for 2011. It’s something which I’ve been looking forward to in excitement for the past 2-3 months! Without further ado, here are my Top 5 highlights (in order of ‘pragnanz’) for 2011.
(1)    Bonding with cousins – If the pattern for previous years has been linear, it has certainly been an exponential one in 2011. Messing around with Arvind the Kiwi (who can forget the ‘Amale Ganja’ videoclip!), having Loges stay over here with us in Kajang since he enrolled in UCTI, having intellectual conversations with Prabha Annan (not to mention checking out his new studio and of course, talking about girls), & establishing a special relationship with Nanthini Akka due to that one hang-out in August...what can I say, I really adore my cousins.

(2)    Meet-ups, Trips, & Hang-outs – There’ve been plenty of them this year, so much so that I find it hard to do a ranking! Just have a look at the list: Port Dickson trip with the boys, family trip to Singapore, TTIS excursion to Perak, Broga meet-up with The Awesome Threesome, home alone nights with the Jigoons, & the gang meet-up at Cheras Look-out Point. It certainly has been a fun 2011!

(3)    My sweetheart Geethanjali & ‘This’ – I’ve reached higher levels of intimacy, closeness, and assurance in my interactions with sweetheart this year. Words can’t describe the memories we’ve created and the moments we’ve shared together. Passing the LDR Day 300 mark, driving around in the Kelisa, the 14 meet-ups, the 2 out of this world meet-ups, Clarity & Green Light, fetching sweetheart at the airport, the 22^nd birthday parcel task, and the Skype effect on my relationship inertia continuum....sweetheart, I love you from the bottom of my heart. You’re my The One. Muax.

(4)    B4 N8 FB – The acronym stands for Bella 4 Numero 8 Favourite Bella and it belongs to Kpritha, my Tartaruga of an Aaninyeeti! Since my switch to Orange/Elitejaya, I’ve had more opportunity to spend time with my mirror image and it has certainly been memorable. Be it whether wall climbing or accompanying my favourite bella to Taman Paramount, every single moment has been fantastic. And of course, me fancying Kpritha (and she subsequently being my Numero 8) was historic! Thanks for the memories Kpritha, see you at the Beckham place next year!

(5)    My cool, calm & collected nature – This has been one of the key developments is the evolution of my personality this year. In keeping to the meaning of the word (evolution), this change happened gradually. I began to put less pressure on myself, I eased up on the tensile factor and even in situations where I would lose the whole plot (eg my exams this month), I managed to keep my head and come up with quality blueprints for next year. When my uncle told me that Nanthini Akka is fond of my cool and chilled trait/characteristic, that sealed it for me. So yeah, I can’t wait to see the combination of hard work and a sense of calm come 2012! I’m rubbing my hands in anticipation!

With this, we’ve come to the end of 2011. What can I say, it’s been a great year and I’d like to thank every single one of you for colouring/illuminating The Italian’s life. All of you are the best. Thumbs up and high fives for an awesome 2011 and here’s to a brilliant 2012! Happy New Year everybody!!!

Signing off for 2011,
The Italian

Monday, 28 November 2011

November 2011: Falling in Love with Statistics


Okay okay, I know my exams are in December. I know I’ve been an ACCA student for a ‘slightly’ longer duration than is the average (3 years) – I first enrolled in July 2008. And I’m also aware that I’m slowly starting to lag behind in my career development – a number of my peers have graduated and have entered the working world. So, what was I doing this month falling in love with statistics? Good question. First and foremost, I’ve been doing my work (P4 & P5 mostly) so shhhhhh! Second, I’m not your tertiary student stereotype (100% ACCA seems very one-dimensional to me). Thirdly, the working world doesn’t seem to be that inspiring – honestly, can you have an autobiography-worthy career by being a mere employee? I doubt it. Fourthly, I like to satisfy my never-ending appetite for intellect. (How can anyone say learning is boring? If you feel that way, I suggest you dabble in a spot of autodidacticism/self-study/self-learning.) And finally, I have a blog to publish – thus I can’t afford a ‘mundane’ month, full stop. With all this in mind, bask in my irrationality as I take you through the highlights of my November 2011.
A) Statistics
I’m sure many of you don’t know that I was offered a place to study Maths & Economics at Universiti Sabah upon the completion of my STPM. As much as I love Maths, I realised that the ACCA was a much better qualification to study for. That being said, Accountancy is nowhere near half as fun as Maths. I doubt it ever will be, because Maths is in a different league altogether. To all the deluded individuals who automatically link an interest in Maths to a lively future in Accountancy, stop kidding around k. Hear it from me: Accountancy is nothing compared to Maths. Anyway, let’s move on. In Maths, the branch which I happen to like the most is Statistics. The data, the graphs, the calculations, the interpretations....I love the whole lot. Well then, since my statistics ‘career’ got cut short after STPM, I decided it was a good time to pick up from where I had left. With the help of ‘Introducing Statistics’, I went on a month-long journey through the delights and intricacies of this field. It was pure bliss, I tell you. Now that I’m done reading the book, I can affirm without doubt that I have fallen in love with statistics. In the near future, I am gonna purchase a Schaum’s book and work my way through all the statistics that it has to offer. It’ll be brilliant.
In the style similar to last month, I’m going to list out my top 5 favourites from my readings in statistics:
1)       Standardised Frequency Distributions – Frequency distributions, curve-fittings, the method of moments, skewness, kurtosis, & examples of its applications in Darwin’s work
2)       Correlation – The different variables (nominal, ordinal, ratio, & interval), causation vs. spurious correlations, scatter diagrams & strength of correlations (as well as positive & negative correlations), and curvilinear relationships
3)       Regression to the mean
4)      Goodness of fit tests, including the Chi-square system
5)      Statistics for discrete variables (true or artificial) – Phi coefficient, tetrachoric correlation, Q Statistic, etc.
(PS: In the book, there were 2 illustrations of girls in sexy lingerie. One was in coquettish costume-type lingerie with high boots whilst the other was in a two-piece. Now, as much as I LOVE all types of lingerie on women, I prefer the second illustration. )
B) Ramayana
One of my goals/targets for 2011 was to read The Ramayana and I’m pleased to say I did exactly that. Right from the beginning, I was very much engrossed in the task; ever since I read the children’s version of The Mahabharata in UK, I really wanted to experience the thrill of reading another Hindu epic. Such books have the capacity to captivate & capture the reader’s interest effortlessly. This was the primary reason why I wanted to read The Ramayana. The second reason was to analyse & evaluate the actions and intentions of each principal character. As it is a leading text in Hinduism, one can learn a lot from its study. Sure, there are a number of incidents where the moral aspect of things can be debated upon (and believe me, feminists & humanists can have a strong case in this) but that’s not what I’m here for. Instead, I want to revel in the high-action storyline of The Ramayana! Wooo-hoooo!! In a nutshell, here’s how The Ramayana goes: Rama is the heir to the throne of Ayodhya. Prior to his installation though, his stepmother Kaikeyi (who is influenced by her maidservant Manthara) forces King Dhasarath (Rama’s dad) to grant her two boons which the king had promised her many years back. Kaikeyi requests the king to banish Rama to 14 years of exile in the forest. Reluctant as the king is, he is bound by his word to Kaikeyi and subsequently orders Rama to leave. Rama agrees, and along with Sita & Lakshmana (Rama’s younger brother), they depart to the forest. In the forest, Sita is kidnapped by Ravana (the Rakshasa king – the main antagonist of the story) and brought to Lanka (the home of the Rakshasa clan). Rama & Lakshmana thus begin their efforts to rescue Sita. Along the way, they become allies with Hanuman, Sugriva & the rest of the Vanara clan (powerful gigantic warrior-like monkeys) as well as King Jambavan & his bear clan. All of them journey towards the heartland of Lanka and in the ensuing war against the Rakshasas (where Rama also gains the alliance of Vibishana and a few other renegade Rakshasas), Rama manages to defeat Ravana and gets back his wife.

It reads like a high-octane action novel, doesn’t it? Wanna know what’s the best part? That's just the skeleton of the story. There are many other events which contrive to make this story an epic in every sense of the word. It has been a truly satisfying thing, reading The Ramayana, and along with The Mahabharata (I read the children’s version of this other Hindu epic when I was in UK), I can now proudly say I’m well-versed in two of Hinduism’s major literary texts!
PS: Btw, I plan on doing some Ramayana consolidation work by watching this movie once I’m done with my December 2011 ACCA exams.

C) Miscellaneous
1) Elitejaya news – I finally received my Elitejaya Student Card this month!
2) KFC pursuits – I almost ate 5 KFC pieces in one go this month but thanks to a non-KFC cousin and an incompetent cashier (who gave me the ‘thigh’ piece even though I specifically requested for another type), I had to settle for a 4.5 instead. So close!
3) Incepticonz – We played another match against Alpha-Q and had to endure a humiliating defeat. Now, as much as I don’t like to back down, I have decided to step down as vice captain because I was very unhappy about the elements that were on show that evening; also, Incepticonz and futsal is no longer a priority for me so it’s best for someone else to lead the team. I’m still an Incepticonz player though so yeah, no worries, I’m still here!
4) Book shopping spree – I really splurged this month, purchasing a grand total of 8 books! As a ‘reward’ for my efforts, I was presented with the MPH Member Card and a RM50 Kinokuniya voucher (as part of their 10-year anniversary). Not bad eh?
5) Movies:
v      7am Arivu – After rave reviews and convincing recommendations from my friends, I decided to watch this movie (btw, it was my first Surya cinema movie). After a very promising start (the Bodhidarma parts), it turned out to be kinda average. It could have been much much better but oh well, I’d choose a Surya movie over a Vijay one any day k! Just in case you haven’t heard, I don’t quite like Vijay’s acting. Vijay sucks!
v      Immortals – Celebrated 11/11/11 by watching this at Times Square. Incredibly fun to watch, but they shouldn’t have censored a few of the 18 SG scenes. It disrupted the flow of the movie. My favourite part was when Aries descended to Earth and whacked the living daylights out of the Heraklion guards! YEAHHHHH!!!!!
v      The Adventures of Tintin – Watched this in 3D with Kalai and Loges. Although it is an okay movie, it certainly doesn’t make the cut as a 3D movie.


D) LDR Days
1. November baby – Sweetheart turned 22 this month and she celebrated her birthday in quite some style! Pre-birthday retail shopping spree, dancing in front of the mirror, getting soaked in the rain, making payasam, receiving a birthday cake surprise from her friends, etc etc etc....pretty cool, I have to say! 22^nd birthdays tend to be a fun affair huh? Mine certainly was – quality from start to finish (4^th March 2010). Anyway, I too contributed in making sweetheart’s birthday a swell one but it encompassed a longer time span. In October, when sweetheart came back to attend her brother’s graduation, I gave her a Complete Spanish foreign language learning set. On sweetheart’s birthday (6^th November), I splashed out RM20 for an international phonecall (similar to last year). Sweetheart made me sing for her ‘Happy Birthday’ and when my first song rendition wasn’t good, she said ‘Rejectttttt’ and made me sing it once again! Haha! Sweetheart’s cool! She also demanded a birthday blog from me, on that very day itself! Talk about bullying me around! :-p Haha! She kept referring to me as unromantic because I hadn’t written the love letters for her on time! But of course, sweetheart is still clueless about me and my Italian nature k....because while she was ‘lambasting’ me away, I was thinking about giving her a birthday ‘parcel’ (again, similar to last year). So, while I was projecting about the love letter developments on Twitter, I secretly carried out the purchase of a necklace. I spent ages in Sinma (Midvalley) selecting the one which felt just ‘right’ and later bought a box from Borders (The Gardens) to go along with the necklace. As for the love letters, I bought coloured papers (plenty of pink and roses) from MPH Midvalley and after taking my time in writing the drafts (I even wrote a couple of the paragraphs at Subway KL Sentral – brilliant stuff!), I had my love letters complete and ready. Right smack on 30^th November 2011, I ‘Pos Laju-ed’ it to sweetheart’s residence in Yogyakarta and I felt very satisfied. I loved doing all these things for sweetheart for her 22^nd birthday and even though it was highly exhausting, the end product was definitely worth it. Happy 22^nd birthday sweetheart!! Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day k!

(Love the straightened hair and the blue highlights! Now, senyum lah sikit! I know lah I tricked you with the surprise necklace gift! Hahaha!)
2. Relationships & Skype – A couple of months back, if you had asked me whether I had wanted to be in a relationship with sweetheart, the answer would have been a definite no. If you were to ask me the same question now though, my answer would still not be a yes but neither will it be a no. (I’ll give you a few seconds to figure out the sentence.) Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to gain an appreciation of the significance of this particular development. You see, if there’s one thing I don’t do that well, it’s the commitment stuff. It’s not the girls’ fault, it’s just that I’ve always loved being single. As such, the inertia to change is undoubtedly massive. Even though ‘This’ is not your average typical relationship (firstly, it isn’t a relationship; secondly, it’s better than the average typical relationship out there) and I still get to retain my single-ness, nevertheless I’ve yet to fully accept the idea of commitment. That being said, something significant did take place this month. Sweetheart and I have been skype-ing and webcamming each other for many nights back-to-back and it has resulted in me feeling the first few signs of wanting to be in a relationship. Quite a few times, I brought up the idea of getting married with sweetheart, thus making her smile big time. I also told her that I’m beginning to move away from the ‘No’ mark in the Relationship meter (In other words, I’m on my way to the ‘Yes’ mark at the other end). Now, although there is much distance to be covered, it is indeed a start. Moving on, sweetheart asked me the reasons why I’d want to get into a relationship with her. This resulted in the formulation of the Jigsaw-Shaded Region concept. Now, the Jigsaw is a representation of how sweetheart fits and complements me. As for the Shaded Region, it is the unique/stand-alone aspects/characteristics of sweetheart that do not relate to me. Sweetheart told me that if I want to get into a relationship with her, I should love her for everything, not just for the Jigsaw part only. Well, I think this won’t be a problem. As long as sweetheart is good-natured and ok with my polyamorist nature, I’ll love her for who she is. Btw, I went one step ahead k. I asked sweetheart for her perfect bf/husband criteria list. Sweetheart went off on a roll, listing down one characteristic after another. Was the list formidable? You bet! Hahaha! Personally though, I’m really glad sweetheart came up with this list. I now have a performance guideline at my disposal and I can use it to track & judge my progress in the relationship department. I’m relishing the challenge and yeah, I’m looking to improve my score! Currently, I can only give myself a 59% k! ! (I gotta hand it to sweetheart here, she knows how to push my buttons k. ) All things said and done, I know I’d like to marry sweetheart when the time comes. But yeah, I guess we’d like to take our time in this endeavour. There’s no need to rush things when you’re not ready for it. So yeah, as of now, I’m single and in love with Geethanjali. That’s my status. I love being in ‘This’ with my sweetheart, just like the way I love being in love with her. (Keep up people, haha ) I love you baby. Muax.

Ok then, it’s time for my November 2011 blog to draw to a close. Just one more month to go until the conclusion of 2011. Time really flies, doesn’t it? So yeah, make sure you go out there and utilize time creating one quality memory after another. I guess that’s what life is about: the creation and accumulation of memories. I’m certainly glad that I record my memories here in these Xanga monthly blogs. Perhaps you should do the same, maybe at the start of next year? I’ll leave that to you. Anyway, have a great December 2011. Make it a memorable month.
The Italian signing off now. Grazie.