It got me thinking how funny it seems, that the voice of some stranger, someone unrelated could be so powerful once a connection is made. One voice which you can easily single out in the droves of people. I know the effects that one voice can have. Even after a crappy day at work or how stressful the day had been, at the sound of hello from her everything would just dissipate.

But for some, there would come a time not often but not seldom as well. When the only thing you hear from that same droves of people are footsteps or their chitchats and then when you least expect, it becomes echo and ends being the only thing you hear.

I’ll just go drown myself in the one of the worst flash fl*ood this city has ever experienced.

Handling broken family ties and friendships which were caused by over-aggressiveness of words usage on facebook took too much energy and focus the past two weeks. It almost convinced me to shut down my account but I’m ashamed to say I’m still hooked to it. Although there isn’t anything much there to see anymore, and seeing certain things just pisses me off at times, but the pull of that damn social network is so damn strong, currently it feels impossible to break it off. Someday perhaps.

Being occupied with those had made me abandon some other things. And right now, it’s back to haunt me. Life was so much easier when there wasn’t any expectations, no focus plans. Expectations always lead to disappointments. I never seem to learn.

But then more and more people started having BBs, iPhones, Nokia E series and whatever models out there. Suddenly it became a trend. Like a way to up your status. Now even school kids have them while I’m still faithful to my numerical keypad Nokia.

It has been long documented that having such device not strengthen and “smarten” oneself so I will not get into that here. Some has hailed it as the best thing that ever happened to them while some, once chained to the device but finally broke free swears off phones that provide easy and constant connection to the cyber world.

I never quite experienced the downside of this smartphone phenomenon until my last trip in KL. While talking to a friend about something personal, she was checking her whatsapp or probably it was her ym for any replies from her friend/gf/family (not sure which, I didn’t ask). And then again with SK2 during our holiday breakfast! They were the two people I most looked forward to seeing and when I was there in flesh somehow it felt like their smartphones triumphed my existence. Granted phone is the only way SK2 and I keep in touch when I’m in Kuching but I thought with my being there physically, phone would kinda be obsolete for that weekend.

Then again, I suppose it’s been ingrained in them. The need to constantly check their phones. And I can’t help but wonder, would I still be overlooked if I join their pack? Or would I be in more in touch with them, albeit through cyberspace?

Conversations flowed endlessly. Every night, without fail. After dinner. And then when chatting wasn’t enough, I was itching to get her number but couldn’t find a good reason. Besides, the girl was hurting. There was no way I would masuk line time orang frust. So I left it at that. No texts or calls. I remember it was like eternity back then. But looking back now, it wasn’t that long at all. An impending family trip to her hometown and the girl’s birthday offered me the opportunity I was looking for.

I supposed in a way, for some time, I was just some sort of reliever. Being there to consult and help her get on the path of moving on. But it never occurred to me that that path would eventually lead towards me. Neither was that my intention. “Tu namenye jodoh syg,” she once said.

Jodoh or what, I’m glad for this time we’ve had syg. Getting to know each other and annoying each other this one year. Hope there are more to come.

But being in control all the time is tiring. Dad is not feeling well and mom isn’t keen to share the news with the others yet. Being the only child at home, it’s quite stressful and I always hate dealing with this stuff since parents are not the ones who are supposed to be sick. We the children are. But who am I kidding, our parents are not immortals.

When I stumbled upon an irregularity recently my senses went overdrive. It was like an alarm had gone off from a distance but I could still hear it. Like when you hear the ambulance or fire engine’s “nino nino” but can’t see a glimpse of it. You just know it’s there and it’s coming. It’s much like that now. I haven’t got around to turning the alarm off. Not sure because I don’t want to or I don’t know how. It’s all quite a blur and messy at the same time.

Gara-gara too excited that we were nearing our destination, gambar pun blur jadinya.

The destination berpandukan GPS cik gf

Regardless of going to the beach every month for work, there’s something about the place which just pulls me.

There must be dolphins here...

Food were always my concern when traveling to new places after the less than rosy experience in Bangladesh. With SK2′s local friend who took us around town, we had the pleasure to enjoy great cuisines and delicacies. The resort’s buffet breakfast wasn’t a let down too. I was expecting less than mediocre but it actually turned out pretty good.

Seafood dinner.

Breakfast buffet.

Surprise birthday cake!

Otak-otak ikan. Loved it!

Green trees and grass with blue sky and sea. Amazing view.

Albeit some issues, it was still a great weekend. Spent with my greatest treasure. I would return there again in the future and spend longer time to be able to explore every nook and cranny of the place. And I highly recommend the place to others who’d wanna get out of the city buzz for a weekend. So the next question is, where shall we go next love?

These drama, no matter what the theme it brings be it current century, the old Chinese dynasty years, crime fighting or those family disputes, it still glued me to the entertainment box. Which made me realize one thing.

Although watching too much tv is frown upon in other culture – growing up, my expatriate boss only had an hour of tv per week and now she’s limiting her daughters to half hour per day. crazy! – I personally can’t say it’s a bad thing. Of course there were times when I was a student to our greatest schooling system (read: sarcasm) that I hated having to wake up early to school or having to do homework than watch tv. But thanks to limitations from my parents (though not as strict as half an hour per day), my school wasn’t entirely abandoned. I said not entirely because there were other reasons beside tv which caused the abandonment. Don’t we all?

Anyway, as I was saying, tv enjoyment doesn’t necessary cause lack of knowledge. Of course there isn’t beating the feeling of reading a book or looking up the encyclopedia when in need of answers, but the current world revolves so much on technology that it’s impossible to totally think of it as a bane. My high school best friend spent 5hours per day in front of the tv but she was still smarter than me who spent more time on books and homeworks comparatively. Certain people learn by moving motions and sounds.

Besides, watching TVB drama during childhood proved vital in my adult life as I realize I could understand Cantonese when spoken to me slowly. All just from watching dramas after endless of dramas. Bargaining in the streets of Hong Kong in English while the vendor answered in Cantonese made the trip so much more memorable! Betul2 mcm ayam dan itik. Plus I was mistaken for a local by taxi drivers, vendors and fellow Hongkies. So now I always tease my mum that all those dramas did me good in a way. Too bad I can’t say the same for Bollywood movies!