There are dinner jackets, and there are dinner jackets

And mine is the latter.

I just love Bond and its script. Whatever you unopinionated people think, I think it's darn corny, but yet it's so corny, it's great! hah!

So, there are dinner jackets and there are dinner jackets.

The bridal photo people called us up to tell us that there's this promotion going on. Wanting to close our account sooner than later, they are offering us an upgrade in terms of the photo album. What used to be a book filled with 4R sized pictures is now upgraded to 8R. So, we decided to take advantage of the promo, and duly got us booked for the end of January. (The promo period only lasts during the month of January.)

And so, we found ourselves looking for a few things to buy. I need a white shirt, leather shoes and a great smile. She, on the other hand needs to hunt for a pair of wedding silhouettes.

And so the Year End Sale (YES) was put to great use. We found ourselves wadding in the deep recesses of 1-U. I was browsing through all the Men's Wear and tried a few jackets on for size. I've been to the wedding photographer's to rent a jacket once and it was horrendous, so I decided to get my own jacket... Or maybe not. I was trying on all sorts of jackets. From the expensive ones, to the really cheap ones, and to tell you the truth, some are really bad. If anyone were to wear them to a wedding, please kill the fella before he reaches the public gaze. For charity. Please.

So, I tried on a few and found out that there were only 2 brands that suited me. G2K and PDD (if you get my drift). I was torn between the two. They had rather good quality suits to go with matching pants at about RM600-Rm700 per set. The others are either out of reach, or the cutting... erm... there wasn't any cutting, to put it bluntly.

Thus, I was still hesitating when we went back to the shop where my girlfriend wanted to get her pair of shoes. She's been wanting to buy them from the very beginning, but I told her to wait, because she might see something nicer a few shops down. So after quite a long deliberation, we went back to the departmental store to get her shoes, and inside that store, there was a sub-counter for PDD which threw out dinner jackets at 50% off!!! At first, I hesitated, but then, after counting a bit of money and this and that, I figured that RM180 for a suit was dirt-cheap! So without much thinking anymore, I bought it although my hands are a bit too short, and it's a bit on the tight side of my body size and weight. So, I reasoned: Dieting is easier than paying off an RM800 credit card bill.

Oh, the jacket isn't those cheap looking ones with bad tailoring and bad material. It's one of them nicer looking ones, and the most important thing was, I look rather good in it. The only problem was, it didn't come in a set. I tried to find matching pants from the '50%OFF' tray, but to no avail, no matching pants. So when i was there, still mulling over the imperfections of my imminent buy, my girlfriend asked the salesman. And after much searching, he pulled a pack out from under the '50%OFF' tray, producing a few sized 35" matching pants. Crap... why must everything be a little bit smaller than my existing frame?

I'm wearing 36" pants comfortably, and as for the suit, it's an 'L' whereas a size 'XL' would suit me fine.

And thus, I was set. The suit and pants were a little bit smaller than I am currently, but I can (MUST) diet. And all-in-all, I only spent less than RM300 for a set. Dinner jacket+matching pants+cuff links=Rm330!!! And oh... I got my white shirt for RM30 this afternoon. And I plan to buy them leather shoes from this factory outlet which costs around RM55 per pair. So, All in all, for my entire wedding outfit, I used about RM400!!! Instead of splurging out RM800 for a jacket+matching pants ONLY...

So tell me... why is it that I'm so blessed again???

I won't die...

I hope this doesn't turn out to be something that will come to haunt me in the near future...

I was replying a comment from my previous post, and I was reminded of the little inside joke we have amongst our weekend football mates.

You see, we live in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. If you're an accidental visitor to this blog, yes, we do have proper civilisation in this place called Malaysia, and yes, we do have an (albeit poor) education system that comes inclusive of English. And Malaysia is a tropical country, which means we only have 2 seasons a year; Hot and Wet or HOTTER and Wet. So, during the year end, it's the rainy season and there'll be thunderstorms with massive rainfall on the west parts of the Malayan Peninsular. And Kuala Lumpur happens to fall under that geographical category... ... ... Why are we into Geography??

Oh...

So, the story goes... We, being fanatics and all that, would play football rain or shine... And even the thought of a thunderstorm don't hinder us much. Any logical thinking man out in the streets would think that we're asking for trouble when you have all the proper ingredients of an open field, large trees on the side, heavy rain, bolts of lightning, rolls of thunder, and a good 20 people running around a water-logged pitch chasing after a football. The match will go on no matter what. The only thing that will stop us from playing are the security guards or the rain is so heavy that we can't even open our eyes to see the ball... heh... You should try it... everytime you look up to spot the ball, rain gets into your eyes, and you find yourself wiping your face every other second just so that the ball doesn't accidentally fly into your face without you seeing it first...

Ok... by now, I don't blame you if you think that we are either looking for trouble, or extremely stupid...

The truth is, there's only two kinds of people who would do such things; The extremely stupid (which means that we have no idea whatsoever what lightning could do to us) or those who are looking for a quick death.

But let me tell you a little secret. The reason why we aren't afraid of death is that we know very clearly our mission on earth is not yet done. Our pastor (who used to play with us) always say, "You think that God will let you off the hook so easily? There's so much more to be done!"

"To let you die, just like that, would have benefited you, and not God's Kingdom."

Well... we haven't died yet... so I won't die... Cause God won't let me... yet...

hahahahaha...

*Sorry, you would only understand this completely if you have a bit of background on Christianity, and you would fully understand this if you have the calling to be a full-time minister in the Christian church. Hah!

Backward flush...

For some unknown reason I felt sick shortly after my late breakfast yesterday. Fever and achy bones plus the whole package. So I thought I could sleep it off... thus, for the entire day of Wednesday, I was only awake for about 6 hours...

It's not normal for me to get sick. Afterall, I haven't been to a doctor's in like 7 years. I know it's not a good thing, but I do tend to get these small illnesses that requires a few tablets of 'this' or 'that' from the local pharmacy, and that's about it.

But this time, it felt dead serious. I had a high fever and my girlfriend was so worried about my condition that she rushed out to get me those fever stickies for my head in the middle of the night fearing that the fever would over-heat my brain. She also got me to eat a few tablets here and there.

However, something deep within me kept telling me that I need to puke. I mean, who'd think that puking out whatever's in your gut would have something to do with fever right? So, let's just say that I had a gut feeling that I needed to puke. (drum roll for a successful pun please!)

So I had my girlfriend get me a few glasses of plain water, gushed the water in, and the back-flush started almost immediately because there was too much water inside. And the best part is, while puking my guts out, I felt like dying... water just gushed out from inside, hurting my esofagus, through my nostrils... The force of the water was so strong that even pressing my nose together didn't stop it from coming through... but as soon as my gut stopped processing the anti-peristalsis effect, the fever was as good as gone!

I just wonder why I am able to pull this kind of thing off time and time again. I know it's simple when you put it into terms like 'Just listen to your body...' and all that... Ah, let's just take a little time out and contemplate on how marvelous indeed that your body can act and react as such, telling you what's wrong, and what needs to be done. More of people like me, and the doctors would need to find a second profession...

Day-off

Wednesdays are the supposed best day of the week for me from now on.

My new job? It's great... to a certain extent...

I've been doing quite a lot lately, and the problem is, there's more to come.

And the even bigger problem (!!??) is the fact that I am able to pull it off!!!

I've been pulling way above my weight these past two days, getting things done, making things happen that's not even supposed to be done by someone that new to the office. Maybe I have a significant amount of friends in the system/industry that makes life so much easier, but that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Expectations are high, blessings even much more higher. Seriously, since I joined the full-time minstry in church, money has not been lacking. The more I give, the more I receive. And seriously, God has yet to put me through a test... (*Crap* maybe I shouldn't have said that!) But just when I thought I hadn't have enough to give to this new building project that the church is vouching for, I was given just the right amount. More than enough, in fact...

I am now seriously charged, and encouraged to serve God more.

And this is seemingly going to make my blog's ratings go down; cause it means that I have less to rant about, and we all know why blogs are so popular... Mass culture of today tend to dictate that the masses are a tad saddistic. We enjoy by amusing ourselves with other people's sad lives. And all of a sudden, this blog isn't that sad anymore... But I don't want to turn this blog into a 'Holy' blog because my mind just doesn't work that way.

To me, what's the use of having a blog if all my readers are Christians who come in for 'encouragement'? Who am I gonna make a difference to? Who's life will I impact?

Hhhmmm...

Must think of sad stories to rant about...

Tiredness

Tiredness just doesn't cut it anymore. I'm dead tired from 2 whole days of non-stop working on and off stage... but something in me just refuses to let myself sleep.

And as I look at more responsibilities at work, I am expecting to die a few deaths. But I just can't get my head to rest. Maybe it's the rebelious spirit within me that refuses to give in to tiredness, simply because it's a weekend, and I haven't had my weekend break yet.

For those who are not in the know, I am now 'working' through the weekends, and my day off every week falls on a Wednesday. It's tough in a sense, and it sure does take a bit of getting used to.

For me, a few responsibilities just never stop. There's no respite from such work especially when the work consists of interaction with human beings.

Much to do, so little time. The problem with me is that people know I can do a lot of things, but more than not, they fail to realise there's only ONE me to go around.

So, in that sense, I am doomed.

I am learning to do what only I can do. But then, there's this little problem where if not me, then who else?

Say No to 'Yes'

Yeap...

A lot of people who are in my current position have to learn ONE thing... which is to learn how to say 'No' to a lot of things the seem so right.

When you assume the position of a servant, you inevitably inherit a whole lot of jobs that you don't want, and you don't need.

And a lot of people have died a thousand deaths because of their attitude of service. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but if done without prioritsing, it'll kill even the most passionate heart. They seemingly carry everyone else's burdens as if it were theirs, just because they assume the position, and its responsibilities.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's about my new job.

I have a 'senior' that's a few months into the job, and I'm seemingly a freshie in this dept. He's been taking a lot on himself recently, and because I've seen things happen to people like him, I am in the better position to tell him that he's going to kill himself that way.

When you work for a church, there's gonna be so many things that will require your 'immediate' attention; people to fetch, people to take care of, phone calls to make, emergency meetings, opening of doors, lives to save, fellowship/relationships to maintain, the whole lot.

And 1 person cannot do them all. And seriously, just because you can do it doesn't mean you have to do it. Sometimes, priorities come first. What is your primary job? What is your primary ministry? Where should your heart be? All this has to be taken into consideration. The need is indeed infinite and it's always coming... But it doesn't mean it has to be met by ONE person.

Now I truly understand 'pray for the Lord of the harvest to send His workers...'

Trainer Rings

So yesterday was a public holiday...

I had the day off and so decided to go get my girlfriend a ring...

We decided to get her a ring as an engagement ring of sorts. Although she already wears a ring that I got for her during our 2nd year together, I have yet to get a proper engagement ring. So we set out to get her a ring, with a little stud on it.

And we duly got it. heh... unlike Some people who had just had a proper proposal and engagement, mine, hhhmmm... let's just say I'm not very creative when it comes to this... Or maybe it's the fact we started off the relationship with marriage in mind, so it's a non-issue whether we're marrying each other or not...

It's about 50 weeks from now until our wedding date, and here we are, looking for a set reasonable rings, something that we can afford. And while we were at it, I also got myself a piece that's similar to hers, but without a rock; a trainer ring of sorts.

It's really comfortable, the design's simple but great, not too expensive, and good enough. We've even got our names engraved inside... Her name on my ring, and mine on hers...

So, this is, in my entire life-time, the first time I will seriously wear a ring on my finger(s)... I say 'finger(s)' because I am still coming to grips with the ring being on my middle finger all the time.

It's weird. I have never really had a long term thing stuck to my hands for long periods of time. The only accessories that I have is my watch, and that's about it. I used to wear a silver necklace, but it's gone busted and I have not got the time nor the need to get it repaired. Besides that, I'm relatively naked when it comes to accessories. It's just something that I can do without... I just don't know why...

And I said trainers because I do feel that it takes training to wear a real wedding ring. It's been only a night, and half a day, and I've gotten scratches on it. The ring keeps bugging me, telling me it's there, on my finger. Whenever I open a door, I risk scratching it. Whenever I wash my cup, it's there, whenever I do anything with my hands, whether it's my left or my right, I feel that I need to conscientiously protect the ring from scratching.

Then I noticed one thing. That a relationship is really not much different from keeping the ring. It's easily scratched, it needs (demands) your attention, it keeps telling you it's there, and it reminds you of who you're dedicated to.

And I thank God for reminding me all this by just a little piece of round metal.

Now, I only wonder when my fingers will get used to it...

Hhhmmm...

O Yes...

I am back...

And I am blogging...

Well, truth be told, I have been rather busy with life lately that I have not much meaningless time to write mental spew on my blog. Thus, as you can all see, a lapse in posting for about 2 weeks.

So, what's new?

Well, I have gotten into my new office without much problems, and jobs are starting to pile up. Responsibilities have been taken up, and assignments will come in thick and fast soon enough.

So, I was at camp last week, and it was indeed a marvelous experience. I can now say that I have successfully led 350+ young people into jumping the house down, screamt until my tonsils broke out in protest, chained on strepsils to numb the entire throat so that I can scream on the second day, continued to scream with the almost depleted throat on the third day, and came back almost completely healed, ready to take on the new job.

Crap...

So, for this month of December, I am looking at a few weddings, a few assignments, a few follow-up jobs, and a christmas dinner (by invitation only). And after that, only God knows what's next.

So, I guess it's safe to say that I am indeed a busy man. I'll try to post regularly, but I am telling you that it will not be frequent, and timely. So, the smart thing to do as a reader, is to check my blog every Monday morning to see what I've crapped out during the entire last week. You might get lucky and read 5 posts, or you might get disappointed and get only 1 post.

Until then, it's time to go to bed.

Cirio

I'm Alive...

Yes, I am still alive.

Heh...

The reason for not even dropping a word is because I haven't had a computer assigned to me, and once the stuff got sorted out, the internet connection at the office was faulty... stupid.

Well, anyhow, I'm enjoying life here at the office, and as I prepare to go to Kota Kinabalu next week, I'll be out of sight for a whole week.

So, advanced apologies if you're dead bored at the office, and you are yearning for me to upload some crap for your weary minds to entertain itself.

Like I said, this new job requires me to move around quite a bit. I'm not around my desk most of the time, going out running errands, looking for people, and a load of other stuff.

So, I will blog as much as I possibly can.

Until then,

Cirio...