Undeserved

"Blessings not just for the ones who kneel, luckily" so goes the last line for one of my favourite U2 songs; City of Blindings Lights.

It's a great song about New York but the last line resonates with me. Because it is not what I do that counts but what He has done for me that is paramount. Not my "kneeling" or my work or effort.

No matter what I have done or what I do, His supply will always flow because I am open to it, I BELIEVE THEREFORE I RECIEVE.

Looking back at the last five years, my life has changed from night to day!
I have purpose, I have so much to live for and so much to look forward to and it's all thanks to Him in my life and that is just the intangibles, there are so many tangible favours as well.

I may have cursed Him, rejected Him and been angry at Him in my younger days but I come to Him now each day without guilt because His forgiveness is eternal and everlasting. I can go boldly and declare that all is well and blessed because of what He has done. Not what I do but what He has done for me.

Blessings not just for the ones who kneel, luckily!

M so blessed

Home Day

Whenever I decide to take a home day there are so many plans. Today's home day was because the roof needed to be fixed.

So I had the day planned for some relaxation, TV comfort, some home fix me chores and if I was really bored; work all while they fiddled on the roof.

In my defence I did try. I got the ladder out to replace a bulb in the toilet only to find that I got the wrong size. Haizz talk about stolen thunder.

Work wise it did not last me long because a few SMSes this morning peeved me off not to mention a rather unpleasant IM exchange.

What was productive was the TV comfort. Hahaha. I seriously can do that all day. 2 episodes of Kings, 3 of United States of Tara, 2 Flight of the Concords, 1 Greys, 1 Mentalist and 2 Lost was the final count by 22:20.

Oh wait I did do some work, I did some emails and had a conference call with the guys from Pune. Solid productivity I'll say.

M laughingly pleased

Twitter

Does anyone know why this exists? I am still trying to figure out why this application has gained such a great following and is such a successful concept. In any case, I am going to give it a go. I have my Twitter account up: http://twitter.com/mdorett. I have installed a Blog widget so you can “follow me” apparently. I have also installed Twitterrific which is iPhone based client that allows me to “Twit” from anywhere. OOoooooo! M Twit!

User Alert : Phone on the fritz? … New Phone?? …Wait!!

Are you in the market for a new phone? Are you dying to throw away that raggedy phone with crappy reception and features? Are you missing calls and SMSes because your phone is on the fritz?

If you answered any of the above with a resounding “YES!”. Then it is obvious that you need a new phone. So what’s next? Personally I would recommend the iPhone. It is the best phone on the market and the flexibility it offers is great. Sure there are some drawbacks but still an amazing phone that I have been using since Dec 2007. Thanks again wife!

But hold onto your horses!! Not just yet. Patience my young Padawan. There is something new in the air. With recent announcement of the new 3.0 OS to be release in Summer with whole host of new features and possibilities. The question of the probability of a new version of iPhone being released at the same time is super high. Not to mention that the internet is a buzz with rumors of the new release. So hang on, keep that failing phone alive and hang on till end of June and if all goes well, we will have another amazing new iPhone to choice over the other phones on the market. This is an announcement service brought to you by Majimo.

Clean Me Please

After being a slave of car grooming and basically the car itself with my GTI. I decided to give it a rest with Leggy and take the car as a means to get from point A to B.

Overall I have been taking good care of the car from an internal standpoint. Regular servicing and always listening to the engine for problems. The outside has suffered though. From weather wear to the occasional bird droppings to not washing the car myself ever. Only care the exterior gets is SPC hand wash which is bad. What you expect since they use Mama Lemon.

So today I relented and got Leggy detailed after my 40K service. As I went pick her up I realised the original car color that has been hidden under all that grime. I have never seen Leggy that shiny before well since the day I collected her. She looks good (not a great picture below). Oh dear.

M enslaved again

Funny How Things Work

I have always been amazed by planes and ships. Probably it has been the sheer size of these things that has always blown me away. The idea of looking at a plane say a A380 or a 747, and being allowed the move around freely inside and outside to the cockpit and to be able to see behind the scenes and the work that goes into making these machines work. Same with ships more the colossal size of these things.

You know lah, men like big big things especially if there is an engine in it and when they are used for military purposes the cool factor goes up. The ultimate cool thing was an aircraft carrier; Ship, planes and military

I remember as a teenager, going to a particular vantage point in Sembawang Park to peer into the then Sembawang Naval Base, to catch a glimpse of a US Frigate or Warship and also look at the large ships from the Shipyard and thinking to myself, Wow!! I wonder what it is like to be on top of that ship and what is inside.

I even went to the length of applying for a job at ST Aerospace in year 2000, only to reject the job because they were paying pittance. To me the fact that I was able to walk past parked fighter jets at Paya Lebar Airbase and being so close was a thrill for me.

So what’s the funny part. The wife, gets to tour these facilities as part of her work and best of all she does not quite like doing it. She has toured large shipbuilding facilities around the world, been to military equipment manufacturers and now she is going to tour ST Aero. Seriously, sometimes I wish she could bring me as I pose as her research assistant or NUS attachment student.

M Envious

Fashion Faux Pas Trois

I know it is not nice to make fun of people at their expense, but when I see stuff this funny I have to share it. Yesterday on our shopping spree at Far East, we walked into this particular shop. As the wife was trying on something, a tourist walked in dressed like so:

Somehow I wondered what was going through his mind as he donned on this “festive” gear.

M so bad!

Ah Dush!

That is the sound you will hear when an actor in an Indian movie hits a villain. Of course this is followed by the villain flying a ridiculous distance or somersaulting from the punch. This is one thing I remember as a kid growing and watching these fight sequences, not to mention the victory dances that follow. The one below is a classic.

Of course, things have changed since this jaded clip, but the far from reality theme has not changed. Here is one more recent video with an actor called Vijayakanth.

I remember this guy well from my childhood as he resembled a close friend of mine. He has gone the way of some mega actors and actresses by entering into politics. I am told by my Indian colleagues, that by entering politics he can continue being an actor.

M LOL!

User Alert : Kodak Gallery

Just got an email from our formerly beloved Kodak Gallery which used to be know as Ofoto, saying that I will need to pay for the usage if not they will be deleting photos. So please take action and remove your pictures or download them, if you do not want to lose them.

The wife lost all her albums and having been a victim of lost pictures, it pays for you to have a see if you still have an active account. I remember lots of us used to use Ofoto so please go in remove your pictures.

This is an announcement service brought to you by Majimo.

Emmaus

It took me a while to find the place that I would like to end of this dream escapade. The wife said, “Eh your dream thingy is quite …....” I answered, well it more for me to take some time to think of places I would like to go that is all. So as planned today is my final stop, so I had to make it count.

So where?? Bora Bora? Machu Picchu?? Tibet?? Paris??. I settled on this…picture taken by Jared

Does not seem much right, well this is Emmaus Road. When the tomb was discovered to be empty by Peter, another two of His disciples were walking on this road and were conversing about the recent events, as He drew closer. Their eyes were restrained so they would not recognize Him.

He asked them what they were talking about and they recounted that they believed in a man called Jesus who they believed was the redeemer but He was condemned to death and was crucified. From this point began what would be the most amazing bible study ever! Imagine the Son of God himself expounding the meaning of the Bible from start to end?

And now imagine yourself walking this same road…..its mind blowing, hair standing and probably will be the most moving experience I will probably look forward to encounter.

M back on the road!

Ireland

Still sticking to all things mystical, Ireland is a place that I will have to go in this lifetime as many times as possible. There are so many things that I love that are from this little island (not so little actually; 3rd largest in Europe) that going there is an obvious choice. Land of leprechauns, four leaf clovers and ….

U2; yes this “little know” Irish Band which is now safe to say the biggest band in the world hails from this place, not mentioning many other wonderful acts as well. But more U2, whose impact on my life has been profound. My iPhone will always have at least one U2 album and no matter what playlist I may have there is bound to be one U2 song.

Swirling clouds tumble as the storm begins to calm, settle, breathe in the moment, then break through the smooth, light head to the bittersweet reward. Unmistakably Guinness.

Picture by MikeNeilson

Poetic right, well I believe it is and to me, drinking it is poetic as well. Probably my most favorite alcoholic drink in the world. If I had a choice to drink just one type of drink this would be it! Oh yes it will have to be a Guinness Draught not that bottled stuff. Its velvety texture feels glorious in your mouth till the very last lingering drop, it’s pure beauty, nectar of the gods. Its making me thirsty just thinking about it.

How can I end off without an amazing Ireland picture well here it is. This picture taken by Glenbourne At Home called Among The Wicklow Hills is the same place where the movie P.S. I Love You was filmed.

M dreaming

SideNote: Change

I am sure you have noticed that I have changed the colors of the blog to make the pictures appear nicer and make it more readable. I also wanted to get rid of those nasty border lines that just crowds the overall website.

Just added : New Header!!!

Hope you like it, feedback is appreciated.

M

Mont Saint Michel

Next stop is north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River in Normandy, to where you will see this. Mont Saint Michel is a medieval Benedictine Abbey and steepled church that occupies most of the 1km-diameter clump of rocks jutting out of the waters of the English Channel.

What's place special is that it's connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide, making it inaccessible, and revealed at low tide, giving this place a mystical quality. Now of course, there is an actual road to the mount.

I am not sure when my love affair with this place started. Probably, a random image I saw on a NatGeo ad which caught my attention but, it has stayed with me. I was unable to find a good non-HDR picture, to convey my awe for this place but this is a pretty good picture by Mark W Harris.

M dream voyaging

Seattle

Next stop...yeap as the picture shows it would be Seattle. Having had the priveledge of travelling to quite a few parts of the US, this is one place that sort has a magical appeal to me for quite a few reasons (as trivial as they may sound).

First is the picture above, its a HDR shot taken by Surrealize which shows the city skyline and Mount Rainer. The picture is real and though there is some HDR merging to show the full detail which the human eye can see but a camera can't and he does it so well.

It's the birth place of Jimi Hendrix and where Nirvana was formed. So musically this city is quite revolutionary and its not limited to just this. There are large influences of music that stemmed from this city, just too many to mention.

Mount Rainier, of course. Another great picture by papalars.


Seattle somehow brings me back to my travels in Tasmania, it has the good mix of water, city and mountains. Not to mention the fact that is just a hop away to British Columbia, Canada. And with Hollywood's love for this place in shows like Sleepless in Seattle, Frasier and Grey's Anatomy. This would be a good second city stop. What do you guys think?

M still dreaming.

Karakoram Highway

Picture taken by pmorgan

My first stop on my imaginary journey is the highest paved international road in the world. It has always been a place that I have wanted to go, not an absolute need but just an awesome place to just sit and go "WOW!" I mean just look at it!


The Karakoram Highway connects Kashgar, China and Rawapindi, Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 m/15,397 ft. Interestingly it is also referred to as National Highway 35 or N35. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred to as the "Ninth Wonder of the World."

My attraction to this place was mainly due to the fact that this is a rather unheard of part of the Silk Route thus the sense of adventure was there. But the desire was cemented when I came upon the Lonely Planet guide for this place while browsing at some bookshop. Looking at the pictures I was struck with utter amazement of the magical scenery, and said to myself "Ok I got to see this with my own eyes!"

So where to next.....

M getting there

Runaway!

Ever felt like running away? Just packing the stuff up, grabbing the wife and heading to someplace where no one can find you? Yes today is the day I feel this way. Just want to escape all the usual usuals.

Since blogging is a means of escape let me go on a mental trip, you are welcome to join. Hmmm where shall I go first?

M dreaming….

Picture from http://www.alltelleringet.com/

Sushi Nazi

Sushi Kikuzawa at International Building is where this guy tortures his patrons who come for some good Japanese food only to be force fed by a never ending barrage of sushi. This is the buffet.

I tried to be smart and avoid eating the rice on which the sashmi came upon so that I can make the buffet value for money but, the Sushi Nazi, as the name stuck to him from that moment on, said that I have to finish the rice as well. Not so much what he said but more the way he said it. Like a character from a Kurasawa movie.

As the rice balls got bigger and the sashmi on top got smaller (OK this might have been psychological on my part..hehehe) I said enough to the Nazi as the wife continued only to concede a few minutes later. After pondering the menu for a while, I figured out the system and got smart to it. Ordering what I wanted, basically items without rice.

But as soon as we were back to eating delightful Japanese food at a leisurely pace with the Nazi off our backs, the waitress came and announced "Last Order!"

YMGC!

Funny point was that I was telling the wife of a picture that came into my mind. Picture this; Sushi Nazi as an evil anime character making sushi for his terrified customers. Where the rice part of the sushi is the size of a bowling ball with a normal sized piece of salmon on top.

M Sushoo-ed

SideNote: Picture to remember

Turn back the clock to 23rd June 2007, our wedding day. After a night of many drinks and much food. All were merry because the big day was over and we were celebrating the success of the event. So as the alcohol continued to flow and the fun.

This picture of the wife's shadow and my shadow with my Dad was taken. This picture just surfaced a few days ago.

Such a memorable capture!

M

Truth be told

Yes it must be and I am a great believer of not lying especially to loved ones. I have lied so many times to so many people that it has gotten me into such a great deal of shit that it is not worth mentioning. Oops…I just did.

Anyways, as the two previous posts from the wife entitled I need a wig and Coconut head part 2, there has been some drama regarding a precious head of hair in the past couple of days. However, from all the shenanigans one revelation has come to light, I do not lie especially when it comes to my wife. At the end of the day it just isn’t worth it, even small white lies.

So after the first cut, she was really upset and I told her, hey I quite like this haircut as it truthfully to me, it looked really cutey. However, the rest of the reaction from some friends and colleagues did not gel with mine. So she concluded that I was just being nice and husband like. Hhmmmm…

So yesterday she proceeded to go and get the haircut “corrected”. We went to Yellow Light since we were working on the new menu and reading about Thai food really got the cravings going. She was coming from the saloon and me from home. So as she walked in the look on my face was obvious and she asked me, what I thought. I said “I liked the previous one”. This was clearly not the answer she was expecting as she was expecting my usual politically correct answer. She slumped!

Truth be told, the cut was nice but the outfit was not really suiting the cut and she looked a little strange. Moreover the way it was styled was a little weird, so for me personally it took a little getting used too. Whats more the lighting was a little off and she looked better when we got home.

As we headed out for work this morning, with her hair washed and she wearing an outfit befitting the cut, she looked more like my girl. I mean she has always been my girl and will always be no matter what she looks like, but she was looking much nicer compared to last night.

M NMOS

World of Hurt

Today, on the next stop of the Skinny Ambition Tour 2009, brought me to the Fitness Network gym at Sci Park. I usually work out in the morning when the crowd is then except for a few other crazies. I was heading to my usual cross country skiing machine, when I realized that they are all occupied. YMGC.

So looking around, I was looking for a place to get my cardio in. Hmmmm…. treadmills…I thought it best to stay away from the treadmills now until I get some reasonable strength into my legs else I will be stopping the tour.

Then I saw the machine that is possibly the least used machine in any gym; the daunting Rowing Machine. So I hopped on and started rowing. I started to sing in my head,

Row, row, row your boat,
Vigorously down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream

As I was rowing I realized man this is tough. I was starting to feel stiffness so I targeted to complete 1Km at least. Eventually after around 10 or 5 agonising minutes, I was at 1 Km. I can't remember whether it took my 5 or 10 minutes because I was a little dizzy and my main focus was to get myself onto my two feet without falling over.

Eventually after I regained my composure I went back to my now freed cross country skiing machine to complete my workout. So as I sit in the office now, I am in a world of hurt. I probably worked muscles that have lain dormant for quite a while. End of the day, I would call it a good workout and I am sure I will make a trip back to the rowing machine again.

M in some pain.

41 Questions. 1 Personality

I found this online test that claims to give you your personality run down after answering 41 questions. Pretty accurate, here are my results so you decide:

Your personality type:
Quiet, reflective and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.



Careers that could fit you include:
Writers, artists, counselors, social workers, English teachers, fine arts teachers, child care workers, clergy, missionaries, psychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, political activists, editors, education consultants, journalists, religious educators, social scientists.

I tend to disagree on the careers section because these are fall into the preconcieved notions of what kind of boxes these people fit into. But after looking at each of the careers mentioned, I realise that there have been some points in my life that I thought perhaps this might be something I would like to try. So all in all quite revealing, what you think, you guys would be the best judges right.


To try out for yourself go to http://www.41q.com/


M revealed!

What’s going on at NTU?

If any of you have been reading the news, you may have read about the Indonesian student from NTU who stabbed his professor in the back, then slashed his wrists and then threw himself of the five storey building resulting in his death. Tragic, I thought at the time. The pressures of school can result in people flaring up.

But what you may not have seen was another death that happened at NTU. This one was severely downplayed. What happened here was a staff member was found to have hung himself in his NTU staff apartment. Do not let the word staff here throw you; essentially this fella was a 24 year old Chinese National who started working at NTU 5 days ago and to be exact the day of the previous incident. His age however, should point to the fact that he was up till very recent a student of NTU.

What is now happening is that people are drawing up parallel and conspiracy theories. Personally, I love a good conspiracy theory but in this case, there seems to be some cover up going on.

1. Both guys who died are both from School of EEE
   
2. Both guys were from the same laboratory
   
3. Both guys have had close contact with the professor who was stabbed
   
4. Both are suicides
   
5. Both are foreign students
   

On the other side of the fence, our beloved media is working overtime to direct the public towards a particular direction. First there was an article about how foreign students here are suffering loneliness and have no channels in which to direct their stress. As an ex-foreign student I know this can be an issue of course but we are normally so focused on studying and getting by with such limited funds this was never an issue. In any case, this was a way of saying this guy was a little unstable

Next article, which I seriously loathe was about people who spend excessive times playing computer games. They highlighted 3 cases of guys who have gone warped from excessive gaming. I loathe these sorts of conclusions, as there is very little evidence to point to the excessive gaming as the cause. When I was in Uni a cheap way to unwind after a long day in class or after finishing a tough assignment was to play computer games. I used to be on it for hours and sometimes I would be home the entire weekend play just stopping for meals and toilet breaks. But this never made me loco! I just find this argument weak, and yet another feeble attempt by our media as one of the 3 cases, highlighted was our dear Indonesian friend from NTU.

So in an attempt to steer people away for the real truth, there are many people out there who are screaming for a proper investigation. There is even talk of some sexual misconduct by the said professor, and more to the idea that the first guy was murdered. Basically the consensus is that both deaths are related and the coincidences are rather astounding.

Camera, Flash, Focus and Shoot!

I am starting to really like the idea of a profession as a photographer. I have been once again taking photos for Yellow Light's new menu and the experience though back breaking has been rewarding and satisfying results.

I really need to get myself a good flash and learn how to use it properly. The pictures that they produce are truly astounding. The difference between amateur and professional. Honestly.

Even the wife who doubles as my assistant cum food stylist cum prop artist is really getting into it. But no matter what my first love will always be travel photography. Imagine photographing the Taj Mahal or the Pyramids of Giza or the Great Wall. Images that we have seen a thousand times over in my own camera as viewed through my own eyes. The thought of it sends tingles to my knees.

M dreaming of sand castles

Kiddly Winks

I love kids. I think that most people know this but there is nothing more amazing than God's creation and the physics and biology that goes into it.

But sometimes just observing kids and their mannerisms as they make new discoveries. I remember when my little niece Rachel discovered her fingers. The look on her face was "Wow! What is this!". It was really cute to see and it just got better as she discovered her toes and so many other things. Now she's in college studying accountancy.

Now as I am serving in my church's children ministry, I have the privilege of meeting so many children. It's an awesome privilege that I have to watch them grow up when they are my class and then to watch them getting promoted as the years roll by. What could warm the heart more than this!

I look forward to the day that I have my own kids. I know parenthood is not all fun and games but I look forward to the ride.

M Looking Forward.

SideNote: What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Interesting article that puts things in perspective.

M

Change on the Cards

Change, it is part of life. So do we need to change to improve?

I am in the midst of evaluating some new additions and new stuff for my blog. Here are a bunch of thoughts and to dos:

1) Need to change my template away from the standard Blogger template

2) What new widgets can I add to make the overall experience more....

3) How to increase the traffic to my blog, for people to get interested my bo liao-ness

$)Shall I monetize my blog - there are quite a few people out there making passive income with their blogs...why not me.... or shall I be true and not "sell out".

5) Adhere to the KISS principle, that is "Keep It Simple Stupid!"

Such decision are on the cards, so the balls are up in the air and when it land I hope for some change and not a complete number 5). Because change is something we all can believe in.

M Obama-ed

Morning Cycling Drama

Yes more drama...eh come.... on I am Indian, they don't call us drama mamas for nothing.

After getting back into the exercise mode of things, today instead of the usual date with a cross country machine at the gym, I decided to do something different. Using my newly purchased Saris Sentinel 3-Bike Trunk Mount Rack I decided to bring Scottie to work and ride around Kent Ridge Park. I was more hoping to take in the part of Singapore called the Southern Ridges. What I got in the end was quite different.

So last night when I got home I spent a few minutes putting on the bike rack onto the car. It went on with relative ease so I was all ready for the morning. In the morning, I after doing my morning usuals, I proceeded to fasten the bike with much excitement. It was pretty easy and soon the wife and me were heading to work, with Scottie hanging on from behind.

When I reached my carpark at Sci Park, I quickly dismounted the bike, got my helmet on and headed out towards the Southern Ridges. All was going well, I was enjoying the mixture of breezy down slopes, calf cramping up slopes and the occasional bike on shoulder climbs up the stairs. Eventually I reached the top of Kent Ridge Park, and proceeded towards the Southern Ridges, when I came to the Canopy Walk. It was really beautiful and I was enjoying myself and the scenery.

At the end of Canopy Walk, I hit Pepys Road just outside Reflections at Bukit Chandu. What followed was a windy down slope. I thought it was a short down slope to the next part of the Southern Ridge ride, it turned out to be road straight down to Pasir Panjang Road. This was when things started to go south....hmmm...Southern Ridges. So with my lightning fast mind, I decided to cycle up Pasir Panjang Road and then make a left to Alexandra Road and get back to the planned route, via Alexandra Arch

Eventually, I got back to the place where the Southern Ridges was supposed to be but I could not find it. OK, time to start a little panic. After a while of riding in circles (as shown below), I knew it: I was completely and utterly lost.

As I was riding around in circles, I realised that I forgot to bring the shirt, that I was planning eventually wear after my shower and for the rest of the day. In my excitement to get the bike onto the car, I forgot my shirt! So this was another parallel problem I had to solve along with being lost.

In exasperation, I had to become my old adventurous self and bash through the jungle and go guerrilla style. My objective was to get to Normanton Park, only road going way was via AYE. Bikes are not allowed on expressways so I had to go off road from Russells Road to Normanton Park. So here I was riding in the vegetation that is parallel to the AYE. Eventually, I got to Normanton Park and eventually back to the office. Purple line on above picture indicated my entire route.

After my shower I managed to get my hands on a company long sleeves polo and that became my attire for the day. All in all it was an entertaining morning and to be honest I have not had this much fun on my own in a while! I am sure I will get lost again and I am looking forward to it!

M enjoying being lost!

Rainbows

One thing we do not get to see often in Singapore are rainbows. Probably due to the pollution but for the last few days I been seeing them. Rainbows have a special effect on me. They raise me up into such high spirits that I just need to make the person next to me laugh or smile. Usually the wife is the one.

It takes me to my time in Perth. As I sat in the bus on a drizzly day while trundling along Mounts Bays Road and looking over the Swan River I see an array of 4 rainbows. Hmmm what an awesome a sight!

Biblically the rainbow was a signal that God's judgement was completed and that it is a reminder as to why Jesus died for us. It's the beginning of redemption and an overflow of blessings to come. So lookout! It's coming.

M anticipating.

365 Photos - February

It has been a busy month and trying to get a photo in a day has been hard but somehow I managed to with a little bit of "cheating"



In case you are wondering what I am talking mosy on down to 365 Photos. March is up!

M