Human Nature?

Experienced some interesting incidents which took place at Chinatown.

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The first happened in Philadelphia a few years ago. Being students and also not used to the tipping system (culture shock ) in the US, I guess we did not pay the customary amount of tips (> 15%). The waitress came to collect the money and counted it in front of us. She wasn’t too happy that the tips was little, and she made herself clear as she ask told us to pay more. While we were discussing among ourselves about how much more to pay, the waitress were also discussing among themselves about the ’small’ amount of tips. One of the waitress said in Cantonese, something like “If you take off your clothes, you have enough money”. I am not sure if she intentionally said it out loud for us to hear, nevertheless, that was really rude IMO. I thought the customers have the right to pay the amount of tips that they fancy, although there is a ‘guided’ standard. If you want us to pay a certain amount of tips, you should include it in the bill. But then again, the waitress may be losing out on tips as some customers may pay more. I guess the waitresses figured out that the fool-proof way is to make sure the customers pay more than a certain amount, else DEMAND for it!

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The second incident happened in SF not so long ago. We asked the waitress for 2 boxes for the leftovers. She brought only one, so we asked for another one. She said that boxes are EXPENSIVE and thus we should just use only one box. We do not want to argue with her so we just let it go. We did not box one of the food as we do not want to mix savoury and sweet. We then pay the bill, with a very good amount of tips. This is to the waitress opinion at least, because she brought us another box after she received the money.

Pointless…

This is a pointless post talking about a pointless topic.

I have always wondered it is true to say that people who are pious are also nice (i.e. kind, considering … and the endless list of positive traits). Well, if a person is pious, s/he should understandably be a very nice person also,  right? Nah, I am not asking for an answer or opinion. I am just thinking out loud. I warned you this is a pointless topic, didn’t I?

It’s Friday!

Oh boy

It was really warm last weekend! I was really hoping that the the cool nights could be prolonged, but soon, it will be very hot. And I do not have AC at home. Don’t feel like cooking, doing laundry, or doing anything. Maybe I should spend my nights in the office when it gets too hot? This is certainly a great idea.

For Independance Day weekend, I am not going outstation. Hmm, I always use this term when I was in Malaysia to mean going anywhere out of PD, but I do not hear it here. Oh, I miss this term because it reminds me of home. Only Malaysians(or maybe, my family?) uses the term outstation I think. I do not think the usage is correct as according to dictionary.com: outstation- a post, station, or settlement in a remote or outlying area. Oh well.

We are going for white water rafting! It is my first time! Quite excited about it. And then I am (maybe?) going for skydiving the week after next. I want to do it at least once in my lifetime, but I do have apprehension regarding this. Getting old I think? If you ask me the same question 3 years ago, I would surely agree to do it.

I have this habit of saying “Shit” when something irritates me. This is very unlady like lor. From now onwards, I would use the term, “Oh, boy” instead. My colleagues gave me this idea.

This few days, I am quite addicted to Korean dramas. For some unexplainable reasons, watching those dramas(comedy romance) make me happy.

I do not mind working on evenings/nights but recently, I could not stream video on crunchyroll when I am on VPN! So, it is all work! OH, BOY! Any workaround for this issue? Feeling quite desperate, especially now when I am waiting for my page to come up.

I am feeling sleepy

I have a colleague, a nice and funny fella, who I think has a reputation of being very hardworking. I always have the impression that s/he works day and night and even on weekends. While I was talking to him/her today, s/he suddenly mentioned something like, “Why are we wasting the best time in our life doing this?” Then we joked for a bit, but his/her comment really struck me. I guess this is because, I have been spending a lot of my time on work too. That is why, during the weekends, I have to go out and spend some time with other people! Else, I will feel depressed and suffocated.

Any ideas for what do to for Memorial Day weekend?

Gem… discovered

I believe most of us have heard about Susan Boyle, a talent who was discovered during the British Got Talent 2009 show.

She even have a fan site now! She is unemployed, but I guess with her talent and popularity now, she does not have to worry about a thing!

She was really great and when I say a person sings really well, this means that the singer is able invoke some kind of emotion within me. *Keng*

All the best to her!

I seldom listen to songs, and this is mainly because I can’t think/work while listening to songs. I wish I could, as this would make my work more interesting and enjoyable, but alas that is not the case. Maybe I should train myself my listening to the same song over and over again.

Talking about Susan Boyle, when she first appear on stage, people are not very confident about her singing skills, influenced by her simple physical appearance (I do not think she wears makeup). This makes me wonder, what is beauty? I am puzzled by the fact that more “beautiful” people have greater advantage compared to their counterparts in many aspects of life. Unfair as it may be, like my friend say “it is the way it is”. We innately prefer more “beautiful” things. Oh, well…

It is 11 pm now

I do not like getting older. Miss those primary and high school times.

When I was young, parents shield me from all the unpleasant things happening around the world. Also, I wasn’t always in front of the computer, browsing the Web, so I am always in my small world, not knowing what was happening around me. My dad loves to watch documentaries, especially those related to WW1 and WW2. I always teman him watch them, since he teman me watch cartoons also (not that he mind, since he loves cartoon. Why do I say so? He laughs louder than me!). I remember thinking that war was very scary. Not only that, somehow, in my delusional world, I thought that wars only happened “last time” and are not happening at “my time”.  Silly me… War, hunger are continuously happening.

Occasionally, I hope that time will freeze and that my family, me and everyone who I love and care for would not age and will always stay healthy and able. Why must people age?

I truly enjoy having a relaxing night, reading a Reader’s Digest.  *ah…satisfaction*

My day must begin with a cup of  Cafe D’Vita Mocha Cappuccino. This is my third tube now. Taste as rich and good as Starbucks at fraction of the price! It is so good that I have post it on my blog… Just add water and it is ready! So easy! Get it from Costco for $10. A must try!

~The coffee~

Plastic Surgery … anyone?

Plastic surgery : the elixir of youth and beauty … It is such a BIG thing now! Wanna be taller, prettier, sexier? No problemo!

As expected, people have mixed opinions plastic surgery. Everyone has their own reasons, don’t they?

1. Proponents

• Those who feel great about themselves and became much more positive after the surgeries
• Those who are considering getting one … or maybe two themselves
• Those who know and care about people who underwent this procedures

2. People who look-one-kind at those who had plastic surgery

• Guys who claim that natural beauty is the best and that inner beauty is what that counts (although they gawk over girls who are pretty under layers of makeup or who have nice ..legs, maybe? )
• Believe that it is dangerous. Not all surgeries are successful
• Religious reasons, maybe

3. On the fence

• Those who believe that people can do whatever they want with themselves and who are we to judge?
• People who are satisfied with themselves physically and do not understand why anyone is willing to be sliced with a knife. ( To those who think so, good for you! Why? Because, firstly, you are happy about your looks. And second, well, you must be lucky because, generally you should be at least okay looking to be satisfied in the first place ;P)

Are looks important? Of course they do! Better looking people are more successful! I bet you know this fact already. This idealistic view of inner beauty is more important, well… just does not hold 100% true in real life. Looks matter! Human being are just wired to prefer better looking people.

So what is my stand in this issue? Based on my post so far, you obviously can guess I certainly do not oppose plastic surgery.

I would also consciously say that inner beauty is what makes up a person. But I can’t help it if subconsciously, I prefer better looking people! ;P In my opinion, a person’s body is just like a casing to the soul. No matter how it looks like, the soul is still the same. If making the casing prettier makes a person happier or more successful, why not? After all, inner beauty is what that counts, right? So, why does it matter what a person do to his/her casing?

Note: This post is solely my opinion and my opinion alone

Help needed: What is the English vocabulary for look-one-kind ?

Spotlight Effect

Super-conscious about yourself? Think that the person may have noticed that you <insert your choice of word here>. Well, think again. Most probably you are just over-reacting, and no one noticed, and most probably s/he do not care anyways.

I read this article some time ago and I find it very interesting and informational.

I think in general people are just a bit over conscious about themselves, how they present themselves to other people. This is a good thing, since self image is important.

BUT, if you are so self conscious that it is affecting and dictating your behavior/choices, then it is a BIG problem. Well, of course the person have to realize that it is a problem and make the effort to improve him/herself on this aspect. I am fine if you are over-conscious about yourself. However, if you do not make the effort to free yourself from this, then I am not ok lah. I know I am repeating myself here.

Who cares?

Maybe sometimes there are people who will point your “imperfections“, and this of course would not help in reducing your spotlight effect but Who cares?. Just ignore their comments. Maybe you would be proud of yourself to be not affected by those not-so-nice comments!

Don’t grow old!

When I was at the airport picking up my parents this May, I was anxious, silently hoping and wishing that my parents do not older. Maybe because I just graduated, I felt old and so I was scared that my parents look old. I was very relieved that they still look the same.

LOVE <3

Love is a very interesting subject. Everyone wants to be loved. Who doesn’t? You feel blissful, appreciated, more confident and happier. Not only that, sometimes, you will strive to be a better person, not just for the person you love, but just simply because you feel motivated to be a better person and to feel good about yourself. However, love is not always wonderful. There will be heartaches and heartbreaks.

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I asked some of my friends to choose which scenario they would prefer to be in.

Senario 1

Your spouse has a lover but you never found out. You always thought s/he is loyal and loving. You have always been happy and contented without realizing that s/he main kayu tiga.

Senario 2

Your spouse loves you and is loyal. However s/he is not expressive and does not satisfy your emotional need. You always feel something is lacking in the relationship.

Interestingly, 99% would choose scenario 1, including me! Interesting, right? As long as we are happy, we do not care what actually happened. Maybe it is true that some secret is better left unspoken. What about the aged old adage “Honesty is the best policy”? Maybe honesty is NOT the best policy. But then if we always lie just to make the situation more agreeable and to avoid conflicts, then what would the relationship based on? Just lies?

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And then there are many type of relationships.

1. The Perfect :

This is the perfect relationship, where the couple loves one another and are very compromising, like my parents! They are really loving, and they still hold hands! I think usually this is the case for relationships.

2. The Dominating :

This is where one of them are dominating. Usually decisions will be made by the dominating person, from important to trivial decisions such as where to eat and what to do. Although you may think that this relationship is unhealthy, well think again. It is just the unique characteristic of the relationship. Both of them may really love one another and the person who is dominated does not mind. However, if one person is unhappy because the other is dominating, well, then that’s different.

3. The Unsure :

This is the case where one/both of the persons in the relationship are still keeping their options open although they are in a relationship. This usually only happens to unmarried couples of course. In this case, although he/she is in a relationship with a person, but s/he or does not see it as a long term relationship. S/he is still watching out for a better/more compatible companion. I think it is okay if both of the people in the relationship have this outlook. However, if only one of them is thinking this way, the other one better be prepared.

4. The In Between :

And then there are relationships which has more than one of the characteristics I just mentioned.

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I L O V E my family and my dear friends!