Grateful and Humbled

Someone told me that it's not easy to achieve happiness. In life there are so many challenges and if you do not set your end goal right, the happiness that you seek may be elusive.

What we should be aiming for is peacefulness, he said. And this is not hard to find. And the key to achieve this is to always be grateful and humble.

When I ponder on what he said, I found a lot of wisdom in his statement. If we are always grateful and thankful with what we have, we would never complain or envious of others who has more. There will be no bitching or back biting and back stabbing. Hence there is no self inflicting stress from the negative energy within ourself.

[Of course that does not mean it gives us an excuse not to strive to be better than what we are. I met someone who declared that his life was fated when actually he was too lazy to do something to improve himself. He is one misguided soul.]

Now, to be humble is something that may be hard for some. In my personal observation, I find that in most cases the poor folks are more humble and the rich are the ones with certain ego. May be it comes with the job. By right the higher the position we hold the more humble we should be. The more grateful with what we have been given and the more humbled that we have been so blessed.

If we hold on to this two feelings, no matter how rich or poor we are or if we are a farmer or a Managing Director we would always have that feeling of peacefullness within ourself. What I personally call: quiet happiness. You know what I mean? Like, for example, the feeling that you have when you have done something good by helping out someone in needs. I believe this kind of quiet happiness will last forever compared to the jump-for-joy kind of feeling.

Not sure if I am making sense here. And I am totally ok if you disagree with me.

Whatever it is, here's wishing that we all will find what we are looking for!

InsyaAllah.

Man in the House

It's refreshing for me to see a man in the kitchen. No. Not the one whose profession is a chef. I mean the working men be it the blue collar or the white collar.

Typically, most husbands do not enter the kitchen except when the pipe leaks or the stove runs out of gas. Hardly any men would go to the kitchen to help the wives with the cooking or washing up. Not in this country. Nor in my family.

I was just talking to a few friends yesterday about this subject matter and we agree that actually they are not to be blamed. It's the way they have been brought up. In the old days boys were not 'trained' to be kitchen helpers. Only the girls were told to help out with the household chores. No, scrap that. We were actually been 'ordered' to! Hee....

In my younger days, we were given 'duties' of the household chores. Being brought up in a large family actually lessen the burden somewhat as each one of us was only given one daily chore. But brothers were excluded from the duty rosters. And somehow we never questioned the fact. I guess it sort of made sense to us that our mother would do the cooking and take care of the house while our father went out to work and 'bring home the bacon'.

But all that has changed now since both husbands and wives hold their own career. Regardless who has a bigger post or earn a higher salary, the household chores should be equal responsibility. Especially those without a maid in the house.

I read somewhere that even our beloved Prophet SWT help out in the kitchen when needed. Indeed he is the person that we all should use as reference and benchmark.

So, to all my friends who have boys in the house, do not forget to teach them from young that its 'cool' for them to give a helping hand and chip in every now and then with the household chores. Better still, give them daily chores even if you have maids in the house. Get rid of the notion that men don't belong in the kitchen. Help them to bring down the ego as the 'king of the house' a notch or two. Hee...

There you go. To all mothers, if you can change the future men's behaviour and attitude, you can change the world!

Cheers!

Expectation.

It's that time of the year when there is an exciting buzz on the floor with the impending payment of previous year performance bonus. Yup, it's that time of the year!

But of course not everyone is totally ecstatic with what they get. It all depends on what is your expectations. (does that sound familiar?)

I learnt many years ago never to set my expectation too high or you end up feeling disappointed or hurt. We have always been taught to aim high, to achieve the best of the of the best but you must always be prepared for the worse. Your heart may dropped or your mind blanked out for a couple of minutes but it should not be a-cry-your-eyes-out-the-whole-day kind of thing.

So happen my little girl (who is not so little anymore actually) got her result for her foundation course today. I thought she did pretty well. But because its lower than what she was aiming for and her favourite subject didn't score as well as it should, it made her really sad. Initially. But after sometime, she was able to pull herself together and accepted the fact that it was a pretty decent result. And she is now happy.

Flash back: It reminds me when I had my result for my LCE (oh, like many million years ago) which my brother sat for on the same year. I was crying my eyes out while my brother was jumping for joy with his friends, whereas he only managed to get a pass with an aggregate of 30 or there about. He was happy with it as he never really studied for it anyway, while I put up late nights to get a single digit aggregate (FYI, the lower the better. Those days it was calculated base on the total of the top 5 subjects or something like that) and I only managed to get an 11.

Get my drift? Anyway, there is nothing much you can do with the result, but there is a lot you can do to change how you see things from a different perspective.

Yeah yeah. It may not be easy at first. But you get the hang of it in time. FYI it works out better with maturity too. Hee....

Enough of my rambling. Here's wishing everyone a splendid weekend!

P.S. To my little girl, I am proud of you kiddo!

Gentle Reminder

Saigon River dinner cruise

It was quite a spread on the boat. Mainly seafood. We were also entertained by local traditional Band and dancers. And the night view of the shore against the reflection on the river was pretty awesome. And to put icing on the cake, we can even have our foot or shoulder massage while enjoying the breeze and view.

All in all it was a splendid start of the 3 day summit. Kudos to the organiser.

Here we are again

Guess what? I am in Ho Chi Minh again. Ha ha ! This time its on an invitation and its just a short 3D2N trip. On this trip I am going to write about the food here. You will be happy to know that there are plenty of halal restaurants available now compared to 10 years ago. Most of them are located near the grand mosque.

Our lunch on the first day was in a place called Halal Saigon. This restaurant serves really good food. The owner is a Malaysian and she claimed that her secret is in the ingredients that she uses. Most of them are airflown from Malaysia.

I certainly recommend it myself. We came here twice the last time around! Her speciallity I would say is the starter which include a clear melon soup and the desert of toasted pau plus ice coffee! They look so simple but it taste heavenly , I tell you. You have to try it to believe it. Oh! Don't forget to try the ice coffee too. I can declare that it is simply the best in town!

So next time you are here, don't forget to have your lunch or dinner at Halal Saigon.

Bon apetite!

Weight Loss Smarts

As promised here is an excerpt from the magazine Calibre.

Basically it says the absolute best exercise to lose weight is the exercise "that you will do". Yup. No point in signing up for something that you are not able to sustain! So pick up an exercise that you enjoy and a routine which you can stick to.

Go for cardio exercise instead of strength or resistence training. Incorporate variety or cross training so you will not get bored with the same routine.

All you need to do is burn the calories that you have consumed. Meaning, the more you consume then the more you need to get rid of hence the more exercise you need to do.

So here is the list of cardio exercise that you can do:

1) Running
- maximum calorie burning and weight loss as well as strengthening heart and legs.
[Not good for people with knee problem like me though].

2) Bicycling
- effectiveness depends on speed and resistence/incline level.
- exercise bike in front of the TV is a good investment as long as you make a point to use it!

3) Swimming
- top exercise to lose weight as it exercises the whole body
- low impact because of the water that supports the body weight so injuries are kept to the minimum

4) Brisk Walking
- the easiest cardio workout that helps tone legs, stomach and hips.
- better option than running to those with injuries
- walking across and/or uphill will add to the amount of calories burnt

5) Skipping
- simple but effective weight loss exercise
- 10 mins of jump rope is equavalent to running an 8 min mile
- improves cardio endurance, coordination and agility

6) Any Racquet games
- tennis, badminton, squash. The side to side, front to back, stop and start movement add up to a great cardio workout
- needs a sparring partner though which makes it more difficult to cop out

There you go folks. Unless you are one of those with an all time high metabolic rate, we all need to exercise to keep the coveted, slim and trim body while we get to enjoy that yummy pavlova or the cheesy red velvet.

So what will be your choice?

Note to self

Every time I look at the stack of magazines underneath my writing table I told myself, I must bring them to the office. But I always forget to do that. I hate to throw them away even to the recycle bin because I always thought that some of the articles which I find useful may be useful to others too. So I have to give others a chance to read them. Mmmmm... Good intention must be followed by action. Yes siree.

First thing that cross my mind is to send them to the health clinic in the office. The last time I was there for consultation the available magazines were like, way past the current issues or topic of discussions.

You see, I received this monthly magazine called Calibre from Public Bank as an investor in their public mutual fund. And I find that there is always at least one interesting article in each copy.

In fact I am going to copy one article on 'Weight Loss Smart' in this blog. I am sure many would benefit from that article! Hee.... but not tonight. Time to call it a nite.

Will do that tomorrow. Promise!

Meanwhile, can someone remind me to bring the past issues to the office tomorrow please?

Fate and faith

Do you believe in luck? I don't. I believe in fate. I don't believe in coincidence either. I believe in fate. It may seem like a coincidence but actually its already written in the 'big' plan. What is meant to be is meant to be. If you can hold on long enough, you will realise later on that yes, it's totally ok. You can take it. The whole thing works out just the way it should. It's actually amazing that you will find that things just fall into place.

Once you believe in fate and you have total faith that it's meant to happen for the better of good then you will not be miserable for the rest of your life for something that has happened.

To be able to do all the above you have to have strong religious believe. After all only God knows what is best for you. Even though at times it didn't feel like that at that particular point of time.

So. Do not despair. Miracles do happen.

Seoul public WC: clean and pretty.

I told myself that I must write about the public WC that I used in a few places during my visits. They were a pleasure to be in I tell you. No kidding! See for your self!

This is one of the wash room found in Everland. They are not just pretty on the outside, but also on the inside!

This one can be found at the Gyengbokgung Palace. It's unbelievably clean for a washroom that is opened to the public.

The beautifully decorated washroom above are found on Nami Island. The interior is just as interesting as the exterior.

Well, the top two are the interior of a washroom in a high end shopping complex. So very posh. so clean and dry. The bottom one is a single washroom found in a Buddhist Monk restaurant where they serve 100% vegetarian food.

Memories of Seoul

Despite our disappointment for not being able to experience cherry blossom blooming in riots, the trip to Seoul has been a wonderful experience.

For example Nami Island is not over rated at all. The island made famous by the korean drama Winter Sonata is now a must-visit destination to almost all visitors to Seoul. It has a beautiful landscape as it is even during this time of the year. I am sure that it will be even more beautiful in the spring and summer with the presence of colouful flowers. I am told even in autumn it is also beautiful in colours of yellow from the ginko flowers and gold from the autum leaves. Can you just picture it? Yes. Very pretty indeed.

Secondly, our disappointment in missing the cherry blossom season was made up with the blooming of tulips. This can be found in a place called Everland. Everland situated about 50 km away from the city is a park for all ages who loves adventure and beautiful gardens and lanscape. There are roller coasters for the bravehearts, rides for the children, safari for the animal lovers, all kind of restaurants and colourful gardens.

Most other flowers are still in a slumber except for the tulips. They were just breath taking. I will let the photos show you how colourful they are.

Lastly, I just have to write about this, Seoul has the cleanest public restroom ever. Every where you go. Some of them even come with bidet. And they are usually nicely decorated. I love the ones on Nami Island where they are aptly called 'ToilArt'. I will attached some photos of the restrooms later on for you to see for yourself.

Other than I just may add that the Koreans are very friendly and helpful even from the non English speaking ones. The public transports are systematic and easy to understand. And what more the places are disabled friendly.

Well. Like I said. It has been an interesting trip and wonderful experience.

Highly recommended as a holiday destination. Not just for the K-pop fans and Korean drama fanatics. Hee...

We would certainly come back again ourself. Maybe in autumn this time.

Kamsahamnida

I must say thanks to my friend Sue for letting us join her and her hubby for the holiday in Seoul. Although cold and tired most of the time, we still had fun, didn't we?

And thank you too to my room mate K for being such a good sport. She would volunteered ever so willingly to do the running when needed even though she was just as tired as I was.

And to Sue's hubby, a big thank you for putting up with us and for being a wonderful 'tour leader' for us. His planned itenarary beat any other tour agents for sure.

And it sure made our day when we get to see the first bloom of the cherry blossom before we left.

To everyone, kamsahamnida!

Cherry blossom!

Its our lucky day. Went to Hanouk Cultural Village and found that there are some cherry blossom trees have started to bloom. Yeay! At last!

The photo below was taken with my iPhone. Better photo will be uploaded later ok!

We can leave with a big smile on our face now!

Check list

Ok. Let's see. What have we done so far:
Visit Nami Island. Checked.
Solat at the grand mosque. Checked.
Visit Everland. Checked.
Shop for souvenirs. Checked.
Eat halal korean food. Checked. Twice.
Shop at Myeong dong market. Checked.
Buy brooch and trinket. Mmmm.. Not yet.

But we still have plenty of time to do that tomorow. Tomorow is our last day in Seoul before our early morning flight back the following day.

When we get back I shall write in more details of our visit. It has been pretty interesting so far. Korea is a clean and safe country. I would certainly recommend anyone to make it their holiday destination.

Alhamdulillah.

So watch this space!

Meet Bob our tour guide

He is quite a character isnt he? He has a few costumes that really make a statement. Today he is wearing what he called Micheal Jackson attire. Hee...

He drives like nobody's business though. And he has certain privilages as he is a handicapped and hence we have no problem with parking and stuff like that.

Would certainly recommend him to anyone going to Seoul.

Seoul

We arrived Incheon Airport at the crack of dawn on a wet day. The slight turbulance as we were ascending was like a prior warning to us. When the guide met us at the arrival hall we thought he was kidding. But he certainly wasn't. It was actually snowing! Just light snow in between the rain. But still. Snow in April? Even the locals found it weird. Our hope to see cherry blossom is dashed. Oh well. We will capture the trees instead.

Due to the wet condition we had to change plan and only go indoors. Our tour guide is great! A Chemist turned tour guide who speaks very good English and some malay phrases. So happen his wife is a Malaysian. Ipoh mali. Hee...

So we went for a bit of shopping here ans there, had a halal korean meal and did our prayer at the grand Mosque.

The best part of the day was a Korean play that we saw at the end of the day. It was hilarious and very well choreograph. Not much script so anyone can understand it. We had so much fun.

Well that marks the end of Day 1. Even though it was chilly it has been fun.

Tomorrow we will go to Nami Island. Will tell you about it later. Ok?

Life Choices

Ever heard the saying that its not so much of what happened but what decision you made and what action you took is the most important thing at all? I am sure that there were many a times when we came to a cross road and had to make that hard decison. The action taken upon that decision is instrumental to what happen next and carve the path that we will go through henceforth.

We can decide to be positive about it. We can decide not to be selfish about it. We can decide to do something which benefits others.

Or you can decide to be miserable about it. Or take the easy way out. Or blame everyone else except yourself.

So what triggers us to make a particular decision? I say, it depends very much on how emotional we are at that particular moment. Whether we use our heart or our head or a bit of both.

So what makes a person more emotional than others? Now, that is a very good question which I can't say that I have an answer to.

I must admit though that I used to be a very emotional person. Until I learned and accepted that everything happens for a reason. And that in every cloud there is a silver lining. It took me sometime though, years in fact. Ever since then I am not so easily spooked and would be more cool and calm when faced with a 'situation'.

Or maybe the term 'older and wiser is true'? Hee.....

May Allah bestows me with the virtue of patience and tolerance and even more.

Amin.