What Defines You?

Many people go through life without knowing who they really are. For those who are stuck in the proverbial rat race, they go through their days lamenting about how busy they are at work, no time to do the things they like, no time for family, etc. But, think about it for a moment. If work does not define you, then why do you spend so much time on it? Why spend half your life doing things that do not inspire your passion?

For instance, Fooch is a self professed workaholic. The word "workaholic" brings about many negative connotations, coming from people who expound on "work-life balance". But, when I talk with him, all he can talk about is his work, and his passion for work! It's amazing to see that he's really inspired by what he does, and he doesn't treat his work as a chore. Rather, he treats it as his hobby, as his life's purpose. To Fooch, his work defines him.

For me, I don't think my work defines me. I think my Buddhist work, and my involvement in music is what defines me. Of course, that doesn't mean I do not strive to further improve myself in my career. But when people ask "Who Are You?" to me, I do not answer "I'm a Network Optimization Engineer in the Telco industry". Because my job title does not define me. Rather, I'd probably answer "I'm a practical and simple Buddhist dedicated to the inspiration of Dharma through the revitalization of Buddhist music".

So, the question to all you readers out there: What Defines You?

Stream

Sigh... the car craze has returned to me, but this time it's not for the Honda City.

Rather, it's for this beauty:


Yes, the 2007 Honda Stream! *DROOL*

The price tag: RM150K for this beauty. That's almost double the original dream for the Honda City, which retails at RM86K. Dream on lah...

New template

How does my blog look with the new template?

Of course, it's nothing special. It's a standard Blogger template which I just changed by going to the Layout page, Pick New Template, then choosing "TicTac Blue" as my new template.

The Apartment @ The Curve

Sorry. No photos here, because nobody brought camera. The food portion is so small. The music started off as some pseudo techno music, but luckily they changed it to soothing easy listening music. Then the water is not being refilled!

OK lah. Other than that, it's a novelty to have this place modeled after an apartment. Bedroom, kitchen, light room, etc. But otherwise, the food is nothing special.

Lagi barang mainan baru...

It's been a long time since I got myself some new photography toys. So I logged on to Yamiya eStore and bought myself a Lambency Flash Diffuser! I placed the order yesterday evening, and the package arrived today. Quite good and prompt service! So now I can use this in place of my flimsy and unprofessional homemade flash diffuser.

It arrived well packed in bubble wrap

This product is made in China

The diffuser cup and translucent white dome

The assembled device

The setup with my camera

And here are some sample shots:

Top-Bottom: Bounce with dome, Bounce without dome, Direct with dome

I hope I'll have more opportunities to test this gadget out. It's been a long time since I held a camera in my hands!

PAS makes more sense!

Hahahaha! Padan muka :P

Yet another bunch of tower-fearing people...

Residents of Putra Heights Section 9... please don't complain if you don't get good mobile network coverage or quality. Don't complain if your Maxis line or Celcom line or DiGi line only got 1 bar or even no line. Don't complain if you can't hear what the person on the other line is saying. Don't complain at all.

Because you didn't want the towers to be built.

Plug for BuddhistSound

BuddhistSound is a locally established website setup for the purpose of promoting and retailing Buddhist music and other related media via the Internet. It is established by Brian and Roland Lee from the Messengers of Dharma (MOD), and carries MP3 tracks of various popular Malaysian and Singapore based Buddhist songs.

While most of the stuff is actually for sale, there are also a few freebies which can be downloaded at no charge. One of the gems I found from the website is this e-book, which gives quite a detailed introduction to the world of Buddhist music. I found it to be quite informational, but I've only browsed through it, not really read it word for word.

Do download it and check it out!

Wow... Khir Toyo is speaking "live" as the Opposition Leader!

Updated 12.45pm:

Despite the massive lagging of the streaming video, from what snippets I managed to listen to, I am now confused whether BN is still the state government, or the state opposition, and whether PR is the new state government or still in opposition mode.

Still debating about trivial stuff, focusing too much on the past, and unfortunately unable to look forward and chart a new future for our state. Talking about exco village lah, then talking about wrongdoings of the BN government lah... wtf?

Where are the debates on education? How about transportation and traffic? Over development? Protecting green lungs? Where's the intelligence???

Original:

I bet he didn't see this coming at all. For all his boasting of a zero opposition state, he is now sitting in a position that he predicted would not even exist!

View the live proceedings of the Selangor State Assembly here.

NBTD? THMYC?

God. I can't believe that some people actually have the time to think about this type of things. It just goes to show how shallow some people can be.

Seriously, I just lost hope again. Is this what a progressive country should be thinking about? Looks to me that this "National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia" is stuck in the Zaman Jahiliah with their holier than thou posturing and downright insulting suggestions. They should be thrown into the museum of antiquities and left there to rot.

"It becomes a distraction to men." Perhaps it becomes a distraction to the men in the group only. God... I still can't get over the stupidity of it all!


*NBTD = Nothing Better To Do
*THMYC = Tak Han Mou Yeh Chou