Crossed Over...

I have cross over from blogspot.com to wordpress.com.... shall disappear from this blogspot for now.

Am now @ http://stzegarden.wordpress.com

Before it's Over...

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask 'How are you'?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores, running through your head?

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time, to call and say,’Hi’

You’d better slow down.
don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….Thrown away.


Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

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Song written by a terminally ill girl....

Create our Future

Dreams and futures are created with conscious choices and efforts made in life...

It all started with defining what is our expectation... What do we want to see in the future. Take time to evaluate and decide on our expectations. Once an expectation is clearly spelled out, that is what we have to strive for..

Once a decision is made, there is no need for more evaluation of 'should I , should I not' as no one can see the future... but it's the future we create..

We can't guarantee forever coz one day we won't be here on earth... but we can make sure we will love each other till death do parts us.

So, the next step is what are we willing to unload and let go, re-learn and adapt to create our future...

Personal BRAND

When we think of NIKE, we think of 'JUST DO IT'..

When we think of BMW, we think of 'THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE'

When we think of KFC, we think of 'FINGER LICKING GOOD'

Every 'brand' earns a reputation of the 'cause' they believed in and fight for. That's what makes the truly exceptional companies different from other companies. it is beyond a corporate vision. It's about something far more important, enduring & substantial. It's who they really are, and living it.

Like-wise, everyone of us represent something... we are our own 'BRAND'. The 'cause' we believe in & fight for and therefore created our own reputation.

So... when people think of your name... what comes to their mind?

(Am recommending 'Good to Great' & 'Build to Last' to learn more)

THINK!

I just attended yet another seminar and am disappointed with the 'tidak apa attitude', 'someone should do something', pin-pointing, and not taking personal responsibilities to make a difference.

How often have we heard the little voice inside us saying, 'but I donno how, so I don't do lah'

I used to tell my colleagues that the company hires us for our hands, legs and brains. If we are waiting for someone to give instructions & provide all the solutions, the company don't need us. They can hire workers who are much cheaper just to execute instructions.

If we don't use our brain, how dare we expect our parents to send us to school! If we don't use our brain, how dare we demand for the type of pay we want!

So, think first before talk!

Think now, before we are being thought off!

Do you have what it takes...

As I was getting out from the car park one day, there was a 5 series in front of my car driving like 10 kmp... But giving him the benefit of doubt that he's searching for his parking ticket, I will just have to crawl along with him for almost extra 2 minutes from where we parked to the ticket payment counter.

After getting out of the car park, he was still driving at 10 kmp!... Why on earth someone with a powerful car as such drive like a turtle lah!

The following day, I saw someone took 3 attempts to reverse into a parking lot that took me only 5 second with 1 attempt. And it was a young good looking man with his S class!

The moral of the story is... MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES to handle what you want, and the way it should be handled.

Can't buy love...

Would you accept a proposal from someone who loves you and instantly makes you USD 20 mil richer, the owner of a 8-rooms bungalow, with a cellar, a jacuzzi, fire-places and a large garden, a summer house at the mountain, family ranch...

But you have to leave behind your entire life, including your norms, behind friends, family, change your entire life-style, re-create what you have proudly achieve so far...

I said no.

Toyz...

Today a friend brought me to Naza Carnival... gosh! All the chun cars were there!. Ranges from Sedan, SUV, Sport, Premier lines.

As we walked into the show-room, we were greeted by a wide range of machines including Lamborghini, Maserati, Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Brabus, Benz, BMW, Audi, Subaru, Lexus, Evo, Nissan (including yours truely's love affair - the Fairlady Z and RX 8).

There were 'Do Not Touch' displays on the range of Lamborghini, Maserati, and Bentley, including the BMW M3 GT, and Audi R4. Here are some pictures taken from my camera phone. Wish I had my IXUS 960 IS with me. Blame it on my friend for did not warning me what I was walking into! :)

Maserati MC12 - front view

Maserati MC12 - rare view

Ferrari Enzo Ferrari California

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren RoadsterSome of these cars ranges as low as RM 110'000 to almost RM 7'000'000!... Gosh!...

And of course, I got into Fairlady Z and RX 8. Love the way the seat 'held' me in. However, though Fairlady Z is definitely more powerful, but I love the controls, the feel and the body of RX 8 more.... :)

Here's a fantastic link to learn more about sport cars.. http://www.rsportscars.com/cars/

Hobbies...

I noticed that through the years, I have had a lot of hobbies.. Some hobbies started since my age was at a single digit count, some hobbies came and gone as interest passes, some I had to make deliberate choice to let it go due to priorities in life...

There are two categories of people when come to hobbies. Master of a hobby, or Jack-of-all-trades-and-master-of-none. I am definitely the later. Following are hobbies developed over the years.

Stamp Collection- When I was 10, my dad sat me down one day and hand over his collection of stamps. He explained to me the meaning of hobby and why it is good to have hobbies in our life. I can't believe he actually did that!. He's so wise! :). Though I do not invest in first-day-covers, or deliberately purchase stamps from collectors, I religiously look out for unique stamps from all over and my collections has increase from 1 to 3 albums. I have yet to get a hand on those 3-D stamps!

Reading - this is one love that stays with the Tan's family. We have a big study room at home, yet our bed rooms are filled with rolls of books of our own interests. You can find books in the toilets, next to the beds, at the dining, the living hall, the kitchen. My reading has evolved over the years from Collections of Rocking Chair, Far Away Trees, to Hardy Boys, Famous Five, Secret Seven, to English classics. When I started working, I read a lot of self-help books, and eventually moved to management, organizations, strategies and world economics. Thank gosh for the tax rebate for reading.

Diary / Blogging - I started recording reflections of life events and thoughts since I was 12 years old. It started with the simple brown-paper-cover-exercise-book from school to collections of beautiful diaries, diaries with perfume, diaries with miniature locks, and eventually to electronic diary (blog) 3 years ago. I have 3 blogs actually. :D

Music - The day my parents decided to enroll me for piano classes, I was over joy. Playing piano, and later guitar, listening to music, have always been in part of my joy of living. Through the years I have invested in tons of music collections, 2 guitars, 2 radios, 1 mini-compo, 1 hi-fi, up-graded sound-system for my car, and am still eyeing on the Bose to create a surround-sound to create visul-audio room one day. (My parents actually sold of their jewelries to bought me a very good piano that worth almost than 6 months of their salary then!)

Photography - I have invested in 3 cameras over the last 10 years and it has always been the latest high-end compact cameras at the time of purchase. But I never did view photography as my hobby though I will take hundreds of photos whenever I travel. 3 months ago, a very close friend commented that I have the talent and passion to appreciate and draw out the beauties in life which we tend to missed. Now I am eyeing on a middle-range SLR... :D

Traveling - I never quiet understand why people spend thousands of monies for few days of traveling until I had my 1st trip to Japan in 2004. Ever since then, I make it a point to spend at least 10 days out from Malaysia to appreciate the culture, life and people from different part of the world. This can be an expensive hobby coupled with photography when travels, but definitely worthy.

Cooking - I won't really say cooking is a hobbies. Cooking has always been a 'therapeutic' sessions for me. I noticed that I've started cooking more during exams days in Uni. And now I cook over weekend, especially after a hectic week.

There is 2 more areas of passion I have not venture into, but would love to take it up... Wine & Cigar and probably Dancing too. Will do that in 2009.

hemm.... no wonder I am still so poor... I have spent so much on my hobbies...and am contemplating in owning the RX 8 or Fairlady Z one day... :)

Life...

I attended my ex-company reunion today... met so many people young & old. There were people who left the company before I was born!... There were people whom I get to said 'I was there before you came'...

Very soon I will be using this phrase more often...'I eat more salt than you eat rice' :)