dear underwater world, we finally meet.

(Pulau Aur, 2011) what is underwater is a lot more amazing!

More photos to follow when I get them.

a tribute to my phone

Dear iPhone

I still remember the first time I heard my colleagues talk about you. They were swooning over you and couldn't wait to lay their hands on you. I, being the obvious Luddite, was rolling my eyes thinking, "why would I need a phone with so many functions?" A phone should remain true to its purpose, which is to provide calling, and in the current age, messaging capabilities. I was happy with my then-love, the sexy Sony Ericsson in red, from which I could not only call, message, but also tune in to the radio on my long, boring rides to work. There, beauty with substance.

I don't really know when I changed that impression of you. Maybe because I have heard so much about you I just have to meet you personally. Or, it was fate, the four-letter word which starts with an F that is almost always employed to explain the unexplainable.When I first met you, I was a complete klutz. I didn't know how to handle you. I had to read the instructions manual cover-to-cover just to figure out how to turn you on. (Who reads those things nowadays actually?) And when you buzzed to life for the first time, it marked the beginning of a sweet one-sided love affair.

You had the strange magnetism of attracting anyone who comes near you. From the stylish curves of your body to the seductively animated face and the delightful ring of your sound, any attempt to resist you was futile, and pointless. I could still remember how my friends would go "iPhone?!" in high pitch when they see you with me, back in those days when you were still considered an exotic beauty. (You are still a beauty in my eyes.) I especially love how you respond to a cool swipe of my finger across your screen - a snub to the crude keypad-punching habits of the other phone users.

Needless to say, you became an essential part of my life.You accompanied me while I waited for the bus every morning. You kept me occupied during the drowsy morning commute. You kept me entertained while I waited for my friends who are almost always fashionably late.You gave me something to do while waiting for the elevator. You made the tiring crowded public rides more bearable. You provided an alternative to awkward conversations.You were with me in the dark of the night during my frequent bouts of insomnia. In short, you are also my most honourable filler friend.

With your indisputable intellectual capabilities, you outserved and overdelivered. What you could offer blew my mind - emails, Internet, Facebook, camera, MSN, Skype, apps and much much more. I cannot deny that you had a big part to play in my now estranged relationship with my once indispensable companion called Computer. Which caveman once said a phone is just for calling and messaging?

Of course, there were times when I had to put up with your nonsense, like when you refused to budge for no known reason, even after I hit your button 500 times and hurled verbal abuses (manifested as evil thoughts) at you. But this tiny bit of displeasure for all the happiness? I am more than willing to bear with it. And don't those warriors in love like to say "love is not perfect" or "loving you means loving your imperfections"? Yes, I get what they mean now. Sometimes for a wild split second, I would consider our separation, until I am quickly jolted back to reality by the thought of your inferior substitutes in the market. You are irreplaceable, my love.

Thank you for making such a big difference in my life.

Loving you always
Your owner

Show off

Last week, I had a craving for something extremely sweet and satisfied my craving with a mini sugar doughnut from Four Leaves. I told my mum how yummy it was.
Today, I had the same craving but had to stay late for work so I couldn't get any. When I got home, my mum told me she bought a couple of sugar doughnuts from Four Leaves for me because she remembered that I like it.

Such is how blessed I am.
Thank you.

work-in-progress

It is hard to always be a piece of work-in-progress.
You are definitely better than the piece of raw material which you started off as.
But still not quite the perfect finished product you were supposed to be.
You can give up the fight and convince yourself that you were meant to be a wip.
But what are you, without the zeal?

Then, there are dreams.
And your dreams of seeing your dreams come true one day.
Maybe being wip is okay - for the time being.
As long as my dreams stay close to me.