Sometimes it's very delightful to enjoy little things in life that was given to you when you least expected.

As I was left with a few red notes in the wallet, I thought my Friday evening would be a quiet one, spending some time with myself, chilling and relaxing at home. I guess NOT!! :p

Tanz brought me for a night of "latin music, all the way from Cuba" at the Grand Ballroom, Hilton KL. Invitation was by way of donation of RM120 in aid of Yayasan Tunku Nurul Hayati, which received a RM100, 000 cheque tonight.

*Thanks to Tanz' cousin, Ms Ho for giving us her two tix F.O.C. !* I don't think I could "afford" the tix with my current financial status hehe.

The band was no other than Afro Cuban All Stars, a smashing 16-piece Cuban band led by Juan de Marcos, a reputable figure in Cuban music. It is a band for dancing - combining a variety of latin dance music. Here's a picture of how the band looks like (taken from the web- because the ballroom was a bit too dark and my phone battery died minutes into the performance :p ) . Check out their music here.



The tix was inclusive of one drink, which was a difficult choice for me :p . I finally chose the San Cristobal white wine instead of the Cristal beer. The wine was fruity and crisp :) Later, Tanz gave me half her glass of Santiago de Cuba rum with coke, hehe.

The show actually started one and a half hour late because of 'small technical glitches' according to MC. Hmm, wasn't that small after all I think. It was ok la, I amused myself looking at the beautiful and elegant ladies dressed to the nines. In comparison, there were not many good looking guys around, and we were quite sure the cute guy we saw was pretty gay. Before the band started, some people were already dancing to the music (from a CD :p); no, not just simply shaking their asses, we are talking the proper latin dance class hours-of-practice kind of dancing.

The six-piece brass section, the percussionists, and the vocals were awesome!! By the time we left (about 45 mins into the show, cos our foot couldn't take the"one night stand" any longer) people were dancing, drinking, socialising, and really enjoying themselves :)

Ok, zzz time. Have to get up early to attend the launch of the Ozanam kids' very own newsletter. Sunday, as usual, dharma class and then CyberCare session. There goes my weekend. We should have 3 days of 'weekends' haha! 2 days are not enough! :p

Wednesday 7.10 p.m. I am in the office waiting for the traffic to clear for a smooth drive home. Chatting online with some friends while waiting...

Some friends are frustrated because they don't have a job, some friends are frustrated because they have one! Some friends who don't have their own cars complained, some friends that have complained about the $$$ they have to spend on fixing their cars. It seems like la vie is a no-win situation, haha! My dear friends, it's S A M S A R A after all, what do you expect!

Mid-week. Wednesday, April 19. It's almost half a year. Lots of negative things happened this year, but am glad I am alive and can still kick ass, haha! Bag was snatched, my beloved grandpa passed away unexpectedly, car was badly hit in an accident. The only positive thing I can think of is, I've finally 'found' my way back to dharma. Well, if I were to weigh, I guess finding my way back to dharma can outweigh all the negative events. Rejoice!

For those who seek happiness:

All that man experiences springs out of his thoughts.
If his thoughts are good, the words and deeds will also be good.
The result of good thoughts, words and deeds will be happiness. This happiness never leaves the person whose thoughts are good. Happiness will always follow him like his shadow that never leaves him. ~ Khuddakanikaya ~

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ~ Ecclesiastes 2:26 ~

Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians thronged temples and churches yesterday to pray for peace and prosperity.

It was a rare occasion this year as the Tamil Hindus and Sinhalese New Year, Vaisakhi and Good Friday were observed on the same day.

Tamil Hindus thronged temples nationwide to usher in the day – called Viya this year. Many of them were there before 5am, to pray on their own and to wait for official prayers by temple priests.

Meanwhile, the Sinhalese Buddhists in Kuala Lumpur went to the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields to pray.

Sikhs gathered at gurdwaras (temples) throughout the country for Vaisakhi which marks the anniversary of the creation of Khalsa by the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

For the Christians, yesterday was Good Friday – the day Jesus Christ was crucified, before his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Thousands thronged churches for Good Friday services.

And not forgetting the devoted Muslims who went to mosques across the country for their routine Friday afternoon prayers.

It was such a holy day :) It's heartening to see people of different faith and religions celebrating a day by doing religious rituals or gathering for a good cause.

And on this holy day, I was... at work :p !! Hello, if not who will pay my bills ar?! Well at least after that, I did not join the '9 to 5 cult' who chants "TGIF!" then head to clubs in town immediately after work to pay tribute to the oh-so-holy spirits: Scottish whisky Chivas/ J. Walker/ all the Glens, Swedish vodka Absolut, American whiskey J. Daniels, Bacardi from the Bahamas etc. I went home to watch "The Power of Compassion" - His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Public Talk at the SkyDome, Toronto Canada on DVD. It was a good end to the Holy Day for me with the "reinforcement" by a "simple buddhist monk" who believes in religious harmony (including respecting the freethinkers), world peace and a better world & society for ALL of us.

Rejoice for being a Malaysian, staying in a very safe and peaceful country! Pak Lah, make sure you keep it that way ok :D !

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think the very motion of our life is towards happiness. "

~ HIS HOLINESS THE XIVth DALAI LAMA ~

Need I say more? :(

hope noun [C or U] something good that you want to happen in the future, or a confident feeling about what will happen in the future.

suffering noun [C or U] when you experience physical or mental pain.

Got an early morning 'wake up' call from Jrn on Tuesday morning to go to Genting with her and a few friends. As I am not a keen gambler, I always find going to Genting's casino a "boring" experience. There are only 2 places that I like to go to at Genting: Theme Park to get the adrenaline rush and Arena of Stars to watch nice shows.

It was an interesting experience to just observe. Faces lit with hope but later with gloom; people who are surprised with their 'unexpected' good luck had a glow on their face when they head to the cashier to exchange the chips for real $$. Jrn won a little and gave me RM10 to bet on Roulette, I bet it all in one go and .... (drum roll please) I lost, hehe. I don't have much luck for these kind of 'side' income :p

Anyway, it's thrilling to see how willing people are to throw RM 1000 on the table to 'try their luck'. And some really don't have that much luck as I observed. Someone I know was there on that day and lost RM8000. She lost RM 6000 the previous day. She ain't a millionaire I can tell you for sure. I don't know how many months she needs to save to get back that amount of money. Hope ---> Suffering.

I am so glad my father disallowed me to gamble when I was young although I did miss out a lot on socialising with my relatives during CNY gambling sessions. But as my luck in that area isn't that good (told by many Feng shui master I went to see :p), I'm sure that has saved me from losing a lot of money, hehe. My father detests gambling so much because my grandfather gambled away all his $$ and my father had to work at a young age to pay for his school fees.

Casino is a good place to contemplate on hope, sufferings and greed. I wouldn't make a stereotypical comment that everyone gambling at casino is greedy. Some just want to get some thrill with the prospect of winning some money. Some are just uncles/ aunties / tourists who want to have some fun trying out their luck. Some are gambling out of desperation. But what ALL of them have in common hope that they will get back a lot with "little" effort and risk-taking. And the best part is, after hearing lots of stories, people who win usually contributed a lot to Uncle Lim's fund before they get some 'returns' back. What's the point of contributing about RM50, 000 in the long run to get RM 10, 000. Well, may be those aunties/ uncles who contribute to the fund to the growth of the Genting group every week can tell me. Hmm...

Anyway, how can one be sure of one's 'luck'? Some won big bucks and some lost big time but they were ALL confident that they would win at the end of the day. A few thousand ringgits gone in a few flips of cards. For those rich uncles wearing Rolex and those aunties that came with gold bangles and LV bags, probably they would just consider it a 'bad luck day'. But what about those who are not that rich? They wild end up with more 'suffering' after the thrill . Probably their children will have to suffer paying off their debts too.

May they be relieved of their mental sufferings and from their greed that will add more sufferings to their burden.

TOMORROW

One thing that I think ALL Malaysians love is Public Holiday :)

Tomorrow is a public holiday :) Unfortunately, I've got work to do :( I wonder when I will have the 'luxury' of enjoying my public holiday again- going outstation with some friends to PD/ Malacca/ Penang (NOT to visit my parents, but rather for the food, hehe!) etc


LAST WEEKEND

Anyway had a good dharma weekend as usual. Interesting events this week.

Sat : Met a lot of nice and hardworking volunteers at DK.

Sun : KH intro was about realms of Form, Formless and Desire followed by trikaya. Later, JT (aka the 'Plus One' :D) informed us about the fourth kaya. Then there was the 'Rotikaya' joke. I guess we couldn't help but thought about teatime with toasted Roti Kaya at 3pm. Anyway, KK's narration about Brahma, the Hindu creator God and Zeus always seem to draw our attention.

D, an ex resident of 'oh-so-glamourous' Hollywood shared her story about 'meeting the Greek God/ Hollywood Monk on the bus in LA' story. Compared to the struggles and challenges in life she had to face, my daily problems seemed so minuscule. Yeah, the usual 'not enough $' problem that probably 90% of the world's population has , haha! I guess our ego makes us think that our problems are B I G because of our selfish nature.

*Merci beaucoup WM* for being such a kind person to drive me for 2 days :) Am glad Fl, Jk & the husband were there too :)

*Merci beaucoup J* for the 2 VCDs which I haven't had time to watch yet :p


THIS WEEK

Ganden Shartse trip is this week. It will definitely be a very happy and auspicious trip for those who are going. *Rejoice* I will have to make do with watching the documentary this time :)


TODAY

Worldly business today: breakfast -> dropped Jrn at her office -> drove to office in the morning -> work -> lunch -> town to get my IC after lunch -> Insurance HQ to fill up some forms and documents -> pick up Jrn -> met up with some friends for dinner.
*Thank you Jrn for lending me the car* Else my cabfare will be $$$ today with all the 'running around' I had to do.

Also, I found out that parking for 4 hours at my office costs RM8.50!! :-O !!! So expensive-lar!!
*Thank you boss for the monthly season parking card* FYI, my boss doesn't read my blog one, so I am not trying to suck up to the boss :P

May all the employees whose parking fees are currently being borne by their companies continue to enjoy such benefit until they retire, :D! This act of kindness definitely lessen the burden of poor employees (like me :p), especially with the fuel price increase.

Those of you think my thoughts are not organised with all the events above NOT listed in chronological order, try checking your own thoughts and observe them for 5 mins, see where they bring you :p

"You’ll notice you cannot focus. You cannot. It runs here, it runs there hmm? You run, go shopping, McDonalds, tennis court, business deal, my car, music, hmm? All over, all over the place"

Tsem Tulku when he was 26

Sometimes I'm amazed... I spend my 9 to 6 here (often my 7.30 or 8 too). This is my 'real' home! Not the room that I go back to and sleep at night.

I ate here, drank here, laughed here, cried here (yep!) , short of sleeping on the table only :D

Well, I am glad. I am glad that I have a nice cubicle, spacious, fully equipped with broadband internet and IM and Harmon Kardon speakers hehe... Sometimes some office cubicles can be so pathetic
*Thank you boss for providing me a very good working space :) !!! *

Oh yeah in the background is Oscar, a christmas present from Tanz to "accompany" me through the 'time goes by, so slowly ♪' office hours. ( I just lurvvvvv Madonna's Hung Up, so much that I made it my default phone ring tone, haha!)

Ok till the next entry... may all be well :) Weekend is here... dharma time :)

Haha, no one can do as 'syncretic' a job as The Reluctant Messenger can in one of his article :D

The Master finished by saying, "After this war, the days of Judgement begin. All souls that have yet to achieve God Consciousness will be resurrected and will be judged. This time they will have complete knowledge of past lives. Every man and woman will know of the complete plan of God and their true potential to become One with God. Those that are judged unfit to continue will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is known as the Eternal Death. They will end up there because they refused to improve their karma despite all of the chances thay had during their reincarnated lives, including the one they had during the Utopian Reign of Christ, so they will forever be cut off from God. After the judgement God will create a New Heaven and New Earth will be the ideal environment for the remaining souls to continue their journey to become One with God."

Chester ended by saying, "That is one blended religion. Sounds like you got a little Hindu and Buddhism in with the Christianity and the Judaism, don't your think?"

The Master handed Chester a gold coin. Even in the dark of the porch Chester could tell it was gold and very valuable. The Master simply stated, "You are beginning to understand. In the Koran it says "Be they Muslim, Jews, Christians, or Sabians, those who believe in God and the Last Day and who do good have their reward with their Lord, They have nothing to fear, and they will not sorrow." Koran: The Cow verse 62

I think Satan has done a good job in 'redirecting' our focus... or probably it was us who confused ourselves. Instead of using the cup (religion) to quench our thirst for the 'truth' and become better and more holy people, we are debating which cup is better and is the ONLY cup one can and should drink water from. And there are people who don't even care about quenching their thirst for the 'truth' anymore. The easier way is to get another type of satisfaction from gaining more posessions (thanks to consumerism) and indulging in pleasure & comfort. That seems a "better" way than the 'hard way' doesn't it :p

After all, why wanna make yourself so frustrated trying to quench the thirst for 'truth' IF you can drive your super-nice car around town, have a few drinks with rich friends in a VVIP area/ club, check out some 'potential' mistress (nowadays rich women can afford to check out guys too ! YEAY! Feminism rules!) and later go home to your 'palace house' to watch a football match in your high tech audio-visual room stocked with plenty of PIRATED dvd (hehe, rich people also can be cheapskate one :P). When you get bored of this, just buy more 'toys' to amuse yourself and show them off to other 'poor' people who then aspire to be 'rich' like you la. Very good lifestyle wat :P Plenty of private jets, yacht, waiting to be bought :)

* Ok enough of rich men bashing :D Cannot talk bad about them, later I am reborn as one then how? I dunno whether I want to buy more yachts or jets you know! *

No wonder the world is in a mess, most of us can't even get our 'focus' right... :P !! When will the end of the world 'arrives' and cleans up this mess :D ? Adoi... there will be lots of 'clean-up' to do man!

P/s: I am not saying what he said was the 'truth' but merely amazed at what he described as the 'truth' that blends things in like a stew :D! What's for lunch tomorrow ? Hmm...

It's my second day of being chaffeur-driven to work. I am amazed that I did not have intense fear when I was involved in the accident. I was just shocked. I now realise that being driven by Kuala Lumpur's 'F1 drivers on the road' create more fear and fright in me than the accident :P Well, I guess I have to get used to it until ma voiture is returned to me.

I miss cruising in my car blasting Tiesto's mix of (Delirium Feat. Sarah Mclachlan) Silence. Ok, sometimes when I get too frustrated in the traffic jam and not in the mood, I blast Imee Ooi's The Great Compassionate Mantra too :D

Hmm... I thought 'surviving' during the accident coming out unhurt is key. Well, I was wrong! After that, one has to 'survive' through the insurance claiming process, faxing documents, calling this person and that person, going to the insurance HQ, and NOT having a car throughout that process too :P

The Ultimate question is (I know G will love this) : Do I really need a car??!! :P

Sunday and I went to dharma class at KH as usual. The first session was about the 6 realms of existance. During Manjushri class, Mr. David Molk gives a talk about guru devotion, analytical meditation and talked a little bit about Rinpoche's quality.

After that 'happy' activity, and on my way to orphanage, I picked G up from Tmn Tun. As I was driving towards 1U, the car in front of me suddenly stopped. I stopped in time and was relieved because I saw in my mirror the car behind me stopped in time. Before I could let out a sigh, my car suddenly jerked in front with a strong force and hit the car in front. At the moment, I could only screammmmmmmmmmmmm .... After a while, when I sort of 'mentally' settled down, I realised that the second car behind me (which is a really nice sports car by the way) hit the first car behind me, which in turn hit my car. My car hit the car in front and that car hit another car in front. It was a five-car accident, in a 'Domino Effect' kind of way. My car was 'sandwiched' in between (mine was the third car out of the five). The front and back of my car were really quite 'gone'... The back was badly damaged I couldn't even open the boot/ trunk. The bonnet in front was 'folded' upwards in a very nice shape, reminded me of the tectonic plate theory in Geography haha! The water tank burst, the air-cond broken etc etc. I am so glad my 'not-so-good' car is strong enough to withstand that impact that saved both mine and G's lives. If my car was a kancil, I might not be here anymore.

We went to a nearby police station and later had to go to the main traffic HQ in town. My car was towed there for a 'photo session' in order to process insurance claims and police report. The accident happened about 750 pm but the whole 'event' finally ended when I reached home at 1.02am in the morning as I JUST reached home after all the police matter and documentation etc. Am still in a state of shock now but I guess I will be ok.

Sometimes we take for granted... little things, it's ok, but sometimes we take our own life for granted, thinking that we will live long enough ... :P And to come to think of it, life is all we have.

Anyway, am glad that I am still alive and typing an entry for this blog.