I’m very interested in flowers, very fond of them I am indeed. But just yesterday, I was out with my aunt to an aQua shop, somewhere in gadong, and so suddenly did it come, this interest towards fish. The fighting fishes on display caught my attention.

I have always found fighting fishes to be very beautiful but I never get a hold of any of them since they are not very friendly with other fishes. I guess I never seem to like just having one fish in one bowl. But yesterday, God knows what strike me with so interest, I bought two fighting fishes, one male and another female, got them a bowl and also got a live water plant. Got a few decorative stones as well – for the bowl.

Now, in my room, I have flowers freshly plucked from my garden patch in a small vase and a fish bowl with fighting fishes!! They make such good companions when I am reading or writing up notes.

Such beautiful creature.

I’m not ready for the new semester to start.

Just aint ready yet.

=(

Don’t know why but when I got up this morning, I felt this drive, this energy to search for flowers, identifying them and get to know more about our local flowers. I must say some of them are exotic and not, really, well.. “local”. I have created a page on it and is constantly updated each time I come by a new flower of sort. It’s filed under Flower Diary.

Anyway, browsing through this one forum where I usually visit and participate (here), I come by this beautiful flower shown below.

This species of flower is one flower I’d love to get my hands on. Man, I’d like to plant the Aquilegia ‘Songbird” Cardinal species! Instead of being blue like the one shown on the left, it is more commonly found to be red (shades of red) in colour (picture below).

This ‘Cardinal’ species is a F1 hybrid seed strain. It is possible to grown these here in Brunei since it tolerates heavy poorly drained soil and not to mention it also is able to grow in partial shade or full sun exposed area.  [Click picture to find source link]

It is however susceptible to certain problems, such as leaf miners, caterpillars, mites and aphids.

If any of you have come across this species of flower and do know how to get hold of them, do let me know! I’d really really appreciate it!

Picture and information taken from mobot.org

I started my day rather late, managed to break my daily fast at around 10.30am. This was where I spent my remaining morning before mid-noon strikes the clock:

Dad insisted that we try out this place, saying it was new and serves good food. I ordered coffee and laksa ( I just realised now that they don’t go well together. ugh). My little brother on the other hand had toasts and half-boiled eggs for breakfast.

The food they serve was alright. It’s a place I might go twice but it isn’t the place that serves 5 star dishes. On top of that, the place has so much flies that really really bothered me. I mean, I’d be okay if I see flies flying and landing here and there if the place is no-aircon only fan kopitiam type but this restuarant wasn’t. It’s not nice chilling out, warming the seats and enjoy your food but is constantly disturbed by those mole-looking insects flying around.

The laksa was so-so. Lee Loi fatt’s I still love.

It’s one of those times where not only the chirps of birds greet me in the morning but the flowers that bloom and fill the concrete surroundings with colour and life~

This crawler took quite awhile to bloom. Their flowers only last a few weeks before they all shed off their petals. I have yet to identify this flower species. It’s called the ‘Rangoon Crawler’ or Quisqualis indica.

Another flower that has been taking more attention would be this orchid.

This Orchid was once bought for a very… perhaps much expensive price than all the other flowers I’ve bought. This is a hybrid, or at least I was told. It was bought from a Taiwanese.

Oh! Little white flowers~ They look good when you line your fence with them. They don’t grow taller than the fence but they do spread sideways. Good thing is the flowers bloom all day, every day, all year.

Now, where’s my camera…

To some, one’s birthday is sometimes perceived as just a date, a day that comes and gone by. To some, one’s birthday is another day that is filled with just greetings – like those “good mornings” and “good byes” only today it’s a little more special, morning greetings are followed by a “Happy Birthday” or that before a “Good Bye”.

However, to some, one’s birthday is an important occasion. It’s a day where you truly can tell a person how much his or her presence meant, how much his or her birth changed your life, how much you treasure his or her being – though all these you can express in just any other day but his or her birthday gives the right opportunity for you to express it. Cakes, balloons, gifts, surprises, kisses and hugs – they are all there to help you express your feelings towards them, hoping to make them happy on their big day~

But some birthdays cannot be expressed in such a way. Some birthdays, I can only use words and words alone to express how I feel. Today is His Majesty’s birthday. He’s now 63 years old. His leadership has guided this country to excel and indirectly as well has helped me succeed to how far I am now. Unlike many countries, my country’s development is not at a rapid state – there is no question whether or not this is good, the main point is it is developing in such a way that it takes into account many other things like the country’s security. We do not progress in such a way where we allow money to quickly take charge – we progress by taking and keeping our custom values in check.

I am only but one voice that speaks out for my country. There are other more patriotic ones out there. But personally, I’d thank His Majesty, for his utter kindness and care for he keeps everything in check – our country’s welfare, security, wealth. If you think you’re stressed out with your normal routine and errands, I’d say you have no idea how much our Sultan has to go through every single day. Thus,  I thank him too for his leadership, for he set a significant example for his people, and for me.

If there is a gift that I could give him, if there is a gift WE could give him, it’ll be the promise that we hold for him to always allow ourselves to strive to make our country a better advanced country, to make him proud, to make us proud, to make the country proud.

Happy 63rd  Birthday Your Majesty!

Post got quoted and linked here.

Clock read 3.55pm when I reached Jerudong Beach. While finding a place to park my car, I saw a few people I recognised. Could not help it but I felt excited and jolly. It has been awhile since I last cleaned a beach, and definitely been awhile since I last seen Cikgu. It was a splendid time too because I could finally meet Jan and Nonnie. And what’s better, the whole cleaning campaign was a joint effort by some pals from UBD too!!

Arriving and be greeted by litter and unwanted disposed tyres and nets, oh you just know that lots of work needed to be done! Surprisingly however, within an hour (perhaps), we have managed to clean almost the entire beach. People running to and fro for more plastics bags and gloves. People bending down and standing up trying to clean as much as possible.

Doing all that yesterday reminded me so much why I liked it. It may be tiring and picking up dumps may be the last thing you have in mind but that sense of being a part of the community; helping nature and community!-makes you feel wonderful! When the beach was finally clean, ey, you have no idea how good that feels! It’s like knowing that little hermit crabs and sea turtles won’t choke when they try to consume their “food”. At the same time, the community would realise how embarassed they should be for littering such a beautiful place! It’s all part of the awareness campaign – be it if only one realised this significance of having a clean environment.

I should by now introduce the crew:

The entire Cleaning Crew (Photo by Jan)

Most of them have travelled a long way from Seria just to join this cleaning campaign. I felt utterly happy yesterday knowing so many helped out! Although perhaps, our effort yesterday have put greatly into making it a cleaner beach, the thought of how people would again litter the area in the near future could put a frown on a happy face. But I’m sure this little effort can and will raise awareness amongst the public (where some of the people walking about lingered and mingled amongst us – sort of trying to understand what we were doing).

If there is something I’ve learnt, it also includes how I must remember to tie my hair before I clean. My hair is short so it’s kind of hard to tie them back but I guess a little front hair up would do so much better than having them all down. I looked so messy!! The breeze just sent all my hair flying in all sorts of direction. And yes, those that had cameras with them have effectively taken loads of pictures where most of my face was either covered or unseen at all. haha. goodness Lin Ji!

This picture is also taken by Jan. Yah, one that does quite show my face. haha. And and!! Those that do show my face, I looked like shit so crappy.

Like this one from Ben,

Ugh! I can’t remember what I was talking about that made me look like that! I remembered talking to Ee Tyng about some serious stuff but errr… I don’t think I’d look like that when talking about Communism, religion and “why do we need to be poor to be rich”. hahaha.

But anyway, below are some pictures I’d like to share with some captions that give glimpses on what happened there and then.

Below is a picture of Nonnie (or Spiritual Garden as she’s more commonly known) and a very nice friend (whom I sadly don’t know her name). From what I can remember, they were heading to the rocky side of the beach and while walking from afar, I’ve taken several shots – to the point she could not help but to at last pause for a bit so I could get one up-close shot. haha.

Then we have Hadri and Billah trying to pass more litter bags and unwanted stuff to the lorryguy who was very kind and drove all the way from point to point to help us dispose them. Ben(the one in pink) was the bag man. hahaha. He was walking around with loads of bags! So we wouldn’t need to walk from point C to A to get more bags since he was in point B. *wink* haha.

Below is a picture of Cikgu Mansor, the coodinator of the whole event. He brought drinks and food and provided bags and plastic gloves along with the trucks to dispose all the litter bags! He practically took care of the necessary stuff. Back then, when I used to clean beach with pals from high school, we weren’t even close to getting everything so organised and ready. haha.

And, at the end of the day, just before I left. This picture I took. Oh! Look at them smile. hehe.

Thanks you all for coming!!! I’m glad you all had fun!!! KNK next yah? teeheehee~

Michael Jackson passed away making all heads turn to him, causing massive number of people to pay tribute to him. I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan of his but I do really enjoy his music. Honestly, I don’t really care his welfare, how he live(d) his life and to whom he was married to, etc. But I do salute his work of art in  music, I do genuinely enjoy listening to his work. Now I don’t keep track of his timeline – what he had been doing and such but his absence did catch my attention. Hopping through articles and blogs, much have talked about how he died, when he died and the mass attention he received when he’s now dead (compare as to when he’s alive). However, according to Derek Clontz, he talked and showed some entries to MJ’s Diary  that talked about how MJ had actually planned for his farewell. So there seem now a speculation as to whether or not he’s still alive.

But seriously, it seems like most have fallen in love with his music rather than him, no? They only love him because he’s the creator of good music. So if say he’s really gone, his work of art would continue to live on – if seeing it from this perspective then he technically is still alive. Flesh and blood would one day be gone anyway, it’s only a matter of time but his work is one thing that can live beyond that. Elvis Presley’s, Frank Sinatra’s, Bob Marley’s… they are “dead” but people still listen to them.

Whether or not MJ person is alive or dead, he’s at peace.

I live in an Abode of Peace. I consider myself truly blessed. As I wonder along the corridors, working on my usual errands, I cannot help but notice and realise certain things. It’s a swarm of thoughts all trying to prioritise themselves but below are some thoughts I’d like to share.

What about, well… the title says it real clear.

Big focus on quality and not just quantity yet. Like many (all) jobs, bosses are seeking workers with quality because there lies efficiency, productivity and a vision. Like in many (all) products – whether it be food or goods, customers seek good quality products because they know it’s worth their money. Quality, that’s what we really need. It is only in quality that there’s a future since good stuff lasts longer. Enterprises here generally (not all and not specifically pointing at who or which) work with a proclivity to just “get it done and over with” or “have it then leave it”. There’s no such a thing as doing something half-heartedly but expect a big fat bonus. There’s no use too to have an establishment but only to attend and nurture it when it starts to break down. What’s the point of spending large sums of money on a project to only see it establish but not maintain it? When something of quality is made then a replication of them would make a strong empire.

Bee. Eee… Be Original! Trying to establish a market on selling spurious goods is one effort sure fail. It is not even ethical. How is it a pleasure to know that you’ve spent thousand of hours creating something “original” to only see another person take your work and earn loads of money from it? You don’t need to be creative to be original! Be original is simply be yourself – know who you are and be proud of that too. You’re born local, what’s so grand and hip about following the latest trend elsewhere but know nothing much about your OWN heritage. What pride is there to know other language but not our own mother tongue? What we have here is something no other country has. Why not nurture what we have and attract others to experience a difference to their culture? Why do we focus only to diversify foreign franchise and not local ones? Why do we need to follow a trend and not set a trend ourselves? I seriously believe that when we’re proud of who we are, where we come from, with respect and love, we could generate originality in all the works we do and subconsciously dedicating every piece for ourselves, our families and our country.

Stand as a whole. We want no hole. My mother always reminds me that there is a period in time where I have to stop relying on my family for money and shelter. Walking towards that, I also have been and must always learn to contribute to the community; whether it be money, favours, time, my hands and feet, or ear.  But that’s just her lecturing me, about me and my life. Projecting that small scale to a larger scale scenario,  the residents of this country have been relying on the government in almost every aspect in their life; job, shelter, food, education and health. Since I have been holding a permanent resident nationality, I don’t have the privilege to many of the goodies given. But I don’t need to be Einstein to realise that permanent resident or not, the government cannot forever subsidises every penny part of our life. We have to realise that the government has been trying very hard to aid and assist us all in our life with the goal that we succeed and perish for the country. We have to realise that WE are the COUNTRY. It is very naive to take advantage of this selfishly. What is the point of the government implementing systems but us not following them? The goverment opens doors of opportunity, we have to learn to take them and act on them wisely. From there, we apply what we have learnt to create a better space and place. We have to be a team!

It’s realisation. Followed by the will-power. Then, there’s application with preseverance and a touch of respect and love. Come then is an award.

It’s good to know now, that there’s KNK.
It’s good to know too that efforts are put into introducing and making local products perish in the global market.
We have a long way to go. It’s not too late to start.

It’s a two thumbs-up for StevePavlina! I should share a little of what I have learnt from his article and to my surprise, some of the stuff he said I have already experienced or is currently experiencing but only to realise these when I stumble across his article.

I don’t want to repeat what he’s saying already in his article but below is an outline and well, the gist of it.

Most of us have no idea why we are in college besides the usual remark “trying to get better pay in the future” or really… “that’s what’s everybody’s up to”. I guess these remarks are truer than not. Add on to this are other underlying stressful (whether realised or not) questions of whether we are taking the right course, whether we are on the right path, etc. So yes, the first tip he gives is crucial: “Why am I in college?” Once there is an answer to this, the rest pretty much fall into place. However, to nurture college experience, I guess we ought to ask, HOW we want our college experience to be like? For most people, college is the best place and time where you get to meet alot of new people; people who share similar interests or different viewpoints, etc. But that’s not just it.  The big part of it is that once you know why you are in college, allow that to lead you into how exactly or how ideal you want your college experience to be. It involves enjoying challenges, challenging the challenge, and really “bec[o]me a co-creator of my experience instead of a passive victim of it.”

The next tip he gives is rather a challenge itself: “Take at least one extra class each semester.” Where I study though, there is a limited number of units we can take per semester. If I’m not mistaken, we are advised to take no less than 15units? But for most of the people I know (including myself), we take no less than 17units. haha. For some though, there’s no escape but are made to take all 20units. Perhaps this tip is not as applicable but the next ones is:“Set clear goals for each class.” This is simply scoring real good for your major subjects, the subjects that you are keen on. Steve uses some examples that are spot on but I’ll state just one simple one he uses; so say there’s an assignment (an essay) that costs 10% but it requires you to work hours and hours over cups and cups of coffee for an A but only a few hours for a B. Would you go for an A? It all comes down to weighing whether this essay is worth your time. If not, get a B for this essay and spend the remaining time on something more valuable to you.So, I guess this goes hand in hand with the next tip he gives: “Triage ruthlessly”.

Besides these, what time you get up and how you manage your time are of utmost importance too. Starting early would mean you could get a lot more done. That includes exercise, work, meals and rest in between. I believe we are diurnal – so working at night is not “healthy”. Managing time here include knowing which lecture to attend, which to… *whispers* skip. haha.

Moving on is what I think is one of the most important: “Learn material the very first time it’s presented.” This strictly means understanding what you’re taught and right after you’re taught. If you don’t understand, seek for assistance! Weak foundation means utterly poor grades as we advance. It’s like saying, don’t know 1 2 3, don’t expect to do sums.

Seriously, I really think these tips are handy! haha.

Don’t you think so?