it's been a long time

hello there!

it seemed no matter what i promised myself or what things i'd suggest myself to do to make sure that i blog regularly, i just can't bring myself to.

it's true what i said in the previous post. that i have so many things to share and publish. somehow though, when it comes to crunch time, i just couldn't be bothered. believe it or not i even encouraged a few friends to blog! but i myself don't do it. i got a few things written down in my traditional notebook that i'm hoping of publishing. God willing i'll be able to do that soon.

updates...where should i start first? it's almost been half a year. let's start where i last post an entry.

in the previous post there was a mention that i went for a jungle trekking trip. what i never said before was the fact that my legs, specifically my knees are not strong. it goes back when i was at school when i dislocated my left knee during sports - being young and reckless, i got back to doing sports as soon as the knee healed a couple of weeks later. a few years later, after i started work, i was still doing some sports, this time a spot of coaching, and somehow during practice i dislocated the same knee. again, being young and having an extremely high pain treshold i put my knee back in place and grin and bear with it. after a few days it was gone, though this time i dare not be so reckless. fast-forward to about seven years later, somehow i got into another trouble by dislocating my right knee. this time it was so painful (it went from front to back, not left to right) and i had trouble climbing the stairs - especially troublesome if your flat is in the second (british) floor and you work in a hilly-multi-terraced area. i went back to my hometown, went to see my dad's friend - a malay martial arts guru and traditional malay physioterapist - to fix my knee. he also had a look at my other knee and said that my left knee is going to give me more trouble, and told me to be careful and take things easy. again fast-forward to the jungle trekking last year - it was not a 'taking easy' activity! and as a result, it gave me more trouble. both my knee crackle and pop whenever i walk. if i am a pirate, i would be one of those who can predict how severe a storm can be by the stinging in my knee. because of that, i decided to finally go and see an orthopedist. to cut a long story short, i now have a bi-monthly session with my orthopedist, next month would be with the ortho surgeon, and a weekly session with a physiotherapist - whom i see literally pulls and pushes my legs around like they are chicken legs ready to be marinated for a bbq in the weekend. so, i'm healing slowly and nicely, but there is still the anxiety when i'll see the specialist next time. *sigh*

other than that, there's nothing much. i went to a few more courses, but nothing as adventurous as the writing course. equally or even more fun yes, but that's down to the company i have and what the course was all about. for a while now i think i probably have burnt out work wise - so many things to do, and so little time. i am hoping that in a couple of weeks time we'll have the two week semester break and i'll get to use the time to recharge and reorganize bit of life that needed to be sorted.

 in the mean time, here's some photos i found on the net to give you some sort of ideas of what the physiotherapist does - trust me, they help me a lot, so if you have any pain in your legs or back go and have them check. it will help you a lot!

source: http://www.vitalityinmotion.co.uk/

source: http://www.clinica-sandalf.com/

blogging...?...!

sometimes all i want to do is blog

but most of the time i don't have the time to

i have the poems, the musings, the rants that i want to publish

i have the pictures, the photo, the doodles that i want to share

craft? i like craft. i have a lot of things i can put on, but i couldn't really

i have this work monster chasing after me...

i try not to procrastinate - all the time

but work monster likes to send his minions after me

when i am done with one, there's another one hovering

while another one just around the corner, waving and saying hello

and that he'll be with me in no time

it's not the time to take a holiday or relax in the weekend

because work monster said he has a lot for more for me to be done

Three Things

(look at the teeny-tiny soaring eagle and the sea-spray the boat made - click on the picture to enlarge it)

In order to make me write more often I'm going to start posting three things that I like or make me happy every..............fortnight. I'm inspired by Emily, where she would post about five things every week. However compared to her, I think mine is less exciting and I don't have much going on every day.

Anyway, I went for a creative writing course last week by the organisation I work with. It was held on an island in the north of the country and one day of the course we went on a jungle trekking trip - for inspiration and such. It was a three hour trek (climbing four hills!) but the way back was with a boat, which was hugely welcomed by everyone...I didn't take any photos during the trek, I forgot...I think I was busy trying to breathe and walk. I'll try to ask from my friends.

(books bought at a bargain bookshop at more than half off)

(the light reflection from the glass and water that distracted me in class)

hopefully I'll get to have more postings like this...definitely every fortnight, once a week if I have anything interesting....i'll try not to make it once a month (or two...). fingers crossed!

something to think about

a sonnet by elizabeth browning...

Sonnet 14 from Sonnents from the Portuguese

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
“I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought

That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day”—
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,

May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore

Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou may’st love on, through love’s eternity.

...makes you think about thing don't you think?

writing again?

i love haiku. i think it's the only type of poem/literary writing that i can tolerate to write. especially as it takes little time. this is my latest fare (after a long hiatus).


originally i want to put this in another blog that i have (gasp!) together with some closest and oldest friends. but i didn't like the way it turn up in the blog. a bit smallish and i didn't really like the colour of the font there, so i ended just publishing the haiku there, and put this here.

i sometimes drink latte

i found this quiz here and so i thought i'll take it, because i'm not much of a latte drinker - straight up black coffee person, though sometimes my taste bud asks for coffee with milk - especially on a rainy day. and this is what the result say:

Your Latte Says You are Sometimes Playful, Sometimes Serious

You don't treat yourself very often. You find that indulging doesn't jibe with your very disciplined life. [Not sure about this one...everybody like to treat themselves]

You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious. [Really?]

You have a good deal of energy, but you pace yourself. You never burn out too fast. [wrong, i'm LAZY!]

You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it. [Yup, tea being my number one addiction]

You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree. [Hahahahahahahahahahahaaha!!!]

You are dramatic and intense, but you are never moody.[I"M ALWAYS MOODY!]

reset

right. where to start?

a lot of things happened in two years.

i've managed to get the transfer and posting that i wanted. i was happy. that is until the end of last year.

a few major things happened towards the end of last year. i was in a bit of a limbo. my new colleagues were in limbo too. personally everybody was in chaos. mine included.

the avalanche of events was a bother, but solutions eventually reared their heads. like it or not options were not given. it was do or die.

but there were good things too! it's not all bad. but when good things comes after bad things you tend to rethink things. you ponder more.

what happened at the end of 2009? well, the retaining wall that erm, retained the hill at the back of the school collapsed. how and why did it happened? a lot of contributing factors. one: the quality of the wall was not that great to begin with, it was good...but they didn't think of out side factors. what are the out side factors? that's number two and three. two: it was the monsoon season and the place is the third or fourth place in the country to receive the highest amount or rain. three: a couple of days before that there was a slight earthquake tremor 15km away from the school. malaysia is not an earthquake stricken country in the first place, but if sumatra is hit, the west coast peninsular would sometimes feels the aftermath....so all three factors put together and what would you get? a collapsed wall.

we were told to move out within two weeks, which is ridiculous at that time of the year, and also 35 people looking for houses at the same time with a two weeks deadline?...fill in the blanks for your appropriate answers please...in the end i ended up living dangerously illegally with two other people/families for a month and a half while we found our own houses.

and after we have found and settled in our houses, guess what. they decided that the whole school would be transferred to another new school 280km away, while they have a proper look at the current school. as it was still the monsoon season at the time, the rain was still falling and there was soil movement. and they cannot determined whether it was due to geological land movements or because the rain was moving the soil at the top of the fallen pile.

so, off we go after about a month preparation. that's why all of us had to reset everything.