Unexpected Gift

Yesterday (Christmas Eve) at 3pm, I received a package that I thought would not arrive within the week. A very unexpected but delightful christmas gift!

It is a photobook of my recent trip to Australia! I started working on this project earlier this month and I surprised myself when I finished it in a record 2 weeks. It shows how you can get many things done when you are as disciplined as I am...

Ok so I lied. I was supposed to have the project wrapped up by October. October turned into November and very predictably November faded away faster than Rafa Benitez managed to lose his job at Inter. I decided that I was not going to let December slip away too. So I clicked and tapped away at the keyboards as much as I could. I devoted a couple of hours each day to sort through the photos that I've carefully chosen to ignore for the past few months (By the way, ask any photographer this and he will tell you that one of the worst things about photography is what comes after you're back from a long trip or a wedding. I don't think I've met anyone who enjoys sifting through gigabytes of pictures on his computer).

When I uploaded the finished files last weekend, I read the FAQ and noticed them mentioning that due to the festive season it may take longer than usual to process and deliver. To their credit they delivered on time. I must say that I'm very pleased with the finished product as well.

Since some of my favorite shots from the trip had been taken with a film camera, I had to include them in the album. I was a bit worried about the quality of the lab scanned images since a lot of them were averaging around 1MB but they turned out great. Even the cross processed ones.

Four of the pics you see in here are taken with the Olympus Trip 35 and FED 5C film cameras

If anything, seeing our finished album has made me want to go and travel even more in the coming years. Ok, I said ours but If you flip through the book, its more like my wife's album. Since I'm the one behind the camera most of the time, I can count the number of times I've appeared on the album with the fingers on one hand. We'll need to work on that for our next adventure.

All in all, its been an eventful year for us and I hope its been one for you all as well. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!

A Thousand Words

A local hypermarket put up on its notice board the following picture. Its a picture of a charity home that they support.

Baby A: So what are you in here for?
Baby B: I smacked my brother in the face with a Ben 10 watch.

Now I'm sure the photographer had nothing but the best of intentions when he snapped that pic but it turned out to have a different feel to what he or she was trying to achieve. What do you think?

Turning 28

I celebrated my 28th birthday last week in a very quiet manner. Not that I mind. For the better part of this decade, I feared birthdays. Birthdays usually involved lots of lies and deception...along with plenty of flour, eggs and water. There were always 2 birthday cakes - one for the guests and one for your face. More time was spent in the planning of the 'sabo' and the cleaning up than the actual celebration itself. And that's why I know I'll be safe at home where my cleanliness obsessed wife will never pull off such a thing. My wife did give me something else though.

I really appreciated the gesture and thought it was very sweet of her. It did leave me thinking... who did I have to beat to be the Best Hubby of the Year? Who were the other contestants?

"The people in this house" she said. "That means you, you and you!"

"So who won?"

"You lor!"

Heh. Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer huh. Its a good thing she didn't do this in an elimination style voting, kinda like the World Cup venue picks. I'd be pretty suspicious if I (either you or you) had been eliminated in the first round like England. Also retaining the title will be pretty much a cinch. I've (you, you or you) got this title in the bag for many many years to come.

How I Inspired A Stranger To Be A Doctor

Its the school holidays. Everyone loves holidays. For the adults they can wake up later in the mornings knowing that the roads are not as clogged up as usual. For children, well they can pretty much do whatever they want.

There are a small number of high school students who take up temporary jobs, some I'm sure not by their own decision. There was this girl who had just finished her SPM and was working at the hypermarket in front of my pharmacy. My staff befriended her and they had something of a hi-bye friendship.

After the SPM results came out, this girl told my staff that she was leaving to continue her STPM. She confessed that thanks to us she has decided to pursue medicine after her STPM. My staff wished her well and asked what was it that made her decide to study medicine? Then she said she wanted to study pharmacy initially, but after observing us and seeing how boring it can be in a retail pharmacy, she decided to switch. Furthermore, she was convinced that I was a bit not right in the head because she saw me smiling and grinning to myself at times (I blame various people on my MSN contact list for this). So yea thanks to us...

I've never spoken a word with her before but at least I've influenced others in a way (though you can also argue that an outbreak of genital herpes influences the way people make decisions as well). That happened 3 years ago. I'd like to think that because of us and our example, she's in a med school somewhere. 

You're welcome. 

Increasing Testosterone : Power of Body Language

In my practice, countless men have asked in various ways for help in boosting their testosterone levels. Testosterone affects everything from energy levels to sexuality and who can blame them for seeking help? After all it has been shown that alpha males and people in powerful positions generally have higher testosterone levels.

Besides taking supplements there is another way to increase testosterone levels. The author of this article participated in a study where he was asked to take up different power positions that symbolized authority - putting the feet on desks, doing a hawk pose and all those. Within 15 minutes his testosterone levels doubled. 

Obama - not so much different from...

...this guy

There's almost no practical way I can incorporate this into my practice (huh? you're asking me to put my feet on the desk?) but it does not mean there's no value in it. What I think is more important here is mind/body over matters. If you exude confidence then it shows in your posture and actions leading to a physiological advantage. This is also a reminder that a lot of life's battles are won or lost in our minds even before we enter the battlefield. And even if you have not always felt particularly confident, thank goodness for a way to short circuit your body into believing that you are - just clear those desks!

2 Weddings in 2 Days

The last weekend was a very memorable one. Here's why...

The Batu Pahat Wedding - Saturday

With only 3 hours sleep under our belts, Milton, Ken and I set off from PJ at around 3am plus. We didn't know much about what was in store but the plan was to reach Batu Pahat at around 7am where we will fulfill our roles as hengdais. 

The windscreen wiper hard at work against bird droppings (or night insects)

The games were not really that tough actually... I think we managed to get in quite easily with our dignities intact.

Must have been one hell of  a stag night

Emmanuel (the groom) is from Batu Pahat and we were quite fortunate to have Milton (a Johorian) drive us around as he was able to provide a running commentary on the sights and histories of the places we went to. However, the driver is from Muar and since there is some rivalry between those two towns, the commentaries were at best, completely biased. 

'Muar is a great country, I hope you all brought your passports!' 

As we were waiting for the lift at the hotel lobby where the wedding dinner was taking place, I casually commented that the hotel was bigger than any we've seen at Muar. Not missing a beat, Milton the driver asked, "Ted, how will you be going back later leh?" I quickly muttered something about quality over quantity to appease the Muarian. 

Congratulations to Emmanuel and Shermaine!

It was a very beautiful wedding and I'm glad that I did not miss this. After the dinner I followed Ah Seng (the part time magician) back to KL and was back on my pillow at exactly 3.30am. Exactly 24 hours...

The Klang Wedding - Sunday

In contrast to Saturday's hectic schedule, this was literally a walk in the park. It was a very laid back affair. The only minor hiccup was being called together with the guys on stage to dedicate a chinese song to Ah Seng. Thankfully I learnt from my Sibu experience and lip synced all the way (it was the exact same song by the way). My wife and I really enjoyed the company of our ex-university mates, some of whom we rarely get the chance to see since we stay in Kota Kinabalu. 

Congratulations to Ah Seng (no relations to the magician) and Thien Thien

As we were driving back to PJ, my wife commented that Ah Seng and Thien Thien are the last couple in our batch to tie the knot and therefore we should see less red bombs appearing in our mailboxes from now. The idea goes something like this. 

Anticipated trends in wedding invitations in years to come

The past couple of years we've seen many of our friends and peers getting married (Point A) and the next peak (Point B) will be when the children of our friends/peers get married. That will probably be 20 years or so down the road. So that means we are somewhere in the decline to the trough of the graph.

Then I suddenly realized that none of my 3 housemates are married yet. When I told my wife about this, we realized that the same goes for her as well. Crap! 

How long till the next one? 1 year? 1 decade? (disregard the fella at the top - he's expecting his baby girl soon)

I don't know when they will marry, but I do know that within 10 years time prices for air tickets will not stay the same. And I cannot promise that within the next 10 years the head count in the Ch'ng family household will remain at 2. Fortunately I have a few things up my sleeve.

1) Get them LV-ed

...and by LV I mean Louis Vuitton. I'm taking a leaf out of LVMH's tactics here in acquiring Hermes shares stealthily and at half the current market rate. Based on the principle of 'money in my pocket is better than money in your pocket' I can offer them their advanced ang pows at today's market rates. Regardless of how the market rates for ang pows will be like 10 years down the road, the ROI on the principal sum that I've handed to them should give them a better profit depending on how wisely they invest that money. So far only 1 person has rejected this proposal...

2) Get them to marry Sabahans

This will save me a lot of money do them a big favor since Sabahan girls are really pretty. Any girls (or guys) interested please contact me through this blog.

3) Get them to marry together

Since there will be a lot of repeating names on the guest list, why not get them to tie the knot all on the same day? I'm sure many more people will turn up for this instead of attending 3 separate functions. Some more they can save on the cost for the wedding dinner! An even better idea is that if my 3 housemates marry my wife's 3 housemates. 

"What??! Why you so cincai one? How can simply marry like that?!" my wife asked when I suggested this. However she saw the merits of my side of the argument when I pointed out that it will be six separate wedding functions, versus just one big one. One shot kao tim all. 

If any of my housemates are reading this, please don't take any offense yea. You know I talk a lot of rubbish sometimes (but I'm quite serious about the advanced ang pow thing...please consider it carefully). It was great meeting all of you, and I look forward to the next time that will happen again. 

Be Water, My Friend

I've never really been a fan of Bruce Lee to be honest. There were a few reasons for this. Firstly there weren't much of his movies to go around and local television stations fed us instead with a staple of Jackie Chan and Jet Li flicks. Secondly their styles were vastly different and us being children, we were probably more amused by Jackie's humorous antics and resourcefulness at fighting with everyday objects. You laugh at Jackie hitting his head or getting a few jabs occasionally, but laughing when Bruce takes down the whole room? No no...never. Also, the No-Shadow Kick was a more popular talking point than the One Inch Punch at our primary school.

Last night I was planning to watch the Arsenal - Newcastle game but after some channel surfing, found the screening of  'How Bruce Lee Changed The World' on Discovery and was too totally absorbed in it to change back to the match. 

The 2 hour documentary is a must watch for all Bruce Lee fans. Bruce was a visionary man and his life, albeit a short one, commanded such an influence that it inspired countless numbers future actors, artists, sportsmen and ordinary people alike. I think what I like most about him was his discipline - in both advancing his physical prowess and his art. 

I did some digging and found out that we do share the same views when it comes to nutrition. After our marriage, my wife and I (rather reluctantly for me at first I must admit) did an overhaul of our family meals - forbidding all junk foods and buying only those that offered real nutrition to our bodies. A lot of emphasis was placed on fruits and vegetables with meals occasionally taken with lean meat. Refined carbs were seldom taken but not cut off altogether. We started increasing our protein intake and also avoided huge traditional meals and preferred to instead eat smaller meals throughout the day in the form of healthy snacks. There are times when this is unavoidable, like if there's a function or wedding dinner to attend... but we will revert back to our normal routine of eating small meals. To this day, my wife has never fried anything in our kitchen, opting instead to steam or boil.

What we do is nothing novel, with most modern health magazines advocating such steps. However when you think that Bruce Lee did all these 50 years ago, you can't help but to marvel at the man. This is surely a testimony to his revolutionary ideas and also to the phrase 'there is nothing new under the sun'. I may have been late but nevertheless, finally a fan. Time to break out those Bruce Lee Classics!