She aced all 7. Two thumbs up for 'da gurl'.

Obama creates history as the first black President of America.

'We have witnessed tonight in America a revolution of values, a revolution of ideals. There’s been a transformation of America, and it will have unbelievable influence on the world.'

~ John Lewis, Civil Rights Leader

'...change has come to America...', and I believe change will come to our world.

XiMnet is going to shift into our own office space at Jaya One in the next 2-3 months. After being here at MBPJ for the past 8 years, every one of us feel very strongly that we need to move out. We are ready to move on.

I really look forward to design the work space. I am sure that would be fun! I am already putting down a whole laundry list of things we would incorporate into our office.

And I am looking to trying each and every one of the restaurants there too.

8-)

Do you think the Jet man's contraption might be available for rental in amusement parks soon? Or maybe they might commercialise it and make it available at Toy'R'Us? It will be so exciting to fly one to work... or visit my mom at Kulai with this. No more worries about traffic-jams and long, boring journeys. I suggest a light-weight but indestructible exoskeleton as a peripheral for this product. And a bumper-like device in place of the helmet. Just in case ;-) 

Original story below:

Swiss man flies over Channel on jet wing
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/25/international/i082419D20.DTL

^{Photography by Dian Agung Nugroho}

What's the use of going to school when we do not learn to honor the humanity of another? What's the use of knowledge when we have no self-knowledge? What's the use of material wealth when we are consumed by our demons inside?

Why are we sending our children to dance classes, piano lessons, dramalabs and all other extra-curricular activities  to enrich the lives of our children but we won't spend 15 minutes a day speaking to them about the need to love and respect for another? 

Dear mothers of the children of the world,

Please teach your children the meaning of love, honor and respect because one day you might find out too late the disdain you've modelled to them so carelessly in your selfishness will stare you in the eyes, cold and demeaning, just like you.

SKY BURIAL n. a traditional Tibetan funeral ritual in which the corpse is exposed to the open air to be eaten by sacred vultures

I had sworn myself off fiction after my post-grad on Malaysian fiction. I had enough of stories. I think it was a little like when you had been in the kitchen too long, you discovered you have lost your appetite for food.

Over the past 15 years, I can count the number of novels that I have read with just one hand. Therefore I surprised myself by finishing the novel below, Sky Burial by Xinran, in 3 hours. I had originally bought it for my 12 years old. I saw her sitting on the couch, transfixed. Then it was my turn.   

The blurb says,

'In the early 1960s a rumour circulated through China that one of its soldiers in Tibet had been brutally fed to vultures. Xinran was a little girl: the tale frightened and fascinated her. Thirty years later, she met a Chinese woman who could tell her the astonishing story that lay behind the legend. Her name was Shuwen and she had spent most of her adult life lost on the Tibetan plateau. . .'

The story begins as below;

'In 1994, an old woman dressed in Tibetan clothes smelling strongly of animal skins, rancid milk and dung sat down opposite me in the town of Suzhou in China, and began to describe the 30 years she had spent searching for her husband on the Tibetan plateau. I was working as a journalist at the time and had made the four-hour journey by bus from Nanjing to interview her. Her name was Shu Wen.'

A haunting story told simply. 

Here's an interview of Xinran, who also authored the acclaimed, 'The Good Women of China'. 
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/xinran/qa.htm

If you get to visit China, which part of this big country will you go?

I got to ask myself this question this time. I've not been to China so I am taking my guys over for a 5 days trip to the Middle Kingdom. Beijing was a good candidate for the trip. So was Shanghai. But you know, I have this thing for nature and the cultural part of this country. All things considered, (cost too, of course) I am taking all my guys for an experience of that part of China we have always seen and heard of, but only as paintings on the walls and stories from our grandmothers across Malaysia.

Guilin, this will be the first time I will set foot on the land of my ancestors.  

I am reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's, 'The Black Swan : The Impact of the Highly Improbable'.

For a person who likes to identify everyday patterns and enjoy 'making predictions' about what will happen based on what had happened in the past, this book is a rude slap on the face. A big slap.

But well, since I pride myself as someone who has the appetite for the truth, no matter how indigestible, I read on, slaps after slaps.

And I have been enjoying the stinging blows of Taleb's contrarian insights very much.

There's a sado-masochist in me, I guess. ;-)

When I was at school, (...twas long time ago...in the 70s and 80s...) I remember having 3 choices of school shoes. Bata, Fung Keong and WARRIOR SHOES. And the coolest was the Warrior High-cut basketball shoes that I can buy from main-street, Kulai. I wore it from Form 1 up to Form 5.

If you wear a pair of Warrior, you jump higher and you dribble better on the court. If you wear Bata to play basketball, you are a geek. That sounds familiar, no? It was the Nike Air of my time! Well guys, we've been there, done that. And it cost a lot less, our performance shoes!!!

Back to the story, I wore it almost everyday for Five long years, then I forgot about them...until today, that is.

Apparently, the brand didn't just die. I grew out of it.

Warrior shoes was THE SHOE of China from the 70s to the 90s. It was the shoe of the farmers, factory workers, construction laborers and the leaders of the country. Everyone will have a pair at home. However, with the economic reforms and subsequent wealth of the country, the younger generation look to brands like Adidas, Nike, Convderse, Reebok, etc.

From what I heard, the brand is making a comeback. It was featured in the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony. Remember the thousands of martial art exponents leaping in synchrony. They were assisted by Warrior Shoes! And Orlando Bloom was caught wearing a pair in his new film. (sorry, I don't know the name...) 

Jump higher with Warrior Shoes! 

Eat your heart out, Converse! Warrior's Superhip Cross-trainer...

Wohoo! A whole collection of Warrior shoes, retro and hip! They RAWK! :-)

Alright! I am gonna pick up a pair on our upcoming trip to Guilin, China.

Read more about this brand here:
http://www.bookofwarriors.fi