Are girls always so 'over-ly touched' about those things?

Sometime ago, a guy friend once asked me, are girls always 'over-ly touched' about flowers and chocolates and stuf??

Hmm..i thought..am i? flowers and chocolates..this is a very complicated question..i had to say it depends..its very subjective..It can be both 'over-ly touching' or simply not..

Flowers can be 'over-ly touching' if they were from someone you really care about. It doesnt have to be the 99 roses wrapped with expensive plastic and ribbons and ferrero rochers and a teddy bear sitting on top. Even the a single baby breath from a wild plant will do (especially if that wild plant was sitting on a precarious ledge on a cliff nearby a raging waterfall or it could just be sitting by the road..either ways..)

On the other hand, it wouldnt be anything to bother about ( even if it was the biggest and prettiest bouquet of exotic flowers delivered to the office with all your colleagues and friends jealously looking at you..) if the person who sent it did nothing but pay for it or worse still even forgot that he sent it. All the flower gardens in the world couldnt make up for the sincerity of thought.

Same goes to chocolates and diamonds (although it helps..) and giant-bigger-than-you teddy bears..it wouldnt mean anything if there was no thought or effort in it. if it was merely a pre-packaged gift from the shelves of a supermarket then it is not 'over-ly touching' or 'tear-inducing' or anything..its just a gift that's gonna be forgotten as soon as you get something else..or someone else..comes along..

So, personally, i will not be 'over-ly touched' by anything less than a mere thought. coz thats all that matters..

In Loving Memory Of...C Magenthiran

6 die, 5 injured in express bus crash

RAWANG: Five passengers and the driver of a double-decker express bus died and five injured after the bus skidded, hit the divider and toppled at Km443 of the North-South Expressway near Rawang Monday morning.

Police said the accident occurred at about 5.30am after the double-decker bus, carrying 34 passengers from Changlun, Kedah, went out of control.

Those who died at the scene are, Md Zaher Mohamad , 33, C. Magenthiran, 26, Mohamad Fauzi Awang, 57, Muhammad Ismail, 27, Mohd Yusril Zakaria, 27, and driver Zulkhibri Md Saad, 35, but who was resting at the time of the accident.

Magenthiran was the only one not from the lower deck. He was thrown out of the bus.

(http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/13/nation/20090413111550&sec=nation)

All the newspapers of 14/04/09 more or less carried the same headlines and the same news. it was a few lines on what happened, who died and who didnt. it was merely a column or a page among many. it was just something that many people would have read, shook their heads about and moved on to the next news. the faces of the 6 people who had tragically lost their lives on that day wouldnt have meant anything to them. i may not know anything about 5 of those people but there was one in that group who more than just a face in the papers.

C Magenthiran was more than just a casualty. He was a son, a brother, nephew, cousin and friend.

He was a son who made his father so proud that his dad couldnt stop talking about him and making examples of him when he spoke to other kids.

He was a brother whom his siblings looked up to and probably awaited his return home everytime come holiday or festive season.

He was a nephew; whom uncles and aunts proudly spoke about to friends and whom they compared their children to and wanted their children to be.

He was a cousin, whose company was always appreciated among those his age, and never without a smile for the younger ones.

He was a friend who made efforts to travel miles just to attend engagements and weddings. A friend who visited and kept in touch.

Most of all, he was a person, who was loved and was going to be missed by many. He was just a 26 year-old, who had a whole life-time ahead of him. He would have had hopes and dreams. Something to look forward to and something to look back on. One split second, turned his world and those in it, upside down. He was taken away, just like that...

Who should we blame? or what? The bus driver with a bad record? The company who hired him? The bus and its conditions? the roads? The weather? Fate?

Truth be said, it doesnt really matter. It doesnt matter who is proven wrong. It doesnt matter what happened. Someone, somewhere did something wrong. But, it doesnt matter. Because the fact is, he is gone and nothing in the world can bring him back. And what we wouldnt give to bring him back to his family, friends and loved ones, to put a smile where his loss had left tears...

Time will heal the wound but it can do nothing about the scar...

One split second is all it takes to change life forever. Cherish every moment with those around us...

In dedication to and loving memory of C Magenthiran, a cousin I wished I had known better

(A moment of silence...)

Holy Thursday...my personal reflection...

Yesterday was Holy Thursday or otherwise known as Maundy Thursday. For the first time in my 3 years of being a UPMer, i would be celebrating the Holy Triduum in St. Anne's Chapel. It felt a bit different though compared to the 'being in a big church' feeling. Everyone was sitting closer together, the hymns were different, yaada yaada... but one thing was the same though, i was still sitting with my family, just this time it was the family that i chose for my self, my friends.

First time also that i got my feet washed, by Dominic (he claimed it was for our 'little disagreement' when we were EXCOs, LOL!)

Usually, me being me, i would find it extremely difficult 'not' to zone out during homily. But this time, surprisingly, i was stuck on every word (or at least the keywords...). I have finally found at least part of the answer on why we celebrate lent and easter and the Eucharist over and over again.

The veneration of the Eucharist was quite 'challenging' for me. It wasnt the fact that I couldnt sit still ( which is usually the case...) but i just couldnt take my mind of the humidity in the chapel, the mosquitos buzzing around, the pain in my knees from kneeling on cemented floor, people moving in and out that was distracting me, the time that was running late...although i didnt 'say' anything, my mind had its own litany of complaints...

and thats when it hit me, here i am complaining endlessly, forgetting all the time, that it was on this day, that Jesus had knelt down at Gethsemene, on the uneven rocky ground, at an unearthly hour, with probably loads of mosquitos and all the disciples sleeping and knowing that one of them, someone he trusted, was going to betray him and hand him over to his death for a merely 30 pieces of silver and He prayed. Even at this hour, he prayed, not asked or demanded, but prayed that this cup would be taken away but nevertheless He would accept. He did not deserve it, but he did it for...ME. with not even a word of complaint.

It made me feel so ungrateful and unworthy. and now i know why we celebrate easter and the Eucharist again and again...its because we forget, I forget! that what happened that night 2000 years ago, happened because of me and who I am TODAY...

Happy and Blessed Easter!

Morning Muse at McD...

Havent slept the whole night...on any other 'normal' day, just thinking that i have not slept for more than 24 hours would have drove me insane! (yep! i would have been cranky and tired and moody and just about anything that denotes a negative characteristic)

Today i feel warm and contented because of two things. Firstly, i just had an early morning (super early, insane hours of dawn when only the mysterious creatures of the night roam the earth) breakfast at McD...it was hot meal of pancakes and sausage with syrup and whipped butter on a polysterene dish with polystyrene covers and hash brown and a cup of coffee that tasted bad (horribly, awfully, terribly bad) in a polysterene cup that made it worse. All served in a tray that was made from 'recycled plastic' (the irony!). And YIPPIE! we got two FREE banana pies for actually sacrificing sleep and taking our breakfast at the wee hours of the morning.

Secondly, i think, it wasnt the pancakes or the hash browns or the pie or the coffee that is causing all this warmth and 'feel-good'ness. i think that most of the warmth is actually emanating from the fact that i had this meal with two of my most dearest friends...this fact alone made the pancakes softer, the syrup sweeter, the hash brown warmer and the coffee drinkable (ok this part is an exaggeration...) but honestly, it made all the difference...so much so, that i would endure even the worst of meals if it meant i could have it with those who are dearest to me.

So, with all this feeling of warmth and contentment, we made our way back to college at about 7am when the sun was peeping out in the horizon...it made me wonder...the change from night to day actually happened in a split second ( those who study physics would disagree...) when we were going to Equine park (about 5.50am) there was a full moon in the sky and just an hour later, on our way back, the moon was no where to be seen and the sun was already coming out...it just shows that change is inevitable...but trees and animals and all of nature survives it and lives on another day. So, as the times change, would friendships live to tell their tale? or would it just fade away?

that is a question that i can not answer now. maybe a year from now, or maybe 10 years...if i happen to still wake up (or stay up without sleeping!!) at insane hours of the morning that inspires blogs, and go out for breakfast with the same 2 friends, then, i shall post another blog with the same heading and the answer! until then, VIVA LA VIDA!! :)