At the dawn of The New Year 2008, I shall...

Hmmmm.......let me think.....lotta things in my mind but I guess I will strive to better whatever necessary for the greater good of all human kind the survival (of the fittest).


Here's a clip from one of my all-time favourite movies: When harry met sally, during the moment they met once again during the new year eve and Harry began confessing all what he has felt for Sally all those while:

One thing for sure, I've been blogging for over 3 years now, but I only made the blog public in 2006. It was a bit jumbled up, contains haphazard sort of entries, not really something you should be checking down the archives but they reflected what those times were for me. It might have been one blog malarkey had i not seen what it would implicate in my life.

There was one time I wrote on my disappointment of not being able to attend the graduation day in the middle of 2006 but thank God, I made it this year. I only came to realize it recently when I did my own archive browsing. But please, under any circumstances, refrain yourself from going through them (rather inarticulate to put it mildly). After all, this is a biasa-biasa-sahaja (petty and trivial presentation) blog and does not even deserved to be remembered when was its 100th, 200th postings, anniversaries and so on.


But I've made friends with some of the bloggers in my "hot spot" list. Some I have met in the real life while others are cyber mates or somewhat close to that. Some are actually my real life old buddies/colleagues and I hope I aint giving some impression that I am here to open a can of worms.


I neither have a proper list of the New Year resolution nor do i really stick to everything that I've thought of as my own personal goals, but nevertheless, I do make my own mental notes of what I would really, really want to achieve in this year. Call me incorrigible but I reckon as a muslim, we are taught to persevere to do the best we can and when we have come to a certain point of our efforts, we execute them by tawakkal (submission with all our faith) to God for He knows better and He is the Almighty One, The omnipotent and the ever living.



Silent wishes and prayers they may be to any mortal but I never shy of asking them to be granted by Him. If he allows it, then so be it.



But above all, what i really do know now is that I am S.I.N.G.L.E again! There you go, my own personal declaration statement and not an iota ashamed of it (dalam hati please please please pretty please let there be single, available rightfully man for me!!!!!!!! ). Of all the things, MJ has chosen to uphold his traditions and would rather prefer to let his parents match him up with his local birds. A bit sad innit, but we are friends nonetheless. Ala2 teman tapi mesra, TTM.


(another clips: Single by Natasha Bedingfield , please click here).



Bismillahirrahmanirraheem, in the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful, I am hereby stepping into the year 2008 with refreshed spirit, revived mind and rejuvenated soul and hoping for more good things to come inshallah. The wiser, the sexier, the fitter, the healthier, the better, ameen.

The archive posts

As i looked back to my old entries in the archive, I have just realized something:

1. I wrote something on the fact that i've never been down under (australia), and last september, I've made it. I didnt realize that it was some sort of a subconscious wish what with all those Australian Open in Melbourne, and it actually came true.
2. I was up to the point of expressing my dismay of unable to attend my graduation day last May 2006, but alhamdulillah I finally got my chance last May 2007.

It's autumn in the northern hemisphere part of the world and it has been 2 years since I passed my PhD viva. And not too long after that I was diagnosed with hypertension. How ironic this PhD as a supposedly short form of Permanent health Damage! It was not just my third and final tertiary education degree from the world 5th ranking university as published by Times Higher Education for the 2007 list (which saw no Malaysian universities made it in the top 200 list), but it also left an almost permanent scar.

31st October = Halloween day. Not a significant day in malaysia yet it was one of those days that my college mates and I did something crazy together. Not totally crazy but oh well, we'd dress up as some freaky monster. That was in 2001 and 2002 though. In 2003, I went to the Black Widow pub down Gloucester Road with 2 of my research group mates and we were given some free santa claus hats? OK sorry, that was our Christmas thingie before the holiday kicked in. Dont worry, I am a staunch teetotal...no need to worry about whether i downed some alcohol or anything close to some few drops of it in my drink. Yea, now i remember, I stopped doing this Halloween stuff from 2003 and onwards to pay my respect to Ramadan fasting month.

Early weeks of November, apart from missing those Lord Mayor Parade in South bank side, I'd opt to go to those bonfire night instead. And i managed to go to one of its fireworks sites in Ravenscourt Park. That was the nearest I stood next to a huge bonfire with some ear-deafening yet totally awesome firework pyrotechnics. The rest were mostly just watching from afar including from my old flat's bedroom window. As cliche and cheesy at times this fireworks maybe, i still would get excited watching those colourful flares lighting up the sky, doesnt matter where on earth I'd be. A bit similar to watching those snowflakes even though i've seen them for like the umpteenth time.


What I'm getting in Malaysia??? A face to face with Sean Ghazi, no fireworks between us of course but it was definitely an uplifting experience to meet a local artiste with international flair who can naturally speaks good English. No bonfire night in Malaysia, but inshallah, there'll be more "fire" relight inside of me soon.

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I knew those words i said may have hurt my mother so many times but i dunno, ever since i am back in Malaysia, I've thrown my tantrums quite so often that I prefer to stay quiet when I am at home. Contrary to the popular believe where office and work can add more stress to one's life, i am an opposite case. I seek my solace in my office. I laugh more when i am with some of my work colleagues than i do so at home. Yes, i have bought a new house but i am yet to be able to move there due to limited savings. I hope i can apply another loan especially for new house renovation and refurbishment so it'll be ready to be habitable, hence another of my personal haven.

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On a lighter note, I have bought a new desktop for home use. My old pc is already nearly 6 years old and being Dell, not just any RAM can be bought and fit in without consulting Dell PC. One little yet rather sickening problem: new pc supported MS Vista as XP is slowly phasing out of the market except by personal request on ordering a new pc. Both my HP printer and digicam photo uploading software do not support Vista. Consequently I still am relying on my old PC (good old PC, bought it in london yet received the whole set "made in malaysia". The new one has Made In China stamped all over the place) for printing and photo uploading purpose. Not that big hassle la, but it is also an early indication that whatever new electronic gadget i'll be buying in the future, it must support Vista as its ultimate OS (and its basic requirement has to be of XP-compliance). My new office PC is pre-installed with XP, which is a good thing as it is compatible to many softwares available.


And i bought this new Dell pc on a 12-month interest free credit card scheme. That would keep my options open on how i'll be paying it later within the 12 months period of course.

I am yet to own a laptop. I think i am one of those few people in the developed world who has never own a laptop but to date has bought a desktop for the third time. My virgin experience with owning a pc using my own pocket money was way back in Bradford, autumn 1998 during my undergraduate studies. The second was in early spring 2002. I love electronic gadgets tawwwww, but i am patient on when i can afford to lavish myself with equipping myself with woteva state-of-the-art latest technology gadgets. I hope to be able to get a new set of laptop once i get my own research grant.


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We had to incorporate Kemahiran Insaniah (human capital) evaluation in our final year grading. Hmmm...that is equal to more works to do.

Some malaysian celebrities

Picture#1: Taken last April, on the day Kak Teh, the lady on the right leaving home to london from her brother's place in bandar baru bangi. I'm in the middle, looking wee bit worn out coz i went there straight after office. And that petite pretty little lady next to me on the left is Kak Teh's beloved mother. She must have been quite dishy in her heydays as she still looked adorable in her golden age (90 years old, isnt it kakteh?)

Kak Teh or Zaharah Othman is one of the prolific malaysian journalists who is based in London, and that was where i first met her during my PhD years. Recently, her husband, Wan Ahmad Hulaimi published a book entitled: Growing Up in Trengganu under a nom de plume: Awang Goneng. I hope she and her husband will be back in Malaysia again for an official book launching so I can get a signed copy of it.




Picture#2: After like berhempas-pulas looking for the house, I finally made it to teratak AdieJin somewhere deep in Hulu Langat (it's his parents weekend abode by the way). I drove all the way from Port Dickson (PD), right after our faculty retreat at a boring hotel called Corus Paradise (pbbhhtsssss, how uncanny and unbecoming its name relative to what it has to offer!). Being a "minah kerempitan" as what Makji Esah suggestively called me, I didn't spend that long reaching hulu langat from PD although the distance travelled surpassed 150km. I am not implying in any way that I am a reckless, fast and furious on the road, but when i am cruising down the highway, I took my opportunity to test how far can my car go as far as efficient-on-the-road is concerned.

Dek kerana dah berniat nak jugak jumpa Nurfarahin Jamsari (AdieJin's darling wife and an ex-Tv3 talk show hostess and newsreader turned image management unit chief in Media Prima,) and to get a signed copy of her new book entitled "44 hari bersama Nurfarahin", I managed to reach his place after like 1 and a half hour going round and round sesat-barat but learned a few new places between the journey. Dah la tu, it was raining cats and dogs the time i reached my final destination. Had to thank this malay dude in his 40s for offering to direct me towards the nearest spot before the (parents) house by asking me to follow behind his motorcycle. I met him along with a bunch of other malay dudes sitting around in a mamak shop when i stopped by asking for some directions. They were all very friendly and sensing that it wasnt easy for me to really find the place, one of them , the 40s dude in his motorbike, came and offered to assist me. Alhamdulillah, ramai orang malaysia kita yang baik-baik kan? I still remembered that chinese bloke who also gave me directions to Subang Bestari while he was about to fill his car with petrol at Petronas Bukit Subang.


Anyways, here's a picture of us. Nurfarahin (kak farah) sitting on the left looking delectable and composed as usual, her youngest daughter siti sarah hugging her from behind and kak farah's youngest sister inlaw (AdieJin's sister la), Cher, who happened to be my old A-level College friend and that I have not seen her for almost 10 years. And there was I in my all black top to skirt (and shoes too), gave my cheerful best even though i was kinda tired! Sempat met with this popular Kelantanese sitcom actress, Mek ( i dunno her real name) who looked better in flesh than on the telly, kinda cute actually (comey lotey as kelate would normally call it) and she lost more weight too.






Picture#3: And uhhummmmm.....i got to be upclose and personal with Sean Ghazi! Wohooo....!! I met him right after our University of Bradford Reunion Dinner at Shangri-La Hotel in KL. You wanna know what i said to him the first time we greeted and shook our hands:

"I saw you in that PRamlee the Musical.....Hey ,you are a small guy".... while looking rather ecstatically at him.

My three other ex-bradford mates quickly responded loudly telling me, "Ape la cakap macam tu!" (What did u say like that to him?) for which i told him straight away as a matter-of-factly, "But he sure is a BIG TALENT!".

He laughed nonchalantly, taking it as an honest remark from some unknown person like me. While we were taking photos in group, Sean casually put his arm around my waist and i ehhemmm lovingly ehehhe...put my arm around his shoulder. My mates saw that and began to ask me to keep my hand off him . I reckoned Sean probably heard what they said. As a result, it only made Sean holding me closer! When it was my camera turn to take our picture together in group, my batteries gone flat! Bloody hell! i quickly korek-korek (rummaged through) my bag looking for spare batteries, immediately changing it and gave my camera back to the lady who took our picture. My mates , tired of my little antics with Sean, left me posing alone with him.

He was so sporting and cheerful and when we finally had our picture snapped, he jokingly said,
" Third time lucky!".

Before he left us, he told me there would be a rerun for the musical next year but did not hint when exactly. I told him that I knew Kak Ruby, and he fondly mentioned her as his friend. To Kak Ruby, we sure have to get hooked up after this!




Somehow, I am already blase having met quite a few hollywood and british celebrities in London that I get to act more casual when it comes to the malaysian scene.


Cant help adding one of his most popular songs: Semalam. It kept me afloat listening to his melodious, creamy smooth, frank-sinatra like voice. I would personally love to hear his "my way" rendition live! Dont worry, i aint falling in love with that dude himself, but I adore his singing talents. Not many male singers (those that are still alive) in malaysia that could send me some goosebumps and besides Sean, we have Anuar Zain, Zainal Abidin, some old rockers like Amy Search, Awie, Hattan, MNasir, Nash,Saleem and few others like Tam Spider, and Reshmonu.




I saw Tuanku Mizan coming out from some Accountant society dinner function at Shangri-La hotel too, just after my encounter with Sean. The Agong, too, is a small malay built guy but somehow he looked a bit serious, judging from the moment he stepped out of the banquet hall and walking in between his guards and some important people. He probably was tired anyway, as the function ended around 10.30pm (or tired of being surrounded by bunch of accountants, young and old, mustve reminded him of something to do with money matter and whatnots. Another two despised yet popular job are lawyers and real estate agents, the latter especially despised in the UK!). I was just about to take his picture but he walked away swiftly. Oh well,next time, in a more proper occassion, I shall get my chance to know that sultan better. He exudes the regular bloke type but with an air of authority of course. I just dunno why but from the moment i saw his profile in the Sandhurst Military College graduate book back in August 2005, I began to think that I wanna meet him coz he looks like a friendly dude. And when he was coronated as the Agong in the end of last year, i somehow felt proud? One is because he doesnt look that snobbish and two because i see a regular bloke in him. Betul ke tidak my firasat, wait n see la.

Two photographers outside that accountant night banquet hall came talking to me. Ntah pasai apa they got friendly and all and even told me how friendly Sean was with me! Sib baik I am no celebrity or someone in a provocatively sexy dress. But even if I was, walking up to meet Sean was nothing short of a waste of energy with him being accommodating and professional!!!!


What a day to remember this Wednesday, 7 November 2007!

Aidilfitri 1428H

Today is 5 Shawal 1428H. I hope it is never too late to wish every muslim reader a happy and blessed aidil fitri, maaf zahir batin. Although eid falls on the 1st shawal of the islamic lunar calendar, we malaysians celebrate eid for the whole shawal month be it 29 or 30 days.

This year's raya:

• I managed to puasa the whole month so I dont need to do any ganti.
  
• I didn't buy any baju raya, or kasut raya, but i bought meself new tudungs and new set of brooches.
• I lost 5-8 kg. Therefore, I managed to fit into an old pair of Sisley pinstriped pants that I havent wore for the past 2 years or more.
  
• I went to visit my dearest Cikgu Maimunah Yunus in Sg.Merab Luar, who taught me in standard 3 and that I havent seen her for AGES.
• I also went convoying with another 2 ex-kisas classmates to beraya at our cikgu and ex-mentor, Cikgu Rosnaini Adnan in Kg.Kemensah, Ulu Klang, just next to the Zoo Negara.
• I drove with my parents on a convoy with another car driven by my 4th bro-inlaw to Johor Bahru on the Eid's night, saturday night 13 October 2007 that was. I haven't been to Johor for almost 7 years, and I have always regarded that city as my own personal romantic city in Malaysia. So many beautiful memories emblazoned forever in my heart during my 5-months working stints in Pasir Gudang. A supposedly 4 hours plus , can be 5 hours journey was somehow cut into 3 hours (or less as I had a half an hour or more break at one of the R&Rs) as I was constantly driving at 120 to 170 km/h speed. The midnight driving thrill effect was heightened by the thick fog blanketting the highways all the way from Pagoh to Kulai.
• I am most probably gonna be embarking on another relationship "adventure" . Wish me luck, occay. It aint gonna be a secret i tell ya, but this new relationship is still very fresh and i was afraid to jinx it. It all began in my last trip to Cameron Highlands, and I hope it'll continue to bloom and bloom inshallah. I am no longer with the bengal dude, but he's still my good buddy (so as a few of my old flames, and i like to remain friends with them especially that we have shared a very close, intimate and spiritual relationships together and we empower each other. Me bitter? In the beginning memang la kan bengang, sedeyyy and macam2 but i also treat all these as part of my life experiments. They weren't experiment rejects or anything like that but more on my personal progressing part. As we know, a research is always in the continual, dynamic mode and I as a researcher would naturally continually improving on the methodologies and looking for better ways to achieve better products and so on. Ala2 CQI , continual quality improvement laaaa....)
  

I am thinking of going to see PRamlee The Musical, which will commence its show tomorrow, 18 October 2007. More on this, please click here. The ticket ranges from RM50 to RM200. To Kak Ruby, Sean Ghazi gonna be the lead actor, playing the legend P.Ramlee.







My faculty is still almost empty. I came back to work today after raya and the parking lots and the whole area seems like a deserted place.

I better call anyone around,see if I could go beraya at their house this week or so....offer diri gitewwww....

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I finally managed to secure a ticket to watch the theatre. Berhempas-pulas aku dok tunggu, line busy memanjang, the ticket website pun slow semacam due to heavy traffic and then akhirnya , after like 150minutes of perseverance, I got the RM50 ticket on a Sunday matinee show, 28th Oct, Sunday. Apparently, Dr.Bubbles also gonna be there but on the following week and he'll be catching the last show from a better seating position.

This is gonna be my personal "debutante" into the Istana Budaya scene. I missed watching Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical due to sengkek-ness, and so this time, I tried not to miss another of Tiara Jacquelina's masterpiece (i wonder whether she would make a cameo on the stage or not as she wasn't listed among the cast). Oh well, there'll always gonna be a first time for everything. Although i had to go there on my own, I'll make sure that my mood matches the theatre ambience. I need to think of what to wear for such an occassion now. Something that exudes bold and confidence yet sophisticated and warm. Hmmm....come to think of it, going on a baju raya should be ok too considering that it's an afternoon show and it's still Shawal, kan kan? but would that makes me look like so an outsider...? naaahhhh i'll drop that idea laaa....nanti tak cool....mana tau kot2 ade saper2 nak interview/terjah for any comment on the show, i'll be mistaken for someone going for an open house function plak.

Right. Must. not. get. too. excited.

Jump-start the car: please!

Last monday, 30 July 2007, I came to work in the midst of slightly heavy rainy morning. Struggling to get my handbag and my document case out of the car while still holding an umbrella (ella ella eh eh eh....rihanna that is), i closed my car door without realising that i have left those pair of smaller headlights on. I clicked the alarm button and left in a haste into the faculty block. Not an alarm sound made by my Toyota Vios 1.5G car but the usual locked indicator sound. Like any other occassion, i thought, for a short glance, that the car was left on a safe mode.


It was a long day at work that monday and I left the building at around 6.30pm. As I walked towards my car, clicked the security alarm to unlock it, but no "open" sound came from it at all. I walked right next to the car, clicked again and still to no avail. I decided then to check all the side windows and anything else including the tyres just to see if anything might have contributed to it. But still nothing. My car looked like in a mint condition (physically speaking).


Right....just unlocked the door manually i said, and so i inserted my car key and turned it anti-clockwise. As the car door opened in a complete silent, not even breaking the alarm at all, i suspected at once that my car battery must have konked out. Yeahh....now i remember....i must have left those lights on resulting in the battery gone dead. Even the immobiliser was dead. A battery-dead car.


What should i do...??? At 6.40pm, nearing maghrib time, the dusk was so near and I must think fast. It's already past office hour and i doubt the car workshops nearby were still open. Yuppp, call the auto-assist. It's free innit as it came together with the comprehensive car insurance package. Just as i hung up my mobile after making an arrangement for the insurance company to contact the nearest workshop panel to my location, i saw one of our faculty technicians walking towards his Avanza MPV. Not knowing what his name was, I called to him anyway,

"assalamualaikum, excuse me encik, ade jumpstart cable kit tak?".


He turned to look at me, smiling and told me that he might know somebody who has it.

"Tolong pi carik dia encik",

as I pleaded him to go find the other guy to bring the cables there. Off he went without any hesitation.


While waiting for the technician and possibly the mechanic from the panel workshop, I sat down next to my car hoping that everything will be fine soon. I tried not to call my parents as I believed that i can sort it out meself. Then I saw one of my lecturer colleagues, Dr.SrA, who was about to leave and waved at him to stop his car. He came out and asked me what was wrong, and so i asked him the same question i asked that technician previously. Like maybe so many people, he didnt carry the cables in his honda stream MPV and called his RA (research assistant) who kept the key to the engine lab at mechanical engineering department. Unfortunately, at that wee hour, the RA has left the building leaving me to place my hopes on the first technician and perhaps, the panel workshop mechanic.


Dr.SrA was waiting with me at the car park. He rang a few other people that he thought would possess those jump-start cables. Just a few minutes after that, the technician returned with our office maintenance fella and told me that they managed to get someone with those cables. Apparently those two fellas were in the middle of playing badminton when i first saw him near his Avanza.


A few other faculty staffs stopped at the scene and immediately it looked like some kind of an accident scene as the onlookers began chatting with those three fellas who stood not far from my car. At that moment I was actually rather relieved and pleased that help was on its way.


At last, the one with the cables came driving his car towards the front of my car and asked me to lift the bonnet up. Without further ado, he quickly took those cables out of his car and began connecting those cables skillfully at each negative and postive points on my dead battery to his fully functioning battery. While doing that, he asked me whether my car has passed the 1 year old age or not. I told him that by the end of this week, it will reach its first 12 months and then asked whats the relevance of it. He then suggested that it was about time that i replace the battery with a new one.


Actually, I've known about this battery replacement 7 weeks earlier when i send my car for its 3rd servicing. The toyota executive has already reminded me on that especially after the first dead-battery incident end of May. It was due to the car being left at the porch for over 2 weeks without any engine warm ups. Silly me as i did not unplug the battery first before leaving to the UK in early May.


As I turned on the ignition, my car was alive once again. I had to leave it on for a few minutes to warm the engine up and to ensure that everything was back to normal. Shortly after that, the panel workshop mechanic came over and saw to it that the work has been done. I still had to fill in and sign the auto-assist form as a proof to my car insurance company that the car has been sorted out.


It was really amazing the sense of camaraderie that were displayed by my faculty tehcnicians and colleague even though i did not know those technicians' names. I recognized their faces though. As i thanked them for their kindness, I went asking their names too....ala2 sessi ta'aruf giteww....They all laughed and said that they all knew me all along even during my tutor time back in 2000-2001 before i left for my PhD studies. Dear oh dear...tak sangka fofuler gak aku nih, hehe...


I made my way home with smiles all over me face. Thank God that I managed to get an immediate help and thank God that there are so many good, reliable people around me.
If somebody actually caught me doing that in the car, they wouldve thought that I was like over the moon in love or something the way i smiled. Such was a blissful feelings.



Here's a video clip of what u need to know about how to jump-start a car:


VideoJug: How To Jump Start A Car


Senja pon berlalu nan indah.....

Reserved

I like reading blogs. I began reading them back in 2003. Those early malaysian bloggers like The Reader, Organized Chaos are still continuously contributing their thoughts (or whatever form of entry) till today.

The number of blogs just kept increasing over the years. In September 2004, I started my own blog with the early intention as an online diary. I wasnt keen to let this blog go public in the beginning. Only towards mid-2005 or so did I have the courage to share my thoughts with other fellow bloggers. Through drbubbles and kakteh , I began my public blogging adventure. However, until now i still havent mustered enuf courage to share every single thought, day-to-day story basis, life experience and anything I consider personal within the blogosphere. The only nearest encounter for that matter is via leaving some comments on those blogs i frequent. By doing so, i may let out some bit of me without creating a blog entry.

I am friendly and easygoing by nature, but experience has taught me to become reserved. It is one of the ways i think that i can discipline myself to be careful not to be such an open book that i was before. I was misunderstood before and thus, the "eccentric one" title. I think i have been a complete individual, totally self-relying person since i was very, very young. My mum had me after 4 years of age gap between myself and my eldest sister. And just a year or so after that, I got another sister, and then 3 yrs after that, another sister, and then 3 bros after that, and then 2 more sisters, which total up to 9 siblings altogether.

My parents told me that I could already take care of myself at a young age of 3 or maybe younger. My eldest sister was too old to play with me and she was the eye candy of my parents for quite some time. And then when my 3rd sister came to the world, I started to develop the affinity of doing things on my own somehow. Nevertheless, I forged some sort of a close bond with the 3rd one as a result of wanting to socialize badly. I was easy to look after, least fussy with food and so on. However, my rebellious streaks began early too. Perhaps, I was seeking some attention that was becoming more and more divided as more members of the family were born.

At a tender age of 5, I tagged along my mum to her birth country, Egypt, just the two of us and not feeling afraid at all. I was given my own hand luggage, and even without a proper, formal education, prior to my tadika year, i can read ABCs and numbers. That i self-learnt through television and by figuring out my eldest sisters textbooks both english and malay ones. Sometimes, i just sat down listening to whatever my mum teaching my eldest sister and it might have absorbed into my tiny but hungry for knowledge brain. It was probably curiosity and the thirst for learning that made me a bit "nerdy" even at a young age. During that 1st ever trip overseas, i wasnt scared of grownups and could actually walk around the airport, and take the lift on my own to get to wherever i wanna roam despite those adult glares on me. I didnt care what they think of me. I was happy in my own world. Furthermore, I didnt do stupid, damaging acts just like my peers that time, jumping around, crying nonsensically for attention and too timid or shy.

People like Ruby Ahmad, Gab, Abdun and Pugly are quite eloquent in sharing their daily experience, while those like Lilyliverbird and bisutulibuta are brazen enuf with their more explicit stories under pseudo identity, but these two have always left me in stitches. Since i am still a bit reserved in exposing all in my head, I would comment in their blog on whatever funny (and genuine) entries they wrote instead.

Oh well, I reckon if I am still not daring enuf to do what most bloggers normally do, at least I can act as a "reporter" to share some current scoops in my own words (or quoted whenever possible). Or I could actually attach some online articles (news mostly) for my own reference and perhaps to some other readers, too if they deemed it interesting enough. I personally dont see cut and paste articles from online news and whatnots a big no-no for a blog entry. It's a way of sharing minus all those email forwarding hassles (and consequences esp in terms of adding more "junks" in the inbox unless some people prefer to send those fwded stuff to their bulk/junkmail box as it does not contribute to the inbox quota).

Part of my so-called "selective" reserved mode and practice (SRMP) was nurtured actively during my PhD years. That way I can still make a lot friends but at the same time preserving some mystery bits of me. Actually that is what many people suppose to be like, but i only get to be more "smarter" in my social skills as i get older. Besides that, as a career-person, by applying SRMP, I also learn to be discreet whenever necessary while still attaining good collegiality and integrity in order to be in harmony within the working environment. A lot of things has improved since SRMP and one of them is my ability to keep secret not just my own but also close friends.