Let’s not be too formal today. I won’t talk about any inspiring or motivational or business or management stuff….. Neither will i talk bout dreams. Haha. Today, i’ll talk about a friend of mine who is so blur that sometimes, his action will make people laugh.

This friend of mine, let’s call him A. He used to be in my school’s chess team. One of the so-called “elites” or “seniors” then. But like me, he likes to daydream…and he always daydream at the wrong time. As a result…he always ended up losing at the last moment. We always call him blur king because he could be winning at one point…..and 2 minutes later, he will get pawned very hard by the unknown opponent because his mind just wandered off somewhere.

Just recently, i heard from a friend of ours again. This friend, B, just came back from Singapore to visit his sister in KL. We were supposed to meet up for dinner but A didn’t have a car then. So B went to his house to fetch him. A said that in front of his house, normally there would be a lot of cars and no parking. So he told B to give him a miss call before B reached his house.

On that day itself, A waited and waited and waited in front of his house. Then B miss-called him and a grey Proton Iswara passed by his house. So A went out, closed the gate and walked to the car and opened the door…and sat in. He tightened the seat belt and asked “So where are we going to eat today ah?” and looked at the driver. The uncle looked at him and said “Aiks”. Then A ..very calmly..said “Aiks. Oh, sorry”. Removed the seatbelt and walked off calmly.

At this time, my friend B, was standing few metres behind, next to his grey Proton Iswara. B said to A “Your friend ah?”. A calmly said “Erm, no”. Then B laughed until nearly fainted on the floor.

How can this friend A be so calm and blur? Aiyo. But this is a very funny incident. Until now, all my friends can still remember this joke.

And yeah, do you think the nice Alvin Lim would be so bad to talk about someone else in his blog? Of course not! This A is Alvin Lim. hahahaha.

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the ugliest person in the world?” asked the supposedly ugliest person in the world. Then the mirror showed him a familiar face. “Oh gosh, this fellow is so ugly! Luckily i’m more handsome than him. Wahahha”….then something familiar hit him “Mm…this guy looks familiar…i’ve seen him somewhere”.

This is a classic example of a person who always complains about other people….and not himself.

How often do we come across such person in our life? I’m sure the answer would be “More than i would’ve preferred!”.

There are some people that i know who always complain about other people or other things. They will complain about the sky, the grass, the guy on the bus, the girl crossing the road, the food, everything. Sometimes, just by standing near to this person, you could actually feel an aura of negatism (er…is this the correct word?). And these are the people that everyone wants to avoid….like it or not, that’s the fact. People would prefer to stay with someone positive, than someone negative.

That’s why these people should actually learn to look at themselves first. Look at the mirror, see yourself in the mirror and ask what is the problem. Or you don’t see yourself at all?

Most people don’t realize that the biggest problem is not with other people or other things…..it is with them. It is the way they see things…the way they treat things which is the biggest problem. If one could just change the perspective a little bit, i’m quite sure one could see a whole new world.

Be positive. But before that, you need to look at yourself and change if needed. Don’t expect the world to change for you. YOU must change yourself for the world.

Some people says that our dreams are signs, given by some mighty spiritual beings, to us of the things that might happen in the near future. Well, at least te superstituous people says that. The more practical people a.k.a scientists says that the dreams are a collection of memories that we’ve gathered in our daily life.

What says you?

I’ll say it’s a mixture of both. Have you ever experience Deja vu? Something which is happening in front of you now….but it seems so familiar that the same thing actually happened before in your life….in your dreams. I’ve experienced that before…many times.

And how many of you have actually heard of someone’s name..or looked at someone’s face in your dreams? The name and the face of someone you do not know at that moment of time. I’ve experienced before.

But I guess not all such dreams are the so-called “signs”. Some are just…fantasies…nightmares…whatever you wanna call them.

I’m not sure whether what happened to me last night is a sign….or just a typical dream.

I’ve had a wonderful dream…a very sweet one. I dreamt i went out with this girl who is (or was..since it happened in my dream) a very sweet, caring, understanding and smart girl. How i met her? I have no idea. She seems so familiar to me. I can clearly see her face in the dream…yet, i don’t know her. I’ve never met her before..not in my previous dreams and not in my life (yet). She came from a problematic family background but we enjoyed our moments together. Then 1 day, something happened…. her parents stopped her from seeing me…and somehow, as i was waiting for her downstairs in her apartment/condo…she passed me her new high heels so that I can remember her…and said that she’ll try her best to come out, wear the new pair of shoes and go out with me.

Sounds like Cinderella? Hahhahaha. I think it’s funny too. But no, Cinderella is not my favourite story.

The funny thing is…….i tend to have this weird talent of seeing the faces of people i do not know. If you ask me how she looks like now…i cannot describe but i am sure i will know it if i see her on the streets. Because i remember that i can clearly see her face in the dream.

It happened to me before…….but not this “dream girl”. It’s another girl…who was my good friend in the dream. Didn’t go out with me la. hahaha.

Oh..and another dream. An old man in those traditional Chinese shirt…like a Feng Shui master…appeared in my dream…background was dark. Just him. He told me something about my life and told me to beware of certain people. Details…i don’t think i’ll reveal too much here.

Hmm…weird right? A sign? Maybe. I donno. What do you think? Have you ever have such dreams before?

The result of the grand final is out ! No, i didn’t win. I knew about it few weeks ago. A Japanese won – Takane’s Bike. Congratulations to him or her. Bet it’s a nice story. Mine…maybe it’s not suited for girls or people around 15-18 years old.

And thanks for the people who voted for me in the online poll. I didn’t win. The guy from Philippines won. But i really appreciate the efforts made by my friends. Cheers to all of you great people who voted for me!

This has been an amazing journey for me – being the regional champion and stuff. It’s really a very good experience appearing in the local newspaper (1 full page of me. hohoho) and also the TV.

I’ll continue to work hard in writing stories. Who knows, maybe i’ll become the next J K Rowling. Muahahhaa.

Now…if they will just bank in my USD 2k for me….

I always go to Tesco Mutiara Damansara for grocery shopping. The employees there are not that polite…somehow. Some of them were quite rude too….especially those mak cik. And the cashiers….do they ever greet you? How many of you actually have been to a Tesco in Malaysia where the cashiers will greet you “Hello” or “Good morning”? For me..none.

On my first day in Maidenhead, London….i was alone (of course). I went to the only Tesco in that small town to purchase some sandwiches for my meals (lunch and dinner). I was stunned when the cashier greeted me “Hello, how are you?”. I could only manage “ah? er..i’m fine”.

After that…wherever i go to especially Sainsbury and Tesco (Vodafone didn’t greet me), the cashiers will greet. I feel good actually because it’s not like typical Malaysian culture…….the cashiers are like robots…and you only pay whatever is shown there on the machine. No communication whatsoever.

And when you are alone in a foreign land…….it does help when the people around you are friendly even though they might only see you that one time.

p/s….the internet connection here is very very slow. So much for WIRELESS BROADBAND. Just went to have a walk in the famous Hyde Park (i staying in Lancaster Gate). It’s a very nice place