Auld Lang Syne 2007

Every end of the year has always been kind of nostalgic for me. Remembering what had taken place on the very same evening four years ago. How could I ever forget ?

It was supposed to be ...
A life full of wonderful new developments.
The kind of year that brings out all the best within.
But things dont always seemed what is being predicted.
Joy turned to sorrow.
Love turned to hate.
Friends turn to foe.

It is a year that I would like to forget.
A bumpy ride on a dirt road with all the wrong turns ... !
But I survived it like a rag doll ...

And as the new year dawns tomorrow, my heart is still full of hopes ...
Of beautiful things ...
Of peace and contentment from within.
Of a life filled with good health, joy and happiness ...

Good Bye Two 007 ...

My best belg friend

Out of the blue an old friend resurfaced. We happened to share the same birtdate. As such I used to send him a birthday greetings but unfortunately we did not keep in touch for a long while until his birthday this year.
The last email I had from him, he was telling me that he was very happy and very much in love.So I thought he finally settled down, having kids and living happily ever after.
This year I suddenly remembered him and decided to send him a birthday wish.
To my surprised a very fast reply came telling me that, it was the best news he had ever received in the whole year.
Anyway ... we got to talk again after such a long time and it really does bring back a lot of old and fond memories. That was the 'Summer of 2000'.

Love is the most mysterious thing that happen in our lives. Sometimes you keep meeting the wrong persons when the right one is right under your nose.
Sometimes you are looking too far, when the love of your life is there right beside you. Sometimes you never notice someone who truly loves you.

Well to my friend I say ... Good Luck ! May the new year brings him joy and a new lady love.

I remain an observer of this thing called "love".
Whatever love is.
Wherever love is.

And as Foreigner sings ...I wanna know what love is ...

What I wish for today .......Dec 7th 2007

A small wish for the day

Good health ... HAPPINESS
And
Plenty more excellent years ahead

Somewhere
A flower will bloom
And
Love begins again .......

Playing Midwife

The long awaited day finally arrived.
She was making a lot of noise looking for a place to give birth. We found a place under a table and me and my nephew were there to lend her support. The father was nowhere... ( Men..!!! )
And now I have an additional of six new babies. Hope the mother will be able to take care of all her broods.

Hajj time again

It is Hajj time of the year again. Thousands of pilgrims making their way to Mecca to perform the Hajj. My sister left for her trip last thursday. Their entourage was caught by the massive jams at the highway going into KL. There were road diversions and roadblocks everywhere. It is the norm that relatives, neighbours and friends would come by and bid farewell to those going for the Pilgrimage. The Imam would come and say a prayer and azan before they stepped out of the house. Somehow it gives a mixed feelings of joy and sadness whenever we send off relatives for Hajj. Hopefully they will have a good trip and Be Blessed till they completed performing the Hajj.

Meantime yours truly has to take over her daily chores and I am saluting her for managing very well all these while for which I am struggling to get it done..!
And today I didnt get the chance to even have breakfast. Things just kept piling up and to babysit four unruly kids really test my patience. This being the school holidays making it worst. I often have to remind myself to stay calm. I am counting the days till my sister come back. Somehow time is slow for those who waits.
I need plenty of courage, strength and support to get through this.

Still around ...

Been a long time ( it seems ) that I wrote in my blog. Since then there has been too much water under the bridge.
Last weekend we attended a wedding, a neigbour's daughter got married.Following traditions we had to help out in the preparations. Long days and nights and some back ache later the awaited wedding day is finally over. It was a modest wedding celebration. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. It rained very heavily in the afternoon. Some folks say, if it rains on your wedding day, it is a good omen and you will be blessed with many kids..!
So you better get married in the monsoon season..!

I am spending much of my time doing up my garden, the herbs are growing up nicely and I have added a few more herbal plants. It is such a joy to see the vegetables bearing fruits and all the ginger family bearing flowers.

And playing mom to a very pregnant cat. She has all along been a very gentle cat and she is resting a lot lately. I wonder how many kittens will we have ?

The would be parents.

Eve of Aidil Fitri

Tonight is the eve of Aidil Fitri and its been four years since I celebrated it with my family. So I am glad to be with the family at this time of the year again. The whole of today was spent doing all the preparation and cooking the special dishes. It brough back a lot of fond memories, like when I was growing up,
Eid was so much fun and something to really look forward to. Having new clothes, baking cookies and getting the green packets were the highlights of the year.But the magic disappears as we get older, when we have become the breadwinner and had to be the one to provide all the things.

Tonight is no different. As I watched the kids playing with fire crackers and sparklers. The garden was already lit with oil lamps and the whole neighbourhood was simply aglow with the festivities.

Tomorrow we would be receiving guests, relatives and friends at home and I would normally be the 'dishwasher' for the day. Still with all the chaos, this is the best time of the year to meet everyone, to catch up and strengthened the family bonds.

The sad part is that Ramadhan is over and hope that all our prayers and religious commitments are accepted by Allah and continue to receive His Blessings throughout the year.

It is after midnight now and just starting to rain. Like a good sign to welcome Aidil Fitri tomorrow.

Eid Mubarak

A special wish to all friends who come by...EID MUBARAK..!
May all of us be Blessed the whole year through till the next Ramadhan.

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri ... Maaf Dzahir Batin"

Happy Birthday Eb ...

You would have turned 32 today.

Memories are all I have to cling to,
Think about the things we used to do,
Like a walk on the beach ...
Like a kiss in the dark ...
Like the fun rides that takes us places ...
And all the things we used to share.
I missed all those beautiful moments.

May You rest In Peace.

Going Back In Time

The New Seekers - Never Ending Song Of Love



Hot Chocolate - I believe ( In Love )


To Look For A Star


Found these oldies on You Tube.

From the day we were born ...

Had a chat recently with a friend who was waiting for the result of a biopsy test. I was expressing my concern about his health and well being. The repercussion is great and if not treated it could lead to a lot of side effects. I was definitely worried.
But he seems to be taking it well... or he was able to hide his fear and taking it all in his strides.
He said.."From the day we were born...we start dying"
When I look back to what he has said...it occured to my mind that there is some truth in it. Although life begins and we journey through our lives...we are actually walking towards that inevitable end. Eventhough we do not know when or where it would end. Nor how much time we have to pursue all our dreams and enjoy what life has to offer.

But at the same time I would like to share another friend's more positive quote..."Each day we are closer to meeting our soulmate". This is for those who are still searching for the love of their live. So if one relationship breaks, there will be another coming along sooner or later. Waste not time dwelling in the past but to look forward to the future, although very uncertain, there could be a rainbow at the end. Just be prepared for the rain or storms.

WHO .......?

Who is blind ?
- The one that cannot see another world.
Who is dumb ?
- The one who cannot say a kind word at the right time.
Who is poor ?
- The one who is plagued with too strong desires.
Who is rich ?
- The one whose heart is contented.

"No One is perfect. I am No One."

Someone really said that ...

I have met a lot of conceited people in my life and in most occasions they turned me off. I just could not stand conceited people.They got on my nerves. But my former boss thought they are brilliant. To him these are 'go-getters' and highly confident.
I dont mind if they are really good in what they are doing. They seemed to have found their own opinion and think highly of themselves and their works.I met one designer who is really good and highly creative and his clients would listen to every word he says. He has found a niche for himself and creating a name that is synonymous with "success"
At the same time I have met a lot of designers who think that their work is great but it is actually not. It is how people perceived your work and how clients look at them. But then...design is always subjective. One man's meat can be someone else's poison.
Still..there is no reason to show off, most of you have yet a long way off and far from being that "perfect"

So ...When No One is Perfect and you being the No One...then you are just a No One. You are just a nobody.

The Tropical Fruits Farm.

Today we went to see an exhibition at the Tropical Fruits Farm in conjunction with Farmers day. It is a big farm with a river running through it and we had to take the tram ride around with a token of MR2 for adults. It was really a nice ride and I enjoyed myself looking at all the plantations. It is so green and pleasing to the eyes. We saw a padi fields and plenty of tropical fruit trees, spices and herbal plants, vegetables, flowers and some livestocks. Among the animals that we saw were the local deer, Indian deer, ostrich, camels, horses and cattles. And a few monkeys running around !
I bought some fruit plants like jackfruits, limes, guavas,rambutans and 4 pots of bougainvilla.He gave me a free pot of 'pengaga' too. Now I have plenty of time to do gardening which I have enjoyed tremendously. I have planted some fruit trees and started my herbal garden, still very basic and minimal but I hope in time they will grow with plenty of varieties.
The greens.

The Lotus pond.

The Dragon fruits.

Red hot chillies.

Jackfruits.

Dried herbal flowers.

Dried herbal plants and roots.

The biggest goats.

Our new guests

These are our new guests for two weeks. They arrived yesterday morning. I think they missed their old place and friends because they have been making noises. Poor guys or lucky guys it depends on how you would interpret them.
The little ones all five of them have been having fun trying new cuisine and my new bammboo plants was victimised. We had to put all the pots into a small nursery until we can repair all the fencing. We have extra chores on top of everything else just to make sure they dont eat our plants and the cats dont catch the fish in the pots with water plants.
School breaks for a week starts tomorrow and my headache will be worse. Perhaps I should try to stay away quietly and try to ignore....and just ignore.

Service provider ... ?

I woke up last saturday morning and found out that my modem has given up on me. It just refused to power on. Saturday and sunday were days off for the weekend too. I wanted to get back to the guy who installed my modem, but he was away for the weekend. Waited till monday morning to call him. It was only on tuesday that he finally managed to help me make a report. He said the telecom guys will come over to my place after 4 hours to fix the problem. Four hours turned to eight, when it was time to knock off. So I spent another frustrating day without a life support ! Only on wednesday morning that they finally came to check the modem and replaced the faulty part. A course of action that took them less than 15 minutes ! of course I was delighted that my problems was sorted out and that I can get back online.
But what irked me most is when the customer service department called me again to confirm that the job has been done, and apologised for the delay in providing the services, even though the moem is still under warranty.
He said that service technicians had to take care of the "bigger' customers first, since they are corporate clients and they paid more.
The plan that that I took was for home user.
That was really the wrong thing to say.
How many "small fries" like me who suffered at their poor after sales services ?
They still billed me a full month charge and I had missed 4 days of internet access. Life is never fair ! It is still a country of favouritism..red tapes and beurocracy. Excuses .. Excuses..!
They are scared if the corporate clients would lodge a complaint to the State Chief Minister and that they would get into trouble of their bad services. So they feel that the single home user can take aback seat and wait. What if there are a thousand of home users like me who suffered ?
Wont our voices be heard ?
I would give the thumbs up for those who dared to go on a picket and voice their opinions. My single and lonely voice will not ever be heard but I would be very happy to see them get one less vote when comes an election day.

How friendship breaks ...

Dear friend do u know???
HOW F RIENDSHIP BREAKs ?

Both F riends Will Think The Other Is Busy

And Will Not Contact
Thinking It May Be Disturbing

As Time Passes

Both Will Think Let The OTher Contact

After That each Will Think Why I Should Contact F irst ?

Here Your Love Will Be Converted To Hate

F inally Without Contact The Memory Becomes Weak

They F orget Each Other.

So Keep In Touch With All And Pass This TO All Your F riends...
I Don't Want To One Of This Kind.

So Here I Am sending Mail To Every One

To Say

I Am F ine Here

Please keep in touch with me


I received the above email from a very dear friend in Bahrain ( K.A.K ) whom I havent contacted for a while. I was so caught up with my life and had little time for other things, it is a lame excuse which embarresed me to even own up. The email did woke me up and served as a reminder of how important a friendship is. It teaches us not to procastinate for we will never know what happens tomorrow.
So my dear friends whom I havent been in touch for a while, if you read my blog please know that I do remember all of you. You are in my heart and in my thoughts always.

"Like the summers rain,
And pearl of morning dew ...
Never to be found again
Someone as dear as you ..."

Friday the 13th

I didnt realise that today is friday the 13th. Just a coincidence. Nothing much happenings here, just like any other day.

Yesterday was weird. Early in the morning we received a call informing us of a former neighbour had passed away in the hospital after a week in the ICU. And few minutes later we received another call, saying that a neighbour next door has given birth to a bouncing baby boy. So we had both sad and happy news in one day.
The former neighbour had a big history which we would rather forget. Anyway he was a changed man after he moved away, which was good for him and his family. May his soul rest in peace.

I am still trying to adjust to a new lifestyle in this neighbourhood. This evening a distant neighbour just walked right in when she found that our main door was opened. We were busy at the back and someone went out out without closing the door. I would not have gone into somebody's house if I cant find anybody at the door. There are a few nosey parker around here, looking for stuff to gossips about. The only plus point is that you get to hear a lot of stories and definitely a vice versa.

Neighbours ...

Auspicious date ... contd.

This is a continuation of my previous post ... talking about auspicious dates ...beautiful numbers ... one to be remembered.
A lot of people took the special date of 7th july 2007 to hold their wedding, one even go a step further by giving a dowry of 77,777.77
I thought it was a special date too, it really sound nice and 7 is my lucky number. Unfortunately I had no wedding to hold on such a special date..!
So the day with the special date went by just like any other day of the year.

Which reminded me of another special date way back in 1999. I was supposed to meet someone supposedly special for the first time. And it was disasterous. Not just one thing went wrong ... infact everything went wrong..!
I was hoping to relate the special meeting on such a nice date. But it was not meant to be.

I always have a soft spot for special dates or days ... that coincides with something nice. But in the end ... it was not the dates that matter. Any day
or date is as good as another. Each day is supposed to be taken as a Blessing.
Thankful that we are still alive to continue with our lives. Finishing of where we left off yesterday. Be glad that we are given another chance to repent or do more good deeds.

I guess I have mellowed since then. Sometimes I even forgot what day or date it was, waking up in the morning wondering what day it was. As long as there is a hot cup of tea waiting for me ... I am pleased.

An auspicious date

Seventh of July 2007

Today is supposed to be an auspicious date for a lot of people.
Triple seven ... and alot of people chose this date to signify something in their life.

To be contd ...

Start living ...

Have we truly lived our lives to the fullest ?
Did we let our lives be on autopilot and going through the motions having each day the same as the one before it ?
Have we gone through another year without having done anything, achieving something or
Do we ever look back on our lives with regrets?

Try to start living your life to the fullest.

Take mini-retirements.
Don't leave the joy of retirement until you are too old to enjoy it. Do it now, while you're young. It makes working that much more worth it. Find ways to take a year off every few years. Save up, sell your home, your possessions, and travel. Live simply, but live, without having to work. Enjoy life, then go back to work and save up enough money to do it again in a couple of years.

It is like having a long vacation. It feels wonderful waking up in the morning and not having to go to the office and having to look at certain faces.
Having a cup of tea, reading newspapers and not having to worry about datelines, moving in and late nights built ups, and having to beg and please people. I feel free ...

Cheers...!

The Tree Of Life

I read with interest Mr Mahmoods blog regarding the Tree Of Life.
I was there with a couple of friends one friday afternoon in early march this year.
It is really amazing to see Gods creation in the middle of the desert, a mighty tree standing proud, alone and to be the pride of every Bahraini.
The breathtaking scenery around it is so mesmerizing and you could just sit and stare at the world around us.

That cool and windy afternoon, we were there with quite a number of visitors which looked like expats who are/were employed in Bahrain, having the friday afternoon off and perhaps some tourists.
What catches my attention was, how these people who were over excited to take pictures, they even climbed up the trees, sit on the branches without a care nor respect to the property.
I wanted to snap some shots of the tree alone in its majestic splendour, but I didnt have the opportunity since the crowd were always there.

One thing I do agree and hope is for the authority to take charge of the matter and exercise some kind of rules to preserve the tree and keep the surrounding areas clean.
Bahrain should be proud of its natural heritage and every care should be taken to preserve what it has.




Long live the Tree Of Life .......

The Yaya sisters ... part 2

Guess I am getting old and all my bones are cracking..! I am just trying to find comfort, if there is anyone else out there who is also having a backache.

The YaYa Sisters

Does any of the lines sounds familiar ? Love knows no boundaries or love is blind ? Or people in love are blinded ?

Deer oh Deer .......

Last night we were sitting on the verandah when my sister noticed a couple of what looks like calfs grazing along the fence of our neighbour across the road. Then we saw a couple of cars and motorbikes, flash lights people running around and we got suspicious. We called the neighbour to inform them.
When she looked outside she saw two men crawling near her compound and she was very scared and called the police. By then my sister and nephew were already on the way to their house. And we were waiting and watching anxiously at home. The police car arrived almost immediately and making things look exciting. After sometime the police left, no arrest..and we were wondering what was happening... !
Then when my sister and nephew came back... we learnt the whole story. A guy in our neighbourhood was rearing a deers... and few of them escaped the night before. I guess they have become big and were able to jump over the fence and ran away. In the name of freedom ...!
And this afternoon, we saw the deer wondering about aimlessly, and disappeared again in the bushes. In the evening we saw the again, running down in the same area. Poor fellas, couldnt find their way home.
Their freedom might be shorlived. For tonight the hunters are waiting for them, if the police came first they will use tranquiliser gun. But if the hunters saw them first before the police could get there, it might be a hunting spree.
I pray that the police will catch the deer, they look so lovely and it would really be a pity if they ended up on someones dinner table.

Thats the excitement of staying in a village...

God answers .......

God always answers our prayers
But sometimes the answer is ...NO...!

We often pray and asked from God. Sometimes our prayers are answered and we get what we wanted.
There have been many times when we prayed... but nothing happened.
Different school of thoughts have given few different ideas.

- It takes time for our prayers to be answered and that we have to continue praying. We should not give up, instead we have to pray harder.

- A lot of times we expect our prayers to be answered with what we thought is what we want. But God the Almighty knows best. He gives you what is best for you.

- You may not get what you prayed for... but you get something better.

- There are times too when you are burdened with one problem on top of another and another. God is testing you ! He will not let you face any problems if you cannot handle it. By solving the problems, it makes you a better and stronger person.

Sometimes I do wonder... all of my unanswered prayers...
- Actually the answer is ... NO ...

Not everything is answered by the word "YES"

Three Things

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Time... they said waits for no one. All the yesterdays were things of the past and if we didnt make full use of it, the time is lost and gone forever. I often thought of the days gone by that I had wasted, and that I should have done better or I should have made different decisions in life.I can only make it up in my tomorrows.

Words... that have been said, it is either music to the ears or it could hurt someone's feelings. There had been occassions when I regretted saying something that should not have been said. Worst still if it is being misinterpreted.

Opportunity does not come too often, if we missed one, there might be another but you are leaving it to chance. We should always grab the opportunities that comes our way, but without being greedy.

Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness

Anger... People say..anger is precious...so dont lose it. Anger will only add more stress to your life.

Pride... We all should have pride,but to a certain extent. We should not let pride get in the way of things.

Unforgiveness... Although it is easy to say that we need to forgive but its not so easy to do. We need to forgive, so that we can have some peace of mind and not let it consume our thoughts.

Three things in life that you should never lose-
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty

Hope... is what keeps us going. By having hope, we are hanging on to life.

Peace... within ourselves.

Honesty...is the best policy. It is better to be honest and dont have to worry when we had told a lie.

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3. Kindness

Love... makes the world a wonderful place to be.

Family and friends...makes us feel less alone and appreciated.

Kindness...is for all mankind.

Three things in life that are never certain -
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams

Fortune... is a gift from God.It could just come out of the blue!

Success...is a gift from God. We all tried our best to succeed. But sometimes luck is not on our side.

Dreams...We often start something by first dreaming about it.Dreams may come true or it may just remains as dreams. No harm in dreaming.


Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work

Commitment...One should be commited to whatever one undertakes, especially in any relationship or any task that we undertake.

Sincerity...is a virtue. No one appreciates someone who is not sincere.

Hard work...always paid off.

Todays Thought

"Dont let a person become a priority in your life, when you are just an
option in their life"
I read this quote from one of my friend's blog, and it got me thinking and looking back at my life.
There had been occassion when I had put certain people as my priority in life, only to have found out the hard way in the end that I was only an option. Or rather to put it bluntly " You are there for the moment, before I met someone else, or before my mother arranged for my life partner"

"You will know it, when someone is ready to cut my neck"
I guess by now his throat must have been slashed and blood oozing out his larynx, since he went missing and disappeared into the desert storm without a word. A real coward I should say.

Some of us, being very nice or very naive, just couldnt help it, trying to do everything for that person, or being in the position who give and give without taking, until that special person walks away from their lives.

Sometimes it would take ages for the wound to heal and the hurt to disappear.
When we are not in love with that person, we could think straight, but when we are in love... all hells break lose..!

This is where I am now ...

For the past three months I have been spending my life at this village. No more work stress and no one to watch my everymove and report them to the boss. I am free to type whatever I like. I am enjoying the cool breeze every morning, a warm afternoon or a heavy downpour where it flooded the pond. The water level would rise and all the fishes escaped.
It is totally a different lifestyle that I used to lead and I am liking it so much that I sometimes dread at the thought that I am going to be sitting in an office again..!

I get to go shopping in the morning, where the supermarkets are not crowded and I could browse aisle after aisle in peace without any hassle. And I get to the check out counter without a long queque.


Let me introduce you a stray cat that had turned my home into his home. We call him "Atok" since he is an elderly cat. I do wish he has his 9 lives still.


These are the chicken and the roosters, we had 3 brother roosters.


These are some of the goats.


This is a durian tree infront of the house, with the fruits which will fall in a couple of months. We'll have fun then.


This is a view of the pond. I love sitting here in the evenings.


This is the betel plant. The goats loved the leaves !


This is one of the antique shop in the Lorong Hang Jebat area, a very interesting tourist spot. A great piece of old architecture, the shops with 'peranakan" influence, with an airwell in the shops. Some of them have been turned into cafes and restaurants and they are really cool.

I shall post more pictures of the lifestyle here when I have the chance.
This is where I find peace away from the rats.

Ways to make money ... be a con artist !

There are conmen everywhere in different forms and designer clothes !
Recently there were syndicates that con people with counterfeit currency.
One group has been caught ( mostly foreigners ) and there are many more soon to be hauled in.
First they enticed certain individual, pretending to be big investors, bringing in cash from overseas, then they asked you to invest. Once you gave them the money they disappeared. Those that had been conned must be feeling relieved that the culprits had been caught, but the money is already lost and will not be recovered. The only consolation is that they have been caught, the public is aware of them and lets hope we will not meet them again.

Another conmen style is targetted at families and people in the housing areas or villages. They pretended to do a survey and gave you and survey card with lucky fraw prizes. To be able to get the prizes, one has to purchase 3 sets of products, which are priced at more than their market value. But they are so good at conning and convincing people, some naive ones readily parted with their savings. I had witnessed how these people turned their sales pitch so dramatic, making it look like a polished performance.

When we are being sensible, we would remember not to fall for such tricks but there are times when ones is taken by the sheer pressure and wishing to gamble and try their luck. Who knows one might win the cars, motorcyles, big plasma screens, holiday packages and the list is endless. But when you scratch the lucky draw you will see that you got one of the useless items which you do not need at all and you have overpaid the items that you bought.

Sales gimmicks. We should try to make more people aware of such sales gimmicks and not fall into such tricks.

The funny thing is that these people can sleep peacefully at night, knowing they had conned people. How would they feel if one of their family and friends are being conned by others ?
What happened if they would hhave met with an accident or disaster and the nearest person who could help them was the one that they had conned ?

My guess is... they never bother to think other than how to make money..any which way..as long as they make money.
These people have no conscience. They forgot that there is a higher power that pay back and reward them for whatever deeds that they have done. Good or bad.

Glad To be Back

Greetings to all my friends here.

I just got my internet connected and have lots of catching up to do. Almost three months that I was away from the computer and I missed all my friends here. So its gonna be a long nite from now on ! I was kinda of getting used to a life without computer and internet, but I guess tonite, I feel alive again. So much that I missed here.
The three months that have gone by has given me a lot of thoughts and reflections. Its a totally different environment that I went through. Not all is rosy posy though and not all smooth sailing either. Met a couple of "modern day crooks - daylight robbers", Got my patience tested quite often,
but there are little rewards along the way that makes me smile and feel appreciated.

Well... all I can say for now is...There are Blessings In Disguise !

Blogger power:Safeguard the web for children

February 24th 2007
Budaiya

I have been tagged by my friend eastcoastlife and here it is, to show my support and my humble opinion.

The project Blogger Power is a campaign to safegard the internet for children against pornography.

A Request To All Webmasters Of Adult Sites:

"Please require a password-protected login before allowing even free access to explicit adult content. We understand that selling porn is your business and we respect your right to make a legal living. But understand our legitimate concerns and work with us. You already have the “warning adult content” on your websites. Yet kids, who are not legal customers of your product, ignore the warning. So to prevent them from having direct access to explicit images, texts and sounds, the simplest way is to have a password-protected login. No more “free tours” before a visitor supplies basic information."

In my opinion:
1)Children should be made aware that they are still too young to be viewing such sites and what impact it could have on them or what it may lead them to. Let them know that such sites are for adults only. At their age, sex should be educational and not for entertaintment or leisure.

2) Kids these days are very smart, a lot of them are much better than us adults, with regard to computers. They will find a way, to hack codes and passwords.
For home computers, we can install parental controls and block certain websites while browsing. Or place the computers in the general area of the house.

3) Parents should supervise their childrens online activities. But it is a little sensitive, as to to how much control that you want impose. They can still be online and do whatever they want behind closed doors or when the parents are not home, or they would view them at their friends place.

4) It is important that your kids circle of friends are not into porn, because children and teenagers specially, will want to feel belong to a group and not feel left out.Parents should be role models to their children, whereas friends often influenced one another.

5) Distract the children from such sites, and encourage them to surf or browse on safer websites. Buy them PS Playstations !

6) It is not easy being parents...! Lets hope and pray that our children will be disciplined enough to respect the parents and teachers and instilled it in themselves to be a good kid. Cross the bridge when you come to it. There will be time for everything in life.

Serendipity

February 24th 2007
Budaiya

Friday was a nice sunny morning and as usual I was sitting by the big window watching the world go by. By 9am I could see the marathon runners doing their thing. Some were running and some were walking, but it was all for a good cause.
Shame on me who didnt take part. I dont jog much..but I do enjoy a long walk. The weather is perfect for such walks especially in the evenings.

I have been trying to complete my packing,which just seem to be endless, but I am getting there. Almost.
A friend came to help reformating the pc and hopefully it will not give me any trouble in the future. Had a nice chat while working on the pc, and it was the first time that he got the opportunity to read my humble blog. He was suprised that I had things to write, more so now when things are like a circus here. Clowns on a merry-go-round.

Saw the rerun of 'serendipity', and watching a romantic movie once a while is not a bad idea actually. It refreshes the mind, make me feel its nice to be in love again and definitely good for the soul.

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.
About Jonathan and Sara, two strangers who met by accident while shopping for their respective partners' Christmas presents. Tussling over the only pair of black cashmere gloves on display, the sudden electricity between them catches them both off-guard. From that first chance meeting, their attraction to one another surprises them by growing stronger, despite the fact they are happily committed to others. Sara is a big believer in letting fate decide the way.And it was a happy ending to them both, when they found each other again...by chance or fate ..! They are meant to be together...and this happens only in movies.

That was the weekend that was gone, and today I continued doing my chores again. Went to the souq to collect my abayas and along the way, managed to pamper myself to some window shopping. I found some beautiful jewellery staring at me in the glass display windows. Let me sleep on it first..!

A little corner in the souq selling local products.

Yesterday's musings ...

February 22nd 2007
Budaiya

The morning started well... promising a sunny day...tea and all.
Got confirmation of my flight ticket. And this is the amusing part.
From the admin:
" I have to confirm with you, according to the company policy we can only issue you a ticket based on the cheapest flight. I have booked you on Kuwait Airways since it is the cheapest, and if you would like to fly QR or EK then you have to top up the difference !"
The date for KU was a day earlier so it is not convenient, so I had to settle for QR, as the next best option as per the itenary. With that I had to top up BD48.
Moral of the story:
1) When they need your service they would get you the first flight out of your home country. Visas arranged and they dont bother much if the ticket is higher in price.
2) When they dont need you, you have to leave via the cheapest flight home.

And then I asked, will you also be charging me to send my cargo boxes to the cargo depot at the airport ?
She said..." Oh no... I will make arrangement for that "

Looking back, now I understand and relate to the bitterness felt by all those that had resigned or just left without resigning. There were a couple of guys who defected to London and Europe while doing some projects there. Smart guys.
A lady who forged a signature and ran away with a large sum of money.
A lady who used the company facilities for her own benefits.
And others who went for vacations and never returned ( at least they dont have to top up the air fares ! )
There was not a soul who left with a happy heart.
Oh..happy days..oh..happy days..!

And towards the afternoon, a friend came, gave me a hug and crackled my ribs!
Some people never know their own strength, on "fragile" people like me...And the doctor said, it will take a couple weeks forthe pain to go.
Meantime I had to bear the inconvenience..! What a life..!

No Matter ...

February 21st 2007
Budaiya

No matter what, there will always be two sides to a coin. Have we been fair when listening to both sides of the stories ? Have we made the right decisions, or form an opinion ? Have we been biased in our decision just because one party is your wife; your ex girlfriend..or someone that you have to pleased or carry a favour; indebted perhaps ? Or your rice bowl depends on it ?

I shall leave it to those concerned, if they can sleep at night knowing that they have been unfair to some.

February 20th 2007
Budaiya

My early morning was greeted by a beautiful sunrise that moves up and become a ball of fire. Promising a bright sunny day.
This morning I went down to the souq to collect my blazer and wondering around for a bit. I will surely miss this place. Like it has become a part of me. Like this is home.
Major renovation works are going on at the bab al bahrain and if it is anything like the perspective shows, it is going to be beautiful. A lot of businesses are affected, but you have to look at the bigger picture in the future. No doubt Bahrain will prosper.


A couple of shots in Manama this morning.