I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith

I know I posted quite a number of songs in this blog.. but hey, sometimes I do feel chatty; moreover, this is supposed to be a blog about personal reflections too.. :-P

I do balance my life with books, music, gym and etc.. lest I become dorky if I surround myself with too many books.. on second thought, that’s not a bad prospect after all.. hmmm, I think I contradict myself here :-D

Anyway, I was driving back from work on Monday, 31st of May 2010 :-), when I heard this song playing over the radio… I know this is a rather old song and the movie’s ending sucks big time but listening to the song and “digesting” the lyric after all these years is truly an eye opener.

The lyric is so well written that I felt that I must post it up considering the moment of inner peace it accorded to me as I listened to this song amidst the hustle and bustle of the crazy zig-zaggy traffic.

I think I’m making myself incoherent… never mind… just listen to the song and savour (truly savour) the lyric like what I did :-)





Lyric taken from:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/aerosmith-lyrics/i-don_t-want-to-miss-a-thing-lyrics.html

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure

(Chorus)
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Lying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever

(chorus)
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss

Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time

(Chorus)
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
'Cause I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah
I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss a thing

Requiem by Robyn Young

Whew, finally I’ve finished reading the last book (of a trilogy) written by Robyn Young. Not that I’m complaining because I only have good words for this book :-)
For the uninitiated, Robyn took 10years in total to research, compile and write this trilogy.
As mentioned in my earlier blog entries, the trilogy started off with the book entitled Brethren followed by Crusade and this is the last piece of the puzzle.
Initially, I felt daunted when I picked up this book based on the weight and the sheer thickness of it. But, when I read it, the story just flows forth and I felt the connection and irrepressible urge to continue reading it till the end.

In this book entitled “Requiem by Robyn Young”; Will Campbell is back in action again.
But age has crept up and he's a matured (see, I used "matured" instead of "old" here :-P) and seasoned warrior back to Europe after their horrific losses to the hands of the Mamluks, which lead to fall of Acre.

Hand picked by his predecessor to lead the clandestine organisation called Anima Templi (established to promote peace between all major religions) within The Knights of Templar, he failed miserably in his assigned tasks when he let his hatred towards King Edward of England go to his head and went fighting for Scotland (alongside William Wallace) instead.

The Templar on the other hand forged an alliance with King Edward to secure a base of their own.
His own estranged daughter, Rose grew lusty and decided to embroil herself in an unlikely affair with King Philip of France and getting pregnant in the process.

That’s not all; Robyn managed to twirl all the conspiracies, murders, revenge and whatnot ranging from assassination of Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Benedict XI; to appointment of Pope Clement V allegedly done by King Philip's implacable minister, Guillaume de Nogaret.

If these intrigues are not intriguing enough, Robyn also infused the eventual downfall of the Knights of Templar and how those warrior monks are tortured to extract confession and burnt at stake in the end.
As for our protagonist, Will Campbell, he plays mostly on supporting role this time and as all good stories go, the protagonist will live happily ever after and it is the same with this book.

Just read the review above and I’m sure you'll notice the complexities of the storyline.
So my review is not complete (not even 1%) as it provides just a small scope within the multilayered complexities.

The beauty is that Robyn managed to infuse historical events with imaginary characters seamlessly.
Thus reading thru this book is like peeking thru historical events unfurling before your very eyes.
Reading historical happenings via novels like this is much palatable than learning thru mundane and boring history books
:-P

No pros and cons needed but I would like to say that this is definitely the best serial I’ve read so far :-)

Go Go Robyn GO!
Btw, pls do leave your comment if you happen to stumble in this blog of mine ya :-P

*for those reading this entry, don't mind me. Sometimes I can be thick-skinned too :-D*


Personal rating: 10 out of 10 (for a beautiful ending on such a beautiful and memorable day :-))

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

Some songs are goose-bump inducing not to mention addictive.
Here I am, updating my blog at 5-plus in the morning cos I can’t get this song out of my beer laden brain (Original Japanese Asahi Super Dry mind you..hehe).

Thanks to the hilarious introduction to this song in the afternoon, in which I literally laughed my @$$ off due to some smart-alec (from Vietnam), who embedded his glamour photo as the album cover :-D (no joke), I’ve been listening to this song for like n-times now.

Not because of Miley Cyrus (I’m serious :-P) but it’s because of the beautifully written lyric!

Wait a minute! Am I insomniac? I hope not :-S

Hope you’ll enjoy the song + the lyrics as much as I do :-)

Lyrics taken from: http://www.elyricsworld.com/when_i_look_at_you_lyrics_miley_cyrus.html





When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

Everybody needs inspiration,
Everybody needs a soul.
A beautiful melody,
When the night's are long.
Cause there is no guarantee,
That this life is easy.

And when my world is falling apart.
When there's no light to break up the dark,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore.
That's when I, I, I look at you.

When I look at you,
I see forgiveness,
I see the truth.
You love me for who I am,
Like the stars hold the moon,
Right there where they belong.
and I know im not alone.

Yeah when my world is falling apart,
When there's no light to break up the dark,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore,
That's when I, I, I look at you.

You, appear just like a dream to me.
Just like kaleidoscope colors,
That cover me,
All I need,
Every breath that I breathe,
Don't you know you're beautiful!

Yeah

When the waves are flooding the shore,
and I can't find my way home anymore,
That's when I, I, I look at you.
I look at you, Yeah, Woah.
You, appear just like a dream to me.

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

Note: This is another novel about spiritual awakening from Paulo Coelho.

As what I’ve mentioned earlier, I bought all published book (at that particular time) from one author and Paulo is one of them. So please bear with me while I try to dissect the intricacies linked to these spiritually filled books.

Supposedly, these kinds of books shouldn’t be read based on the face value. It is supposed to be “understood/misunderstood” and “grilled” until you get the BING moment.

As for me, I don’t dwell too much on such things because it is tiring to analyse (or over-analyse) on certain books to get the isi-isi tersirat.

This book entitled “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho” (a mouthful mind you, it’s like reading the title with your mouth full of meatballs :-P), is one such novel.

In essence, it is about a scholar named Pilar who’s frustrated by the endless cycles of her life.

This scholar who hasn’t even stepped outside the big bad world to earn money is complaining about endless cycles of her life! BAH!

Before I jump straight to conclusion and analyse in my own perverted way, I shall hold my horses and continue to review this book with an open mind.

PATIENCE, PATIENCE!

Anyway, going back to the story; this Pilar girl got bored with her university life and wanted to seek some greater meaning to her existence within those supposedly endless cycles.

She got her break when all the sudden, her former crush who’s now a handsome and well respected spiritual leader cum miracle worker contacted her.

She saw the chance for her to break free from the cycles and decided to follow him thru his journey via sacred sites in the French Pyrenees.

However, the catch of this journey is that the guy will finally have to choose between her (as lover) and answering his spiritual calling.

This means that the tension of their love, her longings towards him and the feeling of loving but not being loved is constantly played between these two love-birds.

It is with these difficult conditions that the BING moment of the novel came as we discover the divinity and the power of love under such strained condition.

The novel does not have a happy ending because they parted with the guy answering his spiritual calling and Pilar ended up checking into a convent.

I guess this novel’s title depicts Pilar’s sorrow when she is confronted with an unfulfilled love.

So what do I think about this book?

Truth to be told, I don’t remember much about this book or any other books from Paulo.
I had to speed read most of his books before I can pen any review; which is why I don’t dwell too much on one book trying to seek out the hidden meaning and getting headache in the process.
I still need to work to earn bucks for a living u know :-P

On the hindsight, the prospect of experiencing unfulfilled love can be a painful affair and bravo to Paulo on his ability to capture its essence in written words.
And to re-read such novel again after such a long time enables me to fully understand the hidden meaning in its simple but beautiful storyline.


Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) No character development. As with other books from Paulo

Pros:
1) Refer to the comments above :-)

Lunch?

The time is 11.45am sharp.

He stood up to stretch his stiff body and took the opportunity to glance nervously around. He realised with a shock that he is right in the midst of a hive filled with various activities.

There are some who walked to and fro with sense of purpose in their stride, while some stared blankly into their computer screen filled with coloured rows of highlighted numbers.

From far, those minute looking digits and characters look sinisterly like fire ants, the fire ants he used to burn with joss stick back at his kampong house.

Shaking his head to clear off this irrelevant reverie, he sat down with a thud on the somewhat uncomfortable, squeaking chair.

He sighed inwardly and thought of the luck he got so far in securing his current position.

As he turned and stared at his computer screen, he realized that his mind is totally blank and could not comprehend the numbers displayed on the screen. Those stagnated numbers kept on blinking like constant heartbeat, taunting him repeatedly.

He closed his eyes, obscuring his vision momentarily. Despite this, the floating numbers remained in his view, burnt into his mind like a charred emblem. He rubbed his eyes hard, swirling the numbers and saw splitting stars at the back of his eyeballs in the process.

Slowly he reopened his eyes and glanced at the wall clock again. He noticed that the minutes arm nudged slowly but surely, time now showing 11.55am.

He nervously shuffled his feet on the carpeted floor, feeling the carpet’s roughness through the sole of his shiny leather shoes. He silently wished that he could take it off and free his sweaty feet from the confines of his shoes.

Slowly he extended his neck above his cubicle wall like a tortoise emerging from its shell. Again he looked around. The place is much calmer now and the bustle of activities he saw earlier has thinned considerably.

His palms grew wet and clammy with anticipation. He fidgeted on his chair, the squeaking sound now louder as the place grew quieter.

He jolted when he felt someone tapped his shoulder and asked him, “So, how was your first day at work? OK so far? Would you like to join us for lunch?”

With that, he felt a true sense of relieve and happily accepted the lunch offer with a smile on his face.

When I See You Smile by Bad English

I know this is an "old-school" song but I kept hearing this song in my head as I slug through a REALLY LONG QUEUE.
In fact, the queue was so damn long that I officially wasted 5 hours of my life (in total) standing like a statue while waiting for my turn.

Anyway, I kept humming to this tune to keep myself sane during those hours, which are filled with:
1) Crying children
2) People jostling/trying to cut into lines
3) Arguments in local languages which I can't understand; not that I care anyway
4) Aunties and uncles pushing my back and indirectly accusing me of not pushing the person in front of me (fortunately they stopped when I turned and gave them "THE STARE")
5) etc etc etc :-S

Hope you'll enjoy the song as much as I do :-)





When I See You Smile by Bad English
Lyrics copied from here

Sometimes I wonder
How I'd ever make it through,
Through this world without having you
I just wouldn't have a clue

'Cause sometimes it seems
Like this world's closing in on me,
And there's no way of breaking free
And then I see you reach for me

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you, baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

When I see you smile
I can face the world, oh oh,
you know I can do anything
When I see you smile
I see a ray of light, oh oh,
I see it shining right through the rain
When I see you smile
Oh yeah, baby when I see you smile at me

Baby there's nothing in this world
that could ever do
What a touch of your hand can do
It's like nothing that I ever knew

And when the rain is falling
I don't feel it,
'cause you're here with me now
And one look at you baby
Is all I'll ever need,
you're all I'll ever need

Chorus

Sometimes I wanna give up
I wanna give in,
I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you baby
And everything's alright,
everything's alright

So right...

When I see you smile
I can face the world, oh oh,
You know I can do anything now
When I see you smile

Oh yeah
Baby when I see you smile
Smile at me

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Have a heart for the disabled

MOTHER’S Day is supposed to be a joyous occasion but reading your report “Son wants probe on mum’s amputation” (The Star, May 12) on the inability of the amputee’s family to take care of her breaks my heart.

My mother suffered a debilitating stroke years ago and it is indeed an uphill struggle to take care of her and my aging father at the same time.

What makes things worse is the existence of improperly designed infrastructure as well as the public perception which does not take the elderly or the physically challenged people into consideration.

Generally speaking, infrastructure in Malaysia, be it buildings, roads or even sidewalks, are not disable or elderly-friendly. Not only does it inhibit the mobility of the disabled person but also care-givers. There are many
examples which I can draw upon but some of the most serious ones include the absence of wheelchair tracks, tracks barely wide enough to turn a wheelchair in and those without side bars.

As for the general public, there are sympathetic and helpful people who go out of their way to help the unfortunate ones, but there are also others who couldn’t care less.

Everyone will eventually age or fall sick, so please be courteous to those who are not as fortunate as you are and it is hoped that our Government will take the lead to improve the infrastructure.

CIPLAK,

Penang.

Published on: Friday, May 14, 2010


ORIGINAL VERSION

Be courteous to everyone

Mother’s Day is supposed to be a joyous occasion but looking at recent newspaper report (Son wants probe on mum's amputation; Wednesday May 12, 2010) on the inability of families taking care of their disabled mother breaks my heart.

My mother suffers from debilitating stroke years ago and it is indeed an uphill struggle to take care of her and my aging father at the same time.

To compound to this struggle is the existence of improperly designed infrastructure as well as perception from the general public, which does not take the elderly or the mobility challenged people into consideration.

Generally speaking, infrastructures in Malaysia , be it buildings, roads and even the side walks are not disable or elderly friendly. It does not only inhibit the mobility of the disabled person but also the caregivers. There are many examples which I can draw upon but some of the most acute ones would be absence of wheelchair tracks, tracks barely wide enough to turn, those without side bars, or too steep even to the person pushing from the back.

As for the general public, there are sympathetic and helpful people who go all the way to help the unfortunate ones, but there are some without conscience in their act and manner. There is no clear line to draw upon in this matter but it is surprising to see how intolerant we have warped in this supposedly fast paced environment.

Everyone will eventually age or fall sick, so please be courteous to those who are not as fortunate as you are and it is hoped that our government will take the lead to improve on the infrastructures moving forward.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 12 May 2010

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

In this novel entitled “The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho”; we’re posed with the evergreen question of whether human is born to inherently good or bad.

To further “cement” the implication of good versus evil, Paulo even picked the following quote from Bible as the opening act.


And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
And Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is God.”


Luke 18:18-19


Come to think of it, even Santa decided to join in the fray by asking if we’ve been naughty or nice every single year :-P

But then, it’s not Santa we’re talking about here because Santa doesn’t write a book and Paulo does. So here’s the book review.

In this story, Paulo wrote a readable tale about human interaction and how human react to fear, greed and temptation. All of these happened in a really tiny village called Viscos. To cut the description short, it is a small, peaceful and quaint town (though dying a natural death) where everyone knows everyone.

However, this sense of peace is soon shattered by the arrival of a stranger; who have lost his whole family to an unfortunate kidnapping incident. He offered the knowledge of hidden bars of gold (11 bars of unknown purity and weight; but we assume it to be pure 999% and standard 1kg/bar :-P) to one lonely lady called Chantal Prym.

The stranger will divulge the hidden location on condition that the village people sacrifice one of their inhabitants. After some deep consideration, Ms Prym decided to break the news to the fellow villagers hoping that they will stick together and will not sacrifice anyone for the gold bars.

Her sense of assurance was shattered when the villagers decided to sacrifice one old lady called Berta for the gold. Ms Prym went all the way to dissuade the villagers from committing such sin and in the end, no one died and the twisted stranger realized that human have both good and evil in them, it’s ultimately a matter of choice.

I have to admit that Paulo should stick to stories like this (as well as “The Alchemist”) with “isi-isi tersirat” (hidden meanings) which shows us the dark and bright side of being a human. In my opinion, the lure of this novel is its subtle infusion of values which enable the readers to relate the “experiences” mentioned in the storyline better.


Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Not much character development. Paulo doesn’t dwell much on this department. Instead, he targets on the message he intends to convey to his readers.

Pros:
1) Readable storyline albeit with a rather predictable ending.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The bookstore’s aircon blew at full blast and the weather outside is stormy with a sliver of sunshine at the horizon when I picked this particular book amongst hundreds of books lined up side by side in the store.
OK, I made the stormy weather up :-P the weather was fine and I was pleasantly surprised (priceless moments) as I shopped for books :-)

Anyway, back to the book review :-)
When I read the opening of the book entitled “One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez”, I was mesmerized. The opening lines are rather “flavourful”, which, I take as a beginning of a great story ahead.

I read the novel with gusto until I reached the part about the 3rd generation of the Buendía family living in a small jungle settlement (which eventually grew in size and prosperity) called Macondo; founded by their patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía.

After that, I closed the book gently, threw it on the table, lay down on my bed and slept off.

When I woke up, I don’t even want to touch the book anymore. In fact, this book will have the honour of being placed amongst my list of unfinished books. Why? (do allow me to explain again :-P)

Cos I find that the story is mundane, boring and repetitive; so much so that it felt as if I’m listening to never ending trance music.

Even the very sentence “…as Arcadio/Aureliano faced the firing squad...” was repeatedly mentioned throughout the course of the story-telling.

When I said I’ve reached the story about the 3rd generation, it is not over yet, no no no, in fact, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is about SEVEN GENERATIONS altogether, and truth to be told, I'm happy I stopped reading after the 3rd generation cos I don't think I can last till the 7th :-P

It is essentially about the patriarch and his group of explorers leaving their hometown and journeying thru thick jungles before they decide to establish a small settlement by the body of water, way out of the closest civilisation. After that, strange and unusual events happened repeatedly throughout the establishment, often inflicting misfortunes to José’s family first before it spread to the rest of the community.

I don’t know about the rest of the readers because some people claim that they had life changing experience after reading this book. Others associated this book with Colombia’s progress in broader perspective.

But as for me, I find this book a “tough meat to chew on”; hence, I don’t enjoy reading this book as much as I wanted/tried to.

P/S: Make no mistake; because the writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a 1982 Nobel Prize winner for Literature; thus, he has his share of solid fans and critics. I would consider myself as a critic and not a fan for sure.


Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

1421 The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies

First of all, I don’t care what the historians, philosophers or whatnot said about this book. I love this book for a really good reason. Period.

This book entitled “1421 The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies” is a sensational book because it courted heated controversies with its bold claim that China discovered the world hundreds of years earlier than the Europeans.

The implication is immense; courting both supporters and detractors shouting/screaming from both side of the fence. And in the middle lies people like me :-) People who’re open to ideas no matter how crazily it sounds.

This book essentially rewrote the world history so to speak. According to Gavin, Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty; during its epoch, gave royal approval/proclamation to its naval officers (sic) “to proceed all the way to the end of the earth”.

As far as we know, Chinese civilization flourished thousands of years ago and with this book; coupled with evidences (pseudo or otherwise) spread across continents; not to mention, photographic evidence inserted conspicuously within the chapters makes this book an alluring read.

Gavin, a retired British submarine commander wrote most of the opening chapters explaining on the progress of the exploration using longitudes and latitudes; which are basically Greek to me :-P (meaning I don’t understand those explanations).

Therefore, I conveniently skipped those parts and concentrated only on items I understood; and I savour those with great relish and satisfaction.

I have to admit, I wasn’t a book reader until then. In fact, according to my old self, the very idea of picking up a book and read it is a sheer waste of time and money. I held on to my belief until I saw this book.

THIS BOOK IGNITES MY PASSION FOR BOOKS!

I realized that by reading a book, it transported me to an unachievable realm; which transcends the physical barrier.

By reading a book, I can be a hero of olden times, carrying shield and sword as I rush into battles.

By reading a book, I can learn new words, “see”, “touch”, “feel;” and learn new things.

And I owe all these “experiences” to this very book.

Although this book is disclaimed by various critics as utter b*llsh*t (in harsher terms), I held it close to my heart because without this book, there will be one less book reader in this world.

So, to me, this is DA BOOK! :-)


Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I hate to say this but I have to admit that Nicholas Sparks writes really good love novel :-)

I first read his novel entitled “A Walk to Remember” and it leaves me with a lot of goose bumps and near to tears (near to tears only ok.. not crying out loud :-P)

He still have that kind of hold on me in this book entitled; “The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks”.

It is a love story about a battle scarred ex-Marine; Logan Thibault finding a photo of a smiling lady half buried in the sand during his service in Iraq. The photo not only became his lucky charm but even his compatriots believed in the “charm” of the photo itself. So much so that they either scorn or stick to him during his service there.

When a “boys day out” with his best friend, Victor ended in tragedy, he embarked on bus number 11 journey (journey with both his legs la :-P; yes, he walked all the way from Colorado) accompanied by his loyal sidekick, a German shepherd named Zeus to look for the mysterious lady in the photo.

He finally found the lady named Elizabeth (a divorcee with an active and cute son) at Hampton, North Carolina. Attracted to her, he decided to keep his mouth shut (a bad idea) about the photo and the real reason he walked across the country. Chain of events (especially with Elizabeth’s over-possessive ex-husband) leads the whole fantasy love affair spiraling down the drain.

Nicholas wrote the story with such suspense; especially at the end chapters that I had to keep flipping the pages at 3am in the morning even though I had to work the next day. Why? Cos I had to find out who died in the end; and believe it or not, you can only find out who’s alive and who’s dead right at the very last page. I won’t tell you the spoiler cos it will spoil the suspense :-P

Buy it if you wanna know the ending :-P

So far I’ve read only 2 novels from him and I am looking forward to read more novels from him... ummm... at least after I’ve finished reading the pile of unread books :-P I'm a compulsive book buyer you see :-)


Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) I seriously had “panda eyes” reading this novel. Thanks to excessive amount of espresso and my super concoction, I managed to plough thru my work the next day :-S

Pros:
1) For the first time, I flipped thru love novel with similar enthusiasm as thriller novel :-)