what? after the best 5 months of my life?

I can't believe that I have not written here since August. If anything, it's because life has been good - and busy. Sitting here in McGill University in Montreal, I don't have a lot of time to take care of biz. But trust me that I will be back with a bang next week with a proper update.

the return of the bat

Another summer is slowly creeping to a close and in so many respects - it has been fantastic. Still have an exams though - on saturday. I just came back from a week long trip to the Maritimes and Montreal. It was so good and totally beyond all my expectations. I will update it with pictures this weekend. Someone once said that the best blogs are ones that discuss great ideas and not merely the quotidian activities of one's life as most people's lives are not "really that interesting." Having that week just reminded me that, well...my life is pretty darn interesting so I'll keep filling this in. Don't expect any Bloggers Choice Awards *grin*

The reason I was peeved about Britain is the fact that they are cowering under Islamic radicals - some examples are surrendering without a fight to the arrogant navy of the Iranian National Guards, the oh-so-blah response to Glasgow and London, the failure to defend Salman Rushdie for the honour he so deserved (for those hatin' on him for his "blasphemies"...have you even read any of his books? Did you know that the Satanic Verses does not in any way imply anything negative about the Prophet Mohammed? After all, it is the Christians who call Jesus, God but yet it is the Muslims who treat Mohammed as if he is: totally above reproach, infallible and unquestionable). I love my Muslim friends but honestly, Sharia Law would be the worst thing to happen to any civilized society and must be opposed at all costs. Having said that, most of my Muslim friends have the privilege of studying and /or living in a country which also has civil law courts i.e. Brunei, UK, Australia, U.S., Canada, India even Pakistan. To have an unflinching religious martial law which is unchanged from the deserts of 7th century Arabia is a ticket back to the Dark Ages. A great example is Iran. Sure Shah Pahlavi was corrupt - but look at how much more corrupt and screwed the once great country of Persia is under Khomeini's "theo-crazy" and the mullahs. Iran would have been the jewel of Asia. Another silly British thing is the banning of Israeli academic institutions - wow...the only country in the Middle East with a free-press and uncensored academic freedom and democracy, they go shut them down. Their loss.

Well, that's as political as I will get in this post. Gotta head back and hit the books. Shalom.

Super, Natural (i think it's copyrighted lol) British Columbia..."The Best Place on Earth."

Those are the the words that the government of British Columbia use to promote their quaint and staggeringly beautiful province. Brash and confident, yet it is hard to dispute it.

I had a chance to go back to BC en route from Brunei and it was quite the experience. I recounting it almost a month removed but being back there was in a lot of ways therapeutic and regenerating. The last time I had been in Vancouver was one of my happiest and exciting times. But succeeding events tainted a lot, and going back was unreal, an exercise in convincing myself that yes it all did happen...I've been here before.

Meeting my friend Steve at the airport and subsequently heading downtown was nostalgic...felt like a quotidian, recurring episode but so much had changed and so much will keep changing. Vancouver fit me so perfectly - like a customized anorak, familiar and comfortable without being overbearing. Overlooking the Science Centre and the harbour, images of my last moments here at the Pacific Central Station came flooding back. I brushed it aside. I did not come to mourn. I came regain my swagger.

Port Coquitlam, with its sunset and charming suburban neighbourhoods were soothing. Me and steve went to grab some ice cream and just sat down at the park. This was going to be interesting.

The remaining days were spent with old friends, meeting amzing new people who are dear to me now...in a lot of ways, I appreciate that chameleon tendency of mine to just "fit in" thousands of miles removed from my haunts. I don't want to expand, but here are some pictures to fill the experiences in:

BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE - TOI!

The NBA finals were over last week. As magnificent as Lebron has been, the Spurs just swept them, calmly and confidently. And the real story here is (no, not Timmy Duncan - sometimes I can imagine the frustration of super-athletic Amare or even the surging Carlos Boozer in trying to contain this robot of a basketball player...so fundamentally sound and frozen in time...really his game is the same when he was a rookie and now. 4 championships later, I think that it's fine to be boring if you get 'er done)how amazing Tony Le Parker has been playing. I don't think that he was on my radar at all.

As the NBA.com article said, the Cavs really did overachieve and that is fine as they have a long ways to go. In my life as well, though I am naturally not a very positive person, I really do feel upon reflection that I have overachieved. I guess, people who don't really know where I've come from and where I've been so far in the last 21 years can't see that. That's fine. I am still excited for the rest of the journey.

But my most inspiring moment has been Baron Davis and the Warriors...

This is just disgusting:



And Tony Parker...Finals MVP...he really has elevated himself, not just by dating Eva Longoria. He raps too, in French no less. Here is his video, balance-toi or watch yourself.

"My heart is saying 'Let's Go', but my body's saying 'NO!'"

Well, if you are wondering if that title smacks of something else, something eerily familiar then if you have ever listened to Christine Aguilera, you will know the words have been switched around (reminds me of my alleged freudian slip when I told my youth leader that "yo I'm busy, you know how it is: people to do and things to see...uhhh...wait...it's the other way around!") to reflect my incorrigibly poor sleeping habits which will eventually be the death of me. I think the penchant for sleeping late is harboured in my deep seated notion that to be frantically obsessed with Being More, really translates into sleep being a luxury. This is BAD. Sleep (or lack thereof) is the number one killer of productivity and next to drunk driving, of people on the roads too. In fact, in addition the normal Vitamins and other essential nutrients, certain psychologists have suggested Vitamin S(leep) and T(ouch). I agree. I love touching. *grin*

It has been a bit of a hiatus since my last decent post (which happened to be from Brunei). And I have to say that it was a fantastic time. It really met and in some cases exceeded my expectations. Travel does have meaning, especially when you re-visit old places.

I have been in Waterloo for over 2.5 weeks and I have to say that I hit the ground running. Work has been busy and the Institute (the house where I live with 5 other guys) has been awesome. The transition was really good.

While I believe that it is foolhardy to plan out your life in detail, I do think ruminating on the possibilities of the future from the vantage point of where one in currently embedded in time is valuable. And I had a chance to attend the 'Vision Medical Conference' is Waterloo yesterday and I have to say I got a lot out of it. I've had a clearer understanding of certain fields I am interested in, namely Public Health and Health Management and Administration. Although my choice of career and such seems fickle with time, I am glad that the perennial constant has been meeting the physical needs of people through the agency of health care. This really excites me. Though I probably won't be a physician, being in charge of organizations that aid people this way is splendid - especially when coupled with meeting the spiritual needs of people simultaneously and somehow inculcating sports and music in the mix - talk about a career! That would definitely send jitters up my spine. So in essence, I kind of know what I want and things that I need to get there. The challenge is now doing it. But I think the hard(er) part is finding your vision, not reaching towards it because you have the impetus of feverish passion and unbridled motivation as your aides.

There are a few other things that have been cooking around in my head - one on my Vancouver/Victoria trip recently and my thoughts on the stupidity of Britain, Christopher Hitchens and the Hamas take-over of the Gaza strip and the NBA finals. Stay tuned.

from the jungles

“Make sure you have a small heart; love cautiously – life is all about attaching and detaching. Never become so attached to someone/something that you cannot walk away from them/it.” That’s a paraphrase from something a childhood friend recently mentioned here in Brunei.

Well, I’ve been back for little over a week and it actually has been very good. I really fit in like an old glove…like I never left. In some ways, so much has changed in my 3 years in Canada, in other ways – it’s the same old. My Malay came back, even my Tamil was flawless, to the surprise of my parents and even relatives in India.

What is it like here? I think growing up here was an amazing privilege. From Brunei, you can observe the whole world from a Vantage point. Where else can you watch Australian Idol, listen to London’s Capital FM (we used to be able to anyway), be totally in tune with Hollywood movies, have all the comforts the world has to offer and still be on the best continent on earth? (Asia!)

It’s even weird when I consider when I realize that I have not seen my parents for a period of 3 years. I do not recommend that to anyone. I think growing in your relationship with your parents and family is very important. I recently read something on AskMen.com which talked about the cost of having children in North America (well, it’s about $400,000 over 20 years) and the devastating cost of divorce especially on men (I mention that because, everyone pities the woman but few ever consider that effect that losing your woman, your kids, half your mortgage/assets, paying child support, paying alimony and then getting yourself together to get your career, life and romance on track has…when your about 40 it is purely devastating). I somehow see the Western system for marriage and raising kids a little lacking. There always seems to be this mentality of “what can I get out of this in the end?” I’m sure there are points like that in African and Asian cultures too, but they both seem a lot more selfless.

One amazing thing here has been to see the faith in God of the different people here. I’m very proud of the Youth ministry in my church St. Andrew’s. I really reject the supposed ‘doctrine’ that God will ‘bless’ you materialistically if you follow him and are righteous. I think that is a correlation rather than causation. I am just tired of hearing if you have Jesus in your life, you will become successful. No. You will become successful based on your work ethic, your strategy, your knowledge and your discipline, motivation among other factors. The difference that Jesus makes is that you whole life’s worth is not defined by your successes and there is meaning beyond doing that comes from just being. And I think that having this inner peace and assurance makes it easier for someone to strive better for excellence in whatever it is that they are doing. I know for sure that the most spiritual people that I've ever met are also the poorest financially, so I don't buy the prosperity preaching from North American churches. I don't think Jesus was like that at all. He was homeless to begin with ("the Son of Man does not have a place to lay his head.")

Had great fun hanging out with some childhood friends – can’t believe we’ve known each other for 10 years or more…it’s great having a place to come back to. I think I may eventually end up somewhere in Canada but Brunei will always have a special place in my heart. I will post up pictures in Facebook at the end of the month. I’m probably not going to post again until I get back to Canada in 3 weeks. See ya.

p.s. about the quote to begin with – I really agree with it. There is a word in Chinese called Saosin…I think it signifies something similar. Like Desree sang “got to be hard, but not too too hard.” I’m just glad to have such good friends from all over the world.

i can be your....hero? no stalker's better

Well, I have 3 exams in the next 48 hours and my brain is more fried than supercharged but I am quietly confident. Anyway, heard about this...had quite a laugh. Enjoy...