A good friend effortlessly makes the day seem sunny. Even when it's not.

Probably one of the sweetest things a friend can say is:  “I’ve got your back.”

It makes a huge difference when knowing that you are not alone.  That someone cares.  And so very gamed to be your cheerleader and avid supporter.

With friends like these, one can weather the toughest storms in life.

And the best thing is, you never know when you’ll encounter such precious lifelong friends.  They can appear at any point of your life.  They don’t necessarily have to be chums from schooldays who have seen you before your pre-braces days.  They don’t have to be church, college mates or colleagues from work.

Some of my closest buddies come from a book club.  In a way, it makes sense.  We have something in common – a shared passion.  Even though our tastes in reading materials differ greatly, we met at a time when we were ready to welcome a kindred spirit into our full lives.  It has been nearly six years since we first met.  That is longer than most romantic relationships we’ve ever had, heh.

There were times when we did not manage to catch up with each other (sometimes for months or years on end).  But whenever we do get to meet, the bond is still there and the friendship ready to be taken up where it was left off.  We are not perfect but we try our best to celebrate and appreciate our differences.  And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Come hell or highwater, I know my sistahs have my back.  Just as I have theirs.  And that is that bright patch of sunlight in the gloomy world that we live in now.

Photo credits

Just returned from Pangkor Island last night.  Am exhausted but also very happy.

I’ve been to the island many years ago when the roads were in bad shape and the beaches were not clean.  It was for all intents and purposes, a fishing village.  Now, it has transformed to a scenic and rustic beach resort.  It’s definitely a place I’d like to visit again and again and again.

Believe it or not,  this is my first ever company trip.  I guess not many companies have the budget or see the value of rewarding their staff by giving them a time of relaxation, fun and bonding.  I’m indeed blessed by the strong rapport and camaraderie with my wacky colleagues.  It was truly an eye-opening experience.  The serious dude in the office turning out to be a delightful joker.  The quiet timid geek who’s actually a sprightly actor with a loud voice.  The fierce manager who turned out to have quite a funny bone.

Besides this being my first company trip, there are a series of other firsts for me, too.  Here they are in no particular order of fun-ness:

Diving Into The Sea

Yes,  this was something I was too chicken to do not too long ago when I was still water phobic.  So there I was, dipping my feet into the nice and cool waters of Pulau Giam, just opposite Pulau Pangkor, wondering if it’s worth getting my T-shirt wet when all of a sudden, I heard happy squacks and squeals coming from the boulders nearby.  Thomas and Nick had just jumped into the sea from those huge rocks and boy, did it look FUN!

And so, I wasted no time and started to climb up.

And then, it was the moment of truth.  Would I or would I not dare to jump off into the 2-3 meter deep sea water?

When I emerged from the water, I smiled and laughed out loud for joy.  It was truly a moment to treasure – this sheer pleasure of jumping off into the ‘unknown’ and knowing that the sea will cradle me.

Snorkelling Without A Life Jacket

Now this may sound strange coming from a diver, but I’ve never actually snorkelled without a life jacket before.  When you dive, you always wear a BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) which keeps you afloat on the sea surface when inflated.  And the last time I snorkelled, I still had some water phobia and was reluctant to let go of the safety of my life jacket.  But this time around, I had no such qualms.  After my historic ‘cliff’ diving, I proceeded to put on the snorkel mask and started snorkeling around the vicinity.

Without the cumbersome life jacket, I could move freely.  I felt calm, at peace and yes, happy.  Even though I could only spot a couple of angel fishes, parrot fish and some sea cucumbers, I still felt like a million bucks.

Island Tour On A Motorbike

Three of the guys rented a bike each and we girls hopped on the back to circle around the island looking for food.  The resort food was good but foodies that we are, we wanted something porkie and unique to the island.  As I sat behind the bike rider and felt the wind blowing gently through my hair and the sun shining upon my face, that feeling of being free came upon me again.  I could see the sparkling blue sea and golden sand at 360 degrees!!!  It was so different and wonderful compared to being stuck inside the pink taxi vans.

Riding a motorcycle

OK, now this was something I didn’t plan to do this year.  But when Thomas asked if we wanted a crash course in motorbike riding, I took up the offer.  According to the guys, if you can ride a bicycle and pillion ride on a motorbike, then you can ride a motorbike.  So here goes nothing!

Riding a bike is so much fun!  Who knows, I may just get a motorcycle riding license so that I can bike around the islands next time.  It’s really the best way to get around, provided that it’s not raining a storm, of course.  And yes, I would need more practice :P

Dressing Up As A Pirate

What made this company trip rock were the series of games and themes that they made us participate in.  We were divided into four groups, told that we were pirates and we played our piratey roles to the hilt.  Some groups went all out and rented costumes.  One group even had their Iban pirate costumes tailor made.

Playing Futsal With Kain Pelekat

This must be one of the most hilarious matches of the whole trip.  We kept laughing as we plodded along in the sarong-like contraption.  It was cumbersome to kick the ball without hitching it up.  What’s more, we pirates didn’t play fair and kept pulling the opponents’ kain pelekat, rolling the other players into the sea and sticking too close to the goal post so that the other team did not have a chance in scoring a goal.  But it was FUN!!!

Eating Gong Pian

Yes, I’ve never eaten this Foochow biscuit before as they are only available in Sitiawan.  It tastes best when eaten straight from the oven.  If you bring them home, you can heat them up on the oven toaster before munching into them.  The onion ones taste like onion rings.  Yums!!!

Building A Sand Castle And Burying Someone In The Sand

This is part of our activities and I learned that there’s a technique to building pretty looking and hardy sandcastles.  Burying someone underneath it just adds to the fun!  That person must remain still and not breathe too much or laugh.

Burying a group member. He said the sand was cool and nice.

I also went on a banana boat ride for the first time at Pangkor.  My life jacket slipped off when the boat man dunked us into the water, but it was ok because I could float and swim.  Good thing that happened to me instead of any of the non-swimmers in our group!  And with that, I conclude this entry of the amazing time I had in Pangkor.  AWESOME!!!

This year of adventure theme is panning out really well.  Stay tuned for more adventures coming soon!

Photo credits of pics of me: Azli, Luke, Celeste, Edward.

Year 2009 has been awesome.

3 Most Unforgettable Moments in 2009

1. Learning to dive and getting my Advanced Open Water License (in Sipadan!!!)
2. Meeting a soul mate and best buddy (when one leaves, God surely provides another)
3. Participating in my first 10k run

3 Favourite Movies Watched in 2009

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. The Proposal
3. Star Trek

3 Favourite Animated Movies Watched in 2009

1. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
2. Up!
3. The Princess and the Frog

Saddest / Worrying Moments in 2009

1. When my sistah was diagnosed with cancer
2. Tiff with a family member
3. When my best buddy’s buddy went berserk

3 Cutest Things I Saw in 2009

1. My baby nephew
2. Cute underwater creatures
3. My red 5th gen iPod Nano

Most Embarrassing Moment in 2009

Having to do the CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent) skill test not one, not two, but THREE freaking times.

Blogs are meatier

In this day and age of microblogging over Twitter and Facebooking, blogs have taken quite a backseat.  Sure, some bloggers still blog and blast their blog links on Twitter and FB.  And when you google for stuff, you’ll mostly get blog links instead of Twitter and FB status updates.

But the fact of the matter is, with microblogging, people have less motivation to blog these days.  Have a quick thought or question in your mind?  Just post some status updates.  Have a funny photo to share?  Just snap it with your mobile phone and do a mobile/Twitpic upload.

And the coolest part of all this microblogging business?  You’ll get instant responses and comments.  Sometimes in mere seconds.

I’ve even been blessed with a GPS unit from a generous friend just because I queried (on FB) about the merits of having a dedicated GPS unit vs. a GPS software running on a mobile phone.  I’ve also received a Google wave invite, coupons, etc via FB and Twitter.  Not to mention the latest news and rumours fresh from the oven.

So with all these activities going on at social networking sites, it’s been a while since my list of favourite blogs have been updated (so is mine, I’m sheepish to say!).  On the rare occasion that I stumble upon a good one, I will make sure that I bookmark it and leave an encouraging comment behind.  Blogs still and will always have a special place in my heart.

Microblogs are but appetisers whereas blogs are the meatier deal.