Just my reflection

Wow, Zoey, whachya looking at?

Since there are military air fields around Las Vegas, you see a lot of fighter jets flying above the city.The weather was great that morning, so I took some pictures of the jet streams in the sky. I think the photo qualities don't do justice to the magnificent daylight spectacle.

Time flies.

Sometimes when I look at Zoey, I get some glimpses of how I used to be. Yet Zoey is also growing very fast and I can see her developing perceptions of her environment. In other words, she is not so 'blur' now.

Perhaps 'blur' is how you can describe me. There is a local phrase in Malaysia and Singapore 'blur like sotong'....I don't know if sotongs (squids) are really blur. A very long time ago, somebody also mentioned that I was an aloof person. At that time, I didn't really know what it meant but I thought she meant I was 'a fool'. Maybe blur is the same as aloof?

Nevertheless, what kind of person you become is very strongly influenced by your parents and your environment. A friend I once knew told me that Muslims believed that a child is like a white piece of cloth and the parents are responsible for what is written or drawn on it. Then there is a Chinese saying that says 'to scold is to care, to beat is to love' or something like that.

As for me, I am still a 1xPa and therefore learning as I go along. However, having been on the receiving end, I guess I do know a little bit about child upbringing. My reference book is how my own parents brought me up and my observation of other people's lives.

My mother was the police officer at home. Whenever I was up to mischief, I got my reprimand or 'rotan' (cane). Eventually, these lessons of discipline would become my Jiminy Cricket and for this, I am eternally grateful.

Some children may need to be explained to them why they are punished and so on. I think this is the trend among the modern generation and society - they need to explain to their children. Back in the old days, you get your 'chili pedas' ('hot chili') and that's it. However, I was able to appreciate my mother's disciplinary actions.

When I was young, I also had a lot of time to wander around. Unlike these days, kids could roam more freely then and not have to worry about bad guys. I think because I spent a lot of my time on my own, I discovered myself. Whoa!

I think this is in contrast to growing up in an environment where you are constantly in contact with other people or external influence. As time goes by, you lose the connection with your inner self. Then you will feel lost and then go around looking for spiritual guidance. I think the same thing happens to people only seeking money and fame, because of these are external factors.

Don't think I want to go into the debate of the importance of money now. There is a teaching described as the "birds of heaven and lilies of the field" in Matthew 6:24-34 (Luke 12:24-27). Basically, it tells us not to worry too much in life. If you worry too much, you cannot sleep well. Sometimes, teachings like these can sound contradictory to your situation but if you try to detach yourself from the world temporarily, you will be able to see the wisdom in it. Some people will say a short prayer or meditate before reading. This will help....

On the other hand, I think there can also be a side- effect when you are in your own world for too long. You are isolated from reality and society. In my case, maybe that is why I was labelled as aloof. Blur like sotong.

Sometimes this has brought problems to me too. For example, I realized that people always assumed that I have certain intentions or motives when in fact I had none. Ignorance is bliss, as they say, and I was actually happier when I didn't realize this. It is really disappointing to know that the majority of people have this kind of mentality but gradually I also realized that this is a survival trait in a competitive and unfriendly society.

That's what growing up is all about, I guess. Part and parcel of life.

Time flies.

I guess it is every parent's dream for their children to be truly happy with themselves. It is a journey we all take together....as we help our children to discover themselves, we discover ourselves.

A city that never sleeps

View outside hotel room


Taking monorail in the morning


The stratosphere


McDonald is everywhere


So happy to find breakfast


Winners eat at hotels, losers eat at McDonald


Zoey wants to see the camera LCD


Interesting design inside Forum Shopping Mall


Got Milk?


Eye-catching window


One of many art shops


Ladies' shoes


Balls in the air


Gucci


Louis Vutton


Zoey Zzzzz.....

I heard the most ridiculous warning in my life at the MGM Grand hotel casino food court. I had just finished eating Nathan's chili dog. While waiting for Amy and Zoey to return from the restroom, I rested my head on my hand and closed my eyes. Suddenly I was rudely awakened by somebody knocking on the table and reprimanding me for sleeping. The man talking to me wore a uniform of some kind and based on his subsequent remarks, I think he probably wasn't trained very well. Since we were getting ready to leave, I didn't feel like arguing with him. What's the point anyway?

So I think Las Vegas is a city that never sleeps. There are patrols to make sure that you don't in public places.

Are you sleep-deprived?

I think my sleeping hours are rather irregular nowadays. I think most active bloggers sleep pretty odd hours. I was told that 5xmom blogs till 3am.

Sometimes I sleep as late as 4am and on average, around 1-2am. Maybe that's luxurious by some people's standard. But if I get good music, it keeps me going through the night. Right now, I am listening to Anita Mui's songs. If you like, you can sign on at imeem and as a registered user, you will be able to search for many, many songs.

When I was young, I had some kind of sickness that made sleeping difficult for me. It sometimes took me 2 hours to get to sleep. And sometimes my sleep got interrupted and I had to fight the pain to get back to sleep.

I understand that some people are used to taking sleeping pills to sleep. My neighbour, for instance, takes those and sleeps like a log, even with his baby crying all night. His wife told me that he couldn't sleep well because of his work stress.

Now, I did not resort to any medicinal help. I tried a method where I basically slowed down my heart beat rate by keeping my breathing slow and long. I succeeded in sleeping but in the excitement, I was stirred up again. So I had to find a way to switch off that 'wake-up signal'. It took a while but eventually I managed to tell my subconscious mind to do it. Now, whenever I have sleeping problems, I just use this method to overcome them.

Talking about sleep, I came across some interesting facts about it while looking for material to write. You can find it here at Howstuffworks. For example, cows can sleep while standing up! Reptiles do not dream, birds dream a little and mammals all dream during sleep.

When I don't get enough sleep, I tend to become irritable easily and am unable to concentrate well. I think this is true for everyone. When children don't get enough sleep, it can affect their growth development. And you know, the usual advice for people who are ill is to take more rest. So, sleep also allows the body to heal and the brain a chance to figure out what to do with the information it gathered earlier.

When I was a kid, I usually slept by 9pm and had to get up by 6am to go to school. Gee, it was so difficult to get up. Sometimes my mother would send us - me and my younger sis to school and because I was slow to get up, she had to drive like I have never known her before. Other times, my best friend's parents would be patiently waiting in their Mazda 323 car outside our house gate for me. Anyway, I had about 9 hours of sleep, not including maybe a one hour afternoon nap.

I was still getting quite a lot of sleep in my late teen years. The only time when I wasn't getting enough sleep was during exam revision and that was due to last minute study. Now, it seems I am getting less sleep. On average, I get around 8 hours of sleep. My buddy from Seremban seem to think that I don't sleep enough. But, now with blogging and babysitting, I am really sleep-deprived.

Older people sleep even less, maybe around six to seven hours a day.

Anyway, I think you will know if you have slept enough when you feel your best.

Exercise also helps you to sleep well. After my rigorous badminton games last weekend, I was sleeping very well.

So, back to Las Vegas....

We took the monorail in the morning and stopped at the McDonald restaurant near Harrah's for breakfast. I don't "lovin' it" McDonald but in this situation, I was very happy to find one in town. What I needed was a simple, cheap breakfast. I wasn't expecting such a long waiting line though.

After that, we walked around outside and went to Forum shopping mall. There is not a great deal for me to do there apart from window shopping and taking photos. You can find all kinds of shops selling branded stuff. There is one shop that sells very expensive egg-shaped figurines and arty-farty items. It was showing a video recording of Michael Jackson shopping inside while everyone else was kept outside. VVVIP treatment.

If you are crazy about designer labels, you will be happy to know that Louis Vutton, Gucci, Emporio Armani and some more names that I cannot spell can be found here. Oh, it should be Louis Vuitton - the second 'i' is silent.

We walked through the maze of shops and arrived at the big fountain area where animatronic figures came alive in "Fall of Atlantic and Festival Fountain" shows. Around the fountain was a 50,000 gallon saltwater glass tank which was home to more than 1000 species of ocean life, including tropical puffers, flounders, sharks and stingrays.

We took our lunch late at Planet Hollywood. Oh, if you are looking for seats, don't count on hotels and casinos. They only want you to sit in the gambling or dining buffet area. Better to go to shopping malls as seats and benches are conveniently available. The Planet Hollywood was nicely decorated with props used during filming. They had the Terminator machine, Norman Bates' Psycho mom in the rocking chair, a naked Sylvester Stallone (Demolition Man) etc. Wait, I thought I saw a Britney Spears lookalike walking in and out of the cafe. This version seemed to have a bodybuilder's shoulder muscles though. Arrgh.

We gave a miss to other shopping malls this time. At Bellagio, you could find retailers like Tiffany & Co., Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Prada etc. Too bad we didn't go there as it was already past Zoey's bedtime. Bellagio has a wonderful musical fountain display, claimed to be the longest(not sure) in the world. Something like the one they have at Sentosa Island, Singapore. If you enjoy more shopping, situated not too far away are the factory outlets for your buying spree. You can get Nike etc. etc. etc.

We took the monorail to MGM Grand - Amy wanting to show the lions to Zoey there. It was way past dinner time, so we went to the food court but could only find burgers, pizzas or fried stuff everywhere. There was McDonald too but I was kinda tired of eating McDonald all the time. And Zoey didn't want any of those. Finally, Amy went to an adjacent chinese restaurant ($$$ rating) and bought a $13 vegetable fried rice meal for her.

Everything is expensive is Las Vegas. In the past, I would be looking forward to their famous cheap buffets. Now, I understand they have upped their prices.

Did I mention that Amy tried to ask for some hot, drinking water to be brought into the hotel room? It cost $(I forgot) and another $5 to be delivered. What a rip-off!

I was glad when we finally got back to our rooms. For the most part, it was a fun day. Now, everybody was tired and needed to go sleep.

In their hotel rooms, of course.

P.S. And now, I also gotta get some sleep.....good nite, bloggers.

How I began my new year

The pyramid-looking Luxor Hotel

New York, New York!

Treasure Island Hotel

Toni Braxton performing at Flamingo

Phallus-looking Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian

Paris Hilt...oops...Hotel

A lot of cranes at construction sites

Some statues at Caesar's Palace

Caesar's Palace

Fountain outside the Forum Shopping Mall

Busy holidaymakers

Busy traffic at Las Vegas Boulevard

Getting dark at Mirage

Denny's and other shops

So, I celebrated the new year holiday with my family at Las Vegas. In case you don't know, it is a gambler's haven. I don't really fancy gambling, so what am I doing there? Well, there are other things to do there as well. Like going for shows. They have all kinds of shows from magic show, impersonation/comedy, drag show, musicals, acrobatic/circus performances, topless shows etc. I didn't go to any either. Would like to but they can't allow kids under five years of age. Unless I hide Zoey in my pocket, that is out of the question. Err, so what else to do there? Shopping. Of late, it seems there are more shopping avenues there. Did not get anything though. Just took lots of pictures.

Just to do a comparison of my experience at Las Vegas 7 years ago and now:

Then: Lots of walking down the strip and visiting lots of hotels/casinos
Now: Spending most time looking for foodcourts and taking Zoey to lots of toilets

Then: Can hang around till very late - too excited to sleep
Now: Go to bed early - Zoey needs to sleep

Then: Carry a camera only
Now: Carry camera, and a bag packed with Zoey's items, and Zoey

Then: Buffet galore
Now: Eat at McDonald for smoke-free environment

Then: Can hang around anywhere
Now: Got rule for minors, so this indirectly applies to me too

Then: Can watch XXX on adult channel
Now: Watch Sesame street on kids channel

Well, I am not complaining. I betted one dollar on the slot machine and won 14 cents. That is, not before I have lost 46 cents first. So, it is a decent win anyway.

Las Vegas is probably a good place to visit if you can explore freely all that it has to offer. Of course, it will burn holes in your pocket too. But for old geezers like me, spending time with my family is good enough already. Doesn't really matter where although I won't mind doing it at the badminton gym, hahaha.

Talking about badminton, I have been playing non-stop for 3 days this weekend and my body is terribly sore now. Surprisingly, I played pretty well. Amy's women doubles partner commented that I was very consistent and making a lot of right shots. Eric, our UCSD student friend, who is usually very stingy with good compliments, even said I played not bad. I was really surprised too but I guess some days, everything just come together.

Hmm, perhaps I had been pretty down this past week and that made my game better. Maybe I was mad at something, so I decided to go all out in the games. And that is also why I had not been blogging for a while. It is hard to write something when you are not settled.

Hey, look at the picture to your right - looks like the middle finger. Hahahaa.

Anyway, the weather was good when we were at Las Vegas. Today, and yesterday, it was raining heavily in San Diego. I heard there was a big storm in San Francisco area and resulted in power failure in more than 600,000 homes. I even heard that earthquake and maybe tsunami is going to hit California soon. Indonesia is hit by flood on Jawa island and I heard that there is a fear that there could be an earthquake too. I was told that the volcanoes are all active at the same time now - never has this happened before. Now, I am not sure how correct my source of information is but people seem to think that this has something to do with global warming.

I haven't got time to check the stock market but the oil price hit $100 per barrel for a couple of minutes. And the Dow Jones index have gone below 13000 points again ahead of a possible Fed rate cut. Seems like the same scenario replayed all over again. Then, in December, there were all the bad news before the rate cut and as the date approached, the speculators rallied the market up.

So, how to keep your spirits up when you are down and there is bad news all over?

Well, I just randomly opened a book and found this poem:

Have Faith, and Expect the Best

by Beth Fagan Quinn

Faith begins
by believing
in your heart
that what is right
has a chance.

Faith is knowing
in your heart
that good can
overcome evil,
that the sun can also shine
in a rainstorm.

Faith is peaceful
and comforting,
because it
comes from within
where no one
can invade
your private dreams.

Faith is not something
you can demand
or command;
it is a result of
commitment to belief.

Faith is believing
in something
you can't see or hear,
something deep inside
that only you can understand
and only you control.

Faith is trusting
in yourself
enough to know
that no matter
how things turn out,
you will make
the best of them.

So, I guess we should never lose faith in ourselves.

Sometimes, it is hard for others to understand you. Sometimes, it is hard to help others understand you. No matter what you say or do, there is already a prejudice against you. At times like this, you can only hope that there will be someone somewhere soon to listen to your cries. Try to stay positive and do things that can make you feel positive about yourselves. Find someone that you can talk to. But, above all, don't lose faith in yourselves.