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| It happened early in the morning, a few days ago. I had the rudest shock in my life as far as I can recall. I woke up earlier than Pat as usual and headed towards the bathroom. As I was applying the soap onto my face, I heard a slight cry of pain from outside the bathroom. I didn't pay much attention to it as I thought I misheard it. Less than 5 seconds later, Pat was calling out my name in pain...
That moment is the MOST SHOCKING MOMENT I ever had in my life as far as I can recall. I admit I might be a little faint in heart but the cry of pain from Pat at this kind of moment caught me dumbfounded. The first thing that came across my mind was,
"Ivan is coming out now??!!"
With soap all over my face, I grabbed my towel, wrapped myself hurriedly and rushed out of the bathroom attending to Pat who was lying on the bed. She said in Mandarin,
"My leg is cramping!!!"
No words can describe how relieved I feel at that moment after the shock that I have gotten a few seconds earlier...
I am very convinced that I am not the only one who has such experience. The scenarios might differ but the shock and feeling should be almost the same. Being a male who does not really understand how it is when it's time to enter into labour makes it stressful when one's wife is in her heavy pregnancy. In fact, during a normal circumstances, for a woman to enter into labour, there will be several significant signs showing and it won't come so suddenly (correct me if I am wrong). There will definitely be pain but the pain comes every few minutes and one can feel the muscles contracting. During this period of time, it is still possible for one to finish off whatever chores that one is doing and head to the hospital in the calmest way possible (correct me again if I am wrong).
Honestly, who cares about the facts and all that when the emergency comes by especially it is your first child and you have never had such an experience before. For normal people, the spontaneous reaction will be to quickly leave everything in its place and rush to the hospital in case the child is coming out of the womb.
Never been a parent before, only now I realise that the moment you know your wife is pregnant, the worrying will never stop till the day you breath your last breathe. Am I too ironic? I believe not. You fear about the safety of your pregnant wife, the little foetus inside during the pregnancy period. During labour, you fear about how the baby will come out. Once the baby is out, you fear that he/she will hurt him/herself, the same things go on when they attend school, start to work, start to have partners, start to plan to get married, start to plan to have their own children and so on. The worrying will never stop. Parents... That's what parents are...
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And this time, our main mission is to get him a new baby cot with the nice and comfortable mattress. Picked Pat up after work for lunch at Crown Square before going over to Crown Towers to pick up our discount vouchers. Went straight to Mummy Care to choose the baby cot that we think suitable. We spent quite a long time there going through the options available. The in house music which I think is a little bit too loud and the non stop ringing of my mobile phone makes the shopping a little stressful but things started to get better with my passionate wife helping to make the right decision.
As a matter of fact, the salesgirl who is helping us throughout the shopping is not really well-informed of the products we are looking at. Somehow, we still managed to get over with the shopping as we have initially planned for the things that we would need to buy. We later proceed to Parkson Grand and Saberkas to look for the remaining items that we need.
At the end of the shopping, I am quite amazed with the capability of Pat's Myvi to take in the items that we have bought. We laid down the back seats, and stuffed in all the items that we have bought easily into it. A baby cot (which has yet to be assembled), diapers, mattress, crib sets and so on, stored nicely into the car without much hassle. It is not easy to earn money, it's not that easy to spend it too. Going around looking for the best deal, carrying those items back home but things are made easier of course with Pat's help, hehe...
The end product
Looks cosy
The Humpty Dumpty and the Singing Tiger
Not to forget the cow which is Ivan's Chinese zodiac
Placed in the room at last It's really wonderful to do all this preparation for our new baby. Tiredness and exhaustion, too little compared to the joy that is inside. When I came out from the bathroom this morning, looking at the baby cot which is ready to be occupied, there's a very warm feeling deep inside, knowing that Ivan will soon be out in this world...
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| That's the way we should live right, keep on doing our best all the time, no matter what so that when everything ends, there will be no room for even the smallest regret. Things have been good and bad for the past few weeks. Right after one dinner at a well-known hotel in Kuching one evening, I was down again with stomach discomfort (for a few days). Ended up feeling very uncomfortable especially when going out where I have to make trips to the toilet.
 I am not pointing fingers here but such a coincidence this is the second time I have my dinner at this place, the first time I had mine, I ended on bed for a few days for food poisoning and this time, stomach discomfort that turns my "Moon cake Festival" looks more like a "Bake Cakes Festival". So this is how the handsome baker looks like before the event: More random shots:     That of course will be the bad thing. For the past few weeks when I have not been updating my blog, there are also good things that have happened. Work is unusually more occupied and of course, productivity increases, the 'high' feeling stays up there too most of the time at work. As of relationship, there is ups and downs of course but I am so glad the ups are a lot and worth remembering than the little downs that don't have time to count. Pregnant Pat is in her heavy pregnancy right now.  Her belly is growing very fast recently. Somehow, I will have to salute her for being able to keep her overall appearance to be in normal shape, even the weight gain is clearly stated as to accommodate Ivan and the water, not excess fats. Ivan is coming out very soon, expected in the midst of December, about 10 days before Christmas. Feeling excited and looking forward to it but at the same time, is not sure how easy it is to be parents. No guessing needed, hands on will arrive very soon. We are going to buy more things for Ivan next Monday, final preparation before the delivery of Ivan in December. We were accommodating a friend from West Malaysia recently, he was here for about a month and will stay at our place occasionally especially during the weekends. Some random shots taken during his stay:       There are more pictures taken during our Raya visits which are not posted here but in a nutshell, apart from eating, I found that there's not much things to do in Kuching anymore. Probably going to the movie is another option to choose from.
Not long ago, one of my colleagues get into a serious accident. He then bought a new car for himself for safety reason. Not long after that, I decided also that it's time for me to change my old car. Later did I realise another colleague of mine who has recently get married has bought a new car too. That makes it 3 new cars bearing the QAR plate in the same office within a short period. Something to brag about. However, it doesn't end there, my buddy's car got stolen at Jalan Song right after I got my new car and finally, he too decided to buy one. As of the latest news I heard yesterday, one of my close friend might be coming out with another brand new car anytime soon. (",) It's 8am on a Sunday morning and darling Pat has just left for work. I am going out for work also although feeling a little lazy. Well... Have to go for it no matter what. The thing is I have set for myself a goal that I have to achieve by the end of this year and there's only one way to go there... Strive hard... All the best to the 'lazy' me. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
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| Is there such a thing as Service Before Self. It's definitely a great principle to hold on to and those who can put it into practice will surely reap tonnes in return in whatever they are doing. Although it is easy to be said, it's not easy to be done. From my 7 years of little experience in sales career, I found that it's not easy to satisfy everyone that comes into your life "career wise", not to mention sacrificing yourself to make your clients happy. You can try as much as you want to satisfy a client's need, preparing this and that for them, trying to do everything for them. Still, there will be those who feel that you are not performing your best for them. Besides, as much as you enjoy your work, it's not easy to sacrifice yourself to serve your unappreciative clients.
As strong and dedicated as the greatest salesperson in the world can be, I am pretty sure one will have his down times when one has no more strength to persevere to fulfill his clients' needs. That will also be the time when the service provider will be condemned as a bad person, a person who is lousy at his work. How unfair is that.
As a person involved in the sales career, I am more informed than any other person that the returns that I get will be mirrored by the service that I can provide to my clients. Thus, I constantly tried my best to provide the best to them; 1st because I enjoyed my work and 2nd because I want to be paid well. I have to admit that there are lots of time, too much to mention, that there are clients who are very unhappy with the way I carried out my presentations, either because I lack the skills and knowledge or when I am in the midst of those down times. Clients talk straight to my face about how bad my service was and how unhappy they are about the 'professional' attitude that I carry with me. Sigh...
When those incidents take place, I have no choice but to ponder upon the damage that I have done and the disappointment as well as that guilt that I feel inside for mistreating my clients. Another dissatisfied clients who might remember me forever 'the bad way'.
As the time goes by, I started to get immune with the bad remarks given by this small group of clients whom I mistreated. I am convinced that I have done my best and I am not GOD; not to mention there are even people who blame GOD for a lot of things. Immunity is a good cure for my guilt and sadness but deep inside, I wonder is it really good to be immune that way?
My boss always tell me this, "Do not care about the bad things people say about you, at the end of the day, it's the overall results that matter". People can talk about how bad and lousy a person you are but if you are really good, you will still be the one pocketing fat pay cheques, not those who complain endlessly about you. Clients who complain about you might also have problems dealing with other people in the same business line or even in their own life. Just do your best and have no regrets.
Let yourself be rewarded handsomely in life, physically or mentally and even financially or spiritually; if you are genuinely good. Let the complained drives big cars, owns fat wallets and have great life while the complainers stay unhappy and grumpy forever in their miserable life. Their presence in this world is to be miserable anyway...
All I know is that "I have done my best and I have no regrets at all".
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| Today is the 13th day I am driving my new car. The more I drive it, the more I am in love with it. It does not boast any big Vs engine or high cubic capacity nor big horse power but the 1.8L engine is just nice, to be mounted on its body to carry itself and its passengers.
I tried for the first time to bring 7 passengers in the car last Sunday morning and it drives well. With 6 adults and a young child, the car doesn't feel lack of any power, in fact, you don't really feel the decrease in the power at all. Compared to my old Accord, it feels heavy and it accelerates poorly when I am driving 5 person in the car and due to the bigger momentum, the braking is not as easy as when I am driving along making traveling at higher speed a little risky. Probably due to the newer engine, the acceleration for the new car proves to be alright and the braking is great thanks to the bigger disc brakes installed to the car. Apart from the performance of the car, the design itself looks great, the more I look at it, the more I am in love with it. An MPV with a sporty look and a low ride, what can beat that.
Today is the 3rd day of Raya and I have a few more houses to visit which I am not planning to visit anymore. Enough stuffing spicy food and high-calorie-drinks into my body already. First day was tiring, 2nd day was okay, 3rd day is planned for a more relaxed time with my family. Some photos taken during the visits:
 Me and my wife  My superiors  The camera shy guy  All the way from Ipoh, Perak  At MBO, The Spring Of course the gathering is fun although very tiring. The weather is not too bad but travelling with a extra full stomach proves difficult. We ate almost every hour during the first day of Raya and were invited to a wedding dinner on the same day. A very full day. I am glad I didn't experience any stomach discomfort during the whole eating trip despite the spicy food gobbled.
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