YOUR QUEST FOR HAPPINESS

WHAT MATTERS MOST IN YOUR QUEST FOR HAPPINESS IS
HOW YOU SEE YOURSELF.

HAPPINESS COMES FROM WITHIN YOURSELF.
NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY UNTIL
YOU ARE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF, FIRST.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

activerain.com

A ROSE IS BUT A ROSE, UNLESS IT’S TATTOO-ED

A touch up, a minor one at that; is supposed to be with minor pain. “It is only logical”, as Spock of Star Trek would say. Hah! I think this is an irritating pain.

One thing led to another, and I began looking for another tattoo on the net. I was just going to see what was new, that was all. From one set to another to another, to other sites…the latest…the greatest…2024 small tattoos… for men… finger…arm…shoulder. The internet was flooded with what everyone of them said of the sites they were promoting: theirs was the best.

Then to choose one which has a meaning.. a symbol…, there was an infinite number to choose from. I stayed away from the ones that looked scary. I didn’t want to choose one that if I was to wake up in the middle of the night, would scare me out of my skin.

I chose some designs, finally; after more than an hour of searching. They each had a nice meaning linked to it. My final choice was between a rose and the word “continue”.
I chose to give meaning of my own: Rose is a symbol of life, love and beauty. In any situation, it picks itself up and continues to add value to beauty and its surroundings. The word “continue” means we have to continue to strive for more than the best in all we do.

Like in most times, I always sought the opinions of the ones closest to me. Laura just had her second tattoo done. She said it was between the rose and the wave pictures. The rose ended up as the winner.

Rose

Wave

Before last night, I had no plans of getting another tattoo. I was just going for a touch up to the last tattoo I had done, only.

I got to the Dr Ink Studio a few minutes before my appointment time. I had to go through the usual: one of the employees sprayed a light disinfectant around me. I met Soon, who was his usually very pleasant, polite and courteous self.

Soon showed me to the chair that I would be sitting on , while he did the touch up. I also told him about my choice of the rose.

Should I say, “Ouch” or “Oo-la-la”? My first tattoo touchup.

A touch up, a minor one at that; is supposed to be with minor pain. “It is only logical”, as Spock of Star Trek would say. Hah! I think this is an irritating pain, somehow even more painful than when it was first done.

Before Soon started on the new tattoo; I asked him multiple x multiple (instead of using the word “many” – being American) questions like how much pain will I really be going through since that the thumb area was a sensitive area with constant movement. I was expecting him to say, “It isn’t going to be very painful”. However, he said it was going to be slightly more painful that the tattoo done on my arm. My questions were based more on my concerns of taking care of the tattoo just after its done for the next few days. He allayed all my concerns.

I said, “Let’s do it!”

Then, I realised it was shaving cream, which had disinfectant properties, too. Here, Soon shaves off whatever hair(s) I may have in that area.
At first, I thought this was a disinfectant, applied.

Whatever residue balanced, is wiped clean.

Steady as it goes: the exact placement where I want it to be and where it will look at its best all the time.
The stencil-ed picture is transferred on. The stencil is then removed before the procedure starts.

The ink.
The outline already looks good.

The saline is supposed to lighten the colour of the ink a bit (I think) to create hues of colour(in this case, black).

The procedure: Microscopic injecting of the ink.
One painful leaf almost done. The rest of the picture to go.

Done. The masterpiece.

I was impressed with the professionalism that Soon displayed in carrying out this task. All you gals n guys wanting to get tattoos done, should see Soon.

Should you get a tattoo or tattoos done? If you are thinking about it, now is a good time as ever.

A rose is but a rose… unless it’s tattoo-ed. Then, it is a rose, tattoo-ed. It reminds you that life is about love, and love is about life.

NOTES:
The ink is injected INTO the skin. Artists create your tattoo by injecting ink into your skin using an electrically powered tattoo machine. This machine looks and sounds like a dental drill, with a needle that moves up and down to puncture the skin between 50 and 3,000 times per minute.

GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER

CHOOSE: GO AFTER THE LIFE YOU WANT
OR
SECOND BEST: KEEP SETTLING FOR THE LIFE YOU GET.

THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER.

BE CONFIDENT WITH WHO YOU ARE.
YOUR LIFE CHANGES ONCE YOU LOOK AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

CHICKEN IMPOSSIBLE AT THE TAJ

On the highway heading east…. Camera in front… Camera at the back. High speed chase. Not sure if that famous actor… The one that acted in “TOP BUN PAKCIK” Tom Clues, was acting.

The scene was a guy in a Proton Jawa cut in front of a mid-size Honda (car enthusiasts will call it B Segment or C segment… don’t know which) at high speed. It was trailing a long trailer ( is there a pun in this?) and decided to pull out from behind it at the very last moment, cutting right in front of the Honda. The trailer was at high speed, I guess.

As soon as they passed the trailer, the Honda powered up all its Japanese horses (though they could be more Thai or Indo than Japanese, as most of the Hondas in Malaysia come from Thailand or Indonesia), gave chase and overtook the Jawa. The Jawa gave chase, came level to the Honda, then side-swiped him to run him off the road. Here, it is proven to be a myth that the Jawas are made from milo tin cans because this car was strong. The Honda held its ground. Presumably, Tom Clues was driving the Honda.

The Jawa side-swiped the Honda… a word from our sponsors… Youtube… and tried to push the Honda off. It moved just ahead of the Honda and knocked into the car. Then, it moved left, then right, then ran off the road and hit a road barrier. Here, the Jawa, tossed in the air… Tom Clues stopped his car ahead of the car being tossed in the air. You would expect Tom Clues to reach out to the Jawa driver while the Jawa was still in the air, flipping at high speed. Bubble burst because nothing like that happened. That was a scene from a Bollywood movie.


~ The End ~

In a rush to get back home for the long weekend holidays; people tend to get edgy. They should relax, pull over as many rest bays along the highway to relax, chillax and have a coffee. No need to rush.
The above incident actually happened today. The characters and vehicles are fictional. I was having fun writing on the fly.

After dropping Laura off at the gym; Jeannie and I had that usual question pop up: “Dinner: What do you want to eat?”, I asked.
“Up to you”, she said.
I said, “I leave it to you”.
She said, “Anything is fine with me”.

Now, you know how tough a question that can be. Though there are literally hundreds of restaurants around the area, we, without saying it; want something fast, tasty, cheap, reliable and not too far away from home. So, I said, “Let’s go to the Taj”. Jeannie agreed.

We were there within 10 minutes, had to drive around the car parking lot area three or four times before we got a parking. This was one of the easier days.

As we walked into the restaurant, we walked past the counter where all the food for the evening was displayed. I knew I was going to order either chapati or roti canai. They did not have any potato dishes on display. Among the many varieties available, there were two seemingly similar fried chicken dishes. We asked one of the waiters what the difference was. He said one was fried chicken. ookaaayyy. The other was chicken impossible.

“Sorry, what was that?”, I asked. He said, “chicken impossible”. I kid you not. That was what he said. Or at least, that was what I thought he said. I told Jeannie that we will have the chicken impossible, and to pick the pieces with more flesh instead of bones.

Chicken impossible.

We chose a table in the air-condition dining room. Though the skies have been overcast the whole day with short spats of light – to – heavy drizzles; the weather was still humid. Jeannie went for rice with vegetable dishes. I went for chapati. My favourite waitress (the Taj only has 1 waitress; the rest are waiters), Harmann; took our drink orders. We both ordered lime juice, no sugar.

Jeannie’s rice and her choice of vegetables looked really good. The long grains of rice looked fluffy and would have tasted delicious. Jeannie said that it was delicious – her whole meal was delicious.

Harmann served my order of two chapati and the chicken impossible. I decided to have chapati because my weight was inching its way up on the weighing scales, so much so that I hit 76.7kg yesterday. I scaled back on eating since then. I skipped lunch and also holding off the sugar. I am aiming to get back to 67kg, the weight that I was at in March 2019.

The chapati was good. 2 pieces was a meal by itself. The chicken impossible was ok. Pieces were chunky meat, fried but without oil. I think that was the difference between this chicken dish and the fried chicken. The curry leaves that were with the chicken (as you can see in the picture) were more to add flavour.

I thought this dish was going to be spicy. It wasn’t at all. Overall, the chicken was nice, but I prefer the chicken to be fried in oil and for it to be spicy. The Taj is more popular especially for its spicy food, besides it being a convenient place for fast and relatively moderate priced food. When I say “fast food”; it actually is fast served food compared to the fast food restaurants. You order your food on those large screens, make a payment and then wait. They are not as fast as The Taj or Star Bhavan and places like that.

If you want fast and reliably tasty food, this is the place to come to. Except, that the limited parking available can at times be a “hair-pulling” experience.

As for why the chicken dish is called “chicken impossible”, I think the waiter may have mispronounced it. I don’t know, but “chicken impossible” definitely sounds inviting; like something you must try.

A FIRST FOR ME: ATTENDING A BABY SHOWER

Bayswater… Somewhere in KL. Attending a babyshower… A first for me.

When you KL-ites and Malaysians hear “Bayswater at KLCC”, you will say, “I know where that is”. Heck no, you don’t! You think it is at KLCC, don’t you? You will even argue and dispute with Google Maps. Like I did! Google maps would have been heading you to the spot, but you will most probably say, “But KLCC is on the right, about a mile away”.

In the end, I decided to follow Google maps and we arrived at our destination about half hour early. We, Jeannie and I; like to be punctual.

We waited in the car until it was nearly 6.00pm. Then, we walked to the function room.

So, this place is not physically at KLCC…you know…the shopping centre. And as for “Bayswater”; I assume that it is because it is in the Lake Titiwangsa area. Can’t see the lake but sure can see an abundance of water…flowing…from the sky… It is raining heavily. So, yes, “baby shower”.

There was a counter set up at the entrance where a couple of your ladies greeted us and asked us to choose between a pink and blue  ribbon, that we would wear as a tag to indicate if the baby coming, will be a girl or boy. Of course, my wife, ever so loving as she is; decided that I would choose pink.

We were among the earliest to arrive. So, yes, we are here, sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the room. It was sort of a nice setting, with no walls on both sides of the length of the room. We were surrounded by the lush greens of the surrounding gardens. No wonder it is called “Gardens at Baywater”.

The room was decorated in colours do tell, of pink and blue.

The view of the surroundings.

There was a “throne” on stage for the hosts of the evening. It was their day.

The throne for the parents-to-be.

Some of the goods which was presented to the couple when they were blessed by their mothers.

Dessert was served, first. That is healthy thinking. In a book that I read, “Fit For Life”, (1) it says that you start your meal with dessert first. Fruits, I think it was, as dessert.

Dessert: Sweets. The green one on the left is a sort of jelly with pieces of fruit on top. The brown one on the right is sort of a yogurt with a strawberry on top [strawberry dah makan (2) before this picture was taken] 😂

The strawberry is missing. Who pinched the strawberry?

The ceremony started when Thenappan and his beautiful wife, Sivagami; took their places on the throne. Thena, as he is more popularly known; is Jeannie’s colleague at work.

Next, Thena’s and Sivagami’s mothers blessed the couple by a short ceremony with a marking of oil, incense or ointment of some kind; on both, husband and wife. Then, they put some bracelet bangles on the mother-to-be’s hands. The last part of this process was with flower petals. A lady offered flower petals on a tray to the mothers. The ladies took some of the flower petals and dropped a few of them on top of Sivagami’s and Thena’s heads.

I now know why Indian ladies wear so many bangles. The  multiple (being American here) bangles create sweet musical sounds. The baby in the mother’s womb will always hear the sweet, melodious sounds of the bangles as they knock against each other on her hands.

After that, all the ladies in the room were invited to do the same as the mothers of the couple did. Jeannie was the first in line to do this. She has always been fascinated with customs, traditions, clothes and food of people from different cultures.

She put the ointment on the back of Sivagami’s hand, cheeks and forehead. She even put the ointment blessing on Thena’s forehead. Then she sprinkled flower petals on top of their heads. She completed the process by placing bangles on Sivagami’s hands.

The ladies waiting for their turn to do the honours.

When this part of the ceremony was completed; we were then invited to proceed to dinner. The food was good. It was Indian cuisine, buffet style.

Then, came the moment – the highlight of the evening, the reason we were all here for – Is it a boy or girl? There was a little pre-planned “tic-tac-toe” game on displayed where the couple started flipping the cards over. It had to be a 4 blue and 4 pink card turnover, with the last one opened: blue.

The evening ended with people having photographs taken with the lovely couple. I will add to this article, a photograph that the couple’s photographer took of Jeannie & myself, Sivagami & Theana and another colleague from their office; when I get a copy of it.

Sivagami and Thena

It was a very pleasant drive home, driving through what would otherwise be the very busy streets of KL, but smooth flowing today, as many people would have travelled back to their homes, out of town for the long holidays. Aaahh… if only traffic was like this everyday.

NOTES:
1. FIT FOR LIFE by Harvey & Marilyn Diamond
2. “Strawberry dah makan” is the “strawberry is already eaten” in Bahasa Malaysia.

WHO IS THE CEO OF YOUR LIFE?

LIFE IS A CIRCLE OF HAPPINESS, SADNESS, DIFFICULT TIMES AND GOOD TIMES. IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES, TAKE HEART THAT GOOD TIMES ARE ON THEIR WAY.

PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, NO MATTER WHAT.
DON’T GET CONFUSED BETWEEN WHAT PEOPLE SAY YOU ARE AND WHO YOU KNOW YOU ARE.

ACCEPT PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. HOWEVER, PLACE THEM WHERE THEY BELONG. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR LIFE.
HIRE, FIRE AND PROMOTE ACCORDINGLY.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

chichirp

THE BATIK INFLUENCER AND THE HATTED WRITER AT F1.02 THIS WEEKEND

Friday evening, 6.39pm.

Laura is at the gym, and we, Jeannie and I, that is the Batik Influencer and the Hatted Writer; we are at where the stars go (I presume), Star Bhavan for dinner.

Being the journalist in me, I tend to notice more than the average person. For instance, things are a wee bit slow here. I took note of this the last time we were here a couple of days ago. This is compared to all the other times when we practically did not have to wait too long for our food. They seem short-handedly. However, the food here is always good.

Why are we waiting?” in sing song fashion. 😁

Our food arrived just as I was writing / keyboard thumb-typing (on my Samsung Fold 5) the last line. Jeannie and I both ordered the same: Roti (1) Sardine and Nescafe ice. By just looking at our drinks, you would surely ask, “Is the milk drowning the coffee?”, as the coffee was struggling to have some semblance of its colour, “brown”. The milk seemed to definitely over-power the coffee.

Just before that, we tapau-ed (2) both the kacang vadai (3) and the doughnut (“donut” in American) version. Foreseeing that we…o.k. o.k…. more Iike I will be hungry later on this evening or night. Now, figure this out. I didn’t plan on being hungry later on, but then… the vadai were singing, “take us home” to the tune “Country Roads”. The Nescafe ice must have been spiked, haha.😁😂 Can you imagine the 6 vadai in the bag singing a song to the tune of Country Home? That would be hilarious.

Notice the vadai goodies in the bag, all set to be taken home? And the very light brown Nescafe ice?

We discussed broadly, what we plan to do at our booth in Amcorp Mall this weekend, that is tomorrow and Sunday. Yes, we will be mending a booth at Booth F1.03 Amcorp Mall. The Batik Influencer will be introducing her latest JEANNIE’S OWN batik cape creations.

The Batik Influencer has introduced, encouraged and helped people understand why batik. So, why batik? Come see for yourself.

Roti sardine, with spicy fish curry (on the left) and what seems somewhat like “dhalcha”.

The Hatted Writer (me, of course😉) will be there to talk about what’s next on the idea Sketchpad💡. One of the things that has caught my attention (amongst the many others) is that people are flaunting bombastic english words like nuance/s, exacerbate and stuff like that on talk shows and interviews. These people must be well-grounded in the language and may be seen as sesquipedalian. (4) Some people say that I am a logophile. (5) Really?

I guess in most ways I am a logophile as I find the English language quite fascinating. My interest in the language, to test its elasticity and boundaries, has only been quite recent. I find it more interesting to see if I can refrain from over-stretching the use of bombastic words. In fact, I try to refrain from such words if I can help it.

Come meet us this weekend at Amcorp Mall. This weekend is going to be as “fun” as ever. As everyday is. Looking forward to seeing all of you. 😁

The semi-visible vaadai, ready for home eating. Eating while in “relax” mode.

Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.03, 1st Floor, West Wing,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: Apr 6 and Apr 7, 2024
Time: 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

NOTES:
1. “Roti” means bread in Bahasa Malaysia.
2. “Tapau” as in take-away or take-out, is used by Malaysians when they want to pack food. The “-ed” (past tense) is to add colour in the use of the word.
3. Vadai also known as vada, wada, or bara; is a category of savoury fried snacks native to India. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and traditionally served with chutneys and sambar.
4. A sesquipedalian can be used to describe a person or something that overuses big words. People often assume that if someone gives a sesquipedalian speech, he / she was smart, even if they don’t really know what it was about because they can’t understand the words.
5. What is a “logophile”? A logophile is someone who loves words, enjoys learning new words, and has a deep appreciation for language. Logophiles have an extensive vocabulary and take pleasure in using and exploring words to express themselves effectively.

WHAT MATTER MOSTS

EVERYONE’S TIME IS LIMITED. USE IT WISELY.

SOMETIMES, LIFE DOES NOT GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT. WHAT MATTERS MOST IS TO FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS MOST.

WHEN YOU ARE POSITIVE IN YOUR OUTLOOK, YOU WON’T HAVE TIME FOR THINGS THAT AREN’T.
YOU WILL SEE OPPORTUNITIES INSTEAD OF OBSTACLES.

STRIVE TO LIVE IN THE MOST POSSIBLE AND JOYFUL WAY POSSIBLE EVERY DAY. IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL ITS DONE.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

A LEADER

YOU ARE A LEADER
IF
YOUR ACTIONS INSPIRE OTHERS TO
DREAM MORE, LEARN MORE, DO MORE AND BECOME MORE.

THERE IS TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY IN THE WORLD.
AS A LEADER, YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR BEST TO MAKE SURE YOU AREN’T CONTRIBUTING TO IT.

OFTEN AS A LEADER, YOU WALK ALONE;
THAN WITH A CROWD GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

Brittany Rust

NOTE TO SELF… BE THANKFUL

NOTE TO SELF…

THINK BIGGER.

DO NOT BE UPSET BY ALL THE THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG AND ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE WRONG.

LIFE CHANGES BECAUSE YOU MADE THE DECISION TO CHANGE IT.
BE THE LIGHT THAT SOMEONE NEEDS.

BE THANKFUL FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE RIGHT.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

You can. Empowering note to self.