Between Raya and today...(Me,Myself & I...)

I checked my last post. It was before Raya. And all the things I said about Raya was true. But I didn't have time to update this blog, my dear readers, because I just got my second son (so matter of fact and casual). And just like my first son, he is the most handsome, brightest, charming human being I've ever seen. Until the next one comes along.

But just more than a week before that, I took delivery of my materialistic baby - a new car. It's new, shiny, and thus far, the best I've ever driven. Not because it's new and shiny mind you. I plumped myself into another new and shiny car my mom got for herself. And I wouldn't put it even in the top 3 cars I've driven. No, the reason my new car is the best is simply because it is - pace, power, refinement and looks. Man, it's lame, but when I park this new set of wheels, I still stare at it a bit when I walk off.

The only bad thing about getting a new car is getting your friends' reaction. I've had this problem ever since I drove my first car. "Why didn't you buy this?", "Why did you get this color?","Rugi beli brand-new..."...the idiotic kind of comments coming from people who have never even come close to having the choices I have. Maybe it's about living vicariously. Dude, my best mate just got himself a dull as clorox Toyota, and I still pretended to be excited over it all. Nah, no worries. I'm not angry or bitter. Just peeved. Don't blame them though, most people do this.

Anyway, with a new car and a new baby, I needed a new wife. Wrong sentence. I needed a new hobby.

I've picked up walking, of all things. I only enjoy exercise if it's fun. And it's only fun when someone keeps score. So I can play futsal forever, but I wouldn't last a few weeks if I picked up jogging. Too lonely. And I have weak knees. People say it's because of...well, I wouldn't know about that;)

Unfortunately, futsal's usually played late at night. I need to be with the two boys. So I found something I could probably do continuously, but it's not really exercising as I know it, so I wouldn't feel pressured to perform. So walking it is. That's why I call it a hobby.

Because when I walk, I don't think about walking, I think about everything else. I'm an observer, if you've observed. Some of the interesting things I've discovered while walking around my area in Shah Alam (I usually brisk walk/explore for about 1 hour to 1.5 hours) are:

1. Not everyone who stays in a bungalow drive nice cars
2. Not everyone who drives a normal car stays in a small house
3. The fact that I've seen a few purple/police blue houses just goes to show how weird and irrational human beings are
4. Even though Shah Alam is a predominantly Malay area, a lot of the nice houses here belong to Chinese
5. The roads in Shah Alam, even in a VIP-dominated area, are pretty badly maintained (apparently, since PR took over)

I've also discovered that the police on patrol love to "rest" in their car on top of the hill where my house is located. While this is good news for me, I wonder if my neighbors are happy about it.

Other than this new hobby, I've intensified my existing hobby of reading. I read a lot. Maybe not as much as some of you, but definitely more than most. I buy an average of 3-5 books a month. Not only that, my subscription to Time, Fortune and Bloomberg BusinessWeek ensures that every week I'd have something new to read. I also pick up a lot of magazines off the shelf like Fast Company (GREAT MAGAZINE), Entrepreneur (not so great,but some nice ideas), INC. (soon to be GREAT MAGAZINE) and my regular fix of Top Gear Malaysia and Autocar Malaysia. So in a month I'd cover 3 books, 10 subscription magazines, 5 off-the-shelf magazines...and Off The Edge every week.

(I wouldn't even bother quantifying the newspaper, news website, blogs, sports reports that I read on a daily basis)

It has led me to wonder whether I'm suffering from information overload. It's so bad that sometimes I can't remember the title of the book I was reading (no worries, now reading The Game by Neil Strauss. Not for information, but to compare notes...hahahahaha).

The best thing about reading is that it opens up your mind to new possibilities. Which leads me to another NEW thing - a new business venture. I can't say what, I can't say who, I can't say when, I can't say how. I just want to make money. Now that is NOT new.

....