Maybe I've been late in this encounter for I've always tried to avoid travels to Thailand in thes e last two years due to the political situation there. But landing at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi airport for the first time since it opened wasn't an unpleasant experience at all. Despite all the negative news about how rushed the project was and all the problems that were supposed to have plagued this airport which the previous Thaksin government bull-dozed its way into launching wasn't apparent to me somehow. Perhaps I didn't spend that much time at the airport or perhaps those stories had more than a tinge of political salt and pepper added.
There was a lot more space than the old Don Muang International, and we didn't have to fly over a golf course worrying that an errant golf ball hit by an airforce general might choke up the engine on landing. Unfortunately all the space led to the bottleneck at the immigration counters.
The long immigration queues speak a lot about this country and, for that matter, any other I've visited, especially so after flying through Singapore where 20 minutes was all it took for me to get off the plane and onto a taxi after clearing immigration, collecting my bags and clearing customs.
A new feature at the immigration counter is a small, digital "web-cam-like" camera sitting up on a stand at the counter. A bit early I thought as there was still some months before the USA insists on biometric passports for all their visitors. Mine isn't biometric so there really wasn't any point in taking my photo and that of others. Surely Interpol will not have biometric info on their database yet for checking to. Maybe their officers don't trust their own eyes and prefer to compare our passport photos to the one they take with that little camera. Or perhaps that was one sure way they can print a "current" mug shot in the papers should one get onto the "wanted list". I can't help but wonder what happens to photos of those ladies who wear such heavy makeup that they themselves get a shock when they look at the mirror in the morning?
40 minutes later, I was out of the airport, having spent 30 minutes at immigration and another 10 minutes waiting for the bags. But that's a lot better than Kuala Lumpur where one has to spend anything from 20 to 40 minutes at immigration depending on your time of arrival, and another 20 to 30 minutes (regardless of how long you've spent at the immigration queues) waiting for your bags. I can only conclude that the KL International Airport must either have a complex and unique security screening system for all arriving bags, OR they're just not in the mood to get visitors out of their airport within a reasonably short time. But then again, Asian airports may already be the darlings for those who are used to long delays (whatever the reasons) at European and American airports.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
WEEKENDS - TOTAL RELAXATION OR NOT?
Everyone, or at least most of everyone I know, like weekends. It's time for them to totally switch off, not have to think about what they've been doing from Monday to Friday, and just do things differently. The same for vacations.
I remember a two week vacation I had many years ago. The vacation was enjoyable. Lots of snow. Lots of company and good food. But guess what? When I got back to work, I was faced with triple or quadruble the problems I would have had to face If I'd kept in touch during the so-called vacation.
Once I took a weekend off (Friday afternoon to Monday morning) to somewhere without internet and emails and my laptop. Sure enough, when I returned on Monday, it took the whole of that week to catch up on what I'd missed out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a workaholic. I like weekends and I like to have time ro relax, do things I didn't have time to do on weekdays, and catch up with friends. But I always like to keep in touch even on weekends.
It doesn't mean that I have to respond to that email or SMS I receive during the weekend. But keep tabs of everything even on a weekend will enable us to have a headstart when Monday morning breaks.
I'm not stressed. Possible just in control.
Having the information and choosing when to react and respond to that information is more soothing than a day on the beach only to come back and be totally stressed about what's fed to us via email or SMS. Besides, while I'm not working, there may be others who are working toward getting things organized for first thing Monday morning.
Imagine someone who needs to know if you can have a meeting with them on Monday morning? Would you rather hear about that on Saturday night, or would you rather wake up on Monday morning to find that someone has been kept in limbo for two days? Would you rather wake up on Monday morning knowing exactly what meetings you have to attend that morning, or have someone SMS you about an answer he/she is waiting for since Saturday?
Would you rather have a leisurely start to you Mondays, or go through an adrenalin rush once you wake up to rush to a meeting which you should have been well prepared for, had you checked your email or SMS on Saturday.
Most people are trying to shun the electronic age when it comes to weekends. They want to go back to the times before internet and SMSes. They want to have "convventional" weekends where your boss, colleagues, clientsl, and vendors can't communicate with you until Monday. That's passe, really. Antiquated. And unless we change our mindsets, we will find ourselves having to fight those who are more technologically savvy, eager to stay "on top" of what they need to do on Mondays and can enjoy their weekends thoroughly, knowing that they will be well prepared for their Monday mornings
Food fo thought, perhaps, for those of you who go by conventional expectations of your weekends?
I remember a two week vacation I had many years ago. The vacation was enjoyable. Lots of snow. Lots of company and good food. But guess what? When I got back to work, I was faced with triple or quadruble the problems I would have had to face If I'd kept in touch during the so-called vacation.
Once I took a weekend off (Friday afternoon to Monday morning) to somewhere without internet and emails and my laptop. Sure enough, when I returned on Monday, it took the whole of that week to catch up on what I'd missed out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a workaholic. I like weekends and I like to have time ro relax, do things I didn't have time to do on weekdays, and catch up with friends. But I always like to keep in touch even on weekends.
It doesn't mean that I have to respond to that email or SMS I receive during the weekend. But keep tabs of everything even on a weekend will enable us to have a headstart when Monday morning breaks.
I'm not stressed. Possible just in control.
Having the information and choosing when to react and respond to that information is more soothing than a day on the beach only to come back and be totally stressed about what's fed to us via email or SMS. Besides, while I'm not working, there may be others who are working toward getting things organized for first thing Monday morning.
Imagine someone who needs to know if you can have a meeting with them on Monday morning? Would you rather hear about that on Saturday night, or would you rather wake up on Monday morning to find that someone has been kept in limbo for two days? Would you rather wake up on Monday morning knowing exactly what meetings you have to attend that morning, or have someone SMS you about an answer he/she is waiting for since Saturday?
Would you rather have a leisurely start to you Mondays, or go through an adrenalin rush once you wake up to rush to a meeting which you should have been well prepared for, had you checked your email or SMS on Saturday.
Most people are trying to shun the electronic age when it comes to weekends. They want to go back to the times before internet and SMSes. They want to have "convventional" weekends where your boss, colleagues, clientsl, and vendors can't communicate with you until Monday. That's passe, really. Antiquated. And unless we change our mindsets, we will find ourselves having to fight those who are more technologically savvy, eager to stay "on top" of what they need to do on Mondays and can enjoy their weekends thoroughly, knowing that they will be well prepared for their Monday mornings
Food fo thought, perhaps, for those of you who go by conventional expectations of your weekends?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
DEALING WITH EGOISTS
What happens when someone feels that whatever you do is suspect, unless they are involved; unless they see things in the same light?
Be it your colleague, your boss (what we normally call a control freak), or a member of your family who thinks -- and believes -- that he/she is better than you are in whatever you're doing?
It's really a waste of time, but something which we have to accept, accommodate or even appease (perhaps its the "devil" in them which we have to appease).
The thing I keep telling myself when faced with situations like these is to stick to my guns, stick to my principles, yet accord a certain amount of room for each to maneuver (for the sake of face saving, as the Chinese and perhaps even the Javanese call it); for breaking or upsetting that "balance" will certainly result in more dire and often unpredictable consequences.
But why do people need to impose upon others? Why do people have to "question" others' actions and intentions when they have no clue as to the reasons behind them? If it isn't the devil in one pushing one toward egoistical boundaries, then the sun must rise from the West.
Very often, these people don't wish to listen or think about reasons too.
I deal with people like that each day. And I'm sure you do. Honestly I don't have any solutions to offer, other than to play the game, remain patient, or pretend to remain patient, and move on. There's no sense in stressing oneself, I thought; for these people are beyond reason and cannot be treated as rational people.
When they are your colleagues, your boss, your family, more complications set in; for you will have to deal with them day in and day out. Nevertheless, as long as we realize and remember that they are not the ones who will bring about the end of this world, they are not the ones who will make or break our futures (for our futures will always be in our own hands), and that they are not the ones will make the world go round, we are in a good position to move ahead.
Life is always about moving ahead. A friend of mine refers to obstacles as "minor irritations" or "minor hurdles" which are a part and parcel of everyone's lives. So be it.
The next time you have to deal with an egoist or whatever you choose to call him/her, just remember that you're not alone.
Be it your colleague, your boss (what we normally call a control freak), or a member of your family who thinks -- and believes -- that he/she is better than you are in whatever you're doing?
It's really a waste of time, but something which we have to accept, accommodate or even appease (perhaps its the "devil" in them which we have to appease).
The thing I keep telling myself when faced with situations like these is to stick to my guns, stick to my principles, yet accord a certain amount of room for each to maneuver (for the sake of face saving, as the Chinese and perhaps even the Javanese call it); for breaking or upsetting that "balance" will certainly result in more dire and often unpredictable consequences.
But why do people need to impose upon others? Why do people have to "question" others' actions and intentions when they have no clue as to the reasons behind them? If it isn't the devil in one pushing one toward egoistical boundaries, then the sun must rise from the West.
Very often, these people don't wish to listen or think about reasons too.
I deal with people like that each day. And I'm sure you do. Honestly I don't have any solutions to offer, other than to play the game, remain patient, or pretend to remain patient, and move on. There's no sense in stressing oneself, I thought; for these people are beyond reason and cannot be treated as rational people.
When they are your colleagues, your boss, your family, more complications set in; for you will have to deal with them day in and day out. Nevertheless, as long as we realize and remember that they are not the ones who will bring about the end of this world, they are not the ones who will make or break our futures (for our futures will always be in our own hands), and that they are not the ones will make the world go round, we are in a good position to move ahead.
Life is always about moving ahead. A friend of mine refers to obstacles as "minor irritations" or "minor hurdles" which are a part and parcel of everyone's lives. So be it.
The next time you have to deal with an egoist or whatever you choose to call him/her, just remember that you're not alone.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
DO WE HAVE REGRETS IN OUR LIVES
A friend of mine asked if I've ever had regrets in my life. I told her, of course we all have our regrets. But the path I chose was to decide on something, make a commitment to that decision and not look back. Tiger Woods will probably tell you the same thing for that's the basic thing any golfer has to do between 60 to 100+ times in an 18-hole round.
The important thing, I said, was to tell oneself that - based on the circumstances, information and all the other parameters known to us at the time of the decision - we have made the best decision. Be it having to minimize casualties (like military commanders do), or limiting the damage etc. We all make decisions based on parameters. There is really no right nor wrong. The difference is whether we commit to that decision or we don't.
Committing on a decision - my version of not looking back - enables us to explore all possibilities that decision can yield, be they good or bad. But then again, what is good or bad is really relative. If we hadn't been through the bad, how would we know what is good? And vice versa.
Most of the time, we humans - I'm guilty of that too - are too concerned and often take too seriously of what others say of our decisions. "You shouldn't have done that!" "If only you'd done that". The people who say these things don't go through the same things we do when we make those decisions. That's why I always like saying "if I were in your shoes, I would have done this or that". But I was not in their shoes.
By committing on a decision made and giving our best to it, we are giving ourselves the best available chance of the desired ends. The alternative is to commit and make a half hearted effort to the decision because we're not sure if that is the right or wrong decision. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or nuclear physicist to figure that one out.
So the next time you're not sure as to whether you've made the right decision, tell yourself its too late as you've already made that decision. Tell yourself that your best way out is to commit to that decision and do your best to move toward the desired end. Indecisiveness should, by definition, happen BEFORE, a decision; not after one is made.
Monday, June 2, 2008
LIFE - WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
This goes out to my siblings, friends and all those who may have encountered obstacles, uncertainties and situations of role conflicts in their lives.
We will all reach a certain time in our lives when we ponder about what life is and what it has to offer. Whether you're near retirement, or just crossing your "mid-lives", or in a dilemma as to what next to do in your lives, believe me, these thoughts will hit you in one way or another.
We can live the rest of lives as bitter, "old" folks; bitching about all the sacrifices we've had to make and hardships we’ve been made to endure.
OR, we can look back at the hard work we've put in, and all the struggles and achievements we’ve made in the process of living, relish those thoughts, and reminisce about all we’ve been through.
The choice is ours to make.
I will never forget the torments my mom went through in her twilight years in trying to come to terms with what and who she is, the ramifications of the choices she had made in her life, and what she had to live with and live through.
I don’t intend to follow that path, nor would I recommend that to any one of you.
Our lives are within our control. We can choose which way, how, and under what circumstances we want to live the rest of our lives.
There is no right or wrong. It’s what we want that matters.
So the next time you feel lost, or at a lost as to how to make the next move, think about all the other people who have breathed their last breaths in happiness and contentment, and also all those poor souls who gasps for those last breaths in fear and anxiety.
We should all live a better life. The choice is yours to make.
We will all reach a certain time in our lives when we ponder about what life is and what it has to offer. Whether you're near retirement, or just crossing your "mid-lives", or in a dilemma as to what next to do in your lives, believe me, these thoughts will hit you in one way or another.
We can live the rest of lives as bitter, "old" folks; bitching about all the sacrifices we've had to make and hardships we’ve been made to endure.
OR, we can look back at the hard work we've put in, and all the struggles and achievements we’ve made in the process of living, relish those thoughts, and reminisce about all we’ve been through.
The choice is ours to make.
I will never forget the torments my mom went through in her twilight years in trying to come to terms with what and who she is, the ramifications of the choices she had made in her life, and what she had to live with and live through.
I don’t intend to follow that path, nor would I recommend that to any one of you.
Our lives are within our control. We can choose which way, how, and under what circumstances we want to live the rest of our lives.
There is no right or wrong. It’s what we want that matters.
So the next time you feel lost, or at a lost as to how to make the next move, think about all the other people who have breathed their last breaths in happiness and contentment, and also all those poor souls who gasps for those last breaths in fear and anxiety.
We should all live a better life. The choice is yours to make.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
PROMISES WE MAKE
We all have made promises in our lives. And we would all have counted the number of promises we delivered. But have we counted the COSTS of delivering on those promises? By costs, I do not mean physical monetary costs, but all that would have cost us, physically and mentally, tangible and intangible.
Keeping promises can mean mental anguish, heart aches and head aches. Promising to remain patient and tolerant with people can be one such example. The more patient we are, the more we seem to be taken advantage of. Silence and tolerance become interpreted as weaknesses by the "predator" who becomes emboldened in his or her ways, especially if this predator is someone within your family.
By being patient, I was hoping that the person receiving the kindness will improve on his or her ways. I was also hoping that the show of patience will touch the person so much so that he or she will realize the mistakes made and seriously attempt to reform. But each time, I will be disappointed. And each year which passes brings about more disappointments.
Thoughts of reneging on that promise I made crossed my mind several times over the years for I am just as human too. Humans succumb to pain and disappointment, and the natural reaction will be to say "to hell with the affliction". But when my better senses came back, I reminded myself again of that promise and was able to come to terms with the situation.
Perhaps when I draw my last breath, I will be able to feel that sense of relief in having honoured my promise to that someone so dear to me. But by then, would it have mattered?
Keeping promises can mean mental anguish, heart aches and head aches. Promising to remain patient and tolerant with people can be one such example. The more patient we are, the more we seem to be taken advantage of. Silence and tolerance become interpreted as weaknesses by the "predator" who becomes emboldened in his or her ways, especially if this predator is someone within your family.
By being patient, I was hoping that the person receiving the kindness will improve on his or her ways. I was also hoping that the show of patience will touch the person so much so that he or she will realize the mistakes made and seriously attempt to reform. But each time, I will be disappointed. And each year which passes brings about more disappointments.
Thoughts of reneging on that promise I made crossed my mind several times over the years for I am just as human too. Humans succumb to pain and disappointment, and the natural reaction will be to say "to hell with the affliction". But when my better senses came back, I reminded myself again of that promise and was able to come to terms with the situation.
Perhaps when I draw my last breath, I will be able to feel that sense of relief in having honoured my promise to that someone so dear to me. But by then, would it have mattered?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)