Eat. Pray. Love or Drink. Hate. Work.

Yes, it's the ghost of blogster past. :)

Four years! Four years since my last post - I am suppose to be 'soaking-in life's colours' while everyone else gets caught-up in the rat race! But I guess thats why they also warn not to say 'never'.

Watching the movie Eat. Pray. Love. last year, was the first time I realised how far off-track I had come.

"Perfect! Getting a job doing PR & Events, it's practically getting paid to have fun!"

Oh how I would love to meet the me of 2008. I would slap myself out of the clouds, and anchor my ankles to the ground, before saying "Don't be a silly little girl. If life was that easy this earth would be called heaven."

Though, as I'm writing this, I hear the faint voice of my heart, desperately trying to be heard over the noise of my practical mind, "Was that so wrong? To want more out of life than just stepping onto a wheel every day, running and running, but never really going anywhere?"

I read a really apt comic strip today (just the flame I needed to spark my writing again)

If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.

When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day.

Now, how true is that? When was the last time any of us, bothered to spend longer than a few seconds, just to sit and look at the stars? (and no, the recent lunar eclipse does not count - well actually, I take that back, it is certainly better then nothing, so good on you!)

This brings me back to the time, my father and I would sit out in the garden at night, with a map of the constellation spread out in front of us, as he taught me how to read the stars - just remembering that moment gives me such serenity.

But I've forgotten how to read the stars, as have I forgotten that the 2008 version of me wanted more important things for us at present. I got sucked into the race, and I've gone so far along that pulling out now is going to be difficult.

The longer I stayed in the race, the more lucrative offers became - its true when they say the Devil seduces you with material wealth and then offers to accept your soul as payment. My Devil was my own greed, my pride - my self, and I am a hair short of selling my soul.

My wheel circles around work, drinks, chores, sleep, and then back to work. With events practically every other week, (and sometimes weekends too!) socialising and play time have been confined to the parameters of work. My partner and I? We see each other, for all of 2 hours before bed (if we're lucky), and a couple of minutes in the morning before we both get on with our respective races.

With fourteen days of annual leave allocated, I maintain my sanity through travel. Once a year, for two weeks, I liberate my soul and then I come back to life with renewed zest, juiced-up, armed and ready with new ideas - for all of two months. Then reality kicks in and sucks me dry, leaving me drained and uninspired, and the vicious cycle begins once again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying let's quit our jobs and live like cave men again.

What I am saying is, let's stop this race, let's walk to our jobs and let us not allow it to take precedence over everything else. Let's stop and smell the roses. (heck I don't even smell my coffee anymore, and lord knows I love the smell of a good roast!) Let's converse with one another, not talk to each other, lets listen to one another and not just hear each other out.

Easier said than done, I know. As it is, the slow ones get left behind, so if we opt to quit the race altogether, what will we have to live on? That condo will no longer be an option, and you might have to consider replacing your car with a less fancy one, you'll probably have to spend thriftily; luxuries will go back to being exactly that - a luxury.

If you ask me, thats no way to live either. If there is one thing that still keeps us going in this city of devils, is the wealth that comes with it. I fear without that, we will be had for breakfast.

So that leaves us with, oh right - nothing. It only brings us back to square one, and the reason why the 2008 version of me is but a faint distant memory. I have thought this topic through so many times, but have never found an easy solution to maintaining the balance of working in the city without getting to caught up in the race.

I hava half a mind to pack-up and ship-out to the country side. Yes, I will probably suffer a drastic pay cut and yes, certain luxuries will now become scant - but with careful financial management and all the spare time in the world, I would probably be living a better quality of life, one that is enriched with stories you can tell your children, and your children's children.

I don't claim to have any answers, nor a guarantee that one lifestyle would work better than the other. This is just my thoughts penned to paper as a form of expression and forum for discussion.

I leave you with a song that I often listen to, just to remind me that I'm not alone in thinking these thoughts, and hopefully this will help someone else in like manner.

Retro Night @ Telawi Street Bistro

T'was, a Thursday afternoon, seating in the office right after lunch, and struggling desperately to keep my eyes open. This is what I've become. Old before my time. All I do is sleep, work, eat and bum around at home between these three main activities. Had I really lost all colour in my life? Was I really to grow to be the exact person I always told myself I would never be - dull and ultimately boring? Arrghh!!

Well that was about when my phone started to buzz - a text was coming through;
"Re-live the 70s with DJ Jay tonight, 10.30pm at Telawi Street Bistro. Come in your funkiest outfits and receive a cocktail FREE! Call 03 22843168 for more info."
How cliché. I guess my whole life is a cliché come to think about it.

But thats pretty much when, I decided I was going to throw on some colour, practice my hustle and hit the dance floors that Thursday night. I was in Telawi Street Bistro at aproximately 10.30pm (+/-) and already the place was so lively. There's just something about us and all things retro that just kicks us right in the derrière. I was almost instantly bobbing my head and swaying my body, when there weren't that many people present yet. But nobody that was there cared, everyone was bobbing and swaying just like I was. Not a care in the world, reminiscing the good old days, all social walls brought down temporarily. (Note:operative word being temporarily)

Cute. The staff of Telawi Street Bistro were all decked in a funky 'fro' and aviator shades. Really cute. And they were pretty enthusiastic about the event too, which is refreshing considering the fact that most others would've done it just for the sake of complying with the job requisition.

DJ Jay started spinning his evergreen mixes from the 70's and the crowd trickled on to the dance floor. I just loved the atmosphere that night. More than just another night out dancing, this was more magical. Everyone knew the words to almost every song, and we were all singing out loud in unison! It must've looked like a big reunion to those who didn't know better.

Everybody eventually got their grove on, and we were all just rocking it up at TSB. It didn't matter if you were on the dance floor or not - if you knew the song and you felt like dancing you just when ahead and did exactly that. I had to take five, and headed for the ladies. Half way through they started playing Eurythmic's - Sweet Dreams, and I just went berserk right in front of the mirror! Another one of the crowd's favourite that night was September by Earth, Wind & Fire.

This is definitely a night to re-visit. I almost can't wait for Thursday to come. Bring on them bell bottoms!

illy caffè : the ultimate pick-me-up

Are you the kind of person that needs that perfect cup of coffee first thing in the morning?

I know I am. Sometimes, that first cup of coffee, can determine the tone of my day. So you can imagine, paying for coffee that's burnt, too frothy, or just discomforting - especially on a black Monday!

Well, that was before I discovered illy, a brand of coffee produced in Trieste, Italy, that has finally found it's way onto the Malaysian market. By golly! To think that all these years, we have been missing out on this fine Italian coffee experience. Time to catch up now.

Working in Bangsar, illycaffè is very easily accessible, as the La Bodega chain of outlets serves you more than just a cup of illy coffee, but the whole Italian experience along with it. I have my illy, flat white every morning at La Bodega Deli, before stepping into the ruckus that is work.

This was my experience with my illy:

The minute I stepped into the Deli (La Bodega Deli), I was almost instantly hit by the soothing aroma of the exotic coffee being brewed by the barista. I couldn't help but lap-up the smells, ignoring the fact that I may have looked like a fool at that moment. I could almost taste it on my tongue, and as if agreeing with me, my tummy growled softly. I swirled around to face the waiter ushering me in, and asked him what the barrista was brewing (all this while trying my level best to contain the liquids in my watering mouth from sipping out - which would have ultimately proven my earlier feeling of foolishness). He smiled and said, 'Ah, that is our very special illycaffè - from Italy - would you like to try it? -' 'Yes!' was my answer, cutting him off almost too excitedly. I love the traditional latte, and ordered for it, and thats when he introduced me to flat white, a stronger, less frothy version of the latte.Why not? It was a day for new things. My flat white came to me smelling divine, melting away every biting thought and worry, filling-in all the empty spaces. I just remained that way - head bent over cup - soaking-in every minute of comfort and resilience I could get from it. (I must have looked like I was nursing a hangover) Then, I picked up the brilliant coffee masterpiece, and brought it (quite slowly I must add) closer to my already flooding mouth. Oooohhh... Nothing can describe what I felt at that precise moment when illy coffee hit my palate, tantalizing every taste bud... Pow! bitter...Pow! sweet.. Pow! a slight creaminess.. Pow! Pow! Pow! just taste after taste, erupting almost all at once, and then almost immediately again, blending into each other so smoothly as it trickled down my throat, leaving my tongue lapping for more... Whoa! It's no wonder people are starting to classify coffee as an aphrodisiac.

The waiters must have seen the satisfaction on my face, because just before I left they told me where I could find illy heaven right here in KL. Oh yes, you read it right. Apparently, the new mall called Pavilion Kuala Lumpur in Bukit Bintang (Star Hill) has an illy coffeehouse called espressamente illy. The very first of it's kind from Italy, to arrive on Malaysian shores. And the bar is filled with the works; caffè fredo, caffè caldo, affogato, gelato, biscotti, and even caffè corretto and other alcoholic coffee beverages. Plus, these beverages are complimented with an exciting food menu offering an array of ala carte items from sandwiches to pastas!
All thats left for me to say is... Starwhat?