Stay the same

Personally, I adhere to the - if it's aint broken, don't fix it theory - at the risk of sounding boring and belying the constant improvement and changes that are so endorsed in the real/working world.

Never been one big on adventure, discovery or stepping out of comfort zone- once I developed a liking /familiarity for something/someone , I would gladly stick to it faithfully- be it authors, clothes,shoe labels, food or friends.

Back in primary/ secondary school when I was still quite an ardent fan of reading - there will be such elation when upon liking a first book , know that the author has many other books in his/her name. So no points for guessing who my first favourite author was - it gotta be Enid Blyton, what with her sheer volume of books/series. Then i lapped up Babysitter's club. A lil older I was enthralled by Jeffrey Archer, Agatha Christie, Magaret Atwood all with at least 5titles under their belts. It went to the point where I would read a book only if I see that there were many other books under the author's name. Either that or if they came recommended by friends/ papers or if they won some kind of awards. Same for songs. Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and even Britney Spears. Luther Vandross , Damien Rice and lately Jason Mraz. So it was disappointing that Daniel Powter's Bad Day was a one song wonder.

This applies for food or shoes or even toiletries.

I guess while discovering how good/nice something/someone is may be exciting and rewarding,high returns come with high risk -what with the efforts , thoughts invested in organic nurturing of interest/chemistry etc and that is not what I think I am willing /capable to invest or have the energy/time for.

Trying a new brand and not knowing how it would react/the side-effects/ the chance of disliking it /wasting time and most of all it/ he/she falling short of expectations and disappointment are hard to bear.

So the irony is that it's staring at me in the face right now in this foreign place- of trial and error,finding out new stuff, and most of all , building up relationships with new friends. While people have coax or try to convince me that I would change personality/ taste/have whole new circle of frens etc,I don't think I would honestly.
I think I am rusty ,too old for it and grudging. ...but well we'll see. Hopefully there will be one or two pleasant surprises along the way.


Anw - here's my current fave song from Jason Mraz which started with Pls Don't Tell Her--> I'm Yours and now this amongst others.

Taken for granted

Taking for granted- as cliche as it sounds, as much as I thought i haven't been -
i'm guilty as charged.

Anticipated/forseeable apprehension aside , its been mind boggling/ eye -opening/learning/ overwhelming to discover that:

- Opening the gates and finding where the catchets /locks are require more skills and strength than just a quick insertion of key- turn and push that was all i ever knew back at home
- Rinsing the mouth once I switched on the tap may not be the safest thing to do what with the dirty/grimy brownish water that flowed through for a good part of a minute.
-Wanton mee does not come with char siew nor vegetables - no fusion here
- Can't tell who's walking down the corridor as the peephole at the door is too high and there's no chairs to climb on to peer
- ATM keypads starts with 7-9 on the top instead of the bottom row
- Something needs to be bought before one can exit supermarket. There's not way to get out except through the cashier.


It's really in the smallest details that makes one familiar/comfortable in a place/environment most of which one is not even conscious of...I guess there's no way else i could have appreciated it till now