Love thy Neighbours

The headline - "Mark Zuckerberg Sounds Like the Neighbor From Hell" immediately reminds me of my neighbours. A story that I must shared.

Mark Zuckerberg as a neighbour

Thank you. Photo: Andrew Ross, Andrew Ross, SF Chronicle.

As for Mark Zuckerberg's neighbours, I can understand and sympathies with them. Home is our sanctuary, our nest. Once we are in our home, it's supposed to exude this feeling of peace and quietness. Close your eyes and reminisce how it felt the peace and quiet. Doesn't matter that our teenage kids want to blast his rock music to the highest as long it's within the confines of his room and it doesn't disturb the neighbours.

The constant drilling, the constant banging is a noise that many can't take especially when it's over a period of hours, after hours and days after days. Not to mention the dust that they renovation are creating around the neighbourhood. To have your windows, doors, grills, all wax with layer of dust within the next hour after you had wiped it off.

However, I am writing this 'Love thy Neighbours' is because of another story that I like to share with all of you.

Along my street, I had these two neighbours that are in loggerheads for past few years already. Before I go into the full story, a non-Malaysian has to understand the concept of a linked-house, as some countries don't call it linked-house. It means the houses are linked side by side without any space in between. Hence a row of 10 houses would be linked to each other without any empty side space in-between each houses. The only leisure empty space outside of the house is the front car porch and the back yard where one can plant trees, shrubs and flowers.

These quarrels must have escalated to 'enemy' stage as one of the neighbour has installed ply wood wall on his side of the house at the front car porch area so that he don't need to ever see his neighbour. I think most of you can imagine how ugly this looks to the street in this neighbourhood.

Upon investigating, I was told that the neighbour "A" that installed this ply wood wall apparently has this obsession that neighbour "B" is always following him in whatever he does. When he paints his house purple, she paints hers too. When he changed his car, she changes hers too. And it even comes to the point that when he drives out from the 'sharing' parking space, she would drive back all the way from wherever she is, just to take over that parking lot by parking her spare car there!

So how does one deal with a neighbour like this? Who can be a judge to say is it really that neighbour "B" wants to be the Joneses or is neighbour "A" imagining all these?

I am yet to see what will happen next. I just need to write this after reading a man like "Mark Zurkerberg" also behaves like that!

How about sharing your neighbour's story?

Time Flies

I said this same sentence as everyone else, ‘time flies’. The last quarter of 2014, I was busy with preparation for my daughter’s wedding.

The start of new 2015 was another busy month for me. I spent the whole of January, busy tidying up all that happened during that last quarter. Indulged in a bit of rest and relaxation of spa and massages.

And wow….it’s now February 9th! One month plus has passed in 2015! (That was until I accidentally deleted this post and I am reposting this at the end of 1st quarter now!) So again, isn’t it right to say ‘time flies!’

I had neglected this blog and as I sat down to write, I truly salute friends that can write regularly on their blog as well as managing their career, family, and not to mention the endless chores.

As I now recollect all that I have done in 2014, I would sum it up as a year that I indulged and binged on my favorites – travel, TV shows, and food.

I traveled to Bangalore in March and stayed in a Tibetian Monastery, which I didn’t know it existed until my trip. It was spiritual and enlightening. Thank you for my spiritual friend from Mahabodhi, Leh, Ladakh.

I went to Paris in June with a good friend. Two of us were just nice. From Paris we enroute to Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Cannes. I definitely vouched for BnB anytime versus staying in hotel in this kind of exotic trip. And I finally made a trip to Versailles; the French history is so rich and fascinating. A visit to Monet’s garden was simply inspiring. Now I know where he got his motivation.

Turkey was a historical trip in October with another group of great buddies. I immersed myself in the rich history of Pamukkale, Canakkale, Cappadocia, Konya, Kusadasi, Safranbolu and Istanbul of course.

I even did a ‘round the North part of Malaysia’ drive. It was a great experience, driving to Penang and crossing from the West to the East to Terengganu via the Grik Highway and staying overnight at this lovely Belum Rainforest Resort with wonderful buddies.

And that’s not to mention my annual destination to Phuket twice and to YTL Pangkor Laut.

I finally got to binge on all those popular TV series - The Sopranos, Scandal, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, The Reign, Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy and the new Season 4 of the American Horror Story. I even watched again the whole series of 24 and reminisced in the old Dallas TV series. In fact, I finished all the episodes in every season that are released.

I suppose it’s time that I read which I had neglected.

On my children, both my daughters changed to new job whilst am still jobless. And the eldest daughter finally married.

My son’s graduated from High School and is now applying to his preferred Universities. Everyday I pray for good luck in him being accepted into his choice of University.

It’s a blessing that I had also being spending a lot of time with my aging mom & aunties and also my siblings. I enjoyed every moment that I had with them. From just chatting to outings with each other.

Oh, of course, I continue to do my part in charity as and when I can. From participating in raising funs in charity fairs to cooking and distributing food to the homeless.

I also continued writing in my blog and started a new novel via a new app ‘wattpad’. I suppose next now is to continue with my novel.

In parting till the next blog, I would say a big THANK YOU for a wonderful 2014. I had a wonderful and a blessed 2014 and I hope 2015 will continue the same and even better. And to all my fans, friends, families and all, I wish you all the same - a great 2015 for us all.