Beauty and the Beast

I was cleaning up my room yesterday and I found this storybook "Beauty & the Beast" that I really loved when I was small. I still remember I used to read over and over again, day and night. But that was more than 15 years ago since I last opened the book...

 

I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories, fairytale stories. The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with — nothing brings it all to life like a fairytale storybook you believed in.

And so, to re-live my childhood moment, to escape from the pain in an existence mundane, I opened the book once again and somehow, this time the feeling is entirely conflicting with what used to be just a storybook. It's like telling me a story in a whole different perspective.

Beauty and the Beast symbolizes "Love and Redemption". The hero of this story, Beast was originally born as a prince. But an evil witch cursed him into a beast because he was selfish, arrogant and egotistical, blinded by the good life he once had. The turning point in this story is when the Beast is awakened from the deep sleep of despair and turns to the state of a prince in the twinkling of an eye.

It is Beauty who transformed the Beast to a “New Being” in the presence of her love. In others words, the love of Beauty made the animal Beast evolve into a real human being. Love is the divine gift from God that leads human beings to the living existence from solitary existence. Love is the power of salvation that awakes human life from eternal death.

But how does this story apply to us in life? Or rather, how has this story changed my perspective, my stubbornness in certain aspects of my life?

Before I continue, let me quote Drew Barrymore. She said, "Everyone is like a butterfly, they start out ugly and awkward and then morph into beautiful, graceful butterflies that everyone loves."

We all had a past, ugly or not, just like Beast. Everyone has a secrets they don't want to share. We made a lot mistakes along the way, hurt people we loved. But what is important is, we also have a future. For this I would like to quote Oscar Wilde, "every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." What's most important is learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us

In the story, Beast conceals himself inside his castle, ashamed of his new appearance. Just like many of us, we are accustomed to not moving, to move was to feel pain. By isolating ourselves, we could avoid confrontation, conflict and hostilities. Sleeping was usually the escape. But do you know, freedom is found not by sleeping or running away, but by choosing to be awake and staying here long enough for the magic doors to open.

In such adversity, Beauty found Beast. He comes to appreciate and love Beauty through the days they lived together in the castle. The kindness and sincerity that Beauty showed Beast eventually opens the door for him to fall in love. I once loved a guy, in fact I still do, very much. During his dark, lonely period, I showed him love. He was afraid to admit his love initially, probably afraid of getting hurt. He was skeptical of my love to him but with kindness and sincerity, he admitted that he was in love with me. Our feeling was true, it was mutual.

And then, there is this part in the story where Beauty asked if she could leave Beast to tend to her sick father. Placing his happiness before her own, Beast releases her, not knowing if Beauty will ever return to his arms. Such situation happens to many of us. They say, "if you love someone, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were..."

This quote is speaking of the most fundamental rule of the universe. Love isn’t owned and cannot be taken. It can only be given. This is probably the scariest of all the quotes, from a practical standpoint. Who wants to take a chance at losing someone they love? But, as the quote says, if they don’t come back, it wasn’t meant to be. So by not taking that leap of faith and turning them lose, you may end up pouring a lot of time and effort into a relationship that is destined to fail. And that hurts a lot more.

And the best part of this meaningful story is that, Beauty eventually returns to Beast because she finally understand her true feeling. She loves Beast. You see, when she was confined in the castle, she didn't want to marry Beast despite his grand proposal. But when Beast set her free, she returned and is clear that Beast is the only one that she ever wants to be with.

What a fascinating story, full of meanings and life lessons that we can relate to, eh? And the bonus is, the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack can also move you to tears if you can relate to it. To me, it was this line that struck me because... it is something that I can relate to :) Enjoy!

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
 Learning you were wrong

Shoes Make a "Happily Ever After" Difference

First there was Cinderella, then there was Carrie Bradshaw. Yes, buying a pair of shoes, for women, has always had near-supernatural effects... like instantly transformed an outfit from last year or just making you feel hotter than hell and what's more, on a wedding day!

Wishlist: Christian Louboutin for Marchesa

There are so many things for a bride to be thinking of when it comes to the big day. Some things are obviously more important than the others and should be treated as such. For instance, the wedding dress is one of the most important aspects of the day for most brides. But just how important are the shoes? Does anyone actually notice them? Is the bride going to take it off at some point during the reception in order to dance with her other half?

I don't know, I have been thinking about it after helping out on a project that my colleague is working on, that is related to wedding shoes. What do you think? Is it important to invest on a particular pair of wedding shoes or any heels that you can find at Vincci, Charles and Keith, are just as good? It's not like I'm getting married soon but I'm just wondering. How many of us would actually spend for a custom made wedding shoes?

Stay tuned to find out what exactly El Sen and I did to help my colleague in her project that involves wedding shoes!

Tribute to Odin, the Siberian Husky

Just a little something in loving memory of Odin.

Also, we would like to use this opportunity to thank all of our family and friends for your kind concern, supportive words throughout this period of grief.

We have received a lot of messages and some have asked if we would like to adopt a new companion. Some even offered to get us a dog. We really appreciate the thoughts but at the moment, we are still grieving and Odin's images are still very vivid in our minds. We think it wouldn't be fair to the new dog.

Perhaps one day, just maybe in the future, we might be able to love a dog as great as Odin again. But not today, at least not tomorrow. Time will tell.

Thanks again everyone...

Odin, the Siberian Husky: The King who Ruled Our Hearts

By Teoh El Sen

Odin is gone. He is no more.

He quietly slipped away from us at about 5pm on the 14th of May 2013.

This guy was more than just a six-month-old dog. He was our dog. Our companion. Our best friend. He was our very own Siberian Husky who came to us quite unexpectedly in black-and-white bundle of furry joy and naughtiness some five months ago.

And he was so small! When we first cradled that little creature in our chests like a baby we never had, he was tiny and light. He was just the size of a palm plus one or two but, boy, was he active!

Put the fella down on the floor and he would start to sniff and explore every nook and cranny. He would bite at every new toy... regardless of whether it was really a toy or not. He never stopped being a curious dog till the day he left.

Odin was everything I never thought I would have. I never knew I could love a dog, being a 'cat person', so much. But we just loved him to bits, and we regret today for not doing so much more for him.

Even as we loved him, in his every move and gesture, he showed that he loved us back, without any apparent conditions.

> We loved him when he tugged at towels and carpets and ran round and round in circles.
> We loved him when he slept with his quickened breathing, sometimes on our hands and legs.
> We loved him when he peed and poo-ed everywhere and anywhere and especially the wrongest places.
> We loved him when he had diarhea for so long and it was always a mess. We loved him when he got better and his poo poo was good!
> We loved him the first time he lost his tooth, the first time he howled, the first time he did anything. Oh we loved him.
> We loved that he was so friendly and only playfully bites owners who try to annoy him too much.
> We loved him when he broke the vases, chewed up flowers and when he chased after the birds.

When he ngaws and chews and destroy the pots and stuff and furnitures and anything he got his paws on, it was actually always kinda funny and cute to see his naughty innocent face staring at you like saying "what?" when we get home to witness another disaster. We loved him throughout all the time we spent with him and I just cant for the life of me even jot down all the memories I have with him eventhough I want to.

We loved him when he walked and ran with us... boy did he love to sprint! I guess we'll never see if he can pull a cart or race with us on our roller-skates.

All these idosyncrasies of this little boy, who later grew up so much bigger and handsomer, endeared us to Odin. But there's more.

Odin changed our lives.

In so many ways I grew and became a better person because of him. I learnt to be more responsible when I am in charge of another's wellbeing.

I believe Odin the teacher, like no other human teacher, also passed down some of these teachings:

• Always finish your food!
• Patience is a good!
• Good habits and good discipline leads to good stuff!
• If you do something you do it with all your heart and mind and soul!
• Do eat your heart out but exercise too!
• Always live life to the fullest: always stay happy, always be curious and you will sniff and discover new things, run like the wind when the time comes
• Howl when you really need help

Although his was a short life that never reached its completion... these short months have made our lives so much richer and fuller. Odin, with his tiny 'angel wings' on his back, had always been our guardian angel. He was a champ even without winning any medals. He was the best dog one could ever have...

I will miss you so much. Goodbye Odin. You will be greatly missed.

Odin, Please Get Well Soon

People who know me well, would know that I have a husky and I love him to bits. We brought Odin home when he was only 2 months old and that was last Christmas. No doubt, he is the best Christmas gift I have ever received and I thank God for bringing Odin into my life because my life was never the same again. I'm better, healthier, happier as a person with Odin.

From a couch potato to someone who would wake up at 9am in the morning just to walk him. From a workaholic to someone who would leave office 5:30pm sharp just to go home in time to walk and feed him. It's such a joy to explore new things with him together, watching him sniff around, meet new people, make friends with new dogs. I never thought I could be so attached, physically and emotionally to a dog until I have Odin.

Seriously, I don't know what I have done to deserve Odin. He is such a good boy, obedient, smart and affectionate. Every single person we met, the vet, passerby, dog trainer, friends, would say Odin is such a calm, gentle dog and not to mention, he is super handsome too! 

Previously, I have heard so many people telling me 101 bad things about husky, that they can't live without aircond, that they are not guard dog, that they are destroyer and what do these people really know? Are you even a dog expert to begin with? Have you owned a husky before? Have you lived with a husky before? If not, please just keep your mouth shut.

If you say husky is not a guard dog. Yes, they don't bark like mad dog when strangers enter the house because they are friendly in nature but let me tell you this, Odin once snapped when he thought the new guard outside my house wanted to attack me when he lift up his chair. The next day, the guard told El Sen he was so scared when Odin snapped at him. You see, when attacked, he is ready and able to defend himself, and can handle the aggressor with dispatch. 

If you say husky is a destroyer, it really depends on how you train your dog. Just watch Cesar Millan's show. Are all the problematic dogs in the show of Siberian Husky breed? There are many other problematic dogs of different breeds too. Just like a child, if not properly teach and guide, the child will misbehave too. Please don't jump into conclusion when you barely know anything about dogs. I grow up with dogs - I lived with Rottweilers, Shih Tzu and strays in the past and I can tell you that, Odin, the Siberian Husky is one of the most amazing dogs that I have ever seen.

And now, Odin is sick... I feel so useless that I can't even protect and take good care of something so dear and important to me. Vet said his condition is quite critical as his liver is badly damaged due to toxins. The blood test result didn't look good but the vet was surprised to see Odin is still being alert and responsive. Before I went in to visit him today, I told myself not to cry in front of him as I want him to be positive but I failed, I'm such a failure. When I look at Odin, I can see that his eyes got teary too. It's so sad to see him lying down like that. How can I let such awful thing happened to him? It's my fault, really my fault...

I called a few good friends of mine to calm myself down, to ease the pain I'm feeling inside. All of them told me that Odin needs me now, to support him, to cheer for him, to motivate him. So I went to Odin again and talked to him. I tried to sound as cheerful as I can and I promised Odin, if he gets better and come home with me, I'll fulfill the following:

• Adding "extras" into his meal (BARF diet)
• I will bring him to swim and play with other dogs here http://my.shop.88db.com/wooffurry/
• When I moved to new house, I'll let him stay inside the house and sleep with us.
• When I moved to new house, I'll adopt a stray to be his best friend so that he won't feel lonely when we leave him for work..
• I'll spend more time with him, walk him and play with him.
  

I love you Odin. I would give up my career, all my money, just to see you healthy again. I don't know if God really exists because all I know if you want something, you have to work hard for it but this time, I pray to you God. Please help and bless Odin. I'm willing to shorten 10 years of my life to see Odin healthy again, if that's what it takes. Please... we still have so much to explore, so many things to see and a long journey together.

I want you to be at our wedding, I want you to welcome the birth of our first child and be his/her guardian, I want you to be part of our family and I want you to walk this journey together with us.

To me, you are not just a dog as what some people might put it. To me, you are my best friend, my family and it's still too early for you to leave us, Odin. So, Odin, please be strong and get well soon. Remember, you are Odin, the king, the ruler of Asgard!   

 

P/S: A big thanks to Dr. Goh of Gasing Veterinary Hospital. Thanks for your patience, expertise and professionalism. I have not met a vet as good as you    

My Political Awakening

Well, the thing is, I've got tons of work to do tonight: Press release, media invite, briefing book and the list goes on.

Yes, all to be completed tonight but I thought I’ll just take a break from all this madness to voice out what is on my mind now.  

You know, I've been thinking about it since yesterday and I just want to use this platform, this medium, to document my thoughts.

Whatever I'm going to say here is solely based on my opinion and my experience, you can choose to agree or disagree but at the end of the day, we all have our own analyses, our own views on stuff that are happening around us, so there’s really no need to debate here.

The truth is, I was never into politics. I don’t even have a lot of general knowledge of the country (yes, shame on me, I know!). If we were to do a pop quiz on “Name the Ministers & Deputy Ministers of Malaysia”, I can tell you for sure that I would FAIL to the MAX!

I’m one of those guilty for not knowing enough of what’s happening in our country, not giving a damn about national issues because all I cared about was to climb that corporate ladder, earn extra bucks to buy that new Marc Jacobs bag and yeah, that’s all I know! Why should I worry who would be the next PM, which party would win the next GE when I’m already in my comfort zone now?

I think my conscience hit me when I saw how united and connected Malaysians were during Bersih 2.0. El Sen came home, telling me what he experienced and saw during the rally as a journalist. I was fascinated by his stories. I was proud of him for going through so much just to bring timely and comprehensive news report to us. Images of police firing tear gas and chemical-laced water didn’t scare me at all. In fact, it touches my heart that many Malaysians, young and old were willing to face such a hurdle, just to get their voices heard - Clean and Fair Elections (although I would not deny the fact that there are also some people who protest just for the sake of protesting).

At that time, I begin to question myself, what about me? What have I done for my country for the past 25 years? Do I even love my country enough to do anything? Just to also share with you, I did Form 6 and took STPM (for those who don’t know, STPM is deemed as "the hardest exam in the world"). I took STPM not because I’m masochistic but because I know it would cost a bomb to study in private uni (in which, in the end, I did).

So you must be very curious, for a diva (or should I say rockstar :P) and lazy worm like me, how would I fare in STPM? I scored a CGPA of 3.75! TA-DAH! I’m actually quite proud of myself, if it’s not because I didn’t do well in Economics… oh well, mass comm students generally can’t count anyway. With high hopes, I applied to study mass comm in public uni. I was telling myself, come on, with a CGPA of 3.75, it can’t be that hard, I’m not even asking to do law. I was quite confident that I’ll be granted that simple wish. BUT hell no! I was just offered to study TESL (Teaching English as Second Language) and NO MORE!

Disappointed? Yeah, kinda because I heard a Malay friend of mine get to study mass comm in public uni with a CGPA of 2.++ (can’t remember the exact score she got). Well, to be honest, I wasn’t too upset about it, I wasn’t even surprised because I heard of situations like this long time ago. The bright side is that, I get to study in private uni of my choice and I thanked God and my dad for paying for my tuition fee. I had an amazing experience and I got to know a bunch of good friends which some of them are now my colleagues!

What I’m trying to say is that, I was lucky. I had a choice, an alternative. I get to study private uni, I get to study the course of my choice. How about those people with a similar fate such as mine, who can’t afford the expensive tuition fees? What would they do? Just follow and study whatever courses offered to them?

I don’t want my children to suffer the same fate. Who knows if I’ll be able to afford their tuition fees next time? What if I can’t afford? So what would happen to them?

I don’t want to say that our current government sucks because I’m not entirely sure how suck they are. Yes, I read a lot of negative news report about our current government - mishandling public funds, corruption, inability to communicate sensibly and the list goes on. But who am I to condemn the government when I’m not a perfect citizen. I would not hurl negative words/ comments on anyone but I just want a change. I want to see a change, a change towards a better system, better nation.

We don’t know for sure if opposition wins, Malaysia will be better. We don’t know, no one knows. At least, we try and see. We saw how developed is Penang now ever since DAP took over.  Don’t we want to see that happen in every other states. Well, I’m not saying that it will happen for sure but don’t we want to try and do something about it, instead of just sitting here and do nothing?

Somebody once said, all that it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing. If you ignore politics, you would be doing exactly that: nothing. I know I did my part as a Malaysian by going out to vote on 5^th May (thanks to my ex-boss in OgilvyPR for bringing me to register as a voter last year). Standing under hot sun for almost 3 hours was worth it.

Now we heard there’s electoral fraud, phantom voters, although I’m not sure to what extent it is, but don’t we want to find out the truth? To protect what is right and those who deserved to serve the country based on Rakyat’s votes.

I don't buy the whole message that the conspiracy theorists preach, although I would be the last to ridicule them. But having said that, I will further say this, I think we can work together (as individuals) to regain our rights and make this country what it used to be, helping the altruists and all they do. Not by fighting amongst ourselves over whether it is one big conspiracy or a lot of individuals who all think alike and therefore end up working toward the same ends. The result is the same. If we don't mount an effective defense, we lose. 

So let's work together to stop what they're doing, whether it's a conspiracy or not. And you, who have decided to opt out of the political fray, know this: If you don't get into the fight today, there will probably come a day when to join it will get you a jail sentence.

Okay, enough blabbering... now let's get back to reality and continue my never-ending work :)

Current Obsession: Celine Boston Luggage Tote

It's probably every girl's dream to own a designer bag and recently I've been obsessed with this Celine Boston Luggage Tote. The Hollywood stars and celebrities have already shown their major love to Celine Boston ever since it has been released in 2010. 

Nicole Richie and her black ivory Celine Boston

Nicole Richie, Rihanna, Jessica Simpson and Alessandra Ambrosio (Brazilian model) are all fans too

And fortunately or rather unfortunately, a friend of mine will be traveling to Paris in June which gives me more reason to OWN this!  

Luggage multi-colour in smooth calfskin white and khaki

 

Oh well, guess I will have to postpone saving money for house again and after that, I shall lock myself up in the rehab centre for months. 

 

 

Just to share with you an interesting fact about Celine, American fashion designer Michael Kors was named the first ever women's ready-to-wear designer and creative director for Celine in 1997. During his tenure at Céline, Kors turned the fashion house around with blockbuster accessories and a critically acclaimed ready-to-wear line. Kors designed for the label until 2004 (sources: Wikipedia).