Let's meet at the park! 
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pleasure
The morning raid, the surprise, the attack, the evening waking, completely worn out but for the force of our bodies arousing; we are always the one tempted by the other yet again and we make love not like old men or old women but like horned snails, like elephant seals, unravelling in each other’s borders, unbounded and wrapping and unwrapping for as long as we can, a forever we bravely claim for as long as desire spans.
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happiness
You are tired, your job, the stress, it’s killing you, it could be killing us, but we do what we can do. I cook for you as you have done for me. Perhaps I do not realise how much you’ve pampered me and me for you in return, and we never hesitate when you tell me and I tell you, “Thank you for this, dear. I love you.”
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joy
We are sixty, our best years have passed. O what have we endured and O what have we celebrated! We are sixteen, we have not met yet, our futures are uncertain. So bright, our lives ahead.
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bliss
There is no bliss, perhaps not in this lifetime, they say. But I have you and that’s bliss enough.
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~ * ~
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Words & design by Kenny Mah.
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Notes on the various reasons why this writer has not delivered the 3rd instalment of the Great British Invasion:
1. I seem to require a heckuvalot more time with the pictures than I do with the words, and what with my busy workweek, nada time.
2. Also, the next instalment means a lot to me personally on account of the sweet lady who hosted us with her wonderful family, so I’ll take more care in crafting the next piece. (The Cotswolds felt a bit rushed compared to London, for example, and I’m not keen to repeat that experience.)
3. And by some strange stroke of fortune, I stumbled upon a crumpled-up piece of notepaper that contained the scribblings reproduced above. I suspect they were supposed to be fleshed out into something longer, more substantial, but reading it again, perhaps not more. So, here it is.
4. That and I’m leaving for Macau & Hong Kong this Sunday for another, ahem, holiday so… here’s something till I return, folks! 
blissful to know you, Kenny…
you are flying again? eh.. that’s too much.. share your tickets with me please!
Haha, I can share my energy and my love and my joy for life… but my plane tickets to Macau? No way!!
its a sin if you don’t share it with me…
Then… forgive me, Father, for I have sinned!
Remember to stuff me into your suitcase this time!!
*stuffs stuffs vern into luggage*
Still going to HK SAR? Sure or not?
We have circulars telling us to refrain from going….
wishing you pleasure! happiness! joy! & bliss!
I know, I know… I guess I’m a risk taker, an adventurer at heart, no? That and the Devil wants to visit the Dior outlet there…
(the things we do for love or lub or whatever we call it these days, eh?)
whoa…hols again! Lucky Devil!!
hw young is he now?? (nvrmd, dont tell here ;0) )
And, pleasurehappinessjoybliss.. so coveted yet unattainable.
We want so much of life..that we will nvr be satisfied, hence in our dissatisfaction we don’t realize that, maybe, we do have pleasurehappinessjoybliss after all ….
but..we can’t feel it.
Age is but a number, isn’t that what they say? Hehe, who am I to argue?
We covet, but we don’t get? That’s the eternal lament, no? But more often than not, what we have is right before our eyes. I received a forwarded email today courtesy of one of my colleagues. Now, normally I just delete these sorta emails but this colleague is the serious sort, a married investment manager with a no-nonsense attitude. So what could have inspired him to send the whole office a message?
Read on and I’ll leave it to you to decide:
The key to succeeding in marriage/relationships is not finding THE RIGHT PERSON; it’s learning to LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.
SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It’ll NEVER just happen to you. You can’t ‘find’ LASTING love. You have to ‘make’ it day in and day out.
Love is indeed a ‘decision’… Not just a feeling.
‘God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you
let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.’
so let us make a decision for LOVE and not just feel it then forget it.
Amen to that, my friend.
I think Devil already forgot how old is he…haha
You better say he is 25 years old
So bad! *guffaws*
Sunday flight? Morning? C u there? ;D
Yeppers! You’re going too? Oh shiok-nye! Jom we go party in Macau together-gather!
Another holiday?? Only you with your travel miles can truly qualify to write about pleasure happiness joy bliss! The rest of us… keel over in envy!
Travel miles? Ah, not really… I don’t travel all that much… do I?
haha you already anticipated I’ll ask about the third part of the London invasion is it? heh. U are spending more time on photos than words, that’s because the words all come very naturally to u!
Hehe. I did, actually… hahaha… As for the words, yeah they do come more naturally… Maybe it’s partly cos I’m more strigent with the design vs. the words, eh?
haha I always get inspirations from you bro; first the friday feast, and now pleasurehappinessjoybliss. heh i’m gonna start writing
Cool beans. Can’t wait to see what you write.
P.S. You must give me some photography tips, dude. If I took pics half as well as you did, perhaps I would blog more frequently…
haha no la my photography ain’t that good yet, u shld see the really good ones! what camera are u using now?
Send back some love; Portuguese egg tarts : )
Just an ordinary point-and-shoot… a Sony Cybershot. Nothing professional like a DSLR.
Leaving tomorrow morning — can’t wait: Macau, here we come!
another holiday in the works?!!!
wow …. flying here and there eh?
guess the flu scare’s not affecting tourism much.
happy eating!
Flu scare? What flu scare?
Enjoy your holidays and make lots of horned snails elephant seals love. Just don’t tremble Macau into an earthquake.
And happy birthday to the devil!
Don’t tremble Macau into an earthquake?
Are you trying to say I’m FAT????
*guffaws*
P.S. The Devil thanks ye kindly for the early birthday wishes.
Have fun in Macau and HK! Wasn’t it only last week that you came back from London? =P
Last week? No lah, more than a month ago oredi. Feels like years to me though…
Wah you travel so much… So syiok only! =)
Oh far from it! Work travel at this pace means nothing but road (or, rather, air) fatigue.
Is flying off to countless places for holidays pleasure, happiness, joy or bliss? Or plain and simple pleasurehappinessjoybliss?
More like pain on ze bank account, that it is!
I was wont to believe that you had a bottomless bank account, that I did!
Nay, that couldn’t be further from the truth! I am this close to hitting the poverty line, I am.
one day we will all have bliss.
That day could be today, yes?
Ah… pleasure happiness joy and bliss… those are the most wonderful in someone’s feeling
It’s so priceless….
Have fun in Hongkon and Macau! You are so lucky
Thanks, dear — will do my utmost best to have fun, lots of it, while I’m away.
bring me polo buns!!! ;p
Polo buns? Egads! I forgot to have those! But I will blog about what I did have in Macau & HK… after I finish my UK and Penang posts, that is.
i have pleasurehappinessjoybliss! TQ for such inspiring words on a Mon morning!
You’re welcome, dear!
My sentiments exactly, Blissful to know you Kenny! The writing is absolutely enchanting, real life… for me bliss is ignorance at least for speaking and know the Japanese language.
Ah if we only always have this ignorance as bliss, aye?
So, pleasurehappinessjoybliss is the summary phrase of your sensation huh
Hmm… Pretty much?
ooh, how was macau? was it pleasurablehappyjoyousblissful? lol
In one word? Absolutely!
a few words speak a thousand feelings and spread a million smiles
Let’s certainly hope so… especially the million smiles bit.
I have a story to tell you. About me, about who I was. I wish I could tell you in person. Face to face. Somewhere quiet, warm, dark.
I’ve felt restless for years. Stumbled upon bits and pieces (digital files)of who I was during the whole cancer diagnosis. 4 whole years have gone by. Without any moment of clarity worth anything in comparison to then….that week, that moment when everything seemed so surreal. The change in me, i don’t think people understand or could even see. But I feel it, and I mourn for the girl I used to be as if I had lost a loved one that year. That grief is in there every day. I need to get it out.
Hi, dear. I wish we could hang out and just tell stories to each other all night. I can’t believe but we’ve known each other for, what, five years now? And we still haven’t met. One day I’ll get on a plane to the US and we’ll find our way to each other somehow.
We let out grief out, but we don’t have to keep living it.
It’s strange that you’re writing me about this cos I’ve been thinking, over the past couple of days, about the Kenny who used to me a few years back. How I’ve changed and yet, intrinsically, not changed at all.
I’m happy, happier now, but I’m still, as you put it, restless about something, some things. I’d ask for a reset button except I want to be where I am right now, it’s just that I can’t figure out what’s missing.
Maybe it’s what you’re seeking too. Some measure of understanding. From others? From ourselves?
We’ll get there, somehow.
You and I are always in the same place (in thought).
Maybe my problem is that I don’t necessarily want to be where I am right now…I haven’t decided. But there is something missing…and while I thought it was outside of me, I really don’t think it is. There is something in me that I either had, want to have, or wish I was capable of having- and I can’t put my finger on it. I was more at peace with the vacancy when I thought it could be solved extrinsically. Now that it’s in me, up to me- it seems, so much more complicated (I make everything complicated).
I wrote a blog post I want you to see. I haven’t blogged recently either. But this one was necessary.
I think we grow, but we don’t necessarily grow up, not if it isn’t time yet for us. The scary bit is we see some around of us who don’t seem to ever grow up at all, and for me, that’s a line straight to depression, to some kinda hell. And sometimes I wonder if we aren’t just blowing things out of proportion, what’s the big deal, lotsa people get through life without achieving any kind of solace or semblance of realisation, without getting off the conveyor belt… and then I realise that’s horrifying. To even imagine for a moment that being an automaton is acceptable.
They may be able to live like this, but not us.
I don’t even know if this line of thought is right, but it sure feels authentic. And that’s when I wonder, What’s missing?
I read your blog post and the shock of what you went through is fresh again. You really have no idea of how strong you are, Brienne. Are, not just were. You are one of the strongest, most enduring persons I know and a constant reminder that I can and should do more with my own life.
Just thought you should know that, at least, even if I have no clues to our condition.
Lovely-
Automation works if you never question it. The minute you begin to question (which we’ve done for years, you and I) then you’re never satisfied; always searching. I’d rather be like us. So at least I know that much is true.
It’s a major source of depression for me to think of never growing up. And i don’t know what it is I need; is it just growing? or growing up? Either way; I relate to your statement about it.
you and I never stop growing…thankfully. I guess because we obsess over doing it- maybe any step in the wrong direction seems like the end of the world. Blowing it out of proportion I think helps us take notice. If we didn’t blow it up; we accepted it-then we wouldn’t be better for it. If you make something little, major, it all of a sudden deserves attention. I’ve never been able to justify giving small things attention, especially selfish things. So maybe it helps to make it seem much more important. We are probably too hard on ourselves. *sigh*
It’s the Peter Pan syndrome, isn’t it? Do we grow up or do we not? Every year that passes throws us more lances signalling the ‘correct and proper’ direction in which we are to follow, but I’m never convinced much.
To follow one’s heart, even if it’s a much damaged and hollowed-out heart, that’s worth something to me.
We may never have a Yellow Brick Road, we may never have ruby slippers to click together with, but we’ll always have Kansas, we’ll always have Oz, and we’ll ever be twisting between one place and the other, never settling.
Our kingdoms are not found in the soil of farmlands nor the glint of an emerald city, but the paces, the steps we take, the traces we leave in between.
I heart you, you know this, right?
My friend bought me a book about being a cancer survivor; and I think it has some really good writing exercises. I’m going to try them in my blog to help me heal. It’s a step I’ll take, and a trace I’ll leave.
I *heart* you too, dear.
I’m looking forward to reading the results of those writing exercises… I think you have an amazing story to tell and experiences to share… but more importantly, to tell it in your voice, in the way only you can tell it…
I’m awful for having posted a thing about grief on your topic. I just had to get it out to you somehow.
I’m sorry.
Nah, no worries about it. I’ve been busy of late, so I’m not blogging as frequently but I still do check my Facebook at least once a day, so we can chat there too, via the message function.
Stumbled into ur blog and have been reading it. I like the way you write. I heart this.
Thankee for dropping by, and more so for hearting this.
pleasure is fleeting, true happiness last longer…
Ah, but even then, that does not last forever, does it? Nothing does. It’s all impermanence. Which lends a delicious urgency to whatever we are doing, whoever we are loving, right now, right now.
Death teaches us there is no tomorrow, not really. Life is in the now.
wah.. can’t wait to see your photos! Remember to eat the egg tarts!
Photos will take a wee bit more time, considering I’ve got three more UK posts to complete before beginning on my Macau/HK trip. (Not to mention a food crawl in Penang somewhere in the middle there.)
*gulps!*
Hey,
First time read your blog and I cant agree more than what you put in “Happiness”.
Take Care.
Leo Ang
Thanks for dropping by, Leo!
Short and oh so sweet
loving the website design btw! Cheers
Thanks, dear. Guess what? I’m already thinking of changing the design, or at least an upgrade. Wish me luck!