I never post poems before , but this one made me laugh and feel inspired at the same time . It was written by an African kid .
When I born, I black When I grow up, I black When I go in Sun, I black When I scared, I black When I sick, I black And when I die, I still black
And you white fellow When you born, you pink When you grow up, you white When you go in sun, you red When you cold, you blue When you scared, you yellow When you sick, you green And when you die, you gray
*BTW , I'm wearing gloves now to type cause it's so coooold wei . I've never worn gloves to keep my hands warm before in my life , not even in Europe , so you know how cold am I now ..... besides that , it's so hard to type with gloves wei ...... and I'm not taking them out because it's so damn cold ...... *
To think about it , I love fights/competition ...watching them , not participating in one . Mixed Martial Arts , Olympics , Figure Skating you name it . I love being at the sidelines ... However ...... I hate fighting , but somehow , I always get involved in competition . Basing on experience , the word `always' would be an understatement ........
No , it's not that I'm timid or a wuss and don't want to get my hands dirty . It's just that why can't something I really want , for once in my lifetime , come to me without a huge ass fight with someone else for it ? You might say that if it comes to me easily , I won't appreciate it . Hoo Haa , you read my mind but I'm TIRED ` la ' . I just want some slack for this particular time , cause I'm fed up with gathering all my reserves and going to war ..and I've already got into MANY competitive fights in the past ..... It's also not like I won every single time I fought ( I'm no SUPA MAN ) ..... that being said , the uncertainty of the outcome itself is sometimes energy draining .
Tralala . What a vague post huh ? The question now is , what am I fighting for ?
Owh man , I can't tell , and by saying that I think most of you would know what that implies .
...............................
A BLAST from the past . This was years back .
I think one of the reasons I get into so much fights is because I never settle for 2nd best , and sometimes that isn't a good thing . Lookey here , I mean think about it , sometimes 2nd , 3rd of 4th doesn't seem so bad .... Wanting to win every time may cause you a lot of trouble ... and a lot of time on your bed doing nothing but letting your mind wander off ( well , that's what I do when I get confused ) .
A bloody long time ago , an older girl said to me . ` Why don't you fight for me ? ' . I replied one of the worst things I've ever said in my life ` It's because I don't like fighting ' ............ She paused , and replied back ` Don't you fight for something you want ? '
I lost that girl btw . However after that , I went to a full fledge war every time I really wanted something . Sometimes I lost , but I never go down without a fight .
I can't believe I just wrote a blog post to convince my own self to do something .... Guess here we go again ...
She asked for my autograph , I said ` Are you sureeeee ? ' . =)
When the 3 of us get together , the word sarcasm takes a new meaning ...
While sipping down hot chocolate in a French Cafe and delighting myself to a piece of fudge cake , I made an effort to catch up with friends from back home ( I'm away for work as I type this ) .
While on Google talk , one old university friend randomly asked me , ` I want to know your beliefs on why you push yourself so hard ' . He said that he was stuck in a 9-5 however he wanted to do what I did ( not magic obviously ) ,but start his own business .
Hoah , I spat my hot chocolate out of my mouth . I mean , this is the type of question you'd think you'd get from a newly known stranger . I don't think friends really ask this type of things . My stomach fills up with butterflies when people ask me for motivational mumbo jumbo .
Anyway , when I got back to the hotel from the cafe , I was on msn , and I started chatting with another close friend . In the conversation , the topic of education came out and she said ` What is the point of studying so hard ? I'm earning more than those straight As students in my class now ' ...
Here is my take on pushing hard and financial status .
I believe that there's a big difference between financial literacy and acedemic excellence . I've seen guys with no what nimkampoop interest in studying become rich . I've also seen straight As student become very sucessful . A class F student can be much better off in financial terms in comparison with a class A student if he is financially savvy . The same goes the other way around .
That being said , my case was a little different , and to be honest , a little egoistical .
Firsts things 1st . I'm not completely dumb when it comes to studying . You see me party a lot and go HOO HAH on weekdays , but contrary to what people believe , I used to be a role model student ( or so I thought ) . I'm telling you man , allthough I was no genius , I somehow never failed an exam in my life and always remained in the upper class segment of the class .
David's no Mensa member , but when it comes to passing an exam , he studies for it .
I have an engineering degree under my belt for reasons even I don't know why . Till this very day , I seriously cannot comprehend why on earth did I drink 3 red bulls in the span of 24 hours to pass reinforced concrete . That and learning how to draw compounds in organic chemistry were some of the most confusing moments in my life . I was always asking myself ` WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW THIS ? '
Well , it turns out that I really din't need to know how to draw the process of how sodium combines with hydroxide . What a waste of my time and electricity ( I had a table lamp in university ) .
So if you ask me about the importance on academic studies . Please , for the love of all the universe , don't let anyone force you to do something you don't like or have no interest in . If you want to be an engineer , by all means , study engineering . Study something that will actually help you out in the future . If you want to go into advertising and your parents tell you that `Mass Comm ' isn't a professional degree , do WHATEVER it takes to find a compromise .
I believe you only have ONE life . You better make the best out of it .
______________________
One of the older pictures of me and Jojo . Jojo is a person who knew what she wanted , went for it , and got it over a very short period of time .
4 years down the road and look where she shot up to . =)
On financial literacy . I took it by the bulls and horns . Education came in from prople who were much more successful than me and by reading lots of books . However , if you were to ask me knowledge can only take you so far . The one reason I take my work really seriously was because of this , and I'm not kidding . This was what forced my whole body to move to earn what I'm earning .
My girlfriend at that time went into the airline industry . She was based in Singapore earning SGD . I looked up the pay of a stewardess online , converted the pay into Ringgit , and said ` Fuck man , this is not good ' ... Those were the exact words that came out . From that moment , and mind you , I was still completing my degree at that time , I made it a point to never let my monthly earning go below that figure I found out .
Ask anyone I knew in university , they never saw me in University after my 3rd year . Those were called the Red Bull years for a reason . I forced myself to learn about financial literacy because I was an egoistical nut .
Another person who I know worked hard for what she wanted , Miss Universe 2009 , Joannabelle .
Interchanging between a Travers and Hummer H2 in the middle east
To get the women that you want , you must be willing to lose her
I think this takes that quote to a different notion ...... On 2nd thought , I don't even think it relates to the following story ..
So ....... I was at a restaurant nearby my hotel . While on my laptop trying to figure out why was the internet connection so darn slow , a couple at the opposite table recognized me from a performance I did some time back . They invited me over to join them for dinner . It's not really strange for this to happen to me , they aren't many Asians at where I'm at . To be more specific , they are practically NO Asians at the area I'm at ...
The boyfriend was at my show the previous time I was in the country , the girlfriend has never seen me before . I did some magic for them during dinner and had a great conversation with the both of them . Both were highly educated and spoke very intelligently . They paid for my dinner . Bloody nice of them . I gave them both my name card and told them to keep in touch while I was in the country .
Fast forward to two days later .
I received a text on my Malaysian line from an international number . It was from the girlfriend the other day . She asked whether I wanted to join them for dinner . I had nothing much to do in the evening so I agreed . I told her it was my treat this time .
In the evening , I took a taxi to the agreed upon venue . When I got there and saw her , the 1st question I asked was ............ ` Owh , so where's your boyfriend ? '
With one of Asia's most prominent female magician , NING
I was Googling my name ( hopefully I used the right terminology here ) and thank GOD I found nothing bad . I did find some interesting posts though , and I'm very lucky that all those posts were saying good stuff about me . I'm really touched . In one of the posts :
DAVID! David Lai is the famous famous Malaysian magician. and he NEVER EVER fails to wow people. I don’t know why but I somehow believe that sixth sense exists when I see him bend forks and spoons + his mind-reading skill. he’ll definitely make your jaw drop. I’ve seen it LIVE and Imma tell you he really did BEND the fork by just LOOKING at it!
( Thank you ! - taken from www.jamieliew.com )
Sometimes I get scared checking my name on Google . A long time ago when I did a search , my name came out on some blog about me offering some weird type of service ( that was other than magic ) ..... I still remember once , I saw a whole thread on Lowyat.net about me .... We shall not go into that for now . That's a story kept on a boring day ....
Anyway , I didn't posts Ning's photo as the 1st picture for nothing . While I was searching , I found Ning's blog and saw that she actually wrote a little something on me :
I managed to meet up with Malaysian magician, David Lai, for a cuppa at Starbucks before he went back to KL. We’ve known each other for years, when he was still in University and it’s great re-connecting. He says he’s extremely proud of all my milestones and career achievements, and so am I for him! It seems that the Malaysian media really loves that boy.
(Taken from www.magicbabe.wordpress.com )
Thanks Ning ! In comparison to you , the Singapore media must be stalking you then . =)
A little story to end the post :
I've known Ning for quite some time now . We both started off with small shows ( to my knowledge , she could have been doing big shows already then -_- ) and somehow along the way , she catapulted to heights I can't even imagine . The next thing I know , when I was in Singapore , I was seeing her on magazine covers on the stands . Kumbayah huh ? Till today , she still calls or refers to me as a ` Boy ' , hence the title of the posts ....
To me though , that isn't the most interesting part about Ning . If you didn't know Ning personally , I'd like to tell you that Ning is one of the most down to earth person you'll ever meet . Apart from her fame , she's polite , very caring and extremely fun to spend time with . I like Ning because she is to me the same person I knew back when we still did those `small ' little shows and attended those weird conferences that sold micro fiber cloth during interval breaks ( something only we know ) . Besides being gorgeous , she amplifies her gorgeousness with an intellectual mind .
I'm so proud of her achievements in the past years . You're one of the reasons I believe that magic can work ( even though I don't possess boobs and look good in a dress ) =)
That's what I call achieving something in life ... and it's definitely possible by doing something you're passionate in .
Eating hash lollipops in Amsterdam..the worst tasting lollipops ever
I was out with Steph for an A&W cum Lok Lok cum Tau Fu Fa session a few days ago before I left the country . It seems that I always meet up with Steph before I leave the country for long a period of time ..
Besides being Steph ( who is unique in A LOT of ways ) , Steph was telling me how she dreaded her ** birthday coming as she was getting a year older . She said that she used to look forward to her birthdays , not anymore though .... Well , I always thought that one's birthday was the most important day of the year . It's the day you're born for goodness sake ... That was until my 21st birthday came ... that's a sad story for another day .
Steph and I
Most of my close friends are older than me , and one of the questions that has always been forwarded to my way was ` How old are you ? ' . I HAD always wanted to be older . I guess every normal guy did .
Age has never been a deterrent factor for me . It should not be anyway . Looking back , I always clicked better when it came to dealing with the older crowd . Thinking properly , maybe not the `older ' crowd , but rather the ones who had maturity in thinking . Do I think maturely ? ... I sure hope I do .
When I met Andrea two years ago , the 1st question she asked was .... and when I answered , she didn't believe me anyway ..
When it all boils down , I have this philosophy that stems from an incident in primary school . When I was in standard 2 , a classmate of mine was doing exercises in a standard 3 workbook that her mother got for her . I asked her why on earth was she doing exercises a year ahead ? She told me that , and mind you , this coming from an 8 year old .. ` I don't like doing what everybody else is doing ' ..... In my regards , I thought that was a brilliant idea . While everyone was trying to solve 8 year old maths , she goes ahead and solve 9 year old problems . A year ahead the pack .
True to a certain sense if you take it in context to what I'm talking about . You can usually tell how a person is by looking at his close friends . That is why I love people who challenge my thinking . It gets me exited , cause I know I have to be on top of my game to keep up .
To those that have kept pushing me to be better , consciously or not ... Thank You .
With KAT at a Carlsberg event, thanks for the gift all the way from HK !
I was recently having a conversation with someone and the conversation went to a weird end . I was at a party and met a girl who was a `Hie , Bye ' , at social events . To be honest , I think the only place we saw each other was at the club ... That explains the one liner ` Hi how are you ! ' followed by the predictable ` I'm great ! , what about yourself ? ' .
A more intellectual conversation was fitted at the party where we were at , however , at one point , she called me a ` Party King' ... I responded with the defensive :
Me : Noooo , I'm not a PARTY KING ...
Her : C'mon , I don't believe you ....
Actually , contrary to what people believe , I don't party that often . By the way , that wasn't sarcasm . I don't ...
Party mind you has a very vague definition . If I do party , I prefer the quieter ones where social interaction is possible . The club , sadly has never been my cup of tea . However , me being me , I try to have fun wherever I'm at , and that mind set actually helps .. A lot .
I never said I didn't party , it's just a lot less than you think .
I love quiet moments though . Hanging out with my good friends and talking bull and cock ( as we define it ) are some of the really fun moments in my life . Topic can range from absurd shit to investment plans . I like hearing ideas , I love people who can speak their mind and are unique about their thoughts . I especially like the bold ones . They challenge me , and I am a fanatic when it comes to challenges ..
A lot of people don't see the softer side of me either . I am a movie man , or rather a movie addict . I watch movies by the bundle at the cinema and the best record was 3 in a row . 3 movies back to back in a row . I went with someone , however by the 3rd movie , I was left watching alone . Even the guy who was tearing up the ticket stubs flinched after seeing me entering the cinema for the 3rd time in a row . A change of phase where everything moves slowly is indescribable at times . I'm very fortunate to have friends from two different end of the quantum's .
Bringing the kids out to watch Princess and the Frog after gym
Talking about our achievements ...everybody was in Engineering ..except me .
All in all , I told someone my thoughts once on how I enjoy myself and I think it's quite adequate to end this post with it .
Actually to be honest , I don't mind watching a DVD at home with a small tiny 21 inch . I also don't mind going to Penang and take in the seaside breeze in comparison with a 7 day stay in a mind blowing resort in Maldives ...There's a catch though ...
It does matter though who I'm doing it with ...
Between dinner at a Micheline 3 star Restaurant in Paris with a stranger , and coffee in Sunway with someone I like . I'd take coffee in a blink of an eye ...... That's me , and mind you , I've been in similar situations .......... and I ALWAYS took coffee .
It doesn't matter what movie I'm watching in the cinema , I may not remember scenes or dialogues from it , but I'll always remember who I watched it with .
I haven't been sleeping much as of late . Have been working my ass off to settle projects before I leave the country .
My professor once said to me , ` Why do you sleep so much ? You're not a baby anymore ! ' ..... and at that time , I was only sleeping like 6-7 hours daily .... -_- . However , for the benefit of the readers , he was the most obese professor on campus and looked like a mad scientist . Don't think I'll be following his footsteps , although I have no idea what he spends his free time doing anyway .... jogging ?
Waking up at 7am in the morning for a shoot ....
However besides the schedule , I still do make time for friends and relaxation time . If I don't , I'll go mad wei . There's a reason why people say striking a balance is important .
Eating Lok Lok with Cheng May and Levyat 1am in the morning ..
Oh well , they say that , if you love what you do , you'll never get tired . Surprisingly the saying holds true . I've got to get back to work now , lots to settle ! =)
I shall be updating this new blog of my regularly new blog of mine regularly now . If life was that good , it surely is meant to be recorded .
Beginning of 2009 My start of 2009 is colored in RED for a reason . It's definitely not the best time of my life . Could have been one of the worst ... and I'm not exaggerating.. I learned a lot though , and what I learned can never be learned through theory . In that sense , I appreciate what life taught me , and am sincerely grateful I actually got through ...
Actually , to be dead honest , without some really nice people along the way . I wouldn't have ... I'd still be stuck ...........
Obviously , they're much more people than that . Some I never got to take a picture with , and some of whom I can't post up . Thanks guys . I appreciate everything you guys did along the way . The gym sessions , the movies , the uhum uhum , and obviously the weird blind dates ....... I'll always remember the time at Phuture in March , I can't disclose who you are , but I'll put the dialogue here =) :
Guy friend : David !! You should meet her ! She's cute !
Me : Bro , no mood la , I think I'm going to leave soon ...
Guy friend : Watch me !
He went up to the girl , offered to take a picture for her and her friends using her hand phone ( with the reason that they were pretty , which they were ... ) , and bloody dropped the hand phone on the floor breaking it into pieces !! Her huge ass boy friend came over , and he ran back to me ...
Guy friend : Ok ...let's go...
You don't find friends that want to amuse you like that every day , and I'm really thankful that I have them .
APRIL to DECEMBER This was what I called a roller coaster period of my life . Things were great and things were confusing at the same time . I met so many people , even my best friends got confused .
What happened ? I began to not give a bull and went back to my old ways during this period of time . It all started when I met up with one of the best ( if not the best ) pick up artist in the middle east ( who is a magician ...hint hint ) . He was doing a seminar there and he knew me from my post in a magic forum from before . We used to chat with each other online before he took the world by storm .... Being foreigners in a foreign land , we spoke a lot about life and practically hit it off as friends . Amazing guy , and truly lives up to his name . He did teach me something very important . I'll always remember this conversation we had :
T: You know , it's simple ... the person who cares less always wins . He or she doesn't get hurt , doesn't lose much in sense of effort , and always has options to choose from .
Me : So you're saying that I care too much ?....
T: It depends what you're looking for . Were both not mechanical beings . A relationship is not a game . If there's a winner in it , there's gonna be a loser . You want both parties to win in a healthy relationship . However , playing the game is a whole different ball game . You play to win . You're on the moderate end , that's a good thing .
So after spending a few days just talking about life with him , he went back to Australia and I hit back Malaysia in the next couple of weeks ...
With my confidence back up like how it used to be , I worked hard .......and partied harder . If you knew me a few years back , you'd know a different me , some kind of the `same ' me you know now . I've mellowed down A LOT , in 2007,2008 ..... It was a great thing though , I concentrated a lot on work and it payed off by heaps and bounds .... didn't really party as much in those days though ...
Along the haphazardness , I did find a little romance along the way ... Of all the people I've met , and I've met so many ... only one person could sustain my interest at that time ... and although it was a little complicated , I nevertheless had a time that I'll remember . It was a different change of phase ..... and different is always nice ...thank you..
How do I sum it off then ? .....
2009 was an exiting year . 2009 was the year I learned most about life , and although 2009 had it's ups and major downs , I think that it was an amazing year to say the least . As they say , concentrate on the good part of life , and learn from the bad .
I usually divide my life into 3 segments .......work , health and relationships . Since I think logically half of the time , let's put some numbers to grade my 2009 .
Work : 8/10 Health : 7.5/10 Relationships :
That being said , I guess I've got to surpass those values in 2010 . A lot has been planned out , and I'm expecting a blast of a year .
I never post poems before , but this one made me laugh and feel inspired at the same time . It was written by an African kid .
