I printed this article out. It was sparsely scattered nicely across 2 pages.

HAPPINESS IS OVERRATED by Paulo Coelho © Ode Magazine USA, Inc. and Ode Luxembourg 2009

What is happiness? This is a question that has not bothered me for a long time, precisely because I don’t know how to answer it. I am not the only one. Throughout the years, I have lived with all sorts of people: rich and poor, powerful and mediocre. In the eyes of all who have crossed my path—and I include warriors and wise men, people who should have nothing to complain about—I have found something was always missing.

Some people seem happy. They just do not think about it. Others make plans: "I’m going to have a husband, a home, two children and a house in the country." While this keeps them occupied, they are like bulls looking for the bullfighter. They don’t think; they just keep moving forward. They manage to get their car, sometimes even a Ferrari, and they think the meaning of life lies there, so they never ask the question. Yet, despite all that, their eyes betray a sadness of which they themselves are unaware.

I do not know if everyone is unhappy. I do know that people are always busy—working overtime, looking after the kids, the husband, the career, the university degree, what to do tomorrow, what they need to buy, whatever it is they need to have in order not to feel inferior and so on. Few people have ever told me, "I’m unhappy." Most say, "I’m fine, I’ve managed to get all I ever wanted."

So then I ask, "What makes you happy?"

They answer, "I have everything a person can dream of—a family, a home, work, good health."

I ask again, "Have you ever stopped to wonder if that is all there is to life?"

They answer, "Yes, that’s all there is."

I insist. "So the meaning of life is work, the family, children who grow up and leave you, a wife or husband who will become more like a friend than a true love mate. And one day the work will come to an end. What will you do when that happens?"

They answer… there is no answer. They change the subject. But there is always something hidden there—the owner of a firm who has still to close his dream deal, the housewife who would like to have more independence or more money, the new graduate who wonders whether he has chosen his career or has had it chosen for him, the dentist who wanted to be a singer, the singer who wanted to be a politician, the politician who wanted to be a writer and the writer who wanted to be a peasant.

In this street, where I sit writing this and looking at the people passing by, I bet everyone is feeling the same thing. That elegant woman who has just walked by spends her days trying to stop time, controlling the bathroom scales, because she thinks love depends on that. On the other side of the street, I see a couple with two children. They live moments of intense happiness when they go out with their kids, but at the same time their subconscious is busy thinking about the job they might not get, the tragedies that might occur, how to get over them, how to protect themselves from the world.

I leaf through magazines filled with famous people—everybody laughing, everybody happy. But since I am familiar with this segment of society, I know it is not like that. Everyone is laughing or enjoying themselves as that photo is taken, but at night, or in the morning, the story is different.

"What can I do to keep appearing in the magazine?"

"How can I disguise not having enough money to afford all this luxury?"

"How can I manage this life of splendor to make it even more luxurious and expressive than other people’s lives?"

"The actress I am with in this photo, laughing and having a great time, could steal my part tomorrow."

"I wonder if my clothes are nicer than hers."

"Why do we smile so much if we loathe one another?"

I recall the words of Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges: "I will not be happy any more, but that doesn’t matter. There are many other things in this world."

Paulo Coelho is the Brazilian author of international bestsellers, including The Alchemist. paulocoelhoblog.com

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I am supposed to write a one page commentary on it.

Arghh need my creative juices.

Some random thoughts ...

I think that if you intend to have more than 5 car spaces in front of you on the expressway, you should never drive on the right lane.

And if you intend to drive with the same speed right next to the middle lane driver, the 2 of you are technically closing down 2 lanes.

Anyway, 3 weeks of school ... and the number of year 4 psychology friends i've got isn't too few. Hence i am pretty thankful. For the first time, all my lecturers are females. And they all emit a weird feeling. No idea why.

Having watched 13 episodes of Hai Pai in 3 days ... LZX really showed how talented he is. Plus Rainie's acting honestly was very touching. Thing about these dramas is that they are getting very repetitive in terms of plot and characterization ... but i think Hai Pai had that something extra which was very touching. Although i think i would never understand why they had to go through all that trouble ... all that drama and sadness, hurt and tears just to get together. Does this mean that after they get together, they will then have much stronger memories of what they've gone through and thus will more likely stay together? I couldn't understand why he couldn't confess to her that he's dalang. I couldn't understand why he wanted to pretend not to remember her.

But for humour and entertainment value ... it's very funny with LXZ's wide arrays of facial expression.

I've gave up playing dragonage. =/ Cos mostly i don't know where is it going and i don't have the patience to go through with it. Somemore having got to go through the various decisions during conversations turned me off. It's too massive. Surprisingly i said that cos i've always expressed saying i like massive games. Games like GTA ... but i need some sort of stability. I can't see myself repeating the 'same' type of quests at the different locations. And the multitasking with each character truly sucks. Maybe it's cos sch started. And i would rather dedicate the 3-4 hours of free time i have playing dota or watching tv.

For the past 3 Thursdays, i've gone down to Ubi to deliver some goods. Today was a little different cos when i got there, there were 3 other suppliers in front of me ... so obviously i had to wait. On usual occasions, i don't see so many people and it's usually "in and out". But today i had to sit down ... and then i observed and started thinking. The suppliers there were an uncle wearing polo tees and jeans and slippers, a China woman, and a guy somewhere my age. I was dressed in a sleeveless nike and white berms and slippers.

So i started thinking of my presence there ... that in truth, i am somewhat a rarity. No one would have thought of me as a student, studying what i am doing in sch and doing life coaching outside. Somehow, i enjoy this multi-identities thing. I think it's watching too much Hai Pai ... but it's about do you truly know who i am kinda feeling.

And then i realized when i was forced into a situation to communicate to them about a mixed up, i had to 'bring myself' to their level of understanding ... not saying it's lower ... but on a different scale whereby the person and i could effectively communicate.

Interesting. And we are a freaking small fry in the company!

So sch's left with 11 weeks. They changed the male toilet near the canteen to a female one and i've seriously no idea why they did that. It's been male since i was year 1. It's been a part of my memory already.

You can't change something like that. Humans are habitual creatures. Especially in toilet-seeking. Trust me, i don't think i am the only guy who almost walked into it because it's instinctive to do so.

Anyway, i've more or less accustomed myself to being alone while having meals. I've convinced myself that eating alone isn't all that bad and i've been whacking a lot on the laksa yong tau foo.

On one hand, i can't wait to graduate. Yet i think i will miss school. Did a calculation last night. If i get all Cs this semester, my honours class still remains the same. =/ And i can't hit an upper class. So this sem is technically not supposed to be this stressful. But i don't know why i've been feeling so for the past 2 weeks.

Had my first presentation last week. Think it went alright.

Caught The Blind Side and Invictus awhile back. Both shows are about football ... with the former delving into relationships, race, hope and love ... and the latter about passion, spirit, politics and beliefs.

Good shows worth watching.

Went back to CJ for Bro Paul's farewell dinner. Pretty nostalgic.

It hit me upon reaching back all the fond memories i had of the place, and yet, there was a part of me which had a lot of missing memories and regrets because there were many things that i didn't manage to remember and do and i LOVE that place.


Damn.

Dinner pretty much was lousy ... but we were all back there mostly for the company and the fact like what Brother said, we were all proud of CJC ... all proud of once being part of it.

Walked around exploring the new buildings, at the same time revisiting all the familiar spots. Went back to my classrooms and sat on the benches outside and images of school just flooded back.

Then went to Tong Shui at Thomson for supper. Haha my parking luck is really imba. =p

Then somebody suggested prawning. So we went to the Bishan one but it was damn crowded ... so we shifted to the Yishun one.




First time prawning so quite fun. Very much like fishing but much easier.

BBQ fresh prawns are AWESOME!!

I think i am glad that things happened the way they did. I am sure she would be happier in the long run.

Anyway, school's been a bitch. And it's only 2 days. Firstly, reaching school at 6pm is already depressing. Going to grab a bite in the canteen means having to deal with dirty tables that were laden with the day's leftovers. And i don't get to meet my friends outside of those taking psych.

And 2 classes only, i'm already piled with work. Weekly reaction papers to 3 journal articles per module per week means that i got to start thinking when's the best time to do all the readings ... and i figure it's almost all the free time i've got. Oh. Yay.

Last night was a night of taxi rides, of expensive Japanese food, of taxi rides, of stark realisations, of clubs, and of heroics in a drunken stupor.

To sum it up, we were at Clark Quay, then went to Play at Tanjong Pagar before crossing the street to Tantric, then cabbing down to Butter, afterwhich there was no hope of going in so we went down to Zouk. I swear the Sakae, beer, and the 2 jugs of Long Island Tea killed us.

Damn music at Phuture was gooooood.

Much thanks go to the gf for her loving ways. =)

Can't help but dab my feet into the iPhone vs Blackberry competition.

Sarah: I hope you haven't joined the dark side! =p

I own an iPhone and have never regretted buying it. Well ... like what most people say, get an iPhone when you want games and cool apps and that better design look ... and get the BB if you are into msging and emailing. I use msgs on a regular basis which there's nothing the iPhone can't handle and emailing usually takes place at home on my desktop.

Actually, if there's an urgent mail, i don't see why i can't check it with my iPhone ... in which it's pretty convenient with just a click of the Mail app.

I just hate it when BB users put down the iPhone as though BB really rocks iPhone's socks off. I mean, sure your phone's pretty functional and stuff, but trust me i haven't seen a BB user play any game on their phone for hours ... And just think how awesome it was looking at my iPhone friends and I chionging at Word for Friends for hours.

Sure, some people don't get by with the touchscreen. I agree it's a bitch to use the phone at all while driving. For those kinesthetic people who need a grip on the buttons, get a BB then.
But BB's screen. What screen? It's almost like any n*kia. I bought the iPhone for its screen. Websurfing and Youtube become a lot easier for the eyes.

The thing about iPhone is this ... people complain about the battery life. That's because there's too many things to do on it! Where got enough battery to go around when you need to listen to your music, check your emails, fight tower defense, pokering on WSOP, reading Straits Times, checking the livescores on iFooty ...

Well .. some people have said that there are instances whereby iPhone users switch over to using BB but none of BB users have done that. We need statistics to prove that and i suppose we need to take into account the type of consumers here, with the 1st and 2nd gen iPhone users widely considered as 'innovators' type of consumers. They are often willing to test out new products and hence, a switch wouldn't always signify a distaste for the former product, but rather, a curiousity at the newer product. At least, that's what i know of Apple users.

If you already have an iPod Touch, then maybe it's the reason why an iPhone won't be fully utilised. I suggest sell the Touch, get the Phone.

School's starting next week. Last semester of my uni life. Well ... last sem i pretty much slacked through and my results proved my beliefs right ... hardwork doesn't always give you that A, it's that extra something and luck ... minus off all the biases that lecturers have against your looks or the way you write.

Looking at my timetable (if nothing goes wrong), i could jolly well be a part time student. Most of my classes are from 6-9pm. Oh gosh ... thinking about it, there's quite a few implications. Changes in lifestyle, and suddenly a lot more free time away from school. I might as well get a part time job.

Finished Uncharted 2 a few days ago. Indeed the best game of the year. Starting on Dragon Age:Origins now. I think this game is gonna take much longer than Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed 2 or CODMW 2.

Back from Vietnam! Photos taken by others would hopefully be up on facebook soon. =) Awesomely fun trip!!!

Day 1:
We gathered at budget terminal in the wee hours zzz. Went to Hot off the press to get some more reading materials and that was where i encountered the uber ruder saleswoman/cashier. I've never seen anyone as rude as her working in sales. Perhaps it was just that time of the day.
Had macs and Terence came off shagged because he went to chiong last night. We had lots of fun laughing about the incidents tht followed after that. So we boarded the plane and ter was next to me. He SEEMED fine but was coughing a bit. Then as the plane landed in Ho Chi Minh (i think i will call it Saigon city from now on, will explain more later), he wanted to puke. So we quickly got him the paper bag and he was trying to puke ... when suddenly he went all limp and leaned on the seat infront. TianHao and me were like o_O so we asked him to sit down. He rested for awhile and because i had stuff to take from the top cabin, i had to leave my seat and to take my stuff. I told Bryant that Ter needs support and then i walked in front to lead the way out of the plane. Ben was behind Ter supporting him and Bryant was holding his hand ... when Ter just collapsed onto the aisle. I literally watched him fell flat on his face.

Wow what a way to start the trip! Haha ... and i was like this time jialat liao. Apparently due to the change in air pressure and ter having a hangover and all the alcohol inside him, he fainted. Then the wheelchair came. It was like 0_o again. We watched him wheeled out half-seh and everyone looking at us. Mind you there were 11 of us and it was quite a procession.

Luckily Ter recovered soon after with plenty of water. Went out and saw this driver holding a board saying BONITA YU. Pretty awesome to get picked up. Then came the next shocker. Traffic and the driving. AND the horning.

Seriously, after this trip, i am so thankful for Singapore roads and how nice drivers we all are. They practically horn for everything. The number of horns a driver can have in a day over there far exceed the number of horns i would commit in my life. No one keeps to their lane and its a free-for-all. I think the problem lies seriously with the motorbikes there. Too many. Lack of public transport and hence with thousands of motorbikes on a single road, everything becomes haphazard.

Checked into Saigon Minihotel which in my opinion from this trip is an extremely recommended budget hotel. We had an incident with them and their response was first class. More on that later.

Went to Ben Thanh market after that. Got cornered there right after entering. And it was bad because i was walking behind ensuring that nothing bad happens, then i just GLANCED at one of the tshirt and this salesgirl started to grab my hand and prevented me from walking forward. You see, the way the market is structured is very congested. She was uttering all the while "what are you looking for?", "how much you want?" and all the nonsense and i was getting a little peeved. Seriously if she wasn't female, something nasty might have happened. Then her colleague came and pull me INTO the shop. I was like omg. Then i tried to reason out with them, asking them to give me the best price because the very first price they quote me is freaking more than 3 times what i was told it usually costs.

So one of them was asking me how much i want to pay them, then i told them you give me a good price if cheap then i buy. The sales techniques used if properly observed, are numerous and extremely tricky. So i minus the price all the way to a little bit more than what i wanted, and she was like ok ... then when i took out the money, she said if i buy 3, i can have them at the price i want. Honestly, this showed a lot for their need of money. You talk about compassion, i don't know the balance anymore. When you need to resort to such tactics, i don't blame you. It's only for survival.

Anyway after i paid for the shirt, obviously i had lost the rest. So i had to wander around hoping to bump into one of my other 10 friends, which i did luckily after 10 mins. Then it was another funny situation when we realised some of them are Vietnamese Chinese so we had to resort to speak Hokkien to each other to communicate about our bargaining strategies. It was really a sight. =p

Spent several hours bargaining which was extremely tiring. Then went to this restaurant known as Cappuccino for dinner. Very shagged dinner.

Then being the sucker for massages, Claudine, Ben and me went for one opposite our hotel which SUCKED! No techniques or anything.

Bunked in with Bryant, Many and Jialin. Man utd's match was on so i was watching it before Many & Bryant's water fight, which resulted in half of my bed being soaked. Shiok. Bryant migrated over to Jialin's bed and conked out while Many had to use the hair dryer to dry the part of the bed next to where i was sleeping. Damn funny. But apparently in Tianhao's room, they didn't spill water. They spilled red wine. Sheesh.

Day 2:
Woke up bright and early for a guided tour to some temple and the Cuchi tunnels. Pretty awesome trip with our first taste of a Vietnamese tourguide.All of us could mimic him after that day. As we had 11, and me being antisocial that day, i was sitting alone ... until a random guy from another hotel came and sat next to me. Well ... the thing is 2 strangers were sitting behind me too and they started talking much earlier on, and i was quite envious such easy communication and talk could be established. And ... what happened for the next 3 hours were plenty of talking between me and that guy who happened to be a Vietnamese who migrated long ago to Melbourne. There was plenty of discussion about the Vietnam war, about communism and Ho Chi Minh, as well as religion.

Cuchi tunnels were pretty cool as we had the chance to see how it was like when the guerillas had to fight in the war and their underground network which was massive.
After the day tour, we went back to Ben Thanh area for Pho which if the famous Vietnam Beef Noodles. Pretty good. Then it was more shopping at the night market. Bargaining is damn tiring. I soon found out watching people bargain is also tiring. I began to notice the evolution of sales and buying/bargainig techniques ... all the sales psychology zzz.

Then as we were damn shagged after all the walking, we hailed a cab which somehow could fit 10 of us ... and somehow i don't know how, i managed to get the cab driver to agree to a sum of 20000 dong for the trip for all of us. That amounts to less than 20 cents from each of us. I was feeling damn bad so i threw all my smaller notes to him as tips.

Day 3:
Morning. Damn shagged. Perfect way to wake me up was i had to wait 30 mins for breakfast to come and watch the angmohs who seemingly had came after us to get their food first. So i was pissed about the unfair treatment. So they treat us lousier because we are like them Asians? So i went down to the reception and complained to them. Bryant came along and also said his part ... and one of the reasons why i was so pissed was cos we had a guided tour which was picking us up at 730am.

Anyway went on a guided tour to Mekong River. Saw and experienced their way of life, selling snacks and rice cereals, as well as the river market. I was falling asleep on the boat most of the way because i really love the wind and little splatters of water against your face. We had an angmoh in the same tour who i named the Avatar Man cos he really looked like one! =p

After lunch, we had a chance to take photos with a python. The thing is this, the owner took it out and then some angmohs were posing with it, then the owner disappeared. So luckily for us, we were all having a lot of free time with the python. Sounds crazily sick. And that was when i used the word 'squirmy' and somehow they are started using it after that which i still don't know why.

After the day tour, we went in search of hardboiled unhatched eggs. Meaning the baby chick was slowly growing inside the egg but it wasn't given the chance to hatch or fully developed and then it was cooked. Sounds pretty gross but they taste just like normal eggs ... the watery stuff inside the egg just tastes like chicken essence.

Went back to the hotel room to find an apology letter for all our rooms and a plate of complimentary fruits. =)

Then we had the spastic phonecalls ... with Bryant being the protagonist. His Vietnamese accent and ghostly moans were freeaking hilarious. We were all rolling around our beds laughing our asses off.

And then, it was off to another massage! Hehe ... i really love these things but no special service one la. I feel its a very personalized and special treat for myself after a long day ... and tonight's one was good!

Day 4:
Rented minibus to Mui Ne. Freaking 5 hours bus ride zzzz. Reached there around noon. Fantastic beach resrot but lousy pricing cos its tourism and lack of activities. The main thing you can do at the beach is kite surfing, which i REALLY REALLY wanted to try but because it was really expensive and none of the rest wanted to, we stuck to our suntanning plans. Didn't get much tan today though.

Went across the road to the rows of seafood restaurants to get dinner. Plenty of power trips and blackouts made things interesting. Tianhao's "So there's no more rice?" summed it up. Then Bryant and I went to look for a cake in the middle of nowhere cos we were celebrating Ben's birthday. Managed to find a "Banana Cake" and that was it.

And i had my 3rd massage. This one awesomely rocks. I fell asleep for a bit and i thought that was rude so i quickly woke myself up. Then suddenly i heard Ben snoring next to me. Wow. Massage FTW!!!

Celebrated Ben's birthday and drank a bit too fast too much. Ah well.

Day 5:
Finally had a good long sleep. Woke up to a fabulous buffet breakfast. Then had 2 hours of solid suntanning before the 5 hours journey back to Saigon City. So anyway about the name Saigon City vs Ho Chi Minh City, well ... i am not a supporter of Communism so i am sticking to Saigon City.

Managed to get back our exact same room which rocks ... then we made our way across town to the Heineken Countdown party. The crowds were massive ... largest i've ever stood in. But the party was extremely badly organized. Chuc Mung Nam Moi nevertheless!

Day 6:
Bryant and I skipped the museum trip to sleep in a little more before making our way to An Dong area for last min shopping. Definitely more expensive then Ben Thanh but since last day already, we were more inclined to spend finished everything.

Lunch was non-spicy tom yam beef noodles which rocks! Then accompanied the girls to see them do some really last min manicure before going to the airport for the flight home!

Awesome trip. Plenty of fun. Plenty of bonding. =) I just wish they stop horning.