And the mountain beckons

It’s that time of year again where the mountain beckons and my feet are itching for a long climb.

Looking around the globe, we have to rule out Nepal (due to political unrest), South America (due to cost issues) and East Africa (also due to cost issues). This leaves us with India ~ Sikkim to be precise. Situated in the eastern Himalayas, Sikkim is spread below Mount Khanchendzonga (8534 m), the third highest mountain in the world. For more information on Sikkim, please refer here.

Our aim is to reach the southern foot of Mount Khanchendzonga, not to climb the third highest mountain itself. That I leave it to the experts. I am not a lunatic. : ) The trek we planned to do is known as the Goechala Trek, which would lead us from Dzongri to Goechala Pass, reaching the highest altitude at 4,940 m of the trek. The trek would take about 7-8 days with an average trek of 8 hours a day.

Considering our fitness level and our current work commitments, this vacation is looking to be quite an ambitious endeavour! To date, I have postponed our flight tickets once (which were earmarked to kick-off during the Deepavali/Hari Raya hols) and we look set to postpone the second one which I targeted for 10th November. It’s extremely frustrating as the longer we wait, the colder it gets at the peak. I still have nightmarish memories of trekking in the night at Kilimanjaro. The cold was beyond description. We were told by our guides that it was negative 20 degrees Celsius then. This is going to look like a repeat of our previous climb. Bbbrrrr …

We have also just started to trek again to build up stamina. Our travelling and working schedules for the last few months had been at such a crazy level that it was difficult to coordinate our fitness training. But we kicked off our training in style (or was it in insanity?) last week. Four treks in a week is a feat for me, i.e. a 3.5-hour trek in Fraser’s and 1.5-hour treks a day for 3 days at Bukit Gasing. This weekend would be difficult to train as I am travelling yet again. However, the plan is to work out on the “stepper” machine in the gym. At some point, I’d probably ask myself if I am going stark raving mad pushing myself at this level. Then again, even if the answer is affirmative, I doubt we’d stop. We are women on a mission! Hahaha …

But wait! I’m still on tenterhooks. Everything is now dependent on whether the long leave is forthcoming.

We live in hope. And after that, we have to pray hard for great weather. Dang! The lengths I go to for a climb. Perhaps I seriously have to visit the loony house. :p

The irony of racial discrimination

Random conversation

Me: Do you realise how the issue of race seems to be popping up more frequently in the news these days? I just can't understand why everything has to be about race. How can we claim to live harmoniously and tolerant of other races and religions when every time something goes wrong, the first thing that's brought up is race or religion!

Friend: That's the beauty of Malaysian politics. I was reading an article on the quota system and discrimination recently and it struck me the irony of the situation we are in.

Me: What do you mean? What situation?

Friend: Recently, we ran an essay competition in one of our workshops for teenagers. And we were supposed to pick the top 3 winners. When we realised that all the winners picked were Chinese, we had to go back, check on the names and re-select a Malay and an Indian winner. And since there was only 1 Indian, she won the prize. But the two poor Chinese girls who didn't get the prize was not because they aren't good, it's because they are Chinese!

Me: See ... why should everything be about race? That's what I can't understand

Friend: I thought it was sooooo unfair! But I can't argue with the other committee members. It was something "non racial" when we "blindly" selected the top 3. But to appear "un racist"... we had to reselect... based on their race!!!!!!

Me: I can see where you are going with that. You had to do something racial so as to appear non racial. And that's the irony of racial discrimination!

Thinking Out Loud

Why is it that one has to work hard at conversations with some people and mere seconds seem to drag on for hours? And yet, for the one person that is off limits, one can have the most delightful conversation and hours seem like mere minutes.

Perhaps that is Fate’s practical joke.

Have “we” been looking at the problem the wrong way?

It is amazing how one study can create such drama, strong emotions, accusations, reactions, debates … the list goes on! Of course I am referring to the “controversial” study by Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s (Asli) Centre for Public Policy studies, which found that bumiputra corporate equity ownership could be as high as 45%, instead of the government’s figure of 18.9%.

While a political figure flew off the handle and called the study “irresponsible”, “rubbish”, “useless” and “has an ulterior motive”, and subsequently, the president of the institute retracted the report stating that the calculations and assumptions used were faulty (some parties were of the opinion that the retraction was due to pressure), and then the head of Centre for Public Policy Studies resigned because of "... the need to defend the position and integrity of independent and non-partisan scholarship", the entire point has been missed! It is not about percentages and race! If I remember my Pengajian Am correctly, both Buku Hijau (The Green Book) and the New Economic Policy (NEP) have two core objectives i.e. to eradicate poverty regardless of race and restructure society so as to eliminate race identification with economic function.

I agree wholeheartedly with Zainon Ahmad’s sentiments in his recent column “What They Say” in The Sun dated Tuesday October 10, 2006. The title of the article, “What have ratios got to do with need?” The following excerpt from the article makes a lot of sense.

“Zain: Actually I do not understand this obsession with whether the 30% equity has been achieved or not. Ok, so it is 18 something per cent or 45%. So what. Meaningless. Take the Indian ownership for example. They are supposed to be owning 3%.”

“Mohan: Two Indians may be owning it all!”

“Zain: Exactly. So it is the income disparity that needs to be looked at – and across racial lines …”

Very well said. What has race got to do with being poor? Instead of using race as a yardstick, the criteria should be the definition of poverty and all Malaysians who fall within that definition should be given assistance.

The criteria and the implementation of the policy should also be looked into i.e. is the assistance given to the “wrong” group of people? For example, is the assistance given to really poor Malays as opposed to average/ rich ones? I remember meeting a number of Malay students who were on government loans or scholarships, but yet have cars and drive to the university. (This was more than 10 years ago.) The questions that begged to be asked then were:
1) Isn’t assistance supposed to be given to the poor?
2) What is the definition of poor? (Obviously not those who can afford to drive to the university.)

It is interesting to note that when the NEP ended in 1990, official figures showed that Malay corporate equity ownership was only between 19% and 20%. But the NEP was then extended under a new name, the National Development Policy (NDP). Now, sixteen years later, the government numbers showed not an increase but a slight drop to 18.9% of Malay corporate equity ownership. Despite the billions spent, there seemed to be no improvements. Therefore, if this is the true percentage claimed by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), shouldn't the more urgent action be to enquire why the results were so dismal after 16 years (instead of arguing over the methodology)? The parties concerned should be asking the following questions instead.
1) To whom did the money go to? Did it go to the right people i.e. the poor?
2) Was the money lost in transmission i.e. did the middle man swallow part of the money?
3) What was the money used for? Were they effective spending?
And so on and so forth ...

It is only when all these have been reviewed that the shortfalls of the policies can be corrected/ amended. What’s the point of continuing decade after decade, policy name change after policy name change if vast improvements cannot be observed? After all, even for social funding, the social return on investment (ROI) should be measured. Otherwise, it is a total waste of taxpayers’ money.

Finally, a wise man once said, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a life time.” Are there policies and programmes in place to “teach” these people to “fish”? If not, then the giving of “fish” would be tantamount to breeding laziness and expectations that the government/country owes them a living.

It’s like the unemployment policy in Australia where one can collect “dole” from the government if unemployed. According to a friend of mine, this is where the policy breeds laziness among the young adults as they continue to live at home and rely on their parents’ goodwill for food and lodging, while they collect enough “dole” to enjoy life. There was no need for them to look for a job.

Therefore, have “we” not been looking at the problem the wrong way all this while? First, understand the root cause of the problem and acknowledge that it exists (and not jump the gun on something else), then review the current policies, actions and loopholes, and then plug in all the loopholes and resolve the problem, while putting in place check and balances to ensure that all actions drive towards the core objectives.

Sounds rational and logical right?! But then, I am no politician. : )

If you think you are being marginalised, then consider the plight of the Chinese in Brunei

While the debate/ argument/ bickering rages on over the statement made by Singapore’s former Premier Lee Kuan Yew regarding the marginalisation of the Malaysian Chinese, I was shocked to discover the plight of the Chinese in Brunei.

According to my Brunei distributor, the Chinese in Brunei faces by far, a worse situation.

Did you know that …

1) A Chinese in Brunei can only claim PR status but not citizenship, even if he/she is a second or third or forth (and so on) generation Chinese born and bred there!

2) A Chinese in Brunei have to pass an exam conducted in Malay to claim citizenship. And passing the exam is subject to a minimum yearly quota.

3) A Chinese in Brunei (who is not a citizen) carries a PR passport and have to apply for visa for whichever country they visit even West Malaysia (except for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore).

4) A Chinese in Brunei (who is not a citizen) do not have the right to own land in the country.

Now, that would have been bad enough but it seems that there are people in Brunei who are even worse off!

Did you know that …

1) There are groups of Chinese and ethnic minorities (i.e. Iban, etc) in Brunei who are considered “stateless” people. This came about due to their parents’ (who happened to be East Malaysians who went across the border to work) ignorance! These Malaysian parents were ignorant over the fact that if their children were born in Brunei and if the parents did not register the birth with the Malaysian nor the Brunei government, then these children will be considered “stateless” as Brunei would not grant them citizenship nor PR even though they were born and bred there.

2) These “stateless” people are not given a passport. They live in the country on work permits which in turn allow them very limited travel i.e. within Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak.

I extracted the below from the US State Government website.

Brunei
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 8, 2006

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

There were a sizeable number of "stateless" persons and permanent residents, mostly ethnic Chinese, including persons born and raised in the country, who were not automatically accorded citizenship and its attendant rights. They had to travel abroad as stateless persons and did not enjoy the full privileges of citizenship, including the right to own land. Stateless persons and permanent residents also were not entitled to subsidized medical care. In 2003 a reform to the nationality law allowed some older, stateless persons and some permanent residents over age 50 to acquire citizenship by passing an oral rather than a written nationality test. All stateless persons and permanent residents became entitled to free education at government schools and other vocational and technical institutions. During the year 680 persons were granted citizenship, including more than 150 children.

How about that?! It is no wonder the Chinese is a shrinking population in Brunei. Year on year the migration level is high among the Chinese population. Currently, Chinese form approximately 15% of the country’s population.

So the next time you think you have been marginalised, consider the plight of the Chinese in Brunei!

What's your poison?

Mine is Vodka.

My love affair with vodka started four years ago in a beautiful stretch of land called Southern Africa ~

With warm safari sunrise


Beautiful savannah land


Amazing BIG FIVE


And Vodka! What a combination!


Not being a hard liquor drinker, I prefer vodka served diluted with lemon squash or lately with 100 Plus. It should be served with 4 parts of diluting substance to 1 part vodka. That's probably blasphemous to serious vodka drinkers but I loved my vodka served that way. :0)

Here's a little bit of info on my poison:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vodka is typically a colorless liquor, usually distilled from fermented potatoes, but can also include alcohol made from other raw materials such as grain. The word is a diminutive of the Slavic word "voda" (voda, вода) for "water."

Except for various types of flavorings, vodka consists of water and alcohol (ethanol). Vodka usually has an alcohol content ranging from 35% to 50% by volume. The classic Russian vodka is 40% (80 proof).

At strengths less than this (40%) vodka drunk neat (not mixed with other liquids) can taste 'watery' and above this strength the taste of vodka can have more 'burn'. Under US Federal law, the minimum alcohol strength of vodka is also 40% by volume, whilst in Europe the minimum is 37.5% by volume.

Although vodka is generally drunk neat (not mixed with other liquids) in its Eastern European and Scandinavian homeland, its growth in popularity elsewhere owes much to its usefulness in cocktails and other mixed drinks, such as the Bloody Mary, the Screwdriver, the Vodka Tonic, and the Vodka Martini.


In the subsequent years since, I have had the opportunity to try out various brands of vodka. Here are a few that I enjoy:

Stolichnaya - Russian vodka - and the cause of my love affair with Vodka! :o)


Absolut - Swedish vodka - a recent acquired taste. I love the packaging!


Smirnoff - Russian vodka - also a recent acquired taste. Among the cheaper brands around but offers an interesting array of flavours. My all time favourite is the citrus flavoured vodka. My most recent purchase is an apple flavoured one though and it has such a sweet apple cider smell.


Finlandia - Finnish vodka - a friend introduced me to my first taste of vodka kept in the freezer for a freezing cold consumption. It was interesting. Hmm ... perhaps I should try that again.


Skyy - US vodka - was introduced to this by another friend who is a strong vodka drinker. He had once challenged another friend to a 1.5 bottles of vodka drinking contest. He claimed that he could drink a lot more than that. :o)


And that's the end of the vodka lesson. For more details, check out Wikipedia!

It is a sad day for Universiti Malaya

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) has supplanted Universiti Malaya (UM) as the country’s highest ranked university in the latest survey conducted on world university rankings. (For the full report, go to this link.)

I was bombarded by the news the moment I walked into the office today. My alma mater, our pride and joy (or it used to be).

Those days, students fight to get into UM. Those days, it meant something to be from UM. Those days, one gets respect from job interviewers when they find out that one is from UM!

But alas! Those days were gone!!! And somehow I am not surprised by the downward spiral of the university and its reputation.

According to The Star Online, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang attributed Malaysian universities' poor ranking to the failure of the institutions “to practise real meritocracy in academic appointments and promotions, as well as in student intake.”

I am not quite sure of the situation now although I don't think the quota system has changed overly much from my time. And based on my experience (which was more than 10 years back), it's a great divide between the entree points for different races. But even that would not have mattered if the end justify the means i.e. the students who were given the opportunity were able to catch up or in quite a few instances, even bother trying to catch up.

But that's only one side of the story. The other is the quality of lecturers! For a premier university, the lecturers attached to the university (or at least those in my experience) left a lot to be desired. I could count on one hand the total number of good lecturers I have had in my four years of education there. Isn't that absolutely sad?!

As if that wasn't enough, I recently discovered from a friend who is doing her MBA at UM that one of the worst lecturers I ever had the misfortune to encounter, is still lecturing at the university and that she is one of the senior lecturers there now and is of some standing within the faculty. My jaw dropped!

In any case, I believe in giving people a second chance to redeem themselves. But what irks me was that I heard that this lecturer's attitude has not changed i.e. she is still that prissy woman who is also a royal a**hole (pardon the language). It seemed she shut up an MBA student by saying that a certain question asked is not in the syllabus and thus not open for discussion. (I had it on good authority that it was a reasonable question.) In any case, how could a lecturer suppress the learning process especially within the environment/confines of an MBA Programme? To top it off, from what I heard, she still teaches her lessons using the OH Projector. And it wouldn't surprise me if the slides she is using are the same old ones she used to teach me in my first degree. (Yeah! Yeah! That's a bitchy remark.)

Gosh! If lecturers as bad as these still get promoted and are roped in to teach the MBA programme, is it any wonder that the quality of students and the quality of research produced have gone on a downward spiral.

To drop in ranking from 89 in 2004 to 169 in 2005, and to have a further drop of 23 places to 192 this year is shameful and inexcusable for a university like UM. But true to form of a Malaysia Boleh type of mentality, the downward ranking caused a national debate on the status of the premier university and the validity of the criteria used for the rankings. Yeah! Right! Blame it on the criteria instead of looking inwardly to seek for areas of improvements. How would we ever progress if at the first signs of criticism, we react defensively?

It's just a sad, sad day for Universiti Malaya. I weep for thee and for what you could have been.

How candid should you be when you blog?

The bare naked truth … how comfortable are you in baring your soul in your blogs?

I have always thought that my life is an open book and that I am the most open person around. There’s nothing to hide. What you see is pretty much what you get. And my friends know that from the onset (or so I assume).

Thus, it came as a surprise to me when I started blogging that indeed there are things I am not comfortable in revealing to all and sundry. There have been blogs that I have conducted self censorship and there are others that I had misgivings in posting them but decided to do so in the end.

The oddest thing is that my discomfort stems from exposing my vulnerability to folks who already know me. It’s like revealing the bare naked truth about your innermost thoughts. And sure enough, friends whom I never thought would read my blog would have read them and picked opportune moments (i.e. during lunch) to shock me with their knowledge of … well ... my innermost thoughts! (Thanks for the lunch tip on silent blog readers Tim. :p)

I have no qualms if the blogs were only read by total strangers who came across them, likely because there is no history between us and there is no “vulnerability” felt. That’s probably why chat rooms and forums are thriving communities especially to shy and timid folks, who could act out the alter egos and fantasies behind the web screen. Perhaps the anonymity gives them Dutch courage.

Back to blog candidness, I am still not totally convinced that total candidness is the way to go although in most times, I just tell myself to post it and to hell with the consequences. Thus far, I have not reached hell yet with the consequences. Hahahaha …

To bare or not to bare the bare naked truth? Now that’s the question. ; )

Moon Cake Festival booboo

I received the following message from my sister and a friend today. It read:

“I look at the moon,

The moon is beautiful …

I look at you …

I …

I …

I …

I’d better look at the moon again …

Happy Moon Cake Festival!”

Ha ha ha ha … I loved it. I thought it was a riot and promptly sent that out to friends whom I thought could take it as a joke. I had a few good laughs from the replies I received. Most were amused except one who seemed insulted by the message.

Then it got me thinking that perhaps the rest who were silent and did not reply me were insulted as well. Dang! What a booboo to make on this festival.

Therefore, to friends who might have been insulted by the message, my apologies to you. It was meant to be something funny that we could laugh over together. I have a whacky sense of humour and it just never crossed my mind that THAT could be insulting to you.

Thousand apologies and a sincere Moon Cake Festival wish to all of ya!

Managing People 101

Every Tom, Dick and Harry (as well as their female counterparts) wants to be a manager these days. In fact, almost every young graduate I spoke to wants to be a manager. It’s the money and the status, I believe. But I wonder if they comprehend what the role entails other than just a title to flaunt.

The biggest concern of a manager is people management. No management guru can teach you how to manage people and how to study the nuances of the politics behind these folks. You can get the best books with the “best” advice but the bottom line is one person’s attitude, character and traits very much differs from another. And handling people in certain situations differs very much from another.

I have been at this for a few years and yet, it has always been a constant struggle. People are not static, they are constantly changing. Dealing with bosses is certainly different from dealing with peers, which in turn is different from dealing with subordinates. There's no one size fits all advice in dealing with them. Besides, if an issue arises, we have to resolve it then and there as these are the “in your face” kind of things where one can’t very well sweep a problem under the carpet.

For example:
How does one handle an unreasonable boss?
How does one thread the ground when dealing with local and regional bosses that do not see eye to eye?
How does one deal with a non performing peer who is co-running a project?
How much “face” should one accord the peer before jumping down his/her throat?
How does one deal with an over achiever subordinate?
How much of a leash does one give to an over achiever subordinate?
How much of the whip should one apply and how much of the carrot can one dangle?
How much authority should one delegate to an average Joe?
How much coaching should one give before it becomes spoon feeding?
How much … blah, blah, blah, …
And the list goes on and on ...

It is mind-boggling the amount of engagement, diplomacy and energy needed for this. I’m usually tired out after a full day of dealing with the various relationships and inter-relationships amongst the people I manage and the people who manage me! Being non confrontational yet cognizant of the fact that I should not allow people to bully/step on me, it is always a struggle to find that fine balance.

But ultimately, one learns this very fundamental lesson; "You can’t please everybody all the time."

Weekly Thursday Night Badminton

Boy! Talk about missing in action for months. I haven't seen my MBA coursemates in yonks i.e. since I have dropped outta the weekly badminton tourney with them.

It was a darn good two hour workout tonight. And these guys had no mercy! Blardy hell!!! I was scrambling all over the court, retrieving shots. I bet my muscles will start protesting tomorrow.

But it was a good sort of pain. Yeah! Yeah! Perhaps I am a masochist. :p In any case, I am making a wow to myself to join them every Thursday if I am in good ol' KL.

I'm glad that they continued with the mamak session to end a perfect game day. It's a great way to catch up and start bitching about how the uni ripped us off! Hahaha ...

Life's A Bitch Till You Day. But sometimes, there's a silver lining in the clouds! ;)

It's GREAT to be back!

Back in business again!

Wow! Three blogs in four days ... and still counting!! Am I back in business or what?!

I took a hiatus from blogging and other activities for awhile as I was caught up with my DVD marathon every night that I am home. Also, my muse was clearly not working and thus, it was better to be entertained than to entertain in the last few weeks! :p

And when I am not home, I'm out busting my butt for work. Been travelling a fair bit lately for work too ~ Genting, JB, Singapore, ... and counting ... although I have a mini reprieve for now.

JB was tiring. I left home at 8 am on a Friday morning, drove down to the office and picked up a few colleagues, then onward to JB. Reached there about 1.30pm, checked in, had a quick lunch, and off again with my sales guys to visit a few customers. We ended up having dinner with a customer at 8.30pm in Kota Tinggi, and by the time I got back to the hotel, it was already 11.30pm. Gosh! Talk about fatique! The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak!

The next day, we had to attend a roadshow. Thank god that only starts at 3pm but it ended way past midnight. The plan was to drive back to KL at 10.00 am the next day, BUT I only managed to wake up at 10.15 am. By the time we left JB, it was 11.00+ am. The drive back was pure torture as my eyelids were ready to close anytime. It didn't help that my passengers were all snoozing soundly at the back of the seat. By the time we reached KL and I have sent the rest home, it was 4.00+pm. Gosh! Talk about FATIQUE!!!

I'm glad that I will be grounded for a few more weeks before the madness began again.

Friendship

I came across a few quotes that ring so true about friendship.

Quote:
I believe-
that we don't have to change friends
if we understand that friends change.

My say:
You might no longer see things the way I do.
You might no longer do the things I want to do.
And though I no longer hang around with you,
It does not mean that I no longer need you.

Quote:
I believe-
that no matter how good a friend is,
they're going to hurt you every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.

My say:
Your words were harsh, your thoughts unreasonable.
I lashed out in pain, but that was inexcusable.
Harsh words were said but we couldn’t call them back.
We were both wrong; can we not just forgive and forget?

Quote:
I believe-
that true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.

My say:
We parted ways, five years or more,
Separated by oceans, both on different shores,
After a long, long while, we met once more
It felt like only yesterday we were young gals in pinafores!

Quote:
I believe-
that my best friend and I can do anything
or nothing and have the best time.

My say:
Be it hours of chatting, and paying hundreds in phone bills,
Be it wine drinking sessions, or trekking up hills,
Be it watching the sunrise or listening to the birds chime,
Whatever it is or is not, we are having the best of times!

This is for you my dear friends ~ you know who you are.

He says, she says … but what do I say?

My love life has been fodder for speculation for a while now. Therefore it is of no surprise to me to find out that that has been a topic of conversation even when it is out of my earshot. :p

Recently a friend told me about a conversation she had with another friend regarding my requirements for a man. It seemed that I am a “lost cause” as I am believed to have very high requirements for a man i.e. one who has a better job/ career than me, earns more than me, is better educated, etc., etc. Hahaha … What a perception! I now wonder what kind of vibes I have been sending out.

I recalled another conversation I had with another friend, who said in jest (or so I thought), “You have all the Cs (as in the 5Cs). So what do you need a man for?” I remember replying flippantly, “Hmm … companionship?”

Another friend believes that I need a man who is not around half the time and is willing to allow me my independence. One more believes that only “gwei los” would be a match in heaven for me. Yikes! That made me sound like a sarong party girl. One even went as far as to comment that the kind of man I look for is extinct but did not elaborate on what kind of man that is.

Hmmm … all these speculations!

It’s high time I come clean on the subject and squelch more speculation. Here is my say on the subject. Instead of asking me my requirements, let’s start by reviewing the type of man I have fallen for thus far.

The first one was good looking with a boyish charm about him. But what truly intrigued me was his MIND! He had one of the best brains I have ever come across. Not just book smart, he had an amazing yet convoluted philosophy of life with the most interesting views and interpretations of our social structure, and of human and marital relationships. He believed that we should choose with our minds, and not with our hearts. He believed in challenging the status quo at every turn. He had barely a penny to his name; but he had lots of ambition and a self confidence that’s larger than life.

The second one was bestowed with the gift of wit and humour. Life was a laugh to him and yet he was one of the most caring and honest guy I had the good fortune to know. The best part was that we could chat for hours about anything under the sun. He was like a best friend, a playmate, a soul mate. He had a huge appetite for knowledge and a love for the great outdoors. And he had the patience of job. There was a “connection” with him that’s beyond physical attraction and is difficult to put into words.

I connected on both work and education level with the third one. I could bounce off ideas regarding issues at work, and I could get a logical and impartial view from him, which helped me in finding a solution to most work related issues. Unlike the other two, which I felt I was on equal footing, the third one was like a mentor to me ~ someone I could look up to. Conversations with him were easy. The physical attraction was exciting, yet disconcerting. What attracted me most were his maturity and his mind. I had a lot of respect for him.

Hmmm … so what do I really require in a man? Not so easy to define eh? I don’t even know myself. Are my friends’ perceptions true? Are my requirements too high? Have I been sending out the wrong vibes? Gee … I am more confused now.

And the verdict is … only god knows. :D