It just seems like whenever I need to know something quickly, the internet is always there for me. of course, "always" is contingent on whether I have access at home in the first place. Interestingly, I wonder if I'm more curious about things when I'm at home simply because I do have access to the Net? It never seems like I need answers to things say when I'm driving or walking about town.

One of my favourite comedians, Eddie Izzard, has talked about "passive research" (of which I am a proponent). It's where research comes to you without active participation on your part. Watching television falls into this category. How many of us know things about the animal kingdom thanks to "nature" shows? Would these have been pieces of information we would have endevoured to procure on our own? I think not.

The Net, by comparison, does of course require some effort and that's why Search Engines are such a boon. Imagine trying to look for something and having no one to ask. That's the Net without Search Engines. And no, pop-ups don't count as passive research.

Wow, I can't believe how quickly a week has passed! It seems like just yesterday I was going on about having to pack and such (incidentally, I somehow managed to pack just right for Tokyo. For me, that's a bit of a miracle.)

Tokyo was brilliant but then again, italways is and that's why I keep going back. I may have mentioned before about how enamoured of the general orderliness of things I am as concerns Japan. This most recent trip has done nothing to make me feel any differently. Everything has its place and there's a place for everything. I've had a good long think about why it generally all "works" and I have come to the simple conclusion that it's about respect. Respect for other people, respect for another person's time and space. Respect, in short, for things other than one's self. And it's reflected in the way you, as a customer, are greeted and treated by sales-staff, counter-staff and front-liners in general.

To me, America may be the most powerful country in the world but Japan leaves a more powerful impression.

PS They also have one of the cheapest internet connection rates in the world. Just one more example of the importance the Japanese place on encouraginginnovation via techonolgy and information.

I'm just counting the days to when I get to pack in a mad rush, call cabs and re-call cabs to re-confirm confirmations. Passport check? Tickets? Suitcases? Why oh why do I put myself thru this every single time???!!!! Actually, that's very easily answered. Coz I just LOVE going on holiday and I'll do anything, swim any ocean, climb any mountain (which in itself would make for a rather fun holiday) to make sure that I get to get away from it all.

Still, it is a few days away and really, I should try much harder to organize things before the actual departure date. There are arrangements to be made and peopll to see so, I best be on my way. Holiday here I come! Almost.

There I was, driving along minding my own business listening to Rex on the Smooth Drive and imagine my surprise when I hear his listener, Ms Wong giving him the correct answer to our 80's Music Mania contest and winning for herself RM8,200. I was thrilled for her but at the same time a little disappointed for myself since we're all pretty competitive about having the winning segment. Still, there are more chances and as of 2 minutes ago, the money up for grabs is RM6,000. So, guys KEEP calling and keep listening out for those clues from the Lite Breakfast with PK & Sara. Here's a little tip, you HAVE to get the clues from them. The 2 people who have won big thus far figured out the answers from the clues. The snippet kicked off some recognition in them and then they called.

DO NOT miss out on your chance to take home a really lovely amount of money! With RM50,000 up for grabs there's no reason why RM8,200 should be the biggest amount. Good luck!

We've added something new to our "fold" so to speak. I'm always amazed at the techonology that we have access to on a daily basis here on LiteFM. There are banks and banks of equipment which help to make sure our listeners get the best, uninterrupted quality stereo broadcast bar none. Which leads me to today's little bit of information. We are embarking on a decidedly "low-tech" endeavour. It probably hasn't escaped your attention that we have started "hitting the streets". This is a pretty significant step forward for us because it marks the first time all the announcers have had the opportunity to meet all our listeners in an informal and "dynamic" setting. I say dynamic because its a case of us coming to you in our station-vehicle where more often than not its near a tree (ask me about that when we meet up, okay?)

So, today I'm going to be at AmpWalk along Jln. Ampang from about 1815 hrs. Do come on down! There's lots of Dominos pizzas for you to try and vouchers for you to take home. Don't forget to bring along a couple of tins of canned food for the orphans at Rumah Kids, too. See you there!

So, I've managed to cover my likes and dislikes (just scratching the surface, you understand ;) ).

As far as wishes go, these are for things I have no control over and as such must fall into the realm of ...."I do wish those that can make it so MAKE IT SO!"

I wish:

1) The police would really have a go at changing peoples' driving attitudes. This would involve stopping EVERY driver observed to have crossed over a double-line, changed lanes without signalling, tail-gated etc etc. My reasoning is simple. You can hope to accede to a person's better nature (and yes, you must make every attempt to educate them about proper road-manners) BUT in light of the overwhelming evidence that people simply, just DON'T CARE, what do you do? Easy, make it apparently clear that there is a inconvenient, negative consequence to their bad driving. How many times would park you car in a no-parking zone if everytime you did it you had to retrieve your car from the police impound yard and it cost you RM600? Probably only once I'm betting. The key, of course, is consistency.

Let me give you an example if recalcitrant behaviour. Everyday, I send my girlfriend to work near Phileo Damansara. Now, there's a fly-over bridge which is difficult to manoeuvre largely because it's half as wide as it could be and it has nothing to do with the way it was constructed. Between the hours of about 0830 and 1730 hrs you will find a bunch of cars PARKED along one side of the bridge with summonses attached to their windshield-wipers. Now surely, word would have gotten round by now that if you park your car there it WILL receive a summons. So why do people keep doing it? Let me hazard a guess.....I will say that either the summonses don't bother them or the summonses don't bother them. The thing that REALLY gets me about this debacle is that for these people it boils down to the complete lack of civic-mindedness. Nevermind the summonses, nevermind that they'll not bother paying in anticipation of an amnesty annoucement, what this whole thing is about is that these people, our brothers, our sisters, our fathers, our mothers, our children, our colleagues don't care about anyone's inconvenience but their own.

Afterall,it only takes 1 car to block thousands. So please, the next time you're in a traffic-jam ask yourself if you've every caused one yourself.

So, that's wish No.1, watch this space for the epic that follows soon.

After much thought, it occurs to me that there are lots and lots of things that really get my goat. What's particularly intriguing about this for me is that I haven't yet picked up and ulcer :-S Still, I prefer to think that what follows isn't just the rambling's of a grumpy ole boy but rather the impartial opinion ofa well-adjusted, justice deprived young pup (I didn't say anything about not being delusional).

It really gets my goat that:

1) People can switch lane without indicating. How is this possible? It either shows that they have had a look, seen you and still didn't care OR worse, didn't even bother to look. Either way, most annoying.

2) Double-lines are ignored (practically everywhere).

3) To some, driving is a right. It isn't, it's a privilege.

4) Like double-lines, no parking signs/ zones are treated as suggestions instead of statements.

5) It doesn't look like things are going to get much better *sigh*

So here we go, ladies and gentlemen!

1) I love puppies (but then again I love kittens, too)

2) Come to think of it, there's nothing wrong with the grown-up versions either (see above)

3) 80's music really, REALLY floats my boat! Nothing since has come even close to the magic that is 80's music and it's pretty telling then that I quite like The Killers (coz they sound like an 80's British pop band).

4) Chicken! (but not in the same way as puppies and kittens, if you know what I mean).

5) And just to round-up and make 5, I really like my girlfriend. Now, some of you might think that's a strange thing to say but let me clarify. I love my girlfriend but I really like who she is as well. I like her because she's really sweet, kind and compassionate.....oh yeah, and she likes me, too (who needs another reason?) ;)

Ah yes, this is where the list of my favourite things is supposed to be...and when someone starts a sentence that way you know exactly what's coming next.......nothing. And in this case, you'd be right....well, partly. The list does exist and it IS coming, just not now. The reason being that it is still in the process of being compiled. It's far too important to me to just let slide. And there's a reason for that, too.

You see, because I'm going to be commiting it to "paper", so to speak,I will be held to it. It becomes a permanent record of a deed or thought which I uttered for posterity. Still, by the same token, "likes" are not immutable, what I like today I might despise tomorrow. In fact, there already has been an instance of said change. Nothing so dramatic as a sudden love of snakes (which I've ALWAYS liked, by the way) for example but close (to me at least). I used to really, really, REALLY dislike onions. Now, for some reason, I can't cook pasta without them. I cannot adequate describe to you how weird it is for me to be at a supermarket actually looking for the things. Who would have thought that I could be emotional about onions? :D

It's been a number of years since I was able to be completely honest withmyself about the things that really interest me and which I am truly passionate about. The problem is that with the hustle and bustle of just day to day living it's easy to lose sight of who you really are. I'm reminded of a scene from the movie Runaway Bride starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts where he asks her how she likes her eggs done and she's stuck for an answer. She didn't know because she always just ate whatever her then significant other had (egg-wise). She hadn't spent much time finding out about who she was because she was busy being who she needed to be.

How does this work for me? Well, I finally know what I really, really like. And that will be revealed in my next blog entry as a list.......keep checking back, ok?