Dear Abby... What should I do?

"Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it." - Agatha Christie

"The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself." - Oscar Wilde


It can be considered an honor if someone approaches you for advice. It shows that the person trusts you to listen and maybe offer advice. This actually makes you bear a big responsibility. Giving the person good advice may enable him/her make good and sound decision but bad advice may result in bad consequences. To avoid that, here's some tips that may be helpful when offering advices to people.

1 - LISTEN
Always listen to everything what the person tells you. Listen carefully so that you can understand the person's predicament. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you need clarification. Understanding the person's problem will enable you to give better advice.

2 - EMPATHIZE
Try to imagine yourself in the other person's shoes. Be sensitive and thoughtful as many matters require you to be sensitive to the person's feelings and emotional state. Any lessons learned in similar experiences that you had regarding the person's problem may aid you in giving advice.

3 - BE AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ADVICE
Give the person advice that you are confident is correct. Make sure that you know your facts of your advice and try to be certain that it'll work for the person. If you are not sure about your advice or you lack knowledge in that matter, DO NOT OFFER the person advice. It may result in the person blaming you if your advice does not work.

4 - SEE IF THE PERSON IS WILLING TO TAKE YOUR ADVICE
Someone who asks for your advice does not mean that he/she will act upon your advice. They may just need someone to listen to their problems. They may also think that their own solution is better than yours. If you want to avoid the feeling of frustration because the person did not take your advice, ask yourself of they want advice.

5 - BRAINSTORM WITH THE PERSON
There are times when it is better to help the person with any alternatives available so that you can reach a better conclusion together. Two heads are better than one.


-Hidayah-

elephantiasis

If you haven't heard of this disease, simple, go google! In summary, it means an abnormal enlargement of certain body parts. I witnessed in college yesterday the abnormal enlargement of the face of a girl. After LAN, obviously there were many many students around. And this girl with elephantiasis, was there for an event.

She had a black face with pink here and there, and her lips were huge, let me stress that when i say huge, it means huge. Honestly, there barely was any face at all. It was that bad.

I was a bit shocked at the moment because i havent seen such a person before. So i asked a few friends to look lah, i know it was a bad thing to do. But i realised something, i wasn't the only one. There was one girl who was walking towards her, saw her, and looked away in some dramatic manner. Some even used their hands and closed their eyes. Some are even worse, they walk pass, and gather the gang and point at her from behind. If you're feeling terrible and disgusted, imagine what she is feeling.

I really felt very very bad for her, mix of pity and sympathy. If you tell me to empathize with her, i really can't. Because i dont know what she is going through. How would she feel if she was given stares almost every single minute of her life? Not being able to go to the mall, the restaurants, or out of the house, or even in the house with mirrors? If i were her, i'll be crying almost every night and to commit suicide will be on my to-do-list.

Be grateful with whatever it is that you have, your pimpled face, your scarred face, your small lips, your single eyelid because that girl wants everything that you sigh about. You and I have everything and we're complaining?

Sometimes there's just too much communication in the room. and yesterday, i witnessed a WHOLE LOT. Non-verbal communication, small group communication, and i bet that poor girl herself was having a little intrapersonal communication going on. "please God, help me" Exactly, how much is too much of communication?

this is just an example of elephantiasis on the face, what i witnessed yesterday wasn't like that but something like that.

-Leconte-

I AM who I AM

Have u ever meet someone that everytime or always complaint alot thing that this not good or that not good,or like this world is owning him or her something...I guess he or her just want to compare with everyone or get some attention from others. In addition,this action is good,coz u or them can straight away know the mistake that you done and will correct it right away so as to bulit long and profit relationship. Like signficant others, person whose opinion or comments that important enough to strongly affect his or her self-concept or self esteem.

.



However,if continue to do like that,it will bring disadvantage as well,coz it will started to annoyed everyone and make someone have bad feeling about you that did not give any support what they has done. him or her just want to try their best to make the things or events more complicated.

Like that day, I go and watch movie with my friends. My friends bring his new friend together and introduce to us.In our first impression,he look quite nice and gentle,but my friend told me that he is a good complainer,must have patient when interact. I don't care about it and we started to become good friend.Everytime,we go everywhere always together. Finally,this guy show his real tail,he really like to complaint alot and make us frustrated.One day,we really can't stand him anymore coz he say that "why always mixing with ur all,make me look more childish." wat?make u more childish? You think who u are? Adult? refect yourself by looking on the mirror la.WE ALL STILL TEENAGER! must enjoy this kind of life,This call fun. We have our self- conception and you have yours.

-Horatio (Eng Teck)-

.............(Nonverbal Communication)

I'm sure you all know what is nonverbal communication. For those of you who forgot, I'll just repeat what Mr. Murali said. "Non-verbal communication is all behaviors, attributes and objects of humans- other than words- that communicate messages and have social meaning." Anyway, I watched this movie called 'Nosferatu' recently. It's a REALLY OLD SILENT movie from the 1920's. You know, that old German vampire movie. An uglier version of Count Dracula. Goodness...the only reason I watched the movie was because my brother kind of forced me to watch it. He said that it'll be fun or something. So I watched it. Well, I could only say that it was an interesting experience for me, considering I never watched a silent movie in my whole life. Why would I when we have movies with sound and color since ages ago??



You see, since it was a silent movie, the actors had to express their emotions and thoughts through actions and not words. The end result was really comical in today's movie standard. All the actors in the movie had to exaggerate their expressions and gestures to convey their emotions. If not, we will have a hard time understanding what is going on in the movie. 'Nosferatu' was suppose to be a horror/ thriller movie but it ended up looking like a hilarious comedy. I was laughing a lot with my brother during the huge duration of the movie. Ah well, at least it was enjoyable. No offense to the movie. Conclusion is, if you want to see some really funny nonverbal communication in action, watch a silent movie. Guaranteed to keep you entertained all day.

-Hidayah-

no no no no, baby no no no, dont lie!

my friend once told me, 'no matter whether it's a big lie or a small lie, it's still a lie'. What is the authencity of this statement? Is he speaking through a religious point of view? What about reality? Every tom, dick and harry is lying to cover mistakes he made and to impress people.

Once you lie, the lie gets deeper and there's no turning back. What if it all comes out? When everyone sees what you're really all about? What's going to happen then? People are gonna label you a liar and never to trust you ever again because trust me, one bad thing will caused all good things you've done to go down the drain.

So to lie or not to lie? Let's take a look at the pros and cons.

Pros- to save someone's face, to cover mistakes one has made but will eventually catch up with them somehow.

Cons- get f***ed up in the end!

I say LIE and deal with the consequences later, you lie because you care.

-Leconte-

Sick of it

Shoot me on my head with a gun and make sure you do not miss it because I want to end this crappy sickness. Flu, sorethroat, cough and restless.

It drains my energy, makes me tired and yet unable to sleep, and also it makes me not to be able to smell the fresh air around me. I am as dead as a rat now.I wonder and ponder and honder and yonder and tonder and konder and tender about why is things like that...and started to realise the power of physiological noise.. Maybe I am just a bit too sensitive or so on. But I am trying to figure something out whether is there anything wrong.

About the video that we discuss,i got the pictures of it edi.Hope to get the CD as soon as possible..Ciaoz..am so tired and restless. >_<

The Ultimate Tourist Attraction..

I would like to share this amazing picture with all of you :)


Last month, two of friends and i participated in The rush that was organised by HMC students. This race was organised using the concept just like the amazing race we always watched from tv, just that was more confine in one location..but it was fun tho :).. Anyways, back to the main point here, my friends and i were walking around town after the race, heading towards Langkawi Parade ( i think ) to get some souvenirs and guess wat we came across....

Ta-daaaaa...





seen anything disturbing about the road sign??

well.. here's a zoomed in pic :)

Seen it??

Its a Sanitary Pad attached on top of the C on a road sign board..

What was the person thinking about????

~Jovita~

Your name is what??

I think Shakespeare really hit the mark when he wrote the line "What's in a name?" in the play Romeo and Juliet. The implication from that famous line said by Juliet is that whatever a person's name is should not change them. Although nowadays, I think it's safe to say that your name is very important. Taken from the text book : They shape the way other's think of us, the way we view ourselves, and the way we act. If that's the case, why are there people with names so weird and bizarre that when we hear their name, we'll just say "His/Her name is WHAT?"

Haha. Celebrities are easy targets for this topic. They seem to get the weirdest and strangest ideas when it comes to naming their babies.

Classic examples:

1 - Pilot Inspektor (Child of Jason Lee)
Hmm...Wonder what the kid will be when he grows up. Maybe he can be a pilot inspector! OMG. How lame is that?

2 - Apple (Child of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin)
Actually it seems to be quite a sweet name but on second thought..

3 - Tu Morrow (Child of Rob Morrow)

Oh goodness. Who names their kid "Tu Morrow"?

4 - Jermajesty (Child of Jermaine Jackson)
...That takes the cake.


-Hidayah-

Nice meal !!!

It was my first visit to this restaurant named Bubba Gump in The Curve. I went there with my cousins. :) one phrase, Hell yea, the food is great over there :)






This is the logo for the restaurant. Well, actually the restaurant got its name for a movie called 'The Forrest Gump". As you can see on the logo, well this particular restaurant mainly concentrating on shrimps as their main dish. They can serve the shrimps in many flavours and many types. And it seriously tastes very good :) I ate too much shrimp till I can even feel a little allergies and uncomfortable on me the following day. But who gives it a damn? I still enjoy my meal there.



Their services there are good and they serve their food very fast. Maybe it's because during my visit there was less-crowded, so they can prepare the food fast.
Their services are used based on this concept, the 1st 1:

1) "Run Forrest Run" and "Stop Forrest Stop";
2) Food there are served on trays lined with faux newspaper;
3) Tables condiments/ sauces are put in a metal bucket, chained to a small menu which is sticked to a ping-pong bat.
4) They provide loads of sugars and salts for you! and their SAUCES are good!


They also got a special services which stated at bullet list 1,it means when u display the "Run Forrest Run" sign on your table,it means don't disturb us when enjoying the dish and when u display, "Stop Forrest Stop", the waiter will come immediately at once to serve u..it looks so special when u having ur time at there..so i recommend your all to go and try...hahahha..enjoy the meal after a hardworking effort in your life.

-Horatio-

joke of the day

so my friends and i celebrated my very belated birthday last saturday night. and apparently they had this 'inside joke' which i wasn;t aware of. it goes like this.

"Clement googled himself until he reached yahoo."

p/s google means to excite yourself and yahoo it when you have reached excitement, IF YOU GET WHAT I MEAN ;)

So, you know what i said?! (this is because i dont know their slang/jargon)

"Oh really? I googled myself and nothing came out. Instead, other people came out."

Do you even get the joke? If you don't, come to me, I'm Leconte and i make people laugh. So you see, slangs and jargons are always misinterpreted, a tip for you, next time, just shut up. =)

Empathy

Have you ever seen a man, dressed in ragged and dirty clothes begging for money on the streets? Or a man who has a wife and six children living in a small house, barely able to fit even four people comfortably? He has to work 12 hours a day just to have some money to send his children to school. I'm sure many of us have watched television programs or read newspapers that highlight the plight and difficulties that these people have to go through just to be able to make a small amount of money to feed their families. More often than enough, many of us would experience various degrees of sympathy for these unfortunate people. Unfortunately, there are also a number of people who actually have the audacity to belittle these poor people. Why don't we think to ourselves - how often do we actually empathize with these people? Do we even take the time to think how these people feel or put ourselves in their shoes?

First of all, we should understand the definition of empathy. Generally, empathy means the ability to recognize or comprehend another person's perspective or state of mind. When we empathize with another person, we have to set aside our own viewpoint and judgment and try to experience and understand the other person's outlook or perspective. Empathy, however, is different than sympathy. When we empathize with another person, it does not necessarily mean that we sympathize with him or her. We may understand the motive for the other person's actions and pain but we may not agree with their actions.

Although in this case, I think it would be quite appropriate to sympathize and empathize with these unfortunate people. It is not their choice to lead a meager life, barely able to make sufficient money to put food into their stomachs. They are doing their best to raise their families with the money they have, however small the amount may be. So, next time if we see a man or woman begging for money and hoping for people's sympathy, I think it would not hurt to give him or her some money. The money that you gave may not mean much to you since the amount is small, but to them, it might mean being able to afford dinner for their families.

-Hidayah-

Misconception of Service...

How do we define customer service??
Who are our customers that we providwe service to??
Is it necessary for a customer service department to be closed during lunch hours??

Talking abt misconceptions, my mum wanted to go to the JPN during one of the weekdays.. and as anyone would know, working in a service oriented company, must have their service provided regardless of lunch, breaks or any time during operation hours. My mum was very dissapointed abt the service provided at the JPN, after forgoing her lunch to pick her replacement IC at Seri Petaling, all the way through the horrible traffic jam from KL.. Only to find that the JPN was CLOSED with a big sign board outside that "we are closed for a lunch break from 1 to 2pm", despite during ramadan month!! My mum wasn't the only person dissapointed, there were many other individuals and as well as families with children coming for the same reason.The problem lies where even after the government had increased the pay of the staffs, given bonus, and yet us citizens are still not given the service that we deserves!

-Jovita-

Misconceptions in communication

Seriously,sometimes when you saw your friend or other people is Emo and hide at the corner,you not need to accompany or comfort him or her. You just let him to cool down 1st ,then only start to talk to him..However,many people done it wrongly,and think that communicate is the good way, they wanted to bring that person to conversation and make him forget the incident that happen. This will just make the situation more terrible and hard to control. Actually,the thing that you need to do just keep quiet and observe the situation between you and him.


Like that day,when Me and my friends attend my other friend, Boon Sheng,badminton match...this match is so important that will bring him in to the national team of Malaysia..next time will represent Malaysia in Olympic.hahaha..Who know?...The match begin,and my friend started very well,he need to go throught 6 matches, then only qualified to go in Malaysia team.The game play quite smoothly and he really go through the semi final round..and fight against the German guy. He feel so happy that the dream is approaching closely.However,the German guy too strong, he control the 1st round and don't let any changes to my friend. My friend try so hard and finally bring it to the third round successfully. Suddenly, his leg muscle cramp,and can't continue the game...so,He LOSE . Really feel so sad for him.He become very emo and started to cry and don't talk to everyone in the locker room.My other friend feel pity about it and comfort him to forget it.He say that "YOU really must blame ur leg which causes You to lose in the game"....without caution. Suddenly,Boon shen stand up and fight with him...maybe he think that sentences is humilating him.Until today,they din't speak with each other anymore. Communication really can't solve all the problem. Haih!

perception

the way we perceive is something so powerful it influences our actions, words and thoughts. But the truth is, our perception is assumptions made without any basis. However, perception is very useful too, say a group of Mat Rempits approach you, obviously they are up to no good, anyone in their right mind (where perception comes into play) won't stay for a little chat. Sometimes, our perceptions could be wrong. Say for example you are walking alone at night, and there's a guy walking behind you, i'm pretty sure you will switch to 'alert mode' and your steps will suddenly lengthen as if you were taking part in a walkathon. But truth is, he is just an ordinary guy, like you, walking at night. Why shouldnt he be the one who's afraid?

i went to a friend's birthday party and we were segregated into 2 groups because he invited his high school friends and his college friends. We were totally different people with different dynamics, we are the chinese speaking, more reserved type but they on the other hand, had on lavish clothing, expensive gadgets, and it's as if there were in a competition competing to see who can show the most skin. This is the part where i judge them even without getting to know them, who knows, maybe they are actually very nice people? And maybe they too, perceive us as losers?

Leconte

The final 1...

Last but not least, its me... Jovita Yuin-Cing Bautista ( that's my full name in case u don't know ).. Well, my race is classified as Lain-lain ( Philicina..aka Philipino+Chinese ) lol.. i will be turning 18 on the same day as Tun Dr.Mahathir bin Mohamad turns 83 this year ( u have to find out when.. keke ) well... I LOVE PINK!!!! and i'm the kinda gurl which will prefer people finding out abt me themselves than me telling them about what kind of a person am i. :) well, i'll give u a brief introduction abt myself, I LOVE DANCING.. well it is also partly becasue that i HAVE to do it as it runs in my faamily ( my mum use to be a dance intructor, my aunt & uncle owns a dancing studio ) so i guess i will soon be following the footsteps of my family members.... for your information, i'm majoring in Latin Dancing and Ballet, did a little of Hip Hop, Jazz, Tap dancing, cheerleading and Line dancing.. The rest is to for you to find out..................

Me, Myself and Hidayah

Well, I guess I would start my first entry by introducing myself! Lets see...my name is Hidayah. I am 18 years old since 23rd of March. *hint* I was born in Sabah but moved to PJ when I was around three years old so if you ask me anything about Sabah I don't think I can tell you much about it. Anyway, like most teens I enjoy watching television, surfing the internet and listening to music. What type of music? Well, I mostly listen to metal music and whatever is being played on the radio. Surprising huh? I get that a lot from people.

Moving along...this is my first blog entry ever so I hope I will learn many new things from it. I made new friends and hopefully we can continue and build a great friendship from now on. I can tell we would have quite an interesting time with this blog. Think of all the fun we'll have in the future people! Haha. Thanks, Mr. Murali. Until next time. Ciao!

The other self

First and foremost, i think it's important to let the readers(if there are any) know why we chose this blog name. Our intersections basically means our intersections, literally. This is where our ideas, thoughts, encounters as well as our observations intersects; hence, there's an intersection. This picture will further illustrate my point. Those 4 roads represent Jovita, Hidayah, Eng Teck and myself (Leconte), and in the middle, where that clueless man is shading himself from the scorching light is, IS our ideas, thoughts, encounters bla bla bla. Our intersections. I've made my point clear enough. And also, the reason why we chose a green theme for our blog is because we are environment-friendly, and green is SO in this season! (even that clueless man is green, let's just hope he's not the grinch because i dont want christmas to be stolen!)

Anyway, my name is Leconte, pronounced 'nasi LEmak and CONTinue'. I just turned 18 not long ago, thanks the birthday song which was so awkward. Clearly, i'm the kinda guy who cares what is put onto his body, and that is my hobby, my passion, to dress up. I'm serious. And as you can tell by now, i'm a very lame person, as in the things i say, are somewhat funny and AH, you get the picture.

My hope is that this blog will help us to get to know each other more, by sharing each others' happenings in each lives. I also hope that we will learn more about one another hence building a beautiful friendship from here onwards. Looking forward to it!

Myself

Hello,nice to meet U all !!! Before blogging, it's important to introduce ourselves. My name is Ho Eng Teck,18 years old,originally from Kuala Lumpur, and stay at Cheras. My hobbies are playing badminton and basketball. I feel great to join this class and group.hahahahaha.... This is the first time i'm blogging ,still not so familiar with it,but i find it very fun when typing my first post...started to feel the enjoyment that others told me about having a blog. Let's make the blog more fun and bring it to another level. Bye!