Today was the day that I finally met Lay Lan after a year plus of separation due to religion. Initially it felt a bit awkward to see her after so long but i got used to it after some time. We chatted and laughed like we always did before we went our separate ways in February 2010. It was nice seeing and catching up with her again. As some of you may recall, we fell out because of our differences in thinking when it came to religion. I did not believe in religion anymore and she was upset at me for leaving the religion.

I guess mending that relationship as one of my goals for this year has begun. I hope to see more of her as the year goes by. And slowly I will make some way for her to be part of my life again. I do hope she feels the same way too. Tonight we didn't touch anything about religion. Thankfully. I guess on our parts, that topic was best left untouched. Yet we had so many other things to talk about. It was nice to see that both of us respected each other.

She did seem to wonder why I kept quiet a lot during the gathering earlier. I used to be very chatty. I guess its something I have learnt in my journey so far. There is a time to listen and there is a time for me to speak.

I was glad I attended the gathering tonight.

I hope its the beginning of many more to come.

Today the current executive committee will meet once again. This time to discuss the fate of the current president and the direction that the society will be taking after that. Sigh. I hope everything will turn out well later this evening.

Another cab ride to school this morning! Sheesh. I should really learn to wake up early. I'll probably save like over a hundred dollars every month! Putting that aside, the lecture this morning (though I missed the first half of it), was quite interesting. The lecturer talked about the various disciplines i.e. Psychology, Sociology, History, etc and their approaches to studying religion. It was interesting to see what motivates scholars from each discipline to strip religion down to its basics within the scope of each's expertise.

The second half of the lecturer was devoted to discussion of two articles: 1) Cattle (or Cow) and its symbolism in India/Hindu religion, 2) Secularization and Religion in China. She summed up this morning's lecture on the various research methods used in studying religion. She differentiated the Positivism versus Interpretism methods, emphasizing that in social sciences, we can use actually both methods even though Positivism is mainly used in Natural Sciences awhile Intepretismn is mainly used in humanities. She went through quite a few things that were explained in depth in SSC109 - Introduction to Social Sciences.

Now I wish I had taken that up that module first before emabarking on the religion module. Oh well. Better planning next time. I'm most likely to do some more changes to my study plan as I think its more advisable to take SSC109 before i take up the Research Methods and Data Analysis module.

Anyway's I'm here at Parkway Parade now, enjoying my cup of coffee while waiting for Missy Brown to turn up. I think this weekend and the next is going to be awesome.

Cheers!

I woke up late today. Well later than usual anyway. So I decided to take a cab to work today instead of my usual express bus route. Gosh its so hard to get a cab in the morning! I had to wait like a whole 15 mins before I managed to get into one.

The Cab Driver who took me started chatting to me. Talking about how Singaporeans are becoming more rude, how youngsters these days are getting more rowdy. Usually I would turn myself off or even avoid the conversation altogether. But what intrigued me was when he told me that he was previously an assistant director in DBS. He was there for over 40 years before he started driving a cab two years ago. Apparently he was retrenched during the last economic downturn. Wow, such a turn around from his the corporate life he has lead for the past 3 to 4 decades.

The Cab Driver however was very appreciative that he still held a job nonetheless. He told me of the various people he met throughout his time as a cab driver. The lady who shouted at him for turning the meter a second early, the man who forgot his wallet and was going sailing for six months, the lady who had only 5 dollars with her (but stole more than 30 dollars from the Cab Driver unknnowingly) and even the Ah Beng who adviced the Cab Driver to take care as his own uncle died falling asleep while driving his cab.

Of course, The Cab Driver's belief in god, helped him somewhat coped with the situation as he believed that there was a learning point and something positive to take away from each situation. His motto "being kind gets you kindness" was repeated quite a few times to me during the journey.

Though I do not agree with the Cab Driver's motto (thanks to Social Psychology!) nor his belief that god gives a reason for everything. From a high flying corporate job to driving a cab, meeting different people during each ride everyday. I really thought that he handled his situations really well as he managed to turn everything he experienced into something positive.

Anyways now thats posted, back to work. I've got a meeting to organise. Besides after today's meeting, my life will be getting much easier.

This evening was the start of my classes for the January Semester in UniSIM. The module that I attended earlier today was called Religion in Contemporary Societies. The main reason I chose this class was that I wanted to learn how the social sciences explain Religion. Being an atheist, I was actually hoping the module would explain scientifically on the non-existence of a higher power. Well I was a little disappointed. Because apparently according to my lecturer, most social scientists stop short of discussing the existence of god. Just a handful do, and these few do get into some kind of controversy somewhat. But throughout the 3 hour lecture that she gave, she did drop hints every now and then about the general consensus that social scientists have: There is no research method that can be used to measure qualitatively or quantitatively whether god does exist.

In tonight's lecture, the lecturer went from introducing the basic definition of what a religion is to the components of religion: Faith, Belief and Spirituality. Though not all things deemed spiritual are religious. She also mentioned the importance of Normative versus Academic understanding of religion. It is important that scholars of religion avoid evaluating or debating on the truth claims of any religion. The goal of a social scientist studying religion is to Observe, Describe, Explain and Interpret religious phenomena. The social scientist must also avoid being ethnocentric or religio-centric and always apply the theory of cultural relativism. This is the theory where all cultures (including religion) possesses differing views but each view must be respected accordingly. She also went through some of the reasons why people are religious and remain religious from perspectives of the various disciplines in the Social Sciences. The gist of it all, basically tolerance of the various views amongst those who believe or don't believe in religion.

Although I was disappointed a little, I did have a change in mindset after attending this lecture. Nope, I am still an atheist! I guess my goal now will be to understand what motivates people to remain within their religions. And what these religions offer to their followers that is so sacred (this word was used alot in the lecture!). Because apparently the theory of secularization states that as the years go by, human beings will be less religious and look to science for answers about the world. However the statistics taken in 2005 showed that only 11.92% of the world are non-religious and that 2.05% of people are atheist. So what about the other 86% of people living in this world? Why do they still believe in religion?

I think it will definitely be an interesting semester to come.

I did not blog about this for some time because I wanted to see the extent to which he will go to see me again. So as you all probably know by now, I was in Laos last week for some training on a database system. During my last meeting with You-Know-Who (a long time ago), I told him about this trip. I was actually quite surprised that he remembered. But I was also quite pissed off by the way he sent his message to me.

It was on the last day in Laos and he sent me an sms from Singapore, asking if I was back yet from Laos. I replied that I would only be back on Saturday. He wished me a safe trip home and he hoped that he would be able to see me when I get back. I just said "Thanks".

On Saturday night, just two hours after I touched down, I received another one of his messages. Asking if I wanted to meet him then. That was at 10pm. I told him I was tired and was not in the mood to go out and meet anyone. He sent me a couple of messages, saying that he missed me and that he would love to hear my stories from Laos (yeah right!). How stupid do you think I am. Nevertheless he was quite adamant. But I still said I was tired and wanted to rest. As you can see, he doesn't even seem to get the fact into his thick head that I just got back from my trip and seriously I was still having my flu. Sheesh.

Anyway to cut the story short, he asked me again on Sunday and Monday evening whether I wanted to meet up. I was kind of pissed on Monday that I told him on MSN to find some other guy living near him if he feels so desperate. He got pretty mad and logged off immediately. I thought he would actually leave me in peace after that.

But my peace was apparently shortlived. He messaged me again today, asking if I was busy with work and when would I like to meet up. I told him I was very busy and I had no idea when I would be able to. How do you tell someone nicely (even though he's a jerk) that you do not want to meet him anymore? Gosh.

Anyway I have another post to put later at home. I have to pack up now as school is closing. Darn!

I touched down in Singapore approximately two hours ago. I thought my ear drums were going to burst anytime on the plane back to Singapore. I'm gonna get some sleep now. I plan to go to office in the afternoon tomorrow. Hopefully I can get in. Will update more then.

Good night!

Here I am at the hotel lobby. Blogging my last entry in Laos before I get whisked away to the airport. Our flight is at 1350hrs and We hope to be there just before noon, Laos time. Adriana and I went shopping early this morning. We got some last minute items for each of our family members at the Morning Market and Talat Sao mall. We managed to take a few more pictures, including one with a Tuk Tuk along the way.

Seriously we bargained our way for every item we bought here. Typical Singaporean right? Haha. I think I got scolded yesterday in Lao language by one of the shop assistant. She eventually had to agree on the price I had set for the jacket. But I think she was unhappy and she started spewing out words (in a certain tone no less!) after I paid. Adriana told me to ignore her as I managed to get what I want. I'll list down the things I bought (or will be buying) later when I reach Singapore. I still get to transit in Bangkok so I may just go shopping there again for a few more items.

I am looking forward to seeing my family tonight. They will be picking me up from Changi Airport later. After which we will be fetching my mother who finishes work at 10pm. Will blog again once I touchdown in Singapore. Au revoir!


p.s. I do hope the driver who's fetching us is cute!

Today was the last day of our course here in Vientiane, Laos. The whole day was spent revising and covering topics which we had covered the previous three days. Even though it was a little frustrating, Adriana and I managed to push ourselves to go through the 4-day course. Not to mention that I actually fell sick the on Wednesday night. It kinda affected my mood for the past two days. Adriana suggested that I should rest if I didn't feel well enough to attend the class. But I thought that it would be a waste of trip if I didn't see the course all the way through.

We were presented with our certificates of participation at the end of the day. What an accomplishment it was! I've always wondered what it was like to attend a course overseas. Boy! I don't know how people can cope with all the travelling around. Maybe if I was here on a holiday, it wouldn't have been so tiring.

Adriana and I had a few nicknames for some of our course mates (well, actually just me. Lol). There was a Doctor 303, a Nerdy guy Lecturer (he's really cute!), Mr Lover Lover, Two by two table boy, psychology boy (not me, mind you!) and Mr Madagascar. The majority of the people that came for the course were Cambodian. It was nice to meet people from the ASEAN region.

We went to a French restaurant today for the Gala Dinner. It was a nice experience. I didn't take any wine as I felt it might make me more sick tomorrow. We had a four-course meal which began with some meat & bread, followed by a salad, a lamb entrée and a fruit & chocolate dessert. Everyone seemed more relaxed at the dinner tonight. Probably because we had time to get to know each other and also as we had no more lessons! We will all be going back to our own country. We managed to take pictures with each other and said our goodbyes. Some of the participants were drunk though. I think they had a little too much to drink.

How I miss Singapore! I think Adriana is looking forward to return home much more than me. She really misses her boy. Her husband is so sweet! He calls and smses everyday while we are here in Laos. And calls made from here to Singapore are not cheap! Oh before I forget, I won't be meeting the Laos guy. From his messages, he was just looking for sex. Not that I mind having sex with a Laos guy. But I have limited time here and it would have been nice if he offered to bring me around. His last message to me was asking if he can come over to my hotel room. Sigh. Anyways I replied to say that I am rushing for time and that I had to pack up to go home. Another time perhaps? Heh.

So anyways I'm going up to my hotel room now. I'll probably update one more entry before leaving Vientiane tomorrow morning. Nites!

Today was such a tiring day. I woke up feeling sick. Having a sore throat and runny nose. Think I will take some of the yellow pills I brought along for the trip. The classes have been alright. Its interesting but I really do think MS Excel and Access will be much more powerful. After all we can still export the data to SPSS or STATA for analysis. Adriana seems to be taking things in positive light. I don't know what I would do if I had to come here alone.

After class we went to have dinner at an Indian Restaurant here in Vientiane. The food was quite similar to those found in Singapore. I had fried noodles and Adriana had some Naan bread with garlic chicken. Mum called me halfway through to ask how things are. Sweet. But her actual purpose of calling me was to get my password so that she could use my laptop. Apparently the desktop at home went kaput and she had some urgent insurance thingy to settle. I was reluctant to give her the password. Not because I am selfish but I do have confidential things stored in that computer which I cannot reveal to anyone else. I do hope she understands. She did ask me if I had naked pictures stored in that laptop. I said yes jokingly and she laughed. I told her to get my brother's laptop instead. Hope she managed to settle it. I didn't want to hold on the line for too long. It costs me 5 bucks/min to make a call back home!

After dinner we went to shop at the night market that was situated near the Mekong River. It was a nice sight. Lots of good looking guys around as well. One even smiled at me! Adriana said the guy who smiled at me was probably a father because a small child was running beside him. Shucks! Btw Thailand was just across the river! Gosh. There were quite a few stalls and shops selling merchandise. I bought two Gucci wallets and a really nice lighter for my siblings. Hope they will like it. I'm not sure what to buy for my parents though. I still have a hundred US dollars left.

Work has been haunting me since I left Singapore. I guess its my fault that I keep being connected to the happenings back in Singapore. Adriana called me emo because I was so affected by what happened in the office even though I wasn't there. Thanks ah! Haha.

Anyway tomorrow will be the last training day. And I am afraid it will be another long day. I do hope it finishes early. At least we'll be able to visit the Talat Sao Mall. The Lao people tend to start their business late and close shop so early! Except maybe for the night market. We will be having a Gala dinner tomorrow night. So we don't have to worry about dinner. I might be meeting this gay guy I chatted with from Fridae.com after the dinner. That should be an interesting end to my trip. Haha.