DiNnEr WiTh ALaN/ CaFe CaRteL ReViEw

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...


Work today was satisfying and rewarding as usual. I am happy to see that Larry is pushing himself very hard in his chin-up regime. Larry, I can see your improvement. Push a little harder and you are bound to accomplish miracles. After work, I went for my usual exercise routine with Kevin.


After exercising, I went to meet up with my JC buddy, Alan. It was a fun and memorable meeting. Lots of JC memories were rekindled and we each caught up with each others' lives. We had dinner at Cafe Cartel in Hougang Mall. The initial plan was to indulge in Jack's Place cuisines but we found that the Jack's Place at Hougang Plaza no longer existed. Hence, we had to go to Cartel without any further choice of western restaurants in the vicinity of Hougang Mall. As I might have mentioned before, the food at Cartel is never really satifying. It leaves you with a bloated feeling. The kind of feeling you get when you end up eating lots of junk food when you skip a meal. I had something that was like chicken cutlet smeared with barbeque sauce. It wasn't vey nice as the chicken was over-fried. Furthermore, the vegetables that accompanied the chicken cutlet tasted stale and unfresh. Even the plain water and 7-up tasted weird. The service was lousy and the restaurant was generally dirty at the rear end where we were seated. I personally give the restaurant 1 star out of 5 stars.


Alan passed me a very inspirational book. I have always been one who thoroughly enjoys and understands such inspirational quotes. During training, my entire room used to be adorned with such quotes giving me the motivation to push myself further enabling me to accomplish feats I never thought were possible. In university, my room in Temasek hall was once again adorned with the same posters and quotes. To some people these quotes might resemble mere strings of fantastic words creatively woven togather, but to me they always carry meaning. These inspirational quotes manifest the prowess of their meaning in times when we need them the most. Thank you bro, for such a wonderful book.


On another note, Alan also passed me the CD of a 'radio show' he and me recorded during our JC days. We posed as DJs and entitled the show 'LA69' which obviously means Lokender and Alan. But I don't really recall where the 69 came from. The show consisted of some very funny self created commercials and a few songs we sang in honour of our council-mates. So when is our next DJ-ing session, Alan?


CJC played a very crucial and important role in my life. Apart from the usual academic growth, there was alot of spiritual growth . The spiritual growth of the kind that I assume no other JC can offer. I grew not only in intelligence but also in understanding and maturity. I learned to see beyond the obvious. I learned to dare to dwell into newer pastures and most importantly, I acquired the ultimate gift of light. This might sound like utter rubbish to alot of people but I shall elaborate myself in another post. The jist of the ideology that am talking about is that you are the light that you want to see in the world. If you are determined and optimistic, happiness and success will succumb to your very being. Here I do acknowledge that happiness and success are relative terms and differently gauged by different individuals. Remember, that you are the change that you want to see in the world. Be happy, be inspiring, be a brother, be a leader, be the light and your life shall be enveloped in that which you spread.


...aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...