Carpe Diem

Last Sunday, I witnessed an Islam worship at the Islamic center along Kingsway. I entered the prayer room with extreme caution. Being a Christian that I am, I have my stereotypes and pre-conceived ideas about Islamic religion. There at the basement of the Islamic centre, I was greeted by a tub where men washed their feet. To my left was a pigeon-hole for the shoes which was just across a few dozen of hooks for the coat. I tiptoed towards the prayer area, following my friend and his dad. I clumsily stepped on a long roll of paper runners not a meter wide which ran across the the room. There were two of them, and I wouldn’t have noticed it if it wasn’t for the crunching sound of a crisp, white-pulp paper serenely laid on the floor. I felt my cheeks burn when I realized it was the placemat for the food, where we would later be served a plate of fruits to be shared with those around. Everyone started with the dates, while I grabbed the green seedless grapes. I wasn’t conscious, despite the fact that I am a “guest”. While gobbling a piece of apple, I was looking around, hopefully spotting a Filipino, which would somehow ease the increasing discomfort due to disorientation, or simply because of an exaggerated sensitivity. I grabbed some books to read and was happy it had English translations.

The call to prayer was finally recited. Everyone has calmed down, even the children felt the pervading call to quiet one’s self. After a few minutes of prayer, food was served again. It was familiar, as I had it before and I’m starting to like the mediterranean food. Through the invitation of my friend, I joined them once again last Tuesday where I met a few more mediterranean people. They were friendly and was patient to explain everything that I ask. I hope to return the favour in the near future.

Had a good chat with my landlord, Philip, last Friday at the park. It was a chilly and windy 15degC evening and I was only wearing a shirt. My roomie, Than, who was playing with Philip’s daughter, Rebecca, was just an ear shot away.

He runs a house-repair business, apart from being an investor in real estate, which got me interested. I told him about my plans and sought his opinion on how to acquire a property for myself. Surely, I could have asked my uncle and my other friends for these things, but among those whom I asked about property acquisition methods, his advice totally made sense to me. That night, I created a spreadsheet and schemed my way to building funds for the downpayment. I feel it’s a little early to start thinking about these things, really. It’s giving me focus, however, and streamlines all effort to my target. If I’ve come this far to pursuing my ambition, then perhaps I could push myself a little more to make it a reality.

It’s chilly outside, and I’d rather warm my toes for the rest of the day here in my room. Til then. Cheers! 

Careers V

Turning two months, I’m enjoying a good level of ease with my work. Somehow, I’ve never developed complacency as I am constantly looking for ways to see my personal contribution with my work. Because I belong to the subjective literary world, I strive to bring my work to the terse–yet objective–world of technical writing as it should be.

I’ve developed time management strategies which gives me “rewards” when I knew that I finished a number of tasks within the time block I’ve set for it. I’m starting to like this method because I don’t feel guilty leaving the office at exactly 5pm. Slowly, I’m beginning to understand how some of my colleagues would step out of the office at exactly 5pm and leave without a tinge of guilt.

This is one of the reasons perhaps why the walk home is more pleasant now. More stories to come folks. I checked my blog stats earlier, and am happy that the site traffic is picking up, but I never have a clue who my readers are. Would be nice to hear from you too.

Cheers