Ready, Set, Go, Happy New Year 2012!

What's up people?

Let me start off by wishing all readers - Happy New Year!

So here we go - this is my first post here. I created this blog long, long time ago, but waited till now to start. Don't ask me the reason why cause I don't know the answer. Procrastination? Maybe. And it's 1st of January, 2012 - maybe blogging is one of my New Year resolution eh? What a coincidence.

I seriously thought blogging is not the right activity for me but when I watched my close friends and colleagues doing it, I told myself - "I can do this!". I hope to post on a daily basis (... I'll try, I know it's not easy!), if not, at least on a weekly basis. I'll keep things real, very streetwise. How I feel, what I see, my opinions, my thoughts, my ups and downs. For a person who only knows to express his happiness and anger in real life, I hope this blog gives the readers (yes, that's you!) a different perspective about me.

Why "Kites and Shanks"? I got the idea from "Lockdown", a documentary series on National Geographic Channel - which explores the lifestyle in prisons and jails in the United Stated (you see, I'm a big documentary buff). Inmates create "kites", small letters / notes to communicate between cells and "shanks", homemade weapons made out of daily household items to prepare for a fight or as a self-defense mechanism. That's how I feel about the purpose of this blog - a way to communicate / express what I feel and prepare myself for battles in a more intellectual level. Very serious eh? Haha, just joking. What you're laughing at? Beware! Well, let's see!

So, moving on - how did things go for me in 2011? Like any individual, a lot of things happened in my life during the past 365 days, too many to mention! Hmm, where should I start? As usual, God, my family and my close friends was my pillar of strength and stood by me throughout my ups and downs. Thank you guys! And after giving it much thought, here's the list of some accomplishments / highlights / milestones in my life for the year 2011 :

1. February: Traveled to India with the ILC boys. You know it's going to be crazy when it's with ILC. First outstation trip for us and we definitely learned a lot from our so-called "Motherland".
2. February: Promoted to IT Analyst 2 - well, well, this was a surprise!
3. February: 2 Spotlight Awards (just love the plague and certificate... and thank you for the cash!).
4. April: Bought my first house (and it's in Penang, yeay!).
5. April: Selected as the Lead Marshall for AMD Cyberjaya Emergency Response Team (ERT).
6. May: Certified in first aid by St. John Ambulance and in fire-fighting by Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia.
7. May: One of my closest friends from schooling days, a person I've known since I was 7 years old died in a car accident - R.I.P Narvin Raj. We attended SK Seri Permai and Penang Free School together and when I was younger, we even stayed in the same neighborhood. This definitely impacted the Frees from my batch, especially guys from Blackz Attitude. As a person, this event made me think about death even more.
8. June: Formed AMD Cyberjaya Toastmasters Club and selected as the Charter President.
9. September: Took part in one of the most awesome programme ever - the NGL Programme, met new friends from around the World and did crazy activities in the pristine jungles of Gopeng, Perak.
10. October: Spent more time on charity work - MyKasih Foundation, YAWA, World Hunger Relief 2011.
11. November: Finally made a breakthrough in my career, getting an offer in the aviation/airlines industry that I love! And I'm proud to know that I'll be working for a well-known, leading low-cost carrier in the World. I know the grass is not always greener on the other side, but hey, I think I should be taking the risks sooner than later (while I'm still young and can afford some mistakes in life). I will be starting at the new place on the 1st of February 2012, so please pray for me people, that everything will be fine and I'll hit the ground running from Day One!
12. November: Pop and Mom celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. God bless them and keep them safe, healthy and prosperous for many, many more years to come!
13. December: Traveled to Australia with Bert and his wife, Arene. Met Bert's sister, Kak Atika and her fiancee, James - both were definitely one of the greatest host I've ever met.
14. December: Changed my car (the process started in Dec '11, still WIP).
15. "Single" is still my relationship status (this is easy when you have an attitude and physical features like me).
16. The mother of all, I managed to reduce my weight by 24 kilograms! Still a long way to go before I hit my target, but I think I can achieve it in the first half of 2012 *fingers crossed*.
17. Spent lesser time on the idiot box and more time on books. Favorites topics include evangelism, afterlife (Heaven and Hell) and death.
18. Strengthen my support for Harimau Malaya and Harimau Muda teams. Cause hey, if you don't support your National and local teams, who will? Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil is now my favorite hangout spot (10 times during 2011).
19. Dived deeper into the Straight Edge lifestyle and I'm loving every minute of it.

So, to end my first post and start my blogging career eternally (... yes, I will never die!), here's a poem from Ella Wheeler Wilcox, an American author and poet:

"What can be said in New Year rhymes,

That's not been said a thousand times?

The new years come, the old years go,

We know we dream, we dream we know.

We rise up laughing with the light,

We lie down weeping with the night.

We hug the world until it stings,

We curse it then and sigh for wings.

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,

We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,

And that's the burden of a year."

So before I go, Happy New Year again! Have a great 2012 ahead, God bless all of you in your undertakings! And let's see if the Mayans were right about the end of the World in 2012!

P/S: Please feel free to comment about my my first post, all comments / criticisms are accepted.

Regards,

Mokx