“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts
and brings peace to our minds” – Noah, The Notebook.

I am a sucker for romance, inspiring wisdom, good deeds, random thoughtful acts of kindness and all sorts of sugar and spice and everything nice.

I couldn’t stop smiling yesterday after I saw a colleague buying a bouquet of roses for his fiancé while we were waiting to board at the airport. Tak tahulah, it may be a small, humble bouquet but I think it’s a really nice gesture. We women like that sort of gestures. You know, the kind that shows that you were thinking of us when we were apart, that shows you adore us enough to not be ashamed of colleagues di sekeliling lalu membeli bunga sorok-sorok sikit (sebab kenalah maintain macho, kan?) but yeah, you do it anyway. I think it’s sweet. Like I said, I’m a sucker for romance.

And random thoughtful acts of kindness? That’s just the best. I just received a package, of 2 hardcover books and a pretty made-in-Istanbul bookmark from my Kindred Spirit’s little sister, Liya. She said it’s simply because I like to read and books are inexpensive over there in the UK. Ain’t that the sweetest? She didn’t have to go through all the trouble of choosing the right books and sending them to me but she did it anyway. Simply because.

Kalaulah more people boleh buat random thoughtful acts of kindness sebegini, I am certain that the world would be a better, brighter place.


Dave Barry in his book Things That Took Me 50 Years to Learn wrote, “A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.” I think so too! Do you remember this one scene in Sweet November when Keanu’s character realizes that his client was a jerk when he was rude to the waitress? Or this one episode of FRIENDS when Rachel’s dad asked the waiter, “Are you stupid? Is that why you’re a waiter?” That’s just plain rude. I actually know people like this in my life.

The way I see it, even if you just don’t really care about other people’s feelings and what not, just remind yourself that you might meet these people again on your way down. And if that doesn’t work, sedar-sedarlah yang waiter itu ada kuasa dan peluang to mess with your foods. One rude remark and you might end up eating the waiter’s saliva. Kalau tak faham, rent yourself a Road Trip DVD and you’d get what I mean. Kah kah.

Let us remind ourselves what someone wise once said, that “kindness, like a boomerang, always returns.” Hear, hear!