Blog of a Magician in Malaysia

2010 RECAP

2011-01-02T20:56:00.007+08:00

2010 RECAP
New Year's BBQ at Michael Poh's house

2010 has somewhat been a bitter sweet year for me . I literally traveled the world in 2010 .

I always believe in looking forward however , this shall be a little recap on the three important segments of my life . If you'd be free enough to look back at recent posts in this blog early 2010 , I made some goals to achieve in 2010 . Let's see how they fared .

To read my recap of 2009 : http://www.mindofdavid.com/2010/01/my-recap-of-2009.html

HEALTH
Not bad actually . This was one of the year's that I managed to keep my weight to a desirable figure despite my travels . I was lucky enough to have motivation to do this and best of all , great hotels that had gyms to supplement my workout .

Goals for 2011 :
A consistent healthy diet , with regular free weights workout . I genuinely believe that when the body feels good , almost everything else in your life will fall into place . When I took care of my body , my body took great care of me .

a)6 meals a day to maintain metabolism
b)Free weights compound exercises at least 3 times a week
c)Cardio to promote stamina at least twice a week

WEALTH

One of my productions in 2010

In terms of wealth , I managed to accumulate a significant sum , however , 2010 has also taught me a lot about money .The most important ones being :

1)You can make a good deal with a bad person . So pick your business partners wisely .

2)Don't fall into the fools rush . When everyone is doing it , that means it's already too late

3)Money can kill friendship . So go into business wisely .

4)It doesn't matter how much you earn if you spend like a mad dog .

I'm glad though that I learned all these when I'm still relatively young . It'll just make me better with financial literacy in 2011 .

Goals for 2011 :
Get that specific figure I've been hitting for capital gains and passive income .

a)Read at least one finance related book a month
b)Concentrate on what I'm good at and don't diversify too much
c)Control my spending

RELATIONSHIPS
To be honest , I don't even know where to begin in this segment . Let's just say that I've been single for the past two years now .

I actually met lots of great people this year . Maybe due to my travels , I was HOT & COLD . Oh well , if you asked me , I'm not sure what happened actually .

Goals for 2011 :
Haha , I seriously don't know . =)

________________________

A little recap , paving way for a super awesome 2011 . I have very good vibes about this year . =)

-David

Continous Improvement

2010-11-19T01:07:00.003+08:00

Continuous Improvement

The stage in Goa, India

I just got back from a successful trip in India , I'll be heading for a meeting with Berjaya Group and Resort World in the next few hours . After that , I'll be flying off to Singapore . Busy life huh ? =)

Life has been very nice to me lately . Instead of shows , it's given me huge contracts to read , ponder on , and make good decisions with . On the social side , it's been not bad as well . Things has been going smoothly ..... However , I believe phases like these are the most dangerous segments in one's life . When one gets comfortable , everything goes haywire . You can mark my words on that .

Fighting for cake with Hannah

I just had lunch with Hannah this afternoon and we were talking mostly about work . Well , it was actually all about work . Mostly would have been down playing it .

I look at Hannah as quite the role model and needless to say , she's been helping me out a lot in the past few years . Lunch was productive , even more , I learned a lot about continuous improvement from Hannah .

I guess that once you get comfortable with life , you're going to neglect all the things you actually did in the past to get you where you are now . I know I did . I used to be a super PR freak in the early days . Passing my business card to everyone and anyone I met , and showing them what I did for a living at any opportunity I got . I also used social networking to get my name out and blogged nearly daily ..... I've toned down a lot now . haha . I should be still doing that .

Reflecting back on things and writing new goals for myself , I guess it's time to have that big shake up , and get back things to where they used to be . =)

In simple words , if you look for shows , you get shows . If you look for international gigs hard enough , you'll somehow get them . If you look for big long term contracts , with some creative thinking , you're bound to get them as well . The sky is the limit , and to want more , you gotta be more .

and I want so much more . =) I guess , that's why I've got to be so much more .

-David

Riding a speeding train

2010-10-13T23:35:00.006+08:00

Riding a speeding train

One of the most expensive pictures I was forced to take

I always had crazy dreams and I was lucky that I achieved a number of them in this lifetime . This somewhat proved to myself that dreams are attainable .

I got very lucky at a young start . What I mean by lucky here is in the context of 'self realization' . I was lucky to realize what I roughly wanted at a relatively young age .

I was 15 when I had my first real job . I worked in a Cadbury factory making chocolates . During those moments , I was always scolded by the supervisor for nonsensical reasons . The endless scoldings spurred the urge to graduate with a degree and come back to the factory to be her boss . During those days , the term university graduate was somewhat of the epitome of all successes . Teachers always instilled that by being a degree holder , you'd already be a success in life . Not so the case for those who have actually already graduated .

I then moved between a few jobs , mostly at factories , arranging computer chips , packing gifts , waiting tables , but the hardest one of all was selling cakes . I tell you , that was one of the hardest jobs in the world . period . How hard can selling cakes get ?

With some world class performers who work hard for what they want

Let me elaborate ...

I saw a newspaper advertisement stating that they needed an enthusiastic person with charisma . Hey , I'm enthusiastic ( a little eccentric in fact ) , and I thought that I had charisma ( this was nearly 8 years ago ) . To cut the long story short , I went for the job interview , got the job and found out that the job requires me to sell cakes to the public . I mean like going restaurants to restaurants , door to door , selling frozen cakes . That my friend , was hard . I think that asking for donations would be easier than selling frozen cakes . At least I can leverage of sympathy .

The job was a killer whale ( As I would pt it ) I remembered being scolded by an aunty at a Chinese restaurant for speaking to her in English . The aunty scolded me in public for speaking to her in English instead of Cantonese . The table next to hers passed me an RM2 note ( RM2 still existed in those days ) and asked me to leave . Wau , now that was embarrassing .

So , why did I say that I was lucky again ?

At 17 years old , I sold cakes from restaurant to restaurant . I didn't have a `thick skin ' attitude by the way , I'm quite timid in person , but with all the courage that I had , I went from table to table `trying' to sell frozen cakes to aunties and uncles . Getting turned down table after table after table .

It was also at around this time that I started doing shows for money . I was 17 .

Although I love magic , I have always treated magic as somewhat of a passion rather than a job . Maybe that's one of the reasons why I haven't exploded to the magnitude that I wanted . I'm realistic , I don't plan do have magic as my main source of income forever . Don't get me wrong , I love what I do , that's why I want to do it at my own account . Perform when I want to and pick my own shows , a liberty that I do not have now .

I've been in the magic scene for quite a while now . I've seen accolades become superstars , and I've seen some disappear from the scene indefinitely .

At the moment right now , I'm building a few sources of passive income to superceed my income generated from performing . I'm doing not bad in the department but as of now , I am still buying time for money . Just like almost everybody else .

I give myself 3 more years in the magic circle . 3 more very fruitful years and then I'll sit down , and think about what shall I do next . A friend once told me to never get down of a speeding train . Ride it when you can , cause it only comes once in your life . I think that's about one of the most useful advice that I've received so far . I'm riding a bullet train right now .....

and when you're on a speeding train , never get off , cause it only comes once in your life .

Talk about street magic

-D

I'm sorry but this is what I've learned

2010-10-11T05:49:00.009+08:00

What I've learned

The last time I remember hitting Zouk in KL

I'm at the hotel's lobby as I type this , listening to the pianist playing at the concourse ....

I've been working my ass out lately . Middle East , North Africa , Europe and India next . Have been traveling a lot , have been learning a lot about life and mostly learning a lot about myself .

I want to talk about things that I've learned over the past year . The last year and a half d been really hard on me . If I would put it in a nutshell , the last two years were really hard years ... I know it must sound surprising to you , but the amount of shit alone happening in the past year and a half would have won the crap accumulation of my life on earth . The previous statement wasn't down played ...

What I've learned ....

1) Caring too much is bad for health . I used to be a guy who would in an instant take the next plane down to God knows where if I got to knew that my girlfriend was sick . I was a romantic , or rather I was a person who thought that love meant more than anything in the world . That all changed last year . I kind of started to treat the opposite sex kind of badly . Maybe at one moment in my life I cared too much , and somehow got annihilated in the process . I wasn't young or naive , I just cared too much , did too much and got ran over in the process . I learned that you shouldn't care too much , I've got own problems to deal with , unless you've stuck out for me in my times of need ( which I really value ) , I'm not going to care much .

2)Keeping to your words are important . I used to be a person who'd do just about anything to keep to a goal . If I said that I'd hit a 5 figure pay check next month , I'd find incredibly ways to make that amount and won't sleep until I do . It's different though when it comes to words I make to other people . I won't put the blame on anyone but myself , but my reliability of keeping to my words have dropped ever since a particular incident . I was promised so many things by a person I truly trusted and got nothing in the end . I can't elaborate it as it's personal but man it does suck . I let it get to me though , and valued promises and words a lot less after that . I'm sorry . I'll do my best to keep to my words from now on ...

3)One incident can change the whole outcome of your life . I have to be honest here . I've been single for nearly two years now . The last break up really took it's toll on me . From that one incident , I've changed so much .... I just hope the good part of the change outweighs the bad .

4)They're bad people in the world . You've got to watch your back . Being too nice will get you into trouble . The same goes by being eccentric . You've got to be smart with who you deal with , and you never deal with people you don't trust . I've seen my share of shit and know that there's a difference between being positive and thinking that everyone is good , and being street smart .

5)Your biggest assets are people . You want to work with people you trust , and make sure that you treat them right . You don't need a lot , you just need a few dependable people in the form of family and friends . Rope them in your team and make sure you'd want the best for them because they'll do the same for you .

.........

I've let loose quite a bit of steam by typing this . Career wise , life has been great to me . I'm booked for the whole year , non stop shows , non stop traveling and many new business opportunities . It's just the shit that happens on the sidelines that causes a lot of speed bumps along the journey ....

Phew ....

-D

The Pessimistic Post

2010-08-24T23:38:00.004+08:00

The Pessimistic Post

The model , The comedian and The Magician ...

Recently I was having a talk with former high school seniors of mine . They were a few years elder than me and in the conversation , asked why wasn't there any more `juicy' posts in my blog .

I told them that due to the fact that most of the people reading my blog were actually clients of mine , I had to remain discreet on certain things . Besides that , I've toned down a lot on the
language over the past couple of years ....

That being said , I'm going to leave my optimism at my front door for now , and type what my heart feels like typing .......

.........When you're too nice , you're going to get used . As harsh as it seems , that's a fact of life . I take gratitude & loyalty very highly in my list of principles , if you've been there for me at one moment of your life when I desperately needed help , I'll be there for you when you need me . period .

I've been extremely dissapointed with a few things that popped up lately , and figured of taking a new stance of what I believe in . Experience changes people .

Being an optimist has always been a strong point of my life . Believing that things will always work out when the right type of effort is put in , was a believe that I truly believed in & preached about .

I guess when it all boils down , being too nice brought more problems than positive outcomes in my life . Being bold , and down forth straight forward was never a strong point of my character .

Caring too much is a value I'm not where I've gotten from ..... I'm going to care less for once , and do more for myself .

-Cut me some slack , I'm not feeling well today , =) -

My former senior Interact President , how time flies .

SMK TSM 2003 Reunion Party

2010-08-17T01:20:00.008+08:00

SMK TSM 2003 Reunion Party

Former head and assistant prefect ..

While I was in Porto , I saw that a reunion for my high school year was taking place . I thought , ` Hey , I had something to look forward to when I get home ! ' .

The reunion did create some initial buzz , however it was canceled due to ... actually , I'm still not quite sure why it was canceled ...

So ... I started organizing a new one ... I planned the reunion at SKEWERS and amazingly we got a big standing of nearly 70 attendees .

The reunion in my opinion turned out extremely well . I've not seen some of the faces that attended for nearly 8 years . Madness if you think how fast time goes by .

Obviously , I couldn't have done the whole thing by myself . I got a lot of help from my former classmates . Wan Rhu , Kel Wynn , Farhana , Fawaz and many more helped in the publicity and calls to long lost classmates . Great job guys .

It was awesome seeing everyone after so long . I am now in the midst of organizing year 2002's reunion . Hopefully it'll be just as fun as ours . Good luck to everyone ! =)

Here's a short video of the whole event that took place :

-David

What drives you ?

2010-08-03T04:55:00.004+08:00

What drives you ?

You got to love what you do..

It is my belief that , to be super successful in what you do , you've got to do something you love . I've stuck to that belief for quite some time now and it has helped me to make some hard decisions in life ... Those decisions make more and more sense after each passing day ....

To be honest , I've made some wild goals for myself . Some out of this world , but definitely achievable .

I guess when I wake up each morning , this is what goes through my head , `strange' ... but it seems this is what drives me :

John just woke up to go to office and I'm still in bed .... Pete already made his first million at 26 , and last night I told someone that by doing what they love doing , they're bound to be successful . So I got to bloody wake up and prove my theory !

=)

-D

University Days ... study what you love ..

2010-07-29T00:36:00.013+08:00

Study what you love

I just came back from a show . During the show , an usher came up to me and whispered in my ear ` She's one of the biggest stars in ........ and she's really important .. ... ' . Being in a foreign land , I couldn't identify celebrities or notable figures in the crowd that I was performing . My solution was to treat everyone equally .

... and that back fired a couple of times . It seems , people with status , think that they deserve better treatment . hmm . Being an entertainer is not as easy as you think .

Many of my peers are in a crossroad of what they want to do in their life right now . Many have just graduated and jumped into their respective lines , associated with the degree they worked so hard for . Some are happy with where they're at , while some have doubts and others just do it for the sake of having a job . A lot have came to me for advice , and I mean ... many . Maybe , they want assurance that when they quit and do something they liked doing , they'll be successful in it , maybe they just want hope . Everyone wants hope when they're confused .

Let me clarify , I'm far from where I really want to be . I know that I will get there though ....

I'd like to share a little ............

Me during my university days ( 2005 )

The one mistake that I made in this life time was to take up engineering . I stay strong to that stance ever since I walked into university . That's the main reason why I didn't attend my convocation , and that's the reason I don't have a graduation picture with me in my robe surrounded by my family . I hated university life . I'm actually refraining from using profanity in the last few sentences .

It wasn't the people in university , honestly I met some great people along the way . It was just the whole environment and the cause and effect nature that was going through my head . Why on earth did I need to know how fast a dam will be filled up when it rains , when I had no interest whatsoever in Hydraulics ? I just couldn't comprehend that .

I studied something that I have no use whatsoever in life . 5 years , wasted down the drain . Staying in university caused me a lot of trouble and scarred what supposedly was supposed to be one of the best moments in my life . Uni days , they called it .... I try to forget mine .

Why did I stay on ? I stayed in university because initially my parents wouldn't bulge in sending me to anywhere else . I obtained a full funded scholarship for a degree that I did not want . I rebelled a little , they still would not budge , so I went in . After nearly a year doing engineering , I lost it . I went bonkus . Totally mad . You wouldn't want to know me during this period of time . A switched went off . My parents gave in , however I couldn't transfer my course to another university ( my foundation year ) and I'd had to start back all over again . I lost two years ( because the next semester when I wanted to quit was at the end of the year ) , and if you knew what a competitor I was , knowing for a fact that I was going to lose two years to my peers was an IMPOSSIBLE option . No way ! I was stuck in a god forsaken land , doing something I hated .

during those periods , I was haywire . I didn't do much shows , not because I didn't want to , but it was because I couldn't . I had test every weeks ( blame it on the course work system ) and my university was in a suburb in Perak . I'd have to travel 250kms back and forth to do a show and I couldn't risk the test because it contributed to my final results . I couldn't screw up my final results because I was on a scholarship , and screwing up would mean my scholarship being revoked ( and I couldn't afford seeing a RM100K wasted ! ) It was mad , all I was doing was studying , and even after doing that, I wasn't excelling in a single subject ! I guess , you do have to like something to be good in it .

I was in quite a rut .....

My 1st TV appearance on MHI

Somewhere along the lines , I did get lucky and met someone very encouraging . That changed everything . She calmed me down , and challenged me ... to be better ... and... I kinda took up the challenge .

It's really funny how a person changes you . I did more shows , studied harder , and slept less . Those were the days that I learned most about life . It was also during that moment that I took a lot of risks . I took more chances and became ` NOT A PUSSY ' . Some people might call those decisions I made during those days stupid , but I knew they paid off . I guess when you force yourself to do something , and you believe that it'll work out , there's a big chance that it'll work out .

This was the time I actually decided to give MAGIC a run for my money .

Doing my 1st corporate gig with Daphne Iking in 2007 ..

It was hard balancing a full time degree and on the sidelines trying to make a name for myself in the industry . I studied in the changing room while waiting for my turn to go up on stage , I read resources on marketing , and I learned a lot about stage presence through books . Believe me , your mind sometimes gets frustrated when at one moment , you read arts , and the next you shift to logic .

It also amazed me , what you can actually do when you're in love . The someone who came by , became my girlfriend at that time , and somehow , life became much easier . I have no idea how to explain that .

So there you go . I made my decision to actually go into entertainment while I was studying engineering .

You know , I just randomly typed this post after a long day of work and have no idea where it lead me to . Haha . I guess , I'll end the post up with :

If you have the option of doing something you like , for the love of GOD , don't do aeronautical engineering just because the name sounds cool , or the pay in the futures looks great . Do it because you have an interest in machinery , maths or planes . Think carefully about what you're good at , and study something that's related to it . I've seen many friends who actually got to do what they wanted to do , and I can't begin to explain how happy they are .

I didn't really have a great time in university , and I was only in college for two weeks . In highschool , I was flooded with the notion of how much fun college life and university life was with movies and comments from seniors . What I did get from those years was a realization of what I wanted to do . Oh well , sacrifices eh ? I envy ( and am really really happy ) for those who study what they like and know it's going to help them out in the future .

-D

The Craziest thing for a girl

2010-07-26T02:36:00.007+08:00

The Craziest Thing for a girl

Clubbing back home & overseas are two completely different things ..

After a night of venturing to a few clubs , my new found friends and I sat by a cafe located just by the river called `La Pita ' . During the late night conversations which lasted till almost 5am in the morning , the topic of `What was the craziest thing you've ever done for a girl ' came out .

I loved one guy's answer in particular .. Quoting what he said :

I was at a beach and found some huge rocks somewhere near the edge of the seaside . I thought that it would be great if I could arrange those rocks into my then girlfriend's name . I picked up the stones , one by one , and started arranging them . Holy Cow ! My ex girlfriend's name was Katrina and by the time I finished the ` K ' , I didn't want to continue anymore . Those rocks were damn bloody heavy ! I'm even downplaying when I say that they were heavy ! They weighed a ton each !

Forgetting the scorching sun at the beach , it took me about 2 hours to finish the full ` Katrina ' . I was drenched . I thought the worst was over . All I had to do now was take a picture . OH MY GAWD !

Due to the conditions of ground area , I couldn't get the whole Katrina in a single shot ! I had to stand up on a higher level surface to be able to get the full name . I couldn't move back either as there was some sort of a small forest behind me . I could take three pictures , combine them together , but that would be tremendously stupid !

I took my car , drove it in front of the now nicely arranged rocks that spelled `Katrina ' , borrowed a ladder from a cafe nearby , put the ladder on my roof , asked a passer by to hold the ladder , and I climbed up , and FINALLY got my shot !! YAY !!

When I did .... the whole roof of my car collapsed , I fell down and broke a rib .

Was it worth it ? ..... We broke up a week after .

That's going to go into my all time classics !

The crimes I'd do to have a hot plate of nasi lemak at where I'm at right now ...

-D

Skewers Subang Avenue

2010-07-25T00:00:00.016+08:00

Skewers Subang Avenue

This should be a long overdue post . Considering the fact that most of my friends have already blogged about Skewers , it'll be really weird if I don't do it myself . Therefore ........

Back in late 2009 , a few friends got together and started off the idea of a chill out spot . After many gatherings Skewers was formed ......

Kit and I during the renovation process

Kit and I when Skewers just opened it's doors

Thumbs Up !!

Skewers to me , is a place where you get to chill out , enjoy good food , and great company . I hang out there most of the time when I'm in the country , and I'm glad that most of my friends come visit by regularly as well . If you're looking for a happening chill out spot in Subang , I would highly recommend Skewers . The parking is easy , the place is ridiculously easy to find , and the ambiance is just right for you and your friends to hang out .

Hurray ??? at the Afro partaay

You can check out my SKEWERS photo album : HERE

Initially , I wanted to do a review of the whole place , but I thought to myself it will be really kinda silly cause it would be an absurdly bias review . However , they've been quite a number of reviews popping out on sites and blogs from time to time , and I'd like to share some with you :

A review by Air Asia's crew :

http://blog.airasia.com/index.php/airasia-allstars-bola-nite

A review by Erica Ting Tong :

http://erica-t.blogspot.com/2010/06/bloggers-food-tasting-event-skewers.html

A review by May Lee :

http://mayleelim.blogspot.com/2010/07/dinner-skewers.html

A review by Jason Ong :

http://mynjayz.com/2010/06/skewers-bbq-grill-food-review.html

A review by Sean :

http://eatdrinkkl.blogspot.com/2010/06/skewers.html

A review by Crystal Hew :

http://crystalhew.blogspot.com/2010/06/skewers-subang-avenue.html

__________

If you guys do drop by Skewers , or have the intention to in the near future , do drop me a message on Facebook , or just ask the staff whether I'm there when you come by . Loads of friends have dropped by since opening day , and I'd love to meet you personally ... and well , who know , I may just show you something while you wait for your food ? ...

There is NO Fork ?? or is there ?

If you do want to have your events at Skewers , and want to customize it to your needs , drop me a ring too . We've done a lot of events since opening and even do candle light dinners out of the blue . =)

Candle light for two ??

Before I end the post , to all that have made it a point to come by ( and I know many have become regulars over time ) , thank you so much for stopping by. You guys are the best . Thank you , thank you , thank you .

SG-01 , Skewers Subang Avenue ( Just beside Carrefour Subang Jaya )
Phone : +603-5632-1368

-David

Moving on ...

2010-07-11T07:04:00.004+08:00

-Performing at The Twin Towers for Petronas

Moving on with life ....

I've recently been concentrating on other segments besides magic . It's not that I'm breaking away from magic , I'm just pausing for a bit to work on bigger stuff . I'm got so many shows lined up and am I'm thankful I'm booked till the end of the year as of now . My bookings go as far as April 2011 . I'm very happy & thankful of this fact .

Besides that .....

I've recently spoke to a lot of friends of mine , and most of them gave me great advice over the past month or so .

It has taken a lot of effort for me to get where I am today . A lot of risk , a lot of sleepless nights , and a lot of work . When I first started off , and companies asked me to issue them invoices , I didn't even know what the hell was an invoice .

Without great friends who were already in the industry giving me a push up , I would never be in the hotel room that I'm in right now typing this . A lot of the initial momentum was gained from good friends whom I'll always remember what they've done .

..................

That being said . When you have achieved a little success , I've also learned that some people (at least ) are just plain pain in the asses . You cannot imagine what kind of adversities I've got to go through in the past years . Those adversities made me into the person I am now .

You're going to hear this as a 1st from me .
Hardship has really taught me that the world , in reality is a very dangerous place . The awesome thing is that , when you do get through a wave after wave , you'll slowly learn how to surf .

A lot of opportunities opened up due great people surrounding me . I'm not a person that easily forgets . Thank you . =)

Pa & Ma

-D

Roller coaster ride ....... in my life

2010-05-17T03:19:00.016+08:00

Rolla Coaster ..

Sometimes , I need a punch to wake me up

It's 4am on a Monday morning . I can't sleep , I've got so much on my mind ..... That's not necessary a bad thing ....

Roller coaster . I got familiarized with the term when I hit Amsterdam a while back . It wasn't too long ago . Someone once actually told me that ` I'm going to take you on a roller coaster ride ' .... Seriously ( and I mean seriously ) , when somebody says that , you shouldn't jump in the bandwagon .

Tongue - ing in Amsterdam takes a whole new level

After that trip , I traveled more .... and traveled more . Last year itself , I spent almost half of the year out of the country . I learned a lot ..... and I also changed a lot . The previous sentence wasn't self realization , comments poured in from close friends .

Friends I hang out often with ...

I did change . I guess it all stems off from that particular incident . I guess it's true when they say , a moment can change a lifetime .

Let's put it this way . You wouldn't want to be me early last year . They say life is a balance of Health , Wealth and Relationships . 3 intersecting circles ....

Well , early last year , all three circles were in a Nightmare on Elms Street . I gained almost 11kgs from my normal weight and burst the scales at 81kgs . My highest ever . I kept on changing scales , thinking that the calibration was off . It didn't help .

My bank account was kaput . I don't have to elaborate on that one . I was making money , it just vanished due to a cause I can't even begin to explain . That my friend , was real magic .

Relationship wise . owh .

____________________________________

I didn't actually handle that period of my life well . They were just too many variables I had to settle with so many problems surrounding them . You might think that I'm exaggerating , but seriously I'm not . It was a hard time . It was also one of the busiest times of my life .

My biggest local project up to date , the I-phone launch in Malaysia with Datuk Misbun and Datuk Lee Chong Wei .

To take my mind of the current situation I was in . I did shows like a mechanical robot . Do keep into consideration that I was still attached with engineering at that moment of time . Balancing both was insane .

Somehow , I managed to never turn down a booking . Sometimes , I had a show in the afternoon and rushed off for another one at night . After that , I had to take a 300 kilometer drive back up to Perak in the middle of the night . Hoo Haa .

I guess by reading this , you wouldn't know what I was facing . It's a vague post .

Things got a little more stable after June last year . I managed to get a grip of myself . I was however the only Chinese guy in my batch to not attend my own Convocation . I don't even have a convocation picture .

My roommate sandwiched between two course mates during convo .

and then I made my life interesting . Everything changed drastically after that . I changed so much , some of my close friends didn't know who I was .

....................................

Recently , I took a cooling off period . It didn't turn out the way I expected it to . I mean like .. ya ....

Oh well , sometimes I wish that I could just go back to the New Year's Eve of 2007 .... and sometimes ... is an understatement .

=)

It's nearly 6am now . Took about two hours to complete this post and write down new goals for the 3rd quarter of the year . It's been a long night . I expect a great day when I get up later . I always do .=)

-D

Back on my feet and a BIG THANK YOU

2010-05-03T23:16:00.006+08:00

Celebrating my **21st ** Birthday with my close friends

So….

A lot of things has happened lately . I finally picked up blogging again . Hopefully consistently this time . =)

I’ll cut it short though , as I don’t like to elaborate on what went on this time around in my life . What I do know is that I took about a 2 week slack period to get things settled .

I guess it is quite good to get a period off . Off work and off thinking about Magic and the usual formalities that happen in my life . I call it a refresher period . Some may just say that I’m plain lazy .

I’ve been doing what I’m doing for the past 8 years or so . In those 8 years , sometimes your mind gets saturated thinking about something and just automatically warrants your body to take a break . That’s what I did for the last two weeks . I took a break . It wasn’t productive , however , I’m running back for my goals with a new sense of direction .

I’m happy to say that I’ve got 3 BIG projects I’m working on . I’ll reveal them over time , however it’s going to be an exciting year ahead . It actually has been quite a great 1^st quarter of the year . I’m blessed .

...and yes , Thank You all for the birthday wishes . You guys are amazing . I never knew I had that many friends .

Kitty , thanks for the Zara coat ... although I ruined your surprise to actually drop by Zara when you were trying it on .

Optimus Prime , thanks for ROBOT and cap , I'll wear it , don't worry .

C-C , thanks for the AX shirt and card all the way from Hawaii .

P.Y , thanks for the call from the UK , yes I guessed your name wrongly , because I never knew you'd call ..

Karim , thanks for the virtual present from Egypt ...

Smiley face , thanks for baking me a cake and actually writing me a card ...

Barry and Stuart , thanks for sending me the ridiculous video all the way from the UK ... -_-

and M&D for the nice Zara shirt and lunch ...

and to all that have wished me , thank you so much . I've got calls from all over the world , FB messages from people I've never met , and well wishes from distinguished people in the entertainment field . I know this is kinda late , but THANK YOU ! =)

A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN THE YEAR ! =)

Meeting People

2010-02-23T03:02:00.008+08:00

Meeting People

Happy Chinese New Year guys

I’ve got to revamp my life a little . All the long periods of travels and extracurricular activities has somewhat caused a little havoc in this simple life of mine .

Every time I want to start a new project back home , I get shoved away in a plane and flown off thousands of miles away . For the record , I never thought that magic could actually provide me with such a lifestyle .

Last year itself , I was almost away for half a year . This year , at its current stage , I was away overseas more than I’m in the country . I do miss home when I’m away . It’s really not the best thing in the world walking in the streets and everybody’s just …. staring at you … I recently told someone .. from all the partying and travelling , I’d prefer to just have pillow talks at night ..

I’m not complaining though , =) , it’s just a different lifestyle that takes time to get used to . Work wise , everything has exceeded my expectations . Health wise , I’ve had more time to meditate and also lead quite a healthy lifestyle . I’ve time for gym , movies and regular outings when I’m home . Some people don’t have that . I’m a little more than just blessed .

The problem , however , that comes with this lifestyle is on the part of meeting new people …

I meet a lot of people , exciting ones , not so exciting ones and plain unique ones . I’ve come to terms with myself that nobody’s actually bad , everyone just has a different perception of things ( * with the exception that nobody told me that they’ve actually done something so extreme like murder yet , so …. ). I like meeting people and that liking makes me adore what I do .

Of all the people I’ve met , they’re some that make a lasting impression . There’s one that calls me thousands of miles away just to ask how I am doing sometimes .... That person even chats with me daily when I’m out of the country ....... Sweet is a moderation of terms to describe this person in particular . The best part is that I’ve known this person for almost 9 years . I’m very lucky to get to know her , she sometimes puts my feet back down on the ground .

If you ask my close friends , I’m one that doesn’t care much about others . I may have a soft heart , but when it comes to sincerely caring , it’ll take a lot to move that little heart of mine . Unless that person is extremely unique . This may stem off from many reasons , it could be my past , it could just be the way that I am . The word `disappear’ is usually associated with me , and it doesn’t relate to my profession . I go out , I meet people , they wait for my call , and I ……….. disappear .

I’m sorry ….

I recently did meet an old friend that blew me away . She’s one of the nicest souls that I know , apart from being exceptionally unique and exciting ........ Scroll through my blog , those words don’t come out often …. I'm fortunate to actually get a chance to get to know her as a person ...

I’m very lucky to get to know these people in my life . Apart from them , they’re of course my close friends who stick by me through thick and thin …. That’s for another post in the future ... =)

People usually comment that I meet so many celebrities in my life . I think that the term celebrity is an overrated connotation . I never liked the word . I always tell my friends that , if I were to pick between going to the most glamorous Hollywood party and just sitting by the sidewalk talking with a person I like , I'll choose the sidewalk anytime ..........

Optimus Prime , Iron Man , and Bumble Bee ...

The funniest most inspirational thing I've read lately ...

2010-01-29T09:19:00.004+08:00

Black & White

I never post poems before , but this one made me laugh and feel inspired at the same time . It was written by an African kid .

When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray

And you calling me coloured?

I HATE FIGHTING .....

2010-01-28T00:08:00.011+08:00

I hate fights

*BTW , I'm wearing gloves now to type cause it's so coooold wei . I've never worn gloves to keep my hands warm before in my life , not even in Europe , so you know how cold am I now ..... besides that , it's so hard to type with gloves wei ...... and I'm not taking them out because it's so damn cold ...... *

To think about it , I love fights/competition ...watching them , not participating in one . Mixed Martial Arts , Olympics , Figure Skating you name it . I love being at the sidelines ... However ...... I hate fighting , but somehow , I always get involved in competition . Basing on experience , the word `always' would be an understatement ........

No , it's not that I'm timid or a wuss and don't want to get my hands dirty . It's just that why can't something I really want , for once in my lifetime , come to me without a huge ass fight with someone else for it ? You might say that if it comes to me easily , I won't appreciate it . Hoo Haa , you read my mind but I'm TIRED ` la ' . I just want some slack for this particular time , cause I'm fed up with gathering all my reserves and going to war ..and I've already got into MANY competitive fights in the past ..... It's also not like I won every single time I fought ( I'm no SUPA MAN ) ..... that being said , the uncertainty of the outcome itself is sometimes energy draining .

Tralala . What a vague post huh ? The question now is , what am I fighting for ?

Owh man , I can't tell , and by saying that I think most of you would know what that implies .

...............................

A BLAST from the past . This was years back .

I think one of the reasons I get into so much fights is because I never settle for 2nd best , and sometimes that isn't a good thing . Lookey here , I mean think about it , sometimes 2nd , 3rd of 4th doesn't seem so bad .... Wanting to win every time may cause you a lot of trouble ... and a lot of time on your bed doing nothing but letting your mind wander off ( well , that's what I do when I get confused ) .

A bloody long time ago , an older girl said to me . ` Why don't you fight for me ? ' . I replied one of the worst things I've ever said in my life ` It's because I don't like fighting ' ............ She paused , and replied back ` Don't you fight for something you want ? '

I lost that girl btw . However after that , I went to a full fledge war every time I really wanted something . Sometimes I lost , but I never go down without a fight .

I can't believe I just wrote a blog post to convince my own self to do something .... Guess here we go again ...

She asked for my autograph , I said ` Are you sureeeee ? ' . =)

Financial Literacy & Acedemic Excellence

2010-01-26T02:37:00.010+08:00

The Difference

When the 3 of us get together , the word sarcasm takes a new meaning ...

While sipping down hot chocolate in a French Cafe and delighting myself to a piece of fudge cake , I made an effort to catch up with friends from back home ( I'm away for work as I type this ) .

While on Google talk , one old university friend randomly asked me , ` I want to know your beliefs on why you push yourself so hard ' . He said that he was stuck in a 9-5 however he wanted to do what I did ( not magic obviously ) ,but start his own business .

Hoah , I spat my hot chocolate out of my mouth . I mean , this is the type of question you'd think you'd get from a newly known stranger . I don't think friends really ask this type of things . My stomach fills up with butterflies when people ask me for motivational mumbo jumbo .

Anyway , when I got back to the hotel from the cafe , I was on msn , and I started chatting with another close friend . In the conversation , the topic of education came out and she said ` What is the point of studying so hard ? I'm earning more than those straight As students in my class now ' ...

Here is my take on pushing hard and financial status .

I believe that there's a big difference between financial literacy and acedemic excellence .
I've seen guys with no what nimkampoop interest in studying become rich . I've also seen straight As student become very sucessful . A class F student can be much better off in financial terms in comparison with a class A student if he is financially savvy . The same goes the other way around .

That being said , my case was a little different , and to be honest , a little egoistical .

Firsts things 1st . I'm not completely dumb when it comes to studying . You see me party a lot and go HOO HAH on weekdays , but contrary to what people believe , I used to be a role model student ( or so I thought ) . I'm telling you man , allthough I was no genius , I somehow never failed an exam in my life and always remained in the upper class segment of the class .

David's no Mensa member , but when it comes to passing an exam , he studies for it .

I have an engineering degree under my belt for reasons even I don't know why . Till this very day , I seriously cannot comprehend why on earth did I drink 3 red bulls in the span of 24 hours to pass reinforced concrete . That and learning how to draw compounds in organic chemistry were some of the most confusing moments in my life . I was always asking myself ` WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW THIS ? '

Well , it turns out that I really din't need to know how to draw the process of how sodium combines with hydroxide . What a waste of my time and electricity ( I had a table lamp in university ) .

So if you ask me about the importance on academic studies . Please , for the love of all the universe , don't let anyone force you to do something you don't like or have no interest in . If you want to be an engineer , by all means , study engineering . Study something that will actually help you out in the future . If you want to go into advertising and your parents tell you that `Mass Comm ' isn't a professional degree , do WHATEVER it takes to find a compromise .

I believe you only have ONE life . You better make the best out of it .

______________________

One of the older pictures of me and Jojo . Jojo is a person who knew what she wanted , went for it , and got it over a very short period of time .

4 years down the road and look where she shot up to . =)

On financial literacy . I took it by the bulls and horns . Education came in from prople who were much more successful than me and by reading lots of books . However , if you were to ask me knowledge can only take you so far . The one reason I take my work really seriously was because of this , and I'm not kidding . This was what forced my whole body to move to earn what I'm earning .

My girlfriend at that time went into the airline industry . She was based in Singapore earning SGD . I looked up the pay of a stewardess online , converted the pay into Ringgit , and said ` Fuck man , this is not good ' ... Those were the exact words that came out . From that moment , and mind you , I was still completing my degree at that time , I made it a point to never let my monthly earning go below that figure I found out .

Ask anyone I knew in university , they never saw me in University after my 3rd year . Those were called the Red Bull years for a reason . I forced myself to learn about financial literacy because I was an egoistical nut .

Another person who I know worked hard for what she wanted , Miss Universe 2009 , Joannabelle .

-D

Being confused is not a crime..hopefully

2010-01-25T00:37:00.006+08:00

Being Confused Is Not A Crime

Interchanging between a Travers and Hummer H2 in the middle east

To get the women that you want , you must be willing to lose her

I think this takes that quote to a different notion ...... On 2nd thought , I don't even think it relates to the following story ..

So ....... I was at a restaurant nearby my hotel . While on my laptop trying to figure out why was the internet connection so darn slow , a couple at the opposite table recognized me from a performance I did some time back . They invited me over to join them for dinner . It's not really strange for this to happen to me , they aren't many Asians at where I'm at . To be more specific , they are practically NO Asians at the area I'm at ...

The boyfriend was at my show the previous time I was in the country , the girlfriend has never seen me before . I did some magic for them during dinner and had a great conversation with the both of them . Both were highly educated and spoke very intelligently . They paid for my dinner . Bloody nice of them . I gave them both my name card and told them to keep in touch while I was in the country .

Fast forward to two days later .

I received a text on my Malaysian line from an international number . It was from the girlfriend the other day . She asked whether I wanted to join them for dinner . I had nothing much to do in the evening so I agreed . I told her it was my treat this time .

In the evening , I took a taxi to the agreed upon venue . When I got there and saw her , the 1st question I asked was ............ ` Owh , so where's your boyfriend ? '

-D

The one girl who calls me ` Boy '

2010-01-19T04:36:00.010+08:00

Positive Thinking

With one of Asia's most prominent female magician , NING

I was Googling my name ( hopefully I used the right terminology here ) and thank GOD I found nothing bad . I did find some interesting posts though , and I'm very lucky that all those posts were saying good stuff about me . I'm really touched . In one of the posts :

DAVID! David Lai is the famous famous Malaysian magician. and he NEVER EVER fails to wow people. I don’t know why but I somehow believe that sixth sense exists when I see him bend forks and spoons + his mind-reading skill. he’ll definitely make your jaw drop. I’ve seen it LIVE and Imma tell you he really did BEND the fork by just LOOKING at it!

( Thank you ! - taken from www.jamieliew.com )

Sometimes I get scared checking my name on Google . A long time ago when I did a search , my name came out on some blog about me offering some weird type of service ( that was other than magic ) ..... I still remember once , I saw a whole thread on Lowyat.net about me .... We shall not go into that for now . That's a story kept on a boring day ....

Anyway , I didn't posts Ning's photo as the 1st picture for nothing . While I was searching , I found Ning's blog and saw that she actually wrote a little something on me :

I managed to meet up with Malaysian magician, David Lai, for a cuppa at Starbucks before he went back to KL. We’ve known each other for years, when he was still in University and it’s great re-connecting. He says he’s extremely proud of all my milestones and career achievements, and so am I for him! It seems that the Malaysian media really loves that boy.

(Taken from www.magicbabe.wordpress.com )

Thanks Ning ! In comparison to you , the Singapore media must be stalking you then . =)

A little story to end the post :

I've known Ning for quite some time now . We both started off with small shows ( to my knowledge , she could have been doing big shows already then -_- ) and somehow along the way , she catapulted to heights I can't even imagine . The next thing I know , when I was in Singapore , I was seeing her on magazine covers on the stands . Kumbayah huh ? Till today , she still calls or refers to me as a ` Boy ' , hence the title of the posts ....

To me though , that isn't the most interesting part about Ning . If you didn't know Ning personally , I'd like to tell you that Ning is one of the most down to earth person you'll ever meet . Apart from her fame , she's polite , very caring and extremely fun to spend time with . I like Ning because she is to me the same person I knew back when we still did those `small ' little shows and attended those weird conferences that sold micro fiber cloth during interval breaks ( something only we know ) . Besides being gorgeous , she amplifies her gorgeousness with an intellectual mind .

I'm so proud of her achievements in the past years . You're one of the reasons I believe that magic can work ( even though I don't possess boobs and look good in a dress ) =)

That's what I call achieving something in life ... and it's definitely possible by doing something you're passionate in .

-David

So what's my AGE again ?

2010-01-15T21:15:00.010+08:00

So what's my age again ?

Eating hash lollipops in Amsterdam..the worst tasting lollipops ever

I was out with Steph for an A&W cum Lok Lok cum Tau Fu Fa session a few days ago before I left the country . It seems that I always meet up with Steph before I leave the country for long a period of time ..

Besides being Steph ( who is unique in A LOT of ways ) , Steph was telling me how she dreaded her ** birthday coming as she was getting a year older . She said that she used to look forward to her birthdays , not anymore though .... Well , I always thought that one's birthday was the most important day of the year . It's the day you're born for goodness sake ... That was until my 21st birthday came ... that's a sad story for another day .

Steph and I

Most of my close friends are older than me , and one of the questions that has always been forwarded to my way was ` How old are you ? ' . I HAD always wanted to be older . I guess every normal guy did .

Age has never been a deterrent factor for me . It should not be anyway . Looking back , I always clicked better when it came to dealing with the older crowd . Thinking properly , maybe not the `older ' crowd , but rather the ones who had maturity in thinking . Do I think maturely ? ... I sure hope I do .

When I met Andrea two years ago , the 1st question she asked was .... and when I answered , she didn't believe me anyway ..

When it all boils down , I have this philosophy that stems from an incident in primary school . When I was in standard 2 , a classmate of mine was doing exercises in a standard 3 workbook that her mother got for her . I asked her why on earth was she doing exercises a year ahead ? She told me that , and mind you , this coming from an 8 year old .. ` I don't like doing what everybody else is doing ' ..... In my regards , I thought that was a brilliant idea . While everyone was trying to solve 8 year old maths , she goes ahead and solve 9 year old problems . A year ahead the pack .

True to a certain sense if you take it in context to what I'm talking about . You can usually tell how a person is by looking at his close friends . That is why I love people who challenge my thinking . It gets me exited , cause I know I have to be on top of my game to keep up .

To those that have kept pushing me to be better , consciously or not ... Thank You .

I don't drink .... much

2010-01-10T18:44:00.016+08:00

I don't drink .....much

With KAT at a Carlsberg event , thanks for the gift all the way from HK !

I was recently having a conversation with someone and the conversation went to a weird end . I was at a party and met a girl who was a `Hie , Bye ' , at social events . To be honest , I think the only place we saw each other was at the club ... That explains the one liner ` Hi how are you ! ' followed by the predictable ` I'm great ! , what about yourself ? ' .

A more intellectual conversation was fitted at the party where we were at , however , at one point , she called me a ` Party King' ... I responded with the defensive :

Me : Noooo , I'm not a PARTY KING ...

Her : C'mon , I don't believe you ....

Actually , contrary to what people believe , I don't party that often . By the way , that wasn't sarcasm . I don't ...

Party mind you has a very vague definition . If I do party , I prefer the quieter ones where social interaction is possible . The club , sadly has never been my cup of tea . However , me being me , I try to have fun wherever I'm at , and that mind set actually helps .. A lot .

I never said I didn't party , it's just a lot less than you think .

I love quiet moments though . Hanging out with my good friends and talking bull and cock ( as we define it ) are some of the really fun moments in my life . Topic can range from absurd shit to investment plans . I like hearing ideas , I love people who can speak their mind and are unique about their thoughts . I especially like the bold ones . They challenge me , and I am a fanatic when it comes to challenges ..

A lot of people don't see the softer side of me either . I am a movie man , or rather a movie addict . I watch movies by the bundle at the cinema and the best record was 3 in a row . 3 movies back to back in a row . I went with someone , however by the 3rd movie , I was left watching alone . Even the guy who was tearing up the ticket stubs flinched after seeing me entering the cinema for the 3rd time in a row . A change of phase where everything moves slowly is indescribable at times . I'm very fortunate to have friends from two different end of the quantum's .

Bringing the kids out to watch Princess and the Frog after gym

Talking about our achievements ...everybody was in Engineering ..except me .

All in all , I told someone my thoughts once on how I enjoy myself and I think it's quite adequate to end this post with it .

Actually to be honest , I don't mind watching a DVD at home with a small tiny 21 inch . I also don't mind going to Penang and take in the seaside breeze in comparison with a 7 day stay in a mind blowing resort in Maldives ...There's a catch though ...

It does matter though who I'm doing it with ...

Between dinner at a Micheline 3 star Restaurant in Paris with a stranger , and coffee in Sunway with someone I like . I'd take coffee in a blink of an eye ...... That's me , and mind you , I've been in similar situations .......... and I ALWAYS took coffee .

It doesn't matter what movie I'm watching in the cinema , I may not remember scenes or dialogues from it , but I'll always remember who I watched it with .

I don't care , I'll make it work .

2010-01-09T13:47:00.013+08:00

I'll make it work.

I haven't been sleeping much as of late . Have been working my ass off to settle projects before I leave the country .

My professor once said to me , ` Why do you sleep so much ? You're not a baby anymore ! ' ..... and at that time , I was only sleeping like 6-7 hours daily .... -_- . However , for the benefit of the readers , he was the most obese professor on campus and looked like a mad scientist . Don't think I'll be following his footsteps , although I have no idea what he spends his free time doing anyway .... jogging ?

Waking up at 7am in the morning for a shoot ....

However besides the schedule , I still do make time for friends and relaxation time . If I don't , I'll go mad wei . There's a reason why people say striking a balance is important .

Eating Lok Lok with Cheng May and Levy at 1am in the morning ..

Oh well , they say that , if you love what you do , you'll never get tired . Surprisingly the saying holds true . I've got to get back to work now , lots to settle ! =)

I shall be updating this new blog of my regularly new blog of mine regularly now . If life was that good , it surely is meant to be recorded .

-D

My Recap of 2009

2010-01-04T22:29:00.001+08:00

Recap of 2009

No.2 , Me , No.8 and No.8's , No.1 ....

2009 , where should I begin ..........

Beginning of 2009
My start of 2009 is colored in RED for a reason . It's definitely not the best time of my life . Could have been one of the worst ... and I'm not exaggerating.. I learned a lot though , and what I learned can never be learned through theory . In that sense , I appreciate what life taught me , and am sincerely grateful I actually got through ...

Actually , to be dead honest , without some really nice people along the way . I wouldn't have ... I'd still be stuck ...........

Obviously , they're much more people than that . Some I never got to take a picture with , and some of whom I can't post up . Thanks guys . I appreciate everything you guys did along the way . The gym sessions , the movies , the uhum uhum , and obviously the weird blind dates ....... I'll always remember the time at Phuture in March , I can't disclose who you are , but I'll put the dialogue here =) :

Guy friend : David !! You should meet her ! She's cute !

Me : Bro , no mood la , I think I'm going to leave soon ...

Guy friend : Watch me !

He went up to the girl , offered to take a picture for her and her friends using her hand phone ( with the reason that they were pretty , which they were ... ) , and bloody dropped the hand phone on the floor breaking it into pieces !! Her huge ass boy friend came over , and he ran back to me ...

Guy friend : Ok ...let's go...

You don't find friends that want to amuse you like that every day , and I'm really thankful that I have them .

APRIL to DECEMBER
This was what I called a roller coaster period of my life . Things were great and things were confusing at the same time . I met so many people , even my best friends got confused .

What happened ? I began to not give a bull and went back to my old ways during this period of time . It all started when I met up with one of the best ( if not the best ) pick up artist in the middle east ( who is a magician ...hint hint ) . He was doing a seminar there and he knew me from my post in a magic forum from before . We used to chat with each other online before he took the world by storm .... Being foreigners in a foreign land , we spoke a lot about life and practically hit it off as friends . Amazing guy , and truly lives up to his name . He did teach me something very important . I'll always remember this conversation we had :

T : You know , it's simple ... the person who cares less always wins . He or she doesn't get hurt , doesn't lose much in sense of effort , and always has options to choose from .

Me : So you're saying that I care too much ?....

T : It depends what you're looking for . Were both not mechanical beings . A relationship is not a game . If there's a winner in it , there's gonna be a loser . You want both parties to win in a healthy relationship . However , playing the game is a whole different ball game . You play to win . You're on the moderate end , that's a good thing .

So after spending a few days just talking about life with him , he went back to Australia and I hit back Malaysia in the next couple of weeks ...

With my confidence back up like how it used to be , I worked hard .......and partied harder . If you knew me a few years back , you'd know a different me , some kind of the `same ' me you know now . I've mellowed down A LOT , in 2007,2008 ..... It was a great thing though , I concentrated a lot on work and it payed off by heaps and bounds .... didn't really party as much in those days though ...

Along the haphazardness , I did find a little romance along the way ... Of all the people I've met , and I've met so many ... only one person could sustain my interest at that time ... and although it was a little complicated , I nevertheless had a time that I'll remember . It was a different change of phase ..... and different is always nice ...thank you..

How do I sum it off then ? .....

2009 was an exiting year . 2009 was the year I learned most about life , and although 2009 had it's ups and major downs , I think that it was an amazing year to say the least . As they say , concentrate on the good part of life , and learn from the bad .

I usually divide my life into 3 segments .......work , health and relationships . Since I think logically half of the time , let's put some numbers to grade my 2009 .

Work : 8/10
Health : 7.5/10
Relationships :

That being said , I guess I've got to surpass those values in 2010 . A lot has been planned out , and I'm expecting a blast of a year .

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

A little bit of memory

2009-12-14T02:08:00.001+08:00

A Little Bit Of Memory

I'm always bad when it comes to taking shots of `meself'

I was recently out with Chi for a bit ....for those of you who know me , you'll know who Chi is to me .

I like people who push me out of my comfort zone . I love people who challenge me in positive ways . I also adore people who add that little bit of abnormality in my life . I don't fancy normal .

I'll tell you a simple story .......

If you thought that I travel a lot now , you do not know me in the past . Ask any of my university mates . If it wasn't for magic , some batch mates wouldn't even recognize me . I was never in university . I was either doing shows , or tucked down in Singapore . When the results came out , everybody thought that I cheated .... well , I did .... but that's a different story altogether .... You're not `cheating ' if you don't get caught right ?

I could have been a great student , studied hard , and excelled in all my subjects `righteously' . I'm not that dumb , neither am I that lazy ...... I wouldn't have had to ask my roommate ( who's the nicest roommate in the world ) to take my `probability and statistics ' exam for me , or had my batch mate to sign my attendance every time I was away . I still remember the time when I was overseas far far away , and the lecturer was almost going to bar me from my finals , and my batch mate went to tell her that I was in an accident ....... I had to come back to university with a walking stick and had pretend to limp for two weeks ....

I could have been a good student ......... but.... NO .
If there's one thing I put in high regards of everything else , it's the promises that I've made to myself . My goals . I live by them . That's my drive .

When Chi left , you wouldn't believe how stupid & useless I felt . I knew that with my capabilities at that time , I couldn't even afford to make weekly trips down to Singapore .... I'd go bankrupt after the 4th month ( yes, I calculated ) . With that in mind , I was feeling like a complete useless fool . .... My mind was always on `hotels , bus fares/flights , taxi fares ...etc ' .... The sad part of it was that initially , I could only afford the BEST room is the worst hotel .... Geylang , some YMCA building .... Oh man ..... Staying at those places gave me unforgettable experiences as a young teenager .

and that was when I made the decision that I had to F*CKING go the extra mile or lose something very important to me . I had to be better , no matter what it took ... I learned how to pitch to random companies by sending out weird proposals on what could I do for their events , I even pitched to Singaporeans and got gigs in Singapore that paid really well . I took up every single job that was offered . I think I even took up kid's parties and did comedy shows . I saved up like mad when I was in Malaysia and did strange things for money.... I guess being able to go down to Singapore often really meant a lot to me .

I learned a lot during those time , and grew in many ways . I would like to say that I became a wiser person . I had fun though . The trips back from SG were always the gloomy part .

____

That period of my life made me who I am today . I'm glad to say that I'm trully blessed to be doing really well these days . I have more challenging goals , a much more complicated life , and a great exiting adventure ahead .

Sometimes though , I wish that the ME now , would have been the ME back then ....

A little pressure is good

2009-11-23T07:08:00.000+08:00

A little pressure is good

4 years ago on the stage with Vince , performing for the Prime Minister .

With Vince and Ash at a recent clubbing night .

I've been taking a hiatus for a little while . I know I'm not supposed to , but I needed a short break . Sorry for not picking up the calls during that time , phone was unconscious .

Obviously there's the horror story when I switched my phone back on .... Uuuuh . 127 text messages . I never thought it was possible ....

On another note , work has been absolutely great so far . I've so many new things to work on , and I'm actually typing this to take a break from writing a proposal . Need my creative juices to flow back in . Have been on the phone with calls from overseas since 2 am . It's 9am now !

Anyway , somebody said this to me recently ....

` David , a little pressure is good '

-D

Weird Updates

2009-11-10T11:42:00.000+08:00

Weird Updates

I was a guest speaker at an integrated learning center .... I know , what did I speak on right ?

I'm about to crash my bed right now , however will update a little due to the fact that my little blog has been neglected due work . Since , I'm sleepy , I shall write my post in points .

____________________________

*PETRONAS , believe you believe me , instead of asking me to work for them as an engineer , albeit a lousy one , have employed me for two of their events .

1)To speak at a Human Resource Management Stake holder's day , next year at KLCC . I'll be speaking for two hours on Human Resource to General Managers , CEOs and MDs . Once again , believe you , believe me , I have no idea why they employed me ( Yes , they are paying me to speak !! ) . It seems that I was recommended by a former Professor at university . When I got the details of what I was supposed to do , I was flabbergasted . WHAT ??? I replied back the e-mail they sent with the title ` Are YOU sure ? ' .

2)Petronas is flying me to a resort in Langkawi to perform for 800 Petrol Kiosk owners . In attendance will once again be Tun Dr.Mahathir . Due to the fact that Tun has seen my act a couple of times in the past , I will have to set out something new .... and Tun is a tough person to please , I was actually heckled by him on the stage in the past .........

The awkwardness of this , is that I was a former Petronas Scholar , and they sponsored my whole education to get an engineering degree ... and now , Petronas is using me for a purpose that does not relate to a single fragment of my academic qualification . Somebody explain to me why did I suffer so much throughout university again ??

If someone mentioned university , the only think I remember was the time I din't sleep for two days trying to finish an assignment for Reinforced Concrete ..... The only think I remember now is how to differentiate a one way and two way slab ....

_______________________________

*I agreed to a 52 episode show on national television . The first local `English' magic segment on national television ( which you might not catch since rarely do people watch TV these days ) . Shooting starts the point I get back home . You're gonna see my smiley face weekly on Friday TV starting Jan 2010 ( which I doubt you'll tune in too ) However ......... I neglected the fact that it's 52 episodes when I agreed . I'm now having a headache listing down the materials I should be doing . What have I gotten myself into ....

________________________________

*I will not be in Malaysia much in 2010 ... that means I won't even get to see my own shows .

________________________________

All that being said . Things couldn't be better now . If you see past my dark humor , life for me now is going exceptionally well . I have a lot of things to look forward too , and am slowly crossing my `GOALs ' checklist as time goes by . That's a ` good' sign by the way .

In my life , I've miraculously written TWO books . 100 over pages , bad English , and very stupid substance . I completed the 1st one just after high school , and the 2nd one , a year back .
I kept both soft copies in an old e-mail account . I was reading them a few days ago just for the fun of it , and thought to myself

` Ok , both are really dumb , but at least the 2nd book is better than the 1st ... '

You gotta always move forward in life . Always improve on what you already have .

-D

So what do I DO ??

2009-10-30T07:01:00.000+08:00

So what do I DO ?

Doing an interview under the hot sweltering sun ...

_______________________

In my experience , after a conversation takes place with a stranger , it'll usually move towards this particular question :

So .....what do you do ?

For the benefit of people who don't know me personally , I never say that I'm a magician , NEVER . It's also extremely rare that if I met a stranger , I'll tell him/her that I'm a mentalist . No , it isn't because I'm not proud of my profession , it is however due to the fact that 9/10 times , when I state that I deal with magic , it always , somehow or another in mysterious ways... the conversation will end up to this ` oh so familiar question ' ...........

Show me a trick ?

and sometimes , it doesn't come out as a question , but as a statement ...

SHOW ME A TRICK !

When I was younger , I'd definitely show a trick . Hoohah , you got to remember that when I was 16 , I started off by carrying a deck of cards in my jeans pocket when I went to the mall ..... Now , before you think that I've morphed into some `sombong ' son a gun who doesn't want to entertain the general crowd these days ...You got me wrong here .............

To be a 100% honest , I'm tired la wei ...... after all these years of hearing that same question over and over again ... and over and over again .. it just took it's took somewhere along the line .

Step in my shoes.... every Chinese New Year ...what do you think relatives ask me to do ? Heck , everytime people visit my home , what do you think they'd ask ? ....Talking about that , this just happened recently :

__________________

I went to a friend's party . This isn't your cocktail gala party , rather something like a college fraternity party ( something I rarely experienced in my college hey days ) . I saw a girl sitting on the couch with her friends . My friend saw me seeing the girl sitting on the couch . He ,went up to her , and told her that I was a `magician ' .... and she responded kinda positive , with

` I love magic , ask him to show me something ! '

Now , you got to understand my predicament . I've been performing for a long time here . I KNOW how this is going to end up if I start showing her tricks ....

______________________________

I got a dollar for every time someone asks me ` Can you show me something ? ' , I'd be a very rich man by now .

These days , it's always `can you bend me this ' and ` can you bend me that ' . Oh man , I can DO A LOT of other things than just bending this and that . To my close friends , sorry I don't show you anything new these days . I do have loads of new stuff . I'm just trying to stop the process of me performing every time I go out ... and somehow it's slowly working . When I start to do the same thing over , people say ` I've seen that ' .... and I can finally continue ` normal chit chat ' . Common , if you have a comedian friend , you don't ask him to tell you a joke every time he goes out with you right ?? ( I hope you don't )

.....................

So what do I say I do ? I mean , at the spur of the moment , I usually hammer my engineering degree to good use .

I'm an engineer ... ( with a straight face )

Which I might add , is `half' true by the way .

and this is where THAT answer got me into some trouble ....

______________________

I'm in a nice 5 star hotel , the best hotel in town actually . Thank you , organizers , I love you guys . I was sitting down at the huge lobby having a nice cup of green tea . Somehow , 5 star hotels here don't have kettles in the room to avoid `fire ' trouble . Gotta go to the lobby , which has a nice counter to make hot drinks 24/7 .

Then out of the lift came a bunch of Caucasian guys who were wearing `offshore oil platform ' suits . Imagine a bunch of astronauts ..just without the head gear . They sat next to my sofa , and being the nice guys they were , greeted me with a `Good Morning ' !

Obviously , I replied ` Good Morning ! out for work , it's kinda early ain't it ? '

It was btw very early , about 4am plus . Yes , my biological clock is screwed up a little . I have no fixed time of sleeping anymore and drink green tea at 4am in the cold morning . Anyway , I discovered that all of them were British Petroleum engineers . Came in for an assignment .

Being the only Chinese guy in the whole hotel ( I asked the reception for the fun of it , they were like 3 Malaysians though ) , we all had a good chat , and then the conversation lead to :

So , what do you do ?

Out of the spur of the moment I said :

I'm an engineer too !

and then one of the group asked :
What field ?

I replied my specialization and he responded with :

Great ! we need an opinion on this problem . Fancy finding you here in the early morning !

and he started taking out a drawing pad and pen ..........

THAT was when I KNEW I was going to get screwed in my ass ....................

-D

__________________________________

Work is something YOU GOT TO LOVE

2009-10-19T18:14:00.000+08:00

Work is something YOU GOT TO LOVE

Interview with PC World Magazine

I just did 3 interviews lately , it was really fun to do and met a lot of great people along the way . All the interviews were for different genres of publications . However , in all the interviews , 1 similar question was asked ` Do you enjoy what you're doing ? '

I answered in a short manner , however this is the geist of it :

Many years ago ...when I just started out , I would have never have thought that I'll be traveling the world doing something like this . Who would have imagined ? Magic ?

People told me it couldn't be done . I believed them . It's alright , I'm sure they said it with good intentions . I myself couldn't reason or give myself solid confidence that this would be a profession . I took up a degree , however I continued doing magic on the sidelines .

It was only when I started working as an engineer in a consultancy firm that it hit me . Oh man , this is NOT for me . It was an epiphany . I'll always remember this scene when I was at a meeting with GAMUDA Sdn.Bhd . I was the youngest person there pulling a cool front , and everybody there were senior engineers . Why was I sent ? because the head engineer from my company had `other' work . I was supposed to re-present my company , and all I was told to do was to sign in the attendance sheet .....

During the meeting , I got a shocker when I was being called out ....

Lead Engineer : So Mr.Lai , what do you think about the drainage layout of the whole structure ?

he was referring to a track layout somewhere in Kedah . My company was in charged of the drainage plans .

Me : I think it's ok ....

Lead Engineer : Could you explain on the discrepencies at R1 d5 ?...........

Me: Hmm.........

To cut the whole trauma short , I never felt stupider in my whole life even with the combination of all past embarassing moments . I must have uttered some of the stupidest solutions in engineering history . You see , in a meeting like that , no matter how creative you are , you can't lie your way out if you do not know technicalities . Period .

________________

Somewhere along the lines of waking up at 6am in the morning and reaching home after 7pm everyday repeating the same routine , I solidly made my decision that I was going to lead an interesting life .

I told to myself that , screw the money , it's not worth it . Hey , I always thought that I'd be rich if I was an engineer . Believe it or not , at one time of my life , due to hearing a testimonial at a oil and gas symposium , I thought of spending the next 10 years of my life on a oil rig , earning some big bucks , save up and enjoying life after I turned 30 ..... weird goal huh ?

________________

Do I enjoy what I do now ?

In comparison of what I was previously doing , incomparable .

Do I eat bread and water everyday ?
Somehow , I don't . Believe it or not ,I'm doing pretty well in that department and I believe that if you insert some intelligence into a passion of yours , the moolah will come ...by huge numbers . Have some faith .

Was the decision easy ?
Made my knees shake in terms of thinking about how am I going to put food on the table in the future .

My future plans ?
I have a small little company that brings me enough to survive even without my magic so I think I'm doing pretty well in terms of security . I have other plans in the development stages that do not involve magic , and am happy with the progress so far .

.....

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Is this a freaking joke ???

2009-10-16T20:46:00.000+08:00

I hesitated a little before sharing this , but I think it's worth a read .....

This is so weird , after receiving this , I think I just stared at the computer screen for a few minutes not knowing what to reply . What on earth is going ON man ? * Slaps my hand on my forehead *

I initially thought that it was a prank , but that's explained later on ....

Received this in my hotmail e-mail :

____________________________
From:*********************

Sent:	Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009 9: 52 PM
To:	David Lai (davidlai308@hotmail.com)

Mr.David ,

I heard about you from a mutual friend , we have many in fact . I would like to ask for your help or rather employ you for a unique purpose . Let me get straight to the point .

I am college student studying in Subang . I was recently involved with a girl . I did everything for her and not once did I treat her badly . She was the most important thing in my life . I even paid the down payment for her car as she was supporting herself and needed transportation to her part time jobs . I also rented an apartment for her and we both moved in together . I was always there for her and supported her in whatever she did . I took care of her with all my heart and she was my everything . I loved her .

After a year of being together, I found out she was cheating on me with a senior . I caught her by surprise in the apartment which I rented for her . It hurt so much and I almost commited suicide . I also found out that she was cheating on me for almost half a year with other guys . She is now living together with that guy whom I found her cheating with . She has made a complete fool out of me and my good intentions .

I've heard stories about you from my friends . What I require you to do is to get her , and then dump her heartlessly for no reason and when you dump her , you tell her all the shit she has done to make my life as it is right now . I do not sleep anymore . I do not trust anymore . My whole life is in complete turmoil because of her . Nothing is right anymore . I am sure you would also feel that a girl like her must be given a harsh lesson . I am now in the midst of seeing a counselor on a weekly basis to get my life intact .

I do not have a time line , however I would appreciate that it could be done as soon as possible . I feel that she deserves this . As for payment , I'd be willing to pay anything necessary within my limit . Can we set it at RM****.00 for now ? As a man to a man , please help me to avenge my dignity . My whole life is ruined because of this bitch . I need this .

I will provide you with all the information necessary , her name , address and also places she hangs out at . I would prefer a meet up to explain the finer details . I will give you everything you need .

Waiting for your positive response .

*********

________________

IS THIS FOR REAL ???????

He even gave me his name , and contact number ( which for obviously reasons I won't reveal ) . I almost thought that I was going to be on Hitz.fm Gotcha Call or something .... So I searched him on facebook , got to know the mutual friends we have , asked around a little , and found out that `the girl ' incident did actually happen ....

If in some weird Martian way that this is a legitimate job request :

1)By posting it here , I think you already know what's my reply to whether or not I'll accept it . Man , it's crazyyyy la ?? It really is man .... ayoooo

2)I've received weird request in the past , talk to dead souls , heal backbone problems and use my energy to enhance bowel movements , but this has got to be one of the most ` Logical ' , yet weird request I've received so far .

3)What have my so called `friends' been talking about Meeee ???????????????????

4)What on earth makes you think that I'll actually get the girl ??? Walau , after wards I kena cheated pulak .

On a serious note :

I guess the guy just got too frustrated and didn't know what to do . There is no magic pill to forget . The best way to forget someone is to find someone new you care more about . Easier said than done sometimes .

People cheat , people lie , and if you can't get over that fact , you're not living in the real world . Believe me , I hate saying that line . Reality is harsh .

I promise you , a few years from now , you'll laugh at yourself for sending me this .Be strong and Good luck =)

-D

What is FUN to me ?

2009-10-15T22:51:00.000+08:00

Up , up and away ! Life can only get better !

2009 , especially the 2nd quarter has been a crazy fun filled year . I can't begin to describe how much of a good time I've had . To be honest , I had a rough start to the year . I'm glad everything turned out well over the duration of time . My schedule for the whole year is booked , I'm preparing for two huge theater shows and will be back in Malaysia in mid December . I'm currently in the beautiful continent of Africa before I head for Europe in November .

Recently , I've been taking a break from partying . My mind can only take so much , guess I'm not a super human after all . Imagine partying non-stop back home , and when you get to another country , you hit the party circuit hard again .... I think two to three weeks would be sufficient time to refill my energy barrel . I can't believe that I partied till my muscles got sore .

It does feel good to know when to take a back seat ride . I have been spending my time on the other hand at the gym , reading , and concentrating on my business . Don't get me wrong , while partying , I do not neglect my health , and neither do I forget about my career , it's just that now I have my `own sweet time ' doing these things .

Cay and Yvonne making hot stuff on the dance floor

So what's FUN to me ?

People say that I'm crazy ,but just because your ideologies aren't the same with mine , it doesn't make me crazy ... does it now ? I have on the other hand found people who can handle me . My `crazy adventurous ' friends . So what is fun to me ?

**Fun to me is making a weird video on Youtube of no particular reason for someone just for the fun of it . Some might say it's wasting time , but I think it's cultivating inner creativity .

**Fun is changing all the time of the clocks in the room of your roommate who has a final exam the next morning . It's also crossing the line of being a bad roommate . ( Don't do that , I learned my lesson many years ago ) .

**Fun is going up to the hottest girl in the club and ask her ` Do you like elephants ? ' .

**Fun is taking the next flight out of the country going to anywhere you like , for example Prague ! ( Make sure you have everything settled back home , or else you're gonna lose a lot of things , including your job when you get home . I may be crazy but not dumb ) .

**Fun is going to a karaoke center with your mid twenties friends , just to be greeted by a mamasan and 20 over Republic of China GROs . Everybody else in the center are uncles who are staring the hell out of you , praying hard that you don't recognize them .

**Fun is going on a date in the South , and end up in the North of the country ...and wondering to yourself , what just happened ?

**Fun is feeling the thrill in the drop of skydiving and bungee jumping .

**Fun is accidentally going out on Valentines with 3 girls when you're 17 . Not having enough money to pay for yourself , you excuse yourself to an important phone call only never to show up at the dinner table again .

My 17th Valentine's ... how time flies . I still hate you ! =)

**Fun is taking topless pictures with 3 of your close friends and showing the world of what we just did causing an uproar in the cyber world ..

**Fun is going on a play date with a middle eastern girl in the middle east . Believe me , all eyes will be staring at you .... I'm still alive , but I don't recommend doing it ...

I always looked away ...

**Fun is being chased in KL by a mad jealous ex boyfriend in his car and finding the nearest police station for safe haven .... It's also bloody stressful to a point .

**Fun is finding out the girl you just went out with has a kid that's the same age with your 5 year old niece ..... You shake your head and laugh about it .

FUN is also ...........

**Bringing my family to a new spot and spending them for a luxurious dinner . I've to hide the bill every time or else my mom will scream ...

**Sitting down and talking away at Starbucks until the whole mall closes down , and were left alone with the cleaners ...still chatting away , not caring about whatever and just chatting away . That's just so much fun . Fuuuh .

**Watching continuous movies at the cinema . 1 after the other , 1 after the other , from morning till dawn .

**Having a 6 hour dinner at my favorite spot with a crazy girl .

**Lying in bed , dreaming about what a great night that just happened . Replaying that moment time after time again thinking of how to make it better .

**Having a spontaneous make up adventure in the middle of the street . Imagination can take you anywhere .

**Taking care of your sick girlfriend and telling her weird bedtime stories

** Writing down your weekly , monthly and yearly goals and achieving them one by one ...

____

I believe that you only live once . Right or wrong in a certain action is very subjective . If you keep on thinking on the pros and cons every single time , you're going to miss A LOT of opportunities in life .

I just lost a friend whom I've known for almost 10 years down the road . I was her classmate , I also attended her wedding and even lent my coat to the best men during the ceremony . She passed away a week back due to heart failure , leaving behind two kids and her husband .

If you think about it , and if you think about it well . Life is really short . Most of you reading this would be at your prime .

At your prime , shouldn't you be living life to the fullest ? Taking risks , doing things out of spontaneity , and doing something in your life worth waking up in the early morning for . I am not saying leave behind everything and live carefree , I am however advocating the idea of living a life that excites you , one that will make you grin when you think about it years from now .

Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion

2009-09-27T01:51:00.000+08:00

Okay , not so much of an inspirational post , nevertheless , this will tell you a little more about my life in general these days . Besides the Gargantua amount of workload piling up , I also sometimes take time to make my life a little more interesting .

Next up :

I like this photo because it shows an image that I don't usually see .

That's Stephinie by the way , the spelling of her name isn't a typo , there's an I in between the `h' and the `n' . This is an image I don't usually see because she ain't no bride in Snowhitety gown . That image just doesn't go with me .

I brought Steph to an awesome costume party , and before the party ended , we went off ....with our masks still intact . Drove around KL with my mask on , and in some coincidental or courageous way , drove next to a police car with the masks on . Laughed our ass off and walked around Changkat Bukit Bintang with masks on and even entered a restaurant together . Every single diner was looking at us thinking where did this two sakai couple came from . We even slowed down traffic . Oh well , it was fun .... and weird .

Ok , you might be thinking ...`Sure , that was mild David , what about that time when you drove blindfolded in front of Asia Cafe ? '. I'll keep the saucy ones to myself aite . You never know who reads this blog .

Driving blindfolded and scaring pedestrians at Asia Cafe

__________________

People say that I'm out of the conventional sometimes . I mean , take a look at my profession , it's definitely not something in society's norm . When I 1st started off , people advised me against it ( and I actually listened and got myself a hardcore scholarship based degree which I do not use one bit ) . -_-

My believe is that , 20 years from now , you'll look back . At the prime of your life , what did you actually do ? How did you spend your time ? Was it in an office climbing the corporate ladder everyday 9 to 5 . Or did you actually do something worth living in between work and routine .

I speak about this to people and this next picture sums it up nicely . Live your life passionately . Do something that drives you out of bed everyday .

Whether it's carrying granite stones to arrange the name of someone ( you have no idea how heavy the stones were )

Or posing weird pictures in public

Or even making weird pointless hand symbols

because life is only so short .

Work Smart , Party Hard

2009-09-14T22:01:00.000+08:00

I have been working mostly in my make shift office recently . Typing , typing , typing , meeting people , performing shows and typing again . -_- . Thinking about it , I should have taken up a writing course instead of an engineering degree . It would have been much more beneficial in these circumstances .

Don't get me wrong though . I love what I'm doing right now . It's exiting and I get to meet so many talented people . I always believe that in order to be successful , you've got to surround yourself with people that have already made it to where you want to go . Sometimes , it's not what you know , but WHO you know .

Most of the people I meet these days and have had the pleasure to actually have a real conversation with , are millionaires in their early 30s . Amazing . I'm still thinking of smart ways to make my 1st million and currently , based on my current bank statement , I think I'm on the right track . It's motivating and at the same time depressing though , seeing these young guns living your dream life . It pushes me to think out of the box and take bigger risks in order to get what I want .

When I was in the Philippines last year , my dear God Brother JP , who is the CEO of one of the biggest construction company there and a honorary graduate of MIT told me :

`Work smart , and party hard '

I never actually understood the phrase as I wasn't into `partying' that much . I think I'm now slowly grasping the idea ........ besides , I like meeting new people and I actually network when I party . Ask my friends , I actually secure big shows at the clubs .

It's 5am and I'm still working on my script . Looks like I'm going to party hard again later on .

-David

I asked her ...

2009-08-29T03:41:00.000+08:00

I was sitting down in a 12.5 hour flight . Sat next to an Australian girl who was a really pleasant chat . Blondie , freckled , bubbly and a surfer chick . Very friendly and even kept smiling when she dozed off .

A steward was always coming over to check on her and flirting around .... I don't mind if he did it well , but this dude was like , `I'm going to call you when you reach your hotel ok ? I'm going to show you Malaysia like nobody else '..............and after a while , came back and went ` I'm going to give you this just because I think that you're special ' .....

MF. What am I , a duck seating beside her ? QUACK!

In the middle of the flight , I got REALLY irritated and told her :

Me : I'm going to do something for you , and if it works , and only if you're a 100% impressed , and only then you'll be my girlfriend for the next 8 hours . Let's do it . ( With a very commanding tone )

She : What ? whyeeeee ? ( yes she said why with a long ` eeeeeee' ) . Okee , what do you want to show me ? ( with a warm smile )

*Previously when we were introduced before the plane took off , I told her that I was an engineer , so she had no idea what I did for a living . She was taking her so called summer vacation , and was studying to be an accountant .

I took out a piece of paper and pen , and did what I do best ( well , at least that's what people pay me to do ) .

Th next time the steward came , and wanted to pass her his number on a piece of napkin... ( why din't he just get a blank piece of paper ?? why a napkin ?? omg.... )

Me : Dude , she's my girlfriend for calling out loud .

and she smiled and nodded ....

What a flight .

-David

A little bit of sunshine ` Hurting someone '

2009-08-24T19:37:00.000+08:00

University Technology Petronas's 1st and last male cheer leading squad ...my university days ..

This is a story that happened quite a while back . Due to some recent events , I want to share it with you guys here .

During my university years , and to be specific , my EARLY university years , I `dated' a lot . In my perception , there was nothing wrong with dating when you're single . Actually , I don't even think the term dating here would be suitable . I just went out with a lot with girls . It finally came to a point that , at one time while I was bringing a girl out for dinner , her friends got to know about it , and the next thing I heard was :

`My friends say that I shouldn't go out with you anymore cause you're just playing with me '

You should have seen my face at that moment . I was like ` Hmm , I just went out with you once ? ....... ' . I guess the mentality that surrounded the university that I was in , was that , if you went out with a girl ` alone ' , something is bound to happen in the near future . I can't really blame them though , I was stuck in an engineering school , ratio of guys to girls were approximately 20:1 . That for simplicity sake means , 20 guys for 1 girl . It's like a freaking combat ground for guys and girls were like hidden treasures waiting to be discovered .

In time however, I did meet a few girls who became really good friends of mine , platonic friends in that sense , and we enjoyed our company a lot ( until of course , they got into their own relationships which I din't want to get involved in ) . Btw , the following pictures were just copied and pasted from their facebook accounts ...without permission . These were some of the girls that I taught were really fun friends of mine in university .

Erica Ting
I had a lot of fun with Erica during my earlier years in university . Still keep in touch with her but never as close as before like last time . She made my life in university a little more exiting and even made me birthday cards . Awww ! Erica once came to my house for a visit and my granny thought that she was my girl . My granny wasn't really fond of her and I never knew why ( till today ) .... Maybe granny just wasn't fond of me of having a girlfriend in general .... Erica is now working in KL and hopefully we'll keep in touch in the near future .

Amira
Amira was the crazy wild girl I knew in University . She helped me a lot and changed my perception in many ways . I wouldn't reveal the activities we did together however we still remain close friends till today . A great friend to say the least .

They were other also other girls with not as nice stories to tell . One in particular called me a `shithead ' when I refused to bring her out for dinner one day . She was at the library studying and I was repairing my Proton Iswara ( at that time ) which headlights hit a lamp post , and before I told her the reason I couldn't pick her up , she yelled :

`Shithead ! '

and slammed the phone down . I couldn't be bothered .....

There was however one girl whom I `kinda ' got together during foundation year . I said `kinda' because that's what this post is about ....

I was scheduled to perform for Catcha.com.my at their anniversary at the now defunct NOUVO club . Catcha's office was located at Mid Valley Boulevard and I went in to collect my passes from their office . The management also gave me 16 all access passes to bring in ` assistance ' . Weird huh ? Why do I need so many passes for ?

On the way back , I stopped by Dunkin Doughnuts in Mid Valley and I saw a really pretty girl sitting there with her friends . She was so pretty , fair , long hair and wearing a red top . Mind you , at that time , I haven't learned anything about pick-up and I was approaching a 6 set . I stood up , went over to their table and actually did a magic trick ........... Yes that was what happened . I opened with ` Do you want to see something ? ' ........-_- I was also carrying my resume on that day also to show to Catcha's management , and I actually showed my resume to the girls !! How fucking arrogant was that ? OMG .... thinking about that scene , it gives me chills and all the ` Don't s ' in approaching women .

Anyway , I passed all of them tickets for the night's show at NOUVO and at the back of one ticket , I wrote ` Girl in Red , call me !! ' with my headphone number scribbled on it .

and late at night on that day itself , she called me ............ She asked me

`Do you always show your resume around to people you just meet ? '

I found out that she was in KL for holidays , and like me , she just finished highschool. She came from another state up north ....ok fine , Penang.. and there began my very first unofficial LDR . Bus trips , hotel stays , and lots of `money ' output ...

Suffice to say , it was somewhat like a summer holiday romance . After `summer' finished , I went back to university and had less opportunities to visit her . She was working and only was free on weekends . At one particular point , I lost my handphone , lost her number and we both never made an effort to contact each other anymore ... even though , all it took was some fishing from my side or a simple ` Friendster ' message to her profile .... I didn't do it . Immaturity got the best of me .

We have not spoken or communicated since . That's 5 years down the road ... Until 3 days ago .

She still looks as pretty as ever , we have both already graduated in our respective fields , and I'm looking forward to meet her when I come back home .

In all honesty , I felt very bad that the relationship ended that way , and I sincerely thought that she was fucking pissed with me . I used to tend to constantly `drift ' away from people a few years back ago .

I'm not sure what this story teaches you , but this experience has taught me a lot about life in general .

-David

Kids and Family orientated shows

2009-08-23T10:44:00.000+08:00

Believe it or not , my first real PAID gig ( as far as I can remember ) was at Pertama Komplex , beside the infamous SOGO mall , back in the year 2003 . I was 16 . That was almost 7 years back . I was paid a very minimal sum , but before that particular show , I never really charged . That show my dear , was for about 200 ADULTS , working adults in professional fields . My first taste of pure stage fright . How did the show go ? I'll leave that to your imagination .

After that show , I do not know why , but I NEVER performed for family oriented shows again . Most , or rather all my shows consisted of adults . When people call me up for a children's party , I'll always refer them to someone else . I can't really put into words why I did this .

If I did do a `family' show ( which I do not remember doing for the past few years ) , I do not charge . Not a single cent . Some people might argue with this fact , however , I decided a long ago that I will never charge someone for my performance if:

a)It was for a charity show
b)I was going to use new materials

I recently did a show for the Armenian Club , and I had a lot of fun doing it not mentioning I got to meet many interesting personalities . One of the rare occasions that I do interact with children and parents alike . Somewhat of new `old ' experience . As some of you might know , when I first started practicing , I use to go cycling around fileds looking for `preys ' to perform too .... most of them were children playing soccer in the `padang '.

I even received an Armenian Club's flag and a medal .=) What an honor .

Talking about families , I'm now in the midst of planning a huge theater family show in December . It's going to be a big project and am cracking my head on it at the moment being .

On another note , I'll be home soon to Malaysia .

Almost kena CON . Pffftttt ` The PYRAMIDS '

2009-08-22T00:13:00.000+08:00

The night before this , I was at the Nile river with some good friends and my ol UTP mate Badreldin . Was relaxing and talking about crazy stuff while hey gave me a head start on the Pyramids , which I'll be visiting on the next day ( today ) . They warned be about a lot of hustlers out to make a quick buck from tourist and told me strange stories that happened to their foreign friends . Scary to say the least .

At the Nile River with my UTP mate Badreldin, his brother Omar and friend

This was my weird experience at one of the 7 wonders in the world :

While I was walking to one of the Pyramids ( you have to walk quite a distance to reach there ) , a young guy with a funny mustache came up to me , he opens a packet and jams some sort of a head scarf on my head , without MY permission ! It was tight ! Makuku , spoiled my hair before I even started taking pictures !!!

Me : No , no , I don't want to buy . NO .

Guy : No, no , no ( repeated my words -_- ) money , just for YOU , I want to take picture

Me: NO !

Guy : Don't worry sir , no money , just take picture , no worry . No money .

Fucking hell , on the way up to the Pyramids , I was already hustled around so many guys for being a Chinese dude , and luckily I came to the Pyramids with two Egyptian friends . They saved my ass from bankruptcy and getting squeezed like a female cow being squeezeeeed for fesh healthy milk ...

Me : Ok , no money ya ?

I then passed my camera to my friend and he took a picture of us .

Fucking weird picture if you'd ask me ...

And then , after taking the picture , he asked for my camera ...My friend knew what was he going to do ! If I gave him the camera , he'll ask for money , and if I didn't pay , he won't give it back to me !

Me : NO !

Guy : I take picture of you and friend

Me: NO !

Those who know me know that I'm not an angry guy who is impolite to people . However , after being hustled alllll the way up on the hill to the Pyramids , and under hot scorching sun , there is only so much I can take ! After not giving in , this guy then says :

Guy : Okok , give me small money !

Me : WHY ????

Guy : For picture you take with me .

MF , even if you were George Clooney , I wouldn't pay a single cent to take a picture with you ! It's just not logic ??? A stanger ask for a picture with you , and you have to pay him ??? He kept on pastering me and following me !

My friend saved me , and we took off . My two Egyptian bodyguards for the day , saved me from bankruptcy at the Pyramids .=) Thanks guys !

Edward and Hafez with me at the Pyramids

Overall though , I had an AMAZING time visiting one of the 7 wonders in the world . I even got to go INTO a pyramid . How amazing is that ? It's really a once in a life time experience . I've seen pyramids before , but never have I ever imagined going into one !

I love my job .=)

Inside a pyramid in Egypt !

Best con of the day :

Egytian guy says ` 7.5 pounds to get up on camel , very nice ' ..... When I wanted to get down ` 50 pounds to get down ' .... -_- , makuku , should give them a creativity award .

-David

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-08-20T21:45:00.000+08:00

Mind you , I think this blog has been leaning on the role of a somewhat `positive' outlook for the past few months . Hmmph .

I'm not used to typing posts filled with positivity and giving out hope , I'm more of a realist , where I am certain that although the world is generally good , they're just some strange people out there who wants to make it bad for no particular reason . For me , I try to learn from both sides of the quantum .

At my age , or rather ` our age ' to be fair ... we've experienced so much in life to know that life isn't perfect and the world is not as good as Disney pictured it to be .

However , there are good people in life who are not only genuine , but have hearts of gold . I consider myself privileged having them as friends and dependable buddies . I've experienced some touching random acts of kindness in my life , although this one in particular is minuscule ( because it's done by ME and I'm not a saint ) , I'd just like to share it with you .

A Random Act of kindness

To make the world a better place , you've got to start with yourself .

When I was 13 , back in my high school days , or rather back when I just entered high school ,there used to be this club fund raisers just before Valentines Day . You could send roses to your supposed `crush' or then girlfriend . I mean , I have nothing against guys receiving roses , I just think that it's genuinely weird if a guy receives roses when it's not his convocation .

When we little kids entered high school , we guys came in at the bottom of the Piramid . No girl in their right sense of mind would want to date a 13 year old freshmen when she could have a form 5 , 17 year old young man . Hey , that's a fact . The form 5 and form 4 guys on the other hand , would stay late at school to single out the pretty juniors . Those who could already drive had an even bigger advantage .......

The problem was , the week before Valentines was called the desperation week . The nerds to the jocks wanted to have a date . Questions like ` Do you want to couple with me ' ( which by the way I thought was utterly ridiculous then and NOW ) would be answered by a resounding ` OK ! ' by the female juniors ... OMG ...

HOWEVER , by singling out the pretty ones , guess what happens on Valentines day itself when the flowers were being delivered ...? The flowers were delivered in a fashion where the delivery guy knocks on the classroom door , and in front of all the students , calls out the recipients .......AND ......... Those who don't receive any , will subconciously think that they're ugly ... Believe me , I've seen small teenage girls cry when nothing comes their way , and I know how much confidence those flowers give to those who receive them .... and yes , I even know some people who send flowers to themselves just to keep face .... Anyway , I actually saw a classmate of mine tearing up when she was walking back from school on February the 14th , when she saw so many girls were carrying bouquets when she didn't even receive a single stalk .

The following year , when I was 14 , I made it a point to at least deliver 10 random stalks ( anonymously ) to people I did not know , or didn't really know that well .... and no , I didn't single out the pretty girls . The guy taking the orders down was ( and still is ) a good friend of mine , and kept it a secret . We still talk about it these days when we go out for drinks . =) I tell you , that simple thing of putting down RM50 for flowers to 10 random girls does wonders to their day . I've seen it with my own eyes . I kept on doing this till I was 17 and left school , even 1 year , I sent a nice plastic rose to my sister ( without a note ) and believe me , she still keeps that plastic rose in her room !! After 7 long years !

_______________________

Try it ?

send random text messages , drop a random e-mail , get a new car for me ? You'll do wonders to a person's life , and trust me , you'll feel much better yourself too . =)

-David

3 weeks out ! ALAMAK !

2009-08-19T23:34:00.000+08:00

When I was in the middle of my tour ( about 4 weeks back ) , I got an e-mail for a magazine shoot back in Malaysia . Similar to LUST magazine ,which I did a shoot for , just before leaving , the topic was about attraction with Magic or rather `Approaching with Magic ‘ .

I kind of got scared & panicked because I thought this trip here would be an all you can eat feast . I’m traveling , didn’t have a gym at hand , and my diet consisted of fast food and whatever I could get around the different areas that I was at …and what I could get was usually FAST FOOD ! My initial plan was to enjoy the ride , take it easy , and when I got home , lose the weight off over a period of a month or two . Hey ! I'm somewhat on a holiday , cut me some slack man !

ALAMAK !

So , my brain kinda triggered , and got into improvisation mode .

`Shit , should I leave this shoot in the hands of Photoshop CS4 ? ’

In the end , I took a blank piece of A4 paper , wrote down some nasty things people said to me in the past , and mustered the motivation to work out . It wasn't , and I don't think IT IS easy for anybody to work out without having the proper tools ..besides keeping a clean diet when your housemates choke on Portobello Mushroom burgers ...Urgh , temptation !

It’s been 2 and a half weeks with this routine , it’s a little crazy to me , got some inspiration from my buddy Adam C , who just joined a new gym called pushmore . We were talking online and he told me most of the exercises he did used his own body weight and I was already reading his blog then . * LIGHT BULB * !

You can read Adam's blog on his workout adventures here :

http://runningthemile.blogspot.com/

thanks buddy !

I haven't started cardio yet because I haven't mustered the balls to be the only Asian dude running aimlessly on the beach while everybody looks on . If you're asking why don't I just swim ? ... It's because I can't . There you go , big secret of mine . I almost drowned during National Service , mind you ....

3 more weeks !

-David

What Pushes YOU ? and the H-Factor .

2009-08-18T00:37:00.000+08:00

In life , you HAVE to have something that pushes you .

Some people say ( a lot actually )

` David you had it easy ' . ` You had a scholarship to study engineering , and you have entertainment to supplement your income . You don't have to worry anymore ! If something doesn't work , you have a back-up ! '

Well , quite true . I did have a scholarship to study engineering and `technically ' I did not have to pay for my tertiary education . Entertainment on the other hand , pays me very well , and I won't deny the fact that it has helped me experience the finer things in life .

After the H-Factor tour last year , where Hannah gave me an opportunity to speak about my life , I even received quite a number of e-mails from parents and students alike . Here are two I'd like to share ( yes , I saved those e-mails and didn't type them out from memory ) :

*the girly color implies the obvious .

______________

Busy busy i see :)

Hey David. Dont know if you remember me, whether it's specific or do i just seem vaguely familiar to you, but seeing that you approved my friend request, im hoping that you do! Anyway, i noticed your performance career seems to be booming well :) congrats with that.

Im just curious though, seeing that you're only a year older than i am, and ive noticed you've been serious in performing for some years now. Is this your permanent job? I mean to say, you're not studying at the moment? I ask because, well, im curious as to how to do it. Juggle your performances with your studies. Cause i suppose ive been trying to do that,with my own interests elsewhere, and have been successful so far. But seeing you've really been performing alot, i see you everywhere at almost every show im on, and from your pictures, :/ im just very curious, hope this does not come off as a weird question to you...

Anyway :) take care, hope to hear from you soon.

___________________

Another one :

Hi David ! I read you stories from the papers and thought that it was really inspirational ! You're only 22 ?? Your parents must be proud of you ! I would just like to ask your humble advice on my family matters . I hope I'm not being a bother . I am the mom of a 18 year old boy who loves music so much . He has his own band , he does small shows here and there , and he just finished his SPM . He now wants to do something related to music , however I think that he should rather do a professional course to secure his future and do music on the side . he's very stubborn though , and after reading that you could balance both engineering and magic , I would be thankful if you could enlighten me on how you did it ! I want to show my son that it's possible too !

______________________

Okay , I replied both e-mails on very positive and sincere opinions . Never thought a `MOM' would ask me for my opinions . Thought that was the last thing a MOM would do ....

However , truth be told , it was hard maaaan . Let me tell you a story to reiterate the point :

I was enlisted to do a show for Mercedes Benz , and had my finals the day after . Show was in KL , my exams was in University Technology Petronas , Perak . Paper's subject was Highway Engineering . Not a super tough cookie to tackle , but it wasn't easy either . The subject's difficulty was somewhere between `Malaysian Studies ' and `Reinforced Concrete Structures ' .

So there I was , after a long drive from Perak to KL , took my books out and studied in the waiting room where Daphne Iking was sitting down with me . Did the past year questions , and hid my books when the organizers came it , pretending it to be my script . I even had a scientific calculator in my coat for calculating tangents and cosines . In a few minutes I was going to address a few Tan Sri's , Datuk Nasimuddin , and a few foreign ambassadors ...

Finished the show ,( which turned out way below expectations ........ I now do regular shows for Volvo ) . Drove back to Perak , took a 1 hour nap , and continued studying and took my finals in the next few hours . Don't worry , I got a B+ .

That was somewhat of my weekly schedule . The very mild version .

____________

When clients pay you a few thousands to do a show , you betta do a nice show . People are somewhat sacrificing their time to see YOU . They'll never get those 30 minutes of their life back .

So sure , I had a scholarship to obtain my degree , and I get more than enough shows these days . However , it wasn't easy man ...However I do think anyone can do it . So if you want to pursue your hobby and make it a career , and if your parents keeps on asking you to get a degree 1st ( which is a normal things to do ) , just imagine this . I FAILED my 1st Ad Maths test in highschool ( I got 33% , I'll always remember that score ) and ended up doing an engineering degree under a scholarship and still did magic at the same time , and miraculously , got my degree and still got to do what I like .

It's an old saying ` If there is a will , there has to be freaking way ' .

The Magic of Thinking BIG and how I started .

2009-08-17T10:43:00.000+08:00

That's me in 2006 with Too Phat's Malik , who is now a good friend of mine .

When I was in form 2 , I had an English teacher who introduced me to the quote

`Shoot for the moon , even if you don't get there , you'll reach the stars '

or something similar on those lines . That particular quote was somewhat life changing . If I could meet her again after 9 long years , I'd say a big ` thank you ' for teaching me the power of dreaming and thinking big .

These days , I always dream big . I always push that particular limit of thinking beyond the normalizations of society .... I hope I used the word `normalizations' in the right context here ... You get my drift of what I'm trying to convey ...

I have big plans when I get back home from my middle east tour . I am finally working on my long long and I mean long awaited Tv show . I have been having that idea since I was 18 , but due to study commitments , I was never able to commit . Heck , I was scared I would be thrown out of university if I missed that many classes for shoots .

I'm going to start a company that is directly involved with magic supplies with my good friends in the UK . It was a spontaneous idea that came up , when my friend visited Malaysia a couple months back , and now were actually taking action towards it . This is going to be EXITING ! I'm very happy that a simple idea could actually materialize to something very positive .

___________________________

Marion Counter and I , in 2006

A little story before I go . While touring in the middle east , I have gotten this particular question A LOT :

`How did you get started and how did you learn what you do ? '

I'm not going to explain it long dwindled here though , this will be just be a short summary of events ...

I learned magic the hard way . I had no tutor , never had one , and it all started off with a book . I learned everything the wrong way , I had no skills , and I even invented my own weird misdirections by saying ` What the hell !? ' , looked over the spectator's shoulder and quickly did my secret move ...

My first paid show was being paid in the form of a `free meal ' , I had no money to even get a `bicycle deck ' , and my audience consisted of construction workers and strangers at the `padang' near my house . I was actually conversing in Bahasa when I did my small tricks then ...and those who know me , know my Bahasa suxs . It was somewhat of a weird stand up comedy in BM .

........but somehow , and I mean somehow , I'm actually touring the world doing shows , and meeting and befriending some of the best in the business today . I am just so lucky I can't even believe how lucky I am sometimes . That's why now , I believe that ANYTHING is possible with determination and a lot of creativity . Don't get me wrong , I'm far from satisfied in what I have achieved . I believe that I could have had achieved so much more .... but I guess the vast majority of us feels that way..right ?

Recently , someone told me that he's going to be a millionaire in a year's time with some weird idea that he had ( weird in my opinion ) . He's 26 , a copywriter , earns a minimum wage , but he had a plan , and man is he determined .... He asked for advice and I said :

`Man , people fly me 20,000kms to bend a freaking fork . These days , I think that if you believe in it , ANYTHING is possible ' .

Having dinner with Hannah in late 2006

My Life Review

2009-08-11T03:45:00.000+08:00

Hello ! from the middle east . I'm gonna be here for another month or less , and during this period , I've taken time to review my life a little . I always think that life itself is divided into three main segments .

That being , Health , Wealth , and Relationships .

I also believe that you've got to live life in the present moment , and although you future is important , making full use of your present will eventually lead to a better future . Makes sense ? The past , on the other hand is something you shouldn't even bother about . Learn from it , and move the heck on .

Health
Not bad so far , could be better though . Am eating healthily , working out consistently and can't wait to hit the gym seriously once I get back home again . I'm improving myself and my discipline has been getting a lot better . So far , I'm happy , however , there is so much more room for improvement here .

Wealth
2009 has been a great year so far . Exceeded my expectations , and a lot of things are coming up . I have started a business plan with Kid Chan . Going to own my own company soon with my good friends from the UK . Am getting into real estate with one of my best friend's mother's company and shows , especially international shows has been pouring in by the bundle . I am very thankful for all the help and trust I've gotten so far .

Relationships
It's been very interesting . =)

___________________________

Therefore I'd like to sum up that , my `present' right now is simply , and hopefully leading me towards my desired goals . Ultimately , I have listed down specifics on what I want in my humble yet exiting life . I know and I believe that I can get there . I hope you know what YOU want in life too .

I have learned so much in 2009 . It has made me a better and wiser person . Learning new things is something that i strive for . Improving yourself daily , is something that we should all make an effort to do , and not just list it down in our `collecting dust ' journals .

___________________________

My future travels :

After the middle east , I'll be heading back to Malaysia for a moment , after that , I'll have a business trip to Makati, Philippines . Heading off to Melbourne , then either Tunisia or Algeria after Ramadan . In November , I'm coming back to Egypt to direct and perform for a huge magic theater show , and in December , I'll be heading to Perth . Therefore , it's a busy year ahead .

If everything works out fine , I'll even visit Meizs in Hawaii when I go down to LA . =)

Lots of countries , lots of plans , all is takes now is solid proactive action .

Hope everything back home is fine . See you guys soon ! =)

-David

How do you make a $100,000 work for you .

2009-07-14T01:51:00.000+08:00

The guys and I cooking at the VILLA

I was staying up late and having intelligent talk with my new made friends in Egypt last night . When guys talk , it usually revolves around :

1)Girls , in this case Lebanese girls
2)Somehow girls again
3)Money

Most of the guys that are staying with me at the Villa , used to be engaged before . Looks like it's somewhat of a norm here to get engaged for a period of time before you get married . Besides that , it's also a normality to annul the engagement . -_- The guys I know annulled theirs and were speaking about their experiences . Quoting their words ` David , don't make the mistake that we made ' . -_- .

Hypothetically , our conversation also moved on to the topic of how would you make a $100,000 work for you ? Work here meaning making the $100,000 generate more money for you .

Something like an essay you'd find in high school aiy ? Reminiscence of the past ( I love my high school days by the way )

MAKING A $100,000 work for YOU

My thoughts on it , and the way I will make a hundred thousand work for me .

When you talk about making money work for you , the old timers would say put your money in a fixed deposit , collect the interest , and save up for your retirement . There's nothing wrong with that ..........if you want to retire at 55 .

The next norm that comes into mind will be to invest in property , which I think is a good idea by the way . My parents are both government servants , however each have bought a house in Subang in the early 1990s with a government loan and mind you , the prices of both houses have catapulted by almost a 150% ! What a great investment . That however , took almost 20 years to achieve .

I want both my active and passive income to be big , and due to that , I have stayed away from the normality of having a 9-5 job . I'm not saying that having a permanent 9-5 is bad , it's great if you enjoy it and it offers security besides stability . That's one of the reasons I suffered like a mad dog to get my engineering degree . If anything were to happen , I have something to fall back on .

So with a $100,000 ....

1)I'll start my own tv show
I've always wanted to do this and every time an offer comes , I can't pursue it due to the fact that I'll have my ass kicked out of university if I skipped that many classes for shooting . With the $100,00 , I can fund most of the production cost that can't be covered to make it an excellent show . With a TV show , sponsors will pop up , endorsements , and best of all , my performance fee will increase . I'm actually finishing up the script for my show right now , and meeting with production houses after I'm back from the middle east .

2)Invest in PROPERTIES and collect rental while waiting for the value to increase I'm already doing this , however I need more properties under my belt to have a comfortable income . If each property , I can collect , an estimate of RM500.00 nett as profit from the rental , I'll need at least 4 more properties for a ` slightly comfortable ' passive income . With a $100,000 , it would be enough to add roughly two more properties . Two apartments would likely be it , and that would be a hypothetical earning of $1000.00 a month from rental . This is very subjective though , as if the price of the property itself increases , I earn more by the passing time . Say I invest now in two $300,000.00 properties . I get a loan of 90% if I'm lucky . $30,000 down payment for each property , plus and minus stamp and ownership transfer , that'll be $36,000.00 for each property . A total of $76,000.00 used so far to generate $1000.00 a month .

3)Reform my website
A new website means more clients , at least that's what I feel ( and from experience ) . A new website would roughly cost me $2500.00 , which is covered up by 1 show generated . A fairly good investment eh ?

I was never really a fan of public mutual funds, stocks , and even tried my hands on forex . I guess focus is really the key here . I want something physical that I can touch and feel and I guess property really fits my taste . The only thing that bothers me is getting the loan and so far , I think I'll be able to do that quite easily with a few connections that I made recently .=)

3 properties by the end of the year ? and 5 by 2010 ? Hey , that's a start .=)

The Villa that I'm staying now

I'm also going to be an agent in a real estate company to learn the ins and outs of property in Malaysia when I get home . It's going to be like a REAL job , and I hope to learn a lot from it ... and earn some too . 1% commision sounds like a little , but if the house is RM500,000 .....

A $100,000 to $1000,000 in 3 years . Honestly , I don't think it's impossible at all . With the right attitude , a little delayed gratification and intelligent decision making , I'm confident it'll be achievable .

I'd love to hear your thoughts . If you had $100,000.00 right now , what would you do to multiply it's value ?

-David

Pizza Super Viagra

2009-07-11T20:39:00.000+08:00

While screening the menu for food at Porto Marina , my friends and I stumbled upon something interesting . We were at a pizza shop and we found this ...

PIZZA SUPER VIAGRA !!

Obviously you wouldn't have to think twice about what we ordered .... Couldn't sleep the whole night after that .

-_-

The funny things in LIFE

2009-07-11T19:20:00.000+08:00

Me having a SEGWAY jog in the morning in Egypt

I'm having a great time at where I'm at right now . A little homesick but nevertheless it's a fantastic environment for conducive learning . I'm learning a LOT in life at where I'm at right now, can't wait what will be installed for me in the coming weeks .

Besides that , I'd like to share a story of something that I think some of you can relate too .

A while back I met a really nice girl . She was older than me , had a career , and was really friendly in the nicest of ways . She dressed elegantly , my friends thought she was gorgeous , and I thought she was stunning . We went out , started seeing each other , saw movies together , had fun and even went for a short holiday . Strangely , all these just happened . I was , you could say , `happy ' in the duration .

There was one thing that was a little weird though . Just a little . She never answers my calls at one particular period of time . She never answer calls in front of me and I've never seen her sad or frustrated . She was this girl that was always , anywhere and everywhere , HAPPY . I never questioned her , I thought that was a good trait .

Until I found out that she was married .

An interlude for you to ponder on the thought .

Pizza Super Viagra which I found at a restaurant in Egypt

She was mixing in the entertainment line too . I found out in the strangest of most awkward ways . Now I know why she doesn't have facebook ...

The worst part is , I wasn't hurt . -_- . When I got to know about it , I just flinched , and told myself ` I kind of expected it ' . I really do not know what am I becoming into . Take me back 4-5 years ago , I'd be lying helplessly on the bed doing nothing .

_____________

There's this friend who is such a nice person at heart and sincerely cares for me . My friends tell me that she really likes me , she calls when I'm sick , does everything that would make a guy feel soft inside , and is very pretty . Apart from that , I think one characteristic that makes her special is that she's strong . She doesn't ask for help even when she needs it .

A good friend of mine said to me ` Why don't you give it a chance ? ' .

I can't . I can't explain why .

........Ironic isn't , it how life hits you back .

_____________

What am I doing and thinking right now ?

2009-07-07T18:45:00.000+08:00

Performing at the beach in Porto Marina , Egypt

Hie Guys ,

Sorry for the lack of updates ! I have been rather busy the past month settling a lot of stuff besides being bitten by an emotional slump . If I were to recollect the year 2009 of what it has been so far , I would quite daringly say that it has been an emotional rollercoaster from the start to the middle . At 23 , you’d think that I’ve gotten old enough to get a grip and differentiate between logic and emotions .. Hoah . Anyway , hey ? , what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger .

At the time I’m typing this , I’m actually situated at a Villa somewhere North in Egypt . It’s by the seaside and it’s simply beautiful . I’m here for part of my middle east tour . Due to legal technicalities, I don’t think I’m allowed to mention the company sponsoring me though .

Apart from getting arrested by Egyptian police , cruising down in a HUMMER H2 , staying in a Villa that looks like an orchard , speaking mediocre French to beautiful Egyptian girl , and riding a Segway on the villa’s compound , I’m enjoying my life quite well . Work is fun , the pay is great , and most importantly , I’m learning a lot from my trip . The people here are very friendly , and I’ve made many friends along the way .

The Villa I stay at in Marina

Besides that , I also have lots of free time here by the beach , and I have been reflecting on my life lately . It’s already pass half way through of the year 2009 . I’m getting older on each passing day and I’ve set really high goals not too far away from now . It’s scary , but I’m sure I’ll achieve them . =) I’ve been writing down and coming up with plans , ideas , and solid decisions to supplement my goals . Pray for me , wish me luck .. I really do need all the encouragement and positive energy that I can get .

I’ll be back from the middle east in September ! I miss you guys .

-David

A little bit of time on my own

2009-06-15T12:28:00.000+08:00

Life's a little complicated right now . When your life is complicated , there should be a lot to blog on , however , I don't like blogging about complications .

I'm experiencing a time where I just have no enthusiasm to do anything apart from sleep . Add to the fact that I'm down the weather .........

-_-

...............

Power of The Mind ` The STAR '

2009-06-09T13:20:00.000+08:00

Stories > People > Personalities
Tuesday June 9, 2009 Power of the mind By NASA MARIA ENTABAN

DAVID Lai is often referred to as a magician, and he does not mind. But he is a “mentalist” rather than a magician; his craft is about a sleight of the mind, rather than the sleight of hand and distraction.

This means that what David does is more of a mind game than fast hand movements and tricks up his sleeves.

For years he buried himself in books on mentalism and psychology, seeking to understand the human mind, incorporating this knowledge into his routines.

To let us in on what his performances are like, he performs a Russian Roulette-like routine – using the power of his mind to guess which styrofoam cup hides a sharp spike, before smashing the ones he suspects are empty with his hand.

Drama aplenty, complete with frantic head-scratching and beads of sweat forming on his forehead, it’s easy to see how David keeps his audience at the edge of their seats. (He says he has gotten this one wrong only once!)
David Lai tries a trick on Nasa Maria Entaban.

He attributes his success partly to people’s curiosity about his performances.

“What I do is very different from the regular magic routines, or any other entertainment shows. It’s also interactive as I get the audience involved during every show,” begins the 24-year-old engineering graduate.

Despite the apparent complexities of his routines, David says mentalism and magic are not special skills you have to be born with, and anyone who studies the science hard enough can too, do what he does.

His whole obsession with magic began when he was experimenting at the age of 15, trying out tricks and routines with random people on the street, and friends.

“Being young and naive, I didn’t realise that wasn’t the way to go about doing things. No one likes to feel like they’ve been fooled, especially alpha male-types in a group of girls,” says David, chuckling.

Three years ago, David was an engineering student struggling to make time for his studies, his girlfriend, and his magic shows.

He started a company called Magical Dating with a few friends in university, organising “magical” dates for couples, with David performing magic tricks to add excitement to the usual dinner routine.
David sometimes gets asked to perform for thousands of people.

“It was a tough time – being a scholarship holder, I had to study enough to keep my grades up. At the same time, I also had to meet my show schedules. I used to bring my study material to shows and study whenever I had free time,” he recalls. This lasted until the friends parted ways, and David continued to search for gigs where he could bring mentalism into the public eye.

It hasn’t always been a smooth run for him. He had to first get people to believe in him, before they’d commission him to perform for them.

“My worst fear is disappointing the friends who have put faith in me to see me on stage at their events. Hence, I do my shows in such a way that it appeals to the intellectual crowd,” says David.

“My purpose is to entertain, and to make my shows more interesting and to engage the audience, I speak a lot during performances, something magicians don’t do.”

David’s most well-known routines involves bending spoons, forks and coins by the sheer power of the mind.

He performs three times a week on average, to corporate crowds and at charity shows, and often goes out of the country to perform at arenas in the Middle East and other parts of the South-East Asia.

David is also a speaker for celebrity Hannah Tan’s H-Factor, which brings him around the country with some of Malaysia’s top stars to share his story on life in the entertainment world.

“You can do what you’re passionate about and make a decent living, as long as you go about it intelligently,” says David, who often speaks to students about turning their dreams into lifelong careers

Life & Style Interview

2009-06-03T01:36:00.001+08:00

David Lai performed at the Official Launch of LifeAndStyle.com.my here in Kota Kinabalu on May 23rd 2009 and not only impressed guests with his mind magic and skills given his age (23 ladies), many have been talking about him since. To say that David left an impression on us would be summarizing it a little too simply. We present to you Mr. David Lai, Malaysian Mind Magician and Mentalist.

L&S : What is the first thing people say when you introduce yourself as a mind magician?
DL: “What did you say?” On a serious note, that's the first thing people say when I introduce myself as a mind magician. I used to introduce myself as a mentalist and that even got me weirder stares. Sometimes I think it is just easier for me to introduce myself as a magician.

L&S: How did you get into this profession in the first place? Early inspiration?
DL: Puberty and girls. Well, it started off that way I guess . Don't get me wrong though , I always loved magic since I was a little boy, however what got me seriously into it was girls . I thought that learning magic would make my life with the opposite sex much easier.

On magicians inspiring me, my very first experience of a live magic show was when I was 9. A very famous female Japanese magician named Princess Tenko came to Kuala Lumpur and my dad knowing that I loved magic, bought me tickets. It was after the show that I started to research simple tricks but it was the girls that made me serious in performing. Hey, you don't want to show something bad in front of the ladies.

L&S: If you weren’t in this field you would be working as a:
DL: An engineer. That's my academic qualification.

L&S: Most memorable performance?
DL: I've performed for royalty, prime ministers and international celebrities but my most memorable performance would be performing for the very 1st time for an ex girlfriend. It was at a Starbucks in Klang, and she acted cool the whole time not giving me the faintest recognition. I guess she was playing hard to get at that time. We were together for almost 3 years.

L&S: Any mishaps during a show?
DL: You bet. Ironically, I was doing a show with Daphne Iking for a Mercedes event two years ago and everything that could go wrong went wrong. But I guess we all learn from experience. I can't tell you the specifics of what went wrong, but it was from an equipment malfunction standpoint.

L&S: The best bit of advice anyone has ever given you?
DL: If you do something that you have passion in, and do it intelligently, money will just have to come in.

A little thing called Sucess

2009-06-02T17:22:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time I really did not care about how much money I made , whether or not I had shows lined up for the month , or whether I was experiencing a ` dry ' season . I simply did not care ... and mind you , at that time , I did not have THAT many shows , neither did I have contract deals , and sometimes I did experience dry seasons . =)

I'll always remember that just before one Valentines , I lost a huge amount of money in a business gone bad , I had to ask my girlfriend of that time whether she could borrow me money to pay off my debt .... I'll always remember that time because I've never asked a girl for money before ......

WHY so nonchalant during those days ?

I'm not sure whether this applies to the general mass , but when you're dead happy ( forgive my use of the creative oxymoron ) , you just simply don't care about the minute stuff in life . Picture a time when you were really really happy , I don't think money would have popped out to that thought . =)

I was recently at Kid Chan's office and was talking with him about life ( apart from business of course ) . Those who don't know Kid , he's one of the most prominent photographer in the country , and in my regards , the most successful one just yet . He made a huge business out of photography . Amazing .

Kid and Me about 2 years back .

Kid was asking me what did I want in my life ... How did I see myself in 5 years and what was my goal .

Looking back , the answer I gave was quite simple .
I want to able to do what I want , when I want , without money restrictions .

Thinking about what I said , I think the answer I gave was incomplete .

If the word success was to be defined by me , it'll be :

At one point of my life , where I can do whatever I want , whensoever I want , with the person I love , without financial restrictions .

To cut it short , it doesn't really matter whether or not I'm the richest man on Babylon , If I have a decent living with someone I'm head over heels with , I'm blardee contented .

So for now, let's work on the `financial restrictions ' part first ya ?. haha . =)

RUUMZ Most wanted ! VOTE FOR US !

2009-06-01T23:18:00.000+08:00

Let me try to make this as simple as possible .
1stly , I had a long day . I had a long day yesterday as well so my workload is piling up . I had two productive meetings today , one in particular was very good and I even got a call to set up a magic syllabus ( not a class but a syllabus ! ) by a prominent educationist . Good day eh ?

So here comes the ` I need your help part ' .
Don't just read and then click the X button la .

For the VERY 1st time in my life , I got into a contest that needs people to vote . This contest is called RUUMZ Most Wanted . It's basically a contest where you're suppose to vote for your best `liked' ruummate . RUUMZ by the way , is a new online local network community .

Wah Lan , actually I just joined this competition for the fun of it , not knowing that the number of votes you get actually appears on the main page of RUUMZ . ALAMAK ! That means that if I don't do anything to garner votes , my picture will fly rock bottom ! Paiseh man !

What have I gotten myself into ?

How can YOU HELP ME TO BE A BETTER PERSON ?

I've teamed up with my friend Sandra Yap to ease the burden in * campaigning * . Yes , if you don't know Sandra , Sandra is Estee Lauder's 1st runner up in the nation wide E-L Sony perfect model search this year .

I'm going to handle the voting huu haahs when she's busy and she's doing it when I'm swamped . In that way , we won't be using too much of our time on this . Hope this tactic works !!!!! It's a no brainer !??

That's Sandra by the way .

So please if you have free time , do vote for me and Sandra . Just click the links on the top of my blog ! each person is entitled to vote 3 times a day , so being the gentleman here , put two votes for Sandra and leave ONE for me allright ! I'm actually glad if you even took the initiative to register actually . =)

Thank you so much in advance , and for taking your time to vote , here's a JOKE FOR YOU !

:

One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweatshirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?"

"It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?"

He yelled back, "Just do it!!

Remember to register and VOTE !

If somehow either of us wins , you have free drinks under Sandra ! So remember to VOTE !

A little secret

2009-06-01T21:41:00.000+08:00

5 years ago , when I was studying engineering in the desolated God Forsaken place called University Technology of Petronas ( UTP ) , I had a tiny little dream . I wanted to meet this girl I saw in the papers . Din't know who she really was , but she looked absolutely different from the rest of the girls I knew . I just turned 18 at that time .

Fast track 2009 ....They're a few people who helped me a lot in my career . If I were to thank them , they'd be MY parents who provided me with the initial funds to start off when I was a teenager , ChiChi who kept pushing me during some of the most important times , and Hannah , the girl in the paper 5 years back ago who believed in what I did .

Of course , they're a lot more to thank , like my local celebrity friends who introduced me to their clients ( Pietro , Liang , Christien , Daniel , Adrian ...etc...the list goes on ) , clienst themselves , friends who introduced me...etc but without Hannah's help , I would have been a christmas tree in the industry . You know , just for decorations .

A picture when I was 19

My great friend , Hannah Tan .

Hannah introduced me to her friends , her clients and somehow trusted in my abilities more than I trusted them . Hoah . Apart from business , she also takes care of my well being in the industry like a big sister .

Apa macam ? It's very hard to get friends like this these days .

Isn't she a b*tch !! Urgh

2009-05-31T22:11:00.000+08:00

Okay , so I'm having a bad day , hey , everybody has bad days . My definition of bad days are days that go right till something bad happens out of the sudden . That's a bad day .

Mind the language , but A f*ucked up day is a day that goes completely bad for no possible reason .

So on milder terms , I had a bad day which turned out to be the former .

Having an already bad day , I was Piramid trying to get movie tickets for me and my friends . Urgh , cinema was full . Called my friends up informing them to don't come over .

Went down to GNC to get a barrel of protein shake . Saw an Indian lady in her mid twenties talking on the phone having difficulty identifying a brand the person on the other side on the line was describing . She got off and asked for an assistant but the assistant was busy with another customer .

Me , having been frequenting the gym for about 5 to 6 years now know my way around supplements . So I offered to help ........

Me : Hey Miss , the packaging was black for the older version . =)

Her : It's ok ... ( looking at the sales assistant who was busy with someone)

Me : I mean , the reason why you can't find ONs that's black is because now the packaging has ... ( before I finished )

Her : I said it's ok ,( puts her finger at her mouth making the shuush face ) , how rude !

I'm like in a farking daze man ? she said that I was rude ?

So I slapped her with my right hand , took the protein shake barrel and farking murdered her with it .

Ok so I din't . I just raised my eyebrows and went ` Ok....... have a bad day ' ........ and walked out .

The next time I try to take the role of a good samaritan , I'd think twice !

Miss Malaysia Universe farewell party/charity auction

2009-05-30T13:53:00.000+08:00

Levy Li , Miss Malaysia Universe 2008

Levy the reigning Miss Malaysia Universe had her farewell party cum charity auction for Yayasan Sunbeam orphanage last night at Metropol KL . The charity auction included clothes by top designers such as Keith Kee , Key Ng , and Business Class tickets by Vietnam Airlines .

Levy feeding me some chips while I drive

The whole event was a great event . I enjoyed my time there and although technical errors did pop up here and there , it's never easy organizing an event by yourself . Good work Levy .

Now , during the auction , I was bidding for a dress . A beautiful model wore it ( whose name I forgot ) , and that made the dress even more beautiful .

Auctioneer : RM250 ! RM250 !

So I raised up my hand .

Levy : OK , David Lai with the bid , David Lai ladies and gentleman !

Pietro : Eh , since when did you use numbers ah ? ( was asking me a question on a routine I just did )

Auctioneer : Dress SOLD for RM300!

I was like WTF ? I din't even get to raise my bid and looked back to the stage ...... The person next to me outbidded me ... Harith Iskandar ... what a technique , somebody side tracks you and walaa. Haha .

Harith and Pietro .. aaaw

Urgh ...scareee

Harith , Me and Anthony Tan

Altogether I think the whole event definitely reached it's target in raising more than RM10K for the orphanage . Good work ! =)

-David Lai

My Show in Cairo , Egypt

2009-05-30T12:45:00.000+08:00

This post is long overdue and it's going to be short .... because I'm feeling lazy today ! =)

I recently directed a stage magic show in Cairo , the largest Egypt has ever seen . It was a fantastic event and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to mix around and rub shoulders with some of magic living legends . I also made a tantamount of new friends whom are some of the nicest people I've ever met . People in Egypt are really nice , this is my 2nd trip there the 1st being the launch for the Nokia Express Music phone in Cairo in December . I met many familiar faces in the crowd and they kept on asking me to bend a coin for them . =)

My last trip to Cairo , Egypt . I had a great team !

The team consisted of Grand Illusionist , The Pendragons , who are living legends in Magic . They're in the Guinness World Book of records as the fastest illusionist in the world . Charlotte Pendragon is one of the humblest magical practitioners I know . She helped me so much during the duration of the show .

Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon

We had an aerialist , Kristi Toguchi who is attached with Circus De Soil , not forgetting her homourous assistant , Eric ! We also had comedy magician Jay Mattioli and a duo Quick Change Artist who are also the British Grand Prix Magic Champion , Keelan and Charlotte . I also brought my friend Kenneth over to help me out with the whole show preperation .

The show was a huge sucess and hopefully with planning were bringing it over to other parts of the middle east . Most importantly , I made so many new friends and have learned so much from my experience there . The contacts I made , and the knowledge I've gotten could have never been substituted by anything else . The main organizers who were good friends made my job so much easier too . Garo and Moussa from Events Plus were a joy to wkr with .

Quick Change Artist , Keelan and Charlotte from the UK

Recently I even hosted Keelan here in Malaysia and had a terribly wonderful time . Haha ! All the way from the UK to Malaysia !

Keelan and Me in Phuture KL !

People always ask me why do I enjoy doing magic so much .
Honestly , it's the people I meet from the shows that I do . Every show is a different experience . Where else do you get a job like mine ? =)

With the main person that brought me to Egypt , Garo Varjabedian ( who's with his son ) . Many more projects to come ! =)

A big BIG thank you goes all to everybody who has made this happen . THANK YOU ! ( bows head in acknowledgment )

-David Lai

Nokia N82 , Nokia E71 and the Iphone 3G

2009-05-27T20:46:00.000+08:00

Iphone 3G ( white ) , Nokia E71 and my trusty Nokia N82 ..And yes , that's my bedsheet .

I now have 3 phones , and 1 number . Not a very nice combination to play with . The Nokia N82 , which I got from a show in Bangkok , The E71 as a gift , and The Iphone 3G is a phone that I have to carry on me at all times . I'm blessed to not have to spend money on phones , when everybody these days seem to be changing phones like phones were a buck cheap . I mean , a good phone goes for about RM1K plus , that's what some people earn in a month .

Those were the days when you saw someone carrying a handphone , you'll go ~ Waaaaaargh , I also want 1 ! ~ ( yeah , I was a sakai during my school days ) . I was at Asia Cafe last recently and the guy who was walking around selling DVDs was using a N96 .... I was like ... Waaaaa !

Nokia N82 - The best phone I had in a long time . My camera , my phone book , and basically part of my life . If only problems with the software din't pop up ...... I don't think I'll be selling this phone or trading it in because of sentimental value . Yes , I'm a very sentimental person , I still keep birthday cards people gave me on my 13th birthday ... This phone has been with me through thick and thin , and keeps all those messages and pictures that mean a lot to me .

Here 's one :

I think having you as a friend makes the world so much more funnn ! =)

aaaw , that was dated August 2008 ...... I do keep messages that actually mean something . Especially the long ones .

Nokia E71 - ChiChi used to hate this phone saying that it was a copycat of the Blackberry . I tried using it while driving ( Yes , I'm not suppose too and YOU shouldn't either ) and almost got into an accident . Almost here is by defination , razor thin possibility ! I couldn't find where the `Question Mark ' was and had to press the `Shift ' button from time to time . Totally lost concentration .

Iphone 3G - ChiChi hated this phone too . saying that everybody was using it . Hey , these days , I have to use it . It's like my magic tool box , I can actually do a whole show using the Iphone alone ! I also tried smsing while driving ( Yes , I know one day I will be caught ) , and once again , almost rammed into another car . The Iphone is one cool tool though . Great to keep me company when I'm bored . I just downloaded this `joke database ' application and scroll through the jokes when I have nothing to do .

This is one of the crazy jokes inside :

During World War II, an American warship was attacked by the Japanese. A torpedo was heading towards the ship and a hit seemed inevitable. The captain told the navigator to go down to the crew quarters and tell a joke or something, at least they would die laughing.

The navigator went down and said to the crew, "What would you think if I could split the whole ship in two by hitting my penis against the table?"

The crew burst out laughing. So, the navigator pulled his penis out and whammed it on the table. Just when his penis hit the table, a huge explosion tore the ship apart. The only survivors were the captain and the navigator.

As they floated around in a lifeboat, the captain asked the navigator, "Well, the crew really laughed. What did you do?"

The navigator then told him the story. The captain replied, "Well, you better be careful with that penis of yours. The torpedo missed!"

Conclusion :
I'll stick to my Nokia N82 ( I love it ) , carry my Iphone and get a business number and sell off my E71 ! ( or give it away if some good heart samaritan comes along the road )

I don't expect sucess , I train for it .

2009-05-27T00:17:00.000+08:00

Life has it's up and downs , after a disastrous start to 2009 , things have been starting to sail smoothly . I actually posted most of my goals on 2009 in the beginning of the year and somehow , things took some twist and turns making my life go haywire at one point .

With a bunch of good friends and a continuous work flow , I managed to gain back my sanity and move forward . I guess it's true , that which doesn't kill you , makes you stronger .

I have just simple specific goals for the remaining of 2009 .

a) To earn that specific amount that I have targeted . There are many sub divisions to this goal that I won't go into detail . Hey , you can't expect money to fall down from the sky now would you ? To name a few :

a new website will be out , a DVD , press releases , and investment plans .

b)To be really fit , extremely fit once again . I'm very exited about this one . I have been hitting the gym hard in preparation for some photo shoots and I can't wait for the end results . Lots of discipline and perseverance here .

c)To practice more `action' in my life .
If there was one thing that I could have changed to be more successful , It was to stop doing nothing when I had free time .

So those were my simple goals . I'm going to have a long nap now . Haven't been sleeping much for the past few days due to work . Have 2 meetings tomorrow and am going to relax a little by watching Night at The Museum 2 .

I've once read , life is like a bicycle , once you stop pedaling , you'll fall down . =)

A trip up to the East , KOTA KINABALU

2009-05-24T18:26:00.000+08:00

I was invited to perform at Sabah's premier online lifestyle magazine launch , LIFEandSTYLE.com
. It was a day trip to the east , and before you continue reading , this is going to be a very short post , so just look see , look see la ya . Nothing with much substance in this one .

They brought down me and Daphne Iking from KL to entertain the crowd . Daphne as usual , was her gorgeous self . I can't believe that she is a mom , all the guys there were just staring at her ( and it was way too obvious ) . I have worked with Daphne in the past for shows , and she looks even more amazing after having a child .

The organizers put me up at a superb room , in Tanjung Aru 's Shangri-La , had great food and most of all , good company . Hopefully , I'll come down soon again for more shows up in the East .

With the owners of Life & Style , Caleb and Elson .

It's another busy week ahead with shows and events . I have big things coming up after this week and I'm very exited about it . Just a note before I go off . After the event , Daphne , her manager and I walked to the beach for supper cum late dinner . It was about a 500m walk , me in my suit and Daphne in her high heels & gold blouse ( We took a cab there and walked back ) During that time , I'll always remember Daphne asking me this :
Daphne : David , are you gay ?

Hmmmph .....

More MONEY Please .

2009-05-22T02:57:00.000+08:00

It's exactly 3am now , and of all things to do ( like sleeeeping ... ) , I'm blogging .

My thoughts ....

It's already going to be the 3rd quarter of the year . 2009 has been a weird year for me . I want to say that it has been a great year so far , but .... it's really hard for me to say that . A lot of things happened in the beginning of the year that turned my life upside down , inside out . It caused me to change a lot and altered my way of thinking .

Hey , but I'm no pessimist . It's not a bad year either . I'm making good dough , and surprisingly that is the one thing that is pushing me forward this whole year . MAKING MONEY , CARI MAKAN , RAKING IN THE DOUGH , or whatever terminology you may call it .

When I focus my mind to make money , shockingly ( and I say this with full conviction ) I really do make money . In 2009 alone , I made more than 2008 and 2007 combined together .... Yeah , after balancing my accounts and analyzing my cash flow , I was shocked as well . I mean , although the amount I make is not HUGE , in ratio & by comparison over the past years ...it's really not bad .

However that being said , I'm never a guy who loves money more than anything else . I know money is important , but no money can buy that feeling you have when you're laying on your favorite couch in the late evening , watching your favorite comedy series on DVD , with your favorite person . priceless . Even thinking about it makes me happy inside .

Somebody who saw my facebook profile asked me this today :

So what do you do ?

Umm , I deal with magic ?

You mean you're seriously a magician ?

Yeaaaaa......
Can cari makan ah ?

-_-

I kinda little fed up with people asking that already man . Urghh .... Sometimes , I just say that I deal with events or to some extremes , I just say I'm an engineer .....

Therefore , I'm gonna work harder ,a lot smarter , and accumulate more money ( and knowledge ) to be able to have a peace of mind when I lay down on my favorite couch , watching my favorite DVD , with my favorite person . =)

Goodnight !

4 and a half years ago , I was a guy doing magic on the streets ... Now I'm doing it in a suite . Haha . Not a bad upgrade . =)

-David Lai

One FUNNY bet

2009-05-21T00:55:00.000+08:00

So I was doing a show today for a private party . Darn , was it one high end private party ... almost all the guest had drivers and most of them even had bodyguards ( or was it drivers cum bodyguards) I was going to the toilet with one guest , and his bodyguard had to escort him ....

Hannah and I at the party . Hannah was the person bringing me in to perform . Thank YOU!

During the party , the host asked to take up a bet . The bet ?

If I guessed correctly the card that the audience of his choice selected , the card `picker ' would have to drink . If I was wrong , I had to drink ... I thought , fair enough ...

I guess you can imagine what happened ... I'll leave it to your own creativity .

MY simple complicated LIFE

2009-05-19T17:57:00.000+08:00

Having fun at the center stage of Pavillion ....

I have been doing a lot lately . Mostly finishing of one part of my life to move on to another . I haven't been blogging this time not because I'm busy , but mostly because I'm just too lazy to blog . Apart from work , which has been quite fruitful over the past months , I also have been going out a lot lately , and meeting more and more people along the way .

Before I continue on , if you know me , you'd know that in the past , I didn't really go out THAT much . Hey , it's not saying that I'm not a sociable person , I just think that going out without reasoning is a waste of time , not mentioning a waste of money as well . However , over the past months , I've been hitting the club scene , going out for late `drinking ' sessions and movies like no tomorrow . Sometimes , I don't even see the sunshine ...if you get what I mean . On average , I reach home at about 4am on weekends .

If you're my friend , you'd know how much I treasure people . I think the people you know are the most important asset that you can ever have . In my sessions of going out and so called `partying ' , I've met wonderful people , who showed me that really nice people do exist in this world . After all the shit that we've seen , who can blame us for being skeptical .

One of them in particular is Sabrina , who's one of the humblest and nicest girls I know . She's a little different from the normal bunch of friends . She's very independent , knows how to have fun , and at the same time she knows how to take care of herself . I thought that she was a full time party girl at first , only until I realized that she is actually working IN the club . Thanks for everything Sab !

Sab , with Me , Adrian and Kit

Besides Sabrina , they're many other people whom I've got acquainted with over the past months . I'll admit , not all are `nice ' , but hey , who am I to judge ? I may just strike you off as a funny weirdo . I've got to know friends whom I've befriended in the past but never got to know thoroughly , new people whom I've always wanted to meet and get to know , plus I roughly got to know who my true friends are .

These are a few pictures of what I have been doing since my hiatus after my 23rd birthday , I hope you guys do frequent this blog from time to time . I promise I'll update it .=)

Performing during the launch of Krispy Kreme's 1st outlet in Malaysia

At the Maxis Iphone 3G roadshow that took up more than a cumulative of 50 hours of my life in total

With current British Grand Prix Magic champion , Keelan Leyser whom I hosted here in Malaysia
With Miss Malaysia Universe 2008 Levy , during an orphanage visit

Make-Up with Adrian before a show

With Jojo during a Panasonic roadshow

Skydiving with Yvonne !

I'm slowly starting to enjoy my single life . That being said , I'm going to slow down on my partying and outings to concentrate on building a better future for myself . If I put my mind to it , I believe I can achieve anything that I possibly want . =)

-David Lai