Lobo's Lessons

How do you decide if the person that you are with will be The One? This is a rather tough question I think, one that does not have a real solid answer.  Do you list down all the criteria you look for in a perfect match, and tick them down methodically as you progress through a number of partners, and then decide who scores the highest? Do you look for someone who can give you the security of a good marriage - good religious upbringing, loving personality, safe relationship? Or do you go on the wild side, and look for someone who makes your world go round, someone who makes sparks fly when you are with them, someone who fills you with the highest level of passion? Is that what you would look for in a marriage? Of course, ideally, you would want it to be a combination of all the above, but what if you don't get all that, and you had to choose between the two?...  Or would you let God help you in making that decision... In making impossible to make the choice, until The One indeed com...

It was like time stood still as I walked through the passageways of the Kulai Hospital... So many memories, both good and bad... But the best memory here would be walking down these very halls to see my newborn son, just over two years ago. Two years and still fresh in my mind, the feelings of absolute rapture, of absolute love, when I first held my little boy in my hands... My son.  De ja vu... But this time, as I enter the ward, I am greeted by the the tired smile of my sister-in-law, spent from 36 hours of labour, looking every bit as tired as my own dear wife when she delivered too. My mother looking lovingly at her second grandchild... Two days before the wedding of her own second child - my sister. My brother, every bit the proud father, looking adoringly, almost moony-eyed, at his newborn daughter. Welcome to the family, Aimie Sophie Binti Ammar... Long have we waited for you, my little niece.

This post is an announcement to TLDM cadets. Apologies to my other readers. Cadets, If you are reading this, please take note that I have yet to receive the name list which was supposed to be given to me by your cadet CO. The list should contain names and email addresses. Additionally, I need to get into contact with one of you to send the questionnaire that I told you about before I left. Please e-mail me at abdullahmnawi@utm.my, or amnlobo77@hotmail.com ASAP. This delay has been a great inconvenience. Thank you.

Life as a cadet in the Royal Malaysian Navy is a simple one. You wake up at 4am. You iron your uniform. You polish your shoes. You start Early Morning Activity (EMA) at 5am. This can include an intense combination of the Base Run (a run around the base of nearly 6km), sit-ups, push ups, jumping jacks, and a myriad of other activities that equal to getting your ass kicked. Of course, you will be guided through this tough time by extremely kind people who are known as drill sergeants, or drill instructors as they are known in the Navy. These kind people will be there, step-by-step to show you how everything is done. And of course, we all know how though all this stress can be for the mind, and even the human spirit. Never fret, because you can request for a counseling session where the drill sergeants will use all their expert knowledge to give you the much needed words of encouragement. Sometimes it is difficult to just hear advice that is given. We all know how rebellious some young ...