Interesting thoughts......Words about kindness by Michael Josephson

"If you were arrested for kindness, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Some people cheer up a room by entering it, others by leaving it. What do you bring to your interactions with workmates, friends, and family? Is it encouragement, optimism, or kind words? Or is it pessimism, criticism, or cynicism?

People often forget what we say and usually what we do, but as Maya Angelou said, “They always remember how we made them feel.”

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”
– Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D.

“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.”
– Robert Brault

interesting thought....optional suffering

just read this... according to yoga sutras, suffering is caused by
change, unfulfilled longing, habits, and fluctuations in energy. not
even the most enlightened is immune. we can "prevent" the suffering
yet to come. the teacher says we can have pain yet not suffer. if we
accept the inevitability of life's twists & turns & find the
opportunity for growth in the struggles we face, we can prevent the
unnecessary self-inflicted suffering that comes from feelings as
guilt, blame & regret.

have a happy day ahead- in spite of the pain

watching Transformers-Revenge of the fallen tomorrow!!

new eatery found!! ilumo @ bugis ( empire state)

A quote....

good read on Sunday times Pg 29

do find the time to read the full article-here's an excerpt of the
ending paragraphs:

Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosoher who lived in
the first century, put it very eloquently thus: "I must die. but must
I die groaning? I must be imprisoned. but must I whine as well? I must
suffer exile. can anyone hinder me from going with a smile, and a good
courage, and at peace?"

in short, it's not what happens to you but how you react to it that
matters. people are not disturbed by particular events as such, but by
the view they take of them."

Magdalene

Let the Butterfly Struggle....gentle reminder

Michael Josephson Commentary: Let the Butterfly Struggle 618.2  http://charactercounts.org/michael/2009/05/let_the_butterfly_strugg... There’s a parable about a mother who discovered a butterfly struggling mightily to escape its cocoon through a tiny opening at the top. She became concerned when the creature seemed to give up after making no progress. Certain that the butterfly wouldn’t make it out without help, she enlarged the hole. On its next try, the butterfly wriggled out easily. But the young woman’s joy turned to horror when she saw its wings were shriveled and useless. Her well-intentioned intervention had interrupted a natural process. Forcing the butterfly to squeeze though a small opening is nature’s way of assuring that blood from the creature’s body is pushed into the wings. By making it easier, she deprived the butterfly of strong wings. Childhood, too, is a sort of cocoon. If a healthy adult is to emerge, parents must allow, even encourage, their children to struggle, make mistakes, learn from them, and pay the price for bad judgments and conduct. Of course, good parents should protect their children from serious harm, but being overprotective can itself inflict damage. Adversity is not always an enemy. Teaching can help a young person develop wings strengthened by self-confidence and self-reliance. Helen Keller once said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

AWARE saga spoofs - check out these You Tubes (hilarious!!!)

[latest: the Rambo video got pulled out....sigh...it's a shame cos it was great!]

wedding anniversary

today's my wedding anniversary - got reminded of the time past when we
found travel documents of our stay at turi beach at batam back in
1997..the last trip before the wedding.

was thinking of how fast time flies & what has happened since then &
definately counting my blessings :)

Great mags (digitalized!)

Discovered this GREAT solution to getting magazines (overseas to boot!) digitally! Website is www.zinio.com. I have tried out with Reader's Digest (US version) to see how it looks - the result is WOW! never knew that it could even be so fun!!! 

PLUS points: 

• environmentally friendly cos no paper & the headache of finding space to keep them!!
• for those who like to keep some pages - there's a print option! (haven't used it myself but the idea is cool! esp since i only keep like 2-3 pages if ever?!) 
• I can download up to 3 copies of the same mag - best for those who like me, use a Mac & Windows at home & a Windows comp at work (of course I read only during lunch breaks! (NOT!))
• price! price! price! 13 issues of Readers Digest for USD10! (usual $38.97) - in local pricing, it's lesser but hey! I am not complaining.....besides, I love the magazine but I can't take all the trash mail that comes along with it (contests, sweepstakes etc) that is like an avalanche when you subscribe to that magazine! 
• you can enlarge into the page you are reading
• I have downloaded some other mags for my yoga, healthy living & elle decor & found that they sometimes come with embedded videos/music!!! Hyperlinks direct to the web (no more making a webpage note to check out stuff!)  

Not so cool points.....don't have titles like "Oprah", "Instyle", local magazines or even hub's fav, Man U mag. Not readable on iPhone (on-the-go) 

Anyways, I get to send a copy of the mags I have subscribed to friends so send me a comment if you wanna a try! 

(pic of array of mag sourced from acpmedia.com.nz)

How did you spend Earth Hour?

Earth Hour came & past….How did you spend it?



For me, was at a mall & saw that many businesses did not bother with their lights or airconditioning. Fortunately I was patronising McDonalds which saw the "light at the end of the tunnel" (pun intended) & gamely switched off the lights in some parts of their place. It didn't cause the place to be less functional…in fact, it gave a nice glow to the place without the glarring white light that you usually see at Mcs. That caused me to think "Why don't Mcs consider have a schedule for dimmed lights at certain areas of their restaurants everyday?" It'll save them some money & give the Earth a breather since they contribute to the use of resources (with their individually packed food wrappers) right? The place actually looks quite inviting with dimmed lights. After all, people don't need floodlights to eat a burger or ice cream or fries anyway….

Next stop for me was Starbucks which took the Earth hour to another level by switching off ALL its lights within its premises. This resulted in a quite hilarous outcome as people were likely thinking if they were open for business at all! :) But their heart is in the right place & that's what counts…so I ordered a tall iced "Green Tea Soy Latte" to support their cause. The server was so cute as they gave both kiddos neon bracelets. (BTW if you haven't tried this "Green Tea Soy Latte", you should definitely try it - it's sumptous!)

Went back home & did an extended Earth Hour with the kids by having a lights-out:) We spent the hour before sleeping playing nice music - shining our torchlights & waving neon bracelets in the darkness for ambience.

Started by telling them stories that this is likely how their grandparents spent their childhood - in darkness with a candle to shine their night. My boy didn't take to the darkness very well initially but eventually warmed round to the idea when he saw that darkness need not be feared but can be quite fun too! In the end, both enjoyed Earth hour & now I have to do it again next Sat! :)

If you are more a picture person, click to http://www.flickr.com/groups/earthhourlive/pool/ for cool pics!

Think things differently...time to count our blessings....

Got this from a friend - it's quite a nice reminder in such times (the original email has pics so if you want it, email me yah?):

"A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said "I am blind. please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.' "

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. Invite others towards good with wisdom.

Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, "Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience."

Underwater World Overnight Stay (21-22 Mar) & pulau semakau trip (2 weeks ago)

Was down at underwater world for an overnight stay with kids last night & I must say that it was quite an experience....

was registered for an exciting stay with local automobile association for 70 a piece - dropped won at 6 before gathering at the UWW seminar room for a marine talk on types of sea animals that one can find there like sea star, sea angels, jellyfish, sharks, dugong etc before we got down to serious business of dinner & a tour of the 80+ meter tunnel. 

kids were pretty excited as they usually only get to see UWW during the day & not after closing time...they were basically knocking themselves out going round & round the tunnel during the free & easy time & getting themselves wet at the touch pool 

after some time allocated for supper & wash up, the 50 odd campers were brought down again to the tunnel for selection of sleeping area at the tunnel. we were at the shark area on the carpeted area. 

lights out at 1130 ish - whole new experience.... lying down on the hard carpeted floor was a torture for the ol' body & carpeting caused a sneezing frenzy for hub & boy. Doesn't help when the floorboard resounds with every step & you have kids running up & down the tunnel area. 

Finally settled down for a "nap" as before I knew it, lights up at 730 am this morning. Had a quick wash before having breakfast. We headed down to Dolphin Lagoon for a show & a rub-down of one of the pink dolphins. It was a nice fitting ending to a very different sleep-over. 

Definitely pooped after this but then again, an experience that money can't buy....just like the earlier trip that I took for my girl to Pulau Semakau (more info here) 2 weeks ago. It was definitely an eye-opener to see another side of urban Singapore where one can find diverse coral life & animal life. The inter-tidal walk started from 12 & only ended around 5-ish. Nat's quite ok with the heat...quite good considering she's so used to air-conditioning (like most kids in singapore). She's now asking when she can go there again (same thing as UWW sleepover) & I am thinking, "wait till my body recovers!" 

Fresh Apple Juice....Preshafruit *yum yum*

Discovered this really sumptous apple juice (only sold in Jasons at Raffles City)...almost like you are eating the fruit itself!! At $4.70 per bottle, it ain't cheap but the taste is really exqusite! My lil one absolutely loves the Fuji Apple (choice of apple & lemon, apple & pear, granny smith, pink lady, royal gala & of course the Fuji)...me too! Besides the taste, the bottle is really cute! Triangular!! Where can one find a triangle bottle?! Hub found another reason why he likes the bottle, it doesn't spill even if you accidentally topple over the remains (provided it's not too full)....managed to get some pics from the official website and a blog. The only crunch is the cost & the difficulty of finding the item...managed to find an online store (greengrocer) that sells the 6 in a pack but it charges $30 per delivery if you order less than $100 per order!!!

Reunion with my urut lady

Last weekend had a "reunion" of sorts with my Malay urut (massage) lady as I haven't seen her for some 3 years. Thought of her off & on for past few years but hubby had difficulty calling her to recommend post-natal massages so I naturally thought she had changed her hp.She featured quite some when both my anaks were born as she massaged away the aches & pains & listened to all my pre-birth woes & post-birth fears. She was also the person my mother called 5 mins before she passed away as my mum wanted to get a massage from her....

She's a special kind of person as although she doesn't have much of an education in the usual sense, she could help relieve all sorts of aches & pains (even uplift uterus which happens after birth cos of weight from carrying baby).

Sad to say but she's literally one of her kind as after she's gone, there's no one to carry on her knowledge & skills as all her kids are not interested in the work that she does - especially when they have to wake up at wee hours in the morning to boil the herbal oils used for the massages & be at the beck & call of customers all over the island from dawn to dusk. She wants to teach her dying art but alas there's no takers for the skill - a skill that can help to chase the "wind" out of a woman's body after birth & ensure that the body doesn't suffer from aches & pains thereafter. She claims that she even knows how to make a woman fertile as the traditional thinking is that the veins are blocked (resulting in such conditions)….for me, it was her magic touch that helped ease the pain at the left side of my body (suspect uterus drop) that I have been feeling for some few days (more painful as the days go by).

I will miss her dearly if she should pass on but for now, I am so glad I found her again to drive away my aches & pains!

Do check out this website for a more detailed description of the process! (although I just got the binding & the massage)

Interesting starts to a brand new year....

New stuff = new changes to morning routine

Kids start their morning school at 6a.m.

Join morning yoga sessions at True before reaching office at 9a.m.

Doing Hot Yoga has been great! I sweat buckets but it makes me feel refreshed... love it!

Barack Obama will be sworn in as America's 44th President on Tues Singapore time

Interesting times indeed!

Who would have thought that a black (Afro-American) will ascend to the highest office in the world during my lifetime? (Was hoping it would have been a woman but hey! he's pretty awesome!)

Heard him speak several times during the election & man! He's inspirational!

Some reports have downplayed his influence & asked "what can 1 man do?" My reply? "What can't one man not do?" He gives HOPE & that's mega important during such hard times when everyday can deliver a "down in the dumps" news - Lehman, AIG, then last but not least Madoff all dropping bombs after bombs of doom.

This 1 person can give hope, that's enough to lift the spirits of hundred, thousands and millions - that's good enough for me in such times. Many times when everything's down, I reach into my fav book that brought me through the tough times "Tough times never last, but Tough people do."

Let go and Let God

As children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend,

I brought my broken dreams to God
because He was my friend.

But then, instead of leaving Him

in peace to work alone,

I hung around and tried to help with ways

that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,

"How can You be so slow?"

"My child," He said, "what could I do?

You never did let go."

(unknown)

Last Holiday for 2008.....Hello 2009!

Just back from my last holiday for 2008 - Genting Highlands. 

Never been there but it's bloody cold (wind factor mostly) around 18 degrees. Was under-equipped for that weather & brought only some long sleeved tops & 1 long pants....even worse for kids as only 1 set each but they aren't really adverse to the cold (I think they really liked it though). Told hub that I think I am too used to our seaside vacs as the minute we stepped out of the bus, was hit by the hordes of people that I immediately got a massive headache (i.e. grouchy). The wet weather meant that most of the guests stayed at the indoor theme park which proved to be claustrophobic as 5 of the 7 hotels were fully booked for the 3 days we stayed there. It was meant to be a vacation but I don't think I had one - am soooo glad to be home in fact. Nonetheless, must remind myself not to complain too much cos at least manage to get away from the doom & gloom that clouded the past few months.....Genting news aren't fantastic which is in a way great when one's on vacation I guess :) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year 

If 2008 didn't bring you joy, just leave it behind

Let's ring in the new year 2009 with good things in mind

Let every bad memory that brought heartache & pain go

And let's turn a new leaf with the smell of new year's wind

Let's learn from past mistakes & make amends for 2008 

Most of all, may this new year bring you lots of hope & cheer

(adapted from poem)

Have a great 2009 ahead! 

Interesting Hyperlinks

Here's a list of interesting reads to start off for the upcoming new year:
http://chinesefacereading.blogspot.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/id/croon/japan/china/facereading.html
http://www.jadedragon.com/articles/aow08.html

Always wanted to learn more but I am always reminded that I am student of all trades but master of none :)

After Christmas

Christmas came & went like a rocket-
Had a blast trying to get stuff ready like the tree, pressies for office staff (finally settled on nice orchids for the ladies & Christmas trees for the guys)
Kiddos got their usual Ben-10 & toys & new clothes
Caught up with some ol office friends for a chit chat....planning to do a few more catch ups after the New Year
Counted my blessings for the past year including a new job, new bosses, new colleagues, fresh starts, continuing friendships, healthy living (for 2009, looking forward to starting a new exercise regime when school starts next year with morning yoga/ gym sessions) & most of all counting the blessings with the lovies of my life with me...
Wishing joy, happiness & good fortune to one & all!

My favourite foods @ fast food restaurants.......calorie alert!

Here's a blog about fast food *hahaha*

Macs - breakfast: Big Breakfast definitely; other meal times: filet o fish (when I wanna feel less guilty eating Macs) & Big Mac (if I can't care less) & corn (for snacks)

Mos Burger - Terriyaki Chicken Burger

KFC - 2 piece chicken (crispy) with cheese fries (when I can't care less) or chicken oriental salad (when I want to feel good about myself)