He left

He just disappeared!

Finally, I was expecting this but when it finally happened today, it still took me by surprised.

I know that he won't be visiting anytime soon. It will be a many more months before he will visit again.

In his absence, Mr. Windchime is unusually quiet. I believe the plants will be happy as well as they are safe now from his deadly forces that just dehydrate them to their death.

As I'm typing this, he did make his brief appearance again, perhaps to bid farewell.

I just wanna tell him, thanks so much for providing the cooling days and nights. I'll miss you greatly.

See you at year end, Wind. 

2014

2014!

It just come as scheduled.

And in no time, it will leave as scheduled too.

This keep happening, year after year, relentlessly. Not waiting for you.

2014!

It has to be purposeful responsible living.

Feed the mind, the soul, the body and the relationships. Be responsible for the work and finances. These will be my focus for 2014. Not really resolutions but something to keep me in focus so that I'll lead a life worth living.

Make myself happy

Life may not be smooth sailing. But a lesson I learnt from the passing on of Singapore's popular actor Huang Wen Yong, life is too short to dwell on the unhappy things.

Every minute spend thinking about unpleasant matters or people is wasted time.

Work wise, it was challenging couple of weeks ago. But I make myself happy by buying myself a few iPhone covers.

Love the "Take it easy" one.

Bye bye 2012

I hate this feeling?

Why do people celebrate the coming of new year. I for one, dread the passing of the year.

Well, aging is one of the reason why I hate turning into a new year. Also, just feel that everything is back to square one and the whole year is going to repeat again.

Not a very positive thought to end the year and to welcome the new year. I'm just wondering what's missing that cause me to feel like that.

Is it the absence of passion?

Or is it there's nothing to look forward to in the new year?

What is it???

信

妈妈曾经说过，很旧以前，人们常常喜欢写信来保持联络。但是，现在人们手中就只有手机或手提电脑。要传送的讯息或祝福不到几秒钟就收到了。。。但是，不知为什么，我有时依然渴望收到一封别人亲手写的信。也许须要等待，可是这一种等待又何尝不是一种说不出的快乐和幸福呢？特别是信在手中时。。。也许有时自己真的跟不上现代人的步伐，或也许对写信那段日子依然念念不忘。。。你是否还记得你自己曾经亲手写的一封信？那应该是好久好久以前了吧？

照片：贤

文字：雯

模特儿：蓝小姐

When given a lemon

On lunar new year eve, just as I was driving out of the carpark to head for my reunion dinner, I heard strange noises.

I stopped the car and got out to take a look and discovered that the front left wheel got a puncture. I drove back to the carpark and used Derrick's car instead.

As it's CNY, all mechanics are closed for the public holidays. I tried to change to the spare tire this morning so that tomorrow I could drive it to a mechanic. I've replaced tire before so it is not a challenge for me. As I was changing the tire, I realized that the floor is not concrete road but there are holes and the jack could not rest firmly on the floor. So a problem arose while I was trying to solve the first problem. I managed to shift the car back a little and found a spot where the jack could rest firmly on the concrete floor, but only after screwing back all the nuts which i had already unscrewed.

Life is like that, and many times, problems keep arising while you are trying to find solutions. And it always happen to me. But I guess we just have to be very focused to solve all problems, no matter how many more will arise along the way, ultimately everything will turn out well. Never give in to life, take each problem at a time and you will triumph over all the stumbling stones.

When life gives you lemons, it sucks but turn them into lemonade, never ever give in to life's challenges!

Dream

Everybody should have dreams.

I guess dreams keep us filled with hope and get us going.

My dream is to own a cafe that sells great coffee and items designed by me. I'll like people to come into my world to enjoy a cup of coffee, relax, spend time with a friend or in solitude and to enjoy and purchase my creations.

Do you have dreams?

So closed

Hmm... I don't get it!

Why can't he just pee in the pan?

All these peeing on my wooden laminated flooring are causing my laminated flooring to pop out.

Sigh!

Just when I thought I solved the problem, it arises again. So what's the root of the problem here?
Many times, my life has been like that all these years, it has never been smooth sailing.

Or was it me? I always regard life challenges as problems?

Have to figure that out and the peeing problem too.

Teo Chew Opera

Last night I went to a Teo Chew Opera, something which I last done when I was a boy.

It brought back memories of having been to Teo Chew Opera during those kampong (village) days in the 70s. When the temples celebrated special festivals, Teo Chew Opera would be staged. My grandmother who was an avid fan of the opera would carry her own stool and spent the night infront of the temporary erected wooden stage.

There would be mobile street hawkers selling ice cream, ice ball, candy floss etc and this was the reason why we the little ones love the opera eventhough we didn't understand a thing.

Last night, I enjoyed the performance but the experience would be a wonderful one had it not for the two aunties behind me talking non-stop throughout the whole performance.

I wished my grandmother to be alive now so I could bring her to enjoy Teo Chew Opera in today' air-con theater setting. I'm sure she would cherished this experience.

New old bachelor pat

"Juz wanna share something before i go to sleep...Thanks for having us this evening. I thot itz great n lovely to have visited the place dat I had celebrated my 27th birthday close to a decade ago (if my number sense is not really dat disastrous) 

Hmm, it felt like replaying an old tape n the images simply made my heart smile ...I would say itz an unforgettable birthday celebration 

...Sometimes, we look forward too much ahead dat we fail to spend time to look back a little to relish the good old memories...I am glad I did today, hmm, nothing's really changed much in dat flat. Oh well, except for a new n lovely addition - sunny baby 

Thanks for playing a part to replay dat old tape 

...Memory is like a little diary that we carry with us all the time...I hope to keep this diary in a little pocket of my heart always..."

By Siew Boon

Moved

It was a back breaking weekend.

Moving was really not an activity I enjoy doing, especially when you have to pack a house load of stuff to the next home.

It took 2 weeks to pack into boxes, 3 trucks and 6 hours to relocate all the stuff, and this has not include the unpacking.

One realization from this experience was that we own too many things than we actually need. I've decided that I would cut down on mindless impulse buying to reduce stocking up of material stuff.

Spring is here

I am number 10

How many watches could one have to be considered one too many?

This is my 10th addition of watches. I just couldn't resist getting it. I love the green and what's more green is my lucky colour this year.

I know this is just to satisfy my want, afterall one watch is enough to serve the function of telling time. If I were to argue that now watches also serve the fashion function, then I guess I could still marginally argue my stand.

And the important thing to me is to spend within one's means.

This Casio set me back by $81

Going to the movie

Usually after dinner, we would take a short walk and within 5 mins we would arrive.

I couldn't remember how I feel then but I guess I had welcomed it.

First, we would go to the lady sitting in a room with a little window opening to us. We would pay a dollar for two tickets for the front stall seats. The lady would then scribble manually the seat number on the ticket and hand us the movie tickets we had purchased.

The seats were all wooden and we usually would buy the cheapest front stall seat which is close to the screen. The further away from the screen, the more expensive the tickets would be.

And I remembered that the cinema was known as Ocean theater, which is where coffee club is situated now at Siglap.

I remember my father brought me to the movie pretty often as the cinema was a stone throw away from my house.

Today, it was I that brought my father and aunt to the movie. They have not been to one for more than 20 years. With technology taking over almost every aspect of our lives, my father and aunt are pretty much handicapped and they are not able to comprehend how a cinema works now. They are alien to Internet, they do not know how to buy the movie tickets and such threatening environment drives them away from the movies.

I wanted them to have that experience of going to the movies again, to experience the difference in movie going in the 21st century.

When I was a small boy, movie going was beyond me financially. Now movie going is beyond my aged father and aunt as they have not keep up with time and it's progress.

I hope my father and aunt have had a memorable time today.

Oh yes, we went to a Singapore made movie entitled "it's a great great world". A rare movie which recollect lives in the sixties in Singapore and what made this movie special was the many dialects used in the movie which my parent's generation could relate strongly with.

Rain

I woke up and the rhythmic spattering of the rain met my ears.

It had been raining the whole night.

I moved to the window. The greeneries at my balcony garden looked like they had a coat of new paint. They were so green, not just ordinary green.

The morning air was fresh and I filled my lungs with more of it. The unexpected rain had cleansed the air so thoroughly that one just wished that the air would forever remain this clean.

I stared out at the garden through the glass window and watched the little rain drops fall on the wooden flooring and created just little splashes. This is something I had not done for a long time. I remember I used to watch the rain when I was little. Strangely, I hardly do that any more.

Adults do not watch rain falling down any more.

Why?

Spending does not necessarily mean happiness

The following is an excerpt from Sunday Times dated 15 August 2010:

"New York - She had so much: a two-bedroom apartment, two cars and enough wedding china to serve two dozen people.

Yet Ms Tammy Strobel was not happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, California, and making about US$40 000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the "work-spend treadmill'. So, one day, she stepped off.

Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, she and her husband, Mr Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. Out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, and even the television.

Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a website that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number. Her mother called her crazy.

Today, three years after the couple began downsizing, they live in Portland, Oregon, in a 400 sq ft studio. Mr Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology. Ms Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer.

With her husband in his final weeks of school, her income of about US$24 000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: US$30 000 of debt.

Now, the couple have money to travel and contribute to the education funds of their nieces and nephews. Because their debt is paid off, Ms Strobel works fewer hours, giving her time to be outdoors and to volunteer.

"The idea that you need to go bigger to be happy is false," she says. "I really believe that the acquisition of material goods doesn't bring happiness." ..."

This article is indeed thought provoking and set me thinking about my own life and spending. I don't think I am in a work-spend treadmill and I don't think I'm the sort that derive happiness through mindless spending. However, I do spend on things which are material and sometimes more than what I actually need.

Just look at the number of pair of jeans I have, yup more than I could wear in a week if I change them daily.

I might need to think about prioritizing what to spend on rather than to spend on things which I might not really need. Perhaps paying a little more for quality and healthy food should come top in the list, as there's nothing more important than health. Now, having the extra cash means I could buy quality food, which is good for health.

The other area should be on books and knowledge or stuff that enriched the soul.

Quoting from the same article, "One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.

On reason paying for experiences gives people longer-lasting happiness is that they can reminisce about them, researchers say.

That trip to Rome during which you waited in endless lines, broke your camera and argued with your spouse will typically be airbrushed with rosy recollection, says psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California, Riverside.

In fact, scholars have found that anticipation increases happiness.

Considering buying an IPad? You might want to think about it as long as possible before taking on home.

Likewise about a Caribbean escape: You will get more pleasure if you book a flight in advance than if you book it at the last minute." unquote.

Death

Have you ever think of death?

I've always been thinking about what will happen to my soul when I pass on.

I'm afraid of death, perhaps I am not certain whether I'll fall short of God's grace.

Just a few days ago, I was in the tour bus in Beijing and suddenly, the thought of an ex-colleague came into my mind. I've not contacted her for a long time and her jovial and cheerful self just appeared so vividly in my memory. On Sunday, I received an SMS that this ex-colleague has pass away.

It came as a shock certainly. We were rather good friends then. Now she has departed, leaving her husband and three young children.

It just dawn on me that we are so vulnerable, I'm already pass my half time in this world. As each day passes, I'm a little closer to the uncertainty of after life.

I guess what I could do now is to lead a purposeful life... And pray for God's grace.

Kampong Toilet

I went to a nursery to look at some plants last Sunday. Half way throught, I needed to go to the toilet
The toilet reminded me of a kampong (village) toilet.
When I closed the door, I was weary that there could be creapy crawlies behind the wooden door which was a common sight in a kampong toilet Thank goodness, there was none.
The squatting toilet bowl was very clean indeed and that was really different from a toilet in the kampong, which in the seventies was just a bucket. The bucket would be emptied every morning.

Most of us are living in affluence now that a sight such as this is one of the past. We should be grateful that we are living in comfort everyday. What else could we complain about?

Let's give thanks to every little thing that has made our life such a wonderful one.

Sakura

It's spring time now in Japan and also a time for Sakura to blossom.
I realized, a pity after so many years, that along both sides of the road just outside my apartment are lined with these trees that bear pink flowers that from far look like Sakura. The flowers will fill the entire tree turning a major portion of the tree into Sakura pink. There are a few that bear white flowers.
These tree only bear flowers around the same time as Sakura and will only last for a short time. Now the whole road is painted pink by these trees.
It's a pity I haven't realized this in the past. I guess I must watch and appreciate the trees more.
Are you watching nature? Or just taking them for granted and like me, miss the beauty of nature.

Momentum

Sharks!

After a long year end leave, going back to work tomorrow seems like I've loose all the momentum.

I guess it will take some time before my heart goes back to my work again.

But thats life isn't it.

We work to get income to finance our needs and wants.
And so tomorrow, I just got to drag myself back.

Pray that God will bless me in my work, let me find meaning in what I do.