"And So This Is Christmas ...."

"... and what have you done?"

It's 2AM on Christmas day and I'm browsing through my friendster account, sniffing for some updates on some of my friends and I was also hoping to find some lost friends and it triggers some thoughts in my mind.

Well, when I browsed through my friends profile, mostly I was looking at their photos. I think I've been browsing for 1 hour or more (thanks to Jack who was also keeping me company while I was doing so), I realized ... HEY!!!! It's X'mas!! And hence the song ... "and so this is Christmas, and what have you done" poked my mind and I stopped browsing.

Well, nothing wrong with the browsing actually but as I browse more and more I saw so many different types of people (Duhhh) by looking at what they are showcasing on their friendster photos.

Here are what I found:
1. Photos of their kids (sleeping pose, smiling pose, bathing pose, you name it)
2. Photos of their loved one (bf/gf/husband/wife)
3. Wedding photos (OMG, TONS OF THEM!!!)
4. Travel photos (also tons of them)
5. No photo (Hhmmm .. quite a few)
6. Photo never gets updated since the donkey era
7. Constant updates on their achievement (Narcist or what? - lucky not many souls are like that)
8. Group photos (when all of them are group photos, can be quite frustrating :|)
9. Photos that don't have their faces at all
10. And etc ... etc ... etc ...

Going back to the point of this post - so what have I done, this Christmas?
I am not married.
I am not even attached.
I don't have kids. (I don't mind playing with other's :p Provided if they are cute and not a cry baby hahahaha ... ooppss ...)
I don't travel much.
I don't socialize much especially in group.
I don't really have a specific hobby and alas ...
I don't have much achievements that I'm able to show off .. you know ... newspaper clipping, articles, photos with famous people, etc (used to have ... but bleh ... history)

So, what have I done ... this Christmas?
I know I have done good.
I have been good and hence I'm blessed with great people around me.
Some of them, I haven't met and I can't really show them on my friendster profile. I'd like to dedicate this post to my far far away friend, Myrna and Nate, whom I haven't physically met but I adore both of you so much. I swear before I have my last breath, I would like to spend time with you.

And then, there are my usual clicks ... 1 clown, 1 pig and 1 queen ... my inspirations, my joy and my frustration (at times ... especially when they owe me $ hahahaha) .... I can't be more than grateful enough to have all of you in my life.

I also have friends whom I've met in person but we bonded well online ... you know who you are ... your presences have constantly made me in the state of gratitude and joy not to mention some spanking hot wake-up call when I'm losing my steam.

And ... my readers of my humble blogs. Not many of you and that made me even more honoured. I don't have those high hits blog. I don't have blog with the most powerful search engine optimization and blah blah but what I have are the sincerest readers of all. What more can I ask? :-) Thank you for supporting me through your vibes.

Lastly, I also have my parents whom I grow mature along with them ... I'm learning and teaching at the same time and I'm glad they allow me to have a balance yin-yang relationship with them. Not to mention I'm glad they don't push me to get married like most traditional parents do haha .. well they know what will happen if they ask me anyway :p May be they are afraid of the "threats" that I've imposed on them. Haha ...

So ... what have I done this Christmas?
I have lived.
I have loved.
I have given.
I have received.
And most importantly, I have known all of you and thank you for all your presences in my life.

Merry Christmas everyone. You are the reason why this season rocks even more than any party or gathering.

1 Think I Hate About Library@Orchard

Yes. Finally. I'm ready to write the very one thing I really hate about Library@Orchard.
One thing that I've been scratching my head over and still I can't understand why.

And that is .....

I HATE TO SEE YOU GO!!!!

From the day they announced that you may be going away, the feeling has never been the same. Yes, other library may be as awesome but it'll be so different. Seriously! Though the countdown can't be avoided, part of me still hope that a miracle can happen and all these are just dreams. How I wish.

And a final message to you ...



If you ask me why?
Because you are like no other ...

Thank you for being part of my life even though it's only for 8 years, you'll be carried in my heart for life ... just like what E.E. Cummings said. Guess there are still many words unspoken and only you will know what it is. All the real stories and feelings are well kept in between the walls, floors, pillars and ceilings. Trying to save the image that soon will be lost to us forever. Even this row of glass panels seem to be in a melancholy mood and trying to get ready to say good bye.

Farewell. And again ... thank you for your existence.

11 Things I Love About Library@Orchard

So ... This is D.D. the Drunkard Citizen Reporter ... hmmm I'm sorry I'm not drunk. How can I be drunk when I only love to drink Teh-Oh-Peng (a.k.a Iced Tea - with no lemon or whatsoever flavouring. Just tea with sugar and ICE!!!!! Uncle, more ice, please! And yes, alcohol is no good for ya! Stay away!!!!).

As corny as it sounds, I'm going to list down 10 things I love about Library@Orchard before its final moment approaches. I'm sorry, it's actually 11 things. -.-" This sanctuary really means a lot to me. So, here I am trying to unite the fragments of my memory of what I love about this place.

1. The Tasteful Interior
   
   
   The first moment I stepped into this library, I thought I've entered a bookstore. Not only the interior was tastefully done but the books are so well preserved that they look so new. And even years have passed, the interior has never gone out of style. That's what I call - great design and foresight. It doesn't age with time and sigh ... it's soon going to be demolished. All of them. :(
   
   
2. The Collection
   
   I understand when Library@Orchard was in its planning stage, there's a certain targeted age group of people was envisioned to come to this library often. And, that great vision fits well into my life. The collection that's chosen is honestly perfect. My favourite sections: Business, Investing, Self-Improvement, Arts, History, Health, Religions $ Spirituality, and how can I forget Comics. And oh ya ... the ever-changing section where they promote books that from certain category ... that's priceless. You just know how much braincells have been contributed in making all these possible.
   
   
3. The Cafe
   
   It used to be Dome Cafe and I used to order their pie + coffee without fail. But even though Dome is gone, Cafe Galilee is as good. There's coffee and there's water, what more can you ask? (Have I mentioned the toilet is really just few steps away ... awesome)
   
   
4. The Study Area
   
   Ah ... this bring back all the sweet memories. This corner accompanied me through the thick and thin of exams. Imagine, you can study as hard as you want. When you want to unwind, find yourself a great comic, laugh it all off (in silent) and get back to the studies. Or when you are falling asleep (though you are not supposed to sleep in the library (look below), quickly grab yourself a cuppa coffee to perk you up. It works. I love this corner! That time it doesn't even have any internet access yet! I think now they do have it, makes it even much better. Arh ... I am gonna miss this a lot. I also came to this spot to do some deep thinking (which eventually bring me to ... la la land ... zzzz)
   
   DD Zzzzzzzz .... Don't dare lar don't dare lar! There I'm awake already! :p
   
   
5. The Music Corner
   
   Yes .... music corner!!! In a library!!! With choices of music ... classical, asian, pop, jazz, etc. Awesome!!! I love this library soooooooooooooooo much! I really can't contain it :( SIGH!!!! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy must it be torn down? :( Hicks!!!!!!! :( Can't the property owner see the value in education and give back to the society in the form of ... erm .. cheap rent? :| ... Praying ... Praying hard... :(
   
   
6. The Fountain of Wisdom
   
   
   There's a water feature in between the magazine/newspaper corner and the cafe. I've captured the video so that you can also enjoy the sound of the running water. Soothing and great way to cover up noise created by the chatty people. Sorry for the not so proportionate size of the video, I've no idea why it's like that. (For those of you who are receiving this by email, you may check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kO2KhAgBj4)
   
   
7. The Hi-tech Machines
   
   I can't live without the 2 machines that I'm surrounded with. Moreover, these 2 terminals are the ones I always molested whenever I'm in the library. To my right, that's the borrowing machine (I'm not sure whether technically it's called that but ... erm ... that's how I called it haha). It's so cool and efficient. So, what do you need to do to borrow a book?
   
   • Scan your identification card by putting it into the provided slot
   • Put your book on top of the blue spot and wait for 1 second for the book to be scanned and confirmed borrowed
     
   • Take back your identification card
   • Take the receipt which indicates the books you borrowed and their due date
   and voila ... you are done ... and happy with your books. The whole process take less than 30 seconds!!!!! Unless while doing so you are singing, chatting, acting, make-up-ing, dancing, massaging, yoga-ing, etc.
   
   To my left, that's the search engine machine. Yes I love it!!!!! Search search search search! Before my fingers were so addicted to Google, I was addicted to this machine. There's nothing that I can't find using it. If the book is not in this library, it can always be transferred from somewhere else (with a small reasonable fee - cheaper than you travel down to the far-far-away library and save you lots of time). And now, you can do all those things from this link too. NLB Rocks!
   
   
8. The Book Drop
   
   You must be thinking, I'm nuts to even include the book drop is also one of my favourite thing! Hey hey hey ... you don't know how convenient it is!! How do you return a book? You just dropped it and you can avoid being fined for being late. And what best, it's so convenient. You can do all your shopping. Watch any movies in town and then you drop your book and head back home. Wahh ... it's such a enlightening experience (for my back too .. I mean the books are heavy, you know). Not to mention ... I have a roommate whose office is just right above the library!!! So ... not only my back are not complaining (may be hers did :p) ... I don't need to get fined ... (but sometimes she did made me get fined) and I can go there and look for more books or .. comics. :p Now you know why I love this book drop here? Hehe.
   
   
9. The Friendly Librarians
   
   Her name is Jillian. She was not there when I went to take all the photos. :( So instead, I took picture with her cut-out. Not so bad eh. Hahaha. She's one of the most awesome librarian I've ever seen. Not only she's funny and friendly ... but she's very very funny indeed. Haha. Hmm I'm sure she's going to read this so ... heck. You are very funny and veryyyyyy funny, please keep it up and keep being funnyyyyyyyyy!!!! :p
   
   
10. D.D.'s Favourite Route
    I have a favourite route. Which I take on everytime I go to the library for more than ... 15 minutes. I can not dismiss this point and hence here I am presenting you my favourite route. Let me show you ya (Actually I have a video for this but, the file's too big for Youtube to handle....
    
    
    
    It can be A -> B -> C -> D -> E -> F -> G -> H -> I -> J
    with most frequent visits at point D -> F -> D -> F -> D
    
    A. The Lift (This is where I will show up. Ngee An City level 5)
    B. The Book Drop (Turn to the left and there'll be the book drop)
    C. The Search Engine (Books dropped. Time to find new books)
    D. The Study Area (You have to find a table to sit on before you go to ...)
    E. The Cafe (...and get yourself coffee/tea to hog the seat ... i mean to relax :p)
    F. The Toilet (... erm ... what more can I say. My bladder is tiny :p)
    G. The Comic Section (Unwind!!)
    H. The Study Area again (Duh ... zzzzzz)
    I. The Borrowing Machine (sounds like loan shark but it's not :p u know what i mean)
    J. The Exit (Time to say good bye ...)
    
    
    
11. The Existence
    
    Ultimately, if I have to choose only one thing I LOVE about Library@Orchard, it's got to be its existence. As without its presence, point #1 - #10 will not mean a thing.
    

Is this the end? Nope. In my next post, I'll share with you the ONE (01) thing I HATE about Libary@Orchard. Yes! There's always 2 sides of everything. Find out what it is after the break, I mean ... my break ... So, stay tuned.

Questions & Actions: Rules or No Rules

Sharing something that I've just read ... I've not been able to answer these questions too. How about you?

1. How has being "realistic" or "responsible" kept you from the life you want?
2. How has doing what you "should" resulted in subpar experiences or regret for not having done something else?
3. Look at what you're currently doing and ask yourself,"What would happen if I did the opposite of the people around me? What will I sacrifice if I continue on this track for 5, 10, or 20 years?

The Condom Song (Indian - Telugu Version)

Yes! You are reading the correct title. This is an educational clip in Telugu (one of the language spoken in India) teaching the society of the condom usage and how it can prevent sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV. Created by people in Nrityanjali Academy, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Try to be patient and stay till the end of video. Though the melody and some of the words are repetitive, the messages and images are always changing till the end.

For those of you who are subscribing by email, please click here to view the video.

Hope you'll like it.

PS. Nirodh is one of the condom brand in India.
PPS. Thank you, Willy for brightening my day! :-) WAKAKAKAKA

Pause & Reflect

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain

What a profound quote by Mark Twain ... and honestly what a difficult task to do ... at least for me (I'm being very very honest. Sleeping is not counted as pausing and trying to sleep is also not easy for me), to pause and reflect. I know very very much that those 2 things are very essential to us as human beings I find it very challenging. I can't sit still and can't even stand still. I'm a monkey indeed.

But everything in life has its very first step, isn't it? I have to make a commitment to silent my mind, especially its super duper chatter-box partner ... ya, that voice which loves to yak yak and yak. Who is that, really? If that's not me ... that is ... erm .... spookyyy bah ...

Pause and reflect .... what do they really mean? Based on the online dictionary,

Pause:
1. to make a pause; be temporarily inactive; stop; hesitate
2. to dwell or linger: with on or upon

Reflect:
1. to give back an image of; mirror or reproduce
2. to recollect or realize after thought
3. to think seriously; contemplate

Interesting. Actually both words have the same intention, to linger upon a thought and think seriously about it. Based on that definition, this process can be done even though one is physically active, isn't it? Then I apologize for interpreting the quote wrongly in the beginning.

The next question is, when will be the right time for someone to pause and reflect. Based on Mark Twain's quote - it's when you find yourself on the side of majority. What does that really mean? What are the characteristics of the majority? The 90% or the 80%.

To me, it's when you are in the state of:
- not knowing who you are
- not being who you are
- pleasing others most of the time
- doing without knowing
- doing for the sake of doing
- saying without understanding
- saying for the sake of making a conversation
- moving through life without having any meaning
- unhappiness
- restlessness
- and the list can go on to cover the wall in my room

The question is, is it wrong to be part of the majority, Mr. Twain? Honestly, I don't think so. But, it'll be wrong if we lose our own individuality in the process of blending in with the majority. That is like wasting your life and drowning with the rest of the headless chickens around. And hence, our wise Mr. Twain wanted us to remember to take a moment and ponder. Take one step back to move two steps forward.

Thank you so much, Mr. Twain for your great words. Since this month is your birthday month, I find it interesting how your words have been chosen to speak to me at this point of time. :-)


Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org

Finding Donna ....

Erm ... nope I'm not missing and as much as I know all of you care about me (ehem ehem ... can't I be half delusional for a while?), you do not need to get off your chair or bed or floor to look for me. I'm still pretty much around and available hahaha.

"Finding Donna" -.-" was actually the blog title from one of the blogger's that I met from the "Brief" Briefing. When she saw my blog (yes at the big screen when Mr. Peanut Butter Jelly was grooving), she said it looked familiar but she couldn't recall how she bumped into my blog.

Anyway, today she got it and she blogged about it and hence the title... Finding Donna! I'm so honoured that it sounds like a sequel of Finding Nemo. And seriously, I don't believe there's such things as coincidence anymore. As my "make believe" godmother (Oprah Winfrey) said,"I don't believe in coincidences. You call people into your life".

Library@Orchard - The End is Really Near

Just stepped into November and it's killing me how every day I'm silently counting down to the closure of my public love affair. Life indeed still goes on but it'll never ever be the same. Well, I should stop sighing over the closure but treasure every moment I've ever had with it.

And I'll start with the beginning of the end ... The "Brief" Briefing for citizen reporters on the 30th of October 2007.



Seriously, the briefing was really brief. It was less than 10 minutes. What were we being briefed on? You may check out this powerpoint slide. Our librarians are so willing to share whatever we need and even get the powerpoint available for public. Imagine that. (For those of you who read this in email and may not view the powerpoint slide properly, you may go to www.DonnaDaritan.com to see it)

| View | Upload your own

After the briefing, that's when the real conversation kicks in. The non-briefing part was not brief at all! Everyone put off their guards and joined in the fun of our super cool librarians. We talked about almost everything even about the painting that was innocently hanging on the wall and even my nonsense rambling about "Peanut butter jelly time" was being showcased through the big screen. That was scary.


(And yes ... that was me pointing at the cake when everyone else was admiring the art on the wall. Erm .... Dum Dee Dum Dee Dum)

Anyway, as the title has suggested, the end is near. We can not only measure it by time but there were evidences to support it. See the photos below, those stickers circled in red ... that means some other libraries have already marked their possessions. Yeah, even the tray will be moving on and on ... and on ... and on.



Like almost all the great things or moments in this world, soon or later they will come to an end (in case you don't remember that someday we will "move on" too, hence we are great too, don't forget that.), so every moment is precious.

Here I am with the rest of citizen reporters and the dedicated librarians, trying our best to preserve the memories, the lessons, the experience and most importantly, the essence and stories Library@Orchard is trying to tell. Every dead thing is alive in their own ways, they tell not only great stories but they tell the truth (Ask every CSI and they will agree with me!!!). So, here we are preserving and sharing the stories through our blogs. Everyone has different stories to tell. :-)


If you go to the Flickr page, feel free to click on each of our faces to go to our blogs, if not, here they are from left to right.

• Alice @ blog.alicecheong.com
• Jean @ blog.simplyjean.com
• Christine @ www.christinetjia.com
• Me Me Me Me ... ehem ... @ ... well, you know where -.-"
• Jillian (the-not-so-ordinary-librarian) @ blogs.nlb.gov.sg/orchard/
• Regina (The youngest of all ... she's only 13, I'm only older than her by 4 yrs, can't you tell?)
• Joel (Yes, he loves Mandy Moore and ain't shy about it) @ musicsimply.blogspot.com
  
• Kenneth (whose blog's name is one of the longest I've ever known) @ confessionsofateenagetramaking.blogspot.com
  
• Charles @ www.wetcalamari.net

D.D. the Citizen Reporter???????

I hope none of you are vomiting by reading the title yet. And nope, you are not reading it wrongly, I can't believe it myself too. :-) I am proudly "crowning" myself (and with the help of Library@Orchard) as a citizen reporter for my one and only beloved library - Library@Orchard.

What is it all about?


Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org

Library@Orchard is one of the greatest gift this country has given me since 21 October 1999. It's the best public library one can ever wished for. With great and best location and not to mention after all these years it still looks good, sounds good, smells good and ultimately FEELs GOOD. (Go figure):p and personally, with lots of lots of memories. LOTS!!!!! (I really mean it!!!!). It even has a page on wikipedia, it's the COOLEST library ever. (Well, of course I'm comparing those library in my schools in Indonesia where I could count the number of books with my toes plus my fingers plus some of my hairs).

Since the recent hike in property market, Library@Orchard is closing down and ultimately moving on to not only one but 2 better territories (don't think this library is scared of any challenges yaaaaa .. we'll beat it and come out better!!! Watch out you, rental hikes!)

So, to commemorate this big event, Library@Orchard is calling the citizens to blog about this event in whatever way we want (with some very common-sensical guidelines, of course. You can't really write about things like this - Once upon a time, I went to Library@Orchard at level 5 of Takashimaya and then I went to toilet and then I went home. The end.). Once I saw this big opportunity to embrace one of the biggest love affair in my life, I took the chance and give myself a vote to be involved romantically and passionately by being one of the citizen reporter. (Yeahhh baby yeahhhhhh!!!)

So, here I am, trying to gather pieces of my memories and feelings, coupled with recent facts and findings of Library@Orchard. I'll be sharing regularly till the farewell of this piece of monumental altar of mine will take place on the 30th of November 2007. Through all these "mini reports", I hope all of you will enjoy a piece of me (ok this sounds quite wrong -.-", but you know what I mean), a piece of the library, a piece of Singapore and a piece of knowledge.

Let the journey begin!

"Genuine observation is better than meaningless participation"

I've been using the above quote for my MSN Messenger for quite a few days. If you allow, allow me to have some self-praising moment, :p .... after a great chat with a friend, that quote came into my mind. I was so happy and thought I can finally have quotes of my own, so I tried to list it in some quotes sites but ... my hope was beaten. Why? Because I don't fall into "somebody famous" category. Haha ... Guess for now, this quote will just stuck in my blog first :-)

I realize most of the people around me are so caught up with the "doing" and "joining" ... participating in anything .. be it a conversation, an outing, an activity, an opinion being heard, something ... to show someone that they've been there done that. They know something. They participate and contribute.

Nothing wrong with that seriously. But I found it meaningless when the activity has no soul, no essence. I believe everyone has experienced something like that in a few occasions. I can't speak on behalf of everyone but personally, I did that many times. And honestly, I may have been doing it for the most part of my life!? Hmm ... worth contemplating.

I remember when I was in those few "activities", I joined for the sake of joining. I joined because I was trying to please someone. I joined because I thought I'm a flexible person and I can choose to have fun wherever I want. I joined because it seems to be cool, next time it can be the topic to talk about when I'm in another meaningless participation. And most importantly, I ignored my gut feel. And there and then I wasted a few hours of my life ... putting up smiles and cheesy lines or "smarty" comments ...

Then I've also been to the other side of the spectrum ... I stopped joining ... I stopped communicating ... I did nothing ... literally ... it doesn't feel that good either when it's too much of it. :p ... It's actually as bad as joining without meaning. It wastes your life in the way you don't even realize.

I finally found some kind of balance between the 2 extremes. I checked my gut feel before I embark on another activities and so far it has saved me from things which are not meaningful, life waster I supposed. I also found genuine observation and thoughtful contemplation can be much more rewarding than clogging your lives with activities that are forgettable. No wonder prayers and meditations are highly recommended to have a better quality of life. Well, I ain't a meditator (just can't sit still), nor I am a great prayer (yes, the same reason as I'm not a meditator ... yet), but I found out when you are in silence or in conversation with something you just can't comprehend (be it your mind, the tree, the dog, the wall, the sky, God, angels, the fish, the monitor, the air, the water, etc) ... life gets pretty interesting. In a strange way ... I enjoy those seem to be pretty "weird" time ..

Just like right now ... I'm blogging ... I'm communicating with my inner self .. and ... erm .. I've no idea who else I'm communicating this as I'm typing -.-" ... but I am finding it more meaningful than if I'm with a bunch of people talking about,"wow, so you have an american express credit card, that's so cool" or "hey, what have you been doing lately? wow that's so interesting" (when I don't find it interesting) ...

It may be a very confusing post to some of you, if yes, I apologize. But ultimately, my message is to be very aware of what you are doing and BEING at every moment ... it's not easy but the awareness is the first step of having a better life.

Happy observing, friends! :-)

France oh France ....

Recently I watched Sicko, another daring and controversial production by director Michael Moore. I recommend anybody that cares about their health to go and watch this show, especially if you have an insurance. It's a look at how different countries are managing the health care of their citizens.

One of the remarkable country that amazed me was France! Ooh la la ... Yes, it's full of tourist attractions such as

Eiffel Tower


Musee du Louvre




and their wines and their river rides ... their cheap hotels and those love birds surrounding the city with the very sexy accent ... but is that what France is all about? No no no no .... There's something more charming about this country.

Their Health Care System!!!

It's ranked by WHO in 1997 as the first in the world. And ... it's entirely free for people who are affected by chronic diseases. Amazing. That's not all ... from the documentary, you'll also learn that they have 24 hourse emergency house-call doctors. also for free. If that's not enough to startle your brain, when someone's pregnant and they have no time to take care of the their house hold chores, you can request for government's assistance to send a helper in assisting you with dirty laundry, preparing food, etc. Unbelievable. No wonder they have so much time to be romantic.

Well definitely it's not all Cinderella story. Everything has two sides and currently I only know it's beautiful side. The citizens may need to pay very very high tax but ... for what the government has done, I think it's quite worth it.

For now I can only surf some of these websites like this or this and be a tourist .... but who knows one day I may get to enjoy the benefits too? Hmmm -.-" dream a little dream about France ....

Losing Steam?

I was losing my steam ... and I am still a little bit. When I told my friend, the cooking pot, about it, she's so inspired to draw me this piece of art.

So, you see the train ... yes, that's me, with the open-book hairstyle. I have 3 of my great friends behind me .. the queen, the cooking pot and the pig. As I lost my steam and the train can't move anymore, the queen and pig tried hard to push and motivate me ... and I was still struggling. So, in the end, according to the artist, the smart the cooking pot managed to save the day by getting me the Energizer bunny batteries. Ah ... she saved the day :p ...

If only life can be energized by batteries hmm ... may be it can? Hmm .... It makes me wonder :-)

Thank you, cooking pot for the great effort and artwork. I hope one day it'll make you lots of lots of money through auction. :p

Little Wonders

It's not a very new song - Little Wonders by Rob Thomas - Soundtrack of Meet the Robinsons, but it's something I gotta share. Listen to the words, for those of you who are weary I hope this song can lighten you up. It did to me.

I simply love the words when Rob Thomas said ...

Let it go ... let it roll right off your shoulder ...

Let it in, let your clarity define you in the end, we will only just remember how it feels....

Yes ... these small hours ... these little wonders ... those seconds that we tend to take for granted because we keep thinking of the big future ... the big miracle that we tend to forget that in these small hours, little wonders do exist.

And in the end ... those achievements ... those belongings ... in the end, only the feeling remains ... the thought ... and the essence of every single thing in our life that matters.

So, Enjoy .... Don't let the little wonders slip away.



Let it go,
Let it roll right off
your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just
remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And i don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by,
It's the heart that really
matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But i can not forget
The way i feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away but
these small hours
These small hours, still remain,
Still remain
These little wonders
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain

Best Ad from Singapore

Some of you may have watched this ad but I'd like to put it a special place in my blog because every time I watch it, it still brings me laughters that's like being induced by laughter gas (if there's any).

It's an ad by one of the mobile operator (M1) who's promoting their free IDD call to 15 countries. I'll try my best to write down what the man said below the video.

Enjoy.



hello, mr india curry house
yes we have chicken kebab, butter ...
ok one butter chicken
yes sir
we deliver everywhere
no restrictions on the area
ah, ok
i repeat your order
one butter chicken
one spicy bryani
acha
give me your address
can you repeat that
S-i-n-g-a-pore
another country?
eh, mumbai lar
India!!!
Singapore -.-"
Butter chicken -.-"

And this one is the Director's cut with a bit change on the text:


hello, mr india curry house
yes we have chicken kebab, butter ...
ok one butter chicken
yes sir
we deliver everywhere
i repeat your order
one butter chicken
one spicy bryani
your address please
S-i-n-g-a-pore?
Is it a suburb?
another country?
eh, mumbai lar
India!!!

WKAKAKAKAKAKAKKAKAKAKA I'm loving this! HAHA.

It's Better to Know

Have you heard about the sub-prime issue in the US recently? Based on Wikipedia, subprime lending is the practice of making loans to borrowers who do not qualify for the best market interest rates because of their deficient credit history. Simply put, based on your track record, if you are not a great $ borrower, they'll give you a "lousier" loan with higher interest. Since most of the people need it, or think they need it, they fall for sub-prime loans and most of them are stuck with it now to the extent they can't afford to pay for their house and need to force sell it and even forced some mortgage companies to shut down. That's such a pity.

Though there are lots of pointing fingers being done at the moment. The home owners are blaming the mortgage lenders, and vice versa, to my opinion there are only yourself to blame. The lack of information and greed have driven them to their own misery and terrible loss.

Hence I stumbled into this site where people are free to post their tips in order to prevent or save people from losing their home or other properties. It's something like wikipedia where the information is from the people and to the people. Hope it'll be beneficial to someone you know or when you are making the decision for yourself in the future.

Don't Assume

You may hear about the term "Assume" can mean .... making an "ass" out of you and me. What it means is that most of the time when you assume instead of find out about the facts, you will mess out the situation for yourself and the other party involved. But anyway, I'm not here to be so philosophical. My friend sent me this video and I think it's worth sharing. This guy is very very talented ... not only that, he teaches as not to judge before we see the complete picture. I guess life works like that too. :-)

Enjoy.



Just found out in Portuguese, Os Seminovos means "the newbie or semi-newbie". And ao mestre, com Carinho means "to the master with love".

Fax Trial Gone Wrong

My laptop was stolen ... well not exactly mine ... it's my office. But still it's "my" property ... so thanks to my nice boss, we got a new laptop. And as I'm typing, I'm trying to configure things out and preparing all the lost documents again .... Then I discovered a feature that I've never tried before ... (yes, I'm so old-fashioned) ... it's faxing through my laptop. To see whether it works or not, I ask for a help from the cooking pot (my nice nice friend). She asked me to draw something ugly for her (well, she's an artist and I'm not), so I said ... "nay ... no images ... I can't draw."

So, instead, I send her this document ....


I didn't know she enjoys it and she intends to upload it to her blog. :| ....

Erm .... but anyway ... the event in the message did happen in real life. She really forgot to wear shoes to work and instead wear the house slippers ... only to realize it when she's already on board on the bus.

Seriously, without a friend like this, I think my life will be duller. So ... I pray to God to send more "interesting events" through her :p ... such as ... she forgot to eat her Ginko Biloba which was supposed to make her memory better. :p .. Ah .. what a friend.

Feel free to get to know her more through her artistic posts at http://frothecoffee.blogs.friendster.com/hazard/

i carry your heart with me

Hi everyone
Surprise ... surprise ...
Yes, it's been quite sometimes since I let my creative juice flows effortlessly in this platform. I've been "stung" by the lazy-bug which only cure lies within myself ... and I'm still recovering slowly.

First of all ... I would like to thank all of you ... my subscribers and also my readers who've been faithfully checking into my blog regularly though in the end found nothing was updated. I apologize for the trouble you've experienced ...

But to all of you who've been faithfully waiting ... and to especially 2 souls who've been screaming and yelling at regular basis and asked,"why is there no new post on your blog??" ... I dedicate this post to all of you ... I know who you are ... and I may not know a few of you ... but whatever it is ... this poem which was written by legendary (and one of my favourite poet) E.E. Cummings ... I hope you'll enjoy it and I promise ... I'm on the path of recovery to revive this blog.

i carry your heart with me
by E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

212 Degree

Whats the difference between 211 degree and 212 degree?

Mathematically it's only 1 degree apart from each other.
Phenomenally that 1 degree separates great from good.

Watch it in action through this short clip

www.212movie.com

And remember in everything that you do, the extra 1 degree of hard work or positive attitude can just make all the difference that you've ever needed.


Image courtesy of www.212movie.com

The World of Limousines

In Singapore when we mention the word "limo", we will picture it as the white Mercedes taxi which represents a type of luxury in the world of transportation. But in US, the choices for luxury transportation come in abundance.

I've just discovered there are three types of basic limousines:

1. Traditional
2. Stage
3. Exotic

What are their differences?

Traditional limousine is an extension of large sedan. I believe this is something like we have generally in Singapore. And I think most of us have had a ride in it more than once in our lives. :p

Stage limousine has its design and application is in between sedan and a bus. As quoted from Wikipedia - "A modern version of the stage is seen in some novelty stretch Hummer or Hummer H2 vehicles. Some funeral homes maintain six-door stages to carry the family of the deceased between the church and the cemetery. These are usually not used for private hire."

Exotic limousine is the typical one we saw on TV where celebrities are being chauffeured around for their special events. And the extra long one will be called "stretch" limousine. It may have some impractical amenities like hot tub. -.-" How about that? Not to mention it may be bulletproof too. WOW. Now I know why the stars need it. :p

The common uses of limos in Singapore that we may encounter are for wedding, airport transfer and special events/functions purposes. But in US, you may find it may be used for wine tours, bachelor/bachelorette party, prom night, and graduation.

And I believe it can be used for other purposes that may just be mind blowing ... or like in the movie Alfie, it can be used as a mobile dating heaven. Haha ... One can just imagine. Mind is limitless anyway.

Sir Ian Mckellen????

Yes. That's my not so glamorous cheek with Sir Ian Mckellen behind it.


For those of you who don't know who he is ... well, here are a few other photos of him which I believe you will be able to recognise who he is:

He's Gandalf in Lord of the Ring Trilogy.


He is Magneto in X-Men


And he is also Sir Leigh Teabing in Da Vinci Code


I can't believe to this moment that I'm in the same room with him. What an honour to be in his presence. Well, he was also enjoying the local production of Happy Endings, well of course he went there with the director, Ivan Heng. Happy Endings is a theatre work based on Singapore first gay novel ever - Peculiar Chris by Johann S. Lee, which was adapted by local playwright, Alfian Sa'at.

How do I rate the show?
9 out of 10.
Why?
For its blatant honesty and like one of my friend put it ... "poignant happy endings".
Eventually, all endings are written by ourselves and we are the decision maker to our happy endings ... no matter how tough the plot may seem like but eventually ... it'll be fine.

Things to Fear

Discovered this beautiful quote while reading Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window ... brilliantly written by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and applaud is equally given to Dorothy Britton, the translator.

"Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster."

A remarkable book that I hope more people should take on to understand the children which we were once one of them and part of them still remain in our present moment.

What the World Eats?

Ever wonder how other people in other countries are spending when it comes to their food? I got this very interesting forwarded message from my friend and I think it's a great way to be grateful of what we already have. Let's find out how our brothers and sisters eat from around the world. Wanna guess which country spent the most on food? :p


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Chad:
The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
Favorite foods : soup with fresh sheep meat


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Japan:
The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Favorite foods: sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips



© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Italy:
The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11
Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Kuwait:
The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City
Food expenditure for one week: 63.63 dinar or $221.45
Family recipe: Chicken briyani with basmati rice


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
United States:
The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98
Favorite foods : spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Favorite foods: pizza, crab, pasta, chicken


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
China:
The Dong family of Beijing
Food expenditure for one week: 1,233.76 Yuan or $155.06
Favorite foods: fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Poland:
The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Family recipe : Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53
Family recipe: Okra and mutton


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Ecuador:
The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55
Family recipe: Potato soup with cabbage



© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Mongolia:
The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar
Food expenditure for one week: 41,985.85 togrogs or $40.02
Family recipe: Mutton dumplings


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Bhutan:
The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Germany:
The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
Favorite foods: fried potatoes with onions, bacon and herring, fried noodles with eggs and cheese, pizza, vanilla pudding


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Great Britain:
The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis
Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15
Favorite foods: avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream


© Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
United States:
The Caven family of California
Food expenditure for one week: $159.18
Favorite foods: beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream