life's prisms

New Home @Compassvale Link

2008-03-08T13:47:00.011+08:00

For friends who wants to have a peek at our new home prior to the (god knows when it will be) housewarming ...This is the TV Console on our very squarish hall. We spent $1600 to put the platform in the hall area. The design of the console was specified by us after consulting many home deco magazines. Yups, the Sony Bravia 46" LCD is the pride of our new home. Too bad, the TV signal is not yet up in this area of Singapore. What a waste!This cabinet stands on the side of our hall. It's still quite empty. I hope to put more plants in the hall area. The lowest top area of the cabinet would be left empty, we want this area to be able to hold one's weight for any guests of ours that might not wish to be seated on our tatamis.Our tatamis (costing $1,600) are here. The custom made table that goes with the tatami would arrive only in a couple of weeks. For the time being, we are using the old coffee table from Aung's parents. This coffee table would be later moved to the guest room for me to surf the net or do my doodlings or what not's after our new coffee table is ready. By the way, we bought our tatamis from The Tatami Shop. They offer lifetime warranty to the tatami's and yearly maintenance.
Welcome to our small kitchen. We like vibrant colours for the kitchen. Hence the mix and match of orange and off-white theme. We took much time to decide on the ceramic sink instead of the usual metal ones. You see the hanging light in the picture that looks like a balloon? That's my favourite lighting in the house.
The cooking hood and hob and oven are from Rinnai. Cost us nearly $2,000. The fridge is from Panasonic. It has the invertor function with three ticks indicating energy saving. Anything to save money appeals to me!
Take a peep at my washing area. Sorry for not censoring the items before I take this picture. The house came complete with flooring. The folding door to the washing area was already done when we got it from HDB. I like the sliding door. Aung cooked dinner last night when Jadine came to visit. I quickly closed the door to the washing area to keep my washed laundry "oily-smell-free".
This is our dining area. We thought it kind of small when we first collected the house. But now that we put in our dining table (two chairs still missing - at my in-laws place now), we find it rather spacious.This is our Master Bedroom. I like the L-Shape windows. As the windows are facing east, we are always welcomed into the day by the morning sun. We have two layers of rolling blinds in this room. A more translucent one for the day. An opaque one for the night.We have two wardrobes in the Master Bedroom. This one has sliding doors made of mirrors. It is facing the master bedroom toilet.This other wardrobe faces the bedroom itself. The door of this one is frosted glass.
Our master bedroom toilet sink area. The first slab of frosted glass on the side cabinet came smashing down onto the floor on the third day of moving in. I was cleaning up alone in the guest room then. The sound scared the hell out of me.This is Aung's work room. He chose a contrast of blue against silvery grey for the colours of the cabinet housing all his precious meters and components. See that neat chick at the left bottom corner of the picture? That machine cost us a heft $26K!Placing his work station by the window provides good light and air flow.
A cabinet with sliding door that we bought from Ikea for his important documents. This cabinet sits beside a table made from solid wood. Just a pair of legs of the table alone took two big men to carry. I was there watching them carry the pieces of wood in to assemble them here.Welcome to my Zen Hobby Room. I intend to keep this room very empty for me to chill out to do my craft work, blog & read.

Monday Morning Fleeting Mind

2007-11-05T09:48:00.000+08:00

Monday once again. I had to literally drag myself to my workplace this morning. Two reasons: I had been struggling to fight off a bout of flu that keeps trying to come back to me for the past two weeks. I slept quite late last night and the rainy condition was just too discouraging to pull me out of bed.

I am not good at fighting. Even more worse in handling office politics. Arenas like this that requires a sharp and unforgiving tongue and quick reflex to charge back are just too much for me. But as everyone must be very well aware, office politics is part and parcel of any organisation. No matter where you go, as long as there are people, there exist politics. Maybe Office Politics is too negative a term to use. A more neutral one should be the Art of Survival. Erm .. Maybe I should grab that book on Sun Tze's Art of War to read tonight?

Whenever I am stressed out, I would exercise more. Sweating it out gives me a good feeling at the end. Last week, I went to Amore four times to work out and also to run on the threadmill. My hubs keeps telling me that I am exercising too much. Reminding me of the karma I received last year for training too hard and ended up with a very painful back and knee cap for a few months. But so far, this is the only way I know to relieve the stress in me. At least for a short moment.

Maybe I need a break. My last leave was taken in July when I went for my honeymoon in Maldives. I was not totally relaxed then as there were so much to do before and after the wedding.

Maybe I should plan a short getaway.

WaterLearner's Super Woman Award

2007-10-30T22:40:00.001+08:00

This is the second WaterLearner's Award that is given away. This Super Woman Award goes to our popular Janice Ng of This is a Miracle.
Why Super Woman? If you read her good blog, you would agree that no other award title suits her better.
* A doting mum who never forgets the dosage of Vitamin Sunshine for her two lovely boys;
* Finding time for fitness to maintain her good figure;
* A popular blogger with a string of fans;
* Understanding wife;
* Caring sister

Tell me .. Is she not our Super Woman!!

Amel Knows Me Best

2007-10-26T22:33:00.000+08:00

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming.
People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?
Amel & I have one thing in common.
We are both crazy about such seemingly no-basis and crazy quizzes.
But because it fills us with that sense of mystery while
we tick on the bullets to "discover" ourselves ..
We just love it!!
The above is the latest she has taken.
If you checked it out, her food type is Thai.
*
We seem to have an unwritten agreement,
whatever quiz one takes,
the other one will follow suit.

A Little Something for Emila

2007-10-23T22:05:00.001+08:00

Happy Belated Birthday!!

Busy

2007-10-13T14:29:00.000+08:00

The not many visitors to this blog of mine would realize the degree of laziness of this site's author if relatively high. Yes, I confess. I have been quite lazy and partly also busy.

*
As some would be aware, I also maintain the Journey with WaterLearner site. I am very gratitude that, with the setting up of this site, I have come to establish much more friendship than I dare dream of.

*Married life has demanded me to better myself in the area of time management. I now have two families to be socially busy with. Not to mention my work that is getting more demanding as we walk into the last quarter of the year.
*
I am glad that, despite my busy schedules, I managed to meet up my two very good buddies that I knew from Europe. We met in Holland while I was a volunteer there and have been good friends. Since 1998. The half a day gathering we had a few weeks ago was filled with catching up on the happenings of one another as we now pretty much lead very separate lives. The good times that we had together will always remain with me as very fond memories of my life in Europe.

How Selfish Are You?

2007-10-07T00:21:00.000+08:00

You Are 35% Selfish

In general, you are a very giving person who treats others very well.
But at times, you insist on getting your way - when it matters most to you.

How Selfish Are You?

Happy Birthday to Winston

2007-09-28T12:20:00.001+08:00

Today is no ordinary day. It's the Birthday of my blog buddy, Winston.

A tutor with a passion for sports.

Especially soccer.

Here's to you, Winston!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

For Kee Yit

2007-09-26T10:27:00.001+08:00

I hope this is good enough for you, my friend.

What I Need Now

2007-09-21T14:20:00.000+08:00

A "Classy" Dinner

2007-09-19T12:51:00.000+08:00

We were invited to Jadine's place last Saturday for dinner. We arrived early at about 4pm to help Jadine & Yi Wei (above picture wearing white shirt, with specs) for the cooking. The main course was made of tofu (really not easy to prepare), giant portabello mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes. You would agree with me that the presentation of the dish was superb.

The chicken wings were prepared by Aung (his forte as far as cooking is concerned). The soup of the day was healthy potato soup prepared single-handedly by Yi Wei. I did not do much except to help pass utensils to Aung, chopped up the tomatoes for Jadine and did some "rework" on some out-of-shape tofu for YiWei.

We had a game of Charades after dinner. It was boys againsts girls. Proud to say, we girls beat the boys although our team was out-numbered by one. Yippee! Woman Power!

I have never good at Charades. Badly humbled by my first attempt of the night trying to act out "Evening Shade". I failed terribly. If you know how to act out "Evening", please ... let me know!

A pleasant evening spent among this group who all graduated from University of Illinois, Chicago. I guess I was the only odd-one-out. I graduated from National University of Singapore. But well, they are all friends of my hubbs and all very nice people.

Till the next gathering, I am finding ways to brush up my Charade skills. Any tips?

Side Note: While cooking, inspired by the movie Ratatouille that we just watched, the four of us even thought of looking for rats to help out!

Belated Thanks

2007-09-18T21:55:00.001+08:00

It is a little late to say "Thank You!". This is the bunch of pretties from my office that gave me a very sweet precious moments figurine for my wedding.

Feeling Bored?

2007-09-17T17:03:00.001+08:00

Miss Scrabble?

2007-09-17T11:59:00.000+08:00

Pholph's Scrabble Generator

My Scrabble© Score is: 15.
What is your score? Get it here.

Got infected by Jean's enthusiasm for Scrabble!

So far, the following have participated, it's a boring Monday, just in the fun and add some zest to the day:

1. Daniel Franklin Gomez - 39

2. Zubli Zainodin - 34

3. Nick Phillips - 37

4. Adrian's Full Name - 32

5. Nor Emila Mohd Yusof - 31

6. Kyle Keeton - 21

7. Jean Chia - 20

8. Marzianna - 20

9. Janice Ng - 18

10. Barrett Laurie - 15

11. Waterlearner - 15

12. Revellian - 12

13. Flsam - 10

14. Bobo the Bimbo - 25

15. Trinity - 10

Blogging once a week

2007-09-16T21:22:00.000+08:00

It is a good thing that I am getting more responsibilities in my work arena. Much as I hope to be able to maintain my two humble blogs more regularly, it has proven to be quite impossible at this moment in time.

I am cutting down on my blog-update frequency to once a week ..
at the moment.

2007-09-10T13:43:00.000+08:00

When I was younger, I used to be very impressed by people who possessed the gift of gab. Eloquent and always have that wise and yet prompt answer to any difficult questions put to them.

Now that I am older, I think otherwise.

I am not as impressed by people who always know when and how to talk, compared to people who always seem to know when and how to stop.

This & Thats

2007-09-07T09:32:00.000+08:00

What color is your personality?

Your Personality is Dark blue!

Your a true feeling person. You often spend time just sitting, and trying to understand your over-whelming emotions. You love learning, and dreaming. Quite shy, you enjoy your solitude. You live a life of deep reflection. Secretly, your highly spiritual.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

I was tagged by Kee Yit to take the quiz above. And what a coincidence .. I am the same Dark Blue personality as her! A Surprise! Kee Yit! Thanks for introducing such quizzes to me. I find them quite fun to take (be it accurate or not!!).

*************************

As usual, I am quite behind in blogging these days. Looking back, all I have done this week for my blog is this WaterLearner Times that I had put up for good Surjit & Janice. Here are some this and that's that I hope to catch up this weekend.

Jean of A Great Pleasure was so sweet to design this Candy Dolly for me. Thanks Jean! So very sweet of you! I really love it!

I was also honoured to receive an award from Project Heavy Traffic this week.

As much as I am happy receiving this award, I hope to pass the happiness to these good buddies of mine:

Bobby, Lili, Trinity, Sam, Surjit, Winston, Jamilla, Jennifer, Judy, KeeYit, Amel, BokJae, Franx, Emila.
I know many of you might have already received this award. But I love your blogs so much I just need to give this to you.

***********

I am thinking of coming up with my schedule of putting up posts in my Journey with WaterLearner's blog. Also, even when I am having a busy day, I hope to drop by my favourite blogs on my blog roll to just say hi. If only there is such a mechanism called SMS in blogosphere!!

End of This & That

Nice Weekend to all!

Maldives

2007-09-03T16:03:00.000+08:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

KLKK

2007-08-30T09:57:00.000+08:00

There exists a breed of people called Generation KLKK. KLKK is a term very commonly used in Singapore used to describe someone who is just walking around (and doing nothing).

Sad to say, there are some figures that I know of who belong to this species. Extremely good in "smoking" (without cigarettes!). Very good presentation skills and showmanship (especially when big bosses are around). When real work is to be done. They vanish. VicVic, I know you will be reading this. And I know that you know what I am talking about.

A Moment of Silence

2007-08-27T11:17:00.001+08:00

A moment of Silent Contemplation is so very important before anything we do. Before you deliver that comment to that fellow colleague who conveniently pushed the blame to you. Hold for a moment.

Contemplate.

What thought do I hold in my mind?
What is the triggering force behind what I am about to deliver?

Is that a force in reaction to what that has come my way? An Eye for An Eye? Or have I transformed that very force to be that of a positive form?

So many dramas that we see in real life are directed by our own inability to press that inner pause button. What we receive, we return in kind. If not in a form more intensified. Peace begins from deep within. It is not so important to be right. Very often, the deep desire to be right makes our inner peace a great sacrifice.

Hold that reaction in time. Transforming the negative energies that come your way to a positive form. Ying and Yang takes its form in our daily. A quiet observer falls not into its trap.

Quiz - Hogwarts House

2007-08-24T09:40:00.000+08:00

I don't understand how the quiz concluded that I am Brave, Chivalrous and Courageous.
But I find the logo rather nice. So I am bravely putting it up.
If you have time to share, check this out.

One Word Meme - Thanks Marzie!!!

2007-08-21T15:41:00.000+08:00

Marzie tagged me with this rather unique meme: the one word blog meme. Thanks for her tag! I might as well do this fun meme now that I am actually quite bored.

Where is your cell phone? Desk
Relationship? Married
Your hair? Short
Work? Stressful
Your sister? 1
Your favorite thing? Jogging
Your dream last night? None
Your favorite drink? Coffee
Your dream car? Audi
The room you’re in? Office
Your shoes? Itti & Otto
Your fears? Many
What do you want to be in 10 years? Happy
Who did you hang out with this weekend? Family
What are you not good at? Fighting
One of your wish list items? My own Gift Shop
Where you grew up? Singapore
Last thing you did? SMS
What are you wearing? Dress
What aren’t you wearing? Watch
Your pet? None
Your computer? IBM
Your life? Busy
Your mood? Bored
What are you thinking about right now? Grandma
Your car? None
Your kitchen? None
Your summer? Sunday Mornings
Your favorite color? White

Last time you laughed? This Morning

Last time you cried? Can't recall

School? I miss it!

Love? With No Regret

Here's the list of blog buddies I am tagging:

* Lady Valentine;
* Winston;
* KeeYit;
* Jean;
* Lansy;
* Bokjae;
* Trish;
* Res;
* Sam.

Side Note to those that I have tagged:

If you have too many memes to do, it's alright to ignore my tag. I understand the feeling of Behind-Meme! But .. but this is a really simple and quite fun one.

2-in-1 Meme: The Date I am Born & 13 of 3s

2007-08-19T18:01:00.000+08:00

* THE DATE I AM BORN *

Did it ever cross your mind to find out who was born on your birth day, what important event happened, or where in the world there's a holiday? If yes, then this is the perfect meme for you. I was tagged by Janice to do this sometime back. For once, I am so happy that this Sunday is raining whole day in Singapore. Hence I now have time to clear my "backlog".

What do I need to do?

Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day).

Write down three events, 2 births, 1 holiday and tag 5 friends.
There are five slots in the Birthday Meme. As you are tagged, you have to remove the name in the first slot and bump everyone up so that your name can be added to the bottom.

I was born on 18th April. Also an Aries like Janice!

3 Events (**grumbles** could not find much auspicious happenings on that day!)
1) 2007 - 32 Chinese steel workers are burnt to death in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster.
2) 1947 - Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany, detonating 6800 tonnes of explosives, creating the biggest non-nuclear explosion in history, and changing the shape of the island.
3) 1906 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9, destroys much of San Francisco, California.

2 Births
1) 2007 - Hayah bint Hamzah, Princess of Jordan
2) 1974 - Edgar Wright, British director

1 Holiday
United States - National Day of Silence (2007)

Finally, the list goes:
Are We There Yet? Gran’s Memory Keeping Corner Teacher Julie Mommyness is Happiness This is a miracle Life's Prisms

**********
* 13 Questions & 3 Answers *

Three things that scare me1) Cockroaches (I think all girls do!);
2) Ghost Movies;
3) Getting fat

Three people who make me laugh
1) My Husband;
2) My nephew, Bruce with his innocent questions;
3) Bill Cosby

Three things I love
1) My Family and Friends;
2) Peace of Mind;
3) Exercise

Three things I hate
1) Loud & Aggressive People;
2) Being late;
3) A Sunny Day and nowhere to go

Three things I don't understand
1) Electronics lingo that my hubby talks at work;
2) Some dialects in Singapore, like Hakka and Hock Chew;
3) Baby crying

Three things on my desk
1) My husband's photo;
2) My Notebook;
3) The Poem - Desiderata

Three things I am doing right now
1) Waiting for the rain to stop, hopefully we get to dine out;
2) Chatting with my friends online;
3) Sharing a piece of mooncake with my hubby

Three things I want to do before I die
1) Run the Marathon;
2) Accept myself and my life;
3) Travel

Three things I can do
1) Crochet and Knit;
2) Speak basic German & Spanish;
3) Forgive easily

Three things I can’t do
1) Sacrifice Life for Money;
2) Be more lady-like;
3) Eat meat

Three things I think you should listen to
1) Good Quotations - It steers your life in the right direction;
2) Car horning - To check if it is horning at you!
3) Words of the Elders - They have a wealth of experience to impart to you

Three things you should never listen to
1) Gossips;
2) People talking in private;
3) People badmouthing you

Three shows I watched as a kid
1) The life story of KuanYin - My grandpa brought my brother and I to watch this show which I can never forget;
2) The White Hair Demoness - I had a nightmare after this show that I watched with my parents and brother;
3) Care Bears - This cartoon was shown every Sunday at 10am. We never missed it.

Here are the ones I hope have time to do this Double Meme:
* Trinity of Rooms of My Heart;
* BayintNaung;

* IBlogger;
* The First Word Blog;
* At First Steps

Awards - Belated Gratitude

2007-08-19T09:52:00.000+08:00

I am very very behind in replying to tags and memes and many fabulous awards that my good friends have bestowed upon my humble blogs.

I received this Inspirational Blogger Award from Jennifer of Goodness Gracious more than two weeks ago (ya...I ought to be ashamed). * Chuckles * I am sure my delay in even acknowledging this award is no inspiration to anyone. Honest. I have been busy. So to dear Jennifer, Thank You!!! I am so honoured. I also received the same award from Inner Reflection of Universe in a Single Atom. Thanks!!

So, who shall I pass this award on to? ** Ta Ta Ta ....

- Robert of Compassionate Council -
His blog is a good read. You would be amazed by the challenges that
he consciously put himself through in life.
Robert, you deserve this!

- Sam of Acquire Wisdom and Live with Passion -
I am sure most of you would have known of this good site.
Sam's site is such an inspiration to me.
My recommended reading time is first thing in the morning
while you are drinking your coffee.
Very often, his articles help to anchor some aspects of your life in the
correct perspective.

- Surjit of Gurushabad -
Ya, Surjit, I know that you already have this award proudly displayed on your blog.
But your blog really inspires me daily.
I hope that double receiving this award motivates you to blog
continually in this way that you motivate others!

I received this Thoughtful Blogger Award from my dear Singapore Friend (a very young and pretty mummy of two boys), Janice of This is a Miracle. Actually I do not really understand what Thoughtful means. Does it mean thoughtful as in a person that is thoughtful of the feelings of others? Or does it mean thoughtful as in a person who thinks a lot. Upon contemplation, I decided I should belong to the latter. Jan, correct me if I have interpret this wrongly.

And who am I passing this award on to ...

* Jacqueline of Aideni *
I was deeply touched by her thinking blog where she narrates the many
challenges that she is facing in her life at the moment.
This is one thoughtful woman of inner strength.
I hope this award gives her strength in any little ways to walk through
the difficulties that she is facing in her life right now.
Brave On Jac!!

* The Blessed One of Worn Out Woman *
Another blog of a woman of strength.
The sweet face of her avatar conceals the determination that she wants
to stay positive despite how worn out she actually is.
Blessed One! You deserve this one!

I received this Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award from Lili of Feel Happy like 10 days ago. I have been thinking for the past few days what this award actually means. Am I contributing to positive global change because of the honesty of my shallow blog that is more a bucket for my silly thoughts and any hopes of bring global change! Not to mention positive ones!

I am in a dilemma here. As some of you might know, I am now in the Say No Evil Boot Camp. The rules for the camp requires me not to lie. No flowery speech as well. I find myself browsing through my blogroll to find someone to pass the award to and get "my work done and over". But alas! My conscience calls to me. If I simply bestow this upon anyone I "kinda favour" on my blogroll, this would constitute to Flowery Speech. Plus I would be lying.

So for this award, I am passing on to no one at the moment. I will give myself more time to think and choose an appropriate recipient. Lili, please forgive me. But I will do it. Later.

ps. All awards to WaterLearner are put up in Journey with WaterLearner.

Explore your Creativity

2007-08-17T13:22:00.000+08:00

I just added the widget that enables you to doodle whatever you wish and it will be saved in an URL address for you to retrieve or save as JPG file. Quite a fun tool to play and use. The picture above is my first creation. Try it. Explore your creativity!

One Month Old

2007-08-14T18:13:00.001+08:00

Today we shall celebrate our one month old marriage. My hubby is not one to plan expensive or romantic dinners. It is not that he is stingy. It's just that he truly believes in the importance of good company rather than food. Hence, it would be a simple dinner a hawker centre for us.

I recall how he once spent the whole afternoon shopping at grocery stall to prepare a dinner to surprise me. Boy was I surprise! I never knew that eating fried eggs, bean sprouts and I-Love-U tofu could taste so sweet then!

Ta Ta ... Leaving for my one month anniversary dinner now!

Dilemma

2007-08-13T15:08:00.001+08:00

* Then *

* Now *

Mum is asking me to keep long hair again. More woman-like she says. With my frequent exercise regimes, I prefer to keep it short.

What do you think?

Going Home on Time

2007-08-10T15:00:00.000+08:00

"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU"

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits InfoSys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India. He is incidentally, one of the top 50 influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also the new IT Advisor to
the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session: I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace.

Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.

Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who are not working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.
As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday. Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives.

For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:

1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap.
Things will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence,
"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" -
Narayana Murthy -

the above article was sent to me by a friend.

Monopoly - A Poem

2007-08-08T23:58:00.000+08:00

A game for two, three or more;

Who is the winner of them all?

For all start at the same one point;

Few throws of dice render all no longer in joint.
*

Some take an aggressive path;

The more the merrier so they think.

Buying whatever chance brings them upon;

Properties of different colours they adorn.
*

Some seek to divide and conquer;

By Rules of Probability they conjure.

Railway Stations and Utilities are choices they purchase;

Believing higher chances of victory they have encased.
*

One aims for only the best;

Bond Street, Park Lane or MayFair.

For only the finest deserve his efforts;

No doubt this is not a sure-win method.
*

Others take the path of diplomacy;

Buy and trade is their policy.

Win-win situations they seek to establish;

Allies before the final vanquish.
*

Whatever strategy one may take;

There is no sure way to win the stake.

The best choice of action that one make;

Can be one of another's mistake.
*

Alas! This is all but a game;

Victory is all but a name.

The joy lies in the whole process;

Not some ultimate prize to be possessed.

- 15Feb2005, Karen -

I wrote the above poem in 2005. You can see that I like the game quite a lot to pen a poem on it. I recalled this poem when I read Surjit's good post today, Enjoying The Moment. So very often, in Monopoly or in any aspects of our lives, we can get too attached to some goal that we hope to achieve, and sacrifice this very moment that we live.

I shall share with my good readers on of my favourite quotations (unfortunately I can't recall the writer at this moment in time)

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Dance like no one is watching,
Work like you do not need the money,
Live like today is your last!
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10 Things that Happened to Me

2007-08-05T18:16:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by Pretty Jan to write a post on 10 things that happened to me:

Homework done. My Ten Things. In chronological order:

1) Origin of Impatience?

I was borned two weeks early. Mom always said that I was impatient right from the start in her womb. And I was borned with a hole in my heart! That freaked that hell out of my parents! They said that among the three of us (I have one elder brother and one younger sister), I got whacked by them the least. As they were afraid of me dying from fear if they whacked me!

The hole slowly "disappeared" as I grew and my last checkup at the doctors was when I was 11.

2) I Hate Dentists!

My first "date" with the dentist happened when I was five. I had a tooth decay and naturally that tooth was aching pretty badly. My dad was the one who brought me to the dentist. When I was put on the robotic-looking-chair, I refused to stay still. The worst came when the dentist came with a needle to numb the pain before extracting the tooth. I leaped out of the chair and ran all over the place. Refusing to face the horrible looking needle.

It took my dad much effort to finally catch me. Was the tooth extracted? Of course! My dad sat on the seat and I sat on his lap. His arms firmly around me while I struggled. The nurse forced my mouth open. But well, I found out that it was not so painful after all.

3) Ghostly Encounter

I used to be very afraid of ghosts. It might have orignated from a movie called White-Hair-Monster-Lady that I watched when I was small.

I had narrated how I conquered this fear in Point 5 of this post.

4) Power of Shame

My family moved to Bedok when I was 10. When we moved there, I joined Pri 3 of Temask Primary School. I was not very used to the pupils and missed my friends quite badly. The initial period of adjustment caused me to lack in attention in class. I also lost interest in school work.

One day, I got "summoned" to the front of the class by my Mathematics Teacher, Mrs Rashid (God! I still remember her name after so many years!). She narrated my laziness in not doing corrections for quite a few consecutive homeworks. I was quite unaffected by what she said until she pull my ear and twisted it!

At that moment, I was so filled with humiliation. But I did not cry (I wonder why??!!). I just quietly went back to my place.

When I went home, I did not tell my parents what had happened to me. Instead, I told them I wanted to buy some Enrichment Books on Mathematics to do on my own. They were surprised by were more than happy to buy for me. My grades improved trememdously henceforth. And of course, I never forgot to do my corrections from then on.

If Mrs Rashid of Temasek Primary School can read this, she might be happy!

5) First Job

I had my first job that lasted one month after my A Levels while I was waiting for my results. I was assigned to assist in a department in the Bank of East Asia for one month. The pay was about SGD7.00 per hour and I was to do some typing for them.

It was quite an eye-opening experience for me. My parents were so supportive of me "working" in Central Business District of Singapore that they bought a pair of high-heeled office like looking shoes for me.

The one month went by very quickly and work was quite fun. I remember that on the last day of my assignment, the whole department brought me out for lunch. I also remember tears flowing down my cheeks as I waved goodbye to them when I walked out the office for the last time. It was a nostalgic moment for me, somehow.

6) One Thing that Never Happened to Me

I never ever win anything in lucky draws! Call it Unlucky Star or some divine lesson that Life is trying to teach me. I was hoping I have one lucky draw win to write about in this post. But it was NEVER! I never win anything by luck. If there were anything I had won, it was by pure hardwork be it in athletic, academic or work arena.

7) Wedding Bells

As some of you might know. I got married quite recently last month. Planning for a wedding was not a as romantic experience as most girls would have fantacized. In fact, there were quite many squabbles between the two of us during the preparation.

As I was confused by the realities and at times even having second thoughts about marriage, I was glad I had the advice and listening ears of my very good buddies.

A good friend of mine told me, "Do not think that only sweet nothings and romantic dinners are good. Quarrels are very important and useful in a relationship if you know how to use them. It is during quarrels that mis-alignment in needs and also difference in views would surface." I am so glad I heard that.

8) Weight Issue I lost about 10kg during the last four years due to work stress. Look at the chubby me in the picture above before and look at my avatar and you would know.

9) Talk to me Softly

I don't like conflicts. I am secretly scared of people talking to me loudly. Surprisingly, my "natural volume" when I talk to people tends to be quite high. Erm... Maybe it's karma at work then! Hence just recently I resolved to try to talk to people more gently. You might see me blog about the results of my efforts in some future blog.

10) The Power of Friendship

I always treasure friends. And I believe that as far as good friends are concerned, it is not the quantity. But the quality.

I am blessed to be granted so many good friends in the world of blogging recently. Janice, for one, has been so concerned when I recently had a bad bout of stomach infection and had to do a series of tests.

As I thank this Pretty Gal to grant me this chance to walk down memory lane to narrate Ten Things that happened to me, I hereby tag the following good bloggers to do the same:

* My Cousin WanYing in Mince No Words. She just started her blog not too long ago. Please visit her blog to offer your valuable comments ok?

* Life Samadhi with his constant writeups on Gratitude.

* Miss Loi, a private tutor in Singapore. Check out her site with very good writeups for aspiring students. She is now very busy as O-Levels is drawing near. I call her the O-Levels Guru!

* Winston, another private tutor in Singapore. I called him the PSLE Guru!

* Sam of Simple Life. His life motto is Don't Worry, Be Happy! I like that!

* Miss Quotes of Scrapbooking Ideas and Tips. Miss Quotes' site is full of creative ideas on Scrapbooking. I really hope to know more about this sunshine girl from Singapore!

* Dave of Wandering The Ether. His site is full of information. A Good Read.

* Trish Scott the proud leader of the Breathing Community.

* Keeyit, a blog that I discovered recently. Her recent short post on Face Life with a Smile is a good read.

* Joanne's good blog on I'm a Happy Fish. She believes that one can't help others without first helping oneself. She is one cheerful and never-say-die girl. Check out her interesting blog.

Innocence

2007-08-03T17:06:00.001+08:00

Bruce, my nephew, is the apple of my heart. I really enjoy talking and doting on this youngest son of my brother.
He asked his mom one day, "Mummy! Do you know what would happen if I eat the whole bag of gummy bears?"
Before his mom could answer him, he clapped his hands and leaped off the sofa while shouting, "I would have rainbow vomit lor!!"
How innocent, don't you think so?

Code MMMM - My Mummy Misses Me

2007-08-01T18:37:00.001+08:00

Mummy has been calling me quite often since I got married. As I was not feeling well the last few days and did not call her, I had a "complaint call" from her today asking "why no news huh?".

When I told her that I as down was gastric these past few days and in fact had a scope done this morning, I got endless questions from her why I had kept her in the dark. After "pacifying" her that the ultrasound and scope both revealed nothing wrong with me, she then insisted that I should "camp over" back home again so that she could cook some nutritious meals for me.

Mummy summoned. WaterLearner has to go back home tomorrow.

Note: The above picture was taken with my doting parents more than two years back when we spent nine days in Taiwan.

Tummy Problem

2007-07-31T15:11:00.000+08:00

I might have eaten something wrong over the weekend. I vomitted badly on Sunday night and woke up on Monday morning with whole body aching, and gastric pain. Went to see a doctor and got a referral to a specialist in Mount Elizabeth this morning. The doctor suggested:

* Blood Test to check if I am lacking some nutrients due to my vegetarian diet;
* Ultrasound to check if I have stones in my gall bladder, pancreas and liver as these might give the same symtoms as gastric pain;
* Endoscope to detect if I have ulcers in my tummy.

Aung insisted that I go for all three of them.

So the doctor referred me to go for the ultrasound immediately. I would have to fast after midnight and go for the blood test and endoscope tomorrow.

Getting used to Married Life

2007-07-29T12:57:00.000+08:00

I am a two weeks old Mrs and still trying to get used to life living with my in-laws. My mum is worried that I might not be comfortable and calls me quite frequently to lend a listening ear to me. I guess no matter how good and thoughtful my mother-in-law is, the connection I have with my own parents for more than thirty years can't be overtaken.

I met Ah Bao for breakfast yesterday. She just can't stop talking about her coming-to-9 months-old Oliver. I can't blame her. Oliver is really cute. Ah Bao gave me many tips on getting used to married life. How adjust myself. When to close one eye. We would definitely be meeting more regularly. Before she had Oliver, we used to meet once or twice every week. To gossip, shop, confide in each other. We made a pact yesterday to meet more often again like in the past. I am glad. See how crazy we were just two years back before she got pregnant.