Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Daily Insight

One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true of false. It comes to be dominating thought in one's mind.

-Robert Collier-

Monday, January 29, 2007

Nice read

Read this article 2 weeks ago in the Sunday Lifestyle and it just captured beautifully what I have been experiencing & feeling ... was quite speechless as to how to pen down my thoughts and so just kept the article in my handbag, trying to wait for my thoughts to crystalise ...

Well, that didn't happen. :P

Was talking to a very good friend yesterday about this article and found that it is actually available electronically! So here it is ... you might not share the same sentiments as I do about this article, but nonetheless, a good read (in my opinion). I always like Sumiko Tan and this article just reinforces my support for her :P She rocks!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Shiokz!

Just back from my swim ..... can swim liao! Though still not good and I get very very very breathless after just swimming a short short distance, but hey, at least I can float without using the float! *victory*
Today my teacher pushed me harder and instead of the usual 2 laps (note that one lap of a private pool is MUCH shorter than the lap on a public pool hor), she made me swim 4 laps each time. And by the end of the 4 laps (punctuated by a short break during each lap) I'm always like heaving and gasping for air! Obviously I'm still tooo tense while swimming (makes a mental note to self to relax more and not be sooo phobic in water) but I think this is the best workout I have had since being injured!


But now I'm sneezing away .... the water was cold and it was really windy tonite. Freakin Freezin!!!! Hope I haven't catch a chill .... let's see how I feel tomorrow .... better dun fall sick!

Swim teacher said she will teach me how to tread water, and the back-stroke soon. Hooray! *big grin*

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

KL Pacesetters

Hit by no-mood-to-blog-bug. So will not be blogging about my trip up to KL for the KL Pacesetters.

Thanks to my partners-in-jiak, who have very efficiently blogged about our experiences in KL. Since I spent most of my waking hours with them, reading their blogs is good enough to document what I did too ...

so here goes ... read this and this.

Friday, January 19, 2007

To KL

So we are all going to KL this evening .... majority, as I found out, will be going via train while some of us are going via coach.

Been wanting to try out the Transtar first class (tink this is the CLOSEST i will ever get to travelling first class haha) coach ever since it was launched like years ago. But i never get a chance to try it. And FINALLY I'll be trying it tonight! YIPEEEE!!! Though I wouldn't be able to run, but at least this coach thingy is one thing i'm soooo looking fwd to. It better be comfy with plush seats etc!!!

Hope to meet up with the rest of the SGRunners folks in KL! Will be a big group of us ! *Happy*

See u runners there! :)

Monday, January 15, 2007

Blood Diamond

I just watched the movie Blood Diamond. First heard about this movie from chao mien. Didn't think I would be interested in such a "heavy" storyline but was intrigued to watch it after my swimming teacher gave me rave reviews about this show.

So on Sunday, being sian about having nothing better to do, and not wanting to waste my weekend just rotting at home, I decided to go catch this movie ...

And am I glad I did. The movie is simply awesome! In short it is about how rough diamonds are used by rebel movements to to finance wars against the legitimate government and how civil war is rife in the country and killing is rampant. I was totally engaged in the show the entire 2+ hours! Although the story isn't real, but I think most of it is based on what is / was actually happening in Africa. So armed with my curiosity, I googled to find out a little more about blood diamonds:

  1. Watch this to have a very quick & simplified understanding of what this is all about.

  2. Conflict diamonds - Conflict diamonds, sometimes called blood diamonds, are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal operations of rebel, military and terrorist groups. Countries that have been most affected by conflict diamonds are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- all places where citizens have been terrorized, mutilated and killed by groups in control of the local diamond trade.

  3. Kimberly Process Certification Scheme - There indeed is such a process. Why Kimberly ? Because in May 2000, Southern African diamond producing states met in Kimberley, South Africa, to come up with a way to stop the trade in conflict diamonds so that consumers could be confident that their diamond purchases do not contribute to violent conflict or human rights abuses.

    However, there are also reports that say the Kimberly Process, which is self-regulatory and voluntary, is nothing more than a public relations stunt in the part of the diamond industry. You can read more about it here.

    Download this to find out what you, as a consumer, can do when purchasing diamonds.

I'm sure this movie will help spread awareness about this illicit activity that is on-going in Africa (I for one is now a little educated about how my desire for a small little rock may cost so many people their lives). No doubt such awareness may be temporary and people will forget as time passes, especially when the repurcussions cannot be seen nor felt by the consumers, I'm still glad that this movie was made and brought the world to the attention of how millions of people out there are still suffering from such trade. While we are a population blessed with the everyday comfort and luxuries (all we worry about is having more $$, more time, less fats - haha, finding our purpose in life etc.), there are still millions out there suffering and living in hell. Worse of all, being tortured and abused and massacred by their own countrymen.

Well, with Valentine's Day near, do think about (and ask the few basic questions as mentioned in point 3 above) if you are choosing a rock for your loved one.

Is this going to put off the general public in buying diamonds ? Of course not. But hopefully people may start to insist on conflict free diamonds. Its only when there is demand and pressure from the market, that more could be done.

Highly recommended movie. In fact, one of the better movies I have watched in recent years.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

To the Gym ...

I had the opportunity to try out the Fitness First OUB Centre branch today. All thanks to JT who is extremely kind to offer to bring me to the gym so that I can have a look around (I wanted to practise my swim). Thanks JT! Very very kind of you *MUACKS*

The branch at OUB Centre is pretty old but it has an outdoor pool and outdoor studio for spinning and body pump classes (& possibly many others). Very interesting concept to have an outdoor studio really.

As we were too early for the spin class, JT brought me to their other branch in One George St. Wow, that branch is newer definitely and has this pool that overlooks CBD and the Esplanade!!! Wow!!! Am I in awe or am i in awe ?? JT said that the view at night is even more spectacular. We saw this ang mo sprawled comfortably in this beach chair reading a book. The cool weather, reprieve from the recent incessant rain, makes outdoor nuah-ing/relaxing extremely conducive.
Even the walk back to OUB Centre was relaxing because it was a non-work day and the whole CBD was just peaceful. There wasn't the usual hustle and rush that we are all so used to and coupled with the cool weather and breeze, the walk back albeit short was simply enjoyable.

The spin class was alright. Its been MONTHS since I last attended a spin class. And what with my lack of strenuous activity for the past 3 months, my cardiovascular has taken an obvious beating. I was hardly able to catch up and less than 10 mins into the spin I was like wondering how much longer I could survive. Needless to say, I didn't follow the trainer's que to up the resistance. Felt really tired and breathless. Sometimes life can be so ironical. 3 months ago I was just thinking to myself that I was at my fittest and now, 3 months after, my fitness level is its lowest ebb. Ah well ...

Its actually very interesting to have a spin class out in the open. My very first experience and I enjoy it tremendously. The biggest contributing factor is not the class itself but because of the nice cool weather. Its really great to have the cool breeze blowing at you while you spin away. Shiok! But I can't imagine how they can spin when the sun is out, especially during the lunch time class. The place would be baking, how they could spin under such adverse conditions is beyond me.

After the spin, I went for a swim to practice my strokes before my next lesson with my teacher. The pool (unheated) is 1.4m deep and though a small pool, it served my purpose. There was only 1 other lady who was swimming in the pool and so I wasn't feeling too stressed out nor conscious about my not being able to swim :P I even managed to try running in the pool. Not sure whether I was doing it correctly though coz I was just trying to simulate running in the pool, which was really hard and I ended up tiptoe-ing the first few times and I had to consciously force my feet to touch the floor before i took the next step. It was almost as in I was running in slow motion and I guessed I must have looked really silly not swimming but running (or trying to !) in the pool. Thankfully my skin has thickened considerably as I age and hence I wasn't too bothered when people shot me funny looks :P


JT had to leave earlier for her next appointment while I stayed on to practise my swim a little longer before leaving.

I have to say that I'm just soo impressed with JT. This gal IS popular! Almost everyone at the gym knows her and the place seems like her second home! Amazing! :) Oh, and the sua ku me was very very impressed by this swimsuit dryer machine that they have! Didn't know of such an equipment until JT showed it to me. It spins dry your swimsuit in 5-10seconds flat. Ok, not exactly dry dry but hey, it makes the swimsuit so much lighter and easier to dry! :)

I should have done this earlier right after getting injured ... haha ... THANKS to JT once again! *MUACKS*

Friday, January 12, 2007

Physio 8

Just checked my blog entries. My last physio session was 20 Dec. So it has been a good 3 weeks since my last physio.

Was raining on and off the whole morning and it decided to get heavier by the time i was travelling to Simei. Well, as the physiotherapist said 3 weeks ago, they couldn't find anything particularly wrong with me, not with my running gait, nor my physical body. Hence, she did a re-assessment of my body from my feet all the way to my hip area. Just to see what she could have missed out the first time round. She noticed that my right hip tend to over compensate (for my weaker left ankle/leg) by tilting upwards when i do one-leg bends. That might potentially be a reason for my problem, but she couldn't be certain. Apart from that nothing much.

So I went on the treadmill to start a 1.2km SLOW (at 8km/hour) run as instructed by the doctor the last time I saw him (to start on the run after 1 more month of rest). I felt awkward, almost like an elephant running !!! :( Not a good feeling but still, I'm just glad I'm at least starting to run a little again, albeit slow and extremely pathetic distances!! I think I must be doing badly that one trainer actually came over to ask me whether I was alright! -_-"

As I ran, my physio came over to observe briefly my running gait. Both of us noticed that somehow my knees are nearer when I run now!!! *HORRORS* You mean my knock knees problem is worsening ???!!! *panic*

She asked whether there are any pains when I run, and thankfully there were none. So she just left me to my running and said that we will meet up 2 weeks from now. To give her time to read up more about what could have caused my problem, and to give me time to train under my doc's instructions and to report on my condition & progress thereafter.

So I just finished up my run, did another 1.2km walk (sian sian sian!!!) and ended my physio session.

First time my physio session cost so little! Less than $20!!! Almost fell off my chair haha :P But its good to see the friendly trainers again.

One good thing that came out of this session is that I met Tekko at the gym. He was also there for his physio session and was religiously doing his reps. We chatted a bit before we continued with our own workouts. We ended our respective sessions at about the same time and we headed to the soya bean / snack shop beside the clinic for some drinks & chit chat. Good to catch up with Tekko! Haven't seen him for a while already. Thanks to Tekko for his advices (not to run too much -_-", to cross-train etc.) and also VERY glad that Tekko is coming back strong after his surgery barely 5 months ago! Well, of course his hard work & determination paid off. Tekko told me that he worked out 6 days a week and no matter how busy (or sian) he is, he would still religiously do his workouts daily. WOW!!!! *kow tow* I'm such a SLACKER compared to him :P

Ok, let's see how things go ba for the next 2 weeks .... there are people who were surprised that I actually returned to see the physio :P Thought I gave up already ... yeah ... I'm about to ... see how ba ....

First Day of Work in 2007

Today marks my first day of work in 2007 ... wahahaha .....

Feeling super sleepy because I haven't had enough sleep for the past 2 days ..... just minutes into the office and I'm just waiting for the time to knock off ..... this is bad ..... REAlly BAD!!!

Ok, time to start work and clear my mountain high of emails ....

Happy Friday everyone! :)

BackToWorkSleepyJazz

Thursday, January 11, 2007

A $0.38 Feast

As mentioned, have to THANK Roentgen for organising this Post Exam Dinner for me. *bow*
(After finishing my blog post did I realised Roentgen had also blogged about his experience here)

Roentgen, who had some Crystal Jade vouchers to utilise before they expire next week, was very kind to share the vouchers with us tonight. Initially we were keen to try the Crystal Jade Palace at Takashimaya but we were totally snubbed at by the Manager-on-duty! I was extremely put off by his condescending attitude towards us when Roentgen enquired about the use of his vouchers and he was not at all keen to entertain us (issit because we were using vouchers and hence were not considered paying customers???!!!!). He was totally unfriendly (refused to accept the vouchers) and bordering towards rude (he was not even making eye contact with us but smiled so sweetly and cordially when some other customer walked in! totally UNACCEPTABLE customer service *tsk tsk*) I could almost feel my arteries near bursting point. We didn't want to bother wasting our time talking to him any further than we should and prolly destroy anymore good cells in our bodies, so we left and decided to "test" out the other Crystal Jade chains in the vicinity (There are a good 6 or more CJ chains in Taka itself as we found out from the directory list later in the evening). Interestingly enough, the other 2 CJ branches readily accepted the vouchers without any problems! To think the CJ Palace Mgr even boldly claimed that NONE of the other CJ branches would accept the vouchers! What insolence!

Anyway, I digressed ... just need to get this out of my system. Ok now, the happier stuff ... :)

Finally, we settled on this Crystal Jade Jiang Nan Cuisine which served Shanghainese, Jiang Nan etc. cuisine. We ordered quite a number of dishes which I'm too concussed now to recall any of their names. Some pictures for u to drool over ... unfortunately the food wasn't much to rave about, but the place & service were excellent. The restaurant even have a bar/lounge for drinking. Quite a nice place to hang out .. but a bit pricey ...

JT even got me a piece of swiss roll to reward me for passing my exam! Wow, so sweet!! THANKS JT!! :D
Amid all the interesting food sampling and nice, warm & wonderful company, we spent a good 2 hours just eating and yakking.

When the bill came (we were still wondering whether we had busted the voucher limit or under ordered), we were sooooo proud of ourselves to find out that we were only $1.52 over the voucher budget! IMPRESSIVE!!! With 4 of us, that works out to $0.38 per pax for this high-class meal! What a steal, all thanks to Roentgen!

Thanks again to JT, Taz & Roentgen for the wonderful company tonight. It really is such a nice feeling to have friends to rally around you and to celebrate some happy occassion with!! I felt so light-hearted today, not just because one stressor is out of my system, but more so because I have wonderful friends to share this joy with. Thanks for being around for me :)

After ...

months of deliberation (on whether to go for the course) ....
weeks of apprehension (on when to sign up for the exam) ...
days of whining cramming ...
hours of intense concentration ...
minutes of anticipation ... (for the exam results) ...
and finally ...
...
...
...
...
...
...
seconds of jubilation ...
I ...
am ...
happy ...
to ...
report ...
that ...

...

I pass my exam !!! HIP HIP HOOORAY!!!
\(^_^)/

Got to thank my dear dear dear friends for ....
  1. putting up with my constant whining for the past week
  2. entertaining me & keeping me company over MSN during my rest/breaks
  3. spurring me on and reminding me not to give up
  4. having the faith & confidence in me that "I can do it!"
  5. praying for me
  6. remembering and wishing me good luck for my exams (especially to Taz, Loti, JT & Roentgen and my non-running friends Allan & da jie)
For all these, I thank thee. *bow so low tip of head touches the ground*

Special THANK YOU goes out to Roentgen, who despite his super hectic schedule lately, even round up some kakis to have a Post Exam Destress dinner for me. Wow! Am bowled over by such kind gesture!!! THANK YOU so much oldBones!!!! I feel extremely honoured and blessed. Thanks to BOP & SMoSK for spending the evening with me. Big Big Gam Siah!

More updates coming up .... for now, I shall try to get some sleep

:)
LuckyBlessedHappyJazzy

Road to Recovery

For latest, read here

18 Feb - 5.3km run & walk (on road)
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: Yes
Stretching: Yes
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

16 Feb - spin
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: Yes
Stretching: Yes
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

15 Feb - run on the road 30mins 4km
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: No
Stretching: Yes
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10 (mild right shin pain for a short while)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

13 Feb - swim 40 mins spin 40mins
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: No
Stretching: No
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 1/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

12 Feb - Run 5km walk 0.5km
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: Yes
Stretching: Yes
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 1/10 (occassional mild tingling pain on both shins)

8 Feb - *HORRORS* woke up with pain on left shin, walk with pain on back of outer left ankle. Run 3.5km walk 0.2km
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: No
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 2/10 (pain on every step at outer left back ankle and occassionally on left shin)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - ??/10

7 Feb
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: Yes
swim

6 Feb - run 5km walk 0.4km
spin
Ankle exercies: No
HIP exercies: No
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

5 Feb - swim
Ankle exercies: Yes
HIP exercies: Yes

4 Feb - run 3.2km on track (pain on right shin sets in towards 3km) walk 0.3km
Ankle exercies: Yes
HIP exercies: Yes
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 1/10 (mild discomfort on every step)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

3 Feb
Ankle exercies : Yes
HIP exercies: No
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 2/10 (SHIT!!!!!)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10 (on and off)

2 Feb - run 3km (pain on right shin sets in towards 2.5km) walk 0.5km run 1km walk 0.5km (Total 4.5km run 1km walk)
HIP exercises : Yes (some)
Ankle exercises: No
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 2/10 (SHIT!!!!!)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10 (on and off)

31 Jan - run 4.5km walk 0.2km
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10 (although on and off I felt "something" on my right shin - prolly just to remind me of its existence)

29 Jan - run 4km walk 0.4km
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10 (still slight discomfort on my right shin)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10 (feel some pain/discomfort on and off for both shins - haiz)

26 Jan - run 5km walk 0.4km
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 1/10 (feeling pain on my RIGHT shin now ?!?!?!?! *&$&(*^*$&@^%*!!!)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10

24 Jan - run 3km walk 0.4km
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10 (felt calf pain towards 2.9km so stopped at 3km)
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10
Swim lesson - 1hr 40mins

18 Jan - run 1.8km walk 0.6km
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 1/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 2/10
*(%*&)@*&^@(^!

16 Jan - run 1.3km walk 1.1km
swim - practised for 45 mins
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10
Good!

13 Jan - run 1.3km walk 1.1 km
swim - practised swimming for 1 hour interspersed with pool running
Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10
Good!

11 Jan
- walk 0.3km run 1.2km walk 1.2km

Pain-o-meter recorded during activity - 0/10
Pain-o-meter recorded 1 day after activity - 0/10
Good!

Friday, January 05, 2007

Hard Habit to Break ...

Me been trying very very hard to break a bad habit .... 5 days already and counting ... wish me luck!

Read somewhere that it takes 21 days for a habit to be formed. I suppose that applies to forming a good habit ?

How do you break a bad habit ? Any suggestions will be welcome :)

My wish

is to go for a run NOW!!!
AN LSD! Run til I drop!
RUN RUN RUN!!!

:P

May You Be Blessed

Just got this from angelica_wonders ....

very beautiful clip (in both the message & the photography). Pls take some time to watch it. Its almost tranquil watching the clip and trying to remember the message ...

Managed to copy out the message and here it is ...

May you be blessed with all things good

May your joys, like the stars at night, be too numerous to count

May your victories be more abundant than all the grains of sand, on all the beaches, on all the oceans, in all the world

May lack and struggle be always absent from your life

And may beauty, order and abundance be your constant companions

May every pathway you choose lead to that which is pure and good and lovely

May every doubt and fear be replaced by a deep, abiding trust as you behold evidence of a High Power all around you

And when there is only darkness and the storms of life are closing in

May the light at the core of your being illuminate the world

May you always be aware you are loved beyond measure and you be willing to love unconditionally in return

May you always feel protected and cradled in the arms of God like the cherished child you are

And when you are tempted to judge may you be reminded that we are all one and that every thought you think reverberates across the universe touching everyone and everything

And when you are tempted to hold back, may you remember love flows best when it flows freely

And it is in giving that we hold the greatest gift

May you always have music and laughter

And may a rainbow follow every storm

May gladness wash away every disappointment may joy dissovle every sorrow and may love cease every pain

May every wound bring wisdom, every trial bring triumph

And with each passing day

May you live more abundantly then the day before

May you be blessed and may others be blessed by you

This is my heartfelt wish for you

May you be blessed.

Ok, I can't say I agree totally with the above. I don't agree that lack and struggle can be absent from one's life. Without lack nor struggle, how can we appreciate what we have ? How can we learn and be wiser from it ? As the message ensued, it said "May every wound brings wisdom". I agree with that.

"Love flows best when it flows freely" - you think so ?I dunno. I guess from what I've heard from friends so far... with all the baggage and past hurt, its very difficult for any sane adult to do this wholeheartedly ? :P awww well, its late... got to get some sleep. Think KJ is spouting lots of nonsense ...


Wednesday, January 03, 2007

New Year Countdown

Been busy and actually didn't want to blog about what I've been doing for the crossover to 2007, but somehow it just seems like something is amiss if I don't just do it. Argh! So for the sake of quelling that something inside me bugging me about not blogging, I'll just post a short one just to get it over with :P A very nice entry from Roentgen can be found here.

Been a great start to year 2007. Started with a celebration with the usual gang. THANKS to Roentgen who picked JT & me up to go to MR so that JT could pass the HWA bag to ultraman. Very nice to meet up with some of the SGRunners whom I haven't got to see since SCSM. Now that I dun run, dun get to meet up with these nice folks. Saw Meteor & Alvo, Cheow12 & wife, Cfred & Charmane, Bee, Cosmic, Sotong, Sxuanjing (who was busy taking pics), Stalza (not sure the spelling), angelice_wonders, tiwazz and many others. Most of them have done one or two rounds of the ultramarathon. Managed to catch up a bit with Charmane. We stayed for about an hour before leaving and were thrilled when we managed to cheer Bala, Ronnie & Teelee on our way out of MR! Even teelee looked shagged which is rare!

As Roentgen had previously arranged for us to while away our New Year's Eve afternoon at Settler's Cafe at Holland Village, we decided to head to there for lunch where we had yummilicious Mushroom Madness Oven Baked Rice & Pizza at NYDC. Lucky me rode on Roentgen's good fortune (whom JT wanted to treat for lunch), and got myself a free lunch. Thanks JT ! *bow*


Settler's Cafe was tucked quietly in a corner of a HDB void deck. I felt out of place when I first stepped in because the place was clearly packed with youngsters! Aiyo, felt like some auntie caught in the wrong place :P We nonetheless had a good time there and time passed really quickly.

We then met up with Divey at Wiener Kaffhaus - the Austrain coffee house. I chose the place for its simplicity (small & cosy) & serenity (I know we can have a quiet time there without having to raise our voice above the din just to hear ourselves). The food that night was alright, it wasn't as fantastic as the first time I was there (especially for the vegetarian sandwich). But I was pleasantly surprised by this pancake dessert with raisins (which had been soaked in liquor). JT led the conversation that night with serious discussions about NKF, our major plans for 2007 and about life, friendships, relationships and the like.

JT left us for her next appointment at 10pm leaving the three of us continue to yak away a bit more at Wiener before we concurred to adjourn to Villa Bali for after-dinner drinks.

The place was alright. Open-air but sheltered so even if it rained we wouldn't be soaked. We binged on their free flow of potato strips (think I counted our tidbit bowl was replenished like 6 times or more ! :P) and chatted over drinks. There weren't active conversations, basically we just ended up stoning. Even the usually gregarious and full of nonsense Roentgen was more subdue that night. Probably everyone just seemed a little more reflective, more deep in their own thoughts.

We welcomed 2007 with little fanfare. Had this super CMI guy counting down to the New Year and totally FAILED in psyching up the crowd (oh, I think he wasn't even attempting to !) We amused ourselves just seeing the bunch of young waiters/waitresses having fun when the clock strikes 12. Spraying one another with the confetti spray cans.

We finally left the place at 3am. Wow! HIP hor. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever been out counting down on NY eve. *shake head* Let's hope I will get to do this every year ....

THANKS to JT, Divey & Roentgen for agreeing to spend the New Year's eve with boring me. *Bow* Really enjoy your company and your friendship! :)


Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Charlotte's Web

I just went to catch this movie on New Year's day and I have to say I love it !

Its a very simple story but very heart-warming and beautiful. Again reminding us about the true significance of friendship and also about the ordinary miracles around us. Apart from the heart-warming lessons, there are also harsh realities presented in a gentle way such as you can't keep one's attention or curiosity for long. Something that seemed extraordinary today, will become forgotten or lose its nobility tomorrow. And that when someone/something has lost its value, he/she/it will be discarded.

One of the original songs in this movie is Ordinary Miracle sung by Sarah McLachlan. Very nice melody. Actually I'm one who don't really pay much attention to the lyrics more the melody, rhythm :P

Anyway, I found the lyrics and would like to share the beautiful lyrics here ...

It’s not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
to give some of your own
Isn’t it remarkable
Like every time a raindrop falls
It's just another ordinary miracle today
Birds in winter have their fling
But always make it home by Spring
It's just another ordinary miracle today

When you wake up everyday
Please don’t throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
‘cause we’re all a part…

Of the ordinary miracle
Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

It seems so exceptional
That things just work out after all
It's just another ordinary miracle today
Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another ordinary miracle today
It's just another ordinary miracle today

I'm very happy to catch such a meaningful movie in the first day of 2007. Thanks to B & J for the company ! Glad I managed to catch this show with you ! :)

Afternote: Just recently Roentgen shared with us about how he has seen so many cases of people (with wife & children) in hospitals but having no visitation nor support while there are others who have no families and yet very well taken care of by the friends around him/her. Watching this show just helps to reinforce the point about the importance of kinship & friendship. About doing good for others and for yourselves. It doesn' t matter if I remain single but it matters to me to lead a fruitful life and to hopefully be blessed enough to have a group of wonderful friends around who will care enough to visit me when I'm old, withered and dying. :P Of course, everything starts with me ... can I be someone who will be loved by friends ?
And once again lead me back to a question that I ponder occassionally, who will cry for me when I die ?

Wow, heavy stuff for the 2nd day of the new year :P


Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to You!!!
Wishin you a wonderful new year ahead full of peace, joy & happiness!
May all your wishes come true. May you find the true meaning of life, and may you continue to enjoy whatever you do :)