Killing Dreams

As we get older, we slowly kill our dreams:

The first sign is the lack of time. The truth is that even the busiest people always have time enough for everything. Those who don't do anything are always tired, and always complain that the day is too short. They never realised the effort required is only very little. In fact, they are afraid to pursue their dreams.

The second sign is our certainties about life. When we grow older, we no longer want to believe that the world is a big candy factory. We start to think it's wise to ask so little of life, or it is childish to take our dreams seriously. We start to see what it takes to make things happen, and influenced by the defeats we witnessed, we begin to convince ourselves that it's impossible for us to make it. We think that our dreams are too difficult to achieve, or maybe it's a result of not having known enough about life.

The last sign is Peace. Life becomes like a Sunday morning. We stop ask for something grand. We've become more willing to give than to demand for anything in life. In that stage, we think of ourselves as being mature. We seek for personal and professional achievement, and put aside our fantasies when we're young. We are surprised when people of our age say they still want to materialise their dreams, and we may even discourage them. In fact, we know in our heart that we've stopped fighting for our dreams.

Have you killed your dream?

Teresa Teng

Teresa Teng is one of my all-time favourite singers. She always looks exceptionally elegant and graceful on the stage. She died in 1995 when she's 42 - Just like Yasmin, I think she left us too early.

I love her voice and her singing very much. It's always simple; no complicated singing skill, no R&B or Soul styled vocal, no ultra high pitch to demonstrate powerful voice. It is still sweet, and most importantly - Sincere. And sometimes, it sounds like she's crying while telling you the story of the songs.

I stumbled upon a few clips of her. And for me, I think this one is the best live performance of her for a song called "Tsuganai":

The Pilgrimage

I'm going too fast with the book I think. Slow man, slowwwww...

Here's a snippet of what made me pondered:

"... Time isn't something that always proceeds at the same pace. It is we who determine how quickly time passes."

Clock always ticks too fast when we're in a hurry, but always too slow when we're hungry.

May you work happily

"Fong Lye" at the Gardens reminds me of a place in China where my grand grand father came from. Same name.

Ke-ai~ (I meant the potato balls hor teehee!)

It's not as bitter as before. I think they're trying to save cost. Bad.

Family Pizza Day!

I think they just changed their tag line to "Eat, Laugh, Share" - Good idea. That's what we do there.

Finally granny is fit enough to go out for pizza :D *Heavy sigh*

Domo-kun from Grace is sitting on my desk.

Coming are the working days! =)

May you work happily, and able to concentrate on your work*.

*I personally think that is of utmost importance, and the hardest to do for most of the people =P

OMG. YASMIN IS DEAD.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/26/nation/4396007&sec=nation

SIGH...

Yasmin

Malaysian film director Yasmin Ahmad collapsed today and is now in coma.

Dear God, please save this beautiful soul who made wonderful movies. I really like her work Talentime, and I think she must have inspired many other Malaysians. Besides, I'm just about to name her My Favourite File Director. It'd be my great loss if she decided to go.

On her blog, she said she's going to use an opera song in the ending of her upcoming project.

Let's be silent, and enjoy her selection for a moment:

My coin pot was full to the brim. It's just a matter of time before I have to pour everything out, count them, and change them into notes.

Mind you, there's a whopping RM45 in there. So now my wallet is RM45 richer =D

Do you have a coin pot on your desk too?

Time flies like a jet, and it creates a stream of photos waiting to be organized. Oh well...

Gloria Jeans gave me a love shape again. Hehe. Sweet.

Climbing a tree is not always a child play. But I realised I'm really bad in it.

Rambutan season. Yay! for the rambutans and Nay! for the picking works =_= (Including tree climbing)

My Dept head just moved to a new condo. We had a BBQ there.

Jennifer's laughter always brings joy. I like that Hahaha!

A gathering was organised to celebrate Pete's Birthday and Sophea's promotion.

It's Karaoke again. Yay!

Little that I knew I was part of the main focus until I saw my name on the cake =.=

They also celebrated my belated birthday! =D Good job hiding it!

Our signature Birthday Portrait:

Life is good!

*Karaoke photo courtesy of Dennis. Without his permission. Hehe.

Puzzle

Life is a puzzle with difficult and missing pieces.

And I found that you're the one connecting all of them.

So everything seems to make sense now...

Secret of Happiness

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, the son, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

"Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something," said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. "As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill."

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

"Well," asked the wise man, "did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?"

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

"Then go back and observe the marvels of my world," said the wise man. "You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house."

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything has been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

"But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?" asked the wise man.

Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

"Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you," said the wise man. "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."

- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho.

Sirens

"In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirēn; Greek plural: Σειρῆνες Seirēnes) were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli..." Wikipedia

I stumbled upon a photo-book done by my favourite artist Mika Nakashima a few years back. It's titled Sirens.

You know, I can spend hours looking at these works. Beautifully-photographed human with attractive decorations.

I've also found the song I've been looking for quite some time - 蜘蛛の糸. The name of the song is actually derived from a famous short story in Japan in 1918. (translate: The Spider's Thread) I found the song happened to fit very well with the photos you're going to see.

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Sirens, the photo-book

B-day babies are just everywhere recently. Hehe.

I wonder how many people on this earth celebrate birthday in one day.

Probably everyday will have almost the same number of people celebrating. Or maybe more babies were born on Christmas Eve?

Tsk tsk... Why would I think about a mystery that only mathematicians and scientists would be interested in?

Ahem. So to speak.

Bowling session. Company's Team building.

I think it's the second time I bowled. I was the highest scorer in my team for the first game, and then I was the lowest for the second one - How inconsistent!

Amateur? Awful. Even my female teammates were better than me. T-T

But if I were to get 7/10 for my performance, I'm definitely sure that 5 went to my posing, and only 2 to my actual bowling skill. :P

The Steamboat Ketam Village, Desa ParkCity.

Baby said Desa ParkCity is a beautiful place, especially at night. Baby mentioned about going steamboat with her friends lately, so I craved for it a little. I was more than happy to find a Steamboat restaurant there. Yum~

(Note: Steamboat restaurants with air-conditioning is always my choice.)

Had a walk around the lake.

Just cut and dyed my hair. I'm a redhead now. :)

I finished the last book I bought - in just 3 days. I was amazed by my own speed, but I think the book is not a real thick one after all.

However, the book is thick enough to carry wisdom that I might not be able to fully understand and utilise. There you go: "Quantity is not quality".

Here's a particular piece I managed to jot down:

"... The boy knew a lot of people in the city. That was what made traveling appeal to him - he always made new friends, and he didn't need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Page 16.

Human relationship and Expectation. Hmm.

Get yourself some time to ponder.

What Men Carry

How many things a man can carry when he's going out?

1. Credit Card Holder

2. Document Holder

3. Key Holder

4. Wallet

5. Cash Clip

6. Name Card Holder

Hip Hip Hurray!

In the same floor there are some other companies, which I've never heeded until today.

"Hip Hip Hurray?"

So... inspiring!

Men & Women Think

When men think, they always think objectively. But women tend to understand their thinking subjectively.

True or false?

Manhand is baby's favourite musical group, made up of 5 very talented Malaysians rappers and hip-hoppers. One unique thing about them is that they produce their works in Cantonese. And they're always mistaken as Hongkees because of that.

I particular like their graffiti-styled logo.

I had a chance to attend their album signing event at Sungei Wang. Not really a fan myself, but I do find their songs' lyrics worth spending some time on listening and pondering on.

Look at this:

As I wished yesterday, I found it :)

I was kind of lost in Sg Wang and then MPH was right there in front of me. I was surprised by how easily I found it. It's placed at the first shelf near the entrance. So I guess it's really a hot cake. But I would say the cover design of this book disinterested me a little. It makes the book looks less sedate than the Witch of Portobello.

Ahem, we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.

(Ya right. I just did hehe.)

Yesterday's bowling session with fellow colleagues was cancelled. It's supposed to be a team-building, but the management decided to postpone it due to jobs not able to be completed on time. Most of the people were feeling disappointed. Hmm, I wasn't very eager, but would like to see how it'll be like because I've never attended one before. And I can't remember the last time I bowl. :P

I finished the book The Witch of Portobello yesterday. Kind of proud of that :) I did it under my sheer interest on the story, even though I always say graphical prints interest me more than the written ones. The best time and place to read? I'd suggest to read on the train if you're a regular passenger. You'll be amazed by the collective result of all those small fractions of time.

From my interpretation, the story is about a discontented girl, and her path in looking for the meaning of her living. The main character is a very intelligent person with a kind of ability that transcends that of a normal human - that is, she can spiritually connect with the world and the great beings, which later in the story she referred to as the Great Mother.

It's a rather religious reading. Albeit it mentioned a lot about teachings in Christianity and pagan religions, there are some parts I believe is the wisdom of the author. I remember there's a particular sentence that I found very meaningful:

"... I had chosen to respect the institution rather than the words on which that institution was based."

For example, you decided to disapprove a heart bypass operation on a dying poor grandpa because your hospital rules say you should not approve any operation for patients who cannot afford the bills. And you know Hospital is supposed to save human lives.

Philosophical Dilemma? You're right.

I searched about the author online, Paulo Coelho, and found out that he's quite an established author with impressive history. I think he must be a person full of wisdom. The fact that he used to live as a hippy fascinates me as well.

Let's see if I can grab another book of him.

Aeona is a young colleague of mine, and she's a "green-eyed monster" - Aha! Kidding! - that is to say, she owns a pair of naturally coloured irises which I personally refer to them as a gift from her mixed heritage.

She claimed that her eyes change colour at different times in a day; in the morning, it's green, it's light brown in the afternoon, and at night it's... oh well I don't actually remember but I think one colour is enough to impress. I'd love to have a pair of those too!

But not too bad, my Thai heritage actually left me with a rather tanned skin. Growing up in a traditional Chinese family taught me otherwise that a fair porcelain skin is more desirable, but after I learned that people actually do tanning to look darker (because darker somehow looks healthier), I decided to make a truce with my colour. Then, I've grown to like it, and along the way I picked up the habit of colouring my hair. ("Tanned skin blonde hair"?? Muaha!)

So, ahem, where's your gift?

Who would have known....