Happiness

I like what I read in MyPaper today:

Deaf-blind Amercian author Helen Keller wrote: " Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow, and then for ourselves." ...

Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday. And today was such a lovely day. That I wondered why I worried about today yesterday. So today I am not going to worry about tomorrow. There may not be a tomorrow anyway. So today I am going to live as if there is no tomorrow. And I am going to forget about yesterday...

Happines does not necessarily have to come from striving for something we don't have. It can come from recognising and appreciating what we do.

Layang Layang

Finally, my first diving trip for the year – Palau Layang Layang from 8 to 15 May! Dubbed "The Jewel of the Borneo Banks", it is supposed to offer an amazing scuba diving experience. Flipping through an old edition of the dive magazine “Australasia ScubaDiver” that reviewed about Layang Layang, I already got all excited simply by just looking at the photos! About 12 world-class sites, each site is as prolific as the next…

April and May is the best time to see schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks – their mating season! Other than that, I may get to see megafauna such as sharks, whales and schools of fish to the coolest macro like pygmy seahorses, leaf scorpionfish and pearly anthias. I must pray very hard that I would get to see all of these and more!

Of course, I’m ready to take heaps of pictures during this trip… n have armed myself with ammunition too – additional 2 camera batteries (on top of the 2 batteries that I already have) and bringing along my laptop to upload all the photos taken daily!

Wow, I cannot wait! Woohooo!

《一切完美2 》主题曲 — 放了爱

你指向远方 爱情很晴朗
笑问不如今后就我们俩
怕泪会反光 钻进你的胸膛
但那不是感动 是 泪无法储藏

把美梦锁上 以为是天堂
羽翼折起在你身边静静躺
却只能用目光在空中翱翔
还得乔装安份 靠在你肩膀

放了爱 为了爱
这不是我 该怎么生活
放了爱

你说你喜欢 我笑得开朗
你越温柔 我越不想撒谎
我已办不到你想要的那样
客气地配合你 我感觉更勉强

别人的幸福 何必要模仿
心不在何苦 留躯壳在身旁
加满自由 我要无重量飞翔
就算以分离收场

放了爱 为了爱
这不是我 该怎么生活
放了爱 会明白
有种拥有 叫做放手

我的心 为爱流离失所
紧握最后回家的线索
等到寻获真正的我
证明我决定没有错

放了爱 为了爱
这不是我 想要的生活
放了爱 你会明白
有种拥有 叫做放手
放了爱

《一切完美2》

Have you been watching Perfect Cut 2 on Channel U at 10pm? I have… When the drama serial “Perfect Cut” was aired in July last year, it broke viewership records, received good critics and won accolades. So Perfect Cut 2 was a sequel to that, featuring the original cast, Thomas Ong, Michelle Chia and Julian Hee, with new blood Edmund Chen and Phyllis Quek.

Personally, I think Perfect Cut 2 is indeed another well done drama serial… The surgeries were so real, making me squeak and hair raised… The storyline of each case was so touching that it drove tears rolling down the cheeks… It brought up controversies of individuals going for cosmetic surgeries and presented different points of views to a same issue, stimulating thoughts and feelings... it is also educational as it sheds lights to some facts and figures that a man-on-the-street may never have known.

On top of that, I love this drama serial for the fact that it has incorporated much life learnings into each episode. Some stuff that I learnt or was reminded again:

• If you can give words of encouragement, why give words of attack? At times, all it takes from you is some words of encouragement to let another person have confidence and go forth in life
• Committing suicide is the greatest humilation to a human being's life
• Relationships are meant to be managed, not tested
• Have the courage to pursue happiness in your life
• Start on a clean slate and make the choice all over again
• Give the key to your heart and see who lives in it
• Every moment spent with loved ones is treasured memory; there is no purpose to time spent into earning money only, sacrificing the time spent with loved ones…

It is the final episode tonight… No prize for guessing that I will be glued to my tv…

My new laptop

Dan and I made up the 768,000 visitors at the IT Show 2009. We were there on Sunday after our weekly morning run, gosh, our jaws dropped when we saw the massive crowd at Suntec Convention Ground Floor waiting to go up the escalators. It was only about 12+pm in the afternoon then and the doors to the IT show were just opened, but it was already packed! It took us more than ten minutes just to go up the escalators lor! Needless to say, we were sardines inside the exhibition hall by 2pm!

Like all others, we were combing for a good bargain there... The purpose was to get a pretty reasonable laptop at an attractive price (read: cheap!). Thus we were wandering around the various PC booths, trying to compare the specifications and prices... Long story short, we stumbled across this HP promotion and we both agreed that this was the ONE! ... HP Pavilion dv4-1301tx Entertainment Notebook PC @ $1,299 (student offer price) with 2nd and 3rd year pick up and return local warranty... Ya ya, of course I am no longer a student, but my younger brother still is... So there we have it! Cheap, good and still got 3 years warranty! I like HP anyway.

Now waiting for it to be delivered in a few weeks time...


• Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology featuring Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
• NVIDIA GeForce with 512MB of dedicated video memory
• 14.1” Diagonal WXGA HP BrightView Widescreen Display
•4GB RAM
• 320GB HDD with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
• 802.11a/g/n WLAN with Bluetooth
• ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
• Integrated 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader
• HP Pavilion Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphones

The days...

This is one of those days that:
I feel blue and out of sorts
I question my own worth
I doubt my value in others' eyes

There are other days that:
I feel feeble
I want to act wilful and throw tantrums
I feel like running away (or stop running for that matter)

If the journey in life is akin to running, then being disciplined is about completing a run even though I don't feel like it or don't feel like I am up to it...

It's my dream job too!

I am sure you have heard about it - The Best Job in the World, to be Hamilton island caretaker for half a year and get a salary of AUD$150K.

So what do you do in these 6 months? Explore, dive, snorkel, bushwalking, feed the fish, upload photos, videos and blog about your experiences and encounters! All for a handsome salary of $150K! Gosh, how good can that get?!! No wonder people just swamped to try their luck.

This is such an ingenious idea, for the focus is not about hiring a caretaker, but to promote Hamilton as a first-class holiday escapade to the world. It has certainly achieved its purpose! Just looking at the number of applicants, news coverage and the stir it has caused tell more than a thousand words.

The 50 short-listed applicants have just been recently announced, and I was really curious to view their 1-minute videos. I must say, after watching many of them, some of them are really creative, out of the box and well done. My personal favourites are videos from Julia (Russia), Greg (Singapore) and some others which I cannot quite recall now (watched too many, could not recall who is who!).

Take a look at some of the videos: http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/shortlisted-applicants

Dun you wish that you are at Great Barrier reef now, lazing and enjoying what it has to offer? Ahh...

The Card and My thots

When I thought I have rationalised everything
Concluding that it is alright and ok
Only to realise that a card had evoked the obscured feelings
This is one of those times where I overestimate myself
I am sometimes weaker and more vulnerable than I thought

Then again feelings, evaluations, assessments not that I do not have
In fact my conversations may be much louder than many people
But focus on the bigger picture and be rational is what I choose and kept telling myself
Such choices may not make life easier for me
Yet I should do what's best... (or so I hope)
All things happen for a reason - it's a journey for me to accept, learn, shift and grow

... ... ...