~More Reasons to Smile~

Allow me to begin this post with a smile.
:)
Why? Simple cuz' I'm feeling like a four-leaves clover.

Dearest Buddha,
Thank you so much for creating so many sweet humans on Earth, so sweet that they are all equally sweeter than chocolates.. called family, relatives and friends. Their presence made each and every day of my life counts and glow with nothing else but love and laughter. As I was stepping into 18, somehow, I felt you're with us all the time, watching us from above and blessing us all with enlightenment. Amitofo. :)

8th July 2011.

Had Accounts test on Share Issues today and just like usual, I woke up early to finish my revision as I watched the silent dark night transformed into lighter hues of blues when the glory sun pierced the sky with streaks of light. It's beautiful when the world is still deep in sleep, don't you think so too? :) Went to school with a light heart and the world once again, spoiled me with pretty curves call smiles and birthday greetings~ just enough to make my day worth it. CAE class got cancelled and thank gawd, I really need that precious time to study so eventually, Sim Nan and I headed to the library only to find Alicia asking me to accompany her to the cafeteria as she's literally hungry for food. Haha.. Upon arriving, I was surprised to see Li Jian appeared with a cute brown cake with strawberries toppings followed by Realing, Kar Ying, Sara and Yat Meng. Oh my gawd.. I just got 'cheated'. *Laughs* Received this nicely made birthday card hand made by my dear Li Jian and adding too the fact that she actually stayed up to 4am to DIY it, together with a little cute pink card from Yat Meng. Then, Alicia was like asking me whether if I've submitted my entry on the Dell Laptop skin design contest in which, I hadn't, so she encouraged me to grab a piece to draw on which eventually turns out to be like this:

Thank you Li Jian for the wonderful colour marker pens. :)

The theme says "Youth Express" and yeah, this is what I would love to express to the world. :) <3

After that, Kausalya, Sheril, Sheik and Adam came with more birthday greetings and surprisingly, Mr Shake got me a small gift~  from the college's bookstore. Hahahaha.. So funny but real sweet! So in the end, what was left was only less than an hour for me to study the remaining accounts notes. :p

After class ended, I totally forgotten about the celebration part with my dearest family and on that very night itself, honestly, I was wondering why there was a blueberry-cheese cake on the table as it was already 11.37pm~ until I saw my name on it. Aih.. So blur of me. :) So, here came a new way of eating the yummy-licious cake with 5 spoons scooping parts and parts of the cake until it disappears. :D

9th July 2011.

At first mum did not allow me to leave the house due to the road block in PJ but after listening to the news on the radio that morning, she finally gave a green light. Thank youuuuu so much mummy, I knew you weren't going to break your promise although that means I have to leave by 3pm. But it's okay, I'm satisfied enough. :) Arrived campus at 9.30am to do some research for ACF assignment and EALD presentation before heading off to Sunway Pyramid with Vip Kent. Knowing that we might not be able to have our lunch later, he suggested to take brunch at the Simple Life Vegetarian Restaurant nearby in which, got me thinking like "Oh wow.. how did he know??" because I was, as a matter of in fact, really thinking of having it there too but wasn't too sure if he would mind or not. I was.. really surprised. Perhaps he knew I wish to have a vegetarian diet.. I don't know. But either how, he was indeed, the first friend whom I took vegetarian meal with for the first time in an outing. :) I remembered the waitress was really nice and I felt happy looking at her also but it does made me wonder why was she smiling for the whole entire time while serving us. Was it because we were the only customers that morning? O.o? I'm not too sure but if there's a feedback form, I'll give her a 10/10. :)

So fulling, had a hard time scooping the noodles with chopsticks. :p

Skating was fun and Vip Kent was very helpful from the beginning until the end at the skating ring so that I could reduce the risk of falling down. I felt it's quite normal for him to do that because.. it's just so him.. his attitude; Kind Kent. And if I were to add another word, it would be thoughtful. :)

Thank you for everything yesterday, truly appreciate with what you had done for me as a really good friend. It was just so touching and I really like the ppoint slide. Gan en. :)

Chen Yi xue zhang came to my house later that evening at about 6pm to share with me a huge tupperware of 'tong shui' that he cooked himself:

So delicious looking right? It does not only serves the eyes but also the soul,literally. :)

Sincerely speaking this from the bottom of my heart but xue zhang, if you were to open a dessert shop, you'll definitely outbeat the rest of the 'tong shui' shops out there. :) Gan en!! Noted that Chen Yi xue zhang is the xue zhang for Sunway College's Tzu Ching, so this is probably the reason why he treats his Sunway Tzu Chings' so well. Fuiyoo.. so lucky mannnnn. :)

It's kind of disappointing that I have to kept on pausing halfway while skating due to the screaming feet. Guess this is the outcome for not having a proper exercise after SPM ended. I really miss basketball. *Sigh* Kind of looking forward for the Sunway YES Club Leadership and Team building event because I really feel like ringing the bell and start ruuunniiinnnnnggggggggg :D

Previously, I've taken part in the 'Fun Walk' or 'Walk for Health' by the NGOs and it's actually kind of fun and no doubt, pretty exhausting but you'll feel very refreshing right after that. And yes,quite happy too. :) I saw some flyers recently about something to do with 'Walking for Charity' and felt probably it's quite some time I should catch up with all those exercises that my body is yearning for but now, we will have to see if my schedule allows it. :)

Mum came back from her grocery shopping this evening with the 'Yoga Mail' magazine and oh wow.. I didn't know there are so much goodness lying in between of doing yogas. Mmhmm.. looks pretty interesting if you ask me and also, a good idea since mum doesn't really allow me to leave the house without the rest of the guys. Aren't pepper sprays designed to meet safety precaution needs? Anyway, merely doing sit ups every day just can't do the trick.. This is what my bro zat me:

Chye Soon: Jie, go find a 'Yoga for Dummies' book. You need that and it suits you.
Me: Erhem.. Excuse me?! *While thinking that it actually make quite make some sense here.. Thanks bro!" :p

~Thoughts of the Day 5~
Life's so short and unpredictable that you won't know what you will get today nor lost tomorrow. Just like the land or natural resources, words like promises will also start to become more and more valuable in time because we can't see what's next in display in our life. There was once this incident in Tzu Chi, whereby a young volunteer promised a man living with HIV that she will get him the 'char kue teow' food that he had been yearning for so badly in her next visit, which will be in the following month. He was indeed.. very happy. Finally, the day that he had been longing for has arrived. However, her presence could not be felt. The man, in despair, patiently enquire the volunteers about her absence which left him disappointed but.. he's still filled with hope, believing that she will come on the next visit.


Finally she came. But things wasn't the same anymore.. she was told that he wasn't around with them any longer.


Promises are not made to be broken. Perhaps it's time for us to start taking promises seriously and never leave an unanswered question hanging in the thin thread because there might be someone out there who is still waiting for your answer.
.......
And also some who couldn't live long enough to wait for you to fulfill the promises you had made for them. Broken promises are made out of two words: hurt and regret.


Lying~ that's probably the last thing I would ever want to do in my life and there's actually quite some connection between that and breaking promises. It links, if you can see the same thing like I do. To up to date, honestly, I still do remember all the promises I've made and will try my best to fulfill them because honestly, I do not want other people to do the same thing to me too. Would you? :)

~Hugs~

~Silent Thoughts~

On and off, for the purpose of fun means, in certain situations, I was asked whether does physical appearance matters to me? How about the strength and weaknesses that one possesses?


To tell the truth, I never really thought about it. It never crossed my mind if I were to give my friends different treatments based on first impression or how they appeared to me simply because I do not talk but I speak to them sincerely to know them from within. Somehow, having good looks is just a bonus but it's what you have inside that beautiful heart of yours that really matters because it's also what people appreciate, remember and love you for; your own special attitude. :)


I hope there are someone in the world who are smiling right now.

In the world that we're in now, it's not easy for people to express how they really feel inside because nowadays, it's quite hard to find someone whom they can really trust inside. But if they do tell you that;


they care for you, they really mean it.
they are worried for you, they really do.
they cried for you, they really love you.
and when they say they love you,
they seriously do.

So, I guess that's the reason why I really like the message status of...

" Did you know that those who appear to be really strong, are often the most sensitive? Did you know that those who spend all their time taking care of others, usually really need someone to take care of them? Did you know that 3 of the hardest things to say are: I love you, I'm sorry and Help me... "

that my sister posted on her Facebook account and re-posted it to see how people react towards it. Surprised but it's kinda nice to find each of us have something in common and still struggling to overcome it together. Somehow, Mr Oliver's sharing on the Flight text in the EALD 3A syllabus inter-relates with this; it's not other people that stops you from getting what you want but yourself. And to do that, you must first overcome yourself.

Apologizing simply means that you treasure the relationship rather than putting the ego-istic your first.

Asking for help simply means that you open up your heart to accept your lack rather than putting yourself in denial state.

Confessing simply means that you found that one missing puzzle who completes you and will collect your courage to refrain her from leaving you rather than building fence out of low self confidence.

At the end of the day, it comes down to asking yourself 3 simple questions:

How much does it means to me?

                           How far am I willing to go for it?

                                                                       Is it worth it?

P.s.: This is one part you will learn from watching Transformers. :)

Nobody can know the answer better than you do. Some people are really lucky as they have already found their purpose in life. There are also some who are still beating around the bush, still unsure of what they are born to do and achieve in life but... they're not giving up. Each and every one of us is different and therefore, have distinctive ways of life and there are some people who found their life partner in just a day while some could spend decades of their life years in search for the right one. So, if you found her or him, do not let go because you will never be sure when you're going to find the same person ever again. Same goes to your dreams and goals in life. :)

I know this sounds weird but I find my mum rather rather cute when she gets angry, confused, or starts mumbling and nagging at the whole world and I can't help but to start laughing. LOL. And one good thing about that? It sorta cools her down~~ sometimes. :p

Join the word 'art' and 'politics' together and you will get the ugly side of Picasso's world, finely camouflage with streaks of paint. Art, is not as beautiful as what it seems to be like; I've gone through many of it since I was 10 and if I were to describe my experience with one word, it's 'tougher'. Definitely. Such an intense , competitive, and evil place to be where you'll see all the 'flaws' that human possess from all angles and can even make a collection out of them. Incidents of winners who went home empty handed due to the filing of complains by the competitor's parents to the judge because they weren't quite satisfied with the results announced were quite a norm. The wonders of reasons filled with such creative lies just to pull you down from the top 3 placing that they can come out with was just so... "amazing". I mean, the participants are just children as young as 12 years old (age limit) and what kind of sense of humanity is that to snatch the prize and position they all deserve away from them? They're only children...

Big meanie. Big bullies. Should find a better hobby yeah? :)

2nd of July 1995- The day that I've never been and felt so much luckier. I was given the greatest gift by Buddha; my dearest brother. Not to exaggerate or feeling so proud of him but he is in fact, one of the nicest guy among the very few that I've ever met as he practically treats EVERYONE with a sincere heart, so kind that often, my mum was flooded with compliments by her friends, our neighbor and yes.. his teachers. Too nice that I do get worried if he'll get cheated or being used by his friends and YET his emotions are not triggered a single bit. Perhaps he was just disguising it well, I don't know but I'm really grateful to have him. And so yesterday night he was making a wish with both his eyes closed before blowing the candles, it took him like.. 3 minutes (I think) and only Buddha knows what's this lovely brother of mine are wishing for. Whatever it is, deep inside, I was quietly praying for him to have a great life and to be blessed with good health. Love you brother. :)

Happy 16th Birthday :)

Woke up at 6am today for Tzu Chi; this time it's a visit to Sungai Buloh. Completely different from what I have thought, the environment wasn't close at all to a proper center-like-looking compared with the HIV Community Center in Batu Arang but INSTEAD, it looks like a lovely village surrounded with absolutely eye-opening and mesmerizing flowers as you walk towards the areas. So beautiful that my grammar level itself could not fully describe what my eyes saw so thank gawd, I was conscious enough to take some pictures. *Ka chak* :)

Most of the villages are those precious human in their golden age and they're all equally cute, friendly and my heart literally melted numerous times with every sight of their smiles. Aww.. As you could see from the pictures above, those flowers are planted by these ah ma's and ah gong's themselves, a small but decent activity to earn money for their living and yes, they do get some money from the government monthly. Somehow, it kinds of made me think of something. 

我们不知道自己会活到多久, 但是如果只能活一天, 也要好好'guo'日子.

(Translated slowly one-by-one from english word to chinese using 

trial-n-error method by from Google Translate. *Whew.. so tiring* :p)

a.k.a.

We do not know how long we will be able to live and just say if we were to left only a day of our life, we still have to live that one day meaningfully.

So, we should really cherish every single second, opportunity and breath we have by performing good deeds and contributing back to the society because.. we might not want to feel regret later on in life. Treasure our parents well and all individuals whom you love and means a lot to you yeah? :)

Three years has passed, you are in New Zealand and I have moved on with my life but recently, I received news from the birds that you hadn't. If I can do it, why can't you too?

Entering Sunway College has always been a great pleasure and I made quite a number of good friends who made each and every second I spent in campus quite enjoyable and meaningful. However, close at heart, I've never forget about the very few close friends I have that made me to whom am I today. I've never thought that I will find someone who absolutely does not have any blood relation with me and yet who knows me so well that she can even read me like a book and see through my thoughts like a glass. Perhaps, until now, she is the only one who knows that I do not open my door easily to other people and nonetheless, I do not fall for a guy easily. Quite hard, I would say but when I do... I will appreciate him a lot and love him just the way he is because like what I have said, it's not easy for me to find for someone who I really love. In fact, I wouldn't want him to change for me at all because by just being the way he is... he is utmost the most perfect guy I have ever met. ♥ :)

~ Thought of the Day 4~

Sometimes when we are dealing with people and matters in our life, we will tend to get frustrated and mad with things. Usually, we will hold on to our temper and frustration in order to deal with it but after some time, the annoyed feelings still stay and eventually we have a hard time trying to get rid of it easily. Gradually, this feelings develops into a knot in our heart and naturally, we will tend to dislike people who appears having the same 'characteristics' as the person we dislike in the past. This is actually quite unfair for those who 'appears' to be like that particular person, don't you think so? :) So, instead of letting our emotions control us, we should, as a matter of in fact, let go of the past by harboring gratitude towards people at all times. Even if we know that person is deliberately giving us trouble, we still have to be grateful to him or her; for letting us nurture our hearts of gratitude and grow our wisdom in dealing with it. With that, we get to know how strong our state of tolerance are, and how broad our heart is in treating the person after the matter is over. :) If we can learn to nurture a heart of gratitude, then no matter what kinds of people and situations we encounter in the future, we will eventually respect all the people involved, and deal it with love instead of anger and frustration. 

Gan en! :)

~Hugs~

~Delayed Chronology~

"No worry, it's my pleasure and duty to take care of you. All the best to you. Continue to work hard, study hard and most importantly be filial to your parents and take good care of them and your other family members."
                                                                                                   Cheng Jee shigu.

I got so touched and it was a very warm feeling that I felt after reading this sms from her, but shigu, am I doing enough for her, my mum? I do know that all mothers are almost the best creation on Earth not to mention the uncountable sacrifices they made just to mold us into who we are and what we have today. I once vowed to myself that I'll never want to see her cry or get upset ever again and will do anything that to see her smile every day. And up to now, I am still hanging strong to this promise; a promise that she didn't know I made since 7 years old.

I've just calculated that I've not been updating my blog for about 3 week so I'll got a long list to share with you guys. :)

3 weeks ago
Went to work for a 3 days part time job at Global Art Centre to teach young children how to make handicrafts out of soft clays and here's two pictures I managed to snap after we're done with it:

Fast foods (Sorry McD, didn't meant to imitate your products but the children picked to make you. :p)

(A tray filled with lollipop, french toast, biscuits, pumpkin, fruits and OREO :D)

Frankly speaking, I got a bit 'mm se tak' with my two young students at the end of the third lesson although we only met for three days because they were both so sweet. May Buddha bless them both always. :)

2 weeks ago

The last time we learnt how to prepare new food was the Japanese sushi's and for this time, it's the food of our own traditional Chinese culture; a food that existed for a long time ago. Something white and soft.
*Spotlight*

It's THE PAOs. *Wootss~~ clap clap* :p

1) Trying to wrap the fillings in the dough flour like how paos usually look like but in the end, it ended up looking like an onion. (Hehe..)

 2) Baby size pao with kaya fillings *Yummm*

 3) Before: Paos being arranged on the steamer plate before taking to steam.

4) After: Oh my gawd.. so BIG right?

* Take note that both trays are not the same trays so the paos that are placed in them are different but they're all approximately the same in sizes before going through the steaming process.*

Look kinda big, if you ask me but the fact is that if you see it real with both eyes, each of the paos are about 15 cm wide in diameter. So, we were all shocked at first when the steamer cap was removed only to reveal that our small, innocent and cute-looking paos became so big. *Pao pao, why you grow so fast? Naughty.* Probably due adding too much of yeast or not succeeding rolling the dough properly to remove the air bubbles. But it's okay, still taste as great as the sushi. :)

1 week ago

Location: Sunway College Cafeteria
Time      : 11.30 a.m.

Supported Sunway College's "Plant a Tree" campaign on Wednesday because I love the idea of contributing small effort to raise awareness among the students that it is never too late to start caring for our dear Earth. As donors are given a yellow board so that they could all leave a message of what they wish to tell the world and I did, had quite a hard time trying to figure what to write on it. After some time, I thought that it was right after joining Tzu Chi that I started to be concern about the environment so this is what I wrote:

*Fuyoo* I can write Chinese! Well, the embarrassing fact is that's among the few Chinese words or 'roses among the thorns' that I will never forget how to write in my whole entire life. Da Ai; meaning Great Love not only to ourselves, society and also the environment. :)

Actually, we will also be able to do our part for the environment by going vegetarian but it is not easy as I have to consider my family's opinion about it. Usually the right thing to do is not being selfish and to see things from other people's point of view. Plus the fact that my mum does get pissed if I do not take meat because, according to her, I already look like a walking stick (lol, I know mum) but I can't help it. Not that I don't eat a lot at home, she stuffs me with lots of food but sad to say that her effort never.. succeed? Although I, myself am really wishing to gain weight but I have to admit that there are some times when I skipped brunch in college for personal reasons. :p

Occasionally, Tzu Chi will be organizing free health talks for the community and the latest one was to give a deeper understanding of the terminal disease. I was there to help a shigu to take down notes on the program, given the agenda sheet as a reference and to write a report out of it. Generally, I find it really enjoyable to be able to gain new experience and at the same time, sharpen my knowledge about this disease.

I remembered a shibo once said "In Tzu Chi, you will see, hear and encounter all sorts of things that you could not be able to get elsewhere." It was a sharing by a man in during the talk program somehow, managed to reflect perfectly with the shibo's words. Here's a copy of a part of the report I wrote based on the situations I observed that day:

"    After he was done, Dr. Chan was presented a small souvenir by the English group coordinator and a lovely sign language presentation entitled “Giving Love” was performed to all. Deep inside, we know that giving love and spiritual support is the best thing we can do for cancer patients so that we can all overcome it together. Before the talk comes to an end, a man spoke and shared his personal past experience to all. As tears filled his eyes, he slowly unfolds the painful experience he once had when his beloved mother was succumbed to breast cancer, a fact that was quite hard for him to accept. It was such a great pain that even the doctor cannot give morfin to reduce the pain and he was stuck between the decision of letting his mother go peacefully or watching her painfully fighting for her life. By the time he finished, we were deeply moved by his story as we listened with full compassion and watched him silently cry with watery eyes. The atmosphere went still and silent for a short moment when Dr. Chan comforted him with care that it was not the man’s fault based on the medical technology the country had back then. He did it out of love and made a decision, a tough decision, a decision he finally managed to make in the end so he is never wrong and nobody else can say that too. "

I have to admit that after hearing his story, I went to school the next day with a heartache because I can really feel the pain he had inside. To me, he's actually quite tough to be able to gain the courage to share his bitter experience to us all which is not an easy step for him but.. he did it. Let us all pray that Buddha will mend his scar and get over it soon yeah? :) Amitofo.

CAE Task 2 Presentation;

Wore heels to school today for formal clothing purposes and oh my gawd.. the heels are killing me. Literally. It was fine for the first 2 hours but as time flies, I began to wonder how did the office lady managed to stand walking around with heels for the whole day. It is just so.. amazing, don't you think so too? :) I even lost count of the numerous times I wish I could just remove my shoes and walk barefooted up and down the college IF and only IF people won't stare at me when I do that. Haha.. I wish! :) 

And my goodness gracious, the last thing I've ever want to do during the CAE presentation was to get nervous breakdown which.. I did. *Sigh* It was sort of sad and disappointing because it's a group marks we're all working for and I really don't want the awkward moment I have to affect it at all. Especially when I saw how Vip Kent and Jia Jin did their best to present their part well and it's definitely not worth it to lose marks just because I didn't do mine smoothly. So guilty. :( So, in the end, I tried to cover up my mistakes at the second part of the slides hoping it'll work. Wheww... :)

当你喜欢一个人，你是不是会偷偷看他?

............................................

Wo hao xiang you dian kai shi xi huan shang ni le.

~Hugs~

~ 5 minutes to 12a.m. ~

I was quite upset recently as I've not been doing as well as I should have done for my EE. My econ marks was way below average, a surprise so huge that I couldn't accept at first. Imagine the feeling you get when your econ marks were never below an 80 back then in secondary school and what is displayed in your eyes right now is just so.. omygawd. *Squeek*  So I guess what Miss Visha said was right, we need to change the way we study. After all, I've been using the same studying method since primary up to secondary and this kinda looks like a morning call to tell me that it's time to modify my learning system already. Mm.. It's okay, let's see how the new plan works. :) Jia you Yun!! :D

Went to Sunway Pyramid for an early Subway lunch with four good friends, something that I've never thought would happen as it's all so sudden and spontaneous. urm.. How'd am I supposed to say this? Can't find the right word to describe. :p Anyway, the restaurant was crowded with quite a number of children in identical and matching striking red T-shirts whom I thought were orphans at first. I don't know why but I have this special kind of feeling (mixture between joy and stuff) the very moment I see them although they're total strangers to me simply because they reminds me of the young HIV children in Rumah Jaireh. Eventually, I can't help but to start waving and saying 'hi' to them. Later only I found out that these children are actually our country's young and talented sports players who might bring fame to the country in the future. Ooopsss.. So embarrassing but I'm kinda glad to find out that they did not turn to be orphans like what I've thought. :) Amitofo. :)

One month seems to past so fast and in a blink of an eye, I'll be visiting Rumah Jaireh again tomorrow morning with my fellow Tzu chi volunteers and.. a good friend who will be joining us for the first time and I really hope to bring more friends along in the next visit in July. :) Aaahhh.. can't wait for it, really miss the children so much. :D

I saw many trees which got cut down just to give way for construction sites today while crossing canopy walk.. Kinda saddening to see the bare grounds but anyhow, let's just hope new trees will be planted soon right after they're done with their job. :(

My mum never throw away egg shells (selected ones) because this is what she wants me to do with them:

I supposed you'll be wondering what she does with them and yes, she actually decorated the plants with it. :)

~ Thought of the Day 3 ~

Regret.

Just six small alphabets but it carries a big meaning, so powerful that it can actually make your mind wander off into the memory of your past. After a moment or two, you'll start to realize that you have been unlocking, blowing dust throughout your way of searching and flipping through files containing catastrophe that once struck your life. Regret comes flowing in when you did not do something that you wish you had done, an painful experience that gives you a lesson worth a lifetime.


I don't want to regret for not living a meaningful life when I am still in this world and doing things that I could do to help the people out there who need spiritual support and love. 


I don't want to regret for not cherishing every single moments I have with my family.


I don't want to regret for not giving my all in studies.


I don't want to regret for not appreciating all the good friends I have now.


I just dislike the feeling of regret but nobody is perfect so I do make mistakes sometimes. However, no matter how sour things turns out like, I will never hate my life but rather to enjoy every single ups and downs in it simply because I love it. Everything comes from choices you make. There was once this story which I read online about this young man who will ask himself of how he wants his day to be like  every morning when he woke up from sleep. He chose happy over sad. If things did not go smoothly, he choose to learn from his mistakes instead of wasting his time mourning over it and so on. I'm sure you can see the whole idea of what's he's doing. He's just choosing the better option and following it attentively. Simple as that and it's actually kind of easy if we learn to stay calm at hard times and see things from a different point of view. I'm in the process of learning this. Would you?


Something small to end the day:

* I hope that every day of your life will be filled with colours. :) *


~Hugs~

~ At the end of the Rainbow ~

My precious stone.

4th of June, the day she was borne into this world and ever since then, she had been a very important individual in my life. Had she gave up on me, I would have been a total different person as I am now, perhaps someone who is still introvert inside and locking myself in isolation, refusing to open my door to anyone else but myself. Yes, hard to believe but this was once true. She once confessed that I could be the toughest girl that anyone could understand and she could never succeed figuring out what's in my mind until that very day; when I finally broke down into tears and spilled my hearts out. So much after years of living together and for more than 12 years of sisterhood, it was never an easy journey for both of us. No words can describe all the things you had done for me and for that what you did that made me who I am now. You lift my spirit off the ground when I was down deep into the blue sea and walk the darkest time with me with a warm smile. You're always sincere and was not only my best listener, advisor, supporter but also a friend who has been placing myself first right in front of yourself from the very beginning and I promise do the same to you too. Simply because you're my sister and I love you.

Thank you jie for everything. Happy 21st Birthday. :)

Tagged along with Claire shigu for the Home Visit in Batu Caves under Tzu Chi yesterday with just a few numbers of senior volunteers. At first it doesn't make any sense to me of why there are only 6 of us in total instead of the usual 30 who usually helped out in the HIV Community Center in Batu Arang. Later did I know the reason why. We arrived at a housing area of flats who's clothes looked pretty worn out of paint from the outside and the condition didn't turn for the better in the inside either. We took the lift up to the 17th floor, headed to a greyish brown coloured door through a small corridor and were greeted by a four years old boy who popped his head between the door gap with a huge beam on his face. Upon entering, I was stunned to find that the house holds 13 Indian family members ( 11 children and 2 adults) and it was so small that you can easily 'explore' the whole area by not moving a single inch.

The room isn't fully equipped with any household devices and their only source of light was from the window itself. I wonder how'd their night life will be like. As the weather was mild when we first visited them in the morning, however, the heat was intolerable when the sun started blazing hot the moment the clock struck 1pm. Adding to the fact that all 19 of us gathered in the small but decent room. Deep inside, we know they are grateful to be able to shelter themselves from the non-constant weather changes and having a proper place to sleep at night. Although they're living in a poverty stricken condition however, the children showed deep interest and were keen to fight hard against their strongest enemy: Language. Communication was a huge barrier and this raises concern as we were afraid they wouldn't be able to communicate with the society. So, we taught them how to speak basic English, hoping that it will at least help them when they leave school and enter the workforce. After the teaching session, Claire shigu gave them all each cute little stickers as a form of motivation so they will push themselves harder. Although the gifts wasn't much but in such situation......


It's not about the price of the item that matters but the thoughts.. the sincere thoughts of giving that worth a million smiles. :)

Made this with a young friend of mine:

Cute? :)

100% DIY 'n' made with lots and lots of glues, newspapers, and some paints. :) I gave her the bunny tho, but it's okay as the photo too holds a lot of memories. :)

~ Thought of the Day 2 ~

Often we come across news about people living in poverty stricken areas, some of them suffer from malnutrition, some suffer a painful death from diseases, kids running around villages without proper clothing attire with their hair un-comb and the adults struts and frets about live their life with frustration thinking when will these sufferings finally end in the newspapers and TV channels. Yes, I am pretty sure that most of us feel heavyhearted after watching the hardship faced by millions of lives globally. However, we will not be able to fully understand all the things that they have gone through simply by just watching them through the screen unless...

we see them personally with out own eyes

     

     listen deeply into their voices

               

               understand with compassion with out thoughts

                                  

                                  and feel it with nothing else but our heart

Nobody is born perfect but if everyone work together, we can all fill in the gaps in between of what we lack. It's like cutting a piece of fabric out of your own clothes and exchange it among your friends. Each fabric will not fit perfectly into the holes in our clothes but the gaps can be mend if you take your time to slowly sew them together. Instead of having just one type of fabric, you will have a collection of different colours, textures, prints and size. By then, each of us will have a unique piece of each other- we learn what we do not have in the beginning. :) One who is kind, never selfish to share and gives himself selflessly to help the ones in need will never lose but only gain happiness in life. After all, nothing beats the joy of seeing the beautiful curve you put on someone's face with a kind act of yours. The small deeds you do might seems nothing to you but it may in fact.. means a lot to others. 

The power of small act. :)

~Hugs~