Friday, December 24, 2004
Merry x'mas to everyone out there.. it's abt 40 min to 25th Dec, X'mas.. just came back from a wonderful and romantic nite out with my silly dear.. erm.. not so romantic but simply wonderful i should say...
of cos, i'm always the clown, trying to cheer dear up.. i bought a bottle of bubbly liquid.. tried to blow bubbles, but end up being a klutz, getting all the soapy water on my face.. hee.. dear is a better bubble blower.. big ones, small ones, bright and colourful in the dark night..
then we also had sparklers which we almost gave up lighting it up because of the big big wind.. but well, we succeed finally and the feeling was great! i guess when u tried so hard for it to work, and it finally worked, the feeling was simply "shuang~~".. and we can sing F4's "ling xing yu" haha..
today we did silly things, but had so much fun doing those silly things.. things that we seldom get to do when we were young. wow, i sound like i'm pretty old.. am i? i'm still act cute yun!! haha..
MERRY X"MAS!!
p/s: downstairs singing "jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way!"
| posted by clouds at 11:19 PM
Thursday, December 23, 2004
it's been quite some time since we hang out with my jc classmates.. and i'm glad we had the chance to see each other again, amidst the busy work of huey, and the busy honours students, going on and on about what they were doing at the lab.
today we were invited by tracy to the chalet she booked at costa sands.. and surprisingly, this time was a v v well-turned up event. lemme count, 6 gals and 5 guys from our class.. v good!! i'm so relieved and glad to see everyone again.
anyway, this time round was better cos, more gals, can gossip more.. who- and-who has got recently attached.. who-and-who's bf came.. gals~~ haha.. and the food was nice, though i think the smoke is spoiling my complexion. plus the swim i had this morning.. best combi to destroy my face-- chlorine+smoke.. yucks :(
took some photos as well.. with tracy's, next time can post online for u all to see..
yay.. looking forward to tml..oops, today i should say.. i MIGHT be getting a big big tigger, and i'm meeting Cathy and going on a "secret mission".. shh.. i shan't say much until x'mas eve... lalalalala..
M3RR7 X'Ma5 2 aLL u ppL oU+ +h3R3!! hohoho..
| posted by clouds at 1:09 AM
Thursday, December 16, 2004
*previously on October 12, 2003, i talked about the sWatch story.. now, to continue with that context.. *
All our life, we've been searching for that perfect watch. one that is durable, long-lasting, pretty and reliable. does it have to be a branded Cartier watch? or a perfect Blvgari gem? nah.. how many people in this whole wide world can end up with this branded watch? at least not for me. never would i expect to land myself in the shoes of a millionaire this lifetime..
but do i ever dream of it? yes.. i do. but whenever i wake up, i tell myself to be realistic and practical. ur Cartier will bring u nowhere when u get lost in the jungle and fall sick in the lost civilization. all along i've been brought up this way. mum buys me cute yet nice watches to wear. not very expensive, yet durable.
now, my perspective in love in the same. my yearning for the pretty Swatch watch is long gone. and even if i ever see it again in the store, i will not take a 2nd look.
i just found a "reliable old watch", dug from the bottom of my drawer, 8 years after owning it. 8 yrs ago, i found it rather irritating, with its uncontrollable alarm, and ugly metallic strap. i dumped it in my drawer and wait for it to spoil, so that one day i can safely declare i cannot wear it anymore.
but one day, 8 yrs later, i went through my messy drawer and found this old "watch". i kinda liked the design now, and the metallic straps were surprisingly shiny and unrusted. i decided to give it a try and paid for a battery to get it going. and the tick tock, tick tock hum of the watch really touches me and i fell in love with it immediately. it's the best timekeeper for me, the best companion wherever i go. no matter i go climb the mountains or go for formal parties. it always brings out a shine on me, cos i know it'll always be there for me. i won't ever replace it with any other watch, branded or not. i'm not even sure whether this watch will become a "branded" antique watch in future, but i won't trade it for anything else.
my "reliable old watch" is going to be my lifetime companion, so i'll maintain it well.. bring it for some "oiling" session and change the battery to recharge the gears.. no matter what, i'm sure my "reliable old watch" will not give up on me, just like i won't ever give up on it.
it's been 9 months since i found my watch and i want it to stay with me forever. i promise i won't ever misplace it ever again...
| posted by clouds at 11:59 PM
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Yesterday passed by the pet shops, saw all the cutesy little hammies.. suddenly i miss my hammies badly. no longer do i need to clean the hammie cages, no longer do i need to worry about them not having enough food, worry about the ear tumour. but i miss my dear old hammie..
i walked quickly pass the pet shops, willing myself not to look at those cutesy little crawlies fighting among themselves, lying there sleeping, looking ever sooo cute!! i miss my dear hammies..
probably it's a gd thing that i'm no longer rearing one. i'm not committed enough to take gd care of them. i'm so lazy.. haiz.. no matter what, i hope the hammies in the petshop will not suffer the same fate as my hammies.. meeting an uncommitted owner.
| posted by clouds at 1:10 PM
Sunday, December 05, 2004
dear is finally getting a blog, meaning i'll get more competition for readers. at the rate i'm going, i think i've lost all more ardent readers. where are all my inspiration? where's my poem of the day? it's been such a long time since i came up with a decent poem. i'm too engaged in other things in life. or issit once i lost all the depression, i will no longer need to vent it out? or issit that i've got another outlet to vent it all out?
i dun care.
i dun bother.
i haf this urge to boycott his chatterbox, since he has already deleted my 1st post. i'm no longer the 1st person who tagged on his chatterbox, i dun want to be stuck in the middle, i think i'll nv show my presence. let all his secret admirers tag.
| posted by clouds at 10:52 AM
Thursday, December 02, 2004
During the exam period, the library was perpetually my second home. as both dear and i were early-risers, we would always either take the bus or my dad's car and reach school by 8am. and then we would head up to the library and begin our studying..
every morning, we see this cute little science library cleaning auntie.. erm.. shall i call her ah ma instead? cleaner ah ma is a v friendly ah ma, who smiles at u in the morning, and diligently does her job, without any complaints. she wears a pair of spects, and her crisp blue cleaning uniform, goes around level 6 of the science library, cleaning all the tables of rubber shavings, or clearing the rubbish bin. either that, or she'll whip out the vacumm cleaner and start vacumming the whole floor.. when i go for my toilet break during lunch, i see cleaning ah ma sitting outside the toilet, in a makeshift little chair made from the spoilt library chair. only recently did i notice that she picks out the paper from the litter bags she collected and put them in a box. poor little ah ma, picks up the paper, and keeps them in the box to be sold to the paper-recycler, to add on to her meagre earnings.
her acts made me wonder, "where are her children?" "why does she need to work at such an old age?"
suddenly, my heart goes out to her. after seeing her still having to work so much for a living at such an old age.. would u let ur ah ma work at such an old age? when u shd be the one supporting them? of cos, we can't rule out the fact that she might not be married or might not have children, but the society we live in is actually not as rosy as we think it is. not that i'm advocating to donate more to the charities, but i think more needs to be done, instead of just soliciting for donations. recently, with the rise in no. of charity shows, i seem to lose hope in the media.they seem to be spending more money then collecting more money, their aim to do a charity show is actually to gain more exposure, show ppl how determined which or which artiste is, but i feel that it's not the best way to help the needy in our society. maybe to a certain extent, yes, but certainly, u would agree with me that we can haf better ways, to haf a more direct impact on the needy. and why should the tv station publicise on the artiste who goes to some old folks home or children's home for that one day? wat about the rest of the time? suppose they are not working in the media industry, u think they would do volunteer work?
hmm.. sorry, i'm being a bit to extreme here *extreme face* but anyway, just my thots, my ramblings.. i love cleaner ah ma, and i swear i will try my best to clear my own rubber shavings from the table, and keep my rough paper till i bring them to lib to throw for her.
| posted by clouds at 1:55 AM
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
*the below are from an email*
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind - he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself. He was talking about 'a thousand marbles' to someone named 'Tom.'
I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say. 'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital.
He continued, 'Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
THE CALCULATION
'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know - some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 weeks and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.
So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.
'I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like really watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
THE LAST MARBLE
'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. So, I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use and we all want is a little more time.
'It was nice to talk to you, Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!'
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.'
'What brought this on?' she asked with a smile.
'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'
* * *
Helps to put things in perspective, doesn't it? We like to believe that we'll always have time to do the things we want to do. Unfortunately it isn't so. We only have so much time, only so many opportunities to create the lives we want to live. But, as you know, it takes more than wanting something to actually make it happen. People who get what they want, do very specific things at specific times to succeed.
To ensure the message of this story stays with you, I suggest you go out and purchase a large bin and as many marbles as you need. Then remove a single marble every week. It will help you to remember the lesson in today's newsletter - life is short, enjoy every moment.
| posted by clouds at 1:55 PM
