Nostalgic Picnic at the Sea

I remember during those years in Chinese primary school, one of the most typical essay titles spells "A Picnic at the Sea".





Reading through the essays written by a class of students would make one wonder if a majority of the students practice plagiarism or whether most of them are indeed siblings.

Most of the essays would start with "In a sunny morning, my dad was stroke by a sudden idea of bringing the family out for a picnic at the Port Dickson beach", it seems a sunny morning always casts a sudden picnic spell on the dad and it has to be at Port Dickson. That's for the dad and here comes the unbreakable curse for the mum, "my mum spent her time reading a book under the coconut tree because she doesn't know how to swim..", poor mum never seems to be able to pick up swimming. As for the siblings, it always goes like this, "my younger brother and sister built sand castles by the sea". At the end of the essay, there would be a common ending written as "great time passed by fast, we headed home with a feeling of reluctance when the sun starting to set". I really pity the teacher for having to review a pile of essays of similar plot.

In a gathering with my high school schoolmates, I asked a friend who holds a teaching post at primary school whether thing changes for the younger generations when it comes to the same essay title. She uttered out a sigh almost instantly and said "I suspect the very contents of THE picnic is in the DNA!", both of us burst into laughter, long live THE picnic!

Being A Realist

People (especially managers) have been talking and promoting enthusiastically about being optimistic, most if  not all refer to the same archaic example of a glass half filled with water. In that example, optimists would see the glass as half-full whereas pessimists would see it as half-empty. Something is missing in this theory, apparently a group of people fall under the realist category have been left out.

Realists would see the glass as half-full if someone is filling up the glass with water and on the other hand, they would perceive the glass as half-empty if water is being poured out of the glass. In short, realists hold on to the current circumstance, they prepare for the worst and hope for the best. So, if someone tells you that you are being pessimistic for voicing out all the concerns or negative thoughts that you have over a matter, tell them that being realistic is walking a fine line between optimistic and pessimistic!

Being a realist, one needs to feed on both positive and negative thoughts and here is a good piece to stock up the positive energy.

Poppies

Poppies



罂粟花 - 若血的鲜红如生命，却寓意着沉睡平静与死亡

(Source - Wikipedia)

Following the trench warfare of the first World War which took place in the poppy fields of Flanders, red poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime.

Poppy flowers have four to six petals, many stamens forming a conspicuous whorl in the center of the flower and an ovary consisting of from two to many fused carpels. The petals are showy, may be of any color and some have markings. The petals are crumpled in the bud and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away. The poppy will become dormant after blooming.

The flowers of most poppy species are attractive and are widely cultivated as annual or perennial plants. This has resulted in a number of commercially important cultivars, such as the Shirley poppy. Poppies are in full bloom late spring to early summer. Most species secrete latex when injured. The pollen of the oriental poppy, Papaver Orientale, is dark blue. The Papaver Somniferum poppy is mainly grown in Eastern and Southern Asia and South Eastern Europe. It is believed that it originated in the Mediterranean region. The pollen of the field poppy or corn poppy is dark green to grey. Bees use poppies as a pollen source.

Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. In Greek and Rome myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead. Poppies used as emblems on tombstones symbolize eternal sleep. This symbolism was evoked in the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which a magical poppy field threatened to make the protagonists sleep forever. A second interpretation of poppies in classical mythology is that the bright scarlet color signifies a promise of resurrection after dead.

The poppy of wartime remembrance is Papaver rheas, the red-flowered corn poppy. This poppy is a common weed in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders, the setting of the famous poem "In Flanders Fields," by the Canadian surgeon and soldier John McCrae. In Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, artificial poppies are worn to commemorate those who died in war. This form of commemoration is associated with Remembrance Day, which falls on November 11. In Canada, Australia and the UK, poppies are often worn from the beginning of November through to the 11th, or Remembrance Sunday if that falls on a later date. In New Zealand and Australia, soldiers are commemorated on ANZAC day, although the poppy is still commonly worn around Remembrance Day. Wearing of poppies has been a custom since 1924 in the United States. Miss Moina Michael of Georgia is credited as the founder of the Memorial Poppy in the United States.

Fun Dinner @ Straits Quay

It was the afternoon of 2011 New Year eve when I first visited Straits Quay, Penang with a bunch of awesome colleagues (can't imagine the working life without their companion), followed by the second time on the same day for the New Year countdown and amazing fireworks. I used to pronounce the word "Quay" in the syllable of how a duck quaks, until I was told the actual pronunciation as "key" .. shame...

With waterfront restaurants serving myriad cuisines and bars to have some cold beers , this is a place the gourmets should check out, hmm... just don't freak out when you see the bill. At one of the corners, there is a light house next to the port with million dollars yachts anchored around it. The light house is painted in white, the signature color of any light houses, surrounded by the great sea reflecting the color of the sky. Gloomy day painted the sea in gray while sunny day painted the sea in endearing blue. Straits Quay is indeed a lovely place where you can temporarily get away from hectic city life, feel the breeze on your shoulder, the slow pace of a relaxing life and get fascinated by the coziness this place can offer, especially when you are getting bored with the stereotypes of all the mega shopping malls. Just envision yourself switching off from working mode, lay back into the bench, sipping a cup of coffee by the seaside, savoring the view of blue ocean waves glittering under the sun ray in a windy afternoon, and let the summer breeze soothes your nerve, isn't that sounds heaven?

Ever since the 2011 New Year countdown, I have been to Straits Quay quite often, never alone though. Perhaps, I just came back from a dinner gathering at Strait Quay, with the members of "convoluted family tree". Thanks to the network server for going down at the right time and halted me from continuing my works in the weekend, so that I get to enjoy the fun dinner at "Delicious". Located next to the port, decorated in blue theme with good atmosphere, "Delicious" is a western food restaurant that is famous for its pasta and cakes. You can get typical yet delicious classic tomato pasta or one that comes with appetizing herbs and olive oil (Pesto Pasta is my favorite! My sister who doesn't really embrace greenish looking vegetarian meal can lick the plate clean when it comes to pesto pasta) and the list goes on.

For sweet tooth, the classic chocolate cake will definitely thrill your taste buds. The cake is served with melted dark chocolate mud topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, all come together give you a mouthful of exclusive richness of chocolate! Just ignore the sinful feeling about the expanding waist line and calories, for a short while.

So, for the dinner this round, I had classic tomato pasta sprinkled with cheddar cheese and got to taste the creamy brownie wild mushroom soup from Jonie's bowl, it was so satisfying.

Classic Tomato Spaghetti http://www.itsdelicious.info

As usual, whenever joker Big Head Shyuan is around, laughter follows. We had great laughs throughout the dinner, making fun of each other (although the guys were sometimes busy checking out pretty girls over the other tables, well, guys are guys). JJ busy playing with her camera, trying to catch some soul-seizing photos in black and white while Big Head Syuan challenged her with his beloved fruity iPhone that he claimed catches better pictures.

Whoop! I really enjoyed the dinner :)

THE stock

How fast does time pass? At the speed of ALTR stock plunging down

How slow does time pass? At the speed of ALTR stock hiking up

Oh gosh.... I think I will just have to accept the fact that luck never follows me to getting easy money. By the time stocks finally vested into my account after a torturing long wait, the price will start sliding down at a mournful angle, and right after I throw all the stocks back to the market, the price will start rocketing, high enough to my deepest grief. Realizing that the potential amount of money that you could have earned if you didn't sell your stock back then can buy you a car or paying  a third of your apartment loan is heart wrenching.

Lately, it happened again like a lingering curse.

My lovely colleague "kindly" advised me to release all my stocks for the sake of the rest... Yikes!  No way! I will just continue to wait and see.. and see.. and see.... It could be another round of long wait..  well, at least, there is a hope, rather than regretful woes..

送心入澡堂

单纯的喜悦

有一个小女孩每天都从家里走路去上学。 一天早上天气不太好， 云层渐渐变厚， 到了下午时， 风吹地更急， 不久开始有闪电， 打雷，下大雨。小女孩的妈妈很担心， 他担心小女孩会被打雷吓着，甚至被雷打到。雷雨吓得愈来愈大，闪电像一把锐利的剑刺破天空， 小女孩的妈妈赶紧开着她的车， 沿着上学的路线去找小女孩， 看到自己的小女儿一个人走在街上， 却发现每次闪电时， 她都停下脚步， 抬头往上看， 并露出微笑。 看了许久， 妈妈终于忍不住叫住她孩子， 问她说：
“你在做什么啊？”
她说：
“上帝刚才帮我照相， 所以我要笑啊！“

散布

上帝给我一个任务， 叫我牵着一只蜗牛去散步。 我不能走得太快， 蜗牛已经尽力爬， 每次总是挪那一点点。 我催它， 我唬它， 我责备它， 蜗牛拥抱歉的眼光看着我， 仿佛说：
“人家已经尽了全力！“
我拉它， 我扯它， 我甚至想踢它， 蜗牛受了伤， 他流着汗， 喘着气， 往前爬。
真奇怪， 为什么上帝叫我牵着一只蜗牛去散步？
“上帝啊！ 为什么？“
天上一片安静。
“唉！ 也许上帝去了抓蜗牛！“
好吧！ 松手吧！ 反正上帝不管了， 我还管什么？ 任蜗牛往前爬，我在后面生闷气。
咦？ 我闻到花香， 原来这边有个花园。 我感到微风吹来， 原来夜里的风这么温柔。
慢着！ 我听到鸟声， 我听到虫鸣， 我看到满天的星斗多美丽。
咦？ 以前怎么没有这些体会？
我忽然想起来， 莫非是我弄错了！
原来上帝叫蜗牛牵我去散步。
你找到你的蜗牛了吗？ 偶尔出去散散步吧 ！

笑

笑这个单字，给我的感觉是下面的夭字边像咧开着的大嘴，上边的竹字头像开了花的双眼，就这么开开心心，畅怀大笑的一个字， 古人造字的深邃与幽默真不由得我不佩服。笑，它看似简单的一个字，没有太复杂的笔划，甚至可以归类为简单汉字那一派，然，又有几人能够真的领悟到了笑字最原始的原意？

粉饰

你往脸上画上一幅脸谱
粉彩掩盖了眼睛，掩盖了鼻子，掩盖了嘴唇，掩盖了一切表情
之后，再也没有人知道你原来的样子
脸谱与你是画上等号的
日子久了，脸谱的粉脂溶入了肌肤
镜子里，你找不到脸谱，也找不到脸谱下的自己
你困惑， 你踌躇，甚至怀疑自己的存在
你开始慨叹这人生如戏
而当初画上脸谱时，你已然选择了自己的角色
选择了怎么挥洒这片舞台
然，人生这舞台，有一次的序幕， 也仅有一次的落幕。。。

心情有点 + - * / x y z ..... 低潮期

好像遗失了什么 。 。 。

最近，好想大声地哭，却哭不出来。 郁闷极！耳鸣持续，心情就好像在悬崖上走钢线，沉甸甸的， 好像细线绑着苹果，悬在风扇底下跟着风扇旋转， 一直转，一直地转。 感觉就好像熔岩冲到了火山的岔口，也许下一秒， 下一秒就跟着怒啸着的爆发淹没整个山野，一发不可收拾。
一直很担心，一直很担心，一直很担心自己的健康， 担心地近乎快要崩溃了！可，生活还是要继续， 就快到沸点的我，还是要如常地过日子。 一受绕耳的歌词这么唱着 “我的难过有谁知道。。。”， 该是陶吉吉的歌吧。我是那种把悲伤留给自己的人，我不会与人分享我的悲哀，然，隐藏着心里的情绪，蒙上一张若无其事的样子是很辛苦的，真得很辛苦。偶尔，能够哭泣微笑着是否会更好？好想好想找个肩膀大声地哭，大声地哭，让那肩膀抖落我的眼泪。。。 踌躇着，这个礼拜要不要回家。好想家哦，那我生活了十多载的家， 那儿有我一切成长的记忆，有我缅怀的人陪我度过的岁月尘迹。 这个世界就是如此，生活还是要继续！

啊弥陀佛！

被上鄂牙龈的一块肿痛缠绕了近一个月，今天本打算去看牙医，却发生了一件我毕生都无法忘怀的事。。。一件已在我潜意识里着根的事。 他像一记重锤铛地一声桥上了我的脑门，沉闷的，连续的在握耳际嗡嗡作响。。。铛铛铛。。。
下午2.00pm, 因为错过了天桥的分岔口，有点慌乱地从一尺多的栏杆隙缝间由左吃向右，根本没去留意后方的车辆，在那电光火石间，一记刺耳地令人心颤的刹车声从后方传来，我的直觉告诉我，我闯祸了，更重要的是菩萨救了我！在那生命一线牵的瞬间！我很感激后面的uncle， 如果他来不及刹车，我想也就不会有这篇Blog了， 啊弥陀佛！我想大声地说啊弥陀佛！（-_-) 。。。
我的心告诉我，这是很严重的错误，以后再也不能再重蹈覆辙， 再也不能。
离新年还有5天的今天，在向2005告别，即将迈入2006的今天，我得到了人生的一个教训，人，千万不可犯规，只因你的一举一动，牵连到的不只是你自己，还有你周遭的人，事，物。。。 人生没有take 2, 后悔是最无用的东西，只因有时往往已经太迟了，已没有亡羊补牢抑或悬崖勒马的余地。 每一秒里，我能做的就是好好去爱惜自己的生命， 以及周围的朋友，我的家人，还有好多好多也许跟你只有一面之缘的人， 抑或从未谋面的人。我要更爱惜自己的生命，啊弥陀佛，感激感谢菩萨保佑！今天，说真的，我很感动，只因人间有情是多么美好的一件事，一件造物主的得意之作，上天赐给世间的天籁。。。最后，我要跟佛陀忏悔，对于我今天所说的谎言，祈求佛陀宽恕我， 以及我的朋友，祈求佛陀宽恕我们，啊弥陀佛 。。。

唠唠叨叨

发牢骚 。。。





年关的脚步催魂般地逼近了，毕业也快要一年了，一年的分分秒秒里，发生了好多事情。。 每一天，都有无数的日记本上印下了点滴的故事，你我他的故事，或许相似亦未然，快乐的悲伤的，充满希望的，愤慨绝望的，编制梦想的， 怅荒末路的，笑着的，哭泣着的，太多太多了，从潘朵拉的箱子被打开以后。。。
从前，总认为有着多愁善感的心才算赶上了成长的列车。 于是，开始迷恋上琼瑶似的悲伤恋歌，总是一把鼻涕一把泪地沉浸其中。如今回想，不禁让人芫尔一笑。少年不似愁滋味爱上层楼，为赋新诗强说愁，如今试尽愁滋味，却道天凉好个秋~ 真是最佳写照。悲矣悲矣。:p
最近老是听到一句话，也许一句俗语会比较恰当， “人类因梦想而伟大”， 想想，如果空有梦想，那所谓的伟大该是自得其乐的吧 (-'_<) 然，我还蛮自得其乐的。。 haha 。。唉，反正发发白日梦不必缴税 :P 有白日梦，人生才有希望嘛！有时候，被工作压迫地连发白日梦都是种奢侈，为了面包，只好牺牲我伟大的白日梦。 写到这里，觉得自己的情绪有点无厘头的，算了，偶尔无厘头又何妨？生活如果缺了周星驰似的幽默， 那岂不是变成重熬了上十遍的药渣， 泛淡无味。 偶尔，就往生活添点糖醋味精的才有味嘛 :)

渐入冰河期的友情

炎热的午后，
打开冰箱，
拿起一罐将要过期的牛奶，2005 年11月20日，
芫尔，
如果友情也有保存期，能否把它保存与冰箱。。。
试图保持曾经的新鲜度，它却逐渐失温。。。奈何

当友情仅剩电邮与短信，
当彼此间失去了原有的默契，
当彼此都歇力地寻找共同的话题，
当彼此都在各自的生活模式里，
真正保存友谊的该是共同拥有的回忆吧。。。
那段悲欢苦乐共度的日子。

虽然无言，
朋友，你们依然在我心中，一直都在。。。

2006 年的第六天 。。。

就如冰淇淋融化的瞬间，送走了多事的2005， 有点措手不及地被2006踩了一脚。
每每到了这个时节，各家报章杂志的专栏上就会布满了密密麻麻的运势预言，自封啊Q传人的我，总抱着信好避霉的心态，或许这样生活会快乐点吧， 生活已经够累的了，若在为这些有时会自掌嘴巴的预言而提心吊胆，岂不知找烦恼嘛。。。 :p
Hmm... 说点好地吧，预言说我今年会走桃花运，真可笑，我这人又怎会跟桃花这两个字占上边呢，莫名其妙，然，心里还是会期盼这是真的，矛盾矣。
2006 的开头，懵懵然的参与了一个团体，吃错药地毛遂自荐，有点担心，希望一切顺顺利利吧，也希望自己在处事方面能够成长。(0_<)
最近又“加油”了，是时候减肥了。。。 就从明天开始吧， 我总不想自己又变回从前胖胖的样子吧， 何况新年快到了 eh..
加油减肥咯！！！ （可是，明天是朋友生日eh... 唯有牺牲口福咯！ 紧记紧记！）

I have Raven Eye

RAVEN EYES

You have Raven Eyes!

Positive Traits: Intellectual,Wise, Experienced, Honest,Trustworthy
Negative Traits: Pompous,Condescending, Withdrawn, Pessimistic,Depressed

Your eyes are the windows to your soul. What type of eyes do you have?

平凡工作天。。。

Today is a typical working day, perhaps the so called *reluctant* day for all working people coz today is MONDAY. :P
Still with the headache problem of my work, hope can solve it soon.
The TV that i have been looking forward for the whole week yet been delivered. The Courts people promised they will sent within one week and perhaps tomorrow is the due date, what a *NICE* promise they kept.. (x_x)
Hopefully they will keep their promise..... *within one week*... but i have missed up all those movies and shows that attract me when i read the weekly TV show synopsis last week... dissapointed. But, the first thing i need to do tomorrow is to buy an antena for my TV, if not, i will end up *watching* the TV not the TV show..haha.
It's been nearly 8 months live without TV, wao.. fantastic, i can stand for so long :P
(partially because of the endless work, i need to stick at office.. pity me :( )
Work is endless anyway, if work has an ending, then most of us would be jobless..ahah..
So, i need a better mind set and try to balance up my work and my life!

It's been rainy these few days... all my clothes although washed but smelly due to the damp air.
Nothing special today, a typical working day. :)

Dreaming to step my feet oversea...

A bit frustrated, my life filled with work since I've started working as a software engineer.
Miserable of is this the life that i want to lead?
If not, what is my next step? What is the milestone of my life? More miserable...
I keep telling myself that i will work hard for one year and hopefully my life would back to her original path then... will it if i don't start creating my desired lifepath since now? 迷惘
Recently, the song 外面 touch my heart, its the voice of my heart right now, fancy of the world out there oversea but there are so many burdens that pulled me back. I wonder when my dream will come true, my dream of travelling around the world, my dream of step my feet on the land of other countries, especially the western countries like New Zealand, Greek, France, German... where people lead a totally different life from my country, my dream of inhaling the air of the other corner on earth. When will my dream come true? Wish it will come true one day.
My friend has finally fullfilled her dream of further study oversea at German, really admire her, she can have her dream come TRUE. Between, keep telling myself to improve my poor english, from the bottom of my heart, i know that english is one of the powerful key that can help to open the door of my dream. Hopefully one day my dream will come true!

Mum's birthday is coming soon, thinking of buying her a blouse, hopefully i will have time for that. Need to travel back to my hometown as soon as after the annual dinner, i will need to buy a midnight ticket then. Oooo... annual dinner, wonder if my dear friend is free to entertain me, i think better give her a sms or a call to confirm, by hook or by crook i will need to get my hawaii gown for the annual dinner. BIG PLAN - slim down to fit in the gown! :P yayaya...

Hopefully, my life would be like the song lyric

我一定找到自己的存在。。。

心情

Feeling Moooody...

Hmm.. feeling moody these few days, My mind keep looking for something but neither do i can tell what my mind is looking for. Memories flash back easily, and pull me into tears when i think of or dream of my beloved dad, it's been one year plus since my dad left but the wound in heart is hardly healed, i think i understand how chai pin, my colleague feels when she lost her father lately. We willnot cry in front of others but in our own blanket when we are alone.... Feeling bad when people said i am the only daughter of my father that didn't cried for his passed away, why are they so sure? Doubted, this is the real world, people believe of what they saw and heard of, even it was just flake of the whole piece of truth, so do i, a typical human being. My concious keep telling myself not to put someone or something into conclusion before i really know the whole piece of story, hopefully i can learn day by day. Everyday is a great opportunity to live a happy life, wish that i can have a great attitude to everyone that i meet, greeting them, giving them a truthful smile. A smile can lightened up one life, don't be selfish with your smile! *Amitabha* (>_0)