Sad April

Hello. Was reading some of my previous entries and realise that I have only posted one miserable entry in the month of April this year. By the way, this is the first time I am posting an entry using my handphone. Kudos to technology!

April was a sad month with the news of natural disasters from different part of the world and the passing on of my friend's mother. All this make me appreciate the people around me more and not take them for granted. Life is full of suprises and you will never know what is in store for you. Life is short. When you wake up everyday, you have two choices. Start the day right with a smile or sulk and spoil your whole moody day. do choose the former because the choice is in your hand.

The month of April also marks a new chapter in my life. I got myself a new job in the tourism industry. Nope, not as a cabin crew but a position in my current field of studies. The interview was a piece of cake and I had no problem getting the job (was quite suprised that I was highly valued, this sort of boost my confidence). The difficult part is the decision on whether to leave my current company or not. It was a crossroad between my future and friendship.

I am tempted by the branding of my soon-to-be company, the perks and career advancement. On the other, my current boss is a nice man and my colleagues are simply darlings. It would be cold-hearted to just abandon them. Plus, the department is currently under-staffed. However, my boss plays a role in the staffing part because he refuse to recruit new staff.

To cut a story short, after much pondering and consulting my fellow friends, I decided to try a new route. Life after all, is meant to be explored. Have yet to tender my resignation because my boss is on a one week vacation (talk about timing and coincidence).

May the future be better, filled with peace and love. When you are emo and down, the following never fail to cheer you up. That's what you call comfort food !

Less Crap, More Pictures

It has been a while since I last blog. Had been quite busy with life, especially in the looking-for-a-new-job and preparing-for-upcoming-exam department. Other than that, life was pretty routine with work stress and stuff.

As the title says it all, I will crap less and just post pictures since I have to get ready for work.

Attended a play staged by students from an international school. The plot was touching, acting was great, spotted some hotties among the crowd. The play is based on the true life story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. Very inspiring. With determination, there is no such thing as cannot and failure. Never give up!






Exactly two weeks ago, I attended my cousin's nurse capping ceremony. It was a very solemn affair with an appearance by Florence Nightingale. Well, not the great lady herself but an impersonator. Lets check out the ceremony :

The seniors put on their juniors' cap.
Florence Nightingale of the day.

The new batch of nurses.
The assistant nurses
A group picture for the album.

Alright, I have less than an hour to bath, eat and get ready for work. Have to sign off now.

???

Guess what is this ?

It's a soap. Too pretty to use.


What about this? What does it look like to you? A duck? A tortoise?

It is actually a yummy sweet potato with a funny 'animal-like' shape.


Can you get the next one right? Guess what is this?

Is it a cherry? Or a cherry tomato? Nope, it's a mini apple from my dad's bonsai plant. So cute but not edible.


Last picture for the day. Have you eaten this before? It is red in colour but definitely not blood.

It is the red paste chicken noodle. It's a traditonal China Foo Chow clan noodles.

Siddharta, The Musical

(Disclaimer : This entry contains religious point of view. There are definitely no whatsoever intention to condemn any particular religion. Please read in discretion.)

Many Chinese are born as a Buddhist / Taoist but leave the world as a Christian. At some point of our life, we will be introduced to Jesus through a mutual friend (aka your buddy who is a Christian). Some might feel uncomfortable with the new-found friend and forget about Him. Some find the new-found acquaintance interesting and will get to know Him more, then will eventually join His circle of friends.

People with the latter thought make this decision because they feel that the new circle of friends are able to help them succeed in life while their current 'friends' are just statues. The many annual ritual of burning tonnes of papers and joss sticks are simply a waste of money and it contributes to air pollution.

Besides that, all other groups have a 'manual' to follow and they have 'gatherings' every week but why not ours? We have no manual, no gatherings but we do burn papers and worship statues.

The above are all a very big misconception !

We do have our very own manual, and it's called The Dhamma.

We have gatherings too, also on Sunday. But it's not compulsory because it is a noble teaching and one shouldn't be forced to understand it if they are not interested. Being physically present does not necessarily means sincerity.

The most basic but also the biggest misunderstanding among laymen is the difference between Buddhism and Taoism.

Buddhist does not pray with joss sticks. No. Buddhist don't pray because Buddhism is a teaching and Buddha is the teacher. Joss sticks and burning of papers are Taoist practice.

Buddhist does not pray to 'statues'. The Buddha statue is just there to remind people to follow the Dhamma teachings. As a gesture of respect to the great Teacher, Buddhist simply clasp their hand and bow to the Buddha or light a candle. Again, no joss sticks are used.

Buddhist chant silently and meditate. No musical instruments or speakers are used because it is suppose to be a moment you connect with the great Teacher.

I was very fortunate to attend a musical play on the life journey of Siddharta Buddha yesterday. Although it was the last day of the three-day stint, the hall was still jam-packed. I even spotted Caucasians in the crowd. Unfortunately, no photo-taking are allowed.

The musical play was amazing with a crew of very talented cast, beautifully-done hair and make up, gorgeous costume, soothing music, perfect singing and life-like backdrops against a great story unknown to many.

I was reluctant to leave because the play was just so good. If only they have encore like those in concerts. My decision to wait a little longer pays because they have a photography session for the reporters after the crowd left. I sneak up to the stage and got a couple of snapshots.

Star Pisces Cruise

Going to work this week is a dreaded task. Guess I am suffering from post-holiday blues. Well, it was not exactly a holiday. I went for a cruise during the weekend with my family. The cruise was very gamblers-oriented and although I don't really enjoy gambling, I still enjoyed myself touring the ship and just hanging out. Did I mention the buffet spread, although not many choices of food, but was really yummy.

A view of the cruise as I was walking towards the harbour.

Took this pictures while waiting to board the ship at the harbour.

Can you see Penang bridge?


A family holiday

1.Passport to board the ship
2.Credit card for you to purchase lottery tickets, dine, wine and be merry on board
3.Door access card to the cabin
4.Buffet voucher
(This card enable us to do all the above-mentioned and at the end of the cruise, we get to keep it as a souvenier.)


After checking in....walking towards the ship






In case of emergency, use this


Lets check out the cabin :
Our cabin was on the ninth deck


The cabin

Wonder what is this cute ladder for....

.....it's the stairway to the upper bunk.

There is an attached bathroom in every cabin. Although it's super narrow but very practical



There is a tv too....
.....with a special channel educating viewers on rules of all the card games in the casino

Nice carpets




Lets take a tour around the Star Pisces


There is a cinema in there. You can do your movie marathon there without paying a cent.






















Some static thing (very scientific explanation which I don't really understand because I am an art student and proud of it - bimbo?) made our hair stand when we stand at certain spot at the highest deck.





Japanese restaurant
Restaurant that serves Thai food.
This is where we had breakfast.
We had dinner here.















Are you feeling lucky? Lottery tickets with cash prize of RM18,888
Bingo. Mum was one number short to winning a few thousand ringgit. Sigh!








Safety pre-caution.







The ship also has an art gallery and all the paintings are for sale.








Remember the yummy buffet I mentioned earlier? Let me share with you what I had for dinner










Now, lets see what I had for breakfast the next morning. I only slept for three hours because I wanna to make full use of every bit of my time on the cruise. Plus, I am so looking forward to breakfast (because buffet breakfast is my all time favourite) after a mild diarrhea.







Bro's.

Mum's.

After breakfast, it was time to pack and prepare to disembark. Although it was a really short cruise to no where, I still enjoyed myself. I have always wanted to go on a cruise after watching 'Ups and downs in the sea of love', a tvb drama series. Before, I disembarking, I enjoyed the sea view for one last time.