My Workstation @ ORL

It's been over 3 months since we moved from ORQ to ORL. Here's a little peek to how my corner looks like.. its a pity those partitions are metal, so not much space for me to pin up fotos. Other than that, its still pretty much cosy like my previous workstations. =)

Shingles Part 2

According to Wikipedia, the occurence of Shingles is 1.2 to 3.4 cases per 1,000 healthy individuals. That works out to be about 0.12% to 0.34% chances of contracting Shingles.

Sometimes when events like this happens to ourselves, we tend to ask the question, "Why me of all people?" and start lamenting about our situation. Doing so serves no wholesome purpose and will only worsen our mentality and slow down the recovery of our body since a body cannot be well without a healthy mind.

In turn, why not ask ourselves the question the other way round, "Why not?" What makes us so special that we are spared instead and not others? This will help us to take stock of the entire situation in a more holistic manner.

After all, we are all sentient beings subjected to the 4 conditions, Birth, Old Age, Sickness and Death and no one is spared from such.

Shingles

Think i got the shingles, in Chinese it is know as 生蛇..

The symptons started on saturday nite, its getting progressively worse. It starts from my chest area and it stretches all the way to my back spinal area.

It causing me no small amount of pain and discomfort.. not only that it is causing my social life too and i missed a very impt message on monday nite..

More information abt it can be found in the below link..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles

Unthoughtfulness

I was pretty unthoughtful and i did not realise it till Qin hinted to me today, my bad.. it was something that i should have taken note of.. heehee, to make it worse, it was a lesson that i could learn from my 2 very good friends. so here i am, making this entry so that whenever i happen to revisit my blog, i can reflect again on how to be a little more thoughtful to those people whom i hold close to my mind =)

Test Feed to Facebook

Facebook has a function to import feed.. so here goes.. not sure if it works.. so i'm testing now

好久不見

好久不見 by Eason 陳奕迅 - a most heartwenching song that i find reflective of my mood over the last few months.

Club 123

Its a new "club" that we started in our department -

Some of us have been working more than 12 hours a day, even up to as much as 16, for most of our work days during the last 5 weeks or so.

Guessed the couple of us are feeling rather drained out and it was one of these days that the idea just came upon me.. you know.. just eureka! i said to EG (my korean colleague), " Hey 123! Dinner? We are going now." and she looked up with a perplexed face, "Ya, dinner ok. But what's 123?" "Haha, its 1 man, 2 shifts, 3 regions"

Hearing that EG and i broke into a hearty laughter with the rest of my colleagues. It sort of lighten up the mood in the office when everyone were so engrossed in their work staring into the LCD screen sitting in front of us.

Its important to work hard but its just as important to take a break when one is needed. And more importantly to work lightheartedly even though the tough is going. =)

向左走.向右走

向左走.向右走 by 梁咏琪 is one of my favourite movie theme songs and i love this line 两条平行线总有交汇的一天.



How can 2 parallel lines meet? Is it possible? I can think of 1 way. Maybe you can think of another?

Imagine these 2 lines on a piece of paper just like below.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

Draw dotted a line between them at equal distance.
____________________________________________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
____________________________________________

Fold the paper at the dotted line and the 2 lines will meet. Parallel lines do meet =)

Alternative Perspectives

Imagine looking at a stick flat, it will probably look like this
_____________________

Turn it around and look at one end, it will end up looking like this
.

Liken to a coin with 2 sides, there's always duality in all situations, there is no absolute.

Even time, although we can measure it in seconds, minutes, hours, days and years, it is still relative to our perspective. We can tell that from examples that occur in our daily lives - A sec is too long for a anxious husband whose wife is in the operating theatre but a day is too short when a newly wedded couple is on their wedding honeymoon.

Capsules

Some fun shots that i did sometime back with the miniature DragonBall characters that i got from capsules =)

这一秒你好不好

A song by 许志安 that was released way back in 2001 but a song that i still find light and soothing to the ears even today as i hear it.

想你风就停了
刚好不迟不早
想你会在做什么呢
会不会也孤单呢

这一秒你好不好
希望你会微笑
有你我觉得我重要
我会努力成为你的骄傲

如果这一秒钟你想起我的笑容
那是同一秒钟你浮现我脑海中
如果当寂寞穿透思念是一种痛
亲爱的没有人比我懂

世界这一秒钟多少爱都已落空
庆幸这一秒钟我们仍心意互通
言语虽无法形容却真实的可以触碰
我的世界只为你转动

Especially the words highlighted in yellow, that's how i hope you are each time i think of you.

The Leap Years

Just watched The Leap Years on DVD - its not too bad a film.

Nothing to really rave about but nonetheless it is one of the better local films that appeared on the big screen this year. Btw, i do feel that Singapore was portrayed rather beautifully throughout the show.

If you wish to learn more about the film, you can visit the official website - http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/TLY/

What really caught my attention was the quotes used at each junction of the movie. Two of them especially.

William Shakespeare: It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

Robert Frost: In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.

I find it very Zen like, very much in the spirit of buddhism. Just like what Buddha has once said, "You are the child of your past, parent of your future, the captain of your own ship."

These quotes remind us how we are the ones who really determine how we live and how impermanent all conditioned things are.

Things and events are always in a constant flux and though we may not have complete control on how these events will turn out but we definitely can influence them and even more so, to decide on our own mindset about them.

It goes on, does it not?

In Remembrance of My Godfather, Ho

My paternal uncle, also my godpa, Ho who passed away on 16th July.

What can be said of him? I'm sure there's alot to him that i have never known and will never know. What ever in the future i can learn of him will be through his legacy, his children and grandchildren - my cousins and their babies. How they live and how they remember him will be the best testament to his efforts in living his life fully.

There is one thing i know for sure - he had great passion in social work and spent a great deal of time serving the community. His lifelong efforts were recognised when he was awarded the public service medal years back. But that is not important as the fact that his passion and involvement in social work had benefitted individuals and the community.

I hope that the merits he generated in his living years will continue to flow strong like his name, Ho - translate as river in the years ahead. May it gather more strength as time goes by, just like how a trickle becomes a stream, a stream joins many to form into a river with the flow gaining strength each moment it flows downstream. With metta.

Along the Dotted Lines..

Ya, it's official... Mark and Tracy just signed on those very binding lines this very morning =) Congrats Mr and Mrs Plunkett! Glad to be a part of this important chapter of your lives. Truly honored to be able to put down my prints as one of your witnesses and leave my mark on one of the most important papers that the two of you can ever share...

Hmm.. so do i get to be Gan Die once again in the future say 2 or 3 years down the road? Me sort of looking forward to it.. heehee

28KM

That's the distance i cycled from home to workplace and back. Not much of a distance but its a nice enough ride on my trusted GT Ava. Furthermore, its the first time i cycled to work. I should be doing this every now and then on fri nites if i happen to be working the late nite shift =)

Afterall, the amenities are there to make it convenient for cyclist like me - we got a bicycle park area within the carpark and a shower room in the office (heater included haha).

42KM

No more no less, all done this morning on my trusted Salomon skates that took a 3 month break due to studies.

It feels good to skating in East Coast again with the sun in my eyes and music in my ears. Sure missed these skating times alot. When skating, time simply rolled by and i just enjoyed the sights that presents themselves as i passed by them.

Oh.. i almost rolled over a snake this morning during the stretch of park connector along Changi Coastal Road. Its really a tiny one - by my estimate, just abt the 50 to 60 cm in total length. Could have easily missed it with the track littered with leaves. Luckily for both of us, we both jumped when we came near each other and a good thing we jumped in opposite directions!

Scottie

Just got my bike helmet today from Chapter2Cycle with a little discount, courtesy of Mark =) Haha, always nice to know someone who knows the boss - discounts are likely esp when you can get your friend to come along and show "face".


Went for a ride tonite about 1.30am from home to East Coast and back (couldnt ride ard the park cos some marathon was going on). Must say the helmet is definitely worth the price - its really light; i could hardly feel the weight and absolutely not felt the slightest pressure point after 2 hours. Sweet!

Little Buddha

In many ways Little Buddha is a companion piece to Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. A beautiful travelogue and history lesson unfolds in the two parts of this film: a historical text of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) and the contemporary quest of Lama Norbu (Ying Ruocheng), who believes he has found the reincarnation of his former teacher in a Seattle child. The ancient, magical tales sweep away the blasé contemporary action. Ruocheng's presence drives the story of discovery as the child learns about the teachings of Buddhism. A visual feast that will dazzle both young and old. In fact, were it not a religious icon, the youngsters might want Siddhartha dolls after viewing his magical on-screen adventures. Beautiful cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. --Doug Thomas

Finally, i managed to lay my hands on a copy of this film! It was a number of years ago when i first read about this picture. Since then, i have been asking around the local shops if they have a copy of this dvd. Apparently being a pretty old film, released in 1993 and coupled with the fact that this is not a mainstream film, i couldn't find it despite trying numerous places. Even so, i kept a lookout for the film whenever i go into a dvd shop.

Sunday was my lucky day - on the way home, i dropped into Gramophone (Cathay) after my classes. Didn't really have anything in mind but just ahead to browse around for awhile (since its on the way) and see if i might chance on a lucky find and boy did i get lucky!

What should i say about this film? Stunning, beautiful, breathtaking, emotions and thoughts provoking, magical, simplistic? Apologies for the limited vocab but i have really no idea how best to describe this film except that it really connects. All i can say, its really in a class of its own. =) Haha, on a note, Keanu Reeves sounds really trying with that indian accent, dubbing might have been a better option.

Studies

"The purpose of studying Buddhismis not to study Buddhism,but to study ourselves."
Quote from Shunryu Suzuki

I believe it's the same across any religion that teaches us to do self-reflection. It is a simply a way to reach deeper within, to know who we truly are and in relation to our surroundings.

Do we truly know ourselves? If we do, then how can doubt, fear, anger and anxiety continue to arise in our mind? We are all interdependent, we cannot exist without one another and all the conditions being the way it is right now.

Each one of us is just like a wave in the ocean. If you know one, you know all. Once we understand ourselves, our mind will open to others and we will also know them. Understand and know that we are all seeking happiness. At this point, all delusions will be dispel and wisdom naturally arise.

So, let's just take a moment from our ever busy scheule to look into ourselves to touch and release the inner peace, although buried deep down, that has always been present.

Beautiful Image

What is the most beautiful image that ever came across your mind? It differs from people to people but most of them have one thing in common; these images include the ones we loved most.
What's mine? It's a little imaginary but it's quite alright to be a little creative; i'm doing the creativity afterall and you probably say the same thing if you are in my shoes now =P

A huge green grassland lying in front of me that stretches on for miles and miles, going way beyond the sight of my eyes. A gentle breeze blows through, caressing my face and creating waves across the emerald sea. Taking a deep breath, i smell the freshness of countless droplets of morning dew that sparkles on the grass blades they reside upon.

There she is amongst the waves, holding her hands wide open across, causing the tiny droplets of dew to sprinkle about as she twirls and turns in her joyful little dance of happiness. She wears a long white dress, the colour so pure that it is not unlike the petals of a fresh blooming lily. Just below the hemline of her dress, her petite ankles are tinted with the green from the grass that she gently lands upon with her every step.

She turns around to gaze upon me and the sparkle in her pair of deep brown eyes conveys thousands of unsaid words, feelings and stories that i will take a lifetime to understand. Decidedly, she bestow me a smile with her perfectly formed lips, one that warms the very inner soul of me. A little sigh of contentment escapes my lips and i smile back to her. She waves back and with a giggle, continues her dance of joy among the greenery.

I turn my head to the right and there is a huge ancient tree upon a small hilltop, providing a cooling shade to everyone that rests beneath it. My parents are there, standing beneath the shade, looking so calm and peaceful with their hands joined together. Nodding their heads gracefully towards me, they affirm my thoughts that they are always watching over us, their children.

Not too far away, i sight my siblings, each standing tall and blessed at the start of their own path that leads away from the huge tree. Though travelling in different directions, seeking their own future, there is no doubt our paths are closely intertwined since the day we are born and will continue to be so for this very lifetime.

As i look around me, i see others as well and there they are, all of them, those that entered my life and those that i will meet and cross paths in a later stage. Some will be my closest friends while some will be no more than a passing moment. All decided by our past, present and future actions. No more and no less, be it big or small, these are the people that will be a part of my journey this life.

At this exact precise moment, i do not know how but i simply know this moment to be the exact moment, it it just right. Nothing more, nothing less; exactly the way it always is. My beautiful image. =)