Opinions.. not welcomed ;)
Lately I've just been so ticked off by people who have way too many opinions on other people's lives.
If you are hitching a ride in my car, you will sit quietly and let me drive as I like. Otherwise, get your own transport. I will also dress as I like, it does not matter what you think. I will put whatever picture I like up, and not display those that I do not like. I will do what I feel is good for me, and I will take care of myself.
Leave my life to me. Run your own.
Sun, sand, sea and cocktails..
Just got back from Redang Island for my project trip yesterday evening. It was simply.. awesome! Didn't expect to have so much fun with my colleagues, really helps that they are all young and cool, so we click pretty well. Of course, there was the waking up at 4am, making sure everyone's in the boat/van/plane... checking everyone in, giving presentation after the long journey etc. being in the organizing committee.. but the other good stuff was so much more worth remembering!
I went snorkeling.. woohoo! With a life jacket.. a little scary at first but once I got the hang of it without drinking too much salt water, it was simply beautiful. Felt like I was swimming in a huge aquarium. The water was crystal clear, greenish blue, the sort I only dream about. It has to be the most beautiful beach in Malaysia. There was also the theme party that I suggested which though not many of the upper management bothered, the young ones participated which made it fun. Walking around in pajamas into the hotel restaurant definitely was no easy task... we were like
"What are you looking at?". At least I know now that you can get in the restaurant in pajamas... no dress code! :)
Then, there was the charades in which my acting was apparently entertainment to the rest. Hmmm.. and there was the crazy synchronized swimming at the sea *go figure*, almost drowning my colleague playing Gladiator in the sea, being sprayed by shaving cream by my boss who was a bit nuts that night... and the craziest of all was nonetheless pouring too much bubble bath into the jacuzzi at the spa.... and oh boy, the foams wouldn't stop and it overflowed!!! The lady at the spa thought that we drowned in the bubbles, but in fact we were at the sauna. The look on her face was so funny I swear! ;)
Aah, so after the trip and the motivational talk... I'm supposed to be more recharged at work. I am, actually... I remembered some of the lessons learnt - think of the big picture, take a step back, be more 'busybody' when it comes to knowing what the other teams are doing.... and I lived my dream - to sit by the beach, sipping cocktails and reading a book. What more could I ask for?
The Story of the Mooncake
It's Mooncake Festival today! My first time being able to savour mooncakes at non-exorbitant prices in 5 years as I had been doing in Melbourne. :) Mooncakes are aplenty here. I remember those days when each piece of mooncake was so precious and how my mum told me she would keep them for me till I came back from Australia but it was just impossible coz I came back only once a year. ;)
So to rekindle my Chinese roots, here's the story of the mooncake that I got from the lovely mooncake box from Equatorial Hotel:
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The mooncake, a customary gift during the Mid-Autumn Festival, made its first appearance in Chinese history during the Yuan Dynasty.
For almost a century, the people of China had suffered dire times under oppressive Mongol rule. Until the mooncake came to the rescue.
In 1368, in an effort to overthrow the Mongols, the Chinese baked hundreds of little moon shaped cakes during the Moon festival.
However, they contained an altogether different filling from the 'leng yong' or 'tau sar' enjoyed today.
Inside were messages that were secretly circulated among family and friends, inciting them to join an impending rebellion.
Dismissing the innocent looking mooncakes as part of the festivities, the Mongols were taken completely by suprise by a well-planned rebellion. And the infamous Mongol Yuan Dynasty came to a humiliating end.
Every Moon festival since, mooncakes have been exchanged and enjoyed to mark the occasion.
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Few thoughts came to my mind - who came up with this idea? Was it anyhow inspired by fortune cookies? I believe it must've been a woman who thought of this - and as a way to try out a new recipe perhaps and aaah, we could double it up as a message spreader. Did anyone choke on the message while eating the mooncakes? ;)
Just me and my inquisitive self and crazy imagination and thoughts.. pictures of my first mooncakes bought coming up... :)
In awe
I am in awe of God and how real He is. I just got back from a church camp for young adults. Very reluctant at first, but everything was paved for me. I asked for people to go with, He provided 4 new friends who signed up with me within a week, and 2 lovely roommates too. Had heaps of crazy fun & laughter with skits and musicals - these guys have amazing creativity!
I went up for prayer one of the nights and that was when I was in awe of how real God is. I didn't even mention anything to the Pastor, and his wife's words to me was 'There is no condemnation in Christ'... and the 2nd thing the Pastor prayed for was for 'forgiveness', basically to forgive someone. And the verse for the camp was "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!.." Isaiah 43:18-19.
Another thing I read about forgiveness through a random book in the bookshop was in Matthew 18:21-24:
Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart." What a beautiful illustration... and what a change of heart I had after this experience, that I could actually forgive another & make contact again...something which I struggled with for so long.
I asked for Strength...God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom...God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity...God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage...God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love...God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors...God gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted...I received everything I needed!
People always perceive Christians as judgmental, weird people who think they are too good for themselves. But those are just stereotypes, of course u can put many labels to other groups of people as well for that matter. To me, true Christians are no more than mortal human beings who have found God & their purpose for living.
What could be greater or more life changing than that?
Murphy's Law
If anything can go wrong, it will.
I just had one of those days today. Had a very early meeting with the partner of the firm to discuss my new salary structure etc. ... and yes, of all days, I was faced with the worst traffic jam ever!! And ironically, I was out of my house the earliest in months!! Everyone knows that there should NOT be a traffic jam at like 7 something in the morning! To make things more colourful for me, I took like 8 minutes to reverse out of my house coz my sis' new car was blocking the way... yes, of all days ...
Luckily for me, the partner of my firm is very understanding, told me that it was ok & to drive carefully. ;) *phew* If there's one thing I'd stay in this firm for, it's definitely the people. Anyway, in my haste to get to the office ASAP, I almost knocked down the dustbin in the parking lot... I hate parking!!
The good part was that the discussion went pretty alright, and my new pay isn't too bad. I was taking my own sweet time after the morning rush and my manager SMS-ed me to say that she's stuck in the very bad jam (
so it wasn't just me!)... and told me to start the session with the clients first. *
Gasp* I wasn't even at the client's yet. After being majorly lost looking for the coffee place to takeaway coffee to stay awake for the latter part of the day, and not being able to find my car in the carpark (which happens all the time).. I managed to get to the client's, guessing my way there.... didn't get lost (
woohoo!!), and yeap, I was late but at least I made it.
It all boiled down to one thing... I'm just too blur, and I need to do something bout it coz it's driving me mad! :) But then again, my life wouldn't be so colourful then & I'd have nothing to blog about. ;)
