Nothing endures but change

Gathering with ex uni-mates

2007-11-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

Siew Bee dropped me an email in Oct telling me that Lau and herself will be coming back to Malaysia for holidays, I was really glad. Both of them are my ex uni-mates in Taylor's and UTS. I haven't met them for a really long time and the last time I saw them was more than 5 years back while they were still working in Singapore.

We met up for lunch on 9th Nov at one of the Chinese restaurants in One-Utama, together with Mary and Jocelyn. All of them are still as friendly as last time. We talked and talked while having lunch, trying to catch up with each other on our works, life etc. during the few hous of meeting up.

Lau and Siew Bee brought Sean along this time, he is almost 1 1/2 years old now but looks like a 3-year old boy, he is very tall indeed (like his dad)! And, according to his mum, he was more active than usual on that day, I guess he might want to get his parents' attention. He didn't stop crying few times until his dad brought him jalan-jalan outside.

Siew Bee and Lau, when and where will I be able to meet up with you guys again? Hopefully in near future (next year) in Sydney! Let's go kite flying at Bondi Beach, yam cha at Market City, cycling at Centenial Park, buying fresh veges and fruits at Paddy's Market.......

Thank you for being so kind and helpful during my difficult time in Sydney. Remember it's my treat in Sydney! :)

P/S: Lau and Siew Bee are Australian PR working in Sydney now while Mary and Jocelyn are staying and working in KL.

《隐形的翅膀》张韶涵

2007-11-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

Another favourite song... super favourite! Hehe.....

http://fsysl.ltuo.cn/yd/yinyue.wma

每一次
都在徘徊孤单中坚强
每一次
就算很受伤
也不闪泪光
我知道
我一直有双隐形的翅膀
带我飞
飞过绝望
不去想
他们拥有美丽的太阳
我看见
每天的夕阳
也会有变化
我知道
我一直有双隐形的翅膀
带我飞
给我希望
我终于
看到
所有梦想都开花
追逐的年轻
歌声多嘹亮
我终于
翱翔
用心凝望不害怕
哪里会有风
就飞多远吧
隐形的翅膀
让梦恒久比天长
留一个
愿望
让自己想象

Deepavali Ad from Petronas

2007-11-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

Cool and touching.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TiRC-fc6Ac

《回家真好》刘德华

2007-11-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

百听不厌的一首歌 :)

http://www.trjzs.cn/images/jia.wma

电话不停在吵老板不停在闹
总逃不开工作表做完了又来了
怎样也甩不掉
回家感觉真好别管世俗纷扰
把一整天的面罩忙和累的大脑都往热水里泡
让没一颗细胞忘掉烦恼
我的家就是我的城堡
每一砖一瓦用爱创造
家里人的微笑是我的财宝
等回家才知道自己真的重要
双手能为家人而粗糙
班么荣耀那么骄傲
你为我把饭烧我为你打扫
啊回家的感觉实在真的太好

Beware of Garbage Trucks

2007-11-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

Here's what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face.

Now, here's what blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck™."

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did. I guarantee it.

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck™." I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People." Well now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet. You'll be happier. I guarantee it.

By David J. Pollay, HappyNews Columnist

A Meaningful Speech by Pulitzer Prize Winner: Anna Quindlen

2007-11-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't Ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've received your test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre at my job if those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".