Happy Birthday Jeff!

Yesterday we had a small birthday celebration for Jeff at my place. It was a small gathering, with food provided by my top chef Jean Pierre. :) There was sarawak laksa & whipped potato on toast. I contributed the Bubur chacha but chef Jean Pierre experimented with it, added a tapioca starch balls which made my bubur chacha all starchy at the bottom but still edible. :( Now, he is not allowed to experiment with my desserts. Hmm, have to quality check his experiments first before allowing him to add it into the food. Hehehe!

That aside, I enjoyed the quiet evening with great company. I am glad I could catch up with friends over the weekend. I am happy that you guys are doing well and enjoying life. Take care my friends and happy birthday Jeff. Hope you had a great birthday! Too bad Bawang cannot make it. Get well soon, dearie!

Heaven & Hell by Paulo Coelho

A man, his horse and his dog were traveling down a road. When they were passing by a gigantic tree, a bolt of lightning struck and they all fell dead on the spot.

But the man did not realize that he had already left this world, so he went on walking with his two animals; sometimes the dead take time to understand their new condition...

The journey was very long, uphill, the sun was strong and they were covered in sweat and very thirsty. They were desperately in need of water. At a bend in the road they spotted a magnificent gateway, all in marble, which led to a square paved with blocks of gold and with a fountain in the center that spouted forth crystalline water.

The traveler went up to the man guarding the gate.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” answered the man.

“What is this beautiful place?”

“This is heaven.”

“How good to have reached heaven, we’re ever so thirsty.”

“You can come in and drink all you want.”

And the guard pointed to the fountain.

“My horse and my dog are thirsty too.”

“So sorry, but animals aren’t allowed in here.”

The man was very disappointed because his thirst was great, but he could not drink alone; he thanked the man and went on his way. After traveling a lot, they arrived exhausted at a farm whose entrance was marked with an old doorway that opened onto a tree-lined dirt road.

A man was lying down in the shadow of one of the trees, his head covered with a hat, perhaps asleep.

“Good morning,” said the traveler.

The man nodded his head.

“We are very thirsty - me, my horse and my dog.”

“There is a spring over in those stones,” said the man, pointing to the spot. “Drink as much as you like.”

The man, the horse and the dog went to the spring and quenched their thirst. Then the traveler went back to thank the man.

“By the way, what’s this place called?”

“Heaven.”

“Heaven? But the guard at the marble gate back there said that was heaven!”

“That’s not heaven, that’s hell.”

The traveler was puzzled.

“You’ve got to stop this! All this false information must cause enormous confusion!”

The man smiled:

“Not at all. As a matter of fact they do us a great favor. Because over there stay all those who are even capable of abandoning their best friends...”

One Lazy Saturday Afternoon

I am enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon, where tomorrow is a Sunday and no work to be done. Sigh! Such bliss! :p The best time of the week. Sunday would never be as enjoyable as a Saturday afternoon. Now, what do i want to do? Hmmm..... basically nothing. Hah!

Last week was an ON and OFF week. Monday was a public holiday, then you go back to work for another 2 days, then Thursday is another public holiday then you have to go back to work on Friday. Which kind of doesn't make me enjoy the holidays as much. It's like you start the engine and go into WORK mode, halfway there is a HOLIDAY mode, then WORK mode, then HOLIDAY mode and WORK mode again. Truthfully, i didn't get much work done. Physics taught me about inertia. It applies to moods as well. :p It takes time to get into the mood to work and to maintain it there for the whole week. No breaks allowed. Then only you get to enjoy the weekend even more.

Barking Mad

Occasionally when working in the office, there are some really amusing things that happens. Recently someone in the office apparently quite unhappy with the cleanliness of other colleagues, sent out an email to everyone about keeping the work area clean and picking up after themselves. Someone cc'ed the boss as well. o.0 This sparked off a sort of email war among everyone.

I kept quiet of course. This email was indirectly started by my unassuming "Smoking is bad for health and don't smoke in the office" mail with a nice little PSA attached for effect. :p (but that's beside the point )

Anyways, my colleagues are all very verbal about the email and some amusing remarks were made. Which includes 3 year olds, old enough to marry someone's mother and sharing graves together. ^^;;;;

We all work together, respecting each other's space is really important especially in a cramped working environment, where sometimes, some of us don't even have our own personal work area. I believe in being polite and nice to each other. I also believe that if you want something, you've got to look at the other person eye to eye and ask.

The Fifth Cardinal Virtue: Justice

At the tea ceremony: We see evil in others because we know evil through our own behavior. We never pardon those who wound us because we feel that we would never be pardoned. We tell others the painful truth because we want to hide it from ourselves. We take refuge in pride so that no-one can see how fragile we are. That is why, whenever you are judging your brother, bear in mind that it is you who are on trial. (Okakura Kakuso, The Book of Tea, 1904)

Source from: Warrior of The Light Website

Heightened sense of smell......

I have a heightened sense of smell now. Every smell seems to be intensified. I smell practically everything, which makes me feel nauseaus very often, 'coz everything is not all too nice. When the wind blows a cooling breeze, i smell garbage from the next door landfill. Bluerghhh! Not nice. Daddy smoking outdoors in the garden, i smell the smoke inside the house. Not nice.

I wonder if this intense sense of smell is a natural survival instinct for mothers to be. A warning for them to avoid certain food or some dangerous situation. I used to not twice about putting food into my mouth, now i am very careful, if i'm not, one whiff, would certainly have put me off.

I guess, i am in a better condition than most. At least, it's still bearable and i avoid all things that makes me sick. Sour stuffs definitely works for me, but i avoid asam and all preserved stuffs as best i can. Sour apples are nice. :")

The fourth cardinal virtue: Wisdom

Before Alexander: The Greek philosopher Anaximenes (400 A.C.) approached Alexander the Great to try to save his city.

“I received you because I know that you are a wise man. But you have my word as king that I shall never accept what you have come to ask me,” said the powerful warrior to his generals.

“I just came to ask you to destroy my city,” replied Anaximenes. And in this way the city was saved.

From: Warrior of The Light website