On Saturday

Our Reunion Dinner

 we had an early reunion dinner last Saturday at the nearby coffee shop.
in the past, people in china "wei lu" (encircle the steamboat at dinner) huddle together during a cold, winter  for reunion dinner once a year.

Hey! Sohpie!

At 4am, Kiki shouted in her sleep- "HEY! SOPHIE!" in an urgent tone.
I thought she must have played too much during the day hence having a playback in her sleep.
This morning, I asked her what was it about.
She said - "I had a bad dream"
Me- Huh?
Kiki- "Sophie and I are in a maze" (I think she meant in a race???)
continued; "I was running and then Sophie ran in front of me" (overtook her?)
"So I shouted - Hey! Sophie!"
Me-  -_-"""   you call that a bad dream?  and how come she remembers her dream?!?!

Daiso DIY

Handles $2 a pair (Daiso)
Cloth $2 (Daiso)
Handheld sewing gadget $9.90 (a friend helped me get this from a makeshift market stall)

Outcome: A very flimsy bag, uneven, very untidy sewing. but well, it's small fun.

Random Quotes

The Newsroom

Okay, for whatever facts and data you want to know about The Newsroom, you can goggle it. 

what i'm gonna say here is in my own words,, 

This sitcom has got me rushing home to catch one episode per week (Thursday night 10pm HBO signature), plus, watching the re-runs two episodes per Sunday night. Yes, I watch three episodes per week and almost shed a tear with some of them. 

Why? you ask. 
Because this is a fictional story of how a newsroom ought to be. 
but in this economic driven world, this ideology does not exist or it is not economically viable to exist. The industry caved to favour tabloids, somebody's indecent past/present becomes juicier than his credits; political manipulation; illegal tapping on phones & messages; etc. Trolling to bully. 
 
It is so difficult to "do the right thing" and everyone deems you a fool (for doing the right thing or even trying).

I don't make a study from US politics but it sure seems we are having a similar set of problems albeit less intense. Some of their political movement drove messages like,, - If you are not successful, you are either too lazy or too dumb. 
another "classic" quote: "my grandmother taught me not to feed the strays. you know why? because they breed". (unwillingness to help the poor)  

So you get the gist of how this small team amidst their personal lives' complications, tries hard to uphold news ethics while keeping the station alive.

we all need some of these sometimes.   

While Ye May

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying.

Robert Herrick (poet)

CNY

It's postal time.
My colleagues said that no one sends CNY greeting cards these days.
I said - try my family.

Dad's for Life

 The Papa brings them for Kiddy rides & snacks all the time.

Colin

 Enrichment classes start again. Kiki & Papa read a book while waiting for Didi Colin.

 Didi was the only kid who wasn't crying in class....... all the other boys probably need some time to adjust after two weeks break.

 Kiddy rides time. The Papa is reliving the outings with Colin this time.
Lucky twice, I said.

 I asked Maricar to trim his hair. So, it's a mushroom head now, haha.

Happy New Year

 She was very hungry, she said grace before eating : "dear father, i am very, very hungry, my tummy is rumbling and tumbling, thank you for the food"....    me: -_-"

 drew her Papa in sand. said - "must add hair"

Colin will just sleep whenever he feels sleepy. that's an easy baby.

Thanks for 2012

Look at how happy I looked at the final rehearsal.
Months of preparation for that 3 minutes to tell our customers we appreciate their business. I was feeling "This is it", you know, the moment has arrived for "show time". Don't we all work on something and hope to deliver it well. Somewhere three quarter of the way (during preparation), we should be able to gauge how we would fare. And that is the time you either buck up or just maintain your form if you think it's good enough, or in some instances when you really are hopeless at it, quit. Oops, am I not supposed to say that? I normally quit something after two attempts or give it a rest. 


 2012, how has it been for you?

I have been humbled. I have always been self-reflective and make corrections to my shortcomings and at the same time, hope that I have brought some comfort, warmth and inspiration to this world just by being me. Each day, I thank and trust the Universe for keeping my children safe. I thank and trust the Universe for all the challenges I've had because I will always grow from them.

(I don't own the photo above. it was circulate in FB)
This mother and her boys have such sense of humour. Time passes whether you know it or not and you can't will it. Recently, I read a quote that says (to the effect) that one wastes more time if one is unaware of wasting time and carries on wasting it. while one wastes no time if one is aware of one's wastage and stops doing it. My friend PW had to arrange for an emergency operation; she had to take care of getting her will done, her estate done, her power of attorney done and she told me thank goodness she had health insurance. She will take about 6 to 12 months to recover and she's heading back to do ballroom dancing which brought her much joy. So, get insured and go live your life.

 In our ever-progressing, ever status-conscious and materialistic society, the widening gap between the haves and haves-nots will bite us hard. I hope we can do something about it. I read about the NYPD cop who bought a homeless, bare footed man a pair of boots with his own money when he saw that the beggar had no shoes and it was freezing at 3 degrees on the streets. The cop had two pairs of socks on and he was freezing, so he couldn't imagine how cold it must have been for the homeless guy. the store clerk used his staff privilege and gave the cop a discount when he learned that it was for the homeless man sitting outside his store. So anyway, this act of kindness went viral and "the whole world" was abuzz and everyone felt "there's hope". Fast forward a few days onward, the media hounded the homeless man, who had since become barefooted again because in the hostile living condition that he was in, he was afraid to be robbed (of his new shoes), plus, "who would give money to a beggar with new shoes"- he thought out loud. Another few days on, when the media hounded him again, he then wants money. He asked; with all this action, where is his piece of the pie? Ouch. It bites. So ladies and gentlemen, we have issues that are deep. Between a new pair of shoes and helping the homeless get on his feet, there's a huge gap to be filled.

Okay, this is my arm in case you're wondering which body part it is. 

There are occasions when I get so hurt that I want to tattoo an X on my arm to remind me not to trust anyone. an X = do not trust, do not let your guard down, there-is-no-real-good-people-in-this-world kind of thoughts. 

But I let my emotions cool. So I mark an X with a pen and by the time my disappointment subside, the ink on my arm would have faded. So ya, this is my way of dealing with disappointment. I am pretty sure this  works better than the real thing! haha.

And lastly, I wanna also tell you that there will always be a way out. 

I play this block puzzle all the time. I go on and on and on and there is no puzzle I couldn't solve. 

I enjoy this game because I know that there will not be a set that has no solution to it. It would be a felony if ever there was. So I go on and on and on and on knowing that all puzzles can be solved. 

You know what? I think life is also like this. If you come across a tough nut puzzle, take a break and leave it for another day. Try again. There is always a way out. or it would be felony. 

 

Hello, two thousand & thirteen.

When I had my two thousand & one diary, I liked it that my diary spelled "Two Thousand and One" on the cover. I thought, cool idea, no one spells Nineteen hundred and ninety-nine back then.
So when I received this new diary from Steph, it reminded me that 12 years had gone by since the millennium.

There is no new year resolutions for me to make because whatever standard ones like heading to the gym, etc., I don't do it, never get round to doing it and so I shall not fool myself into saying I will do it. Although I do have goals I wanna achieve, there's really no big deal about them. Let me surprise you!

So this year, I mean year 2013, Colin will go to school! Awww...... my baby is going to school. Haha. Most probably in August / September. And Kiki hasn't learnt to read and write! Gosh, do I need to start drilling? And that's about all. Hope my sis gets married soon!

Let there be light, let there be joy in your hearts.

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

 Our annual party at Grandpa's place.

For the first time in my life, I was actually not annoyed by the incredible din everyone was contributing. Everyone (mostly children) was talking at the top of their voice to the extent of shouting, but it was such a nice feeling, the warmth of family, have i ever felt this?!? As usual, HJ was trying to boss the other kids around but this time, she has a guest who is a boy of the same age who won't listen to her and then you have Kiki trying to build some structure while HJ suggested making guns, while i said "no guns!", at the same time you have Didi self-absorbed and you have the lovebirds camwhoring, it was noise, noise and more noise but it was happy.

HBD, Maricar.

She was happily singing along when suddenly, she realised that we were all singing for her. Stunned and short for words, she hid her face with her palms and choked back her tears. Perhaps the attention was a little too much for her to handle but I'm sure she'll remember this birthday for a long time to come.

Random

 spruced up my nails during lunch. saved myself 45$ going to the parlour.
i used to be able to paint the American flag on my nails but now they have stickers to do the job.

 we resisted letting her take this ride because it cost 4$.  i mean, there's nothing really fun about this isn't it? but tears rolled aplenty and we relented. well, Uncle Ringo needs to make some money too i guess.

one random quote-of-the-day

Some final pix

 the committee

 at the final rehearsal

first day at the booth