Too many people live the same year 80 times over. And call it a life.
~ Robin Sharma
一生に一度だけ見られる景色。
読売新聞より：
三春滝桜に降れる白雪…４０年ぶりの競演
日本三大桜の一つで樹齢１０００年以上とされる福島県三春町の国天然記念物「三春滝桜」は１７日、季節はずれの雪に覆われた幻想的な姿を見せ、訪れた人たちの視線をくぎ付けにした。
町によると、開花後の降雪は約４０年ぶりだという。
今年は１３日に開花したものの、連日の寒さでまだ２分咲き。それでも、この日ばかりは、満開を楽しみに訪れたツアー客らも真っ白な大地に、ほのかなピンク色の巨木が浮き上がる雄大な姿に酔いしれ、記念撮影するなどして楽しんでいた。東京都品川区、主婦落合玲子さん（６６）は「冬と春が一緒に来たよう。めったに見られない景色に感動しました」と話していた。
（2010年4月18日10時50分 読売新聞）
読売新聞より：
三春滝桜に降れる白雪…４０年ぶりの競演
日本三大桜の一つで樹齢１０００年以上とされる福島県三春町の国天然記念物「三春滝桜」は１７日、季節はずれの雪に覆われた幻想的な姿を見せ、訪れた人たちの視線をくぎ付けにした。
町によると、開花後の降雪は約４０年ぶりだという。
今年は１３日に開花したものの、連日の寒さでまだ２分咲き。それでも、この日ばかりは、満開を楽しみに訪れたツアー客らも真っ白な大地に、ほのかなピンク色の巨木が浮き上がる雄大な姿に酔いしれ、記念撮影するなどして楽しんでいた。東京都品川区、主婦落合玲子さん（６６）は「冬と春が一緒に来たよう。めったに見られない景色に感動しました」と話していた。
（2010年4月18日10時50分 読売新聞）
Wine fair in campus today.. and tasted a lot of different types of wine!! To the point I was pretty tipsy (during working hours, ahem). Sampled champagne, sangria, white, red, yellow, chocolate liquer, sparkling, moscato,... all for five bucks! Haha.
At the wine fair, I met the Dean of Students, a delightful man, who was very enthusiastic about sharing good wine and good philosophy. He told us his teacher once told him a 4-word phrase so profound it changed the way he looked at things:
At the wine fair, I met the Dean of Students, a delightful man, who was very enthusiastic about sharing good wine and good philosophy. He told us his teacher once told him a 4-word phrase so profound it changed the way he looked at things:
This, too, will pass.
Everything is transient, so go out and soak up everything at every moment!, so he says. He encouraged us (students who were standing around, drinking with him) to travel far and wide. Go to Mount Matterhorn in Switzerland and soak up the culture! What timely advice, just as I was deciding (or not) to grab the opportunity to go for a meditation retreat in Chiang Rai with Ajahn Brahm. When I contemplated aloud on that, I was pleasantly surprised that a colleague, YL, knew what I was talking about. Apparently, YL is also a fellow Buddhist Fellowship member. The world is small indeed!!
Today I watched a friend in tears struggling to maintain a long distance relationship. My heart went out to her. A confused man who doesn't seem capable of maintaining fidelity to a lonely woman. Are all men inclined to cheat?, she asked me. I don't know.
But in retrospect, having sat with her for a couple of hours, I realized I am quite a compassionate person. Can't really explain why, but as I watched her cry, I felt like crying with her as well. I thought I have lost the warm and kind part of me somewhere along the cold journey in life. Somehow today, it makes me feel human again.
After that entire episode and out of melancholy, I dug up an old record of Celine Dion's, "If You Asked Me To". That song never fails to bring me back to California 17 years ago, to KOIT 96.5 and to the darkened boulevards in the suburbans of Milpitas. Even now, I can still smell the crisp autumn air of 1992.
But in retrospect, having sat with her for a couple of hours, I realized I am quite a compassionate person. Can't really explain why, but as I watched her cry, I felt like crying with her as well. I thought I have lost the warm and kind part of me somewhere along the cold journey in life. Somehow today, it makes me feel human again.
After that entire episode and out of melancholy, I dug up an old record of Celine Dion's, "If You Asked Me To". That song never fails to bring me back to California 17 years ago, to KOIT 96.5 and to the darkened boulevards in the suburbans of Milpitas. Even now, I can still smell the crisp autumn air of 1992.
I saved a little bird today!
The abandoned and confused baby bird might have tried to fly from its nest, but landed in the middle of the road! So that he will not be pulverized to death by oncoming vehicles, I scooped the little guy up and left him within the vegetations at the side walk.
Hopefully he takes flight safely!
Am sick, thanks to my colleague, CG, for passing me the virus.
In spite of ill health, I felt a little adventurous, and decided to try out treatment at the spanking new traditional chinese medicine (TCM) clinic belonging to my school. This translates to me seeking medical consultation from a bunch of final year undergraduate TCM students. Yes, I offered myself as a guinea pig to training chinese doctors. An interesting consultation indeed!
Met up with a girl friend, for a meal of chilli crab and good girl talk.
And I realized that everyone of us is going through some sort or other of relationship problems. Everyone is struggling in their own way. Strangely comforting, to know that I am not alone.
I guess we are much more similar and connected than we realize.
There's just so much to learn from every single, individual person.
Came across a group a buskers who were part of this community called "The Beloved".
And at their blog, I came across this post that reflected my current sentiments, word for word:
Giving, or giving up?
Have you ever been so outraged with a close friend that you try to avoid him or her, and you'd be relieved for a reason to be busy so that you don't have to talk or even look at the person? Lets be real. I have.
Talking to some friends recently reminded me again that it takes a special kind of love and choice (and modified worldview) to continue meeting up with and watching the back of the dear friend with no strings attached even though i want so much to whack my friend's head with a genetically modified oversized salmon.
Have you ever felt what it was like to have someone "give up" on you? That surely must have been difficult to accept... Or have you ever given up on someone?
Then again, has there been someone in your life who, no matter what, has always been unconditional in their acceptance and never gave up on you even in your worst of times?
- pony
And at their blog, I came across this post that reflected my current sentiments, word for word:
Giving, or giving up?
Have you ever been so outraged with a close friend that you try to avoid him or her, and you'd be relieved for a reason to be busy so that you don't have to talk or even look at the person? Lets be real. I have.
Talking to some friends recently reminded me again that it takes a special kind of love and choice (and modified worldview) to continue meeting up with and watching the back of the dear friend with no strings attached even though i want so much to whack my friend's head with a genetically modified oversized salmon.
Have you ever felt what it was like to have someone "give up" on you? That surely must have been difficult to accept... Or have you ever given up on someone?
Then again, has there been someone in your life who, no matter what, has always been unconditional in their acceptance and never gave up on you even in your worst of times?
- pony
On the way to work, I learnt a lesson.
A father was bringing his young daughter to kindergarten. They took the elevator from the third floor and down. There were 2 other people in the elevator, a young woman at a corner and a man with a bicycle occupying most of the room. The father and child stepped inside to the unoccupied corner near the door and the elevator descended. When the doors opened, the father and child alighted first, to allow room for thte other 2 to get off. The father, holding his daughter's hand, stood outside and pressed the elevator button to hold the door open so that the other 2 people could get off smoothly. The little girl simply waited patiently with her father, looking on quietly.
The best ways to teach our children is always by example.
A father was bringing his young daughter to kindergarten. They took the elevator from the third floor and down. There were 2 other people in the elevator, a young woman at a corner and a man with a bicycle occupying most of the room. The father and child stepped inside to the unoccupied corner near the door and the elevator descended. When the doors opened, the father and child alighted first, to allow room for thte other 2 to get off. The father, holding his daughter's hand, stood outside and pressed the elevator button to hold the door open so that the other 2 people could get off smoothly. The little girl simply waited patiently with her father, looking on quietly.
The best ways to teach our children is always by example.
"...faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe."
- Albert Lewis, from Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Finally I got hold of the video! I was lucky to find it sitting on the library shelf, it's been a hot loan item for months!
Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was light, peppered with humor yet thought-provoking.
Also loaned Mary Poppins. I had to watch it at least once! Not as good as 'The Sound of Music', but well.... supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was light, peppered with humor yet thought-provoking.
Also loaned Mary Poppins. I had to watch it at least once! Not as good as 'The Sound of Music', but well.... supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Girl company is truly a wonderful thing.
Talked to my friend YN about my emotional struggles on a certain relationship, and it felt good to share with her. To have a like listen can sometimes be very comforting and liberating.
I'm glad we had the girl talk!
Talked to my friend YN about my emotional struggles on a certain relationship, and it felt good to share with her. To have a like listen can sometimes be very comforting and liberating.
I'm glad we had the girl talk!
Everyday, again and again, I fall in love with the brilliant blue sky and gentle breeze that softly touches my face. The towering yet sturdy green trees and the cheerful sunshine.
Even while I get hurt and my heart broken, Mother Nature envelopes me in her gentleness.
Even when people change and break their promises, Mother Nature is always there for me, unchanging.
I'm so glad to be in love with Mother Nature.
Even while I get hurt and my heart broken, Mother Nature envelopes me in her gentleness.
Even when people change and break their promises, Mother Nature is always there for me, unchanging.
I'm so glad to be in love with Mother Nature.
"Holding on to anger is like grapsing a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else, you are the one who gets burned."