It Ain't Over

I am not a F1 fan and for the 2 weeks that led up to last weekend, I think many Singaporeans were also not very hyped about F1 (expect the die-hard fans who paid hundreds / thousands of $$). Street poll taken by The Straits Times revealed that most locals didn't even know the race date. Many locals shunned from Suntec area, thinking that many roads were closed (which wasn't the case) and retailers suffered quite a bit.

I guess this showed a lack of interest initially, that is until all the action took place.

Non-ticket holders tore down fences, stood on Ladders they brought from home (!), stood on dust bins, checked into costly hotels just to catch a glimpse .

There were 2 placement rounds on Friday & Saturday where the racers raced to get into top 15 qualifying positions. This positioning is said to be utmost important as the pole race (first position to start the race) is said to have the highest chace to emerge champion. Incidentally, it was racer - Massa, whom was said to "own" street races. (I personally think that is quite a cocky remark).

So anyway, the Ferrari team had all the prime positions and was deemed to win.

Then came the fluke accident where Alonso's team-mate Nelson Piquet crashed into the wall and the safety car came out to make sure that all racers follow behind it until the debris were cleared. So happened that Alonso was lined first behind the safety car and he had just filled up his tank earlier. (that means he could dash while the other cars probably are light on fuel). At that point, I think he was at position #13? This twist of event eventually paved the way for him to emerge champion, of course it was a feat for him to maintain the lead thereafter.

Note that Alonso started at the last position (#15) at the start of the race and his comment before the race was that he just had to fill the race and do his rounds.

So ladies and gentlemen, it ain't over till it's over.

Of course many will say that this is a miracle or fluke. But really, this is a classic case of keeping the right attitude and siezing the opportunity, which is a great lesson to learn.

The ever-popular & ever famous Ferrari is eating a humble pie now. They suffered more that just disappointment, given the many technical glitches they had.

And so, everyone is facinated, amazed, shocked or just in awe with the result of F1's inaugural night race, hosted by Singapore.

Disaster

I couldn't find the mood to write much last week or so.
Firstly, my CPF investments are doing so terrible; if I sold them, I would have made 14k & more losses.
That would mean that I'll have to hold.
How long will it take to break even, given that the global financial market is down and looks like for the long haul.
The only consolation, if any, is that I could hold. That's all.

Never will I dream that I would be affected by the downfall of Lehman Brothers but I am.
It is too distressing to think about it. I can't go on to think about it.

Then came the food scare on the toxic chemical found in milk products from China.
On the recall list are some items I've been consuming- vitasoy milk, meiji milk.
Hastily read the labels- made in Hong Kong, and made in Thailand.
All common consumables are from Asia. Are they not safe?
What has become of the world.

An Eye for An Eye Makes the Whole World Blind

Can you imagine I was more shocked than mad when my neighbour vomited from his bedroom window and his vomit splashed onto my window pane, onto my cushion and my laptop!!! Eeek!

I screamed upward to him: "WA LIEW!!! WA LIEW, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" (Wa liew is the slang for wa lau, which has origin in wa lan, which is a profanity referring to the penis). I don't know, but it was a reflex verbalization that came to me at the point in shock. I rushed to the kitchen to fetch a bottle of water to flush away the debris and cleaned my windows and I made like one dozen trips back and forth. The whole time I shouted at him saying:"DO YOU WANNA COME AND CLEAN IT! DO YOU WANNA COME AND CLEAN MY WINDOWS?!"

There is no anger in me, I was only flustered that he was so inconsiderate to do it at his convenience. For a man like this, I only had sympathy. I heard him coughing away, so I thought he must be suffering from one of his over drinking. This guy is most probably a Malaysian cos he speaks with an M'sian accented Mandarin in a loudmouth manner. He often has several Chinese Nationals girlfriends in his home at any one time. I think he either doesn't work or works at night as he is always seen leaving home at night. Though he fits the profile of a pimp, I have no evidence he is one.

While cleaning, I tried to summon some hate-thoughts to hope that one day the neighbour above him will do the same to him, but I couldn't summon that intention. It just wouldn't come. In fact, I was hoping he would be fine. Oh, what contrary I face.

I called Brendan to tell him there is a portion of the window I couldn't reach, there are streaks of vomit that are not new but maybe a few days old! To think that I had been sleeping with his vomit is disgusting. Brendan said maybe he is sick. I said ya, let's send him love.

Gosh. I surprise myself sometimes.

In Reiki, we learn to send love. The more the person behaves badly, the more he needs it actually.

There is not an ounce of anger in me, of course I am upset that I am cleaning up a stranger's vomit. I could only hope he doesn't do it again cos if he really does, I will have to invite him to my home to clean up his mess.

An Eye for An Eye makes the Whole World Blind.

881

It was so hard for me to watch the movie <<881>>.

Had I known it was gonna be this hard, I may have not watched that DVD.

Well, the theme revolves around 2 girls whose passion was for Getai Singing.
How they prayed to be good at it and how competitive it is at our local scene.
The sitgma the singers face as well as the lewd environment associated with Getai.
The hard part for me was that one of the girls was terminally ill. But she struggled to live her dream as dignifyingly as possible and faced fierce competition with feisty. Though she succumbed to the illness and died, she lived her dream.
I don't know why I should be feeling so sad when there's actually such bravery, support and love all over.
Movies like these had never had such a sting in me before. If I could be honest about it, I could only say that it now does because of what I went through with my dad.

I do not know what's more to learn but I've learnt to take the good, the bad, with a good attitude.
Isn't it how?

The End of Being Cranky

I tried to understand why I was so cranky over such trivial matter (in entry below) and realised I had over-reacted.
So sorry you had to see it.

You know, it is really harder to do than preach.

Many years ago, I read about "reverence" - having understanding for people in situations, and extending that understanding to somewhat strangers. For instance, the driver in front of you is road hogging and driving mindlessly. It drives you crazy and you drove up next to him to give him the finger, no, to just tell him to hey! stop road hogging, you don't own the road. As you drove up to him, you recognised that hey, he's an old friend you haven't seen for a long time. You pull him over to say hello and to tell him it is dangerous to drive in that manner. Before you could start, you see that his face is grey & gloom. You ask what's wrong? He told you his wife just died and he is on the way home to break the news to his 3 boys. Immediately, you forgive him. And you blame yourself for being so worked up over a trivial matter. That chap has a lot to deal with, you thought. And this, my friend, is reverence. Or so this is what it was titled in that chapter I read in that book "The Seat of The Soul" by Gary Zukav (The Dancing Wu Li Masters).
I couldn't fully appreciate this learning, even till now.
I find that I couldn't be finding excuses for people's "sub-standard behaviour".
There will always be some reasoning for a bad behaviour and I couldn't care more or I will always be soft and giving and then we'll all crumble wouldn't we?
But I realised that my problem is that I am giving to most people, young & old, strangers & relatives, BUT i am critical to people I dislike. So, there you go. Mystery solved. I am a biased human.
There still is a lot of revering for me to do. So while I am figuring it out, I've decided to stop being cranky and be grateful to every joyous day.

Voilà!

Help! I'm a bitch!

Val says I'm too territorial.

I wanted to defend but didn't.

Cos I agree I am territorial.

Had I not feel an ounce of "guilt" being territorial, there will not be this entry.

So how?! (or so what?) okay, let me be open and raw.

I am territorial and It irks me even more when there's prolonged invasion of my territory.

The cells in my body wanna scream: "this is my territoy" (like that ah beng sitcom)

No matter how messy my work station may seem, it is neat, tidy and well organized. I can always find my stuff and they are always at a purposeful location for ease of process. Just like a production line. It only seems messy due to the constrained space we have. But I can assure you I am too methodological to tolerate mess for over period of time for the fact that I cannot live with mess. (oh no! I have no inner peace?) For the past 3 weeks, the colleague in front of me tidied her work space over and again but kept leaving her file in my space. Frequently, I put that file upright so that it lies in-line with her row of white files but soon enough, the file would be lying in THIS POSITION YOU SEE IN THE PHOTO.

Just on Friday, she TIDIED THE AREA, WIPED THE RAIN WATER NEAR THE WINDOWS, PLACED THE CLOTH ON THE WHITE FILE, AND LEFT THAT FUCKING BLUE FILE IN MY SPACE. OH GOD HELP ME I AM TERRITORIAL! ISN'T ONLY DOGS ARE TERRITORIAL? DOES THAT MAKE ME A BITCH?

ok, calm down, calm down. oh come-on.

COUNTRIES GO TO WAR OVER TERRITORY.

CLANS KILL OVER TERRITORY.

NEIGHBOURS GO TO COURT OVER FRUITS & LEAVES THAT CROSSED THE FENCE.

so, am i really that guilty of being territorial?

I am just trying to better understand myself.

you know, i haven't yet decided what to do with that blue file.

for this weekend, i've place it on top of the printer next to my table.

Here is what i'm toying to do:-

option #1- THROW IT IN THE BIN. AND DENY EVER THROWING IT.

option #2- THROW IT IN THE BIN AND ADMIT TO THROWING IT.

dreaded option #3- return to colleague and tell her to keep it somewhere else.

option #4- place it everywhere. change a location every day. (if i do this long enough, i could soon exercise option #1)

option #5- find a decent cupboard and put it in there.

I think the problem is that I've been invaded but I could not be open and confront the invader. Not because I fear her but because I do not want to acknowledge that she's doing it. It's an unhealthy mind-game!

It is so petty to even get angry over such minor intricacies and yet I'm angry.

I want to send the message that I'm not to be messed with but it is the wrong thing to do.

But at the same time, I am not saint enough to do the right thing. (yet?)

I face Duality. Right and wrong.

Secret Gardens

(i was only eating soup & greens)













I haven't eaten all the salads in town but I've eaten all the salads wherever my journeys bring me.

Verdict:

DON'T waste time (& money) on McCafe's ceasar salad.

It is too processed to be of much benefit. The cheese, the chicken shreds, are all too salty.

What was I thinking. Grading: -1 out of 10.

Swensens: emmmm, not too bad, 5 out of 10.

Hog's Breath: okay, emmm 6 out of 10.

TCCC (coffee club): quite good! emmmmm 7 out of 10.

Secret Recipe: well well, by far the best! 8 out of 10. Can't wait to eat there again!

After Art of Living

My company subsidized a workshop for us, called "The Art of Living"

I didn't really want to attend in the first place because I had already attended multiple similar workshops in the past 8 or 9 years. But I was persuaded by 4 other colleagues from the main office. They were new to these form of workshop but they were eagerly telling me about its said benefits which I am aware of. Just that I was lazy and didn't feel like committing to some daily rituals on Yoga stretches, breathing techniques as well as to fast without coffee. I was fine with non-meat diet for a week, it is the commitment of those daily exercises that I was lazy to follow.

Nevertheless, I thought well, just go. there surely will be something to learn. And so I went.

Since I was already on a non-carbo diet, a non-meat addition would mean that I am only eating veggies. I thought it would be rather difficult but it turned out quite fine. Though many eye brows were raised at the canteen when I took one heap of greens on my plate and nothing else. The workshop starts from 630 till 930 in the evenings, we learnt some basic Yoga stretching postures, some structured breathing techniques, a few laughing methods as well as discussed some philosophical views about life. For me, the course was not life-changing as I am in quite a healthy mind & body state but nevertheless, it reminded me about several PMA- Positive Mental Attitudes that over time, I had neglected. Like a piano that needs re-tuning, I am tuned. So thanks!

In case you're wondering what this picture is about, this was the first meal I took after the Art of Living workshop on Saturday. I did not feast on the meat in case you're wondering. I took the beans and tomato salad, Labanese style. Brendan was very supportive, he fetched me from work every night of the course. He waited around for me, reading newspaper while waiting and I really do appreciate that.

减肥成功！

Ok, any further weight loss will be bonus.

Thou shall not fret.

如今以达到5kg loss, 那就从这儿保持建康吧。