What's wrong with March?

Gosh! This month is not really a good one for me. Let see...

Losing swimsuit in a cab, which never made its way back to me. How can I? Because I was feeling crappy on that day, and my little brain, like pooh-bear's, cannot think of anything else...

The crappy feeling took my two weeks away. Yeah, that's making me losing half of a month joy.

Then... I woke up one Sunday morning with fever! Gosh.... I know that I am feeling tired, low-energy, but fever??? 'Wo'-man~ It has never crossed my mind. The next thing I know, I spent two whole day sleeping, and not getting better.

When I saw doctors, they only have one advice for me. What's that? "Don't get too stressed". Last time, I can easily say that I am not stressed over work. Long hour work does not mean stressed, no? Now, since every doctor tries to convince me that I am down because of stress, I am not sure if I am not stressed.

Best of all~ I thought I am facing so called relationship problem. Not man-woman kind of relationship, but it's more like you-you-me-me kind of thing. Ah~ I can never understand why I cannot satisfy all people, when I know that I do not have to, but I am trying to, at the end the same result still I am not able to. It's mouthful.

I can only say I should treasure those friends that I have fought with and talked it out and befriended again. Yeah... I know friends that I hang out a lot with, but unable to straight things out. So I just leave it 'curly and crumpled'. Learn and move on with my life, with all cautious act whenever dealing with them. Difficult life? Oh yes, it is... Thus, resolution of the months to come is "Be Kinder to Myself".

I just hope March can end faster, which I do not know I feel that it will solve my problem. You know... time heals me~ And to think it out of the box, out of Singapore, Japan has more serious problem than me, and they are hanging on, why can't I?

This post is easy... No thinking and everything is just sort of blurt out... So don't confuse if you cannot get the meaning of some phrases or words, and wondering why the hack that word appears there, etc. Just move on... don't have too take it too seriously. :D

Eh? Why am I feeling a curve up at both ends of my lips? Feeling better~

Prayer for Japan

Let us pray for Japan!

Give them the Strength in difficult time

Give them Hope so they can see light, a Better tomorrow

Give them Love, so that they can continue to Live on

*For People whose area are affected by the Earthquake, Tsunami and the Leaking Nuclear Plant - March 2011

Cooling down~

I realize I had posted a harsh post! Phew... Life is hard on me lately or it's me who is hard on myself. I am no strong lady and as weak as jelly~

I know myself, when I am angry, I am going to blurt everything out or it's just shown on my face! But... give me time and I will heal!

ALL of us, need a time out from time to time! Why some people could not understand this?

We need it when things are not going so well in life! We need to stop and reflect!

We need it when we are angry! We keep ourselves away, so that we do not hurt others even more~

We need it when we feel exhaused! It's about balance!

Nothing lasts! Happiness don't last. Sadness and Anger won't last either!


Crappy Feeling that is Slightly Better~

PLEASE NOTE!

I do not have to say anything from now on...

You can stop pretending, because you will always be the 'goodie-goodie' for everyone, while I am starting to act like a bitch!

Professor of Life!

I was walking back after doing my groceries shopping yesterday. Ikea truck passed by, a tagline is saying "You don't have to be rich to be clever", I was digesting it, and before coming to a conclusion, it had passed by my mind~

...........

Today, I was reading the newspaper. There are pages of articles on the top scorers for this year A level in Singapore. Beforehand, Congratulation for those who have seen the 'fruits' after all the hardwork! ... and keep fighting for those who do not see the expected result yet! Just remember that there is no hardwork that never pays! You either harvest it slightly later, or... it helps you to learn your strengths and weaknesses!

Somewhere in the article mentions about the debate which points out about the impacts of the parents' education on child's success in school.

I totally agree that parents with higher education background has the capability to help the children academically. Often, higher education means better opprotunities and better living standard! This benefits the next generation to grow up in the environment that full of learning opportunity and exposure to the experiences that not every child could have!

Oh yeah... how I wish that I was one of these lucky kids! The fact I am not... but because of that I have my story to tell!

My dad and mom definitely not a diploma degree holder, nor a diploma holder. I have never even seen their primary school certificate! This does not make them less valueable compare to the Master holders nowadays! They are just not fortunate enough. That's it!

My Dad was unable to go to school without worrying about the need to make it back to work. Yeah! He started to work since he was 9 and made a living with his own effort!

My Mom? Discrimination is the word! My grandma didn't see the need for her daughters to pursue higher education. So what she offered was to stay home and help in doing house chores or picked up some skills as a tailor! My Mom chosed the later and excel in it!

These were the reasons there are no titles come after their names! But... They are forever-learners!

My dad picked up English before, and the vocabs still stucked until now, and he managed to initiate a conversation with a canadian who visited our small town a few years ago. I was not home anymore that time, but I still remember how happy he was when telling me the story! Believe it or not... he is better in writing in chinese than me! Yeah... he still practices writing until now and believe it or not... he has a Bahasa Indonesia dictionary in his drawer (it was belong to my sis and me before). I am surprised to see that he is still flipping through it from time to time, making notes, and asking me (with the intention to test me) certain words that he had learnt from the newspaper and had researched for the exact meaning from the dictionary!

My mom... She had always told us... If I were a boy, I would have done this... I would have done that...! One thing about her is she is a professor in things that she does! She always does it very thoroughly with attention to detail. That what make her a good tailor. Unfortunately, I do not inherit that part from her, fully. =) But... I am glad that I had someone to help me out for my handcraft homework before. Haha...

Without her, personally, experiences the higher education life, she knows how important education is. I should give the credit for whatever I have achieved now to her! Whenever I said I wanted to sign up for classes, it had always been an 'okay!'. Lucky me~

So... parents' academic qualifications are not everything for a child's success in school! In my case, my parents might not have high academic records, but they show good samples to us, plant good values in us, give us options, allow two ways communication, grant us the chance to explore, and love us! That's all that matters!

Doing that, they might have seen us succeed after first attempt, but often they have also seen us falling (learning half way, quitting stuff, etx), failed somewhere in our life, must be heartbreaking for them, but most of the time, live goes on! We need to stand up and start again!

My Parents are professors of my life!

4th Anniversary

March 2007 is the month I started writing on blogger, and stopped blogging on Friendster.

It's been 4 years and I have got 159 blog posts so far...

Maintaining has not always been easy. I need to sit down, type, read, delete, retype, read, delete, retype and so on... When the 'machine' has cool down, it always takes time to warm it up, and there the down time was...

I am grateful that I find something that I am passionate in... I am not great YET! but... One thing for sure, I AM GETTING BETTER!

Banzai, Writers!!!

With heartily passion,

Lin ^ ^

* I shall do something to the current black background, as some feedback said it hurt their eyes, when they stay too long in the site. I shall admit it actually hurts mine too. :p Feedback penned down!!!

Toastmaster - First Experience

As promised, I will share my first experience in toastmaster, if it's interesting enough. Frankly speaking, it's more than just interesting, it's inspiring, it makes me think, it's very informative, it's educative, so I have decided I will join as a member :)

The moment when I walked in, I was like... Wow... I bet I am the youngest! Yeah, it's a very 'senior' type of crowd. Okay, I won't be too 'age-ist' here, the most important thing is that people are very warm which made me feel welcomed. Some people are born as good speakers, while some others are trained to be one. Whatever it is, they are all there to polish the presentation skill, leadrship skill, etcetera. The spirit in learning is what I envy!

How was the meeting being carried out? Let me englihten those who have never been to one... ehm ehm... you should be grateful, because... I stepped in to the meeting room, without having the idea what to expect. If you can go to a battle field, knowing your enemy, the strategy, it will be much easier. How kind of me~ :D

Here we go...

There are some important role assigned to the member of the club, they are (I can't remember the exact name for the role, but it's something as followed):

Toastmaster of the evening - it's something like an MC

Seargant Arm - This person will call the meeting to order, gather everyone and start the meeting by introducing the Toastmaster of the evening

Table Topic Master - This person conducts the ice breaking session, where he will prepare 5 random topics to be presented by 5 random speakers (can be guests or members)

Time keeper - this person is the one who keep track of the timing, to make sure that the meeting is within the time frame

Toastmasters - Presenters of the night, there are 5 of them tonight. The material are prepared based on the 'chapter' of the menu that they are in.

Evalutors - These people evaluate the presenters. One Evalutor evalutes only One Presenter

Ah Counter or something - This person keeps track of every "Ah.." "Em..." mentioned in the room

Language Evalutor - Evaluating the language used. I envy the person so much. It's amazing to see how he can keep track of that small little things.

General Evaluator - Evaluating the whole meeting in general.

Let see how everyone played their role in the meeting:

- The Seargant Arm opened the meeting and introduced the Toastmaster of the Evening (TME)

- The TME did a little ice breaking session for everyone in the room and introduced the Table Topic Master

- Table Topic Master took over and started with the 5 random table topics to be presented. This was when some people volunteered and some were hand-picked

- The actual presentations started

- After that, evaluators will give their feedback to the presenters

At the end of the session, everyone is learning...

Recap!

Can you imagine that it's already March? It's still very clearly that I was welcoming the new year with a bunch of new friends looking at the Singapore classic fireworks when the clock hit 00:00 - VIP view!!!

Then... friend's wedding, CNY, my birthday, and back to this tiny country, where plenty opportunities await.

There is a list of plans to be executed, and I am starting very slow, but glad that the first step has been taken, although it's not easy it's satisfying. I am easily satisfied afterall. =D

I am not very great in keeping the healthy eating habits (the sour food and coffee are haunting me again), but I am officially fell in love with my breast stroke when I am in the pool (yeah... you can start laughing cause I don't care, I am too busy enjoying my own feeling that I can now finish so many laps, compare to 3 months ago). The point is I am exercising to burn off a small portion of the unhealthy food consumed.

Anyway, will try harder to get myself back to the gym! Wish me strength for this~

Learning wise, I am back to reading, and tomorrow is going to test my first toastmaster experience. Will share if it's interesting enough and most importantly, if I have the time!

I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught! - Winston Churchill

Balance in Life

I was thinking about the thing I love the most... The first answer that strike my mind is that spending my spare time in my room with a really good book to read (currently indulging myself in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. He has always been writing a brilliant story *o*). Then I was reasoning, if I am given the opportunity to do this for the rest of my life, will this make me really happy? Definite answer: NO WAY!

I was trying to refine my answer, which at the end I conclude it as:

I would love to keep myself busy with all the "must dos", "must plays", "must socializes" and "significant to dos", and at the end, I would give myself a pat on the back by giving myself a time out with all the "love to dos".

It's all about balance... Too much of anything has never been good!

Happy Cap Go Meh!

The last time, I celebrated the 15th day of CNY, known as Cap Goh Meh in this part of the world, was about 3-4 years ago. During my study in Malaysia.

Tonight at the place where I am currently staying...

This year, I am thankful that I am invited to have the dinner with my landlord family. The grandma had extended the invitation a few days ago, and I was a bit hesitate whether or not to join them, as I thought it should be a family thingy. Then this morning, she told me to come back for dinner, a bit phai se, at the end I said "okay". I am glad that I accepted the invitation. :) I always LOVE Chinese New Year! The reason is very simply, this is when family gathers!

When I reached home tonight, I already saw the big round table with bowls, plates, chopsticks, and spoons, properly arranged! Although we used to always have family dinner, but it had never as nicely arranged as this one. Haha... The dinner was good :)

At the same time, currently in my hometown...

My mom just called, guess what, they are riding the trishaw. This is a tradition for people in our area. Wanna know how we celebrated this season when we was young?

1. Family dinner is a must!

2. We will already pre-order the becak (trishaw), say for an hour ride for about Rp.15,000.

3. After dinner, we will then meet somewhere and there the ride begun.

4. There is a must go place, which is the bridge on top of a river! What did we do there?

Flashback a little... The night before or in the moring, we would already have collected a bag of stones, small ones, of course, to be thrown to the river.

When the trishaw reached the bridge, we will start to throw the stones to the river and sing the rhyme below (in the mix of Hokkien and Bahasa Indonesia):

Cap Go Meh, Tim Batu

Buaya Phu, xxxxx anya bo laku

meaning:

On the 15th day of Chinese New Year, Throw the stones

The Crocodile will appear, Nobody wants the ladies from xxxxx town

I had never asked where this rhyme orginated. It was never meant for cursing I think, it's just for fun!

Every place has their own different way in celebrating.

before in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

The celebration in Malaysia was a bit different. The event organizer was distributing oranges and bananas. The guys should take the banana, while girls take the orange. Then, they write their name on it and throw it to the man-made pool. Next is for the guy to pick up an orange from the pool, and the girl to pick up a banana from.

From there, some made new friends, some made new couples, I suppose. =D

Anyway, Happy Cap Go Meh, everyone~