Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Fwah! Just started about half an hour ago, and everything is white now.
It's actually getting worse as i'm typing. Haha

Christmas comes late

It's been a really really really cold past 2 days, the temperature just went from 5th storey to basement 10 in a matter of days. Last weekend it was hovering around 10 degrees, which is nice. Look at the outlook for the next few days!

My poor-shrinking-balls-goodness! My ears were frozen just now while walking from office to the train station...brrrrrr. It snowed quite heavily for about an hour last night;

This is the aftermath of the snow storm last night. Looks like there will be more snow in the coming days. Time to bring out the heavy artillery; scarves, gloves, ear muffs, heat packs and all.

On to other happenings, my friends and sis have been happily shopping on Amazon and shipping their purchases to my apartment the past 2 weeks. I have become a mule...look;

These are the stuff i have to pack into my luggage when i go back, i don't know if i will be able to fit all of them in. Haha. The things are so random, there are ear plugs, water bottles, car grooming products, knife, even shampoo and muesli bars..more to come in the next few days. Haha.

Santa's going home next week!

How it works

I just spent the last 4 hours packing my office, clearing it of all the unwanted stuff and making it my own work space. It was quite a mess actually, things were here and there, some stuff in this box, some stuff in that box.

I guess i'm turning into a neat freak, everything has to be aligned straight, unless absolutely necessary. Haha. Don't think i'm to the extent of OCD yet though, it doesn't have have to be totally squeaky clean, i'm fine with a little dusty. =)

So i shall show the before and after pics;

Before..

The desktop is at least 7 years old!

Boxes, boxes, messi-ness

After..

I reused the screen for dual screen!

Moved the boxes to the back and packed the cabinet

There's even a stool to rest my leg

As you can see, i started while it was still bright outside, and now it's totally dark. Haha. That's my major work done for today. Happy weekend!

Indigo sanctuary

My apartment is almost done! Still waiting for the study table to come, most probably next week before the furniture company delivers it.

In the meantime, shall post pictures of the kitchen, bedroom and toilet.

The bulbs for the standing lamp just came in today, it creates quite a nice ambience when it's lit at night. A nice orangey-yellow glow engulfs the room when it's on.

Nice and comfy bed

Neatly organized cupboards

The toilet..

The shower curtain matches the cups

The floor mat match matches the vanity top and cupboard..haha

The dining table..

I'm thinking whether i should get a carpet for it, somehow it doesn't feel complete.

The kitchen..

Love the rug

 

Some of the synchronicities, both the rubbish bin and the kettle were the last ones on the shelve. It was as though they were sitting there waiting for me to pick them up, which i did in the end. I had to convince myself that they were worth the buy, even though they are not the cheapest kettle or rubbish bin out there. Plus they look nice! Haha.

The rubbish bin is particularly interesting, because it has an infra-red sensor that detects when objects are near, and opens by itself!

Open sesame!

Hallelujah!

Another item that i indulged myself in is this knife set, which comes with a rotating base!

Chop chop!

Don't think i will ever get to use all the knives in the set though, but who cares as long as it can swivel! Right?

Shall post pictures of the living room after the study table comes. It's the final piece of the jigsaw, looking forward to it's arrival soon. =)

A new beginning

A new post for the new year, after a long hiatus. =)

A lot has changed since the last time i posted an entry on this blog. I changed job, got my own ride (technically not considered as i had one in Australia, but that wasn't really counted. Haha.), travelled to many countries that i've not been to, grew 2 years older, and last but not least, got relocated to the USA for work.

As i sit in my apartment now in Philadelphia, writing this post and looking back at how everything have unfolded in the past 6 months to get to where i am now, i am filled with a tremendous feeling of gratitude, love, faith, empowerment, and hope and anticipation for the future.

I've always felt that i will be working overseas someday, and it was a chance meeting with someone i didn't know then, in August 2011, that got me this job. Fastforward a year, when i was back from a work trip to Chile, a friend offered me a job to join his company. The offer was good and i was thinking about it seriously. Just when i was about to decide to go, my boss asked me to his office and asked if i'm keen to be relocated overseas as my colleague is looking to end her contract. Ahh, the synchronicities of the universe, i'm so grateful for her guidance.

It is about 2 weeks now, since i've been officially posted here, and i am feeling very comfortable and settled in my new apartment (apart from the cold). Somehow, everything doesn't feel all that new or intimidating, perhaps my time in Australia helped. Or perhaps it is in my nature to be comfortable with being on the move and believing that the universe will plan a smooth journey ahead for me. It is truly amazing how the universe made everything fall into place so nicely, even down to the bed that i have been sleeping on for the past 2 nights.

Moving ahead to my apartment, i decided to stay in the city as it is much livelier and it would be more convenient to get daily necessities. Below are the pictures of the apartment prior to moving in.

Front door: *roll imaginary pineapples in* Huat ah!

Come in turn right and it's the dining area and kitchen

Sink area

Stove area

Living room area

Walkway to toilet and bedroom

Bathtub area

Vanity area

Bedroom closets

Bedroom and windows

The apartment is not fully done yet, still waiting for a few furniture to come in, plus i have not decide on the final position of some of the furniture. Haha. I am very satisfied with how the apartment has come together so far. Even though i did not manage to keep within the budget, i feel that everything i bought is well worth it. I hope to show the pictures of the fully done up apartment in the coming days.

Thank you for everything. =)

Taipei Holiday

Last week was a long awaited trip to Taiwan with mummy and sister. The last time we had a holiday together was wayyyyyyyy back in 2008, during my graduation in Gold Coast. It was definitely a welcomed break away from work, a short getaway to recharge the body and mind.

A few photos below. Warning; a lot of eating pics.









Finally something non-food related!

Back to food again =)

On our last night, we went to Shilin Night Market to get more goodies for our friends and family back home.
It has been a truly wonderful and blessed trip filled with love. Thank you for the opportunity to spend so much quality time with my loving family, I love them all so much. Looking forward to the next trip already. Hug hug kiss kiss.

The Heritage of Buddha

A couple of months back, I blogged a post about Self Acceptance, which was actually one of two learnings I got from the Osho website. I have been wanting to blog the other teaching, but something seems to be asking me to wait for the right time.

About an hour ago, I was in the showers after coming back from a jog, a chain of thoughts suddenly came into my head.

It went something like this;

Me1: Hey, today is Vesak Day!
Me2: Yes, it is
Me1: Isn't Vesak Day related to the enlightenment of Buddha?
Me2: I think so
Me1: Didn't I read something about the heritage of Buddha some time back? I've always wanted to blog about it, now is the perfect time!

I believe this story about Buddha is one we can all relate to. Some of us live in the past, some in the future, a few realise that it is only the present that matter. We all have doubts from time to time, as we are only human, but to have faith is to have strength. Once one has faith in oneself to improve and embrace his own strengths and who he wants to be, he will find whatever he is searching for some day.

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When there is no past, when there is no future, only then is there peace. Future means aspirations, achievement, goal, ambition, desire. You cannot be here now, you are always rushing for something, somewhere else. One has to be utterly present to the present, then there is peace. And out of that is renewal of life, because life knows only one time, and that is the present.

The past is death; the future is just a projection of the dead past. What can you think about the future? You think in terms of the past, that's what you know, and you project it--of course in a better way. It is more beautiful, decorated; all the pains have been dropped and only the pleasures have been chosen, but it is the past.
The past is not, the future is not, only the present is. To be in the present is to be alive, optimum--and that is renewal.

Just one day before Gautam Buddha left his palace to seek the truth, a child had been born to his wife. It is such a human story, so beautiful...

Before leaving the palace he just wanted to see at least once the face of his child, the symbol of his love with his wife. So he went into the chamber of his wife. She was asleep, and the child was covered, under a blanket. He wanted to remove the blanket and to see the face of the child, because perhaps he would never come back again. He was going on an unknown pilgrimage. He was risking everything, his kingdom, his wife, his child, himself, in search of enlightenment--something he has only heard of as a possibility, which has happened before to a few people who have looked for it.

He was as full of doubts as any one of you, but the moment of decision had come. He was determined to leave. But the human mind, human nature... He just wanted to see--he had not even seen the face of his own child. But he was afraid that if he removes the blanket, if Yashodhara, his wife, wakes up she will ask, "What are you doing in the middle of the night in my room?--and you seem to be ready to go somewhere."

He was just about to leave, and he had said to his charioteer, "Just wait a minute. Let me see the child's face. I may never come back again." But he could not look because of the fear that if Yashodhara wakes up, starts crying, weeping, "Where are you going? What are you doing? What is this renunciation? What is this enlightenment?" One never knows about a woman--she may wake up the whole palace! His father will come, and the whole thing will be spoiled. So he simply escaped...

After twelve years, when he was enlightened, the first thing he did was to come back to his palace to apologize to his father, to his wife, to his son who must be now twelve years of age. He was aware that they would be angry. The father was very angry--he was the first one to meet him, and for half an hour he continued abusing Buddha. But then suddenly he became aware that he was saying so many things and his son was just standing there like a marble statue, as if nothing was affecting him.

The father looked at him, and Gautam Buddha said, "That's what I wanted. Please dry your tears. Look at me: I am not the same boy who left the palace. Your son died long ago. I look similar to your son, but my whole consciousness is different. You just look."

The father said, "I am seeing it. For half an hour I have been abusing you, and that is enough proof that you have changed. Otherwise I know how temperamental you were: you could not stand so silently. What has happened to you?"

Buddha said, "I will tell you. Just let me first see my wife and my child. They must be waiting--they must have heard that I have come."

And the first thing his wife said to him was, "I can see that you are transformed. These twelve years were a great suffering, but not because you had gone; I suffered because you did not tell me. If you had simply told me that you were going to seek the truth, do you think I would have prevented you? You have insulted me very badly. This is the wound that I have been carrying for twelve years. I also belong to the warrior caste--do you think I am that weak that I would have cried and screamed and stopped you?

"All these twelve years my only suffering was that you did not trust me. I would have allowed you, I would have given you a send-off, I would have come up to the chariot. First I want to ask the only question that has been in my mind for all these twelve years, which is that whatever you have attained... and it certainly seems you have attained something.

"You are no longer the same person who left this palace; you radiate a different light, your presence is totally new and fresh, your eyes are as pure and clear as a cloudless sky. You have become so beautiful... you were always beautiful, but this beauty seems to be not of this world. Some grace from the beyond has descended on you. My question is that whatever you have attained, was it not possible to attain it here in this palace? Can the palace prevent the truth?"

It is a tremendously intelligent question, and Gautam Buddha had to agree: "I could have attained it here but I had no idea at that moment. Now I can say that I could have attained it here in this palace; there was no need to go to the mountains, there was no need to go anywhere. I had to go inside, and that could have happened anywhere. This palace was as good as any other place, but now I can say that. At that moment I had no idea.

"So you have to forgive me, because it is not that I did not trust you or your courage. In fact, I was doubtful of myself: if I had seen you wake up and if I had seen the child, I may have started wondering, 'What am I doing, leaving my beautiful wife, whose total love, whose total devotion is for me. And leaving my one-day-old child... if I am to leave him then why did I give birth to him? I am escaping from my responsibilities.'

"If my old father had awakened, it would have become impossible for me. It was not that I did not trust you; it was really that I did not trust myself. I knew that there was a wavering; I was not total in renouncing. A part of me was saying, 'What are you doing?'--and a part of me was saying, 'This is the time to do it. If you don't do it now it will become more and more difficult. Your father is preparing to crown you. Once you are crowned as king, it will be more difficult.'"

Yashodhara said to him, "This is the only question that I wanted to ask, and I am immensely happy that you have been absolutely truthful in saying that it can be attained here, it can be attained anywhere. Now your son, who is just standing there, a little boy of twelve years, has been continually asking about you, and I have been telling him, 'Just wait. He will come back; he cannot be so cruel, he cannot be so unkind, he cannot be so inhuman. One day he will come. Perhaps whatever he has gone to realize is taking time; once he has realized it, the first thing he will do is to come back.'

"So your son is here, and I want you to tell me what heritage you are leaving for your son? What have you got to give him? You have given him life--now what else?"

Buddha had nothing except his begging bowl, so he called his son, whose name was Rahul. He called Rahul close to him and gave him the begging bowl. He said, "I don't have anything. This is my only possession; from now onwards I will have to use my hands as a begging bowl to take my food, to beg my food. By giving you this begging bowl I am initiating you into sannyas. That is the only treasure that I have found, and I would like you to find it too."

He said to Yashodhara, "You have to be ready to become a part of my commune of sannyasins," and he initiated his wife. The old man had come and was watching the whole scene. He said to Gautam Buddha, "Then why are you leaving me out? Don't you want to share what you have found with your old father? My death is very close... initiate me also."

Buddha said, "I had come, in fact, just to take you all with me, because what I have found is a far greater kingdom--a kingdom that is going to last forever, which cannot be conquered. I had come here so that you could feel my presence, so that you could feel my realization, and I could persuade you to become my fellow travelers."

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Happy Vesak Day to one and all, stay positive and be happy. =)

Mummy's birthday

Today is mummy's birthday! I must admit it totally slipped my mind the entire day, until she gave me a ring in the evening to tell me my sis is treating her to a birthday dinner!

Not to be outdone, filial son has to do something to make it up to mummy, so he zoomed out to buy a nice nice birthday cake.



Haha, a nice surprise that came with the cake was a mother's day card that came along with the purchase. There was a slot to insert a photo into the card, so I went to dig through our old photo albums while she was in the showers and came up with this.


Wow, my mummy was such a hottie in the past, she still is now! Happy birthday mummy. I love you so much, may you have many more wonderful birthdays to come. Hugs hugs.

Love,
Son

Ba Ba Ba..Batam

Me and a few friends went over to Batam over the weekend for a short weekend getaway. We discussed it during one of our poker nights 2 weeks ago, and groupon happened to have a promotion a few days later. Ah, synchronicity!

We all thought it was going to be a free and easy deal, which includes just the ferry and hotel, but turned out it included a half day itinerary of day tours. Bah. We were ferried from various landmarks to the other, which included factory outlets to go-kart to temples. By the time we reached the hotel at 5.30pm, we were all drained!

After dinner, we washed up, and began our alcohol fuelled poker night. As it turned out, we bought too many drinks, but had to finish them before we go to bed. After a few "motivational speeches" from me, we finally downed all the drinks. Yay. That's when it all started to go downhill for me.

The night seemed especially long, I remember waking up a few times. Daylight has broken when I suddenly woke up feeling queasy. I went to the toilet and started vomiting the contents that were consumed a few hours ago. Not a pretty sight, but I still had the decency to clean up the toilet bowl before going back to bed.

I puked another couple of times after that. By 10am, my body was a wreak. I could not eat or drink anything. I remember drinking water, and a minute later the same water will come back up, a bit murkier. It's like washing the intestines.

We had to check out at 12pm and head to the ferry terminal, but I was still in very bad shape. During the bus ride, I was breaking into cold sweat, thankfully I did not puke inside the bus. All said and done, I had to leave my friends and take an earlier ferry home.

I usually wouldn't relate to this, some people may find it crazy, but I think I was attacked by a foreign entity in the hotel room. The reason I felt that is because of a couple of things. Firstly when I accompanied my friend to the lobby to have breakfast, I felt queasy again. I went to the toilet bowl to see if anything's coming out. Nothing. After that I stood at the basin motionless to compose myself. Then the tap beside me, which is motion sensored, started to go off a few times, which spooked me a bit.

Later in the day, just before I was about to board the ferry, the puking sensation came again. Luckily I had a bag with me as this time was for real. I vomited before I could reach the toilet. Just beside the toilet was actually a prayer room, and there were a few muslims doing their afternoon prayers. I had to walk past the prayer room to get to the toilet. After that vomit, I actually felt very good, like the whole sickness had gone away. I boarded the ferry feeling normal and well.

But as we went further away from the terminal, the feeling came back. Perhaps it was sea-sickness, or perhaps the lost soul ran away and came back, I'm not sure.

All in all, i'm feeling much better now after seeing the doctor. He prescribed me some medicine for stomach flu. Maybe I should have told him I got beer overdose instead.

Self Acceptance

I came across this teaching on the internet, and it struck a cord. Thought I should share it here. The story below the teaching connected to me the most, read on!

Heart's-ease in the king's garden

You cannot improve upon yourself. And I am not saying that improvement does not happen, remember--but you cannot improve upon yourself. When you stop improving upon yourself, life improves you. In that relaxation, in that acceptance, life starts caressing you, life starts flowing through you. Nobody else has ever been like you and nobody else will ever be like you; you are simply unique, incomparable.

Accept this, love this, celebrate this--and in that very celebration you will start seeing the uniqueness of the others, the incomparable beauty of the others.

Love is possible only when there is a deep acceptance of oneself, the other, the world. Acceptance creates the milieu in which love grows, the soil in which love blooms.

I have heard: A king went into his garden and found wilted and dying trees, shrubs and flowers. The oak said it was dying because it could not be tall like the pine. Turning to the pine, he found it drooping because it was unable to bear grapes like the vine. And the vine was dying because it could not blossom like the rose.

He found Heart's-ease blooming and as fresh as ever. Upon inquiry, he received this reply:

"I took it for granted that when you planted me you wanted Heart's-ease. If you had desired an oak, a vine or a rose, you would have planted them. So I thought that since you put me here, I should do the best I can to be what you want. I can be nothing but what I am, and I am trying to be that to the best of my ability."

You are here because this existence needs you as you are. Otherwise somebody else would have been here!--existence would not have helped you to be here, would not have created you. You are fulfilling something very essential, something very fundamental, as you are.

If God wanted a Buddha he could have produced as many Buddhas as he wanted. He produced only one Buddha--that was enough, and he was satisfied to his heart's desire, utterly satisfied. Since then he has not produced another Buddha or another Christ.

He has created you instead. Just think of the respect that the universe has given to you! You have been chosen, not Buddha, not Christ, not Krishna. You will be needed more, that's why. You fit more now. Their work is done, they contributed their fragrance to existence. Now you have to contribute your fragrance.

But the moralists, the puritans, the priests, they go on teaching you, they go on driving you crazy. They say to the rose, "Become a lotus." And they say to the lotus, "What are you doing here? You have to become something else." They drive the whole garden crazy, everything starts dying--because nobody can be anybody else, that is not possible.

That's what has happened to humanity. Everybody is pretending. Authenticity is lost, truth is lost, everybody is trying to show that he is somebody else. Just look at yourself: you are pretending to be somebody else. And you can be only yourself--there is no other way, there has never been, there is no possibility that you can be anybody else. You will remain yourself. You can enjoy it and bloom, or you can wither away if you condemn it.

Above taken from www.osho.com

Let us aspire to be noone else but ourselves. We are beautiful =)