Bored

3 days to go before i'm flying back to Kuching for Chinese New Year holiday, and i'm counting every minute in anticipation.

I was bored. BORED TO DEATH.

And my luggage is still not packed.

But still, i'm bored to death.

Not sure why but everytime i see this photo it always cracks me up.

There is only 1 person in this whole world who can play guitar like a real pro using iphone or ipad.

Anyway, am still bored.

How many days to go before i fly back to Kuching again?

Who I am today

Today its the 16th day of 2012, I came across this new song from Jason Mraz which i instantly fell in love with it.

Who I am today, Jason Mraz


I thank the boys who kicked my ass when I was 17
I thank the ones who chose to laugh and those who acted mean
I thank the bullies for body slams and accidents and then some
They shaped my life; they made me like who I've become


I thank the girls who gave a hand and showed me how to dance
I thank the ones who passed who never gave a second glance
I learned that it's okay for some to go and some to stay
They shaped my life; they made me love who I am today


I thank the captains of the boats who brave the sea
I thank the farmers for the sowing of the seeds
I thank the men who paved the roads I'm travelling on
They shaped my life, they took me down the path I've gone


I thank the volunteers for giving up their time for free
I thank the engineers; all those who keep our water clean
I thank the janitors for all their years behind the scenes
They shaped my life they taught me generosity
They shaped my life they let me see who I could be


So, i, i know, life is good

I thank the galaxy for how it made up gravity
I thank the sky above for hosting clouds to float on top of me
They gave me air to breathe and give me rain and give me snow
They shaped my life, they gave me so much room to grow

I thank the frogs, and daddy long legs and the bees
I thank the microorganisms under every tree
I thank the fertile soil for the life behind the food I eat
They shaped my life they gave me possibility
And I, I know, that life is good...
yes I, I know....

You shape my life. You make me love who I am today.

How many of us can confidently say to ourself that "I love who I am today". Sometimes, we keep on saying "How i wish i am like so and so, or how i wish i have what so and so has..". Its almost too easy to think that its better to be someone else rather than to be yourself. 

Anyway, I was greatly inspired by the song. I know the message is not something new or earth shattering, however it was the right one which came at the right time. 

Enjoy

The Undomestic Godess

My oven is fuming and blazing since Christmas. 

Blueberry muffins, oh and my latest addition of dunno-what-plant-is-it to my gardening (with no garden) collection.

During New Year's holiday, i made a batch of blueberry muffin, with FRESH blueberry, impressive or not, hahaha ... The other day, Peter went all the way getting his hand dirty kneading dough and baking bread. Do check out the Basic bread recipe for details.   

According master Jamie Oliver, its just 6 simple steps of :

Stage 1: making a well

Stage 2: getting it together

Stage 3: kneading!

Stage 4: first prove

Stage 5: second prove, flavouring and shaping

Stage 6: cooking your bread

Sounds simple right, but truth be told, its more expensive and extremely time consuming to bake your own bread rather than just went to bakery at the corner of the road to buy a freshly made loaf of bread. Its only cost a penny and is equally good (or even better) with home made. However, its a different kind of satisfaction I would say. To eat from the fruit of your labour, literally. Oh, and it gives you great muscle exercise with all the kneading and mixing too!

We made a grilled chicken sandwich with the bread. hmm..hmmm... delicious. 

I was so into the baking stuff that the other day i bought this chick flick book by Sophie Kinsella named "The Undomestic Goddess". I can totally echo with the main character Samantha Sweating. She is a successful attorney but a total workaholic who did a major blunder in her career and went down all the way to zero. To make things worse, she become a housekeeper by mistake. 

I like the way how the author put this smart women (with flighty thoughts) into a beyond imaginary circumstances and come out better than everyone could have think of. There is this funny scene which describes her first bread baking experience. She had a total nervous breakdown when the kneading is going no where and to make it worse, she has to wait for the yeast to make the bread rise. In her own words:

"I look at the bowl, trying to think miracles. But it isn’t working. I can’t feel calm or serene..... I used to be in control of my time to the minute. To the second. And now I’m supposed  to stand here, in an apron, waiting for a...fungus?"

Yeast = fungus, priceless!

I was literally laughing out loud. but a couple of pages after, i was on the verge of shedding tears. 

".... A yeasty smell is rising up. I open my eyes to see a  loaf of bread in my arms. Proper bread. Real, proper bread like you’d see in a baker’s window. Fat and plump and golden-brown, with faint striations and a crusty, almost flaky top. It smells so delicious I can feel my mouth watering. 

“Tell me that’s nothing,” says Iris, squeezing my arm. “You made that, sweetie. And you should be proud of yourself.” 

Something hot is wadding my throat as I clutch the warm loaf. I made this bread. I made it. I, Samantha Sweeting, who couldn’t even microwave a packet of soup. Who gave up seven years of her life to end up with nothing, to be wiped out of existence. Who has no idea who she even is anymore. I made a loaf of bread. Right now I feel like this is the only thing I have to hold on to."

I guess that's the meaning of comfort food. When you pour all the hard works and love into whatever you cook/ bake, the food will comfort your soul in return. Its almost like a cleansing and rejuvenating process. Anyway, now you know i have a soft spot for stuff like this. ;) 

New year's message on death

This is a sequel to my "Death" post.

Today's Sunday service's sermon talked about the topic related to death, I would say its pretty heavy stuff and ironically today is the first day of the new year-1/1/2012. What a start to a new year! ;) Many would think that talking about death is inappropriate during festive season. For Chinese, as you know that we are deliberately avoiding anything to do with the figure "4", as in mandarin, the word pronounced the same as "death", so its a BIG NO NO talking about death during Chinese new year, it's considered inauspicious.

However, it has almost become a strange norm that the first few days of every new year, I will receive some kind of message which is related to "death". During end of 2007, it was the first time I realized that my life is not of mine. Of course I know that no one can live forever, however sometimes we live under the delusion that we are bigger than the life itself. 

Anyway, back to the story. A youtube video was shared during the sermon. It was about this 18 year old boy named Ben Breedlove. On 18th of December, Ben posted a video on youtube about his 3 times close encounters with death. In his word, he "cheated" death. He had a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyoparthy, which is basically the thicken of the heart muscle wall which can lead to heart attacks. On 25th of December the Christmas day, his heart stopped. 

Before he died, he left his story behind and described his personal encounters with the edge in two youtube videos. Quoted from ABC news:

"The world has come to know our Ben," it said. "He was a genius at using the Internet to reach and influence his peers. Through his brilliance with manoeuvring the capabilities of YouTube, Ben has left a message for his generation. In the weeks prior to his death, he had faced some scary situations with his health, but had been given an amazing gift that he was determined to share; first with us, his family, and then, not surprisingly (and generously) with his YouTube audience. 

....His message is profound, relating his experiences or visions that made him aware of something amazing beyond this world. This is a message that some will find comfort in and others will simply not accept. It is the tangible, material world versus the unknown."

Now, if you still havent heard or watch the video, do check it out, and decide for yourself whether would you agree with the quoted comment.

As i've been repeatedly saying, death is inevitable. But still, I dont think anyone can stand in front of death and said that they are not afraid to die. For some reason, Ben make it sounds as if its ok to die. I think the point is if you have done enough in your life and when you look into the mirror on that day and felt exactly how Ben felt:

".... I couldn't stop smiling. I then looked at myself in the mirror, I was proud of MYSELF, of my entire life, everything I have done. It was THE BEST feeling." 

then I guess death is ok.

However imagine, if your life has been nothing but lost opportunities, such as the other day when you saw someone is in need but you didnt lend your helping hand; or you know you should have reachout to more people but you didnt; or you have this special gift of knowing how to play music or sing beautifully, but you never really use it beyond your own personal enjoyment etc. I guess when the day came and you look into the mirror, there will be nothing but "how i wish..." list of regret and gnashing of teeth as what bible described. 

I read another commentary about Ben Breedlove, whereby the writer ends the whole story with the question "does it verify God?"

Well, that's a question we should really ponder about, aren't we? 

Happy new year folks.