Some shots

I particularly like the photo below :)

Have a great weekend. :)

Finally the finals

American Idol results are out. I’m dying to know who won but I want to find out when I watch the finals tonight. Somebody already sent me a link to who won which has triggered my curiosity even more. Every year I always try to avoid finding out who wins but fail.

First I have to avoid going to any website like MSN, Yahoo, etc which would publish the news.

Then I have to go through a whole session of Yin How gleefully threatening to tell me who won knowing whether well I don’t want to know.

And after going successfully going through all that, I always fail at the last stage when I’m driving home and the radio DJ starts shouting out congratulations to the winner, leaving me cursing. Today, I’m going to switch to a Chinese station. I doubt they care about American Idol and even if they do, I won't be understand a word they say. ;)


I absolutely LOVE this season of Amercian Idol. I even considered taking a day off to watch the finals live but one thought of my list of To-Do’s at work made that thought disappear immediately.

I so want Kris to win (after Danny got voted out, I switched my loyalty to Kris). But everybody loves Adam, so I’m guessing he’s going to win?

Whatever it is, don't tell me. I want to enjoy the anticipation when watching the finals tonight. :)

**Update** - I'm so happy Kris won!!~~~~~~~ :)

A few lessons learnt

Private bla bla bla

The last thing I took home from the family gathering was an advice that my uncle gave me which really hit something within me. Before he hugged me and said goodbye, he said,

"Yin How treats you like a princess. Make sure you treat him like a prince."

Something I will constantly remind myself from now on.

WW20

I just need to say something.

I'M SO DARN HAPPY IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy that I feel like crying.

It has been another tiring and hectic week at work. And the frustrating thing is that with all the brain juice I used up, I didn't manage to get much done. Sad.... I'm wondering whether it's because I'm not producing enough brain juice lately.

:(

Need to go home and ask hubby to look to see whether there's more gray hair on my head.

A new toy

Mindy has a new toy to play with... :)



Was chasing Russell around for hours, trying to get him to be my model.


And towards night time he was in a horrible horrible mood. :)

Dearest hubby

Even after 9 years, it's the little things like squeezing together on the sofa while watching TV which make the best moments of the day.

I enjoyed the wonderful dinner by the beach today. Even though we didn't stay long because you had to pee!



Happy 9th anniversary hubby. :)

After 9 years, you still give me reasons to fall in love with you all over again...

1. when I see you feeding the stray animals at the kopitiam
2. when I watch you make my very old grandmother laugh even though you struggle trying to speak cantonese to her
   
3. when I wake up and find you sleeping and hugging me
   
4. when you say you want boys but suddenly one day say you want to name our daughter Hannah if we have one
5. when I watch the 27 year old Yin How happily playing games in the arcade center reminding me of the 18 year old Yin How
6. when you suddenly excitedly say you want to bring me to a new place to eat but refuse to tell me where
7. when you are shirtless and busy mopping the floor (ooo la la...)
   
8. when you bear with me when drag you around the shopping mall looking for a pair of shorts... twice...
9. when we are on the bed deep in conservation not realizing the sun has set and we are in the dark

Happy 9th Anniversary.

Skeletons In The Island

I don't see myself as a very charitable person or a person who is exceptionally kind. Yin How is a lot more generous than me and he'll usually go to the orphanage once a month to pass them things like rice, milo, etc. And when we eat at the Malay stall for lunch, Yin How would purposely take a small fish or two to feed the stray cats there (when I'm at the stall, all I think of is getting food for myself). There were a few times he purposely bought char siew pau for a hungry stray dog at the coffeeshop. When I see how kind-hearted he is, I fall in love with him all over again.

For me, I feel very blessed with all the things I have. To most of us RM100 would mean just another pair of shoes, or a pair of jeans, or maybe a meal or two at Sakae Sushi or just a digit in our savings account. But to others out there, that same RM100 could even mean another day of living, another day of survival. So whenever I see a charity which touches me, I would donate. And today, this particular news really touched me.

I've got pampered fat dogs at home and when I think of all those starving dogs on the island, it makes me want to cry.




"The villagers of Pulau Ketam have been rounding up all the stray dogs on the island, and shipping them to three deserted islands close by. With nothing for them to eat and without being able to fend for themselves, they are starving to death. Some dogs have tried to swim back to the main island but drowned on their way. Starving, some of them are even forced to eat each other."




There is a group of people trying to help those dogs on the island. But boat ferry rides are expensive and resources are not plentiful. So if this story has touched you, please donate. You can read more about the story here.

I know people are not likely to donate to SPCA or any animal related charities. But whether you agree or not, dogs are innocent beings who have very real feelings. To a dog, a pat of the head would be the most meaningful moment of the day. They can feel happiness, sadness and they know what true loyalty means. And to them, you will be the most beloved person in their whole lives. When you are sad, they will be sad. When you are happy, they will be happy.

Most of all, they are innocent, suffering because of the wrong doings of heartless people.

Quote from Marley and Me,

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not."


And to those of us who have dogs, we know this to be very true.

So called meditation

Towards the end of the aerobics session today, we were asked to lie down on our mats and relax while listening to calming music. The instructor said, relax... listen to the music... free your mind... be one with the universe

I was lying on my mat staring at the ceiling, trying to free my mind while random thoughts rushed through my head...

• I'm feeling stupid lying down on the company floor staring at the ceiling
• The ceiling is so gray, there are so many dots, how many times have I stared at the ceiling to calm myself from pulling out my hair in times of stress
• Hmm.... what's for dinner?
• Oh no... i forgot to tell Genny to take out the fish to defrost for dinner
• I wonder whether she cooked dinner...
• Aiks, must remember to go home and find the telephone bill under all the mess
• Forgot to transfer money to the savings account la
• Need to remember to pay the car loan
• Need to cut my nails

The instructor might have seen my eyes opened so he continued, close your eyes... relax... control your mind... open the 3rd eye...

• Crap, I don't have time of a 3rd eye. My 2 existing eyes are busy enough
• Which reminds me I didn't send the status update yet
• Crap, just remembered i didn't reply an email yet
• Sigh, work is hard...

At the end of the meditation, I felt more tired than before. I think the only time I can truly blank out my mind is when I'm watching TV. This is why I cannot live without the TV. It is my form of meditation. ;)

99 baloons

I watched Oprah yesterday and yesterday's show was about miraculous children. A video from YouTube which was watched almost 2 million times was shown on the show. Oprah who watched it for the first time during the show was left in tears.

The video is about a father reading out the letters he wrote to his son.



In just 99 days, his parents took over 3000 photos of him. They knew from the very start that their son will not live and the mother said something that really struck me. She said she would tell her husband, "I'll be sad later. I'm going to enjoy every second now".

Truly inspiring.