Cruise down the river........

Today's family outing was unplanned, it was scheduled by my younger brother at the last minute......Really at the last minute, he what-apps me in the afternoon while I was on my way home after work....
Bro: Sis, want to go to river safari tomorrow?
Me: you not working tomorrow?
Bro: I am going, can bring you in for free. I am on leave to celebrate my wife's birthday..
Me: Bring ah ma(Granny) along with  姑姑(aunt) and papa....
Bro: ok, I go and get another card to bring us in.....
Bro: Meet me at  9 am sharp at the entrance.... Need to book the boat ride early....
Me: Ok, see you tomorrow...

Everyone seemed to be free and available, coincidently it was also my day off for the week....
It was my first time to river safari........ my granny went there twice and now it was her third.... my dad and aunt went there twice too.. Actually they had decided to come again, it was because the river cruise had finally open to admit visitors to cruise down the Amazon river...

It was initially a fine, cool weather in the morning, I was enjoying myself roaming around, viewing the animals, fishes, learning new knowledge, pushing my granny on the wheelchair (she can no longer walk long distance, thus a wheelchair will be comfortable for her to enjoy viewing the animals. She get tired easily too.) As usual, my camera will always be with me..... taking photos of others and myself via the "selfie"technique.....

Our river cruise timing was at 1230hrs, by the time we queued, it started to rain heavily..... they announced
" Due to the weather considerations, the boat ride will be suspended!" 
Even though others had their raincoats with them, it was useless...
My brother was extremely disappointed........

I don't know why my gut feeling was so relaxed, I reassured my brother that don't worry, be positive, I am sure we will have the chance to take the ride........ Anyway, we have another ticket with us: timing was at 1330hrs.... ( we very kiasu.... so we book two timing)

Right after the reassurance, the rain began to drizzle, then subsequently it stopped!
" Oh Thank you !" Chinese have a idiom  - 雨过天晴 The sun shines again after the rain.
Though the sun was not shining as brightly as before, we deeply felt that despite bad things happened and you hated it, good things does happens after that!

We managed to take the river cruise.......... with one or two drops of rain but that does not spoil our mood.  hahahaha

We then went to Chinatown for our lunch and thereafter we went home!

《Stories of Love 爱的故事-无私的奉献》 ----破镜重圆Piecing up a broken mirror----

破镜重圆是在比喻夫妻失散或决裂后重新团圆。这句成语起源自南宋战乱时期的一个爱情故事。
The chinese idiom "Piecing up a broken mirror " refers to the reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation. It originated from a love story which took place during the chaotic war time of the Southern Dynasties.

在南朝末年，隋国派越国公杨素攻打陈朝。
During the last years of the Southern Dynasties, the Sui state sent its official, Yang Su to attack the Chen Dynasty.

杨素率领兵士打进宫里。
The troops led by Yang Su, invaded the palace.

皇宫一片火海，官员，宫女四处奔逃。
Everyone in the palace began to flee.

“公主， 敌兵已杀到，万一失散了，只盼能保住性命，再图团聚！”
"The enemies are here, Princess. If we're separated.....

“夫君...”
"My Dear husband..."

“公主，你貌美如花，若被富贵人家娶为妻室，可别忘了我俩多年的情分！”
"If I die and you do remarry, don't forget the love we once shared...."
“夫君，别开这种玩笑！”
"How could I  forget you and our life together!"

公主拿出一面镜子，往案上一敲，“砰”的一声， 镜子变成两半。
The princess took out a miror and hit it against the table, The mirror broke into halves.

“万一我们不幸失散了，若还活着，以后每逢正月十五，就各持半片镜子到市场上叫卖，以图重圆。”
"We'll each keep half of this mirror. If we're separated, we'll try to meet again by selling it during the 15th of the first month of each year."
天意弄人，乐昌公主与徐德言在战乱中失散了！
Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan eventually lost each other amidst the chaos of the war.

公主不幸被俘，；落到杨素手里。
Princess Lechang was later captured by Yang Su's men.

“国公爷，我们俘获了一名美女，特来献上！”
"We've captured a great beauty, Your Excellency!"

乐昌公主明艳照人，杨素深深被吸引。“哇！真的美如天仙下凡呀！”
Yang Su was mesmerised by Princess Lechang's beauty when he saw her. "Wow! She is as beautiful as an angel!"

杨素非常宠爱乐昌公主，给她锦衣华食，样样不缺。可她对杨素的热情讨好不理不睬。
Yang Su adored the Princess, anfg gave her a luxurious life but she wasn't happy.

她却闷闷不乐，常暗自垂泪。“夫君离别戏言，不想竟染成真。夫君呀，我时时刻刻都在想你，你到底在哪里呢？”
She thought of her husband all the time. "Where are you, my dear husband?"

杨素问道：“美人，什么不如意事弄得你如此哀愁呀？告诉我，我来替你解忧。”
Yang Su asked :"Why are so unhappy, my beauty? I'll give you whatever you want."

“我和夫君在战乱中失散了，不知他现在是死是活？”
"My husband and I were separated during the war. I wonder if he's still alive."

“你在这里享尽荣华，何必再挂念以前的丈夫？他即使不死，说不定也潦倒不堪了！”
"Why are you still thinking of your husband when you have such a good life here? He may be poor and penniless even if he's still alive!"

“不管他是贵是贱，我决不生二心！”
"My heart will never change no matter what happens!"

“你真是死心眼，好吧！如果你丈夫还活着，我就让你走！”
"Stubborn girl! All right. I'll let you go if he is still alive!"

这日，正月十五，乐昌公主召来一位老仆人。“你拿着镜子到长安的市场上卖！”
It was the 15th of the first month of the year. Princess Lechang summoned an old servant, "take this piece of mirror to the market in Chang-an an sell it.

长安夜市好不热闹。“卖镜呀！” “卖镜呀！谁要半面镜子？”
The night market was buzzing with activity, "Mirror for sale! Mirror! Half a piece of mirror for sale!"

“这老头真傻，拿个破镜子来卖!” “对呀！哈哈哈....”
"Who would want to buy a  broken mirror?" "Stupid old man...." "hahaha!"

“老人家！ 我要买！铜镜的主人呢？”
"Sir! I'll buy this broken piece. But, tell me, who is the owner of this mirror?"

“这是我家越国公的爱姬乐昌公主叫我来卖的！”
"She is my master's favourite concubine, Princess Lechang."   

“乐昌公主.....她好吗？”
"Princess Lechang?! How is she?"

“唉！公主不知什么原因，终日以泪洗脸....”
"Sign! Although my master adores her, she cries all day..."

徐德言知道公主没有忘了他，便将珍藏着的另外半面铜镜拿出来。
“好.....请你将这铜镜转交给公主好吗？”
Xu Deyan knew that the Princess had not forgotten him, and took out his portion of the mirror
" Please...Can you pass this piece of mirror to the princess?"

老仆人回杨府后，将镜子交给乐昌公主。公主知道丈夫还活着后，非常高兴，决定无论如何也要回到他的身边。
When the servant handed the broken piece of mirror to princess Lechang..... she recognised it immediately....

“国公爷，我丈夫还在人间，希望你能实现你的诺言，让我们夫妻团聚！”
"My husband is still alive, Your Excellency! You promised to release me when I found him"

杨素见乐昌公主心意坚决，不禁被感动。“好，老夫佩服你的坚贞，你回去找你的丈夫吧！”
Yang Su finally let Princess Lechang go. " I am impressed by your fidelity, and I'll honour my word. You are free to go now!"

乐昌公主终于与徐德言团聚。乐昌公主对丈夫的爱坚贞不渝。不为荣华富贵所动，坚守对丈夫的誓言。为后世留下“破镜重圆”这段美丽的爱情故事。
Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan were finally reunited. Princess Lechang's love towards her husband was strong and unyielding. She kept her promise to her husband, unmoved by wealth and luxury...and left behind this touching and beautiful love story.


References: Asiapac Comic (1999). Stories of love. Singapore:Asiapac Books Pte Ltd. Page103-113.
参 考文献：《爱的故事-无私的奉献》...................新加坡：亚太图书有限公司，2000年第109-120页。

< Many Faces of SouthEast Asia> -- Myanmar

The nation of Myanmar had gained its independence in 1948. Before that it was known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

The Country's rich fertile lands are served by the Irrawaddy River, covering up to area 47,000sqkm, half of the entire country are covered by forest and produces a huge variety of plants and tropical fruits such as bananas, citrus, mangoes and guava. They are also the world's largest exporter of teak, jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires.

The country's capital city was previously located in Yangon, however the capital was shifted to Nay Pyi Taw on June, 2008.

There is this special and unique tree that produces tiny fragrant yellow-gold flowers, which fully blossoms in April annually, yet this coincides with the country new year festival. When the flowers are in full-bloom, the entire tree appears golden. The tree name - Padauk , stands for strength and durability while it flowers signify youth, love and romance, and they are considered as the nation national flower.

Different ethnicities gathered together to trade in Myanmar as early as 11,000 years ago. The traders and early settlers brought goods from all over Southeast Asia and southern China, taking advantage of Myanmar's strategic location as a gateway to China, through Yunnan.

The first civilization was founded by the Mons from southwest coastal areas and the Mekong river valley, where they started settling in the south before moving to the north central Irrawaddy river valley, which began around 3000B.C. The Mons created the first kingdom called Suwarnabhumi with a nearby port called Thaton.

The Pyus arrived in Myanmar around the seventh century A.D. and established cities at Binnaka, Mongamo, Sri Ksetra and Halingyi. It was a flourishing period of trading from China to India. By 849 B.C, the Burman empire had gained power in the city of Bagan( Pagan. Anawrahta's reign (1044-1077) successfully unified all of Myanmar by defeating the Mons in 1057.

The Burmans re-established themselves in Ava in 1364. However due to lacked of defences at their borders, they were overtaken by the Shan in 1527. 

During the first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826), they lost Assam, Manipur, Arakan and Tenasserim to the British. In the second Anglo-Burmese war in 1852, the province of  Bago was incorporated and renamed as Lower Burma. Eventually the whole country was taken over in the third Anglo-Burmese War.

Burma was made a province of the British Empire in India in 1886. It was then separated as a Crown Colony in 1937, and was given partial self-government , however the move failed to satisfy nationalists seeking full independence.

The Anglo-Burmese war resulted in a change in leadership in Myanmar, which replaced its king Pagin Min to King Mindon Min.

King Mindon modernised the regions and founded a new capital city at Mandalay.

Students, hoever impatient with the pace of progress towards independence, had established  a new group called "Thakin" In 1930s, Burmese hero Aung San belonged to this group.

The British attempted to arrest him however he managed to escape to China, later sheltered by the Japanese. He had created the modern Burmese Military on Dec26,1942 in Bangkok, together with other 30 comrades, he became an independence fighter, nicknamed as "Bogyoke" - General.

The Mons are among the earliest migrants who had come into contact with Buddhism through sea routes.
 The writing system was also derived from  an early Indic Script which served the commonality with Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

The country's national costume consists of two pieces: the Longyi (Sarong), which is made of cotton, and the eingyi (Blouse/Shirt). Gaung-Baung(Turbans) completes the traditional attire.

A notable trait of the Myanmar people is captured by the term ah nar hmu, which comes from a sense of compassion or fellowship.

The early people are called Pyus, and the country has 135 ethnic groups and these include the Barmar, Chin, Hmongs, Kayin, Kayah, Mons, Rakhine and the Shans. Most mainly live in the mountainous and hilly areas or near the borders.

Pagodas in Myanmar are multi-tiered and constructed for religious purposes- specifically for Theravada Buddhism. The pagodas are typically decorated in white paint or gold gildings . The country has so many pagodas that is fondly known as the  "Land of Pagodas."

References:
 Asiapac Culture (2010). Many faces of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.

< Many Faces of South-East Asia> ---Cambodia---

What do we know of Cambodia? Only two things comes to your mind-Angkor Wat and
the Khmer Rouge...

Angkor Wat is a historical temple built in the early 21st century A.D. for King Suryavarman II. Now
temple is a UNESCO World heritage site.

The Khmer Rouge was a communist party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During the four
year reign, Cambodia had underwent the most traumatic political eras in the history of mankind.

Under the reign, an estimated 1.5 million Cambodians lost their lives. Private properties, religion and
money were banned, family was separated while the whole city was ruined.
Cambodia was located in the South-East Asia and borders on the Gulf of Thailand, sandwiched
between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The country is full of paddies and forest flanked by the
Mekong River and Tonle Sap (Great Lake of Cambodia).

In the seventh century A.D., the Angkor empire flourished under the rule of King Jayavarman II's
rule. The famous Angkor Wat temple was built as a testament to the prosperous era. Over the next
600years, his successors had expanded control over much of mainland South-East Asia, including
Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.  Being part of Indochina (a peninsula lying roughly on the
southwest of China and east of India. It refers to the location of the territory between the two
countries, even though the majority of people are neither Chinese nor Indian), they are strongly
influenced by the Indian civilization on its writing system, cultural movements, architectural
styles. and even Hindu and Buddhist teachings. Being sandwiched between powerful countries,
Cambodia has to work very hard to defend itself from them between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Thailand invaded several times, destroyed the capital Phnom Penh in 1772, as well as in the final
years of the 18th century A.D. Vietnam attempted to conquer Cambodia.

In the 1850s, Cambodians request French protection from its neighbours but was colonised by them instead. The colonised regime ended during the second world war. King Sihanouk gain control in 1952, reigned in power from 1955-1970, however he was removed from power by the communists in year 1968 due to the civil war. Thereafter, Cambodia was renamed the Khmer Republic.

The notorious  known " Pol Pot" was the leader and in the year 1975, he started his merciless drive to start a "New Cambodia"
Education was banned, and anyone wearing "spectacles" was executed. people who reside in the city were hand over to slave labour in the agricultural fields.

His regime of terror only ended with a Vietnamese military assault on the dictatorship in 1978.

90% of the Cambodians are Khmer, who are generally tall, have slightly darker skin and short curly hair. Their heritage hints at a mixture of Mongol and Melanesian bloodlines, though their origins are unknown.

The national flower of Cambodia can be found everywhere in the country , as they are planted in public parks for decorative purposes. The Rumdul bears aromatic yellowish-white flowers and can grow up to 12metres tall. In the olden days, Cambodian women were compared to this delicate flower.

There are over 100 stone temples all across Cambodia, and they were built during the Khmer civilization, between 802-1220. These stone temples represent Cambodia's golden era with its focus on grand ceremonies.

Today the country is a multi-democracy party under a constitutional monarchy, and is striving to reclaims its dignity and wealth.

References:
 Asiapac Culture (2010). Many faces of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.

禅心慧语-重变轻《禅的故事》

韩国禅宗大师镜虚（1849-1912）是现代著名禅师，是他复兴了韩国的禅宗。

在一个黄昏，他和徒弟满空（1872-1946）在化缘后走回寺庙。他们化缘到一大袋的米，虽然

两人轮流扛，但由于满空是徒弟，自然大部分时间由他来扛。 回庙的路还很长，可是满空已

觉得那袋米越来越重。 镜虚走的快，满空只得勉强跟上。

满空：“师傅，请走慢一点或者休息一下吧！如果再这么走下去，我很快就要断气....”

镜虚却不理会满空的申诉，还是走得很快。

这时，他们来到了一个村子。 一个头顶着水罐的美丽少妇迎面向他们走来。

镜虚走在前面，先看到少妇。就在跟少妇擦身而过时，他突然抱住少妇，还吻了她的嘴。

少妇喊道：“救命！救命！”

村民：“色狼在哪里？快追上那俩个淫僧！”

村里的人们都追出来抓镜虚和满空，师徒俩唯有使劲力气地跑。

村民从没见过有人跑得这么快，满空还扛着一大袋米呢！

师徒二人跑出村子后，村民才放弃追赶。

镜虚: “那袋米重吗？”

满空：“重？我们跑得这么快，我都忘记了自己还把它扛着。”

镜虚: “你发现了吗？ 当你逃避村民的追赶时，已忘了重不重的感觉。

满空：“............”

镜虚：“哈哈哈！” 镜虚一面笑一面回头看村子。

----重与否，全在你的脑子里。-----


Reference: Asiapac Books.(2003).禅心慧语 Zen Wisdom Stories. Singapore: 福岛印务。

禅心慧语-赤裸裸的真实 《禅的故事》

日本的草加和尚非常穷，他只有一条僧袍，一年的365天，他天天都穿着它。

在一个夏日，它洗了僧袍，挂在树上晒，然后光着身子躲到庙后的坟场上打坐。

恰巧省长前来这里拜祭父亲的坟墓。 当他看到坟场里坐着一个赤裸的和尚，大吃一惊。

省长：“ 为什么你不穿衣服？ 难道你对死者没有一点敬意吗？”

草加和尚： “我只有一件僧袍，刚洗了。我在等它干，才会跑到这个没人的地方躲着。”

省长对他的坦白很感动，就为他做了一套新袍。

后来，草加和尚当了禅宗师傅，省长就拜他为师。

----  坦白可以消除一切误会。----

Reference: Asiapac Books.(2003).禅心慧语 Zen Wisdom Stories. Singapore: 福岛印务。

《禅心慧语》禅的故事： 谁的婴儿？

谁的婴儿？

有一个商人， 很仰慕日本的一位禅宗大师白隐的崇高品德，便常赠予金钱和用品。

有一天， 商人的女儿与仆人有了私情，生了孩子。 商人问道：“谁是孩子的父亲？”

女儿道：“是白隐的。。。。”

商人生气的说：“我竟奉养了这个花和尚十年，岂有此理！”

商人气冲冲的把孩子丢给白隐。 “ 你对我女儿干的好事！我们家容不下你和这孩子！”

白隐和尚并没有为自己辩解。白隐和尚无微不至地照顾婴儿， 街坊也以为孩子是他的， 因此

引来不少恶言。 “他怎么做这种事！” “ 这个禅师原来是个伪君子！” “ 他做了不知羞耻的事，

还会有人尊敬他吗？” “他是哪一种和尚？难道不知道和尚不可近女色吗？”


一天， 白隐冒着大雪沿家挨户去化缘，乞讨奶汁来喂婴儿。 商人的女儿见到这一幕， 感动的

落泪，感动的受不了，一时懊悔交加。 “ 婴儿是我的， 他却承担起抚养的责任。 别人误会

他，他却一点怨言也没有。”  商人的女儿泪流满面地去见父亲， “我骗了你， 孩子的父亲不

是白隐， 而是你的一个仆人。”

商人马上去见大师， 请求原谅。 “ 师傅， 我女儿已招认， 婴儿的父亲是我们家的一个仆人。

请师傅宽恕我冤枉了您。”

白隐师傅： “哈哈， 孩子有另一个父亲了？”

----真相总会有水落石出的一天----

Reference: Asiapac Books.(2003).禅心慧语 Zen Wisdom Stories. Singapore: 福岛印务。

女大十八变中的“十八”是指年龄吗？

大多数人认为的“女大十八变，越变越好看”的意思是：芳龄十八的姑娘，容貌会越来越美。

事实上并非如此， 这“十八” 指的不是年龄而是指变化之数， 是说女孩子长到十八岁时， 面

貌会发生很多变化。

那为何会用“十八”来称多变？ 其实这与《易经》有关。

《易经》有记载： “十有八变而成卦。”

传说： 周文王被囚，在牢里时发奋钻研， 将八卦中的两卦相叠， 进行组合排列， 演变为六

十四卦，三百八十四爻-（yao - lines on a trigram)，并将此推测社会和自然的变化， 说明产生

万物的根源是阴阳的相互作用。

由于爻卦间相互组合，变化多端，六十四卦中， 每卦多有十八变化。

在《俗语典》故胡朴安中有云： “凡事物之多变者，俗并以十八言之。

”于是， 十八变成一种套数。”

《清平山堂话本.花灯轿莲女成佛记》： “这莲女渐渐长的堪描堪画， 从来道， 女大十八

变。” 意思： 是说 少女在发育期间，性情，容颜变化多端。

后来，“ 女大十八变” 就常指女孩子长大到十八岁时， 其体貌， 心神等方面就会发生很多变化。”

References: 黎明.(2010).中华文化知识全知道. 北京：海潮出版社.

Welcome to the rich man's world- 26/5/2013

Welcome, welcome....... I was in a rich man's world on a Sunday afternoon for only 5 hours.
How come?
 I met a rich man?
Nah........ Guess......
Nope.....

Let's read on what I am going to tell you.

The 5 hour journey was planned for a long time by our darling B....I was kind of doubtful if I was able to participate in the journey which falls on a Sunday... As you know, being a shift work worker, weekends, public holidays are burned most of the time. In order to go, I had to request for a DO on the selected day.... Initially, I was rejected firmly due to insufficient staff. Actually, I was very upset, not because I cannot go, but because I have to give in to others whom are most of the time taking weekend off...
I was very, very, very upset and kicked up a fuss, I was so angry that I lost it.
I told my supervisor that I am ok to give up to others but not the same people.....
(I am not difficult, ok, just a little pissed)
Thankfully, my supervisor re-planned the roster to be in everyone's favour, however there is always  s a small imperfection. You cannot please everyone!

Opps.....too far from my storyline.....Come back, come back.......

B had assigned a few of us with a job scope......
-MW and her helpers: KSS, CT and C - food preparation
- D- Beer and " chillies"( y that .......I will tell u later)
-Me- Groceries + disposable cutleries
- K- Fetching of extra 2 young ladies
-A- Lying to someone
- the rest - Surprising someone

Ultimately - Enjoying ourselves and faking to be extremely rich.....
Well I am not saying that we are not rich.... We are rich with salary, careers, friends, happiness, family.......but not rich to the extend to be able to own a yacht.....

Talking about Yacht.... this is our main course.....

R, M, MY, BN and myself met B at Harbour Front MRT Exit C to hop onto the shuttle bus at 1215hrs, and we even walked a short distance, however it seemed that we missed the bus, and therefore we took cab in, 3 by 3 in one cab.....
However, we still missed each other, coz it seemed that there were different entry in Sentosa Cove Village..... hahahahah..

The first 3 reached one 15 Marina Club......
The other 3 reached the other entrance of Sentosa Cove Village....
But we managed to meet up after some delay......

Since the rest of them have not yet arrived and we were the earliest, We decided to proceed to cold storage for groceries.... We bought ice, tibits, drinks and fruits......... After payment, We decided to steal the trolley to the yacht parking lot, as there were too much to carry.....

Ok, remember, I mentioned that D's job was to buy beer and "chillies"
Actually the chillies were not required..... y
B told D to buy beer and thereafter remember to chill them
Our dear D asked: " how many chillies do u need?"
B was immediately "Stoned"
hahahahaha........
Just when we were laughing about it , D and S walked into Cold Storage.
B raise the question to him, however I was busy choosing items thus I did not managed to hear D's explanation.........

We were all very thirsty and MY paid for my drinks.... I must remember to pay her back......
oh ya..... Talking about this ..... I must pay the taxi-fare and yacht fare too....

OO...... I loved typing my blog.... it is a form of reminisce therapy..... Hee hee......

After much shopping, we decided to empty our bladders before we board the yacht ...
We intended to board the yacht first before that someone turns up....
However it seemed that everything started to go wrong...........one by one.....

Firstly, the weather ........（.天公不作美）was uncooperative ....... The whole skies were all dark.... I could see all the rain clouds started to gather above our heads....... and it started drizzling..... it was an on and off issue....

Secondly, the surprise did not go smoothly as planned, instead it went really hilariously wrong.....
S and A turned up at the carpark,  A saw D and yet D did not hide....... SA then first saw S sitting while waiting for the rest of us to come out from the toilet...
SA asked A: " Is that S?"
 A replied" Nope!"
SA then exclaimed "No?"  the next moment S started to push the trolley and run......

hahahahaha
Then SA saw D and slowly M, MY all strolled out of the toilet gracefully.....hahahaha
M even hid behind D's back as if SA can't see them.....

When B and I walked out of the toilet, we saw SA and my mind goes" OH NO! PLAN FAILED!"
But not to worry, We always have contingency plans prepared.....
Again to our horror, PLAN NO.2 Failed too........

Since it seemed that our first plan fell right through, we decided to board the yacht first while waiting for the rest of the "rich gang."

While strolling through the "yacht-parking lots", there were big, small, cool, beautiful yacht all resting in their lots.... Now you can imagine, how the rich enjoy life.... Indescribable.....

The moment we started to board the yacht, we began to explore the yacht and started our photo snapping...... We were so excited..... and looking forward  to set sail out to sea...

The third thing that went wrong was the rest of the rich gang was late due to traffic jams...... thus about 1/2 hour of our time on board was taken up.....

The forth thing that went wrong was that SA did not realize that her 2 young ladies was joining us and yet our dear MW just said it out without realizing that B was about to eat her up........

YAH...... Everyone had arrived and we began to set sail out to see!
While setting out, our dear captain and co-captain - Govan and Rubin gave us few minutes of briefing , Dos and Don'ts and most importantly how to use the toilet flush............

Here I come, Ariel and Sebastian!
Sorry..... Throughout on board, There was no signs of any "Fish" , let alone mermaid or lobster.......

Our first stop-over was to St. John Island.......Some of us went strolling on St. John Island
It was a great stroll with Nature. We walked down to the beach and took some some funny pose shots
While on the way back to the yacht, C, CG and I enjoyed self -camera shots (自拍）。。。It was funny that we did not experience neck stiffness!!!!

.....Some went swimming and some went kayaking....... So in the end, we took turns to be wet.......
I had my chance rowing the kayak.......with SS and M on board... we took turns... Initially, our kayak kept going round and round.... but after a while I managed to get the hang of it and seemed quite good that I managed to row the kayak back to the yacht.......

Fun, Fun , Fun......
Our dear B went kayaking with two men K and D and she seems to have multiple complaints about the two of them.... hahahaha.....
Wait, let me ask her when I see her the next time.....

We should applaud the three J, A and R who dive into the water from the walkway bridge ........ Wow........
Would u do so???? Bravos.......

We stopped all activities when it started to rain and this round again with lightning..... so it safer to stop....
I thought only C,CG and BN did not get wet!!!!

We then sailed up to our next destination....
I was out on the top deck, rear area and the bow most of the time...... I could not sit still inside the saloon.....despite I was drooling with the food ..... I knew myself very well, I will puke definitely if I don't feel the wind breeze.....

Some of them took medication before boarding, some began to throw up .......
Actually it was because the yacht was not very stable, due to choppy waters, due to big ships cruising past and it was raining too....

Safety Tips: When your captain asked you to hold on to the railings, please do so....
                       You can thrown overboard due to the force....... !!!!!!!
                        please don't be a Metal Teeth.... (Stubborn) (铁齿）


We passed through Kusu Island and saw "Zheng He!" (郑和）

d(^_^o) You mean : The Hui-Chinese court eunuch, mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral who commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East and East Africa from 1405 to 1433

No lah..... (-_- ;) hahahaha

I meant our yacht cruised past the replica of an Imperial Zheng He Vessel (Chinese Junk Boat) that serve cuisine.........

We finally reached our second destination and we saw a few yacht packed side by side .....
Just beside us, we saw a group of young ladies dressed in bikini diving and swimming in the sea....
We did a small, small prank....... hahaha not really a prank... but the girls were fun, they went along with our calls and counting.

We saw them climb over the edge of their yacht and all lined up to get ready to dive into the water.... thus we joined in the fun, of course not in the water, but shouting 1, 2, 3 jump and they did! hahahaha
Cool....  We even met friends and colleague in such a small world.......

(>_<) too bad ! No handsome man or merman inside!!!

(i _ i) The man gets to see girls!

After making fun of others, time to make fun of our own people....
K bought along plastic hello kitty jewellery set ..... on  board a yacht.....
(~ _~;) Really, have no idea what is in his head??

 So SA, K,A and BN took turns to be our jewellery model.....
After being the model, they are so called flagged from famous part of Singapore!

Ok, (-_-#)
The last bad thing, My camera battery just died off!!!!!


Our day being in the rich man's world was coming to an end......
As I was still wet, I immediately went to change.....
 ok Great! big problem!

 (T_T)  "Y"
I began to feel seasick.... and I was worried that I will puke while changing in the toilet..... How?
****** Yeh!!! A solution formed in my head, it sounded quite dumb but it worked!
How?
I went into the room where we placed our bags.... I immediately took out my dry shorts, underwear and two plastic zip-lock bag...
I then walked up the stair, go out to the rear area, took a few breaths of the wind and return  to the toilet.....
Stupidly, I can't lock the toilet door.... SA then told me that the latch was at the top..... ok...
Yacht toilet lock latch is at the top....Now I know....

Safety Tip No. 2 : Be good and listen to the briefing.... MUST PAY ATTENTION, OK!

Y? The toilet bowl in a yacht is very different from the ones on land, Even those up in air is also different!

I remembered that Govan said:
Before using the toilet bowl, press button for the water to flow out first........
ok.... I managed to find the button under the sink.....
The moment the water flowed out and I sat on it, I really felt sick.......
It really felt like using the toilet in air.....
Moving up and down as if air turbulence....!!!!!!!
Thereafter, I pressed the other button and flushed...
Well, the only difference was that the toilet paper was to be thrown into the dustbin, otherwise it will choked up the toilet.....

N one more pointers, When the captain tells you to use their toilet paper, then do what they tell u!!
Brand of toilet paper: Mr. Softie or etc.....

Who in the right mind will want to use their own tissue paper???

I then immediately changed my clothes, I thought that was my record time in changing.... I had never rushed and be so fast... I thought that was faster than I urinate....ahahahahah!!!!
After changing, I want up to the rear area, and put my slippers into the zip-lock bag....
Again, I returned into the room and packed everything into my bag........!!!!!
Thereafter, I rushed out of the room as if someone hot on my heels!!!!!

Wah lah...... I almost want to puke!!!! Thankfully I managed to control till the end!!!
I then joined SS, R and C at the bow....

We slowly cruised back to Sentosa Cove, and on the journey of returning, I was at the bow, enjoying the scenery and early beautiful sunset......

Upon reaching home, I immediately charged my camera, upload my photos into my computer and started to type my blog....

To tell u the truth, I felt that I was so still at sea, having that effect of up and down....
I am sure everyone felt that too.....
After typing my blog, I was like this:    (@_@)

Good Night everyone!

If u are interested in booking a yacht, feel free to go to the website below:
http://www.whitesails.com.sg/our-yacht

A day spent @ Sentosa

When I woke up in the morning, I was kind of upset....... the sly looked so dark......Thereafter my fears came true, it began to rain!!! Haiz.....How to go and enjoy myself when it is raining..... That was very bad..... However, I still went ahead with my plans.......Going to Sentosa....

Luckily, it stopped raining at my place, thus I was able to proceed with my plans. We went to Vivo city, took the Sentosa Express..... I was surprised that the price increased to $4.50 now..
The last time I took the Express was just in November 2012, where I had to attend a conference in Resort World Sentosa for 2 days and the price then was $3.50.....

Initially our plans was to stay in Universal Studio for the day, however it was changed because of the weather, thus we proceeded to indoor activities instead.. We chose to go to the Maritime Experimental museum instead. But it was packed together with the S.E.A.Aquarium, thus we proceeded to both..... While we were inside, it started to pour outside.....

My friend and I was quite relieved that it was a weekday, not very very packed even though it was still crowded with people.....at least we don't experienced to be packed sardines.....

It was nice, we spent almost two and a half hour inside the museum and aquarium...... slowly gazing around, taking pictures, playing their interactive games, understanding history of Zheng He, which is one of my favourite Chinese history.....

After self-directed history lessons, we moved on to marine biology lessons which were also self directed.....

We went into the world's largest aquarium and experienced the blue planet.......almost you see blue colour throughout, and yet the colour contrast was so beautiful...... you don't feel blue at all...

There was the ocean gallery you look through the world's largest window to the marine world and you feel like you are standing right inside the ocean.....

There was also the shipwreck habitat, where the shipwreck has became a home to the seas' marine life...

There was also the sharks sea, where these predators were swimming around you.....

There were many other zones right inside the aquarium: Ocean Dome, Open Ocean, Ocean Journey, Arabian Gulf and Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Bay of Bengal and Laccadive Sea, East Africa, South China Sea, Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea, Strait of Karimata and Java Sea and etc........

After the lesson, I realized that I was so fascinated about the Ray Fish...... and one of them was the Manta Ray (Manta Alfredi- Spanish).......
Hahaha, I bought one as a souvenir!!!!!

 

 

 

We had a simple lunch break eating bread only....... nowadays bread is so expensive.....

 

Thereafter, we went on to visit another museum.... Images of Singapore....

 

ooh I love visiting museum..... my favourites.......

 

This time I am recapping my Singapore history lessons......hahaha.... Walking into the very primitive days to present....I was like sitting inside a train that travelled back in time....

 

Again I was in my slowest pace, away from the noises and crowd..... quiet and calm....... it was just remarkable.... I love to be in such a state, no other disturbances.....

 

But yet again in any place where people are around, you tends to meet very, very strange bunch of people.....

 

They are a group of Indians visitors, not local, definitely from overseas.... we found them to be really strange... instead of enjoying the walk in the museum, these guys practically opened every exit door ...we were very puzzled with their actions and the funny thing is, every time they opened the exit doors, we were just standing there, thus we were very sure they opened every exit door in every exhibiting zone area....

 

???????? opened the exit door.......talked.....then closed ....... We tolerated until the end of our walk and we just burst into laughter.....

 

We will never know the answers!!!!

 

I bought a very unique souvenir at the gift shop.... something related yet unrelated too!

 

My favourite character : A Chinese Zombie 僵尸

Related: Sentosa

Unrelated: Chinese Zombie

Unique: A Chinese Zombie Bear 僵尸熊

 

 

 

 

After a good laugh, we decided to walk home.......of course not home to where we stayed...... We meant the Sentosa boardwalk.... we decided to walk to Vivo City instead.......

 

It was about 470m back to Vivo City....... 

 

We then decided to have Sushi for dinner....

Luckily we had our dinner early, coz while we were eating , the queue outside the restaurant was extremely long......

 

So this is how we spent our day......!!!!

 

We decided to go to universal Studio on another day..... no Worries...

 

 

 

 



Rhythm of the Night

Oh yes.........as you understand from my title.....Dancing all night long!!!!

Yesterday was my 1st time going clubbing....however I still find it way out too high for myself....
Anyway I had experienced it......as for the next time.....it will be a long time before I would want to join again .....hahahaha... The feeling is nice to have your bunch of friends to sway with the music and forget where you are, who you are! but it is quite dangerous to sway out of your consciousness.....

The venue was at the Avalon @Marina Bays Sands, an internationally renowned brand from Hollywood, opened since September 2011. As described, it stands out from the waters of Marina Bay, with a beautiful view of Singapore skyline and the illustriousness of the Crystal Pavilion that contain it..

Since yesterday was a Saturday Night, Club night on Saturday at Avalon is considered as Avaland,
with International renowned DJs producing live entertainment for the party-goers...
As we enter the club after 2330hrs, the charge was S$30 with 1 standard drink...Before 2330hrs will be S$25 with 1 standard drink...

I gave my complementary drink to Bong.....I am sure he will enjoy it better than I do.... I was not feeling well, with my sore throat, so I was not even drinking soft drinks... I would prefer plain water......

The night was planned to be a VIRGIN NIGHTS out for my shah and her fiancé Rafi who will be getting married in May, this year!

Initially, I was kind of ambivalent about going to the club with the rest of them, however since they have invited me and It was not very nice to back out the last minute, thus I decided to brace on and go with the plan.. It was kind of excitement for me, but at the  same time it was also troublesome coz I need to get my self the appropriate attire to enter the club as an lady.....of course a blouse that will look presentable...

While I was resting at home, waiting for the night to fall upon...... Unfortunately heavy rain decided to fall upon us instead...... I was quite worried that the gig will be called off and we will really have a hard time to organize it again, coz for our working duties, it will take some time to plan on it again....

I thought that I might be the first one to back out if it is reorganized again....

My dear Bisy was so excited, She basically exclaimed that " Of Course we are not giving up....Hehehe! "
Sit : "SWC spirit!"
Bisy: It's our spirit! I can hear the thunder and we will see who will win!"

Wah!......Bisy was so cool and high!!! Luv it!

Fortunately we won and the skies are clear....... for partying!

We resumed with our plan to meet at City Hall MRT for some bites before drinking..... However most of them was late... Unlike our two gentleman Bong and Philip already started on their own at McDonalds......I was like huh, is alcohol allowed there.... ????  I got it wrong, they were drinking opposite McDonalds..

Everyone reached and thereafter we proceeded to WALK to Marina Bay Sands........ oops I luv to walk, but I forgotten that I was wearing a pair of " SELDOM WEAR" shoes.... So I was nagging at Sit to remind me when we reached 7-Eleven store, I need handiplus desperately...

Haahaha, it seems that the handiplus was also Shah's saviour.....

Sit and his girl-friend went to the 7-eleven store to buy scotch-whisky and coke, that is when they mix them together and get high outside....
Raveen explained to me that youngster do so by drinking outside and thereafter go in to party.... Drinks are ex inside there, thus you see group after group outside the club...

The moment I entered, I was like ...... my heart was pounding like as if it was going to jump out, and my head started to spin..... (It has nothing to do with the beer that I drank before entering the club)
It was the lights and the music that was the culprit.... It took me a while to get used to it.... Initially everyone was shouting in each other's ears, I gave up doing so once I realized that both of us can't hear each other at all, so I switched to typing and showing, communicate through visual words.....

The next 3and half hours was just purely drinking, dancing, standing and viewing.... nothing else......!!!
Anyway you can do nothing else.... but for me.... I was busy looking around, seeing people dancing until like as if the breast is going to come out from the tube dress, seeing people kissing as if they are in their own backyard......Anyway, these are nothing new..... I saw more when I was in Las Vegas..
I think the only thing that I missed was people jumping into the sea or puking like nobody business...

I was being to feel like shit when it was 2o'clock..... I was very sleepy and tired ..... felt sick ..... I then braced up again , and danced at my own pace and own pattern.......... finally It was time to leave .......
OH!!!!

The two couple was so busy dancing.... great couple.....
Serious at work -yap!
Serious at having fun- damn serious!!!
hahahaha
Thumbs up for you guys !

When we left the club, out in the open, facing the sea..... I felt I am "human" again... Able to breathe properly, talk properly, hear properly and see properly.....


The party ended and we left.... Hannah, Leveeh and I left with Cecilia in her car, we even went for breakfast at McDonalds before going home..... We passed by the market, and we saw people getting ready for a day@work in the market, and hey looked at us.... we are going to sleep!

This is really unhealthy... Well， "So Many Men, So Many Minds"
                                                                人各有志，其心不同
Everyone think differently..... Well, that's mine thinking!

The real test comes: Entering the house in silence....
Luckily, I was the little rat that safely got past the big cat without any noise........

Well so good nite...... everyone

New team on the rise: "The Part Time Selective Sayang Movers"

Today my friend Sit and I had a date with Ng S.H., we had promised her to help to shift and re-arrange some of her furniture at her new house. While both of them were at work today for morning shift, I was at home doing some house-chores before I meet them after their duty..

I was meeting them at Compass Point for a meal before a start of our "moving" duty. I reached the mall slightly earlier than them, thus I went to buy some daily items which I required.

Then something happened.......This has never happen before, it also never crossed my mind that it will happen to me!

I had bought the items and was walking to the venue that we were supposed to meet, and I was busy concentrating trying to put my change into my wallet, then my coin pouch button just opened and all my coins dropped onto the floor........
I was speechless...... " my Money!"

I then immediately started to pick my coins up.......so sad....... No one bothered to help me! Only a lady helped me to pick up two coins that rolled in the opposite direction....

After I thanked her, two person appeared and started to help me...... I was surprised , it was Sit and Ng S.H....... They were both surprised that I was that poor fellow who needed help.... hahahaha......

Thereafter, we then proceeded to the Kodak shop where Sit required to take a photo for his visa application....Unfortunately, he was wearing white and the shop assistant advised him to change into something coloured and with a collar...........

Luckily, I was wearing a collar-tee, and I had an extra T-shirt with me. (I brought along as I was worried that I might perspire and smell after the carrying and shifting)

Initially, he wanted to buy a shirt but it was not to his liking,

So I changed into the extra-tee and he wore my collar tee........ hahaha
He looked so funny when he wore the tee, it was so short...... it reached only his waist........

He then took his photo and we went to have our meal at Swensen ............
We found the serving standards at Swensen seemed to have dropped...... there were no initiative to serve the customers.... It was my last straw when we asked for iced water, the guy just brought a bottle plain iced water, and yet forgotten to give us glasses!!!! How to drink??
That is real bad....
The last serving was Ice-Cream, they too took a while to serve, it seemed that they only remembered when we reminded them.....

We reached Ng's place at around 1630hrs, and we started our job......
but it was very smooth going.....we finished the shifting and re-arranging  within half an hour.....
Thereafter, Sit and I began to rest...... He occupied the couch and I occupied the rocking chair...
Sit was so mesmerized with the couch.......

Ng was busy unpacking, we then looked at the old photo album of hers, we even spent about 3 hours chit chatting.......It was a heart to heart talk.......

We then left the house at  around 8 pm, went for a dinner with Ng and her husband Mr Teo......

It was an OK day for me but not for Sit, I bet u, he had fallen asleep at home while I am typing my story now....

无事不登三宝殿- 你对这句话了解多少？

其实我们都知道这句话的意识是在比喻 没事是不会登门造访，一旦登门，必有事相求。

那大家知不知道， 这三宝殿跟佛教概念有关。

什么是三宝？ 佛教称 佛，法，僧 三者为 三宝。

王有光 是清代的学者， 他说： 三宝殿 是佛，法，僧 三大活动的地方。

这三个地方是干什么的？

佛-[佛教徒登场办事的地方]
法- [佛家珍藏经书的阁楼]
僧-[和尚睡觉的地方]
以上地方都是 闲人莫入

这说法是和民间的迷信与佛教的影响力有关。

在早期， 科学技术不发达， 天文历法的知识不健全， 老百姓一旦遇到什么事，都只会求神拜佛。在那个时候的君主也是有同样的做法， 比如： 天干，雨涝，嫁娶，生老病死，功名富贵等都去 三宝殿 ‘探求吉凶， 逢凶化吉’ 以 期全知全能，普渡众生的佛赐福给我们。

可见， 无事的话是不会有人去''三宝殿' 叨扰的。
之所以 '三宝殿’ 也比喻 有所求之地。


References: 黎明.(2010).中华文化知识全知道. 北京：海潮出版社.

A Visit to Premai Hospital in JB Malaysia on 21st Feb 2013

I was so worried that I will miss this trip that I set both plastic and human alarm clock..... The plastic ones meant to be my iphone and my table clock, whereas my human one was Ho....my dear senior colleague....

I had been working morning shift for the past 2 days and was worried that I will oversleep... Fortunately, both  plastic and human ringing managed to wake me up at 0530hrs, it is the usual time when I wake to get  ready for my morning shift. In fact, I reached the hospital early at around 0645hrs, and managed to have a glass of milo and biscuit for breakfast in the ward tea room before going down to the meeting place. We were supposed to meet at the main lobby of IMH at 0715hrs.

My nurse manager Sister Tan and Nurse Ho were too going on this trip... Ho message me on 28th Jan to ask if I was interested in going visiting to the new mental hospital in JB, I returned call to her, mentioned of my interest, the next moment, I was calling the ward to my NM and asking her to register for the both of us..

However, at the start of the morning was not so successful, there was some miscommunication and the bus that was supposed to arrive at 0730hrs ended up arriving at 0830hrs....

The transition through both Singapore and Malaysia checkpoints were smooth, and we managed to reach JB at around 0915hrs.... We then alighted somewhere in JB for Breakfast (Sorry , unsure of the street name...Hahaha). The breakfast shop looked like a coffeeshop style of the 60-70s..with 2 storey. Our co-ordinator actually told us that as we were behind time , we only had 20 minutes to eat... We then went up to second floor,  sat down, ordered half-boil egg, egg and chicken sandwich, coffee and tea. Then my eye caught something on the menu.... it was shown at the top right hand corner : 20 minutes of waiting time to be served

OOPs , How to complete our meal in 20 minutes when they required 20 minutes to prepare....!!!
Anyway, we were taking our own sweet time to enjoy our breakfast.....Finally we finished and somemore we " took away" the egg and chicken sandwiches onto the bus... and I "finished" them up....

We managed to reach the hospital around 10plus....we were then wisked to the hospital auditorium for a short orientation on the history of the hospital, presentation about Singapore Nurses Association by Dr. Xie H.T, Eating disorder by SGH Dr and team and research presentation by APN Mao. R.

After the presentation, we were then invited to have a short makan break just outside their auditorium and the makan: Mee Soto were prepared by the independent working patients of the hospital... I was so impressed. While we were enjoying the presentation, Ho was meddling her camera, it seemed that the camera battery cover was loosen and was unable to close.. We came to a conclusion: we required a piece of scotch tape to stick the cover close.... Ho was unable to concentrate on the presentation, she was so occupied with "where to find scotch tape" I had to reassure her that we will be able to find scotch tape in such a huge hospital....

Thereafter, we were brought around the hospital for a tour.... it was huge...... I was enjoying the wind that blown into the path that we were walking.... I felt so unrestricted...it had vast space ......I felt that if I was a patient who was feeling agitated or frustrated......I would have been 'defused' naturally .....

It was true, there hospital have 'No' rates of assult on staff, patients and visitors.... They don't even use physical restraints.... only chemical restraints were available...

The 1st shop was to the OT department Job Club.....we were introducted to them going down to the basic of helping patients not only obtain a job and most importantly to sustain a job.... They even allow independent working patients to return to a home (similar to a 3-rm HDB flat-F-O-C from their government) that was just next to the hospital... no no I should say, they are more condo, rather than HDB..... Each patient share the apartment, and each have their own room...This will not happen in Singapore... They also have their own plant nursery, the patient have their own 'botanic garden' (big big courtyard for them to also roam around, lie around, relaxing their day....

I was enjoying myself during the touring of the Job Club, when suddenly Ho pull me by the collar and I was pulled out from the crowd backwards..... I was so puzzled, looking at her blankly when she pointed at the office desk of the staff and exclaimed: " SCOTCH TAPE" .. I then saw a tape holder and I proceeded towards the desk, feeling like A thief......!!!! Unluckly, I was unable to take out the tape, I could not find the tape opening......I was nervous coz I was worried I might get caught....
Suddenly I realized the staff was standing behind me AND  I just smiled...and asked " Can I have some scotch tape?  The staff smiled and offered another scotch tape on another desk... I managed to tear off 3 pcs to secure her camera battery cover..!!!!

During the hospital tour, we saw the acute admitting wards, psycho-geriatic wards, forensic wards..... we were very surprised of their care..... the wards were all on ground-level.... with courtyard fenced up but you don't really feel that you are locked up... the geriatric bed-ridden patients were sleeping a a cot-like bed and not restrained... we are surprised and the staff had told us that there was never fall incident present...which means those bed ridden patients had never fall off the bed...

We even found a small little kitten resting on the sofa in the psycho geriatric wards, they allowed pets there.....!!!!! Their weighing scale was even newer than what we were using....Haiz....
Their nursing counter was spaceous and comfortable, most importantly- air-conditioned while outside non-aircon (patient 's area).
 U sure can't believe: their stay in hospital is all F-O-C
There is paying class, they only pay for the difference of Food!!

We also went to the forensic wards, and I was surprised.. their door to the wards were wide-open and we linger around the wards with the patients pacing around us...of Course outside the ward were all fenced up but they did not even attempted to try.... I even asked the staff and they of coursed smiled and confidently said that the patients will not run and it was true..... They had double security of fencing while transporting forensic patients in and out of the hospital... There are 10 types of forms available...

Towards the end, we had a group photo...

After the tour of the hospital, we went shopping in JB and thereafter we proceeded to having seafood for dinner by the sea...Unfortunately, I was disappointed, coz the food served was not fresh..... the crab, fish did not really tasted up to standard... and at the same it was low tide by the sea, thus not really enjoying the view.

After we finished, it was time to return to Singapore.... Again everything was moving smoothly and i was home by 9.15 pm.
(My photos will be available on facebook) - Anita Ng