Happy Toilet School

Today was an eventful day, was nearly locked up in a room and was trying to get people's attention and knocking on the door so hard that my hand went red. Anyway I managed to get out myself after a while and a small scare. Quite a silly episode haha.

Just now on my way back home, while walking pass a primary school, one of their banners caught my attention. The Banner was about the school being a "Happy Toilet School". I did a double take to confirm I am not hallucinating in the dark night! ;>

Not a doubt, the banner clearly wrote Happy Toilet School. Wow! Certainly a new program to me. There are now many programs ongoing for different groups of people that are new to me. Apparently according to the Restroom Association's website, it is a program to inculcate Good Toilet Etiquette, Personal Hygiene Habits and Social Responsibility to the Students. Wow, what a mission! :)

Online Shopping

Wow I finally made my first online purchase of clothes this Wednesday! More of driven by my colleague. She was very eager and went around looking for online sites and found one that she like. The thing though is that a minimum purchase of 12 items and 2 items per design is needed. So she roped me in. It is actually an online retailer from Hong Kong.

It was so exciting when I looked at the website. Wow all the clothes look so reasonably priced and nice! I find it hard to differentiate whether it is the cothes that are nice or the models that are making the clothes look so nice haha. :) Was tempted to buy many designs. But restricted ourselves to the minimum purchase first as we do not know the quality. Some friends mentioned that the quality of the clothes they received were quite different from what they see online. Hoping that this online retailer will be different.

I just received a message from her that the clothes had arrived in her house by courier! Wow that is really fast! It takes only three days to arrive from Hong Kong??? Wow unbelievable! Already looking forward to seeing the parcel on Monday! :)

Jie Mei

Was the Jie Mei (Jie Mei is something like a bridemaid but much less official than that for wedding in Singapore) for my cousin wedding last weekend. It was quite a packed day as my cousin has quite a lot of activities packed on her wedding day.

There is an old Chinese saying that one should not be a Jie Mei for more than three times as it does not bode well for the person. That is why some friends did reject nicely after they have had been Jie Mei for a few times. Oh no;>........ I have exceeded my quota, like the 27 wedding dresses movie (but of course not so many times haha). Whatever the saying, I feel it is my honor to be asked to take part in others' happiness. :)

My cousin's wedding was held in Sentosa. She really did a lot of planning. I was surprised when she tailor made dresses and bought the same shoes for all the Jie Mei(s). Usually in other weddings I attended, we were given a color theme and we bought the clothes/shoes ourselves. During her dinner, there were also performances throughout the duration of the meal. I saw Bryan Wong too, he was the MC for that night. He is actually very good looking closed up. Also looked like a cheerful person. Quite a number of people took pictures with him.

It was really quite a different wedding. I hope though she enjoyed herself despite her hectic schedule.

Joyful People

Stepping out of the lift, I was greeted by a beautiful and joyous voice. Hmmm.... who is this person? From her attire, I could see that she must be one of those Tzi-chi volunteers that come to my block every month to collect recycleables. The lady was holding on to a trolley and singing merrily in a soft voice to herself. I think she must be passing her time while waiting for the other volunteers.

I went up to talk to her to ask her whether she would like the old newspaper that had been stacking up at home. While speaking to her, I felt she exuded an attractive air of joy and cheerfulness. Its really attractive. Joyfulness can be infectious. Even if I might not be feeling my best before meeting her, she had infected me with her cheer and made my day! :)

I really respect and admire people like her. Because they make the world a better place for all of us. I guess it is probaby second nature to them. Thank you, Angel of my day! :)

你是我的眼

Wanted to share with you this song. Quite touching and stirring. Heard this song recently as I was watching the Taiwanese singing competition (超級星光大道) following some Singapore contestants. Wow one of the PK contestants, an American actually, really sang it very well (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVu3cN4fCD8&feature=related). Apparently many commerical singers have sang this song before, seems like a big hit for them. Hmmm.. how come I have never heard it before?

Today hearing it again I suddenly have the urge to know who is the original singer. From the lyrics, I thought it could be a visually impaired singer like Chen Wei Lian. My guess is right. The original singer is 蕭煌奇(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL4DfdN3KaA&feature=related). Though he may be visually impaired, but through his composition, he let others see another side of him, just like Chen Wei Lian. They all reach out to others through their music. Music really can bridge all kinds of boundaries. A talented composer indeed.

Enjoy the song

你是我的眼

如果我能看得见 就能轻易的分辨白天黑夜
就能准确的在人群中牵住你的手 如果我能看得见
就能驾车带你到处遨游 就能惊喜的从背后给你一个拥抱
如果我能看得见生命也许完全不同
可能我想要的我喜欢的我爱的都不一样

眼前的黑不是黑你说的白是什么白
人们说的天空蓝是我记忆中那团白云背后的蓝天
我望向你的脸却只能看见一片虚无 是不是上帝在我眼前遮住了帘忘了掀开

你是我的眼带我领略四季的变换 你是我的眼带我穿越拥挤的人潮
你是我的眼带我阅读浩瀚的书海 因为你是我的眼 让我看见这世界就在我眼前

Laptop

I finally got a new Laptop today! :) Is a Acer, 13.3 inches and 1.6 kg.

Was planning to get one for a long time as my current laptop is 5 years old already. Finally got one from Comex!

Heard that paying in cash will entitle for more freebies. Thus I drew out the cash and travelled by bus there. Was gingerly walking around with the cash. Haha, of course nothing happened.
I just zoomed in since I already knew the model I wanted. Asked the salesgirl earnestly to give me more freebies since I am paying in cash but hmm.... it does not seem to work. In the end, only get one more free gift, a headset (think maybe worth $20). Ok, better than nothing.

Will be collecting it next week! Yeah! Looking forward to it.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

My friend from Australia (I met her in Cambodia teaching "Chinese" to the locals, was surprised when I met her too, who would have thought of people teaching Chinese and not English there) recently came to Singapore to celebrate her birthday. Since she loved reading, my choice of a present was a book. Initially I wanted to get her "Three Cups of Tea" (a great book that I enjoyed by Greg Mortenson on his mission to promote peace via building one school at a time in Pakistan and Afghanistan).

While searching for it, I chanced upon this book and reading the summary drew me to it. I got this book for my friend finally. Later on, I managed to borrow this book from the library to read as well.

The author John Wood used to work for Microsoft (living the high life with a very good salary). Once when he was on a vacation in the Nepal, by some chances he went to some schools and saw the conditions there. He promised that he will come back with books for the library which he did. Later on, he decided to give up his cushy job at Microsoft and started Room to Read. Currently they have built thousands of libraries and hundreds of schools.

Giving up his job and steady girlfriend was not easy for him. But he reckoned that the children in the poor countries need him more than his company. If he stayed, he figured he would be just another employee at his company while his other potential work will really matter for the people in the economically less endowed places.

Is a very interesting/inspiring/touching book indeed. I think he succeeded because he had the entrepreneur spirit as well as the courage to follow what he believe.

I especially love the yak on the book cover! Imagine on his first ever book donation, he actually transported the books via yak as the place was inaccessible. Yak are very gentle looking animals. I remembered I was so looking forward to seeing them when I went on a himalaya holiday. Was asking the tour guide in advance for the animals and mountains haha! Could not take my eyes off them. They look bulky and walk very slowly though, always seem to be busy eating the vegetation. Will love to touch them if I have a chance next time. :)

Have you met Molly?

Have you met Molly? I was at Tiong Bahru Plaza last sunday and was surprised to see her! She was standing near the taxi stand. I must have read about her from the newspaper but this was my first time meeting her! I was shy at first but curiousity got the better of me and I approached her.

Yes I approached Molly, the Mobile library! (Who do you think she is??? ha ha ) Wow she looks beautiful inside out! There are neat and nice-looking shelves of books in her. Mostly children books though. Due to space constraint, each person is urged to spend a maximum of 15 minutes at Molly so that other people can get on the bus to browse and borrow the books. Apparently Molly goes to Tiong Bahru Plaza on every last Sunday of the month from 12 noon to 5 pm. You can also check her out the next time you happen to be at the plaza during those time slots.