Art Exhibition Preview @ Fullerton Hotel

Went to Fullerton Hotel today to attend the ME:WE Exhibition preview. My 11 year old nephew is one of the 4 young artists showcased.

Wow his art pieces are indeed impressive! Apparently he has been with the Studio for 6 years and this year, the Studio is organizing a fundraising exhibition for Operation Smile Foundation. He is chosen as one of the young artists to be featured.

Each of the art pieces are priced at $1800 to $4500. I think he has near to 10 pieces there, which means if they are all sold, he would be raising possibly 20k to 30k for charity. This is really impressive for a 11 year old! Apparently a number of young artists from this studio have been consistently raising this kind of amounts in various fundraising events. Wow!

I remembered many years back when I was working on a project in the university, to raise this kind of amount of money, we gathered many volunteers to collect newspapers and old clothes. It was a team effort by many people.

These days children are indeed impressive!

Manna Story @ JCube

Went last week with Ms S to Manna Story @ JCube. I kind of like eating and watching people ice skating at the same time. Was a bit noisy but the food was quite good. We especially liked the fact that the side dishes were refillable ourselves. Wow nice, we loaded up on the vegetables a few of times.
Ms S had squid Bibimbap whereas I had Kimchi Fried Rice.
The Kimchi Fried Rice was presented very well and tasted quite good too.
Drink was Cinnamon tea though the tea was very distinctive and I probably would not order it next time. Bill came up to be around $40 for both of us which was pretty reasonable. Its about $20 each for the main dish and a drink.

Back

Back at last. 2 months and a whole world of differences. Foot is recovering well. Just some pain when I walk too much but overall it is doing well. Maybe 2 more months. I guess I have to slowly build up my stamina. Will have to start swimming soon to build strength since running is out of question for now. Cannot wait to be back in action. :)

Reversal

Recently read an inspiring story from Sunday Times about a gal joining a marathon. She is planning to finish it by walking. One year ago she was involved in an accident when she was cycling. She was in coma for a few months and had a number of fractures in different parts of her body. It is a terrible setback for her as she is a very sporty person. She used to cry but was inspired when she read books about people who have overcome such similar incidents and regain top spots in the various sports events. Thus she worked on regaining her physical and mental strength. This time, 1 year after her accident, she is ready to challenge a marathon again.

I am encouraged by her. My injury is of course nothing compared to her, but having to deal with pain with every step is nevertheless daunting. Especially after recovering for 4 weeks and be able to wear normal shoe again and yet unexpectedly hurt it again yesterday putting me back to the stage weeks ago when every step is painful. I guess I just have to start all over in the recovery process. Hmmm... really need to be careful and not walk much until it fully heals.

This will certainly pass and I am looking forward to engaging in active sports again. Wait for me whatever exciting activities are awaiting out there! :)

Spectacles Appeal

I have recently launched a old spectacles private appeal to send to Bhutan and Thailand. The target is 100 spectacles by June 2012. The response has been quite encouraging, I have about 40 spectacles committed after 3 weeks. Grateful that there are some friends that send my appeal to their friends which have helped in getting more spectacles. Thank you! :)


My appeal:

I am doing a private appeal to collect spectacles for the poorer communities in places like Chiang Mai,Thailand and Bhutan. If you have any spectacles (ie. with frame and lenses) that are in good condition which you do not need, please put them to better use by donating them. If you know the degrees of your spectacles, please indicate on them as well for my easy sorting.

The spectacles will be sent to organizations working with communities that cannot afford them. For organizations that cannot get volunteer optometrists to check the eyesight of the short-sighted people, spectacles with varying degrees are usually put on a tray for the beneficiaries to try and choose themselves.

Sometimes the organizations may charge a nominal fee (eg.10 baht) for each pair of spectacles just to prevent abuse of the system but usually such fees can hardly cover any administration cost.

I am hoping to collect about 100 pairs of spectacles before 30 June 2012 in the first phase.

Thank you for reading this and please send this only to your personal friends as this is not an official mass appeal. Just doing this as an individual and putting up this private appeal.

Walking

Walking has been tiring indeed with big foot. Sometimes I have tried hopping on the good foot when no one is around so that I can move faster but hopping is as tiring. Now my good foot is also sore due to its heavy responsibility.

Being able to walk normally is such a blessing. I will hopefully be able to walk properly soon. I know being able to walk properly will be never be the same to me again. Please let me remember this experience and with gratitude, I will make good use of my feet and explore the world with them. :)

Because of big foot, my supposedly overseas volunteer stint that have taken many months to plan and my visa that I finally obtained after many obstacles with the help of many people gone up in smoke. I hope there will be a next time.

Fortunately I have other things to occupy myself from home. Now helping another organization to work on a paper on Mongolia. Skype is such a useful tool, allowing us to interview the local experts at a fraction of the cost. With the discovery of skype, I have been able to call people all over the world at a fraction of the cost.

Big Foot

This is my nickname for the past weeks. My eldest nephew came out with it and now the rest of the children are calling me this nickname. A pretty apt name and all due to my walker aircast.

I have a fractured foot and the the walker is to provide a conducive environment for my broken bone to heal itself. It has really been an experience these past 2 weeks. From thinking that it is a sprain, to X-ray showing a fracture after swelling did not subsize and bruises spreading.

With the walker, I see the world zoom past me. City folks are really busy people as they zipped around in such fast pace that I can no longer keep up. I can only watch the dust as they walk past.

Any walking now (only if necessary) is slow, heavy and measured. I am now very attuned to distance, road conditions, stairs and weather conditions. Planning is paramont as walking distance should be optimized, even a trip to the kitchen or lavatory involves lots of consideration. Traffic light is viewed with much trepidation. Crossing my first traffic light is an achievement I remember. Pain, my friend also come visiting more often than is welcomed.

Life indeed suddenly becomes simple as it revolves around the foot. All other plans no matter how long or how much effort have been put in are sidelined for it. It will get the prima donna treatment till it gets well again.

On the bright side, I can now personally feel the struggles of those who have difficulty walking. I am able to find things to keep myself occupied at home. I am a receiver of kind words from strangers. Most of these strangers are usually aunties and uncles that are middle aged. Lastly I can now smell the roses with things being in slower motion.

Ya truly this is an experience that allows me to gain another perspective in life which is not that bad after all. :)