.\^/. Not Just An Ordinary Day .\^/.

Yet another week has ended..

A brand new week has begun.

I left house with a light-hearted mood this morning.. wearing my new pair of white sandals.. a nice way to welcome my new week :) No monday blues, and work has been good. I had aplenty tasks to keep me busy throughout my day in the office, and time passed really quickly. With the thought of having mummy at home today and getting to enjoy a nice table of home-cooked food with her in front of the tv, I couldn't wait for 6pm to come. And before I knew it, I was packing up and ready to head home!

From the mrt station, it is a 15-min walk home.. Through the void decks, across the big road junction, down a long pavement and across another small road. It is a route I am so familiar with now, and so comfortable walking in.. for it is the route that leads to my house, my home.

A long day of work didn't drag me down.. I still felt energetic, taking big playful steps and swinging my bao1bao1 in my hand, enjoying the journey back home. I was in good spirits.. I like my new shoes. It feels especially great today, for some reason, and I totally enjoy it.

Well.. at least except for 2 small occasions. An uncle who was riding a bike and rang his irritating bell nonstop while he approached from the back. I had to move to the side and stop so I could let him cross..I did't wanna get knocked down or smthing. But I don't get it.. Pesdestrians giving way to cyclists on a pavement.?? It always happens, but it's just not right! Then there's a beautifully dressed-up tai tai who was cat-walking in the middle of the pavement like the whole pavement was hers. I soon caught up with her and was close enough I'm sure she knows my presence, but she just continued to occupy the whole pavement, with her handbag on 1 hand and 2 big shopping bags in the other. There was barely enough space to walk through by the side of the pavement as I tried to walk slowly past her, and she closed in and her huge shoppping bags was pushed against my arm. She even turned her head to look at me as if it was my fault. Did she expect me to say, "EXCUUUSE ME" ?? Erm FYI.. this is public place, tai tai also must be considerate to other people what.

Nevertheless it was a smooth and nice journey home.. like a small chapter in life.. a tiny part of the journey of life. There will always be things - big or small - to bring you down; what's important is to learn to move on no matter what comes. Remember the good things; put down and discard the bad ones.. we don't need excess baggage to tie us down. I like the phrase from 'Batman Begins' that says, "Why do we fall? So that we learn to pick ourselves up!"

Today is an ordinary day.. a routine monday. Nothing fanciful, but it seems nothing but ordinary. It's filled with positive feelings and good spirits that I want to remember. And I hope to have many many more simple and enjoyable journeys like this to fill up every part of my life. =)

Malu Adventure of the Decade!!

Mmm.. *scratches chin* .. not a bad title I've thought of eh..kinda like it. hahaha~ ;D Okok.. back to serious business. Anyway.. I last minute asked Yan out for dinner today.. haven't seen her since b4 exams, and I looked forward to meeting up with her.. we have some good catching up to do! ;)

Yan was very accomodating and asked me to take my pick for the place to meet cuz she's fine with any location, so I chose PS since it's a centralised spot. Seeing all the GSS sale signs hanging everywhere in the shops, I was tempted and dragged her along to do some quick shopping before we dig in for a nice dinner. After trying a flowery top from future state that didn't fit me, I made my way out of the shop. Suddenly, I felt my shoe snap. (!!) I think it was my heel that got stuck in the wooden planks of the floor, but I wasn't aware, so the strap gave way after I tried to continue walking. My shoe is the "slipper kiap" design and the thin strap that I "kiap" in between my front 2 toes got detached from the shoe base. It was only the 2nd shop that I entered..best.

I had to drag my left foot along every step I took.. but on the other hand, the thought of having a good excuse to get a brand new pair of shoes was enough to make up for my "bad luck"..and my all-time-fav C&K was just over at the other corner..so just nice! hahaha. I suggested settling down for dinner first then take my time to shop for new shoes after we filled our stomachs. Well here, the real adventure begins~

I was waiting for Yan while she queued up at the Yoshinoya counter when I realised the basement area looked a little smoky.. and there were people walking briskly down the escalator, covering their mouths from the smoke, which apparently came from upstairs. Most of us weren't really bothered by it so we just kept ourselves busy with our food. The smoke got worse after a while until it covered the whole area, and people said there's a fire upstairs. Anyway, we just continued eating, thinking that it should be a minor fire if there really was one.. and most probably we should be unaffected down here. 5-10 mins later, the commotion got worse and we were asked to evacuate the building. What..!!?! But wait! My shoe's broken! How am I supposed to walk out like.. THIS?? Ok.. I started to panic because I couldn't walk in this state, and we were expected to move quickly. Good thing Yan managed to borrow scotch tape from the counter (hmm..qt surprised that Yoshinoya has scotch tape..haha) and I hurriedly wrapped layers and layers of scotch tape on my shoe strap until it looked like a ball of tape.. Ugly, but heck. Great.. so I got up and after walking less than 10 steps, my strap came off..agaIN!?! OH NOoo. Boh pian.. I just dragged my shoe along as best I can, and we eventually got down to the MRT station, because with my limping, that's the nearest "safest" place that I could go.. haha.

OKAY. Enough of the fire..we're out of the place..now what? I can't go home like this.? I haven't even finished half of my dinner which I paid $7.20 for (now that I remind myself of it, I still owe yan dinner $$!..sorry gal! pay u back real soon. ;p).. my stomach was still growling.. and I haven't gotten myself a new pair of shoes yet! Arrgh.. I was almost rolling my eyes at how suay I was. Good thing Yan was clever enough to pull out her stapler and helped me to staple the "ball of scotch tape" to my detached shoe strap, and she fixed it! Bravo bravo! Now I can make my way home.. and walk more normally. But I had to be cruel and say bye to yan when we didn't even enjoy a proper meal together after we finally met up, cuz I was worried my shoe will give way anytime. Tata to Yan, and home-oh-home, here I come!

Heng.. my shoe strap remained intact all the way until I got down the MRT, and I was just 10-15 mins walk from home. Walk walk walk.. walk walk walk.. suddenly I felt my left foot come loose from the shoe.. I lowered my head, thinking "not AGAIN??".. Great. fantastic. wOw. my shoe has officially declared dead. Even staples were not helping me.. not when I'm just so near to my house?! ARGGH. HOW NOW BROW COW? There was still a big road lying ahead of me. I asked myself how on earth am I going to crawl over to the opposite side of the road like this?... no way. I can't even hold my shoe up when I lift my foot to walk, no matter how hArd I "kiap" the shoe, it still won't work. Die liao. One word: DESPARATE. I was all by myself, no scotch tape, no stapler.. only my spoilt shoe. Bestest.

I had no choice, so I plucked up my courage and pia across the traffic light. My heart was pounding heavily every step I took because I was sooo scared my heel will fall off any second, and I was limping sooo slowly the traffic light was going to turn red any minute before I eventually crawled to the other side. It was a loong journey back. A lot of passers-by gave me weird stares when they saw me walking like a snail and dragging my feet in a super awkward fashion. There was even a tai-tai who was strolling with her husband and urm4 chio3 at me when she walked past me!?! * O-M-G* It was so embarrasing! My heels are white, so my spoilt shoe was still quite visible in the dark. So evil!! I was hoping she will break her heel too and fall flat on her face in the middle of the road..see if she still dare to laugh at ppl!! *hmpf*

.........

Er.. how often do you encounter a fire at a shopping mall and your shoe broke at the same time..? I really believed I could win 4D if I bought it today. It's really too much of a coincidence I duno what to say. If I had bought my new shoes before I ate dinner, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble..sigh. Oh well.. what an unforgettable tueday sia~ =/

At the "Top" of the World...

Yes..that’s me - Shan aka the friendly Giant~ haha. ;D I wouldn’t qualify to be one if I were living in a western country, but I am one over here in my hometown. Why? Standing at 1.74m, I am much taller than the average girl you find walking along the streets of Singapore. I never fail to have ppl ask me, “What do you eat? What do you do to grow so tall?” Erm, frankly I do not know the answer to that too. My family members are not very tall either, about slightly above average. Err..long beans?? I used to eat that quite abit but it’s quite crap I think..haha. Hm what abt milk? And yes, plenty of sleep also..I sleep ALOT. Oh well..I’ve lived with these questions with no answers for 20+ years now and I’m equally puzzled too..haha!

Being a tall girl certainly makes you “different” from the rest of the majority. There’s always 2 sides to a coin - the plus and minus points – things that I needed to get used to and learn to accept as being part of who I am – the shan whom almost everyone remembers only as “the tall girl”..yes, everything about me is ordinary except for my height. Even my boss told my colleagues that I am VERY tall after she saw me for the interview..ghee.

Since pre-primary until now, I’ve always been one of the tallest students in class. During photo-taking sessions or while lining up (according to height most of the time), I’ll just automatically make my way to the back..there’s no need to ponder or think at all..haha. I remember rather vividly that my new friends in sec school then used to call me ‘giant’ whenever they saw in the mornings – my dear clique of close friends that I’m still keeping in contact with today..haha ;P They didn’t mean it in an insulting way but I just didn’t feel comfortable with the teases.. it made me feel that I was different from the rest of my classmates and ppl don’t feel as confortable with a much taller friend. After all, I can understand how it feels to have a tall shadow ‘hover’ around them..I know I might be intimidating people with my height but there’s really nothing I could do about it.

Quite recently, I had a petite female friend told me bluntly in my face, “I’m not going to stand beside you”, then she walked away. I was quite sure she didn’t mean it as a joke. I was basically stunned. If only there’s anything I could do to make her feel better about standing beside me, I’d be most willing to, but the problem is my height is something I don’t have control over, and I hope people can understand that. Her sacarstic remark hurt my pride. But luckily such unhappy incidents are rare; at the most, I get comments from ppl I know or stares from strangers on the streets, some of whom scrutinise you from head to toe like you’re some alien. And I’ve more or less gotten used to it.. it’s certainly not an easy feat I must say..it takes some good long time to master the ‘ignore your surroundings technique’, at least for me. ;p

I know a lot of my fellow girl friends tell me they are envious of my height and that it’s good to be tall. I appreciate it whenever I hear these compliments, and I’m happy because they accept and acknowledge me for who I am and how I look. This is important to me because I am aware that my height inevitably leads to an invisible emotional barrier between myself and others, and people find it harder to approach me than someone who is of around the same height as them as they feel more at ease in their presence. That is why I’m very thankful for the encouragement you girls give me.. it helps to boost my self-confidence a lot, really. =D

One thing I wanna tell you girls is that my height is really nothing to be envious of! I guess it’s just human nature..things that don’t belong to us always seem better..I’m guilty of that myself too! I thought it would be ideal if I were like 8 cm shorter.. haha. Cuz too tall you can’t wear high heels, otherwise you’ll scare everyone away~ Also, it’s very hard to find pants or jeans.. most are too short they will just hang at an awkward length. Well, maybe the only good thing about having long legs is you’ll look good in short skirts.. long legs can be one plus point to hide other imperfections of the body.. haha. ;) Anyway being tall doesn’t mean you must look like a model, and who says that only to look like a model can you look good? I think petite girls look equally great too! After all, different girls with different bodyshapes have their own strengths and uniqueness. So long as we know how to dress to divert attention away from our flaws and focus them on our strengths, everyone can look like a gorgeous princess, whatever your height! Important tip: love yourself and your body and feel good about being yourself :)

I used to be uncomfortable about being so tall because you tend to attract a lot attention wherever you go. I didn’t exactly have 100% positive feelings about my height and thought of it more as a flaw rather than my strength. I felt weird everytime I stick out of the crowd.. sometimes I just wanted to be more ‘normal’ and blend nicely into the crowd without earning odd stares from others. However after all these years, I’ve grown up to love myself more. It’s something that was given to me, so I ought to learn to cherish it and make the best out of it! I’m thankful for all the friends who’ve been with me all these years..esp the 6 fishes.. feelings of awkwardness I have no more, now I enjoy every moment of sticking out like an ostrich more than ever before..haha. KUDOs to all my friends who have helped me to be the better and more confident person I am today..luv u guys lots! *muacks!*

~~~ Beauty on the outside is something that we can’t control, BUT true beauty comes from within, and it is up to you whether you learn to make full use of it :) ~~~

Fun With Personality Test

Ok I'm too bored at work, so I ended up doing this personality test which I got from Cheryl's blog. It's very friendly, not too much hassle cuz sometimes the format of the test makes it very effort-consuming and I'll be too lazy to do it..haha. And the results sound quite accurate too. Though b4 doing it I thought I might be a "mastermind", same as Cheryl, but it turned out to be...

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ISFJ-The Protector

You scored 27% I to E, 63% N to S, 9% F to T, and 47% J to P!

The protector type is called such because you feel your life is best used to protect those you love from the pitfalls of life, to see to their safety and security. You belong to the larger group called guardians. You find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden. You are not talkative with strangers, but you can chat tirelessly with those you trust. You have a good solid work ethic. You are thorough and very likely frugal. You do not like to be in a place of authority, and will delegate poorly if forced into a lead position. You share your type with 10% of the population.As a romantic partner, you are generous and gentle. Occasionally you may be taken for granted because of this fact. You are tireless in providing acts of service for your loved ones. You run the risk of always being exhausted because you won't say no to your partner. You are sensitive to criticism and will withdraw rather than fight back. You wish to be appreciated for your loyalty and whole hearted nuturing. Your values must be respected and you thrive on consideration and kindness.

Your group summary: Guardians (SJ)

Your Type Summary: ISFJ

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 37% on I to E

You scored higher than 80% on N to S

You scored higher than 2% on F to T

You scored higher than 44% on J to P

The LONG Scientific Personality Test

Money Makes The World Go Round

I used to envy the people around me whenever I see them wearing pretty clothes and having nice things that I don't.. that was a few years back then. There seemed to be a 'voice' in me that was always telling me that I want to own these things too, and I ought to have them. Though they were just mere thoughts fighting out in my mind, there are important lessons to be learnt and remembered.

It is scary how consumerism culture has transformed our minds without our consious knowledge. We believe in "more is better" so strongly and readily, we don't realise ourselves sinking deeper and further reinforciong this belief everytime we succumb to our impulses. We keep wanting more, believing that 'more' contributes to our happiness and it is good for us.. but it is all short-lived. In actual fact, our beliefs are fallacious; we never really become happier even though we have more now, because we often find our hearts falling for something else that is much prettier and more attractive, and the whole cycle repeats on and on. Don't expect it to end for as long as humans live and factories churn out more products to tempt consumers and bag more money for themselves. And to fulfil these needs, we need money - and it's LOTs of money - and again, the more the better. So while people in poor countries slog hard to earn a living just to survive, people like some Singaporeans slog hard just to achieve high standards of luxuries in life - how ironic. Money was created by human beings as a MEANS to live, but it has become more like our life now.

Back then, my mind was only occupied with the thought of owning things that people have and I don't. After all the most beautiful things are those that do not belong to us. I was being irrational because those were things that I did not NEED; they were only my WANTs. Obviously I can do fine without all these things since I already had my own collection of clothes and stuff to last me for a good time. But it was just a strong yearning.. a craving which was not justified and yet so powerful that it has taken over my ability to think rationally. Because our wants will never be satisfied, we will forever be stuck in the tragic cycle of unhappiness - a sad thing that human beings have brought upon ourselves.

I'm not trying to preach about how everyone should conduct your lives, don't get me wrong. Neither am I discouraging or stopping people from working hard to earn big bucks. It is everyone's freedom to choose their goals in life and I respect that. However, I just want to point out a few things. First, it takes a strong mind for one to know how to handle it well especially when money comes too fast and easy. You may have alot - alot of money and alot of material things that your money can give you - but on the inside, you may in fact be poor.. maybe even "poorer" than people living in third world countries. These people are happy even with the smallest thing they have, while you are struggling to balance your infinite desires and your ability to achieve them; you are in a state of confusion, how can you be happy for that matter?

To be truly rich, one has to see that money isn’t the whole world and that having so much money seriously doesn't amount to anything at the end of the day. Even our late ex-president, huang jin hui said that everyone is the same at death, no matter how great or how rich you were before. You gain some, you lose some too.. it all works like a simple mathematical equation. What is the point of being rich when you don’t even realise that you are merely a slave of your own money? Yes, being rich gives you power too.. but it is just the surface; the real value of money is already lost in our urban society today, where everyone talks about practicality. It is okay to pamper ourselves once in a while with luxuries; the bottomline is to know when to take control of our own lives to not let the impulse side get the better of us, and learn to be truly contented with what we already have. In this way, regardless of our financial status, we feel “rich” from the inside; our soul is not an empty shell. No matter where we go, that feeling of fulfilment will always be with us because it is ours and ours to keep; no one can deprive us of it.

A second thing is just a gentle reminder to people who may judge a (working) person's value based on his level of income. If a person earns a lot, they seem to give him more respect and if another earns relatively lesser, they will think more lowly of that person in a way. The next time you do this again, please pause and think again - does one’s income say everything about a person? People see money as success, but isn’t there more to our narrow-minded and superficial ways of looking at people? In my belief, it is those people who earn an honest living and are not so financially well-off who eventually emerge as a true winner because they are strong-willed and lead fulfilling lives even though they do not have as much as others do. More importantly, because they are contented with their lives, they are able to see more clearly than many of us, the greater things in life besides just money.

Less is more. Simplicity is beauty. The “me” now has learnt to be appreciative and thankful for every little thing I have now - big or small. It’s all part of growing up I guess.. and I’m glad I’m different from the “me” a few years back :) Who says being easily contented is a bad thing? ;p

It Couldn't Have Been Better Than This

I know this is gonna sound old-fashioned, but I can't help but say this :: TIME reALLY flieS!!~ :: hahaha ;D Well, I've been at work for a week now.. and what else can I say? I totally LUVvit!.. ohh yes I do! haha. I think I really enjoyed myself this whole week.. it felt like a brand new start, with plenty of new things and lil' pleasant surprises :) Prior to this, I didn't want to have any expectations of what working life would be like cuz I had absolutely no idea what lies ahead of me.. but yea, I guess things couldn't have been better than now! Good start, good environment, good people for company and good mood! Maybe except for good jing1 shen2 zhuang4 tai4 cuz haven been catching much sleep for the whole wk.. 6+ hrs is seriously not enuf for me lei. =p

I've heard from lotSa working ppl that working life sucks and they constantly reminded us to cherish our days in school while we were still students, cuz we'll start to miss it badly after we start work.. sounds familiar? haha. Esp our holidays..it used to be in terms of 'months' one.. now havta count in terms of 'pathetic days'..*omg* And I used to think when I was in yr2 that I would stay in school for another year to do hons just for the sake of delaying entry into the working sector.. as if it is a giant monster that's going to gobble us up alive..haha. Well that's besides the point.. but the thing is I've come to realise that at the end of the day, what has to come will come.. and I just ought to learn to embrace it with a positive attitude!

So, here I am! It's not so bad after all..! =) In fact I think I'm enjoying my new lifestyle now, and I'm starting to fall in love with it already ;) I was still thinking on my way home just now that I'll be taking mrt to novena to work tml..oh dear! Today's friday lei..I'm sure getting into the mood sia.. No work tml.. and yes, I can finally catch some good long sleep to make up for my loss over the week..haha.

I like the way my time is being organised now; I wake up early in the morning (which is a good start to a healthy lifestyle but I haven't been doing that cuz I'm too lazy.. but now I have no excuse not to!), spend a long day doing serious work, but something that I enjoy, and in a cosy & conducive environment.. and meet up with my friends after that for some quality time together :) Yea weekends are short, and they are never enough..but it just makes things sweeter.. less quantity but more quality! And I don't see myself mugging crazily non-stop for papers, assignments and more tests every other day anymore.. it's so tiring. Now after work, I have all the time to do the things I want; when I feel like just nua-ing and relaxing.. I can just do it! I have much more freedom now, unlike when I was a student, somehow my time seems to be so restricted by school work.

Now, work is work, life is life.. when I'm in the office, I devote myself entirely to work and make sure I do my job well.. after work, I can throw all the work stuff to the back of my head and I'm on my way to enjoy myself without any worries!Mm.. I know it's only the beginning, so things might seem easy now, but I'm gg to remain optimistic about it and keep my "POSITIVE CAP" on all the time no matter what comes next, good or bad ;)

I love my company, I love my colleagues, I love my C9 nest, and I love it..IT'S MY LIFE! =) =) =)

My Nest @ C9

Woke up at 7 today..*RisE & ShinE* I wasn't exactly very refreshed having only caught a few hrs of sleep, but I was all set and ready for my 1st day of work!..well..KINDA..plus some feelings of jumpiness too of coz..haha. =p I left house on time (which is qt unusual of me..!) and when I reported at the office reception, I was still 10mins early.. it was a perfect start for a 1st day!

After a briefing by the HR manager, I was referred to my superior. I was looking forward to meeting her again after the pleasant interview last time. I approached her from the back and she turned around wearing a "oh it's you!" look on her smiley face.. it's really nice to finally see a familiar face in a totally new environment. Claire showed me around the office and after a while I got quite lost cuz we seem to be turning everywhere at different corners. The floor plan on the wall didn't help much, though everything has been shrunk by 20times, the floor plan still looks hUUUge..and very complicated too. Luckily another colleague showed me around the "important" places again in the afternoon and I finally managed to figure out the way around for the area around my department ONLY.. so it's not so confusing. haha. I gotta turn 3 corners just to get to the ladies..pheeww. And there's the pantry..and the door to the lift area. haha..can u imagine not knowing how to get out of the office? wahaha..CMI.

And I have my own proper desk too! ..yaAAY! *clap clap* :) It's like, the whole place is so big and there's so many people working in the office, but they duno me and I duno them.. so this desk is like my very own little cosy corner to hide in and do my stuff.. and my nest is called C9!..with this big tag hung high above my seat ;D My PC is fit and strong..nothing like those going-to-die-on-me-anytime pentium IIs.. mouse also very cooperative..haha. There's plenty of room around for movement.. and I'm gonna have a bigger cabinet all to myself! I love my seat!!

All in all, one word to summarize 1st day at work => CONFUSING. =/ Cuz there's so much admin and IT stuff to settle.. you only have question marks and MORE question marks bopping out of your head. But then again there was a lot of fun out of all the confusion.. exploring and discovering things as the day went by.. and my colleagues were nice and helpful.. but very serious at work too.. hardly hear any chatter or giggles in the midst of office hrs. So the whole place is rather quiet..very conducive for work but would be even better if I could play some soft radio music or mp3.. hahaha!

Been a sotong for a day now..hope to become a smart sotong by the end of the week eh..heehee. It's been a nice experience for a 1st day of work so far..and I'm kinda enjoying it..surprisingly! haha. Time didn't pass too slowly and b4 I knew it, I was shooting out of the office and heading home..mommie's home today to cook dinner for meee! It's so tiring by the end of the day though I was sitting down comfortably the whole while...gosh..

Well..I've got lots more things to learn still and stuff to discover along the way..sure hope I'll enjoy everyday's work as much as I did today! :)

~Angels from the Heart~

I caught somethin’ on the TVBS Entertainment News 2 days ago that moved me so much I had to pen it down.. it was neither one of those typical updates of artistes’ happenings nor some brainless media cook-up stories of the latest showbiz scandal that one would normally expect to see on such shows. It was a real and meaningful story – a story about a die-hard fan of Vivian Hsu, who is a 20-something yr old cancer patient called JL.

The TVBS Entertainment News team including host, ah ya3 followed Vivian to pop a surprise visit to JL at his hometown in a rural village in Southern Taiwan. Vivian has been very concerned about JL ever since she got acquainted with him; she arranged her mum to visit JL every week to help take care of him alongside his single-mum, and see to any thing that JL needs. JL’s mum started to sob when she finally saw the whole group of people arrive at her place.. she is very touched that Vivian took time out of her busy schedule and came all the way down just to see her son. JL is a 100% devoted fan of Vivian.. he has been supporting Vivian since the earliest days when Vivian first started out as a newbie until now, and I could see that Vivian truly appreciates JL’s support for her all these years.. she puts her hand around JL like she is ‘sayang-ing’ her little brother, and her concern for him was written all over her face. Vivian also brought lots of gifts for JL, including a surprise, which was Vivian’s own pet pig called “Little Princess”. JL likes pigs a lot, so Vivian decided to let JL take care of Little Princess so they could have each other for company.. it’s really sweet :)

While they were all gathered in JL’s room, JL’s mum shared with the rest about JL’s situation. Before Vivian knew about JL’s existence, JL was bedridden and he was in a very bad condition. There was once when his heart almost stopped beating and the doctors warned his mum to be prepared for the worst.. that JL might leave her any moment. JL’s mum’s heart was shattered. (she was weeping very badly when she reached this point.. and I cried) JL told his mum that his last wish was to see Vivian in person. Though JL’s mum knew how far-fetched it sounds cuz they are just a nobody whom Vivian doesn’t know of, she was determined to help her son realize his dream. She said she will carry JL on her back all the way to look for Vivian no matter what it took. Fortunately JL survived the ordeal, and now he’s on his way to recovery ever since Vivian became his friend =) =) JL has gained 3 kg in the past 3 mths and he certainly looks much better now.. he is able to walk on his own now and can even slowly make his way down the stairs in his house! The power of emotional support from one’s loved ones is THIS great.. it creates MIRACLES!!

I do not know JL and his family but I certainly feel for them from the bottom of my heart. I cried because I could feel the pain that JL’s mother is going through, having painstakingly raised her son up by herself all these years only to expect a fatal disease to attack her dear oldest son. It’s not easy to sustain a family like this, with a patient in the household who is incapable of taking care of himself and needs long-term care.. it is extremely mentally-draining. And the last thing that JL’s mum wants to think about is to lose his son..

I smiled too because I was glad that JL is getting better everyday, and I was touched by all the unselfish love and strength that everyone gave JL and his family in the midst of all the sorrow and gloom, including everyone from the village and, Vivian (plus another one of her fan who volunteered for this visit too!) – who is of no relation to JL and has no obligation to help him, but has shown so much care and concern for him through her actions.

JL’s story served to remind me of how lucky I am and the people around me are. We are so different from JL in so many ways, at the very minimum, we have good health, and we can go anywhere or do anything as and when we want to. Living in a modern city like Singapore, we are often so caught up with material concerns that we often forget about our basics, of how “rich” we actually already are. No matter how bad some things in our life can get, we are still luckier than ALOT of people. Some things have been there for us all this while and it seems natural that they are JUST there, so we can’t really blame ourselves for taking these things for granted.. after all no one ever taught us that we have to learn to appreciate them.. like peace in our country, our parents and our own health. What about the babies who were born in war-torn countries, or were orphans since birth and never knew who their parents were, or born with a sickness for no apparent reason?

We are truly luckier and have a lot more than many others out there that we don’t see but are somewhere at some corner of this same planet we live on. If we can learn to appreciate and cherish all the things we have right now, we can all be happy and contented no matter how ordinary we are. Little things make you happy, and small issues do not bother you but instead turn out to be something that makes you a stronger person. Like, you’re happy that your friend bought you a small gift from her overseas trip; it’s not about how much or how big the gift is, but it’s the thought that counts, that she remembers you and cares to get something nice for you. And, we wouldn’t blame our parents for irritating us with their non-stop nagging because we know in our hearts that it’s because they care for us and they want better things for us. If not why would they want to add on trouble for themselves of having to meddle with our affairs knowing that most probably they will only get black faces from us in return? I must admit that parents often do not know how to express themselves effectively and children often interpret their intentions wrongly.. after all we are playing different roles, and it really takes a lot of understanding and compromise for both parties to learn to put themselves in the other party’s shoes.

Kinda digressed over there and I really posted a super duper long post this time.. *oops* On an ending note, I wanna thank TVBS team for featuring JL’s story because it urged me - especially - to appreciate the people around me.. my family and my friends.. I love you all.. *MUACKS!* Show all your friends and your loved ones that you care.. love and concern for the people around us will never be too much and they only help to make this world a cosier place for all of us~ Also, Vivian Hsu used to be only a singer with good looks to me. Now, she’s like an angel to me, a beautiful lady on the outside with a golden heart on the inside =D