YELLOW

I was on my way to have lunch with Eu and Ev and my sense of direction got the better of me. The weather was at least 36 degrees (well, it certainly felt like it) and not a good day to take a wrong turn. Nevertheless, a great day for snapping photos of an overgrown bush that's bursting with vibrant yellow blossoms. Yes, I did turn up late for lunch. :)

RETIREMENT

 

"The time has come," the Chilli Crab said, "to be good to yourself." 

And henceforth she begins a new life.

被工作追着跑的日子 以后不会再有了。

Thanks for the flowers, Winnie Tan!

刺猬也能拥抱吗？

我恨你把我丢掉

但也很对不起

是我让你手痛了

只能选择放开我

不行。刺猬不能拥抱。刺猬如果抱了人，再怎么小心也会把对方扎痛了。

刺蝟可以拥抱，它們总是渴望拥抱，只是在拥抱以前会有些膽怯——有些事情让它們害怕至此，自卑、无力，甚至干脆逃避——但拥抱是好事，它们十分体会那种温暖，在抱著某个人的时候，彷彿拥有全世界。 ⠀

- 文字出自宇 Kaoru 阿嚕

遇上好心人

父亲节。一家人开开心心到小红楼享用点心。用餐后才惊觉手机弄丢了！一时不知所措，过了好一阵子才想到借用餐厅的电话拨自己的手机号码。手机果然是遗留在Uber车内，被一位男孩上车时拾到了，替我保管着。庆幸男孩的家离我家不远，很顺利便把手机领了回来。

好心的男孩，你会有福报的！

GATHER ROSES WHILE YE MAY ETC

Recently, a friend reminded me to take time to smell the flowers. Today I did just that!

想旅行！

希望明年能有机会出门。

关于筷子的典故

有沒有人发現在日本餐桌上 筷子都是横放在自己与食物的中间呢？

据说是因為日本人认为万物皆有神...

每个食物都有代表的神庇佑

橫放的筷子則象征了人与神的界线

用餐前先說句：itadakimasu（承领 ／I humbly receive）

先谢谢上天恩賜

才把界线拿走

用感恩的心享用眼前的餐点。

文和图取自 NATURAL KITCHEN

小确幸

如果没有小确幸，人生只不过像干巴巴的沙漠而已。

- 日本作家村上春树

“小确幸” (small but definite happiness) 一词的意思是微小而确实的幸福，取自日本作家村上春树的散文，每一个小确幸持续的时间3秒至一整天不等。

在村上春树的随笔集《兰格汉斯岛的午后》中有一篇名为 〈小确幸〉 的短篇散文。在文章中，村上说他自己选购内裤，把洗涤过的洁净内裤卷摺好然后整齐的放在抽屉中，就是一种微小而真确的幸福。   

今早看过牙医后，在熟食中心点了一碗花生粥。朴实的美味，再加上卖粥大哥的叮咛：小心烫蛤！对我而言这就是小确幸。

週日色彩

可爱的小辣椒
像一颗颗缤纷的糖果
为平凡的生活填上色彩

日落

疲惫地下班后，听轻爵士乐，

看着美美的日落，
是一件快乐的事情。

HAPPY MOMENTS

Happy times in the month of May 2015.

May 5, 2015 (Tue)

Woke up to a spectacular sunrise.  Ten years ago on this date (05.05.05), we moved into our current apartment.   Life hasn't been a bed of roses but that makes me cherish the happy moments even more.

May 7, 2015

Tryphena's friend sent her a carton of mangoes from Myanmar.  She could've saved them all for her family.  Instead she was kind enough to travel all the way to my office to bring me two mangoes!  This lady is sweeter than those mangoes.

May 8, 2015

Spotted a yellow bird in the trees outside our office!

May 13, 2015 (Wed)
Shared a chilled slice of Durian Cappuccino Cake from Goodwood Park Hotel with Agnes.  We snuck to the rooftop to enjoy this.  Some day, after Agnes goes back to the US, I'll be glad we found time to share a slice of cake and a happy moment.

May 17, 2015 (Sun)

Wai Leng took me out for an early birthday celebration.  We went to My Dining Room at Suntec City Mall for an awesome dim sum lunch.  The roasted pork was to die for!  After that we hopped over to Cathay Photo at Marina Square, where I splurged on a new camera lens.  I was wondering if Leng was going chide me a little bit but she told me, "If this is what you want then go ahead and buy it."  No chiding, no questions asked.  She's a true BFF.

May 22, 2015 (Fri)
Pain au Chocolat aux Amandes from PAUL. Thank you for spoiling me, Ken Hsu!

May 23, 2015 (Sat)
Late lunch with Lee Ling in Vivo City.  We sat down to eat at 2:30pm and hung out until almost 6pm!

May 24, 2015 (Sun)
Went to Sembawang for facial and bumped into Chew Ling!  What are the odds?

May 26 - 29, 2015
Time alone for reflecting and refuelling

May 30, 2015 (Sat)
Happy birthday to me.  Thanks, Mum, for the birthday ang pow.

Once you learn to cherish the little things around you, everyday is a happy day. 幸福, 其实 已存在我们平凡生活中。

Hello，小黄鸟!

最近不论在住家或办公室附近都发现小黄鸟的踪影。希望它们会爱上这个热带小岛，在这儿建造美好家园!

这是同事今天站在办公室的窗前拍的。鸟儿从一棵树飞到另一棵，来回飞了好几趟，似乎在 check out 看那一棵比较适合扎巢。

下面这两张是我上星期天在住家楼下用手机拍下。比翼双飞的，是新婚吧？

杂记

星期六。

近来的天色老是灰灰沉沉。

下周公司会举办APAC Summit。今早先回办公室工作了一个小时，然后跟Tryphena喝咖啡小聚。再匆匆赶到书城搞会议要用到的name tags，又拜访了几家文具店物色相称的lanyards。

事情办完后到Cats Socrates 探访。一向钟情于乡村杂货的我觉得店里的音乐、小饰品、书籍、笔记本、明信片、zakka布料都非常讨喜。 是从国外引进来的关系吧，有些货品不便宜。还是忍不住买了个cookie cutter, 真够败家的!  

傍晚突然下雨了。

MY FIVE MINUTES OF FAME

Went on location to shoot a short clip for a client today.  I played a kiasu Auntie.  Have absolutely no idea why I was casted in the role in the first place.  Perhaps because #iAMAuntie.

My co-workers came around in the beginning of the week to say they desperately needed folks in the office to cast in a SG50 clip.  I initially declined but then my co-workers whimpered "please please please", assured me I had no line to read and basically needed to "be dramatic".  

The project isn't some big time television commercial so no overwhelming casts and crew were involved.  We "actors" took care of our own make-up and wardrobe.  My character wore clothing with bold prints.  The crew consisted of one director and one camera man.  Our very own interns and staff who took up the parts of assistant director, production assistant, kalefe ...  Being on camera for the first time was very exciting.  The filming of my two scenes lasted about three hours as it took several re-takes to get it each right.  

Thoroughly enjoyed my first filming experience. I surprised myself by jumping right into character.  No camera-shyness, no awkwardness.  My co-workers felt I did quite well for a first-timer. *self pat on back*   I only hope the client is happy with the end product because I had so much fun making it!

我的头

外国人用脑去思考，中国人用心。外国人说” X my ass!” 或 “X my foot!”, 华人会说”X你的头啦!” 

***

记得选新屋当天，我到建屋局的大厅里等候，旁边坐了位不相识的三姑, 问我：你选几楼? 

我喜欢较高的楼层，所以打算选35或36楼。 

不料三姑冷笑：住那么高, 以后电梯坏时看你怎么办！ 

(TMD 好恶毒！) 不怕，不怕，一座组屋有四部电梯哪。 

三姑抓狂: 你的头啦，四部? 没有可能会有四部的啦，笨蛋! 

(呜 。。。我就是因为笨才你问我答的呢!) 

*** 

L在旅行社上班，在 Bintan Resort 订了两晚免费住宿。听说一栋 chalet 里有三间卧房，可以六人同住。L邀我与M同行。L准备在那里 和几位死党打通宵麻将，但我和 M都不会玩啊。和M商议：没关系啦，到时她们四人打麻将不缺”脚”, 我们就在一旁看电视、聊天，放松。L听后愤愤地说 ”聊你们的死人头! 不准你们不合群哦!” 

*** 

在认识我之前 E和雯已是非常要好的朋友。每次见到雯她总是板着脸，目不转睛地看着我，让我毛骨悚然。 坦白说我不是很喜欢她, 但心想既然 E跟她那么死党，相信雯自有长处。 几个星期前在办公室楼下巧遇雯。 进了电梯，她脸臭臭地站在我身旁, 一直瞪我，让我不自在。问她：雯，最近好吗? 她咬牙切齿地：好你的头！（看来我的头真的很有问题呢!）

电梯门打开，她忽然伸出手狠狠地扯我的左面颊。我惊叫：啊，痛！你这是干嘛啦？她面无表情，一声不响地转身走出电梯。吓死我了!  后悔跟她 share 一趟电梯! 

怎么我四周有那么多神经病的? 

HARI RAYA HAJI

Today is Hari Raya Haji, otherwise known as the “Festival of Sacrifice”. 

Celebrated by Muslims worldwide, it honours the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of submission to God's command.  God then intervened to provide Ibrahim with a lamb to sacrifice instead. 

The same story is told in the Old Testament, God had called Abraham to embark on a three day journey (Genesis 22) to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Issac. 

There are several similarities between the bible and the koran. Perhaps if we're willing to believe that there is only one God and that we each honour Him in different ways, we can live side by side in harmony.

放慢

办公室窗外有棵绿荫浓蔽的大树，让我犹如坐在大树旁。某天早上，同桌的印度籍同事忽然推了我把，向浓密的树里指着，嚷 "They're back, they're back!  Your friends are back!" 我一面不解. 他又说，"The two yellow birds!  They stop by almost every morning. You didn't notice?"  没有，我先前竟然没有察觉。

其实周边一直围绕着美丽的事物，我却从未放慢脚步，细心欣赏。每天把时间奉献在别人身上。家人、亲戚、工作为什么总理所当然地排在第一位? 

最近发花颠，看到花便情不自禁。庆幸现代手机的拍照功能让我可以随时记录生活点滴。

在Orchard Central用餐。原来12楼有个人造pond! And many exotic floral.

非常喜欢这棵大树，坐在树下的人会有一种置身于国外的感觉 ^_^

法籍老板升职了！被派遣到伦敦。他的apartment离公司不远，只需步行10 分钟。他离新的隔天我拉了马来族同事Zan一同过去，要把地方作最后检查。那条路我不知来回走过多少遍，是 Z 突然在这树下停下脚步，问 "Isn't this a jackfruit tree?" 我本想回应  "I don't know. Just keep walking!" 见她围树绕了一圈嚷道  “It is! It is! Look, there's the jackfuit!" 搞得我也好兴奋耶。

每天上班时都会经过的一棵树。树特别矮，黄花 was literally right in my face， 我是最近才留意到哪!

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