Coffee anyone?

Read this from Facebook and find that it is worth sharing with everyone.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups.Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Act with compassion. Leave the rest to God and to fate.

It is true that the life we live in now is ever so materialistic that sometimes, we find it hard to breathe. We find ourselves coping with expectations and minding what others might think of us if we fail to achieve and succeed in a way that society finds acceptable. And because of that, we sometimes feel undue stress. We should in fact stop fussing about the wrappings and start living from the inside, with our hearts.

When i'm bored, like right now.

I MISS 35th OASIS!

Once in a lifetime?

When you wake up from a dream and realized that it just came true. A wonderful feeling! Weird, but still amazing.

I'm replaying Bach's Suite No.3 in D Major over and over again. A melancholic piece, but it gives me a very peaceful feeling =)

(I) (N)ever (T)hought (I) would end up here but i am glad and thankful!

Well, another semester had just passed by and in a blur, i have already spent 1 year in Inti when i initially thought i would just be there for a few months. Lol. That's how flexible life is =) 1 year in Inti, 1 year of experience. The past semester was really enjoyable. Got close to a few great people. It's amazing how small this world with. The people whom i get close to are in one way or another, connected to each other. Lol.

Inti, a place where i thought i would be only a passing visitor, but i stayed longer than i actually intended to. I am actually glad i ended up in Inti for 1 year and maybe 8 months more. The highlight of the year for me would always be exceeding our own expectations for the fund raising for the Thailand floods. Was touched and happy that Inti students are generous and helpful =)

To the few people who made my 1 year in Inti filled with laughter, thanks! To L, my makan buddy who is ever so helpful and caring, thanks! To J who always makes sure i eat my lunch and makes me laugh with lame jokes, thanks!

Though the aims i had last year this time were different from the aims i have this year at this month, i am glad. I actually prefer the future arrangements i have right now. LOL. Looking forward to a great year ahead!

OH, AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR KOREA!!!!!! =)

Date...... lines

2 more weeks of official college lessons left before finals and then holiday. But before i can look forward to that break, there's still quite a lot to complete for the next two weeks. I look at the calendar in my phone and i will sigh. Lol.

But it's ok =)

It's just two weeks. Just two more weeks and i am done with research methods and public speaking. Gosh, i hope research methods is transferable to where i wanna go in the States. I totally do not fancy repeating the whole course there once more.

A well deserved break tomorrow- outing with the girls to watch 那些年. Looking forward to a simple and relaxing outing tomorrow =) AND OH RIGHT!!! Tomorrow's 111111! No special meaning but there's a lot of hype surrounding this date. Maybe i should just hop into the bandwagon and make a wish as well at 11.11am. I know what i will wish for =)

Oh right! I preordered Jay's new album. LOL. My dad was kind enough (as always. lol.) to drive me to bukit tinggi jj.

Datelines datelines datelines.. prunelines. LOL. (I kinda miss the people who will get this lame joke.)

I'm gonna be a hardworking busy bee for the next few weeks =)

(Other) family moments

I read something which i find worth sharing a few days ago. Read it from a book i found in the car of a friend when i hitched a ride. It goes like this:

幸福的真諦

人生真正的幸福是「心安」，而非物質的享受，因為一切物質如泡沫般虛幻，也如天 上的浮雲，瞬間即過。想要安心地生活，就必須去除「貪欲」。

有一個小故事──

有位媽媽只有一個兒子，他從小就沒有父親，媽媽很辛苦地把他撫養長大，完成学業，並且勤奮地工作。雖然他們的生活並不寬裕，不過母子倆相依為命，兒子也很孝 順母親，日子過得很平順。

以前，這位媽媽每天早晨都會叫兒子：「起床囉！上學囉！」兒子畢業後上班了，媽 媽仍然每天早晨叫他：「起床囉！上班囉！」這是天天不可或缺的一件事。

有天，兒子下班回來跟媽媽說：「媽！您太辛苦了，我從小到大都沒有讓您享受過什 麼，看！我們家的裝潢這麼簡單。現在我想投資做一件生意，是朋友邀我一起做的，如果順利完成，我們立刻就可以把家裡裝潢得很漂亮，而且應有盡有，讓媽媽想 要什麼就有什麼！」

媽媽聽了，問兒子說：「你做這件生意，賺的是不是正當的錢呢？」兒子說：「錢是 正當的，不過可能對別人有點不公平。」媽媽就說：「兒子呀！每天早上都是媽媽叫 醒你的，是不是？」兒子說：「是啊！您問這做什麼呢？」

媽媽說：「我每天在廚房準備早餐，看時間快到了，就在廚房叫你，每次都叫了好久，你還是沒有回應，總得讓我跑上樓來叫你；有時候還叫不醒，就必須用手把你搖 醒，常常看到你張開眼皮了，卻還是一副很想睡的樣子。雖然如此，不過這是每天讓 我覺得很踏實的一件事，我不希望我來到你的床邊，還沒叫你就看到你眼睛已睜開、早就已經醒了，因為我不希望你睡不安穩啊！」

兒子聽了這些話，立即恍然大悟說：「媽媽，我知道了，我會讓您安心，不去做那些讓您擔心的事。我們母子辛苦一些沒關係，只要心安，日子就會過得很快樂，對不對？」媽媽很歡喜地說：「對！讓媽媽安心就是孝順。我們的欲望不能太大，能夠維 持生活、心安理得，就是幸福啊！」

沒錯，這是最正確的人生觀──憑勞力賺取合理的利潤，不做「心不安、睡不穩」的事；否則即使得到再大的享受也不能安心。在生活中，只要善盡本分，把貪欲之門關 起來，自然天天都會過得平安又自在！

On a totally different note, a smile crept onto my face today when i was driving. I saw a grandfather pushing his two young grandchildren on the swing. He stood in the middle of two swings, and push them alternately as one went up and the other came down. Such a simple yet heartwarming picture. =)

My love affair with chocolates

You know what? I had cravings for chocolates a few days ago and was thinking of the times in Singapore when i always had chocolate in stock. And guess what i found when i came home today? CHOCOLATES!!! Lots and lots of them! Different different types of chocolates. LOL. DAD, you read my mind! I'm such a lucky girl! =) So, yea, been gorging on chocolate today. And i believe i will do so for the coming weeks. A chocolate a day, keeps me happy =) Lol. As i sat here typing this, my mom just walked in and fed me dark chocolate. My dad walked in 15 mins ago to feed me milk chocolate as well. I'm such a lucky lucky girl. So pampered. Lol. =) Love my parents!