wonderful quotes....

Here's some wonderful quotes to get you by those rough days....they're adapted from a book I just read, a compilation by Douglas Pagels, and will keep in mind as they might come in handy especially during those crucial,tough turning points of changes we constantly have to face in our lives...

Here are some of my favourites from this book...and they really helped me conquer tough hurdles I faced, especially at work which is currently the most stressful part of my life, and emerge as a better person each day....

Everyone should have a book like this to get through the gray days

- I think if you do your best, the rest will take care of itself.

- Keep focused. When one thing is wrong, it doesn't mean that everything is. It's easy to let yourself get overwhelmed, but try not to go there. If it's only one rock that is falling, don't let your worries let it turn into a landslide.

- Don't spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes. Don't be the one who never gets over things.

- What is sometimes perceived as weakness is actually strength. The more you're bothered by something that's wrong, the more you're empowered to make things right.

- Don't stress out about things you have no control over. Sometimes what is...just is. Don't waste your days in emotional disarray over a negative situation that you can be in control of. Remember, you always have 3 options : Move on; Stay where you are and just deal with it; or turn a difficult situation into a positive one.

Let's talk about food....

Did some cleaning and cooking around the house during my one week off work... Made some muffins for all my loved ones to try, and they loved it! Would love to share the recipe with other baking enthusiasts out there...



CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Ingredients:

250g self-raising flour
180g fine sugar
5 eggs
chocolate powder ( type & amnt to your liking )
chocolate chips ( the more the merrier )
muffin cups
a pack of butter


1. Mix the sugar and butter completely with the highest speed your blender can go.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, but continue blending the mixture completely.

3. Add the flour and chocolate powder big spoonfuls at a time to the mixture, intermittently blending the mixture until it gains an evenly distributed volume.

4. Put spoonfuls of the mixture into your muffin cups.

5. Bake @ around 200 degrees Celcius for approximately 20 minutes or to your liking.

6. Enjoy the delicious muffins!!

Last day of my leave....sigh

'Time flies when you're having fun'... I can't agree more...back to work in the blood bank section tomorrow morning... hopefully there will be no bleeders ( a term we call for people who has physiological difficulties in the natural process that helps cease bleeding when cut open )

Or any liver transplant operations ( rather one of the highest-risk operations that will need the most blood & blood products, thus the blood banker is required to stay vigilant and stay calm despite any emergencies faced ), so I can enjoy lunch with my family and uncles with a great peace of mind... We're celebrating one of my uncle's 44th birthday anniversary and taking him out for a buffet spread (Korean style) @ his fav restaurant - Han's River...



Just finished a book, written by an ex-CIA officer named Rob Baer, entitled - 'See No Evil : The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism'... which I borrowed from the library...

A true hero whom I take my hats off to - for being so thorough and sincere in sharing with us readers his personal experiences as a CIA officer, relentlessly putting his life in danger in the pusuit of truth... only to sadly find out at the later stage of his career how unappreciated his efforts were, only to be ignored by the big shots, due to the individual political and economical pursuits of various countries in the league for power....

I felt so enlightened yet felt betrayed after reading the book... Enlightened to be given the opportunity to comprehend how the CIA works their magic...yet betrayed to find out the painful truth of reality... how we were protrayed with superficial and twisted images the media and government wants us to see...

How very powerful and intelligent the terrorist networks are such that even the CIA and FBI look like small children when compared to them... how much higher the value of oil is, compared to human lives... such a sad revelation that everyone should acknowledge by reading this great book...

( rating 5/5 : all 5 thumbs up for the man himself for writing a no-holds-barred bk.)

movie review....HORTON

Today marks the first day of my annual leave... such a blessing to be given space to breathe after working so hard... it will be a total of 5 days away from work (incl. of Good Friday)... life is good... hehe..gonna have to fully utilise the time I have in my hands...gotta finish up all my books I borrowed from the library...

Been too busy with a lot of things lately to update my blog... something new I took up is badminton with colleagues, right after work... even bought my own titanium, carbon-packed racket and another for my bf so we can just enjoy a personal game anytime we feel like it...



A movie I just caught yesterday evening, is 'Horton Hears A Who!'... It is a great animation movie to catch ( based on one of Dr Seuss collections ) for a great stress reliever... I remembered giggling and laughing hysterically like a kid throughout the show... the graphics and effects were beautiful, and the content is simply unpredictable 'til the end...

There were many metaphors and messages slotted in throughout the whole show, it's up to you to listen into... a great lesson for all kids and adults alike... to imitate Horton's attitude towards life, enjoying every minute of the experiences life brings...

- by taking time to daydream

- to be creative & imaginative

- having a strong self-belief system

- a strong emphasis on 'what you can't see does not necessarily mean it's not there...'

- a great appreciation towards life...' A life is a life no matter how small'...

- never give up : strong perseverence in what he passionately believes in, despite the odds he faces... never having even a sliver of doubt in what he is working towards... despite being given an alternative option to take

- nothing is impossible if u put all of your heart & mind to it

rating = 4/5 ( totally hilarious!!! )

Singapore Airshow 2008

I was amongst the humongous crowd of 50,000 people present at the Singapore Airshow 2008, @ Changi Exhibition Centre last Sunday, 24 Feb 2008. It was my first show, and I was completely blown away by the performance by the Black Knights.... it was such a heart-thumping and thrilling performance that the sweltering heat ( it was at noon ) and sweaty crowd did not bother me much...





( A ridiculously long, snake-like queue... )

Luckily my bf and me made it there quite early, and thus were able to catch the show unlike so many unfortunate others, who missed the show and ended their day with great frustration.... Imagine this... despite being early, we had to join a ridiculously long queue ( around 500-800m )at Pasir Ris interchange for the shuttle service followed by other subsequent queues leading towards Changi Exhibition Ctr... we took an estimated time of 2hrs to finally reach there....











Getting out of the place after the show was much worse! My bf and I had to queue for another ~3hrs before boarding a taxi ( with a surcharge of $8.00 )... I literally felt like fainting due to standing too long.... There were many people who used the swelling crowd to their advantage... consisting of molesters, pickpockets, pushers as well as families using their children's plights to win sympathies from police officers so as to be able to jump queue....

Maybe in future events, the management staff could improve on the efficiency in delegating the crowd and to ensure a smooth and swift arrival of the crowd to the designated airshow venue... following the complaints in the papers that quite many ppl missed the show due to the long queues... or just set the airshow performance to a later time-slot, maybe around 2pm onwards....


( Look at the elegant A380 fly ever so swiftly...sigh )

Despite the let-downs the long queues bring ( I swear to buy carpark labels for the next show no matter how expensive they cost, for my own convenience.... by the way, they cost $50.00, which is more than twice the ticket price ).... the whole performance really made my day, especially the opportunity to witness how the A380 was parked, at such close proximity....




P.S : All photos and videos featured here were taken using my humble Motorola V3 handphone...so pls excuse the quality of the contents... :)