两个选择

came across this on wobao (yes again.. they write decent stuff) many days ago.. decided to share. it's in chinese.. and may sound abit absurd/far-fetched.. anyway, it's just a story...

一对年轻的新婚夫妇因为贫穷，要靠亲友的接济才能生活。一天，丈夫对妻子说：“亲爱的，我决定到很远的地方找一份工作，直到我有条件给你好生活，我才会回来。我不知道会去多久，只求你一件事，等我。我不在的时候对我忠诚，我也会对你忠诚。”

几天后，他到一个大庄园工作，他要求老板把他的薪水存在一个账户里，等他离开那天才把钱给他。年轻人在那里工作了20年，中间没有休假，20年后，他对老板说：“我想拿回我的钱，我要回家了。” 老板说：“好，我给你两个选择：一，我给你钱，你走人；二，我给你三个忠告，不给你钱，你走人。你今晚回房好好考虑再给我答复。”

他回房里想了一晚，决定选择第二，因为在庄园工作了20年，他知道老板是个有智慧的好人。第二天，他对老板说：“我要那三条忠告。” 老板说：“第一，永远不要走捷径，走便捷而陌生的路可能会要了你的命。第二，永远不要对任何可能是坏事的事情感到好奇，否则也可能要了你的命。第三，永远不要在仇恨和痛苦的时候做决定，否则你一定会后悔一辈子。”接着，老板给了他三个面包，两个让他在路上吃，另一个大的面包让他回家后和妻子一起吃。

一天后，他遇到了一个曾经有过一面之缘的人，他高兴地告诉对方他工作了20年，拿者老板给他的面包回家。对方说：“你回家的路太远了，我知道一条捷径，可以缩短一半的行程。”男子正准备走捷径的时候，想起了老板的第一条忠告，决定还是老老实实地走回原来的路。后来他才知道，那人竟是个拦路抢劫的劫匪，所谓的捷径只是一个圈套。

两天后，男子来到路边的一间旅店，打算住一晚。当晚他被一声惨叫声惊醒，跳下床想去了解到底发生什么事。这时他想起了老板的第二条忠告，于是回到床上继续睡觉。第二天起床，店主告诉他：“你是唯一一个活着离开的客人。我儿有精神病，昨夜他大叫客人出来，然后把他们杀死埋了。“

男子接着赶路，第四天黄昏时分，回到自己的家乡，他远远看到自己的小屋，烟囱冒着烟。他看见一个人影，起初以为是妻子，但仔细一看，是个男人。这时，他内心充满了仇恨和痛苦，想跑过去杀了他们。他深呼吸了一口气，想起老板的第三个忠告，决定冷静一个晚上。天亮后，他恢复冷静，决定回到庄园工作。在这之前，他要告诉妻子，他始终忠于她。

他敲了敲家门，妻子打开门，认出了他，扑到他怀里，紧紧地抱住了他。他想把妻子推开，但没有做到。他眼含泪水，对妻子说：“我对你是忠诚的，可你背叛了我...“ 妻子吃惊地说：“什么？我从未背叛过你，我等了你20年。”他说：“那么那个男人是谁？”妻子说：“那是我们的儿子。你走的时候我才刚发现我怀孕了。他今年已经20岁了。”

丈夫拥抱了自己的儿子。在妻子忙做晚饭的时候，他给儿子讲述了自己的经历。接着，一家人坐下一起吃面包。他把老板送的面包掰开，发现里面有笔钱－那正是他20年辛苦劳动赚来的薪水！

moral of the story? the 老板 must be a prophet.. lol.. but his 忠告 are applicable to our daily lifestyle.. =)

在我生命中的每一天

not the original singer, but still a classic duet. =)

原唱：成龙 苏慧伦
作曲：李宗盛

看时光飞驰我祈祷明天
每个小小梦想能够漫漫实现
我是如此平凡却又如此幸运
我要说声谢谢你在我生命中的每一天

看时光飞驰我回首从前
曾经是莽撞少年曾经度日如年
我是如此平凡却又如此幸运
我要说声谢谢你在我生命中的每一天

让我将生命中最闪亮的那一段与你分享
让我用生命中最嘹亮的歌声来陪伴你
让我将心中最温柔的部分给你
在你最需要朋友的时候
让我真心真意对你在每一天
让我真心真意对你在每一天

last week of aug

admist mugging for the horror test this thurs and blowing my nose.. i decided to recall slightly what HAPPIER things that happened.. (we girls can really multi-task.. haha!) tutee postponed tuition from sat to sun, so i had sat afternoon 'off' w him.. After intern on sat morning, went over to see him @ Masters Swimming.. which was held at this ulu pool at farrer park. Oooh, I haven't been to this location in my 21 yrs of life in singapore. I didn't know an hdb estate just pops up nx to rows of shophouses at little india. Really an urban discovery! But i kinda got lost and by the time i found this ulu place, he had finished his race.. -_-" so much for walking cross the farrer park field under the hot sun.. =(

but it was worth it! XD he had 2 hrs to slack before his swimming lessons in the afternoon.. so we took nel down to harbourfront and slacked at the emptier harbourfront centre.. I revisited this place where i last visited it in 2006 jan. hah, glad it's still there! the cheapest pizzas around.. (besides the home-made ones w gardenia bread as ur base...)


"hello?! 7th mth ghost fest?! how come there's no one?"

but he managed to order his pizza and had his full. somehow. haha. but bad things happened. i had to fall sick that night and consequently, postponed my tutee's lesson till.... wed night. how sad. =( just hours before the horror test. lol. I think i'm gonna give myself sufficient time to study before then. >.<

btw, the much anticipated briefing regards to "2 years in beijing (0809)" was held this morning.. it sounded more like a '2-year-hardship-camp' to me. if we're gonna stay on campus, it'll be a 20km bus ride every morning to the intern hospital and the same ride back to campus everyday. o.O lessons' begin at 8, we gotta wake up every single day @ 6am. hah, and the evening bus only comes to pick us up at 7pm.. i'm not imagining e life of a factory worker man.. =| but at least the picture seems clearer now.. but money issue wise, it's still a headache. no cpf, no bank loan.. the only thing they have for us is moe study loan. the next few things in question were: commencement of interest rates for local bank loan/study loan, interest rates for moe study loan etc. haiya. money is always a headache. =(

to end things off, here's an advice for people who frequent ntucanA's mixed rice: order ur dishes carefully.


categorise 小白菜, 草菇, 午餐肉. ans: 小白菜=plant; 午餐肉=meat; 草菇=meat!
fungus are not plants, so they are therefore, considered as ambiguous=meat. that's what my plantbio and the auntie from mixedricestall taught us. oh, try ordering some toufu nx time too. just becareful of any suspicious meat-looking lumps that's lying on it. toufu that grows meat=meat! haha.

多见不怪??

darn pissed.. why is the queue to 179 always so longgggg...

it irks me even more when this longest queue isn't moving an inch. not because there's no bus at the bay, BUT BECAUSE PEOPLE KEEP CUTTING THE QUEUE!!!! i didn't know cutting the queue is such a COMMON thing that no one would say anything to you even if you cut into the queue right in front of him/her. ?!?!!??! why? simply because OTHER PPLE ARE DOING THE SAME THING.. to think i can wait >30 mins for 179.. -_-"

also, there's this stupid loophole which tempts people to walk straight into the queue of others : the 2nd or 3rd 179 bus which stops ALONG the bus bay.. BEFORE e 179 berth. and here's e evidence:
disclaimer: not intended to 'malu'. (if the person in the pic is you, it's just too bad.)


see this guy w orange crumpler walking towards the crowd? a typical act..


179 just left, so this grp of people stand around.. and e grp gets bigger..

so effectively, this loooong queue doesn't move much, cos there's always this grp which walks straight pass the whole long queue (too obvious to say that u missed seeing it) to 'standby' near the bus berth, wait for the opportunity (arrival of 2nd 179), and chiong~ towards to form the crowd at the 2nd bus and/or jump in the queue at the bus berth. -_-" And supposedly there are bus uncles in green are to 'manage' the crowd. what kind of management? !£$*&(@$(* allowing others to cut so that the bus can move off earlier? that's ur job right? get rid of the crowd asap? and people who jump at other's opportunity (to board bus earlier).. i'm disgusted. undergrads? woohooooo~ so much for what education has done to us.. well, maybe you say that's being street-smart.. but SO MANY street-smarts out there: disgusting. especially at the expense of other people's waiting time.

disgust disgust disgust.

there's this saying: "if you can beat them, join them!".. i guess that's why this grp of "street-smart-asses" keeps growing.. However, i will NEVER EVER do such a thing. not in my dictionary. If you're running late, YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE, idiot! If you're dying of hunger, wanna get ur food faster, you're NOT THE ONLY ONE too! baka! 把快乐建立在别人的痛苦上=讨厌. If you're someone i know, i really dislike it when you come over and say 'hi' and just join in the queue.. (unless some idiot has already done so before me)..

I'm just expressing my unhappiness here knowing there'll be NO CHANGE to the situation.. typical singaporean attitute: complain and no action.. what action is appropriate? scold anyone who cuts the queue? people would think i'm crazy.. and there's just too many.. I act myself, so i will wake up at 6.30am for an 8.30am lecture. so that i won't have to see them anymore. *sobs* i pity those who stay so far and yet have to endure this kind of madness... i might envy those who stay hall.. at least you can USE YOUR LEGS and WALK... maybe i wanna try cycling to school huh. >.<

there's another thing which engaged my anger, shall rant about it in another post..

Because I am a Girl

was watching 换换爱, a taiwan series drama.. there was this conversation between e guy and e girl which struck me:

guy: 我发现..你害怕..得到别人的照顾还有帮助。
(i realised that you're afraid of receiving care and help from others)
girl: 我必须相信自己可以..这样活者比较不累啊。
(I have to believe that I can handle.. that way, life would be less tiring)
guy: 可是一般来说..一直坚持靠自己的人..不是更应该比较累吗？你怎么觉得不累啊？
(but usually.. wouldn't someone feel more tired when she has only herself to depend on? aren't you tired?)
girl: 那是别人又不是我.. 我亲身体验的是.. 期待永远不会发生的事情..那样才累吧!
(that's somone else, not me.. my own experience tells me that expecting something that wouldn't even happen.. would be even more tiring~)

really kudos to the female character.. her attitute rocks.. i wished i could be like her.. I guess its ok to be strong.. but anyone would still have his/her weak side which may not be shown to others. we are still humans afterall.. and it's no harm to receive help from others.. especially when you need it.. however, i think when you keep receiving help from others, you somehow feel indebt to him/her.. such that you think you owe the person a favour.. and if he/she doesn't need u to return the favour, it seems to accumulate w the rest of the unreturned-favours.. unknowingly, you'll start to feel tired.. =( i owe this person this.. owe that person that.. this person helped me before..... life that way would be too tiring.. why not pass on the favour? =) ie. be of help to someone else as well, expecting no return of favour.. "credit, debit" its a matter of balance..

though females are seen as e weaker sex, somethings good about being a girl:
girls tend to get into more trouble, yet you're more likely to find help from pple..
girls do not get forced to serve ns.
girls get more recognition when both sexes accomplish something tough.. (like serving NS.. -_-")

girls are naturally more cared for.. the society's like that.. say what gender equality and what not.. we're born physically weaker by nature.. so why not get help when you need it? but when it comes to things like opening a door, carrying a box of things.. i guess these things that we can do ourselves, we should do it.. in other words, we shouldn't depend too much on others for help. self-help is the best help. hah.

and sometimes.. the help you receive is far more than expected..

you're really thank-god grateful.. =)

rain..

the weather's pretty cool.. kept raining.. today's 7th of the 7th lunar month.. aka eastern valentine's day 东方情人节.. it's believed that it'll always rain on this day because these are tears of joy of a couple (牛郎 and 织女) who could only meet each other once in a year.. they would meet on a bridge formed by magpies (i wondered how is it possible).. and spend this one day with their love.. geez.. if i had to love like that for eons, i'd probably die of 相思病 lovesick. haha. but it won't be that bad if you had things to do to occupy yourself.. take ur mind off this feeling.. so they say, it'll always rain on this very day.. which is actually supposed to be sad.. =(

but i'm glad, cos it's sunday! usually it is when pple stay home to have meals together.. i 'cooked' dinner today.. (not really cook, will know why later..) lol.. bro n i decided to give the usual rice & dishes a miss.. we wanted to eat the bao1 that mum bought weeks ago.. which looked like this :



and what does it remind you of? fat and oily 扣肉.. those 3-layer kind of meat cooked in soy that's coated w so much of oil.. they usually go together.. lol.. come to think of it, its really fattening. my bro wouldn't mind.. but i did haha.. so we looked for other deravatives.. and came up with this:



had ham, eggs, tomato n lettuce.. looks appetizing enough.. lol.. half of the 'dishes' are eaten raw.. so really can't consider that cooking.. and to think i ate 4 baos -_-" no diff from eating those fat & oily stuff.. sigh. oh btw, dad dislike this sort of 'inproper meal'.. haha.. so we ate his share as well.. and he had to eat maggi mee by himself.. =(

keep raining~ i love the smell of the rain and the cool weather.

weekend

weekend's supposed to rest huh? i beg to differ. i think i spent even more time out of home than the usual school days. >.< woke up at 6.30am this morning.. as early/even earlier than some of my normal sch days. intern started at 8am.. and lasted 3 hrs. It wasn't that tiring as expected (I was dozing off early in the morning on bus).. and i guess i really do learn more from intern than books. hah.

then went off to zion rd w mel, yl and karen for lunch! good food there~ i sure miss the beancurd. melts in ur mouth! oooo.. lol.. then proceed on w tuition in the afternoon at 2pm. my tutee moved to a new home.. from jw to je.. and 'upgraded' to a condo.. the problem w condo (which i don't like much) is the security system. But i guess that's why people want to stay in condo.. for privacy and security? oh, but i like the design of e new home.. its literally a 'white house'.. haha. I was scared that i might dirty the white dining chair that i was sitting on.. trying to resist putting up my feet up under my butt. (hah. bad habit)

then later, thought it was too boring just to go home and sleep (though very much needed), i went for a little shopping at ikea alone. =) don't really understand why ikea tries to make things so cheap lately.. perhaps they've decided that s'poreans like to go for cheap stuff.. thus keep having sales.. lol.. just like other multiple outlet stores also keep having this trend of endless sales.. lol. but i really like ikea stuff.. simple and thoughtful, designer quality but at cheaper rates.. i guess it may have to do with the way they mass produce these designer items.. hence the price drop. but anyway, quite shocked that i had plenty items in the shopping bag when i was heading for the cashier. then i realised one thing. no plastic bags. lol.. stunned for a moment before i figured out how i was gonna bring them back - bought another shopping bag.. =) i think it'd come in useful.

heh.. was on e way home.. decided to drop by his club (where he coaches swimming) and wait for him to finish his lessons at 6.30pm. lol.. perhaps the beancurd was easily digestible, i started feeling hungry and so was he after his swim. hence we popped by the famous, nus-recommended, 24hr, cheese prata shop. not enough power for nostalgic feelings as my mind wasn't thinking due to the hunger. hah. anyway the prata's good! *yum* but i still miss the mutarbak at bukit timah - al azhaar.. heh. it was already nightfall by the time i got home..

captured something that brought back memories of PBL (sec2 project work: Problem Based Learning).. it's not a common scene after the introduction of these ez-link smart cards. heh. our problem: bus ticket stuck behind seat is an unsightly scene.. closer observation tells me tt ticket price is $1.70. wow.. i'm proud of spore's bus services (sbs, even same name as my sch).. they solved this problem before we tried to solve it for them 7 years ago.. haha.. they're efficient! (in price increase too.. $1.70.. >.<)

(sry for the blur pic cos the bus was shaky)