Joy

Joy, the most positive of the emotions, is also the most elusive. Seek it and you may not find it. Try to experience it directly and it may elude you. But live a normal life and it will appear spontaneously.

Joy does not occur so much on its own as it does as a by-product of something else: a pleasant surprise, a happy thought, a good friendship. In other words, this emotion is indicative of feeling good about oneself, others, and life in general.

-- Beaty, J. J. (2006). Observing development of the young child. (6th Ed.) New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Check out Jurong Point extension!

Woohoo! The new Jurong Point extension is now opened! What a crowd there was this evening, gosh, I think the residents in Boon Lay were all there! Of cos, with over 200 additional outlets in the new mall (they call it JP2), you bet everyone is curious!

I find that the new mall looks like Marina Square/Vivo City now :) That is, having more of a "town area mall" taste rather than a "neighbourhood" taste.

Here are some of the new stores that interest me:
Chomel
Pretty Fit
The Cheongsam Shoppe
The Clothes Publisher
Bakerzin
Benten Cafe (Japanese pasta restaurant)
Burger King
Cavana Express
Dian Xiao Er
Ding Tai Feng
Haagen-Dazs Cafe
Ji De Chi Dessert
Jia Xiang Mee Village
Kuishin Bo
Lai Lai Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian (although I no longer take beef now)
New York New York
Old Town White Coffee
Sky Thai Fastfood
Thai Express
ToastBox
Skin Food
Mini Toons
Aussino
Pets' Station
Harris bookstore
Challenger
Fairprice Xtra
Yamakawa Super
And lots of little shops selling cute gifts and apparels...

Just walking past the new shops today is enough to excite me! I have not even gone inside them to browse and shop!

Kiddy toys

Haha, hanging around with little kids is getting into me... I am starting to develop an interest in window shopping at Toys 'R' Us and Kiddy Palace and wowing at toys. Hey, it is amazing how advanced and comprehesive toys are these days, compared to those from my time. Gosh, I love the big set of 64 pieces of fruits and vegetables and cooking utensils. And mind you, the food pieces come in velcro, so that you may "slice" them and fix them back later on.

But my favourite is still the Sylvanian Families series, which I can never afford to own a big set with a house and so on. But I am contented enough to DIY a mini set of "cake shop" with cakes pieces, table, chairs and a rabbit figurine. :) Comes with a small pack of candy too!

Haha, bought this battery-operated bubble gun at Giant. Have always longed for one. While those "original" ones are selling at close to 20 bucks, this costs only $2.90, and the pack comes with a bottle of bubble solution. :)

Wow, tumbling blocks! Haha, never played this before and I always wanted to know how it feels to have blocks crashing down. Finally get to tried my hands on this today after buying this imitation from Toys 'R' Us. Guess what, it comes with a handy tin box and costs only $7.90 after discount! This will make a good family game when I have children in future. :)

Congratulations, HJ!

Went to attend HJ's church wedding at ARPC at Adam Road yesterday. She looked really beautiful and her hubby looked so cool! Really like the glitters on her gown, they made them look like there were lotsa stars on her :) Even the pastor was so good looking, hahaha. Guess what, her march in song was also Canon in D, like mine :)

Cosy and warm setting with grand piano on stage.

Couple taking the marriage vows - they actually had to memorise the lines!

Groom giving thank you speech. Check out the glitters on HJ's gown!

Father's Kite-buying tale

My sis told me my father saved $1.50 from buying a kite at Chinatown and how the savings came about was quite ridiculous. Here is how the story goes:

My father bought one kite at Chinatown at $4.50 and went to test fly it nearby. It was rather windy and the kite flew. A mother and her child walked pass and the child said "I want! I want!" Therefore the mother went up to my father (thinking that he was selling kites) and asked him how much was the kite. My father quoted $5. The mother tried to bargain with him but my father told her it was already very cheap and his profit margin was only 20 cents. In the end he completed the sale at $5.

My father went back to the shop and bought a second kite and went to test fly it again. This time 2 students went up to him and asked if he was selling kites. He told them he was a demonstrator. Again he sold the kite to them at $5.

My father went back to the shop again and bought a third kite. The shop owner remembered him and asked "Didn't you just buy a kite?" My father replied, "Well, I am your regular customer!" And the shop owner said, "Well, then you may have the kite at a 50 cents discount - $4 for you then!"

(LOL....)

Rest In Peace

I didn't expect Normal to go so fast.

Yes, it had poor appetite 2 weeks back. Its stomach was slightly bloated and whenever it gobbled up the food pellets, it simply spat them up without swallowing. But didn't its stomach go back to normal after several days? Yes, it seemed to have shrunk in size without having much food over those days but didn't it start to eat and swallow some smaller pellets again?

Things seemed to be going well until 2 nights ago, I noticed little bloating at its stomach again. It couldn't have put on that much weight overnight? Oh dear. And guess what, yesterday night its condition got even worse. The bloating became more intense and even the scales seemed to have puffed out. Internet sources say that this is a disease known as "dropsy" where there is building up of internal pressure caused by bacteria infection. Although there is antibiotic treatment, most cases of dropsy are fatal. But I didn't give up hope after knowing that. We planned to get the medicine from an aquatic store the very next day (today). I said a prayer before I went to bed last night, hoping that Normal would recover soon.

But just this morning, when I looked in at the quarantined pail, poor Normal's body had flipped. It had gone....

Normal's body lying in its "coffin"


Coffin being sealed... (sob sob!)

Burying in progress...

You must have suffered, Normal. Hope you rest in peace...

Never to grow up

Sometimes I wish I had never grown up.

Being a child is great. No burden, no responsibility. They just need to eat and play. No one will blame them if they do not excel in their studies. When they make mistakes, they will be let off after they get punished, and their mistakes would be forgotten by adults. If they show improvement in their behaviour or studies, they get lots of praises and rewards. They can say whatever they like, without thinking whether their words will hurt others. What is money to them? They just know money can buy things, but never wonder how hard it is for the money to come by.

Being a toddler is even better. Adults are happy as long as they do not cry and do not fall sick. Who remembers what kind of tantrum the child got into the day before? If they can follow simple instructions, it is a bonus.

What about an adult? Lots of burdens and responsibilties. People remember the mistakes you have done. Sometimes there are nice people around to show you some guidance, but you are expected to show improvement fast. If you do not perform up to par in the expected time frame, the nice people will still get annoyed.

Smart people pick up things fast and they get more in life. For example, in a dance workout, if a student can catch the steps and routine in that lesson, she gets to work out more and enjoy the lesson more. The slower students remain blur throughout the whole lesson and don't get to perspire much. In short, they waste their time and money. It is even more true in any workplace. Which boss likes an employee who is dumb and slow?

This is a competitive society we are living in. Is the society willing to be more patient with slower people or slower people have no choice but just have to keep striving?

I wish I had treasured my childhood days more.