Saturday, September 19, 2009
I was on the way to Bugis to meet some friends for dinner and hangout. It was raining and I walked into the shelter of the bus stop in front of my office building. I looked up at the electronic board for the number of the bus I want to board to check out the estimated arrival timing.
26 mins !! My god ! So long ?! I turned to my iPhone for amusement to kill some time as I waited. Checked out some facebook notifications. Went on the iPhone app iM+ to find someone to chat. J was online.
me: hi.. eaten dinner?
J: yupz. u?
me: going to.. but am waiting for a freaking long bus.
me: sibei sian..
J: then take a short bus la.
me: lol
me: 26 mins u noe? so long la !
... some chit chat banter later ...
me: hey! my bus is here..
me: The board still says 8 mins more. Luckily, I looked out for it.
J: ohh.. bus service very efficient!
me: hmmmm... errr...
me: I'm not sure about Melbourne but in SG, NOTHING is too efficient for ppl.
me: Over here, ppl will just say that the electronic board is slow in updating or bad in estimating.
me: Then they will conjure up some possible "valid" reasoning to back them up like the mis-estimation cause them to miss the bus, thus missing some IMPORTANT apptments etc..
The pace of life in Singapore is already quite hectic as it is. You can tell from the pace of people walking to the amount of road rage witnessed. It's become a norm for them to be walking so fast. The pace with which a person speaks also increases and this, in part, is how the basis of some Singlish slangs originates. The quick, short & efficient bursts of words to complete the sentenses meant to be conveyed.Labels: Experience, Life, Philosophy
Bean blubbered at [02:08]
_____________
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Listen to this.. (sorry, this video doesn't allow embedding)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
The youtube link above is Steve Jobs' Commencement Address at Stanford University in 2005.
I personally find his speech very meaningful and truly inspiring.. Hmmm.. I would really love to meet some wise old man like Steve Jobs, Morrie Schwartz or Paulo Coelho someday.. or perhaps, if I may be fortunate enough, to find one in the mirror some day.. =)
In summary, his whole speech touched us with a couple of stories:
- In life, we can only "connect the dots BACKWARDS" never forward.
I think it's so true that in life, the dots just connect up.. The dots may be high or low but eventually the low points played just as big a part (to the high points) to form the image at the end.
When we're at a low point, we may lose confidence to follow the heart.
I think he's trying to tell us to be confident in doing what your heart want us to do.
Someday sometime, the dots will connect.
- Love & Loss
Jobs talked about his founding of Macintosh, being sacked, starting over & returning again stronger & better.
He urges us to identify what we love, keep looking & don't settle easily, and we'll do great work because great work comes from doing what we love.
- The Face of Death
"If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you would be most definitely be right.."
Jobs suggests that we could ask yourself everyday if you love what you are going to do today. If you find yourself answering 'no' a few times, it's time to do something abt it.
Jobs talked about his discovery of a tumour in his pancreas which opens his eyes to the truth that "all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure fall away in the face of death. Leaving ONLY what is truly important."
- He :
- Urges us not to fall into the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
- Reminds us that our time is limited (as does everyone before us).
- Advices us not to waste our times living out somebody else's life.
- Don't be trap by dogma (which is living with the results of other people's thinking).
- Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out our own inner voice.
- Most importantly, to have the courage to follow our heart and intuition. They somehow already know what we truly want to become.
Labels: Experience, Family, feelings, Life, Philosophy
Bean blubbered at [16:01]
_____________
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
I've been reading quite a bit of novels by Paulo Coelho & Mitch Albom that encourages me to think and see more into my own life and things happening around. A tad philosophical perhaps but I've always loved to ponder (sometimes pointlessly) on abt life and being curious with why things turn out the way they do..
I'd just like to share my feelings about a novel, The Zahir by Paulo Coelho that enlightened me a great deal and taught me to manage my feelings properly. The title of this book did not attract me one bit! Perhaps it just wasn't an attractive word by itself without knowing the meaning of it.
This book was so helpful to me and it made so much sense in a difficult time of complications within me that I actually read a couple of pages (not literally just two pages lah!) and then I would stop reading. I want it to last longer. I didn't wanna blaze thru it feeling top of the world and then dropping back down to earth the minute i finished it.
In a way, I reckon it's like everything u learn. If you don't practice it, you just don't improve nor understand it fully. So I would read a couple of pages, sleep on it for a while trying to absorb it further. Then try applying analogies I'd interpreted onto myself and ponder on further.
I'm very fond of seeking inspirations from aphorisms. Here's some i picked up from my recent readings which i realli like..
The Zahir - Paulo Coelho:
"Love is an untamed force.
When we try to control it, it destroys us.
When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us.
When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused."
"There is nothing worse than the feeling that no one cares whether we exist or not,
that no one is interested in what we have to say about life,
and that the world can continue turning without our awkward presence."
"Freedom is not the absence of commitments,
but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me."
"A fatally wounded soldier never asks the medical team: “Please save me!”
His last words are usually: “Tell my wife and son that I love them.”
At the last moment, they speak of love."
"(There's) a time to rend and a time to sew.."
"If there is suffering, then it’s best to accept it,
because it won’t go away just because you pretend it’s not there.
If there is joy, then it’s best to accept that too,
even though you’re afraid it might end one day.
Some people can only relate to life through sacrifice and renunciation.
Some people can only feel part of humanity when they think they are ‘happy’."
"All you have to do is to pay attention;
lessons always arrive when you are ready,
and if you can read the signs,
you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step "
"What man of you, having an hundred sheep
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost, until he find it ??? "
"The Zahir is someone or something which,
once we have come into contact with them or it,
gradually occupies every thought."
For One More Day - Mitch Albom:
"An echo is the persistance of sound waves after its source has stopped.."
"An echo can only exist with the presence of a surface for the sound waves to bounce off of.."
"An echo is heard where the surroundings are quiet.."
Labels: Experience, Family, feelings, Life, love, Pain, Philosophy
Bean blubbered at [10:41]
_____________
Saturday, September 19, 2009
I was on the way to Bugis to meet some friends for dinner and hangout. It was raining and I walked into the shelter of the bus stop in front of my office building. I looked up at the electronic board for the number of the bus I want to board to check out the estimated arrival timing.
26 mins !! My god ! So long ?! I turned to my iPhone for amusement to kill some time as I waited. Checked out some facebook notifications. Went on the iPhone app iM+ to find someone to chat. J was online.
me: hi.. eaten dinner?
J: yupz. u?
me: going to.. but am waiting for a freaking long bus.
me: sibei sian..
J: then take a short bus la.
me: lol
me: 26 mins u noe? so long la !
... some chit chat banter later ...
me: hey! my bus is here..
me: The board still says 8 mins more. Luckily, I looked out for it.
J: ohh.. bus service very efficient!
me: hmmmm... errr...
me: I'm not sure about Melbourne but in SG, NOTHING is too efficient for ppl.
me: Over here, ppl will just say that the electronic board is slow in updating or bad in estimating.
me: Then they will conjure up some possible "valid" reasoning to back them up like the mis-estimation cause them to miss the bus, thus missing some IMPORTANT apptments etc..
The pace of life in Singapore is already quite hectic as it is. You can tell from the pace of people walking to the amount of road rage witnessed. It's become a norm for them to be walking so fast. The pace with which a person speaks also increases and this, in part, is how the basis of some Singlish slangs originates. The quick, short & efficient bursts of words to complete the sentenses meant to be conveyed.
Labels: Experience, Life, Philosophy
Blabbered
bean
@
02:08
//
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Listen to this.. (sorry, this video doesn't allow embedding)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLcThe youtube link above is Steve Jobs' Commencement Address at Stanford University in 2005.
I personally find his speech very meaningful and truly inspiring.. Hmmm.. I would really love to meet some wise old man like Steve Jobs, Morrie Schwartz or Paulo Coelho someday.. or perhaps, if I may be fortunate enough, to find one in the mirror some day.. =)
In summary, his whole speech touched us with a couple of stories:
- In life, we can only "connect the dots BACKWARDS" never forward.
I think it's so true that in life, the dots just connect up.. The dots may be high or low but eventually the low points played just as big a part (to the high points) to form the image at the end.
When we're at a low point, we may lose confidence to follow the heart.
I think he's trying to tell us to be confident in doing what your heart want us to do.
Someday sometime, the dots will connect.
- Love & Loss
Jobs talked about his founding of Macintosh, being sacked, starting over & returning again stronger & better.
He urges us to identify what we love, keep looking & don't settle easily, and we'll do great work because great work comes from doing what we love.
- The Face of Death
"If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you would be most definitely be right.."
Jobs suggests that we could ask yourself everyday if you love what you are going to do today. If you find yourself answering 'no' a few times, it's time to do something abt it.
Jobs talked about his discovery of a tumour in his pancreas which opens his eyes to the truth that "all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure fall away in the face of death. Leaving ONLY what is truly important."
- He :
- Urges us not to fall into the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
- Reminds us that our time is limited (as does everyone before us).
- Advices us not to waste our times living out somebody else's life.
- Don't be trap by dogma (which is living with the results of other people's thinking).
- Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out our own inner voice.
- Most importantly, to have the courage to follow our heart and intuition. They somehow already know what we truly want to become.
Labels: Experience, Family, feelings, Life, Philosophy
Blabbered
bean
@
16:01
//
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
I've been reading quite a bit of novels by Paulo Coelho & Mitch Albom that encourages me to think and see more into my own life and things happening around. A tad philosophical perhaps but I've always loved to ponder (sometimes pointlessly) on abt life and being curious with why things turn out the way they do..
I'd just like to share my feelings about a novel,
The Zahir by
Paulo Coelho that enlightened me a great deal and taught me to manage my feelings properly. The title of this book did not attract me one bit! Perhaps it just wasn't an attractive word by itself without knowing the meaning of it.
This book was so helpful to me and it made so much sense in a difficult time of complications within me that I actually read a couple of pages (not literally just two pages lah!) and then I would stop reading. I want it to last longer. I didn't wanna blaze thru it feeling top of the world and then dropping back down to earth the minute i finished it.
In a way, I reckon it's like everything u learn. If you don't practice it, you just don't improve nor understand it fully. So I would read a couple of pages, sleep on it for a while trying to absorb it further. Then try applying analogies I'd interpreted onto myself and ponder on further.
I'm very fond of seeking inspirations from aphorisms. Here's some i picked up from my recent readings which i realli like..
The Zahir - Paulo Coelho:
"Love is an untamed force.
When we try to control it, it destroys us.
When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us.
When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused."
"There is nothing worse than the feeling that no one cares whether we exist or not,
that no one is interested in what we have to say about life,
and that the world can continue turning without our awkward presence."
"Freedom is not the absence of commitments,
but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me."
"A fatally wounded soldier never asks the medical team: “Please save me!”
His last words are usually: “Tell my wife and son that I love them.”
At the last moment, they speak of love."
"(There's) a time to rend and a time to sew.."
"If there is suffering, then it’s best to accept it,
because it won’t go away just because you pretend it’s not there.
If there is joy, then it’s best to accept that too,
even though you’re afraid it might end one day.
Some people can only relate to life through sacrifice and renunciation.
Some people can only feel part of humanity when they think they are ‘happy’."
"All you have to do is to pay attention;
lessons always arrive when you are ready,
and if you can read the signs,
you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step "
"What man of you, having an hundred sheep
if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost, until he find it ??? "
"The Zahir is someone or something which,
once we have come into contact with them or it,
gradually occupies every thought."
For One More Day - Mitch Albom:
"An echo is the persistance of sound waves after its source has stopped.."
"An echo can only exist with the presence of a surface for the sound waves to bounce off of.."
"An echo is heard where the surroundings are quiet.."
Labels: Experience, Family, feelings, Life, love, Pain, Philosophy
Blabbered
bean
@
10:41
//
