weekend in a flash

random as can be

Saturday

Woke up thinking what should I do today?
What's after yumcha with Ching?
Decided to check out 'What's happening in Sydney?'
So there was an Etsy market in Chippendale.
Christmas' coming, all the headache shoppings...maybe I should go for a browse at the market.

Grabbed coffee on the way to the market

SYDNEY made Etsy

card makers 

baby diaper pants, head accessories

customised pillows

some kind of pillow case or bag or whatever

porcelain maybe? sorry, not good with artsy materials

jewellery and blablabla...

Pretty much an upscale of Glebe Market.
It was a quick browse.
There were TOO MANY people.
Overcrowded.
The items were pricey if not overpriced.
Not complaining, cos that's how they sustain themselves.
Didn't have time to stop and fall in love with anything because of the ever-moving crowd.

Headed back north to Macquarie Centre for some Christmas shopping.
Spotted a girl in furry home slippers on the train station escalator.
Did she forget to change shoes on her way out?
Is this some kind of latest fashion which I'm not aware of?
The socks were weird enough, and then plus the shoes.....far out...haha.
Let's assume she's here for shoe-shopping.

Spotted a lovely white cake. Must take a photo of it cos it's too beautiful. 

Danger of not having a specific Christmas shopping list beforehand - bought a couple of books for 'anyone'.
No idea who to give to.
Decided to go home and read them, if they're no good I'll return them tomorrow.

Few important points to note:

#1 

#2

So far so good.

As usual, fell asleep with the book in my hands. Lol.

Sunday

Brunch date with Mega, Charlie, and Vv.

Brought the books with me so I can read them on the train (and return them today if they suck).

Finished reading the first book from yesterday. 

Not my kind of book.

Couldn't think of anyone to give it too. 

Started on the second book.

A very good one I'd say.

I have the urge to give this to everyone on my Christmas list. Haha.

Random pages:

#1

#2

 Sorry for the bad quality phone camera and those freaking permanent grey spots which just won't go away.

Xmas tree in Central Station
and a boy whose mum's took soooooooo long to take a shot,
he could pose there for an hour.

UTS building

Spotted a quirky car while waiting for a table at the cafe.

moooochaaaaaaa

coffee-fix for the addicts

uekkk. too much food 

After brunch...
Randomly ended up in Kinokuniya.

Found a bright corner and started reading my own book.

#3

Decided that this is THE BOOK for this season.
Went to the shop to return the first book, and bought two more of the second book.
Walked too much.
Decided to rest on the benches for a bit while I figure out where's next.

Chilling at the bench with the senior citizens, aunties, uncles, and bloody smokers,
while enjoying the music from buskers.

Smokers should all smoke in a room, smell their own smoke, and kill each others lungs.

Winterbourne busking at Pitt Street Mall

Made up my mind for a cup of Boost.
Wanted to try their new Black Label series but damn....$9 for an original Boost?
You're so kidding me!
Wonder if they did a market survey on these prices. Ridiculous.
Plus all of the choices have pineapple in them. zzZZzz. Forget about it.

Headed to the station for home.
Got out of the station, bus was coming in 11mins.
Decided to run to Coles on the next street to grab some Connoisseur ice-creams.
Got a couple of tubs.
Ran back to the bus-stop - 2mins till the bus comes.
It only came 12mins later - M54 you're never ever ever punctual!
Poor Connoisseurs melted under the 26deg sun...
Finally home - 5pm.

Recorded 75,000 steps for the week on my pedometer.
Should aim for 100,000 next. 

if someone died today...

not always a happy ending

Something to think about...

If I died today, would you be satisfied with the last conversation we had?

If you died today, would I be satisfied with the last conversation we had?

If any of us died today, would I regret that a conversation didn't take place?

Familiar faces flashed through my mind.

- My sis - our last conversation was about me brushing her off when all she wanted was to vent her frustration. She hasn't been heard for more than 24 hours.

- My grandma - I can't recall the last conversation we had just cos I haven't called home for awhile.

- A friend - we haven't talked for a long long time cos all of a sudden I'm not sure if what I see is what I know and what I hear is what I'm not supposed to know. If one party isn't sharing openly and has so much to hide, would it be sustainable? It takes two to tango isn't it? I can't be dancing on my own all the time. Till I figure this out...

If they died today, no, I won't be fine.

If I died today?
Family will be hit hard.
But friend would just move on, I believe.
We're unique to our family, but to friends, we can always be replaced with another.
Oh well, C'est la vie.

Reminder:
- Be kind and empathetic with our speeches.
- Keep in touch with people we care. 'Busy' is never an excuse. 'Tomorrow' may never come.
- Keep conversations in a healthy state such that there's no regret whatsoever.

Random conversations from today:

- My roommate - I showed her proof of how farting could burn calories and she went zzzz. Lol.

- A friend - where I told him about my diarrhoea, he said I needed practice and reminded me to drink plenty of water. And then went on to talk about Clash of Clans - zzz What's new?

blessed

blessed is a feeling. 

blessed is
having people to count on when in times of need.

blessed is
having people to count you in when in times of joy.

blessed is
seeing a familiar face when you haven't met one in days.

blessed is
having someone to entertain your randomness.

to all of you

thanks for helping me with the air tickets.
thanks for opening your Melbourne door by default for me.
thanks for having me in mind as a company.
thanks for the random free lunch and chatter.
thanks for the impromptu 360 km.

you may not realise the little things you do or say would have meant a lot on the other side.

thanks for just being here or there.

rest assured, I'll be here for you to count on. whenever, wherever, whatever.

no rush

stand still, once awhile

Everything was fine with the transport this morning.
No missed buses.
No missed train.
No long waiting time.
Except, I missed the stop.
Lol.
Didn't even realise it until 5 mins later.
Hopped off at the next stop, Chatswood.

While everyone's hurrying through the hustle and bustle at the platform to get to the escalator, one very 'calm' soul got onto it first.
Completely blocked out the human traffic on the escalator.
Ahhhhhh to cry or to laugh?? Omg...

Hello, Buddy. Are you a human-traffic controller on escalators?

Oh well... I guess I could wait.

What's 20 secs compared to the 10 mins for missing the stop?

This is the most unexpected 'delay' ever.

Thanks Buddy, for slowing my momentum down.

It's the first time I actually stood still on an escalator during the morning peak. Lol.

A simple act of showing all of us how to take it easy, don't rush, stay calm, and be patient. Haha.

when you have colleague like this...

laugh and get over it

For the night work on Sunday, we were supposed to inspect a bridge which spans over Road A.

While waiting for the traffic management to be set up, he decided to drive to Road A to check out the conditions under the bridge.
He set his GPS to Road A and found that the GPS shows a longer route.
So he asked if I trust a GPS.
I said yes.
He said he doesn't trust the GPS because it's taking a longer route when Road A is just round the corner.
I told him if he knows the way, just ignore the GPS.
He confidently said he is sure where Road A is.
In 2 mins, we arrived at 'Road A'.

It was in the middle of the night and pitch black.
We were relying on the street lights from above the bridge to guide our eyes.
He started looking at the bridge from below it.

The more I looked, the more I find the bridge different.
Out of nowhere there was reinforced soil wall around the abutments but the old 1950's drawings I've seen do not show any wall. So I thought the walls were newly-added features.

Me: Hmm...why did they build the soil wall now? Is there any use at all? 
Him: (wasn't paying attention to me)
Me: If the wall's there, how are we gonna inspect?
Him: Hmm, I don't know...

The bridge looked really different from the construction drawings.
Even without much lighting, I could tell it looks different.
The piers were circular while the drawings I saw have squarish piers.

Me: Hey, I don't think this is the right bridge. I don't remember seeing walls in the drawings. And it has circular piers? 
Him: Sorry?
Me: See. Circular piers. And soil walls? Since when?
Him: You're right...
Me: ??? Omg?! What are we doing? Where are we actually? Lol.
Him: Jialat man. Luckily you're observant. If not, we'll be doing the wrong bridge tonight.
Me: ..... 
Him: Why are you laughing man? Jialat. Now you gonna tell the whole world about this.
Me: The bridge looks completely different, you know?

Sweat. It's so not funny but I found myself laughing.
I was speechless and confused as to how he could get the bridge wrong.
And no wonder the GPS was taking a 'longer route'.
Talking about not trusting a GPS? LOL.

Usually I'd get very pissed when he does mistakes like this - not getting things right the first time.
I guess I was emotionally drained, sleepy, and tired to feel anything that night.
And also, earlier when I arrived at where he was supposed to pick me, I found him napping in the car. He must have waited for a bit, though I was right on time. I felt sorry for him and decided to be kind for a night. Poor old man meets a lady with a soft heart. Haha.

After the whole GPS joke, we went to Maccas while waiting for traffic management to close the highway.
We chatted in a more casual way. I was less aggressive and more patient.
I felt he has been trying very very hard to know me better.
I wished it's all written on my face so it makes life easier for him.
I know I'm difficult to grasp and can be difficult at times.
Maybe one day, he'll give up trying. Haha.

What I learned from this night shift is...I can be kind to him. 
I shall keep this in mind.

P/s: He went for other site inspections this week. Took hundreds of photos at a few sites. Returned to the office only to find that the photos weren't saved on the memory card. King of jokers.

If I went with him, I wonder if I would be mad at his carelessness?
Maybe if I were there, I could have saved his day - again. Hehehe.

my dear sister

blessed to have sisters

These days, it's hard to find travel mate.
Perhaps the places I want to go are not appealing to many - India, Myanmar, Nepal.

Shopping
Food-hunting
Spa and massage
Luxurious hotel or homey Airbnb
High tech world-class transportation

In exchange for...

Dusts
Dirty food
Polluted city
Dodgy motel
Traffic jam
Charcoal pills
And immeasurable life experience, which can never be 'shared' on Facebook or 'posted' on Instagram.
Sadly, if it can't be 'seen', it won't be popular.

The few who might be interested are in Msia and Singapore, with different holiday periods it's hard to get a mutual period and length of travel.

After repeating (as usual) a few times to my sis about not being able to find travel mates to Myanmar, I think she had enough of listening to the same whinge over and over again.

Despite always nagging me for travelling to ulu places - end up with food-poisoning and had to visit the local hospital, out of contact for a few days due to bad reception, altitude sickness, delayed flights, etc. - she signed up as my Myanmar travel mate.

Haha. You're the best!

I know I'm sometimes (maybe always) unpredictable, random, out of the norm, lazy in planning, lazy to check for cheapest prices, make quick decision and deal with the issues later, bad in time scheduling, etc.

Maybe in other words, I'm not an organised traveller and not the best travel partner.

Thanks for still willing to jump on this 'sinking' ship.

I don't wanna do anything less than 7 days and I also know it's hard to leave the baby behind for more than 7 days, hence I really don't wanna drag her along with me - especially knowing that it won't be some kind of luxurious, pampering, eat-till-you-drop trip.

Can change place, don't change me

I said I can find other people to come with me so she won't have to.
She insisted to come.
Not for the sake of seeing places.
More of being my company and being in my company.
I appreciate that.
It's something you can never get from a normal friend.
And something people without sister will ever understand.

The whole bunch of things friends will consider before accompanying you to anywhere or sparing just few hours of their time are:
- why, where, how, what, when, who
- destination
- purpose
- budget
- annual leaves
- work commitment
- weather
- their partner
- their interests
- their pet
- their diet
- their me-time
- their savings plan
- their sleep
- anything you would never think of...

Sometimes, I use these 'excuses' myself.
The 'excuses' may be true to some extent, but the better truth is, the company isn't right.

And 'friends' will probably take...
A year to decide if they wanna go on a holiday with you.
6 months to decide if they wanna invite you to a holiday with them.
3 months to decide if they wanna visit you.
1 month to decide if they wanna spend the next long weekend with you.
1 week to decide if they wanna spend the next weekend with you.
3 days to decide if they wanna have dinner with you.
Just because there are so many other people and things who/which come before you. That's what waiting-list is for.

Truly, there is only ONE main reason - you are not the person they wanna spend time with.

Other than giving me life, the next important thing that Mum gave me are my lovely sisters. Couldn't have asked for anything else.

I'm also appreciative of my other non-biological sisters who entered my life by fate.

One offered to accompany me to Myanmar, though she can only do 4 days due to family commitment, I'll have to do the remaining 3-6 days on my own. Well, at least she tried. And no, the last thing I want is for people to sacrifice for me, so she's not allowed to come along. Haha. 

In the end of the day, what's important is the quality of the company. Destination doesn't matter.
In order to be able to travel together, we decided to choose a nearer place, for under 5 days.

'Change place and not change her'.

Oh Myanmar...I shall visit you when a travel mate comes along.

All of you, thanks for loving me. I love you too.

tranquil moment

 external factors are just perceptions

Tried so hard to fall asleep at an awkward hour of 5.30pm, for the sake of tonight's site work.
I'm so not an afternoon nap person. Bahhhhh~

When I'm almost entering my dreamland, the flatmate came home with her bf and there went all the yelling, knocking, banging, tv... She obviously didn't think that I'd be home.

Omgoshhhhhh!!!

Gave up! Let's just be a zombie tonight.

On the side note...

I stumbled upon the St John's Anglican Church while wandering alone in Glebe today. Not sure what brought me into the church, maybe my heart wanted my mind to shut down for a bit. Haha.

No doubt, it is one of the places to be if you're after some tranquil moments. 

Even if the old benches stink,

Even if there was rock band playing right outside,

The mind was able to ignore the stinky air and loud band, completely shut itself down  - just what I needed.

You showed me that external factors are just perceptions.

Thank you, Church.

communication skills

communication, bridges to all minds

This week, we had one full day of communication training at work.

The course first helps us to identify and understand ourselves better and then, identify the behaviours of people around us be it families, friends, or colleagues. By knowing the behaviours of others, we could then communicate using a better approach.

I find this course well-needed as we are all new to the company where no one has worked with anyone in the office for longer than 6 months. Hence, no one can really tell the true behaviour of another person yet. It comes to a point where we start to get frustrated at times with particular people in the office.

For example:
- The admin and her fussy house-keeping rules
- People not replying emails
- People not aware of meeting agendas

The course identifies 4 types of people - the purple, yellow, red, and blue.
The trainer plays a set of slides with over 50 characteristics for each of these colours. Each time a characteristic for a certain colour describes you, give yourself one point for that colour. The colour with the highest points is your main 'dot', second highest is your second 'dot', and so on.

Below are what I can recall from the course:

Purple
Free and easy
Relaxed
Think into the future
Optimistic about the future
Always need to see the bigger picture of things
Don't like to be asked about details
Not reliable
Exaggerating
Short attention span
Unable to focus on 'now'
Were school trouble-makers
Start strong, finish poor

Yellow
Attention to details
Needs to have ALL details of things
Puts importance on time, quality, making things look very nice
Completes tasks in a timely manner
Organised
Punctual
Inflexible
Have their own idea to do things
Lone worker
Not a good team player
Not approachable
Critical
Aggressive
React without fully-listening

Red
Attention to details
Loves themselves
Lack of emotions
Reluctant to change
Clarity
Direct, straight to the point
Hates people beating round the bush
Gives short and precise replies, holds back on details
Types email in bullet points
Solve problems
Delivery focus
Dominant
Reliable
Loyal
Patient
Forgive but not forget
Always perceived as introverted
Never complains until close to explosion
Win-win or lose-lose, win-lose doesn't exist

Blue
Never shows their guts
Cooperative
Sincere, no hidden agenda
Good at giving 'kind' feedback
Not sociable
Procrastinates
Kind
Caring
Approachable
Takes a long time to make decisions or make up their mind
Over-sensitive
Takes things personally
Emotional
Hates to be called stupid
Avoids confrontation

Purple and blue are people who work with 'feeling'.
Red and yellow are people who work with 'thinking'.

It turns out that out of 21, we have 14 reds, 1 yellow, 3 blues, and 3 purples.

It explains why most of the emails circulating in the office are in bullet points and very lack of emotion, why most of us love giving short replies and never automatically elaborate ourselves. I have to admit, it makes the office atmosphere very robotic and task-oriented. The 'reds' also think that we are fine being called stupid - lack of the 'blue' elements in us.

The ones who organise social stuff, give out chocolates, and bake cakes turn out to be blue dot people.

The ones who love to talk, relaxed, ignore deadlines, never finish the things they start, are miraculously the purple dots.

The lonely yellow dot, turns out to be our dear Miss Admin. LOL!!!

Now that we know each other's colours, it allows us to accept each other's way of doing things - why some people are slack off, why some people are inflexible, and why some are emotionless. Haha.

People's dots can be identified through their environment, appearance, and the way they speak.

Purple
Has messy desk
Dirty desk
Whatever
Not able to locate where things are on their desk
Talkative
Easily strike a conversation

Yellow
Tidy desk
Cleans desk at the end of each day
Nicely dressed
Goes for premium brands
Takes pride in their appearance

Red
Papers in stacks
Able to locate things within the stacks
Hates it when stuff are thrown out without their permission
Short, bullet point replies
Practically dressed
Uses worn out clothing

Blue
Personalised desk with photos, quotes, plant, etc
Prefers to work closely with others
Quiet
Courteous
Comfortably dressed

How do we show appreciation to the different colours?

Purple
Thrive for applause
Praise them daily
Never criticise them
Appreciates words more than gift

Yellow
Gives them positive attention
Organise small things for them

Red
Respect them
Give them honest appreciation
Give them 'practical' gifts
Hates surprises
Don't over praise them, else they feel awkward

Blue
Show that you care
Be sincere
Give them personal/thoughtful gift

I scored Red first and Purple second.
The bullet points, the emotionless emails, the one-word replies, the forgive but not forget, the messy stacked up desk, the inability to handle surprises, etc........all so very true.
As for the 'purple' side of me, it would be the 'whatever' attitude, the short attention span, need bigger picture, hate to be asked about details (in terms of work), was not very compliant with school rules....haha.

Coincidently, the top 3 directors in the office have red and purple as their first two dots.
Does it tell something? Hehehe.

The red majority in the office is because of the engineering nature of our job or we became engineer because we were naturally born as red dots?

In other words, the environment shapes us or we were born into it? Maybe a bit of both?

They say everyone's sequence of dots changes over time due to the people around them, the environment their in, their view on life, and so on. I hope I could drop off the red scale one day, takes things more easily, and be more of a 'blue' person with more emotions - except I hope I won't get affected by the word 'stupid'. Haha.

I did a quick check on my sisters, and they are also high on red. Geezz. Can't believe how long I've been in a robotic environment - being a robot, surrounded by robots for all my life. We should all start working on the 'blue' side of things.

In the end of the day, the course helps identify the 'style' of people around us, so that we can appreciate their good qualities, be more acceptable of their ridiculous behaviour, use a better approach in dealing with them, and use each other's strengths in bringing out the best of us.

I'm quite doubtful on the end product of having 15 red dots (and possibly more on the way) in a team - robots talking to each other with no feelings. Hahaha. I hope the minority purple, blue, and yellow won't feel suffocated by the reds. They should stop recruiting 'reds' for now.

All in all, it was a great experience which hopefully makes us all a better person in the society, at home, and at work.

practise to say 'it's okay'

listen. not react.

Have you thought about when in times of tension, whether it be...
When you spill coffee over someone's white pair of sneakers.
When you're late for an appointment.
When you couldn't meet a deadline.
When you accidentally break someone's favourite mug.
When you unintentionally break a promise.
When you did something which would upset someone.

What are the first few words you'd love to hear from these people?

It's okay.
Daijobu.
没关系
Don't worry.
Take your time.

Growing up, these were the words I barely heard. Often, the adults at home or the school teachers would quickly jump into a blaming tone, raise their voice, and start asking questions like...

Why can't you be more mindful?!
Why can't you be quick?!
Why did you do this?!
Who told you to do it?!
Do you know you're wrong?!
Do you have brain?!

Aggressive questioning does not teach a child to be mindful, be quick, be punctual, do the right thing...
Nor does it tell a child that he/she is careless, is slow, is late, is wrong...

It makes the child feel helpless and unable to defend him/herself because people are too quick to judge and blame without trying to hear from his/her point of view.

This was my childhood.

Typical Asian parents philosophies:
- Adult is always right.
- When an adult says you're wrong, you have no right to be right.
- When they start scolding, never defend yourself as it's considered as disrespect and not admitting your mistake, which then results in more severe punishment.
- Adult has all the right to state what you can/cannot do, at the pace they want and at their convenience.

My dad is a typical example of an Asian parent.

Apart from all these lopsided philosophies, he also has bad temper, no patience, frequently vents his anger through the use of foul languages, harmful speech, and aggressive body language.

Once, when I was about 8, we were in the car heading out for breakfast.
He asked what do we feel like having.
No one had any idea or just wasn't fast enough to beat his temper.
In that mere few seconds of silence, he got impatient and let out a threatening sigh.
I got so frightened, I randomly picked something which I wasn't even keen of having.

How hard is it to say, 'It's okay, take your time to think'?

Once, I accidentally dropped soap into the water storage in the bathroom.
I could either ask an adult to help get the soap and get all the scolding.
Or do it myself and save myself from the scolding.
I chose to dodge the scolding.
As the storage was deep, by the time I got the soap out, the water has turned murky.
True enough, when they saw the water, the first sentences I heard were: What were you thinking?! Do you have brain?! 

I do have brain.
It was an accident.
I could have drowned in there.
They were too quick to react than to show concern.
I never had a chance to speak.

Even now as an adult, I still meet people like this - people who are impatient, short temper, and people who like jumping into conclusion so they can start blaming you.

Once, I got out of my office a little too slow and had my flatmate waiting in her car at the bus stop.
The moment I got into the car, she said, 'Why can't you come down on time?! Do you know it's a $200 fine for stopping here?!?!'

Having had enough of these, I couldn't see myself taking the blame without speaking out.
I said Do you know I shut down the pc immediately, didn't even dare use the toilet, the lift wouldn't come what can I do??!! Can you not jump into conclusion and blame people for no reason??!!

I may be slow other times but just not this time.

It is an awful feeling to be misunderstood, blamed, or judged for the wrong reasons.
Over the years, I saw the importance of listening and understanding, rather than reacting.
I admit that I do have traits of a 'blamer' too.
I do get impatient at times and feel really sorry after that.
I am trying to improve on this.

Everyone deserves to be told:

It's okay.
Daijobu.
没关系
Don't worry.
Take your time.

because it only takes one second to be kind and understanding.
But it takes thousands of seconds to be angry and after that, a thousand more to build up the courage to say Sorry.

live to be happy

人生没有不幸福的人，只有不肯快乐的心

Sitting in the bus
There was silence between us
I turned to check if you're sleeping
Your eyes were open
Lacked of energy in them
Daydreaming.

I wished I've taken the chance to ask
What are your views on life
What makes you happy
What makes you sad
What's happiness to you
What's bothering you.

I wished I was more outspoken
I wished you didn't act tough
I wished you knew there are shoulders for you to cry on
I wished you knew it's okay to cry.

I could have told you
Life isn't about
How old you are
How you look
How much time you have left
What you used to have
What you have or don't have.

Life is a journey
Where we wake up each day
To face the truth of impermanence
Things change
We just have to believe it's always for the better.

When asked what two words do I have for you
I said 乐活
To live happily, or
To live to be happy.

我们应该学会在自我满足中找到快乐。
人生没有不幸福的人，
只有不肯快乐的心。
Happiness is within you.

You said you're happy that I'm happy
But really, it's more like I'm happy that you're happy
After all, all we wanted is for each other to be happy.

Happiness is contagious
And it starts from within us.

Goodbye is not to be said with 有缘再见
It will be 下次再见
你要好好的。

melbourne cup

horses, stay safe

It's the race which stops a nation at 3 pm on every first Tuesday of November.
It's a public holiday in Victoria only.

In other states, we simply declare our own half-day off by stopping work from 2.30 pm to watch the race, followed by drinks till the end of office hour. We'll also have sweepstake at work - $2 for 1 horse, $5 for 3 horses - where horses are randomly picked from a pool.

This year, it's no different in the new company. Our British boss asked what do we normally do on Melbourne Cup day. Someone who also came from my old company replied we generally stop work from after lunch, have some drinks, watch the race, and continue drinking for the rest of the day.

The boss said Ok, let's do it!

What an easy-going boss. Lol.

3 horses died in the last 2 years of Melbourne Cup. 1 had heart attack and 2 were put to sleep because they broke a leg. Horses need all 4 legs to 'live'. If any is broken, they're better off dead than alive.

In my opinion, horses should be running freely in the woods.
They aren't born to be whipped.
They aren't born to go through trainings.
They aren't born to be transported in a confined space.
They aren't born to run in races and be the subject of gamble.

Hence, I'm not a fan of this race or any other things which involve animals kept in captivity and go through vigorous training - zoo, circus, water park, races, animal shows, etc.

For the first time in 4 months, the admin and I are on the same page.
We're more concern of the welfare of the horses than the half-day off, free lunch, drinks, bets, and adrenaline rush.
We excuse ourselves from the sweepstake and hope no horses die this year.

Each time after the race, the owners of the winning horse will be seen cheering, congratulating each other, and popping a champagne. First 10 horses will win some kind prize money.

What do the horses get?
A spa retreat?
A mane-cut and treatment?
A day off from track?
A bigger stable?
A sense of achievement and pride?

Nothing.

If I were a horse, I'd rather be left to starve in the woods than to be given hay, a stable, and beautiful shoes - things I wasn't born to need.

Put yourself in the horses' shoes...