nephew #2

a child and all the comfort in the world

While on a video call with my sister last night, my dear nephew came to interrupt.
He randomly said to me...

A: 二姨，我不能进去这个screen leh. (pointing at the screen).
Me: 进去screen? 为什么你要进去呢？你要来找我吗?
A: 我不能进去。我要去梦中。
Me: 梦中？Ok. 你可以在梦中见到二姨。我们在梦中meet咯。
A: 嗯。Hehe.

Perhaps he saw that I'm alone and wanted to be by my side?
Such a darling, as always.

For this season of love, hope, and joy, my sis got him to send out greeting cards to our loved ones far and near.
While he prepares the cards, he says his wishes and prayers for the respective recipients.

Greeting cards for loved ones.

Wishes for Eryi.

This kid has the most sympathetic and empathetic heart.
Who is sensitive with people's feelings.
Who is always making sure that no one is upset.
Who hopes that no one will be left alone in this world.
Who always gets worried when someone is unaccompanied, hence he always wants to make sure someone is with/around me while on video call. If he sees no one else, he would ask 二姨有谁跟你一起？二姨你一个人吗？二姨ML阿姨在哪里？
He just has to know that I'm not alone.

Thanks for coming into our lives, bringing joy and laughter with you.
As much as you're here to learn and grow, we are also learning from you as you grow each day.
Thanks for assisting us in becoming better adults.
Thanks for being the constant reminder, prompting us to be kind and patient.
Thanks for just being you.

Lastly, great thanks to the parents who brought up this wonderful kid.
It's the EQ not IQ which will help us through the hiccups in life and also make this world a better place.

not be taken for granted

be nice and kind

to those who deserves it

It happens all the time...
When you be all nice and kind, people take you granted.
They forget how hard it is to meet a nice and kind person in this harsh world.
They thought it's easy because they've met you.
They test your patience and assume you're here to stay and that your kindness is bottomless.
Then it becomes, the person nicest to them is not the person they're nicest to.
The person who will be there for them is not the person they'll be there for - any time anywhere.

Same goes to my dear flatmate.
When she told me her birthday's coming and that no one's celebrating with her, I bought her a cake.
When she told me she's suffering from some kind of anxiety, I thought I should give her a break and endure the messy kitchen and clean after her.
Then she brought her bf home, over and over again - ignoring the 'No BF' rules, as if it's not valid.
Then her bf kept complaining about the summer heat and turned on the aircond when a fan could have done a good job.
Then he did his week laundry and used dryer when the outdoor heat could have dried his clothes in 30 mins.
Then he cooked and messed up the kitchen.
Then they played hide and seek by 'pretending' to leave the place every night, but sneaked in 2 hours later as if I was dumb and wouldn't know he's back in the house.

I finally had enough of these. It's driving me nuts.
I sent her a text msg telling her that I know he has been sleeping over and reminding her the 'No BF' rule still applies.
It's not the best thing to type for a text.
It's my first ever flatmate 'confrontation' in 8 years.
I hope she keeps the reminder fresh in her head so I won't have to type another text like this.

Why do people have to take people for granted and force people to not be nice any more?

"the person nicest to them is not the person they're nicest to"

What happens to "What goes around comes around"?

guardian angel

just when you think no one's there, someone's watching over you

Last week...
Halfway through work, I took a look at my dear plant and realised.....it looks different.
I examined it closely for a moment to find that it has REAL scar.
Then I lifted the pot and found water vapour beneath it.
Then the pebbles started to look like they've grown bigger and gone loose.
Then the pot seemed to weigh more than before.

W.E.I.R.D.

I looked around to check if someone's actually playing a prank on me.
Everyone was concentrating on their monitor...
I looked at the plant again.
I needed a second opinion on this weird discovery so I invited my senior to come look at the plant.

Me: Do you think it looks REAL?
Senior: Huh? No. Ann said it's fake.
Me: Sure? But it looks real...today. See the scar.
Senior: Haha. No. It's fake. Ann said it's fake. She told me.
Me: It looks REALLYYY real. See hereeeee....

He looked at it very closely.

Senior: But it's rubber. See....(trying to break a leaf)

And the leaf broke!
We both got a shock. Hahaha.
Our eyes were popping out.

Senior: Oh no! Sorry I broke it. Poor thing.
Me: I thought it was fake?
Senior: Ya. What happened?!

And then a 3rd person said...'I think Derek did something to it last night.'

Me: Oh? You saw him coming around here?
3rd: I think so. Yeah.

Ok. That explained everything. Haha.

To add to the irony, we didn't realise it's a completely differently plant and species. We thought it was the same old fake plant with a new 'real' look.

Today, I was told that the manager specially ordered two real pots for me and another lady in the office. He secretly replaced the fake one.

Thank you very much. It makes my Happy Day. :)

itchy souvenir

A gift tells much of the giver and how the giver sees the receiver.

The gift itself is not important. It's the heart that counts.

So, my colleague bought me a souvenir from her holidays. 

It is a pretty cool and yummy tee. 

Don't quite know what 'Welch's' means but a search on Google says it's an American juice brand.

What does it tell of her? And what does it tell of what she thinks about me?

She probably loves juices and thinks I'm cool, funky, and artsy?  Hehehe.

The 3D 'water effect' on the tee makes me want to scratch them off.

Gahhhhhh~! I still love it though xoxo.

She also gave us a red pen each. Soft gel 0.5 mm tip with rubber grip.

Maybe she wants us to be more efficient in checking and marking up drawings. =_=""

Like students with their 'Back to School' shopping, she did her 'Back to Work' shopping.

I once told a friend that I will never buy something I dislike for someone else as a gift - though it could be suitable for that person, still I have to like it first. This could justify why we sometimes think that people tend to have the weirdest gift ideas (pranks aside). You may think that they should be giving you things that you like. On the other hand, they thought they have given you something precious; something they'd otherwise rather keep for themselves. 

This leads me to think that the Secret Santa who gave out two dozens of Ferrero Rocher in the 2014 mini Christmas party must love chocolate A LOT. Or the Santa knows the receiver is a chocolate lover? Or the Santa was trying to pull off a prank? Only Santa knows....

Regardless, giving is an act of kindness and generosity. Give sincerely without hoping for anything in return. Receive gratefully without hoping for something big.

It's the heart that counts, remember?