Happy Dragon Year ahead, to all of us

Wish you all be happy

Just like how important every morning is (the mood), it applies the same with the beginning of the new year. One bad mood in the morning can spoil the whole day. And one bad starting day in the new year can spoil the whole month or even year ahead. 

It sounds negative, doesn't it? 

But it is life. It does not always have to be good, bright, and happy. Sometimes we too have to encounter sadness, gloomy, and moody kinds.

We can easily blame it to others, like people, things, surroundings, but never to our own self. Maybe we will, but it takes time. 

What we dream of, imagine, or visualize, may be different from reality. Because it always takes two hands to clap. And we are all created differently. We have different passions, likes, interests, and so on. So it is unavoidable when things go haywire. 

What we expect and what actually happens. The responses differ too from one to another. Some will choose to voice up, and some will choose to keep quiet, and let the day goes by. And some will swallow it until it becomes full and unbearable. 

At this point of time one cannot help but to think negative and think too much. The hormone changes does not help either. One may want to isolate and be in itself own company. 

Buddha teaches us to let go the past and to treasure present moments. To live and to love. To have a peace of mind, eventually to be happy. 

That will be the calm reminder. To be humble too. To lower our own ego. To loose that strong-headed wire in the brain. To give in. And to forget. Perhaps, a hug will be great. 

When things get hard, think about the good ones. Find anything that you can feel grateful about. I am sure there are lots of it. You just have to find it harder.

I wish all of you to have a more loving, peaceful, and happy Dragon year ahead. It may not start beautifully. But with a little determination to change for the better, I am sure you can make it better. Because nothing stays permanent, the good, and the bad. Just do our best, to make it better and happier. Take care and all the best.

Today I became Aunty...

CNY is coming when... (Pic source: Facebook)

Well, yes, CNY or Chinese New Year is around the corner!!! In less than 10 days, most Singaporean is going to celebrate this big day with their family members. 

Last night I had drink with ST. My hubby joined us after finishing his work. He came panting as he was carrying a carton filled with 30 cans of Coca Cola. Alamak!!!

If 1 can was 320ml, 30 cans would be 9.6 kg. "It is one day offer," he said. "Only $9.95," he continued. And the place we went was just 2 LRT Station away. That was why he did not want to go home first and decided to carry it around.

Our beverage loots for CNY

This morning my hubby asked me to go for breakfast at coffee shop nearby. We had quite a heavy meal (luckily!), before I headed to the shopping mall nearby.

Initially I thought of browsing Uniqlo and buying clothes for CNY. But the shop would only open at 10am. I reached there around 9.20am. So I decided to roam at NTUC, the supermarket where we usually bought our groceries. 

And during this period (before CNY came), they would usually launch "Today Only" promotion, to attract customers to come and buy. 

As I reached the place, I saw people carrying packs of tissue paper. I did not think much though and kept going.

As I went inside, cartons of Pokka green tea stacked up like mountains. A signage was put there, "$4.65/ctn (U.P.$10.80)." Wahhh... what a bargain!!! 

This drink is a must-buy product during CNY because it tastes nice, and the size plus packaging is convenient to be offered to guests when they visit the house.

So other than getting dragon fruits, I carried one carton of the green tea and headed to self-payment cashier.

I carried it back home like carrying a baby in my arms (6 kg was not a joke for walking back home under the hot sun!!!). Hahahaha..  

Reaching home, my mother-in-law saw what I bought and I told her about the offer. She was cursing and swearing as she had already bought it earlier when the price was $6 plus per carton. Hahaha..... It reminded me of my bestie who purchased abalone the other day.

She bought it at $63 for 2 cans, and 3 days later, the price dropped to $28.6 per can (cheaper $2.90/ can or $5.80 for both cans). What to do???? When you thought price had already cheap, the one-day promo offered a much cheaper price than what already been offered previously.

Therefore, you cannot haste in buying as every year, NTUC would use the same strategy, offering "one day" special for their customers. 

Today Only Promotion by NTUC - 23 January 2022

You can check their promotion online by Googling NTUC promotion and click on their "Store Weekly Ads". You would find like shown at the above picture. 

As I saw today's offer, I could not stop myself for becoming Aunty today!!! When I said becoming Aunty, it means, 'Aunty likes to check prices, loves bargain and offer prices, then immediately go to store and shop!!!' Hahahaha.... ^^"

Despite I was just coming back from there under the hot sun, I decided to return back to the store with more purchases. Lol!!! And this time, I got myself well prepared.

A good management skill was required in order to have a smooth shopping experience. Hahahahaha.....

First, I planned what I was going to buy, by looking and analysing the offered price from that slide. Since it was "Today Only", I focused on purchasing only those items offered and required. 

Second, I imagined what to take first as I roughly knew where all the stuffs were usually stored. It means, I planned the route where to go (traffic planning hahahaha....)

Third, since it was going to be a heavy purchase, I did not want to carry it just like how I carried the Pokka green tea earlier. And my 2 hands would not be able to carry so much items. Therefore, I borrowed my mother-in-law's NTUC trolley to shop. Hahahaha....

Fourth, immediately went out from home despite a hot sun outside as it was better to shop early as many people would come later after lunch. Went early was recommended too to prevent items to be out-of-stock.

Fifth, planning how to go through payment without having to queue so long. The self-payment counter would be the faster option for payment but they only allowed a single basket items, as they only had limited space for the paid items to be put. Not forgetting to use my HPB or Health Promotion Board healthpoints reward voucher that I earned from sleeping above 7 hours per day.

My loots from Today Only offer from NTUC

Considering all the factors above, I managed to shop the above in 20-minutes time (from picking until paying). Plus another 20 minutes from and to home journey. Hahahaha..... 

CNY preparation

With 2 sets of promotion tissue paper and the above items inside the basket, I spent a little over $50 (after deducting the $10 HPB voucher). What a satisfying shopping experience!!! And this time, I did not have to carry anything, only pushing the trolley back home!!! Yay yay!!!!

Unforgettable Chinese New Year 2020

Last day of Chinese New Year

Today it marked the last day of Chinese New Year, which was also called Cap Go Meh (meaning the fifteenth lunar) or Yuan Xiao Jie 元宵节 (the Lantern Festival) or also known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

This year the atmosphere of the overall Chinese New Year was rather special and it was mainly due to the arrival of special guest from Wuhan, China - the Novel Coronavirus or nCoV- that spread not only to Chinese people or within China, but to any other nationalities and all over the world.

List of 33 confirmed cases and its relation up to 8 Feb 2020 (Pic source: CNA Channel News Asia)

Since Singapore was among the top countries often visited by Chinese people, whether it was for business, meetings, working, visiting, and so on, it was inevitable that the nCoV reached to us pretty soon.  This had caused a stir among Singaporean who rushed around trying to stock up masks, sanitizer, cleaning products as a way to prevent the spreading and maintain the personal hygiene.

Our Lohei or Prosperity Toss Platter from Chinatown Complex Singapore 

Yesterday my friends and I embraced ourselves to go to Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre in order to have our Lohei or Prosperity Toss celebration and dinner. Initially we were worried too to choose the place there because it was a well-known hawker visited by both local and tourists. But I thought that there was affordable and nice Yusheng there where I used to patronize years ago and I wanted to introduce it to my friends.

I was quite appalled when I saw no crowd. I mean, usually this place was crowded like hell! There would usually a plate of Yusheng ordered in every table and 'Huat ah' (meaning to welcome prosperity)  shouting would be heard one after another while tossing the mixed vegetables in the air).

With my Mala Partners ^_^

Even when we finished our dinner (around 8pm), the area was quiet. Many shops were closed too near the temple area. Souvenir shop seller complained to me that their sales were not even reaching S$500 on such Friday night as the result of nCoV.

Temporary ban visitor from China (Source: wikipedia. org)

From 1st Feb 23:59 our Singapore government had stopped anyone who had visited China for the past 14 days to enter, or transit through Singapore. Ahh..., no wonder lah why the tourist area became so quiet.

I also thought the MRT would be crowded and I would not get seat, but I was wrong. We managed to get seat and there were many empty seats on and off. When reaching home, I started checking my phone and receiving many pictures. Then only I realized where all the Singaporean went that night.

The DORSCON chart (Pic source: CNA Channel News Asia)

It was yesterday that the announcement of DORSCON alert were raised from Yellow to Orange. Many 'kiasu' (scared to lose) and 'kiasi' (scared to die) Singaporean were rushing down to supermarkets to hoard the basic necessity products, such as: rice, instant noodle, canned food, cleaning products, and so on. The supermarket website was also not functioning due to overwhelmed shoppers and not enough stocks.

Few photos circulated among social media while queuing at supermarket in Singapore

The photos of empty racks, super long queue, and people wearing funny stuffs were circulated around the social media, stirring panic not only within the country, but also affected our neighbor countries like Indonesia.

Today many Indonesian friends of mine sent me messages asking about the situation here. They were also receiving those photos circulated online and was wondering how Singapore had become like this while there was no single case up to now in such a huge country with more than 260 million citizens in Indonesia. They conveyed their worries towards my families and my safe being.

Wuhan Virus VS Kiasi Virus (Pic source: Facebook)

Even this Saturday morning when I walked to supermarket to see the situation myself, as early as 9.30 am, a super long queue had already been there. Everyone was having shopping cart full of things both at upper and bottom part of the cart. They stood there and were patiently waiting for their turn to pay. I saw many unattended carts and baskets too that were abandoned by shoppers who did not have patient to wait for their turn.

Non of our family members were hoarding stuffs like that, thankfully!!! Because we had stored just enough food for our daily necessities which I had bought during CNY promotion period, such as: 5 packs of instant noodles, 2 packs of egg noodles, 2 packs of 5 kg rice for the families of 5 at home. I considered it to be enough for the time being and truthfully I would not feast on instant noodle on my daily meal. I would rather buy vegetable from nearby supermarket and eat it with, just enough for our meal. Otherwise we could still purchase bread from the convenience shop.

Another picture distributed online (Pic source: Facebook)

And since I stopped working, I had a habit of taking simple meal in my everyday's life. Plus I believed in 'I eat to live rather than I live to eat.' So basically my hubby and I took this incident calmly and I could relax at home reading and sleeping rather than queuing at the supermarket.

So far I also had not worn any single mask even when going out. The only mask that I had was the 4-piece mask that our government distributed once per household (which apparently not enough for 5 of us, but eventually, we still had to feel grateful as not every government gave out the mask away to their citizen, ie. Hong Kong, no matter how little the number given was). And although I had the hand sanitizer, I never brought it with me as I had no habit in using it and believed more in the power of washing hand with soap or using wet tissue to clean hands when required.

There was no spray to kill bacteria too at home. The most we added on was adding a small cap of Dettol into our washing machine when washing clothes to kill the germs, that's all.

Full moon at Buddha Tooth Relic Temple - Singapore 070220

No one knew when this virus would stop spreading. In fact, there were still many people not yet coming back to Singapore due to the travel ban (including 30,000 Chinese national who held work permit here in Singapore). It was definitely affecting the economy (especially on tourism and airlines), which reminded many people of 2003 SARS outbreak.

For now we could only pray that we could overcome this storm peacefully and prayed hard that the situation would be under control. May all sentient beings be healthy and happy, free from suffering and the cause of suffering, life full of peace and joy. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. 

Update news as Sunday 9 Feb 20 (Pic source: the Straits Times)

P.S This morning 9 Feb 20 when I woke up, 7 new cases were announced and it had added to a total 40 cases, and this time it even included the Taxi and private hire car drivers, which were worrying as many people were expected to be fetched in and out every day in their course of work.

However, do not let our guards down to prevent the virus by keeping up with the personal hygiene practice, staying at home more when necessary (instead of roaming around), taking care our health by eating healthy food, drinking more water, vitamin, honey (to increase immune system), and so on. Keep calm and stay away from rumour, which only added unnecessary fear and distress. Stay strong Singapore and let's join hand together to overcome this wave. Take care and good luck!!!

(Fyi, to read the latest Singapore news you could visit the MOH website, CNA or Channel News Asia, the Straits Times (Singapore local newspaper), and so on).

Third Year with the Family

Thousand Layer Cake (Indonesian Kue Lapis)

Yayyyy!!! Finally!!! Today is the last day of working my part time job!!! It is my third year helping the family baking the thousand layer cake (known as Indonesian kue Lapis). Read here for the post I wrote when working there on my first year :)

Unfortunately due to an incident, our Lady Boss passed away last year on a Good Friday. And this year, her daughter, son, and husband, continue running the shop and selling the Chinese New Year goodies to cater to the needs of their customers (many are very loyal customers who have been shopping here since the shop was opened, and otherwise were a very good friend of the Lady Boss). P.S. Although she is no longer here, I still called her my 'Lady Boss'.

Baking kue lapis

Her daughter was messaging me somewhere in mid December and asking me if I would be available to help up to bake for this CNY. After confirming that I would not go anywhere this time round, I told her about my availability and started work on December 23. So it was exactly a month since I started it (with many holidays in between). And the pain from my previous post was caused by doing this job.

That is why I am so happy that finally the work is over and it is time for all of us to take a good rest and celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year together with dear families and friends :)

Without the Lady Boss around, her daughter was taking in charge and managing the operations to ensure that they had enough stock to make the goodies, enough supplies to sell, delivery of goods to come on time, enough manpower to do the necessary work, and so on. And she was very lucky as she had handful of trusted workers who knew their roles and responsibilities, who were reliable for doing the given tasks, honest in handling the money and doing the job well, etc.

Many of the employees were in retired ages (above 60s) - were working there for so many years (more than a decade), hired by the Lady Boss.

The eldest one on her last day of work (See her happy face??? :D)

The oldest one is 87 years old this year and she works only during this period helping up with shaping the pineapple tarts. Second oldest is 75 years old and she is still very strong like a bull!!! :D

Despite the Lady Boss was no longer there, the workers were still working very hard and supporting the business as much as they could. But of course the daughter has continued treating us very well too!!!

Yum yum.... Tasty right??? :D

She was treating us a sumptuous dinner on one of the day after we finished working, as her and her families appreciation towards our dedication and hard work. Sometimes she also bought dinner for staffs who worked until very late. On our last day we were given the CNY goodies to be shared with our families and friends at home.

I am very thankful for being given the trust and opportunity to work here again this time round. Even though this was only a once a year task and causing many body pains, I enjoyed the baking process very much. Perhaps it is the passion that motivated me to be there every morning. No doubt it was a very tiring job although it was only 8 hours a day. But at the end of the day, by baking the cakes well and making enough quantity to sell was satisfying.

The memory of the Lady Boss was always around especially when I was baking, as she, was the one who taught me personally on how to do it.

I do not know yet if next year I will still have the chance to work like this again (who knows I will return back to full time employment again right?)

But if I am free and available, I will be happy to help up again. For now, I have done enough and it is a time to have a good rest and let me preparing the upcoming Rat Year!!!

Everyone as a team :)

As a closure let me share the group photo above, taken during the staff dinner. No Lo Hei shouting was done though to respect the departure of the Lady Boss (still less than a year's time), but the food ordered was all delicious. We enjoyed a lot.

Thank you again to you know who you are for everything!!! May the business continues doing well and everything goes smoothly. Most important everyone is blessed with good health, peace, joy, luck and happiness in their lifetime!!! Huat ahhh!!!!!! :)

Outer Mongolia - Introduction (Part 1)

Chinggis Statue - Outer Mongolia

One fine afternoon I had tea with Susan at Serangoon NEX. Suddenly she asked me if I was interested to join the tour to Outer Mongolia. I knew her not so long ago. She loved travelling and had traveled to lots of places around the world. She did many research on travel lobang during her free time and it was one of her enjoyment. She told me about a travel agent that offered this tour, and especially for this, they even chartered a flight for this destination. I asked her about the price and everything, and agreed to her almost immediately.

Lovely view of sheeps and goats living in harmony :) - Beautiful Mongolia!!!

23 years ago I visited the Inner Mongolia, which was a part of China. It was the my first time experiencing the local China tour from Beijing, together with my schoolmates. It was also my first time experiencing desert, grasslands, drinking horse milk, and staying a night inside the Mongolia tent (ger).

A place rich in nature - Outer Mongolia

I thought, well, it was 23 years ago, and I had never been to Outer Mongolia before. Though their lifestyle might be similar, but I was sure that there must have differences between the two countries, especially under different governance. But what attracted most to me from this tour, was that the itinerary included the visit to 3 different Buddhist temples. For the past few years I had grown much interest in visiting different Buddhist temples from all over the world. I just felt I was very lucky and had great fate in visiting those places, to pay respect to the guru Buddha, and feel at peace.

With travel buddies exploring Mongolia!!! :)

After both of us signed up, our two Bhutanese friends also showed their interests in visiting this country and four of us were just nice became the travel buddy for this trip, sharing our room and ger,  exploring places, and spending most of our time together.

The capital of Outer Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar city

For the start, let me share a little bit information about Mongolia (also known as North or Outer Mongolia). The capital, and also their largest city is Ulaanbaatar.

Vast and empty - Outer Mongolia

At more than 1.5 million sq km, Mongolia is the 18th-largest and the most sparsely populated sovereign state in the world, with population of only 3 million people. Wow!!! Can you imagine??? Compare it to Singapore that has only 723 sq km with almost 6 million population!!! :D

Ger at country side - Outer Mongolia

30% of Mongolia population is nomadic or semi-nomadic. The majority of its population believes in Buddhism, where the second biggest one believes in nothing (bon - Shamanism). Tibetan Buddhism spread in Mongolia in 16th century and by early 1900s, almost one-third of the adult male population were Buddhist monks.

Gandan Tegchinlen Monastery in Ulaanbaatar - Mongolia (Main center of Mongolian Buddhism)

However in 1911, after the collapse of Qing dynasty, Mongolia declared its independence and shortly came under the control of Soviet Union, whom had aided to achieve the country's independence from the hand of China. And in the late 1930s, the regime had sadly closed almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries and killed at least 30,000 people, of whom 18,000 were lamas. With it, the number of Buddhist monks dropped drastically from 100,000 in 1924 to only 110 in 1990. With the fall of communism in 1991, the country had managed to restore the religious practice back. It also allowed other religions (Christian and Catholics) to spread in the country. (Source: wikipedia.org)

Ovoo or sacred stone heaps in Outer Mongolia

Ovoo are sacred stone heaps used as altars or shrines in Mongolia folk religious practice. It is made of rocks with woods. It is often found on top of the mountains and high places. We saw it often throughout our journey. It serves as site to worship heaven and lesser gods led by Shaman, and also for Buddhist ceremony. When traveling, it is common to see people circling it three times on clockwise direction with a hope of having a safe journey.

Mongolians

Their official language is Mongolian and their current second language is English (replacing Russian - although Russian language is still frequently spoken there). And surprisingly, Korean language has also gained popularity there as ten of thousands Mongolians work in South Korea. The influence of Korea in the country is very significant as well. Many Korean companies, restaurants, stuffs, food and beverages, are there.

Common industrious area just outskirts of Ulaanbaatar city - Mongolia

Coal mining outskirts the Ulaanbaatar city - Mongolia

Their two biggest economic activities are in minerals mining (coal, gold, copper, etc.) and agriculture (herding as well). The country produces second biggest Cashmere in the world (after China).

Ulaanbaatar city view from Zaisan Hill - Outer Mongolia

The contrast of high rise buildings with traditional tent located at the surrounding of Ulaanbaatar city - Mongolia (Photo courtesy: Sherab Tenzin)

According to our local guide, in city like Ulaanbaatar, the citizen must buy land or own apartment, while in countryside they can stay every where and move around wherever they like. The rental cost of 2-bedroom apartment in city area is around USD$500/month. As for the ger, it is usually stayed by people with lower income. They do not pay for central heat as it is not available. They still use things like wood, clothes to burn and generate heat for them to keep warm, especially in winter times. That is why the air pollution has become more prominent in Ulaanbaatar as many ger set up surrounding the city, not yet those mining activities that is also happening not far from it. And therefore, many people prefer staying in smaller town to avoid the air pollution.

Mixture of housing and ger (Mongolia tents) at countryside - Mongolia

How Mongolian 'chop' or reserve their plot of land (using half-cut tyre) so that other people will not occupy the space

Mongolian government gives 700 sqm land in small village for free to all citizens. If nearer to Ulaanbaatar, they are given only 500 sqm. Many have used it to plant vegetable or rent it to company. For nomadic people, during winter time they will stay in front of big mountains to protect them from wind. During summer they will move four to five times depending on where the grass grow.

Livestock everywhere you go in Mongolia

Generally Mongolian eat lots of meat like beef, mutton and chicken with very less fish. During summer they eat meat lightly and eat more dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, curd, and so on. While in winter they eat more heavy food to survive (meaning more meat). Many of them depend their income from cashmere (sheep wool), meat and dairy production. People from city buy all those products from them. So they are all food self-sufficient and able to consume healthier local products.

Nadaam Festival celebrating 3 manly sports in Mongolia - wrestling, horse racing and archery (Photo courtesy: journeyinmongolia.com)

They celebrate 2 big festival every year. First one is Tsagaan Sar (Mongolian Lunar New Year) - usually in end of January or February, and another one is Naadam Festival - celebrated every summer throughout Mongolia across every province, in most towns and villages. They celebrate their three manly sports, the proud of Mongolians, which are: horse racing, wrestling, and archery.

Well, hope with that information, you can imagine how Mongolia as a country look like and how their people live their life. More about the places will come at next posts :)

New year wishes for you :)

Wish everyone a wonderful 'Dog' year ahead!!!

Hi hi, it's been a while since my last post. First of all, let me wish everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Losar Tashi Delek to those who celebrate!!!

Happy Losar Tashi Delek la!!! :)

Wish everyone be blessed with good health, lots of love, luck, wealth, joy, and happiness in your life especially this 'Dog' year.

Those who are studying, may you can study well, pass your exam successfully with flying colours and continue pursuing your next level according to your wishes and dreams!!!

Those who are working, may you have happy environment not only happy and satisfied with your work, but also with boss and colleagues. May you get whatever things you think you deserve to get.

Those mama who stay at home being home maker or housewife, may your hard works paid off with the love given by your spouse and children. To see them eating well, properly clothed, healthily growing up, life full of laughter would be the best contentment you get.

Those who are unemployed and currently looking for a job, may you find it soon, hopefully, according to what you want.

Fall in love with yourself :)

Those who is single, may your wishes come true. If you're looking for a wonderful partner, may you're blessed with one. If you prefer stay single and lead a life full of freedom, may you stay that way happily.

Those who are in a relationship, may your relationship remains happy and loving. If you think of going into a further step like getting married, may you both be blessed with good fate and karma so that it can go on smoothly. But if you both are not ready for marriage and prefer to enjoy this state of relationship, go ahead and enjoy while you can. No matter what it is, stay faithful and loyal to each other.

Those who are already married, wish you are happy with your married life. No one is born perfect, including ourselves. So give and take, complete what lacks in other with your capabilities and make it workable. Shower it with lots of love each and everyday. In times of giving up, remind yourself why you both were together at the very first place, think again if it's fixable and worth keeping.

We complete each other perfectly :)

We all know life is full of challenges. No one passes through life without fights, challenges, hard work. We've all gone through it. As long as we are not giving up, we all can go through all the obstacles and challenges that we have in our lives. It's how our mind take it.

Take good care of your health! Watch what you eat. Do exercise regularly. Exercise not only body but also our mind. Practise mediation as much as you can (a good reminder for myself :P). Balance your activities well.

You must have read or listened to the above advices a thousand times but it isn't harm to read and listen to it another time. Sometimes we need the reminder to keep ourselves alive.

Let's make a wish!!!

Live well
Love much
Laugh often
Meditate regularly
Pray everyday
May all your wishes and dreams come true and have a wonderful year ahead!!! :)

Letter of Gratitude

"If only we are willing to try" - Rimareyka.writes 

Everything happened for a reason. You heard what I wished and everything came at the perfect place and time. Although it's something I'd never done before, although the place was so far away, it didn't stop me from trying. You gave me accompany to start and end it together.

There, I learned many lesson from the wise and someone who had a compassionate heart. Everyday I listened to her story, be the listener, of her sometimes repeating story. But it taught me many things. About life especially. About hardship, kinship, honesty, high-spirit or determination in overcoming life's challenges, trust, honesty, love, faith, gratitude, and so on.

"No one says it is easy, but it is worth it" - Rimareyka.writes

There, I saw how miracles working to someone who put a faith in you, never gave up in praying and left everything into your hand. In times of need, someone appeared on her door and offered help; goods available upon needed; and I could see how people were coming back to her store again and again.

It might not only because of things that she was selling, but I could see how she treated them well over almost three decades of building trust, give only good materials so that it was worth the price they paid, and love-hate relationship with them. She knew the names of most her customers cum friends, because every time she met someone new, she always asked for their names and she'd remember it for a long time.

"Nothing is permanent. Treat people well" - Rimareyka.writes

In these short 3 weeks, I could feel how kind and compassionate she was as a human being. She was there before, tough times, that's why she could understand their plight, and able to offer help without thinking any second. I saw her handed few ten dollar notes to her old friend, who came from faraway just to buy her products, in raining day, with pulling cart, and asked that lady to reach home by taxi instead of bus. She thanked my friend's hubby in person for letting my friend spending her time working at her shop. Wasn't it amazing?? Her power of gratitude amazed me!

She respected everyone she met and knew. But, never offend her once as she would remember it all her life!!!

Doing my favorite things :)

With this opportunity, I could spend my time productively, do my favorite things (such as reading books, thinking and writing poems/ quotes, listening to Buddhist chants during traveling from and to work by MRT plus bus), distract me from unnecessary thought, and with the earning, I could purchase things that I need and use it for many other purposes.

With dear colleagues :)

Today was my last working day. Although this might be the end, we shall meet again next time when fate allows us to. Or to join the force again next upcoming Chinese New Year.

Before leaving she thanked me for my help for the past three weeks and gave me many things (such as: handmade kueh lapis or thousand layer cake, home baked pineapple tarts, pandan plants) plus a red packet filled with bonus money as good luck for the upcoming Dog year. I thanked her back - not with goodies (as she has plenty of it in store) - but with my prayer, gratitude, and heartfelt wishes so that she and her families would be blessed all the time with good health, wealth, luck, love, joy, happiness, dreams come true, plus this letter of gratitude on this blog post.

 With the strong, compassionate and wonderful lady - Tante Lina :)

Thank you SB for everything that happened to me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. It's been a wonderful start and I feel very grateful for it. Hope things go equally well for the rest of the year and may all sentient beings be happy and healthy, free from suffering, life full of peace and joy. And may God and Buddha bless Tante Lina and her families always! :)