Happy Birthday dear Baobei!!!

Today is another special day for me and Baobei. It reminds me eleven years back when I was in the KK Hospital and entered the Operating Theater, to have a Caesarian delivery of my dear boy. As for today, he has grown up tall and 'fat'- hehe... He is still cute sometimes with his thick cheek and chin. I love kissing on his both cheeks and hugging him closely to me.

I took Childcare Leave today. Starting this year, Singaporean parents who have children age 7 to 12 years old are entitled to have 2 days leave. Previously this policy didn't exist. Therefore, I still can enjoy this benefit for two years :)

At first I planned to bring him to Adventure Cove Waterpark at Sentosa Island. But I changed the date into one of the weekdays next week as my hubby will have his days off and my brother's daughter can also join us. So 4 of us will make better partners and more fun!!! Hope the weather won't be too hot or rain too much!!!

Recently my families and I were affected quite badly by watching too many of Korean variety show - Running Man, Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) - recently held in Hong Kong, Korean series (Strange Housekeeper, The Master's Sun, The Heirs), etc. Many Korean pop songs from famous Korean band and singers can be found inside my hand phone music list now and soon I'll be flying to Korea... lolx!!!

Sometimes we would see many Korean food being made, prepared, or eaten during the show, and every time I could hear my son wishing to eat this and that. Hahaha..... So, as today is his special day, I prepared few Korean dishes for dinner.

Shopped Korean ingredients :)

 
Since yesterday, I browsed online on what to prepare and how to prepare the food. During lunch time, I went buying special ingredients at Korean specialty shop. This morning, I woke up early too so that I could go to market and buy fresh meat, seafood, and vegetables.
 

Homemade Korean style cucumber pickles - Crunchy and nyummy!!! :)

Once reached home I prepared the first dish - see above photo, cucumber pickles :) I bought 8 pieces of Japanese cucumber, sliced it round, chopped the shallots, garlic, added vinegar, sugar, salt, and Korean chilli flakes. Mixed it using hands (with plastic glove) and store it inside the chiller, let it cool! Didn't expect that it tasted really good! Hehehe... It's my first time making such a nice pickle!! ^^

At first, I planned to make 4 dishes. However, since I had to prepare and cook it alone (with my son's help sometimes), I only managed to cook 3 types. I didn't know that it took so much time to prepare it all. Alamak!!! While preparing the ingredients, I would take a look at the recipes, check if I prepared it correctly and do it in right way. Hahahaha...... Really had to multitask ya...

So, here is the food that I cooked:

1. Doenjang Jjigae or Korean Soybean Paste Stew

Doenjang Jjigae - Soybean Paste Stew

It's not difficult to make and prepare. Since there were quite number of people eating, I had to cook it in one big pot. Ingredients used: zucchini, enoki mushroom, tofu, onion, red chilli, garlic, spring onion, Doenjang paste, Korean chili flakes, and anchovies soup powder. It tasted good. All of my family members enjoyed it. It's not spicy.

2. Japchae (Korean Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Noodles)

Japchae - Korean Stir Fry Noodles

I spent lots of time to prepare this one as it involved quite number of ingredients, such as: marinated pork, sliced onion, chopped garlic, sliced Shitake and oyster mushroom, spinach, and the noodles itself. I had to cook each ingredients one by one and added some sauces to make it tasty. At the end, mixed all ingredients and cooked it one more time. Not bad! :)

3. Haemul Pajeon or Seafood Pancake

Haemul Pajeon - Korean Seafood Pancake

I mixed the flour with fresh prawn, squid or sotong, spring onion, sliced onion, and chilli. This food was quite easy to prepare too and I cooked this few times before. Like usual, the taste was good hehehehe....

I think I needed about 2.5 hours to finish cooking it hahaha.... But they all enjoyed it. It felt good when they satisfied with your cooking. You would immediately forget about all the troubles to prepare ^^

After taking a bath, it's time to cut the cake :)

Happy Birthday dear Baobei!!!

He enjoyed the food very much! I'm glad he did! Btw, he chose the cake above. It's a black forest cake. Nyummy!! Tasted really good!!! Well dear, hope you will remember each Birthday that we celebrated together. I may not be able to be beside you in your every Birthday in the future, just hope you are happy and treasure the moments that we share together. Wish you blessed with good health and life full of joy and happiness!!! Hope you study well too!! Love you dear... Muach!!!

Oh, btw, yesterday 1212 came out on 4D result. It was consolation prize. I didn't buy though, but my mother-in-law bought it and won some money. Hahaha.. Not bad ya? Hope my luck will come soon :D

P.S. My son was very happy with the meal. When opening his birthday gift, he told me, "Mummy, this will be my Christmas present." I said, "No,  this is your birthday present." He smiled and said, "This is my Christmas present. You know what my birthday present is?" "What?" asked me.  He said, "Just now the Korean food that you cooked was my birthday presents." Ooohhh.... "Sssshhhhhh......." I could hear my heart melted. He kept saying, "I love you Mummy" as he was too happy with the special meal I cooked ^^ I love you too Baobei! It felt good when people appreciated your hard work, seriously!  My sis-in-law and hubby were complaining that they ate too full because the food was so nice hehehe....

The Heart is Noble by His Holiness The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

I only learned about his name around last two weeks ago when my friend who messaged me through We Chat recommended me to meet His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, if I happen to visit Dharamsala. I browsed his name through Google to find out more about who he is.

The Heart is Noble by HH The Karmapa

Funnily, when I browsed the books in the library just the weekend after that, I found his book on the shelf, as if it’s my fate and destiny to find out more about his teaching and his thinking, which was pretty much related to our daily lives as human being. The book is still very new, nicely wrapped in transparent plastic, printed only this year. Inside my heart, I felt very much grateful because despite being far away from those Gurus, I was still able to read or hear their teaching from their books or from their website. But I am still hoping that one day I will be able to meet them in person :)

Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in Lhatok Township, Qamdo County in Tibet on 26th June 1986. At the age of 14, he escaped to India through Nepal and currently resides in Gyuto Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamsala.

Recently I’ve heard many about those Gurus, who have been reincarnated as human being from their previous life. But they all have specific purposes, which are to continue the Buddha’s teaching from one generation to another, which is true enough that we need them to pass on the Dharma, to guide us, to teach us, and how to find the meaning and purposes in our lives.

Lately I’ve been thinking and wondering, why are we here for? What are our purposes in this life? How to have a meaningful life? And so on. It is either I think too much, or I get lost. Sometimes I feel that I am in deep need of having a teacher to teach me all these, also to meditate. I also have a feeling that there is a need for me to go out to society, to contribute something to them. I feel that I am too self-centered, only think about what I want, need, love to do, do what I love, but there is extremely lacking of sharing my time and effort to those who need it.

You know what? Whenever I had those questions in mind, somehow, I could find the answers from the book that I read, from the video that I watched, as if they knew what I was thinking and helped me with the answers.

Wise words from HH the 17th Karmapa

From this book, there are many topics described by the Karmapa that are useful for me. E.g.: Healthy Relationships: Orienting Ourselves toward Others. He wrote about the Hook of Attachment – it awoke me the difference between love and attachment and realized that somehow we, as human being, might fell into this problem unknowingly, which was quite a serious problem.

“When you truly love someone, they are extremely precious to you – as valuable to you as your own life. You cherish them even more than yourself. But when you are attached to people, you see them as existing in your life to fill your needs or to make you happy."

He also mentioned, “Love is a huge and expansive practice, a great and noble practice. It is like a tree, needs to grow continually, yielding fresh cycles of leaves and flowers and fruit. If this stops, the tree stagnates and eventually dies.”

It is interesting to read this: “I have observed a strange idea of love that many people seem to have: they see love as a kind of gift that has to be given back. Someone says, “I love you,” and if the other person does not reply with an “I love you, too,” the first person gets upset. But love doesn’t always have to be reciprocated. We can just love. If love doesn’t come back to you, it is still love that you give and that you feel. We do not always have to look to get something back for what we give, do we?”

Those who have heart broken, the above sentence may be helpful, to think from the other point of view. It is kinda hurt and hard to accept, but however, if we are willing to learn, accept and change our thinking, we will be able to love in different way, with no attachment but just let the loved one be happy with their lives. “When it is a separation or breakup that ends a relationship, you can reflect that this too is simply the natural outcome of impermanence. You shouldn’t be shocked or surprised at all, even if you feel pain for some time. Change is an integral and inevitable part of life. You can acknowledge that fact, and reflect that change is not necessarily always bad, even if you yourself did not choose it.”

Other chapter he wrote about is Consumerism and Greed: We are the agent of the change in consumerism. We should understand at the first place about greed and how dangerous it is if we are blinded by it. We need to distinguish between wants and needs and buy only what we need - “In the end, it is up to each of us to determine what money and the things that money buys are really worth to us. It is up to us to decide how much energy to devote to the pursuit of money and possessions, as opposed to the pursuit of real happiness.”

Here is what I love most: “Do you want to let yourself be defined by your possessions or by your job? I mean this as a serious question, because you could identify yourself with your job or your money or your possessions. Or you could identify yourself with your inner qualities and with happiness. It really is up to you.” In real life, we often find people define themselves by their possession and their status, like how much they earn yearly, what post they are holding, and so on. How many would identify themselves with their inner qualities and happiness? Hopefully we too, do not judge people solely and blindly by their possession and status. There are much more important things than what you can see from the outside, including their appearance.

The Karmapa started to be vegetarian in year 2007. In his book – Food Justice, he wrote on why he did that and why he encouraged others to do the same. Most people are unable to become vegetarian due to two things, which are: desire and habit.  Hmm… I admit that I am one of those who still can’t do it. No matter I know what the reasons and why it’s better if we do that, I still can’t do it in practice.

“Each person must find his or her own path. Nonetheless, seek guidance from wise and compassionate people and listen to them earnestly. This will help you find the best way to proceed – now and in the future.” - Karmapa on Guidance

The other interesting chapter is Spiritual Paths: Integrating Life and Spirituality. Here, he led us on how to integrate our lives in spiritual ways, e.g.: to find a spiritual teacher that you can trust, which can come from elders or from books; Join in the community – friends who share your spiritual interest; Keep it simple in discovering what already exists within us; Go ahead and doubt – one that is useful for spiritual growth; Staying mindful of happiness – as our primary aim of a spiritual path is true happiness. We could create authentic, real happiness, simply because we have a noble heart and human intelligence. We use these two essences to discover the meaning of our life.

“Spirituality is a process of self-discovery. You cannot discover what is not within your own experience. Your spirituality has to be developed within you. One of our most important challenges in life is to remain mindful of who we are and what we are doing. To keep this awareness present all the time is a great support for spiritual growth. One aspect of a spiritual life is to live consciously. For that, we need to be as fully aware as possible. Without mindfulness, we end up sleepwalking through life. We act without realizing what we are doing.”

“Just simply relax and rest in your own natural state is all that you need to do. When you give yourself that opportunity, you’ll find that presence extends to the other parts of your life.” - Karmapa on Meditation

His Holiness Karmapa also put an emphasis on Embracing Diversity as we are living in a society with a diversity of religious beliefs around the world by putting our own tolerance, respect, and love into practice.

In Chapter 12, Sustainable Compassion – Grounding Ourselves in Courage and Joy, he wrote about Our Noble Heart of Compassion. “Compassion is not something new that we need to acquire or engineer for ourselves. It is already present within each one of us. No matter how seemingly bad a person is, they still have compassion as a fundamental, integral part of their nature. We all do. For that reason, our compassion will never be depleted. It has a sustaining power in and of itself. 

However, although we all have compassion as part of our nature, there are differences in how we develop and apply it. People have different aptitudes and aspirations that shape how their compassion manifests. When our compassion has grown past our personal limitations, it can become a limitless wish to benefit all beings – each and every being, everywhere.”

Coloring Life with Compassion – “We can color our whole life with kindness, transforming our everyday activities and suffusing our everyday ways of being with human warmth. This can happen. Our life can be translated into love.” 

He said, “We can work out the compassion in two directions: outward and inward. Inward, in Buddhism called renunciation, is the wish to turn away from everything that causes suffering. We are not rejecting things themselves, but we are rejecting our attachment to those things, whatever things that causes us pain and dissatisfaction and this includes the endless pursuit of empty sense pleasures. It is a wise way of caring for ourselves. When compassion is turn outward, this is what we call compassion, as we want others to be free from suffering as well as everything that causes their suffering.”

“Human beings are the most intelligent and resourceful species on earth. If we use our intelligence to cause more suffering, rather than to bring some real benefit to others and ourselves, we are no better than beasts.” - Karmapa on Intelligence

At the last chapter, The Karmapa leaves us to continue cultivating the habit of extending our love and compassion outward to all being by increasing our awareness of our own noble heart in our everyday activities. He again mentioned the interconnection and interdependence on all issues he discussed in his book, that all things are inseparable. For that reason, our inner growth and goodness that we contribute to the world can truly help make the world good and all of us can change the world this way, from the inside out.

“Interdependence has many implications – practical, emotional, spiritual, and ethical. Interdependence means that your happiness and mine are connected. Practically and emotionally, your happiness is bound up with the welfare of all those you are connected to or depend on. Spiritually, your happiness comes from finding the right balance of caring for others and caring for yourself. Ethically, it is right for you to respond with gratitude and kindness to those who have given you everything that you require to live and to be happy. Because you rely on others for everything you need to flourish or even just to survive, you have a responsibility to care for them. It also means you are in a position to fulfill that responsibility, because your actions affect others deeply, too. Your awareness of interdependence is essential for the kind of positive change you want – and need – to make in the world. 

The other condition needed in order to allow you to change the world for the good is your sustained attitude of caring. Your compassionate outlook cannot merely be based on being in a supportive environment. Your loving concern for others and your commitment to act must rooted deep within you. Live and act in the fullness of your love and affection for all beings. Take them with you wherever you go.”

As part for closing words, I love the way he said it, “Although we may not have met in person, we need not be distant from each other mentally. Our affection for each other can keep us close. We can remain united through the goodness of our hearts. We can always see the stars twinkling in the sky. In the same way, wherever you are in the world, you can be a lamp brightening the space around you. You will always have your own light to shine. You can be a lamp dispelling not only any darkness in your own outlook, but radiating enough light to brighten the world around you as well.”

It is as if he knows I will one day read his book when I need guidance on where to go, and to find the meaning of life. Thank you for the good karma given. Your book has opened my heart and mind. I may not be able to do all that you wish for, but hopefully I do the best I can starting with changing my own self and walking into the right direction.

“Remember: there is no fixed starting point for you to begin from to accomplish whatever you aspire to achieve. Changing the world for the good can start from right where you are, right now. I hope you will remember this, always." - HH The Karmapa

My True Love

There was once someone asking me, “Tell me, who is your true love?” I couldn’t answer it as I never thought of what ‘true love’ means. Since I didn’t know what it means, how could I answer that question??

So, tell me, what is true love??

I tried to search in Google, perhaps I could find the meaning of it. There were many descriptions mentioned in different ways, from different religions and background, making me so headache. For me, it was just too much. Hahaha… In fact, how to describe true love was indeed that much!!! Instead of describing here what true love was, I decided to just describe about my true love here, based on my own experience :)

 
My True Love

He is not necessarily handsome, but he is good-looking and well-built, strong enough to protect me and my family.

He is not necessarily highly educated, in fact he is not, but he is intelligent in many other ways (that I don’t possess) – can say that we complete each other weaknesses.

He is not rich in money, but he is rich at heart. Poor now doesn’t mean poor forever. As long the person is willing to work hard and never gives up, he will earn enough for the family's needs.

He is smoker. I don’t like him smoking, but I never ask him to quit. He is mature enough to decide what’s good for him. It’s his own life anyway. Same as he never stops me to quit drinking. Just do things what we love to do – Fair enough I guess? ;)

He doesn't own car or big house. What I need just a roof to shelter us safely. After all, we build our own house together many years after we got together. Car?? It’s not a necessity here as we are spoilt with choices and convenient public transport. After all, Singapore is just a small red dot in the globe.

Both of us, surprisingly, have different hobbies and likes in life.

He loves chatting with his sisters and mom in the living room, while I love chatting with family and friends online and browse Internet until late night.

He loves playing games, any kind of games – computer games, console games, iPhone games, etc., while I think playing games are just wasting of time. I prefer spending my time reading and blogging.

He loves and spends lots of his time watching TV and movies online while I prefer writing my diary and journal.

He loves to spend his time at home during his off-day while me? Needless to say, I love traveling as if it’s my Oxygen in life :)

He can contact and meet his best friends who live in Singapore as often as I meet my best friends who are staying overseas. Hahaha….

He speaks Hokkian (dialect) and I speak Indonesian. Although we’ve been together for more than a decade, we still can’t master the other party’s language. We don’t even bother to learn more actually. So I would be the deaf when he was conversing in Hokkian with his family members and he would be the deaf when I was conversing in Indonesian with my family members ^^

He loves cold while I prefer to hide under my blanket. Because of this we often fight 'not to turn the fan on' since the air-con is on, before we both fell asleep :P

Sometimes I wonder, with so many differences, how come we can stand to stay together for so long???

Which means, there must be similarities or something that we both enjoy doing!!!

We both love eating – in fact, most of our dating times were spent for ‘makan’ session - and we eat almost everything (He once said that it’s impossible for him to have a wife who is vegetarian, lolx!)

We both believe in same religion. I first fell in love with him when I saw the mini Buddha’s statue in his van (working’s vehicle). I was surprised that he was a Buddhist, which was beyond my expectation in finding my partner in life :) 

We both encourage each other using Buddhist's teachings. There were times we were troubled with things around us. At times, we would remind each other about what Buddha taught us and tried to apply it in our situation, and then, we would feel much better. I came to understand the importance of a couple having the same belief in life and how much they commit to follow the teaching in their lives.

We both respect each other’s family members and believe the importance of family's values. I lived with all of his family members after since I committed the rest of my life with him. I had to respect all, old and young (including the family’s pet), in order to live in peace and harmony. He, too, respects all my family members, spares his time to meet them when they visit us in Singapore, be friendly, and helps each other when required.

We both love to live in harmony. We did quarrel once in a while. However, we usually took some time to calm down and think over. After a while, we would apologize (when we realized it was our mistakes), and find a solution to ease the problem.

We both believe to share our happiness by doing good to others. We never had a thought of harming others. It was not in our dictionary. Dalai Lama once said, “If you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.” We keep this spirit up!

Other than that, he has many other things I admire.

 Here is the list of things on what I love about him:

He is loyal – I feel very very very secure with him. Never had a thought that he would flirt or date around, even when I wasn’t around (traveling abroad). One word to describe is “TRUST” - I trust him. Not many men can be trusted in this point of time and I am glad that I found him.

He is rich at love and heart. He showers me with love and his heart. I feel so pampered!!!

He always finds ways to make me happy and smile :) He often shows me his ugly face, his ugly reaction, his ugly dance, shows off his fat and muscles just like the Johnny Bravo, imitates others, just to see me smile and laugh. Thank you dear! It means a lot to me.

He is responsible, as a son, as a husband, as a father, as a person, and as an employee. He has been taken care his family members well. In fact, that was the first thing I needed to know before deciding to spend the rest of my life with him. If he didn’t know how to take care his family members well, how could he take care of me and my children in the future?? He takes ownership into his job and very responsible in taking care his Boss's needs and requirements.

He is my translator. Whenever I received forwarded email from my Chinese friends, or looked at the article written by someone in Chinese that I wanted to know but I didn’t know what it meant, I would ask him to translate it for me. He would be gladly translating it for me. Sometimes, he used the tone as if he was the writer to make it sounded much more interesting – again, to make me smile and laugh :)

He is a good cleaner. He cleans many things in house as per his mood. But generally he is willing to do all that. He wipes, sweeps, mops, washes, and so on. He helps me ironing my working clothes too whenever I had no time to do it.

He is a good technician and mechanic at home. He repaired the blinking light-bulb, broken appliances and haywire chain of my bike, replaced battery of my bicycle’s lights, glued the unattached things, pumped my bicycle’s tyres, and so on. Whatever things spoilt or not working, I usually just handed the things over to him and he would settle it all for me, just like a magician!!! He always built our IKEA furniture too, he treated it just like a Lego. Honestly, I can’t imagine my life without him :(

He knows I love freedom and he gave me lots of freedom. He knows I love to travel, and he let me fulfill my dreams and wishes as long as it’s a safe place to go and with trusted companions.

He is a good cook! Not saying a great Chef, but when his mood came, he could whip the dish out and I was lucky being able to taste that food too :) He is willing to cook and reheat the dishes too after I have a long tiring day at work. Thank you dear!

He is a great massager!!! How many men are willing to massage their wives’ back?? Even after more than a decade, he is still willing to do it when being asked. Lucky me!!!

I have this ‘like’, which is being ‘geli’ – in Indonesian, or ‘ticklish’ on my back. Many people can’t stand the ticklish feeling, but weirdly, I enjoy it very much. He knows that I love the feeling. So sometimes, before sleep, he will tickle my back slowly. It makes me feeling relaxed and faster to fall asleep.

Have you ever heard the cuddle service in Japan?? I save so much money on it as I have him to cuddle me from the back before sleeping. I feel safe and secure with his arms around me. The feeling is really good!!!

He has big palms. I thought my palms are big enough for woman that sometimes it might exceed man’s palms. However, his palms are very much bigger and thicker than mine. That’s one thing that I love from him. When he holds my hand, I feel myself all safe and secure, that he will protect me from anything!!

We love to have conversation before sleeping, if we were not tired yet. We could talk about many things we faced in life. It feels great when you have someone who understands how you feel and gives you his opinions on how to handle the situation. Communication is the key in having a good relationship! When we both were tired,  we would say 'Good night' and we both understood that it was our signals to sleep and stop all the conversation :)

Most of all, everything that he did was for my happiness. He wouldn’t rest in peace if he knew I needed something and it hadn’t been done yet. He would keep thinking about it and tried to settle it as fast as possible. 

He fulfilled his promise too. I never ask him to promise me about anything since I don’t like to feel disappointed if the promise is just coming out from the mouth but not from the action. It wasn’t an easy task and needed big sacrifice. However, he did what he promised me to. Well done!

Our very first photo :)

After reading the above, I can tell everyone who my true love is now. He is none other than my dear hubby. Thank you dear Laogong for all things that you have done to me. I feel grateful having you around in my life. Compared to you, I feel like I have done nothing much for you hehe… Hope you don’t get tired and bored doing all these to me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

Below was taken from thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com:

“There are many kinds of love. We should examine closely the nature of each kind of love. Life has a great need of the presence of love, but not the sort of love that is based on lust, passion, attachment, discrimination, and prejudice. If you want your loved ones to be happy, you must learn to understand their sufferings and aspirations. When you understand, you will know how to relieve their sufferings and how to help them fulfill their aspirations. That is true love. If you only want you loved ones to follow your own ideas and you remain ignorant of their needs, it is not truly love. It is only a desire to possess another and attempt to fulfill your own needs, which cannot be fulfilled in that way.”

December Rain

December rain is like ballet in the sky. Pitter patter - Photo and caption - courtesy of Arlene Tan

It’s December. The northeast monsoon season is here again. It rained almost every single day, be it at night or in daylight. The usual sun that commonly be seen in the morning hid somewhere behind the thick cloud above the sky, not a single heat was felt. What I loved most was the cooling air derived from it. It made me feel like living in the mountain, rather than in the middle of the city.

Every morning when I walked out of my house, the road path was wet. Drops of water were seen everywhere above the wooden path. The soil was muddy and it forced us to walk longer to the stone path. After reached the office, I could hear, my colleagues, they were all ‘complaining’ about the cold wind felt last night, when they fell asleep with the windows opened. Some was shivering and covering their blanket fully to their bodies. It was indeed the month where we could save some electricity bill due to turn off the unnecessary air-conditioner at night.

When coming out from MRT station, you could see many people stand aside and call back home, asking their loved one to fetch them with umbrellas, which they forgot to bring it with them. Only few would continue walking, or running, under the rain.

The downside of it was many people falling sick - heavy flu and high fever. All of us have to take extra caution to prevent ourselves from catching the virus. It’s time to intake the vitamin C and to eat more fruits.

No matter what, it’s still my favorite month in a year. Everyone could feel the holiday mood. Malls and department stores were packed, especially on weekend. People were busy preparing the upcoming Christmas gifts. Super long queue should be expected and more patience was needed. Christmas lights have been set up in our famous shopping area, Orchard Road. Christmas trees have also been set up in most shopping malls, hotels, offices, etc. Jingle bells song could be heard everywhere. Smiles and happy faces were everywhere!

Just to write this, it has brought smile upon my face too… And as I write this, the song lyrics are playing on my ears melodiously…

If life is like a jigsaw
Where would you start?
You think you got the picture
Like it's written on your heart
You lay out all the pieces
One by one
But if you stare at it too closely
The answer never comes

So I take a breath
‘Cos I need time to figure this all out
I got lost inside
What I thought I need
But I understand now

‘Cause I don't need the sunlight shining on my face
And I don't need perfection to have the perfect day
I just want to see you happy a smile on your face
Nothing else matters ‘cos you're everything to me, to me, to me...
You're everything to me

Can you tell me where I'm going
Tell me what comes next
‘Cause I know that it's not over
Haven't even started yet
I just wanna get there
But I hope it's not too late
Cause the closer that I'm getting
The more I feel the weight

Let's take a break
Take our time
To figure this all out
I got lost inside
What I thought I need
But I understand now

‘Cause I don't need the sunlight shining on my face
And I don't need perfection to have the perfect day
I just want to see you happy a smile on your face
Nothing else matters ‘cos you're everything to me

All that I thought I want
Is not what I really need
You're right here in front of me……

Bhutan trip day 8 - Thur, 12 Sep 13 - Haa Tsechu

I woke up at 7.30am. Chencho was getting himself ready. Lambuz came to fetch him. They both looked suave with their colorful Gho complete with their Kabney and Tsholham. Both of them had to leave first to Lhakhang Karpo as they had to attend the Haa Tsechu compulsorily for all civil servants by 8am.

Since there was still time, I cooked fried rice with egg for breakfast and had it together with Chencho's father. Hehe... at least I could give him something to taste :) At 9am Kinley came to fetch me and Chencho's father.

Three of us went together. It was crowded. Very different ambiance compared with just a day ago. Lots of Bhutanese were there. Some were sitting down, some were standing, and all was watching the dance. It had been started already. I loved the colorful clothes they were wearing. They came from any different age, looked beautiful :)

Beautiful Bhutanese with colorful Gho and Kira during Haa Tsechu

I saw Chencho and Lambuz at the one of the tents above, provided for the VIP people and civil servants. We went up to the tent as I needed to pass the camera to Chencho. Suddenly Chencho asked us to sit together with them inside the tent. Hahaha.... I felt very lucky la!! It was cool inside the tent and there was seat that made us feeling comfortable. From there, we could see full view of the event. Wow!! I still couldn't believe how lucky I was.

Suja Desi - served during special and religious event in Bhutan

Just sat down for a while, there was a lady coming toward us (me and Kinley). She brought Suja (butter tea) and Desi (rice cooked with butter and dried fruit such as: raisin, mixed with turmeric powder that made it yellow in color). This combination of Suja Desi was usually served at special and religious events and served to high level officials. Ohhh..., I felt very honored and lucky being able to taste it. Lucky me, really!!! :) I was a bit regret having a fried rice so early in the morning. Hahaha... The Desi tasted so good. I can still remember the taste and miss it :)

Right side tent - normal people dancers

I started taking photos at the dancers. Near the temple's entrance, there were few tents. From our view, left side's tent was provided for monks and their place to prepare themselves plus musical instruments for the dance, while on right side's tent was provided for other dancers (not monks). So, if you want to know whether they are monks or not, see where they were coming from :)

Delicious Suja with Zaw - ate together with fresh and crispy biscuits - Nyummy!!!

Not long after, the lady came again. This time she brought us Suja with Zaw (crispy rice), plus very fresh and crispy biscuits. Oh... I loved Haa so much! Lolx!!! She poured the Zaw inside my Suja and that was how we drank and ate it. And again, maybe half an hour after that, she came and brought us pink guava juice. I was so pampered (not only me though), and felt gaining few kilos of weight just being there hohoho.... I was so full ya!! Since 8.30am to 11am, I had eaten so much food.

Panoramic view of the Mask dance during Haa Tsechu

While eating and drinking, we were watching at the performance, but too bad I couldn't understand the meaning of each dance. The clothes they were wearing very colorful. The hats, the shoes.. There was a timetable and explanation about the event, but it was in Dzongkha, not in English. Too bad lor.

Haa Tsechu

At the same time, there were about 3 Atsaras there. Atsaras were the clown figures. They were there to entertain the audience at Tsechu. It was said that their roles were actually much more than that. They were supposed to master all the mask dances as they supposed to correct the dancers if they made mistakes; They were expected to know the sequences of the dances and other rituals associated with the dances. But from what I'd seen, they were there more to entertain, I mean, to disturb the audience in their own ways, and sometimes to chase the dogs who were lying on the performance's ground. Find out more about the legend of the Atsara here.

Atsaras disturbed the singers during Haa Festival

See the photos above? It was taken when the girls were singing. I really pitied them. Well, that's the way it was! Don't be surprised! It's common to see such actions done by Atsaras there. After all, it was happened in GNH country :)

Bhutanese 'Pasar Malam' - Haa Tsechu 12 September 2013

At 11am, Chencho asked me to go out. We went to the opposite of the temple where there were lots of stalls (in Singapore, we usually called it 'Pasar Malam' or night market - although sometimes they opened since afternoon time), selling various thing including foods / snacks, toys, clothes, etc. There were lots of stalls offering games too, such as: throwing the darts to the dartboard, throwing ring into blocks of money, throwing balls into the empty cans, and so on. There were lots of gambling den too.. Hahaha... Really unexpected to see it just the opposite of the temple. They used roulette to bet on which number that came out. Smoke from cigarettes could be smelled from inside the gambling den. There was a lucky dip stall too hahaha... Interesting! The small boy shouted to gain the attention of the passer by so that they could stop and participate in the lucky dip. "With Ngu 20, you can bring the rice cooker back home..." :)

Two naughty Atsaras during Haa Tsechu

After walking for one round, Chencho and I returned back inside Lhakhang. Once entered, I was asking Chencho to take my photo with the background of the Lhakhang. Suddenly, two Atsaras came from behind. At first they were posing themselves (photo above on the left). I found them cute, so I asked them if I could take photo together with them. They agreed to it happily and one of the Atsaras suddenly stood behind me, forcing me to pose with the wooden Phallus that he was holding, and there was the other pose on the right (you know what his intention was, don't you??). Yallama kheno!!! I was so embarrassed. My face turned red right away! Once Chencho took the photo, I faster released myself from him. Nice experience though! Hahaha....

Atsara entertained the audiences inside the tent :D

We went back to our tents. Above were the photos taken when the Atsara came into our tent and disturbed not only ladies,  he even disturbed the man... lolx! Btw do you notice that there was a condom covering the wooden phallus that the Atsara was holding? Wow! I'm impressed la! After all that's one of the duties of every citizens there to play safe,  using condom, to prevent themselves from getting HIV virus :D

Board found inside the government office in Haa, Bhutan

After a while, it was time for lunch. Chencho said that I could have my lunch there, together with them. Lambuz led me to the buffet area and treated me as a guest (foreigner). I felt shy la to queue just behind the VIPs, even confused, should I use the porcelain plate or the plastic plate? Kekeke.... I decided to use porcelain one. You see the dishes they served on my plate at the photo below. It's my favorite spicy pork again, with lots of red chilies, cucumber pickles, papadum cracker and a bowl of dhall. Nyummy!!! :)

Our delicious lunch - Those under the tents :)

They took doma as desserts - it was automatically served after the meal - See the photo above :) I took sweets as dessert ^^

We stayed until around 1 pm then left the place. I had to go back to Thimphu. I took my bag from Chencho's house then we looked for a Taxi.  I was quite worry if I couldn't get a Taxi back to Thimphu because it was late afternoon and perhaps people would love to come to Haa to attend the festival rather than go to Thimphu.

But then I was lucky that there was an empty seat for 1 pax,  and guess what?? The Taxi would go through the Chele-La, the highest pass crossed by a Bhutanese Highway with a height of 3,788 meters (located between the Haa Valley and Paro Valley). Uhuy!!! Again, my wish and dream came true!!! That's one of my wish lists to go through this road. I'd read it before and I thought I would never had a chance to pass by this road since usually Taxi would go through the other alternative way (the same way we came from Thimphu).

Kinley sent me off with khatak

Chencho and Kinley sent me off. Kinley gave me a khatak or white scarf. It had symbols of eight lucky auspicious signs meaning to bring good luck and fortune. In my situation, he gave me due to departure of guest and wished me 'Tashi Delek' meaning good luck. Thank you Chencho, Kinley, and Lambuz for your kind hospitality!!! I really enjoyed my short stay in Haa. Without all of you, I wouldn't be able enjoy this trip this way! I'm really grateful! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

Once I went inside the Taxi, I found out that my accompanies were a Chilip from Germany and a Bhutanese girl who wanted to learn German language from him. They came fromThimphu that morning to attend the Festival and also to meet someone.  They requested the Taxi driver to go through Chele-La. I had to pay 100 Ngultrum more but I didn't mind lor.... Wahhhh..... I sat in front some more! Get the full view of the road in front of me. Only that, it was raining. However,  it wasn't just a normal rain when we went up, it was hailstones!!! Wow, another thing I first experienced in my life! I could see the ice dropped from the sky and hit the windscreen in front of me. I could hear the 'tuk tuk' sounds too! Hahaha... I was so exciting to see all that! Lucky me!! :)

The driver was busy munching doma, non-stop, from starting our journey in Haa until I reached Mothithang in Thimphu. He was busy wiping out the windscreen from the inside as it became misty due to warm air inside and cool air outside. We finally reached at Chele-La and we stopped there to take pictures and to release my nature call hehehe...

Chele-La between Haa Valley and Paro Valley :)

It took about more than 3 hours from Haa to Thimphu. I reached at around 6pm and my stomach started to hungry. That was when Riku cooked the noodles for me. Hehehe...

At night Riku introduced me with his besties. Story to be continued....