Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector and the Search For Happiness

"The basic mistake people make is to think that happiness is the goal"

I saw this book on the bookshop’s shelf since few weeks ago. By reading the title, I was wondering what kind of story the author would write about. There were many books about happiness that I’d read. One of my favorites was The World Book of Happiness written by Leo Bormans. Read about its review here and here.  

By luck, I found the book available at the library yesterday! Yayy!!! I started reading it last night at 9pm. I thought I would read it for a while as I was not sure if the book was interesting or not. However, to my surprise, once I read the fourth chapter, I started liking it and hoped to finish reading it by that night, which I did!!! - I read in in three-hour time – including jotting down valuable lesson’s time into my journal book ;)

You can read the outline of the story here. They even made a movie. I would not repeat about the outline of the story, but what I wanted to convey here was actually I enjoyed reading this book very much!

First, it was written in such simple English, which everyone with Basic English knowledge would be able to read and understand it. Second, it was written based on the experience, which was translated into a very logical thinking to understand happiness. Third, there was some kind of comedy behind that could make you smile when reading it. And most importantly, there were many lessons learnt about happiness that Hector found out from his journey, which would be useful to all of us!!!

If you asked me what kind of book that I loved reading? This book would be one of them! A practical guide and story, and there would be place for us to contemplate as well, to see how far we were with the situations, with happiness itself! You could recollect back the memories and happening from your past lives, and looked back on what kind of attitude that you chose to do in order to overcome the unhappiness in your life.

Oh my!!! I would recommend all of you to read this. Perhaps not everyone would think like me or useful as what I think it’s useful for me. But seriously, it’s one of the books that you should read under your MUST-READ list this year :)

Let the curiosity kills the cat and let you find out more by yourself. I can’t wait to read his other book: Hector and the Secrets of Love and Hector and the Search for Lost Time. Hope it will be as interesting as this one!! ^^

A warm hearted thank you :)

Yesterday after having our late lunch, my hubby accompanied my son to the swimming pool. He had agreed meeting up with few of his schoolmates. PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) had over since more than three weeks ago. All of them could rest and relax after going through tremendous pressure over one of the important exams in their life.

They were swimming at the neighborhood swimming pool. Not many people there as there were exams going on for the rest of the primary school students. They played with each other heartily with much laughter and chitchatting around. At about 2.45pm, all of them decided to come to our home to play.

There were five of them. Only one girl was joining. The rest were boys. They were all gamers and connecting each other through the online game – such as: Growtopia, Team Fortress 2, etc. – apart from being classmates and schoolmates at the same level.

As they entered my son’s room, it was suddenly filled with chlorine smell left from the swimming pool that absorbed into their hair and skin. They immediately occupied the room and played the computer games. But since there was only one computer, perhaps the rest got bored. They asked my permission if they could go to level 2, to play at the playground. I let them go. However, in less than 10 minutes, all was coming back home. It was starting to rain despite the sun was shining brightly.

They ended up playing the Xbox game. It’s kind of cute listening to their conversation. Btw, it was first time that my son brought back such quite number of friends home. Usually there was only one or two coming. You know, it wasn’t easy to get permission from their parents in such young age. As now the exam had over, they gained slightly much freedom.

Hmm… I was thinking how if I cooked some food for them. I mean, kids usually would love to have meal after tired playing. I was asking them if they would love to have some food afterward. All of them refused shyly. Perhaps they were still quite full from their afternoon lunch and didn’t want to trouble me. But I would love to prepare something for them.

I checked onto our fridge. There was minced pork inside the freezer. There was yellow and red pepper inside the fridge too, plus white onion at our dry store. Settled! I told Baobei that I’d be cooking Spaghetti Bolognaise with minced pork.

One of his friends was vegetarian and he refused to eat. I told him that I’d cook separately for him using the vegetable and pasta, plus egg maybe. However, he kept refusing and told me many reasons, such as: that he was on diet, that he didn’t like to eat Italian food, that he didn’t like spaghetti, and so on. Haha… such a determination in such young age!! Well done boy! Your parents would be very proud of you knowing this. It was very contrary with my son who would eat everything! Yes, you saw it right, he eats everything and never refuse anything!!! Hahaha… :D

So, while they were playing, I was busy preparing the food inside the kitchen. Usually I cooked only during weekend and when I had mood. It’s been quite some time since I cooked. Sometimes I was lazy and just wanted to eat outside. But yesterday I had this eagerness to cook for them as to make them happy.

At 6pm I started preparing their meals. The sizzling sound and the aromatic garlic smell with butter was coming out and attracted them. One by one came out from the room and in a while all of them gathered surrounding the dining table. I baked the toast with garlic, butter and some salt, making delicious and crispy garlic bread using the wholemeal bread. They were no longer refusing dinner but instead holding their saliva coming down from their mouth.

To distract them, Baobei was offering drink to them. I cooked two portions each at one time to get the more flavor taste. The portion was quite big for kid like them. But it’s better to offer them more than giving them too little, that’s what I thought. So everybody had quite a big portion, except the Vegetarian boy. He requested the bread, but it’s finished already. He ended up eating a packet of crackers. I think he got hungry too looking at the food in front of him as their friends started eating.

Baobei and his friends ^^

They were once again chit chatting while eating and once I finished cooking for my hubby and mother-in-law; one of the boys came to the kitchen with stacks of empty plates. Whoaa!!! That was fast!

According to my hubby, only the skinny girl didn’t finish the food but she took few slices of garlic bread. Looked like she loved it! My son asked him what to do with the leftover food left by the girl and my hubby told him to share it with the rest of the boys. He ended up sharing the leftover with another boy and they all finished the portion. Wow, didn’t expect that they all finished it despite the big portion that I scooped! So, don’t undermine the growing up boys’ appetite!!! :)

Once finished. They all got ready to go back home. I was concentrating with my meal at the living room. Suddenly, I heard one of the boys was saying, “Thank you for the treat.” I was puzzled and thinking to whom he was talking to. I lifted up my head to where the sound came and I saw him smiling at me.

Oh… those simple words had melted my heart. And the rest of the children, before they were going out through the gate, they were also saying ‘thank you’ repeatedly.  I was so touched! I felt that my hard work was paid off. They all knew about the gratitude feeling and I didn’t expect to hear it from kids like them. I kept replying them, “Your welcome, your welcome…”, as they left the house.

I just hoped that this would leave them with simple but good memory of being together creating small circle of friendship, before they were all separated into different Secondary school in two more months’ time. Good luck all of you and all the best!!! And thank you for coming! Please come again!!! :)

Wonderful day trip to Pulau Ubin :)

Bustling morning at the Changi Point Ferry Terminal

Pulau Ubin or Ubin Island is a small island situated at the northeast part of Singapore. To get there, we have to take a bumboat - about 10-minutes journey - from Changi Point Ferry Terminal, which is located near the Changi Village Hawker Center. It costs $2.50 per person per trip and the boat will depart once there are 12 pax at one time.

Welcome to Pulau Ubin! :)

It's my first time visiting it despite have been staying here more than a decade. I had heard about it many times and had always wanted to visit, but only today my dream had finally been realized :)

Few to be found in Singapore ^^

It's the last rural area in Singapore where village life still exists and only less than hundred of villagers living there now. The island is filled up with many flora and fauna with good road path for cyclist and few numbers of vans.

Bike rent

You can browse the island in few ways. The most common one is by cycling. Not to worry if you don't have a bike since once you reached the island, you can find many shops renting it. Prices are varied from $6 to $12 per day but you can bargain to get the good bike at $8.

Beautiful Lotus pond :)

You can also walk if your legs are strong, or otherwise hopping to a rented van to Chek Java at $2 per person. Other than cycling, you can camp there and do kayaking. All of us chose to rent a bike and have a great adventure around on cycling :)

Traditional Kampung House in Pulau Ubin

It's very hard to find this kind of house in Singapore. Everything is made of concrete and bricks, not wooden anymore. Such a spacious area of the house will cost millions in the heart of the city center.

Wild boar at Pulau Ubin

While cycling if you heard something on top of your head, it wasn't durian falling down from the tree, but it was the sound of the monkey who jumped and moved around the trees. There were group of wild boar crossed the road or roamed the area as well. Or perhaps squirrel or change-color lizard ran at the side of the road. Just loved the natural living of the animals there.

Picnic at House No 1, Pulau Ubin :)

In the afternoon we took a rest inside the House No 1, English Tudor style, built in the 1930s - the only house that had the fireplace  with a chimney in Singapore! This two-storey house has verandah overlooking the beautiful sea scenery. We had a picnic there with fruits, bread, tidbits and cold drinks that could be purchased from the vending machine.

Coastal broadwalk at Chek Jawa

After a break we continue walking at the nearby area, which was coastal broadwalk, making a big round walk overlooking the sea. The weather was extremely hot, however it didn't stop us from walking :)

Granite quarry at Pulau Ubin

As the name called Ubin Island, it means Granite Island. It used to produce granite in the past. However it had become quarry now.

Changi Village Nasi Lemak with Sugarcane

We cycled until almost 3pm then went back to Changi Village to taste the famous and delicious local dish called Nasi Lemak - rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaf, served with fried ikan bilis or anchovies, egg, chicken wing, cucumber, and sambal chilli plus a big cup and fresh sugarcane juice. Hmmm.... nyummy!!!

That would end our journey and hope you enjoy the views in the photos above. Hope all of you enjoy your weekend too and have a great day!!! :)

The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden

“The everyday reality of household life in rural area in Bhutan, which is very true earlier and even now.” – Flora Yang.

Thank you Tshering Cheki for gifting me this book all the way from Bhutan! Because of you, I managed to read a beautiful story written by Aum Kunzang Choden. And I just realized that I had actually had another book written by her, titled “Membar Tsho - the Flaming Lake”, gifted by Ngawang Phuntsho, the author of Then I Saw Her Face. 

 My blogger friend, Sherab Tenzin, has reviewed the book beautifully. You can read it here and so does Leoparsica in here. I won’t repeat the line story of the book as many did :)

The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden

From the title and the cover of the book itself, you would have an impression that it’s gonna be a story swarmed with many Buddhist teaching, perhaps full of Buddhist theory inside that would make you bored (especially if you are a non-Buddhist). Well, don’t judge too fast buddy! In fact, they wouldn’t tell you what karma is, how it works, in a theoretically way. It’s really a novel with a nice flow of story from one phase to another.

The story was about the Bhutanese life in rural area that was common to be found. The book itself was published in 2005 but somehow, the reality might still apply in current time (applied mostly to rural area). As Sherab mentioned in his review, the protagonist of the book, Tsomo, accepted herself as ‘a woman, a person who should live less ambitious and more subdued’. She said that since she wasn’t allowed and no access to be taught the religious practice by her own father, who chose his sons to pursue it instead. Woman was trained to do the household chores like cooking, weaving, etc. or otherwise helped out in the field works.

Thanks to the initiative of many young Bhutanese who introduced and delivered donated books to rural area so that many Bhutanese children (both boys and girls) were getting more access to gain the literacy. The school had also been opened to both boys and girls where many teachers put a lot of emphasize on the importance of reading, which enforced "Reading week" as an integral part of the education system, and so on.

Other than the school for the monks, there was also school for Buddhist nun, which was called Nunnery. Here, women would receive education and high leverage if empowerment, which could help in improving their living conditions and economic vitality of rural villages. So, more women like Tsomo would get a help and guidance in pursuing their goals to get the spiritual education.

There were issues brought inside the book too regarding the marriage, betrayal, separation, poverty, and so on. It highlighted many issues that real happening in and around Bhutan. It’s a very beautiful insight brought up in this story. And this too highlighted that every single thing in our lives happened for a reason. No matter how tough life would be, it would lead us to another way, if we put enough effort towards reaching our goals.

From the whole book, below are the sentences that I love most, which was taken from conversation by Tsomo’s brother, a Gomchen or a Buddhist monk, after hearing Tsomo’s painful experiences:

“I am glad you have told me everything that there is to know. Burden gets lighter when shared. Whatever had to happen has already happened. It’s all our karma. Our lives are like that lamp on the altar. We are born and we live for a while like the lamp. We can either shine brightly or flicker, but we all must die. Life is transient. We are just passing by. Think of yourself as a pilgrim on earth and in your own body because that too you must surrender. But take heart in this, a pilgrim has a definite purpose even if it is only for the duration of the pilgrimage. A pilgrim wants to accumulate merit and pray for all sentient beings. We can all choose to be pilgrims.” 

Such an awakening words!!! It won’t ask you to become a nun or monk after reading this. It’s just realization about life, what and how we pursue it, which would depend a lot on our karma.

“Many of those dying flowers will leave behind fruit buds. Just think of all the seeds we can sow. Unlike human beings, trees give forth everything they have. They never hold back anything and plan what to give and what to hold back.” 

So, remember! What you do today will mirror your future. What you are experiencing right now is what karma wants you to experience based on your past deed. In other words, “What goes around comes around”. Therefore my friends, “Be good, Do good!”

Well done Aum Kunzang Choden for writing this book. It may look simple but there were lots of hidden meaning in its story. It introduced many aspects of Bhutanese lives to the outer world too! Hope to read more of your book in the future! Tashi Delek! :)

100 Doraemon Secret Gadgets EXPO in Johor Bahru City Square, Malaysia

Yesterday I finally went to the above place!!! It's located just across the Singapore border, right after the Malaysia Immigration Checkpoint. We took bus there. This was the second time where the Expo held in Malaysia. The first one was held in Kuala Lumpur.

Initially we would like to visit it earlier this year. However, due to our busy schedules, we never made it. So, when we knew that it'd be held at the nearer place from Singapore, we decided to buy the ticket without hesitating!!! It costs RM25 each for Adult and this will go on until 4th January 2015 :)

Here we are!!! 100 Doraemon Secret Gadgets EXPO at Johor Bahru :)

It's a fate that brought all of us together. Doraemon has always been my favorite cartoon since my younger time. He always amazed me with his gadgets, brought me to the secret wonderland that could fulfill whatever wishes that I wanted. Of course, this was only existing in my deepest imagination. In real life, we all had to work hard to get what we wanted ^^

I used to spend my pocket money to buy the comics. I would slowly read it during my free time. Every Sunday morning, I would sit in front of my TV at 8am just to watch the cartoon. There were three short episodes in each series and that was enough to brighten up my day :)

Below are the pictures taken yesterday, for your viewing pleasures :)

Anywhere Door or Pintu Ajaib - Open it to whatever place that you want to go!!!

This was the first thing that I would have wanted to borrow from him!!! With this, I could go to any places, saving lots of my time and of course, money. I didn't have to raise Visa, queue through the immigration, and so on. Hehehe.. What a wonderful dream oh? ;)

Hopter or Baling Baling Bambuuuu.... - Use this to fly within city :)

This was another gadget that I could use in short distance, like to work, to my brother's place, meeting friends at Cafe, and so on. I could save taxi, bus and MRT fare with this. But not suitable for those who were afraid of height. Ahem.. ahem... :P

Pass Loop or Pass Through Hoop - To link to another place

It was almost similar, but it connected from one room to another. Still remember when Nobita built his own apartment room and using this loop to get inside. Hm..... Nice to have own room and own time, wasn't it? :)

Torch Light Minimizer - Everything will become smaller when it is lit (Just like the picture above!) :D

Hahaha.... Yes, just like the picture above!!! Everything you lit with this torch would become smaller in size!!! ;)

Memory Bread - The ever wanted gadget for those who is having exam soon!!! ;)

When it came to exam, we often had difficulty in memorizing the formula, wordings, and so on. This memory bread would come in handy and would be great for those who loved eating (just like my son!!!)

Time Machine or Mesin Waktu - Where do you want to go? Who do you want to see?

Ponder it for a while. If you were given a chance to ride onto the time machine, where would you want to go and who do you want to see? Hehehe.. Perhaps many of you would like to go to the future to see on what you'd have become in 20 years time. If you got married with your current girlfriend, had children, or stayed single forever. If you were rich or poor, successful or an asshole. Then you would want to go back to the past to change it all for the better future... Yayaya.. only if.....

Parallela Umbrella - Very useful gadget to make the beautiful girl beside you to become your wife :D

Hahaha.... Yes yes... Open this umbrella, stand beside her for five minutes, and she would be yours... That's your dream too, wasn't it? That's how my hubby tricked me into marriage!!! Lolx!!! Kidding :P

Cupid's Arrow - Let the potion worked to both of you!!!

If the above umbrella wasn't powerful enough, let the cupid played its role. Let him shoot the arrow to your partner and make her yours! This photo reminded me of my hubby's courting time. We were sitting on the roof just like the scene above during Chinese New Year at my home sweet home. It was flooding - no where to go - and lots of mosquitoes at home. The rooftop became the perfect place to chill and unwind below the moon and the stars. Perhaps that was when my son from his previous life shot the cupid's arrow to both of us :D

Well, there were more things there actually, which I couldn't show it one by one. If you loved it, go and see it for yourself. Enjoy your time there with all the exhibitions there and have lots of great fun like what we did.

After a long walk over a not-so-big space, we were quite tired and having a break at the Doraemon Cafe that was located at the 4th floor of the mall.

Doraemon Cafe at Johor Bahru City Square

We had tasted the real Memory Bread and Dorayaki (Doraemon's favorite snack), accompanied with a cup of hot chocolate (topped with Doraemon's face figure). My two besties joined us in the afternoon and we had really enjoyed our time together!

So, hope you enjoy looking at the pictures and if you can watch Doraemon series at your contry, go and watch it or otherwise find it online. Soak yourself into the dream land once in a while and be happy!!! :)