Books read in the second half of the year 2014

Pic source: Google.com

New Year is approaching very soon!!! 2014 has been a year which I spent my time with lots of reading. Here is the link on what books I read during first half of the year and below is the list of the books I read each month for the rest of the year (you can clink the link to read the review – those in Italic):

Books read in July 2014

July 2014:
1. The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
2. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia - Mohsin Hamid
3. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
4. No One Writes to the Colonel - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5. Memories of My Melancholy Whores - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6. Leaf Storm - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
8. Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid

Books read in August 2014

August 2014:
1. 'Tis - Frank McCourt
2. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami 
3. Revolution 2020 - Chetan Bhagat

Books read in September 2014

September 2014:
1. One Night at the Call Center - Chetan Bhagat
2. Search Inside Yourself - Chade-Meng Tan
3. The All You Can Dream Buffet - Barbara O'Neal 

Books read in October 2014

October 2014:
1. The Oceans at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
2. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
3. The Circle of Karma - Kunzang Choden
4. My Singapore Lover - Judy Chapman
5. Jakarta Kafe – Tatyana

Books read in November 2014

November 2014:
1. 8 Comedie Bandrek - Dini M. Kusmana
2. Hector & the Search For Happiness - Francois Lelord 
3. Hector & the Secrets of Love - Francois Lelord
4. Hector Finds Time - Francois Lelord
5. Restaurant Babylon - Imogen Edwards-Jones
6. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe -  Romain Puertolas
7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
8. Destination Saigon Adventures in Vietnam - Walter Mason

Books read in December 2014

December 2014:
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
2. The Rainbow Troops - Andrea Hirata 
3. The 3 Mistakes of My Life - Chetan Bhagat
4. The Last Anniversary - Liane Moriarty

Unknowingly I’ve read 58 books in one year’s time!!! Oh gosh, what an exhilarating year I had! :) And as I received the Book Bucket Challenge early September this year, I’ve also managed to send various books out to mostly my blogger friends located in Bhutan and India.

Pic source: Google.com

It felt really great knowing that they appreciated the books. Lots of time I received their ‘Thank You’ message by the time I woke up in the morning through Facebook messenger or by their book’s photo posts on their Instagram, and some sent me the link of their blog or book review’s blog post to me. Their appreciative messages really made my day :) The feeling was indescribable!!! Thank you everyone!

Some sent and wanted to send a book back to me, which usually I requested them not to. Not that I rejected their kind offer, but most of them were students and relied a lot on the stipend sent by government or parents. They’d better use their money wisely for their living expense there as postal fee could be very expensive. No matter what I really thank for their kind intention. Wait until one day you can earn your Ngultrum back from your first job, and then I would be happy to receive it back from you :)

I am very thankful to SB that I can read not only in my mother tongue language (Indonesian), but also in English language as my second language. I’ve improved reading skill tremendously and found my long lost passion that I thought I’d never had before. I used to think that it’s impossible for me to read the thick English novel, especially the literature ones where the language was very difficult to understand. However, I’ve overcome that feeling and it feels great being able to understand every sentence as if it’s my own language. Or otherwise I’d search that difficult word with a help of Google from my mobile phone ^^

Keep calm, drink tea, and read a book :)

Well, I hope I can continue this habit without spoiling my both eyes. The eye doctor has already warned me by saying that I’ve an old people’s eyes hiks hiks….  Just hope nothing serious is happening. Let’s pray! :)

So, I wish all of you to continue your reading and writing habit, especially for dear Bhutanese friends, where year 2015 has been declared by your  government as the National Reading Year to celebrate the 60th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the fourth Druk Gyalpo. Keep your spirit up everyone!!! Jia you!!! :)

BBQ Bhutan and Singapore - Anchorpoint, 20 December 2014

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - 20 December 2014

Just a week ago suddenly Promod sent me messages asking if I was free on 20th December. He would like to hold BBQ gathering with his fellow Bhutanese and inviting me to join them. It's been his dream to hold BBQ at East Coast Park. However, it was too last minute as the BBQ pit had to be booked at least one month earlier due to the high demand.

Dawa checked if he could rent the pit at the condo where he stayed and yes, he managed to book it with no hassle. There are quite number Bhutanese staying and working here in Singapore and most of them are working as doctor. Only Promod himself works in IT department. Through Facebook chat group we communicated each other and discussed on what to bring on that day.

So, the awaited day was finally coming! December is a wet month and it's inevitable that rain would come. At first, Dawa said there was a roof at the BBQ pit area, therefore we were not worried at all even if it's raining. However, he then clarified that there was a roof framework there, but not the roof itself, and yesterday evening, it was raining.

Yalama kheno!!! How were we going to BBQ if it was raining then?

They were thinking of plan B in case the rain wouldn't stop. However, Lama had heard our prayers and in an hour time, it finally stopped. The area was wet and we tried to make it comfortable despite whatever situation it was in. Once we confirmed that the rain stopped and we were able to BBQ, they then headed to the nearest supermarket and bought the necessary food, drink, and utensils required.

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - 20 December 2014

We only started cooking at 8pm. There were two pits rented. One side for non-veg, and another one for vegetarian, as Kuenza ate vegetarian food. There were plenty of food. It was in fact, a bit overstock. Cheese pork sausage, chicken satay, enoki mushroom wrapped with bacon, marinated chicken cutlet, lamb sausage, Portobello mushroom, corn, sweet potato, ema (chili), pepper, cheese Paneer, roasted chicken, and so on.

Tang Yuan or balls of glutinous rice symbolizes get-together or reunion on Dongzhi Festival

Jambay and Uden brought a pot of pork pa (Bhutanese pork curry), while Kuenza brought a bottle of Ayzey all the way from Bhutan. Chien Hua, another Singaporean who is fond of Bhutan, made balls of glutinous rice (Tang Yuan or 湯圓), which symbolizes get-together or reunion as to celebrate Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) Festival, one of the most important festivals celebrated by Chinese during or around 22 December. It's her first time making it and we had it with a soup made of brown sugar, ginger, and pandan leaves.

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - Anchorpoint, 20 December 2014

So, it's mixture of Bhutan and Singapore kind of BBQ. A little bit different as they cooked all the food first and then ate it together while sitting down. Usually for Singapore style, few people would man the BBQ then the rest could start eating. So the food would usually be fresh and hot (as didn't have to wait for everyone to finish cooking), and they would take turn in BBQ-ing and eating.

Not bad la. We all finally could sit down together and slowly enjoyed our meal. Peck, a Singaporean who works at One (Singapore) - NGO that concerns in stopping human trafficking - chit chatted many things related to Bhutan, Bhutanese (including the recent case of Bhutanese getting cheated when trying to get employed in Singapore, Korea, and Macao), fellow high Lama, etc.

The after-rain weather resulted in cooling weather. We had a sip of Vodka with Sprite, Johnnie Walker, white wine, or orange juice while chit chatted warming up our bodies and heart :)

Before going back home :)

At around 10.30pm we all started going back home with a packet of "un-lucky draw" - the leftover food that we couldn't finish and it's all wrapped with aluminum foil so we didn't know what was inside. Hahahaha....

Overall, we really had a great time. Thank you Promod for organizing this and everyone for your time and effort to make this gathering possible. It's a great chance to know more Bhutanese who stays in Singapore and widen up our friendship :)

Secondary School Posting Day 2014

Life does not have to be perfect, to be wonderful!!! :)

It’s 19th December now. Wow!!! Time flies. The school holiday is going to over very soon. Just a month ago we received the PSLE result and at the same day, we immediately registered him to the Secondary school’s registration.

Every student was given a chance to choose six Secondary schools based on their PSLE results. They were given a booklet filled with summary of every secondary school around Singapore, with the scores range on Express and Normal category based on previous year result. Other than choosing school based on academic results, students were also having a chance to choose their favorite school based on the curriculum activities available as every school offered different co-curriculum activities. E.g. some school was good at football, some at badminton; some had Tae Kwon Do, etc.

As for my son, the first choice of the school would be based on the location. I think it’s very important to study at the school located nearby the house. First, it saves your time. Second, it saves your money on transport. Hehe.. I tell you this because I myself experienced it before.

When choosing the Senior High School, I thought of choosing the school of my choice that located very far away from my house. However, my father stopped me. He said that he would never sign the registration form if I chose to register that school and asked me to register at the school located very near from my house (less than five-minute walk). At first I was a bit unhappy with my father’s instruction, however, it wasn’t a bad school either and all my siblings were studying there before from kindergarten to senior high school. And I ended up entering that school and enjoyed every bit of it!!!

Now it came to my son’s turn. Hehe… That was our first choice. Second, the second nearest from home – it takes few bus stops away. The later the choice, the further the distance. To be honest, we didn’t choose the school based on their results, their achievements as what other parents and students would look at. Because at the end of the day, no matter how good the school is, if your child can’t catch up with it, or if they are not happy with the environment, too much pressure on the results, or has to travel far and takes lots of time to reach, it all will affect his or her overall happiness in life.

So today, early in the morning, my son went to the website and checked his school’s result. My hubby sent me the news when I’d reached to the office and we were all very happy about it!!! :) Yes, my son managed to enter to the first choice of the school, the school that is located nearest to our house. Yayy!!! Thank you SB, our hope and dream came true!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

It’s quite a new school in the area (less than 5 years old). However, they offer lots of co-curriculum activities, such as: badminton, basketball, golf, shooting, softball, volleyball, Tae Kwon Do, and Wushu. There are art activities too, such as: band, choir, dance, drama, festive-drum, Gu Zheng, and harmonica. The uniform group available are NPCC (Sea), Scouts, and Girl Guides.

The school also offers media literacy such as reading program. It partners with National Library Board to increase the students’ love and confidence for reading and to equip them with skills such as creative and critical writing. Oh, it makes me wanting to join the school too! Hahaha… I never had a chance to learn this media literacy in my whole school time. If there is a class to learn, I’d love to join one as to increase my skills and abilities in writing. Son, can I join the school with you? Lolx!! :D

Pic source: Google.com

Well, congratulations once again Son! Hope you enjoy your new school and make use of the activities offered by the school. Spend your time wisely and not just playing computer games at home. Life is much wider than just playing computer games. Hope you will realize it one day and not too late. That’s my hope!!! Enjoy your youth time to the fullest and no matter what, we will always support and love you!! All the best!!! :)

Reflection, dreams and hope

Source: Positive Thoughts

It’s mid-December now. Two more weeks to go and the year will change. How fast time flies!

So, how do you feel? Has 2014 been good to you? Is there any improvement or reaching on goals and resolutions that you made previously? Any of your dreams have come true?

Generally, 2014 has been a good year. So far most things have gone smoothly. Most importantly, all of us are blessed with a very good health. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

My dream to travel to a new place each year has come true. It was not only traveling to one place, but also to many unexpected places such as Korea, Tasmania, and Russia. I’ve spent a good and quality holiday time with my parents, spouse, son, siblings, besties, friends, and so on.

Those were such amazing places where I met up with many different type of people, tasted different kinds of food, experienced different cultures, looked at many different kind of sceneries, enjoyed many different kind of seasons – from snows to autumn, autumn to summer, tasting different kinds of alcohol, and so on.

Career and development wise – it is almost the same with not much changes. Hehe… I am not such an ambitious woman. Sometimes I envy those who dreams high to continue study or to get promoted. But to think back again with time that I enjoyed, it’s all worth it just to stay in ordinary life.

Do you remember the reason why I skipped my cycling and yoga class recently? It was due to watch the Korean drama on TV. Today the series has finally come to the end. But since I have appointment with besties tonight, I watched the last episode from Youtube instead, last night.

Wang's Family - Pic source: Google.com

The title of the drama is Wang’s Family. It depicts the challenges that Korean society and families facing in real life, such as: money, love, relationship between parent and child, husband and wife, in-laws relationship, etc. The hardship to maintain the marriage was apparently difficult and many would have to face many hurdles to be together again.

When I first watched it, I pitied the family because when I thought the storm should have been over, it was actually not ending yet. Things even got worsen each and every day. One by one the problems kept coming up and seemed like it would never end.

At the last episode, as expected (as what drama usually has to end with), it’s all back to good again. What I loved most was the last part where 30 years later, the adults in family gathered together in their living room and each of them told what they have become. Most of them told their current status, on which most of them were successful and rich – Vice President, famous handbag designer, famous writer, Pizza chain owner, owner of 3rd biggest company in Korea, Captain, and so on.

But the wise parents and grandma who experienced much more hardship than the younger generation and once experienced the bedridden situation were commenting differently. “Writer, Captain, business owner… Who cares if you couldn’t be those? One shouldn’t be too greedy. One day when you are old, money doesn’t matter anymore. But being healthy, it’s all that matters.”

One of the daughters, a career woman who spent most of her time working and earning more money commented with a slight regret, “I wonder why I worked so hard. I should have enjoyed myself more.”

“The outcome isn’t important in life. Every step that you take is more important” – which means enjoy more on the journey to reach the destination rather than the destination itself – was said by the father.

The main male actor who faced lots of hurdles and obstacles like bankruptcy, divorce due to third party, separation with kids and loved ones in the drama gave his short but truthful comment, “Having an ordinary life is not easy.” 

Pic source: Google.com

And at the end, the grandma who aged more than 100 years said according to her vast experience, “Even if you work hard, it will end the same way. You come empty handed, and leave that way too.” 

In fact, I felt relieved hearing their comforting words. First, to have an ordinary life, in fact, isn’t easy. When you have your life journey too simple, you will be tempted to make it complicated. 

E.g. when your marriage and career go smoothly, you can easily get bored. You want more excitement, and temptation can come easily from the oncoming of third party – in this case, affair; want to pursue further study (thus leaving your families back home and somehow temptation can happen to both couple); want to be promoted to higher position, status and to earn more money (thus less time spent for own self, families, and friends, and gained more stress and pressure on daily life, which at the end affected own health), etc.

Although my life is kind of simple, I enjoy each second of it. I spend most of my time doing things what I love doing, such as: traveling, writing, reading, cycling, watching some interesting TV programs, spending time with families and friends, etc. Work life balance is very important for me. Time to work, I will work wholeheartedly. Time to rest, I will rest fully. Time to socialize, I will socialize accordingly.

Learning doesn’t mean to open the book and earn certificate, diploma, or degree. Learning can be many things. Even learning from various people’s experience in life is also an interesting learning in life.

How much is enough? It will never be enough if you never feel content in your heart. And every goal you reach, there is consequence in return. So, choose wisely in life on what you want to do and prepare your next year resolution soon!!!

Live simply, love much, laugh often, and dream big. These four simple guides will be enough to maintain my simple life yet to the fullest, because at the end of the day, just like the grandma said, “You come empty handed, and leave that way too.” 

Live your life to the fullest!!! :)

Enjoy the rest of the time left in 2014 and embrace the New Year with open heart and positive mind!!! Not forgetting, enjoy the journey and be happy! :)

Happy Birthday my dear :)

Wish you all the best in everything!!! Love, Mom and Dad :)

Time flies. Today it marks the 12th Birthday of my dear son. He's grown up now and preferred to spend his special day with his fellow buddies. Unlike two years ago where only 1 buddy appeared to his Birthday - read here - this time there were 5 of them coming up to our house.

Parents dating while son playing :P

Like any other year I took leave again on this special day. But since he spent his time with his buddies, I decided to watch my favorite Doraemon movie - Stand By Me - with my hubby in the afternoon :)

Food prepared by Hubby and mother-in-law! 

Once reaching home, my hubby and mother-in-law were busy preparing the meals. Unlike last year, this time I was just helping up by washing dishes hehe...

Thank you everyone for your wishes, presence and presents!!! ^^

It's so different and happy to see them playing and eating together. His friends came with birthday present although we already told him to inform his friends to just come and didn't have to bring anything.

His first Birthday celebrated with many buddies together! :)

All of us sang Birthday song together, witnesses Baobei making his wish, cutting the Birthday cake and eat it together. This time, we as his parents, didn't have a chance to take photo together with him and his Birthday cake. Hahaha.... But we finally took our selfie at his room once they went home and here was the result ^^

Our family photo - 10 years ago and now ^^

So, thank you to Baobei's buddies for coming and celebrating his special day together. Thank you to hubby and mother-in-law who prepared our dinner. And thank you everyone for your birthday wishes and presents. We appreciated it very very much! It has made him and us happy to the max!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you! Wish all of you a wonderful weekend! :)