Sometimes family members can be the ones that horrify and hurt you the most. One of the biggest obstables in keeping close family ties lies within the area of PERCEPTION . It's a common human trait to look at information an automatically form a perception based on what they take in. It could be an instinctive reaction whuch enables us to make decisions and take swift action in a given situation. However, perception can be bad because we can form presumptions and stereotpype based on what we merely perceive. I can think of so many examples where I've been guilty of it... as well as where I've been a victim of it... and I've witnessed so many other friends and family around me falling into the same trap. Squabbles and quarrels between family -- because one party thought that the other had done something to hurt them, when the actual situation was completely different. Then they feed on resentment and refuse to confront the situation because they are SO CONVINCED that th...

I really am a sucker for old movies. I remember years ago, every Friday (or was it Thursday?) after school, TV2 would screen old classic movies like "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "The World of Suzie Wong", "Oklahoma" and so many more. Those were golden years of movies. One of my all time favourites was "An Affair to Remember". It had the most pathetic and sad storyline. A classic tearjerker. I am convinced that all those modern sappy Korean/Hong Kong dramas were inspired by this story. The basic story is actually very simple: A man and a woman,who are engaged to other people, meet on a ship and quickly fall in love. They agree to meet six months later, but due to an accident one of them is not able to make it. Like your typical drama, they spin the story out slowly into a looooong drawn out drama... but they certainly do it well! ( IMHO at least ) Most people find this movie to be very slow moving with too much talking. This is quite true. But i...

The other day, for reasons unknown, hubby had a sudden impulse to tear open all the boxes of cereal bars to retrieve the free toys inside. It was done before I could stop him. I started to get cross with him when he pleaded and said that he never had such things when he was a kid, and promised to clean it all up afterwards. There was a superman x-ray vision pen, a wristband, sports pouch among the little knick knacks he found inside the boxes. Sigh. Boys will always be boys. Since the deed was already done, I made hubby make a solemn promise that we will never tolerate such nonsense from our kids next time... because I'm not going to be the one to clean up the mess afterwards... while he and the kids just fool around. Maybe I will be the fierce parent after all? Hmmm.... naaaaah!

This is my current favourite morning spot. The rising sun hits directly right on this spot in the bedroom. And on any clear sunny winter morning, I like to lounge right here... doing some reading, thinking, sipping tea or just daydreaming for about half an hour or so. I am what my dad used to call a "cold blooded creature" because I retain/conduct body heat so poorly. I get cold rather easily. So like a lazy lizard, I need a little sunshine in the morning to kick-start me for the day. This sunshiny spot is precious while the sun continues to shine. I will miss it in mid to late winter when there will be more clouds than sunshine. Trivia time again!!! I also made an important discovery about the sun these past few months... this sunny spot used to be at the other side on the apartment in the living area in summer... in autumn it disappeared somewhat... and has now reemerged at the opposite side in the bedroom. I know in theory that the angle of the sun's rotation changes o...

This is a postcard from my bank. I must be really one heck SPECIAL customer!

On Sunday after church, hubby and I headed down to Darling Harbour Jazz Festival to catch some live outdoor jazz performances. There going to be performances by string quartet Fourplay, and the legendary James Morrison, ending with a fireworks display at 7.30pm. We sat down together with MH's recently married ex-classmate and his new wife. It was a very cold and windy day... we were all bundled up in coats and scarves, but I could still feel the chill creeping up as the sun went down. I was almost certain that hands and faces had started to turn a little blue. But the cold was a small price to pay for such beautiful music... Fourplay was not bad, more bluesy/lounge type of jazz. James Morrison was just fantastic! They played a number of old jazz favourites and even a jazzy rendition of Greensleeves... I absolutely loved it! His band finished off their performance with a BIG drum solo which syncronised with the fireworks display... an amazing sight! Watching fireworks with a drum s...

What cold and wet but also very interesting weekend it has been so far... It started with yesterday going out for dinner with MH's ex-classmates + partners for SICHUAN HOTPOT/STEAMBOAT... the perfect thing to indulge in on a cold winter's night. We ordered 2 types of soup, the plain chicken herbal soup and the spicy sichuan soup. For the spicy soup, there were so many different levels of spiciness from ultra-mild, mild, spicy, extra-spicy, ultra-spicy... Should we try some ultra-spicy for some kick? Then someone mentioned that she had eaten here before and found the mild version to be very very hot already...... serious-ah? ok ok ok... so should we take ultra-mild then? But still need a bit of kick, right? Stick to mild then... (worse come to worse, can mix the spicy soup with the plain one). We selected many different types of meat, fishball, seafood, vegies, mushroom, noodles... When the soup arrived, I peered curiously at the so called MILD spicy soup... oh my goodness! It w...

MH managed to get a free half-day off to attend his ex-classmate's ROM. I prepared a simple gift to present to the couple... a card penned with some sweet and personal thoughts and a bottle of champagne for them to celebrate their new beginning. I wanted to give them something elegant and subtle to show the significance of how special this day is for every couple vowing to be husband and wife. It was a simple ceremony. The couple repeated their vows to each other, exchanged rings and signed the marriage certificate in the presence of two witnesses. Just 15-20 minutes or so and it was over. Time for photo-taking. How amazingly simple a marriage ceremony is... if you take away all the other extras like sermons, speeches, music etc... in the end it's simply about two people pledging their lives to one another... such a simple act, yet so profound!

Tried the delectable dessert wine from Pokolbin Estate... it's very very very sweet and rich. Lovely enjoyed with this Tiramisu hubby bought for me...