When there is a birthday celebration in the family now, the person whom gets really most excited is probably En'en. En'en could now better relate and anticipate all events happening in a birthday celebration; cake cutting, red eggs, presents... and just thinking about them, makes her pounding with excitement.
This month is ling's birthday and I had bought her a durian cake from Jane's cake shop at Jalan Kayu. While Shin Yang enjoys almost any kind of cakes, looking at how En'en responds to the cake makes me feel that this girl would outshine Shin Yang in no time.
Enen went for her first holiday out of the country in June this week. To Genting with Zhenjie's entire clan, including Megan, for a weekend. They went by coach. This time, Zhenjie's entire family brought Enen along for a visit to Joanne in Penang by plane. Her sisters were green with envy at Enen's good fortune to be able to travel & vacation. Look at how mature Enen looked as she checked into the boarding area!
SSA will be holding the 80th Anniversary Celebration on 25 December at the indoor stadium to commemorate the Soka Gakkai's 80th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary of worldwide kosen-rufu. This also signifies a fresh departure for SSA towards 2017, SSA's 50th Anniversary.
A theme song "I Rise" has been specially composed for this occasion. All of us will learn this beautiful song at this month's discussion meeting.
After persevering at ballet lessons & exams for more than 6 years, Qiqi is finally showing some enthusiasm at a ballet-related activity - stretching and being flexible. In fact her twisted Qiqi brand of passion once again surface - her ambition now is to be a contortionist!! In fact, she has even google the possible institutions to help realize her dream; she wants me to send her to a supposedly renowned gymnast school in New Jersey.. i bet she doesn't even know where is that!!?
Anyway, to have a dream and to work towards it, is admirable. When she realized that I don't have the resources to send her to New Jersey, she is now looking at local gymnastic programs and even secondary schools with rhythmic gymnastics as its CCA. Whatever it is, at least Qiqi is looking forward to her ballet lessons now.. ;)
Meanwhile.. until she has means to find a decent barrel to practise her barrel contortion acts, our home laundry basket seems an acceptable alternative.
This must be a funny sight which ponders you... looks really like a wake held for a missing iphone, isn't it? Well, if that's what you're thinking, then BINGO! Shinyang had accidentally dropped her phone into the water last night. According to the apple warranty, any liquid damage to the phone is not covered. We did not know until the support person told us that there is a actually a little white indicator on the iphone which will turn red/pink if contacted with liquid. Desperate, Shinyang started to google how to salvage her dear phone. One recommended way is to keep it under the raw rice which will absorb all it's water moisture. Many people who had their phone soaked in the washing machine, hot tub, dropped into river were able to revive their phones using this method... Amazing... let's hope Shinyang's phone will back 'alive'.
Last Saturday evening while the family was watching the usual Taiwanese soap opera Love, a series of chinese words ran down the tv: MM Lee's wife has juz passed away at home at the age of 89. Goodness gracious! It has only been a couple of days that MM Lee being admitted into hospital to treat a chest infection was on the news..
Though I was never very interested in Mrs Lee to find out more about her, the manner the media reported her death was very effective in generating this massive sense of loss in me.. that my motherland has lost a mother of the land! Having juz lost mummy and still feeling lost with the loss, guess I felt especially sad about Mrs Lee's departure.. In fact, I felt an urge to go pay my last respects to her!
When I voiced my thought, Xuan immediately said she wants to go too. So on the second day when the public was allowed to visit her wake, Victor took half a day off and we set off to the Istana after fetching Xuan from school and taking a quick lunch together.
September, being the traditional zaimu month, has been designated the Month of Good Fortune & Gratitude for SSA. To bring across the spirit of making offerings in Buddhism, we courageously made a novel attempt - we did a sketch adapted from the Buddhist parable, The Poor Woman's Lamp.
In our sketch, Nanda, a poor woman with a strong & pure heart, was very touched by King Ajatashatru's long procession of lamp offerings to Shakyamuni Buddha. So touched that she too wanted to offer a lamp to the Buddha! Alas, she had no money. So she sold her long, beautiful hair in exchange for a little oil to light a tiniest lamp for the Buddha, at the same time praying for the wisdom to lead everyone in the world to enjoy great happiness. Due to her sincerity & selfless prayer, her tiniest lamp among all was the only remaining one to glow brightly on Eagle Peak throughout that night of cold, strong wind from Mount Sumeru. Not even Maudgalyayana could extinguish the tiny lamp's beautiful glow the following morning! Shakyamuni Buddha acknowledging Nanda's pure, sincere offering for the whole world's happiness, prophesied that Nanda will definitely become a Buddha who possess the most wonderful wisdom in the future!
Well, Nanda's *"efforts were not impressive, and people preoccupied with mundane affairs might not have taken the slightest notice of the dedication she expressed in offering the amount of oil. But Shakyamuni was indeed a man of penetrating insight. You can no more severe the ties of sincerity which bind human beings to one another in the depths of their lives than you can cut through water or air. Even when all other things wane & collapse into the whirlpool of life's relentless difficulties, such sincerity will only glow all the more brilliantly. "
"It is not the material worth of an offering but the spirit behind it that counts. The poor woman's single lamp meant far more than the five thousand barrels of lamp oil which Ajatashatru, the ruler of that country, donated to the Buddha. The little lamp contained the sincerity that a nameless woman felt with her entire being. A mind which attaches the importance even to the slightest matters and which loves and treasure even seemingly insignificant things can profoundly move people even through a small action."
We sincerely hope to bring through Nanda's sincere and selfless spirit of offering through this amateurish effort. Enjoy ~~ !
* extracted from Treasures of the Heart by SGI President, Daisaku Ikeda
It was a while since we had read about the greatness of a rebounder. However considering it's size, we had been a bit hesitant in getting one. It was only recently when i went back to read about it's benefits that i finally decided to get one for the family. It was great fun! But i thought that's secondary... by jumping on the rebounder, you could be surprised on the "incredible health returns" you could obtain while having fun.
These are some of it's benefits:
68% more efficient than jogging(NASA, Journal of Applied Physiology 49(5): 881-887)
Fights fatigue by strengthening the glandular system to increase the capabilities of the thyroid gland, the pituitary gland and the adrenals.
Rebounding has a natural analgesic effect on the body which helps torelieve joints and pain in the neck, back, and head through the increase of circulation and oxygen flow.
Conditions and strengthens the heart which allows the resting heart to beat less often. This in turn sends a stronger surge of blood through the veins.
It provides an extremely effective 'no impact' exercise - especially important for those with less mobility or undergoing rehabilitation.
Rebounding has been found to lower elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Itincreases metabolism which assists the body in burning more calories.
One of the primary causes of aging is the declining performance of the heart and circulatory system. Rebounding is incredibly effective inincreasing the performance of both the heart and the circulatory system and thusslows the aging process.
Rebounding specifically stimulates the flow of lymph fluid through the lymphatic system. The change in gravitational forces allows for greater blood flow and thisincreases the amount of waste and toxins flushed from the body. Rebounding can increase lymph flow by up to 15%!
Rebounding has also been found toenhance digestion, relaxation, sleep patterns, nerve impulses and muscle fiber.
Blood pressure can be significantly reduced by rebounding. This is achieved by boosting the muscle tone of the middle arterial muscles and the improvements to the circulatory system.
Having done pretty well for her SA1 this year, Xuan 'earned' a birthday party juz like her jeje three years ago. Unfortunately her birthday falls right smack in between the much-dreaded CA2.. She reckoned most of her friends would not come for the party even if she were to invite them, hence we had a post-CA2 party instead.. a gathering of friends on Sep 1, the Teacher's Day school holiday!! :)
24th August is SGI Men's Division Day! This month in our discussion meeting, I am supposed to explain the significance of this day. The extracts from our Creative Life magazine are relevant and good but my presentation skills does not seem to be able to bring out the gist of it. Fortunately, Shin Yang is able to obtain a presentation pack from our creative and diligent Aunty Huili. Shin Yang then enhanced the pack with the Chinese text and even borrowed a projector from Aunty Kristie! With these visual aids, it definitely helps to capture the attention of our members and ease my explanation. I have such a nice and hardworking wife for Kosen Rofu, i thought.. :-)
When there is a birthday celebration in the family now, the person whom gets really most excited is probably En'en. En'en could now better relate and anticipate all events happening in a birthday celebration; cake cutting, red eggs, presents... and just thinking about them, makes her pounding with excitement. 
This month is ling's birthday and I had bought her a durian cake from Jane's cake shop at Jalan Kayu. While Shin Yang enjoys almost any kind of cakes, looking at how En'en responds to the cake makes me feel that this girl would outshine Shin Yang in no time.
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