collection of my favourite love quotes

"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." - Oprah Winfrey

"Men always want to be a woman's first love; women like to be a man's last romance." - Oscar Wilde

"A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears." - Woodrow Wyatt

"To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best." - Matthew M. Thackeray

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tze

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Were it not for hope the heart would break." - Scottish proverb

"The love we give away is the only love we keep." - Elbert Hubbard

and my personal favourite,

"Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever." - June Masters Bacher

Lunar Blessings

Yeah... If there's one thing I dread, its Chinese New Year.

The 3 Chinese New Year thingies that irks me.
1. Visiting so-called relatives whom you have not seen for exactly a year (since the previous Chinese New Year).
2. Eat the same disgusting sh*t every year. (The pot of steamboat which you can brew your own poison)
3. Being imprisoned at your relatives' home until the cows come home.

Well... Having suffered for 20 years of Chinese New Year, I sure wasn't looking forward to the 21st one.

However, luck seemed to have changed this time round.

Perhaps as though, with the trotting in of the Year of the Pig, I didn't felt so out of place as I did in my rebellious youth.
Relatives whom seemed almost like strangers in years past became people who I felt a connection to, not just by blood (which is totally overrated). Its nice to see your cousins and aunties and uncles, just to share a tender moment to see how's everyone doing.
In a sense, I felt Chinese New Year was the opportunity to strengthen the bonds of kinship despite everyone's hectic lifestyle. The fact that everyone never failed to show up every year shows the imbedded love and concern we have for each other, just that often, as Asians, we find it hard to reveal our true feelings. Why didn't I notice it before? Perhaps the kid is indeed growing up.

Not to mention the red packets the adults always give us every year. Not just for us greedy kids (I haven't reach my 21st) to spend, but to bless us good luck for the coming year. Boy, do I need it. I realised its not the monetary value but the love which is in the red packets.

And about the sh*t I eat each year, yeah sh*t still is sh*t. But thinking it through, my grandmothers did put in alot of effort and loving devotion in buying/preparing the ingredients and concocting the soup base to make Chinese New Year as successful as possible, not just this year but always. And who really cares about eating sh*t for a day or two when you can share this sh*t with your family members whom you have not had time to meet up the past year. And this year, the sh*t did taste alot better. Thanks alot Grannies! love ya effort! and love u as always!

And looking around, my relatives put in alot of effort (and money) in nicely decorating their homes to make it as welcoming as possible. They also bought alot of snacks and tidbits for bored kinsmen like myself to gorge ourselves out. sighs... Thinking about how I despise the Lunar New Year in the past, I should be ashamed of myself.

Well... no point regretting my rebellious days of youth, I guess, I hope for a good prosperous year ahead as an adult.. arghhh... Wonder what's it going to be like! *quivers*

But sure I am to looking forward to meeting up with my relatives for a feast of Granny's concoction of sh*t next year! I really am!!! =]

***Happy Lunar New Year to all! May this Year of the Pig bring you prosperity and good fortune. And as always, may you and your family be blessed with good health and happiness!***

End of an era

Today is the last Wednesday of the strainous school semester. School have indeed winded down and I am slowly but surely morphing back to my previous self, from the wreck that I have become in the course of this semester.

Stress! Stress! Stress! Stress! Stress!

What's an education without stress? Just like what's a bird without its wings? Can an education really take off without its wings of stress? Oh, for all the blood and tears I shed in Polytechnic. Whatever for? A tangible certificate? Or an unbroken promise to achieve my dreams?

I would like to go for the former. For me, my dreams had been shattered the moment I stepped into this semester. What I had imagined of a course which I so bravely opted for, knowingly its terribly demanding nature, turned out to be a nightmare rather than a dream come true. In my angst and pain, who am I to blame? The school for deceit and providing a false impression? Myself for the naive self that I am? My heart for following a destiny it always wanted?

The last question only reveals that my heart is shattered, like a million pieces of glass. Unmendable, and hurts all who tries to pick up the pieces. I guess only me and I can nurse my wounds. Hidden from sight, hidden from the world outside.

Yet broken and torn, I still had a fun time in school. What I enjoyed most is giving my best to help my groupmates. Despite knowing that the future is bleak for me, I just wanted to help them out to make their journey at least easier. It gave me a sense of purpose and this purpose made healing somewhat easier. I also enjoyed the fun times we shared. I guess, even if one is maimed and dying, friendship is what can ferry him to his final port of call.

So, as the semester ceases to exist, did I regret following my dreams blindly? Maybe. But thanks to those who helped me to see and breathe again. It had been an amazing journey. Blindness do not affect your ability to walk ahead, with the support of your sturdy walking stick, your friends and most importantly, your will to endeavour.

Thanks for the happy memories. Till we meet again.