Buddha's Day

And so Boon Suang, Jia Yen, Pei Wen, Jian, Jul and I went to the Federation Square to witness this joyous celebration =)

Here's what we did:

• Attended the Annual Peace Blessing Ceremony
  
• Bath the Buddha (symbol of unner purification)
• Struck the Wishing Bell (symbol of resonating Dhamma)

We also went through a Smoke Buster experience, where we "fight the fire"! And satisfied our tummies with culinary delights at the Vegetarian Food Fair (Turnip Cake, Fried Tau Fu and "Zhong"). Jia yen also participated in a mandarin tongue twister competition about the ills of gambling. She was good =) On a random note, two school girls whom we suspected were running for their school elections, requested that the 6 of us hold up their banners (while they videoed us) and shout "AWESOME" to show support. Not sure why we did it but yea it tooks us less than 10 minutes. We were also "selected" to be the ambassadors for the City West Water company where we posed with their mascot. Apparently we will be featured in their website! hahahahah what luck.

Ah~ missed the light and bodhi ceremonies though. Next year!

We had lunch at a chinese restaurant called A1 where Ming Chin and Ken Ming joined us. Had a yummy lunch and a hearty laugh about the nonsensical =) Next we strolled along Bourke Street, how relaxing to enjoy the moment, have small chats and occasionally stop to watch live artistic performances!

We took BS to the Royal Arcade since she hasn't been there and yea I really loved that place. Its quaint interior were charming, with an elegant Victorian touch. Went in a few shops and ah~ the Tarot Shop appealed to me the most, felt really mystical and unusually familiar. One day, when I have the $$ I shall invest in some prophecy reading lol. Soon after we left to OfficeWork to get BS's papers and some stationary. That was when Jian's bro came to BS's rescue by helping her to carry the 4 kilo box of papers onto the tram =) =)

And then we parted =)

Ah~ how liberating! Good company = good moments.

Pictures should be up soon in FaceBook =) As for now, will have to get back to my assignments. Adios ~

Happy Wesak

Happy Wesak =) Sukhihontu.

Buddha - The Teacher

Dhamma - His teachings

Sangha

Flowers - Impermenance

Incense - Purity & Moral Conduct

Lotus - Faithfulness to the Truth

Light - Wisdom

Bodhi - Enlightenment


May everyone be happy and safe,

and may their hearts be filled with joy.

May all living beings live in Security and in Peace

Beings who are frail or strong,

Tall or short, big or small,

Visible or not visible, near or far away,

Already born or yet to be born.

May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.

Let no one do harm to anyone.

Let no one put the life of anyone in danger.

Let no one, out of anger or ill will, wish anyone any harm.

Metta Sutta (Stuttanipata)

Happy Wesak,

Sabbe satta sukhi hontu,

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. =)

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year!

May 2009 bring out the best in us and hold whatever that we wish for!

May happiness, hope and faith also come in abundance, allowing our everyday to be so full of wonderful possibilities. =)




PS: Work resumes tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

Hello everybody again!

Today at Kumon, we had a Christmas party for all students and parents. At 8.30 am, we reached Kumon to help set up the party by arranging the tables, food and putting up balloons!

I secretly created a beautiful mistletoe out of the balloons and had my colleague helped me hang it on top of the entrance (without him, or anyone, knowing what it was! haha ok maybe it was that unrecognizable, but I made the ribbons really lacey!) hahaah, but too bad it bursted an hour later, sigh, too bad, no hopes to look out for cute kids kissing! haha

My job was to give out paper cups, write the kid's name on it and tell them that they should always use their own cups (because we have limited cups) and to show them where the barley and water were. But of course this plan wasn't exactly perfect.

"Teacher, my cup got water come out, got crack, can get another one ah?"

"Teacher, my brother took my cup"

"Teacher, I accidentally threw my cup away"

"Teacher, I duno where my cup go to!"

"Teacher, I lost my cup" followed by a "Gotya, yeah I bluffed you!"


hahahah. I enjoyed my job as a cup-giver though my colleague reckoned that I was forcing
the cups into the kids by constantly stopping them abruptly and saying "Here's your cup!" before they had a chance to say no.

The party was quite successful though some kids cried out of fear of the clown (whom without make up, looks good hahaha). And Carolyn stood behind the shelf throughout and didn't join the rest at all. Poor girl.

But all in all, it was great to hear them all laugh and enjoy themselves whole-heartedly (though some thought the clown was "lame") after another year of hard work. Sashaa even questioned me yesterday if they have to do worksheets during the party! Must have been tough having to do worksheets everyday!

On another note, I had lots of fun helping to decorate the place with balloons while singing along to Christmas songs. We were all goofing around, taking full advantage of the chance to pull down the strict-teacher-mask today. Even cleaning up was gleeful. Christmas spirit was in the air and indeed, everything was so merry. =)



Merry Christmas everyone!

冬至节快乐

冬至节

家里外婆祭天, 也 祭祀祖

我们又有得吃汤圆.. =)

晚上则会到婆婆那里团聚

吃冬至夜饭.. =D

好久没这样团聚, 一定很热闹




愿大家吃了汤圆大一岁

与家人团团圆圆,

过个快乐冬至!

Mid Autumn Festival

中秋节快乐!

自己独自在家, 令我想起往年的中秋气氛, 热闹得很.

大家会在婆婆家聚会, 一同吃中秋晚饭, 有说有笑, 不意乐乎.

吃饱后, 我们就会到外亭点灯笼, 吃月饼兼赏月.

最后, 大家会提着灯笼, 在婆婆住宅区的范围内闲逛几圈..

点灯笼, 它熄了, 再点.. 还有, 每一年少不了我的"火烧灯笼", 真过隐..

中秋节也是我们玩火的大好时机, 点燃一列列蜡烛, 好漂亮..

每一年我们也会烧到手, 堂弟妹们 会闹着大笑, 姑姑会叫我们在夜间静些..哈哈.

小妹妹则会在妈妈身边, 静观我们玩火, 希望今晚她可以陪同他们一起玩吧!



那么外婆,表兄妹, 他们呢? 在中秋夜前夕, 我们就已他们痛快玩一晚了!


中秋一直以来都是我们大家庭一同度过的快乐时光..家好月圆? 嘻嘻



月到中秋分外明 , 但这里的月光好像显得额外孤独..



啊,好思念..




~游子~


ps: Ma sent me a virtual moon cake! =)