冬天来了，春天还会远吗？

 

人生崎岖，很多时候，当我们遇到挫折，哪怕是路上的一颗小石头，或者是一座雪山，我们都会想举白旗，要不就认命。不过，人生中最想投降的时刻，往往也是最靠近成功的时刻。之前你已经牺牲青春、精力、时间，锻炼体力，锻炼脑力，就为了要爬这一座山。即将抵达雪山山顶时，天气酷寒，山路不平，你却要停下来，下山去，就这样看不到山顶后的彩霞、日出，岂不可惜？
冬天来了，春天还会远吗？为了迎接春天，大家一起在冬天努力吧！

正在准备考试的朋友们，加油哦！坚持下去！

在此献上一份爱心早餐打气 ^_^

The road of life is rough and rocky. We all face challenges, most of the time. It can be just a pebble by the road, or a tall, gigantic snowy mountain, but it always make us feel like giving up or giving in to out fate. However, the moment you feel like surrendering is often the moment that you are closest to success. You have sacrificed your youth, your energy and time, and you even vigorously prepare yourself physically and mentally to climb this snowy mountain. Just when you are about to reach the peak, the freezing weather and uneven roads called you to surrender your past endeavours, stop and descend. Thus, you can never see the beautiful pink clouds and morning sun. Is that not a waste?

Those who are preparing for the examination, all the best, and persevere!

Here is a breakfast for you, made with lots of love. ^_^

Study Week? Nah...

EXAMS? Oh no, I barely even touched anything! Having performed badly in my assignments, I cannot help but to push myself during this precious 5-days study week. I don't think I am pushing myself that far too, otherwise I wouldn't have been blogging here in the icy-cold library, with my frozen fingers shivering and stomping on the keyboard with that last little ounce of energy.

So, here goes my study week...

Monday marks the beginning of the study week. A good breakfast marks a good start, right? He he. I gave my study week a sweet start with this 20-minute breakfast. 20 minutes, yes, because I factor in the time to wash and cut the fruits, nuts and nori sheets, apart from preparing the oats.

It is really tasty with the sweetness of the fruits, savoury taste of the nori sheets, crunch of the nuts and, not to forget, the creamy oats base. At least it quelled my cravings for a big fat slice of cheesecake and extra sleep!

It seems like I can somehow study better during the final week leading to the exam, probably due to the extra stress and push factor? I'm not sure. I can UNDERSTAND the concepts well but fail to remember the facts and the precise names of the theories. God help me. I want to score at least better than my 3.82 last year, but, can I?

Tuesday is another sweet start. I think my post is more on oat story and food (Yes, I LOVE food,quality ones of course) than studying LOL.

I was very happy to be invited to a cafe called 静思书轩 a.k.a.Jing Si Books and Cafe (if I'm not mistaken) at Church Road by Yin Fang, my junior. We went there with her room mate, Shin Xuan and a senior, Milo. The Cafe was just a stone's throw away from the jetty. It looks like there are much more treasures to be unearth beneath the main channel to flee home. The environment there is a stark difference compared to that of the stuffy hostel room. It was serene with the fragrance of tea floating in the air, light music and comfortable seats. Best of all, the environment there is really Buddhist okay?(Duh,the cafe is opened by Tzu-Chi volunteers)

Unfortunately I did not take any picture there. STUDIES COME FIRST so there is no time for me to wander around and take pictures of it. The pleasant environment gave me the extra boost to read further and cram more information into my head, minus the boredom and stuffiness. Plus, there is no bed so I did not even think about sleeping.

Fast forward towards lunchtime and we went to the Quay Cafe nearby. It was Wesak Day but we neither participated in any procession nor pray, so we decided that the only way to celebrate was to BECOME VEGETARIANS ON THAT DAY, so a vegetarian lunch that is! The cafe was operated by Tzu-Chi volunteers too, and it was almost no-frills (i.e.all those romantic music, waiters teaching you to hold cutlery, thick menus that make the trees cry for mercy); just simple and inviting. A variety of food was sold there, from local favourites such as "Chicken" rice and Bak Kut Teh to international food like Japanese Bento. There was not many choices but the choices were sufficient enough to make a hungry diner happy. Plus, the price was reasonable.

My Healthy Lunch Set (RM7.50). It was really... GREEN. I chose this mainly because of the price and I need rice to feel satisfied. The portion is very healthy too-for ladies.

The crunchy sweet potato fries (RM4.00/plate). I love this but it gave me a terrible stomach pain afterwards, probably because I eat fried food once in a blue moon.

Shin Xuan's bento (RM15). Soup+jelly+Udon noodles+4 pieces of sushi+pickled ginger+sweet potato fries+wasabi dipping.
I was glad that I did not order this, considering the ginormous size. However, I must admit that the sushi is awesome and large enough, unlike the eeny-meeny tiny ones in conventional sushi stores which are so small that they can be swallowed.

Yin Fang's Quay Rice (RM7.50). Might have to try this next time...

Milo's hotpot (RM10). I forgot the name for this, but again, it was very huge. The pot was LOADED with mushrooms, bean curd pockets and bean curds with noodles on the side. It's healthy but of course, be sure to take a friend or two if you are to eat this!

The rest of the time were spent in the cafe(duh).We studied and chatted over issues in college, along with refills after refills of tea. By the way, all of us had rose tea. At RM5 per pot with endless refills, it is definitely worth relishing! I doubt anyone can refill that for too many times anyway as the fragrant aroma was so relaxing that it beckoned visitors to take their time to read, think, reflect on themselves and appreciate the finer things in life. 

We left at five and took a brief walk around that area, including the Indian street before heading back to the campus. I want to go back to the cafe again and probably satiate my cravings for some hot and spicy Indian food too? 

He he.

I had a super low fat dinner for that day, but low fat did not equal to low calories. This time, I had some rice with dessert. Yay!

By the way, the rice was 香积饭, some sort of instant rice bought at the cafe which came with dried vegetables. It was sold at RM18 per 5-pack package. It is delicious but I advise you to pump it up with something else such as raisins, cashews or some other vegetables if you are to make it a meal,unless if you truly eat like a bird. ;)

That's all for now. As you can see, it is a very short post. My fingers are screaming for mercy!

I still have a lot to post,and things to share, but to save my fingers and grades, I will see you later, okay?

Study Week is for studying, with enjoyment together. Studying like a robot amounts to...nothing.

All the best to all the students!

Life is Simple

As we first opened our eyes
to see the light;
As we first opened our ears
to hear mummy's voice;
As we first opened our mouth
and cry;

Our voyage begins
A voyage from Mum's Cradle
To Never-Ending Land

Brains and brawns are we
just like our non-human friends around;
God gave us the faith, the hope
that we can give rainbows and build bridges
to make this world a Utopia.

He gave us special brains as a gift
so languages we create to speak
and to pass down to our children and grandchildren;
ideas and logics we manifest
to create good livelihood, but

Our life ain't as simple.

As the trees and flowers and shrubs
grow strong from the ground
felicitate under the warmth of the sun
taste the nectar from dew drops

The land animals roam free and wild
across hills and savannahs;
The hummingbirds, magpies and parrots reate melodies
and sing in Mother Nature's choir.
The fish danced in the clear blue rivers
and deep blue seas, along with red shrimps and crabby crabs
while Mother Oyster painstakingly produces
Nature's jewels.

And Man, the Rulers of the World
pay to live with every single cent,
to rewrite God's prescription and ode to live
into a version man fancy. 

For the luscious candies of nature grown 
underwent surgeries and genetic modifications
before slapping them as being super-healthy.
Those, hand-created by God, freshly from the ground
bear the burden of an extra adjective:
"ORGANIC"
with the price-tag triple of that of their counterparts'
and send goosebumps down the laymen's spine.
Where is "ORGANIC" food before World War Two?
None, because ALL food is pure and natural
without the burden of an extra adjective. 

The food, the skin care, the house-wash
Once attainable with oil and soil
Now required a millionwillion ingredients
with a list longer than a professor's thesis
Improved livelihoods and civilization? Yes-
Obesity, cancer, allergies, heart attack
Are our bosom friends now.
So cheap, so fragrant, so beautiful, so dear
Yet deadly
As we put these into our bodies to save money,
Our poor bodies are screaming for mercy.

Juicy, thick fat steak
Becomes a sign of social status.
Got milk? How about some pus and hormones with that?
Got egg? Oh, yummy hen period
produced with the expense of the happiness of the hens.
Why harm our animal friends? To nourish?
We gnaw the nerves and muscles off our FRIENDS
and bathed in their blood
and make merry out of a big fat roasted turkey
when there they are in a massive concentration camp
spanning hundreds of years, with their wings clipped and feet bound
to see their family members torn apart from them
every DAY.

We want to move-no more.
These are the days where
Extracting petroleum hydrocarbons for PET, 
polymerization, producing PET pellets, stretch blow molding
cooling down the mold and checking for leftover PET 
are deemed easier than
PROCESING STEEL, MOLDING THEM, 
SELLING THEM AND WASHING THEM FOR ANOTHER USAGE
because we are disposable. We eat, we sleep, we wear, we poo, we throw.

And why the fur, hides and leather for clothes and arm candies?
Why, we are born with our own skin and
insecurity and lack of confidence prevail
so much that
we need to hide under others' skins and coats
the fox, the minks, the rabbits, the tigers, the leopards, the goats?
and we mass produce them through concentration camps
and process it with heavy metal just to rid bacteria and all that jazz
slap a 10K price tag onto it
and have them making their ways into fashion runways,
a symbol of success, and a symbol of pride
when we can have them cheap and easy with
something without flesh and blood-cotton? cool and fresh,

Why we need to pitch knives and swords
against our friends? Why the bloodshed
for a common land? We are all homo sapiens
with 99% similar DNA. It's the skin colour, location and brains
that set us apart, apparently.
For resources and an uber race, 
we set our friends'house on fire
and deport them as slaves or to their ends
and have to pay the price of war
and to sign neverending treaties in the end...

WHY THE HASSLE OF IT AT ALL?

Life is meant to be simple and easy for all
As long as we walk the path
as prescribed by God because
He has painted a picture of life
and designed the seas, the mountains, the plains,
the plants, the animals, and the humans, supposed to be the smartest.
With our brains, we should have make the world of better place
but instead we stabbed against Him and made him cry in fury
and end up with a circle of malaise


Sharon Ng Huey Yuek
14/05/2014
6.29 a.m.