tsunami...

Tsunami, a sea wave of local or distant origin that results from large-scale seafloor displacements associated with large earthquakes, major submarine slides, or exploding volcanic islands.

Primary 5, searching through Encarta and other various encyclopedias to find out the meaning of tsunami... the title of my geography project. I compiled an impressive array of information about it...

but it was only yesterday when I really got a glimpse of the horrors and verberating effects of this natural phenomenum. Ripples... similar to those produced by droplets... but rising high and crashing down to have disastrous effects. Waves of force.

Am deeply saddened by the news of the thousands of tragic deaths.
Fishermen were strolling home after casting their nets...
Little children were building sandcastles...
Surfers were enjoying the waves.

I asked my parents why there was no large scale warning eventhough the first large wave appeared earlier in the morning.
One simple answer:
"we never expected it to happen here..."

I learnt today that
life is so unpredictable.
You never know when your last day is.

Makes us reflect on how we've been living our lives.

I know i've always been procrastinating.
There are many meaningful things I wanted to do
... but ...
I've always been too busy.
Or is that merely an excuse?
Caught up in the daily hustle and bustle,
I've ended up pushing these things aside.

Perhaps we can learn from this tsunami~
to say the things we need to say
as well as do the things we need to do...
today.

Dear all, :)

blessed Christmas~! :)
love, pam :)

picture this... my room. :)

Every morning~
I wake to the sound of music...
At night~
sleep under a blanket of stars...
and when i can't sleep?
i count sheep~! :)

*grins*

Explanation:
-> radio alarm clock
-> glow in the dark stars (hundreds)
-> glow in the dark sheep ~ 32 (i counted!)

baa... :)

chewy... :)

Thank you for the yashizawa butterfly you made for me years ago...

and thank you for the yashizawa butterfly you just gave me today...
a symbol of friendship and love. :)

it's with true friends you can be grumpy with... :)

and silly with... :)

or just plain happy~! :)

thanku su~! :)

dong... :)

mmm... :) Happy Dongzhi~! :)

bet this is the first time you're seeing a heart shaped 'tong yuen'! :)

you know it's done when it starts floating in boiling water. :)

three at a time~ that's the max i can do at one go. :)

Today is Dongzhi (Winter Solstice Festival). :)

I never really knew the significance... but found this exerpt online:
"The festival marks the start of a 14 to 15-day season in China when day is longer than night in mid-winter.
During the old days, the people in China used to consider the festival as the beginning of a new season and New Year, when longer sunshine meant more brightness and positive energy. The whole family would come together to make rice balls, which were symbolic of fullness and being together. "

It's fun making those 'tong yuen'... was competing with my aunt to see who could roll the most balls on one hand... i only managed to do three at a time. :) Other than that, I was playing around and making heart shaped tong yuen... :) hehe... i've always wanted to make multi coloured balls... but somehow my parents disagree... *grins* imagine red, purple, green, yellow, orange, pink and white balls bobbing~ oh man.. it'd be like Christmas~!

But by far the best part of Dongzhi is the symbolism of family togetherness... *smiles* :)

*cough cough* :)

Nothing soothes a bad cough more than a cup of warm green tea with honey... and lots of care + concern. :)

visiting, celebrating, catching up. :)

There's always this happy feeling when you're on the journey to visit your relatives. Here's is my whole family huddled in a car... on our way to ipoh~ we're nearing... see the mountains? :)

Happy Birthday Jon and Hannah~! :)

No need to fight for the cake... :) hehehee...

smiles. :)

more smiles! :)

catching up with friends is always awesome... and eventhough we haven't seen each other in a year~ it's great that we still feel comfortable being silly infront of each other... :) (okie... perhaps i'm the only silly one...)

dancing lights on a fully accessorized tree... brings a warm glow to home sweet home... and adds a festive cheer... :) It's lovely being home~! :)

a droplet today... :)

A little boy in the swimming pool asked me in cantonese, "jie jie, lei hoh mm hoh yee pong ngo bei choy ah?" (which means: sister, can you compete with me?)

Haha.. he's so cute... wanted to race me to the other end using breast stroke. :) I just smiled and replied in cantonese that I'd be embarassed to lose to him... but why not... sounds fun...
and we raced. :)

Home Sweeeeeet Home~! :)

It's really lovely being back home. :)
I never realised how much I missed home until I got back. :) All the simple things that truly warms my heart... its what I missed when I was in Melbourne, but admist busy schedules I almost forgot how good these things were... until I came back and experienced it all again... :) Aaah... *warm fuzzy feeling*
~having dinner together with family at home :)
~running after kenny and sabrina (my dogs) :)
~driving around rather timidly and getting quite a few honks! Proudly displaying my 'P' sticker. :P
~going for swims at the club at sunset. :)
~hanging out at the usual spots (MV, Pyramid, BU, KLCC)
~chatting on the phone until our ears burn!
~sipping coffee and chatting for ages... :)
~staring out of my window watching the huge raindrops land on the roof...
~blasting the radio when I shower... not having to worry about disturbing my housemate/neighbour. :)
~having broadband. :)
~wearing shorts and slippers... :)
~learning how to play the guitar... fingers hurt, but it's fun! :)
~eating chilli padi eventhough i know it'll make me tear and sniffle. :)
~being teased for my terrible malay. :)
~... and my terrible sense of direction. :)
~playing my dear red yamaha piano i've had ever since i was 7. :)
~friendships that are not watered away with time... but strengthen, grow and blossom~! :)
~the 'ring-a-ling' sound of the copper bell when the auto gate opens/closes. :)
~my room. :)
~snuggling under the comforter with the aircon blasting cos it's hot outside! :)
~10 cents SMSes! :)
~daily doses of mom's home-boiled soup! :)