My Lovely Pet: Ah Ji

This is my lovely chinchilla, Ah Ji or 阿吉. He is 11 years old this year and has been with us since he was a few months old. My 3rd younger brother brought him in 2010 and we have been showering him with lotsa love since. He is really well-behaved and docile. He is like a family to us now. May he live to a ripe old age of 20 years old.

Cleaning My Room and Update of BTO Ballot

I spent the day cleaning my bedroom desk today. It took me half a day to clean and organise my items. I'm wondering if I should throw away my CD and DVD collection as they are taking too much space. There is no more CD or DVD drive in laptop and desktop now. I need to get a DVD/CD player if I want to use it. 

I have far too many things. I really must stop spending unnecessary. In the midst of cleaning, I read my diary that I wrote from 2003 to 2005 when I was an undergraduate at NUS. Back then, my young cousin was a baby. Reading my diary brought old memories back. 

I just received an email from HDB regarding 2-room BTO flat application under the Single scheme. Alas as balloted queue number has exceeded the flat supply, application for the flat is not successful. Well, I just have to try for November BTO flat application again.     

Tomorrow, I will clear other part of my bedroom. There are far too many things to clean and organise. 

My CD and DVD collection.

I like Jay Chou music. 

Mum prepared Kimbap for dinner tonight.

Current Favourite Song 為你寫詩

Currently I like this Mandarin song by Kenji Wu,  為你寫詩 (Writing Poem for You). I love both the melody and lyrics. 

Tonight Dinner

I just had a simple dinner of honey yogurt with dragonfruit, honey pecan and some nuts and seeds like pumpkin seeds. I also had a small piece of yam mooncake. I'm a typical Teochew who loves everything yam- Orh nee or yam paste and yam mooncake. I do hope my future spouse can cook yam paste for me, the not so sweet type for healthier option. 

I don't feel so well with menstrual cramp so I had afternoon nap after washing clothes and bag. 

I'm happy with what I done in the morning. Washing my clothes and also my bag. Today weather is great for drying clothes and bag with bright sunny day. 

Tomorrow I will clean my room and organise my bookshelves and desk. Time to clear my messy room.

I love the honey pecan from camel brand. 

I had a small piece of yam mooncake, Teochew style. 

Breaking World Record at 14 Years Old: The Amazing and Filial Quan Hong Chan

My young cousin shared with me the teenager who dived with barely a splash. I was skeptical initially. After watching the perfect dive, I was amazed by her beautiful dive showing us what the human body is capable of. I'm not a fan of diving sports. But after watching Quan Hong Chan's amazing dives, I've become a fan of her!. I like watching her beautiful elegant perfect dives with minimal ripple. 

Now, I'm a fan of the resilient and filial Olympic Diving Champion Quan Hong Chan who also broke world record achieving colossal score of 466.2 and 3 perfect scores in this Olympics!

Behind her success is many years of sacrifice. She has to practise more than 400 jumps/dives per day. About 200 to 300 backflips on land and 100 dives on water. She did not complain about the tough and tiring practice. She is adorable and mature at her age. Her only goal is to earn lots of money to pay for her mother's medical bills as her farmer father does not earn much. At 14 years old, she has not visited zoo and theme parks but she don't whine and complain but always give her best during the practice. Some kids at her age will just whine and complain of tough training. There are many sour grapes online. Maybe they are ignorant of the young British Tom Daley who started competing at 14 years old.

There is no shortcut to success. Grit, focus, resilience, determination and hard work are keys to success. 

I have great respect for her grit and filial piety.  May she continue to thrive and succeed and stay humble. At 14 years old, she has a long road ahead. 

Jiayou Quan HongChan 加油全红婵!

I really like this adorable, sensible and filial girl.May she continue to thrive and succeed!

Favourite Female Volleyball Team

Do you enjoy watching volleyball matches? If yes, most probably you enjoy this movie on China female volleyball team who won Gold in 2016 Brazil Olympics. 

I like the current China female volleyball team. I just find them awesome and great volleyball players! 

Zall Bookstore in Singapore

 I'm happy to find a bookshop located in the heart of Orchard Road, Wheelock Place. Zall bookstore sells mostly Chinese books and some English books, stationery and art. There is also a cafe and a reading corner where you can read or rest. There is a mini art gallery and also cafe where you can buy cake and drinks in the bookshop. 

This is definitely a great place for readers especially if you love to read Chinese books. 

Where: Wheelock Place #01-02/ #02-18

You can also buy Chinese calligraphy set.

You can also buy Ah Guo's art and stationery.

Mini art gallery.

At level 2, you see this beautiful arch design like arch bridge.

At level 1. If you feel tried after shopping, you can rest here.

There are some English books that you can buy. I think its about 10% of the books they sell.

Looking to Buy a Flat

I am now looking to buy a flat in Singapore. Recently I was exploring Tampines resale flat 3-room flat and most of it are selling above $380,000.00. Some of the flats are really old like more than 35 years old. There are concerns like maintenance cost.

If I want to buy flats at lower prices like $130,000.00, then I can only buy new BTO (Build-To-Order) flats in non-mature estates like in the west side of Singapore. Most mature estates are in the east side of Singapore like Tampines. Singles are paying more taxes and can only purchase new BTO flats in non-mature estates. I prefer to stay near my parents in the east side of Singapore but resale flats in the East are really expensive. 

Alas, I've been staying in Tampines for about 40 years now. I do hope the government can change HDB policy to benefit local Singles. After all, we have been contributing to Singapore economy. I do hope Singapore government can let Singles buy BTO flats in mature estates soon.  

I'm currently staying in a 5-room HDB flat with my family. In my bedroom alone, I have 5 bookshelves (1 bookshelf is about 80 to 90 cm) and a 3-door wardrobe. If I were to move to a BTO 2-room flat, I think I can only put at most 4 bookshelves in the place due to the small space.  

Recently I like to watch home decor videos. This video is a 2-room BTO flat in Singapore.

Happy Vesak Day 2021

Happy Vesak Day! Tomorrow Buddhists around the world will commemorate the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of Gautama Buddha. I will stay at home meditating and listen to Dharma talks by Ajahn Keng and Master Sheng Yen to remember and reflect on Buddha's teaching.

We are indeed lucky to be able to still learn the teaching of Buddha even though

Buddha has entered parinirvana 2500 years ago. Remember 戒定慧 Precepts, Meditation 

and Wisdom, the Noble Eightfold path to the path of awakening, Buddha told his

disciples before parinirvana. 

Below is a video on the night that Buddha who sat under the Bodhi tree became

enlightened/awaken.

After victory over Mara, the Bodhisattva mind was firm, focused and concentrated. At dusk, the Bodhisattva began to develop meditative insight attaining to the first knowledge: The ability to recollect his past lives.

In the silence of the late night, he attained the second knowledge; Knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings according to the results of their actions.

Close to dawn, the Bodhisattva attained to the third knowledge; knowledge of the destruction of mental defilements, complete liberation and freedom from suffering. He thus came to be known as the fully self awakened Buddha. 

" Craving with you I've been born again and again. But now you are revealed and your power redundant."

From my Heart Sutra and Buddhism blog.

From Thus Have I Heard 

Vaccinated in Singapore

I finally completed 2 doses of vaccination last month. Initially I didn't want to go for second vaccination, but my colleagues and friends persuaded me and said that they are doing okay after vaccination so I went. Anyway, I don't plan to get the third dose as people can still be infected by the new variant and our Singapore government is still allowing import of foreigners and permanent residents from high risk countries with more contagious covid variant. There is no data yet regarding third dose side effects. I think it is risky to allow import from high risk countries with high transmissible variant and putting Singaporean's effort to naught. Now we have to regress back to phase 2. :(

Current ministers should monitor the situation first before allowing so many import from countries with covid outbreak of new and highly contagious variant. 

Image captured from my Tracetogether app.

Yeah, I went to Cedele for late lunch.

After vaccination, they gave me this sticker and also a box of free disposable masks. 

Cheesy Potatoes

I cooked some baby potatoes with butter and cheese and they tasted great! It's a great snack for me.

Inspiring Books by Haemin Sunim

Recently I came across these two beautiful books at Times bookshop. I brought these two books by a Korean Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim. I like that these two books are filled with inspiring Buddha's teaching with beautiful illustrations. 

I would like to share some inspiring quotes by Haemin Sunim from the book, The Things You Can See When You Slow Down.

How can you tell if someone is truly enlightened?

Shower him with both praise and criticism. 

If he shows signs of being susceptible to either,

then it means he has forgotten his enlightened nature. 

Life is like a theatre. You are assigned a role. If you don't like the role, keep in mind that you have the power to re-create the role you want. 

Stop worrying about what others think and just do what your heart wishes. Do not crowd your mind with 'what ifs". Uncomplicate your life and own up to your desires. Only when you are happy can you help to make the world a happier place.

Live your life not to satisfy others, but to fulfil what your heart desires. 

Just Went for First Vaccination in Singapore

Recently I went for the first Covid19 vaccination at Tampines hub. It took about 1 hour and 15 mins for the whole process from queuing, registration, vaccination and resting for 30 minutes after vaccination. I went for vaccination at about 7pm on weekday. 

As I'm working in the essential service, we are encouraged to take vaccination. Also most of my colleagues already took the vaccination and most of them experienced no negative effect for first vaccination. 

Alas for me, I felt a little giddy and also experienced headache for the first vaccination. However by the next day noon, the headache subsided. 

I'm now wondering if I should take the second vaccination. Maybe not if the protection only last for a short while. Read that it last at least 6 months after second vaccination.  

I do hope to travel to China or Hong Kong hopefully by end of the year or next year. After reading all the attacks on Asians in western countries, I think it is not really safe to travel to Europe or USA after covid19. 

/

Waiting for registration. Staff would ask you questions like if you have any allergies .

Waiting outside the vaccination area.

 

Exploring Singapore with Duck Tours

I'm pretty thankful to my government for giving out $100.00 Singapore Rediscover $100.00 vouchers to Singapore citizens (18 years old and above) to support local tourism in this pandemic. To show my support, I used the vouchers to purchase three Ducktour tickets for my parents and me. In the end, my father had another appointment so my other cousin joined us. My buddy aka my ex-colleague also join this duck tour with me using her Singapore Rediscover vouchers. 

This duck tour allows you to explore Singapore on an amphibious Vietnamese war craft that used to transport ammunition in Vietnam war. Hmm, this is really creative reuse of an old war craft for recreation use now.

This 50 minutes tour started at the Suntec City where we went to collect the tickets. From Suntec City, it passes by the Singapore Flyer and then splashes to Marina Bay where you get to see Gardens by the Bay domes, Merlion and Art Science Museum on the sea. After the sea tour, you head back to the Suntec City and your get to see the historical Civic District and the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City.

The amphibious vehicle, a former Vietnamese war craft that was used to transport ammunition.

ArtScience Museum and Marina Bay Sands

Singapore Flyer

One of my favourite places in Singapore, the Esplanade theatres by the bay.

Singapore Merlion

Private condominiums

Stephen Chow- The King of Comedy

Every time I want to have a good laugh, I will watch Stephen Chow's movies. Despite watching several repeats of his movies, I can still have hearty laugh watching his movies. It's definitely a must watch movies for me during the Chinese New Year holidays and whenever I want to laugh. 

Past Life Regression and Karma

Recently I read another inspiring book " Same Soul, Many Bodies" by Dr Brian Weiss, a Jewish American psychiatrist, hypnotherapist and best-selling author who used past-life regression to help his patients. Today I'm going to share about the core messages from "Same Soul, Many Bodies" and "Many Lifes, Many Masters". If you read Dr Brian Weiss books, he gave many examples of rebirths and karma. You can read on my earlier post on Many Lives, Many Masters here.

What is Karma? In Buddhism, Karma refers to intentional action which leads to future consequences and affect the rebirth in the six realms. There are 31 planes of existence. You can read it here. 

In Many Lives Many Masters, page 122, the Master Spirit shared that "Life is endless; so we never die; we were never really born." this this fear of death would dissolve. This reminds me of one of Heart Sutra verses, 不生不灭 or no birth no death. or neither arising nor ceasing. 

The Spirit from the lower level that spoke via Catherine, the patient that Dr Brian Weiss hypnotised said that" We have debts that must be paid. If we have not paid out these debts, then we must take them into another life... in order that they may be worked through. You progress by paying your debts. Some souls progress faster than others. When you are in physical form and you are working through, you are working through a life...If something interrupts your ability.. to pay that debt, you must return to the plane of recollection, and there you must wait until the soul you own the debt to has come to see you." 

We all have debts to pay. For example, husband has to pay debt to wife or vice versa or parents to children. In one Chinese article I read, a monk shaked his head when using his divine eye, he saw that the young man married his late grandmother who was reborn again. Before her death, the grandmother was upset she could not look after the grandson. There is a common saying in Chinese that your daughter was your past life lover. Indeed, Dr Brian Weiss's patient exclaimed that his current daughter was his wife in his past life. This life he has to take care of his daughter for not being a good father is his earlier life. 

In the book, Same Soul, Many Bodies, John a wealthy man was deeply unhappy despite his wealth so he went to see Dr Brian Weiss. During past life regression, he saw that in a previous life, he died in London great fire. He realised that he was slowly burned to death due to cruel actions he did due to an earlier life as a warrior raped the defeated ruler's daughter and set fire to a city filled with people and, bolting the gates closed behind him.

Evelyn another wealthy lady, a Jewish who felt strongly for Israel and hated the Arabs. During regression, she learned that she was a Nazi officer, a member of the SS who shot the Jews who tried to escape. Dr Brian Weiss shared that he discovered that the surest way to be reincarnated into a particular group of people, defined by religion, race, nationality or culture is to hate those people in previous life, to be prejudiced or violent against that group, Her intense pro-Israel stance in this life was a compensation for her anti-Semitism in her previous German life. 

Thought is energy. Regret, anger, pining, depending on the emotion before you pass on, it will decide on the next rebirth. 

This book is a confirmation of what Buddha, the awakened one who taught for more than 49 years more than 2500 years ago on karma and rebirth and the importance of observing the Noble Eightfold paths and precepts. Buddha taught that the action that you done in this lifetime will affect your next rebirth in one of the six realms. 

Thus Buddha taught sentient beings precepts and the Noble Eightfold path: Right View, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Meditation. Be mindful of your action. Do good and be compassion to all sentient beings. 

Karmic power and the unconscious by Master Sheng Yen. In terms of psychology, the unconscious is not something that we can control or are aware of, while karmic power, a Buddhist concept similar to the unconscious, is a kind of power produced by our actions in countless past lives, which we can change our karma by understanding its source and not letting it grow. This life is the result of causes accumulated in past lives. Master Shengyen shared that Karma this concept means that in countless past lives from beginning less time, life after life, we have performed all kinds of actions- bodily, verbal and mental actions. These actions produce a kind of power which persists through time and is concentrated in this life. This is called karmic power. Will all the karmic power of our past lives be manifested in this lifetime? Not necessarily. It depends on what kind of karma is the strongest. Also the type of karma which has the closest affinity with the circumstances of our current life. Shakaymuni Buddha taught us to believe the causality of the 3 periods in giving us guidance and explanation about our lives. I find the following quote by Master Sheng Yen really helpful. 

The four steps in dealing with any problem: face it, accept it, deal with it, let it go.  面对它， 接受它， 处理它，放下它。

How to reduce karma by Ajahn Keng