Wednesday, November 28, 2007

No two identical persons

If we are looking for the life partner, are we looking for who is identical to us? Say, both of us have same habit, same interests, same thought and the same language. It could help communication when using the same language. No obstacles on understanding each other if we have same thought all the time. Same habit and interests would make us as twins. Hey, is it another me? Is it good for us to love "ourselves"? Are we looking for "another half"?

In the most of the time, there are no two identical persons in a relationship. Does it mean that our life partners would be totally different from us? Two persons are from different worlds. Then it is hard for communication and mutual understanding. It is far more different to have mutual appreciation. What is the force to pull us together?

Sunday, November 04, 2007

The History Boys


What a funny movie! It shakes our minds about thinking independently.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Promise is promise

One night I asked my friend for help. After a long discussion, there is no solution. He promised to take a look on the cause of the problem. However, when I met him, he had something to do and chit chat around. After a while, he disappeared. Oh no! He left me alone?! It sounds like his promise go in vain. Promise becomes just some soothing words.

Many friends and colleagues said that things always change. Our power is limited, many things are not under control. It is a promise today but may not be kept tomorrow. Why make such promise? What is promise?

Promise can be for others and also for ourselves. It appears before action. Before making promise, we always evaluate the feasibility. Nobody can be 100% sure before he makes promise. If it happens, why we need to make promise? From this point of view, promise is a clear declaration of will, to make something happen. It is expected to be a process of creation. It is what we want. We can have satisfaction, achievement when promise is kept. It gives us the feeling of safety. If we observe our society with our heart, we can find promises everywhere.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Cloudy Day

German: Guten Morgen.

English: Good morning.

German: Hallo. Es ist ein bewölkter Tag, nicht wahr?

English: Hello. It is a cloudy day, isn't it?

Friday, August 17, 2007

Father and Son


Promise is a promise. He promised his son to join marathon together even his son cannot walk. They run together. They swim together. They ride together. Never leave him alone. Never let his son feel handicapped. They create power together. They inspire other people together.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

FW:Facts you should know about men

1. Men like to barbecue. Men will cook if danger is involved.

2. Men who have pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.

3. Marrying a divorced man is ecologically responsible. In a world where there are more women than men, it pays to recycle.

4. Men are very confident people. My husband is so confident that when he watches sports on television, he thinks that if he concentrates he can help his team. If the team is in trouble, he coaches the players from our living room, and if they're really in trouble, I have to get off the phone in case they call him.

5. Men like phones with lots of buttons. It makes them feel important.

6. Men love to be the first to read the newspaper in the morning. Not being the first is upsetting to their psyches.

7. All men are afraid of eyelash curlers. I sleep with one under my pillow, instead of a gun.

8. A good place to meet a man is at the dry cleaner. These men usually have jobs and bathe.

9. All men hate to hear "We need to talk about our relationship." These seven words strike fear in the heart of even General Schwarzkopf.

10. Men are sensitive in strange ways. If a man has built a fire and the last log does not burn, he will take it personally.

11. Men have an easier time buying bathing suits. Women have two types: depressing and more depressing. Men have two types: nerdy and not nerdy.

12. Men have higher body temperatures than women. If your heating goes out in winter, I recommend sleeping next to a man. Men are like portable heaters that snore.

13. Women take clothing much more seriously than men. I've never seen a man walk into a party and say "Oh, my God, I'm so embarrassed; get me out of here. There's another man wearing a black tuxedo."

14. Most men hate to shop. That's why the men's department is usually on the first floor of a department store, two inches from the door.

15. If a man prepares dinner for you and the salad contains three or more types of lettuce, he is serious.

16. If you're dating a man who you think might be "Mr. Right," if he a) got older, b) got a new job, or c) visited a psychiatrist, you are in for a nasty surprise. The cocoon-to-butterfly theory only works on cocoons and butterflies.

17. No man is charming all of the time. Even Cary Grant is on record saying he wished he could be Cary Grant.

18. When four or more men get together, they talk about sports.

19. When four or more women get together, they talk about men.

20. Men are less sentimental than women. No man has ever seen the movie THE WAY WE WERE twice, voluntarily.

21. Most women are introspective: "Am I in love? Am I emotionally and creatively fulfilled?" Most men are outrospective: "Did my team win? How's my car?"

22. If a man says, "I'll call you," and he doesn't, he didn't forget... he didn't lose your number... he didn't die. He just didn't want to call you.

23. Getting rid of a man without hurting his masculinity is a problem. "Get out" and "I never want to see you again" might sound like a challenge. If you want to get rid of a man, I suggest saying, "I love you... I want to marry you... I want to have your children." Sometimes they leave skid marks.

24. Men are self-confident because they grow up identifying with super-heroes. Women have bad self-images because they grow up identifying with Barbie.

25. Male menopause is a lot more fun than female menopause. With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flashes. Male menopause - you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.

26. Men forget everything; women remember everything.

27. That's why men need instant replays in sports. They've already forgotten what happened

Learn putonghua well

I had a coffee and a chat with friends. We were talking about his boss who is not keen in his career and just focus on the stock market. My friend, as a lazy subordinate, go to study putonghua suddenly. He kept asking me how to learn it well. The most critical problem is that he does not know to how to read it correctly.

In fact, when we learn any language, we still follow the old rules. Listen more, speak more and write more. It is lucky that the official written form of our mother language is same as the one of putonghua. We should save effort on it compared with the foreigners. However, there had been some foreign professors who can teach us Chinese culture in fluent putonghua. Their putonghua level is much higher than ours.

In order to speak putonghua well, we must go back to the written form as the starting point. The second step is to solve the reading problem. Of course, dictionary can save us. Besides that it can help us if we use pinyin input method to enter Chinese characters. It can keep to train myself when I do not speak in putonghua. However, the pronunciation cannot be kept because it is not strictly required in the input method. Thus it is better to keep reading it.

The third step is to listen more. For example, CCTV, they speak in Beijing version of putonghua which is the base reference of the official putonghua. At the same time, we can learn the vocabularies. It is similar to listen BBC news to learn English. Both agencies have high standard on pronunciation and word choosing. Remember that we have different vocabulary set even though we write Chinese characters. For example, hotel (酒店 vs 飯店),mobile phone (移動電話 vs 流動電話), taxi (公共汽車 vs 出租車).

coffee again

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--- your family, your health, your
friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad! you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Enjoy Coffee

I and my friend was lucky to have a chance to enjoy good coffee at a dinner. It is a gimmick to make some patterns over cream. If the coffee is good, it smell nice, should be smooth and the taste is right. If you can see there some drops of coffee oil on the top, it means it is fresh. A cup of ordinary coffee could be good coffee. It is so wonderful if I can share it with my best friend.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Hot

I was great to have a dinner with friends last night. We went to the Kowloon City near the abandoned Kai Tak Airport. It is a small Thai restaurant with some good dishes like fresh shrimps, seafood salad, Tom Yum Goong and pork. Almost every dish is hot and spicy. The coconut in Tom Yum Goong is delicious though I do not favour the spicy cuisine. The most funny things are the drinks. One is called Green Water and another one is called Red Water. It really sounds like the cleansing chemical. The taste is not so good and the color looks like the chemical. I really don't know why there are so many drinks and foods in Thailand that look like chemicals.

Sometimes I think it is crazy to have the hot and spicy food in this hot weather. The whole city is getting hotter. The atmosphere among friends is hot. The food is hot. Finally, I have a hot hot night.

As I am willing to pay

As I am willing to pay, I would try my best. As I try my best, I will know my power and ability. The more I do, the more I know myself. The main point is that I need to have self-consciousness. I need to ask myself. The more I express myself, I can either improve myself and the relationship.

Much of the time, I know the priority of career, friendship, relationship, family and health. All I need to handle in parallel and in balance. Once there is a chance or emergency, I have to be honest to myself and the one next to me.

Communication is important among friends. It is not just for delivery of message and feelings. It also create trust and relationship. It could be shy for someone and sometimes for me. In fact, it need practice even though you are talkative. A talkative person does not mean who has the right skills to deliver the message and feeling correctly. Sometimes, it would just create noise instead of voice. Everyone lives in different culture. They interpret the same thing differently.

We could improve ourselves in the process of study and understanding. The more you care and understand, the more you know yourself. The communication between intimates should reach the bottom of heart and cover the all topics of our lives. It reaches to the deep feeling. It creates joy, harmony and trust. Thus we can grow up as the relationship grows. Finally, make us complete.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Inappropriate appreciation

Mr. Chan moved into a new house in UK from China. One day, he visited his neighbor. He found a little girl with golden hair was so pretty. He immediately showed his appreciation by touching her hair. He gave her a gift. She said thanks to him. He told her that she was pretty and polite. After she took the gift and returned to her room, her parent asked him to apologize for his inappropriate appreciation.

Mr. Chan was astonished and his neighbor explained that beauty is not made by her effort. It does not worth any appreciation. Appreciation of beauty would make she think that beauty is her capital. Touching her hair without permit would give her illusion that everyone can do this to her. These actions are not appropriate to her.

On the other hand, she was polite because of her own effort. Her politeness worth appreciation.

Every appreciation and admonishment is the seed in the children's mind, coming along with children's life.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

FW:Men and Women

Men and Women
WITH LOVE...
~Some Interesting Facts~
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
Married men live longer than single men.
But married men are a lot more willing to die.
Any married man should forget his mistakes.
No sense two people remembering the same thing
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FW:A couple of cups of coffee with a friend

I just thought I would share this little story with you. It helps
put life in perspective.

When things in your life seem almost too much to
handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of
coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and
had some items in front of him. When the class
began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and
empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with
golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar
was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and
poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the
golf balls. He then asked the students again if the
jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and
poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled
up everything else. He asked once more if the jar
was full. The students responded with an unanimous
"yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee
from under the table and poured the entire contents
into the jar effectively filling the empty space
between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter
subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things--- your family, your health, your
friends and your favorite passions---and if
everything else was lost and only they remained ,
your life would still be full.




The pebbles are the other things that matter like
your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If
you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,
" there is no room for the pebbles or the golf
balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your
time and energy on the small stuff you will never
have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to
your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time
with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take
time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out
to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be
time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take
care of the golf balls first---the things that
really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just
sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired
what the coffee represented. The professor smiled.
"I'm glad! you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full
your life may seem, there's always room for a couple
of cups of coffee with a friend."


Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID.

FW:Are any of us guilty of this?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make £100 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I please borrow £50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money! After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that £50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,"said the man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the £50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have £100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."