Food for Thought - Instructions for Life

Attributed to the Dalai Lama, but could this really be from him? ;)

Instructions for Life

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

Follow the three R’s:
~ Respect for self,
~ Respect for others and
~ Responsibility for all your actions.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

Spend some time alone every day.

Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

Be gentle with the earth.

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Dress for Success - The Right Attitude

Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude; and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills.
Interesting, isn't it?

You spent how much money on your education? And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude?

Ouch. That hurts. Now here's an interesting thought.

With the "right" attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills. So where's your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building? Unfortunately, "Neither" is the real answer for many people. Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude they would invest more time doing so. So here we go. Five steps for staying positive in a negative world:

1) Understand that failure is an event, it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it's yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.

2) Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day and in five years you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves, your I.Q. goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School.

3) Read something informational or inspirational every day. Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read 20, 200-page books each year. That's 18 more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage . . . if you'll just read for 20 minutes a day.

4) The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way home. What could be easier?

5) Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind. Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good about-yourself neurotransmitter. Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive.

Remember: Success is a process, not an event. Invest the time in your attitude and it will pay off in your skills as well as your career.

The Kite Runner -- and Muhammad, Afghan boy we met at Isfahan, Iran

Finally completed Khaled Hosseini's sublime first novel "The Kite Runner." The ravages of war and the inhumanity of man against man is incomprehensible, but such is life and life goes on. Most importantly, the story is about redemption for sins of omissions in the past, of making things good again, and giving those who are less fortunate than us a new lease of life. It was about the nature of Truth, and how the truth will always catch up with you - so best be clean about it anyways. (Of course, life is never that clear-cut or black or white). It was also about the discovery and presence of God and the beauty of having faith.

Melisaurus was right: there are so may lessons to be learnt from the book. Thank you Oracle of Sherry for telling me about this book :D I hardly read fiction these days, so this book redeemed my faith in fiction. So few works of fiction, no matter how well-written, can capture my attention long enough for me to give the book a chance or to complete it. The Kite Runner was a wonderful breath of fresh air.

Although it was extremely poignant, and plenty of times, I could feel myself tear. Life can be so hard. Yet people trudge on -- and some, like Hassan, remain so positive and good. Wonderfully inspiring.

Hassan is a wonderful embodiment of Good, Patience, Forgiveness. Features which ought to be the foundation of our value system. So many lessons to learn and inculcate in my life :)

Now, next to Yasmin Ahmad, Khaled Hosseini has become my hero -- and I cannot wait for his next book.

Much of the beautifully written story is set against pre-war Afghanistan. Incidentally, one of my best spokespersons is this British consultant who used to work in the Middle East -- selling water heaters to the Arabs! Gasp! Anyways, he's extremely talented -- he could sell refrigerators to the Eskimoes ;) He said that Afghanistan was an incredibly beautiful country -- and it was a shame that it was war-torn and in shambles. It was certainly a place worth visiting.


I visited Iran in mid-2004. One of the best things I remembered was Muhammad, this Chinese-looking Afghan boy, with a pixie face, the sweetest smile and a quiet demeanour, who found us at Imam Square in Isfahan. He sold us hairclips. He didn't hassle us at all, just stood around us and waited for us. He was cute, he told us oh so softly that he was Afghan, his family had come to Iran when he was young, fled the war. There was no angst about the war. Just the simple truth. We all fell in love with him. Everyone of us ladies bought clips from him. He was a born salesman because he was arresting to look at and we fell for the quiet charm. I placed the clip on my backpack, but when I landed in Singapore, it was no longer there. Quite sad.

Muhammad reminded me of Hassan, Ali and Sohrab in The Kite Runner, the Hazaras. I wonder if he was one of the Hazaras. Due to his Central Asian features. If he had to run away from majority Pashtun and majority Sunni Afghanistan to predominantly Shia Iran. Were he and his family refugees? Wherever he is and whatever he is doing, I wish Muhammad much safety, peace, and largesse in caring for his family. I pray that he has the opportunity for education as a means of moving up in the world.

Thought for the Day - Books

"Through the use of books, I had the whole world at my feet, could travel anywhere, meet anyone, and do anything."
--Benjamin Carson

Reading the hauntingly beautiful and exquisitely written "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini now. It paints such a vivid picture, that I feel I am witnessing all the little episodes that unfold in the protagonist's life. I was in Afghanistan in the 70s ....

Also reading Thomas Friedman's seminal work "From Beirut to Jerusalem." Which has been nothing short of fascinating and insightful. His analysis and observations of the history and politics were intelligent, incisive and astute -- but what made it even more meaningful were the copious anecdotes and quotes by the people living through the troubles. Lebanon as a country should not have been created; the place is a powder keg, meant to explode, always to be divided.

Fields of Gold

I first saw such beautiful fields of golden flowers while Potatohead & I were at the Golan Heights, Israel, many moons ago. It was a sight that took your breath away. An entire hillside full of these golden showers.

That was not the only thing there.

Golan Heights was also littered with landmines. It was cordoned off, signs of "Danger" and "Landmine" and "Do Not Enter" abound. It was also tragic and sad that such beauty was seated next to violence, maiming, death and destruction. It is one place I will never forget.

That was not the only significant feature of the place. The Golan Heights was a truly strategic point in the greater Syria landmass -- it overlooked the entire country of Israel. Syria used to have the Golan Heights and attacked Israel from that vantage point. Well, that left Israel with little choice but to take the Golan Heights in the 1967 Seven Day war. And it stopped being Syrian territory since.

A terrible beauty is born - W B Yeats. Such is the condition of our times.

I met a small portion of Syria's Fields of Gold at Qalaat Samaan/San Simeon Cathedral. It was a windy day and we could hear the trees, grass, weeds, and all the flowers sway and sing .... one of Nature's small but wonderful miracles :D

Sting's Field of Gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold

Pretty little girls

The Oracle of Sherry asked why there weren't any photos of little gals - coz there were tonnes of little boys. Well, the boys volunteered & the gals were shy ... except for a bunch of school girls in Jordan outside Kerak Castle, and two girls at Qalaat Samaan/San Simeon Cathedral in Syria.

Such a pretty little girl.

Stepping away

I've decided.

After several weeks of being wooed by the man, having some intense feelings for the man, missing the man .... and all the associated see-saw rollercoaster riding that comes with feelings .... I'm giving this all up.

Yesterday, called him at midnite, his time & he was on the road back from Damascus to Beirut. Very grumpy. Well, understandably so - he starts his days at 6am. YIKES! What a life! Poor thing. Must be super tired. (And accounts for why I receive SMSes at strange hours! ;)

Enough is enough. Being blind in a dark room just does not suit me :)

His crazy always travelling schedule, the infrequent SMSes and lack of other forms of regular communication, my lack of knowledge of his life/character/background -- all very tiring when all you want is to get to know a person.

I'm after placid lakes.

Feeling melancholic now - but this too will pass. All part of the rollercoaster ride.

Another reason why I know my decision about not having anyone in my life and no relationship policy is RIGHT :)

My Favourite Animal Pix

1) MY FAVE: Tortoiseshell cat at Church of St Takla, Maloula, Syria - A Nat Geo pic :)
2) Guard dog at Cham Apamea Restaurant across from Apamea ruins - don't look too fierce to me ;)
2) Little puppy at Qasr Al Kharanah (Al Kharanah Castle), 8th Century Umayyad Fortress, outside Amman, Jordan
4) Three sheep in a row at Ain Dara fields - check out the lovely background
5) Pigeon which kept appearing everywhere we went at the ancient Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon
6) The little tortoise crossing the road at Bcharre - luckily it didn't get squashed coz eagle-eyed M saved its life
7) Siesta anyone? Cat lying shade at Baalbek

Faces of Syria - Handsome little boys who volunteer to be photographed

And some of the most good looking boys and men ;) Hallejujah!

Lovely Lebanon - a thing of beauty is a joy forever

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
- John Keats, Endymion

These are a few of my favourite things .....

In Lebanon, fell in love with the lovely mountainside town of Bcharre and The Cedars, a small reserve of 200+ cedar trees. Simply awesome. What breathtaking journeys are all about :D

These photos inspire me everytime I view them. Also known as - Why I Love the Sky and Why I Love the Colour Blue.




Beautiful Bcharre and the Cedars - Greece or Italy anyone? :)

Fortuitous that we met M while visiting the most beautiful of sites in Lebanon. Guess that just added to the quality of the day ;) Well, for many, many reasons, chief of which is the amazing scenery of the places we visited that day -- Day 4 of our recent Mideast Jaunt was my absolute best. Alhamdullilah.

3.30am, Day 1 of World Cup. Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in opening game. I just got back from exhausting trip to Saigon, Vietnam. Time to sleep! Nitey

Epitome of Beauty - Lovely Lebanon

When I told people I was headed for Lebanon, their first reaction was: Oh, that's beautiful. You never know how beautiful any place is until you see it for yourself and it conforms to your perception of beauty. As a frequent traveller, I was a bit more sceptical. But hey, it was a truly pleasant surprise. Really pretty country, very chic, elegant, very European -- I could live there :) (In contrast, although I fell in love Syria, that's one place I wouldn't be able to live at).

If there was any picture which represented Lebanon (traditional Arabic name, Lubnan), it was this picture of a towering cedar tree with snow-capped mountains at its background. The Cedars of Lebanon.

Extremely challenging selecting the best photos for this site - as there are so many pretty ones during our four day stay. And to think I wanted to just take a peek at Lebanon -- war torn Beirut of course and then the ancient Roman ruin of Baalbek, which is a must visit for any history buff. Probably the best Roman ruin site for me in the entire trip.

Each place we visited probably deserves its own entry -- but some highlights will follow in the next entry.

Lebanon. If only it wasn't in such a bad neighbourhood. A couple of weeks ago, Israel & the Hizbollah based in Sidon (Saida), south Lebanon, were trading rocket fire. Missiles flying over your head isn't anyone's idea of security I reckon, and less so for a super Singaporean like me - this place affords me a feeling of protectedness which I get only in this sweet home of mine. God, do keep M safe.

Finally - some photos!

Finally downloaded my pix, viewing them was such a pleasure, so many lovely & wonderful memories, and sent 800+ (GASP!) PIX for printing. Well, at least I didnt send all 1200+ pix for print, that'll cause a serious dent in my pocket. Plus Ibiza gal passed me a CD of her pix too :)

My most favourite pic in the entire trip - a spontaneous people shot. Palmyra, Syria, outside Faysal's shop where Ibiza gal bought her Syrian kilim. I am seated next to Faysal, next to him is a shop colleague (we forget his name, but he was a jolly fellow), Mr Abdul our driver and an unknown young man (who's cute :)