The Pursuit Of Happiness

I hate to attend class reuninion parties and weddings because people will always look at me with sympathy eyes and ask the most boring question on earth: "Why aren't you married?".

They see me as a loser because I am not conforming to the marriage scoresheet. I don't belong to their club.

Well, everyone's relationship experience is different. In my situation, I prefer to be Juliane Potter in My Best Friend's Wedding than Mary Fiore in The Wedding Planner. Does this preference make me a loser? Not necessarily. If I took the initiative and had to break up "michael" and "kimmy" about to walk down the aisle in order to gain my mediocrity happiness, then I would be a real loser.

So, for happiness's sake, please don't misjudge me using the conformity ruler. I will settle down one day when I really found The One. No pressure. No rush. With plans.

To end today's post, I cut and pasted my favourite quote from My Best Friend's Wedding:

Choose me. Marry me. Let me make you happy. Oh, that sounds like three favours, doesn't it?

Yes, Madam

No matter how advance the world is, gender disparity in terms of pay and promotion still exists. Many women sacrifice their life, relationship, marriage in order to excel in their job, but not every one of them is lucky enough to advance the corporate ladder.

I am not going to elaborate on glass ceiling or gender discrimination act in this post. We have heard enough and we have read enough.

Never give up even if the world has given up on us. Yesterday evening sitting in my room drinking my Nescafe, I thought of a movie: Yes, Madam (Michelle Yeoh's first major action role). Two fearless cops, portrayed by Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock, go after a gang of criminals. Michelle is a tough cop. She is a true fighter. Whatever the situation she faces - nothing stops her! Incredible power and intensity. Unforgettable actions and stunts. And all of a sudden, I heard my brain telling me: When all doubt you, you must not doubt yourself!

Are These Really Cakes?

Attitude

"Attitude is a simple word that makes a big difference" - Anonymous

Jealousy Management

Control your jealousy before it controls you!

I am highly annoyed with many small minded people around me. Although they are inefficient in many aspects with particular reference to work, they are highly efficient and effective in spreading unnecessary rumours and passing on messages like a traitor mole.

I felt like Dave Buznik today. If I was asked to control my anger, then these small minded idiots should be sent for jealousy management!

ps: Still Angry!

Growth

"We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once" - Anonymous

Happy Valentine's

No one knows you better than your own siblings.

My siblings tried to cheer me up during this year St Valentine's Day with tulips in vibrant colours. Unexpected gift always brings so much pleasant surprises!! ;-)

You Are What You Eat

I finished reading Janet Evanovich's Thanksgiving yesterday. Like Evanovich's previous books, Thanksgiving is light-hearted, full of laughters over dinner table and got me thinking of eating a lot while I was reading - bad news ;-p

Why?

Everyone who knows me well are aware of my "methodological" eating pattern.

(1) I don't like others to take food from my plate. A few of my female friends are experts in this department.
Pancake: Hey, you don't want to order any food?
Friend: Nope, I am full.
And then 15 minutes later when Pancake's food arrived, Friend got excited and asked: Mine if I take some from you? It looks delicious.
Pancake: Actually, I am very hungry today, I honestly don't think this portion is even enough for me. I will order another plate for you.

(2) I dislike when they "donate" food into my plate. Some of my friends (female and male) are forever on diet. They want to appear as they are thin because they are naturally thin, not "strict-diet-thin". When our food came, they surgically divided their food into 1/4 and 3/4 portions, and needless to say they take the 1/4 and they throw the 3/4 portion into my plate.

Are they thinking I am the garbage truck? For food's sake, please stay at home and munch on corn cob if they are going to waste food in that manner.

(3) I particularly hate it when others spit bones into their spoon and then using the same spoon to scoop food (even if it's not from the plate of food we are sharing). Can you imagine we are eating the dumps of others?

The following proverb is always mentioned in our dinner conversations: We work to eat, if we don't eat then what is the motivation to work?

So to all who are reading: Appreciate Food and naturally you would Appreciate Life.

Waffles = Square Pancakes

Warning: If you are looking for intellectually-stimulating article, then you can ignore this particular post of mine today. Today is one of those moments that I want to write on my rambling, rattling thoughts.

I don't watch much of The Simpsons and not particularly excited when my students told me The Simpsons movie is coming up soon. Everytime I watch The Simpsons, I recalled a joke from an old coursemate many years ago. She told me I "characterically-resemblanced" (the condensed term is from Pancakeism's terminology) Lisa Simpson.

Why? Because in our mid-20s when girls were all excited to find a husband before they graduate. I was back then very opinionated, overly-inquisitive, liked (and still like, occasionally) to indulge in the thought that I am very overweight, I used to say geeky-looking Milhouse Van Houten is intelligently-cute and I have a large forehead. This is why you'll never see me in red dress and red shoes with a string of pearls.

Well, look at the bright side, Lisa Simpson has an IQ of 159 and is tagged as one of the brightest fictional characters in animated television series.

Cafe and Cakes

While I was in Milan and Turin last March, I saw many cool cafes and delicious cakes that really have motivated me to start a cafe business of my own. When I am stressed these three weeks, I am keeping my balance by visualising myself walking into my own cozy cafe that is filled up by strong coffee aroma and many one-bite cheesecakes. This image is soothing and motivating.

It is a good feeling to wake up in the morning and eager to go back to work. But the fact could be: Grass is always greener on the other pasture.

Ambiguous

Superwoman

I am listening to Gary Cao Ge's 1st album these three weeks, and I particularly like this song named: 刮目相看. The narrative of this song says: 世界有太多竞争，而最不可能打倒的敌人叫做自己；只有战胜自己，才有光荣的一天 (my interpretation in English: There are uncountable competitions in this world and the most challenging enemy is yourself. The glorious day occurs when your tomorrow is better than your yesterday).

Everywhere we are, we will tend to find people who are "claiming territories" and/or trying to put us down. If we are too self-complacent, we'll become the "rabbit" in the "rabbit & turtle" story.

Groundhog Day

I recalled when I was a first degree student, a good friend told me about an interesting movie called Groundhog Day. At the time when my life was interesting (or I assumed it was interesting and exciting), I didn't really appreciate the message of this movie.

Yesterday afternoon after work, I spent some time watching drama with my mom and laughed at a few lines the leading actor was sharing with his wife. He told his wife: Why don't we go out have picnic like the old days? I am tired of the routine - wake up, work, meetings, meals, headache, sleep. I need a break from this routine or I will burn out. His few lines have awoken me.

I am very tired of my current routine. I need to find new activities to re-energies my life. Currently, every sector of my life is suffocating me especially my friends. I have many friends who only turn to me when they need help or who like to spread toxic thoughts so I could appear vulnerable in front of them.

Groundhog Day or Groundhog's Day is a traditional festival celebrated in the United States and Canada on 2nd February. In traditional weather lore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks.

The story of groundhog has taught me an important psychology lesson: If I refuse to come out of the burrow, dark thoughts will persist. Now, my important task is how to get rid of the "many winters"?

Will You Be Mine?

Nancy never fails to make me laugh ;-)))

Grey Matters?

Coming from "numbers" background, I always use numbers to advise my unmarried female friends to marry younger man. Why? Say for instance, if my friend and her husband were of same age, they get married when they are 35, have their first child when they are 36, they will be 56 when their first child enters university gate. If mandatory retirement age stayed at 55, both of them would be retired by that time, and children's education would eat into their pension fund. Therefore, for children's welfare sake, please marry a younger man instead, at least 5 years their junior. To my married female friends, please don't be alarmed by what I have just said. There is another reason why I have proposed them to marry younger man than man of their age or older: by doing so, they have bigger market to avoid the "selection bias" ;-P

Demi Moore is 15 years senior than Ashton Kutcher (still married). Susan Sarandon has been with Tim Robbins since 1988 (still together).
Of course, we also have failed examples such as Cameron and Justin, Faye and Nicholas. Cameron Diaz is at least 7 years older than Justin Timberlake (recently broke up). Previously, Faye Wong was 12 years older than Nicholas Tsen (broke up in a bad way). Was age an impeding factor in the failure relationship of Cameron's and Faye's, or were there other obstacles?

My uncle Kee married 7 years ago with a Thai woman (she was 23 years old then) at least 12 years younger than himself. Recently they had argument and his wife left home leaving him to take care of my young cousin Phuntirra. Many relatives put the blame on their age differences without taking into consideration their differences in appreciating each other's culture and language for example. Mr Scorpio is 1 year younger than me, and I initiated the breakup due to other reasons and I don't believe those reasons are age related. I know I am creating more cobweb than solving the maze by elaborating on this age issue. But, one advice: if mandatory retirement age were to delay by 5 years, then you could consider increase the age of your prospective husband by 2 years (for example, 35 + 2 = 37 years old), and vice versa :-)

My 3-Fish

Part I

I hardly buy accessories besides loop earrings. Necklaces always catch my hair and bracelets make me too girly, so I only like earrings and rings. Few weeks ago, I spotted a 3-Fish ring designed by Frank Owen Gehry for Tiffany & Co. and it was really "Love @ First Sight". I love the 3-Fish design for many reasons: (1) I always love fish - to me it's a symbol of life, live and forward-looking; (2) the 3-fish bind together reminds me of the strength with unity; (3) I can always spot Frank's design even at one glance - simple but hip and (4) I always have strong preference towards chunky rings. So, this 3-Fish is going to be the only accessory item I am going to buy for myself this year to reward my hardwork and to motivate me to work smarter ;-)))

Part II

Besides loop earrings, I only wear accessories bought by my family. I love the wristwatch my parent bought me last birthday. I love the bangle my mom bought me when I was overly-indulged in "crystalogy" last year (my mom is good in hidden messages behind her gifts. She basically wanted to tell me it was irrational to place too much belief in crystal healing power ;-p). I love the hip-chunky ring my Sis Woofhams bought me when she and my brother-in-law were in Sydney last winter. I love the colourful chunky ring my brother bought me during his overseas working trip two years ago. I wear the two rings on alternate weeks to stay as a non-discriminating big sister. These gifts are symbol of their unconditional love and also a reminder of my responsibility as daughter and sister. Wearing them made me feel complete and confident ;-)))

What Kind Of Cake Are You?

You Are Strawberry Cake

Fresh, sassy, and romantic. You're a total flirt, who never would turn down a sugary treat. Occasionally you're a bit moody - but you usually stay sweet!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

My Reflection

Few months ago, a student of mine was infatuated with a young guy of her age and she came to seek my advice on: "How do I know he also likes me?". Many times I found that I am playing multi-roles in my life. I answered her half-heartedly while I was marking her script at the same time: "You knew when he reciprocates by doing things like you do, having things like you have, loving things like you love. In another words, he likes to become a man version of yourself".

Yesterday she came to see me, and she told me: "Cher, Cher, You are right about the guy whom I was infatuated with. I see me in everything he does and I like that feeling. We are currently an item".

I never believed how one simple line from me could bring such profound change in a person's life, sorry, two persons' live. May be I am really the Guru of Love who solves everyone's relationship questions but not my own ;-P

Totally Spice

No matter how hard my life is, I would always make sure I look the best in front of camera ;-P

Ask For The Other Hand

I have been thinking on many things lately. How I wish I wasn't that moody during the new year week, then it would be more fun. Though not many have noticed (I am outspoken, but I usually prefer to share joy than problems) I was hitting the trough of the moodiness, I have tried very hard not to show I wasn't myself. Thanks God for the "invisible strength" that my late granny has lent me (I always believe her assistance whenever I am down), I have managed to come out of my little dark world.

If I wasn't so moody during the new year week, on the other hand, I would have more time to share jokes with my mom and my Sis Woofhams. I would be able to help my family more. I would like to visit Mr Scorpio at his father-in-law's house. I would laugh more. I would be happier.

Therefore, I have decided I am not going to waste another second of my life to experience the similar trough again. I, therefore, now am chasing after and trying to bring back the "Happy" Me.

That's how the school of Pancakeism supposes to be ;-p

Below are pictures of gifts for my sister-in-law during my brother's and sis-in-law's betrothal day.

No More Titanic

I couldn't believe I'm writing a new post for my one-month-abandoned blog again. The past one month was not very good for me - I was moody over a number of things. I always believe God is taking care of all good people and I happen to be one of them. I Thank God for giving me good parents to lead me out of the dark tunnel of my thought. I Thank God for giving me good siblings to share with me uncountable happiness. My sister's clever words and my brother's jokes have managed to pull me out of the dark thoughts. I also want to thank my good friends like Mac and SY who have diligently sent me text messages, e-mails and cards to remind me I haven't been neglected by the world. With all their love, I promise not to sink into another wave of moodiness or else I will let them down.

Hope it's not too late to greet everyone a Sweet Lunar New Year of Fire Pig :o)