你，烦恼吗？

" 谁说青春年少无烦恼!

他们的烦恼，来自无穷无尽的压力和没完没了的困扰。给他们压力的，是父母和师长；让他们困扰的，是友情和爱情。

然而他们的烦恼，绝对不是一加一等于二的那种刻板式的典型；他们是书，每部书都有着截然不同的内容；他们是乐器，每种乐器都奏出不同的乐声；他们是植物，每株植物都长出自己不同的形貌。

每一部密密合上的书籍, 里面都藏着不为人知的故事。

每一种发出噪音的乐器，里面都有着不为人察觉的裂痕。

每一株畸形发展的植物，里面都长着肉眼难见的害虫。

而每一张阴阴地沉着的脸呵，内心都有大悲大恸； 每一种不合常理的行为呢，背后都有着大伤大痛； 我们不应冷漠地看待，更不该严峻地斥责。"

-- 尤今，《听，青春在哭泣》

好久没写读后感了，只有简单的几句 ：每个故事都有感人的一面，每一个都有美好的结局。但，听来容易，做来难。我想，只有尽力而为了。

Time really does fly

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at,

and who steals what is most precious to men: time.

~Napoleon I, Maxims, 1815

A look at the calendar shows that the June school holidays is only one week away. Come to think of it, time really gets away from us when we are not noticing it.

In the recent years, once in a while, I would find myself thinking back what I had been doing all the past years. There were both good and bad times, and of course, some times which I really hoped that I could go back to and change whatever I had been doing then. Maybe if I hadn't done what I did before, things might be so much different now. But then again, what's past is past. There is also no use looking back and regretting. We all have to move on. We just try not to make the same mistake again. As the famous saying goes "Time and tide wait for none".

How true that is.

Our littlest cousin, YQ, has started to wear that typical teenager brooding look, and has the potential to grow taller than any of us, when just years back, he used to be the shortest. He is getting to the stage where the answer to everything that everyone asks him is "Um, yes.", "Hm, ok." He's the baby of the family and all of us were calling him "baby". But I guess that would have to change soon. He's becoming a young man. We can no longer pinch his cheeks, ruffle his hair, or play with him like we used to. But I'm sure that no matter what, he will always be the baby in our hearts.

My little sister has started on her first vacation job. She is a happy scooper at an ice-cream outlet. It is good to see that she is enjoying her job and is working well with people, and is friendly and open to different customers she sees everyday. I'm really surprise that she is actually enjoying being in the service line. I hope that she has found what she likes and wants to do for her future.

Time is free, but it's priceless.

You can't own it, but you can use it.

You can't keep it, but you can spend it.

Once you've lost it, you can never get it back.

~ Harvey MacKay

Happy Mothers' Day!

Spent quite some time thinking and discussing wif Yun and Qun what to do on this day. We thought of having potluck, but discarded the idea coz didn't know what to cook. Then we thought of famous chilli crabs, but there was a bit of clashing of schedule. Then we thought of Botak Jones, but worried Papa and my uncle wouldn't like it. So, in the end, settled for Spring Court restaurant at Chinatown.

Dim sum was good, at least for those common ones, like siew mai, ha gao and carrot cake. The spicy carrot cake was cooked in a different way from the traditional dim sum method. It was like fried carrot cake, with eggs, bean sprouts and spring onions. But it was delicious, though a little too spicy for me.

However, the food was just all right. Common restaurant set menu. Cold platter, sharks' fin soup (without the sharks' fins... haha), broccoli with sea cucumber, crispy chicken, boiled prawns, steamed fish, yam ring, fried noodles (the worse of the lot), and for dessert, red bean paste with lotus seeds.

Total cost = $600.81

What I learnt today

This was from my 12-year-old tuition kid...

She: "You know, F-U-C-K is not a bad word."
Me : "Hmmm."
She : "It means Friends U Can Keep. So how can it be a bad word?"
Me : "Hmmm."

High tea

Mama treated us to high tea yesterday to celebrate Papa's and my birthdays, which are just 2 days apart. We were at The Legends at Fort Canning park, at The Cafe. Food was not that fabulous, except for the fried noodles, spring rolls and glutinous rice. But the ambience was quite good and relaxing for a lazy Saturday afternoon. Oh, and Papa had his first taste of chocolate-coated marshmallow.

Into the 29th year of existence

As of this day this moment, I've officially spent 29 years, 18 hours and 18 minutes on this planet. My dear Papa and Mama have seen me all through these 29 years, the middle sister for 26 years, the littlest one for 19 years, my husband for 11 years, auntie Koh and the PL gang for almost 15 years... the list goes on...

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all who had sent me well wishes for this day... Mama, the piggies (oink!), the husband, Qunz, Huiqi, auntie Koh, Peiling, Kitty, Agus, Yaowei, Houwen, Cardine, Xiaoming, Nur, Freddy, Taufik, Vanessa, the SB forum babes (Skylar, Lina, Schnauzie, Antonia, Pink)... and last but not least, thanks again to the fantastic four (boss, Ray, Sam, Dass) and Ama-sexyback-lina for the card and present.

And a last minute addition, from Qing (the littlest one), who happened to be at her friend's place and was too lazy to go home.... so ended up bunking over for the night...

Definitely more Red than Blue.... yeah!

For those who know me will know that I'm a 1,000% ABC (Anything But Chelsea) person. So, imagine my undisguised glee when I heard from the husband about the Champions League 2nd leg result at Anfield.... wahahahaha.... nothing more need to be said...