The Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is a very good reminder every year for me. 

One year ago, my grandpa passed away. After the festive, after we came back from a getaway, he passed on. 

Every year my mum buys food enough for a battalion. Without fail, the food overflows out onto the kitchen table. 

Cookies ranging from pineapple tarts to salted egg cookies to muruku. Other goodies such as kuih lapis to peanuts and pistachios. 

The food ranges from sweet to savory to something in between. 

Family and friends gatherings is another thing to look forward to. From the eve of the new year till the fifteenth day of the CNY, everyday is a day of gatherings and what do we do when we gather? 

Eat of course! 

8 course chinese dinner at a hotel. And afternoon lunch at another restaurant. Steamboat dinner with 20 types of ingredients at home. Dinners with colleagues - in a restaurant and at their homes. More steamboat with friends. 

The food never ends. 

An occasion to meet up with friends and catch up with how their lives have been for the past few months. 

The Chinese New Year is about family ties and friendship - a totally social time. Where we see each other face to face without going through social media and messaging apps. 

Relationships become more real - acknowledging the bond that binds us as family or friends. 

I love the fact that I'm Chinese and that we keep these cultures alive year after year after year. Passing these activities down to the next generation. 

Happy Chinese New Year everybody!! 

Pissed or Peace

Needs vs Wants. 

Do I want to get pissed for not getting what I want 

or

Do I want peace for wanting it?

Lip Service

I hear you breathe

I feel you heave

I see you weave

I taste, you please

For a lady, painted for me

Shall I wait for pleasantly. 

Let her glide across the hall

Into my arms, she paints for me. 

Ecstatic Insomniac

A new beginning for a new year!!! 

Let's look to 2015 with anticipation. 

Days of Today

In the midst of wanting

There would always be longing

For a day or two that's willing

To make myself something

There lies a pile of stones

Underneath a diamond lies

Lies after lies I spoke

Until words became stones

People come friends go

Love is naught when all else goes

Dreams are shattered matters none

All was done and not for fun

Past haunts past drags

Now and then a shadow falls

Black and bleak and dark

I crawl away never stop

Go away don't come back

Thoughts of past I cannot have

Rain and sun I feel on my face

Alive I am until death by grace

-charred-

A Message of Gratitude

Thank you is a word used to express a relief. 

Relief from a task or a feeling or a thought. 

Thank you (for taking out the trash)

Thank you (for loving me)

Thank you (for giving me a plate of shrimp heads)

We are made to feel. But we feel and remember the bad more than the good. The ease at which we say thank you is a good reminder for us to remain positive amidst the negativity surrounding us. 

We are made to be happy. But the ugly past and hurts pull is down every now and then, haunting us regularly. Being able to see and acknowledge the good and be thankful of it will eventually cower over the past. 

We are made to love. There is always a hollow in our hearts and we are constantly finding something or someone to fill that hole in our heart. The relief we experience at being able to care and being cared for increases our contentment. With such contentment overflowing freely, we say thank you easily. 

The act of giving. To offer a kind word. 

I am grateful. 

To you. 

Charlotte Across Malaysia

How do I start taking the step to take a journey of a lifetime? 

I've toyed with the idea of taking my car and just journey my way up the west coast of Malaysia and down the east coast. One round around peninsula malaysia. 

But I'll start thinking of where am I supposed to stay and the expenses and petrol and what should I do along the way? 

How can I go beyond Malaysia and around the world? Without the finances and on my own? 

The world is safe. I might have all the confidence in the world to do it, but there will be people who have other motives. 

So how do I start? 

The purpose, you asked? 

I wanted to try out whether the hospitality of Malaysians will extend to someone who just wanted to experience traveling alone and leaving it to God to provide. 

Well, for now it's still a dream. 

Inspiration of the Day

We must always remember that we are able to do more than we already have. 

We are never the weakest and we were never given a body and mind and spirit that cannot survive on this earth. 

So stand up! And let's get stronger and stronger with each passing day. 

Just Go Away

Tears fall down

Without permission nor care

  Stones around my ankles

  Shackled bound with blood

Numbed by the icy waters

Cut straight to the bone

Pain is naught

Past its threshold and limits

  Stored in a dungeon

  Thrown over a cliff

Buried in the grave

Emptied from the mind

Think not. Think less. 

Think good. Think bad. 

    Oh memories, please

    Think of me. Go. 

This is the Day

Still. There.

It never ends

It is always there

The thought of you

The sound of your voice

The look when you smile

The cheer from your laughter

It is still overwhelming my brain

Tell the mind not to think or feel anymore

Be still

You're still there

Is She Happy...

Happy is she... 

Who loves to dance.

Who loves to eat. 

Who loves to sing. 

Who walks in style. 

Who talks with confidence. 

Who cooks great food. 

Who makes others laugh.

Happy is she. 

Happenings in 2014

I looked through my blog and thought of how many things have happened in the past years. 

Now for this year of 2014, so many things have occurred, causing me to pause (right now) and write about them, lest I forget. 

**************

The year started as with any other year, with the following events:

- Phuket self-drive holiday with the family

- Grandpa passed away at the age of 96 on 5 Feb

- Krabi holiday

- Dad's birthday bash at an Indian restaurant

- Taipei trip with sister for cousin's wedding and homestay with hot spring bath

- Toastmasters International Convention 2014 at Kulala Lumpur Convention Centre

- Melbourne 7 day trip 

********

That's about all for now. Another three months to go before the end of the year. 

Life has been good, interesting. Work has been kind. Friends have been exciting. 

*********

"New" is always an adrenalin rush for me. 

New friends

New job 

New activities

New food

When will I ever learn to sit still? 

*******

I did discover that I speak better Mandarin than my sister. 

I found out that I procrastinate to the max. 

I realise that it's time for me to resurface. 

*******

Till then. 

Sugar & spice, 

Cakes and mice,

Love & lies,

Charlotte is nice. 

Who Said That I Can Or Can't

A spoonful of salt

A bag of flour

A pound of meat

Who said what I can't do

Climb a tree

Climb the stairs

Climb the mountain

Who said that I can

Hold a balloon

Hold the door

Hold your hand

Who said when I can't 

Light a match

Light up the room

Light on my feet

Who said when I can

-CG-

Monday Morning Morose

First 

There came the bird

A tree branch knocking

Chirp chirp tap

   Morning wind blows

      Chirp tap tap

Second

Water boils, coffee wafts

Blurred sleepy eyes

Boiling sniffs sniffs

   Knee knocks edge

      Sniff sniff boils

Third

Opens door to sunny day

Still in a daze

Squints blinks blinks 

   Newspaper hits on head

      Blinks blinks squeaks 

Making the Most of your Day

We either love or hate going to work. 

Work is just a means to pay my bills. 

Work is my passion and all I ever wanted. 

Which are you? 

The Stage

Recently at the Toastmasters International Convention in Kuala Lumpur, people from all over the world came together for 4 days of awards, speech contests and inspirational talks. 

In the span of 7 minutes, a person's speech has to be power packed and humorous and motivational and emotional all at once. 

In the span of 7 minutes is all you have to make it as a winner. 

We see on stage, a charismatic and engaging speaker giving his/her all. Hand gestures, voice, emotions, punch lines - all rolled in to created a speech that would impact, leave an impression and win that contest. 

One after another, we watched how they dominated the stage and made us cry and laugh at the same time. We listened carefully for the jokes and the stories, we picked out all the mistakes. We judged without judging. 

They talked about the past. They gave us their future. They diagnosed the illness. They gave us the antidote. They provided us the solutions. 

These people were not gods. But they made themselves immortal to some, on that stage. 

Every speech comes from years of practice. Months of preparation. Weeks of corrections. Days of stress and pressure. 

Years of preparation, completed in 7 minutes. 

They are no different from you and me. But yet, there is a difference. Something there, that made them stand on the stage instead of us. 

What is it? 

I want to stand on that stage too. But I found out, not everybody wants to do so.  

Therefore, what do I need to stand there? 

Answer: The WANT to stand there. 

And I want to stand on that stage one day. 

Back with a Vengeance

I know it's been a long time and the writing bug is back!! Watch out for me...

Miss Cutie Pie 2014. 

Just you. And me.

Sunshine on my hands

Warming my fingers up

Holding yours in mine

They fit. As usual.

Fragrant smells wafting

The scent of you lingers

I take a deep breath

Eyes close. I remember.

A twinkle in your eye

Mischief up your sleeve

Made me smile despite

Little tricks. Like a kid.

A song plays somewhere

You sing-a-long suddenly

I sigh at the interlude

Simple voice. Melodious tune.

- cg - 

Sup Ekor Ala Thai

Hot warm spicy soup on a Friday evening at Village Banafee.

Have a good weekend y'all.