happy gal 88

This blog is about all things that make me happy. Why happy gal? Because I strongly believe that life is short and we must treasure every second of it. Why brood and live life unhappily?! I hope every reader finds some happiness on this blog : ) See my Korean blog - Seoul Far Seoul Good - @ http://www.seoulfarseoulgood.blogspot.com/

Sunday, April 30, 2006

어제 오늘 내일 (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)


나 휴일 좋아해요!
어제 여러활약 했어요. 오전 아홉시예 테니스쳤어요. 점심에 요가클래스 가르쳤어요. 후에 친구 만났어요. 우리 한국영화 – 데이지 -- 봤 어요. 영화가 그저그래요. 그리고 한국식당에서 저녁 먹었어요. 식당 이름은 주신정 이에요. 음식이 아주 맛있어요. 소주도 마셨어요.

오늘 10km 조깅했어요. 중국식당에서 정심 먹었어요. 식당음식이 부모좋아해요. California Fitness 에서 요가클래스 또 갔어요. 클래스 어려워요. 나 정말 비곤해요.

내일 아침에 테니스 또 치겠어요. 점심에 한국말이 공부하겠어요. 그리고 쉬겠어요.

[Translation: I love holidays. Yesterday, I did many things… played tennis at 9 o’clock in the morning, followed by teaching a yoga class in the afternoon. Then I met a friend. We watched a Korean movie – Daisy – together. The movie was so-so. And we went for dinner at a Korean restaurant. The name of the restaurant is Ju Shin-Jung. The food is very tasty. We also drank Soju. Today, I jogged 10km. Went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. My parents love the food there. I also went for a yoga class at California Fitness. The class was difficult. I am very tired. Tomorrow, I’m going to play tennis again. In the afternoon, I’m going to study Korean and then rest.]

Sounds like a crazy long weekend… so what’s new. All I can say is I really live like there’s no tomorrow.

Anyway, this is my first blog posting in Korean… bet Koreans who read it will laugh because I’m sure there are lots of mistake. Actually, I’m not quite sure about some of the words or phrasing because I picked them up from other text books on my own. Well, I just hope it’s not as bad as what one of classmates said in class on Friday – instead of ‘met’ or ‘만났어요’ a friend, she said she ‘ate’ or ‘먹었어요’! The teacher and class turned hilarious ; )

And I hope for kind souls who will correct me by leaving a comment if anything is wrong. It probably sounds like kindergarten Korean but this is the only way for me to practise and improve.

That’s all for now. Time to rest the weary body and mind...

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

천국의계단… 유구한사랑 있어요?





Very often, footprints on the beach get washed away and we end up walking life's journey alone... many of us have experienced waves of tribulation that wreaked havoc on our love life... or a 3rd set of footprint that's destroyed our families? Is there no way out? The answer is yes. But it takes courage to walk away from the 3rd set of footprint and determination to find dry land where the footprints won't be washed away.

Stairway to Heaven... is there eternal love?
This is the third tragic Korean TV drama I’ve seen. Actually, I felt conned into watching this tearjerker. I had told myself I will not watch any more sad love story. But my friend actually told me the ending was not sad… either she’s a sadist or she wasn’t paying much attention when I was asking her about the ending.

In this sad love story, Cha Song-ju (played by Kwon Sang Woo) was the son of a rich family who loved his childhood friend, Han Jung-suh (played by Choi Ji Woo) very much. As with many of the Korean TV dramas, there wasn’t one but two love triangles that ensued. Jung-suh was the victim of many events that made my mom cried buckets. There was a step brother who loved her deeply and was willing to die so that Jung-suh could see again. And there was the evil step sister who would do anything to snatch Song-ju away from Jung-suh.

My mom cried buckets… I’ve watched more than 15 TV dramas and this was the only one that got my mom hooked and she watched it even faster than me! I think I didn’t cry that much because a number of people told me it was a really sad story (unfortunately, after I got conned and had already started watching it).

Anyway, the story set me thinking about the existence of eternal love… and the sacrifices that one makes for their loved ones. Can I love someone forever even if the person changes? Am I willing to die for my loved one?

몰라요. I really don’t know. While I am fortunate to have experienced love where someone was willing to die with me, it didn’t last forever… actually, it didn’t even last a decade. Well, almost.

So where does that leave me? My conclusion is this – love thyself forever (I don’t mean self love. But love your life so that you can love others around you) so that the love within will radiate forth and bring happiness to those around you.

And yes, I believe there is eternal love but not many will find it.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Facing Death

The sun sets everyday... so too will our life end one fine day... (Sunset on Paya Beach, Tioman 2006)


It’s a sunny Sunday morning. As I flipped the papers, a long article “My death sentence turned out to be a gift” struck me… I read on. It’s an excerpt from a book “Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life”, written by Eugene O’Kelly. He was the CEO of KPMG before being diagnosed with brain cancer and died in September last year.

It’s a sad story but it reminded me again about what I would do if I’m given only a few months to live. The same question popped up when someone in my team was diagnosed with cancer. But I didn’t get down to planning what to do… I’m a happy gal and I didn’t want to feel sad and morbid. But I do know people who plan their own obituary. One was an ex-colleague who succumbed to cancer a few years ago at the age of 28. Another is healthy and happy friend.

What does this mean for me? Well, I am going to do a will so that my parents are well taken care of. And I will continue to live life to the fullest, spending time with my family and friends I treasure, pursuing my interests and dreams, seeing the world and of course, doing some good deeds to earn karma points for my next life. All because I want a life with no regrets…

What about you?

Saturday, April 22, 2006

한국말 이 정말 어려워요

Hallasan... my source of inspiration. I must persevere so I can go Korea and climb Hallasan one of these days.

한국말 이 재미있어요…그리고 나 좋아해요. 하지만 한국말 이 정말 어려워요. (Korean is an interesting language. And I like it. But it is a very difficult language to learn.)

After five lessons, I feel that I’m not making much progress. A couple of students in my class have already given up. Now I believe what a friend said – Korean is a VERY difficult language. When my teacher told us today there are 102 verb endings/tenses in the Korean language, I almost fainted. So far, I’ve only learnt informal present tense, past tense, “Let’s” ending and it’s already overwhelming.

It’s frustrating having to pause awhile and figure out what the teacher is asking before forming an answer in the correct sentence structure. And the vocabulary is also not growing… even though I practise writing the words, it’s tough having to memorise the words and verbs, with the verb endings. Maybe I’m too old… sigh

아니 (No), I’m forever 18, so I’ll press on! 화이팅!

Maybe I should learn to be a little kid and not stress myself too much.. here's a cute Korean kindergarten song made popular by Rain in Full House ; )

곰 세마리 가 한집에있어 (Three bears staying in a house)
아빠곰 엄마곰 애기곰 (Father bear, mother bear, baby bear)
아빠곰 은 뚱뚜해 엄마굼 은 날씬해 (Father bear is fat, mother bear is slim)
애기곰 은 너무 귀여워 으씨으씨 자란다 (Baby bear is very cute and growing)

Yah, gonna be tested on this next Friday. Will have to spend my Sunday mugging.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Life is but a Marathon...

A butterfly with broken wings will still take flight and live life to its fullest. Can we do that? (Photo taken in Sentosa Butterfly Sanctuary)


Ten Marathons in 7 Continents in 70 Days -- this was exactly what Dr William Tan did - a feat that most able-bodied man can’t even do. But Dr Tan, a polio victim paralysed from waist did, setting a guiness book of record in the process.

I'm really honoured to hear him speak at a conference today. A man, who could not walk since aged 2, overcame all odds -- both mental and physical obstacles -- to complete numerous marathons, raise millions for charity and get a medical degree after facing rejections for 21 years.

I am truly inspired by this great man who likened life to be a marathon. And he gave some tips on how we can develop a marathon mentality and win the race:

1. Having a lifelong goal and always keeping sight of it. That's not all. We must develop a strategy to achieve this goal.
2. Having a desire to win that must come from within.
3. While we should set stretch goals, there must be little goals to encourage us along as we work towards achieving the main goal. (This is what I do when I do my 7.5km run - I set short term targets and give myself a pat with each 1.5km that I complete.)
4. We should not wait for things to happen but make it happen.
5. Ability to think creatively will stand us a cut above others. This was what Dr Tan did when he raced the Antarctical Marathon - he fixed skis beneath his racing wheelchair - a first in the world!
6. We should build on our strengths. Dr Tan could not use his legs but he maximised the full use of his brain and arms. Therefore it's up to us to discover our talents and interests in life and develop them to the fullest potential.

7. We must look after ourselves and preserve our body. And we should pace our life, not sprint, for this is a marathon. Else, we will burnout too quickly (this one I must keep reminding myself because I tend to want to do too much).

8.
Physical disability is visible. But the bigger disability is one that cannot be seen - one of the heart and mind. Therefore, what's critical is overcoming the fear of failure, or rejection and so on in our hearts and minds. Then we can move towards winning the battle and achieving our goal in life.

Hearing his story, I'm a bit ashamed of myself... especially when I remember the times when I nearly gave up on life... While I've overcome all these and I generally have a positive outlook in life now, Dr Tan's story has inspired and moved me.

If you think you are suffering and there's no light in sight at the end of the tunnel, read about what this man has done. Unfortunately, it is impossible to put a 4-hour talk on paper so I've found some links with more stories on him and I hope he'll inspire you.

http://www.nus.edu.sg/centennial/alumniawards/wt.htm
http://www.singapore-citydirectory.com/news_detail.aspx?news_id=7
http://jovialjoey.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_jovialjoey_archive.html

Monday, April 17, 2006

Life’s a Beach

Imagine sitting all alone on a secluded island… all you hear are the waves lapping gently on the shores, the chirping of distant birds and crickets in the nearby jungle. Too good to be true? I thought so too. But I found this heaven in nearby Tioman Island, just 4 hours via coach and ferry from Singapore.

Before going there, I didn’t think much of Tioman, having heard that it’s quite commercialised. After reaching the resort, I was initially quite disappointed because it seems like there isn’t much to do and we’ll be stuck in a little corner of the island. Boy! Was I wrong! I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the trip. Just relaxing, eating and drinking… what more can I ask for?

툐만 좋아해요! I love Tioman… read more about it and view the photos @
http://www.happytraveltales.blogspot.com/

Friday, April 14, 2006

주말이 좋아해요! (I love weekends!)

하나, 둘, 셋... duck race at Botanical Gardens ; )


Yeah, the weekend is here and it’s gonna be a long weekend!

This was a great week to start with, albeit a really hectic one. First, I got a nice letter on my performance for the year. This was followed by winning all the tennis matches I played. And I clocked 10:03min for my 2km competitive run yesterday – 5th place among 15men and 5 gals and 1st place amongst ladies, of course. For once, I’m ahead of my CEO…
something to be proud of, ha ha.

And this morning, I’ll be off to Tioman Island… to rest and relax. Three days of sun, sea, sand and spa… I can't wait to reach there.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

주말 바쁘세요 [Busy Weekend!]

Resting and steady like a dragonfly, that's what I need to learn... (Photo taken at Botanical Gardens, December 2005)

This must be the most tiring weekend I’ve had this year.

How I wish weekends have three days – two days for me to pursue my interests and one day to rest. Guess I have no one to blame except myself – packing a thousand and one things into 48 hours – jogging, three different yoga classes/workshops, tennis, facial, blogging, cooking, learning korean and shamefully, squeezing in very very little time for housework – I must be mad.

And I was hoping to pick up golf again… and learn roller blading. I’ll have to semi-retire before I can do all these. These are the rare times when I wish someone will sweep me off my feet and give me a tai tai life…

But no, I’m too independent for that. Anyhow, this is gonna be a really tiring week ahead with two tennis matches and a running competition.

May the Force be with Me….

Saturday, April 08, 2006

요가 틀래스어려워요

나 요가 정말 좋아해요. 하지만…

I really love yoga. But… today, I had two very difficult classes. In a bid to be a good yoga teacher, I’ve started attending other yoga classes at other gyms. Today, I attended an Ashtanga Yoga class at California Fitness. And I realised I’m not as strong as I thought. We had to do 50 sun salutations and lots of variation in between. And there were difficult poses like crow and side crow which I could hardly handle. Moving forward, I’ll have to improve my stamina, especially my arms. Nonetheless, I was glad I had a good workout.

What made me sad today was my second yoga class for kids. Today’s class was a huge disappointment so much so that I think I was quite a failure. My fellow trainer and I had to spend at least a quarter of our time getting the rowdy kids to keep quiet and listen to us. Of the two groups of kids, one was very well behaved but the other was really noisy and misbehaved throughout the class. And I think I made it worse by being honest and singing the other group's praises continuously.


We plan to introduce some changes:
1. Cut down time on revision of previous class’ poses
2. Give rewards like sweets or chocolate during revision when any of the kids can correctly demonstrate the postures
3. Before starting the class, tell and show them the new postures that will be taught that day so as to get them excited.
4. Have a little gift for the group who ‘loses’ during the quiz at the end of the lesson

I sure hope it works. Frankly, I should not be surprised at today’s letdown knowing these kids. I’m thankful at least one of the two lessons went well… that’s a 50% success rate. Therefore, I must persevere.
加油!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

한곡말 재미 있어요! (Learning Korean is Fun!)

Took this thrilling ride at Lotte World with my eyes closed and screaming my lungs out!


After three Korean lessons, I've learnt how to read Korean words, basic greetings (which I had already picked up from TV dramas) and... sing Korean songs!

I can now sing birthday song in Korean and I'm learning a lovely ballad -- 아직 난 sung by 성시경. It's certainly not easy having to read the lyrics in Korean, let alone sing it! But after more than 3 hours of practice, I managed to sing along with about 80% of the lyrics sung correctly! Ha! It's funny when I don't enjoy singing (probably 'cos I think I have a lousy voice) and I'm one who never goes to Kbox.

I must say I'm really enjoying my lessons even though it's hard work. I feel like a kindergarten kid writing rows and rows of korean characters almost every night... so that I can remember them. Next will be increasing my pathetic vocabulary and improving the speed of typing korean characters.

I'm thankful to my 사부 for inspiring me and helping me improve my korean. Sigh... but I still have a long way to go before I can hold a decent conversation in korean. Well, my target is to start a simple blog in Korean by end of the year... wish me luck!


Saturday, April 01, 2006

May Every Saturday be Just As Great!

Life can be great without Prince Charming too! (Photo taken at Botanical Gardens, 2003)


As the day came to an end, I went home with a light bounce in my step. Nope, I didn’t strike lottery. Neither did I meet my Prince Charming but it’s been a wonderful day… I started the day baking a new muffin – I call Apple Darling – a healthy oat muffin filled with chopped apple, raisin and walnut! There were many happy things but I’ll just highlight three:

1. Yoga for Kids -- I taught my first kids’ yoga class. It was not easy getting 11 rowdy kids to pay attention to what I was trying to teach. For one, it was definitely very different from teaching adults. Even tough there was lots of shouting, I felt a sense of achievement at the end of the lesson. I think the best part was seeing them resting in silence in child’s pose and corpse pose… something that really surprised me. That’s not all, the kids said they enjoyed it – it really felt good. My only wish now is yoga will make them happier and healthier kids.
2. Typhoon (태풍) – I finally watched my favourite guy’s –장동군-- latest movie… it was a sad yet powerful movie, full of political agenda too. Jang Dong Gun’s acting is really superb and it’s amazing that he learnt Thai, Russian and Northern Korean dialect, all for this movie.
3. And what a better way to end the day than having a cheap but great dinner at my favourite hawker centre indulging on some of my favourite food, albeit a bit unhealthy.

I wish every Saturday will be as great!