Close up of a butterfly which just break out from a cocoon.

Really amaze by how fine the lines of nature and how beautiful they can be.

How many golden orioles did you see?

I hope i can handle it better when it happens, i hope i have learnt to control my emotions and my mind better through this years in touch with buddhism. Though i do not want it to happen, but no one in this world have the powers to deal with that. I hope i have the courage to hold back my tears and let it go when the time comes.

佛祖救救我吧！我不想结婚了！ 为什人都是那么贪心的，礼俗真的就能让人长丝相守，白头偕老吗？

孝字，好难啊，我明白为什么出家人不恋爱结婚啊，真是一种欲望阿！业障找上门了啊。。。

This song brings me to the movie 'spirited away' which i have watch till i lost counts...
Though i do not understand the lyrics, but the movie seems to express relationships that i have encounter in life, be it love, friends or even ppl that i have met at work.

There were times where fate brought you so close to a him/her even though we have not met this life before. And you may not understand why he/she would choose to help you, or you would choose to help him/her without asking for returns.

There were times when we help someone, but yet he/she gave us more troubles than anything.

There were times when relationships are so pure.

And looking at the movie again, i suddenly feel that charmaine looks like 千寻. Hope she can be brave like 千寻 and win the fight against the monster. I felt sad looking at her recent photos, as we see what an illness and all the treatment is doing to her body...

We thank you for the funny and lovely card!

有维法师 - Our Justice of Peace
Photo taken with our Guests. 
 

Charmaine, a strong little girl will be going through a major surgery. I believe some of you all have read her article on the newpaper and wanbao few days ago.

No matter what is the outcome, just wanted to wish her to be free from all sufferings and the people around her to be free from all mental sufferings.

南無 喝囉怛那 哆囉夜耶
Na Mo He Le Da Na Duo La Ye Ye
南無 阿唎耶
Na Mo A Li Ye
婆盧羯帝 爍缽囉耶
Po Luo Jie Di Shuo Bo La Ye
菩提薩埵婆耶
Pu Ti Sa Duo Po Ye
摩訶薩埵婆耶
Mo He Sa Duo Po Ye
摩訶 迦盧尼迦耶
Mo He Jia Lu Ni Jia Ye
唵 薩皤囉罰曳
Ang,Sa Bo La Fa Yi
數怛那怛寫
Su Da Na Da Xia

南無 悉吉栗埵 伊蒙阿唎耶
Na Mo Xi Ji LieDuo Yi Mong a Li Ye
婆盧吉帝 室佛囉愣馱婆
Po Lu Jie Di Shi Fu La Leng Tuo Po
南無 那囉謹墀
Na Mo No La Jin Chi
醯利摩訶 皤哆沙咩
Shi Li Mo He Ba Duo Suo Mi
薩婆阿他 豆輸朋 阿逝孕
Sa Po Ou Ta Dou Shu Peng A Shi Yun

薩婆薩哆 那摩婆薩哆
Sa Po Sa Duo Na Mo Po Sa Duo
那摩婆伽 摩罰特豆
Na Mo Po Qie Mo Fa Te Dou
怛侄他
Da Zhi Ta
唵 阿婆盧醯．盧迦帝
Ong A Po Lu Xi Lu Jia Di
迦羅帝．夷醯唎
Jia Lu Di Yi Xi Li
摩訶菩提薩埵
Mo He Pu Ti Sa Duo
薩婆薩婆
Sa Po Sa Po
摩囉摩囉
Mo La Mo La
摩醯摩醯 唎馱孕
Mo Xi Mo Xi Lie Tuo Yun
俱盧俱盧 羯蒙
Ju Lu Ju Lu Jie Mong

度盧度盧 罰闍耶帝
Du Lu Du Lu Fa She Ye Di
摩訶 罰闍耶帝
Mo He Fa She Ye Di
陀囉陀囉
Tuo La Tuo La
地唎尼
Di Li Ni
室佛囉耶
Shi Fu La Ye

遮囉遮囉
Zhe La Zhe La
摩麼罰摩囉
Mo Mo Fa Mo La
穆帝隸
Mo Die Lie
伊醯伊醯
Yi Xi Yi Xi
室那室那
Shi Na Shi Na
阿囉參 佛囉捨利
A La Sen Fu La She Li
罰沙罰參
Fa Suo Fa Seng
佛囉捨耶
Fu La She Ye
呼嚧呼嚧摩囉
Hu Lu Hu Lu Mo La
呼嚧呼嚧醯利
Hu Lu Hu Lu Xi Li
娑囉娑囉
Suo La Suo La

悉唎悉唎
Xi Li Xi Li
蘇嚧蘇嚧
Su Lu Su Lu
菩提夜 菩提夜
Pu Ti Ye Pu Ti Ye
菩馱夜 菩馱夜
Pu Tuo Ye Pu Tuo Ye
彌帝唎夜
Mi Di Li Ye
那囉謹墀
Nuo La Jin Chi
地利瑟尼那
Di Li Se Ni Na

波夜摩那
Po Ye Mo Na
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
悉陀夜
Xi Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
摩訶悉陀夜
Mo He Xi Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
悉陀喻藝
Xi Tuo Yu Yi
室皤囉耶
Shi Bo La Ya
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
那囉謹墀
Nuo La Jin Chi
娑婆訶
Suo Po He

摩囉那囉
Mo Na Nuo La
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
悉囉僧 阿穆佉耶
Xi La Sen Ou Mu Qie Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
娑婆摩訶 阿悉陀夜
Suo Po Mo He A Xi Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He

者吉囉 阿悉陀夜
Zhe Ji La Ou Xi Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po he
波陀摩 羯悉陀夜
Bo Tuo Mo Ji Xi Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
那囉謹墀 皤伽囉耶
Nuo La Jin Chi Bu Qie La Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
摩婆利 勝羯囉夜
Mo Po Lie Sen Ji La Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He

南無喝囉怛那 哆囉夜耶
Na Mo He La Da Na Duo La Ye Ye
南無阿唎耶
Na Mo Ou Li Ye
婆嚧吉帝
Po Lu Jie Di
爍皤囉夜
Suo Bo La Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He
唵 悉殿都
Ong Xi Dian Du
漫多囉
Man Duo La
跋陀耶
Ba Tuo Ye
娑婆訶
Suo Po He

愿以此功德。庄严佛净土。
上报四重恩。下济三途苦。
若有见闻者。悉发菩提心。
尽此一报身。同生极乐国。

When some are out there dying of hunger, some are just wasting food here.

When some are out there fighting for their lives, some are threatening their mums they want to suicide.

When we have so much work to do yet we are trapped in a meeting which drains us of our precious time.

人生无奈就是如此。。。

有位菩萨在我耳边说，要惜福，珍惜眼前的一切，世事无常。

感谢法师让大家上了一堂宝贵的一课，认识了点灯供灯的意义。

点灯，供灯不是给菩萨，佛祖。。。

点一盏明灯，照耀您的心，把自己人生的路照得明亮，才不会走错路做错事。

为别人点灯，也是希望他们人生的路能明亮点，走出黑暗，走出痛苦。。。

阿弥陀佛

Presenting to you, Mr and Mrs Foo. (Without the L at the back ok?! ~LOL)

Big thanks to relatives and friends who attended.

Went out early in the morning to meet dear dear to go ROM to collect the certs. Quite excited, cos i took leave so that both of us could settle the necessary stuff today.

Feeling is quite good as the both of us are partor-ing in the CBD area when ppl are hurrying to go work. (Sacarstic)

Din know that we have to SOMPA (take a oath) when we collect the documents to declare that we are still single. It really sounds more like an oral test to me, as i try to read the script as fluently as possible.

Then we went walk walk at marina square, bishan, ate at yishun. Before on the way home, realising that we were suppose to get a BS today. Intend to get the one near my house, we quickly alight before the bus pass the stop. Then we are browsing outside the shop when a nice lady ask me to go in and take a look.... then we sign up a package! and dear dear paid for the first deposit. So we are poorer and poorer each day as we get our house... custom marriage....

I envy new couples who don't need to get a house and those who does not have to go through custom marriage.

只要是真心开心，婚纱，礼俗对我而言只是讨好周围的人。I am trying to make things simple but how come they seem to get complicated each day...

Grab hold of the morning free time to go and seach for 地热谷source of the hot spring in taipei. it was a nice experience on their mrt and walk to our destination.

Got to know of nice gal florence on my trip to taiwan this time, next time can travel together if got chance

I enjoyed my trip to taiwan this time. Learnt many things and taiwan culture. I have not regretted it not doing it as free and easy as i would not be able to experience a lot of things on my own.

I miss the organic food there, the vegetarian meals there were fantastic, no mock meat at all and i really love it. I miss the fruits too, the pineapple, guava, watermelon, mango...

Forgot to update that on day 6, we did go to shilin night market but i din take much pictures cos it was too crowded already.

Coming to the end of the trip.

For day 7, we went to the national museum to squeeze with china crowd early in the morning, all feelings will be destroyed if you think you are going to be there to admire the antiques. But i am proud to squeeze through the crowd and have a glimpse at the 3 main important ones.

Then we make our way to the fisherman's wharve to have BBQ lunch. Again it is a buffet and let me see how some ppl can really stuff themselve with the food. But this BBQ is from bamboo coal, no smell after the meal! not like seoul garden.

Took a walk at the lover's bridge. Wind was too strong so i did not manage to take nice photos there. But took a picture of the yin yang sea where the gushing fresh water meets the sea water.

Then we went to 蒋介石&宋美龄 place where they stayed in taipei. It was damn big, walking through the garden already took us like more then half an hour. There were a lot of roses and flowers and birds...

Dinner was at ximending. Quite fun. Must try ah zhong mian xian and ta ma hao chi.Also the sweet potato and the bitter gourd juice.

As we make our way back to taipei, we stop by the theme park for about 3 hours. It was nothing much if you have been to disney land and the singapore zoo, except that the animals look more hairy and bored.

Another interesing thing is the High Tea offered by the president at westin hotel in taipei FOC to singaporeans. I was fasinated by the huge table that can sit like 30 people and amazed by how some people can stuff themselves with food. But i  like the desserts and ice cream 

Din took pictures of the hotel cos it is the same as day one except that now we got 2 bed rooms, 2 bathrooms, one dining room and one kitchen. Is that a suite? or just there normal hotel size? or chalet?

Make our way to Sun moon lake early in the morning, found out why it is called sun moon lake and the tribal tale related to it.

It is really a nice place. Took the ride on the boat which MaYingJiu took before (but no one seems to be bother) haha. i enjoyed the breeze as it is not salty like the sea. the water is so clear that i feel like jumping into it.

Went to the peacock garden just nice to see the peacocks spreading their feathers! there were quite a number of white ones that make everyone so excited to see them.

Also got to visit the wen wu miao and pray to guang gong and kongzi. Learnt about the sad story behind the sun moon lake which took so many lives about 10 years ago.

Dinner was at an artistic restaurant which does not look like a restaurant with the artistic structure it has. One of the picture which looks like the egg (in the alien and predator show) is actually the basin.

Did not take any pictures of the toilet on this day cos it was too big, actually was too tired. haha.

22 May 2009

After breakfast, we set off from 知本to高雄 1.5 hours of ride through the mountains, but i did not get car sick at all. Hope i have gotten rid of that. We had lunch at kending, another nice place in taiwan, that would be my next stop in future if i go taiwan.

猫鼻头is the first picture. cos the rocks were got little noses like that of a cat's. then we also went to the town where they film 海角7号but none of us on the tour watch that film haha.

We could only pick the jambu at the fruits farm, cos the mangoes were bought down by the japanese already. The farms in taiwan do no use pesticides at all and they are organic. Of course we got to pay for what we pick, that is the one year's hard work of the farmers. But the jambu are really sweet and i never got to eat that in singapore.

There is a very very nice toilet in the shopping mall at 高雄and we came out of the hotel to take a cab to the 六合夜市. Must try the 七里香from烤肉之家they are chicken's butts. I din eat but i queued to buy for mum and the rest of the ppl tried it too!

We stayed next to 爱河and let you all have a glimpse of the toilet again! hehe... the toilets are all so big, all are almost the size of my big room... and some are bigger. Can't help not to take pictures of them.

Woke up early as early as 5 am to watch out for the sun rise but disappointed as it was covered by a layer of cumulonimbus clouds. But i give not stayed there, instead headed to the front of the hotel where it over looks the valley and Hualien below. Indeed, it was a nice view as we witness the clouds sink into the valley as the sun rises on the other side.

After we left Falgory Hotel, we visited the marble factory and i learnt a fruitful lesson on how to differentiate marble, cat's eye stone, jade etc.

A stop by a village restaurant for lunch, in the picture shows a few interesting dish, like the wild boar's meat and banqiu( a kind of bird). The vegetables taste excellant!

On our way to Tainan, we bypass the flowers farm, and the owners are very nice to let us go down and take pictures! Just be careful not to kill his plants!

We arrive early at the 知本老爷hotel, a five star hot spring hotel. We were too excited about the interesting bath room concept and got very eager to bathe and head down the the hot spring outside hence i did not take much pictures. We tried the indoor hot spring and my mum and i tried the outdoor hotspring(got to stripe naked!) haha... But it was indeed very good experience as we also follow our tour guide's instructions on how to soak hot spring so as to enjoy its max benefits.

Our room also got hot spring facilities and everyone woke up early in the morning to soak the hot spring in our own room before checking out.

I was really engrossed in all the facilities in the hotel that i was not bothered about taking pictures!

20 May 2009

Started our day early and started travelling at about 8 to 九分, bought three baskets full of local black peanuts and charcoal nuts there. It is a small and peaceful town facing the sea which is quite nice to live in.

We continued the rest of our journey by taking their public bus to the nearest train station at 瑞芳. Then took train to 新竹，before the coach pick us up again and bring us to taroko gorge. This is to prevent us from car sick when the coach run through the mountains. The train travelled along the eastern coast and i could see the endless pacific ocean, the feeling is good indeed. Lunch was on the train as we tried the 便当 that the locals eat on the train journey. And i learnt that 便当 actually comes from the word 'bento' in japanese as taiwan was under the rule of japanese for quite some time.

Taroko Gorge is a dangerous place, as rocks are falling from the top at any moment and many people had been buried under the rocks over there. But a lot of tourist like that place as it is quite natural. the mountains are mainly marble and imagine if a marble rock of a hand size were to fall from a high cliff and hit a person, the force would be very great, not to say about a big rock. I would still prefer the peacefulness of the Grand Canyon in the states as over there it would not be flooded by china tourists.

We ended our day at another 5 star hotel on top of a cliff by the pacific ocean, Falgory Hotel. I love the design and everything about this hotel from the room to toilets and even the lifts.

Arrived at Taipei Taoyuan Airport in the afternoon at about 3 plus.

Took coach to Taoyuan train station. Took high speed train to Banqiao.茶叶蛋very nice!

Travelled by coach to taipei main station and have tea time there. Then to 中正堂,drop by taipei 101, a place of mass burial. Quite errie, even the grand hyatt hotel next to was hanging 符s in the hotel. Next to 五分埔 where they mainly clothes from taiwan comes from, saw lots of desgin and nice clothes but i was tired and hungry and totally in no mood to shop.

Dinner was at 鼎泰丰，小笼包 not that fantastic after all. But the restaurant is damn crowded and we got to queue for quite a while.

Finally at the hotel located at 北投, i like the space, it is really big!