Transference of kindness

One of the many chores of a mother is to drive your children to school. It was pretty routine while I chauffeured my daughter until I started to notice a particular man walking by the side of the road with a walking stick; a blind man walking stick to that.

It became a morning conversation between my daughter and I ... we guessed he might be out looking (hypothetically) for breakfast or just out for a walk or even maybe just wondering around aimlessly.

Until one day we saw a motorist and a few cars stopped in front of us and the motorist stepping off his bike to take this blind man across the road.

We then consciously try to be on time to perform our act of kindness everyday but we were only lucky once in a while.

Then one day, upon spotting the blind man from afar, I applied on my breaks to stop while the person driving behind me was taken by surprise and started to honk at me. I just muttered to my daughter "Its alright, this person will understand when he sees the blind man."

Miraculously, the teacher in my daughter's class, Mr Bee announced that he had a confession to make.He told the class that he felt bad as he had honked at a car in front of him which stopped for a blind man. My daughter was very excited and wanted very much to scream out loud that that was her mother he had honked at but she did not want to embarrass the teacher further so she kept quiet. But she couldn't wait to get back to relate the story to me.

We were both very happy as we knew that the teacher will then be looking out for this blind man in the future to stop for him as well.

Kindness is actually contagious and you just might want to carry out an act of random kindness everyday and transfer your kind act along ... the world will be a better place through your kindness.

Gandhi once said ~~~~
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

Chasoba

If you feel like a change in taste and prefer to go Japanese, this is one light meal to consider.

Chasoba is Japanese Green Tea Noodles; usually served on ice cubes but I prefer it warm. You have a choice ~~ eat it warm in winter and cold in summer.

This is one of my cook4one meal and it quick to prepare. Can be one of your tv dinners if you are again eating alone and slurp your way to your stomach without a care in the world.
Boil the noodles in microwave for 7 or 8 minutes until soft, rinse with cold water. Drained and put cooked noodles into the prepared sauce; water, kikoman soyu and wasabi (according to taste). Serve noodles with Japanese mayonnaise laced with wasabi; again according to your prefered taste.

A place for everything, everything in its place

Are you one who spends endless waking hours looking for this and looking for that? And in the process gets very frustrated and annoyed with others and with yourself?

The rule of thumb is to first get organise. Have a specific place for everything, then make a conscious effort to put back the things you took in their special place immediately after use. Avoid the "I'll do it later" attitude. If you have to get up and walk 10 steps to do it... do it and do it in that moment. Believe me, it works.
"A place for everything, everything in its place" ~~~ if you get into the habit of practising this concept you will not only save yourself a lot of wasted time but also cut down your stress level especially when you are in a hurry and knows where you can put your hands on the things you need.

Ladies, if you have handbags with many compartments, this is one habit you want to practise. Save yourself a lots of stress rummaging into your handbag for your car keys and handphone when it rings.....

Cooking4One

It is healthier and more economical to cook your own meal. It should also be tastier because it is cooked to your personal liking.

But ... when you live alone either in another country studying or working or even retired staying away from the family most part of the year, how do one cook for one?

Here is an experimented dish to just do that .... here goes.....


















Dhall Curry Stew

50gms Dhall (soaked for 2 hours)
20 shallots (grinded)
2-3 Tbsp Baba Curry powder (add water to make into paste)
3 garlic (chopped)
1 potato & 1 Big Onion (diced)
Oil for frying
salt & pepper to taste

Method ~~ fry grinded shallots in oil until fragrance, then add curry paste to "tumis" until it smells good. Add dhall, potato and onion. Add pepper and salt to taste. Stew until dhall and potatoes are soft.

Serve hot. Can eat it alone or with bread, rice or capati.

"I believe in karma"

I just wanted to buy a bottle of ointment but the lesson I learned when I walked into this particular pharmacy was invaluable.

I sighted the ointment I wanted right in a glass covered shelf in front of the cashier counter and sitting behind the counter was a young man.

So I asked for one bottle and he simply replied "Take it yourself, its not locked."

"Wow" I said "Not afraid your customer will take it away without paying?"

"Oh its okay, if my customer takes and walks out without paying, I will just let him go because I believe in karma."

Wow again! That was not the reaction we will normally get.

I am a Buddhist myself and I believe in karma too but I never applied it to my everyday life like this. Doesn't it take away a lot of unnecessary stress?

Karma in Sanskrit means act, action or performance and karma is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religion understood as that which cause the entire cycle of cause and effect (the cycle called samsara).

The philosophical explanation of karma from Wikipedia, can differ slightly between traditions (in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist), but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others.

In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well....

Noah's Ark

I watched this show "Evan Almighty" and found it to be interesting.

Noah's ark is the boat built by the Biblical character Noah and his family. At the command of God, according to the story Noah was to build a boat that could accommodate his extended family and a lot of animals, all in pairs. The boat had to be big and had to be constructed to endure the divinely planned universal flood aimed at destroying every other person and animal on earth.

I learned something from Morgan Freeman who played "GOD". He (God) said that when we prayed for patience, God cannot give us "patience" which is intangible so God gave us the opportunity for patience. If we asked for something we want, God will give us the opportunity to allow us to achieve that we want. How true indeed!! True to the old adage "God only helped those who helped themselves"

Here are 11 things we can learn from Noah's Ark story (from forwarded email):-
1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead - it wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit - someone might ask you to do something really big when you are 60 years old
5. Don't listen to critics - just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high grounds.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn't always an advantage - the snails got on board with the cheetahs.
9. When stressed, float awhile.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.
11. Weather the storm because there is always a rainbow waiting.

Start Them Young

"Charity begins at home" ~~ I heard this statement very often when I was young because wealth was scarce in the 70's and 80's, and I still hear it albeit not so often. I guessed people are more understanding about giving.

I had this wrong concept of waiting for the right time to do charity; wait when I have more time; wait till I get richer; wait, wait and wait.

I learned that we should not wait to be charitable and should educate our children to start them young.

One day, my family and I decided that we should bring cheers to some orphans and we just did it. We collected some money from everyone including children, bought some goodies, packed them up into bags and we visited The Agathians Shelters. My 3-year old nephew was given the great honour of distributing the goodies. The orphans were happy and we were even happier seeing the joy and appreciation in their expressions.

We were truly grateful for the orphans who were there for us to do some good. A simple act of kindness goes a long way......

The Sun

Have you ever ponder about the sun? Why does it religiously rises at dawn and sets at dusk? Everyday, 365 days a year without fail, although we know that scientifically, its the earth that rotates so as to give every country 12 hours of sunlight in our 24-hour day.

The Sun, the ever faithful sun, giving light without us having to pay for electricity, giving warm without us having to pay for heating, giving life to plants so that they can sustain life. Yet, we complained endlessly about it being too hot and unbearable.

Let us from now on, appreciate the great Sun, always giving, never asking for anything in return. Let us remind ourselves everyday that without the Sun, there will not be life.............

A Kind Act A Day!!

"Carry out an act of kindness,
with no expectation of reward or punishment.
Safe in the knowledge that one day,
someone somewhere might do the same for you."Princess Diana

An act of random kindness is a selfless act performed by any person wishing to help any living being. With no vested interest and generally there is no other reason than to make an individual happier. It can be planned or spontaneous. One good example would be to put in coins to an expiring parking meter of a total stranger.

My Favourite Time of the DAY

Its not dusk or dawn, nor is it noon, midnight or morning but it is now, when the sky is covered with dark, threatening rain clouds.

You can feel the huge rain clouds beckoning the smaller ones to join him as the pressure builds up while he floats around gathering more strength, working hard to gain momentum against the ever penetrating persistent sun rays.

The struggle is on between the two great powers; the sun and the rain clouds, fighting with each other to gain control. The end result is not always the same; sometimes the cloud takes over but at times the sun will remain in control. The winner takes it all.

If the clouds win, you can feel the pressure building up, with thunder and lightning, the atmosphere is tense and gloomy, the sky turns dark and when at its peak the cloud can hold on no more, the rain starts to fall..... sometimes just tiny drops but at times bigger and faster and the rain beats down like a thundering sheet of metal. You can feel the dry earth soaking up the water with great joy..... cooling down the earth naturally....

What is "Numbers" in your life?

Everything about us "earthlings" is connected to numbers. Had it ever crossed your mind? Think about it; isn't your age, your weight, your height, your address, your account number, the amount of money in your account, your ID cards; the list goes on...... all about NUMBERS?

Imagine your life without numbers, won't it be chaotic? There won't be any date or year, you won't have an address, you won't be able to deposit your money in the bank or maybe there is no money at all!!

There won't be 1, 2, 3 but will there be one, two, three? Think about it ..... isn't it unthinkable?

Everything about Anything

I felt very lucky to have retired early at age 48. At least I can say I am luckier than most people. Having a global family, I now have too much time on my hands.

Brainstorm is about anything and everything that people discussed in the world and is about what goes through the mind of an ordinary person. I hope to entertain some who stumbled upon this site.

I was like just drifting from being lazy......having nothing much to do to contemplating getting into another job....

Having chosen to stay unemployed and enjoying my well deserved freedom, I was starting to get bored.