Hiking at Bukit Timah

MooMoo had her 1st Hiking outing last Sunday (20th Feb 2011) morning.

MooMoo had an enjoyable 2 hours hike at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with 4 of her gym mates. It's been 2 years since she last been there. This time round the hike seems to be much easier compared to last time. Maybe thanks to her gym routine.


We almost got attacked by the monkeys when we ate our breakfast on the way to the entrance of the park. We quickly put away our buns. Hahaha...

Didn't really manage to take much pictures coz didn't bring the camera along. Just took few snapshots with the handphone along the way....

We walked along the path... across the jungle trails... up and down the stairs... up and down the hilly slopes.... bit slippery due to the rain the day before...

Along the way... met some monkeys... picture bit blur and monkey looked away... haha...

Shoes got very dirty after hiking... luckily it's black colour so can't really see that it's dirty...

MooMoo supposed to train for her Mt. KK climb, which is only about 10 days away... but don't think one little hike will help much... hahaha.... Hope her knees will survive the climb.

Wish her all the very best of luck!!! ^=^

1st Trip in Year 2011

MooMoo’s very 1st trip in year 2011 and it’s in the beginning of the year. It is usually very unlikely for MooMoo to travel early of the year, other than the usual CNY travel routine with her family. This year there’s no overseas CNY travel due to some unavoidable circumstances but we still have some fun family gatherings. I guess the important thing is the company and not the location.

This year, early Jan 2011 MooMoo's travelling to Japan had been exceptional coz one of MooMoo’s buddy had the urge to go Japan and visit her so called ‘heng-tais’ and it just had to be Winter in order to see them bathing in onsen while snowing. So, MooMoo decided just to tag along and have fun. MooMoo managed to drag Ms. Mo along to join in the fun.

Have fun now and suffer later coz towards the 2nd half of the year, no more leaves. Boo Hoo Hoo!!! Anyway, MooMoo had GREAT fun and experiences LOTS of drama while traveling in Japan with her 2 buddies, Tapir and Ms. Mo.

Just a brief summary of my Japan Itinerary….

Day 1--Touch down at Osaka-Itami Airport at night, transfer to Kyoto

Day 2--Day trip to Nara visiting Nara Park and Todaiji Temple

Day 3--Kyoto: Kinkakuji, Nishiki Market and Gion

Day 4--Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Shrine, transfer to Hiroshima in the afternoon

Day 5--Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park and A-Dome, Itsukushima Shrine at Miyajima, Head to Osaka and sleep over at Namba.

Day 6-- Transfer to Takayama: walk around town towards evening

Day 7 --Takayama: Miyagawa Market and Jinya-mae Market, transfer to Shirakawa-Go; Reached Shirakawa-Go towards evening, walk around town

Day 8-- Shirakawa-Go: Shiroyama Viewpoint, Outdoor Museum, transfer to Kanazawa

Day 9-- Transfer to Yudanaka morning, reached late evening

Day 10-- Yudanaka: Snow Monkey Park, Shibu Onsen Town, transfer to Tokyo

Day 11-- Tokyo: Day trip to Lake Kawaguchiko-Mt Fuji View

Day 12-- Tokyo Disneyland-chasing cartoons

Day 13-- Tokyo: Ghibli Museum, Shibuya

Day 14-- Tokyo: Asakusa, Akihabara, Harajuku

Day 15-- Back to SG early morning and Tapir continues another few more days…

* MooMoo had GREAT FUN at STEPS class today... ran for 2km and attended Step3 and Step2 (Partner Step)... the choreo for both classes were real good. I hope they will keep it up! hehe...

No One Understands

No One Understands
---Bayside

I've always played the fool around here
I'm starting to worry that
I rush through life forgetting to breathe
We all need some time to adapt
No one understands
No one understands what it's like

I had high hopes of silver and gold
I thought things could change for the best
My mom always said I was made for a saint
But I never felt I was blessed
No one understands
No one understands
No one understands what its like

I got your cure right here
Is that what you wanna hear?
I played the fool too many times
I've been catching up for all my life
And it seemsIt gets harder to believe
It gets harder but be honest
If the sun don't shine tomorrow,
We'll survive

I turn this up as loud as it goes
And it ain't doin' much for the pain
It's up to me and the heart on my sleeve
That hasn't quite been the same
No one understands
No one understands
No one understands what it's like

I got your cure right here
Is that what you wanna hear?
I played the fool too many times
I've been catching up for all my life
And it seems
It gets harder to believe
It gets harder but be honest
If the sun don't shine tomorrow,
We'll survive

I'm in a field of land mines
A cruise ship to hell oh
But I dont think about that
It's so hard to find help these days
When everyone's counting on me
But I'm burnt already

I got your cure right here
Is that what you wanna hear?
I played the fool too many times
I've been catching up for all my life
And it seems
It gets harder to believe
It gets harder but be honest
If the sun don't shine tomorrow,
If the sun don't shine tomorrow,
If the sun don't shine tomorrow,
Then we'll survive

Coffee or Cup?!?

This is a little short story that MooMoo read online... she finds it pretty interesting and would like to share... ^=^

All about the "COFFEE" and NOT The CUP!

Life is like a cup of COFFEE....

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversations soon turn into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite.

He told his guests to help themselves to the coffee. After everyone had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said...

"If you have noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of all your problems and stress. Be assured that the cups add no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive, and in some cases, even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup. But you consciously went for the best cups... and then you begin eyeing each other's cups to see who had the best one. Now consider this... Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. And the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee.

Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything.

They just make the best of everything."

....Live Simply (u mean stop shopping and stop drinking bubble tea?!? haha...)
....Speak Kindly (this reminds me of the sentence I read in my colleagues' email footer... *)
....Care Deeply (just so not MooMoo... hahah...)
....Love Generously (trying hard... difficult to practise unconditional 'LOVE'... ^=^)

This is not the 1st time reading this article but I still like it a lot.... Will try to focus on the COFFEE... actually I don't really mind the cups, I use disposable cups. kekeke....

* My colleagues' email footer read...
"Don't say anything if you got nothing nice to say"...
Then, my another colleague asked... Is that why nobody talk to her?!?.... err...

-- I tried practising this and people think MooMoo is angry wor when she's quiet... hahaha....

Happy Chap Goh Mei! ^=^

Today is the 15th day and the last day of Chinese New Year. Time really flies...

MooMoo wish all her family and friends a very "HAPPY CHAP GOH MEI!"

Too bad, MooMoo no more leaves this year so can't go back to have a Chap Goh Mei dinner with family. And Piggy is not around to celebrate together as well.

Today is also the Chinese Valentine's Day. MooMoo's friends and colleagues asked if she go and throw oranges. Hahaha... Sorry eh... MooMoo not an orange gal and so will not go throw oranges. Maybe go throw grapes or watermelon. Hmm... throw at the person that you like? Or throw at the person that you hate? ^=^

Anyway, today MooMoo celebrated her Chap Goh Mei with a good, nice stretch at Balance class with her favourite instructor. Long time no go for Balance class, body become stiff and not so flexbile. Really must go to stretching classes diligently to upkeep the flexibility.

After class, MooMoo ate yummy KFC for dinner. Too bad, Piggy is not around... if not, sure will company her to pig in the crispy finger licking KFC. Haha...

She's really working hard back in Malaysia. Soon, she gonna meet her LOVE ->> Super Junior and eat kimchi everyday.

MooMoo's colleague was telling her today that we're not supposed to buy new shoes during Chinese New Year. It is believed that shoes = 'hai' (in cantonese) and it does not sound good. Like sighing... bring bad luck. MooMoo didn't know about that and she even went to buy 2 pairs of new shoes. Is that why MooMoo got blisters after wearing the shoes?!? After getting blisters, will sigh more coz pain-pain... Hahaha... just kidding... MooMoo is not the pantang type.

The coming months are gonna be tough for MooMoo with the extra load of work and responsibilities this year. Hope she can survive the hail storm.... ^=^

* 2 more weeks to go... MooMoo's 1st mountain climbing adventure... hope can reach the TOP!!!

Why?!?

Sometimes MooMoo really wonder….

Why people do things that they know it is wrong…
Why people don’t do things that they know it is right…
Why people say things that they do not mean it…
Why people bother to say it if they know others won’t listen…
Why people made promises but never kept them…
Why people bother to promise when they know they can’t do it..
Why people put limits to themselves when they have the ability to go further…
Why people are obsessed with things that are not so important after all…
Why people just cannot be friendlier with each other…
Why people just cannot forget about what’s past and move on…
I think this list will never end… Haha…

Sometimes MooMoo also wonder…
Maybe the person doing whatever he/she is doing does not even know what he/she is doing and WHY he/she is doing it….

MooMoo guess she will not have answers to all the WHYs… But it just keeps her wondering… Human MINDS are pretty interesting, ain’t it?!?

* In times, MooMoo wonders on her own words, actions and reactions too... ^=^

Murphy's Law Repealed!

This morning, MooMoo actually encountered 2 incidents which made her recalled on what she have just read not long ago, in this book called, “Murphy’s Law Repealed!” by Charles H. Ware. There is this phrase in there, “Everything turns out Right… When you let it.”

Well, MooMoo read the book and she finds it quite interesting though some may not seem that practical to her as she is not a very Optimistic person by nature. Anyway, it gave her some great insights on certain things.

The 1st Incident: At the train station…

It’s really nothing new here. MooMoo feels nausea keep talking about the train ride experience during peak hours over and over again.

Inconsiderate people taking the trains just can NEVER…
…. Move in to let other people get on the train. e.g. 10 people come out from the train and only 2-3 people can get back in the train.
…. Get out of the train and let people inside get out 1st. e.g. People have to squeeze themselves out of the train like squeezing ketchup from the bottle that is finishing soon. And most of the people standing at the doors are only getting out after more than 5 stations away.
…. Wait and let people get out of the train before they get on the train. e.g. Everyone just try to squeeze their way IN and OUT at the SAME time. They are so scared and kiasu that once get out, they can never get in anymore.
…. Get up and let the elderly or disabled or pregnant people sit down. e.g. They can just close their eyes and pretend not to see anything. Maybe they are really disabled.. “BLIND”.
…. Stop reading the newspapers/books or playing with games. There’s already limited space but still wanna poke their sharp book ends at your back as if our back is made of steel.

Usually, MooMoo would have wait for less people before jumping in the train BUT after waiting for the 2nd train… she decided to just squeeze in.

If it’s not because she is in a hurry… she would not have squeezed herself in the train of sardines. Actually there’s LOTS of space in the middle of the train but people just stay at the door. Arrghhh!!!

Damn irritating…. Some more MooMoo got the “F-word” from this angmoh guy when she squeezed herself in and get stuck at the door. Anyway, she don’t blame him coz it’s kinda her fault. If it’s a couple of years back, MooMoo would get real angry and scold back but she have learnt to control her temper these years. We got a choice to react.… MooMoo said sorry instead…and it works. His angry face changed and he did not continue his “F-word”. Well, this thing almost spoil MooMoo's day but luckily she did not let it happen.

The 2nd Incident: At the Coffeeshop…

Beehoon vs Mee… MooMoo went to buy her breakkie. In her mind she thought of mee but when she made her order, she actually asked for Kueh tiaw mixed with BeeHoon (in Mandarin). Blur blur dy… Then, when she saw the lady picking up the beehoon, she stopped the lady and asked, Eh, why beehoon? Then, the lady frown and looked at MooMoo. The lady was not very happy and told MooMoo, “ Correct! It’s BeeHoon”. Hahaha… OK, it’s MooMoo's fault again. Instead of getting angry at her own fault, she said sorry to the lady and told her that beehoon would be OK as well… told the lady it was a mistake…wanted mee but said bee hoon instead. Hmm…suddenly, the lady became so friendly to MooMoo and told MooMoo not to worry… it’s just a small thing. The lady took out the Beehoon from MooMoo's plate and replaced it with Mee instead. When the lady passed MooMoo the plate, she gave me a nice smile some more. It kinda took MooMoo by surprise.

Well, to certain extent MooMoo do believe that “Everything turns out Right… When you let it” but she greatly thinks that it all depends on oneself as well. It really very much depends on what is the expectations and perspectives on things. The most important thing within us is “ATTITUDE” and we really got a CHOICE on our reactions to things.

MooMoo like this quote by “Lao Tzu”, which he says, “Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power”. ^=^

* I need to start blogging on my Japan trip… lots of backlog here and there… hahaha..

Happy Chinese New Year!! ^=^