Well, I have not liked a series so much for a long time. I was simply addicted to "Sassy Girl Chun Hyang" - a Korean drama about two teenagers who were nemesese were made to marry each other due to some misunderstanding. From loggerheads, they soon fell in love with each other. Yet, they could not be together until years later because of love rivals and misfortune.
Simple plot but it was humourous. Their love for each other transcended all times and was showed in the little trivialities that they did for each other. It made one wishful for such true and noble love.
My sister got the DVDs and I kept repeating the series tirelessly. I spent the past weekend repeating the episodes that I liked. I felt a sense of loss when I finished the series the first time.
I simply love Chun Hyang!
March 30, 2009
March 28, 2009
New Class, New Classmates
It is yet again a new yoga class. Each time with the start of a new class, there will be new and old faces.
The old faces represent friendships built through numerous sessions of sweat and panting of doing sun salutation together. We have seen one another wobble when we attempt the Tree. We have laughed together at ourselves when we dare not flip backwards during a plough. We sing together when we do breathing exercises together.
The new faces remind us of ourselves when we first stepped into the class more than a year ago. Filled with anticipation of taking up a new exercise regime and trepidation of the need to be flexible, we have braved through both mental and physical hurdles till now that we are more comfortable with our own bodies.
One of the new faces seemed abit nervous and asked us how long we have been taking lessons. When I told her I have been taking for about 1.5 years, she asked why I had not progressed to the next phase, ie a more advanced class. Trying to assure her, I told her I was not very good in my current stage to think beyond this. She seemed abit taken aback. I wondered if she thought she had gone into a wrong class where no one improved even after a year of practice.
Well, actually, my teacher would teach different positions each series. To cater for beginners and those who have some experiences with yoga, he would have both easy and difficult positions in each class. To the experienced, the easy positions would help warm us up to prepare us for the more difficult positions. It also served as a refreshment course for us to perfect our positions. To the beginners, the easy positions would build confidence. For the difficult positions, it would stretch the experienced further. To the beginners, it would be a challenge which would motivate them to strive beyond their comfort zones.
In addition, teacher never stops anyone who wants to take a rest if a certain position is beyond his or her current stamina. His mantra is that you will know your body best. There is no point in stretching your body to a breaking point and straining yourself and putting you off yoga. As much as we should try to stretch, we must never use up every ounce of strength in the stretch. We must at all time retain one-tenth of our strength so that when our body is about to give way, we can use this remaining strength to bring our body back to the original position rather than suffer a fall.
Despite a year into yoga, I still feel like a very beginner even in the simplest breathing exercise. No worries, I will continue with my practice. :-)
The old faces represent friendships built through numerous sessions of sweat and panting of doing sun salutation together. We have seen one another wobble when we attempt the Tree. We have laughed together at ourselves when we dare not flip backwards during a plough. We sing together when we do breathing exercises together.
The new faces remind us of ourselves when we first stepped into the class more than a year ago. Filled with anticipation of taking up a new exercise regime and trepidation of the need to be flexible, we have braved through both mental and physical hurdles till now that we are more comfortable with our own bodies.
One of the new faces seemed abit nervous and asked us how long we have been taking lessons. When I told her I have been taking for about 1.5 years, she asked why I had not progressed to the next phase, ie a more advanced class. Trying to assure her, I told her I was not very good in my current stage to think beyond this. She seemed abit taken aback. I wondered if she thought she had gone into a wrong class where no one improved even after a year of practice.
Well, actually, my teacher would teach different positions each series. To cater for beginners and those who have some experiences with yoga, he would have both easy and difficult positions in each class. To the experienced, the easy positions would help warm us up to prepare us for the more difficult positions. It also served as a refreshment course for us to perfect our positions. To the beginners, the easy positions would build confidence. For the difficult positions, it would stretch the experienced further. To the beginners, it would be a challenge which would motivate them to strive beyond their comfort zones.
In addition, teacher never stops anyone who wants to take a rest if a certain position is beyond his or her current stamina. His mantra is that you will know your body best. There is no point in stretching your body to a breaking point and straining yourself and putting you off yoga. As much as we should try to stretch, we must never use up every ounce of strength in the stretch. We must at all time retain one-tenth of our strength so that when our body is about to give way, we can use this remaining strength to bring our body back to the original position rather than suffer a fall.
Despite a year into yoga, I still feel like a very beginner even in the simplest breathing exercise. No worries, I will continue with my practice. :-)
March 27, 2009
Unfair Criticism
The line managers were supposed to turn in their budget phasing (breakdown into 12 months) by yesterday. As usual, there was massive delay.
The department I supported was, without fail, the latest. Not only was the numbers not complete, it was also unreconciled when they were turned in. Unfortunately, at this time, the business analyst was on leave and I had to double up as his covering officer to help him coordinate the various divisions' submissions. I was neither his official covering officer nor was I a member of his team, yet to ensure that the job got done, I had no choice but to chip in.
Having worked for a number of years, I should have shed my naivete years ago. How often had I been demoralised when a helping hand was returned with ingratitude. Despite the many unpleasant experiences, I still harboured the hope that we should always work as a team and kindness beget kindness. Yet, I never expected such blatant ingratitude that nearly turned my heart to stone. It also taught me to be more wary of this person.
Being a finance support for this department, I had helped prepared templates to help reconcile the transfer of budget between divisions from their latest reorganisation exercise. After they ensured that there was 'proper handshake' of all transferred amounts, the amount pre and post transferred should be the same. With this, they could proceed to split the post reorg budget into 12 months.
Everything was in a mess when they were turned in. The numbers did not tie. The reconciliation was not done. Before the numbers were finalised, we kept receiving emails to download their numbers to SAP. However, as no proper checking was done before they were sent to Finance, Finance often received an email to ask us to hold the download shortly after we received their emails to load the numbers. It came to a point that I also started to lose track which version to load into SAP. Blind loading of many versions could easily lead to duplicates and greater difficulty in unravelling the differences subsequently.
Hence, I tried to put a stop to all these by sending an email to all the coordinator within this department to tell them to stop providing files for downloading into SAP until they completed their reconciliation exercise. To justify this halt in loading, I narrated the past few days' experiences and highlighted the potential risk of creating a bigger mess in the system. All these were sincerely highlighted to resolve the issue and never meant for finger-pointing.
I never expected the response I got from the business analyst whom I was trying to help while he was on annual leave.
"... Stop making snide remarks. If someone thought she could do a better job, please just come and do this. This is not as easy as it seems... ... This is not the time to point fingers."
This was extracted from the email he replied to me and he has copied all his coordinators in the same email. It was not verbal. It was not just between the two of us. Unlike others, I never cared if this was meant to undermine my authority among his people. I would have accepted his criticisms if I was just trying to push the blame. When faced with such unfair criticisms, I was simply too baffled and too upset.
Fortunately, I did not act impulsively or it might have started a verbal war on email. After I had cooled substantially to know that I could act rationally, I drafted an email to response to his unfair claims. Firstly, I apologised if my email appeared to finger-point and explained that it was not never my intention. I continued to state that the proposals were made to minimise some of the downstream problems that I could foresee.
Despite writing the email, I was still seething with anger at the end of the day. Suddenly, I felt very drained and demoralised. I needed the energy of the weekend to recuperate from this unpleasant debacle.
Maybe next time, I should be less kind and keep my hands out of other people's business. I should just escalate as soon as deadlines are not met - a stance an excolleague has constantly employed. Yet, I often tried to do this as I always was guided by the principle that I was there to solve problems for my boss and not to create more problems. Moreover, to promote a more cordial and cooperative relationship, I should not complain unless it was a last resort.
Maybe I was too idealistic or simply too stupid.
The department I supported was, without fail, the latest. Not only was the numbers not complete, it was also unreconciled when they were turned in. Unfortunately, at this time, the business analyst was on leave and I had to double up as his covering officer to help him coordinate the various divisions' submissions. I was neither his official covering officer nor was I a member of his team, yet to ensure that the job got done, I had no choice but to chip in.
Having worked for a number of years, I should have shed my naivete years ago. How often had I been demoralised when a helping hand was returned with ingratitude. Despite the many unpleasant experiences, I still harboured the hope that we should always work as a team and kindness beget kindness. Yet, I never expected such blatant ingratitude that nearly turned my heart to stone. It also taught me to be more wary of this person.
Being a finance support for this department, I had helped prepared templates to help reconcile the transfer of budget between divisions from their latest reorganisation exercise. After they ensured that there was 'proper handshake' of all transferred amounts, the amount pre and post transferred should be the same. With this, they could proceed to split the post reorg budget into 12 months.
Everything was in a mess when they were turned in. The numbers did not tie. The reconciliation was not done. Before the numbers were finalised, we kept receiving emails to download their numbers to SAP. However, as no proper checking was done before they were sent to Finance, Finance often received an email to ask us to hold the download shortly after we received their emails to load the numbers. It came to a point that I also started to lose track which version to load into SAP. Blind loading of many versions could easily lead to duplicates and greater difficulty in unravelling the differences subsequently.
Hence, I tried to put a stop to all these by sending an email to all the coordinator within this department to tell them to stop providing files for downloading into SAP until they completed their reconciliation exercise. To justify this halt in loading, I narrated the past few days' experiences and highlighted the potential risk of creating a bigger mess in the system. All these were sincerely highlighted to resolve the issue and never meant for finger-pointing.
I never expected the response I got from the business analyst whom I was trying to help while he was on annual leave.
"... Stop making snide remarks. If someone thought she could do a better job, please just come and do this. This is not as easy as it seems... ... This is not the time to point fingers."
This was extracted from the email he replied to me and he has copied all his coordinators in the same email. It was not verbal. It was not just between the two of us. Unlike others, I never cared if this was meant to undermine my authority among his people. I would have accepted his criticisms if I was just trying to push the blame. When faced with such unfair criticisms, I was simply too baffled and too upset.
Fortunately, I did not act impulsively or it might have started a verbal war on email. After I had cooled substantially to know that I could act rationally, I drafted an email to response to his unfair claims. Firstly, I apologised if my email appeared to finger-point and explained that it was not never my intention. I continued to state that the proposals were made to minimise some of the downstream problems that I could foresee.
Despite writing the email, I was still seething with anger at the end of the day. Suddenly, I felt very drained and demoralised. I needed the energy of the weekend to recuperate from this unpleasant debacle.
Maybe next time, I should be less kind and keep my hands out of other people's business. I should just escalate as soon as deadlines are not met - a stance an excolleague has constantly employed. Yet, I often tried to do this as I always was guided by the principle that I was there to solve problems for my boss and not to create more problems. Moreover, to promote a more cordial and cooperative relationship, I should not complain unless it was a last resort.
Maybe I was too idealistic or simply too stupid.
March 26, 2009
Deja Vu
Maybe I had worked too hard and started to daydream or maybe I really possessed some unknown psychic power.
I was staring at some spreadsheet and suddenly it seemed like I have seen this so many times and knew what would happen next. I was so stunned by the familiarity of this scene that it was almost I had seen this before. Had I dreamt this before?
I exclaimed to my colleague that I might have dreamt of this worksheet and the work before. My boss heard my surprised comment and walked out of his cubicle. I thought he was finally going to acknowledge that maybe I do garner some supernatural powers. My boss, being my boss, and being well-read and a great fan of Discovery Channel, offered a rather scientific explanation to what was happening to me.
He told me that the sense of deja vu could be explain using simple biology. Sometimes, our minds tricked us into believing that we have witnessed something before because one of our eyes read the image faster than the other and had transmitted the signals to our brain. The different speeds of transmission between the two eyes caused our brain to register a certain image before it registered that we were seeing the image. This resulted in a feeling of deja vu. His so matter-of-fact explanation dashed all my hopes of my having some unknown power.
Hence, the next time you have a similar experience as me, please do not jump to the conclusions of a past life or an ability to read the future, it is simply a biological phenomenon.
I was staring at some spreadsheet and suddenly it seemed like I have seen this so many times and knew what would happen next. I was so stunned by the familiarity of this scene that it was almost I had seen this before. Had I dreamt this before?
I exclaimed to my colleague that I might have dreamt of this worksheet and the work before. My boss heard my surprised comment and walked out of his cubicle. I thought he was finally going to acknowledge that maybe I do garner some supernatural powers. My boss, being my boss, and being well-read and a great fan of Discovery Channel, offered a rather scientific explanation to what was happening to me.
He told me that the sense of deja vu could be explain using simple biology. Sometimes, our minds tricked us into believing that we have witnessed something before because one of our eyes read the image faster than the other and had transmitted the signals to our brain. The different speeds of transmission between the two eyes caused our brain to register a certain image before it registered that we were seeing the image. This resulted in a feeling of deja vu. His so matter-of-fact explanation dashed all my hopes of my having some unknown power.
Hence, the next time you have a similar experience as me, please do not jump to the conclusions of a past life or an ability to read the future, it is simply a biological phenomenon.
March 23, 2009
Zhou's Kitchen
I used to be a buffet lover especially during secondary school and JC days. Compared to some guys, I might be at a losing end in terms of the food I could consume. However, compared to most girls, I thought I would be one of the forerunners if there were ever a competition. In case your mouth is already gagging open with incredulity now, let me in to a secret - I was quite an uncouth, slightly aggressive tomboy when I was in school. I shall leave these gory details to another time.
It is unbelievable and a complete decadence to spend a weekday afternoon eating. Hey, I do not need to travel to exotic vacations to feel happy. I do not need blings blings dripping from my earlobes, on my neck and fingers to feel like a queen. I am easily contented with the little pleasures in life, including spending time on things I like, eg eating.
I am long past the days of wolfing down all food in sight with no qualms on whether I like them or whether I need them. Now, I am more selective on what I eat because my stomach is not as bottomless as before and it is wasteful to allow the meagre space be taken up by unpalatable food. Given the lower metabolism, it is simply not as wise to heap more calories than I need. Hence, I have often avoid buffets because it is damaging to the weighing scale as well as no longer value-for-money with my diminishing ability to gobble down food.
Look at me. Again, I have spent 3 paragraphs and still not discuss about the main topic - Zhou's Kitchen in proper.
Zhou's Kitchen is one of the restaurant chains under the Tung Lok group - one of the leading F & B groups in Singapore. It offers a tea-time ala carte buffet which prices close about $15 per diner. The selection of food includes
1) dim sums, such as the popular pork dumplings (siew mai), shrimp dumplings, braised chicken feet, steamed pork ribs, custard buns, char siew buns, mini egg tarts, fried carrot cake
2) home-cooked dishes, such as drunken chicken, shrimp paste chicken, fried fish skin, stir-fried beans with shrimps, fried ngoh hiang (spiced minced pork wrapped in beancurd skin), steam tofu with minced pork
3) staples, such as fried rice, mee goreng and century egg and pork porridge,
4) soups, such as Sze Chuan hot and spicy soup and other clear soups and
5) desserts, such as red bean paste, sesame paste, herbal jelly, fried sesame balls, pulu hitam and mango and pomelo sago
We ate from 2.30pm to 5 pm. I could not remember how much I ate but it was definitely alot. I did not realise until I finish everything at 5 pm. I felt bloated then, but little did I know the discomfort from eating too much only caught up with me later.
I was so full that I felt nauseated. My stomach felts as if it would explode any moment. I could feel the food straining the stomach walls and causing my extreme discomfort and slight pain. I had to keep walking around because if I sat down or stood still, I might really vomitted. I dared not take the train but rather had to linger at the mall and walked many rounds to ease the bloatedness a little before I could take the train without any mishap.
Sigh! This sure put me off buffet for a while. Although I knew that buffet was bad because I would overeat in order to get value for money and then hurting my stomach and my health. I was way past the age when my digestive system was at its prime. Such wilful eating could really cause irreparable damage to my internal system.
I think I will have to say 'no' to any buffet for the time being.
March 22, 2009
Karaoke at PartyWorld
My mum has been taking singing lessons. To help her practise, we trooped down to the nearest karaoke outlet near our house. PartyWorld was having promotion for tea-time special where at less than $17 per person, one got to sing for 4 hours and with 1 complimentary drink and 2 snacks.
It has been ages since we last sang karaoke together. Suddenly, we were at a loss over what songs we should pick and what were the latest songs. Frankly, I was also pretty out of touch as I had not listened to radio much recently.
To warm ourselves up, we picked our regular songs first hoping that more inspiration and stamina would follow. Of course, we could not forget the purpose we were there. Selecting the songs that my mum needed to practise took precedence. My sis and I took the role of judges and started pointing out the parts that seemed to be out of tune or rhythm even though we were also pretty amateurish in our singing. Hey, criticising was always easier. When it was our turn to sing, we churned out a even more horrible rendition than our mum.
To ensure that my mum could get all the practice she needed to at least be familiarise with the song that she had to sing in her coming lesson, we kept dedicating the same song in that 4 hours. By the end of it, we were numbed by the same tune of Jackie Cheung's song. I was even jibing that out of the 748 times the song was picked by patrons to sing, 8 of which came from my mum and within that 4 hours.
After singing our hearts out, we felt so much cheered up and relaxed. However, our throats felt slightly dry and voice hoarse - common side-effects after a heavy dosage of karaoke.
P.S. My mum was graded good for the song that she had diligently practised - one of the better grades that she had ever obtained. The practice sure paid off.
It has been ages since we last sang karaoke together. Suddenly, we were at a loss over what songs we should pick and what were the latest songs. Frankly, I was also pretty out of touch as I had not listened to radio much recently.
To warm ourselves up, we picked our regular songs first hoping that more inspiration and stamina would follow. Of course, we could not forget the purpose we were there. Selecting the songs that my mum needed to practise took precedence. My sis and I took the role of judges and started pointing out the parts that seemed to be out of tune or rhythm even though we were also pretty amateurish in our singing. Hey, criticising was always easier. When it was our turn to sing, we churned out a even more horrible rendition than our mum.
To ensure that my mum could get all the practice she needed to at least be familiarise with the song that she had to sing in her coming lesson, we kept dedicating the same song in that 4 hours. By the end of it, we were numbed by the same tune of Jackie Cheung's song. I was even jibing that out of the 748 times the song was picked by patrons to sing, 8 of which came from my mum and within that 4 hours.
After singing our hearts out, we felt so much cheered up and relaxed. However, our throats felt slightly dry and voice hoarse - common side-effects after a heavy dosage of karaoke.
P.S. My mum was graded good for the song that she had diligently practised - one of the better grades that she had ever obtained. The practice sure paid off.
March 21, 2009
Accidents after Accidents
I thought Friday the Thirteenth was long over. Maybe I should start to follow my horoscope's predictions more dutifully in future. What had started as a good day soon turned into a series of embarrassing and upset moments.
After my yoga class as I was on my way from the CC to the MRT station, I was stepped very firmly by an uncle dashing through the rather narrow sheltered area. A rushing uncle viciously stepped onto my flip-flop as I was moving forward. His strong step which pulled down my flip-flop and my strength pulling the flip-flop forward in an opposite direction caused my beloved flip-flop to give way. Boo-hoo-hoo.
The uncle had just turned around for a quick look and muttered a rapid sorry and soon disappeared among the crowd before I had time to react. I could not even demand compensation for another pair of shoes from him. He did not even slow down and check if I had been injured. Hey, where has all the considerate and sympathetic people gone to?
The area was not narrow if it was not crowded. It was at the bottleneck stretch with people waiting for taxis, the zoo van trying to lure tourists to the zoo and people staring the notice boards for tutors or rooms for rent. In addition to the 'stationary roadblocks', the remaining space was to cater for 2-way traffic to and fro the train station.
It was not an expensive pair (I could never afford or bring myself to invest more than $20 on flip-flops, eg Havanas). However, I had it for about 2 years and bought at about $2 a pair form Bangkok. Despite its low price and rather nondescript appearance, it was comfortable.
After the strap broke, I had to limp all the way to AMK Hub to buy a replacement pair of shoes in order to get home.
A bad scare and a broken shoes - you would have thought this was bad enough. The worst has yet to come.
Armed with a new pair of shoes, my optimism and cheerfulness soon resumed, so I decided that it was time to explore Sembawang Shopping centre despite carrying some groceries and yoga mat. As I boarded the crowded bus and in a rush to sit down before the bus started driving, I made a turn towards the seat and my yoga mat swinged towards an auntie. A loud 'ouch' followed. Being sincerely apologetic, I quickly apologised profusely and repeatedly to the lady for I could imagine the impact of the swing. A black face and shouting about my carelessness were certainly expected. However, I thought her physical hurt could be somewhat assuaged by my truly sincere and many apologies.
Never had I expected the tirade that followed and which continued throughout the fifteen minutes' journey. She made a big hoo-ha of the impact. She complained at the top of her lungs that he mouth hurt severely and scolded me for my stupidity. Everyone turned around to look. I was again apologising repeatedly. Yet, her anger was not appeased. She continued entertaining the passengers to profanities and insults to me. I was embarrassed, but I was also started to feel upset.
Ok, I could not deny that I was clumsy which though I was fully aware of, I could not overcome easily. Moreover, I was truly apologetic. I never meant it to be. It was not as if I disregard the resulting injury from my clumsiness. Yet, she did not have to reduce me to non-human through her scolding. The muttering even continued when she alighted the bus at the destination.
No wonder many Singaporeans were grieving for the demise of courtesy and consideration in Singapore. Their concerns were not unfounded. With the 2 incidents, much as I could blame them on my unlucky stars and laughed about my own clumsiness, I could not help feeling that the gracious and considerate Singapore society had become a thing of the past.
After my yoga class as I was on my way from the CC to the MRT station, I was stepped very firmly by an uncle dashing through the rather narrow sheltered area. A rushing uncle viciously stepped onto my flip-flop as I was moving forward. His strong step which pulled down my flip-flop and my strength pulling the flip-flop forward in an opposite direction caused my beloved flip-flop to give way. Boo-hoo-hoo.
The uncle had just turned around for a quick look and muttered a rapid sorry and soon disappeared among the crowd before I had time to react. I could not even demand compensation for another pair of shoes from him. He did not even slow down and check if I had been injured. Hey, where has all the considerate and sympathetic people gone to?
The area was not narrow if it was not crowded. It was at the bottleneck stretch with people waiting for taxis, the zoo van trying to lure tourists to the zoo and people staring the notice boards for tutors or rooms for rent. In addition to the 'stationary roadblocks', the remaining space was to cater for 2-way traffic to and fro the train station.
It was not an expensive pair (I could never afford or bring myself to invest more than $20 on flip-flops, eg Havanas). However, I had it for about 2 years and bought at about $2 a pair form Bangkok. Despite its low price and rather nondescript appearance, it was comfortable.
After the strap broke, I had to limp all the way to AMK Hub to buy a replacement pair of shoes in order to get home.
A bad scare and a broken shoes - you would have thought this was bad enough. The worst has yet to come.
Armed with a new pair of shoes, my optimism and cheerfulness soon resumed, so I decided that it was time to explore Sembawang Shopping centre despite carrying some groceries and yoga mat. As I boarded the crowded bus and in a rush to sit down before the bus started driving, I made a turn towards the seat and my yoga mat swinged towards an auntie. A loud 'ouch' followed. Being sincerely apologetic, I quickly apologised profusely and repeatedly to the lady for I could imagine the impact of the swing. A black face and shouting about my carelessness were certainly expected. However, I thought her physical hurt could be somewhat assuaged by my truly sincere and many apologies.
Never had I expected the tirade that followed and which continued throughout the fifteen minutes' journey. She made a big hoo-ha of the impact. She complained at the top of her lungs that he mouth hurt severely and scolded me for my stupidity. Everyone turned around to look. I was again apologising repeatedly. Yet, her anger was not appeased. She continued entertaining the passengers to profanities and insults to me. I was embarrassed, but I was also started to feel upset.
Ok, I could not deny that I was clumsy which though I was fully aware of, I could not overcome easily. Moreover, I was truly apologetic. I never meant it to be. It was not as if I disregard the resulting injury from my clumsiness. Yet, she did not have to reduce me to non-human through her scolding. The muttering even continued when she alighted the bus at the destination.
No wonder many Singaporeans were grieving for the demise of courtesy and consideration in Singapore. Their concerns were not unfounded. With the 2 incidents, much as I could blame them on my unlucky stars and laughed about my own clumsiness, I could not help feeling that the gracious and considerate Singapore society had become a thing of the past.
Sembawang Shopping Centre
There was a free shuttle bus from Yishun to Sembawang Shopping Centre and back. The bus trip would only take 15 minutes. Being a 'northerner', how could I not explore the latest mall in the vicinity?
It was a spacious mall with many eateries - some of them not commonly found in other places such as Minitry of Food (MOF) with the other outlet only in Marina Square and Astons' Western Food where I only knew they had a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio. It also had the family essentials such as Giant Supermarket and Daiso value shop.
In terms of fashion, there was Iora and Espirit factory outlets for those of you who might be looking for past seasons' offerings at discounted prices. There was outside an outdoor playground at the top floor for children to enjoy themselves while their parents caught up with shopping.
However, its variety was lacking if you compared to the bigger malls along the north line such as Causeway Point and Junction 8. However, it would have offered more convenience to the residents of Sembawang.
It was a spacious mall with many eateries - some of them not commonly found in other places such as Minitry of Food (MOF) with the other outlet only in Marina Square and Astons' Western Food where I only knew they had a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio. It also had the family essentials such as Giant Supermarket and Daiso value shop.
In terms of fashion, there was Iora and Espirit factory outlets for those of you who might be looking for past seasons' offerings at discounted prices. There was outside an outdoor playground at the top floor for children to enjoy themselves while their parents caught up with shopping.
However, its variety was lacking if you compared to the bigger malls along the north line such as Causeway Point and Junction 8. However, it would have offered more convenience to the residents of Sembawang.
March 17, 2009
Articles that Entertained or Touched
I usually pore through the articles written by any one of these authors in great details, digesting every sentence, mulling over the meaning and laughing along with each paragraph. Who are these people who have kept me so hooked?
1) Maladjusted
The columns are often published twice monthly by Phin Wong. Personally, I felt his articles were typically with lots of dry humour bordering slightly satirical. It was one of the articles that could tickle me from the first word to the end. If you think that it is just pure humour with no content, you will be wrong. It will usually highlight the current issue and the author's personal experience.
2) Budget Tai Tai
Taitha Wang has moved to Hong Kong for a while but she still keeps the Singaporeans entertained with her experiences in Hong Kong. We can really feel some of her homesickness when she laments about what she is missing of Singapore.
3) Geoff Ang
Relative to the first 2, Geoff Ang's articles are not as humourous and regular. His articles appear in My Paper instead of Today as the first 2 articles. Geoff Ang is philosophical and imparts a life lesson in each of his article. Reading his article is one of those heartwarming moments when you will slow down your footstep and take some time off to smell the roses.
Geoff Ang will keep your inspire and motivate you towards a perception of quality of life.
I am torn. It is a dilemma between humour and philosophy. I am greedy. I want it all. Catch their articles if you have time, perhaps your will feel as tickled and inspired as me.
1) Maladjusted
The columns are often published twice monthly by Phin Wong. Personally, I felt his articles were typically with lots of dry humour bordering slightly satirical. It was one of the articles that could tickle me from the first word to the end. If you think that it is just pure humour with no content, you will be wrong. It will usually highlight the current issue and the author's personal experience.
2) Budget Tai Tai
Taitha Wang has moved to Hong Kong for a while but she still keeps the Singaporeans entertained with her experiences in Hong Kong. We can really feel some of her homesickness when she laments about what she is missing of Singapore.
3) Geoff Ang
Relative to the first 2, Geoff Ang's articles are not as humourous and regular. His articles appear in My Paper instead of Today as the first 2 articles. Geoff Ang is philosophical and imparts a life lesson in each of his article. Reading his article is one of those heartwarming moments when you will slow down your footstep and take some time off to smell the roses.
Geoff Ang will keep your inspire and motivate you towards a perception of quality of life.
I am torn. It is a dilemma between humour and philosophy. I am greedy. I want it all. Catch their articles if you have time, perhaps your will feel as tickled and inspired as me.
March 16, 2009
Ouch! Swell! Pain!
In order to be more environmentally friendly and dawn was breaking, so I decided not to switch on the lights when I moved across my bed to tie up the curtains. The space between one end of my bed to the wall was pretty narrow. As usual, I overstated my agility, my eye-sight and my slimness. Moreover, I have done it so many times and so smoothly that complacency took over this time round.
As I turned around after tying the curtains, so that I could cross the narrow space between my bed and the wall to reach the other side of the room, I banged my foot against the bottom left side of the bed.
Ouch!
Pain momentarily numbed all my other senses. I sat down immediately on my bed to examine my foot. There was no blood and nothing seemed broken. I gave the area of impact a quick rub and rushed out of the room.
For the whole day, I was wearing heels and running around. The morning injury was soon forgotten. When I reached home after a long day and took off my shoes, I felt a stabbing pain when I attempted to step onto the flat floor. A patch of red appeared on my foot. Regarding it as merely a blue-black which would recover soon, I never paid heed to the pain which seemed to increase in intensity.
Before I slept that night, the foot had already swollen by at least at inch, the pain became throbbing even when I was not walking. I could not sleep for the entire night because the pain made it difficult for me to fall asleep. When I rubbed some zambak cream (supposed to be good for disspelling blue-black), the pain only eased a little. Soon, the pain returned with a vengence.
By the next day, the swell was so apparent that it was difficult to fit into my shoes. I walked wiht a limp throughout the day and was worried that it might be fractured. Fortunately, the doctor assured me that there seemed no fractures as there was no black patch which might be a sign that there was internal bleeding. Hence, I should be quite safe.
The swell and pain took one week to fully go away. Blur me again!
As I turned around after tying the curtains, so that I could cross the narrow space between my bed and the wall to reach the other side of the room, I banged my foot against the bottom left side of the bed.
Ouch!
Pain momentarily numbed all my other senses. I sat down immediately on my bed to examine my foot. There was no blood and nothing seemed broken. I gave the area of impact a quick rub and rushed out of the room.
For the whole day, I was wearing heels and running around. The morning injury was soon forgotten. When I reached home after a long day and took off my shoes, I felt a stabbing pain when I attempted to step onto the flat floor. A patch of red appeared on my foot. Regarding it as merely a blue-black which would recover soon, I never paid heed to the pain which seemed to increase in intensity.
Before I slept that night, the foot had already swollen by at least at inch, the pain became throbbing even when I was not walking. I could not sleep for the entire night because the pain made it difficult for me to fall asleep. When I rubbed some zambak cream (supposed to be good for disspelling blue-black), the pain only eased a little. Soon, the pain returned with a vengence.
By the next day, the swell was so apparent that it was difficult to fit into my shoes. I walked wiht a limp throughout the day and was worried that it might be fractured. Fortunately, the doctor assured me that there seemed no fractures as there was no black patch which might be a sign that there was internal bleeding. Hence, I should be quite safe.
The swell and pain took one week to fully go away. Blur me again!
March 13, 2009
Friday the Thirteenth
This is the second Friday the Thirteenth in this year, with only 1 month of interval between the two of them. It was almost unprecedented in the 29 years I was on this earth.
I am not an overly superstitious person but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Hence, please be more alert to minimise the occurence of unlucky events.
Beware.
I am not an overly superstitious person but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Hence, please be more alert to minimise the occurence of unlucky events.
Beware.
March 09, 2009
Forum by SPH
In conjunction with this year's International Women's Day, SPH held a forum with several invited guests to provide informative tips to women on 8 March 2009. The forum was held at SPH auditorium.
The forum started with a panel of 3 distinguished ladies to share about their thoughts, challenges and success stories of being female leaders. The panel included Taiwan Ambassador to Singapore - Ms Shi, Banyan Tree executive - Ms Claire Chiang and one of the editors of SPH. Ms Shi started on how she had to overcome the various challenges as she rotated through her many portfolios. She also humorously lamented about how a career in foreign affairs was not her initial choice and how she eventually excelled in her role. Ms Chiang discussed about how to be happy in her job in Banyan Tree.
The second half of the forum was for guest speakers to provide some info-ed talks to the audience. Ms Jacelyn Tay of The Health Club shared her plight of being a bankrupt and fighting continuous fatigue and later founding The Health Club. Ms Teo Ser Lee shared on common etiquettes errors that we committed and how good protocol was essential to making a good impression. The final speaker - Dr Yeo was a famous psychiatrist who shared some of the common emotional problems that ladies likely to undergo and how we can overcome or prevent them. Dr Yeo's light-hearted talk drew very warm response from the audience and kept many enraptured, especially by his porcelain collection which he used liberally to illustrate his points.
It was an educational talk for men to know more about women and for women to know more about themselves. It was a pity that the number of males in the audience was only a handful. Despite the overall forum being informative and interesting, I personally found it too general. Most of the tips shared were rather commensensical but perhaps sometimes we could be so caught-up with our problems that we had lost our logic totally to identify the solutions.
The forum started with a panel of 3 distinguished ladies to share about their thoughts, challenges and success stories of being female leaders. The panel included Taiwan Ambassador to Singapore - Ms Shi, Banyan Tree executive - Ms Claire Chiang and one of the editors of SPH. Ms Shi started on how she had to overcome the various challenges as she rotated through her many portfolios. She also humorously lamented about how a career in foreign affairs was not her initial choice and how she eventually excelled in her role. Ms Chiang discussed about how to be happy in her job in Banyan Tree.
The second half of the forum was for guest speakers to provide some info-ed talks to the audience. Ms Jacelyn Tay of The Health Club shared her plight of being a bankrupt and fighting continuous fatigue and later founding The Health Club. Ms Teo Ser Lee shared on common etiquettes errors that we committed and how good protocol was essential to making a good impression. The final speaker - Dr Yeo was a famous psychiatrist who shared some of the common emotional problems that ladies likely to undergo and how we can overcome or prevent them. Dr Yeo's light-hearted talk drew very warm response from the audience and kept many enraptured, especially by his porcelain collection which he used liberally to illustrate his points.
It was an educational talk for men to know more about women and for women to know more about themselves. It was a pity that the number of males in the audience was only a handful. Despite the overall forum being informative and interesting, I personally found it too general. Most of the tips shared were rather commensensical but perhaps sometimes we could be so caught-up with our problems that we had lost our logic totally to identify the solutions.
March 08, 2009
Celebration of Being Women
The 7th part entries that I have completed on some of the 'tips' of being a happy woman will remind myself and all the other women the importance of taking care of ourselves while we immersed in our mundane tasks and numerous responsibilities.
This is especially when March is the month to celebrate women - the liberation, the respect and the fun.
Gentlemen, join me in toasting to the ladies among us.
Ladies, join me in toasting to ourselves, our friends, our mothers and our siblings who have stand by us all these years. Let us also toast to better health and beauty of ourselves.
This is especially when March is the month to celebrate women - the liberation, the respect and the fun.
Gentlemen, join me in toasting to the ladies among us.
Ladies, join me in toasting to ourselves, our friends, our mothers and our siblings who have stand by us all these years. Let us also toast to better health and beauty of ourselves.
Life Lessons for Women - Share the Love
We had already learned to love and take care of ourselves. Recharged with renewed confidence, it was time to share this love. We needed to cultivate compassion. Small contribution could set off a chain reaction. Even if we could not change the world, we could still make a difference.
“We cannot do great things on this Earth. We can only do small things with great love.”
Mother Teresa
“We cannot do great things on this Earth. We can only do small things with great love.”
Mother Teresa
March 07, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Make Everyday Sacred
“There are two ways to be rich; one is to have more, the other is to want less.”
- Dick Leider
We were consumed by materialism. We wanted all the things that advertisers told us that we needed to be more beautiful, successful or happier. We had too many choices. In order to live a quality life, we would need to identify between wants and needs. To be happy, we needed to be contented. To be contented, we needed to simplify things. Simplicity was the freedom from mental and emotional clutter.
How often we felt defeated by frustrations or difficult persons? We should see this positively as a chance to strengthen ourselves. We should see these difficult persons as teachers. Whatever plights we were in, we should see them as gifts in black wrapping paper. To be able to recognize that how to cope with the challenge was more important than the outcome was a sign of maturity.
I must start telling myself this the next time I feel frustrated by difficult person. However, it is easier said than done.
- Dick Leider
We were consumed by materialism. We wanted all the things that advertisers told us that we needed to be more beautiful, successful or happier. We had too many choices. In order to live a quality life, we would need to identify between wants and needs. To be happy, we needed to be contented. To be contented, we needed to simplify things. Simplicity was the freedom from mental and emotional clutter.
How often we felt defeated by frustrations or difficult persons? We should see this positively as a chance to strengthen ourselves. We should see these difficult persons as teachers. Whatever plights we were in, we should see them as gifts in black wrapping paper. To be able to recognize that how to cope with the challenge was more important than the outcome was a sign of maturity.
I must start telling myself this the next time I feel frustrated by difficult person. However, it is easier said than done.
March 06, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Take Your Passion and Make it Happen
Only with passion do we live. Sometimes, to discover our passions, we need to take some risk and embarked on an adventure. Such expeditions may not be far-flung or expensive, it can start small by merely breaking out of our usual routine. Yet, we often hold back, thinking that such adventures are too preposterous. We impose commitments on ourselves and crush our dreams under the adults' definition of responsibility and success.
For instance, a lady was given a tiara for her birthday many months ago. On her thirty-eight birthday, she decided to be outrageous. She wore the tiara everywhere. It brightened her day and made it a special birthday. She acknowledged that she had tiptoed and tempted to turn back. Yet, she held on. Later, she found that she had one of the most memorable birthdays.
Despite such a small action seemingly ridiculous, she had persevered and refusing to let her husband coerced her to taking the tiara down. For that day that she had temporarily discarded all protocols, she was able to live the life of a queen as if the tiny tiara had transported her.
It is time to step out of the comfort zone and start exploring.
March 05, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Surround Yourself with Support
This section armed us the importance of building a network of long lasting friendships and intimacy with our best friends.
One of the most important points highlighted was that to keep a friend, we had to make an effort to be involved. Most intimacy required an ongoing dialogue. This was often forgotten when we rushed about in the rat race. We should also ask for help when we need it instead of keeping quiet and shouldering on ourselves.
How many of us forget our female friends after we found our soul mates? How many of us see an outing with the girls as less important than a work assignment that the boss demands to see the next day? How often phone calls to our dearest friends take a back seat to the whims and fancies of our children? Yet, in times of emergency, haplessness and loneliness, it is this group of friends whose interest we have more than once compromise that step in and provide the safety net. They will guide us through the doldrums with their encouragements, their understanding and their support.
In times of need, the girls provide the most support to one another.
So when the girls ask you out for a meal next time, drop your dishes, put on your best dress and meet them. The dishes can wait.
One of the most important points highlighted was that to keep a friend, we had to make an effort to be involved. Most intimacy required an ongoing dialogue. This was often forgotten when we rushed about in the rat race. We should also ask for help when we need it instead of keeping quiet and shouldering on ourselves.
How many of us forget our female friends after we found our soul mates? How many of us see an outing with the girls as less important than a work assignment that the boss demands to see the next day? How often phone calls to our dearest friends take a back seat to the whims and fancies of our children? Yet, in times of emergency, haplessness and loneliness, it is this group of friends whose interest we have more than once compromise that step in and provide the safety net. They will guide us through the doldrums with their encouragements, their understanding and their support.
In times of need, the girls provide the most support to one another.
So when the girls ask you out for a meal next time, drop your dishes, put on your best dress and meet them. The dishes can wait.
March 04, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Take Care of Yourself
If we did not take care of ourselves, how could we care for others. A parallel could be drawn to the instructions in an airplane: “In case of an emergency, first place the oxygen mask securely around your nose and mouth and then place it on your child”
We should start with physical health. Caring for our bodies was essential for living a high quality life. Then, we had to cultivate a compassionate attitude toward ourselves. We tend to be encouraging to others but when it came to ourselves, we refused to cut any slack for ourselves. We should cultivate a nurturing voice for ourselves - encouraging and motivating.
We should also start receiving compliments with grace. How often do we come back with a rebuttal when we are faced with compliments? It is also because we never think ourselves as good enough. When we reject a compliment, we are also discounting the other person. We should learn how to accept this verbal gift graciously.
Laughter was the best medicine, even when all else failed. We had to practise to see the humour in every day life. We need to cultivate a sense of humour. By being able to be self-deprecating, it is also a sign of confidence and esteem. No one is perfect. Yet, if we can accept our own shortcoming and failure with a sense of humour, it signifies genuine acceptance and recognition. Who knows, this may allow us a good exit strategy out of an embarrassing situation.
We should start with physical health. Caring for our bodies was essential for living a high quality life. Then, we had to cultivate a compassionate attitude toward ourselves. We tend to be encouraging to others but when it came to ourselves, we refused to cut any slack for ourselves. We should cultivate a nurturing voice for ourselves - encouraging and motivating.
We should also start receiving compliments with grace. How often do we come back with a rebuttal when we are faced with compliments? It is also because we never think ourselves as good enough. When we reject a compliment, we are also discounting the other person. We should learn how to accept this verbal gift graciously.
Laughter was the best medicine, even when all else failed. We had to practise to see the humour in every day life. We need to cultivate a sense of humour. By being able to be self-deprecating, it is also a sign of confidence and esteem. No one is perfect. Yet, if we can accept our own shortcoming and failure with a sense of humour, it signifies genuine acceptance and recognition. Who knows, this may allow us a good exit strategy out of an embarrassing situation.
March 03, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Take Charge of Your Life
As women, we were known to be good multi-taskers. We were daughters, wives, mothers, colleagues and friends, all rolled into one. We had to juggle family commitments, an active social life and work challenges daily.
We always think ourselves to be superwomen and setting so high an expectations that we feel drained just running through the tasks to be completed each day. Our submissive nature meant that we should undertake all these tasks without any complaints. We rarely had time for ourselves. Despite feeling exhausted, we rarely said no to a request.
We are not without any choice.
We had to start evaluate our priorities as we knew that we would not be able to juggle so many roles at once. Despite a busy schedule, we need to take time to enjoy ourselves, including quiet moments to ourselves. If we made any commitment to ourselves, we should honour time instead of compromising for others.
In this section, there was a story of a mother who felt bad saying no to any request that came along, especially one from another mother. What used to be fun turned to be a dread when she took on more than she could cope. She had to start making alternate arrangements to help out. One day, she decided to call it quits. She declined the next request that came along and told the requestor that arrangement would not work for her. Her apprehension about being labelled as 'selfish' was turned to relief when the requestor just moved on to seek another person's help.
Implicit in this was also our perception that we are very indispensable that without our help, our friends will be hugely inconvenient or the project will not be able to move on. In some cases, yes. Yet, most of the time, we may overstate our importance and undertake more roles than we are comfortable.
Learn to say no.
We always think ourselves to be superwomen and setting so high an expectations that we feel drained just running through the tasks to be completed each day. Our submissive nature meant that we should undertake all these tasks without any complaints. We rarely had time for ourselves. Despite feeling exhausted, we rarely said no to a request.
We are not without any choice.
We had to start evaluate our priorities as we knew that we would not be able to juggle so many roles at once. Despite a busy schedule, we need to take time to enjoy ourselves, including quiet moments to ourselves. If we made any commitment to ourselves, we should honour time instead of compromising for others.
In this section, there was a story of a mother who felt bad saying no to any request that came along, especially one from another mother. What used to be fun turned to be a dread when she took on more than she could cope. She had to start making alternate arrangements to help out. One day, she decided to call it quits. She declined the next request that came along and told the requestor that arrangement would not work for her. Her apprehension about being labelled as 'selfish' was turned to relief when the requestor just moved on to seek another person's help.
Implicit in this was also our perception that we are very indispensable that without our help, our friends will be hugely inconvenient or the project will not be able to move on. In some cases, yes. Yet, most of the time, we may overstate our importance and undertake more roles than we are comfortable.
Learn to say no.
March 02, 2009
Life Lessons for Women - Recollect Yourself
The first story was about how to write a love letter to ourselves. Being women, we rarely sang praises of ourselves. We were thought to be humble and we squirmed when people heaped compliments on us. We would certainly be at a loss if we were to write a love letter praising ourselves and addressing to ourselves.
We all were aware that we would be ourselves’ best friends. Hence, we need to love this best friend to keep us going through the rough times and to build our self-esteem.
The first ingredient ended of with lessons to teach women to be true to ourselves and to recognize what was important. We should also learn from our past experiences and keeping a journal would be helpful.
Maybe you can start by writing yourself a love letter. Keep this letter and take it out to read aloud when you feel lonely, down or demoralised. During these harsh times, remember that there will always be someone who stay with you through thin and thick, who loves you through your eccentricities and who will only part you till death.
That person is ... ... yourself.
We all were aware that we would be ourselves’ best friends. Hence, we need to love this best friend to keep us going through the rough times and to build our self-esteem.
The first ingredient ended of with lessons to teach women to be true to ourselves and to recognize what was important. We should also learn from our past experiences and keeping a journal would be helpful.
Maybe you can start by writing yourself a love letter. Keep this letter and take it out to read aloud when you feel lonely, down or demoralised. During these harsh times, remember that there will always be someone who stay with you through thin and thick, who loves you through your eccentricities and who will only part you till death.
That person is ... ... yourself.
Life Lessons for Women
This is a self-help book for only women. The book lists out 7 ingredients necessary for happiness and contentment for women.
1) Re-collect yourself
2) Take charge of your life
3) Take care of yourself
4) Surround yourself with support
5) Take your passion and make it happen
6) Make everyday sacred
7) Share the love
With each ingredient, there will be many quotes, anecdotes and life lessons to inspire and to motivate women to be better to ourselves. Let me just share some of the wonderful lessons here for all the women out there and for the men to better appreciate and support your women.
1) Re-collect yourself
2) Take charge of your life
3) Take care of yourself
4) Surround yourself with support
5) Take your passion and make it happen
6) Make everyday sacred
7) Share the love
With each ingredient, there will be many quotes, anecdotes and life lessons to inspire and to motivate women to be better to ourselves. Let me just share some of the wonderful lessons here for all the women out there and for the men to better appreciate and support your women.
March 01, 2009
Ken Follet – The Pillars of the Earth
Oprah has recommended this book many times in her talk show. Oprah commented that once you started reading, you would not be able to put down the book. She has even given the audience one free copy each in the 2007 Christmas edition. My curiosity is piqued by this book which kept one of the most successful women in the world hooked. I have not heard of Ken Follet as a popular fiction writer until then. I must lay my hands on this book.
The Pillars of the Earth spanned over 60 years in the medieval ages – from 1123 to 1174. It was a story of Prior Philips of Kingsbury from his orphanage at a young age to joining the monastery and later his leadership at Kingsbury to build a cathedral. It was a story about Tom Builder who traveled across lands with his family and even went through starvation so as to be the master builder of a cathedral. It was a story of Jack Jackson who had become a stepson of Tom Builder and his success in completing the cathedral of Kingsbury. It was also a story of Aliena who fell from graces when her father was convicted of treason and later overcame all odds to become the most successful wool merchant in the region. It too was a story of William Hamleigh and his revenge against Prior Philip, Jack Jackson and Aliena when his marriage proposal was rejected by Aliena. The book captured the devout citizens’ determination, their fight against the civil wars and their longing for a peaceful life.
Prior Philips and Priest Francis were rescued by a monk when their parents were brutally killed by soldiers during the civil war. He has risen among the ranks in the monastery at a young age and was given important roles. He has undertaken these roles with pride and determination and improving the discipline and the sustenance of these cells. When he worked with Archdeacon Waleran Bigod so that he could become the Prior of Kingsbury, it started a long-standing bitter relationship between the two of them. Waleran negotiated for Philips’ support of him as the Bishop while Waleran supported Philips as the Prior. Subsequently, Philips foiled Waleran’s plan to secure an earldom for Waleran’s self use rather than the building of the cathedral as Waleran had promised Philips. Waleran bore a grudge and over the next 60 years made numerous attempts to stop Philips’ construction of the Church, to discredit Philips and hoping to bring about Kingsbury downfall.
Tom Builder abandoned his infant son when his wife died while giving birth. Being destitute, without a job and with two young children, he was constantly starving and looking for job while seeking his dream of building cathedral. His abandoned son – Jonathan, was rescued by Priest Francis and deposited with Philips. Since young, Jonathan was protected by both Philips and Tom when Tom became master builder of the Kingsbury cathedral. Jonathan later succeeded Philips in becoming the Kingsbury Prior.
Tom Builder met Ellen and his son – Jack after his wife died. He fell in love with Ellen. When they stopped by Kingsbury, Jack burnt the existing church down as he saw that as a solution to their constant starvation on the roads. Indeed, Tom later settled at Kingsbury to build the cathedral and became a life-long friend of Philips. Unfortunately, he was killed by William Hamleigh before he could complete the cathedral.
Jack only began to learn to live with other people when his mother fell in love with Tom Builder. Jack’s father was wrongly convicted of theft and was hanged before he was born. His mother – Ellen had since led him to lead an outlaw life in the forests. When working with Tom, Jack was fascinated by the building structure of a cathedral. When his love for Aliena was turned down by Aliena, he fled Kingsbury to search for his paternal family and beautiful churches. Aliena, after realizing his folly, tracked him down and they were soon united. However, they could not be married as Aliena was then married to Jack’s stepbrother, Alfred, who married Aliena out of spite to Jack.
William Hamleigh fell in love with the young, proud and beautiful daughter of the Earl of Shiring – Aliena. When he was rejected by Aliena, his family was insulted and vowed to revenge for themselves. They discovered Earl of Shiring’s plan to fight against the current King and forestalled his plans. When Earl of Shiring was thrown to jail, Aliena and his young brother became destitute and homeless. William Hamleigh raped Aliena and constantly tracked her down. When she made headway in her wool business to be able to support her brother – Richard to earldom, William razed through Kingsbury and burnt her wool. Knowing that Aliena was in Kingsbury, he more than once attacked Kingsbury. However, he was later hanged for killing the Bishop of Canterbury.
It was a story of passion to seek dreams even through the most difficult times. The faith in good triumphed over evil was strong when the villagers of Kingsbury overcame many trials and tribulations over fifty years to complete a cathedral that made everyone in the country proud.
I agreed wholeheartedly with Oprah that once you opened the book, it was difficult to put down the book again as the strong-willed Ellen and Aliena, the gently Philips and Jack and the cold-heartedness of the Hamleigh family interwove a gripping plot. If you have the time, pick up the book. I am sure you will enjoy it as well as I have despite it being a thick book (over a thousand pages).
The Pillars of the Earth spanned over 60 years in the medieval ages – from 1123 to 1174. It was a story of Prior Philips of Kingsbury from his orphanage at a young age to joining the monastery and later his leadership at Kingsbury to build a cathedral. It was a story about Tom Builder who traveled across lands with his family and even went through starvation so as to be the master builder of a cathedral. It was a story of Jack Jackson who had become a stepson of Tom Builder and his success in completing the cathedral of Kingsbury. It was also a story of Aliena who fell from graces when her father was convicted of treason and later overcame all odds to become the most successful wool merchant in the region. It too was a story of William Hamleigh and his revenge against Prior Philip, Jack Jackson and Aliena when his marriage proposal was rejected by Aliena. The book captured the devout citizens’ determination, their fight against the civil wars and their longing for a peaceful life.
Prior Philips and Priest Francis were rescued by a monk when their parents were brutally killed by soldiers during the civil war. He has risen among the ranks in the monastery at a young age and was given important roles. He has undertaken these roles with pride and determination and improving the discipline and the sustenance of these cells. When he worked with Archdeacon Waleran Bigod so that he could become the Prior of Kingsbury, it started a long-standing bitter relationship between the two of them. Waleran negotiated for Philips’ support of him as the Bishop while Waleran supported Philips as the Prior. Subsequently, Philips foiled Waleran’s plan to secure an earldom for Waleran’s self use rather than the building of the cathedral as Waleran had promised Philips. Waleran bore a grudge and over the next 60 years made numerous attempts to stop Philips’ construction of the Church, to discredit Philips and hoping to bring about Kingsbury downfall.
Tom Builder abandoned his infant son when his wife died while giving birth. Being destitute, without a job and with two young children, he was constantly starving and looking for job while seeking his dream of building cathedral. His abandoned son – Jonathan, was rescued by Priest Francis and deposited with Philips. Since young, Jonathan was protected by both Philips and Tom when Tom became master builder of the Kingsbury cathedral. Jonathan later succeeded Philips in becoming the Kingsbury Prior.
Tom Builder met Ellen and his son – Jack after his wife died. He fell in love with Ellen. When they stopped by Kingsbury, Jack burnt the existing church down as he saw that as a solution to their constant starvation on the roads. Indeed, Tom later settled at Kingsbury to build the cathedral and became a life-long friend of Philips. Unfortunately, he was killed by William Hamleigh before he could complete the cathedral.
Jack only began to learn to live with other people when his mother fell in love with Tom Builder. Jack’s father was wrongly convicted of theft and was hanged before he was born. His mother – Ellen had since led him to lead an outlaw life in the forests. When working with Tom, Jack was fascinated by the building structure of a cathedral. When his love for Aliena was turned down by Aliena, he fled Kingsbury to search for his paternal family and beautiful churches. Aliena, after realizing his folly, tracked him down and they were soon united. However, they could not be married as Aliena was then married to Jack’s stepbrother, Alfred, who married Aliena out of spite to Jack.
William Hamleigh fell in love with the young, proud and beautiful daughter of the Earl of Shiring – Aliena. When he was rejected by Aliena, his family was insulted and vowed to revenge for themselves. They discovered Earl of Shiring’s plan to fight against the current King and forestalled his plans. When Earl of Shiring was thrown to jail, Aliena and his young brother became destitute and homeless. William Hamleigh raped Aliena and constantly tracked her down. When she made headway in her wool business to be able to support her brother – Richard to earldom, William razed through Kingsbury and burnt her wool. Knowing that Aliena was in Kingsbury, he more than once attacked Kingsbury. However, he was later hanged for killing the Bishop of Canterbury.
It was a story of passion to seek dreams even through the most difficult times. The faith in good triumphed over evil was strong when the villagers of Kingsbury overcame many trials and tribulations over fifty years to complete a cathedral that made everyone in the country proud.
I agreed wholeheartedly with Oprah that once you opened the book, it was difficult to put down the book again as the strong-willed Ellen and Aliena, the gently Philips and Jack and the cold-heartedness of the Hamleigh family interwove a gripping plot. If you have the time, pick up the book. I am sure you will enjoy it as well as I have despite it being a thick book (over a thousand pages).
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