the story behind that little tablet you pop into your mouth (:

After one week of work at a Pharmaceutical Company, it sets me thinking about how serious and meticulous one needs to be when working in a Pharmaceutical industry. Quality departmentshas to conduct checks very carefully to ensure the safety of our customers taking the drugs. Every little step is not to be belittled. Checks are so thoroughly done that every single ingredient, be it the raw materials to synthesise the active pharmaceutical ingredient(API), the crude API, the purified API, the API present in the final drug form, the excipients (other ingredients that make up the drug besides the API itself), all these have to undergo various stages of testing. Failure in any one stage, depending on the magnitude of deviation, would trigger investigations and reports to account for the failure. Double checkings, with initials and dates are required for each and every step, such that no errors are tolerated. They even have special manuals and protocols to follow when washing/using/storing the apparatus. All the procedures they have to go through, and all those mentioned above constitutes only a small portion of the quality control department.

What about the manufacturing plant itself? Where conditions are even stricter as the drugs produced are to be released into the market for sale. Even the storerooms that issues safety equipments to employees are not spared, every single piece of information needs to be documented and accounted for. This is part of Good Manufacturing Process and Good Documentation Practice. This is the power of logbooks, logsheets, and MPS (Merck's Production System, something like the famous Toyota Production System), which summaries the complexity of a MNC at work.

For every action you take, keep in mind that the final product made is going to be released markets all over the world, and eventually someone is gonna take the tablet, in hope of improving his/her quality of life. This patient is putting full faith in the company that the tablet has been produced under stringent conditions with all the requirements met and that his/her health would improve after taking the tablet.

Purchasing a drug is not like shopping for clothes. You will be able to see a loose thread on a skirt, or a missing button on your shirt, but physically it would be impossible to tell if a drug is safe to be consumed just by looking at it. The safety lies in the hands of the company producing it, and that responsibility is huge. Always bear in mind that someday, your loved ones might be taking those drugs produced by the company, you would not want those drugs to hurt them would you? Every little step, no matter how tedious it is, matters.

Next time, before popping in a tablet, think about all the combined efforts that have been put together in order to produce that small little tablet. A lot has to be done. Do appreciate it. (:

snoopy ❤ me! (:

Don't worry about the day ending today,
It's already tomorrow in Australia.
- Charles M. Schulz

Picture of the day!



and my beloved snoopy plushie! he's still the cutest!


damn, i want this!

"You've got to find what you love." Steve Jobs wise words (:

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

and nope, i do not idolize him. Joan idolizes no one! :D [expect for herself probably. (:]

The difference between MEN and WOMEN

A woman knows all about her children.
She knows about
dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret
fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

how apt. man.. tsk tsk tsk.

HTC dream or (Google Android)

Google Android. The new mobile OS! (:

cute logo it has.

on first look: not too bad.

However if you start staring at it for too long, especially with the full qwerty keypad exposed, it seriously doesn't look too appealing.

and of course if you were to placed it beside this beautiful thing called an iPhone, hmm... compare it for yourself. i shall not comment too much.

However, upon looking at the white version, maybe it looks quite pretty once again.
oh, but there isn't the white one in Singapore i think, i don't seem to see it anywhere on Singtel's website.

The front view looks sleek,
BUT did you all notice that thing curving out at the end of the phone? It makes the side view looks so bulky and in my opinion obiang-ish. Maybe this design was inspired by those oldies phone. Who knows? Retro feel probably?

Enough complains about the hardware, as we look into the software, yeah not bad. Has lots of potential for improvement as more developers starts developing applications on this platform. Up till now, i think there are only less than 50apps available. (in contrast, look at the iPhone Apps store!) i really should stop comparing both of them! its quite unfair to compare a gen1 android phone with a gen2 iPhone huh?
However not to worry, Google has taken measures to encourage developers to build their apps on the Android platform.

One application that i find it extremely interesting would be the bar code scanner thing.
Take a picture of the bar code and it will automatically help you locate places that sells this certain product and compare prices for you! Cool eh?
For instance,
Walk into 7/11,
Scan Snoopy potato chips, *beep beep*, $1.40 at 7/11 Searching.... $1.20 at Cheers - 10m to your left. Walk out of 7/11, turn left into Cheers. Purchase Snoopy potato chips happily, Get out of Cheers, Grinning like an idiot 'cause you just saved 20cents!
Woohoo! what a great application!
But of course, as this application is only in its initial stage, it won't be available in Singapore yet. and even so, in the US, the database is not complete. Many items were not found yet. Thus, room for improvement! But definitely an innovative one! (:

Another application would be a phone Wikipedia.
Just imagine having Wiki in your phone.

Next would be something that iPhone is seriously lacking!
A search function for all your applications. (: this is one big plus!
In an iPhone, you will need to manually look through your 10pages of applications in order to find a single application that you want to use.
Think about the amount of time wasted!
With Google Android, you are able to find applications fast and efficiently, without having to memorise which page, which column or which row is your application at!
I was just wondering how can Apple miss out such a good feature?
Since their Macs have such an efficient spotlight system, why isn't it implemented on their iPhone too?

Another Google Android plus point: 3.2MP camera.
Same as my K800i now, so at least i wont feel like a downgrading of Camera quality. (ok, but don't be mistaken. i am not going to buy it.)

Sound quality wise, i read that it is quite normal. Normal as in iPhone's sound quality is normal too.

However for videos, Google Android doesn't include its own Media player to play videos. So you will have to download an app for video playback. Other than that, the video size is a lot smaller than an iPhone. Its physical screen size is already smaller than that of an iPhone, and yet during video playback, only about 3 quarters of the Android's screen is being used. So eventually the enjoyment you get when viewing video on an Android would be reduced.

For a first gen phone, it is quite remarkable.
Especially for people who are frequent google, google maps and gmail users.
Lots of potential for further improvement. Hopefully the Android OS can be packaged in a more appealing manner. Hopefully we will get to see other hardwares or companies carrying Android platform. This hardware might be one big deterrence point. Typing with the qwerty keypad is especially uncomfortable with the presence of the fat sidebar.

Touch screen via Heat sensor,
but of course there isn't multi-touch which is exclusive to an iPhone! (:

This post is obviously very much a comparison between HTC dream and an iPhone. 'cause the only phone i know best is the iPhone.

Guys/Boyfriends Should know this!

When a GIRL is quiet,
Millions of things are running in her mind
When a GIRL is not arguing,
She is thinking deeply
When a GIRL looks at u with eyes full of
questions,
She is wondering how long you will be
around
When a GIRL answers "i'm fine" after a
few seconds,
She is not at all fine
When a GIRL stares at you,
She is wondering why you are lying
When a GIRL lays on your chest,
She is wishing for you to be hers forever
When a GIRL calls you everyday,
She is seeking for your attention
When a GIRL sms's u everyday,
She wants you to reply at least once
When a GIRL says I love you,
She means it
When a GIRL says that she can't live
without you,
She has made up her mind that you are
her future
When a GIRL says "i miss you",
No one in this world can miss you more
than that.

♥ is...

taken from a walk to remember.

Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful.

From the bible:
Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offense.

in case you are wondering, i am not Christian.
but i do think that weddings in Churches are beautiful and fairytale-ish.
:D

A Ring Is Round And Has No End..
♥♥ ♥♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥
♥♥♥♥
♥

the carrot cake conversations, another singapore production

I like the trailer.
simple.
"so if my mom calls tonight, will you still take me to Paris tomorrow?"

Starring:
Adrian Pang as Matthew, a rich property tycoon.
Alaric Tay as Daniel, a businessman who caught his wife cheating on him.
Andrea Fonseka as Ruth, a Singapore prostitute who aspires to be a blues singer.
Danielle O'Malley as Kate, a failed American actress transiting at Singapore.

just saw their blog.
learn more about each characters here.
i think Andrea Fonseka is beautiful!
i first saw her acting in Housemates.
-adapted from the website

hossan SINGS history

learn history the hossan leong way. (:

Say it again :D

I love this song so much!
its currently being repeated in my iTunes!
:D
(saw it on kelvyn's blog.)
The official music video is so cute.
I love all the props!
There are a few of her Say it again music video.
One in Japan and another in Venice beach!

She is Marie Digby.
She is a mixed blood,
half irish, half Japanese. :D
beautiful ain't she?

she is one of the few female singers that aren't "divas-like" and "bitchy".
She does covers too!
Just like boyce avenue. :D

Some of her other songs that are worth listening to:
Stupid for you
Miss invisible
Traffic

These are her own songs.
You can go to youtube to search for more of her covers.
I like particularly "Linkin Park- What I have done"
:D

"Say it again for me
Cuz I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm
The only one who blows your mind.."

The full lyrics:
The thing about love
Is I never saw it coming
It kinda crept up and took me by surprise
And now there's a voice inside my heart that's got me wondering
Is this true, I want to hear it one more time

Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper
Just a little louder

Say it again for me
Cuz I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It's like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you're in love
Say it again

Thing about you is you know just how to get me
You talk about us like there's no end in sight
The thing about me is that I really want to let you
Open that door and walk into my life

Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper
Just a little louder

Say it again for me
Cuz I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It's like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you're in love

And it feels like it's the first time
That anybody's ever brought the sun without the rain
And never in my whole life
Have I heard words as beautiful as when you say my name

Say it again for me
Cuz I love the way it feels when you are telling me that I'm
The only one who blows your mind
Say it again for me
It's like the whole world stops to listen
When you tell me you're in love
Say it again (x9)

When you tell me you're in love...
Say it again

Ohhh... Ohhhhhh

----------------
Now playing: Marié Digby - Say It Again
via FoxyTunes

Everyone should visit this website!

CLICK HERE!
This is the new Windows Live Messenger on you mobile website.
All the animations are so cute! :D
I had a great laugh!
navigate and explore around!

Get motivated by the fish email

Fish Story

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish.

The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh: To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank.

The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired & dull, so we need a Shark in our life to keep us awake and moving? Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active and taste better.....

The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenge. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are Conqueror. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!

ABC's of Love. A Valentines Day love song.

A- I love your adams apple
B- you’re beautiful without beer goggles
C- you are better than chocolate rain D- You never stop giving like a dairy cow
E- You are tastier than a carmel apple empanada from taco bell
F- My love for you grows like fungus G- We are tight like OJ’s gloves
H- Your hands I would love to kiss
I- I want to hear your voice more than my Ipod
J- Screw Mars and Venus on Jupiter is where our love fits K- You make my heart jump like a kangaroo
L- my heart bubbles like a lava lamp when I’m with you
M- I’m drawn to you like a powerful magnet N- I’ll protect you like a ninja
O- Like an Octopus my hug will surround ya
P- We fit together like perfect pieces in a puzzle Q- You be my jukebox; i’ll be your quarter
R- I’d enjoy the itch if you were my rash
S- I will always love you, wait, what’s your salary?
T- our love, like the Titanic, will make a splash U- our love stands out like a unibrow
V- Your touch is like Viagra, oh wow
W- You have everything I want and need just like Walmart X- I’ll xerox your photo all day and tomorrow
Y- you can be the string and I will be the yo yo
Z- your sexy highlights remind me of a zebra

it took great pains for the person to complete this video.
this was how he overcame the problem of reflections on his glass table top.


Read more here

Don't Panic after hearing it!

Tomorrow at 12.05pm.
SCDF will be sounding the public warning system.
Please do not be alarmed!

you can tune in to any Mediacorp radio station after the alarm to listen to the important message that they will be broadcasting.
i doubt I will be listening to it. :D
having lessons.

The Butterfly effect

At night, the city seemed to literally come alive. As he stood at the window and watched the lights of the vehicles on the road far below him move with apparent purpose along predefined routes, the mental image of blood flowing through veins came to him.

Blood that would spurt in all directions when the veins burst, rendered aimless now that the course it was programmed to follow was destroyed. Just like the careless manner in which his parents’ blood was spilled, on one ordinary but unfortunate night.

******
“Interesting birthmark,” she commented, glancing at the slightly darkened patch of skin on his arm, no larger than a quarter. He gave a small smile in response; it wasn’t the first time someone commented on the unusual mark on his arm, and it would not be the last. This little critter should have its own fan club, he thought with amusement.

“I say ‘interesting’ not because of its shape,” she continued, her eyes fixed on the butterfly, “but because my sister also had a butterfly-shaped birthmark on her ankle. She was my twin.”

Was. Her use of the past tense did not escape him. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but said nothing of it lest he disrupt her private moment.

“You know something?” she lifted her head suddenly, looking straight into his eyes and interrupting his thoughts. She leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “We are surrounded by butterflies. You can’t see them, but they’re there. They’re everywhere,” she paused. “We must take extra care not to disturb the wrong ones.” She punctuated her last sentence with a small wink.

This conversation is getting more peculiar by the minute. He wondered if he had unsuspectingly entered some kind of twilight zone straddled somewhere between fantasy and reality. He searched her face, looking for clues or signs that he was either talking to a madwoman or she was just pulling his leg. But other than the blink-and-you-will-miss-it twinkle in her eye, she seemed to be completely serious. Right. She’s mad, then, he concluded.

“What do you mean, invisible butterflies? And the wrong ones at that? And if we can’t see them, how do we know if they are the right ones or the wrong ones?” I can’t believe I’m talking about invisible butterflies to a person I met barely ten minutes ago. I must be going mad too, he sighed inwardly. Up to this point he hadn’t said a word, and he was about to steer the conversation to more conventional topics when curiosity got the better of him. After all, she did seem harmless enough, even if she were not entirely there up there. At the very least, she wasn’t a raving lunatic.

“Ah…” she smiled at him. “You’ve heard of the ‘butterfly effect’, haven’t you?”

He nodded. “When a butterfly flaps its wings, it could cause a storm at the other end of the world.”

“Yes,” she continued slowly, as if trying to gather her thoughts. “We are surrounded by these unseen butterflies, but they are not moving. They do not move until we disturb them, and cause them to flap their wings, which in turn could lead to a storm in our lives.”

“Mmmm…” he said thoughtfully.

“Everyone of us has a personal tragedy which, regardless of the weight we place on it, would undoubtedly impact our lives in some way or other. A butterfly flaps its wings and sets in motion a sequence of events that could culminate in one such tragedy.”

“So what made those butterflies flap their wings in the first place?”

“You,” she replied simply. “Every decision you make disturbs a butterfly, no matter how inconsequential that decision may seem. From the most trivial of decisions such as choosing a cheeseburger over a sandwich for lunch, to life-changing resolutions like getting married; every one of them is the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.”

She looked at him intently. “Just fifteen minutes ago, I disturbed a butterfly when I decided to talk to you.”

He leaned back in his chair, not taking his eyes off hers. “Wow. That sounds so… so depressing. That every decision we make could lead to a tragedy.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “It could. But what they didn’t mention is that while the butterfly could cause a storm, it could just as likely be the source of a cool summer breeze, or rainfall in the desert. You have to remember that there are two sides to everything. The universe will always seek to balance itself. Le Châtelier’s principle and all that.”

She fell quiet. He tried to say something to break the silence, but at that moment, the right words just eluded him. Maybe it simply wasn’t a time for words.

He thought of all the wrong butterflies he had touched, and then wondered which butterfly it was exactly that took his parents’ lives. He had never been able to completely forgive himself for his parents’ death.

He was a creature of habit and had a reputation for being dependable and reliable–predictable, even–and he prided himself on that, even if he did sometimes feel trapped. His iPod playlist was set to “shuffle”; a trivial but necessary act that allowed him to deliberately introduce some form of unpredictability into his life: he could not know what song would play next. He had over 20,000 songs in his music library and it could take up to more than a week before his iPod plays the same song again. Yet ever so often, a song that most befits his current mood would come up. This never ceased to amaze him; it was like his iPod was in sync with his emotions.

That night, sitting on the subway, he was just thinking of his girlfriend–ex-girlfriend, he reminded himself–with whom he had broken up a few days earlier. He was tempted to call her, to hear her voice once more, but he managed to fight back the urge.

That is until, through some warped coincidence, his iPod started to play The Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand.

Our song, he thought. Of course. I should have known. The iPod’s doing it again. Damn.

He could bear it no longer. He whipped out his cellphone and dialled the first number on his speed-dial. I should really get down to removing it; I doubt I’ll be calling this number much in future…

In the train, a girl was thinking about the events that transpired over the past few months, and how she had inadvertently landed herself in this messy situation.

She didn’t want to disappoint her family; she knew she wouldn’t be able to bear seeing the hurt on her mother’s face if she broke the news. She wanted to end it all, to make her way to where there wasn’t any hurt or disappointment. She already had in mind the place where she would finally seek closure. There was a bridge she could go to. But a sliver of doubt lingered at the back of her mind… What if she was doing the wrong thing?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the guy sitting beside her. He seemed to be arguing, no, apologising, to someone. His girlfriend, probably. His tone was desperate; he seemed to be on the verge of tears. She turned to look at him, taking in the grief and hopelessness that were written quite clearly on his face.

Damn this world, she thought. Damn this stupid world and its troubles.

The guy now seemed to be making another call.

“Yes, mum. No… Yes, I know I promised to go over two weeks ago. Look, I’m sorry, all right? I’m just not in the mood right now. I’m going straight home… No… No you don’t have to come over, I can fix something up myself… No… No, don’t bother really… Fine. Suit yourself. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

There. Another promise broken, she thought wryly. Why is it that we so easily break the promises that we make to people we really care about?

She was now convinced that she had made the right decision. She would end it all tonight. No more broken promises.

******
Thirty minutes later, a lorry crashed into the car that carried two passengers on the way to see their son.

At about the same time, halfway across the city, at the bottom of the river lay a girl with a birthmark on her ankle: a butterfly poised for flight.
source

what a story..
What are our feelings after reading it?
there are consequences in every action you take.
the consequences may or may not be know to us.
our actions that we take might have impacted someone's else life.
be it a good or a bad impact.
actions are governed by of decisions.
the right or wrong decisions?
even a right decision may have a negative impact on others?
and how would you know if it is a right decision?
very often, we come to a decision without putting too much thought into things.
Why do we do that?
character and principles have an important role to play in decision making processes.
make a wise decision, and not always the right decision.
Don't ask how.
It is your choice - Let your brain or your heart lead you.
Decision making again.
this is life.

Have you ever thought of how Chemistry can be inspirational?
Personally i have never till reading the above story.
Le Châtelier’s principle.
A simple definition would be that whenever a change is introduced to a system that is in equilibrium, the system will try to counteract the change by creating an opposing effect to the change.
Another familiar analogy is cause and effect or karma.
The same goes for many things in life.
Be it on the individual level, or even on a universal level.
It is a cycle.
Whether or not it will be a vicious cycle?
all depends on us.

a meaningful forwarded email.

Breakfast at McDonald's

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.

The last class I had to take was Sociology.

The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So I thought this would be a piece of cake.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.

It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then

even my husband did.

I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'.

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church goers, but we are believers.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.

Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'

I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

There is an Angel sent to watch over you.

In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over.

An Angel wrote:

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head.

To handle others, use your heart.

God Gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.

it doesn't take very much for you make a difference in someone else's life.
but it makes a hell a lot of difference to that person.
thanks liyong for forwarding this email to me :)

Stupidity rocks!

In Honor of Stupid People

In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed to stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods:

On a Sears hairdryer -- Do not use while sleeping.
(Shoot, and that's the only time I have to work on my hair.)

On a bag of Fritos -- You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.
(the shoplifter special)?

On a bar of Dial soap -- "Directions: Use like regular soap,"
(and that would be how???....)

On some Swanson frozen dinners -- "Serving suggestion: Defrost."
(but, it's "just" a suggestion).

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) -- "Do not turn upside down."
(well...duh, a bit late, huh)!

On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding -- "Product will be hot after heating."
(...and you thought????...)

On packaging for a Rowena iron -- "Do not iron clothes on body."
(but wouldn't this save me more time)?

On Boot's Children Cough Medicine -- "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication."
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.)

On Nytol Sleep Aid -- "Warning: May cause drowsiness."
(and...I'm taking this because???....)

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to...what)?

On a Japanese food processor -- "Not to be used for the other use."
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious)

On Sainsbury's peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts -- "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: maybe, ooh...fly Delta?)

On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)

On a Swedish chainsaw -- "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals."
(Oh my ..was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)

Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread the stupidity.
more at www.boardofwisdom.com

I don't want to be just friends...

10th grade

As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "best friend". I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and handed them to her. She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Senior year
The day before prom she walked to my locker. My date is sick" she said; he's not going to go well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends". So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she isn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Graduation Day
A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said, "you're my best friend, thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.
A Few Years Later
Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do" and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "you came!". She said "thanks" and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Funeral
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: I stare at him wishing he was mine, but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! `I wish I did too...` I thought to my self, and I cried.

):
So did she stop loving him before she get married? Or was she still madly in love with him, but just another classic case of accepting someone who loves you instead of pursuing someone you love.

To have your personal diary being read out during your funeral is scary. How did the husband feel? Knowing that your wife loves someone else only after she is dead.. sad isn't it? ):

Transforming English to German!

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).

In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy.

Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 per sent shorter.

In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by " v".

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst place....

yes, this is what I am learning now. Welcome to the World in German.
In fact, I really find German easier to spell and pronounce.
Though the constructing of sentences and the different forms in verbs, nouns, the female and male forms of words, the combining of Nouns can get me pretty confused at times...
I still love German.
I think it is easy to spell.
ok, i shall take back my words on what i said of German's pronunciation.
Wait till I can speak fluently, then i will put those words back.

NTU, NUS, SMU, SIM? too boring?

Thinking of something better and much more innovative?
Submit a new name for Singapore's publicly-funded university that will open in 2011

here.

"Suggested names should be befitting of a premier educational institution in Singapore, and could reflect the qualities we hope to see in the new university and its students."

Closing date is on my BIRTHDAY!
*30 NOVEMBER 2008!!*
must remember ok?
remember to buy my present! (:
Danke!(Thank you!)