Day 2 in the monastery

Woke up to a great bowl of Pho (Vietnamese noodles) this morning. Andrew's mom makes some of the best Phos!

Left for the monastery around noon. Made a detour to meet Gwo He, a nun friend of mine, and even got a xmas present from her! Also visited UC Berkeley before finally settling into the monastery around 2pm =P...

Had a good chat with Sunny online for almost 3 hours! We compared living in US and SG... and we agreed that SG is still more fun, with its peculiar characteristics, the plethora of activities, and about how everywhere u go, u'll meet familiar faces! Yet the US has its own style and resources that attract us too. We are 2 people each leading double lives... We want to be in both places at the same time! COnfuSed... I miss Singapore... Lolz

Going back to Andrew's place tonight and will be heading to school from there tml mornin.

Care taker

Its a cold, dark and rainy day and here I am all alone in the monastery studying about human bones... I had offered to look after the monastery today since i have no class and Rev. Heng Sure will be out. Its a great place for studying...

Hours passed quickly and soon it was time for the evening meditation sit. I thought that no one will come becoz of the rain, but i was surprised to find a small crowd waiting outside the monastery under the rain when i open the doors. A nice sight to behold... to see the resolve of these cultivators...

Was told that i can sleepover if i want since i'll be closing the monastery tonight, but i dun know... the dark alleys look scary... and the cold is bone chilling...

So yupz... i'll be heading over to Andrew's tonight to sleep over! At least I get to spend some time with my bro before he heads back up north for school... and on top of that... its warm there... Lolz

Decisions

Went car shopping today. The 1st sales person was horrendous... basically looked down on me, said i cannot afford the car and refused to let me test drive... what kind of sales person is that... Well... it spoilt my whole day... fortunately the last place was really nice and also offered drinks. End decision - I decided not to buy anymore... so tired of searching.

Bbm

When was the last time u really ate and tasted your food instead of gulping down everything? Well, eating lunch beside Rev. Heng Sure today was really nice... got to munch and eat mindfully. Sutra talk in the evening was great too, got the hear many stories of virtuous teachers and Rev Heng Sure also played 2 Bob Dylan songs. A very meaningful day...

Crazy day

The Bay Area just got hit by a huge storm. I guess thats the disadvantage of living near the coast. A couple of fences in the neighbourhood including our house got blown away, trees uprooted, power's out... Sitting in my car, i could feel the wind rocking the entire car.. Read the news later - the winds averaged about 80 mph (128 km/h), highest it got to was 125 mph.

My car's gps went crazy too, leading me all over SF... My new gps got me out. Bad start.. but i guess, still better than others... one other schoolmate got his car smashed when a tree fell on it...

Anatomy class was crazy too... went through about 206 different bones of the body and each had about 5 characteristics or so... and we're supposed to memorize all of them! Its only the 2nd day of school and my teacher is already on like chp 8. of the txt book!... School's tough...

Coming back, stuck in Traffic for like 2 hours... so crazy... I miss Singapore... I miss u...

1st Day of School

So i made it to my 1st day of school... 1000 till 2030 hrs... 10 hours of classes with only a one hour for lunch... crazy... In Anatomy class, we covered 2 whole chapters on the first day... This is like fast track man... Chemistry class... the teacher didn't know what he was talking about... Finally moved into my new place at Pacifica

New Year's Eve

Guess my 2nd blogskin was still too complicated for my mac using friends... and becoz i support mac too... I'm changing it for the 3rd time... Hope it works fine this time... Lookz so plain now thou...

So I went house hunting today and the 1st place asked if i'm good at cleaning up, coz she loves to cook and if i can clean, she doesn't mind cooking meals for me! Lolz...

Then i went to check out the 2nd place which was way bigger than the 1st and there, they asked if i can cook! Coz no one in the household knows how to... Lolz... what interesting characters they have here.

And i got accepted to both! But I think I'm going with the 2nd place. Its at Pacifica, on top of a hill and facing the ocean! Its Beautiful!!! So i'm going up tomorrow again to look at the contract and if i get it, it'll be a Great start to the New Year!

Also got a new toy! A hand held GPS navigation system. Hella Cool! Its tells u your location, how long it takes to destination, directions, current speed and even altitude above sea lvl! So cool...

Well, its still New Year's Eve here and I'm having new year's Eve dinner at Aunt Agnes' together with Aunt Daisy, Aunt Laysun, Aunt Jane, Uncle Thoan, Uncle DC and all the cousins. The rest of the relatives are manning the restaurant they opened. And guess what, they cooked almost everything vegetarian!!! Lolz... It was a great dinner!

A Great Day!

Went to a private piano concert session by Gwhyneth Chen today at BBM! It was her way of celebrating the new year with her friends and it was unbelievable! Her hands can move faster than the eye can catch! So crazy... All the piano pieces were hella good! I loved the piece from Bizet most. And she played the theme song from Spirited Away too! So she might be playing at the Beijing Olympics Opening so watch out for her!

I also got to meet Erlene who's hosting Gwhyneth at her home right now, and its so funny, Erlene was the person i spoke to about a year ago regarding TCM. She graduated from ACTCM earlier and now has an extremely successful clinic and she said I'm signed up for an internship the moment i graduate! Hella cool! So my future's set! Lolz.

And I got presents from Andrew too! A pair of Levi's jeans and a beautiful framed picture of us together. Thanks bro!... and you got the size right! Lolz... it fits! Hahz... as long as I don't grow too fat from all the good food! =P
And i ended the day by sitting in for Rev. Heng Sure's talk with David.
Really feels good to be back... Thanks everyone!

Here are some clips which Julia managed to record. THanks Julia! for capturing the moment!!! Its so beautiful even to hear it online
Spirited Away - By Gwhyneth Chan
La Campanella Pt.1
La Campanella Pt.2

Decided to change my blogskin after some friends complained about not being able to see a thing... think the previous blogskin is inaccessible to mac users... so there u go! Hope it works this time! Took me quite long to figure out all the html...Enjoy! =)

Aimless

Its but 4 days away from school starting and i have yet to find a place to live or a car to drive... guess i've been too choosy and always waiting for something to happen. Sandy has been helping alot... but i don't know if it leaves me more stranded or helps me to go on?
I just have to realize that there can never be one perfect deal... guess i just have to grab whatever comes my way and deal with it! That's life... and its my Life!

Andrew

From Andrew's blog - "Well I was at BBM this Saturday and I was just so happy. Right before lunch I had the best present anybody could give me. Jonathan came back!!!...."

Hahz..bro... just wanna say.. it has been a blessing for me to have you in my life! Thank you so soooo sooooooo much!!! For all your love, faith and everything else that you have given me!

You know, its like what Julia said about meeting Nancy... I didn't realize how much i miss u... until i saw u again that saturday! Thanks for always being there...

X'mas

So i had a great X'mas Eve dinner at Aunt Agnes' with all my other relatives. Big family we've got here in California, and when it came to present opening time, everyone was going... "Wah..." But there were so many presents that everyone's Wahs gradually faded away as it got too tiring.. Lolz

Then X'mas day, had a great lunch with Rev Heng Sure, Ajahn Sudanto and the core group of BBM.
So there we go.

At night... i was forced by Sandy to accompany her to the park at San Jose to see decorations.. It was so cold! Gheez... So i sulked all the way as i didn't wan to go... luckily, there was warm, fresh made Churros to lighten up my mood! lolz

X'mas at BBM

So I went to Berkeley Buddhist Monastery today to celebrate Xmas! Lolz... Lunch was sumptuous, and i met Andrew!!! My most beloved lil brother in the states!
So this was Andrew before I left the states in 2005.

And this is Andrew now!

He's grown so much... but still as adorable as ever... lolz..
Notice we are both wearing inner green shirts! Matching clothes by coincidence again! hahz...
So we gave each other such a big hug that Mr. Fang, a chinese doctor on site shook his head in disapproval saying that i could have further sprain my spine if i was not careful. I had consulted him on my spinal injury earlier.
Following that, Mrs Chen, another chinese medical expert walks in and the moment she saw me she said "wait... don't tell me... u injured your spine on the 3rd notch during the army?" And she did that just by looking at me... genius man... i'm so blessed to know these elders in the field...
Then David Williams shows up after lunch! So nice to see him to, used to hang out with him and sandy almost every night drinking tea, baking cookies and chatting the night away. So we went to Teance to drink tea and catch up, and even got a palm reading from a Persian grandfather there too! Hahz.
We drank for a long time there until the shop owner Winnie asked if we were free and wanted to help out. So we said sure! And she got us to help her pack tea and so the drinks were on her for the day and we even got to bring back a pack of tea of our choice as payment! How cool!
Back at the monastery, i was dragged by Andrew to sing Carols for the assembly and they even had a ginger bread house building session. A packed day full of surprises.
Carol singing practice

Ginger bread house building

Chinese orchestra performance to the assembly at BBM

Criminal on the run

So i had a great lunch with Rev Heng Sure again today, then went down to meet my relatives at their restaurant in Mt. View. So out of the big family that i have here, 3 aunts 1 uncle and 4 of my cousins were there. And i found out from them that i have a warrant of arrest after me!
Great... so now... not only am I homeless... i am a wanted criminal by the California State Police.
When i didn't contact them earlier, they thought i was arrested at the Airport Customs and were preparing to go bail me out the moment i could contact them! Lolz!
So the arrest warrant originated from a parking fine which my sister got on my car, under my name while I was slugging my way in the army... She didn't bother to pay and it dragged until her brother is now a wanted criminal...
Its serious... but somehow i find it hilarious too...lolz... think when the case is over, i'm gonna go frame up the arrest warrant as a souvenior! Probably hang it up on the wall... Lolz
For the moment.. i guess i just have to remain in hiding until i'm sure that the coast is clear... hahz... how fun

Homeless...

Homeless... its so tough to be homeless... u're neither here nor there...

Fatigue... so tired of searching and searching... for a house, for a car, for stability...

Missing... those who have walked into my life and left behind footprints in my heart...

Fear... of the unknown, of what's to come... of the future...

USA and Japan

So I finally arrived in US, and what better way to spend it than to have lunch with Rev. Heng Sure! Great vegan dishes & guitar sing along! Took a power nap at the monastery before having dinner with Lucy, John, Sandy and Gwenneth, who's an internationally famous pianist. How cool! Had cookies and tea after at Teance with Rev. Heng Sure and a crowd of 20 plus in the evening. So that was day 1! Assimilating back again.

Dropped by sch, but the counselor was out... and i've yet to get a place, so am currently crashing at a friend's place. Heard from many that the place where my sch's at is pretty dangerous, with stray bullets and all... gheez... scary...

Japan was pretty fun, other than my elder sister's occasional mood swings. Got to learn how to travel on the railways and practice my Jap alot. Even made 4 australian friends on the 1st day i was there!
Visited lots of temples and shrines and also all the local streets. Ran away a few times to explore the city myself too.. lolz

Also had dinner with lots of my father's Japanese customers and i was surprise that i can actually understand most of what they say! Cool. Thing is, they like to smoke and drink alot and all my clothes smell of tobacco now. Sigh...

That was not all, they brought me night club hopping too, visit all those ktv clubs... gheez... and becoz i was the youngest, they were like piling money to get me the prettiest girl to accompany me... they went a little too far when they were asking me to bring the girl out to the hotel... which means... u know... and my dad couldn't do anything as these were important customers. But of course i didn't... I must say the girls are very pretty thou... and i got a kiss from the top girl of the club! lolz... But yah... i know my limits.

Then it was disney land... with all the dolls and rides... something about the place just makes u feel happy... think its all those smily faces of Mickey and friends! Thou i think the actual person behind the mask must be sweating like hell... Lolz

Kz... really tired after so much... need to settle fast... Time's running out...schools starting soon... N i have no car, no home, no cell phone, no nothing... lolz... We'll see... Things always work out in their own ways...

Last few nights...

So on friday, went to CSC to return my cards and met Mr. Victor there, the Bmt pool care taker. He's 60+ and his 6 pecs are still damn well defined lah... I asked him his secret... he said no secret lah.. just have to watch diet and do bridge for like 1 hour each day... siao sia...
Met Alvin Lee, Sam Wong, Marcus, Gerald and Nathaniel for dinner at Minds cafe along Clark quay and as usual, made lots of noise playing games! Lolz... we played some strategy game, then followed by slamwich, taboo and uglies again!
Got a nice singapore scenery photo fr gerald to remind me of home, and got this gift from nathaniel...

Look like us not? Lolz... Damn cool right?

Saturday... was supposed to ask my grandma out for lunch but she didn't reply my call, so i continued packing and soon it was already 3pm! In between, Aaron was trying to sell his Zoukout ticket and when i offered to buy it, someone already took it. Then Alvin said he could ask his friend who might have spare tickets... turned out to be none... But guess it was a blessing in disguise.

Went to meet Jeffrey as appointed and he was suppose to leave by 7pm but his friend also cancelled their appointment, so everything worked out perfect! We went about exploring Singapore going from Bukit Timah, to Serangoon Gardens, to Chinatown! Lolz...Thanks for spending time with me on my last night here, and showing me what a beautiful city Singapore actually is... What's even cooler was that we so happened to be wearing matching shoes and shirt! Lolz... Too bad the picture's a little blur... and my hair sux! Photographer never give advice one sia...

Red n white shoes and shirt for me... and green shoes and shirt for jeffrey! And what's more... red and green... christmas mood! Lolz... Sigh... too bad i won't be spending christmas in Singapore...
I so gonna miss all of you all!....

Busy Day

Busy day today, started of by going to the bank, meeting my "personal financial manager" - sounds cool huhz...lolz... Then had to return a book to my previous work place, headed over to look for my remiser.. settling lots of money stuff. Took the whole day.

Along the way, met Joseph in the bus, my primary 1 classmate! lolz. He said he saw me at Bugis earlier but wasn't sure if it was me, then now at Serangoon, in the same bus, we meet again! It was meant to be... He was disembarking and so he called me on my cell. Can't believe we still have each other's contacts... Thats like what... 17 years of knowing u out of 23 years of my life? lolz... about 3/4 of my life man! Other than a bit taller, he still looks the same! And on my part.. other than a bit rounder.. i still look the same! Hopefully...

Dropped by Yongchaos' to retrieve the Bintan photos and then finally met my Aussie Uncle and Aunt for dinner at around 9pm. Over dinner, met Yong Quan! my uncle who's only 1 year older than me... yeah.. he's my uncle coz he belongs to the generation above me. Chinese families follow that.

Anyway, here are some photos from Bintan:


Dinner on the first night at Pasar Ole Oleh


Breakfast at Nirwana


Late nite of Drinks, peanuts, cards and Tv... How typical...


Seriously catching up with world news...


Seriously catching up with the latest series of Sunday Times Comics! Lolz


Surfing TIme! Posing with our mini surf boards.

12th mono...

Met up with my commanders from 12th mono for dinner today. Was expecting 3 or 4 to turn up, but instead, all 14 sergeants and 2 pcs came! So touched.. lolz... It was nice to catch up again and Lta Jeremiah asked if i preferred army or civilian life. My response was of course civilian life! But i do certainly miss the army life.
Sent Justin & Lawrence back to camp n when my car came to the gate, they still recognized the car and i received a full salute from both the guard com Sgt. wilfred and the sentry Pte. Faris. Got down to meet my other commanders and men who were doing duty... So nice to catch up again. Really miss them... but yupz... no... i'll pass on the signing on part... lolz. Leaving, we exchanged salutations again... damn.. i miss army life... (can't believe i'm saying this! lolz)

Moving on with life...

Met my uncle and aunt from Australia this morning for brunch as they were visiting. They fly back on Saturday and SUnday, its my turn... Time flies... Was telling them about me thinking twice about going over, and their respond was that, if its something you have to do, you have to move on.
While driving back, met an old friend - a monitor lizard! lolz... about a meter long. I saved it fr being run over by my dad a few months back, guess he's here to send me off too! Lolz

Met up with Fabian, Ivan and Qizhi for dinner at this small restaurant - Portobelle... pretty cozy but a little ex. We were buddies during our advance officer course, and till now, they remain the best buddies i've made during NS.

We're a group of 9 originally who hung out together almost everyday during our 3 months course. Gabriel's busy with his store, Alvin Chia with life, Alvin Tjoe is a commando regular, Qizhi is now in NTU, and the rest of us are all flying... started with John leaving for USA in July, now its my turn. Ivan will go to Australia in Feb, so will Hairul. Fabian will go join us in the states in August... and Michael is probably in China now... A small group of 9... all scattered around the world... Thats life... we are all moving on...