If I EVER get a VW, I will learn to drive

And since we are rhyming, here is another to make you :)

If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay

If only we did more  literature in school. In whatever language.

Between the Sheets

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet,

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

- Yeats

Always as beautiful as the first time I read it, eons ago.  

Thanks to Eng Kian for the poem. I lost him to the hustle and bustle of life, and I have no idea what has happened to him.  Of course Mentalf gave me a whole book of Yeats which still sits on my bookshelf, dog eared and trying its darnest not to turn yellow.  

Most of my best loved poems have been introduced to me by people who appeared very briefly in my life, as if their sole purpose were to say "here, have this!"

So wherever you guys are, thank you for the Nerudas, Keats, Gibrans, Yeats and Blakes.  And my heart brims with love and gratitude for your thoughtfulness and beauty of the poetry you left me.

Wistfulness

You know, don't you 

Balik China

Great Wall. Photo has not been retouched. 

Not too long ago (ehem, April), I finally visited Beijing, as luck would have it - during the short weeks of Spring.  As winter quickly melts to sweltering summer there, Spring makes a very short but treasured cameo appearance.

And its hard not to fall in love with the city when even the weather is generous to a fault. The air was crisp enough for everyone to beam with rosy cheeks and still the sun shone against skies so blue, it made hearts lift.

Before the trip, I expected to be awed by finally experiencing all that I had read and learnt in my Asian History classes. Just like how I was totally blown away  when I walked through the exhibits at the Louvre once upon a long time ago going oh I know this  and wow,  I remember that.

What I did not expect was feeling an immense sense of belonging and identity. And perhaps even pride.

Walking down the same cobbled pavements as long dead emperors, looking up at monuments so breathtakingly beautiful and ancient, made by a people who lived through invasion, glory, starvation, rebellion and triumph. A kingdom my ancestors called home.

Its awesome, the realization that I am the legacy of a long line of people  whose destinies at one point or another were determined by Sons of Heaven whose gates I now walk through.

Its a homecoming to my heritage.
And what a magnificent heritage it is.

Temple of Heaven  

gorgeous flowers

Hope you like the new look of the blog. Yes it borders on twee but after half  a year of dark  grey, its doesn't make the flowers grow. With all my favourite sites articulating the  doom that is our local political climate, maybe blooms can dispel gloom, even if its only temporarily.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Bunny

Wif Luv from the Bunnies and I

The coming Chinese New Year will be the Year of the Rabbit. So to herald all things rabbity, expect bursts of bunny themed randomness starting with this one

Happy 2011

Quoting Anais Nin, I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.

But speaking of molding my life, there are some things that I keep failing at getting right, such as:

1. make laughing a daily affair, even at work, despite or rather in spite of the menopausal characters there that make it a strong contender for Satan's favourite summer home
2. stop being a hypochondriac suspecting every sneeze to be an air-borne infectious disease
3. stop turning into a Victorian boarding school matron and relax a little. (Drugs anyone?)
4. unplug the umbilical cord that is my internet connection and enjoy the sunshine
5. have the courage to switch off my phone with full confidence that it will not herald the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse and the world would still revolve as it should
6. to respond rather than react. Main advantage being that my voice would not hike up several decibels and vex the dogs.

And lately spirituality has taken a back seat. I have been asked why does God need to be worshiped. But who ever said that worship is for God's benefit. I need a spiritual compass more than God will ever require my feeble adorations. So there is another one for the drawing board - salvation and serenity.

I am tempted to go on a litany on present consciousness but that would be another blog post. I need a swami's robe and a cymbals to go with it.

So here's much work to be done in the coming year. Here's wishing that yours too will be filled with good tidings and good health.