them three things

Counting and naming our 3-things-to-be-grateful-for-for-the-day had been a source of enjoyment for hubby and me, these days. Most of the evenings, we would cap the night by recalling our three things; some of which could trigger us to laughter when otherwise it would have led to petty sulking. That’s one boon probably of thinking of things to be grateful for – you get to see the positive side of an otherwise could-have-been unpleasant experience.

I have suffered from severe colds the past days and so I’m very thankful that today, I was well enough to go to office albeit my voice is still nasal.

And because I was able to go to office, I was able to have lunch with a great person, who has inspired me a lot. The number of times we had interacted could probably be counted with my fingers. Few though they may be, trust that the words of wisdom you’ve shared and your words of encouragement, I’d always be grateful for. Thank you.

And because I was able to go to office, I was able to attend the HAZOP closing of my difficult system.

And because I was able to go to office, I was able to walk to and fro office together with hubby, giving us more quality time together.

Oh, that’s four already. No matter. Let’s keep counting! 🙂

RIP, Whitney Houston

I remember receiving, probably around 2004, when forwarded emails in the office are still the fad, an email with a PowerPoint about Whitney and how ungrateful she had been with all the blessings she had received because of how she succumbed to drugs. I remembered being shocked and being angry to whoever was the originator of the email for spreading lies about Whitney. One search on the Internet though and the truth was confirmed.

It has been a tough battle for her and her family. Especially since on the latter years, the world hadn’t been nice to her, using her story as a cautionary tale, demanding more out of her and her voice when it was evident she lost it already.

Now Whitney can have a respite from her struggles. May you rest in peace Whitney.

As for me, my heart grieves on what you’ve been through and how now, we lost your golden voice for good. But that same golden voice would always be ringing in my ears the way I heard it when I was six and was practicing “The Greatest Love of All” for our Kindergarten graduation, the way I heard it when I practiced “Where do broken hearts go” and “I wanna dance with somebody” back in my Center for Pop days.

Rest in peace Whitney. And with this is the prayer that the world will remember you more during your glory days and not the days of your fall from the limelight. You put up a brave fight. And I hope the world will also remember that. And thank you Whitney, for the songs. You are missed.

on lost Eye-Fi and some good news

I realized this afternoon that I lost our Eye-Fi SD card. 🙁 Understandably enough, Hubs was upset for a couple of minutes. He was upset not mainly because the SD card contains photos/videos of our Vienna/Czech Republic trip, not mainly because it being an Eye-Fi it costs a bit more expensive than the usual SD card but mainly because we are not sure if our SD card are not with those having bad intentions. But as I said, Hubs was upset for only a couple of minutes. And for this I am truly thankful. Thankful for Hubs having such an understanding heart as to not let a material thing ruin our day.

I’ve been feeling exhausted recently. The whole day yesterday, I just slept. Was feeling sleepy most of today as well. But even so, I was thankful that I have enough energy to go to Yokohama to buy some much needed vitamins as well as go to Bandobashi to buy some prawns in which we had a great dinner with. Hubs had to carry most of the stuff we bought though as I only have enough energy for walking.

Received a sweet email today relating to THAT VERY EXCITING THING which we’ve been waiting for since end of November. Hopefully in a month, we’d share the excitement.

There goes my three happy things for today. That and one big happy thing which we shall share later on. Yawn. Got to catch some sleep now.

a goal for the next 21 days

I’m currently in the midst of drafting my post for the tea ceremony experience we had last Sunday. I actually started drafting it last Sunday, wanting to post it right after we got back home. Alas, it’s Saturday already and yet i’m still having trouble uploading the videos. I tried publishing through my iPhone but at some point the App crashed. Now tried it in iMac but the upload rate is somewhere along 1%/5 minutes. Hence I decided to revisit TED while waiting for the first video to load.

Gosh I miss TED! And i’m so glad the talk I ran into has just the humor i needed. Do watch it!

Back when I had my “count thy blessings” post in December, I said that once you did something for 30 days consecutive, you’ll end up having that deed as a habit. From Achor’s talk above, it seems 21 days is all you need. And it isn’t just about making something a habit. It’s about recording three things daily in 21 days to help your mind focus on the positive side of things. For a happier you. For a hopefully more efficient and successful you.

So here’s to a goal of posting 3 things to be grateful for for the day, for the next 21 days! 🙂

And oh, today’s three things?

– thankful for Hubs who was willing to cook lunch while I sleep my head off

– thankful for friends and family with whom I can share what I’m going through, with whom I can ask to help me pray

– thankful for the Mentors I have met so far. Some of them might be out of reach, some whose genius I can only have a glimpse on, some of them I soooo wish to talk to more often, most of them doesn’t have an inkling I consider them my mentor. But at least at some point in my life they’ve touched me and their influence would always help me along the way. Albeit I still really wish for official mentors. 😛

songs from the heart

It was so hard for me to sing “Make Me Whole” before. I’d sing a few lines and my voice would crack, tears would then well up on my eyes as I think of Hubs. That was how dear the song was for me, for us. Thankfully, I was able to sing the song during our wedding, without messing things up.

I hope soon I can sing this too, just as beautifully, without cracks showing up in my voice as tears well up.

honesty and the Japanese

The first time we got assigned here in Japan nine years back, we were so amazed at how honest the japanese are. Some examples: when you choose to buy an item and the sales person knows that that particular item has a defect, they’d point out the defect and ask you if you’re ok to buy the product considering the defect. When you left behind an item on your seat in the train station, you’re sure to find your stuff either in the same exact location where you left your stuff or in the Lost and Found section.

Even in the office, the honesty system prevails. We don’t have a time card or anything of the sort where we log our time in and our time outs. Our bosses approve our time sheets with the trust that the number of working hours we’ve inputted, including our overtimes, are really the hours that we have rendered our work. With a policy as trustful as that, the person that would beef up his/her work hours on paper even when they’ve actually worked less hours is probably a very untrustworthy person through and through.

I was again reminded of the honesty system in this country when we (me together with Atsushi and family) dropped by Osaki no Hana on our way to Yoshima.
Whilst enjoying the view,

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one of us noticed these mandarins, or mikan as they are known in Japanese, for sale.

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But no one was around looking out for the sale of their produce. There was however a note to just drop the payment on this bamboo pole.20120104-220540.jpg

 

Thrilled with the concept, one of us dropped 200yen into the bamboo pole and took one pack. We tasted the oranges right there and then and was so surprised to learn how sweet and juicy the oranges were. I’m not an orange fan as I usually find them sour and difficult to peel. But this one wasn’t just very sweet and juicy, the skin was so thin it’s so easy to peel. We ended up buying five packs (or was it six?). ~big grin~
Grandparents enjoyed its juiciness and sweetness as well when we got home.

Now if only we’d see more of this honesty system, it’d probably be a better world (and a more efficient one at that).