Category Archives: life

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! 小学校1年入学式

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As preps for your grade school life, we’ve been to your school three times before today’s 入学式 /Entrance Ceremony. And I must admit all those three visits have been less than ideal; what with many issues to resolve and many confusing things to sort out.

But today, today was very nice. Beautiful weather. We weren’t late. We weren’t confused. Everything was orderly. Everything went really nice. There were things we didn’t know, they were a lot. But we sorted them out with beaming faces and hopeful hearts.

And I pray the same for you as you start your journey in your school life. I pray you have passion, a generous and brave heart and soul. God bless you, our dear one. Congratulations!

The Day’s Kudos

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I am proud of the schools I’ve been to. They’re not internationally well known nor have they churned out numbers of Nobel Laureates. But they are the best in my hometown and hence home the crème de la crème in my region.

Working, however, for an international and multinational company can make you doubt your capabilities from time to time. It’s one thing to work with people who come from world-renowned universities with patent-holding alumni, and have the likes of Quantum Physics for Masters who have been seasoned with industry experience. But it’s totally another thing when they are idealist fresh graduates who are proud of where they came from.

And so given all that, it comes as a very pleasant reward on your efforts when you see your engineer working for/with you with passion. Even more so when they went ahead and announced to everyone their praise on how you went above and beyond.

I believe (and hope) my managers saw my capabilities hence they put me in my current position. But I hold praises from my subordinates higher than that of my bosses. Priceless. Inspiration for me to do even better. ❤️

Image courtesy of Microsoft Teams

life with a kindergartener: thirsty

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We were waiting for our turn on a shop to pick up your bags that we’ve order-made for your grade school. Thankfully, there were couches around, so we could lounge while waiting. At first you said you wanted some gumi candy at the neighbour drug store. I’ve been teaching you some independence recently and so I gave you my PASMO (for our future reference: essentially this is a train pass. But you can charge it so that you can use it to pay your purchases or pay your meals. On hindsight, I should really stop giving you my pasmo but give you bills/coins so that you’ll learn more about counting.)

After finishing off your pack of gumi, and just when we were about to leave the premises, you then complained to me that you’re thirsty. And so once again, I gave you my pasmo. It took you a lot longer though to get back. So I headed to the drugstore and saw that you were already at the counter. I rushed to get back to our sofa because the point was for you to feel some independence and it definitely will not help you if you see me lurking around.

Then you came out the drugstore with plastic bag and looking like you’re carrying something very heavy.

Before you reached us though, you announced that you bought me my favourite milk tea and daddy a bottle of green tea, and water for you.

My thoughtful and perceptive baby. I thank God for his goodness. I pray you grow up well.

things to be thankful for today

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  • Friends and family who made me feel very special and who are generous to share their time and blessings
  • I’m working on a ve~~~ery challenging task
  • Our Client now, with whom I’ve worked with five years back, openly told me he was very happy to see my name among those in the top of the TO
  • The one year old baby I’ve been trying to get chummy with seems to have already warmed up to me. When I arrived at daycare and after Yui hugged me & pressed her cheeks against mine, little boy toddled towards me and (to my big surprise) also pressed his cheek against mine. I made him laugh too.
  • The author of a Japanese-English book I once wrote a month ago finally replied to my email and acknowledged that my comment was right. 😍

Yui’s tales: The Cat Who was Once a Prince

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After a long afternoon walk, we chanced upon a nice homey cafe/ bar that was like a haven for Yui; they have a dog, a cat, and a tank full of fish.

It was a cozy place to rest after a breezy cold walk but for Yui, it was so much more than just a cozy place.

After some time, the dog had to take a walk and she was left to petting the cat and having a staring contest with it.

Then she told me a secret.

Mommy, the Cat was once a Prince, a long time ago. He battled with a dragon but he died. He then became a cat.