Quotes from "The Princess Diaries"

In this wonderful movie about an average girl who had just been told that she is actually royal,the focus is upon her transition from being just the average girl next door to the princess of a country that she has accepted to become.After the truth about her identity as a princess was revealed,she experienced several changes around her in life that centralised mainly upon how people treated her as well as behaved in her presence.
2 quotes from this movie caught my attention and they are as follows:

-The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all
This particular verse in the movie was taken from a letter written by the princess's dad to the princess herself telling her that being a princess was not a simple job and he had foreseen that she would hesitate about taking up the title of princess due to the circumstances around her. The verse was meant to encourage her to take up the title despite the challenges ahead and somehow,i saw it's application in our daily lives. Despite,the trials and tribulations that we may face in our relationships and everyday lives,this verse seems to tell us never to give up but be brave and press on instead.There may be signs around telling us that we may fail or people may comment that the possibility of success is low but then again,if we were to be cautious in our every move,we may just end up letting the only chance to succeed go by.Hence the verse,as although there can be failures despite trying,knowing that we tried is good enough and that would have givan us a 50-50 chance to achieving our goals.

-You saw me when i was invisible
This was the reply by the princess herself when the average guy she has come to love asked her why he was chosen over other more handsome looking guys.I find this verse so meaningful,the truth being that how often will we love another and take notice of him/her when he or she was just another face in the crowd.We will tend to pass on people whom we find are not out of the ordinary,on people who do not have the exceptional looks and who do not dress flamboyantly.It is a fact that we are naturally attracted to people who look good,who dress good and who are in the limemlight.But will we ever take notice of a geek sitting in a dark corner?Some of us may but the thing is,there are others who will not.Perhaps it is time we redefined our choices so that the people we will truly be attracted to instead are the people who make us feel good.

The Lake House

Taken from: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808723966/photo/612566

Watched this movie at the cinema together with jj today. Yes i know,this is a love story and you may be wondering what are 2 guys doing watching it together. Ignore that part as i am here only to give my review and thoughts after catching the movie. But then before i begin,just to be on the safe side,i must stress once again that I AM STRAIGHT.

A brief overview of this movie,it is about 2 people,kate(sandra bullock) and alex(keanu reeves) who happen to be living in the same lake house but exactly 2 years apart. They are able to send letters to one another despite the difference in time through the lake house's mailbox and as time goes by,they find themselves developing feelings for one another. Along the way,magical things happen and despite an attempt to meet up by pleging to be at the same place on the same date and at the same time,fate somehow makes a mockery of them and prevents them from seeing one another. Apparently there is a reason behind their failed meeting but i shan't be a spoiler and spill everything out. Only by watching the movie will one understand the reason and find out the ending to this movie.Nevermind the glitch in the script which will leave viewers wondering if certian issues were possible especially since a particular incident had already taken place.On the whole,this is a movie well worth the ticket price. It fuses together the extraordinary acting of keanu reeves and sandra bullock together with a heart warming plot that would redefine one's perception towards fate and love.

Watching the movie made me reaffirm my believe in fate,that it plays a significant role in every relationship. Walking out on the streets,we come across many people along the way.Some of them we find ourselves attracted to while others we will never be bothered to take a single look at.But all these aside,i feel that it takes more than just guts to get to know a person and more than feelings for 2 people to get together. If fate wasn't present,2 people's path will never cross one another and they would never have gotten acquainted in the first place. Seemingly if fate wasn't present,acquaintances would not become lovers,they would remain simply as friends instead. So what do i believe about fate? I believe that somehow,i would meet the right one as long as fate wants me to no matter how long or how hard i have to wait.But on the other hand,if fate doesn't give me it's blessings,no matter how hard i try i can never meet the person who is meant to be with me. Same goes for love,love between 2 people can weather through any storm as long as they are meant to be together but on the other hand,no amount of compelling can keep 2 people together if they are destined to go apart.Perhaps you may feel this way or you may disagree with me but whatever it is,i would recommend this movie to you and no,i am not paid for all these.Haha!

Wounds will heal but the scars will still remain...

I find this statement rather true.I've heard of friends who have broken up before and when they get into another relationship,they are afraid that it would end up in breakups again.I must say that i do not blame them for feeling insecure despite the current relationship they are in being rather stable. Afterall,a breakup is no small matter. It makes one feel that all the promises made before are just a pack of lies and asking a person to just let go of a relationship that involves so much committment and feelings is just not an easy task. That is why when a person finally moves on,it is inevitable that he or she still has the fear that things will go bad again. I am not saying that every relationship is a fairytale that would begin and last all the way to marriage. But then again,trust in one's partner as well as oneself is necessary to keep a relationship going. Yes,there may be the possibility of a second or even third breakup but then,it is the belief that would bind 2 people together. Not having the faith would simply mean that one party would start to drift away,not having the courage to commit to the relationship and constantly living in fear and disbelief that the bliss and happiness present now will be everlasting. I won't deny the fact that this is the same for me. After having a breakup from my previous relationship,sometimes i would tend to think if the next relationship i would be in would be long lasting or shortlived. I would ponder if my next girlfriend would truly be the right one for me or would she just be another part of my memories. But then again,when such thoughts appear,i would cast them aside and simply just believe that its takes more than just a simple coincidence for 2 people to get together. I believe it takes fate for 2 unknown people to become aquaintances and then go on in life to be partners. Nevermind the fact that a relationship may go bad. It is our duty to keep it going. Yes there can be differences and quarrels along the way,but i trust that through determination and a strong belief that this is it and that the impossible is possible,a relationship can be maintained.It may be tough along the way and the past may come back and haunt,but then,the present is like a second chance from God,no problem cannot be resolved,no differences cannot be ironed out,all it takes is trust and believe and deep in me,i tell myself that if God gives me another chance to be in another relationship again,i would put the past behind and try to make it last. What about you?

My tank...Updated pictures on 24/07/06

It's been a month plus since i set up my tank,here are some pictures of it right now. There were some changes to the plants in the tank,did some shifting here and there and removed some of them as well. Well,hope you all will enjoy the tank as much as i do. Anyone want to start a hobby like this do let me know,haha! =P

Erasing....

Quite some time ago,while i was out on patrol, i had made a mistake which most seasoned regulars would consider a stupid mistake. I shan't elaborate on what exactly it was but the thing is,this was really a genuine mistake not intended to cause harm to anybody. I was not out to "sabo" anyone or get anybody into trouble. Sadly though,i was sort of scolded for the mistake that i had made that day and well,i accepted it,because it was my fault. Thereafter,i missed several shifts because i had taken off as well as gotten involved in an excercise. This made me absent from my shift for about a week. I finally returned back to shift work once again today and i greeted everyone with excitement,as though i had not seen them for a long time. Sadly though,my happiness was to be shortlived..One of my fellow colleagues had actually came up to me and informed that since that incident,while i was away from the team,he had heard some people bringing up that incident and passing remarks like "i thought he has been in the team for quite sometime,yet he still made the mistake". When i heard all these,my heart suddenly just sank and i kept questioning him who were the people he was referring to. He gave me one or two names however i was certain that there was more than meets the eye. I was upset,because i felt that the mistake was really a trivial one yet,they had made it seem as though it was a catastrophe. I was upset because behind my back,they had made such comments about me and i feel that i do not deserve such treatment. Yes,it is true that i am a national serviceman,but don't i deserve the same type of treatment and respect as the others? To think that i have always been helping out whenever i can and putting on the best performance that i have to offer. To think that many a times,they had thanked me for my help and appeared as though they had appreciated my presence in the team. Sadly,just a mistake like this has brought out a different form of treatment from them. Nevermind the help all along,one mistake just seems to have erased everything away. I'm really disappointed to be a part of all these,to have been able to see the ugly side of human politics..One moment,they can be your frens,yet the next moment,they will stab u in the back and turn away from you. I guess this is the truth in the outside world..All our innocence have already been taken away and people no longer treat one another with sincerity,do watch out for the hidden knives. Now all i hope is for myself to ORD real soon,to leave this place that does not appreciate me,i have really seen enough.

Church service after quite awhile

It's been really quite sometime since i last attended sunday service,if i am not wrong,it has been about 2-3mths? Most of the time,i have been unable to make it because of my shift work and on other occasions because i simply lost the feeling to go.Perhaps it is because of the distance or maybe because i don't really know anyone there now. Aniwae,it was really great to be back in the house of God today. The moment service started,i could just feel this electrifying feeling coming over me..The feeling that i believe is the presence of God,well at least to me because others have been telling me that they can feel His presence but so far,i have yet to really understand how it really feels.Well,nevermind that..Today's message revolved around how we bless and curse objects as well as people around our lives more often that not without being aware. As pastor had preached,we need not say "bless you" or "curse you" to be really blessing or cursing a person. Infact,according to the bible as pastor had showed us,acknowledging the presence of someone or something or in other words "giving weight" to them is infact a form of blessing. This applies to both the good or bad aspect of life,say our problems and the devil etc. By constantly being aware of all these,we unknowingly bless them and the bible mentioned that what we bless,will be multiplied and what we curse will simply just rot and fade away.

I guess it seems strange as to why i am talking about all these. But while listening to the sermon,i realised how true this can be used to apply to our everyday lives be it relationships or problems. Pastor also confirmed this. For example,if we had a problem in life and constantly dwelled upon it,sometimes we will never figure out the solution to it and on some occasions,the problem itself may even get worse. On the other had,if we were to leave the problems and believe that somehow,things would work it's way out,who knows? We may just come back to the situation one day and realise that the problem is already gone! Similarly,the case can be applied to relationships. A friend of mine had been sharing with me about how he had came out of a failed relationship a few months back yet till now,he has yet to get over the entire incident simply because he is constantly reminded about it and at times,he still thinks about the past. I felt that what was preached was really relevant in this area. The truth is,if we keep dwelling upon the past and not forget everything and just move on,we will never go on in life and we realise that whole thing just keeps coming back over and over again and one thing can lead to another. Before we know it,we will be facing a whole pile of it.On the other had,if we learn how to ignore those thoughts and just let go bit by bit,i believe that someday,things will just straighten out itself. I am not saying that it will be easy and neither am i a professional. I have been thru it myself and i noe how certain memories will come back,but when it does happen,i think the best way out is just to smile that once upon a time,things were like that and after that,just learn how to put things down slowly. I feel that this whole blessing and cursing message is so true as it's application is really endless and i am really still a student of it all,waiting for the message to sink deep into my heart.

Tanto and Jii's B'dae celebration cum class gathering

Just one week ago,on the 15th of july 2006, my JC classmates had a gathering to celebrate the birthdays of both Jii Yan and Sutanto,whose birthdays happen to fall on that day itself. We had dinner at "Manhatten" located in plaza singapura followed by a drink at the "Giraffe" pub just opposite the shopping centre. Nevermind that only about half the class was present and that we were aimless at first,not knowing what to do,the entire event was still not bad,giving us the chance to catch up with one another. Coincidentally,i was also at "Giraffe" just the day before with some of my seconday sch frens,but that is another story altogether. The following are a couple of shots taken that day. I still feel that i am not photogenic but enjoy nonetheless,haha.

My First......

Had my first experience driving a van yesterday. I must say that i was really scared at first because all along,i have been used t0 driving cars and driving a van is an all new dimension,let alone a police van which gave me added responsibilities. The challenges came in the form of the van's mobility which was reduced due to it being longer and wider than a car. So when it came to cornerings,i was kinda worried that i would i would hit the kerb or scratch against some objects. Thank goodness,everything was smooth sailing throughout until i reached my destination..As i was going to park the van,i had turned on the hazard lights(good driver ok!) but as there were some problems with me not being allowed to park at the location,i did not park immediately but negotiated with the authorities instead. When i was finally allowed to park,i did not observe that this lorry had actually stopped directly behind my van. So i just started to reverse in to the parking lot which was for parallel parking and all of a sudden,there was this very loud blaring of a horn and my van shook..I had knocked into the lorry!..So much for smooth driving huh..Aniwae,there wasn't any visible damage to the van so thankfully,all is well if not i would have been in trouble. So now,whose fault was it? Guess it was partially mine for not checking and the lorry driver's as well,for stopping behind,only about 1 feet from my van.

My planted tank

This is a shot of my newly set up tank taken on 15th July 2006. Had to tear down the old tank layout before that as it was badly plagued by algae and snails.

However,this look is already considered old.Much has taken place since the photograph was taken.Plants have been moved around and some have even been removed. I have also added new plants as well as some fauna. Pictures of which i will upload in time to come. Really hoping to get really nice shots of everything.Do wish me luck!

Finally

Ah,so here it is,finally i have a decent blog of my own here at blogspot.com. Still kind of unsure what i will feature here in my blog but i think that it will revolve around my thoughts,my everyday life and also updates of my fish tank. Hopefully everything will work out well.Do post comments.