ash ville

for a country with summer all year round and little pollution, the last few days have really changed the appearance of the landscape. on a first look, it looks like what you would imagine England will look like, grey all the time. but soon, your eyes starts to irritate a little, the air smell like someone somewhere has a giant bbq party, you feel the urge to cough every now and then and sometimes, you feel like you need take in a little bit more air. all these, no thanks to the plantation owners from across the border.

im thankful that I am healthy enough not to feel too affected by the change in air quality. nothing more than feeling my eyes being a bit dry, throat a little itchy, and a bit of blood in the nose (but then again, this could be caused by all the fast food I already consumed this week)

it is also times like this that I feel so dishearten and disappointed with people. many will use this opportunity (or any other opportunity) to criticize the government, and almost all the time, they are never constructive, and almost all the time, vulgar. they think that they have perfect knowledge, that they know how things should be done better.

one good current example would be how everyone seems to think how much the PSI should be based on how hazy it appears to be. I don't dare to say I know much about air quality, but logically, I know PSI does not measure visibility, nor does visibility necessarily correlate with air cleanliness. for one, water in the air causes visibility too (as seen in fog, steam, cloud). secondly, there are many colourless poisonous gases out there, which once again makes sense that visibility does not necessary correlate with air cleanliness. but it's amazing how so many people just insist that the PSI should be this and that based on what they see. it's like everyone suddenly major in environmental science.

when such relentless comments come along, I always wonder what would Jesus do, what would Jesus want me to do? do I attempt to correct them, knowing most of the time, these people are blinded by their hatred that they wont listen to reason? do I leave them alone and let them influence others with their words? do I remove them from my social circles so that I wont have to read about their rants?

this would be chapter........... 6 of my life?

barring any unforeseeable intervention, it seems like in a month time, i'll be starting another phase in life.

chapter 6? that's just some random number since I cant really keep track of when the chapters changes earlier in life. I cant foresee what's coming, and how significant it will be, but it is a big change to the routine lifestyle of the past two years.

now I have to start with the small talk all over again, to find out who can be friends and who can't. a whole new environment that I have to start from almost scratch.

all these in 30days time..

Not for the faint hearted but...

so two weeks ago was the birth of the daughter of two of my friends from church. I had the chance to follow their journey quite closely through frequent meet ups over dim sum.. having visited them with their daughter thrice over the past two weeks, I could really see the tiredness accumulating in them. just today, the dad was trying to get her to finish just a small jar of milk, whereby any adult can finish in one small gulp, but it took him like 20 minutes to get her to finish. first, it was the crying, then she started to fall asleep. it was really one huge effort for such a small amount. times that a few more times in the day and night. parenting is definitely not for the faint hearted.

however, just watching the parents looking at their daughter, smiling with every small movement she makes, it really is that simple huh. the indescribable joy you derive from bringing up your child always trumps over all the sacrifices you have to make.