Elegant Tulips

I had a beautiful dream last night which I keep recalling even until now. The scenic view of a bungalow with an awesome garden. There were lots and lots of tulips blooming everywhere in the garden. I was right there admiring each and everyone of them. Thus, i was curious to know more about this beauty, I did a research on it and I came to know some interesting facts.

Tulips make up the genus Tulipa and are among the most popular of all garden flowers. Originally from Persia and Turkey, tulips were brought to Europe in the 16th century. The name tulip is the Latinized version of the Persian word “dulband” (turban), so called because of the flower’s resemblance to a turban.

Tulips blossom in early to late spring, depending on the climate in which they are planted. Cut tulips are primarily enjoyed during the same season, although they are now commercially grown to be available as a cut flower all year long. Tulips continue to bloom annually for a few years but eventually degenerate. It is a common practice to lift the bulb (remove form the soil) after the flowers have dropped and the foliage has yellowed, and store them in a cool dry place until autumn replanting time.

Different tulip colors carry distinct meanings:-
yellow - cheerful thoughts,
white - conveying forgiveness
purple - royalty
red - a Turkish legend may be responsible for the red tulip’s symbolism. “perfect love”

The story goes that a prince named Farhad was love struck by a maiden named Shirin. When Farhad learned that Shirin had been killed, he was so overcome with grief that he killed himself – riding his horse over the edge of a cliff. It’s said that a scarlet tulip sprang up from each droplet of his blood, giving the red tulip the meaning “ perfect love”.

With the power to rival roses in their red variety and the sweet charm to express simple joy when yellow, it’s no wonder that in addition to all its other symbolism, in the language of flowers, a tulip bouquet represents elegance and grace.

Weekend was great

We went to one of the boy's orphanage at Kangkar Pulai to give them lunch. There were about 55 of them, used to be 100 plus. Some of them are working already and staying at a nearby hostel, the rest are still schooling. They were very well behaved and disciplined. Baby Tianna was with me while her parents were having a short prayer with the children before lunch. It was raining cats n dogs on that day. I guess, god sent his blessings to all of ur present there, especially Tianna.

My sister had a small birthday celebration for her at my grandma's place. In fact, this was a 2nd celebration, as she did one in s'pore. Here are some shots taken on that day.

Cake cutting

My parents feeding her

Don't cry, take a snap 1st

Kevin, Janice and baby Joel

Started lah our snaping moments

One more please, with the kids

Last shot while mummy is preparing milk, to put you to sleep,

Good nite

Go Green

So bored and nothing to do at home yesterday, I browsed through a book on 'Green Hospitality' and realised the serious environmental issues surrounding us. Let me share some tips to save our polluted environment. The implications of Global Warming had resulted with extreme increase in weather conditions, change in agricultural yields, species extinction, modification of trade route and change in disease vectors. It is solely because of increased deforestation, factory farming, widespread use of fossil fuels and population growth. All these are creating an excess amount of greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone) released into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. Why we should care? Because it will affect us, one way or another. It will affect the future, our children and grandchildren's lives. Each and everyone of us have the responsibility to save our planet.

How we can contribute:-

- Using energy-saving bulbs, lights and motion sensors. Install dimmers on light switches and save the electricity.

- Turn off lights and air-conditioners that are not in use

- Water-saving equipment and techniques can be introduced, such as low-flow showerheads, low-flow dishwashing valves and others can reduce the water bill dramatically.

- Management of fresh water resources. Direct rainwater downspouts into gardens rather than into the street so that plantings can benefit

- Waste hauling is a huge expense which can be lowered through recycling and avoiding wastefully-packaged products.

- Usage of solar energy for lights and heating water

- Usage of pesticides and all lawn and garden chemicals should be kept to the absolute minimum necessary.

The benefits of being environmentally-friendly, saves water, energy and reduce solid waste and in return, it saves the costs which is equally important. Let us all contribute something on our part for the earth. Go green, sustain and save our planet.

Lessons of Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said, 'The tree was ugly, bent and twisted'.

The second son said, 'No, it was covered with green buds and full of promise'.

The third son disagreed; he said, 'It was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing I've ever seen'.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said, 'It was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment'.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral lessons: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

A friend sent this email to me which i find it to be worth reading. Many can benefit from this moral. I am one of them who is actually yearning for some support and encouragement. I have been down lately.... :(

Surprise Outing

This was taken on Feb 10. I just managed to find time to upload the pictures. It was our wedding anniversary and we went to The Grand Paragon for dinner. Frankly, i didn't know where he was heading to at first. He asked me to guess but i was not that smart enough to guess it right. I was really very surprised when he stopped the car in front of the hotel.

It is newly-opened and only 2 outlets are in operation. One is called the Para Para Cafe which serves the semi-buffet and the other one is Mezzanine which serves cocktails and apperitifs. It is beautifully designed with modern settings. Dinner was good, they had a selection of local and western for the main course. But i just loved the desserts, heavenly selections of cakes, mousse and puddings. My sweetie pie, ordered a tiramisu for me. It was absolutely yummy.

Overall it was a pleasant day for me with my love.

Happy Valentine's Day

Special dedication to my dearest hubby,

I love the way you touch me

I love the way you kiss me.

I love the way you look at me.

It makes me feel beautiful and treasured.

Most of all I love the way you love me.

When you walk in, my whole day gets better.

And even when you're not with me

you're in my thoughts always.

It doesn't matter what we don't have or what we do have.

The most important thing is we have each other

and no one can take that away.

I am the luckiest woman in the world

and I don't need or want anything

but you beside me loving me to the end of our days.

I love you baby

I'm sure most of you all share this special day with your loved ones. Surprise dinners, gifts and a romantic day out and the list goes on and on. There are some who propose to their loved ones and some even get married on this day. This year February 14th falls on a saturday and it's going to be packed in all F&B outlets. With the sluggish economic growth, i guess this day will bring lots of profit. It gonna bring smiles on everyone's face : )

Enjoy this special day and Happy Valentine's Day.

Mistakes

What they actually mean,

If a barber makes a mistake,
It's a new style

If a driver makes a mistake,
It's a new path

If an engineer makes a mistake,
It's a new venture

If parents make a mistake,
It's a new generation

If a politician makes a mistake,
It's a new law

If a scientist makes a mistake,
It's a new invention

If a tailor makes a mistake,
It's a new fashion

If a teacher makes a mistake,
It's a new theory

If our boss makes a mistake,
It's a new idea

If an employee makes a mistake,
It's a 'Mistake'

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