What's Most Important In Life

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, 'Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.'

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

'Jack, did you hear me?'

'Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,' Jack said.

'Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it,' Mom told him.

'I loved that old house he lived in,' Jack said.

'You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life,' she said.

'He's the one who taught me carpentry,' he said. 'I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral,' Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.

'What's wrong, Jack?' his Mom asked.

'The box is gone,' he said.

'What box?' Mom asked.

'There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside.. All he'd ever tell me was the thing I value most,' Jack said. It was gone Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

'Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him,' Jack said. 'I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.'

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day, Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. 'Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,' the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. 'Mr. Harold Belser' it read.

Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. 'Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life.'

A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes,! Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: 'Jack, Thanks for your time! - Harold Belser.'

'The thing he valued most...was...my time.'

Jack held the watch for a few minutes then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. 'Why?' Janet, his assistant asked.

'I need some time to spend with my son,' he said. 'Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!'

'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,'

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much that they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
5. You mean the world to someone.
6. If not for you, someone may not be living.
7. You are special and unique.
8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look; you most likely turned your back on the world.
11. Someone that you don't even know exist, loves you.
12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
13. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.
14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

To everyone who read this: 'Thank you for your time.'

Poison the Mother-In-Law

A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.

Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.

Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.

Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, 'Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you.'

Li-Li said, 'Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do 'Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, 'You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body.

Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. 'Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen.' Li-Li was so happy.

She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law. Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr.Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper! , obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.

After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.

The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening. One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again She said, 'Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her.'

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. 'Li-Li, there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her.'

HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat you? There is a wise Chinese saying: 'The person who loves others will also be loved in return.' God might be trying to work in another person's life through you. Send this to your friends and spread the love..

'A candle loses nothing if it is used to light another one'

Craziness At Work

Finally the renovation at work has completed. I have shifted back to my office but there are some candid shots of Mark's new office ^_^

Besides that, my friend, Khoo Boon How has come up with a new assignment box where the students can submit their assignments ^_^

Genting 2/8/2009 - Part 2

The next morning I woke up due to Tommy who wake up in the middle of the night. He was looking for his glasses and I had to show him where. After that I went back to sleep. He then woke me up when he came back to sleep. After tossing and turning the whole night, I finally wake up due to Edward'd phone alarm.

I had to force myself to wake up as everyone would be rushing to use the bathroom. I was the first to be ready and pack my things followed by the others. Once we are set, it was check out time. We left everything in the car and went for lunch before heading to the outdoor park.

Once there, we calculate how long we would be playing inside and realize that we are short of time. In the end, we didn't go to the outdoor theme park. I walk to the main entrance and snap some pictures of the outdoor theme park as it was very misty and beautiful.

We then head back to the indoor theme park and Tommy continued with his so-called gambling game ^_^ Once we have enough points, we went to exchange the prize where everyone has a fair share in it. We left some points too for the next round ^_^

When we reach back Subang, we rest a while then we head off to PC fair where Jared join us this time. Before heading to KL Convention Center, we meet up with Tommy's mum, sister and brother who went with us to PC Fair. There was nothing much to see in the PC Fair and we didn't get anything. After walking around for an hour, we head of to SS3 to eat RM5 chicken chop ^_^

Genting 1/8/2009 - Part 1

This was plan more than a week and the day has finally arrived. We are heading up to Genting ^_^ Thank goodness Tommy took the day off too ^_^

We make our way up to Genting about 1+pm and reach there just before 3pm which is the check-in time. One thing for sure is, getting a parking in First World Hotel is like looking for a pin in a hay-stack. Very frustrating but luckily Tommy was the one driving. Once we check-in, Edward, Sandy, Roger and Mary just arrived. They had to take the taxi as we didn't have enough cars to ferry everyone.

After checking in, we rest awhile before heading out to the theme park but to our disappointment, it was raining. But the cool part is, it is so misty and cold ^_^ The breeze was so inviting to me as I love the cold breeze blowing at me ^_^ Since it was too cold for some of us to be outside, we head in to the indoor theme park where we spend most of our time in the arcade to exchange for points. Our main aim, to collect enough points to exchange something for Stephie as her birthday gift. Somehow, everyone got addicted to a machine which is similar to a gambling machine. You should see how Tommy is into the game ^_^

I didn't play much but watch them play and collect the ticket. My job is to hold on to the tickets and process the ticket to get the actual number of tickets collected. As I was walking around, I saw the photo booth and I really wanted to take pictures there as I never take picture from those booth. Stephie was nice as she asked everyone and asked the price. It cost us each RM5 to snap 6 different background pictures ^_^

It was a fun time to edit the pictures and adding things to the picture. Once content, Sandy and Edward left to meet up with their other friends who are there in Genting. As for me, me, Mary, Roger and Stephie head outside for photo session. It was cold but very refreshing for me ^_^ We took some candid shots and also try to snap picture of the mist covering the hotel. The only disappointment for me is I can't record the picture where the cloud is circling around the hotel. It was breath-taking.

After a good 20 minutes or more outside taking pictures, we went back in and continue playing some arcade games but mostly at the so-called gambling machine. Tommy also tried his skill in the Hole-In-One pool game where he won a cute cat. He then played the toy machine where he caught a lamb for me. Once content, we head to KFC and have our dinner. Tommy was too excited with the points collected and winning the cat that he didn't eat anything.

After dinner, we head back to the room to start our drinking game which Roger call it "The Game of Life." I had a lot to drink and so did Roger. Stephie just drank a bit and she was high. Sandy was also high after drinking a lot. The funniest was Tommy when he is so-called high or drunk. In the end, he vomitted. But after vomitting he was feeling cold then slept off. Hahahaha ^_^

Not long after that, I also fell asleep but I heard Sandy talking. i do not know if she was awake of sleep talking as I was too tired to open my eyes. She was saying she is hungry and want to eat but lazy to walk. Edward asked her to eat maggi mee but she say she wants McD or KFC. Hahaha...then I doze off and I do not know what happen in the end.

High School Reunion

There is nothing much to be said but it was good to meet up with my high school best friends after 8 years. After SPM, Mei Cheng went to Inti Nilai to further her studies but I manage to catch up with her still but haven't met for a year plus. As for Hooi Khim and Lisa, I haven't met them since I left to KL to further my studies. But one things was, we keep in touch either through phone, MSN and also through Friendster and Facebook.

It was really nice to meet up and catch up. Hope we can plan more up-coming events. Our next plan is to visit Lisa in Singapore before Hooi Khim gets married later next year and Lisa in the year 2010.

Bon Odori

The biggest Bon Odori "Fan" ^_^

Since this is my first Bon Odori, I had high hopes on how it would be. I think I watch too much anime to put too high hopes in the festival. I was disappointed as it was different from what I imagine. But one thing was, I had fun that night with my friends.

Tommy coming out from the toilet ^_^

Our shadows ^_^

Two of my best shots on Tommy and Jared ^_^

My Holiday to Kuching - Day 4

We woke up early and followed Merlye to the wet market. I was hoping I can see the huge banana but there wasn't a single to be found besides the normal size banana. I was a bit disappointed. After that, we head off to have Kuching famous Laksa. It was simply delicious but when we got back to the car, Merlye just got herself a parking fine =.= What a memorable trip ^_^
After that, we rest a while at home and I took more pictures of my Godson. I just can't help it but need to snap pictures of my cute Godson. Time flies and it was lunch time. Merlye's friend came over and we head off for lunch in Tarot Cafe. They have special drinks make according to your date of birth. Mine is known as "The Emperor" =.= Now I know why I always want things my way =.=
After lunch, we went to the Cat musuem for a visit. Thank goodness that Senan didn't manage to buy cat ears for me to wear and take pictures with all the cats. After our visit to the musuem, we went out and did some shopping. Hahaha...I manage to buy one top this trip. Hahahaha... After shopping, we head off to buy some groceries so that Merlye can cook at night. After groceries, we visited Merlye's uncle as her uncle is selling Bird Nest. Senan bought 4 boxes of Bird Nest home while I bought zero =.= Sorry as my mother won't accept it and push it back to me to eat it =.=
After buying the Bird Nest, we went home to rest and finish packing our things as we had to catch the 9.45pm flight home. Once we are set, it was close to 7.30pm and we head out for dinner. Unfortunately, all the store that Merlye had in mind was close. Geoffrey drove very fast from one location to another. I felt like I was about to faint in his driving for it was very similar to Tommy's driving =.= He then later tell me that he loves driving in KL as everyone drives fast unlike the people in Kuching =.=
For dinner, we had ketchup mee and finally Bilin belacan. Hahaha... After dinner, we head to the airport and check in our luggage. After checking in, me and Senan did some last minute shopping before heading to the boarding gate but to be told that our flight was delayed =.= I called Tommy to inform him of the delay and then play a prank call to Merlye to scare her. Hahaha...that didn't work =.=

Finally bout 10.30pm, we board the plane and head back to KL. We reach LCCT about close to midnight. It was a fun and enjoyable trip and I'm planning for my next trip there where this time, we are going to Damai and I hope I have more time to see my Goddaughter.