Phone call

Today, I received a phone call from my aunt. In the background, I could hear my six-year-old cousin Isaac was playing the piano. Well, it wasn't really "in the background" seeing as the piano was what I could hear the most. He was playing away, and it's just wonderful to listen to him play. And even though I'm not there to see his face while he plays, I can hear that he truly, truly enjoys playing the piano. And he truly enjoys the music. He was playing Yes Jesus Loves Me over and over again. I could just imagine beads of sweat running down his face while he plays the same melody relentlessly because he's become so good at it.

After every piece, he would demand applause, and if you don't put your hands together, he might just eat you. No, I'm joking. He's awesome, but he does like his audience to applaud him. He's a beautiful boy. He can be annoying at times and so rebellious, but surprisingly, he's never really gotten on my nerves. I can chase him all day, and I can manage to stay patient even when he yells at the top his lungs. He can be so rebellious, but I know he's not a bad boy. When I'm with him, I'm just happy. He leads me into this little pathway where only the two of us can squeeze in, and then we just do whatever we want.

I know this all sounds a bit weird, but that's exactly how I feel about Isaac. We've had so many great memories, it's sort of unbelievable after six years with gaps everywhere. Sometimes I feel bad for not seeing him so often, and only once every year, unlike his other cousins who see him very often. I feel bad for not being there when he's losing his baby teeth and growing big gigantic ones. But there's really nothing I can do about it. All I can hope is that we won't lose our bond as he grows older, as some people do.

Birthdays, fairies and tutus

Just got back from my cousin Jonathan's birthday dinner in the city. At first, I was reluctant to go, because there were plenty of things at home that I needed to do. But as it turned out, I was quite grateful that I had gone. It was a happy occasion, as most birthdays are. Jonathan turns one today, and he may not know it yet, but this day every year will be his special day. I think it's special for all of us too, watching him grow from the day he was born. Slowly, he grew to a one-year-old, and soon enough, he will have his own personality and we'll all laugh at the absurd yet funny things that he does. Don't we just love that about birthdays?

Every year, you attend their birthdays, and every year they grown an inch taller, and soon enough they'll be taller than you. They change throughout the years, their interests slowly change from tutus and fairies to hard rock music. Some don't change, and still like fairies and occasionally dress up in a tutu even when they're close to adulthood, which I think, in a way, is great. Of course, there is still a lot for me to understand about children who love fairies and fantasize to be ballerinas as I was always the non-stereotype kid that people did not have a category for, but on the other hand, maybe that should remain a mystery to me.

I'm really looking forward to watching my younger cousins grow and grow each year. It's a shame that I only see them during special occasions, as I love watching them do whatever it is that they do. I don't know what it is, but children at their age are just so fascinating to watch.

Quick Update

Food.  Oh, how I love food. I'm feeling very healthy at the moment - having Subway as I type this. It's times like these where I really appreciate my father. He really cares a lot for my well-being, and for that, I'm grateful. I'm grateful for everything he does, for he is truly a wonderful father. Sometimes, I'm really lucky to have him in my life. Anyway, where was I? Oh, food. Right. I love food. I know I should probably stop mentioning about food in my posts, but  I can't help it. I'm sorry. I love my food.

Update on the bird: Dad was going to leave it outside last night, but because of his soft and caring heart, he brought it in for the night. This morning, he brought it to our local shopping mall, and decided to let it roam freely in the open space, hoping that it'll be happy there. But guess what? It came back. It flew all the way back, and it's now sitting in our backyard. What a persistent bird. Looks like we're going to have to take care of it, and while we'd love to, Dad's got a lot on his plate and is often very busy. Same with me, so we don't really have the time for pets at this moment. I pity the poor lost bird though. I really do.

Thought I'll leave you on a happy note, so I will now leave you with a sweet video below. You've probably watched it, but I find that with this video, nothing ever gets old.

Ravioli

It's a cold winter day today. Just got home, and am now having ravioli. Oh, the goodness and warmth. And no, I'm not going to make this post just about ravioli.

Ravioli.

Haha, I'm joking. Gotta love ravioli though; Italian food is just too good. Actually in quite a good mood today - I don't know why, might just be the caffeine. The bird I mentioned in my last post has not left our place - Dad let it out of the cardboard box yesterday, and it did fly off and wonder around for the day, but eventually came back during the evening. It was hailing outside too, and it was just sitting at the rooftop, with no protection from trees whatsoever. We felt bad, and so Dad put it the cardboard box for the second night. Dad let it out this morning, and hopefully it'll find its way home. I hope so, but the chances are slim - it seems as though it's lost its own 'compass'. But we can hope.

I hope you've all been doing well, and been having a good week. And if you aren't, tell whoever that is causing you grief in a very serious voice, 'The Awesome Ninja will come for you. And she will eat you.' But then again, ravioli is much better in taste. That reminds me, I have to get back to my ravioli now.

Being lost

A dove-like pigeon paid a visit to our house today. It was sitting outside right next to our window, and we thought, "Wow, what a beautiful creature." Then, after an hour or so, it still sat there, motionless. We got a little worried, and started to pay attention to it. I grew fonder of the bird, but I was equally worried that it might be hurt. Luckily, we discovered that it wasn't hurt, after I spotted a little metal band around it's left leg. It was a pet of someone else's, and this fact was confirmed by another fact that it's not afraid of us human beings, and wanted to stay near the house, instead of away from the house - which is what wild birds normally do.

Because it's cold out and we're afraid that a cat might attack the bird unguarded, Dad's brought it in and put it in a nice cosy cardboard box for the night. We'll let it out in the morning, and hopefully it'll go back to its rightful owner. I don't know how, but somehow the little lost bird got me reminiscing back to the times when I was little kid and felt lost.

I remember my grandparents bringing me to the local supermarket, and it was actually called a "hypermarket", for it was big and sold everything from your local groceries, food and the usual necessities at the bottom  floor, and your stationary and clothes on the upper floor. It was a big supermarket, and you could easily get lost if you were like me, who was at the time only about six or seven. My grandparents would never leave me unguarded for a long period of time, but there was once when I was left in the trolley seat for maybe thirty seconds, but man, did the thirty seconds seem long to me.

I felt so lost, even though there were friendly faces around me, but they were not my grandparents'. I was looking in all angles, right and left, right and left, and right and left again, thinking, "Where on earth are they?" Nothing was actually going through my mind at the time, because I was just so desperate for my grandparents. Eventually, of course, they came for me, but it was just so life-threatening to me at the time.

Of course, I still get that giggidy feeling sometimes when I can't find Mum in the local supermarket, but it's not so life-threatening anymore. Why? Well, I'm of course many years older now and my sense of direction is much better, and with today's technology, it's impossible to get lost. A mobile phone for calling a friend, a GPS that will tell you where to go and the trusty old map that is bound to lead you back to home. And hopefully, tomorrow the bird can fly back to its own home.

A beautiful moment

A few days ago, I was at the local shopping mall, and as I was purchasing presents for my friends, I saw  an old couple in my peripheral view. Naturally, I stopped fiddling with the presents and turned around to have a look.

An old lady was in a wheelchair pushed by her beloved husband who is about her age, while she was having an ice-cream.  They were both just living life as it is, and just growing old together. The old lady was quietly enjoying her ice-cream, and her husband was just keeping his eyes ahead, to make sure they don't run into anything. And to me, that was just absolutely beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes off them until they were completely out of my view. I couldn't help but smile.

It's a rare occurrence to see that sort of thing every day, and I walked out of that shopping mall feeling so blessed that I had witnessed such a beautiful moment.

Happy birthday, Cassie.

A really good friend of mine, Cassie, turns a year older today.

I've wished her a happy birthday so many times today that I even said to her that if I got a buck for every time I wished her Happy Birthday today, I would be rich as. Her response. "Why, if only I got a buck for every time I said thank you."

Oh, great minds think alike.

Anyway, the reason for this post, as the title reads, is purely to wish my friend Cassie, a happy birthday. I know she reads my blog, so I know she'll read this.

To Cassie, I've known you since Grade 4, and that might not seem that long ago, but it's just amazing how far our friendship has gotten to. Like any other friendship, we've had our ups and downs. We've never really fought or anything, but in Grade 5, there were definitely times when we were distant. But I'm glad we got over that. I've never been a firm believer in everlasting friendship, but maybe you and I can prove me wrong. I'm really grateful that you're in my life, and I hope you don't mind me in yours.

Happy birthday again, my friend. You deserve absolutely everything you get today, tomorrow and every single bit of future you've got ahead of you.

Slow down and enjoy the scenery.

 

Wow, isn't this just amazing.

I don't know why, but when I saw this, I immediately thought of a quote from Eddie Cantor. He said, "Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast; you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."

Personally, I find that quote so beautiful, and so true. Sometimes we just have to slow down and just stop and live. There's no point of rushing through life. And when you think about it, stopping  and slowing down to enjoy the scenery isn't such a bad idea. And this photograph just makes me want to go to New Zealand even more. I've seen photos, and there's so much nature there, unlike the many commercialised countries today. I'd love to go there one day.

Image link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/4685014482/

Primary school

My old primary school is building a gym on the soccer field. And as I watch the trees get cut down and the fences woven around the area, I feel slightly sad. I mean, I'm not really the nostalgic type, but I really loved that soccer field. It was smaller than the normal ones, but we made do and every lunch time I'd either play soccer there or watch people play. It's such a happy place, and now it's going to be replaced by a shiny, new gym. I'm sure it'll do the kids some good, and I suppose that's a good thing.

Wow is all I can say.

Think I'll be watching this the entire day now. Ah, the ways that I can waste my time.

But in this case, I'm not. I'm watching a truly talented four-year-old (yes, I did say four-year-old!) kid play drums like crazy. Man, the skills. Just thought I might share that with you guys.