"Tee" Dharma

I am not sure if anyone of you can recall this ex TCS actor/model by the name of Henry Tee. He was one of the 5 Tigers which TCS was then furiously promoting, alongside with Thomas Ong, Andrew Seow etc.

Anyway, my intention this evening is not to discuss about the showbiz, but rather, on the Dharma.

I met Henry few mths ago at one of the Kathina Ceremony, and got to befriend him. I am really very impressed by his enthusiasm in the Buddhism, considering the fact that he only gets to know the Dharma less than 6 mths ago. Since then, he has already attended several meditation retreats, a Myammar mission trip, and have met up with many venerables/bhantes etc. His knowledge on the Dharma is also very impressive as a 'beginner'.

Today, he asked me along to the Om Mani Pad Me Hum retreat (as part-timer) at PKS. After which, we went to a private hospital to chant for a very sick young man, who is dying of cancer. Henry shared that he has been wasting too much time in the past, and wished he could have started his cultivation at a younger age. He jokingly told me last evening at his place that just 6mths ago, he was still busy catching those korean dramas. Now, he has given away almost all his korean VCDs. He also said that if not because of the Dharma, he should be now wasting precious time training up his body swimming or jogging.

This aftn at awareness place, he was excitedly introducing the different Dharma books and chanting CDs to me. He was basically smiling and saying hi to everyone in the temple. The Dharma joy in him is simply over-flowing.

I guess thats how much Buddhism can change the life of a person for the better - and i believe each and everyone of us has our own unique yet similar experience in getting in touch with the Dharma.

Henry has appealed to me to inform him of any upcoming buddhist activities (without fail). Well, seriously i think he is much more informed than me, considering the fact that i have 'lost touch' with buddhism for quite a while, lol.

We are back!

Mum & Grandbaby

Flooded with Babies

It was a day with many babies at home.

1) Baby Ashley with her tiny palm grabbing my thumb

2) Baby Ashley lying on my lap looking at me

3) Baby Clair (2.5mths old) grabbing her mum's arm

4) Baby Ryan (11mths old) learning how to walk on the sofa

Feeling Fresh with the Baby

The arrival of baby ashley has brought much joy to my family. Everyday, my mum will make her way to my bro's home to help around, while i would drive from work all the way to SengKang to visit my baby niece. My dad will pop by at times and video cam the baby. Back at home, he would upload the clips onto his computer and watch them before he sleeps, LOL.

As for me, work has become much more hectic, but more sense of acheivement. And I have really recovered from my broken heart, as i challenged myself to visit my once beloved Pierce Reservoirs once again. This place has indeed brought back fond memories of my very short-lived relationship. These memories, shall always remain as fond memories.

The baby is 3 day old

9-hr-old baby, need i say more?

Rejunvenated

For the first time, I feel very grateful to my company.

We were each given a hotel room at Shangrila - Rasa Sentosa Beach resort over the weekend. Moreover, we are allowed to bring our family/spouse/friends along with us.

The hotel room is great (Shangrila cant be too bad), only slightly inferior to those 5-star suites i stayed in Shanghai. The dinner was excellent, and the bkfast was marvellous.

This is definitely a terrific break for me, much more rejunevating that the 5-day hari-raya-deevapali break i had 2 weeks ago. Most imptly, it is the great companionship i had with my colleagues and a friend whom i brought along. We had a wonderful time drinking beer by the beach. Yeps, i am back to beer drinking, and i always know i am a strong drinker since my army days, despite stopping for 6yrs (cos my dad, brother, aunts are super great drinkers too).

I really thank my company for the sponsorship and organising of this offsite event. It definitely means much more than the number of laptops and ipaqs i have added up altogether.

Treats from smallbros

Pic 1 & 2

Not too bad an idea to be a bigbro as i get dinner treats from the younger ones haha. Thanks for the dinner!

On the flipside, I have ballooned up once again. In fact, i have now acheived my max weight in my 27 yrs of life. Time to do something....

Pic 3
Sentosa outing for BS 26th MC. Thought its a pretty nice and light hearted photo to share :D

Santhi Forest Monastery & Ven Hui Guang

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A pretty much delayed entry:

Last week was a meaningful weekend as I spent my sat nite at Santhi Forest Monastery at Johor, followed by Kathina on Sunday morning. The companionship was great with the usual NDR ppl, in addition to old NTU friends like kici, teddy, sumantri and bubu.

Besides attending the very meaningful kathina ceremony, i also get to receive some very good Dharma books, which i didnt get to see in Sg. The bonus of this trip must be the meeting of HuiGuang Bhante, whose presence and Dharma talk further reinforced my faith and will to keep the precepts well.

The monastery is beautiful, sitted in the midst of the forests. But Teddy and me ended up eat and eat and eat and eat and eat at the food fair, hahaha.

I used to be the one taking lots of pics of kici - now, he is the one who went round shooting others with his digicam....... kici old liao, final yr student already, haha.

Piping through the Green Forest (Mandai)

Peaceful Evening @ Bk Timah

I left work early yday afternoon and decided to head down to Bk Timah Nature Reserves for a short relaxation.

Cool, the quarry ambience was so peaceful and relaxing. Spotted a very loving family of 3 by the side and decided to take some pictures of them.

The baby was sleeping soundly in its mummy's cradle, while the father is hugging the mother from the back affectionately.

Hehee...

Start the ball rolling

Managed to squeeze a few hrs of my sunday to attend the 28th MC retreat.

The society is now made up of very fun loving and energetic people. There were even a number of freshies (yes, yr1s!) joining in today's session (imagine they have only started their NUS life jus a couple of mths ago). Indeed, the society belongs to everybody, be it the MCs, old seniors, active members and freshies. Everyone contributes and shld feel a sense of belonging to the society.

This pic is taken with my discussion grp - i think they are really great. I feel very movitated and spirited with them around.

One very important person we must thank is Puay Kim aka PK. I think he has played a very crucial role in bringing back the alumni to the society (Dharma circles in particular), which has definitely given a strong positive impact to the society.

Its always easy to be just physical present, make a few effortless comments etc. But to get things planned out and really get them moving is a totally different story. PK has started the ball rolling.

ChooChoo Track Revisit

Check out more photos @ www.sgnature.blogspot.com & photobucket_sgnature

Railway Revisit - The gals are great!

Kudos to my female colleagues who braved with us through the abandoned railway track. I have really underestimated them. They were much more garang and adventurous than i have expected. Well done ladies!

Great attendance for Dharma Circle

I am very impressed by the turnouts of the NUSBS Dharma Circles. Besides the invited alumni, we actually have surprise alumni visits - ppl whom we have never met before.

It seems that the favourable conditions are all coming back to support the society.

Mini Bday Celebration

Lena's bday! Bought a brownie from Spinelli at my work place and we had a mini celebration at PGP.

I really feel fortunate to have found her as my soul mate.