3 Blooms Now!

Real Life Wilderness Explorers

Over the weekend, 2 boy scouts knocked at my door sometime in the late afternoon, while i was exploring my Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Mini (what a beautiful thing it is!).

I hesitantly glanced through the peephole, and decided to ignore them because (1) I was feeling evil, (2) I was convinced they were going to try to sell me something and (3) I have been conditioned by this unfeeling and ill mannered environment. Koks was rushing around the apartment, and was getting bugged by our rapping monkey doorbell, so he opened the door, told the boy we didn't want anything and shut the door.

"Oh no, i feel kinda bad now. The boy was quite adorable," said Koks.

I pondered for a second, and went to open the door.

Me: Hi, how can I help you?

Boy: Hi, good afternoon. I'm a boy scout from XXX school, it is job week this week. Is there any household chore that I can help you with?

Me: *bursts out in laughter* What can you do???

Boy: I can help you throw away newspapers, or sweep the floor.

Me: Oh my god, you're like Russell visiting Mr. Fredricksen in Up.

(Boy 2 joins from neighbour's apartment)

Boy 2: Oh! Your son is a boy scout too?? (kiddo, do i look like i could have a son your age, you @#*^%#*&^%#)

Me: No, i mean Russell from the movie Up, who goes to visit Mr. Fredricksen.

Boy 2: We have a Russell in our Boy Scouts Team too!!

Me: *rolls eyes* Okay, come in come in. Let's find you something to do.

So I let boy 1 and boy 2 (now known to me as the 2 Russells) into the apartment. Of course, the apartment was spanking clean, and i wasn't going to let the boys destroy that. So i got them to put my freshly cut flowers into a vase (Boy 1: We have to cut the stems at a slant, so that the flowers can absorb more water) and water my plants on the verandah (Boy 2: I had to be careful when watering your plants so as not to flood the roots. Do you know the roots could rot that way and die??).

Thereafter, i gave them each a cup of apple juice (with aloe vera bits, of course), signed their job week cards, gave them 10 bucks each and sent them on their way. What a lovely surprise it turned out to be! It kept me smiling (and laughing inside) for the rest of the Sunday and made me feel good to play Mr. Fredricksen for a while. It's great to be able to help a stranger, particularly when they are kids going out trying to learn how to earn money!

The Green Murderer and a Miracle

I admit, I do not have green fingers. I have tried to grow plants at home, but to no avail... I can't and don't want to count the number of green friends I have massacred over the years.

...sniff... it's too painful to recall.

2 Christmases ago (i.e. 2008), I received an orchid plant from Kathl as a gift. And i thought to myself, what a lovely plant... oh no, I'm going to kill it. I carried the pot home, excited and apprehensive at the same time. It was in full bloom at that time.

I witnessed, as days went by, the gradual degeneration of the plant, and it left me torn and devastated. I watered it, i spoke to it, but nothing seemed to work. The stems turned brown, the leaves fell off. Even ants began to make its roots home.

Then one day, the neighbouring plant toppled over its stand (i suspect it's the white fat cat loitering our stairway!) and fell out of its pot (and died, of course). Some of the soil from the pot accidentally crumbled into the pot holding the orchid plant. I didn't know how I could possible remove the soil without hurting its roots, so i left it there.

Strangely enough, my orchid plant began to show signs of life... A new bud of leave sprouted out of the parched stem... then another, and then another. And they began to grow and grow and grow. This gave me a renewed sense of motivation, and I got more diligent in watering the plant. Twice a week, a pinch of fertilizer for each watering.

Last week, a miracle happened!! Flower buds grew out of the plant!!! It went beyond showing a sign of life, but a desire to enhance its existence with blooms! Blooms!!! Who would have thought??? Since then, I have been checking on the buds everyday, speaking soft words of tenderness to them, egging them to stay strong and to grow.

Yesterday, after a day out, i came home, and lo and behold.

There was a flower.

A flower!!!! The plant made it!! It escaped the crutches of death, clawed its way back, and bloomed!!!!

I can't wait for the other buds to open and lend me a new lease of life!!!!

Starring.... in the Movie of Her Life

The Sartorialist's posted a picture today of a gentleman on the streets of Milano, with the header "Starring in the Movie of His Life". How brilliant!!! The picture is great, of course, effectively and magically capturing the moment (the gentleman was definitely well dressed, God bless him); but Scott Schuman hit it on the nail with the header.

Aren't we all... starring in the movie of our lives???

So if you were the director of the movie of your life, how will it look like? What's the setting, the mood, the pace? Will it be cinematic? Will it be more Quentin Tarantino (mine will be for sure, with all my morbid thoughts and bloody dreams!), Roman Polanski, Steven Spielberg, Danny Boyle, Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou, Pedro Almodovar... or Tim Burton??

What will your story be like? Who will be the protagonists and the supporting actors/ actresses? Oh!! And how will your soundtrack sound like (that's a thought!)? What will the storytelling be like?

Koks and I had an interesting conversation in the car today (between dropping of Marrybrown, getting our travelling backpacks and Macdonald's Nuggets..), about believing in that nothing is impossible. We are lucky to be in the position where we have options, and are able to achieve what we set our hearts on. We genuinely believe that the world is our oyster, and that the only limiting factor or obstacle to us making the movie of our lives a blockbuster, is ourselves.

I hope to always have this attitude, yet to have my head sit firmly on my shoulders.

There is not that much more meaning to life!

What do you see?