A Missed Call & A very simple kinda happiness

Last evening, I had a missed call on my phone at 9.30pm.

+91........

A call from India.

This number was not in my phonebook.

I was thinking that it must be my Indian Colleague calling me.

He used to call me at odd hours.

He might have changed his number.

If it was that urgent, he would call me back.

So I just left it as it was.

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This morning at work

Surprised that there were no emails from my Indian Colleague or any India counterparts.

until I talked to Hanyang (My India Travelmate) on msn.

Our Nepali-Indian friend (Wang Di) called him last night at around 9.30pm

Then it started to dawn on me

my missed call was from a kind friend we met during our backpacking trip

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Despite being quite frustrated with work

it brought happiness and joy instantly

It was a very simple kind of happiness

It brought back fond memories

Kindness, friendship

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Wang-di and his sister
http://boon-india07.blogspot.com/2008/01/bodhgaya-bihar.html
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Their simple kindness will always be remembered.

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A Nice Text Message from Wang-Di:

"Hello my friends HAN,BOON n SIS....Hope u n ur families r in good health. imreally hapy that u all respond my homly hospitality. i praise u all because u remembered me and my family from a great distance. i do hope u all will visit india again and not miss my home in DARJEELING too. I contact my family this morning and share them about u all they became very much excited and express their LOVE,GRACE and BEST WISHES to uall. this much for today love u all."

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**He still thinks that peiyun was my sister. While we were traveling in India, we told the local that yun was our sister, as India was still a very conservative society.
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I remember asking Wang-di if he would like to stay in City or Darjeeling (Foothill of the Himalayas). His immediate & firm reply was "What's great about city? Pollution was so bad". He mentioned that he couldn't wait to go back to Darjeeling to breathe fresh air.
I am really happy for him.
He knows that he is living in paradise.
A place with fresh air, good weather & the view of the most majestic mountain ranges - the HIMALAYAS
Nice people and great culture

City Chase Singapore 2008

This is my second time participating in the City Chase Singapore.

My team (Jon & myself) - Boong - last year's ranking was number 15.

As for this year, I kept telling friends and jon that I had already packed my bag for Morocco Trip (where the winning team will represent Singapore for the International City Chase in November).

I was really kidding, as we were quite slack and did not really meet up to strategize or plan, however, we had a rough idea how to do it from last year's experience.

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Prior to the race, we surveyed the competition landscape and this year's competitors (221 teams) looked much fitter and prepared than last year's participants. This year's hints for the pit-stops were much more difficult than last year. There were17 hints/clues given for 17 pit-stops. To complete the race, all the team must finish 10 pit-stops (correctly solving the hint for the pit-stop and finishing the task at the pit-stop).

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Example of one of the hints:

Brainfreeze.

It is where a Dutch Icon stands, but look for the Rock and not for the sand.

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Pit-Stop: It is an ice-cream shop in Holland Village.

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My team took ONE HOUR to roughly solve around 8 hints (not even 10) and plan our route, before we set off.

By the time, we left the starting point, we were already the last few teams.

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Guess What?

After 4hrs 17mins, We came in No. 2

It was a pleasant surprise as I thought we would be No. 10.

I knew that we were doing well, as at pit-stop No. 5, they were already reporting our progress to the organiser.

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Even though we were happy that we came in second, we felt abit disappointed that we only lost out to the winning team by only 9 mins.

So no prize for runner-up.

No Morocco Trip.

But at least, our names are mentioned in the website below.

haha... Cheap Thrill!

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http://www.citychaseasia.com/Welcome/Top_nav/News.htm

"August 23rd 2008, Singapore… 221 teams flagged off at Central today for Nat Geo City Chase Singapore with Cameron Richards and Greg Shand coming in first with a time of four hours, eight minutes and 57 seconds. Boo Wei Jie Jonathan and *** **** *** finished second and Audrey and Scott Mitchell came in third with a time of four hours 17minutes and five seconds and four hours 29 minutes and 16 seconds respectively."

Winning Team

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As part of the rules, only Singapore Citizens or PRs could represent Singapore for the event. So when I was crossing the finishing line, I was quite happy to see 2 Ang Mos. The first 2 questions that I asked were "What's our position?" and "Are they Singapore PRs?"

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Unfortunately, both of them are PRs and have been living in Singapore for around 10 years.

Anyway, in the event that they couldn't make it for the Morocco event, the runner-up team will replace them.

Boong Team
(Winning team were getting interviewed at the background)
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Boon: "We are the No. 2 team"
Jon: "We are the first Asian team"
Nobody cares about runner-up team, so we gotta do this to make ourselves happy.
haha...
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It was raining quite heavily during the race, and I had a fall after clearing the 3rd Pit-stop.

I was thinking... "Damn! We still have 7 pit-stops to clear, and I do not have plaster etc..."

At least, I learnt that there are alot of nice Singaporeans. =)

One guy gave me a plaster, and advised us how to get to the next pit-stop via bus.

He wished us good luck and alighted the bus.

nice!

It's a simple act of kindness that made me happy and grateful!

THANK YOU!!!

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Highlights:

- Jumping off from a 5m platform into the pool

(I have a new found respect for all the olympian divers who could do so much turns and twisting within that short time.)

- Eating 3 worms

(The kind that you feed to birds. At least, it's tasteless.)

- Jogging in the rain

- Don't care about others' expression when I looked drenched and dirty.

- Not blaming each other for mistakes (We are a team!!!)

- "Don't care about results, let's do our best!" attitude

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At the end, it's the journey that matters!

Photography: Happy 43rd Birthday Singapore!!!

My way of expressing my patriotism...

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Wondering where did I get my inspiration?

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I would say that it was a good effort...

I gave myself 2 pats on my shoulder. haha...

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CBD as the background...

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Sea of Red and white...

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Aerial Display...

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Majulah Singapura...

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I want to be a pilot...

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The view is better than the performance... sadly...

(I guess the reason is that I saw the opening of the Beijing Olympics the previous night)

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Like this picture

(excluding that person...)

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Fireworks display...

A Random Dream or An Omen?

I had a weird dream.

Sometimes, I am wondering if dream is a chain of random thoughts strung together, or is it an omen for change?

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I saw a table full of FOOD.

roasted chicken, pork...

then, a roasted headless-human body.

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Yes, it's scary.

The image was very vivid.

In fact, I was wondering where is the head.

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Is it a random dream or thought?

Is it an Omen to become a vegetarian?

Kinga Freespirit - "Life is a journey...enjoy it"

Freedom! - 'Tame birds sing in cages - Wild ones fly free.

Taken from:

http://www.kingafreespirit.pl/kingaen/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6&Itemid=7

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Hitchhiking Around the World

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"We are learning a lot along the way. Learned that the way and what you experience along it is often more important than the destination itself. But every person may learn a different thing. Everybody will learn what they need. For us hitchhiking is one of the best ways. Hitchhiking is not always easy. It's not for everybody either. You get stuck for hours or days in one place, you feel powerless, hopeless and frustrated... But it has its rewards and we feel it's worth it. If you really feel like this is what you want to do - just go and do it. Don't plan much. Just go and let the journey show you what it has in store for you - it may be well beyond your dreams."

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Photography: Pulau Ubin

Life!!!
Solitude 1

I like this pic alot. =)
Solitude 2

Autumn???

Tropical Coconut Trees...

Zen Bamboo...

Still Zen...