Auld Lang Syne ~ Happy New Year 2010

Andre Rieu - Auld lang syne

Happy New Year.

Peace, Metta (Loving Kindness) and Good Health to all of you.

Seven Nights In Japan (1976 Movie)

Seven Nights In Japan

I have been looking for this movie for so long. I watched it in a theatre when I was 6-7 years old. Then, I had a chance to watch it again for a second time in my teens. I have given up hope of ever finding this romantic movie. I am very happy to find it now.

The Theme song is called "竹田の子守唄(TakedanoKomoriuta).

竹田子守唄-倍償千惠子
守(も)りもいやがる　盆(ぼん)から先(さき)にゃ
雪(ゆき)もちらつくし　子(こ)も泣(のな)くし　
盆(ぼん)が来(き)たとて　なにうれしかろ
帷(かた)子(びら)はなし　帯(おび)はなし　
この子(こ)よう泣(のな)く　守(も)りをばいじる
守(も)りも一(いち)日(ひち)　やせるやら　　　　　
はよもゆきたや　この在(さい)所(しょう)こえて
むこうに見(み)えるは　親(こや)のうち　
むこうに見(み)えるは　親(こや)のうち　

Mori mo iyagaru Bon kara saki nya

Yuki mo chiratsukushi Ko mo nakushi

Bon ga kita to te Nani ureshikaro

Katabira wa nashi Obi wa nashi

Kono ko you naku Mori wo baijiru

Mori mo ichinichi Yaseru yara

Hayo mo ikita ya Kono sato koete

Mukou ni mieru wa Oya no uchi

Mukou ni mieru wa Oya no uchi

Remembering 9-11~Never Forget

Never forget 9-11.

May those who perished rest in peace.
May God bless our heros.
May God Bless The United States of America.

Exchange Between Father & Daughter While Crossing A Bridge

My sister sent to me this meaningful piece:-

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.
The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,
'Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river.'
The little girl said, 'No, Dad. You hold my hand.'
'What's the difference?' Asked the puzzled father.
'There's a big difference,' replied the little girl.

'If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go.
But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.'

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.
So hold the hand of the person who loves you rather than expecting them to hold yours...

No Man Is An Island

A friend of mine gave this piece to me:-

No man is an island. However rich or clever we may be, we can not be on our own. We are inter-linked with and inter-dependent on a whole lot of people---past, present and future. What we are comes from the past, from our forefathers; we give and take from all those we know at present; and hopefully we can pass on something of ourselves to the future—the generation to come after us. In fact, we are once more linked in an almost endless chain that stretches from the distant past to the hazy future. By all means, be proud of what you can and have done: but never forget how much we are to others, far and near, who help us to be what we are.

Inspirational Story For New American

excerpt from the article, HOW FAR WE HAVE COME (FINDING FREEDOM AND GOOD FORTUNE IN AN ADOPTED LAND, WRITTEN BY RICHARD SEVEN) in The Settle Times Magazine on July 4, 2004

With his father, Jimmy, left, Gov. Gary Locke poses with children Dylan and Emily outside the governor's mansion in Olympia.

GARY LOCKE
From Chinese village to governor's mansion
Gov. Gary Locke made history by becoming the country's first Chinese-American to hold the position. Today, as he has done each Fourth of July for a decade, he will address the annual naturalization ceremony at Seattle Center. It means a lot to him, he says, as does an old framed photo of a house he displays in his office:

"This house is actually the house that my grandfather worked in as a servant boy shortly after he came over in the late 1800s as a teenager. It is literally one mile from here. I joked at my inauguration that it took my family 100 years to go one mile.

A large contingent of the Locke family came from the same rural village in China and settled in Olympia. After the racial tension here, some, including my grandfather, moved to Seattle. As with Chinese custom, he'd send money he earned back home, and made a few trips back and forth. He got married there and started a family, and eventually he brought them over.


COURTESY OF GARY LOCKE
Jimmy Locke, center, joined the Army after attending Garfield High School. He took part in the invasion of Normandy during World War II.
My dad was born in China and came over as a teenager. He went to Garfield High School and joined the Army. He was part of the Normandy invasion during World War II. After the war, he went to Hong Kong, married and brought my mom here. We lived in Yesler Terrace housing project for a while. We eventually bought a house on Beacon Hill, in a very multicultural community.
We grew up speaking Chinese at home, and I didn't learn English until about kindergarten, which was right at the time my mom was learning English to become a U.S. citizen.
We grew up with a lot of Chinese customs, an emphasis on learning and staying home and helping out. I'd see TV shows like 'Father Knows Best,' 'Ozzie and Harriet,' 'The Donna Reed Show,' and I'd wonder, how come Mrs. Cleaver wears a dress, high heels and pearl necklace while she is vacuuming the floor? How come my mom doesn't do that? Mr. Cleaver wears a coat and tie at the dinner table. How come my father doesn't do that? Are we not American?
My older siblings and I couldn't go to dances; you can't go out or go to friends' houses. There was a lot of tension between what my parents expected and were used to versus what I saw Caucasian and other classmates doing.
Mona (his wife) and I are Americans through and through, but we think it is important that people of all backgrounds and ethnic groups try to instill in their kids their culture and ethnicity. A blending of both worlds.
During my first year in office, I went on a trade mission to China and was able to visit the village where my grandfather and father were born. The whole village welcomed us. Inside the ancestral home on a wall were pictures of the entire Locke clan for the last 100 years. It was like stepping back in the 1800s. No indoor plumbing. It was so emotional for me.
It made me realize how fortunate we are to live in the U.S. and that my success was really part of the dreams and aspirations of the entire village. America has always been the beacon around the world of freedom, hope and opportunity, and families would sacrifice, scrimp and save and hope that someone in their family could make that trip.
That picture on the wall is a reminder of how far we've come."

Why Worry

Why Worry???
There are only two things to worry about;
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about;
But if you are sick there are only two things to worry about;
Whether you will get well, or whether you will die.
If you get well, there is nothing to worry about;
But if you die, there are only two things to worry about;
Whether you go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven there is nothing to worry about;
And if you go to hell you’ll be so busy shaking hands with old friends, you won’t have time to worry.
SO WHY WORRY??

Facing The Music At The Tea Shop

You are going to see tea shops in every street or every corner of the Capital of Burma, Rangoon. The tea shop is the place to meet friends and have small talks or discuss politics, and business matters over milky hot, rich in sweet (Mildly sweet or mildly sweet and strong) tea. I used to sit at the tea shop with friends and English tuition teacher after 2 hours class every weekday. The group used to sit at the KhaYaGi (Big Kettle) in 37Th street, Rangoon, which was located next to my future wife's house. The group would continue to discuss about the topics, which were being went through in the class and had open discussions within a handful of friends and teacher. That group discussion had brought our group closer to each other, and helped better understanding of poems and language.

I also went out for late tea shop trips (sometimes at Sit Kaung aka Real Good) with a close friend and a university classmate, Ye Win Aung. We would sit at the tea shop next to SaBalOo (First Jasmine Recording) music producer and recording company. The SaBalOo recording company would play soon to be released singers' music (Singers like Soe Lwin Lwin, Khine Htoo, Chit Kaung, and Htoo Htoo) on the boom box. We would have a blast. We would rate the music and lyrics. Once more, How much I miss the good times, carefree younger years by facing the music with a cup of sweet tea.

Christmas of 2007

Merry Christmas to you.
I rang up my father's youngest sister (SayKu) on Christmas eve (New York Time). Sayku had already returned from Christmas morning mass at 10:30 am in Taunggu (Burma), over 10000 miles away from New York City. She was very happy to hear from me, especially on Christmas morning. I was also happy to have the line connected and found her lost phone number, which I had been looking for days. She was not feeling well for two days, and she was hoping to receive phone calls.