the unthinkable

[L]: So, I just received word from my fellow foreign friend (also my classmate) here. The unthinkable happened. While in our school's bathroom, she dropped her cellphone into the squattie potty. And it didn't just fall in the outer rim. No, it fell into the deep hole, the abyss. Never again to be recovered.

When I use the bathroom at school, I always looked at the deep hole and often had nightmares of what would happened if I dropped something valuable into that hole. I mean, it would be so easy for something valuable to fall from my pants pockets into that hole...

Well, today, it finally happened.

Sorry for your loss today, my friend.

The umbrella curse

[L]: Several weeks or so ago, a big rainstorm came through. There were so much wind gusts that our umbrellas broke. Or rather, it flipped inside out/upside down... and after that, well, it was just never the same again. We bought more umbrellas. And through big wind, it broke again. And of course, on top of that, I accidentally left one in the school cafeteria, and when I came back to look for it, it was gone.

So, Edwin went on a quest to find durable umbrella. He even looked for ones that have "vents" that can sustain high-speed winds, so that he can even ride his bike and use his umbrella at the same time. Edwin saw this kind of special vented umbrellas advertised in a catalog once when we were on an international flight -- you know, those "in-flight" shopping magazines that they place on the back of every airline seat. [Disclaimer: I am convinced that it's not safe to ride bikes while using the umbrellas especially in stormy weather. But I do confess that when push comes to shove (and I am late to class and other things), well... I use the umbrella and speed on my bike too. Sigh. So much for double standard.]

Anyhow, after much research, Edwin finally found a place to order these special vented umbrellas online from America. He got it shipped to our parents place, and through PB who came to visit this past month, we got it brought over. Yeah! =)

That same week that we got our new special-vented umbrella, we went for a walk with some friends to go find a place to eat. The sun was beating down, and so, we offered our umbrellas to be used as a sun-shade.

Unfortunately, our poor friends had no idea that one buttom can close/open the umbrella in an instant. Yes, it's very high-tech! They ended up manually wrestling with the umbrella to close/open it. After lunch, our poor friends sadly returned the umbrella with lots of apologies, confused at why the umbrella suddenly became twisted/bent out of shape. Our poor friends felt so bad... And, our umbrella was broken.

Since then, Edwin traced the origin of this special vented umbrella and found that it was actually made HERE! (Surprise?! haha, most everything is made here on this side of the world anyhow.) It is exported. Long-story short: our umbrella was made here, exported to America, sold there, we bought it, and it got brought back to us here. Being the good resourceful researcher he is, he contacted the place and asked them to repair it! (It had life-time warranty.)

Sadly, no. Though it's made here at the factory, it is to be sold to a distributor in America. And, we have to buy it from the distributor. And if it's broken, well, we need to go to the distributor for it to be fixed! Sigh...

It's like living next to the candy store, but not being able to buy any candy! =(

Such is our umbrella curse.

Luckily, we will go home eventually, and one day, get that thing fixed. After all, there's life-time warranty isn't it? =)

In the meantime, we'll just buy more "local" umbrellas...

INFJ

[L]: Lots of people say that I am an extrovert. But there are also some who adamantly say I am an introvert. For a long time, I couldn't decide whether I am introvert or extrovert. I really enjoy people. But I also crave time being alone. I think I can potentially go to a cave for days, and perhaps still feel like I can enjoy more solitude. Maybe I am just a confused person...

Someone here finally asked me to take this test.

So, here are the results. I took several different tests to see if they have the same results. Without fail, all of them say I am an INFJ. Other tests I take say I am a "melancholy."

Hmmmm.... Here's the profile of an INFJ.

http://typelogic.com/infj.html

If you want to take the test for yourself, here are the links:

http://www.similarminds.com/jung.html

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

I would ask you to comment and let me know what you are... but alas, I don't have the comment section enabled. But friends, feel free to send me your results in an e-mail. =)

a glimpse of heav'n?

[L]: For the past months or so, it seems that everywhere I go, I run into people that tell me about a particular mountain I need to visit. From my teachers, to my local (native) friends at school, to any random person... Ahhhh, you must visit this mountain. After that, you don't need to go to any other mountain here.

Okay. Point taken.

We've been busy, and for us to find an opportunity to go is very difficult. However, a chance opened up last weekend. And so, we and a few friends decided go visit this mountain. We stuffed our backpacks and got on a train, traveled like a "local," and arrived the next morning. (We were groggy and barely slept.)

But the weekend proved to be well worth it. The mountain was gorgeous, engulfed in a sea of fog and cloud. There was a point where we couldn't see anything -- only the white thick fog around us. And there were many moments when we were simply exhausted from climbing the never-ending steps (some hard-working people came before our time and carved out steps all the way to the top!). It sure felt like we climbed a thousand staircases, and much of our time, we could barely see.

There were moments when I just wanted to complain, "Are we there yet?!" The staircase gets narrower and steeper... there were parts where I ended having to crawl on my hands and knees. But, alas, an unforgettable moment came when we finally got high enough that we were able to poke our heads out above the clouds.

And there before us, were mystical peaks surrounded by a sea of drifting clouds. It was so beautiful I wanted to cry. Is this what heav'n will look like?! Maybe this is just a fraction...

And suddenly, all my sweat, pain, exhaustion from the hours of climbing those seemingly endless stairs...all disappeared. Because catching this glimpse was truly all worth it.

This reminds me of A. Paul, in a paraphrase -- fight the good fight of fth and take hold of the e. life to which you are called...

And I am reminded also, the hope in what-is-to-come gives us the strength to persevere.

Here's a pic of Edwin enjoying a view:



On our way, we encountered a funny sign. My favorite one is #3.