Saturday 28 February 2009

《三杯茶 》令人震惊的承诺,与情感


今天一边看《三杯茶》,一边哭得断断续续。这书是我近期于书展所买的,还记得那时手里扛着一大叠书排着队正要付钱,眼睛还不停地瞄着柜台上的书,深怕错过什么似的。然后在收银员打着最后一本书前, 我只粗略地看了看书后的内容简介就赶忙“啪”的一声放在她眼前,结果惹来一记白眼。但都值得,也庆幸在最后一秒还能让我买到这么一本好书。
并不是虚构的故事,也没有很华丽修饰词句,只因真实的画面往往最撼动人心。诚意推荐令我读到感动不已而泪流满面的这本《三杯茶》。这份感动,得要你亲自阅读才能了解。。


敬上第一杯茶,你是一個陌生人。
再奉第二杯茶,你是我們的朋友。
第三杯茶,你是我的家人,我將用生命來保護你。

一個早逝女孩的生命,讓另一群女孩擁有改變世界的力量。

在過去的十二年,巴基斯坦、阿富汗及西藏山區,六十所學校陸續成立,摩頓森守護妹妹的信念,讓他願意用生命去化解世界上最大的仇恨,幫助一群女孩有勇氣改變世界。

當我們懷疑,一個人的力量是否真的能改變世界時,願意放棄日常生活享受的摩頓森做到了!

書中主人翁摩頓森原來是個登山家,1993攀登世界第二高峰K2時發生意外,與隊友們失去連絡,只留下他一人,沒有水也沒有食物。十分幸運地,他在巴基斯坦山區的一個偏僻小村落被救起,而且在村民的細心照護下,他的身體得以康復。被村民的善良所感動的摩頓森發現,當地小孩在寒冷的天气里只能坐在戶外髒汙的泥地上上課,用棍子画着沙子写字。村民窮到沒錢聘請老師。为了感谢他们,摩頓森告诉自己,承諾一定會回來為他們辦所學校…… 

他放棄白天的工作,過著最低度的生活,到圖書館尋找名人錄、找出一個個參議員與明星的名字,在還不會使用電腦的時候,租用打字機開始寄出580封信;當他灰心不已的時候,是小學生激勵了他:

「我真的發現,要解釋半天,讓大人聽懂為何要幫助巴基斯坦的學生是件很困難的事。」摩頓森說,「但是這些孩子馬上就懂了。當他們看到照片時,沒有辦法相信怎麼會有這樣的地方:孩子在寒冷的天氣坐在戶外,沒有老師教、卻努力上著課。他們馬上就決定要做點什麼。」

六個月後,他終於收到回信,一張一萬二千美金的支票,足夠蓋第一間學校,他終於可以前往巴基斯坦蓋學校,......摩頓森會實現他的承諾嗎?

一個人,一個承諾,一段辛苦漫長的旅程,許許多多人的愛心,一個美麗的承諾,終於實踐。故事的後來,的確是美好結局:在過去的十二年後,摩頓森總共在巴基斯坦、阿富汗及西藏山區,蓋了不止一所,而是六十所學校,特別是能讓女孩子上學的學校。

◎本書榮獲

2007太平洋西北獨立書店書卷獎
(The Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Book of the Years)
2007奇里雅瑪環太平洋文學獎
(The nonfiction winner of the 2007 Kiriyama Prize)
班夫山圖書展獎
(Banff Mountain Book Festival)
蒙大拿紐西蘭圖書獎
(Montana New Zealand Book awards)

Friday 27 February 2009

When He’s Just Not Into You

HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

At once, I was furious.. Shocked.. Why doesn’t he like me??

I was very confused for a moment. Maybe he’s just not interested. Maybe he’s gay. Maybe I have to stop kidding myself.

But now everything is pretty clear and obvious.

Gah, I'm still long waiting for this movie to show in Malaysia.

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Cherish Friendship

With lovely bb eve~*

Monday 9 February 2009

Fashion Find: Seafolly Swimsuits

I’m trying to go for a 5km run or small swim every day, do yoga or stretches every other day.

And I’m seriously hankering for a new swimsuit!

Here’s me eyeing some super-cute, yummy pieces from Seafolly.

Saturday 7 February 2009

Pizza: Vegetarian and Cheeseless

My family is trying to eat less cheese and dairy. So with homemade vegetarian pizzas for dinner, I decided to make mum and dad a cheese-less version.

Pita bread with tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, capsicums, green beans, olives, mushrooms.

I cracked an egg in the centre and sprinkled some dukkah (an Egyptian blend of spices and crushed nuts), salt, and cracked pepper all over. Into a 180C oven for 20 minutes.

The smell of the roasted dukkah was INCREDIBLE. My goodness, I could hardly contain myself.

And then I noticed that I had accidentally crumbled feta onto it… CHEESE! OOPS. Silly me. So I decided to eat it myself.

(I made them another one! I’m not that mean!)

Friday 6 February 2009

Twins~

Hi, I'm Ah Kiew~ (阿娇)

and I'm Ah Sa!
Gotta see the TWINS finally on the other day, and they are just more than adorable!! ^^

Tuesday 3 February 2009

Personal Monthly Goals - Febraury 2009

I don’t think I’m a naturally disciplined and focused person.

I’m more of a “all over the place person”. I have so many interests and passions, that I often find myself losing focus.

I get easily distracted by problems and projects. I get side-tracked by interesting projects that pop up. Or I have little flits of inspiration that take up large amounts of time.

I think if I didn’t practice any self-discipline, I’d find myself 5 years down the track, thinking, “Huh? Where’d my life go? What did I do with my time?”

So I believe in setting personal and life goals.


Throughout 2008, I’ve made it a point to reflect and work on them every month. And I must say, I’ve found it to be very fulfilling and rewarding.

My goals for the new year are [still] very simple.

Take care of myself. Eat well. Live well. Exercise. Have time for myself. Balance my activities. Manage my stress and anxiety.

Take care of my family. Love my parents. Make time for them. Talk. Laugh. Be honest.

Take care of my pets. Have alone time with each of my pet. Talk to them. Play with them. Enjoy them. Create happy experiences for them.

Be part of my community. Make time for friends. Give my time to helping others. Organise gatherings.


I do have a few more ambitious goals. But these take second place to the ones mentioned above.

1) Develop and dedicate a bit more time and energy to this blog.

2) Run in a marathon more ofthen.

3) Master the guitar and keep upgrade my violin.

4) Learn to speak Korean and French
.

A Time for Reflection and Hope

The other evening I happened to watch a 5 minute special news feature – a video compilation of people and events that defined 2008.

There were earth quakes in China. Bombings in India. War in the Middle East. Terror. Floods. Famine. Disease. Financial Crisis.

Then there was the Olympics in Beijing. Reconciliation for Indigenous Australians. Presidential election in America. And so much more.

I must admit, I was moved. By it all. The good and the bad.

I was struck by a phenomenal amount of sadness. Yet I was filled with a deep sense of hope. 2008 has been quite a year for the world. For everyone. For me.

My heart goes out to all my friends. May you find hope and happiness, in this new year.

Monday 2 February 2009

感恩

二月,充满爱的月份。

今天又收到一个朋友的投诉说,喂你呀好久都没写部落格了。。。

想一想真的很久了。。

多久没有坐下好好地读一本书,
多久没有静静的听我爱的CD,
多久没有痛快的畅泳,
多久没有对人说。。。我,喜欢你呢?

那天晚上,有机会到一个环境幽美,四处都布满虫鸣,浪漫的公园。我真的很享受那份恬静的时刻,耳边传来爵士乐淡淡的旋律,眼前是伴着点点灯光绝美的湖泊。我竟呆呆的坐着,忘了身在何处。。

那晚,是难忘的夜晚。。太久没有过那样的时光了,感激那位带我去的朋友。

生活中有时候太匆忙,忘了要停下脚步,看一看身边的人事物。天上的星星从来没有离开过,然而人们却一直忘了抬头仰望,幸福其实一直就在身边。

假如命运折断了希望的风帆,请不要绝望,岸还在;假如命运凋零了美丽的花瓣,请不要沉沦,春还在;生活终有无尽的麻烦,请不要无奈,因为路还在,梦还在,阳光还在,我们还在。

感谢你,一直陪伴在我身边不离不弃的朋友。