Gifts from Zeathereal

Thanks to my dear BSL (zeathereal) for the beautiful gifts he has gotten for me.

The Ferrari car model which is the final piece that adds on to the complete collection i have for this series.

The buddhist beads (which he calls it brother-beads) he got from Nanjing. Indeed, i really love the design and coincidentally, i have been contemplating for quite sometime if i should replace the old one which i have been wearing daily without fail for the past 8 years. I guess the gift comes at the right time.

What a wonderful buddhist brother i have, who knows exactly what i want.

My Congested Collection

Ferraris Me Adore

For the 4th or 5th time since the mid 90s, Shell has been launching diff series of model cars. Being a superb car lover, i spare no chance to collect each and every single piece of them.

For the first few series, I was able to buy them in bulk (the entire series at one go). However, the new rulings of the latest series state that only 1 car can be bought for every $50 of fuel purchase. I have no choice but to go around seeking help from friends. Worse still, a few of the more 'hot' models were quickly depleting and went out of stock.
Thanks to zeathereal and a couple of friends, i managed to grab hold of 3 of them. However, i was still unable to get hold of 2 of my favourites (apparently the hottest) as they seemed to be out of stock in every kiosk. Last evening, i decided to try my luck at this particular petrok kiosk. True enough, that exact 2 models were listed out of stock. I gave the cashier a huge disappointing expression, and much to my surprise, she actually took out 1 of them from her drawer and told me that it was actually a 'reserved' set for her customer. She was willing to let me have it since i like it so much. I spare no time to pump $50 worth of petrol to purchase it... Wheeewee....


This evening, i decided to try another outlet, though without much expectation. But once again to my great surprise, this petrol kiosk still has stocks for all the 7 models! The cashier initially did not allow me to purchase them as i didnt pump any petrol, but upon some persuasion, she finally gave in and let me buy 1. I guess my greed get the better of me and i began to negotiate for a 2nd piece, and further pushed my luck by asking for a 3rd and 4th piece. I think she must have pitied this young man for being so foolishly crazy over the model cars, that she actually agreed!





Now i am a super happy man with all the ferrari car models i adore...hahahaha

The Nalanda Trail

Thanks to Puay Kim and TseYing, I made my way to the aNanda Nalanda Trail today.

Quite close to my initial expectation, there wasnt much Dharma content in the exhibition. Nevertheless, it was a great and terrific showcase of the history of Buddhism. Personally, i feel that understanding the history of a religion is very important and plays a crucial role in supporting our cultivation - though some self-acclaimed "practising" buddhists may think otherwise and feel that this is an exhibition that can be missed.

Though in a much smaller scale compared to other museums around the world, it is definitely a very rare chance that one is able to see so many buddhism artifacts and exhibits in Singapore - imported from worldwide.

Walking past the exhibits, i develop this very strange and unexplainable feelings in me. Looking at the nicely furnished settings kissed gently by the dull orangy lamps, somehow i feel as if i have ever done a great exhibition myself before - the setups, the arranging of exhibits, displaying of artefacts, choosing of materials, these activities were so vivid yet i couldnt recall that i have actually organise (or part of organising) any exhibition before. Could it be remnance of memories from my previous life? LOL....

Probably i think too much. But i couldnt really explain why my hair stands on end each time i walk round the Buddha relics. Due to the limitations of my vocab and my weak command of the language, i really couldnt pen down how i actually felt then..

Growing Up