桜

Blog's looking a little dead so thought I'd liven it up with some sakura flowers that were in bloom last week. The thing about sakura flowers is that they only bloom for about 2 weeks and everyone comes out of their homes to sit under the sakura trees in the park in large groups to drink sake and have dango together, a really heartening and lively affair. Yet shortlived as once the petals fall off and the trees turn green again, everyone disappears as suddenly as they came. Ahh such shortlived beauty that reminds one of the transience of life and the importance of making the most out of everyday just as we are thankful for everyday eh? :)

love,

Kat in 日本

.love.life.

hi all,

be touched.

love life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA5dPKUpK6g

i have these lines in chinese translated for those who understand english words better.

here they are:

如果你的生命只剩下一點點， 你會用什麼態度去面對？
if your days are numbered, what will your attitude be towards life?

他們的癌已經擴散到全身上下了...但是他們對生命的愛，卻是 永 無 止 境。
though their cancer cells have spreaded over their bodies... they still hold a strong passion for life.

在人生當中，難免遇上失敗與挫折，但跟這些孩子所面對的狀況比起來，你是否應該 更珍惜生命...
in life, we often meet with failures and obstacles, but when compared to these children, shouldnt we cherish life even more?

" 如果生命可以交換的話，你願意跟我換嗎？ "
"are you willing to exchange your life with mine?"

當你覺得寂寞孤單，你的心將要破碎... 要記得這些孩子 正在為你禱告。
when you feel lonely, your heart is broken... please remember these children; they are praying for you.

" 請你幫我們好好活著，好嗎？ "
"please help us by living well, alright?"

the celebrities participating in this campaign spearheaded by 陳建州 a.k.a 黑人 in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liKcEOJKNk8

the girl who asked, "are you willing to exchange your life with mine?" in the first clip, passed on in febuary, according to this following clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng4BSBG9tIo

chunquan

.we.should.read.

UN sounds warning after Antarctica ice shelf rips
AFP - Wednesday, April 8

PARIS (AFP) - - The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the breakway of a Jamaica-sized ice shelf from the Antarctic peninsula could accelerate global warming in this already vulnerable region.
Satellite pictures show a 40-kilometre (25-mile) ice bridge that was the Wilkins Ice Shelf's last link to the coast had now shattered at its narrowest point, about 500 metres (yards) wide, UNEP said.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf once covered around 16,000 square kilometres (6,000 square miles) before it began to retreat in the 1990s, and by last May the ice bridge was all that connected it to Charcot and Latady islands.
The loss of the bridge "may now allow ocean currents to wash away far more of the shelf," UNEP said.
Christian Lambrechts, a policy and programme officer with UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment, said this would expose more of the sea's surface to sunlight, rather than reflect it, in turn "contributing to continued and accelerated warming."
The Antarctic peninsula -- the tongue of land that juts up towards South America -- has been hit by greater warming than almost any other region on Earth.
In the past 50 years, temperatures have risen by 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit), around six times the global average.
Ice shelves are ledges of thick ice that float on the sea and are attached to the land. They are formed when ice is exuded from ice sheet on land.
The Antarctic ice shelves do not add to sea levels when they melt. Like the Arctic ice cap, they float on the sea and thus displace their own volume.
But the loss of an ice shelf means that the glaciers that feed it may flow out straight to the sea, as if from an uncorked bottle.
"Although the Wilkins ice bridge collapse will have no direct consequence on sea level rise, it might have an indirect impact, as the decay of the ice shelf will reduce the stability of the glaciers that are feeding it," said Lambrechts.
In the past 20 years, Antarctica has lost seven ice shelves.
The process is marked by shrinkage and the breakaway of increasingly bigger chunks before the remainder of the shelf snaps away from the coast.
It then disintegrates into debris or into icebergs that eventually melt as they drift northwards.

.blood.

hi all,

this is a comic strip sent to us by lijie.

at first, i thought it meant something else, but it didnt appear to be.

somehow, i found some hidden meaning.

please allow me to share.

well, when the boy demanded the girl to pay him back his blood, i thought of Jesus.

we all have taken Him for granted in one way or another and what if one day, Jesus were to want us to return the blood He shed for us back to Him as He deems that we, sinners, are unworthy of His precious blood?

just a deep thought on it.

happy easter!

chunquan

.blood.

.time.

'time is such a good healer.

it quietly takes the pain off you without you knowing it.

sometimes, you just want time to pass quicker than it can.

at times, you wish it will take its time.

time is something we all cant control.

and after so long, time has eroded my hatred away.

and i am glad to move on.'

-chunquan

hi all,

i would like to thank those who are concerned over my work, whether i would be affected by the recent press release from my company.

so far, i am still given quite a normal roster.

the company has been adopting cost-cutting measures so as to save staff from being laid off.

it is pretty a sensitive issue to enter my company's name openly on blogs, thus we shall just keep to it as you-know-who.

i bought some lindt easter chocolate from zurich on my last trip. hopefully the 500g is enough for all on friday!

attached is a picture i took with the mascot just outside the factory.

see you all on friday!

chunquan

Brief catch up

Thanks for the brief catch up guys, the look of shock on your faces in church was priceless! Hehe, wish I had more time though, I really felt so so comfortable to be in church that Saturday I was back. ;)

*hugz*
Kathy

.she.is.yes.she.is.