(A)musing Finds - Serenity & Strength

Few Saturdays ago - I thought I had some time in the morning before I go to class (I teach Malay language in a children's home on Saturday evenings) so I decided to drive around the neighbourhood.

Lo and behold, I did not know there is this one stretch of road, not very long, maybe a little short of 200m, quite near home. As soon as I (randomly) turned into this road - I was mesmerized by the sight before me. So much so, I have to quickly (and safely) stopped my car by the road and took a shot.

It started to drizzle when I stopped my car but as soon as I started my drive again, it began to pour. Just in time, and if you look closely you may spot some raindrops on the windscreen.

I love roads like these - so calming and serene. I wish more roads in KL are like these. I felt better after the drive, cleared my mind a little.

I had recently been handed an entirely new portfolio at work - everything seems so foreign to me. The unit is new, even the unit's head (my boss) is new, the system is new (to me - but according to my boss, not many people out there understands or knows how to use it any way), the lingo is new, the seating is new (how I missed my old cubicle). It is a real challenge, and I was feeling frustrated and angry with myself as I can't seem to pick up these new things as fast as I anticipated - aging?

 There was even a point at time that I nearly wanted to give up but I made a promise (to myself) that I will stick it out, hang around, persevere, give it my best shot, fail and try again and fail and try again... 2 years - that is the timeline that I have set and if in 2 years I do not achieve what I set out to do or justify my HOD's faith in offering me the portfolio, then I may really have to consider to make a move.

All these frustrations had been building up for a while. (It still does now) But I know I can make it, just have to continuously build my strength day by day, step by step. And perhaps, when I become too tired to tough it out, which is very likely happen to recur in the next 2 years - I just need to take a drive down the beautiful road again, that I may find STRENGTH in SERENITY.

You know what they say:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Earlier (A)musing Finds:
Water-powered clock
Butter knife
Optical illusion
Women
Maeklong Railway Market

My blogger still doesn't work on Google Chrome (how do you guys do it?) - am using Mozilla now.

(A)musing Finds - Maeklong Railway Market

Amusing - where traders do their business by the railway track. Just before the train passes by, they will start to keep their stuffs and business resumes as usual once the train has gone by. The train passes the market 8 times daily. 


Other than that, nothing much to explore here...if only the market is on a longer stretch or a more scenic one.

Train's coming...coming... gone!

Some of the stuffs you can get from the market

To get there:
From Bangkok the train departs from Wong Wian Yai station. The nearest BTS Station is Wangwan Yai (20 minutes walk). From here you get the train to the end of the line at Mahachai.

This train takes about an hour. At Mahachai, exit left of the train, then turn right into the market street. It’s a fishing port so you will see seafood everywhere. Walk to the end of the street and on your left you will see the river and the ferry terminal.

You now catch the ferry across the river to Ban Laem. At Ban Laem walk through the market and at the street entrance, turn right. Keeping walking down this street for about 10 minutes and you will get to the station where you can take a train to go straight to Maeklong (1-hour long journey).

Source: PassportChop

We didn't want to go through all the hassle, so we hired a van for THB2000 (flat rate/car) + THB1000 (for petrol/gas) for the 3 of us. The half-day trip covers Amphawa Floating Market and a boat ride there.

Earlier (A)musing Finds:
Water-powered clock
Butter knife
Optical illusion
Women

(A)musing Finds - Women!

Happy International Women's Day! Celebrated annually on 8th March, this is the 112th year. It was previously International Working Women's Day.

This day is both a celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.

The United Nation's theme for this year's celebration is "A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence Against Women".

Loved this doodle on Google:

Can't see the Google word? Here it is... nice, eh? Kudos to Betsy Bauer.

As for me, it is just a normal week day, but I had a nice lunch break with my buddy from the workplace:

Happy Day to every girl/woman out there, and happiness everyday!

Earlier (A)musing Finds:
Water-powered clock
Butter knife
Optical illusion

(A)musing Finds - Optical Illusion

An optical illusion is when the perceived image differs from reality.

3 major optical illusions are literal, physiological & cognitive.

Literal - create images that are different from the objects that make them

Physiological - effects on the eyes and brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type, eg brightness, colour, size, position, tilt and movement

Cognitive - resulting from unconcious inferences

Do you see the side or front image of a man?

Rabbit? Duck?

Illusions could happen when the individual is able to see an image in its' 3D form even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional.

Oh, fun fact 101 - girls can register optical illusions faster and more at ease than boys. :)

Source of text: Wikipedia

Earlier (A)musing Finds:
Water-powered clock
Butter knife

Huh?

Crazy things happen to me lately.

One of it happened yesterday. Found a note (which was written on a piece of used paper) at my condo's front door -

If you don't understand Chinese, it says - when you chop things, please put a piece of cloth underneath the chopping board, thanks for your cooperation.

Haha! Funny... and weird... who would have left me this note? I stay alone and I rarely cook, hence I rarely use the chopping board. Maybe less than 3 times a year. I totally have no idea who did this... truly beats me...

Hmm..I think this can be categorised as one my amusing finds! lol

(A)musing Finds - Butter knife

What is so amusing about a butter knife? I caught you - I know that question written across your head. Wait, this is not your ordinary household butter knife.

Check this out!

Attached to the butter tub! So user friendly, especially if you are thinking of a picnic, an outing - very travel friendly, right?

Just detach it as you peel open the butter tub.

Use the transformed cover to spread the butter on your bread, crackers...so on.

Done! Nice, eh?

Different colours for different flavours. Too bad we don't have it here, otherwise I will be their #1 fan.

Found a similar idea on a yogurt cup. Gotta love this, though I am a bit skeptical on this one - I wonder what happens if I accidentally hurt myself with the edge of the spoon? But I guess it is not sharp & made of pretty soft material.

From designers: Yeongkeun Jeong (butter knife) & Cho Hye-seung (yogurt spoon)

Check out past (A)musing Finds:
Water-powered clock

(A)musing Finds - Water-powered Clock

Attempting new series for the year - will be posting about (A)musing, (A)wesome, (A)mazing...finds that I come across. 

Starting on the list is this water-powered clock.

Just how can water power a timekeeping device?

This clock runs off a simple galvanic cell battery, which entails the emersion of a cathode or positive metal such as copper, and an anode or negative metal such as zinc in electrolyte solution. Sounds too scientifically nerdy?

Welcome to the world of horology! A horologist's goal is to find something that changes at a predictable, consistent manner with a steady rate. So what we have here is WATER. Think about the plumbing at home. Weren't you kept awake by that dripping faucet? Weren't you able to gauge how long it takes to fill up the toilet tank or your bath tub for that matter? There you have it, water.

All you need in order to power the eco-friendly water-powered clock above is a little water, and a splash of natural lemon juice.

Source: How Stuff Works?