Under the Sea

Weird deep sea creatures found in the atlantic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/photogalleries/sea-creatures/photo3.html



"With its polka-dot mantle and cartoonish expression, this glass squid brings out a lighter side of the inky ocean deep.
Scientists found the squid and other species while mapping more than 1,500 square miles (3,900 square kilometers) of an undersea mountain range in the North Atlantic..."




Looks so comical, that you can almost imagine it as a real-life cartoon character from Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'. And the funny thing is, it actually reminds me of someone... shall not mention his name, otherwise he'll kill me. heh.


Ah, the wonders of creation :)

Seasons

Received this in an email, and thought it was rather meaningful...

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Lessons on Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral:
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

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If you were the one looking at that tree, what would you see?

And if you were looking at a person, or even yourself, what would you see in their/your life? Do we make judgements immediately, or do we choose to look beyond what we see here and now?

Also, if you're going through a difficult season, press on ...
"Endure hardship as discipline ... no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12 : 7 - 11

Head straight, chin up, you can do this.

Switzerland Photos

Last weekend, while chatting with the rest of the family, I realised that it's been more than 2 months since we'd gone on our family trip to Switzerland together (which was one of the highlights of this year :)

The trip was truly unforgettable... filled with rolling hills, majestic mountains, friendly locals, quaint cozy village hotels, and lots and lots of food :) The fresh air, scenic landscapes, and refreshing spring water really lift your spirit... And the best thing was being able to enjoy it all with family, sharing our experiences, chats, laughter, and craziness. Plus 'instigating' Mun to fiddle with his bottle labels (muahaha!)

We took many photos there, most of which were downloaded into Adam's computer each night (so that we could take more photos the next day :) while we chatted, played 'tai di', and watched MTV or CNN on tv (which were the only English-speaking channels there). Most of the photos are being sorted and compiled back home, so I've only got a handful of them with me at the moment, will get the rest when I return :)

Riverside shops and cafes

The 'local fauna'... Swiss cows! Heh.

We also shot some alpine wildlife there (with our cameras, of course :)

Peaceful mountain lakes

Gorgeous gorges :)

Trekking up a waterfall

Travelling up to mountain peaks, seeing the snow,

and feeling like you're on top of the world!

Being a choco-holic, I also enjoyed another Swiss icon... the Swiss chocolate! Returned to Adelaide with several kilograms of Swiss chocolates, all of which were given out and shared among friends. Finished and ran out of the chocolates waaaay too quickly though, should have bought more there :)

Amusingly, I didn't get to meet up with Chen² when I was home, as she was away in Europe. Instead, I ran into her inside the airport, when she was disembarking from her return flight, while I was waiting to board my plane back to Adelaide. Talk about being fated to meet each other ;)

Switzerland was such a wonderful place, and if I had the chance, I'd go back to visit it again... and perhaps bring back more chocolates next time too. Heh.