4 Days 16 Hours 17 Minutes and 28 Seconds

Five years down the road, I am sure that I would look back on this point of my life with a smile on my face. Smiling, not because things were perfect back then, but because it is at this point of time that I learned a lot about myself.

In the past few months, I realised what I care, what I thought I care, what I like, or not, and people or things that really matter to me. Suddenly, I really SEE the people around me. I realised that I have been taking these people for granted, or vise versa... I realised that things don't always stay the same, if you don't put in the heart to maintain it.

Anyway, here goes my playlist for my big day. Each song is dedicated to a person. Each song carries meanings.

1. Have I Told You Lately 4:20 Olivia Ong
2. You Got Me 4:03 Colbie Caillat
3. Just Havn't Met You Yet 4:05 Micheal Buble
4. You and Me 3:37 Olivia Ong
5. Times of Your Life 3:16 Joanna Wang
6. I Feel The Earth Move 3:53 Olivia Ong
7. Forever Love 4:56 Wang Lee Hom
8. L-O-V-E 2:49 Joss Stone
9. At Last 2:39 Etta James
10. The Way You Look Tonight 4:39 Michael Buble
11. What A Wonderful World 2:20 Louis Armstrong
12. Let s start from here 3:36 Joanna Wang
13. Can't Take My Eyes Off You 3:23 Al Green
14. Stickwitu 4:34 Sabrina
15. When I Fall In Love 3:11 Nat King Cole
16. Love on Diet 3:28 Sammi Cheng
17. 有一種快樂 3:48 Sammi Cheng
18. I'm Yours 4:10 Sabrina
19. 我要的幸福 3:36 Stephanie Sun
20. The Luckiest 4:25 Ben Folds
21. 至少还有你 4:35 Sandy Lam
22. Unforgettable 3:29 Nat King & Natalie Cole
23. 今天你要嫁给我 4:32 David Tao & Jolin Tsai
24. Lucky 3:12 Jason Mraz Feat. Colbie Caillat
25. 彩虹 4:24 Jay Chou
26. Let There Be Love 2:46 Cole, Nat King
27. Sway 3:09 Michael Buble
28. Ordinary People 4:42 John Legend
29. If I Aint Got You 3:49 Alicia Keys
30. Somewhere Over the Rainbow 4:43 Nathen Page

Lastly, I would like to dedicate much love to a lovely lady, a friend, a sister, who is always positive, who believes... A girl who taught me the word selfless. Take care love.

When Faith Meets Reality

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution……….

Vocabulary of the Day

Stoning
the act of pelting with stones; punishment inflicted by throwing stones at the victim (even unto death)
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Apostasy
Apostasy is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy

 

Iran tells world: don't make stoning a rights issue

By Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Foreign countries should not interfere in Iran's legal system and stop trying to turn the case of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery into a human rights issue, Tehran said on Tuesday.

A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest against stoning in Trafalgar Square, London, August 28, 2010. (REUTERS/Paul Hackett/Files)

The case of the 43-year-old mother of two, condemned to death for illicit sex and charged with involvement in her husband's murder, provoked an international outcry, with Brazil offering her asylum and the Vatican speaking out against the "brutal" punishment.

A government spokesman said the furore was based on false information about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's case.

"Unfortunately, (they are) defending a person who is being tried for murder and adultery, which are two major crimes of this lady and should not become a human rights issue," Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.

"If releasing all those who have committed murder is to be perceived as a human rights issue, then all European countries should release all the murderers in their countries."

The stoning case has further strained relations between Iran and the West which accuses the Islamic Republic of seeking nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies.

In France, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday he was appalled to hear about the sentence.

"This is barbaric beyond words. We condemn such acts, which have no justification under any moral or religious code," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Details of the case are hard to establish in a country where many trials take place behind closed doors.

Human rights group Amnesty International said Ashtiani was convicted in 2006 of having had an "illicit relationship" with two men and received 99 lashes. She was subsequently convicted of "adultery while being married" and sentenced to death by stoning, it said.

Mehmanparast said the adultery conviction was under review and a verdict for charges of murder and being an accomplice to murder was pending. Iranian news reports have suggested the stoning sentence might be lifted, but that Ashtiani could still be hanged.

Ashtiani's lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, fled to Europe to escape arrest in July and appeared at a news conference on Monday with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who called him a "hero of human rights".

Britain has protested at the "medieval punishment" and Italy has called for a "gesture of clemency".

Last month Iranian television aired an interview with a woman it said was Ashtiani admitting a relationship with a man who then murdered her husband. A human rights campaign group, the International Committee Against Stoning, called the TV show "toxic propaganda".

According to Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in the number of people it executes. It put to death at least 346 people in 2008.

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

1 Month 16 Days 17 Hours 7 Minutes 28 Seconds

If you want something done, give it to a busy person. Well, I'm a busy person now... I guess I'm getting a lot more things done, probably not according to the priority list though. Blogging should probably be at the bottom of my to-do list, but look at me now :-p Perhaps I'm doing this to free my mind of the wedding hassle and work for a while.

Recently found a cool Ap called iWedding Deluxe. Thanks to this creation, I now know precisely that I am 1 month, 16 Days and 17 hours 7 minutes and 28 seconds away from my big day. While the seconds are ticking away, I am now working on my guest list. It takes more brain exercise than I had imagined.

Well, thanks to my future sister in law and the ever-helpful Eunice, the wedding invitation card turned out quite perfectly. Without seeing it, those who know me well would already know the color and the theme of the card :) Now I just have to start running around to bring them to you!

See... work has been quite manageable until I decided to prepare for my wedding this year. The closer I am to my big day, somehow the heavier the workload becomes. Funny how things coincide.

To my bridesmaids, we shall meet soon to have the first 'brainstorming' session :D

Pasir Gudang Open 2010

Chinese Taipei Day 4

1.1.2010

09:30

The hotel served take-out breakfast to our door - Sandwiches and coffee. Something to fill the stomach before going for the real food.

11:00
Headed to 淡水. The main attraction in 淡水 is the 淡水老街 and the 渔人码头 harbor. 淡水老街 was full of food and souvenirs. I like the onion pie coz they stuff it with fresh ingredients. The shrimp rolls are good too.

FOOD: 阿给 Fried tofu filled with clear noodle，凤梨酥 pineapple cake，面包条 sweet bread stick，葱油饼 onion pie，章鱼圆 squid balls，珍珠奶茶 bubble tea，炸虾卷 fried shrimp rolls。

15:00

The agenda for that day was supposed to include some cruising along the bay on a bicycle. We did not see a place or may have missed the place for bicycle rental, so we walked all the way from 淡水老街 the 渔人码头 harbor. The walk took a good 20 minutes. Good thing that the view was nice and calm. The breeze was in a just nice temperature. The sun was so generous that day, I had to take off my jackets.

The main attraction of that 渔人码头 harbor was the bridge that is called 'Lovers' Bridge' 情人桥. Along the harbor broad walk were mainly food stalls. A local man with heavy beard was giving life a performance on mainly oldies with his keyboard, surrounded by people seated on benches, enjoying their coffee or food. A few Cafes were playing their own music, so you could hear different songs as you walk along the harbor.

Two words - Serene and peaceful. I guess the most important thing would be our own state of mind to take in the serenity and just enjoy the environment.

17:00
We took the MRT from 淡水 to 剑潭站. Next up, the famous Shi Lin Night Market 士林夜市. It could not be more crowded! Lines were building up everywhere. It was just like the Disneyland, where you just need to line up for the good stuff! I'll just go straight to the food :)

FOOD: Fried mashed potato with ham and cheese (NT60), mixed fruits (NT150), milk tea (NT35), fried bird eggs (NT20).

My personal favorites were the mash potato and the cherry tomato stuffed with some kind of processed plum. We didn't eat a lot because we've been eating non-stop since... 2 days ago? Hehe. Well, also when you travel in a pair, there is only so much food you could try.









MASKS:

Thanks to Kan Yen, I was deliberately looking out for cheap masks. I walked in MOMO pharmacy and never looked back. Muahaha. They were on promotion - buy 1 free 1 deal! ;)

The green box (10 pcs) + the pink box (10 pcs) = NT299
The white box (25 pcs) + the purple box (25 pcs) = NT 499



22:00
End