The Boscombe Valley Mystery with awesome lessons

Book Cover

It was love at first sight to read my brother's form 1 novel entitled The Boscombe Valley Mystery. It's about the famous detective named Sherlock Holmes.

Story?
It's about a murder case of McCarthy. Many thought that James McCarthy a.k.a the son of the deceased was guilty of murdering his late father.

However, the famous detective in the town, Sherlock Holmes thought that a simple case had complex story which we did not know yet.

At the end, we knew the murderer was a long time enemy of McCarthy.

Why this book is interesting?

1. The story is transformed into comic form *My lazy brother loves to read it too!*
2. There are some exercises at the end of each chapter *We can recall the story better, faster and easier*.

Comic form :)

I always love the fact that some stories or movie can teach us good lessons in real life.  For example:

1. Be more observant 
Sherlock Holmes is an observant master detective.
He knew the suspect was a tall guy based on the big footprint near the lake.
He knew the suspect was from his origin country based on the code gave by McCarthy before he passed away.

Real Life:
I knew a friend who was good in observing. She was not sure which was my house. But, based on the type of clothes which were dried on the clotheslines.

2. Be more understanding
Dr. Watson received a telegram. He was unsure whether to meet Holmes at the railway station since he did not want to leave his job.

Luckily, his wife was very understanding. She asked him to go to meet Holmes and left the job to other colleague.

Real Life:
Mother is a understanding wife. She never say anything when daddy always works at other states apart from Malacca.

Instead, she takes good care of the family at home without letting daddy worried.

3. Keep the promise
Holmes promised Mr. Turner that he would never let anyone read the letter of Mr. Turner as long as James was found innocent.

Holmes kept his promise till the end of the day. He never let Alice Turner to read what was written in the letter of her late father, Mr. Turner.

Real Life:
I faced minor problem last year. My lecturer said he would help me. Although I did not reply the message for a day, he still kept his promise on the next day.

That's how I get to start a new life again.

The Boscombe Valley Mystery's Lessons:

1. Be more observant
2. Be more understanding
3. Keep our promise

Now, two real men understand the real pain of childbirth

Some women experienced labor contraction on their abdomens, the other group of women experienced it at the lower back of the body.

According to my aunty:"Lower back pain is worse than abdomen pain. Somehow, she experienced both during childbirth."

These are the real examples I found from babycenter:

• I begged my hubby to throw me out of the car on the way to the hospital, it hurt so bad.
•  Painful, until I got the epidural! It saved my life!
• I had excruciating pain.

Google: Contraction moment

No matter how many women expressed their experiences of giving birth, the pain that acts as a knife stabbing them, the male groups will never understand their real pain...

until some men finally stand up and get involved in this real-pain situation. Thanks to two Dutch hosts named Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno used electro-stimulation to trigger the contraction.

They were shouting and moving from one place to another when the contraction happened. But some women can never move around like them during childbirth with big baby sleeping in their tummy.

Google: Mother is love:)

Now they finally realize why a woman is very important.
A woman must carry a big tummy to walk around for 9 months.
A woman must bear the pain of contraction during childbirth.

Watch the video of the 2 male hosts:)

 Karl Lagerfeld said:
"The only love that I really believe in is a mother's love for her children."

Max, the friendly little Man

Max was a lucky man. He met 3 new friends at 3 different places today!

1. At a coffee shop at 10a.m

A family was sitting next to our table. Their baby boy was so cute, sitting quietly on his Fisher Price's baby chair. My mother was talking to the baby boy's aunt. 

Max was busy looking at the 11-month-old baby boy. He kept looking and wanted to move forward, get closer to his new friend. But his new friend was too busy in sitting calmly.

2. At another coffee shop at 2p.m

We were having lunch. 

A family was sitting 2 tables away from us. 

But they had a cute 4-month-old baby girl who was so chubby.

We were sitting quite far yet Max still able to look at her, talked loudly, as if he was talking to her.

But the baby girl was too young to give any response to Max.

3. At a shop

A 1-year-plus boy was carrying by his mother.

Max wanted to touch him.

Actually, he wanted to take the boy's pacifier away from the friend. I pulled him backward, I mean Max.

The 1-year-plus boy was so cool. 

Then he cried because he did not want to go home. Mum thought Max made the boy cry.

He loves to make new friends:)

A chance to visit Melaka Salvatorian Home with new people

I've always wanted to visit a charity home so I think my wish was answered when I came across the Facebook Page of a friend from Malacca Toastmasters Club.

Coincidentally, "Lunch with Orphans" was his latest event which falls on 20.1.2013 at Melaka Salvatorian Home. Without hesitation, I volunteered myself to join 'the fun' as he said. Surprisingly, my sister and her friend joined the fun too:)

Melaka Salvatorian Home on 20.1.2013.

We carpool with others since we did not know the route to the destination. So many meaningful quotes mentioned by the people like:"Simplicity is the best" and "A good car is the car that bring us to the destination".

William a.k.a the host or organizer of the event explained to us that the purpose of this event is to see the smile and laughter on the children's face. So he is the clown of the day with lots of balloons in his hand.

The children were waiting for their miracle balloons

I was there to feel the different environment and atmosphere. Seriously, there are so many reality things I've learnt from this small yet meaningful trip.

The children's faces showed 2 word: Strength and innocent.
They may not have a complete family unite like others, they still enjoy their everyday life with so much strength and energy. Also, they are so innocent and cute. One of them named Julian is so active, talkative and cute!

Almost everyone of them is not afraid of us. They will hold our hand, asked us to sit with them, eat with them and open the goodie bags with them. They are friendly children.

I saw this girl, asked her name. And she said:"Cai Hong". We shared the same Chinese Name!

Sister with the kids:)

Are they hard to handle? Not at all.
Imagine there were like 14 of them yet it was not a problem to mix around with them. They were very well-behaved. Whenever the dentist gave some creative instruction on how to brush our teeth, they listened attentively and followed what she mentioned!

Brush teeth:)

Look at them:)

The sisters in Salvatorian Home really good in showing them to the world of good attitude. I was glad to have conversation with the sisters. They shower the children with equal love and care.

One of the unforgetttable conversation was this:
Sister:" Sometimes, they will fight or do something naughty. I asked one of them to hug the tiang"
Me:"Whoa. Did he followed what you said?"
Sister:"Oh yes but he went to get a chair first to sit down before hugging it."

Smart kid yeh?

Sister and her friend with one of the sisters:)

Before we depart, the clown gave the goodie bags away...to the children.
Everyone wanted a watch after seeing their friends got watches. Anyway, they loved their goodie bags so much.

They played together, showing off their stuff to their friends after receiving the goodie bags. Sharing is really caring. Sharing is fun too! That's what I saw on their faces.

Can't wait for his goodie bag:)

Lovely girl!

Why are they closing their nose?

Busy checking their bags:)

It was a fun yet awesome trip that I am so grateful to join.
I learnt that:

1. Smile and laughter is the best way to live our life.
2. The love that we shower can make a difference to the children's life.
3. A good attitude must be instilled since we were young.

Us with the clown:)

I am so happy that she came along:) One of the best people I met in Malacca Toastmasters Club!:)

Inspiration from FourFeetNine's Kempen Sopan Santun

In the realm of Internet, I never stop keeping abreast of news of the world, keeping update with the tips and life of the bloggers from all around the world.

I am so lucky to come across an article from a latest post about Kempen Sopan Santun a.k.a Courtesy Campaign by Audrey.

I gain awesome inspiration from Audrey to recall some not-so-sopan and sopan incidents that happened in my life.

My Not-So-Sopan *Not-so-polite* incidents

1. At the airport and he said:"Please Line Up"

The moment the plane touched down, I was so excited to head to the main entrance, walking towards the booth that sell bus ticket to Malacca.

You know, my mind was blank because all I wanted was to buy a ticket and go home. A foreign person was standing at the corner of the booth.

So I thought like the queuing up style in fast-food restaurant where a person stand at the corner of the counter while waiting for the food, the next customer come forward to take his/her order style. I went straight to the booth but was stopped by the person.

He said:"Please line up." 
I immediately said:"Sorry" and stand few distances away from him before waiting for my turn.

That day, I learn that some people prefer to stand far away from the next customer or standing at the corner of the booth. That does not mean that the person had finished buying their food/ticket.

I learn new thing from the person.

Google: Please Line Up:)

2. At the restroom and she said:"Stupid"
Almost everyone was lining up while waiting for their turn to do their small/big business.

A girl was standing by the sink in the restroom of the airport. Sometimes we waited and waited then someone will politely said:"You can go ahead, I am waiting for my friend/sister/mother."

So I thought perhaps that girl was waiting for her friend. Without hesitation, I stand in front of her. Then she said:"Stupid".
Well, not directly to me because there were people who always have the same thought as me.

She looked at her friend and mention:"Stupid".
Whoa, it was quite a surprise word but it was my fault because I did not know that she was lining up.

Besides, the way she spoke was different and I only found out she was not a Malaysian.

Next time, I will learn to ask everyone before cutting their line. She taught me something new.


My Sopan "polite" incidents

1. In the university bus. It was 2 for 3
Catching the bus in Universiti Malaysia Sabah early in the morning is so challenging. Sometimes, we run like mad, hoping the bus driver will wait for us for a few more minutes. At the time, the bus was full of students.

One day,  the bus was so crowded so as usual, I was standing while holding my heavy laptop at the same time. A girl touched my hand, asking me to sit with her without hesitation. I was the one hesitated because the seat was meant for 2 persons. I was the 3rd person. Imagine they were so thin yet allowed a fat student to join them.

I was so touched and still touched by their attitude. I will never forget their kindness.

Google: Have your seat:)

2. At the hospital's waiting hall for the old folks
If you are late, there is no seat for you. That's normal, very normal.

I was lucky to have a seat when a person went back while I was waiting for a memo from the doctor. Then I saw 2 old couples just came out from the other room. They too, were waiting something from the doctor.

But they were standing. They were old and weak. So I let one of them to take my seat. After seeing what I did, another good young person also let the other one to take his seat. Both of the old couple were thankful and said thank you to us.

It feels good to see their smiles:)

Through Audrey's post and my life experience, I've learn that:

1. We must always line up, sometimes stand a few distances away.
2. Always empty our seats for the older adults, pregnant women and children.

A Mexican Proverb said:
"Do good and don't worry to whom"

I've completed 3 missions so far in 2013...

Did I mention that I jot down 24 resolutions for my 2013 goal.
That means, I just went through 1/8 of my full 2013 journey.

Well, I am kind of excited because this is my first ever resolution list in my 22 years as a person who comes to this world. I do not want my 2013 resolution to be at a standstill.

It's awesome to have your own resolution because that keeps you focused and appreciate the power of time. Everyone has 24 hours a day so let's make use of the power of time wisely.

One of my tuition teacher used to say this:
"It does not matter whether you want to be lazy for 30 years. But, when you reach the age of 50, you try to rewind what you have done for the past 30 years?"
This is a real serious thing to be considered in my life. Thank you teacher for sharing us with such as great sentences.

Here's my completed missions:

1. Save money to come back to Malacca in April/May during semester break
I will be back to Sabah next month. Being a home-person for almost a year, it must be weird to adapt to my life without my family again. I am looking forward to continue my life in Sabah but I still miss my family.

So, I want to come back to my hometown for a week during the semester break. Luckily daddy lend me booking-ticket-money first. If I find a job during the long semester break from June till August, I will pay him back the money.

Google: Flying home :)

2. Donate money to the needy
Last year, I was in a unexpected situation but I met many kind people who willing to lend us their hands including provide meals and shelters. This gives me full strength to help the needy too.

I am so thankful to my friend whom finally exposed me, gave me a chance to help. Although I could not make it to the visiting day, I still can donate some money to her. I trust her because we used to study in the same primary school like 12 years ago.

She used the money to buy stuff for the needy people. This is the picture:

My friend posted this picture to show us what she bought with the money:)

3. Passion in giving

Mother and I are so busy in the kitchen lately. We bake cookies and cakes during our free time. 

It had been like a month since I ceased working at Krista as a teaching assistant. But the spirit of ' Sharing food is good' does not fade away. I must thank Teacher Saras for showing me such a beautiful thing about food sharing. I do miss everyone of them so I asked myself:"Why not bake some cookies for them?"

Few days later, 2 students came to my house to visit me. They even said my cookies were nice. Well, I was happy because they said it was nice. Thank you so much.

I made Oatmeal cookies for the Krista buddies:)

There are 21 more missions that are waiting for me.