A beautiful Sunday moring

my dear friends and family,

i now take a walk every morning for 30 min., for better health.

this morning as i was walking thru a little park, i saw children happily playing with their parents. this reminded me of the time when, after my divorce and when kevin (my son) was about 3/4 yrs, i always took him to braemar hill park on a sunday for him to play.

then when ryan (my grandson) was about the same age, sometimes he stayed with me over the weekend and i would also take him to the park on middle gap road on a sundary morning to play.

now kevin is fully matured and ryan is in uni, no more sunday parks. how time flies! Buddhism tells me that everything changes and nothing is constant, thats why we need to treasure every moment of our time so that when we have to go, we can say: i live my life to the full and i have no regrets.

am sharing some photos to invite you to join me in my daily walk, you can see the beautiful houses, trees, gardens, and by the way, in one of the last photos you can see a little garden with red flowers which i planted last year and they withered in the winter, so i thought: thats it, i neeed to replant. however to my surprise they are now coming back, multilplying, stronger and nicer. guess this is like our lives, you go thru winter to get stronger so you can broom beautifully in spring. oh, another thing is these flowers need no watering nor fertilizing, so good!!!

after chanting as i was holding dog dog in my lap, he seems so satisfied, and so was i.

cheers

Baby Mars 黄烙燊

my dear friends and family
 
yesterday i went to the westmead hospital to visit baby mars, a little boy of three who is now in sydney with his parents, fiona and lap.  mars has had serious heart problems at birth and doctors in hong kong said he could not live.  since then his mother fiona has started chanting nam myo ho renge kyo and miraculously he lives on.
 
two weeks ago the whole family came to sydney (with money raised from fund raising by a local newspaper) and mars had had two major heart surgeries by a very famous child cardiologist.  after the first operation to make good the heart arteries, his defective valve could not function and there was leakage, fluid had been leaking into his adomen affecting his kidneys and adomen which need cleansing everyday.  the doctors quickly decided to give him a 2nd surgery to replace the defective valve.
 
after the 2nd surgery he has infection and at one time, his heart beat stopped, fortunately with the best care given at the hospital, he was rescued. 
 
i was very touched by what i saw in the hospital:
 
1. little baby mars was lying in bed, heavily sedated, but he is hanging on fighting for his life.  everyone, even the doctors is admiring his strength, strong life force and effort.
 
2. fiona, his mother, shows absolutely NO signs of fear, grudge or worry.  although mars is still in intensive care, fiona has very strong faith that mars will survive, and she is chanting day and night for mars. she said: i know this is our karma, but i am determined to change it.
 
3. despite her own problems, fiona is encouraging other parents to chant and is chanting for other sick children in the hospital.
 
4. all staffs in the hospital are very nice to fiona and lap, treating them like family members.  i saw one hospital staff brought them a special bottle of tonic and another staff gave them home made soup.
 
5. a lot of sgi members in the area are doing their best to support fiona and lap, caring for their physical needs (bringing  food, fruits, lunch and dinner to them everyday), spiritual needs (encouraging them with daily visits, chanting for them and taking them to attend sgi meetings)
 
6. the facilities in the hospital cannot be better: fiona and lap get accommodation in the hopsital for only $20 per person, making it so convenient for them to be with mars.
 
7. the hospital has assigned special nurses to sit next to mars, 24 hours a day,   closely monitoring mars progress, watching mars heart movements on the computer and adjusting treatments and medications whenever necessary.
 
8. the doctors exerted their utmost effort to provide the best treatment for mars.
 
all the above are actual proofs and benefits of fiona's sincere chanting of nam myo ho renge kyo and her deep faith in the gohonzon, and fiona is very determined that she, lap and mars will contribute their lives to kosen rufu (encouraging other people to chant to attain happiness).
 
we will all continue to chant for mars speedy recovery.
 
cheers
 
lydia
 
我親愛的家人和朋友
昨天我去Westmead醫院探望一個三歲小男孩黄烙燊，黄烙燊出生時有嚴重的心臟問題，醫生說，他生存机會很微。他的母親fiona開始努力唱唸南無妙法蓮華經，奇蹟般地，黄烙燊生存下來。
兩個星期前，他們全家因為得到一家報紙為他們籌集的資金, 來到了悉尼由當地一位有名的兒童心臟手術醫生替烙燊做了兩個主要的心臟手術。第一次手術後，由於他的心臟洩漏，流體洩漏到他的腹部, 以至他要每天洗腎.在fiona努力祈求下, 醫生很快决定替烙燊做第二次手術, 換去有缺陷的心臟閥門.
第2次手術後，烙燊受到感染，曾經有一次，他的心臟停止跳動，幸運的是，在醫院提供最好的照顧下，他被搶救成功。
我在醫院裡所看到以下的一切, 令我十分感動,：
1。小小烙燊昏睡在床上，身上插了喉, 但他努力為生存而奮鬥。醫院內每個人，甚至醫生們都被他的努力而感動。
2。烙燊的母親Fiona，境涯十分高, 她沒有恐懼，怨恨或憂慮。儘管烙燊仍沒有脫離危險期, 但Fiona有很強的信念，確信烙燊一定會復完, 她不停唱唸南無妙法蓮華經。她說：“我知道這是我們的宿業，但我決心要轉換宿命, 我們全家一生都會為廣宣流布努力。
3。儘管她自己要面對沈重的問題，Fiona還是鼓勵其他在醫院生病孩子的家長去唱題, 並親自為其他生病孩子唱題.
4。在醫院的所有員工都視Fiona為家人一樣。我看到一個醫院的工作人員給他們帶來了一瓶特殊羅漢果汁和另一名工作人員給了他們自製的湯水。
5。在該地區的SGI會員給了他們的最好支持及照顧他們的生活需求（每天帶給他們日常食品，水果，午餐和晚餐），還每天都去探訪鼓勵他們，為他們唱題，及帶他們參加SGI的活動.
6。在醫院的設施非常好, 提供Fiona和丈夫住宿, 每人每日只需付20澳元, 方便他們日夜陪伴探訪烙燊.
7。醫院更指定了專門的護士二十四小時坐在烙燊床邊密切留意照顧烙燊的進展，必要時調整治療方法和藥物。
8。醫生們都盡了最大的努力提供最好的治療給烙燊。
上述所有都是佛法的實證和功德: 是 透過Fiona真誠的唱題, 及對康座的確信和感恩而表現出來.  Fiona說她决意和家人以後一生都會致力於廣宣流布,鼓勵其他人去信奉日蓮佛法而獲得幸福。
我們都將繼續為烙燊唱題, 祈求他盡快康復

50 cents

my dear friends and family,

today the cleaners came to clean my house, their fee is $120.  as i had hurt my back, i did not go to the bank and had only $100 in my wallet and was $20 short.

i did not want to owe them any money, so i tried 'treasure hunting'.  i found a few dollars in my coin purse, as i was putting andrews jeans away, i heard some clinging noice and was happy to find a few dollar coins there, altogether i got about $15.  i then went into the guest room, kevin normally leaves a box of coins there but, unfortunately, the box was gone and i could only pick up a few small change, totalling about $3.80.  so i was about $1.20 short.

at that time, i silently talked to the gohonzon saying that i needed enough money to pay the cleaners.  i HAVE to find $2 somewhere.

 i went into the study and searched under the cushion of andrews leather seat, THERE I FOUND ONE DOLLAR  , but i was still about 20 cents short.  i went to the living room and searched under the cushions, andrew normally drops his coins there, however i found nothing in the first one, i did not give up and started searching the second one, THERE I FOUND 50 CENTS!!!!  I WAS EXHILATERED.  after paying the $120, i still have about 30 cents left.

i really would like to say that:

a. if we trust the gohonzon, there will be no dead ends for us.
b. if we try to achieve something, and it does not immediately happen, pls dont give up, just one more step and you will be there.

i am soooo glad to share the above with you.

cheers

From Nessa re Chloe

dear nessa

tks for such a nice email. yes, i treat and respect chloe as an adult.  i talk to her about life, relationships, business, problems,  our buddhist philosophy and she asked intelligent questions.

i see a LOT of potential and good qualities in this young girl,  however at the beginning she did not seem to have very high self esteem nor confidence in herself, thats why i have tried very hard to make her realize and see all the good qualities and potential in her. this is what i have learned in our buddhist practice: to encourage, respect and appreciate.

i agree with you 100% in your saying as below:

how an adult's treatment and expectations towards a youngster can help flourish or suppress the youngster's development. we treat our little boys and girls with respect and the expectation that they can manage the materials they work with, with respect and independence

i made serious mistakes when i raised kevin and michele, not encouraging them nor giving them compliments, trying to make them do things 'i think' was right, or criticizing them when they dont do things i want them to do, in doing so, i had suppressed kevins growth.  since i started my buddhist practice, i have learned and changed, and i find that this is very helpful indeed.

tks nessa, for your good insight.  i am going to share this with all my friends and family, with the hope that others will learn from my mistake and live a much smoother and happier life.

lydia

below is nessa's email:

Dear Aunty Lydia,

Wow, I am so happy for you that you had such a wonderful, gerat quality time with Chloe, she is indeed very mature, and I believe that you two will continue to enjoy this friendship from hereon...thanks to your openness towards her, and treating her like a friend first, therefore allowing her to show her mature side too, to live up to what she can be.  I can now really see, as a teacher, how an adult's treatment and expectations towards a youngster can help flourish or suppress the youngster's development. this is why I appreciate Montessori so much, because we treat our little boys and girls with respect and the expectation that they can manage the materials they work with, with respect and independence.  We shake their hand to greet them as if they are grown-ups, we don't baby talk with them. This is surely the same effect you have on your beloved granddaughter.  Moreover, it is her respect towards you that motivates her to write such a beautiful and heartfelt message.   Michele and Ben are very lucky!

xo Nessa

Chloe in Sydney 2012

my dear friends and family

chloe left for hong kong this morning.  just now i was so happily surprised to find that she had removed all her used bed sheets, pillow cases and towels into the laundry area.  what good manners, how thoughtful!  (oh, my son kevin taught her this and she has learned.)

during her stay with me, we are more like good friends.  i can talk with her about my problems, joy, frustrations, relationships and she can understand and share, and vice versa.  i begin to miss her and when i logged into my email, i saw the following message from her and i am so touched.  a little girl of 15 would have the heart to appreciate, be grateful and thankful.

as she had mentioned, she learned from attending all sgi meetings in sydney.  and she said what she has learned in these meetings will leave traits to help her now, and in the future.

to quote her, 'words cannot describe' how happy i am to see a young girl grow in such a short period of time', ie 1 1/2 months in sydney.

i would really encourage parents to take their children to sgi meetings so they will have the good fortune to learn from our profound theory.  am attaching a photo of chloe, a lovely and pretty girl.

cheers

lydia

below is the email from lovely chloe:

dear nana,
you're standing right next to me as I write this email, so I'm trying to be discrete ;). I want to send you this email to thank you for everything you've given me, words cannot describe how grateful I am. I have enjoyed every day I've spent with both you and na kung, and I will really miss it when I'm in hong kong. I feel as if you're more of a friend than a nana ;).. also I'd like to thank you so much for taking me to all the sgi meetings, I've learnt and benefited so much from attending and listening. Both you, and sgi has taught me how to live as a genuine, humble, good human being, and I'm so thankful because all these traits will help me now, and in the future.
hope to see you soon,
chloe

Blessing and Protection (Aug 10, 2012)

my dear friends and family

i have not been writing for sometime and below i am sharing with you what i have been thru these past few months.

A severe cold

in june, when i was in hong kong, i  contracted a very very bad cold.  i had to confine at home for about one week trying to recover.  since then my body had been weakened and on return to sydney, i still had not recovered and was feeling very weak.

Internet

as i was trying to help myself get better, something horrible happened to my computer.  one night as i was checking my yahoo emails, all of a sudden, right in front of my eyes, all my incoming mails had disappeared!  this incident had happened more then three times during that week,  i was terribly alarmed , lost and didnt know what to do: had my computer been hacked??? i was so frightened even to start and use my desk top.

i tried to use my iphone to log onto yahoo mail, and then one afternoon, all the mails in the yahoo box also got disappeared and i could not log in again, and at night all my records in whatsapp and even my 'notes' in the iphone also disappeared right in front of my eyes!!!!!!  i even thought that there must be GHOSTS around

you can imagine how frightened (not of ghosts ) and worried i was.   as all the while trying to find out whats wrong staying up until 2 am every night.    one day by chance a friend told me that Yahoo USA had been hacked and over 200,000 were affected!  then i realized it was yahoos problem and i stopped using yahoo.

fortunately during this time, i got support from two lovely ladies in hong kong and a high tech IT guy who volunteered to come to my home to check and fix my computer, and help me transfer info to my gmail account. this was very comforting to me.  now things are back to normal.


my health

because of the above, my health was further weakened and i became neurotic, to the point that i had heart palpitations which made me dizzy, and short of breath.  i could not think and  was at a loss of words when i wanted to speak.   i did not even have the energy to talk, nor to chant and i could only whisper when i chanted.  there was nothing i could do except to chant nam myo ho renge kyo for better health.   i chanted  to the gohonzon for energy because my mission is to encourage and support other people, and i needed the energy (which i did not have then) to do so.

kevin took me to a doctor whom i had no confidence, then by luck i remembered the name of a very good doctor who treated me last year and found his name on the internet; by the way, his name is Dr. Joseph Santos, a very very good doctor who cared,  listened, explained and asked me to have relevant blood tests, brain and neck scan, and gave me advice on the proper medication.

tks to Dr. Santos, my health is now getting much better, i am more settled and all test results are fine.

andrew

a couple of weeks ago, on a friday afternoon, after lunch andrew said he had discomfort in the chest.  as i had had stomache problems all along, so i thought it was reflux, gas or indigestion. 

1 pm sat noon after andrew finished work,  our nurse called and said andrew was feeling very unwell. i immediately rushed home and called our doctor friend who suggested we go to the nearby hospital.

when we arr at the emergency ward andrew had the BEST care and attention, they staff immediately took him in and gave him an ECG and a blood test.  2 hours later they told him the blood test was confusing and asked him to stay in the hospital.  they also gave him aspirins.   (all the while i was feeling very unwell myself, andrew even jokingly said i looked even sicker then he did)

sunday morning the cardio doc said that all his blood tests were find, but they would still give him a scan on monday and if the scan is find, he can go home.

monday morning after the scan andrew called and said the scan did not look too good and they would give him an angiogram to check his arteries in the heart, because  they didnt know the schedule yet Andrew said he wanted to come home first and book in some other time later in the week when he is not too busy for the angio.  i instantively said no and asked him to stay in the hospital UNTIL everything was cleared.

10 min later andrew called again and said his latest blood test overnight showed that he had a minor heart attack and they would give him an angio the same day, ie monday.  during the procedure, it was found that andrew had TWO blocked arteries in his heart and they put in two stents.

andrew is now back home and back to work, and he is slowly recovering.  however, i have to keep an eye on his routine and diet, and will have to find ways to build up his energy level again. 

blessing and protection

the above is a brief account of all the scenarios i had gone thru.  i had to say that it had not been an easy time for me; however during these difficult times, i could feel the protection that i have received:  help from hong kong and sydney on the internet, the advice from a friend on yahoo which came in the right time, the good doctor who genuinely cared and helped me and all the good staffs in the hospital who helped andrew.  these are the shoten senjins (guardian angels) who protect us when we chant nam myo ho renge kyo.

furthermore i consider it a  real blessing that we found andrews problem BEFORE anything worse bad happened, the slight heart attack did no damage to his heart, and is to alert him to be more careful with his diet (an effort i had spent in the last 10 yrs but with not much success )

all in all, my buddhist practice had taught me that, when we chant nam myo ho renge kyo, and have faith in the gohonzon, whatever hurdles we come across we have the power to overcome them, and rise above

cheers

logic and reality Aug 14, 2012

my dear friends and family

last week i watched a TV science documentary talking about reality in life, in the universe etc....  sciencetists tried hard to analyze what 'reality' is, initially they said that 'reality' is a hollowgraph, then later they said they cannot really explain what 'reality' is.

this reminds me of an incident a couple of weeks ago:  on my way to encourage a member who has been chanting and practicing our buddhist practice for more than one year but did not seem to have made much progress , i talked to chloe about my problem,  chloe is my granddaughter who is on holiday in sydney, she is 15. 

to my surprise, chloe said: maybe this member is trying to use her logic to understand the buddhist philosophy, which is about the power of life, and the power of the universe.  chloe also said: ' maybe this member has been asking and asking for things in her prayer and did not take appropriate action to reach her goals, and then complained.' hearing chloes comment, i was stunned.

chloe is only 15, and she has the wisdom to give me her insight which had helped me so much when i talked to the member concerned. yes, life and the law of the universe is sooo mystic and so powerful that even scientists cannot explain, let alone simple logic.

i am so happy, and so proud, of little chloe, and i must say that i enjoy every minute of her stay with me.  she is so pure, simple, so understanding,  and yet so wise and so intelligent.  she is also a very happy and kind hearted girl.  she attends every sgi group meeting with me (amost three times a week) and is enjoying the meetings very much.

mrs. cheng (chloes mother and my daughter), you've got a lovely daughter.  (from movie: the graduate)

cheers

trash or treasure - 廢物或珍宝 (July 8th 2011)

my dear friends and family

 

this is an interesting story which i had wanted to share since april, but could not find time to so do.

 

this is about kevin's car, the subaru which i bought for him in 2001.

 

as mentioned in my earlier email, kevin decided to buy a new car and return this old car for me to resell.  at that time he said: mom i think for this old car the maximum u can only sell for would be about max $7000.

 

somehow back in my mind, i know it would worth much more than this, so i asked him to bring it over to me.  when i saw it and had test driven it, i was extremely happy with it, kevin had it detailed cleaned inside out, and he spent about $5000 to fix up all parts.  i knew i could sell this for $10,000.

 

when i told andrew about this, he laughed and said that the NRMA survey says that this model is only worth about $5-6000.

he laughed at me in front of his friends saying i am crazy , he even said: if you can sell for $10,000, i will cut my head off for you to sit on  .

 

i disregarded what kevin, andrew and all the surveys had said and said to andrew: well, just let me try. of course, i chanted nam myo ho renge kyo to the gohonzon to help me achieve this goal.

 

i took all necesary actions to keep a good image of the car, including putting it in my own garage and took some beautiful photos in the park.  the car did look brand new.  (see photos)

 

when everything is all ready, i put ads in the internet on sunday, the asking price was $10,500, leaving $500 for bargaining. 

 

the next day, at 4 pm, i got a call from a lady who said: i like this car very much, i want to buy it for my daughter and i will pay you $9000, in cash right now and take the car from you.

 

i said: i thank you for liking my car, however i want $10,000 for this car.  (although $9000 is not a bad price at all, i really wanted to show andrew that i could sell for $10,000) so i turned down the offer. 

 

then at 5 pm a guy called and said he wanted to buy this for his son and also offered me $9000.

 

had my faith been less strong, i would have accepted these two 'not bad' offers, however, i was very determined to show andrew, and even kevin what can be done.  so i turned down this offer again.

 

then at about 6.30 pm, a young guy called and enquired.  i said: are u ok with the price? i dont want to waste your time.  he then said: yes, its ok.  the same night, he and his parents came to our home to see the car, test drove it and bought it for $10,500!!!!, not a penny more, not a penny less.

 

when kevin learned about this deal, he said: mom, how can u sell this pc. ofMETAL JUNK for soooo much?

 

so in kevin's eyes, this beautiful car is a pc of JUNK, and if he sees it as junk, his potential buyers will also see it as junk and there is no value in it.

 

however, i saw it as a nice, smart, efficient and beautiful car, the photos showed this image and all buyers saw it the way i presented it. the young boy who bought this car was soooo happy and he treated it like a treasuresaying that he had always wanted a car like this.

 

the reason for my writing this long email is: a lot of times we dont think very highly of ourselves, saying: i am not pretty, i am too fat, i am too old, i am not good enough ......., so we regard ourselves as trash, and in return, people do not value us.

 

however, if we trust in our own selves, our potential, our goodness and regard ourselves as a treasure or an asset, then other people will regard us as a jewel. people see us the way we see ourselves.

 

oh by the way, andrew's head is still sitting comfortable on his neck. 

 

cheers

 

lydia 

 

以下是中文版:

 

這是一個有趣的故事，自4月份以來我一直想和大家分享，但都沒有找到時間。這是關於我在2001年買給兒子的車，一架susbaru的故事。
正如我之前面說過，kevin決定自己買一輛新車，並將這車還給我去出售。當時他說：媽媽我想這架舊汽車最多只能賣$ 7000。
在我心中，我知道它的價值一定不止$7000,所以我要求他給我看看。當我看到這架車，並試驅動它之後，我對這車感到十分滿意，kevin將它內外都抹得一塵不染，而他花了約$5000修理了所有零件。我知道我一定可以賣到1萬澳元。
當我告訴andrew 時, 他說，根據NRMA的調查說，這種模式是只值約 $5-6000。他在他的朋友面前說我瘋了，他甚至說：如果你能賣到 1萬元，我會砍掉我的腦袋下來給你坐。
我不理會kevin, andrew和所有的調查報告, 只是同andrew說：讓我試試吧。當然，我在康座前唸南無妙法蓮華經去幫我實現這個目標。
我採取了一切必要的行動，盡量好好的保持這車，把它泊在自己的車裏裹，並將這車車去公園拍了一些漂亮的照片在。車子看起來是全新的一樣。 （見附圖）
當一切都準備好了，我在星期日把廣告放在互聯網上，要​​價是$ 10,500，留下500元去給人講價。
第二天，在下午4點，我接到一位女士的電話,說：我非常喜歡這款車，我想買給我的女兒，我可以現在立刻給你$ 9000現金並來拿這車。
我說：我感謝你喜歡我的車，不過我要賣一萬元。 （雖然$9000是個不錯的價格，但我真的想証明給andrew我可以賣到 1萬元），所以我拒絕她。


然後在下午5點一個男人打來電話，說他也想買這車給他的兒子, 並出價$ 9000。
如果我的信心沒有那麼強，我會接受這兩個“不壞”的價錢，不過，我是很有決心去讓andrew 和kevin知道我一定可以做到。所以我再次拒絕了這個價錢。
然後在下午6:30左右，一個年輕的男子打電話詢問。我說：我要$10,500, 你有沒有問題? 我不想浪費你的時間。他接著說：無問題。同一天晚上，他和他的父母來到我家看車，試開它，然後用$10.500買了它.!!!! 一分錢也不少。
當kevin知道之後，他說：媽媽，這个十年舊的廢鉄怎可能賣到咁多錢？
因為在kevin眼裡，這個美麗的車是件垃圾，如果他視為它為垃圾，他的潛在買家也將它视為垃圾而一文不值了。
不過，我視它為一架性能很好的，高效，漂亮的車，並將這個形象在的照片上顯示出來，而所有買家看的就是我想顯示的它。那位年輕的男孩買了這車非常高興，並视它為塊寶, 說，我一直想要一架這樣的車。
我之所以寫這篇長的電子郵件是想告訴大家：很多時候，我們看低自己,說：我不漂亮，我太胖，我太老了，我還不夠好...... ，，我們說自己無用, 所以其他人就看低我們, 覺得我們無用了.

但是，如果我們信任我們自我能力，及我們的潛力，我們的好處，把自己視為珍寶或資產，那麼其他人會把為我們視為珍寶. 我們怎樣看我們自己, 別人就怎樣看我們.
哦對了，現在andrew的頭還舒適的坐在他的脖子上。

lydia exp turn poison into medicine (July 13th 2012)

lydia write up chinese nam myo ho renge kyo (July 13th 2011)

Update on Update (October 1st 2011)

my dear friends and family

since i last wrote to you on wed (?)  i have got a very bad cold and had to stay in bed on thursday, that was the day when hong kong was struck by a typhoon, signal 8 and everything came to a standstill.

last night i coughed my lungs out and today  i went out to get some cough medicine from a doctor but was told that it is out of stock, so i decided to use traditional method to cure myself and bought a bottle of garlic pills.

despite the obstacles i am facing and the cold i have, i must say that i feel very good, this morning when i sat on the couch in my home (its a small lovely home, quiet, bright and airy) in hong kong,  i felt very peaceful and serene ,  i was thinking: there may be storms and rain outside, i still have a very nice home to shelter in, how fortunate!

after my first email, my son kevin called from sydney and was very concerned, my son in law, ben and a few friends also sent me emails offering help and said they will chant for me.  this is very very consoling indeed and i thank everyone.

a few days ago, i chanted to the gohonzon with desperation, today i chanted with joy, gratitude and appreciation.  Buddhism is about winning, and i am sure that with my chanting and faith in the gohonzon, there is nothing that cannot be solved and justice will be proved, this is the mystic law.

glad to share.

lydia

Update (September 29th 2011)

my dear friends and family,

just to provide you an update as i have not been communicating for a while. i am now in hong kong.

during the past weeks, after i recovered from my physical trauma,i spent all my time, sometimes working until 12 to 1 am to build a new website for my husband. on completion i went to china with andrew for 10 days and rested.

on my return to hong kong from china a couple of days ago, i was faced with a very difficult situation, having to fight, single-handedly, with a group of evil forces (human) who are experts in scheming and, strategizing to unfairly and greedily get what they want,  and i honestly did not know what is the BEST way to handle with my limited time in hong kong.

On top of this battle, i also got some bad news from sydney (ie one of andrews nurses resigned).  as i went to bed, i felt very very bad, for the first time in a long long time, i felt alone and did not know what to do.  i started to chant for the wisdom to handle the situation.

yesterday when i woke up, i chanted very very strongly in front of the gohonzon, grabbing onto the gohonzon as if it is a life-saver, afterwards i felt much better and i had an inspiration to get around and face the problem head on - with a firm, professional, open and polite attitude, i am sure that this 'light' i am projecting will win over the dark forces. 

i also have to thank my good friends Bob (whom i only know for about one year)  and Estella, an sgi member who readily and wholeheartedly lend me their hands and gave me their support.  this makes me feel sooo good that i am not alone, and with my chanting and trust in the gohonzon, i will continue to receive blessings from everywhere.  

now i feel very good and peaceful.

lydia

We Won (November 13th 2011)

my dear friends and family, 

just to let you know that today we won our battle by 0.5% votes.  now we are able to stop a project planned by a group of dirty and corrupted people involving 'under the table money' of about HK$10 million.

it sure had been a very very tough and hard battle for me.  there were times when i was disillusioned, down hearted, disappointed, but what kept me going is my trust that BUDDHISM is about winning, especially for justice.  a lot of times i got bad news and was disheartened, but i kept chanting and chanting nam myo ho renge kyo, reminding myself of frankies email saying that : keep going no matter what, and trust that we will win in the end.

i did, and we won.  thanks for all the support and chanting, my dear friends and family, this means a lot to me.

lydia

Guangzhou Food and Historic Sites (March 6th 2012)

hi history am back in guangzhou and today visited a 1000 yr old street, built in layers over the years, one on top of the other, stretching from the Tang dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.  we could see the pattern of the stones. then i went to see an excavated wooden watergate built in the Yue 越 kingdom and marvelled at the wisdom of our ancient ancestors. food finally today i had some nice cantonese food.  for lunch i went into a little shop and had steamed rice vermicelli rolls with beef (蒸牛肉腸粉), wow, so de li ious!  the 腸粉薄而滑, 牛肉軟而 luen.  thumbs up. for dinner, because i was so tired, i just went downstairs to the hotel restaurant, and then i saw on the menu 麵史豆付煮魚, braised fish with tofu and bean sauce.  this is a dish my mother used to cook and i used to hate, but tonight i thoroughly enjoyed.  as i was eating, i realized how i missed my mother, and her cooking, back in my mind i was hoping that i could find her style of cooking in guangzhou, (we are cantonese).  for a few days i searched and searched and was disappointed, then finally i succeeded without even trying to search.  this is 踏破鐵鞋無覓處, 得來全不費功夫 (this is a chinese saying that: you walked and searched until your steel shoes broke,and still cannot find what u want, and suddenly it came to you without you spending any effort) again, this reminds us that we must VALUE and TREASURE everything, everyone we have at this moment.  its only when we lose them then we now how precious they are. (my mother passed away and i could never have her delicious cooking again!) pls see some photos. cheers lydia

An Ancient Chinese Poem (March 6th 2012)

hi there

i saw a vase in the hunan museum with a poem inscribed on it, and i was deeply moved:

君生我未生, 我生君己老, 君恨我生遲, 我恨君生早!

這是怎樣的故事, 那麽的無奈,  那麽的哀怨!

i will try my best to translate in english:

When you were borne I was not;

when I was borne you were already old.

You grieved  I was borne too late,

 I grieved  you were borne too early.

this poem tells the story of a young girl falling in love with an old man, and they both grieved that they were not borne in time to be with each other.  how romantic, how sad!!!

this poem reminds me of a movie called : somewhere in time by Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer.  , wherein a young couple fell in love, the young man died and was reborne 60 yrs later.  they met again, the lady was then 90 yrs old but they could still remember each other........, you can google this movie and know more.

anyway, just want to share before i forget.  pls see photo of the vase.

cheers

lydia 

I Am Really Happy (May 7th 2012)

my dear husband

i am very very happy and impressed.  u know what andrew, over the past so many years there is a slight regret in me about your not caring nor helping with housework gardening etc and i was playing solo.

however this situation all of a sudden has changed.  yesterday i was totally surprised to learn that you have planted a couple of 'spring onions' in the backyard, my apologies for discarding them when i tried to remove weeds  cause in my wildest dreams i would never dream of you planting anything at all.

then last night u ironed all your clothes, and today u cared to take clothes from the small room into the study ready for me to iron.

all in all, this tells me that you are no longer 'indifferent' with housework and are so willing to share.  you wouldnt know how 'comforting' it is for me, inside out.  tks.....

again, my chanting works, hahahha

wife

A Little Girl (May 21 2012)

my dear friends and family

ryan and chloe came to visit me in sydney every year in july when ryan was about 7 and chloe 4.  we had such a good time laughing, playing and travelling together.  it was because of them i took up travelling all over the world.

chloe is now 15, she has grown to be a lovely young lady and she also comes to sydney every july and i am very very happy to see her and be with her.  ryan is now in UNI at UBC canada.

back in my mind, i just cannot forget and i miss the nice times i had when they were small, and i know that we cannot wind back the clock.

during our nexus tour last week, i met a little vietnamese chinese girl, four years old, angelina, she reminds me soooo much of chloe.   she and i had quickly become very close together.  i held her in my nap and played with her for a couple of hours in the tour bus.  it was so satisfying.  angelina lives in sydney, which means that i can visit and play with her when i am back in sydney.  how nice.

i must say that life is very very good to me, giving me everything i want in life. i am so thankful to the gohonzon.

 am attaching a photo of angelina.

lydia

Chinese Beauty and Culture (May 23rd 2012)

my dear friends and family

chinese beauty

today i went to the shanghai museum and would like to share a photo of a female chinese statue in the tang dynasty.  in those days, fatty and plum women are considered beautiful.  if she still exists, no one will give her a second look, hahahah.

even up to the early seventies, chinese guys still preferred women to be 'round and lustrous', like a pearl, unfortunately i grew up tall and thin and i felt quite inferior then.

Chinese culture

am now reading a book called 'the ugly chinese' written by a chinese writer in taiwan 20 yrs ago who pointed out all the shortcomings in chinese people and chinese culture. 

in the early days, we,chinese, had been taught only to 'release 30% of our words', and we were told never speak our mind.(unfortunately i am a special breed)

this writer says: there are psychiatrists in the US, however we chinese will not have psychiatrists, because when we see a psychiatrist, we will have to speak the truth.  however chinese people do not want to speak the truth, if he has pain in the butt, he will say there is pain in the ear.  if a woman dumps him, he will say that its he who dumps the woman. so how can a psychiatrist provide treatment???

i find this very funny, and quite true.

lydia

Goodbye Shanghai (May 24th 2012)

my dear friends and family

today i am leaving shanghai.  will give u some brief intro about this city with photos.

the city

its a huge huge city, great effort has been taken to modernize, clean and beautify.  most streets are tree lined. u can find almost any branded goods here.  the underground is well developed and normal ticket is about $Y$3-4.  there are stations everywhere.  very convenient.

taxis start from Y$14 and a 40 min ride costs about $70.  taxies from airport to city is about $180.

huaihai road

a commercial street with high class shops similar to the central commerical district,  queens road central,  in hong kong but much much wider.  10 min from my hotel.  a nice walk, tree lined, very clean.  there is a 1930 old school building right in the middle, there is also an outdoor cafe, quite european feel.

the underground

the underground is modern, efficient and clean.  what impresses me is that, at one of the stations, they put up an exhibition of paintings by picaso and zhang daiqian (a very very popular chinese painter) side by side together along a long long underground passage

my hotel

its modern, clean nice and centrally located.  i booked in for a king room for Y$650, as i had stayed there before and i was happy.   this time upon checked in i found that the room 1510 has a very pungunt smell from the ducting.  i tried to put up with it but at 12 midnight, i could not sleep and the hotel agreed to change me into a one bedroom suite, at no extra charge.

this reminds me of the chinese culture i mentioned earlier.  most chinese people will just put up with it.  my husband, andrew, a typical traditional chinese guy, will get angry at me for requesting a change if he was here.   he is the one who tolerates, tolerates until he cannot tolerate any more, then he will start tolerating again. 

well, maybe this is why our marriage works. hahahahahaha

pan fried bun

a very popular shanghainese dish.  i bought 4 for $5.5 at a little tradtional store along the street.   its crispy on the outside and there is hot juicy soup with meat inside, yummy.

the bund

famous for its old buildings, very pretty, especially at night.

soong chin ling's residence

wife of dr. sun yat sen, the founding father of the Republic of china.  very patriotic.

all in all, my impression about this city is good and i am proud to see the new developments in china and the effort the government is taking to improve the country.

am attaching some photos of the above. for some reason, i cannot log into picasa album and just have to attach individually.

cheers

lydia