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8th March 2025. 2 min read

Author at a walking street in Moscow

Of all my Instagram photos, the above picture taken along a walking street in Moscow back in April 2018 inspired me the most.

I was with my team mates attending a dental seminar.

Our guide brought us to this interesting alley lined by many quaint shops and I spotted several people fixated on this young man.

The lanky young man looks stylish to me with his long physique carrying his casual thick black suitable and a nice scarf draped around his neck. He could be a student going out on a weekend doing some busking work to earn some keeps.

What caught my attention was his speech and delivery. This gentleman was clearly reciting poetry and its likely to be Russian.

He delivered it with so much flair, fluency and fortitude that he held me spellbound for a good twenty minutes. He must have recited a few poems in that interval.

His voice was smooth, clear and resonant so it was not surprising that many were charmed by his voice. In addition, I was impressed by his confident stance, engaging the audience fully. I was. most blown away by his memory prowess that he could deliver his speech without a hitch!

How did he do it? This is of interest to me as I still have my script as my crutch at my public speaking club most times.

I arrived at my own analysis;

He has a great passion for what he does; that is excellent public speaking.

He must have practiced very hard till he has internalized its message.

He is a very driven young man as he has a goal to capture his audience to impress them and earn his deserved tips.

He is a learned man, reading widely and deeply to improve his intellect.

He is using this platform to practise to perfection.

This young man has a bright future.

After tipping in his box, I joined my team again, and wished I could stay longer. He has inspired me in this craft of public speaking skills which I never got very far for the lack of qualities mentioned above.

I suppose I would have to start working on them if I seriously want to give a speech worthy of my members’ attention at our next meeting.

I am grateful for this chance occurrence which enriched my life and will make me progress further, only if I take action.

25/2/25 4 min read

Aomori city is in the northern most prefecture of Japan and is the snowiest city in the world. This January, I wanted to be there to do my basic skiing.

To commit myself, I had signed up several months before with a local ski and snowboarding tour company that would conduct their activities there.

Due to my oversight, I had signed a hosted programme which meant they would bring us to special snow sites and there the action would start. It turned out to be an advanced programme.

The morning after our arrival, I found out that I was the only skier and the rest were experienced snowboarders, mostly young adults.

I was thrusted my skis and poles and boots and we proceeded to the gondola lift.

A gondola lift! It meant that it would bring us to a high vantage point to start. In the lift, I began to feel uncomfortable and unnerved.

I smiled awkwardly at my fellow mates, looking out at the endless ski routes and bawked, aghast at its steep slopes. I. tried to make small talk trying to destress.

There was no turning back.

I fumbled as I got out of the gondola and my fellow mates helped me with what I suspected were skis that were too long and broad for me. Later I found out that they were for faster speed.

Then we trudged out to the snow to the starting point and when I saw the far, far distance, my heart died.

The scenery was breathtaking no doubt with its cotton like clouds against a bright blue sky, the wide and undulating snow slopes lined by snow dusted beech trees.

It’s at least 1 km with no gondola base in sight. The problem was I am only a basic skier and had never gone down this gradient of 45degrees.

All the snowboarders were ready and their eyes were on me out of respect for my seniority. I was too shocked to pray. Oh, go ahead, go ahead, I motioned to all of them as I did not want to create a scene in front of them. Swiftly they sped down the snow like penquins on ice.

I inched forward to the edge. “Oh God help me!” I had to do something before the next batch of gondola riders arrive.

Fortunately, my wits did not leave me. Instinctively, I started to side step carefully with my skis placed perpendicular against the slope and created steps on the snow to bring myself to a lower level.

Then I started to ski. Side stepping was not taught by any coaches but I guessed it arose out of survival instinct. Then I recalled one of my past coaches said that I must cut across a steep slope to slow myself.

They had also said, “Lean forward, stand up, don’t worry and that became my mantra.

So I cut across and remembered to make a large turn to cut across the slope again then make a stop by making the A sign with the skis and dug into the snow. One coach had told me, “ Relax, breathe deeply and enjoy the scenery”. I did that.

After steadying myself and catching my breath, I turned again in this fashion many times until I stopped short of the next steep slope. I started side stepping down again. And repeated for the odyssey.

In my survival mode, all the tips from my past basic coaches had come back to me. I was grateful for that.

It seemed like an eternity to me. I must not die here I told myself or I destroy everyone’s fun. A laughing stock and a disgrace to my senior friends.

I finally made it down to the Gondola base and my host who waited for me gave me a high 5. “Well done!”, she quipped.

Meanwhile my snowboarding mates had already gone up the gondola few rounds and whisked past me few times. They must have witnessed me, the struggling, solitary skier.

I told the host that it was my fault for not looking at the brochure properly and signed an advanced programme. No more gondola course runs for me please.

I requested for gentler slopes but so we went to another course which was slightly less steep for a basic skier but somehow it seemed easier after coming from the gondola course.

I also found that they had given me big and long skis for pros. I changed to shorter and slimmer skis which were easier to manage.

Despite the fiasco, many good things came out of this incident

1 I found that I had kept relatively calm and this enabled me to think better. This is an important skill to keep.

2 I must be more cautious when signing forms and not skim on details.

3 Though I did not integrate much with the younger snowboarders, I made some friends who took wefi with me to encourage their mothers to get active.

On hindsight, I am glad to be given this shocking challenge by my mistake. I would not have signed for it by choice.

All that agony was not in vain.

In conclusion, occasionally things do not turn out the way we expect. By keeping a cool head, solutions may surface to rescue ourselves.

From another perspective, all experiences can enrich and enlighten and bring out the best in you, and not necessarily ruin you.

Feb 17th 2024. 3 min read

author at Aolori Spring Rrsort, Dec 2025

I haven’t hit a low in my life for a long time. My recent incident in which I fell after skiing and looking at the wonderful nature around me caught me off guard.

So enamored with God’s creation which had me entangled over my skis as I tumbled while standing still, caused a meniscus and ligament tear in my right knee.

One reason was that I rarely fall and I don’t remember any of my past coaches ever taught me how to fall.

One more reason could be the skis and boots were old and they did not dislodge easily to free the legs.

Otherwise, I am quite a careful basic skier enjoying the sport and its seasons for the last ten years.

There is a saying that. “You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

Now, with my right knee wrapped in the latest support, taking painkillers and going for physiotherapy is a new life experience for an active senior like me.

I realized that every part of our body is so important and not to be taken for granted. Any activity has risk but that does not mean one should not do it but rather be aware and be trained for it.

The beginning of a new emotional experience started when you received comments that neither soothed nor angered you.

On my way to work, there were questions as to ‘ What happened?’ ‘You shouldn’t be doing this at your age’ and ‘Poor thing!’ ‘I told you so!’

You feel a gnawing ache that woke you up in the night.

You go at snail pace to do tasks that you usually could complete fast.

The. time taken to reach recovery would be months away.

Most important, I learned to be more patient with people who are physically challenged.

What is one to do? Best choice is to stay optimistic. So what good can come out of staying glum and gloomy?

You learned to lick your wounds since no one could really help you.

In the weeks ahead, I have been building stronger upper body strength and other parts of the body that do not strain my right knee further. It feels good that if I slide to the ground, I can still get up with one knee and with my stronger arms.

I took out my best clothes and bought elegant knee supports – could I possibly be setting a new trend? Stand in a more stylish manner with my equally stylish colourful walking stick? One must not be defeated by any event.

The injury was good for me. Now I would stand in the sun for 20 mins with my back to the sun instead of worrying about being wrinkled. I am getting my priorities right for my bones.

While Standing in the garden basking, I started to notice the beautiful creeper plants along the ground and climbers on the walls of the house. I appreciate my spouse’s green fingers and passion for nature.

The Buddha statues bought and displayed by him and there are many being positioned in the garden, in different poses, a symbol of serenity, detachment and wisdom.

My husband admires Buddha for his benevolence, peace. and intellect and strive to think like him though the closest he gets to being a Buddha so far is his belly.

Nevertheless, they are precious and inspiring to behold from his wise collections.

He says I do stupid things like going skiing but I know it wasn’t the skiing per se. It was the lack of focus at the point of standing aimlessly in the flat snow instead of getting off the skis. And failure to learn how to fall.

Given the state I am in now, I am still filled with pride for my attempt to do something most of my peers would not do.

I have experienced the exhilarating cold and the coolness of the sport.

I know I will eventually heal anyway.

Meanwhile, my spirit is upbeat, writing this article about my fiasco to medium, mull over my mistakes and overcome my fear one more time, next time, with wisdom, awareness and training.

At the beautiful town of Rye,Uk in late Nov 24

Take a gulp of moderation drink for a smooth, stable and serene day.

Moderation drink keeps you in a mindful state of calm and contentment and you will have a more successful day.

Being Happy, Sad, Angry, Fearful just to name a few common emotions will dictate the course of your events.

When excessively happy, one may lean towards complacency.

You may make the mistakes of speaking in excess of what you ought to say

Resulting in becoming superfluous, offensive and / or spouting nonsense.

When excessively sorrowful, one may lean towards pessimism.

You will be unknowingly stifled by this feeling.

Resulting in inaction, making the wrong decision and / or be in depression.

When excessively angry, one may lean towards irrationality of behavior. Resulting in injury to others, doing something regretful and / or self-harm.

When excessively fearful, one may lean towards negative thoughts.

Resulting in fight or flee response, emotional breakdown and/ or loss of opportunities from not taking challenges.

The key here is moderation. These emotions could serve us in some ways;

Happiness if not excessive when shared with people we love and care could motivate us and others to do better.

Sorrow if not excessive makes us appreciate our lives and moments to realize how temporal things are and challenges us to get back on our feet.

Anger if not excessive may be used for its energy to channel one’s focus on a task to accomplish it well.

Fear can be protective, making us aware of potential pitfalls and dangers of a situation so that we can take measures to be guarded.

In summary, too much of being overwhelmed by a feeling is bad. Temperance in our emotions is key..

In daily living, I experience greater clarity of mind when I keep excessive emotions in check no matter how provocative a situation is.

Solutions surface surprisingly.

You find your day goes smoothly, your feathers unruffled and people around you are also affected in a pleasant and positive manner.

I even think that you will appear stylish and sophisticated.

4 th December 2 min read

Coco, author’s pet chicken

It was many years ago. We attempted to keep a chicken as a pet. Though we would have loved a quiet, dignified looking chicken strutting her stuff in our ample garden, thinking she would feel lucky, she turned out to be a renegade.

Being happy was not her game.

Coco was her name. The days ahead were filled with chaos

She would not get along with the cats and the dog at home.

When thirsty and hungry or moody,

She struck by repeatedly turning over the water bowls

Once boundaries were opened

She became the fierce disperser of cat sand

The indiscriminate territorial marker

Flying over the neighbour’s fence even scaring their dog

A defiant Lone Ranger, never once stopped to sniff at the plants nor the flowers nor peck at the worms

A true blue free range chicken in a wrong location.

With such a domestic animal, it sounded like a whole lot of baloney when I had to tell my friend that we could not meet because I had chicken trouble.

21/11/24 2 min read

One sure sign of aging is when you run out of arm length during reading and you need to throw the book on the floor to read the words!

However, aging brings lots of benefits.

One perk of aging; you look at the amount of photos accumulated since childhood and feel qualified to say that great sounding phrase, “Ah, I have an archive!”

Aging either makes you crazy or a better philosopher.

The good thing about aging is that when the eyes, ears and teeth (first three systems of the body) go, we would finally see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.

(* *) -( )- ( x. )

One advantage of aging for middle aged adults is that relatives and friends will stop asking if you are going to have more children because you have run out of ‘eggs’.

Another advantage of aging is that generally your wallet would become fatter like your hip would become wider and you get treated with respect as a customer with purchasing power.

A further advantage of aging is that you start to look at the time that is left hence you become more appreciative of life. Carpe diam!

Certainly, it’s an advantage that as you age, you forget what you were angry about.

You realises that there is so much to celebrate about being alive and that the obstacle to happiness is yourself.