Celtics Vs Lakers ...

Blackhawks (Chicago) won the Stanley Cup (NHL). Flyers, I must say, played very well in the last two games. The whole team tried very hard and therefore, they did not lose, they are actually No.2 of NHL and Flyers should be very proud of themselves. The last game is superb!

When I said I would also like to support Celtics versus Lakers, I did not expect that Celtics is going to take the lead against Lakers. As of this evening, Celtics indeed is leading 3 to 2 games and in the last two games, they actually played very well. On the other hand, it is clear that other Kobe in Lakers, the rest of the team are not even on par. So, let's hope Lakers players can rethink their strategy and reorganize their game plan, otherwise, we may witness another history in NBA that Celtics to win the game this year. And if you have watched today's game, you would say it is definitely the case! (And I would need to think seriously if I am going to support Lakers, as what I usually do, in the next game! Hahahah!)

FIFA 2010 finally started two days ago (11th June, 2010). I did not really watch the games, but selectively, I picked a few games and try to watch through them while I am doing something else (also called multi-tasking). Honestly, I did not really feel them as good as before, or may be like they say, "It's still too early!" I feel the pain when Argentina only scored one against Nigeria and I feel embarrassed when England could only match 1 to 1 with USA. I certainly hope they would have played better than what they did. Anyway, may be it's true that "it's too early" and they would play better at later games.

Life is filled with accidents and things that should have happened may not happen, while things that should not have happened ... happened. I don't know why (and may be I am just plain stupid), I seldom ask "why", and I usually would proceed to the next stage of "how to resolve" the issue. I usually find this approach at least can lead me to the "solution" much faster, as at least I can save the time in struggle "why". Don't get me wrong, I may still ask "why" at a later stage, or better rephrased as "to see if anything I can learn from the incident". But it's more of a priority to deal with the issues as promptly as it happens (and to reduce the pain)! Or like they say "Life is too short to complain, as life is for enjoyment!" I obviously agree with this notion! Hahahah!

You will never be able to unturn every stone. But in life, you should continue to walk tall forward and certain risks we will have to take ... whether you like it or not!

It's Saturday Again!

It's a long awaited Saturday because the SUCCESS Chinese Help Lines staff and volunteers planned for a BBQ outing. Originally, the weather forecast was saying "cloudy with 40% chance rain", but starting the noon time, the rain, though soft and small, was kind of non-stop and make the front car window quite wet. It's very thoughtful that the organizer has planned a few tent for the location, and when I arrive there, they have started enjoying the hot-dogs, and I also see some deserts coming along way. It's only a pity that I did not wear appropriately for the location and I was feeling chilling inside. Therefore, I did not really stay for long. I chatted with only a few of the volunteers, took a few photos and have to apologize and left.

I hope you all understand that although the encounter was short, I felt very warm inside me as I haven't met you guys for long. It's good to shake hands and hug with you guys in order to feel my existence and also to show you physically that I am progressing well (except that my spine still hurt me even under pain control). No doubt that I shall continue to try my best to progress and yes please continue to provide me with all the prayers and best wishes! Thank you!

In the evening, after 6 months hard practices, Olivia's performance with Vancouver Academy of Dance (VAD) took place in Gateway Theater in Richmond. It's actually the second day of performance. The whole evening is packed with great performance, starting from a dance paying tribune to Michael Jackson (or simply put MJ), and then hip-hop, ballet, Jazz and Modern dance, Chinese dance, ball room dance and even acrobatic. The performers age from 2 and above and it's really an enjoyment to see them perform. It's also quite incredible that how Ms Annabel Ho has built VAD up and now in it's 15th anniversary. Great job!

The show wouldn't finish until the clock passed 11pm. This also means that I have been sitting for 4 hours and it's a kind of long record for me. I was feeling a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but then slowly I altered my position every now and then. This uncomfortable feeling can easily be off-set by the nice feeling of meeting up with old friends at the location. When I lied down at my bed finally by mid-night, I can almost hear my spine saying "thank you for relaxing me as I needed it badly"! All I can say to my spine, "Sorry about this, but you have brought me such a wonderful evening and thank you for that!" Hahahah!

There have been a few other things happened also yesterday. For example, the Blackhawks won the Flyers of 6 to 5 in the first game of Stanley Cup final. It was actually a very nice game to watch as both sides played very well and very close! Then, LA Lakers also won Phoenix Suns by 111 versus 103 in Game 6 of the Western Conference. The final now is set for LA Lakers versus Boston Celtics. Being the Canadian is not too happy as both the final teams for the Stanley Cup are from the US, while Steve Nash, who is the icon of Canadian basketball in US now lost and will not join the final. In sport, I guess it's more important to enjoy the game itself. Just like life, it may not go the way we want, but at least we can find our way to enjoy it (or merely to reduce our sufferings)!

It's such a wonderful day! Thank you everyone and wishing you all the best, and good health!

A Step Forward - Normalization!

A lot of things happened these two days and I am making good progress towards normalization of daily life. There are quite a few things that I have not done in the past three months, and quite a few things for the first time in the past three months, i.e. since the time when I was hospitalized and diagnosed with my cancer. It's both memorable as well as an indication of the improvement that I have made.

Last evening (22nd May, 2010) was Esther's Chinese Dance performance in Michael J. Fox Theater in Burnaby. It's organized by the Chen Ling's Dancing Academy, and standing in the middle is her teacher, Ms Zhang Jun. The show overall is a success and it's my first time to attend a public performance show, where I set for 3 hours. A record of my continuous sitting time. I also took a lot of photos and HD movies.

This morning, with the plan to normalize my daily life, Sunday breakfast gathering is set in a local restaurant and three other families joined to chit chat on various things. Although the gathering was short (about an hour as usual), the feeling was very nice and especially a step towards normalization. I zipped the "milk tea" (Hong Kong style) and it's nice although I have not tasted it for over three months!

Then, Esther, Leo, Olivia and myself attended the 12:00 noon Mass at our Parish. The 12:00 noon Mass usually are filled with not so many people and the atmosphere is quite relax. We met with a few friends and Parish goers, and both Father and Sister recognized me almost instantly and congratulated me on the progress I made, or at least I am able to attend church myself after 3 month's time. Thank you for all the prayers by our Parish families, I am so glad that at least today I am able to attend the church by myself and I shall continuous to work in this direction. Leo later collected the Parish photo album and it's really a joy reading those family photos inside the album. They are all very nice and well taken. It's an album and a record for the Parish, and it's filled with smiles, happiness and joy.

The Black Hawks (Chicago) won the Game 4 against the Sharks (San Jose) and entered the final of Stanley Cup. They are likely to meet with the Flyers (Philadelphia) unless miracles happens to the Canadiens (Montreal). Then later today will be the NBA Western Conference to watch how Lakers (Los Angeles) are going to perform today. Last but not least, the TV series LOST, being the Season Six and having the Finale (2.5 hours) this evening, it's going to be very enjoyable to watch and a certain kind of "lost" feeling afterward. Consider it's been six years that Leo and I have been watching this TV series, we developed a certain kind of feeling with them (the characters). Six years is a long time! Or at least six years is NOT a short period of time!

Life is so good and so enjoyable! Let's all live an enjoyable life!

That's It! Blackhawks 5, Canucks 1.

Last evening, it was Game 6 of Second Play-Off between Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks. The first 20 minutes were going fine, but then starting the second period, like they said, the game was unbearable to watch! I even felt Luongo's heart aching when Versteeg scored only 36 seconds after Brouwer's first score of the evening. History seems to repeat itself, as vividly remembered in last year, Canucks exactly lost to Blackhawks also in the Play-Off. There must be something that we can learn and there must be something we can improve. This season is now done for Canucks, if the management of Canucks is serious about making improvement in the team's performance, they really need to think critically how to assign their resources. They have some of the highest paid players in NHL but yet everyone (including the CEO of Canucks) has difficulty in finding values in them, while there are quite a few younger players which were not provided of opportunity to grow and mature. At the end, the name of the game is about allocation of limited resources and maximization of efficiency and effectiveness!

Just like the weeds in your garden. They are very clever plants. They grow well on the surface of the soil. They grow very fast and usually can reproduce themselves within a very short span of time. They grow in any space that they can find and they can rely on very limited water and sunshine. On the other hand, the traditional plants were not as efficient as they are and rely heavily on you, the gardener, to help protect them, as it is clear that the weeds compete consuming the same nutrients as your plants, the plants that you would like to see them grow and prosper.

The weeds in my garden grow so well and strong, the stems are 2-3cm in diameter (no kidding as you can see from the photo) and about 2 to 2.5 feet tall. After the walk this morning, without a second thought, I decided to take out those big and strong weeds (and there are a lot of smaller weeds still in existence).

We need to seek improvement everyday and we shall not hesitate in making changes, as well decision shall come naturally and promptly. Risks (and costs) are always there attached to a decision, but some of the decisions are so obvious that you will never regret making them! Like taking out the weeds from your life ... just take them out and you will be fine! Hahahah!

What Happened Last Evening?

My body condition was quite okay yesterday. I took the shower in the afternoon and then had a short rest by 5:45pm. Then, I was planning to watch Game 3 of Second Play-Off between Canucks and Blackhawks starting 6:30pm. It was dinner time and I set around the table with Esther and Olivia, all of a sudden, my body started to sweat. The sweating was more like dripping of water, uncontrolled. The sweat just come down from the head and the upper body and made everything on the way wet. Respecting the body that this was a "clear signal" of something not so good, I decided immediately to lie down in my Home Care Unit and allow the body to rest, with the expectation that the body would take care of itself and get over this issue (of unknown and uncontrolled sweating).

So, instead of watching Canucks trying to gain ground in their own turf, I was resting on my bed and allow the body to regulate itself. "Thank you my body, just relax and try to recover!" About an hour and a half later, my sweat stopped and my body temperature also returned to normal range and I got up slowly and managed to watch the last 8 minutes of the Third Period. Only then I learned what happened last evening with Canucks, and I recognized that this game must be painful to watch. The result 5-2, the Blackhawks took Game 3 and now leading one game in the Play-Off!

Life is full of unexpected events and often than not, it's difficult to plan ahead of time, and even more difficult is to try to stay firmly with the plan, especially with my body conditions. Instead, I would encourage we just "go with the flow" and listen to our own body conditions and "live with it". Guaranteed, there are uncomfortableness through the process and there are ups and downs everyday, but the best way still is "go with the flow" and allow the body to regulate itself!

Canucks surely need to try harder this Friday in Game 4 in Vancouver. No matter what is going to happen, I would suggest not to worry, and just "go with the flow"! Just enjoy every minute of the game!