The Statistician’s Dilemma

I've had just enough time to...   throw away my calculations

Taken in a back street of Surabaya, Indonesia where...

The statistician attended a birthday party

The princess got a Barbie and a pony

Everybody was supposed to be happy

The parent looked on anxiously

The statistician took a trip overseas

Wandered through streets that tourists miss

Watched children played in the underbelly

Where no one is supposed to be happy

Crunch his figures, do his maths

Calculate probability

Found no correlativity

Happiness is not measured in toys

It may be measured against something called love

But love itself cannot be measured against anything…

After visiting the Chinese temple in Surabaya in the last two posts, I walked through the back streets adjacent to the temple. I liked walking through the back streets if I perceived it is safe for I can discover many things one will miss in the main streets. This is how the residents of the city actually lived and you get to have a glimpse of the families going about their daily affairs which I always find very interesting.

I came across a few kids sitting on the floor with the eldest in school uniform holding a work book and explaining something to two younger girls while the youngest looked at me with interest. When they realized I’m taking their photos, they reacted by covering their faces with their hands and book. They were incredibly cute and innocent. Unlike mine, their lives look uncomplicated and happy.

these innocents shielded their eyes from a foreign devil... :)

Fun in the October Rain!

I've had just enough time...   to have fun in October rain!

Taken in Munich during a heavy downpour in the Octoberfest

Weather is never the cause

Of happiness or misery

But when weather is the excuse

You know you are happy!

Cheers!

What greater joy is there than

To be cheerful in pouring rain

To shout at the elements

Do your worst and do it in vain!

Getting cozy in the rain

Soaking wet and shivering

Perfect excuse for cuddling

Loud thunders that is deafening

More excuse for watering

A perfect excuse to get close

Cheers!  To the Weather!

Cheers!  To Friends!

Cheers!  To More Rain!

Cheers! To Everything!

The Lament of An Old Park Bench.

I've had just enough time to...   sit on an old park bench.

Taken of this old park bench on top of Maxwell Hill that has seen better days.

I met an old park bench

Looking kind of sad

Or maybe a little mad

From the way it blenched.

When I am about to sit

It shrieked “Don’t do it!”

When I asked “Why Not?”

It said “My purpose is lost”

“I used to be happy

To do what I do best

To provide a respite,

A little rest.

But when they prefer the grass

I know my time has passed,”

I sat down gently on the dirty bench

Cradled its arm around the bend

Sat with it silently into the night

Till it was just us, and the starlight.

The next morning I went back to the park

To where the bench and me shared a spark

But the bench was nowhere to be found

Just a puddle of dew left on the ground.

______

A sea of smile and a river of tears
A flood of memories
Imagination will take me back
(Chorus)
On an Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
A summer's night, the stars aglow
Did more than light the sky
With fortune, fantasy, and fate
We dream on an old park bench
I take your hand in my hand
You hold my soul in yours
One touch becomes eternal
When falling in love

We Humbly Bow to Thee.

I've had just enough time to...  humbly bow to thee.

Tzu Chi volunteers humbly bow to thee.

On behalf of the poor and unfortunates, we bow to thee.

For all your care and compassion, we bow to thee.

For the fate of humanity, we bow to thee.

For your love and tenderness, we bow to thee.

For mother and child, husband and wife, we bow to thee.

For your precious time and effort, we bow to thee.

For brothers and sisters, for friends and strangers, we bow to thee.

For your spirit and empathy, we bow to thee.

For a world in harmony, for love and happiness,

For a caring heart, for supporting hands,

For you, and also for me,

We humbly humbly bow to thee.

The Hawker's Answer to a Silly Question.

I've had just enough time to...   check a hawker's wares.

Taken in a busy street in Ho Chi Minh City.

What is a hawker’s thought

When she is not selling her wares?

When she is free to think,

What is her dream?

I asked what makes her happy

She says I can buy it for a dollar.

And when I gave her the money

All she gave me was a ripe mango.

_______

Vocation - Rabindranath Tagore

When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane,

Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"

There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take,

no place he must go to, no time when he must come home.

I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying,

"Bangles, crystal bangles!"