in fate’s hands

My next 3 years is now signed, sealed and sent. Wonder what the future will bring?

I’ll know in 3-10 week’s time. Fingers crossed that I’d get a fantastic christmas pressie indeed!

Anyway, on to a happier note…

mince pork on rice

After a day of irritation and misfortune (dragging my new slow cooker home on the tube+bus only to find that there’s 2 large cracks in the pot, after that tripping and falling over my own shoes in my bedroom being the 2 amongst a long list of annoyances) I decided to whip up some yummy comfort food…..

wicked beer

“Brewed with roasted malt for a well-balanced , rich, smooth taste, a beer full of mischievous flavour”

Waki approves.

lack of foodie posts…

I have just noticed I’ve been neglecting foodie posts here in Yet another day…. that has to be rectified a.s.a.p!!

fireglow

I love to listen to the fireplace
on cold dark winter nights
when no one else is talking
and it casts the only light.

…

The logs crackle and pop as they burn
and the flames dance so sinuously
all joined in primeval rhythm
my fireplace talks to me

…

And, as my fireplace unfold its story
with the flames acting out the scenes
with marvelous precision they weave
an enchanted web…a net of dreams

.

- DonS’s blog

Be like water

“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.” – Bruce Lee

I can’t help but wonder if this quote was an echo of  the influence from his training in 詠春 (Wing Chun) (1) or from 老子 (Lao Tze)’s 道德经 (Dao De Jing) (2), or maybe both.

New Yorkers…

Fans of musicals…. take a look at this.

It has been confirmed… New York is a city where anything can happen! Brought to you by Improv Everywhere. (plus other interesting and insane Improvs also found on youtube.)

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On a different note, Yoga fans in New York, go visit Earth Yoga NYC.

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self inflicted torture- perils of contact lenses

Regardless of what anyone says, deliberately stuffing a piece of film onto the eyeballs is just not natural.

Yet I also cannot refute the fact that contact lenses do provide a lot more advantages over wearing a good ol’ pair of comfy glasses.

mini maple

ありがとうございます Satoe-san! I love the card! It is now sitting on my desk at work.

Maple leaves are my favourite!

a little bit of weird…

This morning while waiting for the bus to the train station, a little old lady came along and sat next to me.

fishy dinners

One of the things I missed most from my year in Newcastle was fish for dinner….

I had salmon at least once a week… in this particular photo, pan fried with herbs on top of a bed of salad and a generous squish of lemon.

秋意濃

.

秋意濃
離人心上秋意濃
一杯酒
情緒萬種
離別多
葉落的季節離別多
.

舞秋風
漫天回憶舞秋風
嘆一聲
黯然沉默
不能說
惹淚的話都不能說
.

-’秋意濃’

reindeer and elk

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw

Nothing gold can stay

.

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

.

.

.

.

-Robert Frost

千里共婵娟

明月几时有，把酒问清天，不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？

我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间。

转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠，不应有恨何事长向别时圆？

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全，但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

.

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!

the impermanence of all things

祇園精舎の鐘の聲、
諸行無常の響あり。
娑羅雙樹の花の色、
盛者必衰のことわりをあらはす。

- opening lines of the Heike monogatari

a fantastic Sunday out

The weather was brilliant yesterday and lasted the entire time I was out at Regents Park for my Sunday weapons class till coming back to Borehamwood after meeting up with some good friends.

the original gastropub

Last night, I met up with a good friend from our Masters who’s in London for a bit of a holiday.

When in Britain, do as the Brits do…. so we went to a pub.

Our life in this world…

世の中は
何にたとへん
山彦の
こたふる聲の
空しきがごと

-良寛

getting lost might not always be a bad thing

Went out early-ish today  for a bit of a walkabout, weapons class (jodo) and some  shopping .