August 19, 2001: Perfection, Puzzle, Happiness

Hi,

How was your week? This past week, I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. KL
was fairly different from the other cities in Southeast Asia I visited.
First of all, the KL airport is ultra modern and huge. The long drive from
the airport to my hotel was on a wide and very clean highway, with few
exits and cars on the road. The highway reminded me of the Massachusetts
turnpike on a sunny day.

For the first time in Southeast Asia, I saw large gas stations, like the
ones in the U.S., with a 24-hour market and plenty of space. Off one of
the highways, there was a large rest station, with restaurants, and truck
stops. It was very much like the rest stop on the Mass pike in Sturbridge.
Over another highway, there was a KFC restaurant over it, like the Tara
hotel over the Masspike at Watertown.

We visited a potential customer in Ipoh, a city about 2 hours north of KL.
The drive was smooth and fast. On both sides are lush green vegetation.
Suddenly on the left side, the green mountaineous area of the Cameron
Highlands appears before you. It was very scenic. Unfortunately, I didn't
take my digital camera with me on this trip.

I liked Ipoh. It was a smaller, less hectic city. It's also a city with
long history, and a very large Chinese population. My colleague missed a
turn, so we ended up driving through the main parts of the city, which was
nice.

After I got home, I worked most of the weekend creating a major Powerpoint
presentation for work. Kind of reminds me of my days in B-school.
However, on Sunday after church, I did get a chance to visit the Singapore
Botantical Gardens for the first time. They had a lovely garden devoted to
orchids, the largest in the world. If you like pictures of pretty flowers,
here's the photo album:

Singapore Botanical Gardens
http://community.webshots.com/album/19645924vZfOlZpyAI

I also posted the pictures I took of the Grand Canyon from the summer of
2000. They were taken with my previous digital camera, so the resolution
is not as good.

Grand Canyon
http://community.webshots.com/album/19647041NoKVEAlkhV

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you had to choose the
greatest work of art in history, what would you say is the best?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded by Angela Loo and
Minna Huang, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
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Perfection

Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect
courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course,
perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their
perfect car (a Grand Caravan) along a winding road, when they noticed
someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple,
they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys.
Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect
couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.

Soon they were driving along delivering toys. Unfortunately, the driving
conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an
accident. Only one of them survived the accident. The mind numbing
question is: Who was the survivor?

Scroll down for the answer...
~
~
~
~
~
~
The perfect woman survived. She's the only one who really existed in the
first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such
thing as a perfect man.
_________________________________

New Puzzle: Sack of balls

We have 10 sacks full of balls. All sacks contain balls weighing 10 ounces
each, except one of the sacks, which contains balls weighing 9 ounces each.
By weighing the balls, what would be the minimum number of weighings
required (on a scale that gives weight readouts) to identify the sack
containing the defective balls?
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Puzzle Answers

Here are the solutions to the previous puzzle. Thanks to you guys who sent
me the solution to the 3 I didn't have.

26 letters of the alphabet
7 wonders of the ancient world
1001 Arabian nights
12 signs of the Zodiac
54 cards in a deck (with the jokers)
9 plantets in the solar system
88 piano keys
13 stripes on the American flag
18 holes on a gold course
32 degrees Fahrenheit at which water freezes
8 sides on a stop sign
200 dollars for passing Go in Monopoly
3 blind mice (see how they run)
90 degrees in a right angle
4 quarters in a game
24 hours in a day
1 wheel on a unicycle
5 digits in a zip code
57 Heinz varieties
11 players on a football team
1000 words that a picture is worth
29 days in February in a leap year
64 squares on a chessboard
40 days and nights of great flood
80 days to get around the world
2 pound it toe to toe
6 points on the star of David
50 ways to live your life
31 flavors of Baskin Robbins
40 hours in a work week
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Happiness

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a
baby, then another. Then we are
frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when
they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal
with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that
stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse
gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are we able to go on
a nice vacation, or when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not
now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to
admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the
way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because
you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time
with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting....
--until your car or home is paid off
--until you get a new car or home
--until your kids leave the house
--until you go back to school
--until you finish school
--until you lose 10 lbs.
--until you gain 10 lbs.
--until you get married
--until you get a divorce
--until you have kids
--until you retire
--until summer
--until spring
--until winter
--until fall
--until you die

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So-work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching.