Hakuna Matata

Who in the right mind would plan out three growth experiments in a row? Well..now you know one. When the week started, I was set to make my week as busy as possible so that I can avoid thinking about some upsetting stuff. At that time, the idea sounded great - I'll get lots of data by the end of the week and I'll be so busy I won't have time to think about anything else except about work. But then somewhere in the middle of the week, Ping realized that it's the week MBL application is due, that she already bought ticket for Friday night's Lion King, and most importantly, Chinese New Year is at the end of the week!!! and she have yet to finish all the CNY cards she intend to send home yet.

Consequently, it's now Friday night or to be more specific, Saturday morning and Ping is still in the lab, just at the start of the last growth experiment for the week...maybe even for the next week. But thankfully, all the sleepless nights spent in the lab allowed Ping to finish up the cards and they were sent on Thursday. Hopefully they'll reach home before CNY ends. Ping also managed to get all the paperwork done for MBL application with expected fundings from the department (yahoo!!!). Mailed it late this afternoon and it should be on its way to Woods Hole by tomorrow.

The Lion King Broadway musical play was really good but I don't think kids would appreciate it very well...definitely something unexpected. I thought it was gonna be 'cartoon-like' but it's not that at all. In fact, I think it was really amazing how they include all the South African theme into the musics and characters. I like Rafiki among all the characters but Pumba is really cute too. While the show was great, I can't help feeling homesick when I remembered that the Lion King is one of the few movies that I had went to the cinemas to watch with my parents and cousins. I can hardly remember the movies that I watched with my parents as it was so rare...and I really miss spending time with my parents doing fun stuff. That led me to thinking about the Disney World trip I took with my parents when they came here to attend my commencement in 2004. That definitely feels like a long long time ago. The picture above was taken at Animal Kingdom during one of the parade they had. I couldn't remember if they had Pumbaa but I sure took lots of pictures with Rafiki.

Quoting from the Lion King, "It's a circle of life and it moves us all through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place on the path unwinding in the circle, the circle of life". I really like this phrase. Reminding me that nothing is permanent in life. Happiness is shunted when there's sadness and there'll be negativity trying to take over our optimism but we always stay in the circle by seeking happiness and making the best out of the negativity. When there's too much negativity, then we have to remember - Hakuna Matata - no worries..let us not dwell on it and move on!

But for tonight, Ping is definitely dwelling on all the good food and family occasion that Ping is missing out..grrr...sleep is definitely a way to get back on track this time. Soon...few more hours...