Yes I have been insanely blessed. I want to thank all the people who have made my birthday such a great one. (Haha doesn't this sound like an Oscar thank you speech?)
It started with Saturday night. It's massively decadent to be doing birthday celebrations so way in advance, but I met up with my secondary school friends for a great night out at Brewerks. Hmmm. I think I haven't seen some of them for at least a few months, so it was a good meeting.
On Sunday, my little girls and my co-leader at Sunday School sprang a surprise on me. We had a mat and food spread out all over, with a cake in the centre. I was so touched. They even gave me gifts! I felt bad but so grateful at the same time. Bad because I don't celebrate their birthdays. I usually just get everyone to pray for them. And massively grateful. I didn't know that some of them remember so many details that I've told them about me. They even remember I like dark chocolate or that I like the strawberry meiji chocolate. And they had been planning this at least since last week! These girls have sort of become part of my life in a way. I've been teaching them for 2 over years. Thanks for doing all that, Ady!!!!
And then my cell sisters cut a cake for me too. Again, I didn't expect anything because everyone was so busy this Sunday. Thanks, babes. You have all been so sweet.
Steve, ever the gentleman, sprung for dinner and a movie. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean, which is redeemed by Johnny Depp. I thought it was better than the second one, because my expectations for that movie were quite high after the spectacular first movie. No one else can play the role of Jack Sparrow. Absolutely no one. This movie had its occasional ingenious bits, like having Keith Richards - the inspiration for Johnny Depp's character - play his surly father.
And then there was sweet dear Jessica, my favourite room mate at work. Haha. I've enjoyed sharing the room with her. She knows all my moods and all my likings and pet peeves. And I tell her everything. It's going to be very sad for her to move away to corporate and have to share a room with someone else. Yes, I don't like change. I don't like having to adjust to a new person, especially since I think I've come to know her well and we really get along. Anyway, Jess organised a drinks thingie for me at Superfamous. Yum, bellinis with mini wagyu burgers! Slurp! And the crab cakes! All my favourite girls were there. Thanks babes!!!
She also bought me a surprise from Awfully CHocolate on Wednesday. Thanks Jess, you are the best!
Oh yes, haha... How can I forget Wednesday? Ah yes Wednesday. It will forever be etched into my mind as Lesson 101 of "Learning how to say no", something I've never been too good at. Well, Willy, Weehow, EC and JCHM decided to get me high and merry. Plans to go to Mambo and laugh at people had to be shoved after hordes of people got turned away! Apparently everyone in Singapore had the same plan as us. There were so many people I recognised. Ah well. So back to Butter. 2 vodka redbulls, 1 JUG of vodka cranberry, 1 whiskey dry and 1 glass of champagne. All in the spate of 30 min. Let's just say the night was memorable for the WRONG reason. I was part indignant, part grateful for the treat. And let's just say, these "blessings" didn't stay very long with me.
I was so sick in the morning, that watching tv where characters held wine glasses in their hands made me feel like regurgitating again. Hangover aside, the day was such a good one. Met dear Si, who was my good shopping companion, bought tons and tons... Si has been such a good friend through all my shitty times. We had our problems in the past, as all gd girl friends have to have at some point. Still, throughout, she's one of my most loyal best friends. Thanks for the time babe!!!
I also met P, who treated me to Graze despite his impending exams (which sound really scary). It was a great great dinner=)
And then I had a cake cutting at home. Thanks mum and dad!!! Slurp. Thanks for running down all the way to Taka just to satisfy your greedy daughter's food cravings!!!
There will be a part 2 tomorrow=)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Singapore Slings and Singers that hit the mark
Feeling a little flushed from the two very saccharine sweet drinks I had with D just now. We went to Long Bar. I'm surprised that he actually suggested the place because we've actually never gone drinking together before. Not that I can remember at least. We usually stuck to the tried and true burger joints or coffee haunts.
To be honest, the thing I enjoyed the most were the peanuts. And being able to toss them on the floor. I did it in the most unglam, Singaporean manner. In the "I've never littered in my life and I'm uncomfortable with it since I'm Singaporean" manner. Kind of reminds me of how I couldn't even spit out my gum in Morocco in the countryside because it didn't feel right. It's times like these that I feel absolutely truly Singaporean. Not my proudest patriotic moment.
Another unglam albeit somewhat patriotic moment of the night was my order of the Singapore Sling. I laughed hard when D ordered the strawberry daiquiri. How girly I told him. The Singapore Sling was a tad embarrassing, especially when a whole troop of American tourists sitting behind me (probably a tour group) was happily sipping the same concoction. My drinking of the Singapore Sling was akin to a Parisian proclaiming her love for the Eiffel tower. 'Nuf said.
It was good to hear from him and to hear how his life has been unfolding all these months since we last met. We last talked in February, but it's really different to see him and it made me realise that he has come to a comfortable place in his life, where everything seemed to come together and all was good. It was good to see that he had grown so much over the last year. I felt really happy for him. And it was good to laugh when I aired my gripes and when the band started playing songs that really fit the sentiments I was sharing. It also felt comfortable and warm to share about the things that mattered.
There was a sadness when it ended because I felt that I had stopped still but he had moved on. Last year, we were on the same page somewhat. Hopeful, and wandering, and unsure of what God had in store for us. This year, he had moved one step closer towards certainty. But still I was meandering.
We got more drinks. Now I got the strawberry daiquiri and he got the slightly manlier mojito. And then the tourists took their leave. As I sat there and watched the "satay fans" hanging from the ceiling flip back and forth and watched the band with the forlorn air doing their routine, I couldn't help but wonder whether this feeling would ever go away.
But it was a good night =)
To be honest, the thing I enjoyed the most were the peanuts. And being able to toss them on the floor. I did it in the most unglam, Singaporean manner. In the "I've never littered in my life and I'm uncomfortable with it since I'm Singaporean" manner. Kind of reminds me of how I couldn't even spit out my gum in Morocco in the countryside because it didn't feel right. It's times like these that I feel absolutely truly Singaporean. Not my proudest patriotic moment.
Another unglam albeit somewhat patriotic moment of the night was my order of the Singapore Sling. I laughed hard when D ordered the strawberry daiquiri. How girly I told him. The Singapore Sling was a tad embarrassing, especially when a whole troop of American tourists sitting behind me (probably a tour group) was happily sipping the same concoction. My drinking of the Singapore Sling was akin to a Parisian proclaiming her love for the Eiffel tower. 'Nuf said.
It was good to hear from him and to hear how his life has been unfolding all these months since we last met. We last talked in February, but it's really different to see him and it made me realise that he has come to a comfortable place in his life, where everything seemed to come together and all was good. It was good to see that he had grown so much over the last year. I felt really happy for him. And it was good to laugh when I aired my gripes and when the band started playing songs that really fit the sentiments I was sharing. It also felt comfortable and warm to share about the things that mattered.
There was a sadness when it ended because I felt that I had stopped still but he had moved on. Last year, we were on the same page somewhat. Hopeful, and wandering, and unsure of what God had in store for us. This year, he had moved one step closer towards certainty. But still I was meandering.
We got more drinks. Now I got the strawberry daiquiri and he got the slightly manlier mojito. And then the tourists took their leave. As I sat there and watched the "satay fans" hanging from the ceiling flip back and forth and watched the band with the forlorn air doing their routine, I couldn't help but wonder whether this feeling would ever go away.
But it was a good night =)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sickness sucks
I've just reached the lowest point of the year. I just vomited part of my dinner during one of my coughing spasms. URRRGH.
This is a bad year, health-wise, for me. I've never been so sick since I was what, 12? I had started to take my health for granted. So it is truly a rude shock to see my health going away. And I'm starting to wonder why.
Maybe I have not been exercising as regularly as before, and eating rich food. Or maybe my schedule is becoming more and more hectic. I'm doing later nights, I have busier weekends, I do activities out in the sun very often. When I exercise, I really go all out. But I've always lived by the mantra that we should just push ourselves. Every time we achieve a certain standard, we should reach to achieve just that little bit more. And if I don't exert myself and push myself harder during exercise, I would stagnate. Then where is the fine line between over-exertion and going that extra mile?
This year, I had coughing spasms for 3 weeks in February, followed by food poisoning in April. Then one week later, I had a cough that went on for 3 weeks.
Then just this Wednesday, I got another strain - I had a fever, and then the coughing started again. And then on Friday, I started getting the "running nose".
Today, as I was taking pictures for the event at Fort Canning, I kept getting the worst coughs. It was really scary and I could feel people shying away or tensing up around me. Who can blame them? I'm really a walking social pariah now. Everyone who has been hanging out with me is getting some flu or other.
Twice today, my food coughed itself back up.
God, please let me be well........
This is a bad year, health-wise, for me. I've never been so sick since I was what, 12? I had started to take my health for granted. So it is truly a rude shock to see my health going away. And I'm starting to wonder why.
Maybe I have not been exercising as regularly as before, and eating rich food. Or maybe my schedule is becoming more and more hectic. I'm doing later nights, I have busier weekends, I do activities out in the sun very often. When I exercise, I really go all out. But I've always lived by the mantra that we should just push ourselves. Every time we achieve a certain standard, we should reach to achieve just that little bit more. And if I don't exert myself and push myself harder during exercise, I would stagnate. Then where is the fine line between over-exertion and going that extra mile?
This year, I had coughing spasms for 3 weeks in February, followed by food poisoning in April. Then one week later, I had a cough that went on for 3 weeks.
Then just this Wednesday, I got another strain - I had a fever, and then the coughing started again. And then on Friday, I started getting the "running nose".
Today, as I was taking pictures for the event at Fort Canning, I kept getting the worst coughs. It was really scary and I could feel people shying away or tensing up around me. Who can blame them? I'm really a walking social pariah now. Everyone who has been hanging out with me is getting some flu or other.
Twice today, my food coughed itself back up.
God, please let me be well........
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Movies to catch
This is the year of the trilogies it seems. And I'm aiming to go through the third instalment of these movies. I've already seen Spiderman 3, however, and it wasn't so hot. Maybe cos I was dead tired that day:
1. Shrek 3
2. Ocean's 13
3. Pirates
I'm also thinking of watch The Simpsons, which is due out this summer. Apart from these, I don't think the other movies are particularly to-die-for. It seems like an uninspired summer where movies just keep getting recycled.
1. Shrek 3
2. Ocean's 13
3. Pirates
I'm also thinking of watch The Simpsons, which is due out this summer. Apart from these, I don't think the other movies are particularly to-die-for. It seems like an uninspired summer where movies just keep getting recycled.
After work activities
It's been a great one and a half weeks. I've managed to run out of the office in good time, to get myself doing things that are usually on done on weekends=)
Since the parents were away, the car was all mine!! I also had a small hiatus in between assignments at work. Haha.
Last Tues, I hopped down to Bukit Timah to meet E at her place and we went running. I ran into the estates where it was hilly, and then I ran out on the main road. And then I ran up the bridges... It was good.
And then Jerrine and I went for prata another day, as we reminesced about our days at Upper Thomson and how we never used to appreciate proximity to all these nice hangout places until we left it for er, Potong Pasir... At least Potong Pasir has got one thing good going for it - proximity to Serangoon Gardens and the Kallang Park Connector, which has almost become my lifeline to fitness.
I also managed to do a gym session on Monday - we went for pilates and then I did an entire hour on the cross-training machine. Thank God for mtv, espn and channelnewsasia, or else I would have died of boredom.
Just yesterday, I rushed off to vivocity for "Priceless". It's a really good movie and man, is Audrey Tatou hot. Just two rows behind me sat Ady, coincidentally. Nowadays my diet plans are being tossed aside. Life is too short. So we decided to binge on good old nachos. (Actually, that day was a scary eating day, so I think I'll hold off on too much rich food for a bit now...)
These were only the weekdays and they were so productive that I almost forgot I had to work=)
Since the parents were away, the car was all mine!! I also had a small hiatus in between assignments at work. Haha.
Last Tues, I hopped down to Bukit Timah to meet E at her place and we went running. I ran into the estates where it was hilly, and then I ran out on the main road. And then I ran up the bridges... It was good.
And then Jerrine and I went for prata another day, as we reminesced about our days at Upper Thomson and how we never used to appreciate proximity to all these nice hangout places until we left it for er, Potong Pasir... At least Potong Pasir has got one thing good going for it - proximity to Serangoon Gardens and the Kallang Park Connector, which has almost become my lifeline to fitness.
I also managed to do a gym session on Monday - we went for pilates and then I did an entire hour on the cross-training machine. Thank God for mtv, espn and channelnewsasia, or else I would have died of boredom.
Just yesterday, I rushed off to vivocity for "Priceless". It's a really good movie and man, is Audrey Tatou hot. Just two rows behind me sat Ady, coincidentally. Nowadays my diet plans are being tossed aside. Life is too short. So we decided to binge on good old nachos. (Actually, that day was a scary eating day, so I think I'll hold off on too much rich food for a bit now...)
These were only the weekdays and they were so productive that I almost forgot I had to work=)
"Transferability"
Last night we talked about transferability. A insisted that there was no need to look for that. We already have a perfect love that comes from God. Why mess with the real deal? Why seek to find the ephemeral and the tenuous type that fixates on satisfying one’s own wants and needs? The selfish sort. The sort that easily removes oneself from one and attaches itself readily and easily onto the next.
At first I was the firm defender of the beauty of eros love. And I protested that true eros love does exist and that God can and will make such love beautiful.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realize that such eros love just doesn’t hold out. For all the beautiful stories that we hear, how many more end in heartbreak. Or worse still, how many more end with an “I don’t love you anymore.”
How also does one lose that love so suddenly? How can one trust and rely and depend on this other being, knowing that there is a stark possibility of an “I don’t love you anymore” around the corner.
Every time a couple breaks up, this love they once professed is also easily separated and reattached so easily and so quickly onto the next subject. What about the feelings of the person you once loved? What does one do with all the past memories and feelings and all that love? Does it just disappear? Or does it get transferred onto and vested into the next person?
It all boils down to the selfish nature of man.
At this moment, I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
It is not self-seeking, nor easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongdoing.
It does not delight in evil,
But rejoices in the truth.
It always protects, trusts, hopes, and preserves.
There is nothing love cannot face;
There is no limit to its faith, hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things that last forever:
Faith, hope, and love;
But the greatest of them all is love.”
At first I was the firm defender of the beauty of eros love. And I protested that true eros love does exist and that God can and will make such love beautiful.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realize that such eros love just doesn’t hold out. For all the beautiful stories that we hear, how many more end in heartbreak. Or worse still, how many more end with an “I don’t love you anymore.”
How also does one lose that love so suddenly? How can one trust and rely and depend on this other being, knowing that there is a stark possibility of an “I don’t love you anymore” around the corner.
Every time a couple breaks up, this love they once professed is also easily separated and reattached so easily and so quickly onto the next subject. What about the feelings of the person you once loved? What does one do with all the past memories and feelings and all that love? Does it just disappear? Or does it get transferred onto and vested into the next person?
It all boils down to the selfish nature of man.
At this moment, I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
It is not self-seeking, nor easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongdoing.
It does not delight in evil,
But rejoices in the truth.
It always protects, trusts, hopes, and preserves.
There is nothing love cannot face;
There is no limit to its faith, hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things that last forever:
Faith, hope, and love;
But the greatest of them all is love.”
Wallet..............
Time to buy a new wallet. My dear brown wallet has officially died. The clasp fell off and I can’t fasten it anymore =( Now I’m thinking very fondly of that nice Mulberry wallet I was eyeing in London. Hmmm…
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Neal's Yard - drool
I need to get my hands on some Neal's Yard Remedies face products. I am in love with their Yarrow and Comfrey Moisturiser, which is 1/3 empty since I bought it from London 1.5 months ago. I am also in love with their Witchhazel toner.
However, Neal's Yard Remedies can only be found in UK, I am presently kicking myself in the foot for not buying more to store... Hahaha. Very auntie right?
If anyone is going to London anytime soon, you are going to be my best friend...
Good recommendation Kris!!!
However, Neal's Yard Remedies can only be found in UK, I am presently kicking myself in the foot for not buying more to store... Hahaha. Very auntie right?
If anyone is going to London anytime soon, you are going to be my best friend...
Good recommendation Kris!!!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Wakeboarding
This is the year of grand plans, to be good at something. To be Master of something instead of a Jack at all trades. But I find myself doing many many things, instead of just sticking to one. Although, I must say, I am starting to get a bit better at the new interests I am investing in.
Wakeboarding is one of these. I went wakeboarding today. The last time I was in top form. I managed to cross both wakes smoothly finally, and I did one jump.
We started at 8am. 8am means u have to get up really early on a saturday morning, which sucks. But, the water is nice and calm and less polluted. And the sun is not out in its full glory yet.
This time round, I was not at my best. Usually, crossing the right wake should come very naturally. But today, I'm not sure if it's the choppy water (since we were in the open sea), or whether I was obsessing about the technicalities a bit too much and missed the big picture, or whether I was just having a generic "off" day, but I actually tipped forward while crossing the right wake! That's my problem - not leaning backwards enough.
My first run was a disaster. It completely pissed me off.
The second run was so much better. I managed to do a jump again! But I landed very very badly as I was crossing back from the left into the wake. I tipped forward, again, and went SPLAT right into the water face forward. And the board got ripped from my feet. OUCH. It was like having a mini concussion.
Anyway there are things to learn from this lesson:
1. LEAN BACK
2. Learning in choppy water sucks but it's good for u in the long run.
3. Sometimes, the best way of moving from left to right is to move the front toe up and down. But, at all times, the weight should be on the back leg.
4. No matter how much sunblock I use, I will still look like a boiled lobster after 2 hours.
Wakeboarding is one of these. I went wakeboarding today. The last time I was in top form. I managed to cross both wakes smoothly finally, and I did one jump.
We started at 8am. 8am means u have to get up really early on a saturday morning, which sucks. But, the water is nice and calm and less polluted. And the sun is not out in its full glory yet.
This time round, I was not at my best. Usually, crossing the right wake should come very naturally. But today, I'm not sure if it's the choppy water (since we were in the open sea), or whether I was obsessing about the technicalities a bit too much and missed the big picture, or whether I was just having a generic "off" day, but I actually tipped forward while crossing the right wake! That's my problem - not leaning backwards enough.
My first run was a disaster. It completely pissed me off.
The second run was so much better. I managed to do a jump again! But I landed very very badly as I was crossing back from the left into the wake. I tipped forward, again, and went SPLAT right into the water face forward. And the board got ripped from my feet. OUCH. It was like having a mini concussion.
Anyway there are things to learn from this lesson:
1. LEAN BACK
2. Learning in choppy water sucks but it's good for u in the long run.
3. Sometimes, the best way of moving from left to right is to move the front toe up and down. But, at all times, the weight should be on the back leg.
4. No matter how much sunblock I use, I will still look like a boiled lobster after 2 hours.
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