what is it about your voice that's so soothing?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Hats off to you
who possess the courage to break ranks and be different, to pursue what you like, even if it meant not having a stable job/income.
I should have taken a leaf from their books. I suppose procastination and laziness are not good enough excuses for feeling miserable with myself and not doing much about it. (Oh I can just about hear myself pipe out, 'Well, it's not really within my control now is it...?')
Looking through a friend's latest blog entries almost made me shrivel up in shame and feel tons of admiration for how he goes after what he wants in life. Once he's decided on something he wants to do (it's usually something not very usual - unusual according to that set path we've been taught to follow, like giving up an iron rice bowl to go to Argentina to learn tango and now to pursue a degree there), he goes all out for it. (No matter how troublesome or the procedures can be, simply because it's not something that's usually done.) How mentally focused!
I want that kind of fevency, the zeal. Not just sit around, moan and wait for something (anything!) to drop from the sky (which is basically what I am doing now). I think I'll start now, today. I don't know how long this burst will last. I hope at least until a change occurs somewhere in this wretched routine of mine.
2 other friends I've become quite close to lately have also inadvertently become people I look up to. Both of them gave up jobs as well-paid engineers some years ago for their passions. One's now a self-taught, part-time photojournalist and the other's a full-time dragonboat coach (my coach, in fact).
A toast to my 3 very-real role models! May I someday be able to tell myself with pride (whether I succeed or fail) that I'd tried my best.
I should have taken a leaf from their books. I suppose procastination and laziness are not good enough excuses for feeling miserable with myself and not doing much about it. (Oh I can just about hear myself pipe out, 'Well, it's not really within my control now is it...?')
Looking through a friend's latest blog entries almost made me shrivel up in shame and feel tons of admiration for how he goes after what he wants in life. Once he's decided on something he wants to do (it's usually something not very usual - unusual according to that set path we've been taught to follow, like giving up an iron rice bowl to go to Argentina to learn tango and now to pursue a degree there), he goes all out for it. (No matter how troublesome or the procedures can be, simply because it's not something that's usually done.) How mentally focused!
I want that kind of fevency, the zeal. Not just sit around, moan and wait for something (anything!) to drop from the sky (which is basically what I am doing now). I think I'll start now, today. I don't know how long this burst will last. I hope at least until a change occurs somewhere in this wretched routine of mine.
2 other friends I've become quite close to lately have also inadvertently become people I look up to. Both of them gave up jobs as well-paid engineers some years ago for their passions. One's now a self-taught, part-time photojournalist and the other's a full-time dragonboat coach (my coach, in fact).
A toast to my 3 very-real role models! May I someday be able to tell myself with pride (whether I succeed or fail) that I'd tried my best.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
An oppressive depressiveness
Like a persistent, ominous raincloud,
Adamantly refusing to disperse or even release its contents,
Constantly hanging overhead.
Adamantly refusing to disperse or even release its contents,
Constantly hanging overhead.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
An odd pairing
Who'd have thought chocolate-coated potato chips (or crisps, if you're English) would be so good?Big big boss brought back a small box from Japan and placed it in the pantry this morning and I counted myself lucky that I managed to get a taste when I reached it in the afternoon. I've never fancied a blatant mix of savoury and sweet in the same food but this might have just changed my mind. Now I may start to try using those baked goods recipes with fleur de sel (when I can afford some) in them.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Crush
When they talked, it was almost as if they've been friends for a long time. He's a nice person like that. The same way he was back in school, she remembered. The only difference now is she's grown out of the crazy rabbits-dashing-around-in-heart palpitations, queasy moths (all right, butterflies, if you wish)-in-stomach feelings when he's in the vicinity. (Well, maybe only a little, when he once casually draped his arm over her shoulder and gave her a chummy side-hug.)
He spoke about his 'her' when she prompted. No further motivation required, it rolled off his tongue (or fingers, since in this case, they were chatting on MSN), like an avalanche, all kinds of details; her name, age (Same age as us, he told her), religion, which schools she was from, that it's not yet certain between them cos' she's still pondering over whether she should go out with him... (Here, the only thing she could think about was 'Why??? What is she still considering???')
A man so obviously in love. A man so sweet (Remember to lunch, he said, twice.) he made it so hard for her to un-like him wholly. :'(
He spoke about his 'her' when she prompted. No further motivation required, it rolled off his tongue (or fingers, since in this case, they were chatting on MSN), like an avalanche, all kinds of details; her name, age (Same age as us, he told her), religion, which schools she was from, that it's not yet certain between them cos' she's still pondering over whether she should go out with him... (Here, the only thing she could think about was 'Why??? What is she still considering???')
A man so obviously in love. A man so sweet (Remember to lunch, he said, twice.) he made it so hard for her to un-like him wholly. :'(
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Who wants a twig when u can have the whole tree?
Over a pastamania dinner last Friday, a trekking friend, Xun and I came to a concensus on a rough itinerary for a Vietnam trip in late Oct. Where I use up my few precious days of leave... Sigh. I was a little hesitant about doing this. It feels scary not having any days left before the end of the year. *shudders* What if something comes up and I need to get off from work??? Anyway the tickets were booked yesterday, no turning back now... It should be good, I hope so. He's seems a careful, thorough planner. ^_^ I've never really travelled with anyone but my sis so we set out our personal peeves on the table in the hope that there'd be some form of understanding and tolerance throughout the trip. (You know how people say a holiday either makes or breaks a friendship/any relationship.)
I gave myself a pat on the back for waking up early (630am) on Saturday morning so I could go for a run in MacRitchie with a friend and his running clique. Though of cos it would happen that on the day I was feeling exceptionally hardworking, the weather would be perfect for sleeping in. *Pitter patter went the rain* So the 4 of us ended up going to the food centre at Lavender for breakfast.
After which I headed off for training at Kallang. In the evening we had a team BBQ at one of our member's condo in Jurong East. It was a good get-together for the team. It was rather interesting to learn that 2 guys in the team bake really well and all of us tasted the evidence of their talent. One who couldn't make it sent a marbled chocolate and butter cake along with the host while the other came with a beautiful berry cheesecake!!!
I was supposed to try to wake up even earlier on Sunday morning to make up for the run we missed on Sat. But what with all the food and the late night, I only crawled out of bed at 7am! (We were meant to meet at 7.) I had contemplated washing up quickly and rushing down for the run as my friend was egging me on. But after a few texts, I finally told him they should go ahead without me. Back to bed I went and only woke up at 11am, which meant I also missed my training at 10am. Sigh... Me lazy bones... For the rest of the day I'd planned to bum around at home. But jogging friend wanted to catch 'Hairspray' which I was interested in watching too so dragged myself out and was glad I did. Company was great and the movie very entertaining! John Travolta was amazing in drag! Hee.
Clearly I'm only alive over the weekends...
I gave myself a pat on the back for waking up early (630am) on Saturday morning so I could go for a run in MacRitchie with a friend and his running clique. Though of cos it would happen that on the day I was feeling exceptionally hardworking, the weather would be perfect for sleeping in. *Pitter patter went the rain* So the 4 of us ended up going to the food centre at Lavender for breakfast.
After which I headed off for training at Kallang. In the evening we had a team BBQ at one of our member's condo in Jurong East. It was a good get-together for the team. It was rather interesting to learn that 2 guys in the team bake really well and all of us tasted the evidence of their talent. One who couldn't make it sent a marbled chocolate and butter cake along with the host while the other came with a beautiful berry cheesecake!!!
I was supposed to try to wake up even earlier on Sunday morning to make up for the run we missed on Sat. But what with all the food and the late night, I only crawled out of bed at 7am! (We were meant to meet at 7.) I had contemplated washing up quickly and rushing down for the run as my friend was egging me on. But after a few texts, I finally told him they should go ahead without me. Back to bed I went and only woke up at 11am, which meant I also missed my training at 10am. Sigh... Me lazy bones... For the rest of the day I'd planned to bum around at home. But jogging friend wanted to catch 'Hairspray' which I was interested in watching too so dragged myself out and was glad I did. Company was great and the movie very entertaining! John Travolta was amazing in drag! Hee.
Clearly I'm only alive over the weekends...
Monday, September 10, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
Well worth it.
Last weekend suddenly felt like a thing of the distant past. I was roped in (last Tuesday, very last minute.) to help out (logistics and the what-nots) with a dragonboat charity (a President's Challenge) event. 30-hour round island row, with a 12km run in the middle. Although I wasn't in the boat, I felt a sense of accomplishment when the whole thing was concluded on Sunday. And much relief that everyone was safe and sound.
I didn't get much sleep that week. Used Dreamweaver for the very first time, came up with a relatively decent emailer. ('Very good for a 1st try!' Shawn, the guy in charge of publicity told me. hee) Lots of emails back and forth with people involved. Arrangements with the media, the SAFRA running club (some of the runners joined the team for their run to provide moral support). More emails on Friday night. Most of Saturday was spent selling slightly imperfect clothes donated by a boutique at the SAF Changi Yacht club. Joined them on their 12km run at 2am on Sunday morning, had a good nasi lemak breakfast with the gang, headed back to the club after they've set off in the boat at about 630am and set up stall (clothes) again after a 2-hour nap. Homecoming at 2pm was exciting with kayaks and lots of sailboats welcoming the team back.
The adrenalin rush over, everyone looked like deflated balloons. Our tiny land support group finally got a chance to sit down and breathe. It wasn't until early evening that we managed to wrap things up and go home.
It's been a while since I've been involved in the organisation of an event of sorts, so it was good; the sense of responsibility and the feeling of being in charge of something, doing something useful. The best part was, in the midst of the slightly mad week, I had fun! ^_^ Reunited briefly with an old schoolmate, met some really great people, whom I can call my friends now. :D
I didn't get much sleep that week. Used Dreamweaver for the very first time, came up with a relatively decent emailer. ('Very good for a 1st try!' Shawn, the guy in charge of publicity told me. hee) Lots of emails back and forth with people involved. Arrangements with the media, the SAFRA running club (some of the runners joined the team for their run to provide moral support). More emails on Friday night. Most of Saturday was spent selling slightly imperfect clothes donated by a boutique at the SAF Changi Yacht club. Joined them on their 12km run at 2am on Sunday morning, had a good nasi lemak breakfast with the gang, headed back to the club after they've set off in the boat at about 630am and set up stall (clothes) again after a 2-hour nap. Homecoming at 2pm was exciting with kayaks and lots of sailboats welcoming the team back.
The adrenalin rush over, everyone looked like deflated balloons. Our tiny land support group finally got a chance to sit down and breathe. It wasn't until early evening that we managed to wrap things up and go home.
It's been a while since I've been involved in the organisation of an event of sorts, so it was good; the sense of responsibility and the feeling of being in charge of something, doing something useful. The best part was, in the midst of the slightly mad week, I had fun! ^_^ Reunited briefly with an old schoolmate, met some really great people, whom I can call my friends now. :D
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Now where did I place my short-term memory...?
Maybe it's a natural consquence of working on Alzheimer's disease, maybe age is catching up with me (even as I desperately try to avoid it), maybe it's the recent flurry of activity... I can't seem to remember little details like friends' birthdays, where I've placed my stuff, what I wanted to do when I headed for a particular room (say the bathroom. haha, nah, not as bad as that... I think I'd remember what I wanted to do when I go to the bathroom).
So here I am, asking for your forgiveness if your big day (or anything else you've told me) has somehow slipped my mind (hell, just the other day I almost [conveniently] forgot I'm gonna grow older soon). It was Mr Aw's 26th yesterday. Hope you had a great day Chiu!!! Sorry I didn't realise it earlier... (hence didn't prepare anything.) Thanks for sharing the cake your sweet wifey sent to you with us! And of cos, for still being my friend! hee :p
Some other things I wish were as easy to push out of the memory...
[That felt like an evil hand just reached in between the ribs and gave the heart a brutal squeeze. Sigh. I give up.]
So here I am, asking for your forgiveness if your big day (or anything else you've told me) has somehow slipped my mind (hell, just the other day I almost [conveniently] forgot I'm gonna grow older soon). It was Mr Aw's 26th yesterday. Hope you had a great day Chiu!!! Sorry I didn't realise it earlier... (hence didn't prepare anything.) Thanks for sharing the cake your sweet wifey sent to you with us! And of cos, for still being my friend! hee :p
Some other things I wish were as easy to push out of the memory...
[That felt like an evil hand just reached in between the ribs and gave the heart a brutal squeeze. Sigh. I give up.]
 would be so good? Big big boss brought back a small...){kind=link}