It's been such a long time since I visited this blog and left something here.

Lots of things, as usual, has happened within the past couple of months. With lots of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, but I am glad all that happened, and for a reason too.

The cynic in me has largely been taken away, and hopefully banished in oblivion. I am starting to believe in some things which I refused to believe in before, and which I thought if I do tried, would just eventually bring me pain.

I am hopeful of the future, and I do not harbour doubts anymore.

Morning Madness...

It's not that often I wake up so early in the mornings to catch the sunrise, but that was what I did this morning, accepting an invitation from my friends from LP65 to an event that they called "Morning Madness" at the Bedok Jetty.

All in, it was a fun activity, and it was great catching up with most of the folks there. To satisfy our pre-dawn hunger pangs, there was an excellent array of food, ranging from pastries and puffs from Polar (which I had brought along!) and an assortment of bread, to home-cooked beehoon, crispy dough fritters and nasi lemak! To wash all of these down, there was tea and coffee, and even an alcoholic cocktail of apple and what was believed to vodka....











It was a pity that the first movements of the sun from below the horizon were masked somewhat by the clouds that dotted the sky, but nonetheless I managed to capture some shots, together with the reddish-orangy sky.















It was followed by an hour and a half of roller blading and half an hour of jogging thereafter. Realised, to some degree of panic, that my level of stamina in jogging has gone down, which is not a good sign. What with the Frog Race (5 km run + 1.5 km swim + 5 km run) and the Singapore Bay Run (21 km) just around the corner, I need to find the time to train!

An oasis of calm amidst the concrete madness

I happened to be early for a lunch appointment over the weekend at Orchard Road, and whilst killing time, decided to check out whether this particular Japanese restaurant did really exist along Emerald Hill, as what one of my friends told me.

Emerald Hill isn't really particularly known for its restaurants; rather, it is more well-known for its handful of bars and not forgetting the preserved shophouses with its rustic charm.

I have only been to this place when it is dark, to chill out at its bars and never during the daytime, and never having ventured beyond the domain of these bars. So it was a pleasant surprise when in the midst of checking out that particular Japanese restaurant, I discovered another side of Orchard Road that I had not seen before; calm, laid-back and a little old-school, quite different from the image of Emerald Hill that I have held all along.

It was a good thing I had my camera with me, and so I just snapped away.






























Oh, and that Japanese restaurant did exist after all. ;-P

Gotta try that out someday. Heard it is pretty good. =)

Happy Birthday!

And like the title goes, I celebrated my birthday on the 3rd of July.

Well, this is late by 2 days so I would say it is a belated birthday greeting to myself. Been pretty tied up as of late, so haven't had the chance to come to my blog until now.

Must say the past 2 weeks had been really busy, but fulfiling nonetheless. Starting work at a new place, coping with the new environment and a totally different job scope, and getting to know my new colleagues and the expectations of my bosses, volunteering at an old folk's home, rushing translation projects, and last but not least, reflecting on how I should be spending the following year ahead.

The new job brings me new challenges, and shows up for me aspects of myself that I perhaps did not know before. We are constantly discovering more about ourselves, aren't we?

This birthday has been a quiet affair, but heartwarming nonetheless, with a number of birthday greetings. Wanna thank (in no particular order!) Liwei, Kanako, Gloria, CS, Kailing, Alicia, Mitchy, Jackson, Renyang, Ting, my "godma" Diana, my folks, and also to my new colleagues! Thank y'all for your well-wishes! =)

My last year before I hit the Big 3-0!!!

A simple meetup of just the six of us one Friday night.

Sharing with one another anecdotes of what we have been up to and how our lives are showing up for us in the past couple of months.

It is a really surprising, and perhaps bizarre realisation that we can share so much, so openly about our lives at this point in time, which is a stark contrast to a couple of months ago, where we have been hiding behind our images, afraid of sharing our inner secrets, desires, dreams and insecurities.

And fast forward to last Friday, where the sharing just went on and on, each one of us unabashed, and without worrying how the rest would think.

To be able to share and be truthful, to be forthcoming, takes a lot of courage and I am slowly gaining this courage to do so, despite the fact that the truth hurts sometimes.

To just be authentic, to be sincere and most importantly, to be myself.

Is this really so difficult for some of us?

Does this exist?

Was just surfing the net for pictures of bank notes and came across this:

Hmm, was this note ever issued at all in the first place? Apparently it was, back in 1996, but I don't seem to have any memory of it.

That aside, if it was really issued, it is definitely a collector's item and worth many times its face value. Would love to get my hands on one of these.

Anyone holding onto extra pieces and willing to sell it?

;-P

Heart or Head?

Which do we base more on in making our decisions?

Our heart?

Or our head?

Should we make an effort to strive for a balance between the two?

Or should we just follow our hearts, and not spend too much time thinking with our heads about the countless what if's, the should I's and the shouldn't I's?

Heck, I am doing that right now, looking at the question mentioned above.

Sometimes it's best to just allow our hearts to guide us to where we ought to be, or to show us what we ought to be getting or doing.

It can get a wee bit tiring having to use our heads.