500th Post- Dinner With Elly & Alisa

Today was my first time going to the new mall next to Bugis Junction called Iluma.

I had never heard of it before, so when my friend messaged me saying that we were meeting at "Iluma... opposite Bugis Junction", I thought she had meant to type "I am... opposite Bugis Junction" instead.

The whole mall reminded me of a beehive, with the outside resembling a honeycomb and the lights waving like the wings of bees hanging outside a real hive.

We went to Coffeebean for dinner, a drink and dessert. Elly and Alisa are the first real colleagues I ever had. We worked together in an office about 7 years ago and still keep in touch even though we're all doing different things in our lives right now.

Pardon the grainy ill-lighted picture. I was too hungry to care about picture quality.

My chicken mushroom pasta thing tasted alright; but for $9.90, the portion was a tad too small.

Oh well.

The Bugis market at night is a very different place. $10 to $15 discount racks everywhere!

It turns out that the storekeepers like to put out stuff for sale past the so-called rush hour of shopping. Which means that after 2030 or so, you get to enjoy a relatively empty shopping space and lots of discounts to browse over.

I got two tops that were originally $30 each for $15 each.

So glad that I decided not to buy them a few weeks ago when I first set eyes on them.

I wish Singaporeans would complain less about this country. You can't live this kind of life anywhere else in the world!

This Weekend

Whew! I can't help but feel as if it has been a long weekend.

Enjoyable but long.

On Saturday night, Talia and I headed to East Coast Park for a stroll and a bite.

The moon was deliciously round and bright. So bright that there seemed to be a path of light on the face of the sea.

We got ourselves some satay and ketupat from East Coast Food Centre then ate it elsewhere closer to the beach.

We had fun just eating and talking nonsense the whole time. It's so nice to be able to hang out with friends like this again!

I know I will miss this when I leave...

After eating, we took a stroll back towards Talia's house and decided to check out Mana Mana Beach Club next to the Food Centre.

We heard cheering and music coming from within and were curious as to whether it was the Korean fans cheering for their country's attempt at the World Cup.

Indeed it was.

And it was a very cute sight to behold.

All the Koreans were gathered into a space watching a large TV screen and waving their red cheering balloon sticks. They even had their own cheers and stuff!

Sadly, we didn't see any Gu Jun Pyo lookalikes.

Hah.

Then, I wanted to take a picture of our feet on the beach half-submerged underwater.

We accomplished this task, but Talia commented that we were really dipping our feet in the oil spillage that recently occurred at East Coast; which kind of made me regret dipping my feet.

We hunted around for a place to wash the sand and crap off our legs. First we went to the club's swimming pool but decided that was a bit mean. Then we went to the club's toilet but the sinks actually had signs above it saying "Please do not wash your feet in the sink. Thank you."

Booooo!

Finally, we had to settle by washing our feet in the nearby cable ski park's pond.

Kua kua kuaaaa...

Sunday morning, I headed to church and attended the primary school service instead. It was quite a surreal feeling to be back in the same little classroom and singing the same children's songs.

I had promised my ex-teacher that I'd come and share my Christian testimony with the Primary 5's and 6's; but I really had no idea what I was going to say.

All I could do was pray that the Holy Spirit speak to them through me.

I was actually nervous before going up and didn't know what to say until I opened my mouth. Then I simply shared a short summary of how God changed my life. The children were so quiet, I didn't know what they were thinking! But I pray that each and every one of them will be blessed in their lives and that no matter what happens they will be secure in God's promise.

The topic of their class discussions that day was "who is your best friend?"

Even though I was only there to share my testimony, the discussion among these kids actually taught me something. I couldn't help but get goosebumps again after realising that God had really sent me there not just to share but also to learn.

Some of you know that I've been struggling recently with some friend issues and it has really messed up my head to some extent.

But this Sunday reminded me that the only real friend that I have is Jesus Christ. Who else would be willing to die for me in my place? Who else is always there, all-knowing, always loving, caring and protecting?

Human friends can only be there sometimes and can only help to a certain extent. But it is Jesus Christ who gives the ultimate peace and can provide the maximum comfort. He is there when you are lonely and living in the desert.

Nowhere else can you find a friend as precious as Him!

<3

So after church, I met up with my mom's best friend and family and they took me to New Garo Japanese Restaurant opposite Beauty World for lunch.

Surprisingly, the cheapest set (Set A-$13) turned out to be quite yummy and filling. I loved every bite of it!

Well, maybe because I was starving.

After that, I went to meet Cassandra at Far East Shopping Centre. I can't believe how much that place has changed since my secondary school days.

Where have all the cheap stores disappeared to?

I wondered then, if I, a 21 year old thinks that Singapore has changed drastically; how much more would my grandmother (ranging 60 to 80) think that Singapore has changed?

I am guessing that this Singapore would be virtually unrecognisable to a person who has been here 60-80 years ago.

Or even to my parents, who were born during the birth of this nation.

After Orchard, we headed off to East Coast Park (yes, again...) for food and a stroll.

I am simply in love with East Coast Park!

The sky was pretty by the time we got there.

After food (satay, again...), we went to Mana Mana Beach Club (again...) and relaxed to the sounds of wind, waves and the England vs. Germany game.

We talked and talked until it was time to leave.

I was super pooper tired due to the Saturday morning training with my Dua Gu at the army camp. My muscles have been aching since then.

Must have been the standing broad jumps.

So yep.

More adventures to come!

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

Dear everybody who's invited to read this blog: thank you for putting up with my sporadic blog-switching behaviour!

I actually wanted to continue blogging on Moyalyubov but they only allowed me to select readers who were current Wordpress users while Blogger allows me to invite anybody I want. Also, Wordpress only gives me 35 readers while Blogger gives me 100.

In this case, I'd say Blogger is a win!

Plus, I already have a working account on here anyway.

Well... and due to a laziness on my part to report all my daily activities to different people, I've decided to revert back to my old blogging style.

Pictures and thoughts peppered with some act-smart comments.

Laaaa la la~!

So let's begin.

Yesterday after breakfast with Nanny, I met up with Huimin at Bukit Gombak MRT station.

Huimin had never been to Xiao Guilin before and I wanted to show her this secret spot hidden in the west side of Singapore.

Being a long-time east coast resident, Huimin had never been to the Bukit Gombak neighbourhood to hang out before.

From the outside, she didn't believe that there really was a stadium inside.

But... ta-dah!! There it was!

We walked from the stadium to Xiao Guilin.

Since the day started out with rainy weather, there weren't too many people at the park.

We were lucky to have the whole place to ourselves.

We had to climb over a fence to get to this view.

And even though it looks as though she's wearing a dress, she's actually wearing a long shirt over a pair of really tiny shorts.

Isn't the view great?

We pretended that we weren't in Singapore anymore!

Later, we adjourned to Bukit Batok where I spent a large chunk of my childhood.

The place had undergone dramatic changes, but certain smells and sights remained the same. It was enough to bring memories flooding back.

The best Hokkien Mee!

After food and walking around, Huimin left to go to her favourite place in the world (Changi Airport) to do her favourite thing in the world (send people off at Changi Airport) while I went back home to prepare for a later event.

My uncle invited me for some army alumni thing in SAFTI.

It sounded pretty interesting so I decided to go. Plus my Ah Kim (eldest uncle's wife) said there was going to be food and whatnot.

My Dua Gu (eldest uncle) was there to see his former cadets and colleagues.

They said they would introduce guys to me. Make the cadets come talk to me.

I said NO thanks.

So embarrassing!

Plus, my standards are so high... I think I just might remain single for the rest of my life.

The night dragged on since the food was pretty much non-edible.

However the many karaoke performances coupled with performances by the local band Tabula and Tan Ke-Wei kept things sort of going.

I guess one needs to be in the army to actually appreciate such army alumni events.

The cadets got up to dance.

Dua Gu's colleague has such a cute daughter! She kept covering her ears while Tabula was jamming away. The music really was quite loud.

Happily, the night ended with me bringing home multi-coloured glowsticks and raving in the bedroom.

Super fun!

Everyday brings new experiences.

But I can't help but always remember that this fun is going to end someday soon. I just constantly feel so blessed to be able to enjoy my summer that I don't know what to say sometimes.

Thank you God?

But what He asks for is our heart isn't it? For our pure unaffected heart to be all His and His alone.

I have no objection to that.

:)

I Moved To

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