Last Few Weeks Of Being 23

My birthday is coming up next week and I can't help but feel a little sad. As the years roll by and I leave my teenage years behind, I find myself wishing that time could stand still. I know youth is a gift and it doesn't last for long. Like a whisper, it comes and goes. 

I also know that someday in the future, I am going to wake up and realise that I needed to sleep at 9pm not 3am. My bones are going to feel more brittle and my muscles- less responsive. 

Almost all my hobbies involve raising my heart rate to a racing bpm, which is why I dread the day my body fails on me. 

I look at all these young kids around me doing things I wish my fifteen year old body were still around to do. 

So it is with such a mindset that I have been living life. 

Fast-paced. 

No space to breathe. 

Few weeks ago Shirley, two other friends and I went skating/cycling at East Coast Park.

We made it to Bedok Jetty.

And stayed out there moon-gazing for some time.

It was so beautiful, big and bright that night.

On a different day, MingXian drove us both into Johor Bahru, Malaysia. We had lunch at a wanton mee place.

Spent almost two hours grocery shopping in KSL City Mall.

Had dinner at the Bamboo restaurant.

Hung out at Danga Bay after dinner.

Poor MingXian had no choice but to be dragged onto this ride. Even though it was small, it was really fun!

Then we just took a million photos for the rest of the night.

Had a Friday night urban skate as usual to the recently-finished Marina Bay Sands hawker centre.

Met up with the Davidians for our monthly get-togethers.

Went ice-skating with the usual Friday urban crew on a separate Friday.

 

Fell while telling people to "watch out for the curve in front". 

LOL 

Attended Shan Shan's graduation ceremony.

I love graduation ceremonies. I love them even more when they're held in a church with a service and worship before and everything. 

Well, I guess this was my first graduation ceremony that was held in a church with a service and worship before and everything. 

I cried during worship. The songs we sang somehow made me think about how lucky we were with Eric's situation and how God's grace just saves us... weak sinners... I thought about our mission in life and whether I am living out that mission to bring people to Christ. 

Hmm. 

(Note to self: don't wear mascara to church services, graduation or not)

Skated around MBS (yet again) with the three amigos. 

Snacked on the night view.

Finished off with a heavy supper at 126 in Geylang.

This is only one-thirds of the food that we ordered and tried desperately to finish.

On Friday, I went prawning at Farmart with Alu.

And Annie!

Annie had quite a few firsts that morning. 

First time eating MacDonald's breakfast, first time catching a prawn and first time being at Farmart!

Nothing beats eating the prawns you caught. 

Swimming one moment, dead and cooked the next. YUMZ.

So, horrors of horrors. 

I just got back from Skateline's monthly Saturday Night Skate and it was on this fateful night that I dropped my iPhone twice and cracked its screen.

My phone looks like a rat just chewed on it now. 

T^T

The first of the birthday gifts have arrived.

A special chinese recorder-like instrument from Chuan gu & Aunty Pei Leng! 

It's too late to try it now since everybody is sleeping, but I'll probably start chirping away later this morning when I wake up for church.

Gonna be playing the piano at Sunday School later...

I don't know how to explain the rush and mix of emotions that I have right now. But one thing I know: no matter what the situation, no matter how old I am getting or how young I am feeling, my purpose in life is simply to praise God, and I have very good reasons to do so.

All my life Lord, I give it to you! I give all my energy, youth, money and time to the furthering of your kingdom. In every walk of life, I ask that you use me like a vessel to pour forth your Spirit. In every action, word or thought of mine, I pray that you reach out to those who need you most. 

Skating & JB Weekend

I've had a beautiful weekend full of skating and trips into JB, Malaysia for supper. Took lots of pics, but don't really feel like loading all of them on here. 

I can't imagine going anywhere without my skates these days... We explored the entire Woodlands and Yishun area on Saturday. Being on the streets there was like going back in time to see Singapore the way I remember her in the early 90s. Life seemed more simple back then.

For the third night in a row, I went to JB with my dad and his side of the family for dinner. The last two times, I went with Jerome and Ah Bao. Think I prefer going with Jeff and Ah Bao because that means I get to stretch my legs in the entire backseat; whereas in my dad's car, I get carsick and cramped in the backseat with five people in the car. 

Breathtaking skies over the Johor Straits on Sunday night. 

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Recently I've been struggling to choose between spending my time on running or skating. 

Most nights, I end up skating instead of running. Why? I can't deny that running gives me a much greater "high" than skating does, unless I skate for 4-5 hours hard, non-stop. But I can see so much more around the city if I'm on skates. That, and I can go much longer. 

Guess the reason why I keep coming back to skating is simply because I feel so free when I'm on wheels- like I could go anywhere, anytime. There are no boundaries. On wheels, I can fly... 

Birthday Love, Bye Shan Shan & JB

I can't believe I just turned 23. I just can't believe it. I still feel 21- and that's just sad. 

On my birthday, I didn't take leave from work. At night I just had a little BBQ at my place with friends and cool peoples. Here are some people who stayed a little longer till the end. I had a really fun time and barely took any pictures all night. I probably would've ended up with no pictures at all if not for Amanda who volunteered to take pictures for me. 

And the reason why I have a towel wrapped around my shoulders is because I got thrown into the pool toward the end. 

That's to be expected right?

The problem is, I was actually chewing a fishball before Huey suddenly grabbed me by the waist and I had no time to swallow my food. I was so afraid of choking that I ended up spitting out my half chewed fishball onto the floor right before landing in the water. 

I told people not to bring things, but they all didn't listen. 

It was very heartwarming to read all the cards though =) Thank you guys for making it a special time!

Shan Shan's leaving for Japan for a missions trip, so we met up at Mind's Cafe to bid her farewell. 

Played a really confusing game of True Colours, but overall a fun night!

On a random note, my dad's been going on a JB frenzy recently. We now go to Malaysia at least once a week for supper after work. 

My passport is going to get stamped up with Malaysian stamps before it expires I assume...

Weekend In Review

It seems like more and more of my blog posts are just turning into reviews of what I did over the weekend. I suppose that makes sense since I'm working all day during the week anyway. After work, I don't do much besides skating. 

Well last Monday I went with Chen (colleague) to meet up with a prolific user of our app- PG. It was the first time we'd met him offline and I must say, he's not much different from what I thought he'd be like. I could even recognise him off his profile picture! 

We had ramen at a restaurant in Cuppage Plaza that I'd never eaten at before. The restaurant, Gyoza Na Ohsho, is an informal little place on the first floor with a nice selection of ramens cooked by Japanese chefs (served by filippinos). I ordered chili ramen and it cost $12. All the basic ramens cost $12 while the more special ones (I assume they're more special) cost $15. 

Overall I thought this place was pretty good. Cuppage Plaza has a lot of hidden gems I suppose... Gotta explore this area more!

So I've been rollerblading almost every night. Nothing new, I know.

One of my favourite places to skate to when I'm alone is the East Bay Gardens overlooking the Singapore Flyer. It's next to East Coast Park and there is a path that you can take over a bridge towards Marina Barrage.

The reason why I love this place is because it's usually devoid of noisy people. The couples who do come here for "pa tor" are very unassuming in their dark corner benches- leaving me virtually whole peaceful waterfront to myself.  

Tuesday night, the moon was gigantic.

It's so nice to find a place in Singapore that is not crowded (like ECP) yet well-lit enough to feel safe.

Not to mention, the views across the river are quite stunning. 

Can't believe how much the Marina Bay area has transformed in slightly less than a decade.

 All this "wildlife" that's here right now, wasn't here too long ago...

That Tuesday night, my dad and I went on a totally impromptu trip into Johor Bahru, Malaysia for supper. He drove me home from East Bay Gardens to grab my passport before we zoomed over the Woodlands Causeway towards yummy and cheap food.

Went to a street vendor for wanton mee.

Papa decided to try the BBQ grease truck parked on the side.

You get to pick whatever you want before they barbecue it for you. Most of the skewers were seafood skewers.

Even though it was almost midnight, the tables and chairs were mostly filled with Singaporeans. All the cars parked along the side of the road were Singaporean cars as well! 

I don't blame Singaporeans for wanting to eat here though. Look at how much our food costs. And keep in mind that this is in Malaysian ringgit! Divide the amount by 2 for a rough estimate of how much all this costs in Singapore dollars, or divide by 4 for a rough estimate in US dollars.

My dad and I each got a plate of wanton mee.

This bowl of wantons in soup came with it as well.

Our BBQ skewers were amazing.

Everything was dipped in a kind of soy sauce mix which gave it just the right level of saltiness.

Soft shell crabs on a stick. Ate the thing whole.

Love the old school chopsticks.

After getting gas in Malaysia (which is half the price in Singapore), we went back home. I went to sleep about 01:00 that Wednesday morning.

The rest of the week went by like a blur and by the time Saturday arrived, I didn't want to do anything else by relax.

The weather was perfect that afternoon.

The boys had a lot of fun in the pool.

At about 14:30, we started getting ready to go to ECP for their rolerblading lessons. 

I really wanted to skate, but my entire body was aching severely from rollerblading about 40km on Friday night. It was insane! 

Nevertheless, my addiction to skating couldn't keep me from going to ECP where I met this lovely cat.

In the daytime, Xtreme Skate Park is overrun with young kids. And when I say young, I mean anywhere from four to fourteen. Some of the real "pros" in the skate park happen to be plucky seven year olds who don't seem to get the concept of pain or gravity. 

Man, this place makes me feel old...

After some time in the skate park, I wandered off towards the water. Thankfully, the weather was slightly cloudy and breezy. Still, I was sweating like a pig (random thought: do pigs even sweat?).

There was some windsurfing thing going on by Castle Beach.

ECP is always a blast when it's nice out on the weekends!

On Sunday, I cooked borscht for my friends at House of Bread. It's the first time I'd cooked borscht since I came back to Singapore and it turned out quite alright. 

I've never been to Russia, but sometimes I feel like I miss it haha!

After House of Bread, we went to Dave and Sarah's place for a farewell BBQ for them. Dave and Sarah aren't regulars at House of Bread anymore, but I see them at the baptisms and other meetings. They're Americans who are teaching in Singapore, but now they're going back to Virginia. Though I haven't known them for a long time, I've grown to appreciate their presence as shining examples of Christians.

Quite sad to know they're leaving actually... So soon before I've even got to hang out with them more.

Welp, people come and go in this life. But in heaven, we'll be together for all eternity! =)