Last Week

I really admire people who lead busy lives and still manage to blog regularly. The last time I actually did blog daily was when I was stuck in homeroom every morning for at least one hour without anything to do! Ever since, blogging has always been an on and off thing. I'm sure many people out there can relate...... 

Anyway, since the last time I've updated, this is what I've been up to:

Went out to lo hei with the company peeps last week. 

We had it at Crystal Jade in Great World City. Food actually wasn't bad at all. It had been some years since I last ate there, and I thought the food quality might have fallen since more people started eating there. 

THEN let me tell you what this girl... MANDA, did.

She came to my hang out at my place last week and didn't say ONE WORD about it being her birthday! So we ended up watching a movie and that was it. Didn't even get her a cake or sing a song or anything! 

:(

Okay okay... I know it exposes the fact that I'm a really bad friend, can't even remember people's birthdays... but I really don't usually keep track of birthdays. I don't even wish people happy birthday on Facebook. 

But I gotta make it up to her somehow!

On Thursday, we had a really beautiful sunrise, coupled with fresh cool morning air.

Early that morning I had to head to Paya Lebar MRT, where I met this kitty who looks almost exactly like Koshka!!! When I saw her, my heart flipped. I couldn't believe my eyes; it even rolled on the floor in the same lazy manner as Koshka!

This bowl of mee siam looks good right? Things are not always what they seem though... It wasn't spicy enough and tasted too sweet. 

You might be wondering what I'm doing at Paya Lebar MRT early on Thursday morning, staring at kitties and eating mee siam instead of going to work. 

In fact, I was working, at this event in the Singpost building. 

The conference hall was held in a CHURCH of all places. Didn't see that coming, but I felt a lot more at ease afterwards. 

Early in the morning, not many people besides the reporters were there to listen to the live interviews. Basically the conference was for showcasing all the new upcoming IT stuff from around Asia. 

We were there to promote our iPhone app.

Free gift packs for those who downloaded the app on the spot!

On the first day of the two-day conference, the rooms were really crowded and the air-conditioning didn't seem to function at all. Not only that, but the Wifi and 3G connections were horrendous. We could hardly get anything to function. At least people were sympathetic because everyone was having right about the same connection problems. 

Spent the whole day doing demos and speaking till our throats were hoarse. 

Yep.

The next morning, Talia and I went near the Singpost area to walk about and to have breakfast. 

Still kinda sleepy from watching movies till late.

It's so sad to see Tanjong Katong show traces of change. All the places we used to see on a daily basis are starting to either disappear or look renovated.

Had porridge for $1.50 here! 

Then on Friday night, I met up with Manda again and her foreign exchange friend Andrew for dinner and arcade. Had a lot of fun! But the arcade was a little too crowded and we ended up spending a lot of time just waiting around for machines to be free. 

Sunday morning, went to breakfast at the good ol' Boon Lay Market where I used to spend a lot of time as a kid. Things look completely different now, but I still remember the uncle who used to sell us pork every morning. 

The sights and smells of this place has been altered somewhat, but all I have to do is close my eyes and the memories will come rushing back. It's sad to know that you can never return to the past sometimes. I wish I could come back to the old Boon Lay with its unpopulated streets, cheap food and wide sweeping carparks with tall raintrees over them. 

All gone now.

On Sunday afternoon, after the Bible gathering at the Hanes' house, Papa drove me to MacRitchie where my siblings and I participated in the bimonthly MR25 5k time trial. I totally wasn't in the mood to run, let alone race, but I was really curious to see what times I would run now that I haven't actually trained or run regularly for months. 

Turns out that my times didn't depreciate that badly at all!

I ran the 5k course in 22:52:55, about 3mins slower than my fastest time. 

Next week, I'll begin running on the track again now that I've found some people to train with. I hope that will help to get me motivated again to train regularly. 

Thing is, I can't run just to stay fit or look good. That to me is hardly motivation at all. I need to race, need to feel like I have to improve my times- that's the only way that I'm gonna jolt my lazy butt into action.

..........................................................

So much is going on in my head these days concerning church, God and my spiritual life that I don't even know where to begin. I think I need to just quiet down and BE STILL. 

Poka Koshka

I'm sitting here next to my bedroom window looking outside at the grey skies and loving every bit of this cool fall air. Goodbye summer, hello autumn! I wonder if I'll get to see the leaves change colours before I leave. 

Koshka is no longer around- I've given her to my friend for good and she's got a new home now. I wonder how she's doing. I miss her furriness and nails in my arm. Not to mention her snuggywuggy widdle face whiskering right up my leg. Sigh... I didn't cry when I gave her away because I felt that I would see her again someday. And also, I know she's going to a fun place with lots of mice, dogs and chickens to keep her occupied. She'll have a warm place to sleep and food aplenty for the rest of her life. What more could a kitty ask for? 

But I had so many memories with her...... 

On nights when I felt so depressed I thought I could die, I used to hold her tight and cry into her fur. Even as a kitten, Koshka knew. And there were days when she used to sit in the front seat of my car with just one paw on my leg with her eyes closed. And then there were times when she'd pee into my stuff and I'd get so mad at her. 

She was always a little presence when God was just reaching out to me. I feel that He sent Koshka to me to be my little non-talking-back friend in my darkest days. When the light of Jesus came into my life, she was there to share my joy- to listen to me laugh and sing songs in my room. And later when I dormed up at in college, she'd always be waiting at home for me on the deck or in the basement when I came back on the weekends; and we'd chill just like old times. 

I wonder if she remembers all these things as I do. 

But even if she doesn't, I'll always remember her as I do my other pet friends. But Koshka will always have a special place in my heart. No other cat could ever replace her. 

Peaceful Summer Day

Whew I just spent about five hours straight baking a cheesecake and some raspberry linzer bars. It all looks so easy when you step into a store and see cakes and pastries all lined up prettily behind the display. But when you try to actually bake a cake, it's a whole different story.

Well I guess the mixing part is pretty fun, but the cleaning up isn't.

I wonder how much longer will my life be this quiet and peaceful? I have no worries, no stress, no nothing whatsoever but stretches of sunny days ahead. At least that's what it seems right now. I am fully resting in the arms of the Lord... and what a peaceful place it is. How secure, how loving, how beautiful.

Today I just lay out on the deck with Koshka and listened to flies buzzing in the distance as I stared up in the sapphire sky. The air was perfect- not too hot, not too cool. I could feel myself melting into the clouds. The trees were greener than usual......

La la la

Swimming, Scrapple & Earthworm

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day again with the weather bordering on perfection.

I got up early this morning to go for a swim, which justified this breakfast afterwards...

Pancakes!

With SCRAPPLE!

In case you've never heard of scrapple, Wikipedia describes it as "a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices". It is also "commonly considered an ethnic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch", who were immigrants from Germany to Pennsylvania during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Basically, it's Pennsylvania nosh and I dig it.

If I return to Singapore, this will definitely be one of the things that I'll miss dearly.

Guess what?

Koshka (my cat) just got this really weird habit starting yesterday. Well, I guess it's not that weird considering that she's a cat.

You know how cats like to kill and bring mice home to their owners' doorsteps? Well, Koshka started killing and bringing home, of all things, EARTHWORMS yesterday.

It's so disgusting.

This afternoon I had to remove a dried piece of dead earthworm from the deck that had been left there previously. I was kind of confused as to how that piece of worm had gotten there in the first place. Maybe a passing bird dropped it from its beak?

Then about an hour ago, I went downstairs to let the cat in. As I stepped outside in the dark, I felt something wet and sticky squelch under my bare foot. At first, I thought it was poop or vomit, but when I turned the lights on, I noticed a piece of something slimy off to the side... and it was MOVING!

Upon closer inspection, I almost hurled.

I could see the earthworm's guts. It was obviously going to die because only an inch of it was left.

I really hope Koshka stops this disgusting habit. Ugh!