New York I Miss You

It's 2:36 in the morning and I'm pretty sure a fever slash cough is on it's way, but still, I'm awake. You know, a sensible person would have probably gone to bed approximately 5 hours ago but noooooo.... Guess I'm not sensible enough. 

Anyway, I've been up watching random Youtube videos, spanning from 非诚勿扰 (a Chinese dating variety show) to Meteor Garden episodes, to DDR and skating videos. 

While browsing, I started to miss New York City. The feeling came rather suddenly, but I think it was probably inspired by a dream I had last night about being back in the US, driving around in my car and hanging out with my friends there. 

I started to think about all the things that I used to do in the city. The places that I used to hang out- Times Square, Central Park, The High Line, LES, St. Mark's, etc... Smells and sounds started to come back to me. The feeling of warm steam drifting up from manholes in the winter. The silent dark waters in between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. All those nights I spent handing out hor d'oeuvres and champagne. It all came back in one mad spinning swirl of memories... 

Many memories weren't that pretty at all, to be sure. Yet I do have a tendency of romanticising moments past. I've always said that I could never see myself living in New York City for the long term, but tonight I almost wish as if I were stuck there for another five years. 

"Almost", is the key word. 

Don't misunderstand me. It's not dissatisfaction with my current life that is driving my nostalgic sentiments right now. NYC was where I really grew up. It was where I lost and found my soul and was where I really transitioned from my teenage years to being a young adult. As I draw closer to turning 25, I can't help but feel sad at leaving my youth behind. That sense of loss I guess, is what's really making me miss even the heady stench of Manhattan's subways in the rain. 

So, missing NYC and all, I ended up watching this video:

I haven't watched Gossip Girl for the past two years or so. Pretty much ever since I started going back to church and everything. Just felt that its content was a bit too provocative for me. 

Still, I'm not gonna lie. When the first episode of Gossip Girl first came out in 2007, I was a freshman in college and I went nuts for the show because it hit so close to home. I loved everything single thing about it. From the punny lines to the amazing fashion (yes, I was still into the whole fashion shindig then), GG kept my eyes glued to the screen every Wednesday evening. 

I felt like Gossip Girl really reflected a portion of my life during those few years and I connected so much with it that it makes me sad to see the show end now, even though I haven't watched it in a while. 

Six years.

Where did the past six years go???????

Sigh.

I really don't know what's around the riverbend. It's always an exciting ride forward, but I hate always having to say goodbye to places, things and people. I feel so torn between Pennsylvania, NYC, Washington State and Singapore all the time. 

Dear God, I know this world is not my home. You have opened my eyes to that, having had no choice but to live my past 23 years as a semi-nomad. I've switched living quarters about 15 times in the past 12 years and left pieces of my heart everywhere. I just pray Lord, that You will help me to stay grounded in You, because You are the only person that has not changed throughout my entire life. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus You are the same. All may change but Jesus will never, Glory to Your Name!

Christmas Season Stuff

I guess sometimes I sound like all I do is work, but that's not entirely true.

Sometimes, work involves meeting people outside of the office. I love those days! 

Last week I got to catch up with some secondary school friends.

It's kinda weird to see us all grown up a bit. Last time we met, we were all still in our school uniforms, hanging out in the shopping malls or fast food restaurants. Now, Rache wears heels and Violet is working. Time sure flies...

On the Friday before Christmas Eve, I headed to nanny's for a family dinner. Check out the beautiful tree! And Dolly who is the best model-dog ever! 

I love family dinners. They are so chummy, noisy and delicious! 

The kids were pretty thrilled with their presents.

Sucks to be an adult. You don't get much.

On Christmas Eve, Orchard Road was as crowded as ever. 

Audrey and I decided to go walk around. 

Saw some pretty ugly, service-personnel looking clothes in (of all places...) Celine. 

Audrey pushing along a little cart. How cute!

The ice cream I'm holding is actually a pen. 

In the evening, I attended a Christmas service at church. As with Christmas services every year, church was pretty packed.

Cool blue lights outside. 

Had a super duper Christmas Eve dinner with family. Salmon sashimi!

Carving up the turkey.

This has got to be one of the strangest yet good salads I've ever had. It has more meat than vegetables in it. Not only that, but it's got this strange combination of smoked ham, smoked salmon, boiled eggs and dried cranberries. 

Tasty indeed, but strange...

Sunday was Christmas. After church, I headed to Lakeside for a nice little Christmas gathering.

The ladies whipping up a meal in the kitchen.

It feels so good to spend time in a house filled with God's love.

After singing Christmas carols, we started playing this gift exchange/stealing game. I forgot what it's called. It seems to have a whole bunch of different names, but the idea is generally the same. When it's your turn, you can either pick a gift from the table, or you can steal someone else's gift. 

Needless to say, there was a lot of stealing going on. It was pretty hilarious though. We had over forty people playing so the game lasted pretty long.

Had a mini snow-pocalypse at the end. 

I was dead tired by the time I got home around 22:00, but for some reason I didn't feel like going to bed. So I ended up meeting Audrey for supper. We tried finding a geocache before she went home. Afterwards, I cabbed to ECP to meet Talia for some yummy food. 

ECP was really calm and cool that night. There were a surprising number of bikers out. 

We ordered the usual satay and sambal stingray. Only one phrase can describe it.... SIBEH SHIOK ARH! 

Yumz. I had fun!

The following Monday was a public holiday so I went down to Vivocity to see the one and only Christian missionary ship- Logos Hope. 

Free entry!

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that it was a Christian missionary ship. 

Apparently, the main attraction was this awesome book fair with lots of cheap buys to be found. 

It was kinda cool to know that this ship has been all over the world and different people with different ethnicities have walked past through the very same hallways. 

We were fortunate to know Joey who is a volunteer on Logos Hope. She gave us a tour for $10 each. I highly recommend the tour if you ever get a chance to visit! Most people who just get on the ship and go to the book fair without doing the tour, feel like they are just going to another book store. It's actually pretty cool to visit the different parts of the ship and to listen to Joey's stories about how the ship protects itself from Somalian pirates without weapons.

Very cool.

In the afternoon, I met Talia, again!

We were going to go ice-skating at Kallang Leisure Center. 

But the ice-skating rink was closed for ice-surfacing when we got there, so we went to the arcade instead.

Talia's last game was this Bishibashi machine. I saw many people playing it before and it looked fun when they were doing it. However it turned out to be really stupid. There's this toilet option where you have to press the right buttons to help the person on the screen sit on the toilet. Super lame! I still prefer racing games or the basketball shooting one.

Tuesday was our monthly company day. All of us went to Duxton Hill for lunch. 

I'd never eaten in Cumi Bali before, but I have a general distrust of Indonesian restaurants in Singapore. Reason being: I've only really had good Indonesian food in one or two restaurants in the whole of Singapore.

But when I saw the food, i felt slightly better. It looked pretty authentic.

After eating the food, I can honestly say Cumi Bali is not bad at all! I guess I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. The belachan wasn't the best I've had, but at least it wasn't faked. Also, the chicken kebab was so nice and tender. Ten points for the sauce!

With our tummies full and satisfied, we headed to this archery place at the Orchid Country Club.

I've never shot an arrow in my life so I was pretty excited to try it out.

Surprisingly, the targets weren't far away or anything. They were only about 15 meters away.

We had the whole place to ourselves.

I think archery is pretty fun. More fun than being at a driving range at least, especially if you've been having a bad day. It helps you to focus and release any pent up unhappiness. Helps to improve your posture too I think. 

We had so much fun! But days like this make me miss all the other fun days I've ever had in the past. I thank God for new friends and new experiences, but even more so for the memories we gain and leave behind along the way... 

We ended our day at Quaich Bar with a bit of whisky and beer. 

So far, Singapore has been a real blast. 

I love it! I can't thank God enough for landing me in such an awesome company, even if it's for a while. 

More next time......