Inspirational Friends

I thought I'd start my blog with an inspirational quote today, so I googled "quotes+inspiration" and there were pages of it. The sea of inspirational quotes seem to vast for me to explore, so I thought I'd use something closer to home.

Inspirational friends.

I am lucky to be surrounded by inspiring and talented friends from various walks of life. The educational system I've been through, unfortunately, have filtered me through to meeting largely people from certain educational and social backgrounds. I am aware that it is not a representative sample, but that makes me extra grateful of my circumstances, family and friends.

Life is unfair, and I have been on the greener side.

B for Bummed

Scarlett is having an open jam session tonight, and i'm so bummed that i can't be there. Kokopops is down with a bad bout of food poisoning, and can't tend for himself. =( I'd feel very bad if i leave him alone at home. BUMMED!!! The girls must be having a great time. Can't wait to see the pictures from the BYOB party, where everyone's dressed in something/ someone starting with the alphabet "B".

Well, B for Bummer.

We hate food poisoning.

So it looks like this will be a very slow weekend. Guess it was a good decision to bring the work laptop home so i can get some work done since we won't be leaving the house much. One more week on my current project. Not sure what is coming next, but not sure if i need to know right now either.

Koks and I are planning on a 2 month road trip next year, to travel overland from China to Austria and then maybe a month on the Greek islands. I'm really looking forward to the trip. Haven't gone on a real vacation this year, and I'm missing being out in the world and feeling alive.

Can feel my bi monthly existential crisis coming up... funny, it seems to come in the same cycles as my projects. Wonder if it's time to take a break, but not sure where to go or what to do!

GGGAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Courtesy and Gurkhas

This morning, in my usual morning hustle (today on wobbly heels), I was slightly startled by someone who appeared from behind the lift landing. He chirped "morning", while i scurried past while feebly attempting to put on a big smile on my face. Shortly after, i realized it was the regular worker who clears the trash in the public bins.

I am quite disturbed and ashamed that I didn't reciprocate to his morning greeting, because suspicion crept up faster than courtesy. Recalling the days in Europe, we'd greet everyone in the same building, be it on the stairs, at the lobby, at the bicycle stands, trash room, bus, bakery etc. People just don't do it here. I don't know if it's the lack of basic courtesy (like how the pregnant ladies and the old folks almost never get a seat in the bus), or that people are taught to be suspicious and wary above everything else.

I resolve to look out for him from now on, and give him a huge "morning" to brighten his day. Emptying trash all day can't be much fun.

Drove by a cop truck load of gurkhas today on my way to work. Yum. =)

Dawn and Dusk

My two favourite times in the day, are dawn and dusk.

Dawn is the period of time when the earth slowly awakens, colours start to reveal themselves in gradual intensity, blue sneaks into the skies, street lights turn themselves off, you start to catch whiffs of dew and the morning mist, people brush their teeth with their eyes closed.

Dawns are great for setting out on vacations, journeys, holidays and adventures.

Dusk, on the other hand, is when everyone starts to loosen up, people get off work, childen get off school, ties loosen, cars flow out of carparks, buses hiss at bus stations.

Dusk are great for evening walks with the dogs, for changing from shoes/ heels into flip flops, for people watching, for reflection.

Dawns remind me of road trips my family used to take when we were young. We'd get up at an ungodly hour of 5 (usually, my sisters and i would be so excited we wouldn't have slept a wink anyhow), get showered, dressed up, and we'd pack the car and leave by 6:30am. Weeeeeee!!!! Holidays! And you have the entire day/ vacation/ journey/ holiday/ adventure to look forward to.

Nowadays, dawn means "Darn it, gotta get up for work!" and the occassional "all right, let's really try to do this nature trek today....zzzzz...."

Dusk is always a time of reflection for me. Usually, the realization comes at around 5pm, after which thoughts of "what should i do after work today" run through my multi-tasking brain as my fingers continue their own tap dance on the keyboard. Tappity-tap. The decision to exercise after work is always a hard one, but usually a great one on hindsight. As i bade my goodbyes, and step out of the tinkling door (someone at some point thought it a great idea to hang a wind chime on the door), i reflect on what i had accomplished that day, if i could have done more, done less, if i have made good use of my time in the office. Walking through the throngs of people on the street, i ponder in my head if i should smile at strangers, not make effort, look friendly, or look grouchy. Some rush by me, some deep in conversations, most on the mobile phone.

"Jee, it's dinner time again", i feel like all this food i've been eating is only resting on my hips. Soon enough, the streetlights come on again, the sky is dark, buses continue to hiss at bus stations, you see tired expressionless faces in bus windows, colours start to withdraw into the darkness, ants crawl back into their mounds, tv screens flash in homes while chopsticks clack away and cutlery clink on crockery.

Finally, we lay in bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking aloud, "man, was that yet another day." While we entertain the random thoughts in our head, our bodies wind down. Just as we think we've got the answer to life, we no longer can fight the drug of sleep and .................

My two favourite times in the day, are dawn and dusk.

John Galliano and a Beautiful Weekend

Before his Paris A/W show, John Galliano gathered his team to remind them that it was 'a credit crunch, not a creative crunch'.

HURRAH! The economy crisis doesn't have to kill everything!

Not that you can feel much of a economic crisis in downtown Singapore. Malls are still full, popular restaurants still require advance reservations.

I just had a wonderful and gorgeous weekend. On top of it all, it cost me relatively little. Saturday started with a trip to the beach for some lying around, reading, suntanning, chatting and frisbee throwing (and catch attempting). By the time we were chased off by an impending storm, it was only 1 in the afternoon! How glorious! It felt like I had already accomplished more than a typical weekend, and i still had 1.5 days to go! A delectable lunch of nasi lemak (rice simmered in coconut milk, accompanied with a variety of side dishes) ensued, which resulted in us transforming from sunkissed humans to famished wolves. Kokopops and I then spent a leisurely afternoon watching "The Last Emperor" (how did it take me that long to finally watch this amazing film?) before grabbing QL for a japanese dinner and the 3D screening of Pixar's latest animation movie "Up".

OH MY GOODNESS, is there anything else that can be so moving, touching, adorable, sincere, imaginative and entertaining?

The digital film elicited "ooh"s and "aah"s and tears and eruptions of laughter, all in less than 2 hours. Great storyline, great characters, great animation! We also caught a teaser of "The Christmas Carol" which will come to all good cinemas near you in November. 3D is the way to go!

Sunday, also known as the best day for sleeping in, started with us sleeping in. =) A game of scrabble over breakfast (albeit at noon) is always a slow but sure way of starting the day on the good note. Today, unfortunately, I lost to Kokopops and Nawoo... but it's okay! In life, you get ups, and you get downs; and when you lose, you don't take your wins for granted! After lunch, I got my weekly weekend papers and indulged in a fashion magazine (i just end up kicking myself after for paying so much for pages of advertorial material...), popped in and out of the supermarket (and bumped into nylilbits and D!! what a lovely surprise!) and came home for an enriching afternoon of Coleman Hawkins, a freshly brewed pot of tea (in my fancy bodum teapot!) and FT Weekend. Made a simple dinner for us while we watching a rather crappy Bangkok Dangerous et voila!

Un fin de semana muy bueno!

Entonces, ahora, estoy bastante contenta y estoy lista para la semana que viene. No hay muchas actividades, espero que tengo tiempo para algunos ejercicios. Necesito hacer mi trabajo tambien, mi projecto esta terminado pronto!

Weekends deserve good weather!

TA DA!!! and the good news is that.... IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On one hand, i'm exhilarated that Friday is here and it's time for play and creativity. On the other hand, i'm thinking, wasn't it just the weekend? The weekend has passed with me accomplishing so little!!!

The weather has been acting funny all week. It poured last weekend, thus dampening any plans for the beach and outdoor activities. Then came the very scorching sunny and searing weekdays, and right now it's pouring again. It sure is keeping us on our toes with our weekend planning! Going to try to head to the beach again tomorrow, but crossing my fingers there!

Let's get going! Let's get creative!

Watching a live stand up comedy show tonight. I'm hoping it's going to be so funny i laugh till my sides split or till i gasp for air.

Linen Pants and Inertia

I usually start a blog entry without the title, as i never quite know what the entry will end up to be about. I kinda like it that way, the title ironically becomes the ending to my entry. The start is the finish is the start.

A few days ago, i made the serious mistake/ wise move to try on a pair of linen trousers i bought 6 years ago at H&M in France. Althought it's just H&M, it still cost an amount then. Good news is, it's still in pretty good shape. Bad news is, I'm the one who's not in good shape. I can now barely fit into those trousers, and that was rather flabbergasting. Yes, 6 years is alot of time to put on some weight and yes, i was 6 years younger then with a stronger metabolism and a more active lifestyle. 6 years or not, it's just appalling to have gotten this lazy with being active and putting effort into exercising and being fit and healthy.

It's just so easy to be lazy nowadays...

... but NO! We shall not be lazy!

So, tomorrow morning, we're going to try to play some beach frisbee to get the heart pumping, and the yoga should resume this week!

If the heart is willing, the body is willing!!!