happy birthday to me!

happy birthday to me! time flies and this year i am celebrating my 32^nd birthday! it seemed just yesterday that i celebrated my 31^st birthday. the past year has been a year of changes, gaining new perspectives and mindsets. i am very happy that i am living my life with more clarity and positivity, grateful for my family and friends around me and grateful for everything i have. i am proud of myself to reach this stage of my life. *pat on the back!  = )

on my last birthday entry, i ended with “what do i want to create? how do i want to create?” somehow, the universe must have heard me, that after a year, i am on my way to create something with yeo yeo. everything happens for a reason.

to a year of great creation till my next birthday, cheers!

p/s: receiving all the birthday wishes from all my friends! thanks for being part of my life! hugs! = )

宠上天

one day while waiting for mastermind meeting to start, i was listening to this mayday song when the first verse of the lyrics caught my attention, “你爱看鬼片 又怕看鬼片 就要我陪”.  i suddenly recalled the night where i was watching ghost thrillers with coly during our business trip in wellington (entry dated 19 september 2012) as she was scared to watch alone. the lyrics literally described the whole scenario!

i knew coly in university, but we were not close then. we were in the same project group for 1 module and i vaguely remembered her at that time. when we met in our ex company again, she told me that she actually remembered me quite clearly and that i was her first friend in university. opps, sorry for that! =p

i got to know her better through the business trips we went together. i still remembered on her maiden trip in sydney, february 2008, she started to share her life story to the whole audit team during the dinner session! i had never seen someone who was so open about herself. gradually, from one business trip to another, we clicked off and bonded very well! our best trips were in wellington and bangkok where we had so much fun together. she had a lot of ideas and i would usually let her have her way, executing her crazy ideas with her. those were the days when i was her "partner in crime"!

in my world, she is a very knowledgeable girl, though she denies it. she reads widely and i always learn something new whenever she shares with me. she is someone who is very real at heart and speaks her mind. i like her realness and will want to open up to her. often, we nod in agreement for similar perspectives towards things. we write cards to each other, when words can better express ourselves. i am always touched to tears by her cards! she also has a big heart to care for the people around her and give support wherever she can. on the other side, she can be quite “bimbotic” in her actions at times, but she never tries to hide them and i always have a good laugh when she shares her “bimbotic” stories! hahaha!  

though we are in different companies now, we continue to meet up whenever we can. i will pop by at her place to have afternoon tea and catch up on each other's lives.

宝贝!!! thanks for being such a great friend! you add lots of colours and joy to my life! never fail to bring a smile to my face whenever i think of you! i am truly truly blessed to have known you!

dedicating this song to you! the lyrics describe exactly what i want to say to you!“就是要宠你 宠你 宠上了天”! to our friendship! hugs and muacks! = )  

宠上天

作词: 阿信  作曲: 阿信

你爱看鬼片 又怕看鬼 
就要我陪
坐在你身边 很想告诉你 
我比你还怕鬼
我无时无刻 都无怨无悔 
让你无忧又无虑 每一天

你一个口令 我一个动作 
绝不拖延
你一个皱眉 我三条黑线 
整个高度警戒
我无时无刻 都无怨无悔 
让你无法又无天 的撒野

是我的 朋友 就是 我的baby
就算你 打我 踢我 也都ok
就是要宠你 宠你 宠上了天
天堂 整个 搬到你身边

是一座堡垒 是一种哲学 
我们之间
是一股热血 是一句干杯 
也是一种永远
我无时无刻 都无怨无悔 
让爱无穷又无尽 万万岁

是我的 朋友 就是 我的baby
就算你 打我 踢我 也都ok
就是要宠你 宠你 宠上了天
天堂 整个 搬到你身边

是我的 朋友 就是 我的baby
你想要 蹂躏 虐待 也都随便
就是要宠你 宠你 宠上了天
让谁都羡慕 都赞美 
让谁都傻眼

啦啦啦啦啦啦啦 让谁都傻眼
啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦啦啦啦
啦啦啦啦啦啦啦  

叽咕帕 （台湾的一种猜拳游戏）

runaway dreamer

this was what pp wrote in her farewell note to me, runaway dreamer. hahaha! how apt! she was the runaway princess and came back in early 2009. it was my turn to run away.    

after working as an internal auditor for more than 3.5 years, i decided to call it quits. it was not easy to come to this decision, weighing the pros and cons. my heart was screaming inside, wanting to leave everything and just go. i had been working continuously for the past 7 years, i guessed i had enough and seriously needed to take a pause.

i remembered on my last day of the business trip in taichung, i was wandering at 一中街 alone, trying to decide what to eat for dinner. after walking around, i went back to the same stall that my taichung colleague had previously brought me. while i was eating, a phrase suddenly came to my mind, “security is heavy”. as an internal auditor, i earned comfortably, had work-life balance, job security, great colleagues and got to travel around. what more to ask for? however, i just did not feel right. something was missing, whatever that was. i could just push myself to continue, but i might not be putting my 100% effort. i would not want to work to a point where i had to drag myself to work. this would be meaningless and i would not be happy. the feeling of leaving without a job was daunting, as i had never experienced  before, but i felt i really needed to go. 30 june 2011 marked the last day of my internal audit job. i finally ran away.

at the beginning, the feeling of not having to work was exhilarating! however, i also had to instill discipline on myself to plan the things i wanted to do. one of the items on my list was to revisit nepal. i had a great time trekking in nepal in 2008 and was still in contact with my nepalese trekking guide. the thought of going back was always in my mind and somehow, i felt that i needed to go back, as if something was there, waiting to unfold. i made the trip alone in september 2011 (entries dated 16, 23 and 24 january 2012) and stayed at my nepalese trekking guide’s home. the trip did not turn out to be what i expected, became more like a reality check, but i was glad that i made the trip. it felt like i went back to collect pieces of me which i left behind and complete with myself of what i always wanted to do.

while waiting for my nepal trip to start, i went for a weekend trip to batam with my basic leadership programme sub group mates and a short trip to bali with silvia and tracie. further, i took a personal development programme, pathways to consciousness (poc) at executive coach international (eci), hoping to find some answers within myself in this transiting stage. there was a process in the programme where i saw an image of a black veil being lifted off from my heart. i used to have images of darkness and i thought that this new image signified that my heart need not live in darkness anymore! she could finally be alive and embrace light! this was my biggest takeaway from the programme!

another thing which i did was trying out different jobs. i found a 2 weeks temporary assignment working as a personal assistant in an investment firm. this was something new and i thought i did the job well as the boss requested me to go back again after i came back from nepal. in october 2011, i got in touch with an old friend who was working for an events company and helped him out with a couple of ad hoc assignments (entries dated 23 november 2011 and 2 february 2012). in december 2011, i managed to work in the k bookstore that i always wanted (entry dated 15 january 2012).  

in between, i revived my blog and started writing again. i could see a change in my entries, definitely more positive! i had my dose of youtube videos of my favourite mayday, watching their variety shows, interviews and concerts, catching up whatever i had missed when busy working in the past years. their passion for music, stories of pursuing their music dream together courageously and brotherhood among the 5 of them were inspiring. these just made me like them more and more. the only music i listen now are their songs. every time i listen, their songs never fail to touch and keep me going.

i ran my 2nd full marathon with yeo yeo (entry dated 7 january 2012) which i did not quite prepare for. i was more driven by the thought of completing something which i set out than anything.

before i knew it, half a year went past. i went for my trips, did a few things here and there, but i was no where in finding out what i wanted to do in future. the uncertainties, fears and anxieties started to kick in. with the clock ticking and nothing concrete in mind, i started to look for internal audit jobs again, something i would qualify for. i guessed i was pressured by being out of the workforce for too long. i thought, maybe i would not find my answer during this break. however, just as i wanted to go back to be an internal auditor again, back to square one, the universe gave me a big sign and led to a series of events to where i am now.

as i looked back, i could resonate with the author of this article, “5 reasons NOT to quit your job and travel the world”, which i saw in facebook. quitting my job would not solve my problems as i never solved the root cause of my reality. i went from one lost zone to another lost zone. purpose and meaning of life would not come by running away, but by facing and making changes to my reality. then again, if i had not taken that courageous step to run away, i would not have realised this. at least, i could say i was true to myself when i made that decision. no regrets. i guessed that was part of my journey to lead me to where i needed to go from there. time to move on!

http://milkthepigeon.com/2012/08/08/reasons-not-to-quit-your-job-and-travel-the-world/     

reading

i need to read to be constantly reminded.

因为你们就是五月天，我们都是憨人。

i like this version of  憨人, sang by mayday at their DNA world tour concert at  高雄 in 2009. i especially like the orchestra part and the mass singing by the fans. this is one of their taiwanese songs, recorded in their second album  爱情万岁 in 2000. 

i chanced upon this concert video recently and started to pay attention to the lyrics. the lyrics seem to sing out the feelings in my heart, giving me hope and courage to walk whatever path i should be walking. no matter how many times i listen to the song, i am still touched by the lyrics. i guess everyone who support them can easily relate themselves to the character in the song. as if by singing the song, they are encouraging themselves to keep pursuing their dreams. it is no surprise that after a good 12 years, the song is just as popular now as before and always been sung in their concerts. a golden melody that withstands the test of time.

the touching part was when 阿信 thanked the fans for their support for the past 10 years and included them as part of mayday. they started off in 1999 and with a blink of eyes, more than 10 years had passed. 10 years are not a short period of time, to be able to walk the journey together with the fans and still going strong is really amazing. i believe there will be many more 10 years to come! 因为你们就是五月天，我们都是憨人。

憨人 (DNA 演唱会 高雄场)

作词: 阿信  作曲: 阿信

我的心内感觉 人生的沉重 
不敢来振动 
我不是好子 嘛不是歹人 
我只是爱眠梦

我不愿随浪随风 飘浪西东 
亲像船无港 
我不愿做人奸巧钻缝 
甘愿来作憨人 

我不是头脑空空 我不是一只米虫 

人啊人 一世人 
要安怎欢喜 过春夏秋冬 

我有我的路 有我的梦 
梦中的那个世界 甘讲伊是一场空 
我走过的路 只有希望 
希望你我讲过的话 放在心肝内 
总有一天 

看到满天全金条 要煞无半项 
环境来戏弄 
背景无够强 天才无够弄 
我逐项是拢输人

只好看破这虚华 不怕路歹行 
不怕大雨淋 

心上一字敢 面对我的梦 
甘愿来作憨人

我不是头脑空空 我不是一只米虫 
人啊人 一世人 
要安怎欢喜 过春夏秋冬 

我有我的路 有我的梦 
梦中的那个世界 甘讲伊是一场空 

我走过的路 只有希望 
希望你我讲过的话 放在心肝内 
总有一天

我有我的路 有我的梦 
梦中的那个世界 甘讲伊是一场空 

我走过的路 只有希望 

希望你我讲过的话 放在心肝内 
总有一天

我知道总会有一天
啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦

the wellington moments!

recently, coly and i were reminiscing the great times we had during one of our business trips in my ex company. my heart was filled with excitement as i started recalling the many things we did then!

my ex company had a subsidiary company in new zealand, producing various kinds of sauces and coffee powder. further, they had acquired a boutique café called caffé l’affare in wellington. the café was due for annual internal audit and i was assigned as part of the audit team, together with coly. i was quite looking forward as i always enjoyed café culture and would be interesting to go behind the scenes by auditing one. moreover, i had never been to wellington and could take this opportunity to explore the city. finally, i would be going with coly! we had a lot of fun during our previous trips and i was sure that we would have more fun this time as well!       

the audit assignment stretched about 3 weeks where we would spend 2 weekends in wellington. when we got there, the weather was very cooling with sunshine. we stayed in a service apartment, only 5 minutes walk to caffé l’affare.

the café was not very big, furnished with wooden tables and chairs, yellow lighting, posters and display of coffee making equipment on the shelves. the interior décor gave the whole place a very cozy feel. the staff was very friendly with good service. you could feel a sense of passion in them when they were serving the customers. sometimes, we would eat breakfast at the café, enjoying a nice cup of mocha, before starting work. the café was buzzing with people every morning. i was really inspired to open a café like this one day!

the café manager was a very knowledgeable and humorous guy. he would share many stories and knowledge with us. we also participated in their annual coffee cupping competition. the rules were very simple. there would be 8 sets of coffee, 3 cups in each set. out of the 3 cups, 1 cup would be different from the other 2. using taste and aroma, the participant would need to single out the different cup. the person who identified the most number of different cups correctly within the shortest period of time would win. this was not as easy as it sounded. towards the end, all the cups tasted the same to me. nonetheless, we decided to organize our own coffee cupping competition when we got back to singapore office, to share this with our colleagues!  

the most exciting part of the whole trip were the weekends! on the first weekend, we visited the te papa museum to see the biggest colossal squid in the world on display. after that, we walked by the harbor to the city central, enjoying the scenery and breeze, while stopping by to take pictures and play on the slide at the children playground. at the city central, we took our time to shop around and find a place to enjoy afternoon tea when we got tired. what a leisure way to spend the weekend.

as we had a kitchen in the service apartment, we attempted to cook our own dinner at night. we shopped at the supermarket for ingredients and headed back to prepare. after an hour of busy cooking, we made a sumptuous dinner of mushroom soup, corn, vegetables, steak, desert and red wine! it was real fun cooking dinner together and enjoying the good meal after that!

on some nights, coly would pop by to my room and we would watch tv shows together. i remembered a night where we were watching some ghost thrillers as she was scared to watch alone. hahaha! one of the evenings, we walked down to the other side of the harbor and sat at the bench to talk, only heading back when we were freezing from the cold sea breeze.

during the second weekend, caffé l’affare was participating in a food fair at the stadium and we went over to help out by serving coffee samples to the customers. there were a lot of other food suppliers selling coffee, wine and food products. being us, we would not miss the chance of going around to try the food samples and even bought a prize for our coffee cupping competition. 

another new experience was watching my 1^st opera with coly and my ex boss! the opera was in a different language and i was trying hard to follow the story plot. after watching, i thought i would prefer musicals or theatre to opera. =p

the 3 weeks were fulfilling. although all these happened in may 2010, those moments were still vivid to me. i must say this was the best business trip i ever had! i guessed the commonality between the two of us was that we were both crazy enough to explore new places and try new things.  

so coly, it was really really great fun travelling with you and thanks for being so spontaneous! definitely a memorable one for me! i am sure you know what i mean! = )

http://www.laffare.co.nz

sunny & cooling weather!

caffe l'affare


interior of caffe l'affare

a nice cup of coffee 

the biggest colossal squid

the children playground

our sumptuous dinner!

coly & me!

purpose

to live consciously.

habits

life is a series of good habits.

faith

have faith that everything happens for a reason;

have faith that everything will be alright, tomorrow will be fine;

have faith that when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

have faith.

hugo

another movie i watched recently was "hugo", based on brian selznick's novel, "the invention of hugo cabret". the story was about a boy who lived alone in a paris railway station and the enigmatic owner of a toy shop there. 

i found a paragraph in the movie very intriguing:

“if you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken.... i’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. machines never come with any extra parts, you know. they always come with the exact amount they need. so i figured, if the entire world was one big machine, i couldn’t be an extra part. i had to be here for some reason. and that means you have to be here for some reason too.”

i had to be here for some reason, what is the reason?

"hugo" movie trailer

extremely loud and incredibly close

"extremely loud and incredibly close" was the best movie i had watched so far in the past 2 months. the story was about a 9-year old boy named oscar schell who lost his father in the 9/11 event. he discovered a key in a vase which belonged to his father and began his search for the lock that fit the key, believing there could be a message his father left for him.

i liked the story plot, the cast and the messages that the movie conveyed. there was a message, “sometimes we have to face our fears”, where oscar overcame his fear of taking the underground train. a timely reminder to myself. in the end, oscar overcame all obstacles, fears and through his perseverance, found the answer he was looking for. a journey he needed to take to complete with his father's death.

i was crying through some of the scenes while watching. an extremely touching movie. highly recommended! 

"extremely loud and incredibly close" movie trailer

life

life is really unpredictable.

sanity

i need to retain my sanity in this insane world.

google maps to dreams

i wish there is an application like the google maps, showing me the directions to my dreams, where i should be heading and recalculating when i miss a turn, never worrying about getting lost.

never too old

around october 2011, my friend was working for an events management company and had a few days assignment at the airport; fetching passengers who were coming to singapore for a cruise tour. this sounded interesting and i agreed to help him with some of his friends, since i never done this before. we were given a list of the passenger names, flight numbers and arrival times to pick them up from the respective arrival halls. our job was to hold the signage of the cruise ship, standing and waiting at the arrival belt. usually, the passengers would approach us when they saw the signage and we would verify their names against the name list. once confirmed, we would hand over to the drivers who drove them to their hotels. our job was done. yes, this kind of job existed and we could be waiting at the airport for the whole day, walking from 1 terminal to another, depending on which terminal the plane would land. there were many passengers flying in from various countries and airlines at different timings. sometimes, we needed to divide ourselves at different terminals when the flight timings for different flights were similar.

before we considered ‘no show’ of the passengers, we needed to wait up to 1 hour after the arrival of the flight as the passengers could be shopping inside or waiting for their luggages. there was a particular passenger who left a deep impression on me. she was the last passenger we were waiting before the 1 hour waiting time was almost up. we finally saw an old lady, probably more than 60 years old, making her way out of the arrival belt with the help of the airport attendant. she was walking slowly towards us and we verified that she was the last passenger. apparently, she came alone as there was no one with her. as i watched her from behind when she left with the driver, i felt a sudden surge of emotion. i wondered, how come she was travelling alone? this was very courageous of her to make the trip all by herself. my friend was guessing she might be making this trip in memory of someone, like an annual trip to remember someone close and important. she reminded me of the old couple in 1 of my favorite animated movies, "up" by pixar, featured in 2009.

"up" was a story about a boy, carl and a girl, ellie who grew up together and eventually got married. they wanted to have kids but unfortunately, ellie got miscarriage. carl wanting to make ellie happy, suggested that they pooled their money to make a trip to ‘paradise falls’, a place where ellie always wanted to go when she was young. however, the trip was always postponed when they needed to use the money for other urgent needs. when carl finally bought the air tickets, ellie fell sick suddenly and eventually passed away. with an unexpected turn of the events, carl set off on his adventure to the ‘paradise falls’ with a boy scout, russell. they overcame all obstacles and ultimately fulfilled ellie’s wish. this was a very funny yet touching animated movie. the love between the couple and the adventures between the elderly man and the boy scout were awe-inspiring.  

i wondered whether the old lady was on an adventure to fulfill her husband's wish as well? or fulfilling her own adventure? it was no easy task to travel at such an old age, let alone to travel all by herself. i really admired her courage, as if declaring that it was never too old to have adventures in your lifetime. most of the passengers we fetched were also elderly or old couples from the western countries, some even had difficulty walking. the physical challenges did not deter them to want to travel and see the world. at that age, probably about time to enjoy themselves after working so hard for most part of their lives.

i guess as long as one still has the curiosity about this world, that is enough to take the first step. i definitely hope that i still want to see the beauty of this world at my old age, best with a companion, be it a spouse or friend, to capture the last few wonderful memories on this earth. 

"up" movie trailer! hilarious!

courage

it takes courage to live.

at the edge

during my stay in nepal, i wanted to do a short trek and my trekking guide recommended a 3 days 2 nights trek to the gosaikunda lake, located at an altitiude of 4,380m above sea level, in the langtang national park in dhunche. this was a holy lake where the local hindus would go at least once in their lifetime. since i had never been there, i did not mind going.

i was visiting trishuli and staying at my trekking guide’s friend’s house for a night. from trishuli, we needed to take a 6 to 7 hours bus ride to dhunche the next morning.

initially, the bus ride was quite smooth, until we reached a part of the bus route. the road was badly maintained, with a lot of potholes, making it very difficult for the bus to cross. moreover, the road was narrow, barely allowing vehicles from both directions to drive through. to make things worse, the bus was on the side of the road near the cliff. any slight mistake by the bus driver could cause the bus to fall over the edge. you could not imagine what would happen to all the passengers inside and those sitting on top of the bus if it fell over.

the bus driver attempted to drive through the road, causing the bus to shake so violently. at every attempt to cross over, there was commotion in the bus. i was asking inside my head, was this a test for me? would this be my doomsday? by chance, i happened to sit on the side of the bus near the edge. whenever the bus driver was trying to drive through, i could feel that the bus would fall any minute. when i looked down, i saw the rocky surface at the bottom of the cliff. not advisable to look down in this circumstance. seriously, i had never been so close to the edge. my trekking guide who was sitting on the other side dared to ask me, "are you okay?" obviously not! i shouted back a big 'no'! i kept leaning away from the side, hopping that my weight would be distributed to the other side, defying gravity. people often said that when one was at the end of his life, he would have flashbacks of his past. well, i was waiting for that to happen, but it did not. maybe my time was not up yet. in matter of near death, a lot of things came to my mind though and suddenly, a lot of things did not matter as well, as long as i was alive. i could only react and face the fear. my mind and heart were racing fast in this real life thrill. the bus driver attempted twice and i thought i had more than enough thrill. my heart might not be able to take it further. i decided to get off the bus and walk past the bumpy road. i felt that i was better in control of my life, than leaving in the hands of someone. it would also be easier for the bus driver if there were lesser passengers onboard, lesser weight. 

it suddenly dawned on me that all the passengers’ lives were dependent on the driving skills of the driver. we had expected the driver to bring us to our destination safely, that he was skillful enough to drive in any road condition. i would say he was definitely skillful. on a bigger context, we often had a lot of expectations on a lot of things and people in our lives subsciously. gradually, we started to take things for granted and got disappointed when things did not happen as expected. we became greedy and wanted more. we forgot to appreciate. only in times of crisis would we be awakened and thankful for whatever we had. in nepal, many people were living their lives at the edge for survival, travelling on this kind of road condition everyday. i should be grateful that i lived in singapore, where the roads were well maintained and the transport system was so convenient.

in the end, with lesser passengers onboard, the bus driver finally managed to drive through the road hurdle. once again, we hopped onto the bus and drove off. 

first time experiencing such a nerve wrecking bus journey! +_+

 the bus i took on the way back to kathmandu after finishing the trek. due to limited seats in the bus, the locals had to sit on top of the bus.

we met the same situation on our way back as well. the road was so bumpy that they had to get a bulldozer to move away some of the big boulders. 

the bus was stopped further away, waiting for the road to be cleared.

starry starry night

i saw a starry starry night in the dark sky of nepal.

i was on an overnight bus to another place with my trekking guide and his friend. we were stopping by a small town for a while. the whole town was in darkness and i saw candles lit up in the shops. in nepal, they did not have enough electricity. the government had to cut off the electricity for a few hours everyday to conserve. the problem was, there was no fixed timing for the electricity cut-off. sometimes you could be caught off guarded, especially if you were still showering in the bathroom. i experienced that when i was staying with my trekking guide at kathmandu.

incidentally, while sitting in the bus, i looked up into the sky. wow! there were millions and millions of stars, shining ever so brightly. the sky was breathtaking! i hardly saw a sky full of stars in singapore; too many streetlamps, over shining the stars.

a whole universe up there, thousands of light years ahead, vast and mysterious, made human beings look so small. i wondered if there was someone looking down at me as well. i believed the universe had its own law, of  how everything would turn out. we were constantly in the midst of the happenings and sometimes we felt lost. we started questioning, we wanted some answers, yet maybe only time could tell. often, when we looked back, everything started to make sense and fall in place. everything happened for a reason.

that was a beautiful night, let me admire the stars and believe in the power of the universe. 

wild honey

we decided to try the breakfast at wild honey, a newly opened breakfast and brunch place at scott’s square in orchard road. zz and jd had previously tried the food in another outlet and were recommending to us.  wild honey was known for its different styles of breakfast from different countries. since that saturday was christmas eve (24 december 2011), we thought it would be a nice to celebrate christmas together at a nice breakfast place. they were most accommodating to agree to meet at 8am (instead of our usual 9am) as i needed to start work at 11am.

scott’s square was a new building in orchard and luckily with the help of google map, i managed to locate the building. when i got in, most of the shops were either not opened or still under renovation. i went up to the 3rd level and finally saw the restaurant at one corner, with the door closed. at about 8am, the restaurant manager opened the door and was a little surprised to see me standing outside. she must be wondering why would anyone come so early for breakfast.

she showed me into the restaurant, to a table for 5 people. the whole place was decorated like a home, with tables of different number of seats and antique china pieces on the wall, diffusing a cozy and homey feeling. one might imagine as if you were dining at your own home. the 3 of them came shortly after. zz could not come as she suddenly had stomach cramp before she left her house.

we started looking through the menu and the restaurant had an ipad to display the photos of the various breakfast. a picture said a thousand words. all of them looked very appetizing, making it so difficult to choose! we each ordered a different breakfast and settled down at our table. i ordered a cup of hazelnut latte, as a reward for myself after working hard at k bookstore for the past week. i missed making a cup of nice coffee every morning using the espresso machine at my ex company. what a great way to start a working day then.

we were busily updating one another about our past week while enjoying the delicious breakfast. the restaurant got more and more crowded with people streaming in. this was definitely a popular brunch place, especially on weekends. zz managed to join us subsequently when she felt better.

towards the end of the session, we had christmas gift exchange! em suggested this some weeks ago and each of us prepared a gift for exchange. scallop wrote our names on pieces of paper and tossed them onto the table. each of us picked a piece. i picked zz and she gave me a book titled white tiger. yeah! another book to read! i liked to receive books as gifts. in fact, i bought a book as gift as well. zz also bought separate gifts for us when she went on holiday in thailand recently. she gave me a journal book with a bodhi tree as the cover and wrote me a postcard. my tears almost poured out! i seldom received handwritten cards from someone nowadays. the last card i received was from coly and her words always touched me and made me cry. jd was nice enough to give us tickets to the dreams and reality exhibition which showcased the masterpieces of painting, drawing and photography from the famous museé d’ orsay museum in paris. one of the paintings i wanted to see was the ‘starry night’ by vincent van gogh. i could not wait to go to the exhibition with them!

the waitress kept coming to our table to clear our plates or requesting us to make payment. we probably sat longer than we should when there was queue outside.

i had an enjoyable session with them, the breakfast and gift exchange, embracing a little christmas mood. although, the prices of the food at wild honey were slightly on the higher side, still worthwhile to pamper ourselves once in a while, especially it was christmas. = )

http://www.wildhoney.com.sg/10/index.htm

 wild honey, no place like home

 a large dining table at a corner, enough for a big family

 my hazelnut latte!

english breakfast! yummy!

last leg of the race

this is the last leg of the race, push on.