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.

picnic by the beach

for our 3rd breakfast session, we decided to bring it outdoor for a change. my friends and i thought it would be a different experience to be in the nature with fresh air and scenery. 

we arranged to meet at the mac donald’s at east coast park but one of us was late. we learnt from another friend that she just lost her hand phone the day before. as we were unable to contact her, we could only wait and hope that she appear soon. after waiting for half an hour, she finally reached! she got off the wrong bus stop and had to walk all the way to the mac donalds, causing the delay.

with everyone present, we got into the car and drove off along the east coast park highway to the beach near the national service resort and country club. that beach should have lesser people than east coast park, more conducive to talk and listen. 

it was a bright sunday morning on 27 november 2011, with the sun shining against the clear blue sky.  there were few people by the beach when we reached. we chose a spot on top of the breakwater and laid the groundsheet we brought. each of us prepared a breakfast item to share. there were egg sandwiches, bread, fruits, milk and juices. it had been a while since i last came to the beach, sitting down, looking at the sea, listening to the waves and feeling the gentle breeze blowing by. there was a sense of serenity at the beach,  with the waves splashing against the breakwater, following a momentum, abiding to the laws of the universe. the sound of the waves gave a smoothing feeling that could calm the noisy heart and put aside the thoughts in the mind. unlike indoor places, with people sitting beside and walking around distracting us, the beach made us feel more relaxed. except when, it got hotter and hotter, we had to shift our things to a shady place.

that day was a good breakfast session, getting close to nature once in a while and fulfilling something i always wanted to do; having  an outdoor picnic with a group of friends. another item checked!

a hearty breakfast!

forty hands café

since the book café, my friends and i decided to have our weekly breakfast sessions at different cafés. we could explore new places while having our sessions at the same time. this round, we went to the forty hands café (on 19 november 2011). the café was tucked along yong siak street in tiong bahru. this street had a number of interesting boutique shops selling different things. books actually bookstore was just diagonally opposite forty hands café. 

at 9am, the place was already crowded with people, probably the nearby residents coming for breakfast. luckily, we still managed to find a table at one corner to sit.  

the café was not big, with a few tables inside and a few tables outside the door entrance. there was a staircase leading downwards to the backdoor with a few more tables in that small area. the café emanated a retro feel, with old posters on the wall, a big menu hanged behind the counter and some chairs transformed from wood carton boxes. the utensils sets were interesting too, where breakfast sets were served in traditional metal plates, like those used in the old days. i wondered, where they prepared the breakfast as i did not see any kitchen at the counter area.

we were eating our breakfast and sharing how our week had been. as we were sharing, the atmosphere suddenly turned tensed and emotional. it felt like we were warped in our own world at our table. at the same time, i could still hear the music playing at the background and the conversations of the people sitting at the tables nearby. at that moment, i was present to the strong contrast in atmosphere at our table and the surroundings. it was fascinating that sometimes a conversation between 2 people or a group of people could create a time warped feeling with everyone so engrossed and disregarding the surroundings. in that space, we listened to what was said and the person sharing felt that she was understood. i always enjoyed this kind of conversation where i learnt something from listening to that person or i felt understood by that person when i shared.

that day was definitely a good session, with a lot of essence. after more than half a year, our weekly sessions had progressed to the next level! i looked forward to the subsequent sessions for this season!

forty hands is definitely a café with great coffee and food to chill out but may not be as conducive for deeper conversations with friends.  

nevertheless, thumbs up for the food, coffee and latte art!

http://www.40handscoffee.com/main.html

 forty hands café

latte art! helped to brighten up the day! i wanted to do this one day!

discipline

everyday is a test of discipline.

café moments

i love café culture. i enjoy sitting in a café, drinking a cup of nice coffee, reading a book or just watching the passer-bys. it allows me to pause from the constant rush and breathe. the café's interior décor and smoothing background music, coupled with an enticing menu of drinks and cakes create an ambience, perfect to sit back and relax. there is a sense of happiness in the air.

when i was in nepal for holiday in september 2011, i finally had the luxury to explore the different cafés in thamel, one of the busiest areas in kathmandu. there were many hotels, tour agencies, camping equipment, souvenir and tea shops, restaurants and cafes, catering to the different needs of the tourists. it seemed like a world of its own, bustling with activities.

i was staying with my trekking guide whom i known 3 years ago. he was kind enough to let me stay at his place for this trip. every morning, i would ride on his scooter and follow him to thamel where he had 2 tea shops. i would stop by at his tea shop for a cup of tea before i set off to check out the different cafés. the cafes were within walking distance from one another, making me spoilt with choices. i was excited to experience the leisure of sitting in a café and watching the world go by. i always wanted to do that in singapore but did not really have the chance to do it. 

the cafés in thamel were spacious and i could easily find a quiet spot to sit for a long time. most of the time, the cafés were not crowded. i would order a drink, maybe a cup of latte or tea. after making myself comfortable, i started to observe the interior décor, furniture and people in the café. i became present to what i was seeing, how i was feeling and letting these moments sank in. time did not seem important. the world seemed serene. nothing more mattered. in the silence, i could faintly hear the whispers of my heart, of what it was trying to say. my heart felt peaceful, thankful, grateful, contented and fulfilled. that was all it needed, a space to rest. maybe this was all we needed, peace in the heart.

for the whole trip, i visited a few cafés, each had its unique style and evoked different feelings in me. sometimes, i could even visit 2 places within a day! i would read my book or write my journal in the cafés, enjoying the time with myself.

the café moments were definitely one of the highlights of the trip where i felt connected to my heart and we enjoyed the moments together. = )

gaia restaurant and coffee shop, just behind my trekking guide's tea shop

a nice cup of mocha

pumpernickel bakery

i liked the interior décor of pumpernickel bakery

my honey lemon tea 

an italian restaurant, ladolce vita

interior décor of ladolce vita

the tiramisu was delicious! 

casa de koffee

enjoying a cup of nice hazelnut latte!

that little dream

i did not know why but in 2010, i had the thought of wanting to work in a particular bookstore, k. probably at that time, i was getting tired of corporate world and the only thing i wanted to do was to sit at one corner and read books leisurely. i enjoyed reading and liked the culture of that bookstore. this set me wondering how it would be to work in a bookstore environment, being able to combine interest and work.

that little dream lingered in my head and it was not until mid of 2011, that i started to think about fulfilling it seriously. though it sounded silly, but i went through a lot of internal struggles in my head before i decided to leave my current job and pursue something that i wanted.

i finally sent in my resume in october 2011 after coming back from my holiday trip in nepal. although i did not hear anything from them subsequently, i was constantly checking the website for any new openings. on one occasion, i saw that they would be conducting a walk-in interview soon. not wanting to give up so easily, i went for the walk-in interview to find out more. the interviewer gave me a better insight of the various positions and it dawned on me that sometimes things might not be what i expected. i was at a dilemma of whether i should pursue further.

as i was debating in my head, i received a call from my friend in late november 2011 and she asked about my application. somehow, her call prompted me to check the website again. they just had another round of walk-in interview for temporary positions. although the interview dates were over, i decided to call them to enquire. i was not preparing to give up until i hear an affirmative answer from them. the human resource personnel told me that the positions were filled up, but i left my contact with them nonetheless, just in case they might have openings in future again. somehow, things started to unfold. i got a call from them on the same evening to go for an interview the next day. wow! this got me excited! i went for the interview and understood that the temporary position was for the chistmas season, ending in early january 2012. i thought it would be a comfortable period for me to experience working in the bookstore. a few hours later, they called and told me that i was selected for the position. oh my gosh! everything happened so fast! i quickly made a call to inform the person-in-charge of my current temporary assignment, giving her a day’s notice. i would be starting at the bookstore on the following tuesday! the phone call from my friend seemed to trigger everything that happened subsequently! it was a sign! i must really thank her for that phone call! i was finally going to fulfill my little dream!

as the christmas season was a busy period, they recruited a number of ‘o’ levels school leavers who were waiting for results as well. i was the oldest among them but definitely looked as young as them.  most of them could not believe when i told them my actual age! haha!!! proper training on gift wrapping and cashiering were provided to us even though we would only be working for 1 month. i could see that they emphasized a lot on training to ensure that we were able to perform our tasks well.

it was interesting to observe the people shopping in the bookstore. when i was working, i would notice how they dressed, the kind of books they bought as gifts or for themselves and how they fumbled with their wallets to make payment. i could see kids picking all their favorite books and the parents would pay for them. so envious! how i wished my parents would do that when i was young. i had seen many different books than i ever seen, processed hundreds of payment transactions and wrapped so many books within that month. the bookstore seemed to shrink by the day as i got more and more familiar with the different segments of where the books were located.

despite the internet boom where e-books became so easily accessible, there were still a lot of people willing to spend money to buy books as gifts or personal reading. they were not buying just 1 or 2 books, but a lot more! i was amazed by how much they were willing to spend on books. personally, i liked the touch of a physical book, flapping page after page, seeing the unread pages getting thinner and thinner as i continued reading. it would get me excited to want to finish the book quickly!

this was also the first time i spent my christmas and new year working in a bookstore. i must admit that i needed to adjust my mood accordingly as i had to miss a couple of christmas gatherings because of work.

everything came to an end on 2 january 2012 when i completed the assignment. for the past month, i was present to how much it took to fulfill a dream, even just a small one. i thought about this dream in late 2010 and it actually took me a year to have the courage to take action and fulfill it. how turtle slow i was. i spent most of the energy considering and considering, fighting the fears in me. there were a lot of questions in my head; would i be willing to bear with the pay drop? would i be able to withstand the concerns from people around me of my decision? would i be able to get in? would i like it? it was definitely confronting with so many thoughts at the back of my mind. i was thinking too much even before i took any action! when i finally took action, it became the wait and the uncertainty that were dangling at the back of my mind. for the past half year, it was definitely good training to my heart, learning to withstand the stress i put onto myself. i came out stronger.

i guess it is more about overcoming the barriers to fulfill the dream, than the dream fulfilled itself. sometimes, we are often held back by too many considerations which may not even be certain in the end. we get easily deceived by our minds. in the end, we give up on our dreams. this is the biggest lesson i have learnt.

i know that in the years to come, i will still be proud of myself for taking that small step, for giving myself the chance to fulfill that little dream. = )

p/s: i have set to read 15 solid books in 2012, especially some titles recommended by my friends. i just finished another awesome book by jostein gaarder, the solitaire mystery, within a week! highly recommended! my 1st book in 2012! 14 more to go!

dreams and reality

i need to learn how to weave my dreams into reality.

game of life

i need to play the game of life seriously, everyday.

run for a reason

this was the 4th time i participated in the standard chartered marathon and the 2nd time i was running a full marathon, 42.195km. on 4 december 2011, before 5am, tens and thousands of people gathered at the starting point at orchard road. a rare scene to see so many people gather at one common place at such an early hour. i could see people warming up, gearing up their earphones or taking photos while waiting for the race to start. at 5am, the gun sound went off and everyone started running.

i started running too, the beginning of a long run. i finished my run at 7 hours and 10 minutes last year and was hopping to improve my timing this year. however, it was not long that i felt the need to visit the toilet. the thought was seriously distracting my run that i  had to stop at the toilet station along hill street. although it took a while, i felt relieved and was finally able to focus on the run.

as i was running, there were a lot of cheer boards put up along the way to encourage the runners. i saw one particular board which wrote “run for a reason”, the theme for this year. did i have a reason to run? it suddenly dawned on me that i actually did not have a good enough reason to run this year. for the past 3 times, i was running for my ex company. the company was an active participant of the standard chartered marathon and to encourage employees to run, it pledged to donate $100 to a adopted charitable organization for every kilometre completed by anyone in the run. run for a good cause, i thought. if my little effort to run could raise funds for the less fortunate, why not? it was also about challenging myself in running as i had never run a marathon. i started with 10km in the 1st year, increasing to half marathon, 21km in the subsequent year and finally completed my 1st full marathon last year. these were good enough to push me to do my best in completing the run. since i left the company this year and tried all 3 different categories of run, i realized i was lost for a reason. what was the rush to run?

after i crossed the 21km mark, i slowed down and decided to walk. i thought maybe walking would be a more suitable exercise for me in future. there was a part of the route where the sun was scorching hot with no drinks station at sight. i was feeling frustrated, causing me to walk faster and faster, wanting to finish this part as soon as possible. sometimes, frustration or anger could spur me in a positive direction.

i guessed what really kept me going was the intention to complete what i started. i did not like to leave things incomplete. although there were agonies of pain on both legs and wanting to give up, i came to a point of understanding that the only thing i could do was to keep going. as long as i kept going, i would reach the end point eventually. no point crying over the situation i got myself in. i kept walking and walking. i finally crossed the finishing point after 7 hours and 45 minutes. not the best timing but at least i managed to complete it. i did not feel much of an excitement but more of a flat feeling, a “been there, done that” feeling. it was a race with the mental mind more than the physical body. i concluded that this was quite enough of running for the past 4 years.

when i shared about my marathon run with zee, she commented that i was able to complete something without much purpose. in the past, i needed to have a purpose/point of doing something, otherwise, i would not want to move or move unwillingly. now i could do something without much purpose. this sounded like a different form of achievement. often, there were times where we needed to do something, just because we needed to do, without much reason. this would be useful in future.

a marathon run seems to be a minute reflection of the longest marathon we are running now, our lives. how we react in the marathon could be how we react in our lives. what are we all running for in our lives? everyone has a different reason to run and a different destination to reach. when someone runs ahead of us, we might start to doubt our abilities and get distracted. are we focusing on our run? i constantly ask myself what i am running for and where i am running towards. unlike a marathon, there is no clear destination and it definitely takes a lifetime to run. the only thing for sure is, i run my own race.

keep running and run for a reason.

1st time running a full marathon with yeo yeo

the power of movies

i have a friend who loves to watch movies. nothing wrong with that, except that he could watch the same movie over and over again. at that time, i could not understand why would someone spend so much time watching the same movie over and over again? it seemed like a waste of time. what is the beauty of a movie?

this got me curious that i started to search for movies that were blockbusters, recommended by the newspapers or friends and watched them. i began to fall in love watching movies. in a movie, i could be intrigued by the story plot, the acting of the cast, the beautiful angle shots, the visual effects or the message the movie was trying to convey within the 2 to 3 hours. it was like a short escape from reality where anything was possible. it stirred my emotions that i could feel my heart again. sometimes, i would be touched/reminded by or gained realizations from a movie, that gave me strength to continue believing. it was a source of ideas/inspirations and appreciating what the movie director was saying.

someone once said that because in reality, our lives are too boring, we try to live a different life through dramas or movies, imagining ourselves as the lead characters, regaining hope that our real lives could be just as exciting. to some extent, i guess it is true. we probably need some dramas to spice up our lives.

movie, from the creation of an idea in the mind and transforming it from scratch to reality. salute to all the movie directors who have the vision and passion in what they are doing. it takes tremendous efforts to do that.

sharing with you the list of movies i watched in 2011. i am amazed at myself of the number of movies i have watched within a year. looking forward to great movies in 2012!

1.       shutter island

2.       sex and the city 2

3.       valentine’s day

4.       toy story 3

5.       3 idiots

6.       ghajini

7.       taare zameen par (every child is special)

8.       the bucket list

9.       despicable me

10.   love and other drugs

11.   rabbits have no ears

12.   prime

13.   hello, stranger

14.   love me if you dare

15.   never let me go

16.   127 hours

17.   black swan

18.   tangled

19.   台北星期天

20.   跳跃大搜线3 – 开释罪犯

21.   no strings attached

22.   big fish

23.   the lion, the witch and the wardrobe

24.   ice age

25.   ice age 2

26.   yes man

27.   rango

28.   fight club

29.   wall street – money never sleeps

30.   under the tuscan sun

31.   love happens

32.   the king’s speech

33.   rumour has it

34.   just go with it

35.   last life in the universe

36.   brokeback mountain

37.   harry potter and the deathly hallows part 1

38.   harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2

39.   x men – first class

40.   x men

41.   i love you, philip morris

42.   mary and max

43.   五月天追梦3DNA 

44.   九降风

45.   my sassy girl

46.   too big to fail

47.   花吃了那女孩

48.   nim’s island

49.   ink heart

50.   horrible bosses

51.   midnight in paris

52.   星空

53.   那些年，我们追的女孩

54.   in time

coincidence?

this kind of coincidence gives me goose bumps.

my friend was working for an events management company over the past few years and recently, he needed people to work as an usher for a conference event at marina bay sands for 2 days. since i was not working and my exploring machine at loose, i thought it was no harm to try it out, just for the experience.

the goose bumps came when he called me the day before and told me that the conference event was for my ex audit firm. i was stunned when i heard this! such a coincidence! after leaving the firm for 4 years, i got ‘reunited’ with the firm, but in a different role. for a moment, i started to imagine how i should react if i bumped into one audit partner whom i worked with previously. however, since i agreed to work, would just go with it and see what turned out. i might not even bump into him at all.

when i got there the next day, i realized that it was a partners conference where the audit partners in the area pacific region flew in for the conference. the usher role was to be human arrow to direct the audit partners who were staying at the marina bay sands hotel through the underpass to the convention centre for their conference. 10 of us were allocated different spots to stand with our ‘lollipop’ signage.

it was seriously no joke to keep standing for hours. by the 4^th hour, my legs were seriously aching and i was looking forward to my 15 minutes break. it was a great relief on the legs when i could sat down finally.

after my break, i was assigned to stand at the convention centre level. i was present to the increase in likelihood of bumping into my audit partner. indeed! while i was standing at my spot and turning my head towards the conference rooms, i saw that audit partner approaching my direction with another person. my heart jumped for a second! how should i react??? i kept looking at him but he was not really responding back. maybe, he did not recognize me. after all, my hairstyle was different from the last time he saw me. i tried to act busy and avoid direct eye contact with him. luckily he walked past me just like that. how close could this be! speaking of the devil! such luck!

for the last 1.5 hours of my shift, i was walking around the different spots to relieve some of them who needed to take a break. the first day finally ended. i survived 7 hours of standing!

i reported work at 6.45am on the second day as they were having a breakfast session in the morning. so early! in the middle of my shift, i was called to help out with the microphones in the conference room with 3 other friends. i found myself standing inside the conference room. i thought this was a pretty amazing encounter. even if i stayed on in the firm, i would never had a chance to attend such a conference unless i slogged myself to become an audit partner, which obviously would not be my choice. with the unfolding of events, i saw more overseas audit partners than i ever seen and even got to 'attend' the conference, even though in a different role. more goose pumps…

another amazing thing was i managed to spot my audit partner sitting at the end of the row among more than 1,000 audit partners in the conference room. was this what some people say, “the more you avoid something, the more it appears in front of you.”?

adding on to this, i recalled an incident while i was working with the firm. an audit manager asked me if i were not an auditor, what would i rather do? i told her i would want to work in an events management company, to organize events. after 4 years, i was actually working in an events management company, though in a small way, for the firm when i said that. such creepy coincidence...

it was not easy to stand for a long period but this assignment allowed me to experience many things and fulfilled something i said in the past. still worth it. = )

i am starting to believe that life has its way to let you fulfill the things you want to fulfill. you just need to be ready, patient and sharp enough to see the opportunities when they unfold.

waiting for my next coincidence to happen…

inspirational quote by me

when we have the courage to face our past, we have the strength to live our future.

doing something by doing nothing

doing something by doing nothing. this sounds a bit contradicting. how can one be doing something by doing nothing? i am exploring the act of doing nothing, with the intention of doing nothing for a moment, a minute or the next 5 minutes.

often, humans cannot stand doing nothing. once we are not doing something, we begin to feel useless, not productive or not contributing to the society. in the end, we get ourselves busy by doing something, anything, just not letting ourselves to be in a state of doing nothing. do we feel tired from doing all the time? maybe for a moment, but the next moment, we start to get ourselves occupied or distracted. we get so used to doing something all the time that we feel uneasy when we are doing nothing. the question is, where are we heading towards?

some time last year, someone asked me, “what do i want to do now?” during that time, i was overwhelmed by a lot of things, emotionally and mentally, making me feel tired and frustrated. a tiny voice was shouting very loudly inside me, “i want to do nothing!” a sense of rebelliousness was brewing inside me, ready to reject anything that was coming my way. i just wanted to stay still and quiet. i could not understand what the rush was for. i could see nothing. i needed a bigger purpose in front to propel me forward.

this year, i decided to give myself the time and space to deliberately do nothing, to be present to the passing of time. it was like i was on the main path and i took a deliberate detour onto the forest trail. i was taking my time to walk, to feel the forest, to listen to my heart, to reflect in my mind, to be in the moment. there was no rush, only serenity. i felt at peace and happy, a moment to treasure. 

in the busyness of life, we should give ourselves the time and space to experience the moment of doing nothing...

walking on a forest trail

the book café

it was a saturday morning and i was walking from clarke quay mrt station to robertson quay. i was on my way to a morning gathering session with some friends at 9am. we were planning to meet at a café place at robertson quay. i was looking at my watch when i reached liang court and realised it was 8:51am! 9 more minutes to go! estimating the distance and time, i needed to run to make it in time. when i was approaching, i saw the little red car parking outside the café. rare occasion that the rest were there already. =p  i finally stepped into the café at 8:57am, feeling out of breath. phew! just in time!

the name of the café was interesting, it was literally named as “the book café”. the place was not too small, with indoor and outdoor seating area, allowing you to choose, depending on your mood of the day. for the interior, there was the sofa seating area, with big sofas, coffee tables and soft lighting, creating a cozy living room ambience for morning breakfast.

we were sitting at the chair area, which was spacious and comfortable as well. around the café, there were shelves of books and latest magazines, free to pick any for browsing. framed posters were hanged on the walls, giving it a tint of sophisticated feel.

they served a wide variety of food, including all day breakfast. the service of the staff was warm and friendly when taking our orders and asking about our feedback on the food. i even had a lovely birthday surprise when the staff brought up a piece of birthday chocolate cake at the end of our meeting session! my friends sang me a birthday song and i made my birthday wish! the chocolate cake was delicious! thanks gals!

i had a great time with good company, a cup of mocha and fantastic cake! the book café provided the much needed space for busy city dwellers to gather and relax or just to let their minds go empty.

thumbs up for the book café!

http://www.thebookcafe.com.sg/

the book café

my birthday cake!

math

today is my 31st birthday...

i have lived on this plant for...
31 years or
11,315 days or
271,560 hours or
16,293,600 minutes

most of the time, i spent it wondering what my truest self was... where did i leave it? luckily, for the past 2 years, i managed to find some answers...

i am thinking, if i ever live till 71 years old, that would be another...
40 years
14,600 days or
350,400 hours or
21,024,000 minutes

the next question is, what do i want to create? how do i want to create?

sophie's world

sophie's world, a novel about the history of philosophy, by jostein gaarder.

an unexpected encounter with this book when i bought it at a roadside bookstall in shanghai 2 years ago, but had not read it until recently. that time, i was walking along the road with my colleagues after dinner and we chanced upon a roadside bookstall. we started browsing and 1 of my colleagues, coly recommended this book to me. i thought it was no harm to add a good book at home and so i bought it.

2 years later, i was browsing my bookshelf, deciding on the next book to read. this book caught my attention. as i reached into my bookshelf and picked up this book, i did not know that an exciting journey through the history of philosophy was awaiting me. the story started to unfold. there was a story within a story, with a twist that kept me reading and reading.

somehow, i felt that THIS was the right moment to read this book than if i were to read 2 years ago. sophie's and my path finally crossed. this was what i needed to understand at this stage of my life..

it was interesting that every encounter with a book, reading it and the insights it brought after reading, could very well be an inspiring story by itself. did it just happen by chance or was there a reason behind it? had the bookstall not been there that night, had we not walked on that road that night, had i not gone to shanghai, had i not been assigned to that engagement, had i not... i like this kind of encounter, where everything falls in place, just waiting for the moment to unfold...

thanks, sophie! or is it alberto, hilde or major albert?

sophie's world

倔强

here's another mayday song that i resonate a lot recently... like the lyrics very much, especially the first two verses... 当我和世界不一样　那就让我不一样...

倔强

作词: 阿信  作曲: 阿信

當　我和世界不一樣　那就讓我不一樣　

堅持對我來說　就是以剛克剛
我　如果對自己妥協　如果對自己說謊　
即使別人原諒　我也不能原諒

最美的願望　一定最瘋狂
我就是我自己的神　在我活的地方
我和我最後的倔強　握緊雙手絕對不放
下一站是不是天堂　就算失望不能絕望
我和我驕傲的倔強　我在風中大聲的唱
這一次為自己瘋狂　就這一次　我和我的倔強

對　愛我的人別緊張　我的固執很善良

我的手越骯髒　眼神越是發光
你　不在乎我的過往　看到了我的翅膀
你說被火燒過　才能出現鳳凰
逆風的方向　更適合飛翔
我不怕千萬人阻擋　只怕自己投降
我和我最後的倔強　握緊雙手絕對不放
下一站是不是天堂　就算失望不能絕望
我和我驕傲的倔強　我在風中大聲的唱
這一次為自己瘋狂　就這一次　我和我的倔強

我和我最後的倔強　握緊雙手絕對不放

下一站是不是天堂　就算失望不能絕望
我和我驕傲的倔強　我在風中大聲的唱
這一次為自己瘋狂　就這一次　我和我的倔強
就這一次　讓我大聲唱
啦啦啦...   就算失望　不能絕望
啦啦啦...   就這一次　我和我的倔強

九号球

been listening to mayday songs recently and the song, 九号球 keeps humming in my head. feels that the lyrics somehow describe how i feel recently, at my crossroads again. the indescribable feelings in me, which i cannot put into words. what am i trying to tell myself? need some inspiration from them…

九号球

作词: 阿信  作曲: 怪兽

逃走 翻过围墙 我只能逃走 从教室里头

奔向自由 熟悉角落 有人在等我 有挑衅的笑容

今天谁先开球 让谁常点苦头

绿色地平线上 我撞著 彩色堕落

也许我这一杆 又没办法进球

就像我的生活 一直在出差错

也许我这一生 始终在追逐那颗九号球

却忘了 是谁在爱我

却忘了 是谁在罩著我

从前 书包很满 装不下的梦 就丢了一些

未来我们 要怎么活 凝视著白球 暂时我不去想

天空渐渐变红 影子爬满球桌

输赢没有结果 像人生 难以捉摸

也许我这一杆 又没办法进球

就像我的生活 一直在出差错

也许我这一生 始终在追逐那颗九号球

却忘了 是谁在爱我

却忘了 是谁在罩著我