Timecheck

When...

- Countergirls take only one glance to recommend 'age-defying' and 'anti-ageing' skincare series
- Professing to following a certain hugely popular series on 17 yr olds raised quite a few eyebrows
- Serum are replaced by concentrates as warfare regime against lines and wrinkles
- The volume of wedding invites surpasses the birthday parties
- Insurance agents advise topping up health premiums


Yes,its birthday time once again.

There are things which I still havent mastered after 27 birthdays.
Like what to do when the birthday song is sung, of whether i can blow off the candles all at once, of what to wish for despite knowing (with 27 yrs of experience) that most likely time it wont come true.
But above all to show how thankful I actually am, to still have so many family and friends who bother to organise and celebrate it with me- even if I've never initiated my own bdae celebrations finding it too bothersome, even though we are yawning away after a long day at work,even when I have reiterated that I don't want one.

Thanks for remembering and also for the smses traditional or innovative(yeah esp that trailer one:P), well wishes whether early,on time or belated, candles be it 1, 27 or 30.

Yeah,even if it was an upward rounding of age - I appreciated it.
Gracious ain't I?
It comes with age;)

Sweet Reunion

I have never been a fan of CNY - never followed traditions like staying past 12MN,visiting the festive market, getting new clothes/a fresh hairdo especially for the occassion. There were even years where I contemplated getting away for CNY, or envied the other races for having a long hols without any obligations or the 'silly' last minute rush.

And so, I caught myself by surprise when I succumbed to the mad frenzy, paid a huge premium, and flew bck home for CNY. Humbling in a way cos I would have scorned, a yr bck, of how faddish it seems- e rush,anxiety of getting tickets, pple in SG wanting to fly bck to HK, fr SHG to SIN, TW - SIN, SIN- TW, HK- KL, KL -SIN etc etc - despite the recession, despite celebrations being much grander say in HK/China, despite the same CNY songs being played everywhere.

But the exhilaration on all the faces speaks of the anticipation - be it for the weather/ mahjong/food/company -of experiencing CNY the way each of us have known it to be. I love the ST special report on CNY reuinon dinners of different dialects this yr. Perhaps, this unconsciously is how we all uphold these tradition.

Well, I still din manage to hold up past 12MN ( its the age!)but this CNY holds much more significance having been away from home. Being in the company of family& friends, having steamboat cum suana, trying to curb the intake (without much success)of the pineapple tarts/kueh lapis gulped down - all these have been particularly sweet (will deal with the weight gain later).

So Happy New Year one and all. Bask in the festive air and the truly multicultural array of CNY goodies.

So this is Christmas, and what have you done?

There's nothing more enjoyable than to hear the medleys of Christmas carols in the malls, supermarkets and even while on hold on the phone. Something about them, whether bouncy, upbeat, melancholic or sentimental have this balming property that calms,uplifts and puts me right in the mood of Christmas - probably deserving the credit being one of the precious things that have accompanied me - heard/sung/played every Christmas for the last 26 years wherever it is and whatever it was I was doing.


And as reflections go into full swing in the last month of the year of what's done/undone, what's gained and lost - this is perhaps one of those Christmases that have been more special than others.Being abroad and coming home for Xmas has accentuated certain feelings, with a deeper sense of appreciation,a heightened awareness and sensitivity of own, relationships and places.

That said, I've been experiencing quite a bit of mixed emotions lately. Increasingly, I've acquired this knack of viewing matters in a whole spill of colours, no longer just black/white but lots of grey - so while there's joy, there's also a malaise of regret, pensiveness etc. Nothing wrong about that but i do miss feeling the headiness or even rashness of feeling absolutely certain and strongheaded about things.

Okay, I realised its youth I am hankering after which is clearly not very much on my side now.

Anw,one of my favourite scenes from Love Actually tells it quite nicely.
Merry Christmas dear all- wherever you are and however you are celebrating it.

Back Home

Yup- the eggtarts are really as delicious as touted. Whether the shortcrust or the puff pastry kind, both have radiant yellow egg custard centres made with such consistency as to glide down smoothly in the mouth with that burst of buttery flavour from the crust.

Same too for the dim sum, esp the har gow , char siew pau, siew mai- the only terms I know/picked up in Cantonese with ease. Delicate portions each crafted with intricate folds sealing in the soupy/ savoury/ sweet fillings and flavours such that each mouthful is a pleasant surprise.

But nothing beats...

- Having for breakfast Gardenia raisin bread, Ya Kun's kaya toast and flipping through the papers, mildy amused by the "It's all doom and groom" column in Sunday Times.
- Stepping out of the house assuredly without having to know about the weather or piling on the moisturisers for the chapped hands and feet.
- Buying chicken rice and hokkien prawn mee from the hawker centre with ease without having to resort to gesticulating and accepting watever is being dished out for me.
- Taking public transport without worrying about not getting to the destination due to miscommunication

So yup, excuse me for not blogging/ or being MIA.
Let me soak in this effortless living for a few more days as I catch up with all the food reviews in the past issues of ST pls:)

Stay the same

Personally, I adhere to the - if it's aint broken, don't fix it theory - at the risk of sounding boring and belying the constant improvement and changes that are so endorsed in the real/working world.

Never been one big on adventure, discovery or stepping out of comfort zone- once I developed a liking /familiarity for something/someone , I would gladly stick to it faithfully- be it authors, clothes,shoe labels, food or friends.

Back in primary/ secondary school when I was still quite an ardent fan of reading - there will be such elation when upon liking a first book , know that the author has many other books in his/her name. So no points for guessing who my first favourite author was - it gotta be Enid Blyton, what with her sheer volume of books/series. Then i lapped up Babysitter's club. A lil older I was enthralled by Jeffrey Archer, Agatha Christie, Magaret Atwood all with at least 5titles under their belts. It went to the point where I would read a book only if I see that there were many other books under the author's name. Either that or if they came recommended by friends/ papers or if they won some kind of awards. Same for songs. Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and even Britney Spears. Luther Vandross , Damien Rice and lately Jason Mraz. So it was disappointing that Daniel Powter's Bad Day was a one song wonder.

This applies for food or shoes or even toiletries.

I guess while discovering how good/nice something/someone is may be exciting and rewarding,high returns come with high risk -what with the efforts , thoughts invested in organic nurturing of interest/chemistry etc and that is not what I think I am willing /capable to invest or have the energy/time for.

Trying a new brand and not knowing how it would react/the side-effects/ the chance of disliking it /wasting time and most of all it/ he/she falling short of expectations and disappointment are hard to bear.

So the irony is that it's staring at me in the face right now in this foreign place- of trial and error,finding out new stuff, and most of all , building up relationships with new friends. While people have coax or try to convince me that I would change personality/ taste/have whole new circle of frens etc,I don't think I would honestly.
I think I am rusty ,too old for it and grudging. ...but well we'll see. Hopefully there will be one or two pleasant surprises along the way.


Anw - here's my current fave song from Jason Mraz which started with Pls Don't Tell Her--> I'm Yours and now this amongst others.

Taken for granted

Taking for granted- as cliche as it sounds, as much as I thought i haven't been -
i'm guilty as charged.

Anticipated/forseeable apprehension aside , its been mind boggling/ eye -opening/learning/ overwhelming to discover that:

- Opening the gates and finding where the catchets /locks are require more skills and strength than just a quick insertion of key- turn and push that was all i ever knew back at home
- Rinsing the mouth once I switched on the tap may not be the safest thing to do what with the dirty/grimy brownish water that flowed through for a good part of a minute.
-Wanton mee does not come with char siew nor vegetables - no fusion here
- Can't tell who's walking down the corridor as the peephole at the door is too high and there's no chairs to climb on to peer
- ATM keypads starts with 7-9 on the top instead of the bottom row
- Something needs to be bought before one can exit supermarket. There's not way to get out except through the cashier.


It's really in the smallest details that makes one familiar/comfortable in a place/environment most of which one is not even conscious of...I guess there's no way else i could have appreciated it till now

26

Age is surely catching up.

It took me six attempts to recall the password for entering blogger
Another day to remember the title of a song I used to be so familiar with
A few hours after gasping about a huge age gap with a 31 yr old to realise, its only a 5 year gap and not some 10/11 yrs that I had imagined
10 mins after waking up, and numerous well-wishing smses later for me to register that today's my birthday

And okay *confession* - I fraudently (nevertheless, happily) blew off only 25 candles on a cake. Hurhur.

While older may spell increasing cynicism, watering down of emotions & more pedestrain relationships with people, still -its heartwarming to get the smses that's been streaming in fr 12mn sharp, the celebrations & well wishes - from family/frens/colleagues I meet almost everyday, people I havent met for ages & frens fr abroad.

Thanks for all the well-wishes:)