Easily Amused

My cat is sleeping on the bed, oblivious to the thunderstorm brewing outside. His curled up position makes him look like a baby seal, so chubby and cute. But I bet baby seals don’t whine as much as he does (he whines about 179 times a day).

The coffee on my desk is 5 hours old and tastes like what a 5-hour-old coffee should taste like - bitter, with resentment for a glory lost.

I have a handful of pistachio shells on a piece of recycled paper. I wondered what they could be reused for. Googling for an answer, I found “helmets for snails“. LOL :)

PS: Busy week for me, yay for weekends!

See You Later

Absent
Hey all. I’ve just crawled out of my week-long semi-comatose state. I was down with a particularly bad cold. Had fever 4 days straight. I was convinced I had the flu but no, just the common cold, insisted the doc. In my drug-induced stupor, I kept trying to console myself that some good will come out of this and whaddaya know! Having spent my days mostly in deep slumber and awake in the wee hours of the night, my body has somewhat adjusted to Central European time! Yup, I will be leaving for my European adventure in a few days’ time. I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging on the road so if there are no updates here next month, do pardon me!

Present
While lying sick in bed the other day, it dawned on me how we tend to really be in the present during extremes in our lives — in mirth or gloom, when we’re experience great pain or pleasure or during moments when we were this close to death. The other parts — those that make the bulk of our lives — we merely go through the motions, only to be referred to when current times are bad: “those were the days”, “I wish things were back to normal”, etc. Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to live my life positively in the present and I have to say that it has helped tremendously in the way I see and live my life. I genuinely believe that living with a positive mindset coupled with affirmative action has helped me achieved a lot of my goals — one of which is this very trip I’m taking. :)

Tomorrow is May Day for many of you folks, so enjoy the long weekend!

Fruity Smiles

1) I saw a woman and her grandson trying to pick mangoes off a tree near my flat using what looked like a telescopic pruning saw (there are quite a number of mango trees here). When I got closer, I realised she was just probing the mangoes with a stick. “Not ripe yet,” she told her grandson, “let’s pick some flowers instead.” :)

2) A lady, probably in her early 60s was calling out to another lady (a stranger), probably in her late 40s, “Auntie”*. The younger lady was suitably offended and decided to ignore her and walk the other way without finding out what the older one wanted!  The older lady then turned to me, shrugged her shoulders and laughed! Was she just teasing her? ;)

3) A bag of apple chips on offer at $1.90 (originally $3.95). Semi-guiltless snacking! :D

(*Here, it is common to address older folks, even those you aren’t related to as “Aunties” and “Uncles”. The tricky part is to determine when this could be used without offending the other party. However, a taxi driver is always an “uncle” regardless of his age! I have no idea why!)

Remember the Little Things

“A happy life is made of little things… a gift sent, a letter written, a call made, a recommendation given, transportation provided, a cake made, a book lent, a check sent.” Carol Holmes

Happiness is an Oven

I bought a small electric oven yesterday to replace a built-in wall oven that stopped functioning a decade ago.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t really cook. I do, however, love to bake.  I used to bake regularly - breads, cakes, biscuits, pies - nothing was too time consuming or difficult. If something caught my fancy at the supermarket or bakery, I’ll find/create a recipe to bake it at home. By the time I was 14, I had perfected my own torte recipe.

About 10 years ago, my oven stopped working. I got someone over to fix it but after a few weeks, the oven died again. I got someone else to fix it but he said it was beyond repair. From then on, I’ve wanted to get the oven replaced but never took the initiative. Weeks became months and months became years and years became a whole decade and baking became a distant memory, something I used to do.

The topic of ovens came back recently when after mentioning to a friend that I’d bake a oatmeal cookie RIGHT NOW, if only I had an oven, she burst into of hysterical laughter and said something like “yeah, like you would do such a thing”. I asked her what she meant by that and she said that I don’t come across as someone who’d attempt to fry an egg, much less bake, and besides if I really loved baking, I would’ve just got an oven instead of dreaming about it. I tried to convince her that I do indeed bake (she wasn’t convinced) but she was right about one thing - there’s no reason for me not to get something that would make me happy.

I finally decided to get an oven yesterday. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about oven-shopping, or rather with the prospect of jumping back into something I used to enjoy. Will I still be in love with it? What if I’ve lost my baking mojo? What if the real reason why I did not replace my oven earlier was because I didn’t really care about baking anymore?

I made two batches of oatmeal cookies within half an hour of getting my oven yesterday. Today I’m making chocolate chip cookies. And yes, I’m very happy :)

Life’s Little Gifts

I was in the shower when it happened - covered in soap, I was suddenly engulfed with a feeling of utter bliss.

I didn’t have to worry about things like war, hunger or poverty — I had warm water running down my body and delicious-smelling shampoo in my hair. In the light, soap bubbles were rainbow-coloured orbs, generously bestowing their beauty for my amusement.

I turned the shower off and the world was silent for a minute. Not a sound. Slowly, I started hearing a bird sing. And then another one. A gentle rustling of leaves. The sound of my breath, rhythmically inhaling and exhaling. The sounds of life. What a pleasure to be gifted with this experience!

Moments like this, stanzas in life’s poetry, are embedded into our daily lives. You just have to be aware of them, luxuriate in the moment, and let them magnify.

I hope you find a magic moment today. :)

Happiness Is A Warm Bun

When I got to the bakery today, I found a batch of freshly-baked (and still warm) coffee buns. Perfect timing!

The buns were not too happy about being eaten though! :P

Healthy Ambitions
Small Steps to A Healthier Me

A friend of mine, Will, told me he has quit smoking cold turkey for a few months now. Though I was happy he did that, I was also shocked with this sudden change. He then revealed that three months ago, he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, high-blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and gout. He needs to be on regular medication from now on and he’s not even 30!

Weirdly, he told me that when he asked his doctor what measures he should take to reduce his cholesterol levels, he was told to consider smoking! A doctor telling his patient to smoke? Sounds like someone needs a new doctor fast!

I am not taking my health for granted. I am not gonna wait for my teeth to fall out or hip bones to crumble before doing something about it so I’m making small changes to my diet and lifestyle in a bid to improve my health. [Read more....]

The Heat is On, It’s On the Street
Good Things in a Hot Situation

It’s been scorching hot the past few weeks on this sunny island. Three weeks ago, I was waiting for a bus in the middle of the afternoon sun. By the time the bus arrived (some 30 minutes later!), my skin had been burnt to a golden brown crisp. I suffered a terrible headache which didn’t go away until the next day (I suffered two daylong headaches this week alone just by walking 10 minutes in the sun). [Read more....]

If You’ve Never Failed, You’ve Never Lived
An Inspirational Video About Famous Failures

I was lucky to be taught by an exceptional teacher in school. No, she was not exceptionally good. In fact, she was the direct opposite. For some reasons, I was always one of the few people she constantly picked on, but that day was the culmination of her greatness. [Read more....]