Today's Reminder

It's good to leave little markers and reminders for oneself!
For me, it was a busy week, and it continues to be a challenging stretch of time at work.

One of the verses read out as I sat in the church service today was from psalm 121. And lo and behold, a scribbled date on it - a reminder that this verse encouraged me a year and a half ago as I looked ahead to a new year and a new job posting. That God - who made the heavens and the earth - is my help, and that He (still) cares for me through all the ups and downs. Have a good week ahead.

July, my favourite month

And, I'm back!

From my blogging hiatus, that is.

And to try to illustrate the chillness-of how I feel segueing back into blogging, here's a picture of my favourite highway. Heh. 

I heart the ECP

Anyway, I had SUCH a busy day.   I had a major meeting this morning, a big milestone after months of work... and I was pretty nervous about how it would go. I went to sleep last night thinking about it. I woke up thinking about it. I thought about it as I brushed my teeth...

I just wanted to share a verse that came to my mind this morning as I got ready for work. It gave me courage and hope that there will indeed be new and better things ahead. Though the going gets tough at times, my God is sovereign, and He is good (all the time).

18“Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

19See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland. 

Isaiah 43: 18-19

Random Photo Day!

Will be away from the blog for awhile.

Have a fun June!

Relaxing Sunday

Photo by a four-year old. Pretty decent huh.

Had a relaxing Sunday afternoon meeting friends.

And on a side note, I am looking forward to those pandas coming here next year!

Colour-Blocking

Here's a nod to this season's colour-blocking trend.
Finds from a house-cleaning exercise, in which items that fall under the 'Back in the day...' category were found in my cupboard of erm, vintage toys.

Random Photo Day!

A close up of the clouds, from my bedroom window.

We're getting closer to the weekend!

DaFont is DaBomb

Here's another hobby of mine, slightly nerdy! love looking for new fonts, downloading them, unzipping them, reading the README files that come with them, seeing the samples that talented designers include along with their free fonts. Hee.

I also like using the fonts.

In this photo taken from my bedroom, I used the following fonts:

• impact label reversed
• celebrate the day
• never let go

love love.

Treasured Tea-Light Holder

Some evenings, I like to have some candles lit up and enjoy quietness and soft light. I love this tea-light holder that Sheena got me from Turkey. I treasure the gift but more than that, I treasure the friendship that inspired it :)

Josh's 1-month party momento

My friend Pearl's son Josh turned 1 month old some time ago. These were the simple yet fancy, lovingly-made gifts that Josh's grandma put together. They symbolise her wish for him to have a smooth journey in life and a couple of other things which quite slip my mind now but nonetheless, it's an outstanding loving deed by grandma :)

Bei-ing Wanton Noodles, Roxy Square

Still going strong after all these years...good value for money. And
the uncle entertainingly yells your queue number when it's your turn
to collect your noodles.

[R-eposting this, I think it got lost in the blogger outage...]

Bedok South Market

Home, Truly. 

I really like wet markets. I like their familiar mix of stores selling raw meat and vegetables, cheap clothing & shoes, and awesome old-school cooking.

I like the hawker centres at Smith Street, Ghim Moh and Bedok.

And today I popped in to the one at Bedok South with my mum.

Photo opportunities galore!

~ ~ ~

Eating Out.

A hawker centre is a place where you can eat with friends or all by yourself.

Really, no one cares if you're in shorts and t-shirt or in office attire.

You come, you buy, you eat.

It's not uncommon for an aunty or uncle to plonk their vegetables on the seat next to you while they order their ta-mee to go.

You could have a meal by yourself, while a total stranger slurps down his/her noodles across the table from you, then sips the balance of his/her teh-O before dashing off to catch a bus.

~ ~ ~

Say Cheese.

The fruit stall aunty narrowed her eyes and stared silently as I did a few hasty shots. The eyes followed me as I scampered out of her line of sight.

Nearby at the vegetables section, my mother explained to the vegetable seller that I liked taking photographs. This place will be gone in a few years, he said.  

Come at 6am, he said, the vegetables are beautiful.

Bananas up in the air, and pineapples on the ground floor.

Don't mess with an Aunty

Love this shot. Potatoes, Onions, Garlic & Ginger. With old-school plastic baskets to put your selected goods into.

Love the green of this photo. Feli, this shot is for you. I ate every last bit of it. I honestly could not tell the difference between this and the one at Blk 85, and that's because...

...it's an offshoot of the original! With the hao-chi sign and other requisite guarantees of its goodness! And the tradition lives on...$2.50 a bowl, what a steal.

~ End ~

The End of An Era

Make a difference

Here's a blog entry by supermodel Coco Rocha on relief work in Haiti. The girl has heart.

Make a difference where you are, in your own way!

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,
And He will pay back what he has given.
Proverbs 19:17

He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Proverbs 22:9

Easter Eggs

One of my most recent craft activities. I have been busy and find less time to do things like this, but the mood does come by every now and then.

I have fond memories of making egg-shaped cards in my childhood. I traced out an egg shape and cut out cards on folded paper. (The left-side edge is left intact so it holds the front and back of the paper together)

The thing is, I wanted some sort of crayon feel to it so I used my (another childhood tool) wax pencils (you know, the ones where you pull a thread to expose more of the crayon when it gets whittled down?). But I digress. So the thing about wax crayon is that it's rather messy and gets on other surfaces that it comes into contact with.*

* Unless...and here's another digression... you draw with the crayon and then paint over it, which creates interesting patterns since the wax repels the paint. Great fun.

So I contemplated throwing them away but it would have been such a waste.
I hit upon the idea of using my Christmas-gifted washi tape from Chelle, which worked wonderfully to cover the wax and looked great too. Thanks Chelle! :)

I made a little egg card for my cousins and wrote a message for each of them. Kris and I threw an egg hunt for the kids, complete with an assortment of delicious chocolate and candy eggs. Sure hope all the eggs were found!

As for why there are easter eggs to begin with, well I just think of them as reminders of the new and full life that we have in Jesus. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

:)

Saturday, hooray (new obsessions!)

Hello! It has been such a long week and a hard one at that, but "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" and so I made it to the weekend. Oh blissful weekend with my work notebook far far away from me.

Before I get too lazy to post any of these, here's what I've been up to. My newest obsessions! Well not really obsession but they have been good side interests to get my mind off work.

Washi Tape! Woo hoo. I finally gave in and bought a roll. Coming soon: What I Did With The Tape That Chelle Gave Me.

Here's another shot, just cos they are soooo pretty.

The guitar stand from my very sweet uncle & aunt. They came over one day out of the blue with the gift. So sweet!

My uncle's classical guitar which I started out with.

And finally, here's the first guitar I've ever bought, a Walden.

So as you can see, I've picked up playing the guitar. I borrowed my uncle's old classical guitar and practised the 3 chords that Wen taught me, which were enough to play 1 song (Heart of worship by Matt Redman). Just being able to (clumsily) play something intelligible was enough to spur me on. My fingers and joints really hurt at the start but I'm glad I've kept going. I have been playing a little bit for almost every day for around 6 weeks now, at all hours. My favourite times are in the early mornings and late nights when things are quieter and the sound of the guitar strings comes out clearer. My reason for wanting to play the guitar: just to be able to play simple tunes to myself.

Have a great weekend and remember to vote! :)

Manda

Long Weekend: Satay Party by the Beach

This nice evening that I had with my family harks back to the old days when we would spend whole afternoons at the beach. Those were blissful, carefree days for me.

I'm conscious that these days that we still have together won't always be here; people move away, grow up, get busy. While we still can, I'm happy to have a quiet evening of family and food, under the stars and away from the everyday fast-paced world we live in.


Much to my mum's delight, we found time to use the portable grill that we own. We had satay and grilled mushrooms - yums!

Capturing the fading sunlight. This looks like a scene from another country. In the distance, solitary fishermen.

The warm glow of light.

Tim Sum Saturdays

A tim sum lunch is about leisurely nibbling small bites of yummy goodness. Of sipping delicate chinese tea and reading the papers. I love it.

Tim Sum here was lugged back from my family's recent KK trip. Yes, KK.... Foo Phing Restaurant in KK, to be precise. Google it and you'll find foodies passionately giving their take on the dim sum and/or better/cheaper alternatives.

Delightful Sunday + Scones

Amongst many other things, I caught up on rest this weekend.
It felt so good.
A thunderstorm on a Sunday afternoon plus rest plus mum's homemade scones (and butter! and jam!) = bliss.

Art that I do not understand

Barn in Hangar

House in Dinosaur

Old gates. I like taking photos of old things.

Love the temporary Toast Box joint. Here, my new blue box (courtesy of D and F) takes a rest.

Up the stairs. Love the old stairs too!

Ditto old spiral staircases.

 

Quirky

My first time up the control tower. The scale-like design is just like the old (and new) St. Andrew's School.

Ye Olde Kallang Airport.

In the garden.

Ok, there are lots of things I don't understand about modern art. So I looked for my own kind of art at the Singapore Biennale. Buildings. Photos. Food.

I leave you with an artwork of my own :)

Kallang Airport in Miniature by Manda (1/1).

Where in the world is Manda?

Just another sunny day.

Workers putting the finishing touches to the large moat-like water feature.

This is why wardrobe de-cluttering is essential.

Our skyline has never looked better.

(p.s. still figuring out the new blogger editor but enjoying it so far!)