The Art of Appreciation

I have been spending quite a significant portion of my time doing the household chores, even to the extent of being lashed out at for always wanting to do housework (Who in the right mind thinks about housework all the time?).

And today, I was told that it was time well-spent.

The bittersweet irony of life. I finally have learned how to appreciate all that my parents have done for me...

Sometimes...

Sometimes it's hard to sit down and enjoy life's little pleasures when things around you are moving so fast.

Sometimes it's hard to relax and enjoy life's little pleasures when things call out to your attention.

Sometimes it's hard to slow down and take a breather when life refuses to stop for you for a moment.

Sometimes, it's tough to stop and stare at things and have time to wonder why when life insists on dragging you onwards.

So... Start of a New Beginning?

It's been quite some time since I last wrote anything around here, and although I had been contemplating to revive this blog, time was unfortunately not on my side.

Not until tonight.

Life has changed pretty much for me since the last post that I made (Dec 2010). For the better, for worse, for tough times, and for relaxing times.

Singapore has changed a lot as well. The streets are more crowded, the trains and buses are packed most of the time throughout the week, and sometimes tempers flare and tensions rise between strangers on the streets.

I believe I will let this blog take a new direction, although it will still somewhat follow the agenda it was created for - Nitpicks and Rantings of Life...

Until then, we shall see where the future takes me to.

Where I Live...

I wouldn't call the neighbourhood I live in as having the best living conditions.

Neither would I call it the slums, as there are still certain things I like about my estate that wouldn't really justify it as a "slum" per se.

Things are really going to change for the year of 2011, and as much as I admit that I am looking forward to it, there will always be a sense of nostalgia that I will think back at. The things I used to do when I was younger, the places I went when I was younger. Even the places I used to go and eat when I was younger. All these will change in time to come.

The past 2 years of embarking into a working life as an adult has been an eye-opener for me, to say the least. I have learnt many things that the previous phase of my life as a schooling teenager was unable to teach me.

While this post may seem awkward and sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the posts I have here, I must say that many things have changed over the year as time passed by.

We may see the dawn of a new era beginning...

Service with a Smile.

So we was at Swensens Plaza Singapura. Ordered a Pesto Salmon Saute, and it arrived with a strand of hair as the "sides" on the plate.

Manager is summoned, and hair is swiftly pointed out. The manager stares at the hair, and whisks the plate away back to the kitchen.

While waiting for the food again, the manager comes out of the kitchen with a bowl of cream soup. "Here, please have the soup while waiting for the food. I ordered the chef to cook another plate."

W.O.W. OK...

We start to eat the soup, and then the manager comes out of the kitchen again with a second bowl of cream soup. And fries. And two dip sauces for the fries.

"Please have some fries while you wait for the food," says the manger.

I stared at the fries and the second bowl of soup (we usually order only one bowl of soup to share; two is usually too much). Being a skeptic, I wonder if the items were given to us by mistake, or if the manager was giving them as complimentary items as an apology for the hair.

The food comes a few moments later, and the table for 2 is crammed full of plates and bowls.
The meal was finished with two stuffed turkeys wobbling out of the restaurant.

Service with a Smile, indeed.

May I Know... #1

So I went for a run today. On the way back, a middle-aged woman stopped me and asked me:

"Do you know where is Block xx?"

I pointed out where the building was, and turned to walk away.

"Sorry, do you know how to get to Potong Pasir from here? I heard you can walk to xxx and take Bus xxx."

I told her it was too far to walk to take Bus xxx, and directed her to take Bus yyy and transfer to Bus xxx.

And then she left.

Ed: This is not the first time I have been stopped by strangers on the road to ask for directions. The last time I encountered such a situation was just one week ago. And the one before that was like another week ago also. I thought that I should start writing down all these "encounters", and perhaps it would be a good laugh at the end of the day.

In The Land of Freedom

I am trying to make a list of the things I will do if I ever get to go to the United States of America. Here's my list:

1. Buy a box of Twinkies and gorge myself on it.
2. Visit Jamba Juice and purchase a drink from there. [Here's a funny video related to Jamba Juice by the way...]
3. [Still deciding.. to be appended in future]