Back and A New Year ahead

I am back!

3 weeks flew by in a flash. I thought the entire trip was a tad too long, but this thought didn’t last too long into my working days. Conclusion: No trip is too long.

So now we have 2 entire weeks of WFH as the floor does some reworks. 

As CNY is very early into 2023, there is work to be done at the home front too. 

As we move into the new year with the world, I am glad travel is back. 

So we have restarted the travel fervour, planning trips into the next year, months ahead. 

Strangely, it seems like the past 3 years didn’t happen. Covered with the excitement of moving on with our lives. It’s surreal. 

A short post this shall be, as we move into the final days of 2022. 

Christmas dinners to come, gatherings with friends and family, and CNY festivities. 

Oh! The BIG family gathering of 30 at my place during CNY. 

Good luck to me!

Welcome Back

 Here I am, trying to figure out the itinerary for the long awaited trip in Oct. 

Ok, we are travelling! Yay! After close to 3 years of looking for interesting places in SG to quench the travel thirst, we are finally moving our asses onto the plane. So Europe it is, and God knows why I unwittingly made it a 3 weeks trip. To top it off, I just had to visit entirely new places, which requires a whole load of planning and research. Why didn't I just stick to what I knew best? After all, it's been a long 3 years since. 

So my travel buds for this upcoming trip are Kat n Jess. As all who know will know, they are not planners. This explains my hair pulling fiascos. Yes, it is only June, yes I have many months ahead to plan, but I am shocked to see the Airbnb places I saved to my Wishlist go unavailable right before my eyes. From the way I look at it, it's never too early for the travel hungry world. 

Flying in Munich, and out from Paris. Whatever happens in between, is all up to me. 20 full days of things to do, nice accommodation to stay, cool cars to drive, chill train rides to kick our feet up, fruitful shopping excursions to fill the bags, castles, beaches, cafes, you get the drift. I am thinking the only few days I get some reprieve from this, is the Paris leg. Everything is just there, no thinking required. 

Gonna do this bit by bit, with whatever energy that's left for the day. We will get there, and I can do it. Just a bit rusty, all it takes is some practice and we will be up to standard once again. 

To the world out there, Welcome Back. 

Crisis

    So.. there was a ICU scare in Sep last year, and a whole string of health scares until now. Even as I type, checks are still on going, and my aim is to clear as much as I can by June this year. 

    

    There you have it, be it due to the Covid / Stay home (non travel) / mid life situations, it was no doubt a rude awakening to a hidden part of my life which was conveniently stashed aside. HEALTH. 

   

    Junk food, fried foods, MacDs, and what other food consumption I had for the past decades have finally found its way to the surface. Although the doc did say, it's just cos I got it checked, and the heart issue is a very mild one which is common, but I am still put on ongoing checks, and possibly meds to keep the cholesterol down, way below the normal benchmark. This has nonetheless made purchasing additional insurance impossible, due to "existing conditions", but oh well, what can I do. It has been a huge lifestyle change, especially when it comes to food. I have never, repeat NEVER, eaten so clean in my entire life, and here I am. The irony of it all, I have no cravings for the junk which I couldn't do without all my life. EPIPHANY.

   

    Of course, all that aside, the scares had reached deep down into my mental state. I had anxiety scares, loss of appetite, all cos of fear. And apparently, fear of dying. Day in day out, I am googling on my "symptoms", which always comes to a naught. In short, it's purely overthinking. I worked very hard to maintain my sane self, to keep going, to breathe. Meditations, exercise, I have tried many ways. Good thing is, it is working. If not, it would technically not be possible for me to log this post and talk about it. As if this was done 2 months back, I wouldn't have been able to face all these, not to mention put them into words.

    I have learnt a great deal about myself during this crisis. I thought I had a carefree life, positive mindset, nothing to fear. But as facts have shown, I might not know myself as well as I thought. I am afraid of dying, well, who isn't? Right now, I am still working towards a stronger me. And I know I will be able to do in time to come. 

    As my bro said, the lack of travelling has taken a huge part of my life away from me. *nods in agreement*

    Travelling has been a huge part of my life for more than a decade. Without it, a big part of joy has left, and here I am, we all are, trying to fill that void. Let's hope this pandemic will see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I can finally breathe the air outside of our tiny red dot. 

Circuit Breaker

In the midst of this serious flu pandemic we call Coronavirus aka Covid-19, we have a circuit breaker in place. Just a nicer term for a lockdown with a twist.

I am still going to office for work on a rotational basis, not sure what the purpose of this is but nonetheless, the boss is the boss.

Also, the latest life changing decision, the last being 10 years back in 2010, both gotta do with the eyes. So, it's history with Lasik surgery, done deal. To be honest, I don't really feel much of the change, maybe I have gotten so used to being blind most of my life. But this longsightedness paranoia is hitting hard. My doc probably repeated this nagging fear of my laohua arriving earlier than usual, to the point that I might not do the op. But why not? It's the 2nd week into the op, and maybe my eyes are still recovering from the fuzziness (I hope), so it's into the unknown........

Back to #StayHome. Its tough. Really not easy. What can you do at home (I am on 2 weeks' leave due to the op). So much so I switched on my work comp on at times, just to cure the boredom, and of cos, to lessen my work load when I actually do start work. My parents are probably gonna faint of boredom than of the virus, but what has to be done, has gotta be done. Oh.. of cos there are happy people, like the dearest XX, who is so glad that she is not required at school. Come on, she is only in kindergarten, not even P1! Gosh.

Chill.

I am finally understanding the talk about staying sane and having routines to help you get through these days. We are not alone in this, 2.6billion people are in some sort of a lockdown. Imagine the situation for mankind. Businesses going bust, and regardless of stimulus packages, businesses will probably still face problems in one way or another when this blows over. All channels are on the pandemic. It has to be a purposeful choice to limit our information intake, as overkill is imminent. Positivity has to stay on track.

Ok.. mask on... march on... shop on... we can do it!

Serendipity

Moved into the new place 6 months back, but I guess it never really felt like I moved. It just always feels like this is just another place to be at, a long term hotel stay. But today, it finally happened.

Serendipity.

The usual routine of moving to and fro between the old and the new didn't happen today, a Friday.
Events ran out in such a way that I decided I was tired, from work and all else, I came back straight. Straight back to HOME.

Made my dinner, watched my TV, and at long last, found my ME time at MY home. Never felt more at home than now. A stroke of non routine decision, and happiness struck.

Serendipity.
It's time to believe everything happens for a reason.

8 years after

It's been a good 8 years or so since my last post.
At 2am in the morning, after a marathon of Idol Producer, here I am.. typing furiously on my keyboard.
Seems like after so many years, the things I do during my free time or waking hours haven't changed much.
TV TV and more TV.

Since I just sat through long episodes of Idol Producer, I shall touch abit on that.
Shows like Produce 101 sorts keep me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next performance moment.
I laugh, I cry, I smile, I tear and I feel for them.
Hard work and diligence that I see on the screen is what I can completely understand, and have been through.
Of course, the extent of my hours of effort at practice is way below theirs, but I guess we can still draw the parallel.
I miss the times of dance practice we had, when life was simple. Just dance and no worries.
All I had to focus on was what kind of stage I wanted to present to the rest of the world.
They were hard times, but definitely rewarding and it fed the burning passion for stage performance which I always had.

Now, all these seem like light years away and they can never be reignited.
I can only reminisce through others.

So, to all aspiring performers out there, fighting! Work hard and you will achieve.

Opportunities are only given to those who are ready.

Nothing to do!!!!!!! Oh but there's Vegas~!!

Tomorrow's a PH, and here I am, sitting in front of my lappie, like I do on a daily basis.
Nowhere to go, Nothing to do, No one to meet.

To be honest, I have been meeting up with ALOT more people than I would imagine I am capable of. Hmm... I am not that antisocial YET.

I just needed to type. I just needed to post some words. But there is nothing much happening in my life, it's the same old usual k-doses, Jae-doses, Hee-doses..

OH! I know what I can talk about. I can talk about my burning desire to revisit Vegas. Not sure when this started, but it was definitely fueled by the fact that Jae was in Vegas. Or the West Coast to be exact. The better part of America which I prefer. Vegas Vegas! The hottest hottest! (Oopsie... sounds like the CABI Song)...