Musings of May

On Vesak day, I managed to participate in the temple celebrations of Singapore because unlike last year, I was not home for this occasion. This being a temple managed mostly by Sri Lankan monks and visited frequently by the expat community of Sri Lanka, it felt nice to be in a familiar cultural setting. Of course, part of the expectation of going there was to get a meal that reminded me of home! 

Vesak lanterns 

Traditional drummers of Sri Lanka

The residents of Singapore received a pack of free face masks by post. Out of lessons learnt in the past, the country is well-stocked for another haze episode.

The other day, I went shopping and after returning from my trip, I realised that one of the t-shirts purchased still had its security tag on. These are the ones that makes the detectors beep if anyone tried to shoplift! Unfortunately nothing beeped when I walked out so I didn't see it till I got home. There was no way I was going to waste two hours to get it removed at the mall!

I don't recommend stealing, but I can confirm that the wikiHow entry on "How to remove a security tag from clothing" works! It wasn't easy but the rubber band method eventually worked.

A shoplifters guide to removing security tags

On my way to the duty station yesterday, I met a couple of Cotton topped tamarins. The mother tamarin was teaching her 2-month old to climb branches and the little one was screaming its head off when felt left behind. These primates are critically endangered with about 6000 left in the wild.

 The baby tamarin

The mum

The young aldabra tortoises were enjoying a meal of fresh vegetables

A lazy Sunday

Life has a tendency to sort things out. Take Ginger for example, she's not depressed any more and continues to make the best of both worlds (with dinner at ours!). Also, now that we've managed to renew our housing contract for another year, she will have many more free meals.

Ginger enjoying the bliss of the couch when Shu's housemates are not around!

Recently, I came across the Singapore Police Android app while checking to see if the National Library Board has an app to allow me to search their books catalogue easily. Unfortunately, the Library board has not got around to making a reliable phone app yet, but I did install the Singapore Police app out of curiosity! It has pretty useful information like station locations with contact numbers, latest crime alerts, missing persons profiles and even appeals asking for eye witnesses.

The home menu

 

From the left: Crime statistics in my (apparently very safe) neighbourhood and Police Station details

From the left: Latest crime alerts and appeals for eye witnesses.

Goodness, how did my Sunday pass so fast?!

GPS recalibrating...

Hello.

Today, I feel like a stranger on my own blog! It's been awhile since I've been able to get in touch with my inner self and have a good enough conversation to document here. Without this hobby, my life feels like it's missing a tiny but essential piece, which is why I decided to come here today in an attempt to revive this creative outlet which has helped me in the past to find myself.

As life flows by in an automated routine, I'm beginning to feel like I'm losing my bearings and the sense of purpose. What were my beginnings? Where was it that I was supposed to go? What was it that I enjoyed doing? With whom did I like to hang out?

Right.

I have the all the maps, plans and lists. But is this what I want to do? Really, would it be worth the trouble?Why can't I keep doing what I'm doing now? Is my zeal clouded by weariness?

Where am I?

~ ~ ~

The Toastmasters meetings held every fortnight have developed into somewhat of an interest. I actually look forward to it. I still am failing badly at addressing the public with vocal expression and thinking on my feet when put on the spot. I assume that the skill of public speaking is going to be one of those long distance marathons I have to run in life when I'm no athlete. But besides that, listening to the speeches and different points of view of other members have been slowly expanding my tiny universe. Most often, topics are varied, contains human emotion and are well thought out, making them good brain food. It's also a refreshing change to see depth to a human character during the brief moments that they make themselves vulnerable and exposed in a speech.

The people at the Toastmasters meetings who were strangers and made me feel anxious three months ago are mostly my friends now and I no longer feel threatened by them. I actually feel it's okay to fail in a speech in front of their eyes.

Shu survives the first speech. Now there's nine more to go!