Something’s Not Right

I dragged myself to the doctor’s office yesterday after a sleepless, breathless, wheezing, cough-filled night. My husband was diagnosed with bronchitis less than 2 week ago. He’s okay now but it seems that it’s my turn.

When I’m sick, I crave for all the things that’s bad for me – French fries, Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk, Oreo cheesecake, icy-cold drinks – and none of that chicken soup or porridge thing. Right now, I could use some Famous Amos chocolate chip and pecans cookies. I really don’t know why but I don’t think alone in this (craving junk food when unwell).

Posting will resume when I’m better. Or when I get my ice-cream. :o

(Apparently I also have a habit of drawing when I’m sick)

Rekindling Old Flames

A girl friend I’ve been out of touch for nearly 14 years sent me a message out of the blue a few days ago.

We’ve had so many, many good memories together. I shared some of my first crushes with her – Christian Slater, and the boy in who lived at 9th floor in my old apartment. I didn’t know how we drifted apart when we used to be so close in school that we called ourselves “sludge worms”, because of the way we tend cling to each other.

We agreed to meet each other soon and to be honest I’m quite nervous. As Anya commented on my previous post, this feeling is indeed natural. I’m probably afraid that I’d be disappointed with the possibility that the “now” is less sweet than the “then”.

Recently I started baking again, an activity I used to enjoy tremendously.  I had reservations on whether it I’d still be in love with it.

The first batch of cookies I baked was complete failure, something I don’t recall ever happening before, which led me to thinking whether I still had “it”. Disappointed, I decided to continue with the next batch with a different oven setting and sure enough, it did the trick.

It wasn’t me — the new oven just needed some getting used to.

There are a couple more activities I used to enjoy that may need revisiting:

Crochet/Knit
My grandma loved to knit and crochet and I picked the skill from her at a young age (about 8).  My interest in it waned when she passed away — I didn’t have access to books on crocheting then and my mother wasn’t into it. Now, there’s a web of online resources on how-to-knit/crochet.

Read Fiction
My reading list is decidedly non-fiction — personal development, psychology, art, science, autobiographies. I love reading and love a good story, I just don’t know why I never thought of picking up a book from the fiction section anymore.

Go to the Theatre
I used to watch, if I could afford it, a stage play every month. I enjoyed watching actors perform in real-time. When I started working in multimedia and video production, my interest shifted to film.

It’s a little harder to renew a friendship because there are two parties involved but if my recent baking adventure were of any indication, the result could be sweet – though we may need to make some adjustments.

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 :)

What do you want to do before you die?

I came across this site while surfing today.

It’s interesting to read what people want to do before they die. Most of wishes have to do with self-improvement, having fun,  being successful, living a dream, change the world for the better, finding love, starting a family. There are people who want to do everything and there are some who want to do nothing. And quite a number mentiond visiting Tokyo (I understand, I’d love to visit the city again soon!)!

Though I don’t think I want to do nothing, a lot of what I want to achieve (or have done and want to continue doing) is basically same – have fun, making a positive impact on the world, be happy, be at peace, live.

How about you?

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. :)

Dream Job Titles

I was watching tv the other day when I came across the words “professional traveller” on the travel channel. What an interesting-sounding occupation! Though the idea of travelling to exotic locations and getting paid for it sounds like the perfect job description, I’ve never thought of travel writing or hosting a travel show as dream jobs. A professional traveller, on the other hand sounds like an enviable job. Wait a minute, a travel writer/host is a professional traveller. Perhaps, the right title that makes a job more desirable?

What I am doing now can sound quite impressive, if correctly worded:

Online Publisher
Freelance Traveler
Master Artist in Training
Junk Food Connoisseur
Home-Based Feline Social Worker
Non-Competitive Part-Time Athlete (this one’s pushing it a little)
Benevolent World Domination Mastermind

What’s your job title?