G.O.D. Cheeky Mooncakes!

Mid-autumn festival is round the corner!

And my favourite HK store has launched their annual limited edition cheeky mooncakes!

Repost: Dear God, Our Dog Abby Died

Came across this entry via a website from Weetz…

“Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Quiet Time

Finally the counter opened, I managed to check-in and dump my luggage, and finally am in the transit area. Which is so comfy, well-planned and… relaxing.

Much needed at 4.20am.

I’ve found a nice quiet corner near the GST refund counter where two officers are manning the counter diligently despite the lack of tourists at this hour.

At Maccas earlier and around the airport, elderly staff were working the graveyard shift which pains me to see. I guess it’s quite peaceful and potentially less stressful than the hectic daytime crowd… But still…

There’s an entire bench of sockets to plug in your electronics, allowing you to surf wirelessly for free at the same time. No worries if you don’t have your own device, there are internet kiosks around.

Lots of weary but trusting travelers who have similarly checked in earlier, finding their little spot to catch some much-needed shut-eye.

Couldn’t find a local book at Times Bookshop, but the lady shopkeeper went into the storage room and found me a copy. Lovely. Wanted to tell her to display more copies for better sales, but she already said “it’s doing okay”. So okay lor. I guess LKY books need more precious shelf-estate.

The guy at Left Luggage services was also polite and kind, wishing me a good flight ahead and finding me a trolley when I forgot to push one along with me.

Went around punching “Excellent” or “Good” at the toilets with a “rating system”. With electronic pictures of the service staff and touchscreen some more! Next time you are here, don’t just walk in and out of the toilet. Make someone’s day a little better, especially since they helped make yours. (But the touchscreen needs to be a bit more sensitive – had to punch very hard and started looking a little silly – “the service is excellent, damn it!”).

Ok, off to look for the “specially designed snooze chairs” and movie theater.

What Was I Thinking?!

This is one of the most freaking ridiculous flights I’ve been on.

No amount of complimentary drinks, free blankets, air miles and check-in luggage will convince me to take this flight again.

I’ll take budget flights with better timings any day.

And never, ever have a check-in bag unless bloody necessary.

Ugh. One of the worst flight decisions ever.

At least now I know. Never again.

Thank heavens for free wi-fi.

Things I Have Learned In The Last 7 Days

- During off-peak hours on a good day, it takes 35 minutes by bus+mrt to get from Bt. Batok to Raffles Place.

- During peak hours on a bad day, it takes 1hour 10 minutes.

- The same bus captain is driving the bus I used to take every day 3 years ago, along with some of the same passengers.

Shiu Shing Essential Oils, Sheung Wan (兆成行香薰油, 上環)

So sis-in-law and I have been looking around for aromatherapy diffusers for awhile (she’s more hardworking than me) and after some fantastic online research, she was really excited to bring me to this hole-in-the-wall shop that she discovered in Sheung Wan.

Attempt #2

The last couple of weeks have been a series of highs and lows and I found myself EXHAUSTED when Monday came around.

Judge All You Want

Just don’t be judgemental.

Let’s be straight up about it – we all judge. Whether it’s based on appearance, connection or occupation. Whether it’s determining values, intelligence or viewpoints. And there’s nothing wrong with it – it is a form of primitive survival instinct. We use heuristics to make quick assessments for good reason.

But there’s a difference between being a good judge of character, and being judgemental.

I find myself walking the fine line many times, and feeling guilty when I slide into the latter. I like meeting people and trying to understand them, but in the process it’s easy to fall into the trap of being judgemental. I have quite a high level of awareness (otherwise that statement would be terribly ironic!) and when I have doubts, I cross-check with the husband for good measure.

Nusa Dua, Bali

Can’t believe it’s been 2 months since we went to Bali! Finally getting around to posting about it… heh.

He had a conference in Bali so I thought I’d tag along for the free room (whee!) and then spend some days in Singapore.

He was in conferences most part of the days, so it was just me roaming around the area. We were staying in the Nusa Dua area, which is just about the most sterilized place in Bali. Very… odd. No litter was in sight, no potholes, no traffic… it was tree-lined boulevards and sculptured gardens sprinkled throughout.

I decided to wake up VERY early one morning to go on a bike tour organized by the hotel. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only person who signed-up, so I told the instructor to just give me the bike and I’ll head out myself. Just gimme the map.

You would think it looks something like this?

Attempt #1

It was a special occasion a couple of weeks ago and the husband decided to