Yesterday was my first day back at work after my ten days holiday. For ten days, I did not even take a little peek at my email. Usually towards last few days of a holiday, I sometimes log into my work email just get myself mentally prepared for the barrage of emails that awaits me upon my return. I really did intend to check in, but on Day 8 of my break, after I had pulled up the remote access login page to my work email, my mind literally went blank as I paused to remember my email password. This must be a sign of a good holiday… I was so completely immersed in it that I could even forget something so essential to my daily work routine. Sigh. I thought that I would have to go through the whole rigmarole of reporting the issue to IT and resetting my password and all… but as I plonked down in front of my desk and loaded up the login screen on my desktop, the epiphany came just like that! I smiled, keyed in the nine magical characters, and grinned in glee when the machine’s acc...

Flew back to Perth on Tuesday night. This is the last image I captured in KK before boarding the plane. I touched down in Perth early on Wednesday morning. As the captain was announcing the plane’s descent, as usual I looked out the window to catch a glimpse of the place we were about to land on. It’s strange that your feelings toward a place can change depending on your state of life in relation to that place at that time. When I was working in Singapore, whenever I flew over to Perth for a holiday or a short getaway, the view of Perth always brings a calm, relaxed feeling of serenity… and when returning to Singapore, all the responsibilities and stress of work come rushing in once the sight of that little island comes into view. This time, as I felt the jolt of the plane’s wheels touching down on the runway of Perth airport, I was literally jolted back to reality, and at the back of my mind I was already mentally running through all the things I needed to do when I go ba...

After going through all those old photos and sifting through archives of memories in my mind, I thought it appropriate to share this latest picture of my family taken this CNY... 10 years from now, perhaps I might find myself sitting cross-legged on the floor, flipping through old photo albums and smiling to myself as I recall the day we took this photo... Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture And save it from the funny tricks of time Slipping through my fingers all the time - ABBA - Other images from my CNY holiday in KK here and here

After a leisurely week of new year festivities, family time and catch ups with friends, people are now switching gears back to work/school mode. I’m spending my last couple of days in KK at the computer, checking emails, sifting through my rss feeds, and sorting through photos. I had started to look through old photo albums over the weekend , and I can tell you, it can get pretty addictive! So here I am flipping through old photographs, sometimes grinning to myself at funny childhood images of my family and of old friends. Spent most of the morning uploading the favourite ones on facebook, here’s a glimpse of some of them… Early days of Zionkidz… With my brothers… Cute little cousins at my grandma’s house… Junior Youths at BCCM Retreat Centre… It’s addictive I tell you… after I post up this blog, I’m diving into another album for more!

Some initial images of what’s new around the house… Scholarly view of the family – photos prepared and arranged especially to commemorate the reunion. Oceans of cookies and goodies – pineapple tarts are homemade by my mum. Doggies… erm, not really new – but gloriously happy to see me and lavish in their kisses and snuffles. More later.

I'm home!!! Back to the land where I first entered this world. My flight was long and dull, and I'm presently nursing a cold, suffered a splitting headache the first night after I arrived, was woken up by the neighbour's rooster crowing at 4.30am... but I consider all these things minor inconveniences for this absolutely beautiful time of just being around the people I love. I wanted to take a snapshot of something funny that indicated where this 'home' is and post a " Guess where I am? " header... but between all the eating, and talking, and meet and greet sessions with friends, family, acquantainces, I haven't had the chance to even pull my camera out at all. I've only been here two days, but already I've been confronted by situations which I'm already finding somewhat challenging to navigate. Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present to you... the top three classic questions someone is sure to ask you after you turn 20: Number One: When ...

Mishu to Emeth : " meow meow! mew mew mew. mew mew mew mew. mew mew mew meeeeeeeeeow mew mew. mew mew mew mew. meeew mew meeeow " Translation : " Hello, Emeth! How are you? Thank you for thinking of me. My owner Serene loves looking at your photos and thinks you are a very handsome boy. I hope you are a good boy to your mummy and daddy. Be nice to cats. " (This is in response to Irene's comment about Emeth asking to see the 'meow')

To make up for the last week of dead silence, my entire Saturday morning will be dedicated to updating this space. Plus I just need DO and THINK about something else that has nothing whatsoever to do with work for at least two hours. And that something else folks shall be food: 1. I came across this recipe from karencheng's site - pears poached in red wine. I had this mini-craving for a red wine, but for reasons explained in the note below, I could not indulge... so this was the perfect substitute... sometimes you just feel like savouring something rich and 'winy' (learnt this word from Irene). It's SO simple - peel pears, pour a whole bottle of red wine into pot, add sugar and spices, and simmer for an hour. FYI: For those of you that don't know, I have completely sworn off alcohol for now... and no it's not because of what you think... this is purely for reasons related to health and well-being. It was little tough at first because I sooooo love enjoying a gl...