living life to the fullest

what’s up in singapore - II

妳說這一句 很有夏天的感覺…
我用幾行字形容妳是我的誰…
初戀的香味就這樣被我們尋回…
那溫暖 的陽光 像剛摘的鮮豔草莓…
雨下整夜 我的愛溢出就像雨水…
妳出現在我詩的每一頁…
妳是我唯一想要的了解.

was walking around in a park with my family and found some nice grass/plant summer is great~

went over to cousin’s to celebrate gabriel’s 1st year birthday
he sure knows how to be cute~

kite flying at marina barrage, so many kites in the sky
father showing how it is done to son

sunset at marina barrage, world’s largest ferris wheel in the background
God’s art work takes my breath away~

a few more days left in singapore now…

4 notes

what’s up in singapore - I

back in Singapore for close to a month. the first two weeks are filled with so much excitement. the first group of people i saw in sg is dad, mum and joey at the airport. haven’t seen them for so long. feels good to see them again! mum gave me a long hug, and joey gave a short one. dad’s too shy to give a hug, but it’s ok: he is just being manly (in asian terms)  =)

everyday for the first two weeks was filled with meet ups with friends and colleagues back in NUS. none of the conversations and meet ups are short. i chatted for at least 30 minutes with everyone, some others took a few days. for every meet up, good food is always involved. dining and food experimenting is a common thing to do in meet ups for singaporeans. we traveled far and waited long simply for the food. sweating under the humid weather while eating hot food does not put us away (yes, we are troopers for delicious food). i realized that living in new york has made my appetite increased. i have to eat two portions of singapore food after i got back (US servings are twice as huge, usually).

not many singaporeans can get used to food outside singapore fully. this is because we are spoilt for choice. just over the first week, there are easily 20 different local dishes which i have tasted for peanuts ($2-$3). the flavor in singapore food is highly unique; singapore restaurants in NY failed to replicate such taste. and each dish is special: some hawkers (cooks) do it better than others, so to get the best of each dish, one would travel to the specific location to get it. the list of food which i had is as follows (photos are not taken by me, because i am too focused on eating and did not spend effort to take photos):

hainanese chicken rice

ba chor mee

fish soup + rice

bak kut teh

laksa

prawn mee

hokkien fried prawn mee

duck rice (with yam rice, which is different from how places outside sg serves it)

roti prata

fried bee hoon and mee (one gets to choose what to add on top of it)

lor mee

ice lemon tea (my favourite drink in coffee shops, some how sg’s version tastes different and better than other places; acquired taste probably)

soya drink

ice kachang (with and without durian)

bbq stingray

sambal sweet potato leaves

butter pork chop (signature food from one restaurant, no picture available)

curry rice (one can add different dishes on it; absolutely tasty: i finished the plate of rice within 3 minutes; can’t find a picture for this, so a picture of a similar store would do the job)

popiah

curry chicken

avocado drink

glass jelly drink

fried chicken wings on rice (this sounds really simple, but this store below my apartment makes it too yummy, much better than popeyes’ or kfc)

nasi lemak (rice made using coconut milk, one can choose what to add on it)

though this is quite a significant list of food, there are some other sg food which i have yet to taste yet. so wrong of me to write this entry at 2am in the morning, cus i am just making myself hungry after staring at all the good food on screen. time to go back to finish up data analysis for research before sleeping ~

3 notes

something about this tumblr

I haven’t really got serious into blogging in the past. But I guess I should try it because people are asking me to and I think this is a good way for people to understand me better: I usually have a lot going on in my head which is not readily accessible  by others. Folks back in Singapore will be able to know how I am doing in NY through this Tumblr.

So many things has happened since I arrived in NY. Seen so much, felt so much, and experienced so much around me. That’s why this tumblr will be a record for all these things: a record of me seeing things around me with my eyes (and camera lens); a record of me being in various situations to feel and live life away from home (not just any life but one as a follower of Christ and one as a PhD student); a record of me being in people’s lives and experiencing emotions from people around me (to live fully is really to live for others).

I am growing a lot ever since I began my new life here. Glad to have made this choice to come, despite the many difficulties and trials faced. It’s through such pains that people grow better, stronger and mightier (Sarah is so right in her entry). Lots of stuff on this tumblr is about me growing up here in NY. As a new immigrant here, I am no better off than a kid who just got to school in the first day (in fact worse off since I have never lived in NY before). That’s why I find it so appropriate to call myself a ‘freshman’ in NYU, though my peers would always shake their heads and correct me saying: “but you are a Phd/grad student” (which means: “you are older than we are”). I grew up once in Singapore but now being in a different place with different people and culture, I need to grow up again. So this tumblr is here also for the reason of recording my story of growing up (the second time)….