I turned 36 this week. For that, and a bunch of other reasons, I ended up having a particularly busy (but still lovely) week. I think it was the first time in at least a decade that I spent my birthday in Singapore, which of course is now going to be a more regular occurrence now that I have relocated back here. I spent a good chunk of the past week exercising and meeting with people. On Sunday last week I met up with Daryl, Ted Kin, and Gen in Punggol to walk around Coney Island. Then on Wednesday I climbed Bukit Timah Hill with my parents, via Rifle Range Nature Park. After both times my knees ached, and I was so tired and brain foggy for the rest of the day. I also did yoga twice, once on Monday and once on Friday.
On Monday this week, both E and M still didn't have school, so they had spent Sunday overnight at my parent's place. After yoga, I went over and together my mum and I brought the girls out to eat Japanese food at Cuppage Plaza and to play at the indoor playground in Centrepoint. On Tuesday, M still didn't have school, so I brought her to McDonalds for Hotcakes, upon her request. Then in the afternoon, I met up with A Chew for a quick chat about career and life things. After hanging out with him I went to have a teh ping and a yummy plaster prata at the cafe downstairs. It was the first time I had seen/had a plaster prata with a slightly runny egg, but was tasty nonetheless.
Wednesday was the walk with my parents. There were several points where it felt like the climb on the steps was so steep, that my heart would just explode from beating so hard. I felt like I would almost pass out at one point. I got to the summit first, but was half wondering if my mother would be able to make it up - and she did! After that we all went home for a quick shower, then lunch at the new Woodleigh Hawker Centre, which was really nice and airy. I had prawn mee and also ordered some wu xiang, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then my parents dropped me off at Potong Pasir, since I had a counselling appointment there.
Thursday was my birthday itself, and I went to meet Chong Wee downtown near his workplace for lunch. We met at a Korean restaurant where he is a regular, and the ban chan there was really good. I particularly enjoyed the mung bean jelly in soy sauce - it was my first time having that as a ban chan. In the morning, prior to leaving to meet CW, I had been working on a cover letter for job applications, and so after I got home I continued to work on it. Then Uncle KL came, and after we picked up E from her tuition class at 4pm, we went to Thomson Plaza to walk around and eat an early dinner. I picked Hans, because I hadn't had it in a while, and it always invokes a nostalgic mood in me (the girls will almost always choose Japanese food given a choice, and I am actually getting sick of it for the first time in my life). I had the Hainanese pork chop, which is always enjoyable.
Friday was a busy day where I tried to cram in as many things as I could. I went for yoga and then a massage, and the result was that I found myself scrambling for time. At the Holland Village Hawker Centre, I basically wolfed down a dry wanton mee in 5 minutes. I don't think I have eaten that fast in my life. The irony is that afterwards, when I had to queue up for a teh ping at my usual place, the wait time was probably equivalent to the time I spent rushing to eat. I also bought chicken macaroni from a stall there, since I know E usually love to eat it. I took the MRT home and took a quick shower, and got to see the girls for a little bit before my Grab came. Ianthe had asked me to hang out and watch a movie kind of last minute, but I was pleased to meet up regardless. We ended up catching the 2:15pm showing of Wuthering Heights, and it was every bit the pretty, toxic, and cringy mess that I thought would be. I laughed out loud at several times, and was so amused by Ianthe dying in the seat next to me. The guy in front watching was also hilarious, because I could see his incredulous body language too at certain scenes. Then after hanging out for a bit, I took a bus to meet Uncle KL at Tanglin Mall where we had dinner, and walked around a little. I was really tired after I got home and wanted to go to sleep early, but I ended up playing RDR2 instead, and finally finished Arthur Morgan's story arc at 10:20pm, which felt nice and productive too.
This morning I have been doing some other errands like applying for more jobs and sending out other emails. I also told myself I should sit down and journal the past week out, and I suppose I have at least accomplished that. In a short while I need to get ready to meet CW for lunch in Chinatown, then we will meet up with Gen before going to a book launch on the Aware saga at Book Bar in Duxton.
It has been a tiring and busy week, and I do wish my sleep was better, but overall things are on an upward trajectory. I have also gotten back into my hobby of cross stitching, namely because it is infinitely more useful than crochet or knitting here (but I do miss those too of course, and will probably return to them at some point). I finished this a few weeks ago:
And I am currently working on this now:
