sm Vs the Haze

I'm glad to say that my body held up pretty well against the haze this time around. I guess thanks to careful minimal exposure and lots of water and fish oil supplements too. The worst symptoms so far were allergies which made me sneeze and start a runny nose with a little itchy eyes. But no asthma or emergency clinic visits. Just as a reminder of how bad the haze was this year:

Comparison of a normal day and a hazy day - the hazy day photo doesn't do justice to the actual haze situation we experienced

KFC's Spicy Korean Burger Vs McD's Grand Spicy Chicken McDeluxe

I was home alone last weekend. So what did I think of doing? Make full use of my ta-pau-ings (takeaways) of course! I had started out intending to make my own meals, but when I couldn't find the pot to boil the eggs, I decided to drive out and get some fast food. And since, I had been mentally taking note to try out the KFC Spicy Korean Burger, I made a beeline to the nearest KFC (5 minutes drive). And so, this is how it looks:

KFC's Spicy Korean Burger

Today

Today.
Today I'm breaking my rule of keeping things impersonal here.
Today I'm surprised by perceptions I've made. Humbled that my breaking point is seen as performance.
Things I thought were deserved were not up to par. Whereas things I thought I'd failed at were the highlights.
Surprise me more, my Lord.

Today for the umpteenth time, I'm coming back to the same conclusion. Like the fool on the hill.
It is me and not you. But it is killing me still.
Maybe some things in life, we need to give up on. And maybe this is it.
A door meant to be closed will eventually be closed?
Surprise me more, my Lord.

A promise I made early this year.
But progress has stagnated and accountability lies in a few days' time.
A mid year review. Another six months of second chance.
How can I make up? Forget the distraction and move into the right channel.
Open my eyes and heart to people after your heart.
Surprise me more, my Lord.

Repetitive behaviour and the time Time stood still

I had a late night last night - basically celebrating in my subconscious mind the completion of the 5th minutes of a string of 7 minutes that I had pending since late April. With an apparent lack of sleep, I jumped out of bed realising that I had snoozed my cellphone alarms one too many times. It was 7.20am! (My daily target wake up time was 7am)

I took a quick bath and got dressed, with a quick glance at my watch - I remember seeing that it was about 15 minutes past my ideal departure time (which was 8am). Cutting short all the routine dilly-dallyings, I hopped into my car and ignited the engine. The radio digital clock flashed on at "8:00" and I was slightly stumped. It couldn't be that my radio clock had slowed down by 15 minutes in such a short time? I'd readjusted the time just last week!

Trusty watch of mine, which has lasted for a good 10 years or so!

Chinese Rice Dumpling Festival

From an early age, I remember feasting on a pyramid shaped glutinous rice pillow with savory stuffing hidden within it. This happened once a year on a date which I can never remember. I was taught that the rice dumplings were called "ham yoke chung" and later learned from friends that it was also known as "bak chang".

Bak chang bought from a colleague

The Sarcastic Bone in Me: Mr Driver #1

This morning while driving to work, I had noticed that the driver of car behind mine was over-zealously trying to "stick to my rear" in the traffic jam. He practically looked like he was sitting in my backseat, from the view of my rearview mirror. Every inch I made, he was very efficient in closing the gap.