But did you know, I don’t always like to swim.

When I was very young, I loved to swim! Like how other children wait a whole year for their birthday, asking and exasperating their parents till the day arrives, I agitatedly wait for Saturdays when Dad would take us to Ayer Keroh Country Club for a swim.

The first time I got to AKCC, I ran to the pool and dove in with my shoes and clothes on. Mum was horribly embarrassed. I loved waterplay so much, I was angry when Mum decided that I should spend Saturdays playing the piano instead.

When I was a teenager, I didn’t like swimming anymore because after every swim, I’d have to spend hours combing gently to disentangle the afro on my head. My hair is not the type that you can run a comb through easily. The hours of grooming just to look like a sane person didn’t seem worth the swim.

When I was a young adult, swimming gave me the space to reflect but the reflections, far from being therapeutic, disturbed me. I felt trapped in my own thoughts and hated it.

So, it’s been a while since I’d had a good swim. I’m really glad that I’d learned it when I was too young to care about entangled hair or deep thoughts. And I’m ectstatic that last week, I splashed into the pool again.

I guess there were seasons when I was like these baby otters who tried their very best to escape from having to swim. Their Mum was so persistent, they didn’t get any say.

I guess my Mum was trying to achieve the same thing when she dragged me to the piano on Saturdays. :)

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Have you stood with your feet on the sand in the sea? Every time a wave sweeps in, an inch of sand slides away from under your feet, and you sink.

Though it may feel as though you’re standing on flighty sand, you’re really standing on a rock that could never in a million years slip off from under your feet.

So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.

- 1 Samuel 23:28

As I thought up all sorts of ideas for the celebration, I placed food right at the top of the list as we’re hosting a gorgeous man who lives life to the fullest, and enjoys every bite of it.

And one bite that he especially enjoys? Food, without a question of it.

I’d seen him sparkling with joy at food courts where he gets to walk from hawker stall to hawker stall to check out their delicious offerings. I’d seen how he’d order multiple delectable dishes instead of just one that fills his stomach, and I’d tasted how he’d smilingly, generously share with everyone that came to dine with him.

I’m happy that his senses are so acute that he experiences joy in simple things such as sharing good eats.

Thus, I chose a restaurant that’s reknowned for its food. Feast your eyes! :)

Palate Cleansers

Appetizers

Soups

Mains

Cake

Desserts

Teas

In hindsight, I secretly think he’d enjoyed previous celebrations more when we’d invited lots of friends and laughters in. He like being active, doing at the same time as being, by cracking tough riddles, or teasing his friends through physical games, and celebrating the victories thereafter.

This year’s was such a subdued celebration, I’d taken him aside to a place where it was just him and me. Having said that, though a party with great friends and great food (in that order) would have been the ideal party for this uniquely extraverted individual, I enjoyed the moment alone with him. :) His companionship is precious to me and I crave for deep and uninterrupted conversations with him (which is why waiters should never be annoying).

Farling, thanks for celebrating your birthday privately with me, as though it is my birthday, not yours. You’re a ray of sunshine that God had captured, momentarily, for me. In the year 2010-2011, I pray for you to catch a view of the bigger map, and beam your light to the nations in it, with me alongside, naturally :)

May you fulfill your vision and purpose for the year, that 2010-2011 will be reported as a very good year when we celebrate again next June. <3

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Soon, I began to feel really tired. Being tall has its shortcomings. For one, your back aches really easily. But just before I left the land, I saw another photographer searching the sky, probably looking for me. May be he was planning to capture my pic to sell to TODAY for a million bucks!

Little did he know that this clever giantess had crouched down to escape alllll the public attention and was going to exit by invisibly commando crawling along the ground. Good luck trying to find me in the sky, ha!

And so, that marks the end of my quick trip to Universal Studios, Sentosa. As soon as I exited, I immediately shrunk back to my normal height. So now, if you see me around, don’t be afraid to come by and say Hi. As for what actually happened to cause me to grow momentarily, I can’t explain it either. I guess some things are meant to remain a mystery forever.

What?? You’re saying you don’t believe I shot up to 30x my normal height for a brief moment in time?? You’re saying all these photographic evidence above are simply the Miniature Effect from Canon’s new range of compact cameras?

You… you!

Huff!

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The first thing to look for is a horse-drawn carriage handbag to tote the netbook about. After all, netbooks are meant to be like your mobile office, only that they don’t need to look “officy”.

A bed of roses should be able to cushion the US$999.00 netbook nicely.

Next, add a dress that would attract… butterflies!

Spritz fragrance into the sky and let the droplets fall upon your hair, face and shoulders.

Finally, do not resist adding dramatically dark lashes to to brighten your eyes.

Flash a mystic smile, and you sparkle, Girl!

Only thing is, you’ll need to add a pair of  your own shoes to complete this look. Well, what shoes would you like to wear?

But, it’s not just food that rocks our socks.

Flame the Cocker Spaniel likes to spend her free time daydreaming…

Kylie likes bathing…

Dino likes obeying…

Charise likes it when her mistress’ comes home…

And I love it when the dogs enjoy their vaporious moment on earth.

But in this house, there’s one thing that saddens every dog and their mistress and that’s Dino’s distaste for food. Dino the German Shepherd plain don’t like to eat and there was nothing anyone can do. At Food Time, he’d nudge the chicken with his nose. Rearrange the pieces in the bowl. Pick the smallest piece he could find to chew. Take three gazillion years to chew the one lonely piece as though he has ill-fitting dentures…

Meanwhile, all the other dogs would have attacked the same food with loud lipsmacking noises. Gobbled down whole pieces without any evidence of chewing. Three seconds after food has filled their bowl, they would have licked it clean and be hungrily eyeing Dino’s brimming bowl. It would frustrate them that they can smell it and see it but not eat it while Dino lets the food waste away.

What could have been a fun and enjoyable Food Time! becomes a time of stress.

UNTL, a few months ago when Eukanuba sent two large packets of Eukanuba with Prebiotics for dogs.

The food looks inviting, almost like those fish biscuits that humans enjoy.

I was cynical though. Processed dog food + Prebiotics at a premium price? I should be able to achieve the same effect by simply adding a spoonful of yogurt to the dogs’ current meal. Anyhow, we’d received the packets so we’re going to give it a go. I expect that they’ll digest better and have a more satisfying pooping experience. They did.

What no one ever expected was that Dino would flip around and suddenly decide that he likes eating after all. He could almost start a food blog.

There’s a noticeable difference in the garden too. The poops littered around are fuller, softer, and more squishy when you accidentally step into one. I asked the vet about it and hear that it’s because of red beet pulp, one of its key ingredient. Red beet pulp provides the right amount of fibre for celebratory beautiful poo.

Dino’s hair is noticeably shinier and more lustrous. He could almost star in a shampoo commercial.

Meanwhile, all dogs are (and their mistress) are happier that they don’t need to whine for mercy as they imagine lapping up Dino’s leftover food. There’s none left over these days, not a kibble.

I guess she’s happy ’bout that.

One day, I was about to leave the fiancé to take a 4-hour bus ride home, and I was very sad. As sad as eeyore on a dark and rainy day.

All of a sudden, the fiancé spotted a funny-looking tree. It looks like a papaya tree but it is not a papaya tree.
And its lower branches have fallen off, just like how a papaya tree’s lower branches would when it’s big.

But where the branches have fallen off, are left marks on the tree truck that look like big fat lips.
The fiancé exclaimed, that tree look like it’s been kissed.

I looked up and he’s right. The tree does look very funny.

My eyes lit up and I couldn’t help smiling. And I stepped into the bus with a silly grin on my face, as I kept thinking of the funniness of the silly smothered-in-kisses tree.

What do you think about that brings hope and joy to any day?

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” – Philippians 4:8

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But for some unexplainable reason, blogging haven’t come easy lately. There are so many things that I want to say and share with you.

A baby elephant being born at Taronga Zoo makes me happy.

A scrapbook of people being treasured makes me happy.

A daintily decorated room makes me happy.

A delicate flower waving in the wind makes me happy.

Taking all these in every morning at www.google.com/reader makes me brilliantly happy.

A scrumptious fiancé coming home from overseas? That makes me fly into the air happy!

Then, there are things that makes me want to crawl into bed and never see sunlight ever again.

My grandma being 89 years old makes me worried.

People not leaving #JackNeo and his family alone, irks me.

Jack’s wife. Disillusioned, hurt, misplaced, trampled.

Jack’s children, hearing it in school, watching it in the news, and reading it on the internet.

God, strengthen those who’ve been betrayed by their Daddy.

(Sunrise over Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia by dtra@flickr)

Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge!

Now let me put on a red dress to wish you a Happy Lunar New Year!

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