To be welcoming

I was just thinking to myself... sometimes we all are guilty of not being welcoming.

Not that we are deliberately Un-welcoming.

But that we are just happy to be surrounded with the friends we know and trust.
And neglect those we don't really know or trust.

Sometimes, we are caught up with our own troubles.
And keep to ourselves.
Leaving people to wonder if they had offended us.

It is afterall easier to pat a pal on the shoulder and say "Hello!".
Cos there is much to say and laugh about.

It is harder to hold out a hand to a stranger, or an acquaintance, and ask "How are you?"
Cos other than the mandatory "I'm good." there is little to say or laugh about.

Strange isn't it?

To have so much to say to and ask of someone whom you know so well.
Yet so little to say to and ask of whom you don't know a thing about.

There is of course, the natural fear of offending, of putting people off with strange customs and behaviours. But isn't it more offending not to be welcoming and include people into your merry making?

I would like to add to my motley collection of pals n gals, to extend a hand and embrace new relationships. Join the family, share with us your life as we share ours with you.

There is a Japanese custom when people join a new company or share a new home. "Take it easy on me" loosely translated. But I like it quite a lot because it says that I may offend, may not know your ways, may not know what is right or what is comfortable for you. But take it easy on me, I am new to you. It frees us from worrying about offending. Embolden us be ourselves, make mistakes and make changes.

Lets be friends. We'll get to know one another better, our likes and dislikes. We'll all change, including you. It comes because we deliberately change our lives to include new friends. With each change, each shift, there will be a certain rawness, a feeling of ill-suitability. But so much joy to have when the new becomes an essential part of life.

I love looking at the Calendar

All those different colours, just seeing my filled up calendar makes me feel all nice and productive. ^__________^


Figaro's finally over. The one thing good about this one, is that I was so busy and tired at the end of it, I didn't even have any withdrawal symptoms. You know... the usual lost feeling. Like you suddenly don't really know what you're suppose to do at night. Or just really miss playing, rehearsing... etc...

I gave up my trip this year to HK. Sob* I'm sorry An_!!! I'll save up for your wedding next year!

Not that I'm not going to travel this year, end of the year I'll be off to Medan for a humanitarian trip. Definitely looking forward to the new experiences, not looking forward to the fund raising...

I'm raising cultural standards in among my friends. First off is Cabaret (which really isn't cultural... more like eye opener raunch), then Ballet under the Stars (which come to think of it, isn't that cultural since my s_ are more motivated by the picnic...) Ah well...

Meanwhile I've been cleaning...

My newly cleaned room!!
My new workstation in the living room!

Daddy just installed a shelf beside my table, so now I've got that L-shape desk I always wanted! Well... there's no curve... but it's L-shaped! Woohoo...

My new desk! With a new shelf at the top, and shelf at the side... and for ample space for my long legs, Daddy removed the drawers attached to the desk!

My previous messy desk!

A close up!

The Ikea desk I've been drooling over... like for a VERY long time.

Okies... this is all for my update.

Updates

Yups! It's coming! I've been rather busy with this these couple of weeks! Tomorrow night will be the orchestra's rehearsal with the singers. I'm quite excited to hear everything come together. Playing the orchestral parts while quite interesting, is rather lonely trying to imagine the voices singing.

In the mean time, anyone keen on Cabaret??

Being a poor student, I of course will opt for the cheapest. 29 July, 3pm anybody? Let me know b4 15 July, cos then got early bird discount! hehehe...

Yeah I know! 29 July is the TCS Walkathon. I signed up with 7 other friends liao... People are opting for the shorter route.

We are all going to meet at 6.30am at Cityhall MRT. 6.30AM!!!! That's like... INCREDIBLY EARLY for me. Lord, please wake me up in time!

So my plans are: Go walkathon in the morning, then go for Cabaret in the afternoon. Anyway, walkathon's going to end by 11am. So btw 11am and 3pm, should be enough time for me to freshen up. That's the plan, that is.

OKies, I should go take a shower. Tomorrow's another long day... :p

Food

After a few days of paying attention to what I eat (Cos I'm fasting -_- not dieting), I've come to a few conclusions.

Of course the first and no. rule about food for me is - No Chili. Pepper, curry (relatively) are fine... but the minute I taste the slightest bit of chili, trust me. I'd Know. Even if you were to use chili only to for garnishing or decorating, I'd still stay far far away from the dish.

I really don't like tomatoes. I know that they are great for me, good for the skin etc etc... but I REALLY don't like them. I would eat them, but it doesn't mean I like them.

I don't take sauces. I do take gravy, but NOT sauces like ketchup and mayonaise. I'm fine with all the seasonings, especially the Chinese ones.

I'm scared of eating whole fish cos I'm constantly wondering when I'm going to choke on a bone. I also don't like fish skin, I keep thinking I'm going to find a fish scale. And I view fishballs and fishcakes suspiciously.

I don't really eat meat. Seriously. No cravings there. My friend An_ will laugh, cos she stays away from red meat. And I kept ribbing her about it when she was on visit here. Like buying venison hor fun, and talking to the poor dead deer. bwahahaha... The only reason I eat is, cause in SG, you're considered vegetarian if you don't eat meat, and everyone expects you to at least eat chicken.

The one thing I do like is FRIED food. Hiyoh... Seriously, the availability of that in SG is incredible. Everywhere I look, something's fried. I'm not just talking about the usual fast food joints, like fish and chips or Macs. But things you find in the hawker centres: Yong tau foo, fried fish soup, cheap jap food... etc

Of course, when I'm suppose to stay away from meat (it's no big deal) and other delicacies (like snacks and FRIED food), daily living is quite a challenge...

I do like vegetables! Especially Big Green Leafy ones. And I find Broccoli cute.

I don't, however, eat ladies fingers (the name alone is gross). I don't like bitter gourd and I think that purple plant thing (think it's spelled brine jaw?) is weird. I don't particularly fancy carrots, but would eat it.

Okies, I'd better end off here and go back to eating my dad's noodles. It's stir fried with... shudder* Tomatoes!