325 - 14.9.26 - 1: Day 1 of the running and swimming

-
Drawing in Lengkong Bahru

Ma always said that Hai Lam people worked in nonya kitchens. I didn't believe her.

What did I do yesterday? Well, yesterday after being laid out by jetlag - you'd think I'd have some sort of immunity by now - I did some planning and tidied the table. Then I went for a teh peng with Oisin and headed back here to have a nap. I was going to edit my short stories when Oisin put on Ocean's Eleven. So I watched that and began to fall asleep. I got up around midnight and stayed awake till 2 am. Then I went back to bed and got up at 6.30 am. I ran at 7 am. It was smoky and still. A weird kind of heat. After that we went out. I'll post that later.

The burning of the rainforest continues. Coupled with the utter destruction of the rainforest here and the usual heat, it makes Singapore an oppressive place to be. It's not that it is hot - it is actually not as hot as when there is direct sun coming down in a clear blue sky. I know this because when I went swimming today, my feet weren't burning on the pool tiles. It's a constant smell of woodsmoke. I feel like i'm in a forest school fire all the time - and in a way I sure am.

BUT it is raining now and who'd have ever thought that we would feel so grateful for the rain?

I did a list of things I would do over the course of the next few months and that was good. Just reminding myself what needs to happen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more

The Central Business District

-
Image
The Thinker in the OUE building Yesterday i attended a talk which was organised by some environmentalists here. It was held in the NTUC building which was in the middle of the business district. It has been years since i have been here, so i set out early to walk about the place. Everything is very very large  I arrived during rush hour and people were simply pouring out of the MRT. The crowds were swarming down escalators and out of offices - but they were not overground. No, they were underground, at the MRT. In fact thee was no one above ground. For the business district at rush hour, above ground was eerily quiet! There must be dozen of buildings which look like these To think that hundreds of thousands of people work in places like this. I used to work in a place like this. Admittedly these buildings are far more swishy and very sleek. It was like being in some espionage film set in the future. There were rehearsals for the National Day Parade and Sarah...
Read more