A Prayer

For strength, perseverance, faith, humor and grace amidst this all.

I think God has answered my prayer in some respects, as I have witnessed the bright sparks despite a general haze of greyness and blurry exhaustion. Work has not been terribly kind, but colleagues have been great.

The circumstances feel pretty lousy, but the people have been (mostly) giving the best support I could ever ask for. Even the man has pitched in his sensitive, understanding self (surprise surprise).

I find myself still able to laugh and feel little joys through the small things in life. Such as a wearing brand new checked shirt, imagining P dancing and singing with masks, hearing a colleague with the poshest Hugh Grant accent ever...

So thank you everyone.

Randomness on a Rainy Day

Loving the cool weather, which is going to be great for jogging. Time to pound the road again, and shelve swims until the sun returns.

Suddenly missing Japan. Wish I could be there.

A blood red sweater will go very well with my new pencil skirt. Ok more shopping for me. The floodgates have seriously opened.

I am having karaoke withdrawal symptoms. Must go memorize all those Korean songs for the next belting session. Top on the list is Nobody by Wondergirls!

Read up on calendula. I'm increasingly amazed by the healing properties of nature all around us. I should have overcome my fear of frogs, done biology in school and embarked on a career in pharmaceutical R&D or medicine instead.

Can't wait to explore JB after the Boy raved about it. Good Friday trip to look forward to!

You are what you eat

Mostly, people tend to associate malnutrition with third world countries, such as Ethiopia and other African nations. But the scary thing is, the condition can occur to those around you, ruling out bulimia or anorexia cases of course.

From friends, I have heard of two separate real-life stories, both of undergraduate students struggling to make ends meet in the UK. Both had held part-time jobs while studying, to earn their living expenses or even tuition fees.

One, a promising Malaysian girl in her twenties, subsisted on a diet of instant noodles and bread, only to realize upon returning home to commence her career that her kidneys are now close to failure. Another, a Malaysian or Singaporean student (the details elude me now), also survived largely on instant noodles and has now passed away.

It is so easy to assume that incidents like these can only happen to people worlds apart from our own. That just because we have been fed almost a lifetime of nutrition, we can neglect our dietary intake for a couple of years.

But the stories touch a raw nerve for me, since I know I am prone to putting work and other pursuits ahead of health. Having been in such a bad physical state last year, the grim reminder to take care of myself has once again hit home.

P.s. Stitches accompanied the 2.6km jog today. I think too much CNY inactivity is the root cause (Oops).