Music is indeed one of the best medicines. I have been trying to learn to play this song the whole day. It took my mind off my troubles for a long while.
I had been looking for an alternative exercise since I recovered from my sprain. After entertaining the thought and deliberating over a few months, I decided that cycling would be a good alternative to jogging until I recover fully. Hence, with the exchange of some money, I became a proud owner of a foldie (or foldable bike) last month.
I had taken it onto the park connectors a few times and I had fallen in love with this mode of travelling. So far, I had done the Yishun ↔ Sembawang and Changi ↔ ECP routes. Not only do I discover new rustic places in Singapore, I also discover other muscles on my leg and butt, which do not get the same kind of workout when I run.
Today, I did the Punggol → Lor Halus →Pasir Ris Drive 3 → Loyang PCN → Changi Village route with my friends. We started off at the Popeyes Punggol at 730am and ended up at Changi Village for breakfast before heading back to Punggol after recharging with food and water.
Every ride leads to good food - recharging at Changi Village
For the first time in months, my heart had a cardio workout, pumping hard when I tried to scale those little sloped pavements. Never felt so good for a long time. We also did a little exploring of the Punggol Waterfront when we came back. At the end of the 3hr cycling escapade, we covered 39.5km!
I must say I had a great year despite it being marred by that horrible sprain in August and being plagued by that injury for the rest of the year. Each photo below represents a defining/memorable incident for me in each month of the year, except for November which was really just bleh for me.
I know I will not be at any of the count down parties. Passed that stage a long time ago. While it has been a rewarding year, I would want to have more work-life balance in my life and return to my French lessons soon.
These two quotes that I found on the internet resonate with me as I embrace the new year.
To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time – James Agate
The object of a new year is not that we should not have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. - G.K. Chesterton
And I end of the post with this video.
What will you be doing on New Year’s Eve?
The world will be a better place if the list in this song comes true.
Merry Christmas!
With time to spare recently, I decided to try out this little hack I saw on Ikea Hackers. Unable to find a dowel and handle carpentry works, I improvise a little using a bracket bought from Home Fix and parts of a flowerpot stand bought from Daiso to replace the dowels.
It gave me great satisfaction to see the finished product.
and I had to go over this heart on the park connector. Hope no one is heart broken as a result. Ouch!
Time creeps by and Megan will be attending Primary 1 next year. The whole family attended her kindergarten graduation ceremony today. Of course the day wasn’t just focused on Megan. Her brother also performed alongside his N2 friends. He was simply adorable as a bear in the skit ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Next year, she will most probably be sitting in the audience to watch her brother performed.
They say size doesn’t matter but it really matters in A Moving Masterpiece: The Song Dynasty as Living Art 动感清明上河图 exhibition. Thanks to the magic of Crystal CG, the 清明上河图 was recreated as a 128m x 6.5m panoramic digital art.
Day
Night
Seeing it with my own eyes, I was stunned by the ingenuity of the idea of recreating the painting in both day and night scenes. It is no surprise that it was a hit at the China Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
I can’t imagine walking the whole length of the screens jostling with people at the World Expo. In Singapore, the set-up is similar but because I went with my mother in the afternoon, we could afford to walk down the whole length at a leisurely pace with our audio guide plugged into our ears. We even had some fun appearing in one of the scenes in the painting the pre-show hall.
