daiso

the question is not, what does this place sell? it is, what can you not find here? stuffed in the cramped aisles and on their crowded shelves are the paraphernalia of modern life short of heavy machinery, each at the princely sum of two dollars. and each with the distinct designed-by-japanese kawaii look that's a welcome cut above purely-made-in-china shoddy pragmatism. what's not to like?

nemesis

the pros: the location the amenities the transportation

the cons: lizards and cockroaches

i so badly need a good exterminator with whom to build a long term relationship.

ugh ugh ugh

HOM and J2 are off for a durian supper. kiss me goodbye, i tell HOM. we are going to have a moratorium on conjugal contact after this. for the record I HATE DURIANS.

a very dali christmas

how was your christmas? people ask me. did you have a good time?

my christmas was a little surreal, actually. it was very festive and chock-full of carols and lights and glitter and many cheerful greetings. church was robustly and determinedly merry. we sang silent night with all gusto and i should say enough people turned up for christmas service to be a fire hazard. gifts abounded in all hearty generosity.

do we remember, i sometimes wonder, that the christmas child comes in a shroud of shame and illegitimacy to a hideous heritage of whispering aspersions deliberate rejection and torturous death? if we remember, i sometimes wonder, would we exchange another present again in the name of christmas?

progress

we sign the lease on our apartment today. another step back from the pummeling waves of the past year into a new normal i guess. it's nice not to have to go house-hunting over another weekend. we miss the oven and the soup pot. considering our electronics travel with us these days it appears only the kitchen is left to be hankered after.

consumerism

the nice thing about sgp is that gentleman at the gas station, otherwise known as the petrol pump uncle, whose conspicuous absence stateside forced me to learn how to fill my own gas tank and to squigee my own windshield.

tropical greetings

... with a true heart in full assurance of faith ...

thank God for the Son.

mixed message

if you ask me, this looks suspiciously like chinese new year.

not to mention formula one.

orchard rd blues

full of:

bustling people

people taking photos

people busking

little people screaming

if you ask me, it couldn't get any farther from the silent night of yore.

then again, on second thought, that's how they ran out of room at the inn.

:D

it's nice to have everyone back.

SG vs KL

one a cautiously regulated society of busily engaged residents

allowed carefully regimented pockets of expression.

the other a free spirit inhabiting genuine chaos 

attempting to submit to foreign structure.

the reason for the season

my God shall supply all your need

according to His riches in glory

by Christ Jesus.

- phil 4:19

Paul omits to describe the process. you gingerly take a quarter-step to find the ground does not shift away. you hesitantly proffer another half foot and will yourself to inch forward another crack. every bit you gain is painfully won from turmoil. it feels like living a perpetual shipwreck.

then one day you lift your head and realize, to your deepest amazement wonder and uncomprehending gratitude, that all your need has been supplied. not according to your need, but according to somebody's extravagant idea of incomprehensible generosity..

to our God and Father be glory forever and ever.

- phil 4:20

productivity

two buses there. one and a half hours. one meeting. one odd hours. three buses back. one and a half hours. 

my own set of wheels would be really nice.

daily forecast

there ought to be a distinct category of weather where it showers heavily every afternoon and is blisteringly sunny every morning, mostly in the parts of the country that people happen to be in. 

gah

back three days and one phrase is on my nerves: himayihelp? noyoumaynot. this must be the singapore incarnation of that good old american hihowareyou?, invented and promulgated by helpful and clueless salespeople with an eye to a sale and another to a misinterpretation of service. 

give me a smile with eye contact and a genuine hi! any day.

psalm 137

due to frequent long haul flights on the same airline lately, i exhaust all movie options on my latest trip. the alternative, to my great pleasure, works just as well: three operas and one ballet. i am now hooked on verdi, provided he comes subtitled. va, pensiero sull'ali donate!

season's end

i say goodbye to the rickety toyota. and that's it. packing done. rental house returned. cars disposed of.  accounts closed. bills paid. sailing permit obtained. tickets bought.

our goodbyes are said. i am suspended between then and now and after. my memories are of here but my heart wings its way to there. there is a home to rebuild. car to acquire. new job to go to. accounts to set up. new ways to figure out. 

unless the Lord builds the house, the psalmist says, the builders labor in vain. so hath the Lord built these six odd years into a strange edifice of joys and sorrows riches pains and wonders, and many times in spite of the blundering workers. this structure, i think, is complete now. my heart is full.

brave new world

today i find myself trying to expand the newsprint font size 

as i read the paper paper.

adult education

lesson of the day:

how to do your hair in a french twist.

viva la youtube!

loopy loop

here's how you do laundry at the hotel guest laundry center, conveniently located on a different floor from yours:

• bring laundry to laundry center
• forget detergent
• leave clothes, go back to room for detergent
• forget quarters
• leave clothes and detergent, return to room for quarters
• forget key card, get locked out
• trudge to reception, tell sorry story, get new key card
• go back to room, try key card. success!
• go back to laundry center, insert quarters, start cycle
• set alarm, wait for part 2 (dryer cycle)

fare thee well

may Father's love and His grace be with you, the song goes, may Holy Spirit cover you - grace upon grace granted to you; may His peace and joy flow over you.

is it hard to go? they ask me. i see my pillar of smoke ahead of me. it is not hard because i have that pillar, and i know it beckons me.

are you sad? not really. it has been my great blessing to know you all. how can one regret the heights just because one may not remain there?

may the blessings of God be upon you, my friends. God be with you until we meet again. 

epiphany

i've got it. part of the reason this is all so unsettling is because we are combining relocation with repatriation with empty-nest-associated down-sizing with mid-life career changes with children leaving home and death of a pet with logistics farewells natural disasters and the continuing details of daily life. you would be tearing your hair out too.

interim living

here is what i want in interim accommodation, gleaned from multiple stays at these places:

• a hotel dog. a real live one, please, not that wicker life-sized pretend dog in the lobby. a calm larger breed older dog, like a retired golden retriever therapy dog.
• a decent piano that people can play, in a reasonably shielded location to protect other people who do not play.

seriously and totally non-flippantly and with all earnestness.

o.j. ver. 2

low pulp. high pulp. no pulp. from concentrate. 100% juice. calcium added. vit d added. with mango. with pineapple. yada yada.

buying your groceries these days involves a complex algorithm.