Clinging on

No room and strength for any original thoughts, so shall just share a passage here that sums up my thoughts and philosophy on life these few days:

"The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents."

This was a passage that was shared a long time ago by a person I previously knew, who can only be described as a saint--Dr Walter Steitz, a man completely devoted to learning and teaching the Bible. His death was sudden and came as a complete shock to us, and up til today, I remember his perfect gentleness and complete and utter respect for every single person he meets with great fondness.

Anyways, my rambling aside, the point I'm trying to make is that in dire and difficult times, the richness, comfort and truth of the Bible is a balm to the soul like nothing else can be. When a man reaches the very end of his rope, it's oftentimes the beginning point for God's gentle hand.

Plumbing

This morning, I on my usual train ride to work and someone came and sat next to me. Which was fine, until I noticed some vigorous fingering around his nasal area from the corner of my eye. As I averted my gaze with wide-eyed horror, I realised there was no escape from it, because all around me were reflections of the very scene I wanted to avoid.

And suddenly, he started wiping his hand on his book and pants. All I can say is, thank God it's on the side of him that is away from me.

By this point my eyes were as large as saucers. Unable to contain my horror, I had to find an outlet or I will burst up in flames, I smsed The Husband, The Blur Friend, The Colleague and The Weird Librarian: "Sitting next to a guy digging his nose & wiping his snot on his book is the highlight of my train ride this morn. i hate my life."

The responses I got were as interesting as my sms itself. The Blur Friend and The Husband essentially said the same thing: "This is a worthy FML post." The Weird Librarian said: "Is that a library book!? What a horror!", followed by "Never hug a library book!", and The Colleague was apparently still asleep, cos 30min later the sms came: "Holly cow I just woke up!"

This sparked of a series of thoughts about how my life is like a magnet for all things quirky and off-beat. I get the strangest encounters with people and before I was taken off the market (i.e., married), I had the strangest admirers as well. I'm not sure what it says about me, but I do know that it makes for great conversation fodder. And when life gives you bizarre encounters, the best thing to do is to make stories out of them.

I'm A Drawer!

Since young, very late nights have always appealed to me. There's something about the peacefulness of the inactivity deep into the night, being alone with your thoughts, a pencil and a blank sheet of paper, that makes me want to struggle to stay awake, despite heavy eyelids and a throbbing headache.

This year, I've had the pleasure of pursuing a long time interest in drawing through some informal drawing classes. Today, I discovered an interesting way to practice portraiture without being ridiculed or laughed at -- Red Dot Museum. On every first Saturday of the month, from 2-6pm, a group of illustrators and illustrator-wannabes (that'll be me) will gather and pay $6 to draw portraits of people who will simply walk-in and volunteer as models.

I went there with 3 pencils and simple drawing paper and was super intimidated by folks with thick stacks of paper, boxes of color pencils / crayons / paint brushes / inking pens. The whole area had a super arty farty atmosphere, while I was there gawking like an awkward, bespectacled teenager in tshirt and jeans. So not cool. But when the session started, I relaxed and just enjoyed the session. Also, when the session started, it became apparent that many people there couldn't draw well and were there simply to have a good time. That helped me to relax =P

It works like this:
Artists will register at 2pm and be seated, waiting for the volunteer models to come up front.
Models will simply be walk-ins who are interested to see how many different interpretations of their faces can there possibly be, and they will be rostered accordingly.
As for what happens to all the portraits that were drawn, anyone can buy it at simply $4. For those that were not sold, you can take it home. You bet I took home every last one of my pictures today, not a single one was sold. =P

The artist only has 15mins to draw the models. You can draw one, or two, or half, depending on how long you take. Then after 15min, models will change. If you're tired of drawing, you just sit it out until the next one comes along. Flexible and fun.

So, am happy about the fun experience today. On this note, I'd like to appeal to those of you reading this to pop by Red Dot Museum on the first Saturday of every month to support this starving artist. You can put in a request for liposuction / a nose job / bigger eyes etc, I'll be happy to oblige.

Dates with Daddy

My dad and I have this lil tradition that we started early this year or so. As our spouses typically don't enjoy western fine dining as much as we do, we date each other out to check out such places or simply when there is a craving, and we take turns to pay for the meal.

For the recent Father's Day, I brought him to a place I was dying to check out: Au Petite Salut, where he had the executive set lunch ($58++) and I had the usual set lunch ($30++).

His menu:
Starter -- Fois Gras. Exceedingly generous portions. I had a good chunk of it from his plate.
Main -- Duck Confit. Best I've tried, but considering I've tried like 3 in my lifetime, I may not be the best judge. Still, it's good stuff -- crispy round the edges, juicy and tasty.
Dessert -- Cheese platter. Not the best choice, considering how rich his other courses were, but they gave a great selection and generous portions.

My menu:
Starter -- Garlic butter escargot. Slather the garlic butter on toast and you'd be so happy.
Main -- Red wine braised beef cheeks
Dessert -- Profiteroles (choux pastry with vanilla ice cream, choc sauce and slivers of almonds.) Their profiteroles are TO DIE FOR. The best part of the meal, IMHO, was the profiteroles.

Details of the gluttony aside, what we really enjoyed was the father-daughter bonding that it allowed. As we were having a French meal, he told me of his travels to France (tales which he told me like a thousand times, but it's alright, it's good to cherish these moments while we still have them) and how his colleague / friend taught him how to save money in Paris by eating at where the students hang out, rather than where the tourists hang out. All these while shooting comments like "Cut the food with your elbows close by your side! So unlady-like!" at me. *roll eyes affectionately*

Just last week, we had another such outing. This time, we went for Italian food as he was hankering after a good pizza. After some consideration, we went to Riccioti by the Riverwalk where we had a salad, a sandwich and a pizza, all excellent.

As I think about my own relationship with my dad, it amazes me that it is what it is today, considering how 10 years ago, it was the polar opposite. I would never imagine in a million years that I would be having dinner alone with him, VOLUNTARILY. The only reason I can attribute this change to, is that I started going to church regularly at about the same time after having gone through my own personal crisis. I guess when change happens within, it's a matter of time before relationships around you start to change as well.

My dad's hair is graying and I can see his age reflected in the lines around the eyes as well as his sagging skin. I'm just thankful for the time we can spend together, enjoying one meal at a time. He's my best daddy in the world, and may your dad be your best daddy ever, too.