if there're seasons 11:59 AM

i just reached home, having braved an odd drive through erratic bursts of rain, fallen branches littered across the roads and copious swirls of dead leaves in strong winds, after attending the much-publicized chinese musical 'if there're seasons'.

featuring xinyao hits (of which i knew absolutely none!) by famed songwriter liang wenfu (of whom i am equally clueless about), the production impressed me from the little details in the charming sets to the soaring voices of the all-round solid cast.

i was especially taken with much of the music, almost all of which were sensitively performed and even more exquisitely written. many of the songs evoked hauntingly beautiful imagery which effectively enhanced its depth of expression and pathos; one, i should add, even moved me to tears.

go see it. whether as a supporter of the arts or a music-lover, i think you'll have a good time at the very least.

central 11:33 PM

last wednesday, i had to be at chinatown to attend a talk. arriving slightly earlier than needed, i decided to stroll across the street to central having never been there since its ballyhooed opening.

i didn't find it very different from any other mall in singapore (jaded, i know!) but my interest was piqued once i stepped out towards the river. with a sweeping view of the vibrantly-colored clarke quay, i sat on the sun-warmed concrete steps watching scores of tourists chugging by on bum-boat tours.

when i finally turned to leave, i saw this sight and knew i had my photo-moment as well.

packed 8:48 PM

my day turned out unexpectedly busy with much activity resulting in an annoying blister. i know now that slippers are not designed for prolonged shuffling.

by midday, i acquired a new (well, 2nd hand) lenovo laptop to replace my almost-5-yr-old sony which, in tech age, is positively jurassic.

lunch with j's listening ear contributed to the increasing calm within me, and the funeral service of a friend's father this evening also led me towards a little more introspection and further away from the biting angst of last week.

back 11:59 PM

a pretty heinous week has gone by, hence, an appropriately-lengthed air of sulky silence corresponds.

but all things, both good and bad, must come to an end some time, so i peeled myself off my big comfy couch of wallow and decided to look ahead instead.

first things first: resume schedule before said wallowing occurred!

so here i am picking up where i left off; a little gingerly, a little off-balance still, but i'm doing something.

and that's what counts.

responsibility 9:25 PM

these massively cool recycling containers were spotted at the airport. i think that recycling is fun, and not to mention ultimately for our own good, as it contributes to saving the very planet we grudgingly call home.

good friday 11:59 PM

what would i have become
if You'd never stopped to pull me through?
what would this life have done
if You'd never whispered liberty?
i heard You sing so sweetly a song called love.

Jesus, how sweet the name, the name that saves.
Jesus, how sweet the sound, the sound of grace.

so many songs i've sung
but there's none more beautiful than You.
and here i've found myself,
so i'm happy to be lost in You.
i heard You sing so sweetly a song called love.

Jesus, how sweet the name, the name that saves.
Jesus, how sweet the sound, the sound of grace;
the sound of praise, the sound that saves.

every soul needs a savior.
o, my soul needs a savior.

celebration 8:25 PM

i don't get sentimental over birthdays but i do love any excuse to spend quality time with friends. even the guilt trip from a scrumptiously decadent lunch ending inevitably in helpless overeating could not tarnish the enjoyment of a languid afternoon catching up over silly stories and unabashed laughter.

happy birthday, e!

identity 3:55 PM

there are 2 receptionists at refresh , both of whom are very friendly with me. i am more familiar with r1, probably because of my near-weekly patronage, who never fails to greet me by name and to inquire about my creaky neck and back muscles while dispensing sagely self-care advice with a mother's earnestness. today, however, r2 was there with her usual beaming welcome.

"em, benjamin, right?"

"no, " i corrected her with a smile, "i'm august".

she apologies, a little red-faced, and proceeds to tell me that she had me confused with another customer because he looks like a younger version of me.

"benjamin tsao?" i ventured.

"yes!" she gasps in wide-eye amazement at my all-knowing powers, "how did you know?"

"he's my colleague," i explained slowly. technically i should have used the past tense but i reasoned i was there for a massage, not a share-my-life-story session.

"oh, so you're from shalom, too!"

looks like her powers are not too shabby either.

trauma: recovery! 3:07 PM

before the tide of sympathy, or flood of gloats (depending on your propensity towards light or darkness), overwhelms me, i am delighted to report that the naughty nokia has given back all my stored content after a little tinkering.

bartender, a round of relief for all!

trauma 11:17 PM

t'was a long but interesting day that went past. on the train home, i just wanted to plug in my headphones, shut out some of the bustle and be accompanied by some good music.

disk error. that's what a little pop-up window on my nokia 5800 said. i stared blankly back at it.

nothing i pressed seemed to work so i turned the phone off and back on. and now all my music, videos and photos are gone.

my blessing 11:28 PM

there's something intangible about human ties which elude the descriptive power of language. one can reconstruct, in minute detail, what transpired in word and deed of a meeting amongst friends. yet this re-telling, however true, can fail in the biggest way to convey the warm and genuine synergy that can only be felt deep inside the very fibers of our being.

i appreciated the gathering today in thanksgiving of h's speedy and smooth recovery from his recent adventure in sgh. thanks to all present for simply being yourselves and, as a result, creating another timeless snapshot that i can file fondly away as a testimony of God's goodness to me.

knowing 11:59 PM

this sci-fi drama opens with a fascinating and unusual premise but is gradually let down by hollywood-esque predictability and all-round dull performances culminating in a ludicrous and lazy ending which made me roll my eyes. despite the fantastic disaster sequences, it's not worth a weekend admission ticket but will be remembered as my first midnight movie in a very long while.

fatty fatty bom bom 7:47 PM

my parents and i were in little india this afternoon for lunch and errands; but it turns out that most food stalls only open for the teeming night crowd, including the famous yong-tau-foo stall we had intended to patronize. swallowing our disappointment, we meandered for an alternative eating place and popped into the first one we saw just to escape the blazing heat and roaring traffic.

not wanting to hem and haw over a simple lunch and desperately needing to sit under a working fan as soon as possible, i decided to order the first thing which caught my eye - the char-siew rice.

when it arrived, the char-siew sitting atop the sauce-blackened rice was nearly all fat, glistening threateningly in oozing globs. i had half a mind to order something else but we were in a hurry so i told myself to avoid anything unhealthy for the next 5 days, and wolfed all that fatty meat down.

6 hrs later, i still feel regretfully bloated :(

my small, small world 4:19 PM

i ran into r on the way to vivocity yesterday. he was heading back to the office while i was enroute to, erm, not working. it was nice to play catch up before we parted ways.

i noticed i've been running into friends and acquaintances in public a lot more since i granted myself a sabbatical. or maybe it's because i no longer see familiar faces every sunday which makes bumping into one such a bigger deal than before. i guess i'd become so desensitized to the half-kilometer commute between home and church that i never realized how little i did and saw outside of that.

it's important to step outside of our world for the larger one every so often, eh?

confessions of a shopaholic 4:05 PM

this girl-gets-guy-then-loses-him-but-gets-him-back-again love story is predictable, pedestrian and littered with improbable plot points; nonetheless it is held together admirably by an extremely cute and funny lead actress who personifies all that is irrepressibly bubbly and disarming. great for a couple of hearty laughs.