HBD 2018

Dinner with Pam 

 vinegar 

 appetizers 

 mushroom cheese starters 

 black truffle soup 

 garlic sticks

 pasta broccoli cheese 

 choc lava 

 From Kiki 

Thankful for this chap, turned our ship around. 

We were broken but mending. 

from Colin. 

such an interesting present 

Two sides of the same coin

It is too bad that our society do not seem to have the conscience to know that a person / family / company does not arrive at success on their own. Not even with grit, good luck, hard work, no. They tend to forget the ecology that enabled their success. Had not my Dad sacrificed his laborious work for his younger siblings, took on some burdens from his absent father and deceased mother, how would then his siblings have better lives?   After they have better lives, they thank God and there is no continuity in the kinship between us cousins. Same goes for my maternal side. Worse. Snobbish and never really mean to connect. So, I think it's a tall order for any society to genuinely integrate when commercially, the class divides are defined and the gap a tad wide. Two sides of the same coin still has two faces. There is no need to debate or be unhappy about it. It just is.

Let there be peace

(Above is not entirely correct. They send threats to Employers of Domestic Helpers. The Employers are not debtors nor are Employers liable for loans taken out by helpers, furthermore, the integrity of the claims of loans is highly questionable)

The effects of receiving aggressive threats over a period do not just end with a flip of the switch. 

The mind does not work that way. 

If it does, it would be so easy to programme it. 

Two nights ago, I dreamt that my ex-helper was rounded up by loan sharks at the airport. We were like waiting for her departure flight but in the interim, those bullies rounded us up and was threatening to kidnap her but it was not so easy for them because the airport was a public place. 

Me on the other hand, although was desperate to get her out from the hostage situation, tried my best to think on my feet. I quickly went to where she had left her carry-on bags and rummaged through her bag and found a zip lock bag with I think was some kind of sandwich and she kept her e-air ticket in that zip lock bag together with the sandwich, presumably to camouflage the air ticket. 

I held the air ticket tightly in my fist and was determined to go back to where she was being held, and to collect her, and escort her through the departure gates. I had a renewed sense of determination and confidence that we are at our last leg and it is our every right to leave the bullies behind us. 

The dream is just a form of purging of mental toxic for me. 

It is a form of post traumatic stress purging, and the beauty of it is that I am somewhat having the ability to determine how my dream unfolds. I am interacting and I am able to narrate and determine the actions of my dream self. I am able to command purposeful actions and determination just like in real life. So I suppose when I can do lucid dreaming, I am more in control of my mental states and I do take this as a sign of healing and empowering of my real life mental state. 

So, I hope in time, I will be able to feel whole again. 

Old Friend

By chance bumped into Wil., last evening.
We are secondary school friends.
We used to hang out every day.
Then it became several times a month, and slowly it became annually at my Christmas Party.
Eventually, became the last time I met her was at Kiki's one month old celebration.
So that makes it over nine years ago.
But we catch on naturally. Over a short 5 mins, we can fill in 5 years worth of updates.
Shall make time to find her.
Sometimes, I do feel that I lose family & friends to their religion.
Simply because they had chosen to put their religion before anything else.
It is not a bad thing or sad thing, it is just is.
When they change, everything changes.

Met gang for dinner last night.
2 months back I had to rush off before dinner because Helper was in trouble.

So full until I couldn't sleep.
I do not like to eat like this.
But I go with social norms.
Maybe I shouldn't but I do.

Lost & Found

I almost went to pay for this book that I thought I had lost it on the bus.
Luckily..... I flipped over the sofa cushions.

 Happy Birthday to me! 

Half-baked attempt at dealing with Menace

half-baked attempt at dealing with loan sharks menace. 

Be it illegal loan sharks or the so called legal ones who are loan sharks that were given licence to become legal menace. 

The baked part is that they now say that Employers are not liable to the repayment of loans. but that is just half of the story. 

They are saying that Maids do not need to seek permission to borrow money from licensed money lenders. Who is asking them to seek permission?    The Maids must not be allowed to use their Work Permit to borrow money. Period. Be real, we are talking about one group of people who are vulnerable, and another group of people who are out to exploit. 

Do they have every idea how the Maids (collectively) is a vulnerable market and how moths fly towards light bulbs, but they are just letting them continue to be exploited. 

They say they are afraid that if they don't let the Maids borrow from licensed money lenders, the Maids might borrow from loan sharks.

Why are there loan sharks in the first place. Rampant of them. 

If the country wants more Babies, they'd better do something about those menace because domestic helpers are the ones enabling Employers to get back to their work. Not everyone can afford infant care and child care, and not everyone has parents or grandparents to help with infant care. Its a co-dependent cycle and domestic helpers play an important role to the household. When they are being exploited and bullied, those employers that try to help them out of the sticky situations get caught up in the mess. It is distressing. 

Hope that Justice will be carried soon. 

Neighbourly

we always help Uncle water his plants whenever he goes overseas. 

sometimes, 

he returns with snacks from where ever he holidayed. 

this time, it was Macau / Hong Kong. 

School Holidays

I want to heal 

Watching

Sad story

the world was not ready for him

Thoroughly enjoying this sitcom - Brainy, witty, funny. 

Lots of time & character overlapping. 

Totally, cannot go on.......
Not just because the main character is so wrong (morally & professionally), but also cannot find any appeal in lesbian stuff.

2018 Music Concert

went for a snack before heading to the auditorium 

2018

 nervous 

 Don't understand why she was nervous, it is not an exam, right?

She says it is stage fright. 

old picture on slides