apples of gold in settings of silver

Hmm, yes, my latest posts have been about food.. lots of it. More updates: my favorite nearby carrot cake stall was commended by Makansutra! My brother and I feel vindicated. The stall-owner is constantly slaving away from from 6pm-1am, but he always has a cheerful smile and seems genuinely to love his job, making heavenly carrot cake to soothe the savage belly. Sadly, he is facing some new (and stiff) competition in the form of a char kway teow/fried hokkien prawn mee stall 2 stalls down, also recommended by Makansutra. I committed food adultery last night by ordering from the char kway teow stall. It was good!!... but I felt black on the inside afterwards. Ooer.

 

Food. Freudian? The reason I say so is that I have been guilty of soothing myself with food, which is bad and heinous and affects health negatively. Yars. Like last night, I skipped dinner to be somewhere on time, and only had two slices of fruit (kiwi and papaya) which interacted with my empty tummy to produce bloating. No I didn't pollute the air around me, it kind of got lodged in my tummy and made me really uncomfortable the whole evening. So after I got done, I went with my parents to Ang Mo Kio St 11, to that yummy coffeeshop with 2 Makansutra-recommended stalls. There, we indulged in bee hoon soup (Dad), roti prata (Mum) and char kway teow (Me). See our family culture? Yup, and in my family, food is associated with family time. Dinner and supper (and often breakfast) are the times we haul butt to the nearest market or kopitiam and sit over food, tea, and talk. So, food soothes discomfort, and it is also the cement (or grease) that gels our family together. Wah.

 

Something soul-searching. Ok. I've realized that worry is horrible, and I have a horrible habit of worrying. Lots of people I know don't really have a problem with this, but I know others who incapacitate themselves ( e.g. freezing during an exam which they have spent hours mugging for) by worrying. For me, I worry about the past, or I get wound up hoping, wishing that things right now will go right, and worrying over the things that could go wrong right now. I worry about the future too - for example, what am I gonna do after I complete my Master's at NUS?! In my worst moments, I gnaw my fingers and chide myself for choosing this path, and I start thinking that a Master's by research is sort of an academic no-man's land. It doesn't get me an academic position (except maybe as research assistant) and it doesn't give me skills or qualifications to become a psychology practitioner. Sigh sigh moan moan. Then again, I think I'll trust in God's plan and provision, that I'll have a happy life and productive existence, that choices will become clearer with time, and I should just enjoy the moment. Or so I (and my good friends) keep telling myself  ;)