Vietnam Trip - Day 1 at Ha Long Bay :)

The famous limestone rock formation as printed in VND200,000 note

Ha Long literally means "descending dragon". It was said that there was a legend behind the place. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. To be honest, before the trip I had no idea what Ha Long Bay would look like. I just had a glance view of it before and preferred to let myself be awed with its magnificent view. In my travelling experience, I did this a lot, especially when going to places arranged by travel agent. Lack of time to do research was one thing. Leave things flow naturally and let myself be awed by it were the other reasons. So, same like my experience with Ha Long Bay this time.

The weather was another thing I missed to check before going. Hahahaha... Since I did some research for writing this blog, I only found out now that September was not the favorable time to visit Ha Long Bay since the chance to rain was high. Lol... But I could not do anything too since my time schedule had been packed with other traveling plans and only had this 6-day slot, exactly on these days, available. And I would not mind with rain. I would not mind with hot weather. It had been part of my life almost every day living in Singapore. And again, nothing was certain. Nothing was permanent.

Rain would not fall whole day. The sun might appear, and those two might even create the beautiful rainbow. So, leave this naturally, with the flow, expect the worse, and hope for the best, were the mentality I always holding to whenever going for traveling. I loved surprised. I loved the unexpected circumstances. I loved changes. Because it was only natural that those things happening in our lives. Without challenges in life, I would not know my limit, how much I could endure, how much I could accept, how would I handle it, gracefully, or with anger. 

Yeah, that was how I started writing this for my one-night stayover in the Ha Long Bay :)

How I captured it ^^"

P.S. I did not even know that the limestone rock formation was printed in the VND200,000 note until the second day I was in the cruise. I even forgot to ask the cruise guide, where was the formation rock located. And later on, I found out that actually I had my picture with it without realizing its existence and that too, was taken very far away and shown a very small picture. Hahahaha..... :P

We took about 3 hours to reach Ha Long Bay port by taking the limousine van. Jacky said, after Covid-19, the mode of transport for traveling had changed to limousine van. I was not sure what tourists took before that though. But he kept asking me to take photo of the inside of the van. Perhaps he too, never took this van as passengers before, so not sure how his customers would feel - whether they were comfortable, were they enjoying the ride and facilities, and so on.

Typical limousine van for transfer in Hanoi, Vietnam

In some van we took, the USB charging port that each seat had at the side, was working. But in some van, it was not. So there was no consistency in it and we could not rely much on the charging facility provided. There were 3 rows at the back, with two-seat each in the first two rows and three-seat at the back row. Another passenger would be seated in front seat, next to the driver. Therefore, a maximum of 8 passengers could be taken at each journey.

We reached early at about 11.30am. However, the weather was not good. It was raining heavily. Everyone was just waiting under cover until the rain turned lighter. Small boat came and went to pick and send the passengers from the cruises that were parked not far from the port. Our turn was finally came too around an hour later. We were transferred to our cruise, called Syrena.

Once reached the cruise, we went to the third floor where all passengers were gathered for the welcome and safety briefing. After that we were given key to our room. Passengers' rooms were located at first and second floor but mostly we were all staying at second floor. We headed to our room with our bags and checking the facilities, making sure that all was working well. 

I think all room had small balcony, but we seldom went outside because there was kerosene smell and hot air when we were standing there. Overall we had a nice, comfortable, and most importantly, at least for me, clean room. The bathroom had wooden floor, which was unusual. I loved staying there. The air-conditioner had been turned on before we entered. It was cool and nice.

After freshen up, we went upstairs again to have our lunch. It was six different dishes and ended with a plate of dessert to share. My friend and I ordered a cup of coffee each to finish our lunch and sat outside while enjoying the view surrounding us. By then the rain had stopped. It was so relaxing and enjoyable.

At around 3.30pm we left the cruise and was transferred with a small boat to visit our first stop - the Surprising Cave or Hang Sung Sot. On our way we could see many amazing shapes of the limestone, as a result of 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments (see the picture below).

Various limestone rock formation that resembled animals - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

There were around 59 caves found surrounding the Ha Long Bay, but Sung Sot was the largest. It was formed since 520-470 million BC. The size and view inside was really unbelievable and living up to its name.

The view inside the Sung Sot Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Everyone who entered was awed by it. They were woo waa non-stop, entering different parts of the caves. All was offering different shapes and view. They used camera to take picture and video, remembering the view and moments, sharing it with their loved ones.

Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

After that we visited Ti Top Island, not far from the cave. In the island, we were given option to climb up around 450 steps to see the panoramic view from of the Ha Long Bay the top and/ or to swim and/ or play volleyball or just relaxing at the base. The island was named after Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov on the occasion of his first visit to Ha Long Bay in 1962.

Activities at Ti Top Island - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a great time there from the climbing and watching our fellow friends playing beach ball at the seaside. We went back to our cruise after that to catch the happy hour drink promotion time hahahaha.... :P

Wrap spring roll activities taught by Mr. Tam - Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Before dinner started, there was a fun lesson conducted by Mr. Tam, our cruise guide, how to wrap the Vietnamese roll. All of us was given a chance to try. After that they fried it and served it for us for dinner. They served buffet for dinner.

Our buffet dinner and happy hour beer. Yo!!! Means Cheerssss.... :D

Most dishes tasted good. Desserts too. I tried Halong Sapphire beer and triple 3 (333) beer on board. We had a relaxing dinner after a long day. We even made friend with other group after those trips. There was fish catch activity at night after dinner, which was actually just wasting of time because it was really difficult to catch one. Hahaha... But it gave us a chance to chat with other people including the cruise crew.

After taking bath, I headed to the top deck. There I joined other for a drink. They bought so many beers and wine and shared it with me. I drank, listened to them, chatted sometimes, and enjoying the night breeze and moon view on top of the sky. I felt really blessed and grateful for being there. Thank you, thank you, and thank you SB for giving me the opportunity to travel to many places in the world, for being there, at the moment. To be continued....

Today is the day...

Wherever and whatever you wanna be (IG: rimareyka.writes)

It is one of the days that many people might have been dreaming of... Where I sit at the bench, in the middle of the busy town, the CBD (Central Business District) area, in one of the costliest countries in the world. 

Instead of getting myself busy like the rest of the honey bees, I am sitting down here sipping my Iced Coffee (bought from local business shop - actually my colleague's shop).

Dressing casually, I am sitting with legs akimbo, occasionally lift down my mask, so that I can sip my coffee. 

Support local business (IG: localcoffeepeople)

Today the weather is really nice. It is a sunny day, but the wind blow constantly messing my hair, from time to time blocking my sight from typing this blog from the convenience of my mobile phone. 

It is one of the me-alone times, among many others. It is almost 12pm. I see more and more people walking in a group - at least in two - discussing what to eat for lunch, or talking about what happened in their working place earlier, or otherwise, their personal lives' matters. 

They are dressing smartly, with the shoes polished shiningly. Hair combed with gel or sprayed and looked tough. Ladies are walking with high heel, with the working pass card hung onto their neck. It is not as crowded as before (before Covid-19), but still, the crowd is slowly back (with 50% of the manpower is allowed to be back to work at the working place).

For them, time is money. For me, time is something I am splurging with right now, as there is no limit, as I have nothing planned inside my head. I just want to be, be here, enjoying my solitary within the busy life that many people have. 

Because it is time for me to rest now. So I am here focusing myself to just be, be here, be alone, be mindful, breath, write, express everything I feel right now. 

No one bothers me too. They walk and treat me as transparent, as if they do not see me, as if I do not exist here. It feels good, really!!! 

Some people came and went sitting at the empty seats beside me. But all was only sitting for a while. No one sit as long as I do, because they have things to do, they have agenda in their day.

Have you ever done thing like this before? Have you ever had the luxury to do this kind of thing before? To do nothing, and not to worry about anything else. 

Because I believe in one thing, that there is always time for every thing. 

There is always time for everything (IG: rimareyka.writes)

And everything happens for a good reason!!! Try it sometimes and you will feel better.

Nothing much

Make more memories while still can (Source: Google.com)

No updates for more than 2 months. Where has the time flown into??? In less than 2 months time, we are going into another year.... Crazy, really crazy, isn't it???

September was great. I worked like only few days, and spent most of my time doing what I loved doing. Hubby, son and I went for a short trip - taking Royal Caribbean 3-night cruise to nowhere - despite the pandemic and the increasing of Covid cases. It was a good break for all of us where we spent most of our time eating and relaxing (little walk, sleep more, jacuzzi, watching full moon, sun and stars).

The procedure before departing was a bit long, as we had to do a final ART test and wait for its result. We felt safe this way though because they had to make sure that everyone had the negative results. 

Once coming back, I had many memorable days to spend with families and friends over lunches and dinners. It felt good to meet up with people we cared and loved more often as we never know when the next time we could ever meet again. Just wanted to feel the warmth of our togetherness. 

October was a busy month where I was given more days to work. The Covid cases had increased tremendously during this period too. Since I worked in Food and Beverage related job, my colleagues and I had to do swab test once a week, to ensure that everyone was fit and safe to work. Thank Buddha we were all so far so good, so with families back home. 

But it did not mean that we would be safe forever. Just my feeling that one of the days, we all just had to get it at least once. And if we were lucky, we would be able to overcome it and life would go on. If we were not, then nothing could stop us from leaving. 

It was sad to hear people that I knew passed away due to Covid. Not only that. Many had lost their jobs and minds because of it too... Life was really challenging and it really tested our capabilities in managing stress and anxiety due to uncertainty of the future. 

The situation gave us so many question marks on what life would be. Many had resort to get the answers from the fortune teller and bagua readers, as they were wondering what life lines and roads they had in this lifetime. 

Why? And yet, we do (IG: rimareyka.writes)

People like me, just think of going with the flow. Live life one day at a time. I do not think much about future as I did not even think much about tomorrow. Try to live more of the present moment, and be aware with my own conducts. That had already made me busy enough. 

Hehe... I do not know what I am bubbling about right now. Just want to post as it had just been too long to let this blog vacant. Just want to say that I am fine, still kicking and alive. Grateful and thankful for so many good things that happened to my families and friends. I hope they will always be. 

A Little Reflection

Are you wasting your time???

It has been a while since my last post. How are you doing guys? Hope everyone is doing good and blessed with good health. Covid has changed so many things in us but hope that it will not let us being defeated by it

I have heard many bad news for the past 2 months of who have had it and who could not manage to survive. The death happened to anyone, be it young or old. I can not imagine how the related person have to face it and go on with their life.

This will only be a short post as when I looked at the quote above, I had a sudden inspiration to write this. 

Ok, alright. Because of Covid, we can not travel. And well, I can not travel. So I have plenty of time to spend. Naturally, I should spend it doing something like working, back to workforce life. 

I can choose to go back doing the office job, fully use the qualification I attained years ago and get the salary I deserve, or doing something else, something I love doing, something my passionate call me for, but the return may not be high or enough. Well, for some people, money is never be enough right?

Since a year ago, I had chosen to work part time, a job that many people generally are capable to do, whether you have experience or not. And fate brought me to land to another place, which is more suitable for my liking and personality. 

And starting February, apart from my part time job, I had started to pursue my interest related to something I used to love, but not die-hard loving, which was crystal. 

I was mesmerised by the beauty of the nature. They were nature too, built in over million and billion years naturally. And they were believed to carry many positive benefits with them. 

When I started my second part time job, I often felt unease. It might be due to a new place, and also the nature of the job that needed me to deal with items that could harm me, such as: knife, cans, slicing machine, hot pots and pans, hot water, oven, and so on. 

Bruises and cut wounds took turn tattooing my parts of body every week. Actually, it was something that I could avoid, but somehow, it happened. So I started wearing crystal to work: a pair of earrings, necklace (that I hid inside my shirt), and 2 bracelets (one left and one right - they were put in my pockets when working).

Somehow I could feel the energy from it. They might not prevent me from getting wound and blisters, but they helped me in keeping myself calm when it happened. 

It was somehow giving me calm effect, believed that they were there to protect me, give me strength and confidence, calm me down when it was busy or angry, and they too, helped me in clearing the misunderstanding, encouraging me to speak up what my heart was saying, and at the end, won the heart of my colleagues. 

You may or may not believe, but I personally feel it inside me and what change it has brought me into.

Both part time job and crystal interest may not give me enough money to live by. In fact, every month I spent most of my salary to purchase the crystal. But anyhow, I still feel that it is better than taking the full time office job that would not make me happy because the motivation would be to earn bigger money, but not because I like the nature of my job. 

So since it is part time, I do not work every day. One week, I may work 2 to 4 days only. The rest of the time, I spend it to engage myself in buying crystal (physical and online), getting design inspiration, learning how to do it, making it, and so on. This way, I can use my creative side in making DIY crystal bracelet too upon the buyer request.

For now, my sisters are my greatest supporters. Few close friends are also supporting me too. To be frank, I do not earn much from it. Because I am happy enough that they too believe in the goodness from it. Just as long it can cover the cost, that is enough. 

So going back to the quote above, I just want to tell myself, and to confirm it, that there is no rules that I must work office job, earn lots of money, in order to call myself living my life in decent way. There are still many other choices that I can make (while I am still given that choice), and still call it living my life according to my wish, my passion, my love, and then work out with the little money that I earn. 

Most important, keep my health (both physically and mentally) in good state by developing positive thought as much as possible, spread good things around to people surrounding me, live stress-free life (the more you earn, the more you attach your life style with it), learn how to balance (when to buy and when to stop), use my other talent in good way (in this case, my creative side), and just be myself. Be happy and content with everything, and never compare my life with other people. 

With this post, I hope you can reflect into what you are currently doing in your life too. Whether you are living your life according to what you want, whether you can fulfil your dreams or on the way into it, and so on. Always remember, there is no right and no wrong, but it is better if you can give yourself a chance to follow what your heart is saying. Wish you all a great day ahead!!! Stay safe and take care!!!

Change Amidst the Rough Time

Change is a way of life (Pic source: Google.com)

"When I  did no go to work, I had a walk from my home to the TV Station in the morning. The wind was big, so nice and comfortable."

One of the elder workers from my previous job kept uttering the same sentences over and over again after she came back from her medical leave. I guessed, that was the syndrome that happened to human once we got old.

As I walked out from my new working place last night, the place was really windy that required me to put on my wind breaker.

It happened that my new working place was located just around that local TV Station area (what a coincidence!). It was very far from my house (it took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach there one way).

"Since you walked there, did you see any (local) movie stars?" 

That was another question raised by another auntie to that elder worker. And she said, unfortunately no. 

However, in the morning on my first day to work, as I passed by the campus (I did not even know there was such campus available for acting!), I saw one famous local actor walking on my opposite direction. With his white hair, he greeted the Chinese New Year wishes to the man who walked in front of me. He even removed his mask a while to ensure the person knew who he was. 

Some of Mark Lee movies (Pic source: Google.com)

I knew him, but forgot his name. Therefore I was keeping quiet as I walked and did not do anything (like waving hands or asking to take photo etc.) Then I quickly searched for his name in Google and found out. He was Mark Lee (known as Lee Kwok Huang), a Singaporean comedian, actor, television host and film director. He had produced and starred many local movies in Singapore and I has watched many of them too. 

Wow!!! What a day! The Aunty walked for so many days and did not see any stars even once, but I met one on my first working day! Hahaha... Maybe it was a good sign for a new beginning *grin *grin

So yes, I had started yet another chapter of working life since yesterday. The kueh lapis job had just over last Friday and was ended with dinner. I felt getting better at doing it by now (maybe the increasing number of years and experiences made my confidence level grew higher).

As I mentioned before, I wanted to share with you about my new working place. First, the location was in One-North area. It was a subzone and business park, developed by JTC Corporation for the R&D and high technology cluster, comprising biomedical sciences, infocomm technology (ICT) and media industries (Source: Wikipedia).

Info on Mediapolis (Pic source: Wikipedia)

And the exact location of my working place was at building called Alice@Mediapolis. 

"Right in the heart of Mediapolis, ALICE@MEDIAPOLIS is a business park created for startups and as a base for established organisations. It offers startup spaces, shared media facilities, flexible work-live-play-learn spaces, a childcare centre, and retail outlets. 

The Deliveroo Food Market is also housed in the building, featuring 10 kitchens and a 40-seater dining space, all based on a fully automated ordering system."

(Source: Wikipedia)

Deliveroo Food Market at Alice@Mediapolis

This was how the 40-seater dining place looked like. And the 10 kitchens mentioned was located just behind the area. 

"Deliveroo (legally incorporated as Roofoods Ltd.) is an online food delivery company founded by William Shu in 2013 in London, England.

It operates in over two hundred locations across the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Its subsidiary operation, Deliveroo Editions, focuses on growing a network of ghost kitchens—kitchens located off-site from restaurants for the preparation of delivery-only meals."

(Source: Wikipedia)

So, I worked in one of those 10 ghost kitchens located behind. 

List of kitchens and brands participating at Deliveroo Food Market

As mentioned above, the ghost kitchen was there to prepare food for delivery only meals. And ordering system was all fully automated, meaning that it was ordered through online (Deliveroo website or apps). No service staff taking order at the counter and to serve the food for you. It would be delivered by the Deliveroo food delivery rider to your home or office, or you can pick up at Deliveroo Food Market like the place above. 

Where you pick up your meals :)

When Covid-19 struck in Singapore since March last year, many F&B establishments were suffering as less people dined in. They were struggling with the restaurant's high rent cost, high labour cost, and so on. 

Food delivery had become trends as it encouraged less interaction between humans (as ordering, payment etc. were fully automated). People would not mind to pay more to get the taste of food that they wanted without having to move their butts and queue up. 

The GM of the restaurant that I worked saw this as a very good opportunity and time to strike this type of business. What they needed was to rent a small kitchen and hired few kitchen staffs (3 full-time staffs and 3 to 4 part-time staffs) to operate in their daily basis. 

They showed their food menu on the Deliveroo apps and to widen the market, he was creating the business Instagram accounts to introduce, show, and market what they sold. 

With premium ingredients used, well cooking skills and creativity, it could produce a delicious, healthy, and eye-catching food and many people who were health-conscious and loved high quality food, would not mind paying a high price to get the products. 

I was sometimes amazed with it because even in difficult times like this, people were still buying and spending their money on these types of food unhesitatingly.

Well, Covid or not Covid, people would still have to eat. You just had to change the way you run your business to maximise your profit. I loved this idea though. 

Delivery wise, you did not have to headache because Deliveroo would manage. You just had to focus on your food and beverage operations. 

All the prepared food was just put on the kitchen window and the staffs from Deliveroo would transfer it to the collection point, ready to be picked up by the rider or customer. 

The food had to be prepared in short time (as short as 7 minutes) so that it could preserve the heat, quality, and freshness by the time it reached the recipient's hands. So we had to work fast and good teamwork was necessary. 

Well, that was only the beginning. I hope it would go well and smoothly. I did not say it was easy but I would do my best to learn and be a good team player. Wish me all the best!!! :D

Life update - Jan 2021

Hello January

Time indeed flies. January is going to be over soon, in few days time. Many things have happened, be it in my own personal life, and also in everyone else's life. 

First of all, Chinese New Year is coming (on 12th February 2021). It is in two and half weeks more. Many people are preparing it diligently now - from cutting their hair (to ward off the bad luck), buying new clothes, shopping food for CNY Eve's family gathering, changing new notes for the red packets, buying CNY goodies and decoration, and so on. 

However, 4 days ago, the authorities came out with new rules on visiting and tossing Yusheng (related to the upcoming CNY celebration). More details can be found here. It is summarized in the picture below:

Covid-19 Safeguards (Pic source: CNA)

With it, the CNY is expected to be quiet this year, very different from years before. Haiz.... I know. But when Covid-19 is still rampant everywhere, I think precautions are better than sorry and we just have to bear with it.

Anyway, many people are happy with the new rules though. Because they will get excuse for no-visiting this year. No need to prepare CNY goodies or delicacies, no need to distribute hong bao or red packet (although e-hongbao is recommended these days), no need to answer unnecessary (or sometimes stupid) questions - e.g. to those single - when have boyfriend or girlfriend; to couple - when to get married; to married couple - when to have kid; to married couple with kid - when to have a second one; and so on. No visiting means, no need to wear new clothes, shoes, bag, too.. Imagine how much money will be saved this year!!! Lol!!!

Second, I have quit from my part-time job. My last day of work was 17th January. It lasted for five months. It was short, but I experienced the busiest and quietest moments altogether. Have found friendship in it as well. Thank you for the opportunity and experience given to you know who you are! I am glad I was there in the team!! :)

From 11th itself, I started the other part-time job - baking kueh lapis . It is my fourth year doing this with the company. Yesterday, the kueh lapis from the company where I work was featured by 8 days (a weekly Singaporean magazine published by Mediacorp). 

Lina Confectionery Backstory Coverage (Pic source: 8 days.com)

They bought 17 kueh lapis from all different shops in Singapore - undercover - meaning: no ads, affiliations or insidious under-the-table hand-shaking involved. They placed it all side by side and compared the taste. Amazingly, they ranked it fourth best!!! With the coverage, personally, I am very happy with the news. 

And the comment! (Pic source: 8 days.com)

If only the Lady Boss (Tante Lina) - the founder - were still alive, she must be very proud and happy too!!! The kueh lapis recipe was created by her and it was her sweat and hard work for the product to be recognized by many people. She must be smiling from heaven now.

Third, once the kueh lapis job is over (first week of February), I have accepted another part time job. It is still F&B related job, still related to my passion, but handling different food. I will post it next time once I have started and familiar with it. There is something interesting about it, and that was why I chose to try :)

Yeah, it is funny right? When everyone was busy with their works, I was jobless and did nothing (other than travelling). And when Covid came, many people lose their jobs and do nothing, I was the other way around, busied myself with the part-time job I took. Hahaha.... 

I feel blessed though. Because even when the time was tough, we are all blessed with good health, safe environment, have job to do, and so on.

So, that's it for now. January is a busy month for me. Work, work, and work. Hope to have more rest. Til then. Hope everyone is in good health! Take care! :)

Books read for the second half of the year 2020

Quote by Lloyd Alexander (Pic source: Google.com)

Hi hi, how have you been readers? Have you managed to read much for the second half of the year 2020?

I read lesser than the first half as since August, I had started working. With more hours spent at work plus the Korean drama I had binged to run myself away from reality,  the lesser time I had spent on reading.

Nevertheless, it was not too bad. 

Below please find the lists of books I had read for the second half of the year 2020:

July 2020

July 2020:

1. Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
2. My True Love Gave To Me (Twelve Winter Romance)
3. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down - Haemin Sunim

August 2020

August 2020:

1. 1984 - George Owell
2. Sex and Vanity - Kevin Kwan
3. Last Tang Standing - Lauren Ho

September 2020

September 2020:

1. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird - Josie Silver
2. Love In No Man's Land - Duo Ji Zhuo Ga

October 2020

October 2020:

1. Hidden Bhutan - Martin Urlz

2. The Hating Game - Sally Thorne

November 2020

November 2020:

1. The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida - Clarissa Goenawan

2. The Other Mrs - Mary Kubica 

3. The Good Girl - Mary Kubica 

December 2020

December 2020:

1. The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel

2. Sleeping on Jupiter - Anuradha Roy

3. What Lies Between Us - John Marrs

4. Never Look Back - Mary Burton

Quote by Margaret Atwood (Pic source: Google.com)

Btw. how was 2020 treating you? It was not a easy year to pass through right? And yet, it flew so fast. It was a transformation year which affected so many people around us. It was tough but we all went through it. 

Year 2021 did not promise a better life either. Perhaps, it could get worse as apart from the pandemic (more countries around the world had to be locked down), many calamities had happened too at some parts of the world (the missing plane and earthquakes in Indonesia).

The vaccines has come but the bad news is, not everyone is able to get it (especially those who have immune-related problems, allergy problems, and so on). Haiz... Even then, it was not proven to protect human from the virus 100% yet, especially when the new variant had also appeared lately in Europe. 

Nevertheless, I am thankful for what have happened into my life so far, and will continue to be thankful more what we have so far. My prayers and wishes that we all can survive and go through it all with positive mind, one step at a time. I believe everything happens for good reasons and whatever reasons, it always teaches us something and makes ourselves stronger each and every day. 

In the end, I hope book writers can publish more books at this point of time so that we can continue reading despite the pandemic. Fighting!!!

Happy New Year 2021

Happy New Year 2021

The alarm played the Merry Christmas melody at 7.30 am (my daily wake-up time), waking me up from my sleep. I felt coolness from the untouched bed sheet surface surrounding me. Hhhhmmm.... I stretched my legs and arms as far as possible and slowly released my breath. 

The room was still dark as I drew my curtain close the night before. I headed to the toilet inside my room to release the bladder inside me that was full of water. Raining sound was heard from the window. Hmmm... no wonder it felt so cold... What a perfect morning to start with, especially when I did not have to go to work. Supposedly, it was a perfect day to continue sleeping. However, many things I wanted to do and I did not want to miss.

First thing first, breakfast. Hubby had to go to work, even on weekends. I took out 6 slices of bread from its packet, still freshly new. I spread the butter on each bread evenly. I put a slice of gammon ham and cheese on it, making 3 sets. I heated the oven before putting them inside for 10 minutes. While waiting, I washed the fresh salad, cut a piece of kiwi, put them inside the bowl, and added blueberry on top. At the separate small bowl, I poured the sesame dressing, a perfect companion for the salad bowl.

The water was boiling. Two empty cups with coffee powder were prepared, ready to be poured. Hmmm... the coffee smell was so great in such cooling morning!!! Tinggg!!! The oven timer was stopped as well and the toasts were all ready. I made 3 sets - one for hubby, one for myself, and another one for my sister-in-law (her packed breakfast to be consumed at her working place). Sometimes, when I was free like this, I prepared some breakfast for her as well, which brought some envy to her colleagues hehehe....

Simple breakfast and yet comes from the heart :)

Hubby and I sat down facing towards each other, slowly enjoying our breakfast. The music from the radio was played at the background, connected from my old mobile phone to the alarm clock cum speaker Bluetooth that we purchased from Taobao. I loved listening to the radio. Apart from listening to the music and DJ's speaking, I could also hear some latest news (well, I seldom watch news on TV. So, short news from radio or newspaper would be my only intake for news - not the fans of too much news though).

The door towards balcony was opened widely. From my seat, I could see the rain pouring down quite heavily. The sky was grayish and gloomy. The temperature was as low as 23 degree, felt like winter (very rarely we had such temperature in this tropical country of Singapore). That was why I loved Singapore when it came to January :)

As usual, hubby and I would have chit chat, about life, about our lives especially, on what was going on surrounding us, including what had happened to our growing up son. I loved such moments, where it was only us here, having our own time together, even it was only a short while. I did not like having my morning getting distracted by other sound (be it TV sound, people's visiting, and so on). 

And since today was Saturday, no one came to our house in the morning. In short while, hubby and sister-in-law went for work. Baobei was still sleeping, and mother-in-law had gone out since dawn (to her usual market and would not return until afternoon). So I have the whole morning by myself now. 

Yummmmm..... I devoured such moments. I decided to take out my dear love (Microsoft Surface Pro) and brought it together with my new diary (2021) plus journal, to the dining table. I poured the hot water over my Doraemon mug and filled it with the Japanese green tea's bag. The rain was still pouring and cooling air entered in slow pace throughout the door. It was beautiful!!! Happiness could be gained as simple as that, no matter where you were. 

Life is good :)

Here I am now, translating my feelings into words, typing it onto this blog post. As the year 2021 has began, I have so many things on my head to say, so many feelings to express. Yesterday I was working almost a whole day, therefore I had no time to do this (public holiday meant double pay, that was why I chose to work hahaha.... :P).

I  wanted to retrospect over what had passed throughout the year 2020 and think over of what to do in this year 2021. 

First of all, the retrospection. The year 2020 passed so swiftly. I still felt as if I was still in February or March, where the spread of Corona virus in Singapore had just begun. It developed so fast that the country had to go through the Circuit Breaker period. At that time, we thought that it was going to be over in few months' time. Who ever thought that even until now, the situation had not yet gotten better. It even got worst as the Covid-19 new variant was developed in UK recently. 

Today, the Covid-19 cases are still rampant anywhere in the world, including the small country like Bhutan. Healthcare staffs there (many of them I knew) were busy fighting the disease and had to wear protective gears to protect themselves from getting infected. It reminded me of my dear friend, Tashi Chenzom, who had left this world for over 9 months (she left on 28 March 2020). Sometimes I thought that it was good that she left early so she did not have to face this kind of situation. To this day, I still miss her and wonder where she is now (or where she has been born into).

With Covid-19, I have not had a chance to meet up with my parents and siblings who stay overseas. Lucky I still have a brother who live here in Singapore. The rest of them, we meet everyday in our What's App group chat, updating our lives each and everyday online. We missed our family gathering, our family holidays, and so on. 

When my mom was sick (due to high blood pressure), we were all helpless, did not know what to do to help her. She was not dare to visit clinic and hospital as there would be many Covid-19 patients visiting the places. She was lying on bed for few days, eating whatever medicine that they thought would help her. It did not work though, because it was not the right medicine to encounter it. Luckily my eldest sister managed to video call with her usual doctor and to get prescription from her. With the right medicine, she finally could feel better and the blood pressure had gone down. 

Year 2020 was also the year without travelling. Since no travel, I did not have much things to do too. It caused me to engage in many different activities. It was the year where I watched Korean drama the most, watched various movies online, tried many different recipes, read books, and so on. Until one day I decided to do a part-time job to kill time and find my passion back. It has been 4.5 months now and it has been getting better. But many staffs (both full time and part time) were leaving to pursue different or better job prospects. Changes were never avoidable in any type of situations or places. And we could only accept and adapt. I would no more put an emphasis on feeling sadness or loss anymore. Just acceptance, let go, and adapt into new situation.

When the time passes so fast, unknowingly, we are getting old each day. My son had turned to 18 last month and had girlfriend too. He had even openly announced his relationship by posting their photos in his Instagram story yesterday. We, the parents, could no longer treat him like a baby anymore. He had often missed our dinner session at home as he went out for dinner and date with his girlfriend during this school-holiday term. When love was still in the air, the rest was transparent like ghost. Hahaha.... 

I am grateful that throughout year 2020, I was blessed with few group or circle of friends whom I had chance to meet often with. We met like once in a month or more (as and when both party was free). Like we all know, as we grow up, it is not numbers of friends that matter, but just few close ones that really matter to us that worth to keep. That too includes those who are far apart. Due to this pandemic, there was no chance for us to meet ( I had to forgo my UK and France trip that I planned this May), and no way in meeting others who were living all over the world. But I just want you to know, despite we live apart, your presence was always living in my hearts (you know who you are - all my dear friends everywhere around the world :) ).

Quotes 2021 (Pic source: Google.com)

Now year 2021 is here. When I chatted with my friends, sometimes we mentioned of our plans and goals, of what is next. Not only plan for this year 2021, but for many years ahead. One favorite topic was where will you plan to live on your retirement days? 

Although the retirement age in Singapore is planned to be 68 in year 2022, and still many decades lie between now and then, many of my friends have already thought and planned about it from now on. Majority of those who live in Singapore (even my Taiwanese friend) wanted to spend their old days in Thailand. Low living cost is one of the major reasons (cost of renting or buying apartment there, cost of owning vehicle, daily living cost - like food, clothing, etc.). The comfort and safety level as almost 95% of its population is Buddhist. The weather can be cooling at some season in northern area of Thailand. My friend had even learned the language so that she could communicate well with local.

Many of my Bhutan friends who are working here have planned of buying plot of land or upgrading what they already had back home. With it, they plan to build an apartment to rent, or making holiday guest house for tourists. Therefore, they save their earnings here and live their lives modestly for now.

When we were talking about all these plans, I was asking myself in my heart. What was mine? And to be honest, I have no plan. My mind is blank. Nothing. 

I live my life - day by day. Whatever comes, let it comes. As life is full of uncertainties, there is no point for me to plan too far ahead. First, due to health condition. My risk of uncertainties is far much higher than the rest. It might come anytime, anywhere. And I have no idea how long more I could live (really no idea what may come).

Second, I am happy and grateful with present moment. I have roof to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear. I live in a good country, with good weather, good political stability, safe country. I have numbers of good friends, loving families, loving parents, siblings, good relations with relatives and so on. I have job and good colleagues and managers. I can do things I love doing, have lots of freedom, get mostly what I want. And it is all enough. 

That is why I never think of moving somewhere else. Because for me, as long as I am healthy and happy, this place is good enough to live. It is a good hub place to travel everywhere too. So not necessary staying elsewhere and start all over again. If I like a place, I can just book hostel and travel for 2 weeks to a month and enjoy the place and its life temporarily. No need to headache on so many things and create more troubles. such as unnecessary paperwork, and so on.

With sickness on hand, I was not able to get insurance policy to protect me on bad time. And yes, the hospital fee is really expensive in Singapore. But as Singapore citizen, we are getting the subsidy from the government. And up to this day, our Singapore government is taking care the elder generation  and low-income families quite well. I mean, government in many countries does not giving so much privileges or benefits to their citizens. Therefore, I am grateful enough for everything.

Every one of us thinks differently about life, so do I. I do not need to stay in private apartment or condominium, or upgrade to five-room flat. I do not need to have car because I can travel comfortably with MRT, public bus, and Grab car. I do not need to eat at high class restaurant or purchase exorbitant prices food just to be happy. Any food that fits the purpose and keep my stomach warm and full are more than enough. I can let go my desire and settle for less as long I can live. Cheap biscuits and cheap tea sachet? No problem at all. I can still be very happy with it as long as it serves the purpose. Home baked muffin and not those come from famous bakery, that costs so much? Even better, because it is filled with love. Whatever comes with love, it does not have to be so good or expensive. It still fits the purpose. And it makes me happy :)

I do not need branded clothes and bags. Just normal shirts and any bags that fits the purpose are enough. There is no need for me to show off. As long it serves the purpose and makes me happy, that is enough. And so on.

I do not say that planning for future is bad. It is good. It is just, it does not applicable for me. My daily goal in life is to be healthy and happy. That is.

The good healthy mindset and positive outlooks are much needed to face any challenges that comes in life. Instead, I spend my time to be aware, to think and to do better in any situation. I have learnt many things from the past and not wanting to repeat the same mistakes again. I know I am still lacking in many part, especially preparing myself for future's life (after death). In fact, no preparation at all. Just focus on present moment and do what I shall do. That is all.

Well, what about you readers? 

Quote by Rick Warren

I bumped into a quote saying, "Lives do not change just because it is the New Year. Lives change when Mindsets change." - Rageshwari. 

Think about what kind of life you want to live and focus your mind towards it. Accept the changes. Learn to let go. And adapt with it. 

With this post and my thought sharing, I wish all of you a good health and lots of happiness this year to come. Be safe and take care everyone. Love you all :)

Way back to follow my passion (Part 3)

The same result (IG: rimareyka.writes)

It had been more than 16 years since the last time I worked in Food and Beverage company on the operational side (excluding the once-a-year part-time kueh lapis though).

In the beginning, I was not sure if I still had the energy (standing up all the time; long and shift working hours), speed (that was very much needed in a fast-moving operation), and the ability to work with the young and energetic people and environment.

I have the passion and love though, and that what keeps me motivated to get myself ready for each shift to start.

It was just I did not know that all the staffs here (both full and part time) were required to have many different skills as we were expected to work in many different areas each day, and the tasks given were changed all the time in every few hours depending on the demand in the operation side.

It was really not easy to have the skill set for doing each job. But surprisingly, my son did not feel having any difficulties in doing any tasks given. I never heard him complaining except that it was tiring. 

Unlike me.

Overcome fear (IG: rimareyka.writes)

Every time I was given a new task, I was filled myself first with "FEAR". Fear of doing wrong, fear of not doing good enough, fear of being too clumsy, fear of getting complained, fear of not doing fast enough, fear of missing the items or ingredients, fear of the items not looking presentable, and so on.

I had to tell myself over and over not to be afraid. The fear naturally came to me as I had not worked for so long, plus this company served the premium selling items using only premium ingredients, and sold it at a very high price (the Management too, had a high expectation from each of their staffs to do their jobs well and fast).

With fear that appeared first with me on every first task I learned, there were always things I did wrong, too slow, not satisfactory, and so on as I was not used of doing it before. 

Of course they would not expect someone who just worked in that area for few times to compare their abilities with those who had worked there for some time. Yes, they were lenient and understanding. 

But sometimes, even after doing it for several times, there were always comments given by others - e.g. "you cannot do it like this," "cannot put it like that," "this is too small," "it was not done right, do it again," and so on.

Some staffs were good. After telling me where my mistakes were, they taught me on how to make it right. This led me to do things better. It was okay for me for them to tell me my mistake because it meant that they cared. And I had to remember it so that I would not make the same mistake in the future.

Sometimes, it brought other staff with frustration when having me as their partner (I even made them crying for help from the Manager) :D

After all, we are just a human being (IG: rimareyka.writes)

Personally, I too had high expectation from my own self. For example, I believed that "LOVE" was the most important ingredients in the dishes  that I usually prepared. Therefore at work, I wanted to treat every food that I handled, with love, e.g. cutting only the best parts of the leaf (those broken one, yellowish, discolouration, would not be used), handling each part of the ingredients gently (so that it would not break, look ugly, not presentable with finger pressing mark), using both hands to take the food instead of one, etc. And with those things in mind, it made me working slower (plus not long enough practise as I believe in practise makes perfect - or at least, better).

Many times, I put myself on the customer's shoes. "If I were the customer, by queuing for so long to get here and paying so much for the food ordered, I would have such expectation for the good and services received from the company." Therefore, I tried doing my best to deliver the best to them.

And with Internet and social media, people could write review about good things and disappointments easily these days that would affect the company's reputation. Instagram users would also post many of the company's food and beverage items on their accounts. Therefore, food presentation was definitely important.

Both visual (presentation) and non-visual (services rendered by staffs during their dining experience) were equally important and highly demanded by our customers.

Looking at how each full-timer and old part- timer staff worked, it made me wonder if would there be a day when I could reach their standard (of speed, quality, accuracy, and so on).

Be stone sometimes (IG: rimareyka.writes)

As for now, I could only say that my day-to-day working experience was like a rollercoaster ride - full of ups and downs. Sometimes good, sometimes not good.

Not all was bad though. Sometimes I worked well too and was even praised when doing good job. 

Some nights I could not sleep thinking of what had happened before or would happen at working place and all those forced me to remind myself to always put myself back to the present moment (as what happened, had already happened, I could not go back to the past to undo those mistakes. And what would happen, hadn't happened yet, so why should I worry about it??)

I could only tell myself to do the best each day. If my ability was not up to it, let them decide on it. We were given probation time before they confirmed us to be their staffs. So by then, just keep doing and practising, making it better. Whatever the results would be, que sera sera....