Author Archives: memoriesandsuch

Poem: Happy Birthday

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Birthdays are always special and when we were younger, we used to wait months for our birthdays. Now as I grow older, birthdays are not as much anticipated as before, but the charm of a birthday will always be there.

This poem was written last month just before GG & BB’s birthday and is inspired by a meditation I did on my birthday.

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Happy Birthday

It’s your special day today, it’s the start of a new year
it’s the day you took your first breath, lets the bells ring and cheer

Today is your birthday, you were born on this day
There is a reason for your birth, so write your life’s screenplay

Let us celebrate you today and appreciate your life’s canvas
The things you’ve done, that you still have in store, your life purpose

Each day brings with it a new opportunity
To do something good, to accomplish more and not live aimlessly

There is none else like you, you are unique and special
So surround yourself with your loved ones, and make this day blissful

Do today what you love and what makes you happy and celebrate you
Give yourself credit for your accomplishments and bid disappointments a huge adieu

Today on your birthday, may life bless you with gratitude, optimism and happiness
Count your days with smiles and dream big, every day of life being a bonus

May blessings, love and joy flow into your life forever
May all your dream come true, and your heart sets aflutter

Remember there will never be another you because you are you
Unique and special, loved and joyful, may you live a life that is fruitful

Happy Birthday and remember to live each moment to the fullest
This is your day so enjoy the attention and get fussed

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In My Hands Today…

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The Railway to Heaven: From the U.K. to Tibet on the longest and highest railways in the world – Matthew Woodward

Taking his long-distance train travels to a whole new level, Matthew Woodward embarks on an intrepid journey from his home in the UK to Lhasa in deepest Tibet, for many years closed to visitors.

Travelling over 20,000 kilometres on trains across Europe and Asia, he sets out to reach his objective via the little used Trans-Manchurian route across Siberia to Beijing, and from there to the Qinghai–Tibet railway across the Tibetan Plateau – the highest railway in the world.

Unprepared for what he is to experience in Lhasa, he discovers a city in modern-day China, but a place still largely living in the traditions of a truly mythical past.

Those that know Woodward’s writing will appreciate his honest and humorous reflections of life on the rails, and his efforts – sometimes successful – to decode cultural misunderstandings. He tells his story with thoughtfulness and introspection you’d expect of a solo traveller, and gives you the detail that makes an incredible journey like this feel possible for you, too.

Recipes: Gazpacho Inspired Tomato Corn Soup

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It had been so hot in Singapore in summer that anything hot was anathema and so I was looking for some cold soups I could make ahead of time. I wanted to make a cold Gazpacho soup, but then realised I didn’t have all the ingredients with me. So I improvised and made this soup. It was well-received, though S didn’t like it. I also realised that BB didn’t like it cold, so I heated it and he liked it then. But this can be made and served both cold and warm.

Gazpacho Inspired Tomato Corn Soup

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 medium-sized red tomatoes
  • 1 small cup of frozen sweet corn
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic
  • inch piece ginger
  • 1 medium-sized onion
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 2 tbsp (or more) extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Method:

  • Defrost the corn and cook it in the microwave for about 6-8 minutes, or until it becomes tender
  • Chop the tomatoes and keep them aside
  • Peel the garlic and the ginger and keep aside. Chop the green chillies and keep them aside.
  • Peel and chop the onions and keep them aside.
  • Drain the sweet corn and in a blender, blend the tomatoes, sweet corn, onion, green chillies, ginger, and garlic. Blend first into a chunky paste and then add in the olive oil and blend to a fine paste. You may add some water if you need it while blending.
  • Using a strainer, strain the soup into a pan and reblend till everything is a fine paste.
  • Add salt and pepper and if you want, you can pop this in the fridge and have it as a cold soup.
  • If you like BB didn’t like the raw taste, add some water and boil the soup till it starts to come to a nice rolling boil and let it boil for about 5-8 minutes or until the raw taste goes away.
  • Drink it hot or cold, either way, it is delicious!

2022 Week 42 Update

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Tomorrow is India’s biggest festival – the festival of lights or Deepavali or Diwali. Here’s wishing everyone who celebrates the festival a very Happy Diwali. May the lights brighten your lives and bring you happiness and prosperity.

I have been struggling to remain positive this week. An opportunity I was sure was mine did not come to me and all my old feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt came crowding and I struggled to find something positive each day. I know that the universe has something special planned for me, but when one only keeps getting rejection after rejection, it is hard to maintain an optimistic outlook. And then I came across this quote which resonated with me.

This quote from Jonathan Lockwood Huie, also known as the Philosopher of Happiness, reminds us to keep the faith and remain positive. When we are in pain and are riddled with self-doubt, it is easy to focus on the negatives and lose sight of the hope that is waiting for us just above the horizon. Difficulties may be overwhelming, but we should always remember that the darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow.

There’s an upsurge of COVID-19 cases in Singapore mainly because of the XBB strain. In the last seven days, there was an average of about 7,600 cases on a seven-day moving average with one death and a 0.99 infection ratio. Over the last 28 days, 160,070 people were infected and 99.8% of them had no or mild symptoms. As of 20 October, under the National Vaccination Programme, 92% of the total population received at least one dose. 95% of the eligible population and 92% of the total population completed the full regimen and 79% of the total population have received booster shots. As of 21 Oct 2022, Singapore has had a total of slightly above two million cases and 1,660 deaths in total.

That’s all for today. Have a wonderful Diwali

In My Hands Today…

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More Ketchup Than Salsa – Joe Cawley

Have you ever thought about making a new life abroad?

It was while holding aloft a not altogether pleasant-smelling mackerel that the decision was made. The March rain hammered on the rotting tin roof high above the market stall, where I had spent the last six months pushing out dubious trays of marine life at three for a fiver. After a two-week holiday in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, Joy and I vowed that a life in fish giblets was not going to be our destiny and a life in the sun, was.

A complete lack of catering experience, zero business acumen and the sum of our vastly wealth barely reaching waist level of a ceramic pig did little to deter our enthusiasm. “Where do we sign?” we replied. And then the whole silly, sunny saga began…” Joe Cawley

When Joe and his girlfriend Joy decide to trade in their life on a cold Lancashire fish market to run a bar in the Tenerife sunshine, they anticipate a paradise of sea, sand and siestas. Little did they expect their foreign fantasy to turn out to be about as exotic as a wet Monday morning.

Amidst a host of eccentric locals, homesickness and the occasional cockroach infestation, pint-pulling novices Joe and Joy struggle with the expat culture and learn that, although the skies might be bluer, the grass is definitely not always greener.

An hilarious travelogue exposing the wild and wacky characters of an expat community in a familiar holiday destination, More Ketchup than Salsa is full of humor and is a must-read travel memoir for anybody who has ever dreamed about moving abroad, finding a job overseas or even momentarily flirted with the idea of ‘doing a Shirley Valentine’ in these trying economic times.