The 10 Things I Love About Singapore

This year marks the 10th year I've lived in Singapore. It took me awhile to call it home because my boys were back in Manila and I flew back and forth a lot for a few years. It became home when my family moved here five years ago.

1. Getting around is so convenient - it's so easy to get around by bus or through the MRT. You pay by using an EZlink card (which you can use also at shops).

2. Wide variety of food - there's a wide variety of food you can choose from especially when you eat at a hawker center. 

3. Toast Box - absolutely love teh peng and their breakfast food. Aside from Toast Box there's also other local coffee chains like Ya Kun Kaya, Killiney, Fun Toast, Old Town White Coffee etc. 

4. Shopping - when you shop you know exactly where you will go for the item. In the beginning I used to just go to Orchard, but eventually liked going to the neighborhood malls more (less temptation!). 

5. Parks - it's only now that I appreciate the park better. I love our evening walks at the park. There's always a nice breeze everytime we go. 

6. Attractions - we still visit the zoo, the bird park every other year. It's just fun to go and re-visit the zoo. We also visit Universal Studios whenever we have visitors. 

7. Staycation hotels - even before the pandemic our family would go on staycations. It's just nice to get some rest from house chores and explore the city. 

8. Healthcare - ahh this piece has been very important for me, I am only still around because of my amazing doctors.

9. Chinese New Year - CNY here is huge! I'm not really familiar with the traditions for CNY, but there's always a lot of snacks available. A friend explained to me that during CNY they basically have to visit all their relatives and that means endless eating. Ahh, it's very similar to our Christmas that's why I love CNY too. 

10. Church - love going to church here especially during the festive season. We've witnessed also how  they celebrate Christmas, New Year, Mama Mary's occasions, first Holy communion, baptism, Easter etc. 

Since we're going to be here for awhile I've been watching some vlogs of areas I still haven't seen yet. I'll make a list and see what else we could explore and experience in Singapore. 

CB///305 #StuckAtHomeDay/335 #StayHome #BeKind

The Beauty of Resting

Sleep score finally reached 88 when I checked my Fitbit this morning. I did not sleep well all week and that's probably why I've been feeling exhausted. It got worse after I ventured out alone for the first time for my doctor appointment. I realized walking outside on a regular day versus doing evening walks at the park is so different. 

So today even with good sleep I rested most of the day and took a nap too. I really can't rush my body to recover. It has it's own good timing and the best I can do is eat well, sleep properly and do the right exercise. Normally the only rest I do is when I sleep at night. I'm usually doing something the whole day. Mom would always say I'm like a kiti-kiti*. 

I remember when I was a child I didn't like sleeping in the afternoons. I absolutely abhorred it. They either had to bribe me or threaten me before I'd go to bed. Usually I'd just lay there, but never really fall asleep. The only time I learned to nap in the afternoon was after watching ASAP and I was already working then. I now nap, but only when I literally conk out on the couch haha. 

It would be really great if I could recover somewhere where there is a hammock. Mom used to have a duyan in her garden and it was my favorite place. That's the place I go back to in my mind whenever I meditate. It's the place where I can just be calm and rest. Well since that's farfetched for now now, I'll just have to make do with our couch at home. 

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

CB///304 #StuckAtHomeDay/334 #StayHome #BeKind

Confused, eh

I'm so annoyed with myself. I spent the afternoon cutting fabric to finish a quilt blanket project I started 18 months ago. I finished measuring cutting the fabric and then realized I made a mistake with the measurement. Grrrrr. I didn't have enough fabric left so will need to find the same fabric so I can complete the blanket. Sigh. 

And the mistake is due to one of the issues I've been having -- confusion. I noticed this when we went home from the hospital in mid-January. I told my doctor about this and he wasn't too concerned. This maybe due to breathing issues I'm still experiencing and will hopefully resolve soon. I'm usually on-point with most things and sometimes it gets frustrating. 

One of the dangers of this is getting my medication mixed up. Ahh, this is where I have to be very careful about. I must not double up or miss drinking my meds, it will be disastrous if I do. No worries, my neurologist also checked me recently and said I should be fine. Will just need to monitor myself closely and my doctors gave me pointers what to watch out for. 

On a happy note, I finally finished my Christmas project. I started it in October and was able to send my creation to a few friends in the Philippines. I haven't been able to give the ones for my friends here in SG because December got disrupted. It was impossible to sew at the hospital since my hand was always pre-occupied with another type of needle hehe. Here's what I made for my friends.

It's a mug rug! It's meant to be used for your coffee or tea. I'm glad my friends liked it. Here's another version I made -

If you want to make one for yourself you can watch the video below or read the instructions on The Evening Quilter -

CB///303 #StuckAtHomeDay/333 #StayHome #BeKind

Ventured Out Alone for the First Time in 2 Months!

"Good job in coming alone!" exclaimed my doctor's nurse when I arrived for my appointment today. It's been two months since I've gone out on my own. Sweetie has always accompanied me when I have to see my doctor. 

It's been a month since blood clots in my lungs were found (pulmonary embolism). When I got home after 11 days in the hospital I was surprised that I was unstable when I walked. I clutched Sweetie's arm when we went out of my hospital room to freedom. I had to learn to be confident again to walk without holding on to Sweetie or rails. It took a week before I left go of Sweetie's arm when we went for our evening walks, but then I got admitted again after ten days. 

I was in the ward again for 5 days and walked around my room (with the dextrose in tow) everyday. I didn't want to start from zero again when I went home. When I got home we re-started our evening walks. I worked mostly on increasing the distance I could walk without getting breathless. I'm improving and I had to be brave about going out by myself today. 

I had a huge smile on my face when I saw the Grab car that picked me up. It had Pikachu stickers all over it! I asked uncle if he played Pokemon Go. He said no and explained why his car had stickers all over. His son works for the Pokemon company that organizes Pokemon events here in Singapore. He named a few events and I told him I've been to some of them haha. I had a good feeling about my expedition. 

My doctor was happy with my progress. He explained that there are many patients who never know the reason for their clots. He said be comforted with the fact it isn't cancer or an issue with my IVC, legs or arms. It's just what it is. He also said it's good that I've been walking after dinner. I could also start doing PT again. Yay! I'm not in good condition yet to go back to work and will need to rest for now. 

I was so happy with my progress I thought I'd buy Sweetie his favorite Mexican coffee bun. Managed to get it and went home. I'm properly exhausted now and will now just rest. I'm happy I was able to finally go out alone and buy bread! With God's grace I hope to be back to normal soon. 

CB///302 #StuckAtHomeDay/332 #StayHome #BeKind

What is God Disciplining Me For?

The readings the last few days has been about trusting in God more. Last night's reflection on Didache asked about what you think is God disciplining you on. I've been reflecting on this the past few days since I'm working on defining my core. After watching Bo Sanchez' Fulltank vid I realized one of the issues I've always struggled with is saying no.

 

I realized this further when I watched one Queer Eye episode where they made over the life of an 18-year old. The story brought me back to those days I was young and already crazy busy. That was the time my Mom would always tell me to rest. I was always doing so many things and accepting projects left and right. I'm still the same to this day. 

That has been my nature and it's been open to abuse. I know my limits, but it doesn't take much to pester me to say yes. I end up feeling guilty when I say no. I haven't slept well because I have been avoiding getting roped me to something that would surely stress me out. I've had to tell myself again and again that I am still recovering and stress will not be good for me. 

I have survived two pulmonary embolisms in the last 28 months. I survived TWICE. And one of the things that I must really, really learn is to say no. Just say no and don't feel guilty about it. I've known this since my first PE and it's why I took a break before, but I slid back last year and the stress affected my health severely. 

And that's one of my prayers, for me to learn how to say no and not to feel guilty about it so I can take of myself better. I hope I can take away this feeling of guilt so I can rest soundly at night. I need to be able to sleep well so my body can heal better. Please pray for me as I journey through this healing process. 

CB///301 #StuckAtHomeDay/331 #StayHome #BeKind

Trying to Learn More Seafood Recipes

I must admit, cooking did not come to me naturally. I did not get my Dad's talent at cooking. He can whip up dishes quickly and can reverse engineer my favorite food! I remember he did that for Jolly spaghetti for me. One of the things we were never able to replicate was his burger made of shredded coconut. It tasted like real burger!  

I learned some basics from our Foods class in high school. Back then I preferred doing the marketing or dish washing. I didn't like cooking because I was scared of fire. To this day whenever I bake on our gas oven it's Sweetie who puts the pan inside for me. I eventually learned how to cook because we needed to survive after Sweetie, Miggy and I moved to our own home. Thanks to YouTube and discovering the wonders of using an electric stove I learned to cook. (I now use an induction stove). 

One of our favorite places, the Sydney Fish Market.
They have so many yummy food!

Anyway, we're getting on with age so we've been trying to eat more healthy food. My doctor though said when it comes to fish I shouldn't eat oily fish. Fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines etc. are omega-3 rich and should not be eaten when you're on blood thinners. I have to stick to white fish. That's something I'm still learning about and it's challenging because the variety of fish here in SG is not the same as back home. 

I stick to easy to make recipes and I have a new favorite chef on YouTube -- Chef Tatung. He vlogs on his channel called Simpol and has many easy to make recipes. He teaches in a very straightforward matter and I've tried a number of his recipes. His recipes make my tummy happy and the ingredients he uses are easy to find too. So naturally I looked through Chef Tatung's videos and found a few seafood dishes he made. Here's what I tried so far --

Steamed fish with soy ginger sauce (recipe).

Fish fillet escabeche (recipe).

And that's one of the things I love to do. I mustered up enough energy last night and cooked the fish escabeche. It took me two hours to make it and macaroni salad because I had to rest in between (and I really cook very slow). I was so exhausted and ended up skipping our after-dinner walk. My stamina and energy isn't back yet. I know it's going to take awhile so I really need to take it slow for now. 

Do you have any suggestions for fish dishes that use white fish? Comment down below please :)

CB///300 #StuckAtHomeDay/330 #StayHome #BeKind

Parteeh in My Dreams

I had the most fun dream last night. I was thinking of friends I haven't seen in a long time, specifically my blogger friends I met over a decade ago. I met a lot of them through the blog parties I used to organize and through the Philippine Blog Awards. It was so lucky to meet so many people across the country who had a passion for blogging. We'd meet up when I traveled and for events (and of course pig-out at yummy restos). 

iBlog will always be memorable.

Most of my blogger friends don't blog anymore. I blogged sparingly since I moved to Singapore. I had the chance to meet my blogger friends when they come here to Singapore or when I travel. Some I'd bump into at the airport! It's been awhile since I've done any domestic travel so it's been hard to see everyone. I honestly don't really like video calling since that's all I do at work, so I keep in touch through chat (yeah old school!). 

At the Blog Awards Visayas 2010.

Last night I was thinking about friends I haven't seen for a long time and how they tie up to my life story. I was thinking about that because I want to remember how I was before life got so busy. I need to understand my core and what makes me happy. I think it's important for me to work that out so I can heal completely. 

The first Philippine Blog Awards. Still don't know why they had me host lol. 

So the tggss tggss party became a dream. I was with my blogger friends, including those who have passed away - Juned, Coy, AJ, Eric and Hershey. They were all there together with my other friends. We were all just very happy and giggling as always. And there was a lot of food, just like the blog parties at Taste Asia. 

That time LuzViMin Bloggers conspired with Sweetie for his proposal!

So just like Harry, Hermione and Ron when they were looking for the horcruxes, I think I found one part of me. I am a blogger. Writing has always been a part of me because that's what my Mom encouraged me to do since I was 8 (see the description above haha). 

If I remember correctly this was at a workshop in Davao. (With Ria, Andrew and Kring).

I haven't done any video calls for almost two months now. I still get breathless when talking (I let Sweetie do most of the talking for now hehe). Maybe once my lungs can take doing VCs I should organize a blogger Meets call (of course it has to be Google Meets and not Zoom hrhr). 

If you're one of my blogger friends and want to see more photos, here's more!

Blog Parteeh, January 2007

Davao Bloggers Party, March 2007

Philippine Blog Awards, June 2007

Taste Asia bloggers party, July 2007

Digital Filipino Inflential Bloggers Awards, August 2007

88db.com Bloggers Party, April 2008

iBlog 4, April 2008

Buhay Coke Bloggers Party, June 2008

Ponds Bloggers Party, July 2008

Mindanao Bloggers Summit, October 2010

Visayas Blogging Summit, November 2010

Blog and Soul Adsense Seminar, June 2011

Blog and Soul Photo Workshop, July 2011

Blogfest Soccskargen, November 2011

*I have more photos but my album names are a mess. Ping me if you're looking for a blogger community related photo from those years. Can't seem to find my DFAT photos! Grrrrrr.

CB///299 #StuckAtHomeDay/329 #StayHome #BeKind