Change

So, it's been a long while since I've updated this space. Six months may seem like a short time, but so much has changed.

As the new year began, I made a promise to myself that I would chase after the things that I love and what makes me happy. Three months in, and though I wouldn't use the phrase 'so far, so good', I would say things can only get better from here.

Photo courtesy of @the_keygs

One of the things I do love, but rarely have the chance to do so, is traveling. It's especially difficult for people in my industry to go on vacations, much less multiple ones! At the start of the year, I went on a much needed holiday to Boracay with some close friends from church. It was the first time traveling with this bunch that was not a mission trip up to Thailand, so that was pretty awesome :)

Looking forward into the next few months, I'd be traveling a little more too. Batam, Chiangmai, and *maybe* Phuket :)

Work-wise, I've more or less settled into my new job, which I'm pretty contented with at this point in time. It's flexible enough for me to have the occasional dinners with friends to catch up, to attend church and lifegroup, or to travel overseas, so that's always good. I feel very fortunate to have found a line of work that I love, and it's a very surreal situation to be in.

I've picked up reading again. It's been a very long while since I bought a book off the shelf. I miss the feeling of being immersed in a book, an escape from reality, to make me forget for a little while. Definitely hope I'll continue to pick up new books along the way, so please feel free to recommend me on any good reads you might have in mind! :)

Most importantly, I've started doing my quiet time daily again. Something happened a few years back, which gradually made me stop doing my QT altogether, just because. So I'm glad I'm back on track, even though it took me years to regain my foothold again.

I guess these are most of the things I've decided to chase after this year. There have been other things that I love and makes me happy, which I've tried to chase after too. But sometimes love does not equate to happiness; love involves the occasional heartaches. Things will get better though, over time.

Okay I don't know what to say anymore, but hopefully this update will just serve as a reminder to myself that this space still exists in this virtual world.

Commuting in New York & Homecooked Meals

Winter is finally coming to an end and Spring is hopefully arriving soon.

I'm still getting used to my new work schedule and commuting in New York is quite a pain sometimes. Because the trains run 24/7, there are bound to be some lines that undergo maintenance every week. So notices about which lines are affected for the following week or weekend are posted on several bulletins weekly in the stations, so it gives commuters a mental note on how to change their route to work/school/just commuting to places in general. Given that their system is quite efficient (more efficient that Singapore), it is still a total nightmare/headache for me to change my routine constantly because I enjoy routines :( Like how in the next month and a half, I'd have to start taking a bus then train to work rather than just taking trains and switching lines, because no trains will be running at the closest station near me at 4am in the morning for me to go to work. And so far my experiences taking buses hasn't been so great, given that I've missed my stops a couple of times and it makes it worse taking it at night/early morning because it's too dark to see any landmarks or road signs that might be familiar to me to navigate myself. Sigh. Okay long rant about commuting in New York.

This isn't a daily routine, but since I've moved here to New York, I find myself cooking a lot more on a weekly basis than I do in Singapore, because my grandmother has always been the one planning and cooking our meals back home since forever! And I must salute her, because she's got tons of recipes tucked in her back pocket and it's such a breeze for her. Every time I go grocery shopping here, I have to rack my brains to think of a menu and what I want to cook at home, what to buy, what my budget is... Very tiring just thinking about it HAHA! But my colleagues were surprised that I do cook at home, because a lot of them just eat out or consume TV dinners.

As you will see from the pictures below, a lot of the ingredients are the same because it's so hard to buy groceries to feed just one person!

Mac 'N' Cheese with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage 

Yau Gai with Stir-fried Broccoli and Mushroom Omelette

Yau Gai (leftover, became super gelat!) with Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice

Sesame Chicken with Stir-fried Broccoli and Mushroom and Fried Rice with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage 

Creamy Linguine with Smoked Chicken Apple Sausage with Fried Egg

Beef Stew Pasta with Mixed Vegetables 

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs, Mushrooms, Crispy Bacon, Toast with Peanut Butter and Jam and Peanut Butter Doughnut with Banana Cream from Doughnut Plant 

Yeap, simple homecooked food :) I have also made Beef Bolognese THREE TIMES since I've been here, but I've never taken a photo of it because it's something I cook at home too so it's really ordinary. I have witnessed a roommate from my previous lodging just heating up bottled pasta sauce and eating it with spaghetti. Disgusting. At least enrich it with ground meat or vegetables or something?? 

I feel like I've got a million things to blog about but no time to do so!! I am not exaggerating when I say work is really draining a lot of my energy. It's 6pm right now, but I'm so tired I just want to KO on the bed and sleep. But no, I shall go cook myself some dinner and probably have some ice cream for dessert~