Back on the Road

Well not exactly the road per se but more the path. My long awaited return to cycling has come. I guess the reason why it took so long was the mental block about just getting all the gear together and plonking myself on that seat and pounding the road. Now that I have finally, it is a good feeling. But as with all first time cycling attempts this was not spared from dramas.

This time around my best mate, Selvam and I after much, much, much talk (we have been talking like almost a year) we finally found time for to take a ride together. It was meant to be an early morning ride on the Changi Park Connector Network (PCN) but that would not be the case.

After dropping the wife off at work, I headed to Tampines to get Selvam. The weather which looked perfect took a turn on the way there with a sudden downpour of torrential rain. Thank God for the KPE which got me out or shall I say under. Soon we were on our way to Changi Point which would be the start of our ride on the PCN, when the rain came again. Thankfully the rain stopped when we hit the Changi Beach carpark.

We unloaded our bikes and just when we did, the heavens opened! This time it was here to stay. We ran to a nearby shelter and soon was joined by a crowd of people who were doing the same.

 

In the foreground are a bunch of students camping and learning how to tie knots. Yes clove hitch, reef knot, cross lashing kind of knots. In the background are “orange” guys from SembCorp who were supposed to be doing some landscaping work. All Stuck!

This was not how I envisioned my return to the road. After almost 45 mins of chatting and quietly laughing at the knots instructors cheesy attempts at humour, we had enough. If we are not going to ride we should do the next best thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started with a warm cup of coffee to warm up but the rain did not let up so…..order up!

 

 

The food was surprisingly good. I messaged the wife to tell her that my bike trip has now become a foodie trip to Changi Point. While we were chilling out here, she was playing Incredible Hulk.

Eventually the rain slowed by mid morning (10ish) and so we decided to hit the road. I am glad we stuck to it. It was a great 30KM ride. The PCN was a great idea, there was no need to contend with heavy vehicles and drivers in cyclist unfriendly Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

We rode from Changi Point to East Coast Parkway before turning back towards Changi Point. On our return trip we stopped at these rest point and soaked in the view and the breeze. It was great!!!

I noticed on the other side of the pictured waterway was a large yellow beacon. We decided to head there to see see.

 

It was the Tanah Merah beacon. It was located on a tip of a break water and the view from there was awesome! Too bad just had my iPhone with me to take some okay pictures. Here is the view towards the East up the breakwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the view West wards, up East Coast Park and way in the distance is the CBD. This photo does not at all do justice to the view to be honest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So as we headed back to Changi Point, I was already thinking about our next cycling trip and promising myself that it will not be 3 months or 3 weeks later but 3 days later, unfortunately as luck would have it the bike is in the shop for servicing and hopefully I will get it back soon.

M Riding

Giving Back

Last Monday I was not in the best state of mind, it was Monday blues in a slightly different shade. I had mixed feelings of uncertainty, indecision and anxiety. I guess it is human given my state but I am on an extended break and to be frank there is little to be worried about. But on occasion these feelings to get the better of me.

So I was labouring to re-enter a state of rest, I tried everything to prevent these contagious thoughts from resurfacing. Most effective of course was just to look at Sophie sleeping, guaranteed smiles there but it was temporary. TV and reading did not help either. Then S woke up from her slumber, I picked her up and she did this.

As usual she rested on my shoulder but this time she just stayed there, awake but resting. It was almost as if she was comforting me and telling me in her way that “it’s all good Dad, REST!” No matter what she was trying to do, everything that was bothering me melted away and was forgotten in that instant. This small act of giving back from my almost 4 month old girl, set the tone for what has been and is continuing to be an awesome week.

Choose to be happy and not be defined by your circumstances.

M glad for S 

Sleep Patterns Study

Sleep is one of the most important human functions that is essential to survival. We all do it and we all need it. Did you know that anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

In any case, I recently conducted a sleep study of Sophie. Here are my findings:

Sleep time usually begins after 100-130ml of milk, following a bout of burping and about 10 to 15 minutes of winding down (no sleep deprivation here) before the eventual “dreamtime” begins. This is followed by me swaddling Sophie so that her movements are minimised. This is just a delay tactic for the eventual result as will be shown eventually.

 

The next stage that can happen anywhere between 5 minutes to 2-3 hours is the escape of the left hand. Always the left. This has led us to a possible pre-conclusion that Sophie is left handed.

 

The next stage is a mix of chaos and completely unpredictable in terms of timing or outcome thus, chaos. As is clearly shown by the next set of images captured on different days and sleep cycles, the results are random.

The next stage is the point between sleep and wake. This is a critical stage and the eventual outcome can be determined but is not always guaranteed by some careful steps. First with the introduction of a pacifier which will calm baby down followed by some light patting on the chest should return her back to sleep state. But as said earlier this is not a full guarantee as after a few minutes of sleep she might be in the next state as shown. 

 

This is the end of the sleep cycle and is normally followed by a change of nappy and some fun smiley times of play and discovery.

 

No matter what the case maybe, sleep is always an interesting subject for us adults to ponder upon. No matter what the case maybe or the “sleep” stage which the baby is in, to adults it always guaranteed to bring a warm smile to your face.

 

M studying S!

Brunch Anyone?

The word brunch itself spells indulgence. Its exudes that carefree, lazy, airy feeling that settles so lightly on one’s palate. Ah…brunch!!!

This was one of the things that MMM (Maji, Maju and Mojo) did together. Every morning I would search for a suitable place for us to brunch at. Someplace nice and cosy, away from the hustle and bustle of the usual weekday activities.

Of the many places we tried to go to, our favourite was nestled right in Bishan Park surprisingly. I expected to find something good in the Bukit Timah area but after a few forays there, Canopy was the favourite by far!

The place is gorgeously landscaped so you feel outdoors but not too stifled by the heat of the morning or shall I say mid morning (we are talking brunch) sun. Service was impeccable, we have been back a few times since and the server there even remember my name! That is top marks in my book.

Food wise, there was little to be disappointed about too. We sort of started a quest to find the best Eggs Benedict and so far Canopy’s has beaten quite a few top competitors! The pièce de résistance was the hollandaise sauce which was nicely balanced and just slightly tart to give it a full body. Yum!

The mushroom sandwich as well, a sure pleaser for the mushroom lover! With aromatic fresh shrooms with some melted Cheddar on multigrain bread, just perfection. Probably the spoiler was the fried which seemed like an odd accompaniment to such a richly flavourful dish.

Sophie too enjoyed herself, she was so excited soaking in the new surroundings that she fell asleep. So guys if you are ever in the area do drop by Canopy at Bishan Park next to Aramsa Spas, it’s a delight.

M Brunching

Restful Increase

This post was written quite a while ago but I am only posting it now. It took a bit of soul searching and inward reflection to get to a place where I was comfortable to share. So here goes;

Just before Chinese New Year (early Feb), I got the word that I was being let go, ironically it happened as I was watching the movie Up In The Air. It was a shock but, somehow I felt that He prepared me for this. I took the news well and chose to leave graciously.

To be honest, with this incident, I did feel anger which is only natural, as you can imagine but, I felt it for a good 20 minutes only. Following which my mental state was a mix of uncertainty as well as glee! Yes glee! This is really credit mainly to a super supportive wife, who alerted me to the silver lining as well as her similar experience a few years ago.  My soon to be ex-colleagues called me the happiest “retrench-ee” they had ever seen. To be exact I was giving the option of the two “R”s, I chose resignation instead.

I have been wanting an exit for a while now. Of course I would  have preferred it to be of my own doing but hey that's how the cookie crumbled. I was pretty satisfied with the package so I was not complaining. It was a case of true restful increase or in lay terms - paid holiday! So all things considered it worked out for the best.

Something else I did not complain about was the timing. The wife was going back to work soon and it meant that we (3 of us) could have some solid family time together. Believe me we did just that and to be honest it has been the happiest time in my life! So all in all it's been a time of blessed restful increase.

M humbly thankful

3 months on

 

Sophie is 3 months today. It has been a life changing experience and I have enjoyed all of it. I think this picture (although blur) pretty much sums up how life has been for me since her arrival and the fun we have together.

I could not be happier and best of all I get to do all this with my best friend.

Thanks Babe!

 

M Loving Life

BST

or Bible Story Time. This is time for me to read to Sophie a bible story from Sweet Dreams Princess by Sheila Walsh. Its a pretty good book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to tell their little ones about Jesus. Side note: Not to be limited to little ones it will also bless unknowing parents/readers.

This practice start way back when the wife was around 2 months preggers and it continued every night till Sophie was born. After which it was rather hard to ensure that she was awake and the right time, etc. When she was in the belly it was easier.

So now whenever I get the chance and the book is close by, its BST! S just loves it..

M ministering

Sow Much Lately?

One morning while I was out shooting, I took this picture. When I took this picture, I was going for a contrast play on the harshness of the rocks with the freeness of the dandelions. Cool huh?

When I got home to do a little post processing, I realised that these dandelions, were not really free as I though. In fact, they were fighting for survival. They would not last long as their roots would be shallow amongst these rocks.

The ground on which we stand needs to be deep rooted. Shallow roots do not hold strong and reap very little but healthy ground reaps deep roots which reaps a bountiful harvest that is thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

M discovering

The Mug Shot

Have you ever gone back and looked at old identity cards, perhaps even old student ids or even an old passport and looked at your mug shot and said,  “Gosh what was I thinking?” I know I have on several occasions.

With the wife going back to work soon, the idea came to take a short trip before the “pillar hugging” starts (private joke). There was a possibility of going overseas as well, so we had to get the little one the necessary documentation. I was particularly excited because I was going to take her passport photo. So after a few tries we ended up with this:

I can’t wait for the day for her to start talking coherently and for her to tell me what she thinks of this picture.  I imagine her saying “Dad, did you run out of hair gel or something, come on what were you thinking?” I’d probably reply “Cute what?!!”

M loving every moment