A time to be thankful

It's true that there's really no incentive to blog when next to nobody knows that this place actually exists. But I'd rather have things this way, though - too many people I know dismiss the idea of blogs as ~overtly sentimental~ (much to the internal shrugging of my head in sheer dismay), and I'd love to be spared of the uncomfortable feelings that come when my friends who don't exactly understand why I'm so writing-inclined (or ~artsy~, for that matter) question my ways of doing things... simply because they don't see the need to. But as for me, writing remains an important part of my life, despite the fact that now, I only do it occasionally. My future self will ponder this in retrospection and be thankful that I wrote whatever I wrote now, no matter how trivial, hahaha. And as for those who see things the way I do, in an attempt to be subtle and intuitive, I've definitely left more than enough footprints that lead to this place. So all is well. :)

Life has been pretty... stable? lately. This period has been one of collecting and organising my thoughts, and making sense of them. We're back to the quiet, idyllic stage of the army lifestyle, and it's good, but of course, too much of a good thing (I'm three weeks into this stage) is always bad. Recently, I've begun to feel unproductive yet again, and apart from making a couple of tentative plans for December and the upcoming year, I've been trying to get those creative juices running again. Am embarking on quite a major yet personal end-year project, so let's see how it goes when it finally comes to fruition. :)

Some of the weekends while I was away from here was spent cafe-hopping around Jalan Besar which was quite enjoyable for an activity that isn't exactly very stimulating, haha. In my opinion, the hype over these sorts of independent cafes in Singapore has started to die down, following a personal observation that the number of pretty/well-considered Instagram photos of the food and interiors of such places has kinda reached the tipping point. Nevertheless, I'll still jump on the bandwagon if I can, because I'm pretty much a sucker for good iPhone photography myself. But from the foodie point of view, I'll always go for hawker/coffee-shop dishes or meals from traditionally acclaimed/popular restaurants any time, because most cafes here continue to bank on their aesthetic. Though I have to say that the Pancakes Stack you see above from The Bravery really quite hits the spot. It's served with ricotta cheese, bananas, chopped pistachios and a dose of honey that's just right. I'm not a very great fan of cheese in general, but the flavour of the ricotta cheese did not stand distinguished from the rest; in fact, it blended in really well with the overall sweetness of the stack, contributing a pleasant, mildly milky taste. And with the bananas that smelled REALLY good, it goes into the (rather short) list of cafe food which I enjoy.

(feat. terrible enlistment day selfie at BMTC Cookhouse 3 which isn't supposed to exist lol)

Also, 12 Dec marked my anniversary as a soldier, and that will leave me with exactly 365 days left. One year on, I see how NS has changed me, both for better (and worse). Working with my platoon as a scout has made clear the values I should hold on to. I did things I never thought I was capable of doing, yet I was always humbled. Most importantly, I learned a lot about gratitude, and to make the best of whatever decisions I make, good or (mostly) bad. And despite having written my fair share of all that in all the previous posts leading up to this, I still won't say that I'm definitely where I'm supposed to be, but yeah, I'm learning. And when the time comes for me to leave... BYE HAHA, but I'll definitely know enough to keep improving as a person. :) 

In other news, church has been really exciting lately, which is a given since it's Thanksgiving/Christmas period. However, I spent the Sunday just past as well as last Sunday with the bunch of church mates closest to me and celebrated Sheryl's and Hui Yen's birthdays with them. Celebrated Sheryl's day with a picnic in the park... and in the rain, but that didn't really manage to dampen our spirits, as being with them was already interesting enough. It's funny yet great how our silly antics never get old, and they're really a bunch I can spend a lot of time with without having to put in much effort into thinking out productive conversations or fun things to do.

Last weekend was completely... devoured? engulfed? by church, but in a good way despite the extreme verbs, lol. The highlights were candlelight service and the E391 Thanksgiving party; as usual, candlelight service was all prettied-up and photogenic, but it was especially heartwarming because of the great Christmas mood and Presence. :) On Sunday we kicked off our tradition of Thanksgiving parties at Costa Sands, and it was great to see everyone so involved in the celebrations one way or another. Helped out with the preparation of the cooked food before going down (which was a rather impromptu decision, but I guess it did help hone my poorly developed cooking instincts), and the BBQ was awesome as well. It was also an opportunity for all of us to get together and look back in 2013 with clarity, conviction and maturity, and hearing the testimonies as well as seeing the efforts of fellow CG members get acknowledged is definitely something to keep in memory for the years to come.

As the year's drawing to a close, there's gonna be a couple more good changes to anticipate, what with an awesomely long block leave from 20 Dec all the way through 5 Jan. I'll definitely get as many things done by the end of this year as I can, and personally draw the willpower from within me to water my own grass green in preparation for the year to come. As I'm writing this, it feels like I'm on the verge of gulping back words and promises, but note to self: it'll never hurt to try. Never at all.