Air Time

I calculated. I spent 87 hours and 30 mins of my past 1 month flying.

So here's how I survived . . .

• a good book
  
• my ipod with
  
• the hub's Bowers & Wilkins noise canceling headphones
• emergency exit row seats!
• my Muji neck pillow
• absence of crying babies
• aromatherapy scented eye mask
  
• Professor Layton on my Ninetendo DS
• loads of orange juice
• my very own Trader Joe's peanut butter sandwich - by the 36th hour of flying, I was going to puke just seeing another box with an aluminum foil cover!

To the cuz out there, if you're reading this, I hope you survived yours!

gwork

Imagine ....

• having your employer make a donation to a charity of your choice each time you choose to cycle to work
• enjoying free buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner and we're talking good food from pizzas to naans to a full salad bar, grills, chinese pork in 2 sauces, aglio olio. Odwalla juices and organic cookies
• having a pantry in every division of the company with free flow of cereal, coffee, smoothies, chips, M&Ms, candies
• getting 1 day of the work week off to do anything totally unrelated to your area of work - the gmail was invented as a result of this initiative!
• bringing your dogs to work
• having a workstation done up anyway you like it even if it means building an inflatable tent around it
• playing volleyball with your team at 11am in the morning on the sand pitch and hearing your boss say - 'they're having a meeting, its collaboration at work!'
• doing some stationary swimming over lunch - think small shallow pool and you're swimming against a strong current aka swimming on the spot!

Cool enough? You can start sending your resume to Google!

One God

After being away from home and missing church for the past month, I found my way to the Glide Memorial Methodist Church - a street away from my hotel here in San Francisco - this morning. The place was filled with so much energy all ready to worship God. The band was armed with their saxophone and the works. The gospel choir really got the congregation onto their feet! The atmosphere was amazing and the hearts and passion of the people as we worshiped was truly an eye-opener for me. We held hands throughout the sanctuary, said the Prayer of St Francis and exchanged warm hugs with the people around us. Strangers came forward and gave me a hug making me feel most welcome! ....

2 hours later, as I was waiting for my colleagues to finish their dim sum brunch at the San Francisco Chinatown, I found myself walking into the United Chinese Methodist Church were a cosy, intimate worship session was being conducted in a hall that looked like a basketball court by day. The songs were sang in Cantonese and in contrast to the morning's service, there was all but a keyboarder, guitarist and a violinist. I was ushered to my seat where I found myself just enjoying listening to those Cantonese hymns. I may not understand Cantonese very much myself but I figured it out a little and did quite well deciphering the Chinese lyrics projected. Funny how the very first Mandrine service I ever attended will be all the way here in San Fran.

It was a Sunday morning well spent and a good reminder that across continents, time zones, races and skin colour, we can all worship the same one Great God.

Cupcakes

Magnolia Bakery - Cupcakes redefined!

Home

After 18 hours of flying, a 4 hours transit and a plate of tuna sushi set and negitoro maki at Narita, we are finally home. The very first thing I consumed - a bottle of yakult from our ever stocked-up fridge. Came home to a chilled room, new linens and heated bathe - our helper Jess is the best!

Breakfast this morning was a packet of good old nasi lemak with otah. This is our default next day's breakfast after arriving home from a long trip! We are surprisingly doing very well coping with our jet-lag - Melatonin rocks! Managed to unpack, repack, slot in a quick touch up at the eye-lash bar, pick the younger neglected sister up from school, chomped on popiah for lunch and am now pampering my badly dried out skin with SKII moisturising mask. My skin is definitely not happy with the US and airplane air!

Come tomorrow, I brave myself for another 23 hours of flying and bad airplane food. Thank God for mothers with good connections at SQ - I managed to secure a emergency exit seat! I think I'm going to be terribly home-sick by the end of my 2 week work trip! New York City, here I come!

Bye Bye For Now . . .

We said our goodbyes to my sis, Jude & Sophie today as they left Chicago to return to Ann Arbor and it broke my little heart saying bye bye to my little niece. I don't think I felt as sad when they left Singapore in January. Maybe its cos I knew then that I was going to be seeing her in 2 months but I think more because the last 10 days with Sophie was just so so very precious.

I teared as we parted ways outside the Chicago Arts Institute and again when we got back to the hotel room as I was looking through the many photos we took in the past week. A call from my sister and a quick skype with Sophie who greeted as with her mega watt grin brought this Yiyi some reprieve knowing that somewhere in that little inquisitive mind of hers, she remembered her Yiyi & Uncle Piao.

Darling Sophie, Yiyi misses you much much already! We'll snuggle you come December again OK? In the meantime, Yiyi better go rescue your Ergo from the Disney store. Maybe Yiyi should hug it to sleep tonight - perhaps all that Sophie-smell might make me feel better!

Power of the Cross

POWER OF THE CROSS
Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

Chorus:
This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the victory cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the power of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us
What a love! What a cost!

We stand forgiven at the cross.

Goodbye Ann Arbor . . .

Ann Arbor 2010
Originally uploaded by pz.sher

So its our last night here in Ann Arbor. It has been nothing less than a truly wonderful week. From the time we got off the Amtrak train from Chicago and were greeted with that big huge grin from Sophie to right this moment as we're tucking into homemade apple pie with fancy vanilla ice cream from Tahiti, we've enjoyed every moment of our stay here. The morning cycles, the many many trips to the supermarket, the chill-out afternoons around the campus, cafes and bookshops, the whipping up of dinners. This is one holiday in a long time that we can say we *really* just chilled! No pre-planned itinerary, no travel guide book, no rush for that 10.02am train, no google maps for directions.

In retrospect, if I had to do up a itinerary now, it'll probably go something like this - Every Sophie-waking moment - do silly things to make Sophie smile! Seeing Sophie smile and make funny noises has got to be the highlight of our day here. Yes the mushroom sandwich at Zingerman's was yummy, the fried veggies at Blimpy's was greasy but oh so good, the outlet shopping was - let's just say - fulfilling, not forgetting all that yummy home cooked dinner my sis & I whipped up; like her yummy BBQ chicken wings! But at the end of the day, its Sophie's smiles that wins them all! Yes, this trip is pretty much all about Sophie. Its about seeing her polish up her bowl of sweet potato with peas, voluntarily letting her pull my hair, seeing her off to school, watching her chew on her many many toys and seeing all these for ourselves and not on Skype. Its about being involved in her routine which is something we don't get to do much of with her being so far away from home. Its just about watching her grow up - even if its just for 7 days.

I have to say its also very heartwarming seeing the hubs shower her with so much love and attention in a way I've never expected. I mean from the gentle massage he gives her to calm her down from her meltdowns to the snuggles he gives her as she wakes Uncle Piao up from his morning sleep, I just know its not about getting her to pose for his camera face. And the best part is Sophie loves it, she loves all the attention she's getting from him and from the big smiles she gives her Uncle Piao, she's happy to let him know!

We head for Chicago tomorrow and will spend 3 more days there with Sophie, my sis and Jude. We're gonna miss being here in Ann Arbor with them and so now will have to find a way to convince Sophie's grandpa and grandma that Skyping alone does not do their grand-daughter justice and so the family should be back here for Christmas!