Wow, 20th Post!

I must be real free or what? Haha ...

Well, it's the end of the month again. It's been a great one, nearly as wonderful as June. There were some memorable dates - Hui Teng's Commencement and birthday, the day the whole family stepped into the studio for a family shot with us girls donned in graduation robes (really cheesy, if you ask me but I had my share of laughs looking like a teenaged witch from Hogwarts, and whatever makes Mom happy!), Hui Ching started work at SIA (looking forward to all those discounts in future! Though I wish I had a share in the ultra-low staff-rate airfare) ... among a few other things that made me all warm and fuzzy inside ... :)

Of course, there are some things that make me really sad. Like the Korean aid workers who were kidnapped by the Taliban, and the two unfortunate ones who have been killed. God bless their souls. My prayers are with those who are still in Taliban clutches; only God knows what hell they are living in right now. May their families find hope and strength in these trying days ... may the remaining 21 be released unharmed soon ... they were only there to help the millions who have been made helpless by the very people who think they are upholding justice taking innocent lives by force, and at whim.

But they cannot take away little moments of joy that I manage to find in the looming shadows of malevolence.

Today, walking home from work, two separate incidents made me smile. A couple of kids were buying otar from the Otar Man beneath the overhead bridge leading from Compasspoint. Those eager little faces as they watched "uncle" pack their snack, taking in the cheerful banter of the friendly Otar Man in wide-eyed wonder. I had wanted to whip out my camera to capture this lovely moment but decided against it. I didn't want to turn joy into stress. So I moved on.

I came to one of the central pieces of Sengkang Sculpture Park - the Whale Sashimi. It's a concrete structure in the shape of a cut-up blue whale (only it is blue and yellow in colour), like sushi, or sashimi. See, the new towns of Sengkang and Punggol sport an aquatic theme, and I've unashamedly referred to my tranquil neighbourhood as "a resort town". As I walked past the Whale Sashimi this evening, a bunch of school kids had climbed on top of it and were posing for a picture. Miles of cheer and laughter sent me on a brief journey down memory lane - to the beach and the sand castles, to those carefree student days.