Out living or just outliving

Image from Pinterest

 

I keep saying I'll write more each time I check on my blog.  When I'm out and about, I think of what I want to put into words when I get home.  Then when I reach home, I do other things, or I just chill with my HP and browse online.

When I woke up this morning, I thought about all the working people.  Are they out there living their lives happily?  Some love going to work.  They prepare their things the night before and get organised for an easy and smooth start to their day.  Good planning, I know!  

Many are out living their best lives because they still get to do what makes them feel useful. But equally, there are some who get up on a working day and just go through the motions.  

However, we start our day, whether happily or grudgingly, we are out living our lives. 

I haven't really worked since early 2012.  More accurately, I wasn't gainfully employed because I did sort of work for the first six years when I arrived in Singapore.  Not work per se but more of a responsibility and there were days when it was tough.  Unbelievably, it is now almost an equal number of six years that I have not had to "work".  I am always thankful that I get to stay home.  

Recently Stephen and I were chatting about outliving some of our family and friends.  Death has a way of making us think about our own mortality.  Both of our fathers died relatively young; mine at 57 and his at 64.  We have outlived both of them.  It is a sobering thought.  

While we were out living our lives, we were, inadvertently, outliving many of our loved ones.  

Each day is precious.  May we be reminded to live well, love much, and laugh often.

Of who matters

Image from Pinterest

 

I used to think that I would never leave KL.  I believed that it would be where I would spend my retirement years.  It seems that we don't really know the future and can only speculate about it.

As it turned out, I moved to Singapore upon early retirement.  It was not an easy move and more out of necessity than desire.  Somehow, it has turned out to be what would be an amazing journey of discovery about who I am!

On my way here in 2012, I was filled with trepidation as this would not only be a change of environment, it would also be a change of lifestyle.

Thankfully, I negotiated the steep learning curves and found the plateau of being contented with it all.  

I have changed so much.  This I am certain of because I no longer have the same interests.  It is much like a *before* and *after* Singapore timeline.  

Here in Singapore, life is almost constantly revolving around Stephen.  And as we age, it really doesn't matter where we are as long as we are together.  I am grateful and blessed to be in his life as he is to be in mine.  

Image from Pinterest

A month ago!

 One of the rare invitations received this year!  

Rare?  Because we replied YES!

B.A.P. Unión is a beautiful training ship. 

Hooked on Jeffrey

Image from Pinterest

I lost the reading bug for a while.  I found TV to be easier but when my granddaughter visited recently in the last week of August, we went to the library and while she was looking for books, I did the same and picked two books.   

I'm a fan of Jeffrey Archer and I had read the first three of the Clifton Chronicles so many years ago.  Unknowingly, I picked the fourth in the series.  How awesome is that???  Anyway, I finished these two books easily.  

Nagisa Tatsumi is brilliant, and I gleaned some pointers from the book, so it was a worthwhile choice!

Jeffrey Archer's "Be careful what you wish for" ended with a cliffhanger but thankfully, I quickly managed to get the next three books.  

I finished reading "This was a man" yesterday.  Okay, done and dusted!  

Image from Bing (search engine)

As an aside, I should add that Stephen is so happy that I am not buying any more books since the local library has thousands of books!  

And Nagisa Tatsumi will be happy to note that I did get rid of many other books which were collecting dust on my shelf.

Overall, I read five books in about a month!  Quite a feat since I retired.  I'm so pleased with myself.  

Best friend forever

This post is not for diabetics!

Image from www

 

I cannot say it enough. 

I am blessed to have Stephen as my best friend and husband. 

Each morning is a reminder of how he cares for me when I have my coffee, made by him before he leaves for work.  Seeing to the everyday little details that make me happy.  Even buying the snacks that I like so that we can each have our cheat days.

While I am not earning any more money since I have retired, I have not felt short-changed at all. I had thought that I would have to change my spending lifestyle drastically when I stopped working but everything that I have needed or wanted is handled by Stephen. 

Even for the things that he doesn't understand like my multicooker or air fryer. His motto is "as long as you're happy".  

I am happy.  And I'll say it again, greatly blessed, highly favoured and deeply loved.

Busy living life

Image from thetarotjournalpakistan

I always surprise myself by neglecting this blog because I have all the time in the world to do anything and everything I want.  Writing here has always been a nice hobby.  It's a way to organise my thoughts and keep them here for posterity.  Also, I may forget and so, saving them here allows me to revisit these moments.

I was in KL in the early part of January and then again for most of May.  Travelling now is via Seletar/Subang/Seletar instead of Changi/KLIA/Changi.  This tremendously cuts down the time from home to airport and vice versa. 

Although my blog title is "Busy living life", I haven't really been busy.  Most of the days just flow into the next.  I'd have to say it is a simple life.  I wake up when I'm fully rested. Usually, Stephen has already gone off to work.  He makes my coffee and puts it next to my chair.  It makes me smile every morning when I see this!  As they say, it's not what people profess with their mouths, it's their acts of love that prove what they feel.

Now that I've settled back into my usual SG routine, hopefully, I will spend more time writing on my new laptop.  New because sometimes, it is easier to just get another one instead of replacing the charger for the old one.  But, as luck would have it, the new charger works on the old one and so now we have two laptops. Stephen was actually thinking of buying two and discarding the old one!  Thankfully, he had the idea that maybe, just maybe the new charger would work on the old one!  Lo, and behold, it does.  Yay!!!!

I'm consciously cutting down on my time online.  Actually, I'm even toying with the idea of going cold turkey but what would that achieve?  I enjoy the camaraderie and the mini chats with some of the people.  I also like to think that I bring joy to people who have little or no contact with family or friends.  There are many lonely people out there.

Busy isn't a bad thing if we are also living our truth.  Doing what we enjoy and using moments to make a difference in our own as well as other people's lives is great.  

September to remember

GOSH!  IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS SINCE I WROTE ANYTHING HERE!

(Image from Instagram)

I have found that life in this covid-19 era hasn't been all that bad for me.  Oh yeah, I didn't get to go back to KL for nearly two and a half years but eventually we did manage to return and spent almost a month with family and friends.

I'm a homebody so staying in doesn't get to me as much as it has to many others.  Whether we are out and about or not doesn't change that we are passing through the passage of time in our lives.  The paradox is that those who miss being able to go out, are annoyed that there are people who are quite simply satisfied not needing to go out.  And often, the ones who are home, can't fathom the need to constantly be on the go.

Overall, I've long been mindful that I have so much of what I have always dreamed about during my working days.  It was never to travel the world or to own a mansion because that's not who I am. Mostly it was a dream to be debt-free, happy, healthy and contented with life.  

Now I sleep when I want to and wake when I'm fully rested.  I watch TV, read, play online games and chat with Stephen (always an engaging partner for conversation). Our meals are when we sit opposite each other and either eat in silence because the food is so good or we talk about the latest happenings in our family and well, the world also.  Dessert depends on what is available but we usually have the same thing so it's uncomplicated.  As soon as the dishes are washed, we start thinking about tea time.  Luckily we have loads of choices because everything we like is just a bus ride or one MRT line away.  In this regard, Stephen is the obvious choice to go and get something.  More often than not, he comes back with snacks for our TV time.  We are trying (not always successfully) to only have healthy choices.  In general, life is pretty laid-back and easy.  We share chores and so the work is halved.  Of course, Stephen working from home is what makes this possible.  

Our routine makes for a life that I had hoped for but would never have imagined possible.  But here I am!  No complaints except for who is going to choose the show on Netflix!

Anyway, it's September and I want to remember that as long as you have the right partner with you, life is good.  I am just counting my blessings.

And then it was ten

 Image from Pinterest

TEN YEARS is a long time. 

I retired from work on 29 February 2012 and tied up loose ends before arriving in Changi Airport on the 12 March 2012.

It is still fresh in my mind how uncertain I was to make that final leap although everything was already set in motion.  And yet, here I am ten years later.   

Oh yes, I'm not a robot who makes cold, hard decisions without thinking or feeling!  It was a bold move to give up a life I'd known for so long.  A life in my own country and a place I called home was not an easy one to leave behind.  Yet, the pull of a new chapter and to be by the side of the one person who always gives me support wasn't a totally difficult choice, either.  

When I look back now and think of my heart pounding then, I know I was just being human because this is what real people feel.  Taking chances is never easy as in a marriage, having a baby or moving away because we don't know the outcome.  We have to give it a shot and make the best out of it. 

I'm glad I hesitated.  It made me weigh the pros and cons.  What would the reward be if there were no risks?  We take the risk making that jump from what is familiar to all that is unfamiliar.  That's the challenge accepted and that's the challenge to overcome.  If I was a hundred per cent certain, then there would not be the element of winning/losing or of any change.  But a winning change makes all the difference when you reflect.  

Everyone gets dealt with a lousy hand at cards sometimes.  We face circumstances that we can embrace or we can lament the predicament and make each day miserable. We have the option to either make it through or make it work.  

I'd like to say I made it work.  Not for anyone but for me.  I did what I could for others for the most part of my life and now I'm really learning to do what I can for me.  That is the achievement. 

It hasn't always been easy but in the bigger picture, and in hindsight, I can sincerely say, on a scale of one to ten, I'd give this life a TEN.

Of love and miracles

There are so many unexplainable things that have happened between Stephen and me.  For example, songs long forgotten and no longer popular that we both liked when we were young and recalled when we began chatting. Then there are also the people who are mutual family members and yet our paths never once crossed during our childhood.  We hadn't the faintest idea that our future would one day collide.  We never imagined that we would be anything more than just friends.

I always like to think that somehow, we were meant to be even if we didn't set out to be together when we first met.

We were from the same yet different worlds: similar yet contrasting backgrounds; varied yet closeted exposure, diversified yet limited lifestyles, and the list goes on.  Yet, we kept moving forward and towards a life together.

When I saw this image and the words that were in it, I was enthralled as it totally encapsulates the love we have.  

This revelation was not something thunderous or mind-blowing but made possible by the tiny little things that have somehow become the very fabric of our life and love together.  

It is a miracle.

 

22642 days

It's my birthday today!

How many days since 21 March, 1959?

It has been 22642 days since 21 March, 1959

That's approximately 743.86 months or 62 years.

A reminder for me!

Done by one

 

Recently I saw something that suggested we should get all our chores done by one pm.  It seemed a nice idea.  

I wondered if it would work for me.  So I did aim for it the other day.  Kept telling myself that after one pm, I can be guilt-free while I lounge around doing whatever I wanted.

Then Stephen made me change my mind.  He suddenly said, "just do one thing, only one thing."  He added, "wash clothes or whatever and then rest!".  

I won't always abide by this 100%.  I mean I may be done by one and then do nothing.  Or I may just do one thing and then rest.  I suppose that's the beauty of having the luxury of time and being at home.

Lesson one is just getting something done!

Image from WWW

Contentment

Someone we know is getting married today.  The US President should be decided today.  People who don't need to work have slept in because of the rain.  Those who needed to work, woke up reluctantly but enjoyed the cool, fresh morning air.

Me?  I'm already putting up Christmas decorations.  Not much like how I used to do in KL but enough to cheer up the ambience at home.  

And since I've found Shopee, we're ordering some new Christmas stuff (Thanks to my Minister of Finance).  He even suggested some bedsheets and chair covers.  Hurray!!!  

It's a lovely day, wet outside but cool inside and I'm going to continue from where I left off yesterday.

Yennyways (as my friend used to say), the TV is on to follow the US elections, my HP is on alert for wedding photos and so I am waiting, watching, working, but contented.  

Onwards to 2025

 

Last week I got my Long Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP +) renewal done!  This will allow me to remain in Singapore until 6 August 2025.  When we left ICA, Stephen told me that I would be 66 years old the next time I needed to apply again!  Then he sent that image to our children in Malaysia and it made me smile.  And as Jamus Lim would say, "it warms the cockles of my heart". 

I now realise that I've been here for eight and a half years already. Somehow those years went by so fast though it didn't feel that way at all.  

Anyway, despite all the Covid-19 restrictions, I managed to renew my Malaysian passport online, collect it at the Malaysian High Commission here, and also sorted out the LTVP+.  

Thank goodness, we are both computer savvy and can do everything on our own.  

Majulah Malaysia and Singapura!

And just like that....

Where did all the time go?

It was January when I last wrote in this blog and almost half a year has gone by.  I haven't been busy nor did anything keep me away from writing.  I was just putting it off for no apparent reason. Sometimes that's how it should be.  We should move according to the beat of our own rhythm. 

When we returned to Singapore in the first week of January, we hadn't expected to see the Covid-19 mania overtake the world and the lives of so many people.  Since its inception, nearly everyone has been in some kind of quarantine or was in lockdown mode. In Singapore, we called it the Circuit Breaker.

Initially it was just something we thought would come and go but as it stands now, we were all wrong.  Nobody could have known how it would dominate headlines worldwide and been such a topic on everyone's mind.

Anyway, I decided to sit and write a bit today after such a long absence because my online calendar reminded me that SFGEMS is 8 years old. 

And just like that, it also means that I have been here in Singapore for a little over that same time span.

Life, now, is basically easy-going.  I'm just enjoying the quiet time at home.  Of course, my day is punctuated by whatsapp messages and video calls but overall, I am on my own which I thoroughly enjoy.

Thankfully, the other person in my life and space (my better half), makes all this possible.  I am mightily blessed.