Throwback to Last Tuesday

So last Tuesday was my birthday. Turned 35, gosh :( It wasn't a great one. I started the morning wanting to do something and that failed miserably. I was thinking that at 35, the present God gave me was dealing with setbacks. I'm never good with this and I think He will always test me again and again in the future. So that was a downer and I was feeling very moody for the rest of the day. After that bad morning, I went to the temple to pray and then I went to Gardens by the Bay. It's having a Cherry Blossom display in its Flower Dome. I wonder why they didn't put some at the Cloud Forest Dome too. Maybe they did, I don't know, I didn't go there. You know right now I am more curious to see Gardens by the Bay's nursery. I wonder how they cultivate plants that don't normally grow in the tropics like the cherry blossoms. I want to see how it's done. Unfortunately they don't have tour for the public for this. I'm not even sure if it's in the compound or somewhere else.

The last time I was there was July last year. Some parts of the Flower Dome of course never change, so I kinda like it when I find something different in these parts. I found sections where they have these little statues of characters from fairy tale. The characters were in vintage style. There were Alice and the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and there are those that I didn't recognize, like there's a boy, perhaps it's vintage Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh. It wasn't that far from this vintage Winnie the Pooh and Piglet that looks just so adorable. Vintage Winnie the Pooh is just the best.

Anyways, my only experience with Cherry Blossom was in Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the time I was there, the ones blooming the most are the Kwanzan Cherry trees. I actually love their crowded petals and pink colors. In Japan though, it seems they prefer the simplistic kind, white and with 5 petals. I can't remember what the blooming kind that I saw in the Flower Dome that day were. I was down remember, so I didn't really pay much attention. I don't know if there's any Yoshino cherry tree which is the favorite kind in Japan. Anyway, the trees there have mostly white flowers and some of them were weeping trees which were really nice looking. It was rather overcast that day and I was really lacking in energy that I don't think I did a good job in taking their pictures. I tried, but I am still rather disappointed with the results.













After that I went to the mall. Got myself sneaker and then I watched Manchester by the Sea. It's quite a sad movie because the main character played by Casey Affleck was so conflicted. I have a soft spot for these kind of conflicted sad characters, I think because I relate to the sadness and loneliness. I like movies like Manchester by the Sea. It may not be a box office, but I like the stories they tell, different, and it's special because these days we're just being bombed by repeated stories with different variations of special effect, explosions, and such. I also like Moonlight which I think is well deserving of the best picture award at this year's Oscar. Though it has quite a heavy and sad story compared to La La Land, I just feel it more. Again maybe it's all because of the sadness and isolation. Anyways, that's it peeps. Hope you guys have great stories of your own.

:) eKa @ 8:38:00 PM • 0 comments

The Mystery of the Missing Sock

It's been 4 days.

I live my life with routines. Maybe many people don't like routines, but for me they help to really get things done. So this week, like many other weeks before, I have 2 days of laundry. The second day was on Thursday where I washed bed sheets, towels, blankets, and such. On laundry day, as soon as I put down my packed meal on the table, I go straight to the washing machine and put in the socks I'm wearing into the machine. On Thursday I did just that, at least that's what I think I did. After the washing machine was done and I had to take out the bed sheets and such, I only found 1 sock. I couldn't find the other one. I looked and looked, I just couldn't find it. Did I not put it in? I don't know. If I didn't, what did I do with that one sock? You know what it's like when you're tired and you just absent mindlessly do things without even thinking and in the end don't really have much recollection about what you did. Is that what happened to me? Did I do something different that day? I'm very confused. I had to tell my landlady about it because I was worried that it got stuck in the washing machine and would cause the machine to spoil. She helped me look and checked in her basket next to the washing machine, but she couldn't find it too. She had used the washing machine since and it's working fine, so I think my one sock didn't get stuck somewhere in there and caused trouble.

It's been 4 days and I couldn't let it go. I feel like I have a slight OCD compared to normal people and when things are not in their order like now, it bothers me. I have to stop thinking about it, but it doesn't go away easily. I wonder if this what causes me to have grudges on people too. I cannot let go things. I remember stuff and they just can't get away. I wonder how much of it is mental maturity and how much of it is really genes and DNA. So anyway, that's the mystery of my missing sock. I do hope it'll come back though. Will it come back as mysteriously as it disappears? Well, I'll let you know when it comes back.

Moving on. Read my first book of the year, Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman. When the book first came out, the news was all about how shocking it is that one of the good main character associated himself with racist people. I didn't buy the book when it came out because I was waiting for the paperback version. After reading it, it actually resonates a lot with what's been happening in the world, especially in America. It's like finding out people you regard in high esteem and actually like voted for people or party with questionable values. Like the main character in Harper Lee's book, Jean Louise, you just started to question things, how you don't know people at all. The book is still great for me because Harper Lee is still teaching us things. Jean Louise is only in her 20s and I'm much older than her, but I realize that I react like her, that is to go as far away as possible from people I dislike and just get them out of my world. It is unrealistic in practice. In the book through the voice of Jean Louise's uncle, Harper Lee is telling us not to run away from opposing views and dismiss the people having them as not worthwhile because that would make us a bigot too. The uncle spoke about how we should actually stay and be around these people because perhaps by being there we can make changes. I particularly like the line, "the time your friends need you is when they're wrong, Jean Louise". It's a very adult thing to do and though I am in my age right now, I know that it will be hard for me to do so.

In my age right now, I'm still into magic. I am reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child now and I love it so much and like all the Potter books I read before, I like it so much that I'm reading it slowly so that it'll last longer. I didn't buy the book / play script when it was out because since it's meant to be a play, I wanted my first experience of it to be watching it as a play. However with me living in this side of the world, that opportunity may not come soon and in the end I just can't contain my curiosity. Reading the play, I am even more curious now on how they stage this. I want to see how they create the magical effects and such. It's such a pleasure reading this and I really really hope I'll get to see this on stage one day. Reading the play is also quite a fun experience for me, because I read the lines as if I'm an actor myself :D

So anyway 2 more days left 'til I turn 35. Good grief, what am I gonna do with my life. I know I have many things to be thankful for about my life, but when I think about the future, I just get overwhelmingly anxious. So for this coming Tuesday, I just want a good day and I don't want to think much about what's next in my life.

:) eKa @ 9:07:00 PM • 0 comments

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