AMA #1

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The first question I got asked for Annie’s #AMA (Ask Me Anything) challenge earlier last year, was from Lou Plummer in which he asks:

“If you could work as a tour guide in one of the places you’ve traveled to, where would you pick? And why?”

Of course, for me, there is only one place and that’s Singapore. An island that was a huge part of my impressionable childhood years, those years from 8 through to 11. As an adult I’ve dreamed of and yes schemed to get back there for a visit, though it’s true the island I remember has changed, vastly, in the intervening years. And what was once a place of idyll life for me, is now a roaring metropolis of the 21st century, a tech hub, a tourist mecca, but still … As a tour guide? Hmm …

All those flashy hot spot amid the history and splendour of a place I remember maybe gives me a different perspective to be a Tour Guide. One able to recount the history in a way others cannot. I remember the riots during the 60s, I remember the civil unrest, I remember people being shot at, the undeclared war going on in the shadows between super powers like the US and UK, pushing to influence a people who wanted nothing to do with the colonialism of the day.

It’s easy to be a tour guide taking people to the Botanic Gardens, or to the Raffles Hotel, or one of the latest landmarks … but what about the advance of the Japanese on Singapore during WWII, or what happened at Changi prison? Or that, as a child, my parents and I met the Prime Minster of the day, Lee Kuan Yew.

I wonder if I would be an interesting tour guide or not, given maybe the average tourist probably wouldn’t want to know any of the painful history of this tiny nation island.

But then again, who knows.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Mindful March: Day 8

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Today’s reminder from the Mindful March initiative is:

‘Eat mindfully. Appreciate the taste, texture, and smell of your food.’

I think I have always eaten mindfully ever since, as a child, I discovered food doesn’t all taste the same, or is served mashed in a small blue cup. When I upgraded to solids I think I went nuts over wanting to taste everything. How carrots were crunchy, but tasted different to apples, and how jelly was soft and squishy in the mouth, but in a different way to soft boiled eggs.

From that point on, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped being both inquisitive, but also made sure every bite was fun and enjoyable. From taste, to texture, to smell, to that hard to pin down umami feel in the mouth.

I’m definitely not someone who eats to live, but who loves to eat for the sheer pleasure food can bring. Despite my name, I don’t wolf my food down but, rather, as my father taught me, I take my time to eat slowly and savour every bite and mouthful.

To me, food is a gift and, as such, it should be savoured not devoured. 

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Mindful March: Day 7

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Today’s reminder from the Mindful March initiative is:

‘Take three calm breaths at regular intervals during your day.’

Taking three deep breaths is always good advice when you feel like you’re about to say something you might regret, or maybe do something that you really shouldn’t, like sneak that extra Twinkie an hour before bedtime. 

Whether to calm your thoughts or calm your anxieties, remember, it’s good to stop, take a moment, and breath. In other words, take a second or two to think before you act, say, or do something untoward. 

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Age is just a number

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I had to stop in at the pharmacy this week to pick up some pills (the doctor has me back on magnesium) so I decided while there to ask the pharmacist about my duff knee, which has been playing up these last few weeks.

We talked about this and that and then, she asked me my age, which I told her. She jerked her head up, smiled, and said, “Oh, really, but you only look like you’re in your forties.”

I could have leapt over the counter and kissed her. But yeah, I didn’t. Both the duff knee and the fact I’m really not forty anymore precluded that rather vigorous activity. 

Still, the compliment made my day. I think I may have whistled on the way out the store.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Mindful March: Day 6

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Today’s reminder from the Mindful March initiative is:

‘If you find yourself rushing, make an effort to slow down.’

There is no chance of me rushing anywhere anytime soon, ever! Let me assure you, my rushing to do something, or to go somewhere are well and truly behind me. My problem is more likely to be the need to move a little faster, or act a little quicker, rather than worry about slowing down. 

I’m of an age (and sad to say, infirmity) that there’s nothing in life, not even the possibility of missing the bus, that will make me move any faster, or motivate myself to be any quicker. 

I have arrived … 

Arrived at that point in my life where I want to meander, take things slowly, smell the flowers, watch the clouds drift slowly across the sky, listen to the birds chirruping in the hedgerow, or simply sit somewhere on a bench and enjoy the sun shining on my face.

As I said, I have arrived and this is one mindful initiative I have no problems with now or, I imagine, in the future. Time is precious to me and I want to enjoy every damn second of it while I can.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧