Erene Gnoy

My mother is a woman of surprises. She used to strike me as being cool-headed, popular with the elderly and a good housewife. I never thought of her as being outspoken. But there have been occasions when I was surprised by her bouts of guffawing at a TV scene, or her hidden talent at imitating my father’s agitated voice and temper. That made me laugh, every time. It is also interesting to note that her English skills are something that she needs help with. Reading the newspaper is her version of getting the daily updates on the world outside. As our household has only English newspapers, and she isn’t particularly inclined to acquiring Mandarin publications daily, she acquiesces to reading it whenever she has free time. Oftentimes, she needs help understanding certain vocabulary, like pillion rider . Suffice to say, her English skills could use some polishing. I had a 180 switch of my opinion about that, one day. If it wasn’t for her, going Dutch would still be an alien phrase...

In this world, we never have all the information. In reality, we don't have enough, or we have too much. You will have to keep putting one foot in front of the other even when you have too much or too little, and you can't decide. But it'll be fine. You'll be fine. God gave us something very good. What's that? You may ask. It's your intuition . Things that catch your eye. Things that make you curious about how they feel. Things that send a shiver down your spine. You just have to search for those things. -Babylon (anime) Episode 10  (altered)

With six days till 2020, it really feels like the end of a chapter and the beginning of another brand new page. It didn't feel like Christmas to me yesterday and despite feeling slightly excited for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, the festive moods of Christmas was lost on me. I no longer felt the need to treat myself or receive presents. Perhaps that is a sign of age or growing older. While my friends celebrated Christmas with lavish dinners and exchanged pretty presents with one another, I opted to stay at home. I was contented with spending time alone, doing what I loved with a little piece of quiet, all to myself. It felt right as I settled into the pace of doing some personal reflections and planning ahead of 2020. I have personal projects lined up for the year 2020 and I can't wait to get started on them. Of course, there will be some priorities and responsibilities along the way. What needs to be done must be done, but I won't allow these complications ...