An Eight-Year Blessing

Saturday, November 29, 2014


Sometimes, I fail to see the blessings that I have in my life, especially on cold, empty, dark nights like tonight. Times like these, my mind tends to stray to the things I've lost, the friends who've turned into strangers, the good feelings I don't experience anymore and it makes me feel like a shell without anything within. And that's dumb, because in reality, I have so many things to be thankful for and I say and mean it honestly. It is difficult, to constantly look at the brighter things in life whilst one is feeling down in the dumps and knowing I barely have anyone to turn to. People tell me I can turn to them and I appreciate that so very much but tonight's just one of the moments I'd prefer pulling myself up on my own. I'm starting with appreciating this friend I've been blessed with for the past eight years. 


I've written countless blog posts about Emily, especially since the archive of this blog stretches all the way till primary school - she's probably been the person that I've mentioned the most on this space, with good reason as well. She's just always been there for me - and when I say always, I mean it. I'm not talking about her replying my texts quickly (because she doesn't, and neither do I) or always checking up on me. But I know that I can always count on her to be supporting me silently from the side. We don't see each other often as well and have extremely different personalities and quirks but she knows the strangest things about me, and most of all, she accepted me for who I was, and who I have grown to become. She's been there through all the toughest times and I have faith she'll always be there for years to come. 


Two weeks ago, I celebrated her birthday with a belated birthday cake I baked for her - it's a white chocolate, green tea and caramel cake with matcha kit kat lined up all around the side and I do hope she enjoyed it. I went to her house with the cake, and we had a slice before we headed out for some good old comfort food. 


We headed to Nakhon Kitchen (nearest MRT: Kovan) for warm Thai food. We had pineapple fried rice, kang kong, tom yum soup and fried pork with garlic (all $6 each). It was my first time there and it's apparently a pretty famous to-go place for authentic Thai cuisine and we had to queue for quite a while before we were seated. It was an extremely satisfying meal though, and I especially enjoyed the spicy tom yum that warmed my stomach up, which was timely as the sky was getting really cloudy and it started raining soon after. 


The rain got extremely heavy and we sought shelter at the Kovan Hougang Market and Food Centre, where we got a very interesting concoction called Ice Orange Tea ($1.40) from a stall called Yong Hua (#01-42). It was unlike the usual lemon tea (evidently, since this isn't even made of lemons) and we saw how the uncle prepared everything from scratch, taking out full oranges from the fridge before slicing and pulping them. He brewed the tea on the spot and the cup of tea we got was so fresh and thirst-quenching, with real orange pulp in every sip (or gulp) we took. 

Emily and I sat at the hawker centre for at least two hours just catching up about everything that was happening in our respective lives. I think I've mentioned this before once but Emily takes on a very different perspective probably because of our very different school cultures and it's so refreshing for once, to hear something that is out of the "ordinary", or the something rather than the things I'm so used to hearing on a daily basis. 


When the rain got lighter, we made a joint decision to go to Habourfront, to visit our favourite primary school haunt. I know, it's so strange how Vivocity used to be the greatest hang out spot for primary school outings with our class even though it's nowhere near our school. Sure, it's on the purple line, but it's right at the end and places like Plaza Singapura were even nearer. It felt nostalgic being there again with her, and we laughed a lot thinking about how we used to come here all the time, as if there was no other option at all. 


Fun fact: Duckie was a gift from Emily last year :") 


After walking around for a bit, we headed for Max Brenner Chocolate Bar to do what seems like our favourite thing to do - to sit down, eat and talk. It was the first time there for both of us and we decided to get "Tutti-Fruiti", which were waffles with berries, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and another serving of a more diluted chocolate sauce at the side. It was disappointingly mediocre - the waffles weren't crispy and were rather stale in my opinion. I just read a couple of reviews online and most of them were raving about this place and I can't quite comprehend why - perhaps their standards aren't consistent but honestly, for the price and even for a fraction of the price, I don't think I would visit this place again.


The hot chocolate (I got the salted caramel, and Emily the one with marshmallows) we got were really good for the first couple of sips because it was rich and creamy. However, after a couple more, it just got too decadent for our liking and we regretted not sharing one cup. I don't think I'll be back, though it was a pretty nice experience with a lovely, quiet atmosphere for chit-chatting. 

I spent a lovely, laid-back day with Emily and I'm so thankful for it, and for her. She's an eight-year (and counting) blessing I have that I will appreciate for a long, long while. 

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