All begins in the mind; all affects the heart. So I drove; 2 trips over 2 days, to Dubai. It was much needed. Even the change in the landscape, from Rihan to just the long roads and the sand, it was much needed.
God sent angels into my life.
I've been meeting some folks regularly here. Never would I have imagined I could be sitting at a table with African Americans, talking about the slavery trade, talking about the world of bounty hunters, of investment and Wall Street, of judges, of Cleveland medical professionals and nurses, of Ethiopian food. And it all began with 2 dogs wanting to kill each other.
God sent more angels into my life. I began to grow fonder and fonder of the church home group folks here. Such diversity -while mostly from US, there are also South Africans, one guy from Ugand, another one from UK, and us Singaporeans. While many have left UAE for the summer holiday, it was still very good fellowship amongst the rest of us. This week, they are gonna gather at my place. :) I will cook Japanese curry for everyone.
Work - is exciting some days, challenging others.
Unearthly hours are not an issue to me; some days, I am kept awake thinking about what we do, and wondering about this and that. I did the PWC future workforce quiz recently - and it shows that I am in the "yellow" world in 2030. Key points are that "Humans come first", and with regard to the way of working, it says that "work is often a fluid concept and a regimented 9 to 5, Monday to Friday working week is rare, where borders between home and work are blurred."
Try the quiz!
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/publications/workforce-of-the-future.html
And, I also met up with the CXS folks in Dubai. Pretty incredulous! What started out as an exploratory project in Singapore became a POC in Singapore, and a dinner with them in Dubai. They inked a workforce analytics project with the Dubai government - STEADY.
If you guys ever read this - Thank you for initiating dinner! :))
Food Galore
I seldom talk about food because my food choices are really boring mainly just salmon and vegetables. :-D But, we've been tasting different cuisines recently. Beside Ethiopian, we've had Saudi Arabian food, Arabic Grill, Shangainese cuisine, Indian food, Korean food. I think it is incredible - loving the UAE more and more. So just some, for the record.
Ethiopian food - pretty good! Cos a lot of "liaos" and there's spinach, pumpkin, lamb, beef, lentils, etc, etc, etc on a layer of Ethiopian bread.
Can't see the food - but, you can guess from the golden decor that this is... Arabic grill. It's fresh seafood grilled, and super super nice. :-D
Saudi Arabian food - like briyani, with chicken and lamb.
And - Indian Indian Indian. :-D
And more sobering perhaps
I am mulling over Rom 7, and acknowledging that I am so many times so so so so fallible and so weak. Still that is because I am flesh, and all the more, I need God's grace and mercy.
Rom 7:15 - 20: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
And when I feel that life becomes more unbearable, then only the sweat can help me out real bad. I need to perspire, and so I have been. Thankful for the wonderful friends I've made here who make me run like hell, make me pant like crazy, for the pool that soothes my nerves, and maybe even for the punches that I might want to throw (thinking about learning boxing or MMA). Keke.
Rom 7:15 - 20: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
And when I feel that life becomes more unbearable, then only the sweat can help me out real bad. I need to perspire, and so I have been. Thankful for the wonderful friends I've made here who make me run like hell, make me pant like crazy, for the pool that soothes my nerves, and maybe even for the punches that I might want to throw (thinking about learning boxing or MMA). Keke.
At the Zayed Sports City, they have set up huge tentages so that we can all still continue to exercise and play sports through the sweltering summer heat. And, it is airconditioned. Wow oh wow. It must have cost quite a lot to get this going, and the energy consumption... wow oh wow.
Finally... I can't quite explain a lot of my thoughts. Many of them are flurried; many of them are overlaid with each other. Women draw linkages and nodes from point A, to BCDEF-----XYZ. Everything is interconnected. Today, one of the tennis guys asked me how's work, how's life and whether work and life are challenging and tough, and like I told my dear boss, I said the same to him - I dunno how to describe life or work. There is no concept of tough or easy. It is more "Just do it." While life gets challenging at times, I choose to be positive and enjoy the season, no matter what. I just see that this is a part of my life that I have to go through now; this is the season of XC's life.
So, I shall look forward to August - to being back in Singapore, to see my mum, to the exciting month of work and to learn about deep web intelligence, to celebrate National Day at home, to worshipping in CHC, to going Taiwan and Xiamen for mission trip, to eat Bak Kut Teh, to chill over drinks, to do my MacRitchie runs, to do the SG things. :)
And once again, I will so miss Kenji.
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
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