And it began on Thursday. Work has been fulfilling, learning new things but yes, it is time to slow down for this Good Friday and Easter weekend.
I had a great time of fellowship on Thursday night with Sean, and then with Robert and Sabina.
It's been a while since the last makan gathering with Sean, and finally, his wife and kid will be relocating here.
Our recent fave is this Korean restaurant at the golf course, because of its ample parking space and one day, I am sure I will try my hand at golfing here. 😄
Certainly, the food was good - and the Korean fried chicken was just delish. I tried some puffer fish stew - anyone who wants to lose weight should really eat this. It's just clear clean soup with slices of puffer fish and lots of veges. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of this healthy food.
YUMMMMMs.... I had this korean food 2 times this week. Super yummms, and with Soju too.
We had some good catch up too - Robert, Sabina and me.
It started scarily though - we were sitting near Sportsman, at the benches when this 30+ yo man sauntered over to us and just sat opposite us (at very close proximity). At first, I thought he could be a friend of Robert or Sabina, and he looked distressed. His speech was a little slurry too and he was holding on to this brownish bag in front of him. And, he started to ask us some weird questions. Apparently, he asked Robert whether we are from the US, and his next comment was that he was going to kill himself. It was just .... so out of the blue. Immediately, Robert and Sabina stood up, and I followed suit, and we walked away calmly. Robert said he was all ready to respond (physically) should there be some untoward advancement. It was a very calm situation though. For Robert and Sabina, probably they've encountered such situations where they have lived.
And eventually, we adjourned to the nearby Noodle Bowl.
And it's been slightly more than 3 months since the trip to Ghana.
Just glad we could catch up like this, in person, and talked about nurses on the move.
But I had a good laugh over this photo. WHERE WAS SABINA LOOKING?? 😂
So you see, even before Friday arrived, it was already Good Thursday.
And finally, I could physically be present in the house of worship here in Abu Dhabi (since I work SG time and Fridays are work days).
Went with Steve to church, and it was a good service. Always, am so blessed so grateful to know that God is in control of everything, it is really the weak me that needs such a Saviour. No matter how much I strive, how much good I try to do, in the end, no one can wash away the wrongful thoughts, the sin in me except for Him.
This service was poignant - a deeper understanding of the cup of God's wrath, Him being my saviour and also about the concept of being the best servant. The preaching was from Mark 10:32 - 45. It was a packed service - as always, key days like Easter and Christmas always see crowds and throngs of people.
The one stark difference in church here would be the people. In Singapore, it would be primarily the Singaporeans and Asians. Here, wow... the diversity is amazing - the Ang Mohs, the Indians, the Filipinos, and yesterday, the newcomers came from places like Venezuela, Peru, Africa, etc, etc.
Certainly, the songs too are different from the ones I am used to. They sing more hymns - but.... the presence of God was equally real; the opening of hearts were equally felt.
And then, I jetted home for a zoom chat with Jenny Lee. It was a superb chat. We started following her last year, when we were thinking thru' about the Future of Work and decided to look at investments and the VC ecosystem. Then, I was thinking - how awesome it would be if we could link up and have a chat. She is an amazing Singaporean girl who went into China more than a decade ago, into the VC space, and is described as one with the midas touch, having led many start-ups to IPO exits. I was thinking then about her boldness, her journey, and it resonated when she shared then that there's so much she did not know and it was an exciting journey for her in this VC space (I believe it could be from one of the documentaries I've watched about her).
In any case, the chat materialised on Good Friday. Haha - just thankful for the connection and learning about this VC space, and thanks too to WaiLum for the link up.
So I told SJ - Wah, 笑到那么开心。哈哈。
So obviously by the time I had lunch, it was almost 3pm?!
But never mind the lateness, lunch with KFC and with Steve was worth it.
Eat KFC also can eat until 很开心。I think I need to detox from chicken for a while. Too much chicken this whole week.
We did the usual supermarketing, the buying of my 3 salmon heads, bought more notebooks for my work, and also.... I finally got my hands on some plants. Steve was vehemently upset about me wanting to buy plants... but I did it anyway. Why cannot buy plants and spruce up my "small office home office" (SOHO)?
Hehe. They make me happy, even if they are fake plants. Haha!
I am so so happy with this little add on to the desk corner.
And... curtains are changed too. We have changed it to the black-out curtains so that it shields more light as we move into the hottest months here.
And by the way, the weather here, really 说变就变。
It was a sweltering 40 deg one day, then dropped to a windy, rainy 20+ deg last week, and then now it is super sunny and hot again. The season is changing.
Such a huge contrast. This is the view of the Grand mosque from my apartment corridor. It was last week vs right now.
Even good friday has to come to an end.
At dusk, I had a superb nice long walk with K and Steve, and the moon was really beautiful.
I couldn't get any good shots with my LG, though I kept trying and trying, also attempted to do the shot with the various different modes because the moon was really too beautiful to behold.
My bestest attempt at capturing the moon.
It was a Good Friday. :)
