Scattered Thoughts
Compared to the frenetic days of June and July, I’ve been keeping myself mostly indoors this August, ostensibly to work on the dissertation. Except that I haven’t really been. Both spirit and flesh are weak. The mind is distracted. But there’s no other way to get round it, but to sit down, and start working. How am I to surmount this challenge?
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I did take some time out on Sunday to join a few friends from class for another bout of dim sum at Queensway. As usual, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I hope they did, too. It will be a long while before I get tired of dim sum, which I once interpreted as Chinese tapas for someone not familiar with them. I can never have enough carrot cake or har gao. But the strange thing is that I find myself eating dim sum usually when I’m abroad. I cannot recall the last time I had dim sum in Singapore, much less have any favourite dim sum restaurant.
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Back home, of course, is where DH, GNK, HM, SSG and BP are all right now. The Goodenough gang in London is getting smaller, with just minor remnants remaining. I know they’ve already gotten together for eating and for dancing, and a big part of me wishes that I could have been there as well. I miss my lor mee and my cat. OK…and it would be nice to see them too. For what does National Day mean?
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Sunday turned out to the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius in London. My running route on weekends takes me not to Regent’s Park, as usual, but down a different path, past St Paul’s Cathedral, through the City of London, and into the Gherkin. The City’s much quieter on weekends, with hardly any traffic, and all the shops and offices are closed. It makes running there all the more pleasant.
And that’s one of the plans for August, anyway. To run as often as I can. To get into tip top shape before I leave for home next month, when working life beckons again, which typically means an inevitable downward spiral of the body. Still, GNK and GNK+1 used to be able to run all the way from Russell Square to Tower Bridge, but I think I shall pass on that.
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I love the song, Moon River, but because I’ve never watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s, I didn’t know that it was sung originally in the movie by Audrey Hepburn, even though it came from there. But through the magic of YouTube, I got to see the clip where she sits at her window ledge, strumming her guitar languidly, singing the song. After hearing a succession of middle-aged men perform it – think Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Perry Como etc – it was a refreshing delight to hear Audrey Hepburn’s lithe and ladylike tones.
And what an angel she was. In the sequence from the movie, after she finishes singing, she looks upwards, and notices that someone had been observing her all along. With the camera on her face, she says, ever so gently, “Hi, whatcha doin’?", and smiles...
It’s enough to melt anyone’s heart.
X X X X X X X X X X
I did take some time out on Sunday to join a few friends from class for another bout of dim sum at Queensway. As usual, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I hope they did, too. It will be a long while before I get tired of dim sum, which I once interpreted as Chinese tapas for someone not familiar with them. I can never have enough carrot cake or har gao. But the strange thing is that I find myself eating dim sum usually when I’m abroad. I cannot recall the last time I had dim sum in Singapore, much less have any favourite dim sum restaurant.
X X X X X X X X X X
Back home, of course, is where DH, GNK, HM, SSG and BP are all right now. The Goodenough gang in London is getting smaller, with just minor remnants remaining. I know they’ve already gotten together for eating and for dancing, and a big part of me wishes that I could have been there as well. I miss my lor mee and my cat. OK…and it would be nice to see them too. For what does National Day mean?
X X X X X X X X X X
Sunday turned out to the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius in London. My running route on weekends takes me not to Regent’s Park, as usual, but down a different path, past St Paul’s Cathedral, through the City of London, and into the Gherkin. The City’s much quieter on weekends, with hardly any traffic, and all the shops and offices are closed. It makes running there all the more pleasant.
And that’s one of the plans for August, anyway. To run as often as I can. To get into tip top shape before I leave for home next month, when working life beckons again, which typically means an inevitable downward spiral of the body. Still, GNK and GNK+1 used to be able to run all the way from Russell Square to Tower Bridge, but I think I shall pass on that.
X X X X X X X X X X
I love the song, Moon River, but because I’ve never watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s, I didn’t know that it was sung originally in the movie by Audrey Hepburn, even though it came from there. But through the magic of YouTube, I got to see the clip where she sits at her window ledge, strumming her guitar languidly, singing the song. After hearing a succession of middle-aged men perform it – think Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Perry Como etc – it was a refreshing delight to hear Audrey Hepburn’s lithe and ladylike tones.
And what an angel she was. In the sequence from the movie, after she finishes singing, she looks upwards, and notices that someone had been observing her all along. With the camera on her face, she says, ever so gently, “Hi, whatcha doin’?", and smiles...
It’s enough to melt anyone’s heart.
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