Take Chances

It is so wonderful being here and being surrounded with so many friends. 

I was considering moving to another Yoha location that would be closer to downtown (Marina Bay), the beach (Sentosa), and other cool places, but I think I will stay at Jurong East since I love being able to hangout with the friends I made here when I come home. We usually gather in the evenings to talk and play card games. Sometimes we have dinner together at the Hawker center near by and other times we play sports together. I have played basketball twice now and I was happy that I got 3 baskets in a game! Although usually the players are boys, but I think I did well considering they are all taller and better than me. :)

One evening after work I went to Karolis' house and we baked banana bread and chocolate chip cookies. He converted the measurements for me and I baked. It was fun and I am glad his brother liked it so much :D! He is the only one I know with an oven so I think I will have to visit his home more often since friends and colleagues are hoping for more goodies. I think I will try to cook apple pie and brownies next. 

Good news! At work, we finally finished the MRR A&SP Budget consolidation!! So much effort and time went into that project so the evening we finished it, we decided to have a celebration dinner. I am elated that it is completed! Akram and I along with Karolis and Sathyan went to Holland Village for dinner. We went to a Lebanese restaurant and later Akram's girlfriend and roommate joined us. It was a nice area and we sat outside so it was a good time. After dinner we went to a local ice-cream parlor, perfect ending to a good day :) 

On the Singapore's National Day (9th), I went with some friends to watch the fireworks show at Marina Barrage. The barrage is up on a hill so we could see over the buildings, but unfortunately most of the fireworks were position behind the Marina Sands Bay hotel (below, left side, the three buildings together with a top connecting them). The nice picture of the fireworks is from a friend that was watching it from an apartment building on the other side of the bay... such a good view. But any we had a snack picnic and the weather was so nice up there. There was a breeze, people were flying kites, and we watched the sun set as we waited for the fireworks. Then after staying there for awhile we decided to go to Sentosa beach. We stayed there so late that we missed the last train back home so hung out at the beach. We found some trampolines to sleep on until the trains ran again at 6am. It was a different experience, but it was fun to do something out of the ordinary. 

Today, I just stayed at home. I went to dinner with these girls. They are Miko's roommates and they are both funny and fun to be with. The girl on the right is Jing Wen and the other one is Camila. We had dinner together and it was sooo good! We had sometime of soup and a claypot dish. Both were sooo good. 

After Karolis arrived with went swimming near by and it was a good time. Although the slides wasn't that exciting, we had a good time in the wave pool and the lap pool. I went with several boys so they were mean since they threw/pushed me in the water easily... :( Vitalij wanted to bet on a race between us that who ever was the winner would cook dinner for the other person. But he is like almost 6 feet and pretty fast so I didn't bet him, so unfair! But earlier I bet that whoever won in a game of Spit would have the other person cook. So I hope I win!    

After swimming, we went home and I cooked ramen for some people and shared fruit and cookies. It was a good ending for a good weekend :D!!! 

I am glad I came to Singapore. 

It was a lot of waiting and work to get here, but it was extremely worth it. I will take chances more often because they lead to better things. Better to take chances than to live with regret.