And it has ended… September was a month that really flew by for me, unlike August which was crawling. My month started with a short quick meeting with the Singapore Writer’s Group where I basically went to get the latest on our self-published book ROJAK, of which I am one of 19 writers, and also to pay up my yearly membership of $80 which entitles you to smaller critique groups based on genre. There was also the usual third Saturday of the month City Writers meeting with local poet Madeleine Lee at Toa Payoh Library, of which I really enjoyed a reading of her poem ‘Parallel Lines’.
I said before that I loved picking up friends from the airport. So I offered to meet and greet an ex-flatmate from Manchester with VIP treatment in Terminal 1, and it was great catching up with her in the taxi ride and over lunch where we left off almost 7 years ago. I also visited Wheeler’s Yard for the first time after hearing so much about the bike garage cum cafe, and was so delighted to find out that it was near where my sister used to live near Irene Nursing Home in Balestier, an old school area that I absolutely love.
September was also a month of many impromptus. There was an impromptu most shortest trip to JB (where we were literally on Malaysian soil for under an hour before zooming back out to Singapore). There was also a last-minute planned trip to KL and Melaka to see my little sister who was flying back from Australia for a friend’s wedding, a delicious dinner at Soon Huat, a haircut in 1-Utama, a visit to Cheng Ho’s Museum and getting to know my parents’ truly impromptu characters where hotel rooms are acquired by walking in at 11pm.
September was also a month of good food. There was a lengthy two-hour brunch at Wild Honey with an ex-flatmate from Manchester, a dinner at Coastal Settlement, sampling Jewel Coffee’s egg benedicts on my own, dinner at Different Taste along Frankel Avenue followed by Udders ice-cream at Siglap, a sponsored lunch at Gold Leaf Taiwanese Restaurant, buffet dinner at Penang Place Restaurant with a senior couple who introduced me to Frank Medrano and the world of vegan calisthenics (yes after all the lor bak we ate) and sampling New Soon Huat’s herbal Malaysian-style soup and dry bak kut teh in Kovan.
I had a lot of Skype sessions in September with Elisha and Victoria, a baby shower in one of Novena’s best condominiums, a night out watching The Maze Runner which ended up in mamak at Simpang Bedok until 5am, a new friend made from my office building, a night out watching Luc Besson’s LUCY (short but point well made), a lantern walk at Tampines with my school mates, and going to Turf City for the first time in my Singapore life to play Captain’s Ball and a bit of futsal. September was also the month that I started exercising alot and even took up a week’s free trial at TruFitness in Chevron House. Healthy lifestyle here we come.
Wan Phing Lim 