Struggling in Vain

Just now after lunch, I went to pay my bills.

In front of me, there was a middle aged uncle (maybe my dad’s age?) struggling with the SAM machine.

I know how such machines can be challenging for the older generation, so I will be especially patient when they are using, not wanting them to feel pressured.

I offered my help, but he was very hesitant and declined, even offered me to use the machine first.

I declined and asked him to continue using it after helping him with the first step.

He told me he was unfamiliar with the machine but insisted on doing it on his own… so I respected that and stood behind.

I then saw that he was paying some “bankruptcy” fees… that probably explained why he didn’t want any help with the machine even though he was unfamiliar with it.

I saw that he was progressing fine until he clicked on a button which led him back to the homepage again ( I think he was trying to pay another bill but pressed wrongly, all his earlier information lost so he may need to re-key all over again) . Not sure if he is able to continue again from there without any help… sigh…

I didn’t want to impose or insist on helping as he might feel irritated so I left and went to the mall to use another machine so that I will be in time to catch the bus back.

 

Are we like this at times, declining help even though we are struggling because of perceived shame when the one who offered help would not even judge you. That person just want you to be able to complete your task successfully.

NEX Please...

Last Saturday, on a whim we decided to travel down to NEX for dinner. Thanks to Circle Line, we were able to reach the place seamlessly in less than 30 mins.

NEX is a gigantic mall, possibly housing every kind of food craving one would have at any one point. Hence, it was really crowded on a weekend dinnertime.

Wifey felt like having “kok kok keh” hehe… chicken… so when we passed by Chicken Pot and liked what we saw and smell, we decided to go in and try.

They were having couple set dinner promotion. It costs $33.80 (iirc) and came with the Chicken Pot and the scandalous Spicy Prawn Hot pot and 2 drinks.

We enjoyed the meal, especially since it was a rather cool day so anything hot and a wee spicy will do very nicely. We also added a plate of oyster mushroom and instant noodle to add into the tom yum soup base of the prawn pot. It is always nice to try new things with wifey.

After dinner, we shopped around and wifey got her “ball ball” earrings which she has been wanting to get for quite some time.

Even though we are very full, wifey was determined to eat her favourite MSW durian ice cream and she usually got what she wanted…

Before heading home, we bought 2 buns (banana cake) from Barcook Bakery for Sunday’s breakfast. It is quite nice. Will try their chocolate banana next time when it is available.

On Sunday, sermon was delivered by Ps Brad Lomenick on Leadership. He talks about Leading like Jesus and the 4 main points were

1. Lead Humbly and Courageously (Matt23:11-12, James4:6)
   
   
   Humble means it’s not about you. Courage means facing yours fears head on and pursuing what scares you.
   
   
   Wash the feet of the others but be prepared to stand firm on what you believe in. (BoB Goff story on his meeting with the witch docs)
   
   
   
   


2. Lead Big with Vision and Love for Your People (Matt4:18-22)
   
   
   Big inspiring vision, yet deeply focused on people around you. Lead with compassion and grace for those around you.
   
   
   
   


3. Lead with Standard of Excellence (Matt5:16)
   
   
   A standard that scares the daylight of you.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


4. Lead with a Clear Personal Mission (Matt25:23)
   
   
   Calling is where one’s greatest strength intersects his/her deepest passion.
   
   
   Faithfulness to where you have been placed is a big part of this equation.

After service, we went to Lavender for Porn’s Thai food lunch (where we had Tom Yum soup. Again.) wifey collected her facial products from Liyin.

After lunch, we went home and did some laundry and change the sheets. Dinner was at 164 where we ordered 3 Cup Chicken and a plate of potato leaves and slowly wind down the weekend.

The Oven Debuts

Last Friday, wifey has craving for Japanese food. So after work, we went over to ARC to have dinner at Ichiban-Boshi.

We haven’t been daring enough to eat sashimi since the raw fish scare as reported a couple of months back so this time round, we tentatively ordered a plate of grilled salmon. (hoping it will be cooked enough to eliminate any bacteria present)

However, when the plate arrived, the salmon was still rather raw. We ate it anyway.

In addition, we ordered 2 mini cold soba, a plate of smoked duck on special rice sushi and some interesting toppings containing carrots and don’t know what (new item, nice) and shared a set of spicy beef set which comes with chawanmushi and a hot plate of cheesy egg-y squid .

After dinner, we walked a bit more as there was a sports/cosmetics/shoes sale at the concourse. We also went to NTUC to get some milk and went home after that.

On Saturday, we woke up early to bring dad to his charity dinner at Devonshire. We reached Bukit Merah earlier as mom want to get us vegetarian bee hoon. It was nice as the vegetables wifey chose were piping hot and fresh.

After that, we took a cab down, settle dad on his table and went shopping at OG. Mom bought some shirts for dad and then we had our lunch at Cuppage. Initially we wanted to have Yong Tau Foo but it was closed, so we settled for duck noodles beside it. Not that good, the service and quality here.

We then went back to pick up dad. It took quite long as there was a bottleneck at the exit due to many wheelchairs that needed to be helped down the steps. After exiting, we failed to hail a cab so we pushed dad back to OG to get the fan to replace the spoilt one at their house.

After that, I pushed dad and wifey and mom heaved and ho the bulky and heavy fan to 313 taxi stand to go home. Phew…. Expanded quite a bit of strength but thankfully the weather is still quite ok. Once home, I assembled the fan and we left after resting awhile.

I went for my football game and wifey rested at home and I got dinner back (fish slice bee hoon soup for wifey and basil chicken rice for me) from the market after my game.

On Sunday, we decided to try our newly bought oven for the very first time. So we went to NTUC after service to get some salmon, mushrooms, broccoli, herbs and olive oil to cook for dinner.

We also bought a box of grape which taste like gummy bear. Wifey loves it.

Went home, put the clothes to laundry and after that we prepared our dinner.

Food turned out rather well and we had a nice simple meal to wind down a tiring weekend.