I’m happy being bored and lonely, boredom and loneliness are not depressive …

 

February’s Ukulele Meetup came and went. The new ensemble piece was “Always With You”, a lovely theme song from the Japanese Animation “Spirited Away”. Nice.

 

Gab’s 1^st weekend book-out came and went. Glad that he is doing well, and glad that now I’ve something to look forward to every weekend !

 

Chinese New Year came and went. Generally very usual. The unusual part is I managed to slow down my eating J. They next gathering will be on 7^th March Saturday, at Khoy’s Pasir Ris home.

Nao and IZ are in their rooms. Ling is in front of the TV. Gab is in BMTC ...

 

 

I am fighting boredom and loneliness. This is hard, since I’m also trying to diet at the same time. Sometime, I feel like gorging down a good dinner, and regret later J.

 

It is the ukulele meetup this weekend !  can’t wait for the new songs to practise with. In the meantime, I practise playing “Red River Valley” and “Greensleeves” without looking at the song sheets.

 

I play less weiqi now, off-form. Still playing Texas hold’them Poker and thinking about my aquarium …

I've gone back to the semi-GI look, felt the wind in my hair as I rode out for coffee.

Haiz, bored, time to pick up my camera again ...

Stocktake …

 

Gabriel has done well in Badminton and Weiqi for Hwa Chong Institution. He will join the army in February.

 

Naomi has done well in Softball, A-Div Champs and National Youth Team. She will sit for her A-Level Exams under RVHS’s Integrated-Program at the end of this year.

 

Isaac has done well in the National Schools Gymnastics. He has gotten into Hwa Chong Institution, Mathematic-Talents Class.

 

Ling Ling is enjoying her shopping and K-drama.

 

I go for coffee at the coffee-shop often. While there, my activities include reading newspapers, general-idling, and practising the ukulele. It gets boring when I run out of new songs to practise with. As such, I look forward to the monthly ukulele-meetups when new songs and ensemble pieces will be introduced.

 

 

For exercise, I swim 1km (23mins) everyday. Only bad-weather can stop me. Therefore, I always pray for bad-weather. After swims, I may go to Pa’s house to eat Ma’s cooking, talks to my extended-family members and play with the nephews.

 

 

When Isaac is not hogging the laptop, I play weiqi on the internet. I can’t play too much weiqi though. If I do, I will tire, think less, make mistakes and lose games which I’m not supposed to lose.

 

 

My aquarium has always been a part of me. I feed my fishes and tend to my java-moss once a day. They are all growing well. I kick-back and enjoy looking at them. I intend to add a pair of Altum Angels to the aquarium soon.

 

 

I try to read more but I’m very choosy, can’t find interesting books most times. When I really have absolutely nothing to read or do, I play Texas Hold’em Poker on my iPad. Cheers.

 

Depression & Life in Singapore

It has been 4 years since my first episode of Depression, the Depression which brought about the premature end to my Shanghai adventure. Returning from Shanghai to Singapore was the right thing to do. It is much easier to handle Depression with family and friends around.

The hospitals in Singapore were a big part of my journey of recovery from Depression. I was warded once in SGH and thrice in IMH. Those hospital-stays were very helpful; as I learned more about Depression, the wonderful people who suffer from various forms of it, and the ways to overcome the illness.

Depression is nausea, hot-flush, insomnia, and rapid bowel-movements. It is also the lost of mood and energy to do anything, including reading the newspapers, surfing the web, playing weiqi and the ukulele. Although it is deliberating, the experience has made me a “kinder” person who has become closer to my family.

Now that I’ve kept Depression at bay with the doctor’s medications, I hope I can tackle mid-life boredom. I’ll continue to spend more time at my hobbies : weiqi, ukulele meetups, aqua-culture, and reading. Cheers !