a tale of night & day

The night last night ….

The moon was closer to earth than usual and it was beautiful. It looked huge considering the fact that it was waning. I think I have made it a habit these past few days to go out at night – maybe I will stick to it. Something about the night air that just makes you want to stand outside and admire the wonders of nature and there seem to be something beautiful everyday to look at – wonders that leave me in awe wonderment and always contented in spite of it all.

I attempted to draw it but it didn’t come out as well as I wanted too – sometimes I think my kindergarteners draw better ;)) … anyways, the mood in its waning state was in colors of gold and orange. Shimmers of gold orange rays light up the dark clouds enveloping parts of the moon . Like I said it was like it was really close to earth its as if , if you walked a little over the earth you can reach it. ;)) in my mind that works .. here is a picture of the scanned moon I drew – laugh I know I am bad at this but the idea is there laughs @ self ..



So I was thinking in spite of it waning it stood there in the sky big bright and majestic, looking as it was full it was a sight to behold and as I type this I can see it still and I am pretty sure years down the road when I read this again that image of the moon will come to mind with that little drawing as a guide ;)) ..

A little later after when I couldn’t sleep – I went out again and I saw the moon further now at its usual silvery state high up almost disappearing and I got a treat in store. I could the smell the ocean – my favorite scent and I like the little surprises of the sea scent when I open my doors or windows – its nice living only a few minutes from the beach – the smell of the ocean and the breeze makes an ‘appearance’ unexpectedly and a pleasant one at that ..

That was a blog entry for this morning - I was just too lazy to write it in late last night lol so I figured I would do it this morning before work but knowing me I didn’t have time after my run so here I am writing about late last night ;)) late but none the less it has served its purpose in me immortalizing the images in words..

And back to the present time ..

School was well school . Just another day. I am still working on my evaluation lesson plans and I shall be evaluated next week –one of those evaluatuions they do every term and if youre lucky its done twice a year . Mine will be on Wednesday so wish me luck and Tomorrows a Friday yay! And we have a meeting yuck! Not a big fan of meetings but like always I act civil :P put on a smile and a whole lot of patience – that always does the trick tee hee anyways ..

This morning my mom boiled some tapioca. She got them from my uncles fruit plantation along with ‘sukong’ – it’s a kind of tapioca. Its delicious when you deep fry it in batter. She also brought some ‘pisang tanduk’ – loosely translated its know as horn bananas seeing that its shaped like a horn. This banana is delicious when made into banana fritters and that’s just what my mom planned.

This is a picture unripe pisang tanduk when its ripe it turns a nice bright yellow.



Back to the tapioca… The tapioca is steamed till its cooked and eaten with freshly grated coconut mixed with sugar and salt. It’s a humble dish but very delicious and it was the staple of my family during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore in 1942. She was telling me how this was what they ate the whole time when the Japanese occupied this country. They lived in fear obviously. I was just looking at her and couldn’t begin to comprehend what she went through during the occupation and as I sat there – I looked at her and said this was a woman who went through an occupation and I am thinking that she knows how it feels when watches the news and see other countries being occupied. It makes you think. The hardships they went through during that time – how they lived in fear of their lives – of being killed. She told me stories of how during that time my grandfather built a shelter and when the sirens sounded or they got news that the Japanese was coming they would all hide in the shelter. If my memory serves me correctly the shelter was underground. My mom was about 10 or 11 when it happened.

Sometimes its easy for her talk about it sometimes its not but I don’t think anyone would ever want to relive their worst moments especially not when they feared and persecution. I guess it does give new light to the countries at war and what these people are going through and compared to the past occupation and warfare these days are more deadly anyways ..

So I am more appreciative of the tapioca because it sustained them during that time – here is a picture of the boiled tapioca and the shredded coconut.



And that was my day. The little things you learn and the inspirations you get. It makes you feed your soul everyday and strengthens you along the way. Thankful for the blessings of a country not at war and for the littlest of things because what may seem little to us was things that kept others alive ..

Nites world …..