routine

0600 wake up for blood pressure and blood sugar
0800 breakfast served
0900 - 1100 ward doctor visit, cleaning, sitting, eventually taking shower
1200 lunch
1630-1930 visitor time
1800 dinner
2100 - 2200 final check up for blood pressure and blood sugar, an injection and ending of the day.
these were the routines when you're in hospital.  you couldn't sleep at night when there's so much happening throughout the night, not on you but on your neighbor.

you were low in iron in your blood before the surgery and after the operation your iron remained on the very low scale, you continue to feel tired all the time. after two days of blood test and iron not returning to normal level, you had two packs of blood transfusion. you slept while they transfer the blood to you.
now that you are home, you feel more comfortable, not necessary more convenience but at least the feeling of being home helped.
you are not entirely mobile, but you know it will come if not in days then in a matter of two weeks. you still rely on pain killers and sleep or bed most if the time but you are truly thankful to God, you know for sure the curses have been broken and you are on the winning side because Jesus has concurred the death and you are being set free. FREEDOM is what you feel now even you are immobile at the moment but when the Lord has set you free, you are free indeed!

::summer::

what is summer to you? it's been a cool summer both in london and in the lowland.  this summer you are not heading anyway but you will be on a rather long "vacation".
it's summer sales in london. you  controlled yourself very well except on the last week of your stay in london, you bought some summer dresses.

they are on sales and hence make it reasonably cheap to acquire, the cost of four dresses on sales is equal to a full priced dress.  they are very summery too! most importantly you know you won't be wearing trousers or jeans for a pro-long period and hence dresses like these are handy.

you also picked up a few magazines on your way home, you know for once you will have the time to read them casually either in your bed or in the bench at the garden.

it actually feels like you are planning a summer vacation, well, it is a "vacation" in a different way, it all depend on how you perceive a vacation, for you this summer is primarily rest well and be rested so that you can recover and that the devil one has no more stronghold in your life.

#scheduled post#

::pampered::

a girlfriend came to collect some stuffs that you brought back from london on sunday morning. much to your surprise that she also brought along a box of pastry for you.

 a box of surprise. a box of pamper. a box of friendship. a box of love.

 these were actually too rich for breakfast...

so you brew up pot of sabah tea, you're tempted to brew a pot of earl grey classic from fortnum and mason but you just have a few more sabah tea bags to finish, so a borneo tea was it. you opt for this for breakfast, a very luxury french breakfast. you feel pampered. you shared this with him, this almond pastry is perfect, not overly sweet, just perfect!

you had a caramel eclair at a slightly later time of the day, which is equally good. this patisserie is a keeper.

and you had three quarter of the chocolate tart in the evening, it tastes heavenly. a good ending note to something that coming on monday.

#another scheduled post#

zebra.cake

#scheduled post#

cherry.tea.cake

you baked this last saturday. this is probably the last batch of cherries in the season.  knowing that you don't have the time to finish a cake, so you decided to bake some thing simple and mini.

 it has rose water, dried rose petals and a whole cherry in each mini tea cake

 quick, simple and easy to bake. the cherry is oozing

 you had one for saturday afternoon tea with a pot of freshly brewed earl grey classic

perfect afternoon tea before you head out to get some errands done.

#scheduled post#

shanghai.sichuan.cuisine

you tried out the shanghai and sichuan cuisine at the china hotel in delft.

a cold dish - dried tofu and celery marinated in sesame oil. nice and refreshing! a good start to the dinner.

sichuan spicy beef - 四川水煮牛肉, you can taste the sichuan pepper and the bursting spiciness, it's decently done, as oily as you expected it to be, eating this with white rice really give you the kick...

spring onion oil noodle (葱油拌面), this is such a simple dish and if the cook can't get it right, the restaurant can't claim they serve shanghai cuisine. this bowl of noodle is just right. exactly the taste you had many years ago in a restaurant called 小南国 in shanghai except this bowl is a little less greasy

grandma roast pork belly （外婆红烧肉, this is quite good, you can identify the spices used in marinating the pork. the only complain is the fat layer is still a little hard and didn't give the melt in the mouth moment. nonetheless, you can associate this as shanghai food.

 steamed bun (馒头)

 just put a piece of the pork to a bun

this is how you eat it...

#scheduled post#

last!

 some of the lasts...

last plate of CKT and london before some weeks.

last zumba and good sweat out on saturday morning before many months.

last bake before some weeks.

last shopping before weeks. got a light summer throws or blanket to cover in warmer night.

one last dinner where you can sit comfortably and enjoy your food before many days...

you filed your last expense report for the month of july

now you turn on your out of office, you are more or less ready for monday morning 8am.
===
this will be one of the last live post before many days to come, the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow 8am.  i am ready for the operation too, to put an end to a long fight and i shall overcome.  please pray for me if you can, pray that i will be in the good care of the doctors and God's will be done. pray for speedy recovery
===

stop!

this is a reflection of "our daily bread" that you read this morning. life is a busy enterprise. so much more when you are on a project that needs you to travel weekly. weekends are packed with friends visit and program and before you are fully rested again you are embarking another busy week. you missed the solitude and quietness and the fellowship with the Lord.
so, it's about time to calm down and be quiet.
in psalm 131:2 "I have calmed and quieted my soul”. it's about time to put up a stop sign at the to your busy life. find a place to be alone. turn off the distractions that keep you from listening to God’s voice, and let Him speak to you as you read His Word. let Him refresh your heart and mind with the strength to live life well for His glory.
you are counting down.

living.from.a.suitcase

life in london equals to living from a suitcase.

you got up early on monday morning to catch your flight to london. eating the same breakfast served in the aircraft.

and the rest of the week past really fast because its all about work, meetings, lunch behind your computer, meeting friends, hunting for food or working late hours because nothing get done during office hour with extensive and frequent meetings and by friday you are really tired and done with everything.

weather has been depressing too, rather wet, chill and windy. you almost want to believe there's no sunny warm days ahead if weather doesn't warm up in june or july in that matter. traveling to/from london city airport is doable but the question is if you are enjoying it? living a life from a suitcase helps you to know that life can be simple, and you don't need that many clothing's. you enjoy the luxury, the life of the city, the bankers life to be exact, yet you are missing something. you know you shouldn't complain when you chose the consulting career. that's what you like meeting new people, seeing different cities, enjoying the jet set lifestyle. so for now living from a suitcase and you will try your best to enjoy it. after, its a life that many people sought after and yet its within your reach. on the positive note, life is good when God is with you, who can be against you.

you are putting a halt to your weekly traveling for the the time being, tonight is your last night in london, you didn't go out as you finished your meeting very late and you are tired, so an early night will do after all there  is another time for london.

:discouragement::

you are counting down to friday, the last day of your assignment in london. your replacement is slowly picking up. it's sort of less of you and more of him, he has to show that he is in charge before you go away.

you're a little discouraged this evening. you have spent so much time, late nights to complete the detailed plan. it's complex you know and everybody admit the complexity as you have to take into consideration of the resource allocation, their holidays, the olympics, the geographical time zone and the fact that you have two deadline to work around the daily activities.  

you called it a day after the meeting. you want to do a good job and the outcome of the meeting is not what you expected. 

you took a long walk to the malaysian restaurant, it's good to walk off the heavy spirit in you and you ordered a bowl of nyonya laksa and a plate of belacan fried chicken.

you wanted to have a sambal brinjal but the waitress disagreed and refused to take your order for that :(. so you do with just the laksa and the chicken, they are enough and anything more will be too much, she has got the point there.

on your way home, you walk into a supermarket and grab some baking ingredients that you know you cannot find easily in the lowland.

you feel a tad better after the dinner and the walk, now you are back to your computer again. hopefully you can get something done tonight as you will never have the time to sort that out in the morning.

london.today

london today, drizzling and gray but that didn't stop you from venturing out...

 you have a date with a girlfriend, a dear sister so to speak and you walk just a little over 1.1 miles to white chapel and meeting the lipstick building on your way...

 a work in progress construction that you are curious what is it and how it will look like when it's finished...

 before you know, you are already at white chapel... the area is filled with middle east or minor asia communities.  despite the crowd, you feel that it's still a safe place to hang around.  you stand in the line for this pakistan restaurant, which is apparently very famous...

 your chapati and the dips. inside the restaurant, it's like a bazaar, dim and noisy. packed with patrons and the smells of the food mingle among the chatters, and you gave up because your hand-phone camera would not do the justice to the food... it's delicious and it's really cheap, that's explain why they're so many people standing in the line and wait...

 you went to the cafe just opposite the restaurant, found your cozy corner, ordered your chai tea and red velvet cake... and had a really good chat with J. it's good to hear her recent development and challenge and most importantly God's calling in her life.  for you, it's the first time you really took time to share about your up coming operation and the fact that you are relief and at peace to that decision. 

the red velvet cake, the cream cheese is a tad too sweet, the cake is a little dry but still it's much better than your last bite at magnolia bakery in new york.

you chatted for a very long time, till you know that you have to stop the conversation and get walking home before you become too tired.

pierre.marcolini

you have heard of him and his chocolate for sometimes, just didn't got the chance to sample them.  after your knokke trip, you made a quick detour to antwerp where you know there are a few of his chocolate outlets.

the display in the outlet

almost like the makeup sets at the departmental store make-up counters, but these are yummy goodies

a gift for a friend

something for yourself, you like it black and pure as usual.

pierre marcolini also has some very seductive tartlets on sales or for dine in.  too bad he refuse to do the afternoon tea with you, so you left with just your merchandise and save some regrets for future.

===
you are in london, the weather is as bad as you left reading last friday. it's just drizzling all day long and you couldn't squeeze into any pub for the england vs france football match :(. perhaps you didn't try harder but those pubs around your hotel are really packed with men primarily. it's been a tiring day for you due to the early flight and lots of new things to absorb at the client's site. so you will have an early night.
nite-nite!
===
===

new.garden

this is what you have been doing this weekend.

 running to different garden centers to get your flowers and plants

 planting them in your front garden

 and back garden

lots of hard work but loving it!

behold the old has gone, the new has come ^^