picture in my mind

It's been a while! It feels like eons since I've blogged properly. And lots have changed so I feel a little disoriented and I'm still trying to gain a footing; and also, trying to figure out if this blog has, or should change.

*Came back from Umrah of course but haven't said much about it. I hope my ibadah was well-accepted and that I return with a clean slate to start afresh on a lot of things.

this was the view from the top level of Masjidil Haram!

It was pretty cool being able to see the movement of people from the top.

we made some quick visits around the city

for the historical sites, but didn't climb any mountains, unfortunately.

some more nice views while on the road.

"Our chicken is national from farm to kettle" -- HAHA.

I suppose they mean they cook locally-produced poultry?

English is not a popular language here.

*And then, having had hopefully a good spiritual cleansing, after a few days back in SG, I fell so very, very sick. I was so sick I thought perhaps that I might have died at some point, haha. Everything felt awful, and then the doctor scolded me for not taking care of my health (and hence having terribly low immunity) and now I feel like I've had a physical wake-up call and a physical cleansing. I'm adamant about turning my health around now.

*Then amidst my sickness and slow recovery, my sister got engaged and that took up almost the whole weekend. It wasn't that big of an affair but still, the house got turned upside down somewhat. And yes, everybody is saying they'll pray for my turn -- ah wells, I'm just glad I'm alive at this point. And I'm also adamant about creating flow and positive experiences in my life now (see my current read, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).

*I've officially left KKH~ !!! at some level, I feel like it hasn't sunk in yet. But we had an official farewell for me, and I received wonderful presents and wonderful wishes from everyone on the speechie team. And once again, I marvel at how I've managed to meet and befriend so many amazing ladies. (Like when I was emptying my locker, I realised F had randomly slotted a message to me whilst I was away off-site saying how much she missed me; I mean, honestly, how are these girls so sweet and wonderful?) I admire these people so much and I feel pained to leave them, but then I'm joining another great group of people at NFC and working with Datin S -- and I suppose that mitigates the ache a little bit.

awesome speechies at Rehab!

Sometimes I think I've been spoilt by the wonderful persons around me, so much so that I think this is how typical human beings are. But then I sometimes encounter other not-so-nice human beings and realise how they pale in comparison -- and I realise I have to calibrate my expectations so I don't get so upset by disappointing humans. Therapists are some of the best people you'll ever meet, fight me on that, haha.

*Officially a therapist with NFC starting this Thursday! Ganbarimasu!

*I'm going to start putting more structure in my life so as to achieve the myriad goals and ideas I have in my head. Insya Allah, Amin.

see, I think I've always been too much 

into the right side of this Venn diagram...

time to achieve some balance.

So one of the presents I got from my speechie team

was a masterclass drawing set -- with pencils, charcoals, erasers, a sketchpad and a guidebook,

and it has revived my random drawing activities and here are some amusing things, hehe:

I thought I'd finish with this nice supplication:

Ja!