Goodbye 2008

Dear Mister God,

Now that the winter solstice is over and the days are beginning to lighten up, one tiny minute a day, I feel it's time for some reflection. Thanks for my safe passage all this time and please forgive my sins, my Lord Mister God.

I have now lived in the UK for 1 year 3 months and it befuddles me how fast (and sometimes furious) time has passed. I did not see the credit crunch coming and certainly not how it would have any affect on me. The atmosphere is starkly different from last year’s. Shops are plastered with "Closing Down Sale" posters and new office buildings left unfinished and vacant. My daily bus rides through St Paul’s and Liverpool Street, that used to fill me with such awe and wonder, have now become somewhat a journey of remorse as this is no longer the hurly burly London I’ve just gotten used to.

Before all this talk of doom and gloom, I was back in Singapore to visit friends in March and there I found Jesus. Religion is a funny thing and having faith in something (in this case someone) you cannot see, is a whole new experience altogether. For lack of a better way of saying this, Jesus is like a “no limit, no expiry date” coupon that bails me out each time I screw up.

I’ve also discovered that good things in England happen in the countryside. Since Singapore, I've spent Spring in Dorset at my aunt’s cottage where we picked wild garlic and nettle (which stung me!) along some fairytale-like foot path and fed farm animals. Who can say they got stung by their supper, or document the birth of a baby Alpaca, right? Farming, gardening and cooking your own produce has also earned a place on my “100 Things to Do Before I Die” list. The world may be crashing but at least you know you have enough pumpkins and apples to last the year. I've also met the lady who makes Madonna's (or rather Guy Ritchie’s) gamekeepers’ breeches. What a great country trivia, huh?

I now live in East London, home of Jack the Ripper and the cockney accent. Ain’t it? I share a flat with a same age (same birth month too), single female. And we have spent many nights contemplating the bountifulness of foods but the somewhat lacking of male companionship in our lives. I find it excessively funny when we start discussing romantic comedies in detail.

On weekends, I comb the East London street markets and take photos of foods and flowers as a desperate means of tempting friends to visit (hint hint). I have also become very good at sniffing out a bargain. Nutella, £0.99, Costcutters. 3-for-1 Wholemeal rolls, £1, Sainsbury. 2-for-1 paté, £1.10, Budgens. I’ve also learnt how to cook (better). I have fed several English people Laksa, Chicken Ginseng Soup, Curry Chicken and already my Otah Toasties have a fan-base in East London. *cough*

In summer, I spent five weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland, helping my cousin’s company run venues at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. There I met an array of colourful characters from drag queens to has-beens in the theatre industry. Everyone became fast friends and for many, the experience would change their lives forever. For me, I'll never pronounce "Thirty Third" quite the same again when I can say "Dirty Turd" instead. Thank you for Scottish accent.

Since the Fringe Festival, I have been working in my cousin's London office, answering phone calls, putting up Course Details for acting classes and my proudest work moment was the day we had our first photo shoot session. It’s a little taste of home (for me) and for now the closest I will get to photography styling again. We call these photography sessions “Headshots” and I look forward to the day Daniel Craig swaggers into our studio for his portrait taken by us. One can really dream!

My future is uncertain, as with everyone’s, and on that note, dang the credit crunch. I’m going to embrace the New Year with hope, love, peace and lots of commercial success. I hope the same for my friends and family too. I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.


Lots and lots and lots and lots of love!
Kittycad
xx