Thebarefootfoodie

I Believe in Personality Tests Not too long ago, I remarked to my supportive spouse that if I were to take another personality test now, the result would be quite different. Little did I realize how different.... The opportunity popped out quite unexpectedly when A's school called for interested parent-child pairs to do a Myers-Briggs Test  http://www.personalitypathways.com  to understand parenting style and child personality fit.  I took the test for fun and it was rather revealing. In the final analysis, my profile was ESTP . Something has shifted from the person I was at ESTJ when I was younger. The Younger Me I wouldn't have liked me very much if I were to meet her now. This was a person who had to get her own way, have the last word and did not take to advice well. She was not too sensitive or aware of feelings of other people and did not care if they were offended. She needed to get somewhere, do something, be somebody... I've had misgivings ...

Embracing Empathy Walk a Mile in My Shoes I will not say to another " I feel your pain", or " I understand how you feel..." again - because the truth is, I do not feel, nor can I understand. In all of my 50 ( exactly ) years, I have not been under a knife, stayed over at a hospital, nor have ever truly grasped the notion of what pain, sickness or infirmity is. My GP and family doctor would have long gone bust if he'd relied on our visits for his posterity. I cannot remember when was the last time we saw him.  Whenever flu or other symptoms threaten, it was promptly taken care of with a good dose of honey, water, rest in bed with a kiss and prayers. My mum was shocked when she could not find the usual over-the-counter self administered medication in our fridge one day whilst feeling a little under the weather and need a dose of paracetamol. I directed her to a bottle of honey instead. Lest I be accused of going to extremes, I DO exercise due diligen...

Send In the Bulldozers Getting the Green Light While I learn to appreciate and cherish my country more and more as the years roll by, there are some things that I do not understand nor try to do so. One of them is why it had to take 9 months for approvals to come in to start reconstruction works and the phenomenal cost of real estate, whether for rental, purchase or to rebuild.  As friends and relatives in other parts of the world embarked on similar projects and pictures of their works in progress appear fast and furious on social media, I had nothing to show for mine. But life goes on, and in the throes of being kept waiting, I got on with life, went on holiday, celebrated a major milestone, made allowance for other projects...while this almost dwindled into a non event.  Until the morning of 8 June when an innocuous beep on my iphone went off, and a message from Mr Y flashed " Good morning can start packing and planning for moving out to start works." Oh, this ...

Is It Really Just a Number? When I was young(er ), people in their 20s were the adults, 30s - old, 40s- very old, 50s - ancient. Anything beyond that were the grandparents and great-grandparents. Now that I have newly arrived at the cusp of "ancient", I finally gather enough courage and honesty to look that squarely in the eye and deep into my heart to try to make sense of what that means to the rest of my life. Yes. I do not look or behave or feel any more 50 than anytime in my other decades. Life goes on, as it does, with its usual rhythmic patterns and beats. I continue with life-style choices made in my 30s. ( Skip the teens and 20s because one is allowed some liberty here to be passionate, wild, foolish even, which drag into the latter years if left unchecked or some just die prematurely )I stayed with whole foods, vegetables and fruits, with the occasional toppings of meat and seafood; and regular exercises of 2-3 times a week.   The flab that creeps up in...

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…He has made everything beautiful in its time. Eccl 3:1,11 A year ago, Pastor Kah Leong was approached to consider doing CSM retreat in Davao with Love the Children Foundation ( LTCF ). It did not materialise because God deemed it was not the right time. By divine appointment, August 17, 2013 was set apart for CSM’s foray into Davao for the first time, and it would be the right time. In May 2013, Cindy and Tony, founders of LTCF and Pastors of Blessed Living Church were in Singapore to connect with Pastor Kah Leong. They returned to Davao with CSM materials to pave the way for the retreat and to prepare their intercessors and church staff. Just two days before the retreat, Pastor Charlie, the coordinator of CSM Philippines confirmed that he would join us for the retreat. He had to embark on a road trip of some 12 hours and subsequently catch a flight to Davao to meet with us; and to do the same on hi...

Prologue In 1999, our parting words to T after his graduation from MIT was - "We'll be  looking forward to your wedding in Bangkok soon..." As the seasons changed, our toddlers morphed into gangly teenagers, and T moved higher and higher up the corporate rungs, accumulating more lavish toys along the way ( some of which we got to play with and gawk at ) In between , he was navigating a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. We waited for him to get off the ride and have his feet on more stable ground. T is a big boy with a big heart. He is generous to a fault and endearingly sentimental. What you see is what you get - the real deal, with no pretences. Witty, delightfully charming in a raw appeal that shows up the rough edges that is his true identity. Through the years, he has dabbled in photography, song-writing, soap-making, eco-farming, some of which have fared better than others. I'd say, stick to photography - he has an eye for details and the abstrac...