Thebarefootfoodie

  2020 DECEMBER 30, 2020 BAREFOOT THOTS This has been a year of rude awakenings and tough resolve. It began like any other year, with champagne and song, parties and celebrations, hope and expectation. That gradually morphed into gloom, slowdown, standstill, paralysis as covid, circuit breaker, stay-home notice, social distancing, zoom, and the pandemic dominated our lives. In March, I bade farewell to a good friend. We had been close but somehow over the last two years, we haven’t quite caught up. The next thing I knew I was attending her memorial service on a stormy day. She had been suffering from cancer. It was aggressive, brutal and relentless. How wrong I was to think that there’s no distance or time that separates a friendship. If only I had called or written to catch up with just a simple ” Let’s catch up” or “Let’s do lunch, haven’t seen you for a while…” If only she had done the same. Why didn’t I know? Maybe I wasn’t close enough for her to confide in. If only… In August...

  Out With the Old…Then what? NOVEMBER 1, 2020 BAREFOOT LIVING Blame it on Covid, which some may say is “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, but long before, the writing is already on the wall for old ways, old stuff, old games, old toys, old habits…the old has to give way to the new, or die away in obscurity. It hit me hard last week. An image of old muppet toys popped up for sale on Carousel and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Within days, I went into mega shopping mode and bought back some of my old memories – stuff I grew up with, cherished; stuff that only the old-er people recognized and cared about. Old Buildings  - will they remain? My Friends from Sesame St As the online shopping bug bites, one doesn’t quite stop once started… The Whole Jingbang Next came the Muppets… How Can I resist adding the Muppets to the growing collection… Then came Alfred E. Neuman who brought me much joy and laughter… Mad About Mad Magazine - such a long time ago There’s something about...

 Footnote - Jigsaw Puzzles surfaced in a big way during the pandemic and helped retained my sanity during quarantined - 2020 - 2022 )  Jigsaw Puzzles and Why They are Good for You MAY 29, 2017 BAREFOOT HOME ,  BAREFOOT LIVING I have been fascinated by jigsaw puzzles for as long as I can remember. They are something you can do all by yourself, or with someone else who cares to sit with you for hours. They come in all shapes and sizes, designs and colours, in varying degrees of difficulty. I am most comfortable with the 1000 to 1500 pieces, although my largest was 2000 pieces. Along the way, over the years, they were regrettably dismantled, repacked into their boxes and given away to thrift shops. On a recent trip to Tagaytay, I visited the Puzzle Mansion, part museum, part B & B, set up by Gina Gil Lacuna in her family home. She earned a mention in the Guiness Book of Records for having the largest collection of completed jigsaw puzzles in the world – 1028 in all. I ca...

  Live A Deliberate Life FEBRUARY 7, 2017 BAREFOOT THOTS The other day at a discussion group meeting, these thought-provoking questions came up – What is best for you? What’s keeping you from giving those “best things” the time and energy they deserve? Are too many good things getting in the way? We were a bunch of 40 and 50 somethings, busy with one hundred and one things or more. All at once, it stopped us in our tracks to briefly step off the treadmill to reflect and ponder on what matters most , which in a rather illusive way, has escaped  us all these decades. My significant other started off with his musings that when he was younger, he used the 4Fs as things that were important – Family and Friends; Fitness; Financial Stability, and Faith ( not in order of priority ) . Now, he still finds his work meaningful, with family closest to his heart, and putting more effort to exercise and to build up his faith besides being a Sunday pew warmer. Friendships are more cherished, ...

 With an ending comes a new beginning. Losing someone dear when death wields its cruel blow, means taking stock and reassessing the life that lies ahead. I am inspired by women like Marilyn Hickey, who at the young old age of 83, is relentless in her passionate pursuits of preaching, praying, writing, saving people all around the world for a life bound for eternity. At thirty years younger, I have nothing of the same ilk to my credit, save for a closet of excesses and frivolity, in which I find solace. With eager expectation, I await the completion of our house. She is growing up to be as tall as her neighbors, but much more elegant.  Waiting is an agonizing feat, for one who needs to be engaged. New beginnings will start with moving in; cooking and baking ; writing a memoir that documents a life of service; the patter of small feet; thinking less with the head and feeling more with the heart; And a new blog spot to kickstart it all.

  Take your pick of pain and/or pleasure When it comes to shedding a few or more kilos , it is a losing battle, thanks to technology and social media. Before the advent of the internet and Facebook, where and what to eat is a matter of hit and miss. In the good old ( skinny ) days, we were dependent on word of mouth recommendations by foodie friends and the occasional review in print or seen in Makansutra publications ( Seetoh - are you still in business? Just asking... ) Nowadays, every time FB is opened, we are inevitably greeted with who went where and ate what, complete with delectable photos of food, glorious food. And it is not limited to Singapore, but pretty much all over the world. There is no escape from the onslaught. Several kilos and some years on, the perennial food critic in the Sunday Times has earned herself a loyal following, a double chin and too many calories to count on her marathon food ventures. Age has its upsides and downs. You become more affluent,  t...

Getting Fleeced I'd never thought that a conversation about getting fleeced will led to a parking ticket subsequently and this delightful trio of episodes to follow... Tuesday 1 July Over a decadent bowl of ice kachang with gula melaka and evaporated milk drizzled liberally, Mr Y casually mentioned that he had clients who did not pay him his fees for work done. There was this particular chap who refused to pay the whole construction team and chose to move into an uncompleted house, without the requisite approvals. Not that he could not afford to, with a fleet of Lamborghinis in tow. He also acquired a bad reputation of being a lousy paymaster. Wednesday 2 July I suddenly recalled that some years ago, I got fleeced too, in work and in investments, by once-upon-a-time friends and partners. Funny how it has not cropped up before as I had totally written off the figures and the trust that came before that.  What got me through were promises and scriptures that I ...