I woke up so warm on Saturday, both literally (Singaporean weather is just so humid and hot right now - Niki kept wishing 'if only it was fifteen degrees and not so humid') and figuratively, because today was the day of the picnic with Natascha (I love how her name has an 's' and a 'c' next to each other, it makes the turn of the consonants so much more vivid somehow) and Niki (who I used to spell as Nikki for ages).
I used the whole meal pasta I had bought the day before and my whole jar of pesto and some of the ghim moh spinach (I love market vegetables - less plastic packaging for once, they just roll everything up in old newspaper) as well as some walnuts to make pesto pasta with wilted spinach, which took less than 5 minutes to make (go-to recipe for when I become a Mum).
Then I made a banana and blueberry smoothie, and I added some extra spinach inside there for an iron boost, which didn't affect the taste at all although I think I could have put in a little less soy milk next time.
Botanic gardens was slightly drizzly when we got there (Mum used to call rain like that 'spitting') but we walked around quite happily under Niki's huge golf umbrella. Nat had slept on the roof the previous night in her sleeping bag and woke up to rain falling on her face.
We found a relatively empty pagoda (devoid of any creepy men, unlike Niki's previous experience, just two friendly Indian men who helped us to take a photo) and set out our s p r e a d, which, on top of my pasta, smoothie and dragon fruit, included nat's citrus and mint bliss balls, banana and date loaf and popcorn, and Niki's fruit, crackers, pasta salad and dips from New Zealand.
We talked about everything from vegetarianism (bound to arise since Nat is vegan, I am confused between veganism and vegetarianism, and Niki is vegetarian practically 80% of the time), the exploitative practices of clothing producers (We plan to go thrift shopping together some time!), when our next picnic will be, what studying overseas will be like, how many children we want to have in the future (I think girls always talk about this) and so much more.
We decided to walk around after that, and we spied a couple of roosters and a chicken ('Why did the chicken cross the road?' - Niki) which reminded me of the rooster and the chicken in my neighbourhood which Tim, Kunaal and Rishab have christened Zelda.
Occasionally we would stop to take pictures of the beautiful flowers and plants that live in the botanic gardens, including a little aphid that Niki spotted on a leaf.
At one point in our walk, Nat stopped to take a picture of a fallen leaf on the ground because it was just so beautiful, which made my heart so happy because these two special friends find such beauty even in the ordinary and the fallen.
I told them that bougainvilleas are one of the plants I find most interesting because their flowers are actually not flowers, but leaves that change their pigmentation and come together to form the beautiful groups we mistake as flowers. I've always seen that as a sort of natural symbol for the ability for the ordinary to become extraordinary, especially when dreams and interests align.
I don't know why conversation flows so easily with the two of them, from one topic to another like a meandering river. At one point we even talked about how to make yogurt and how you can make soy yogurt with firm tofu, soy milk and...chili stems! (Not even joking, I found this recipe on you tube just on Friday!) Which then led Nat into saying 'My favourite bacteria is ...' Which I found so funny because where ever else would you hear confessions of this kind.
These two beautiful friends are such kindred souls, so kind to me and every other person on this planet, and so sensitive and passionate about health, wellness and social justice and WORLD consciousness.
George Eliot wrote that 'the golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.' I'm so glad to have this blog to write down all these golden moments, and glad for friends and food and faith that helps me to look beyond drizzly weather to the angels that stand by my side every day.
Other funny moments that day:
1. OTT chef giving me food to serve: " (looking at the receipt with the table number on it) 两个都是 b big. (sees my not-fully-chinese-face) Oh shit! sorry!"
2. Weixin coming and surprising me with Meiji crackers from her Meiji run. I scooped her the biggest ever bailey's and brownie scoop of ice cream, so big that I couldn't even make it properly round and smooth because it wouldn't fit into the scoop.
3. As I cleaned out the waffle iron, scraping out the bits of batter stuck to it's side, next to Leonard who was bent over the sink washing the coffee machine things
Leonard: "Are you intending to flick that (the batter bits) in my face"
Me: "I didn't know you were telepathic!"
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