Mixed

When I stepped into the house today, the sweet aroma of pandan wafted into the dining room. There, sitting on the kitchen counter, was a pandan chiffon cake.

One strange thing about me (among many other strange things :) is I'm not actually fond of cakes. I'll eat a slice of birthday cake out of courtesy, or if someone has specially baked one. Otherwise, I usually don't eat any. Give me a cookie on the other hand, and I'll happily munch on it... I'm a cookie monster.

The only cakes that I really like are Japanese cheese cakes and chiffon cakes. Pandan chiffon cakes. It's silly, they're one of the cheapest cakes back home, but I love their light texture and pandan fragrance. So when I saw one on the counter, my eyes lit up. Karen's mum had baked it this afternoon, to try a recipe for one of Karen's catering jobs. Thus, she's become my new 'chiffon-baking-good-friend'... heh, just kidding :)

She's a really sweet lady, and came over to Adelaide to attend Karen's graduation in mid-April. Two days before she arrived, Karen and I spent the entire day cleaning and tidying the house. It's been a while since the house has been that clean :)

Thus, we attended Karen's convocation (graduation ceremony) 2 weeks ago...

The graduates : Karen, Jeannie, Amanda

Karen's graduation celebration dinner. Korean food!

Eileen and her beef hot pot... yum

Elisa's teriyaki salmon

Good food, great company :)

It's amusing listening to Auntie, when she recounts stories of her days as a primary school teacher and anecdotes of life back home, and it makes me laugh when she talks about wanting to go out to paint the town red. On the other hand, she finds it endlessly amusing when she speaks a string of Cantonese phrases, only to find me staring blankly at her. She does that occasionally, and always laughs at my response, then translates the phrases into English. Actually, my driving instructor used to do the same thing, and he always found it amusing when I didn't understand too. Hm...

The past 2 weeks have been scattered with celebrations, birthdays, housewarmings, and farewells. What a mix of occasions and emotions.

Amanda, Fangyi, and Jeannie have returned home to Singapore to work as nutritionists/ dieticians, and Auntie will be staying here for another 2 weeks before she returns to Singapore. Before leaving, Fangyi handed me a bookmark, which said :

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way" - Mother Theresa

True... we don't necessarily have to impact the world through grand gestures, we can do so through the little things. A smile, some encouraging words, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a prayer, a helping hand, and just being a friend... these little things can influence a person deep inside. And if you influence one person, that person could go on to change the lives of many others... So, even if we don't do great things directly, by doing the little things, we may still end up doing 'great things' and impacting the world in an indirect way. It is still God who ultimately changes each of us, and perhaps this is also one of the ways that He does so, through influencing the lives of those around us.