The mind is willing, but the eyes are not.

Last Father's Day (1st Sept), my daughter gifted me an SD Gundam kit. It's probably obvious what sort of stuff I like, especially since we have a cabinet full of mecha, 80s robots, and Star Wars on display in the living room.

It's been a while since I last built a Gundam kit though; she wasn't even born yet, come to think of it. It's the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVA that got me into it. I nearly completed all the Gundams from that movie; I remember not getting Tallgeese because I didn't like the design.

Getting this gift got me all excited for Gundams again. But building this kit also knocked a bit of reality check in me. Man, I've gotten old. I struggled to read the small print in the instruction booklet! This SD kit took me three nights with a couple of hours each to build. There were quite a number of stickers too. I'm amazed though at how the kit has evolved over time. For one thing, you no longer need a cutter to pop off the parts from the tree! So handy.and this one has an articulated elbow! Imagine that.

It was satisfying completing this build. Reminded me of happy memories building Gundams and watching anime. And I'm so glad my daughter gets me.

It's a bright June afternoon; it never gets dark

When the month of June rolls in, the fleeting of time never fails to dawn on me. Just recently, my two kids became a year older and we celebrated another year of marriage.

Time just keeps on marching on.

This is actually the first time my son celebrated his birthday away from us. Good thing there's Uber Eats. My daughter, on the other hand, still likes hanging out with her friends so they ice-skated while the parents hovered and chatted nearby.

At times it's a confusing mix of feelings.

I think I'm a naturally melancholy guy. I celebrate these milestones in our lives but at the back of my head a certain loneliness lingers. I guess, when you find yourself uncontrollably sleepy some afternoons and struggle to bend to tie your shoes, or even rise from a particularly low sofa, then you know time is racing against you too.

I've always tried to brush this feeling off and try to focus on the happy bits. But this month I realised that I may be doing it wrong. I think I need to accept both the 'bad' and the 'good' in me if I am ever to find inner peace.

Hang on.... this actually sounds like a mashup of Kung Fu Panda and Inside Out.

Round and round it goes

The month of May had not been a merry one for me. I contracted COVID so I had to isolate for a week. A couple of weeks later, I'm still feeling the effects: dizzy spells and drowsiness especially in the afternoons. I get disorientated with the most simple of tasks; I misplace my keys, wallet, ID. That's really annoying. More annoying than when I first had my first bout of COVID when I lost my sense of taste. At least that didn't affect my appetite. But this one hits different.

When I was in isolation I lost the energy to do anything. I totally missed blogging about the 4th of May (Star Wars Day) and Mother's Day. I even had an idea on what to write about for those days weeks before! But I couldn't muster the energy to think and write it down.

And a couple of weeks after that. I still feel lethargic.

So May came and went, and now we're in June. Winter has officially started. There's been a lot of sickness going around - flu and COVID mostly - and I'm sure it's due to the colder-than-usual winter.

On a positive note, we have a couple of birthdays coming up so that should brong some much needed cheer 😊