An Unexpected Treat

Change of plans may not turn out to be as disasterous as I used to see it. Could this be wisdom acquired as I walked down the path of maturity? It does reflect patience and flexibility. It would seem pretentious, but I would say my years in Japan made me like a bamboo, emerging strong from a spread out network of roots, growing tall and firm in body, but flexible to the winds of change. I laugh at my younger self who used to scowl when things just do not go the way I planned them to be; especially, when I have put much heart and effort in the planning process, to find myself dissapointed after all the anticipation.

I had a close to perfect morning today, and it was nothing according to my initial plans. With only 4.5 hours of sleep and a day of work ahead of me, I am not irritated nor grumpy by any means. (Wow!)

My initial plans after a long day of work yesterday was to hang out with my buddies after an appointment out in Chiba, get a good night's sleep, have breakfast in the morning and travel back to Tokyo for work. Well, after waiting for half hour, my appointment was cancelled, or rather rescheduled, and I had dinner ala solo. With the extra time, I decided to do some window shopping at the mall and got some toiletries before meeting up with the guys. It was a treat when Mark joined the usual trio, and we all went for gyoza indulging in my whim. We had a good time just shoving down dumplings, and soon, Sunil had craving for his favorite ramen. The four of us head back to campus with Mark carrying me on his bike! We were cheering him on as we rode up the bridge near the Hokuso Park. I salute this Sri Lankan for the good sport and energy!

The trio rendezvous with a new member, Kazuto, and cycled off into the night in search of Sunil's ramen. We had many laughs and a late night and I only went to bed close to 1. Bed, is a relative term. Due to unforseen circumstances I was sleeping in the living room but utterly content with the heating mat/carpet and the wonderful blankets and pillows Ching Boi brought me. It was nice keeping warm all night in contrast to the chilly apartment of mine where I had to pull out a second blanket the night before, and still waking up cold. (You know you are cold when you are curled up in bed instead of streching out relaxing.) I was up in a few hours, prepared myself, and took a nice morning walk towards the station area.

My rescheduled appointment turned out to be a breakfast meeting where I had french toast over a good conversation with much to learn. "Grammar is like algebra." It could be easily grasped when we have good understanding of the basics, and we will soon notice that what we thought difficult and complex is just the layering and combination of all the simple basic form that we know. Thus, keep [the concept] simple, and it would be a piece of cake. (Someone should have shared this piece of wisdom, and maybe, I would have done better in my Additional Mathematics back in high school.) After a fill in my tummy and soul, another surprise unrevel itself when I bumped into Sunil on the train to Tokyo. What a treat! I have always like Sunil in a suit; very smart-looking indeed. We shared a good train ride together discussing about stuff. Despite the change in my morning plans, everything turned out great; moreover, I got to work on time!

It is a good Friday indeed! As I was walking under the beautifully weathered skies, I was thinking to myself, a matcha latte and brownie would top my day. Kiwi Kitchen, a caterer who has been visiting our office of late had brownies and I decided to indulge. What a great way to wrap up my week and nothing was going according to my initial plans at all.