Happy 39th BFF!

Celebrated the BFF's birthday with a four-hour volunteer session at Willing Hearts. That was her request for a birthday present, and format of the usual gathering of friends. So the bunch of us got together to do it.

There's no briefing or anything by the organizers. Just sign up online, and turn up at Willing Hearts' soup kitchen in Kembangan, chope your tables if you're a bigger group, otherwise just slot into any empty spaces. It's all fairly casual. The soup kitchen opens at 5.30am, and winds down at about noon. That's pretty much the hours they require everyone's help in the food prep, all the way till cleaning up at 3pm. There won't be a lack of chores to help out with. I was certainly not going to volunteer to cook. I don't think they'll let me anyway. Hahaha.

Lotus roots and potatoes were the order of the day at our washing and chopping station. The earlier shifts probably sorted out all the onions and garlic already. We formed up one table in an assembly line to grab and rinse lotus roots from the boxes, peel them, wash clean and then slice them up thinly for stir-fry. On crowded days, be prepared to stand all the way instead of sitting down around the table. Sure, we were chatting, but we were more focused on productivity than anything else. But yeah, no one was actually counting how much time we took to get through boxes and boxes of lotus roots.

I was slicing up stuff initially, but more peelers were required, so I went to steal a peeler from another empty space and set about peeling a pile. Forgot to bring a peeler for our own use. It's definitely more comfortable to bring your own (sharp) knives and vegetable peelers. Just keep a tight eye on them if they're precious and you don't intend to donate them to the kitchen. Bring fitting gloves if you're iffy about hygiene, washing and all that. Erm, no air-conditioning hor. Dress appropriately- wear covered shoes, no sleeveless tops and no shorts.

May your heart always be this generous and blessed. Live, love and dive safe. Laugh often and drink less. To your health and happiness always and always, BFF.