The good, the bad and the ugly

An eventful few months it had been, and what a journey of discovery it was!
As we approach the final week of the 7-week journey, I can't help but reflect on the great deal I have learnt about my family, my friends and myself.

Healthcare - an industry I never thought I would step foot in.
It has been a powerful, challenging, knowledgable and yet humbling experience.
I feel so small and humbled by the people I am surrounded by every single day.
Doctors, nurses and frontliners who incessantly and tirelessly do their utmost for their patients. Patients who put up a fight against their condition, accompanied by their family members who fight alongside with them unconditionally.

There are the good ones, and there are the better ones.
I haven't been the most cooperative kin of a patient.
I have been demanding and at times, overinsistent and paranoid.
But there have been doctors and nurses and frontline workers who have stood up to my demands and in fact, humbled me with their sincerity and professionalism.

Friends and people - as with all apples, there too exists the good, the bad and the ugly.
The past 4 months felt like a crash course of lifelong lessons, delivering a hard slap on my cheek and awakened me to who I have been and who I should be.

I am thankful for this wake up call that has taught me to treasure faithfulness, selflessness, reliability, positivity and love in a friendship.

I am thankful for the selfless traits in my friends. They have provided comfort and strength that I need and not what they think I need. There is a subtle but important difference, for in a friendship, friends play the rules of the game together and not by the rules of one or the other.

Here's to the good, the better and the best.

Daunting journey ahead

Just at the turn of 2011, we faced a shocking piece of news. The road will be daunting ahead but the only way to face it would be to tackle it with positivity and courage, and hope the rainbow does come at the end of the tunnel.

Still alive!

Yes I am still kicking and breathing! It had been very hectic, and I must admit it's tough to hang on sometimes.

But I must look toward Formula One as my target!

Talk to my hand

A taxi driver just showed me his hand, when I was trying to tell him in detail where my destination was.

I was telling him, very politely, "Uncle, I need to go to Yishun, and then to Hougang. Yishun it's at (That's when the hand came up)". He apparently decided to head to Yishun before finding out the exact venue.

I have been ticked off one too many times for giving too little details. But this time, the uncle decided he didn't want to know too much?

The hand sign is truly an intimidating one.

Moving right on...

I am almost done with Raffles Place. 8 months isn't a long time, but sufficient to instil the Raffles Place culture in me.

I have learnt how to make sure my tissue pack is differentiated to chope/reserve seats properly. I now know where the best (& cheapest) lattes and teh-sis in Raffles Place are. Fruit juices at The Arcade are simply the best ever to boost your day.

Above it all, the most lucrative spot to score freebies is at Raffles Place greens at lunch time, where I received blister-busting bandaids, a travel-sized toothpaste and even sanitary pads!

Just 11 more days to go and I am done.

Yummy lunch

I just discovered another to-die-for sandwich - Cedele Depot's Shrimp Avocado!

This was recommended by my colleague and I finally got to try it today.
After braving the long queues at peak lunch hour-Raffles Place, I took my first bite in the comfort of my office.

The combination of shrimp and avocado won it all for me. First, there were generous slabs of avocado, with mayo to top it off. Coupled with fresh, fat & juicy shrimps, it was so easy to finish my lunch, a feat my friends would credit me for (you see, I have a big problem with finishing up food!)

Looks like I will be swinging by Cedele Depot soon again!

Busy busy busy

Weekend was packed... and I mean, packed!
I spent my entire weekend packing (pun alert!) my room and it's now in a decent state. Now that I have kept count of my clothes etc, I can now get what I need at the GSS :P

Confirmation

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I am trying my best to revive blogging so let's see how it goes.

I have just finished up my six-month probation at work. A painful and draining process, but I have come through. I have learnt some new things, both good and bad, both professionally and un-professionally. I guess it's true what they say, you never stop learning. I hope the next part of my work journey can only be smoother, with less awkward and "frightful" situations.

In search of perfection

Don't search for perfection if you don't know what you want. Coz you wouldn't know it even when you do find it.

For the record

I just wanna put this in the books - Christmas has always been a great festive season for me.

I am so glad to be back home sweet home this Christmas to relive the many years of celebration with this group of growing-old-together friends! Long Live Us!

Merry Christmas!

Quick Random Thoughts

2 totally unrelated thoughts from the ST headlines today.
1) The new Prime Minister from Thailand looks like Mr Big (Sex & the City)! My gosh!
Let's hope his star looks and sense can placate the parties. On a less serious note, we need a peaceful Bangkok so that our short term travel itch can be fulfilled. Plus I miss Chatuchak and MBK.
2) I wonder why KBW fronted a session about the TC investments. Where's THP, the coordinator for the councils gone to? My vote goes to KBW though! Have always thought he has been doing a great job in all the major issues that came up.

This time, 20 years ago at Jurong Bird Park

I must have been here watching the flamingos before... well at least 20 years ago. To me, Jurong Bird Park is located at one of the most ulu places in Singapore, this is even when I was staying in the west of Singapore long time ago.
That's why I only went one other time in my entire life.

It's quite a pretty sight, with lots of green and chirping sounds (the squawking of the parrots irked me though!!). The daily performance "Birds of Prey" was fun to watch too. There was a good 5 mins where the vultures and eagles were diving down at the audience members. Very intimidating! I told my friends that's definitely NOT part of the show - the birds have run amok! I really thought so, and wonder why my friends rolled their eyes at me for that?!


My favourite and coolest part of the bird park has got to be the penguins "cave". The penguins look so cute (and silly and helpless)with their flaps. They can't fly of course, but sure are made for the water!
Penguins are groupies though. You start to notice they don't stand alone and are always in a clique.

And finally, that's us!

Long time no see

I have decided to attempt getting over my emotional rut and catch up with old friends, especially those working in the vicinity.

Met an ex-colleague whom I haven't seen or spoke to for nearly two years now and although we could only lunch for one precious hour, it was a nice and heartwarming 60mins.
It felt surreal to see someone after such a long time. I told him I felt as if I just found my long-lost brother (I don't have a brother though, nor lost any relatives??!) and couldn't help repeating "it's so nice to see you again, and I miss talking to you!".

It was just nice catching up and talk about old times though many things have changed too. He is now married, just got promoted in his job and lifestyle has somewhat changed. All these aside, things felt exactly the same. I suppose at this age, friendship and a sense of familarity matters more than ever.

Week 3 at Raffles Place

Despite turning in really late last night, I managed to coax myself to wake up and got into office 30 mins earlier! Not too bad an effort for someone who kinda loves to sleep.

I am quite sure I am right about this - there seems to be lesser people around in Raffles Place today. Probably a good time to clear leave and go on a long holiday.
I am craving for a long holiday (yes, again!!) too. Thank goodness Christmas is coming up soon!

Golden Shoe

I am back to the sea of fast-paced executives at Raffles Place!
Survived Week 1 and pretty much enjoying every moment of it.
I finally decided to brave the daunting Golden Shoe food centre for lunch and have absolutely no regrets!

A decent portion of Salmon Teriyaki bento for only SGD5.50 and it even comes with miso soup. It's a steal!

More to explore in coming weeks at Golden Shoe!

Revival

Gasp! It's been nearly 3 months, my blog is almost doomed for demise.
Before that actually happens, here's some photos of my Hongkong trip a couple of months back. The main highlights - the 1 July pro-democracy protest in Central.
Here's a souvenir from the protest. I had to take a photo of it and then dump it before I went to Beijing for the Olympics. Didn't want to risk being mistaken by the Chinese authorities as anti-government.
Hongkong media - going all out to get their story.

Pin Slut!

Okay, whilst the rest of the world athletes fight it out for the medals, there is another underground "medal" tally going on with the staff, journalists and volunteers - The Pin Tally!

We were told to bring along some pins from our home countries for exchange. I simply ignored this very useful advice and brought nothing with me. Pins are hot collectibles and after shrugging off pins for the first 3 days, I couldn't resist anymore. I became a pin slut!

So it was endless begging, pleasing, committment to little favours and chatting up sessions all for the sake of that ONE pin. The number of pins on one's lanyard seemed to suggest how sociable and popular that person was. I was a late-bloomer and so booked my spot at the bottom of the pin tally.

Still a couple more days to go, let's see how I can catch up!

4am

It's 4am now, and I am still somewhat wide awake.
I wonder if it's the adrenalin of the Men's Basketball quarterfinals or supper with some fellow volunteers that is keeping me awake.

I just can't believe how fast this whole Olympics experience is going to end, in another 3 days. It is an irony really - I was so mega unhappy at the start, but am enjoying every moment of it right now.

The Olympics is really a huge celebration of mankind. In an intense international event like this, you see the worst and the best in people. I am happy to have experienced both. Whilst discovering the meanest and most cynical of mankind in some journalists, I have seen the best of sportsmanship, patriotism, caring and sharing in the people here.

Olympic Green

The Olympic Green is a huge area that resembles a country with its own transport system of shuttle buses, IBC (International Broadcast Centre), MPC (Main Press Centre), McDonald's, shopping area and mini concert stage.
It's one of the most spectacular icons of this year's Olympics because it houses the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube (where the swim events are), the Gymnasium and the "Pagoda" where all the world's premier broadcasters reside.
Have a look!

Journey to the Bird's Nest

And so, I made it to both the Bird's Nest and Basketball game on Saturday.
Getting to the Bird's Nest alone is an experience, mainly because it's located in the Olympic Green. More about Olympic Green later... here's how crazy the crowd was!


Just in case u can't figure out what the words are (due to my shaky hands on the train), it's Olympic Green where the Bird's Nest is located!