Blogging: An Alternative to Studying

Day Two

Assignment: Familiarise self with more files and read relevant information on the internet.

Status: Mission accomplished. Brain supersaturated with information.

~ ~ ~

As the office consists of two other senior females and one senior male staff, I hang out with an intern about 9 years younger than me. The kid is friendly and has attempted on both days to make sure I am not feeling left out during lunch as the newest person in the office. 

She's a millennial. By the categorisations in the image below, I am one too, but we have marked differences in our general attitudes of life that I refuse to be associated with this generation. I mean, I can't really find fault with the way they think. They are, after all, a by-product of their circumstances like the time of birth, upbringing, social status, etc. Still, spending a little time with her today made me feel really relieved to be 31 years old. 

Now don't be an asshole, Shuri.

Image Source: The Wire

Said kid is an over-achiever in my dictionary. She's only 22 years old, few months away from graduating with a Bachelor's double degree. She said she was a professional dancer. She also dresses very professionally to work which gave me the initial impression that she was about 26 years old. She's managed to get accepted into the UN as an intern and she was very confident when she told me that she was going to do her Master's degree next year. 

And by contrast, I was a train wreck at 22!

Okay, I can really feel my case weakening now...

I swear, my lunch conversations with this youngster went like this today:

She: The girl before you was nice. I didn't know what to expect when they told there will be a replacement. But you are really nice. 

Me: *smiles shyly*

She: So what do you do in your free time?

Me: Erm. Lot of things. Spending time with pets, some photogra-----

She: OMG, I love your spectacles. It has a blue shine!!!

Me: Erm yes. It's a protective coating to minimise radiation. 

She: Soo cool. So what will you do after your 6-month contract with this NGO ends?

Me: I have to work on my thes---

She: I really love your spectacles. I wonder if I have to wear them too. 

Me: Can you feel your eyesight is getting weaker?

She: I think so. My friend had to wear them too. So how old are you?

Me: I'm 31. 

She: *nearly chokes on her rice* REALLY??  You don't look like that at all. 

Me: Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment. You must be about 26? (grave miscalculation on my part)

She: NOOOO, I'm 22!!

Me: *gasps* but then slowly notices the doe-eyes, naivety, blemish-free skin and realises this truly is a juvenile human specimen underneath an adult persona. 

She: So are you married???

Me: No, not yet.

She: Do you have a boyfriend???

Me: No, not at the moment.

She: Even my mother was hinting the other day for me to get married!

Me: You have PLENTY of time to be married. Don't rush.

She: You know, I did an Human Resource Management exam and got a Distinction!!!

Me: Nice! Well done. 

She: I wonder what I should ask my parents?

Me: What do you mean?

She: I need an incentive from my parents for getting a Distinction! It really works, no?

Me: [No, you don't!] *keeps quiet*

She: It's so hard to get a Class for my degree but my mother told me she'd get me a car if I got a Class.

Me: Well, that's a strong motivator to try harder. 

She: Yes!

Many things considered, the kid is alright and has added some colour to my observations and experiences within the UN compound (besides Agent Cat).

Hakuna Matata

After spending two years in the glory of reptiles, I decided to expand to an additional realm of animals for my volunteer work at the zoo - the African Adventure! And this time, I have great company because Katy Kat decided to join too. She has a strong liking towards dogs, giraffes and as I found out yesterday, giant tortoises.

It's impossible to hate giant tortoises. They are so gentle and good natured.

We just finished a fun first day of training being amazed by the special adaptations and behaviour of animals in this scope (rhinos, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hunting dogs, warthogs, meerkats and naked mole rats).

I think it was a good decision for me to join this station because I have a recurring nightmare of being chased by a rhino. For the record, my worst animal fears are being chased by rhinos and flying cockroaches. Although we learnt that some rhinos can grow up to a staggering height of 2 meters (and I'm only 1.6 meters tall), our trainers mentioned that they can't jump, so leaving a log as an additional barrier to their enclosure can slow them down significantly. Next time I have that nightmare, I'm going to try and run towards a fallen tree in the savannah. Nope, I see no holes in that plan.

Wait what?! Lions, warthogs and meerkats??

A familiar cast

Source: Deviantart

The day ended with a game to see how well we had revised our notes. We were given a photograph of an animal and each group was asked to write down as many recalled facts as possible. The prize for the winner was too good so the competition turned fierce. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts (dammit if only I knew, I would have spent more time on my notes!), we lost the chance to have a private session to feed either the rhinos or the giraffes. Our opponents were nice enough to request the trainers to allow us to join them. For now it's a big maybe, as they will try to accommodate extra people.

~ ~ ~ 

At work, I recently decided to adopt some indoor plants. Following advice from a friendly sales lady who assured me that they are all indoor plants which will survive well in an air-conditioned office, I purchased three plants. I gave the cactus to a colleague as part of her birthday present, because I was quite sure it won't die too soon.

It's interesting to watch plants grow...even at the cost of having your boss and colleagues think you are a bit eccentric

Turns out this plant needed direct sunlight for photosynthesis

Two days later, the plant with reddish leaves starting wilting! I tried to water it but there was no change. Then I carried it to a roof top garden in the adjacent building and left it concealed among other plants, hoping a bit of sun exposure will nurse it back to life. To my horror, it rained heavily for a couple of days and I was too afraid to see what happened to the plant. When I gathered my guts and went there, I was not prepared for what I saw!

The plant had been brutally murdered by a band of barbarian snails!

Good eats

We shifted to a new office in a brand new building recently. Now that the worst parts of moving are behind us, the new office is something I look forward to. Going through the agony of shifting together and being shuffled around has fostered warmer ties among different sets of people. I have my own cubicle and no longer share an office room with my boss. The pantry is next door and there are three times as many ladies' toilets in this building. Not only that, they gave me my own locker located inside the toilet! Now I don't have to resort to creative ways of pulling out feminine products discreetly from my bag in my boss' field of view or resort to sending telepathic signals to his part of the brain that controls thirst and the bladder. Open office plans are somewhat unnerving. People sneak up from behind a lot and involve me in random small talk or expect me to take part in group conversations flying across the floor which I don't pay much attention to.

The trip back home made me rethink my eating habits. The lunch I eat at the office canteen is quite oily so I decided to eat home cooked meals on some days. Although I am not noticeably affected by oily food now, who knows even an extra year saved in terms of blocked arteries during my last stand may prove to be useful. I actually enjoy cooking. To me, it's more like an enjoyable version of laboratory research where the subjects of my experiments are my friends, and not mice. The friends don't mind since they get to sample free food. Making food that is healthy is science. Making food that is visually appetizing is like art. And making food that tastes good with the right ingredients in the right quantities is chemistry. Hitting that mark of perfection in taste is like reaching the equivalence point in a titration experiment. Adding anything less or anything more is likely to miss the mark. With the exception of accidentally poisoning oneself or burning down the house, failures in cooking experiments are valuable things that go down as lessons learnt.

Last night I went out for a barbeque with my colleagues. We planned this event for many days with much excitement. Everyone pooled in their ideas and sponsored various items. Initially they planned to bring their families and invite other friends, but in the end it was just the four of us. I stated in the beginning that I won't be inviting any of my friends - I can't imagine how any of my closest friends would enjoy an outing on a Friday night with a group of mostly unknown people and be forced to socialise.

We drove to the farthest end of the country in search of our barbeque pit in Changi Beach Park. In all the excitement, we forgot to research on the road route. We parked in the wrong car park and walked about a kilometer from the car park to the pit carrying heavy things like charcoal, barbeque equipment, food, drinks, a bag of ice cubes, a large ice box, large umbrellas and a big watermelon! Also, getting a fire started was quite a challenge. Eventually, we settled in what was a calming spot, listening to the waves pounding on the beach and getting excited every time a low flying aircraft made its way to land at the Changi airport. It was a Friday evening well spent in good company, (over)eating, talking, singing a lot of old songs (mostly just the first few lines) and playing charades.

What do vegetarians eat at barbecues? In yesterday's barbeque, Shu sponsored garlic and herb vegetable skewers and grilled corn

On my return from Sri Lanka last month, I brought back some biscuits to distribute to my office colleagues. One of my favourites is the ginger biscuit which I also passed to an older Scottish colleague who occasionally gives me biscuits and freebies leftover from Safety campaigns in the office.

He came back to me several weeks later and said, "Shu, do you think you can get me more of those biscuits? As kids, we used to eat something called Ginger Snaps, which we don't see anymore. It reminded me a lot of my mother who used to dunk the biscuits in milk because they were too hard for her false teeth!"

It's fascinating how memories of certain events in our lives are tied to food or songs and archived in our long term memory, only to be released on contact with specific triggers.

"Ginger snaps" from home

In a twist of unexpected events, Brother Bear and Goldilocks are turning out to be better tenants than we are. While we are at work, they proactively clean the house (although we protest to it), fix broken locks and to our embarrassment, they even solved a chronic clogged sink issue. Now that they keep the house cleaner, we are feeling the pressure to keep up. Shu learned that they got married only a couple of months ago and left family behind soon after to start a new chapter in Singapore. It's a bit saddening knowing it's a struggle to adjust to a new country and culture, but at the same time, it's admirable that they are trying it with a positive attitude.

Last week, Ryuu and I caught Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back to back. I didn't think we'd make it through 4 hours of sitting (with old age, weak bladders and all) but we did. Guardians was definitely the better movie of the two, but Turtles was a major blast from the past for me. I was a big time fan of the cartoon as a child and recall fondly playing the game on my TV game console.

Recently, I discovered a food stall selling "appam" and it was our pre-movie dinner. In Sri Lanka, they are known as "hoppers" and are very popular among the masses.

Not so long ago, Katy and I decided to try Mediterranean food at a restaurant called Esmirada. Just when we were beginning to think the food there was a bit underwhelming, the restaurant suddenly came alive and started playing a loud, catchy folk song. I thought it might be a birthday celebration. Then some of the staff members got on tables and danced away while smashing lots of porcelain plates! Soon, they gave us plates for smashing too!! Everyone was in smiles and followed suit.

The staff danced on the tables to this folk tune. It turns out that smashing plates is an ancient Greek tradition and the "Zorba" is a Greek dance.

The floor was a mess of chipped porcelain when we left

Tales of Sherwood

When I walked into the office this morning, my Boss wasn't looking too great.

Instead of going, "Why Boss, you look inflamed this morning. Are you alright?",
I asked politely "Good Morning Boss, didn't you catch enough sleep last night?"

He looked a bit taken back and denied any anomalies in his routine. Also, he never likes to admit it when he is coming down with an illness, however obvious the symptoms are.

Much later in the day, he tells me,
"You know, this morning when I went to the 7-11 store at the gas station, I was attacked by a swarm of fruit flies near the biscuits shelf while waiting to pay for my things. I don't know why there were flies inside the store. Maybe the door doesn't lock well and they got in. They were too small to be bees. They looked thinner and longer."

I asked, "Did you get bitten?"

He said, "No, but I whacked all of them."

This funny little story didn't seem out of line to me from an ordinary day in Sherwood (the gas station may as well been a watering hole for the horses). My Boss is after all the spitting image of Little John from the story of Robin Hood. Not just in his physique, but also in character. He's very protective of his team, extremely kind, easy going and fearless when it comes to defending those who try to attack him or his territory.

From the left: Will, Little John, Lady Marion, Much, Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Nasir

There's a trusted associate of my Boss who brings him useful information from the world outside, who also happens to have a short stature like Much. Nasir, who joined our company recently is very capable but speaks very little. He also has a moustache. Another elderly and jovial team member is Friar Tuck. His table is always filled with food and he generously feeds anyone who stops by his desk. Even I like frequenting his table for snacks.

The King of England actually sits in the cubicle next door and is separated from our cubicle by a drywall partition (this guy though is originally from Scotland). This elderly gentleman can't stop swearing or talking about himself. I sometimes enjoy his company since he is an entertaining story teller and he never runs out of amusing stories (about his life) to relate. Also, he depends on me to fix his Microsoft Powerpoint and Microsoft Word problems.

My Boss' Boss  is undoubtedly Herne the Hunter. When he does approach our office to see my Boss, the skies turn grey, the birds flee, flowers wither and we are engulfed with fear, because it's rarely a good thing. Sometimes Herne summons Little John to his office and even the bold Little John gets uneasy.

Herne the Hunter

Photo credits: Pork Magazine

In case, it wasn't downright obvious, I'm Lady Marion. Robin Hood and Will are yet to appear on the set.

Who did what??

It pays to be a "No Man" sometimes.

Another good movie of Jim Carrey's

Usually, a blinding flash of lightning hits us a few moments before the accompanying roar of thunder. And just like that, sometimes, Shu's speech - the inability to say "NO", rather - precedes her thoughts associated with common sense. And so Shu ignorantly gets into all kinds of sticky situations. Once when she was lost in an industrial park, she readily accepted a lift in a lorry full of workers who she had never met before. When the gravity of the situation kicked in (riding in a lorry full of unknown men), she was already seated in the front seat of this lorry, answering away questions from the helpful driver who eventually did drop her at the gate of the place she was looking for. Another thing she is  brilliantly good at is saying "YES" when actually she wanted to say was "NO". Like today, she failed at turning down a dinner invitation from a chatty old senior colleague. When the thunder finally hit - the awkwardness of meeting a colleague outside work to chat about work ALONE - she panicked and desperately thought of means for damage control. Now she hopes that he will be hit by a temporary bout of dementia by next month and forget all about the invitation.

~ ~ ~

Singapore is a haven for foodies. And today, I have various raw ingredients suitable for a blog rojak.

The Urban Dictionary defines "rojak" as follows;

A delicacy in Singapore. Mixed with various ingredients. There are the Chinese Rojak, and the Indian Rojak. Different ethnic flavours come from different methods of mixing and different ingredients.
The Chinese version normally include a base of lemon sauce and a sweet gravy. Ingredients include fried fritters (Yew Char Kuay), Fried beancurd (Tau Pok), Beansprouts (tau gay), Pineapple (Ong Lai), Cucumber, Radish, and sprinkled with peanut crumbs.
The Indian flavour constitutes a melange of colourful fried foods, potato, fish cakes, and many more yummies! This rojak is normally accompanied with a sweet red coloured sauce.

~ ~ ~

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about the load of junk to-be-recycled we collected this month. On one hand it is a bit shocking to see that a 3-4 person household accumulated this much of recyclable junk in roughly a month, but on the other hand it is comforting to know that some of it went to a recycling plant instead of a landfill or an incinerator. 

    

                       Junk load on 1st February 2014                  Junk load on 19th February 2014

~ ~ ~ 

I like setting out to work in the crack of dawn. I've always loved the sense of calmness this time of the day brings. Apart from stars, there are less vehicles on the road, less people bustling about, the winds are cooler, bird calls are distinct and thoughts sound louder. I meet pensioners, joggers, security guards, cab drivers washing their cars at gas stations, students and working adults who, like me, start their day early. 

Vendors at the wet market starting their day early

~ ~ ~ 

Remote desktop connections leave me very amused. When I was a kid, I recall watching a TV show called Ghostwriter, where a group of kids communicated with a friendly ghost through mediums related to words and writing to solve mysteries. So the other day when the Notepad window below suddenly popped up while I was doing my work, I was immediately reminded of Ghostwriter. Also when I'm deeply involved in my work, I automatically assume that the computer monitor is an extension of my mind, so when "Ghostwriter" popped up at work, for a moment there I felt possessed!

It was just a colleague from the IT department who likes creeping up on people through remote desktop connections

~ ~ ~ 

My ongoing research into male behavioral patterns using specimens at work have shed light on some interesting areas. Though previously thought to be uncommon behaviour among these creatures, gossiping, expressing feelings and an affinity for drama have all been commonly observed. 

Scenario 1:

X: Do you have any air freshner with you?

Y: No, why?

X: The guy sitting in the neighboring cubical farts all the time and it's unbearable

Y: That's disgusting (giggles).

Scenario 2:

A: What does she do now?

B: She's working at a new company. And I heard she got divorced too.

A: Oh really?

B: Yeah...what happened?

Scenario 3:

G: Ever since you got transferred, I have really missed you man.

H: Yeah, I missed you too.

G: I should try to get you transferred back here.

Scenario 4:

Boss: DID HE JUST FART?? I heard it right through the wall!!

Shu: Yeah, I heard that too.

Boss: Giggles hysterically

Shu: *straight face, Shu, straight face* *dammit*

Shu: HAHAHAHA

The Departures Terminal

And just like that, February creeped up upon us.

Shu was quite occupied the last few weeks in a string of social commitments, from playing host/ tour guide to a young traveller to bidding farewell to three friends who left the country to catching up with her closest pals. Meanwhile, she's also had a life-changing shift in her daily routine...

For someone who has voiced out the challenges of associating with extroverted friends, I ought to be more grateful for the bountiful opportunities that come while being in their association. One day while taking the bus with my colleague, I was introduced to a staff from the Human Resources department. Left to my own, I would have looked in the opposite direction of fellow passengers, plugged my earphones and gazed out of the window dreamily at the trees and clouds and people passing by. But on this day, I was forced to make an effort to socialise with the new acquaintance, during which time I learnt there was a company sponsored bus meant for expats working on special projects, about 7 bus stops away from my house. Soon after, I inquired further and got an exception to take it. This arrangement has given me not only financial savings and convenience, but also an extra 1.5 hours in the day equaling to an additional 9 hours in my week, which is pretty awesome! Now my routine looks like this:

5:00am - Wake up, have tea, make breakfast and get ready for work
5:55am - Leave the house and walk 2.5km to bus pick-up point while investigating celestial objects in the pre-dawn sky with Google Sky Map (or just take a quick 10-minute public bus ride if I don't feel like walking 3900 footsteps for exercise)
6:30am - Get into the company sponsored transport bus
7:00am - Arrive at work
5:00pm - Leave work
6:00pm - Arrive at home (on days without social commitments)
10:30pm - Go to bed (on days without social commitments)

The bearings of my office transport in relation to my apartment are (it's cooler to think of it this way):
Follow Venus until I pass 3 gas stations, then with Venus on my left, follow the Crux constellation until I arrive at a small white bus filled with sleepy zombies dressed in white coveralls.

 

Early morning notes: Venus and Saturn are in view these days, but Saturn's too far away to distinguish from other stars without a telescope. Venus, on the other hand, is hard to miss.

Hurrah!! Now my evenings are enriched with reading books, watching TV, playing games on the xbox, blogging and having home-cooked dinner. I even took out my dusty violin yesterday, tuned it using a phone app and attempted to play a few familiar tunes! My violin playing skills have degraded with time but it felt good to be reunited with the instrument.

~ ~ ~

Going to the same school for the first 15 years of my schooling life had its perks. I grew up with friends and teachers who were part of my life for extended periods of time, giving rise to several fulfilling friendships that I maintain to this day. Not only that, I've been lucky to have several mentors who took a special interest in teaching me, guiding me to better places and unknowingly shaping me to what I've become (apparently, a caterpillar who blogs when she is not working!).

I had a Mathematics teacher who taught me from Grade 6 all the way up to A/Ls. Her classes were very entertaining. When she was around, the boys in class got extra cheeky and brought out their comical sides. She was a short-haired, smart, upbeat, loud, eccentric, fun-loving, kind-hearted being with the gift of reaching out to children with various personalities, most notably, the ones with special needs like bullies, lost sheep, the troubled ones and the weird ones. She tutored many kids at her home for no cost just to help them pass exams and I benefited a lot from this kindness and generosity. I figure that her super power of reforming kids was that she gave them a chance to be heard before attempting to throw in any elderly advice. In return, these kids grew to trust her, respect her and allow themselves to be guided by her good advice. I still try to make time to visit her whenever I go home and it seems she hasn't aged a day! I suppose being with youngsters all the time keeps you young at heart.

I think being a teacher is a sort of investment. Apart from being able to change many lives for better and basking in the satisfaction of having done so, the "seeds" (which are the students, in this case) that germinate disperse far and wide, often creating waves of positive change themselves. The exceptional teachers will always be dearly remembered and have an army of grown up ex-students around the globe.

The young traveller I had to host was the daughter of this teacher. She was on a university semester break and was sent to Singapore by her mother who assumed that Shu could be trusted with the job of keeping an eye on her precious 23-year old. It was her first ever overseas trip. I prepared in advance for her arrival making lists of instructions for her to follow and stocking up on food supplies, taking her multitude of allergies into consideration. The only thing we could not get rid of completely was Ginger.

Thankfully, the girl was smart and independent and managed well on her own during the day. Every evening after work, for 5 days, I met her and took her around like it was my second job being a tour guide. One evening, I caught her high as a kite and awfully chatty (a lot chattier than her usual self). On inquiring further, I learnt that she had an eventful day where she met a roadside guitarist who had serenaded her with a beautiful song, met another traveller with whom she had a nice chat and then gone on to take a relaxing boat ride along the Singapore River to see the city's splendour by night. It brought back warm memories of my solo travels in Paris. Tiring as it was, this streak of touring around the prettier places of Singapore during Chinese New Year was a welcome change for me.

 Traditional Chinese music to depict the onset of a New Year

The famous Clark Quay of Singapore with its happening night life and traditional river boat rides

The young traveller had a memorable trip, overwhelmed by the contrast between the two countries and their cultures. She was mostly blown away by the skyscrapers, apartment buildings housing a large population, the variety of food, the mix of races, the sense of law, order and cleanliness of Singapore.

~ ~ ~ 

Earlier this week, I bid farewell to one of my housemates who moved on from Singapore to fulfil her long-term ambitions. We've had a very coincidental timeline of life events where, with no prior planning or discussion, we have found ourselves in the same location time and time again. I have come to think of her as my non-biological twin. 

Our coincidental timeline of life events

We met in pre-school and went on to be best friends in Grade 2. As far as I can remember in pre-school, she had the cutest short hair with lots and lots of tiny curls. We exchanged stickers and went swimming together and got picked up and dropped in school by our elder sisters (who coincidentally, were also classmates). I recall she was among the smartest and the most talented in class. She was also the fastest runner among all the girls and most of the boys! Then she had to leave the country with her family to Oman and unfortunately, we couldn't keep in touch. I also happened to leave to a new school for a year and a half, until I could take it no longer and begged my parents to let me go back to my old school. When I returned to my old school in Grade 4, 'lo and behold, there she arrived in the same class a few days later! Though we were separated into different classes, went on to have different friends and grew distinctly different personalities, we always acknowledged each other with much fondness.

There's another amusing conversation I recall in Grade 6 when girls in the class used to disappear for extended periods of time, one by one. In our country, they make a HUGE fuss over a girl's "coming of age". While the specific traditions for each race differs, the general theme for most races is that once she hits puberty, she will be immediately confined in a room in the most hush-hush tones (in some cases up to a month!), away from the eyes of males relatives and friends. During this time, she is fed with very specific food. Female friends would take turns to keep company to this poor, confused soul quarantined in a room, who constantly wonders what all this fuss is about. Meanwhile, the parents consult astrologers for auspicious times, get tailored suits, whitewash the house and prepare for a grand party to announce to everyone that she is now sexually mature (it's quite a disturbing thought if you asked me). When it is finally time for her to make a public appearance, she is presented very extravagantly to all her relatives and close friends of the family, who arrive with gifts like gold jewellery, cash for the savings account, material to sew dresses, kitchen utensils, etc (all being utterly useless gifts for a 12-year old girl). When I spoke to other friends about the experience, some say for them it was a quiet affair without any public announcements but I've also met others who had parties in the epic proportions of a mini-wedding.

Got a bit carried away there, explaining a peculiar tradition!

So yes, I vaguely recall the two of us having a conversation that went something to this effect (though I don't know if she remembers it in the same way or if we were not talking about the same thing!):

She may have noticed me handing over the letter of absence to my teacher...
Chuti: Were you absent?
Shu: Yes, for about 2 weeks.
Chuti: Hey, me too! I just got back.
Shu: Er... did you also?
Chuti: Yes! haha
Shu: Haha
Awkwardness engulfs us...

She left to another school shortly after the O/Ls, but we were delighted to meet again in university doing the same course. After graduation, she went to Dubai for work and when she returned to Singapore a few years later, I left to Dubai for work. A few years later when I returned to Singapore, unemployed, she welcomed me to her house and looked after me until I got on my own feet and we remained housemates until she left Singapore earlier this week.

She maintains a deep fascination for Egyptian history, dinosaurs, Garfield and fashion design

We saw eye-to-eye when it came to the special needs of introverts, being considerate for the benefit of those around us, being sensible and fair. I'll certainly miss having her around, but I'm inspired to see her actively pursuing her ambitions with much patience and determination! And who knows, we may even bump into each other again.

Good luck, Chuti! xx

Voices in the head

Recently, my company introduced a scheme where late comers have their wages docked. It's proven to be very effective so far. I have begun to notice my consistent punctuality in the mornings.

The conversations in my head in the mornings no longer go like this:

VOICE 1: Ah crap. It's the alarm.
*hits snooze* x several times
VOICE 2: Ok, now it is really time to get up and catch your bus.
VOICE 1: Can't we catch a cab just for today??
VOICE 2: NO. It is expensive (not to mention environmentally unfriendly).
VOICE 1: Screw you. *rolls over and sleeps a few minutes more*

Instead, they go:

VOICE 1: Ah crap. It's the alarm.
*hits snooze* x several times
VOICE 2: Ok, now it is really time to get up and catch your bus or you will have your pay docked and have to pay for a cab.
VOICE 1: GAH. *rolls out of bed*

Interestingly enough, my 17 minute segment of the train commute coincides with Singapore's sunrise. Watching the sunrise gives a renewed sense of hope. Today, I couldn't help myself think, "Mr Sun, you have been rising and shining for us everyday for the last 4.5 billion years, without so much as a holiday. I suppose I can't complain much about my work."

Flattery and flirtations seem to have the opposite effect on me. They are not met with the reaction the flatterer/ flirter expects.

Shu's automatic response to flattery and unwelcome flirtations.

Office Pro

My boss has an interesting personality. He is funny and full of wise sayings (the most notable one being "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one"). One of the perks of working in an all-male-except-Shu team is that I am constantly amused by the swear words and associated phrases flying around, strewn in very creative combinations. That and the absence of female hormones (except mine) affecting judgements and team dynamics makes it a conducive environment for working 60 hours a week.

Lately, my boss has discovered a new productivity tool: Shuri.

He's great at talking and I'm better at writing so he's been conveniently handing over the team's job of drafting diplomatic emails to me. Not just diplomatic ones, but also emails sent out with specific outcomes in mind. My boss is eternally snowed under his work and taking off some of the burden of grammar and organising thoughts in writing, which a lot of technical people deeply dislike, makes his work life more productive. And since I get a small high out of writing (pretty much anything), I'm mostly okay with the arrangement... except for the slight fear that he's becoming overly dependent on me to be his voice and that people might start to notice my alpha-male-type boss starting to sound like a thoughtful woman in his emails!

He also says that it is not so much what you ask, but how you ask that makes all the difference. Without the body language factor, written communication often leads to misunderstandings in tone.

Following an explosive reaction to an email...
Boss: Shu, please draft an email for me. I just forwarded you the email.
Shu: Ok, so what do you want to tell him?
Boss: Tell him to fuck off and tell him I know my job and I don't want him to remind me.... in diplomatic words, please.
Shu: .....

Another scenario...
Boss: Shu, ok this email has a lot of history, I have forwarded you all the emails to read up and understand the background. Let me know when you've caught up.
Shu: Done.
Boss: This is how I want to structure the email... (goes on the explain the details in length). Did you get all that? You look a bit lost....
Shu: Um... that's a lot of information.
Boss: You look lost most of the time, but when I see what you've done afterwards, I realise that you understand things pretty well.
Shu: Gee. Thanks.

Men are usually terrified of reactions coming from women because they don't know what to expect sometimes:
Boss: Shu, I need your help on this one. This email is going out to a woman. We can't afford to piss her off. Please see if anything is even remotely offensive in this draft.
Shu: O_O

It's funny how one letter can change the meaning of a sentence and trigger the imagination of a hyper-active mind. The other day, I received an out-of-office-reply which read as follows:

Thank you for your massage. I have limited access to emails and will respond when I get back on 29th July. 

Love Letters

Lately, in the mornings before going to work, I make the following resolutions and *try* to keep them.

~ Make small talk ~

~ Engage in conversations ~

Sometimes I manage to make a little conversation with the cab drivers I meet and during the earlier part of the day, I smile more and say good morning to the people I bump into, but as the day goes by, my usual self returns and I recede to my more stimulating inner world. It's such a bother to try to think of small talk topics for people you hardly know. Sometimes my mind is blank as a slate when I am forced to make conversations.

Being introverted has several downsides in an office environment. First of all, it shows and people keep reminding me that I am too quiet. Part of me knows it too and that I need to change that a little bit. It's hard to make new friends because small talk is hard to initiate and I lie in wait for tiny windows of opportunities to go make friends with seemingly interesting people. Quiet introverts can very easily be swept under the rug like dust bunnies and go unnoticed. Times like these, I am grateful to the few extroverted people who include me and make me feel welcome. Damn you, other introverts in the office. You guys are a very cold and un-engaging lot!!!

I found an interesting initiative. It's called More Love Letters. Each month they send an email with personal distress stories of about three people with first names only. Usually, people who are close to the distressed persons request More Love Letters to cheer their loved ones up and that's how they get picked as the ones to receive bundles of letters from anonymous strangers. None of their personal details like full names or home addresses are mentioned. What people like me who likes to write letters do is to write to these people (to just one person or all three) - something, anything that will cheer them up. It's all mailed to the organisers of the initiative who collect the letters and post the bundle to the distressed persons. I do not know if everyone likes reading letters or if it helps cheer them up from whatever they are passing through, but it has certainly engaged my interest. People in distress range from heart breaks, to cancer patients, to victims or abuse, to soldiers who fought in the war, to people passing rough patches in life, to those who have forgotten to laugh, to those who are lonely etc. Writing to random strangers anonymously feels good and daring to this blogger, who is not an adrenaline junkie.

Today, I finished my book on Last Chance to See. That was seriously an epic read mixed with funny and heart-wrenching realities of selected wildlife conservation stories around the world. I feel like I lost a dear friend who kept me company on my way to work all these days. Oh dear, what will I read in the bus tomorrow??

Go to sleep, Shu. It's past your bedtime. 

Alien encounters

Since 42% of my day is now spent at work (and another 30% spent sleeping), I have little mental stimulation in topics other than work.

My research in understanding and interacting with aliens males at work is still ongoing. A handful of them - my boss included - are perfectly normal and nice to associate with. Today, however, I had a new realisation. The rest of them are just as awkward and ignorant about how to interact with a rare specimen of a (quiet) female co-worker as I am interacting with them. The only difference being that their varied reactions range from stares, to ignoring me, scuttling away from my path, to stepping over Shu's invisible boundary of personal space, to making bad small talk, to telling jokes that are horribly un-funny. Here's a compilation of some of the stranger questions I have been asked so far:

Alien: Are you single or married? 

Shu: Single. 

Alien: *GASPS*

Alien: Why aren't you married? 

Shu: I will be married when I want to.

Alien: Why are you so quiet?

Shu: That's the way I am. [GET USED TO IT.]

Alien: The girl before you used to bring food and leave it on her table so we used to help ourselves to the food. You should have some too.

Shu: Politely smiles. [Hell No. I am not feeding stray aliens.*sprays alien repellent*]

Alien: What's the meaning of your name? Is it a name of a flower?

Shu: I'm not sure. [Weren't you very quick to assume I was named after a flower in a language totally foreign to yours? o_O I think I'll pass on the real explanation.]

This picture from Google Images is just plain creepy! 

Here's hoping to better days of rational, meaningful and normal conversations with these aliens. 

Workplace tales

Lately, a lady from work uses me for a free shrink. We are in no way close and I don't open up to her about my personal life. May be I look like a safe target to unload worries or may be I come off as a good listener because I prefer not to give my two cents worth to people I'm not close with, but she sure goes into lengthy detail about her life and personal issues. I try to hurry my steps as I pass her table during peak hours. Shu feels guilty but at the same time, Shu is not that selfless.

We have a coffee machine at work. It dispenses several types of cheap-tasting beverages in very minute quantities at a time. Employees are allowed unlimited access to these so when I am bored, I try mixing different combinations to 1. have a decent volume of beverage to consume and, 2. attempt to make better tasting ones.

1. Black coffee - normal black coffee
2. White coffee - normal cheap-tasting white coffee
3. Cappuccino - too much froth and too little coffee
4. Mochaccino - hardly lives up to the reputation of 'mocca' and has three times the recommended sugar
5. Expresso - worse than any coffee anyone has ever tasted
6. Chocolate - concentrated chocolate drink, again with three times the recommended sugar
7. Chocomilk - identical to 6. So I figure it is there just to confuse employees
8. Tea with cardamom - this is a joke. It dispenses plain hot water, to which one is supposed to add a tea bag from elsewhere and add a little cardamom harvested from elsewhere

Through many experiments, I have discovered that combinations 3+4 and 2+6 are the best options to satisfy random chocolate cravings and stay awake after a heavy lunch. I suppose I should be grateful we at least have an abundant source of warm beverages to rely on.

Also at work, I am irritated by one of the hired cleaners who comes to clean the office every evening. Before that, I must admit I suffer from a condition called hyperparanoidism so it is possible I overthink things. He keeps giving me constant glances (I usually ignore him, but sometimes my line of vision does meet his gaze and I often find him staring) and like with a lot of people from his country, he automatically breaks into a song when I walk by sometimes. Now, this is not new to me and it only adds onto the countless observations and experiences gathered over the years with this 'sub-species'. Males from different countries/ cultures/ species have different ways of trying to get noticed by the fairer sex. These range from catcalls, songs, poems, display of colourful feathers (or other parts), flattering gifts, building structures to even stalking and making unwelcome physical advances. How much of a success/ failure rate each method has, I cannot be certain.

As it happened in the STONE AGES. How far have we advanced as a society since then?

There are other dimensions to think about when speaking of propagation of species. Like what females do to be attracted by the opposite sex or how females react when they come across a specimen of interest. BUT... I've been called for dinner twice now and if I'm reminded once more, I might snap, so I better go enjoy the dinner prepared with a lot of trouble by our hired help. Her food rocks. 

Another weekend

Thursdays at work are exciting. We now have an "end of the week incentive". We are allowed to leave any hour early, in return for cutting short our lunch break by half hour. Fair enough.

It is not surprising to get persistent calls from banks trying to give away "free credit cards". But today, I had another interesting call.

Ring Ring...
Shu: Hello?
X: Hai
Shu: Yes hello? Who is this?
X: Hai
Shu: May I know what this is regarding?
X: Friendship
Shu: No thanks, I'm not interested. (hangs up. $^&*@@@.)

This caller has been saved as "Asshole 3" in my contacts. Just so I remember not to pick up any calls.

I've spotted a rather skinny (and possibly pregnant) cat in the office car park several times. So now, believe it or not, I carry two tins of cat food in my bag, waiting for the day I spot her again. Uh-oh Shu, you're turning into one of those old ladies who feed strays!

I sit next to one of the network printers. In a day, many people come and go past my desk as they collect their printouts. One man (heavy user), however, seems to think I am the sole guardian of this printer. Whenever the printer runs out of paper, he ask me "No paper?". And I think loudly,  "Does it look like I have a stash of paper hidden away especially for you, moron??". Also, in the many months I have sat there, not once have I seen this man walk a few extra metres to get a few extra packs of paper, for the convenience of others. I've been tempted ask him several times, "Why don't you go down and get some extra paper, for a change?". But I've kept my mouth shut, fearing repercussions.

Rihanna is slowly growing on me...



On a positive note, I've moved to the Town of Digby in Mousehunt to catch the Digby Dirt Dwellers and I have not been disappointed! So many new types of mice!

Glass Houses

Really, why do choices of certain people, make you stop in your tracks and leave you dumbfounded? Sure, it is easier to throw stones when living in a glass house myself, but let me do it anyway.

Example 1. The nephew has made incredible progress in the last 3 months, after being put in a pre-school. He talks more, he is more imaginative (plays pretend to different scenarios), more creative (mashing up songs, making up stories, etc) and is better able to understand and reason out than he used to. It would have been a shame to not send him to school till he was 5 years old (currently he is 3.5 years old), as his father wanted to. Schooling is not just about academic content, which will be forgotten soon, it is more about gaining the softer skills like creativity, reasoning and interpersonal skills, which goes a longer way in shaping what he will become. Why does he not realise that the development made in a pre-school setting cannot be duplicated at home? Why does he not understand that exposure to society, outside the confines of home/family are important for character development? Why does he not want his son to be equipped with as many skills necessary to survive in this world? Is it because he does not reason out the way I just did? Or does he not believe in the current education system?

Example 2. A colleague at work talks to me about her 11-year old daughter very much, even though to be honest, I'm not too interested in the details all the time. But I am happy to lend a listening ear. This colleague of mine is a single mother, who recently got a promotion to the post of Account Manager and raises her only daughter. She tells me her daughter is very intelligent, evident from the extremely good marks on her report card. However, she also tells me the daughter is not so much interested in spending too much time studying because she is over-confident in her abilities. Fair enough. The mother however, has different plans for the daughter; to marry her off to a man when she reaches her 20th year. Therefore she says, it does not matter if the daughter does or does not do well in school. I find it ironic that this is the decision of a mother, whose education helped her rise to where she is and made it possible to provide well for her daughter without the dependency on her ex-husband, who is entirely out of the picture. Imagine the fate of a woman in today's society, without a proper education/career/finances (I don't wish it apon anyone) if her huband left her with a child. I do hope that this is not something about taking out the dissatisfaction of her unfulfilled dreams of a happy marriage on her only daughter. Like my parents, I would have dealt with this in a different perspective. In identifying and knowing the child's strengths, I would have encouraged her to do well and dream big, in hopes she will stand a fair chance of leading a self-sufficient and comfortable life in society.

Once, many years ago, a rendition of this piece was performed by our campus orchestra and it has stuck with me since. Here's the original, a truly wonderful piece of Indian classical music, sung by a equally talented musician. Stepping for a moment out of cultural differences, this piece carries plenty of deeper meanings and timely reminders for most of us who spend our time aimlesslessly and selfishly.

Those which are hard to find and supportive

This is a very determined effort to make it a point to write OUT my thoughts, rather than let them express themselves inwards.

What a contrast today seems from yesterday. How pathetic and deceiving can your mind get?! Nothing's changed from yesterday (problems remain unchanged), except for the forward movement of time and yet, things feel better today. Sure I can blame hormones for most of life's problems, but really these biological components only intensify already existing emotions and states of mind. I highly doubt they effect new emotions and ideas. This must either be a flawed characteristic of being human OR something is not quite right about me.

Several years back, I received a birthday card from a couple of close friends of mine. It implied "Great friends are like good bras" and how right that is even vice versa! Funny that came to mind today. I think I've found a perfect fit and it made my day (YAY!) and odd I should blog about it. But I've had extremely frustrating experiences picking out the right ones for most of my life. Even with standardised numbers/ sizes, most purchases turn out unsatisfactory.

For my sister, what made her day was buying a nice, warm meal to a man who could not afford it and watch him enjoy it. For me it was partly about having good support all day *cough*.

Work was better too. There was work to be done. "Keep busy" works just as good as "blogging" for me. The moment I have too much free time and nothing serious to work with, I easily fall into the "self-reflector phase" and when reflecting on myself, I see alot of things going wrong in Life and this leads to unpleasant emotions, easily exacerbated by the wondrous things called hormones and unproductive ways of dealing with it. And a downward vortex results.

What was inside the card...

Oh wow, it's the weekend tomorrow!

The Rat Race

Today was much like a day when I first joined the company. I was free for 7 out of the 8 working hours. I Idled. I did various things to keep myself entertained. I drank various things to keep myself awake. I read several things to look busy. I ate various things out of boredom (which didn't quite agree with me later). I listened to the same 2 songs repeatedly. I daydreamed and soul-searched.

Oh. I did a psychometric test too, found on one of the training folders at work. I got equal points for being a "Reflector" and a "Theorist", so the results were annoyingly inconclusive. Personally, I thought I fell to the range of a "Reflector". They are the type who have absolutely nothing to talk about (outright) in a meeting or at a coffee machine. They rather listen and watch people than shoot out ideas on the fly. They want to go back, review and analyse all the facts and come to a carefully derived decision. They like to strictly follow procedures that have been proven to be effective. They suffer with varying degrees of mental disorders such as OCD, perfectionism, grammar nazi-ism, formatting nazi-ism and other health disorders like high blood pressure, tachycardia, mood swings and hot flushes (related to anger, not menopause).

Life sucks in general. We planned a holiday (my first REAL holiday, it would have been) to an exotic place. But it has been postponed from May to July to October. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

WHEN do I catch a decent break???