Of red, pineapple tarts, mandarins and you.

Long weekend!!! How great is that?!?! :D

Am looking forward to all the goodies! Yummm!!! Shall stuff my face and worry about the consequences after. Hee.

Mum got back from wet market this morning and announced that she bought one of my favourite foods. :) I feel spoilt. ^_^

Happy Lunar New Year to all!

I feel old. No longer excited about getting new clothes for new year. In fact I haven't bought anything specially for CNY this year. I remember the mad rush to buy new clothes and shoes when I was younger. That is no fun, I tell you. I always end up buying something that I won't wear after the visitations. This year, I suppose I'll just wear something 'un-new'.

Boss gave out ang baos to us. So nice of him (even more so since he's not Chinese). :) And one of our colleagues bought some Singapore Sweep tickets and put them in red packets for everyone. Let's cross our fingers for me! To hit the jackpot! Hah.

I'm trying to convince my mum to have 2 of my colleagues over for dinner one of these days cos' they are kinda alone here this long weekend.

And, I'll try not to miss you. *_*

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Je veux des vacances

Some of my colleagues are leaving for Hong Kong Friday evening and I'm envious... I wanna go too!!! I did consider joining them but decided it's just too expensive at this festive time. Sighz. They were very sweet about it as they consoled me saying there'd be other trips organized. I'll wait patiently then...

I got my haircut!!! A little high (price-wise), took a long time (my hair refused to be coloured, so colour is not very obvious. I'm still trying to decide if it was worth the $ doing it if I can hardly see it... Well, suppose subtle's the way to go!) but seemed worth it after a year's wait. I like it. (so far. It never stays nice long cos' my hair just goes crazy on its own. O_o) Good reviews today from my colleagues. ^_^ (One couldn't recognise me 10 metres away.) And free publicity for my hairstylist too, cos' a couple of other female colleagues said they would like to get their hair cut by him too. I should get commission from him. Hmm... :)

My colleague, Claire, who went with me yesterday after work to get her hair cut is quite pleased with hers too. She was done much faster than I did cos' she didn't do any colour (though after seeing mine, she's considering getting some highlights in her beautiful, natural dark blond hair next time round) but she waited around for me. Very sweet gerl! :D

Am feeling extremely tired after lunch. Eyes kept tearing as I attempted to read my articles. Sweet gerl colleague was asking me if I was ok... I am, just need sleep.

Right, back to articles and daydreaming of a vacation.

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How to make a choice like that?

Actually felt productive today. Finished first draft of my little presentation. Hopefully I'll be able to find more things to put in before the actual thing.

Boss asked us for preference of an overseas conference. Between an Alzheimer's Disease focused one in Madrid and a big, broad neuroscience one in the States. I find myself leaning towards the Madrid one just because it's held there (Spain was one of the places I really wanted to go to when I was in Europe but didn't make it). Scientifically, the States one would be better for me, I think. So I'm torn. Both are good conferences, I am told. How???

I asked Boss to pick the one he thinks is more suitable for me, work-wise, and he said, SFN (States) then, just to make up the numbers. Arghhh... I don't want to be just making up the numbers! I do so want to go to Madrid!

Decisions. I am bad at it.

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When the sun goes down

Ever took a mental picture in a bid to preserve a beautiful moment that cannot be captured on film (digital or otherwise)?

One such frame popped into my mind unbidden. It was November. I was sitting on a wooden case covered in newspapers, in an apartment that was in the midst of renovations (half-finished walls, construction materials all around me, electric wires, smell of paint, dust flying about) in Paris. It was cold in there (no heating), I had my leather jacket on, wrapped as tightly as I could around me in an attempt to stay warm. I was absorbed in my book, Cold Mountain.

I want to know if he would find the girl he came back for. I had never watched the movie.

Colleague of dear friend asked about the progress of the protaganist. I gave a short synopsis, eager to get back to my book.

Dear friend came round from his work to give me a hug. ^_^

The room turned a warm, orangey hue. I looked up from my book to see that from the window to my left, the sun was casting its rays into the room. It felt as if the image was burning into my retina as I stared at it. I turned my attention back to my book but would look out the window now and then. The sun was inching its way down the horizon. I would feel like I've only turned away for a second and the next, the radiant face's that much gone. The disappearing golden orb conferred an awareness of time slipping away from me much more than the ticking second-hand of a clock.

Perhaps it was due to my dwindling days in Paris. There was something about this particular sunset that I won't forget.

He found her. I finished up my book as the sky turned pink outside. Bittersweet.

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Caffeine, anyone?

Thought I'd get my head bitten off by the big boss this morning when I entered the conference room! I was 15 min late for a meeting by a bigger boss who came from UK. I had forgotten all about it! I plucked up courage and went up to them to apologise after the meeting and the bigger boss said it was not a problem. PHEW! *wipes sweat off brow*

Weekend came and went. Did what I wanted to do on Friday, which was to go home to lounge about. The video teleconference was very informative. It kinda helped me see the big picture of what we are doing here.

Managed to get quite a bit of stuff done on Sat. Went out for a bit with mum and nephew, gym and then whole day out after. :) Had a nice salad for lunch, went to the Central Lending Library, coffee at Coffeebean in Taka, dinner at foodcourt (where a friend bumped into me - called me and asked if I was in Taka), then caught 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. I thought it was quite not too bad (even though I've never taken a liking to the lead actress). Haven't read the book so can't really compare the two, though I'm quite sure the book's better. (I've been meaning to read the book for the longest time!) I didn't expect the somewhat-happy ending though.

If only every Sat could be fun like that!

Lalalala... I'm getting my haircut tomorrow!!! *bounces off* ^_^

P.S.: Do not be alarmed if you feel vibrations in the ground, it's not an earthquake. ha.

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School night, it's not.

It's a school night, a colleague said on Wed night. I smiled. Does the term 'school night' still apply to us? It was cute, the way he put it.

Took the bus with my lil' sis this morning. She to school, me to work. Having her with me on the bus made the whole long journey seem faster. Isn't that always the way? A joyful company on a long voyage makes it that much more bearable. She's a dear, that gerl. I can usually count on her being my listening ear. Yesterday for example, after I had written the entry and still had to whine, I called her. Bien sure, there are times I wish I don't have a petite soeur. :p But the good outweighs the bad. ^_^

We agreed to try to take the bus together when she has morning classes. :D

Today looks set to be a endless, draggy day... I don't have anything planned to do in the lab. And there's a VTC (video teleconference) from 4 - 7pm this evening.

Friday evening come quick!!! Not that I have any happening place to go out to but I really wouldn't mind going home to lounge around/sleep.

*yawn*

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Maybe I could just pull out my hair.

ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My hairstylist's new shop is still not ready yet!!! I've been waiting since I came back in Nov! Having not done anything to my hair in a year is torture, pure, uncontaminated torture!!!!!!!!! My hair is shapeless, unkempt, unhealthy, no style fullstop.

It's been dragging on for ages... I keep looking forward to the weekend when I can go for a haircut and colour but it never happens. The renovation work seems to be delayed forever!!!! True, Omar (my hairstylist) said since I've been waiting for a year already, a few more days should be fine. But my patience is running this thin... this close to breaking point.

A nice haircut never fails to up my mood, and my situation now calls for one! Give it to me!!!

Pluheaze... *pouts*

*Deep, pensive mood chased away by rants*

*Rants spent, MS (menstrual symptoms, since it's technically not pre- now) returns* Sigh

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Qu'est-ce que je dois faire?

"We changed again, and yet again,
and it was now too late and too far to go back,
and I went on."
-- Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

I hope they are for the better. Changes, that is.

I like to believe that I have, grown up over the years. There are times when I really doubt that. Times like now.

Was reading Anantya's blog and she had a link to her friend's blog (Emilykim's blog) which was where I got the above quote. She writes well, thought-provoking. Yay, another blog for me to read! :) There was this part where she mentioned she feels like she's in a shoe shop, found the most gorgeous pair of shoes (the only pair left - I added this) and they don't have it in her size. You leave the shop feeling dejected, disappointed and helpless. (I added this.) A scenario I can totally relate to, literally (since I've got the longest feet!) or analogy-wise.

Was out with a colleague yesterday when he asked me, do you see yourself doing lab work for the rest of your life/career? I couldn't answer him. It's something I've thought about a lot myself but not able to find an answer to as yet. Perhaps, one day, it might dawn on me. Like when the heavens open up, and light comes streaming through.

Haiz... am I worrying/thinking too much? I've only just started in this job. I don't know what I want to do or could do with the rest of my life, which leads to a whole string of other questions which would be wise not to go into now. Important questions, aren't they? Best left for when I feel more prepared. For what? I ask...

I miss the days when I was studying and didn't really have to ponder about stuff like that. Sometimes I wish someone could make all my decisions for me. So I wouldn't have to be responsible for them.

Somehow managed to delve into this mode today. Should pull myself out of it. Focus on doing well with what I have now. What do I have now? Do humans have a tendency to want things that are out of their reach or that are obviously not available? O_o

Je pense je t'aime

I need help. From a higher power.

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Purrrrrr...

Above comic strip so perfectly describes every single one of my mornings... I wouldn't be surprised if I start turning orange or growing whiskers! Ha.

Had a full day today at work. Been acting as assistants to a couple of my colleagues, learning the ropes at the same time.

It was good to have stuff to do, rather than sitting around (trying to) read papers. I've been busy ordering equipment for my project yesterday. Some have replied, others are still taking their sweet time... Shucks... I'm feeling the pressure mounting... to get things set up properly for my project and probably multi-task in another as well. Hopefully I won't make any (too many) mistakes...

Am not in the mood for gym today... *image of garfield comes to mind. hee* But considering I already skipped yesterday... (though I must say I've had a nice evening, went out for a glass of wine) hmm... really should get my big fat a** moving.
Ciao! Bonne soiree!

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First date?

That day it was just the two of us.
You were still red in the face after we left the gym.
You tried on clothes and I had fun watching you in them.

You were famished after and ate your meatball spaghetti with relish.
I like the way you sometimes smile while you are talking.
Your eyes light up when you tell a joke.

'You look lovely', was your response when I tried on some dresses,
I couldn't help but blush, you really seemed like you meant it.

Evening stroll along the river until you said you wanted coffee and cake,
Cake must contain chocolate, you said. :)

The littlest contact triggered strange cardiac palpitations.
You didn't know you were a distraction during the movie,
Our little fingers linked as the credits rolled,
Flip, roll over, skip, ricochet, spin, was that really my heart?

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Here's to the birthday girl!!!

It was Rahaa's birthday last Friday and the gang had a dinner in her honour. :) It was a really fun night out! Made me forget that just a while before, I had wanted to crawl into a dark corner and not come out. ;)

Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant, Alaturka, in Arab Street. Great food, fantastic company, one couldn't have asked for more! Plus, the boss of the restaurant (presumably) even handed out little pins of evil eye (it's supposed to ward off evil) to all of us before we adjorned to the shisha chamber. Rahaa, being the birthday girl, also received a pretty turkish amulet/keychain.

Since I got the dinner notice last minute, i.e. Friday afternoon and was supposed to go to Chinatown with a colleague, I invited him along for dinner instead. Christian, my colleague was delightful company as usual! Everyone was sad that he had to leave early (and miss the cake) for a video conference in the office. (on a Friday! and at 9pm at that too! The poor boy... Tsk tsk!) He has been invited to join the gang for future activities, if he's not yet been horrified by our craziness! Hee.

I was supposed to join some colleagues at my boss's place for a horror movie marathon after dinner but cos' I enjoyed myself with the gang so much, I couldn't bear to leave.

Shisha time was definitely a blast! Zan was so funny!!! 'How do I do this???,' as we pass her the 'tube'. The code: suck/inhale and breathe out. All of us were non-smokers ('cept Daryl's a little more experienced thus he was the expert that night) so we were all kinda sua-ku about it and that made for a lot of laughs!!! Even the servers and boss were standing outside the chamber for a while smiling at us! I so have to get a copy of the video Zan took that night! And I was amazed that Zan and Rahaa could expel smoke from their noses (unintentionally) the same time as they blew smoke out of their mouths. But however hard I tried to do that, I couldn't.

We were the last customers in the restaurant by the time we left. I think they were waiting for us to go so they could close shop. Heehee.

Contrary to what I thought, shisha/water pipe smoking is actually as bad as cigarette smoking... Zan has done the research and I had simply read it off her entry. Anyway, here's the link to the article if you are interested.

I want to know when we're hanging out together again!

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I wanna crawl into a dark corner somewhere and rot come out for a long time

I'm so bored and tired it's not remotely funny. I. want. sleep. no. more. batteries.

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Why does everything in this world have to do with $??? :(

People who know me know I am horrible with making decisions. (I hear a chorus of agreement... :p)

Some of my colleagues are going away to HK over the long Chinese New Year weekend. Am very tempted to go too! Surprisingly mum said it's ok if I want to go. (I had expected her to protest since I had already missed last year's reunion dinner. Guess I'm quite dispensible... @_@)

Spoke to my company-assigned buddy (who, by the way, is a really nice lady) to ask her if she would be going. She was tempted but thought the air tix pretty expensive at this time compared to when she went in July 2003. [I had thought that 500+ for air tix (without including accomodation) is ok - which is what my colleagues are paying now.] But she paid including accomodation and taxes, only 500+. Besides most of the shops might be closed during this period of time, which is probably true.

Just got a call from the lady at the gym who has been trying to sell me a year's membership since I went with my colleagues on Mon. Man, are they persistent and persuasive... But I've proved to be a hard customer to get... Hee. Definitely one of the best skills I've developed over the years is the ability to say no to sales people if I don't believe in the products they are selling, no matter how pushy they are. I've had my share of buying things I don't want or need cos' of pushy sales persons when I was younger and I learnt my lesson from that. But this gym membership thingy is something I might actually use and benefit from. And thanks to my 'no-I need-to-think-about-it' persistence, they have reduced the fees by quite a big margin... enough to make me entertain thoughts of getting it. They tried to get me to sign up on Mon with an attractive offer and used the old 'it's-a-today-only-offer', 'only-for-you-offer'... I still said no, I need to think about it. One of my colleagues (let's call him 'A') said he can bet they are gonna offer me the same thing after. And true to that, the lady called me with the same offer, same lines... Haha... colleague A said, do they really think we are idiots? bwahaha... appears that they really do... I'm very tempted to take it up... Colleague B says it'll be nice if I join them. :)

Think I will go home, sleep on it. Might be a good idea to go look at the SSC gyms sometime soon and see how everything compares up.

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I want a fortune-telling crystal ball

For some reason, last weekend, I was feeling terribly bored at home, even though I am usually very contented to stay home and read.

Surprisingly, a colleague called me up Sat evening to ask if I would like to join them for a drink. We went to a Mexican cafe along Clarke Quay area. I was admiring the view across the river and realised how long I haven't been to Clarke Quay or out at night for a drink for that matter. There have been some changes there. New stuff sprouted.

Sun afternoon I had a fright when my sister told me that a maternal uncle whom we are not very close to called to say he is coming over to visit us and specifically asked my sister to tell me not to go out cos' he wanted to talk to me.

I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about though I suspect some amount of nagging and interrogation about my year in Paris. I was simply not in a mood for entertaining relatives then and I sneaked out to meet a friend to tide the time over.

For the most part of the weekend I was feeling somewhat bottled up and irritable, for what reasons I had no idea. My poor mum was on the receiving end of some of that unknown frustrations and I felt really bad Sun night and apologised.

One thing I learnt as I grew up was how to apologise to my mum. Not an easy task. Considering she hardly spoke to me when I was younger...

Didn't get any Mon blues today. Was quite happy to come to work. (strange, ain't it?) Though traffic was horrendous this morning! Think it's cos most tertiary students start school today.

The only bad thing so far was that I saw someone EVIL (shall not elaborate) at lunch today.

Am going to a gym in the city with a colleague after work this evening (he is really kind to bring me as a guest on his membership). Yours truly is not rich enough to get a membership in one of those 'high-end' gyms on her own. But hopefully this will help start my ball rolling on regular exercise in a gym (an SSC one).

In the meantime, I shall try not to fall asleep while reading papers.

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Emotions runneth over...

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."
-- Ernest Hemingway to a friend, 1950

"There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy."
-- Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Got an email from my former supervisor today with some photos of Paris by a French photographer. It was really sweet of him. The photos were well-taken. And I could name almost all (except one) the places where the photos were taken. The memories are still vivid.

Then since I had nothing much to do in the afternoon [went to the animal facility-or vivarium as they call it here, to help (more like watch and learn) a colleague with training his rats in the morning], I checked out a Paris church friend's blog. She's an American Korean and is teaching in Paris now. I met her when I was in Paris and then she went home but managed to come back to Paris. I got the above and below quotes from her blog.
Reading her blog and looking at her pictures brought emotions I didn't know existed. My eyes started to get moist... I really miss Paris...

God has been so good to me. I didn't deserve the chance to live in Paris last year.

Gonna leave you with the quote below. Thought it quite nice. Have a good weekend. I'm leaving the office liao. Gonna go meet my mum to go for a fasting/I-dunno-what-it's-all-about talk.

"Be very careful if you make a woman cry, because God counts her tears. The woman came out of a man's rib: Not from his feet to be walked on. Not from his head to be superior, but from the side to be equal. Under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved."
-- The Talmud
[The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. It is a fundamental source of legislation, customs, case histories and moral exhortations.]

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Aperghis is Greek.

Don't mind my title, nothing to do with the entry, it's just something odd I'm thinking about.

Bland day. Reading journals (Trying to). But I've been feeling quite happy at work. Am kinda apprehensive and excited about starting my project soon.
There have been discussions among us about organising stuff for get-to-gathers. Food, places to visit (especially for our foreign colleagues). I suggested cycling at Pulau Ubin, but an attachment student mentioned that the bicycles there are no good. Any suggestions anyone?
Someone suggested doing something for CNY. A food crawl. Movies. I suppose cos' most of us are not too far apart in age so it's really nice to see that everyone's quite close and go out together.

On a different train of thought, as my mind was wandering, I've been bombarded by the fact that we are extremely transient.
'As for mortals, their days are like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.' (Psalms 103:15-16)
There were articles in the Straits Times about young people who are plagued by late-stage cancer and do not have much time left. People who smile in the face of death.
The brother of a very good friend of my sister passed away in his sleep suddenly. He was in his twenties.

As I was making some mental resolutions (probably won't get done anyway so I don't bothering listing them down anymore), long-term plans and goals, I am reminded that it seems quite a futile attempt since, well... I don't know how long I'd be around. I hope this thought will push me into acting on the more important things I have been procastinating.

May my 2006 be an improvement over the last. I would like to be a better person.

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It's another day...

Nothing much to do today too. Just straightening out some administration stuff like my staff pass, email account, going through an 'IT induction' thingy etc.

Am thinking of how to personalise my desk. Think I'll go home and dig out some cute little stuff and also some of my favourite photos (need to develop some of my Europe pics) to bring. :) *excited about 'decorating' my space*

I wanna go home sleep liao... *sleepy* @_@

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In with the New...

Tried to sit my brain down to a journal article on my first day since I had nothing much to do (boss still on holiday) but it seems like dear grey matter is quite reluctant to function properly after the break. :p Kept having to read the same sentence many times over to get the gist of it. After some minutes of doing that I gave up and turned my attention to the computer. Hee. Anyway most people still seemed to be in a holiday mood.

Didn't sleep well last night. Might have been nerves about first day or it might just be that late phone call I made. Thankfully, my morning passed pretty quickly. Felt a bit self-conscious when I came in but after some small talk, found myself relaxing a bit. Seemed like most are quite nice. Almost half of them are English. (Luckily there are no 'cheena' people!!! as yet. I hope. not. ever.) There's even a buddy system here. And my buddy is a lady who has the same Chinese first name as me. Haha. She has been nice. (Someone provide me with another adjective for nice!!)

Went to visit the animal facility in the morning. It's very much bigger than in my previous company cos' this place provides for all the companies and institutes here. A very bothersome procedure to get in... Must change out of my clothes into a set of red scrubs. (pretty cool!!! When I looked at myself in the toilet mirror, I was imagining myself as an intern/doctor in a hospital. Bwahaha...) Then go through this, wear that, wear something else over that... Geehz...
The rats are tame compared to the ones I used to handle. Thank God! And, they look cute too, white with patches of black. The senior scientist who brought me in let me handle the rats a little. (illegally, cos' I'm not supposed to handle animals till after I've gone through a course.) But I haven't been doing nothing the past year eh? He said I did pretty well at handling them. In behavioural studies it is important to make sure we make them feel as comfortable as possible, he said.

A very surprising thing he told me was, if one visits the zoo, one cannot go into the animal facility for 3 whole days!!! O_o
Later, he asked me if I have a pet. I told him, well, someone in the family keeps a little hamster, but it's not mine. At which he said, we are not allowed to have pets because we work with animals. *jaw drop*

Just came back from a demonstration of how to use our new video equipment and then watched a short old film of Wallace & Gromit. Cuuute! ^_^

And that concludes my day. I actually did get to learn a few new things today. Not too bad eh? :) Counting down to 530... or when people start going home, whichever is earlier... *grins*

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