Another New Year is Another New Day

My co-worker asked me this morning: "Why are you at work today?"
Me: "Because it is my shift"
She: "But you have never worked a Saturday, you always take leave"
Me: "Well, I didn't apply for leave today."

So that was the end of trying to get me to say something to the pleasure of her ears but the truth be told, what I said was plain and accurate. The best part of it is that I don't feel the grind anymore. When you've gotta work, work. It's that simple. 

 

My version:-

(1) Do something you're good at. If you're not good at it yet, improve yourself while you're at it. 

(2) Making people's lives better, in big or small ways. 

(3) Feeling appreciated. Appreciation will fuel your motivation. In case it runs low at some corners, you could top it up with doses of motivation of your own, like to to the gym or go for a swim. 

Happy New Year, people. 

May you have all the cables you can watch, all the data you can use, all the laughter you can't contain, and all the good food your tongue can taste. 

See you in a jiffy. 

Year End 2016

 first year end countdown party

Lego Caravan

 Colin made a caravan from mixed & matched Legos, he always makes all sorts of vehicles but what I found interesting is that the caravan came fitted with solar panels. He told me he learned about solar panels & energy from a cartoon on TV. The energy on these panels will be directed to the kitchen, he said.

Kiki says this is a Golden Retriever. (with shadows).

It's complicated

I had a Whatsapp war with my work friend yesterday, but by tea time, the episode was water under the bridge and we chatted like it never happened. The least I could do is to respect the fact that we both did not bring the matter up and I take it as we have both made a compromise. 

I am not someone who quarrels, and these kinds of stuff are precisely why I don't get close to anyone. It's just troublesome.

It all began in good faith when she texted me to go to the door to meet her. 

She had prepared an extra set of breakfast for our Cook (the aunty who cooks for us at the staff canteen) and she wants me to give the breakfast to our Cook as a gesture. 

I replied- no. and no thanks, that isn't something that I would do, as in, that is totally not my style. 

Then my friend went on and on about how ridiculously stubborn I was, and it was precisely she knows it is not my style, that was why she had prepared the breakfast and ALL I HAVE TO DO is to give the breakfast to the Cook. 

I said she has got to be kidding. (for me, I meant she must be out of her mind to think that I would carry out her plans). Not only do I not appreciate the arrangement, I was offended by the thought that she thinks "it was best for me" because in her own words, she said that she was helping me to BE A MORE RECIPROCAL PERSON given the fact the Cook has treated me better than others, and that all she wants is to give me the chance to reciprocate and BE RESPECTFUL TO AN ELDERLY. God knows how I had to hold back my fingers before I allow myself to shoot back something that I would later regret. First, I was abhorred by the detailed planning down to the door step. Second, I was even more abhorred that my friend was abhorred that I said "no". Third, from all the berating, I was abhorred to learn that that was how she thinks of me.

Her parting shot was -- ok ok forget it. And mine was -- we all care in different ways. 

You see, there is a bunch of people who always use this Cook aunty as their gossip topic. They like to criticize her cooking, they like to play mind games and make her feel insecure in her job. And I have always been the one to tell these people to stop comparing (her with the ex-Cook) and I have always encouraged the Cook by giving compliments when she dished a good dish. To me, that is worth more than a hundred breakfast but I have never weigh it in like that because I am not a breakfast person and the way to my heart is never via the stomach but I don't judge the people who practise buying breakfast for each other and I got offended that just because I am not one who does things like a hundred other people do, I am opened to be judged? Hell no. To top the shit, to be judged by someone whom I thought was a friend?  Gosh, that episode had totally undermined the friendship. Totally.

I have been called "stubborn" in a bad tone, bad way, several times. And you know what?  Stubborn people move the world. *Mic drops here.

Side note: definition of stubborn according to the dictionary: having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good reasons to do so.

"Good reasons" according to whom? 
The word "Good" is vague, varied, and debatable.

Thank you for the music

I had no idea how the news of his passing affected me. 

I am not a fan. Why then, did my heart break?

Flashbacks of adolescent years flooded my mind, but suddenly the already old memories were 3 shades fainter than they already were, and that broke me. How could his mortality affect the way I store or recall my memories? It was crazy but it does. That moment I realised that, I was overwhelmed.

"Wake me up before you go-go" was the coming of age song for me. It was 1984 and I was in P5. You can hardly call an eleven-year-old an adolescent but it was the year I made new friends and we sang to this song during our class breaks, it was the period I travelled to Centerpoint independently, it was the period I was timid no more.

Having being fostered to a family that had never wanted me in the first place, I had a hard time grappling with human beings of all nature. So the coming-of-age period of my life torched like a branding iron. It was the best years of my life. Although I kind of wasted my youth, I still think that that made me me and I wouldn't change a thing about the past. I loved my friends, they taught me freedom. (Ng Hwee Ngee, Loh Fong Yi, Imelda, Linda, Anette Ho, Rachael, Sarah. I remember you all).

Thank you for the music, George. We've had a lot of memories with them, Careless Whisper & the countless Last Christmases. 

R.I.P

Christmas 2016

At our Annual Christmas Party

 They waited till the next morning to open the presents.

Claw Machine

 Bus ticket (adhesive tape)
Trinkets-- Stop Button & Bus Stopping Sign

Freeze & Thaw

I froze a little after browsing book #4...... and I froze a little more after listening to its CD. 

The songs are very mature.............. and I'm not sure if we can do this. 

It feels like our violin learning has really just begun.......... gosh, after four years, the journey has really just begun! (faint!)

I worry that with school work, we might not be able to be as good a player we want to be. But that sounded lame even to me. So I braced myself and took a deep breath. We want to do this. One 'sentence' at a time. A 'sentence' is our made-up lingo for a small section of the song. It's like reading a storybook, sentences by sentences, paragraph by paragraph . Supposedly we should refer it as bars but I don't want to refer it as bar number XX to bar number XX. For me, it makes more sense that I break down the songs into 'quarters' or 'paragraphs' and 'sentences'. And so it is, we will take one sentence and one paragraph at a time, hopefully at a speed that is to the satisfaction of our teacher. 

I coaxed myself by telling myself that all other parents in our class also just bite the bullet and carry on. Most of them have older children who have gone through this same music journey, so their stamina is stronger, and it's like a walk in the park for them. Another fellow Mommy has her eldest boy doing the violin for the first time but she's like a super-mom, she imparts the learning to her boy superbly well. I feel fortunate to be in a group class like this because I feel that in a group setting like this, we spur each other on. It's like we are all rooting for each others' success, knowing how tough it is for some of us. So, I hope the group's dynamics could keep me going, and I hope we will have the mental stamina to carry on.

Sunday 18th Dec 2016

my virtual yard snowed
you know, the virtual world works somewhat like our world.
you'd be patient, spend wisely, expand wisely, you'd likely be rewarded accordingly.
i think.

 so i had quite a bit of data left on my phone plan. 

i thought it doesn't hurt letting Kiki play with the Pokemon Go app. 

i'm not into the game, it doesn't give me any real joy collecting the hybrid animals but i must not be a party pooper especially when it comes to the things that children thinks are fun. 

i've told KiCo that they can play with the app every month if i have unutilised data. 

meantime, we have discovered that the app works on two different phones but on one user profile. 

it means that i could concentrate on collecting the Pokeballs as and when i pass by a station, while Kiki can play the game with the phone at home on wifi (that phone is my old iPhone 5 that is a little cranky but it still works). she's so well versed with the game despite having no initial exposure. she traded Pokemons for candies, not sure for what but she is a natural at it. i believe it was because of all the YouTube videos she watches. she's like a natural, swift gamer.

 Sunday means time alone with Colin.

Root beer floats, truffle mash potatoes, onion rings-- are his favourite.
Poulet again it was. They might as well give me a membership.

don't count the missed chances; always count my blessings, i tell myself each time i pass by this sight. i always check if i am at peace with my life. the answer is yes.

 Colin sometimes behaves like an uncle. He likes to remove his shoes!

 she has been asking me to bring her for a jog.
she asked many times but i have not gotten to it.
until last evening, glancing at my ridiculously large stomach, i said okay let's go for a slow jog.
because my old knees can't take much strain, i jogged slowly, almost like brisk walking. but it was a good workout nonetheless. perspired from the scalp and all over.

 so many monsters but we've got no balls......

went to the library to grab two books for myself.

Saturday

met with my sis at Takashimaya in the morning, luckily i've managed to get my CNY clothing. given my ridiculously large abdomen i sometimes worry that there's a tumor inside. in any case, i'm having a bit of a problem with digestion and my stomach blots with just any meal. but really, i don't think there's a tumor in there, it is plain old over-eating and a sedentary lifestyle, with age catching up plus heightened low metabolism rate, i know i will never be a health freak but yet i get depressed over being fat. such idiocy is me. 

anyway, we met cousin Janice for brunch at Wild Honey (Mandarin Gallery), cozy ambience, nice place. 

 turkish stuff

mine was veggie stuff