I'm Back!!!

Woohoo!! Thanks to Wendy for reminding me and making me find my blog back. It feels funny to be reading my own posts dated 3 years ago. Anyways hope to start blogging again.. Hmm or at least more frequently. So this is counted as one post already!! Ha..

December

It has started snowing early for this year.

It is the 3rd day of consecutive snow. We went out last night to the pharmacy, and the surroundings strike me as those out of some christmas movies.

The sky is close to dark, with only a tinge of the evening sun still shining, and occasional beams from the traffic. The road is covered with snow with a few lines of black where the cars drove past. The trees are bare. There is a man standing outside the pharmacy ringing the bell for donations. Everywhere you see people with scarves and beanies.

Though this is a terrible time for drivers, as a passenger, I enjoyed taking in all the sights. It looked just so beautiful to me, especially when tiny flakes are falling all around. Until I came here, I would have thought that what we watched from the films are just movie settings.

While I was sitting in the car, waiting for the green light, I had a thought : This is how Christmas should feel like. While everywhere outside is cold, you see warm smiles on faces, and hear heartful greetings from strangers... This is a feeling I'm going to miss till I'm 80.

The Quake

Am writing this post to "commemorate" the day I actually felt an earthquake for the first time in my life. It happened early this morning at about 4.30am (according to the news).

It was kinda weird that I happened to open my eyes at about the same time the tremors were felt. My whole dresser was shaking terribly and so was the bed. My initial instinct told me it might be an earthquake. But then the paranoid (or crazy) side of me decided it might be some ghosts or spirits playing tricks on me.. haha.. found myself so ridiculous now that I'm recalling this. And so decided that it might be some poltergeist activities, fearing any big movements, I can only pinch Yoong hoping that he will wake up, but as usual, he didn't. So I hid under the covers for the rest of the night.

The quake is about 5.4 on the Richter scale, at Illinois. It is about 128 miles from where we are. It is fortunate that there aren't much damage. Quite frightening now that I think of it. What if the magnitude had been bigger? And it striking in the middle of the night where every soul is asleep and no one is prepared? Imagine the damages... rather spine-chilling...

Anyways, updates on the weather here : Spring is here. Getting slightly warmer, still cool compared to Singapore weather. Perfect time for picnics and BBQs. :)

Oh one more thing before I forget. We went for a plush dinner last Monday. A dinner I enjoyed very much, partly because the food is good, and also because I get to dress up. Haha... seriously, I haven't dress up for donkey years. Can't believe myself that having a chance to dress better actually got me excited. Kinda pathetic huh.. i guess that's how a typical "Huang Lian Po" react... :(

Lazy-Me

Almost forgot my log in username and password... the last post was about a quarter of a year ago.. :)

Haven't been exactly busy... was preparing for my paper and finally done with it yesterday... quite happy with the results.. so fairly relaxed now..

Just have to mention this. We watched the very famous blockbuster Lust Caution last night. And I have to say, I couldn't bear watching the film without having to take a break by going to the loo, wash up the dishes etc. Not that the film is boring, and not that the scenes aren't steamy... it's the idea of the woman having to sacrifice so much to carry out the plan. So much so that she had to lose her virginity to her schoolmate in order to play her part.. and the schoolmate looked yucks!! Arghh.. so disgusting.. cannot brush that off my mind.. Maybe that's why I didn't sleep well last night.

Woke up at 4.30am and stayed that way till now. But as I laid awake in bed, suddenly came up with this so-called poem. Haha.. how odd right.. but then, the silence of the night made it a good time to think and organize the verses..

Anyway, going to find some chinese software so that I can post the "poem" out... maybe 3000 years later, it'll be published in some chinese literature materials.. haha... daydreaming..

That's all for now.. planning to make some banana cupcakes today.. :)

Sickening Piles

Piles, known as Haemorroids in medical terms, a tiny part of my body which I had removed this morning. Uncomfortable ordeal. This feeling that you have to purge, yet must "loon", cannot go, cannot strain. "Loon" till hairs kept standing up, legs went jelly, and lost all ability to concentrate. And this went on for 5 hours. Boy, I'm so glad that I have survived those horrible hours finally. Just need to wait for the irritaing piece of flesh to detach itself now. :)

Anyway, am back in Singapore now, enjoying myself in the humid heat of the island and the comfort of home. Busy meeting friends for the past few days that we barely slept. Feels really good to catch up with them. Didn't realise how much I have missed them till we met. And didn't realise we have so little time. Was looking at our schedule, we will be meeting up with each group of friends only once, unless lucky, we might get to meet up with the same friends twice. So I must cherish each and every meeting, as the next time we meet will be next year liao... :(

Shan't write much, have to eat dinner soon. Mummy's cooking.. which I miss. ;p

Japanese Laptop

Yea yeah... I know the previous post was supposed to be the conclusion for year 2007. But then, I'm rather free now, at the hotel in Tokyo waiting for my laundry to be done. And also, I've received email from my mentor. Very happy to hear from him (was worried earlier that I won't be hearing from him anymore), so I just have to post this down... :)

As for Jeff, I'm still trying to find his contact... hopefully able to locate him before the end of this year..

This Japanese laptop a bit difficult to use. The keys are all over the place, and if I accidentally hit the CAPS key, it will turn into Japanese characters. And dunno why, the "copy & paste" function will automatically turn on by itself, and does its work every now and then. So if you see a repeating sentence somewhere, it's the laptop's work. ;p

Today has been as tiring as yesterday, still feeling the jet lag. Glad to be back in the hotel now resting our feet. We will be travelling down south to Hakone tomorrow. Looking forward to the hotsprings and sumptous feast... yummy... Talking about food, we ate 4 meals today in total.. haha.. just can't get enough of the food after 9 months of "asian food celibacy"... ;p

Sighh... will keep this post short before I start banging on the keyboard.. this laptop is really pissing me off...

Till next post then... ja ne..

Closing

Decided to push in another post for the year 2007. This will most likely act as the closing/ summary for this year as we will be flying back to Home Sweet Home this coming Wednesday.

Well, feeling very excited needless to say.. but there is this nudging feeling that I feel every year around this time.. it's the time of the year where you ask yourself "what have I accomplished this year?"

So what have I accomplished this year? I think the most "spectacular" thing would be I have learned how to cook - a task which seemed formidable 9 months ago. Now I am proud to say that at least it's no problem to whip up a few dishes. I am assured now that if I have kids next time, I can be a Mum who can cook, just like our mothers.. :)

Ermm... what else shall I write? How did I pass my time here in Saint Louis? Nah.. maybe next time.. haha.. Just too lazy to type all that stuff out now...

Okie, a closing for the year 2007. It has been an enjoyable year for me. Never imagined that I will be able to spend these months away from home and in a country I thought I will only be able to visit when I'm in my 50s.. It can be considered a fruitful and valuable experience, though it does have its downs when I get depressed thinking of how my peers have progressed and I have not.. and the thought that I am not doing anything constructive. It has been hard, but I try to tell myself that, to a woman, the ultimate career is the Family. So I am going to work hard to build my core career now. Up There gave me the time now to do this, so this is the time that I am supposed to be working on my family, and I'm going to make sure I do it well. By the time I return home, I believe Up There will have a path for me to follow.. there will be another career for me to carve, and then I'll do what I am suppose to do then. Right now, I'm just going to excel in my family career! :) So this is the valuable lesson I have learned. There is always a reason for every happening in our lives. Seek and understand that reason, you feel happier and lighter.

Lastly, these past few months have really given me a fair amount of time to think and reflect upon myself and past actions and behaviours.

And it was only recently that I realised what an ungrateful brat I have been towards my mentor at work. Long story, but then I now know how easy it is to be sucked into a working culture and not see one's true self. It is easy to lose your way and forget who you really are. I had been lost for 20 months, swirling in a pool of venom, and biting the hand that fed me. And I am angry at myself that it took me so long to realise what a poor person I have been towards my mentor. How could I have forgotten all the help given? How could I have forgotten the kindness shown? And how could I have been so blind and thick-in-the head that I did not realise that the last meeting we had, he actually was hoping to clear up the air between us? I did not realise until now... and he must have thought what a lousy person I am.. and I am.. sighh... I now understand why he always say I'm not matured enough. I am not matured enough to draw the line between work and life. Not matured enough to deal with the negative energies flowing around the workplace. Not matured enough to differentiate between good and bad. And so-not-matured enough to let the surroundings influence me and my judgement, and that's why I lost myself. I treated my mentor like a foe. How foolish and ungrateful!! I really look down on myself whenever I think of this incident.. sighh... I just hope that now that I see the light, I will be able to pull myself out of any surroundings at the end of the day, go back to the original point and be myself. That is the only way to see clearly and not be blinded or influenced by external factors. (I know monks do this by meditating) Don't think it will be an easy feat, but I'm going to try. :)

Another person whom I felt I have treated badly is Jeff. This happened in 1999. We were still in Uni. Jeff was a first year who broke his leg before the school started. I remembered his mum accompanied him to UK, and I (being the Singapore Committee member) have been assigned to bring him to his class. I was rushing for my own class then. And so gan cheong was I that I walked at such a fast pace that Jeff could barely keep up on his crutches. Yes he was on crutches!! And now I remembered I actually suggested walking up the stairs when I found that waiting for the lift takes too long. What an insensitive bitch I am now that I think of it. Absolutely abhor myself to the nth degree!! And Jeff and his mum were too polite to suggest otherwise. Come to think of it, if I were Jeff or his mum, I probably would have told me off. I was really a downright insensitive ass. And like the previous case, I realised this only 2 years back!! I feel so ashamed of myself...

So for the closing of year 2007, I hope I can apologise to these 2 persons. Doesn't matter whether forgiveness is granted. Just want to let them know that I have realised what a lousy person I have been to them and am truly sorry for my behaviour. I hope we are still friends.

So that's the conclusion.. I hope to be a better person in 2008. And I hope I can speed up the process of my reflection and not realise my mistakes only years later. And lastly I hope everyone I love and care about (and of course those who loves and cares about me too) stays healthy and happy always.

Merry Christmas and Happy Happy New Year to all!!!