Of work and life

Sometimes work requires me to turn up at MPs' meet-the-people sessions and it was my (first) turn yesterday night. Basically we stationed ourselves in a classroom beside the main waiting room, to take questions/appeals related to SERS. Well, but most residents who turned up had the mentality that whatever they tell us is useless, cos we can only 'write letters' and are otherwise powerless to make those big decisions... and so I had a relatively easy time last night, with only 6 enquiries or so in the 2.45 hrs or so we were there. Just a few thoughts... MPs lead really busy lives! even though the MP was supposed to be there around 730 pm or so, she only arrived close to 930pm. Nonetheless, residents waiting for her waited.. and waited.. and waited. There was a line of probably close to 40 ppl. A staff helping to organize the crowd told me that the MP usually tries to see all her residents, and that the session can end at say, 1 am even! goodness. Second... i wonder which other govt goes to this extent to help residents... isn't it a vicious cycle sometimes? the more you give in, the more residents expect from you... then in the end even though the goodies you give them are already very decent, they still think that you ought to give them more.... and SOMETIMES, it becomes a case of ppl not taking responsibility for their own problems... they expect the govt to solve their own problems... isn't this quite 'unhealthy' for society in the long term. Singaporeans can be such a sheltered and 'babied' bunch. Then again, whenever I go on site, I do find myself sympathizing with some folks... who tell me they dun have stable jobs, who are facing financial probs etc.... sometimes I don't know what to think.

It so happened that my MPS coincided with a section 'dinner get-together', which I attended for only 30 min before zipping off to work... and colleagues had earlier decided to go down to a bar/lounge to 'chill out' and drink after that session. I joined them at 11pm after work... at this place in Red Dot Traffic Building. The place was quite cool and the 'room' they gave us was pretty nice and cosy... but even though chilling out with colleagues was alright, I was reminded of times I could just chill out with friends. like at someone's place in Berkeley. that kinda thing. Ever since I started work, I don't think I've really 'chilled out' with a bunch of friends at some place... doing nothing or just talking rot.... i suppose my close friends are all over the place too :) nonetheless, felt that something was 'missing'... sometimes I do wonder, am I subconsciously letting the more unimportant things take over my life... and succumbing to these 'evil forces' without even realizing it...?

The world of bentos

That is the topic for today but first I will recall an interesting incident at work. I once mentioned female colleagues and their LV bags. This afternoon, my opposite neighbor (the leading LV fan too) lost one of the diamonds on her diamond bracelet. The loss of this tiny diamond (among many others) was first spotted by another colleague who went to discuss something with her... it then sparked a tiny commotion with a couple of us starting to look on the carpeted floor for something tiny and sparkly. Alas, the missing diamond was nowhere to be found. Someone joked that if finders become keepers we would all be hunting for that lost diamond somewhere in HDB... Unfortunately we were unable to recover this precious stone and colleague went home early upset over the fallen diamond. sigh, I hope she finds it! apparently one costs $200 to replace. dunno how many she has on that bracelet...

Now into main topic proper. After a year-long hiatus from Japanese dramas, I recently grew tempted again and bought a new series called Kazoku, or Family. In short, it's about a young father who tries very hard to bring up his son after his wife walked out of their lives. The story's been quite heartwarming so far, and the bento box kept turning up in the last 2 episodes. I suppose it's a well-known fact that Japanese children get cute specially-made bento boxes from their mothers... and the kindergarten scenes also did show some REALLY cute bento cuisine! such as octopus sausages, rice balls with faces and all...! I would certainly try my hand at making these if I still cook. but i don't anymore :P Nonetheless, looked up pictures of such bentos here.... so kawaii!!! I like the one with good hanamaru (the white seal) holding a flower.... lucky children!

Sometimes civil servants also have to do 'extra-curricular' work such as mystery auditing. HDB's partner association is People's Association this time round and i was 'luckily' arrowed by whoever in CDD to be one of the mystery 'shoppers'. However, i was very unluckily assigned this CC all the way at the other end of the island in Jurong West... was told by colleague this afternoon that it's a very ulu place. however, upon arriving at the cc earlier this evening(via taxi; claimable), discovered that it's not that ulu after all... and cc turned out to be quite modern and appeared to be in a good location, accessible and all. but you wonder why ppl would want to live here, in this extreme end of S'pore far away from everywhere else! (perhaps many ppl on the other hand wonder why on earth I want to live in Pasir Ris? :P)
In a bid to maintain a 'work-life' balance, i've also decided to watch more TV again :) The immensely popular 'Ugly Betty' premiered on Channel 5 yesterday night and the first episode was entertaining enough for me to want to watch the next one. The Amazing Race All-Stars is also showing on Monday nights... just started watching this week and teams are competing in Chile... some place in Chile called Petrohue that's really really picturesque! This used to be my favorite reality game show... but the last time I seriously watched it was probably in my freshman year in my dorm room, together with my other two roommates, when Amazing Race came to Singapore :P

A worthy quote to live by

From an "inspirational book" I picked up the other day-- "There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self. All I'm really getting at is that if you want to improve your life and live with all that you deserve you must run your own race. It doesn't matter what other people say about you. What is important is what you say to yourself. Do not be concerned with the judgment of others as long as you know what you are doing is right.You can do whatever you want to do as long as it is correct according to your conscience and your heart. Never be ashamed of doing what is right; decide on what is good and then stick to it. And for God's sake, never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people's net worth. Every second you spend thinking about someone else's dreams you take time away from your own"