I was a very stressed girl last night, but troubled soul has calmed down considerably today :P Stress arose primarily from some draft outline I had to come up with; and me not wanting to work over weekend coupled with tight deadline given by boss resulted in a rather one-sided discussion session with boss that left me feeling rather inadequate... Oh well, guess ought take some blame for not putting in super a lot of effort lah. It's only been a week and I have a few pieces of outstanding work, not to mention lotsa reading to catch up on... but well, feel like I shouldn't put too much pressure on myself and to learn to keep my cool :) After all, if I get all stressed up in the beginning, how to survive the 2 years...!

On a more cheerful note, I was a bit more adventurous with food today and had bak kut teh with rice and fried doughsticks... The auntie at the stall was quite amused when she caught me staring at the packets of pre-cut you cha kueh.. I never knew ppl actually eat you cha kueh with bak kut teh soup... Pretty yummy. Colleagues had fried carrot cake (which I crave for deep down) but hmmm, I'd need to practise some self-discipline...

Sometimes you have so much you want to say you don't really know what you want to say anymore... Thoughts are somewhat jumbled, but oh well, I'm still gonna attempt a bite-size summary of my first week at work ;)

Day 1
First day of work at MND, me bumps into CK at lift lobby first thing in the morning... It's a small small world :P Thereafter, as part of getting-to-know new staff routine, my unglam sleep-deprived face was broadcast to rest of MND that same morning... Was also made to write self-intro that same morning, but was so uninspired I simply told the whole world how snacky I was... hehe. Rest of day was divided btwn setting up laptop (I got a Fujitsu! But just normal black black one, not v chio), talking to bosses (that took up large part of afternoon) and coming to terms with regressed IT @ MND (vs HDB). Was also somewhat amused by this intra-office chat program called SameTime-- and upon probing a bit, first thing ppl did was to SameTime. If not there, walk over. Last resort is to phone the person... how odd...

Days 2 to 4
Almost everyone I've told congratulated me that I'd be in the midst of good food at MND... Though the good food seems to be at Maxwell, colleagues dun seem too fond of it, citing overcrowdedness and consequently difficulty in finding seats as primary reason. So i haven't actually eaten there this week. Lunches have mostly been at Amoy... which has its fair share of good food as well, but yeah, seems like it'd be a while b4 I brave the snaking queues to try the really yummy places.

Work-wise, it just seems like.... there would be plenty of work for me in time to come haha. In case you're still wondering what on earth I'm doing at MND, well, I'd be dealing with Town Councils... Starting with the more routine stuff first before moving into the 'grey areas'; I'd prob need to be super well-acquainted with them fairly quickly.... cos... it's basically going to be a 2-man team :P Have to really take my hat off to existing TC officer...

Day 5
Me starts off day by talking to new DS and troubleshooting more IT issues... and today I sent my first email 'home'...! Feels somewhat strange, but hmm, guess I'd get used to it. And there really is some advantage coming from HDB, cos I have prior knowledge of how things work and ppl I can approach... And by end of day, also completed first submission ever to boss...! Though pace this week was quite manageable, feel like it's enough action for the week... am so happy it's finally Fri!

Bookmarks and chocs for colleagues...

I really wanted to write a comprehensive blog post on last few days at work, but I should really be sleeping soon... not good to be too panda-ish on first day at new workplace... so... till next time!

Above: Bookmarks made by me! :P
Below: Cute chocs rich with antioxidants... hehe.

A couple of recent visits to the supermarket the past week has made me feel like I'm missing out a bit on the little things in life. Well, maybe I'm really a bit yellow-faced deep down; and so when I got to go to the supermarket to do a little of my own shopping, it actually felt pretty enjoyable. Felt really shiok when leisurely strolling down the aisles in NTUC on a Mon morning...

I miss those undergrad days when visiting Safeway/Albertsons/Trader Joes/Whole Foods/Ranch 99 was a weekly affair... when I actually put more thought into what ought go into my kitchen cabinets :P These days, when I eat at home, I frequently find myself just eating what dear mum puts in front of me... And I have somewhat lost track of the foods available/location of utensils at home... so much so that sometimes mum "complains" that I'm really a tenant-in-daughter's-clothing.

Am taking one day off to nuah3 again tmr, in anticipation of the faster pace of life when I start work at MND... Having time on your hands to relax and do your own thing is really a luxury! If given a choice, I think I would prefer a slightly slower pace of life... with pockets of time to read and laze about at home... After all, too much of a good thing can be bad too :P

Today's muffin day...

I haven't baked in AGES... actually i've been wanting to bake something for the longest time, but have been quite lazy all along. It also doesn't help that I don't have an oven at home :P But since I took a day off today (clearing time-off), I finally overcome the inertia and just did it! And... my 40D and lovely f1.8 lens are back in action :)

Decided to try baking two kinds of muffins at my aunt's place this afternoon -- Banana sourcream muffins and Blackbottom muffins. The former was a somewhat interesting recipe I found in a Jap magazine; and the latter was an online recipe. Not sure if any of you can remb the Blackbottom muffins at Free Speech Cafe at our Berkeley Moffitt Library -- but they had the yummiest blackbottom muffins ever! With lotsa cream cheese goodness... Hehe, now you know how come i put on so much weight over there :P
The 'before' and 'after' of my banana sourcream muffins. Hmmm, I think I actually prefer the 'before' look. I dun think I'll ever find out what they are supposed to taste like; because my Jap a bit cannot make it then I couldn't quite make out one of the steps... and just anyhow anyhow... hee.

Heh, I have a fairy-chimney muffin! Well, very unfortunately, I dun quite fancy the looks of my muffins... It doesn't help that the core of the banana turns black after being cooked. Hmm, the chimney is really quite sooty hor :P

The blackbottom muffins--- fresh out of oven (all in baking tray) and when 'served'. Hehe... more like for picture-taking only.

Hehe, some of you might get to taste the experimental muffins... :P Sadly they neither look nor taste terribly good :) Nevermind, till next time!

Moving On...

While in Turkey, I also received news of a job transfer via sms. I would be seconded to MND, after close to 3 years at my current job. However, was offered no further details of the secondment till I got back to work this week. Seems like I would be starting work at MND Housing Division come Jun 1...

While I welcome the change, it would have been nice if it weren't that sudden. Less than 3 weeks to finish up and pass on my work, say my good-byes and prepare myself mentally. And I would most certainly miss my bunch of 'auntie' colleagues, lovely people who never failed to offer a helping hand whenever I needed one. No more 'koping' of my junior staff's keropok and titbits... Wun receive anymore 'lil sis' special treatment... No one to 'dote' on me anymore... :( Well, hope I'd still be able to maintain work-life balance over there and let the environment not be too competitive.

Beauties and the "Beast"!

As suggested by the title of this post, this is a random post of flowers... and of myself :P The flower pics were taken on my own camera b4 it died on me... As you are probably aware, I'm not particularly fond of posting pictures of myself... but this time round, I managed to look somewhat photogenic in a few shots-- thanks to fellow DSLR enthusiast hehe. So yeah, I will be a bit ego and post a few this time round. Please bear with me... :P

Plush cushioned seats at roof terrace of Sebnem Hotel, Istanbul. Highly recommended for anyone who intends to visit!

Let me indulge a little and turn to an excerpt from Le Petit Prince... :P

You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you -- the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

Err, trying to act cute in the middle of nowhere. Cappadocia, Turkey.

Brr... Weather in Istanbul was pretty chilly when we first arrived... but it became really awesome when we returned for the last 2 nights after touring the rest of Turkey.

Trying to pull off a "look back" pose on an escalator at a metro station in Istanbul.

Charles and Keith in Cevahir Shopping Centre, Istanbul (apparently the largest shopping centre in Europe). Seems like this local shoe/accessories chain is doing pretty well. I also chanced upon "Zara Home" -- only can see, cannot buy... when one pretty towel costs a whopping $69...!!

Beautiful Turkey

My turkey trip was great. Lovely weather, beautiful sights, flowers blooming everywhere, warm hospitality from locals, yummy yummy food and great company... Though I broke my camera on Day 4 and got quite seasick during the end-up-going-nowhere boat cruise (kenah "cheated"), everything else went quite well...

I did a part free-and-easy, part local tour agency kinda itinerary. Istanbul was pretty tourist friendly-- the Sultanahmet area with all the major attractions was quite walkable; it was also easy to get around with an efficient and affordable public transport network (actually taxi fares were reasonable too, though we only found out on the 2nd last day!) Other "must-visit" Turkish destinations were somewhat more spread out btwn the western coast and central parts of Turkey, so we relied on the local tour agency for those bits. That allowed us to meet quite a few visitors from different countries; to our surprise we found out that quite a few ppl take like 1 month or more off work...!! Such decadence... Making my (seemingly long) 2-week getaway seem trivial in comparision hehe. Well, you make the best of what you can squeeze out; and it was definitely long enough for a decent recharge :)

Turkey's a place with a long and rich history; though it was cool to learn more I'm not a traveller terribly into history... the things that left me with the most vivid memories were the people, insights into the Turkish lifestyle, sampling different kinds of local cuisine... And well, they prob charge the most exorbitant rates for using public loos -- expect to pay btwn 0.5 to 1 turkish lira (Sing dollar/ Turkish lira exchange rate's about 1:1) each time...

I also like the Turkish ppl we met... They seem generally good-humored, warm and friendly. Though it doesn't seem like they get too many Singaporean tourists, with the Turkish frequently greeting us with "Konnichiwa" (or the Korean equivalent) at the touristy places... And when told that we're from Singapore, they articulate the three-syllables Sing-a-pour melodiously and knowingly... hehe, though i suspect half of them prob haven't heard of us before. I also gathered that fair-skinned Asians like us must be a pretty rare breed in town, especially when you get locals wanting to take pictures of you (which was odd), or with you, more than once.

Hee, ok, now for the pictures...

Tulips tulips everywhere in Istanbul!

Above: Shutter-happy in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
Below: Tulips in front of the iconic Blue Mosque in Istanbul.


Above: Lovely arches at this courtyard at the Blue Mosque.
Below: Need I say more?? :P

Had lunch at this cute cafe in Selcuk, Turkey.

Olives, olives and more olives! I tried to give them a second chance here, but well, I still dun quite fancy them...

We also visited Sirince, this village near Selcuk with greek houses. Quite a quaint little place, but sadly it's pretty ravaged by tourists today. Many turkish women just sat at their stalls weaving flower wreaths from fresh wildflowers... I got myself one for just 1 lira... :)

Above: Awesome views of the mountainscape during a long bus-ride...
Below: Blending into the fairy-chimney landscape at Cappadocia

Hee, I found "myself" at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, of course must take picture right? :P

A refreshing breakfast at the hotel roof terrace in Selcuk. Quite a few hotels use their roof terraces as their "selling point" on their websites... Then you go there and discover that everyone has got a roof terrace :P Oh well, not too surprising, given that it's really very pleasant to dine under the warm sunlight in spring.

And of course, who can leave Turkey without tasting some Turkish tea (or Çay, pronounced "chai") served about everywhere in cute curvy glasses?

Am typiıng this from my cave hotel at Cappadocia, Turkey... The careless miınts broke her lovely F1.8 lens and possıbly the camera on Day 4... and so have been without my own camera for the past week or so :( but at least I took enough tulip and flower pics before the unfortunate accident to leave without regrets :P On the other hand, have been indulgiıng in too much cheese, meat and breads the past week or so... need to exercise way harder when I come back... :P

Greetings from Istanbul!

Today is Day 2 of my long Turkish getaway... Never in my life did I imagine that I'd see my lovely spring tulips in Istanbul... Think I ended up taking more flower pics than the "proper" attractions pics.. hee. Weather's a bit chilly, but the lovely sun feels great... reminds me of Berkeley weather on a nice spring morning. Aargh... dun want to go home already hehe.

Cake and photography on a Sat afternoon

There's a little jewel of a cafe tucked away in one corner of Chinatown... The cookbooks on display make me want to start baking all over again :(

Above: Dun be deceived by its "solid" exterior... It's full of melted Valrhona choc goodness on the inside!

Below: Pretty shadows cast on the adjacent table...

Countdown...

I am now only one week away from my 13-day Turkish holiday! :D Around this time next week, i would be waiting to board my flight...

Funeral

Think this MCYS commercial might be a little overplayed/overcirculated by now, but I still think it's a pretty good attempt by the govt to get ppl to think about getting married or setting up a family. I like how the message is more subtle and not so in-your-face, and the point about how tiny/quirky imperfections sometimes make our dear ones all the more endearing. On a totally unrelated note, thought the elderly chinese couple look like a real married couple in real life hehe.



I've also grown considerably lazy after stopping Japanese classes on Sundays. Now I really laze around more, leisurely read my newspapers etc... Feels good to be able to do nothing, really, once in a while. I think we all need that one/two days in a week to just be able to chill and relax. Recently I also feel like I am growing somewhat more comfortable in my own skin... dun think it's very obvious except to myself, but feel happy that I've made some progress in this aspect. Hee, though from time to time, I still wonder what is it about myself that makes me likeable :P

The 2nd half of this morning's annual conference felt like a pseudo NDP. The 'surprise' item at the end was a lot more interactive than expected -- not only were we requested to learn the actions of a rather dubious rap video on-the-spot; all attendees were given neon lightstick thingies to wear around our wrists... these later turned into waveable ultra-slim torches for the ending finale... Well, everyone was somewhat "submissive" (myself included) and went along with what we were told to do (haha, typical Singaporeans?) but hee, deep down cannot help but feel odd. Like, it was some sort of induced spontaneity...

The relatively smooth delivery of a speech I helped to co-draft also means that i can finally sleep soundy tonight :P And somewhat pleased that the anecdotal story I had decided to incorporate was quite well received by the audience. Working with someone whom I never knew that well beforehand (for the speech) also somewhat improved my impression/liking for her... I somehow appreciate discovering things about myself thru working with other people... eg. when it allows me to discover shortcomings about myself/ "gaps" that other people "fill in" simply because they operate differently and consequently view things differently. Well, I suppose that's why it can be pretty refreshing and potentially enlightening to mix around with people who have vastly different personalities from you once in a while.

I'm pleased it's the weekend again. Though the week's not been too bad either :) Work is blah, but nevermind -- me can look forward to my long holiday in 3 weeks' time! Tennis on thurs was actually pretty good for once-- maybe i am starting to finally get the hang of it! Though my brain still not very leakage-proof-- remember to do one thing but will forget something else :( When will I ever be able to play tennis gracefully and stylishly (like these experts playing at the adjacent court that night)... But as with many other things, I suppose I need to be patient and keep at it. Surely that day will come...? :P

Last night I took taxi after midnight for the first time in a very long while (hehe, I so guai1)... And to my horror discovered that the 50% surchage applied to the metered fare after 12 midnight. Not calculated based on when the passenger gets on the taxi... Was still so delighted after managing to flag down cab at like 11.52pm. Oh well, on hindsight it makes sense lah, else like close to 12am NO ONE would be able to get on a cab.

Will end my frivolous chapalang post with a lovely piece by J.S. Bach. Since I heard the Tang Quartet cellist play this at The Importance of Being Earnest, it's been stuck in my head! Though the song kinda gets a bit boring towards the end, the starting bit is so catchy and lovely.... :)

Beautiful Sunday

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday and the baby blue sky is infused with lovely cottony clouds :) Unfortunately I need to stop lazing around and get some serious work done... Before that, let me indulge a little and treat you to another gorgeous sunrise -- a Feb 24 sunrise to be exact :P Discovered them when I whipped out my neglected 40D to capture the T.L.C lunch prepared by mum this afternoon...

Ta-dah... A simple but lovingly prepared lunch. When I discovered that the green soybeans (you typically pay an exorbitant $1.90 or more for like a meagre 15 pods in Japanese restaurants) didn't come in this form (ie. extracted from pods by mum), I gave her a sheepish grin and felt really sweet inside.

I've never been so continuously sleepy throughout the week in a while. But luckily I have not managed to break record of falling asleep right in front of Nobel Laureate speaker, like I did some 4 years ago... and then got suaned1 and blackmailed forever by some people. Though it's been a tiring week, life has been relatively decent nonetheless. Pulled off an emcee stint for long service award ceremony on Wed; ended my term as CCM secy this week (finally! after an arduous 9 mths...); had quite a bit of fun celebrating boss's birthday with colleagues; and ended the long work week with nice dinner and lovely company at the Botanic Gardens. Was going to end up not leaving work on time today, but thanks to a system shutdown of sorts, LN was not login-able and I had excuse to not do what boss requested me to do at 5.30pm... :P

But of course, how can life be all work and no play... there's a long holiday in sight! :D
Above pic: Another sunrise from my balcony... can you spot the airport control tower and the cute little crescent? :)

Departures (Okuribito)

Wanna watch this...

This afternoon, after much pain and sweat, finally sent out annual conference speech outline that i had been working on past couple of days... Felt rather scary 'cos this time round, no one to clear and after i finish just anyhow whack and send out to the whoevers I needed to send to. The most mortifying thing though was that in barely 1 hr, my email got circulated back to me by boss-- asking me to check on stuff pertaining to my own unit... well, at that point in time i wanted to faint... cos means like prob whole world got my chapalang rather last min draft outline... :(( And were asked by their respective admin heads to give comments...

Oh well, I am strong... I will survive...

i dun really know why, but recently there's no urge to blog... it's been a tiring but eventful week; and though I have to work this weekend I'm still really glad the work week's over! Some time in the middle of the week I woke up to a most amazing sunrise... yet had like only 5 seconds to admire it... how sad is that... ;P