A Day of Something Yet Nothing

I don't remember the last time I took leave to do nothing. Well, almost nothing. The last time I took leave was to cook during Christmas, so that didn't count as it was "hard labour", and before that, the trip to Italy. So today was a day I specially put aside to spend some time with, well, myself.

8.30am::

Opened my eyes from deep slumber and thought how good this felt, when all my friends were just about to start work, and here I was, just waking up.

9.30am::

Breakfast with The Boy at Jones The Grocer. There were quite a number of expat wives sitting around having scones and tea. I asked him if he could find a job that would allow me to do the same not just today, but everyday too.

10.30am:: Muddy murky stone massage. Not sure to what extent should the masseuse talk during therapy, but she did tell me alot about her life, her family back in China. I listened politely, but somehow, I didn't quite have the heart to tell her to shut up and continue with the massage. The bitch in me was on leave too.

Overall, the experience was definitely relaxing and the Hungarian mud left my skin soft and smooth. But maybe the aromatherapy massage would do the next time, as I didn't think the stones were that much to rave about. In fact, it was ticklish, sending shivers up my spine, when she glided the stones up and down my back.

The lounge area where I waited to go for my mani/pedi next was nice and cosy. Just sitting there, staring out at the greenery was enough to bring about a sense of calm and serenity within. One would just wish that every moment in life was like that - peaceful and knowing that you have nothing else to do next!




12.30am::

Mani/pedi by therapist who wasn't very thorough with the cleaning of the cuticles. Otherwise, I have nothing much to comment on.

On the whole, House definitely has a very arty, back-to-basics feel to the place. The raw pillars of exposed cement and bricks, the dangling naked bulbs - unfinished yet deliberate. I like the contrast. Will be back for more love-me sessions.


3.30pm::

After a bit of late lunch and reading (in a world of my own), I called back to the office, asked if everything was going well. I actually told @ndrea I was getting bored already. I didn't know what to do next.

I was starting to feel out of touch with the world!!! How ridiculous is that? Is that what working life does to you? It makes you work non-stop to a point where you don't know how to take time out and relax anymore? That there must be an agenda in place every day?

Gosh, think I better shelve that tai-tai dream, I'll probably rot. Or maybe I should take more of such days off to get the hang of it.

For a Good Cause

It went well yesterday, at the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes selection process.

The judges were grouped into 3s, and sat through rounds of presentation by the candidates. I was teamed with an associate professor of SMU and a VP of risk management, to which I felt quite intimidated. But I guess my marketing BS came in handy ultimately.

We looked through the groups of under 16s, and it was really enriching to hear business proposals from these little budding social entrepreneurs. It was so inspirational to hear how they have an idea, and how much they believe in their idea, and that their idea is the best and will work.

That made me really think about how cynical we adults have become, how jaded we sometimes are, that we tend to say no first, even before giving the idea a chance to present itself. Even though there were really some proposals that we know from experience that won't work, it wasn't easy to make sure that we deliver the message across positively, that we won't crush their fragile confidence.

As the little kids sat before me, full of earnestness and eagerness, I thought it was so beautiful, to be able to feel their pure innocence and simplicity. I'm not a teacher, I don't come into contact very often with kids. So I really appreciate this opportunity, the guy who pulled me into this volunteer programme, to experience this youthful energy which I otherwise won't come across at work.

After the whole session was over, I was exhausted from the rounds of presentation, yet very much emotionally recharged and inspired. I sure won't mind doing this again, on a regular basis!

That aside, when I reached home, The Boy pulled out these boxes for me. YES! They have ALL arrived, both the loot from Forever 21 and Nordstrom.


Lilsnooze is right, the online shopping itself is exciting. But the parcels arriving is even more so!

We Lup

Finally, after more than a month of dilemma and contemplation, I have decided to move out of my comfort zone, to the sister property down at Orchard.

Over the last 2 years, I have come to know the greatest team that I would ever have had the honour of being in. The camaraderie, the ability to understand each other, the rapport, the friendship that we have developed in that lil office of ours, I don't think I will experience again.

On any given day in the work week, even when faced with stressful deadlines, that lil office never fails to be filled with our laughter - laughing with each other, laughing at others (ok we've got a really mean streak), laughing at each other. I've never considered them as my colleagues, I've never considered them as my subordinates. They are my joy, they are my BBs.

"Mama and BBs" came about because I'm the ultimate naggy queen, always nagging at them to finish their work on time. BBE - BB Elephant - is too skinny, and so Elephant is what she should "aspire" to be. BBL - BB Lion - needs to stand firm against all unreasonable demands, to hold our grounds. As for Mama Rabbit - I was given the name cos I need to be less fierce, more gentle. Ha.

There has not been a day where I dread waking up to go to work. We work hard but we play hard. And we shop hard too (!) of which we fail miserably at being each other's conscience to stop spending!

Now, the time has come for all of us to leave our comfort zone and take on new challenges. It has been hard, it has been painful. It has been sleepless nights, and constant worries. But I know that only with new challenges can all of us grow. And seeing my BBs grow to become the best marcoms possible - the pain would be worth it. In any case, the best thing that came out of this is the friendship that we have built.


For myself, in another month's time, I will be venturing into unknown territories. Double the size of operation, double the size of team, with new exciting developments - sounds like a long roller coaster ride. But I know that through it all, God is in control. I have the faith that for every step that I take, He will be looking out for me.

From the Other Side

There are some things that you as a couple have never done together before, even if you've been with each other for years. This sounds bizarre, but The Boy and I have never been together on an overhead bridge before.

Just the other evening, we decided to WALK from our place to his parents' place for dinner. Although it's only a 5-minute drive away, it has never occurred to us that we could walk there too.

And so we cut through the blocks of flats, ventured through foreign void decks, to arrive at the overhead bridge that would take us to the other side of the main road. Halfway across, he turned to me, "Hey, we've never crossed the overhead bridge together before!"

And of course we had to take a momentous shot, while passerbys gave us odd looks.


When I threw him the idea of walking over initially, he was like "Can or not?!" I said if we could walk an hour to dinner in Italy, why can't we walk 15 minutes in Singapore?

Too often, we rely on the car to get around. While it's convenient, a big part of his attention is focused on the roads. And I would be dozing off. The time we supposedly spend with each other is not as fulfilling.

We totally enjoyed the walk. It allowed us to concentrate on each other, and gave us time to "stop to smell the roses". We took in sights that we have never noticed, we checked out people along the roads. All these, we never enjoyed while we were in the car.

Similarly, in life, we should sometimes change the way of how we always do things, to look at things from a different perspective. And it would always be surprising, and could be rewarding, what you get out from it.

We made a pact that one of 2008's resolution is not only to spend time together, but also to ensure that it's quality time. But that's not to say we are walking to everywhere in Singapore now lah!

Epilogue:

In case you were wondering, we didn't walk back home. His mum very kindly drove us back. Lazy Singaporeans lah.

All that Matters

New year's eve was spent, apart from balloon-blowing at work, having dinner with The Boy's family over at Julian's maternal grandparents' place.

Julian's 9 months now, and I've come to realise that it's quite impossible for babies to keep still anymore from around that age, or even younger.

Hats off to all the mummies with the boundless energy to look after their babies. We obviously can't seem to hold them still - as you can see from the pictures.

Yes, I was making all sorts of funny noises, alongside with expressions, in my bid to "entertain" him. But it's so cute now that he's starting to baby-talk, to see how curious he is about everything. And he has a pair of very powerful lungs. Boy can he scream! :)


Met up with our friends at Katong's Settler's Cafe thereafter. The boys chose to say Sorry for all the wrongs that they did in 2007. Heh.


Mudgod was anti-social, absorbed in his game on the laptop, while Aloy was obviously very very happy playing the games.


It wasn't the "happening" sort of countdown at a club, with loud music and booze. It was quality time well-spent with cherished friends. It wasn't about dancing to the latest music and shouting into your friends' ears in an attempt to "talk" and "interact". It was about truly enjoying our friends' companionship.

We laughed a lot. Especially at Mudgod's statement of 2007 - "this is so gay", in his attempt to make us guess the word "purple" which he tried very hard to describe.





We spent the last day of 2007 and the early hours of 2008 with our family, and our friends, over a supper of bak chor mee. And it is all that matters.

We're a day into the new year, and I'm looking forward to continue reinforcing this bonding. Living my life to the fullest means devoting even more time for God, and loving and caring for our families and friends. And it is all that matters.