Nice day

I touched base with my boss via free PC-to-PC call earlier today.
We managed only to chat a few minutes before he urged me to go rest.
I guess he heard how bad I sounded, and he suggested that we continue our work discussion on Monday.
I was grateful, but still thought to finish off the weekly report and email it to him.
That was despite the fact that he said I could submit it on Monday!
I even told my boss that I had prepared all the things that we were supposed to be discussing, and that I was ok to do that.
But I gave in to his insistence that taking care of my health is more important.
He will be coming to Singapore next week.
And I'm anticipating having lots of sashimi (his treat this time) when he is here!
That is a good incentive for me to ensure that I get well soon.
Sashimi - here I come...

Cough cough

It has been a coughing day for me.
Just as the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours".
My cough, once it starts, it seems as if I would be spewing my guts out as well.

It has been awhile since I had fallen ill or had flu for that matter.
So I am unused to feeling out-of-sync, healthwise.

According to some of my friends, it is the flu 'season'.
The only good thing that has come out of this is that I have been able to sleep like a baby at night.
Ha.

Wednesday blues

I am down with flu.
Have been sick since I got back from my Bangkok trip.
I guess the stress from the trip took its toll on me.
I hadn't thought that a shopping trip would be stressful with my mother around.
I suppose that's because she was ill, and I had to take extra care to ensure she was coping fine throughout the trip - not just healthwise but the sudden adjustment of being in a new place and taking in the new sights and sounds.

I am now coughing, and having a really bad throat to boot.
I have been taking it easy in the past couple of days, but I can't afford to do that anymore.
Work beckons!
While I have not seen the doctor, I have been self-medicating.
The medicine has been leftover ones from the last doc visit I made.
I shall see if it works.

My throat is scratchy, and when I speak, I sound like a man with a raspy voice.
Some may say it's kinda sexy...I most certainly don't!
Ha.

Extended weekend in Bangkok/My Mother

Last Friday was a hectic day for me.
I was trying to clear work so that I could enjoy my shopping trip to Bangkok for the extended weekend.
I was there for Sat till Monday, as Monday was a public holiday in Singapore.
It was Vesak Day (a public holiday in lieu), and I decided some weeks back that it would be nice to make use of the three days to travel.

I took my mother with me, as I have never travelled with her before - ever.
Well, at least not beyond Malaysian shores, where her side of the family resides.
So it was a novelty for us both, not to mention being able to have my sister-in-law joining us as well.
It was also a first for me - travelling with my sister-in-law.
All that was the upside to things.

On the downside, my mother had a bad case of flu during the trip, and that stressed me out quite a bit.
But the stress already started before.
==================================================
Stress Number 1:
On Friday, I offered to take care of my mother's packing for the trip, as we shared a small suitcase.
So being a non-experienced traveller, my mother brought all the things that she thought she would need; things that added much weight when I had hoped we could travel light.
But I obliged.

Stress Number 2:
During the trip, whilst some of her demands were unreasonable, I had to take into consideration that my mother hardly travelled, so wasn't as accommodating as my sister-in-law or me.
That is not to mention she could be feeling frustrated for not being well.

SO, on a number of occasions, I tried to be patient with her when she grumbled.
But on some others, when she insisted on doing something that I knew she wouldn't be able to handle, I had to be firm and at times a little rude to her too.
Just so that she would give in!

Stress Number 3:
I was initially worried that my mother would take things to heart and ignore me for the rest of the trip.

So I was particularly surprised when my mother actually forgot about the previous arguments, and spoke to me within a short time afterwards!
I'm secretly happy that my mother is no longer so uptight about things.
Perhaps my generally easygoing attitude has now rubbed off on her too.
==================================================

All being said, my mother was brave to say she was fine repeatedly throughout the trip, even though she really wasn't (I could tell).
She didn't want to deprive my sister-in-law and myself from the shopping we had eagerly looked forward to.
I really take my hat off to her for her selfless atttitude.
She had a bad case of flu that had her nose running as if on tap, to the extent that the skin was raw from clearing the nasal passage with numerous packets of tissue!

I still have A LOT to learn...

My Dad

I would like to say a thing or two about my Dad.
This is someone who used to favour his son (my brother) more than me.
It's not his fault - he was merely being the typical older folk with traditional thinking.
You know, the son carrying on the family name thing.
But, over the years, I have seen a gradual change in him.
Not only has he sided with me at times when my brother and I have had a tiff (knowing that I haven't been in the wrong)...
...he has also become more appreciative of the little things I have tried to do for him whenever I used to be home for my holidays from the UK.
And I have continued to do so till this day.
It's little things like making him a good cup of coffee daily, just the way he likes it.
Or the occasional times when I remember to apply some moisturising lotion on his extremely dry elbow.

Of late, he has been trying to catch those darn mosquitoes in his spare time...those that have flown into my bedroom at times, when I am being attacked.
You see, I am particularly touched as I am the only one in the family who is prone to mosquito attack (- the joke is that my blood is "sweeter" - ha.).

Coming back to my Dad - such sweet gestures of parental love that he is gradually showing is more than anything that money can buy.
I'd rather have these little gestures than pots of money with no one showing you care and concern.
Although he may never get to read my blog, I still would like to say my thanks.

"Thanks, Dad."

A talent not to be missed

It was a nice surprise to find that a dear friend's latest blog has mentioned me.
This is his and my way of keeping in touch, updating each other (and others) about how the other is gettting on, since we lead such busy lives.
I've particularly enjoyed viewing the recent postings of his paintings.
He is such a talent and I thought it's only fair that I share this knowledge with others.
So it's my pleasure to invite my readers to view this self-taught artist's lovely artwork at:

http://gethin-there.blogspot.com/

Crooked spine

I am listening to my all-time favourite new-age Zen music.
I first heard the soothing music when my former masssage therapist in the UK played her copy of it whenever she came to visit me to give me massages.
I liked the music so much that I got myself a copy too.

Listening to the music now has prompted me to burn a fragrant incense stick that my dad got me.
He was even sweet enough to buy me an accompanying wooden box that holds the incense stick to be burnt, when he heard that I couldn't get to sleep previously.

I am trying to ignore the pain I'm feeling on my back by listening to the soothing music.
I used my lunch time to go visit my therapist about my crooked spine.
It was a follow-up session, and my mother went with me too.
When I told her about my last Sunday's visit, she decided she should get her spine checked out too.
This is because she has been suffering from backaches for quite a long while.

Alas, she too, has a crooked spine.
And I was actually shown how crooked her spine was.
Scary, especially when the therapist actually traced (with some force exerted much like massage) the outline of my mother's spine right along her back.

I was bearing all the pain that was inflicted on my spine, but seeing as my spine was more crooked than my mother's, I didn't want to back down from the painful treatment.
Mine was re-aligned in 3 places, which wasn't great news.
At least after last Sunday's treatment, I was feeling much better.
Unlike before the treatment, I somehow didn't feel quite right.
I anticipate another sleepless night, since I've been warned my back's going to be painful tonight.
And not forgetting that I have been instructed to sit straight, walk straight and sleep on my back - all painful, to say the least!

I informed my boss that I will be spending an extended weekend holiday in Thailand with my mother at the end of the week.
He was in a jovial mood, asking if he could come along.
Ha.

Cool Tuesday

It has been raining.
We had the lot - rain, thunder and lightning.
That got me in the mood to write some social emails to people whom I have not seen in ages - after work, that is.
And I'm talking about people who are 6000+ miles across the oceans and seas.
In my emails, I also attached my latest picture I took with a girlfriend earlier this month.
I managed to retrieve the photo online, as promised by the photographer who took our picture.
We were spotted at a pub that I thought was going to be quiet for a week-day.
But when we arrived, we were surprised to see so many people there!
Then we found out there was a promotion for a beer.
Hence the crowd.

Coming back to the photo: we were asked by a scouting team if we would like our picture taken.
When I asked what it was for, the photographer said it was to promote their social-based website.
Seeing as it was a meaningful mini-celebration for my friend as she has recently quitted a stressful job, we decided it was fun to do that.
At least we are captured in time.

Dancing Monday

It was my last Salsa class today for the level that I registered for.
I discovered that it wasn't just panic time for me, but for many of my other dance coursemates too.
In the beginning, we were "all over the place", as we struggled to remember all the steps we have been taught in the past few weeks.
Anyway, we finished off our lesson by taking turns to dance with different partners.

One of the male students in our class did not turn up in the previous week's lesson.
So, he got very flustered as he struggled to watch our instructor's moves whilst he was doing his own!
Our instructor has always told us not to look at another person when you are dancing with a partner.
In one sense, it is rude, as it means your dance partner is boring.
And in another sense, it could also mean you are checking out someone else who is more interesting to look at!
Furthermore, it will also disrupt both dance partners' concentration while actually dancing.
All valid points I must say.

However, in the case of male student, it was simply because he wanted to learn and execute the moves, all at the same time.
When a female coursemate of mine (whom I'm now good friends with) got her turn to dance with him, I could hear hear repeatedly asking him to calm down and not be so stressed out!
It was rather amusing, as the more she said all those things, the more he freaked out.
When my turn came to dance with him, I just had to keep my cool and hoped that he could be less stressed.
It seemed to have worked. :o)

Anyhow, thanks to our patient instructor, our lesson ended well.
At least he got our feet going and we students managed to twirl our way to the end of the lesson.

I have enjoyed my lessons so much that I've already signed up for the next level.
We got a discount for continuing too!

Saturday-Sunday

Lovely chilling out days!
Well, more so on Saturday anyway.
I decided not to touch my notebook-PC much on Saturday.
In fact, I basically did not do much else.
I have not had such a luxury since I have come back to Singapore.
So it was a lovely time of doing absolutely nothing other than eat and sleep and pottering around at home.

Today (Sunday) was ok.
Had to pay my therapist a visit to get my regular RSI treatment.
My therapist ended up discovering that I have a crooked spine, as I told her some discomforts that I have been having in the past weeks.
She painfully re-aligned my spine, warning me about staying off exercise for 3 weeks afterwards.
Inwardly I groaned, as I have missed last week's Yoga session already.
Oh well.

An aunt just came back from a shopping spree in Hong Kong.
She got me a really expensive handbag!
Being a practical person, I have never seen the need to set foot inside a Salvatore Ferragamo boutique to browse, ever.
So this is a novelty item to have - and a luxury item at that.
Due to the expensive nature of the item, I offered to pay my aunt but she refused.
Later on, my mother told me my aunt had a windfall at the lottery.
No wonder she is so generous.
I am indeed lucky. :o)

Enjoyable Friday

It was an enjoyable day, no matter that it is Friday the 13th, as it involved me getting out and about to run work-based errands.

First it was to drop off a payment for an agent whose services we hired.
Then it was to meet an insurance agent whom my Organisation has contacted on my behalf, as my bosses have decided to get me both travel and health & surgical insurance.
So it was an afternoon away from my work-desk, which was a nice change.

I came back and delivered the usual weekly report.

All in all, it was a nice, easy day. :o)

Early finish

Today has been a quiet day at work.
Other than some admin things, I had no urgent things to do.
So I did some essential filing, and I am finally able to see the top of my desk!

I also managed to touch-base with some friends (via email, text-messaging, etc.), and I intend to do more of this in awhile.
I feel ashamed that I have not had the time to really reply to a number of friends' emails.
I had been so caught up with trying to settle back into my life on home soil that it had been difficult.
But I am getting there, although it is still at snail pace.
At least I am starting to clear the several weeks' worth of newspapers that have been piling up awaiting my reading.
I have stopped reading the same newspaper online like I used to when I was in the UK, but that is because they are asking for subscriptions for the online version now.
I knew all along that it was not going to be free for long.
If there is a money-making scheme, who would not want to get on to it???

Was I right or WAS I right...?

An interesting thing happened earlier today.
I paid a small fine for a letter that has no stamp on it.
It contained my payslip for last month.
Normally, I would have simply disregarded the whole incident.
But in this case, it was official mail for the accounts services my Organisation had outsourced for.
So being the good Samaritan that I am, I thought I should inform the accounting firm about it.
It was purely for their reference, so that the firm could ask whoever who posted out the letter to take note, as it would not look good on their part if other official letters the firm has posted out have the same problem.
In short, I had no intention of claiming the trivial amount whatsoever.

So, I copied the email to my boss.
My boss then replied, checking if I was trying to make a claim.
He even said that it I were, it would make us look "cheap".
I nearly fainted that he even entertained that thought in the first place!

Anyway, things were sorted out in the end.
According to the accounting firm, the batch of stamps seems to be the problem.
Apparently, the glue on the stamps is not sticky anymore.
Whatever the reason, I felt that I did my part of alerting them to that fact (whether it is true about the glue thing or not).

So was I right in doing that?

Happy Monday

It has been a good day.
Good because I had completed the bulk of my work in the first half of the day!
I guess now that I am more settled into the job, I am more familiar with what needs to be done.
So after an enjoyable PC-to-PC chat with my boss, I knocked off work and went for my Salsa class.

In the past couple of nights previously, I did not sleep a wink.
I had simply put it down to stress.
Attending my Salsa class wore me out.
There were lots of repeated spinning around, with us dance students doing all our turns.
Next week is the last lesson, and our instructor said we will have to combine everything that we have learnt into an entire routine.
I told a friend about it, and jokingly said it is panic-time for me.
The next thing I knew, I received an email attachment containing pages and pages of Salsa "notes" for my reference from the same friend!
How sweet is that???

Mother's Day

I was supposed to have headed out with a friend today.
I also intended to present my Godma with a Mother's Day gift.
Unfortunately, it has been raining cats and dogs for most of the day.
Not to mention lightning that went with it.
So my friend and I decided to postpone our outing, and rest at home instead.

I received a work-email from my boss, but I decided not to reply till tomorrow.
After all, it is a Sunday and it is my rest-day!

On the whole, it has been a total chill-out day.
HEAVEN!

Eventful week

A friend of mine complained that my blogs are too work-based.
So I shall concentrate on the past week's social activities.
Brace yourselves, people!

We shall start with last Sat.
I ended up missing my girlfriend, and the dinner and Jazz night went up in smoke.
She left just as I arrived, despite the fact that I texted her on the mobile to say I was late - two hours before.
Unfortunately, she did not get my messages or calls, as her PDA phone automatically switched over to the PDA function and shut down her phone due to low battery level.
I went to see my Godma instead, and kept her company till her fashion store closed for the night.
It was an unpredictable night, but I enjoyed that unexpected event.

I cannot remember how I spent Sunday.
It probably means it was uneventful, so I shall skip that.

Monday was a public holiday in lieu for Labour's Day which fell on Sunday.
So I accompanied mom shopping and went to look up my cousin who has come all the way from Malaysia (mom's side of the family) to work.
This cousin of mine I have not seen since she was 10 or so (and now she is in her early 20s.
For once, I had dinner out with mom.
It was nice, as we happily ate and chatted about things which we would not have done if we were at home.

Tuesday was a mad day.
I had a friend who came to seek my dad's advice about some herb stuff.
So being the go-between for them, I had to race up and down the stairs in-between working to make sure things were ok.
It was a little disruptive to say the least.
But I still found time to head out for dinner.
Nice food, nice restaurant and nice company too!

Wednesday was Yoga, then a Japanese sashimi dinner - yum!
It was at a place which is about 15 minutes' car ride from where I live.
My friend and I exchanged news about people we know.
In particular, we found out so much about one mutual friend of ours that was rather interesting!
Frightening to think that a friend you trust can say one thing and do another.
One more lesson learnt.

Thursday was dinner and drinks with the dear friend who is going backpacking in Europe.
I haven't seen her since I came back to Singapore permanently, so am amazed she looked so refreshed for a change!
So far, friends who have left their teaching jobs have looked refreshed afterwards.
Must be the seemingly neverending work that has made one look haggard.

Friday was another round of dinner and drinks.
Dinner was at a newly opened Shanghainese eatery; the Mainland Chinese chefs were seen beavering away behind the glass windows where the kitchen was.
The food was delicious, and my friend and I even got a free dessert!
Then it was off to a familiar wine-bar that I like.
For a Friday night, it was nice and quiet - just the way I like it.
It was my friend's first visit, so she liked it very much.
We shared a yummy bottle of red wine between us, and chatted till early hours of the morning.
It was good though, as this is a new friend whom I've made from my Salsa class.
We ended up being asked for our particulars for future wine-tasting events to be held at the wine-bar.
That will be nice.

Today (Sat) was massage day at the Spa.
I booked myself in for a session a week ago.
It was a good session, and I am hoping to sleep like a baby tonight.
Come to think of it, I am quite tired.

I shall take my leave...