adieu

I think it's about time I move away from Blogger for a bit. I have been maintaining a Wordpress blog for some time now and have exported most of my posts there already. I can't seem to find a decent, clean looking Blogger theme with everything I need. But have found those in Wordpress. So from now onwards, I will be doing my main updating from my Wordpress blog. If interested, just ask me for the address. If there's anything important that deserves attention, I will continue to post them on both blogs. But for now, it's sayonara to Blogger and hello Wordpress! Hopefully this signals a new beginning.

fever

Haven't had a fever in ages. And well, I sort of finally succumbed to illness yesterday. I already felt funny the night before when my throat felt really dry out of a sudden but I scoffed it off as one of my usual allergies and went to work as usual. Then came afternoon, went out lunch with colleagues and felt unusually cold. Went back to office, measured temperature. At first it was 37.5 degrees. So I thought borderline, still can work. Then measured again. 37.8 degrees. I was freezing. Then had to ask my colleague for Panadol. Had to finish work before going home. Rushed and my brain froze for quite a bit of the time. Then finished work, left work at around 6 and saw the doctor later. Fever came back again. So I got 2 days MC but most definitely I will be going back to work tmr, because I know there will be tons of work waiting for me. Last time, during university, the thing I hated most was getting sick. But, now having started work, being sick is a good breather. :) How things change in a year.

looking back at 2009

It's already the third day of 2010. And I'm already dreading what's gg to happen tmr. Sigh. But away with the negativity! I could complain and complain about what was not good about 2009 but I've decided to reflect on what has been good in 2009. Life shouldn't be about regrets and sadness and angst. So here we go, my recap of 2009.

1. My last semester of my undergraduate life.

Well, it can be considered as something sad but well, I consider it as completion. A time when I got the chance to embark on my own honours thesis and actually claim it as my academic legacy (somewhere in the Central Library and the Map Resource Room). It wasn't the easiest of semesters. Interviewees were initially hard to get, some weren't very nice and also a lot of inertia on my part. Having to rewrite whole chapters and tight deadlines. But what was most important is the friends and honours classmates who were ever so willing to help out, whether it was fieldwork or recommending interviewees. If it weren't for you guys, I would have been able to complete the thesis. Seriously. And of course, the end result was more than satisfactory. At least in my heart, I knew I was capable of something. And it was a bittersweet end to perhaps the happiest time in my life so far.

2. Grad Trip

After the exams had ended, I embarked on a dream trip to Europe. Visiting most of the places I had only dreamed of going. The Acropolis, the Coliseum, listening to the Vienna Philharmonic. And 1 month is really not enough for me. I had a great time in the continent of culture and I really do hope that I get to go back soon enough.

3. My First Job

Ironic as it seems, getting that first job has be one of the milestones of 2009. I thought it would be really difficult to get my first job. The interview process was more daunting than I thought and I was almost certain that I wouldn't be able to secure a job. But thankfully, everything worked out in the end. But the road forward is uncertain. I'm still trying to learn but to what extent will I continue to pull through, I really don't know. Perhaps 2010 will be a better year.

4. Family

2009 was a hard year for my family. My aunt had a relapse of cancer early 2009 and many of my family members, especially my mother, took it really hard. We were all psychologically prepared for the worst and we went all out during CNY to celebrate with her as much as possible. Thankfully, our prayers have been answered and my aunt is on the road to recovery. Perhaps this is one of the greatest blessings of the year. The avoidance of tragedy.

So that's 2009 for me. May 2010 bring more opportunities for me to discover myself and ultimately find happiness in my life.

late xmas greetings

Here's wishing everybody a belated Merry Christmas. Somehow, I never really got into the Christmas mood at all this year. Even though the office was considerably quieter for a period of time, I never really got the chance to clear my leave to relax a bit. Just when I wanted to clear leave, work just comes down pouring. Partly my fault as well. So I anticipate a rather sian New Year's weekend trying to finish a submission, and hence the lack of Christmas spirit on my part. My family didn't even put up our usual Christmas tree this year. Part laziness, part 'sian-ness' I think. Which is quite sad. But at least I got to celebrate Xmas with family and friends. What has my life become? And this blog is becoming even more barren than usual. I don't want to see this blog go away, since it has been part of my life for so long already. It will be sad for it to go. So I will persevere and hopefully pen down a New Year's post in the next few days.

japanese lessons

For those who don't know, I've started taking Japanese lessons and I've learnt quite a bit. Well, not competent enough to write something in Japanese just as yet, but was quite surprised when Takeyama-sensei said that my Japanese pronunciation was good. :) Hope to learn more in the coming weeks and there's gg to be a written and oral test at the end of it! Dunno whether I will even have time to study for that.

Yesterday, I thought I could happily go off early to the FASS 80th anniversary dinner, but well work always falls from the sky, and I will definitely be going back tmr to finish it. Haix. Met somebody at the dinner who said he will be tendering his resignation next week, because well he didn't like doing the job. For a moment, I was thinking about my own future. But, a little part of me is afraid of it. That I might never find something that I will want to do and be happy doing. Me ranting about the sad realities of life again. I will just end this post with a nice new anime song.

pmb presentation

Presented my honours thesis at the National Library on Thursday. It was nice to be able to leave the office so early and see so many familiar people at the event. The only thing was that I had to rush all the way from Buona Vista to Bugis during rush hour traffic, whilst eating fries and nuggets in an attempt to have some food in my stomach. It didn't help that I had an early lunch because of the inter division Scrabble competition which I was asked to participate. I didn't win a single game lor! Too rusty and I didn't memorise weird 2 letter words unlike the other contestants. But really the other contestants were super qiang. Anyway, the PMB presentation went pretty smoothly. I was pushed to become the 2nd presenter when the person who was supposed to present was late. I wrote this whole ton of notes and in the end I didn't read from them. So that little practice before the presentation did help. It was nice meeting with old friends, interviewees, professors. Had a little supper with the current hons ppl who came. Just like to extend my thanks again to all who came down to attend the forum, despite your busy schedules. I hope you had fun and well when I have photos, I will post them here. :)