I have never been so distracted at work. Before lunch, prep was ongoing for the UMC AGM back in NTU, then it started during lunch and so I pretty much spent the whole workday glued to my phone. It's strange... This afternoon, far away, I was officially retired as QM.
To my successor, I wish a whole lot of luck as well as an apology for not being there [technology helps though!]. To the 24th comm, allez, a challenging and meaningful year awaits!
To the 23rd comm:
Another year, another AGM, but it feels just a short while ago that we were there in AR3 giving our speeches.
We've been through a lot since then. No shortage of frustration and disappointments, but also triumphs and lots of laughter to remedy the hard times. I realize I hardly knew difficulty working with you guys. There's something special about the trust and camaraderie among us. It's allowed us to pull together all our different opinions and even through disagreement, somehow arrive at a common direction towards what we felt best for UMC.
BM is just around the corner, the last event to see through. Although I can't physically be there as logs director, I'm always supporting in spirit :) The end's come fast eh? And I've only just turned old enough for all dem comm jokes hahaha.
I think that's enough sentiment from me. It's been a blast, and I thank each and every one of you for that :)
I know I haven't posted since National Day. The reason is a mix of post-work activities and sheer laziness (for which I apologise oops).
Lets see...
(10th - 12th Aug, Sun - Tues) Spent the nights chionging Symmetry (on Coursera) and the MCQs/assignment so that I won't have to worry about it when I don't have the time to.
(13th - 14th Aug, Wed - Thurs) Full day of project reviews at a RR partner research centre. Set off from office at ~7.45am, reached back at 6pm on both days and promptly collapsed on my bed. Missed a badminton session on Wed because of this.
(15th Aug, Fri) PIZZA PARTY at J's sup's house. He has a pizza oven in his garden (built it himself). We went over early to help prep the pizza ingredients and butter the garlic bread, which turned out not garlicky at all. Impromptu rapper dance in his living room with the other attendees. Left super full and happy.
(16th Aug, Sat) Skyped AMK gang (i.e. my extended family on daddy's side). Got teased with all the nice food they were having. [I'm normally a tiny eater, but I've always had a v good appetite every Sat night back in AMK] Started chionging my soon-to-be overdue library book.
(17th Aug, Sun) Skyped home. Listened to my sis complain about mugging for exams. lol. Was supposed to blog, but apparently it was lazy day coz I rmb not even wanting to vacuum.
(18th Aug, Mon) Was really supposed to blog, but didn't - no feel. Continued reading.
(19th Aug, Tues) Badminton with RR colleagues (a bunch we're closer to). 1 hour's worth of doubles = no sweat, but my right wrist was complaining today. I hope it's not a danger sign.
(20th Aug, This Evening) Vacuumed, which I can do pretty fast when I need to haha. Packed and prepped for BELGIUM! Surreally enough, we're going tmr. Finally after waiting for weeks and weeks. We'll be breaking out of our isolated shell and actually meeting friends we used to see everyday, plus I'll be turning 21 on sat. I know it'll be a great trip - what more could I ask for? Currently reading (still) as I await the Skype session with the friends heading to the US in literally a few hours.
Come tmr, most of REP second batch will be on the move across the world.
Ytd in the office, I saw this link on FB titled "Dear Singapore, I Owe You an Apology"and read the article over lunch. It's a sweet and realistic (though definitely not exhaustive) take on life in SG, written by an expat who's about to leave, and took the time to reflect and remember.
In her account there are some obvious bits that show how expat life differs from the normal Singaporean's (whuttt is a Brazilian blow-out??), but she also speaks of things that we can immediately identify with. Hot? Kiasu? Multicultural? Singlish? Yep, definitely SG. Right now I'm a Singaporean away from home and trust me, I'm super proud of all those things above that we take for granted (and sometimes complain about) back home. It's our culture and life, and like I said before, it always feels damn good when I get to share about it to those who don't know but bother to ask. There's no other word for it, the feeling is pride, coz this is who we are.
[I dunno why, but it's delightful to compare our 5-hour long true thunderstorms to the max-strength 5-10 min showers here (which are their thunderstorms pffft lol). With ppl going "really?? :o" and stuff like that.]
So there's a nice warm feeling that comes from reading about how an ang moh warmed up to our sunny island - intensified now that I'm overseas. The feels~ Just in time for National Day too! I spent last night replaying the old national day songs we grew up with. The songs we sung in sch through the years are still awesome, and I still listen to them year after year.
Sounds like I'm getting homesick, but I still dun think I am actually. On top of the fun we've been having, I simply like to keep doing the things I've always liked doing. Case in point, if I were home at this point in time I'd be following 2 shows on local tv: Makan Places Lost & Found 5 (why am I doing this to myself) and 祖先保佑 (the current 9pm channel 8 drama - it's funny and meaningful!). The tv in pasir ris is something like 13 hours away, so catchup tv it is, and it's great that xinmsn is accessible here! In terms of communication, I still keep active on Whatsapp, most of my groups are still there and I have unlimited data anyway. Can't get enough of the usual kinky jokes from certain groups, and all the updates from life rolling on back home. Not forgetting the weekend Skypes, and laughing with my sis late into her night, just like normal. :)
Technology does wonders in breaking down boundaries, but at times, the distance couldn't be clearer. My friends have been going for Hari Raya visitations. Ytd, Singaporean kids would have dressed in red and left sch early. Here - all quiet and weird. Sure, the British culture really rubs off and brings frequent amusement. Every weekend we travel out into beautiful places - rolling landscapes and quaint British towns that SG will never have. But despite the wow-factors, I still view this land through the eyes of a visitor. There hasn't been any time where I squealed and said I'd love to live here (not yet). Maybe I haven't lived here long enough (a year is prob not enough anyway) for it to grow on me.
The point is that there is a significant bit of me in SG, or a bit of SG in me. Settling in doesn't mean forgetting, and adapting doesn't mean letting go. I know and have heard of many ppl who can't wait to emigrate, and they have their good reasons. Maybe one day I'll have to live in another country for a long time, I dunno, but as of now, I dun seem to myself like a person who won't want to return home.
Waiting for xinmsn to upload the NDP telecast, since we went out today and couldn't watch any live feed. Back to listening to the old songs for now. One United People is my most favourite national day song out of a list of favourites. Guess it's one of the underrated ones, but even though the lyrics are simple, they speak volumes.
"This is my homeland, it's where my strength is from."
Happy 49th National Day, Singapore! I'll be home in time for your Golden Jubilee :)
I don't intend to document all our dinners, but last week's dinners were pretty special, thanks to all the premix packets we've accumulated. Maybe not the healthiest way to go, but hey, I'm not gonna complain about the availability of bak kut teh :D
Mon, 28th July
Dumpling/Meatball soup and Purple Cabbage soup
Preparations took something like 2 hours and so we ate dinner at 8pm. We had too much meat for dumpling skins so we just made the excess into balls. I insisted on boiling the dumplings (coz we've been having everything fried) and the purple cabbage (coz I wanted to see hahaha), hence the double soup meal. The results was slurpzzz, and paired with sliced ginger and vinegar = best Monday so far.
Btw, 姜真的是老的辣.
For all those who (like I was) are curious to see what purple cabbage looks like boiled into soup, here you go - ghostly shreds floating in water used to wash our paintbrushes back in pri sch art class! xD In taste and cost, no difference from white cabbage, but purple cabbage packs a lot more nutrients. Since we eat cabbage so much, purple should be the way to go. Never mind the queer look ;)
Tues, 29th July
Curry chicken with potatoes
One packet of curry paste put to good use. Self-explanatory ^^
Err, greens not worth mentioning, refer to the lunch diaries.
Wed, 30th July
Bak Kut Teh
No pic- I think I was so hungry and eager to eat that I forgot. Just ribs and a packet of taste boiled tgt. Eaten with black sauce and garlic chilli sauce (in place of the elusive cut chilli). I can't rmb why we didn't invest in some, maybe the price for a few chilli padi was exorbitant.
Thurs, 31st July
Lunch with pasta instead
This is actually what usually happens. Some meat and veg come in portions too large for one meal, so we have them for 2 instead. This week happens to be a bit special, with dinner so hapz that we only once had to eat the same thing twice.
On a side note, 2 servings for 3 ppl means 6 servings. I know ppl who've had to recycle their meals for days because they cooked for themselves alone overseas. We have 3 ppl here and none of us have dietary restrictions - very good for variety so no complaints here.
Fri, 1st August
Fried Rice
FRIED
RICE!!! I'm not a big rice eater, and fried rice is not the first dish
I'd pick from the zi char stall (I usually go for hor fun). So I'm not sure why I was so happy
about the end product. It could be coz the cooking was fun - awesome to
see 5 bowls of stuff (crabstick, cabbage, onion, eggs, rice) and
another well-used packet of premix (laksa flavour) coming together in
the pot. It could also be that it tasted great. It could also be that we had sambal and belacan to mix into the rice (courtesy of D's cousins and UMC <3)
On this day we made our way down south to the little town of Stratford-upon-Avon, famous for being the birthplace of Shakespeare. I nvr really was a lit person, but there were other reasons that made it worth visiting the quaint little place.
The agenda had been to attend a free play by a local youth performance group and have a picnic under the wonderful weather. We did that, and then wondered around the town some more to use up the parking time we paid for.
It's a small place with the river Avon running right through it, and so,
since Sunday had every characteristic of a nice day (dry and sunny), it
was pretty crowded when we were there. There were people
sitting/sunbathing/picnicking on practically any patch of grass on the
river banks. And I can't blame them, coz the scene was perfect for it. There were even boats for rent for anyone wanting to paddle across the river - not cheap though.
It's kinda like having a personal river coz the town is so small.
Um, ignoring the most obvious part of the photo, this is where we sat to watch the play. The colourful characters in the middle are some of the actors from a local youth group staging Shakespeare's The Tempest. They used his English so I understood all of 10% of the performance, but I was rooted there nonetheless - convincing and funny acting from them.
We actually spent a large part of the trip sitting on grass like everyone else. First for the play then for lunch. But, unlike everyone else, we sat in the shade. Notice the mat, yes, the calendar hahaha. Very cute hor? It's a Singapore Day thing we inherited from a senior, along with a reusable grocery bag that looks like a giant bag of kopi.
The following are a few shots from around the town. It is truly a quaint and pretty place, just crowded during the season for visitors.
Overall, nice suburban views, including all things Shakespeare.
I was wondering what ppl would like to read/see here. Irrelevant = Boring. Considering that I'm v prone to skimming through long travel posts, I think the same thing applies when ppl read my blog. Especially since I seem to have lost my ability to be concise hahaha. And then I realised, my life here is not all about travel (I'm not a tourist) or work (I'm not an employee) or study (school hasn't even started). I actually live here for now, so why not talk about everyday occurrences?
So let's talk about food ;) 7 weeks have flown by and away, but this week I decided to start documenting our daily lunch packages. Our usual: 1-meat-1-veg with rice (sometimes pasta). I think by the end of this post, you'll realise how precious food from the 家乡 is xD
Mon, 28th July
I must apologise for the badly taken photo coz the idea only came to me on this day at lunchtime in the office. This is my usual container, the other photos taken are of D's. Yes, I have a small stomach and eat a minuscule amount of rice. All prices represent 1 serving.
Veg: Greens [yes, its just called that] - £0.33 Stir-fried. Meat - 8/3 Pork sausages - £0.47 Pan-fried. Total: £0.80 ~ S$1.68
Thurs, 31st July
Veg: 1/6 Sweetheart [yes really] cabbage - £0.115 Stir-fried. Meat: Pork mince - £0.67 Pan-fried with piri-piri sauce and tomato-chilli puree among other things. Total: £0.785 ~ S$1.65
Fri, 1st August
Veg: 1/12 Cabbage - £0.074 Stir-fried. Meat: Diced turkey thigh - £1.17 Pan-fried with 2 eggs (£1.35 for 15) and (not evident from the photo) cereal prawn mix.
Total: £1.424 ~ S$2.99
Total lunch cost for one person this week: S$11.87. Wow.
Now that I think about it...
it's really not too bad. I'm the smallest eater out of us so this is sufficient-ish. Mathematically obviously 1-1 will always lack the variety of 2-1 so yea, appreciate the cai fan my friends ;)
we've been really lazy with our veg. When I simply say stir-fried it means stir-fried with salt, which on hindsight we seem to have done for this whole week. No wonder we seem to be eating the same thing day in day out.
I'm not sure why the meat is in the middle for today's package. (I do the packing for us every morning, we generally have our "specialties")
we can afford to treat ourselves better/more? But I shall reserve judgement till we've examined dinner ;)
It was highly amusing doing this post, convenient to have receipts handy as well haha. So this is what we're eating and have been eating every workday, and it's fine for me. And I had fun, so I think the last 35 lunches in RR will appear here in their time ^^
