Today I feel...

As I was reading GSR2, the author mentioned sth abt Hoffman Process. It is an 8-day intensive program to reduce negative emotions and increase positive affect. Mainly used for healing and helping people to recover from depression.

In one of the processes, participants are supposed to report how thy feel every morning. And they have to be specific and not just say 'fine' or 'ok'.

Let's take some time each day to know ourselves better by 1st exploring how we truly feel!

Today I feel relaxed and at peace (because I knocked off on time, reached home early, and is in bed by 10pm with my mask, book and listening to bossa :D )

How are u feeling today?




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Reach for God

When u tried to reach for support and find urself falling face down, reach further. Reach for God's support and not man's. For man is weak and God is strong.


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Granny pops...

I looked at grandma up close today when she's slping... She looks... Old...

I hope she'll continue to be strong and healthy...


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What a successful woman should be

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NIV)

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
[11] Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
[12] She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
[13] She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
[14] She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
[15] She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
[16] She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
[17] She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
[18] She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
[19] In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
[20] She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
[21] When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
[22] She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
[23] Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
[24] She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
[25] She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
[26] She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
[27] She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
[28] Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
[29] "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
[30] Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
[31] Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.


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Driving w/o Poppy

My first time driving w/o poppy, and I drove mummy home from work...
So exciting!!
A little groggy from the meds but we made it home nonetheless :)
Still bad w the directions but there's mum and GPS so I din get us lost :P
Now it makes me wanna have my own car so I can drive mum out to shop over the weekends :)))





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Twice in 6 mths

The best things that can happen to a sick person:
- loving poppy
- unconditionally caring parents and granny
- super understanding and supportive colleague
- awesome weather for a good long slp
- home-cooked meals

And the only thing that sucked:
- lousy doctor.

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Blazers and jackets

Went shopping for clothes to wear for Fionn's wedding.
Pops started trying the Zara jackets (his fav past time) and I have to say I really like him in blazers :P










Ok the photos were horribly taken coz I was trying to make it not so obvious to the salesman... I think he looks cute in blazers ;) too bad we're in Sg...

I'm not posting it on FB coz he wants me to QC the photos first... And none of them actually looks nice enough :P Anw I'm quite impressed w ourselves coz we managed to buy what we need in TWO hrs flat.

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Make it last

The guy at the studio asked if we wanna have our couple grad photo on canvas instead of photo...

"Are u 2 married?"
"Nope"
"But if u put the photo on canvas it's going to last for a long long time."

And poppy said, " let's put it on canvas then."

:)




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HTHT

Poppy told me s'thing on Fri night that reminded me of how blessed I am.

I started crying so hard that I felt so silly.

Only half-way through did I realise that they were tears of joy :)

It's especially heart-warming when words are not the most common avenue for him to express his feelings.

S.

Seriously, enough shit today. Thought the night will be better, surprised it can get any shittier.

There's really just so much shit one can take.

No matter how good the intention, a max pt is a max pt. Period. No buts, no what ifs, no because.

I need a shower and blanket over my head.

P.S. I hate the S word, but nth expresses how I feel better den it. Shitty.


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Sunday

Came home aft service to find mummy spring cleaning...
Motivated me to clean up my room as well :)

Have been wanting to pack up my facial and make-up prdts for a long long time...

Spent 2 over hrs on it and it went from this:




To this:











And aft a day of hard work, we went to Sizzler for a good family meal tgt :)))













Enjoyed the lovely time with the 2 greatest people in my life... Family are the only ppl on Earth who loves u unconditionally. No one will ever come close to how important they are.

New week in a few hrs' time... I thank God for guiding me through the day and for granting me renewed strength and faith. I pray that I will continue to stay close to Him and remain faithful in Him. Amen.

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Ask and you shall be given.

Pops reminded me sth today.

While God promises to give and provide, we have to play our parts too.

We have to keep what we want in prayers, we have to keep ourselves on the path that God wants us to trod, we have to keep our faith that God will respond to our prayers in time.

Like the joke that Liz told in Eat Pray Love, a man kept praying to a Saint that one day he will strike the lottery, and the exasperated Saint had to tell him, "PLS go buy a ticket!"

How very often do we find ourselves in such ironic situation? We know how badly we want sth, how desperately we hope to have it. But the things we do and the effort we put in turns out to be just some feeble attempts.

Or maybe we did try with all out heart, but it wasn't the right way we shld have done it.

It's time for reflection. And renewed prayers.

The right answer

The right one... Is someone whom God has planned for you. The right person to appear in your life at the right time.

Not a minute earlier, not a second later.

And you will know. For there will not be someone better for you.


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The Right One.

Many ppl asked the qn: how do u know if he/ she is THE ONE for you?

I think THE ONE is more than just being the right person... It's abt meeting the right person at the right time. I always thot this ans sets all records straight.

But what is the right time?

When u are single?
When the other party is single?
When u are of 'marriageable' age?

What if u're of marriageable age and u met s'one whom u think is the right person, but u're not attached to each other?

Will u wait?
Will u take the risk?
Will it ever be a regret?
Will u still think that THE ONE in ur life right now is still THE ONE?


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Dear Mrs Lee...

To the lady who played the different roles of her life so well, so quietly and tirelessly - my utmost respect.

To the couple who stood by each other till the end of their journey tgt, so sweet and loving - my deepest admiration.

To the family who had such great fortune to have this lady, so full of grace, intelligence and dedication - my sincere condolences.

And we mourn the loss of yet another important figure in our nation's history.

Flash Floods Alert

I woke up in the middle of a storm this morning.
To say I woke up from it is such an understatement. I was jolted awake by it.

All my windows slammed in such great synchrony it's difficult to ignore even at 4.30am, when I'm supposed to be deep in slp. One can only imagine what a fierce gust of wind it had been.

I sat up in bed and tried to peer out the window. It was misted up by the rain that had splattered intently on it. Or was the rain so heavy that the block of flats opposite suddenly appeared so faint and distant?

And yet the lightning was so frequent and sharp, it had the ability to light up the entire sky, creating such a sharp contrast to the rain's effort of forming a mysterious veil.

It's the kind of lightning that has the ability to make even the bravest little girl cry. I hope the timid ones sleep right thru it.

I'm glad that my loved ones are all safely at home with me. I would be how worried if any if them are caught in the storm now... I hope it's peaceful and calm in Bintan, with no storm in sight.

And now I'll gladly return to my dreams. But it wasn't a very sweet one to start with...

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Flashbacks

Pops away at Bintan for company's Sports Cell retreat so I have a full day of rest and me-time today :)))

Slept a whole lot and completed some home projects.

I've been wanting to flip thru all my old mags (from 2009) and rip out all the nice, informative and useful articles for my "inspirational folders".

Finally did it today :)

Spent some time doing a project for work and went blog-hopping after I lost concentration on the work.

Ended up at my old blog.

The past couple of years in uni had been so amazing, I didn't realise till I look back...

I studied a course I'm interested in, I danced and performed for various events and competitions, I wrote tons of reports, did crazy things for presentations, partied and have fun, taught tuition, learnt driving, went for mission trip, had an insightful internship, travelled the world (well, couple of places), met so many awesome ppl, made new friends and started on a lovely relationship :)

While reading my blog posts, I realised I blog alot more when I'm studying for exams. I won't say I miss studying (esp when it comes to studying for EXAMS), but I definitely miss the experiences I had.

I know I did not try everything, grab every opportunity or went all out in what I did. There were regrets and disappointments along the way, but looking back, a college life like this, I really shouldn't complain :)

Tons more photo memories, but I really need to slp.

**And I realise we used to eat BETTER when haven started working... Now we live on the limits of our punnyyy salary -_-

A 3.5 Days Work Week

The thing abt me and being sick, is that I seldom fall sick, but when I do, I take extremely long to recover :(

Doc gave me 2 days MC because I was running a temp when I visited him yesterday.

Gng back to work when u're apparently not well is really not a good idea. While I managed to seat thru the interview, I felt like I'm highly infectious and I'll be extremely guilty if anyone in office fell sick these few days...

So I went home aft the interview.

Thanks to my awesome dad who sent me to work and back w/o a single complaint. And to mummy for cooking chicken macaroni in soup, what better than nice warm home-cooked lunch for a sick sick person :) And to granny for being sooooo swt, keep checking to see if I'm running a fever...

I ate and slept. Thank God for the brilliant weather. It was raining like mad and I got to hide in my blanks aft a warm soupy lunch, how nice :) Wld be nicer if I wasn't sick, of coz.

Told pops that I'll be working OT tmr to clear all the stuff that have piled up over these 2 days. He said he'll be staying back as well and he'll bring me for nice dinner aft wards :) Very swt... but I figured it'll be such a waste coz I can't taste nor smell anything now :(

Still, I look forward to a night out with him, if I'm better tmr... Haven't spent time with him this wk, except for dinner on tues....

Saw the news that Eiffel Tower has been threatened with bomb attacks couple of times. Those evil ppl better not do anything to Effie :(((

** Yearns for a nice traditional English tea :) **

Shower power

I love showers (although I s'times find them cumbersome when I'm in my super lazy mode).

But it always makes me feel so relaxed aft a nice warm shower, especially aft a long day at work.






Another career fair tmr, I better slp!

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Chasing Numbers

I hate numbers.

My maths was horrid, my stats mods were blah.

But as much as I hate them, I've been spending my whole life chasing aft them.

The 1st position in class.

The #1s in competitions.

The band 1s.

The PSLE aggregate.

The A1s.

The L1R5.

The CAP score.

The no. on the weighing scale.

The no. on my paycheck.

The no. of ppl I recruit.

The no. of places I've been to.

The no. on my clock.

Can we ever be free from this number chasing game called "life"?

What numbers have u been chasing?

Busy Day!

Our organisation celebrated it's 18th Bday today and oh yeah it was a big deal!

The celebration started yesterday, but today is where all the exciting things happen :)

In the morning, there were performances by our senior management. They acted, danced, sang and even performed magic tricks. They were SHO CUTE!!

I can imagine the time and effort they put into all the performance and the SACRIFICE! We had ACs acting as fallen trees, DCs acting as magician and school boy, even the commissioner wasn't spared! I wish I was at the auditorium to take photos :P

But it was still nice to watch the 'LIVE' telecast thru the VCL with my colleagues :)

Then there was divisional gathering and award presentation which I had to plan with another colleague and emcee.

The logistics were -_- but the event was quite fun lah... Interesting experience and a good exposure I must say...

Anw, realised I haven't been posting photos for a LONG time, so here are some piccys!

Opening of L&I:

We had to submit home innovations for the innovate@home contest, guess what I submitted?

:D

Divisional Celebration

With CSD:

With HRB:

SUPER tired when I left work today.

Went town to collect pop's trousers and have dinner.

Initial intention was to save money so we went foodcourt to eat.

And we did!

But I end up with 2 shopping bags in my hand when we left for home -_-

1) Bossa + Samba compilation :))))))))) Now I can LOAD my iPod with Bossa tunes! Come to think of it... It's probably the 1st CD I bought since..... 8 years ago.

2) Leather black heels from Zara. Now I can retire my one and only pair of black heels that's comfy and not sky high.

With pretty in-soles too! :)

Off to rip my CDs. :D

Breezy Breezy Night

Emo momo mood today.

Wanted to go jogging, but figured it's too late when I came to the decision.

So I walked home from the stn. Slowly.

Breeze in the face, music in the ears.

The path I used to frequent with my dancing shoes, I now walk with my heels-clad soles.

Those baggy clothes, gave way to the tapered blouse and hip-hugging skirt.

A little earlier than I used to return home aft practices.

A little more lights along the streets.

That aside, same me enjoying the same therapeutic effects of the breeze, the music and the walk in silence.

If you think this post is gng s'whr, well, not really.

I'm just in a reminiscing mood today.

Thinking abt things.

Alot of things.

Random.

Have to remind myself not to get too caught up with life.

Curiosity kills the cat

What's worse than being curious and not having the courage to find out?
Maybe I should stop being so curious abt certain things.

But honestly, I have no idea what to expect - something or nothing.

This is one of those things I'm itching to know, but I can jolly well live in ignorance as well.

Maybe it's my hyper-sensitivity that's picking up signs that probably do not points to anything.

I think.
I should stop thinking.



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Perspective from the Pinnacle.

Spent half the day at Hyatt for a HR Pinnacle.

**I think Boss' presentation was great, although it was 67 slides long**

Coming from a non-HR background, the talks and panel discussions were quite informative for me.

Albeit the short amount of time, I felt that I learnt quite a bit, especially of the different HR practices in various industries and organisations.

Everyone has constraints in terms of the the program and policies implementations.

The large MNCs have their problems with connecting their staff across the globe and ensuring that whatever benchmarks they have for staff in 1 country is equivalent to those in another.

The public sectors may have more rules and regulations to follow (or red tapes, so to speak), which is inevitable because these regulations allow them to function more systematically.

The SMEs may be less financially loaded to provide as comprehensive a benefits system as the bigger co. and may face problem in talent retention.

There are best practices out there that we can learn, but no one has the perfect HR practice.

I believe the staff will always want more and the organisation will always be finding ways to cut costs.

And no co. can adopt another's HR system wholesale because numerous factors (like staff strength, culture, composition, nature, resources, etc) will come into play.

Made some contacts during the pinnacle as well. Quite interesting because several of them are actually fresh grads like us, and we were sharing with each other abt our work culture and our respective HR practices. You know how networking used to be like a thing for the "adults"? Now I really feel like one :X

As suggested by Julie, we also bought Royce for boss to cheer him up :) and me, Gill and Tholmas went for an early chill session at Toms after that :P

BUSY day at work tmr, looking at the number of things I left unchecked on my To-Do list today :( Gng for a talk tmr morng, lunch club aft dat and interview in the aftnn. ARGH~!

Oh well, at least it's TGIF!!! :P

Jesus loves me

"Jesus loves me, this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
We are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so."

No matter how difficult ur situation is, this truth will never change.

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Coffee for a Rainy Day

I miss those days in London :(

Those coffee-in-hand-at-pret-a-manger-people-watching-lazy-rainy-weekday-afternoons in London.

I wanna go back to the UK for honeymoon or sth. No need for exotic Maldives or fancy Hawaii.

I just wanna go walk the gloomy streets, sit at cozy cafes, sip on freshly brewed coffee, stay in medieval castles and SHOP AT PRIMARKs ALL OVER UK!!

How simple a lady's wish :)

Anw I'm on diet now.

Not to keep my weight down, but to keep my expenditure down. I started by gng to the foodcourt with Gillian today -_-

Keep me motivated and scold me if I itchy hand wanna go shopping k??

On another totally random note, I MISS DANCING LIKE MAD.

TRUST.

T - Talk

R - Read

U - Use

S - Self-reflect

T - Thanks

Whenever we think we can't, trust the Lord, because He can :)

____________________________________________________________

Went for my 1st jog today (since.... that time we jogged tgt in sch during study week)

The most enjoyable part has to be the feeling of temporary disconnection from the world, where I can only hear my breathing, my bossa nova over the earph and my thoughts.

Haven't had time with myself for a very long time (time spent alone surfing FB or watching online vids just dun count).

Bought simple dinner back and is enjoying being home alone for the moment :)

Being alone doesn't necessarily has to be lonely. I think alot of times, we like to surround ourselves with ppl, work, activities and distraction because we are afraid of being lonely, afraid of listening to silence, afraid of experiencing the emptiness we always thot was there in our heart.

I enjoy company from ppl close to my heart, but I also enjoy being alone once in a while. I guess that's y I like taking the bus for a long journey, where I can be there in my own little seat, listening only to what I choose to hear, looking only at what I choose to see.

Was telling Pops we sld try to go on a little poppy-detox one of these weeks, where we'll spend evenings of 1 week away from each other, just to see what it feels like to miss each other over the evenings and cant wait to see each other in the morning :) And to get some decent rest by going home early every day.

Might be a little tough to actualize, considering how much we enjoy each others' co. (esp over dinner) and how convenient it is to meet up..... we'll try :P

A new week is starting. May God grant me all that I need to give my best in what I do and to always TRUST Him :)

Fly me to the moon

Was listening to Fly Me To The Moon while walking home under the stars. How apt and how enjoyable :)

Went Prologue and Borders w pops and bought 2 new books. Already started reading one called Shoo, Jimmy Choo! A very comprehensive and useful read - financial education in the most chic-lit manner. Hope I complete the book and practice what was written religiously :P

Crazy week just past, end Aug will get even crazier.

But I'm still pretty determined to keep my work-life balance so that I can enjoy work as much as possible.

**abrupt stop due to closing eyelids**

Goodnight and enjoy ur weekend!!

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Martha, Martha...

"You are so worried, bothered, and distracted with the details of living that you miss the joys of life."

So close to death

It's not terrifying, it's just depressing.

At least I know where he's going.

Marvelous Monday

Never been a fan of Mondays, but I must say, today had been a great and eventful one :)

1) New colleague reported for work, and we both stay at AMK! Who knows, we might start bumping into each other on our way to work :D

2) Made a job offer to one of my candidates :) hope she'll be my 1st 'baby' :)

3) Hit rate for Panel was high today :))) and I realise I actually feel nervous for my candidates. And when they perform well for panel, I actually feel proud of them!

4) Was talking to one of the AC and he said he personally felt that psych is extremely relevant to HR and it'll be nice that HR start investing in psych ppl. He is the FIRST person who din ask me why I studied psych but chose to do HR.
And I really appreciate that :) because ppl who ask that qn made me feel like I'm betraying what I studied by doing sth 'not relavant' to psych and that HR is just a substitute. Worse are those who gave me a skeptical face aft I explained to them.
I can only say that psych is extremely versatile and it can be relevant to ANYTHING. So stop doubting my commitments!!

5) Back on a happy note, I had a lovely dinner with pops and spent a long time just sitting at the restaurant chatting. Great way to end a day :)))

Thank God for this beautiful day!!

Looking forward to (another) Daiso trip on Wed and Nat'l Day next Mon!! Not only is it public hol (slp w/o having to set alarm), it's also our 3rd yr anni <3 pops got me a purple Kate Spade wallet online :D
It's not the patent one, coz it turns out the patent one's only left with yellow, so I bought it for s'one else :) the new one is a zip-around long wallet made of goat hide (which he thinks is more suitable for me coz I'm super careless with my stuff and a patent one will turn ugly in my care aft 1wk). Now I spend my free time tracking whr in the US is my little wallet :) it's in TX btw!! Not in a hurry to get it, but will be nice to know that it has reached it's intermediate destination.

Oh and looking forward to payday on the 12th toooooo!!

Ok, this post was supposed to be short :| good nitey ppl!!

The Journey

My favorite graduation song when I was in primary sch, I dedicate it to all my loved ones again some 10 years later:

The Journey

Time waits for no one, sure as the tide pulls the ocean

Sure as, the path that's been chosen, cannot be changed

In my life's destination, I searched for the explaination

For some kind of reason, for my sorrow and pain

But in my isolation I learned to listen

To be thankful for the love that I'd been given

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

In my desperation I thought that never again

Would I hear all the laughter of my friends and my family

A million tears that I'd cried then began to dry

In the silence of the night time

I had came to realize

A sweet inspiration filled my horizon

Gave me the heart to go on and never would give in

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

I'm going to love each moment, of every day and night

I'll look back to the past with the sweetest smile

For now I realise, I've been given the key to life

I've been kissed by the angel by my side

[Chorus]

This is my journey, journey through life

With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried

As the road unwinds

This is my journey, and I've learned to fight

To make me strong enough, to lift me up, to bring my dreams alive

To bring my dreams alive

To bring my dreams alive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIQpS4Z2P1o&feature=related

(it was sang my 911, no idea why they put it with Nemo's movie, but this is the clearest version I cld find, enjoy!!)

So Long School Life!

Pop's commencement happened on the friday b4 mine and I din have time to go down coz it was in the aftnn.

Made him a simple present jotting down some special moments that we shared over the 3 years we spent in sch :)





Met him for dinner and we drove back to sch to for PFM's commencement and Pops don on the gown again just so I can tk photos with him :)



** Me and Grace were wearing the same skirts dat day!!

Went to TCC in town for late night talk with the gang... which was very enjoyable knowing that gatherings are bound to be less frequent when everyone starts working...

My own commencement was in the morning, super rush so I wasn't feeling much excitement until I was sitting at my seat waiting for my turn to be called up the stage.

I dunno whether it's because I was sitting nxt to ppl I noe or was the progress of the whole ceremony really fast, but I felt that it ended really quickly.

Holding the degree in my hands, I felt a jumble of emotions passing thru...
Joy, sadness, pride, relief, anticipation...
But one thing for sure, I know my parents are really happy :) I guess it's like a mark of completion for one of their greatest project in life - to see me grow up and eventually graduate and step into the working world.



Daddy and mummy din go to work dat day so we spend the entire day tgt :)))

Treated them to lunch at Carousel coz I just received my pay dat day :D



Went to Sands aft dat but was a little disappointed coz most of the interesting brands are not opened yet :(



But the scenery was pretty nice and mummy daddy had the chance to take the little sampan boat ard the building :) They seemed to have fun dat day and it's really really nice to be able to spend a whole day with my loved ones on such a significant day :)



2 years of nursery (yes 2 years, coz my mum had no time to take care of me),
2 years of kindergarten,
6 years of primary sch,
4 years of sec school,
2 years of JC and
4 years of uni...

My 20 years of studies has come to an official end.
Every part of it has left important and unique memories in my life, and the wonderful friends I've made along the way is one of the greatest thing that came out of this 20-yr journey.

FS, CHAOS, NINE, MIX, PP, CPG, PS.ILOVEYOU, and everyone of you who are not in these groupies but have known me at a personal level, I thank you for being part of my life and I really hope we all cont to keep in touch and meet up as often as possible :)

And my dear poppy pie...



Who has walked with me for the last 3 years of my uni life, being there for me when I feel stressed, supporting me and comforting me will be starting work tmr :)

I hope we'll cont to walk with each other, supporting each other and building each other up just as we did for the past 3 years.

Thank God for His wonderful blessings and amazing guidance all these years, I've learnt that all I need to do is depend, trust in Him and stay faithful in Him.