DTO

On leave today. After much persuasion by Princess and co, decided to try and relax at home and avoid thinking about work. Suppose to recover from that persistent flu that has been preventing me from breathing properly too. Oh. And to stop me from spreading more germs. =P

I'm breathing relatively normally now. At least my nose isn't runny anymore. There's still a bit of phlegm in my throat but it doesn't irritate me that much. However, trying to relax and not think about work is really difficult. Even though I've only gone online twice to check some emails this morning, as opposed to staying glued to my email all morning.

Try as I might to not think about work, there's still much to do from home. I guess it's cos I haven't really had a covering officer on certain issues, so it's difficult to hand-over to someone else to handle. And just realised that I need to make that Jan trip. =/ Darn.

Sick

I don't recall having been this sick this year. Nose is blocked 80% of the day and cough sounds super phlegm-y. Woozy most of the day too. I think it's the pills. I need to find a doctor nearby who would give me more than a 2-minute inspection and just prescribe antibiotics and drowsiness-inducing pills WITHOUT a MC. I mean, how do they expect you to be drowsy, and still work or study?

It's a not-so-sunny-Sunday, perfect for walking around. But feel kind of tired (despite the 10-hours of sleep). Gotta do laundry once Mum's done...

The door of the toilet in the master bedroom...

... is broken. We can't close it completely and I think if we close it too tightly, it might just jam. So we close it just lightly jam in the door frame. Pretty obvious that there's someone in there when the door is close so nobody would try to open the door.

Except him:

Meet Yang Yang. This three-year old kid is my mum's student. She's been babysitting him after school every day for a few hours in the evening cos his parents have to work late.

The above-mentioned toilet is used as a changing room. I came home yesterday and was greeted by his "Cheh Cheh". I went straight to the toilet to change clothes. As I was changing, I could hear him call "Cheh Cheh, Cheh Cheh", getting louder and louder... and the next thing I knew, this cute little thing had barged into my changing space. =P Thankfully, I had just managed to finish changing. =P

We think this little monster might eat us out of house and home. As I was eating dinner at the PC yesterday and had just took up my first spoonful, he ran to me and opened his mouth widely, expecting to be fed. Sis says that earlier, he had eaten as much rice as her for dinner! Mum gave him about 1/4 to 1/2 a bowl of rice, which upon completion, he still requested for more. Growing child indeed. =P

Watch this space for more updates on Yang Yang's escapades!

One of those days...

... that I get really depressed at work. And like the last one that I remembered being this depressed, possibly also cos I was missing someone. Just that the someone is a different one now.

... that I think about whether I really am cut out for the job.

... that I wonder why I'm always clearing backlog.

... that I would feel happy to be a housewife.

... that I wish he was here.

On Leave

Took the afternoon off cos I was going to spend the whole morning at the doctor's.

My regular doctor wasn't in today The doctor that I saw today happened to be my JC senior. =) What a coincidence. At least she found me familar. Anyway, she took a look at my eyes and referred me to the registrar, who thought I was recovering well (just tiny specks now) but shouldn't get discharged yet. So I'll be going back again in two weeks.

Yesterday, took time during lunch to accompany DD to the cemetery. I think that was my first visit to a cemetery here. Didn't think he should be going alone, and wanted to be there for him. So I went. We were hoping to get fast food and ice cream for lunch on our way back but the rain was a major deterrence. Oh well. It's better to skip the ice cream anyway. Getting fat. =P

24 roses for 24 candles...

DD had been planning to surprise me for a while... And surprised I was. He had contemplated blindfolding me and leading me onto the taxi so that he could tell the driver where to bring us w/o me hearing it. But he didn't have to - all he needed to do was to tell the driver where to go b4 I boarded the taxi. =)

Had to keep my eyes closed near the end of the taxi ride. When we arrived at our destination, he helped me out of the taxi, and led me to a waiting point. It was so scary to walk with my eyes closed, even though he was leading me along. I guess it was the uncertainty of walking blind. I held onto something while he went off for a short while.

I couldn't help taking a glance and saw DD queueing to buy tickets. Thought we were at Singapore River and that he was going to bring me on a bum boat ride. I confessed to have opened my eyes for a sec and guessed where we were. DD didn't realised that I had guessed wrongly and let me open my eyes. And I saw a huge balloon in front of me. =P

DD had brought me to the DHL hot air balloon... Decided to be sporting and kept my eyes closed as he led me from the pavement into the balloon. The view was pretty good; too bad the day was a bit hazy...

After that, dinner. DD had thought to flag down a taxi but we were on the wrong side of the road. =P So we took a leisurely walk... and ended up at Curry Favor at Capitol Building. We didn't really know where the main entrance was so stumbled into Moon River next door, which was apparently a sister outlet.

We had curry for dinner. Don't usually eat Jap curry cos I prefer sushi but it was pretty good. =) DD called for the bill and went to the front of the restaurant to check out their credit card promos. Next thing I knew, the waitress came with a Robinsons plastic bag and the biggest bouquet I'd ever gotten. Pretty much guessed that the present was a Barbie doll when I felt the box. =P

After dinner, we walked around the area:
Capitol -> Raffles City -> Citylink -> Esplanade -> Merlion Park -> Old Merlion Park -> Along Singapore River (Boat Quay?) -> past Parliament House -> past Funan the IT Mall -> stopover at Peninsula to buy green tea -> back to Capitol!

By the time we got back to Capitol, it was only 1015 or so. Felt like it was too early to go home. Asked DD if I could go to his place to play playstation games but he wasn't too keen and suggested that we could just take a bus ride to his place and from his place back to mine. Felt a bit let down... and DD caved in and brought me home. =P

While DD set up his playstation, I logged into my msn account on his PC. Chatted with CTC who is currently on course in India. We played a few games of Solitaire Showdown too. After that, we played a few Neopets games (Yes, I'm still playing Neopets games). Then we moved onto playstation and played a few rounds of Dynasty Warriors 3.

By the time we were tired, it was around 3+. The same thought crossed our minds - hit the swings. =) [Note: My favourite part of a playground is the swing.] As I sat on the swing, briefly reflected on the year that had passed... all the ups and downs and pondered if I had actually grown up over the last year. At 0354 hrs, DD brought me to the bench and sang me the birthday song... and popped out the final surprise of the day. =)

For my birthday, treated DD to lunch at T-mall. We had thought to go blading after that but the sky looked threatening and I didn't think I should be carrying blades on his bike. =P So at my suggestion, we went to Escape Theme Park. Only to find that it's only open on weekends! Sheesh... Since Wild Wild Wet was open and home was nearby, we rode home again to pick up my swimsuit. Spent an afternoon at Wild Wild Wet before dinner at Lemongrass to satisfy my craving for pineapple rice. =P

Thank you, DD for spending time with me to remember my 24th birthday...

24 roses for 24 candles

As Princess Di puts it, here's the list of people who love me:

• DD
• Bee
• CTC
• Eunice
• Vic
• Tan Kin Lian (apparently NTUC Income is now heading paperless with their birthday greetings - no egreeting card either; just a standard sms and a standard email telling you to go check their birthday treats links. Talk about being personal. sheesh.)
• Vin
• Di
• Xinyi
• Alicia
• Kon
• Edwin
• Poh Ling
• Denise
• Vim
• YT
• Kim
• Peo
• WJ
• Ivy
• XY
• Qin
• KJ
• and many more I'm sure, who might take a while to remember whether they love me or not. [Note: At the time stamped on this post, you still have 4 h 43 min before you need to add the word "belated". =P]

Well anyway, thanks to everyone for their well wishes! Praying for a better year ahead, less blur, more efficient. =) Will blog about my two-day celebrations soon...

One day more...

Sis just showed me the new tee and shorts that she bought for exercise. Looks too small for me. She says that that just means that I'ld have to lose weight before I can fit.

-_______-

Inefficiency

Very slow with work. And very disorganised - not just my desk, but also the way I work. Wonder if it's cos the period after YCE "quit" my dept, I regained my original portfolio at the peak amount of work to be done so I never really recovered from that even though I held on to the work for just 3 months... Just hoping to catch up with my work at some point in time... soon.

Met up w Peo and HD for dinner today. The ultimate LSR fan couldn't join us cos she had last minute job commitments. =P Haven't met them since X'mas last year, I think. Been so long! HD had her hair permed and is taking piano lessons now. Peo has become a fitness enthusiast and just keeps slimming down. Too bad I don't have the motivation to run twice a week like she does. =P Had dinner at Swensens at Parkway, which had terrible service. Food was terrible too. Won't ever go there again.

It was fun catching up with them. Peo's teaching in an all-girls sch while HD's back at our alma mater. We got HD to update us on how our former teachers are doing... and were amazed to know that some teachers have remained at status quo since we left school 8 years ago.

The perennial question of whether we would all make careers out of our jobs popped up in our conversation. The Today article a couple of weeks back also reminded us that it would be difficult for us to return to our "roots".

Peo, HD and I are a lot alike in certain ways, e.g. we haven't learned to drive. I suspect that the three of us (and quite possibly the ultimate LSR fan too) are also the kind who are too comfortable in our jobs to explore other options. =P Peo and HD commented that I'd been the most on-the-ball member of our group back in university. Wonder what had happened to me over the last year and half.

Must be the dehydration. *wink*

Dehydrated, I am

Here's what I drank today:

6.30 am: 1 glass of water
1 - 2 pm: half a bottle of Snapple Pink Lemonade
2 - 7 pm: quarter bottle of Snapple Pink Lemonade
8.45 pm: half bowl of soup
9.30 pm: a gulp of water

I find that every morning, if I start clearing emails before I get my mug of water, 80% chance that I won't drink water that whole morning. =P Recall reading somewhere that being dehydrated affects your thinking (I suppose cos water is such an important part of your body). Maybe that's why I'm getting more inefficient. haha.