My 2009

In another 2 days’ time, 2009 will be over and we will be welcoming 2010.

Time flies. This time last year, I was busy implementing inpatient means testing in the hospital. Did not have time to do any reflection, just hope that 2009 can be a better year.

Looking back, what are the happy moments? What have I have achieved? What are my sad moments? What are my regrets?

Happy moments
1. I have accepted William’s proposal. I am finally settling down.
2. Glad that my mum is more cheerful now
3. Went for a family trip with Mum, Sis and Sis Joyce.
4. A chill out holiday to Batam with William (minus the part that I needed to coordinate H1N1 surveillance works from Batam)
5. Preparing for wedding preps. I am looking forward to the wedding photography in Taiwan next year
6. My sis got to pursue full time financial planner
7. When I am reminded of beautiful memories with father
8. Catching up with good friends. I simply enjoy gals’ talks particularly. We can simply talk and laugh non-stop!!
9. Completed 3 books and halfway through for some books. I like “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Abom the most.

What I have achieved?
1. I have achieved what I wanted in terms of my career, in terms of building up the dept’ strengths and capabilities and earning recognition by my nursing colleagues. However, this comes at a very high price. I really work hard, without supportive boss and extremely capable staff!
2. Managed to find time to go for a Turkey trip with Xueling and Jiayi. Turkey is really an exotic destination. It is an educational trip.

What are my sad moments?
1. When I miss my father
2. When my sis is upset over her relationship and career.
3. Lack of job satisfaction

What are my regrets?
1. I have neglected my health, as work is really busy and stressful, and trying to balance my personal responsibilities and personal endeavors with work. I am sick of falling sick. On/off now, I still catch colds very easily.
2. I did not spend sufficient time with my sister.
3. I did not meet my expectation of understanding more about faith.
4. Did not manage to do much prep to start up a business

I am overly disciplined and demanding to myself in terms of work and personal responsibilities. However, I am grossly lack of discipline in terms of taking good care of myself and understanding faith.

William and myself spent 1 Jan 09 in the hospital for implementation of means testing. I have promised myself never ever to spend the first day of a new year in a hospital anymore.

William and I are going HK on 1 Jan 2010! HK, here we come!!

I will think about my next year’s plans when I’m back from HK.

Glad that I have some time to do my reflection for this year.
Wishing all my loved ones and my good friends a Happy New Year! Be happy and do what you have been wanting to do!

I shall end my reflection for the year with a quote that I had read on Christmas Day this year, and touches my heart:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)

Yum yum....

Busy bee is finally getting some breathers.

In fact, I started to unwind from last week already!!

It started with a wonderful dinner buffet at Merchant Court with Ivy and Danielle on last Thursday. Oh my goodness, so nice to get to taste the durian pengat again after 3 years (i think)! I had 2 big bowls :D Not forgetting the fresh salmon, mussels and the spread of desserts. The 3 of us had "retired" from buffet like donkey years ago, and this buffet certainly has started our appetite for more buffet. We talked about our work, some of our phobias (haha, for me is IV jab... painful...) and many other things. Oh, Ivy and myself received our first X'mas present for the year, brought back from Bangkok by Danielle. Thanks gal :)

The next buffet will be in end Dec with the rest of the "gang". I am looking forward to it to catch up with the rest, and of course getting to taste my durian pengat again :p

What's next?

The next day was dinner with a colleague. He recommended "Royal Cophenhagen Tea" at Takashimaya L2. The first thing that impressed me was the table x'mas tree made of custards. Was figuring real hard whether they are real custards. The tea range is exotic, but I am more of a coffee person. I can appreciate coffee more. Do you find "Royal Cophenhagen" familiar? Yes, they are famous for their procelain products. So the tea pot and the cups that you can find at this place have Royal Cophenhagen designs. Food is quite good, no crowd. Btw, the table x'mas tree is made of real custards. I could not resist asking the cashier before I left the place. This is the inquisitive me.

Over the long weekend, William and myself went Marina for a movie. We went Suntec first just to take a look at the bridal fair (after "tip-off" from my Sis). Well, they have bridal shops from Taiwan, Shanghai, HK and of course Singapore. I have never thought of taking wedding photography overseas, and yet it is going to happen!! We signed up for a wedding photography package and taking the photos at Taiwan. Ooo... I am excited about it! I have always like the scenary of Taipei, esp during Spring/ Summer. Signing up for the package also reminds me of the last family trip with my father. Pa Pa, I miss you. The trip to Taipei in Apr will certainly brings back beautiful memories of our family trip together.

Yesterday, William and myself went to a Thai restaurant at Serangoon Gardens. It's called Tuk Tuk (i think). Their Thai food is quite authentic. Most special of all is their durian sticky rice. I have always like mango sticky rice (it's my must have when I go Thailand), durian sticky rice at this place is quite good too! Their price range is higher than Thai Express.

Today, William and myself went to try out authentic Xinghua cuisines at Maude Road. Their fried fish tastes really good. But $9 for 6 small pcs is a bit expensive. The Xinghua restaurant and food have probably brought back nice memories to William, as his family used to 'ta bao' from this restaurant :)

Besides my next feast at Merchant Court with my mba gang, I am also looking forward to the semi-potluck dinner at Biyun's place on 24 Dec :D

It's year end. Time to unwind.
Let's all enjoy ourselves! :)

Busy bee

It is finally friday...
At 6.30pm today, I was simply relieved!

All along, my workload has been high. Last 2 weeks were especially bad!
Three concurrent projects are supposed to be launched on 1 Dec.
Another project will start to run from mid Nov once approval is obtained.
This is also a budgeting period in which I have to be really "thick skin" to ask for budget. It seems like everything and anything can be associated with Inpatient Operations. You can imagine how many papers and presentations I have to write and do.
All these are excluding the smaller projects that my team is supporting.
Yet I do not have adequate support.

I must say that I'm super efficient already, but hey, everyone has a limit. I am totally flat out. Things will only be brighter after end of the month...

Don't care now. Just do what I can lah.

Anyone can impart me with the skills to idle???

I will be on a month leave in Mar next year.
Haha, however, I am really not sure if I can wait till then.

I am tired.
I realise that I really do not know how to unwind. I had to go to the extent of buying a book " How to be idle" to LEARN how to idle. Haha, it didn't work, simply because I do not have the time to read it.

Looks like I need some wisdom to know how to be slack!!
Preferably can get to slack immediately will be ideal!

A bad day

I am doing a project targeted at improving discharges in the wards.
A multi-pronged approach were adopted and improvements have been seen.
The last lap is to electronise the system. This is a challenging one, as the system draws data from various databases. One particular component is tough. I had a 2.5 hrs meeting from 4.30pm to 7pm today to sort out the technical difficulties with the IT folks of three different systems!!
Oh mine..... NO SOLUTION was worked out at the end due to numerous reasons! Well, now I understand the complexity of each IT system and IT folks don't necessarily understand the system and lingo of one another.

I disagree with some of the management's decisions too. There are certain things that should be done immediately for staff welfare. Yet solutions that will only translate to unnecessary wait were given!

On my way home after a chill-out with my friends, two of us shared a cab back. The cab driver was very rude! We booked the cab from Raffles City taxi stand. He did not put a 'Call Taxi" upon arrival, put on an attitude when we boarded the taxi. Upon knowing that we were going to 3 locations, he was even more unhappy. When he knew that I needed to pick another person up after sending my friend home, he told us, " Your friend better be already waiting by the time I reach, if not I will just drive off". OMG.... what kind of attitude is this??? On my way home, another rude taxi driver. In my personal opinion, taxi drivers' professionalism can reflect whether a country is gracious. I am quite a frequent taxi customer (esp. if i work late), sad to say, maybe only about 50% of our taxi driver is professional ..... If Singapore wants to increase its service standard, maybe should target taxi drivers besides staff from hotels and restaurants.

The last thing is HDB regulation for combined income ceiling to be less than $8K to be able to apply for new flats. This is really a dinosaur rule that should be changed!

Arghhh... what's a bad day!

A meaningful reminder

When you lose wealth, you lose nothing.
When you lose health, you lose something.
When you lose character, you lose everything.

The Sound of Music

Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow Sew
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do (oh-oh-oh)
Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do

The Sound of Music (1965) is one of the movies that I watched in AVA room when I was young, and one that I would never forget.

I learnt to sing Do Re Mi
I learnt the meanings of love and joy.
I learnt not to run from reality.
I learnt to be brave.

When I was mending my skirt just now, somehow Do-Re-Mi came to my mind and I started to sing along.

Singing it 20 years later, it brought back beautiful memories and nice reminders.

Try listening to it, and tell me how you feel!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5vnMZcU1A

A wonderful gathering with buddies

I went for a gathering with my buddies today at Vivo.
It has been almost 3-4 months since I met them.

Good to see the gals today!!

And I am very happy to know them one of them is going to be a Mummy soon, and it's a twin!This is simply awesome!
She is my first buddy to be married and now the first to be a Mummy.
All of us are happy for her and excited!

She has also changed her job to be in a better workplace.

This is triple joy!! Wonderful! :-)

Take a break, have a kit kat

I am always politically correct at work...
It's nicest when I am at home, with loved ones and good friends.

Sometimes, I feel like blowing my top at work, especially in the last 3 months.
However, somehow or another, I always manage to keep my cool...
This has its obvious repercussions with my health protesting.
Or should I say my health is putting a riot?

I'm not losing my goals here.
Just that I am clear that I need a long break.
Fortunately i know this is happening soon lah (finally hor...)

Life is a journey and everyone of us is a tourist.
Just take an unhappy incident as an unhappy encounter.
Take away the baggages and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Take a break, have a kit kat.. Haha.

Two times of unforgettable experience as a Patient

Sometime in late Jun 09, I was down with high fever. That was the time when community outbreak of H1N1 had just begun. . If I am just a general public, I just need to go GP for advice rather than going to A&E directly. However, as a staff, I was required to “report” directly to A&E for an H1N1 test. The nose and throat swaps that test for H1N1 were not exactly uncomfortable. The wait for the result was 6 hours. I spent like nearly 8 hours in A&E, sitting down and trying to wait as patiently as I can for the results. It was difficult to rest with TV in front of me and in a sitting posture. Luckily I brought along a book that kept me occupied a fair bit. When the results were out and I was declared “free of H1N1”, I felt so relieved!! The last thing I want is to affect my loved ones, friends and colleagues whom I have contact.

On last Thursday late morning, I was hit by a sudden throbbing headache during a meeting that affected the visual view of my left eye. The headache lasted longer than usual. I decided to take the PM off to see a doctor. Hence I proceeded to the staff clinic. I was referred to A&E immediately. I asked to be given MC to rest at home but was rejected. So I went to A&E reluctantly. At A&E, I was given a more detailed assessment and the doctor asked “Which ward do you prefer?” I was like “hmm… you mean I need to be admitted??” Hey, this is getting a bit too much. I did not expect to go A&E and I did not expect to be admitted all the more!! Why are all these happening? The doctors were worried that I might be having internal bleeding in the brain that caused the sudden headache and blurred vision. The first 24 hours was critical. My requests for observation from home or at A&E observation bay were rejected. Hence I was admitted reluctantly.

I chose an A class ward for more privacy. I went through a battery of tests… CT Scan, MRI, 4 tubes of blood for blood tests, eye checks and numerous times of neurological testings. I know the doctors meant well and they were following protocols. So I endured. Fortunately, thanks to God’s grace, all the investigation results showed no evidence of bleeding in the brain or problems with the eyes. To establish that there was no minor bleeding, the doctor advised for me to go through LP (lumbar puncture) which is also called a spinal tap. Oh, this is too much for me… I can’t imagine having to go through this. If it is for childbirth, I do not mind having to inject epidural. Hmm… I gathered that the MRI and CT Scan were evident enough that I am ok. So I requested the doctor to allow me to be discharged without going through LP and promised to monitor myself. So now I have to be good and really take good care of myself. Whatever it is, I am thankful to the care and concern by all the doctors and nurses.

Well, so what I have learnt and experienced from these 2 hospitalisation episodes?

One, I am not a robot. I cannot be working non-stop!! However, my job these days are very demanding. Requires almost 24/7 on standby and have to work shifts at times.

Two, health is really not to be taken for granted. I know this all along, but still did not manage to take good care of myself.

Three, I have experienced God’s healing power again. I am thankful to God for his blessings.

It is probably time that I change to a new job that allows me to have some breathing space, and have a one-month break before starting the new job. Coincidently, I got a call which offers a job opportunity on the day of discharge! How amazing? I know my prayers are heard by God. It’s clear that I should change job.

Last but not least, I am thankful to Wil and my mum for the love and concern and taking very good care of me, particularly Wil. My dear sis was overseas, and I was touched that she almost want to “chiong” from KL back to Singapore to see me. Thanks sis. I am also thankful to all my gal friends (BY, HY, YL, XM, XL, JY) and colleagues for their concerns.

I am resting at home now and glad to do so.

Mask wearing

One of my triage staff developed fever during the course of duty, and I accompanied her to the Emergency Dept. It turned out that she was H1N1 positive. Well, this made me "a close contact of a confirmed case" as per categorised by hospital protocol. As such, I have to mask myself for the next 7 days. Have to take temperature twice a day and monitor if I develop any symptoms for these 7 days too.

I am usually ok with wearing masks when I am on duty, whether it is surgical mask or N95.
Hmm... it's a different experience when I have to wear mask the whole day, from the moment I wake up, on the train, at work... Fresh air becomes so precious all of a sudden. Haha. I try to grab some moments of fresh air when nobody is around me within 1.5m radius ;)

I doubt I will be infected by the triage staff, as I have exercised full precautions.
My family members seem to feel that I have overreacted by wearing mask the whole day, however, the last thing that I want is to spread the bugs to family members and others.

Well, there are people who say that H1N1 is just like any other flu. It may be better to be infected now and develop immunity. Yes, may be true. However, if everyone exercises social responsibility, it can help to control the spread.

Well, I learnt to appreciate fresh air from this episode!

Cheers!

Turkey Trip (13-21 Jun 09)

Many years back, Xueling, Jiayi, Huizhen and myself went to Taiwan. That was my first long trip with friends. There was no budget airline then, and we took China Airline. After so many years, we decided to go for another long trip together. Huizhen was unable to join us, and so 3 of us went ahead and we chose Turkey! The flight took us 13 hrs.

Oh, Turkey is very different from what I thought. I had a good history lesson in Turkey! Its history dated back to 10,000 years ago and has been ruled under 3 different empires (Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman) at different times. If you like to see ancient Greek and Roman ruins, Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques, you will sure like Turkey! The present Turkey is the vision of Ataturk. He is a well-respected leader who led Turkey to adopt a secular democracy.

The country is strategically located between Asia and Europe. It has a mix of Asia and Europe culture.
Turks are warm people. It is summer now, weather is good. As for food, the one that impresses me most is the lentil soup. I was not used to it initially, but grow to like it gradually. The Turkish coffee and tea are strong! I have only tried once for the Turkish coffee. It’s like a strong Espresso, perks one up immediately.

Strictly speaking, we have only covered Western Turkey.
Upon landing at the airport at Istanbul, we went straight to Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia Museum, Blue Mosque and Hippodrome.

This is followed by a 6 hr drive to Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
At Ankara, we visited the Anatolian Civilisation Museum, Ataturk Mausoleum, Salt Lake.

Next is a 4 hr drive to Cappadocia, a beautiful city with beautiful natural landscapes.
Jiayi and myself tried out Turkish bath here. Oh, it’s quite an experience!! We got ourselves scrubbed thoroughly. At Cappadocia, there are many cave houses, castles, Grand Canyon look-alive landscape, beautiful sunset and chilly. The hotel that we stayed, Peri Tower Hotel, was like a castle!

There are 50++ underground cities in Cappadocia, only a few are opened to tourists. These underground cities have chapels, wineries, kitchens, and certainly well-designed to confuse enemies. The stones in these cities are volcanic stones that can literally breathe!! The dry constant temperature in Cappadocia is suitable for growing potato, pumpkin and other crops.

Other places visited in Cappadocia are the Pigeon Valley, Goreme Open Air Museum, Fairy Chimney.
We went to see carpet centre, in which we saw how the carpets were made from growing cocoons to weaving to the finished product. One carpet, which is silk on silk woven, is US$61,000!!

We watched the Whirling Dervishes Ceremony in the evening.

On Day 4, we made our way to Konya. On the way, we visited the Sultanhani Caravanserai, a “hotel” for the ancient traders and travelers. Konya is the most religious cities in Turkey. It is also a training ground for F16. In Konya, we visited the Melvana Mausoleum, in which we saw the smallest Koran in the world. At Pamukkale, well-known for its Hierapolis (cotton city) due to the presence of calcium carbonate landscape and thermal water, it is commonly visited by locals and tourists for its health facilities. Jiayi and myself soaked ourselves at Pamukkale, followed by a swim at the thermal pool in the hotel.

On Day 5, we moved on to Selcuk in which we visited Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary. We went on to Kusadasi.

On Day 6, we bypassed Izmir and Aliaga. Aliaga used to be a small fishing village but oil-refinery is one of the core business now. We visited the Pergamon City and Troy at Canakkale.

On the last day, we visited the Grand Bazzar and Spice Market.
We took a Bosphorus cruise from the European side of Turkey and saw the palaces, houses along the European and Asia sides of Turkey. The day ended with a belly dancing performance at Gar.

On the day of departure, guess what happened, I had food poisoning with diarrhoea and even vomited at the airport. Good thing Xueling was well-equipped with medicines to allow me to survive through the 13 hr flight back. My thanks to Xueling and Jiayi for being so sweet and caring!!

It’s a good learning trip, a good break from work, and a good time catching up old times with Xueling and Jiayi.

Public speaking skills

I believe many of us are impressed by the public speaking skills of President Obama.

I attended a workshop by YMCA Toastmasters Club on 3 June 09, which shared on the rhetorical devices used by President Obama. Here it goes on the list of techniques:

1. Rhetorical questions
2. Anaphores
3. Epistrophe
4. Mesodiplosis
5. Conduplicato/Hypophora
6. Anadiplosis
7. Asyndeton
8. Polysyndeton
9. Synectoche
10. Alluision
11. Alliteration
12. Assonance
13. Onomatopedia
14. Triads
15. Antithesis
16. Catchphrase

It's quite a mouthful, isn't it?
It is quite easy to see these devices being used in the speeches by President Obama, once you know these devices.

I guess knowing the techniques are not enough. One needs to know how to apply these devices tactfully and in the appropriate settings, accompanied by appropriate pauses, posture, tone and confidence. Practice will make perfect.

Besides these, I believe what makes President Obama's speeches stand out is his passion to ride out this trying time with the people and have the best ready for the future generations.

Cheers!

True and real

During the lecture series by Prof Alister McGrath at St Andrew Cathedral over the last weekend, he has shared many insightful thoughts.

One of the sharings that striked me is what is "true" and what is "real"?
"True" are the cold hard facts. "Real" is the relational reality.

Some things are true but not real, simply because we cannot feel it. It does not impact us at all.
Some things are true and real. It is happening and affects our life.

Upon deeper thoughts into "true" and "real", there are so many things that fall into these 2 categories.

Sometimes when we hear of natural calamities happening overseas, we know it has caused many to lose their loved ones. However, it may seems to be "just a piece of news" to some ...
This is true and not real.

We know of the technical recession. It takes one who has experienced the brunt of it (be it retrenchment, compulsory leave, shorter working work week, pay cut etc) to really feel it.
This is true and real.

Interestingly, there are something in middle too -"Semi-true and real" and "True and semi-real".

Science keeps advancing. New research findings may discover new findings that topple the old understanding. I love the aroma of coffee. Some reports say coffee is good for health, some says otherwise. Whatever it is, reports that I "feel" is correct or I choose to believe is real to me. This is "semi-true and real".

Singapore has been through SARS time. Though H1N1 has striked our shore this time round, somehow this seems to be "true and semi-real" to the locals. Why? Because people's memory are short and H1N1 is still considerably kind to mankind for now.

We know deep down in our heart on what are "true and real" in everyday of our life, especially if we take time to reflect.

I was sharing with an undergrad temp staff today that "the world is not exactly beautiful". I may sound pressimistic. However, we need some pressimism, coupled with knowledge and experiences, to understand what are true and real. However, life can be beautiful if we brave life with a positive mindset :-)

One of my friends asked me a question over facebook "office ppl do shift work?". The answer is yes!!

I have been involved in the triage duties for the last 2 weeks, overseeing all the stations for temperature screening and visitor registration. The hours are long, starts and ends at unearthly hours, and hardly have time for meal breaks.

I am largely ok for the duties, taking it as a form of "national duty".

There are lots of visitors who are anxious to see their loved ones. Some of them may lose their cool by our strict visitor management policy, which I can understand. Hope that the public can understand why we are so strict in restricting visitor number, now that we have our first case. There is also a possibility of no impact on public sentiments in another couple of days, especially the fatality rate of H1N1 (fortunately) does not seem to be critically threatening at the moment.

It has been slightly more than a year since the saddest moment of my life.
Whenever I go to the wards due to the nature of my work requirement, my Dad will come to my mind. I still remember the nights when I stayed by his side, together with William, when he was critically ill, and how helpless I was...

When I see visitors wanting to see their loved ones who are in critical conditions during my triage duties, I can fully understand how they feel.

Father 's Day is coming.
My dear Father, I wish you a Happy Father's Day. You are always on our minds.

Batam Trip (1-3 May 09)

I have always heard from friends about shopping in Batam.

My thoughtful Significant Other gave me a pleasant surprise by organising a trip to Batam over the Labor Day long weekend.

William had wanted to book the resort but it was fully booked.
Nevertheless it was a nice short trip.

Both of us went shopping in the major malls of Batam.
Here are the places we went :

1 May
- BCS Mall (Batam City Square)
- Batam Mall where Ramayana is (Ramayana is the equivalent of Robinson in Batam)

2 May
- Nagoya Hill Centre where Matahari is(I like this the most where I bought the good and inexpensive laptop bag after a long search in Singapore).
- Mega Mall (next to the Ferry Terminal)

Besides the malls, we went to the bustling wet market on Sunday morning and night bazaar near our hotel (Panorama Regency Hotel).

Had wanted to go for a spa. Learnt a lesson that we must book in advance in future. Both of us could only go to IndoThai for a short massage session. Bravo to Wil who finally tried out massage!! :-D

The only not so satisfying thing is the A&W meal.
Both of us were so happy to see A&W at Nagoya Hill Centre. At the end, we did not get to try the root beer float as it was not sold at the satellite branch we went and the chicken was overly fried.

The 'winner' of this trip is probably Wil who bought 3 tops.
I tend to feel that guys' clothings are more worth buy than ladies in Batam.
I just couldn't find something that I like in the major malls, except on the last day when I bought a polo tee at Polo shop at a hotel. It was at 50% off.

Both of us conclude that a day trip to Batam will suffice if just want to do shopping ;)

The tension of opposites

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to the community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." (Taken from "tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom)

When I read the above, it sends a very strong reminder to me ... "hey, I need to get down to my dreams". I need to focus. I am focused on work but NOT on my dreams. This explains why I used "The tension of opposites" as the title of this article. This term is taken from the same book "tuesdays with Morrie". It says "Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do something, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted."

I am happy that my sis can finally pursue her long-awaited plan to be a full-time insurance agent. I believe my sis will be a responsible agent with empathy for others, not just merely interested in closing deals. Sis, not many people can get to do what they hope to do. Given this opportunity, give it your best shot! Many people will be cheering you along the way, including our beloved Dad.

Outward Bound Expedition (11-13 Feb 09)

I had spent 3 days at Outward Bound (OBS), Pulau Ubin for the last 3 days, as part of the Young Leader Program course organised by my organisation.

It's a 9 day course, of which the 1st 3 days is a residency programme at OBS.
Frankly, I dreaded the thought of part 1 of the course before I went for it.
Because I know that there will be lots of strenous physical activities and there will be no hot shower. I am not a outdoor person. The only outdoor activities tha I do are nature walking, cycling and jogging.

The OBS programme was planned in such a way that we need to stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone and back to basics.

It turns out that I learnt whole lot of stuffs and tried out things that I would never... never...have thought I will ever do and will do.

I tried out ...

- outdoor rock climbing... my team chosen the most difficult portion to climb unintentionally... at that point, how i wished i had learnt yoga and body can be super 'elastic' to bend anywhere.

- going into very narrow underground tunnel to find our team's ball. The tunnel is pitch-dark and has some slopes that we somehow have to squeeze ourselves through, whether by sliding backward or forward. I am quite small-built and has already found it tough... it was tougher for the guys. Not to mention that there are crockroaches in the tunnel.

- kayaking for almost 11km-12km for 5 hours (this is the most memorable one).. Its no joke. My biceps and triceps were almost giving way. It's tough when the waves were strong and anti-direction. Of course, I was praying hard that my kayak will not capsize. Yes, I have learnt how to handle capsize during the drill... but that was near to the shore... capsize in open sea is different hor...

- blindfolded to find a tree in the forest.

- cooking outdoor, setting up tents. The second night was supposed to sleep in the tent, but as one of my course mate was not well, I accompanied her to find a more comfortable place to sleep. We found a hut with 6 other guy coursemates and we just camped there lor. The 2 of us only had 2 ponchos..of which one was used as blanket (no use actually). The best part is that we realised that the hut has got big dogs around. Amazing, they did not bark at us. They protected us instead by 'patrolling' around the area at night. It was chilling cold at night. My gal classmate was literally trembling. Good thing that I brought along the windbreaker that Shifu has bought for me from US... if not, i will also be trembling...

- Waking up at 6am everyday and started morning exercise at 6.30am... waking up early is not my forte...

- Overcome showering without warm shower - I was so stinky and sticky that so long there was a shower room, it did not matter whether it was a cold or warm shower.

- No nice food (really simple fares)

- Learnt what is meant by "must eat more for energy"... I usually eat very little... but during the course, I realised that I must really load myself with carbo to have the energy to do the activities.

The only thing that I did not try out is jetty jump... partly because my eyes were very irritated by the saltwater after 5 hours of kayaking (that it was stinging and tearing) and partly because I think there was no need to risk my life with it.... who is going to take care of my family if anything happens to me. Anyway, good thing there were several of us who did not try this.

The whole course is almost like an endurance course.
I have learnt a lot - leadership, teamwork, survival skills, endurance, perservance, precison thinking, thinking decisively during stressed situations, determination (there are a no. of times that I told myself "i can do it" and this works).

At the end of the course, I decided to go souvenir shop to buy something, because i know i will not come back to OBS again.

However, I must say that the last 3 days will form a memorable part of my life. I am amazed how much I can stretch myself and knowing the coursemates whom have survived the endurance course together.

Finally i can have my warm shower back... and I am no longer so urban-pampered.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Have you watch the show "Pursuit of Happyness" by Will Smith before?
It is one of my favourite shows.

It basically tells us to never give up no matter how harsh circumstances can be.

Because there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.

Have faith, dreams and will.
And always counts our blessings.

Perservance

When there is faith, there is hope
When there is a dream, there is hope
When there is a will, there is hope
Never give up on faith, dreams and will