Countdown

Haven't been writing blog for a long time. This sem has been a busy one with 2 modules, and group projects were pretty demanding... i am glad it is going to be over soon.

I am looking forward to the end of the course..... can feel the strain these days.

I was actually quite light-hearted initially today as i am on leave and i could finally have some time for myself... yet i am disappointed by someone... i guess time will tell me what i am supposed to do. Hope i can see the rainbow soon.

"Chicken Soup for the Soul"

It is 1am now. My tummy is filled with chicken soup from my mom who woke up especially to scoop up the steaming hot chicken soup for my supper. Though i don't really take supper, i really appreciate the kind thoughts from my dear mom, and of course i drank the soup.

This is the moment that I truly understand "chicken soup for the soul". Mom prepared the chicken soup for dinner cos' she saw that i have been having late nights... thanks a lot, Mom!

15 Aug 2007 @ 1.20am

The butterfly story...

While running a hospital wide campaign today, a well-respected professor shared this with a team of us while doing his judging for one of the category prizes of the campaign...

He gave an anology between butterflies and happiness..."Happiness is like butterflies. It will arrive when it decides to settle on you"

I guess how one interprets this statement will depend on how you define happiness and what is your expectation of happiness.

So what's your thoughts?

"Whatever"

Met up with my two uni classmates today at Chinatown. Hee, you must be wondering what's available at Chinatown besides doing annual shopping during CNY.

Well... i had a pleasant surprise. We had dinner at an 'old-style' coffeeshop at Keong Saik Road. The kopi was really thick... and i mean it. I forgot the name of the coffeeshop, but i can bring you there if you like "gao" kopi without the need to shout "kopi gao". After dinner, we went to a nearby lifestyle cafe "Whatever" along the same road. Hey, it's a really nice place with nice ambience. It is a new age cafe, bookstore and healing centre.. You will just unwind the tense muscles after a busy workday when you step in there. I had 'organic root beer'. If you are wondering how is this place like and how does an organic root beer taste like... Check it out http://www.whatever.com.sg/!

While walking back home, the 3 of us were debating if meritocracy is still needed in this capitalistic society. What do you think? Would you choose to stay in a socialist or a captalistic society? Hee, i leave the answer to you.

Cheers!

Happy?

I have been asking myself if i am happy in my current job. Well... it has its pros and cons.

I know how to excel within the organisation. It depends on whether i want to pursue the corporate ladder. If i can do something meaningful by being at the top of the ladder, I will be happy to do so. However i think this is difficult especially in a large organisation. On the other hand, I don't really want to be one of those who spends half the time playing or guarding against politics. Absolute waste of time. To some extent, i think i am watching a football match within the organisation!

Perhaps i can really only do meaningful and real work by starting out my own business (aka selling ice kachang :p)

As one gets older, one also asks more questions isn't it?

Heya, I am back to my blogging

It is almost two months since I have updated my blog. So sorry to all my friends whom haven't heard from me for a long time.

I am just done with my exams for this semester on last Thurs. Exam preparation this time round was minimal and the accounting paper was a tough but good paper. This term was pretty packed with assignments and quizzes. Coupled with the shuttling between 2 workplaces in the month of May and the settling into the new workplace, practically everyday for the last 1 month especially were just schoolwork and work (does not seem interesing at all isn't it?).

So am I surviving??? Yes, I did!! Many thanks to my dear dad, mom, sis and good friends who always give me their constant encouragement, support and well wishes despite their busy schedule. Joyce roomie, thanks a lot for explaining to me on the fine line between creative accounting and earning management. It's one of the questions asked in a indirect way :p

A few more months to go for my postgrad. I am looking forward to it and a good long overseas trip after that.

Hope this 2 week break (which is so much better than the last round of 4 days break) can allow me to have more time with family and catch up with my good friends. Jinjie, will arrange for a skype call with you soon to see you and Clement online! Hope Erwan will be around as well :)

I will also take the chance to go for my greens (i mean my nature walks)!! Hopefully I can get some good buys at GSS too :p

Though exam is over, I am worried about my dear sunshine sis... it's a difficult time for her now. Hope to see her sunshine shinning brightly soon again. Sis, you can do it. Jia you!

Learning cooking from my mum too. I wonder why can i fix a proper dinner? Hee, shall try till i make it! I have moderated my expectations for lot of things, but maybe not for this. Simply because I still feel homecooked food is the best. Well, it's a survival skill too.

A good friend shared with me on the unpredictability of life recently. Life is indeed unpredictable. Treasure the loved ones around us. If you have someone on your mind that you like, let him/her know. Pursue your happiness regardless of what may be the outcome :) And to all of us who exercise for zero time a week (including myself), do something about it (before the extra calories get deposited... u know where lah).

All right, shall end my lengthy blog here. Hope you are still awake after reading this blog :))

24th Jun 2007, 1.30am

A new life

I am not exactly stressed up at the moment. I have put in action what I want to do (for a very long time).... a change of working environment, work-life balance, a higher quality of life, impose much lesser expectations on myself, taking things much easier than before, having more personal time and spending more time with family and friends. Still trying to adjust to taking breakfast (regularly and on time), motivate myself for a weekly jogging and have some time (messing up) kitchen to learn some cookings. Oh yah... haven't gone for cycling for a long long time too... must do so one of these days soon.

By and large, life is good now. The only thing (haha) is probably still not getting enough sleep as need to try to catch some readings every night.

It was my first day at new workplace on Wednesday.... everything is new yet not too new to me, largely because I am still in the same (healthcare) industry. I do miss my old colleagues at my previous workplace, my favourite $0.70 coffee (Alvin's coffee) from the canteen, the flowers and the butterflies. Still trying to settle in now, hopefully i will settle in soon. Good thing is that I do like my new portfolios.

Life is more than work. The heart is beating every split seconds... life is precious. Love it and treasure it. Do what we have been hoping to do, treasure every moment.

Cheers :)

Rainbow

Yoz, long time never feel so stressed already....
Guess you must be guessing why i am feeling the stress?
Mostly from work. Got 2 presentations over the next few days, and one orientation to do tomorrow. And these are largely strictly speaking not under my portfolio!!! Good luck to me.

I am telling myself that this is the last lap. Jia you!
I am glad to have made the decision to move on... from all angles. I can see very clearly now that i have made the right choice.

Ever hear of one song 'yi zhui zhai zhui' by Alan (also sang by Ah Du that a very good friend of mine who is so sweet and thoughtful to have downloaded for me)? Sometimes one has to know when to let go. Life is precious. There is a better way to live it and to live it happily.

Cheers.

Lunar New Year

The last 3 days was chinese new year holidays. By and large, I am happy to have a chance to catch up with cousins and relatives. Had lots of laughters and interesting insights to certain things.

The new year would have been more fun and relaxing if I did not have to study for finance test on coming Thursday (which almost drives me up the wall) and coughing away. The cough is for sure a stubborn one - i have been coughing for 2 weeks already and disrupting my sleep (my fav thing to do during PH... what's a spoilsport).

Recently, I am also pretty bothered by career change decision. All available opportunities have their pros and cons. It is difficult to reach a decison, but i know i have to do so soon. It has been a month, time to make a choice.

I think i need to remind myself something again - I am just a small human being on this earth, and my troubles are even smaller. So don't be bothered by troubles.

Give myself a break, don't always push myself so hard.

Let the new lunar new year be a totally fresh and relaxing new year for myself ! :)

Speedy recovery, Mum

Mum is not well. Her blood pressure is high and creatinine level is higher than the acceptable level. I am worried.

From today onwards, all of us will make sure that she eats correctly, exercising regularly and don't make her angry. But I am not sure if she should be starting the medication. Will check that out tomorrow.

I 'm not sure if i am paranoid just because i am working in a hospital.
But it is really not the same when your loved one is not well....

Mum has worked hard all her life to bring up sister and myself.
This is a time that she can finally relax her pace of life, and just enjoy herself.

I will try my best to make sure that my mum gets the best appropriate treatment, so that her condition reverts to the normal parameters.

(Sis, thanks a lot for rushing to get the report despite your busy schedule. From now onwards, our dear mum will be under our 'nagging')

Speedy recovery, mum. Your daughters and papa will always be there for you.

Haven't had time to write my blog for a while... Life has been pretty hectic with work and school work.

Studying organisation behaviour this semester.
It is an interesting subject when you are in lecture, tutorial... but when it comes to assignment...haha... it is not easy! Hee, am sure my classmates will agree with me.

I am writing this blog now, partly because i have no more brain power to continue writing.... :p

Glad that it is weekend finally. Got to do a fair bit of domestic admin this weekend and of course cny spring cleaning.... (i am not even thinking of going shopping cos' i know it is not possible for sure.... u will know what i mean if you look at my calendar.... )

Anyway, hope i can catch some good sleep this weekend. *yawn*

Be Thankful

BE THANKFUL
By Author Unknown

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

Yea! I am finally done with my econ exam today!
Hardly got time to study, had only a few days of intense revision before exams.
But it was good! I like econs.
Perhaps i should have majored in economics back in university, and perhaps i may be an economist now :p

The most important thing now is that I will have a good break before next semester starts in early Jan 07 :)


Photo shows the pink flowers of my favourite butterfly plant.

Cheers.

Water water everywhere

Read from an article just now that water reflects our emotions.... water molecules will be nicer if they are showered with love and concern. Do you believe? I do.

Besides water, I feel that plants are also able to feel our emotions.

It's difficult to explain certain things in this interesting world.

Instead of pursing materialistic desires all the time, it is good to smell the roses, breathe in the fresh air, and reflect upon oneself periodically. Carry an abundance mindset, and have a big heart for others. You may just realise that plants around you are dancing graciously and perhaps water crystals are glittering! :-)

The deep blue sea

For the last couple of weeks, i have been really caught up with work and studies. While I thought that I could do more of my work this week, and perhaps to work on one of my assignments, nearly the whole week is swamped with work, and I was just too tired to do anything else after work.

I guess everyone needs a break, and I shan't be too difficult on myself.

Is it all worth it? Yes. The course is useful, and the challenges at work probably just helped me to be triple efficient... haha.

What's a wonderful world

It's been exactly a month since i wrote my blog.

Been busy but life has been very fulfulling. Gradually learning to take things easier in quite a lot of aspects.

On last wed, i bumped into a colleague's baby gal. She is 9 months old. A bit shy, very sweet and adorable... initially a bit scared of auntie lynette... but later when she stretched yourself from her mummy to indicate 'hug hug' ... so sweet! All of a sudden... all my tiredness went off with laughter and laughter :-)

On the very next day, i saw my 2 of my neighbours' kids - oh mine, time passes so fast. Think they are probably 4 years old now. It seems like i just saw them as baby yesterday.
Anyway, these 2 little boys reminded me of my childhood. They were so excited been able to 'run away' from parents to run downstair to buy sweets. One of them were pushing a bicycle, (which is about the same height as him), and i think the boy's weight is probably same as the bicycle too. He fell! Ouchs! This ouch is not from him, it's from me!! He is just so brave, the bad fell hurt his chest (quite painful i think) but he just gets on and move! Brillant!

Well, did u get some inspiration from my two 'kiddish' stories?
I shall keep it open ended :-)

Speedy recovery please...

I have not fallen so seriously sick for very long.
And this time round, i am really conquered by a seemingly mild cold on last fri...
It was so bad yesterday that i have to take the afternoon off yesterday to see a doctor, and a whole day off at home today.

It is a super lousy feeling to be down with running nose, sore throat and cough...
I feel so blur all day.
Exam next week, yet I cannot study fast.
There is outstanding work in office that I have timed in such that I can take 2 day off next week... but of course it has piled up now.
I am super frustrated... and angry with myself.

The school itself does not help in things.
Realised that there was a technical gitch up in my previous module registration, and yet the administrator just said that "well, you should have corrected it before the censor date, you may get a F grade now". What she said really aggravated my running nose..... when i thought i was recovering. I do not see why I should get a F grade for a module that does not exist in the singapore campus, and I didn't even paid for it. It appeared in the system, despite i have corrected it. So is this fault of mine?! I hope that the Australian school would be more understanding. I washed my hand for our local administrator. As a administrator, the fundamental role is to facilitate. Doubt my school administrator understood their fundamental role. Anyway, I have also learnt a precious lessson: check entries properly next time.

Exam is next week...
There is indeed quite a lot of readings, and they are pretty heavy reading i must say. Whatever it is, i try my best lah (not at the expense of health for sure... haha).

Anyway, wish myself a speedy recovery and good luck for next week's exam.

Cheers.

An 'eye-opener' experience at a photo studio

My family and myself decided to take our family photo recently.

We decided to choose a studio that is pretty well-known in Singapore... but it turns out to be quite a disappointing experience unfortunately. However, it is certainly an eye-opener...

While we were sitting down at the studio to think about which packages to take, we realised that their packages were very rigid and they were counted in a couple of hundreds mind you. Yet they said, "this is a very good discounted price". To be frank, we could probably get lower rates outside. All right, we decided to pursue with the photoshot at this studio (one family shot at 20R) since they have a longstanding brandname in Singapore and brand image for quality, good family and bridal shots. We trust that the quality would be top-notched.

During the photoshot, we had booked ourselves for the 11am photoshot, and there was nobody in line, yet the photographers were rushing through. Nevermind, maybe they were experienced photographers. During the photoshots, the photographers kept asking us to take individual photos. All right, we decided to take up their recommendations. This translated to a hefty amount of $550 (excluding GST) for a 24R family photo and 2 8R individual photo (with 6 3R photos developed for each photo selected).

After the photoshot, we were requested to pay up the full sum of $550 (this is something that i have never heard off - upfront payment without seeing the products). Well, their answer was "100% guaranteed". Fine, we paid up the full sum.

When photos were developed for selection, we were told that the rest of the photos which were not selected must be returned (hm, we paid for the photos, why should they be returned?). Well, not all the photos were well-taken as fine details were missed out. I was telling myself that this might be the reason why they requested for non-selected photos to be returned (so that their sloppy photo shots would be shown to others).

Anyway, we chose the 3 photos, and took for selection of frames today. Haha, this section is the 'best' experience in how to lure customers to pay more! They have requested for us to upgrade our 3R photos to 4R or 5R (this translates to $55 more for 4R)... and the next thing is to produce an album for $250 or $450 (which would include some of the sloppy photo shots). Why on earth do we want to upgrade to an album?? It does not make economical sense non logical sense (with all those sub-standard photos?). When my sis pointed out the sloppy work, the lady was very unhappy and did not even bother to find out more. This is certainly a classical example of poor customer service. The next 2 things that put me off was that we were not offered seats to select the frame and she was all ready to send us out (without any genuine thank you) right after we select our frames!

Oh, one last thing, the framing of photos needs at least 2 months (come on, who on earth will take such a long time in this techno age)

Well, maybe we are small customers to them, but this is certainly not the way to do business -poor customer service, trying their very best to get people to pay more when we have already decided on a package, and lack of genuine appreciation for their customers who have confidence in their brand name. They have managed to put me off successfully. We did not kick up any scene but they can be assured that this will be the last time they received our business, and their names will not appear in the list when friends ask us for recommendation.

I am not sure if I am over demanding being in the service industry. But i really feel that they have not even met the fundamental of customer service! And I am quite sure that they are allowing themselves to ruin their longstanding brandname if they persist in doing business in this non-professional way.

What's an eye opener experience? :)

Got a breather today... phew...

Got back my mid-term test result (results quite good but can be better), handed in my individual project, hospital audit is over today.

At 3pm today, i actually feel that the world had kind of slowed down... not quite used to it.
Have I been performing at gear 5, that's why not used to it when slowed down to gear 3?? Haha. Anway, it is good that i could have like a 2.5 hrs of breather this afternoon, just before i go off for my class...

Still got 2 more days to go to end the hectic week.
Jia you! jia you!

Cheers,
lynette

24 hours not enough lah

Have been super busy with work and study for these 3 weeks from preparing for mid-term test, rushing for assignments and of course to catch up with readings. 24 hour a day does not seem to be enough.

But at the end of the day, at least i know that i am learning something new...

My dad collected our family photos from the studio today.
Haa... my dear sister looks so pretty, especially in her NTU graduation gown and certificate.
Hmmm.. mine looks quite plain on the contrary.
But nevermind, it is good enough that the family photo looks good. This is the most important (and of course sis's photos second most important).

I look forward to putting on my Master course graduation gown soon!

Cheers.