May Weddings

Today’s my cousin’s wedding. This must be a fortuitous month as I have already attended another wedding this month. Weddings are great. You go shopping for nice clothes, meet people you haven’t seen in ages to catch-up, eat a full-course Chinese dinner and celebrate your loved ones’ new future. Can’t wait =P

On Leave

Took the day off from work to go shopping and get my nails done.

I got my coach shoes without having to queue and even had time to get nail art done on my fingers and toes. An overall productive day.

GSS

The GSS started yesterday and also tis the season to put my OTO foot massager to good use. I started my first day of shopping today as the early bird catches the worms. But, I guess everyone in Singapore feels the same as well. The huge crowds at Orchard road and long queues outside the stores told a very different story from the newspaper articles that predicted this year’s sale to be slow.

I was stopped in my tracks at Coach which had a queue that snaked around the corner. Looks like I will have to take leave next week to continue my shopping. My best buy today is a red leather jewellery case @ half price, perfect for my tabletop. Let’s hope it outlasts it’s warranty.

Team Lunch

We always have a few of this. Mainly for the new joiners and the people who are leaving. It is usually over drinks and bar food. But, today we have a twist where we will actually sit down at an actual restaurant and have a meal together.

We had peranakan food which was delicious with a history lesson thrown in by the owner. I think my favourite item on the menu is the lime & lemongrass soda. Perfect for a hot, humid day like this. After that huge lunch I was fighting off the sleepiness for the rest of the day. You would think I know better by now right.

Wear Jeans to Work Day

We can wear jeans to the office today as part of a charity fundraiser. Which is treat for me as there are no casual days at my office. Believe it or not, my bosses still turn up in full suits everyday. I wore the only pair of jeans I can still fit into, a comfy pair of boot cut GAP jeans. I was tempted to pair it with an old comfortable T-shirt but, thought the wiser of it.

Coincidentally, it is also Payday. So, I am feeling pretty good. Not only am I comfortable, I am in the black today.

Vesak Day

Vesak Day is a day of prayer. On this day, we celebrate Buddha’s birthday by visiting lots of temples to pray, give thanks, make donations and eat vegetarian food. Amidst the smog of incense and sweltering heat, we try and appreciate the blessings in our lives and pray for the less fortunate (the victims of natural disasters in China and Myanmar).

The lotus flower is closely associated to Buddhism and is often seen as temple offerings or shaped as candles for the alter. My Ikebana teacher recommended the use of white lotus for my home arrangements today as it represents Bodhi, the state of total mental purity and spiritual perfection.

Take-Out

Given that it is raining, there aren’t many options for lunch. Especially since there isn't a sheltered walkway from my office to the central food area. There is the usual fast food and now there is even dim sum and peranakan food takeaway. Then, we found a canteen operator catering to office workers in this area. I haven’t seen one since my first job as a temp in a government agency. You call and order the day’s special before 10.30am in the morning and they deliver cheap, good and hot food to you by noon. There is something new everyday and the menu keeps changing from week to week. You know you have worked too long for one company when you have tasted the entire menu twice. Well, maybe to long for a temp that is.

I remember in those days, people would just walk into the office to sell things to the staff (like MLM). I also remember actually buying some of that stuff (a set of children’s fairy tale books). You don’t see many of those anymore. When I had my first real job at Citibank, the closest thing that came to it was when they booked a meeting room for a day to lay out and sell children’s clothes to the staff. In my second job at UBS, an internal committee will also book a meeting room to sell organic produce. Apparently, it was a yearly affair. So, it may sound strange that I haven’t encountered anything close to this at my current workplace. Or, maybe there just aren’t many MLM schemes around these days.

New Office

Today I moved into my new office in Changi. A discreet little building that everyone thought was called Rohde & Schwarz (because the company put their name outside their window). I foresee arguments with taxi drivers in the future. The actual name of the building is nowhere to be found except on the glass door entrance, in tiny frosted letters.

It isn't too bad. I have a lovely seat by the terrace that is adjacent to the largest pantry I have ever seen. Big enough to rival Bloomberg’s. Although Changi Business Park is far from everything, there is enough for a normal workday. A food court to have lunch and a pond where we can feed fishes for fun.

Not so luckily, my screen now faces the rest of the office, so anyone can just spring up on me. I think it surprised my boss as well. Because, although he still has his office, his screen now faces the rest of the office (ha ha…).