Feels like I'm saying this every week, but it has been a pretty long and stressful week. Some particularly heavy stuff happened this week which put a lot of pressure on me mentally and emotionally. However, it certainly isn't all bad though. There are certainly positive takeaways from the situation, and of course many blessings throughout the week. And I would like to share them here. 

Mon (19/10)

I had managed to clear that huge meeting minutes from the meeting that I hosted the previous week. It was certainly not easy to put everything in neatly, especially with the blunder that I made regarding the timeline. Glad that it was cleared at least. Also managed to chat with Naimin over messenger again, which helped my perspectives as usual. The rest of the day didn't have much on. Dinner was a satisfying Mee Pok plus Bubble Tea which is always great. 

Tue (20/10)

So apparently I sent out a very "bad" email which my boss didn't like. He was clearly not happy about it. Thankfully, I received some advice on the situation from my fellow colleagues at work. I am grateful that at least some guidance was provided. Lunch was a super satisfying Roti Prata from our favorite Jalan Kayu, it was awesome. Boss continued to express his displeasure, which was stressful. But in the end, I managed to get in a good gym session to round out the night. Which is the best way to beat stress! 

Wed (21/10)

In the morning, I got the proper scolding session from boss in front of everyone (online), which to be honest was kinda stressful. But hey, at least I can put that behind and I am thankful that the worst is over! Plus I had a nice McDonald's dinner courtesy of my dad who went out to buy for us. I am very grateful that he did that. It certainly makes a bad day much better! Some time in the evening, I also received a sort of 'saving grace' email that the other department couldn't deliver by Friday as well, which was the hard deadline I was given for everything. That gave me some breathing room at least, which I was really happy and relieved that I got. 

Thur (22/10)

Back to office again. Work is tough as it is my first time doing this type of document. Thankfully, I had a lot of help from the developers on the API documentation. Lunch was fun. Not many people in office, so Khee Soon brought me out for lunch again. We went to some chinese rice place near Asia Square. The chicken cutlet is really nice and pretty affordable. After lunch, we also went to LiHo to try out their new matcha series of drinks. It was okay only, but at least I get to try something new, which is always refreshing. I am also thankful that, after all the scolding, boss helped me to solve a lot of the problems that needed to be solved. 

Fri (23/10)

Friday was a productive day. After some chasing, I managed to get all the signatures that I needed to endorse my documents. After all the struggles in the previous month, it came as a pleasant surprise that it could be done so quickly. I also brought my Dota jacket to work as the aircon was cold. Who knew that it would become such a talking point. Andi asked me about it, which was no surprise, but even the head of finance talked to me about it. We bonded pretty well as he told me how he used to play LAN in his uni days. LOL. I guess I am on talking terms with finance now! Dinner was awesome. Our family went out to celebrate the end of the week by eating some Fish and Co. Good stuff. 

Sat (24/10)

It was a pretty satisfying day. I like to take my full Saturday to relax and recharge. If there is any work I wanna do, I will push it to Sunday for just before the week starts. My Saturdays are sacred that way. And rest and relax I did. Morning, we went to Boon Keng Market, where I got to try the fried png kuay that my sis recommended. It was good! Also got to try the pretty nice Bober and took some pictures. I even got to take a nap in the afternoon. Talk about rested! Dinner was mostly leftover food from the fridge that we had a lot of. Grateful for sis who helped up prepare all of it. Also did that pilates workout with her at night. What was fun, was her trying the wax strips on my leg after that. Hahaha. Surprisingly it did not hurt at all! I might look into doing my entire leg of it some time. Been wanting to try it for awhile now. 

Sun (25/10)

Today was a lazy Sunday. I felt like I should have done more work. But at the same time, I was really exhausted form the week, so I think I deserved the rest. I did prepare some notes for the big meeting tomorrow. Morning was pretty chill, went out for lunch with the family, got to enjoy my favorite fried rice with chicken cutlet and milo bubble tea. Spend most of the rest of the day just watching some YouTube videos and recharging for the upcoming week ahead. Dinner was simple home cooked food and Cup Walker that sis bought for me on her way back. Nice. 

Well, that's it for now. I guess the moral or theme for this past week was "Persistence". As long as we just hang in there and keep at it, it will all work out to be okay in the end. So, here's to another week of persistence and keeping strong at doing what we're doing! Gambatte! 

Stay Strong!

Hey guys. I know I did say I wanted to try out the daily version of blessings log. Well, I did give it a try. Unfortunately, with the fatigue of my daily work week, it was hard to keep up the same effort daily. So my solution, is to revert back to the weekly versions that I will publish every Sunday night. The strategy is pretty simple. I will still keep track of stuff daily on my notes app, but I will only do the full post to sum up the week on Sundays. Monday was already done, so this one will start from Tuesday.

So without further ado let's go! 

Tue (13/10)

The working from office continues. I actually do feel somewhat more productive in office during the morning. Today I made a close friend with my hearing impaired colleague Khee Soon. He seemed really busy with work, so I offered to help him buy back lunch. Also, I finally managed to figure out that whole Shopback and Gong Cha situation, so I am happy I got my milk tea. For work, I cleared off another meeting in the long series of requirements gathering which was nice. I also got praised by boss for my previous meeting minutes! I guess my work really is better than I made it out to be. To end off the day, I got transport from the MRT station by dad again so I didn't have to walk. I am really thankful for that. 

Wed (14/10)

Was a pretty interesting day. I mean, work was busy, but work will always be work and shouldn't be the focus on your life. What was cool was that Khee Soon was nice enough to lead us out for lunch. So Andi, Khee Soon, and myself went out together for lunch. I am grateful that we can all be so nice and friendly with each other. We actually walked pretty far to get lunch, past the Microsoft building and all. We went to the hawker center next to Lau Pa Sat to get lunch. I had some pretty fragrant Nasi Lemak which wasn't too expensive, and then grabbed a Mr.Bean pearly soya milk on the way back. Evening got transport from dad again which I am always thankful for. 

Thur (15/10)

Work from home! Yippie! Our rotating schedule means I have the next 5 working days at home! I am just thankful that I get to have a bit more sleep in the morning because I don't have to wake up so early to travel. Another good thing was that I had the full uninterrupted day to really prepare for my big meeting with the boss and other directors. Was pretty crazy now that I think about it, I was the only low level staff there, and I was hosting the entire meeting by myself. Boss wasn't there to back me up. Thankfully, I think it went as well as I could have done it. To top it off, I managed to end the night by getting a really solid gym session in. I mean like hardcore chest and upper body training. My favorite. 

Fri (16/10)

It was a relatively stress-free day which was nice. Didn't have too much work coming in. I did manage to brief the offshore developers via Skype and finally get them off my back, ha ha. Honestly, it shouldn't be that hard to get some work done without getting questioned every step of the way. Glad I cleared that out. Evening was nice, took a walk out with sis to grab our usual R&B brown sugar milk tea. The pearls are really awesome, sweet and chewy. It doesn't really matter how your day went. Bubble tea always makes it better! 

Sat (17/10)

Went out with the family in the afternoon to grab lunch and groceries. We headed to that super huge Giant in Tampines. To my surprise, since I always complained about their food court, they now had a pretty legit western stall. And you know what? The western stall had the same set meal that I always bought from the Jem food court. It's basically fried fish, cheese fries, agli olio, and cream of mushroom soup all rolled into one power packed set meal. Nice! Dinner was coincidentally fried fish again. Managed to get sis to tapau some food from Donki for my dinner. Also, I found a pretty funny new anime and added it to my current season watching list. It is called: "The Day I Became a God"

Sun (18/10)

Had a pretty good rest with my weekend sleep ins. Lunch was the corn dogs bought from Donki, pretty nice. I spent the afternoon going through the recording of the meeting that I hosted. The meeting minutes will need to be done, so I was just glad that I managed to get all the preliminary notes down first. I can do all the rephrasing and organization in the actual work week, I just used this as a way to lessen my pain when I actually work on it. Managed to get some chatting with Naimin over messenger as well, which is always helpful to get some perspectives. Dinner was some pretty nice tapau Zhi Char noodles and Oreo Crush drink from Hougang Green. Ended off the night by doing some Pilates training with sis. I don't think it does super much for my weight loss, but it should help a bit, plus it lets us bond a bit somewhat so I'll always try to do it if I have the time. Cherish those around you.  

Those are some powerful lyrics btw.

Another week draws to a close, and another week of opportunities opens. Let's make the most of our time here, and enjoy whatever we can. It's not worth feeling down over insignificant matters. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. 

It's Monday! Another new week of opportunities. Since I have some time, and I basically planned out my whole week already, I decided to try out a daily version of the blessings log. This morning I spent a bit of time to list out everything that I needed to get done which was refreshing. Things are just a lot clearer and less gunked up in my head if I write it down. I might actually get better at time management!

My morning commute to work was pretty smooth. I even managed to get a seat in the train today. Nice. Not too much work today as I had prepared my notes last night, so only simple rephrasing and formatting of the meeting minutes to be sent out. Boss was in a good mood, so not much pressure coming from his side as well which is always a good time. 

Lunch was rather peaceful. Didn't have any buddies to go lunch with today, so I just explored on my own. I found out that there was a Gong Cha in the nearby mall. Although I didn't managed to buy today, it is useful information scouted out! I really appreciate that my office provides coffee and tea in the pantry for us. The genmaicha is a saver for me in the morning as I always skip breakfast for fasting. The hazelnut gao siew dai coffee also makes a nice afternoon drink to keep me awake after lunch. Maybe I can even thrift out and save on the bubble tea and calories! Idea.

My evening was cool. I decided to just send out the meeting invite and get that out of the way so I could go home and not do OT for no reason. Turns out, my family was planning to buy Ponggol Nasi Lemak for dinner! Just nice when I reach the station, they were nearby enough to also give me a lift. Sweet! A good way to end the day. Also received a friendly tip from sis to start using myfitnesspal to track my calories and start taking my weight loss more seriously. Sounds like it might work, I'll give it a shot. 

So that's all for my day. Hope you had a great day too!

Wow, it has been a pretty long week. First week of going back to office. Even though it was only for 2 days this past week, it felt way different from just working from home. I think it's probably the travelling time and dressing up that tires me the most, but it does make me more productive. Anyway, that is not what this blog post is about. I don't do introspective reflections blogs anymore. This post will be a continuation of the exercise I started in the first post. 

Blessing log. Let's go!

Mon (5/10)

It was first day of the week. I am just thankful for the fact I wasn't the first group going back to office. I had people to ask and people to bring cables and stuff and clean up the place. Oh, and I also advanced to the Ruby League on Duolingo! Yay! 

Tue (6/10)

I received the e-copy of my confirmation letter from HR which is good because it means they can't fire me without at least 1 month notice. Hahaha. Also, I had my colleague Sam help me out with handling the super confused offshore developers understand what needs to be done. I am really thankful for that. In addition, I managed to book the ever elusive gym slot for Fri. It always disappears very quickly. Lucky! 

Wed (7/10)

I received my official staff member account, which allows me to login to the member app and website should I choose to. Member card should be coming soon. Feels good to be part of a prestigious club. At night, had an evening walk out with sis to buy bubble tea. Apparently LiHo had a $3.40 promo discount with Foodpanda. Value. Also, my dad helped me with ironing my work shirts. I know I should really do it myself, but still I am very grateful that helped me with it. Thanks dad! 

Thur (8/10)

First day back in office. Very small space and few people, but I am just glad that everyone at the office is really friendly. It's a good start. I also finally received my physical confirmation letter and past payslips. Not super important, but feels good to have the hardcopy with me. Also, I made a close friend with my colleague Andi who apparently is the same age as me. Looking forward to working together and hopefully building the friendship deeper.  

Fri (9/10)

TGIF! Managed to clear one round of requirements discussion with my business users. Overall, I think it went pretty smoothly for the first discussion ran by me. Cleared as much work as I could before leaving work. I was happy that I got to do my gym which I was looking forward to. It was at 9pm, so I had plenty of time to travel and eat and stuff. I am grateful that my best friend Naimin obliged to chatting with me over messenger for that period of time. It really help me build perspective on my work stress and what I should really be focusing on in life. Work isn't everything and he is right. I am really blessed to have a good friend like him. 

Sat (10/10)

Happy World Mental Health Awareness Day! It's something I've become more passionate about lately, especially with all the struggles I've been through. Certainly needs more awareness! I've been playing around with a small amount DeFi and managed to collect a bunch of rewards and stake back what I earned to farm even more. There are risks, but at least I get to play around and learn the workings for now. After dinner, sis shared with me another good deal! Gong Cha bubble tea at $2.50 in Shopback. Value! Also, Naimin shared with me some ideas regarding earning crypto interest on Nexo. I am thankful for that info and will research more into it. 

Sun (11/10) 

Buffet day! I met up with my usual group of cosplay event friends to go eat sushi buffet at M Hotel. It was a lot of food! Personally, I don't really eat seafood, let alone raw fish. But still I am really thankful for the opportunity to catch up with old friends, chit chat and walk around after. It's unfortunate that most events got cancelled, so I cherish these opportunities to meet up. We even took a bus down to Funan just so I could go see it, because I haven't been there since it renovated. So nice of them to oblige me on that. Overall, I had a really fun day and I am supercharged and refuelled for the coming work week. 

Well, that's about it for this week of happiness log. I had to keep it as brief and quick as possible because I don't have much time. I am still experimenting with this right now. Maybe weekly is not the right way to go, and I should do a quick daily one while everything is still fresh in the mind. I will need a few more rounds of experimenting to figure out what works best for me. In the meantime, let's enjoy this uplifting song from a group whose music I have been really enjoying lately.

Have really been enjoying YOASOBI songs lately.

Until next time, stay happy ~ 

Hi all! 

Thank you for the patience. This shall be first post of many posts to come of my brand new blog! Since this is the first post, allow me to share the general theme and concept of the blog before properly getting into the main content of today's post.

I got the inspiration for this type of blog/diary from multiple sources and books that I had read during my long hiatus. Basically, the premise is to record a notebook or diary of the good things that happen and come across in your life. It helps you by bringing into the spotlight the often overlooked happiness and abundance that we experience daily and allows us to be thankful and grateful for all the blessings we experience, no matter how big or small. 

You see, the funny thing about our mind, is that we like to overthink things. And I definitely am culprit #1 when it comes to overthinking and over-analyzing things. On top of that, it has been found that the bias for reflecting on our past experience tends to be overwhelmingly negative. Therefore, the purpose of this exercise is to balance that out by bringing the good stuff to the forefront. 

How to do it? Well, there is no exact instructions so we'll figure it out as we go! But the main things to note are to state the things that I am grateful for during a particular interval (daily or weekly). And also to be specific on the details for it to be more effective and impactful. So while you may be thankful for your friend, it would be best to state what trait/action/things made you feel that way.

So let's get started!

Since this is the first post, let me try to retroactively identify all the stuff that happened this past week. Because there are many. First up, is the so-called trial by fire that I survived. For the past 3 months, I was under the probation period for the new job that I had started. I started out pretty good by completing the first assignment well, but the second assignment was much tougher and I had a lot of room for improvement. Thankfully, my revised approach was generally okay in principle with the boss. More importantly, my evaluation went way better than I had expected after my struggles with the second assignment. Basically, I passed the evaluation and my position was confirmed. And for that, I am grateful. 

Next, was the department lunch that happened after my evaluation. I find it nice that the company was offering to give each department a lunch treat to allow us to bond over fancy food. And yes, I do mean fancy like fine dining. The last round, we went to Wakanui to eat and it was pretty good. This time round, we went to Lawry's for lunch and the steak was oh so good. Not to mention, our Grab transport to and fro was claimable. Shiok right? I don't think many would really think too much to reflect on it, but it is damn nice that they are doing this lah. Along with the other benefits and the company trip (rip COVID), I think that for a SME this company really does know how to look after its employees well. And for that, I am grateful. 

I think the hardest one for me to pen down, and the one that at first glance makes no sense to me, is to be thankful for my work? I mean, if you logically look at it, mostly people would say you are crazy to be thankful for more work right? But if I were to change my perspective and look at it from another angle. The fact that my boss is willing to confirm me, and to assign me more responsibilities, is the clearest sign that he trusts me to be capable enough to handle the job, does it not? So, while I would be lying if I said I wasn't struggling with my current work, and the fact that there are more coming in tomorrow, it's not as bad as I make it out to be. And I certainly should not feel overly down about it. It's a chance to prove myself. So far, I had led about 2-3 meetings including a company wide one and one with the offshore vendor. I can say that I am gradually building up my "mojo", and impressing more people along the way. And for that progress, I am thankful. 

Last but certainly not least, I am thankful for my best friend who stuck with me all this time, through my darkest days, and also through the most fun times we had in Japan. I know I am probably not the most likable person to interact with, and I frequently dump my psychological issues on him as a way to vent and discuss my many inner challenges. But no matter what, he will try to make some time to meet up with me to have dinner and catch up, just as we did on last Friday. It will certainly be more challenging for us to frequently meet up as work builds up and our schedules start to get busier. But I certainly hope to not lose touch with one of the most open, like-minded, and empathetic friends I have. I appreciate his unique perspectives and listening ear that played a big part in helping me through my most trying times. And for that, I am grateful. 

Let's end off with an old happy song shall we? 

Just an old song that suddenly popped up and got stuck in my head. English lyrics

As I alluded to in the above paragraphs, I am sure that this week will be another eventful week with many challenges, but also many blessings to be thankful for. Next week will be the start of "back to office" under a partial rotating roster, and will actually be my first time visiting our office. Should be an interesting experience, not to mention the new list of tasks that my boss will be passing to me tomorrow. Nevertheless, I am certain that there is definitely happiness to be found, no matter how big or small, if we pay attention and go out to look for it. 

So until my next post, thanks for reading! :)