April 12, 2011

Everything nice, Everything spice....

Do you ever wake up and start thinking how you would like the day to be? If you don't give it a try, it is really fun and you get to add some twists of excitement to the day.

What most of us do, is , we wake up and start off the day with the usual routine without giving much thought and how we would like to picture the day. Well I guess, it is because all of us has gotten accustomed to a set routine and don't see anything changing much except the weekends...but that is where we can be very wrong. Yes, we have work, the usual transport chaos, brekkie, lunch & dinner and finally sleep. But we can spice it up , with a bit of imagination. Don't get irritated when you start waiting for the overly late train/bus ride. Bring along your camera and click at what's going on around you, constructions, little kids playing around, the train tracks, beautiful sky, the sunshine, flowers and stuff like that. That will take your mind away from the frustrations and at the end of the day, you would have a beautiful album of what not that can really beautiful. Of cos if you are not a photography enthusiasts like me, than this suggestion may become a tat boring for some. Bring along a magazine than and catch up on hollywood gossips.Grab different falovoured coffee on the way each day. It will sweetly brighten up your days.

While at office, I would like to tidy up my desk a bit at the beginning of each day, and lay out the urgent to the non-urgent files. I love to have colourful post its to brighten up my tasks. Being a lecturer, this helps to elevate my mood for the day. I also have a sense of which tasks need to be completed urgently and so on. I always like to colour my desk calender according the important days of meeting, student consults, period of grading papers, seminars, conferences and so on. Yeah...boring stuff but when you have the passion and liking to something, you kind of look forward to that particular day to attend a seminar or conference or something....I like to add smiley faces in between, these are to remind me of having to catch up with friends for coffee. What happens is I have a few friends in other faculty. Due to the busy schedules, we hardly meet up. So I pen in some coffee dates with them. It will be a short one, probably 20 to 30 mins. Not much can be discussed so we end up just updating each other. But it still turns out well, you just had met a friend who you have not heard from or seen for some time. On days I have to have lunch on my own, I would take some time to check out some bakeries/cafes or eateries near my workplace and have a look at the menus. If there is something interesting, I will just head to that place and enjoy the food. It may be good or at times can be a disappointment, but I perk myself up by have bubble tea or grab a coffee of my choice back to work. At times, I will have  a back up place, a place that sells cupcakes, desserts or something small but has had good reviews. I will just pick it up. Being in Singapore, Taxi fares are not too expensive as in Sydney. So I will indulge in a small adventure and head out to places that I would have no time to on other days and still get back in time for my teaching.

Being a Psych reserach student/management lecturer, I have a weird habbit that is to observe people, even when I am having lunch. So I enjoy some quiet time, sitting at a cafe and observing people, the signals that they give to one another, the waiter/waitress, cashier and so on. I get happy and excited especially if I can associate with the behaviours!!!! This is what I do, but there are so many other things that you can do and link it back to what you like. Some like books, so bring along one and have a read of a chapter or a few pages.

I always keep grocery shopping and window shopping out of my work days. Why? Well, grocery shopping are chores and when you tend to squeeze in this in between dinner or coffee breaks, it only stresses you out and drains your emotion and energy level. So, unless it is urgent I keep it for the weekends. Studies have proven that all are extremely positive and have excellent mood for the weekend. So no matter what, even grocery shopping will become a fun chores. As for window, shopping, it is a great way for girls to relieve some stress, but we run out of time and end up back in the office only thinking about what we could have bought or seen. This actually stops us from being productive and makes us even more frustrated when things do not go our way...

When heading back home, I would like to look out the window and watch the scenes go by, shut off my brain cells and let it wander off...lol...When I reach home, a simple dinner is always the best unless I have the energy to cook myself a storm. .

Of course, all my days are not a wonderful and candied coloured...but I would say most of my days are lovely, cos I make it that way.

So go ahead and make your day a good one, add some spice to and everything will be nice =)

xoxo,
M

April 11, 2011

Singapore...

Omg! Has it been that long since I last updated this blog. Looks like it...

It has been 4 months since I had come to Singapore and I have settled in well. It has been great to be home and with my family, especially my chubby chub chubs, my niece & nephew. It is amazing how a kid and a toddler can entertain me all day long and I still yearn for them to repeat their silly tantrums and joyful pranks on me.

Home is good. It has a lot of changes. Starting with Singapore. The island that has approximately more than 4million people is still expanding! Amazing!!!! New building has cropped up and one of them is the height defying Marina Bay Sands. It is really awesome, especially at night. It looks amazing and sometimes makes me wonder, can designs and architectures get any weirder in Singapore. Although the design is clean and has sophistication written all over it, it does challenge the notion of gravity and balance with a huge ship like roof deck...You have to see it to be amazed! I have yet to travel all the way up, which is a good  55-storey high!!!! It is called the Sands Skypark that is a 1 hectare sky terrace on the roof which  houses the world's longest  elevated swimming pool along with a museum, restaurants, nightclubs and a garden as well. I will go by there, once I have gotten over the height phobia! Seriously, 55 story high!!! Wow!!! But my friends and family who had been there said that it is truly amazing looking down upon the whole island!!!...okie, challenge is accepted and I shall, within the next few months give it a go.


The other interesting discovery is the Singapore Universal Studios. Yes! Finally after years of hearing that it will be "coming soon"...it has finally arrived. Will be going there for my birthday and I can't wait to absorb everything fun there. Although the ticket prices are a tact too expensive for me, I wish the government would have subsidised for the citizens. But yeah, it will be a one time trip for me and my family.


Tried out a lot of food, which is a distinct hobby of most Singaporeans. The food is heavenly delicious. Starbucks are still my favourite hang out place. With free Wi-Fi, I could be sitting there for hours and most of the time don't realise that the afternoon has passed by. Super love the green tea versions of latte and frap. I am drafting out the places and food that I ate and will be posting them soon.


Apart from exploring the food, new ventures and shopping galores, I had been mostly occupied in catching up with my family who I had been away from the past 6 years with occasional holidays. It has definitely been a super awesome time to be with them and feel the support & love from all of them.


I had also be painstakingly been applying for jobs and the pain of being rejected can only be described as " Why am I NOT good enough?" but followed by a few successful interviews with one job offer , I was like " Finally, they realise how truly I am a great asset to the Education sector in Singapore"...haahaa...But truly, I feel really grateful for being offered a job, especially one where I have the most passion to give my full potentials. I can't wait to start as I still have a few more formalities that I had to adhere to before being accepted by Kaplan. So till, than, my mom has been the most inspiring and supportive. Always letting me know that I am the best and the best will be there for me when the time is right. Dad as usual, casual and makes life a breeze by putting a smile on my face with his true but silly jokes and humours of life's disappointments....


So there u go, my brief selective updates of what's been happening around me...


May you all have a good Monday,
Huggies, 
M