it's whining time!!!

hehe.. as said by Morrie himself, it's alright to whine a little, to feel sorry for urself, a lil self-pity.. but onli a lil.. then u hav to get off from it, n get on with life.. hehh.. so here goes..

<.whine>
i'm in my labbie now
i wun b taking off on wed
i wun b taking off on thurs
< /whine>

haiz... before this, my boss told me b4 tt he would very much like it if i can get the protein crystalized for him so that he can bring it over to Japan to do the screening during Chinese New Year.. and after leaving early from work yest, i had to let him know cos he was in his office, n again he emphasized on this point.. so that means extra stress for me in my work.. that means, i wun b able to take a long week off as planned next week.. that means, i wun b able to spend one full day packing, shifting n what not.. cos i wld onli b able to claim my off day after CNY, n by then, i shd hv shifted to my new place.. haiz..

okies... whining over... time to look at how to grow African violets.. heee.. the lady at the plants shop was very nice. she allowed me to take one leaf home yest. i learnt before from my aunt when i was young how to grow these plants from leaves, so i hope i hv not lost touch with my skills.. hee.. my little project in my lab.. :)

oya.. a fren of mine asked me if i'm interested in vertical marathon (http://www.nvm05.cjb.net/).. any of u all interested???

okie, i decided i shall blog tonite, tho i want to sleep soon. hv to wake up early tmr morning.. *groan.. shall leave the whining to tmr.. now, to focus on today.. it was quite another eventful day..

the farmart experience

when my boss said he wanted to get plants n an aquarium in the ancilliary office (which is the office space for the students n staff, right outside his own personal office), he wasnt kidding. yesterday he got me panicked to chk n make sure that this place Farmart, which i recommended since i see it every morning aboard bus 172, sells both plants n fish. i onli rmbr my fren Gracieee telling me bout her going there with her bf for some fishing activity.. so i called that place up, n i gave my fren a call too.. hehe.. jus to be doubly sure that the place is safe to bring my boss over to shop for plants n fish. yea, i can get stressed n panicky over such small issue, esp when my reliability is at stake.. hehe..

well, we (me n 2 undergrads working in my lab) went today during lunch hour. n that was what we had there too - lunch, and it was my boss' treat!!.. hehe.. so good.. well, of cos we din eat expensive stuff; we wun feel good ordering those stuff anyway. then we spent 2hours plus deciding on what fish, what fish tank, gravel, plants.. the complete set!.. n it amted up to $200, which my bro told me later is still relatively cheap, but to me, it was like spending a lot of money! then we went on with the plant selection. the girls happily dismissed the notion that they would not only b late for their tutorial, which was at 230pm, but that they would be missing the entire class. they din mind. haiz.. given the "reason" of missing class, i guess i wun mind either.. *grinz..

Farmart din put upon me such a great impression as the website described it. (yesh, i went thru all the trouble of tracking down the online information to chk whether there were plants n fish on sale there.. *haiz.. ) it's a little run-down, if u ask me. but it had all the things that we need.. so phew.. i was relieved. n we were all glad at the end of the day, except for my boss tho cos i think he minded the amt of money he spent, but i guess that will wear off.. we really hav to take good care of the plants n fish.. the plants are in the office now, but the fish n the whole lot will onli come on Tues.. i cant wait for that day to come.. hehe.. things will be livelier in the office!

the blood test

once back in the office by 330pm.. i rang up NUH to chk on their price tag for a blood test, which i needed for my PR application. n it was $22!! so much cheeper than the price quoted to me at the NTU clinic. so yea... i was so silly to go back to that place to settle my medical chkup when once upon a time, i was 'cheated' off my medical prescription before. haiz.. thanks to my colleague for the wake-up call to chk up the prices elsewhere.

but no thanks to myself for the last min arrangement. haiz.. i finally decided that i would want to make my PR on Mon, so when i called NUH i asked whether i could get the report by Mon if i go down tmr for the blood test, n she said the result might onli b out in the aft, which would be a 'no-no' because then i dun think i can make it in time to Lavendar to process my PR. n oso why Mon is bcos i hav my next dental appointment then, so i wun hav to travel to NUH so many times.. hee.. talk about hitting two birds with one stone, i m more like injuring myself.. haa..

back to the story, so there i was, having to leave early from work today cos if they get my blood sample by today they would be able to give me my result by Mon morning, but they close at 5pm. n the time then was 350pm. i still had things to settle in lab. n if u know NTU, it takes u ages to go anywhere.. by 410pm, i was done, but i oso knew i wld b late. i rushed, caught 179 to interchange, then decided on a cab cos combine the $22 with the cab fare, i would still be on the winning end. plus, i think i can claim 85% of my medical chkup from my medisave. hee.. me being calculative... :P

phew, managed to reach NUH at 440pm. then the big boo-boo came at the enquiry table when i asked where the lab was to take my blood sample. the man then told me that i hv to go SATA, the nearest being in Jurong, but they would hv closed by the time i get there. n i rushed all the way from NTU! i was aghast, broken, felt like sulking the rest of the day.. all the rush, for nothing?... then the leaflet that the man passed to me with the four different SATA addresses on them caught my eye.. wait a minute, it says there that their operational hours is till 430pm, n the lady over the phone jus now said 5pm. sth was not right, sth was amiss.. so i went back to the enquiry counter to ask.

i explained that i called NUH, n the operator directed me to another number, so it mus b within NUH. it cant b outside.. i was putting my bet on that one, cos i wasnt too sure. i was hoping beyond all hope that the operator had not been too nice to connect me to an outside place, which doubt said it might b possible, n that the other lady from the lab could have made the mistake about the working hours. so the man called the operator so that i could get connected to the sposedly lab in NUH.. turns out that it's NUH Referral Lab, n it is in NUH!! Glory, Hallelujah... my effort, my rush was not wasted..

anyway, by that time when i put down the call, the lady who was sposed to be at the enquiry booth came back, n she was much clearer than the guy. apparently if there was no need for x-ray then i could go to that NUH Referral Lab.. so happily i ran down the corridors, to the blood donation centre, got re-directed to the little office next to the blood donation centre.. n got the whole blood thing settled. thank God!..

so i was this jubiliant, happy girl at the end of the day, who got to eat her waffle hotdog at clementi, n met up with dear fren Fongky even if it means a U-turn from Jurong East MRT back to Clementi.. haha.. well, i get to meet one out of three people i intended to meet when i was down in NUS, so of cos i would go n meet la. funny thing was this, as i was at clementi, i was trying to piece these phrases: "losing proximity, losing intimacy" n seeing how true they were when put side by side.. then i bumped into an old JC fren, who i hav lost touch with.. we exchanged numbers, n i guess soon i will try to organise a JC reunion thinggy.. suddenly felt that i din wanna lose touch with so many ppl i hv come to know in my life..

a really long blog.. i think i'm at it again.. u know, the blog addict bug.. sleep... yesh.. i ought to sleep.. fyi, i spent 43 mins typing tis out.. nities frens, mates, sisters, loves.. :)

the quiltmaking talk

my Dean is quite an arty person. if anyone knows what "The Broadway Boogie Woogie", my Dean said the foyer was designed based on that piece of art. (well, i jus did a google chk to get my spelling right, n out of curiosity, went to hv a look at how the art looks like, n blimmey, i dun think the sch foyer has any resemblance to that artpiece, unless i hv mistaken what my Dean took as the foyer...)

well, thanks to my Dean, we had a quiltmaking lecture given by the visiting professor's wife. this is not, at any means, to please the invited guest, but the wife is really qualified n well known in her field. imagine her to hav won many national n international prizes for her quilting! i'm amazed. one of the prize i rmbred amounted to US$12000!!! not a small sum either! n she started quilting on her own, learnt it all by herself. n her quilting is quite a style of her own. i quite enjoyed her easy-going conversive lecture (why cant they give bio lecture like this dear elderly lady?!), n quite inspired by her as well, mb to invest some time to do some artwork of my own. hee..

n thanks to Sin, too, for a wonderful mini art exhibition last nite. me n Steff went over to visit a good fren, who i assumed to be still sick, but thankfully he has recovered (yayy.. jogging next week with me at NTU!!), so i brought a lot of healthy stuff. *chuckles.. but Sin, u got to admit the veggie drink tasted good after all.. hehee.. n yea, ur art.. keep it up!!.. from nothing, it can become something.. jus like the quiltmaking lesson i learn today.. :)

the insurance talk

after the compulsory seminar given by the invited professor this evening, which wasnt all too bad. got me more aware about the therapeutic stage for AIDS currently, why it is still failing to act as a cure.. i guess the most alarming n oblivious fact to me was the number of people who hv died from AIDS.. totalled to 40million ppl... tt's a lot.. well, after this talk, i met up with my fren to talk bout insurance. we had dinner first tgther with her bf (thx vvayz!!! :))

insurance.. i wld say it's not more of a protective measure for me. but what she said, there's some pt too. tt while i m still healthy i shd buy insurance coverage for myself, so tt the insurance policy will not b limited or certain benefits will not be excluded due to my state of health when i buy later in life. i never thot of tt before, cos it is more of investment or savings for me at the moment. but insurance is very subjective, very personalised, so it depends on individuals what they need. haha.. i sound like i can start selling insurance.. hmm.. hee.. :P

anyway, we left it at a point of "to be continue" cos she needed to draft out some plans n see what wld suit me. but for the benefit of confidentiality, i shall not put out a detailed conclusion when it has been decided... hehh... jus wanna share out my thots n views onli ma.. n what i hav been up to today ma.. :)

thought for the night,
before i call it a night.. :)

If it takes courage to be a pessimist, then doesn't it take more courage to be an optimist?

soooo... what does one do to cheer up one's day? look at baby photos!!! hehee.. jus updated my photo album with my uncle's granddaughter Isabella, ie. my cousin Jenny's daughter. she's simply so adorable.. n i sinfully found out about this "Scan and Save to my Yahoo! Photos" button next to the attachments today... so hehehe... well, i updated a few grad photos my frens sent to me too, some from coop days... photos are good. they speak better than i do. :P

went for my qualifying test today to enter intermediate class in JCS. that was what set off the doldrums for today... i din half expect it to be that hard. n i focused on the wrong context too, went too much into kanji and vocab, when i shd hv revised on my grammar. haiz.. n the saddest part being that i could hv answered everything becos i hv learnt them b4. o well.. i can always take another qualifying test n enrol for their intensive intermediate class later this year in May... which may b a better option since i would b around the take the qualifying tests with others, n that would entitle me to choose better time-slots than what they can offer me now..

went for a short shopping spree in Bugis, but somehow the mood wasn't set in for shopping, and the Christmas effect has rubbed off on me even though more things are on sale now, esp U2. I jus managed to buy a pair of pants (which i was wearing today) when i went out with my frens for dinner last week. today, nothing seemed to appeal to me, which is good, cos i shdnt b spending. haa.. even my language sounds languid, n in need of much lifting up. soon, soon, bear with me a little while longer..

it's funny how things seem to look so differently when u're in a different mood. how the food doesn't appeal as much, how my stomach doesn't seem to be hungry (even though before the test, I was thinking of snacking in this Jap restaurant which is having 50% discount on ala-carte dishes..), how the mrt seems much more crowded... it's funny too, that this is not altogether that funny, and yet I use the phrase "It's funny..." to describe those things... and ya da ya da ya da...

Okie.. i promise to cheer up. today started off fairly well actually. even my postgrad student treated me filet-o-fish meal for lunch. i thot he would jus buy the burger, but he went ahead and bought a meal set for me. how touching. n all the while, he was asking me to treat him.. aiks.. next time, there will come a time when i will indeed treat him and his wife (he's married, mind u, readers, in case any funny thoughts come into your mind bout him treating me..)..

and the house... well, it's almost done with painting. :)
haiz.. honestly speaking, i need to take up ownership of the house. somehow, it never gets into my head that it would be my own house, my home. cos the house is under my brothers' names, n oso i always hav this thing about going to Japan n staying there for dunno how many odd years... so when it comes to deciding on things for the house, well, i jus dun think i shd b the one making the decisions. so mostly i leave it to my mom. i guess this is not right.. but i m so indecisive at times over such matters. n i find it so much easier to jus adapt, or make slight changes.. o well...

a lot more things to be done.. choosing the furniture.. packing.. then unpacking.. ... ...

my dental experience.

yeps. i went down to the dentist today, to have my teeth inspected and see whether they were fit for wearing braces. heee.. it was those things that i did out of vanity, n i had always wanted to put braces on since back in my teenage years. heh hehh.. well, my undergrad students hav braces in their mouth, n one of them had a dental postgrad do it for her at a flat rate of $2000! so that was really cheeeep!!.. hehehee.. yea, szeyung the cheepskate.. :P

anyway, i asked my dental undergrad fren if she needs any patients to put braces on, so she recommended her fren for me. in a way, i was helping her, n she was also helping me to cut cost. today's x-ray onli cost me $12.. hehee.. so cheeeep!!! akakaa... but there were a lot of things i hav to comply with. she needs to do a facial profiling of me.. sounds chim eh? well, it's jus looking at my face contours.. in crude terms, she simply stared at me, n she was politely telling me to bear with it.. hehee.. it was kinda fun.. but i guess it was more of work for her.. poor gal.. she has a quota (ie. number of patients) to meet, n once she meets that quota, well, that jus means she gets to sit for her final exams.. hehh.. some kinda reward, that is!

oh, n she oso did a teeth cast for me. she used some seaweed extract n mint powder, mixed it in water to form some plaster-like material, put on a metal casing then chuck that into my mouth. hee... i thot it would take a long time to dry up, but it onli took less than a minute!.. so cool!!!... *grinz..

next time she might do scaling n some cleaning up for me. i think that would be necessary cos i hav not been to the dentist for the past 2 years.. *blush*.. not a very good habit. hehh.. but that would onli cost me $4!! cool.. so cheeep!.. hehee.. ^^

2004 came. 2004 went. and I would be shifting house this month. i went to have a look at the place already, n it looked so different from that time when it was well furnished. now it looks stark naked, and not very much like home. needs cleaning, painting, and a whole lot of work. thank God that NTU is giving us 2 days unofficial leave to make up for the two public holidays that fall on Saturdays. so i will b making full use of them to help out with the shifting.

i had a family celebration for the new year countdown albeit the loss of much festivity. we did pop the champagne, n photos were taken. yet there wasnt anything much after that. yesterday night i went for my church network chalet. i din know that most (the girls) would go home by Sat night, so i missed catching up with them. haiz...

feel like putting this Charles Dickens quote cos it really speaks of how i feel right now:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.

and what i make of that? well, i can simply say, i look forward to year 2005...