Work's over...at least till next week

Work's ended, unofficially at least...am clearing my remaining leave till end of the month. Still finalising the last bits of my final report but at least i can do it at home so im not complaining.
Although it's been merely a year, i really feel like i've worked for ages and with the research project successfully completed, i'm really experiencing an indescribable sense of accomplishment! Also, after 2 days of slacking, I can really feel the difference between working and not working; it's as if i've undergone some major uplift in body, mind & soul, something i've not experienced even during my previous leave periods. I guess its the stress and burden- when you're on leave, you still carry the burdens of work and the knowledge of work starting again after leave's over but when you end work, the burden's lifted and it's a whole new thing altogether. It seems such a long time ago that i've felt this relaxed & carefree and i really miss this feeling. I know i sound like a lazy pig (imagine people who have been slogging for years) but anyway, I think the reason why i feel this relaxed is also because i know i completed my work and tied up the loose ends properly for most things. In other words, I left on a guiltless and happy note.

Anyways, my last days at work have been clad with bittersweet moments and i'm really thankful for having a nice bunch of people as colleagues, and an especially nice supervisor. I wonder whether i'll ever get a sup or boss as nice as her in the future.

Farewell lunch with HC & HQ on tues:


My super sweet & nice sup!


And with EPS today:



My all-time favourite Ms Song & Ms Ho (the pair who i went Cambodia with)


And the extremely sweet farewell gifts given by everyone:


Unaware that they were giving me a watch today, I went and bought a new watch yesterday so i now have 2 new watches to flaunt. Ha!


On a side note, mom treated me & bro to Kiseki Japanese Buffet yesterday. The food's extremely decent for a price as low as theirs. Some snapshots (spinelli's not included):




They even have cappuccino!


Really good pippin' hot soup!


As happy as i am at current, the slacking will be short-lived as i'm gonna start a new job next week (given my lazy, slacking self, i'm also surprised at how efficient i was in getting a new job right after I ended my old one) though it'll probably be a temporary one 'cause i'm planning to pursue my masters next Jan.

Rainy weekends

My recent workload's positively killing me...which I kinda expected given that my contract's ending soon...but due to unforeseen circumstances, it's even worse than i had imagined. Thank goodness I don't have to work this weekend, which allowed my exhausted mind and body ample rest...something I really need after bringing work home to work on till midnight almost every day this week.

Work complains aside, I'm really happy with the discovery of stanza, an e-book sorta application for iphone which is so sleek and easy-to-use that i managed to finish 3 Agatha Christie novels in a week! No more long weekly or even monthly waits just for 1 miserable novel to turn up at the library. Now that's a fine example of a free application that is actually useful!

On a side note, I have 3 things which i really really want but probably can't get due to all sorts of reasons like lack of space & money. Anyway these things are mere wants and not necessities so i can make do without them until the right opportunity presents itself.

Anyway, check out these really sweet interior designs (there are much more @ apartment therapy, one of my favourite sites to visit when i have nothing better to do)

1-in-1

Made this super easy & tasty ice-cream some time ago and the fantastic thing about this ice-cream recipe is that it requires 1 and only 1 ingredient which is...monkey fruit!! Whoever came up with this recipe is quite the genius!

Freeze banana slices --> blend till creamy --> freeze again --> serve with sliced fruit --> into the tummy --> burp!




Anyhow i'm drowning in work once again (especially after returning frm a wk's holiday) which is terrible till the point that I have to bring work home to rush over the weekend and even during weekday nights! I really really can't wait for my contract to end. Soon now.

p.s. is it me or is my journal turning into a recipes rant page?

Recent happenings

Work's been crazy this week (worked OT thrice) and my office pc crashed on me so had to go without e-mails for the whole wk. Thank goodness i saved some of my essential files to work on and LUCKILY the IT technicians manage to retrieve all my files frm the HD. If not...

Anyway, i was ill for practically a week (nasty flu) and am still having a wicked cough which i hope will go away soon.

Below are a bunch of pics taken over the last couple of months.

Biking with my psych pals at ecp



View frm S'pore flyer. Got 10bucks tics 'cause of some VWO promotion during CNY so brought my grand aunts on a ride


And i havent been slackin' on cookin'. Me and colleagues had a baking session one of the evenings after work and we made Lava Cake (recipe from 8days) which was semi successful (will try it by myself again one of these days). Also, i made sushi with my mom for lunch today!


Lastly, we have a new addition to the family! A pretty friendly fella adopted by my dad- it was posing on our main door when my dad scooped it up and placed it on one of the potted plants. I think it likes us cause it'll look at me when i talk to it and pose prettily for us to take pics of. I've named it Minty. Can u spot it?

The sun, the sea and the fishes

Just got back from an extremely fruitful and exhausting trip to Pulau Aur over the weekend; successfully completed 5 dives and am now a certified PADI open water diver :)

Didn't take much pictures mainly because i had too much gear to handle (the entire diving gear plus air cylinder are more than a handful) and was too tired most of the time (my entire body's aching like crazy frm muscle cramps & sun burns).

Arriving @ diver's lodge (our accommodation on the island) close to 7am on Sat


Brilliant view from our humble abode


View of diver's lodge from the water


Our dive gear


After a couple of dives on Sat


On the whole it wasn't as scary an experience as i imagined it would be; couple of my friends told me the 1st dive is usually quite frightening but i found it quite thrilling. I'll probably never forget that mixed feeling of apprehension & excitement while waiting for my turn to descend for the 1st time. The rest of the dives were pretty alright with the exception of my 4th dive- had trouble equalizing my right ear when i first descended (probably due to the tiredness) which resulted in extreme sharp pain & I had to surface to clear the pressure.

Was somewhat disappointed by the view underwater though- always imagined very clear waters, loads of colourful corals, fishes and marine creatures but it wasn't really like that, especially for the corals which were mostly dead or half dead. Perhaps its got to do with the location 'cause they were saying that Tioman has much more colourful corals. In fact, i find the view during my snorkeling experience in Redang some years back even more beautiful and that was only snorkeling! Oh wells, maybe i'll get a chance to dive in those places another time. For now, it's back to r&r before i go back to work tomorrow :(