Recent 'pennings.

Work's been busy busy busy and increasingly challenging because of a certain difficult student in class. I've been feeling so drained, mentally and physically these 2 weeks, esp. late last wk and beginning of this wk. Hopefully things will go uphill from here and not spiral further down into the pits.

Dinner tonight @ raindrops with me besties; above average food and beer.

















































Super peking duck 2 weeks ago..quack!










Time to head to bed. I've been going to bed earlier and earlier esp. during the weekdays - slept at 8.30pm last night and woke up at 6plus this morning (my usual waking up time). Though still feel tired despite my ample rest. Sigh. I don't know why I always feel so tired and get lethargic so easily. Is it 'cause of my poor blood circulation or what?

Work stuff

My first folder tasks for the kids. May look simple but takes sooo much time and effort to produce!!

New year, new beginnings..

D flowers!

Ramen Santouka. standard seems to have dropped a little compared to my previous visit

I've started on a new perm job last week and so far, I'm really liking what I do...which by the way, is teaching kids at a special ed school for autism. Have been learning new stuff every single day which I think is great if I really decide to specialise in this field next time. And unlike my previous research job where I had days and weeks with nothing other to do but interact with the computer, I'm kept busy and occupied almost every minute of the day at work now ('cept during lunch) which is super exhausting but nice and fulfilling.

Happy buns

I love this new yr because it's the year of my favourite one!
Plus, I'm stuffed & have gained back all the weight that I lost previously

When it pours non-stop,

This is what happens. View of the fog/mist forming on the hill from my balcony.



Lunchies this week & the past. Spot the similarities?



My hands & feet have been ice-cold all week because of the weather.

Recharged

Today's lunch (fried egg, lettuce, ham & shrooms sandwich)


Yes, after a full week's rest (quit my job last week), am feeling so much more energized & refreshed. Plus, I've more or less recovered from the flu which pestered me for over 2 weeks since Christmas eve. Apart from the long working hours, I think another reason why I felt so exhausted, down and moody over the last few weeks was because of my flu. Now that I'm fully rested, I actually miss work (can't believe I'm saying this); not the crazy 12-hr work shifts at my previous workplace of course, but just working in general. In fact, I'm actually ready to start work anytime but the only problem now is to actually find a job. Jeez, I really really hate job searches.

On the other hand, if I have good stuff to keep myself preoccupied & entertained currently (traveling for instance), I probably wouldn't even miss working at all. And watching all about the Fiji islands on discovery TLC yesterday really makes me wanna travel there to dive, slack and soak up all the warmth, sun and beauty of that paradise-looking place. NZ and all those gorgeous island nations near it have now topped my travel wish list.

Neways, freedom allowed me to try out 2 new (to me) eateries with my pals last week. The first one's Kko Kko Nara, a korean place which serves super duper good fried chicken. The other dishes my friends ordered are probably good too but I didn't really try them because they were really spicy and i was still having a bad cough last week. The other eatery is the very hyped about Food for Thought. Contrary to the raves I've heard about over their sandwiches, it was nothing fantastic imo, but the shrooms pasta is really good and so is their salad, which comes as a side. Will probably go back to check out their pancakes another time soon.

I think I'm already immune to the irresponsible and crazy antics of my korean bosses because I find myself surprisingly calm despite their latest screw-up. I'm supposed to work at their Paya Lebar centre on Mondays and was told by the female boss to do 12-hrs shifts there for 3 Mondays starting from last Mon. So, i dragged myself outta bed early this morning ( i take abt 1hr 15mins to get to PL from my place) and lo and behold, what do i arrive to?? A closed centre. Called my male boss (because he runs this branch) and he tells me that there are no morning classes today and i am just supposed to work the usual afternoon hours. When I tell him that I am already at the centre and asked him why no one informed me that i don't have to work this morning, he's tells me surprisingly that his wife or their assistant was supposed to do so last week and starts apologising. Why am I not furious at this stupid screw-up which wastes my time, energy and money traveling from west to east back to west and to east again in the afternoon and back to to the west later at night?!?! Probably because I know I just have to endure another few days of this crappy bull before I bid this hellhole goodbye.

On a side note, I will miss the students when i leave because i really like most of them. If only the centre was run by decent folks.

Some of my students munching on x'mas candy during class:

Cheol Hee (initially quiet and shy but full of drama antics when he gets familiar with u)


Ji Tae & Jun Seok (extremely adorable and likeable boys who are in s'pore for a month or 2 for the English crash course)


Geun Tae (one of my fave students)


Super mischievous but extremely adorable Min Ji