at a random gallery

friends you can be silly with

We stumbled across this gallery while on our way to Central Park. 

From outside the glass door,

Me: What's this about? Oh no, the 6th guy has a broken penis!

L: Omg...eww....

Me: Let's go in and have a look.

L: Ok.

After a close look,

Me: Ok. It's not just the 6th guy, they all seem to have broken penis for some reasons. Lol!
L: Haha.

After a closer look,

Me: Oh no, actually they broke their own penis. What the hell...
L: Huh?!
Me: See the 2nd guy...he's holding the broken part. It seems like it fits just right.
L: ..........

L: Eh, nola. The 6th guy's is not broken, it's just short. Haha.
Me: Not broken? Hahaha. Oh ya...how come so short? Ok. Only the 2nd one is broken.

We were too carried away by the 'short' stuff and forgot to behave.
We also spoke at very audible volume. Woops...

Luckily, it was almost closing time so there weren't many people around.

If the statues were real, the guys must be real sad and embarrassed. Lol.

flu season

if only there is one less selfish person

I've always heard stories from colleagues about how often they fall sick because their kids fall sick because someone from their daycare/school was sick.

One even told me that someone from school passed the virus to his boys, who then passed the virus to him, who then shared it with his team at work. One by one, the team members fell sick. My first thought was 'you shouldn't even have come in when you're sick', let alone spreading viruses to a quarter of the people at work.

Just a week or two ago, a friend's daughter contracted the Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) which started from someone from the next class. And who knows where this 'someone' contracted the disease from. Why did the parents even send him/her to school knowing that he/she is carrying and has the potential of spreading some kind of viruses?

A friend told me she's having sorethroat and headache, but she stressed that her nose isn't runny so she doesn't think it was caused by virus. She thinks the sorethroat and headache were developed from her body internally. Sorethroat and headache are flu-like symptoms to start with. It's unlikely that it's not a viral infection (in my 'non-medical-background' opinion).

This is only one of the many times that she fell sick with sorethroat, headache, flu or fever symptoms. Sigh. Either she has weak antibody. Or she is surrounded by virus-carriers all the time. Or she is negligent to the causes of flu-transmittal. Or all the above.

Each time my toddler niece is sick, my sister will keep her away from the two nephews (or vice versa) to avoid spreading the virus to them. Virus could be passed on by just touching the same toys, sharing the same food/drinks, or coming in contact with saliva/mucus. Even during healthy times, saliva-passing should be kept minimal.

I know of a friend who falls sick every month. It's not just her, it seems like her colleagues fall sick frequently too. This is an obvious sign that the viruses are spread amongst themselves. Sick people should just stay home for a day or two or five!

Sigh.

The most recent conversation I had on viruses:

A: I can't eat ice-cream as my cough will get worse.
D: It's good. So you can officially take a sick leave tomorrow.
A: No. I'll still go to work.
Me: *zzzz*
A: I haven't taken any sick leave before.
Me: What?! But you've been sick so frequently. From memory, you have flu every now and then. You never taken a day off at all?! *wth?*
D: Wahlao.......you'll spread to other people leh.
Me: (exactly what I thought)
A: Hahaha. Ya I think so. I was coughing for a week and this morning my boss started coughing too. Hehe.
Me: (It's not funny, Hello???) Why don't you ever take a day off?
A: I'm doing them good. Giving them free flu vaccination. So they can fight greater viruses next time. 
Me: *it's getting too ridiculous, I don't even want to discuss it any further*
D: It's not just your colleague you're harming lor. Think about their kids, their family.
Me: Just take a day off and rest at home.
A: It's boring at home. That's why I'll still go to work regardless. 

I gave up trying to convince people like this.

People who think sick leave exists only for the sake of sick people.
People who think taking or not taking sick leave is solely for their own good.
People who have no consideration for other people in terms of spreading illnesses.
People who think viruses never spread.
People who think it's not their fault if other people contracted the virus from them.

The harder I try to 'educate' them, it only makes me seem like a paranoid and un-compassionate person.

No amount of brainwashing or nagging is comparable to self-awareness.
In the end of the day, only they can change their own mindset.
It's scary to know that there are plenty of 'unaware' people like this around me.
Haven't even taken into consideration, the ones who aren't around me.

Everyone needs to be considerate and educated about how not to spread diseases/viruses to innocent healthy people.
People don't need to fall sick just because you are sick.
Stay home, recover.
Spare the virus from spreading to others.
Or at least wear a mask, cover up when sneezing/coughing, sanitise.

This is just 'domestic' flu we're talking about.
I can't imagine if they have swine flu, bird flu, or ebola.
Would they still think it's okay for them to walk freely in public spaces?

monday mess

life gets messy sometimes,
in order to stay interesting

Decided to not 'race' to work today.
Left home at 8.40am for the 'walking meditation' to the station. Lol.
Stopped by Macq Centre to recharge the Opal.
Got in to work at 9.40am.

1. When I was making coffee, one engineer came in, asked about my weekend, thanked me for sharing the 'Better Place' to them, followed by 'I've completed A and B, when you're ready can you come around my desk to explain the next task to me.' I said Ok (but let me have my brekky, read some news and articles, and check my emails first? Haha).

2. As I sat down and checked my phone, I saw texts from the housemate who's moving out this Friday. She's moving out on Friday but only paid till Thursday. I was giving her kind reminder on the rent. She let go at me and called me RIDICULOUS. I hesitated on whether I should point out to her that there is something called 'courteous' in the English dictionary which we should use when dealing with issues and talking to people. In the end, I told her not to be cranky and be more calm and professional. Hahaha.

Halfway through, I decided to stop dealing with her as it starts to affect my mood for the day. Only got back to her after the day has wound down a little and I'm mentally ready to deal with her shit.

She gave up replying. Maybe I had too much facts which she can't win over. Lol. 

When she got home, we discussed in a peaceful manner, and she said sorry for being mean and harsh, and I'm not the only person she's mean to today. Well okay, not that I take your 'barking' seriously anyway. Thanks for training and putting my patience to test. I think I passed the test again.

3. I'm supposed to review some drawings and designs for issue by lunchtime. Found so many funny notes in the drawings, by the ex-team leader. Now that my name is going to be on the drawings, I need to make sure I don't look like a clown. The designer is working in another office which makes communication more difficult and slow.

4. Then this email came in, Subject: ACTION REQUIRED: EXPENSE CLAIM REJECTED.
The email shows that the sender is the accountant in the UK office. UK? What the hell?
So I hit forward to the accountant in Sydney and the IT guy who designed this crippled accounting system, and CC the Operations Manager of Sydney office.

As I was typing the email, the Sydney accountant turned up beside me and went 'Hahaha'.
Like wtf? Sitting next to me, laughing at my screen?
I looked at her and said 'Sorry, I'm pissed now, give me a minute I need to type this email.'

My email went "Can someone tell me what is happening here? Expense claims often get stuck in the cloud for ages and only to be informed that it hasn't been processed. Let me know where do I go from here. Thanks and Regards."

When I turned to the accountant,
Me: Yes? What are you here for?
Her: 'I rejected your 10 dollars claim.'
Zzzzz.
Me: Why? And why did the email has to come from the UK? *looking calm on the outside, but eyes rolling on the inside*
Her: I thought it was mistake. So I declined. But I ask M, he said it was right. So maybe you want to submit it again. That's not from UK, it's by the system.
Me: Why did you think it was wrong?
Her: I didn't know. I thought you shouldn't charge it to a Project.
Me: (that's the dumbest thing to say and do) *screaming in my lungsssssss* 
Her: Can you resubmit?
Me: Ok. I'll do that when I'm free. *roll eyes for the millionth time*
Her: Are you still pissed?
Me: Ya, kinda. It's a freaking crap system. Why does one claim have to go through 4 diff people, back and forth? That's the only thing he is paid to do here, and he can't even get it right. What is he here for?

Honestly, they should have paid whatever price for a 'healthy' system than paying this IT guy some ongoing salary for a crap system. Why does accountant have the right to reject claims which were approved by the Project Manager? It should be as simple as 3 steps: Submit. Approve. Pay.
And not Submit. Send On. Approve-1. Approve-2. Finalise. Pay. Shit system.

5. The engineer came back again cos I forgot to drop by her desk to explain her next task. In fact, I didn't forget, I haven't stopped since I got in. Ok. There goes 20 mins. And then another person came. And another one. I wonder why they can't pick up things on their own. If I managed to do it, I don't see why they can't. Not angry, just tired of repeating. :(

6. Because the admin did not come in today, I had to answer every freaking call and every freaking garage buzz for her. How many things can I handle at a time man? I was so annoyed with it that I sent out emails asking everyone to inform me if they are expecting guests to come through the garage. I will now ignore all uninformed buzz's.

7. A friend is visiting this week and I'm kinda packed. Thought I could use a little help from another friend to accompany this friend. But the first thing she told me was, I can only do Fri dinner or Sat dinner or Sun brunch. OR??? Ok. Not very helpful but that's okay. I'll put this aside for today cos my brain is getting too overwhelmed by now.

8. Then, the sampat girl in Msia text me to see if she could use my aussie address to get some swimming trunks delivered. It's for her husband's cousin's sons. BOYSsss. I was like what kind of trunks have to be specially bought from Aus? She said Funky Trunks.

So I had these funky men in funky trunks on my wide screen monitor while I typed the delivery address to her. Suddenly, the engineering manager came behind me. And went....'C, do you know where's Ann.............oh wow! What's that?'

=_=""""""

Me: Hahahahaha. Woops.
Him: Hahaha. *paiseh face*
Me: Hahaha. My friend's asking me to buy some trunks. (Omg. The dumbest reply ever! My 'friend' is a female, and the trunks are for BOYS, website shows MEN. I'm not actually shopping for trunks for a male. zzZZzzz)
Him: *trying to continue talking but keep getting distracted by the funky stuff*. Hahaha I'll pretend like I never saw it. *close his eyes*

I quickly minimised the browser while he talks. Lol.

9. And then, the unibuds club president text me to see if I can attend a meeting this Sunday morning, to share some experiences/knowledge or anything. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Can the day get any more exciting? Thankfully, I have a roommate who has met almost all of my friends. Lol. She agreed to accompany my visiting-friend on Sunday morning so I'm able to 'help' attend the meeting.

Left work at 5.30pm. Goal achieved!

Despite a longgggggg and somewhat taxing Monday, I believe the week will only get better. Hehe.

work to live

work to live

38 hours week + 200% efficiency

Now that the team leader is gone, I was requested to step up as the lead in the interim of them hiring someone with the right experience for the type of works we do. With the nightmare we went through with an incapable leader, they now realised the importance of right experience.

Over night, my scope of works now includes design reviews, give technical input, and attend meetings with the clients and project managers; at the same time managing and working on another project which dues in 2 weeks.

No matter how busy work is, I believe in working efficiently within the 'standard' working hours of not more than 8 hours spent at work (including time spent for lunch), maximum tolerance is 8.5 hours. Anything more than that, I'll feel like life is meaningless and I then need to throw a sickie to readjust mentally.

Whenever people ask what time can I make it for dinner (after work), I always say ANYTIME. Even if it's 5.30pm, I'll make it there. Working hours should be adjusted to suit personal commitments, not the other way round.

It's been a struggle to keep up with my no-OT philosophy lately. With deadlines, random meetings, and random tasks popping up here and there. Also suddenly been grabbed into a 1 hour interview and last minute meeting invites.

The alarm used to be 6.45am.
Then 6.30am.
Recently, it's 6 or 6.15am.

Finishing hour used to be BY 5.30pm. Then 6pm. Then 6.30pm.
Now 7pm seems normal.

Things only feel worse without Daylight Saving Time,
Catching the sun when it's at its meanest position - shining right in front of your eyes.
Missing the romantic sunsets.
Leaving the office only when the street lights are on.
Going home to junk for dinner because it's too late to make proper food.
And laundry is left out for half a week, and another 1.5 weeks in before it gets sorted and ironed.

This is UNSUSTAINABLE.

At the same time, the housemate thinks it's perfectly NORMAL to work 11 hours a day, regardless of the efficiency and the crap (or no) dinner after work. I could never understand this concept, until I recalled, she gets paid by the hour. The more inefficient they are, the richer they get. Oh well...

If I ever became a boss, I shall never condone working OT in my business.
Get your job done and get out of the office after 5pm. Shit. Don't bludge around and expect to get paid extra.

The lengthy working hours make me a lifeless fish on weekdays.
I only come alive after I step out of the office on Friday night.
So bad.
Life should really be 24/7 not 24/2.

When I left at 6.20pm on Thursday for a Birthday dinner, my colleague was surprised.
You leave early today!, he said.
6pm = early?
Should I be happy that I actually left 'early' or I should mourn cos I haven't left earlier than 6pm in a long time? :(
He then asked, Do you work to live, or live to work?
I startled.
My motto has always been eat to live, work to live.
Based on my recent records, it now seems funny if I told him I work to live.
So I said, I live to work for now, but it won't be long. And forced out a smile, while mourning inside.
It hits me at the right spot. I'm literally living to work now.

Goal set.

For the coming weeks, I'll work the normal 38 hours cos I want my life back!

chess

blessed to grow up without technology

Derek once told me, one decision he did right as a kid was to learn how to play tennis.

Being good at tennis was one of the reasons he didn't have problem settling in when he first came to Sydney as people always count him in for quality games. He was never left out on weekend tennis. And that's where friendships were made quickly.

I thought to myself, do any of my childhood hobbies actually enhance my life as an adult? I don't think so, no.

As kids, our 3 main 'toys' were Lego, barbie dolls, and chess.
Lego has probably sparked the 'engineering' side of me.
Barbie. I don't think it brings any benefit really. Her life objective is to dress up for dates with Ken. Such shallow mentality. Girls have better things to achieve in life. Lol.
As for Chess, after the topic was randomly brought up by my sis, now I believe it does play a huge part in shaping my personalities and way of thinking.

We used to represent our schools in chess competitions.
Not that I'm extremely good at it, there just weren't enough people to make up the team.

In a chess competition, there is one timer for each player.
When it's your turn, your timer runs. Once you completed your move, you stop your timer which then automatically activates your opponent's timer.
The game may end at any time if any of players' time runs out.
It's not just about trying to checkmate your opponent, it's also a race against time.

There's also the touch-move rule in chess. If a player touches a piece on the board during his turn, he must then move that piece during his turn. If he touches the opponent's piece, he must then make moves to capture that piece during his turn.

What is a chess game like?

- Plan and think ahead of not just your own moves but your opponent's moves too. 

- Observe your opponent's each and every move to find out his intentions and forecast his next move/game plan.

- Think before you act. Do not touch anything on the board until you're sure.

- You don't have all the time in the world to think or make decision as the clock ticks down.

- Every move should be strategised with purpose - to threaten, to trap, to lure, to kill, to defend, to distract, to slow, to run for life or to force the opponent into taking a certain move.

- Sometimes you have to sacrifice the less important (or least favourite) pieces to keep the 'useful' ones.

- Sometimes you kill for the sake of being killed. The less pieces there are on the board, the easier it is to have an overview of the game. 

- No talking, pure thinking, full concentration.

- Every time a move is taken by yourself or the opponent, you quickly repeat the what-if, if-not, if, and say-if in your head because the dynamic of the board changes with every move.

- You sit face to face with your opponent for about an hour but the only words spoken are Check, Touch-move, Castling, Checkmate, and Good-game. 

So what has chess instilled in me?

- 'One step at a time' is a good way to not over-stress on things but sometimes we gotta think and plan a few steps ahead to have a more 'structured' life.

- Observation is a good way to get to know someone better inside out - why they do/act/say/react in certain ways. We don't always need to ask or judge, just observe and learn.

- Never do/act/say/react on things before thinking through the consequences or alternatives. Touch-move serves as a good reminder.

- Think and make decision there and then unless the decision is dependent on other factors which are not within your control. The habit of not wanting to commit until the last minute is a form of running away from things. Time waits for no man.

- Always be reminded that each step taken in life leads to another. We might as well take the steps purposefully, making full use of the chance we have.

- You can't have best of both worlds. If it means sacrificing something to keep another, so be it. Know what's best for you, make choices, let go.

- Less is more. Trying to hold on to too many things will in turn blind us from the things that truly matter. The lesser we have, the clearer it is to identify and easier it is to grasp on what matters most.

- When I'm quiet, I'm thinking. And often, my thoughts are confined in my head and I'm used to not speaking out.

- Nothing is definite as things are meant to change as we go.

- Silence is not awkward. Some may find it uneasy.

Chess has definitely influenced me in many ways.

My analytical and critical thinking skills, my calmness in facing and solving problems, my observant nature, my habit of not lengthening any decision-making process (not liking to spend so much time thinking of the same things over and over again), my introvert traits, my habit of doing all the thinkings in my head and not voicing out, my ability to quickly let go of thoughts/things/people which/who aren't worth or not meant to be, and my love for quiet space. Also, people think chess is: Boring. Slow. Complicated to some. Brain-killing. Not fun. Perhaps that's why I'm a boring person at times. Lol.

Thanks to the aunty (I don't know which aunty) who gave us her spare chess set.