Work's been really really crazy. But I love it. I love what I do. And I'm happy to be able to do what I do. Everyone who's met me has told me that this is not something that everyone can do. Haha. True I suppose.
I was working non stop 3 months before the wedding in August, and I must say that I was actually a lot more productive. Knowing that I was going to have a one month break, motivated me to do more in that 3 months than the rest of the year combined! I was really amazed at how the human potential can be stretched beyond limits set by our own human mind. After the wedding, I went straight back to working again. This time, it was because I know I have another 3 months more before a 3 week long break in December. I was doing pretty well until around the 3rd week of October where somehow, my spark kind of just fizzled out. And I didn't really understand why at first, because I was really enjoying myself at work for quite a while, and I didn't want it to end.
Then I started to fall a little ill. I would be okay after a good night's sleep, but when I got to work the next day, it would start again. Was wondering if I was starting to develop an allergy for work?! This started to stress me out a little and I began to feel frustrated easily and irritated for no apparent reason some times. It took me a few days before I figured I should take a few steps back and evaluate the situation again.
I'm glad I did that because I realised that I was starting to be burnt out at work without even knowing it! I started to get a little too optimistic about planning my schedules that I couldn't handle it time management wise. And this caused me to feel like I was giving up too much of my personal time for work. So, this is the best part that my job allows me to do: I took 3 days off work and just relaxed. Did the things I wanted to do for a while, that I was always pushing to "later" or "another day" or "when I have the time". I stayed home to read a book, cooked dinner, went out to the hairdressers', spent more time with Julien, basic things that make me happy. And it felt really really really good!
One value I learnt in life: To take time to do the things that make you happy! It refreshes the soul!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The last minute surprise
This post is coming late, very late actually as it relates an event that happened on the 25 September...
For those who are passionate they will know right away that I'm referring to the first trial of the Singapore Formula one grand prix! It would be quite spooky if you made the link before I told you because even I, who assisted to it, would not tie that date to cars going fast, but to Caroline's birthday (hey, how are you by the way?).
Back to the subject... It all started a few days before when I told Tinker that I'd like to see the grand prix, but it was too late to get tickets and anyway $200+ to see this was not worth it. But it was still hanging in my mind despite my striking out the possibility.
Then that Friday 25 September, around 4pm if my memory serves me right, I had a call from my dear wife, as usual on Fridays around this time. I was expecting the usual chat about our plans in the evening. And indeed it was the same, except Ting simply told me:
"I can get tickets for the trials tonight, you wanna go?"
"You're kidding right?!?", replies the Yeti with a tinge of excitement in the voice
"No, no, I can get tickets, you want to or not?", throws back Tinker pretending to become impatient.
Of course my reply was to not wait an other second and we got the tickets. The cherry on the cake was that not only she had one ticket for herself and for me, she also had one for Jimme (remember how I told you to pronounce that? Yehmeuh) who would be a welcome male company in this kind of event.
So the appointment was set to meet a few hours later and head to see the cars turning and turning and turning more... Needless to say I didn't work much after that phone call as I was busy checking the map of the track on internet, the drivers, the cars, and I was pondering whether to go home now, or wait a little to save face in front of my colleagues... I had to fetch my camera you see?
I left about 20 minutes later with a loud smile on my face and a broad "I'm off to see the F1 girls!" addressed to my colleagues.
I picked up Tinker at the MRT station (the bike stayed in the parking that week, you can't imagine how bad to the traffic it is to build a race track in the middle of the city) and we went home. We stayed about long enough to change, grab the camera and left again.
We then picked up Jimme at an other MRT station and here we were on our way to City Hall MRT to enter the arena. I was expecting a large crowd, but strangely not that many people were entering... On the contrary, I wasn't expecting that much noise, you can't imagine until you hear it how loud these cars are. I thought night clubs were bad: I was wrong.
I took the noise for the first few cars, regretting bitterly not to have bought the earplugs selling at $2 at the entrance. Very soon I couldn't take it. The walk to that first shop was long and on the way I passed a Ferrari outlet. I went to the girl at the counter asking for the price of the earplugs with a broad smile knowing that it was going to be damn expensive, but heck I'd still buy them. $10 was the answer with an equivalent broad smile. Mine faded and I walked away grumbling bad words against Ferrari.
The rest of the evening went pretty fast, I'll pass on the overpriced chicken rice, and the overpriced beers and the bad view of the track.
We stayed on the field in the middle of the race track during the break where we enjoyed a concert of Ozomatli, a good band playing raga.
There was also an exposition of old cars, really nice ones.
Here are the few not too bad pictures we managed to take. It was overall a great evening and next year I'll try to see the race sitting in the grand stand!
For those who are passionate they will know right away that I'm referring to the first trial of the Singapore Formula one grand prix! It would be quite spooky if you made the link before I told you because even I, who assisted to it, would not tie that date to cars going fast, but to Caroline's birthday (hey, how are you by the way?).
Back to the subject... It all started a few days before when I told Tinker that I'd like to see the grand prix, but it was too late to get tickets and anyway $200+ to see this was not worth it. But it was still hanging in my mind despite my striking out the possibility.
Then that Friday 25 September, around 4pm if my memory serves me right, I had a call from my dear wife, as usual on Fridays around this time. I was expecting the usual chat about our plans in the evening. And indeed it was the same, except Ting simply told me:
"I can get tickets for the trials tonight, you wanna go?"
"You're kidding right?!?", replies the Yeti with a tinge of excitement in the voice
"No, no, I can get tickets, you want to or not?", throws back Tinker pretending to become impatient.
Of course my reply was to not wait an other second and we got the tickets. The cherry on the cake was that not only she had one ticket for herself and for me, she also had one for Jimme (remember how I told you to pronounce that? Yehmeuh) who would be a welcome male company in this kind of event.
So the appointment was set to meet a few hours later and head to see the cars turning and turning and turning more... Needless to say I didn't work much after that phone call as I was busy checking the map of the track on internet, the drivers, the cars, and I was pondering whether to go home now, or wait a little to save face in front of my colleagues... I had to fetch my camera you see?
I left about 20 minutes later with a loud smile on my face and a broad "I'm off to see the F1 girls!" addressed to my colleagues.
I picked up Tinker at the MRT station (the bike stayed in the parking that week, you can't imagine how bad to the traffic it is to build a race track in the middle of the city) and we went home. We stayed about long enough to change, grab the camera and left again.
We then picked up Jimme at an other MRT station and here we were on our way to City Hall MRT to enter the arena. I was expecting a large crowd, but strangely not that many people were entering... On the contrary, I wasn't expecting that much noise, you can't imagine until you hear it how loud these cars are. I thought night clubs were bad: I was wrong.
I took the noise for the first few cars, regretting bitterly not to have bought the earplugs selling at $2 at the entrance. Very soon I couldn't take it. The walk to that first shop was long and on the way I passed a Ferrari outlet. I went to the girl at the counter asking for the price of the earplugs with a broad smile knowing that it was going to be damn expensive, but heck I'd still buy them. $10 was the answer with an equivalent broad smile. Mine faded and I walked away grumbling bad words against Ferrari.
The rest of the evening went pretty fast, I'll pass on the overpriced chicken rice, and the overpriced beers and the bad view of the track.
We stayed on the field in the middle of the race track during the break where we enjoyed a concert of Ozomatli, a good band playing raga.
There was also an exposition of old cars, really nice ones.
Here are the few not too bad pictures we managed to take. It was overall a great evening and next year I'll try to see the race sitting in the grand stand!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Cultural Differences?! Belony!!!
I've come to realise many things as of late - The conclusion being that my Yeti is the best husband in the world.
Lesson 1: Julien and I have a lot more in common than perceived.
Our journey wasn't always an easy one. I would understand if people were apprehensive while we were dating - there's always a chance that Julien might decide to up and leave for France. Since we've been married though, there have been some good meaning people who have come up to me and told me that there might be some issues that Julien and I might face in the future due to our cultural differences. Thank you for the concern but here's where I would like to set the record straight. Julien and I have more similarities than any other Chinese man I've dated. I've never seen our different cultural upbringing as a challenge, but I rather find that it adds value to our lives in general. It makes life so much more exciting! It's because we come from different backgrounds that we are more inclined to be understanding towards each other. Not all the time of course. Having said that, the fact that we don't agree over something cannot always be attributed to our cultural differences. It's just merely a difference in opinions, this can happen between anyone.
This also helps us to learn how to compromise with one another or even brainstorm on situations to come up with more creative solutions. There are more positive attributes to this than there are negative in my point of view.
Lesson 2: As long as we both are happy, nothing else really matters.
I've been very blessed at work and was privileged to even qualify for a company holiday trip that would be fully paid for to Korea for 3 days. Of course I was to share this with Julien. Unfortunately, the timings just coincided with our pre planned Paris trip and after much discussion, we both decided to pass on the Korea trip. Much to my dismay, not everyone agreed with my decision at work not to go for the Korea trip.
It was an easy choice for me to make. I always ask myself these 2 questions when I feel stuck sometimes. Q1: Is there anything to lose? Q2: Will you regret this for the rest of your life?
For Korea, yes there is something to lose because this is a company paid trip and we're talking about 1st class treatment during this 3 days. Good hotel stays, good meals, etc. But I can always go for another company trip the next time, I just need to make sure I qualify. As for Paris, there is everything to lose, because I don't want to spend Christmas or New Year away from Julien and I know that he would want to spend this season with me too. And nothing means more to me than to make my husband happy. I mean, he already travelled more than 10,000km just to be with me. So yes I have everything to lose and yes I will regret it for the rest of my life because no one else can give me back this experience, not with all the money in the world. Sure I can still make it happen by travelling to Korea from France, but why should it be at the expense of my own happiness or Julien's happiness even?
I've come to learn, thank goodness quickly as well, that in every decision that we both make, as long as we both come together in agreement on something, and are happy with our final decision, nothing else really matters. I will definitely apply this in our future decisions.
Lesson 3: It's important to communicate.
For the longest time, I had this misunderstanding towards Julien with regards to my work. I realised it's very important to talk with one another. Regardless of cultural background, misunderstandings can arise when not clarified. Julien had previously made a statement about work that made me feel he was not being supportive. That honestly put my morale on a low. Each time he made the same statement I would feel inadequate. Recently, I found out though that his statement was not in relation to me personally. It was more a general statement. You probably do not understand what I'm saying but it doesn't matter. I'm glad that we both managed to clarify with one another about this. He is actually very supportive & understanding towards my working hours and just work in general.
We all define things differently. Even words, we perceive them differently. It's very important that I understand something in a way that Julien would want me to understand it. And only communication can allow us to do so.
Lesson 4: Time once passed cannot be re-wound.
I've been in a very reflective mood as of late and just the other day, this question popped up in my head out of no where: "If you went to Heaven today, is there anything that you would regret?"
My answer: No, for work. No, for friends. Yes, for family.
I seriously need to do some rebalancing of my time management with regards to family time. I mean, heck! I just got married! I guess this also attributed to my decision to drop the Korea trip altogether. I'd rather spend quality time with my husband and my loved ones than leave all this for some fully paid company trip. I know I work hard. And I want to play hard too - It's my entitlement.
Lesson 5: Julien's a very good natured boy...
Says my mother since the first time she met Julien. And she is right. Patience and understanding are truly a part of his virtues. This has helped us avoid quite a number of conflicting situations. Or rather, it helped prevent these situations from escalating. We're not altogether saints. We do fight like every other normal couple. I think the right word my mum was trying to look for was "Gracious".
Julien always told me of the "mirror effect". Basically to treat others how you want others to treat you. Which I find to be true from our own experience. In most situations, even during my worst days, with my own insecurities, he treats me with utmost respect, and I in turn am filled with respect for him.
Lesson 6: Love is not just gazing at each other; it's looking together in the same direction - Antione de Saint-Exupery
This phrase that was on our wedding programme, has been a huge part of our lives. What this means to both of us in short, is that in a marriage, we both have our imperfections. Instead of focusing on each other's faults, we both need to focus and be filled with God's love for us before it over flows to one another.
Spend less time staying angry. Spend more time living.
Lesson 7: I married the right man.
Enough said. =)
Feeling melancholic today. Maybe it's because my Yeti's away for 3 days. *Whine*
Lesson 1: Julien and I have a lot more in common than perceived.
Our journey wasn't always an easy one. I would understand if people were apprehensive while we were dating - there's always a chance that Julien might decide to up and leave for France. Since we've been married though, there have been some good meaning people who have come up to me and told me that there might be some issues that Julien and I might face in the future due to our cultural differences. Thank you for the concern but here's where I would like to set the record straight. Julien and I have more similarities than any other Chinese man I've dated. I've never seen our different cultural upbringing as a challenge, but I rather find that it adds value to our lives in general. It makes life so much more exciting! It's because we come from different backgrounds that we are more inclined to be understanding towards each other. Not all the time of course. Having said that, the fact that we don't agree over something cannot always be attributed to our cultural differences. It's just merely a difference in opinions, this can happen between anyone.
This also helps us to learn how to compromise with one another or even brainstorm on situations to come up with more creative solutions. There are more positive attributes to this than there are negative in my point of view.
Lesson 2: As long as we both are happy, nothing else really matters.
I've been very blessed at work and was privileged to even qualify for a company holiday trip that would be fully paid for to Korea for 3 days. Of course I was to share this with Julien. Unfortunately, the timings just coincided with our pre planned Paris trip and after much discussion, we both decided to pass on the Korea trip. Much to my dismay, not everyone agreed with my decision at work not to go for the Korea trip.
It was an easy choice for me to make. I always ask myself these 2 questions when I feel stuck sometimes. Q1: Is there anything to lose? Q2: Will you regret this for the rest of your life?
For Korea, yes there is something to lose because this is a company paid trip and we're talking about 1st class treatment during this 3 days. Good hotel stays, good meals, etc. But I can always go for another company trip the next time, I just need to make sure I qualify. As for Paris, there is everything to lose, because I don't want to spend Christmas or New Year away from Julien and I know that he would want to spend this season with me too. And nothing means more to me than to make my husband happy. I mean, he already travelled more than 10,000km just to be with me. So yes I have everything to lose and yes I will regret it for the rest of my life because no one else can give me back this experience, not with all the money in the world. Sure I can still make it happen by travelling to Korea from France, but why should it be at the expense of my own happiness or Julien's happiness even?
I've come to learn, thank goodness quickly as well, that in every decision that we both make, as long as we both come together in agreement on something, and are happy with our final decision, nothing else really matters. I will definitely apply this in our future decisions.
Lesson 3: It's important to communicate.
For the longest time, I had this misunderstanding towards Julien with regards to my work. I realised it's very important to talk with one another. Regardless of cultural background, misunderstandings can arise when not clarified. Julien had previously made a statement about work that made me feel he was not being supportive. That honestly put my morale on a low. Each time he made the same statement I would feel inadequate. Recently, I found out though that his statement was not in relation to me personally. It was more a general statement. You probably do not understand what I'm saying but it doesn't matter. I'm glad that we both managed to clarify with one another about this. He is actually very supportive & understanding towards my working hours and just work in general.
We all define things differently. Even words, we perceive them differently. It's very important that I understand something in a way that Julien would want me to understand it. And only communication can allow us to do so.
Lesson 4: Time once passed cannot be re-wound.
I've been in a very reflective mood as of late and just the other day, this question popped up in my head out of no where: "If you went to Heaven today, is there anything that you would regret?"
My answer: No, for work. No, for friends. Yes, for family.
I seriously need to do some rebalancing of my time management with regards to family time. I mean, heck! I just got married! I guess this also attributed to my decision to drop the Korea trip altogether. I'd rather spend quality time with my husband and my loved ones than leave all this for some fully paid company trip. I know I work hard. And I want to play hard too - It's my entitlement.
Lesson 5: Julien's a very good natured boy...
Says my mother since the first time she met Julien. And she is right. Patience and understanding are truly a part of his virtues. This has helped us avoid quite a number of conflicting situations. Or rather, it helped prevent these situations from escalating. We're not altogether saints. We do fight like every other normal couple. I think the right word my mum was trying to look for was "Gracious".
Julien always told me of the "mirror effect". Basically to treat others how you want others to treat you. Which I find to be true from our own experience. In most situations, even during my worst days, with my own insecurities, he treats me with utmost respect, and I in turn am filled with respect for him.
Lesson 6: Love is not just gazing at each other; it's looking together in the same direction - Antione de Saint-Exupery
This phrase that was on our wedding programme, has been a huge part of our lives. What this means to both of us in short, is that in a marriage, we both have our imperfections. Instead of focusing on each other's faults, we both need to focus and be filled with God's love for us before it over flows to one another.
Spend less time staying angry. Spend more time living.
Lesson 7: I married the right man.
Enough said. =)
Feeling melancholic today. Maybe it's because my Yeti's away for 3 days. *Whine*
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