Good life despite exams

Exams next week - Tue, Wed & Fri. We should be used to the fast pace of school, having exams every seven weeks, but it still depends on the quality of your professors and the standard of the individual modules. This time round we have quite a slack professor, who did not give sufficient examples for us to be familiarised with the material. Then, there is one very tough stochastic module which most people find difficulty in understanding. During the three-week break in December, I even dreamt of failing one module and was worried it could be this. But after trying out the past year papers and going through the whole module, I find this manageable after all.

Wanted to blog the past few days, but was occupied with solving assignments and examples (which the prof did not go through with us). Last Monday I dropped by SGX and was lucky to meet the ones I meant to meet :) It provides some comfort knowing that I should be going into the department I desire. And although the future boss told of the huge amount of work waiting for me, I was rather excited about the challenges upon my return to the office. I met up with three SGX frenz for lunch at Amoy, and realised some things do not change with time, like a strong friendship. Of the group, three of us have been good friends since we joined the company and the way we chat during lunch is still as our first lunch four and a half years back. Only thing is now I can't really tahan the heat and stuffiness, maybe because I'm running around outdoors most of the time and appreciate temporary air-con better.

Today is WW's bday! No celebrations - as per the hubby's wishes, but I gave him his presents still. Also coz of my exams, we're staying at home the whole day. Perhaps will go for a nice meal later when he wakes from his nap. May WW be happy always!

Dim Sum lunch with Wong Family

On Sunday, we went for a dim sum lunch at Red Star Chinese Restaurant to celebrate Tian's and my birthday. WW and I reached first to find a long queue snaking to the lift lobby but heng it wasn't that long a wait. WW said the food was not good enough to warrant such a long queue. I don't know much about dim sum's standards, but thought it was nice to just point and order the dim sum dishes as and when we like. Too bad the dan tats ran out fast! And we weren't able to catch the trolley lady with the egg tarts.

Monkeying around, HC that is.
Tian & HC
Indoor settings and deco. It has 60 tables or so, can house a big banquet!

WW & YZ
Mama & Papa

Check out all our birdy faces. What a candid shot taken by WW.

Family photo!


What is Shou Bi laughing at?Wong Tian pushing down my tummy fats.. haha. What a thin forearm she has.

CNY officially ended with 元宵 yesterday. Everyone's back to the full-steam working or studying mode. Boohoo, when is our next break coming up?

CNY photos - 大年初二

We were at Ah Fong's house on the second day of CNY. Every year she would invite relatives and friends to her place at BLVD. Last year we missed the visit, and missed the proposal by Chris Lee. Wonder how big the bling is!

Ama with QQ (舅舅） at the dining table

Tian and HC
Wong Family with WW and WY (me the photographer). Bad lighting though.. there was too much light at the background
Shou Bi tucking into the 棚菜
Wow! Lotsa abalones, prawns, scallops, sea cucumbers and delicacies
WW and Wanyi

Turning 28 tomorrow! No birthday wishes, just hope for good health and happiness for my loved ones.

Customer Service

Government is pumping in S$100M to upgrade skills for the service sector. We had the GEMS program which aimed to improve customer service but its results were not distinctly clear. I still face grumpy service staff or even rude ones. Bad service peeves me the most. I can't help complaining to WW about it when I'm dealt with lousy service, though he will think that I over-react. If you want to work in the service industry, be prepared to drop your grumpiness or loftiness and cast your worries aside while doing your duties. I don't expect a queen-like treatment but always be respectiveful to your customers, especially when I'm the pleasant customer who politely request for your service.

So, hope this $100M SPUR reaps some pleasant results.

*Cough cough*

Third day of CNY, and I fell sick to sore throat (blame it on the roasted duck noodles) and slight fever. In the next two days, it blew into an on-and-off fever and flu, and persistent cough. My poor sister fell to the same sickness yesterday too, but not due to my spreading but maybe her late-night mahjong session.

Yesterday WW spent almost the entire day doing his presentation slides for a meeting today. What a sai gang thrown to him on a Friday. But comparing the work he does here in HQ and in the air base, this work may be heavier in load but lighter in responsibilities. I recall those stressful days when he had to be on standby 24/7, receiving calls every now and then even late in the night, and the urgent decisions and shots to call. Load or responsibilities? I would rather take on more work than have to worry incessantly.

We're going one month into our marriage. Still waiting anxiously for the wedding photos from Benny our photographer. Hopefully it's 慢工出细货. Living with the in-laws has been great so far, especially with them taking good care of me when I fall sick. Ever since WW and I finished watching the last episode of 溏心风暴 on CNY eve, we didn't have much TV time together at night until now when we've gotten 家好月圆 from WW's sis. Yippie, another 40 episodes of good acting to watch!

In early May, I'll be flying over to US for the Carnegie-Mellon exchange. Now the classmates are searching for flights and are going to book soon. Sadly, this signifies that my schooling period will come to an end soon - in a short five months' time. I can't help but keep thinking about work now. About how it would be when I go back to work, how our lifestyle will change and how now I should be keeping close contact with my HR colleagues and future boss again. I start to imagine how I'd be coughing away in the cold office, shivering and feeling feverish and not able to rest at home without the strong air-conditioning. It's really kinda sad that my great break is coming to an end soon. But before that, the holiday in the US awaits and I hope my planned trip with WW to Canada can be realised.