All fired up!

This must have been one of the longest breaks from blogging I have ever had in ages and travelling is not one of the reasons as to why there has been a lack of posting in the last 7 days.

The truth is, I just have been plain busy. Between my new job, juggling kids and trying to manage a household amongst other things, I have also been really busy trying to make time to fine-tune and re-organise my new blog site PLUS doing a little cramming to get a certification of some sort after working hours.

My stress level has since sky-rocketed since I left my old job. Coming home by 6.30pm has been quite a feat these days. It does feel like I am biting more than I can chew.

But, despite all that, I'm actually happy. I don't think I have felt at peace with myself for a long time, and yet in spite all the challenges thrown my way, I still feel all fired up and ready to tackle the day when I get up in the morning.

That's always a good sign.

The downside is, I am really struggling to find time to pen down my thoughts for a few posts which I have half drafted since 2 weeks ago and haven't got the time to write them all up. At the same time, I really can't wait to officially migrate to my new site and invite you over. At this point, it that's not going to happen so soon.

My goal is to get my new site up and running, hopefully in a matter of weeks and when it does, I hope you will like it.

Meantime, please do excuse me for the lack of updates.

How to sketch like a pro!

This is super cool stuff and whoever did this how-to,  makes drawing a still-life spoon looks amazingly easy.

Had I try to attempt this, I am pretty sure it would turn out to be something not so easily identifiable. There is only way to find out.

How I roll: A new chapter

September 4^th, 2013 marked a new chapter in my professional life. It marked a new beginning to a rather unplanned, but imminent end from my previous job which would likely change the course of my life journey from here on. A clean slate once again, a new adventure and a flight path into the unknown.

It has been barely 3 days with my new job, and despite at least 5 years of absence, that sense of warm, genuine sincerity and attachment to some of the familiar people in the organization felt very reassuring.  I still have that springs on my heels I felt months ago when this new job conversation started and more than ever, I feel like I fit right in. There’s no “treading” about and I really do feel like I am just picking up where I have left off. I am still not sure if that is actually a good thing, but most gratifying of all, it feels like I’m back “home” and it still feels oh-so-right.

I have got some work cut-out for me. Already, there are issues to fix, team to set up, stake-holders to please and human dynamics to suss out; amongst other things. There are things to learn, and most importantly, a whole lot of things to unlearn. It really is not about how much you already know, rather, it is about what you don’t know, find out, adapt and go on from there.

With new swanky gadgets at my disposal, I certainly am ready to roll!

Damn Lotus Notes!

Fried Chicken Party

As of today, I am officially unemployed! (Well...I'm actually clearing a couple of official sabbatical days prior to my official-official last day, but that's just me being technical). By 9 a.m. I had happily plonked my backside on the chair of Dr. Feet getting a one-and-a-half hour long of a very much needed foot massage.

It was divine! No (corporate) responsibilities. No meetings. No kids. No plans. No stress. For once in a long, long time, the whole set up felt really good; even if this luxury of having a little me-time would last for only a few days till I start my new job next week.

That being said, I still feel a little sentimental when I thought about a particular "Fried Chicken Party" that was held at the office yesterday.I had intended to quietly disappear before 4pm after all the personal goodbyes to several people, and so when I was told to stay a little longer for a "Fried Chicken Farewell Party" (quote-unquote from one of my colleagues), I was completely surprised. It wasn't just some random, ordinary "Fried Chicken Party". It was a party set up by my very sweet colleagues who took the trouble to plan for a small, intimate farewell party for me on my last day at the office. In all honesty, it was not something I had remotely expected, as I didn't think anyone would have cared or bothered.

But it turned out they did. They bought lots of yummy fried chicken and said some really kind words that touched me deeply. Deep enough to make me weep. Yikes. (Damn it,Ex-boss!And I'm saying it endearingly) My team said a heart-felt, "Thank you, Mom". I couldn't decided there and then if it was a good or a bad thing.

And then, I was thrown into the spotlight and there was no escaping of having to deliver a speech. I was completely unprepared and I.had.to.give.a.speech. I had to think on my feet and my mind drew a blank whilst my heart had crumbled by the touching words that was delivered just minutes prior. (I thought that was unfair. Hmmph! Damn it, Ex-Boss).

And I tried very hard to compose myself.

And I failed.

Miserably.

And I surrendered to the mighty,mushy heart and let out some tears as my head screamed silently in protest, "This is bloody unfair! I can't be tearing in front of 30 people!"Arrgghhhhhhhhhhhh!

Not cool. That wasn't supposed to happen.

But it did. And in between tiny sobs (just a tiny bit!), I braced myself and rambled my thank yous, still could not believe that the team had bothered to do a little something for me. I was touched and I was humbled. It was a small gesture, yet it carried a lot of meaning. It was genuine. I feel blessed.

It was also symbolic for me. My tenure has officially ended, and for what it's worth, I hope that I have inspired the people I worked with and no matter how small, I sure do hope that my contributions have had a positive impact on them. My job is done and whether they realised it or not, these people are talented individuals - I have actually learnt a lot more from them than they would ever have from me.

My desk had never looked so clean and empty. It was a good place as I had a very distinct vantage point and most of all, my desk was all "fengshui-ed" up.

Before

After

It was a nice ending. It was an end that symbolises an imminent new beginning.

And oh!Fried chicken now brings an entirely new perspective for me!

The Fried Chicken Party with variety of fried chicken!

Faith in humanity

Watching this 4:04-minute video up to the very last minute of its run had my stomach churning knots, my heart in palpitations and my eyes welling up with involuntary tears.

The video entitled  "A dying child, a distraught father and a tattooed stranger" is one of the more powerful and emotionally surged-up video I have come across yet - and one which represented a situation in which no parents would ever want to be...in either position.

But above all, it is videos like this that restores my faith in human kind and a testament as to why we should never, ever judge anyone by how they look or what they wear.

The one with the latte-cat

This is one of the coolest latte arts I have come across from someone else's FB posting:

Just observe the intricate details on that, and tell me that you have the heart to drink it all away and destroy the work of art that was done with milk foam.

Maybe I should start learning how to do these latte art to amuse myself. 

Related post(s):
Latte Art

Mind-bending visuals

Here are a few of my favourite images which I find to be utterly fascinating. I could easily lose track of time just by looking at them as I try to scrutinize every aspect of it:

Amazing isn't it?

I realise that I'm can never be so creative like that, and so, I just marvel at what other people can do, and hoping that one day, I have my own calling at something 'creative' - whatever that may be.

Original article can be found here.

Eid Mubarak 2013

The last time we were back in Singapore to celebrate the festivities of Hari Raya with my family was 2 years ago when Spud was only 13 months old. We missed last year because Squirt was only a couple of months old (I didn’t feel like I was up for traveling with a newborn), and this year, all the four of us made it there and back - thankfully still sane and in one piece.

The trip wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be, and although Spud did throw one of her worst ever temper-tantrums every other day, we managed to get through the week without me completely losing my head. It was also a novelty for us to watch the kids amuse each other and laughing their guts off when they were put together in the same room at bedtime – something which neither we nor the kids have done before.  The first two nights were the roughest as both went on a crying spree at the same time refusing to sleep even though they were knackered. But as the days went by, hearing bucket loads laughter coming from behind closed door after we kissed them goodnight was pretty endearing. The kids eventually fell asleep after about an hour of mucking around (amazing how they can amuse each other, even though Squirt can barely talk!) and of course, not without us butting into the room every 5 minutes and finally threatening to take their bed-buddies away.

Despite a rather hectic schedule, we managed to do our rounds of mandatory visits to the relatives, caught up with a few precious long-time friends over for lunch at my parents’, had our Sambal Stingray at Newton and squeezed in a trip to the zoo.  Spud even managed to score herself a bonus trip to the Bird Park with her Nya-i when we had to do some errands on one of the days.

The silly thing I did was to forget to charge the battery of my digital camera before we left Bangkok and because I cannot be bothered to attempt taking pictures from my mobile, we don’t quite have that many pictures to share this time, save for these few!

Spud and Squirt with their Uncle at the zoo

Spud & Squirt flanking their cousin

Smiling Spud with 2 apprehensive little babies!

Squirt trying to engage his cousin in a conversation

A picture evidence for Spud that we passed the Rhino which she insisted on seeing.. She fell asleep as I wore her on my back.

Squirt falling asleep on his Nya-i on our way to the airport

The week had flew by so fast and because we were either chasing kids or running after schedule all the time, it felt like I was zooming in and out of a dream. Now that we are back in Bangkok, it felt kind of surreal that we have survived this trip given the circumstances.

This year, I missed a good friend whom I always look forward to see during our annual Hari Raya gathering. I had thought of her.  I remember how much she enjoyed my Mom’s cooking and Hari Raya goodies, and at the same time, it saddened me that I would never see her again in this life. My eyes welled up with tears when I stumbled upon her comments on a blog post I had published in 2011 while I was trying to recall what I had written for the last Hari Raya two years back. It is hard to believe that she was gone. I still feel the warmth in her voice, and while my eyes had involuntarily turned glassy as I read what she wrote, her cheerful and playful tone also made me smile. May the sun always shine bright on your soul, Vicky. I have missed you.

In the spirit of festivities while doing our part for the less fortunate and remembering the departed regardless of race or religion, here’s us wishing everyone a (fairly belated) Happy Eid Mubarak and wishing you a blessed Syawal.

An afternoon pedi

Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING beats a pedicure session in the middle of the afternoon at lunch hour to calm your head for a couple of hours.

Notice that lady in the background sitting right behind my pedicurist with a magazine in her hand? She actually had 2 dedicated ladies tending to her for a good full hour - one to comb her down, the other to blow-dry her hair at the same time. Such is the brutal, sweet and spoilt life in Bangkok!

And notice how sometimes, the colours that you pick from those colour palettes provided by the salon always somehow turned out slightly different in shade than what you thought it would be? 
Well...that always, always happens to me.

This time it turned out to be on a slightly pinkier undertone (godammit!), and because it's gelish, I kind of have to ignore that it is a little pink and live with it for a few more weeks.

And oh! Those are my not-so-recent pair of comfy slip-on plats which I had acquired from my last Singapore trip. Simple slip-on wedges like this pair has been quite a rare find.

This one came from Studio Tangs.

Recruiting boo-boo

In the industry I work in, it is not uncommon to get a call from head hunters every once in a while. In fact, it is one of the more legit ways to land yourself a job without actually actively looking if you have got the right connections. I think I would be a little worried if no one ever calls me for “a chat” in a span of a year!

In the recent months however, there had seemed to be an influx of calls from recruiters from all over. Not surprising, given that there has been a shortage of talent in the industry of late as employers are constantly looking for people to fill in a position. I also suspect that one of the primary reasons for head hunters calling on me was simply because I had updated my profile in LinkedIn not too long ago.

Now. Being head-hunted can boost one’s ego, and the rule of the thumb is to never, ever pissed off a head-hunter as they would be one of the most important people who could help you through your career. The least you could do is be nice. Loud and clear, kabish?

However, that being said, I wonder if anyone ever felt slighted by a so-called head-hunter who couldn’t really be bothered to do their homework properly before even approaching a candidate and practice proper ethics when calling on one.

Look. I’m not about to sound all high and mighty here, and I do appreciate the work that a head hunter does and I do have the utmost respect for what they do. But, I was truly taken aback, no wait! appalled would be the most appropriate word to use, that a recruiter had sent me a message through someone else’s account. Case in point:

My first thought was: How is using someone else’s account even right? Couldn’t you spend a little bit of time signing up for your own account? Secondly, how do you even dare suggest to “keep in touch on a long-term” basis” when you are not even using your own email address to send me a message? Thirdly, who should I be replying to – you or your colleague?

I probably come from an old school of thoughts when it comes to business ethics, and so the practice of using another person’s account, no matter how casual it sounds, unless super-dire, does not sit very well with me; especially so when it was the initial contact. 

I hate to sound petty, but I was practically seething and was contemplating to ignore the message. However, the rule of thumb when dealing with head hunter prevailed.  It took me a day to think about how I should be replying to him without sounding like I was attacking him, but still able to drive the message that I was none to please as to how he initially conducted business.

I then shot a reply as follows:

He then called me the next day. He apologized and explained that because I was not his direct contact, he could not get through me. To which I thought, what fucking bullshit as all that you needed to do was send me an invitation from your own account! Otherwise, there are many ways to go about it to get to me. (Hello? You know my name, I’m on FB too!)

I can’t remember much of the conversation (I wasn’t interested in the job), and he told me that he’ll get in touch again. I then got an email message from one of his colleagues to explain the job description to me and asked for my CV – making the entire conversation even more confusing as this other person who contacted me had a different company attached to her.  

Some explanations and two correspondences later, I never did hear from them again.

It makes me wonder: is it just me being super old school about the protocols in recruiting or has recruiters become so blasé and nonchalant about how they ought to be conducting business when approaching potential candidates?

While I don’t expect an offer at the initial stage, a polite follow-up would be nice to maintain some sort of cordial relationship rather than just leaving the trail out cold.

This really ought to be one of the more bizarre recruiting experiences I have ever encountered.

My 5 (S'porean) moms story

Whilst I have heard that Thailand harbours a good number of Singaporean expats living in Bangkok, I have only met a handful of them in my last 8 years here; my first being barely 3 years ago.

One could spot them a mile away – usually recognized by their distinct Singaporean accents, and somewhat a holier than thou attitude. Accents and supercilious attitudes aside, I then realised the no-chemistry situation was the main reason as to why I hadn’t bothered forging any friendships with them. The exchange of emails and phone numbers, if any, were done probably done out of politeness than anything else.

The encounter I had with a fellow Singaporean mom a while back left a bad taste in my mouth, and through that not-so- nice experience, I was reminded of the very few Singaporean moms I have met in the last few years here.

Disclaimer: This was written based from my (repressed memory) and personal experience alone, and hence, by no means stereotypical or a true representation of all Singaporeans living abroad. Any similarities with those living or dead are purely accidental.

Singaporean Mom #1:

This was my very first Singaporean mom encounter at a Christmas party only 3 years ago.  We had a brief friendly chatter, and very outwardly, had a few things in common. She is of Malay ethnicity, married to an angmoh (English), has a young daughter (3 years old then, Spud was 1.5 years old), and has been living in Bangkok for a long, long time (8 years).


And that was where all things in common ended.

She did not seem too keen to chat. She mainly kept to herself and was only engaging her daughter.  She seems to be in her own little world. She didn’t smile very much, and neither did I see her interacting with other moms as well. I never saw her again.

Singaporean Mom #2:

I have a distant memory of meeting a mother-to-be of twins at one of my earlier Moms-meet session. I don’t remember very much of this lady, except that she was talking mainly about looking for domestic help.

She came across as someone who is very sure of herself as well as able to list out the kind of help she would need from her maid/nanny. I remember vaguely that she talked a lot about how she felt it would be hard to trust strangers to care for her kids. And for that reason, she would be flying her mom in to help her with her twins. She spoke about having very high expectations of those who would work for her.

Perhaps she didn’t like the fact that I asked questions as my was of getting to know her, but I had the impression that she didn’t really want to talk to me.

Never saw her again!

Singaporean Mom #3:

Tall and lanky, this Chinese Singaporean stay-at-home mom easily stood out as one of the tallest Asian I have ever seen. She had her hair cut shaped like a bowl, and she wore a thick black-rimmed glasses. At a glance, she came across as someone who is quite naïve and nerdy. She reminded me of a very studious student from Raffles Girl’s School.

Ling is part of her name, and I first met her at my pre-natal pilates class more than a year ago. We didn’t really chat till a few lessons after, and she was also one of those who didn’t come to class regularly.  When I first heard her accent, I remember being quite excited about meeting a fellow country-man. She seemed rather nice, but I couldn’t quite really place her. She then disappeared off the radar for a while.

I met her a few months later by chance as we were doing some grocery shopping, and she had recently (then)  gave birth to a baby girl. We chatted very briefly, and I thought that her French husband had seemed very unfriendly. He looked grumpy and was very uninterested to even acknowledge us while we were having a brief chat with his wife. He looked hassled, and was somewhat hurrying his wife, almost kind of annoyed that she had chosen to stop and chat for a bit…perhaps all of the after-effects of having a new baby.

Feeling as if we had been hurried was probably a good thing, as I realised soon enough that I didn’t really have much to say to her. We thought that we probably should “catch up again one of these days”. With work being my main and valid excuse for not being able to get in touch as often, I dropped her an email to connect her to other moms from our Pilates class.

She replied with a thanks, and I have not heard from her since. (On my part, I hadn’t bother to keep in touch.)

Singaporean Mom #4:

Everything about this woman screamed “look at me” – from speaking English in a rather posh accent to the branded stuff she wore, to the huge rock on her finger. Not only was the rock gigantic, her wedding ring was made up of at least 5 bands of diamonds all around.  In fact, her huge-ass ring was the only thing that stood out in my mind.

The second Singaporean I met in the same day as Ling while at Pilates class, I reckon that she must have been the envy of her many Singaporean friends!

As I found out, she has been living in Bangkok for 2 years, and prefers to shuttle back to Singapore every weekend to be with her husband. She revealed that she was working in an almost similar industry that I am, and had strong preference for Singapore medical capabilities. She opted to give birth in Singapore.

While we exchanged phone numbers and I thought there could be a potential connection somehow, like the rest, I really didn’t feel like there was any chemistry between us. While it is usually quite normal for us to sort of hang around a little after our pre-natal pilates session for a quick natter with other moms, she was quick to dismiss me when I tried to engage her in a friendly conversation. In fact, she acted exactly like the Singaporean lady who bought my bouncer – she made me feel that I was inconveniencing her. She quipped with a “Sorry. My husband ‘s been waiting and I have a very, very busy schedule.”

All right then.

That was the last I saw of her. No love loss.

Singaporean Mom #5:

This one was by far, my most memorable encounter with a fellow Singaporean. She was introduced to me by a very well-meaning mommy friend of mine who wanted to connect a fellow countryman to me when I was on maternity.

This Singaporean mom hailed from India after spending a good 3 years there and had apparently been in Bangkok for only 2 days. She must have been the weirdest of the lot. She was highly flustered and hyperventilating almost, and she thinks that everyone was out to cheat her. She was asking questions about maids and nannies, and the few questions that she kept repeating were things like,” Do the maids and nannies here steal?” , “Are they honest?” , “Do they lie and cheat?” because (quote-unquote), “I come from India and they all steal from me! So you cannot trust anyone!”

And she asked those questions like it was the most common questions to ask outright when you first meet another mom and when hiring domestic help. She repeated herself several times when I would not give her a straight yes or no answer. I mean, how do you even answer to that?!

She seemed rather rough at the edges and from her description on the things that she would demand from her maid/nanny, she seemed to have a very high standard and expectations (read: difficult, impossible, petty).  While I offered some information as to where she may be able to get domestic help/nanny, I was reluctant to recommend anyone I knew to her.

The other thing which struck me about her was her lack of display of attention for her 13 month old child. I remember that the child was still walking wobbly, and she was pretty much just left playing on her own – which was fine, except that the area where we were standing around had ragged pavement all around it. She already had some bruises and cuts on her, and all it would take was for the child to slip just once, and she would have a pretty nasty injury. For some reason, this weird mom didn’t seem to be worried and left her little daughter to her own devices; never once bothered to pull her back when she was about to get into trouble (instead, me and another mom who were chatting with her were the ones cringing away; between us wondering if we should be saying something!) .

She practically ignored the kid, and peeled the kid away from her whenever the kid came near her, citing that her daughter had been really clingy. I felt sorry for the kid.

The conversation with her became very tiring – she was very high-strung to the point of being neurotic. She was demanding answers to every question she posed. She was a black or white person with nothing in between. She knows what she wants and she wants it all her way. I thought she was a little bit freaky, and made up my mind that I want to have nothing to do with her.

So you see, I have only met a handful of Singaporeans in my lifetime here in Bangkok, and I am in no position to criticize them or be judgmental. They may not be the true reflection of all Singaporeans in Bangkok, but in my opinion, the average expat Singaporeans I have encountered here do come across as a little bit “atas” with a “I am so much better than you attitude.”  

Given my not-so-exciting encounter with them, I am almost convinced that Singaporean expats, and at least the ones that I have met, have their heads in the clouds. And, between you and me, I have come to a realization that the Singaporean expats and I can never be friends, for, I will never be accepted in their “all-atas” (literally translated as being high above) league.

Oh well.

Related post(s):
An encounter with a S'porean mom

The truth about drowning

"Sometimes, the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don't look like they are drowning."

Deep water and open seas scare me to bits. I'll only go into a pool if I know that my feet could easily touch the bottom of the pool whilst I stand, and the water level does not go above my chest. It's an extremely inconvenient phobia, and whilst I can swim, I consider myself a very incompetent swimmer - I freak out if my feet could no longer touch the bottom of the pool.

Having twice witnessed my dad almost drowned when I was little, my fear of drowning, thus becomes very real and one that makes me super paranoid. 

Here's a piece of article on drowning which I thought is worth a read:

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sport-fisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine; what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know—from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew know what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response—so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In some of those drownings, the adult will actually watch the child do it, having no idea it is happening.* Drowning does not look like drowning—Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene magazine, described the Instinctive Drowning Response like this:

“Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.

Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the Instinctive Drowning Response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long—but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

•     Head low in the water, mouth at water level
•     Head tilted back with mouth open
•     Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
•     Eyes closed
•     Hair over forehead or eyes
•     Not using legs—vertical
•     Hyperventilating or gasping
•     Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
•     Trying to roll over on the back
•     Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK—don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you all right?” If they can answer at all—they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents—children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

 Please share this with anyone who would find this useful.

Original article can be found here.

Happy Friday!

The sight of goofy Daffy Duck brought a smile to my face when I got in to the office this morning:

I have to snigger every time I see such reminder on the last Friday of the month. While it is a nice gesture in support of work-life balance, I can't help but find it almost pathetic such practices is being advocated only once a month. I believe work-life balance is a not a monthly privilege, but rather a right for every employee to embrace in every day of their working life.
 
This has been a long, long week and yes! TGIF.

Coolest World Map

The latest wall graphic has now made its way to our home:

Sticking pretty on one of our walls!

This was an impromptu find – we were just idly browsing the Stik 'em up wall graphic section during one of our recent “us” days when Silver Bullet discovered this little treasure. I thought that at 1,200 baht, it was a little too pricey for my liking, and admittedly, I was quite reluctant to get it at first.

But it was the only one there was, and I while the price had stung a little, it was actually a pretty neat little number.

Those blue stickers there denote all of the places we have been between the both of us. We barely have seen 5% of the world, and I guess this will now serve as a motivation for us to cover more in the time to come.

On a side note,I declare that this is one of the coolest world map I have ever seen!

How the stik'em looked in a package

Related post (s):
Wall Graphics

An encounter with a S'porean mom

Selling off old baby stuff or baby-related items which we don’t have any more use for as the kids have outgrew them, has been a recent mission of mine. They may be used, but all were kept in good and still-very-usable conditions.

Following the scare I did myself in when I sold the baby cot last time, I became a little bit more mindful this time offering to meet potential buyers at the nearest BTS station or just making sure that Silver Bullet is home should they want to view the product first.

Most of my buyers seemed like nice and reasonable people. A couple of them sounded weird, a handful was nice and the one who bought my breast pump were the sweetest of them all. But there was one buyer whom I thought was a tad arrogant. Her authoritative tone was a little misplaced, and I thought she bordered on being rude. She inquired about the bouncer and the conversation went like this:

(Me - in my head: What do you effing mean you don't have time? You think I have the whole time in the world?)

I had to take a long, deep breath  when I read that and was wrecking my brains real hard to craft a reply as politely as I could before I replied to her message several hours later...

Then, the next day:

So we dropped off the bouncer at her place. We waited around for more than 5 minutes, and when she finally made her grand entrance, she emanated the feeling that she was “oh-so-busy” and that our presence had more than inconvenienced her.
I shrugged whatever feelings I had aside. Besides, I only wanted to sell off the bouncer and it was not my place to be judgmental. She was cold – there were no smiles, no name re- introductions, no shaking of hands. When I had her on the phone earlier to ask for directions, I thought she sounded sneakily Singaporean. I ignored her unfriendliness and proceeded to explain to her how the bouncer works.  I even made some small talks while she inspected the bouncer, but I guess she wasn’t too keen on making any. With curiosity getting the better of me, I hazard a question of her origins.  I could sense her pride when she confirmed that she is a Singaporean. (hah!)

Satisfied with her inspection, she then handed over the money to me and then said curtly, “Keep the 30 baht”. She then quickly picked up the bouncer and turned away; again exuding the feeling that we really were inconveniencing her.

The mere 30 baht of pittance “delivery fee” thrown at me felt like an insult; a-slap-in-the-face.  I may have misread her or her tone from the text messages, but her demanding and authoritative tone she pulled on me was uncalled for. And, when I met her, I thought her arrogance was a little bit misplaced.  Did she, for one second think that if she would be shopping at a mall, the goods that SHE wanted would have come walking to her with a snap of her fingers?

There and then, I decided that I don't want to have anything to do with her beyond that.

A few days on, Silver Bullet found a small cushion that had come with the bouncer; something which we had accidentally missed out. I was in two-minds to want to contact her again. I guess, I could have just ignored it, but the good in me thought that since I had intended to sell all of it, letting her know was the right thing to do.  Besides, I didn’t really want to write her off as another “one of those” Singaporeans. As soon as she replied, I regretted my decision.

I thought the way replied with “Yes I know that” sounded as if she thought I had deliberately ripped her off.  Again, I may have just misconstrued the SMS message. I dismissed all thoughts and spent an additional 70 baht to get a messenger to deliver it to her at her apartment the next day. I didn’t get as much as an acknowledgement that she received it, let alone a simple “thanks”.

I have since come to a conclusion that *most* expat Singaporeans I met in Bangkok can be quite arrogant and bordering on rude. I don’t encounter many of them, but the few that I have met makes me want to run far, far away from them. They exude the feeling that they are so above you, and you are nothing but an inconvenience to their lives. They behave like the entitled elitist.  They have got their noses high up in the air, and their attitude, supercilious.  It might just be them making a statement of who they are, but those are the very traits I find extremely repulsive.

Just out of fun, I’ll tell a little story of the very few Singaporeans compatriots I encountered in the last few years since I have been living in Bangkok .

Watch this space -  I think it might make for an interesting read!

De-cluttering

After months and months of painstakingly putting our junk aside and then attempting to give it all away to charity but never got round to it because we didn’t really know where to drop them off at, we finally found one of the few organisations in Bangkok that not only accept items which we labeled as “junk”, but one that provides a free pick-up service.

Called Second Chance Bangkok (SCB in short, and I believe with NO affiliation to SCB Bank), the organization is a local initiative by the residents of Klong Toey slum to:

• reuse and recycle household and office items
• create employment opportunities for people who have experienced barriers employment
• finance projects that support families in the slums

They rely on donations of second-hand items ranging from clean clothes (babies/adults), furniture and any unwanted items that can be reused or still in very good conditions. These items are sold at the SCB shop, or passed on to those who lack the resources to purchase the items that they need.
It felt good to be able to give our used items a “second chance”, as we not only were able to de-clutter our home, we were also helping out on a cause.

It is my hope that most, if not all of our items can be put to good use - all 7 big-full-to-the-brim-bags ot them as well as the rest of the loose items pictured here.

Resigning in a new age world

Even resignation from the corporate world is getting more creative these days...

If you are wondering what that is, it is cake. Yep...resignation in the form of a cake with a pretty neat pipework for handwriting.

Talk about leaving the organisation in style! Coolest thing I have ever seen. Perhaps something to think about if I ever decide to leave my organisation - except that I will not be leaving to pursue my dreams as a baker.

Original article here.

When honesty doesn't pay

A recent article I stumbled upon not too long ago about an honest French couple who were arrested in Phuket made me really, really angry.

It was one of the most absurd and ridiculous thing to happen to a young couple, who, by virtue of circumstances given that it was their first trip to Thailand,  was arrested because they were honest enough to travel back to the airport to sort out everything because they did not want to get into trouble. The worst thing about it was: they were travelling with a 22-month old child.

And they got into trouble by being honest.

What I don’t understand was how they were treated throughout the ordeal. My ears were smoking with wrath when I got to this section of the article:

Like I said, it was the most ridiculous thing ever. Does anyone actually has any understanding or  empathy for the couple who not only have to deal with their young child but also had to face the ordeal of being held, imprisoned and charged through no fault of their own? 

I shook my head in sheer disbelieve when I read the article. I do not know what I would have done had we been in the same situation. It’s a scary thought.It occurred to me that humans in the highest level of hierarchy in this country have no sense of humanity in them. 

Moral of the story:
Be sure to first find the immigration counter and get your passport stamped before you exit the country! Never underestimate the stupidity ignorance of people in authority.