朽木百哉のブォグ

I had reached 60.25hrs of OT this month. An increase from last month.

Seeing the fruits of labour from last month had consoled me, as those figures was something I would expect to be the norm. This time, it's time trade off for monetary gains.


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Another day ended. Finally decided with dearie on which unit to take after some discussions...for our new home.

The units are pretty quickly snapped up. Considering that we have been placed at the 2nd month since opening of flat selection, just pray and hope that we will get our desired unit. One minor mental process taken off for now. Next would be on the big day, coming Sunday.

Further discussion on the meetup with PO in near future, so it all will be depending on how well I do on the actual day of meeting. The first time I'm having a corporate meeting with someone at that level. No matter. Just go for it.

Sis' surgery will be coming up soon, so hope she will have a speedy recovery after that.

Before I could write a message to brother and Jaslin to ask if her leg's better, the end of the day had arrived. Time passes so quickly when we are all busy working, raising our families and building our home. For me, this is just a beginning after a temporal moment of "peace" under my current TL. After sharing the news about going back to the ex TL, Tay was hyper reactive and emphatised with my situation...I thanked her for that. Fortunately I had made a right move at this moment of time.

Time to rest. Good night world.

Quite a massively manpower downturn today.

There was a caller who refused my help and even sarcastically commented it is sad that have the same surname as her...simply don't understand why these people can be so eccentric.

Anyhow, the day still has to go on, but that comment from that caller certainly make me felt less positive about where I'm working; except for the "variable", looks like there's really nothing else worth keeping me going. Christopher had came over to play buffer, and told me to give myself and my ex TL a chance as he's aware of the many issues I had with him in the past on work grounds. Something that's easier said than done, though Chris had explained his personality to me that could be the cause of all those issues I had. Strongly, I still can feel the "gateway to perpetual contract position" when under his "care".

The days are slowly ticking towards that day.

Got news from the opportunity that the PO wants to see me; so I gotta make some arrangements during the week. A 2nd meet up is usually positive; learnt from Wan the PO is actually equivalent to CEO / MD level, so I guess he has to be the head of the office here. No doubt the people to be handled will be different, the growth and advancement will be there. I shall do my best this time again when I see the PO. In the meantime, keep a cool head till everything's in place first.

Lunch dim sum at Zhou's kitchen, which we had went before a few months back; once again, with dearie and her family. Wei's at his favourite chicken feet again and having at least 4 - 5 servings. The food, as usual, is wonderful as it is a buffet style and we can order as much as we can eat.

I reached the place slightly after the designated time, fortunately, the road wasn't too difficult to navigate. We moved to the site of where our new home would be and before that, had already decided on the units we are selecting, but to keep a close eye on the remaining units as the day draws near. That's in about a week's time.

The dim sum was so filling that we could forgo dinner and it sustained me through the evening.

Argh, another spell of sneeze storm. What could be wrong? It had took me a week to be liberated from the Sticky Nostril Syndrome but this time, it feels more like a spell of chill.

I have to work tomorrow and musn't fall. A final week for the month of September 2010.

Hope dearie will reach soon so we can have dinner together. I shall not let what happened at work become a barrier between us as this is only for myself to be bothered about. Since I already have plans on how to fix it, let's roll.

Weather had been pretty cool today thus lunchtime had not proven a thermally challenging walk.

We'll be going to Shima's place tomorrow for Hari Raya, after my OT. Good chance for us all to catch up and I'll get to play with her 3 cats at home. Wish I could adopt the short furred cat and Ah Huay as they are so adorable; pity parents do not permit.


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The morning was awakened by the news that my current TL wlll be moving out of the department in Nov...it'a quite a shock and yet happy for her as she found a better opportunity. All of us will sure miss her as she's a winner be it both at work or as friends; someone who doesn't put on airs and always approchable.

Looks like the individual session on our work coping she did with us will be the first, and last, that I had mine done a couple of months ago.

The very core news that upsetted the rest of us, was the fact that we will be under my ex TL, whom, was
notorious for his style of evading difficult calls even when we are at the edge and required his intervention. Such, had also been known by people from other teams.

I foresee more hinderance in leave application ans eternal contract position if I should stay on and under him, no chance of advancement. Contingency plan has to be activated.

It was a dampening day especially towards the weekend. My heart cringed at the first mention of his name following the announcement; something which could be felt among those who are affected, let alone imagine the following Monday being effectively under his 'care', or shall I put it as, 'scrutinization'?

Some people who he favours get to go on a full week leave, I foresee that it's impossible to get mine approved on such an extended duration. 2 years under him and nothing benefitted.


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Coming towards the end of the week and finally another tough day off. Down with 9 people today and the surge of calls had been peaking towards the evening as I was getting ready to move out from office to explore a new opportunity.

The place look very different compared to where I am working now; much simplified after learning from the hiring manager about how the company is structured; probably due to the fact that it's newly launched in the region, thus no of staff are so much lesser compared to that of many established principals in the industry. From what is described, this opportunity will be much tougher considering the group of people that I foresee myself dealing with. Enough of the comfort zone where I am in now.

I had a good chat with Carol and so far, things look positive from what she had told me. Before I realise any anxiety, my interview had been over and gone pretty smoothly. Let's keep fingers crossed and see how things go tomorrow.

Dearie is still on training so will take sometime before I see her outside her office.

The final day in a week that dearie is having her classes; 3 consecutive days in a row can be mentally challenging and certainly not for the faint-mind stamina-ed.

I made my way directly down after some shoots at Central, where there was some mid-autumn festival exhibition of the lightings, which was the last day of display, and especially crowded. Quite a nice place for shoots, but I didn't want to spend too much time there.

Dearie had told me of her tough time with her boss, who used to "lord" over my department. From what she said, the way of handling was certainly very degrading and apologised only with an sms later. Since there was already an apology with the explanations, I just suggested she took it, while looking for other roles that will make her working life much happier in some ways. Probably it's due to the fact that she's doing something out of her unusual routine, which requires a tough mind, a level of leadership skills which she's not used to.

Hope tomorrow will be a better day for her.

I realised dinnner was missing after feeling the hunger when reaching dearie's place from her school. Quickly, it was settled with some leftover dishes which was just enough for the late hours.

Learnt from Jaslin that her toe still require followup after hurting it against the wall a couple of days ago...hope all's fine for her. Another tough session for a someone close to me.

I was in a house which had a soft filter look that resembled the filter effect of 9D; saw dearie, Kelly Koh and a few colleagues who were in the house and all carrying netbooks. It appeared to be a relaxing session where I could rest, use the net and just laze around...something which had not been felt for a long time...

"thump thump" It was my mum knocking my door. Time to get to work.

The beginning of the 7th week of long nights. This had been something which fatigue has long been lost over the weeks as I enter the unscheduled run, detached from the rest.

Being Monday it had been busier than one can expect. Anyhow the day was sustained before making my way back for a short meal and then on my way to Clementi to fetch dearie from her classes. This is the beginning of an intensive term for her.

Had learnt from brother that the photos will be ready in a months time as we have requested for soft copy of the 4 of us taken at mum's place at his wedding 2 weeks ago...something that will definitely be heart warming to see :)

Being a Monday, the mind will feel that little fatigue after a busy day; on the phone and on the road.

Anther Saturday at last, after a busy week. Slept at 4am this morning after reaching home in the wee hours from dearie's place; the cold phlegm and cough still persists - wish I have a vacuum cleaner which can suck out all these discomforts; they're always on the pursue to surface even after clearing nose and phlegm.

Mum was amused at the video which I showed her about a cute baby bear that got frightened by presence of other baby animals in his pen...he looks so adorable that I wish I could keep him as a pet too; afterall I've got a soft heart for furry mammals, just like Ah Huay, who lives at our block void deck.

My brother and Jaslin will be back tomorrow; hope they had enjoyed their trip and wonder how the weather is over there.

Time to do some chores before planning any events for the rest of the day.

What a scam I've received...

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Finally reached the last day of the week; all's well on recovery except for occasional spells of sneezing.

Dearie will be working late tonight and so we might as well eat out....I'll still be on my turbo mode as usual; let's see how productive I can be this evening.

These few days had been dream filled nights; so readers, keep reading for updates of Dreamworld.


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The game is finally up but characters are not ready to be ported over yet. It took me awhile to be able to log in only realising the above, and playing a new character for the moment. Songjie is already well ahead of me levelwise as he does have more time
to play.

Roll call. Dearie has called me.

I've survived the day with some medication and kept the mind strong, and preventing the drowsiness effect from seeping in.

Just a while more before I can call it a day and continue with more rest tonight...rest is important for an enhanced recovery pace.

The news about the "migration" of 9D is not finalised yet; though there are bits and pieces of news about the game preparation stage to be on the new server.

Let's see how it goes this Friday, according to Songjie, on the availability of the client download.

Managed to reconnect with Julian, a primary school friend and he still looks very much the same compared to primary school days.

The motto for my day had so far been upheld, so just to endure another 8 more hours before calling it a day here; didn’t get to rest and recuperate at pantry as there’s a crowd of lunchers who have hogged much of the pantry...medication has a drowsy effect so I hope it won’t be affecting my work later.

The dream about WRX is still floating in my mind…something of a want and not need, so I would rather put this aside in reality.

Hope my cold will be ok by tomorrow – a day without workout as I slept especially early and woke up in the wee hours for a 2nd doze of the medicated herbal tea.

It was a quiet road that resembled the road to dearie's place near the LRT station that was gping owards the sports complex.

I walked down a multistorey carpark and kept dearie close to me as the llace was unusually crowded with foreign labour workers...near he bus stop with staircase going up the lRT station, I boarded the blue WRX and started the engine...sounds good to the ears when hearing the boxer engine idling. I drove with dearoe to a distance and sawsome army men in waiting at a deserted bus stop, and one of them is my ACSN during BMT days, 2SG Lai, whom I learnt from Edwin, has also left the forces and looking for a job at ST back then.

Suddenly, we were walking ahead and it appeared to be a dark road with many sihoulettes around and was signalled by Lai, to climb up a hidden panel under thw rail structure; there was a group of 'locals' there who appeared to be living there and are part of some resistence forces cum refugees. It was a hideout of those who live there which is hidden from the public eyes.

Next scene showed me calling LTA from an old
office of the 60s, about a label which has a sticker that captures vehicle information when passing through ERP gantries- regulatoon enquiries. The call was strangely attended by Linda, my TL. Conversation was quite tense toll I realised its her and talkes about some procedures about vehicle transfer procedures.

The WRX actually belongs to Alex Lim, Serene's cousin and yet to be handed over. Dearie looks delighted in my new ride to be, and I though reminded abput how sucky premium is for Subarus, it was the moment of my life...

Ring...730am, time to get to work after a 3hr rest.

It is the dessert built type of housing in Somalia where I see 3 factions of forces; something similar to that of the Three Kingdoms; one which is grey-suited and lead by a man who resembled Andy Lau in 見龍卸甲, but this time, his armour is more pro like that of Dynasty Warriors.

Another force, on dessert storm attire matching the surroundings caved in and a melee battle between commanders started; I wad wielding the sword used by Ivy in Soul Calibre, and combated another commander from the next force - Encik Ong also appeared in vaguely during the battle.

There was a minor rush through the steel gates of the enemy's base.

'Andy Lau' aka 趙子龍 appeared and stopped the battle; and I was ordered to 'rest' and there seemed to be a pending charge against me for the 'Ivyblade' I used in the battle. 趙子龍 was on an APC and carrying some equipments up the vehicle while Encik Ong was carrying the ST1100 bike - an impossible feat for the average human, and he was also dressed on battle armour.


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It was at an old street where I saw some thugs who were trying to bully a nerdy guy and I decided to give a hand; gave that guy a few punches till he fell unconscious and his accomplice fled; the innocent guy was simply attempting to use a public phone and these 2 bullies came to make trouble for him.

After he was unconscious, I dragged him to the other valley and undress him till he was left with his boxers and left him there to "bake" in the sun, while a police constable was patrolling nearby - hoping for him to spot and bring him back to the police station...strangely he didn't spot that thug. The constable was dressed in green uniform that resembled Hong Kong police. Spotted 2 European ladies walking around the vicinity and upon a glance, noticed the town was pretty deserted.

I suddenly transformed into a bird and flew across the town, noticing that there were hardly anyone; was it due to the avian flu that there are less people moving outside? I had to flap my wings harder to gain altitude. Soon, I saw the thug whom I took care off driving off in a flashy Year One car and dressed in suit; he seemed to have escaped from the town and undergone a total change of his attire; complete with suit, changed haircut and shades. I appeared walking past the road and soon he had driven off towards the city.

Passing the carpark, I saw a lorry selling 1.5l bottled drinks to a group of amateur footballers, and later on, I passed some bottles to the driver who was seemingly my worker and told him to let them drink and it's my treat - the warmthness of Donnie Yen's smile as Ip Man appeared to them.

Before boarding a minibus, I saw Junxiang and he asked if I have any friends who are still studying in NUS, can also come by here - a strategy to gain more business for the drinks I'm selling here via this lorry, so I teasingly asked "you mean female friends?", and went on to hint that actually I got a few female friends I could introduce to him, and that raised his eyebrows a little..."cannot la, you're chopped and registered already, furthermore your wife is so sweet and pretty" so he went "oh yes..." I commented it isn't good to have too many females friends especially when you're attached, to a certain extend.

6:50am; one of the earliest time I had awoken.

Throat's feeling dry despite having drank lots of water; learnt from Jannie she is having an infected tonsil and consistent water intake is necessary to prevent dehydration.

Could that be a sign of throat infection? Was the food taken at my bro's banquet an "overdose" that caused it? I doubt so as I had felt ok on Sunday...could be some heatiness within that had built up over the weekend.

Dsspite less staff on unscheduled leave today, call volume was crazy and the service level was uncommentable...wondering if anything constructive had been done to improve the handling time, or simply a surge after the public holiday? Though unwell, I have to hold on and complete the day.

Today's lunch hadn't been as lonely as usual; met June, Kent, Christopher and Adeline as our lunch schedule coincided; it was fun having their company - even June commented on me and my brother's resemblence when she saw the pics online. We're only different in age by 7mins :)

System started a mutiny so I'm compelled to leave earlier, and also in view that I'm getting dinner for my parents and sis - mum's ill again.

Sunday - a day of rest after my bro's big day yesterday. It must be really tiring for him and Jaslin considering they had been up since early morning. Learnt from Sihui that they will be going Japan tonight and will only be back on 19/09...a good break after their banquet. I had managed to collate the pics taken at his wedding in the wee hours this morning prior to slumbering in the airconditioned room.

Most of the time was spent indoors and managed to catch up on laundry, while the sun still is bright. Mum's running a temperature so dinner was fixed via getting something from the nearby coffeeshop.

I had been awoken by the talking outside my room; it's already 6:30am and it took me awhile to enter slumber the night before; it was already 2am when I lay on bed and had no idea how long I had been tossing and turning the night before.

They had moved off around 6:45am after fixing up his tie.

Dearie had watched the documentary "Entiti" which was a factual paranormal that was filmed in Indonesia; certainly creepy to hear after watching it.

The evening was spent doing up some decorations prior to my brother's big day, with some decorations in the hall. Sis was the "creative director" so to speak as she decided to make up some flowers in the hall.

Dearie had been around to help too...so nice of her to be able to help out. I had sent my sis and aunt back before sending dearie back.

An evening with many activities but time seemed so fast and pretty chakara consuming. Before I had noticed, I had comfortably dozed off under the mask treatment in dearie's place and it's already 1:30am.

I went to a condominium near Newton and reminded me of Bert’s place where he stayed and was nearby; the condo I went was all white with serenate surroundings as I walked past the pool; this time, I saw Gina, one of the HODs whom we had went to Lunar with after the company event at Microbrewery a few months back.

I saw that her DOB is in 1981 which was actually not…and she was married? Not that I know of, but an album in her FB shows that he partner was Bert, named as “Always yours” as it described in her FB relationship status.

The setting was such that I was going to her place and attending some BBQ event that was held that “their” place…quite a surprise somehow.

I had previously awoken at 5:48am and went back to sleep; most likely is a recovery of undone rest from a stressful day yesterday.

7:30am, time to get off to work

It was an heavy headed morning for me as I could feel the dread of my workplace. It had been suppressed on account of the “variable” I could do with my voluntary long hours, but it is really high time to move on to prevent growth from being capped; for the past 3 years.

I overheard some discussions among colleagues about the bonus they’re getting, being lesser compared to a few years ago when it was a considerable amount. That word of “bonus” ticks me right from the first syllable…

The day still has to go on but the dark chakara seems to be emitting out once again…I hope I don’t have to seal myself in work fully to make it up to myself.

I did share a little about the shortened lunch that was not exercised with example from the top with Elaine…though nothing said from her, it’s well appreciated from within.

I was taking some scenes of landed properties near Tembeling Road and somehow, my kitlens could zoom out tlll it became flush with A500's body.

Soft morning sun and the quiet surroundings greeted me when I was in the shooting action.


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The first day after the 31st milstone...and back to work.

A few of my colleagues were talking about why I was taking leave last Friday and later deduced that it was my birthday; no presents received at work, and a pleasant surprise from sis when I got home. Didn't have time to open the presents so decided to leave it as wrapped and took a photo of it before placing it somewhere prominent where I can see and unwrap when I have time.

It's a shortened week in view of the upcoming Hari Raya.

Finally a Sunday and it marked the date where I turn 31.

It'll be an earlier night as we decided not to watch Changi Haunted, which is a local production with the setting identical to that of Blair Witch project. Might not be worth the ticket price afterall.

Time to get an early rest tonight.

Appeared in the old house that had the setting of that of the Soong sister's house in Singapore; but this time, neither dilapilated nor abandoned. Surrounding was a town that was filled with life, carrying the aura of the lifestyle during that era.

Suddenly the scene came back to today's, leaving the house in its dilapilated and abandoned state and when I went in, and saw a mynah which I deliberately cornered it so as to catch it. In order to prevent it pecking me, I wore a carbon-fibre armoured glove to catch it.

When I was at my desk later, the mynah had turned into a humanoid creature which was harmless - looking like a mini yeti. It walked around and had that cuteness of the sugar glider which was prohibited pet in Singapore.

7am, it's a Saturday morning

The late awakening after a deep sleep under the constant cool jet from the wind…though a short day but had proved pretty tiring as I did some errand the previous night.

Saw myself in a place that looked like Pu Yi’s old place, narrower main gate and passageway. There was a dog which shyed away from us when asking it to come in and play ; somehow reminded me of Isabel – dearie’s primary school friend’s place in Chai Chee, one of the older, yet cosy estates locally as the dog also reminded of their pet, zaizai.

It’s such a peaceful moment as I have always enjoyed the company, the warmth that their family share when I went to their place sometime back…

Third knock on the door, 7:40am and I have to go to work.