Bread and butter #14 (Funny and heartwarming farewell dinner for Puay San, Sockling and attachment students.)

Was so sorry, that I sort of promised to come up with a skit cum story-telling session and never carry it out in the end. That was partly because of me being too ambitious and also because of me being too last minute, or you can say, inefficient? :S

My fellow cubicle mate preparing the present for Sockling.

Tremandy and me in green.
Setting off from office, dividing ourselves into three (tour) groups.
Thereafter, we marched to the restaurant, Sakura at Clementiwoods,
where Seng Meng professed his love for durian puffs.
And the SASHIMI!!! Theresa and me flew to the sashimi counter many times... this is the first time I ate so much sashimi at one go! Even when Theresa is full, she still insisted on three more slices, wahahahahahahaaaa~Passing unwanted food around.

Cher Meng, Theresa and Sockling.

It was a really sumptuous meal, I would say. The pizza was great, the salmon was great, the sharkfin soup (according to K) was great, the orh-ni (yam paste) was great, almost EVERYTHING was great! The only disappointing thing is that we can only converse with the people sitting near us. Aye.
A really lovely group photo we took at the stairs while the rest of the folks are setting up the romantic place...
...which is this! It looked a little like two-groups-of-gangsters-going-to-fight scene or car-racing scene, huh?
We settled down on plastic sheets, and started singing songs (songs for farewell compiled by me). Special thanks to Chris who had to bear with my naggings at finding the chords which we did not really use on the spot! Was really touched because almost everyone was singing... except the SENIOR. Er-hem. Can I make a special request for him to sing during my birthday??? HAHAHA...

By the way, sitting around in a circle made up for the lack of contact during dinner. Whoever brought the plastic thingy, thanks thanks.

Sockling's gift- a beautiful paper wind-chime with our well-wishes, prepared by Theresa. Puay San got a really inspiring and beautiful calender (with quotes), which was specially designed by Tremandy and specially cut-out by Chris.

Julie claimed that she wore a green underwear. WHERE GOT!

Really nice and cute poses by Puay San and fellow folks...

And lastly two kisses from the directors... :P

Thanks all, for being game enough to wear green. So glad that you all were laughing almost all the way throughout the whole evening, such that we were eating less than what we usually would. Even though the videos are of low-quality, the laughter is enough to remind all of us the beautiful times we've had together.

Family treat.

Have received my pay about a week ago, and I wanted very much to give a treat to my family. Being the baby of the family, I think it's not easy for all members to wait for this day to finally come. My eldest brother was smirking at me and threatening to order everything on the menu. If only he can finish lor. Poot.

Anyway we went Yum Cha early in the morning, because we have to accommodate to my uncle's working hours. Really glad we went there because the food was GREAT!!! SUPER YUMMY! All of us thought the food was super yummy! Yum Cha is yummy!!!

Mum ordered some fruit salad dish, and I was thinking what for order fruit salad when you're at Yum Cha?! But no! It's not the usual fruit salad! The dish looked like 春卷s, but with fruits inside. It was awesome! And another dish had mango (oh my gosh) and prawns in them. Simply delicious!

Too bad there's no photos because when the dishes came, we ate them up rather quickly. :P

Bro's friend commented that Yum Cha is not good, but we think it's super good! Oh well, I guess it's subjective. I'm definitely going back there again!

Anyone wants???

Even though I spent a bomb on the meal, I thought it's rather worth it because everyone is happy. Afterall, familial happiness is the greatest treasure of all.

Bread and butter #13 (Weekly Friday Exhaustion.)

Couldn't churn out a script for the farewell dinner, so I ended up watching videos the whole morning. Most of them are of SCS folks laughing and crying in farewell dinners. I know I am quite inefficient and untalented. My fault lah, my fault.

Anyway, I forgot how it started. We suddenly talk about MSN addresses, and suddenly, all of us were online and we started a silent discussion on MSN. There were occasional laughters due to the humorous content. And all of a sudden, someone suggested creating a group blog, and we did create one almost immediately. Wonder how long it'll last though because my previous group blogs were dead now, and I was always the most active one- which defeats the purpose of a group blog.

I'm physically tired. Recovered a little mentally. Tomorrow's another long day. Ciao.

:(

When pressure, self-pity and self-belittling set in, only tears can help relieve the pain from within.

Bread and butter #12 (Typical traits of a newbie.)

Typical traits of a newbie at work:

1) Stutter during mee... meet... meetings and conducting workshops or grrrr... groupwork.

2) Will accidentally sound the alarm in the early morning because she tries to act smart and open the front door all by herself. And then she will have to call the Centre Director and the Senior Social Worker to inform them that it is a false alarm.

3) Being arrowed by senior workers to do things, including organising gatherings and conducting activities. (They arrow liao. Die die also must do.)

4) Ask many many questions.

5) Blur about many things like transport claim, budget, photostating or printing steps, etc.

6) Overwhelmed by case load at the beginning.

7) Have to keep smiling or else people will think that I'm acting cool or I'm in a bad mood or I'm an unfriendly person.

But caring and patient colleagues, family, and friends will be good buffers of such stressors. Pray for me. :)

Bread and butter #11 (Walk-a-jog with folks.)

Joined in the Walk-a-jog session with Diana, Chris, and Theresa. It's been a long time since I last exercised. I know that my exercise sessions will always cease because of my tight schedule, which serves as a good excuse for me to just stay put at home and rot when I have free time. I always can't commit. Oh well.

Had a great chat while jogging and walking with Theresa, while Diana and Chris were trailing behind us because they wanted to walk. Although we were panting most of the time, I thought it was great that we chatted about things that we usually don't have time for. Thanks for including me in the exercising team. Exercising in a group is much more fun than exercising alone... :)

Anyway, I've edited the VC ladies' group photo using Microsoft Powerpoint and for the first time in my life, I managed to save it in jpeg format. (Thanks Julia for the help.) This photo looks so beautiful now, with the pink flowers as background. And us? We all look pretty in it, not only in the photos but also in real. HAHAHA...

Spicegirls.

I liked Spicegirls very much when I was in Primary 6. Can recall that when we were required to perform for special occasions like Teachers' Day, Children's Day or National Day, the boys will sing Backstreet Boys' songs while the girls will sing Spicegirls' songs, haha.

Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh, Sporty.

Spicegirls in the 90s.

And whenever it comes to a band or group, we'll always identify our favourite member. Between me and my friends, it was a tie between Emma and Victoria. Cute old primary school days...

Spicegirls in 2007.

Currently, I'm searching for Spicegirls' songs. They bring back so many memories, and surprising, I can still remember how to sing their songs. This goes to show how big an impact they made. This is so cool!

Amidst fatigue from work...

Me, Julia and Sharon went to another Hong Kong Cafe.The amount of seafood in my seafood bake rice was not bad, but the mussels got stuck in between my teeth and I bite myself while enjoying my meal. :(

Didn't have much time to talk as it was late. Didn't have much time to shop around too. I want new jeans! Double boo.

Bread and butter #10 (Fridays.)

I have a high tendency to stone in office on Fridays, because I would have spent all my energy on school-based social work from Monday to Thursday, and by the time I reach Friday, I'm as good as almost physically and mentally dead.

Last Friday I was helping out with Volunteers' Connection and setting up of baking stuffs at Sunshine Hall. This Friday, I was filing up the loose sheets of papers on my table and helping out with the setting up of the baking stuffs again. Don't mind the jobs as they're rather therapeutic. Just like how Diana put it- it's therapeutic because we get to spend some time away from the computer, the phone calls, the paper work, etc.

Today's a rather fulfilling day. I got to eat affordable Japanese food with the folks, pushed Seng Meng to organise Malay Language classes for us (something which they wanted to do long long time ago), and sort of promised to go exercising every week with Diana. Badminton and brisk walking with the ladies... hmm, it's going to be interesting! :D

Bread and butter #9 (Heartwarming farewell.)

Chris jaywalked in order to get the Bengawan Solo cake in time! Wahahahahaa~ Didn't get to know about the cake until I saw it. Mr Lee, hiding the cake away from Puay San. People around me just simply get more famous when I feature them on my blog, haha.Colleagues with their slices of cake.
The candlelight... the voices... the tears... the heartwarming hugs...

Each of us has different priorities at different times of our lives, and it's a great feat to be brave enough to pursue your priority. Fight a beautiful battle, Puay San.

Ich kann Dich seh'n- Tom Albrecht

(Text/Musik: Tom Albrecht, Marc Kaschke)

Schön, dass Du anrufst. Schön dass es Dir gut geht.
Danke für den Brief und für das kleine Paket.
Du bist die einzige, die mich versteht.

Ich hab´ Dich öfter angerufen, hab´ Dich immer verpasst.
Nur Deine Mutter sagte mir, dass Du mich verlassen hast.
Was für´n Quatsch, ich sah Dich auf dem Weg nach Haus´.
Du siehst nach wie vor bezaubernd aus.

Und ich kann Dich seh´n. Du bist bei mir.
Du warst schon lange nicht mehr, lange nicht mehr hier.
Und ich kann Dich seh´n - deutlich vor mir.
Du warst schon lange nicht mehr, lange nicht mehr hier.

Schön, dass Du da bist, wieder zu Haus´.
Ich hab Essen gemacht, besser als das Zeug im Krankenhaus.
Ist alles toll verheilt, es stand nicht gut um Dich.I
ch seh heute noch den Aufprall, Dein starres Gesicht.

Ach, da ist Post für Dich, sind Blumen dabei.
Du hast doch keinen And´ren, es gibt doch nur uns zwei.
Jetzt komm in meine Arme, ich hab´ Dich vermisst,
und wir tun so als ob Du nie weg gewesen bist.

Refrain

Und ich freu mich über unser Glück.
Egal was sie sagen, ich bin nicht verrückt.
Du hast nur geschlafen auf dem Asphalt.
Frierst Du mein Schatz? Deine Haut ist ganz kalt.
Du bist ganz blass, doch wirst niemals verblassen.
Ich kann Dich nicht gehen lassen. Du kannst mich nicht verlassen.
Du bist hier, und ich kann nicht versteh´n,
dass Du längst gegangen bist, denn ich kann Dich seh´n.

Refrain


Tom Albrecht appeals to me, because he writes and composes his own songs. In addition, his lyrics are beautiful (at least to me), and I can actually identify myself with some of his songs. Ich kann Dich seh'n is one of the many Tom Albrecht's songs that I love, because of its beautifully melancholic melody and lyrics, and Tom's attractive vocals. And believe it or not, Tom Albrecht is therapeutic for me- whether at the start or end of the day. I always feel better after listening to his songs.

To get a feel of his vocals, please watch or simply listen to this following song by Tom Albrecht.

Weg zur Front

(Text: Tom Albrecht / Musik: Frank Herbort, Tom Albrecht)
All I can say is... I loooovvve his vocals so much!

Gifts.

Finally bought myself a pair of supposedly comfort heels for work with the angbao money Julia and Sharon gave me as a graduation gift. 谢谢你们！Look at the nice card Julia got for me! A fusion of angmo and cheena things! I love what she wrote at the front of the envelope. ;)
And here's the sweet and pretty donut Julia bought for me (after buying Shang May a cupcake) last Thursday. Now Lijia's going to be oh-so-mad... *gasp*

Bread and butter #8 (First Introductory Meeting.)

Yes, I admit. I stuttered during my first IM due to unnecessary nervousness. I shall face this, because one fine day, I'll look back at this blog entry at laugh at this silly and always nervous budding Social Worker, Koh Cindy.

Bread and butter #7 (Volunteers' Connection.)

Sunday was our Volunteers' Connection, also known as the Volunteers' Appreciation Day. It was held in Orchidville, a super ulu (near Mandai Road) but interesting place. The ambience was great for the occasion- wooden benches, orangy lighting (the so-called romantic lighting), and orchids were found almost everywhere... :)

Theresa and Peiyi posing in front of the stage, which was nicely done up.Where I was working at... the entrance. I was supposed to be ushering the guests. Julie was great company, hehe.This is the first big event that I attended as an official staff of SCS, and I consider it as the most interesting big event so far.

Firstly, Shang May was awarded the long service award. I did not even know that there would be awards given out until the day itself! And there were two award categories: three or five years of long service award, and Shang May got the five years award! Cool! Here's Shang May on stage, receiving the 5 years long service award. As you can see, Shang May kept shaking, perhaps due to high level of excitment. Cheers to volunteerism! I haven't been in much contact with the volunteers yet, but I believe you all have been of much help to us, the Social Workers. Just imagining carrying out Guidance Programme Family Day or Children's Programme without volunteers is plain madness.
Proud to say that Shang May was game enough to be the model of Project Runaway, a game planned by my dear colleague. Very enthusiastic volunteer indeed. You go, girl! Other volunteers. The guy in the middle actually posed for me!

Secondly, I had a very pleasant surprise. I actually got to meet an old school mate, who is now a volunteer in another centre! I couldn't really recognise him in the first place. So glad that he actually made the effort to come forward and say hi. Some other people would have just pretended that they did not see familiar people and just move on. We had a small chat for quite a while without knowing each other's names, gosh, until his friend asked if he knew my name and then, we embarrassingly asked for each other's names. It is really great to find another person with similar interests. Earnestly hoping that more people will join the field.My school-mate won the Best Dressed Volunteer Award.
Proud papa showing off his baby, who won the Most "Power" Volunteer Award. Nobody probably remembers this, but I must still say... The name of this award came from me! :P

The place was having some technical errors, and the background music for the powerpoint slides could not come out. Boo. It was created specially by Chris, and I can still recall Diana singing to the tune of it. It was really memorable, but anyway, classical music was played in the background, and it created a different mood. A little emotional, but it just sounded weird.
Credits must be given to Chris (left) for the sashes, and Diana (right) for the crowns made for Project Runaway. And lastly, to Tremandy for her hard work in coordinating almost everything for this big event. Anyway, Chris is like Sharon, she always give me the tsk face when I take photos, hahaha...From top left corner, Tremandy, Christine, Theresa, Puay San, me, Peiyi, Seng Meng and Diana.Look at Seng Meng! NO FLOWER LOR! Boo him.As a newbie, sorry if I caused a lot of trouble. Really glad to have you girls and guy around.

Of people whom I simply can't stand #1

Met someone today who reminded me of how I felt about a year ago, or maybe quite a number of times in my life.

Many times I am left alone. I hate the feeling of being alone- it feels so weird. But I always try to geng ("act tough" in hokkien) and then lun ("bear with it" in hokkien) and it'll be over soon.

Because I don't like to feel lonely, I always try my best not to let my friends feel lonely, that is, if they don't like to feel lonely. Even when it comes to people whom I don't really know, I will try not to let the person feel that he or she is out of place, by talking to him or her, or simply by smiling warmly at him or her.

I cannot understand why some people cannot seem to provide warm smiles. They'll smile widely at you and then just stop smiling completely, within two seconds. This really makes me wonder if they're smiling for the sake of smiling, or are they really sincere in making people feel welcomed.

Then there are some people who seem as if they'll die if they leave their natural groups to mix around with people whom they do not quite know. As if they are going to bite them.

The world will definitely be a better place if we think of how others will feel before we simply act on impulse or do brainless things (no, this is not the event which inspired me to write this post).

I have a peabrain, but at least I try to think for others. So what's with those people. Do they have a brain smaller than a pea?

Bread and butter #6

My body battery went flat totally yesterday. I was in standby mode, instead of the usual screensaver mode, because standby mode was a more suitable term for my condition yesterday. I can't do anything well, thus I ended up helping my colleague, doing brainless stuffs like stapling things into place and dumping things into bags.

I. desperately. need. rest.

My Widgets!

Nothing important. I just want to say...

I love my Widgets, because they help me to countdown to important dates that I would love to remember. :)
Looking forward to the end of probation and of course, 6 months into Social Work practice. :)

Tuition joy.

Seldom do I have tuition joy, despite providing tuition for the past three years. I finally experienced it these few weeks.

*

I've been teaching a Secondary 2 Normal Technical boy algebra these days. Given his lack of understanding of algebra and my lousy capability of explaining things, it was challenging to guide him in doing algebra. (After I started giving tuition, I realised how hard is it for the teachers to explain various things and concepts to us.)

Been guiding him in doing cross multiplication, factorization, expansion, etc. So he commented, "Teacher, got so many methods... how do I know when to use which method?" It was such a random comment but I'm glad that he asked because it shows that he is actually thinking about the concepts.

Anyway, zum Glueck, his algebra is improving! He needs less spoon-feeding and just requires some probing when doing his questions. :D

*

Two weeks ago, I cancelled my Sunday tuition in view of my Commencement. My tuition kid then asked,

Wah! You graduated?
Yeah.
Got fail any subjects?
Nope.
Hmm... good.

Hahaha. She's quite cute, isn't she.

Against all opt.s.

My favourite quotes have been staying in my MSN nick for a rather long period of time...
"要快乐,健康又美丽!她也要学会多爱自己一点哦![I will enjoy the strolls before I learn how to fly]只要笑一笑,没什么事情过不了!I will not give in to madness."

and in my blog,
"nicht zweifeln, nicht nachdenken, einfach weitergehen."

Guess I can never ever reduce the length of my MSN nick, because there'll always be times when I think I cannot face myself and the world anymore... or there'll be times when I malu-ated myself so much that I want to dig a hole and hide in it forever.

It seems abnormal when you're the only pessimist among the optimists. :S

Bread and butter #5

I wonder about the infinite possibilities in the future... Just before I think too much, I was reminded of what someone told me a year ago... learn how to walk properly before learning how to fly. But, wee, I am so looking forward to flying... lalala...

So far (although only once), it was a disaster, I think. I hope I don't die of self-blame or embarrassment tomorrow. Let's pray that I'll improve as days pass by.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this Saturday's event, as I will be meeting Shang May under official reason. Cool huh?

Done by my fellow colleague:

"The fragrance always stays with the hand that gives the flower." :)

Dress code: Smart casual with a/mutiple floral prints.

The new dustbin with two "legs".

A few weeks back, the old navy-coloured dustbin in our kitchen died as the pedal was spoilt. So, mum bought this...

Brother: This is good. If one "leg" were to be spoilt, we can always step on the other "leg".

女人唔易做。

Recently, there's an ongoing heated discussion about having babies in my tagboard. For the benefit of myself (personal recording) and for those who don't read my tags, here's the messages...

8 Jul 07, 23:23lia: hey, been wanting to show you this blog i'm following: http://www.diaperbag.blogspot.com/

8 Jul 07, 23:24lia: it's the journey of pregnancy..aha...the lady's just given birth...her babies are cute, and she wrote abt the experience of giving birth. v frank and earnest. hee

8 Jul 07, 23:25lia: ok it's not because of anything la, it's just interesting tts why. ahah...read it k! when u have the time

8 Jul 07, 23:41cindy: ok sure.. thanks.. i tot u're gonna show me videos of giving birth.. haha.. reminds me of sharon again.. i keep thinking of her! : P

12 Jul 07, 23:38lia: why sharon? what did she say? she mention sec sch educational video? yaa that time we all v scared after watching tt video..keep saying don't wanna give birth...too painful

12 Jul 07, 23:39lia: *多情种 goes around throwing seeds of love*<-more lameness? here's a reminder ahaha...

12 Jul 07, 23:47cindy: reminder of how to write ur name in chinese? gosh.. i like the line... scattering seeds of love... HAHA...

12 Jul 07, 23:49cindy: my mum told me how women give birth b4.. and as she told me, i cringed.. haha.. quite scary and painful.

14 Jul 07, 01:21Sharon: how come everytime mention abt giving birth will always mention me huh?

14 Jul 07, 10:19lia: ya cindy u told me what ur mum said b4. made me even more scared. but so many ways to give birth nowadays...advanced medical svcs...

14 Jul 07, 10:30cindy: sharon: cos u said the giving birth video made u cry mah! i nv see sharon cry before! so it made an impact on me.. I'll ALWAYS remember de.. oh my sharonn....

14 Jul 07, 10:40cindy: julia: har? then u wan to cut your stomach and take the baby from there? or erm, create testtube baby?

14 Jul 07, 10:42cindy: eh, think its a painful affair but if the baby belongs to u and ur loving husband, then its quite romantic and touching eh. haha.. but as im not married, ehh, dun wanna give birth!!

14 Jul 07, 11:18lia: aha..ok la, maybe not as bad as in the past lor, i think. and in any case, yet, of cos no babies b4 marriage!!

14 Jul 07, 11:18lia: but do u agree that a woman is not complete if she doesn't go thru motherhood?

14 Jul 07, 11:27cindy: no.. i meant.. im not gg to think abt giving birth until i get married.. so scary lor.

14 Jul 07, 11:28cindy: eh.. i think i sort of agree.. but then.. so unfair lor. how come women need to have periods and give birth while men sit and wait.. haha.. alright, stereotype i noe.. there are nice guys who slog

14 Jul 07, 11:28cindy: for money so as to sppt their family.. but erm, some guys jus sit n wait de lor.. and they not supportive de. oops, getting long winded here!

***

Anyway, during JC times, I remembered Sharon sharing with us her experience of watching this educational video about a woman giving birth. The process of giving birth was shown and it created an impact on the girls who watched it (including my Sharon, hehe).

Recently, I've been catching this drama, 女人唔易做, La Femme Desperado, on SCV.

Some parts of the drama is over-idealistic- like the scene where 林峰 (much adored by me and Weishang) tried to starve himself and eat things which might cause gastric pain so as to experience period cramps (watch this) , and the scene where 吴美珩's elder brother sweared to work a full day so as to buy an apartment for his family. Where the hell can we find such nice guys. Period cramps... horror of all horrors... the males will never ever understand what we go through.

Here's some screenshots I took from Crunchyroll.

This is the cramp scene!

邓萃雯's role in this drama is rather admirable. She's so strong and independent!

Her so-called friend: 不管你有多坚强，你始终要有男人在身边照顾你。
Her: 我觉得没有必要。以前我也曾经历不少艰难日子。 以前我过得了，现在同样可以。

Wee-weet! ADMIRABLE! Hopefully, with Crunchyroll, I can reduce my late nights and have more energy at work. Sleeping at 12.45 am is taking a toll on me. (Have tuition on certain weekdays and can only reach home at 10 plus. Thus have been unable to catch the drama at 9pm, and I resorted to watching it at 12am. Pwoar.)

Bread and butter #4 (Random updates about work.)

Gone is my second week at work. Almost everything's fine. It's just my heart and brain which are not so obedient- they've been trying hard to make me feel not so good. Fortunately, CBT thoughts will pop out automatically once in a while. Aye.

Today is my first day working "OT". It is not official OT as I was trying to finish up a piece of work. As the flames (all the thoughts and ideas) were burning then, I wanted to record them down as soon as possible. I finally finished my session plans at about 7pm, and I am feeling so so relieved. At least I don't have to worry about them for the next two days. Let the preparation work start on Monday. *mentally throws workload behind me*

Been browsing a lot of art and craft and game books and managed to steal ideas from here and there. I don't know what got into me, but I managed to come up with ideas for the activities! (Finally.) Reading up does help! In fact, for researching, I like books more than internet. I just can't find what I want from the internet. Will continue to read up from time to time.

Met a volunteer just now, and amazingly he managed to recognise me! He can even remember when he first met me. Just wondering if everyone's memory is as good as his, then there won't be awkward incidents whereby you tell someone that you've met him or her somewhere but that someone don't even remember seeing you.

Another thought that got into my mind: The volunteer was super cheery, and it was infectious! I felt rather happy after talking to him, even after a whole day of work. Thought it will benefit myself and the people around me if I stay positive and cheery everywhere I go. Well, not EVERYWHERE, but at least almost everywhere? Got to have more positive energy!

Recently, I am executing a series of workshops together with my colleague for the students. My colleague used the word "inject" to mean "introduce" new ideas. But the students did not understand and took it literally...

"Teacher! You're going to inject us ah?!"

Gosh, they're so cute. Hahahaha...

Negative feedback.

I like feedback, but sadly, I do not enjoy all feedback. This is especially so for the negative ones. I have my stubborn side, so giving me feedback requires some good initial rapport with me and most importantly, good knowledge of what kind of a person I am. Only with that, I can accept your feedback with grace.

Have been receiving similar feedback (what the hell) over the years... And I am very sure that I did my best (and am still doing my best) to improve myself. Even mum and some closer friends notice the difference in me over the years.

My point is, I received some negative feedback about me recently again. And it was from someone whom I've only met once. Hello. I don't know you. You don't know me. We only know each other's names lor. How receptive do you think I will be with regards to your feedback? I am so sorry to say that I am pretty pissed off, because you're not a significant figure in my life, and thus has got no say in my life.

I believe you've got better things to do than to criticise people- like to apply eye serum around your eye area to reduce the visibility of wrinkles?