The social butterfly's long weekend

The long weekend ended just as quickly as it arrived. By yesterday noon, I was starting to feel the blues creeping in again, wondering what horrors the new week will bring upon me.

Thursday night was tiring after a busy week at work and getting stuck in the rain and in heavy traffic because of the wet weather. I had forgotten where I had parked my car and in the darkness of the external carpark walked from one end to another searching for my vehicle.

Friday appeared to be a rather short day as I awoke from my peaceful slumber at about half past ten in the morning. In the evening, I had a wedding dinner to attend and that filled my itinerary for the whole night. It was an exciting night making new acquaintances and getting to see old faces from school, some of whom I haven't met for almost 10 years!

My Saturday started at approximately the same time as the day before. The only seemingly productive tasks I performed were to do my laundry, clean up my bedroom and the hallway and scrub the bathroom and toilet. I had my evening already reserved to have a long-awaited ramen-eating and beer-drinking session at SetiaWalk with old friends from my former workplace. In conjunction with Halloween, the pubs were all decorated for the occassion with bartenders donning spooky costumes.

Sunday morning was spent at the mall and I managed 50 per cent of my packing for my upcoming trip to Osaka next week in the afternoon. The evening was spent cooking beef sukiyaki at home and then helping to clean up the mess in the kitchen. The fun and excitement of making home-cooked sukiyaki made me forget about my blues until nightfall and then I felt down again. 

Day 14 at work and...

Today is only Day 14 at work and all too soon, I get that awfully familiar feeling inside. I hate to be bound to my desk, following strict systems and procedures like a programmed robot. I feel so overwhelmed by the information overload and all the new things that I have to pick up quickly. I feel so lost and hopeless in this big company. Horror stories of year end closing where I will have to spend several days working round the clock scare the shits out of me. I feel like running away from my troubles. Running far, far away.

I know I should be thankful that I have a job - one that pays relatively well, and with a very well-known multinational company name to go with it too. There are jobless people struggling out there, hoping to land a job - any job they can find. And there are also those wishing to make it to this company but were unsuccessful due to the company's strict requirements. I cannot run away from my troubles forever because they will come back to haunt me again one day if I don't put up a goof fight. I made a promise to myself to try to stick with this job for at least 6 months. I know the first 3 months will be tough - it will be a very steep learning curve. After that, the following 3 months will be less gruelling and I will get to experience half a cycle. But after 6 months and if this really isn't what I am after, then it must be time for a change.

Two random objects in the office that amuse me

I'm glad I made it to the third week and I have started to stay back late just to get the hang of it. Among my colleagues, I appear to be restless and can be seen taking frequent walks around the office. In all honesty, I drink a lot, hence the frequent toilet stops. There are two items in the office (apart from my laptop) that keep me amused throughout the day. The first is the hand dryer in the washroom. I enjoy thawing my poor frozen hands with warm jets of air. It's a sizzling 33 degrees Celcius outside during the day, but the temperature in the office is probably close to a chilly 16 degrees. It's no wonder that my hands are frozen. I think I should start working wearing gloves in the office. The second gadget that amuses me is the drinks vending machine where you slot in 60 cents for a small cup of iced coffee. I used to love coffee but had a fall out in recent years, but this instant coffee is really good and doesn't make me feel sick and awful inside. I think I need to start a separate account just for my iced coffee!

I think I'm in China-land

After being in the office for only 2 weeks, I feel as if I am working in China. Almost everybody around me communicates in Chinese. As a matter of fact, I am confident that more than 90% of the people around me speak Chinese as a native language. Left, right and back - all Chinese. Even the managers speak Chinese. The only person who doesn't communicate in Chinese is the petite lady in front of me; only because she is not of Chinese descent. And when they come up to me, they automatically assume that I speak Chinese. Why are most accounting & finance departments dominated by Chinese? Is this the same at your place of employment? It scares me. Whatever happened to cultural diversity?

A night out with cousins

After a scrumptious wedding banquet dinner at a Chinese restaurant last weekend, I decided to follow my cousins to a famous club in the nightlife hotspost of Bukit Bintang. It's a rare opportunity that we get to catch up like this as we have been so preoccupied with our daily lives that we only manage to see each other once or twice a year usualy during family events. And for those residing on a different continent, we only get to meet up once every couple of years.
I have to admit that I am not a clubber as I loathe deafening, loud music, crowded and smoke-choked places. Worse still, I don't dance. Or rather, I am too inhibited to show off my moves in public. Whenever I am at a club, I just feel like a fish out of water. Clubbing just isn't my thing no matter how many times I've tried. And I can't believe I actually got stopped by security at the entrance to have my ID card checked. Do I look that young?

This was a rather unusual gathering with hardly any verbal communications as I was hoping for. The decibels were just too high and you'd need to yell at the top of your lungs into the other person's ear to be heard. You'd get a sore throat from doing that too often. Tonight's outing at the club was just plain hardcore partying, booze and dancing.

What a night out! I came home after 3am still very sober after downing some Brandy, but feeling extremely deaf and my lungs filled with smoke. I might have even shortened my lifespan by a couple of years with the ingestion of all that decadence. But however uncomfortable and awkward I felt at the club, it was still a night to remember.

To cousin CC: Thank you for inspiring me with what you do when I was feeling at my lowest. I marvel at your perseverance.

To cousin ML: You are such a charmer. Thank you for teaching me how to boogie on the dance floor although I honestly think I suck at it. And thank you for giving me a new-found sense of confidence.

To cousin AC: You're like the big sister I never had. Thank you for letting me know that I am not alone in this pursuit.

Second day at work

It's only been my second day at work without any 'real' work to do yet, and I am already bloody exhausted from all that walking, carrying a laptop and a backpack. Even my shoulders and feet hurt. In fact, I didn't feel like waking this morning. My slumber was so peaceful. I think I must be getting old. Today, I also noticed this peculiar feeling that a tiny dark cloud is brewing inside me very gradually. Should I suppress it or let it continue to grow and then see what it manifests into?

First day at work

I started my first day of work at my new job today and I feel extremely exhausted even though I haven't started any 'real' work yet. Today was just orientation, talks and getting some administrative details filled correctly. Perhaps it's the 45 minute traffic crawl in the morning and evening. Or all that walking from the external carpark to the office 12 minutes each way. Or even lack of sleep from all the anxiety last night (I think by the time I really fell asleep, it was already 1.30am). Whatever the reason is, I am ready to go to bed now that I think I will sleep so soundly tonight. Goodnight! I need to recharge for another exciting day ahead!