the last days...

nope, not about the end times. today marked my last official working day at my current workplace and in typical cliché tv show style, I left office with a box of things.

you know you have done some things right along the way when most of your colleagues make time to go for a farewell lunch, express how much they will miss you, and even asked to meet up over the next few days. for this, I thank God, from whom I learned to treat people not just like colleagues, but showing love and care towards them. looking back, I really didn't do anything that I'm very proud of, work wise, but I think I might not be too far off from how God wants me to treat people. it's quite apt that today's QT, it was about first being a Christian, then your occupation - I'm a Christian that happens to be in the marketing line.

so the company finally hired a brand manager to replace the outgoing on. Even though I have only met her three days ago, and our interaction wasn't that much, it was so nice and refreshing to work with someone that came out from similar background. of course it's not good to group think, but it was such a nice change to be able to communicate with someone on the same wavelength. it's a pity that this only lasted 3 days though. it might have been fun.

ash ville

for a country with summer all year round and little pollution, the last few days have really changed the appearance of the landscape. on a first look, it looks like what you would imagine England will look like, grey all the time. but soon, your eyes starts to irritate a little, the air smell like someone somewhere has a giant bbq party, you feel the urge to cough every now and then and sometimes, you feel like you need take in a little bit more air. all these, no thanks to the plantation owners from across the border.

im thankful that I am healthy enough not to feel too affected by the change in air quality. nothing more than feeling my eyes being a bit dry, throat a little itchy, and a bit of blood in the nose (but then again, this could be caused by all the fast food I already consumed this week)

it is also times like this that I feel so dishearten and disappointed with people. many will use this opportunity (or any other opportunity) to criticize the government, and almost all the time, they are never constructive, and almost all the time, vulgar. they think that they have perfect knowledge, that they know how things should be done better.

one good current example would be how everyone seems to think how much the PSI should be based on how hazy it appears to be. I don't dare to say I know much about air quality, but logically, I know PSI does not measure visibility, nor does visibility necessarily correlate with air cleanliness. for one, water in the air causes visibility too (as seen in fog, steam, cloud). secondly, there are many colourless poisonous gases out there, which once again makes sense that visibility does not necessary correlate with air cleanliness. but it's amazing how so many people just insist that the PSI should be this and that based on what they see. it's like everyone suddenly major in environmental science.

when such relentless comments come along, I always wonder what would Jesus do, what would Jesus want me to do? do I attempt to correct them, knowing most of the time, these people are blinded by their hatred that they wont listen to reason? do I leave them alone and let them influence others with their words? do I remove them from my social circles so that I wont have to read about their rants?

this would be chapter........... 6 of my life?

barring any unforeseeable intervention, it seems like in a month time, i'll be starting another phase in life.

chapter 6? that's just some random number since I cant really keep track of when the chapters changes earlier in life. I cant foresee what's coming, and how significant it will be, but it is a big change to the routine lifestyle of the past two years.

now I have to start with the small talk all over again, to find out who can be friends and who can't. a whole new environment that I have to start from almost scratch.

all these in 30days time..

Not for the faint hearted but...

so two weeks ago was the birth of the daughter of two of my friends from church. I had the chance to follow their journey quite closely through frequent meet ups over dim sum.. having visited them with their daughter thrice over the past two weeks, I could really see the tiredness accumulating in them. just today, the dad was trying to get her to finish just a small jar of milk, whereby any adult can finish in one small gulp, but it took him like 20 minutes to get her to finish. first, it was the crying, then she started to fall asleep. it was really one huge effort for such a small amount. times that a few more times in the day and night. parenting is definitely not for the faint hearted.

however, just watching the parents looking at their daughter, smiling with every small movement she makes, it really is that simple huh. the indescribable joy you derive from bringing up your child always trumps over all the sacrifices you have to make. 

road not taken..

one of the very first poem I ever learned (not counting all those kiddy ones) would be the road not taken by Robert Frost. I believe it was during my first few literature lessons (ever) in secondary 1.

not an expert in literature, I think on the basic level, it talks about the author choosing the path less travelled and how it has made the difference.

recently, I started thinking about different paths in life too, but not in the same focus as this poem. for me, I grown to realize that sometimes, once you chose a path, the other path is just no longer an option anymore. it's not one of those where you did badly in school when you were young and you still manage to turn your life around later on.

sometimes, even though the path you chose is a deadline, it doesn't mean that you can simply go back and choose the other route. maybe the bushes have grown so tall that the path disappears, maybe a bridge along the other way collapse making it not passable anymore or maybe someone built a really long fence across the area and it is now private property.

guess when things like this happen, one can only find a new path somewhere else.

now what?

after doing a google search on House, I come to realize that in a weird coincident, I finally finish the series exactly 1 year after they aired the last episode.

a series that took me like what.. 5 years to complete. with a long break in between when I was trying so hard to buy the dvds but ended up only able to add season 1's to my collection as it seems like retailers just wasn't interested to bring season 5 - 8 into Singapore.

having only decided to end the series while they were filming the last season, the whole season kinda had a rushed feeling to it, characters were written out of the shows suddenly, kinda like when they had to kill off a character when he committed suicide due to depression, even though prior to that, he was portrayed as a happy go lucky guy, midway through the season when the actor got a job in the white house. kinda a pity cause I thought they had maybe 1 more season in the series at least.

hmm.. now that it had ended, what's next? HIMYM only has 1 and a half season to go. And generally all the glee-ish or crime series doesn't really keep me engaged for too long. hope once upon a time season 2 is good...

Normal or Special?

by some sheer coincident, I ended up receiving notification letters to apply for a new IC as well as a passport at the same time. it really saved me of a day having to go back for another document and at this time, I must say that I am very impressed with the efficient of ICA! Not so sure about those who didn't make an appointment but for me who did, I managed to collect both documents at separate offices in the building all within 30 minutes!

so when I was there, my queue number flashed on the screen and I proceed to the counter. while I was a few steps away, a mother and her kid reached the next booth beside. each booth was only assigned one seat, so the mum sat down on it, and the boy just proceed to drag the seat at my booth to the booth his mum is at. so when I reach the booth one second later, he stared at me. I don't dare to say I know how to read people very well, but I thought it was a look of I-don't-care-whether-it-is-your-seat-or-not. he then proceed to rest his head on the booth as the mum continues to talk to the customer service person, either oblivion to what her son has did, or chose to ignore. I want to think it is the latter as it is very obvious each booth only has one seat, and im obviously (and im not short) standing at the counter when everyone else is seated.

im quite happy giving up my seat for someone else, I really don't mind having to stand, especially when I wasn't expecting to be there long in the first place. But I also believe that such things shouldn't be taken for granted. either it is up to the person to give up his seat, or the other person to ask for the seat. and even more, im someone who believes that parents should teach their kids the proper way to do this, and not leave them to do whatever they like.

as i was thinking of what to say to the kid and the mum, it is then I noticed that the boy was wearing a tshirt of a school for autistic kids. immediately, I decided to not say anything, and even told the customer service person that im ok standing and she doesn't have to ask the kid to return the seat.

I couldn't help but think though. how are people suppose to treat them. do we accept that they are different, and give special allowances for them? or do we treat them as we do for everyone, and hopefully they will learn and someday fit into society?