once upon a norza

After the replies to my previous post, I was overwhelmed by the choice of food in the new working place. So far I've tried their soto ayam, chikin rice, chikin briyani & nasi padang (yes, it includes chikin too..hehe). I tried the nasi ayam penyet just now. Don't be mistaken with the ayam penyet ria because this is another variation of the chikin rice. In fact it IS chikin rice except it has ayam penyet (smashed chikin). There's a lonnnnnnnng queue everyday at this stall but I find the dish to be so-so...nothing to shout about. The chikin's a tad too salty and the soup is a bit bland. Maybe they're supposed to go well together...salty + bland = ok. hehehehe. I also tried Rafee's teh tarik halia as recommended by some people. The aroma of ginger is not overpowering and the taste's not too sweet either...just the way I like it.



On another good news, I upgraded my SE teesixten to an LG p7200 last monday. Contrary to what people say about the slow UI, I felt that it is pretty fast. Maybe I was used to the turtle-like teesixten that I don't really notice it. haha. The UI is almost like my teesixtenn and honestly you don't need to have a high learning curve to use this (note to Nokia users...hehehehe).

In the looks section, it's rather plain-looking and might not be attractive as the latest phone models out there. The keypad needs some getting used to and sms'ing can be a pain in the ass if you're a heavy sms user (i'm not...so it's not a prob). The camera's suweeeet (2mp!). Sure, the k750i (and some SE models) can churn out high-quality photos but I don't want another teesixtenn-lookalike. And the newer version of SE models are expensive. I'm anti-Nokia too so no Nokia fones for me although I must admit the temptation *to the dark side* is so great...hehe. I've seen photos from Motorola and Siemens-Benq fones and I wasn't impressed. The better ones like Sharp 903sh is not available in telcos and it IS so expensive too if you can find the import set here.

I bought the LG because it's really a bang-for-buck handfone. It's cheap now because it's an LG (and even cheaper with the $50 *hub voucher+$150 gift...hehe) and you've got to see the picture quality to believe it.

It's been a very busy week. I'm now at the New Working Place. My space is double the size of my Old working space(!!) and it even has a window with a nice view of outside since I'm on the really high level of the building. I know lah...what's the big deal with windows but I've been cooped up in a really tiny space for almost 2years. That email joke about being in jail is better than working in a cubicle is definitely true for me! I don't have to go to the toilet to know whether it's raining or sunny now. heh.

The people were nice generally but I still missed the people back at the Old Place. It's too quiet here...it's like the exam period here where everyone is doing their revision studiously. I miss A's loud-voice. I missed my lunch partner, Haley and the occasional makan kakis, Mur and kak eton. I miss talking cock with G, POS and the team. Generally I just want some noise lah. fortunately I have my grados and a 200mb of mp3s to keep me sane.

The first day I was here, I wasn't given a good impression of the Big Boss (BB). She sounds intimidating and saying NO is not in her dictionary. Really sounds like my exBB lor but I hope to keep a clean record with her. Will try not to step on her toes although trying and doing are 2 different things altogether lah.

I sooooo missed the food at the Old Place...my chikin chop with oriental sauce, fish&chips, chikin rice...the more I talk about food, the more hungry I am right now. And it's only 0930...haha.

So far I'm not really impressed with the food here. My new colleagues have brought me to the 2 so-called femes eating places, the Amoy Street Hawker and Maxwell watever. The food variety for non-halal i enormous although I can't say that for halal ones. It's really pathetic and it's either Indian or Malay. maybe I haven't explored enough. My friend who is working in this area wanted to bring me to Fig&Olive but "you have to fork out at least $10". I decided not to risk it because if it's not as good as my Bibim Bap which is:
1) yummy'licious
2) filling
3) cost less than $10
...I'm definitely not going for it. :P Call me stingy but I would rather have the instant chikin rice at 7-11. (Not bad actually..hehe)

So if anyone who is working in Tanjong Pagar area and thinks that I'm talking BS about the food here, pls drop me a msg and let's have lunch together! :)

Will be saying 'Bye bye everyone' in a week time but somehow it seems like forever. I had even kept one of my colleagues' farewell email message which I plan to use that to send to everyone here on my last day. hehe. So here are some tips on how to look busy in your workplace.

Look Busy

There’s an easy formula for becoming a slacker: Do nothing. Go get more coffee. Repeat. But how can you slack and still keep your job? It’s all about appearances. Dilbert creator Scott Adams lists low-impact ways to look like an overachiever.
- Visiting the toilets can help too...scrunged up your face as if you got LS. Your colleagues will notice and sympathise with you and will even allow you to rest a while!

Complain that you’re totally swamped at every opportunity. Use phrases like “up to my ass in alligators” and “jumping from one fire to another” to make your job sound kind of sexy and dangerous.
-Proclaim that yesterday you did OT and say, "Wah liao, today very tired sia...now still got so many things to do..." and add a heavy and long sigh after that.

Carry a piece of paper wherever you go. To give yourself the necessary urgent facial expression and body language, imagine it’s something incredibly important, like a stay of execution from the governor.

Never clean your cubicle. After all, if you had any spare cycles you wouldn’t let yourself live like a pig.

Emailing looks like work. Email friends and family often.
-And posting blog entries too..hurhur

If you feel like talking instead of working, talk to your boss. That counts as work no matter what you’re chatting about. The ideal topic of conversation is how poorly all of your coworkers are performing.
- Will not work here...:P

If you wear glasses, leave an old pair on the desk as though you will be right back. Then go home.
- Carry your most important stuffs e.g. wallet, phone in your pocket. Walk out of the door (in a rush!) with a file. People will think you're off to an important meeting.

Leave voicemails for coworkers at 1:00 am, even if you’re getting up just to take a whiz. If you really want to inspire awe, leave a message for your boss with your thoughts on the company’s outdated filing system at 11:30 pm on New Year’s Eve.

Be sure to get involved in unquantifiable projects. You want to be doing a lot of consulting and advising and attending. Avoid anything with a hard and fast deadline.

Learn to sleep with your back to the cubicle entrance. You’ll have to practice to keep your head from slumping over, but it’s worth it. If you can’t pull that off, try a neck brace painted the same color as your skin.
- I think I managed this one well....well, I was too sleepy...my eyes magically close on their own...honest!

Bitch about your job as much as possible. This is considered work even though it’s fun.
- Oh yes, we do this everyday. Who don't? :P

Taken from Wired

In almost a month time, I will be taking a 2wks no-pay leave to look after Aisyah...alone. Yes, alone! And I'm very excited. My parents will be going on an umrah trip for a week and they will need another week to rest after the trip hence the 2wks leave. I will cook, do the laundry, clean the house, play with Aisyah, feed her....by myself. It certainly doesn't sound exciting to most people out there but it's probably my one chance of a lifetime to be a stay-at-home mum and doing all the housework myself. Before I was married, I had always been under the wings of my emak and now that I'm married, I have my in-laws to help with the housework. Not that I'm complaining but at some point, I just have this desire to manage a home myself. I'm sure that sahms dun perfect their 'home management skills' overnight and this is also a chance for me to practise my cooking and put my time management skills to a test. It's going to be tough because I usually have the kanda to help me out feed and play with Aisyah and my mum-in-law to cook and do the other housework. And the kanda won't be there too since I'll be staying in Pasir Ris with my adek while the kanda will be at Bishan. But I'll persevere...insyaAllah. May God bless me.

There was some buzz over here and he wrote something in relation to the entry (but not against breastfeeding!). Imo...this is one of the issues which doesn't have a right or wrong answer and I hope to breastfeed my future lil ones...insyaAllah. I think Irah has written a pretty good article on her experience. Here's my reply to her article:

chak! i was just like you, sis. i tell myself that i must breastfeed my newborn and read up on breastfeeding...downloaded demo videos even..haha. i bf Aisyah for barely 2wks only. i asked the nurses whether I'm doing it correctly and was happy to know that she latched on correctly. Alhamdulillah, there was colustrum the night I had my csect even though I know that it was going to be a bit slower for csect mommies.

On the 2nd day, I had cracked nipples because Aisyah was sucking too hard (according to one of the nurses) but I didn't stop and bear the pain. One nipple bled and I only gave her the other working one and I still pump the bleeding one. I began to hope that the bleeding one can recover quickly while I breastfeed Aisyah with the other one. But the other too bled and I started giving her formula milk because i didn't really have a choice.

I contacted up all my mommy frens how to recover my bleeding nipples asap. At the same time, I also pump to allow the production of milk to continue. I was really desperate that time. I know that as soon as I stop breastfeeding, this will be the end of my desire to breastfeed her. And true enuff, after one week...Aisyah refused to drink my milk and screamed even louder when I persistently wanted her to breastfeed. I read that once the child goes hungry, they will breastfeed but with Aisyah, she didn't!

Furthermore, comments like me being less-endowed really really hurt me and causing me to be depressive. I was like all alone in my mission to breastfeed and hearing people saying they never breastfeed their kids but their kids turned out well too made me even more down. I decided to give Aisyah the formula milk. I still continue pumping hoping Aisyah will drink it one day. But Aisyah's refusal to accept my milk and comments like mebbe not enuff milk to feed my lil one made me totally gave up. I really felt I have failed as a mother. Only Allah knows the sorrows of a mother who can't breastfeed her child. And was terkilan when the tukang urot asked me everytime why I never breastfeed my baby when I have so much milk for someone small sized like me. Wah manz...I was distraught and blamed myself for not trying harder. After this experience, I'm more determined to breastfeed if I ever do have children again....insyaAllah.

So mommies who didn't manage to breastfeed your kids successfully, it really doesn't mean you're a bad mother. We've tried our best and do continue that niat of breastfeeding your lil ones if you have the chance. And congrats to those who have reached the 6mths (and beyond!) mark. The World Breastfeeding Week has just started and go on and take a look at the activities in SIngapore to increase the awareness of the advantages of breastfeeding.