Praying for Patience

I can't remember when was the last time I had a bad day but I'm certainly having one today. I reached my peak this afternoon with this stupid Indian guy. And as usual, I lost the very little patience I have in my soul. After a lot of deep breaths my anger had somehow abated and I asked myself the same questions. Is it really just that I wasn't gifted with a very long patience? Or are there just a lot of stupid people out there? Or do I just have too much expectations that I am easily angered when things are not done my way? These questions keep popping in my head when I self-reflect after losing my patience over and over again. And I never had resolute answers. Somehow, I just always end up praying for a little more patience.

The Singapore Galore!

Everything was planned months ago and the moment I was waiting for so long finally came. Aboard the plane, I felt so excited as to what awaits us there- meeting the family we haven't seen for almost a year, visiting places I haven't been to, and simply escaping the tedious routine of everyday expat life.
We were quite anxious if we are going to see our family there already waiting for us, as planned because some things might have gone wrong while we were already traveling and there was no way they could contact us. But thankfully, at around 11am, we met our family in the airport.
It was nice seeing Mommy and Daddy, my sister Jho and Karl's mom, Mama Sarah. It has been a long while since we've last seen one another and this is a great opportunity to get together and enjoy a vacation altogether.
We hailed a large taxi that carried us to our hotel which was not really that good to be honest. The rooms were too small considering it was already a family room. But anyway, it was just nice to have a place to stay. The first thing we did was unpack and gave the "pasalubong" to everyone. We then went out to have lunch and we ate in a small eatery near the hotel, each meal costing only 3sgd apiece.
We searched the nearest train station and was surprised to know that it was quite a good few minutes' walk from the hotel. We bought tickets and went aboard, planning to go to the city to have a city tour. We reached Suntec City Mall and were not able to find the supposed city tour and just went to the Esplanade instead. We took pictures at the amazing durian-shaped theater. But we were all so exhausted from the plane travel that we just went back to the hotel shortly and took a nap.
Jojo arrived at the hotel early in the evening and we all head out to dinner. Our parents head back to the hotel after dinner while Karl, Jho and I went with Jojo to Clarke Quay.
It was a very nice night clubbing area, everywhere was full of party crowds. Clubs were lined on both banks of the water and people were strewn everywhere. We roamed the place, took pictures and caught a bus back to the hotel.
We woke up late in the morning, get dressed and head out again. We had lunch at Suntec City and stayed there while waiting for our time in the Duck Tours. At 4pm, we went aboard the amphibian-style vehicle and toured a portion of the city and went into the Singapore reservoir. While on the water, we managed to get a good view on Singapore's significant landmarks such as The Singapore Flyer, The Esplanade, The Floating Stadium, the ongoing construction of the very first casino in Singapore and the Merlion which was unfortunately under construction at the time because it was struck by lightning a couple of weeks back.
After the tour, we went on foot through the city and reached the Fountain of Wealth. It is believed that if you walk around the fountain three times clockwise while touching the water, good fortune will await you. And so we tried.
We reached Makansutra, a place that offers different Asian cuisines. Though we were not that hungry yet, there were no leftovers from our hearty meal which consisted of Singapore's stir-fried noodles, grilled prawns and crabs, squid and stingray, chicken barbeque and a whole lot of other delicious stuff.
Again, our parents went back to the hotel while we went at Jojo's place, awaiting the time to pick up Ron from the airport. At 11pm, we went to the airport to pick Ron up. It was nice to see my youngest brother who was now obviously taller than me. We had a few snacks at the airport and went back to the hotel.
On our third day, we prepared for our Sentosa trip early in the morning. We took a couple of MRT rides until we reached Vivo City, where we had various transportation options to get to Sentosa. There was the bus, the monorail or the cable car. We opted for the cable car which was $14 each, a round-trip ride from Vivo City going around Mount Faber and The Jewel Box then heading to Sentosa.
The cable car ride was definitely an exhilarating experience. It was dubbed as the longest cable car in the world and its height was definitely out of the ordinary. I had height fright at first but it became very exciting.
We reached the Imbiah Lookout, an area in Sentosa where Tiger Sky Tower, Images of Singapore, Luge & Skyride, and a whole lot of other attractions can be found. It is also where the famous Daddy Merlion, the biggest of the Merlions is situated.
We had our lunch first at The Arches restaurant in Imbiah where we met Marx with his girlfriend Leah, Karl's childhood friend. After lunch, we took a lot of pictures in the entire area, with its breathtaking views and landscapes.
We rode a bus going to the Underwater World, the oceanarium holding exotic sea creatures. After exploring the deep seas, we headed to the dolphin lagoon, where pink dolphin shows are being held. The pink dolphins displayed their amazing talents in playing balls, waving their flippers and jumping high into the air.
Sentosa was really a good place but unfortunately, the weather did not permit us to explore the whole of Sentosa and because our flights were during that evening, we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and went straight to the airport.
We went first to Terminal 2 where our flight to Dubai should be but when we were about to check in, we were surprised to know that our flight was scheduled at 1240pm the following day, and not 1240am. And so we went to the Budget terminal where our family's flight will be leaving. We stayed there while waiting for their boarding time and when their time to depart finally arrived, it was another sad goodbye. I knew that we won't be seeing each other again soon but our last three days together were good enough to cherish during the next months apart.

The Girl on TV

Another idea of Jojo's...

I sat on the couch eagerly, a bowl of popcorn in my hands. I turned the switch on and the TV whirred to life. There she was, the girl I was so anxious to see. I may have seen the film playing a dozen times but it was worth repeating over and over again.

The little girl was playing her part well. She was so pretty and nice and she meant the world to her parents. She had everything she wanted. But the part came were she was no longer the only child. Her parents' attention averted from her. She was no longer pretty. It was the new baby who was so cute and cuddly. And she felt sad and alone. Fast forward.

As she grew up, she started to understand things. She learned to love her baby brother and understood her parents. She did well in school and everybody noticed her. She had friends. She was adored by guys her age. She was happy again. Repeat that scene three times.

She started working in a big organization. She held a nice position and earn more than enough for herself. But everyone was jealous of her. They framed her up for a big mistake she was blamed for. She lost her job. And she felt betrayed. Fast forward.

It was her wedding day. She was so beautiful in her long white gown. She was going to marry the ma of her dreams. Everyone wished her well. She was so happy and contented. Repeat the scene five times.

A bouncing baby boy. It was the fullest moment of her life. She felt so lively. She felt so complete. Repeat the scene three times.

She stayed at home to take care of her child. Her husband started drinking. She started to lay hands on her. She was often beaten by her husband. She became unhappy again. Fast forward. Let's pause for a break.

She has found a new love of her life. He took care of her.He loved her baby like his own son. She had another baby. They were so happy. Repeat, repeat, repeat...

I hope life is a recorded TV show where you can skip the part that is excruciating, awkward or painful. Where you can have a break during its commercials, and repeat the scene where you find contentment, pleasure and happiness & you can pause the scene to stop it coming to an end. But in real life you have to experience pain & sadness, you cannot have a break in life. You cannot repeat the joyful moments you had. And life always comes to an end and you just got to accept it.

Your Officemates

Some things are really unavoidable in all companies, big and small. At first, everything is okay. Your workmates are fine,your boss is nice, everyone plays fair. Then suddenly the antagonists enter the scene and you are left on your own. Either these are your old workmates who show their true colors or are some new people arriving to wreck your peaceful office life. I've been in several organizations and this is quite noticeable. There are people of all these kinds you will find in every workplace.

1. The Gossip. Every workplace comes with this person. She befriends you. You confide in her. You tell her office secrets you know. You tell her how you feel about your stupid boss. She eagerly listens. She gives you advice. The next thing you know, she's spilling the beans on everyone and you are left feeling betrayed. And you can't do anything about it because you trusted the wrong person.

2. The Geek. She is often on her own. She works hard and initiates to do work not even her own. She is often noticed to propose great ideas which usually are rejected because they're too complicated or just simply weird. You find yourself at times enduring what she has to say although the only thing you would really want to do is for her to shut up.

3. The Whiner. She has found every single thing thing she sees worth complaining. She complains about the working hours. She complains about the work load. She complains about the salary. She complains about the boss. She complains about everything but never has had the guts to submit a resignation paper to simply end her unendurable complaining.

4. The Fake Authority. She simply exudes power. She is not your boss but she feels she is. She dictates what you should do. She orders you to follow her. She feels she has the proper authority to tell off people. She is worse than the real boss.

5. The Pretender. She knows timing. She is seen to be very busy when the boss is around. When she feels no one can see her, she talks on the phone for hours. She surfs the internet and chats. But when the boss is around she immediately transforms into a model employee.

6. The Sucker. She tails the boss frequently. She follows only the boss's orders. She listens to every single thing the boss says and heeds whatever she is told. She is the boss's extended eyes and ears. She tells the boss what she feels will make her remain in the boss's good books.

7. The No-Care-At-All. She does not mind every single thing happening all around her. She does not care what others say about her. She does not care about rules and news and gossips. She doesn't care about anything at all. She arrives in the morning and does her own thing, the whole day sitting alone not minding her surroundings, leaves the office in the afternoon and repeats the same routine everyday.

These are kinds of people you will find in every work place. We may even relate to some of them but some are the persons you actually see in the office everyday. They are the people that makes up the thriving working community we live in everyday.

Marley & Me

Marley & Me - Trailer

Marley & Me is a wonderful story about how the worst dog in the world changed the lives of the Grogan family. John and Jenny Grogan are newly weds from Southern Michigan but as Jenny plans their new life, it included transferring to a warmer city, finding a job and a house and starting their new family. Everything seemed to fall into place except that John was not ready to have kids yet. And so following his bestfriend Sebastian's suggestion, he got a dog, a labrador they named Marley.

Jenny and John dubbed Marley as the world's worst dog, chewing on anything he sees, jumping hard on anyone, kicked right out from obedience school, pooping anywhere he likes, drinking from the toilet bowl and howling mad during thunderstorms.

But after sometime, the couple were ready to take everything into another step, including having a baby. Jenny was disappointed at first but they finally had little Patrick. They were having a lovely family time together until Jenny announces she was pregnant again. When little Conner was born, Jenny left her job to be a fulltime housewife to take care of the kids as they left for a safer neighborhood. But as time goes by, Jenny becomes frustrated with having to stay home alone with the children and battle with Marley's everyday mess. She got to the point of wanting to send Marley out and so John brought Marley to Sebastian to stay for a couple of days. John found out that Sebastian was moving to New York to take on a new job and he somehow wished he would make a career move too. But Jenny apologized later, telling John she was just overwhelmed with everything and having to give up her career. They made up and Marley comes back to them.

Another baby was born in the Grogan family, a little baby girl named Colleen. And as the family becomes bigger, Marley stays with them until the time they moved to Philadelphia into a new countryside home with big lawns and with snow that all of them enjoyed including Marley.

Everything was going fine until Marley got sick and there was no way he could be healed and it seemed that he was just biding his time. When Marley finally died, the entire Grogan family mourned deeply, the kids writing him letters and Jenny giving him the necklace he once swallowed. He died and was buried outside their house but his memories lived with the Grogans forever.

Marley & Me is a very moving story of family, relationships and love. Eventhough Marley did not seem to be a model and adorable pet everyone loves, Marley is one of the best things that happen to the Grogans.

Graduation

grad⋅u⋅a⋅tion [graj-oo-ey-shuhn] - n. Conferral or receipt of an academic degree or diploma marking completion of studies; the successful completion of a program of study; commencement

I always thought graduation to be a very happy day. Afterall, all the hard work of studying comes to an end. But this time, I think I am dreading the coming graduation. This is mainly because graduation this time does not mean the commencement of a completed studies but the end of my work. The global financial crisis had hit the company so hard that almost all the projects stopped and mass layoffs are going on all around. Last month, 200 employees of the company from different offices were laid off and several offices have closed. Just last week, 100 more employees from the Abu Dhabi office alone were made redundant. And now, rumors are too blatant to the ears that redundancies will happen today in our own office.

Sigh! When will this end? Nobody really knows, but I just hope it will really end, soon.