All's Quiet ...

in the office on Christmas' Eve!

Big Move

We have to move office due to some restructuring of office space. 

I went back to move today. I had lots of stuff because I have stuff since 2004. It was really bad for my back as I was moving on my own even though I could use the trolley for the moving back and fro between the old and new office. There were others who enlisted the help of their RAs. Personally, I don't feel right doing that as it is my affair, not my RAs' business. I have moved most of the bigger, important stuff into the new office but there is still more nitty-gritty stuff to be moved. Need another few more days but right now, I need to rest my back. Really feeling my age! :D     

Working Snacks

I finally managed to find these broad bean snacks. They are really good for snacking on when working in the office. :P The snacks are working to keep me working haha. 

Let's Step Into...

My office. :)

View from the door

As promised, here are photos of my new office after I have organised all my things.

Time to say Hello

to my new office, 5-B3-27. 

It will probably take me a few weeks to finally organise and tidy up my things. Hopefully I can show nicer photos of my office then. 

At LONG Last

I finally got my new notebook in 2015! 
My current notebook was issued to me back in 2009 after the previous one crashed. But somewhere in 2011, the hard disk crashed and I had to buy a new hard disk to replace it as there was no replacement notebook. There was one or two occasions which I could change to a "new" notebook but I didn't because the "new" notebook was basically an upgraded old notebook (bought in 2010 or 2011). I am really happy that I hold out until now. Otherwise, I would not have gotten a brand new notebook! :)

New Hp Probook, Hp monitor, mouse and keyboard! :)

Quiet Office

Office is pretty quiet again. I think almost everyone is on leave! Wondering why am I in the office then...

Boxing Day Office

It is Boxing Day and I was back at the office.It was almost empty except for myself and another two colleagues. Kind of nice to have the office all quiet and peaceful except for our chattering together haha. :P

Click Click Click

Today, I noticed a clicking noise coming from my office Fujitsu notebook. It has been with me for 6 years now since 2009. I hope the clicking noise is not a symptom of something serious to come. Spooked by the clicking noise, I started backing up all my data. A colleague thought it may be the fan making the clicking noise as it came from the left side of the notebook. I really hope so. 
Any "new" replacement notebook from my workplace are recycled notebooks from projects that have been closed and they are likely to be at least 3-5 years old too. :( Not any newer or better. Sigh.

Work, Food & Park

The girls were finally able to follow me to work today. They brought their tuition homework to do. Marieann also managed to do some online activities using my notebook while I read some articles. During lunch, I bought them some storybooks as a reward because they have been really attentive while doing their homework. At the end of the work day, the girls finished all their homework and I had the outline of my conference presentation. A very productive day for us! :)

For dinner, I brought them to Chunkwagon BBQ & Grill at Portsdown Road area. It is our first visit to Chunkwagon. The girls loved the surrounding greenery, the outdoors as well as the food! :) 

We ordered a Lord of the Rings: batter-fried onion rings (regular $9.80) to share. Juliane had a 3 Little Pigs: 3 pieces of bbq pork ribs (kid's $8.80) and Marieann had a Classic Marinara (kid's $8.80). I had a Tumbled US Pork Chop with apple sauce ($23.80). My pork chops were really tender, juicy and tasty and went really, really well with the apple sauce. :)

As there was still light after our dinner at 6.45pm, we went to Labrador Park as the girls have never been there before. They were thrilled to see the Machine Gun Post (WWII war relic). They also managed to find the sealed entrance of a tunnel near the machine gun post lol. They wondered if it was the secret tunnel that would lead to Sentosa. :) Marieann was especially excited to see the replica of Dragon's Teeth Gate because she has learnt about it in her Social Studies. 

The Machine Gun Post

Dragon's Teeth Gate (Long Ya Men): That way lol

We left around 7.45pm as it was too dark to see much and also the haze was quite bad. We had Yoguru yoghurt at a nearby shopping centre before we finally went home.

The girls definitely had a great day - finished their homework, had good food, and had a little glimpse into the history of Singapore. Labrador Park made a deep impression as they couldn't stop asking me about the secret tunnel at Labrador Park! Lol. I am very glad that the girls totally enjoyed themselves today. 

Office

My good friend and colleague has finally been given the nod and he is going to have his own office! Wow, his own room. I am so envious lol. But seriously, I am happy for him. :) He deserves it because he works harder than any of us. Good for you, D! :)

Late Night

I attended a farewell dinner for a colleague who is retiring. By the time it was done, it was close to 8pm. I went back to office to do some work. By the time I was done, it was close to 9pm. There weren't anyone left in the office and it was DARK! Hahaha. I have never stayed so late in the office before. It is kind of scary and ... exciting lol. :P

Moving II

Here's Part 2 of The Move saga... lol.

As you know, we moved to "The Abyss" yesterday. Today is our second day. I thought after one night of good sleep (err... quite tiring, you know, both mentally and physically unpacking the boxes), "The Abyss" might look and feel different today. One can hope, right? So did it change? Unfortunately, it is still DEEP, SECLUDED and SIGNAL-LESS. :( Sigh.

A quick walk around (being kay poh lol) showed that 2/3 of us have managed to unpack all our boxes. Oh, don't be too happy for us so soon. When I said unpacked, it didn't equate to organised! Lol. We just dumped everything we unpacked from our boxes into our filing cabinet, overhead cabinet and drawers without care if they should be there or not, haha. We only cared about getting the boxes out of the way, out of sight, lol. We will slowly organise them another time lor, lol.

Boxes still around.. Good luck with the unpacking, friend.

In a bid to make the place more cosy, many of us tried to personalise our work stations and work areas. I did by getting more stationery, colourful ones (orange, green, blue), to brighten up my work station, lol. I have yet to put up my postcards and photos because I have no idea where I have dumped most of them into... Hmm, is it the filing cabinet, or overhead cabinet or ... Argh, look for them another day, too lazy... :P

Trying to make the work area more cosy and personal

Friend's work station, personalising and organising still in progress

My work station, personalising still in progress. Very organised hor... just don't open the drawers and cabinets. Lol.

Hmm, it is beginning to look and feel more like a conducive environment to work in when... "RING, RING, RING"..."HELLO?..Hi blah blah blah..." What the ....?! "The Abyss" is an open space and so, everyone can hear everyone's phone ringing and conversations! Sigh. There goes my peace and quiet... Ok, never mind, can still try to bear with it, with ear phones/ plugs. I smart lol. Wait, what's that smell?? Who is spraying what?! Ewww. Ok, I am going to look so darn ridiculous wearing ear plugs and nose clip. Forget it. No wonder, some of our colleague had gone back to their former fishbowls to work. They the smart ones lol. Actually, I (me sour grape) think they suffering from Fishbowl withdrawal symptoms, lol.

Ok, so in "The Abyss", noise/ sounds/ conversations can be heard by everyone, scent can be diffused to every corner... What's next? Wait, do I want to know? Maybe I should work from home more, hor? LOL.

Keep tuned for the final exciting conclusion to The Move saga. I will take more photos when everyone is much more settled in - of the work stations and of colleagues who are happy to be in "The Abyss". :) Today, people too shy to let me take photos of them...

PS. CD, don't worry about me taking photos of people sleeping because I won't find anyone sleeping on the job! We are all such hardworking people. Hahaha. :P

Moving I

Today is the BIG move for our research centre. It is moving over 70+ people from different fishbowls into one big Fishpond. I was being nice calling it Fishpond. Some have "fondly" called the new office space "The Cave", "The Bat Hole", etc. Hmm, actually I would like to call it "The Abyss". Lol. "Why?" you asked. There are three reasons - Deep, Secluded, Signal-less.

Reason 1: Deep
All of us were formerly in fishbowls on the 3rd level. Now our new office is in BASEMENT 3! It is literally a big drop in height, from Heaven to Hell, hahaha.

Reason 2: Secluded
To get to our new office, we have to take 2 lifts and walk a fair distance in order to reach our office. First, we have to take a lift from Level 1 to Basement 1, and walk down a slope to Basement 2, and finally from Basement 2, take a lift to Basement 3. "The Abyss" is located where it is really secluded and hidden away. No one ventures to this part of the "world" except for students of a particular discipline, lol. :P

Reason 3: Signal-less
For some of us, mobile reception might be a bit of a problem in the new office, depending on the service provider. Also, if we are not careful, we might end up using the auto roam service as somehow we are being registered as being overseas, lol. Yes, it has happened, lol.

As you can see, we are pretty deep within the bowels of the earth or rather, the institute, pretty secluded and hidden away and pretty signal-less at times. So, if not called "The Abyss", then what?? Lol. I like "The Abyss". It definitely has got depth. Hahaha.

The move started at 9am, beginning with offices in Blocks 2 and 3 first, and then followed by offices in Blocks 5 and 7. Around 3pm+, the movers finally came to move our boxes to "The Abyss". It was both exciting and sad at the same time, having to move to "The Abyss" from our fishbowl. After the boxes and the people are moved, the fishbowl seemed so lonely and empty. I managed to take some photos just as the boxes are being moved...

Boxes, chair, more boxes

Colleague gone nutty trying to move the boxes

My lonely-looking work station with my work stuff in 4 boxes...

Over at "The Abyss", it is a flurry of activities and action. Boxes, chairs and metal cabinets are being delievered. Researchers are doing one of the following or all of the following:
1) trying to locate their work stations,
2) waiting for their boxes,
3) trying to unpack their boxes,
4) cleaning up their work stations
5) trying to personalise their work stations/ areas ...
Unfortunately, I was too busy unpacking my boxes that I forgot to take photos. :( It would have made a good visual journal for all of us.

Oh well, there is always tomorrow. There are still plenty of us not unpacked yet, or still trying to sort out where our things should go in our work stations...

Watch out, Friends. I will be coming round with my camera, lol.

Christmas Dinner (Real Early, lol)

Tonight is the Christmas Dinner hosted by the girls' father's company at The Line, Shangri-La Hotel. There were about 28 of us, including children and spouses. It was buffet dinner at The Line. It has various open-concept kitchen stations serving different cuisines/ food: Seafood (fresh), Salad, Japanese, Western, Chinese, Indian, Local, Dessert, Ice Cream, and Crepes. The selection of food was pretty good and wide. The most popular stations would be that of seafood and Japanese, and I think, Dessert! :) Here are some photos of the stations, mostly dessert, lol. :P








I really enjoyed the Seafood and Western, especially the Yorkshire Potato Pudding, the potato gnochi and ravioli, all creamy and sinful stuff. Lol. Of course, not forgetting the desserts, glorious desserts!! Don't worry, I didn't eat everything by myself, I shared. Ain't I nice? Hahaha.





I also ordered two different kind of lemonade. (Yes, yes, I know, my sugar level is going to hit the roof, lol).The first was Citrus Mint Lemonade, a real refreshing drink and the second was Chamomile Vanilla Lemonade. While the first lemonade wasn't so sweet and has a minty taste (which I like), the second has a unique aftertaste of vanilla and chamomile which made it interesting but it was a tad too sweet. I really can't decide which one I liked better. :P



After dinner, there was gift exchanging. Way before tonight's dinner, each staff had to draw a name and to get that person a gift that starts with that person's name! It was a rather interesting and fun way of getting someone his/ her gift. You can imagine the laughter that came about because of the gifts received. :) The girls' father got himself a clip-on light (for reading) and I got a HUGE bottle of Jelly Beans!! Yes, my kind of gift. Lol.






The dinner ended close to 11pm and the girls' father gave two of his bosses a lift to their hotel and gave his colleague, Lia a lift home. I enjoyed this company dinner very much. It is many times better than the one I attended last year where the atmosphere was kinda tense and stiff all because of a particular person. But this year, it is FUN, livelier and much cosier. =D

I have FINALLY Shifted.

To my dear colleagues and friends, if you still don't know this, I have officially shifted office as of today. Yippee!!! I am no longer in my old office or we call it fishbowl at the research centre because anyone who walked past could look in through the glass panels and see who's inside. A bit, or rather a lot like looking at fishes in a fishbowl, lol.

I am now in the opposite wing. I have been slowly moving my things over and I finally cleared everything over today. Not that I have a lot of stuff but just that I didn't want to alert people to the fact that I was moving fishbowl. So I was doing it most slowly and as inconspicuously as I could. You know, like moving a small stack here, a small pile there. :P I must say I do have some feelings for my old fishbowl, after all I have been in it for the past 3.5 years. But time has come to move on...

Why did I want to move fishbowl then? Well, let's just say there is bad Feng Shui and leave it at that, eh? Hahaha. Well, if you really insist on knowing why, then drop me an email, lol. :) Who knows I might be providing you with a most entertaining and unbelievable piece of tale. Lol.