Day off for me tmr! Glad to stay at home and to start my report writing...Time to get started. No more procrastinating. Been as dead as a log lately, dashing straight to bed after watching the 9pm drama on channel 8. I am in love with that show, even though the plot is a little cliche. Guess the cast made up for it. Anyway, home visits can be tiring! (Frequency increased to like 3, 4 times per week from only once last time). Hehe. Even though i havent been doing much stuff lately, at least i could catch up with some beauty sleep! Cant wait to use my laneige sleeping pack (gift from sister) after the bio essence sleeping mask runs out. And guess what? I saw this baby lizard in my cupboard yesterday while I was rummaging thru the mess... hunting for my facial products! Totally freaked me out! I hope it doesnt stay there and grow into an adult lizard :( Please get out for some fresh air. It's stuffy in there. Packed some of my clothes as well. Decided to give some of them to ruirong. All brand new ones! Either too short or that I find them strange looking all of a sudden. Thinking what made me purchase them in the very first place. I hope she can wear them. Otherwise quite a waste to chug them aside.

One more week to the end of internship! Calls for a celebration :) Enjoyed most of my time in there company, as there are fun loving and funny colleagues all around. Makes the stay there more enjoyable and memorable. Sad to say, the turnover rate is pretty high. 3 colleagues have left during my short stint over there. Hmmmm..... implications? Haha.

Once again my monthly friend is late in visiting me again. Frustration! I dislike the feeling of waiting with nervousness and having to wear dark colours daily! Pray hard that it comes soon. Perhaps I should try out tcm... as yingjia recommends, though it will take quite a while. Hope it comes soon! I still want to enjoy my bali trip in aug!

Happy Happy Happy

It's a great day today! Firstly, I managed to converse in Malay with this Malay client and successfully completed the interview in Malay! Even though my Malay language is really sucky and at beginner's level, I could understand bits and pieces of what she was saying. Secondly, my supervisor allocated the Malay household specifically to me as home visit and that really impressed the scholars. HAHA. Ego inflation... haha. I must say I m flattered. You should have heard me converse in it... totally broken Malay... surprised that they could understand me. That's the strange thing about colloquial malay.I merely translated the stuff in English word for word into Malay. Anyway it turned out that one of the scholars who were tagging along with me for the home visit knew some Malay as well. He spoke in formal Malay, in which the client failed to understand. hahah... she understand mine though and that made me very glad. Show off in front of the scholars. heh! Those PSC scholars were pretty friendly and they are young! 2 years younger than us! Yet I heard from my supervisor that these scholars might turn out to be their future bosses! Pretty impressive.... So the moral of the story is: It is important to have good brains!

Another happy matter was being recognized by this client whom I met earlier on. He came up and strike up a conversation. It was as though we knew each other for long, but it wasn't the case. We only met for a couple of mins and I thought I wasnt impressionable enough. I was just following the procedures, going-by-the-book kind of talk. Surprised that he actually remembered me. It actually feels good to be remembered. It's this special relationship that is formed between the clients and us that makes this job interesting and makes u feel very much alive. It's a wonderful feeling :) Hope all my fellow mates are enjoying they internship as well!

Take the Time to Smell the Flowers

Had a marvellous singing session with dearest cousin and sister at party world yesterday! Sang till our voices were hoarse...but contented :) We should do this more often, getting together and spending quality time. Life in Singapore is a little too hectic, so we should slow down the pace and take time off to do stuff that we really like once in a while. Take time off to smell the flowers!

Today's trekking session at Macritichie was quite fun as well, though I was slightly burnt. Didnt apply sunblock as I ran out of it.. and halfway through the trek, came down with a sneezing fit then teary eyes. Saw quite a number of macaques during the trek. The air was fresh, amidst all the ongoing construction. Trekked the chemperai, jering and lornie trail today. Took like 2 hours plus I think. A short walk... not too strenuous. Body aching slightly from the pilates session the day before. So cant overexert too much. Learnt some new terms: cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. So cervical spine is essential the neck. So much for the jargon! Still cant seem to master the stretching of the cervical spine. If done correctly, there should not be any strain on the neck, but I kept on experiencing that. Hmmm.... takes time to get it right. Befriended this auntie who was sitting next to me during the session. She's kind of middle age, 40 to 50 ish. When she couldnt get certain poses right, she would turn and smile to me, sheepishly. haha... it was kind of funny. It's both our first times at joining this, so as beginners we should be forgiven for erring. Just hope that this can make my backaches go away. Dont wish to suffer from chronic back pain for the rest of my life!

current mood: Exhilarated :) Life seems more meaningful and fulfiling these days.

Heart of Gold

Went to visit a client who came down for an office interview today. Had a nice chat with him. This elderly man whom I interviewed thanked me countless of times after the interview ended. I could sense his sincerity and that word of thanks that he uttered made me feel appreciated and touched. Sometimes it's just this sort of little things that others do or say that make a difference to your day. It brightened up my day thoroughly. He was not supposed to come down to the office for this PA review today (in fact his slot is next next week!)He explained that he has run out of money to spend (which i agree because of the negiblibe sum in his bank account)and he is wondering if we can assist him through this period before the next PA payout in July. Although I couldn do anything to help him because it would be unfair to other clients, he did not blame me or get mad at me. It was heartening to know that he is aware that he has problems managing his finances, in the sense that e withdraws a whole sum of the money few days after the payout and splurges, instead of saving for rainy days. He also knew that he cant depend on others forever, others have their own priorities as well... No one can pay for your expenses on a long term basis. I sort of "chided" him for splurging on meals, but in a nice way of course... suggesting alternatives for him. He said he spent almost 5 bucks a meal... instead of eating out for breakfast, i suggested to him to buy loaves of bread and jam. It incurs less costs that way. However,to think of it, sometimes the elderly just want to pamper themselves while they still can... they are not young after all. So should not really restrict them that much...

Decided to bring up this case, because among all the other PA clients whom I have reviewed, this case is the one that touches me most... He is really grateful to the Southeast CDC for the financial help they provided for him. He's this cheerful elderly man who speaks fluent chinese and can be pretty philosophical as well. Thanks so much Mr Yeo who made me so happy today. Even though I didnt do much, but to him, it seems as though I helped him a lot. I merely just lent him a listening ear. Most elderly are lonely, especially those whom are single and whom stay alone. Since I cant fork out my own money to help them (it's against the financial assistance scheme to receive help from others...), I guess I can do my part by just talking to them? Suddenly I could feel myself assuming the role of a social assistance officer today... haha... Thanks so much! Lifted up my spirits totally. Perhaps it's because my grandparents died when I was really young, so did not get to interact and even talk to them. So this internship really gave me the opportunity to communicate with the elderly, in a way making up for the lost time with my grandparents. For once, I am really glad to take up this internship :)