Flippy February

February's ending with my 17th wedding anniversary.  Yeah, it's been that long...  But this month, this year, has been very eventful.  I'm starting to think that I could be a regular visitor to the A&E.  This month the staff at Raffles Hospital really got to know me very well.

What a Painful February - Galaxy S23+

Juggling July

July continued the shitload from June for sure where work is concerned.  The damned project that was rushed earlier has been further delayed to sometime in September.   I'm amazed that I'm proven correct yet again, but everyone seemed to turn a blind eye and just let things be.  I on the other hand cannot stand the way we were made to rush here and there especially when I'm still doing BAU.  So again...  I'm extremely pissed off as usual.  

I went for a 2nd interview for an internal transfer opportunity, unfortunately I don't think I'll get that position.  The interviewer, a Korean long timer since day 0 of ONE was very sharp and immediately asked for the real reason why I wanted to transfer.  In his own words "your answer looking for new challenge and career progression is very general, out of 100 people 99 will say the same, I want to know the real reason why you want to leave".  I gave an answer that was still incomplete as I only mentioned about the friction and dynamics with another department that's been giving us problems; I can't say things about my boss' poor judgement and vanity for sure, and about my team mates' habits of working on weekends as well as just being assholes.  Well.....  in any case this is going to be another miss for sure...  I'm starting to wonder if I seriously need to consider looking outside....  

Ostentatious October

Ostentatious ehh.....  Well.... still related to last month's recap actually.....  And we reached the crescendo this month during rehearsal for the audit.....  I've seen more than enough to draw my own conclusions.  The insincere attempt to impress which borders unprofessionalism is just too much for me to stomach....  

Sunrise in Guoco Tower - Galaxy Note 9

Sanctimonious September

This month's recap title sounds very bitter.  That is the vibe I'm getting in my office right now.  The projects I have been doing in my department has somehow lost the faithfulness to their cause and are now just mere tokens to gain recognition for the higher up.  As the executioner, I can't help but feel completely disillusioned at the overtly pious display of commitment which lacks sincerity and action.  To top it off, one of my department's project has somehow incurred bad blood from another department that accused us of taking credit for what they're doing, which I feel is totally ridiculous as we're merely reporting the progress of their work to the head office's department that we are answering to...  Not theirs!  Well, I can't say more than I should..  Although I should add that I'm somewhat disgusted at the turns of events that has shown a total lack of sincerity and indescribable pettiness.  This has been a busy month too in the office with some distressing moments when major changes to one of my portfolios were asked to be made in very short times.  An important colleague has also resigned after 29 years with the company which further added gloom to the overall mood.

Well, enough with the bad stuffs.....  This month I finally became a Certified Scrum Master.  That's the best thing that happened to me this month.  My Galaxy Note 9's screen somehow got damaged, but luckily it's still under warranty so I got the screen, the motherboard and the camera module replaced for free and the phone came back almost like a brand new one.  I also got three new books by Ajahn Brahm which I haven't found time to read yet, but next month should be a good time as any.

Speaking of next month, Lincoln will have his 6th Kyu grading while I'll be having my 2nd Dan grading.  That really gets me nervous....  There'll be Jiyu Kumite (自由組手) this time around.  I had wanted to do Sochin (壮鎮) for my Kata, but my sensei said I'll still have to do one from the Sentei (選定) Katas, so back to Jion (慈恩) it is.  I also hope Lincoln will pass his grading this time and get his blue belt which has been long overdue.

Tiong Bahru Market at Nite - Galaxy Note 9

Nondescript November

Perhaps I should be grateful that things have been rather uneventful...  Or not?  Nah... I don't know...  So far things have been rather dull in November.

Last Saturday we went to Lindsay's school carnival in West Coast Park.  That was our first time visiting West Coast Park.  The sea view fell short of breathtaking as it was made up of mainly marine yards, what looked like oil refineries in Jurong Island, Pasir Panjang Terminal and numerous docked ships, although there were plenty of open space for games such as frisbee, football and kite flying.  

Sea View From West Coast Park Lookout Jetty - A7RMk2 + FE 24-240mm F3.5-5.6G OSS

Jalan Membina

About 2 weeks back I had planned to visit Gardens by The Bay to just "walk walk and see see" the lantern installations during mid-Autumn festival, unfortunately the place was jam packed and I had to abandon the plan.  It was a bad idea to visit 3 days before the exhibits were to be taken down.  The fact that it was a Saturday only made things worse.   

Since I was already carrying my X-T2 around, when I almost got home I thought why not go all the way up to 30th floor of my apartment block and see what the view is like from up there.  It was the blue hour anyway.  I had stayed in this block for more than 5 years and never went up at all to see what's it like.  My curiosity was very well rewarded.  

Overlooking Bukit Ho Swee, all the way to Orchard - X-T2 + XF16mmF1.4RWR

More Bits and Pieces of Tiong Bahru

So here's where I post other photos of Tiong Bahru that I took during the outing.  Too good to keep to myself!  

First, there must be the iconic murals in the neighbourhood.  

Bird Singing Mural - A7RMk2 + Batis 2/25

This mural is the easiest to find in Seng Poh Lane car park which is just opposite Tiong Bahru market, and directly across Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh - their pork trotter here is a favourite. 

And to Tiong Bahru Bakery After Tiann's

Well, I couldn't possibly miss visiting Tiong Bahru Bakery when I'm at the market right?  Even if we couldn't get a table there, we could always buy some croissant and kouign amann back home.  

So after we were done at Tiann's, we just walked over to Eng Hoon Street for a quick look and see at Tiong Bahru Bakery.   

And here we are at the "Paris of the Yeast" 56 Eng Hoon Street - A7R2 + Batis 2/25

Tiann's (甜) at Tiong Bahru

On National Day afternoon after we came back from Zam Zam, we went to Tiann's at Tiong Bahru, 71 Seng Poh road to be exact.  Not immediately of course, but sometime in mid-afternoon.  I had to visit some cafes there to get materials for my company's newsletter.  I'm a very dedicated person eh...  This time around I brought along my A7RMk2 and Batis 2/25.  I thought having Full Frame DOF would be quite appropriate for this "assignment". 

Tiann's Exterior - A7RMk2 + Batis 2/25

A Mundane May

So far May has been very boring except for some excitements back in my hometown - some idiot crazy terrorists bombings.... that was very sad really....

On the work front, things are picking up although those are quite easy stuffs, nothing like what I used to have back in my old department.  I've been struggling to keep myself awake in office as I'm just too bored at the stuffs I do.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things to do.  Over the span of 4 months that I've been in this position, I have crossed out 50 items out of 57 in my tasks list (that is still growing).  But the difficulty level is just not challenging.

At home, I finally got a chance to visit an ice cream cafe I've been longing to try for quite some time: Creamier @ Tiong Bahru.  To be more precise it's located at 78 Yong Siak Street, near Cheng's 27 and Forty Hands.  It's amazing how they've been there for so long and it took me only last Thursday to visit.  I sure am a late comer.

Hello there Creamier!