In the beginning of the month, Mr Toh and I made a major decision in confirming a unit at punggol waterway terrances II. We looked through the brochures sent, made notes of the already-not-available-units and eliminated the units that we did not want.. and to our horror, we only had 27 units left before our selected date ( ie 8 more days till its time for us to select). HAHAH.

On the day itself, we were left with the one unit out of the 27 units that were chosen. So what we could do is just to pray that no one before us want tt unit. We reached there super early (as if reaching early will push our appt time ahead.. ) and stared at the screen for at least 1.5 hours till our q no appeared. And yes, we were lucky enough to have that unit.. #06-560.

This location is not bad as punggol mrt is just across the river diagonally and there will be mega mall coming up in punggol too according to the brochure. This is waterway terrances II ppl! HAHAH. While at TPY HDB hub, looking at the 3d models of it, there were comments from strangers that it resembles the letter ' M' from the top view. By our own fengshui M means money... So HUAT AH! I will organize mj sessions in my house everytime. =)

Before we get to huat, we would now need to save up for all the 'necessary' that will take place in 5 years time.

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I've been offered a contract renewal of 2 years. The documents has been lying in my in-tray for a week and I have not signed it yet. Why the reluctance??

I guess it was the desire to leave.. since long time ago.
The lack of career progression unless I study phd was something I dislike.
The patents and papers publishing as KPI was something I find not meaningful.
The going to lab everyday doing synthesis was something I like, but I think breathing in those god-noes-what-chemicals may bring harm to my body, just that it hasn't shown.

Since I know these long ago, why didn't I quit?

Procrastination was one big reason.
The achievements of 2 papers and 2 patents was something I'm proud of. Our work with my name could be googled in google scholar.
Licensing our products with companies are what I find meaningful, designing and changing our parameters to suit the companies application is what I like. and this is considered a bonus for research industry.
The satisfaction that I achieved when our research succeed and our effort FINALLY paid off...

HAHA. So what should I do?

I will sign the contract renewal next week. I shall bear with the ups and downs of doing research (currently- for a few months already, im on a slightly down side with failed expt, resins no longer sold in spore, industries wanna change materials of not what we are doing), at the same time apply for more jobs.. and quit eventually (when I found a job I like) because I value my health and the career progression more.

I'm lucky to be offered 2 years renewal unlike the other people in my clique who were only offered extension of a few months. I guess, everyone would be leaving soon in the coming months and the office would be filled with 'spies'. It will not be the same anymore.

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Things that I did over the last few weeks... Lovebonito had its warehouse sale. The sale starts at 10am. My sis and I arrived at 10am exact and that's the q at 10am. I wonder at what time do those people beside the red-n-white-strips tape arrived. We q for almost 4 hours under the scorching sun before we could go in. I think to date, this is the craziest thing that I've done; q-ing for 4 hours and bought 7 dresses ( tog with my sis) which I may not even wear once a year. HAHHA. To back up my crazy act, I must say that its worth because the dresses are only $10 each and the material is good. I'm very happy with my purchase because people even asked the in-charge if there's extra for one of the dresses I have in hand.. and another even asked if I want to give up that dress.. HAHAHAHAH

Anyways, I admit my sis and I were a bit crazy to get sun burnt over q-ing of clothes.. nevertheless, we were happy with the $70 spent.

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I baked too after looking at the food the gers cooked/baked in NZ. These are short bread cookies and they taste nice, considering it was the 1st attempt making these. =)

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There is a balance in everything. I guess I'm searching for such a balance. When work fails, I will want to find success in other aspects of life. For example baking with success and receiving compliments on the cookies made. HAHA. When things fail, probably some encouragement is needed in other aspects to let one move on.

To share the joy and enthusiasm of one.
To encourage and not undermine one's efforts.

-Hong-