Time to Ponder

I think my post lately has been oscillating between work related stress and eating out...

I don't know whether it is just one of those random moments where you start to wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere or am I seriously starting to consider other opportunities...

Is it the change in dynamics at the work place that has somewhat affected me or have I not paid heed to advices given to me to slow down so that I don't burn out too fast? Or is it getting to me that I have missed out on so many friends and family time because of work? I'm always late for birthday dinners, have to leave early from functions, have to excuse myself from events etc.

When I'm not at work I'm thinking about work...most times I would be planning my work when I'm driving to the office or to court...I would consider how to respond to e-mail queries and mentally draft it so that when I arrive at the office I just type and send.

This can't be healthy. I think I really need to learn how to give myself more me time and figure out the best way to de-stress.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

19th April 2011 was my dad's birthday. At that time, both my parents were on holiday at Eastern Europe...so we decided to have my dad's birthday celebration during lunch today. Given that my parents just got back last night and would probably still be tired from the trip, we decided to buy food and have the family birthday gathering at home.

Of course, the highlight for me was the cake and desserts. My sister got it from Bisou :) The banofee pie is nice and of course everyone's favourite. She also bought the red velvet to try it out....verdict...we all prefer the home made red velvet :P The red velvet is nice and moist but a bit lacking in the cocoa and also the cheese in the cream cheese.

Banofee Pie

Red Velvet

Nutella Cake

new york new york deli

Today Azmir and I went to go have lunch at this place called new york new york deli. It has a nice selection of sandwiches, burgers, pasta. The thing I like about the sandwiches is also that I get to choose wholemeal bread. I don't fancy white bread unless I really don't have a choice.

As for their desserts, they appear to have a nice selection though I can't comment much about the taste cause I haven't tried them all. Today we ordered the mudpie with ice cream. It was nice but not as rich and chocolate-y as I expected and would like it to be.

Laughter is the best medicine

I was at the hairdresser yesterday getting a haircut and treatment which made me go through more than 4 magazines while waiting for my treatment to be done. I then came across an article about the power of laughter in relieving stress. This is not something new but when I read the bit about how certain hospital patients are given comedies to watch, it made me realise that I have not been watching much comedy lately.

I remember last time in University, my housemates and I would watch a string of comedies during dinner every night. I used to get a good dose of laughter and then I would start doing my coursework until the wee hours. Stress levels under control. I did the same during bar school too.

Now, by the time I get back from work which is usually around 10 pm, there are no more comedies on TV but dramas. So I would normally have dinner while watching shows like Criminal Minds, NCIS and Castle. Don't get me wrong, these shows are great, but not necessarily your first option at laughter.

Which got me thinking, I think I may need to watch more comedies to keep my stress levels in check. Have a good dose of laughter everyday.

So my mission, to watch more comedies!

My self-evaluation

I realised it's been a while since I last updated my blog. It's been pretty much a rollercoaster ride ever since I started work after my marriage leave.

Last Thursday I was rushing to complete my personal self evaluation which is needed for my performance evaluation at the end of May. It took so long to complete and made me think about where I am now in my career. Can't believe that soon I will be in my third year of practice. One more year and I will be a mid-level associate.

As I was completing this form at about 9 pm, my boss passed my room and saw that I was doing it and said "doing your evaluation? you need to make sure you don't burn out!" I gave her a confused look and said jokingly that there is no column in the form for me to put that :P Then she said make sure I take enough breaks from work, if not I will burn out and she cannot afford to have me resign.

Coming from someone I look up to, it actually gave me some motivation to persevere under these challenging times. I think if there is anyone I aspire to be like, it would be her...a partner who manages to balance work and family.

She is basically a superwoman...she runs up and down the courts conducting hearings and carrying heavy court bags during like her 8th month of pregnancy, can do 2 court hearings at one time and she even could bbm my colleagues less than 1 hour after giving birth chasing for submissions that she wants to review! When we asked her about it when she came back from maternity leave she justified it by saying that the pain is during giving birth and after that you have nothing to do cause the nurses take the baby so she can review the work. We were all just like :O

And on top of all that, her priority is still her son....during her hectic schedule she will leave during lunch to pick him up from school so that she can spend a bit more time with him everyday. I honestly don't know how she does it.

On another note, last month I went for a 3 day Company trip at Phuket. There was a lot of free and easy time so it was nice. My colleague and I also went for a cooking class at Momtri Boathouse and I learnt how to make several Thai dishes including Pad Thai! It was fun :) So now I just have to find the time to actually make it :P

Work related issues....

I haven't updated my blog in a while....probably cause things are getting very hectic at work. I think the last time I felt like this was probably a few weeks before my marriage leave where files started to blow up right left and centre. I was in a discussion with the Employment Partner at my firm and he actually stopped to ask if I was okay because I looked gaunt! O.0

It's one of those weeks where you keep getting e-mails from clients saying that they urgently need you to prepare some court documents to be filed in the next few days. That means doing the legal research, getting partner to review, getting client's to approve, arranging for translation of the documents and for it to be signed by client and filing it in court...all of which has to be done within 2-3 days. For the person doing the ground work and ensuring that all these are done and deadline is met, it is awfully stressful :( If that is the only thing you have to do during that period it is not so bad, but the usual scenario is that you will have several files like this running at the same time and the tricky bit will be in juggling them all...

I also did the mistake of giving my hand phone number to a client and regretting it big time. When the client asked me for it I hesitated but was told that it will only be used for ‘emergencies’. And now I have been receiving calls and sms at night after office hours as well as on weekends. I mean come on, give me a break!!!

A lot of people are also resigning from the firm so morale is low...I sure hope this phase will pass...if not I may very well do the same...

Picnic @ Sg. Pisang

This week was a weekend full of activities! Saturday night we went to Maju Palace for a pre-chinese new year dinner with Jonie & co. and to have yee sang. The food was pretty good and it was a nice get together to catch up with people.

Today we went to Sungai Pisang for a picnic by the waterfall :) We had to wake up bright and early and met up with everyone at Jelutong, DJ at 9 am and then made a move. Audrey was the driver with Jin Han as the co-driver and the rest of us at the back. When we arrived the place I didn't expect the 1 hour hike to the waterfall to be as challenging as it was with the amount of river crossing, narrow and muddy trails and of course various encounters with the leeches :P

But of course, in the end when we reached the waterfall, it was all worth it! The water was icy cold though...to me at least :P So we took a dip, ate lunch and then headed back.

A Sunday well spent :)