Come next week I will be starting my lesson, the very first lesson in my enrollment to the Social Work degree program. Not sure what to expect but I think it will be fun. Especially its something I had wanted to do, so in terms of motivation, I believe it will be stronger, to push myself on in the next 3 years.

This year will be quite a challenging year. With studies taking a major role in my commitment and also taking up more responsibilities at my association. So I believe it will be another round of training both mentally and physically.

Will start picking up the text for the first module to read soon, at least get a rough idea of what will be covered for this term. That is if I can really ‘pick it up’ from the drawer in my office…..

This year’s Lunar New Year falls on January. So for the whole month of January its kind of celebratory mood where party and celebration seems to be at the back of everyone’s mind.

Let’s hope the New Year will bring good fortune to everyone.

Best part about it, having seen them from Year 1, the bond and rapport we have is stronger with the passing of each year. That is also the reason why I hasn’t been keen to consider making a switch in my job, even though there had been an opening in an International School recently which I felt pretty confident of getting it.

Some will said it was a foolish decision I made, especially if I could potentially expand my portfolio and experience as a librarian and also see a jump in my pay, since I am well experience for the job.

Yet the main reason for holding back was mainly because of my library kids. I had tried to use my upcoming part-time studies as an excuse, since I am not sure if I can cope with the demands of the degree program and the demands of the new job. But somehow I know that is something I will be able to work out and overcome.

I am not sure what is with these groups of kids that had such strong reasons to keep me ‘grounded’ at where I am now. Though I know on numerous occasions, I had told them that, I will do my best to ensure I stay long enough in RV to see them all finish their A levels. Which counting down from now, it’s another 3 years more to go.
To think I hasn’t stayed in a job for more than 2 years, now I am planning to stay in a place for 6 years.  That is quite an amazing feat to me.

Anyway, I am still enjoying my job and what I am doing in RV, the frequent visits by the library kids further makes my job more fun and enjoyable. So let’s see how things progresses in the future.

A decision I made based heavily on feelings. I am not even sure if the decision was sound, but at this point I am not looking back at my decision. Right or wrong I don’t know… Only time will tell.

The start of 2012, a brand new year. A bit of an oxymoron… Had wished that things will be smooth sailing for the year, yet realistically, life is always about challenging and overcoming obstacles. So I am not even sure if I should wished for a smooth sailing year or a year with obstacles and yet they won’t ‘kill’ me.
Nonetheless, I am hoping that 2012 will be a year of Hope.

Eye Appointment
Ended 2011 with my last medical appointment at the Eye Clinic. Had been searching for my eye specialist which I got to know during my Secondary School days when she was still practicing in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Somehow she had left Tan Tock Seng in 2003 and start her own private practice. So for a period of time, I didn’t managed to find her until like last year.
Finally made an appointment to visit her at her clinic while at the same time getting a check on my eyes. The check-up was ok, without any issues. Though we did had a good time catching up and chatting during the check-up. Now that I had found her, will be having my yearly eyes check-up done at her clinic.

Vietnam
Had made a short trip to Vietnam in view of the New Year holidays and also I wanted to experience how New Year count-down is like in other countries. So checked out the tickets, confirmed it and made my way there.
Managed to meet up a few friends there, so having them as guides was kind of cool, as I get to see Ho Chi Minh City from a local perspective, tasted authentic Vietnamese food and best of all, ride on a motor-bike and travel round Ho Chi Minh City while experiencing the heavy and complex traffic in Ho Chi Minh City.
One of the highlight of the visit was also experience the count-down at Ho Chi Minh City. It was a simple street party, but the turn-out was seriously large, I think the whole of District 1 at HCM City was there. Perhaps the most amusing thing I found / experience during the party was how Vietnamese have a way to prevent people from cutting through their path. It may seem like a selfish act but somehow given the size of the crowd, it is something I felt necessary to do and being a sporting tourist, I also got into the act of ‘blocking’ people.
It was an enjoyable trip overall, really seen and experience quite a fair bit of Vietnamese life-style despite it being a short 3 days trip.

School Starts
3rd Jan was the day everyone goes back to school (for those already in school) or starts school (for those whose kids are entering Kindergarten 1/ Primary 1 / Secondary 1).
It was great to see my library kids back again. Most of them actually came by to ‘visit’ me and say Hi. It’s very heartening to see those kids doing that, though a simple gesture but the feeling was really good, not only that… some of the regular library users also came by to say Hi before using the library. It’s really very encouraging to know that in the course of my work, I had directly or indirectly created some impact in these students lives.
3rd Jan was also the day, quite a few of my friends and my own sister sees their kid enter into Primary 1 or Kindergarten 1 and with the use of Social Media, updates of how their kids were doing were up in their respective FB page.

And that pretty much sums up what had happened thus far for 2012.

It had been a rather eventful year, a year where lessons were learnt and a stronger self was forged. Deepen my understanding in my spiritual self and also in trusting my gut-feel in certain aspect of things.
Of course there are still things that need improving, the habit of procrastinating and the tendency to not managed my feelings well. Hoping that come 2012, these bad habits can be better managed.

Here’s a quick summing up for 2011

Work
It has been an eventful year at work. had finally established my position in the school as the librarian and widen my network of friendship among the school staffs. This year, the library had received 3 gifts from 3 different group of people in appreciation of the services and support we had rendered. These good-will gestures served as a reminder for me to continue to do my utmost and contribute to the school while at the same time, served as a recognition to the efforts I had put in during these 2 years to gain the trust and support from the staffs in the school.

Life
Looking back at my life in the year 2011, I would say it has been a pretty interesting and challenging year (actually whose life isn’t challenging). Had a less bumpy ride as compared to 2010, but it still had its fair share of joys and sorrows.
It also brings about valuable lessons (old and new) learnt which directly or indirectly changed or shaped my character, mindset and views.

Future
Had finally decided to enroll into a Degree program and come Jan 2012, I will be starting the first part of this journey to complete my Degree program. Will need the determination and discipline to see myself through in the next 3 years to come. I must bring back the honor of becoming the next degree holder in the Ong household, the first male from the Ong household to be a Degree holder and do my elders proud.

Will be curious to know what 2012 will bring for me.

So on Friday, reported to NUH Sleep Lab at night for my test, was kind of disappointed upon entering the room I had to spend the night at. Its wasn’t as nice and comfort looking as the lab at TTSH.

Soon I was ‘hooked up’ to get ready for the test. All the wires being ‘pasted’ all over me, the head, the temple, the jaw, the throat, the chest, the finger and the legs. All to test the various response from the body while I sleep.

Well, personally not sure how the result will be liked, but I think my condition is still quite serious. As I am not sure was it the sub-conscious  at work or was it the drifting in and out of sleep that resulted in it, but somehow I kind of experience a few of the OSA symptoms.

3 counts of breathlessness where I experience difficulties in breathing
2 counts of waking up due to the ‘choking’ effect of snoring
2 counts of loud snoring – Haa.. I actually can hear my own snoring (can you believe that…. )
Numerous count of waking up and trying to fall asleep.

Will have to wait for the report to be out in 2 weeks time, thereafter will see what the ENT specialist says about the report and what she suggest on addressing the issue.

So after hearing so much from the other students, I decided to go and catch it…. and boy!! I didn’t regretted my decision. It was really a very nice show which brings back memories of the schooling days, those crazy things we do just to attract the attention of the ‘dream girl’ in class or in school or the silly pranks we played, the playful things we did, just for good fun.

Lots of funny scenes and rather vulgar jokes, and also its fair share of emotional scenes. Though surprisingly, I didn’t shed any tears even though I can somewhat feel the emotions and feelings the actors and actress were portraying.

Seriously, I really hasn’t come across a show so worth watching and something that had such an impact in me. Will be waiting for the DVD release and this will be a show that I will buy the DVD and keep!

The Official Theme Song

The Official Movie Trailer

It has been like 5 years since I went for the operation to try to sort out the issue, but sadly even after the op, the OSA issue wasn’t resolved. So that’s where I decided to stop going for any follow-up until recently where a friend actually suggested getting all my ailments checked again.

So finally went over to see the specialist yesterday and as expected, got a scope done and had to go for another sleep study test to see how bad or good my OSA condition is.

Had already gone through those procedures before, so I had kind of anticipated what to expect. Perhaps the only difference will be having the Sleep Study done at NUH instead of my usual Tan Tock Seng Hospital, since the medical center I go to is link to NUH.

Now that the Nose follow-up is in process, next on the list should be the eyes…. It’s also another long overdue check-up that need to be done.

Seems like its back to collecting appointment cards from the various clinics and medical centers again.

现在我或许可以理解当时他郁闷的心情了。

说真的，我何尝不想让对的船只进港，可是找来找去就是遇不上对的船。

你们大家急，我何尝不急呀。。。我也知道长辈们都急，都盼着能见证到这一幕。

可惜，天时，地利，人和。除了地利之外，其它的都少了。

所以大家别老是问我同样的问题了。。。等天时，地利，人和都齐了后，肯定通知你们的。

It had been a while since we are able to gather all the relatives together, elders and juniors. So the wedding dinner had provided such a platform for us to gather. It’s real nice to see everyone coming together, young and old.

So what started out as casual drinking during the dinner soon ended up with intense drinking, especially my cousins and I were trying to get our nephews to drink. So before we know it, we start ‘challenging’ each other to drink and doing the ‘Yam Seng’ toast, even after the actual ‘Yam Seng’ toasting is over.

The most memorable part of the toasting is perhaps when all of us, the cousins, together with our nephews gathered to do a toast together. That really was a very memorable moment.

Well… The after-effect of the whole crazy toasting, all of us went home either feeling high or in some cases, drunk.