Life in January

 Here are other random photos I took in January on my camera roll. 

I always take selfies in train stations to check my hair or outfit, lol.

My neighbour's cat would rather linger outside my house than return home because my parents love to feed it.


The Sunday we met up at Harbourfront at 8am to hike together. We stopped at Alexandra Food Village 1.5 hour later where drank sugar cane and called it a day, lol. But we had pretty good chats! 

I've always remained low-key in office, so it's awkward being forced to mingle with all my colleagues in this tiny meeting room. I was later pushed to present my team's problems, which I won't do so ever again. Some colleagues drilled in on my every word and pressed for decisive and irrefutable answers. 🫠 We're not even on the same cognitive wavelength and c'mon, I'm not that serious outside of office!

I've been eating Xiang Xiang Hunan recently because of this signature stir fry pork! It's so good!

Chagee Singapore just released this new camelia oolong tea! This was the first tea I drank in JB 2 years ago, which got me hooked ever since! A little pricey though, $7.60.

Watched a random lion dance performance after exiting USS. There was a long queue to take photos with them but I had sharp pain in my lower back so forget it.
Met up with my Well-Being Circles participants for lunch at 3 Meals A Day. Thank you girls for listening to my stories. I'm almost certain they were INFPs and there was so much empathy in the room.
I returned to work right after being discharged from the hospital. My company had an exhibition launch event on 6 Feb, so my boss activated everyone in our team to take on random roles. Mine was popping confetti and taking paparazzi photos. Lol.

I did my first facial for the first time in 8 years!!! The 1-hour session at Nexus was surprisingly soothing even with the thorough blackhead squeezing. My aesthetician explained that modern facials use medical grade tools, like hydradermabrasion and serum infusion devices, so they tend to be more effective than traditional spa facials. I bought their 10-session package for $880, so it's $88 per session. I guess it's alright? 

I first came here on 17 Jan because my skin became super dry, flaky and itchy after trying out the Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum. Since it contained retinol, it ruined my sensitive skin completely and I kept scratching till there was blood!!! Out of desperation, I googled skinboosters and came across this aesthetic clinic. The doctor said my skin was too damaged for injections, so she prescribed me an antibiotic cream that healed my skin barrier within 3 days. Thank God!


My life right now mostly revolves around my full-time job. My boss and manager have been loading me with a ton of work lately, even non-design related ones. They often come straight to my desk to verbally dump info, sometimes demand I open emails in front of them and complete the designs for instant review. And since there are no written emails, they can easily change goalposts after I've done the work. I still get their messages during my leave and lunch, like there's no clear line between work and friendships. I feel like I'm punished with more work for being TOO responsible and efficient as they're creeping into my schedule, workspace, even personal time. I only have myself to blame though for not setting firm boundaries from the start.

The demands got so excessive that I hit a nervous system overload and burnout 2 days ago. It was just non-stop calling my name in office and demanding I solve their problems on the spot. My body became tensed up and my mind became uncontrollably anxious even outside of work. I tried to calm down at Fun Toast during lunch, not my usual hangout spot but somehow I felt led there. Then God brought a saleswoman into my view, the back of her shirt said "HEALTH ABOVE ALL". It was so apt and clearly God understands what I needed at that moment - a reminder to let me know my health matters, to take care of my body like a temple.

I'm also glad that the executive who has been micromanaging me is leaving by end of the month. She's too young to realise colleagues are not friends. Instead of respecting colleagues' work, expertise and autonomy like the older ones would, she assumes control over all my work and creative decisions, even laughing while instructing me to change my designs. Feels pretty demeaning. Since my first week at work, she made sure I abide by her rigid systematic workflow (to safeguard her own authority and comfort) so much as to email me 6 examples of how I should get her approval for all my work. One time, she made redo a poster as much as 10 times to appease her first before she was willing to send it to the bosses. Ethics and professionalism has long exited the chat.

I hope when she grows older, she learns that professionalism means respecting your fellow colleagues’ craft and job. Teamwork can only happen when everyone values what each colleague brings to the table, and not try to steer every detail to one's own understanding only, even using others' work as means to please management. Grow a backbone and earn merits by your own work, or learn some empathy and realise everything you are nitpicking on is someone else's thought, hard work, effort.