I feel quite good about today overall, since it has been a long and busy day. Though it started off a bit slow, with Marylin and I running half an hour behind schedule, it was still an efficient day. A lot of things happened, starting with the mysteriously loud bangs we were hearing – turns out it was the water jug delivery guys. We got our new stash of water to guzzle (which we do at a very high pace), then received two samples of pillows and blankets from a company in China (for Napper’s other business), and the model ship we have been waiting for! The ship was made by prison inmates and donated to the Yellow Ribbon Project as a way to promote giving prisoners a second chance. When Zen saw it, he was very keen to buy it and was actually able to! I always love mail (and packages especially), so it was rather exciting to keep getting deliveries to the door.
On an individual level, I sent out some follow-up e-mails to people I met at the SHRI Congress. Some of them took me awhile to craft, since I wanted to make just the right impression and give just the right message. I feel quite good about what I ended up sending, so we will see how the replies are. I also spent a lot of time doing some random market research and got a chance to chat with Lorry and share my opinion on something he was working on. It was a nice bonding bit, getting to spend some time brainstorming and discussing ideas. I got a chance to step out for lunch, which has been more occurring more rarely these days, so that was nice. Soon after, I got a call from an old friend back from Perth for the week and made dinner plans. I then continued working, taking some small breaks here and there and had another fruitful sharing session with Lorry, which made me late heading out of the office to go to dinner. Though Orchard Road is not far from our office, it still took me a good 20-25 minutes to get there! At least the trains weren’t packed. I guess people go home way earlier than 7:30 on a Friday. Thank goodness! Those 6 o’clock crowds are killer.
I spent many hours over dinner catching up with my friend and then we met up with a good friend of hers. A lot of interesting topics were discussed and it was very nice to spend some time out for myself, chilling and talking over dinner and drinks. There was a lot of ground to cover, after three years of not seeing each other, then mixing in a new person. It was quite nice to see her because 1. we didn’t expect to see each other again for years, if at all; 2. Singapore was the last place we thought we’d meet up (it was supposed to be LA); and 3. I had no idea she was coming back so soon until just a few days ago. This was rather unexpected and a great refresher of my second year of uni. Ah, the good old days… Life has changed so much since then! The college lifestyle is so special. Pity it can’t be retained as we move on into the workforce.
As I was leaving, I checked with Marylin to make sure she was still awake to let me in. Turns out she and Zen were still out, hanging out with some of his friends from the Navy. Thus, I was dropped off at Clarke Quay and made my way to a rooftop bar. I met four other guys there and we sat around having a grand old time. It was a nicely breezy night up there, so it was quite comfortable. I munched on some ice to help clear my throat from the smoke I had been close to at the bar I came from and eventually we headed off to get some “supper.” What do you actually call a meal that you have at 3 in the morning? Over dinner, we continued to crack jokes offhandedly and have a grand old time eating porridge. I avoided the frog meat and got myself a bowl with some chicken shreds in it.
We were out until nearly 4 in the morning! If tomorrow wasn’t a Saturday, I don’t think I could make it.
