sikh wedding!

first time attending a sangeet party/ ceremony at singapore khalsa association =) for once, i experienced how it is like being the minority. so while i was at the dinner, and still confused with what's a sangeet party/ceremony, i decided to whip out my phone and googled it. 

"Sangeet ceremony as the name suggests is all about dance and music. It is one of the most enjoyable ceremonies before the wedding and is exclusively for women. Initially, the sangeet party was organized only by the bride's family but with changing times it is now observed by the groom's family as well. Also, it was a ritual which was only seen in North Indian weddings, but nowadays it is conducted in Bengali and South Indian marriages as well. 

Sangeet ceremony is held few days before mehndi ceremony and comes as a time for joy and merriment amidst the hectic hustling bustling activities before marriage. Amidst celebration, ladies, crack jokes, tease the bride, merrily reminisce their youthful days and bless the girl for a prosperous married life".

mmm. so that's it. something new. cultural competency =)

with narin the bride!!! =) this is the brightest outfit i have ever seen her in. nice! =D haven seen narin for a good half a yr, but im really happy to see that things are going on well for her. and she is probably the few that proved that a long distance relationship can work out =D

and thank goodness u accompanied me! if not i would have turned into a fossil while waiting for charis and shehnas to come.

anyway, dinner started at close to 9pm, and they started dancing to the loud music thereafter. it was damn entertaining to see charis, shehnas and narin dancing away. heh. had a good time videoing the whole process =)))

ended the day at 10 plus! totally tired by then. 

presentation day!

one presentation down!!!! hurray!!! im so glad this is over. the preparation for presentation made me felt as if im seeing no end to it. come to think about it, we came such a long way conceptualizing and finalizing our presentation content, so goood job girls! we are done with this! 2 more to go!

the happy char siew baos before our presentation =)) im really thankful for having such awesome group members =)) we work hard and play hard!

date with ryl

thanks for the dinner and after dinner treat ryl! =) it was only a short 2hr plus meet-up (thanks to your boss for making you OT), but im really thankful! i always feel at ease and comfortable when i meet you, and all my negative thoughts will disappear momentarily. thanks for making my otherwise unhealthy thoughts a healthier one =) *hugs

headed to boy's home in the afternoon for hari raya celebration! abit silly actually, for us to travel from defu ave all the way to jurong =/ zzzz. and i was so tempted to claim my birthday time-off but i didnt in the end. because i wanted to see how boy's home looks like. heh.

but i soon realized it was such a mistake to go boy's home because i got sabo-ed to do a fashion walk in front of all the people in the hall =/ omg. kill me pls. so apparently the emcees were looking for 3 volunteers to participate in their fashion walk, and one of my colleagues arrowed me because she claimed it was my birthday. and so the whole hall of people sang happy birthday song for me and i had to do a catwalk in front of everyone. OMG. i really wanted to find a hole and hide like seriously. an experience indeed.

ok, putting the embarrassing moment aside, here's a pretty cupcake that my colleagues bought =)

and thank you colleagues for all your cards =))) i'll pin them up when i get my own table! =)))

and my day ended with a steamboat buffet with  boyf =)) noms!

loved.

my first hari raya celebration at shehnas's house =) it has been quite awhile since i last saw all of them. reminded me of the good old prison days when work is nothing too taxing (doing interviews and writing papers) but shopping online, making chicken wraps and mug cakes in office, going for yoga classes, having a cup of coffee at chock full of beans, counting down to the end of work, bitching about others and much more. reminiscing those days....

yes, shehnas's house looked like a cosy cottage =)) and mama shehnas prepared yummy pasta and chicken wraps (yes chicken wrap! exactly the same as what we had in office back then) for all of us =))so we had a good chat over dinner as we shared stories about our workplaces. come to think abt it, HAPPY 1 YR OF FRIENDSHIP! just a yr ago, we were all newbies at prison hq. heh!

and the girls surprised me with a birthday cake =) awwww. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

and my birthday gifts =))) much appreciated!

and so we ended the day at close to 11pm. could have stayed longer if not for work the next day =/ zzzz. it was reallly nice to see of them again =))) the warm fuzzy feeling.

and yes, so i reached home and walked past the kitchen, and as i walked past, i took a second glance again. because i saw boyfii, mum and sister standing at a corner in the kitchen with boyfii holding many many tarts with a candle on it. OMG! really caught me by surprise. *teary eyes

thank you soooo muchhhhhh for making the effort to surprise me, and having to wait for me for a good 3.5hrs before i finally reached home.

thank you for the box that you made, the note that you wrote, and the earrings too! =D i feel loved for the friends that i have, and for you.

insights

i'm so actively updating my blog nowadays because my supervisor is away, and i have no one to shadow.

work was fun yet tiring yesterday. we were on shift work from 1pm till 8pm, and we were attached to the blocks where the girls resided. so i was basically running on the ground yesterday (thank goodness because i almost died working in the ops room previously staring at cctv and opening and closing doors for people like a security guard). so for the first time, i saw how strip checks and body search were conducted, how the girls were treated inside the home, i saw how police officers brought girls in for remand in handcuffs, we escorted girls from point to point, and i moved from levels to levels, dorms to dorms delivering food for the girls, squeezing toothpaste and shampoo for them (they have no access to these items because they might just eat/drink the toothpaste/shampoo in an attempt to commit suicide). i saw girls crying in their dorms, i saw girls giving attitude to us, i have girls calling me 'amanda' because they thought i look like one. i found out that remanded girls were not given utensils during meals for reasons that i do not know. it was actually fun to be on the ground because i really saw alot of things i didnt see before. yet at the same time IT WAS DAMN TIRING. i felt i lost at least 1 kg climbing up and down the stairs. and yes, time flew by so i was happpy =)

and i was pleasantly surprised to find boyf outside girl's home after i knocked off. thanks for travelling all the way from ntu just to meet me at such a ulu pandan place =)

i never knew hair matters so much to me until i realised i was dropping freaking more than 100 strands a day for the past 3 months. trust me, the feeling sucks totally. its easy for ppl to say 'don't worry, the hair will grow back", yes im sure they will or rather thats what the dermatologist claimed as well, but hey, its really not that simple to brush it aside and tell myself not to worry. it sucks to wake up in the morning and having to go through the whole motion of hair dropping everywhere u go. it sucks really. im trying so hard to stay positive and telling myself that 'hey, short hairs are sprouting on ur head alr!', but at the end of the day, when i slp at night,i cried still. its disrupting my life. rawr. i cant help but to be superficial and say that my hair defines who i am to an extent.

updates!

national day and hari raya celebration with the girls at girl's home! =) felt as if i was back in school again. having to go for assembly in the hall, singing the national anthem, saying the pledge, and feeling all patriotic singing the many national day songs. so nostalgic! the performance put up by the girls were pretty impressive, and glad to see them having so much fun =)

went with my supervisor to see a girl in the late afternoon, and i was really intrigued by the girl. traits of borderline personality disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, ADHD, acute stress reaction.....all the labels thrown on her, sometimes i really wonder what with all these labels. i cant help entering the room, painting an impression of how this girl would be like based on all these labels. but i was wrong to judge. yes, she is definitely not an easy case to deal with, and i admit i was a little afraid of her because i felt as if she's gonna launch an attack at me anytime, but at the end of the day, labels are just labels, and my perception should not have been clouded by them. ok, just some food for thought.

life suckssss

life sucks. i look in the mirror everyday and i think im ugly. sigh. i came to realise how it is not easy to change one's thinking. does cognitive therapy really works in that case? its hard to have positive thinking at times. its easy for people to dismiss your worries, but you know its hard for yourself to dismiss whatever worries and concerns you have. you just cant.

therapy yesterady was drama mama. the kid found pleasure engaging in the 'gag' action, and he did until he vomitted. AND I HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP because his mother went out, and his maid had her off day. so i cleaned and i almost wanted to puke as well =x then we moved on, and continued with session while he tried to make the 'gag' action over n over again, which irritated me because it just disrupted the whole session.rawr. then i brought him to the toilet, and after he cleaned himself with the toilet paper, he threw it into the toilet bowl by putting his hand in the toilet bowl water *gasp. and i tried to get him to wash his hands before he pull up his shorts but to no avail.

i feel more like a nanny than a therapist.

work is getting interesting now that im attached to girls' home. sat in for interview sessions with the girls, and went vivo with supervisor to bring the girl to collect her pay. fun! =)

hello migraine, pls go away.