Some reasons why:
- The Johor- Singapore border closed for the first time in history
- It's weirder to walk around without a mask than it is to be wearing one
- I haven't seen my annoying colleague that I'm not very fond of in person since February
That last point delights me the most as it is in line with my goal to stay away as much as possible from people who give off negative vibes. The reason that I have not seen her much this year is because we have been on alternate teams since February (for the record, I am on blue Team A while she is on orange Team B). Then there was this thing called the 'Circuit Breaker' (I seriously can't being myself to call it CB like some other people do) which spanned from April to June, when the entire office was closed as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. We are now back to alternate weeks, which suits me perfectly.
The first day I went back to office after about 4 months was 31 August 2020. First, let me wax lyrical about my office for a bit. When I first saw my new desk when I started working here in October 2018, I couldn't help but think that it exceeded my expectations.
It is spacious and has a nice view of the garden on the 6th floor of one of the wings in University Hall. Due to the fact that there is glass all around, I can actually see people before they reach my space but they are not able to see me clearly as my door is frosted, how perfect is that?! In fact, it is so nice that management has decided to evict me to convert the room into a dining space for visitors. Boohooo.... I think I should be moving soon, to #06-03, and since I haven't seen the new place yet, I don't know what kind of environment it would be. I know though that I won't be able to see whether it is raining or not for sure. =(
After months of working with a laptop screen, I came to work on 31 August and got a shock at how pampered I had been previously, with this nice, huge screen. I swear it was like looking at words through a magnifying glass and it took me a bit of time to get used to the huge font at first, hahahaha.
I think I took this ugly, dark photo not long after I first joined, hence the very bare space. I have not managed to fill up the shelves but there is definitely more items on the desk compared to when I first started.
View of the rooftop garden on a sunny day. I like it that I can look outside when my eyes get tired and there are sometimes birds around to keep me entertained as well. Actually, it also gets quite hot sometimes so moving to a new office might result in fewer sun spots for me, to think on the bright side @@
View on a rainy day
One of the not so nice points of working on alternate weeks is that I for the most part have to eat lunch alone. Apart from about 3 or 4 days since 31 August up till now, I have been having relaxing, contemplative lunches on my own XD
For memories sake (so that I can remember some of the stuff I had while working here 50 years from now), here's a record of what I had for lunch for the first 2 weeks I was back in office:
(31 August 2020 to 4 September 2020)
On day 1, I had yong taufu at the Science Canteen, with laksa soup instead of my usual clear soup. It is a frequent lunch option as it is tasty, healthy, filling and cheap at S$2.80 for minimum 6 items + noodles (did I mention cheap? ;)
On Tuesday, I had lunch with a friend from another zone (the campus has been segregated into 3 zones and since we couldn't meet any where within campus, we had to go to a neutral place) at Kopitiam at Kent Ridge. This is tomato ban mian with extra vege~
On Wednesday, it was back to the Science Canteen, the side with air-conditioning this time, for Ayam Penyet + curry vege. This is one of the nicer penyet around, the chicken is always fresh and crispy as business is so good.
Thursday was go crazy day, where I ordered McDelivery. May I add that this was one of the very rare times that I ordered in as I abhor expensive delivery fees! This was a Big Mac set with regular fries, drink changed to hot Milo (as it was cold that day) and the highlight of the meal, a Yuzu Pie (which was limited edition for September 2020 only). The Yuzu Pie must make a comeback in future! It was so so good, I ended up having it again the next day, hahahahha.
On Friday, I went for lunch with Aunty Minah, who cleans our office. She's super sweet and is the only one around our floor who seriously compliments me on how I look on a regular basis =) She bought me lunch before when it was her birthday so it was my turn to reciprocate. This was nasi goreng kampung at Al Amaan Restaurant on Clementi Road.
(14 September 2020 to 18 September 2020)
On Monday, I brought some leftover Kimchi Stew that I made over the weekend (yes, I made that). It is one of the fail-proof dishes that I discovered during the Circuit Breaker period, and henceforth I shall never order this dish at overpriced prices in Korean restaurants ever again as it is so simple to make!
Given the success of the pork knuckle rice, I decided to try another dish from the same stall on Wednesday, this time it was fried fish. Although it was not bad, it did not wow me the same way as the pork knuckle did, so it will probably be awhile till my next time ordering this. Downed lunch with sugarless Teh C from the canteen drinks stall. This tea is amazing, it is the only place so far where I drink milk tea with no sugar as the milk tea already tastes smooth and fragrant enough on its own.
On Thursday, I visited Kopitiam @ Kent Ridge again. Unfortunately, the chicken rice I had been craving for had closed down, which kind of threw me off balance as I then had no idea what to eat @@. Ended up trying the fried prawn noodles, which was not bad but required a long wait =( The prawns were not very nice too, sad..
Friday was Grab Food day as it was raining heavily and I ended up feeling lazy to leave the office. I was also thinking about chicken chop, so this is one from Collin's Grill which cost me S$14.85 after including delivery charges of S$4. Luckily the mushroom soup was awesome and I fixed my craving, so it kind of offset the inflated price.
Whew, finally done. Can't believe it can take me an afternoon to record 2 weeks worth of lunches XD The photos below are kind of random, but they are from a brand called H&N naturally sweet strawberries from Australia. I was shocked when I opened the box to find strawberries as big as my palm and same size as my mouse! Repurchased once then stopped as I am kind of paranoid that they have mutated genes. XD
Update: Officially moving to my new office space on 17 November 2020. Since I will be working from home on that day, I cleared my desk on 13 November 2020 and the space now looks empty and sad T___T
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