tacenda

So, 2017 ended, and I never had the time nor mood to pen something down earlier. Somehow, 2017 felt like a very, very long and arduous year. I went on my two-week leave after tendering my resignation in February, came back to a new department, stayed for another three odd months before I finally tendered again, and I really left. During that four months of being unemployed and working on translation, I really wondered many times if I had made a right decision, albeit pointless to dwell upon it. I joined my current workplace, where the environment was familiar yet a stranger at the same time. I really did not enjoy what I was doing, I guess I still do not. Only thing, perhaps, is that I am trying now.  The year-end Taiwan trip with M, ZR, A and YH was a fabulous one. I really think I had not enjoyed myself so much in a while. Every visit to Taiwan is always different for me, and so is this. Weather was good, company was good, food was good. I believe I will remember this trip for a ...

Last night I finished my last examination for my diploma course. While it has only been a year (is that a long time?), it felt very never-ending and many times, I actually really wanted to give up and just drop out midway. I must say I don't really know how I pulled through. However, I am very certain that through this course, I have learnt many things about life, I have met amazing people, I have seen how I applied what I learnt into my daily life. I believe I understand better why Mr. Yeo always said translation is an art. It truly is. And I cannot be more thankful for the little lessons he ever taught me, and which are still so applicable today. It has been an arduous journey, the project assignments, the late night classes and going to work early next morning. All these are painful memories as I look back, but I have pulled through!!!  I recall how I signed up on the deadline of the registration. It was an extremely impromptu decision, which I believe I do not regret because I ...

这周真的过得好累。 刚刚在壮威家帮他筹备婚礼的事。 JY传来简讯，说要跟我谈她的病情。 我一直很不安。一路回家其实很害怕。 跟预期的差不多。病情不太好。 我听了，心情难免又回到两天前的失落。 这几天，我好累。 我知道，有很多事情，也许不需要我来承担责任。 但有时候，不去理会，我的心里又真的过意不去。 我很想做一个好女儿、好姐姐、好朋友。 我一直尽力做最好的自己。 但我常常在想，在这个过程中，我是不是也失去了自己。

I did a lot of packing in the week that just passed. Pretty sure it was the largest scale I ever did in my life. Initially I had made a deal with myself to discard a hundred items, just so that I did not continue to keep the items that I always did not want to discard, and then end up accumulating more and making the room messier than ever.  And so... everything went into the bin, or the Salvation Army. Almost every gift, every Doraemon merchandise, every little thing I bought for myself but was not very practical. Gosh, now I learn the importance of minimalism and how much money I could have saved up had I not spent them on so many unnecessary things...  After my final bit of packing this morning, I make another deal with myself: NO MORE UNNECESSARY PURCHASES. And of course, out of the millions of Doraemon items in the house, more than half of them (from different people) are gone. It was really a painful decision to have to discard/donate them but I figured they really had t...

The wait has come to an end, or so I hope. I got a confirmation call to inform that I had been shortlisted. I ought to be happy, I suppose. But as a matter of fact, I was not particularly ecstatic. If anything, I was just contented. Nothing gets me too excited these days. I was reminded of the last time I went through a phase like this. That period, I think it took me a year and the phase was pretty painful with all the other dramas going on in my life. This time, it was a lot better. My friends were ever so encouraging. A part of me, however, cannot help but be paranoid. The last time I got an offer, I went through the toughest part of my life thus far. This time, I am so worried that gaining something might mean I might lose some soon.  But a friend often tells me, "Law of Attraction".  I have been reminding myself this time and again.  Believe in the positive, and it will come to you.

可惜回不去那一秒 你好不好?

Dear Mr. Yeo I have not written to you in a while, have I? I dreamt of a man who looked so much like you last night. But that was not you. You would have been more composed, less stern and a lot friendlier. Somehow, in the dream, I cried very, very badly, to the point that I found my eyes wet with tears when I woke up this morning. I wonder if it meant that you have gone to another world and would never appear in my dreams anymore. That thought brought tears to my eyes once again. But I know, you have to leave for somewhere better.  It has been four years. The image of you talking to me at the Deck is still lucid in my head. I listened to your advice and started pursuing a diploma in Translation some time after I started working. And I am already finishing the course!  Your words often ring in my head, be it those you said when you were still around or in my dreams. I always try to ensure I check up the dictionary when I am not too sure, and I share with my friends what you sh...