Beautiful day!

The time now is 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon. I have just finished my lunch. And the reason why I'm at home? Cuz I have started shift work! Yeah, I am taking it well. I had thought through the horrors of shift work before, but it's not as bad as I imagined. Besides not being able to meet up with my friends on weekends and weeknights and having to do my runs and swims in the morning before work, it's all right. Those may sound like big changes to some people. The runs and swims in the mornings were BIG changes to me, especially the runs in the mornings when I have to go on an empty stomach after having just woken up for less than 30minutes! Man is a highly adaptable creature. And I have just proven this theory. Hah.

Last week
7th Nov, Monday: 8-4pm. Swam after work in the evening.

8th Nov, Tuesday: 8-4pm. Ran after work in the evening. A good 1hour 7min run.

9th Nov, Wednesday: 10-6pm. Rest day.

10th Nov: Thursday: 10-6pm. I swam in the morning at my friend's condominium. It was a good swim! I felt so refreshed after the swim! Thanks to the fact that the condo's surroundings was peaceful and serene as well!

11th Nov, Friday: 10-6pm. I woke up to do a run in the morning! It was a better-than-expected 1hr 6min run! So happy and proud of myself. I ate a banana after waking up at 630am, all the while loosening my legs by walking around the house.

Went slow and it was not as difficult as I imagined to do a morning run! The air was chilly and cold as I ran. I must remember to wear a sleeved dri-fit the next time I do such an early run. It was cloudy as well, hence it was not hot as the sun rose after 7am. All around me, Nature was at its best. The morning mist that still shrouded the greenery, the chirping of the birds in 'GH' and the faint shaft of sunlight that penetrated through the bushes casting a glow on a patch of grass was BEAUTIFUL. No money can buy these images of Nature that caught u off your guard once in a while. *Awed*

12th Nov, Saturday: 1230-730pm. I had my 1st taste of going back so late after work! Actually, it's a mere 7hours but the odd hours are something new. It was not very busy and I could chat with my colleagues every now and then. In fact, it was so not busy that my colleague(a Filipino guy) told me to go off at 645pm! He was so nice! And the other 3 Filipinos there(! RG and 2 Healthcare Assistants) were urging me to go home and not to be shy about it! Hah! They are so nice. That's what this department is like, all the people working here would help out one another as much as possible and it's like one big family. We really work as a team here, and not individually. I don't feel any watchful eyes cowering over me, and no politics definitely. At least within the dept itself. As a result, I feel like I'm not working at all sometimes! In fact, there's still so much to learn form all the seniors in this department that whenever I have questions, I would just ask them. Still feel like a little girl at times. :-p

Oh yeah, it's rest day for me on this day. Only did some core strengthening exercise at home in the morning which lasted for 1 hour. Mmm... Do u call it a rest day in that case then? Heh.

13th Nov, Sunday: 2-9pm. My 1st time working on a Sunday! I went running in the morning. As I was so tired out on Saturday, I nodded off after dinner and slept from 10+pm that night(on and off) till 8am the next morning! Oh dear. And I was supposed to do my long run on Sunday! When I woke up, the sunlight was streaming through into my room and I scolded myself for not setting the alarm to wake up earlier. Geez. I had breakfast 1st and then went for my run at 9.30am.

Yeah, the sun was out already and it was sunny! However, the route I took was shaded for most of the way. I ran to Yew Tee and back through 3 parks. I also took a detour and ran under the shade in the parks for many rounds! The last park was where I did the most rounds(7 in all!) to make sure that I did a LONG run. I started slow and told myself not to push myself too hard if my legs did not feel like it. I eased comfortably into the run surprisingly and even stunned myself for managing to do my longest ever training run of 1 hour 45minutes!!! AHHH!!!! I?m oh so proud of myself! Heh... This is one achievement for me! Initially, I did not even think I could last past 1 hour 15 min! But I managed to do 1 hour 45min! Whoa oh! :-p Self-indulgent... Heh...

U might think that I must be crazy to be running under the hot sun at 9-11am, but there were definitely other fanatical runners like me as well! In fact, when I ran to Yew Tee in the 1st stretch of my run, I met a guy in his thirties who was running slowly with a bottle of water, earphones and a cap! He actually did a salute to me when we ran past one another and I smiled gratefully. It was certainly a 'great minds think alike' moment! Hah! I would not be surprised if he were training for the upcoming marathon/half marathon. I also met another runner towards the end of my run at close to 11am with shades and cap and he looked like he was just embarking on his run cuz he was not perspiring much!

It's not surprising to find runners running at this time cuz the marathon starts at 6am and for many fit and leisure yet serious runners, it might take them around 4 hours to complete the entire 42km, which means they have to run till 10am when the sun is up and shining by then! It's not a stupid idea to run at this time now in order to train your body to get accustomed to the sun shining above u!

The run took up much of my time definitely and by the time I bathed and settled for lunch, it was already 12pm. And I was starting work at 2pm! *Screams* No time! Hastily cut up my fruits for lunch, ate them while watching TV, prepared my dinner and packed my bag before heading out for work at 1.10pm!

Work was not too bad, except that I was on 'portable', which means I had to go out and could not relax as much as I though I could at 1st! :p Benedict was the RG on duty other than me, and he was one relaxed fellow man... looking through my online photos all the while when I was out and asking lotsa questions! Haha!

It was quite amazing how my body was taking the working hours. I got home at 10.45pm after Ben suggested that I take '190' from Outram home, which was a mistake as it took an hour! While train would take me only 30minutes! :p By the time I settled down, it was already 1130pm. I only turned in at 130am. Surprised my body did not feel that tired after the entire day's activities.

14th Nov, Monday: 5-930pm. Weird timing. Yeah. But shift work officially begins! Short hours on Mon and Tues, followed by night shift on Wed and Thurs nights! I went for a swim at my friend's condo in the morning. A good, long swim followed by a dip in the Jacuzzi after that! The pool area was quiet and there was hardly a soul around except for an angmoh old lady reading by the poolside and the security guards. And the 2 swimmers that I met in the 1hour+ that I was in the pool! This is life man! What a relaxing moment!

I met MH for movie, 'Oliver Twist' after that at Lido and she managed to get student pricing for the tics! At $6! What a steal! And I got the Subway student meal too! Simply by showing my student pass! Hah! It pays to look young!

I have not watched a movie for the past 6 months. Time flies man... Don?t remember if I caught any movie after exams before going to Iran but I have not the time to catch any movie after starting work. Besides, movies are so expensive during the weekends! Argh!

Finally, the good movies are coming out. 'Harry Potter' and 'Memoirs of a Geisha' are coming out soon! I like 'Oliver Twist'. It was a classic literary that I read in Sec 1 before. And to see it on the big screens was great.

I had to make my way to work after the movie, but not without browsing through Borders and Birkenstocks 1st! Hah. It felt like those good old student days when u have time on weekdays to come out after school!

I was almost late for work! :-p I was expected to cover 'Portable' and it was not easy! Covered the whole of SGH for those 4.5 hours! And the H.P kept ringing with Margaret or Geanet calling to inform me of the incoming faxes for xrays! WHOA! I did 20 portable in that 4 hours! Scary! In this 4 hours, there's only 1 RG to cover the whole of SGH instead of 2 like in the morning. We went out from 5.15pm till 7.15 for 14 cases and then breaked for dinner at 7.45 to 8.10pm before making the 2nd and last round of 6 cases before arriving back in IPS at 9.15pm! Whoa... I was working and walking and rushing like mad! :p But it was fun. Oops, never imagine I could label my work as fun. Not too bad.

15th Nov, Tuesday: 5-930pm. TODAY. I woke up at 7am even though I slept at 1230pm last night. Forced myself to sleep though I was not feeling tired then. Amazing, after the activities of the day. Swam, movie, and then worked non-stop yesterday. Not too bad. I would call it a good day for my body. Not stressed out, nor over-worked.

I had breakfast and went out for my run at 815am. Not a good run today. My legs felt heavy and I got to go slow most of the time. 1 hour exactly. I managed to do 3 sets of F/C after the run, but not without stoning! Yeah, the weather is marvelous today. So far so good. The skies' cloudy and the sun's in all the while I'm up! There were dark clouds in the morning after my run and it even drizzled very lightly when I was at the fitness corner. Cool breeze. I always love such weather and thought that this kind of weather should be best enjoyed by spending time outdoors or in a non-A/C building doing the things u like. The air is not humid, the sun is hidden by the clouds and with the breeze constantly blowing, this is the best weather for ANYTHING! I got my wish. I spent my time at home today!

Shift work requires me to fine-tune my biological clock to work in the evenings and night. It requires me to give up my weekends and spend it at work. However, I have much more time to myself and while others are working in the day, I'm spending my most alert waking hours doing things that I enjoy. I noticed that by the time I settled down after my runs or swims in the evening on a normal working day, my body would be telling my mind to relax and take things easy and I would tend to give in to sloth in front of the TV. My mind would not be so alert after a whole day of activity as well. Whereas for now, it's quite a opposite. And with work only commencing in the late afternoon, my body is forced into a state of 'extended hour activity'. But due to the fact that I was not using my mind and body as much in the morning as I would if I were working in the morning, I tend to be much alert at night too. That's a good way to making full use of time man! Or rather, spending every waking hour and minute meaningfully and most exhaustively.

The fact that I am enjoying my work in this department with good working colleagues and a very family like environment helps a lot too!

Well, I should be off getting ready for work already! It's from 5-930pm. Maybe I should wait till I have started shift work tomorrow night before commenting any further! Hah!


Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson