Throwback #3: Catfish makes me miss my office

I was looking through my blogposts today and when I saw this post about catfish that I posted just 3 weeks ago. I have been having it quite often for lunch back in office--I can almost taste it right now--and it's making me miss my office so much. 

I miss the drive to the office. I am a person who don't mind the traffic congestion, as long as I am not rushing to the office for a meeting. It is a time for myself that I really value.

I miss the good mornings when I walk into the office. 

I miss the setting up at my table to start the day. 

I miss the lunches I have with my colleagues when most of the time we don't know what to eat.

I miss the coffee and the tea and the snacks.

I miss chatting with my cubicle neighbours. 

I miss packing up at the end of the day to return home. 

I miss feeling wonderful reaching home and spending the time doing a lot of family and me-stuff. 

Now that I'm staying at home, I appreciate the office more.

pearlie

The Xiaomi Dreame V9P Wireless Vacuum Cleaner

My Dreame has arrived! But I'm not using it much yet. I'll wait for the weekend.

I'm very happy with it. It's easy to fit, easy to use and it's cordless.

I'm now getting it charged up and ready for use!

pearlie

A Good Saturday

I have never appreciated a Saturday like how I appreciated today. 

It was so refreshing that it's a I-do-not-need-to work-at-home day. I spent most of the time in the kitchen though, and enjoying it. 

I am no cook and I prepare the simplest of things, nothing fancy and certainly nothing gourmet. It's as long as I get something edible and tasty on the table. 

It is a good day. I'm so sad that it's almost over. 

And by the way, that's not my kitchen up there. It would be a kitchen I'd love to have though. Isn't it gorgeous?

pearlie

MCO Day 10, WFH Day 8

Believe it or not we have gone through 10 days of restricted movement and 8 days of working from home. 

I am exhausted. 

Working from home during this MCO period has been non-stop for me. The moment I start work at 9:00 in the morning, it's a non-stop day until at least 7:30 in the evening, and on some days up to 10:30 at night. There is literally no break in between because lunch breaks are cooking time and that has become work too.

I am exhausted.

The nice thing though is I just received a text message from a colleague appreciating what I have been doing at work. His encouragement and nice words certainly brightened up my evening. Thanks Krishnan. That meant a lot. 

I am encouraged.

That actually brought me to tears because it has been quite an emotional week. My son returned from the US and we are worried about his health and our health. And I have been praying for a friend who had contracted the Covid-19 virus and I received news that he has passed away this morning. RIP my brother James Wong.

I am downcast.

But why so downcast O my soul, put your trust in the Lord, by day He commands His steadfast love and by night His song is with me*. I will trust and depend on Him fully, my God and my Abba Father. And it's a good thing that it's now Friday and the weekend.

I will re-charge. 

pearlie

* Psalm 42:5a, 8a

Our current craze over vacuum cleaners

My friend Melissa and I started a conversation today about vacuum cleaners. 

I haven't done much research on it but I do know I needed one. 

I got to know about the Dyson vacuum cleaners couple of years ago and even seen it being used in dramas. I wished I had one but with the price range between RM2000 and RM5000, it's not something I can part money for. 

But Melissa did her homework and told me about Xiaomi's Dreame vacuum cleaners that are comparable to Dyson's ones. 

And so off I went to Lazada to check it out and I found this:

I had planned to go to Giant--the only nearby store that is opened right now--to the electrical section, to get an ordinary vacuum cleaner.

But since the Xiaomi model is a Dyson equivalent, I happily dished out RM650 for one. 

This is the result of working from home and needing better tools to clean the house. 

pearlie

MCO Day 6, WFH Day 4: changed my work settings

I told myself that I will not use the sofa when I started working from home last week but by the time is was Friday evening, I was exhausted.

One of the reasons I thought could probably be that the chair that I was using is not ergonomically designed and not ideal for long-hour use.

And the thing is, all this while whenever I worked at home, I'm always on the sofa. 

So that was what I did today: worked on my sofa.

And I'm happy. 

However, it's only Monday. I'll have to see if I feel the same on Friday.

pearlie

Are you covered in data and speed?

With us all at home, are you covered in data usage and speed?

Those working from home with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, do check your data usage. It might be massive. 

Those free at home and watching movies and accessing YouTube, you may be maxing out your data usage as well.

To share, we at U Mobile offer Unlimited Data in very affordable plans and much more. Check it out in https://www.u.com.my/.

pearlie

Work From Home Day 3

It's the third day working from home and I'm already exhausted. Why is it that I feel so much more tired working from home compared to in the office?

I kept to my hours just like in the office. I don't even have to drive or get stuck in traffic.

So why am I more tired? 

Is it because it's warmer at home? I don't walk as much as in the office? I don't have colleagues to talk to and laugh with? 

I really have no idea.

pearlie

Cooking at Home when Working from Home

This is one of the best things I have bought: a pressure cooker. 

And I don't believe I have had it since 2016. It still feels so new to me. Probably because I don't use it as much as I should. 

But with the current work-from-home arrangements, this is coming in handy. I wanted to make a simple lunch today and decided I'd just make chicken porridge. 

To got the chicken out of the freezer at 8:00am, pop everything into the pressure cooker at 11:45am, which is just rice, water and chicken, and cook it for 13 minutes. 

I was only able to break from work after 12:30pm and the pressure cooker was already on warm setting for 26 minutes. 

And here's my simple chicken porridge. 

For those who seldom cook may feel that it's a very difficult thing to do. I'd refer you then to what I have posted before, to what Michael Pollan said in a Coursera lecture I have attended.

He said that cooking isn't so complicated if we don't make it so. All you need to have in your home are these few basic ingredients: olive oil, onions, garlic, lemons, sugar, and salt. And as an Asian, adding soy sauce and oyster sauce would complete the list. 

And I had thought that the more ingredients I put in, the more complete the dish. Now I think differently. It was then that I made the yummiest stewed lamb shank with only 2 ingredients, lamb and onions. 

We can cook. We don't have to make it complicated. 

pearlie

Work From Home Day 1

For someone who does not prefer to work from home but having no choice about it, Work From Home Day 1 went on surprisingly quite well.

I was wondering where in my house should I work in. I refused to use the sofa, which I usually do when I do some work at home sometimes, and thought the table behind my sofa would be perfect. 

It was good except I am not used to sitting on that chair for hours on end. I realised I had to get up and walk around once in awhile.

Our team had a virtual meeting that lasted for two hours, all because we didn't have anyone chasing us out of the meeting room that we would have booked for one and a half hours!

Therefore, I made a point to have a time keeper for our next meeting.

So what did I do to make it work for me? 

1. Dress for work. I am a notch more casual than what I would usually wear to work but at least I dressed up.

2. Don't work from bed or from the sofa. I set it up with a table and chair as close as what I have in my office. My only problem is that I am sharing the space with my husband. We kept invading each other's space in the sounds that we make and the TV he watches. It's learning to be patient and not snap at each other so readily. 

3. Maintain my normal hours of work. This is most important. I can be someone who would work late into the hours if I get into the zone. At least when I'm in the office, I leave when it's time to leave. There will always be more work tomorrow. But when I'm working at home, there's no "leaving". But if I keep to the hours, I will tell myself to stop. 

4. Follow my calendar closely and record what I do from hour to hour. I am a go-with-the-flow kind of person and I need to make sure I don't go down a rabbit hole and forget to come back up. At least when I'm at work, my team will walk over and start discussing with me pulling me out of my hole if I'm ever in one. 

5. Have frequent check-ins with the team. We have no problems communicating in the office since my team and I sit in a row and we'd just start talking to each other without any barriers. But now we don't see each other any more. So we use Microsoft Teams to chat just like we do in the office but then we don't say as much, since texts are always short. But we did have a team video conference meeting that almost felt like we were all in the same room.

So this is Day 1. I just shut down my computer, took a shower and got into my pajamas. 

So far so good. Now onto Day 2.

pearlie

Getting ready to work from home

Our government gave a Movement Control Order to restrict our movement in the coming two weeks. 

With that, we still have a day today at the office to get ourselves ready: for our core functions to work in office and non-core functions to work from home. Since we are an essential services organisation, we can still operate in this period of restriction, but we are keeping it skeleton with just the core functions in the office. 

It was indeed a busy day getting communication out to staff, and getting logistics and equipment ready. 

We were also busy testing out our tele-conferencing tool as well. Not preferred, but not a choice. 

And for the first time in our lives, we need to have enough necessities stocked up at home in these coming 2 weeks.

I have been stocking up bit by bit in the last month. I had realised then that if it did turn into a panic buying, which did, it will be troublesome if not too late.

However, I did not buy any perishables. So when I went to the supermarket at the mall where my office is situated this afternoon, I'm quite surprised it was still quite well stocked. I have heard of panic buying in many other supermarkets in the last 2 days. Probably this one is not in a housing area and hence lower in density and demand.

I am glad I managed to get some bananas and vegetables and raw chicken. 

I don't have a lot but I think I am all set for the next 14 days working from home.

The challenge now is getting the hang of working from home. I never like the idea. I very much prefer work in the office, rest and leisure at home. 

But life has certainly taken an unexpected turn. 

pearlie

On leave but at work

I took the day off today to destress but why do I always end up working anyway?

pearlie

Throwback #2: Mattress Hunting

I was having lunch with my colleague when the subject of mattresses came up.

This was because I was complaining about the mattress in a hotel I was in recently. It was so soft I had to wake up everytime I wanted to change my sleeping position. And I'm lucky I didn't get a back ache sleeping on it.

My colleague then commented that she needs to change her Getha mattress she bought 5 years ago which is now too soft for her comfort.

I remembered blogging about my experience in buying my mattress only to find out it has been 9 years since I purchased it! 

Wow...I thought it was just 3 or 4 years ago.

I wanted to buy a Getha mattress too but found a more affordable option - Naturatex. And I did list down some good tips when shopping for a mattress. Go check it out if you are interested.

My Naturatex mattress is still in tip top condition. And I'm sure it will last for many more years to come.

But just for the record, I've only paid RM1 for each day of the past 9 years. 

Hmm...it's my most comfortable spot to come back to every day.

pearlie

Very good replacement sofa covers

I have had my sofas for many years now and I know I have to change them already, until I saw this in Facebook, and with a 65% discount too.

When I watched the accompanying video, I like what I saw.

And so I checked out the prices...

...and it's going to cost me $58 + $49 for a quad and a triple, which will come to at least RM450 not including shipping. 

A triple sofa cover in Ikea will cost about that if not more and I thought maybe it could work. But to make sure, I went online to check out if there were any reviews of the product. 

But what I found was that these sofa covers are available in Shopee too! And at a fraction of the price. Notice that they used the same picture too.

I order a quad for RM64 ($15) and a triple for RM54 ($13), which brings it to only RM118 ($28) with free shipping. 

I fitted them on this morning and it is very good, for the price I paid. 

Take a look at my double sofa that needed a triple size cover. 

Not bad, eh? 

I'm happy. Now we can continue using our old sofas for a little while more.

pearlie

I'm home

My plane touched down at KLIA 20 minutes earlier than expected and by the time I got my things cleared and luggage claimed, which took me the longest ever of all the flights I have ever taken, I headed to the taxi stand to get me home. 

The moment I got home, my hubby drove me out for a good local breakfast. Ah! Something I missed having: roti kosong, teh si kosong and rendang kambing. Hmm...I'm home...

When I got home and unpacked everything, I went to bed. I did not sleep much in the plane and I so it's nice that I had a good nap and then a good sleep.

I'm home.

pearlie

How to get rid of crickets?

Some crickets have somehow gotten into our bedroom and it's wrecking havoc. They are so loud, it's hard to just ignore. 

And the irony is I've instinctively treated it as white noise...until my husband mentioned it. 

We tried hunting them out but the sound is so loud it's reverberated throughout the entire room. 

Any idea how to get rid of them?

Maybe the best way is get in a few female crickets...

pearlie

A Thousand Words #218

I tend to laze my off days away...

pearlie

A Thousand Words #214

pearlie

Photo by Lea Böhm

How a dog I don't have stopped a break-in to my house

Someone tried to break into our house at 5:45 this morning. But we got down just in time to avert it. My hubby got down to switch the porch lights back on, and the perpetrator ran away. 

This was how they tried to break in. I thank God we managed to stop them in time. 

But how I was woken up to realize what was happening is quite amazing I think. And I firmly believe that it was my God who woke me up to take care of the situation before it was too late. 

And with that, God certainly has a good sense of humour. Here's what happened:

Firstly, we don't have a dog. Having a dog in such a circumstance will be useful but we don't. 

But in that exact same time that morning, I dreamt I had one and it was barking frantically outside my house. I got down to open the door and when I did, my dog flew through the door railings towards my head and because of that I woke up with a jump. 

That was when I heard the grating noise downstairs and woke my hubby to check it out. 

Now you tell me God did not send me a dream dog to wake me up to chase the perpetrator away. 

And maybe it's time to get a real dog. 

pearlie

The Perfect Sick Pillow

It's Monday and I'm sick. What I need is to get a pillow like this. 

pearlie