News these days are really depressing and somehow London has been on the news with the Borough Market attack, and most recent, the big fire at Grenfell Tower. It's really sad, this fire that tore through the massive building, during the stealth of night, where most people were sleeping. When I woke up that morning and saw the news, my first thought was "oh no, another terrorist attack?". Soon it was all over the news and my eyes have been peeled on how the situation has evolved since that fateful night. It is extremely sad to read of people yelling for help whilst trapped in that building and then being burnt alive. For sure, the death toll will increase as they say there was an estimated 400-600 people in that building.
Stories are now emerging of individual people who lived in that block.. really heart wrenching. My colleague's friend's son was a firefighter who was called to report for duty at 1am that morning. He worked tirelessly until the next day and she said her friend (his mum) was really worried but thankfully he's not hurt, although he's "seen very grim stuff" whilst searching for a baby in the building. Another colleague Mike lives at Notting Hill and so he's about 1km away from Grenfell Tower and he went to have a look the first day it happened. He was very sombre when he spoke to me about it, saying it's much, much worse than what he thought. He said the building is really massive and he shudders to think the number of casualties. Clearly there were loads of policemen, fire engines and firefighters and a cordon was all around due to the debris which rained down during the blaze. It was still burning when he was there and he said "it's all really, really sad, although the community spirit was amazing. All these volunteers appearing from everywhere to help out." We all agreed it's one of the worse ways to die.. I just read about the police saying some of the victims might never be identified. The fire that night was close to 1,000 degrees, and the longer it burns most of the human's DNAs would be burnt away too; they say they probably can identify them by their families but not individually. Oh the anguish.
On a personal note, updates on the house. Everything is coming together, slowly but surely (as I keep telling myself). The kitchen is being installed and we are waiting for our granite worktop to come at the end of the month. Two of our bedrooms are almost done, the wardrobe is being fitted this weekend, and then the carpet. Once the work is done they will send professional cleaners to come and do a deep clean. They will then leave the two other bedrooms which we are awaiting approval for as they are, until we hear back from the council. Oh yes the council. So K called them again this week and they said they are overwhelmed with applications and so they say it will take more than 8 weeks to come back with their response. We were hoping to hear back end July, at this rate... I'm not sure our first floor extension will ever go ahead. But the good news is that I am hopeful we can move back end of this month whilst waiting for the council to come back, before work starts again.
Work wise, it's pretty quiet. It's rare for me to use "quiet" and "work" in the same sentence but it is! My work peaks only at quarter ends and so I've had a quiet May and June, totally no complains whatsoever. I've been meaning to blog more about my company, which can you believe, will be 2 years for me next month. Geez, for real. Overall it is slower pace (on the lull months, that is). Come quarter ends, the pace is comparable to my days at JPM. I'm used to a slower pace now so the other day when Gabby asked me if I could work at JPM again, I said I'm not sure. I think my days there would be a sweet memory of days gone by, but I'm no longer that energetic, give my 100% all the time anymore. There would be a time where you slow down and yes people, I've slowed down. As you grow older, you do realise it's not all about work. Work life balance is highly sought after these days!
When I first joined, Evelyn introduced me to a Mindfulness class which happens every Monday at lunchtime. Mindfulness? I wondered. Soon I realised that it's a pretty 'in" thing these days, in the likes of meditation, yoga, and all that zen stuff. Out of ignorance, I contacted Gina the organiser (she works for the bank but does this mindfulness thing very seriously outside work) and asked if there are any religious connotations but she said no, it's purely to relax the mind and it's especially needed for in this stressful industry. I was curious and so I signed up (it's free anyway).
So yes I've been attending this for almost 2 years now. It's a 30min session each time, and Gina books a meeting room for approx 10 of us each session. Before she starts she would share on a topic on how to deal with our busy lifestyles, basically it's all about de-stressing our minds. Then she would ask us to close our eyes and guide us in a series of deep breathing exercises which slowly relaxes your body. She speaks in a very soothing tone (which helps!) and would mentally ask us to focus on parts of our bodies and telling us to relax them. It's all in our minds. Sometimes she might ask us to picture us being somewhere else and telling ourselves mentally that "all is well". It might sound bizarre to you but really, by this time usually I'm already nodding off to dreamland cos it's all verrrrry slowwww and relaxingggg.. initially i felt bad that I wasn't feeling anything special other than nodding off to sleep but when someone else said he felt the same, she said it's good because you are able to relax and "drift off into a deeper state of relaxation". Oh really? Somewhat I felt quite proud I am able to drift off into a deeper state of relaxation :)
Separately I've started taking piano lessons again, since November last year. I had no idea but apparently our bank is one of the few that encourage taking lessons during work time. How amazing right? I saw it being advertised on our weekly Friday newsletter and immediately emailed the teacher to enquire. Moving into our new building end of October last year I soon found out there is a music room with a piano onsite for students and enthusiasts, although I guess not many people know about this room unless you are a student. I was on her waitlist (that's how popular she is) for more than a month before I started in mid November. I really enjoy taking lessons again, it reminds me of how it was when I first started learning about 12 years ago. Before you think this is free too, unfortunately it's not but I don't mind paying for the convenience. So yes I have a 30min lesson every Tuesday during lunch time, and Carolyn my teacher encourages me to practice as much possible, even if its 20min each time. I think I had conveniently forgotten the hard part, which is the practising bit. I would love to get a second hand piano someday in my home so I can practice in the confines of my home, but for now I am grateful for a company that promotes music this way, and during my lull periods such as now, I can sneak to the music room to practice for 30min. Not everyday of course, but ever so often. K can't believe this setup btw, and would tell me from time to time "you'd better enjoy this whilst it lasts.. I mean, do you think you can find a similar setup like that in Singapore? Mindfulness class and piano lessons?"
Stories are now emerging of individual people who lived in that block.. really heart wrenching. My colleague's friend's son was a firefighter who was called to report for duty at 1am that morning. He worked tirelessly until the next day and she said her friend (his mum) was really worried but thankfully he's not hurt, although he's "seen very grim stuff" whilst searching for a baby in the building. Another colleague Mike lives at Notting Hill and so he's about 1km away from Grenfell Tower and he went to have a look the first day it happened. He was very sombre when he spoke to me about it, saying it's much, much worse than what he thought. He said the building is really massive and he shudders to think the number of casualties. Clearly there were loads of policemen, fire engines and firefighters and a cordon was all around due to the debris which rained down during the blaze. It was still burning when he was there and he said "it's all really, really sad, although the community spirit was amazing. All these volunteers appearing from everywhere to help out." We all agreed it's one of the worse ways to die.. I just read about the police saying some of the victims might never be identified. The fire that night was close to 1,000 degrees, and the longer it burns most of the human's DNAs would be burnt away too; they say they probably can identify them by their families but not individually. Oh the anguish.
~~~~~~~
On a personal note, updates on the house. Everything is coming together, slowly but surely (as I keep telling myself). The kitchen is being installed and we are waiting for our granite worktop to come at the end of the month. Two of our bedrooms are almost done, the wardrobe is being fitted this weekend, and then the carpet. Once the work is done they will send professional cleaners to come and do a deep clean. They will then leave the two other bedrooms which we are awaiting approval for as they are, until we hear back from the council. Oh yes the council. So K called them again this week and they said they are overwhelmed with applications and so they say it will take more than 8 weeks to come back with their response. We were hoping to hear back end July, at this rate... I'm not sure our first floor extension will ever go ahead. But the good news is that I am hopeful we can move back end of this month whilst waiting for the council to come back, before work starts again.
Work wise, it's pretty quiet. It's rare for me to use "quiet" and "work" in the same sentence but it is! My work peaks only at quarter ends and so I've had a quiet May and June, totally no complains whatsoever. I've been meaning to blog more about my company, which can you believe, will be 2 years for me next month. Geez, for real. Overall it is slower pace (on the lull months, that is). Come quarter ends, the pace is comparable to my days at JPM. I'm used to a slower pace now so the other day when Gabby asked me if I could work at JPM again, I said I'm not sure. I think my days there would be a sweet memory of days gone by, but I'm no longer that energetic, give my 100% all the time anymore. There would be a time where you slow down and yes people, I've slowed down. As you grow older, you do realise it's not all about work. Work life balance is highly sought after these days!
When I first joined, Evelyn introduced me to a Mindfulness class which happens every Monday at lunchtime. Mindfulness? I wondered. Soon I realised that it's a pretty 'in" thing these days, in the likes of meditation, yoga, and all that zen stuff. Out of ignorance, I contacted Gina the organiser (she works for the bank but does this mindfulness thing very seriously outside work) and asked if there are any religious connotations but she said no, it's purely to relax the mind and it's especially needed for in this stressful industry. I was curious and so I signed up (it's free anyway).
So yes I've been attending this for almost 2 years now. It's a 30min session each time, and Gina books a meeting room for approx 10 of us each session. Before she starts she would share on a topic on how to deal with our busy lifestyles, basically it's all about de-stressing our minds. Then she would ask us to close our eyes and guide us in a series of deep breathing exercises which slowly relaxes your body. She speaks in a very soothing tone (which helps!) and would mentally ask us to focus on parts of our bodies and telling us to relax them. It's all in our minds. Sometimes she might ask us to picture us being somewhere else and telling ourselves mentally that "all is well". It might sound bizarre to you but really, by this time usually I'm already nodding off to dreamland cos it's all verrrrry slowwww and relaxingggg.. initially i felt bad that I wasn't feeling anything special other than nodding off to sleep but when someone else said he felt the same, she said it's good because you are able to relax and "drift off into a deeper state of relaxation". Oh really? Somewhat I felt quite proud I am able to drift off into a deeper state of relaxation :)
Separately I've started taking piano lessons again, since November last year. I had no idea but apparently our bank is one of the few that encourage taking lessons during work time. How amazing right? I saw it being advertised on our weekly Friday newsletter and immediately emailed the teacher to enquire. Moving into our new building end of October last year I soon found out there is a music room with a piano onsite for students and enthusiasts, although I guess not many people know about this room unless you are a student. I was on her waitlist (that's how popular she is) for more than a month before I started in mid November. I really enjoy taking lessons again, it reminds me of how it was when I first started learning about 12 years ago. Before you think this is free too, unfortunately it's not but I don't mind paying for the convenience. So yes I have a 30min lesson every Tuesday during lunch time, and Carolyn my teacher encourages me to practice as much possible, even if its 20min each time. I think I had conveniently forgotten the hard part, which is the practising bit. I would love to get a second hand piano someday in my home so I can practice in the confines of my home, but for now I am grateful for a company that promotes music this way, and during my lull periods such as now, I can sneak to the music room to practice for 30min. Not everyday of course, but ever so often. K can't believe this setup btw, and would tell me from time to time "you'd better enjoy this whilst it lasts.. I mean, do you think you can find a similar setup like that in Singapore? Mindfulness class and piano lessons?"
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