Sunday 20 June 2010

Karaoke with Colleagues.

So my colleagues and I had a great karaoke session yesterday after work. We try to squeeze in precious gathering time like this because we simply don't have enough! Especially now that some of us have left the company, we try to catch up regularly to hang out and have fun. (read: talk about so-and-so.)

When I first joined the company, these were the people that greeted me and made me feel welcomed, and we've been good friends ever since. (especially during lunch time.) And we've been through a lot together! Now that most of them have moved on, the company is left with lots of new people that I can't really connect with. I don't really know why, but it just makes me feel even more grateful that I met these people here.

We used to joke and gossip during office hour and lunch time, and now we can only do it after work. Anyway, yesterday we worked half day and the four of us went out from office to meet our other two ex-colleagues for lunch and serious singing business. We all love karaoke!

I haven't been out to karaoke for a while now, and even until 4 hours of singing, I wasn't that much satisfied! At home, I told my sisters we ought to have our karaoke session soon!

Me with Seraph and Rachel.

Rachel is like an affectionate, really loving and kind big sister. To me, at least. Although I'm sure we're probably at the same age. My favorite moment with her was, well, it's hard to pick one. The most memorable one, I think, was when I had a really bad day at work, and I came back to my desk feeling dejected and angry. Everyone else has gone back home at this point, and I still stayed to finish up some stuffs. Rachel was just about to make her way out, and she popped by in my room (which was already empty) to make sure I was okay. I was feeling down, yeah, but until that point, I was fine, you know? I mean, everyone's bound to have a bad day occasionally, right?

I said, yes, I'm fine. And she just looked at me with this real concern on her face, and she told me that everything's gonna be okay, that she understood how I felt, and that we were in this together so I always had someone if I ever felt too sad. And this is still a mystery to me, but I just started sobbing uncontrollably. And Rachel started panicking, and giving me tissues and I just cried even more. "Don't be sad! Don't worry about work, don't be too stressed out," she said, thinking I cried because I felt really pressurized about work. I chuckled (in between sobs) and said, "No! I was fine. I cried because of you! Because you're just so kind!"

I feel very embarrassed every time I remember that time, because bleh. I let everything get to me, and I hate crying in front of other people. Have you felt that, though? Have you ever just felt so touched and started crying because of human's kindness? Yes, sure, I have, but I don't think I've ever experienced such emotions when the kindness is directed to me, you know? I don't know. Maybe I'm just all over the place that day. Anyway, that's Rachel. She's extremely caring and kind.

With my current colleagues.

Seraph and Miu have been there ever since I joined the company, and they're still there. Erika is our newbie, who just came in our little group since last month. She clicks really well with us too! And I got another Indonesian, at last. It's about time, don't you think? (Yeah, about time I have different facial expression than the usual dumb-clueless-oblivious-stoned-look I used to adapt in the middle of Chinese conversation)

While Rachel is like my big sister, Seraph is more like a friend to me, in the sense that we are more or less the same that we talk really well. Even in the company, we have the same roles, she's the writer for the Chinese section, and I'm the English writer. So we help each other a lot, and we can understand each other's stories and complaints. It's like, we have each other's backs. That's one way to put it. I know! I'm lucky!

Goofing around while we let Miu hold the mic. Haha.

And more.

WTF were we doing? Some inside joke here.

Eileen on the right, is probably the wisest, most mature and fun person to be with! She is the big sister for all of us because, I don't know. I guess all of us just feel comfortable talking to her about anything. She's a good listener and adviser, yet at the same time, she is as crazy and creative as anyone! Because she's Singaporean, her English is better than the rest, which makes it easier for me to talk to her too.

She introduced me to the spicy chicken wings cafe in the middle of nowhere (which I loved!), and gave me the recipe for blueberry cheesecake. (which I tried, but failed in making.) She just knows loads of things, so we know where to go when we're unsure about anything!

It's such a fun evening! I enjoyed spending time with them, and I hope we'll get to do this again soon with the rest of the people that couldn't make it yesterday! We have a colleague from Myanmar who used to be in a band! How bad-ass is that! I already told him he should join us for the next singing session! Anyway, thanks guys and I love you all! ;)

Speaking of songs, here are my favorite tunes this week:
1. Old City - Saltwater Room
2. Snow Patrol - Crack The Shutters
3. Ben Folds ft Regina Spektor - You Don't Know Me
4. Glee Cast - True Colors
5. Morcheeba - Enjoy The Ride

Good day, everyone!

8 comments:

Amazingless said...

Hello, Teena.

I can't really comment on the karaoke, I'm afraid, as it's been about 15-20 years since I last attempted such a thing - an unmitigated disaster, I still wake up with a sudden cold fear as the memory comes back to destroy me.

I do recognise something else you're saying, though: the sudden, overwhelming feeling of being deeply touched by the unselfish kindness of another person. It really hurts (in a good way). I don't mean to say that this happens to me - I tend to stay away from other people as much as I can - just that I feel myself getting a bit girly (sorry for the non-PC language) when I see someone else being surpassingly kind or considerate towards a fellow human being. In these (all too rare) moments, we may catch sight of our beautiful potential.

Your friend rules.

Kind regards etc...

TPE

t e e n a said...

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for dropping by and giving me your two cents. At least now I know I’m not some overly emotional weirdo who cried because someone’s being nice to her. But you said you tend to stay away from people as much as you can? Oh my. Why?

And you may want to give karaoke another attempt. We are not professional singers for a reason. Hence, there’s karaoke! :)

~me

Amazingless said...

Ah. But I might be some overly emotional weirdo myself, you see, which would mean we were back at square one. It’s a dilemma, for sure.

Still, even if it turns out that two overly emotional weirdos happened to collide out here in space, I think we can take pride in the fact that such an astonishing coincidence just occurred, Teena. (That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.)

Hello again. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Why do I tend to stay away from people as much as possible? Hmm. Well, I’ve always been a little bit that way, I suppose, but two specific events kind of tipped the scales. I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s enough to say, perhaps, that I have severe difficulties trusting people. I don’t wish to paint myself as some tragic figure, incidentally, I’ve been with the same partner for (nearly) twenty years and I trust her just fine but, generally speaking, I can happily go months without interacting with anyone else (apart from my dog, of course, or people with blogs). Okay, yes, now I do look a bit tragic. Oh dear.

I’ll bear your karaoke suggestion in mind, naturally, but I have a feeling that alcohol would be a prerequisite of such a venture – and I don’t drink anymore. I imagine that doing karaoke entirely sober may feel rather similar to having one’s teeth pulled out by an angry leopard with a grudge and a crowbar. Or something. Just a hunch.

Okay, I’m rambling, so I need to shut up.

Wait. Bagaimana cara mengatakan "can I please have the recipe for bluebery cheesecake" dalam bahasa Indonesia? If I knew, obviously, I'd ask you. Dang.

Kind regards etc...

Jamie

(Please ignore the fact that I signed off my last comment with the letters "TPE". That's my blog name- and I'm so used to signing off using my blog persona that I seem to have temporarily forgotten my real name the last time I visited. I never said I was mentally stable, okay.)

t e e n a said...

Hi Jamie,

Haha. You're right. In the case that we were just two overly emotional, mentally unbalanced people who happened to stumble across each other in the net, I'd say..that's not too bad. I won't bother entertaining the 'other' alternatives. Haha..

To be honest, you made it sound as if you're 70 years old or something. Hahaha..Sorry, I'm intrigued.

Nah, you're not boring me. If you have the time, I'd be happy to read whatever you want to rant about. As you know, I'm kind of a ranter myself, so I can appreciate it.

That would be "Boleh saya minta resep blueberry cheesecake?"

ps. I was just about to ask you about the whole TPE thing. Send me a link to your blog. :)

Amazingless said...

Selamat pagi. Apa kabar? Boleh saya minta resep blueberry cheesecake, Teena? Terima kasih banyak. Selamat hari natal. (Sorry, that last one just slipped in there and bears no real relevance to, well, anything much at all. Mind you, it’s good to get these things out of the way nice and early and means I won’t need to feel bad if I forget to offer you seasonal greetings in December. Selamat tahun baru. See what I mean? Now I can relax until the tail end of 2011. Phew.)

I’ve been trying to rack my brains to see if I actually know anything about Indonesia. Sadly, the only things that spring to mind are: Jakarta; largest Muslim population on planet Earth (who knows what’s going on in space?); earthquakes; volcanoes; trouble with East Timor (to put it mildly); General Suharto; Dutch colonisers/invaders, perhaps; Islands.

And that, regrettably, is about the sum total of my “knowledge”. Is it a beautiful place? Do you miss it? Will you go back? Why are you not there? Is this simply a question of (work) opportunities? Okay, I should calm down and go easy with the questions, sorry.

It’s true, I love to rant about all sorts, but I also rather like being ranted at – so feel very free any time you like. I’ll keep this short(ish), however, and just point you in the direction of my blog. Two things: 1) the comments are switched off at the moment so you won’t need to think of anything to say if and when you get there, for which I imagine you must feel grateful – I tend to talk my poor guests (and myself) to a standstill and so often close everything down so that everyone can recover and 2) the blog has absolutely nothing to do with cricket, so don’t feel like dying when you see the name of it, okay? Good. Here we are.

(I love cooking, incidentally, so the blueberry cheesecake request is legitimate.)

Kind regards etc….

Jamie

Amazingless said...

Oh, sorry, I forgot. Yes, I think, in my head, I’ve probably been roughly 70 years old since my mid-twenties. In real life, however, I’m 41 and will be 42 (no, really) in December.

Old, sure, but not quite dead yet. (Give it time, though.)

t e e n a said...

Hi Jamie,

Alright, in my mind there's so much I want to write here, but the truth is: I just got home from work (which happened to be my first day at a new job! Long story.) and I'm knackered. I'm tired! So I'll only be able to write a short response to you. (Consider that a good thing.)

What else to say about Jakarta? You've got all basic things covered there. It's true. Jakarta is also an unsafe place to live, at least if you compare it to Singapore. Perhaps that's one of many reasons why my parents wanted me to move here. I've been here for 5 years now; for study and now, work. It's been great, I have to say I love living here. Anyway, one thing that I do miss from Jakarta, aside from my family, is the delicious local food! Lots of traditional food you won't find anywhere else.

How did you come across my blog? Seems pretty random.

Hey, I can send you the recipe for the cheesecake, if you want. What's your email? (Although, I have to warn you that my attempt of making it failed miserably.) That's not the recipe's fault though. Oh damn.

;)
-me

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