Haze got worse this week. there's a general silent hill-y vibe in the air, and people have been increasingly posting about the terrible air quality. apparently, the air qualities of singapore and malaysia are the worst in the world right now, beating out places like india and china. what's worse is that the government has been dead silent about this issue, i suspect in view of the F1 race that's scheduled for this weekend. the party name should be backronymed to "profits above people".

my day off on wednesday went really well! things didn't go exactly according to plan, but i still got everything done anyway. first was TCM treatment, where the physician did some massage and cupping therapy. she said i might have torn or strained a tendon/ligament in my shoulder. but even if it's a tear, it's minor as i can still move my arm and exert force...not to the level of my right arm, of course. the entire thing (consultation, massage, cupping) lasted an hour-plus and cost $115, which i put in an insurance claim for. it's still pending, i should know the outcome by next week.

then, went to harbourfront to get my flu vaccine. the clinic was crowded, with an estimated 90 minute wait time. not having the time to wait, i asked about the queue at ARC, which was the next-nearest venue. they guessed it would be about the same or longer, but i decided to try my luck anyway. glad i did, because there were less than 10 people in line! even better, they called my queue number next - i guess to get my easy case out of the way fast. best part, it was company-sponsored, so i didn't pay a cent.

lunch with friends (scary JC friend, mentor figure, plus 2 other old boys) was nice. we had fish and chips at mentor figure's regular place at holland village. good food plus excellent company, what's not to like? round 2 (dessert and drinks) was at the holland v food centre. i hear the laksa there is to die for, but didn't get to try it as they literally sold their last bowl for the day right before i approached them! sorely tempted to make a detour there after tuition, but we'll see how i'm feeling tomorrow.

my original plan after that was to go to a montblanc boutique (either takashimaya or MBS) to buy a pen refill for the teacher who still goes to the saturday gatherings, but the other old boys said that getting it off pinduoduo would be much cheaper. the boutique sells a pack of 2 for $33, whereas a knockoff goes for about 70 cents per refill. so the plan is to get it online, although it will mean waiting for a few weeks. in spite of that, i still ended going to takashimaya with scary JC friend for a makeup/cosmetics sale. seriously, the price women (and probably some men) pay to look pretty! she bought 3 or 4 small bottles of goodness knows what...i think one was a mascara? anyway, the total price was over $100. thankfully the level of care i have for my appearance isn't enough to make me spend that much. we also dropped by her old workplace (perfume shop), where i was able to resist the temptation of buying 2 small bottles of perfume that she passed me samples of last week. figure i'll do it later this year, as a promotion reward for myself or something. should also remember that they sell out quickly during the holiday season.

at the perfume shop, scary JC friend made conversation with the staff on duty there. i'll never understand how she's able to engage random strangers so effortlessly. anyway, it seems like young people these days (gosh, that makes me sound old) are also unsure of where they fit into the world. the staff was telling us about her internship as a recruiter, which she hated. well...she's only 20, and still has plenty of time to figure things out.

we weren't feeling hungry enough for a full meal, so we went and did a free sample tour of the stalls in the takashimaya basement. ended up buying mikan (orange the fruit) jelly, and i also got one in drink packet form for the judo elder. we parted ways after that, and i went to the hospital. the judo elder was in good spirits, his surgery went well and he should be discharged in a week or two. we talked for about 2 hours, partly reminiscing about the old days (man, i really am old, huh?) and partly making plans to catch up for a good meal after his discharge. he's been in the hospital for what - almost a month now? definitely way overdue for a meal that isn't hospital food.

so that was my wednesday. some small hiccups, but mission accomplished by far and large. the next 2 days were boring by comparison...just doing cases in office. managed to get my mentor's guidance on a couple of cases that i'm working on, so that's good. seems like i still need to get a better sense of how to assess cases where the other party has had a chance to explain their perspective. it'll come with time and exposure, i suppose.

had lunch with gym guy today, and told him about the japan thing. he seems happy for me, which is good! he also gave me some tips to navigate potential office politics (eg. jealousy), but i'm hoping i won't need them. i think he's quite fun to be around...something i think i want to look for in a potential partner. crochet guy ended up not feeling like coming over, so we had dinner at paya lebar instead. he said his performance review is next week, and if he didn't have any pending cases to show, he'd probably be out of the company. don't know why, but my batman sense has been humming in the background during our past few meetings. i guess for good reason, because he tried to subtly shift the topic to me signing up for a policy. age/life experience really gives you the courage to just speak your mind. i told him straight up, "if your intention is to get me to sign a policy before your appraisal, i can tell you that's not going to happen". i'm noticing that he's been bringing this topic up during our last 3 meetings at least. as a result, the association between "meeting crochet guy" and "being asked to buy insurance" is forming...which gives me a disincentive to meet him. from his end, i don't know if the constant rejection will make him resentful of me. really makes me wonder how good insurance agents get their clients. maybe they have the same success rate, but just cover more ground. like 5% of 100 is 5, and 5% of 500 is 25. well...i honestly think a change in job might not be the worst thing for crochet guy. but as he said, let's see how things go.

oh, about the japan thing. i am more or less confirmed to be going for it, because the coordinator emailed to check my availability! unfortunately, it's scheduled for february, which means it's going to be a bit colder. but it's nothing i haven't lived through! i'm quite eager for things to move along, though logically i know i can't rush the process. guess it's the same idea - do what i can in this time. things i can do include deciding what clothes to bring, getting (ideally bilingual) namecards printed, finding my singapore flag pins to bring over as souvenirs, finding out if it's possible to extend my stay (and if it is, decide whether to visit my town). exciting!

-random thought of the day: Taking it slow for a change.-