Apa Khabar?

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What are you burning?
Isn't lanaguage interesting? Just this afternoon, me and my colleague were on our way to lunch and one of my colleague blurted out "apa bakar" (thinking she is asking "how are you?"). My other colleague soon told her that "bakar" means burn so "apa bakar" means "what are you burning?" The correct phrase should be "apa khabar" or "how are you?"

So how am I today? Fine, I would say, in fact better than yesterday when I was feeling so much dread going to work.

Bird Flu?!
Well, I woke up sick; feeling hot and this discomfort, like there is mucus stuck in between your mouth and your nose... yucks! Think I am going to have flu (hopefully not bird flu :D). Anyway, I am still feeling sick now and pray I won't fall "sicker".

Don't Shy La!
Early in the morning, another colleague from another department came over to discuss some work and we chit-chatted a bit. Learnt a lot from him and the most important lesson:

How well you do in a conversation is really dependent
on your attitude you take when you approach that conversation.

Remember I was lamenting how shy I am (still "am") at work and when interacting with colleagues and volunteers? This lesson seems to come in time, telling me that most often, as long as I approach a person being genuine and approachable, just let the conversation flow... because the other person will feel comfortable with you and both will just hit it off...

Also, I should, as far as possible, not rely on SMS and emails but rather speak face-to-face with someone so as to add that personal touch. SMSes and emails are prone to various interpretation and hence is not a good choice of communication as compared to face-to-face (or phone) interaction. A good reminder indeed! Helpful for my work and personal life. Somehow I knew this at the back of my head but it only seem to hit me hard on the head now.

Demands @ Work

I also lamented about not being able to handle my projects but then today, I seem to be getting volunteers with the right skills that I am seeking for my various projects. Prayer answered, yes! Still keeping my fingers crossed about it and hope more will come on board.

I also shared about my "daunting" feeling with my boss and feel good after having done that (at least now I can tell my boss that I am not coping, if necessary, and she would understand). Another project concluded successfully today, yeah!