What That Defines Us

I remember reading an article whereby the writer points out that each time he meets new people, the conversation inevitably always focuses on what each other does, for a living.

I agree that this topic always comes up and it works very well as an icebreaker because EVERYBODY does something for a living. For some, what they do for a living is what they esssentially live for and hence, a subject they most love to talk about.

When I stopped working, I admit that I struggled with an identity crisis. For a long time, I kept wondering to myself what I should put in the column "occupation" whenever the need to fill up a form arises. The truth is, I found it difficult to just proclaim myself as a housewife or homemaker. My past 9 working years have been a rather ambitious one looking for recognition in the form of promotion and monetary gains.

Therefore in the beginning, I used to write "freelancer." I honestly think now that is the most vague profession anyone could profess to hold! Sig.Ot used to make fun of me and asked what exactly I was freelancing at. Well, I write sometimes and I could do translation work which I have done before. Oh, I could be a hand model too! My hands were shown on NTV 7 and SBB's ATM screens.

When I stopped working, it annoyed the hell out of me when people asked me what do I do everyday. Not so much that they are genuinely interested to find out what I do daily, but I suspect they are curious to see what kind of identity do I hold now without a job to qualify me. Have I turned into an aunty who only knows the price difference of carrots in the local wet market vs. Cold Storage.

I am proud to say that for now, I have finally come to terms with my new profession as a full time mother and wife. I can opt out of having to go to the market on Tuesday and sit in a coffeeshop reading instead. I can accommodate my friends' lunch dates requests by scheduling it around my facial appointments. I can bake cakes for my neighbours as thank you gift for looking after the house when we were away.

Most importantly I get to spend time with Eddie everyday while baking 2 buns in the oven. That's productive isn't it?

Things to do in my leisure time... Part 2

# 2 Charity

When the opportunity to leave my job came up, my Significant Other was extremely supportive. He then encouraged me to be involved in charity works as he has always wanted to do so. One of the things that he has always felt strongly about is child abuse. As for me, having Eddie has definitely enhanced my maternal instinct. These days any stories or images I see of children being neglected or abuse automatically reduce me to tears.
Today, I looked up childrensociety.com for volunteer works which are available. One volunteer work which I thought suited me best was to look after vulnerable witnesses in court. Eventhough the job scope was not detailed, I believe that the volunteer is required to accompany the child to court and speak on the child's behalf. I honestly believe that I am perfect for the job since I am an eloquent multilingual speaker with a law degree.
So I called up the society and told them about my interest in volunteering. The lady then asked me for my details e.g. age, qualifications and nationality. The moment she found out that I was only a PR and not Singaporean, she told me that I was not qualified and said goodbye. So I was quite surprised at her bluntness. Here I was thinking how saintly I was to want to help someone and she just cut me off. At least she could thank me for my interest and offered me some other kind of volunteer work which also suited me. So my first attempt at offering kindness had been shot down. But I will not give up and I shall try for another charity tomorrow. I shall keep you lot updated.

Things to do in my leisure time... Part 1

# 1 Muay Thai

I can no longer use the excuse of "I'm busy at work" to not do things that I have always wanted to do. So today, what is the top of my list? Muay thai. It has been 5 years since I last went to any kick boxing classes. I was quite a fanatic then in my Southern Bank days in D'sara Heights. I used to go Mon-Thur after work for double classes from 6pm to 9pm. When I met my significant other, dating took top priority while kick boxing took a back seat.
So recently, a new martial arts gym called Evolve MMA opened a couple of months ago. I took interest in them because they specialise in martial arts e.g. muay thai, jiu jitsu, wrestling etc. Most importantly, they bring in qualified muay thai instructors from Thailand.
With steely resolve, I turned up at the centre at about 12 noon. There were about 10 other students, all men, with age ranging from 17 - 50. Of course you have the few super fit ones who probably hold lifetime membership in some celebrity gym elsewhere. There are also a couple of middle aged men who looked like they have never worked out their whole lives, with their pots as testimonies.
Then you have me, the lady who just had a baby and quit her job.
As must as I prefer aggresive / outdoors-y type of sports as opposed to slow paced yoga / pilate, I HATE RUNNING. And guess what, the warm up included about 20 minutes of running around the gym AND ROPE SKIPPING!!! I was notorious for turning up 15 minutes late for all my previous kickboxing classes in Hartamas. And when one instructor in Damas suggested that I trained for a championship in Canada, I chickened out when I realised that training included jogging the distance of 5km per day.
FYI, I can't skip rope for nuts. Maybe zero-girl and kangkang which I was quite good at. So as much as I have wanted to prove a point in the class, being the only female and all, I had to stop running after about 4 laps. The rope skipping wasn't any much better either.
However after all that, we finally got into the real thing which I love. I have to say that it is a real honour to be taught by these muay thai masters. And yes, I have signed up for it and lets hope I keep up. Not sure how they would feel if I start turning up 20 minutes late for class. Perhaps if I do it gradually no one would notice! hahaha...