Over a week ago when our department had away day session 1 at our boss’s place, we had several team-building exercises. The first one was to look at the person sitting on one’s right and pick up anything that they think best describes the person and present it. Ira, my flatmate as well as officemate, sitting on my left side, picked up this cute espresso cup above in the picture and her explanation made my day.
1주일 조금 넘어서 우리 부서에서 away day (이런 경우를 한국 기업에서는 뭐라고 하는지?) 첫 번째 세션을 우리 상사 집에서 진행했을 때, 몇 가지 team-building exercises (이건 또 뭐라고 부르는지? 한국에서는 이런 것을 전혀 하지 않는 회사를 다녀서 적합한 단어를 모르겠다.)를 했다. 그 중 제일 처음 한 것은 자기 오른 쪽에 앉아 있는 사람을 가장 잘 묘사하는 물건을 집안에서 찾아 발표하는 것이었다. 나랑 같은 사무실을 쓸 뿐만 아니라 같은 집에 사는 Ira가 내 왼쪽에 앉아있었는데 위의 사진에서 보는 귀여운 에스프레소 잔을 골랐다. 그리고 그녀의 설명은 나의 그 날 하루를 반짝반짝 빛나게 하였다.

She said, “I picked up this espresso cup for Sunkyoung. As you know, she is from a small island in Korea. But, spreading her wings, she has lived in many interesting places in the world and is now living in Singapore. And the colour red of her wings is her passion.”
그녀가 말하길, “선경을 묘사하기 위해 나는 이 에스프레소 잔을 골랐어. 다들 알듯이 선경은 한국의 작은 섬에서 왔지만 두 날개를 활짝 펼쳐 세계의 여러 흥미로운 곳에 살아왔고 지금은 싱가폴에 살고 있잖아. 그리고 날개의 빨간색은 그녀의 열정을 나타내.”

Later that afternoon, we had another exercise talking to each and everyone of team mates about what one thinks is the best about the person and what they would like to see more of this person. The most common words I heard from my colleagues were “enthusiasm, heart, passion.” I like all of these words but several times I had thought I shouldn’t push too much of these elements into work. However, from this team-building exercise, I came to redefine the meanigns of these words and felt so great my colleagues describe me like that. I like myself more and more.
그 날 오후에는 또 다른 활동으로 팀원 모두 각자에게 그 사람의 어떤 면이 가장 좋은지 어떤 부분을 더 보고 싶은지를 얘기하였다. 내가 가장 공통적으로 들은 단어는 “열정”과 “헌신”이었다. 이 모든 단어를 좋아하지만 몇 번은 이 요소들을 일에 적용해서는 안 되겠다고 생각한 적이 있었다. 하지만 이 team-building exercise를 통해 이 단어들의 의미를 새롭게 정의하게 되었고, 내 동료들이 나를 이렇게 묘사해준다는 사실이 너무 좋았다. 내가 점점 더 좋아진다.

하지만, 고백하건데, 달리기에 대한 로망은 끝끝내 버릴 수 없다. 가장 원시적인 형태의 그 몸짓이 나를 사로잡는 것이다. 그리하여 풀코스 까지는 아니어도 10km 만큼은 한 번쯤 꼭 해보고 싶었는데 작년에 Nike+ Human Race 10km 등록일을 훨씬 지나 알게 되는 바람에 바람을 이루지 못했다.  그 후 Adidas Sundown Marathon을 직장 동료이자 친구인 Kristine을 통해 알게 되었고 연초에 일찌감치 등록을 마쳤다.
To be honest, however, I cannot give up my desire for running. Running is such a  body movement in the most primitive form that it adores me. Therefore, if it’s not a full-course, I had wanted to try, at least, 10km one day but last year didn’t give me a chance yet because, when Nike+ Human Race 1okm was open, we checked the registration deadline too late. After that, my work buddy Kristine forwarded me the info on Adidas Sundown Marathon and we managed the registration early this year.

등록을 하기는 했지만 5월 29일 행사 직전까지 연습이라고는 그 당시 살던 콘도의 gym에서 세 번 달린 게 전부였다. 그리고 그 마저도 딱 한 번 4km을 조금 넘게 달린 게 전부여서 당일이 가까워지면서 완주를 할 수 없을 거라는 생각이 엄습했다. 그 당시 내가  Twitter에 올린 tweet에 Kristine이 “도대체 우리가 무슨 짓을 한거냐? (What did we do to ourselves?)”고 답했을 정도로 우리의 상태는 다소 심각하였다.
After registration until the right before the race on 29 May, however, I only practied three times in the gym at the condominium I used to live. And even at these three sessions the longest distance I ran was just over 4km and, as it was getting closer to the date, my fear grew enormously that I would not be able to complete the race. To my tweet at Twitter at that time, Kristine replied “What did we do to ourselves?” and, as you see, we were in a rather serious situation.

어찌됐든 시간은 흘러갔고 드디어 D-day가 왔다. 그리고 우리는 … 해냈다. 나의 공식 기록은 01:17:31 이었다. 성취감이 얼마나 컸는지, 레이스 전에는 이번이 처음이자 마지막이 될거라 생각했는데 앞으로 각종 10km를 기록을 단축하는 방식으로 참가하고 싶다는 생각이 들었다.
Time passed by anyway and D-day had come. And we … made it. My official record was 01:17:31. I was initially thinking that this would be the first and last time for me to run a race but, feeling a great sense of accomplishment, in the end I became strongly inclined to participate in any upcoming 10km race events in a way to shave off the previous record.

그리고 달리기가 즐거운 운동이 될 수 있다는 점도 새롭게 알게 되었다. 내딛는 발은 땅과 입맞춤을 하고 두 눈은 스쳐지나가는 풍경을 담아내고 두 귀는 내가 달리는 경로의 모든 소리를 듣고 나의 숨소리와 체온이 대기에 스며든다는 점이 얼마나 즐거운 경험인지. 그리고 온전히 나와 함께 할 수 있는 소중한 순간이라는 것도 .
I also rediscovered what an amusing sport running can be. What a pleasant experience running is that my feet kiss the earth, my eyes look at the scenery I pass by, my ears hear all the different sound on the route I run, the sound of my breath and temperature permeate the air. And, when running, it is a moment that you can be only with yourself.

풀코스를 넘어 84km 울트라 마라톤에 도전하는 참가자들
Byeond the full course, these runners ran for the 84km ultra-marathon

여성 10km 레이스 경로. 3km 회전 지점을 지나서는 창이국제공항 활주로와 나란히 펼쳐진 도로 위를 달렸는데 비행기 이륙 시 소음이 장난이 아니었지만 ‘이륙’이 주는 효과는 짜릿하였다.
The route map for women’s 10km race. After the 3km turning-point, the road ran parallel to the runway of Changi International Airport. The noise that aircraft made was enormous but the effect of ‘take-off’ was so thrilling.

해냈다! / I made it!

달리기 동반자 Kristine /My ‘running mate’, Kristine

더 많은 사진은 Flickr에서 보시길 / You can see more pictures at my Flickr

Before having moved to Singapore last spring, I do have thought of having a chance to work in my current company for at least 2 to 3 years in order to build a solid work experience in the field of Asia-Europe relation. Well, coming to the point of extending the contract was not easy but I’ve made it and I’m very happy about it.
작년 봄 싱가폴에 오기 전에, 아시아-유럽 관계 분야에서 제대로 된 경력을 쌓기 위해 현재 회사에서 적어도 2~3년은 일해야겠다고 생각했더랬다. 계약을 연장하기까지 쉽지는 않았지만 어쨌든 해냈고 이 결과에 아주 행복하다.

UPDATE: I wanted to include the below photos to this post at the time of writing but I couldn’t make it due to Flickr’s malfunctioning. These are the pictures taken for my company’s annual report.
업데이트: 이 포스트를 쓸 당시 아래 사진들을 넣고 싶었는데 Flickr가 말썽을 부려 올리지를 못했다. 사진들은 우리 회사 연간 보고서에 담기 위해 찍은 것들이다.

Public Health Project Team / 공중 보건 프로젝트 팀

Intellectual Exchange Department / 지적 교류 부서

I don’t remember what we were talking about at that moment but the photo seems as if we were doing some kind of acting.
이 때 우리가 무슨 얘기를 하고 있었는지 모르겠는데 사진을 보면 마치 설정샷을 찍은 것 같다.

Actually I liked this one the best but the standing shot was selected for the report.
사실 난 이 사진이 제일 맘에 들었는데 서서 찍은 사진이 보고서에 나가기로 결정됐다.

My latest photo. I’m doing well here in Singapore. / 나의 가장 최근 사진. 저 싱가폴에서 잘 지내고 있어요.

The rock climbing was the main programme of my company’s department fun day that a colleague of mine and her husband, who started rock climbing in the spring of last year, co-organised. Despite the rain yesterday and early this morning, we kept up the plan.
암벽등반은 한 회사 동료와 작년 봄에 암벽 등반을 시작한 그녀의 남편이 마련한 부서 야유회의 메인 프로그램이었다. 어제 그리고 오늘 이른 아침에 내린 비에도 불구하고 우리는 계획대로 움직였다.

When I was given the route to the rock climbing site, I wanted to ride my bicycle to get there. As it came closer to the date, however, I started to worry that if I cycle, I would get exhausted after 10 km cycling in the heat therefore end up being unable to enjoy rock climbing much. Also, it has been over a month since I rode a bicycle last. I finally decided to take a taxi.
암벽등반 장소로 가는 약도를 처음 받았을 때에는 자전거로 가고 싶었다. 하지만 날자가 다가오면서 10 킬로미터 되는 거리를 땡볕에 자전거 타고 갔다가 지쳐서 암벽등반을 못하는 게 아닌가 싶어 걱정이 되기 시작했다. 그리고 마지막으로 자전거를 탄 지 한 달이 넘게 지나기도 했고. 그래서 최종적으로 택시를 타고 가기로 결정했다.

When I woke up this morning, however, it was lightly cloudy and there was cool breeze after rain early in the morning. It is my favourite weather and a perfect condition for cycling. I couldn’t resist it. Moreover, the way I got dressed up was not appropriate for taking a taxi. So, I did bike riding for almost 21 km today and below is the route.
그런데 오늘 아침에 일어났더니 구름이 옅게 깔려있고 이른 아침 비가 내린 후라 시원한 바람이 불고 있었다. 이것이야말로 내가 가장 좋아하는 날씨이자 자전거 타기에 완벽한 조건 아닌가. 그냥 넘길 수가 없었다. 게다가 오늘 복장도 택시 타기에는 적합하지 않았다. 그리하여 거의 21 km 되는 거리를 자전거로 이동했고 아래 지도에 경로를 기록했다.

큰 지도에서 Cycling Routes 보기

Dairy Farm is a leisure place that used to be a granite quarry. I don’t know where the present name came from but there was nothing related to dairy. Instead, there were climbing rock walls, cycling/walking routes in greenery surrounding.
Dairy Farm은 예전에는 화강암 채석장이 있던 곳으로 지금은 여가를 즐길 수 있는 공원이 되었다. 이 이름(낙농장)이 대체 어디서 왔는지 알 수 없지만, 그곳에는 낙농과 관련된 건 하나도 없었다. 대신, 초록으로 둘러싸인 암벽과 사이클링/산보길이 있었다.

After watching some of my colleagues and their families climbing, I was finally ready for climbing.
동료 몇 명과 그들의 가족들이 하는 것을 지켜본 후 나도 마침내 준비가 되었다.

I learnt rock climbing is not about using your hands but puling up your legs.
암벽등반은 손으로 하는 게 아니라 다리를 끌어올려야 한다는 것을 배웠다.

t
Often it was difficult to rest myself assured of the new spots where I attempted to reach out my hands and feet.
손과 발을 새로운 지점에 뻗을 때마다 마음을 놓기가 종종 어려웠다.

What should I do next? / 이 다음에는 어떻게 해야 해요?

Towards the top / 정상을 향하여

Final big step to the top / 정상을 향한 마지막 도약

Almost to the top / 거의 다 왔음

Yay, finally made it to the top! / 앗싸, 마침내 정상에 도착!

Happy climber / 행복한 암벽등반가

My clothing set today. I was going to do something again I didn’t manage to take a picture of when I first did in the morning.
오늘 내 복장. 아침에 처음 했을 때에는 미처 사진으로 담지 못한 무언가를 다시 하러 가는 중이다.

It was limbo! / 그건 바로 림보!

Jersey whose copy was created by S and design by her husband who arranged today’s rock climbing
오늘 암벽등반을 마련한 S가 카피를 쓰고 그녀의 남편이 디자인한 저지. “이 암벽을 고분고분하게 만들테다.”

It’s been almost six months since I moved to Singapore and so far I’ve cooked only twice while I was staying in my friend’s for the first two weeks. As living alone, I have found cooking for oneself only uneasy in many terms and, above all, it is really cheap to eat out in Singapore as long as you go to hawkers centres, not proper restaurants.
싱가폴에 온 지 6개월이 거의 다 되가는데 지금까지 직접 요리한 적은 딱 두 번, 처음 2주 동안 친구네서 살 때였다. 혼자 살면서 밥을 직접 해먹는다는 것은 여러 모로 쉽지 않다고 생각해 왔는데, 무엇보다도 싱가폴에서는 제대로 된 레스토랑에 가서 먹지 않고 호커스 센터에서 먹는다면 사 먹는 게 정말 싸다.

However, this unstoppable drinking night led me to break this six-month-old habit and I made some salad combined with a loaf of baguette for weekend meals. The price differences were huge. Let me put them down here.
하지만, 이 멈추지 않는 갈증의 밤을 겪고 난후 지난 6개월 동안 익숙했던 습관을 버려야겠다 마음 먹은지라 주말 동안의 양식으로 바게뜨를 곁들인 샐러드를 만들었다. 가격차는 아주 컸다. 얼마가 들었나 아래와 같이 보자.

<Weekend Meals>

Hawkers Center
2 meals x $ 3.50 = $ 7.00

Homemade Salad plus Baguette
Mixed salad leaves 100g = $ 4.50
Parma ham 45g = $ 7.95
Comte cheese 64g = $ 4.34
Cherry tomatoes 350g = $ 3.40
1 Yellow paprika = $ 1.19
A loaf of baguette = $ 2.40
Total = $ 23.78
(excluding olive oil with garlic 500ml = $ 9.60 & garlic pepper salt chili mix 35g = $ 8.00)

Obviously, there can be no point for the price competitiveness. However, nobody would make their position firm on this aspect. The prices for making home food far exceed those for eating out, but considering what this cheap food could bring to my body eventually, the essence of food prevails.
당연히 가격경쟁력에서는 논의의 여지가 없다. 하지만 가격만 가지고 자신의 입장을 굳건히 내세울 사람은 없을 것이다. 집에서 밥 해 먹는 비용이 밖에서 사 먹는 비용보다 훨씬 더 들지만, 이 값싼 음식들이 결국 내 몸에 가져올 결과들을 생각해 본다면 음식의 정수가 모든 것에 우세할 밖에.

I’m now thinking of buying a cookery book soon and if you know any simple recipes for yummy and healthy salads, please share them with me.
이 참에 샐러드 만들기 요리책을 살까 생각 중인데, 혹시 자신만의 간단하면서도 맛 최고, 영양 만점의 샐러드 레시피가 있다면 공유 부탁 바람.

점심으로 타이식 볶음 국수인 ‘팟 타이’가 먹고 싶어 자전거를 타고 집 근처 타이 레스토랑에 갔다. 제대로 된 타이 전통 음식을 지난 달 방콕에서 제대로 먹고 온 터라 생각만큼 끝내주게 맛있지 않았다. 입맛이 없어진 탓도 있었겠다. 밥을 먹은 뒤 식당이 위치한 쇼핑몰에 있는 약국편의점에 가서 디지털 체온계를 샀다. (‘가디언’ 디지털 체온계: SGD 8.50) 혹시나 싶어 수술용 마스크도 봤는데 가장 싼 게 (네 갠가 다섯 개 한 묶음에) 12.80 달러였다. 그래서 사지 않았다.
For lunch, I wanted to have ‘pat thai’,  Thai fried noodles, so went to a nearby Thai restaurant. Since I had lots of genuinely Thai traditional food in Bangkok last month, it wasn’t that great as I expected. Maybe it was also because I have lost my appetite. After lunch, I went to a drug store in the same shopping mall as the restaurant to buy a digital thermometer (‘guardian digital thermometer’: SGD 8.50) Just for a possible case, I checked a surgical mask too but the cheapest one (a batch of four or five masks) cost SGD 12.80. So I didn’t buy it.

가택 격리를 엄격히 적용하자면 나는 쇼핑몰에 가지 말았어야 했다. 하지만 난 아무 증상이 없고 단지 예방 차원에서 회사 출입이 금지된 것이기 때문에 오후 한가한 시간대에 작은 쇼핑몰을 가는 것은 괜찮다고 생각했다. 그리고 나도 밥은 먹어야 할 것 아닌가.
If the home quarantine rule was strictly applied, I shouldn’t have gone to a shopping mall. But as I don’t have any symptoms and, only for the preventive purpose, I have been prevented from entering the office, I thought it should be alright for me to go to a small shopping mall in the lose time of a day. And I needed to have food more than anything else.

설명서대로 체온을 재 봤더니 36.5도로 지극히 정상이었다. 이대로 괜찮으면 내일 회사에 가도 되지 않을까라는 생각이 들었다.
According to the instruction, I measured my temperature and it was 36.5 Celsius degrees, which is very normal. I thought that, if it remains so, I could come to work tomorrow.

오후 4시에는 싱가폴과 브뤼셀을 잇는 컨퍼런스 콜이 있어서 스카이프로 1시간 넘게 통화를 했다. 기술이 좋으니 집에서도 이런 일을 할 수 있구나.
At 16h, I participated in a conference call connecting two spots in Singapore and Brussels via Skype. Thanks to a great technology, we can do this kind of job at home.

회사와 상담한 결과 내일 아침에 고열이 없으면 회사에 와도 좋다는 허락을 받았다. 나의 가택 격리는 오늘로 끝날 것 같다.
As a result of consultation with my company, I’ve got permitted to come to the office unless I don’t have a fever tomorrow morning. It seems that my home quarantine will be finished on day 2.

오래 가진 않겠지만 가택격리 일지를 작성하여 H1N1 바이러스 관리와 관련한 기록을 남기고자 한다.
I don’t think this will last long but by writing a home quarantine log I would like to keep records of dealing with H1N1 virus.

사건의 전모는 이렇다. 월요일 저녁에 베트남에 주말 여행을 다녀 온 친구 A를 만나 영화를 보고 저녁을 먹은 뒤 헤어졌다. (아이스 에이지 3 봤는데 열라 재밌었다!) 영화 마치고 나서 친구가 핸드폰을 다시 켰을 때 문자를 받았는데 그와 같이 동행했던 사람들 중 세 명이 독감 증세를 보여서 검사를 받고 있다는 것이었다. 그 중 한 명은 H1N1 바이러스에 걸렸을 가능성이 아주 높다고. 이 때까지만 해도 이 것이 나에게로까지 영향을 미칠 것이라고 생각하지 못했다.
The story starts here. On Monday evening of this week, I met my friend A, who had just returned from his weekend trip to Vietnam, and we watched a movie and had dinner. (The movie was ‘Ice Age 3′ and it was so funny!) After the film was finished, he turned on his mobile and found a text message that three of his travelling mates showed flu symptoms so they were being investigated. In addition, it said one of those three were most likely to have got H1N1. By this time, I did not think that this incident would have an impact on me.

어제 퇴근 무렵 에는 회사에서 전체 메일을 보냈다. 우리 동료 B도 내 친구와 함께 베트남으로 간 일행 중 한 명인데 어제 의심받았던 동행자가 결국은 H1N1으로 판정받은데다 B도 경미한 독감 증세를 보여서 병원에 갔다가 심각한 증세가 아니라고 H1N1 검사는 받지 않고 항생제만 받았단다. 이에 따라 회사는 B에게 4일간 집에 머무르라고 병가를 주었다. 그리고 이 메일 끝에는 H1N1 감염자와 접촉한 사람이 있으면 즉시 회사에 알리라고 써 있었다. 이 때도 내가 여기에 해당될 것이라고는 생각 못 했다.
Around a closing time at work yesterday, we got a group mail containing the following message. Our colleague B also joined the group with my friend A to Vietnam, and in addition to the final confirmation of the above person’s infection, he had minor flu symptoms so went to a pandemic preparedness clinic (PPC). However, his symptoms were so minor he was not tested for H1N1 but received courses of anti-biotics and four days’ sick-leave accordingly. At the end of the email, finance & admin manager wrote that if there’s anyone who has close contact with H1N1 victim, they should report immediately to him. By this time, again, I did not think at all that I would soon be the one who should do this.

어젯 밤 10시 조금 넘어서 친구 A 한테서 문자가 왔다. 자신도 H1N1 양성 판정을 받았다며 나도 독감 증세를 보이면 병원에 가서 진찰을 받으라는 거였다. 그래서 동료 B 얘기를 했더니 그렇다면 나도 어쩌면 회사에 가면 안 될지도 모르겠다는 거다. 그리고 다음 날 보건부에서 자신을 방문해 접촉했던 사람을 추적할 것이라고도 했다. 보건부 홈페이지도 가보라고 했고.
Last night shortly after 22h, I got a text from my friend A that he’d been confirmed that he had H1N1 too. So, if I am presented with any flu symptoms, I should go to a general practitioner and to get assessed. I told him about my colleague B’s case with my company and he replied that I may have to leave the office too. He added that people from Ministry of Health would visit him the next day for monitoring and contact tracing, and also advised me to go to MoH’s web site.

그래서 자기 전 보건부 홈페이지를 들어가봤다.  H1N1 감염자와의 가까운 접촉이 어느 정도를 말하는 건가 싶어서 봤더니 1시간 이상 2미터가 넘지 않는 거리에 있었던 거란다. 7시에 만나 10시 반에 헤어졌고, 영화를 나란히 앉아 봤고, 저녁을 같이 먹었고, 만났을 때 헤어졌을 때 포옹까지 했으니 꽤나 가까운 접촉이었다. 회사에는 이내 이메일을 썼다. 내가 마지막 문장에 해당하는 사람이 되었다고, 일단은 내일 아침에 예방 차원에서 회사를 안 가야 할 것 같은데 조언을 해달라고.
So I visited MoH’s web page before going to bed. I searched for how close the ‘close contact with H1N1 victim’ referred to and it showed contact within 2 metres spending more than 1 hour. I met him at 19h30 and we went our respective homes at 22h30, watched a movie sitting side-by-side, had dinner, and greeted and said good-bye to each other with hugs. So it was quite close. I emailed to my company right away that it turned out I came to fall into a case of the last sentence and that it seemed that I may not even go to work the next day for a prevention purpose so the manager should advise me.

오늘 아침 행정 업무 부서는 나에게 금요일까지 회사에 오지 말고 가까운 유행병 진료소에 당장 간 뒤 결과를 보고 하라고 했지만, 내 상사와 부서 사람들은 이들이 과잉 반응을 보인다고 판단하였다. 환자들 가득한 유행병 진료소에 가 봤자 독감 증상이 없어서 검사도 못 받을 거고 환자들 가득한 곳에 갔다 오히려 질병에 노출된다고. 그리하여 긴급 소회의를 했고 결론은 만약의 그리고 최악의 상태를 예방하기 위하여 나에게도 금요일까지 가택격리를 조처하였다.
This morning admin manager emailed me I should not come to the office by this Friday and immediately go to a nearby PPC and report the result to him. But, my supervisors and colleagues in my close department thought that admin dept. was overreacting. Even if I go to a PPC, I wouldn’t get a test because I don’t have any symptoms. Moreover, going to a PPC full of flu patients will rather increase a risk of being exposed to the virus. Soon they had a small meeting and concluded I should be home quarantined as well for the purpose of prevention of the possible and worst situation.

약 두 시간 전에는 보건부에서 전화가 와서 내 신상정보와 건강 상태를 물었다. (이 상황에 대해 블로그에 써도 되냐고 물었는데 된다고 했다.) 계속 아무 탈 없길 바라고 체온을 검사하라는데 난 체온계가 없는 걸!
About two hours ago, MoH called me and asked my personal information and health situation. (I asked the staff whether I could write a blog post about this and she said it is okay.) She wished me well and told me to check my temperature. But I don’t have a thermometer!

어찌되었든 난 아무 증상 없이 아직까지 완전 무사하다. 강제로 가택 격리되어 기분이 좀 뭥미할 뿐이다. 아, 그리고 내 친구 A와 동료 B가 얼른 낫길 바란다.
Anyway, I am still totally fine without any symptoms. It’s just that I feel a little mouldy because of enforced home-quarantine. I hope my friend A and colleague B will get well soon.

Irish Reunion – Keith on the left has been working in Singapore since past February and was so kind to have offered me to stay at his place before I found my own. Brendan left Korea last November and has since been living in Shanghai. We all worked together at Irish Association of Korea while we were in Seoul, organising St. Patrick’s Day for the past two years. These lads are one of those who have significantly influenced me to be (like) Irish. See what colour I am wearing! And of course we had bottles of Bulmers, Irish cider, before dinner.

Last month Mitchy and I missed a chance to see each other in Korea by only two days. But on Wednesday of last week, thinking about what I was going to do during the long weekend (according to my company rules, if a public holiday falls on either Saturday or Sunday, following Monday becomes a replacement holiday. How great! I’ve never worked for a company that has this brilliant rule.), suddenly I came up with a spontaneous idea that it would be good if Mitchy, who’s staying in Taipei throughout May and going to Seoul next month, could come to Singapore and spend the weekend together. And, fortunately, he was also spontaneous enough to make it  happen. We had a lot of fun, visiting different places, having great food, and, as usual, encountering some hilarious situations. A further story is to be posted soon.

Tamzyn was stopping over in Singapore for two days and one night on her way from Australia back to Ireland. We worked together at an English school in my hometown, Koje, for about a year before I left for the Netherlands in June 2003 and I met her again in Cork in summer 2005 while I was doing my internship in Dublin. Weeks ago this year she sent me a message via facebook when she saw my status update on my arrival in Singapore and finally we met each other half a day before her departure. Tamzyn has applied for a professional jewelry design programme in Kilkenny and I wish her the very best of luck!

Now, you have seen my lovely place where anyone of you are always welcomed, and who’s going to be my next guest?

In Singapore, there are four main types of housings: condominium, HDB, apartment and private houses. Of these, I think the first two housings need to be explained a bit. A condominium is a kind of apartment complex which usually consists of a swimming pool, a tennis court, gym, and BBQ garden. HDB, acronym for Housing and Development Board, is government-built housing and is often located in a very large cluster near public transport.

Varsity Park, where I live, is a condo near my company and I think its name ‘varsity’ comes from its location close to National University of Singapore. When I first visited this condo for viewing a room that was being rented out by a family of four from Sri Lanka, I took to the place right away and you can see why.

Of many good things about my place, I like that it has a lot of water space throughout the area. It does help cool down the temperature and is also good for mentality, I think. The artificial stepping stones on the left are my favourite part of the condominium.

A small hut on the right in the first photo is a reading room, most part of which is stood above the swimming pool. Next to this small studying space where I often go to use the fast wireless internet, there are function room where one can organise (religious) lectures, (children’s birthday) parties etc. – These are the occasions I’ve watched so far -, and another floating house that is not seen on the photo is gym.

This is a swimming pool where you can hardly see a crazy person swimming in rain. It is only a couple of steps away from my place. So, when you visit my place, make sure that you bring a swimsuit with ya!

P.S. – As I’m reluctant to post my address and mobile number here at my blog, if you email me, this contact information will be shown in my signature of the reply.

두 친구는 눈밭을 가로질러 집으로 돌아가는 길이었습니다.
피글렛은 푸 같은 좋은 친구가 있어 너무나 다행이라 생각하며 살며시 미소를 지었습니다.

푸는 속으로 생각했습니다.
‘이 돼지 녀석, 재채기 하기만 해봐라, 아주 뒈졌어.’

This is the picture file I got from my friend, Gillian in London, soon after the outbreak of swine flu occured. This world-wide contagious disease has influenced a lot of aspects on our current life, no matter how serious they were, and, to me, anything related to pandemic influenza is now an indispensable element, at least for my work.

My official job title is ‘Project Executive for the ASEF Network for Public Health.’ This network aims at establishing a stable and constructive working collaboration between various regional, international organisations in Asia and Europe with particular regard to preparedness planning for and rapid containment of pandemic influenza. Initially, the project mostly mentioned avian influenza as a representative example of pandemic influenza but it was only five days later since I started working when the swine flu hit the world.

Currently, project manager and I are on the status of consultation process, meeting as many relevant people and organisations as possible in order to seek for useful ideas and insights for designing the network. For this reason, we’ve been confirmed to travel to Jakarta on the last week of May and another trip to Bangkok the following week is being planned. Unfortunately, we don’t see any possible meetings or events in Europe this year but hopefully next year.

As many of you know well, what I do now is exactly what I have always wanted to do: building up or enhancing collaboration between different cultures/organisations; working in an international setting; having chances to meet people from various backgrounds. Work is not everything but something very important on how you feel about your life. And I now feel pretty good about this new chapter of my life.