Work @ Lim Chu Kang

I've officially started and gone to work for 1 week. So far, I'm adjusting pretty well to waking up at 6.15 am and leaving to catch the bus at 6.30 am. I take the train from Pasir Ris/Tampines all the way down to Jurong East and then catch the shuttle bus which leaves at 8.05 am. I always get a seat on the train so I try my best to catch some sleep and listen to my music at the same time. I sit with my friend and colleague during the bus ride into Lim Chu Kang but we exchange greetings and then fall silent. We are both NOT morning people.

I had to do an orientation tour around the work complex on Monday and Tuesday so that I could get to know the different labs (there are 8 altogether), find out what the labs do and also meet the people working there. Apparently there isn't much chance for different labs to meet during work because each lab does their own thing and there is no need for interaction between the labs. Mostly we only get to see each other when we take the shuttle bus, have lunch or go to the toilet.

Majority of the people working there are very nice and friendly. They smiled and welcomed me. Although I was supposed to spend a few hours in each lab to watch the people working, I got "chased" out very politely from certain labs because they were shorthanded and had a lot work to do. I was also paiseh to hang around and disturbing their work. So my shortest orientation in a lab lasted 5 minutes while I spent the whole morning in another lab. But it turned out good because I had time to go back to my lab and interact and learn from my colleagues. Plus my orientation was over in 2 days while this other girl who started on the same day as me had to undergo 4 days of orientation. Basically the admin department arranged for her to spend half a day in each lab whereas my boss arranged my tour so he squeezed in 4 labs on Monday and 3 labs on Tuesday. Heh heh heh...lucky me!!!

It was good to start learning about what I was supposed to do. I like doing microbiology work and there's plenty of that at my new job. There are eight different stations where people rotate every month. I started out at the sampling station first. This was where I had to take samples of certain weight so that the other stations could process them. Actually, sampling is where you get to see various types of food being brought in. So far, I think the intestines are the worst. They smell bad and they smell worse during and after processing. I have to hold my breath each time I work with them but the people there are so used to the smell that they don't seem to mind it anymore. I hope that doesn't happen to me... it might mean that my sense of smell has been ruined!

When you get right into it, work is really busy. Most times you don't really get a chance to go back into the office to use the computer and the only break time is at lunch. Wanting to get a drink of water or go to the toilet is also hard when you have so much to do but so little time. Still, it makes the time pass really fast and before I know it, it's time to catch the shuttle bus home. One thing good is that we get to leave work on time and we don't have to do any overtime work. That's great because if I did any OT I would get home so late. Already I reach home around 8 pm everyday which doesn't leave me with much time to do stuff. I am getting used to it though and I'm already sleeping early and waking up early. Even sleeping in during the weekends doesn't happen anymore; I sleep before midnight and am up before 9 am. It's a huge change from my old lifestyle and I kind of miss that. Oh the sacrifices you have to make!!! Hahahahahaha!!!