As we grow older, our sleeping patterns and morning routines change quite a bit. It’s dependent on your morning programs of course i.e. do you have to go to work. But just as another entry on recollection:
| 1992 – 1995 | Undergraduate at NTU staying in the hostel | Slept at 4 am Woke up at 8 am |
| 1996 – 2003 | Lecturer | Morning classes: – Slept at 1 am – Woke up at 7 am Afternoon / evening classes: |
| 2003 – 2006 | Postgraduate at Curtin | Slept at 10 pm Woke up at 3 am |
| 2006 + | Lecturer | Sleep at 10:30 pm Wake up at 4:30 am |
If the table is indicative of anything, it’s that I’ve turned into an unearthly morning creature! I think it’s a habit that carried forward from my postgrad days. Most activity in MMORPGs occur during evening hours in the States – early to late morning for those of us in the eastern hemisphere – so I had to be typically up very early each morning.
These days, I’m usually awake at 4:30 am. My sis-in-law says my early up hours will be a big help for Ling after our daughter comes haha. I get an hour and a half to myself to do early morning blogs, some retrospection, answer the urgent work and personal emails, read the overnight MSN messages from Matt.:)
I wake Ling up at 6 am. I nudge and cajole. Occasionally, I’ll just flat out tickle her out of bed. If none of that works, then I’ll do a face wipe on her pillow, and tell her I’ll keep doing it until she wakes up. That always works LOL.
Then it’s the shower, prepare morning coffee to go, and I’m at work at 0645 am. Where I’ll have nearly another hour and a half alone in the office before my colleagues start arriving.
Yeah, I spend more than 11 hours a day at work. But it’s all well and good; I leave all my work in the office. Ling brings home a lot of work, though I’ve keep discouraging her not to and have been having making small steps in that direction.
Hmm – I should blog on that last bit soon about bring work home. So, more in a follow-up post later.:)
Though I’m forced to wake up relatively early for work each morning, I’m definitely not a morning person. However, while in Singapore I was always surprised how often I’d wake up naturally at 6:45 AM without any need for an alarm clock. Then again, every new day had the promise of adventure, so it’s little surprise. : )
Or it could be because I couldn’t resist waking you up every morning before we left home when you were here LOL.:)
I have to tell you, early mornings in Singapore were like some kind of magical experience to me. Even in the dead of summer in the Midwest US, with the occasional midday highs of 39- and 40-degree Celsius heat and dreadful humidity, the mornings greet you with a zesty whip of coolness. In Singapore I’d wake up and it’d be perfectly warm, even hot. I’d rise from my bed and peek out the window only to behold half-a-dozen children roiling about in the swimming pool as if they were on fire. Outside my own window at that time of morning, I’d be lucky to see a blade of grass sway in the wind.
And not to belabor a point, but the prospect of having a breakfast of roti prata only be a short walk and one stop on the MRT away was far too enticing to waste away sleeping. Those employees at Banquet probably thought I got hit by a bus when I left back for home. : )
hahaha… chris is the total opposite. on weekends, i’d still rise early, sometimes go jogging or marketing, cook lunch, do housework etc then he will wake up, in time for lunch after which he will cheong dota until time to go for evening service.
On weekends at home I’m pretty much the same as Chris. No matter how much I focus on waking up early in the morning, 9 times out of 10 I’ll find myself still in bed at noon on Saturday and Sunday. It’s maddening, of course, because it feels as if I’ve slept away most my weekend.
Chanced upon your blog when i was searching for baked rice recipe. And surprising found that I shared the same NTU years as you (I was at Accountancy).
Nice writing.