Shorter Posts

I have been informed by my frens that I have been writing posts that are much too long. Can't help it..i was totally bored out of my mind for the past week at work. I will strive to write more concisely in future.

NDP Preview was hiliarious! 'And now, SIMULATING the arrival of minister mentor and the ministers of state. Also, the arrival of minister xxxx at the heartlands.' After which, we would be treated to a gang of NS guys (or school boys) dressed in the PAP signature white smiling and waving to the public! They were simply hilarious!! They were even picked such that if the minister is a malay, a malay boy would simulate the minister etc.

NDP Preview isn't quite as atmospheric as the real NDP itself. Or maybe it is because I am older now. I can't help but feel detached by the surroundings. I wonder if this makes me less of a Singaporean? I was also not as impressed by the firework display or the arrival of the Red Lions. Basically, I was there physically but somewhat detached emotionally.

I bade my farewell to my office colleagues of 2 mths. 1 gal asked how old i am. I said I am quite young. She said she thought that I was older than her. *gasp* Not that she is old, but seriously, looking at her, nobody will think that I am older than her. The reason why she thought that i was older is real gd: ' I just thought from the way you carry yourself and everything that you are really mature.' I wanted to laugh my head off, but i had to politely nod my head. My friend told me that I must have done a very good job of pretending in my 2 months there. No wonder i did not feel natural at all.

Mixed Feelings

I have just been told that I am possibly the youngest and least experienced to be posted out, which means that my big boss thinks that I am ready to brave the storms and winds out there.

The exact words used were ' You are already making history by being the youngest and least experienced accountant to be sent out.'

I am not exactly sure that it is a good thing, cos it really depends on how you look at it. I can either do very well or very badly, since I may be a guinea pig project of sorts for them.

In any case, my temporary boss told me that he is quite satisfied with me, and in fact, among all the year 1s, I am among the better ones who have a strong grasp of how to write in a 'tight' manner (read: politically correct).

I suppose I should be thrilled, especially considering the fact that I have been thinking that I got posted out because my big boss did not like me much.

Actually, this seems to apply to life in general too. When you are the odd one out, you would think that you are the weird one and think the worse of yourself. Especially when you get remarks that staying on here (and being one of the 'normal' ones), the big boss would be seeing you alot more and thus, it would be easier to rise through the ranks.

This is why I thought that the big boss did not like me much. Now that I am being told the other side of the story, I don't really know what to think. Should I be thrilled that this is my chance to show what i have got or should I be scared that so much is expected of me?

I mean I am supposedly taking over the role of this senior personnel (i shan't mention the rank here for obvious reason)! Stressed! I would rather think that my big boss has left me there to do my part, period. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now, I am being told that I am supposed to help them understand their part in the big picture, helping them to improve their systems and see the importance that everyone plays.

The biggest whammy is that my big boss at the new place and my big boss here aren't exactly on good terms (or so I hear from the grapevine). I am supposed to balance delicately between my duties to both. A real test of human skills, and everyone knows that I am not all that people-oriented.

Oh well, I shall conquer the tasks as they come along. Meanwhile, I shall just enjoy this period while I can.

Can it possibly be Love at First Sight?

Been pretty free the past few days. This comes with the fact that I have finished up on the remaining tasks and the knowledge that I would not be around for much longer at the current place. Realise that I am uprooting myself to fit into a whole new environment for the 2nd time within 2 months! I must really adapt quickly and very well, but I suppose this is good practice.

I just received the specialist's letter on whether I can attend the Outward Bound School course from 16-18 August. The doc is really clever - he did not fill in the part on whether he thinks that I am fit/unfit to go for the course. Instead he filled in a whole load of comments under Special Condition that Needs Attention. He wrote, 'Patient has limb-girdle dystrophy and is not suitable for exercise. Should not be in any dangerous situation e.g. steep slope and deep water'. Frankly, whoever reads that will obviously be afraid for their own self-interest, so even if I ended up going for the course, I can predict that I will simply be there for show. They would not let me take part in any activity at all, which would totally defeat my purpose for being there. Can't say that I am too keen to go for the course actually, so no loss. But the plus point for going is that I get to skip 3 days of work! That's so attractive!!

My ex-colleague emailed me excitedly yesterday that the company is giving out bonus for the 1st time to Year 1 assistants! 1.5 months!! I totally missed out on that, but well, thinking from the other perspective, if I had not quit at the point when I did, I wouldn't know if I wld leave at all after that. This is because I wasn't even applying for any jobs after December. So yah, being Ah-Q again, I lose the 1.5mths bonus, but I gain in the long run in terms of job satisfaction and a brighter future (I hope!).

Another friend was telling me the other day about meeting a guy. The guy seems to have been struck by Cupid's Arrow upon seeing her! They have been fervently msging and msning each other every day, and there was even an outing organised with 2 weeks of meeting each other! Call me old-fashioned, but I seriously am sceptical about Love at First Sight. Paraphrasing what I read in Life under quotes by famous people, if there's love at 1st sight, where does that leave the blind? Or maybe I should say love at 1st sight is just one of the variations of love? so the blind cannot actually love at 1st sight, but they are entitled to love through other ways and avenues.

Ok, mayb so. but still I have my own reservations on love at 1st sight. It seems to be concocted by some superficial being (most prob guys, led by their natural instinct. a generalisation here, but yah, i think that guys are the physical lover while gals are the mental/emotional lover). How can anyone love someone else without knowing the character/hobbies/likes and dislikes? If it's all based on looks, how can the relationship last? Or should I evoke the magical word of 'fate' to explain this, since I for sure cannot think of any logical explanation? Okok, I know, love is never logical. Those famous sayings of love...who can ever forget them? Maybe when one is in love, the world will be different, everything would appear in airy-fairy light.

Haha..I should stop laughing at her expense. Poor gal, she is in denial now, because she also does not believe in love at 1st sight. This causes her to feel guilty that she can actually like the guy, because that would indirectly mean that she is superficial. This also explains why she tried to explain why she and the guy cannot 'click', and that another ex-suitor fitted her more. Funny then that at that point in time, she didn't accept the ex-suitor, yah? I mean, there must of course be a reason for not accepting the guy, so if the problem existed then, it should exist now too.

Simply put, although i don't believe in love at 1st sight, I hope this fren can prove me wrong! And to my fren, i just want to say: Just because you happened to be one of the lucky ones, does not mean that you are superficial! maybe you can convince me and the rest of the non-believers that Love at First Sight truly exists! May the world be full of such airy fairy nonsense, because that would mean that everyone is in love!!!

Summary of weekend (WARNING - VERY LONG POST)

Fri evening -

Met my ex-colleagues. Before i even sat down at Crystal Jade, they said sth earth-shattering (to me at least). 'U put on weight is it? Yr face rounder leh.' I could hv cried. not very comforting to hear tt i put on weight already. Next comment 'very relaxed there is it? not stressed, tt's y put on weight mah. enjoying life there?' *groanz* as if. simply put, the stress here is of a different kind. besides, dun 4get tt i m not permanently here, although i heard tt being posted out is even more relaxing. well, it may just b a rumour. I will find out next thurs how true the rumour is. wish me luck!

getting back to the evening, it was quite fun catching up with ex-colleagues. how time flies..it has been almost 1-2 mths since we last saw one another. n during tis period, another one of us had resigned and is currently serving notice. O/w everything else was as i remembered it to be. pple still had to charge time (haha!), common complaints, faces still as familiar, laffing over little tings. in other words, life goes on perfectly w/o me!

the evening flew by pretty quickly, cos we were tokking n catching up. act, i shld say tt i was the one doing the bulk of the tokking, but wat's new, rite? not by choice though. cos everyone wanted to noe how was my work and SOCIAL LIFE. tink tt was the main aim of the dinner outing.

hmmphz! unfortunately, didn't hv much to update them on. we spent some time pple-watching too, cos there was tis really shuai guy with a not-so-pretty gf. she was more bitchy pretty than pretty-pretty, so we thot it was a waste of a shuai guy, who happened to b younger than us much to our disappointment.
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Sat -

Woke up fairly early (for my stds) to catch 1st half hr of Wed's Jue Dui Superstar, which i missed due to work commitments. I was so impressed with DERRICK! so glad i woke up at 11am to bathe n get ready to enable me to rush out after watching the show. He sang with so much feeling tt i could feel my goosebumps (in a gd sense). n thereafter for the whole dae, i could hear his voice resonating in my head.

after tt, went to kster at lucky chinatown for a 5hr ktv marathon. b4 launching into a description of the ktv lounge, i shall ask a very intellectual qn. if i board the mrt from Tampines and alight at Chinatown, how does SBS and SMRT split the revenue? by stations/stops? or by distance? if distance, linear or the mrt rail distance? also, if the 2 companies hv to do tis for each trip taken, isn't it kinda tiring? tis may b another reason y the 2 companies shld merge and consolidate efforts? tis struck me midway thru the ktv session. is tis called occupational hazard? everywhere i go, i m tinking of how revenue n cost are derived/split.

the 5hr ktv marathon from 2-7pm only cost each of us (4 of us in all) $9 each!!! SUPERBLY n UNBELIEVABLY CHEAP! but tt's only cos 1 of my frens had a free 5-hr coupon. only nid to pay 1st drink charge (around $5-6) and a tidbit for 2 ($3.50/2) and then svc charge n all the other pre-requisites. so all in all, it was super wu hua! but even usually, not bad..2-7pm on wkend, student member's price is only $6.99, so after everything shld b around $14? we can still pass off as students n we must 'make full use of our ntu matric card', to quote a fren.

i act hv no complaints about the song selection there. it was quite interesting to use a mouse to click on the song we wanted. took abit of getting used to, esp after how we r so used to kbox's style, but after a while, it was ok. In fact, quite revolutionary! the room was pretty cold. gd ting is room was small, so everyone huddled tog to seek warmth in one another. hiak hiak!

the only bad ting about kster seems to b the fact tt the rm wasn't sound-proof. either tt, or the sound system there is very gd. choose either explanation, cos it was so bad to the extent tt we could only hear the next rm singing, but can't even hear our own music, unless we sing so loudly as to drown them out.

after ktv, we went for dinner at chinatown. if i dun recall wrongly, tis is like my 1st time eating with frens at a real hawker centre (lunch at amoy excluded). foodcourts n coffeeshops do not count. cos tis hawker centre is well, not a very gd place for pple to gather lah. not high-class or clean or airy. but there's gd food! quite cheap too! we wanted to try so many tings. unfortunately, our stomaches hv limited capacity.

by the time, we finished eating, it was already or only 9pm, depending on which way u want to look at it. one fren proclaimed tt it's rare tt she can cum out with us so early n we cannot go back tis SOON. hence, we then proceeded to MacDonald's at Chinatown Point to tok. b4 we went in, we noted that the closing time was 12 midnite on wkends.

we definitely tokked tt nite...about tings tt i dun tink we hv act discussed b4. like how we felt tt we shldn't b working so hard, cos ultimately at the end of the dae, we must realise tt there's a trade-off to working so hard. be it in terms of family or social life, sth has got to give. it was pretty surprising, cos some of my frens aren't the kind whom i will expect such 'reflections' from. but mayb it's cos of pple whom we personally noe who are suffering from some kind of setback now, which is y we start to reflect more. From such occurrences, we realise the fragility of life. no one noes wat will happen to us 1 yr from now or even tmr. so it doesn't pay to b too ambitious or strong-willed. We must take the time to breathe the air and appreciate what we currently have.
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Sun:

Volunteered to sell soft toys for the META Association at tampines with my mum. wasn't very helpful in the sense that i kept tinking while trying to sell the toy tt i mite as well take out $50 of my own $ n i can just go off to shop, instead of begging pple to buy.

it's really pretty hard for pple to take out $2 to buy a soft toy for charity now, esp in the aftermath of NKF. it's quite disheartening act. cos to me, i think $2 is fairly reasonable. i was standing outside Ya Kun and asking pple to buy. couldn't help but tink tt if they drank 1 less cup of coffee and kaya toast, they can donate $2 to charity already.

in the end, my victims were pple whom i happen to mit at tamp! haha...Mel was 1 of my 'victims'. she had to go to the atm to withdraw $ b4 she had the money to buy, n cos she didn't hv change n i didn't either, she ended up buying 2! thks, mel!! another 'victim' was my HR manager at my current workplace. i felt so unluved by everyone yesterdae, cos everyone avoided n steered away from me!

n some pple r just so discriminating. they act ask if it's for a buddhist association (which it is btw, but i didn't noe b4 volunteering), n when i answered yes, they made a face n refused to donate. it was a chinese old woman. surprising, rite? on the other hand, the malays r the one who r donating n buying the toys for their kids, simply cos the kids like the toy. i dun mean to generalise but tis tells alot, yah?

1 more majorly exciting ting happened yesterdae b4 tis volunteering tingie started. i fell (no, tt's not the exciting ting, cos tt isn't sth surprising =p). but the reason y i fell is exciting. My dad drove off b4 i close the car door, which caused me to tumble. luckily, i fell forward, so i only hurt my knee badly. if i had fallen backwards n onto the rd (which was in the direction of oncoming traffic), i wun b here typing tis now. being very Ah-Q, i was thankful that i fell forward, although tis means tt my skirts wld b out of operation for at least a week.

oh yah, after the volunteering stint, i went shopping! hah!! so many sales, so little time & $! i bought 2 knitwear tops from S&K! G2000 is also hving sales!! but the styles were abit old, so i wasn't tt interested. i act wanted to buy another top from U2, but my mum said it was too bright.

an exciting wkend? u bet! =)

10 Reasons Y We Should Leave Work at 6pm

Additional Points to My Dream Wedding

Went for dinner with some of my RSPVH frens on Sat, and found more points to add for My Dream Wedding:

1. Singing the Happy Birthday song, and ending with 'And I luv you so much' or a line to tt effect, which can rhyme and gell with the rest of the song.

2. The Dream Bed, Can b found at Plaza Singapura, level 4 or 5, the floor which Secret Recipe is on, i tink. It looks really dreamy, like a princess kinda bed..the bedsheet is white n lacy and the 'curtains' (dun noe wat to call it). act, i dun tink it's gd for a matrimonial bed, but heck..since tis is only a Dream, not for real.

3. there was another point. unfortunately, i forgot alr! how?? siewling, can u rem??

oh yah, i tink durian strudel makes for a gd dessert for the wedding reception! haha..

sometimes, i dun noe if i m in luv with the idea of being in luv, so tt i can plan my dream wedding. in any case, it's fun to hv these pts all listed down! must thank the Gang for suggesting tt i shld list them down..now i can add on for a cumulative kind of list!!

Charity?

ok, gzai, after reading tis, if u tink i m in danger of being sued, pls sms me IMMEDIATELY to remove my post!!!

(Disclaimer: tis post is not targetted directly at any organisation or individual, other than myself!)

After 2 sundays' of LIVE performances and many pleas from stars and patients to donate our hard-earned $, i m proud to say tt i did not succumb to the overwhelming pressure.

unfortunately, my mum fell prey. only consolation is she donated thru the donation card, so can claim (double) tax deduction.

it reveals alot about me tt i m act saying we shldn't donate $! since when hv i becum so selfish rite? i wld even b more willing to spend the $ on a Mac's value meal than to make 1 call!! *gasp* selfishness is rearing its ugly head.

then again, everyone's ENTITLED to use our $ the way we deemed best. i can choose to fly 1ST CLASS, bcos i want to hv more space n comfort, rather than b 'squashed' in BUSINESS (note: not even ECONOMY) class.

n of cos, if i m TT rich, i rather wash my hands with a GOLD-PLATED TAP..a normal one of cos wldn't do, for someone of my status n position. besides, if i m not the one paying for it, who cares? the company is paying aniwae, in my personal toilet...though i disagree with it in principal lah..cos wld look too extravagant n extra.

oh yah, wat if i happen to b the lucky chap to b rewarded with 10-12 mths' bonus?! my performance must b WAY too good..y didn't anybody poach me, since i m so gd?? did i neglect to mention tt the backdrop is one of economy not doing well, while i scored so splendidly at work? my mthly salary is ONLY $25k..not too high, just manageable. can lure me over one leh..i m motivated by $, not the cause..i do anyting for $ n entitlement benefits!!

at the end of the dae, i suddenly realised tt my company is (supposedly) not-for-profit n function upon donations from the public! *gasp* wat if the public find out about my outrageous ($-wasting) habits? wat wld they tink?

so of cos i must deny all accusations. if anyone says anything, i will sue. tt will shut everyone up! if i keep denying, no one will ever realise tt tt's the truth, rite? i will scare them into silence! tada! so i m a tyrant!!

no one can control me..not even the regulatory body..simply bcos i do not survive on their handouts. i m my own man, n i rule my own company the way i want. doesn't matter if it is being supported by lies (not even half-truths). i play on the emotions of man..who ask humans to b so touched by scenes of sickness and unhappiness...if u all want to sympathise with others n reflect on yr own happiness, then u hv to survive with the fact tt u have been tricked by yr own emotions! it's not my fault!! i did not intentionally mislead u pple!

rite now, since my cover has been blown, i can only say i will resign if the pple insist. n of cos the pple will insist. but hey, i already hv $1.8m (or more) stored, so even if i shld retire now, i can retire in great comfort...i m a multi-millionaire! one tt was constructed from pple's kind-heartedness. i cheated them at their own game, n i m still being lauded as the key person who brought about radical changes to the industry, for introducing innovative means of raising funds! how's tt for man's stupidity?

n so i shall go on, insisting tt i hv done nothing wrong..which is a really warped way of tinking. but hey, everyone's ENTITLED to their own views...

hmm, alrite, i admit it, since my conscience is eating me up alittle...mayb, just mayb i was wrong. i started out with gd enuff intentions, but in the process of doing good, i lost sight of my real objectives n got swallowed by GREED. i was blinded by my own selfishness...

if i apologise now, wld the pple forgive me? but i can't give up my multi-millionaire status, u noe...after all, i just happened to b born in the wrong century...i am controversially ahead of my times..can only blame god at the end of the dae. so y is everyone against me now?

Concept of Time

Hv no idea why i feel tis way..tis week has flown past me. i m now at the end of the workdae on wed, n tt's means i hv past mid-week! amazing!

is tis a sign tt i m settling well at work? i m not sure, cos i still hv my reservations on some things? or mayb it is indicative tt i hv accepted tings as they r.

other reasoning may b tt humans need time to adapt, n i took nearly 3-4 weeks to fully settle down! which means tt i take very long to adapt...BAD!! cos i will b uprooting myself in 2-3 weeks again! n i m gg to take another 1 mth to settle down? *gasp*

oh well, i guess i shall take tings 1 step at a time. i m pretty happy with the situation now, so i guess i shld b contented for now.

mayb life isn't tt hard, if we just do not tink so much. if we keep tings simple, n can b happy with the little tings in life, satisfaction n happiness will b ours!

in other news, i wish to say tt i hv lotsa sentiments on the NKF vs Straits Times issue, except tt i m afraid of being sued. hahah...=)

Darkness in my heart

As the sun sets in the horizon,
Darkness begins to fill the evening.
Neon lights are but artificial replacements.
Shadows ever present.

At each forgotten corner,
Lies a beggar,
Each with his own tale,
Of struggles and rejections.

Man may weep at the injustice
But who can help?
Hearts beat randomly,
Not in sync.

When day breaks,
The beggars awakened,
Filled with faith and hope for the new dawn
Opportunity lies in the horizon...

Till darkness capture their hearts again
Day and Night
Night and Day
And so the vicious cycle continues

Dark versus Light
Despair versus Hope
Sadness versus Happiness
Without one, the other ceases

In comparison, lies the opportunity
To stand up and
Brave the days ahead
With faith and conviction.

My Dream Wedding

As suggested by the Gang, i have listed down elements of My Dream Wedding, hopefully to be fulfilled by My Dream Guy..=)

1. The Proposal:

A little book, with pages detailed how we 1st met, with pictures of us together, preferably with dates!! If he can list the dates, he wun forget our anniversary mah...but then again, i dun even hv confidence of remembering dates, so y shld i request tt of him? Last page will ask WILL YOU MARRY ME?

oh yes, title of the book shld b along the lines of 'Our Love, From 200x to Forever'! the bk shld of cos fit snugly into the 'cavity' (dun noe how to say lah..) of a photoframe, decorated by himself.

after everything tt he has done, of cos tis photoframe will take pride of place in our living room!!

2. The Day itself

Since there wld b a camera crew to tape everything down from the morn of 'jing cha' etc, can do speed editing to show the DVD at night.

preparation work to b done is to dig out old photographs of one another's childhood, so tt the whole 'story' of how we got together can be unravelled...to the present day and time.

the cover of the DVD must look like a psuedo-Korean or Jap drama cover. better still, if we can incorporate the next idea into the DVD too...

3. Apples and Snow

This has been my dream ever since the Gang sang the song (duet by Kelly Chen & Stephen Fung)..*sheesh, i 4got the title of the song, since i never needed to rem it. the Gang wld instinctively noe wat song i was referring to...so dun mind, someone pls provide the title of the song under Comments.*

hmm, due to tis weird dream, i tink it wld b more cost-effective if we were to take wedding photos in a foreign country. hahah...but then again, there's always fake snow...effect wldn't b so gd though.

oh well, dreams r dreams...i shall add on to the list when more tings strike my fancy..rite now, they still gell tog so shld b alrite. it will b bad if the ideas clash...hahaha

aniwae, why hv i listed down everything? cos the Gang told me 'u never noe who's reading yr blog, who may fulfill your dream...He's out there...'

Get to Know Yourself Better

Your view on yourself:
You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
You have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education:
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:
You are afraid of things that you cannot control. Sometimes you show your anger to cover up how you feel. (SO TRUE!!)

Who is your true self:
You are full of energy and confidence. You are unpredictable, with moods changing as quickly as an ocean. You might occasionally be calm and still, but never for long.

http://quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

The Reply You Get Depends on the Question You Ask

Jack and Max are walking from religious service.
Jack wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying.
Max replies, "Why don't you ask the Priest?"
So Jack goes up to the Priest and asks, "Father, may I smoke while I pray?"
The Priest replies, "No, my son, you may not! That's utter disrespect to our religion."
Jack goes back to his friend and tells him what the good Priest told him.
Max says, "I'm not surprised. You asked the wrong question.Let me try."
And so Max goes up to the Priest and asks, "Father, may I pray while I smoke?"
To which the Priest eagerly replies, "By all means, my son.By all means. You can always pray whenever you want to."

Moral of the story is...

The reply you get depends on the question you ask.

For Example, if you want a vacation when still working on a project, don't ask for the holiday; ask: "Can I keep working on this project while I'm on vacation?"