Tuesday, July 17, 2007

blur toad

Dumb. Bought a nice bracelet just now at BHG...the ex-Seiyu in Bugis..
Came home...Turned out to be an anklet...
Goes to show how tired I am..haha..

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After 2 weeks of frenzied eating...the down cycle has come again...
Stomach spoil today after lunch...

Apart from feeling nauseous...I also had palpitations & felt breathless...gosh..
It's either I am tired...or there was too much MSG in the meal I had this afternoon..
Bleah..

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Yet another tender in LHUB...this makes in number errrr....24 since Jan this year??

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Weird. Really weird.

I applied for a post in a government agency 4 months ago.
They just called me back today.
It's like as if they heard my silent call for a new job.

Interview's next Tuesday....And I've been given a bloody long interview questionnaire to fill up & write...tmd..

Gonna head for a quick bath now and then go do that up.
And they're asking for a gazillion photocopies from me...
What the...#$%$#.. from sec sch to uni..they want everything...
Testimonials..ECAs, transcripts...
Payslips...even the originals for verification....

Gah-ment.
bopian.

*grumbles*

Monday, July 16, 2007

Advert portal

It's a desperate plea for help.
Anyone who knows of any job opportunities in an MNC or local conglomerate...please let me know...
5 years experience in Marketing Communications & Events.
Seeking positions like
Marketing, Events, Branding, Corporate Development, Business Development, Administration.

==========
Had a quick discussion with Adrian just now.
Each will chip in $200 each month..for Gran's nursing home fees...
Mum & Dad another $250. So that makes it $650 contribution from our side.
Aunt's side will take another $600.

And that makes it a total of $1250 a month...

$200...on top of that which I give them every month...I can see my $ fluttering away in the wind...
Aiyoh..forgot about the monthly contributions for our flat...I can see more dollar signs fluttering away...

Sigh..to work for $$...doing this is easy...
Or to make $$ work for you...this is easier said than done though.

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Last minute activation by Peiqi just now...rushed home for dinner..then rushed out to meet her at Tampines Mall...
Aunt agony...this time round mutual...though she took the bulk of it.. ahha

Friendships...can be so brittle...can be so strong...depend on how you care for it...

If you take care of a metal rod and lubricate it with a coat of protective oil...it serves you well enough and gives you the strength it has....
Leave it to rust in the open and when you finally try to use it...it disintegrates beneath your hands...

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Weekdays have been tough lately...
Daytime fed-up at work.

Night time fed-up with finding work.. haha...

==========
Tired.
To bed I go.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

swim swim swim

Went for a swim yesterday...
Cleared 20 laps. Not continuously of course.. haha...achievement for the week...
I think this is the only "sport" that I enjoy the most...since I can't run for nuts..haha..
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butterfly kisses
flutter flutter flutter

by popular demand..

Guess I've never been really been a camera or a photo-taking person.
Cos I think I suck in photos.. haha..And I think some dumbo commented on my vampire teeth and my little front crooked tooth when I was in secondary school..all the more I didn't like taking photos.. haha...
Anyway, by some request..which I thought I'd pander to in my own little way...
Here are 3 pics..to give credit to some of the people whom I've mentioned sometimes in my blog...


This here is part of the Duckie girls group...talen in March at Hilton Hotel. Ginger was late so she didn't get to be in this pic. The bride is of course Ee Hong. A super garang lady..ultra tomboy except on her big day....=p She's always been like one of the boys...
From left. Selin...a la Jolin Tsai in this pic..super warm, bubbly, cute little lady...older than me by a year though.. haha..married & currently stayig in KL with her husband..sigh..don't know when she's coming back...
Followed by Tricia..one who holds the greatest potential in the group to be a full-fledged tai tai...Only thing left is to find her other half. Super super high expectations of how her other half should be though..same age as me! And the only other Marketing person who survived in ducktours for more than um...3 months was it? Can't remember..
Angeline is the one on the right. My intern for about 6 months. Currently in NIE. Half the time she's MIA for our gatherings though aha...


This here's the ex-colleagues..some of whom have given me many a happy day...=) And soem of whom I spent 3.5 yrs with in LHUB. Taken in Phuket during our company retrat in March.
Starting from the back. From left. Alvin aka Mac..my little bro..from the Facilities team. Followed by Devin aka Ah San who's been mentioned many a time in my blog...whether directly or indirectly..haha. Am um..ok, that's me in my ultre nerdy specs..
Front row in blue shirt. Lawrence. How should I say this? He is indirectly me & ahboy's matchmaker! haha..not sure if I have said it before.. but he knew ahboy's sis..she was his tutor last time...and so he recommended ahboy to LHUB when he heard he was looking out for a job...and the rest is history....ahaa...
2nd guy on the right of Lawrence with his face partially hidden...is of course..my dear Ah Kok. haha...the uncle who has brought me many smiles & laughter during my years in LHUB...good brother of Devin..

And lastly..my most recent picture...from just this Friday past. Taken where? At Ice Cold Beer of course...
Pic taken in black./white on purpose.. ahha cos we both looked better.. ahhaa...Think some of you would already know who this is...Xingli of course...Kym wasn't in the picture...he was busy taking the pic for us..=p
She's embarking on a new journey...as a PFC in StandChart...good for her...something new...

staccato thoughts again

Went to visit Gran this afternoon after lunch. Was there for about 2 hours.

It's the first time I've been to the nursing home. Though I find the living quarters a little cramped, it's quite clean and "sanitised" on the whole. There's a lounge area where a TV was blaring out some Channel 8 drama show.

Spartan furnishings. Though what can you expect? It's not a Holiday Inn for sure.
The whole area's air-conditioned, so that's a good thing. Quite a number of staff nurses around so that's good too. Only thing is that 90% of them are foreigners, either malay or indian or filipino...

They feed the residents there very often. haha...Breakfast is 7-plus in the morning...lunch is at 1130am. Teabreak is at 2pm...Dinner is at 430-5pm...and then supper is at 730pm. Lights off at 8-plus....For those who can't sleep...there's always the TV in the lounge room.

The room Gran is in has 7 other ladies...a good group I should say..there's 2 or 3 of them who are in their 90s too. But extremely sprightly and vivacious for their age...saw some pics of them dancing & singing karaoke during some festive celebrations previously.
Spoke to 2 of them just now and they're really healthy, happy & pretty enthusiastic & active for their age.

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French is killing me.
Ever since Shenaz took our class for Beginner term 4, it's been a stressful time every Saturday..

Speaking in rapid-fire french doesn't help. Damn, shouldn't have skipped class last week. Mistake. She touched on a portion of grammar which turned out to be a killer.
Yesterday's class was an absolute blur to me.

The only consolation is that Eric was almost equally blur...haha and he was in class last week.

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Am re-writing my CV to give it more meat and a greater "sell"factor.
I think it was last week...sometime mid-week when I made up my mind to re-do my CV...and start looking around again.

Dad called me a "quitter"...but oh well. No point staying on in a place which will not really help me grow...right?

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Back aching.
Thighs aching.
Neck aching.

I am regularly late. So is that considered regular or late?
I think being regularly late in my cycle is okay...yeah? hmm mm... hahaa...

=========
Finally got down to using my Lee Hwa vouchers last night..
Am the owner of a new pendant...

To be frank...gosh..don't really enjoy the experience of buying jewellery...
Firstly, I am not one who knows how to appreciate diamonds, white gold, gold..purple gold or what have you.
Secondly, I hate the fact that a salesperson will attach his or herself to you and yak on and on and on...I am a loner and prefer to be left alone.
Thirdly, I don't understand why must a person pay so much $$ for something so small. hahaaa...

Am I a woman? Dunno leh...just don't know how to appreciate.. ahha

But I love my ring lah.. hheheee....=p

Thursday, July 12, 2007

my drab day..long...boring plain entry.

ok. darn. wrote a post this morning in office. it didn't show up at all. hmm mm...

anyway, wanted to say that i woke this morning with a heavy heart..went to work with a heavy heart...and couldn't really concentrate today.
morning was not good. half the time i was thinking about other things except work.

dad sms-ed a few times. said they decided not to tell gran they are sending her in on friday.
i called back and said that's going back to square one! spoke for a few minutes and was controlling my emotions all the while..
dumb, i shouldn't have used the office phone. was sniffing again by the time i put down the phone with him.

was still trying to do some work when dad called me one last time at 11-plus. said that as circumstances turned out, he did tell gran about sending her to the nursing home. apparently mum & santi were about to go to the maid agency when it started raining heavily.

so dad had to send them there and leave gran at home for awhile. it's very nearby so it'll probably take him 10mins before he's back at home again. before he left, he told her not to move an inch and to stay in her chair. when he rushed home and opened the front door.

she was shuffling from the kitchen to the living room. one hand holding a cup of steaming milo, another holding her walking frame, pushing it in front of her. not even leaning on it, but just pushing it. blew his top.

you might not understand why it's such a big deal..but when you have a 91 yr old who refuses to listen to you all the time, including when it's time for her to take her medicine...anything goes...

and so. gran finally knows.

went for a stoned lunch with ex-colleagues joanne & irene..spent $8 bloody bucks for a plate of beef hor fun and a cup of iced lemon tea...just realised they upped their prices by$1 for every dish, even the set meal is priced at a $1 more.

went back to work...and went for a meeting soon after. a 2 hour meeting with my vendor Joseph. a guy whom i respect as a working partner...and respect as a friend...part of the time we were gossipping. the other part of the time i was telling him about my insecurities and unclear directions about my career path.

went back to work again and 5-plus came. Daniel Cheong & i were the only ones left in office, the rest were at a meeting with the boss. He & I ended up chatting.

And blimey. I ended up telling him about my possible intention of looking for a better opportunity...in a sense..sort of trust him lah...in another sense...his last day is next friday...so....i figured, what the heck.

it was nice. chatted till 6pm...typed abit of emails...then we both left at 615pm and spent the journey home on the MRT together...he stays in simei...

finally reached tampines..was walking to the interchange when i met Sean my neighbour staying a floor above me...spent the journey home together.. haa...he was sharing his worries about whether he'll be retrenched..company undergoing a "cleaning up" exercise now...hmm mm..can't say who exactly..but one of the leading insurance companies in singapore...linked to my ex-company.

reached home. stepped into my room and almost immediately mum came in....and started updating me on the day's incidents...

so well..we've released santi already. this morning.

mum broke the news to her this morning when santi was wiping my mum's dressing table. she broke into tears when mum told her the news and begged mum to let her stay on.

sigh..poor girl...thinking about her makes me quite sad...she's only been in SG for a year...and we're her 3rd employer already..due to various unforseen circumstances...
meaning..she still has a certain amount of debt owing to the agency...
meaning..she's in desperate need of $$ to send home to her family in indonesia..
meaning...she deperately needs an employer...

sigh..mum started tearing when she was telling me about how santi was packing up her things...how santi was crying and begging mum to let her stay on...how she sent santi to the agency...how santi said sorry to her if she's ever done anything wrong...

we were both tearing in the end..

and now..i am here...sitting in fron of my pc...blogging...and at the same tim updaitng my CV...and at the same time surfing through jobsdb...saturday recruit will be my staple diet soon again...starting this week...

the good & the bad...

Met Lawrence & Mac yesterday by chance while heading to Tjg Pgr MRT station.
Felt good to see them...2 sprouts of comforting familiarity amongst a sea of zombiefied strangers.

Talked to Guin for half an hour yesterday. My ex-boss.
It was a good catch-up..Some gossip, some updates, some sharings...Good to hear she's doing good..

Think I'll call Thomas soon. Heard from Guin he's asking how I am..haha..he misses me! hahaa...
Or maybe I'll drop him an email first.

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Woke with a heavy heart...Till now still heavy heart.
Not sure how are things going on at home right now.

Poor Santi. 7 months with the previous family and then the old man passed on.
Now, 4 months with my family and her fate in Singapore is still uncertain again. If she can't find an employer within 1 month I think, the agent will send her back.

Dad just sms-ed me. Santi cried like hell and begged for us to keep her. Apart from her Dad. she's the only other person supporting the family.

Sigh..why did things turn out this way??

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

updates

family conference call.

change of plans. complicated.

will release maid on thursday.

brother & i violent objections about sending gran in unawares. so dad will talk to her tomorrow.

concern now is what if she refuses to go in and does something drastic at home tomorrow.

complicated.

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"ttyl" at 1030.

1h20mins later...still mia...

forget it..heading to bed. the war is over.

hear the news over the radio when the soldiers have come back from the frontline.

inconspicuous irrelevant unimportant shell.

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tomorrow = swollen eyes again.

upset

what the f?

they are sending my gran to an old folks' home on friday. and they only told me now.
as in like 5 mins ago.
and they way they are handling the situation..totally disagree.

voiced my opinion. not like as if i can do anything or have any impact at all. since when was my opinion taken into consideration in the family anyway??????
i am just a dog barking helplessly in the background.

mum knows i am not happy. i mean, i know the decision has already been made to send her in.
that was decided a week ago already.
but they are sending her in on friday and i only knew it like 5 mins ago???

best thing. gran doesn't know she's going in on friday as well.
she knows there's this notion of sending her to an old folk's home. but doesn't know when.

she has a doc appt on friday. they are planning to send her for her check-up, get the doc to tell her about the benefits of being in a home. and then after that, send her straight to the home.

wtf?? you're not granting her any mental preparation at all?? not giving her a few days' worth of notice at all?
it's demoralising enough to go to a home. what more to go in such a brusque, abrupt manner.

and i am supposed to keep my mouth shut about it. because they don't want to risk the possibility of her having any tantrums. and they don't want the maid to know we need to terminate her services already.

i cannot even say goodbye to my own granny.
i know it might not be a big deal since i can visit her anytime.

but i hate to think about the hurt gran will feel.
like i said. it's sad enough to have to go there to stay. it's devastating when you're only given an hour's notice.

pissed. sad. angry. frustrated.
thought the day was an okay one. but the way its ending is not nice at all.

food...glorious food...

Shall start off with a gripe.

I am not going back to Hanabi ever again.

Expensive for not so nice food. I'd rather spend my $$ in Waraku.
Seriously disappointing dinner last night. Not because of the company of course...but the food was way way way below par.

The Bedok Blk 85 chicken wings are even nicer than those at Hanabi. Hell. Even the wings at the kopitiam near my place are nicer...
And they don't even have cha soba in the buffet menu...Not worth it...

Not going back there. So fellow fruities...someone mentioned keeping up the tradition at that place right?
Sorry lah...but I DISAGREE!! hahaa

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Tried the chicken pie in M Hotel's Cafee 2000 this afternoon for lunch.

Shiok.

Took a bite of the curry puff my colleague had.

Shiok too! haha..

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Had Sarawak noodles at Raffles Place for dinner tonight.
Something like char siew noodles topped with minced meat...

The noodles are super springy.. haha..this is what I call fun food..

Verdict - nice nice!

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Teh-o during lunch today...been a long while since I had a hot drink during lunch.
Since it's a freaking cold day.
Thought I'd have teh-o...

Good choice...warmed me from inside out...

Sunday, July 08, 2007

last piece before i go zzzz


opps...resolution abit bad....bear with it..


les fleurs...tres jolie...


Ngoh Hiang!


Went for supper at Laguna at East Coast Park on Friday night..
Came by this interesting stall selling Ngoh Hiang...
Waited for 2 minutes for the uncle to move away so that I could snap this pic.. haha....
Thought the name of his stall was quite cute...

gosh...



gosh...Taiwanese variety show..showing some guys who look like girls...
This fella takes the tops...
Prettier than most girls I see along the streets man..!!!

ever felt...

so alone..
even when you are surrounded by people in a big big mall..

so alone...
even when you are surrounded by friends during a meal...

so alone...
even when you are with friends in an outing...

so alone...
even when actually...you are talking to someone...

not so alone...
when you're with yourself in your own little room?

Transformers

Watched Transformers last night....One of the best shows I've watched recently.
Definitely better than Fantastic 4...by many many leaps & bounds...
Watched at The Cathay...good sound system..comfortable chairs...air-con was just right...

Brought back childhood memories..haha..
Guess "good-triumphs-over-evil" movies are still nice to watch....

The show brought out so many emotions..I was....
  • Greatly Amused...gosh..think I laughed at this movie more than I laughed at other comedy shows..absolutely hilarious..nice to have the whole cinema laughing together spontaneously...
  • Sad, Frustrated & Indignant...when the good gets beaten..when the good gets hurt...when the good gets surpressed...of course you'll feel sad & frustrated & angry right?
  • Anxious...action-packed show..can't help but feel anxious during those high speed chases...
  • Awed & Amazed...like a child would...damn cool..the way those unobtrusive vehicles morphed into a gigantic lean mean machine...um robot? haha...
  • Happy...naturally when good triumphes over evil...
  • Fidgety..Couldn't help it..action packed show leh...not those bore-you-to-death shows...
  • Wide Awake...Tired that I was...the adrenaline of the show kept me going..In fact I was more awake during the show than any other time during that day... ahha...

Optimus Prime = strong SNAG.. hahaha....decisive, focused, strong and has good leadership, willing to sacrifice for the good of all...

There should be a Transformers 2...looking forward...=)

Sugar Rush

Self-Concocted Ultimate Sugar Rush for a Refreshing Bite!
What You Need
Cereal
(recommended to be Post's Honey Bunches of Oats)
Milk
(HL mill is my fav)
Small teaspoon of Honey
(this one..any brand will do lah..just for the added sweetness)
Lychees
(big red juicy ones recommended...for yet more sweetness...
and an added zesty fragrance to the whole mixture)
One Big Bowl
One Big Spoon
A Healthy Appetite
What do you do:
Cereal in the bowl..Slather the honeyover it...
Chop some fresh juicy lychee and drop bits of them all over the cereal & honey mixture...
Pour the milk over..mix thoroughly....
Take big mouthfuls and enjoy enjoy enjoy....
Ahh....Sundays............ =))
J'aime les dimanches!!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

yada yada

Abit more rattles before the prince buzzes...

I just did a count. I have about 15 belts...but shit..I only effectively use maybe like 2 of them?...

What a waste I agree...But...

Hmm mm I am not the only woman like this right??...
Ok..feel slightly better...hee!

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Popping by Taka tomorrow...
Wanna get some new clothes...& well..maybe some dresses that I can wear to weddings or my D&D...
Been wearing the same outfit for weddings...boring liao..plus its the same group of people seeing me.. hahaha...

Don't think I'll be pubbing or anything...
Shit..I promised XL I think that I'll spend Friday with her..hmm mm...
Drag her shopping too? ahaa..we'll see...we'll see...

dream a little dream of....

During lunch with Jenice & Chloe..

The 3 of us got down to fantasising..Talked about having our own shop together..
A store...that's part cafe, part fashion/accessories boutique...


I'll settle the cafe & cooking..Jenice will settle the sewing..and maybe Chloe will do the designing?
Talked about who will do the dishes...who will serve customers...who will wash the dishes, wipe the floor...blah blah blah...
Chloe said I could "wax lyrical" on the walls...and make it into a junkie kinda place..

Hahaa....good laughs over the division of chores...
Ah...dreams...kinda nice when you find some to share your dreams & fantasies with...


Lemme see...what are some of the dreams & fantasies & wishes that I have? I think the list is loooong...too much to list...Some can be fulfilled...some are well but slivers of wishful fantasies...

## I wanna be a zoologist, a zookeeper, an animal trainer, a vet...
Better yet, I wanna be one of those people who roam the plains of Africa..documentating & observing wildlife...seeing them in their own home..interacting with them in their own backyard...Doing my part to bring more knowledge to the people of the world...

## As mentioned above. A business owner? Haa...cafe owner, boutique owner, dog grooming service..
Seems nice having your own little entity to look after..having total say about the direction of where it goes, how it goes...Knowing how much effort you put in translates to how much the business grows...

## I wanna be a freelance writer...(though I lack commercial writing skills... haha..) or a freelance PR person...PR in terms of the written media..
Not the PR of events & relationship nurturing...definitely not the "ha-ha-act-glam-i-am-so-hot" kind of PR.
I want to write articles..I want to do it freelance..offering services to companies to help them build up their brand..

## I wanna be a freelance events organiser..running around completing projects after projects...bringing shows to people..spearheading fruitful conferences/exhibitions to trade people..as and when I please...If I get sick of it..I'll just stop for awhile and rot...

## I wanna be a brand consultant. Am almost getting sick of doing marcomms. Been doing development of collaterals for the longest time. Maybe it's time for a change..branding..a darn interesting aspect of marketing...The very fact that a brand is so subjective and so intangible..makes it so so so interesting...And I love the $$ involved...Mass ads can cost so so so much...A 15 sec TV ad in prime time can easily cost $30,000- $50,000.

## I want a job that can allow me to wear jeans & tank tops & flip flops to work...slack slack..I like...Damn I used to be able to do that when I was in Ducktours..haha but that was like 4 years ago..

## I wanna be a loving mum. Hahaa...someone asked me..do you wanna have kids? My undoubted answer was "yes"...And that person gave me a "sure-or-not" kind of expression...CANNOT MEH?? I don't look like the kind who wants to have kids MEH???

## I wanna be an interior designer...

## I wanna change the world!!!

## I wanna.....

*dreams dreams dreams*
And the list goes on...

So there you go...I am a dreamer...with the concentration of a butterfly...flitting about here and there...my mind cannot stay still...

Hope one day...this butterfly mind of mine...settles down on a nice little perch...
A perch with a vantage point over the beautiful world of ours...
And when I flutter my wings..it sends ripples through the air...
Simple. Slight. Potent.