Xmas 2014

It suddenly appeared that everyone was available for a Xmas lunch on Xmas day itself! I thought I would rot at home again. So instead of the annual choir bbq, we had a potluck party at Pear's house, just renovated.

It was an overkill. Look at the amount of food we had.

LJ brought Bee hoon, Reika bought Shepard's pie, Sida brought Ramen eggs, Song Ern brought chocolates and curry chicken, I brought my lemon poppy cake freshly baked yesterday, woon brought roasted duck and pear brought sushi, chicken wings, wine and other drinks. 

A really good Xmas feast and party with great food and Xmas carols. Wow. Every Xmas should be like that. 

And I can't believe I'm flying off tomorrow for Japan! I'm actually quite reluctant to do my year review because of the second half of the year but I'll still do it for the sake of book keeping when I return.

Have a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
Till next year, Sayo!

Hello 6

Hello!

2 crazy weddings and a concert

Kailing's wedding

The first of the gang to get married! A rather no-frills and simple wedding, with really good food and wine. They ran out of white wine when they came over to our table but replaced it with sparkling wine! Even better! Haha, and we started our tradition of being the loudest yam sengers in the entire wedding dinner. Choir peeps.

Pear Pear's wedding

Really excited for this wedding because I haven't seen her for so long and we'r gonna perform together for the first time in so many years!

Early in the morning it was the church wedding and LJ got the bouquet from the throw.

One of the most fun wedding I have been to! We did a great performance considering we only set the songs and practised for a few hours 2 days before the wedding. I think she tear a little bit when we performed but didn't cry at all for the wedding. Haha. And we yam-senged so loud that the groom's parents were so shocked.

Really great fun with the peeps, after that in the hotel rooms and all. I wanted to dance or sing Chandelier but they didn't allow me to.

SYC Concert

One of the best SYC concerts I have been to. 3 choirs from Singapore, Japan and Philippines came together to present this wonderful ensemble. Amazing song selection and voices, the mix was just right and they even had a surprise at the end, where the 2 choirs premièred 2 songs just for SYC's 50th anniversary.

All in all, the concert was just enjoyable.

Early Xmas

Christmas came way too early this year. The 11.11 taobao festival got me spending almost $300, iherbs another $100 and my snow trip another $2000. It was too hard to resist the 2yuan international shipping plus all the discounts and rebates and cashbacks.

When the packages came in, I realised I missed the convenience of buying online and receiving presents on random days!

 

Slowly Revealing layer by layer

Half of my stuff

I am all ready for my snowboarding trip!

Bonus: 

Early xmas dinner with the dept at Harry's. The food was not bad, almost free flow alcohol and networking with the boss.

DnD

I cannot comprehend why employees don't like to go for Dance and Dinner. Food, entertainment, drinks, interaction, networking and all at one place for free. On top of that, the more involved everyone is, the more fun it gets. The first DnD I attended was in Exxon, where everyone, including all the big managers were so into the theme and every costume was so fabulous, the best table was too difficult to decide.

This time round was my first dinner at MBS ballroom with around a massive 2200 people. I didn't expect to have such a great time, maybe it was the wine or beer, or the two international colleagues, L and T, who I didn't interact much with in office suddenly had so much to exchange. T from Czech and I were the only ones to dress up for The Great Gatsby, the theme and she brought a bottle of really good whisky to share on the table. L from Argentina sat beside me and we just clicked immediately and she was telling me not to leave and asking the big boss to hire me and sorts. 

It was the alcohol. After the 3rd dish I can't stop nodding my head with the music. The live band was really good and the 3 of us were sitting down dancing to the music. The food was good too and after the dinner we danced a little while and went to T's friend's place where there were a group of people but I couldn't remember any of their names. 

I gained some fascinating knowledge.

T talked about how she thought it's not possible to have no winter anywhere so she brought all her winter clothes to sg, how the CEO of some big bank is a slut and the lady that slept with him told her.

L said all the bank employees in Latin America had ONS and slept with each other openly and party every other night. And the clubs open till 9am in the morning so they go for breakfast after that. 

Some parts of the industry is really crazy I guess. or some parts of the world is really crazy.
Lovely event. Lovely friends.

some rules

I'm enforcing some rules to my life.

• Ice cream/sweet stuff at most once a week
• Fried stuff at most once a week
• Running at least once a week
• Gym at least once a week
• No more spending on extravagant food if not necessary
• No more extra spending on clothes if not necessary

I'm limiting myself to $100 per week. Kind of returning to the life of a student. 

Organising myself

I need to organize myself.
4 months; 120 days had past and I am still in the same state.
I am typing and deleting this too many times because I don't know how to feel about this.

Should I treat this state seriously or should I be patient? In school everything has been planned for, your exam schedules, your estimated time of graduation, your holidays, the end of your holidays etc. So as students we don't have to be afraid or worry that we would lose our status as a student because we always have something ahead of us.

But none is present the moment you graduate and drop that status. You become an adult. You have a responsibility. You have the social pressure.

Something I feel myself suffocating because of the condition I'm under. That desperation. That helplessness. That  feeling of losing. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every month. I feel that I could collapse into a black hole any time, with nowhere to go and no way out except to deep further into the empty grounds.

This is tougher than any exams or tests that I have been through. From the past I have always gotten the second choice, like instep vs summer exchange, Korea vs Taiwan exchange, Ford vs Exxon, Mitsubishi vs IR, PG vs UL, and it had worked really well for me so far, until now. It was really easy in the past and now is the real test of luck. That one time failure in UL made me realise how I have been so backward in my thinking and reacting skills as compared to 2 years back.

I used to have so much potential as a student, I need to go back to my notes and begin my thinking journey again.

Organizing my thoughts with discipline and not act or react on impulse/emotions, without using my brain.

11.11

The biggest online shopping day in the world is upon Singapore.

I have spent about SGD300 in one day, just on online shopping and I can't wait for my stuff to be shipped here! I simply can't resist because there are cheap shipping, rebates, hongbaos and lotsa great stuff. Taobao is a poisonous drug.

So I bought a pair of boots, boot laces, hair trimmer, baby stuff, 5 pairs of socks, a pair of shoes, ski googles, a xmas scarf and 10 boxes of contacts.

It's a very early Xmas for me!

cause emotions

I woke up in the middle of the night with a whirlpool of emotions. I had a dream, not a nightmare, with all the negative emotions that I hated the most: being upset and angry. It kind of reminded me of the childhood though, those negative emotions that I used to have and long forgotten now.

I guess it's my mind's way of releasing those depressing thoughts that I had accumulated so far.

Mondays

Walking Dead and Game of Thrones are the only shows I look forward to on Mondays.

Gone Girl Bye Boy

Gone Girl is a really great movie, but not the appropriate movie to catch after witnessing a wedding.

Theng had a wedding lunch on Saturday. It's surprising how well we knew each other, considering we only met for 3 months in NJC and then 2 years later we went on to our first overseas trip with friends with Waiyin. I also caught up with Waiyin and her interesting life which still, is the same after so many years of not catching up. Haha.

One of the best films this year, (the best is still GOTG) Gone girl never had a boring moment. It was well paced, simple story that kept the audience guessing, has great acting and a twisted ending. By twisted, it means wicked. Acting within acting, story within story, I guess people like to see actors acting in an act. Get it? and it's really hard for actors to pretend that they are acting an act.

I was wiking around, turns out the lead actress has the same birthdate as me.

I'm going to do a Bye Boy soon.

bad habits

From a few years back I always had this really bad habit of rubbing my thumbnail with my fingers and now it has resulted in my right thumbnail being more polished than my left thumbnail. I hadn't noticed it until Peishan suddenly asked me if I polished my nails. And it looks really polished due to the wear and tear effect of friction for so long. I really need to kick this bad habit.

So it had been 3 months and still no signs. I'm starting to feel that I have exhausted most of my options and I don't know what to do. I can only stay at this stage for this long before it becomes a habit. 

Oktoberfest

The previous Saturday I finally went to Stuttgart Blackforest Cafe, which was really marvellous. One of the best German restaurants in town, great atmosphere and great German food.

I had the one portion pork knuckle: dry crispy skin with succulent meat, paired with sauerkraut and potato salad to negate the fried stuff. The blackforest cake was also one of the best blackforest cake I had, although expensive but it is soaked with brandy or cherry liquor. There was an F1 event special so we had 1 for 1 bubbly wine too.HAPPINESS. I spent around $40 I think. I would definitely go back again.

Last Saturday it's Oktoberfest with the boys at Paulaner. Great food too.. I guess all German food are really good. But it is very pricey. I spent around $60 for many various types of food and a mug of beer. I would have eaten at a buffet for that price though.

So I have started gymming on Saturdays instead of dipping in the pool because my body has gotten too used to swimming so there's no more effect. Every Saturday it's a body-aching day for me but it feels really good, although I hang out after that. I always had trouble bathing on that day and the next.

Bangkok 2014

The last time I went to Bangkok was in 2012 recess week, in my last college year before I got a job. 2.5 years later, I wanted to go back again and when an opportunity presents itself with company and free accommodation, might as well grab it. 

This time round was a little boring, I finished the Siam area shopping centres within a day, went to ctc weekend market, supermarket and a newly constructed biggest mall in Bangkok on the second day, and just wondered around on the third day. 

I had pad thai and mango sticky rice EVERYDAY woohoo! 

At the newest mall in Bangkok, there's Chikalicious, the famous dessert bar from NY where you can see the chefs prepare the desserts in front of you. A 3 course dessert grand prix comes with a wine paring (with extra cost), Overall I think it's too over rated. All the desserts I had wasn't impressive at all.

I had better desserts here, at After You dessert cafe. Earl grey jelly tea, Mille crepe with double chocolate ice cream. If you had this in SG, it might cost you around $16 but in BKK, it's half the price.

While shopping around Platinum mall, this dad was pulling around a mini trolley with a kid, which caught the eyes of many people. So totally cute!!



Overall, I'm not sure if I achieved my objective but at least I tried.
A great stay and great food, I would have gotten a check in luggage to buy all my cheap toiletries there.

laughing in my dreams

I woke up in the middle of the night laughing. Twice. I am totally puzzled by this weird behaviour because one minute I was laughing in my dreams, the other I woke up, still laughing when I don't really remember what happened, except I dreamt of my manager in Exxon.

I think I am too stressed out and it's my body reaction to stress.
I hope I don't start talking in my sleep.

my waist

When I do this and my hands can no longer feel my ribs, I know what I need to do.

For the past 3 months I have been sticking to my routine of swimming once every week and occasionally running on Sundays. I have completely stopped using my free weights, plus the unhealthy lunch that I didn't have much of a choice, my metabolism rate has gone down.

2 days ago I started my free weights routine again and I really felt the strain on my body today. I did another round 2 hours ago and I can feel my body still burning now with aching and uneasiness. It's so weird.

Looks like my fitness plan needs to start earlier than I thought, with all the holiday season round the corner (FOOD). And I need to train up for my snowboarding trip.

interview results

I received some devastating emails.

1. P company

Thank you for applying for the position of P. We regret to inform you that this position is no longer available. However, you may still be eligible for other positions to which you have applied.

It's not that I did not do well for the reasoning test, it's just that they cancelled the position.

2. G company

You are receiving this notification because your resume/CV was submitted to G for the position of G
 or because you were considered for this position based on your prior resume/CV submittal for another role.

At this time, we have decided not to fill this role, and this position has been cancelled. Thank you for your interest in employment opportunities and for your patience in awaiting a response. If this position is reopened in future, your CV may be reviewed and you may receive further communications.

Another case of position cancellation.

3. U company

I actually asked for their feedback because it's important for me to know what I'm lacking and what they are looking for.

- Strengths: A humble, down to earth candidate and eager to learn. From his experience, he has taken the initiative to explore big changes in life in order to experience and develop himself.
- Weaknesses: He lacks basic understanding of questions and is unable to sell himself as a candidate.

I admit it's true. I knew I did badly. I didn't answer her questions directly, just gave some crappy answer. If I'm not able to sell myself, how am I able to sell their products right?

Yea, it's 70% luck. No matter how well you do in an interview the job might be cancelled in the end.

weekend activities

Last weekend I visited Gardens by the bay for the first time. It was a rather cool place to visit once in a while but I'm not the flower kind of guy, so it was just alright for me. The best part of the day was actually the shabu shabu buffet dinner at Orchard Central. The food was really nice and fresh and we had free flow of soft serve ice cream like those in Mc Donald's. There was a time limit of 80mins but we arrived quite late and hungry and stayed till closing time. Great value for money buffet!

This weekend, while everybody's overseas last weekend, I was staying home.

Saturday:
Swam, went to the temple, library, bought some valrhona chocolate, ice cream, korean dinner, went for the night fest with some really cool night market stuff, then home with a good movie and a really good bottle of Cloudy Bay wine.

The night festival is quite a good experience. It had a very youthful and indie feel, not the usual typical event. If Singapore's weather is like California, it would be perfect.

Sunday:
Went to grandma's place, cooked lunch/brunch, went for a run and ended with a movie.

Back to work!

In the clouds

"Do you want to work in London?" "For how long?" "Permanent."

It was just a casual question by my manager during lunch but it triggered a reality check in my mind. 

It will be a really bold move. London is a totally different world. At least Shanghai is still an Asian city, cheap and convenient to live in. So I answered, "Depends on the package."

I hadn't realised I have been living in clouds. I have to put my feet firmly on the ground.

Evan is right. I don't have a solid option or plan as of now. I should be patient and continue looking, instead of thinking too much. Wait and see which option opens up first.

The dog days are almost over.

Things I will do when I get a more permanent job

Things I will do when I get a more permanent job:

1. Use my Jack Spade messenger bag
2. Continue my golf class
3. Sign up for gym 
4. or gymnastics 
5. or have a fitness plan
6. Wear my new shirts
7. Buy insurance
8. Pack my books and notes
9. Pack my clothes
10. WORK HARD

New money keeper

I bought my white wallet in Japan, which was about 4-5 years ago and used it until I went to Shanghai, I used the other brown Renoma wallet for a year before changing back to the white one when I returned. So far I have been looking for one has a special design like my white one but was unsuccessful, even though I went Japan to look for a wallet twice. My Japanese wallet design had rave reviews once upon a time but now it had been too seasoned and the whole thing looks like it's going to fall apart soon.

I had bought a backup Jack Spade wallet and I told myself to change my wallet and everyday working bag when I had an exciting change in my life, like a totally new job or moving to a new office, which is sort of signifies a fresh start. When I saw the Mismo billfold wallet that day when I stepped into Kapok Sg, I was like yeah finally a unique one and if I get into the job I wanted, I will get it.

I bought it today, even though my job is still pending, and because I had some extra income. Hee.

Mismo is a designer brand from Denmark, great design, great material and coin pocket like my previous wallet. The strong healthy calf leather smell greeted me when I unwrapped the wallet from the box and I just can't resist opening up and start using it.
Sorry, Jap wallet, thanks for the 4-5 years but I have a new money keeper now.

I also had a great frozen yogurt sundae from 313, probably the best value for money for such a huge cup, with 1 crunchy topping, 3 fruit toppings and 1 sauce.

The queue was long but really fast. So when you walk away like a total bitch, you don't get tasty ice cream/froyo on a hot Saturday to enjoy.

Holding tight

What an exhausting week.

My mind was on my phone the whole week I was working. I have to touch my phone every hour to make sure I didn't miss any calls and check my emails if there are incoming new mails. I had to bring my phone with me all the time, even when I'm photocopying some stuff or packing the files or going to the washroom or talking to somebody and make sure that it is fully charged all the time.

I am waiting for some calls that will determine my future.

That's what made me so jumpy whenever I hear or feel something vibrate or something reflects off my phone screen.

A few days ago I returned to my fav app again - DBS trading. You know, just shopping around spotting some deals and all. The data reception at CBD is incredibly fast and smooth, as compared to the no-reception-at-all Joo Koon area, but nothing still beats live-feed on the internet.

I'm counting on my phone for the next few weeks too. I'm so glad I got an Iphone.

Lessons to be learnt

The worst feeling in the world is coming out of an exam hall, knowing that you did not do your best or give your all. That's why in my school days I don't bother to check my results because I know that I have already gave my best. Not even a sliver of regret. That's confidence.

But knowing that you are given that opportunity and did not give it your all, the feedback is even worse than not having it at all.

Lessons to be learnt:
1. Never schedule 2 interview in one day. If you have to, always do the more important one first.
2. Do not lose focus of the interview just because the interviewer was really friendly
3. You have only one chance. If you don't show your everything, nobody will know your everything.

10 ways to get more followers in instagram

1. You need either a good face or a good body

2. Use those filters and be an expert at it

3. Post lots of selfies, the more skin you reveal, the more popular you get

4. Wear nice and tight clothes

5. Have clear, bright, non-shaky pictures that emphasize yourself

6. More organic stuff (like living things/food/human etc)

7. Happy face most of the time, sad face once in a while

8. Hashtag thingsyouwanttosaybutdontwanttoputincaption

9. Post a picture of the sky once a while with an emo caption

10. Post at least 3 times a week

2 interviews in a day

I scheduled two interviews yesterday, one near my old office in the morning and another near my old school in the afternoon.

The first was G company, which was really a breeze. I knew how to answer everything without hesitation. I think most industrial companies are like very standard and easy, having the same set of questions. The moment I walked out of the office I knew I had the job in my hand.

After lunch I prepared for the other interview at U company, which came as a surprise because I thought I did badly in the first phone call. I knew this one was gonna be tough so I had spent extra effort reading about it online and preparing myself for most situational questions. I really did my homework for this one.

I didn't know what came over me. Maybe I relaxed after the first interview. Maybe I was too tired and stressed out from the first interview. Maybe the amazing office overwhelmed me a little bit. Maybe the interviewer was too casual. Maybe the questions were too tough. Maybe there's always a mental barrier in me that stops me from working in such an amazing place. Or maybe I just wasn't cut out for it.

I knew I did badly for this one. I couldn't answer some of the questions properly. I paused for a long time and still didn't answer one of the question. I almost wanted to ask the interviewer if we could restart the interview but it was too unprofessional for me to do that but I did recap one of them after the interview ended. But I could really tell that the interviewer wasn't really interested and I walked out of the office really disappointed.

A GOTG Sunday

What a beautiful Sunday! The weather was nice, the air fresh and clean, the world still revolving.

I was so excited for this movie that I couldn't stop thinking about it, even after watching the trailer for so many times. Marvel meets Star Wars meets Indiana Jones meets Back to the Future. Unlike the previous film Captain America which was more grounded in action, this space epic is really out of this world (literally). The characters, the way they talk and interact and the music are all really unconventional and you can't really tell what is going to happen or what to expect in a crazy world like that, like Nebula getting blasted in the middle of a battle speech is really funny. Groot is obviously the attention stealer in the movie.

I guess some parts of the show might be confusing for non Marvel fans because it included a lot of background fun facts, like Knowhere being a dead celestial head or Cosmo the spacedog.

I didn't like how they depicted Nova Corps because I loved the comic. They are supposed to be one of the most powerful police force and their suits are supposed to be more sleek. And they didn't need a spaceship. Nova prime is supposed to wear the uniform too. Well my guess is Thanos is going to take the infinity stone in Xandar and destroy the planet in the process so that they can start a Nova movie with Richard Rider etc. Another flaw is how all the aliens look like human, or how they are able to communicate in English, unless all of them has a universal translator installed but Korath said some alien language. 

The awesome movie is accompanied by a good high tea at Mariott and a good haircut with Chloe. 

The day would be most perfect if it ended in a relaxing bathtub and stay in a luxury hotel. Such life.

The food in CBD

The food at Raffles place is doing something to me.

Within two week I had the most unhealthy lunch in almost 2 years: Fried beehoon and mee with fried chicken wings and fried egg and fried vegetables. Twice. I had iced teh tarik thrice.
The oil and sugar content of my meals are going to shoot up my bad cholesterol levels.

It's either the caffeine in the tea or the heightened pace that made my brain go into hyper-drive every time I step inside my office. Or maybe it's the stress that every mistake I make it's a potential million dollar loss. Like the extra 0 I accidentally added to make a 1 million payment into a 10 million payment, or the 0 that I left out that made a 8 million reporting into a 800K reporting. Lucky for my colleague who checks my work everytime, I have a safety net but it's really crazy to make even 1 mistake. It's really out of this world crazy.

stress

It's the first day of work this week and my second week into my new job.

For the past 12 hours I have found myself laughing (out loud) to myself in public while thinking of things or reading a book in the train, walking so fast in the office, made some careless mistakes, talking to myself and making funny expressions into my workstation screen.

I think I have been too comfortable in my previous position that now that the pace is much faster, adrenaline kicks in and I'm beginning to feel a little bit crazy.

productive week

This week has been the most productive week at work this year.

I was working 9-6 everyday that I didn't even have time to stop and think what to do during the weekend. I'm glad that time passes so quickly everyday, except that this job was quite mentally draining that I was always too tired to exercise when I got home.

Expenses wise, transportation and food takes a little bit more out of my pocket because of the location. Plus the reduction in my income, my savings are currently very limited in contrast to one month ago. Fortunately I have some additional income to cover me for some time.

I am so happy to have one day holiday! Yay long weekend!

Hanging out with Ameizing

A few days after Miley Cyrus, I hung out again with Amei.

Me, amei and one other friend were hanging out with one other group of friends, who didn't know the girl with the hoodie on was actually Amei. When "Ji De" came up on the TV screen, Amei took the mic and everybody went silent and the other group of friends were so shocked when she started singing.

I couldn't remember the rest of it.

I always had such intense dreams when I'm tired.

Hanging out with ladadidadi

I was in a farmer's market near a goat farm in Japan alone, a long way from the city centre but I didn't want to go into the goat farm because it's expensive and I'm not interested. I sat down on a bench near the entrance. Then a girl in a hoodie sat beside me. I turned to look at her, it's Miley Cyrus. I was so shocked so I asked Hey, what are you doing here? She said she just finished her concert and was travelling around on her own etc etc and she's also not interested in the goat farm so she didn't go in.

After chatting for quite some time, we really clicked with each other and decided to exchange phone numbers to whatsapp. Her number was +4012somethingsomething and we also decided to visit each other and stay at each other's house. I also showed her my spotify playlist, which has all the versions of "we can't stop" and she laughed saying I was crazy. We played around at the playground for a while before going on the bus back to the city and decided to meet the next day to hang out together.

When I woke up, I was so devastated it was just a dream. It was so real because I didn't realise I was dreaming, between 7am and 11am. So sighs.

One of the best and memorable dreams ever.

so full

This week is so full and exciting with a capital E!

After a relaxing Monday with a swim, I went to the library to borrow some new comics on Tuesday and a intellectual Wednesday with another 30 laps swim.

I started working in Raffles place in my old workplace on Thursday, ending the day with a buffet dinner with the department and free lunch and rendezvous on Friday with free desserts during tea time. Apparently they started this "Free Dessert Friday" for the whole department with a pool of money from our traders. Memories is flooding back to me on how I used to do the stuff there, so nostalgic.

I need more holidays. I want to sleep at 1am and wake up at 11am everyday. My precious sleep.

almost 2 weeks holiday!

I had almost 2 weeks of holidays and now one week had already past.

Let's see what I did:

• went for Kepler concert
• visit Ber and babies
• completed 150 laps in the pool and printed 5 layers of sunshine on me
• ate lots of blueberries and cherries
• ate muesli and milk with blueberries for breakfast everyday
• finished name of the wind and comics
• ate buffet at Lime
• ate one for one at Marmalade Pantry and Brewerks 
• watched Planet of the Apes
• packed my room a little bit

Here's what I originally planned to do:

• pack NS stuff
• pack storeroom
• pack notes, books, cupboard and red bag
• do my gundams
• do my star wars
• do my Legos

Aaaand I managed to pack the red bag.

Now I have 2 more free days left I don't think I'm going to complete everything on that list. 

Just relax and get ready for my next assignment.

imperfections

It's a week of ups and downs.

Friday I had my farewell lunch at DTF with my department, less the manager my boss. A lot of well wishes and keep-in-touches made me feel like it's a pity I had to leave but alas, I felt that it was the right time. Yes, Auntie Doris I will not forget you - she's so damn nice to me, always feeding me with stuff. Hope she gets well soon.

Saturday morning was really pleasant for sleeping in but I had to travel to Lavender - Tolido's cafe which had really nice fluffy pancakes. Met up with those peeps

and then back to Gombak for a quick swim, then back to Bugis for a quick dinner and then Kepler 2014!!!!

It's not bad but I was unsatisfied because we didn't get to experience the full Sunyanzi. She had a cold so her voice wasn't perfect and she didn't sing a lot. The new venue was too big, not cozy like the indoor stadium so the sound was unclear and atmosphere wasn't really suited for an intimate concert. 

I'm considering if I should go for another round when she gets better. Hm...

some days

Some days you just don't know how to feel about some people.

I mean, when the other party doesn't hold up to his end of the agreement, of course you will have an explosion of negative emotions. Then what can you do? or what can he do? What you want him to do is what he doesn't want to do right? Then what's the point in that?

I had a silent fart just now in the office, a really bad one so I quickly fan it with my notebook. After 10 seconds, a colleague (auntie) sitting next to my cubicle popped her head and asked "Your fish ah?" and I was like "huh?" then she turned back and said "I thought you had a pet fish because I smell fish". I replied "oh maybe it's water in the plant beside me". Then I remembered I had fish soup for lunch. 

Why do I have to worry?

I mean yeah, I did my best and let it go, what else could happen?

I don't have to feel stressed. Some of my friends and cousins are not stressed at all. It just means that I have the time for a break and to concentrate on other stuff and don't have to worry because something will come along the way.

If I am stuck in a hole that stinks, I will want to get out as fast as I can to get to another safe place.

In all fairness, the real challenge I can foresee in the future is my reduced fitness routine and not being able to see the sun when I get home.

June is such a long month.
It is a time for change and I look forward with anticipation.

The weekend

Friday
6.30pm - Running in the park
7.30pm - Dinner
8.00pm - Watching two episodes of OITNB
10.00pm - Doing assessment at Yan Ying's house
1.30am - Sleep

Saturday
9.30am - Playing one level of PvZ and then back to sleep again
11.00am - Breakfast
12.00pm - Swimming and tanning at the pool
3.00pm - Late lunch
6.30pm - Preparing to get out of the house
7.30pm - Visiting the temple to find out it's closed
8.00pm - Haircut at Bugis +
8.30pm - Reading some comics at the library
9.00pm - Salted Caramel Hazelnut cake at Patisserie G
9.30pm - Took the blue line for the first time
10.00pm - First glass of rum sprite at Bartini
11.00pm - Witnessed some girl on girl action
12.00am - Talking to myself and laughing uncontrollably while peeing in the washroom alone
1.00am - Arranging my hair in the mirror then puked into the sink
2.00am -Unknowingly dropped one contact lens and staggering back to friend's place to stayover
2.15am - I had no idea how I managed to get out of my clothes to bathe
2.30am - Second puke
2.45am - Third puke, poured the contents of any container I could find into my mouth, hoping it's plain water
3am - Concussion

Updated: Apparently I also did yoga, wanted to lie on the wet and dirty floor, kissed and got kissed.

Sunday
10.00am - Waking up with no memory of where I placed my stuff
11.00am - Napping
12.30pm - Temple at Bugis
1.00pm - Lunch at Astons
3.30pm - Home
4.30pm - Napping again
8.00pm - Dinner
10.00pm - Blog
11.30pm - Sleep

mights of the boss

I'm afraid to tell my boss I want to take a month break because...

He might not allow me

He might think that I'm quitting

He might get somebody to replace me and tell me not to come back anymore

I might get a pay-cut for my next contract

I might be bored at home and nowhere to go

I made a list of what to do but not sure if I can complete it

I might get used to having too much breaks

I might not get used to coming back to work after that

I don't have enough time if I want to renovate the kitchen

My day everyday

6.55am - wake up, shower, dressed

7.03am - out of the house

7.13am - CCK MRT

7.20am - Yew Tee MRT

8.00am - office, apple, reading

8.15am - io9, gizmodo, twitter, facebook, hotmail, gmail, instagram, dbsvickers

9.30am - fill water bottle

9.35am - complete one PVZ pinata party and level

9.45am - zonk out

11.55am - lunch

1.00pm - zonk out

5.25pm - pack, bus

6.03pm - Yew Tee MRT

6.13pm - CCK MRT, home

6.30pm - workout/nap/snack

7.35pm - shower, dinner

8.00pm - laptop/comic

11.35pm - Sleep

Repeat.

becoming

The people that surrounds you everyday actually, eventually and slowly affects the way you think, talk and act. Like in school, if you hang out with the gothic gang you would probably prefer to wear black makeup and black clothes more.

I'm not trying to be elitist, but similarly in a company if your co workers are resistant to change or complacent, you will actually become like them. If they can't use proper sentences to communicate, you are most likely to talk like them.

and I am afraid of that.

Edge of Tomorrow and Maleficent

Over the weekend I caught 2 movies because there's Safra weekend 1 for 1 in Shaw Theatres!

Just look at this metal slug lookalike poster. Adapted from a Japanese novel "All you need is kill", this is really good Tom Cruise movie. I think this was the best original sci-fi action movie this year. I really loved the action and the story, and the CGI doesn't look fake or overkill. Not your typical hero-saves-damsel movie, no boring scenes, pacing and character development were excellent. I need to watch it again. Watch. Repeat.

I was bored on a Sunday so after a good brunch at Missing Pan (I really love the french toast), caught another movie. Not my favourite movie, it's just alright. If AJ wasn't in the movie it would have been a bad one.

bank deposits and cheap deals (update)

Did I mention I had quite a few deposits in the bank this month? Not as much as somebody's 5K but I really don't mind that extra in my bank account.

I have been eyeing that Ralph Lauren shorts that I saw in Canada and spotted on taobao, and Msia airlines has $342 flights to Shanghai and I have one extra day of leave from National Day and I have free accommodation at somebody's house.... hm.......

I'm an overseas addict. While I'm in office my mind persona is shivering in a corner and craving for that smell of the boarding gate in the airport. I think I'm just too bored with life now that I'm out of school.

Update: ok cancel that part. I don't think it's overseas that I'm craving. I think it's a break that I need. Every university semester there's always a one month mid term and 3 months summer break so during exams I will list down all the things I'm gonna do in that long holiday. I can wake up whenever I want, go wherever I want, do whatever I want. (hm... sounds like a Miley Cyrus song). And I didn't really go overseas a lot during my student years, except my final semester and grad trip.

So yeah. I will take a break before starting my next job.

like a usb and magnet

In my job scope, I have this file which I have to update once or twice every week. So whenever I update, this scene of me sitting on a car on the street of Shanghai towards Xujiahui will always pop up in my mind. I have no idea how it started but it always makes me feel like going back there because the scene is so fresh in my mind. This is so weird.

It's just like whenever I hear the song "Rolling in the deep" I get reminded of driving in the golden summer fields in California towards Yosemite National Park. More recently, I hear the song "Magic" the scene of driving towards Niagara falls will appear in my mind. 

It's like a reflex of my mind, it just clicks like two opposite magnets and links like a usb to a port.

Reminiscing the past is ok, but excessive or living in the past is really unhealthy. Luckily I don't like to live in the past. All that matters is actually today, the present and the future - the things you are going to do, not you have already done. 

Perception of time and weather

I finally understood why I didn't feel the change in weather in Toronto and Shanghai.
I am used to the blasting aircon in my office and I am feeling cold all the time.

So yesterday I went jogging and my body was really resisting. I keep wondering am I just being old or am I just plain lazy? or a bit of both? I used to run the whole 5km route without stopping, then I started to walk a bit at the slope, then now I have started to walk at the slope and at the traffic junction.

I have decided to join an adult gymnastics class to increase my flexibility and body strength so that my body will not be frail and old.

It has been the second weekend after my holiday but why does it feel like it had been a year??? Last night I dreamt that I was going Shanghai tomorrow. UGH.

Amazing Spider-man 2

When it opened in the theatre, I was at Toronto and I wanted to watch there but we didn't have extra cash left. When I came back to Singapore most of my friends have already watched it so I wanted to watch it alone but with a dip of luck, Lynn n Kw said ok after dinner on Saturday

Spoiler alert!

Honestly I was a little bit upset and disappointed. Although the effects and the acting were good, some dialogues were just too cliche and most chatting parts were too boring. I almost fell asleep when they kept talking on and on (a lil bit because of my jet-lag).. and they twisted the storylines so much I had a hard time convincing myself it's believable.

Some parts like the almost-plane-crash was completely irrelevant. The Roosevelt thing was also unnecessary. Norman Osborn was supposed to be the first green goblin. Green goblin was supposed to have the goblin serum. Gwen was supposed to fall from the Brooklyn bridge. The web was supposed to catch her at her legs. These are very classic Spider-man turning points!! Urgh. And green goblin just transformed for a few seconds and already doing a major scene? Urgh.

I thought Gwen's fall came too fast! When she was falling with her green coat, it suddenly dawned on me that it was "the scene" and my whole body tensed up, my eyes opened wide, legs pushing against the ground and my hands were on my face and my mind was screaming NO NO NO NO NO NO. It was a great scene, just that I expected it to be in the next movie or something because green goblin just turned.

Other than that, there were no classic Marvel-end-credit scene, just a mid credit x-men scene that's totally unrelated. (Because Sony agreed to advertise for free).

Well it actually didn't make me look forward to the Sinister Six movie or Venom spinoff.

No more holidays/leave?

I'm doomed.

In Jan, after Hong Kong I had Msia to look forward to. After Msia I had Japan to look forward to. After Japan I had Shanghai and Canada to look forward to. After Canada I HAVE NO MORE HOLIDAY PLANS!! HELP!!!

I only left half a year's leave now so I can only use my annual leave in the second half of the year.

This is so devastating. 5 days were left for my Australia trip, pending in Sept, most likely not happening, and 3.5 days left for my Japan boarding trip, and I have no more biz trips to Shanghai and the next public holiday is in end July. WHYYYYYY.

What do I have to do to get more days of leave??

Toronto and Montreal

I had actually planned to visit Canada during the long May holidays by taking 7 days of leave and having 14 days of holiday and stay at Zhihui's apartment. So I asked Evan to see if he's interested then he suggested Amsterdam, because one of our friend just moved there and the flights are much cheaper. But her apartment wasn't ready so we dropped that idea and went ahead to Canada!

I bought flight for Shanghai first then to Toronto because star alliance doesn't fly direct, and it's actually the same price. Then my company wanted to send me to Shanghai for training 3 days before my actual Shanghai flight. Argh buggers. So I had to forfeit the flight that I actually bought myself and get on the other flight that they put me on.

No monetary loss for me, but it's just the feeling of not using the things that you bought yourself. Luckily, I could make a refund of the flight taxes so that saved me a little cash.

I flew on 26th April, attended 2 days of boring training, and then off to Toronto!



First day we were nursing out jetlag because it was 12 hours behind. Eaton Center, St Lawrence market and packing for our Montreal trip the next day. Sunset was at 8.30pm everyday so the day felt so long.

ZH had helped us booked the 2 hour flight to Montreal at the domestic airport, which you had to take a shuttle bus, change to ferry that will take you to the terminal. Porter airlines was really really amazing. The lounge had two full fridges complete with juices and coke etc, and free coffee and tea, cookies and nuts and a room of Mac computers. It's the first time I was on board a small propeller plane! So cool.





Here's Montreal, the French speaking city of Canada. Even the trains announcements are in French

Back to Toronto after 3 days in Montreal, here's the CN tower, Rogers center, Steam Whistle brewery

Niagara falls day was probably the highlight of the trip. We rented a car, drove to the falls and then went for some wine tasting at some good local wineries, bought some icewines and went outlet shopping, where we spent most of our cash.

Museums

and more shopping at Eaton Center.

We had a transit flight at Vancouver airport before returning to Shanghai. The airport was filled with icewines and stuff that tempted me to buy. The flight itself felt so fast because I kept sleeping.

The shopping experience was better than I thought. It was a little bit more expensive version of US but overall I didn't expect myself to be on a such a shopping spree. These are what I bought back:

2 Abercrombie Tee
1 Abercrombie Shirt
1 CK Tee
1 American Eagle Shirt
1 Spiderman Junkfood Tee
5 CK underwear
4 Bath and body works body wash
3 Dove men body wash
1 Dove men shampoo
3 Chocolate bars
1 Kate spade bag
3 Pilliteri icewines
3 Assorted ice wines
1 Banana granola peanut butter
1 Cranberry coconut granola
1 Champagne vinegar pearls
2 Reese pieces
1 Reese pack of 4

Sounds little, but my 2 luggages back to Singapore were 35kg in total. 0_0 Luckily the flight was quite empty so I wasn't charged extra. That ends my 2 week holiday!

Toronto and Montreal is not as crowded as Shanghai or Singapore, so it might feel a little boring or lack of crowd. We wanted to visit one of the National parks but it wasn't the season yet.
I'm quite sure I will not return to travel leisure in the city again, maybe to skii or snowboard if I'm sick of Japan. It's also my last trip to Shanghai as my training has ended officially. So long, Shanghai!

Having major withdrawals now.