Life Is Cruel~ But Sweet Enough~

How many times had you spent tons of hard work on something, and the end result only took up a few minutes of everyone's time? I guess the answer is... "Always"

A moment of fame/glory at the expense of sweats and hunger~

Finally I managed to deliver the presentation earlier (5th Feb @ 1740hrs) to the Big Shots after completing my 3-days preparations. The "glorious" moment only lasted for 10-15mins. But it was a relief for me~ and I felt a huge sense of satisfaction after slogging for the past week. I guess everything went well... they were nodding their heads while I talked my way through, and I could answer almost all their queries... except for one question: "Which external auditors will be coming?" Seriously speaking, how would I know all the other big shots who would be coming over on 27th Feb 07? Moreover, I'm actually doing the presentation on behalf of my 2nd Boss, who was engaged in another activity. Nevertheless... I supposed I did a good job so far... and I treasure the chance given to me~

Before I left my workplace, I came across an email... a rather sad one... it's about a female colleague from another unit going for an urgent tumour operation at Mt Elizabeth, but the amount involved is about $90k (including $30k as deposit)!! Thus, we were all asked to help... I did... with only S$10/= available... (had been quite poor without the existence of my RB) and this is where Mr. Money showed us his ULTIMATE POWER~~

No $$ - No Talk

The world is such a cruel place to live in... and I am just one of its prey~

It's Now Or Never~

I feel happy today~

Got to see my Poly friends and finally had the opportunity to sit down and chat with each other, without the presence of their partners. Nah~ dun say I'm selfish... it's juz that sometimes I juz want to be ALONE with my friends. You dun have to worry about whoever's partner started to get bored from the non-related topic, or any couple engaging in their own world. Hmm... ok lah, you can say I'm selfish if you want to...

Anyway, we had our lunch at Vila'ge (pronounced as "V-Lah-J") Heeren, and then we went to PartyWorld KTV~ it's been so long since I last opened my golden mouth at a KTV (all thanks to Esther & Annie, the KTV Queens). Not forgetting our self-proclaimed KTV King - Errol, who indeed impressed us with his vast knowledge of songs... and nice vocals.

At Vila'ge
(Left-to-Right Top: Alvin & Ariane)
(Left-to-Right Bottom: Zhihui, Annie & Me)

At PartyWorld KTV - Room 59
(Left-to-Right: Me, Annie, Esther, Zhihui, Errol & Ariane)

Singing Halfway But Alert Enough To Pose For Photo

I would never forget the times when we played poker cards behind our Principal's office at TP - Grange Road Campus, during breaks. The whole bunch of us - Ariane, Esther, Annie, Shuzhen, Zhihui, Alvin & Errol would always hang out together, going to different Schools in TP to have our lunch, photocopying each other's tutorials when we were spilt into different tutorial groups in year 2 & 3, and copying notes when any one of us failed to attend lectures... especially me~ since I hate waking up in the morning. Well, everyone had their own life now, getting married, having babies, thinking of getting attached but haven yet~ haha... not talking about myself lah~ but all of us still looked the same - still friendly with each other.

Recently I realised I had been catching up with my old friends whom I had not met for months and even years. Guess I'm afraid of having regrets in my life...

Life is short... if you dun choose to meet them now, are you gonna see them at your deathbed instead?

Golden Opportunities

It's been another busy week for me... doing audit checks and documentation stuff.

I was given the chance by the Audit Chairman to lead a group of 6 men, going everywhere to do our checks, and instructing them on what to do, etc. I guess this was a great opportunity to prepare myself for the greener pasture in a few months time, provided everything goes according to plan.

Earlier there was another challenge for us... we were told that the presentation was on next Monday 3pm, and most of the documentation hasn't been done yet. It was a busy week for all of us, packed with Thaipusam duties, Annual D&D and other operational stuff for some of the members... how do they find the time to juggle between our audit and their work? This explains for the delay on the documentaion work.... sigh~ since operational duties always come 1st.

Moreover, I was tasked to do the presentation cos my Chairman would be engaged in another commitment. It's going to be another "warm-up" for me, to stand in front of all the BIG SHOTS and talk my way through, which I might be required to do that quite often in the future.

Hmm... sometimes I wonder if I'm lucky or what~ that all types of opportunities kept knocking at my door... except for money... Anyway, I'm gonna treasure those chances and hopefully I'll be a better person from all these experiences.

Forgive me if I'm slightly quiet these few days... hahaha... cos my mind is fully occupied~

Psychological Test

I had always enjoyed doing those psychological tests... cos they're so funny and nonsensical sometimes. Here is another test contributed by Lynn~

Take a piece of paper and write down the answers.. The analysis is in the end....

Situation:

You are in a deep deep forest... as you walk on you saw an old hut standing there

(1) What is the status of the door?

(Opened/closed)

You enter the hut and see a table...

(2) What is the shape of the table?

(Round/Oval/Square/Rectangle/Triangle)

On top of the table there is a vase... in the vase there is water.

(3) How much water is it filled up with?

(Full/Half/Empty)

(4) And what is the vase made of?

[(Glass/porcelain/clay) (metal/plastic/wood)]

You walk out of the hut... as you carry on your walk in the forest... you see a waterfall from far... there is water running down...

(5) What is the speed of the water?

(Choose a number ranging from 0 to 10)

Some time after the waterfall... you step on something hard on the ground... as you look down... you see glistening gold in colour. You bend down and pick it up... it is a keychain chained with keys...

(6) How many key/keys you see hanging on the keychain?

(Choose a number ranging from 1 to 10)

You walk on and on... trying to find your way out... suddenly you see a castle.

(7) What is the condition of the castle?

(Old/new)

You enter the castle and saw a pool of murky water with shining jewels floating on it...

(8) Will you pick up the jewel?

(YES/NO)

Next to the murky pool... there's another pool... with clear water and money floating on it...

(9) Will you pick the money?

(YES/NO)

Walking to the end of the castle there is an exit... you proceed to walk out of the castle. Outside the exit, there is big garden, you see a box on the ground.

(10) What is the size of the box?

(small/medium/big)

(11) What is the material of the box?

(cardboard/paper/wooden/metal)

There is a bridge in the garden some distance away from the box.

(12) What is the bridge made of?

(metal/wooden/rattan)

Across the bridge, there is a horse.

(13) What is the colour of the horse?

(white/grey/brown/black)

(14) What is the horse doing?

(still and quiet/nibbling grass/running about)

OH NO!!! There is a tornado coming... some distance from the horse. You have 3 options:

(i) run and hide in the box?

(ii) run and hide under the bridge?

(iii) run to the horse, ride on and gallop away?

<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

Here are the interpretations:

(1) The door:

>opened door - you are a person who is willing to share

>closed door - you are a person who is keeping things to yourself

(2) The table:

>Round/oval - any friends that came along, you will accept and trust them completely

>Square/rectangle - you are a bit more choosy on friends and only hangout with those whom you think are on the same frequency

>Triangle - you are really very very picky about friends and there are not many friends in your life

(3) Water in vase:

>Empty - your life is not fulfilled

>Half filled - what you want in your life is half fullfilled

>Full - your life is completely fulfilled and good for you! :)

(4) Material of vase:

>glass/clay/porcelain - you are weak in your life and tends to be fragile

>metal/plastic/wood - you are strong in your life

(5) Flow of waterfall:

>0 - no sex drive at all

>1 to 4 - low sex drive

>5 - average sex drive

>6 to 9 - high sex drive

>10 - gone case!!! super high sex drive!!! Can't live without sex...

(6) Keys:

>1 - you have one good friend in your life

>2 to 5 - you have a few good friends in your life

>6 to 10 - you have a lot of good friends

(7) Castle:

>Old - shows that your last relationship is not a good one and is not memorable to you.

>New - your last relationship is good and it's still fresh in your heart.

(8) The jewel from the murky pool water:

>YES - when your partner is around you, you will flirt around with others.

>NO - when your partner is around, you will stick around with him/her most of the time.

(9) The money from the clear water pool:

>YES - even when your partner is not around you, you will still flirt around with others.

>NO - even when your partner is not around, you will still think of her/him and and will be loyal to her/him, not flirting around with others.

(10) The size of the box:

>small - low ego

>medium - average ego

>big - high ego

(11) Material of the box (outlook of the box):

>cardboard/paper/wooden (non-shining) - humble personality

>metal - proud and stuck up personality

(12) The material of the bridge:

>metal bridge - have very strong bond with your friends

>wooden bridge - average bond with your friends

>rattan bridge - you are not in good terms with your friends

(13) Colour of the horse:

>white - your partner is pure and good in your heart.

>grey/brown - your partner is only average in your heart.

>black - your partner doesn't seem to be good in your heart and appears to be bad sign.

(14) Horse action:

>still and quiet/nibbling grass - your partner is a very homely and humble person.

>running about - your partner is a wild type of person.

This the last but most important part of the test. From how I ended the story... a tornado approaches... What are you going do? There are only 3 options:

(i) run and hide in the box?

(ii) run and hide under the bridge?

(iii) run to the horse, ride on and gallop away?

Now, the above is signified by these things:

>tornado - problems in your life

>box - you

>bridge - your friends

>horse - your partner

(i) So if you choose the box, you keep your problems to yourself whenever you are met with problems.

(ii) or if you choose the bridge, you will go to your friends whenever you are met with problems.

(iii) or lastly if you choose the horse, you seek your partner whenever you are met with problems.

Hehe... hope you enjoy the quiz so far~

4.5hrs In Sentosa

The Initial Plan 4 To be at Sentosa on 28th Jan 07 @ 1130hrs J

The Actual Case 4 Arrived at Sentosa on 28th Jan 07 @ 1530hrs :(

The Reason 4 Overslept til 1030hrs and subsequently being "kidnapped" by a family of 3 comprising of a mother and 2 sons to go AMK Central and buy track pants, sell Nokia 7610 and buy SE K618i...

Here are the places that I visited at Sentosa... personally guided by Shirlene who had previously worked at Images of S'pore before~

Sentosa Luge & Sky Ride

"Once Is Never Enough"... that is their motto... and it is very true. Just when you are starting to know how to maneuver the Luge, you had reached the ending point. It's quite expensive thou... $8 for a one time Luge and skyride back to the top, and $15 for 3 Luge rides and skyrides. In order to save $, we took the cheaper rate *hehe*

Carlsberg Sky Tower

This is the tall tall tower where we can see the whole of Sentosa and some southern islands when the round round thing escalates to the top (131m above sea level). Think I'm the weak one... cos I feel abit giddy when the round thing slowly moves twice in clockwise direction to let us view the scenery. Here are some pictures I took before I puke.. (just joking lah *haha*) Hmm~ honestly speaking, I missed my SuperStar Virgo from the view~~ (gonna plan another trip there soon *hehe*). By the way, you could see the Luge track in the pic beside the Merlion... the long (but not that long) wounding track below the skyride.

Images of Singapore

This place is nice... tells us the history of Singapore... with alot of life-sized figurines inside, which most of them looked scary *oohhh*. But it's worth visiting if you're going Sentosa thou...

The nicely tanned and glossy coolies in their quarters

The hidden man whom you see when you open the "toilet" door beside the coolie quarters (almost scared me siah... lucky I open slowly)

Where is the Trishaw man?

The Fire-Walking Experience
(really very painful cos it's barefoot vs jagged surfaces)

Part-time advertisement for Ice Balls

Musical Fountain

The show starts at 1940hrs and the crowd started sitting as early as 1820hrs. We got our seats at 1840hrs cos Shir said the place would always be filled up latest by 1900hrs. I was so enthusiastic about the show cos it was said to be quite good. Finally after waited for an hour, the surrounding lights darkened and the host appeared in the spotlight. He greeted us and there were some simple water splurging movements... people clapped... then there was silence... with only the host doing some hand movements in the spotlight. Oh~ he was apologising to the crowd... cos there was some technical fault. So everyone waited...

A minute later, the same host appeared again in the spotlight and the same introduction speech was played again through the system. Suddenly there was a sense of déjà vu... cos the silence started again at the same point. I started to think... "am I so lucky?" The thought was then disrupted by the 3rd time of similar introduction by the same host (poor fella actually)... but this time the show extended til the part where the laser image of "Kiki" the Monkey appeared among the water, which was about 5 mins into the show.

The funny thing was... "Kiki" was hiding and appearing in the background, and suddenly it was gone... the system cocked up again~ and the show couldn't carry on anymore... No "Kiki" - no show. And no show means Ah sze wants to leave for home cos she's tired of waiting. It's such a disappointment~

By the way, I only managed to take a picture of the evil Merlion when it's eyes and mouth became orange during the evening, from the place where I sat at the boring Musical Fountain.

Brown Arrow

Anyone ever seen a bruise which looked like a brown arrow?

Now you can see one~~ on my left lower leg... appearing just nice below my bermudas... hahaha... wonder how it transformed to that shape after I accidentally brushed against the 70kg equipment box lying on the container floor on 24 Jan @ 0730hrs...

Brown arrow says : "This way please"

Mee Keow

What's "Mee Keow"? You may wonder...

Nope~~ it has nothing to do with "Mee Pok" or "Heh Keow"( Prawn dumpling)...

It's the name of a lady staff from the Accounting Dept of a 6-star Hotel at Raffles Ave.

So what's so interesting about her, that I chose to include her in my post? Well, she's got this damn bad f**king attitude when my buddy spoke to her over the phone pertaining to an overcharged issue previously mentioned in my post dated 25 Dec 06. To recap abit, my friend was overcharged for the same room package that we took up on the X'Mas eve and the counter staff assured us that the amendments would be reflected in the next creditcard bill. Unfortunately, that assurance was a fraud and my buddy called up to enquire.

That lady staff kept insisting for the room number that my buddy had previously stayed and despite giving her the confirmation number stated on the invoice, she claimed that she could not retrieve any useful information to process the claim. How could a 6-star Hotel not have any previous transaction records to fall back on? And how could we remember the 4-digit room number that we stayed a month ago? It's not as if that number had let us stroke lottery or something. Nevertheless, my buddy decided to end the conversation since it was pointless to carry on after some "blood-vomiting" sessions.

The next day, my buddy called up again and spoke to the Credit Manager, who immediately apologised and settled the issue within a short period of time. The great difference between those two were like going through Hell before reaching Heaven - that blacksheep had really tarnished the image of the 6-star Hotel *tsk tsk tsk*

The Portrait

My elder brother just mms me a picture... saying that it was a portrait of my sis-in-law when she is angry. Hahaha... and the infamous artist is their eldest daughter.

My brother is a daring man to say that~ hahaha...

<<---- a picture says a thousand words

The Long-Awaited Meet-Up

Finally we got to meet up with Lynn... after our last meeting on 30 Dec 2003.

It was a nice 4-hours gathering for the 3 of us, having ample time to have lunch, and catch up with whatever stuff that happened in the past and the present. Glad she's doing well in her studies and other stuff, and she's still as lovely as ever~ (that laughter is stll the same - happy & loud)

It had been almost 8 years, and we still looked the same... although we had matured intellectually (cos we dun look old, duh~). Gone through a psychological quiz given by Lynn earlier and it was fun... well it goes something like this >>>

1. Which type of house would you prefer? How big will it be?
2. Is there going to be a fencing around your house?
3. There is a table in the house. What is on the table?
4. In front of your house, which body of water do you see? Eg. sea, lake, pond, etc.
5. How will you get over to the other side of that body of water?
   Do you get into the water or stay away from it?
6. When you are in a jungle, what animal do you see 1st?
7. What do you do when you saw that animal?
8. When you reach a toilet in the jungle, there is a cup outside the toilet.
   What material is the cup made of?
9. What do you do with the cup?
10. I wonder why there is no question number 10 to make it as a round figure...

Well, for those who are interested in knowing the meaning to your answers, email me... cos I dowan you guys to disturb Lynn hahaha... although maybe she doesn't mind~ (but I do).

Anyway... on our way back to the MRT station, I managed to get her something free of charge cos of some 'connection' with the seller - roasted chestnuts (her fav). That was the only gift I can offer before she's leaving again on 1 Feb hahaha (cheap-skate). By the way, I really appreciate that she could find time for us cos her schedule is super packed... busy people is like that wan - need to queue up very long to get appointment fixed haha.

Here's wishing you all the best in your studies for the final semester!! Hope to catch up with you soon before we have to wait another few years to do so~

Zodiac Attractions

A friend told me today that Scorpios are especially attracted to Taurus....

Haha... that's a funny belief... some would say...

But somehow or rather, it could be true....

One may be a coincidence~

Two could be pure luck~

But three???

It's up to you to believe....

Easy $$$

Someone suggested to me... to arrange for a mating session for Fluffy the rabbit... so that when the baby rabbits are born, we can sell his kids for cash - mercenaries called that "Easy Money".

I rejected the idea...

How can we purposely let them mate and then sell off their kids just like that, even though they are animals? You could give excuses like "they (animals) also don't know" or "they (animals) also don't care"... but I still feel it's against the ethnics if you had plans for that.

Animal parents do have feelings too~ they would also take care of their youngs and shield them from harm, sometimes much more than humans do.

Humans are such selfish creatures where greeds often overcome their morality~

I do not yearn to be like them~ do you?

The Return of Lady Luck

Got the good news yesterday that the long-awaited bonus will be out in the coming Feb's payroll. Yeah!! Hopefully it's true... cos it was supposed to be mine since Sept 06~~

Maybe the news lifted up my spirits, so much so that I ended up spending an extra few more hours staying back in the office to settle some audit stuff til 1pm after my night shift earlier. Brought some minor tasks back home to finish up cos it's gonna be a busy month for me til end of Feb. Sigh~ busy busy busy again....

While entering this post, I received yet another great news from Koh at 2pm plus >>> my 379 was solved, with 2 out of 3 down!! Another Y-E-A-H for me hahaha... guess Lady Luck's back with me~

Welcome home....

What The Hell~

All of us thought today was the Judgement Day (finally) for the case which happened in Dec 2005 (almost becoming history liao) cos we had been waiting for them to fix the date ever since it was being postponed twice last year.

Today was the 2nd time all of us gathered in that conference room and once again, it was purely time wasting. I look at you, you look at me, I look at my paper, you look at yours, I take my 40 winks (meaning taking a short nap) and you take yours... all we did was wait... and wait... as if we were waiting for some kind of miracle to happen in the room. All of us got hungry while waiting from 9am til 11.30pm, and one by one, we roamed around the vicinity and started to chit-chat with each other. However, we were later told that it had to be postponed AGAIN til mid February 2007!!

We then asked ourselves: "What actually are we here for?"

Someone suggested next time we should bring some card games like Uno, to play while waiting. Well, it's true... cos they are basically wasting our precious time, especially those who had applied for leave from their outside work, to go all the way to that place, just to sit in the room and wait (in vain). If time = $$, I wonder how much hundreds they had wasted from about 12 of us for that 2.5 hrs.

Can somebody help us to tell them to hurry up with the thing so that we can move on? It's so inefficient... making us angrier and angrier at their slow pace of work. Arghh~~

World of Warcraft (Part 2)

Today... I made a big decision.

I cancelled my WoW subscription and deleted all the installed files in my computer. It had been my obsession once or twice since Sept 2005, but now I decided it's time to let it go~ until the time comes again to relit the passion.

I need more time to myself now... more time to relax my mind, more time to spend time with my friends and family. Heard from one of my close friend that his uncle was currently in the last stage of his terminal illness, and it was quite a sudden news to them actually - since the uncle had kept them in the dark for quite some time.

--- Treasure Those Around U Before U Live To Regret ---

Misconception

I always had this conception that a market trolley was supposed to be a great helper when you need to buy alot of stuff from the supermarket or anywhere else. My mother had also been expressing her interest in getting one since months ago.

Earlier we went to Fairprice Xtra, and finally got ourselves a $10 blue metal trolley. We were quite excited in its usage cos we're gonna buy quite alot of heavy stuff such as 24 cans of Coke, 6 cans of Green Tea, 24 packets of Chrysanthemum Tea, 1 big packet of TOP washing powder, and 1 big bottle of Softlan, etc. But it turns out to be a turmoil for the 3 of us: me, mum and Shir.

1st of all, the front wheels are much smaller than the rear ones, so there wasn't much stability if you were to push the trolley forward, let alone coming across a small depession on the ground during the pushing. It was such so "malu" when the trolley toppled forward and some of the stuff dropped onto the ground. Lucky none of us fell onto the ground from the sudden surge. It was then that we told ourselves that it's not that much of a helper afterall, unless all 3 of us were so incompetent in handling the small trolley, which might be the case hahaha...

Anyway I volunteered to take charge of the unstable fella and I decided to pull it instead of pushing it, since the rear wheels are bigger and I did see some people pulling it sometimes. Well, it helps~ and when it came to the staircase, it was another headache for us. Mum and I had to carry each side of the trolley in order to overcome the steps and it was damn heavy lor... now Shir and me ended up being hungry again although all of us just had our dinner with my elder brother's family an hour before the whole incident. The blue fella was now kept in our store-room and all of us wonder when will be the next time we bring him go shopping again.

Sickening~

Been sick for almost two weeks now... down with "sexy" voice due to cough and sore throat initially, but escalated to blocked nose and super bad headache at a later stage. Only went to see the Doc once during the throat infection period and got myself some antibiotics and cough syrup, plus a day MC on 5/1/07. After that I continued working... and everyday was a bad day for me - had to juggle with the throbbing impact in the head and the other irritating symptoms~

I could feel myself almost fainting when I was on my way home yesterday after my night shift followed by an audit meeting... but of cos I managed to make my way home safely. I cant imagine myself collapsing cos it'll be so "malu-ing"... The overnight headache was so unbearable but the meeting had to be done. Not that I'm so hardworking... just that I want to get the meeting done and over with, so that things can get started earlier for the others.

I'm so tired...

I really need a break...

Fairprice Xtra

The new NTUC Fairprice called "Fairprice Xtra" was opened at AMK Hub - Basement 2 , at Ang Mo Kio Central a couple of days ago. The name was so suitable for the new outlet cos it was...

1. Xtra Crowded - movement was greatly restricted if you were using the trolleys, and it looked as if the whole AMK residents had gathered for a common goal (to be inside the biggest NTUC Fairprice). I supposed there were residents from other Estates too... cannot condemn AMK residents solely lah~


2. Xtra Huge - the interior was huge... it was as if I'm at Carrefour and not the typical household Fairprice anymore. There were Electronics & Electrical section, Clothings & Household section and not forgetting the standard F&B section. I didn't even know where to start walking and I also did not know where to go looking for my shopping list items.


3. Xtra Slow - the travellators were super slow... the speed is equivalent to the one in Underwater World, where we were supposed to look around at the fishes slowly. But in this case, the only thing to see were people occupying every inch on the travellators, either surrounding you or moving in the opposite direction. The escalators were not ready yet cos the whole mall was still undergoing renovation. So... ya... the only choice was to proceed slowly and enjoy yourself among the human traffic.


4. Xtra Cheap - maybe the low price was only for the initial stage. Actually I also do not know what was the standard pricing but the apples were going at S$1.20 for 5 and "Sunkist" oranges were going at S$1.95 for 5. The apple section was crowded with 2 layers of customers trying their best to reach for the "best quality" apples with their stretched arms. Luckily the orange section was ok... cos I need to buy 10 oranges for my new blender to squeeze juice for me *hahaha*.


5. Xtra Staff - touching on good service in almost every Industry now, there were a few staff at the trolley section to help you put the S$1 coin into the slot and pull out the new trolleys for your usage... but you have to give them the S$1 coin lah, it's not free you know?

As a word of advice in case you wished to visit the huge place safely, go in the day time during weekdays. Weekends are a killer~ unless you are prepared to spoil your day.

Merry X'Mas!!!

Here's wishing everyone a Merry X'Mas!!

So where did I celebrate my X'Mas this year with my close friends???

Well, the lucky place goes to... a 6-star Hotel at Raffles Ave!!

Ahem... it didn't really ended up that good initially during the check-in on 24/12/06 cos there was some cocking-up issues by the staff. We had expected the high-rated Hotel to deal with the various situation in an exemplary way, but the answer was NO. Allow me to share with you a few issues:

Issue #1

The Check-In

It was an unusual long queue, mainly due to the promotional packages offered by the Hotel for the festive season. There were about 5 counters with its respective staff. Adrian and I had slowly progressed to the 1st 2 in the queue after waiting patiently for 15-20mins. There were also about 2-3 mobile staff near the queue, who seemed like they were trying to help ease the long queue.

A while later, a lady staff approached Adrian and offered her help by asking for his reservation number. After walking away and came back again, she directed him, me and another couple behind us to follow her. All of us thought that we would be served at that instant or soon... but guess what!! We were brought to another queue with a guy in front and another guy still being served at the counter!! Could somebody tell me if the lady was helping us or... just trying to be funny?

The four of us were so pissed... and I then went over to observe the previous queue we were in, to see if the originally 4th customer (who was now 1st) had been served before us. And yes it did... I then asked the lady staff over and asked her what help had she offered to us earlier, since she had now prolonged our waiting time. Of course she apologised and immediately processed our check-in personally.

Well, we thought that the poor handling issue would stop with us but then another male customer was also directed to our queue while all 4 of us were being served. The man made such a loud unhappy comment when he saw us and angrily walked back to his previous queue. Hey old man... as if you were the only one being "ill-treated" here.

Issue #2

The Silent Wait

We were told by the counter staff that our rooms were not ready yet as the housekeeping was still in the process. We then left behind our contact numbers as she said she would call once the rooms were ready (estimated duration - 1 hr). So we waited... and waited... then Baoli and Shir went over to check after about 35-40 mins of boredom at the lobby sofas. Another disappointment: one room had actually been ready but no calls were received from them. This pissed us further but Baoli and Shir managed to get a late check-out at 2pm for our rooms to compensate for the long wait as well as issue #1. Hahaha... girl power!!

Issue #3

The Incomplete Room

Finally when the other room was ready, it was yet again another disappointment. The toiletries tray was incomplete with missing combs, shaver, bath scrub, and some shower necessities. The two small cushions which were supposed to be displayed on the bed was absent and ended up playing hide-and-seek in the closed plasma TV rack. Furthermore, there was a yellowish stain on one of the cushion cover! Omg... who would believe this is the standard of a 6-star Hotel??

When Baoli called the Housekeeping to top up the toiletries rack, the staff even asked her what was missing so that those could be replenished. If a person who had checked-in to the room on the 1st day, do you think he/she know what was supposed to be in the tray?

Issue #4

The Check-Out

There's always an end to a beginning~ but why couldn't it get better? During the check-out, Adrian was wrongly billed for 2 extra chargeable breakfasts, which were supposed to be complimentary for MY room. I had actually written both our room numbers on the charged slip during the breakfast and they could still make the mistake *sigh*...

Well I dunno if Adrian was unlucky or what... cos after that, he was wrongly billed again for his room package. He was being charged an extra $30+ for the same room package as us and when we informed the staff about the matter, we were told to go back and wait for the amendments to be reflected in the creditcard statement. Hmm... I thought they could cancel the overcharged amount instantly and let Adrian signed on the amended charged slip? Well, just hope they are not "pushing us around".

Finally The Good Stuff

That's all for the bad experiences we encountered during our 1-day stay. Putting the unhappy moments aside, the room itself was great! It was big... especially the bathroom (which is almost twice as big as my bedroom) with the famous octagon window beside the bathtub.

The view was fantastic from the room and Adrian, being a photo-shooting fanatic, and a really great one, had fully utilised his newly bought camera lens which costed him $900+. He had taken some great shots and I had attached some of it below.

My X'Mas Presents

I had always like the gift exchanging segment during X'Mas~ This year I got a "aslurpingape" T-shirt, a "Crumpler" laptop slingbag and a "Philips" blender (it's part of my wish-list towards healthier lifestyle with higher possibilities of drinking self-made fresh fruit juices). Here are some shots of "Happy Sze & Her Gifts"...

Busy Busy Busy

It had been a busy week for me... sorry for the late post my dear readers hahaha...

19/12/06 - It's a normal day shift with an unfortunate news at the end of the shift. I had to report for some kind of centralised training from 20/12/06 to 22/12/06 (9am - 9pm), which means I'm gonna have muscles ache soon.

20/12/06 - 1st day of training (9am - 7.30pm)... saw some familiar faces but still felt isolated. Got myself injured on the left lower butt with 2 super distinctive bruises (refer to picture below).


Thanks to Shir for helping me massage the concentrated region cos it's too purplish (looks very much like the purple sweet potato colour lor).

21/12/06 - 2nd day of training (9.30am - 6.30pm)... another boring day~ tried to force myself with the training but felt my left upper thigh and knee failing me at the end of the day. Mum asked me who beat me up when she saw the bruises and she said she'll help me whack the culprit (hahaha... so nice~ although there wasn't any culprit).

22/12/06 - actual day of audit (7.30am - 6pm)... I didn't joined the group cos I couldn't move swiftly at all and I would be more of a hinderance than a performer. Ended up I switched role with another guy to join his team on day shift temporary til the end of the audit. It was actually quite enlightening to work in a different region cos I got to see new things and I'm glad that I was well taken care of by the friendly team. Thanks AS 'D'!!

23/12/06 - finally a day FREE for me cos I managed to apply for leave after a short "discussion" over the phone with my supervisors. Hmm... isit so hard for No.2 to manage the team on his own? Anyway, it was the only day where I can do my X'mas shopping lor~ since my schedule was so damn packed... and tomorrow is the DAY!!

Gathering at PS

Had a great chat and gossip session with Karen, Grace, Cynthia, Shiqi (refer to below pic from left to right) and Shirlene (the one beside me) at PS yesterday evening. Most of the juicy news were contributed by Karen, who looked abit like the Korean lady appearing in the CNN morning news (dunno what's her name). But her presence does made the evening more "gossipy". Oh, and all thanks to her 4.1 megapixel digital cam that she brought along. All of us were like having an expedited photo-shooting session with a total of 31 pics in 10-15mins. It felt as if we're gonna leave for home soon, but in fact we had just finished ordering our drinks at TCC. Wonder what's the rush about... hahaha~

Well, these friends whom I had known for 6 years were much younger than me - 7yrs difference in age, but the gap did not stretched us apart. Ahem~ anyone mentioning about eternal youth? Anyway, it's been a long time since all of us gathered... erm... 3yrs maybe? Although occasionally I did bumped into one or two, we rarely have the time to chat.

This pic was taken because I had some problem trying to pull up the metal tea filter device from the cap since I was supposed to use it to mix the tea leaves-cum-rose buds with the water evenly (by pulling and pushing it down). Struggled for about 5mins and finally had to get help from the waitress... end up she said had to use more strength to pull. Ya rite, use more strength... but I scared the teapot will topple lor~ Hmm, thanks for the new-age teapots nowadays which were supposed to be more user-friendly.

An Ironic Belief

Today was my dad's 2nd year Death Anniversary according to the Lunar Calendar at that time - 25th October 04. But I could only remember the standard calendar date - 6th December 04.

Went to offer our prayers to him with my mum at the Bright Hill Temple yesterday morning. As usual, we did not know the standard procedures for the placement of the food and the "foreign currencies" since we're not really into those religious stuff, but there was this one and only staff who was always there to offer his help. Well, he taught me the way, but most prob I will forget the next time I visit again - he had taught me before and well, it got filtered out somehow (small brains cant store too much memory lah).

Sumtimes I wonder... had my dad got reincarnated? Cos if he did, who are we actually offering the stuff to? I mean, alot of people are still offering their prayers to their late loved ones or even ancesters who had passed on for so long, and don't they want the souls to move on with their after-life? According to the religious studies, it was mentioned that those who had done good in their current life would get to reborn to another life after their death, and it was supposed to be a good thing - better than roaming around aimlessly.

So, isn't it an irony that on one hand we want the souls to get reincarnated but on the other hand, we're still praying to them? But come to think of it, it also contributes to the economy since there's this demand and supply thing for the prayer items in the market... and it is going to last as long as people believe that the "recipients" are there to receive the offerings.

The Primary Ones

Recently I heard some funny incidents encountered by my friend and her friend who were having their NIE attachment in a Primary School in Yishun area. The students are all in Primary 1 classes... and Teacher refer to either one of the two ladies mentioned above.

Incident #1

Little Shy Girl (in a soft tone): Teacher, today is XXX (boy in same class) birthday. I want to give this present to him.

Teacher: Oh it's his birthday today? (Turns to the class) Ok class, today is XXX's birthday, so let's sing him a birthday song!

(After the song ended.... the Little Shy Girl wanted to pass the present to the birthday boy. Present = a small keychain in the design of a crab)

Birthday Boy: I dowan (and Teacher tried to persuade the boy to accept)

Birthday Boy: I dowan (at this time Teacher noticed the girl has the "want-to-cry" look and finally manage to pass the keychain to the boy)

Teacher: Ok XXX, now what should you say? (Hoping he would say thank you)

Birthday Boy: I dowan (Teacher almost fainted~)

(Some boys started to act cool since young~)

Incident #2

Teacher was marking the students' spelling books at her table in the class, and a boy went up to her...

Boy: Teacher, I want to draw a card for my mother. Can I borrow your pencil?

Teacher: Erm... ok (at the same time wondering why the boy doesn't want to use his own pencil)

(After handing over the typical yellow and black stripes 2B pencil to the boy, the boy passed the pencil back to the Teacher)

Boy: Teacher, can I borrow your mechanical pencil?

(The result of kids living in the 21st Century - they have higher needs)

(After using the mechanical pencil, the boy went up to the teacher)

Boy: Teacher, can you give me the mechanical pencil please?

Teacher: (almost fainted) No no... this is mine. I cannot give you~

(Kids are so "demanding" nowadays...)

Incident #3

My friend had to observe how other full-time teachers teach their class, and so she had to sit at the back of the classroom behind the students. One day she arrived early and she was sitting at her seat with a handful of students in the class. Suddenly a small girl from another class came into the classroom and handed over a folded note to her.

Small Girl: Miss See, give you! (then she ran off)

My friend opened the note and guess what the contents were -->> "I Love You"

(Some kids are so daring in expressing their likings...)

Life Is Unpredictable~

It is so true that Life is always so unpredictable. Things juz happened without a warning and the next moment, you have to recover from the shock and learn to deal with it.

Recently I got to know that my friend, Raven (it's her nick) was warded in the hospital's MICU and her condition was quite bad. Her other friend got my number and sms me about the news... I was shocked and of cos at the same time felt sad that I had not been able to find time to meet up with her earlier, although she did asked for a short gathering with Elaine (another friend) if we're free. Kinda feel regretful now~

Went to visit her and it saddened me further to see her lying on the bed with the lung support system connected to her mouth. She couldn't respond to us but it was a relief that she could open her eyes and acknowledge our presence. Previously she was warded due to some initial problems with her heart and this time she suddenly fainted while she was at Tampines Mall with her friend. I managed to inform all our other friends, who in turn inform the others... all thanks to the technology nowadays - sms.

What we can do now is to pray for her recovery~ and hope everything will be fine.

Life Is Short, Play Hard

Live Each Day As If It Was Your Last, And You'll Find Each Day Worth Living For

7 Days Reign

Finally I had completed my 7 days reign from 17 Nov to 30 Nov 06. It's really tough having to manage two supervisors' job at one time (or 7 times for me), but I had learnt alot during this short (but long to me) period. Nevertheless it gave me the opportunity to have a feel of what my future would bring...

However, without the support from my team guys, I wouldn't have passed through the test. I would like to thank the following persons:

1. Lawrence - for giving me that last min "return" which end up having my name mentioned in the panel... hehe no lah, actually I would like to comment you on your great service rendered at the counter on 25 Nov 06. Well done!! Keep it up!!


2. Kow - for owing POIs but I really appreciate your attendence cos it meant alot to the team. Congrats for being the 1st in Dec "10-4" list!!


3. Shah - for bringing up the "Why you scold my mother" issue and letting everyone know that we MUST look out for each other always.


4. Hisham - for giving me the assurance that things are well taken care off with your presence and I dun need to worry this and that. Congrats for being 2nd in Dec "10-4" list!!


5. Hairul - for lightening my load on 29 Nov 06, but required me to nag and nag so many times for a few tasks left undone. And still dare to write "On time, on target, holiday mood liao lor" on my paper...pls note that your "on" should be written as "own" k?


6. Zul - for helping out with the returns in Ong's absence, in addition to your other duties. Not forgetting the laughter whenever I talked to you (cos all are nonsense *haha*).


7. Kamaro - for changing your handphone (again) to BenQ Siemens during this period, which I should feel honoured since you had tahan for so long~


8. Eugene - for also helping out with the returns in Ong's absence, and showing the initiative in submitting the POIs. I can see that you had slowly blended into the outside work and soon you would be shouting at them~ but dun follow your FTO's style on that - he's a babarian.


9. Hoong Ta - for having me to remind you to write down the needful and do CXR after that, which made me realised that you still need more attention from us. Please dun accidentally follow the wrong path. The team needs you wor~


10. Weibin - omg... how can I left out my 1st baby in the list? Haha accidentally forgot to include him in the thank-you list when I post, but now (5/12/06) remembered liao, guess it's becos he had not gave me any headaches for the past few days and he had been a good boy. Okay, so I have to give him a big thanks for showing up in the Team since... he's well-known for his "weak constitution"~ hehe

Always remember that all of us are equally important in the team and we need each other to make things work. Our team had always been the best in team spirit and cohesiveness, so dun loosen that up. Kudos to Bravo!!