The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

Recently I attended this course on "The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People" and I learnt alot from it. This is based on the self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey, and for those of you who wished to know more about it, here's a link I found online - http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/7-habits/7-habits.htm

Basically I just want to share with everyone on something useful which we can apply in our personal life, not just for work-related matters. Good things must share mah~ but if you're not interested then it's ok lor... Anyway, the 7 Habits in sequential order are as follows:

1. Be Proactive
   (you are free to choose your response to whatever happens to you)
   
   
2. Begin With An End In Mind
   (know what are your objectives)
   
   
3. Put First Things First
   (evaluate where you spend most of your time - The Time Matrix)
   
   
4. Think Win-Win
   (improve or maintain good relationship with others)
   


5. Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood
   (using empathic listening when listening to other people)
   


6. Synergy
   (1+1 = more than 2)
   
   
7. Sharpen The Saw
   (take time to rejuvenate and relax your body, heart, mind and spirit)

The Chat With HIM

I finally told HIM my plans just now when I was still at my workplace earlier at 11am plus.

HIM = Big BOSS (Uncle P)

It was an unplanned casual chat when he walked around and asked me if I was ready to go to another unit in due time. So I started with the usual "erm..." and smile back at him. Then I decided to let him know officially since there is a chance to do so. After I told him that I would be applying for the new post in May 07, he said "Apply lor, last time our Stanley (SA) also working there now". It was nice to hear him say that~ There was another nicer thing that he said:-

Uncle P: Anyway you still young mah, still can try out other things (actually I think he was talking about me going to THAT other unit soon). You now 25 right? So....

Before he can continue further, I interrupted him.

Me: Ah... no lah I where got 25? (but actually inside abit happy *hehe*) I already 28 leh...

Uncle P: (smiling) Aiya... 28 still young mah, I think before 35 you should be able to be an I*** (the upper level post).

Omg... 35?! Unless I have no choice but to stay back, ya~ 35 should be an acceptable turning point bah~ but it's like... almost 7yrs more!! He asked me to think about it, which I had been doing all these while... and the FINAL Decision~~~~

Just Do It in May 07!

Life Is Full Of Surprises~

The Case 6
I cant find my house key as I was packing my bag and ready to go to work, which means I'm stuck at home! There was no other extra key at home and my mum will only be back from work after 9.30pm... whereas Shirlene was out shopping with Baoli at Marina Square~

The Cause 6
Shirlene had accidentally took my detached house key that was placed on the table, which she thought it was hers. But in fact, her own key (detached as well) was all along in her coin pouch!

The Consequences 6
I was "virtually shot" over the house phone when I called my boss to tell him what happened, and I had to apply for urgent leave (my boss say he feel like shooting me *haha* jokingly of cos). I can't resist laughing when I apologised to him cos it wasn't any plan of mine to skip work, though it was nice to take the nite off to rest at the expense of my precious annual leave. Furthermore, now that I'm stuck at home, I guess I'll have to eat my favourite "出前一丁" instant noodle (sesame oil flavor) complemented with "Tulip" chopped ham for dinner.

Was it a misfortune or a blessing? Guess it was both bah~ you gain some, you lose some. This is LIFE, remember?

Coping With The Boss~

The 2 days course "MBTI Approach To Working More Effectively With People" had ended and it was one of the most enjoyable course I attended so far. Well I learnt alot... mostly about how a supervisor should manage his men.

Another interesting point during the course was on "Coping with the boss"... there was this graph that shows the severity of problem with the boss vs level of risk involved, and when the problem becomes seriously severe, we're supposed to Oppose the boss and the last resort is to FIRE - meaning to tell your boss face-to-face on what you think and let him know the consequences of ignoring your thoughts. However, this does not apply to ALL problems lah, if not wait you sure kena FIRED by your boss at the end.

Anyway, I juz heard from my colleague that there had been some problems with my boss recently. Things are getting worse, with tightened controls and loud naggings (dowan use the word 'scoldings') almost everyday. Yes~ he is great in his supervision and vast knowledge, and sometimes we were wrong... but some people up there doesn't realise that too much control is unhealthy at work. This is reality~ and it is also a reality that our bosses dunno about that or simply refuse to acknowledge that fact. Our guys' morale had been shaken once again, although there was an initial surge when he came.

I guess it's time for me to speak up on behalf of them (espcecially on the loud naggings), since I'm much more senior in age (sigh) and experience~ but I shall wait awhile more, since his big day is approaching soon somewhere near the end of March. The time has come for each and every one of us to share our thoughts again... before things get to the brim of the bottle and start to ooze out like the champagne-opening session during celebrations (but this one is not). Well, let us keep our fingers crossed and hope our unsettled morale can be uplifted once more.

Appeal For Weight Gain Tactics

I juz checked on their website and there is this new section on minimum requirement which wasn't there previously... and I saw the killer criteria - min. 45kg for female~

Omg... I'm 3kg lesser and I need help to increase it to at least 45kg by May 2007! Ya... I know some of you might think it's as easy as ABC... but not for me lor~

I still remembered facing the same problem 8 years ago when I applied for my current job. I was 1.5kg lesser at that time and I was rejected during the 1st application. I was so devastated but finally I managed to overcome that hurdle... if not I won't become Orang Lama (old bird) in my department now liao~

Well anyway, can any kind soul please post some comments here to share some valuable and "hopefully-will-work" tactics for me to gain some weight within these 2-3 months? Thanks... I'll give you guys a treat if I succeed and get accepted in the new post~

When??

Juz heard from one of my colleagues that she's been accepted by MOE to be a Home Econs Teacher, and she's going for a training session on 23 April 07. Meaning... she's gonna leave us for good~ omg... when will it be my turn? People have been coming and leaving like nobody's business after their contract is over... and here I am, still hanging around with never-ending opportunities waiting for me (which is a good thing actually~)

Like I mentioned earlier, some things happened for a reason... I had been doing quite well in my current post, and prospects are considered good. Maybe "Someone" wants me to stay back for a while more to wait for an auspicious time to leave later... cos immediately after I got my RB, the application was temporary closed til May 07. So my plan had to be delayed.

Well well... I'll wait patiently again~ til the time is very ripe but just before it turned mouldy for me. Gotta make some initial preparations in the meantime thou. Hope to share some good news with you guys soon~

Someone Somewhere

Today I feel like I'm being "taken care of" again by "Someone Somewhere"~ a moment of head-cracking problem had been instantly solved earlier in the noon. Here's the story~

I was supposed to go for a one-day Teambuilding event in Malaysia with my colleagues (it's a MUST go thing) on 12th March early morning. But suddenly I remembered that my passport has a validity of only 3 months while working last night!! I have exactly 3 days (including today) to make a new passport, and in order to expedite the process and get it done by Saturday, I have to go to ICA personally to speak to the officer for the special request. I was told by the ICA operator that Monday is the earliest to get my new passport. So the plan for my 1st off day had been drafted out as follows...

1. take instant passport-sized photo at AMK Central Bridal Shop
2. go home bathe
3. go ICA queue up and try to get my new passport done by Saturday
4. go home zzzz.... (which is dunno what time liao~ so maybe this luxury will be omitted *sigh*)
5. wake up for dinner appointment with Seok Wai (to pass her some documents for despatch to someone in her Office Tower)

So basically the day is packed, and I dun look forward to it... but Bo Bian~ who asked me to be so busy til I forgot to get a new passport before the event?

Anyway, when I reached the bridal shop at 11am, it was closed and would only opened at 1pm. It was a wasted trip (initial thought)... and I had to walk home like a zombie under the scorching sun after my night shift. I then took a short nap and decided to wake up at 12.30pm for the photo-taking at 1pm, but my precious napping session was interrupted and thus I changed my waking alarm to 1pm.

And here comes the turning point - my handphone rang~

On the other side was from the Human Resource Dept. He told me that my 2 days course had been brought forward to 12th & 13th March, and I immediately say "OK". Hahaha... this means I can continue with my sleep and do not have to go ICA today, since I dun have to go Teambuilding liao! Omg... I cant believe how lucky I can be... all thanks to that "Someone Somewhere" who had been taking good care of me, to stop me from the 1st instance outside the bridal shop so that I cant proceed with step 2 and so on.

Hmm~ this reminds me of the movie "Final Destination" where certain things happened for a reason. Well, I do believe in this phenomenon cos it has always been around us in our daily life. Take some time to observe and you'll agree with me~

Silence Is Golden?

Let me share a funny experience of service recovery I encountered today...

Shirlene and me had gone to a Japanese Restaurant for our late lunch cos her friend told her that the food was nice. Both of us then ordered our food with the waitress when she came to our table. I had ordered a set meal with some kind of noodle in thick curry sauce, and Shirlene had specified on my behalf to have the noodle type as soba (thinner in width) instead of udon (thicker). While repeating our orders, the waitress had stated udon instead of soba, so Shirlene corrected her, which she acknowledged.

After waiting for 10-15 minutes, my set meal finally appeared. Before I took a closer look at the huge bowl of noodles, the waitress realised that the noodle was udon and immediately remove the bowl and apologised. So I waited...

A short while later, a waiter appeared with the bowl in his hands and explained to me that the noodle type was wrong and I could request for a change if I wished to, but actually the taste of the udon will go very well with the curry sauce compared to soba. Without raising my head to look at him, I said "Ok, nevermind" monotonously without any facial expression. I was actually looking at the table and listening to his explanation. The waiter then left and I started to eat the udon. The taste was not bad although I was disappointed with the mistake.

In less than 5 minutes, the same waiter appeared again and said that he had checked with the chef and he could help me change the whole bowl of noodle. Once again, I used the same tone and body language, and said "Nevermind, it's ok". I continued with my food...and he left. Well for your info, I'm an easy-going person so normally I dun flare up with stuff.

I dunno if my silence and expressionless reaction was too weird for them to handle or what... that the waiter came over the 3rd time and asked if I wanted to have any soft drink for free. Finally I took a look at him and said "No thanks", and I returned my attention to the food. Shirlene told me that the waiter had smiled awkwardly at her after that.

Both of us thought that the issue was over since we managed to finish our food in peace. But then it was the waitress' turn now. She had apologised to me whenever she appeared to clear our crockery and refill our ice water... and I told her it's ok with a smile. I mean it's so funny to receive such treatment when I didn't even make a big fuss out of the issue like some customers would. When we asked for the bill, I was surprised with the amount... cos there was a 50% discount on the set meal that I had ordered. Realising that I had noticed the discount, the waitress told me that it was for the mistake earlier. I then paid a round figure and waited for my change as the waitress left. Shirlene and I were so amused by their service recovery and finally when I thought I can get my change and leave, there were 2 pieces of S$2 meal voucher for our next visit enclosed with my change in the black rectangular folder (dunno what's that called).


Well, both of us can't wait to get out of the place cos it's really too much for us. After the incident, we wonder how they would react if I were to reject the discount or left the meal vouchers behind. Would they come chasing after us and asked us why? Hahaha... anyway I felt it was something worth sharing cos I had learnt the following:

1. When I dun smile, I looked scary to some people (validated by Shirlene)
2. You dun have to make a big fuss to show your unhappiness (Silence is Golden)
3. Some service providers are really sincere in apologising (so we must appreciate)

Story of A Young Man

This is a fictitious story of a 20 year-old young man.... but the photos are genuine~

One day, a young man fell asleep after a hard day at work...

When he woke up, his devilish friend (in red of course) offered him half a glass of "wonder drink", telling him that it is something similar to "Tongka Ali" and will help him get stronger. The young man looked at the suspicious drink but still gobbled it up anyway... since young men always wanted to get stronger in "some way" (especially with "Tongka Ali").

After finishing the 1st glass of "wonder drink" offered by the devilish friend, the young man felt "shiok" and wanted more... (cos once is always not enough for young men). So he asked for more~ and the devilish friend had to find two other devils for the extra stock. Finally... the young man drank another 8 glasses of half-filled "wonder drink". At this time, he had already gone bonkers... and holding the 10th glass up high, he put a toast to his new found soul-mate.

And the story ended... with the young man "pouring his woes" to his soul-mate. Well, he didn't drink the 10th glass since he already had too much of it... and the 3 angelic devils had to take care of him.

Moral of story : Too much of everything / anything is bad~

Movie-Marathon

Just returned home from a movie-marathon earlier. Watched 2 movies one after another from 5.10pm til 11.30pm *hehehe* maybe I had too much "Ang Pow" $$ to spare on 3rd day of Lunar New Year?

Anyway, we had initially wanted to watch "Just Follow Law"... but then there was a handwritten paper pasted on the ticket booth window stating "Just Follow Law 5pm Full". We were there at 4.10pm and with a 2nd choice on mind, we chose "Ghost Rider" instead. I guess that was the 1st time I saw so many people hanging around at Jubilee, cos the cinema for the latter movie was also 90% - 100% packed (too dark can't observe much).

After the movie ended at 6.55pm, suddenly there was an urge to watch a 2nd one - "Just Follow Law" (maybe we have the 'Never Say Die' attitude or the ugly way of saying - Kiasu). Then we saw the same signboard on the booth window again~

"Just Follow Law 5pm 7.15pm Full".

Omg... but this time we decided to choose the next slot at 9.30pm *haha* how determined can we get? So we loitered at the vicinity and had our dinner before we finally got to watch the movie we wanted.

Generally it was a nice movie~ and I was able to feel a link to it - all the email thingy, rules and regulation compliance, cost-cutting and many others. But it was not just applicable in the public sector. Who dares to say that the private sector wasn't affected by all those nonsensical stuff? Raise your hand high up lor~

Oh by the way, for those who had watched the movie, who was your favourite character? Well, my vote definitely goes to "Muthu"!! Reason: There was unexplained humor whenever he spoke, and he put so much pride in his 'VIP Lot' duty although he was just a security guard.

Lunar New Year

It's Lunar New Year today!!

Woke up at 9am this morning and was so busy playing with my 2 beloved nieces aged 6 and 4 the whole day~ can't help it... since they both love me (I'm an over-aged kid ya know) *haha*

The 1st day of Lunar New Year was also a day for my relatives (dad's side) to come my house to eat, play poker cards, laugh, chat and basically just get together once a year (better than none). It's nice~ to be able to see my cousins and chat with them... and they had all grown so big now (mostly taller than me *haha*). Here are some cousins who are more interesting to mention:

1. Priscilla - the young lady who has a stomach capacity comparable to the universe. Able to eat 3 bowls of rice and she said she loves rice~ glad she's still able to maintain her figure *phew*
   
   
2. Minghui - the tallest and most macho guy among my cousins, where all of us except his elder sis, will try to refrain from standing beside him. I think my height is until his armpit bah~
   
   
3. Serene - the most demure lady who were busy entertaining my (our) nieces when the rest of us were engrossed in the Blackjack Challenge. I know it was hard work~

I'm actually damn tired right now, and I can "confirm plus chop" that if I were to lie down on my bed this instance, I'll be in my dreamland the next minute. By the way, thanks to Lawrence… for exchanging your leave with me for the night shift. Otherwise I can’t imagine how “stone” I’ll be at work tonite.

Here’s wishing everyone a Prosperous & Joyous Lunar New Year !!

The Truth

12th February 2007 - the day has finally arrived... no more postponement... and I had a feel of the solemn seat in the tensed Board-Room~

Questions were posed to me... which were more or less predictable~ it seemed like a scene where people always see in the TV or movie. I can't help but smiled to myself when I thought about it (lucky Mr. J didn't notice it).

I handled it well... since I was just telling the truth. On the other hand, he denied it... and he had someone to help him out. No big deal for me anyway~ but maybe my confidence was too overwhelming... that his helper doesn't know what else to ask me. I admitted my own lapses to Mr. J... (but I didn't tell him that I had since learnt how to protect myself after that fateful incident). Mr. J then asked me if I was aware of possible punishment against me~

"Yes Sir... I know..." (and I dun care about it anymore~ I just want to get it done and over with... this is wasting too much of our precious time... and like most snobbish fellas always like to say - wasting the taxpayers' $$)

But I was glad~ and certainly relieved... that it was over~ (I think so)

Beware of your back~ cos you won't know when people will start to stab you from behind~

Good News!!

One good news to share with everyone~

I finally got my R Bonus!!! S$4.5k wor... supposed to be mine since Sept 2006~ but some stupid system "kidnapped" it from me... and I could bet with you... they earned the interest on it during these 5 months... damn~ but nevermind, I'll treat it as a charity.

Anyway, I'm a step nearer to my goals now~ but still must clear whatever debts on hand 1st...

&&& Patience Is The Key To Success &&&

The 50-Meters Sprint

Today I made a 50-meters sprint along the pavement at Ave 9, and cruelly showed my practicality nature to the "Cas-Caller" (no real name is used in order to protect the involved party) *hehe*

This was what happened...

After our night shift which ended today, "Cas-Caller" waited for me to finish up with my audit emails cos usually he would prefer to have company since we're taking the same bus (72) back to our individual home (must specify properly). So finally after I settled my stuff, went to change, and met up with him at the lobby, we crossed the road at Ave 9 to the opposite side. We only exchanged a few words along the way... cos I was quite tired after a busy night~ Suddenly I heard someone shouted "Sze!!"

I looked straight ahead and saw two handsome guys (haha my colleagues lah~ Bin & Ta) standing about 50 meters in front of us. Within a second, I noticed they had flagged a taxi... and then the words appeared... a FREE RIDE HOME!! A sudden surge of energy immediately made my tired body run like hell towards the taxi door... and the only phrase I said to him as I darted off was "Sir, I take taxi home. Bye". I wonder how he felt... hmmm~

Well anyway, I was glad when I hopped onto the taxi... cos it actually killed two birds with one stone (for me) *haha*

I can be a Devil sometimes, you know~

The Isolated One~

This year's Annual Retreat (referring to some kind of gathering for team-bonding purpose) was somewhat different from the previous years - no presentation by us - just games and food = NICE~

Apart from relaxing and enjoying the moment, I kept my observation throughout the event...

I noticed the slight isolation somewhere~ but on the other hand, some of them were closely bonded together in their "mathematics revision group" using poker cards. Food and Games were supposed to bond EVERYONE together, which it did~ temporarily.

I shared my views with someone on the gist of being a good supervisor. Both of us concluded that the isolation might be due to the flaws from the self-assumed leadership qualities. Nope... I'm not referring to myself~

This is what I feel about being a Leader/Supervisor:

1. Don't be cocky or arrogant
2. Always respect your men, if you want them to respect you
3. Command is a must... but do it with politeness
4. You won't die if you use "please" when asking your men to do something (eg. "please be reminded that..." or "please refrain from..." etc)
5. Results are important, but so are your men
6. If you lose the respect from your men, you are only a Leader in name

I can't say that I'm a good leader... but I am sure I'm not a bad one~

Team Bravo 2007

Knowledge of Body Parts

Today I heard a real-life joke from my buddy about her female colleague~ it was damn funny...

The Senario 4 Both of them were having their Yoga lesson after work as usual.

The Yoga Warm-up 4 To place the left ankle across the right one while standing.

The Responses... (these pictures are only for reference)




77 The correct posture by my buddy... and everyone else

77 The totally wrong posture by her colleague....




The colleague had mistaken ankle for elbow, and was still seen swaying left and right with her arms crossed when my buddy noticed her outstanding posture among the rest... both of them eventually burst into laughter~

Sometimes it is very important to know your body parts in English terms...

Short vs Long

Some people like it short... some like it longer... how about you?

Haha... dun let your thoughts wander too far - I'm talking about the length of my blog posts lah~

Well I received feedback that some (or should I say most) of my posts are lengthy, and thus hinder them to read it further (or even start reading it). On the other hand, some readers commented that they preferred a more detailed one cos it'll let them "catch the ball" better. For me, I just want to share my life and thoughts with people here... just in case the unfortunate day comes where I couldn't remember things anymore, but I could still read through my own life~ or when the worse day comes... where I'm no longer around, and my loved ones could still feel my presence as they read through each post...

Well well... sounds sad huh? Hahaha... nah~ it's not the end of the world yet. I still have alot to enjoy and venture in my life... even though there are outstanding debts to clear, work to be done, and stress to handle. I'm still cool~ as always~

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...