Answers

Sometimes an answer you dont want to hear is better than no answer. An answer that you fear hearing for more than two years comes and a blanket of calm that usually comes with closure falls over your entire being. An outpouring of emotion that accompanies closure usually ensues, that makes you want to .. i dont know.

In other news, the internet's back. The rest of Asia rejoices with scant regard for the victims of the taiwan earthquake.

Update

A few nice souls have asked me what's the status of all the troubled gadgets in my life..

After a time of fiddling and transfering, with numerous collective sighs and heaves, i finally managed to save the data from my PC and laptop's hard disk into keeve's portable hard disk.. and i've since reinstalled my laptop and PC.. so they're running fine..

*YAY*

Ive claimed insurance for my loss for my fone at the airport. I dont know wat's the outcome of that one.. might take some time i think.. gahmen bodies..

thanks for your concern, everyone..

Christmas

I made a list of my wish list of Christmas presents last year..

Frankly, this time i cant think of anything...only this item.. which is really to replace my lost pda phone :(

here it is.. the dopod c720w

Cacophony of Disasters

The last few weeks have been really trying for me.. im mentally and physically bushed.. bleah.. as i sit back now, i shudder...

here's what happened..

3 December (Sunday) - my office laptop died suddenly and i had to go back to office to take a spare office laptop .. stayed up to configure it until 3am..

4 December (Monday) - 9 am flight to Jakarta, then 11am flight to Java

5 December (Tuesday) - 2p flight to Bali but then delayed for 2 hours.. :(

6 December (Wednesday) - Drove 2 hours to Ubud, then 2 hours to Sanur for company retreat.

7 December (Thursday) - my sis's birthday.. nothing much.. smsed her to tell her where to find her prezzie.. company retreat starts..

10 December (Sunday) - back to Singapore after company retreat.. decides to try to fix my office laptop by following some of keeve's advice.. then my home PC died!!!!!!!! I nearly died myself.

11 December (Monday) - 9am flight to Cambodia

12 December (Tuesday) - 10am flight to Singapore .. upon reaching Changi, i found that my lock to my luggage was gone. opened up and found my O2 Mini gone.. made a police report..

13 December (Wednesday, tomorrow) - 9:30am flight to Sri Lanka... gosh im tired..

The One You Love

The One You Love

I know you need a friend, someone you can talk to
Who will understand what you're going through
When it comes to love, there's no easy answer
Only you can say what you're gonna do
I heard you on the phone, you took his number
Said you weren't alone, but you'd call him soon
Isn't he the guy, the guy who left you cryin'?
Isn't he the one who made you blue?
When you remember those nights in his arms
You know you gotta make up your mind

Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you
Or are you goin' back to the one you love?
Someone's gonna cry when they know they've lost you
Someone's gonna thank the stars above

What you gonna say when he comes over?
There's no easy way to see this through
All the broken dreams, all the disappointment
Oh girl, what you gonna do?
Your heart keeps sayin' it's just not fair
But still you gotta make up your mind

Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you
Or are you goin' back to the one you love?
Someone's gonna cry when they know they've lost you
Someone's gonna thank the stars above

Stoopig

oh ya.. after reading my blog again, i just realised why i blogged.. just wanted to update my schedule..

As penned in my previous entry, i'll be going to Bali next week.. planned to be back in Singapore on Thursday noon. Then suddenly there's a job in Tokyo.. so ill be flying to Tokyo on Thursday night till monday morning..

sob.. cant sleep on my bed for 1 week..

Tired

I just heard on the radio.. it's 37 days to the new year and 31 days to Christmas.. no idea what I'm going to do for Christmas.. hmm.. what did i do last year? oh ya... i remember now...

It has been a busy year and likely to be busy over that period too.

*yawn* im tired.. i reached the office at 7am this morning. Didnt take my dad's car cos he's going to the doc's for a routine checkup.. so i woke up earlier to avoid the peak hour surcharge and ERP.. i just yawned again..

i'm playing mahjong tomorrow, so i am happy.

I just made my first new year resolution.. I'm going to take my CFA!!

muhahahhaha.. i've been wanting to take for two years now and now i think im able to manage my time properly now to do it. <~~~~ ok that last statement probably sounds weird but i know wat im talking about.

Travels

It's actually been a very long time since i was in the office for an entire week. So I was quite apprehensive on how it'd be. I'm already very used to being in the office one day per week. Though this just means i have to squeeze a lot of stuff on that day, it also means i wont get too sick of it.

The first three days were fine cos my boss was out of town. I left work at 5:30pm in those three days. But after he came back, i stayed till 10 pm on both Thursday and Friday. It's not cos he gave me work but cos everyone got more hardworking and so they all submit their stuff to me..

In any case, when he was back on Thursday, it was 2 weeks since i last saw him and we had a meeting and planned out the trips for the next month.

Here goes:

Next week: Chiang Mai and Ho Chi Minh City
Week of Nov 27: Whole week in Bali
Week of 4 Dec: Office Retreat in Bintan
Week of 11 Dec: Sri Lanka and Cambodia (i've never been there so i'm very excited)
Week of 18 Dec: Bali again..

Dont think i'll have time for christmas shopping... =)

Backwards

I realised Im blogging the events backwards.. but then on the blogsite that you read, it'd appear the right way.. haha.. so dumb..

Well, here was the timetable for the past week in case some are confused:

Monday - Interview
Tuesday - Cataract Op
Wed - Fri - Manila

I didnt think the interview went too well.. sianz..i hate going for interview cos they make me excited that in the end dont hire me.. cannot increase my pay... bleah.. i hate them...

Cataract

My mum recently went for a cataract operation.. to remove the cataracts (DUH!)

It was a day surgery and i took leave for it. Im glad i was able to take leave and moved my manila trip back. It was a chop chop affair.. but i knew i'd be nervous so i brought my lappie along to do some work.

After an hr, she was out. I was quite worried she would be dizzy. When i got to the resting room, i saw that she already downed half a cup of milo and there was a used wrapper. She said the cake they gave was very nice and wonderered if there were more. It was then i knew that she was fine. =)

Apparently, the surgery removes your entire lens and replaces it with an artificial one. So it's much clearer now.

Wonder if i shld do lasik.. but i've heard some ple having some probs, which makes me a little nervous. Spend so much money then in the end doesnt really work.

Many-La

Manila is a land of dried mangos and real mangos..

When my dad was travelling back then, he bought tons back and my mum told me to get some too. Since this time my trip was quite relaxed, i did. I called her to ask how many she wanted.. she said 10 packets... but when she heard that it cost S$3 instead of S$5 in singapore. She asked for 15... so i lugged 16 packets of mangos home..

here's the damage..



That wasnt the end.. this time i went with a new colleague, so he was quite excited and all.. changed tons of money. But that was fine, until he decided to change them into smaller notes.. i got all 1,000 peso notes (S$30 each). He got them in 10 peso notes..

let's do the math:

1 note = 1,000 pesos = S$30
i changed S$180.
So i got 6 x 1,000 pesos notes = 6,000 pesos = 6 notes.

the bugger changed S$300.
so he got 9 x 1,000 peso notes = 9,000 pesos = 9 notes. Then he changed into 10 peso notes, so he got

9 x 100 = 900 10-peso notes...

If you do the math, a 10-peso note is actually 30 Singapore cents!

When he reached, he realised he made a boo boo. I felt bad for him so i changed 1,00 0 pesos from him.. here's the stack..



We decided to get rid of the notes when we bought dried mangos... i bought 16 packets and he bought 5. Remember each costs S$3, which means it's ten 10-peso notes for 1 packet of dried mangos. He queued first and he was happy counting his 5 x 10 = 50 10-peso notes. Then the counter lady said that the 10-peso notes have been phased out
!!!!!!!!!!!! muhahahahahahhahahahahahah. We ended up begging them to take our 10-pesos and they had to make many many phone calls to banks, to their management. Hahahaha.. so dumb..

I felt like a money-launderer that day.

I used the remaining pesos i got to buy... what else.. donuts..

Manila

Here're some of the pics of the room i stayed in Manila.. quite nice actually but the toilet is damn small. Actually, i think my colleague and I supposed to get the same kind of room but at the check-in place when we arrived, they told me my room was not ready yet and i had to wait for another hour. But i had a meeting in 10 minutes so i raised hell with them.

In the end, i washed up in his room and when i finally got my rm after the meeting, it turned out to be a HUGE room..





here're some pictures of the skyline..check out the horrendhous traffic man... bleah..

Map

I saw this on SPUG.. i thought it was damn funny.. muhahahaha...the world according to some singaporeans.. muahahah.. very true.. i heard it came from Mrbrown.com but i dont know.. didnt see it there..

ps: must click to see more clearly.

Seconds

I got an email from the headhunter that i got through to the second interview..

then i asked her how many candidates.. she emailed me to say:

There are 2 "C's" to look out for in all interviews:

[1] the 1st C - is Competence - which all candidates should possess if they are shortlisted. - So worries here...

[2] the 2nd C - is Chemistry - Hiring Managers only hire people whom they like - many times not the most qualified candidate but the most likable candidate will get the job.

Hence, our pointers about Enthusiasm - it showing on your face, in your voice and in your body language - dressing well gives a good impression - especially in the Hotel Industry. Speaking well with good English, diction - making oneself understood fully, clearly - not speaking too fast, etc...

In a nut shell, building rapport with the Interviewer does good in any interview.

Do not be concerned about other candidates, I always believe in my candidates and I believe that they are most suited for the position I send them to.

I will speak with you on Monday morning - please call me at my office

BTW, your dressing should be a Business Suit - Hotel Standard, k? Please vat through the Job Description

Jus thought i'd copy it here for would be job interviees.

Packing

I'm flying to Hanoi tomorrow and then Manila thereafter. Yes, it's like a mirror image.. Manila, then Hanoi then Manila again.. it's sucha deja vu.. In fact, i'll be taking the exact same flight i took for the Manila trip..

In any case, i'll be doing some serious travelling now that the year-end is approaching so I thought i'd clear out my toiletries bag a little and refill it somewhat. And since some of you have asked how i usually pack my bag, i thought i'd take a photo log of the packing process..

Here's my toiletries..



and all these go into the toiletries bag..



then comes the gadgets..these are my specs, my skype headset, my handphone charging cable, ipod and earphones and thumbdrive..



here're my ties and namecard holders.. i usually bring 2 namecard holders cos i hate to run out of namecards..which i have once in a while.



then comes the shirts.





with the suit..


then they're put in the suit bag..



then the suit bag is folded..



then placed in a special compartment in the suitcase



then i have my slippers.. just in case i want to go out at night..



Then i have my book.. i bring 2 books.. my sis gave me the orange book..depending on my mood..one is more serious and one's more light hearted..



here's the bag.. all packed.. with some casual tops.. for sleeping in.. usually i'll bring a long sleeved tee and boxers cos usually the air-con's very cold..



and of course, the most important of them all..my passport and wallet..

Bye

My Grandma passed away last weekend.. over the long weekend.

I had to cancel my trip to Hanoi.. i'd hate to sound callous but it's a bad trip to cancel cos i had to do 3 projects on this trip. Never in my previous trips did i have to handle 3 on the same trip.. so it was tough having to call 3 clients.. but well..

yeah.. so my grandma died. im fine cos im not very close to her. and i didnt want anyone to come visit so im posting this now cos i just got back from the cremation.

dont mind me but i've got to head back to checking my emails.

im fine.

Some Pics

Just remembered i took some pictures on my recent trips..

here's where i stayed in Pattaya.. beautiful hotel..







here's where i stayed in Langkawi... huge room.. quite old actually but the downside is that there's no broadband internet.. just dialup.. quite dumb..



but the interesting thing they had was this chocolate in the room..



lots of hotels have chocolates..so i didnt think much of it.. i lifted the cover and wondered how come it's so sticky one.. eeeks.. never wash the cover clean is it??? then i realised that the cover was made outta chocolate too!!!!

argggggggggggh.. the whole thing is made outta chocolate.. just to show how big it is.. i took a pic of it beside my hp. i actually bit part of the cover too.. muhahahah.. not bad...

Whizzing

I'll be going Hanoi next week. Some might remember that i got to know an interesting russian babe the last time i was in Hanoi. But she has since left for Canada for studies. Oh well..

And then next week, i'll be going Manila..

Random Thoughts

I have some things to blog.. but they're quite random.. and therefore i'll poat them as they come to mind.

I never told much people abt the job position which i interviewed for. It was a pretty high position. To give a perspective:

1. A senior, called X who left the company 3 years ago joined the same company.
2. 3 years later, X got promoted and now he reports directly to this guy, called Y.
3. If i get the job, I'd be the peer of Y.

muhahaha.. can you imagine that? 3 years down, i'm the peer of my senior's boss.

and the dumb ass thing is, when i went for the interview, i bumped into him at the office. After he knew i was meeting the director of HR, he stopped asking. haha.. that was dumb.

but it's a nice job, i think. One that could potentially triple my salary. but i wonder if i could do the job. Everyone knows im brimming with confidence, sometimes over-brimming and exploding really. But this time, im not sure.

Very coincidentally, my boss was telling me abt his friend who was made CFO of this huge huge company and his friend was feeling the heat and the stress..and i made this comment about how sometimes when we apply for jobs, we tend to sell overselves and our abilities. Soemtimes the hiring manager might overjudge n think that actually you're suited for this super impt and huge job and actually gives it to you when actually you're not not up for it. Like dat how? do you still take it up? or do you tell him, hey dude, im not as good as you think. i made this comment to my boss and brought up the point of this new superior i blogged abt here.

I was scouring my entire blog to see where i spoke abt her but i realised i didnt say much ever since she came.

She was a total disaster really. absolute total disaster. for some reason, for all her experience and age, she wasnt good. just plain lousy. i dont typically diss people so openly but when a 1 week old newbie can edit her report and spot a ton of typos, i just knew she was a lemon. my boss mentioned to me once in a while that if not for the heavy load we are expecting in year-end, he'd have dropped her.

I had the wonderful opportunity to edit her report last weekend cos my boss dumped it on me. It was a wreck really. concepts are wrong, english is bad.. i went to office on monday to give it to my boss cos i think he shld talk to her abt it, not me, since she's my superior.

then he told me he sacked her last friday.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??

I remembered before i left last friday, he asked her to the meeting room at around 6pm plus to "catch up". he likes to use to phrase "catch up" to mean a lot of things.. discuss reports, discuss schedules, discuss the other staff and everything else. then she said she was on her way out of the office liaoz cos she wasnt feeling well.

he said "oh"

after 2 minutes, he called her again and said.. just five to 10 minutes only". and then she went in.

siong man.. on a friday evening, when you're going home, when you're feeling sick. you just got dropped the bomb.

anyway, back to my favourite topic, myself, i dont know if i shld take up the job, should they offer it.

Langkawi

Just a quick update, Cornball will be going to Langkawi tmr to relak one korner there.. short trip.. will be back before the weekend.

Pattaya

I'm in Pattaya right now and quite bored...nothing much to do cos nowdays im supposedly quite free.. i even borrowed some dvds from the hotel to watch..

anyway, i ordered some room service.. green curry pizza.. muhahahah and glutinous rice with mango and mango smoothie..

i love mangos

MC Days

I was on MC the most part of the week cos of my tooth.. I always told ple and i cant rem if i blogged it, that it'd be nice if i got an MC for some illness that isnt very life-threatening or expensive to treat or painful to me .. but requries me to stay home.. actually chicken pox is a good one.. cos other than itchiness, not very dangerous.. but than i got the pox before in JC..

i guess wisdom tooth MC isnt THAT bad.. except that my gums still throbs once in a while and eating isnt that fun of late..

I managed to convince my boss that i shldnt go to KL on that Thursday i was on MC..cos there's just too many people going.. hee ... largely cos there was the Isetan private sale on thursday..

i brought my mum there.. she was quite adament we took the MRT but i said the weather was hot and that i was a patient.. so we shld take the cab..

we arrived at 1pm.. thinking that after lunch, the crowds would have dissipated.. but noooooooooooooooooooooo... tons of ple man..i ws trying to find a reason as to why i shld be shopping.. hmm.. and i thought this is the first time im shopping after my promotion.. oook lor..muhahaha

i bought a belt that came in this box..





and cufflinks that came in this very interesting box..





and i bought some boxers..



i met up with my mum and asked her what she bought.. she told me she bought a ladle and she showed me in the taxi back (yes, i was still a patient). the ladle came in a nice box...

I was like "one box one ladle eh? very good eh."

My mum went " yes, made in germany"

I asked " so what's so good abt this ladle"

She answered " this has more stain"

I was like " huh?? more stain??? more stain then why buy???"

she thought for a while " oh.. no no.. more steel, more steel... it's stainless steel.. more steel, not more stain"

Resigned, i asked " so how much is it?"

She replied sheepishly " S$27"

gosh.. S$27 ladle.. jolly well have tons of steel inside..

ps: Anyone who makes fun abt my mum abt this will definitely incur my wrath

Horlicks

I just got home from mahjong and my mum said this to me..

" you're a workaholic"

"your dad is a alcoholic" (cos he always likes to go to the kopitiam to drink beer)

"i'm (my mum) is a shopaholic"

"your sis is a milo-horlick" (cos she likes to drink milo)

What the... you cant blame me if i make lame jokes sometimes

Pounder

I've been getting some recurrent backaches and neckahces recently and kaitlynn was kind enuff to give me a pounder.. to pound my back when it's stiff...the pounder is actually a stick with a heavy but cushioned head.. you hit the cushioned part on ur stiff back/neck..

then she got one for herseelf and she showed it to be..the moment i saw it, i knew i had to get it for my mahjong kakis.. the dream team.. i actually bought it some time back.. but there was nvr a chance to give them since we didnt meet..

We did today.. muhahaha.. it was a blast..



this is the one kaitlynn got me..

Pained

After i went for my interview, i went to the dentist.. to cut the long story short, he pulled out my very very stubborn wisdom tooth.. i'd say more and take a pic of the tooth some other day.

my left mouth is now swollen and i was given 5 days MC.. but i was back at work on Tuesday cos i had to rush something.. worked till 10pm.. im gg to stay home on Wed to rest.. but then i am going to KL on thursday for a day trip.. for a potential US$1 million deal.. so my boss hoped that i went.. and ill rest at home on Friday.

And im going to Thailand next week.. think the new airport is opening on Thursday. Hopefully no hitches at the airport.. i hate hitches..

Major Decision

i still havent decided what to wear tmr for the interview. no mood really.

Jobs

i was typing out a rather long blog.. but i was then too lazy..

im going for an interview tomorrow. It was one which a headhunter who called me and asked for my resume and then gave to someone and then said i got shortlisted for an interview..

huge company..but it's at 4pm.. but since it's quite a big company.. so im making some excuse to go for it...told my boss i was going to the dentist...which isnt entirely false cos ill be going to the dentist after the interview.. my mouth hurts so much i cant even smile properly.. how to charm the interviewer with my silly grin man?

it's actually a pain in the ass cos now i have to sneak my suit out of the office..

Been some time

It's been some time since i blogged... cos there's really nothing much to blog about mostly.. I was in Beijing and Shanghai last week ans it was ok.. sometimes,you really got to think before you wish for something. I told my boss earlier this year that i'd like to travel more this year and that i've nvr been to Phuket and the other resort destinations in Thailand and Beijing.. and then in the end, i've been to Phuket twice, Hua Hin once, Pattaya once, Bangkok four times and Beijing twice.. and i might be going to Pattaya and Bangkok next week too.

I managed to meet up with my shanghai friend again (as mentioned before here) this time i was in shanghai.. here're her pics..

Glass

So my drinking glass at the office was broken that day..

In keeping with the fine Ritzenhoff tradition, K@itlynn got me this the other day..



another view..




from the top view.. there's a picture at the base of the glass..



parting view..

Ugandan Gift

Goddess went to Uganda.. duno for wat.. for a holiday it seems.. wonder why anyone would go to Uganda...

in any case, she got me these..



here's a wooden spoon



Actually i have no idea wat this is...looks like those pandan chicken thingy u eat at indonesian restaurants..



then this is a pure honey stolen from a bees' hive..she got stung doing it.. but i doubt this is the actual honey she stole..



and then this is a beeswax candle.. it actually smells like bees' ear wax... weird smell..



Another look at the gifts...this time with the paper bag.. she emphasised that the paper bag also from Uganda..