Les Triplettes de Belleville

This Oscar-nominated French animation (2003) has to be the most bizarre cartoon I've watched to date... But on the other hand the drawings are so captivatingly unique and plot so refreshing I have to concede that this is a really cool show ;) In addition, most of movie was in pantomime-form; aside from the opening song, dun recall hearing more than 10 spoken sentences throughout show... Can read more about the plot here. If anyone's interested, I have the VCD... got it some years ago but never watched it till just now ;)

This Christmas.... I was a free-rider... of someone else's cool gadgets haha. Got to try someone else's Nintendo Wii and... must say that it's a pretty good ego-booster. And makes for great indoor family entertainment. Everyone and anyone can become a good sportsman/sportswoman... and without having to move very much at all... Even this Shi Min can like defeat her opponent at boxing... ;) But the REALLY cool thing about Wii is its ability to detect motion AND have your 'on-screen persona' imitate them simultaneously... half the time I was just wondering how on earth the sensor does that...

And here's the MONSTER ending song! - "For the Love of Life".... (might take some time to load though)

Long weekend...

I basically spent my long weekend lazing and doing almost nothing. Finished the entire Vol 1 of Monster hehe. Scouted around for other volumes, but realised that they were easily 30 something per volume... so have decided to watch the remaining episodes online. The ending song is eerily nice (Shall put it here next time). In case you're wondering if Shi Min has morphed into some psychological thriller fan overnight-- I really haven't. It's just that behind all this seemingly scary ju4 qing2 in this anime series, there's like all this history-related snippets abt East Germany and like a hidden commentary about human nature... Which makes this whole series rather appealing on the whole.

On Sunday, also got down to designing a 'book cover' for a lil booklet my section will be making for our DD... Actually had no idea what to do; but somehow once I got into it, creative juices started flowing... and I had something tweaked along the color scheme of our SERS logo. Haven't done anything arty for a long time... but I realised while doing this that the affinity I have for doing such frivolous things is as strong as ever.

Here it is! My tiny piece of art :)

Lastly, would like to wish all my dear friends who read this blog a Merry Xmas! Spend a little quality time with your loved ones yeah?

I'm a Japanophile...

Yesterday was an unintentionally japanophilic day for me. After doodling around the whole afternoon, went down to Suntec BookFest with family (cos Teacher sis wanted to get stationery and stuff in preparation for sch reopening) while I just tagged along. Though I love books, I have enough of unread ones sitting on my shelves for the time being ;) However, I stumbled across this display of 'classic movies'... and though at first glance I dismissed them as forgettable movies, on closer examination I realised that they were the old, GOOD movies... And this was how I discovered some good Japanese classic movies, such as Tokyo Story and Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru... Also got Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, all for $5 each! In addition, I splurged on the first volume of an anime series - Monster (Started watching it on Arts Central last week; it's kinda dark (NC 16 for cartoon...), but seems to have a very interesting plot) ... Haven't really 'chased' after any anime series since my Naruto craze :) So... yeah, am very happy that I have some really OLD but good movies and an anime series to keep me occupied during my leisure time.

Also discovered a huge MUJI store at Marina Square yesterday... And bought myself some yummy green tea mix! Actually it was while studying for JLPT did I realise that 'muji' reallly meant 'plain' in Japanese... esp wrt to clothes/paintings.... Though am not sure this store was named MUJI because of that; it certainly made sense to me! The name certainly befits the minimalist/simple (but tasteful) designs of its products.

Long weekend!

Think I deserve a little break... Today's a public holiday and took leave tmr... so I have a total of 4 days to 'recuperate' a bit. Weather these days have been very December-ish and gloomy weather outside now makes me feel super stay-homish. Nice weather to snuggle in bed all day ;) Thus also decided to take the time to change my blog pic again... ;) S once commented that the dogs in my pic look Chinese, with slity eyes and all... maybe they were just cold. These cute furry creatures were quietly sitting on the roof of a Tibetan temple in Shangri-la, Yunnan Province. Skies were blue but temp was prob hovering around 0C...

Atonement

I really want to watch this :)

I bought a lot of things....

Isn't this pendant lovely. Saw this in a tray of 50% off sale items at Fie Japan, and HAD to buy it, cos it's totally like something i would draw. Then i very boliao, spent a good 20 min or so at 1am in the morning trying to take nice pic of it at good angle. Aargh spent a lot of money today... but feel somewhat proud of myself that though I did spend quite a bit, I also got many many things (mostly on sale!). But once again fishing for bargains entails wading through irritating crowds (times 5 due to Christmas)... which is very very tiring. Sigh, no pain no gain... ;)

For some strange reason my title pic has mysteriously self-cropped... oh well. Will tidy up when I have the time :)

Today spent my lunchtime..... "exercising"! -- Needed to get some 'nice paper' from across Bras Basah Complex... yet had to get back to office in time to prepare for a 2.30pm meeting... So like ran all the way (sort of) right after alighting from City Hall MRT station, from Raffles City to opp National Library... good thing I wore flats, but my left shoe still flew out like thrice. Bit embarrassing... but i dunno, it was kinda fun and amusing having to repeatedly hop to flown-off shoe in the middle of the streets ;P Along my run I also "whizzed past" nice-looking shops... but a bit depressing, no time to stop. I shall go shopping tmr!

Disclaimer: Not like I didn't stop lah. On way back to City Hall MRT I like very lousy no breath already, then never really run anymore. :)

This Shi Min has been working rather hard the past few days... Think the next two months or so I can basically forget about doing much personal stuff on weekdays. Good thing there are some 3 public holidays coming up... So dun take leave also can rest :) But somewhat depressing when you're like the handful few left in office over 'holiday season'; then 1/4 of office somewhere else holidaying away... Aiyah but dunno leh, I am actually feeling ok. *Continue positive thinking* Life in ERU has also been particularly "unstable" lately, with DD leaving for studies and new DD coming in... Hai, all I wish now is for my site to go as timed... dun keep dragging and dragging... then I can finally go on my holiday... Though grounded till Mar/Apr next year, I signed up for basic photography class (starting early 08) at Objectifs last Sat, so at least I still have something to look forward to in meantime :)

You want to apply for HDB flat?

This question wasn't posed to me, but to my sis :) Though I should have been expecting this, but still cannot help but feel surprised when my mum mentioned that sis & bf are going to apply for BTO flats this time round. Dunno, though wanted to find out more details, somehow couldn't bring myself to, so somehow I acted like it was no big deal and nonchalantly agreed to help her find out more... So funny hor, actually want to dig out more details one (plus it's my own sis) but then too paiseh to go and ask also. Perhaps it's cos all along we dun share details on our personal lives, despite being 'close'... This also comes one day after I went down with sis to sign up for new phone line (sigh, copycat sis decided to get exact same phone model, same color... and EXACT HANDPHONE POUCH as me...! cannot really stand, but aiyah whatever, as long as she is happy) 'cos she was afraid of being cheated etc etc. Then I said, wah, so I wun get cheated ah? Then she gave me sheepish grin. Personally, I am quite relieved that her bf (maybe fiance-to-be soon...) is really quite a nice decent chap who seems like he will be able to 'take care' of my zhang3bu2da4 lil sis...

My unit has some of the most helpful/nicest ppl I've ever met. When ppl are so hao3 to the frequently clueless(work-related) me it makes me want to cry. Lucky I didn't, else would have scared them, suddenly tear in the middle of those let's-figure-this-out discussions...

Secret Pals
There was some commotion early this morning at the pigeon holes. From my workstation, I could hear a bunch of ERU ladies wowing and ah-ing... cos someone's secret pal had left her a small rose bouquet! And that someone turned out to be me! :) It certainly made my day, but my secret pal was thereafter accused of 'spoiling the market'... 'cos secret pal expectations were "upped" as a result. Tmr's our Christmas gift exchange; and I shall find out who has been so sweet to me, showering me with lil gifts every other day :)

At end of day, the junior officers also decided to re-collect all the tiny gifts we had given one another the past week or so for a secret-pal-gifts 'group picture'. Someone who got a donut last week then joked... already eaten want me to spit it out meh?? Though we're no longer kids, it was somewhat cute that this Christmas-secret-pal-initiative brought out the kid in many of us... like making ppl really happy for 3 minutes when they discover small gifts in their pigeon holes.

Hmmm, feel slightly guilty of this (go to article). Perhaps that's why I can get super stressed easily. And overly self-critical. And kill a lot of brain cells for NOTHING. But sometimes I just can't stand being slipshod leh.

Am back and all traumatised by my JLPT test... Considering how many answers I tikamed, will count myself lucky if I pass. If not, I will just try again next year... and make sure I pass then!! Sigh, am still not quite there yet, esp my comprehension and listening... but nmind, will take a short break from Japanese for time being; then start all over again early next year. And I deserve to give myself tiny pat on shoulder for religiously going for Jap lessons almost every Sun the past year... even if I dun pass, I did learn quite a bit :)

On a unrelated note, Sg feels more and more prosperous these days... with so many shopping malls undergoing facelifts and shops opening everywhere there are so many things to buy... places to eat and shop... takes some willpower to resist buying something everytime you hit the stores.. yet at the same time I feel somewhat disturbed... this place feels very materialistic (not like it wasn't before)... What do ppl want for Christmas? This voucher, that voucher.. this branded bag, that branded wallet... Of course I sometimes have a weakness for these things too, but yeah, try to remind myself from time to time that these are often transient possessions that wun really make me truly happy... (Sadly, "face" matters so much in our society huh) And seriously, women's mags I pick up are frequently unrealistic.. half the things they recommend are totally unaffordable. Few hundred bucks for a pair of shoes. A dress. And the list goes on... Who buys these things?? If I ever publish a women's mag, I will try to jie4 shao4 value-for-money-yet-look-good thingies... so that poor ppl can be happy too :P

Pretty benches in Bratislava, Slovakia (Jan 06)

If you've been reading my blog all this while, you might have found my new title picture somewhat familiar :) Yup, blogged about them nearly 2 years ago... It was one of those bu4 xian2 yan3 things that caught my eye... outside some castle in Bratislava on a gloomy winter day. Love the curves on these simple yet elegant benches :)

Am taking a break from cramming tonnes of Kanji pronunciations and grammar into my head... The last min me has been spending most of yest (and prob the rest of today too) soaking up all the Japanese vocab, grammar and all i've learnt all year... but head feels too saturated already... so will need a fair bit of luck tmr afternoon! In btwn resting and studying also visited food blogger/photographer Chubby Hubby's website the yesterday (piece of trivia if you didnt already know: he's Tommy Koh's son) and he has lovely lovely pictures of Bhutan! I want to be able to take pictures like that one day. One day.....

Yesterday I got physical headache today got mental headache. How can right, so young then all my brain cells killed prematurely... I'm beginning to feel though that thinking positively really does help. Makes keeping afloat easier :) Though sometimes when I feel stressed I just quiet quiet sit at workstation and stare at comp screen... then colleagues dun see much of me then everyone concerned what happen to me :P Ok lah, actually not stressed I also quiet quiet...

Today I took the lead and put up my wish list for our Christmas gift exchange! But ultimately some of my biggest wishes only I can make come true.

Today I worked through most of the day with a headache, which I suspect was due to lack of sleep :( Another logistical nightmare is about to erupt soon... this time round in the form of VIP invites and registration for a board-wide D & D... Somehow I whole day kenah this kinda role one, though got many diff sub-teams in my Party Team... So it's another round of getting right who are the VVIPs, VIPs and the tonnes of other ppl who's supposed to get invited. Hai, nmind lah, like I said last time, hone my skills next time can set up logistics company when out of job... :)

Shall sleep at 9.30pm today tonight! Break record. Hopefully headache goes away tmr.

Today marked the end of my year-long JLPT 2 Prep class... and THE TEST is next Sunday...! Die... Hope that I'll be lucky enough to pass. Though I have not sufficiently prepared for next week's test, it also comes as a sort of relief to me that I'll finally get to slack a bit on Sundays thereafter... and catch up with more sleep :P Intend to take 3 mth hiatus from Japanese class after test... 'cos unlike most other ppl, my December would be one busy month and I foresee myself getting quite stressed over deadlines and increasing workload for my 'CCAs'... aargh. At times just want to throw aside everything and do nothing; but cutting-down-forest-of-thorns analogy is still clear enough in head, so will continue to persevere! Meanwhile I keep wondering how everyone out there with tonnes of other commitments (eg. family, kids) manage to cope with work and life...

Samsung has terribly minimalist user manuals, it seems. And so trying to learn functions on new phone is pretty much trial and error. Though it might be a strange analogy to use, but suddenly felt like getting to know new phone is like getting to know someone. Stumbling upon cute functions/ features made me super high yesterday and it's like you grow more comfy with your phone with time... You get used to how it's built, how it works... Just like how you grow more comfy with clickable ppl with time. On the other hand, even when you're pissed with certain flaws the phone has, you know that the phone wun change to suit you; you just have to get used to it; just like how ppl fundamentally dun change much... Then after a while the novelty wears off and you begin to take your phone for granted... until one day you lose it and realise how impt to you it has grown.... hmm ok sorry I'm getting carried away ;P

Had opportunity to sit in various discussions with other depts the past week or so. Am coming to sudden realisation (yeah, usually i very slow one) how much planning (rightly so, though) goes behind every site... Though I'm so layman with no expertise to contribute whatsoever, felt like sitting in ppl's discussions enabled me to learn several interesting new things :)

I got chio new phone!

Cos existing phone line under Dad's name expires end Nov, have been looking around at phone deals recently.... And for me, only one phone stood out in the looks dept -- the Samsung U700 Ultra Edition II. I managed to get the black version! :) So slim and sleek.... really ai4 bu4 shi4 shou3... And surprisingly it has touch-sensitive soft keys... which is very cool but am totally not used to it :P Cos this phone has so many more functions than my current no-frills Samsung phone I need to like fiddle around for a week or so b4 my new phone progresses from handicap to handy communication tool.... It doesn't feel very user-friendly as of now... haha but even in the end I still can't master the functions it doesn't really matter lah-- too vain lah. Looks good can already :P

Mid this week, I was asked by CDD to do a write-up on my scholarship experience for a scholarship guide... and include a photo of myself. Write-up aside, the easiest thing was of course to find a decent picture... So that night, I ransacked my entire Berkeley photo collection, trying to find some decent picture of me alone not looking prematurely young or like fat. But quite sad, aside from my freshman year, pictures of myself in the 2nd/3rd year were all not too satisfactory (can tell put on weight)... Also noticed trend of more and more human-less, "self-less" pictures as time went on... Cannot help but feel worried... how come my pictures all no human touch these days... Have I grown more and more gu1 pi4 or what... Ok, the most recent ppl pictures I have that are also decent were those taken in Krabi.. but errr.... not exactly appropriate leh :)

Also started thinking about what I wanted to pen down. Started reminiscing about days in Berkeley... hai, it was one of the happiest periods of my life, really! Thinking about it made me miss it dearly. Then I reflected on my past one and a half year and my increasing complaints about little things here and there... To be fair, I have learnt a lot since I started work and I've been given more opportunities than normal new recruits by my bosses... Why do I seem to only notice the less pleasant things? Perhaps I need to change my mindset; no doubt everyone gets frustrated with irky things that crop up at work, but if you see things so negatively all the time, at the end of the day all you remb is how frustrated you were, cleanly forgetting about the useful things you too picked up along the way. Talking to ppl keeping afloat in worse situations also reminds me that tricky situations I face are but peanuts-- and at least I dun have to write huge stack of documents detailing exact procedures for a single exercise... like ppl do in the SAF :P

The refreshment glitch

Ah, alas! Something had to go wrong... But I suppose thankfully it wasn't a huge glitch and I learnt a valuable lesson from it. So I have been busy helping boss organise this inter-agency meeting the past few weeks and today was it! Then... the refreshments did not come on time. Ok, called ppl to check and they casually told me, oh it's on the way. So wait... Then, like hmm something is wrong why past time still nobody come. Call again. Then, to my horror, these NEXUS ppl too blur and forgot my order... When they finally found the order I put in, tried to make amendments and prepared my order immediately. But unfortunately meeting still started b4 my refreshments arrived (meant to be on table nicely served on little plates to all the VIP attendees prior to meeting) and so ph2 and i waited outside for the food.... then spent the next half hour or so in pantry putting everything tog nicely in plates for ppl.... then fret about how to go and interrupt meeting to serve food... haha at one point i felt so bai2 chi1... Guess have to do it then have to do it lor. And we did :) Lesson learnt: Dun assume ppl can deliver... sometimes it pays to be paranoid lah. Perhaps the really good thing that came out of this was that there was so much leftovers in the end then my colleagues got all the free food (which was actually quite tasty) :P Also escaped from taking minutes the first 1/3 of the meeting hehe..... But maybe boss is now thinking... this girl ah, ask her do this small thing also can screw up........

Upset-ness has more or less subsided over weekend... Am trying to practise self-psychoing. Though you dread doing certain things, sometimes still have to do what, else dun do everything snowball even worse? Just have to grit my teeth and cut down all the irritating thorns standing btwn me and my travel-holiday sometime early next year...! Though can get hurt, get pricked... if I dun even attempt to cut then i'll never reach my reward right... sit in front of huge thorn forest to cry is not going to help (I suppose can allow myself to weep a bit, but weep finish must do work). Wait for valiant knight to cut down all my thorns also dunno must wait how long..... One must always learn to be self-reliant :) Besides, I have all the kind "aunties" in my unit always ready to lend me a hand... I need to be stronger! Ganbatte! (to myself :P)

I got very upset today. And frustrated. And unhappy :( At times dunno if i'm just being childish and immature or there's something seriously wrong with how things work where I am. I think that it's also quite unhealthy that certain things at work have made me feel bad about myself, when in actual fact I shouldn't be feeling all these feelings of inadequateness etc at all. No doubt I can be a huge worry wart, but at times I can't help but feel lousy about things I am made to do. It certainly does not help that sometimes things you have to do are plain SILLY. Like getting right who's going to sit where in the Board room, cos there is apparently some unspoken protocol that XXX will not like it if he/she is put beside YYY. This is so ridiculous; for goodness sake sit beside someone you dun like for 3 hrs will die meh. Sometimes innocent innocent think that everyone is ok with everyone else is better. Unearth office politics and you realise that once again world is complicated. The most fabulous thing was that while I was at workstation sinking into depression boss and few other colleagues were working productively after office hours. Couldn't stand it and just left, albeit with mini mountain of uncleared stuff. I need a break...

After a long restful sleep last night, I spent my Deepavali morning doing some room purging-- giving it a mini spring-clean after months of neglect. Despite a conscious attempt to regularly throw out things/junk mail that I dun want, rubbish sometimes still end up unscathed when neglected and left in obscure corners; when they just disappear under stacks of papers etc etc. Only during a spring clean do you realise how much crap you've accummulated :P Should get rid of bad habit of buying on impulse (eg. buy books and bai2 mei3 on shelf; buy clothes on impulse only to leave in wardrobe; buy mags, flip a bit then chuck one side and forget about their existence...) and ask myself more carefully whether I want something/ predict where item would end up before making purchases... And always feel bad throwing paper into the bin...but am really too lazy to hunt down the collective recycling bins somewhere in my estate. Miss those days in Berkeley when I could just carry all the paper trash to landlord's backyard.

I want to complain! haha cannot tell that I this kind look so meek and agreeable but actually so fond of complaining right... aiyah must air grievances even at risk of sounding like a useless bum, else too pent-up one day will end up spontaneous combustion/explosion :P Dunno leh, maybe after working I've become more easily 'agitated'... But complain complain in the end I still must do and still WILL do.

And I am exceptionally unambitious for a scholar. At this point in time I have no desire whatsoever to scale the corporate ladder... I am not superman like boss; nor superwoman like big boss. I am just unsuper chapalang woman given glam title of 'Secretariat Team'. Have also grown to fear the word 'update' in emails.... 'cos it usually means "go dig files"... dig deep deep. On some days, all I wish for is a leisurely weekday where I get to sit down to read a good book/watch a good movie.

At times I'm a really bad worker with bad memory. I am frequently unable to regurgitate what someone told me over the phone in its entirety. And this unintentional memory loss can be fatal... or simply embarrassing when you have to call the someone back to ascertain that this/that was what he/she really meant. Why and how boss manages to think of every possible scenario to pre-empt/clarify I am unable to explain. Maybe i'm just not a very details kinda person in this respect. I can be anal and meticulous when it comes to writing, editing etc... but ask me to take notes or remb things word for word and I falter.

On a brighter note, I visited Mt Alvernia hospital for the 2nd time in a week to visit a 2nd colleague and her new-born baby. I dun remb when the last time I saw a 2-day-old baby was, but the baby I saw today was very very cute. And delicate and small! But on the car ride back to office when female colleagues went on and on about pregnancy, post-natal depression and confinement, it all seemed very scary. Esp tales about confinement and not being to bathe for a month. Sorry to say this, but I was extremely grossed out.

Colleague's recent interest in learning the piano has rekindled my enthusiasm for an instrument I was sorta made to learn, but never really mastered. So even though I have all the certs to show, skills are a far cry from what they ought to be! :) So today, on a nice stay-in Saturday afternoon, I decided to sit down to play... starting with The Secret piano score, which has lovely pieces. Think will take me at least a few months to play these songs well enough, but not a problem, since I have no target to meet; no exam to take. Looking back at all the piano lessons I've taken in the past, I also concluded that all I did in the past was more of "mechanistically" playing pieces to take exams. I've never really quite appreciated piano playing as an art itself... And though with long fingers that can reach more than an octave and thus some advantage in mastering the more challenging pieces; I've never been disciplined nor driven enough to practise very hard haha. But from now on, I shall aim to play for leisure from time to time... Though my technique is not quite there anymore, feel like I'm "feeling" the piano a little more so than I used to. Good thing that piano playing is a little like driving/cycling-- it's not really something you'll forget... just have to try picking it up again. else the money my parents invested in me to make me more 'cultured' would have totally gone down the drain :P

Also took a nice afternoon nap after roughing it out for 2 hrs or so at the piano. Sleeping is bliss :)

Though I've been doing quite a bit of admin/logistical stuff for this secretariat team I'm in... there are times where you get juicy bits of news first hand... which I guess is a tiny perk. Like, which ppl are nominated for what by who lah... etc etc. Then I this lowly small fry knows everything cos I collate everything haha. Ok, but then again some names remain 'just another name'... frequently names only become meaningful when you know who these ppl are; and given that i'm one barely 1.5-year-old staff out of some 4000-odd in HDB, actually quite a waste that such info was made available to me lah. hee. Digressing a bit, it's just like how a person is 'just another person' to you until you really get to know him/her well. Which totally reminds me of The Little Prince tale... how his rose was special, cos it was his rose that he watered; took care of blah blah.... Ok, back to my secretarial role-- I think it's unfortunate though that I am quite bad at multi-tasking. Having so many disruptive little things to do really makes me unable to concentrate on the real work I have to do... With my putting out fires everyday I end up accummulating more time bombs in my backyard...

I'm very sleepy and sleeping at 1am again but just feel like blogging and recording these thoughts before going to bed. Today was one of those slightly pek chek days in which I spent a good half of the day doing secretarial stuff and fretting over what those big bosses REALLY want/mean. And because diff ppl have diff interpretations of just one ambiguous note the VIP wrote, I wasted quite a bit of time doing unnecessary things. Shall always remind myself in future to CLARIFY and make sure this is what XXX wants before embarking on doing it. Though felt a bit like pulling hair out, was on the other hand very grateful to the good ppl in my unit, who were really supportive in helping me with my secretarial duties... It really makes a difference to have ppl 'fighting fires' with you ;) Think we have become seriously good at dealing with all sorts of insignificant-impact-yet-time-consuming work emergencies...

Had a busy day at work today but rewarded myself by 'playing' hard too, or rather, by indulging in treats :) Canele at Paragon has yummy Earl Grey ice-cream....! K, better turn in in view of long day tmr...

My dept's the champion for Group 2 netball... after just two 15-min games! (Group 2 is the weaker category... :P) Quite strange, the way everything was organised, but am not complaining over the win. but I suppose nothing beats the hwa chong badminton tournament, when shu and I came in 2nd for doubles after one walkover and losing the only game we played... It's a very amusing kinda fond memory :)

On a totally unrelated note, I now have the piano score for Jay's "bu neng shuo de mi mi" (see embedded video below) as well as quite a few other songs from The Secret. Yay! Sister's friend got it for her from Taiwan... Actually watched the movie in Hualien but so silly never go bookstore to look for piano score then. Though Jay was his usual egoistic self in the movie, I actually quite liked it... I shall attempt to master some of these nice songs one day :)

Tmr's the interdepartmental Netball tournament! Somewhat excited to play actually, but the two brief trainings I've had so far didn't help much in preparing me for the game... but nmind lah, just try my best :) We were also talking about it over lunch at Ichiban Sushi when a colleague shared that she too joined the tournament when she was a newbie at HDB some years back... but cos she wasn't very good at it etc, got zhuang4ed by ppl and fell down etc. But the guy who zhuang4ed her ended up pursuing her (though they didn't end up tog).... Then another colleague chipped in and narrated how it was through a similar kinda incident that she got to know her bf... and so they joked and said I should go and get zhuang4ed tmr... esp since recently quite a few new recruits... ha, if only it were that easy...

Today I received my first wedding invitation ever... This will be my first time attending a friend's wedding so I'm pretty excited. next one should be boss's wedding. but give me a few years... and I'll prob start dreading going for ppl's weddings :P
Today also received news that a friend would be going to teach Eng in Kobe, Japan, come next Feb/Mar... Was indeed surprising but hey, it might just fit in nicely with my plans to visit Japan early next year! At least I can travel without having to find a travel buddy... and perhaps get free accommo :P Am envious of bond-free ppl who can try anything they want while they are young.
Today I also found out that boss got one more big arrow and a small arrow. No doubt he has bright career prospects; but really think he's quite 'poor thing'. For all the excellent work he's producing, he's seriously underpaid. And feel like he doesn't even get to rest. One thing settled then something new would pop up. Sometimes it's better if the big bosses dun love you so much...

Mini Revamp!

Today when fiddling around with some settings I discovered that I could upload a background photograph behind my title. You used to need more advanced knowledge of html etc to be able to do that; so for html dummies like me having a title pic was really out of my reach. Am quite happy with the new feature; and I can now regularly change my title pics to suit my mood. Yay! Ok lah, am lazy bum so will not change very frequently. And I like my butterfly pic quite a bit, so it will take a while b4 I get sick of it. Or rather, I'd have to wait for a new trip to have nice new pics to upload...(which wun be very soon, unfortunately) Also changed background from black to dark grey (cannot really tell right....) And other minor amendments to font colors, profile pic etc... and Ta-da! My blog has a new look... :)

I'm aware of my negative 'outbursts' about work; and when I'm not in the why-is-my-world-so-bleak mood, I do try to remind myself that there's so much more to life than work :P I suppose it really isn't that bad at times, but somehow when I get stressed/upset I just blow everything up. Oh well. Find that watching TV and reading books/mags help me to wind down/relax. And I recently subscribed to NHK premium, in a bid to be more hardworking during my last leg of JLPT 2 preparation. Actually, I got it intending to use it as a substitute for studying. Though I always plan to study Jap few days a week after work, it has NEVER worked... and cos exam is coming up real soon, better buck up and devise backup plan... which is to watch Japanese TV :) Though without any subtitles the Japanese spoken on TV can be just jibberish chatter at times, am still heartened that I manage to pick up bits here and there. And feel that watching 'authentic' Japanese channels offers a good insight into Japanese culture. Just watched this Japanese talk show, with guests debating over various issues on Japan's agricultural sector, whether participants were for imposing tarriffs on imported rice etc etc. From college students to 60-year-old farmers, all invited guests got to voice his/her opinion on various questions asked... There was even a real-time phone-in vote for audience to participate in debate! At one point guests also got the chance to taste rice from diff countries and guess their origin...Even though they have some really crazy game shows, the Japanese can be a pretty intellectual lot too :)

Had a major mood swing today; went to work quite motivated, with intention to be efficient and productive. However by end of the day, esp on the long MRT trip home, spirits dipped rapidly for no good reason and felt quite upset with myself in general. like life is so mundane... hai, dunno. Actually on my daily morning MRT ride I always wonder about the lives behind those tired faces, those dozing off heads... what drives them in life? Necessity? Having/wanting to provide for their families? Passion for their jobs? (quite rare i suppose eh) why then do so many ppl subject themselves to doing things they dun like? Why do I too consent to doing things I dun find palatable? Because I have to? Why do I have to? Hai, maybe I should just turn in... and continue my zombie routine at 7am tmr.......

This evening I went for my first netball training session with my dept ppl... I miss netball! Haven't played since sec sch i think. Though it was super super tiring (I dun have stamina... or to console myself, I played at the end of a busy work day haha) I had fun. Just that I've forgotten all the rules; and kept illegally entering courts I wasn't supposed to step into. Also didn't play very strategically and ran everywhere haphazardly. Aiyah maybe I too enthu lah then never mark my own opponent hee. Didn't help that we were playing against a super zai team.. so by half time I really bu4 xing2 le... Inter-dept tournament is about 2 weeks away... nmind lah anyhow whack :) Good thing was I realised that my new running shoes are superbly comfy so it was money well spent. Sigh, thought cos I exercise regularly I'm quite fit; apparently not!

Am also growing VERY busy at work. Was arrowed to be in some new committee just last fri; and all the work started pouring in immediately on Monday. Am "supporting staff" for unit head, who is Secretariat of new committee. Am officially doing a lot of chapalang secretarial stuff; and feel like perhaps at the end of these various secretarial-like terms I'd become good enough to earn my keep as secretary-of-sorts; but ok lah; I actually feel like by sitting in meetings etc I'm also learning new interesting things :)

Have been wanting to buy a new pair of running shoes for quite long, so decided to do something about it today and bused to Queensway shopping centre after Jap class. Dunno why running shoes these days all quite ugly, but finally a New Balance pair caught my eye :P Sigh, another little hole in pocket, but can console myself that it wun be too frequent an expense. Thereafter bused to another MRT station to get home. Unfamiliar sights on both bus trips made me realise how untravelled I am in Sg... With no car, unadventurous parents who frequently only drive to the same old places & limited social life, find myself quite confined to places accessible via MRT :P Unless once in a blue moon nice friends with cars accede to my requests to bring me places :) Hai, maybe I should egg Dad on to go and get car with autogear....

I get the sense that ppl in my organisation generally dun love their jobs too much. Perhaps that's not unique to us and such is the nature of work everywhere; but find it rather disturbing that most ppl just get by their whole lives doing what they might not really like. Does this have to be the case though? Is the risk of venturing out to pursue one's passion so great that most ppl are satisfied to get by, earn their keep and have a stable life..? I think it's good that I am thinking about these issues; but at the same time it upsets me that I'm in a situation whereby I can only think but not act. I hate to think that I'll eventually end up like most ppl- think and not act and then make do with something that is ok but not ideal. What's the catalyst for action???

This morning I was stand-in photographer for our SERS consultation on new precinct facilities... and my very first time acting as 'event photographer' for something. Though was only in charge of taking pics for 2 hrs, had to run around like mad woman and was quite sticky and tired at the end of it all... Nonetheless I actually quite enjoyed myself :) And realised that it's a challenge to take pictures of an event... cos your subjects dun stop for you and you just have to be quick, to be at the right place at the right time! Unfortunately quite a few of my shots came out blur, but given that I took some 200 over pictures within 2 hrs, I suppose I could still afford to have some lousy ones... and i forgive myself cos it's my first attempt at such things :P After the session, really felt that I would like to master photography one day...

Also met up with a couple of 'old friends' over the weekend; I always feel inspired by my 'tough' friends who really push themselves to do their best, overcome all obstacles etc etc. My very decent and self-motivated friends put me to shame when I reflect on my lack of perseverance and determination etc etc. But I'm certainly not looking down on myself! I just need to believe that I am capable of doing better... :)

Experience at Management Retreat

Was given opportunity to participate in the senior management retreat at Sentosa Golf Club the past 1.5 days (cos some of us 'normal officers' had to present a tiny thing); and got to witness first hand how these VIPs in HDB interact, behave etc etc. Most of these faces were very foreign to me; but perhaps it was a good thing that because I'm so new nobody even knows who I am. Most of these ppl in the same room were easily 2 decades older than me ;)

The purpose of the retreat was mainly to review our vision and mission... and though this was somewhat accomplished by the end of the session; the 2 facilitators had a really tough time trying get some 50 something ppl with diff views come to some consensus. The majority of the directors/deputy directors were alright, but a handful of these older folks weren't very open at all. We were divided into groups and tasked to brainstorm on ideas... and during the floor discussion, though we were all working for the good of the organisation, some individuals had such vested interests in their own proposals that it defeated the purpose of the sharing session... (In particular, one director at my table kept proposing and re-proposing my group's proposal for one of the mission statements, even though everyone kinda decided to drop it... I couldn't help but laugh at his amusing persistence) Nonetheless thanks to our 2 excellent facilitators I had quite a lot of fun and enjoyed myself. The most awkward experience though was perhaps meeting my DCEO in the toilet twice and not knowing what to say... :P.

After the session, also went with boss and some other young officers from another dept for some drinks at Tanjong Beach (like just 5 min drive away); during which amidst other "classic stories" they complained about how their director had cautioned them not to "anyhow saying things" ie, he was afraid that his young officers would say something inappropriate unwittingly offending senior management... Felt rather disturbed that there were still ppl with such mentality managing the organisation. And on hindsight I wondered if I had unwittingly offended anyone by being rather uninhibited in speaking my mind? (I usually very quiet, but recently have become slightly more courageous in speaking up :P) But I figured, if an individual is unable to tolerate someone challenging his/her view and gets offended as a result, then he/she isn't really worth my respect either... In any case, after their sharing, I realised that I'm still such a greenhorn in dealing with ppl..

Sometimes I get worried cos at times I'm still not shrewd enough to tell when ppl are cheating me. The other day I mentioned this to a colleague then she laughed. Like, this colleague from another dept has been owing me stuff for a long time... and recently she has been telling me that she's been sick lah; her boss scold her then she has to relook into the inputs she owes me so will take longer time etc etc lah... though I somewhat pitied her; at same time I cannot help but wonder if she's taking advantage of my 'softness' to buy time... :( And my starting to doubt certain ppl actually disturbs me a little too-- cos I like to believe that ppl dun intend to be bad/mean... to give them benefit of the doubt. Else the world would be such a cynical place... where nobody trusts anybody. Hmm though I'm sure if i tell that to my dad (who always says he's "guo4 lai2 ren2") he will say I'm just naive.

Minister Tea session

Not sure how things work in other stat boards/ministries, but MND regularly holds Minister tea sessions with its younger officers to "get to know them better" and "get to hear their views". Actually I dunno why they still call it 'tea session'; cos nobody dares to eat nor drink when Minister Mah is talking... then after Minister leaves the MNDHQ staff tells everyone to finish, or rather, touch the food else everything would go to waste. It was my first time having in-person contact with Minister so it was quite refreshing for me. Also met Dr Mohd Maliki, the Parl Sec for MND, whom I quite like, cos he seems like a very qin1 qie4 and smart person ;P There was however this pretty irksome, seemingly keen-to-perform guy who was very vocal the whole session, whom I couldn't really stand. On hindsight, I hope nobody caught my dubious looks whenever this guy spoke... :P

The Other WTO =>Click here

I am quite hopeless-- am still not disciplined enough to do the right things at the right time. And cos I have an urge to blog about an interesting organisation I learned about earlier today, am neglecting proper 'work' to blog instead ;P Nmind, shall make it quick! So this morning was the last day of the Asia-Pacific Housing Forum... And I had the privilege of meeting the founder of the World Toilet Organisation (actually wonder if they have to pay royalties or something for using this famous acronym), Mr Jack Sim, who gave a very quirky presentation of the importance of improving toilets and sanitation; and how many ppl around the world shirk this 'dirty' topic when it's such an essential part of our daily lives! According to him, in sg, cos ladies are perpetually queueing up for the loo; to the extent that they sometimes have to resort to using empty men's toilets; there is some new building code which stipulates that lady loos in new buildings have to be twice the size of men's. If only that could be retrospectively applied to my building. Tonnes of ladies over at my side of the dept and only two cubicles serving us! Anyway, they also have projects in developing countries, a World Toilet College to train cleaners and organise summits to talk about toilet issues...! Mr Sim's passion for what he does really rubbed off on me and so after the talk I went and asked if one could volunteer for the organisation and what positions were available. To my surprise, he said that it's very flexible and I could do what I'm passionate about and what I'm good at... that really impressed me, cos even though I believe that's the way to go, I've yet to meet anyone/any organisation that really practises this... capitalising on what ppl are best at, what ppl love to do. Aah... I have a very unconventional idol of the month! :)

1st Asia-Pacific Housing Forum - random ramblings

I had the privilege of attending the above forum the past two days... (tmr morning, too), organised by Habitat for Humanity International and the Singapore Institute of Planners. It's been a while since I attended any forum so international; and the exchange of ideas, the ec devt issues discussed (though all on housing) all reminded me fondly of my schooling days. Like seriously, though the crowd is very different-- mostly foreign delgates from the region (some further away) gathered to discuss issues particularly pertaining to slum upgrading, housing finance for the poor etc. My own CEO also gave a speech on home ownership in Singapore (coincidentally drafted by my perpetually-being-arrowed unit head), which, though intended as a sharing-of-ideas speech, turned out to be slightly out of place in my opinion. I couldn't help but feel the stark contrast of issues these developing countries were confronted with, VS issues we're dealing with now. Also, no doubt Sg has world-class public housing she ought to be very very proud of, but after these two days I also came to stark (and very delayed too, i guess) realisation how much effort and money the Sg govt has thrown into public housing... How given the billions we've invested in our HDB flats/estates alone it's prob also highly unlikely for any other country to easily replicate how we 'did it' in Sg. Plus we're so small. Another very good point raised during the panel discussions about why we 'have it easy' is the political stability and continuity in Sg... (one naive and rather insensitive middle-aged Singaporean participant in one of group discussions kept saying how it's very simple for other countries to do what we did in Sg, leading someone to rebutt saying how sg is not like say in Africa/Latin America whereby you can get military coup/ frequent change in govt) which makes it far easier to ensure that ppl's land/property rights are protected/ for govt to further build on what they had delivered earlier... Every Singaporean (esp HDB dwellers) should come and attend this forum man, then they will know not to take public housing for granted.

Forum also made me seriously wonder if not being able to really effect huge changes at work was a reason for my occasional "demoralisation"... As in, public housing in Singapore is already so 'developed' that frequently you're just like routinely implementing things or making small improvements to very established systems, whose impact on your customers you also cannot see. On the other hand, just listening to some fellow counterparts at seminar was quite inspiring- NGOs/companies developing environmentally sustainable building materials (eg. recycling debris, using bamboo as building material), experts from the devt field sharing some successful field experiences in various developing countries. Maybe this is a very selfish kinda approach to getting work satisfaction, but yeah, I seldom feel like I'm helping ppl who really need it... if at all! Worse still, get complaints...

Part of appearing more professional and groomed also entails putting on light makeup on formal occasions. So I signed myself up for a basic makeup workshop by Ettusais to pick up some tips... Ok lah, maybe I shall admit that I'm growing vainer too. Anyway, really like the whole feel/packaging of Ettusais, cos it has such a cosy Frenchy feeling. It's actually a brand under Shiseido and thus Jap, and this perhaps also partly explains its pretty packaging (such as the cute girlish bag on the left that contained my door gift!) Even after my workshop today I doubt I'm skilled enough to apply make-up decently/ professionally for myself... but I suppose practice makes perfect. And you'll have to take a baby step somewhere! :) One interesting thing I discovered was the beauty of the eyelid. In that it has such an amazing mechanism... only when I had to try putting eyeshadow on the whole eyelid did it dawn upon me that the eyelid comprises so much 'skin'... cos usually it folds up so neatly and perfectly you never imagined there was so much to it... haha ok i am mad but yeah, felt like the session made me slightly more aware of my facial features, particularly the amazing eyelid.

On a related note, feel like Singapore is getting better and better for shopping; so many new brands/stores coming in. This is bad news for my pay packet... cos feel like everytime I go out I feel an urge to buy and buy and buy. And I end up spending, spending and spending. I'm turning into a shopaholic... :(

This afternoon during the half hour I managed to spare for brainless, talk-cock circular/cover letter stapling at the common table, topic discussed was plight of modern-day parents when kids fall sick... one colleague's son has been quite sick all week, making her very stressed and upset; she and husband had also been taking turns to go on leave to look after child. Then two guo4 lai2 ren2s said.. oh, we've been through all this and it's part and parcel of bringing up kids... and also narrated their tiring/worrying experiences with their own kids... I had nothing to contribute, so just sat there listening... but couldn't help but feel that it's so scary, draining and difficult to bring up kids... And looking back at when I was a kid, I suppose I must have given my own parents a fair deal of stress and heartache too.

If it's so difficult and draining to bring up kids, it makes me wonder... so why do so many ppl want to have kids then? Is it cos they just happily gave birth to kids unaware of the demands of child rearing? But for ppl who actually chose to have more than one kid, that can't be a reason... Which makes me wonder, why get into something when you know this something's going to stress you, drain you, tire you... This question I also posed to one colleague wrt to relationships... why get into a relationship when sometimes you know that you're in for a heartbreak? To which she answered, when you're single you tend to feel more neutral most of time, but when you're attached/ married you can also be very unhappy or very happy... and at the end of the day that someone can hurt you but some ppl are definitely worth it... So similarly for the many wei2 da4 parents out there, I suppose their kids are worth the heartache/worry etc etc... Life wouldn't be very exciting if it were always a bed of roses? :)

*Sleepy Shi Min*

These days I can fall asleep in the middle of a discussion with boss and colleagues... Even though I'm usually the youngest and supposedly most energetic one around ha. Think one month ago I did that to Soo (my excuse being food coma... had discussion right after heavy lunch) then today... very unintentionally I couldn't keep my eyes open during short 30 min discussion with boss... (what excuse do i have today leh? perhaps that I worked till very late yest haha) The very embarrasing thing though was... that my DD (who usually doesn't leave her room for no reason unless she's going for a meeting or to the loo) came out today while we were discussing at this common table to pick up a can of soft drink from the fridge. Then she very surprisingly offered it to us (I kept wondering if she saw me dozing off and thus made this offer) before walking back... Fly1 said that she was only offering the drink to me... wonder if it's cos I was dozing off; or cos I was sitting on the outermost seat... Oh well, quite paiseh. Also brings back memories of being teased by Berk friends last time cos I easily doze off in middle of lectures; even once right in front of a distinguished guest speaker.... I should sleep more man.

I frequently wonder if I'm the only weirdo who feels that friends disappear into thin air once everyone starts work. I guess I dun mean it literally, but just that everyone just seems so caught up with work, with their own lives that they dun seem to bother to meet up that much anymore. Today over lunch I raised this to a friend and he too concurred. And this is just the beginning.... wait till ppl start getting married and such. At times I can't help feeling that I'm the only one who seriously bothers. Why dun some ppl care anymore? Am I the only sentimental soul who remembers all the moments shared with each and every special friend I've made? Or am I the only soul who hasn't got her priorities right-- who instead of focusing and working hard towards carving out a decent career for myself gets overly emotional from time to time? Very ironically, though meeting up with old friends make me happy; it also reminds me how times have changed; how certain really fond memories can never be relived and we just have to accept that.

Gadget-freak dad has struck again. This time, he bought a huge SONY Bravia 46" LCD TV and it has been hanging on my living room wall since Wed, together with the existing similar sized flat screen TV; and his other smaller TV at the back of our living room. And so the living room is indeed chapalang and overcrowded with TVs... but I have to admit that dad is not wrong in saying that he has the right to spend money on the things he likes (cos I went to 'scold' him then he rebuked by saying... so i spend $1000 over to travel ok, he buy TV with his own money not ok??) Oh well. Actually despite the overcrowdedness.... having a huge LCD TV on your wall plus cable TV (yes, he also went to get the Starhub Hubstation) is quite a mini luxury.... (that's one good thing about living with your family, get to be free loader on such things haha; k lah i not so materialistic) Hai, considering that I wun be eligible to buy an HDB flat anytime soon... might as well make myself as happy and cosy as possible at home eh ;)

Love at first sight!

In line with my new resolution to look more professional/less kiddish, I went shopping after Jap lessons yesterday (what a good excuse to shop right?) and I fell in love with this pair of shoes....! Now I officially own two pairs of flowery cum pure color heels... Ok to be fair, this pair of shoes isn't exactly what you call professional, but I suppose when you really like something you can easily find all kinds of excuses to justify buying it haha. So I splurged on a pair of shoes I didn't exactly need... :) Also went to Zara and fell in love with all the coats there. Though I've always been a fan of long coats, quite a few of the new designs on display were seriously cute. The only convincing consolation I could think up is that it will be a waste of money in hot tropical Singapore (k lah, also not cheap). Even my old coats are kinda obsolete... I need to travel to somewhere cold next year so that I can wear my winter gear all over again ;P Hmm.. maybe should plan for Japan in late winter/early Spring... Also saw some nice stuff that I could have fitted into if I were just a teeny bit slimmer.... aargh. Nevermind, incentive to cut down on choc/ snacks intake at work... :)

food for thought (<- click here)

Yesterday when walking along north bridge road from city hall to bugis, I noticed a new restaurant along the row of shops just opp NLB. Cos was alone on my way to exercise and had no time for a fancy dinner, didn't manage to try anything here; but the menu sure looks good, especially the desserts! And the design of the shop window cum restaurant logo really appealed to me... it just felt so homely and cute. What I really liked about this place though (despite having not tried anything there) was the commitment to donate part of their profits to social causes they believe in... Not sure how this is done though, but I guess I can ask if I patronise this place some day ;) Isn't it cool though -- to run a business doing something you like; then doing your part for society at the same time.

I shall watch more TV

Tonight I finally got down to watching Grey's Anatomy after a 2 yr-hiatus.... it used to be the one and only show my roommate and I faithfully caught each week back in D.C.... ;P And I realised at the end of the episode how much I've been missing out...! There was also a guest star appearance by Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine. She's such a talented young actress... I really admire ppl who are so good at what they do; and clearly enjoy it.

I've also been catching bits of the 9pm drama on Channel 8... it's quite comical. I'm beginning to really like Joanne Peh's character. I've never thought Joanne Peh was particularly good, but thought she was not bad in this show. Very coincidentally, one of the TOs also told me last week during house visit that the market where Joanne Peh's character usually hangs out at is the Ghim Moh market opposite our SERS site. I didn't even realise ;P

Had dinner with a former colleague this evening and somehow realised that we've become better friends than we used to despite having far less in-person contact these days. It's not the only time I got to know ppl better ONLY after they 'leave' me. Haha perhaps I really warm up to ppl that slowly... ;P She also good-naturedly shared something uncannily timely... the importance of positive thinking and being more thick-skinned. Aiyah it's true lah, I just need to try harder... I guess I've been more demoralised than was really necessarily over certain things recently and need to avoid that in future.

On another random note, I walked away from That CD shop on Sunday memorising the name of a French oldie... C'est Si Bon! Hee I recently have a penchant for oldies but was too cheapo to buy the house cd with this song ;)

Jumbled thoughts

Mum will be off for a week-long holiday to Korea starting tmr night and though I wish I were in her position I also accept that life can never be all play and no work... No doubt I like to "daydream" quite a bit sometimes one must face reality. And reality is Shi Min has to work. and learn to be less emotional when things dun really go her way.

Today's Teacher's Day eve and sis came back with bagfuls of presents... I think the kids love her. Though from my point of view she's too kind and innocent and prob very vulnerable to the evil ways of the world, these are perhaps precisely qualities even kids see in her and love her for. Which makes me feel quite awww... and happy for her cos though work responsibilities appear to eat up a huge amount of her time, I can sense her passion and commitment towards what she does.

I am very very tempted to sign up for a basic photography class commencing in mid-Oct, but I know that i'll be busy and that I perhaps ought invest the time in preparing for my JLPT exam instead, but how... i really want to do it. Just do it?

New Micro Hi-Fi System!

Today I got a damn chio black Phillips Micro Hi-Fi system.... for only $101 (including GST) at Courts!! (dear Dad was tasked to get it for me while I was doing house visits at Ghim Moh :P) I've seen the white version around in the stores (for about $180 i think) and though I liked the design hesitated to get it cos I'll end up with a free IPod dock which I'll have no use for. Then, while flipping through the Aug 07 Courts Megasale brochure this morning, I spotted the black version, which is cheaper and chio-er.... :) Thought it would have been sold out cos there are only 20 sets at each store, but apparently the Tampines Megastore still had 10 sets available... and thus today I am its proud owner! haha ok i am like deliriously happy though it's a very simple, no frills hi-fi cos it's also very value-for-money... sure beats always listening to CDs on my laptop :) Ah, I love my room.... how, will want to stay at home all the time and will be more jia bu chu qu...

True Yoga's evil marketing strategy

I've been meaning to blog about this but forgot till I saw the article in The Sunday Times today :P
Ever since some months ago, I've been offered a free one-week pass cum free tour by some ppl from True Yoga, who presumably got my contact via the credit card company. However, I've never managed to squeeze out time to go till last Sun evening... And this was despite Cat's "warning" some time ago about their distasteful marketing strategies. Well, i mean not knowing why exactly why she disliked them, I decided to take a look myself, since there's no harm just dropping by.
So I dropped by the Pacific Plaza branch after Jap lessons. Informed counter that I was dropping by for the free tour... upon which staff led me to this sitting area where customers/ visitors can rest and drink tea before/after exercise. Place was nicely done up etc... Then this young lady staff came up to me, introduced herself etc and then proceeded with this understanding-customer's-needs-sales-pitch... But actually I was just like thinking in my head.. ok get this over and done with and tell me how much your packages are.... (aiyah but of course I still appeared nice haha) Finally after dropping hints that I had something on later, lady revealed the cost of their packages... which was... totally ridiculous. According to the chart she showed me, one has to pay an exorbitant $400/$500 one-time joining fee, another fee which I forgot, as well as a monthly fee of $179 or something (for the 2 year membership). Rates were even steeper for the 1-year membership. Of course I was quite put off by the ridiculous rates, so like requested to be shown facilities instead then maybe take free pass and go home. Nonetheless, during the quick walkabout, marketing lady kept questioning how much I was willing to pay and that there was room for negotiation... So I said some random figure like $100 a month... after which (when I was about to leave) lady tried to buy time.. claimed that she was 'new' and could check with manager whether they could give me a special discount.... THEN, turns out that they could offer me special rate of say around $100 per month, minus the previous joining fees etc, on the condition I sign up immediately. However, this attractive offer somehow backfired on me. Was quite disgusted how dishonest these ppl are cos they were out to milk every single cent the potential customer was willing to pay. Seriously think the marketing lady is expert at gauging customer's willingness to pay and then adjusts package fees accordingly. For the very first time, I witnessed blatant (first degree i think) price discrimination in action! Wonder how many of their 19,000 customers (according to Straits times article) actually got 'milked' this way without knowing. Oh well, maybe i'm like da3 bao4 bu4 ping2 for nothing cos perhaps classes there are so good that ppl are willing to be ripped off... After that incident, someone told me that certain other gyms also practise similar marketing strategies...

Afternote: found out from colleague (who's member there) the next day that she only pays about $90 per month for an unlimited package. She says she got a good deal from her student days. Though I wasn't cheated into buying up the supposedly brilliant $100 a month deal (limited), somehow knowing this just further worsened my impression of this gym cos it was in line with my theory that they just want to milk every single cent out of every customer.......

From time to time, incidents at work still make me feel incompetent and square. Somehow I just dun think about all the possible implications of a making a certain decision/ sending out a particular memo etc. Then when boss or someone else points that out then i'm suddenly like yeah hor, maybe this this this will happen. I'm beginning to understand what my parents like to say about me and my sis... that we're very 'straight' and innocent folks. oh well, probably. I get along well with most ppl, but I have yet to master the art of dealing with ppl....

Land of unified receipts

Snapshot of receipts on my bed :) Now I can finally throw them away ... ;)

One morning while I was hanging around E's place, I noticed a thick wad of receipts on the table... Thought it really strange why someone would keep such good track of his/her expenditures, but found out towards the end of my trip that it's for a purpose prob only peculiar to Taiwan. Ok, so in Taiwan, they apparently have a system of unified sales receipts... Most of the stores I went to issued receipts of the same design, size and length... Then right at the top of the receipt there's an eight digit number which is apparently a chance for you to win some money at a state lottery... On the flip side, there's a mini red grid with the months the receipt was issued, the corresponding day the lottery results would be announced, as well as when to collect the prizes by.
Now now, why is there such a bizarre system in place? According to E, it's for residents to report on their monthly expenditures when they pay taxes, so that the taxable amount is based on consumers' real income (after taking away expenditures). I didn't really get the rationale though cos even though I've yet to join the ranks of taxpayers all along I had the idea individuals pay taxes solely based on income earned... how come got such good deal one. Decided to google a bit and according to some online sources, it's a way for the govt to ensure ppl pay sales taxes. To circumvent the problem of merchants not declaring their sales, this system was put in place such there will be records when consumers request for sales receipts (assuming that they do, given a chance to strike lottery)... Some charities even leave boxes for ppl to drop their receipts and there are actually volunteers who actually help to match the lottery receipts to see if the charities had won something at the lottery... I wonder how many Taiwanese conscientiously keep all their receipts and match them one by one with the lottery results. I think I would be rather pissed if say after tediously matching two months' worth of receipts I find that I did not win anything..... :P

Today our Japanese sensei briefly narrated his holiday in Japan (we had a one week break from class last week and he returned to Japan briefly) and at the end of it all, presented the class with a box of 'o-miyage' - wafer sticks with green tea/ green tea choc filling from Kyoto. Aww... so sweet of him even though we barely know him. *melts*

And I spent most of my Sun night sitting through most of the NDR speech ... perhaps now as civil servant in stat board cum insider I now have vested interest...

Taiwan (II) - Food

I concluded that Taiwanese food didn't appeal to my tastebuds as much as sg/hk cuisine, even though there were maybe a hundred and one xiao1 chis1 to choose from ;P. I attribute it to the oiliness and perhaps queerness of things they eat! As such, I wasn't all THAT adventurous with trying the food at the night market. When dining out with the parents one day at a family restaurant kinda chain, E's mum was also half-horrified that I didn't seem to fancy most of the things on the menu. Felt rather paiseh, but I really couldn't force myself to happily ingest pig innards/trotters and all... And Taiwanese seem to like bamboo shoots quite a bit, which I unfortunately find stinky leh. However, I loved the selection of drinks in Taiwan... yummy green tea, strawberry milk teas/milk coffee/fruit milks were readily available in the convenience stores. I bought a new drink everyday, but didn't manage to try all...

The wide selection of yummy drinks at 7-eleven...

Something called 'Guan1 Cai2 Ban3' I tried at Shilin Night Market... Guess it's named this cos it visually resembles a coffin, but the chinese characters used were certainly auspicious- 'Official' for guan1 and 'Wealth/Money' for cai2... The bread was very well done, very crispy and I chose the shrimp filling for my coffin bread :P.
Uhm... a weirdly dressed vendor I spotted at Jiufen, selling taiwan sausages. I suppose with the keen competition from other food vendors, you have to do something to 'stand out' eh. But think for her case backfire, cos ppl just gawk at her then walk away....

Found out that the Taiwanese also have this bento culture, but the contents of their bian4 dang1s were quite different from the Japanese bentos I'm used to. This was a 'railroad bento' we got near the Hualien train station before boarding...

Had this on my last day in Danshui at this supposedly American ice cream cafe named 'Bigtom'... Red wine ice cream teppanyaki! Sticky vanilla ice cream on choc sponge cake drenched in red wine (the waitress pours wine onto the hot teppanyaki plate when this dessert is served, creating a mini sizzling effect)... quite cool and very satisfying :)

Mountainous Taiwan

I don't really know the breakdown of hilly and flat ground in Taiwan, but green mountains were omnipresent in Taipei and its surroundings. And so even though Taipei is very urbanised, scenic spots were also frequently but a stone's throw away. It amused me how houses (and temples too) could just pop up at random spots in the hills. It was also quite common to see cemeteries in the hills when driving past on the highway. City planning can appear to be haphazhard, but yet spontaneous in a way. In comparison S'pore really seems like a well-planned colourful Disneyland...
On my second day, I decided to be healthy and bused to Yangmingshan National Park in the morning. On our way up to a viewing spot, we encountered quite a few butterflies :) It's been a while, really.

Somehow this brown butterfly just stopped in front of me... and stayed on the fern for a long time, as if it knew that I was shooting it :)

I really liked this butterfly, cos I've never seen any with such huge white spots. Unfortunately it was really restless and kept fluttering around. I only managed a quick shot from far when it settled down for a few seconds... There were some orange and blue ones, but didn't manage to get any shot of these fleeting free-spirited creatures :)

An attempt to make fallen petals look artistic haha. This was taken alongside this long bench where you could get a pretty good view of the city after a short walk uphill. Nothing very spectacular, but just felt peaceful. Here, we also saw a loving old couple taking their morning stroll with their dog. It rained rather heavily just after we decided to break for lunch, so felt pretty lucky to have had a pocket of fairly good weather for the morning walk.

Hungry fat koi in a pond outside the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Evening view from a cafe at the historic gold mining town of Jiufen, abt an hour's drive west of Taipei. It's tucked away in the hills and offered good views of the coast! I realised I really love sitting at some cafe at high altitudes and looking down at everything else below me. This place reminded me of Lijiang, though the latter is still nicer :)

But of course, Jiufen was also pretty touristy. Starbucks in the hills....

Back!

Cos I have to work tmr, can't really afford to type a detailed entry. But this was where I stayed (the middle floor) for 4 out of 5 nights in Taiwan :) Well the exterior of this building might look quite run-down, but cos E's dad refurbished their unit it really wasn't as unliveable as it might appear to be :P. And it gave me the unique opportunity to experience living like a local, opening the red metal door and walking up the narrow flight of stairs and all whenever we came back... With convenience stores and little eateries open till late at night scattered all over the city, Taipei has to be one of the most convenient places to live in. Even more so than Hong Kong and Singapore in my opinion...

Random musings

So I apparently chased the typhoon away. But according to E's dad typhoons are very common in Taiwan around this time and usually they dun get THAT dangerous so no worries. Feel that I'm a rather bochap traveller on a homestay this time round, bunking over in a unit at one of those grey shops cum residential buildings with metal grilles that are scattered all over the city :P. And instead of wanting to visit all there is to see, I've mostly been shopping and eating...and watching a lot of Jappy stuff on Taiwanese TV. Bought quite a few fakeo Lesportsac cute print bags yest at night market hehe, but a bit sore now that I didn't bargain more :(. Will be tagging along to some family lunch later and then perhaps doing an afternoon trip to a nearby town. *Feels nua*

Haven't been reading the weather forecasts faithfully these past few days, but both according to E and paranoid parents, typhoon and Shi Min are both arriving in Taipei at around the same time. Hmm... perhaps plans to visit scenic Hualien will be foiled by impending thunderstorms... but in any case, hope everything goes smoothly for me and I'll at least get to catch up with E, whom I haven't seen for a year... and relax a bit. Everything else I shall treat as bonus :) I'll be back on Tues night!

Holiday in sight!

Come Thurs, I would be flying off to Taipei for a short holiday :) But am super stressed now cos not only do I have a fair bit of work to settle; am also recovering from a mild flu and trying hard not to end up sick on day of departure (cos Dad threatened to not let me go if I wasn''t in good shape...) But how to sleep more/rest well yet finish all the things you have to do?? Oh well, I trust that I should be able to manage somehow... try my best to do whatever I need to do... play hard then come back and face the music :P

This week I met a record no. of "new ppl"... particularly old acquaintances you used to know but have lost contact for a long long time. Actually I realised that I like meeting up with people and finding out how they are doing, just that I can be AS at times/ too un-energetic to keep going out. Ppl's appearances (nor characters) generally dun change that much... even after not seeing some ppl for a year or so, you realise that they are still pretty much like that... hehe. ok so vague, but yeah... Whenever we had occasional batch gatherings, I used to sometimes feel small in the midst of 'successful' Berkeley peers with high earning power/more high-profile jobs etc... used to be rather afraid of ppl's judging eyes... however, yest I found myself caring less about how well other ppl were doing. Was there really a need to measure one's self-worth against others? In a strange way, I felt like I was able to hold my head up high being the way I am... to be more discerning about things that really mattered to me...

Bad patch

A stressful this week and next week notwithstanding, I did a really silly thing tonight. Was too lazy to cut my nails despite having to perform the shimin's-nemesis-act of taking out my disposable contacts. So as usual, I was trying pretty hard to remove the lenses... After several attempts, got the right lens out fairly successfully. Phew. But the left one, no matter how hard I tried to open the left eye, there was still barely enough 'space' for my finger to get a good grip of the slippery lens. (I always wonder if ppl with big eyes have it easy) So in the end give up, dun care... use fingernails (though I knew i should'nt). In the end got it out... but then.. TO MY HORROR, I realised after getting it out that there was a hole in the middle of the lens. So I had torn the lens in the process of pinching it out, and the broken piece of lens was nowhere to be found. Aargh... then frantically like splashed lotsa water into left eye. Dunno out or not. Cannot feel it in eye, but what if it's just stuck at the other side of eye... Perhaps I'll just be both stressed and blind soon. :(

Conclusion: I still can't master art of wearing the elusive slippery disposable lens. Want to be vain also fail... better resign to fate of wearing specs.

While on one hand I feel heartened to be given several new responsibilities recently, on the other hand I also feel secretly apprehensive cos many things are really new to me and I have no idea how to go about doing them. For responsibilities directly work-related, I am thankful to have a bunch of really helpful and supportive colleagues. As for more open-ended kinda responsibilites, at times really feel at loss with no one to turn to. It's like trying to swim in deep waters with this huge fear of drowning..! Naturally, there's some pressure to perform up to expectations and maybe I stress myself unnecessarily... I suppose at times like this I wished I were the sort with more ppl I could really talk to or confide in. In the absence of which... perhaps the next best thing to do is just do whatever you need to do and be more thick-skinned lah. Hmm what's the worst that can happen? I can't even really get fired.... :P

Together with tph, I biaed site duty from 9am to 9.30pm straight... Am rather beat, but it was less tiring/draining than expected. Perhaps cos towards the end of the day when the crowd kinda subsided we got like pockets of free time to eat snakes and chat a little :P And I get more than 10 hrs of time-off at one go!
When asked by lhp what my after duty activity was, I answered, S-L-E-E-P. These days, I never get enough of it :) Hehe, so no life, me - Everyday wake up, work, sleep. When will be the day I get to break out of this cycle...?

I finally received a 'bomb' at work and will prob be quite busy from now on. Was supposed to have read up on previous files for background knowledge and stuff, but being the last min person I usually am, I did not do so and am suffering the consequences of it :P I now have to read up super fast on things I ought to know... Hmm, I think one needs to also be a good organiser/planner to be efficient at work. Esp when you know you have a whole lot of little things to do. Need to improve in that aspect. Aside from the stress associated with accelerated learning, I actually feel happy in a way to be given the opportunity to do and learn all these new things. They might not always be the most palatable tasks, but for the moment it's still kinda cool to learn about how things actually work. Dun think I can claim to know that well enough even after one year at my unit. The only unexciting part about my new responsibilities though is that they are all like fixed SOPs. I am but another "executor" of sorts.

I got problem

I found myself getting slightly irritated/upset over small incidents that happened over the past few days, making me wonder if I've grown more disagreeable (for the worse...) or more opinionated (for the better?) recently. Coincidentally, they all happen to be service-related. On Friday evening, met up with some JC friends at Cafe Cartel. Now, they have this system of writing down orders on sheets of pre-printed paper, which is then passed to waiter/waitress who processes it. But then because we didn't all arrive at the same time, each person who arrived late had to individually put down her order on a separate order sheet, pass it to the waiter... who in turn churns out a new bill... After 3 changes of the bill, I got somewhat upset over what a blatant waste of paper this system was...I almost wanted to submit a SSS! only that this wasn't public sector haha. But they didn't have feedback forms. maybe coupled with the relative lack of attention we got from the busy waiters/waitresses, was thus pretty dissatisfied with service.

Then on Sat afternoon I received my credit card bill from DBS, who conveniently enclosed this 07/08 rewards booklet for DBS cardmembers. However, cos I have a POSB Everyday Credit Card, was pretty surprised that I was sent rewards booklet too. I never thought POSB credit cardholders were given the same privileges, so I assumed that we were suddenly eligible and happily called up the Customer Service hotline to check my points... but was informed by officer on the line that only DBS cardholders were eligible for the points... I guess I felt rather cheated and so expressed my dissatisfaction that if so it was misleading to send us rewards booklets too. I felt sorry for the officer who had to politely accept my negative feedback(cos having served unhappy lessees b4 I know what it feels like), and thereafter concluded that it was a marketing gimmick that has failed on me. hmph!

Then just now after class I went to Cedele at Wheelock Place to get vouchers as a prez for a colleague. Cos it has pretty decent (and supposedly healthier) pastries, sandwiches and meals etc. However, was pretty surprised by staff who informed me that the vouchers were sold out, and that they had to order them. According to her, none of the other branches had any more vouchers today either and the earliest I could get any was tmr or Tues. Thought it rather unusual that vouchers had to be ordered... And I was a little sad cos I would end up giving a belated gift. But yeah, couldn't help but wonder why Cedele is unable to readily issue vouchers on the spot. Maybe i'm just a naive consumer with no business sense, but having no ready supply of gift vouchers at your stores certainly runs the risk of having potential customers walk away empty-handed??

Yeah, so I was a problematic and demanding customer this weekend.