Hello 2009!!!!!

Its the eve of New Year, 31st December 2008!!! Just wanna wish everyone in the world a splendid new year, keep healthy and stay happy always! Happy new year =)

Remembering 2008

As I look back at 2008, I will find that many things have happened in the past year. Many things have changed also. One thing for sure is that I've graduated from University, and I am now (supposedly) part of the employment world. Graduation is definitely one of the highlights of this year, and of course another would be my graduation trip to Europe. So lets reminence the trip, and look at some photos of the Europe get-a-way...

Changing plane at Bangkok Airport

Losing the battle to the Zzzz monster on the train

Last pic with Simin before she left for the Airport in Munich

The first hostel we stayed in (Paris) - Woodstock Inn

I can't remember where we found this shop, but the goodies inside really do look good

Its alcohol galore in Europe, we were drinking almost everyday. Its just between beer or wine.

Lucern - I remember seeing this house near the sad lion statue. There is also a gift shop near by selling chocolates, swiss army knief etc set up by a asian couple.

Florence - There was some annual ancient soccer thingy. So there were a lot people dressed up in these medival clothing parading through the town with horses and trumpets and all.

Fussen - one of my fav places that we're visited. Of course I didn't 'take' this picture. I just snapped this from one of the post cards. Btw thats the Cinederella castle, absolutely beautiful!!!

The day after christmas

Its countdown to the new year, in just a few more days we will say goodbye to 2008 and give a warm welcome to 2009, woot. Not that I'm exactly that excited... ha. Getting older by the day.

Went out with my family yesterday. We went to KTV at SRC in the afternoon. Of course it literally turned out into my mini concert again because none of the kids wanted to sing on the mic. Then we went over to Orchid Corpthon-something Hotel for dinner. We had buffet + steamboat there. The buffet was actually pretty good. Had a wide variety of food, wasn't crowded, and of course eating with the family always makes the atmosphere great. Had a great time catching up with my cousins, esp the international ones whom I probably only see once or twice a year (they're staying in Chicago now, erm lets see, they've also lived in HK, Japan, South Africa, Canada +++). They have been around the world already.

My grandma is feeling a little better now, still pretty weak though, but at least she is well enough to move around by herself (but we're still worried, or maybe afraid that she'll fall again or something). Have been at her place most of the time for the past week again to help out in looking after her and sending her to the polyclinic for her check up. Get well soon Ah Ma, love ya.

Well that marks the end of 2008 (erm I might just have one more posting before the new year, if I am not lazy, haha), but just in case I do not have another posting, Here's wishing everyone a happy new year!!! Huat Ah!

Its Christmas!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! Happy holidays, woohoo... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, haha. Ok, I'm trying to be very high about this occasion, and lift my spirits up a little (need I remind you that I'm jobless). Yup, but anyway, there is something to be happy about... Met up with Dennis and Alvin yesterday for dinner at Bugis. We got a big surprise! Dennis got christmas presents for us, haha. He came over with 2 hugh bags, telling us to take one each. It was a nice surprise, because I didn't expect to get anything this year, or any other years down the road (those occasional cups and photo frames don't count). So it was a really sweet gesture of him (to think that we had terrorised his house earlier in the weekend).

Me, Fiona, Dennis & Alvin

Cam whoring at the Christmas tree. Think we took more than 20 photos with this tree

Here's the gift that Dennis bought for us (well, at least for me, I guess Alvin got the same thing)

Isn't it cute... its this toad cushion that has massage functions as well. Haha. Pretty effective too. Thanks dude, think it'll really help my back a lot... wahahaha. And the wrapping paper is also very cute, should be from Mini toons ...

Also I've uploaded these 2 photos that I've taken during my Grandma's birthday this year. Been more than a month ago already... This was taken during the cake cutting and song singing part...
One last photo to share (okok, its not the last photo that I have, but I'm too lazy to upload the rest). This is a pic I took with Bock before I left the camp. Of course, you can see Bock's inner gay oozing out again, wahahaha... fucking bastard =D

クリスマス 2008

Yes people, its Christmas again. So let me begin by wishing everyone a Merry merry christmas & a superlicious New Year! This year is very special for me, because its the first year that I've graduated from school, and that I will be going through this 'festive' season jobless. Sucks man! Well thats life, you win some, you lose some. Just my luck to lose this round. Hopefully it won't last too long.

Being back in the job market is really bothering. Sending out resumes is like... a man having problems ejaculating. You know when you have sex, and you keep pumping and humping, using all sorts of positions that you've seen before, but have absolutely no idea why you can't cum. Yup, thats it. I keep sending out my resumes, one after another, sending them to various companies for various job scopes (I keep my options open, meaning even though I'm engineering trained, but I still apply for positions in finance and business as well). So after sending out so many applications, and none of them reply, you really start to think... "Hmmmm, so when will it come (cum)?"

Well good luck to me in my job hunt, and Merry Christmas again to all. Love ya!

Out of Camp

Five days have passes so fast. I'm already out of my reservist camp and back to my lobo life. It was an interesting camp though. I mean, how many of you out there would have a reservist in-camp training like mine. I'm given a lot of freedom in camp, and we can do a lot of things that others cannot. Not to mention the flexibility of choosing the dates that we want to attend the camp. Of course met loads of fun loving (and lap sap) friends in camp. Great dudes to hang around with (but not too often, hahaha). It was also Bock's last camp, he's ORDing in Jan. Heard that he's been posting out to division, now trying to get back to the camp, haha. He's a pretty nice guy, a very fresh change to my old ideology of what ACS guys are like. Well at least, he's probably the ACS guy who has spoken the most chinese that I've heard. Good luck to him, wherever he goes, and all the best to his studies in NUS.

Will be going over to Dennis's new house later for his house-warming. Going to destroy everything there so that he can get new stuff, haha. Tomorrow I'll be going to the supposely-closed-down-but-I-have-no-idea-why-its-still-open National Stadium for the Vietnam-Singapore match. Will be getting the tickets on the spot, so hopefully we can still get in. We're not expecting it to sell out, well I hope not. haha... okok, gotta get ready now...

Its back to NS

Tomorrow I'll be going back to serve my nation again. Yup, one week of workout and 'in-camp'. Well to keep me occupied. Haven't got my stuff ready yet, the thought of packing just sux. Hahaha.

And I met up with Alvin and Dennis on friday. They had dinner, I was a little late because I had to look after my grandma, so I only join them for snacks after that. Then went shopping a little around Marina Square before heading back. And the minute I reached home I got a phone call from Brian. He said that everyone's at Barracuda, and asked if I wanted to come down to join them. I was like... er, its like 12 am now, and I just reached home. But I still went down. Only to realise that it was a farewell party for Yuka. She went back to Japan on Saturday, to start her on her next job. Good luck to her! Then Yumi said, "Beng, I thought I saw you at the furniture shop at Marina Square". I was like, wow, what a small world... hahaha... the funny part came when she said that she had wanted to call me, but she can't remember my actual name, so she didn't. Hahaha. Yumi's funny sometimes. Although I haven't known these people for a long time, but they are really nice, really getting to love them a lot. Hahaha. Okok, gotta go get ready for the nation now.

One week down

Its been a week since I got 'retrenched', haha. Been going over to my grandma's place literally everyday since the incident. Will be going over in a while for dinner as well. Well since I don't have much to do anyway, staying at home I'll probably just watch porn the entire day, might as well I go over and read my Jap or exercise right... I've already applied to quite a few companies. If I'm not wrong, I've already sent out about 10 applications already. Not a lot, but still quite a number. Next week my schedule is more or less filled. With reservist of course! Yup, at least there's something to do. Get a misery amount of money together with it. But really, given my grandma's condition, I'd rather go and company my grandma now. Hmmm. Well another week will pass pretty fast, hopefully nothing bad will happen for that week as well.

Scare of my life

I just got the scare of my life. I was at my gradma's place this afternoon, and while I was playing wii in the living room, I heard a loud thud on the floor. I immediately rushed to the kitchen, only to find my grandma lying on the floor motionless. I was so frantic, I kept calling out for my grandma. My young cousin was around in the kitchen. I must say that luckily that I was around today, can you imgine what would have happened if only my young cousin and my grandma was around. My grandma was lying motionless on the ground, I really thought she was going to go then, I was so frightened, I asked my cousin to call anyone he could think of. But at this time, my grandma just kept telling me not to call others (probably she remembered that my aunt was on the way to her exams, so she didn't want to worry her). I let her rest on the floor for a while, till she was a little more sober, before helping her back up to sit on the ground.

Apparently, she wanted to make some milo to drink, so she went to get a packet of milo. And just as she took the packet, she felt giddy and suddenly just dropped on the floor. The look on her face reminded me of the HK drama's that I've watched, with people on the verge of leaving the world. I was really really scard then. I really love her too much for her to leave like that. Luckily she gained back her composure. I think I will go to Guanyin temple tomorrow morning to pray for her well being, then go over to her place. Come to think of it, my non-renewal at MS is a blessing in disguise, if I was still working, I wouldn't be at her place this afternoon, and god knows what would have happened. Take care grandma, get well soon. Love you.

Sports week

Welcome to sports week. This week (as you know now that I'm unemployed again) I'm gonna be engaging in all sorts of sport activities. Making use of them to fill my super free time. Today I went swimming. Even went all the way to YCK for swimming, hahaha (well the journey would kill some time off). So I did my laps in the pool. Didn't want to swim for too long because my car was illegally parked, so I wanted to rush off after my swim as soon as possible. So I swam for about an hour, then I headed for the showers, and this was when the trouble started. I left my bag in the open and went into the cubicle for my shower and when I came back, ta-dah, my bag was missing. Someone had obviously taken it. I searched the toilet and couldn't find it, so I went over to tell the pool instructors about it. They told me to check the toilet again because no one had left the pool in the past few mins. So I went back to the toilet and searched. I finally found my bag hung on the door of the last cubicle of the showers. Fuck man, what a day. I went through my stuff and found that my money was missing. Luckily for me, before I went to the pool, I had decided to leave my HP and wallet in the car. My passport was also in my bag, which I also left in the car. I only took $2 with me. However, I also had some Ringgit with me, about M$70 or so. Fucking bastard took all my money. Initially I had tought of taking out the Ringgit as well, but didn't do it. Damn it. Well count myself lucky to have taken out majority of my stuff, minimised my loss by a big deal. And lastly, I just want to say, fuck you bastard, go get a life (and a job). Hope that you get knocked down by a car while on the way home. Fuck!

Sicko

Forgot to blog about what happened earlier as I was walking back from the MRT. I just crossed the road from White Sands, and this old man (about 40s) called out to me. It seems like he knows me or something, but I do not recall at all. Then he said that he was the army driver, ask me can remember a not, hahaha what a joke, from that instance I knew that a scam was in the making. Firstly I wasn't even from the army, hahaha. Then he started chatting about how am I and what I was doing, so long never see me already, change a lot. And then he went in for the kill, he said that his mum just passed away and that he needed money for the funeral, but his pay is only coming in tomorrow, so ask if I can lend him and he transfer to me tomorrow. What a fucker right, to use his mum's death as a bait. If I was his mum, and I was still alive I would castrate him straight away, and if I was really dead then he better watch out on the streets, I'd strike him with lightening. Of course I gave my excuse of not having money with me, and I didn't have my ATM with me. Anyone who is reading this, pls becareful, times are bad, more of such people are bound to be out, do not be the next target to fall into their trap.

Goodbye MS

3 months has gone by so fast, my contract if officially up today (erm, actually its supposed to be sunday). Had a farewell lunch with my team today, Terrence took the bill. We had chinese food at the rest on the 4th floor of OCBC. It was actually pretty good food. I was totally stuffed at the end, and the bill was only slightly over $100 (for 6 persons). Think its pretty worth it. Later in the afternoon, I went around to give out chocolates to everyone in the team. Of course some people still don't know me, but I still gave anyway, since we're in the same team, and they've seen me around in office all the time. Nice people la.

Will be going out for drinks later with the MS gang (farewell gathering?? haha, I think its just another excuse for a round of drinks). So its goodbye MS, good luck to all my gang, cya all around some time!

End of chapter one

Tomorrow marks my last day in office. My first job after graduation, lasted 3 months and now its over... time to look for another job... well I wouldn't say I had totally wasted my time there, I've learnt quite a bit there and I had a very good working relationship with everyone (well almost everyone, as I am, I don't blame anyone for this outcome, just that I have learnt a lesson not to be so naive) whatever it is, there comes a time for us to move on. There will be people I will miss and there will be times where I will recall my time in MS. So good luck to all my colleagues, till we meet again.

Bolt

I've promised my cousin that I'll him to watch Bolt. Well since I'll be super free after this week, so prolly next week. But now it seems that there is a 3D version of the movie. As in you have to wear those special glasses and the entire movie just comes to life in front of you. I think it'll be pretty cool right. But its only showing at limited cinemas and it'll probably cost much more than the usual ticket. Having said that, I am quite tempted to try it out. Geez...

Ok, I know that the dog, Bolt is the main character in this show, but this fat hamster, Rhino is so damn cute, hahaha. Don't you just feel like squeezing him... wahaha

5... 4... 3... 2... 1

Now is already 12.30 am in the morning, and it marks the beginning of the last 5 days I have in office. So not only is it a new month, it is also a new beginning for me... After this week, I'm officially unemployed again...

Well just went to JB with William today, had to be stuck in the jam for an hour an a half there, damn it man... the people up there should really do something about it. As usual we went to look at DVDs and games there. Nothing much though, didn't buy alot of stuff. Yup, but Ravin Rabbids 3 is out, wahahaha. Super cool game, its so irritatingly cute... absolutely love it. These rabbit-look-a-like things are just super irritating. The sound they make, their look, everything about them is just irriating. But thats the things that makes them cute. The games are mostly dumb and stupid, and thats what makes the game fun. Really recommend this game to anyone out there. You might not be used to making yourself look silly initially, but just get over that barrier and you'll see the fun in the game and the laughter it brings to everyone.


Also I went to Sitex 2008 yesterday with my mum and bro. My bro wanted to buy the guitar heros world tour. Something he has been eyeing on for the longest time. So he's finally bought it at the fair for 279. Think its slightly cheaper than usual, but only slightly. And I must say, this game is super man. It nothing like raving rabbids. Guitar heros is a music game, initially it only incorporates the guitar in the game, as in there's an actualy pastic guitar used to play the game to simulate the strumming action. GH World Tour now incorporates the drums and vocal as well. So the entire set comes with a drum set and a microphone. Very cool game, its just like having your own band in your house. You can jam away in your very own living room. But all of the songs are english. As most of you know, my knowledge og english songs is very limited, so I can't really sing to majority of the songs.If only they came out with a chinese version of it, with band songs from Mayday and the rest, that would be great. For myself I bought a 640GB harddisk from the fair, got it for $129 (it comes together with the casing, so I thought it was not a bad deal). Finally I can free up my lappie of the memory. My lappie's memory was really running low man, this harddisk really saved my lappie. I didn't even dare to switch off my lappie during the last 2 weeks because of this (there were a few times when my memory was close to full, and I switched off the comp, and it could not start again). Luckily this time it didn't happen. Phew, now with my harddisk, that gives me my new found memory, I can start downloading (my porn) again, hahahaha....

Last week

I'm officially into my last week in MS. 3 months has passed by so fast, can't believe it myself. Today my boss came over to officially tell me in person (previously I was only notified through email) that my contract would not be renewed. And of course the reason is that MS is cutting cost, so they are doing away with the temp staff for now. So with no head count, they can hire me... well, its ok. Although I lost my job now, but I guess the experience here will go a long way....

Singapore River Regatta 2008

Last weekend was the Singapore River Regatta 2008!!! I've join the MS Dragonboating team for slightly more than a month (and I'm gonna leave soon *sob sob*), had loads of fun with them. Really enjoyed my time with the team. Just regret that I didn't join them earlier. Anyway, I took part in my first regatta ever last weekend. It was a dragonboating competition for tertiary institutions as well as corporate companies. We of course took part in the corporate event. In all, we participated in the 10 (men) and the 10 (mixed) events. We didn't really train very hard for this regatta (everyone was busy and we had really little time), so expectations weren't high, it was more of an experience gaining outing. And we really didn't regret it. It was super fun, and not to mention super tiring. Much more tiring than I had envision it to be. My whole arm was numb after we crossed the finish line. And to think that it was only a 300m race. Our men didn't do well in the heats. We came in 5th in our heats (just in case you were wondering, there are only 5 teams in each heat, haha) ... We were a little disappointed then, but it was still ok. Then next up was the 10 (mixed) event. I didn't row for that. We took away all our disappointment and went all out for it, and we came in a proud 2nd for that heats... That gave us a place in the semi-finals, woohoo... Everyone was soooo happy... So we had to come down to the Singapore river a 2nd time on Sunday for the semis, hoping to make it into the finals... Haa.. This time I was allocated to drum for the team, I was really pretty happy, didn't think I had a chance on the boat again after the men's race. Although I wasn't rowing, but I could really feel as a part of the team, counting with them, encouraging them, and beating the drums for them during the race. I even scratched my hand, which still hurts a little now. But I think it was all well worth it. The entire event was just fun, fun and more fun... I throughly enjoyed myself throughout the regatta. Sadly I down to my last week in MS, probably will have to leave the team as well, hmmm... wonder if the next company that I go to will have a dragonboating team as well. Well here are some photos taken during the regatta by one of our colleagues... still waiting for the group photos... Kudos to MS dragons, Well done!!!!

Thats me getting on the boat

Back to the old drawing board

Yup, in 2 weeks time its back to the old drawing board. Its been settled, everything is as expected, I'm gonna be jobless again in 2 weeks. MS has decided not to renew my contract. Of course I would like to believe that it is because of the bad economy and the lack of head count that lead to me not being able to retain this job, but a part of me has a feeling that the words of some people had a lot to do with the management's decision. Well whatever it is, it has all be settled, and it will go ahead as planned. So time to look for a job again, haiz. What an exciting start to my career. First I got a job in a huge company like MS, doing finance which is like miles apart from my degree. Then the financial crash came and I was right in the centre of it. And now, the show is coming to an end. Well, I wouldn't put it that way. Maybe just that this chapter is ending soon. Time to start another chapter. Of course I leave this place with lessons learnt, which I'm sure is going to help me in my future job (remember the lessons I've blogged about). Good luck to me!

Lessons from the corporate world

Yes I'm compiling a list of the lessons that I've learnt from my short stint in the corporate world. I've really been too naive, thinking that the world was still and nice and beautiful, where everyone will treat everyone nicely and will only compete based on their work performance. That will only occur in an ideal world, and the problem is, we are far from an ideal situation. So here are 3 essential rules that we must observe when in office:

Rule 1: There are no friends in office, only colleagues.
I came into the working world, thinking that I'll make many new friends and that we will be able to work together happily and have fun at work. But noooo. This is not the case, people can be so evil and scheming at times. When you see someone looking at you with a smile, you really cannot be too sure if he is smiling with you or smiling at you. One wrong move and you could become his stepping stone upwards. In the working world, it is really to each his own. At the end of the day, whoever survives, wins. Always watch your back, you never know who will put that fatal blow on you.

Rule 2: Emails
I've learnt that in the corporate world, it is not about working hard, its about working smart. It is not the person who manages to complete his job well that gets commended, but the person that knows how to broadcast what he is doing to the entire world that gets the recognition. Whatever you do in office, make sure that the whole world knows that you are doing it. Big or small is not the issue here. Gone are the days where you can go behind the limelight and just do your job well, whatever you do everyone must know. Emails are one of the essential tools that will help to let the whole world know what you are doing. In office I've learnt that the number of emails sent is an indication of whether you are doing your job. Whether you are just replying with a 'thanks for your email' to the other party, or 'hi, how are you doing today', make sure you send them to the entire department. Of course you need to practice discretion. Like in our office there is an email group that binds our department email addresses together. So always makae sure that you send the email, cc to the department account so that everyone in the department knows that you are sending an email. And also, reply to everything. Every big or small email, send a reply. I mean sometimes, there are really no emails for us to reply, so to make sure that you hit you daily 'email quota', you have to reply to every big or small email there are.

Rule 3: Know who is your boss' friend
This is very important. Knowing the who's who in office is essential to not only survival in office but also promotion. If you have the boss's friend on your side, and this 'friend' helps to put in a good word for you in front of the boss, then your chances of promotion would like shoot up tremendously. Be nice and 'friendly' to these 'friends', put on the brightest colgate smile when you see them. If possible get into their click.

Well hope this will be helpful to anyone out there who is entering the coporate world soon. Good luck to you, and remember 'Watch you back'.

Awaiting judgement day

My contract will be up in the first week of December, till now I have no idea whether MS will offer me an extension to my contract or offer me a perm position, or even not continue my services at all. If in the same situation, but it was about a month ago, I would probably be really worried. Not because I'm going to lose my job, but because I was really beginning to like the working atmosphere. But of course now, with the recent happenings and not so happy experiences in office, I really don't care whether they offer me a job. Of the organisation, I'll probably miss the people there. There are nice people around. Even up till now, I do not know them super well personally. But from what I see, and getting to know them, I can feel that some of them are really true people (as in they do not play those games with you, and will treat you as friends). There are not many of them lah, but then again, I haven't been here long enough.... Lets see.... there's Hanson, Brian, Jason, Mark, Louis, Pato (she's just cute, as in her character). These are the people I will miss when I leave this place. Because so far, they have been very true to themselves and to the people around them. I'm sure there are alot of other nice souls in office, just that I do not know them yet.

I had posted earlier that recently I've been bogged down a little by the politics in office. And some times I really do not know what to do about it. Just 2 days ago, D ask me to go over to his seat and he asked me what I was doing, so I said I was checking invoices. Then he again went on to say that previously he was having lunch with our VP and the VP was saying that she felt I was under performing because she don't see a lot of emails. And of course went on to tell me how good the previous 2 people before me were again. Then he made one statement, he said, "you know that I'm doing receivables right. But I can't be chasing for money the entire month. So usually I will chase them for the first 2 weeks only. So do you know what I do for the next 2 weeks? If I am free for the 2 weeks, I will help with the payables. And if I can help with the payables, then we will not need you already. So I do not know if the VP has decided to continue your contract a not, but whether you continue the job, you have to be more pro-active." So to me, this is a pre-warning, to give me preparation mentally that my contract would not be extended. I have no idea the entire conversation between D and the VP but I can only guess that probably the VP asked him for his opinion on me. So after he said all those things that he felt about me, the VP asked him if I were to go, will the 2 of them be able to continue their job well (well of course he would have said yes). So right now, I am mentally prepared for D-Day to come. I can only hope that they will let me know earlier that my contract would not be extended. Just to let it be official, rather than leaving me in suspense for another 2 weeks and maybe tell me only on the last week.

Haiz, I must say that I've learnt a lot about the corporate world in my short stint with MS. These lessons will be valuable to my future job, wherever that may be. Hmmm... think I'll write an entry on some of the essentials and lessons that I've learnt. Maybe just a reminder to myself not be so naive and to watch my back.

Tired

Been pretty tired for the past one week, and this week too (although the week has only just started). And of course, plus the added politics now, its tiring me even more. Haiz, have I already got tired of working already? Now it seems that I'm losing the steam and passion I had when I started working. Now everyday I go to work, just hoping for it to end. I'm not enjoying what I am doing. And I start asking myself, is this my ideal job? Is this what I want to do?

Of course most of the people in office are nice, and I get along pretty well with most of them. But I'm just tired of what I am doing, and it seems that the work I do is not getting recognised, and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I mean at the rate its going, I'll probably still be a small analyst, it seems that I won't be able to progress anywhere. So I guess sub-consciously my mind has realised this, and because of this, it is not as willing to put in the effort to do its best for my job. Haiz, I don't know... For now, I'll just how far this will take me. I'm just 2 1/2 weeks away from the end of my contract, although Molly did ask me if I'm interested to extend my contract, but still nothing has been confirmed till now, neither has anyone else approached me to discuss my future in the company. So I'm keeping myself upbeat of the entire situation. I mean in the worst case, I'll just leave the company in December, and look for another job. Well, I'm taking one step at a time now, trying not to think too much. Some people have told me that a bank job really don't quite fit into my character. As in its too 'business-y' for me. Some suggest that I should be looking for a job that is more creative, like advertising, tourism, events etc. I don't know... Haiz, let me think about it. I don't even know what my future holds for me. Or what I really want to be. Right now, I just hope to quickly find back that fire and passion I have for working as when I just started. I think that will help keep me going on. Well at least for now.

Politics

Of course I do not mean some Obama vs McCain presidential vote or PAP vs SDP lawsuit... I am talking about office politics. After starting my work for a few months, I've now more less started to taste some bits of office politics around. And the part that saddens me is that it is coming from the very person who introduced me to the company (lets just call him D). Initially I really did not feel anything, but as time passes by, with more and more things happening, I begin to think that something is not right here.

The first instance was about a month ago. I got an email to ask for the status of the invoices, these have already been done, so I just left the invoices behind and did not respond to the email. Since usually, such emails are responded by Seng. Then the next day, D sent an email to everyone in the dept, to ask me if I had checked the invoices already. When I saw that mail, I was like "What the fuck". I mean if the email was cc to the external party, I could still understand. Because it may be that he wants to show the other party that we are looking through their invoices. But nooooo, the email was only sent to the people in our dept, asking me if I have checked the invoice. I was sooo damn pissed then. I mean come on lah, what are you trying to show, that you have the authority and power. I'm just sitting opposite you, you could just ask me straight or jam me. To me, the email is just to make me look bad, and to show that he is in control and has the 'power' here. And this just pisses me off to the core.

Nevermind, that already happened long ago. Then today, D asked me to go over to his work station and he asked me where are all the invoices I've reconciled. How come I do not send out emails to keep the other parties updated on our progress. I was momentarily dumbfounded. I took all the invoices I've finished checking to him, and he looked through some of them, then asked me how come some of them have problems and I did not ask... I was soooo pissed off then. It is not that I did not ask, I kept asking. Just check with Seng, I kept asking to a point that Seng almost could not find time to do his own stuff. And did I not go to look for him a few times with my questions. And majority of the time he would tell me to wait first because he is busy with something else. And then the sending of emails part. That really brings my blood to a boil. Did I not send emails out to the other parties. I have been constantly sending emails to them. Whenever they ask, if I can reply, I will reply to them to tell them what is the status of their invoices. If you don't bother look at the emails that I send, then don't come and fault me. It is not that I want to sit on some of the invoices, but I am awaiting for information for some of them. If the people do not get back to me, what do you want me to do. You want me to send out emails just for the sake of sending, what bullshit is that. I don't buy this type of tactics. Why send out an email just for the sake that your boss can 'see' that you are working. Come on lah, we're adults here, don't come and play this kind of games with me. And then when I told him that my email somehow cannot send attachements to external parties, he ask me how come never say earlier, tell me go to look for IT to settle the problem. And this is not an excuse for me.

From what I see, D just wants to be both the angle and the devil altogether. He is the one who told me to 'just DK anything you cannot find, then wait for them to come back to you', and then the next min he'll say 'how come you DK so many, you must try to use all kinds of available resources to find the trades. Only when you have exhausted all resources and you still can't find then DK'. So everything you say wan lo.... You win lah.

Really it is this type of people that does make life in the office unbearable. I'm really sorry that it has to be him, because he's my aunt's friend. But I really don't like to play these games. I really don't feel like talking to him much, so I've decided that I'll skip all lunches with him this week. After this week, see my 心情 then decide. Seng faster come back, I really miss you man, I'm trying to keep my cool now, but I can't confirm how much longer I can take this. hmpf

There's always a reason for drinks

The drunked mafia strikes again. There's always a reason for a drinking session. Today its the celebration of birthdays for Huan and Beng. As usual its the drinking and ktv session at Halo bar. Had a great night, met a lot of new people there tonight. And of course, the target for tonight is Beng and Huan. Even before 12, the 2 of them are more than 1/2 gone already. The power of team work. Even right now, I'm typing this blog entry 1/2 sober. So excuse me for any typing mistakes or if you see any funny writing, hahaha. Well we had our usual ktv and drinking at Halo Bar, SIM. Cy and already put everything in place, messaging everyone to not kill each other, and remind everyone than the target for the night are Beng and Huan, and I must say that tonight the objectives were pretty much met. Huan was of course the first to go. Beng was close behind. Hahaha. Huan being not a good drinker (though he as improves tremendously thoughtout this period of constant drinking) still could not out play the stronger corhot. The allies were just too strong for them. After he was gone, we concentrated on Beng, who was still pretty much cober by then. I was the first to go to give him his 2nd birthday shot. In just less than 2 hrs, we had cleared 4 bottles. Which was pretty amazing, because usually we would finish only at most 3-4 bottles for the entire night. But give credit to everyone. I think everyone's 酒量 has improved already. I was pretty much sober throughout the entire session. Didn't drink as much as anticipated. Which was also good. I have wanted to cut down on my drinking and smoke. Really cannot take that much, need to reduce my intake. After the reality check last week (where I only got silver for IPPT), I feel that I really need to cut down on my 'drugs' intake to improve my body condition. Well all in all, it was a pretty fun sesson. We had like close to 20 people today! Once again Happy Birthday Huan and Beng, well I'm not meeting you guys next May, you can go fuck ourselves then, hahahaha.

Work is pretty fine, but for the past one week, its been quite tiring. I don't know why, but I just kept waiting for work to end thoughout the day. Been feeling really tired. Think I really need a good rest. Now waiting for my hair to dry before going to bed, and have my much deserved rest for the week. Lets just hope that next week will be better, feeling more fresh than the past week. My VP did ask if I'm interested to extend my contract, of course I said yes. In these dying times, just by having a job is good. So I'm not expecting much. My VP told me that the earliest that they can hire is next year when the next FY opens, so I'll just wait and see how it goes. Even up till now I'm not sure if this is what I want to do in my life. I'm still bidding my time away, and taking each step at a time. Well I just hope I do not make a mistake and waste my youth away. Of course its still a bit different from my ideal job, but it'll do for now, kudos, and hoepfully I can get a good job thats fits my liking soon.

Halloween

Last night was halloween night... Initially met up with Beng at Ceasers for drinks and to celebrate xmm's birthday, but then later they say wanna eat don't drink liao... so in the end change over to Beauty world for zi cha... Well I took the opportunity to slip off to Emerald hill to meet my colleagues who are at No. 5. Well, only Brian and Hanson made it there... And the rest were just friends and ex-colleagues of MS. Had a pretty good time though, got to know a lot of people in the industry. And of course came to know the importance of marketing myself... hahaha. And being halloween, the entire place was covered in 'ghost' and scary people. But the people just lacks creativity lah... there were just too many ghost brides around. They were at Bugis, and Orchard Road, and Zouk, and Emerald Hill... In fact I think just Emerald Hill itself, there were like at least 5 brides around. Creativity people... We need you to come up with more imaginative ghostly chracters. Well of course I didn't dress to the occassion. You do need some time to prepare the clothes and make up and all that... I just don't have the time for that. And the thought that I'll have to wash off the 2 inch thick make up on my face and body after everything is like.... ewwww... hahaha...

But all in all, had a great night (the first with my colleagues)... To the next happy hour guys...

The 7 year wait

After approximately 7 years, my JC class finally got together for a gathering today. It was a great afternoon of catching up with old friends and exchanging numbers. At a point of time it even looked like a speed dating session, haha. These are people I've not met in years, most still look pretty much the same, of course I was the 'most changed' person of the lot. When I walked over to meet them at TCC, the looks on some of their faces were just priceless, hahahaha. It was as if I just walked out of an episode of extreme makeover. But there a notable few who were considerably different. Lets just breakdown my thoughts on these people I love...

Yinchao is one of them, she now looks so modern and chic. Looks even more pretty then when she was wearing the SA uniform. Love her look now (not that I didn't like it in the past, hahaha). Now in her family car business, looks everything like a career woman.

Ging was of course as glamourous as ever. Looking good has almost never been an issue for her.

Anthony and Meizhi got engaged already, wow! Yet another of my friends hitched. Meizhi still looking as cute as before, Anthony is just crap (see chris comments, hahaha).

Chris is still as crappy as ever, haha. Love this guy man. He can really crap... hahahaha

Yifei, Miao Guang, Yaozhong & Jiahao are still the same, not much has changed of them.

Siqi - haven't seen her at all in the last 7 years, haha. She still looks great, very sporty looking. Great gal.

Siew Hup is now in her family business, doing some scrap metal stuff. And she still looks as innocent as when she was back in JC. Great to see her again...

Huizhen is still the same... same old her, love this gal too. Great bitching partner (she even wrote on my facebook wall that I'm her past bitching partner, kaoz thanks for telling the world that I'm bitchy, hahaha). Can still talk about anything to her.

It was a really great afternoon lah, to see all of them again and bitch about our CT. Ahhhh those were the days. And Miaoguang kept disturbing Yinchao, Ging and Siew Hup that they are tai tais now, haha. It was so funny. And our class had to keep to the tradition of being different from others. At a point of time the gals were discussing about cars, and the guys are talking about melanine and health care, hahaha... This class is always so different from others.

Literally spent the entire day eating. We had lunch at sketches (Bugis) - which wasn't all that terrific. It was ok, I wouldn't say that its nice, but .... just ok... haha. Then we walked over to TCC for coffee. And by then it was already close to 6... Time really flies... So some of them went shopping, some went to meet people. A few of us wanted to go KTV, but changed our minds later because we felt that we needed a larger audience to showcase our talent, haha. So we decided to postphone the KTV to our next outing (hopefully not 7 years later). So in the end, they psycho me to drive them to sunset way for hk cafe. But I was still full then, so I didn't eat anything. Just got a drink there. Sat and chatted some more about our lives and bitching about things around us, haha.

Had a great time today. Meeting old friends is really cool.... But if we meet toooooo often it might get dull (I know my class well enough), because there won't be enough to talk about. I mean there is only some much that can happen in your life, if nothing new is updated, then there won't be anything to chat about... Then that akward slience will come, haha. So must plan properly, not too often, but definitely not 7 years later lah. Cya soon, remember we still have KTV coming up (some time later, I'll give it 1 year to materialise)... haha

Lazy weekend

After a very sporty weekend last week, this week I've decided that I'll just sit back and laze the entire weekend away... haha... But I still did go for dragonboat training this morning... woke up damn early ok. Each week is passing by pretty fast now that I've started work. Sometimes I feel that I can just get lost in this working world. I mean sometimes we just keep working and working and working, and you don't see the road at the end of the tunnel. Just not too long ago, I just had a very scary thought, as the weeks pass by, as days just go by one at a time, what am I working towards. What is my life all about. What is the meaning of life? Really sounds very cheem right... I think so too. But really, suddenly, I was just thinking whether we were just born to die. Right now I'm just working every weekday, then laze around during the weekends, and the entire cycle repeats the next week. So what is the meaning of all this. Am I going to do till all the way till I die. And at the rate it is going, it seems that it is not too far away. It seems that the work that we are doing is just to by time while waiting for death to come. I don't know, I not unhappy with my work or anything, I have nice colleagues around me, but I can't help but get this kind of funny feeling about life. In just 5 years I'm going to be 30 already, ain't that fast! 5 years will just pass by very fast. Just look at my university life, suddenly I've already graduated. And it feels like I've just started yesterday.

Well I hope I'll be able to find greater meaning in life... right now I'm still searching for that meaning. Maybe some of you might think that I'm now just lonely, and that its time for me to get a partner, but I don't know... Sometimes I really feel that I will never meet the person that I love so much that I want to be with her everyday. Or at least I have yet to get that type, or anywhere near that type, of feeling before. I keep thinking that if I had to report to a single person for the next 60 years of my life, and tell her everything that happens in my life, I'll probably just go mad... So I think I might not be suitable for a relationship, and probably never will be. I know I gotta change that mind set if I ever want to have a chance of falling madly in love, but at this point of time, I just can't get pass myself. Well, good luck to myself in my search for answers to life. Wow, this post sounds so zen ah, machiam some Confucius teaching... hahaha

Stupid Mina

I just came back from my Grandma's birthday celebration at her place, and guess what, we just had a arguement with the stupid security guard. We were already done with the entire celebration and so my dad asked me to go to the guard house to ask the security guards to come over to check out the place, so I went over and asked them to come over. Then this Mina - Halimah, came over; and when she came in, she said that we had to stack the chairs up after using the function room. We were like huh?? Which condo actually ask the residents to stack the chairs by themselves after paying for the function room (plus we pay for the condo expenses as well). She just said that its the rule. We told her that we came into the room with the chairs arranged neatly, so we are returning it to them with the chairs in the exact same position. I mean its only right that we give them back the room in the same condition as when we received it. But nooooo, she insisted that its the rule. Then we asked her since when did the rule say that we have to stack the chairs up, she did not answer. She just kept insisting that its the rule... And then she threaten that if we did not stack the chairs, she'll just take a photo of the room, and then we would not get back our deposit. What the fuck. Come on lah, she's only a security guard, don't she dare use that $100 deposit to threaten me. Its not that I despise her job, but she must know that one of her primary responsibility is to look after the residents and not make life difficult for the residents; not more to threaten the residents. After that she asked for my dad's name and our unit number. Ok fair enough, and then she even asked for the name and particulars of my guest. What the hell, hey bitch, thats my guest you know. When told that he's a guest, she even dare to tell him," you are only the guest what, don't even have business here". OMG, that had already put fire on me. Ok, still we stacked the chairs for her. And after that she came in again and said some thing that provoked my dad again. And then she asked," so just now who is the one that look for me at the guard house". And I said it was me. And she fucking don't belief, she kept insisting that it was my brother. That was it for me. What the hell is this security guard, who cannot even remember the person that approached you just 15 mins before, doing in this condo. How the hell are we residents going to entrust our safety in the hands of these imbeciles. So I went out of the function room to try to explain to her nicely, but she just did not want to listen. I told her that the condo belongs to my grandma and she had the nerve to tell me that I'm not a resident there, and why we were all attacking her. What the fuck man, chee bye! I stayed in the estate for 5 years, even after that I come over super often. My dad is there everyday. We have a unit there. What more does she want. She just doesn't want to listen to any explaination, and she was like shouting at the pool, with everyone else at the pool looking at us. I was so fucking pissed off then, so I asked for her name. And she just pulled out her name tag on her shirt and kept pointing at her name saying," ah, name, name..." I tell you, I have not been this mad for quite some time, and she really made my day. I don't give a fuck to whether she's the sole breadwinner of her family or not, I vow that I must get an explaination for this matter. Not only was she rude to us, she was rude to my guest. Plus she cannot recognise the people she meets 15 mins ago, and she cannot handle situations tactically. Fuck her fucking chee bye, BITCH!

Hmmmm... that feels much better. Think I'll need to go over to my grandma's to do a follow up tomorrow. CHEE BYE!

Sports week

Having a very sporty week this weekend... I went jogging twice this week, just joined the Morgan Stanley Dragonboating team (went for the first row this morning), and I'll be running my first marathon tomorrow. (plus I might be going bowling later) OMG, wtf have I got myself into. My arms are like close to dead now, they are aching super badly. I think it is the push ups I did last week, so now my arm muscle is hurting real bad. Life has been pretty good now. Well for one thing, I'm paid now. Not a lot, in fact its quite little, but I guess I can make do with it. Last month I only got a pro-rated pay, do now my financial resources are running low already, hahaha.

And this is the season of meeting your super old friends, almost all of whom you've not met in ages, hahaha. I got a sms recently from my JC class, saying that they're organising a meet up. I was like wow, I think I last saw majority of them during graduation (and I mean JC graduation), so that is like close to 7 years since I seen most of them. Then last week I met up with Koh, John and Bingwen. Its been a good few months since I saw them too. Then again, I've agreed to organise a meet up with the MHA folks soon, namely Peck Yen and Ching ching (and possibly Pauline and Jou Hwei as well). Now waiting for everyone else to settle on a date. Wow, suddenly I'm like meeting all these people who have been part of my life, but I've not seen in eons. Its a pretty good feeling though to see them and knowing that they're doing well. But I must saw it can get pretty tiring when everything comes together all at once. Need to learn to spread 'em out. hahaha.

okok, I gotta rest. Tomorrow still have a long run to do....

Nike Real Run

Sometimes I really have to ask myself why I get myself into this type of situations... Well I've agreed to take part in the nike real run, and will be running for my reservist team. So the guys called me to tell me that there is a trail today to go see see the route. But I did the dummiest thing. I mean how many people would go run a marathon without sleep. Literally without sleep. I went ktv with my friends last night and only reach home close to 4am in the morning. I set my alarm at 6.15 (I had to meet the guys at 7 at Tanah Merah). Which means that I only had 2 hours of sleep. When my alarm went off, I did the most natural thing, and that is to wake up, off the alarm and go back to sleep. Oh man, if Lionel did not call me, I'd probably would have slept all the way through. So Lionel called at 7, and I told him I over slept, and that I'll leave my place immediately, and to change the meeting place to Changi V. Which made it easier for me too. I was like super tired lah today. In the van Lionel was telling me that the route we were runing is 15 km, I was like ,What! I've not ran this type of distance since ages. I mean, even for long distances, I ususally only run a round of Pasir Ris, and that only came to about 8.8km. And you know how tired I am after that run right. So I wasn't even sure if I could make it back. When we started, I tried to keep pace, but I could only last for about 10 km. After the 10 km mark, I started to feel that my legs are getting heavy, so I had to slow down to a jog. Not all that bad for a first trail marathon. I clocked a timing of approximately 1 hr 20 mins for 15 km. Its def not a really great result, but I guess its pretty decent (based on my own standards, haha). Now my legs feel like they are dead, they are just screaming out to me,"I'M NOT MOVING". Hope it gets better tomorrow. Don't want to go to office in clutches, hahaha.

First pay

I've finally gotten my first actual pay in my life (not including all the part-times that I've done in the pass). As in after graduation, and into the working world.... Yippie! But, after some calculation... I discovered that its not really enough to use. After deducting my CPF, and a part of it to my Mum, and another portion to treating my family to my first pay dinner, and a fraction of it to transport & food, and also buying some gifts to reward myself... I find that I'm practically left with nothing... Ass hole... And to think that I began my working life thinking that I'll save at least $500 a month, Bleh! Well at least I'm paid now...

Work has been ok for the pass week. Although there was a mini crash yesterday (Dow Jones fell by a catastrophic 777 points, the largest drop in I have no idea how long).... Yup, but it was pretty quite in office... Getting quite used to work now, but still feel very tired after work. Now my back hurts because I'm like sitting in front of the computer the entire day. Of course I still have my share of entertainment. Been meeting CY, Beng, Huan, Jansen, Joseph and gang for drinks and dota. We probably went drinking at least twice or three times in the last 7 days, haha... Think I'm gonna suffer from liver damage soon at the rate I'm going. Then there's Huan who is now officially the violent drinker. Not as in that he drinks super a lot. But that he gets violent after drinking. No idea when it started that after drinking, we must punch each other to get off. Backet now I got a bruise on my arm because of him.

Just came back from shopping with my mum. Been some time since I shopped with my mum, so we went orchard with Da Yi today to shop. Wanted to get a work pants, majority of the pants that I have are a little oversized for me, so they don't look so good (as in the fitting). So I wanted to get another pair of pants for myself (with my pay, hahaha). But didn't find anything that I like. I've discovered something about myself. I've always acknowledged that I really like to shop and buy things for myself, but I find that it only occurs when I'm overseas. When I'm away, I can shop for hours and not feel tired, I just want to keep shopping hoping that the shops never close. But back in Singapore I don't have that same drive. I'm tire after walking for only an hour, and I don't have that urge to buy something. So I conclude that my love for shopping is only applicable to overseas shopping.

Going to the airport later to fetch my bro. He went US last week with Huiling for holiday and to attend their colleague's wedding. Yippie, wonder what he'll buy for me... haha... Well I don't normally hope for gifts when people go overseas, but this time its different. Because I specifically told him what I want... hahaha. I gave him a wishlist before he left, together with a $500 bill (but it was monopoly money, wahaha)... But anyway I also told him that I'll pay for my expenses, all he had to do is to shop for me... So its not a bad thing for him right. He gets the trill of shopping like hell, and I'm paying. Ok I better get going before I'm late. Anyway didn't tell him that I'll be fetching (but he should have guessed it, I did ask him for his flight details), so I don't want him to leave the airport by himself later.

F1 Fever

Yup, F1 is in town this week, and from my office I could hear the cars zooming pass, it was really loud. Could also catch a glimsp of F1 from my office (only about 3 cm of the track, hahaha). Was watching the warm up yesterday afternoon from office. Not bad, but of course it could have been better if the track was nearer and clearer. The day before I met up with Imran for dinner and chit chat. Been quite some time since I saw him... So we went Thai this time, had dinner at Thai express at esplanade. After dinner we walked over to Marina Square to shop a little. Along the way, we of course saw the race track. It was already up with the flood lights and everything, it was really pretty cool to be able to walk along the track (without the cars on it that is, haha). I wanted to get a pic of the track so I took out my phone a snap a few pics of the track and the Singtel sign boards. Then when I turned back, I saw Imran staring in the sky, so I just said," Eh are you trying to do a model pose on the race track... " And of course, him being so sporty really came up with a top model pose... hahaha, it was pretty hilarious. As usual, I'm too lazy to extract the photos from my phone... so you'll just have to wait for it.... At the end of it, we ended up at Gloria Jeans to have coffee and chat a bit more before heading home. And the kick of the day came after we exited the train at Pasir Ris. Imran had accompanied me to Pasir Ris, so when we reached the station, the bloody train would not open the door. So of course we were like cursing and swearing the train drivers and all that. The driver then ran across the train to the opposite end.... Then suddenly, the train began to move - in the opposite direction. Fuck man... This means that I will have to stop at Tamp and come all the way back again... Damn these stupid drivers... And then I realise something, the train wasn't aligned correctly. The cabin we were in should exit at the lift, but we were nearer to the escalator.... This means that our train had overshot the station.... Kaoz.... how dumb can they get... So the train rectified the problem and aligned the train properly, and open the door. So being so Singaporean, we went to take the life (because it was nearest to us). I was one of the earliest to get in, facing the front so I could not see a thing of what is behind me. So after the lift was full I turn back to look at Imran, and at the corner of my eye I see an old lady in a wheel chair, stranded outside. OMG, I was so guilty struck by that. And of course Imran had to rub it in. He was like," Shenloong, you see the old lady outside... It the person that needs this lift the most and she's outside and we're inside..."... So I just said (even though I was in the lift, and I don't normally swear under these conditions)," Shut up bitch, I'm feeling bad enough"... OMG, I'm so sorry lady, I really didn't see you there... And to all those other people in the lift, if you had pushed your way into the lift, you should be ashamed of yourself. I mean if you really didn't know that she was there, then its not too bad. But if you know it and you choose to avoid it so as to keep yourself guilt free, then fuck you, you suck!... Haha okie that all for today, going for drinking session tonight to celebrate CY's B'day....

I like....

I'm really beginning to like my job a lot.... not as in my job scope (I still think I can handle some more serious stuff, but of course a little at a time, need time to digest). But I like working in the financial world. Especially in this period of the sub prime, it really makes the job so much more interesting. It like you can lose your job anytime (hahaha, as if thats a good thing). With all the uncertainty surrounding this industry, it is really difficult for anyone to guess what is going to happen next. Today, our company treated us to lunch + a ben & jerry's ice cream. Its supposed to reward us for our hard work, and to continue to strive to do the best no matter what happens. But I think its to calm the nerves lah... hahaha. I'm starting to think that maybe I can stay in this industry for some time... of course depending on whether the company still wants me after my contract is up... But what I mean is that I think I can continue to find a job in this industry. Initially I only gave myself 2 years in this industry and then I probably fuck off back to the boring engineering industry, but now I think I might be able to stay on a make a living in this environment. Its fun, and its exciting. I do still need to move on to other job scopes though... I really cannot be checking invoices all my life... hopefully they'll give me a choice to make a switch, maybe to the trade support section. Anyway I'm also thinking of taking a foreign language during this contract period... Thinking of Japanese or Korean... I don't know,m see how it goes.... Probably will decide by the end of the month....

In the action of it all

Working life has never been this exciting, and I think I would not be able to experience anything like this if I had joined another industry. The banking and finance insdustry has been in the spot light for the pass 2 days. So many things happened. Things like Lehman brother's collasp (now part of it is prob gonna be taken up by Barclays), Merril Lynch being taken over by BA, AIG's in deep shit. Almost all financial institution and market has been rocked for the last few days. These are issues that I have never bothered to read up on, these are news that I will just skip in the papers. But now, everyday I try to read what's happening in the financial world (it is so not me). But I must say that this has in some way triggered my interest in this sector, making me want to find out more about this world and this industry. I just went to the library to borrow some financial books to read up, hoping to gain greater idea of what I getting into, and also to understand more about the workings of this sector. It is actually pretty exciting, and not just ordinary paper work. I know that I'm only checking invoices now, but of course I hope to move on to greater things eventually. Hmmm... Hope that I'll be able to learn much from my colleagues and move on be take on other roles.

Mooncake Festival 2008

Today is the Mooncake festival!!! Where we all gather around to eat mooncakes, drink tea, look at the moon and carry lanterns around our neighbourhood... So, it was a great excuse for us to arrange another family gathering to foster the close relationship that we have. This time round, we met at Xiao Yi's place at Sunset ave. The place is actually pretty nice, just find that its pretty inaccessible without a car... And the theme for this gathering is porridge. Yup, we had a porridge feast, hahaha. Here are some of the photos to last night.

Here you can see my uncle and my cousins playing Wii together... we had fun, I think it was boxing that they were playing. Haha, at a point of time when Spencer was losing to Natalie, he even went to try to punch Nat (I don't mean literally, as in with the Wii remote). That scene was so funnie.

After dinner and mooncakes, it was time to grab our lanterns and patrol the neighbourhood. Here are the over aged group preparing the stuff for the kids, haha.

Lanterns, mooncakes and tea... The things that are just essential to the festival. Xiao Gu even got a telescope to watch the moon and stars. Heard that it cost over 2k, but it was pretty cool. Could really see the moon clearly with it. We walked from Xiao Yi's place to the playground just outside, it has been like eons since I carried a lantern, haha. But I must say that I think I don't get along too well with my cousins (as in my mum's side). Maybe its because they're just too much younger than my age, or maybe its the way they were brought up. It just clashes with my thinking. I can't hold a conversation with them without being close to blowing my top almost all the time. They're just too protected, living in this castle with things all nice and beautiful. And this just irks me. Some have already reached secondary stage, but their thinking is still immature and their use of words are just wrong. And the best part is, they don't take advice. You try to reason with them, they can use all sorts of textbook answers to argue with you (a lot of which does not apply). Sometimes I just feel like giving them a tight slap to wake them up, and to tell them to face reality. So many a times, I get so frasturated with them, that I just don't want to talk to them. Which is also why I'm usually by myself during these gatherings. Well now there's Melvyn who's joining me in the over-aged cousins club. He seems to be out of sorts with school recently, well hope he'll catch on. Uni is just a first step, get the paper first then think later, hahaha.

Here are another few photos of my dear cousin, MJ. Remember earlier I bloged about my photo shoot. Yup, here's another 2 pics that we took at the studio... Isn't he just cute... and fat... hahaha... gotta lose some weight bro.