Making dreams and living your dreams

I was reading someone's blog today. He wrote about his dreams and how he was living his dreams. But there were up and down moments for him. I could tell that it wasn't easy, he was young in terms of age, but he is definitely much more mature than his peers.

He led me to think about my dreams too. I haven't forgotten them, but sometimes I am so caught up with the mundanes of life that I am starting to neglect it. I need to read more and get out there to meet extraordinary people and like-minded people. Read for the thirst of knowledge, meet people for networking and the opportunities to come my way.

Have you set your new year resolutions yet?

X'mas feasting non-stop

It was not a quiet Christmas this year. I went from gathering to gathering, and ate junk-food all the time. Because I was guilty of eating so much, I went swimming yesterday. Wrong move. The pool was super crowded. But at least I get a nice darker skin tone. Evening was feasting and Wii session at friend's place. The wii and swimming on the same day prove to be potent. By end of the night, I could no longer feel my hand and I had to rub lots of bengay lotion before I sleep.

I made tiramisu for 2 straight nights, because I promised to bring them to the parties i'm attending. I don't think I'll do that again next year, no energy.

Tonight, one more party to attend.

I want to spend a quiet year end countdown after all these festive parties are over. Festive seasons ain't a good thing for singles. My heart and mind is very messed up when I see couples around me.

X'mas wishes

Hohoho.... its that time of the year again. Early X'mas greetings to everyone.

December has always been a mixed feelings month for me every year. For most people, its the holiday and festive season, so generally, people are happier and more relaxed. But for me, its always the busiest month and especially so for 2009. My blog entries are dwindling... already a sign of the little time I have. I have lots to write about, just no time to pen it down.

2009 has been an emotional year for me. But hey, things are looking better now.
2010 will be a fantastic year, more clear-headed, more focused.
A brand new me will reborn.

I have many wishes for the new year, some of them personal, some of them are general. I'll keep them in my heart for now.

May this world becomes a better place to live in.

I'm back!

.... to blogging! Exams are just over so I finally have the mood to write some things here.

Have been sleeping late and the lack of sleep are all showing up on my eye bags! Zzz... studying has made me a dull and tired person! The sickening thing is, the timetable is so back to back, my classes are going to resume next week! Why can't the school let me enjoy the Christmas first before the new term starts? Grrr...

The feasting season is going to start soon, starting from this weekend. And thereafter every Saturday and Sunday will be gatherings and parties all the way till the new year. My social buterfly lifestyle is coming back! The domestified me is breathing once more. :) I need a life!

The (weird) things I do when I'm too stressed up

I used to cut my hair whenever I feel stressful, but that was in the past. Hence, I never had the chance to grow out my hair. I think the current hair length is the longest I have manage to grow up to for the past 26 years of my life.
I am determine to grow it longer, yet I am also so tempted to cut it away. I just don't feel feminine is my style.

Anyhow, instead of cutting it, I highlighted my hair.

Do you have any particular thing that you'll do when you feel too stressed up?

Bon Jovi : We weren't born to follow

This meaningful song goes out to all of you! (listen to my mixpod on the right hand side)

Lyrics :
This one goes out to the man who mines for miracles
This one goes out to the ones in need
This one goes out to the sinner and the cynical
This ain't about no apology

This road was paved by the hopeless and the hungry
This road was paved by the winds of change
Walking beside the guilty and the innocent
How will you raise your hand when they call your name?

Yeah, yeah, yeah

We weren't born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe

Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren't born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe

Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

This one's about anyone who does it differently
This one's about the one who cusses and spits
This ain't about our livin' in a fantasy
This ain't about givin' up or givin' in

Yeah, yeah, yeah

We weren't born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe

Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren't born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe

Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

We weren't born to follow
Come on and get up off your knees
When life is a bitter pill to swallow
You gotta hold on to what you believe

Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren't born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe

Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

We weren't born to follow, oh yeah
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah)
We weren't born to follow, oh yeah
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah)

Christmas woes solved

Every year Christmas, I am always very vexed. All because of the Christmas gift exchange. Its not that I hate shopping, but I just hate shopping in crowded places. And honestly, there is no quiet shopping malls in Singapore when its the Christmas season. Everyone goes crazy shopping for gifts, and retailers bank in on this opportunity by coming up with "Christmas gifts". Cosmetics and parfume coffret sets, body shower products in sets, just almost everything is sold in a "Christmas gift package". Please tell me if you can find something unique. And honestly, I don't really fancy receiving common gifts, so I don't enjoying giving common gifts either. I would much prefer something that is more personal, or having meals and drinks with friends, enjoying ourselves would be good enough.

Last year, my problem was solved when I made a trip to Korea, I bought all my x'mas gifts from there. As for this year, I have got it solved too! Because my package from Korea has just arrived.... I am a happy girl. I can go online shopping (skip the crowd) and give unique gifts (cannot be found in Singapore).

Hooray to internet, efficient infrastructure, and my minimal Korean reading ability. :)

The homeland with no identity

I don't think I am alone in feeling this way, that Singapore is starting to become overcrowded. During peak hours, on weekends, the mountain loads of people just drives me crazy. That probably explain why I refuse to go to town areas on weekends. In any case, Singapore is so boring that the only place people can go to is shopping malls. The fact that more and more shopping malls are built all over Singapore, with many new ones on the way proves the point. When there is demand, they build. The scenery of Singapore is about skyscrapers and malls of different shapes and sizes, something which I called as 'architecture'. Another reason I hate to go out on weekends -- throngs of foreigners in every corner of Singapore. I hate public transport because I am faced with rude people. The PCK adverts don't work at all, the commuters are still barbaric.They still don't let people come out of trains before going in, they still don't give up reserved seats to people who need them, they still don't shift into the middle of cabins. People who drive don't get the last laugh too, because people who drive displayed equally bad behaviour. The wreckless taxi drivers, the ah beng road bullies, the racer-wannabes, the lousy female drivers. What more with the exorbitant COE and car prices, never-ending ERP charges, ever increasing motor insurance premiums, it just doesn't make economic sense to get a car unless you are a salesperson who needs to see clients. Service level in Singapore is not improving, because the highly-educated Singaporeans refuse to take those jobs, and that leaves the service industry in the hands of foreigners who just may not give the shit if the service level is of 'G.E.M.' quality.

Singapore's multi-racial society used to be a 'Singapore flavour', but the way I see it now -- we have no more 'flavours or cultures' that we can label as our own. Singapore has become a place for foreigners to earn money and leave (for expatriates), for foreigners to earn enough to build lands and houses and return home (the bangalas), for rich foreigners to send their kids here for the 'bilingual and quality education' (the chinese nationals), for our neighbours to earn salaries with better currency exchange rate (the Malaysians), the list goes on...

Meanwhile, the rest of us continue to live here and grumble about anything that we are buay song with by posting to Stomp. Ask us what we are buay song with on current issues, welfare, environmental issues etc, we would not give a heck.

Singapore is really a not bad place to live in despite all the above. Just where is the peace and serenity that I need?

Honestly, I'm very stressed up now

Because I have so much catching up to do for my exams. I am on the verge of crying now...

If you happen to see me, please crack some jokes and cheer me up, I'll appreciate that very much. Meanwhile, I have to get out of this house and head to Mcd to study.

Sobs.

Being Positive

Seems like I haven't been blogging lately, that's because I have been sick for the whole of last week. My system was drugged with drowsy medicine and was in no state of mind to write. Work is piling up higher, the peak period before the Christmas holidays. But I am thankful for that, because learning-on-the-job is taking place and the things that I learnt -- its growing at an exponential rate. I still can't see money, but I strongly believe that I will see it soon. I strongly believe that I am a gem, still at its raw stage, polishing up to be a bright sparkling diamond in time to come.

Sounds very positive do I? This is a conscious effort, to remain positive. This is a choice made, to think positive. You will materialise what goes on in your brain, so fill it with positive thoughts.

Evaluating others

In a toastmasters' meeting, other than doing our project speeches and learning to speak off the cuff, one other important skill that we learn is evaluating others. Often, people are quick to point out someone elses' mistakes and impulsively shoot down the other person without much thought. I don't think I belong to that category, and I hope not. In toastmasters, we learn how to criticise in a tactical manner, yet giving valuable feedback that the person need in order to improve. That certainly is not an easy thing to do.

I have no qualms about doing my project speeches, but I am not sure about evaluation. The previous scary experience of doing the General Evaluation is still in my head, and I guess much of my nerves is due to that. What am I supposed to do?

*knock knock*

Opportunities are knocking on my door. Something that I'm doing must be right and I have been able to attract the right kind of people into my life.
I know I have the attitude, so now I'm questioning if I have that aptitude for it. I always remember that one must always step out of comfort zone in order to see changes. Whether the outcome is good or bad, stepping out is the 1st step.

Killing me softly

Today was the last submission of projects for this semester. My whole mind was on it for the past weeks and what a sigh of relief now that its over. The classes for this semester will end next week so that we'll have a month to prepare for exams. That means I will have time on Wednesday evenings to attend toastmaster meetings! I desperately need to go back to clock my 'airtime' before my speaking skills get rusty again. Toastmaster mates, you hear me, I'll be back soon.

Today, my classmate commented that I look ultimately tired. Sad.... all the symptoms of stress showed up. I need to do some happy things.

Cycling fever

Yesterday went cycling from East Coast Park to Changi Beach. This is the 2nd time i'm trying out this route, except that this round, it was a continuous ride, with 3 5-minutes break in between. It is a real good workout... but the sun was so scorching hot that I'm suffering from a slight sunburn now.

I definitely want to try cycling the whole Park Connector Network the next time.

Falling slowly

Its been sometime since my heart flutters for someone, I can even feel air beneath my steps. His smiles just melts my heart away...

I am so hopelessly smitten, gotta snap out of it.

How to shift the sleeping cycle?

My biggest problem now, lacking of sleep and unhealthy sleeping habits. How do people wake up by 5 am? Because they sleep early. Mr T said that he lose weight by willing himself to do it, that's powerful. Surely I can will myself to wake up at 5? Damn it.... i need to change my lifestyle!!!

Immune system down

What is the worst feeling ever? Throat starts to get inflame, ulcer, feverish, dizzy spells... amidst all these, I had to wake up from bed to study for my school test tonight, and to carry on with the project assignment so that I can show the draft to lecturer tonight. While I thought I am getting better, my nose starts to get runny.... I only get a miserable 1 day MC. If only the H1N1 viral is still in the rampage stage, I may just get 5-days MC for the symptoms I'm showing.

Decluttering

Once in a while, I feel like detoxing. Getting rid of toxins in my body, as well as my mind. The body toxins gotta wait till I have the time to be home alone for a couple of days, cos the toilet has to be within walking distance. Its the toxins in my head that I want to rid of. Certain things in life are just not that 'healthy', such as, watching dramas about the perfect love that doesn't exist in real life, playing too much FB games that does not value add, and doing things that harms the health.

I guess I find the urgent need to declutter these days because I feel suffocated. No, work is not getting me down. I manage my workload well these days, I am still busy but coping well. The annoying things that makes me feel suffocating is my family. My Dad is a smoker. He used to smoke in corridoors, but he has went from bad to worse by smoking in his room now. The house has lingering cigarette smell, all thanks to him. If I get lung cancer, its probably his fault. I don't understand why my Mum is able to tolerate such shit from this irresponsible father! I don't want to argue with him again, because both our voices are loud enough to tear the house down. I chose to ignore him completely. I chose to treat him as a transparent being. My communication with him will stop, because I have tried all ways, calm, angry, sarcasm, logic, reasoning, begging and crying even... but he will never change. I can now understand why books on relationships always teaches us that its impossible to change someone, you have to accept the other party for who he is, including all his flaws. My mum did it, she accepted my Dad and his flaws. But I wonder if she is truly happy.

A friend has been feeling really down lately because of a marriage that is on the verge of breaking down. She is not pulling her socks up to get on with life. Instead, she is living each day aimlessly, like a walking dead. Another friend's wedding plan was suddenly called off, for reasons that I am not sure of till today. The groom-to-be initiated it, so my girlfriend is the upset one. Another friend is married, but the married life seems boring because the husband is more interested in computer games than the real woman in front of him, called his wife. I have more examples of unhappy couples around me, and it is scary to think of it. Of course, there are exceptions. And thanks to these good examples around me, it gives me hope that finding the right person is still possible.

But what are the odds? I wonder...

TGIF? not for me...

Everyone starts to get excited when they know its Friday, and they like to thank God for that... i wonder what has Friday got to do with God? No offence to believers of God, cos I just don't understand how this term is being coined. There is indeed a reason to be happy about when you know you don't have to work for the next 2 days. But to me, Friday is the day I feel most drained because working through Monday to Friday, Friday is like the day when my phone battery life is left with the last bar and the phone will just go flat anytime.

Question for the day :

Do you believe in 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorow we die'? Or 'drawing out the blueprint of the future'?

A sign of stress?

The migraine started from bad to worse, since Monday. It's a sign that I am too stressed up? I have no idea... all I know is, I have been sleeping alot today, I hope I'm able to fall back to sleep later.

Someone told me, I am too busy. I know I am.... I also know I'm pretty bad at managing my time, and learning to say NO. I need to have some fun, to break away from doing the 'too serious' stuffs...

I just want to have some time to watch meaningless television shows, some leisure reading, and perhaps rotting by the beach...

My experience as an Emcee

In every experience, bad or good, there is bound to be something that you can learn from it. That is the attitude that I carried towards the event today.

I'll use a few words to sum up my feelings -- exhilaration, frustration, heart-attacks but great sense of achievement. I won't say that the whole event was executed in the best fashion, but all in all, it was an enriching experience. A simple few words may not be able to fully describe how I felt.

So what did I learn from this?
To be honest, organising an event in this small scale is not as easy as it seems. Alot of hard work has been put in by the various committee members. Like how Ben commented, 台上一分钟，台下十年功. To translate it literally, it means a minute on stage equates to 10 years off the stage. I fully agree. Whatever will go wrong, has gone wrong. But that does not mean that the situation screwed up, there were merely hiccups along the way, which in my opinion, is normal. The imperfections of the event served as precious lessons. One has to learn from the mistakes in order to grow. I learned that an emcee has to be adaptable, because constant changes are being made and we need to adjust quick enough, to know what to say and what not to say on stage. Impromptu speaking is definitely one skill that I need to hone. An emcee needs to multi-task as we try to coordinate between various parties, communicating with organising chairperson, photographer, videographer, timer, guest speaker etc because the emcee is the linking point. Different parties gave instructions of various versions. When there is so much confusion, you just have to exercise your judgement.
Does it sound like the whole event is a flop? Of course not! I personally feel that it was a great success, in fact, it was better than last year! It brought together members of the public, toastmasters and businessmen, its a great way for people to network. I'm also happy to find a good number of teenagers amongst the audience, public speaking skills definitely deserve more attention than just academic abilities.

The committee has a dream of making this a Nation-wide event next year. Will this be a dream come true or remain as a dream? We'll have to wait and see...

Till then, I look forward to more of such opportunities.

It's not that funny at all

I just came home from a movie, it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't.

I'm sorry to say this, but Adam Sandler is really not that funny in this movie. Maybe my expectations were hyped up by the movie title 'Funny People'. There were moments that were hilarious, but mostly, I kept thinking to myself... 'its too slaptick... or its too American'. Asians might not be able to relate to those jokes, so fellow Asians, skip this movie.

I am kind of disappointed, after months of not watching any movies, I had to catch a lousy one after such a long hiatus.

Tomorrow, 12 people would try to be 'Funny' on stage, and the co-emcee and I would need to attempt to be humourous as well. I can be funny in front of my friends, but its a different story in front of strangers.

May the jokes work tomorrow... lame as it may be.

Single woes

They say the pasture is always greener on the other side. When I made the decision to be single, I was happy because the relationship was getting no where. Life being single is great, no denies about that. At the same time, I have to admit that I do feel lonely at times. The loneliness crept it at times when I am most busy, contradicting? I don't feel I'm ready to commit into a relationship yet, but honestly, I don't know what is this unknow fear I'm feeling. I kept having this mindset that I need to have a little career achievement or financial breakthrough before I start dating. I don't know how or why I place such limits on myself? Perhaps my values on wanting to be self-reliant and independent is inherent. To tell the truth, deep down, I am still a girl who yearns for the warmth and protection of a man. At the same time, I want to have some balance, to be able to live independently.

I am not that alpha female that people think I am, its a front I put on for the sake of survival.
The day I found someone right, is the time I take down this front that I put on. Or do I need to take it down first, before someone right will appear?

Damsel in distress.

I am extending my invitation to you...

I'm not sure how effective is it for me to announce here, but nevertheless, I'd still try.

PA Humourous Speech Contest 2009 - Finals

It is happening on 3rd October 2009, which also falls on Mid-Autum Festival, how auspicious is that?
Details as follows :-

Event : 6th People's Association Humourous Speech Contest 2009
Date : 3rd October 2009
Time : 1 - 5pm
Venue : Cheng San Community Club

Why you want to be there? To be entertained by the best 12 humourous speakers. Be there so you can be inspired, and to learn from the better speakers who has the ability to make people laugh.

Humour is not an easy thing to learn, just ask around you. If people describe your personality trait as 'humourous', I'm sure you'll be a people magnet.

Don't you want to become a 'people magnet'?

The uncles

Right after my test today, I made my way to a meeting. A meeting that is, in my opinion, not a productive one. Sometimes, I really admire my own patience to sit through that. But if I skipped it, I may not get the information that I need in order to draft my Emcee script for this Saturday's event. That, is perhaps working towards my goal, to take every opportunity I can.

After the meeting ended, the committee members adjourned to a coffee session at a nearby coffeeshop. Usually, I would decline and make my way home. But tonight, I decided to accept the invitation and join the uncles. Well, I called them uncles because they are old enough to be. It is not easy to be the only young lady hanging out with them, but this move to step out of my comfort zone seems beneficial. It is an eye-opener, to learn what these successful businessmen talk about in their 'coffee session'. Current issues, social and welfare, investment, politics and of course, about their businesses. I wasn't able to contribute much to those topics, but I was happy to listen and learn. And that itself, is perhaps one way to network and to let more people know about me, and make my presence felt.

This, is a young girl trying to make her way in this complicated business world.

What is your dream?

Someone asked me yesterday, what would I want to be in future? This question is no stranger. But my answers to this question is usually ambiguous. The truth is, I am afraid to say it out, for fear that I would be laughed at. That's normal right? I have this fear because my dreams seem quite impossible at times, and that I'm afraid I would never be able to achieve it. Or along the way, I might change my mind and decide to do something else. So I would rather keep it to myself, so I won't be laughed at even if I don't achieve it at the end.

But I decided to come clean, because I think I need more motivation. This motivation might come from people that I do not know now.And people who happen to read my blog might read my mind, and give me that little push. To friends who read this, don't laugh at me even if I don't become what I hope to be. Dreams are far fetch at times, but it means alot to me. My dreams keep me sane and remind me that I do not want to just become an ordinary someone.

So here it goes.... and its a list of stuffs.

I want to be a good public speaker, I want to become a trainer in my own field, that is the General Insurance Field. I want to become a good emcee at events, and I hope to be the emcee of as many friends' wedding as possible. I want to be a translator and become proficient in English, Mandarin and Korean. And last of all, I hope to find someone who will stay beside me and give me the support that I need while I work at achieving these dreams.

I just said it, i hope it sounds ok.

Now I just need to work on it.

What do you measure success with?

The type of car you drive? The size your wallet is? The type of house you own? The number of credit cards you have? The size of your bling? The brand of bag you carry?

Material luxuries are merely by-products of wealth, in my opinion, but they are not enough to drive me to work hard. I don't like to work like a cow for the sake of a LV bag, its too shallow, and yeah.... makes me look like a stupid cow. To materialistic girls out there, you either work like a stupid cow, or made your boyfriends and husbands looked like one. Just don't put your 'standards' on me.... don't piss me off like that.
Yes, I do look forward to such material wealth, but they don't drive me. I am more than that.

Go away you shallow bimbo.

Life's a blur

I am dead beat. My day to day is too long and stretch too far.

Reach office by 8.15am....worked all the way to 6.30pm and off to school. Dinner is always junk food because I don't have time to sit down and have a meal.
Then classes stretch all the way to 9.45pm, reach home about 10.45pm, ate some 'dinner' which is real late. Played with Joy a bit, time is already 11.45pm. Online time usually takes up 1 hour. Assignments and projects and revision and other what-not that I have on hand.

Mum is complaining that I am not keeping my mountain of laundry and tidying up my mountain of books and magazines. The thing is.... I really don't have the time and energy to do it. I don't even have the time to read my subsciptions of reader digest, club pet mag and soka times etc.
I think I am more tired than the average housewife who does everything in the home.
I am dead beat, who can understand?

I need your help

I am collecting some data for my school project, will really appreciate if you can help me out with a survey. I promise you, this will not take up more than 10 minutes of your time.
Click Here to take survey
I will also be really grateful if you can help me to circulate this link to increase my sample size.

Kamsahamida! (Thank you)

The Importance of networking

Some people has the fear of  networking events, especially when you know that you do not know 99% of the people there. I am fairly new in my area of work, hence I do not know many people within the industry. But when I was invited to a cocktail party for a work-related event, I immediately knew that I MUST go. I think tonight's event has been fruitful for me. Being there to link the names that I know of to their faces, and getting the hierachy right.

So what do you do when you are mingling in a room full of strangers? I realised that so long I appear relaxed, smile alot, and just helping myself with the food, people would come to talk to me.

Networking is not as frightening as most people think of, it is a effective marketing tool to 'market' yourself.

The Alpha Female, 我是个大女人

Someone has pointed out to me that I am the female version of 大男人. The best English term to describe this would probably be 'the alpha female'. Honestly, I have never thought of this. Maybe they are right, such conclusion must have derived from their observation of me.

And come to think of it, I am not that 'family-oriented'. To ask me to conform into a traditional 'wife-fy' material like child bearing and home making is almost impossible. I have the 'prerequisites' of a wife, I know how to cook, wash, clean and teach. But its all trained up because of my upbringing. If I have a choice, I won't mind the SO (significant other) taking care of the household. Just like what men these days expect of their wife -- earn a decent income and taking care of the house plus child bearing, I would place the same set of expectations on the SO. He not only has to work and get a decent income, he has to get home after work and transform into the 'househusband'. Bravo!

But if such men do exist, they must surely be 'out-of-stock' already. Because they're a rare commodity.

No time for exercise? exscuses is the culprit

In the midst of H1N1 and what not viruses that are spreading around, I did my best to keep healthy so that I don't fall sick easily. My office is a 'sick building' now, everyone around me is coughing non stop. And its hard not to spread the virus because we are all cooped up in an air-conditioned office environment. My busy schedule does not permit me to fall sick and still get by. Hence, I really need to keep vigilant.

This morning, I woke up at 5.30am! This is a victory for me! Because I am mostly nocturnal and am a heavy sleeper. Why the hell did I wake up so early for? To get my arse off for yoga lessons in the morning at 7am. Unbelievable? I couldn't believe it too. Anyway, the yoga class work wonders for me. For the first time, Monday doesn't feel that blue, really! My energy level kept up for most of the day, except for that drowsy after lunch moment. Woohoo.... I love it man!

I think I can keep up with this madness schedule, waking up so god damn early is a miracle for me.

Follow me on Twitter

I have just signed up for a twitter account. It's hard not to, just like facebook and friendster in the past. Social media is improving at such breakneck speed that I have to jump on before I get kick out. Afterall, I do belong to the Y-Generation. So if you have decided to get a twitter account, do look me up! http://twitter.com/lamlani

Out of order

Definition from 'Idioms and Phrases', dictionary.com :
Not functioning well, not operating properly or at all.

Clocked too much mileage and raced too much in the terrains. Needs to be send in to the workshop!
I need a brrrrreak,

How time flies

How apt is my title? Very. I was reminded that 2010 is only about 4 months away and I really got a shock from it. No joke! Perhaps because I am still dreaming and living in 2008 / 2009. And that millennium year 2000 seem to be over just a few years back. But no.... it's gonna be a decade.

At age 26, I can still stubbornly label myself belonging to 'mid twenties'. Now that I am approaching 27... the word 'mid' would have to change to 'late'.

Well well well.... the next 4 months would be madness for me in any case. When I'm busy and numb with so much work, I would not have time to dwell on this fact.

Goodnight.

The Routine starts again

Let's have a look at my schedule from Monday through Friday, after getting off from work.

Monday - School
Tuesday - Korean Class
Wednesday - School
Thursday - nothing (but something is always filled on that day, since other days are blocked)
Friday - Advance speechcraft (3 more Friday evenings to go)
Saturday - emcee-ing
Sunday - touch base with my comrades

lalalalala.... I am not getting much rest with such schedule, but somehow I am just happy.

I am going to Emcee a PA event this coming Saturday, this is already outside my comfort zone. Because the audience are experienced public speakers. I am getting a little jittery, at the same time excited. Will I do well? Or will I crash and burn? But nothing will get me down, I will treasure this airtime because if I handle this well, I can take on a bigger challenge the next time. Even if I flop, its a good lesson.

Hwaiting!

Speak for yourself

Singlish is the trademark and part of the Singaporeans' culture, it represents us. There's many other versions as well, like Chinglish, Konglish, Spanglish etc. Is Singlish bad? Well, i'm sitting on the fence. On one hand, Singlish is the hallmark of Singaporean. On the other hand, it does not reflect well at work or in school or business, where we are expected to speak proper English. At the rate that Singapore embraces globalisation, i'm afraid proper English should be the way to go.

So i'm doing good here by spreading word about the 'Speak Good English' campaign. This year's theme is: Impress, Inspire, Intoxicate.

I like that! The theme is an alliteration, already demonstrating what makes English interesting. So click on here, and explore the website. English teachers would find the site useful.

Dark Chocolate

image taken from the dailygreen.com

I love to eat chocolates, especially dark ones. The darker they are, the more bitter they are, the more I like it. It's a very special kind of food because of the contradicting feelings you get from it, and it resembles life.

How is that so?

We know chocolate is supposed to be sweet, but dark chocolates ain't all that sweet. At first bite, you would think that : ahh.. it's sweet. But as you chew further, you start to taste the bitterness of it. And once you're done eating the dark chocolate, you'd find a sweet, fragrant aftertaste. We call that 'bittersweet'.

Life is a cycle of ups and downs. When we're infants, we had no troubles. All we did were sleeping and eating. As we grow older, things get more complicated and not all things go as we planned. But whatever problems we face in life, we have to deal with it and emerge as the winner. Success is only sweet when we have tasted failures, isn't that so?

So the next time you eat a dark chocolate, don't just eat it like a snack. Taste it thoroughly and thoughtfully, taste it with your heart. And i'm sure you will start to love dark chocolates as much as i do.

yaa..... pardon my paragraph full of grammar mistakes.
It's weird that when my Korean is improving... my english is.... going the other way. Korean grammar is so messy.

*dance around*

Exams over again..... man, this is a marathon race, exams every quarter. Time really zoom by when you are busy.

My calendar is fully packed for September already, fantastic. Living life to the fullest and enjoying every moment of it.

Dialogue with wise man

What is leadership? What makes a business successful? How his mentor build his network in China? Those are the serious topics that I had with 2 wise men at the S-11 kopitiam last night. After an invigorating session of toastmaster chapter meeting, the coffeeshop talk is yet another mind blowing session. The things that I could learn from those conversations are precious knowledge that I would never be able to get in textbooks and in school. 'Leadership' has take on a better meaning now. Thank you for your sharing, I will definitely miss chapter meetings for the next 3 months.

Now, if only my company's head honcho could have an opportunity to hear from him, I believe the impact it could have in my workplace would be somewhat magical.
A colleague bade farewell today, another 2 is leaving end of this month, and another 1 next month. What kind of turnover rate is my company facing? Someone commented that its quite bad, i say its very bad!

depressed

I blank out at the exam hall today, I hate myself. I can't believe my hard work goes down the drain like that.

I can only pray that my content is still relevant despite me not getting the correct order of things. I am crushed.

Horoscope analysis of Men

Its 1.20am now but I'm logging in to blog. Its a way to destress.... weird right? I guess it helps because it brings my mind away from the books. I'm getting so nervous that I kept burping.

Anyway, for the sake of blogging, I am finding a topic to write about... instead of writing about my exam blues.

Horoscope analysis of Men. I am no expert in this, but I would say I have good observation skills on people's personality. When a bunch of girls meet up, it is usually catching up on one another's lives and gossiping and bitching about men. So I'm going to let you in on the horoscope analysis of men that me and my gal friends often talk about.

Disclaimer : This is purely for entertainment purpose and may or may not hold any truth. My opinions are absolutely bias and unjust. So read and forget about it yeah?

Pisces : Nice people, but soft. When I say soft, I'm talking about their character. Nice, helpful, creative, smart are the words to describe them. But one thing is, pisces men have a tendency to be gay.

Aries : Short temper, short temper, short temper. Yes, they are really short tempered. They are often quite influential, but..... they can only talk. No action is taken. In other words, they like to 'talk big'.

Gemini : Super chatty, super talkative, sometimes to the extent of long-winded. I do not have many gemini guy friends, so I do not have a good understanding of them.

Taurus : Stubborn, but very traditional and down-to-earth, and very simple.

Leo : no available analysis on them yet.

Cancer : no available analysis on them yet.

Libra : Friendly, nice, charming. But, they are superficial people. I have receive alot of feedbacks on Libran men. There is great disparity with the before and after. The charm will wear off very fast.

Scorpio : They are flirts. The most flirtatious men are Scorpios, because they can charm people. Strong tendency to stray as well.

Saggitarius : no available analysis on them yet.

Capricorn : no available analysis on them yet.

Aquarius : no available analysis on them yet.

Purely non-sensical. But I believe, the negative traits that I talked about only happens to be the black sheep amongst their species.

Now, back to studies.

What do i do when i feel down?

I need to laugh. The saying that says laughter is the best medicine? Yep, it works for me. That's the thing about me. I don't easily confide my problems, hence I keep to myself alot. And since I don't get the problems off my chest, something else needs to be released. Or else my head would get messed up.

I'll drink wine, yes, even at home. I can sip wine while I type away at my laptop. It relaxes my mind.

I'll tune in to 98.7fm at night, when 'Muttons till midnight' is on. They cheered me up the most at my lowest.

Watch korean variety shows on youtube. I am amazed at the creativity of Koreans, the standard of entertainment is something that Singapore Variety shows can never perform up to.
So here's something that I found today -- badminton at its best. They played badminton with huge-ass rackets, spatula and different weird sizes.

The progress of my Korean Language learning path

Some of you may know, that I have took up an elementary Korean Language course. How is my progress so far?

So far so good. I have learn to recognise the fundamentals of the Hangul characters; the consonants & the basic vowels and some simple phrases. I still rely on the romanization very much when I read, because the Hangul characters need more time for my brain to process it individually. Attending classes is only a way to build on my foundation, a lot more comes from what I do outside those classes. Naturally, I have once again rely on the Internet for resources to add on to my learning. (I cannot emphasize enough how important Internet is to me)

So if you are reading my blog now, and is also a Korean beginner like me, congrats! I have listed below some of the useful Internet resources I found. And since I found them useful, I hope you will too. (I am not affiliated with any of them, it is purely personal recommendation.)

1. http://www.koreanclass101.com - I strongly urge you to sign up for the trial, its really good. I downloaded many of their podcasts and accompanying PDF notes onto my itouch and found the lessons both educational and entertaining. If you like it, then you may decide to invest some money to subscribe.
2. http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com - it contains alot of useful beginner lessons for free.
3. http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr - Official Korean Tourism website. This contains useful lessons for common phrases you might use when you visit Korea. The lessons are done in flash so its not too wordy and yet interactive.

Good things are meant to be shared, spread the word!

In memory of my uncle

The life you led
simple and carefree
The smiles you had
simple and pure
The thoughts you carry
simple yet loving
Your early departure, puts an end to your torture
But your sudden departure, was not the best picture
Your selfless nature, seems the least mature
For not everyone could understand what you went through
Thank you for your smile
Thank you for carrying me
Thank you for believing in me
Thank you for supporting me
And most importantly, I am sorry.

A tempting offer to add on to my multi portfolio

Doing volunteer work has always been at the back of my mind, but I never get down to doing it. Part of the reason, other than not having enough time, is the lack of kakis. Despite my independent personality, some things just won't do it without kakis egging you on. I remembered years ago, I signed myself up at NVPC online portal, wanting to contribute to society. Sadly, no one bothered to follow up with me. This matter slipped my mind until today, when someone asked if I would be keen to join her. I'm getting a little excited by it, at the same time, having doubts of my commitment level. Will I be able to juggle well on top of so much things on hand now?

Great Saturday

Right now, as I'm typing this... I could feel my shoulders aching. Although it was a cycling trip, somehow my shoulders hurt more than the thighs. Something must be wrong with my posture. Anyway, it was a real good workout today. We cycled from east coast park and finished at changi beach. Total distance covered should be around 17km, and that's my record so far. I have never cycled THAT MUCH in my life. And for the first time, I felt that the coastal view of Singapore is beautiful. I would want to go cycling there again soon, after my exams.

It has been a great day, and I look forward to waking up with aching muscles tomorrow.

Is my blog a little neglected?

Maybe. But sometimes I am just too tired to blog because my energy level gets zapped up really fast these days. Apart from the never-ending work, classes in the evening are the ones that really shagged me out (is there such an expression?) Anyways, I am trying to squeeze in some exercise time into my schedule. I'm putting on weight because I eat to destress, and my meals are always late because of my classes. NOT GOOD!!!! Plus, I have been getting migraines and headaches on a really regular basis. All these are signs of deteriorating health.

And something stupid happened to me today, I was so blur that I woke up this morning thinking that its FRIDAY. I was dressed down and wore my knickers to work. The first colleague who saw me in office this morning asked, "You think today is Friday ah?" What can I say man....? I must have SO looked forward to friday and I brought it forward myself. Damn.

long over-due snippets of the Korea Trip

That's 1 of my favourite Korean street food, called bung-eo ppang, 붕어빵. Its a waffle-like pastry in a fish shape with red bean paste as fillings, crispy on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside. And its real cheap, about $1 for 3 pieces!











My first attempt at skiing, and I suck at it. Next time I'll try snow-boarding instead, it should be easier. The ski resort that I went to is called 'Bears Town Ski Resort' and nope, I didn't see any bears there. So i wonder why its named like that? One thing I learnt from this trip -- if you really want to ski, do it during the December / January months, because the Ski Classes operate on seasonal basis during the peak period. I was there during early winter and the Ski School wasn't even operating yet.






The friendly Korean dudes at the Ski Rental Shop. Because they couldn't understand much English, we kept using sign language to communicate, still... it turned out well. I shall master basic conversational Korean the next time I'm back to this country.

안녕하 세 요

That's the basic formal greetings, an nyeong ha se yeo. Learning a new language is fun...! Suddenly, I have the ambition to speak many languages/ dialects.

English, Mandarin, Korean, next is Cantonese and Hokkien, followed by Japanese and Malay. I will be a Superstar translator in Asia.

Like still waters

中午約了中學同學吃午餐, 大家有一陣子沒見面, 所以得update一下近況. 已婚的就談起和家婆同在屋簷下的困擾, 有了伴侶的就談起與男友之間的相處之道, 剛辭職不幹的就談起在工作方面的問題. 而我似乎沒甚麼可以報導的. 除了學業, 就是工作. 我現處於平談的過日子, 愛情方面零消息, 事業方面可圈可點, 學業方面就慢慢的進展. 以前的我會對愛情方面有著很idealistic的想法, 現在的我對愛情是毫無渴望, just like still waters.

看破紅塵? 沒那麼誇張...

Damn the ERP

I took a cab home from town and back to the north eastern part of Singapore, via CTE at about 9.20pm.Yes I am guilty of not being up-to-date with the ERP timings (but there's really no reason for me to) and got a shock when the cashcard meter jumped by a dollar! DAMN it...

I was at Carrefour to shop for the ingredients for my weekend cooking, gonna make kimbap and cheesecake. Which means my ingredients just got 'level up' with that blardy taxi fare. I should have bought them at neighbourhood malls.

What do i do when i go online?

check gmail
check facebook
check youtube
check friend's blog
think if I want to update my own blog
read news
surf the net... randomly.

One friend asked me, what is there to surf on the internet, other than msn chatting and facebook? On the contrary, my msn and facebook is kept to the minimum. I spend lots of time surfing the internet for knowledge, for information, for inspiration. I enjoy it so much because I get so much information that I would never be able to get if not for the internet. I am constantly doing research, on how to 'enrich' myself.

Allow me to introduce this fantastic tool called 'stumbleupon'. You can customise the 'topics' you are interested in... and with a click on the stumbleupon button, it will bring you to recommended websites randomly according to your favourite topics. You will 'stumble upon' some really good stuffs...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

A new learning journey

2 things that made me happy today. My HRM project came back with grades i'm satisfied with and today was the 1st lesson of Korean.

Despite being done with school projects, I find myself getting KO by midnight... this is not my typical sleeping time. I think the body is worn out for abit from the stressful June, gotta listen to the signals.

ZZz... im dozing off as I finish off this entry.

我是熊猫

没日没夜的赶课业，明天就逞上去了！Wooohoooo..... 亲爱的七月份。。。我要尽情的玩！韩语课要开始了，好兴奋！真希望我的天份到家。

快乐人生，亲手去创造，有让人难以掩饰的幸福感。快乐与不快乐，就在那一刹那的选择。常常得提醒自己，要乐观面对人生，因为要陷入misery是多么容易的一件事。

哇。。。我仿佛在为一首歌写词。

Money

I am never a person who likes to work for money, the idea of it is like slavery. I would rather work for the sake of learning, building my network, and getting the experience.

But what do you do when money is not enough? I can't persuade my boss to give me a higher salary for now, I need to adjust my lifestyle. I learned what is delayed gratification.

什么是‘理财’？如果你不理财，财就不理你！It's time I take a closer look at my finances.

The mundanes

Whose life is not filled with mundanes?

The mundanes help to make our lives more disciplined, abide to a certain pattern, make doing things more rhythmic, and to some of us, keeping it sane.

But other than mundane stuffs in life, I am happy with things that offset it once in a while. I don't enjoy 'problems' per se... but it is adversity that makes me stronger, trains my gut, up my survival skills and make me wiser.

What would I become if life is smooth sailing? I'd probably end up a worthless person.

The networking workshop I attended yesterday has once again proved to me that what I put myself through is the correct decision. Serving my due time is tough, but necessary.

List of things to do in July

1. Play badminton
2. Service my bicycle
3. Start my Korean classes
4. Meet up with Angel & Damus and gang
5. Meet up with ah zhen
6. Sing karaoke
7. Go disko dancing
8. Do my 1st advance project on persuasive speaking series
9. Make cheesecake, I'll try the strawberry version this time.
10. Revision for exams
    

Exiting July...

rambling

I feel very relieved now that I am done with tests for this week. Finally pass my insurance paper and I feel I am more equipped with the knowledge I need for the new job.

I want to go out to play this weekend. I want to watch 'Transformer 2'. But if I go out, I will be rushing through the night for my 2 projects to be due. Maybe I should bring my laptop out to the airport again and finish up on 1 single day. Sounds good.

Met up with my friends for dinner today since I was at Suntec after my exam. Bumped into one friend after another, its a sign that I need to catch up with friends. I have been hiding~!

Geez..... my thoughts are all over the place.

I am curious, in the eyes of my friends, am I a humorous person?

For Little Charmaine

Someone passed this link to me, and I read. I hope I can spare a little help by spreading words here on my blog, and I hope you spread the word too. The mother needs all kind of help that she needs. Be strong Charmaine.

Send an email to the future

I don't know if this really works, I discovered this cool site.

http://www.futureme.org/index.php

I send an email to myself, which would be send out to the future me 3 years later. It is a congratulatory email. I wonder.... 3 years from now, I probably would have forgotten about this and be so surprise to receive this email.

Wouldn't it be fun if we can send email to ourselves 10 years from now?

Aja Aja Aja

Test Test Test.... so many test. Wednesday HRM test, Thursday Comm GI test.... driving me crazy.

Someone just help me do my laundry while i mug... why can't my Mum help me.....

Lani-ssi.... Aja aja Hwaiting~!

This entry is all about my grumbles only... don't read

Just checked my results online, I ace the 2 modules that I dread most for the last semester, what a miracle. I don't want to be complacent... because it is a fact that I am more tired now than last semester. How am I going to keep up?

The demanding workload is slowly eating away my energy level. I just can't seem to be able to recharge fully at night. So the 'battery life' is getting weaker...

This weekend is 闭关修炼 for me. My HRM project just got thrown back because this lecturer has high expectations. Arrrghhhh... its major editing time. And I have to finish at least 70% of my marketing project so I don't need to rush through it. The only thing I'm happy about it is.... the subject matter is somewhat my forte.... analysing Smartphones. But just don't want to get too happy with it first. My retest for the Commercial GI paper is on Thursday, I need to study for it. Every resit of the exam means time and $$$ wasted. My room is messed up again because I don't have time and patience to keep it neat.... my books are all over the place. There are also tonnes of laundry and ironing to do. If i send everything to the dhobi to wash, the charges might be off my budget.
I also need to catch up with sleep.... and to squeeze in time for some exercise.

Like how much can i exactly squeeze into these 48 hrs of weekend?

Seriously, if I have the money... I would engage help for the things below.

1. part-time maid to clean my room
2. send all laundry to the dhobi
3. errand boy to walk my dog thrice a week
4. driver to send me to school, fetch me after school
5. study mate to study with me and help me take notes in classes
   

I shall continue to daydream...

Drug Allergy

Whenever you see a doctor, and they asked, 'Do you have any drug allergy?' I would wonder... how would I know? Why does Singapore not have a centralised database of past medical records? Is it that hard to maintain a DB like that?

I had a drug allergy reaction towards a type of antibiotic many years back. I wrote down the drug name on the appointment card with the clinic's address. It was not the clinic that I frequent because I was sick at work and had to see a doctor immediately. Later on, I lost the card and I lost the name too.

So everytime I was asked that question, I would tell the doctor this and he would say, this is not helping.

Last weekend, I had my 2nd drug allergy case. I was out with friends after work to have dinner and birthday celebrations. I left my workplace with a migraine... That migraine stuck to me throughout the dinner and I was getting very irritated by it. In most cases, I wouldn't have take any medication. But it was so bad I had to ask around if anyone had panadol to cure it. My friend gave me her paracetamol and told me the dosage is different as it contained muscle relaxant. I took it nonetheless. Little did I know, I am allergic to that.

My eyes became swollen and I felt like I've drank alcohol. The migraine was cured but I felt like I'm drunk on paracetamol.

It's funny.

This time round, I will remember to inform my family doctor the drug name so that my records are complete.

How do you know how much you love the person?

On the train ride home, my classmate just shared with me about her marriage life. How it is falling apart and the tough times she went through. My heart goes out to her.... it is not easy indeed.
Halfway through the conversation, I fell into deep thoughts.

How do you know how much you love the other person? Why some marriages worked out well but some didn't?

During the retreat, F taught me one thing on measuring my goal. So how do I measure love? Love is such an unexplainable feeling.
In the moment of silence with my classmate, I was deep in thoughts, thinking about this.

The only measurement that I could think of, is how much you can sacrifice for the person. The more you love a person, the more you would sacrifice for him/her. Only love has such powers and abilities.

We have watched enough of dramas on tv, they always show that. Dramatic, but real.

In fact, this measurement system also holds true in other instances of love. Parents love their children, so they would also sacrifice alot for their son and daughter. The list goes on.

Now I understand why I wasn't happy in the past relationship. It is not love, because both of us could not sacrifice anything for each other. It was a companionship more than a relationship.

Another valuable lesson learned.

Sometimes the dreams are so big, you wonder if its possible?

When will I be done with my studies? Not so soon...... not anywhere near at all. All I can do now... is to do my part to study well and hard, graduate with a paper in my hand, and then off I go. Where to? I have no idea yet. I want to go out and see the world, so I have to prepare myself well for the next 5 years. I have a strong desire to leave this country, i'm not sure why too. Perhaps the lifestyle here is really too stressful? Perhaps I can't find anything here that fits me?

Perhaps I'm just dreaming and it may not happen at all? That I might still be stuck on this little red dot, and be pulled back by my responsibilities as a daughter? I don't know...

I envy people who have found their calling. I can only see myself clearly in the next 5 years, beyond that is a blurred image. All the dreams that I have seemed too big and unrealistic at the moment. I don't know how to empower myself.

人因梦想而伟大，我因梦想而累垮。有时候我得学会放慢脚步，深呼吸，松懈紧绷的精神。原来工作与学业要两者都监督的好是那么难的一件事。有时候会不经意的想到，为什么我走的路比别人难，比别人辛苦？还好我的意念强，虽然辛苦，但我会坚持。都已经26岁了，再不加把劲就来不及了。


辛苦了一番，该是我好好的扑充睡眠的时候。

Life is short?

But what if the sentence is rephrased as...

Life is Only One Shot.

It means you could only have one chance in life, and that you better treasure it.
Perhaps I really believe in it, hence I always grab whatever opportunities that are thrown to me.

If I were to write a biography of myself, I think the book would be extremely interesting... and it would be a best-seller. Perhaps even such a silly remark could come true... if I really embark on writing it.

Sigh

My HRM project is going to be due this Wednesday. My group mate just emailed me her part and after one look at it, I thought I should just ignore her email and finish her portion by myself.

How would you feel if you put in efforts for it, but gets reject totally by me?
I cannot accept that standard of work.... because it concerns my grades. But I don't want to hurt the 'team spirit' as well.

Sigh.

The baby season

How come I kept seeing newborn babies updates in my facebook? Or kept hearing news of friends getting pregnant?

My best pal just popped yesterday, a very cute and hyper baby girl. Natalie will grow up to be a beauty just like her Mum, just not the ah soh characteristics please.

I think i can count.... like 10 newborns within the last 2 months?

I think the bad economy really helps, people are staying home more to have sex and make babies! And I wonder.... if we could experience another baby boomers period?
Okay.... i'm just talking crap. That's because I am at the age where such events in life would be common and frequent. I have forgotten that I am already 26. Damn.

I'm sad, I failed my Commercial General Insurance paper. Its so tough I feel like crying.
My $90 goes down the drain. Gotta make sure I pass the next round~! Arrrgh...

ARRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH........
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...........................

I have a bad habit

That is..... i refuse to sleep until I feel like I'm totally drained. Some people love to sleep, and afternoon nap is a favourite past time. For me, that can hardly be a hobby. Sleeping to me is like wasting my youth away, and its something that you can do forever after you die. Weird logic huh? I am the only odd kid in my family. Everyone in my family wakes up late and nap alot, so much so that sometimes I feel my dog has succumbed to the sleeping bug in the household and is sleepy for most of the day, except when she smells food! I'll use my sister as an example to illustrate...

She holds a normal day job and works 9-6. As she is quite an introvert, she does not go out as much as I do. She comes home at abt 6plus, feed the dog, eat her dinner and then proceed to SLEEP from 7plus onwards. She would then wake up at about 10plus, watch some tv, surf the net and SLEEP again before midnight. Gosh..... she can really sleep. On the other hand, I have never tried that before, perhaps only when I'm sick. What's happening to me? Why am I the only one in the family that hate to sleep?

I sleep at about 2 am everyday, and only manage to get 4-5 hours of sleep. And I have been doing that for years. I am lucky that with such awful sleeping habits, I don't develop serious eyebags or get lines. But I am afraid all these problems might set in soon.... as age is catching up. I guess I have been drained enough.... and I ought to start sleeping early. Its hard to adjust the time but I just have to try.

Call me translator Lam

I think I am mad, I just signed up elementary Korean language classes with PA. Think of it as a small fee for a sneak preview to my multi-lingual ability.

Who knows.... if i'm good enough, I might consider attending Korean classes with a proper institution. And perhaps, I could be working as a translator / emcee / trainer in the future. Or I'll go to Korea and be a licensed tour guide, get my ass out of Singapore.

So many dreams.

Dare 2 Dream

When I saw the header of this.... I was excited. But the excitement died when I read the terms and conditions... I'm no longer classified as a YOUTH.... argh~!

Anyway, to all the seriously youthful youths out there, you may want to take part in this. Or spread the word.

http://www.youthwritersawards.com/index.html

Busy like a bee

Here comes the busy bee!

Project deadlines are getting shorter for the modules. Tests are frequent. Training for freelance trainer job coming up. Taking short courses for my new job transfer. I have 3 'mini exams' to clear within a span of 3 weeks. And I still want to find time to do sports.

Fighting~!

Sms

There is this thing about me, that I hate to reply sms and that I prefer phone calls anytime. Especially when it does not take just 1 sms exchange to finish what I'm suppose to say. This thing about me comes about because often I realised sms do not convey what I really meant. The words that I keyed into the phone could be misinterpreted by the other party. And that's frustrating. Plus the fact that I put myself into a difficult situation by getting a touch-screen phone, it doesn't help.

I'm not saying that sms is pointless. It is good when you need to make an announcement to the whole world. Technology is meant to facilitate and make things convenient. It does not replace the more humanistic side of communication.
I am losing the touch.... I ought to make use of my phone and call my friends more often. What's the use of it when I subscribe to such high volume phone plan and not making the best of it right?

BFF

BFF = best friends forever

The term does sound a bit childish, but yet how many of us could really have BFF?
There would be times when friends start to drift apart due to the different lifestyles, work and family. But what keeps the friends together is the friendship that is build over the years.

Even though we don't spend as much time together as we like to, I appreciate the fact that friends like these still keep in touch, and we're able to witness how each of us changed and grown over the years. I look forward to the day when I see their kids grown bigger and start calling me 'Auntie'.

Where can i find the best congee in Singapore?

Years back, Chinatown's 长城粥 was the best. But now, the standard has dropped so much that it crashed. The Chinese nationals who are cooking them now really did not do it up to the previous owner's standard.

Can someone tell me? Where else could I eat nice congee in Singapore?

Congee maybe a really simple dish... but its a comfort food for me. Its the kind of food that I like to eat when I'm not feeling well, when I feel upset, and when I feel lonely.

I miss my grandpa's congee...

Insa-dong, Seoul

That's the street of Insa-dong in Seoul. I was there just before the winter season, so the colour of the leaves on the trees were beautiful. They were either yellow or red, just like the romantic scenery we always see in Korean dramas.

Insa-dong is the place to experience the traditional culture of Korea. The streets are filled with art galleries, traditional craft stores, antique art dealers and traditional tea houses and restaurants.

If only Singapore has its own 'art street'.

Dog lover

I used to be terrified of dogs, really terrified. Because the stray dogs like me so much that they always seem to be chasing after me. And they were almost my height. As I grow older (my height grows as well), the fear of dogs became lesser and somehow or rather, I became influenced by dog lovers around me.

Dogs are very lovely animals. And they really made great companions.

The dog in the picture is my dog, I named her 'Joy'. If you get to spend 1 whole day with Joy, I bet you'll fall in love with her. These days, I have been so busy that I stop bringing her to the Dog Run for her socialising time with other dogs.

Jean said she is neglected.

So is Joy.

I'm so sorry Joy, I'll try to find time soon.

Colleagues

Counting on, I have been working for about 7 years, and changed 5 jobs. I am very happy to say that at each different workplace, I always made some great friends whom I still stayed in touch with after I left the job. To me, colleagues played a big part in making the workplace enjoyable. And I am lucky to always meet great and fun people at work.

I called her Rohmama, because she's a friend and like a mother to me. She has the most hysterical laughter...and always cracked the most nonsensical lame jokes.

And she doesn't behave like her age. I wonder how would she feel when she sees this... lol.

An image a day, keeps my creativity flowing

I suddenly had this idea -- everyday i will post an entry (as best as i could) with an image, and it will followed by a caption. It could be on anything random, anything that I like.
Just 1 picture with caption.

I shall see how long I can continue doing this.

Let's start with numero uno, #1.

I like flowers, but yet I don't have the patience and knowledge to grow flowers, hence I placed this little pot of fake flowers at my desk.
I love it because of its bright colours. Sometimes work really gets dull and a look at this... it would brighten up your day.

That's my colleague, a woman who is easily amused by silly jokes. I love telling her silly jokes because her laughter would make me seem like I am darn humourous.

Learn from Ah Beng

Received this in my email and woah~... Ah Beng philosophy, nice!
























click on it for larger view.

Good Bye Friend

It came as a shock when I was informed of Jeff's demise. As I recalled the last time I met him, I remembered telling him that we ought to catch up with the rest. Doesn't it happen all the time? When you met a friend whom you haven't seen for a long while, the promise to catch up never came. I am saddened that I didn't initiate the catch-up.

I am reminded once again, how Depression can hurt. And how we always need to show care and concern for them.

Jeff, where ever you are, be happy. I will pray for you.

Movies time

I haven't been watching movies for sometime, so after exams are done, I went on a movie spree, like payback time.

Taken, Wolverine and Star Trek.
All 3 movies are fantastic. If you do not want to waste money to watch crappy shows, then watch these 3.

I'm not going to spoil the movies by telling you the details. But if your backside is itchy, go google moviespoiler.

My job transfer to the new department has been pretty smooth so far. The General Insurance business and Life Insurance business has vast differences, but I appreciate the opportunity to be able to explore and learn such a wide range of products. At least, I could really have the title of 'insurance specialist' since I have knowledge in the 2 extreme ends of the insurance business.

Job satisfaction? Its really in your hands on how you create it. The attitude matters.
And I am glad that my attitude is always positive and upbeat.

How not to doze off?

Back to classes today.

The only thing that could keep me awake is to speak up and reply the teacher all the questions that he asked. Luckily I have thick skin.

The movie Hairspray was shown sometime back... but this particular track never fails to 'pick me up'. Everytime I listen to it, I feel like dancing along with it.

Laugh out loud

FHM stands for "Fury Hairy Monkeys"

Rusty

Did my first general evaluation at Punggol TMC today. It proves to me no matter how prepared I was, the nerves would get to me and cause me to lost my train of thoughts and start babbling nonsense. Pretty much crashed and burnt. Even though I hear lots of encouraging feedback, I felt somewhat irritated by my standard.

I need more practise in doing evaluation.

So I am trying to figure out.... how the hell I can manage my twice a week night classes, once a week gakkai meeting and still find time to do my school projects, study, spend time with friends and my dog, and have some more time to go back to toastmasters for 're-education' and still be able to breathe...

I realised, doing club visits might be the way to go for me, since classes timing clashes with chapter meetings on Wednesdays. Am I placing too much burden on my shoulders?
Honestly, NO. If I don't push myself hard while I'm young and abled, then when should I do it?

到底何时能了事？

最讨厌拖泥带水。。。不请不楚。。。搞不懂状况。。。
难道我就是那么急性子吗？

I just need you to be a gentleman for one last time... then we can move on.
The damage is done, just let me have time to heal it properly. Otherwise, my new chapter would never be able to open.

The wedding celebrations

It was a hectic day, and coupled with the erratic weather, it makes the task of being the sister of my good friend's wedding an even more tiring one.

But, I did enjoy myself.

We spoke about the 'prophecy' that we made many years back, that S would be the first to get married amongst the 4 of us. The prophecy came true. And if we count the years we've known each other, this is the 13th year counting and the friendship still stand strong. When i witnessed the exchange of wedding vows, I was teary. It was tears of joy.

It wasn't the most perfect wedding celebrations, but it still held significance because its another milestone for S & M. At the end of the celebrations, it doesn't matter what hiccups and mistakes were made, because this would mark the beginning of MARRIAGE. Wedding is only a single-day event, but marriage is a life-time of commitments.

I sincerely wish the best for them, a lifetime of happiness.

A change

Tomorrow would mark the official 1st day of my transfer to a new department.
Colleagues have been asking about my feelings.
Well... I really count my blessings because I take it as a learning opportunity. And if I could prove myself in this new job transfer.... then it could be all for a good change.

忙碌

虽然很想早点上床睡觉，但是还有稿子没写好。向动笔，但是脑袋不灵活，提不起劲。写英文稿轻而易举，华语稿就得下功夫。
最近天天10点以后才到家，都没精神带Joy到楼下散布，有点忽略了它。但是一到家就可以抱一下它，跟它玩一会儿，就觉得一天下来再累，也会很开心。
明天的toastmaster meeting，我会担任language evaluator，希望会有突破。

Toastmastering enthusiasm

I'm happy to be attending toastmasters events and meetings this whole of April. But sadly, it has to come to an end soon. Come May, lessons would resume and I'll have to be the studious and nerdy student once again. Of course, studies take precedence and I would have to miss the chapter meetings. My term as the VPE is ending soon, its one hell of a ride, but one that is fruitful too.

While I take time off to put focus on my studies, I would come back stronger as a better speaker.

Why my life is so interesting?

I realise many of my friends are wondering why I am always so busy. And they all seem to think that my life is colourful.

What was my turning point?

Perhaps I need to thank my ex-boyfriend for that.

Years back, I broke up with my ex-bf. And it was the darkest moments of my life. I felt extremely lonely and empty. And I felt life is unfair to me. When I needed my friend's companionship, I realised it was difficult because I have drifted away from them. I spend too much time with my ex-bf that I drifted too far away from other things that mattered to me.

I met new guys and went dating. But none were sincere and were only interested in having flings. And that's when I realised, I should stop focusing on finding a partner. That phase of my life is like an awakening for me. That life is not just about finding that special someone.

So i started to ask myself, what matters to me?
My family, my friends, my career and a happy life.

I joined toastmasters for personal development, because I know the skills i learnt in a toastmasters environment would help me in the future.
I become more active with soka gakkai activities, because I know having a religion would make me a better person, and provide the spiritual help i need in times of difficulties.
I begin to treasure my friends more, because I know friends would be there for me when I need them.
I begin to make more new friends, because I know networking is essential in a dog-eat-dog's world.
I furthered my studies, because I know having paper qualifications would give me the platform to better opportunities in terms of my career.

And i realised, because of the actions I have taken, I am reaping the benefits slowly... but surely. And even though I have yet to find that special someone, I believe that someone will come across my life one day. And even if I would be single for the rest of my life, I should not complain. If I can't find someone right, I rather be single.

I want to stop becoming the typical girl who wants that perfect fairytale love story, because I know its impossible.

And I know having the right attitude towards life is equally important. Just like having the right attitude towards your work, it could only bring you benefits.

Need to equip myself

I need more general knowledge, i need to be better-equipped and more well-inform. I hope its not too late to start reading now.

Arrgh... read read read.

Putting yourself at the right place

I receive this in my email and thought it to be very meaningful, so good things must share.

Moral of the story :

Skills, knowledge, abilities and experience are only useful if you are at the right place!

Where are you now?

Smooth roads never makes good drivers
Smooth seas never makes good sailors
Clear skies never makes good pilots

Problem and hassle-free life never makes a strong person
Be strong enough to accept the challenges of life
Don't ask life, 'why me'?
Instead, say 'try me!'

If you have been going through some tough times, I hope this message has 'enlightened' you.

Are we the forgetable generation?

We know there are lots of classic music in the 70s,80s and perhaps 90s... music that are evergreen, that we can keep playing and not get sick of, music that everyone in the same generation would recognise immediately.
Songs like :
上海滩，吻别，Careless Whispers, Don't Want to Miss a Thing etc...

But how come I cannot think of such classic in the 00s?

What kind of reputation have we build for ourselves? Someone told me, we are the instant-noodle generation. I can't help but to agree.
Surely there would be some talented musician with classics-in-the-making?

Are we too caught-up with improving our quality of life that we forget how to have leisure time?

YEAH~!!!!!

In a damn good mood now, simply because I'm finally DONE with the exams. Results? Can't be bothered with it for now, because it will only be release in June.

Meanwhile, I have got lots of other things to finish before my classes resume in May. Life is busy, but I'm living it to the fullest everyday. At least, if I die tomorrow, there won't be any regrets.

P/s : If you intend to watch the movie "Knowing" by Nicholas Cage, forget it, such an anti-climax show.

Save me from myself - Christina Aguilera

It's not so easy loving me
It gets so complicated
All the things you gotta be
Everything's changing
But you're the truth
I'm amazed by all your patience
Everything I put you through

when I'm about to fall
Somehow you're always waiting with
Your open arms to catch me
You're gonna save me from myself
From myself, yes
You're gonna save me from myself

My love is tainted by your touch
Well some guys have shown me aces
But you've got that royal flush
I know it's crazy everyday
Well tomorrow may be shaky
But you never turn away

Don't ask me why I'm crying
'Cause when I start to crumble
You know how to keep me smiling
You always save me from myself
From myself, myself
You're gonna save me from myself

I know it's hard, it's hard
But you've broken all my walls
You've been my strength, so strong
And don't ask me why I love you

It's obvious your tenderness
Is what I need to make me
A better woman to myself
To myself, myself
You're gonna save me from myself