I’ve been in Shanghai for a month now. I’m really enjoying myself. Shanghai is kinda boring like Singapore and there probably isn’t much to do on the weekend (5 weekends so far, only two in Shanghai. One in Suzhou and Nanjing, one in Huang Shan and one in Singapore). It’s kinda like Singapore. Modern city with not that much. But I’m working here! I’m not a student. So I don’t mind. I have taken a few weekends to travel and that option is still open. There is still a bit more to Shanghai to explore too.
Working life is so different from studying. It’s so routine. Wake up early (my body clock is tuned to wake at around 8am each morning now), go to work, have lunch, go back to work battling the post-lunch sleep demons, finish work, go to the gym (in my case), dinner, home. Every day. I really quit enjoy it. But admittedly, it is routine. And I have come to realize why young adults start to want to settle down. You will have to cut down on your social life to accommodate the work schedule. You only have time to yourself at home and so you would want someone to spend time with you at home.
I find the office environment really nice. My boss Xiaolu is a former university professor (a PhD holder) and she is super cool. She uses facebook and twitter and all. Watches youtube. We spend a lot of time in the office laughing and joking. Beside me is our PR lady Li. She is so funny. Cracks jokes like all the time. The three of us are always sharing food. It’s a rather fattening environment, the office. Among all the interns, I think I’m the one enjoying myself the most thanks to the two ladies sitting near me.
I must say that my life right now is good. But all the time, I cannot help but look back and wonder how my life would be if I had proceeded with my overseas education rather make a sudden u-turn. Bleah. As much as I enjoyed Tsinghua, as much as I’m enjoying Dulwich, as much as I will enjoy working in HP, I ultimately need to return to NUS. I ultimately will receive a degree from NUS. Every time I think about that, I immediately try to divert my attention to something else. But it comes back and it haunts me and it haunts me and it haunts me over and over and over again. I'm worried I'll just be overwhelmed and sink again. In fact, I'm afraid I might be overwhelmed as soon as I get back to Singapore in September. Maybe I really was meant to spend my early 20s outside of Singapore. But I'll never know.
I guess the Big Guy up there has a plan for my life. Although I don’t have a church here, I’ve grown so much closer to Him in the past few months. I really love God more and more with each passing day. I finally understand what this means.
Well, my mind is quite made up. I’m going to try for another overseas internship next summer. I’ll stay in Singapore for the Asia Conference and then leave after that. I’ve lived in the US, I’ve lived in China. Next, I wanna fulfill my European dream, to live in London (or any other major European city). But if I can’t get a job there, my next course of action would be to set my sights on the Middle East, specifically in the UAE. Lots of exciting developments in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi. The Middle East is awash with money and will undoubtedly play a part in shaping the world economy in the near future.
Exciting exciting things coming up for the rest of 2009:
29th Aug – Sebastian Chu arrives in Shanghai!
31st Aug – last day of work with Dulwich (which means I only have slightly over a month more to impress)
3rd Sept – Go to Qingdao with Sebastian. Beer, beach, babes, mountain-climbing and seafood (Seb owes me a seafood treat). Life is good.
6th Sept – Cleo Choo arrives in Shanghai!
Around 9th Sept – back to Beijing!
Around 11th Sept – back to Singapore!!!
14th Sept – start work with HP!! Woohoo!!
Sept to Oct – hang out with Xiu in Singapore!!
27th Oct – Parents silver wedding anniversary
25th Dec – Christmas!!!
December – Trip to South Korea (fingers crossed, hopefully)
Also, hopefully my father’s business takes off some time between now and the end of the year. I’m super excited about a new development! If it succeeds, let’s just say wow whee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahaha. Pray hard!! =)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
i love my boss
seems like i'm being compensated for the bad boss (let's leave it as bad. don't want to use expletives) i worked under in the army. since then my superiors have all been wonderful. i love my current boss xiaolu. she gave me a document to translate for her. it was acknowledgments for the training programme we conducted last week. tucked in at the second-last paragraph was:
Last but not least, 我们要感谢我们的实习生Aaron Chew的努力工作。Aaron独立负责了培训项目的所有后勤和财务管理工作，包括组织、安排欢迎、欢送晚宴，为教师们提供茶点和午餐，编写项目所需书面材料（通讯录、日程安排、证书印制、为外地教师准备的上海介绍等），以及课程的拍照、摄像，和教师反馈表的整理和翻译。如果没有Aaron细致到位的工作，我们的师资培训项目不可能进行得如此顺利。
it's so rare to have a boss who pays so much attention to what you do in such detail. and to be honest, she put in a lot more effort into the training than i did. she is so cool! she was the one who gave me the key to unlocking facebook. we spent like an hour yesterday afternoon laughing and being merry about our new found cyber freedom. i have a very good work environment right now. for that, i am so thankful!
Last but not least, 我们要感谢我们的实习生Aaron Chew的努力工作。Aaron独立负责了培训项目的所有后勤和财务管理工作，包括组织、安排欢迎、欢送晚宴，为教师们提供茶点和午餐，编写项目所需书面材料（通讯录、日程安排、证书印制、为外地教师准备的上海介绍等），以及课程的拍照、摄像，和教师反馈表的整理和翻译。如果没有Aaron细致到位的工作，我们的师资培训项目不可能进行得如此顺利。
it's so rare to have a boss who pays so much attention to what you do in such detail. and to be honest, she put in a lot more effort into the training than i did. she is so cool! she was the one who gave me the key to unlocking facebook. we spent like an hour yesterday afternoon laughing and being merry about our new found cyber freedom. i have a very good work environment right now. for that, i am so thankful!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
an absolute blast!
This post is so well-punctuated because I’m typing this in word (at 1pm on Sat). I’ve been involved in organizing a training course this week and it’s in our company’s Shanghai school. This school is draconian. Their internet connection bans MSN, entertainment sites, advertisement sites, networking sites, proxy servers etc etc. I can only get my email and newspapers here. Phone reception is restricted to the staff room and the gardens and fields. Thank God I’m in the staff room!
Well, it’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in Shanghai (thank God the temperature today is manageable. It went up to 39 deg this week!) and I’m working! The course started since Monday and it’s been a tiring but interesting week for me. My supervisor is pretty happy with my performance so that’s excellent. She teaches some classes and attends all the rest. So the tea break, lunches, logistics are all up to me. After the many many events I’ve done in Singapore, this was less than chicken feet for me. Even ordering food in a foreign land has been all right! Since I’m not one to be afraid to get my hands dirty, I went to Carrefour myself for stuff, brought the lunch I ordered to the canteen daily and arranged it nicely, cleared up each day. I did photocopying, powerpoint, budgeting, photoshop. Basically, anything and everything. I even had to write a guide to Shanghai for participants from foreign lands (Beijing and Suzhou). Naturally, I was baffled cos I had been in Shanghai for like two weeks at that time? But I pulled it off. Haha. An intern’s life. I like it though. My supervisor is wonderful. She’s so nice, treats me well, respects me.
Well, last weekend was an absolute blast. I landed in Singapore and went home. Woke up early and met Darian (slightly late because I settled some personal admin). We went to the spa, which was absolute indulgence. Although next time I think I’m going to opt for the other branch cos the service is better. Then we had lunch at Asia Grand. Their peking duck is amazing! It’s so much better that Quan Ju De in Beijing, which is oily and salty and really not that nice. We had soup, and fish and dim sum and noodle, and other snacks. We ate till we nearly dropped. It was absolutely delish!!! Topped the meal off with a durian and mango pudding respectively. Darian paid for both our sinful pleasures. That’s one of the many reasons why he’s my best friend. We’ve got to the stage whereby money is no longer a big issue with us. We buy each other nice stuff (actually this year it’s been me buying him), we buy each other nice meals (actually this year it’s been him buying me).
And following a full lunch, we opted for the sedentary sport of KTV. Hahaha! It was so fun. Because it was only the two of us, we could sing off key (okay I admit I went off quite a fair bit), we could sing crazy songs, we could even dance in the room (not really me in this instance) and it was perfectly fine. :D
Something worth mentioning, as we left the KTV, we bumped into my cousin Cheng and her family. She looked at me and said, “You’re half size now!” Chinese New Year when I last met her was half a year ago. How far I’ve come in that time. What a delight to meet her! Haha. Guess what we did after that? A simulator ride. Darian forced me to go and it was utterly boring. =/
Next, it was time for highlight number two of my weekend! DERRICK AND RUXIN’S WEDDING!! I have attended my fair share of weddings. At every wedding, I will observe and then think to myself, “My wedding will be like that” or “My wedding won’t be like that”. At the end of the night, if the “will be”s far outnumber the “won’t be”s, then I think it’s a very successful wedding. So far, only two weddings have fallen into that category. One is my cousin Elim and her husband William’s. And the second is now Derrick and Ruxin’s!
Their wedding was so beautiful. They look so good together. I told Ruxin, “You are one couple that I can say without reservation, that the two of you look really really good together.” Their wedding was immaculately planned. From their entrances, to their videos, to their speech to well, everything. It was sweet, romantic, classy (okay the emcee was less than classy, that was my one “won’t be” for their wedding), basically, I would love to have my own wedding something like that.
A common thread between William & Elim and Derrick & Ruxin’s wedding? The couple really put in effort. You can see it from the invitations they send (Elim designed her own and William printed and cut them himself), the emails and texts (Derrick emailed about road closure, and texted to remind about the wedding), the music they choose, the videos they create, the speeches they make. Which means, it’s possible for everyone to have a sweet, romantic, classy beautiful wedding – if only you really put in effort.
Congratulations Derrick and Ruxin. Thanks for having me at the wedding. It was beautiful!!
At the wedding, had some time to catch up with people. Yujie (fresh out of reservice with a new hair cut but other than that, same old same old) and Lina, Cleo (pretty in a minimalistic way and same old same old) and Stephen, Shaz (new hair cut but other than that, same old same old), Tina (same old same old), Main (longer hair but other than that, same old same old), my da jie Linying, Claire, etc etc. It was so great! Every one is the same old same old. Made me feel so comfortable. I missed everyone so much. I had only been out of Singapore for a month and a half. I really can’t imagine how I survived that four months out of Singapore earlier this year. Looks like I’m stronger than I give myself credit for. Hahaha!
Most of all, I had time to meet the Tan family! Pastor CK, Evelyn, Jewel (who is walking around now…so fast!) and my buddy Javier! Javier was his usually cute, mischievous, playful self. It was so fun playing with him. He kept bugging me to bring him outside to play with the toys I bought him (serves me right! But I enjoyed it very much.) Anyway, when he got too playful, I would just threaten to ask Georgie to bite his nose, he would behave. Haha!! Sorry Jiaying!!
Sat beside Yujie so when I wasn’t outside with Javier, we had some pockets of time to catch up. When I was outside with Javier, he saved me food on my plate. Thanks man! We need to properly catch up soon! It’s been so long!!
Well, everyone said I lost weight (in one and a half months this time, not half a year like my cousin). So proud that my regime is paying off. It’s pain man, exercise. I hate it. But I must admit, I do like the effects.
After the wedding, I fulfilled my “Mr. Nice Guy” duties and drove some stranded people home. They were crazy I tell you. Yak yak yak, play music, shout shout shout. It’s was so fun! Who are they? Obviously tina, shaz and xuan hong.
I’ve said it before, I will say it again. No trip back to Singapore is ever complete without supper with my best friend Sebastian! Tina knew this only too well. I told her, I was gonna have supper. She didn’t even bat an eyelid when she said, “With who? Sebas ah?” Haha. So we met for supper. Except that the both of us were quite full so we didn’t really eat. Haha. But well, Saturday night, out late hanging out, it’s just like the old times.
Sunday started with church. Every time I step into church, knowing it will be my last service for a while, it tears me apart. I really miss church. I was so glad it was Pastor Kong who preached! He was on fire! I really wish I could return for CHC 20th anniversary next weekend but I really think it will be too much to ask my father for another 20,000 miles. I think it was quite extravagant of him to give me a ticket just to return to Singapore for the weekend.
Met the Chinese cell group after church to catch up. A time of fun and laughter. So ironic. They’re Chinese in Singapore and I’m Singaporean in China. Met my beloved E459 very briefly before scooting off to go shopping with Seb. We ended up not buying anything but it was fun just going out and looking at stuff.
Went home for dinner with my family. And then went to the airport. Darian was there to meet me! I thought my flight was from T2 but it turns out it was from T3. So Darian drove us both over. I checked in and took the last row so that the chances of me having the whole row was high.
We then headed to the T3 food court. Darian wanted shark’s fin so the T3 food court was a mistake. But nonetheless, I got to savour bak chor mee, carrot cake, rose syrup. It was nice. By the time we left the food court, crystal jade was closed. So no shark’s fin for Darian! Hahahaha. We just hung out, took a few photos here and there. That might have been out last meeting for 2009. Hopefully it isn’t. But it could well be. Ahwells.
Had a blast of a weekend! I have the most amazing friends. Thanks Darian! Thanks Seb!! Thanks Derrick and Ruxin!!!
Well, it’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in Shanghai (thank God the temperature today is manageable. It went up to 39 deg this week!) and I’m working! The course started since Monday and it’s been a tiring but interesting week for me. My supervisor is pretty happy with my performance so that’s excellent. She teaches some classes and attends all the rest. So the tea break, lunches, logistics are all up to me. After the many many events I’ve done in Singapore, this was less than chicken feet for me. Even ordering food in a foreign land has been all right! Since I’m not one to be afraid to get my hands dirty, I went to Carrefour myself for stuff, brought the lunch I ordered to the canteen daily and arranged it nicely, cleared up each day. I did photocopying, powerpoint, budgeting, photoshop. Basically, anything and everything. I even had to write a guide to Shanghai for participants from foreign lands (Beijing and Suzhou). Naturally, I was baffled cos I had been in Shanghai for like two weeks at that time? But I pulled it off. Haha. An intern’s life. I like it though. My supervisor is wonderful. She’s so nice, treats me well, respects me.
Well, last weekend was an absolute blast. I landed in Singapore and went home. Woke up early and met Darian (slightly late because I settled some personal admin). We went to the spa, which was absolute indulgence. Although next time I think I’m going to opt for the other branch cos the service is better. Then we had lunch at Asia Grand. Their peking duck is amazing! It’s so much better that Quan Ju De in Beijing, which is oily and salty and really not that nice. We had soup, and fish and dim sum and noodle, and other snacks. We ate till we nearly dropped. It was absolutely delish!!! Topped the meal off with a durian and mango pudding respectively. Darian paid for both our sinful pleasures. That’s one of the many reasons why he’s my best friend. We’ve got to the stage whereby money is no longer a big issue with us. We buy each other nice stuff (actually this year it’s been me buying him), we buy each other nice meals (actually this year it’s been him buying me).
And following a full lunch, we opted for the sedentary sport of KTV. Hahaha! It was so fun. Because it was only the two of us, we could sing off key (okay I admit I went off quite a fair bit), we could sing crazy songs, we could even dance in the room (not really me in this instance) and it was perfectly fine. :D
Something worth mentioning, as we left the KTV, we bumped into my cousin Cheng and her family. She looked at me and said, “You’re half size now!” Chinese New Year when I last met her was half a year ago. How far I’ve come in that time. What a delight to meet her! Haha. Guess what we did after that? A simulator ride. Darian forced me to go and it was utterly boring. =/
Next, it was time for highlight number two of my weekend! DERRICK AND RUXIN’S WEDDING!! I have attended my fair share of weddings. At every wedding, I will observe and then think to myself, “My wedding will be like that” or “My wedding won’t be like that”. At the end of the night, if the “will be”s far outnumber the “won’t be”s, then I think it’s a very successful wedding. So far, only two weddings have fallen into that category. One is my cousin Elim and her husband William’s. And the second is now Derrick and Ruxin’s!
Their wedding was so beautiful. They look so good together. I told Ruxin, “You are one couple that I can say without reservation, that the two of you look really really good together.” Their wedding was immaculately planned. From their entrances, to their videos, to their speech to well, everything. It was sweet, romantic, classy (okay the emcee was less than classy, that was my one “won’t be” for their wedding), basically, I would love to have my own wedding something like that.
A common thread between William & Elim and Derrick & Ruxin’s wedding? The couple really put in effort. You can see it from the invitations they send (Elim designed her own and William printed and cut them himself), the emails and texts (Derrick emailed about road closure, and texted to remind about the wedding), the music they choose, the videos they create, the speeches they make. Which means, it’s possible for everyone to have a sweet, romantic, classy beautiful wedding – if only you really put in effort.
Congratulations Derrick and Ruxin. Thanks for having me at the wedding. It was beautiful!!
At the wedding, had some time to catch up with people. Yujie (fresh out of reservice with a new hair cut but other than that, same old same old) and Lina, Cleo (pretty in a minimalistic way and same old same old) and Stephen, Shaz (new hair cut but other than that, same old same old), Tina (same old same old), Main (longer hair but other than that, same old same old), my da jie Linying, Claire, etc etc. It was so great! Every one is the same old same old. Made me feel so comfortable. I missed everyone so much. I had only been out of Singapore for a month and a half. I really can’t imagine how I survived that four months out of Singapore earlier this year. Looks like I’m stronger than I give myself credit for. Hahaha!
Most of all, I had time to meet the Tan family! Pastor CK, Evelyn, Jewel (who is walking around now…so fast!) and my buddy Javier! Javier was his usually cute, mischievous, playful self. It was so fun playing with him. He kept bugging me to bring him outside to play with the toys I bought him (serves me right! But I enjoyed it very much.) Anyway, when he got too playful, I would just threaten to ask Georgie to bite his nose, he would behave. Haha!! Sorry Jiaying!!
Sat beside Yujie so when I wasn’t outside with Javier, we had some pockets of time to catch up. When I was outside with Javier, he saved me food on my plate. Thanks man! We need to properly catch up soon! It’s been so long!!
Well, everyone said I lost weight (in one and a half months this time, not half a year like my cousin). So proud that my regime is paying off. It’s pain man, exercise. I hate it. But I must admit, I do like the effects.
After the wedding, I fulfilled my “Mr. Nice Guy” duties and drove some stranded people home. They were crazy I tell you. Yak yak yak, play music, shout shout shout. It’s was so fun! Who are they? Obviously tina, shaz and xuan hong.
I’ve said it before, I will say it again. No trip back to Singapore is ever complete without supper with my best friend Sebastian! Tina knew this only too well. I told her, I was gonna have supper. She didn’t even bat an eyelid when she said, “With who? Sebas ah?” Haha. So we met for supper. Except that the both of us were quite full so we didn’t really eat. Haha. But well, Saturday night, out late hanging out, it’s just like the old times.
Sunday started with church. Every time I step into church, knowing it will be my last service for a while, it tears me apart. I really miss church. I was so glad it was Pastor Kong who preached! He was on fire! I really wish I could return for CHC 20th anniversary next weekend but I really think it will be too much to ask my father for another 20,000 miles. I think it was quite extravagant of him to give me a ticket just to return to Singapore for the weekend.
Met the Chinese cell group after church to catch up. A time of fun and laughter. So ironic. They’re Chinese in Singapore and I’m Singaporean in China. Met my beloved E459 very briefly before scooting off to go shopping with Seb. We ended up not buying anything but it was fun just going out and looking at stuff.
Went home for dinner with my family. And then went to the airport. Darian was there to meet me! I thought my flight was from T2 but it turns out it was from T3. So Darian drove us both over. I checked in and took the last row so that the chances of me having the whole row was high.
We then headed to the T3 food court. Darian wanted shark’s fin so the T3 food court was a mistake. But nonetheless, I got to savour bak chor mee, carrot cake, rose syrup. It was nice. By the time we left the food court, crystal jade was closed. So no shark’s fin for Darian! Hahahaha. We just hung out, took a few photos here and there. That might have been out last meeting for 2009. Hopefully it isn’t. But it could well be. Ahwells.
Had a blast of a weekend! I have the most amazing friends. Thanks Darian! Thanks Seb!! Thanks Derrick and Ruxin!!!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
a weekend of decadence :)
Typed onboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ835, Shanghai to Singapore, 17 July 2009.
I love Singapore Airlines. There is no other. Service is tip tip tip top. Food is delicious. I feel safe flying Singapore Airlines. Except for the Singaporeans. Haha. I generally like Singaporeans who are older. But the just-out-of-teenage bunch around me who are blaring Singlish loudly are annoying the crap out of me. They represent the Singapore I don’t like. The plebian side of Singapore.
But other than that, I’m really looking forward to returning to Singapore. It was Darian’s winning argument. A weekend of decadence tempted me beyond resistance. Coupled with Derrick and Ruxin’s wedding, I really couldn’t say no to going back. Landing in Singapore at 1235am on Saturday and leaving at 1am on Monday. 48 hours in Singapore. This is indeed the jetsetting, globetrotting life that I always imagined. More on that later.
I’m really excited about the weekend. It starts early with Darian. To the spa, then to a big lunch, then to KTV for a shameless session of singing. Spa is my ultimate indulgence. Lunch at Asia Grand is never ever a letdown. Singing is going to be so wonderful because it’s just the both of us so we can sing crazy songs that we won’t ordinarily do with others around for the fear of embarrassment. Sitting on the plane, I can barely contain my excitement! For persuading me to take this trip back, THANK YOU DARIAN! But I’m still terribly offended that you did not keep up to your promise of coming to Shanghai. Deeply offended!
Following the decadent day comes the fairy tale night. Derrick and Ruxin are probably one of the sweetest, funniest and best-looking couples I know. I really haven’t known them properly for very long. But for the short time I’ve known them, they’ve always been so nice to me. Ruxin inspired me to go to bible school (for those of you who want to know the story, ask me, she can’t even remember). Derrick actually showed me what a true gentlemen was (yes guys, it’s true, believe it!). They constitute the rare instance whereby I would let Singlish into my life. Hahahahaha!!! Oops. Sorry guys. Congratulations on your wedding day. I know the both of you will be very happy together.
Following the wedding, no trip back to Singapore would be complete without supper with Sebastian! Sebastian promised to treat me to giant prawns at Newton and I intend to hold him to that. I definitely want to have a go at the sambal stingray, sambal kai lan etc. Chilli? Bring it on! Four months in Beijing and I’m practically addicted to chilli and immune to its spice.
Guess what I have planned for Sunday. Is there even a need to? I’m going to church! I miss church so bad. I can’t wait to go for service. Can’t wait to hear Pastor Kong preach. Can’t wait to meet the people in church. I’m excited just thinking about it!
Following church, I have time for a quick family dinner before I get back to Changi and head back to Shanghai. Work as usual on Monday, It’ll be a busy week as my supervisor and I are organizing a training course.
It’ll be great!
-updated-
the flight encountered the worst turbulence i have ever experienced while i was typing this entry. it was horrifying. i closed my laptop, hugged it, and said a prayer. amazingly, i fell asleep, only to wake up with the plane hitting the ground. :)
I love Singapore Airlines. There is no other. Service is tip tip tip top. Food is delicious. I feel safe flying Singapore Airlines. Except for the Singaporeans. Haha. I generally like Singaporeans who are older. But the just-out-of-teenage bunch around me who are blaring Singlish loudly are annoying the crap out of me. They represent the Singapore I don’t like. The plebian side of Singapore.
But other than that, I’m really looking forward to returning to Singapore. It was Darian’s winning argument. A weekend of decadence tempted me beyond resistance. Coupled with Derrick and Ruxin’s wedding, I really couldn’t say no to going back. Landing in Singapore at 1235am on Saturday and leaving at 1am on Monday. 48 hours in Singapore. This is indeed the jetsetting, globetrotting life that I always imagined. More on that later.
I’m really excited about the weekend. It starts early with Darian. To the spa, then to a big lunch, then to KTV for a shameless session of singing. Spa is my ultimate indulgence. Lunch at Asia Grand is never ever a letdown. Singing is going to be so wonderful because it’s just the both of us so we can sing crazy songs that we won’t ordinarily do with others around for the fear of embarrassment. Sitting on the plane, I can barely contain my excitement! For persuading me to take this trip back, THANK YOU DARIAN! But I’m still terribly offended that you did not keep up to your promise of coming to Shanghai. Deeply offended!
Following the decadent day comes the fairy tale night. Derrick and Ruxin are probably one of the sweetest, funniest and best-looking couples I know. I really haven’t known them properly for very long. But for the short time I’ve known them, they’ve always been so nice to me. Ruxin inspired me to go to bible school (for those of you who want to know the story, ask me, she can’t even remember). Derrick actually showed me what a true gentlemen was (yes guys, it’s true, believe it!). They constitute the rare instance whereby I would let Singlish into my life. Hahahahaha!!! Oops. Sorry guys. Congratulations on your wedding day. I know the both of you will be very happy together.
Following the wedding, no trip back to Singapore would be complete without supper with Sebastian! Sebastian promised to treat me to giant prawns at Newton and I intend to hold him to that. I definitely want to have a go at the sambal stingray, sambal kai lan etc. Chilli? Bring it on! Four months in Beijing and I’m practically addicted to chilli and immune to its spice.
Guess what I have planned for Sunday. Is there even a need to? I’m going to church! I miss church so bad. I can’t wait to go for service. Can’t wait to hear Pastor Kong preach. Can’t wait to meet the people in church. I’m excited just thinking about it!
Following church, I have time for a quick family dinner before I get back to Changi and head back to Shanghai. Work as usual on Monday, It’ll be a busy week as my supervisor and I are organizing a training course.
It’ll be great!
-updated-
the flight encountered the worst turbulence i have ever experienced while i was typing this entry. it was horrifying. i closed my laptop, hugged it, and said a prayer. amazingly, i fell asleep, only to wake up with the plane hitting the ground. :)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
settling into shanghai
i've relocated, i've settled in, i like shanghai! it's nice and modern. there are clean toilets. people dress fashionably and look nice (relative to beijing). office is in the heart of town. raising my eye from my seat, i see the shanghai skyline. home is in pudong, which is the newer more modern part of shanghai. it's a nice condo-like place (no gym or pool otherwise it would be singapore-styled condo). there's a park right opposite which is beautiful. the subway in shanghai is not like beijing's. it's like singapore's. it's fast, the walks are not long. it's really nice. the only thing is i stay far from the subway. i need to take a cab to and from the subway station every day. but ohwells. work in town, have a nice place. commute is less than an hour. don't complain aaron!
three grouses:
1. being so modern, shanghai doesn't have the same street buzz as beijing. u hardly get street vendors selling food and knick-knacks.
2. shanghai is EXPENSIVE! relative to beijing. but well, compared to singapore and hong kong, still cheaper.
3. my horror flat mate!!
let me talk about the horror flatmate. he's an intern at the school (i work at the management office that is setting up the schools) who's helping with sports. fresh out of high school. first day i arrived (thu), the staff said he lost his key and hence, borrowed the spare key (which was mine) a few days ago. he did not return itand he was uncontactable. hence, the school called a locksmith to break in. i settled in but was not allowed to leave the house cos if i did, i wouldn't be able to lock the house. i had to wait up for him. he did not come back all night. the next morning, i had to ask the school staff to come to the house so that i could leave for work. eventually, they changed the whole lock. but that's fine.
he was supposed to help me set up internet but he didn't come home on friday. saturday afternoon - i finally saw him. he brought friends home. they started playing ps2 and making a lot of noise. and made the whole place freaking messy. but that's fine. i went out for a run, i came back and guess what? they finished my full roll of toilet paper in the toilet. the bathroom had blood and so i guess someone was injured. and then i realised someone used my towel to clean blood! aiyooooo. anw, they all left in the afternoon, leaving the tv and aircon and lights on. i turned them all off before i went out.
saturday night was my first party. so i reached home around 3am. i was settling in when i heard someone banging on my flatmate's door screaming his name. i went out and saw one of his friends in the house and another climbing in through the window!!! it was totally OMG!! so anw, one of them left and the other was sleeping on the sofa. i went to check on the front door (climb in through window but leave through front door) and it was unlocked. wth...the other dude is sleeping on the sofa. couldn't he have locked it??
i bought a 4L bottle of water cos i didn't have the dispenser working yet. sunday morning, the dude's friend took MY water and started drinking FROM THE BOTTLE!! A 4-LITRE BOTTLE!!! is he mad or is he mad?!!! by sunday, i was used to having a new surprise everytime i reach home. sunday night guess what? i came back home, my towel in the bathroom had become a rug. fine. it was blood-stained anyway so whatever. but then i saw my facial cleanser. like more than a-third of the bottle (which was full) was gone. obviously someone used the cleanser either as body soap, or shampoo or as a beverage. whatever it is, cleanser is freaking expensive! but fine. i still had two-thirds left. but the cap was gone! seriously, i even looked into the drain. GONE!!
i really can't wait for him to move out. zzzzz. enough about him.
i've joined a gym here. it's in raffles city. i've been to raffles city singapore, raffles city beijing and raffles city shanghai (all capitamalls). i think shanghai's is the biggest. it has prima taste, breadtalk, donut factory, beardpapa. it's just like home. :D the gym is nice (but super crowded during peak hours! like half the population of shanghai converges there. cos aaron kwok is the spokesperson right now). i also joined the pool membership! so i can swim daily! whee!! i love it. i aim to run 5km and swim 250m daily. the former to lose weight, the latter cos i like swimming. heh.
well, moving to shanghai is a lonely journey. i really didn't know a single person here before moving here. but i'm settling in well. i'm liking it. i'm sure i'll enjoy it.
back to singapore in two months!
three grouses:
1. being so modern, shanghai doesn't have the same street buzz as beijing. u hardly get street vendors selling food and knick-knacks.
2. shanghai is EXPENSIVE! relative to beijing. but well, compared to singapore and hong kong, still cheaper.
3. my horror flat mate!!
let me talk about the horror flatmate. he's an intern at the school (i work at the management office that is setting up the schools) who's helping with sports. fresh out of high school. first day i arrived (thu), the staff said he lost his key and hence, borrowed the spare key (which was mine) a few days ago. he did not return itand he was uncontactable. hence, the school called a locksmith to break in. i settled in but was not allowed to leave the house cos if i did, i wouldn't be able to lock the house. i had to wait up for him. he did not come back all night. the next morning, i had to ask the school staff to come to the house so that i could leave for work. eventually, they changed the whole lock. but that's fine.
he was supposed to help me set up internet but he didn't come home on friday. saturday afternoon - i finally saw him. he brought friends home. they started playing ps2 and making a lot of noise. and made the whole place freaking messy. but that's fine. i went out for a run, i came back and guess what? they finished my full roll of toilet paper in the toilet. the bathroom had blood and so i guess someone was injured. and then i realised someone used my towel to clean blood! aiyooooo. anw, they all left in the afternoon, leaving the tv and aircon and lights on. i turned them all off before i went out.
saturday night was my first party. so i reached home around 3am. i was settling in when i heard someone banging on my flatmate's door screaming his name. i went out and saw one of his friends in the house and another climbing in through the window!!! it was totally OMG!! so anw, one of them left and the other was sleeping on the sofa. i went to check on the front door (climb in through window but leave through front door) and it was unlocked. wth...the other dude is sleeping on the sofa. couldn't he have locked it??
i bought a 4L bottle of water cos i didn't have the dispenser working yet. sunday morning, the dude's friend took MY water and started drinking FROM THE BOTTLE!! A 4-LITRE BOTTLE!!! is he mad or is he mad?!!! by sunday, i was used to having a new surprise everytime i reach home. sunday night guess what? i came back home, my towel in the bathroom had become a rug. fine. it was blood-stained anyway so whatever. but then i saw my facial cleanser. like more than a-third of the bottle (which was full) was gone. obviously someone used the cleanser either as body soap, or shampoo or as a beverage. whatever it is, cleanser is freaking expensive! but fine. i still had two-thirds left. but the cap was gone! seriously, i even looked into the drain. GONE!!
i really can't wait for him to move out. zzzzz. enough about him.
i've joined a gym here. it's in raffles city. i've been to raffles city singapore, raffles city beijing and raffles city shanghai (all capitamalls). i think shanghai's is the biggest. it has prima taste, breadtalk, donut factory, beardpapa. it's just like home. :D the gym is nice (but super crowded during peak hours! like half the population of shanghai converges there. cos aaron kwok is the spokesperson right now). i also joined the pool membership! so i can swim daily! whee!! i love it. i aim to run 5km and swim 250m daily. the former to lose weight, the latter cos i like swimming. heh.
well, moving to shanghai is a lonely journey. i really didn't know a single person here before moving here. but i'm settling in well. i'm liking it. i'm sure i'll enjoy it.
back to singapore in two months!
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