haha. this period i am more free from work. wonder when will be my next post.

anyway, just thinking about something my coaching manager said yesterday... 'the first and second year associates still ok, will follow up on their work, and do alright on their work. as they move on to become more senior, they just get worse.'

actually... maybe it's because you are more enthusiastic in the first and second yr, you can still accept the long hours of work, the crazy following up on your previous job when you still have your current job... but when you become more senior, you have more responsibilities as an in-charge of all the jobs you are doing, and i guess following up on prior jobs on a timely basis just becomes difficult cos' you can't even finish what you have on your hands now... we only have 24 hours per day after all...

somehow as i moved on to my second year, i find that i probably can't accept 2am everyday and working on weekends as well as i did in my first year... we dun live to work, we work to live. even if we dun really have a life on weekdays, but at least rest and having some fun on weekends is just a necessary part of life. haha, i feel like i am going to become the kind of senior that she is talking about.

it becomes more demoralising to know that the fifth person from my batch is quitting... and rumors about a sixth. though we are already doing quite well, i think other batches have 8 to 12 each already... it's a vicious cycle. more people leave, the remaining work lies onto the people who are left. and the people left feel more pressure to finish more work than they can handle, and they leave, and it goes on.

my manager asked me yesterday, what do you think of your job, do you have plans to stay here for long term? i was like, just told her that, i can't answer this question, cos' you will never know what might happen. and that i dun love the job, nor hate the job.

actually, i do like the job, but i can't tell her that. cos' i think people who will most prob not leave the job will be taken advantage of, people will throw all the things to you and expect you to clear them, cos' they know no matter what you still like this job so you wun suddenly throw your resignation letter and heck care. people who are very outstanding in their work are also taken advantage of, cos' everyone wants them in their job and their job schedule is always full. my friend dun even have time to take leave, and they have to force some manager to take her out for some weeks for her to take a break. so ironic. to survive in this place, you can't be too lan, nor too good. yet you must still do relatively well.

i also can see why people are leaving. not just cos' of the hours, their outside life nor anything else. cos' we can't even choose where we want to take our annual leave easily, dictated by our 1 year in advance job schedules, and when we are sick we dun even dare to take mc cos' we can't finish our work within the tight deadlines, and people even take mc cos' they want to stay at home to finish up all the neverending queries from their prior jobs. during the peak period, we dun even dare to ask our friends out on weekday nights, cos' we dunno if we will work late, we cannot make any promises. some of them even have to work on weekends. is this even a humane way of living? and i guess this is the unhappiness that no amount of money, increment, bonus, extra off days can ever compensate.

haha. sounds like i am the one leaving. but i am not. just pondering about all these things. =/

it's september. next week it would be my 23rd birthday.

i recently watched a great anime which also had a live action drama done up; nodame cantabile.

it's about a guy (shuai guy) who is super musically talented, rich, grew up in a family of musicians, who aspires to be a conductor but stuck in japan because of his fear of aeroplanes. he thought that everyone in his music school plays with a sub standard, and he wants to go to europe but couldn't because of his fear. one day, he met this girl with amazing talent in piano. she can't play very well by reading scores on the first time, but can play the same song if she hears it once... she's messy, poor... and she inspired him through piano that he can achieve his dreams as a conductor still...

all the music in the show is really amazing. made me remember how much i love the symphony, the classical music when i was still in band in primary school. makes me remember how badly i wanted to learn the piano in primary school though my mum refused to let me learn cos' of the high costs.

i wonder really, if i never joined a uniformed group in sec school, and joined the band instead, would i be a different person now? makes me really wanna learn an instrument now...

i rem how i love to play the only instrument i can play - the recorder. it's my relaxation tool when i was down, my favourite thing to play when i was free. been years since i last touched it. would be very weird if i blew it now, my mum would think i am nuts i guess.

music... it would really be a different me if i continued with music in sec school isn't it? haha, i always thot that i wasn't suited to be in a uniformed group, although i have to say i really learnt a lot from there.

it's been a yr.

somehow i thought about blogging today. just a few sentences though.

while trying to snap out of my holiday mood, it is just depressing as always on your first few days back to work. don't i wish the holiday will never end, just like school holidays in the past.

while all my friends tried to ask me out on a weekday night, the most depressing thing about my job is i never know what time i end work. that seems to be one of the bad things about my profession, though it is a really interesting profession.

like my senior said, perhaps if our job ends at a fixed timing everyday, we work 8 to 9 hours really everyday, this job isn't all that bad. really. that's probably why quitting is the most talked about topic in my company, and this is the common topic to laugh about and talk over lunch with every other new team that you work with. haha, what an extraordinary job isn't it...

manz, weekend is just about over now. it's gotta be a busy week ahead, i hope i can keep to all my promises with my friends this coming week. monday, thursday, friday, saturday. plus the late nights that my senior says we will work this week. this is going to be a tough week. good, hope i use this to snap out of my holiday mood, and get down to work.

till the next time i write again... ciao! (obsessed with jap shows now...)

Okie! Now for part 2. After taking many pictures with the humans, now my teddys will take the limelight! Eh, all the gifts I got for convocation, thankew!!!!

The flowers I got from fish.... They didn't wilt till like 7 days later, super li hai!

The graduation bear wearing the same orange striped hooded grad robe (Bachelor of Accountancy) with the porcupine from airen and weiwei...

And how can we miss out my dear didi! See, happily living with Porky (pronounced as Pocky) the porcupine!

Some side photos... I finally blew up this monkey seat that airen bought for me from Shanghai... Haha, the mini pump I pumped like 1/4 way, and my mum suggested I used a foot pump after that. My gosh... 1/4 my hand already very suan liao, how did weiwei blow up hers using that mini pump! So cute right, I tried sitting on it, but I think it might break. Haha! Better use it for deco...

And this is the 2 cute octopuses from my office, one belonging to my two colleagues each. Hehe.

Hallo! Long time no post! haha. After my lazy period, it's time to put some photos up! Actually got very little photos la. Cos' some with my friends. Eh... We start with convocation photos...

Fish, me and Mitch... Hehe! Look at the flowers she bought me and Mitchz!

A photo of my uni clique...

My mum and me...

Me and my roomie (who didn't know that it was my convo and just happened to call me while she was in NTU... hahaha)

My cousin Vivien, me and our grandma... (My cousin graduated in the same ceremony and with the same degree as me =))

Finally, a family photo... My grandma is quite happy to see two grandchildren graduating in the same ceremony... haha.

That's it. I don't have any with Weiwei and Airen! Haha! I shall await for the emails from Queenpig's Piggidom!

Look at what I got from my facebook thing about my birthday. and watch how it contradicts with my job...

Based on your birthday ...
You can trust your sixth sense. Life is exciting so routine job is not your interest. You have great ideas and fantastic imagination. You often feel tired of things and people around you. Your Love, You can tell what's in the mind of another person just from looking into his/her eyes. You are paranoid and jealous and these are the cause of fights between you and your lover. Sometimes the thing you believe in is just your imagination.

Ah, airen tagged me. now i got a tag. but then aiyah, i lazy to find 8 pple to tag la! haha. i dun think i read 8 blogs....

#1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
No idea sia, but surely is sad and break-up loh...

#2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
Haha. Er I can't remember most dreams, so if it came true I won't remember?? The most I remember it for like a few days, but the dream is usually quite dumb and doesn't make sense.

#3. What will your dream wedding be like?
Woah, I never think so far. I guess anything is fine, as long as the guy you are marrying is someone you love bah...

#4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
Yeah for the uncertainties, no for the certainties? Haha!! Isn't that quite obvious... =P

#5. What's your ideal lover like?
Haha, a guy whom I love and loves me back. Can talk with me, and if it's possible, humorous to make me happy... Haha, I think I am quite lame and funny enough to do so in return ba. Can withstand my childish actions and speech, cos' that's the way I am.

#6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone ?
Hehe, I think is being loved. Cos' I have never been in a relationship, so mostly I tried liking someone, but eh, I don't feel very blessed yeah. Haha, best if I love him too... then it's surely very blessed? Haha.

#7. How long do you intend to wait for someone u really love?
Haa, similar to airen la. If he's attached, I won' even bother. If he's not, I guess I can wait for as long as there is? Lol. But something diff is I guess I can wait for someone that didn't like me first.

#8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
Eh, I will give up. I don't go for attached people, even if the guy becomes attached with me one day, I will feel guilty cos' it's like I broke them up, even if it's not.

#9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Nothing much. It's time to be super happy cos' this is the time before work sets in and consumes your life away.... haha!

#10. What do you want most in life?
Haha, be happy! Attached or not, what's important is I am happy.

#11. Is being tagged fun?
Hehe, eh, I usually don't like to forward chain letters and stuff. So I am just obliged to do the quiz, but I won't forward. Eh, to me no diff? Just for fun after all!

#12. How do you see yourself in ten years time?
Bubbly inner self and probably serious outer self (cos' of my job....). Sounds like a devil. =P I think I will be a bit like my mum, just that I won't be able to manage housework and work everything together as well. Hrm, probably with a family, even if I don't meet a guy I like (hard to be when you are buried in work 3/4 the time), so I even accept like matchmaking those kinda... After all, you may meet a guy you like, maybe it's just cos' you didn't hang out enough that you aren't attached.

#13. Who is the current most important person to you?
Hehe. Eh, nobody exactly. My family ba, I treat all three of them equally. Haha. My green teddy bear is second on my list.

#14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
She must be very bored. HAaha! Joking. She's a straightforward and truthful person, a very rare type of friend that I meet so far, cos' very little people are so straightforward. Someone who is not afraid of showing exactly how she feels, and you don't need to think too hard whether there is a second meaning to what she does or says, cos' there is none. The best kind of friend you can have... there is no twists, no complications, no intentions in the friendship. Purely because we click, we are friends.

#15. Would you rather be single & rich or married but poor?
Eh, I dunno. I think I like to be married but not too poor la. haha!! I think I spend quite alot of money, anyway, I don't believe that you can be very happy if you are poor (unrealistic la). But like airen, I think it's easier to be single and rich. Haha!!

#16. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be?
Hehe, I lazy to clean up leh. So I don't have pets, and no particular interest. What about a teddy bear, low maintenance, wash only when I happy, sew clothes for it when I happy. Haha!!

#17. What are one of those things which you would prefer not to do?
Eh, can't think of anything much leh. Maybe running? Haha, I really hate running. Stretching, everything I am quite fine with it.

#18. What kind of person do u think u are?
Me ah, I think I am happy-go-lucky, childish and cute gal. haha!

#19. What do you define as a bad day?
Eh, when everything seems to like turn out bad or opposite of what I wanted, then nothing like even chocolate or icecream can make it better? Even using the last resort, that is drowning myself in serial shows doesn't work... Like I can't even be bothered what happens in the show... Woah, that's like super super bad.

#20. If you have to choose between love (as in boy-girl relationships) and friendship, what would it be?
Ah, hard choice. Depends on the situation ba. Maybe I will forgo both, cos' both are important, making a choice is like quite unfair.

Now, this is a series of posts in a single day about my trip. Hehe, read from the first post from the bottom for this day for a complete adventure of Cameron & Genting tour!! Sorry for the inconvenience caused!

Scroll down and look for a red tag like this to start reading!! "Cameron & Genting --> Start reading here!"

Day 3: Genting...

We finally arrived at the First World hotel after a long journey of turning in S-curves down the Cameron Highlands... and winding up the Genting Highlands. Lol. While we took a rest in the room, my bian tai roomie take photo of the exposed me...

Coincidentally, she was also taking a photo of me taking a photo of her... haha! And so now, who is the bian tai one... lol.

Now back to the main topic. Genting is super cold, more so than Cameron, on Day 4 morning the thermometer on the wall of the lobby reads 18 degrees celsius... And it is so often surrounded by clouds... that maybe you can't see a thing of the scenery, if there is any... On one of the more clear timings, it looks like this:


Not much pictures, we stayed around the indoor theme park with a ferris wheel like this... nothing much like the spectacular Singapore Flyer... but it's still a... wheel...

We didn't like super crazy outdoor rides like those that turn like mad, roller coasters etc... So stayed indoors... Shopping, eating... I finally bought my first pair of sunglasses after I got contact lens!! Costs like S$11... Bonia brand...

Then we went to Snow House. It's a super cold place, with a slide where you can sit in a donut cushion alike thing, and slide downz.... COOL. It's a long time since I played that. And there were lots of ice on the ground, like snow. We threw ice at each other, I played like a kid. Super fun. I love the cold. And there were snow falling at times, but of course those were foam... Couldn't take any pictures in there cos' cameras are banned.... And we didn't go ask them to help us take for us to buy also... We ate ice cream and drink yogurt in the Snow House! Cos' it was part of the entrance fee we paid, why not right... My poor roomie was freezing... Guess I am super warm blooded... haha...

We went to the casino, but the jackpot were very cheem. My idea of a casino was like super glam, like 双天至尊 like that... But it's like some arcade, so many rows of jackpot machines... Haha. I can't even figure how to gamble the jackpot... So after loitering around, we left.

Day 4: We left Genting at about 10am. As we were in KL, we stopped by this cute chocolate shop... Here are some pictures...
And this picture was taken cos I wanted the picture on the wall... haha. but this cute auntie walked past...

And some of the chocolate collections... these are all made of chocolate!

Okie. That kinda conclude my trip... Then from KL we took a bus back to Singapore and I reached home finally at about 10pm+... Hehe... Hope you like the pictures!

Day 2: Continued...

Now for the Strawberry Farm. Haha, we didn't go strawberry picking, so we didn't get to see the strawberry farm actually. Cos' we had to pick half kg of strawberries, and pay RM20... Eh, the money is okie, but I dunno what to do with the half kg of strawberries... Anyway I just wanna see how strawberries are grown... Managed to take some pics of them in the strawberry farm shop...

This is how the plantation looks like... At least since I wasn't able to take photos of the inside, this is the outside haha...

So while in the shop, I drank strawberry ice blended with my roomie. It's super nice, can taste the strawberries! So fresh... Not too sweet cos' Cameron's strawberries are slightly sour, just nice for ice blended! Mitchelle said the milkshake was nice, but happens that the farm only have ice blended, so we just ordered that...

Meanwhile, since we had about an hour, we roamed about the shop, other than taking pictures of strawberry pots, we found other interesting things... like how do you actually keep insects and mosquitoes out of your house? This is the answer.

Haha, if I am not wrong, that is called the pitcher plant... And there were so many cactuses on sale, one of the things I wanted to buy back for friends, but the tour guide said it would be problematic at the customs side cos' of the soil, so I could only take pictures... Amazing collection of cactuses on sale!

Now, moving on to the Cactus Valley... It's again full of cactuses of course. There were nice forested alike areas like these... Which I have no idea what are those, but it looks forested so I took a pic. =P

Now for the cactuses of all kinds. Have you seen so many kinds???

If you have, have you seen such a BIG cactus before? I think it's like 40 years old and above. Twice my age...
You have seen long cactuses. Or rather, tall cactuses. Like these...


But cactuses that grow from ground to ceilings....
Cactuses where people scribble their messages on? Haha...

With that, it's finally time to leave the beautiful highlands. I wished I could stay longer.... Some landscape pictures... With their terracing everywhere....

Day 2: Continued...

After going to the Bee farm, we went to the Rose Valley. The flowers were super pretty! The tour guide said there was a green rose, but I couldn't find it. Managed only to find the black rose. Rather blurry the picture, but I tried many times, this is the best I can get...
Besides roses, there were many nice flowers! Very very pretty... Here are some pictures... (this is also the place where I took the most pictures... haha I look like nuts when I go around taking pictures of all kinds of flowers... My handphone got so much space and the battery don't even decrease by a bar after 1 day of taking photos...)

And we found this star shaped flowers! fish will like that very much...

And there were these gourd like things hanging from the top too... Quite nice right while they are green...
That's the before. After years of beautiful long walks through life, they will become like that:
Don't say this is just a rose valley, with flowers only. There are some fruits and vegetables too... Have you ever seen how tomatoes were grown? This is how pretty they are... like a fence with little red lanterns...
And before I get out of this Rose Valley, this is my favourite picture! Gotta make it my wallpaper....Okie I shall continue the Strawberry Farm & Cactus Valley tour in the next post... Tiring dragging the photos up and down to the right position haha...

CAMERON & GENTING --> Start reading here!!

hey!! i am back from my graduation tripz cameron cum genting for 4d3n!! okie la, not as glam as europe or usa, but it's okie! so i share some pictures!! Sorry all is from my camera phone of 3.2 megapixel, which i am kinda quite happy with, but not exactly very high quality...

Day 1: We set off at 6.30am (super early sia I woke up at 4.30am) from Golden Mile Complex. Cameron is super far and is the first destination. Super far. We reached Cameron in the late afternoon. We first went to the tea plantation.Then we drank the Cameron Valley Tea at the Tea Shop... which is like normal er, tea... haha.
After that, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant called Strawberry View... before that we were just randomly walking around the streets near the restaurant, and look at this interesting tea that my roomie is holding... Chocolate Tea! Have you ever drank that? Eeks. Anyway I can't remember what's the tea on the top...
And poof! After dinner, we went to check in at our hotel - Equatorial Hotel. This is a picture of that from far...
And guess what, in the cold Cameron Highlands (cold at night and morning, afternoon can feel as hot as Singapore sia), I saw a REAL fireplace with fire!! So COOL. Like campfire liddat, the fire is really crackling and stuff. Just like how it is written in storybooks where the stories are based in places like England... Here's an unclear picture of it, of course the fire is red, but dunno why my camera capture is blue...Then after that, we went back to the room to zz le. Super tired. The way up and down Cameron was like S shaped everywhere, this moment the bus is turning left, the next moment it's turning right. Seeing stars le... Haha.

Day 2: After having breakfast, I took some pictures of the surroundings of the hotel... So nice right! So western... Slow pace of life like England? Or New Zealand...

And a nice scenic view....And after breakfast, Day 2 is the farms day! Gone to many farms. The first farm is the Honey Bee Farm. Very cute pictures, there are like smiling bees on display to take photos with...
And then these are the bee boxes... (no idea what is it called, anyway it's to rear bees!) Got some bee hive symbol on it, haha, there are many bees in there, they still put up a sign to say that they are not liable for injuries (i.e. bee stings i guess)...
I tasted the honey la, not very fantastic. So didn't buy... Okie, look out for next post for the other farms! I go eat dinner than continue...