Issues of my life, unresolvedd

French!

2009-11-01T11:53:00.000+08:00

Le 9 Decembre, je vais prendre l'examen de francais donc je vais écrire mon blog en francaise tous les jours. Il y auras une translation de blog en anglais aussi. Alors, premièrement, je absolutement deteste Dimarche parce que je vais travailler demain. Il n'y a pas jamais assez de temps pour les choses que je voudrais faire, comme aller au cinema et faire un promenade à la plage. Peut-etre, la raison pour les sentiments est que je n'aime pas le travail que je fais. Mais si je ne travail pas, je n'ai pas l'argent. C'est la vie.

Je ne sais pas quoi mais hier, je suis tres fatiguee parce que j'ai me couche pendant 11 heures! Quand je se levé, j'ai seulment pris ma petite dejeuner et apres, arrangé la chambre. Je'ai une class de yoga à 2:30 apres-midi pour une duree d'une heure et demie. Apres la classe, j'ai une rendez-vous à Somerset à 6:30 pour le diner avec les amis. Nous avons les cuisines Thaï pour le plat principal et les gateux aux fruits pour le dessert. Tous été tres bien!

On the 9th of Dec, I'm going to take my french exam so I will always be writing my blog in french from now on. There will also be a translation in english, like what I am doing for this entry. So firstly, I hate Sunday, cos tmr I need to go work! There is never enough time for doing the things that I like, such as going to the cinema and strolling on the beach. Perhaps, the reasons for the feelings that I am having is that I simply don't like the work I am doing... But if I don't work, I don't have the money! That's life.

I also dunno why but I was just so tired yesterday that I slept for 11 h! When I woke up, I only had time to take my breakfast and tidy up my room. After that, I have a yoga class at 2:30 pm for a duration of one and a half hours. After class, I have an appointment in Somerset at 6:30 pm for dinner with my supper club friends. We had Thai cuisine for the main course and fruit tarts for dessert. All were very good!

Love is...

2009-10-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

Got inspired over the weekend...

Love is...
Knowing that someone will always look after you
Fetch you from where you are when it rains
Naturally thinking in your shoes
Waiting for you no matter how late it is into the night
tells you that you smell great though you last showered hours ago

I just watched Gossip Girl and I crossed my fingers... that I will never betray love for it's never worth it..

2009-10-14T23:51:00.000+08:00

Just came back from a dinner with my best sports pals, Aileen and Charlene. it's Charlene's 23rd birthday today and it's amazing how long we have known each other! 7 yrs! I'm feel blessed by the special friendship we share =) I was so hungry after my 3.5km run at Amore that I just gobbled down dinner at Noodle House without taking photos with them =( haha but we enjoyed the
1. Special Congee, huge and favored just right
2. Wonton noodles,the noodles is alright but the fried wantons are gigantic and the steamed ones are succulent with juicy prawns
3. Beef Horfun is not so good though cos the horfun were stuck together. Nevertheless, the prawns and all were good =)
yummy dinner... we went shopping around Centrepoint, absorbed in our world, as the passerbys flowed from different directions, all around us. There is nothing more lovely or precious as friendship.

I had a more sinful round of dinner yesterday, with my darling, for passing his driving test on the first try! Hear this, he only got 8 demerit points! super zai la... We went to celebrate at Intercontinental, Olive tree cos they are having promotion right now. 1 for 1 and we only paid about 55 in all... the spread was superb, to say the least. We swallowed down:

1. about 10 oysters each, fresh and juicy
2. 5 fresh tasting salmon sushi
3. crispy salmon pizza
4. fried tempura prawns, done golden and delightful
5. sausage in small cute dishes
6. creamy cod fish, smooth and good
7. dhal and chicken curry, these dishes are a bit dry
8. fragrant butter rice
9. strawberries with chocolate fondue
10. oozing chocolat fondant, tiramisu, chocolate alcohol cake, sorbet...
11. everything else that I can't name or recall but it's a truly unforgettable dinner buffet =)

catch the promotion before it ends oct 31!

Cyst woes

2009-09-29T22:17:00.000+08:00

No that this topic is really important but I must declare my battle with cysts these few years. Not sure if it has been a result of my obsession with eye cream earlier, using Mac eye recovery cream and Estee Lauder rich eye repair too near the eyes, thus causing overactive oil glands. But come to think of it, it could be true... to make the eye area more moist, it will make sense to make the oil glands secrete more oil right? sheesh... major mistake

right now, I have undergone 4 eyelids surgery before, 2 on left and 2 on right. each time the swell was huge and the pus was imaginably overflowing... I wonder if I can finally say goodbye to cysts!
a few changes I am introducing to ensure that history doesn't repeat itself

1. eat more fruits and drink more water
2. avoid fried foods! some forum writers said that oil from those stuff can accumulate in the lids.. yuck
3. clean my eyelids with eyelid products daily
4. avoid eye makeup (so sad, no more mascara...)
5. sleep early ( really hard to accomplish)

wish me luck!

Updates updates!

2009-09-21T21:07:00.000+08:00

Just sent my sister back to her hostel... it's funny being on the other end now, no longer the one going back to hall n facing the books... Now I finally taste what it is like to send someone away, to make time for her/him out of my busy schedule-- much like a parent.. There was an article about parents suing their children for not supplementing their retirement and to issues like this, I always wonder, "what happened to filial Piety?" Sure everyone for his own, it's one's responsibility to provide and fend for himself. But someone who is mature, and particularly someone who has experienced adulthood and parenthood will realize, how difficult it is to care for someone, to bring up him/her to maturity. If I were to be just responsible for myself, I certainly wouldn't demand so much of myself. But I want to not just give myself, but also my parents a better life, one that they have never been able to experience.

Work has been going along quite well but I certainly welcome more challenges, as long as they are not concerning overzealous perfection and insane meticulousness. The best thing that has come from work would be the triathlon team which I have recently become a part of. We got 6th in the corporate relay, I ran 5km, while the other two guys swim 750m and biked 20 km! wheee... here's some photos

2nd of work at new posting!

2009-09-01T22:17:00.000+08:00

The last two days have been pretty 'thrilling' notice the inverted commas... afterall it's a new environment now, down to KPI, tasks, deadlines and all...stress and eyerings creeping back to my life... but I'll be ready to take on the challenges as they come

been meeting lots of friends recently and it's a joy to see all well and happy at their jobs. Sometimes it hit me that our worries were unfounded after all, not being able to find our calling in life, not finding a job that pays decently... But I must constantly remind myself not to slip into an employee life pattern, I want to be a biz owner one day. back to reading the book "never eat alone' =)

The most nerve wrecking lunch

2009-08-24T22:42:00.000+08:00

With a sigh of relief, I'm glad to have survived my first ever self introduction in front of the big shots at work.. had to talk about my D I S C profile, my greatest achievement and my future aspirations. what is seemingly easy to accomplish face to face with another person has become ten times harder with successful individuals scrutinizing you the entire 3 mins, breathing down your neck, trying to dissert your personality.

I'm glad to be a survivor and my mentor rox! He's formerly from the SAF but has made a huge transition into the corporate world now... hope to interact more with him in the future.

Something wrong

2009-08-07T23:56:00.000+08:00

There is something wrong with my blog... can't view it correctly.. damn weird...

Deja vu

2009-07-31T06:53:00.000+08:00

Shagged, braindead and smelly from a two shifts work day, I suddenly shuddered at a fleeting thought that went through my mind. This job is like an army one! with the exception of assisting an operation where the outcome that matters a lot more, the rest seems the same for both jobs. In terms of the level of discomfort, requirement to work over time AND overnight, use of jargons like (mess, officer, book in/out etc) I am going to go crazy at this rate soon...

Updates on my work life!

2009-07-26T22:22:00.002+08:00

Time sure passes by quickly... one time I was slogging away for FYP and now I've entered a new phase of my life-- working life! it's scary to realize that fact at times-- after all the 16 years of studying... responsibilities have changed and my attitude has to changed too... new people in my life... what a great deal to handle each day...

Other than my close friends, I feel that the bonds between my Uni friends are fading... trying hard to hold on to them, I tried to meet up whenever I'm free but it seems so tiring at times... my eyerings get darker and the situation seemed nonetheless better. maybe I need to accept the fact that things have changed, people have moved on and so must I.

sound quite pessimistic isn't it? But all is not lost.. somehow Zj and I had more time to meet than ever and the situation might even improve if I work at the HQ =) but nothing is confirmed as of now =(

It's only 2 weeks into my work and my colleagues and i are performing at the LSA talentine competition tomorrow! The girls will be dancing the HOT wondergirls and I hope I wun make any mistake as I did today during the rehearsal.. it's tough catching up with them after missing the first session. ANd why did I miss it? Cos of my Hong Kong trip.. and it is sure memorable, the first trip Zj and I made tog... It was very eventful for sure and we certainly shopped till we dropped... my bank is super wiped out now =( hahaha but we've memories that will now last for life... will post up the photos on my facebook soon hehe

i couldnt help but realize that I am making more time for my friends than my family... it's like when I'm home, they ain't and when I reached home, my sis will be at her computer, my dad at work and my mum sleeping... even weekends are not spared. hope to improve this part of my life soon, gonna spend more time with my family, my beloved ones =)

A day before work life begins

2009-07-05T10:47:00.003+08:00

The last entry was so outdated! In these 2 months since my last entry, I had another exam, in which I also did not score well and had scoreless of interviews. Maybe the consolation is that the dust has settled and I have landed myself in an OK job. =) But I'm quite sad that I'm leaving my friend's start up... learnt quite a lot there. here're my colleagues =) Pretty fun loving crowd...

Tomorrow will be a significant day, where the 'practicals' end and the real test begins. After 16 years of education, my work life is going to begin. It feels strange and I have this constant feeling of denial. Yet, that wouldn't come as a surprise for someone who has yet to graduate, with the final year project report and presentation in the toll, due for submission less than 2 weeks later. I hope it will start off well tomorrow and by the time I depart for Hong Kong on 16 Jul, a few hours after my last school presentation, I'll be leaving with a contented smile.

Friends would question: why do you start work so early? Not taking a break? It's not a matter of choice to me, though the inertia in me would happily assume status quo in my life. But I'm too eager and impatient, to join the working world outside, to be viewed as an adult, someone capable of putting food on the table. It has been a torture for too long to see my parents toil and struggle to make ends meet. I'm too, tired of holding 3 or 4 part time job all while juggling my studies to support myself. Anyway, since this management trainee program longs only 15 months, it'll be great if I realise that it is where I want to be and continue on the fast track. Else, hopefully, I would have gained enough skills and experience that makes me more marketable for my next career. By then, I should have found out for myself the direction I should head into.

last day of exam!

2009-05-04T01:13:00.001+08:00

as usual, I lie here, eyes wide open, unable to go to lalaland no matter how hard I try :( something that excites me is sleeping me up- the last exam that's chemical engine related for my entire life is tmr! I really can't wait. The tortuous 3 yrs, it's been so long. at least now I know how to appreciate chem engine and even understand my notes. Hope that's enough for tmr. Wish me luck!

Disturbing news these days

2009-04-23T03:08:00.002+08:00

I can't help but grinch in dismay as I flip the papers these days... Red shirts chaos in Thailand, countless people dying cos of Tamil Tigers, the ever gloomy economy, deaths from food poisoning, monk cheating money, even suicide rates on the high... I wonder if these are all bad signs for the world but maybe these kinda news have always been exaggerated and sensitised by the media... I shall just take one piece of news to comment or share my ideas... good for detering my brain from becoming senile i guess haha

Same Name, different lives

2009-04-21T23:37:00.001+08:00

Was googling on my name cos i was so bored and I found this... Go read it!
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20071029-32858.html

Finally readjusted my body clock

2009-04-20T07:51:00.003+08:00

I feel a sense of euphoria, as I awoke to see glistening rays of the morning sun streaming through the window this morning at 7am. I made it! Finally readjusted my body clock to what I would call normal... Mum has cooked a fab breakfast and I simply gobbled them down, hungry from the 7h of 'fasting'...

Just so coincidentally, on the zen habits blog, there is a post about being a late riser. The blogger talked about, how like me, he equated rising early to being productive-- exactly how I thought! But he realized that it's not really relevant, the link between rising early and being productive, cos you can wake up late and sleep late rite? But I just like the smell and coolness of the morning air, cos it's really uplifting to my spirits... and I have to stop all the sleeping at 4am routine, which is taking a toll on my eyebags( they're bad enough)

And being going to bed and rising early, I am going to blog either online or in my book regularly, all through my summer term... It'll be great to reflect daily and hopefully I'll come out as a better person! To think I used to submit a weekly report to my boss last year, I should be more disciplined now! It really helped in thinking through what I have done for the week, allowing myself to quickly rein in on the 'bad habits' and congratulate myself for the new breakthrough I have made in life.

And you might ask, isn't this your reading week? Time to study! Why are you blogging... But I only have 2 exams to mug for, both 3 MCs, so it's like just a 1.5 regular module. Yup, I still prefer to do things last min to keep my productivity high haha... oh I remembered that I dreamt that I was late in handing in a report... gosh... all the reports writing must be getting to me haha

I realize that my blog has been pictureless so far... let me add some recent photos like those my friends and i took at the Pump Room, clarke Quay-- it's certainly a night of harvoc!

New resoltutions

2009-04-11T19:01:00.000+08:00

I need to...

Stop caring about things that don’t matter. This advice seems so simple, but it bears repeating. It’s easy to get caught up in obsessing about little tasks and trivialities that aren’t really important. The best way to overcome this habit is to start thinking in terms of long term impact. Every time you start obsessing over the little details, ask yourself how long the results of those tasks will last. If you’re always spending the majority of your time doing tasks that will have little impact after a week or month, you’re always going to be stuck in the same position. Be ruthless about not caring about all the stuff that’s not important. Your life depends on it.

from http://zenhabits.net/2009/04/seven-productivity-tips-for-people-that-hate-gtd/#more-2999

Ready to close a chapter in life

2009-03-28T21:53:00.002+08:00

In a few months' time, I will be closing an important chapter in life -- my education and embarking on a new journey of adulthood. No more concessions, no more forgiveness for mistakes, no more fun! But I won't go for further studies at the moment, I need a breather from my 16 years of studying...

I feel like a spinning compass sometimes, its needle has found its true north. Hope I will be shown the way soon before I get lost for good...

Back in Sunny Singapore!

2009-01-05T01:09:00.002+08:00

Finally I could confess that I am back in Singapore, after my friend's birthday celebration, as my friend and I are supposed to give her a surprise by coming back earlier than she expected.

So besides the horribly hot and humid weather and the reverse cultural shock, I am adapting well back in Singapore. Not too well I hope, as I don't hope to lose what I have learnt in the States. Will explain about it more in another post. In fact, I will probably put some photos up here as picture speaks a thousand words. And update my new year resolutions =)

67 days to departure...

2008-10-23T20:52:00.002+08:00

It's almost just 2 months to the end of NOC and my time in USA... I dunno how many times I had said this but times flies. I remembered myself wondering if I will make it to the USA at all about 2 years ago, when I first received the offer from NOC as I had to wait till the next semester then to obtain enough modular credits before I could leave for NOC. And the next semester came and passed by yet I was still in Singapore as I decided to postpone the departure to the following semester due to changes in the Chem engineering modules. Suddenly, I'm here and ten months had passed me by... *shudder*

Besides being able to immerse myself in an entrepreneurial environment, one of the other key takeaways I had was the realization of my weaknesses. I think I subconsciously knew I had those weaknesses but it is only when I am here that I started making an effort to do something about them. It also helped that friends are there to support this personal development that I would like to see in myself.

In the next two months, I would concentrate on putting my best foot forward (yes nothing but the best), build up more networks of contacts, travel more (should be the west coast) and improve the structure of my online 'business'. Support me by linking http://us-shopaholic.livejournal.com to your website (blogs etc)... Thanks in advance!

Inspiration

2008-10-14T12:08:00.001+08:00

I was really inspired by what Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm once said (some thing like this) 'Imagine a world with this problem and then work backwards to find out the actions to take to achieve that...' Entrepreneurship is really about changing things for the better, can I?

What's wrong?

2008-09-28T12:37:00.002+08:00

I dunno if fate is trying to make fun or me but recently there have been lots of things missing from my possessions:

1. pork chops from the fridge

2. one of my socks so now I have a misjoined pair

3. My sweater from Forever21

4. My pinker spaghetti strap from Forever21

5. My sports bra paddings!

please let me know if you know where they are!

Focus on solutions not on problems

2008-09-15T08:58:00.001+08:00

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity (Ink won't flow down to the writing surface). In order to solve this problem, they hired

Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). It took them one decade and $12 million. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

And what did Russians do.......................................??

The Russians used a Pencil !!!

So, learn to focus on solutions not on problems. "If you look at what you do not have in life, you don't have anything." "If you look at what you have in life, you have everything." Yet someone said "Focus on problem leads to inventions! and Focus on solution leads to discoveries."

My Facebook rankings :)

2008-09-12T05:58:00.002+08:00

I'm amazed by some of the rankings that I saw on my profile..

My chicago photos!

2008-09-08T10:15:00.001+08:00

The cheesecakes I made last week!

2008-09-08T09:43:00.003+08:00

Cranberry cheesecake!

Peach Cheesecake with Sour cream

Here's the recipe:

9x13 pan, 350 degrees, 25-30 minutes.

1 1/4 c. graham crumbs
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. melted butter

Mix and pat into pan.
8 oz. soft cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat with mixer until creamy and pour over crust. Bake until light brown around edges only. Cool and top with pie filling. Keep refrigerated.