Pain. In EVERY sense of the word

Main Entry: 1pain
Pronunciation: 'pAn
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French peine, from Latin poena, from Greek poinE payment, penalty; akin to Greek tinein to pay, tinesthai to punish, Avestan kaEnA revenge, Sanskrit cayate he revenges
1 : PUNISHMENT
2 a : usually localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (as a disease or an injury); also : a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort (as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leading to evasive action
b : acute mental or emotional distress or suffering : GRIEF
3 plural : the throes of childbirth4 plural : trouble, care, or effort taken to accomplish something
5 : one that irks or annoys or is otherwise troublesome -- often used in such phrases as pain in the neck

Yah. But what I was referring to was mainly explanations 2a and 5. Lemme try to explain it:

My shoulders and neck are painful. See? That's explanation 2a. It's irritating I tell you. I think it's to do with the sleeping position. I currently have 4 pillows, and they are either too soft, too low, too high, or too.... inflexible. It's getting harder to sleep! and I end up with a stiff neck in the morning and sore shoulders. Irritating.

Next: explanation 5.
As you probably know by now, I'm moving into the hostel soon, and it is a pain to prepare for it. ARGH. So many things to pack, and I'm starting to agree with Christina Rossetti, that suspension is usually better than the real thing, because fantasy is more often than not better than the reality, 'cos expectations can be as high as you like. Haha. THINKING about hostel life is exciting, like what to do there, etc, but actually getting down to the REAL PACKING is a PAIN. I just procrastinate and procrastinate, and even I'm getting annoyed at myself. Just can't seem to pull myself away from the daily slacking and actually get down to make a list of the things I need. Incidentally, does anyone know if they charge extra for putting fridges inside? Or if they provide pillows...? OK, and any further suggestions for what to bring into the hostel....? Just any suggestions you can think of, 'cos I'm so afraid I might forget something in my list. Haha... suggestions are welcome!!! just leave a tag at my board, and I'll be grateful.

Also, I'm not very sure if I want to attend the hall orientation. It sounds interesting, and the person who called me sounded rather nice. I wasn't very keen in the first place, cos I thought I would be attending the HSS one. BUT they told me they had a quota to fill, and me inside would be over quota. So, it turned out that I didn't go for any orientation. So I was wondering if I should go for this one.... hmm..... Oh, and Jiarong says only 5 guys turned up for the HSS camp. Hahaa.... I think this year's attendance will be mostly made up of girls... =)

Ok, so help me in my list, pls!!!!

Bidding.... In a Different Sense

Today is the last day the candidates can sway the IOC judges for the privilege of hosting the 2012 Olympics. I watched the live broadcast of the 5 presentations today, and I must say, all 5 countries did a good job. Their presentations were professionally done, and it did seem like they were well prepared for the Q&A session, though I suspect Moscow was hoping and praying that one of the questions would not be about the Chechnyan (is that how it's spelt?) rebels. If I remember correctly, that question wasn't asked.

I was especially impressed by Paris, New York, and London's presentations. Paris, because it made me feel happy because of the bright colours and the happy atmosphere. I felt like if Paris was chosen, I would be guaranteed a great time at the Games, and I would be exposed to everything they have to offer- culture, Eiffel Tower, the people, and.... the dogs. haha... oh, and not forgetting the quaint little shops. Remember Chocolat? yep, that show/book was set in France, and the setting was soooo quaint! I would love to go to France to see if there are still shops like that. Not that I would go to France if Paris was chosen. On the other hand, who knows what will happen in 7 years? Maybe I'll be financially independent by then and be able to go there....? =) Imagine watching the triathlon, marathon and cycling at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, as shown in the picture below:




New York... was because I felt they were very well rounded in their presentation. The explanation and the 'tour' around the Olympic grounds were very well done. Explanations were clear, organised, and the venues look to have been carefully thought out, such that the venues were all within easy reach of the athletes. Imagine " the entire triathlon in the Park, with cycling on the loop, running on the jogging paths, and swimming in the Reservoir". Wow. Gorgeous. Oh, and contrary to what Life! said about the dressing of the NY delegates, I felt that their dressing strongly indicated the sincerity of the delegates. They were dressed in Olympic colours, which suggested that they were doing this all in the spirit of the Games, and they understood what it means to be able to host the Olympics in 2012.

London. Wow. I was impressed by the way they spoke, their videoclip, and their aim for organising the Games. Firstly, it might be superficial to be impressed with the way they spoke, or with their accents (incidentally, I do love British accents. Not the common British accent, but the Tony Blair accent. Don't you think it sounds so crisp and clear?), but hey, aren't first impressions formed not only by one's dressing, but also by the way one speaks? Wouldn't a clear Western accent be better able to hold the audience's attention? Secondly and thirdly are their videoclip and their aim for organising the Games. Their videoclip emphasised again and again their vision for the Games- to inspire the younger generation, and to improve the lives of the Londoners now, and the future, hence their theme song "Proud" by Heather Small. Below is the lyrics for the song.

Proud -Heather Small
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Still so many answers I don't know
Realise that to question is how we grow
So I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
What have you done today to make you feel proud?

We need a change
Do it today
I can feel my spirit rising
We need a change
So do it today
'Cause I can see a clear horizon

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
'Cause you could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today
You could be so many people?
Just make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?

I look into the window of my mind
Reflections of the fears I know I've left behind
I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same

To quote one of the children in the video, the Games will "encourage more people to get involved, not only in being successful as an athlete, but generally in the community", which I think basically summarised London's whole presentation, and also secured the IOC members' votes. One quote was particularly touching, when a young boy declared, "I want to run for my country". Childish, perhaps, but it was nonetheless filled with the innocent hope only children can have, and it was touching because it made me remember my childhood dreams, and the innocence of that age. Besides, can you imagine playing Beach Volleyball outside this grand building (The Horse Guards Parade):



Nice, ain't it?

As for Moscow and Madrid, Moscow has my sympathies, 'cause just before the day of their presentation was the threat by the rebels, which I'm sure affected their presentation and the IOC members' decisions. The presentation by Moscow was sombre, and their solemn attitude throughout the presentation was, of coursealso reflected by their attire (yes, I agree with Life! 's comment about their attire being too sombre). I think it was the rebels' threats that created that mood among the Moscow-vites to be so solemn, and caused them to appear rather rigid. One bright spot, though, was the appearance of Alexander Popov, who is one droolworthy swimmer. Haha... =)

Madrid... well, I slept through their presentation (sorry Hurul!) 'cos I was just too sleepy to watch on. I watched their final video, though, and it was impressive. They showed fabulous footages of Madrid, its scenery, and its people. All of them saying, "See you in Madrid!" made me somehow wish that they would be chosen. Of course, this was aided by the fact that Iker Casillas, and Antonio Banderas invited me (and everyone else watching the video of course) there. All the welcomes I heard made me feel, well, welcomed.

Watching the 5 countries' presentations made me realise that Singapore will not be able to host the Olympics. Ever. Nope, I'm not being un-patriotic by being such a wet blanket. I'm being honest. It's not only because of the size of our country, and it's also not only because Singapore does not have a reputation of churning out gold medals like a factory. It's because:

1. Singapore does not have the scenery- well if the Olympics was hosted here, would we have the Regatta in Kallang River? Singapore River? Or MacRitchie Reservoir? Where would we host the Triathlon? Running and cycling around the perimeter of Singapore, then swimming in one of the above rivers/ reservoir? There is a good place for Beach Volleyball though. If Paris has it under/ in front of the Eiffel Tower, and London has it in front of the Horse Guards Parade, then surely, we can have it in front of the Esplanade? After all, there is a fantastic view of the Bay, and the Esplanade IS our pride and joy.

2. Singapore does not have the infrastructure

3. Singaporeans don't have the same intensity of enthusiasm the above 5 countries have for sports. Look at Madrid. One of their slogans was "We celebrate sports". Do we celebrate sports? Probably in the passive way, like betting on which teams will win which sport. For now, perhaps, sports has not reached the same level of importance as academia, so we cannot possibly declare that "We celebrate sports". Probably a more appropriate slogan would be "We celebrate sportsmanship"? After all, we take pride in sending our Team Singapore to the various international games, including the Olympics. Part of the spirit of the Games, surely, is that winning is not important. What's important is that we have tried. We tried at every tournament, and I think it takes a lot of guts to actually send a team in for competitions despite not winning everything most of the time. We did try, and I have no doubt that Team Singapore tries their best every time (who can stand losing? and it IS an honour to win international awards for the country you know), and it just so happens that our forte is not in sports, but in academia. Perhaps it cannot be helped that academia has to be emphasised on greatly in Singapore, simply because WE ARE SMALL, and the markets that are the most lucrative demand people who are strong in academics. Perhaps over time, sports will be more recognised in Singapore? But following the laws of Economics that we learnt in JC, the opportunity cost of doing so is too high, simply because the only resource we have is our people.

I guess in these 3 points, I sound very resentful of the fact that Singapore will not be able to ever host the Olympics. However, I would like to clarify (should there be a barrage of hate tags on my tagboard and The Straits Times criticises me for my insolence and over-generalisation; but oh, what the hell, it's not as if my blog is some high profiled blog or something. But it does pay to be prepared), that I am NOT being resentful. I was stating my observations. I am aware that Singapore provides a high level of security and cleanliness and order and a world-class (though expensive) transportation (I think), but I am also aware that Singapore, though very very very well-organised, simply does not have what the other countries have. We are able to host summits of world leaders, large meetings like the IOC meeting, but would we be able to host such a high profiled event when SO MANY people all over the world will be descending upon us? Do we even have enough hotel rooms I wonder. Yep, and I am NOT being insolent. Over-generalisation, perhaps, but definitely NOT insolent. I did mean it when I said the Esplanade is a good place for Beach Volleyball, and I DID mean it when I said "We celebrate sportsmanship", because we really do. And I do admire the government's efforts to make Singaporeans love sports, and have a greater awareness that there is a life beyond academia. Otherwise, why set up the Singapore Sports School?

Ok, I have defended myself, and I hope it is to whoever-wants-to-kill-me's satisfaction. PLEASE, Straits Times, if you want to expose me, PLEASE don't publish my name or my blog address. I'll have to move to the moon if you do so. Haha, nah, I'm just kidding. =)

the past few days....

ok haven been blogging these few days, since sat. let's start from today:

i absolutely LOVE this song!! on ur speakers! it sounds so sincere and simple, and i guess to the romantics, it kinda reflects how one would feel when one meets his/her one true love. not that i have met one yet, but i imagine that that's how it feels. =)

my biggest thanks to Ida, of the website ida-here.com, who made this possible. i swear, her website is one wonderful treasure trove of goodies- music codes, blog layouts, and, yes, VIDEO codes. thinking of getting a video code, but not now. =)

Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to youB
ut you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

Yesterday (4 july)
went shopping (yay! but doesn't it seem like i'm doing that very often these days?) with von and lun. we were planning to go bugis, 'cause lun said that there's a neoprint machine there that makes metallic pictures and since we haven't taken neoprints together for a looooong time, we decided to try it out. yes yes, neoprints are so passe i here u say, but let's just say that it was vanity at work, and sentimentality.

alas, we changed our destination and went to *gasp!* Orchard Road! (not much of a surprise actually, 'cause that's where we usually go), but this time, it wasn't to taka or wisma. instead, it was to the Heeren Shops and Cineleisure. it was quite fun there, we went into like practically every shop. i saw Yan Fang at Cineleisure too!! couldn recognise her, which sure makes me worry about my memory. but then again, fang did look kinda different.

anyway, the Heeren Shops was the place where i had a plentiful harvest. haha, my main aim of going there was to get the Fossil wallet i've been eyeing for the past year but haven't been able to gather the courage to buy, 'cause i haven't had a valid reason for doing so. this time around, however, i did have a good reason- my wallet, the one lun bought for me, is spoilt! haha, though i kinda feel sad that that wallet's spoilt (it IS nice, u know). just as well i hadn't bought it one year ago, or i would have been kicking myself now, as there was 30% off the wallets at Fossil, so the price of the wallet fell from $25 to $17.50 (i think). it was the same for several other things i bought, like the top i bought from DCP (it was 50% off), the 37 degrees pencil case (20% off i think), and the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell (20% off). wow! cool, ain't it? however, tops are not exactly what i need right now. rather, what i need is bottoms. yes!! but bottoms are so ex! hmm. i'm going out again with lun later to look for bottoms. let's hope i don't get sidetracked by other tops. which reminds me, i want to get the tops from U2!!

after the euphoria of shopping and a plentiful harvest has died down, i now feel a pain on my body. u know, the parts of the body that have connected with pockets? yah... spent so much yesterday that a BIG hole has been burnt in my pocket. the hole has burnt THROUGH the cloth to connect with my skin. to quote someone's blog (i just happened to stumble across it one day), the cloth that's the pocket is "a limp rag by now". haha. hmm, but this hasn't seemed to stop my shopping urges. oh man. what am i going to do?! it's like a drug! help!!! can't seem to stop wanting to spend more money. ok, after going shopping today, i shall TRY not to spend more money.

Day Before (3rd July)
we went to East Coast Beach to cycle! so fun! we rented 2 bikes, both tandems, so 4 of us could cycle together. wow, the beach was CROWDED, and the bike tracks to and fro were packed with people. and some people- cyclists, pedestrians, rollerbladers- could actually be insensitive enough to stop in the middle of the road. SUDDENLY stop some more! can you believe that?! it was so irritating! i mean, what if we had suddenly knocked into them? whose fault would that be now? and some, like the rollerbladers, were rollerblading so sloooooowly! fine, so they were beginners, but they could at least have tried to move to the sides when we rang our bells couldn't they? hey, i would understand if they were ALONE and they were BEGINNERS, but they had EXPERIENCED PARTNERS with them ok?! but noooooooooo the experienced partners couldn't give a hoot about us. argh. other than that, the trip to the beach was fun. =) we cycled till our butts were numb. haha, i guess that was so 'cause the seats were hard.... or maybe it was 'cause we haven been cycling for a long time? or *GASP!* our butts have grown enormously bigger?!??!?!!? *faints* haha... =)

The Day Before The Day Before (2nd July)
we went to the zoo! yep, i know it sounds kinda lame that i should feel so happy over a trip to the zoo, but it's been so many years since we went to the zoo that I've lost count. haha... =) anyway, my father couldn't make it that day as he had to work, so the 4 of us went instead. hehe, no car this time, so we went by public transport. we have a straight bus to choa chu kand interchange, so we made use of that instead of the mrt, 'cause my mother wanted to see the "change in surroundings as we move from east to west". yah... interesting idea rite? =) so take the bus we did, and oh man, my butt had lost all feeling by the time we reached cck interchange. haha, but it was an unforgettable trip. imagine travelling all the way from bedok to cck by bus! omg! oh, for the record, the bus trip was 1 1/2 hours long.

ok, so we reached the zoo at 12 something, and we started walking around after buying the tickets (it was so expensive! there was no student discount at all ok! $56 altogether!). we walked for 4-5 hours- man! that was one BIG exercise, all thanks to TAY YI FANG the slavedriver!! just when lun, my mother and i were about to throw in the towel and the white flag, she announced, "We haven't seen the white tigers! and the tapirs! and the (oh my goodness) baboons! Let's go see them!" my goodness, i almost fainted then and there. haha, no lar, it wasn't that serious, but I was amazed at her stamina. haha, the baboons were one interesting exhibit actually. each male baboon has a harem, and wherever the male goes, the harem goes. the male can 'kidnap' a young female and make her part of his harem when she comes of age. when baboons are in heat, their butts turn REALLY RED !! come to think of it, i think it was mating season for the animals. wherever we went, we saw animals mating- primates, ostriches, horses etc. yah, so going there that day was.... educational.

we were so tired by the time we finished walking around the zoo that we slept the trip back to cck interchange (the bus ride from mandai to cck wasn't that long actually- about 15 minutes maybe?), and i even dreamt! imagine how tired we were. haha. we took the bus back again!! heh. but the IRRITATING thing is, I COULDN GET TO SLEEP ON THE TRIP BACK! not that there weren't seats on the bus, but i just COULDN'T enter dreamland. how irritating is that?! my eyes were tired, sure, but my mind just wouldn't shut. argh.

the zoo has really changed alot since the last time i visited it. the entrance itself is rather grand, with introductions to the various tribes in the world. the whole setting is rather like africa, and with the sound of drums being played by the young visitors (the children i mean), u somehow get a feeling that you are supposed to be in africa (well the drumming was amateurish, but worth encouraging..... ;) ), and i like the fact that they build 'shelters' for almost all the enclosures- u know, the ones like the polar bear exhibits? so now instead of just seeing the tops of the hippos, we can actually see how they swim etc! hmm, and i also particularly like the way they insert information about the various tribes found around the world like africa, ethiopa etc, and even show us bits of their culture, living habits and so on. oh yes, and how could i forget ben and jerry's? it's at the entrance to the zoo. the flavours have such interesting names! like chunky monkey, and..... hmm... there are too many to remember. much as I would have loved to, i didn't buy a cone, mainly because i was too lazy to dig out my money, and also partly because i thought the bus would be coming anytime. so the next time i go, i MUST remember to patronize ben and jerry's. any recommendations anyone? =)

Of Work and Wedding Dinners

it's my last day of work today, and i feel kinda sad that i'm gonna leave this place after 6 mths of working here. nonetheless, i'm oso counting down the time till i can leave then i can have FREEDOM!! not that there hasn been much freedom the last 6 mths or so, but now, there's gonna be an endless (well, almost) amt of freedom! yay! hopefully in these 2-3 wks i'll be able to slp late, wake up late, do watever i want, slack, and just wear crummy but comfortable clothes instead of thinking bout what to wear to work the next day. oh, not forgetting the food, of course. gone will be the days when i agonise over what to eat for lunch, and in its place will be glorious food by none other than mira!!! yay!! hmm, but this is for a limited period of 3 wks only b4 sch starts and i'll be moving to the hostel!! =( tt's quite sad.... eatng outside food all the time... oh man, i can just imagine the feeling of the fats running through my veins, to my brain, to my heart.... AHHHHHHH!!! ok.

ooh i made strawberries dipped in chocolate for my colleagues as my 'goodbye gift'. haha, i'd love to show the photos here, but thing is, we cant find the cable to connect the digicam to the computer, so i can neither show u the top i collected, nor the strawberries i did. a beautiful sight they were too, all red and fresh. just tt they were on the sour side. hmmmmm but they go well with chocolate. here's a tip: DONT use baking chocolate to do it. i didn know there are other kinds of cooking chocolate being sold on the market! i just happily assumed baking chocolate's the one for me and just bought it. imagine the horror and panic when i found out the chocolates didn melt into liquid but instead into a thick cream. not tt it isn nice, but it was MUCH harder to coat the strawberries with it.

i'm acually leaving the office earlier than 6 today. it just depends on what time, 'cause shirley and jes are planning to claim time off from their work. they are now trying to rush through their verification of our work and start packing. wish i could help them, but they refuse any help. oooo i hope i don't eat too fully; i'm attending my father's cousin's wedding tonight, and i need to ensure sufficient space in my stomach. =)

to those who thought i was supposed to go out with von and lun today: yah, we were supposed to go out together after my work today. unfortunately, my parents decided to bring one of us along for the wedding dinner to take my grandmother's place, so by some reason or other i was chosen to go. i still don't really know how i got chosen. i think it was assumed by everyone that i would be the one going, which is confusing, really, because in the family, i'm the one who's known for her lousy appetite. where is the logic for me to attend the wedding dinner and waste the food there, right?

anyway, i'm not (exactly) complaining bout it. i don't really mind going. after all, i want to try the food at Grand Copthorne. except for the sharks' fin though. i have never understood why Chinese like to eat it so much. it's not as if sharks' fin will improve one's health or beauty or wealth, and it's not as if there is any taste. it's only that it's expensive that makes it the reason for its exclusivity. that, and the fact that it's hard to capture sharks (?) and that it's against the law (is it? if it isn, it should be). anyway, i digress. i DO NOT like sharks' fin, reason being the way the sharks are captured for their fins is just simply too cruel. i mean, if they want the fins, they might as well kill the whole shark. WHAT IS THE POINT IN CUTTING OFF ITS FINS AND THROWING IT BACK INTO THE OCEAN/SEA TO LET IT DIE?! it's going to die ANYWAY, so why not just give it a quicker death? argh. the cruelty some humans can get up to. IF (that's a damn big IF) i get married next time, i'll make sure i don't serve sharks' fin. i'll serve some other thing. i'm sure there are other kinds of soup that can make up for it in this wide world.

for those who have been sharp to notice that i seem to be avoiding cyber language/sms language in this entry, welcome, and thank you. haha, it shows u had enough patience to read this entire entry, and i'm honoured. =) yah, i AM trying to avoid using the language i've been using all along, like "wat", "tokking" etc, 'cause von and lun have been saying that it spoils the whole entry. they said like, just when they have begun to get into the rhythm of reading my entry, out pops a "tokking", which completely spoils the seriousness or mood of the entry. i agree entirely, but it's become such an ingrown habit in me over the past year that i have to take time to slowly get rid of it. haha, i have to make a conscious effort not to slip in any "wat(s)", and spell the words correctly. the change will be slow, but hopefully in the end there WILL be a change, and not something given up halfway.

i've got alot more to write, but i think this entry is getting WAAAAAY too long already, so i shall stop. i shall update......... soon. i hope. with whatever else i was thinking of writing.

damn! i always seem to spoil a good ending for an entry. it was supposed to end at "i hope", but it didn't. anyway, it ends here. now. just let me pry my hands off the keyboard.............................

Deep, Dark Secrets of His and Her Brains

haha, be sure and go read this article; it suggests that the differing behaviours of men and women acty lie in the differing structures of their brains.

1 particular quote from the article: "Women's brains, for instance, seem to be faster and more efficient than men's." perhaps this explains the general conception that women are better able to multi-task than men?

another quote: "All in all, men appear to have more gray matter, made up of active neurons, and women more of the white matter responsible for communication between different areas of the brain."

and another: "Overall, women's brains seem to be more complexly corrugated, suggesting that more complicated neural structures lie within, researchers at UCLA found in August."

oh yes, the size of each gender's brain doesn affect the intelligence level of each gender (as in, the brain size of men and women), cos though men's brains are generally larger than women's, women have 12% more neurons than men do, which means that females are so NOT any stupider than males. so there. those old stick in the muds who prefer males to females and think that males are superior to females can just think about that.

i haven finished reading this article, but it's been interesting so far. do u think discrimination will reach new heights again when concrete evidence is found that the brain structures of each person defines a certain characteristic that he/she has?

Peke

here's a picture of peke, for those who've nvr seen him before... =) or u can go to my yahoo photo album to see him too! =)

Bidding

hurul, NOW i know where the fun is in bidding on internet auction sites. it IS fun! =)

oh man... haha i think something got into me yesterday, possessing me to bid on this pink billabong top which was selling for $35. i BID for it! it was only after i had happily put down my offer that the truth sank in. i was making a commitment to buy it. after tt was a jumble of mixed emotions. though there was tt sense of euphoria at having acquired something i like, there was the consequence of $35 less from my wallet, and the fact that the price i paid for it is bout the same as that sold in shops. there is one consolation though: i haven seen this design in singapore. i dunno if that is supposed to be one great consolation, but at least there's one bright spot. =) i'm going to meet the seller later to claim it, and maybe i'll put the picture up. just dun come knocking my head coz the top doesn look worth $35 k? and while the fact that i'm going to lay my hands on my first purchase, i've gone and bid on another thing- a book. yah, u read that rite. a book. it's "The Piano Tuner" by Daniel Mason. it looks like a good book. remember someone (was it hurul or xuefang?) read it in the sch library last yr, and said it was quite good. anyway, b4 u can slap ur forehead in exasperation, the book was going at $2. haha, u read that rite too. =) there was the "Princess Diaries" book by Meg Cabot, and it was going for $0.59. oooh yes, i can sure see the fun in bidding and visiting aution sites. *vigorous nod*

now, if i could just get my itchy fingers off the bidding button.......

oh, just to sidetrack a little, do u like my new blogskin? i love this design!! =)

had a nice dinner last night with maternal relatives. the dinner was courtesy of alvin and alan's father, who gave us the treat, so THANK YOU jiu jiu! =) haha though the table was too large for everyone to converse properly, those in the same generations were able to converse, coz we were all seated according to generation. ( ok this is v hard to describe, so try to bear with me). anyway, the location was at this seafood restaurant called "Red House Restaurant", which is at East Coast beach. with wonderful company, and wonderful food, we lacked nothing to make the night wonderful. conversation btw the adults flowed as freely as wine does at a banquet, but for the younger generation (us), i think it was a little awkward... hee... perhaps alvin and alan felt a little left out coz it was mostly girls there...? dunno... but they were rather quiet. =) (to alvin and alan: i meant no offense!) ok anyway, it was nice to see everyone gathered together round a table, talking and laughing. it's even better than CNY acty, where though everyone was gathered in the house, there were cliques evident, thus reducing the chances of relatives and family catching up with everyone else. so i guess the scientific theory about round objects being better able to distribute heat properly applies to interaction btw ppl as well? (well the theory is vague to me now, coz i think tt's a p6 memory, so update me if i'm wrong k?)

after the dinner, everyone took a stroll along the beach, and we stopped in front of the waves in the middle of the road and started tokking again. well, the adults started it first, so we followed suit. talk soon turned towards the trip to song, sarawak at the end of the yr, when we would be going back to celebrate my maternal grandma's 80th birthday. so exciting! perhaps the WHOLE family will be reunited again? well, that's provided kenette, lynette jiejie etc can make it back to song as well, and that alvin, alan etc are coming too. haha, cant wait. initially, we thot there might be a reunion at ah bin kor kor's wedding, but alas! lynette jiejie has an exam on the day of his wedding. hai....

laura has agreed to take us around sibu to shop! haha, according to her, clothes are rather cheap there, but well... while i'm looking forward to it, i'm kinda hesitant as well, coz well.... sibu isn really known for being a shopping paradise, is it? hmm we should all make a date to go wild wild wet during the dec hols oso, yes?

looking forward to end of this week, when i'll be going out with von and lun again! i so need to get a wallet, coz mine's spoilt. it's literally disintegrating. everytime i hold it in my hands, there are black colour bits of the wallet sticking to my palm. eugh!

ok i gtg back to reading up on psychology. better buck up this time, if i wanna make something of my life.... but i'm hungry! i'm always hungry these days.

oh yes, bernice jie jie is coming back today. haha, so if u're reading this entry, bernice jie jie, welcome back! =)

i love the song whose lyrics i just posted below. i know it's kinda late to post a tribute for Fathers' Day, esp since i already posted an entry after Fathers' Day. hee...

anyway, i think this song epitomises wat our fathers do for us. not all the lyrics apply of cos, but listening to the song just so reminded me of wat my father had/has done for me all this while, and when i first heard the song and thot bout those things, i just cried. haha, call it hormones or watever, but whenever i think back on the lyrics, i get all teary. =p weird rite?

anyway, though there's only a small chance that my father will chance upon this entry, i'll just like to say, 'Thank you, Pa, for all that u have done for me this past 19 yrs. love u LOTS!" =)

oh man. i'm starting to tear up again. -_-"

Daddy's Hands

I remember daddy's hands folded silently in prayer
And reachin' out to hold me, when I had a nightmare
You could read quite a story in the callous' and lines
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind

I remember daddy's hands how they held my mama tight
And patted my back for something done right
There are things that I'd forgotten that I loved about the man
But I'll always remember the love in daddy's hands...

Chorus:
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'
Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrong
Daddy's hands weren't always gentle but I've come to understand
There was always love in daddy's hands.

I remember daddy's hands workin' 'til they bled
Sacrificed unselfishly just to keep us all fed
If I could do things over, I'd live my life again
And never take for granted the love in daddy's hands

(Chorus)
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'
Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrong
Daddy's hands weren't always gentle but I've come to understand
There was always love in daddy's hands.

(Repeat Chorus)
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'
Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrong
Daddy's hands weren't always gentle but I've come to understand T
here was always love in daddy's hands.

---- Holly Dunn

random ramblings

i'm now using the company's comp to blog. again. haha... i've finished keying in my orders already, if tt's wat u're wondering... okok, i'll admit, i did surf the net while keying in orders, BUT that was done coz i was trying to drag doing it. there was too little to do. hehe, and if i finished earlier, there wouldn be anything else to do u see.... =)

boring boring.

i thot of a topic i wanted to blog about just now while doing my data entry. unfortunately, it slipped my mind.

hmm... i have to change my layout. i want to design my own!! but i dunno how to do it. i dun even know how some ppl manage to get adobe photoshop. do they buy it? or do they download it? if they download it, how?!?!?! i cant seem to be able to dl it..... it keeps getting into that stupid winrar prog that unzips everything into its small components, and i DUN understand a single thing.

i wanna go shopping again!! i have this nasty feeling that i've spent WAAAAY over my budget already, and the amt of money in my bank account is dwindling. a signal to me to curb my spending. unfortunately, i cant curb the urge. the urge to go out buy something to make me feel satisfied and happy. that feeling of euphoria. that jolt of adrenaline that courses thru my veins with a purchase that i love and have lusted for a loooong time. that jolt of excitement and pleasure at finally making something that u like yours. that.... well, u get the meaning. =) it's an addiction, shopping. i can never have enough bottoms, tops, bags.... others might think they are more than enough, but.... somehow, wouldn u get sick of wearing the same things over and over again? the thrill dies off after while, rite? hmm... if i could just get some money to go shopping again... to buy clothes for uni...? after all, since i'm gonna stay at the hostel, i'll be taking quite a few clothes, and i oso have to leave some for lun, rite? ;) oh, and i need a wallet. my current one is falling to pieces. i wonder if Fossil still has that wallet i saw last yr....?

Joey

HAHA! "Joey" (the sitcom) is hilarious. hehe i cant decide if he's dumb or if he's just plain innocent and naive. while he might seem stupid in the show with his silly antics and his speech, wat he says makes sense sometimes, and is often wat we dun see until he points it out. well, at least I dun see it until he points it out. or is watever he says just his observation from a totally innocent point of view? i cant decide.

i mean, sometimes, ppl whom we might deem to be not insightful coz of their mental ability - children, autistic children etc- might sometimes make statements which surprise us, and make us realise, "yah, why didn i ever think of that?" or even realise that we have been making mountains out of molehills all along, when things were really that simple. some ppl say humans complicate lives, and i couldn agree more. when some children meet strangers, they hold nothing back, pouring out watever they think; but adults? its more often than not that they might think that they have to put up a front to perhaps impress strangers, and mebbe even complicate the whole thing, by thinking "shit. i just told him wat my parents do. would he think i'm rich/boastful for saying that?" (u know, those kind of things?). whereas children on the other hand, nvr think twice bout wat they say. wat they say is wat they feel. period. so why complicate things?

i cant say that i dun think too much bout the actions and statements of those around me, but sometimes i think that it's just so tiring to keep trying to second-guess wat the other person is trying to say or do. wat if that action was really done innocently or unconsciously? wouldn i be making a stupid fool out of myself for wasting so much energy trying to decipher wat he/she meant? but sometimes, i feel that this is easier said than done, and i guess it takes alot of self-confidence to assure urself that wat the other person said was unintentional, and had no double meaning watsoever.

hmm. or issit just me?

PS: sheesh! this entry was supposed to be gushing about "Joey". now it has turned into some kind of philosophical piece. -_-" haha, forgive me for spoiling the mood. =) (ok and now i've gone and done it again....)

i ABSOLUTELY hate filling in forms. idiotic stupid unnecessary things. how many times have i filled in my cca participation? tell me!! and now they want it AGAIN?! i mean, dun schools update their database? and besides, if nus has ALL the details of our lives, surely ntu has them too? wat for ask us how many siblings including deceased ones we have? its not like they'll let them in just because they have siblings in the uni, rite? argh.

and why the hell are there so many different dates? i'm getting all confused now just thinking of which form i have to hand in next. and when do i have to make payment for the hostels? everything is happening so fast its like there's barely time to acty make sense of it. i did make a list of when to hand in wat, but i still have tt nagging feeling that that's not all there is. sheesh.

Denise Keller chose "Volfgang" (Wolfgang, acty... it's how she pronounces his name. haha... )!! oh man!! poor howard looked sooooo crushed when she broke her decision to him. he looked like he didn know wat to do, and in the end he just took the first step to hug denise, and wished her all the best and to have fun in europe with wolfgang. AWWWWWWWW...

but while i had wished for howard to win the fair Denise's heart, i have to admit they didn look as nice as denise does with wolfgang and to be honest, i htink wolfgang suits her. still.........

Congratulations Tay Yi Ling, you are...

Scarlett Ting of joewei.blogspot.com

You are independent, smart and beautiful. Its too bad you don't see that yourself because life's little difficulties brought down a lot of your self confidence. As a result, you talk cryptic and you don't trust people easily. You care a lot for your friends and your loved ones, sometimes even more than you care for yourself, although they don't always seem to appreciate it. Don't let that affect you. As the saying goes, you don't miss the water till the well runs dry. So hang in there, you're a star in the making.

Which Singaporean Blogger Are You?

Work

working now, and wishing i was home. haha, yah yah i know... its bad work attitude, but well, how else can i feel when my whole family is going shopping later in the afternoon, and then going to JB for satay (dun ask me y they go to JB just to eat satay. i'm puzzled too) ? i wanna go too!!!! perhaps one advantage of not going with them is tt i'll be able to earn more money perhaps? but well, at the moment all i can think of is going out. haha... the thot of going out far outweighs the thot of money entering my bank account at the moment. =p

with the end of my working experience drawing nearer everyday (end of this month, which is 2 more weeks), i'm starting to have bittersweet emotions. when i started work at the beginning of the yr, i nvr expected to work this long, nor feel such an attachment to my fellow colleagues. while the thot of going to work (waking up early esp during the hols when everyone is still aslp) is rather irritating, seeing my colleagues does add a little sweetener to work. at least working doesn turn out so boring, coz we can talk, joke, etc in this little room of ours. so while i'm happy that my working experience is coming to an end (i can finally wake up late yay!!!), i feel a little sad that i'd have to part with these colleagues. i know i've blogged bout them b4, so i shall not bore u with the details. suffice it to say that they have made my 6 mths of work in Spring more than pleasant, and a little less afraid of wat to expect next time i come out to work. =)

i think whether one enjoys one's work really depends largely on the type of colleagues/team one has at work. otherwise, how is one expected to perform well at work if one is constantly facing strangers or, worse, ppl who dun like him/her? going to work would soon become a chore and soon, there would be a lack of motivation to work. hmm. so there would be a loss in productivity, and... well, u know wat will happen, being smart econs students u are. =)

unfortunately, though i had a rather pleasant time working at Spring, i think i'm not experiencing the full aspect of a working life.

1. i dun have any responsibilities, nor any leadership role to play. so it means little or no burden on me and i can sleep easy at nite. no responsibilities oso mean i can turn up for work and leave anytime i want. not tt i do that, mind u. i was merely listing out the reasons why i htink i might not be experiencing the full aspect of a working life. on the other hand, the full-time workers have to deal with difficult customers, worry about when the next shipment is arriving, or bout when the clients will withdraw their projects etc.

2. i'm working as a data entry worker. on top of that, i'm always enclosed inside a room, where i'm working with the same 3 other ppl. chances of meeting other ppl outside the dept or in the other parts of the company are slim. add to the fact tt i'm a temp, and the chances of me interacting with those who have nothing to do with our dept gets slimmer. thus, the commonly lamented office politics will hardly be experienced by me. well, i did experience it once in the beginning of my stint here, but i htink tt's chicken feed compared with wat others experience in larger companies or even in the bigger depts of this company.

3. i'm a temp, so no one pays any mind to me, and thus i dun get involved in office politics. not tt i wanna get involved in it, but well, we all know office politics are part and parcel of one's working life.

4. i'm still young (relatively to the other staff in the company), so the adults usually take care of me like i'm still this little girl. therefore, not much or nothing is held against me when i say or do somethign tt might sound a mite childish. =)

5. one company doesn represent all of them.

ok. i think all the reasons have to do with the fact that i'm a temp and my age, but u get the picture. =)

now tt i've finished keying in all the order entries, guess i'll surf the net to while away the time... yah, and get fat while sitting down. -_-"

INFATUATED

OOOOOOO i'm looking at Vic Zhou AKA Zai Zai's photos now. *drools*

haha... excuse me while i'm flooding my keyboard with you-know-wat. haha, he's soooooo cute!! his eyes can give out electricity man. when i was watching Mars, wow, the more i looked at him, the more i wished the show would go on forever. haha, i can just sit in front of the tv looking at him. he looks great from all sides, with all expressions. oooooh!

haha, i guess i'm sounding v disgusting right now, going goo-goo ga-ga over an idol... but wow, have u seen his smile? ;)

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary.If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What kind of blogger are you?

What A Girl Wants?

watched Eye For A Guy 2 last night. it was season finale part 1, where the last 2 guys remaining each got to spend a full day with Denise Keller (DK) and make one last attempt to win her heart. i must say, wat each of them did was great and very daring. each put their hearts and prides on the line, and planned 2 wonderful days to spend with her. wat each did was bound to make any girl get swept off her feet. howard brought DK to the carnival, where they had a portrait done together oso, of howard carrying DK, and the 2 of them in swimming suits. then they went on to dinner where he presented her with a fairy tale with her as the main character. it was a fairy tale written in poetry form to boot! then, they went back to the carnival, and started dancing in the moonlight- after he had kissed her. the whole scene was so wonderfully romantic. any girl was bound to feel as if she's the world's luckiest girl if she was in DK's shoes. =) the scenes of howard and DK were so sweet!! haha, it made me wanna support him in winning over DK. i mean, he always manages to think of ways to get her to notice him, and make her laugh. the things he does are not extravagant, but it did convince me that watever he did for her was done with her in mind, solely her. the video in the last episode wasn fantastically made with special effects etc, but they just captured his sincerity. his gestures strike me as innocent, with the sole intent on making DK happy. yep.

wolfgang... he's suave, charismatic, and the perfect gentleman in the sense that he knows the proper things to say or do. he impressed me when he managed to handle the situation regarding the "Little Red Box" pretty well. while all the other guys were disturbing him bout it, he was just calmly handling it. he impressed DK's friends, particularly her female friend, who asked pretty direct qns and was rather... well, a little on the catty side. he just calmly answered all her qns, and there seemed to be no pretences put on when he answered the qns. it seemed like he had nothing to hide. well, tts wat i could see on tv. i wouldn know in real life =) after all, the way they lead their lives is more than the 1/2 hour we see weekly on Ch 5 rite? wolfgang is smooth and confident in his pursuit of DK, and thing is, he's confident in every situation he's put into, and tt is a trait that would impress girls, since it brings a sense of security, isn it?

yep, so there u have it. 2 guys with 2 different wooing tactics. which would u go for? the one who makes u feel like u are the centre of his universe and goes all out to make u feel treasured thru gestures which are not necessarily extravagant? or the one who's worldly, confident, and sophisticated?

haha, if u ask me, a mix would be nice, but how many ppl are there who are like tt? after all, which girl wouldn like to be wined and dined? on the other hand, which girl wouldn like to receive gestures that are so sweet and sincere? not to say tt wining and dining doesn show sincerity, but someitmes, sincerity is not necessarily shown thru the amt of money one spends, rite?

think bout it.

We are what we eat, wear, read

found this article that was linked to one of the blogs i was surfing. aint it true to the title of today's entry?

Love thy stuff

Consumer identity is shaped by love of objects

How does the saying go? Love what you drive, don't drive what you love? The premise is that a sturdy, reliable car is a more prudent purchase than a flashy, speedy car. Whether practical or not, an article in the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that love of one's possessions can play an exceptionally important role in a person's identity.

"Consider the vast number of objects and consumption activities that come and go in our lives; groceries, hobbies, vacations, clothing, clubs, gifts, tools, cars, movies, investments, computers, newspapers, art, books, furniture," argues Aaron Ahuvia (University of Michigan). "From this vast sea only a handful are loved. It is not surprising then that these few loved objects and activities play a special role in consumers' understandings of who they are as people."

Ahuvia's research explores how consumers construct their perceptions of who they are. In creating a narrative of self, possessions play an essential role.

"The people and things we love have a strong influence on our sense of who we are," explains Ahuvia. "This article investigates the possessions and activities that consumers love, and their role in the construction of a coherent identity narrative."

In today's world of consumerism, notes Ahuvia, it's impossible for a person's relationship with objects--some of which they love--to not impact who they are and who they want to be.

"Sometimes love-objects assist with symbolically demarcating the boundary between the self and identities that the consumer rejects. In other instances love-objects help to symbolically support an identity which combines potentially conflicting aspects of self--such as tensions between the consumer's past identity versus the person they want to become, or the conflicts between ideals of who the consumer should be, which are advocated by socializing agents."

yesterday, today, and.... mebbe tomorrow

we took half day off yesterday, the whole data entry dept. crystal didn go for work, so we met her at orchard. haha, we meant to have lunch at Crystal Jade, but in the end we ended up at coffee club in takashimaya. ooohhhhh!! the tiramisu al cafe is glorious!! i was in heaven during the 15 minutes i savoured the cake. i'm salivating rite now. oh man....... *desktop is flooded with saliva* (okok i know i'm disgusting)

it was so fun going out with jes, shirley and crystal. we went to the different boutiques in taka- LV, burberrys, gucci etc. it was my first time going into such boutiques, and well, it was a nice experience. haha, dun say i've nvr been there lar. anyway, the stuff there are soooo expensive! goodness, one LV watch costs above $2000, and there was one tt cost $22 000 +++!! *whistles* thing is, it was CROWDED in LV k... i suppose there was a sale on, but to be honest, it didn seem like one to me. or maybe i'm too suaku lar. haha... jes was looking for a key pouch cum coin purse for her bf, so tts the reason y we were in those boutiques. wow, we really walked the whole of taka k... and i wore the wrong footwear. -_-" i was wearing slippers. oh man. if i had known we were gonna walk so much, i would have worn sports shoes. hahahahaa... oooh and i almost bought 2 pairs of slippers at charles and keith, but i had to think twice bout it coz i wasn v sure if i have the clothes to match it and if i would wear it often. oh yes, not forgetting the price. i'm STILL waiting to go thailand or some other shopping paradise to shop. i think singapore's gss doesn seem like much of a sale leh.... nonetheless, i still feel like going. contradictory, arent i?

lun's at her Leo Camp today, and it'll last till tml. hai... much as i hate to admit it coz her head will inflate so much tt we will have to move into an airplane hangar, i'll miss her, coz there wun be anyone to tok to me!!!!!! hai... oh yes, and while she was packing last night, i found a good excuse for shopping- we need a toiletries bag. yes, we do. haha, lame reason though it seems, it's a good enough reason to get my adrenaline coursing thru my veins. or issit the caffeine tts running thru my veins now? anyways, i'm on a high now.

wat should i eat for lunch today? just had burger king for breakfast, and thus have no appetite for lunch. nothing stirs my palate now, coz i'm soooooooo full! the thot of food now turns my stomach a little.

thank god it's friday today man... i'm falling asleep at my desk already, but unfortunately i still have to drum up enthusiasm to go help CS outside. they're overloaded with work theses days, and thus need our help. unfortunately, though i'm in data entry dept and it was agreed that we would help with data entry should CS need it, i'll have to do the Undels later. oh, Undels are the undeliverables. bleah. its a simple task lar, but boring and tedious. oh yah, and it takes up alot of space.

tml.... i hope to go out, but i think its unlikely, coz von has to study, my father is going to work, and my mother...... hm i think she;s working oso. so i'm like the free-est person in the house. oops. i htink i'm gonna have to bathe schnoozee. it sounds easy, but do u know wat it entails? carrying him into the toilet where he will act as if i'm gonna slaughter him or try to drown him with a shower head, and then fighting with me over the towel which is supposed to be used to dry him, and then struggle as i carry him to the common area to let him dry in the sun, and there he will fight for the towel with me again and run around like a mad dog. there i will be, sweaty and wet and smelly. wow. okok, to be fair, he's a cute li'l guy. when he's being bathed, he'll look at u with those innocent blue-black eyes and his fringe falling in his face, which just melts ur heart i tell u.... he'll look at u, as if saying, "ok, u got wat u wanted, i have to trust u now, but pls drown me with as much compassion as u can muster." yah... and after tt, when he's drier, he'll run downstairs to look for his beloved evon, leaving me- the one who bathed him and suffered his scratches- to clear up the mess he made upstairs. tok about gratitude. tsk tsk. nonetheless, i still love him. ;)

ok. this is a boring entry and i sound bitchy. shoot me someone!!

going to slp. bye.

Shoulda Woulda Coulda

People say that together we were both sides of the same coin
That we would shine like Venus in a clear night sky
We thought our love could overcome the circumstances
But my ambition wouldn't allow for compromise

I could see in the distance all the dreams that were clear to me
Every choice that I had to make left you on your own
Somehow the road we started down had split asunder
Too late to realise how far apart we'd grown.
How I wish I, wish I'd done a little bit more

Now "Shoulda woulda coulda", means I'm out of time
Coz "Shoulda woulda coulda", can't change your mind
And I wonder, wonder, wonder what I'm gonna do
"Shoulda woulda coulda" are the last words of a fool

People ask how it feels to live the kind of life others dream about
I tell them everybody gotta face their highs and their lows
And in my life there's a love I put aside, cause I was busy loving something else
So for every little thing you hold on to, you've got to let something else go

Fool if I would now forsake the opportunities are fate
I know I'm right where I belong
But sometimes when I'm not so strong I..

Now "Shoulda woulda coulda", means I'm out of time
Coz "Shoulda woulda coulda", can't change your mind
And I wonder, wonder, wonder what I'm gonna do
"Shoulda woulda coulda" are the last words of a fool

Now "Shoulda woulda coulda", means I'm out of time
Coz "Shoulda woulda coulda", can't change your mind
And I wonder, wonder, wonder what I'm gonna do
"Shoulda woulda coulda" are the last words of a fool...

Beverly Knight

Memories

smells can trigger lots of memories. just today, the smell of the perfume i'm wearing now brings back many memories; in particular, memories of year 1. haha... i guess tt's coz i wore this scent when i was in yr 1. =) memories of lit classes, econ lectures (of all things) and TP were the clearest memories. as i keyed order entries at work, images of when i was in yr 1 kept drifting idly into my mind. weird... haven thot bout yr 1 for quite awhile, esp bout econ lectures, and now, i feel like i'm back in tt time, mugging and doing essay outlines for miss wee, and rushing thru the lit logbooks just before lit lesson, particularly reynolds'. images of the 'mini-gathering' in the canteen before flag raising oso appeared in my mind- mel, her cj, TP... and esp the time before the yr 2s' physics prelims. haha, TP's classmates were crowding around asking him qns. i remember feeling damn extra down there at that time. haha... everyone tokking bout physics, and there i was, doing a hist essay outline. -_-" how different can tt be?

which brings back doubts and uncertainties regarding things done in the past. could i have done tt better? wat would have happened if i had done this? wat would have happened if i had done otherwise? would the result have been any different from now? is tt the beauty of memories? the imperfection of it, tt makes it all the more real and treasured and the most thot about? after all, the fact tt we are unable to amend anything tt happend in the past probably makes us feel helpless, and we thus keep thinking back on it and wondering. perhaps its thus treasured, coz we cant bear to tear ourselves away from thinking wat could be done, wat shouldn have been done in the memory, and thus arent able to let go of it? perhaps some ppl can acty let go of the past and not look back, but come on, have they NEVER thot back to their past and viewed some memories with regret, and some with joy? or issit that they CHOOSE not to think bout them, and stuff the memories into a box in their brains marked "PAST: DO NOT OPEN"? or do they just forget bout it? or does it just occur naturally?

i know we have to learn to let go of the past, but does letting go mean forgetting?

do optimistic ppl find it better to let go?

Messing Around

i'm soooooo sleepy now!! yawn~~~ still at spring, where we have FINALLY finished keying in the orders. i cant imagine if i had to key ALL the entries today. think i'll just die. haha... crystal and shirley are supposed to do order testing from yesterday to tml, so since jes is on leave, i have to be the only one to cover the order entries. unfortunately, the new system is faulty today, so order testings cant be done after all, so... i had help today! much as i would like to try finishing the orders by myself, the sad truth is that i'm unable to do so. *sob sob* i tried doing so yesterday, and ended up almost killing myself. oh man!!

next news. i'm gonna extend my work at spring till the end of june. wow. its extended by another 2 weeks. i agreed partly coz of the extra money i'd be able to earn, and oso coz they;re short of staff here. goodness knows wat the hr dept is doing. they haven found a new worker yet. i feel quite sad bout not being able to leave earlier though, coz there goes 2 weeks of my potential hol!!! *sniff sniff* ah well... hopefully the money will more than make up for it.

i'm so bored at the office now. i think u can tell it from the contents of this blog. totally random and without any emotion. haha. bye.

'Sarcasm' Brain Areas Discovered

Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly.

By comparing healthy people and those with damage to different parts of the brain, they found the front of the brain was a key to understanding irony.

Damage to any of three different areas could render individuals unable to understand sarcastic comments.

The Israeli team from Haifa University told Neuropsychology how their findings might help to explain autism features.

Autistic children can have problems interpreting sarcasm as well as other social cues such as emotions.

This same skill is sometimes lost in people with brain damage, suggesting similar brain regions may be involved in autism.

Brain scan studies of autistic children have shown that they have different activity in the frontal lobe to other children.

Dr Simone Shamay-Tsoory and colleagues studied 25 people with prefrontal lobe damage, 16 with damage to the posterior lobe of the brain and 17 healthy volunteers.

They played the study participants tape-recorded stories, some sarcastic and some neutral.
An example of sarcasm was "Joe came to work, and instead of beginning to work, he sat down to rest. His boss noticed and said to Joe 'don't work too hard.'"

In fact, what Joe's boss actually meant by his comment was "you are a slacker".

In the neutral version Joe came to work and began work immediately. His boss made the same "don't work too hard" comment, but this time, he actually meant that Joe was a hard worker.

The volunteers who had damage to their prefrontal lobes were unable to correctly interpret the sarcastic story, while all of the other participants could.

Anatomy
Dr Shamay-Tsoory said this fitted with what is already known about the anatomy of the brain.
She said language areas on the left hand side of the brain interpret the literal meaning of words and the frontal lobes and the right side of the brain understand the social and emotional context.
An area called the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex then integrates the literal meaning with the social/emotional context, which will reveal any sarcasm.

"A lesion in each region in the network can impair sarcasm, because if someone has a problem understanding a social situation, he or she may fail to understand the literal language," she said.

A spokeswoman from the National Autistic Society said: "The causes of autism are still being investigated.

"Many experts believe that the pattern of behaviour from which autism is diagnosed may not result from a single cause.

"There is strong evidence to suggest that autism can be caused by a variety of physical factors, all of which affect brain development." --- BBC News


Well. now we know where we are able to understand irony and sarcasm. I always thot irony was somethign tt was learnt, and hence programmed into the brain. now i know better. aint it cool to learn tt bout the brain? =)

Your #1 Match: ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed. Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down. You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

haha... so does that mean i chose the right course for uni? not sure bout social situations though,... i dun like big crowds, and i sure as certain dun shine in them.....

You Are Strawberry Pocky

Your attitude: fresh and sweet Comforting, yet quirky ... quietly hyper You always see both sides to everything

What Flavor Pocky Are You?

hehe bernice jiejie, well i got strawberry flavour, a "yummy flavour" as u put it.. =) but seriously, i think green tea's great too! it looks so calm and well, green.... but issit really sold on the market?

yay!! music's up!

"Whose Line Is It Anyway" is HILARIOUS!! haha... i know i know, i'm lagging by many yrs regarding this show, but it was only recently that i finally got round to downloading it and watching 2 episodes of them. haha... and i must say, it's good. no wonder i hear such rave reviews bout it from ppl who have watched it. =)

had a WONDERFUL breakfast today. haha... been looking forward to buying Burger King meal breakfast for bout a month already, but due to my typical procrastination, i haven got a chance to eat it until today. -_-" why? u may ask. well, i had a coupon for the breakfast bout a month ago, and i kept it until it expired. THEN i received another same coupon, and i still kept it. until today. haha... i meant to buy Mc's big breakfast (jes gave me the coupon... its $2.50 for a big breakfast... is it cheaper i wonder?), but for some reason, lately when i wanna buy Mc, i cant seem to meet a queueless Mc. Today, unfortunately, was no exception. there was a Long queue there. argh. a big crowd in fact. why issit then when i dun wan to buy Mc, there's no queue, and when i wan to, there is a long queue?!!??! and i jsut ate q-bread yesterday, all becoz smart me had left my wallet in the office the day before. applaude me, darlings. NO WAY am i gonna waste more money buying something which i had no intention of buying (well, unless it's an emergency). $1.30 for a bun is expensive u know... it's not as if my salary can stretch THAT far.....

I hope my father has sent the digicam for repair... i wanna take pics of schoozee to put up!! and hopefully of jes, crystal and shirley... haha... though i think they'll be quite unwilling to, and it does seem like i'm makign a big fuss out of my first workign experience, arent i? hai... but they have made my working experience so comfortable and great. it's like, though we have rather large age gaps btw us (one of them can be my mother liao... ) they never made me feel like I'm too young to tok to them, or made me feel conscious of my age. instead, they all included me in all their conversations, and often oso share their viewpoints with me. i mean, ppl of different ages have different ways of thinking, so when we tok in the office, i feel like i have learnt 3 different viewpoints from the one i hold. furthermore, i can get an inkling of how ppl of various ages view the same issues. well i know 3 ppl of different ages is barely enough to form a conclusion, but somehow, the difference in their views is evident. i'm not saying those of the same age will share the same views, but rather the mentality and the degree with which they look at things are different. yep. back to wat i was saying before. besides making me feel like i belong, they take care of me. haha, i'm the youngest there, so they often take the time to explain their experiences to me, and advise me. yah yah i know... sounding sappy here... but thinking bout 4 weeks later, when i'll not be working there anymore, i feel a little sad. it feels only like yesterday when i was a new worker there and jes was giving me the cold shoulder. yep, she did! haha, and she continued to do so for the next few weeks. oh man... the first few weeks were the most anxious ones... haha, coz not only was i anxious bout doing my job well, i was anxious to get along well with everyone i was working with. jes not tokking to me made me feel... well.. it made me feel uncomfortable. haha, then crystal told me she's like tt with all the temps, so... yah... it was only recently that i asked her bout it. hehe... she said she usually observes first. hmm... i guess i passed her observations then... *crosses fingers* anyway, i'll miss all of them when i have to leave, but i'm also kinda looking forward to stopping work, coz i wannna sleep! yes, lazy, i know, but i do miss waking up late and having totally nothing to do!! hee... but the money's attractive, and so's the company at Spring.

sheesh! i'm digressing! yah, i just asked my father, he hasn sent the digicam for repair... hai... frankly, i wish we could get another digicam....... but it's friggin expensive... hai... i'm currently salivating over the Sony Cybershot. Oooooh!! it's so super ultra slim, and looks so sleek! but well, the price is sleek too... it costs bout $700 ++ at best denki. wonder how much it costs in sim lim? anyways, i am in no financial position to get one for myself. if i do, i'll prob have to work another month at spring.not tt i'm complaining, but if i do, there goes my sleep... *waves byebye to sleep*

yes. the cd i still owe my friend. it's been with me for the past yr, and i've been msging him for every week for the past month (except for the last 2 weeks). every week ok.... now i'm wondering if i should msg him. haha... i mean, i've been msging like almost every week, i feel so paiseh now leh. on the other hand, if i stop meging, would it seem like i'm insincere bout returning the cd? could someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE advise me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I'M BEGGING U!! yep, u. =)

argh!! i put music into my blog (a nice song too u know... "Almost Here" by brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem) but while i can preview the changes made and hear the song, i cant hear anything after i have published the thing! wat the hell is going on can someone tell me pls?!

Dear Peke,

It's been a year since u left, and haha, there's not a day when we dun tok about u and remember the things u used to do, and compare u with schnoozee, whom we got bout 3 mths after u left, coz the house just felt so empty and lonely and von and lun were moping about the house. do u know, von even got my parents to buy her terrapins so that she could have something to take care of? though i balk at the idea of taking care of terrapins coz i think they are boring and troublesome to look after, i can understand y she needed that. she needed the distraction, and she needed someone to care for. she used to take such good care of u, remember? she was always the one who bathed u, who put ur tick medicine on u etc? i think she was quite devastated on the day u left. papa said he could see/sense her collapsing when the vet said u had to be put down. it was the next kindest thing to do for u, seeing as u were in such pain. if u had not been put down that day, perhaps u might have left us the next day, or the day after. but the person in the most pain was perhaps von already, coz she was the one who was the closest to u, and u, her. she had to make the decision to put u down, and... well, i can just imagine the pain she went thru to come to that decision. i mean, when u love someone, set him/her free. u were in pain and difficulty, i think she oso couldn bear to see u suffering anymore either. thanks for the 8 yrs u gave us, peke. they'll always be in my memory. =)

i put ur picture on my desktop in the office, and after keying my orders, sometimes i would just look at ur pic and smile. the pic was quite well taken, if u ask me. they capture the softness of ur fur, and ur large, expressive eyes that always gave away any indication that u were pissed off and was getting ready to bite us. when i see that pic, peke, it almost feels like i could reach thru the comp to touch u, u know, that little corner under ur mouth? i used to like tickling u there. i can see it in the photo now, and man! do i wish so much to be able to tickle u there again. haha... the photo looks so real, so touchable, that sometimes when i stare at u for too long, i kinda manage to kid myself into thinking u are still alive. u look so alive inside! it's only when i remind myself that schnoozee is at home instead of u that i realise u have been gone, and i shan't ever get to touch u again, however much i wish to, and that thot immediately brings me to another thot: u have turned to ashes already. a year ago, i couldn bear to imagine u being thrown into a pile among other dogs to be sent to the crematorium, where, from the once recognisable and active peke u were, u had become an unrecognisable and... well, a pile of ash that no one can be sure it is u. a year later, i still can't. i just cant bring myself to think of u as a pile of unrecognisable ashes in goodness knows where- probably in someone's potted plants or something- and relate u to a concrete version of u.

the above may seem like i'm using schnoozee as ur substitute, but i dun think so. schooze is himself. there's no similarity btw the 2 of u, though we wish he wasnt as hyper as u, and that he knew where he could do his business and where he couldn. i wish u could tell me wat made u stop peeing in the house. nonethelss, he's a gem of a dog, as were u. both of u have ur individual personalities, which i bet all my money that none of the other dogs have. perhaps it's coz animals have characters just like humans do, but i like to think that it's coz both of u are unique. call it self-delusionary, but i like tt thot. hahaa.. =)

peke, i hope u are fine, healthy and happy wherever u are, if there is indeed a heaven and hell,or an afterlife. we all miss u lots. =)

sheesh. heels are hell to walk on i tell u. haha, its so hard to balance and walk! and i kinda suspect the slippers are just a tad too small, though they fit comfortably. they feel tight though. oh man... just when i thot i could go home in a car, i remembered i'm gonna meet yanting today to return her her Da Vinci Code. not blaming u, yanting, i'm blaming my shortsightedness. =) and i never knew that i had to avoid drains- u know, those with the grates on them, the bars?- when wearing heels. the heels tend to get caught between the bars. -_-" that happened several times this morning when i was rushing to the bus stop to catch my bus. luckily it didn get trapped too far in the grates, but... i'm still not counting my lucky stars. =p on the bright side though, i think i might have kicked my bad habit of shuffling my feet when wearing slippers!!! yay! tt's the reason y u seldom see me wearing footwear without straps when i go out. i'd much rather wear shoes. and i still prefer shoes. =)

ok, gonna help von set up her blog account before its too late. bye! =)

ok jt and jp- i've done my research, and i've found tt jetstar asia has better flight timings to and form bangkok, and that first hotel is better than asia hotel in that it's cheaper. other than tt, asia hotel is definitely more convenient than first hotel, coz it's linked to the mrt station, which means we dun have to walk v much to our desitnations!!! yay! erm... i tried to post it up here, but its too much info... haha... will print it out and let's see wat happens k?

frankly, i dun really think this trip will materialise, coz firstly, my financial state, and second, global probs- terrorism. sheesh! just heard on the radio that southern thailand is threatened yet again by terrorists. argh. i know bangkok is not near the south of thailand, but it sure is enough reason for my parents to disallow me from going there. hai... not tt i can argue with tt. if they were to be the ones to go thailand, leaving von, lun and me behind, i would strongly discourage them from doing so too. after all, we wouldn know wat would happen there rite? nonetheless, the trip might be fun too, if indeed it materialises. shopping galore and shopping with friends! it'd be a different experience travelling with friends. fun fun fun! haha, guess i'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best when i ask my parents again sometime in july... wish me luck k? ;)

anyone wants to come too? =)

tempted to buy the Book of Answers too, but i'm a little apprehensive. haha... remember the book, xf and jp? ;)

Your Birthdate: February 20

Your birth on the 20th day of the month adds a degree of emotion, sensitivity, and intuition to your reading. The 2 energy provided here is very social, allowing you to make friends easily and quickly. Yet you are apt to have a rather nervous air in the company of a large group. You have a warmhearted nature and emotional understanding that constantly seeks affection. You are very prone to become depressed and moody, as emotions can turn inward and cause anxiety and mental turmoil. It can be hard for you to bounce back to reality when depression sets in. When things are going well, you can go just as far the other way and become extremely affectionate.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

yay!! day off today! unfortunately, it's oso don and siying's last day at work today, so cant see them... hai... shall miss them lots =) haha, and don's entertainment. =D

just brought schnoozee downstairs for a walk, and in the end, it WASNT a walk at all. it was a RACE. yep, u heard rite. the moment the elevator doors opened, he DASHED out, leaving me running after him holding onto the leash for dear life. goodness... i almost fell down so many times ok?! besides, the leash is not the retractable kind, so while he was rushing ahead, he was oso pulling on the leash. as a result, he was choking as he was running. argh. and there i was, racing to catch up with him. do u know how long i haven been running? and to run like i did just now was certainly tiring ok... run, stop, run, stop, pick up his shit, run, stop, run, stop, pick up his shit.... the process went on 3 times k... yep, that's how much faeces he has inside him. i was sweating BULLETS by the time we went back upstairs. and u know wat? the moment he was let back inside the house, he shitted again. YES HE DID! one would think that after clinching so many 'big deals' downstairs he would have finished. but NOOOOOO.. he had a 'merger' to clinch. sheesh. a VERY big merger this one was, too. -_-" ok. i dun quite like to use the word "shit", coz i think it's quite a colloquial term, and sounds a little... rude... hee... so are there any other terms anyone can suggest besides faeces? "doing business" is not not bad, but it's a little long... haha =)

back to schnoozee. and now, he's walking around the house like he owns it, biting anything that looks bite-able, which is, well, anything he lays his eyes on. even stones. yep. those who have seen my house will know that there are alot of stones and shells in the living room. yah, he bites shells too, and some of the stones have been bitten into half. uh huh, u heard it rite. i dunno wat kind of dog i have, but i'm sure he's not normal. he takes great delight in chewing wires, and LEAVES. particularly long and yellowed ones. i dunno y, dun ask me, but i've a hunch that it's coz they are crunchy, particularly in this weather. do u know, he has bitten off TWO friggin' fax wires already? he bites off the heads CLEAN off the wires, and some of the copper wires inside have been exposed. do u know, i really wonder if he can live as long as peke did, or even longer. he's gonna kill himself one day from chewing anything and everything he can in the house.

he's a murderer too!! he eats beetles and lizards! yuck! while i absolutely detest lizards, i htink its damn cruel of him to do so. argh. yah yah, i know he's just a dog, and he doesn know any better, but peke never did anything like tt before!!!

ok i better stop now and go look after him before he turns my whole house upside down and makes it such a mess i absolutely have to kill him. bye and have a nice day! =)

*blinks hard* my eyes are so tired now!! and they are making it dry as a result. oh man... i'm so tempted to close my eyes and sleep. not tt i can't, coz i've finished my work for the day and there's nobody in the room (acty, even with ppl in the room, i still can, coz we're in the room, so no one can see... haha =)), but coz i'll end up feeling groggy and disoriented later. haha. and on the 'goody goody' side, it's unethical to sleep during working hours. *wags an admonishing finger at imaginary audience*.

it's boring!!! i need retail therapy. yes yes, i know i just had it with von and lun last fri, but it isn enough lar... we only started walking around at like 8 something, and we barely covered the whole first level of far east. yep, tt's rite. it was SLOW. loved dinner that nite- if it can be counted as dinner in the first place. haha... we went to shi lin, the taiwan snack shop (xiao3 chi1, as it's called) to buy their fried chicken which i hear from quite a lot of ppl tt's quite nice. lun was interested in their oyster mee sua (which i think was not v wonderful, if u know wat i mean), and so we got a takeaway of tt as well on top of ordering beer battered fish and chips from Chippy, the British takeaway next door. welll..... . the chicken was not bad, quite crispy, the oyster mee sua.... read above comments, fish and chips... ok lar- the fries were not bad, but the fish tasted kinda weird. all in all, i loved the dinner tt night coz of the novelty. =) ooooo and the next highlight: we had gelare! 3 of us shared a tropical fruity sundae, which had 3 scoops of differently flavoured ice cream of our choice, with strawberries, bananas, and a BIG PEACH. love peaches!! and wafer oso. =) wild strawberry was a bit of a disappointment, coz we were looking forward to eating something tt was a little sour. passionfruit and raspberry sorbet satisfied our craving, but wild strawberry tasted more like strawberries and cream. not bad, just tt we were looking for somehting more sour.

looking forward to this fri. taking one day leave, and then meetign von and lun for songfest in the evening. hahahahaha. heard utt is going there, but dunno how accurate the info is. hopefully the candidates for songfest will be as good as the past yrs this yr. =)

cant wait for tml!! going out with von and lun shopping tml! hope i can find good bargains and nice clothes, but does orchard rd have any? when's the great singapore sale ah?

jesmine is just regaling us with stories of the animal world. do u know, ants infiltrate other colonies with the aim of conquering the ant hole? they infiltrate the colony, give birth to their 'own people', then when they have enough of their own people, they kill the queen ant of the infiltrated colony, then tt's when they take over the whole colony. they do tt coz the compartments in the ant hole are difficult to build, so if they take over an ant hole, they dun have to spend anymore time building one more. lazy rite?

here's another fun fact:
when u are chased by killer bees, DO NOT jump into the water. a commonly held belief is that the bees will fly off after u submerge urself in water, but its NOT TRUE!! they'll wait above the water for u to resurface, and when u've done so, they attack u. so clever rite? how ever did they guess that's wat we would do?

oh yah, here's another:
when a bee is killed by someone or something, b4 it dies, it will send a signal to its hive, informing the other bees of its danger. this signal is then picked up by its comrades, who will then rush out of the hive to try to save it. kinda reminds u of gangs rite? like u beat me up, i bring my brothers to come beat u up! rite?

wow, insects have human instincts too eh? like the ants- humans behave like tt in wars too, dun they?

anymore fun facts from jesmine shall be posted up asap =)

This is a test i did just now... "what kind of procrastinator are u?"


Eager Beaver
For you, every idea that comes up is appealing. Every cause seems worthy. Every activity sounds great. Every person needs you. News flash: Nobody can do it all! Though you're brilliant when you're interested in a project, the trouble is you have too many to keep track of. You procrastinate because you're overwhelmed, overbooked and overall too busy. You want to live life to the fullest, but all your lofty ambitions make you feel like the world's worst procrastinator.
Quick Tip:
First of all, take a look at the activities and priorities in your life and make sure your schedule's not stuffed with things that aren't that important to you. What can you eliminate? Even if you can only drop one meeting or activity a month, that's a step to finding the time to complete the important goals in your life.
Then start scheduling "just say no" time. Block out a day, or a portion of a day, to catch up -- planning, goal setting, errand running or reevaluating -- and decline invitations, activities, meetings or requests during that time. Don't answer the phone messages or emails (unless you're getting caught up on returning them). Giving yourself the time to focus on the most important tasks will make it easier to complete them.
Prioritize. Start making a list of projects you've been meaning to do and decide which three need to be done by the end of this month. Writing lists helps you see you have far fewer projects than the million you thought you were juggling.
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haha, thats quite true acty, which i guess is the reason y i often seem to be bursting at the seams.... oh, the test is brought to u by http://quiz.ivillage.com/health/tests/procrastinator.htm

they have many more tests there... including wat body type u are etc... for females only though... ;)

i've just been inspired to draw an analogy of life. if u'll remember, i used to have this nickname on msn: "Life is game. Choose to win", remember? well, i just felt an urge to expound further on it now. =)

life is like a game- we already established tt. so the opportunities that come our way are like the bonus items that we have to collect on our journey to complete our quest, like to make us stronger, healthier, extend our lives, etc. yep, these opportunities, or bonus items, help us to enrich our lives, and go further onwards in our journey for perhaps an extended period of time. how bout the setbacks we face? well, those are the obstacles we meet when we are on our journey. u know, the snakes, the sharks, those little evil things crawling around in the games? we gain experience when we learn how to deal with each of them. in the game, we usually slowly learn how to defeat each of these obstacles or evil creatures, because we have been defeated by them before. similarly, in life, after we face a setback, we gain the experience and learn how to deal with each of them, and ultimately defeat them. so defeating these evil creatures again arm us with the knowledge of how to deal with the game, wat to expect further on, and be prepared for it. but we have to be careful not to become too cynical and expect the unexpected, coz sometimes the game might throw us a surprise. let's say a particular mushroom in a super mario game is a different pattern from all the rest of the mushrooms. are we gonna shoot it or smething coz we think that since its a different kind of mushroom we are gonna treat it as a poisonous one? wat if it was a mushroom that could get us one level up?

one more thing: some might say i'm too idealistic to acty mention this, but another similarity btw the 2 is that both life and games can be restarted. there is no game over, unless, of course, the battery dies- literally and metaphorically, of course. there is always a chance to re-start. after all, that's one of the ways we can gain the experience to deal with similar evil creatures, rite? once bitten, twice shy- how can we be shy the second time if we didn have a chance to restart after being bitten the first time? tt's my reasoning of the above saying.

haha, am i being too idealistic or simplistic here in comparing life to a game? give me ur comments, k? liven up my tag board! PLEASE!!!!

so sleepy!!! haha just when i thot we had finally got our heads above the water from the recent large quantities of orders, we are swamped yet again by an avalanche of orders from BOTH nz and aus... omg! nightmare again today man.... orders werent too many, but coupons.... WHOA... though it didn reach as high a quantity as on mon, it was 500+... ivy and i are still struggling thru them. oh man... i still had like 22 of them left b4 i left the office, and i COULD have got them done by the time i finished work, if not for the fact tt the stupid system was down. hai... now i have to complete those on mon morning. sheesh, and those are the only entries left lor... the rest of the nz orders have been closed already. au's not done yet.

made a STUPID mistake yesterday!! i keyed the orders into the freaking wrong cage! oh, a cage is somewat like the batch no, so just imagine a real cage, and the orders are being keyed into the cage, and when we have finished, the cage is closed. can imagine? yep. yah, so the orders couldn be found, and the worst thing is, the mistake was found like the day AFTER the cages were closed and the quantities were reported. how bloody wonderful am i can u tell me? tt's a STUPID thing to do. argh. as if we dun have enough probs from tt person in charge of this proj. not the one from spring, the one our client's company decided on to oversee this proj. hai... she's been giving us more and more additional work to do, as if the work she has given us is not enough. seriously! we are doing DATA ENTRY, mind u, not LOGISTICS or STATISTICS. do u know, at one time, we had to go thru each product and count the number of orders that had the customers' DOBs? crazy rite? at tt time, it wasn too bad, coz the quantities were rather small. but can u imagine going thru them when the quantities are as high as this week's? we'd just die and goodness knows the amt of backlog we would have. then, after this was called off, the person i/c acty suggested going into prospects for EACH customer, and check if he/she had a DOB keyed in. is this madness or wat? shirley resisted tt, and then it was reduced to only one product. we were supposed to email the i/c every single name tt didn have a DOB keyed into the system to her, ON TOP of further separating the product into those with DOB and those with none, and tagging them with the heading "have DOB" and "no DOB". the tags are big, mind u, any normal person would be able to see it. how much clearer can it get? then, the thing is, she wants us to email her the list, u know y? because with the email, she can open the file anytime she wants. omg. she doesn even know tt we do the tagging for her already! isn tt double work?!

seems like all i tok about these days is just bout work. haha... but well, work's all tt's occupying my life these days. i kinda regret telling them that i'll be working till 2nd wk of june... the pay's attractive, but i'm tired already. hahaha lazy arent i? i'm getting used to the lifestyle of not going to sch and studying. kinda makes me worried bout how i'm gonna re-adapt to school life again... hehe... however, since i've already given my word... guess i'll have to stick with it and earn more money... =) moreover, with tt extra money, i can buy a new pair of specs! been wanting to buy a pair of rimless specs since sec 1, but haven been able to coz i've been playing vball. oh well, now tt i've stopped playing, i can go get one!! yay!! contacts are kinda out of the qn for me, coz my eyes get too dry... oh man! i bought 2 boxes of contacts- one for the right eye one for the left- for the prom ,and they have no astig... sheesh... i still have like 4 more in each box... how?!