Thursday, March 23, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Same People, Different Topics
Currently Playing: Everybody's Changing by Keane
this afternoon i sat down with 7 other odackies to tok cock and catch up... something i hvn't done in a while.
but it was SO WEIRD. everyone was talking abt jobs. well, the usual cock was still there... but the topic was so different compared to those talk cock sessions we used to have... abt odac... abt past scandals... abt gossip... abt ppl's backs... hahahah
but it was akin to these same ppl talking in a different language... just that i could still understand them. it was that kind of weird.
and the world continues to turn...
*damn tired after 2 consecutive night shifts and early sch tml. gotta sleep.
this afternoon i sat down with 7 other odackies to tok cock and catch up... something i hvn't done in a while.
but it was SO WEIRD. everyone was talking abt jobs. well, the usual cock was still there... but the topic was so different compared to those talk cock sessions we used to have... abt odac... abt past scandals... abt gossip... abt ppl's backs... hahahah
but it was akin to these same ppl talking in a different language... just that i could still understand them. it was that kind of weird.
and the world continues to turn...
*damn tired after 2 consecutive night shifts and early sch tml. gotta sleep.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Me Doing Night Shift Is A Bad Business Decision
why?
coz i'm into my 2nd cup of thick milo and polishing off half a roll of ritz, after a kopi-kau and a kitkat. tml for breakfast i'll be having cereal and kopi-kau. that can of coke looks tempting too... too bad the pringles are running low... else wld hv opened one liao.
the "policy" here is staff can help themselves to whatever food they want. the office has old, old food but this includes stuff that are on sale as well. of coz i try to take not-for-sale food, but sometimes they just can't suffice. like my chocolate craving rite now... or just wanting to feel little coke bubbles popping away on ur tongue.
i shdn't have talked abt all that. arghz...
on a more scary note: getting even more fat and still unfit. hvn't jogged since Episode: Dengue. will start again this wk. latest by friday.
coz i'm into my 2nd cup of thick milo and polishing off half a roll of ritz, after a kopi-kau and a kitkat. tml for breakfast i'll be having cereal and kopi-kau. that can of coke looks tempting too... too bad the pringles are running low... else wld hv opened one liao.
the "policy" here is staff can help themselves to whatever food they want. the office has old, old food but this includes stuff that are on sale as well. of coz i try to take not-for-sale food, but sometimes they just can't suffice. like my chocolate craving rite now... or just wanting to feel little coke bubbles popping away on ur tongue.
i shdn't have talked abt all that. arghz...
on a more scary note: getting even more fat and still unfit. hvn't jogged since Episode: Dengue. will start again this wk. latest by friday.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Posts About The Sipadan Diving Trip...
...can be found at http://rockies-roamings.blogspot.com
they're backdated... the dates shown will be the actual date i mean to record down about.
will fill it up as and when i have time.
they're backdated... the dates shown will be the actual date i mean to record down about.
will fill it up as and when i have time.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
On The Fringe
Short Post to balance things out.
I realise right now i'm kinda on the fringes of sterile singapore society.
I'm still studying at 25, taking 5 yrs for a "normally" 4 yr course.
I don't have a "normal" 9-to-5 job. in fact my job can be considered 9-to-9.
I go to work in berms and t-shirt.
My job involves smiling at and chatting with chio ang mohs everyday.
I am paid a hideously low salary for a wld-be graduate.
I actually like my job and look forward to each work day.
I go to school in berms and t-shirt.
I'm the guy tapping my feet and nodding my head (slightly) to music on the mrt while everyone else has earphones that seem to be on "mute"
I carry an MMS-incapable phone.
I've never had a gf. (yes... u knew this was going to come out... hahah)
ppl might think i'm bumming ard... but i believe i am doing stuff... just that it seems more fun
than others'.
I'm a minority's minority!! and i actually like it!! (after all, i'm a nonconformist)
I realise right now i'm kinda on the fringes of sterile singapore society.
I'm still studying at 25, taking 5 yrs for a "normally" 4 yr course.
I don't have a "normal" 9-to-5 job. in fact my job can be considered 9-to-9.
I go to work in berms and t-shirt.
My job involves smiling at and chatting with chio ang mohs everyday.
I am paid a hideously low salary for a wld-be graduate.
I actually like my job and look forward to each work day.
I go to school in berms and t-shirt.
I'm the guy tapping my feet and nodding my head (slightly) to music on the mrt while everyone else has earphones that seem to be on "mute"
I carry an MMS-incapable phone.
I've never had a gf. (yes... u knew this was going to come out... hahah)
ppl might think i'm bumming ard... but i believe i am doing stuff... just that it seems more fun
than others'.
I'm a minority's minority!! and i actually like it!! (after all, i'm a nonconformist)
Electoral Issues
Read the previous Sunday Times (5th March) at work this morning. (Early mornings are usually slow.) 2 issues caught my eye - The Agu Casmir Saga (to date) and The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
The Agu Casmir Saga
For those who find Singapore Soccer absolutely boring, be heartened to know that lately it is not. From the (In)famous Foreign Talent Scheme by Singapore Sports Council, Nigerian-born forward Agu Casmir, after given citizenship for/to play in Singapore colours in the 2003 SEA games, and helping the national team reach the 2004 Tiger Cup Final, has a disappointing 2005. Dropped from the national team for Asian Cup this year, he disappears for a month with US$20,000 he got with a contract with an Indonesian club.
He returns to Singapore on Feb 24 without the money (obviously). On Mar 6 he joins local club Woodlands for a monthly salary of $4,000 per mth, which is supposedly "below his market value". The club also says it will pay back the missing US$20,000, deducted from his salary, while FAS bans him from the national team for a year (that's 12 mths!!!) and fines him S$20,000. (there's a "U" missing here) Says he has tarnished the name of Singapore Soccer (if there was such a thing in the first place)
In other unrelated soccer news, national coach Raddy Angmohvich (dunno wat his name is lah) sacked Local-born Midfielder Goh Tat Chuan for leaving a local hotel, where the national team was staying for practices, to visit his sick wife at home, albeit informing anyone.
Now fans are up in arms over the little flick on the wrist (a la melvyn tan) for Agu Casmir asking why such a disgrace and obviously disloyal person is welcomed with opened arms and lots of money. (come on, how many locals get $4,000 a mth on a decent job, let alone for kicking a ball around?) In the same edition, ST Sports Editor Tay Cheng Khoon mulled about the discrepancy in punishments between the two issues (although i think having someone else pay off an external debt, plus being given a job, hardly qualifies as a punishment).
Wat i see here is the everyman's nightmare of what could happen with the gahmen's own Foreign Talent Scheme. Talented youngsters from other countries are enticed to study and grow here with perks such as HEAVILY subsidised education and meritocracy (stuff they can nv get at home), with a sort of loose contract making them work here for a couple of years after getting quality education. All in the hope of these ppl feeling bonded with Sg and staying to boost our talent pool.
but apparently it does not work all the time. Newspapers interviewed some of these "foreign talent", and they say they feel nothing for this place, they feel alienated and will leave here as soon as they graduate. they can give the excuse that they are going home for a visit, and never come back. and the gahmen can only suck thumb and slap an entry ban on them (like they wanna come back liddat)
alienated, they say? so are we locals supposed to adapt to foreign cultures everytime an influx of them comes in? shdn't they be the ones who adapt to our culture? and i must add some of their social habits are just horrendous. those who know me know wat i'm talking abt. You can't blame the gahmen for trying, but i think they need to come up with something better, something more binding. like a monetary bond... maybe give 50% of their pay or return a damn big study deposit only after they work off the few years. and i think giving foreigners heavily subsidised education just cheapens sg citizenship, just like agu casmir. at least melvyn tan learnt that National Education lesson.
This is just about students and fresh grads. what abt expats? we know they are paid obscene amts of money and a subsidised condo with company car. and yes we could get that overseas too. but the question is about fairness in reward and punishment. are the scales really balanced when it comes to locals vs foreigners? of coz since they are uprooted from home i have no qualms with them getting slightly more pay, but are equally qualified locals being looked over just coz the boss wants more angmohs for a "cosmopolitan" look? wasn't it just recently some angmoh junkies jumped bail over that "high" cocaine drug bust?
it is not a Uniquely Singapore problem. many countries are also concerned abt protecting the rights of locals over foreigners, and immigrants, legal or otherwise. but a good gahmen needs to assure its ppl that local interests come first, coz they are the ones who make up the nation, not nigerians who disappear for a month-long paid-for holiday. with elections coming, all the more this needs to be addressed.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
speaking of elections, remember last elections? when GRCs and SMCs were freshly hacked up and carved out for the 2001 elections, the (potential) opposition was up-in-arms abt the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee not being impartial, being just an extension of the gahmen, conveniently shaping electoral boundaries to suit gahmen fancy. both the committee and gahmen said it was not true, of coz.
then last month, the senior members of gahmen and PAP mentioned that old faces wld be making way for new ones. speculation was rife abt whether popular, vocal, long-time backbenchers like Dr. Wang Kai Yuen and Dr. Tan Cheng Bock wld be leaving parliament. It would be a loss for the nation.
On Saturday, the electoral boundaries are released to the media and population. surprise, surprise, the SMCs of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah have disappeared!! they have been "replaced" by the NEW SMCs of Bukit Panjang and Yio Chu Kang. hmm... that's a coincidence. The impartial Electoral Boundaries Review Committee wiped off both the single seats of Dr Wang and Dr. Tan off the electoral map, not long after speculation that they would step down!! if i didn't know any better abt the absolute independence of the EBRC, i would have thot they had taken into account a political party's decision to step down 2 veterans, and tweaked their own decision to match it!!
Let's see if Dr. Wang and Dr. Tan are really stepping down. If they do, it won't prove anything, but wld sure raise many, many questions. Of coz, the 2 veterans will be missed.
The Agu Casmir Saga
For those who find Singapore Soccer absolutely boring, be heartened to know that lately it is not. From the (In)famous Foreign Talent Scheme by Singapore Sports Council, Nigerian-born forward Agu Casmir, after given citizenship for/to play in Singapore colours in the 2003 SEA games, and helping the national team reach the 2004 Tiger Cup Final, has a disappointing 2005. Dropped from the national team for Asian Cup this year, he disappears for a month with US$20,000 he got with a contract with an Indonesian club.
He returns to Singapore on Feb 24 without the money (obviously). On Mar 6 he joins local club Woodlands for a monthly salary of $4,000 per mth, which is supposedly "below his market value". The club also says it will pay back the missing US$20,000, deducted from his salary, while FAS bans him from the national team for a year (that's 12 mths!!!) and fines him S$20,000. (there's a "U" missing here) Says he has tarnished the name of Singapore Soccer (if there was such a thing in the first place)
In other unrelated soccer news, national coach Raddy Angmohvich (dunno wat his name is lah) sacked Local-born Midfielder Goh Tat Chuan for leaving a local hotel, where the national team was staying for practices, to visit his sick wife at home, albeit informing anyone.
Now fans are up in arms over the little flick on the wrist (a la melvyn tan) for Agu Casmir asking why such a disgrace and obviously disloyal person is welcomed with opened arms and lots of money. (come on, how many locals get $4,000 a mth on a decent job, let alone for kicking a ball around?) In the same edition, ST Sports Editor Tay Cheng Khoon mulled about the discrepancy in punishments between the two issues (although i think having someone else pay off an external debt, plus being given a job, hardly qualifies as a punishment).
Wat i see here is the everyman's nightmare of what could happen with the gahmen's own Foreign Talent Scheme. Talented youngsters from other countries are enticed to study and grow here with perks such as HEAVILY subsidised education and meritocracy (stuff they can nv get at home), with a sort of loose contract making them work here for a couple of years after getting quality education. All in the hope of these ppl feeling bonded with Sg and staying to boost our talent pool.
but apparently it does not work all the time. Newspapers interviewed some of these "foreign talent", and they say they feel nothing for this place, they feel alienated and will leave here as soon as they graduate. they can give the excuse that they are going home for a visit, and never come back. and the gahmen can only suck thumb and slap an entry ban on them (like they wanna come back liddat)
alienated, they say? so are we locals supposed to adapt to foreign cultures everytime an influx of them comes in? shdn't they be the ones who adapt to our culture? and i must add some of their social habits are just horrendous. those who know me know wat i'm talking abt. You can't blame the gahmen for trying, but i think they need to come up with something better, something more binding. like a monetary bond... maybe give 50% of their pay or return a damn big study deposit only after they work off the few years. and i think giving foreigners heavily subsidised education just cheapens sg citizenship, just like agu casmir. at least melvyn tan learnt that National Education lesson.
This is just about students and fresh grads. what abt expats? we know they are paid obscene amts of money and a subsidised condo with company car. and yes we could get that overseas too. but the question is about fairness in reward and punishment. are the scales really balanced when it comes to locals vs foreigners? of coz since they are uprooted from home i have no qualms with them getting slightly more pay, but are equally qualified locals being looked over just coz the boss wants more angmohs for a "cosmopolitan" look? wasn't it just recently some angmoh junkies jumped bail over that "high" cocaine drug bust?
it is not a Uniquely Singapore problem. many countries are also concerned abt protecting the rights of locals over foreigners, and immigrants, legal or otherwise. but a good gahmen needs to assure its ppl that local interests come first, coz they are the ones who make up the nation, not nigerians who disappear for a month-long paid-for holiday. with elections coming, all the more this needs to be addressed.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
speaking of elections, remember last elections? when GRCs and SMCs were freshly hacked up and carved out for the 2001 elections, the (potential) opposition was up-in-arms abt the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee not being impartial, being just an extension of the gahmen, conveniently shaping electoral boundaries to suit gahmen fancy. both the committee and gahmen said it was not true, of coz.
then last month, the senior members of gahmen and PAP mentioned that old faces wld be making way for new ones. speculation was rife abt whether popular, vocal, long-time backbenchers like Dr. Wang Kai Yuen and Dr. Tan Cheng Bock wld be leaving parliament. It would be a loss for the nation.
On Saturday, the electoral boundaries are released to the media and population. surprise, surprise, the SMCs of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah have disappeared!! they have been "replaced" by the NEW SMCs of Bukit Panjang and Yio Chu Kang. hmm... that's a coincidence. The impartial Electoral Boundaries Review Committee wiped off both the single seats of Dr Wang and Dr. Tan off the electoral map, not long after speculation that they would step down!! if i didn't know any better abt the absolute independence of the EBRC, i would have thot they had taken into account a political party's decision to step down 2 veterans, and tweaked their own decision to match it!!
Let's see if Dr. Wang and Dr. Tan are really stepping down. If they do, it won't prove anything, but wld sure raise many, many questions. Of coz, the 2 veterans will be missed.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Back From Paradise
Currently Playing: Polaris by Zero7
I'm back. After living on a disused oil rig, constantly cooled by fresh sea breezes, baked by a sun in cloudless skies, witnessing sunrises and sunsets over a flat, shimmering horizon.
After being under 30m of crystal seawater everyday, had manta rays and reef sharks swim by me, being as close as I dared to a resting reef shark, stroked so many turtles and swim next to so many more.
After getting up REAL close to weird and wonderful sea-creatures like nudibranches, lionfish, frogfish, stonefish, pipefish, flutemouths and trumpetfish. After unknowingly kneeling on the sharp spikes of a sea urchin, holding on as gingerly as i could with 2 bare fingers on unknown corals, creeping on sandbeds on my elbows, slapping fellow divers with my fins in the process, just to get that (not-so) perfect shot.
I'm back, yet i can still feel the rocking motion of the sea even as i type this. but was i really there? i'm back in the real world so fast, it seemed like a dream. i have the photos and the memories and the scars with me... but somehow it seems so unreal. and now i'm back as if i never left.
maybe its coz i've gotten to used to being overseas for long periods after the YEP. maybe the run up to this trip was too rushed... i only had like 2 wks after confirmation, and hardly enuff time to prepare with dengue happening, work starting and quiz coming. or maybe i just wasn't enjoying myself as much as i shd hv been.
it wasn't a wasted trip... i can't bring myself to call a $900+++ dive trip a wasted one... haahahh. but i SHOULD HAVE prepared myself more. it wasn't spoiled. but wat didn't make it a wonderful one was a question of fit. Me not being fit, and me not fitting in.
the first issue is simple enuff. after getting dengue and just being plain lazy, i didn't get my strength and stamina back. i was sucking air like it was coconut juice coz i was struggling physically underwater, and mentally being under so much water. not diving for 1 1/4 yrs is not a good idea, being constantly under 30m of water after that is worse.
so more often than not, i wld be the 1st to surface, and the singaporean in me wld be thinking crap... pay the same amt but less water time. and worse still when the rest wld surface later and start ranting abt the amazing stuff they saw at the end - which was wat i missed. either that, or start ranting abt the rare little sea creatures they spotted/encountered, which i either failed to recognise, didn't spot, or just plain forgot that i saw it.
but in everything, there is a good, as well as bad side. "abandoning" my dive buddy and the rest in almost every dive gave me some "solo dive" time. sometimes i hovered above them and followed until i totally ran out of air, but sometimes i went up and over the reef on a totally different tack. maybe i didn't see as much as them; maybe i saw different things, but wat i really liked was that sense of being alone, being independent, being able to explore by myself, on wat little air i had. more explanation on that in later posts.
me not fitting in... now that was a slightly more tricky one. besides the ranting they did abt the creatures they saw and i missed, there was the dynamics of the group that made things a little weird for me. to being with, I went with X, whom i had an attempted and tangled history with. (ie. i attempted to have some history with her, and we have many links in different groups) along with her was her new found regular dive guy pal, W, and his gal pal, M.
W is kinda like a nice-guy beng, complete with smokes and crude jokes, but he's generally ok, with a passion for diving that's on the verge of irritating. he knows every damn creature there is in surrounding waters, even sketching them out in his log book, clocking dives like no one's business, and bringing an underwater camera like mine, with some photos that even rival mine. darn it.
M is ok as well... a bit direct, which i don't have a problem with, but initially kinda "discreetly" patronising. but as time went by we got along quite well. There were still kinda some unsettled issues with X... so the atmosphere was kinda thick sometimes. and both girls seem more comfortable with W, or maybe he knows how to talk on their frequency, so quite a few times i was the odd man out. never a guy who wants to force his way in a grp, i sometimes wandered off to explore with my camera, stayed soaking on the beach or just stayed silent while they played with W's camera, or chatted away abt ppl i didn't know.
but in fairness, of coz they didn't isolate me. W was always good guy company and a nice roommate to have, while M wld get me to join in when she saw i was standing aside. maybe she knows/found out abt the unfinished issues as well. as for X... well i don't think there's much to build upon liao. she's a great girl... independent, fun-loving, adventurous, funny, and pretty. but i guess she doesn't really think i suit her, and i also probably need someone who can handle me better during my apprehensive moods.
ok. end of griping. these are all just the darker issues i needed to get off my chest. the good stuff, the fun times and the marvelous creatures coming up in next posts.
in reference to my previous post... being the most inexperienced diver in the group... sometimes i dunno if wat i'm doing (which i think is best) agrees with the more experienced rest. and due to my massive air consumption, i surfaced earlier even though i try to maximise my air, ie. starting to ascend only in the red zone of my pressure gauge, surfacing with sometimes only 10 bar out of 200. risky behaviour, i know. but i wanted to stretch the $900+++!!! after all, i had forgone one dive to rest and sleep...
I'm back. After living on a disused oil rig, constantly cooled by fresh sea breezes, baked by a sun in cloudless skies, witnessing sunrises and sunsets over a flat, shimmering horizon.
After being under 30m of crystal seawater everyday, had manta rays and reef sharks swim by me, being as close as I dared to a resting reef shark, stroked so many turtles and swim next to so many more.
After getting up REAL close to weird and wonderful sea-creatures like nudibranches, lionfish, frogfish, stonefish, pipefish, flutemouths and trumpetfish. After unknowingly kneeling on the sharp spikes of a sea urchin, holding on as gingerly as i could with 2 bare fingers on unknown corals, creeping on sandbeds on my elbows, slapping fellow divers with my fins in the process, just to get that (not-so) perfect shot.
I'm back, yet i can still feel the rocking motion of the sea even as i type this. but was i really there? i'm back in the real world so fast, it seemed like a dream. i have the photos and the memories and the scars with me... but somehow it seems so unreal. and now i'm back as if i never left.
maybe its coz i've gotten to used to being overseas for long periods after the YEP. maybe the run up to this trip was too rushed... i only had like 2 wks after confirmation, and hardly enuff time to prepare with dengue happening, work starting and quiz coming. or maybe i just wasn't enjoying myself as much as i shd hv been.
it wasn't a wasted trip... i can't bring myself to call a $900+++ dive trip a wasted one... haahahh. but i SHOULD HAVE prepared myself more. it wasn't spoiled. but wat didn't make it a wonderful one was a question of fit. Me not being fit, and me not fitting in.
the first issue is simple enuff. after getting dengue and just being plain lazy, i didn't get my strength and stamina back. i was sucking air like it was coconut juice coz i was struggling physically underwater, and mentally being under so much water. not diving for 1 1/4 yrs is not a good idea, being constantly under 30m of water after that is worse.
so more often than not, i wld be the 1st to surface, and the singaporean in me wld be thinking crap... pay the same amt but less water time. and worse still when the rest wld surface later and start ranting abt the amazing stuff they saw at the end - which was wat i missed. either that, or start ranting abt the rare little sea creatures they spotted/encountered, which i either failed to recognise, didn't spot, or just plain forgot that i saw it.
but in everything, there is a good, as well as bad side. "abandoning" my dive buddy and the rest in almost every dive gave me some "solo dive" time. sometimes i hovered above them and followed until i totally ran out of air, but sometimes i went up and over the reef on a totally different tack. maybe i didn't see as much as them; maybe i saw different things, but wat i really liked was that sense of being alone, being independent, being able to explore by myself, on wat little air i had. more explanation on that in later posts.
me not fitting in... now that was a slightly more tricky one. besides the ranting they did abt the creatures they saw and i missed, there was the dynamics of the group that made things a little weird for me. to being with, I went with X, whom i had an attempted and tangled history with. (ie. i attempted to have some history with her, and we have many links in different groups) along with her was her new found regular dive guy pal, W, and his gal pal, M.
W is kinda like a nice-guy beng, complete with smokes and crude jokes, but he's generally ok, with a passion for diving that's on the verge of irritating. he knows every damn creature there is in surrounding waters, even sketching them out in his log book, clocking dives like no one's business, and bringing an underwater camera like mine, with some photos that even rival mine. darn it.
M is ok as well... a bit direct, which i don't have a problem with, but initially kinda "discreetly" patronising. but as time went by we got along quite well. There were still kinda some unsettled issues with X... so the atmosphere was kinda thick sometimes. and both girls seem more comfortable with W, or maybe he knows how to talk on their frequency, so quite a few times i was the odd man out. never a guy who wants to force his way in a grp, i sometimes wandered off to explore with my camera, stayed soaking on the beach or just stayed silent while they played with W's camera, or chatted away abt ppl i didn't know.
but in fairness, of coz they didn't isolate me. W was always good guy company and a nice roommate to have, while M wld get me to join in when she saw i was standing aside. maybe she knows/found out abt the unfinished issues as well. as for X... well i don't think there's much to build upon liao. she's a great girl... independent, fun-loving, adventurous, funny, and pretty. but i guess she doesn't really think i suit her, and i also probably need someone who can handle me better during my apprehensive moods.
ok. end of griping. these are all just the darker issues i needed to get off my chest. the good stuff, the fun times and the marvelous creatures coming up in next posts.
in reference to my previous post... being the most inexperienced diver in the group... sometimes i dunno if wat i'm doing (which i think is best) agrees with the more experienced rest. and due to my massive air consumption, i surfaced earlier even though i try to maximise my air, ie. starting to ascend only in the red zone of my pressure gauge, surfacing with sometimes only 10 bar out of 200. risky behaviour, i know. but i wanted to stretch the $900+++!!! after all, i had forgone one dive to rest and sleep...
Saturday, March 04, 2006
How Do You Know?
How do you know if wat seems like the right thing to do at that time really is the right thing?
How do you know if the person who u're trying to help actually knows better?
How do you know when it's your limit physiologically?
How do you know when it's your absolute limit?
How do you know before you cross that imaginary one-way membrane, that point of no return?
Pushing the limits to seize the moment sounds foolish, but how do you know when it's actually the limit? maybe what you're capable of more than wat u think.
But maybe not.
I'm the most inexperienced, and very unfit, sometimes, in more ways than one. I need to push myself to exercise, and get more avenues to dive. to quote zz, it's like golf, u need to be fit to play, not play to be fit. else you wun enjoy it.
How do you know if the person who u're trying to help actually knows better?
How do you know when it's your limit physiologically?
How do you know when it's your absolute limit?
How do you know before you cross that imaginary one-way membrane, that point of no return?
Pushing the limits to seize the moment sounds foolish, but how do you know when it's actually the limit? maybe what you're capable of more than wat u think.
But maybe not.
I'm the most inexperienced, and very unfit, sometimes, in more ways than one. I need to push myself to exercise, and get more avenues to dive. to quote zz, it's like golf, u need to be fit to play, not play to be fit. else you wun enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Short Post
Got peepur complain... oops sorrie... FEEDBACK that i write very long entries... and coz i value everyone in my audience, this entry is just for u!!
tml going diving.
packing took quite a while, cldn't find some stuff.
before that still went to sch for quiz, accidentally met a buddy for late lunch.
and met vj for dinner and a long chat to catch up on the last 2 mths in which i was too busy for him.
need to sleep! it's late.
so i cannot deliver the promise of "Tales of Work & Weirdos" today. So sorrie everyone. I'll either make it up by posting good entries and yes, for the 1st time, photos! but if i'm too lazy to do that i'll just post "Tales of Work & Weirdos" later instead.
i think my mp3 player spoil... and on the eve of a trip when i just loaded the monstrous amt of songs i wanted to bring along also. maybe that was it which did it in.
sianzed.
tml going diving.
packing took quite a while, cldn't find some stuff.
before that still went to sch for quiz, accidentally met a buddy for late lunch.
and met vj for dinner and a long chat to catch up on the last 2 mths in which i was too busy for him.
need to sleep! it's late.
so i cannot deliver the promise of "Tales of Work & Weirdos" today. So sorrie everyone. I'll either make it up by posting good entries and yes, for the 1st time, photos! but if i'm too lazy to do that i'll just post "Tales of Work & Weirdos" later instead.
i think my mp3 player spoil... and on the eve of a trip when i just loaded the monstrous amt of songs i wanted to bring along also. maybe that was it which did it in.
sianzed.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Responding to Orangie's Blog
well... i dun hv anything against faggots if they leave everyone else alone and quietly live out their lives and then be condemned to eternal hell... i just ridicule them behind their backs. in front of them i'm rather civil. really.
but wat i don't like is that for a minority, their voice does not match their numbers. many of these g(u/a)ys are creative ppl. they are able to use media to spread their ideas that it's alrite to hump someone else's ass, it's alrite to come out of the closet, oh btw, we're being discriminated against, so please stand up for us, even if u're straight. we'll find some way to convert u if u hv a tight ass.
so everyone's now up in arms abt gay rights, and their faggoty voices are trying to drown out other minority voices. enuff abt blacks in US, enuff of jews everywhere in the world, wat abt immigrant chinese in US or EU? wat abt innocent muslims in US and EU? wat abt those with sub-normal intelligence? disabled? how many movies/celebrities/reality shows feature those, as compared to faggots? now, every survivor, amazing race, apprentice, modern "dramedy", has a mandatory gay participant/team. Project runway has more than its fair share. at most, only Sue-ann and another chinese guy has been on survivor, and currently a half-japanese looking bruce. there has been NO chinese team on amazing race, and only one Ivana Ma on the apprentice. so are there more gays than east-asian people in the US?
so normal impressionable teenagers, not thinking too much, watch these programmes and movies and think, actually, there seems to be many gays around. it seems acceptable to be gay, even cool (notice how many guys wear PINK nowadays). let's face it. ppl dun think too much when they wanna try to fit in, or stand out. so they start thinking, hey that seems cool. let's go hump someone's ass!! and before u know it, we have a whole nation of single women all becoming SPGs coz the local teenage guys are humping each other.
and for a small nation like ours, it's bad news!! no local born babies from normal relationships means no soldiers for SAF, no workers for economy, no scholars for gahmen service. and to escape all these, the half-ang-moh kids of local SPGs will pester their angmoh dads to bring them back to their redneck hometowns, or at least pay for expensive overseas piano lessons.
we're already seeing so many "foreign talent" filling up the gaps in the lower end of society: cleaners, fast food workers, street walkers, construction workers. and currently birth rates are already dropping. if more and more locals start turning gay, 50yrs down the road we might as well give the whole country to them.
then u'll see foreign talent taking over the higher rungs or society, while locals fill up the lower ones. why? coz all the local women are now rich tai tais living off their rich expat angmoh husbands while their darling chapcheng sons and daughters are studying for degrees in US and Oz or taking piano lessons in UK, and the local men have all been sacked from their jobs. how do i know? coz i watched brokeback mountain yesterday too. leave 2 or more faggots to do a job, they'll drop everything and hump, letting the sheep run loose all over the place.
so that's y gahmen is pushing the local faggot scene down so hard. coz they know wat havoc they hv caused in the western countries. and as a small country we cannot afford that. it wld hv more of our conservative, traditional, older generation keeling over with heart attacks as well, and damage our "average lifespan" rating. i understand wat the gahmen is doing, and like it. they know they can't shut them off totally, but SM Goh warned them before - dun go too far. i think that's probably why oral and anal sex without normal copulation is an offense: if the gay community goes too far, ALL of them can be locked away.
unfair u say? unnatural sex act unfair? ISA unfair? GRCs unfair? well... when u're in power, u'll want to stay there too rite? and u HAVE the power to make sure u stay there. U want to change things? u want a gay nation with gay cabinet? with terrorists running around freely coz they can only be caught AFTER they've killed hundreds of innocents? with MPs turning up for parliament in slippers? then go ahead and stand for election on the current rules lor.
i said before that i wld like to see more opposition in parliament. i still stand by that, even though i really really like wat the gahmen is doing now, except for some minor details. for the big picture, they're doing really well. wat i wld like to see is more CREDIBLE ppl not toeing the party line and bringing up issues which might hv been swept under the carpet. more Chiam See Tongs and Low Thia Khiangs. more Steve Chias are also ok, provided they keep their clothes on.
i think i've digressed. where was I? anyway, my stand abt faggots is as long as they dun bother me, i can still be civil in front of them. but they shd not hv a louder voice just because they wear shocking pink.
but wat i don't like is that for a minority, their voice does not match their numbers. many of these g(u/a)ys are creative ppl. they are able to use media to spread their ideas that it's alrite to hump someone else's ass, it's alrite to come out of the closet, oh btw, we're being discriminated against, so please stand up for us, even if u're straight. we'll find some way to convert u if u hv a tight ass.
so everyone's now up in arms abt gay rights, and their faggoty voices are trying to drown out other minority voices. enuff abt blacks in US, enuff of jews everywhere in the world, wat abt immigrant chinese in US or EU? wat abt innocent muslims in US and EU? wat abt those with sub-normal intelligence? disabled? how many movies/celebrities/reality shows feature those, as compared to faggots? now, every survivor, amazing race, apprentice, modern "dramedy", has a mandatory gay participant/team. Project runway has more than its fair share. at most, only Sue-ann and another chinese guy has been on survivor, and currently a half-japanese looking bruce. there has been NO chinese team on amazing race, and only one Ivana Ma on the apprentice. so are there more gays than east-asian people in the US?
so normal impressionable teenagers, not thinking too much, watch these programmes and movies and think, actually, there seems to be many gays around. it seems acceptable to be gay, even cool (notice how many guys wear PINK nowadays). let's face it. ppl dun think too much when they wanna try to fit in, or stand out. so they start thinking, hey that seems cool. let's go hump someone's ass!! and before u know it, we have a whole nation of single women all becoming SPGs coz the local teenage guys are humping each other.
and for a small nation like ours, it's bad news!! no local born babies from normal relationships means no soldiers for SAF, no workers for economy, no scholars for gahmen service. and to escape all these, the half-ang-moh kids of local SPGs will pester their angmoh dads to bring them back to their redneck hometowns, or at least pay for expensive overseas piano lessons.
we're already seeing so many "foreign talent" filling up the gaps in the lower end of society: cleaners, fast food workers, street walkers, construction workers. and currently birth rates are already dropping. if more and more locals start turning gay, 50yrs down the road we might as well give the whole country to them.
then u'll see foreign talent taking over the higher rungs or society, while locals fill up the lower ones. why? coz all the local women are now rich tai tais living off their rich expat angmoh husbands while their darling chapcheng sons and daughters are studying for degrees in US and Oz or taking piano lessons in UK, and the local men have all been sacked from their jobs. how do i know? coz i watched brokeback mountain yesterday too. leave 2 or more faggots to do a job, they'll drop everything and hump, letting the sheep run loose all over the place.
so that's y gahmen is pushing the local faggot scene down so hard. coz they know wat havoc they hv caused in the western countries. and as a small country we cannot afford that. it wld hv more of our conservative, traditional, older generation keeling over with heart attacks as well, and damage our "average lifespan" rating. i understand wat the gahmen is doing, and like it. they know they can't shut them off totally, but SM Goh warned them before - dun go too far. i think that's probably why oral and anal sex without normal copulation is an offense: if the gay community goes too far, ALL of them can be locked away.
unfair u say? unnatural sex act unfair? ISA unfair? GRCs unfair? well... when u're in power, u'll want to stay there too rite? and u HAVE the power to make sure u stay there. U want to change things? u want a gay nation with gay cabinet? with terrorists running around freely coz they can only be caught AFTER they've killed hundreds of innocents? with MPs turning up for parliament in slippers? then go ahead and stand for election on the current rules lor.
i said before that i wld like to see more opposition in parliament. i still stand by that, even though i really really like wat the gahmen is doing now, except for some minor details. for the big picture, they're doing really well. wat i wld like to see is more CREDIBLE ppl not toeing the party line and bringing up issues which might hv been swept under the carpet. more Chiam See Tongs and Low Thia Khiangs. more Steve Chias are also ok, provided they keep their clothes on.
i think i've digressed. where was I? anyway, my stand abt faggots is as long as they dun bother me, i can still be civil in front of them. but they shd not hv a louder voice just because they wear shocking pink.
So Many Words, So Little Time
Currently Playing: All Rise by Blue
No time, but so much to record and relate.
first of all, why no time? coz
1) Bad News: Tues got fluids quiz, only read thru 1/2 the notes. Tml (mon) need to finish the notes and 3 tutorials. Tall order, so shd sleep early, considering i was consecutive nite shift for 2 nites liao.
2) Good News: Wed - Next Mon (1-6 Mar) I going Diving at Sipadan!! Woohoo!! expensive lah, i spending more than my whole mth's pay on it... but i guess its a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Shh... dun tell my parents k... they'll freak out if they know i going to the 2000 Abu Sayyaf kidnapping venue... i just told them a vague "Malaysia"... when probed further a still-vague "Sabah".
So, hope u guys, my Dear Readers, dun miss me too much. will hv long entries when i'm back to counter your withdrawals!!
Let me just record a rough list of wat i shd relate before i go diving.
Next Entry: "Tales of Work & Weirdos"
- The 2 Americans Who Hate Bush
- The Filipino Family
- The Old Man Who Couldn't Sleep
- The Faggots
- The Dubious Chinawoman
- The 5.30am Phone Call
- The Friendly Old German
- The Japanese Lady With Toilet Trouble
- The Walk-Ins: What A Difference A Day Makes
- The Cute Colleague
must... resist... on the 1st nite, in entered.... the urge... to elaborate... a non-guest who wanted to use..... now.... must click.... the orange button lablerd... arghz... the internet computers, so.... labelled... "Publish Post".... *click*
No time, but so much to record and relate.
first of all, why no time? coz
1) Bad News: Tues got fluids quiz, only read thru 1/2 the notes. Tml (mon) need to finish the notes and 3 tutorials. Tall order, so shd sleep early, considering i was consecutive nite shift for 2 nites liao.
2) Good News: Wed - Next Mon (1-6 Mar) I going Diving at Sipadan!! Woohoo!! expensive lah, i spending more than my whole mth's pay on it... but i guess its a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Shh... dun tell my parents k... they'll freak out if they know i going to the 2000 Abu Sayyaf kidnapping venue... i just told them a vague "Malaysia"... when probed further a still-vague "Sabah".
So, hope u guys, my Dear Readers, dun miss me too much. will hv long entries when i'm back to counter your withdrawals!!
Let me just record a rough list of wat i shd relate before i go diving.
Next Entry: "Tales of Work & Weirdos"
- The 2 Americans Who Hate Bush
- The Filipino Family
- The Old Man Who Couldn't Sleep
- The Faggots
- The Dubious Chinawoman
- The 5.30am Phone Call
- The Friendly Old German
- The Japanese Lady With Toilet Trouble
- The Walk-Ins: What A Difference A Day Makes
- The Cute Colleague
must... resist... on the 1st nite, in entered.... the urge... to elaborate... a non-guest who wanted to use..... now.... must click.... the orange button lablerd... arghz... the internet computers, so.... labelled... "Publish Post".... *click*
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Go Ahead, Tell Me What You REALLY Think
Just for fun:
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Rockie
Even more funner:
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=EvilRockie
Go ahead. I can take it. Quick, before i turn evil and hunt u down. hahahaha
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Rockie
Even more funner:
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=EvilRockie
Go ahead. I can take it. Quick, before i turn evil and hunt u down. hahahaha
Fulfilling Day (Be Warned: Long)
I hv been supposedly awake for the past 20 hrs with the help of only 2 cups of coffee, not counting the exhausted micro-naps on the bus. my knees are screaming out bloody murder for making them lug 50-60kg of meat and bone all over sg. but it was all worth it.
Started with last nite at work. now i fully understand wat lady boss say by "if no one come, means no one come. but when one come, all will come". referring to guest enquires/payments/checkins/checkouts/etc of coz.
so my shift from 8pm to midnite flew by pretty fast. was kinda surprised when it was time to close up. after boss left, and came back and left again, i raided the "expired or not-for-sale food" box for munching while reading www.threekingdoms.com. suffered un-crispy seaweed, gross looking/tasting cake given by "grateful" guest, finally settled on loose bak hu and thick, thick milo. anything else repulsive which was nibbled at does not count.
tried to sleep start 230am... but hard metal bars under mattress + doorbell ringing from late returning chinaman kept me from sleeping. probably slept only 2++ hrs before alarm clock rang to check out a pair of swedes at 630am. called a cab for them. soon after, a yellow cab went past the front slowly... but didn't stop.
swede: is dat our cab?
me: i dun think so. i called the other company. their taxis are blue or green.
yellow cab reverses back into parking lot.
me: yeah... maybe it is. (probably not loud enuff for them to hear while they hurriedly grab their bags and head out the door.)
swedes: dank yew! gootbye!
a rather embarassed me: cya!! *whew*
back to sleep for another 1/2 hr. wake up for the day and open up/set up the place. slow breakfast of gone-soft cereal + 2 pkts of 3-in-1 coffee with as much soluble coffee and chocolate powder i dare to add, all in a typical ceramic mug. with hot water of coz.
i mean slow coz 1 guy checked out, 1 girl checked in and 1 guy came to get the stuff in the office safe and pay for stuff and chit chat while i was eating. so of coz stop and entertain them lah.
and when lady boss came in, so did another flurry of requests, payments, enquires, etc. left work at 10am.
decided to head to ubin to pick wild flowers for mum. illegally of coz. so was going to be a
采花贼. saw that the no.2 bus i took from tanah merah (after an illegally long wait!!) went past changi chapel & museum, so decided to add that in as well. (free entry! so i donated $1.50 out of goodwill)
at the (recreated) chapel, read abt the WW2 invasion and evil treatment of POWs, generously illustrated by the many photos and drawings and artifacts. a Jap looking young guy was there alone as well, letting out the occasional sniff, dunno whether out of remorse or out of aircon. had to resist swinging a rusty hoe at him.
i am SO glad i'll only be working on fri nite again. if i had to work now, i'd be bayoneting all the jap guests, screaming "banzai your fricking balls, man!!"
spent way too much time there... almost 2 hrs. had lunch at changi village and only managed to board an ubin ferry at 2.35pm (including waiting time for the uncle to get enuff passengers before willing to pause his chit chat session with another boat uncle)
hit ubin and went straight to usual bike rental. for $4 i got a mid-sized mountain bike with a squeaky left pedal. for my haggling i was promised $1 back if i came back before 5pm.
so i zoomed off. whoosh! squeak...squeak...squeak... reached the german girl shrine with tired thighs and ears.
*the german girl shrine is located further into one of the smaller tracks, after the markings on the map end... it is a small, unremarkable wooden hut painted wholy in bright yellow, sitting under a large tree. opening its bright yellow doors, beyond the front table of burnt-out joss sticks stands a barbie doll, flanked by lipstick, ah-ma white face powder, mirrors, combs, bottles of water. the german girl's supposed urn sits behind the doll, which is part offering, part image. on the other 2 far corners sit 2 other altars of other gods.
i offered joss sticks and mentioned that it wld be great if she could watch over my parents and brother, thanx. i'm not the religious type, but her story kinda moves me. and anyway, i was already there, so no harm trying.
after a lingering rest, i picked the requested and other interesting wild flowers, taking photos of some future victims as well, and acted normal both times the police land rover trundled by. *whistle and stroll casually....*
as i pedalled less-furiously back, it struck me. 1st i saw instances of ppl from the allied countries suffering. then i visited an actual sufferee(?) from an axis country. full circle. maybe i shdn't judge, just accept it as part of history, and learn from it... violence only causes suffering.
and strangely enuff, the left pedal had stopped squeaking before i noticed.
stopped for a while at another shrine on top of a knoll, just to check it out. after getting back my $1, i was confronted by a gaggle of abt 60 students all wanting to get off the island. one yah-yah guy, probably their npcc occifer, was calling out for one more guy to get into the boat.
so i called out in chinese: "uncle! one more person ah?" "yah yah!" came the reply. but yah-yah guy stopped me, saying "sorry, we got one more person. so-and-so!" and a sheepish malay dude came running out from behind his frens.
for the next boat, yah-yah guy asked me "you all got how many ppl?" i replied sternly "i one person." i pointed to the ang moh guy and local girl i saw on the windy ubin roads earlier. "they two ppl." amazingly, not only did yah-yah guy "let" us board the next boat, ("ok, u all can take this one") he collected the fare of $2 from us!
the other 2 gave willingly. i suspiciously held on, wondering if he wld run off with the money, and the boat uncle demanding payment when we were out at sea. i grudgingly handed over my single note, and kept my grudging eye on him until he handed the money over. who did he think he was? anyway, i wasn't going to miss my hot date on account of his gaggle of students.
on the way back to mainland, i looked at my fellow passengers, the students. all of them wore long track pants and BLACK polo tees. and on such a hot day!! they had little water with them, only some carried small pouches and at least one looked flushed with heat. wat an idiot of a leader that guy is!!
anyway. i didn't hv any more water myself, and just managed to catch the no. 2 in time. much of the journey was endeavoured in trying to keep awake, in fear of missing my stop. when it finally came, i had only enuff brain cells awake to stumble across one damn-irritated auntie, shuffle some fat teenager out of the way, and hastily fall out of the bus. i remained standing for the mrt ride home.
had a short soak in the pool to wash away some of the tiredness, sea spray and salty sweat. after a shower by the pool, of coz. but i couldn't stay long - the allied invasion came in the form of 2 ang moh boys shouting and splashing in the pool with their threatening super-soaker style water guns. they sprayed each other, other screaming kids who were "passing by", and even aimed at me - but i was too far away to be hit. but no matter... the peace was gone, and time for me to go.
on the way to my hot date with my consultant, i made the stupid mistake of taking sleep-inducing buses again. i dunno how many times i woke up with a start, followed by a 5-sec blank as my brain tried to recognise where i was.
the hot date was very pleasant... consultant and i go back a few yrs, even had a short "semi-relationship". it was fun... we went shopping for my clothes, of coz. she still has that habit of stroking my masculine chest when i try on shirts, or slapping my tight butt when i try on jeans. hmmm.... maybe it isn't a habit after all... ;-P
yup... so did 110% of wat i wanted to... work, go ubin to 采花, date with consultant. threw in a visit to changi chapel as well. nice.
now so damn tired... hope i can wake up by noon tml.
and if u got until here, thanx for staying. must hv been real hard. haahah
Started with last nite at work. now i fully understand wat lady boss say by "if no one come, means no one come. but when one come, all will come". referring to guest enquires/payments/checkins/checkouts/etc of coz.
so my shift from 8pm to midnite flew by pretty fast. was kinda surprised when it was time to close up. after boss left, and came back and left again, i raided the "expired or not-for-sale food" box for munching while reading www.threekingdoms.com. suffered un-crispy seaweed, gross looking/tasting cake given by "grateful" guest, finally settled on loose bak hu and thick, thick milo. anything else repulsive which was nibbled at does not count.
tried to sleep start 230am... but hard metal bars under mattress + doorbell ringing from late returning chinaman kept me from sleeping. probably slept only 2++ hrs before alarm clock rang to check out a pair of swedes at 630am. called a cab for them. soon after, a yellow cab went past the front slowly... but didn't stop.
swede: is dat our cab?
me: i dun think so. i called the other company. their taxis are blue or green.
yellow cab reverses back into parking lot.
me: yeah... maybe it is. (probably not loud enuff for them to hear while they hurriedly grab their bags and head out the door.)
swedes: dank yew! gootbye!
a rather embarassed me: cya!! *whew*
back to sleep for another 1/2 hr. wake up for the day and open up/set up the place. slow breakfast of gone-soft cereal + 2 pkts of 3-in-1 coffee with as much soluble coffee and chocolate powder i dare to add, all in a typical ceramic mug. with hot water of coz.
i mean slow coz 1 guy checked out, 1 girl checked in and 1 guy came to get the stuff in the office safe and pay for stuff and chit chat while i was eating. so of coz stop and entertain them lah.
and when lady boss came in, so did another flurry of requests, payments, enquires, etc. left work at 10am.
decided to head to ubin to pick wild flowers for mum. illegally of coz. so was going to be a
采花贼. saw that the no.2 bus i took from tanah merah (after an illegally long wait!!) went past changi chapel & museum, so decided to add that in as well. (free entry! so i donated $1.50 out of goodwill)
at the (recreated) chapel, read abt the WW2 invasion and evil treatment of POWs, generously illustrated by the many photos and drawings and artifacts. a Jap looking young guy was there alone as well, letting out the occasional sniff, dunno whether out of remorse or out of aircon. had to resist swinging a rusty hoe at him.
i am SO glad i'll only be working on fri nite again. if i had to work now, i'd be bayoneting all the jap guests, screaming "banzai your fricking balls, man!!"
spent way too much time there... almost 2 hrs. had lunch at changi village and only managed to board an ubin ferry at 2.35pm (including waiting time for the uncle to get enuff passengers before willing to pause his chit chat session with another boat uncle)
hit ubin and went straight to usual bike rental. for $4 i got a mid-sized mountain bike with a squeaky left pedal. for my haggling i was promised $1 back if i came back before 5pm.
so i zoomed off. whoosh! squeak...squeak...squeak... reached the german girl shrine with tired thighs and ears.
*the german girl shrine is located further into one of the smaller tracks, after the markings on the map end... it is a small, unremarkable wooden hut painted wholy in bright yellow, sitting under a large tree. opening its bright yellow doors, beyond the front table of burnt-out joss sticks stands a barbie doll, flanked by lipstick, ah-ma white face powder, mirrors, combs, bottles of water. the german girl's supposed urn sits behind the doll, which is part offering, part image. on the other 2 far corners sit 2 other altars of other gods.
i offered joss sticks and mentioned that it wld be great if she could watch over my parents and brother, thanx. i'm not the religious type, but her story kinda moves me. and anyway, i was already there, so no harm trying.
after a lingering rest, i picked the requested and other interesting wild flowers, taking photos of some future victims as well, and acted normal both times the police land rover trundled by. *whistle and stroll casually....*
as i pedalled less-furiously back, it struck me. 1st i saw instances of ppl from the allied countries suffering. then i visited an actual sufferee(?) from an axis country. full circle. maybe i shdn't judge, just accept it as part of history, and learn from it... violence only causes suffering.
and strangely enuff, the left pedal had stopped squeaking before i noticed.
stopped for a while at another shrine on top of a knoll, just to check it out. after getting back my $1, i was confronted by a gaggle of abt 60 students all wanting to get off the island. one yah-yah guy, probably their npcc occifer, was calling out for one more guy to get into the boat.
so i called out in chinese: "uncle! one more person ah?" "yah yah!" came the reply. but yah-yah guy stopped me, saying "sorry, we got one more person. so-and-so!" and a sheepish malay dude came running out from behind his frens.
for the next boat, yah-yah guy asked me "you all got how many ppl?" i replied sternly "i one person." i pointed to the ang moh guy and local girl i saw on the windy ubin roads earlier. "they two ppl." amazingly, not only did yah-yah guy "let" us board the next boat, ("ok, u all can take this one") he collected the fare of $2 from us!
the other 2 gave willingly. i suspiciously held on, wondering if he wld run off with the money, and the boat uncle demanding payment when we were out at sea. i grudgingly handed over my single note, and kept my grudging eye on him until he handed the money over. who did he think he was? anyway, i wasn't going to miss my hot date on account of his gaggle of students.
on the way back to mainland, i looked at my fellow passengers, the students. all of them wore long track pants and BLACK polo tees. and on such a hot day!! they had little water with them, only some carried small pouches and at least one looked flushed with heat. wat an idiot of a leader that guy is!!
anyway. i didn't hv any more water myself, and just managed to catch the no. 2 in time. much of the journey was endeavoured in trying to keep awake, in fear of missing my stop. when it finally came, i had only enuff brain cells awake to stumble across one damn-irritated auntie, shuffle some fat teenager out of the way, and hastily fall out of the bus. i remained standing for the mrt ride home.
had a short soak in the pool to wash away some of the tiredness, sea spray and salty sweat. after a shower by the pool, of coz. but i couldn't stay long - the allied invasion came in the form of 2 ang moh boys shouting and splashing in the pool with their threatening super-soaker style water guns. they sprayed each other, other screaming kids who were "passing by", and even aimed at me - but i was too far away to be hit. but no matter... the peace was gone, and time for me to go.
on the way to my hot date with my consultant, i made the stupid mistake of taking sleep-inducing buses again. i dunno how many times i woke up with a start, followed by a 5-sec blank as my brain tried to recognise where i was.
the hot date was very pleasant... consultant and i go back a few yrs, even had a short "semi-relationship". it was fun... we went shopping for my clothes, of coz. she still has that habit of stroking my masculine chest when i try on shirts, or slapping my tight butt when i try on jeans. hmmm.... maybe it isn't a habit after all... ;-P
yup... so did 110% of wat i wanted to... work, go ubin to 采花, date with consultant. threw in a visit to changi chapel as well. nice.
now so damn tired... hope i can wake up by noon tml.
and if u got until here, thanx for staying. must hv been real hard. haahah
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Short Post
Currently Playing: Incessant Tapping on the Roof Extension Just Outside My Windows by Light Rain
Work, although can be tiring, is very fun. Never a dull moment coz even when there's no one around, there's either admin to finish or books to read. Plenty of chio ang moh girls to chat with.
I've only been to sch 3 times so far, so out of sight, out of mind. Will go regularly starting 2nd wk of march.
Going diving at Sipadan 1st to 6th March. only told parents it was "Malaysia". (i'm not lying wat)
Parents stopped nagging about the job liao. Guess they know I'll do wat i want anyway.
Cute girls popping out here and there. "Here" meaning at work and "There" meaning in hospital.
Things are picking up I guess. nothing much to gripe abt, hence this short post.
But hor, got dilemma.
Been turned off by gahmen's tactics, using GRCs and RCs to block opposition avenues, upgrading as carrots *if we don't come back, all dun hv!*, and using media as campaign tools (ST time bombs front page & News5tonite - see earlier post). but then hor, now they gimme money leh. then if i dun vote for them, i feel ungrateful leh, bite the fingers that gimme sunflower seeds. but i want more opposition in da house!! how ah?
of coz, this is in the hope that i can actually vote lah.
Work, although can be tiring, is very fun. Never a dull moment coz even when there's no one around, there's either admin to finish or books to read. Plenty of chio ang moh girls to chat with.
I've only been to sch 3 times so far, so out of sight, out of mind. Will go regularly starting 2nd wk of march.
Going diving at Sipadan 1st to 6th March. only told parents it was "Malaysia". (i'm not lying wat)
Parents stopped nagging about the job liao. Guess they know I'll do wat i want anyway.
Cute girls popping out here and there. "Here" meaning at work and "There" meaning in hospital.
Things are picking up I guess. nothing much to gripe abt, hence this short post.
But hor, got dilemma.
Been turned off by gahmen's tactics, using GRCs and RCs to block opposition avenues, upgrading as carrots *if we don't come back, all dun hv!*, and using media as campaign tools (ST time bombs front page & News5tonite - see earlier post). but then hor, now they gimme money leh. then if i dun vote for them, i feel ungrateful leh, bite the fingers that gimme sunflower seeds. but i want more opposition in da house!! how ah?
of coz, this is in the hope that i can actually vote lah.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Of Course, There Is Always An Easy Way Out
Currently Playing: Black Horse & The Cherry Tree by K.T. Tunstall
Supposed to go for supper with 4 others... but last min found out one of them didn't know abt it, probably forgot, and another cancelled. So only left squid and cyclist. and apparently, both of them weren't feeling too cheerful.
then squid started getting iffy coz he was tired. if it was only cyclist and me, a bit no point for supper coz he stays in ulu-like-sengkang sengkang.
and i was feeling a little tired too. so i could just so easily dropped everything and rotted in front of the computer.
but i didn't. coz
1) i wanted to drive.
2) i wanted to tell them abt my work.
3) i thot the supper might cheer them up.
(reasons in order of decreasing importance)
yup... i wanted to just drop it. take the easy way out. but i might not get to drive and hv prata supper in a while... so i decided to seize the chance and just do it. i'm now more tired, but i'm glad i went out and had supper, and took the chance to make the evening enjoyable for those who were there, including me. i have plenty of opportunities to rot in front of the computer. in fact i'm rotting right now.
i'm more tired and sleepy than i've ever been the whole of this year. now instead of sleeping from 4am to 1pm, i hv abt 5 hrs sleep if day shift, and 3 hrs sleep if night, and hv to take naps where i fall into really deep sleep. i gotta go school, swim, meet frens too, so time is kinda short for sleep.
but in spite of that, i'm feeling better than i did bumming and sleeping the days away. at least the days are packed, and i feel i've got things done, accomplished something. if nothing else, at least i was earning a little bit of money and having fun the whole day.
i realise i'm not the type who can sit still for long. i get restless, bored, depressed. i need to go out and make things happen.
so now my priorities are work, planning europe, my 2 subjects, getting fit for the trip, picking up the guitar and improving my photography. for the next 3.5 mths.
crap. looks like i dun hv much time.
Supposed to go for supper with 4 others... but last min found out one of them didn't know abt it, probably forgot, and another cancelled. So only left squid and cyclist. and apparently, both of them weren't feeling too cheerful.
then squid started getting iffy coz he was tired. if it was only cyclist and me, a bit no point for supper coz he stays in ulu-like-sengkang sengkang.
and i was feeling a little tired too. so i could just so easily dropped everything and rotted in front of the computer.
but i didn't. coz
1) i wanted to drive.
2) i wanted to tell them abt my work.
3) i thot the supper might cheer them up.
(reasons in order of decreasing importance)
yup... i wanted to just drop it. take the easy way out. but i might not get to drive and hv prata supper in a while... so i decided to seize the chance and just do it. i'm now more tired, but i'm glad i went out and had supper, and took the chance to make the evening enjoyable for those who were there, including me. i have plenty of opportunities to rot in front of the computer. in fact i'm rotting right now.
i'm more tired and sleepy than i've ever been the whole of this year. now instead of sleeping from 4am to 1pm, i hv abt 5 hrs sleep if day shift, and 3 hrs sleep if night, and hv to take naps where i fall into really deep sleep. i gotta go school, swim, meet frens too, so time is kinda short for sleep.
but in spite of that, i'm feeling better than i did bumming and sleeping the days away. at least the days are packed, and i feel i've got things done, accomplished something. if nothing else, at least i was earning a little bit of money and having fun the whole day.
i realise i'm not the type who can sit still for long. i get restless, bored, depressed. i need to go out and make things happen.
so now my priorities are work, planning europe, my 2 subjects, getting fit for the trip, picking up the guitar and improving my photography. for the next 3.5 mths.
crap. looks like i dun hv much time.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The 14th
14th Feb is usually the day of a year i detest most. I detest the cashing in of restaurants, gift shops, sweet shops, and of everyone who can. prices go so high everyone forgets abt the nationwide hike of cutting hair just 2 wks ago during CNY. but surprisingly, no one really makes noise abt it. maybe the barbers are raising their fees for the wrong season. they shd try raising fees the 1st 2 wks of Feb. "u cut your fringe coz going on vanstine pak tor rite? $30."
but most of all, i detest it coz i'm never part of it. fark man. everywhere got couples holding hands. so for the past 4 yrs, i wld be holed in my room in hall on this day, playing computer game and living off chips and cereal, ignoring the world.
coz as always, i hate feeling left out. if i'm in an activity or a group and i feel left out, i'd rather leave than remain there like an idiot. similarly, if the crowd i'll be hanging out with doesn't click with me, i rather not go.
on the same note, i farking dislike going out with a couple (ie. bf/gf) also. esp if the 2 are so into each other they wldn't hv noticed if i wasn't there if the seat was the same colour as my shirt. and further more, it's disgusting behaviour if i'm closer to one and the other is a little more than a stranger. it smacks of showing off. how would u like it if i keep talking abt my condo and its 3 swimming pools, 2 jacuzzis, gym, bbq pits, miniature golf course, 24hr security and its vicinity to so many great food places when i know u stay in a shabby 20yr-old 2 room flat? but then again, it doesn't make much difference if i know the 2 of them anyway.
u think its sour grapes? so wat if it is or isn't? too bad, it's me. deal with it. and i'm glad its the 15th already.
but most of all, i detest it coz i'm never part of it. fark man. everywhere got couples holding hands. so for the past 4 yrs, i wld be holed in my room in hall on this day, playing computer game and living off chips and cereal, ignoring the world.
coz as always, i hate feeling left out. if i'm in an activity or a group and i feel left out, i'd rather leave than remain there like an idiot. similarly, if the crowd i'll be hanging out with doesn't click with me, i rather not go.
on the same note, i farking dislike going out with a couple (ie. bf/gf) also. esp if the 2 are so into each other they wldn't hv noticed if i wasn't there if the seat was the same colour as my shirt. and further more, it's disgusting behaviour if i'm closer to one and the other is a little more than a stranger. it smacks of showing off. how would u like it if i keep talking abt my condo and its 3 swimming pools, 2 jacuzzis, gym, bbq pits, miniature golf course, 24hr security and its vicinity to so many great food places when i know u stay in a shabby 20yr-old 2 room flat? but then again, it doesn't make much difference if i know the 2 of them anyway.
u think its sour grapes? so wat if it is or isn't? too bad, it's me. deal with it. and i'm glad its the 15th already.
I'm Sorry, Pa. But...
Hi Pa.
I wouldn't have been able to sleep before writing this. First of all, I'm really sorry at raising my voice at you earlier. I never should have done that, and I'm really sorry. I know you want the best for me and always mean well. I guess I got frustrated because it was the third time in as many days that you seem to be telling me to walk out on the job.
I want to give this job a chance because:
a) although it's tiring as I'm on my feet a lot, I think that it's fun meeting people from all over the world, and very beneficial for my future travels.
b) I'm learning a lot as I've never held a service-oriented job before, and the operation is meant to be one-man. As of now, I've learnt about tact in front of customers, the importance of knowing what I need to know in front of them, how the administration of such an operation is run, their business practices and some of their little business secrets.
c) it's the only place that invited me for an interview, out of the 40-50 resumes I sent in January. The insurance company doesn't count because they took my resume off an online job portal.
d) it's able to suit my school schedule.
e) it's something different on my resume. It may or may not be relevant to my future jobs, but at least it will make people sit up and notice. For interviews, it would let me give unique examples of my strengths, letting me stand out from other candidates.
About the housekeeping issue, I will take a wait-and-see approach. I WILL voice my unwillingness if I feel that it is too often, but right now it does not bother me because:
a) they have employed part-time staff to come in to do the housekeeping, and I have seen them on the 2nd and 3rd day, the same 2 people for both days.
b) I have been told that in my job scope, I only need to help out if they are sick, and have been assured that it is not common. And I accept this as part of my job, subject to its frequency. As a promise to both of us, I WILL make noise if it is more than once a month.
c) I believe the housekeeping on the first day was a work-attitude assessment; another employee has told me that everyone's first day involved housekeeping. And I believe I passed with flying colours.
About the contract and payday issue, actually I have planned to bring it up after my OJT ended, which would be tomorrow; they mentioned that $5/hr was just the starting rate and they would increase it based on performance. I planned to ask them about the contract, insurance coverage (if any) and payment mode, but asking about the payday didn't occur to me, so thanks for telling me about it. During the interview, they did tell me that CPF would be included in the pay (13% from employer) and after every day, I sign a time in/time out sheet.
If I am unhappy with the contract or the job, I will walk out without any qualms. And in any case I do not think I've wasted my time as I'm learning so much. But I also would like to give this job a proper chance and see what it has to offer fully.
And if I didn't have this job, I'd still be looking for one, either until I found a suitable one, or until 1 month before my exams. This is because I can't stand having nothing to do for the majority of my time. For the most of January I was very bored and listless, just passing day-by-day. I don't want to live like that; I want to live my life to the fullest. Having a job gives me a sense of purpose, some form of discipline to get me out of bed instead of sleeping the days away, and ironically, better time-management since it takes up part of the once-endless amount I had. Since free time is now more limited, I would put it to better use, instead of procrastinating.
And if I had the notion of being a manager straightaway after graduation, I wouldn't have taken up this job. In a way, this job enables me to see what front-line staff, admin staff and housekeeping staff have to go through, teaching me to emphatise with them, not to look down on them just because they do a "lesser" job, because it's still not easy to do. I know that to be a successful manager or boss, you need to understand what those under you go through everyday, and that is what I plan to learn for the 1st few years of my working life.
Being a manager is just my mid-term goal. In the short-term I know that only entry-level positions will be available to me, and I take this willingly because they are opportunities to learn and grow, and because this is what everyone has to go through, how the world works. The "manager" vision is a goal I want to reach, a strong driving source of motivation for the 1st few years. It is not an obsession, nor is it a destination. It is merely a checkpoint on a long journey ahead, the next one after graduation.
And as a hiring manager, what would you think of a newly hired employee if he, a young man of 25yrs, told you he wanted to quit because his father didn't approve of his job?
Pa, I know you are looking out for me and want to make sure I'm alright. And I will be. I know it's a big scary world out there, so all the more I need that personal experience in dealing with it. How would I be able to advise my kids on the life lessons I learnt if I was sheltered from them? (But if they're anything like me, they probably wouldn't listen either.)
If some experiences turn out to be bad ones, it's ok, because I will learn from them and know what (not) to do next time, because I learnt them myself. And from whatever bad experiences, I will always, always bounce back. I've already suffered so many setbacks in NS and NTU, grown so much as a person because/in spite of them. A close fren told me that the present me and the one he first knew in NTU 2001 are very different, in a good way.
The road ahead is still long, and I might stumble and fall, or I might lose my way. But it's ok because I will get up again, I will find my way again, one way or another. And it's ok because when that happens, I will learn life lessons, and I will learn them truly well, because I learnt them myself.
I know you care for me more than I will ever understand until I become a father myself, but I feel that it's time for me to explore the big, bad world, try out new horizons and lose sight of shores. And I will come back and tell you all about it.
Your loving son,
XX
I wouldn't have been able to sleep before writing this. First of all, I'm really sorry at raising my voice at you earlier. I never should have done that, and I'm really sorry. I know you want the best for me and always mean well. I guess I got frustrated because it was the third time in as many days that you seem to be telling me to walk out on the job.
I want to give this job a chance because:
a) although it's tiring as I'm on my feet a lot, I think that it's fun meeting people from all over the world, and very beneficial for my future travels.
b) I'm learning a lot as I've never held a service-oriented job before, and the operation is meant to be one-man. As of now, I've learnt about tact in front of customers, the importance of knowing what I need to know in front of them, how the administration of such an operation is run, their business practices and some of their little business secrets.
c) it's the only place that invited me for an interview, out of the 40-50 resumes I sent in January. The insurance company doesn't count because they took my resume off an online job portal.
d) it's able to suit my school schedule.
e) it's something different on my resume. It may or may not be relevant to my future jobs, but at least it will make people sit up and notice. For interviews, it would let me give unique examples of my strengths, letting me stand out from other candidates.
About the housekeeping issue, I will take a wait-and-see approach. I WILL voice my unwillingness if I feel that it is too often, but right now it does not bother me because:
a) they have employed part-time staff to come in to do the housekeeping, and I have seen them on the 2nd and 3rd day, the same 2 people for both days.
b) I have been told that in my job scope, I only need to help out if they are sick, and have been assured that it is not common. And I accept this as part of my job, subject to its frequency. As a promise to both of us, I WILL make noise if it is more than once a month.
c) I believe the housekeeping on the first day was a work-attitude assessment; another employee has told me that everyone's first day involved housekeeping. And I believe I passed with flying colours.
About the contract and payday issue, actually I have planned to bring it up after my OJT ended, which would be tomorrow; they mentioned that $5/hr was just the starting rate and they would increase it based on performance. I planned to ask them about the contract, insurance coverage (if any) and payment mode, but asking about the payday didn't occur to me, so thanks for telling me about it. During the interview, they did tell me that CPF would be included in the pay (13% from employer) and after every day, I sign a time in/time out sheet.
If I am unhappy with the contract or the job, I will walk out without any qualms. And in any case I do not think I've wasted my time as I'm learning so much. But I also would like to give this job a proper chance and see what it has to offer fully.
And if I didn't have this job, I'd still be looking for one, either until I found a suitable one, or until 1 month before my exams. This is because I can't stand having nothing to do for the majority of my time. For the most of January I was very bored and listless, just passing day-by-day. I don't want to live like that; I want to live my life to the fullest. Having a job gives me a sense of purpose, some form of discipline to get me out of bed instead of sleeping the days away, and ironically, better time-management since it takes up part of the once-endless amount I had. Since free time is now more limited, I would put it to better use, instead of procrastinating.
And if I had the notion of being a manager straightaway after graduation, I wouldn't have taken up this job. In a way, this job enables me to see what front-line staff, admin staff and housekeeping staff have to go through, teaching me to emphatise with them, not to look down on them just because they do a "lesser" job, because it's still not easy to do. I know that to be a successful manager or boss, you need to understand what those under you go through everyday, and that is what I plan to learn for the 1st few years of my working life.
Being a manager is just my mid-term goal. In the short-term I know that only entry-level positions will be available to me, and I take this willingly because they are opportunities to learn and grow, and because this is what everyone has to go through, how the world works. The "manager" vision is a goal I want to reach, a strong driving source of motivation for the 1st few years. It is not an obsession, nor is it a destination. It is merely a checkpoint on a long journey ahead, the next one after graduation.
And as a hiring manager, what would you think of a newly hired employee if he, a young man of 25yrs, told you he wanted to quit because his father didn't approve of his job?
Pa, I know you are looking out for me and want to make sure I'm alright. And I will be. I know it's a big scary world out there, so all the more I need that personal experience in dealing with it. How would I be able to advise my kids on the life lessons I learnt if I was sheltered from them? (But if they're anything like me, they probably wouldn't listen either.)
If some experiences turn out to be bad ones, it's ok, because I will learn from them and know what (not) to do next time, because I learnt them myself. And from whatever bad experiences, I will always, always bounce back. I've already suffered so many setbacks in NS and NTU, grown so much as a person because/in spite of them. A close fren told me that the present me and the one he first knew in NTU 2001 are very different, in a good way.
The road ahead is still long, and I might stumble and fall, or I might lose my way. But it's ok because I will get up again, I will find my way again, one way or another. And it's ok because when that happens, I will learn life lessons, and I will learn them truly well, because I learnt them myself.
I know you care for me more than I will ever understand until I become a father myself, but I feel that it's time for me to explore the big, bad world, try out new horizons and lose sight of shores. And I will come back and tell you all about it.
Your loving son,
XX
Monday, February 13, 2006
One Last Ramble. I Need To Sleep!
Re-stumbled upon a close fren's blog. Mainly coz she provided the opportunity.
I've always enjoyed meeting up with her, coz she always made for intelligent conversation. I wish I could've returned the favour. She has wisely chosen to keep herself busy to escape my inane remarks and cheesy attempts at being humourous.
Her blog is POWER. I felt as though I was reading a column from a newspaper.
The different aspects articulately weaved together.
The emergence of the main question and it's recap.
The guilty remembering, the accompanying relevelations.
The descriptions that brought me into her mind.
The final moving punchline.
And i look at my pathetic attempts at writing here, to entertain, to record, to ramble and rant. to practice.
It seems futile. When so many are leagues ahead of me.
You write wonderfully. So much better, than so many other people. If you intend to change jobs, I hope u return. preferably in a different, more familiar (to me) language.
But i don't think u insult ur own intelligence by reading this. haha.
I console myself by thinking maybe it's just coz our styles are different.
I've always enjoyed meeting up with her, coz she always made for intelligent conversation. I wish I could've returned the favour. She has wisely chosen to keep herself busy to escape my inane remarks and cheesy attempts at being humourous.
Her blog is POWER. I felt as though I was reading a column from a newspaper.
The different aspects articulately weaved together.
The emergence of the main question and it's recap.
The guilty remembering, the accompanying relevelations.
The descriptions that brought me into her mind.
The final moving punchline.
And i look at my pathetic attempts at writing here, to entertain, to record, to ramble and rant. to practice.
It seems futile. When so many are leagues ahead of me.
You write wonderfully. So much better, than so many other people. If you intend to change jobs, I hope u return. preferably in a different, more familiar (to me) language.
But i don't think u insult ur own intelligence by reading this. haha.
I console myself by thinking maybe it's just coz our styles are different.
I See News5Tonite No Up
About 4 hours earlier, I was watching News5Tonite before Apprentice.
Ms Newscaster just finished talking abt Jayakumar raring to go for the next election, saying he hoped that got opposition fight in his East Coast GRC ward.
Then she started with something like, "There is hope in opposition ward Hougang." and went on to talk abt chiku trees bearing fruit. Confusing.
Actually, the trees were planned by PAP's Eric Low last GE. Which now starting to bear fruit, just like his efforts in the ward, doing blah blah blah blah blah blah........
*TV shows him smiling and mingling with residents, being a guest at functions*
Then when facing the camera, he talks abt wat he has done and complains that the Town Council, run by WP's Mr. Low Thia Khiang, has "not been cooperative" and cites instances.
This takes up almost 3-5 mins on the 20-25 min programme. Looks to me like an election advertisement. solely giving credit and good exposure to one candidate, and letting him complain abt his opponent.
First ST's "TIME-BOMB!! POSION!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" coverage, now this. tsk tsk. how to trust local media, mediacock and the like liddat?
I hope News5Tonite redeems itself by letting Mr. Low Thia Khiang talk next. for the same amt of face-camera-time, and same amt of "showing-grassroots-work" time.
Also starting to get turned off by gahmen liao. They so strong, still use this kind of tactics to influence young minds like mine once was. Why must stoop so low? Why so scared to lose? Must hv a reason rite? Pls change ur tack... before more ppl like me, getting smarter, getting more turned off. Else it'll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
better stop here. dun wanna kena sedited.
Ms Newscaster just finished talking abt Jayakumar raring to go for the next election, saying he hoped that got opposition fight in his East Coast GRC ward.
Then she started with something like, "There is hope in opposition ward Hougang." and went on to talk abt chiku trees bearing fruit. Confusing.
Actually, the trees were planned by PAP's Eric Low last GE. Which now starting to bear fruit, just like his efforts in the ward, doing blah blah blah blah blah blah........
*TV shows him smiling and mingling with residents, being a guest at functions*
Then when facing the camera, he talks abt wat he has done and complains that the Town Council, run by WP's Mr. Low Thia Khiang, has "not been cooperative" and cites instances.
This takes up almost 3-5 mins on the 20-25 min programme. Looks to me like an election advertisement. solely giving credit and good exposure to one candidate, and letting him complain abt his opponent.
First ST's "TIME-BOMB!! POSION!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" coverage, now this. tsk tsk. how to trust local media, mediacock and the like liddat?
I hope News5Tonite redeems itself by letting Mr. Low Thia Khiang talk next. for the same amt of face-camera-time, and same amt of "showing-grassroots-work" time.
Also starting to get turned off by gahmen liao. They so strong, still use this kind of tactics to influence young minds like mine once was. Why must stoop so low? Why so scared to lose? Must hv a reason rite? Pls change ur tack... before more ppl like me, getting smarter, getting more turned off. Else it'll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
better stop here. dun wanna kena sedited.
First Day At Work
Currently Playing: Destiny by Zero7
Gotta write this quick. there's lots, and i gotta wake up in less than 7 hrs.
Today started pretty well enuff. had "traditional" breakfast of kopi, lorti and (1) egg at a kopitiam beside my new workplace. kopi nice and strong, and the lorti can beat yakun's anytime! bcoz
1) they are generous with butter
2) they not so chao kuan! they dun slice the bread thin thin!
So fast digress liao. anyway started very slowly. only lady boss there, the boss (her husband and OIC) didn't reach until 10+am. so relak lor - tok cock with, and observe lady boss at work.
11am. housekeeping. after a demo, boss sent me to clean 3 dorms and 5 rooms. Over 3 floors. Fark.
Sidenote:
Clean room usually means the room is vacant. So gotta give toilet a good spray, re-do the bed with fresh sheets, clear rubbish and sweep the floor.
Clean dorm usually means dorm still got ppl's stuff. So gotta give toilet a good spray, clear rubbish, sweep the floor, avoiding scattered belongings.
Damn tiring. and got ppl do this kinda crap full time lor! Respect. I dun think i've even cleaned my own room so many times before!!
Finished this one task at 5pm, after abt an hr break for lunch at 3pm. My legs are still aching, my nose is still stifled. Tml I'm going to confirm with boss that this isn't the main part of the job. And stop imagining me in a french maid uniform!! blardy pervert!!
But it wasn't all menial labour though. In the evening I was given a more thorough briefing about operating the front desk, which will continue for another 1 or 2 days. Even some hands-on when the boss cldn't cope with overwhelming numbers of angmohs and an indon couple coming at him at the same time.
So front desk can be hectic, but it's really fun doing a service-oriented job, and interacting with the guests. Got some diving travel tips from a spanish bloke who's travelling round the world for a yr, and did Advanced and Rescue in 15 days in Thailand. Got a few smiles from a damn chio french chio bu for everytime she caught me bio-ing her.
Plus, I think they made a mistake in making the 3-in-1 coffee FOC for staff. well, it wasn't until they hired me.
Things I've Learnt:
a) Angmohs are bo chap abt dirt, are smelly and hairy. evidence from the rubbish, odour and stray hairs they leave behind on the floor, in the room, and in the toilet respectively, respectively.
b) Asians make better guests, bcoz of the opposite of the above reason.
c) Next time you see the cleaner who will clean your room, say a thank you in respect for all he/she has to put up with. Only the first day and I've encountered condoms (unused, thankfully), pads (used, CCB!! Literally!!) and endless amounts of women's underwear.
d) Next time you see the cleaner who will clean your room, say a thank you coz if you don't, he/she might just use someone else's USED sheets for ur bed, and use ur toothbrush to clean the toilet sink/floor/bowl. Or "assume" your favourite shirt/underwear is a rag.
Yay. Another 11+hr-day at work tml!!
Gotta write this quick. there's lots, and i gotta wake up in less than 7 hrs.
Today started pretty well enuff. had "traditional" breakfast of kopi, lorti and (1) egg at a kopitiam beside my new workplace. kopi nice and strong, and the lorti can beat yakun's anytime! bcoz
1) they are generous with butter
2) they not so chao kuan! they dun slice the bread thin thin!
So fast digress liao. anyway started very slowly. only lady boss there, the boss (her husband and OIC) didn't reach until 10+am. so relak lor - tok cock with, and observe lady boss at work.
11am. housekeeping. after a demo, boss sent me to clean 3 dorms and 5 rooms. Over 3 floors. Fark.
Sidenote:
Clean room usually means the room is vacant. So gotta give toilet a good spray, re-do the bed with fresh sheets, clear rubbish and sweep the floor.
Clean dorm usually means dorm still got ppl's stuff. So gotta give toilet a good spray, clear rubbish, sweep the floor, avoiding scattered belongings.
Damn tiring. and got ppl do this kinda crap full time lor! Respect. I dun think i've even cleaned my own room so many times before!!
Finished this one task at 5pm, after abt an hr break for lunch at 3pm. My legs are still aching, my nose is still stifled. Tml I'm going to confirm with boss that this isn't the main part of the job. And stop imagining me in a french maid uniform!! blardy pervert!!
But it wasn't all menial labour though. In the evening I was given a more thorough briefing about operating the front desk, which will continue for another 1 or 2 days. Even some hands-on when the boss cldn't cope with overwhelming numbers of angmohs and an indon couple coming at him at the same time.
So front desk can be hectic, but it's really fun doing a service-oriented job, and interacting with the guests. Got some diving travel tips from a spanish bloke who's travelling round the world for a yr, and did Advanced and Rescue in 15 days in Thailand. Got a few smiles from a damn chio french chio bu for everytime she caught me bio-ing her.
Plus, I think they made a mistake in making the 3-in-1 coffee FOC for staff. well, it wasn't until they hired me.
Things I've Learnt:
a) Angmohs are bo chap abt dirt, are smelly and hairy. evidence from the rubbish, odour and stray hairs they leave behind on the floor, in the room, and in the toilet respectively, respectively.
b) Asians make better guests, bcoz of the opposite of the above reason.
c) Next time you see the cleaner who will clean your room, say a thank you in respect for all he/she has to put up with. Only the first day and I've encountered condoms (unused, thankfully), pads (used, CCB!! Literally!!) and endless amounts of women's underwear.
d) Next time you see the cleaner who will clean your room, say a thank you coz if you don't, he/she might just use someone else's USED sheets for ur bed, and use ur toothbrush to clean the toilet sink/floor/bowl. Or "assume" your favourite shirt/underwear is a rag.
Yay. Another 11+hr-day at work tml!!
