Job

The guys from Dell sms-ed me yesterday, saying that my work starting day has been postponed to Friday, 2nd Jan. I'm fine with it, heh =D

OMG! Its DELL!!!

Just received news from my 'agent' at recruit express that Dell wants to hire me. I got to go down to their Orchard office tomorrow to sign the contract. She was rather irritating today, kept buzzing me with calls and smses. Think she was more enthusiastic about the job then me ^^ 

Went for my 2nd interview with Dell this afternoon before they confirmed me.  Apparently there was this other girl involved and it was either me or her so there was a last minute 2nd interview which was not what usually happens. After the interview, which I thought I was ok, my 'agent' called and sms me a few times to ask me how was it/what happened/was the guy happy/did he buy etc...and I got to explain the entire process to her. No idea why was she so excited/enthusiastic about the entire affair at all...doesn't she have any other things to do? Hmm...

Anyway, sort of glad that I got the job at Dell. From what I have seen, it looks like a nice place and a rather comfy job which I think I might grow to like. A new experience I guess....for the next 7 months or so. Work starts on the 29th so yeah, hopefully everything goes swimmingly.

Cheers!

Hiatus

No reason really. Just got slightly tired.

Went with the dec guys to watch 

on Friday, 12 December, also our ORD day. It was an interesting experience btw, going into camp for the last time. Everything felt so new, so transient and I felt really sad at times. Not really sad sad...maybe sadness tinged with faint joy. Its hard to be happy when you are tearing up inside after leaving the place where you have worked and lived and sweat and bleed for the past 2 years. 

The show was pretty decent. Not too terrible and the CG was quite good. Keanu Reeves was acting as though he's still stuck in the matrix. Guess he got his default face on...There were some chinese dialogue which sounded really terrible and made my toes cringe, but other than that the movie was fine. The main aim was to go out and just commemorate our ORD day. Junyi, edwin and GY was there as well despite them ORD-ing almost a month ago. Guess the feeling is different... Went to Sunshine Plaza after that but was kinda disappointed with what I saw. China Square Central today was much much more impressive. Bought a full-drillized Gurren Lagann, the bikini Saber and the figma Rin today. Got a gundam for free as well at Liang Court for replying to that AFA survey.

Went to watch Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging with Shakthi on the following Monday. Haven't seen him for some time and he seemed not to have shaved ever since he ORDed. Had a nice and long chat with him before the movie and after that at Subway. He got the tickets free anyway because of a Teenage contest, and the organizers were freaking late despite them saying distribution will start at 730pm. Think it was around 8+ before they started giving out tickets.

The show was slightly ok. Thought it was like a Sex & the City but for teens. Definitely definitely targetted at girls. Felt I was at the wrong show when I was watching it. It did has its funny parts but I guess there were some parts where girls will appreciate it more. Some parts it was pretty draggy but overall I guess its pretty alright. Quite funny and definitely worth a watch if you are into chicklit. Yeah, its that kinda show.

Had a Dell interview on Friday. It didn't really screwed up and overall I'll say it ran pretty well. There was a quiz before it with MCQ and open ended questions. Was stuck on a few open-ended questions and basically put down a whole ton of stuff. The common 'write down everything if you know nothing' tactic. Which works ^^ 

Watched Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist with the army guys at Cine after my interview. Cine had RapidCulture and I bought a Melissa nendoroid there as it was selling slightly cheaper than the other shops. The prices are surprisingly rather good. The show was quite brilliant, or at least I thought so. Have half a mind to look out for its soundtrack. I liked how it had traces of Juno around it, from its main actor Michael Cera to its indie directing style to its small-town sensibilities in a large city. Really liked the show and how it depicts life as being a remarkable sequences of coincidence, and where every decision you make will fare you better than if you have never made it at all, no matter how awful it seems at first. It shows that by venturing into the unknown, risking yourself, maybe things will turn out for the better after all. It blends all this with humour, self-deprecation and common sense in a realistic movie-world. One of the better movies I watched this year, along with Juno of course. Thank You for Smoking was another standout for me.

We went to Botak Jones after that, just opposite Cine. Embarassingly enough, it was my first time eating there. The food was pretty good and rather affordable for its location and portion. 

Yesterday, Ting and I went to watch this. Finally. He was about 30minutes late but didn't really miss anything much so its kinda alright. Didn't regret it at all. Great show, great direction, great cinematography. Liked how they blended all these characters together and make the audience care and laugh and ache for each and evey one of them. Great work by the director especially on the attention given to character growth and personality. The way he fleshed out every character was admirable. He blended the past and the present very well in the film and made it very very smooth. The film was really funny at parts and the end had me rooting hard for the actors. 

Went to CSC today and got my above-mentioned figurines. If not for my bloody gum pain which I have no idea why, the week will be rather perfect. Looks like my ex-wisdom tooth might be causing me some problem. Swelling slightly and all that, feeling as if I have just extracted it. Bloody hell....and Singapore lost to Vietnam 1-0 at home despite dominating. 

Kinda expected though...been watching Singapore long enough to know that they always bring your hopes and expectations all the way up before deflating them suddenly like a loud balloon. The National Stadium was filled up, almost max capacity. Which occurs very very infrequently in the local football scene. The other previous occasion I can remember and was there were when Singapore played Malaysia (which they lost 4-0) . Hence history repeats. Might be the pressure though, the team couldn't finish at all despite having quite a few great chances. Was some scuffles after the match but didn't really see what happened. The home crowd was hostile though, not in the postive sense. Even I could feel trouble brewing long before the match was over.

Guess that's all for now. Will try to update tomorrow.

Funan

Went to Funan this evening to do my surveys. Wanted to get some stationery for my posters but by the time I was done, the shops were all closed. At least I got a trim at Kimage though, didn't wait too long. 

My original plan was to watch Cape no.7 with Ting but then he turned up not free in the end. So might as well finish the surveys.

Morning After

Woke up to a wet and dreary morning pretty early around 9. Pottered around on and offline. Guess I'm going back to sleep sometime later.

BBQ

Just came back from my BBQ meetup sessions with the people from college. Drank abit, and cabbed home with CH. Not as eventful as I thought it will be, but ended up cooking alot and stuff. Quite interesting to catch up with everyone though. It was fun I guess.

Background

Self-reflection post to remind myself if I eventually forget.

I started this blog and made it anonymous because I'm tired of people second-guessing me and stuff. I really felt I needed a place where I can pour out my feelings without letting too many people know. So far, I have not told anyone about this site. Maybe in the future I might, but I don't think I'm ready for that now. In any case, if I wanted to a blog where I talk to my friends, I might start a new one altogether and still keep this a secret. 

I've started a few blogs over the years, both personal and commentary. I ditched most of my personal blogs as they had far too many personal details about me and will contain much more (as evident here) which I don't feel comfortable sharing with others. Also, I wanted something which I can call my solace, my home, my hideout where I do not need to cater to others' opinion and can reveal my innermost thoughts. I'm tired of people judging me from my blog. Maybe 1 day I will move on, but so far this has been a viable alternative. I might change the day it turned out not to be so. 

As for commentary-type blogs, I felt that it was too draining. I will have long arguments/debates with people and lose interest in the topic long before they do. Also, keeping up with the times is a great problem. I prefer to blog at my own pace and as and when I want to say something. Also, the pointlessness of it all sometimes strike me and leave me feeling down for a while. I can't change the system when there are so many for it. Maybe I can, but I'm not ready for that battle now.

I have not made this locked just because. Don't ask. If you stumble upon this blog, good luck and I'm sure you must have felt it was rather drudging and boring. Well, its for personal consumption so I don't really mind. I know the value of a blog, and a high traffic one as well, but I'm not ready to start one or set off on that adventure. That's a trip for another time. For now, I'm content with this little piece of cyberland.

Messages

I just realized that I don't really read messages more than 2 pages on my handphone unless they are obviously important. I just read the initial few lines and then my eyes glaze over and that's about it.

Am feeling rather depressed and overly sentimental now....the memories keep coming back and flooding me. At least most of my stuff are now packed up already.

A year of memories

I was putting my army stuff away when it struck me. Numerous items that I was packing away formed memories of the last 2 years of my life. It was a bittersweet period, something which I'm not too sure I will exchange for the world. I learnt stuff about myself and stuff about life and dealing with others I'm sure I wouldn't learn so well or so fast elsewhere. It was an eye-opening period, something which gave me added width to my personal experiences. It was fascinating, exciting, engaging and above all, memorable. It will always have a place in my heart, a memory I will revisit from time to time as it gets more and more distant with each passing day.

It was only when I was pouring through all my stuff that I realized that I have tonnes of stuff in camp. I encountered upon stuff which brought back vivid memories, of happy times spent in camp with friends and terrible times of enduring stuff. I realized many a thing as well, stuff that I hope I will remember for the rest of my life, as unlikely as that wish will be.

Sometimes, I amaze myself when I realize that some part of me actually missed the army life and found the 2 years so fleeting, so short. Of course, with hindsight its so fast. It wasn't that fast the other way round though, come to think of it. That being said, its strange...at first I can't wait for my ORD date to come, then I got sentimental about it when the Nov guys left, and then I got really keen about ORDing, and then now I'm getting all pensive about it all over again. Its hard to put in words the experiences you will go through, the comraderie we shared and the bonding we had. I guessed only those who went through it together will know what its like truly, hence the bonding we all share from our NS times. Its stuff like this that makes me hesitate to downPES. The common bond we all share will be very reluctantly forgone. 

Some people I got along with and had a great time with, and maybe those that I didn't really hit it off with and consequently didn't have such a great time with. I don't usually bear anyone any malice and this is the same now. Maybe we didn't get along or anything, but as long as we can work together, that's good enough for me. I need not be your friend for us to cooperate on a common goal and the more people can realize that, the better the world will be. Stuff happens, get over it. You might be screwed up, and I bet you might think the same of me, but whatever it is, its over and justifications aside, I do not hold anything against you. I will miss all of you all the same I guess.

I might not have said this to anyone in particular, or at most in passing, but my real childhood dream (after the short obsession with heavy plant equipments ^^) was to be a pilot. Not for any of the cliche stuff, or maybe just 1. The fact that I could soar in the air, in freedom with everything on a fine line with me in control. Obviously, stuff happened to make my childhood dream almost untenable, but watching Macross Frontier made me remember all of it again. Hmmm....

Question to no one in particular:  If Singapore is under attack, will you enlist as part of the voluntary army? I know I will, despite everything I can say for the reverse.  Its just something I feel I should do, and will do if need be. Not that it will be of much use I guess, but that's better than nothing I reckon.

Miku's Ambition

What she wants to be when she grows up. Heh

The Morning

Was really (x10) busy over the last few days over the Sitex fair. Working rather long hours and standing for long period of time really has a terrible effect on your feet & back. Anyway, I was supposed to go for my Nee Soon Dental Centre checkup today, appointment at 845. Woke up at 830 so that's the end of the story I guess.

I'm going back camp today (yay! ^^) . Gotta report back by noon so I'll probably leave at around 11... Not been back to camp for really long, about 2 and a half weeks. Interesting to see if there's any changes.

Awww.....

Just had to post this after seeing it ^^

Army daze...

I always feel a tinge of sadness, coupled with a few other emotions, when I think about my army days especially since they are at a closing. I never thought I will feel like this, but eh, 2 years might be kinda short sometimes when you think about it eh?

Maybe I go down in further details some time in the future...don't think I can handle this by doing it sufficient justice now.

On a totally unrelated sidenote, its quite fun peering into other people's photobucket album from backlinks. Sometimes, it places the person in an entirely new light. Secure your accounts!

AFA 08

Ok, this is kinda late. Anyway, AFA 08 was a really fun event. I took lots of photos (included some illegal **OMG** May'n concert prints and footages **double OMG**) which are on facebook. Pardon my poor photography skills. The camera wasn't really good and my photography skills were worse.

I spent almost the day there. It was really eye-opening in all sense of that term and it was really interesting. The sheer variety and quality of the nendoroids were stunning. The tags were equally stunning too. Stuff in SG are severely overpriced compared to their equivalent in Japan. Guess the import charges and the middlemen fees constitutes a large cut.

I didn't buy alot of stuff. Just a set of Last Exile (they are so hard to find, especially collector's edition nendoroids) nendoroids in a box set and some posters as well as various fan-arts. Just thought I might support the budding anime/manga industry in SG. ^^

Towards the end of the day, I stayed for the May'n (MAY'II'IN ok ok) concert. Her voice was really good, pity that the acoustics in suntec was really bad. Coupled with a terrible sound engineer....and an over-enthusiastic bass, you could almost guess the tragedy. Admirably, she carried on with her show despite the almost glaringly bad sound.

Right before the show closed, there were a lot of mini auctions going on. Booths were holding large price slashes and I saw some really nice stuff going at around 50% of their original price. Saw some really nice and cheap Gundam 00 stuff as well, but I don't follow the series so didn't get any. If you left early, well, its kinda a waste =(

Anyway, here's some link-drops which I found over the past few days. Mind you, they took over a large portion of my time.

Danny Choo -> Really great website/blog about this British Chinese living in Japan. Runs his own company, great fun all day.

World of Anime Music -> Great blog with nice anime music and links *)

"My heart has lead me to despair. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be loyal to one's heart but still, many people continued doing it and that makes us human"

The issue with wisdom tooth

Or the aftermath of the surgery to be exact. 

Its not the pain. By the 3rd day onwards or so, most pain should be gone, only leaving a dull ache from time to time. Painkillers, limited as they are, offer some kind of relief as well. Stiff gums/cheeks muscles, yeah sure, but its not really sharp killing pain, more or a constant stiffness kind of pain. Sure, there's pain, but that's not the main thing. 

Not the itchiness of the stitches as well. At times though, I really had it with the itchiness. The stitches are quite thick and tight, so yeah, its quite itchy especially since the open wounds are healing. At times, its really really itchy and u feel like ripping it out. Not that you should of course.

The answer is dry lips. It might sound innocuous but its really one of the most pressing problem as it really sticks with you the whole times, day and night. The issue is, with your stiff cheeks and sore gums, your tongue doesn't come out to lick your lips as often as it should. Previously, as in before the gawddamn surgery, your tongue comes out once in a while to lick your lips. 1 microsecond and its done. Its barely noticeable.

Now, your tongue barely wants to creep out because its just so stiff. As a result, you lips suffer. They get too dry and its peeling almost constantly. You are left with either using a lip balm, which is far far too troublesome to remember to do, using your fingers to wet your lips using your saliva/water/any available liquid, which leaves you constantly with dirty/smell (or both) hands. Or deliberately stick your tongue out every 10 minutes or so to purposely wet your lips. Its like a task....top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right.....

At least I'm getting my stitches out...hopefully soon

Avenue Q

I went to watch Avenue Q at the esplanade today, along with J and JY. It was the matinee on the last day of its run and I bought the programme as well.

The play was pretty good. Really funny as well. Maybe it wasn't as good or as funny as I thought it would be, but it was certainly thought-provoking and I enjoyed the entire play. Now at least I know what's marcus singing about all day long :D

Weekends

Had a terrible weekend. I started with a headache and sore throat on Saturday morning, which then bloomed to muscle aches, fever and other whats-not by later afternoon. My temperature was like 39 °C by the time it was evening. I made my way (really slowly) down to TTSH to get some medical help. After waiting for 1 hour to see the doctor and get 3 days MC, I went home and tried to sleep it off.

The plan didn't work out so well. I kept waking up every 2-3 hours and felt that my entire body was burning to the touch. But I felt really really cold at the same time, which was a bitch since I have to keep alternating between keeping my blanket covering me and pulling it off to increase ventilation.

I didn't go out at all during the weekends, TTSH not withstanding. I spent most of my waking hours nursing a really bad headache, which I still have now, in a drug-induced stupor. I couldn't really sleep and everytime I did, I woke up to find my headache worse. Also, I suspect one of my medication has the effect of making my entire mouth seemed dry. I drank glasses of water but it didn't help. My entire mouth was parched but I wasn't really thirsty.

Then today, I went to EYS to get my back looked at. Lying in bed over the past 3 days made it really sore, more than usual in any case. I expected to have a chinese massage session but the physician said it was a nerve problem, not bone nor muscle-related. So I went for the acupuncture session he recommended and took home some grounded up chinese herbs which I have to mix in water after meals and probably will taste terrible and smell even worse.

Anyway, if anyone tells you acupuncture doesn't hurt, they must either be lying or have a high pain threshold. Make that VERY HIGH. It was really sore when the needles go in, especially when it is near a bone. I had 8 needles inserted and it wasn't fun even when it was time for removal. The needles were attached to a wire which supplies electrical currents and had moxibustion as well. I had to lie face down on the bed for 30 minutes for the treatment to be over. I could go to sleep if I wanted to but the current attached to my left knee kept making my left foot jerk nonstop, like every 3 seconds. It was really frustrating to have your feet jerking uncontrollably on and on and on. I realize that once the needles are in, as long as you think about it and focus your attention elsewhere, you don't really feel anything. Once your attention comes back to the needles, the pain is really bad.

Got to go back camp tonight. Hope my back gets better. I don't think I will like to go for another acupuncture session next week.

crab!

Went for the famous crab rice noodles at AMK today for mum's bday. It came in a very big portion and the crab was freakily huge. Like really really huge. Like you-would-be screaming-for-your-life-if-it-ever-decides-to-attack-you-on-the-beach huge. The crab was pretty ok but the magic was in their soup/gravy. I think they have like coconut milk and normal milk and lots of ginger and some other secret ingredients in it. It was pretty good though. I would have come back again if only I'm a fan of crab noodles. But then I'm not, so that's that.

Anyway, somehow I started going through my hotmail inbox after all these years and there were like hundreds of emails which are ads about updates etc. And worse, about 70 odd chain letters and I went through all of them to see what they are all about. And it was bloody nonsense. After all this, I'm going to strangle the next person who sends me another worthless chain letter....argh.... is it just me or can anyone else see its absolutely no point in forwarding those rubbish? Although I must admit, putting in your own 'true accounts' and forwarding it in a chain letter sounds like fun. Heh...

whee!!

Going off for my function at chevrons now. Hopefully it doesn't get too wild :)

I got a feeling it will be crazy though. heh

Interview

I just came back from my interview in the far far away land of Jurong. I wanted to take a train there but ended up running slightly off-time, so I took a train to toa payoh instead and hailed a cab to take me there. Surprisingly, it only cost me $11.5 and I was there in 20 mins.... wow...

Anyway, it was a 45-mins briefing / form-filling session with a final briefing on friday. This was just informing us on what to do and how to do what they do :) . Then we were left on our own with a simple assignment to be done by tomorrow night. Think I'm going to OG Albert to do it.

day

It's a damp afternoon and I'm stuck at home. Not really stuck as I didn't really wanted to go out. Just felt like staying at home. Its a public holiday and it sure doesn't feel like one now. Anyway, I just started on Neverwhere yesterday, that Neil Gaiman book, and so far it's a very interesting read. It has been so long since I went down the rabbit hole....

Job scouting

I have been thinking about finding a job lately, mainly to fill up time since I'm on offs and leaves so frequently now. Not really a long time, post-dec job, just a normal weekends/weekdays until I finish my present commitment. I have mainly decided on doing sitex...and am going for an interview for a mystery shopper type job on tuesday. I think it might be a scam....but who knows? :D

The sg pools job certainly sound interesting....I might look further into it soon. From what I'd heard, it sounds really comfy and chill-lax....perfect :)

Kino sale

Went to Kino this afternoon and browsed through most of the store. In the end, I bought a Neil Gaiman book as well as a SAT guidebook. I have been thinking of taking the SAT since a long time ago and I guess getting the book would be a great start towards achieving that aim.

I didn't book any test dates nor even check on it yet. I guess I just finish the book and evaluate my options after I'm done. Hopefully I can finish the 700+ pages guidebook in about a month's time.

run lola run!

Woke up early in the morning to go to bishan for the run. it was drizzling throughout and until the run was over. The raindrops were small and cold, a terrible feeling every single time when it hits your shoulders on its way down to earth. It was really dark and deary even though I reached the park at around 7. 

After the run, GY, B and I moved on to AMK for various eating and walking around looking for toiletries and random odds and ends. Then the shopping trip ended with a long bus ride on the 166 with GY. 

And it was still drizzling when I reached home. But the sun was out at least, peeking through the overcast sky.

Today was tiring, especially since I was doing duty yesterday. Went back to bunk around 830 in the morning as CM had to do various lame and trivial administrative stuff and I didn't want to leave him behind. Slept until 1145 and woke for lunch. Booked out for my 'appointment' after my lunch and finally reached home around 2. Hopefully I needn't go back for the next 2 weeks. Fingers crossed.