::::::::random scribblings of Miss Gwee::::::::

2010-05-03T21:59:00.000+08:00

i knew it was gonna be hard but...

2010-05-03T21:08:00.002+08:00

one week back in my hub and i'm already in despair..... ok maybe it's just anxiety to do well fast...or maybe it's just monday blues... whatever it is... i'm feeling lowww... bleah. sales sales sales... i know i'm being a bloody whiner but cut me some slack and give me some airtime.... i need to whine every grievance out and imagine the worst before i can move on... weird aint it? But it's pretty effective actually... imagine the worst and it just gets better.... yup! I'm currently doing offshore clients.. which means that if i'm given the wrong or obsolete contact number by the bank... i can never ever reach them... so that effectively cuts out perhaps 30% (or more) of my port... another 25% probably hates my pitch AND my voice...and the remaining 45%? I haven't tried.... i'm screwed......... i'll achieve 0 revenue even after 6 months, lose my job and my self-confidence...it will be a long time before i can ever face or step into a bank ever again (see...this is my whole "imagining the worst" thought technique... i have to go through it... it's part of the healing process...)

anyway i've got 2 weddings to attend these coming 2 months and that's nice =) friends that i've known since i was very little..now all grown up and starting a family of their own... sweet. plus i'm gonna be a bridesmaid for my good friend vivien's wedding... we SO gonna tekan her since she's always so sweet and proper... don't even get me started on her fiance n his brothers... *evil laughter* hold your horses gentlemen... you gotta get past the girls first hehehe

ok i've managed to distract myself from my worries for a bit... time to fight the battle again tmr!

yoga....gawd

2010-04-27T22:52:00.002+08:00

did my first yoga lesson this evening... and oh my gosh is my body's all twisted up in knots... my sis warned me about it before and i thought nahh...it must be just that she's really unfit and ahem old (hah) BUT it's definitely harder than i expected...yoga is not meditative at all!!! i spent half my time struggling with poses and the other half trying to keep up...it's not all stretching n breathing... no way... i remember doing a lot of squats n kicks...but in a yoga-ish way... madness... after half an hour..i swear my muscles packed up and went home without me.... my legs went totally rubbery and i thought to myself..omg there's half an hour more..........AND i'm going back next week for more! hehe...

just signed up for my first gym membership so hopefully my fitness regime thing is finally kicked in...here's to a slimmer me!!

finally completed training

2010-04-18T23:43:00.002+08:00

wow stanchart training is no joke... it feels a bit like a mini degree..crash course on banking and finance... mortgage was tough enough and wealth class is mad! but u know something...i really learnt a lot..and now i'm quite committed to reading up more about market news daily...really wanna achieve the level whereby i can read an article on bloomberg and fully understand what the hell they're talking about....it makes me wonder how the hell i got by last time as a PB not knowing much abt the market...guess it shows how much pride i took in my work in the past... =p

anyway i'm jealous as hell of my batch girls and ex colleagues who are stuck in milan, zurich, london, paris and amsterdam coz of the ash cloud...stranded in beautiful europe and paid extra allowances per day...the best deal ever man!! sobz...why didn't this ever happen when i was still flying????? there are many places i wish to be in again........wistful..

for now...let me content myself with the fact that i'm "graduating" from training tmr... finally give my brain a rest ( one day where i don't have to think about market updates, which currency to quote up or down, calculating ratios and dsr and so forth) and just listen to what lies in store for me in this wonderful bank that's..here for good hurhur
back to hitachi tower prob only on wednesday since i haven't completed my elearning modules...sheesh

my sweethearts

2010-04-09T00:28:00.000+08:00

not so rockin

2010-03-30T17:36:00.003+08:00

being anti-america ain't a stroll in the park for sure... i have (guiltily) consumed KFC (but KFC in singapore is technically singaporean-owned coz it's a franchise right???) watched hollywood movies on tv (but not in the theatres!! at least i made a statement there) ate Canadian pizza during training (BUT it's Canadian. that's NOT US. Totally excusable if you ask me) drank coke once at my sis's bbq (but she had nothing else to drink other than stout..eww) So other than that... i have been pretty much the avid local n asian supporter.. eating tze char and drinking barley n many others in that category. Not bad already. Darren was the bigger sinner. He had a WHOLE macdonald's meal. that's like THE no-no. MacDonald's like the mecca of US evil. tsktsktsk. The weak-willed can't help themselves sometimes...

oh my god how long am we supposed to keep up with this "fuck-america" business? has it only been a week or so??? anyhow training has been a nightmare... mortgage is suuuuper dry n i have never structured a loan before.. it's pretty intense stuff... calculating the monthly payment is easy, calculating DSR is alright as well....but hell when it comes to bridging loan, OD and equity loan...all the figures start getting all jumbled up..it tempts me to go right back onboard to serve coffee/tea again....BUT i know it's good for knowledge and stimulates my rusting brain..so I ENDURE!! All i know is i plonk onto my bed every night before 12 and am fully dead to my core...both brain n body.

oh oh cleo's home with me....and she's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute...firstly, she bounces rather than walk.. she loves toys that are bigger than her.. and she gets pissed off seeing her reflection in the mirror..nikki hates her..but then again he hates everyone..i can't wait to bring her out for a walk! ok i gotta eat my dinner now... THAI... not american. so there!

the lovely bones

2010-03-20T22:42:00.002+08:00

caught the show yesterday...i like it quite alright...i was super sleepy before the show and i managed to stay awake and glued to the screen all the way till the end..so that must say something about it...the show actually made death and the journey to heaven pretty creepy.. anyway while me n darren were in the cinema waiting for the show to begin.. this bunch of american teens came into the theatre..one girl jumped down the stairs and danced... while the others were just making hell a lot of noise, laughing and talking loudly...disrupting the silence in the theatre..we were irritated instantly.. this is just typical angmoh kids behaviour... why oh why do they just behave so badly... anyway they were still chatting amongst themselves loudly and some of them propped their (fat) legs up onto the seats in front of them.. 2 with their shoes on... they made fun of Singaporean ads and mimicked the singlish accent....and when this man walked to his seat near their (fat) legs.. he asked them to put their feet down.. one girl just said "you don't sit there!" and continued to air her (fat) legs on the seats in front of her....what the!!! that's fucking rude!! I was totally boiling when i witnessed the whole scene.. come on bloody american kids... or how the singaporeans will say si gin na that's just typical.. no wonder the whole world hates them...
parents and kids alike...fucked up attitudes and behaviours... even when i served them onboard... i know some people think that americans are so polite and all that but seriously.. they are not.. they are bloody condescending, inconsiderate and their accent plainly irritates the hell outta me... and worse of all.. they are CHEAPSKATES... i think people who deal with their business or money will agree... they think that their money is so big and act like they're the richest and most important clients in the world.. seriously wake up america.. your time is over....

so anyway to make a personal statement to our rebellion against the US... me n darren are going to boycott all american products for one whole month starting from today..no macdonalds, no shopping in diesel... no hollywood movies (we're switching to jack neo.. speculate which other freelance model/actress he tried his moves on. eeks) and NO COKE. Hopefully we will inspire others to follow this movement.

2010-03-13T17:51:00.002+08:00

when cleo met nikki

2010-03-13T17:44:00.002+08:00

darren and i brought my pom nikki to the pasir ris dog farm to visit our baby cleo..to kinda introduce them since they were gonna live together under one roof by the end of march (cleo's confined to her cage at the mo coz she's supposed to have another vaccination jab in a few weeks time...we can't bring her home yet! sob!) and guess what happened? firstly before she saw him, she was busy shredding this towel that was in her cage (she likes towels apparently, shredding the threads out i mean) and then when she saw nikki.. she immediately jumped up on her 2 hind paws and pounced on him!! luckily nikki was saved by her cage and the observation glass!! omg..then i placed nikki on the floor for him to walk around the pet shop and cleo's eyes NEVER left him for a second.. she eyed him walking left..then eyed him walking across... all the time waiting for a chance to eat him i suppose... terror!!! when she couldn't see him anymore.. she went back to biting her cage, her mat and her favourite towel....

and she's coming to my home in a few weeks time....omgggg... my furniture will be torn to shreds...

meet baby Foxy Cleopatra

2010-03-10T19:26:00.003+08:00

she's 2 months old...and we're bringing her home at the end of march...oh gosh can't wait!!! She's the cutest little thing ever!! Did u see the size of her butt?? Some people who i've shown the pics to say she looks like a cat...she's so NOT a cat..she's a ferocious mini wolf!

by the way..

2010-03-09T01:04:00.004+08:00

once again..i'm in one of those debative quarrelsome moods whereby i wanna argue for the sake of arguing.. i'm not sure how many people actually read yesterday's papers but there was this one article written in the Review page i HAVE to comment on...

basically this writer talked about how we singaporeans looove to complain and blame everything that goes wrong on our government.. and that we shld......actually honestly i could catch no points or take-aways from her article..it was to me frankly a waste of a half-page of our national newspaper... she started off by attempting to display how well she could graphically illustrate her then-surroundings (of being in a hot, stuffy taxi..i can't elaborate like her..hey she's the writer) with her words which i felt were very pointless, and then she goes on to criticise the taxi driver.. In her article, she mentioned that this particular taxi driver was trying to make a conversation with her and in the midst of that, blamed the government for the traffic jam they were experiencing. Bottomline in her write-up, he had no substantial reasons to back up his claim and she made him sound like an ignorant yet arrogant working class man...(if you think that i'm exaggerating..pls go pick up the article and read it. ) She used phrases like "he spoke like he was bestowing knowledge onto us mere mortals" or something along those lines... now lets think about this in our own context... how many of us have really met with such obnoxious taxi drivers? driving ethics-wise.. yes we all detest them..but i'm sure it's common knowledge that these people are also amongst the most chatty and down to earth singaporeans we have ever encountered in our lives...The people with the know-how....with their myriad of life experiences and daily contact with all types of people..i could continue waxing lyrical about taxi drivers but that would be digressing.. anyhow back to what i was saying...i believe that this taxi man in question had said his peace BUT for the sake of the flow of her article, this young writer (she looks young from her photo) carelessly wrote this taxi driver off, and then rudely put down singaporeans for being a generation of whiners... she touched on issues like
1) foreign workers - apparently we once said there aren't enough, and now we're saying there's too many
2) erp and parking - her defense for our government is that they came up with measures like raising COE prices and building ERP gantries which shld theoretically lower the no. of cars
3) HDB houses - once again, that we complained of an oversupply and now an undersupply

this could go on and on...her whole article warped on about how singaporeans blame the government for everything and that nothing is ever good enough.. she used the term "crying wolf" for every little thing... and this is a direct quote as well :
" Instead of passing the buck to the Government all the time, we should give up our laughable grievances once and for all..."
my question to her is NOT about whether singaporeans are right or wrong... but why didn't she delve more into why singaporeans have such issues with our government? It was one-sided, fluffy and showed plain disregard for the feelings of all fellow singaporeans with genuine issues with the way the country's run. What she fails to see does not give her to right to condemn those who do. Anyway, she ended off her article trying to get back into the readers' good books by admitting that she has been guilty of the same "singaporean" mindset of complaining... so her point is???! You don't insult someone and then try to stroke the person by saying "oh i totally understand why you did that"... AND SHE'S THE TYPE OF WRITERS WE PUBLISH ON OUR NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS. what a crying shame. Fiona Chan is her name.

some great shots of me hurhurhur

2010-03-09T00:43:00.001+08:00

tadaaaaa

what i've been up to since i've been back

2010-03-09T00:27:00.003+08:00

my sister's baby's BIG BUTT
her name is cotton wool
that's cotton n tofu...cute right?? anyway this was my family Lo Hei at Shang Palace. bloody expensive place with substandard food. trust me on this...it's not worth it.

goodbye my named airline!!

it's been a little more than a year..

2010-02-24T17:13:00.003+08:00

after travelling across 5 continents, serving over 25 000 cups of coffee, walking along the greatest shopping capitals of the world, I finally don my uniform for the last time tonight as i head toward the city of Amsterdam! What a finale.. =p

it's been one hell of a ride (or should i say flight) One tumultuous 2009 and crossing a lil into 2010 where I've had the chance to see and experience so much....also fulfilling my childhood dream of travelling the world. I'm glad i did it but i'm also glad to leave. funny ain't it? I would like to write down all my observations this past year but I better leave that to when i'm officially out of the airline..

toodles till then.. i gotta go pack up my bags now

revenge of the mummy!!

2010-02-21T21:50:00.010+08:00

Egypt to me was pretty amazing....so much history, so much culture, so many sights and sounds to take in.. with approximately 2 mil of its population moving into the city of Cairo every year.. exploding the capacity of the land along the Nile, where the only arable land is found in the entire country...
the art displayed in the papyrus museum... an old form of egyptian paper..made from the papyrus plant found along to the Nile.. the cross-section of its stalk is actually in the shape of a pyramid

onward to the pyramids of Giza!
The great pyramid of Khufu
a handsome egyptian camel
discovering the tomb inside the Pyramid of Khafre
took a pic of one of the middle eastern women! wasn't sure if i could do that but apparently she was alright with it.. she even wanted me to bluetooth it to her phone haha
.queen hildra
bit creepy eh?
outside...me n isa climbing the pyramids!

me and oma..our egyptian guide.. he's 28 and pursuing a degree in Egyptian tourism!
us 3

that horizon you see there my friends.. is the start of the Sahara Desert

the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.. built during the Old Kingdom.. the last remaining one of the ancient 7 World Wonders... but there are actually a lot more pyramids built throughout Egypt... they were used as tombs for the Empire's pharaohs and their consorts..as of 2008, there have 138 found...but it is said that most were hastily constructed and not as massive as these famous ones...Till today, no one can really explain how the pyramids were built without the use of today's modern machinery like forklifts and all but this website explains it with diagrams n all... for those who are into this sort of stuff..u can go here..there were also confusions as to how the pyramids could have been built facing directly North without the invention of compasses (all the entrances to these pyramids face north) but if ur like me and totally space out reading technical stuff lk that.. u can continue browsing my pics hah

anyway..with regards to who built the pyramids... i know it was depicted in the Prince of Egypt that it was the slaves who did all the back-breaking work but i asked our egyptian guide and he said that it's not all true..some even said that it was done by aliens.. ( another popular myth is that wives and pets of the dead pharaoh will be buried alive? sadistic and NOT TRUE ) I did some reading up and the excavated remains showed that the labourers were actually egyptians who lived in villages overseen by the Pharaoh, and the egyptian guide said that some of them were actually kind of serving their NS by building these pyramids! An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers were recruited to work on this project for over 80 years..

so with regards to the popular Sunday School belief that Jewish slaves were forced to work on the pyramids before being saved in a mass exodus by Moses..that is strongly disagreed by the Egyptian people.. in fact.. some non-religious historians even say that there's no evidence of Jews in Ancient Egypt...hmmm.... a lot of issues there... because some writers actually go on to doubt that the exodus even happened..which really shakes the faith in our Bible...
the sphinx the sphinx! it's actually not as huge as it seems...
out on the streets

the fertile lands beside the Nile
at the Khalili bazaar.. our dinner place

we had 3 pancakes in total..this was our dessert. a finale made up of an assortment of nuts and shaved coconut, topped with blobs of fluffy butter and drizzled crazily with honey. MAJOR SUGAR RUSH
a cool guy with lots of bread piled on his head

taken with my iphone of my room and the view from it

happy tiger year!

2010-02-14T01:14:00.002+08:00

happy lunar new year! i spent my reunion dinner eating chicken tikka and naan. how sad is that??!! well.. finally i get to fly back tonight to singapore after spending 8 days touring dubai and cairo yay! my set of crew were sooo nice, everyone was so relaxed and friendly.. so that made this trip quite alright in the end =p Cairo was cool, chaotic but cool...weather-wise especially.. pls do not ever visit cairo in summer... it'll b unbearable.. i'll post pics when i'm back in sin..

8 days of eating a mish-mash of muslim/indian/middle eastern food.. enough is enough...i need my usual diet back!! hawker stuff, tze char, pasta...can't wait to come back to do normal singapore stuff...walk ard malls n watch movie hah..

ok i gotta get ready to fly back
pics up soon!

2010-02-08T17:17:00.000+08:00

In our rush to meet goals and deadlines,
let’s remember to speed up our listening
and to slow down our tempers and our tongues.
— Julie Ackerman

how many people really listen these days?

I'm baaaaack

2010-01-27T10:47:00.004+08:00

i'm finally back after 1000 years abroad. ok more like 8 days but it feels like a lifetime away. and hell was it a good trip! To say that I shopped like crazy is an understatement, it's more like...fanatically. possessed. I went with my luggage half full (or half empty, whichever way u wanna look at it) and came back with a nearly-exploding luggage, plus one more carrier which i had to buy in seoul to carry my shopping home. And i couldn't even zip it up! imagine that...anyway i wasn't the only one.. half my crew had exploding bags, and one girl really had this fragrance thing that exploded in her bag! it was dripping out of her bag and smelt damn good haha

my trip is a total of 8 days, of which we had 3 days in seoul and 2 days in san francisco..can u blame us for going crazy?? The shopping is sooooo goooood gosh..forever21 stuff were gorgeous as usual ( there's this range called twelve by twelve Los Angeles in there that's very nice. don't think they have it in singapore though) victoria's secret had power bras, the typical american eagle abercrombie hollister old navy, plus there's this wholesale shop that sells OPI for only US$4 (and i didn't know where it is!) omg i love frisco.. and then just when i thought i had done enough damage in frisco.. i flew to seoul where the shopping is even better...especially for us asians... all the face stuff (i bought a lot alr last month but it's difficult to resist) I got the Laneige sleeping mask which all the crew rave about..they all told me it's bloody good and you wake up with a smooth face that is plumped up by hydration and all that nonsense.. anw i tried the sample pack and the face really feels deliciously smooth the next morning... so i bought it the next day from myeong dong. what's new...

Oh and we went shopping from 11am till 2am... from itaewon (where i bought my mamasan and embroidered my name in english and korean) to myeong dong (face stuff, eyelashes, lingerie, clothes, FOOOOD) and finally to dong dae mun, where the shops close only at 4am, and some at 5... madness right... i went to doota where u can get pretty nice clothes, bags and accessories but at higher prices... think some of them are local designers.. and then wandered next door to APM.. which has much cheaper stuff, and you can bargain if u pay in cash. the good thing is that the koreans are not pushy, and i don't think they charge ridiculously exorbitant prices just because ur a foreigner.. my guess is that they charge us higher prices anyway, but not like "ang moh" prices...at both the malls, i saw pretty nice and good quality winter jackets..there was one that looks like the one at zara but much cheaper...they got loads of pretty cardigans and tops and sorts... i won't say that the stuff is really really cheap but the quality is definitely better than those in china or bangkok.. work clothes are GORGEOUS there...........very smart yet so feminine..typical korean style la..i heard from the hotel shuttle driver that there's a wholesale market in dong dae mun where the things are even cheaper... it starts at 10pm and ends at 4am.. lots of japanese go there to shop in big bags....i so wanna go back to seoul just to shop.. but man it gets so cold in seoul..i've been to so many places where it drops below 0 degrees before but somehow in seoul, it feels so much colder...think it's the windchill...i can never take the cold in korea..(COLDrea) that night when we were out, i heard that it dropped to -8 degrees..no wonder we were freezing like anything..

now i can't wait to unpack.. to bring out all my shopping =)))

interesting article

2010-01-23T16:50:00.002+08:00

I took this off the yahoo news website...

SINGAPORE (AFP) - – Singapore on Friday rejected allegations by a US-based human rights group that it is a "politically repressive state".

"Singapore is a democratic state with a clean and transparent government, whose public officials are held responsible against the highest standards of probity and integrity," the Ministry of Law said in a statement to AFP.

The ministry cited the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report which rated Singapore as "first out of 133 countries for public trust of politicians and transparency of government policymaking".

Human Rights Watch in its annual report released Thursday slammed Singapore for jailing critics of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and hitting them with financially devastating libel suits.

The New York-based group also criticised the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes, legislation that permit caning as well as laws that ban street protests and allow detention without trial.

"Singapore remains the textbook example of a politically repressive state," said HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson in a press statement Thursday.

HRW's global report had a chapter on Singapore, a wealthy city-state known for political stability, a low crime rate and a conducive environment for global businesses to operate, but also criticised for its little tolerance against dissent.

"Individuals who want to criticise or challenge the ruling party's hold on power can expect to face a life of harassment, lawsuits and even prison," Robertson said.

The Law Ministry rejected the allegations, and accused HRW of recycling propaganda put out by opposition politician Chee Soon Juan and other government critics.

Chee is a long-time critic of the PAP who has been jailed several times in his struggle against the government.

"Human Rights Watchs approach seems to be that they can issue these pronouncements and we should follow them," the Ministry of Law said.

"And their approach seems to be that before they issue these pronouncements, they do not need an understanding of the facts or our viewpoints -- what we think and why we have chosen a specific governance model. These appear to be irrelevant to them."

I think there have been a lot of human rights groups and reports by other journalists about our country and the way it's politically run, and yet time and again, our government has rejected their perspectives, claiming that singapore is a job well-run, and that nobody outside of the country should comment otherwise. Well, have they even once polled us, the citizens, to find out what we really feel about these reports? And, seeing what happened to the antagonists like Francis Seow, Dr Chee and all, will we Singaporeans really say what they feel? Will we dare to?

my longest day ever

2010-01-22T15:26:00.003+08:00

my 21 jan 2010 has a total of 41 hours. i started my day in seoul at GMT+9 before flying back across the pacific to san francisco at gmt -8. We were all so lost as to which day and date it is..anyway today was cool.. i didn't rest AT ALL and just went shopping shopping shopping before i met up with the others to go EAT EAT EAT at cheesecake factory.. man the cheesecakes are goood. they're really good.. especially their new flavour - the Stephanie's ultimate red carpet cheesecake. Really incredulously good, the cream cheese frosting on top is to die for...damn creamy and aromatic...i feel like dabao-ing a slice back to singapore...

this is it. heaven in a slice.

food's good as well...the ribs are fantastic.. the cajun pasta's good as well..and i'm not saying this just coz i'm jetlagged and hungry.. the standard is really there..no wonder so many people rave about this.

so anyway..i went crazy shopping in sfo again...i was just here about 2 months back and i went crazy then too...And i haven't even started shopping in seoul yet.. maybe sometimes it's good to have flights like dubai riyadh, dubai istanbul, basically dubai anything.. save money..i don't even spend much on food there.. u give me london, US, or worse, milan, and i will spend well into four figures. luckily i had restraint in london!!! next month...hmm...what do i have... ok i have an amsterdam (not gonna spend...except on H&M maybe..) a dubai-cairo (dubai!! save money station!!) sydney...(oh no...all my aussie shopping lists..grocery shopping also) and standby here and there..to be fair...i'm only buying like there's no tomorrow because i don't know when i'll go back there.......it may be years later on my own holiday...by then i would have to pay thousands to fly there..ouch.

I went to check out kate spade just now coz i know that they're having a season clearance sale now.. and they only had some fugly fringey-looking excuse of a bag on sale..and the rest were all new stock. Seriously some kate spade bags are not worth their price.. it looks so glorious on the website, but when u actually see it, the material is cheap and the finishings aren't really that great either. Designs are definitely cute though....... either way..i didn't get anything. I figured that if i wanna spend on a bag, i'll rather pay more for something that's real quality and not one that's just riding on its name. I would say that Coach is pretty good as well..for its price..just that their designs look a bit tired and.."inspired"...

okkk..my head's closing in on me..need to get some rest.. ta

my baglust..

2010-01-19T00:30:00.011+08:00

i dunno how it started, and when it started...but i became one of them..

girls who can spend ages talking about different different brands and how they will save up thousands of dollars just to buy... a bag...and i'm now one of them...and every now and then i will look around online to see my next potential purchase.

like now...
Chloe large Elsie
Chloe Marlow
gorgeous ain't it...........sigh..

The Chloe Paraty. arm candy of numerous celebrities..

gosh i dunno where i've been all this time but it's like i only just discovered Chloe in all her glory while walking round selfridges in london..and now i just love love love chloe! The designs are so different and so chic.. the spring summer collection features loads of big bags.. great for shopping and for work.. what more could a girl ask for?

the setback is that a typical bag will literally set you back by at least SGD$3000.. even the teeny Elsie evening bag..which is darling by the way.. just can't find the pic but i fell in love with it at the store...luckily i had this thing called self-control! ( do you know how dangerous it is for me to be constantly overseas and in close proximity to bags like these? )

So anyway..i'm heading to seoul and san francisco on wed.. early morning.. which means more shopping for me.. i wanna head to dong dae mun for the first time in a long while..I normally only have time for myeong dong..and of course to the supermarket to buy some korean supplies for me mum... to san francisco for more forever 21, victoria's secret (!!!) and.....the following considerations... luckily it's much cheaper..

Coach Op Art Brooke US$298
but i'll carry it without the long strap. kinda sling it on my arm.. but i think it will look horribly flat if i don't carry much stuff in it. i like the print though...
Kate Spade Beauville Nylon Stevie US$295
this one is nice, especially the sides!! i couldn't find a pic showing the side except on the kate spade website.. you can go check it out for yourself.. but this one is too casual for the office..this is so cruise collection-type..

Kate Spade Wellie Magee US$195
now this one is CUTE. it's inspired by wellies and therefore is super waterproof and great for singapore. but its sooo impractical coz it's too striking to match most outfits...

but somehow after looking at the Chloe ones.. the other bags pale in comparison... =((( you know how it's like... if u want that certain thing.. u try to stop yourself and console yourself by getting other cheaper things.. u buy and u buy to fill up that gap..and somehow it still falls short of that euphoria of getting that one thing. and you end up buying that thing anyway..but you're still stuck with all the cheaper things that you didn't want or need in the first place.. hurhur

hopefully i'll be able to resist the purchase..

erp again?!!!

2010-01-18T01:06:00.002+08:00

4 erps at marina area..does anyone think that it will alleviate the traffic conditions?!

i really think singapore is waaay too overcrowded and why? MAYBE because of all the PRs and foreigners that have come flooding into the country in recent years....and like many said.. these are the people who come in and buy up all our houses (MAYBE pushing up the prices, both private and public) and drive all the cars which are clogging up our roads... and the solution to that?

set up more erp gantries. THAT ought to solve problems. AND they get to generate more income too. what can be better than that? our nation is truly well-planned indeed...

Housing. Something that made our nation the model to follow for other nations with population stresses. Public housing that is affordable for the masses, and maintained by the government to keep its people safely sheltered and well looked after. The price of today's HDB? The latest DBSS project at Bishan is looking at around S$650k on average, with the highest hitting well above 700k. And that's the "affordable" housing that is available on the market for us now?? Now come on..lets be fair.. there are much cheaper ones..in buangkok and choa chu kang...the latest BTO projects..we just have to travel half a lifetime across singapore's many mrt lines to get to work..and then half a lifetime back...but at least it's cheaper...you know.. there has been many issues lately with regards to the $8000 income ceiling...if you don't earn at least $8000 combined.. it sure will be tough to afford that 700k bishan flat. don't u reckon?

Then there's resale.. which is frankly the only hope left for most singaporeans... coz even first-timers have to fight tooth-and-nail to be successful in their bid for a new flat.. most still don't get one..even after a few tries on different projects.. and then comes....the SINGAPOREAN PR.. who will finally get to join the singaporeans in the fight for shelter. Resale is open to singaporeans and pr alike.. and due to demand, resale prices are going up up UP through the roof..i heard that new hdb prices are tagged to the resale prices so...what kind of a property market are we subjected to? catch 22.

do u know how simple it is to become a singapore pr? ok firstly your company has a huge part to play in it of course.. if singapore deems u to be someone at least semi professional and can contribute (in terms of tax) to the economy..according to one of my sources, you don't even require an interview to become one.. it's actually automated.. you submit the application online and if your documents look alright.. you don't even need to meet anyone from the ICA to become a singaporean...how's that for efficiency?

and of course. with public housing at incredible prices.. do we even need to discuss the private ones?

2010-01-13T03:04:00.002+08:00

Ja ich weiss, es war ne' Geile Zeit
Hey es tut mir Leid
es ist vorbei.......

can't sleep...

2010-01-10T03:46:00.003+08:00

urgh what time zone am i on?! it's alr 3.45am and i'm WIDE AWAKE. you know..one of those days (or rather nights) where you feel physically tired yet so many things keep running through your head and keep u from falling asleep. even if they're nothing remotely important.. how does one shut off the brain on command?? Plus i'm nursing yet another sore throat from eating too much junk probably...urgh my job makes me so lethargic both physically and mentally.. especially mentally...i can't think of the last time i had to really use my brain at work.. this is worrying... my brain cells are dying fast. and some say the altitude makes it worse....

at the start.. i use to read the papers regularly...straits times money page and sometimes business times..if i get the chance.. and when i get to the hotel..i'll switch on bloomberg just to get the gist of what's going on with the crisis..and of course to learn more about the markets n stuff..i used to do that at least once a week when i was still in uob..but overtime, i started to neglect my reading..switching instead to my usual girly books and watching MTV cribs instead of financial news........i know there's something wrong when i know more about the top 10 disastrous hollywood divorces than the current unemployment rate in the US. US to me now is all about victoria's secret, coach and forever 21. heeeelllpppp!!!!

i need to do something to shake myself up..hmmm

Nanking

2010-01-08T09:18:00.011+08:00

welcome to nanjing.. a place most people will probably not to go to till they're at least half a century old..and yet i was there over christmas..ha! so let me show you what's it's like now in end 2009, so you can compare the changes when ur there in 2030. the good thing is that the hotel i was staying in is right smack in the middle of the shopping district so i don't have to go far to do some shopping or get food (Jinling hotel..pretty nice but i ain't sure of the price per night though) and everywhere is connected by an underground passageway so it's easy to get around.

this is a really crowded place for some youth shopping.. not too bad...they have tons of accessories, nail shops, clothes, bags, shoes (especially fake uggs...bloody hell.. and i was wearing my uggs the entire time while checking out pairs that were a fraction of the price that i paid in auckland. uggs by the way are MADE IN CHINA) darren bought a nice cap and if i had more time (and also the liberty of doing my nails anyway i want) i would have gotten a nice manicure plus the ever-so-essential-these-days nailart.. quite cheap you know!! not much pics coz it was too crowded plus the lighting was bad which made my pics look crap. and yes yes..plus of course my lousy camera skills..i had a super nice milk bubble tea..which the chinese drink HOT..eeks..i asked the girl to add ice and she gave me a weird look..anyhow it was good.

Da niang?!! damn china!!! anyway what do 2 singaporeans eat when they reach nanjing? of course look for something they can trust.. you never know. it's china. anyway the ajisen in nanjing is nicer than the one in singapore! It's got a much wider variety and is much cheaper... i think i paid only 5 bucks for my noodles.. but the service attitude is...terrible... asking these chinese staff for something makes you feel like you're severly inconveniencing them.. and they will huff and puff for a minute before taking 10000 years just to get you a spoon or something. anyway while we were waiting for our food, there was a table of 4 girls sitting next to us and they were chatting away like how girls are when they get together.. and the waitress came round with a bowl of noodles.. she was standing behind them and telling them to excuse her but due to the noise level in the restaurant.. it was hard to hear her. So she just rolled her eyes, went to the corner of the table and slammed the bowl of noodles down hard. The girls got a shock, and then just shifted the noodles towards themselves and continued their chatter. 2 things i noticed - bad service attitude and people who are used to bad service attitude. hurhur.

anyway when our food came, i quickly acknowledged the waitress and gave her whatever space she needed!

this is from another place..and it was gooood.

A must see in Nanjing is of course the unforgettable Nanjing Massacre Memorial hall commemorating the 300,000 (and possibly much much more) Chinese who died out of the sheer aggression and greed of the Japanese Occupation. Its location, which is in the southwestern corner of Nanjing known as Jiangdongmen, used to be one of the execution grounds and mass burial places of the cruel holocaust. There were many videos, pictures and artefacts of the massacre, and its happenings. For one, looting and especially rape was rampant. The museum displayed pictures and accounts of women who were treated as "comfort women" and housed in "comfort centers" purely for the soldiers to relieve themselves.. bastards... apparently each woman was used at least 3 times a day, with the prettier and younger ones up to 15 times a day. and hello...we're not talking about porn material.. the men will even rape OLD women.. like ah-mah kinda age.. the jappies must have been on some kinda demonic trance.

this is an actual bomb shelter they found in some rural part of china.

anyway i read in the memorial that when Nanjing fell, the Japs had to face persecution for the war crimes they committed and as such, tried to downplay the numbers they've killed by dumping the bodies into the Yangtze.. and its surface was completely filled with floating dead bodies for miles and miles..

and this is what i read from wikipedia

"Pregnant women were a target of murder, as they would often be bayoneted in the stomach, sometimes after rape. Tang Junshan, survivor and witness to one of the Japanese army’s systematic mass killings, testified:

"The seventh and last person in the first row was a pregnant woman. The soldier thought he might as well rape her before killing her, so he pulled her out of the group to a spot about ten meters away. As he was trying to rape her, the woman resisted fiercely...The soldier abruptly stabbed her in the belly with a bayonet. She gave a final scream as her intestines spilled out. Then the soldier stabbed the fetus, with its umbilical cord clearly visible, and tossed it aside."^[45]

Thousands were led away and mass-executed in an excavation known as the "Ten-Thousand-Corpse Ditch", a trench measuring about 300m long and 5m wide. Since records were not kept, estimates regarding the number of victims buried in the ditch range from 4,000 to 20,000. However, most scholars and historians consider the number to be more than 12,000 victims.

The Japanese officers turned the act of murder into sport. They would set out to kill a certain number of Chinese before the other. Young men would also be used for bayonet training. Their limbs would be restrained or they would be tied to a post while the Japanese soldiers took turns plunging their bayonets into the victims' bodies"

you know, amidst all this sadness..i really wonder what is an appropriate pose for the camera. i mean.. imagine if ur beside the memorial wall that screams out the total number of deaths, can you feel alright posing with a grin and a V sign? so i settled for this.. i think it's suitable.

Apparently, the massacre remains a contentious political issue, because of some Japanese nationalists (such as the group of 100 Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers in 2007) who deny the extent of the incident and claim that the massacre has been exaggerated or fabricated for propaganda purposes. As a result, their denial created a stumbling block and distrust between the Chinese and Japanese relations, as well as its relations with other Asia-Pac nations.

it was a dark day indeed when i visited this museum...so gloomy.. and i went on a bright and sunny day somemore

look at what i found outside the Nanjing Massacre Memorial.. it's like a blast from the past.. but coated in bubblegum pink..
i happened to take this shot while awaiting to cross the road.. there were announcements coming from the traffic lights itself informing the chinese to WAIT and not cross carelessly.. but nobody cared..typical china. they're like the bangladeshis that we fear at little india..they cross every road like it's their last
these are shots of fuxingmiao.. aka Confucius Temple..by night.. real pretty.. they often hold festivals here.. like lantern festival, chinese new year and sorts.. i took the pics myself!!

when there's nothing else to take.. of course we resorted to creating our own scenery..

but of course my boy is much better at photo-whoring than me..as you can see...

anyway i just got back from the blistering cold of london. managed to escape the snowstorm that was approaching from the north. almost bought a mulberry but luckily... i resisted!!

spending the next 10 days in singapore wheee

happy christmas!

2009-12-27T04:22:00.011+08:00

wow it's been ages since i last blogged..got pics of my recent trips to moscow and nanjing. moscow was craaaazy cold.. it gives a whole new meaning to brainfreeze.. coz just about everything on you freezes really.. when the plane touched down... it was actually... *drumroll* -23 degrees!!! that's madness!!! i went from a tropical temperature of 32 degrees to -23 degrees in a matter of 10 hours..i'm lucky my skin didn't die on me from the stress i've put on it.. anyhow.. when the plane was flying into moscow.. the city below looked so emo..all blue and gloomy... it reminded me a lil bit of the evil ice queen and her icy kingdom.. and anyway.. hell it IS cold!!!! there's not one single puddle of water on the ground coz everything's frozen over.. even the lakes are just sheets of ice...
but nothing's gonna stop me from taking pictures!!
of myself firstly...and then my pretty souvenir!!
there's 10 of the dolls in there! (and i already lost the smallest one.. it's about the size of a grain of rice)
then with the ultra stylo doorman Alexander..
onto the rest of Moscow and the Red Square

doesn't it look like a scene out of a fairytale?

oh by the way..the people here look so glamorous you'll feel like a peasant next to them... them with their luxurious fur coats and pornstar-ish leather boots..the russians are probably the best dressed i've seen so far..looks-wise.. the girls have nice features and the guys...hmm...i only saw old guys out.. wonder what happened to all the cute boys..but we did go to a cafe where there were only young teenage boys working as waiters and older women mending the cash register... hmmm

come fly with meee
snow snow SNOW
cute lil russian girl posing in front of the St Basil.. so sweet!!
the iconic St Basil's Cathedral (Собор Покрова пресвятой Богородицы, что на Рву) built on the Red Square since 1555-1561, and listed as part of the UNESCO heritage site..
real pretty =)
some cannons in the snow..
sweets...

it is REALLLLLLY cold!!

cool candy store in the underground pass..

russian dolls

moscow's cool

effing irritated

2009-12-15T16:36:00.003+08:00

i must have had too many good flights in the past with too many nice people that's why i'm ending off my 2009 with shitty people once again... flew with one of those "oh i think i'm so senior and you better listen to me" kinda crew AGAIN.. gosh it's infuriating.. in my 10 months of flying.. i've always noticed that the typical opening line for these types who want to talk down to me is this..

"hildra..i want to share this with you..."

and then they start complaining about me to my face and tell me what I shld or shld not do. or what is the crew culture and how i shld conform blahblahblah.. if it's reasonable.. that's fine.. i'm honestly all for feedback and improvement.. good advice is invaluable..but when it comes to bullshit.. come on shut the fuck up and just do your own work. stop wasting my time and please do more productive things with your time. like check t he toilets or walk around the cabin..you know, just do things the company has paid you to do!

anw the girl in question accused me of messing up her galley, and said that i left wrappers and rubbish for her to clear..WHICH I WILL NEVER DO...I will never mess up places that are not mine.. my room sure..my office desk...of course...but i have more consideration than that..seriously..if you have no proof...pls dun assume and go shooting ur mouth off at ppl. and then she went on to advise me on what i should or should not say to complex leaders. (apparently she didn't like my friendly banter with the chief). Also, after the meal service..i cleared a tray from the cabin and carried it into the galley.. and one of the crew accidentally hit the tray and the yoghurt on e tray flew off and a lil bit splattered on her uniform.. and she exclaimed SO loudly "OH NOoOoo!!!!! it's yoghurt!!!!!" or something like that and she was like so worked up about it.. and another senior crew just told her that it's ok..not a big deal..trying to calm her down and i think she was having a fit but was controlling it damn hard..come on relax.. we work with food.. of course we will get dirty.. even I had yoghurt on me...another girl actually had someone's vomit on her shoes and she didn't react like her!! (that girl's a sweetheart anyway)

anw she started off this conversation first by asking how long i've been flying.. and then of course the infamous "let me share with you" line and then shot her mouth off.. and being crew..you will overtime learn how to keep your cool and act like you really care about what she's saying n then hopefully manage a comeback with finesse..after she said her piece..i just nodded..i was boiling inside.. and just asked her coolly "oh so how long have YOU been flying?" just one n a half years and so bloody yaya!! that's the thing that makes me the angriest! and u know something..these are strangely the kind of people who also stay damn long in the airline. i tell you.. they will get chewed up if they ever work in the outside world for sure

trust me..no matter how safe you play it.. conforming to the norms of cabin crew culture.. like reporting the earliest for flight when ur the most junior.. collecting tips from everyone for the transport guy.. calling everyone for makan when ur outstation..eating the last during lull period..working the hardest and smiling 24/7.. there are STILL people whose tails you will step on simply because.. i dunno..they're just not nice people. one good advice i have heard everytime from seniors is that whenever you meet nasty people.. just remember not to take it personally and not stress urself up over it. these people are the ones who have to live their lives with their shitty character.

man i feel much better now having vented my frustration..to be fair i think my frustration comes not only from this one incident but accumulated from my other encounters. i really wonder if this is unique to my not-to-be-named company or is this...life.

shots of athens

2009-12-14T01:21:00.025+08:00

i dunno what the hell this is but it was across the road from the hotel...
bullet holes through the glass windows of a hotel on Plaka..i think it's the result of the recent riots.. we heard gunshots while we were up in hill..dunno what happened though...

the greek dogs... so many strays on the road..this particular dog is sooo cute.. it has such a flat back it looked like a walking stool..

the foooood..
my greek salad...been looking forward to this for ages!
capt michael's salad...which everyone says is good..
the cute stuff in the shops...which i love love love! i would have bought everything if not for the fact that it's expensive!!
especially this! i love it!!
i was tempted to buy the cups on the first shelf.. especially the cookie monster one (the fourth from the left).. but i dun think it's really practical.. coz you gotta hold the "cookie" to drink your drink..and that's kinda tiring after a while..i held it for about 10 secs to test its usability haha. fail! the "gun" mug is pretty cool as well..that's the second last one on the top shelf..you kinda hold the trigger to drink your beverage..haha cool

this was actually a pretty amusing street shot i managed to capture.. along the streets of the city.. you will get to see really A LOT of illegal street vendors selling fake goods..art..accessories and tons of weird stuff.. and the greek police will drop by once in a while to chase them away..but all i saw was that these vendors will pretend to pack up but continue their business the moment the policeman's back is turned..like the very next second he looks away..they will continue business as usual..

if you ever plan to live in europe..u better brush up on ur parallel parking skills coz this is how close the cars are parked from each other! But as capt tim explained.. which i witnessed with my own eyes.. the cars will kinda knock each others bumpers to get out of their lots..regardless if it's a shiny beemer or an old citroen..so best to get one of those "smart" cars coz it's teeny tiny and easy to manoevour..uses less fuel too!

a city in the midst of a 300 billion euro debt..or 113% of its GDP.. how oh how did they get themselves into this mess?

another great greek experience

2009-12-13T05:14:00.002+08:00

i guess i almost always have fun in athens.. the first time i came here.. that was in may.. i had really great company.. we had so much fun touring the islands..eating and drinking greek food n wine..awesome conversations...and this time.. though no island-hopping.. it was still nice walking thru the streets and taking in the views of the city.. albeit the wet weather..i had good company once again...(but food this time wasn't as good as i remembered...) we adopted a greek dog along the way (we named him Buddy...he followed us all around for a good hour and a half..and when we parted along some walking street..i was actually a little sad) we climbed up a hill (not a mountain..which by definition..is any parcel of land that is above 3000 feet sea level) and saw athens from a higher altitude...it was really nice.. city features a lot of white.. very densely built up and nothing really high-rise..i realise that most european cities are like that.. i saw the Acropolis from afar.. as well as the original olympics stadium..too bad my camera is too amateur to capture that.. anyhow please try an ouzo when ur in greece.. it's like the whiskey of scotland, grappa of italy and vodka of russia.. something you just HAVE to have here.. it tastes like liquid liquorice and reminds me of sambuca.. buy it from the supermarket and not from the touristy shops.. it's probably only abt 6 euros for a full bottle..it's nasty so drink sensibly!

i'll put pics up soon..

pssst.. some shopping tips... i heard that Zara is cheaper here than in most european cities ( and of course cheaper than singapore) except that it definitely can't compare to spain duh.. and also get your leather boots here coz prices are more reasonable and quality is good..Athens totally rocks

writing from my lil corner in athens

2009-12-11T16:40:00.002+08:00

i'm in my room, typing on my lil macbook in the middle of nowhere really.. the hotel is sooooo far from the airport.. and also quite far from the city centre ( i think..gotta take a shuttle bus which leaves only every hour from the hotel) i'm really trying to psych myself up coz i'm in greece (I'm in greece greece GREECE!!) but i can't even pinch an ounce of excitement out of my body.. but maybe that's just becoz the weather's dreary and i'm tired from working overnight.. ain't i a total miss grumps today..-_- BUT i'm really looking forward to my greek salads..especially the uber yummy tomatoes and feta cheese... gosh i never tasted better.. a whole group of us are going out later.. cabin crew n tech crew..gonna walk to the acropolis and also have lunch/dinner n all that.. so hopefully i can muster up the energy to embrace all that..what the hell's wrong with me?! i feel about 101 years old.. a bag of old bones...

so tired.. my head feels lk it's stuffed with cotton wool at the mo so i better go crash now..maybe later i'll feel lk a bouncing and fresh 13 year old all ready to conquer athens!

seoul searching

2009-12-08T17:42:00.005+08:00

i went to seoul and back in 3 days... i love seoul..it's so funky there.. cute language, cute girls plus their food is sooo good...even their instant food! (i bought quite a few packs of instant noodles back..each pack is DAMN big) i only had time to go to myeong dong.. i still haven't been to itaewon and daidomon.. so many places, definitely too little time

that is a pic of my super humungous saba fish... i've never had such a huge fish ALL by myself before.. it's like one of those dishes that are normally shared amongst an entire family for dinner.. but somehow i managed to finish it hehe.. there were 7 of us with 7 saba fishes on the table.. scary if u look at us.. the meat was fresh and a bit sweet...the skin was quite crispy.. yumyum! we also ordered some tofu soup thingie that is damn good for winter.. anw it's really cold there now.. ard -4degrees.. my nose almost cracked off my face i think..
street vendors with their pancakes, spicy rice cakes and i dunno what the round dough thing is called but it's damn nice.. fluffy with a tinge of sweetness at the top.. and some sweet jam thingie in the middle... i dabao-ed back to singapore for my mum...and it's still edible.. hah
the yummy dough thing..
look at the child's meal tray on my Seoul flight! Seoul cute! (pardon that..couldn't help it) i think the japanese trays must be even nicer... we also had very creamy cheesecake ice-creams.. yummy..anw there was this korean kid onboard who was quite funny.. he gets really excited whenever i bring trays of juice or water into the cabin.. and at first i thought.ahh..this kid wants some sugary drinks.. but he gets excited just to get a glass of water haha... weird...
my facial stuff from korea... i think i dun need half of the things i bought.. some peeling cream that promises to exfoliate all the dead skin cells.. and some other cream thing that injects oxygen into the skin...i dunno if it's good.. i'll let u know if my skin rots..
masks masks and more masks! ( i have a lot more just that i didn't wanna be weird n take pics of all of them)
skincare for guys! there's even a BB cream for guys! Plus some manly looking mask sheets.. for darren n my bro-in-law..
bought eye lashes from faceshop.. each one selling for abt 1 dollar plus.. MUCH cheaper than the ones in singapore which are selling at $4.90 each... faceshop lashes are pretty good i think..they last much longer than the ones u can get from taipei in a large box..
sigh i wish i had more days there......

jakarta...

2009-12-03T12:57:00.002+08:00

i'm in jakarta now and am currently all snuggled up in my room.. yay not getting out for the whole day today! just gonna go to the gym perhaps and just watch the hills for the whole day on my com..such is the life of a trolley dolly..hurhur...anw work today was super breezy.. dun need to give out headsets or menucards and just go straight to meal service.. with juice n breadroll already set on the trays.. just have to pour coffee/tea... damn easy la.. what a relief from other flights... but then again... my job on the whole is pretty simple enough as it is.. i better not get used to this =p anyway when we landed in jakarta ( i'm always terrified of landings.. gripping onto the edge of my seat till my knuckles turn white but i try to hide this from crew n especially pax), one indon pax actually clapped his hands, and that was a strange strange moment.. it was like... silence..and then.. a lonesome *clap clap clap clap*...and then silence again. i wonder if anyone felt as awkward as me..

wow it's december already.. one of the crew on my flight today was a steward I flew with on my training flight in jan.. and it really made me think that time flew damn crazily past... a little more than a year with the airline already... met with hell a lot of turbulence..whether literally or figuratively..landed in many gorgeous and not so gorgeous countries.. what an experience.

anyway i've noticed a lot of upgrading work going on in many parts of singapore.. on the highways and especially in the HDB estates... election must be soon!

do fish feel pain?

2009-11-23T00:19:00.003+08:00

u know..i went prawning some time back and while we were barbequeing the prawns ALIVE on the grill..i thought..do prawns feel pain? do fish, or crustaceans in general feel pain?! it was all cruel really...the prawns we caught were flipping like mad on the grill and u can actually see them slowly turning from grey to orange AND they were still alive...........i asked one of the regulars there if prawns feel pain and he said no...so i relaxed and just erm..had a feast... i guess that was what i wanted to hear.. just like the case of the sashimi in japan... i heard that there is this restaurant that sliced a side of the fish off and the chef actually threw it back into the water, and it could still swim and everything! the very fine fish slice was then served as a delicacy to customers of course... apparently the side that was sliced off revealed like bones and stuff and was not damaging enough to kill the fish......weirrrrd!

but actually now that i went to look around online..a lot of studies show that fish DO feel pain... but they don't show pain like the way we know it..by reflexes - but rather in a "fearful, avoidance" manner, which is believed to be not simply an instinctive escapist behaviour...

poor nemo!!!!

narcissists

2009-11-21T04:09:00.002+08:00

ok..i recently found out that i'm on some list of "Hot/Pretty Bloggers" on a local forum for guys..aka hardwarezone..apparently some guys decided to create a list of girly blogs that are worth bookmarking and all that..and invite others to contribute to that list.. so being kaypoh..i went to check out the fellow "contenders" (hurhur) and my-oh-my can i just say that i dunno if i shld take it as a compliment or an insult to be included in that list.. seriously.... i'm just appalled at what i see..

blogs after blogs of self-taken pics...more pics.. yet another bunch of pics (of me me ME!).. all taken with heavy make-up and clad in tacky outfits (majority of them are what u will call part-time models.. doing car shows and roadshows n a part of the infamously tacky roaring queen contests) utter narcissism. it's a level of narcissism that will make u shudder after visiting more than 5 of such blogs. It gets me thinking..what are these girls really out for? attention? just writing a diary? thats bs coz if no one reads their entries, will they really make an effort to put up pretty pretty pictures of themselves daily? so whatever happened to thoughts and opinions about matters not relating to their looks? Will they be stumped for words? Do they possess this wonderful quality called the Personality?

The blogs are great for guys really.. without having to pay a single cent.. these silly girls will willingly put scantily clad pics of themselves up.. in all sorts of compromising positions that can really make one blush..when in reality.. after stripping off the make-up and falsies..80% of them are really just normal underneath it all. there's this malaysian girl's blog i came across before.. she's posing in her bedroom with close to nothing on.. or hmm...was she actually naked in one of the shots? i remember one where she was cupping her breasts with one hand and the other holding the cam to take the picture..

.......ooooh i found the link!! check it out..
http://xia0aii.blogspot.com/

anyway the forum goes on with guys giving their votes and opinions on whether a particular girl should be on the list and they'll say stuff like oh this girl is chio..or this girl is buang.. her ears too big..i want to teh her big nehneh.. blahblahblah.. come on girls..these are the type of guys ur blogging for.. sheesh.

for eg.
"you guys read XueSha's blog and totally did not notice Naomi?
this is mainly for guys who wanna see more cleavage revealing pictures. :p not VERY chio, but can la...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mupuZz0JEq...h/DSC06502.JPG
very good at squeezing a cleavage out >.<"

or...

"queen-cess is one of the twins!!! can the crones pls get out. either or pls close this thread. it's nauseating that crones are here to publicise their own blogs.

THE TWINS FAIL BIG TIME! THEY BOTH LOOKED LIKE S-HIT. DUN GO TO THEIR BLOGS TO SAVE YOUR EYES!!! "

this is the product of our gen-y youths.. the so-called strawberry generation.. but i speak as if i'm not part of it. haha..am i? i dunno..maybe i'm considered gen-x.. confusing..anyway total random post u reckon.. yeah..i just had to comment.

frisco continued

2009-11-19T21:12:00.009+08:00

a nice stroll to the Washington Square.. where i saw this adorable chowchow!! he was so fat that he couldn't run or catch any balls..
the typical cathedral which u can mostly find in all european cities.. beautiful nevertheless..

the Coit Tower..built as a monument to san francisco's socialite, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who donated a generous sum of money just to beautify the city..

the trees that oddly look like kailan to me...is it just me?!

that platform there is filled up with noisy seals!

the golden gate bridge! that is so tiny from where i was!!

the Transamerica Pyramid..san francisco's most distinct landmark...

plus the one and only shot i took in hongkong haha..more shopping of course...

i want US flights again!! =)

thoughts on crew

2009-11-10T16:15:00.003+08:00

flying back from san francisco to hk is no joke man... close to 15 hours of flying..that's e longest i've done so far..even manchester wasn't so long! and the start of the flight was horrendous.. all the mamas came up with freaking HUGE bags it's like they're relocating for good! i mean haven't they heard of check-in??? or horrors of horrors..what if the bags they brought up are considered small compared to their check-in??

anyway i had a clash with one of the senior crew..a girl flying for 5 years.. my first ever... i'm a super non-confrontational person but she really pushed the envelope man.. she's exactly why i dislike flying sometimes.. cabin crew who have flown for some time and get so yaya-papaya about it. and treat junior crew like dirt. they are the ones u'll see being friendly only to the ranking and tech crew.. and also to other stewardesses more senior than them..but when it comes to people more junior..and especially probational crew (basically when ur a "p" ur deadmeat onboard) they will speak to u with contempt almost.. like they're wasting their time even talking to u.. they will order u around and will not hesitate to "share" with u how things shld be done. basically if u work with them.. ur working with an extra ranking crew.. ur governed by 2 bosses instead of having one boss and one colleague. so overtime.. i learnt to be patient and humble.. just to survive.. in my 9 months of flying.. i have met this sort of people many times.. so just grit ur teeth and bear with it. most people just let this sort of behaviour pass and hope for a better flight the next time round. the best insurance for anyone is to have a more junior girl onboard. she will then be chewed up. i kid u not when i tell u that i prefer being in the cabin with passengers than in the galley sometimes..i'd much rather serve 1000000000 whiskey sodas than face this kinda crew (incidentally..i did serve 100000000 whiskey sodas during the flight hah)

on a MUCH brighter note.. i had a great second day of shopping in frisco. went to forever 21.. old navy..abercrombie..macys..forever 21 is great in US! old navy has like really cute scarves as well.. the clothes are a bit.err.. dowdy.. a bit like carrefour shopping i think.. oh i also walked to the fisherman's wharf on my own in the morning..a good 45 mins walk from the hotel.. but it's a nice walk..weather was cool and it was good to just have a look at the neighbourhood.. the classic slopes of san francisco..i took some nice shots (i hope..haven't really checked on my com) and i especially liked the park that i walked through.. nice sunny sunday with people and their dogs.. there was even a lil corner where some local artists displayed their work for sale.. anyway when i finally reached the wharf..i know the walk was worth it.. nice view of the sea plus the golden gate bridge..though it was really far away.. there was also a platform with a lot of seals making hell a lot of noise.. they sound a bit like babies actually...like waaah waaaah waaaah... cute... and i had a clam chowder off a street store.. it was yummmy... creamy with quite a generous serving of clams.. i love love love the frisco bay area...

pics up soon.. most of them will be in facebook since it's bloody tiresome uploading them in blogger

going out now..gonna tear down mongkok and central =p

take me on a trip i'd like to go someday..

2009-11-08T21:53:00.003+08:00

what else is there to do besides eat and shop?

my "homerun" brekkie

the VS dressing room...

my spoils from Victoria's secrets...

the total damage...
and that's just from day 1.. day 2 continues in a few hours...

2009-11-08T21:31:00.003+08:00

this is the swiss thingy that the passenger gave to me.. quite pretty right?

nikki!
pics from my dinner...white rabbit at dempsey.. ex place... they charge 10 bucks per bottle of water.. no they dun serve tap water..

our starters..
lamb
that was their fish that was quite tasteless
sirloin..
my crazy sister
her hubby..
me n mum keeping our sanity =p

our crepe suzette.. ordered some other desserts too but the lighting is really tough for photography..

my body clock is so screwed right now

2009-11-08T17:53:00.002+08:00

i dunno which time zone that i'm following..in san francisco right now and am totally freaking out over the fact that i'm slept at 6 in the evening and woke up at 2am in the morning super awake for a brand new day.. gosh.... and it's only 6pm in singapore..my timing is off in both countries! anyway i spent sooooo much in frisco!!!! =((( super guilty now... i came here with US$1000 and i've spent everything already. o_o this is BaaAD! At first I thought that i would be buying loads of things with the money but i really spent the bulk of it in 2 shops! I actually spent US$400 in victoria's secret!!! oh the thought of it is scary... when i convert that.. it's almost 600 in sing dollars.......................600 on bras..........gawd...but it's all so pretty! I think i'm buying with the mindset that i'm never coming back here.. at least not for a few yrs.. i will save next month!! i was so busy shopping that i didn't even take photos in the shops.. hah.

i have some photos from my birthday though.. will upload them soon

so.........i'm 25

2009-11-03T16:26:00.002+08:00

gosh i feel old.

anyway my birthday was a total blast... i blasted it away serving people..all 230 of them.. ok half that..since i only served people in my cabin.. so touched..so many people celebrated my birthday with me hurhur.. full load in economy and it was pretty full in business too.. some in first class..so the first half of my birthday was spent sleeping (since there's a 7 hour difference btw zurich and singapore) and then the other half was spent flying back to singapore.. by the time work's over.. my birthday's over too..sucks!!! BUT i had 2 lovely surprises.. one being an unexpected gift from a biz class pax... he was chatting to me and another stewardess (he was bored so he walked down to economy..anyway he's swiss and his wife is filipino..they met each other for 5 months and got married!) and she told him that it was my birthday..he wished me birthday greetings n all that.. an hour later.. he came back and gave me a handmade item from the town of Bern.. i dunno where he got it from but it's cute! He said it's typical swiss..i'll post up the pic of it soon..

and at the end of the flight.. we were all told to report to first class.. so when i got there.. there was a chocolate cake placed on a tray and all the crew plus the pilots sang me a birthday song.. i was so embarassed i just clapped along like a retard hurhur. the cake was bought by one of the pilots and a stewardess while we were in zurich and it's YUMMY.. i was really touched because it was an unexpected act of kindness.. this is apparently some kinda tradition amongst the cabin crew to always celebrate anyone's birthday.. even if they're the most junior like i am =p

a few birthday treats to go plus birthday angbaos to spend in san francisco next week! 1st nov for me this yr was 31 hours long =p i quite like this gmt business

some pics

2009-10-29T16:48:00.004+08:00

check out my funny specs... nice? 10 bucks from bugis street.. i took the glass out coz my falsies are too long for them.. keeps brushing the glass.. damn uncomfortable.. to think that i lasered my eyes just to get rid of spectacles and here i am buying spectacles to wear for fun!had steamboat at home last week... i love steamboat! went to the supermarket with my mum n darren to get stuff..the bill came up to over 100 bucks! coz of beers n what not.. my mum la.. alcoholic..tsk tsk.

the veggie-table.
the yummies!
looks good no?
my last joburg set of crew. sweethearts the lot of them =) Eating at fish & co.. oh i mean ocean basket..the original.
i dabao fish n chips.. not bad..

flying out tonight. back on monday!
i'll be 25 by then... =(((

sydney

2009-10-29T16:13:00.001+08:00

good dogs..in some place called wooloomooloo or something haha
purple trees that were scattered throughout sydney..
i like australia!

man i'm tired..

2009-10-29T15:55:00.003+08:00

this month has been nothing but tiring for me.. apart from my 4 days dubai at the start.. i've had damn busy flights after that.. super drinker flights...no wonder i always pass out when i get back to singapore! anyway my last flight back from sydney was tiring and mildly amusing at the same time.. i had quite a few peeps on my flight who requested for vegetarian meals even though they didn't order it.. we're in the air.. there's no way we can suddenly make 20 vegetarian meals appear on board..and when i explained this to this passenger.. he was like.. "ok.. then can u make me a tomato soup?"

-_-

let me also share with u the various names that passengers call the eye shades.. u know the ones u use to shade ur eyes from light when u wanna sleep...

1) eye patch (this is the most common)
2) eye curtain (!!!)
3) eye mask
4) eye cover
and finally my favourite....
5) blindfold!!!

it's amusing onboard really...

omg look what i found

2009-10-22T17:15:00.001+08:00

updated my slide pics

2009-10-22T16:45:00.001+08:00

feels good to refresh the pics a little..i really had an awesome time travelling to these places =)

back from joburg..AT LAST

2009-10-22T14:31:00.002+08:00

no more joburg!!! wheeee! confirm no more joburg!! now it's just good flights all the way yay

anyway my flt back was a walking nightmare.. literally.. just lk my previous joburg flt.. it was happy hour time for all the pax.. we had 3 bottles of whiskey in the aft galley and we finished serving it!!! whiskey soda.. whiskey water... whiskey coke.. double whiskey on the rocks.. on and on and on... i felt like i walked from south africa back to singapore.. gosh! no wonder my calves are getting bigger n bigger..

i bought wines from S.A! the wines are sooo cheap there... like Two Oceans is sold for 27.99 rand there..and i think it's sold for ard the same price here.. but the currency difference is 5 times! so it's less than S$6?! got a merlot and a menin blanc as well.. anw i went to the supermarket and got 3 bottles of wine, biscuits, chocs and other snacks for under S$30.. cool huh.. if singapore had such cheap wines, singaporeans will be a whole lot friendlier and happier..

check out the grouchy lady below

just came back

2009-10-19T20:40:00.003+08:00

just returned from a shuttle to capetown.. sigh.. i so want to have even a day to explore capetown.. i heard that it's so beautiful there.. and that if u stand at Cape Point, this particular point that is the southwestern-most tip of africa.. you can actually look out to see whales, dolphins, and seals, as well as the breathtaking views of the southern and indian ocean...i want i want!!

oh well..i heard that we only get to stay in capetown during what is considered the airline's "winter" months (that's fr nov onwards...but it's actually summer in africa.) so i hope i get to come here again in a few months time...it's getting sooo cold in most parts of the world.. zurich is only 4-5 degrees right now and i'm going there next weekend.. gotta stock up on my winter jacks, woolies and boots again. it's kinda fun dressing up at first but after a while.. you'll just want to stay under your covers for the whole day and not go out..

i finally fly home on wednesday! yay! i feel like i've been here forever... wait.. i have been here forever.. since last sunday..with a break of a few days in between hurhur

this is mad

2009-10-16T12:33:00.001+08:00

i'm activated for johannesburg.....AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i want to cry!!!! This is cruel!! I called to ask if there was some computer error coz i just CAME BACK FROM THE SAME FLIGHT but apparently there's no mistake... they disrupted my ATHENS to give me back a 6 days joburg....

sob

back in sin

2009-10-14T20:19:00.003+08:00

maaannn... my flight back was a bit of a whirlwind.. the people were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thirsty.... it was like a 10 hour happy hour flight.. even after drink service..at one point of time..i had to fix 6 singapore slings, 2 beers and 2 vodka lemons at one shot..it was like running an alcoholic WBJ service..phew.

anyway i'm home now and happy to just be watching The Hills and sitting next to my dog.. he is so cute.. he was sleeping and started to dream in his little doggie world when his paws started to "run" and he suddenly barked and scared himself awake! i mean...WHO scares themselves awake anyway?! he's the most adorable old-man dog i know.. he's already 15 and a half human years... that's like.. 108 in dog years..woah..i know this sounds really childish n all that but i hope he lives forever.. =)

wow..it's already the middle of the month... can't wait for 2010 n the world cup!

some of my favourite travel pics

2009-10-12T03:35:00.012+08:00

its been ages.....

2009-10-12T02:55:00.005+08:00

cute sunnies i found in bangkok.. didn't buy it though..
i bought the ones at the bottom..

what do u think of this shot? it's my sharp nose with sunnies pose hah.. i find it's so hard to look for sunnies to suit my face coz of my round nose!
wow...it feels weird to blog again...after so long... will i have as much crap to write as before?

i missed blogging to a certain extent.. perhaps i can continue from where i left off... maybe overtime.. i've "grown" out of it.. i dunno..guess i'll see how it goes...

i'm way too bored over here now.. currently stuck in joburg.. i use the word "stuck" but i guess some people might wanna rain stones down on me for saying that.. (but but..you're in south africa u might say...) but with all situations.. matters must be put into perspective.. i was called up for this flight quite last minute.. i was in bangkok for a short 3 days holiday from thursday and will be on the plane back to sin on saturday evening.. i got CALLED UP for flight while i was strolling along siam square can u imagine.. they disrupted my osaka flight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was bloody looking forward to that flight...wanted to go to the supermarket to buy all the yummies.. go check out agnes b..burberry blue label..100 yen shop... take loads of photos... eat real jappy food..the works..and now.. i'm stuck in joburg.. do u understand my predicament a little better now? anyhow.. i caught the evening flight back to singapore.. got back home at 10pm.. i reported for work by 12.05am.. i did my hair, make-up plus packing for 5 days in under an hour.. are u impressed? haha..

sigh.

and now i'm put on standby one day before my athens flight..if they call to disrupt my flight again i am so gonna scream!

hey what do u know..i still can write quite a bit of nothing.. cool

2008-11-25T19:31:00.003+08:00

you know what... i hardly blog these days.. and i can't really blog as well... coz i might violate my company laws and such...besides... i gotta censor what i say...which sucks big time...

i think i'm gonna stop blogging here and randomly start one somewhere else... and write anonymously... now that would be fun.

i'm so disappointed in you...

2008-11-19T22:38:00.000+08:00

good evening blog readers!

2008-11-06T18:34:00.002+08:00

smile

greet by last name

smile again

open doors and hold elevators

smile again

haha..this will be my personal mantra from now on...

i've never encountered such enthusiasm and proactive-ness before in any company! total culture shock..but in a good way.. uniformity is crucial...and heavy make-up a pre-requisite... yes the super bright blue eye shadow and blood red lipstick...

no i will not post pics up. no way in hell.

goodbye uob

2008-11-05T22:14:00.002+08:00

and hello XXX airlines!

tomorrow's my first day.... nervous... gotta start making friends all over again... i've gotten so used to my branch mates... my batchmates... sometimes when u slip into your comfort zone of knowing everyone... it gets so daunting to have to get out there to know people again... sigh.

but that's e way it's gonna be like on the flights right? every trip has a different crew... i better get used to this soon

my nails are now blood red... and my hair will soon be coiffed into a chignon....( God knows how i'm gonna do that)

i really wanted this so i should be excited...right?

oh hurrah for Obama...i was rooting for him.

i've turned...

2008-11-02T13:28:00.003+08:00

24 yesterday!

i'm old....

i've always prided myself on being young and am therefore allowed to do young impulsive (and most of the times, silly) things... yet all i feel now is...old...

one rather big doubt that i have right now is my future job... may come as a surprise but it's true... being an air stewardess for a girl fresh out of school at age 21 may seem like the best adventure but at 24..somehow it becomes a tad silly... i cant help feeling like i'm taking a step backwards. i've been a writer.. then a bank officer... and now.. a waitress? i'm worried that i cannot "settle" down to finally carving out a career for myself... or when i finally do...i'm at least 26 by then.

what worries me is also the airline culture... all the infamous talk about zapping and what not... i've heard that these days it's much better but will i be able to subject myself to unwarranted subordination? will i crack under pressure when i get reprimanded? what if i get so lonely overseas that all i want is to get home to family, boyfriend and friends?

yeah this post is sounding an awful lot like my once a month moodswings hurhur

anyway i'll not be locking up my blog anymore... i shall "blog responsibly" from henceforth... my previous angsty posts about banks and customers were admittedly overboard at some points and i sure do not want any trouble from any management or authorities... the most stupid thing will be to get quoted on the papers for an opinion, any opinion hah. (heard of the dbs rm who got quoted on the papers..my family reckons he's in deep shit now)

in all earnesty... i aint saying that banks encourage mis-selling...i'm just saying that sometimes they really have no clue what their sales folks are up to.... and it is apparent that since sales is such a numbers-oriented field, unethical sales practices might even get glorified and rewarded.

one thing's for sure about banks.. internal gossip travels far and wide... within the sales teams and across departments and banks... scary.

password protect

2008-10-21T14:06:00.002+08:00

hi... i've been told that there are quite a number of uob folks who are reading my blog... including BMs? i'm alright with that... i welcome whoever... but i suppose... because of the sensitive nature of the online sphere... i've been warned (by my BM no less!) to write carefully coz i don't wanna face stuff like legal suits and what not...

also SIA does not permit for any of their employees to blog about their work.

sigh...i hate being censored like this so i thought to put a password on my blog for security purposes... so next time i can blog about the various countries i'll be flying to, my work, the supposed bitchy seniors (really gotta brace myself for that!) and funny passengers...

maybe also shifting my domain to livejournal or smth... just want something with a nice interface and also the liberty of arranging the layout of my photos hmmm..

oh yeah.. now that i will (soon) be flying round the world...i've been toying with the idea of buying stuff back to sell online (or even renting a cart!) and also to help people buy branded bags...depending on my roster of course ...and charging a certain commission... not too sure if it's feasible though (my dear family n friends.. u will get this service foc not to worry =p) The thing is I will need upfront payment because i definitely cannot take the risk of runaway buyers... (i dunno what to do with my credit limit too...get 10 000 credit cards perhaps) My sis's friends (private bankers..the lot of them) are already eye-ing this possibility..what do you think?

okay pls email me for the password..i will be protecting my blog from next week onwards
gweeeeee@hotmail.com

cool advertising

2008-10-16T19:28:00.012+08:00

land of the smiles - part 2

2008-10-09T22:15:00.066+08:00

cool toilet sign aint it... first time i see the ladies and gents symbols holding hands

rise and shine bangkok... couldnt wait to try out the marriott breakfast... read the reviews that the brekkie is fabulous... well... was it all that good? Not bad but not like suuuper good. Wish i could have buffet brekkies every morning though =)
Peered through the morning papers and look what i found...

and finally...what better way to end today's post than to present... *drum roll*

UOB Thailand Central Mall branch! Furnishing n all that is the same..the red white and blue striped carpet... the brown furniture...the warm lighting..they even have a service ambassador greeting customers as they walk in.... i realise that thai shops and restaurants always have a great number of staff in service... guess it's cheaper to hire labour over there

simply thai

2008-10-05T18:28:00.025+08:00

my new luggage case - given by my darren... isnt it cute? It's from Paul & Joe... gotta buy 180 bucks worth of their stuff before ur entitled to one...i got their skincare products which i dun use anymore because it gave me BREAKOUTS grrrr...

anyway as always..i get shutter-mad on holidays and take photos of every damn thing that i see... but bangkok is a bit challenging to take because of its rather plain urban landscape.. or perhaps i didnt get to see the entire city..otherwise.. most of the city looks rather run-down but there are a few mega-malls that are quite nice... i would say the majority of the city looks better on the inside... in its shops... cafes.. malls... restaurants.. even the toilets at Central World look pretty cool

on the whole... shopping n eating in bangkok is good... esp the eating... restaurants are priced at abt half of the normal price in spore n the taste of food is comparable..on the street front... vendors are aplenty n i believe they must be loads cheaper.. but hygiene is questionable ( n definitely almost non-existent) Something else i realised too - Thailand reeks of pork.... smelly fatty pork... and its everywhere... near the shopping malls and along the markets...

chatuchak market was a total let-down for me... yes u get lots of cheap stuff but they look 10 years out of date... n the ten dollars thing ur paying for really does look ten dollars... if u catch my drift... besides its not so easy bargaining anymore... n after a while... i just wanna get the first price n move on. To top it off... the Thai sun is SCORCHING... nobody in the right mind will still have the mood to try anything on after sweating like a pig... having said all that... there were still some pretty interesting shops and cafes... will post some pics in my next post.. n accessories are plenty there.. But for the really unique stuff.. it is a waste of time spending it at chatuchak... siam square will definitely be a better bet... the area houses a lot of small local designer shops which can be quite expensive but nice... be prepared to fork out hundreds of sing dollars even just for shoes..

anyway...i'll write more in the next post... hungry for dinner!!!

oooh... UOB Thailand... saw a branch at central world... didnt see PBAs tagging at the atm lobby though =p

pink cabs!

on the road to shops galore..one boring hour ride... havent been back to bangkok in over 5 years... but doesnt look like it changed a lot..

our humble abode... Courtyard @Marriott... nice chic hotel with rather cool design elements... esp the toilet.. see-through glass! check out the lobby...nice yeah?

just some scenes from the streets... more to come

grand hyatt

finally...

2008-09-24T23:21:00.003+08:00

i finally am allowed to put some pics up of mr mysterious ( who forbid me for 5 months!!!) at first he said that i can put pics up but cut his face out... then it progressed to putting those blurring squares over his face (u know those u normally see on crimewatch)... and now...finally! Him with shades! I foresee that some months down the road..u can finally see his whole face!

these are my shades... both bought from chinatown... some obscure cart... think they were less than 10 bucks each

this silly shot is my favourite... looks nothing like the both of us haha

=))

bangkok on friday!! whee!! more pics when i'm back (on sunday..hurhur... pretty brief trip eh)

hope bangkok is still empty after all the riot scares... then we have the shopping streets to ourselves muaHAha

lookie my lashes

2008-09-10T21:33:00.002+08:00

bought the wrong lashes.. i look like i have hairy hairy spiders on my eyes eeeks

anyway...in case u want to know the good products that banks are offering right now...

HSBC - 12 mth FD @ 2% (min 50k)

Stand Chart - 12mth FD @ 1.4% (min 50k)

1 year note @ 3% (by JP Morgen i think)

Citi - Jubilee note, 3.2% fixed for 2.5 years (but guaranteed by Merrill Lynch)

Citrine all weather booster notes - 3% for 3 years ( guaranteed by ML as well i think)

OC - 3 year SD 1.8% for 2 years, followed by 1.6 - 4.8% for the 3rd year

DBS - HAD a 3 year capitaland note at 3.25% for 3 years

as of now... that's all i know... u see why i'm stressed.... competition is fierce man... esp at parkway where every damn bank is there... at least i'm not at main branch... they have to fight with all the private banks too..

sad

2008-09-10T11:26:00.002+08:00

sales is so bad and i'm getting increasingly upset by the minute =(((

get so stressed that i even dreamt about work twice last week...that's how bad.. i need to know how to de-stress n take it in my stride... my GSM asked my BM at the last managers meeting why i'm so slow this month..it's good on one hand coz he is monitoring my performance out of over 60 pbs... its bad coz i have to let him down...let my boss down.. n my confidence has definitely taken a beating... i cant give up so easily!

down in the dumps now man....
i hate whining like this.. it's so weak n irritating...

but i really feel damn bad now bleah..

really cant wait for bangkok!
and also for 21 sept... it could potentially change my current situation... wun say much now =p

swat!

2008-09-02T10:03:00.003+08:00

i'm gettin really good at swatting flies in my branch these days... quite the mosquito season now.... the rain is keeping either all the customers at bay or dampening their moods to put their money in anywhere but bloody fixed deposits.. (i heard that UOB shanghai is offering fixed deposits at 3.8% for 3 months?! everyone please move ur money to china)

oh right now there's also a fire-engine red F1 ferrari parked right outside my branch but i read that red is my unlucky colour this year. cant believe i actually read this kinda rubbish but it is my year this year afterall. year of the RAT. this has gotta be one of the most uncool horoscope to have..coming right close after pig and chicken...

by the way... the F1 tix go at 2000 plus a pair?!!

start of the new month.... cant wait for the 26th... heading to bangkok!! yippeee.... gonna shop like crazy! oooh... plus all the yummy thai food... best of all.....everything is cheeeeep.. at least i hope prices are still low... last time i went was like... 6-7 years ago. but anyhow...i'm not loaded with cash with spend... we only get comm 2 months later n i spent july in training...this month started out damn dry.... i have zero sales n i dun have any in the pipeline... total fall from grace from last month... gotta start with all my calls or i'm dead..

time for lunch soon...hungry! if ur ever around marine parade... pls try the ngoh hiang from this stall right at the front of the hawker centre facing the playground... it's the best i've tried... and i dun even like ngoh hiang! currently addicted... =p

bloody preference shares

2008-08-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

taking away all my business.

damn.

rainy monday

2008-08-18T14:17:00.005+08:00

so sleepy in branch now... absolutely nothing to do...

dreaming of mooncakes though... thinking of which ones to buy.... raffles e plaza (oh sorry...they're called Fairmont now or smth) has always made excellent mini snowskin mooncakes...e skin is so smooth n soft.. and the paste inside just delightfully sweet and decadent... i remember last year's one was really good.. they werent very adventurous with their ingredients unlike Regent (that one was weird... my team didnt like it very much) or atas like Raffles hotel (they actually have "mother-of-pearl" mooncakes) but they had some pretty good selections like champagne truffle n choc ganache, baileys chocolate n sorts... this yr they have a new flavour - strawberry and dark choc mooncake...a sweet strawberry paste dressed up in a mixture of swiss chocolate and a generous sprinkle of crisp, crushed almonds yum......oh the other good one to try is the D24 durian mooncake from goodwood park..goodwood park has always been famous for their festive treats... remember the famous turducken? ( chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey..or is it e other way round.. either way... that's crazy stuff)

anyway..i was kinda curious abt the ones from st regis n this is what i found out...i like e sound of it!

"Tracing back to the St. Regis brand’s history, Yan Ting Chinese Restaurant proudly introduces the first-ever bloody mary snowskin with custard paste mooncake, inspired by their iconic signature cocktail at the original St. Regis New York, which is spiced up and served at St. Regis Singapore as ‘Chili Padi Mary’. Inspired by the hotel’s exclusive Dammann Frères tea from France, executive chef Chan Siu Kong infused the aromatic ‘Seven Perfumes’ into snowskin and lotus paste, with a velvety truffle filled with martell cordon bleu cognac in the centre of the mooncake, completing the seven perfumes martell cordon bleu cognac truffle mooncake.Also available is the almond snowskin with martell cordon bleu cognac truffle and custard paste, and almond snowskin with advocaat egg liqueur truffle and black sesame paste.

St. Regis Singapore’s premium mooncake this year is the almond snowskin with bird’s nest and custard paste, the ultimate in prestige that incorporates premium whole-strand bird’s nest and glided with edible gold. Premium limited edition gift boxes that contain six snowskin mooncakes with two tins of Dammann Frères tea, an exclusive to the hotel, are also available as the perfect gift for friends and loved ones!"

taken from asiacuisine.com.sg

sounds dammmmn shiok la... cant wait to visit e mooncake fair at taka...i heard that even Prestat Chocolates and Majestic restaurant (of e uber-chic Majestic Hotel) have gotten into the mid-autumn action...apparently e mooncakes at Majestic Restaurant are infused with kwai feh liqueur, which is known to be the pure essence of the lychee fruit captured in a sweet-tasting liqueur.

cant take it.. i'm stuck in branch... n i havent eaten lunch...no wonder i'm ranting on like a food-crazed lunatic...

i love mooncakes!! =)

.

2008-08-14T23:57:00.002+08:00

i realise..

i'm a rather misunderstood person.

and sometimes i just feel too tired to explain.

as someone told me... the more u try to explain.. the more guilty u seem.

it's not always that way

because sometimes without knowing anything... people already judge u..guilty as charged

and u desperately want people to know the truth.. or rather..your truth and they will not give u a chance. maybe they prefer that warped version of u better. it makes them feel like this world makes sense..u'll just be another imperfection in this screwed up world.

actually i'm getting increasingly cynical..how many people do u know that u can safely say...they are genuine good people through and through?

maybe i'm just in one of my moods. ignore me

=(

2008-08-13T17:14:00.002+08:00

been feeling rather lifeless these days...

work's a drag and i havent been exercising for ages.

wish i could feel lighter but i just feel so stifled.

I've been thinking abt it.... if i do not feel happy in my current job.. what do i actually want to do?

my dream job?

To be a restaurant consultant to business people looking to try a hand at F&B... fly round e world tasting different cuisines in various set-ups.. from the everyday street food to the finest restaurants... and then help my clients formulate fresh concepts to jazz up the local culinary scene...sounds a bit anthony bourdain-like but it's more than just a focus on food...its about the play of emotions of the people apart from simply focusing on their taste senses...simply put- i want to go back to my first love. food.

and wine of course. food n wine =p

and beer

oh and candy

haha.. could go on n on..

this is a side of me that probably my new colleagues will never see... coz what are we all about now?

tagging... insurance... investments.. teleconsulting..oh and drinking excessively too hah

sigh.

ok la...i better stop lamenting...it's not really THAT bad in the bank.. but the grass is always greener on the other side right? sales stress getting to me man...

ok gotta run..branch is closing!

Biiiiiiitch!

2008-08-08T10:56:00.002+08:00

I'm so angry!!

cold calling customers can be such a bitch sometimes and i just encountered the biggest bitch of them all!

yesterday i was calling up my FD maturing leads and informing my customers of the dates and everything..n of course trying to set some appointments with them to come down for some cross-selling... so yesterday i called up this woman and informed her of that... and she answered me in a damn bitchy tone "u call me back tmr. MAYBE i'll speak to u"

so ok...this morning i called her back n once again politely spoke to her about her FD, about the low rates of singapore's FD these days and suggested to meet with her at my branch to discuss how the bank can offer her smth higher... then she bitchily replied me " i think it'll cost too much to drive all the way down n take leave just to meet u." Undaunted, i asked about meeting up on saturday. Her reply? " saturday is my private time so unless u can guarantee me $200 000, then i'll come and meet u." $200k??! based on her measly FD?! (that is like 4 times more btw..u do e math) I was like "what do u mean guarantee u $200k?" And she asked for my name coldly and told me that i was asking too many technical questions and that i shouldnt be asking her what she means by 200k. And that she doesnt wish to speak to me. I thanked her (i wish to f her upside down actually) n said bye.

she is absolutely the NASTIEST and most unreasonable customer i have ever met.. and i havent even met her! she wants her fd to grow 4 times GUARANTEED.

unreal man some people. asking for the sky.
crazy

some more shots of grp 2 cheer

2008-07-24T08:40:00.004+08:00

us with our GSM Lim Beng Hua

(we have another with our ever-famous SVP Ms Wendy Teo...let me see if i can get hold of that pic)

me, claire, angeline, beng hua, dawn, siani, jj, chris, davis and melvin

hiao right? hah

kimono madness

2008-07-23T10:34:00.003+08:00

this was what i was clad in for the cheerleading competition for the uob sales retreat in johor... i think this is a lot better than what was originally planned (by e management)... sailormoon.. i probably would have killed myself.

sales is still bad and i hate manulife. i hate all the underwriters in there... bloody giving me so much to follow up on with my customers and taking so long for the policies to turn in force... plus i'll never forgive them for postponing my largest case....they are an insurance company... which is banging on the whole business of taking risk... and now that i give them a big customer... their balls shrink... basket. I would most gladly switch business over to uob life. hopefully they work better and faster.

u know what they always say abt sales people tricking customers and blahblahblah... but actually i think it's more often than not that customers trick us in return... they make us believe that they're genuinely interested in the product.. and they make all kinds of promises to come back to purchase the product.. and... most never do return eventually. Sob! I feel so sceptical nowadays whenever customers express interest... no wonder they say that customers who leave without buying anything are never going to return... close them on the spot or lose them forever. sigh. this job is tough mannn...

times flies yeah... it's been 6 mths since i last joined the bank... do i like it in here? easy. well i like it when i have sales, and vice versa when i dun. Isn't it like this for most ppl? I can't wait to have sales... if only i can order that from some website... order in bulk man... ok i'm not completely dry but the ticket size is damn small la... where are the 6 figure investments??! am i greedy?

ok i better stop rattling on here...supposed to be soliciting for business here... better get back to work!

Prada Nappa A Hobo

2008-07-14T12:58:00.001+08:00

this was what i purchased on total impulse over e weekend. screwed.

Diving @ Aur

2008-07-13T23:47:00.045+08:00

ok...finally had some time to upload the pics from my diving trip.. anw this is cheryl.. my bestest from batch 1.. with cayce in tow

sarah n fatty...

ruolan n me holding onto the hangers pretending to take e mrt... retarded la ha.
the ferry we took to pulau aur... e bunk beds look like beds taken right out of the holocaust!

the BABES hehe

by the way... i'm wearing denim shorts under my huge windbreaker.. i did not chao-keng!!

our hotties

jez Mr Hunk: andy Top RM: alain Shipping tycoon: stanley Smartsaver King

view in the morning...

yet another view in the morning. kungfu panda

the scary stairs down to the common walkway.... there was a missing step n andy slipped n scratched his knee...yikes
queueing up for our yummy breakfast... it's not bad u know.. we had a range of cooked stuff lk scrambled eggs, toast, sausages, roti prata n curry... also had another section of cereals n milk... all prepared by the villagers...

t'was the beautiful view

crabs!! although too tiny to eat...
Divers' Lodge... our accomodation.... quite a charming place
mr hunk trying to look damn "sud" with diving gear n all
the sampan we had to take to transfer over to our diving ferry...

u dun wanna know what goes on behind closed doors... in this case..not so closed n definitely loud. look at that stanley's ecstatic face haha
this was taken on our way back to mersing.... i actually saw 2 dolphins! but they disappeared before i could take anything

cheryl n her boyboy... damn sweet =p

anw sales has been terrible for the past week... e bank is sooooo quiet... ok there are pretty ok walk-ins sometimes but mostly transactional ppl... but somehow we at parkway are expected to perform precisely because of the walk-ins... it's not really true that it's a goldmine here coz a lot of ppl that i've met are not really interested in investments at e moment... i met a nice couple e other day who wanted to place their money in a FD... a one million dollar FD...i almost fainted... i wanted to convince them to just park 100k with me.. i'll be happy enough but no... they are looking to buy property next yr... in fact... most ppl now are storing their money for next yr to hop into the property market... cant blame them too... guess u cant go too wrong with property in singapore... so frustrated with myself coz my presentations n convincing skills are so bad.... insurance i suppose i'm ok but investments..... BAD. comes with time i suppose... now i just wanna break my investment egg..

shit it's almost 2am... better sleep... tmr will bring great sales! $200k in UT! ha..i'm already dreaming...

life from the other side

2008-07-03T18:57:00.003+08:00

as i expected...life in branch is no bed of roses... it's stresssssful! no sales no sales...how.... die.

been standing round waiting for ppl to talk to but so far..seems pretty difficult..loads of FD enquirers, credit card payors, basic transaction ppl... sigh... rp sales seems like a distant dream to fulfil at e moment.. and i'm still damn rough in my unit trust presentations...

HOW????! i need 10k rp rev to get confirmed! and so far? zero. totally dead... my bm is damn disappointed with me man... how did i do it last time?! The strangest thing is that I was at parkway for e last few mths too... so why cant i do it anymore?! the only thing i can be happy about is that i have very nice seniors who are willing to coach me... i can just go to them n ask them how to sell a particular unit trust n they will sit down with me n show me exactly how they present... damn thankful that they're so nice! =)

thinking back on my pba days now n i really wonder how we all managed to survive it... i guess that's what they call survival reflexes.... i'm so glad to have my weekends back... esp sundays... waking up LATE... eating a leisure breakfast... going to e beach after...pure luxury that i havent had for 3 months... this pba program is honestly damn chek ak... haha

sales retreat coming up soon... looking forward to playing paintball! woohoo... anyhow whack... although i have this very bad feeling i will get double whacked like crazy in the field.. apparently it's damn painful n that ppl come out of war with bruises n even cuts?? ok la... i'll just go to branch on monday looking like i got beaten up in the back alley.. hope i dun scare customers away..perhaps i can sell them personal insurance.. they will see the relevance.

gotta run... still havent uploaded photos

bits and pieces of sunshine

2008-06-27T18:40:00.004+08:00

some shots of pulau aur...

would definitely go diving again... the feeling of waking up to clear waters and sea breeze is simply addictive man...and of course the company was fantastic =)

didn't get to see that much in aur... but i did try a hand at diving down to abt 17 metres... saw schools of fish, clownfish, loads of sea cucumbers (they look like long pieces of shit..freaking slimy n gross!), trigger fish (apparently very territorial..they will bite), starfish (dumb peach told me not to get stung by starfish...which starfish bites?! then after a while..she realised that she meant jellyfish) There was this one fish that kept biting me... i have 3 big bites on my ankle.. i vow to eat it if i ever see it again!!

Anyway, the trip to aur took a bloody long time.. first a 4 hour bus ride to mersing..where our group of around 10 stopped at e port to board our ferry... the port was damn disgusting... cockroaches there are damn big.. beetles are even bigger... there were also a lot of flies in the toilet... shudder... i hated that port...we wanted our ramly burgers but all the stalls were closed... but actually i think that was a good thing... the food would have been damn dirty judging from the condition of the place... our ferry was worse... cockroaches running all about... plus the seas were really choppy so it kept swaying violently.. a few of my batchmates got seasick but i loved e swaying.. haha... slept damn well.. weird right..

anyway we all stayed in huts which were raised up on stilts.. really loved it... so quaint n comfy.. coz it came with ensuite toilets plus aircon..haha...not exactly roughing it out but come on..it's a vacation! Will upload more photos soon when i've got more time...

ok la..i gotta rush off now... starting my first day at branch tmr... working from 9 - 5 on a saturday...sounds like fun doesnt it...

damn.

dun believe everything u hear

2008-06-19T13:44:00.006+08:00

it's times like this where i'm so glad i have a blog... a space i can RANT

i'm sure that in most of our lives... there will be times where we get backstabbed, betrayed or sabotaged..in my case...i believe that i got back-SPEARED like crazy by someone i once considered a friend.

i just recently got to know about all the rumours going round abt me. At first, i was fucking pissed off and i wanted to let the whole world know abt what a bitch she is.. i wanted to destroy her reputation the way she has done mine... but i realise... with what i have noticed abt her.. and the things she does... she will self-destruct... i'm pretty sure that if she continues the way she is... bitter... jealous.. fake...the people around her will begin to uncover all the poisonous spikes she possesses under her seemingly harmless facade.. already her no. of "friends" are dwindling.. but i could just be over-sensitive.. i don't know..

why should she spread to the whole world who i'm dating? is it of anyone's business? how is she so sure it's true anyway? and the funniest shit is that she told a number of people that i announced it to my junior batch... I DID NO SUCH THING...

another saddening thing is that apparently... there are some ppl out there who think that i'm dating that specific someone just to get a better branch posting... now that one is really ridiculous... i got into parkway because i met up with the BM for an interview EVEN BEFORE i went for the PBA interview... he tried to appeal to my GSM to get me into UOB as a PB but due to lack of sales experience.. he couldnt... so i had to go through the normal phase like everyone else but i already knew that i'm more or less headin to parkway after that...

another ridiculous rumour.. according to that stupid cow.. "I am very protective of parkway... and that there was once when she came round to parkway and i told her not to tag there..."

HELLO?! this is definitely not me... know what really happened? She came round to parkway and she saw that the mall crowd is good n mentioned that my branch has good walk-ins... n i told her that it's not true... coz it has been really quiet for the past month in the branch.. as well as all branches in general i believe.. parkway has steady human traffic i agree but they're not coming into the bank! I really wanted her to not feel bad abt her own branch because i believe it's all a matter of perspective... the grass always seems greener on the other side... besides...her branch is a really good branch too..

so from that... this story that i'm protective of parkway was spun...

ridiculous or what?

it doesnt stop there...

apparently there's a RM by the name of Rayner who fetches me in his mazda rx8 sometimes

in the first place.. who e heck is rayner?

i did some checking n i found out that rayner is a rm at parkway... and he has a girlfriend... so i dunno who made that assumption but please dun get me into trouble with the lovely couple... i DO NOT EVEN KNOW THE GUY

coincidentally...this rumour was heard from the branch that she's at...

u think it ends there? sorry to disappoint but she also started rumours abt me and another guy and happily went round the batch spreading it... so imagine this... she went to A and told him.. and when A asked how she heard... she said she heard it from B plus the fact that everyone knows.. she then went to B and told B she heard it from A as well as everybody... so now A and B think that everybody knows and thus went to talk abt it with everybody...

see how ONE single person can stir a whole lot of shit within a group?

i honestly dunno what i did that wronged her so tremendously but i really welcome her to confront me with her grievances... stop playing this bullshit game... how low can she go man... it's one thing to attack me based on my work ethics and performance.. it's another altogether to bring my entire private life into the limelight and blow everything out of proportion...

there are two things i take away from this experience

one: do not trust anyone easily...even if they seem like such great confidantes and friends

two: do not believe everything u hear

on a much lighter mood... i'm heading to pulau aur tmr with a bunch of my batchmates to dive! Beginner only la.. hehe... but it's gonna be the sun, sea and loads of fishies this weekend!!

...

2008-06-12T08:01:00.001+08:00

never mix certain antibiotics with alcohol...

i repeat.

never mix certain antibiotics with alcohol..

and my antibiotics happen to be one of those that have adverse reactions when mixed with alcohol... been throwing up the whole night plus this morning...

feel like crap man...

mambo

2008-05-30T14:01:00.001+08:00

more mambo coming our way this investment class haha!

good days

2008-05-30T12:01:00.003+08:00

so happy now... hehe..coz i've finally successfully closed my big case...possibly one of the biggest insurance cases i will ever close at the mass market level... yay i'll have a good start when i go into branch in july =p anyway i met my customer yesterday for lunch and he picked me up from parkway... in his lamborghini... when i saw it i was like.. ok hildra...pretend that u sit in lambos everyday.. pls contain ur excitement haha... the car was so low i felt like i was almost sitting on the floor... he drove like a maniac on the road... cutting in n out of lanes... everyone on e road xiam him...anw.. how do u get out of sports cars gracefully? my colleague from parkway drives a 2-door as well n sometimes gives me a lift to work... n i could never get out with "seh"... hah...must practise more squats at home.. no wonder women in fast cars always have nice asses...

hmm....this week is the starting of my semi-retirement... at least till next friday.. hehe... awaiting investment class! going back to tampines for my training again... no more tagging no more roadshows yippee.. i'm almost spinning the bloody wheel of fortune in my sleep too...

ok i gotta go for lunch now.. =p

my day off

2008-05-27T15:11:00.003+08:00

i'm bored.

strange to not be doing anything... plus i dun feel like doing anything too... weird... where's all my energy?!!! wanted to go to the beach with some others but... they're there right now and i'm... here moping around my room hah..

should be going for a run later... i know i have said this umpteenth times but i'm getting fatter by the minute... gotta get moving... fat slug... blurbblurbblurb.

donald and daisy!

2008-05-27T00:28:00.004+08:00

arent they cute?? the balloon man at the roadshow is good man... he made mickey mouse as well...squirt from finding nemo... spiderman (that one was pretty obscene...muscles bulging, legs wide open n all) Anw lynn asked e balloon man to make me a daisy duck coz of the shoes that i wear... apparently resembling daisy -_- And i stole donald from kevin coz i liked it too much... haha!

been too lazy to work hard these days.... my 3 months working as a trainee is finally coming to an end... gosh... it feels good... coz we all really struggled hard for these months.. i tell u...everyone of us will appreciate that seat we have in our branches... worked hard for our place man!! selling insurance on the streets...madness...

right now... my life is just on an emotional rollarcoaster... one moment i'm happy...the next... i'm so upset i just wanna give it all up... sometimes i feel like i'm losing myself... becoming more accommodating and timid at times... more aggressive and vicious at other times... what is up man... the aggression and bitchiness is definitely cultivated in recent years.. sales is a very time-sensitive job... u get super impatient when ppl waste ur time n i'm finding myself increasingly focused on closing a sale rather than genuinely helping ppl..(ok to be fair.. the products that i peddle DO benefit them in the long run)... also i constantly have to watch my back and be very cautious of what I reveal to others... what i have told in confidence has came back to slap me hard in the face... one of my biggest weaknesses is that i trust too easily.... i'm a lot more cynical now.. because some people are simply two-faced and incredibly competitive.. there are some rumours flying about... i have no idea who started them and why.. i just cant be bothered... i suppose it's no big deal and it'll all blow over.. yup good training ground for life in general hurhur.

accommodating and timid... one of the last few words to describe hildra gwee with... but i'm slowly morphing into that..hmmm strangely but surely... currently seeing someone right now and i'm seeing so many changes within myself... weird.. he feels that i'm not really like that... and that i shouldn't force myself to accommodate him because one day...i will burst..... i dunno... i dun understand it myself.. do u reckon that when u meet the "right" person... u will be willing to give up a big part of yourself simply because u want the other one to be happy? Little ol' selfish me.... my mum will laugh super loud...

well... lets just wait n see if it's a phase... he reckons that i'm baiting him right now... treating him nice so that he is nicely wrapped around my finger.. n then AHA... i'll turn into Miss Dominatrix after... intriguingly tempting thought muahah

arent we all cynics

almost missed this out...

2008-05-20T01:32:00.007+08:00

the award for most gone goes to....

the idiots responsible for her state...

picture of the year i swear!! hahaha

the twenty somethings

2008-05-20T01:14:00.012+08:00

yet another drinking session...lets see... 3 were down.. the rest were tipsy..haha nuff said

i love close up shots! me and lynnie =p

lynn n michelle

hou dehua

i know this looks like lynn was groping my boob... i dun think she actually was.... i think it's just an awkward camera angle... i think so... haha
tiffany dead after george's flaming... his flamings are crazy i tell u.... 6 different spirits... u can feel the fumes coming up after just one sip...
ang mo kio roadshow tmr till sunday... wonder how it's gonna be.... my hometown!! finally working somewhere near my home yay...

i'm happy... really happy.. =)

Ephesians

2008-05-16T11:17:00.006+08:00

words of comfort..words of strength.... time to turn back and lay my eyes on Him...

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

may have power, together with all the saints,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19

I think that despite everything good or bad that happens in your life... if you dun have God... life kinda loses its significance... for me... time n time again i kinda lose focus on what really matters... after all that initial excitement and happiness from friends, from my job or whatever... i find that all these emotions that i experience are just... short-lived... what does remain steady throughout is this desire to get back to Him... although my inner strength is just... no better word than CHUI...i remember the days when i walked closely with Him... comparing it now... gosh... i feel so..unsettled...like my life is simply not in order.. may sound like a lunatic right now to non christians but i think fellow worshippers will agree......

i need to get back to church man..... as a trainee pb now.. my sundays are all locked up at roadshows... i hatee roadshows... so tired of spinning the damn wheel of fortune n giving out free gifts... am also so tired of standing outside atm lobbies and tagging ppl...some ppl actually thought that i sell credit cards haha sheesh..

it's friday yippee so i shall cheer up and look forward to the amk roadshow... at least my batch mates are all there =)

holiday soon!!

sad

2008-05-14T11:49:00.002+08:00

3 cancellations in 2 days.... lost out 20 over k revenue points
damn upset!!!

this hair is nooooo good for me i swear..according to terrence... the bm from parkway..sales people should not have anything covering the forehead because it's bad luck... or it makes them look untrustworthy or something... like they're hiding something haha..

wah anyway..i'm too sian to tag, to do appointments, to do anything actually... i know i should be making up for it by tagging more n aggressively closing but i just...can't right now...

bleah.

xing.... are u sure u know what u got urself into??! hah...

too cutesy?

2008-05-13T02:38:00.005+08:00

i suppose so....

me and my itchy once a quarter hairstyle change habit....

my friends have either all laughed out loud when they first saw me... or dropped their jaws... plus i get called names like mushroom... super mario toadstool... helmet head.. lolita.... siiiiigh i got laughed at for a solid week.... but it's ok! i got the change that i erm... wanted? haha...

plus this new hairstyle brought me sales so i dun mind maintaining this as long as i continue to get business at parkway =p better go to slp soon.....got meeting with bam tmr morning at 9am.... we all get fined if we turn up late! Been so tempted recently to get a car.... can hardly afford one.... bleah... can maybe drive d's new lancer ( who's d? hah story for another time) but it's not the same as havin ur own ......

congrats to all my friends joining the bank... u really have no idea what u've gotten urself into hurhur...

a song for my dear friend

2008-05-05T12:29:00.004+08:00

This is the last time

That I will say these words

I remember the first time

The first of many lies

Sweep it into the corner

Or hide it under the bed

Say these things will go away

But they never do

Something I wasn't sure of

But I was in the middle of

Something I forget now

But I've seen too little of

The last time

You fall on me for anything you like

Your one last line

You fall on me for anything you like

And years make everything alright

You fall on me for anything you like

And I no, I don't mind

This is the last time

That I will show my face

One last tender lie

And then I'm out of this place

So tread it into the carpet

Or hide it under the stairs

Say that some things never die

Well I tried and I tried

I find that so many ppl just get so caught up in their relationships just because they've been in it for so long... strings that want to be cut but somehow just can't be disentangled... they're no longer happy and they know that they are seeking for something more.... maybe they've grown apart.. maybe it's just not they want in the first place... but they stay in it for the sake of familiarity... for the sake of responsibility... for the sake of not hurting the other party...but what's the point seriously... if ur no longer happy... ur eventually gonna end up feeling trapped and hateful towards your other half... u know how the saying goes... leave while it's still good... why only leave when the relationship is stale beyond recognition... wouldn't you rather love the person forever although u guys are not together... or go on like this n dread the days ahead...

the other matter...

do you believe in repairing a broken relationship? as in you guys prob broke up for 1 year or so... and then maybe there was some dating going on with other ppl... and then you guys wanna try again.... I for one... dun have faith in this sort of thing... maybe it can work for a while... but seriously... it's not the same now is it? If one can pluck up the courage to suggest a break-up.. and stick to it for some time... there must be some strong reasoning behind it... i tried a few times before and it never worked... because it's irreversible... it really is... perspectives, feelings and everything else are just.... changed...

get out while u still can. we are all not meant to be trapped

long time

2008-05-03T18:42:00.021+08:00

times spent when i'm not at work!!

blading @ east coast

havent bladed in 5 years ( check out all the knee, elbow n wrist guards haha ) n bloody jez just rolled me out n spun me round n round until my knees went weak!! He took a video of me screaming my head out... basket!

group 2 girls!!

night was spent watching jez's gig at bar stop... along killiney road.. they've got a rockin happy hour from 5-9pm... pls do try this beer called Little Creatures from australia... very fruity beer yum! only 7 bucks during happy hour... anw he performed with tao ze's back up singer.. this girl who sounds like norah jones! beautiful voice... btw on e side... i never heard back up singing in tao ze's songs hah... apparently she performs with jj lin as well... jez was really good that night too... guitar god man totally

this was taken ages ago but shakun only just uploaded them onto facebook... lousy twin towers haha

cherilyn's birthday

shakun's birthday (way back in Jan)

no idea what this was for but some girls night out thing la.. as usual

wine bos session after (boring) sales convention with my batch mates plus one im and a few pbs..crazy.. think there were about 20 of us...

hmmm.... been super inconsistent in updating my blog... my work schedule is still crazy with zilch weekends and tiring weekdays... i'm almost reaching my 30k target which is irritating coz by submission... i've crossed 30k like 2 weeks back... but with cancellations and medical cases... i'm still dwindling around the 25k range grrrrrr..... tiring run for sales!! Got a month more to go before investments class.... can't wait!! I really feel as if i've been working in uob for my entire life... dun get me wrong... tagging and roadshows can be fun when u have fun ppl working alongside with u... i love mega roadshows coz my whole batch gets together n talks rubbish non stop =p anw the hougang roadshow was such a let down sigh! Only managed to close a sale there which was totally not worth it... blarrrrdy hot and we were there fr 11-8pm for the entire sat n sun! Actually i was wondering as well if the other banks are as aggressive as uob in roadshows... we have roadshows like EVERY weekend... fresh supply of PBAs means constant supply of roadshow junkies... e person who came up with this PBA programme is friggin smart... no wonder uob is chalking up on the local insurance pie in recent years... GE you are going down!!

i suddenly feel very sex n the city typing on my laptop and talking to myself in my blog hah... cant wait for the movie to come out... absolutely love love love satc... watched harold n kumar the other day... funny shit but yet another brainless american production... hilariously apt focus on stereotypes though... love the suicide bomber scene!! watch it if ur trying to de-stress...

okie dokes.. done enough writing n posting of pics... honestly i really miss the free eats while in the food magazine... sigh..... i miss writing (sometimes)... still look out for wine n dine in bookstores whenever i pass by... looking good but Appetite looks better leh..sad...

i wanna go on a mad dining spree!!

totally roasted

2008-04-21T19:07:00.002+08:00

owwww.... i swear... i over-roasted myself today....burnt to a crisp from head to toe and my skin's stinging..... =(((

anyway as usual... mondays are my off-days and my happiest days at e mo.. even better today coz i went wakeboarding with my friends!! It's been waaaayyy too long that we've done this sorta thing and finally we get down to it! The sun was really hard at work at baking everything under it.. e boat we rented was gorgeous.. a brand new red speedboat (paid good money for it too)...and there werent too many boats out at punggol marina too coz its a monday hehe... so basically it was a lazy monday with just the sun, surf, beer and great company.. now that's e good... being a honest salesperson... i shall now tell u the bad... firstly 2 of us got stung by jellyfish... mine was just a slight sting across my wrist.. it looks a bit strange... a bit like hives... but anyway my friend kena whacked across his calf! Well...who can blame e jellyfish... would u like someone to pee on u? hahah... u see...alain jumped into the water to pee and then he said he felt something like a plastic bag sweep past his leg... then seconds later his entire leg started stinging pretty badly... minutes later he got that hives thing... scarryyyy...think e jellyfish swept its tentacle across his calf... *shudders*

anw enough abt e wildlife there... being e lousy person that i am... i swallowed like litres of water/sewage while wakeboarding... there was once when i was attempting this mini stunt called the front board slide or smth... couldnt control properly n fell face flat into the water!! not kidding! my face went PLAT onto the surface... ouch i tell u... felt like someone bitch slapped me with a tray!!!

man i feel so happy when i do something that is not related to work... and also non-alcoholic (ok la... we had a few beers onboard but that was purely for hydration purposes) My colleagues and I made a pact to meet up once a week to do smth healthy... next week will be blading or cycling at east coast... wahhhh... impressive right... uob bankers are how fit... haha...

yeah...back to work tmr again... sobs... there goes yet another one of my weekends.. half way through my training phase... cant wait to go back into investments class! In the meantime... i better go put some aloe vera... my skin is really roasted at e moment... wonder what my boss is gonna say tmr haha

.

2008-04-16T00:11:00.000+08:00

are you just a-wasting my time?

day off

2008-04-14T17:53:00.002+08:00

finally a day off.... finally a day i really dun give a shit about emailing anyone...calling anyone... going to the office... going to branch... screw work for today yippee...

tired man...this job really messes with ur emotions... when u have sales...u lurrrve it..when u hit a dry spell... u hate it like crazy... n right now i'm just pissed off that i'm stressed up all the time.. pissed off with customers who give empty promises.. .who waste ur time... customers who do the disappearing act... sigh.... u really meet a lot of funny ppl in this line.... there are those who act all atas n tell u that they have tons of money ( but when u get down to the figures... suddenly they cannot even afford 200 bucks a mth).. there are of coz those who invest actively into shares n property n start to advise YOU on what to do...those are difficult because i have no idea how to handle their objections.. how do u get these ppl to listen to a young punk like u who knows zilch about investing? I mean i try to think from their point of view... imagine that ur a director of a company n this young girl in her 20s is trying to tell u what to do with ur money hah.... i meet a lot of those... especially in parkway... but these ppl have the capital man... too bad i cannot do investments yet...

been working every single weekend... gettin a lil bit tired of all the roadshows... of tagging at atm lobbies... but right now i'm gritting my teeth n just waiting for myself to hit my target n go into branch.... i realise that by hitting 30k revenue points a mth in uob... i can earn a sturdy 5k every mth... that's what i'm working towards right now! there's this guy in my branch (parkway) who's top sales at e mo n he's already hit 50k rev thus far.... crazy man!! If he continues at this pace.. he's gonna earn 10k this mth...
money money money.. earn it while ur still in ur 20s... at least thats what i think right now... then after that... marry a banker n together use the combined income to go back into my first n only love....the food n wine business..ha... that is what i have planned but i wonder how feasible that is...

anyway since i was so free today.. thought i wanted to cook a simple lunch for myself... i'm no nigella

but i think it looks not bad la haha...

my favourite girls

2008-04-06T22:58:00.001+08:00