REVENGE OF THE AMERICANO GEEKY BOY

Bob and I were going back home today when I noticed from the corner of my eye: an americano geeky boy with a local bred singaporean girl. Yeah, that rawks. But the moment I had my eyes on him, I couldn't help but sniggle uncontrollably.

There in the little corner seat in the mrt, I had noticed an uncanny resemblance to the typical americano dork. You know the chequered shirt, geeky smile and the equally geeky looking black spectacle frames? And the way he grins? That was the final straw... hahaha... And bob says he looks like a grown up butters, which I can totally picture it as well. We went bonkers that very split second we saw him, even before saying anything to each other. How about that for chemistry? hahaha... We also did a very evil thing, something that I think won't go down well with some people. But heck! not as if we spreading around like that. Its only for our own entertainment only mah, albeit at other people (which is not very nice).

So we took pictures of him secretly using my handphone lar. And noooo, not gonna let you all see lor. So unethical right? Sorry hor but I won't betray my own principles.

Anyway today's interview at Creative went pretty good. Actually smashing good I would say. But don't haolian in case never get called up for 2nd interview. But when I went for the interview straight after my part time work at suntec at a trade expo, I hollanded! I actually, for the first time in my life, boarded the wrong train that went northbound to woodlands instead of jurong east! omg! and I only realised it when I woke up from my slumber! Its because I had slept the moment I landed my butt on a seat.

I was panicking cos' I had friggin taken a mini tour around singapore. And to make matters worse, I didn't have much time to spare! Kan cheong like spider man. I alighted at bukit gombak on mag's advice and took a cab down to Creative's headquarters at international business park. Lucky only late 5 minutes but still late lah, bad impression on people. But then I got apologise loh, just hope that they didn't take it into consideration when choosing suitable candidates for the post which I'm applying for.

HANG GOAT HEAD, SELL DOG MEAT

Just came back from an interview held at NUSS Guild House. Where? Yeah, NUSS guild house for its alumnis. Pretty nice place though. I was wondering whether to go or not as I never apply to work at NUSS leh. But hell, just go lar. See what they can offer.

Anyway, as I was walking past the line of applicants doing their personality test, I couldn't help but sniggle at them, actually the guys only, cos' all of them look so nerdy boyz. Eh, that one was my new hairstyle say one. Bwahaha. In that time, I had almost instantaneously thought up of a script already. Slapstick comedy the stephen chow way. Bob, told you already... wasted lar, should shoot a mini movie soon with the bunch of guys. All of us are blardy talented comedy actors man.

Yah, at the briefing apparently got one scholar come. Ask me why? I don't know. Also got one very cocky looking (nerdy) guy. From the way he carries himself to the way he talks... it just reeks of cockiness! Haolian kia! Puii!!!

Okay, so I came to the interview thinking it was for a sales and marketing position which I had applied for. But little do I know that it turned out to be a application for a financial services consultant, or financial planner... whatever you call it. Bakero! Waste my time lar! If I had wanted to be a financial planner then I go study business degree for fark?! Blardy waste of my time and money right? Learn so much things at school just to be financial planner?! o_O"

I don't mean to ridicule the profession per se. I have friends who are pursuing this line of work and people have the right to make their own choices. But to me, it just kinda defeats the entire purpose. It's like laying the foundations of a building swee swee then demolishing it to build another building... back to square one again.

Anyway, the guy was a sweet talker. It wasn't exactly an interview but more of a briefing. He kept us all in suspense, talking on the massive financial rewards and the intrinsic gains. Everybody was smitten. But when he ultimately dropped the bombshell, you could see the three lines dropping down from the side of everyone's faces. Well, not everyone I would say, but at least mine did. Still, I had the patience to sit down for another 20minutes before it finally all ended. But kudos to the guy lar, he said we all could take the briefing as an information session to dispel any negative notions about the profession. It did... in a way.

So it all ended well. I could take that as an apology from him. Hahaha. Otherwise, I would stuff the potato wedges up his nostrils for cheating me to come all the way down here.

SUCKY FEELING...

Went for my motorbike class 2A TP test today. Buang. Fell off the bloody plank. Dunno what the hell I was doing looking at the tester for fark? Curses. Everything else was perfect, and I had to spoil it all. After receiving the bad news, I went to book for the next test date. 15th NOV wor!!! wtf!? So bloody long can?? Felt sucky the whole day. Cannot sell phantom, cannot buy super 4. I was so looking forward to visiting the various bike shops and asking for quotations on my dream bike man... Guess it will have to wait a lil' while longer... *shrugs shoulder*

On a brighter note, I have 2 interviews lined up this week. One of them with Creative as a product marketing specialist. Hope something good comes out of it. =)

ORCHARD ROAD LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE

Went to buy my external hard disk at Sim Lim yesterday. Finally I can transfer all my *mock gollum voice* "preciousss" before giving the desktop a reformat which I've stalled for so long because I don't wanna erase all the data painstakingly built up over the years.

Had dinner at old airport road hawker centre with the guys and then headed out to katong for a bit of counter-striking. Ahh... the good old days revisited. Hahaha...

Then, a crazy idea struck Mr. Fu. This siao kia actually suggested going jogging along orchard road at 12 midnight. Being the ever-so-game-for-anything me, I said yes without much hestitation of course. Expect no less from Mr. Outdoor hunk. Hahaha. Not like somebody who ask me go east coast jog then ended up eating satay and bbq chicken wing. Champion man. Actually is becos we had initially planned to jog before meeting the guys for dinner lah, so die die have to make up for it mah.

So by the time we finished counter striking, it was like oh my god 12 midnight already! Die lah! How to run like that? Then, after limbo-ing here and there, the lazy side eventually got the better of me. But apparently jz was still keen on the idea (dunno whether like real or not). Haha. And they mercilessly taunted me and hurl insults at me. I was devastated but I was still adamant about not going cos its very late already wor. I had chosen teh tarik and prata over jogging at that point in time, but my mind was still in a limbo leh. WTF...

My mind was still limbo-ing as I maneuvred the roads as we all headed to fetch le wuss bobby home before going to simpang for our sinful delights. Finally, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I had to keep to my side of the word. What I had promised, I will do. Must earn people's respect mah. Hahaha.

So yeah, I DID went to jz's place. I was so damn fired up even though its like an ungodly 2:30am in the morning. Suddenly I don't feel like dozing off anymore. Me and jz were all pumped up and raring to go.

The morning air was crisp and our foot steps were light (cos we both are friggin' fit?). We jogged from his place behind botanical gardens ALL THE WAY NON STOP to paradiz centre before we made a U-turn back. Along the way, I would have imagined the bewildered look on the faces of party go-ers as these 2 siao kias whizzed past them like a tornado ripping through orchard road. We made sure that our stomach was in and chest out when we ran past them at a faster pace. Must gek-seh what, cannot lau kwee and appear as if like wanna die like that in front of them mah. Hahaha.

And so we finally finished in approximately 53minutes for a I should say at least 7km run. It sure felt damn good afterwards. Tired, we grabbed a drink from 7-11 at Tanglin mall before walking back home.

Damn shag but still got time to take cute ah lian pictures. Muahahaha...

So there you have it. To the detractors out there (actually bob and malau only) who didn't think we would really go and jog at that time of the day, KISS MY ASS! hahaha... ok, thank you very much. I need to go for my nasi lemak breakfast at adam road hawker now. Cheerios!

NIP/TUCK

Time to have an image overhaul.

Err, not quite an overhaul actually. I just find that the blog introduction is way overdue for a change. It doesn't really have much relevance with the title to begin with. And so, inspiration struck and I'm here again with something new barely an hour into my last posting.

Ahhh, sounds so much better now, don't you think? ;)

(ps: I wrote that up myself. I didn't rip off anyone lor. Steady pom pee pee rite?)

FIRST BLOOD

Yeah, finally got one reply asking me to come down for interview at Keppel Towers. This after 2 and a half weeks of rotting at home. Haha. Considered fast already right?

Actually this can be considered my 2nd interview. First being at P&G, but not really that formal lar cos the manager never interview me and make me feel hot under the collar. Hehe.

Feeling excited, heart's beating very fast. Dunno whether will cock up tomorrow or not. Judging by last interview, I'm quite cool yeah? So just need to maintain my poise and hope everything goes a-ok. One shot one kill? hahaha... better don't get my hopes so high up. The bigger the expectations, the bigger the disappointments. Always happens to me, big time suay bao.

Went jogging today at bedok reservoir despite the gloomy skies, but the weather is purrfect! Apparently, some jogger found a dead body floating there just yesterday evening. But there was nothing to see already: No white tape, no police car, no people carrying out investigations. Bleah~

COURTEOSY BEGINS WITH YOU & ME... =)

There has been lotsa talk recently on remaking Singapore into a global city. One that has a vibrant culture and plenty of graciousness in the way we treat others. In essence, the X-Factor that enables us to be identified as one of the great cities of the world.

Let me just begin, we are far... I mean really far from it, considering the way we treat people in the service sector. I have noticed for myself many people (some of my friends included) treating waiters or the cleaning lady who clears up your table almost as though they are non-existant. The worse though, is behaving as though you as a customer, have every right to boss over them just simply because they are there to serve you.

Some people have almost made it into an art to behave as if the service people owes them a living everytime they step into their establishment. Every now and then, they would reply with a scowl whenever demands are not met and they behave like they are kings and demand the subjects bow before them, trying to make life miserable over the smallest of requests.

"Nabeh, where's my char kway tiao?"

Bloody hell, these low EQ people.

Whenever I eat out or have any contact with customer service personnel, I always make it a point to say thank you or a word of appreciation to the old auntie who ungrudgingly clears up so that I have a clean table to rest my elbows on, or the affable shop assistant who offers to check whether they still have that particular shirt in another size at another different outlet. I think it is only plain courteosy, right?

Maybe it is also true to a certain extent to say that how your boyfriend/girlfriend behaves towards these seemingly "insignificant" people determines how he/she is going to treat you and the people around you in the future once the honeymoon period is over.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That has always been my motto in life. If you want people to treat you in the way you want to be treated, treat others in the way you would do so if you were them.

THE LAW OF EQUIVALENT TRADE

"Nothing is perfect in this world, maybe that's why it is so beautiful..."

Do you really want to live in a world where everything is smooth sailing for you? No obstacles, no hiccups along the way. That means no family problems, no relationship problems, no money problem. You go to the best schools, you graduate with a mighty fine degree, you landed yourself a comfortable job, you are surrounded by people whom you love and who loves you, you drive the swankiest car around and swats of money to spend.

But what happens when tragedy struck? Your best friend suddenly died, your girlfriend dumped you for another guy, or worse, girl (haha), you get backstabbed by some jealous people at work or you suddenly go bankrupt overnight? Would you be able to handle such a crisis of sorts? Afterall, you have everything good going for you and you're pretty much spoilt in that sense.

Face it, nothing is perfect in this world. In order to gain something, you have to present something of equal value. That is why I remember this quote by one of my lecturers: "An honest day's pay for an honest day's work.", vividly in my mind.

I used to indulge in frequent soccer betting (albeit in small amounts compared to what big time bookies play) when Singapore pools started legalised betting SCORE!. But not anymore. It has been more than a year since I last betted on anything. Cos' I realised it was getting nowhere except maybe the fact that it gave me an avenue to get my 'excitement' from. Of course you feel happy when you win the money that is obtained with seemingly little or no effort at all (maybe if you take into consideration the energy expended walking to the betting outlet and queuing up to buy the bets). But the sinking feeling whenever you lose is like shit. It makes you wonder why the hell you would even bet in the first place for? For fun? At the expense of your hard earned 20 bucks? Just not worth it.

Now you realise I won't be speculating in shares anytime soon. I believe myself to be a conscientious salaryman who believes his pay is worth the talent and effort the company is hiring me for. That said, even during chinese new year gatherings I would be a bit reluctant to gamble away money in mindless blackjack or poker games even though its only a few dollars. If I were to play at all, it would be simply to kill time or to have a nice bonding session with my cousins and relatives. Losing money is just a side issue, what I gained is far more valuable.

Speaking of the need to present something of equal value in order to gain something of equivalence, does it always have to be that way? Some people can put in minimal effort but yet achieve the same, or even better result than someone who gives his all. The world is never fair. Whoever says that rule applies everywhere?

I have given quite a lot in the hope of gaining something. But things always do not turn out the way I had wanted. Did I gain anything out of it? Yes and No actually. Depends on how you see things. If everyone is happy with the way things are, then let it be... let it be.

ME IS THE BIGGEST LOSER

Think of it, finding a job is in many ways similar to finding a girlfriend. One cannot just flip the papers and look for the ideal job. To begin with, the ideal job might never even existed for you in the first place. So, to stubbornly put all your money on getting that dream job of yours is tantamount to plain stupidity.

Remember, if you put all your eggs in one basket, chances are, if plans backfire (as they usually would for me), you will end up losing everything. Forget about saying that you are going to try your darnest best and assume you will get the job because you, well, simply put, think you are the best man for the job. It really doesn't work that way. What makes you think the company which you wanna work for isn't looking for somebody else in the first place?

You, as a job seeker, have everything to lose, and nothing to gain if you adopt this suicidal mentality that I have. In the end, who will have the last laugh? Not you and your stupid idealistic world, but the practical company who keeps an open mind on which employees to hire.

I would like to believe I'm a diehard romantic in the game of love, albeit a naive one. To stay focused on the one which my heart wants me to follow, and shut out all other choices that may appear before me. The rules of the dating game has changed in modern society today. And change it did. That is why I believe I'm still living in the olden days where being true in the pursuit of the significant other usually gets you rewarded in time to come. What was I thinking?!

Screw it. Things have taken a whole new perspective for me now. I will want to keep my choices open, but not to the extent of being a profligate cassanova(I don't think I can qualify as one anyway). I will still be looking out for my ideal girl, but I will not just be looking at the one tree when I can choose from the entire forest.

So, yes. I've already sending out applications for posts that is not even remotely connected to what I want to do. To go for interviews with an open mind, and see if something works out from there. If not, there's always another job opening to look forward to. If you never try, you'll never know.

OVERDUE GRADUATION PHOTOS

(26th Aug 2005)

Dad, mum and sis who attended my graduation ceremony. Must have been a proud occasion for them. The perennial underperforming prodigal son of theirs finally made good at last, after causing my mum so much worries for my future especially after flunking my A levels. I not stupid, I don't think I'm exceptionally clever either but I just don't like studying. Muahaha...

Dustin, me, Zihe, Francis, Wyi Teck, Charles (GINA!), and Gary the gcb face. Muahaha... Oh yeah, I think this photo is the incomplete soccer team one. 29th intake inter sem soccer champions semester 4!!! The medal is still sitting proudly in my display window.

The elusive gang of people whose names are legendary among the class of 29th intake BBBA. Word has it that this secret organization has been around for centuries, holding the much sought-after secret of the holy grail. Okay, I'm still having the da vinci code hangover. Hehe... Grandmaster Mag is not in the picture though, possibly out on a secret mission; Grandmaster Alex looking nonchalant, Grandmaster Zhiwei breaks into a rare smile and Grandmaster Jasmine looks as if she needs to visit the washroom urgently.

And finally, a (complete?) class photo of the batch of graduates from Singapore Institute of Management-RMIT University 29th Bachelor of Business in Business Administration Intake.

As I step into the corporate world, I will work hard and prove to detractors that SIM is not just a dumping ground for people who flunked their As. It is a place where we are given a second lease of life and a chance to prove to the rest that we are as good as, if not better than our peers from the local unis, and we can more than hold our own against them, thank you very much.

THE SHOE THIEF STRIKES THREE!

I was about to go jogging when I realised I can't find my jogging shoes at all. I searched high and low for it, and that's when I knew it was gone. Yes, the bloody hardup shoe thief struck for the 3rd time in like, a year. He/she's been getting quite a reputation ain't it? AND TO THINK MY PARENTS STILL HAVE NOT LEARNT THEIR LESSONS YET! Whatever happened to the saying that goes "once bitten, twice shy??!"

Still they insist on leaving the 'old and dirty' shoes outside. And I have to constantly remind them that the godamnit thief is still out at large and will resort to stealing even shoes that smell like dead fish to him/her. So put all the shoes save the slippers inside, I told them. It doesn't require much effort anyway. They just won't listen, do they? And I had to dump all the shoes inside the house myself but every now and then, I would forgot all about it and then, it HAD to happen on the day itself. Friggin' pissed.

And my dad recently came up with something quite ridiculous. He actually only take one half of the shoes to put inside the house, and his logic was that the thief wouldn't want to take only one shoe. I was like "wtf?!" Right, and I suppose he can read the thief's mind and assume that he wouldn't steal it out of pure mischief in retaliation? Basically, he's just leaving a chance for the thief to inflict more misery upon us and I TOTALLY couldn't see where my dad's coming from. Needless to say, I didn't argue much. I just trashed every single shoe into the house, leaving nothing to chance.

I believe in karma. What goes around, comes around.

And to this f***ing thief, just don't let me catch you in the act when I come home late. I'll be sure to beat the crap outta him before turning him over to the police.