Saturday, June 30, 2007 01:47 p.m.
I can't believe i've just finished 7 weeks of internship and starting this Monday, I'm only left with a week! One more week and I get to wake up late, not worry about certain things and just have the day to myself. Well, that's provided I don't start with another internship. I was actually thinking of doing another 4 week long internship or work at my Aunt's but now I think I might just want to spend the remaining 5 weeks lazing around and getting ready for Copenhagen. We'll see how it goes at the end of next week! Other than that, my supervisor hasn't been around for the last 2 days so there's a more relaxed atmosphere in the air. There's so much joking around with my fellow colleagues and on Friday, L from our desk actually sent K and myself down to buy tea and popiah for everyone! I've never been sent down to buy tea and after 7 weeks, I finally got my chance! Haha. I was so happy and everyone on the desk was also laughing and feeling so happy for me because I finally could buy tea for them. Haha. Because of my happiness at work, it spills to my life outside work too so on Thursday, E and myself went down to Marche at Vivocity and we're going to Changi Village later to have ji pah hor fun and my favourite commando desserts!Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:15 a.m.
Watched Fantastic 4 with E last night after work and it was so anti-climax! It started quite well and they were building on it fine and I thought they were really going to save the world but they barely even exerted their super powers and all they did was help the surfer save the world! Bleah. Thank goodness I wasn't really expecting much since the reviews only gave it one and a half stars and I haven't heard any fantastic comments about this movie. The weekend was an exceptionally good one because I spent it with the family. We had dinner together at home on Saturday night before going to Novena to walk around and do some grocery shopping. Sunday I followed my folks for the 830am service then we had breakfast together before they brought me winter/birthday shopping! Mum bought me a handbag and we picked up the essential long johns and I got a new red coat for Denmark! The folks insist that they have to get me something more lasting and sentimental for my 21st and that the camera doesn't count as a birthday gift so we went to Omega and Tag Heuer looking for watches. To be honest, I don't really want anything material for my birthday and turning 21 doesn't quite excite me because it seems like more responsibilities, more worries and more nonsense from the world. I don't even want a party! But my mum won't take all my talk and so she wants to bring me around to look for a watch or a piece of jewellery even though I'm really satisified with my camera. Ah, what the big deal about turning 21?Saturday, June 23, 2007 12:51 p.m.
The cell girls came over for sushi and kueh pie tee on Wednesday night! Everyone brought something to contribute and it was supposed to be a sushi making competition but I think we were all too busy eating to judge. Haha. The theme was hats and we were also supposed to wear our hats but we figured it'll probably get in the way so we didn't wear them. Haha. After dinner, we sat around talking and tried using the chocolate fountain (failed) and had ice cream and brownies! Good times really, we need to have this kind of dinner parties more often!
I wrote that Tuesday was a really horrid day but Wednesday (save for the dinner party) was even worse. I didn't quite expect it and I was honestly quite miserable and at a loss. A few days on, things have definitely gotten better but I can't deny there's still some fear and lots of questions still swimming around in my head. What happens next? Are things going to change? Are the feelings still there? Everything seems so uncertain, fragile and delicate right now. I didn't think I'll make it through work on Wednesday but thank God for nice colleagues who cheered me up, bought me wasabi chips and wrote nice emails :)
Other than that, work is indescribable. After handing in that project last friday, my follow up project is to implement all that I've proposed in my report and on the 4th of July, they're going to use my ideas and my work to propose this to Sentosa (our customer). If Sentosa buys the idea, my project is a success. If they're not one bit convinced to do something, my ideas are a flop and I should voluntarily kick myself down the stairs and never show my face again. Extremely high stress now. Went to Vivocity on Thursday after work with E to check out some possible places to have my desk's pre-movie dinner but I ended up with a new pair of jeans! They fit me really nicely!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:02 p.m.
Watched Ocean's 13 last night with E, Zhen Nan, Adrian and Zhen Yang. It was quite a good movie and it's certainly better than Ocean's 12! As usual, it had all those cool scenes (like using a tunnel driller to fake an earthquake and using a fake lighter to roll the dice to a particular number) and it helps that they have hot actors like Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon. Haha. This time around, they had a slightly different twist to it so instead of trying to rob a casino of its money, they were making the casino lose as much money as possible. Good show really. So yesterday was pretty much a good day but today was seriously crap! I had my hopes dashed and I tasted rejection again and all the other random things that happened throughout the day just made it worse. Feeling really horrid and disappointed right now and I wish I have the liberty to sleep in tomorrow and wallow in my sorrows. AH.Sunday, June 17, 2007 10:59 p.m.
My parents got me a Canon Ixus 850IS for my 21st birthday!! Woot woot! I've been eyeing it for quite a while now and they got it for me today! It's a little fatter than my current Canon but the images are so much sharper and clearer! It's got all the other cool functions too like anti-shake capabilities, wide-angel lens, face detection and seriously, it's a real beauty!! My parents are the nicest parents!! Which parent would buy you a Mac Powerbook for your 19th birthday, a 30GB iPod video for your 20th birthday and a Canon 850IS for your 21st birthday? Not forgetting they're sponsoring my entire exchange program and my europe travels! Yay to wonderful parents who are Godly and who work hard and take good care of the family. I'm thankful really, and not just because I got my camera.
Japanese for father's day lunch today because it's one of my dad's favourite cuisine. We went to the Starhub shop after getting my camera and I wanted to get my dad the Samsung i-600 ultra messaging for his father's day cum birthday present since I won't be around in September but mum (finance manager of the house) says we should wait another month or so. The Samsung phone is a real beauty too and I'm glad I can at least buy my dad something he likes and not another tie or a shirt! I honestly had a really good time this afternoon just walking around with them, talking about phones, cameras and everything else and just simply having a good lunch with them!
Had some quiet time for myself yesterday then spent the evening with E and we went down to Orchard for shopping! Miraculously, I managed to get 2 sweaters, a pair of shoes (I'm in love with them) and another shirt which makes me really happy because I'm usually never able to do any shopping with E around! Haha. I can't believe the weekend's nearly over already and I've got to be back at work tomorrow!
Saturday, June 16, 2007 12:55 p.m.
Yesterday evening, my desk managed to get off work earlier because we had to attend a networking session with some corporate clients at a movie night event organized by corproate investment banking's GLC arm. It was an eye-opener and it showed me another aspect of this job but as usual, all networking sessions are very tiring and it can get quite boring. Had lunch with my colleagues, M, SH and their friend that works on the floor with us too and they brought me to this really nice korean restaurant that serves up really fresh tuna! I realized that guys and girls talk about very different things! The other day when I had lunch with some ladies on my desk and they talked about marriage and family. When I had lunch with M, SH and their friend, they talked about girls, video games and poker. Haha. Other than that, work has been quite frustrating. I handed in my project yesterday before lunch and when I came back, my supervisor gave me his comments. It's a little mixed and I say it's frustrating because he wanted to know the reasons why a particular thing was happening and I did my research and asked around but when I presented it to him, he thinks that some of them are not really valid even though it comes from the horse's mouth. If the horse says that it's the reason why a particular event is not materializing, then that is the reason right? It may not be valid from our point of view but that's stopping them from doing it so we should consider their point right? Maybe I'm wrong. There's also another part when he said I should treat this as something on Monday but then during his comments session on Friday, he said I should treat that same thing as something else. It confuses me and ah, there's alot more than those so I'm kind of stuck. I want to do well but I also don't know how to move around to even do well. I probably need to talk to him about the project on Monday and I've been thinking about asking him to extend my internship but now, I'm kind of holding back. AHH.Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:16 p.m.
Work was pretty stressful at the beginning of this week because my boss came back from his leave so it was his first time commenting on my project. When we talked on Monday night, he threw almost all my reasons and recommendations out of the window. I had actually thought I could hand in the project on Tuesday (and make an impression) but after his comments on Monday, I had to make it more concrete and more practical. He claims I'm too academic in my writing. So I spent the next 2 days firming up my points and writing the report (10pages, single lined, font size 12) and I'm almost done with it! He looked through my second draft today and said I had to strengthen my arguments so I ended up staying back till about 9pm just now. I'm not completely done so tomorrow it's rush rush rush to finish it up and make it very solid and practical. I'm praying hard he'll be pleased with my report tomorrow and accept my recommendations and say something nice so that at least I can have a more enjoyable weekend! I think working here has really given me a taste of rejection. Other than that, because work is tiring and stressful, it has affected my personal relationships and I think that has completely left me distracted, drained and dry. I also lost a bet with my colleague today because I said the USD/JPY will only hit 123 after 6pm but he claims that it'll hit 123 before 6pm and at 5.40pm, the stupid USD/JPY rate hit a 4 month high of 123 for 3 minutes before moving up to 122.9 and now I have to buy him lunch. AH. Dang. What an anti-climax really.Tuesday, June 11, 2007 11:38 p.m.
Yuri's mum and youngest sister left today so Sarah and myself went to send them off at the airport. Her flight got retimed so we ended up spending 2 over hours at the airport with her mum. I'm going to miss them and even though there's a slight communication barrier, I really enjoyed spending time with them and I wish they could stay longer in Singapore!
Last night was dinner with Yuri's family (minus her dad) and my family! After a while, her mum and my mum were just chit chatting away so I played hide and seek with her little sister in the restaurant. The cutest thing was when her youngest sister wanted to take a photo with my dad because she says my father is very nice to always give her the new $2 dollar note everytime he sees her. Haha. Apparently she's collected about 7 of those new $2 note and she wants to give one each to her best friends back home. Haha. Her younger sister has this way of making really blunt statements too! When my mum and her mum hugged and cried when they had to say goodbye, her little sister scolded Yuri's mum and said she was crazy for crying. Haha. I sent them back to the hotel after that but we ended up making a detour to Swensens for ice cream!
Saturday, June 9, 2007 10:35 p.m.
My mum and I spent the day with Yuri's family! We lunched at Ikea, dumped her youngest sister at the play area (it looked so fun) while the rest of us went around buying random stuff at Ikea! Mum went supermarket shopping next door, we looked at the swedish food they were selling downstairs Ikea and I really wonder what scandinavian food is like. Mum says that Denmark has alot of hotdog stands and the fish there is good but I'm not too sure if I'll take to it since I'm not a fan of hotdogs and I don't really like fish unless it's raw salmon and tuna. When we came back home, my mum brought Yuri's youngest sister swimming. Apparently my mum even went on the slides. Haha. Dinner afterwards at my house and it was yummy yummy! We had Japanese salad, minestrone soup and pasta and now my parents are out at Botanical Gardens having a night-time stroll. Haha.
Saturday, June 9, 2007 01:09 a.m.
The exam results were released early this morning and to be honest, God has been extremely good to me even though I'm so undeserving of those grades! I am utterly thankful for the grades I got and I'm glad it's a nice end to my second year in university. I can't believe I have only one more semester left in school since I'll be in Copenhagen next semester and it does get a little intimidating knowing that I'll be out of school next May! Other than that, because work tires me out and I'm so deprived of shopping even though it's our famous great Singapore sale, E and myself went for midnight shopping just now after cell! He managed to get a pair of Levis and I got a shirt and we got them all within an hour so it's was quite a successful trip! It's my first time going for this midnight shopping because I used to think it was stupid and that I could shop any other day but now, I think it's such a brillant idea!Thursday, June 7, 2007 11:53 p.m.
Seafood dinner tonight with Yuri's family, my family and E because Yuri's mum loves crabs and seafood! I still prefer the Ang Mo Kio seafood because of my crab noodle soup but my mum thinks Yuri's mum won't like it and that the place is too hot. I bought Yuri's youngest sister a 49 piece Disney Princess jigsaw puzzle because she loves all the Disney Princesses and she loves doing jigsaw puzzles and guess what? She completed the puzzle twice even before our food arrived! Watched Shrek 3 with E last night after work and it's highly recommended especially if you want to just enjoy a movie and not think or figure about who is the bad guy or who killed who. It's a really simple story line but it got quite heartwarming at some parts and it was really really cute!Monday, June 4, 2007 10:54 p.m.
Isn't she cute!? She's really pretty and absolutely cute and even the boyfriend (who cannot stand kids and would rather starve and beg than babysit one) finds her super cute and likes her too! The cutest thing was when she hugged him the other day and he just stood there shell shocked, not quite knowing how to respond. Haha. Been spending some time with Yuri's mum and her little sister and had McDonalds breakfast with them yesterday morning before I went to church and this evening after work, we all went out for dinner at Din Tai Fung! Sarah followed them all to Wild Wild Wet this afternoon and she said the 5 of them had a blast! I wish I could join them but I was stuck in the office doing research and more research for my project. The only consolation was that I got my mini-rotation to the credit desk today. I didn't really know what they do until today and thankfully, I had quite a good 'tutor' and he explained a lot of the terms and products to me as slowly as he could. My eyes are terribly sore from staring at the computers and I'm getting sick of the food that's on offer at Shenton Way. I also desperately need a full body massage and I want to go for a pedicure and pamper my feet! How am I ever gonna take another 35 years of working 5 days a week from 8.30am to 6.30pm (or later) with only 21 days (or less) of annual leave?
Saturday, June 2, 2007 12:52 p.m.
I'm so glad it's finally the weekend!! I like the weekends but they're always so short! Got briefed on my first project yesterday. It doesn't sound easy because of the huge huge amount of research that needs to be done and because of the project, I'm going to get posted to the credit desk on Monday and Tuesday to better understand financial products and get a feel on how they structure products! I'll also be required to carry out focus group interviews and it sounds like huge load of work to be done but very interesting! I also found out that the exam results are coming out next week so huge panic attack. I am honestly scared stiff.
This week alone, I've been to the airport 2 times! We sent my uncle and his family off to Vancouver on Tuesday night! All their church friends, close friends and even my uncle's secretary at work came to send them off. We were all runnning around before that, playing with my little cousins and there was so much laughing and talking going on but when they really had to leave, my mum, her 2 sisters as well as my aunt that was leaving started crying and then my younger cousins strated crying too and honestly, I'm going to miss them so much! I'm really close to Maegan because she spent her early years at our house before my aunt stopped working and had more kids. My mum was really upset because now she has 2 siblings living on the west coast of America and she says they're so far away. Well, at least it makes visiting much easier. All the families on my mum's side are taking turns visiting them and our family's turn is next year when I graduate! Can't wait to visit though Sarah's going up this Christmas to do some winter classes and spend her holidays there!
Wednesday night, E and myself went to the airport again to pick Yuri's mum and little sister up! We brought them to Newton for dinner before dropping them off at the hotel but I think her mum couldn't take the humidity, smoke and dirt at Newton. I'm probably going to spend some time with them again today and mum and Sarah are going to be back from church camp tonight!
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