Chapter 20
Wednesday, February 27, 2008,
2/27/2008 12:04:00 PM
RAH. work is piling up again. I got 2 cases to log because the user calls in after I put down the phone and I gotta settle 2 email from 2 big problems...and I had to dl 2permits also...ok. Now i gotta setle email.
[Some time later]
Uh ok. I just did a heck of a lotta stuff which I can't possibly all type out. Ugh. Lol. But it was kinda fun. Today got kinda high amount of calls. I got a surprise for tak! Heheh. That is, if I meet her today.
[MORE time later]
Gee I'm bored. Zzz.
"'I have to go home, I have to make the salad,' she said, and ran away from him. She ran across the street and out of his life without looking back a second time. Perhaps that was just as well."
-Hearts in Altantis, Stephen KingLabels: holiday, work
Tuesday, February 26, 2008,
2/26/2008 10:54:00 AM
RAH. I on MSN with my colleague settling this big problem which I need to chase the develooper for I'm smsing ppl and I gotta go check the billing system and call this person about her billing problem and call this guy about the big problem aaaah now there's a call coming in aaaah! OH and did I mention I HAVE EMAIL???
[Some time later...]
Ok. I'm done. Yay. I'm getting tired of my job. Something like a preview of a midlife crisis. Ha-ha. It's not that bad or that serious, its just that I'm getting kinda bored with it already, at times. They're making us handle global queue and close open cases also, so there's more stuff to do. It's a new plan...
I am starting to dislike the sound of the phone...but it's not that bad yet. Still tolerable. Time really passes pretty fast. I only have 1 month left, and I've worked here for 2 and a half months...
[UPDATE]
Geez I'm bored. Sigh. I know some people out there are not in the best mood. You know who you are. Here, have a hug, take one, it's on the house. No, seriously, take it! It's fine. You can take it if you want to, I don't mind. Yup. There you go. Feeling better now? Good. Oh and people, take care yeah, just like I am always there for you guys, we will always be there for each other. Keep that in mind. Everyone seems to be troubled too. Myself (mildly) included. I'd hug myself if it weren't so perverse. Haha! Take care y'all.
[/UPDATE]Labels: holiday, work
Monday, February 25, 2008,
2/25/2008 09:24:00 AM
Sleepy. Woke up at 655, switched off my alarm, and fell back into bed. Very sleepy these few days. I slept at 5-830 (sat morning) and 2am to 11plus (sun morning) and I slept at 1230 last night but all these late nights are making me feel damn tired. I had a sudden craving for Kit Kat last night so I dropped by Cheers and bought 2 this morning.
[UPDATE]
Hmm...Monday's over. Work was ok. Was kinda cranky cos of Monday mood. Anyway, this is pretty damn funny/ironic. I tried to loginto my CPF account to check my balance but turned out I can't login due to weird Java problems LOL. And I know...1,2,3,4,5 of my colleagues who do Singpass support. SO...I can get support from them after office hours. Haha! I feel like calling the hotline but it closes at 6 and its clsoed now and I can't call at work, cos well, I WORK there and I'm not at my com! Lol. But I do need Singpass help. Lol. Think I need to call one of my friends.
[/UPDATE]Labels: holiday, work
Sunday, February 24, 2008,
2/24/2008 10:04:00 PM
Well I'm back blogging. After Friday night, went home for a while, had instant noodles for dinner, and then went out again to meet tak. Arrived at Zouk at close to 10 I guess. It was quite ok...what you see on TV is what you get. And then some. But what happens in the club stays in the club so I won't say more, except that it was ok and I wouldn't mind going back apart from some changes...and that is all. At one point I wanted to just up and leave and wait outside until they were done. You can try to guess at which point it was. I'm not giving hints. Either way I wouldn't mind going again, its just because of what happened.
Cabbed home with tak and slept at about 5AM. Woke up at 830 to go for the NTU talk also. Met tak at Kovan, and XW at Suntec. Attended the talks, collected the brochures, and ran into my cousin there also. Afterwards had lunch at Pastamania which was quite good. Tak finally found and bought her running shoes at the huge Royal Sporting House store in Suntec. Then XW went off and we all went home, me to bathe and go out again for a barbecue. I was pretty tired then so I just ate and sat on a chair and stoning. My sis took a pretty bad fall and scraped her knee and foot. After that, came home at I think 1 and slept at almost 2.
Tried to get as much sleep as possible. Woke up at 11 plus, arrived at TM at 1 to meet up with the rest. Found ben and raye. Afterwards came XW. Ben sent her home, and went to wait with XW at Starbucks. The interview was quite interesting. I'm looking forward to the article being published. Afterwards went to watch PS I Love You at TM. It was quite a nice show. =] I still wanna watch Jumper and L and The Leap Years...
Went to Pasir Ris with XW to see Ben off. Later had dinner with her and left for home....Labels: holiday, movie, work
Thursday, February 21, 2008,
2/21/2008 10:20:00 PM
"We meet every day.
Same time, same place.
Exactly 6:15PM, door no. 9, Outram Park MRT Station towards Punggol.
I'll wait for you here everyday."
- The Leap Everyday
I'm starring in a new movie. It's called The Everyday. Lol. =P Work today was ok. Was pretty darned hungry. Left for lunch damn late. Like 1345 instead of 1245. After that, I worked for 1 hour then went to the rec room for our company lunch. Came back, worked for 15 mins then left. Haha.
Ate my fill. The food was good. =] I dapaoed some food back. Aferwards went to meet Tak. On the train I showed her my loot, and she raided the dessert section of the cream puffs and brownies. Continued all the way home, had dinner, there you go...nothing special. Lol. Oh I wanna watch The Leap Years too. And I want to try and find a copy of the book to read too. Hmm...Labels: holiday, work
Yes i know my twitter is funny. Haha! =P It was quite amusing. I went to the pantry to look for a drink but realised there were no paper cups so I walked back. Then there was a commotion. One of my colleagues cried out in surprise and someone proclaimed Outlook has lost connection with the server. Someone else complained that their call got cut off. I got back and noticed my phone had restarted and hung at the start screen.
I remarked that wah, I come back from my pantry vist and the network goes down. There were a few joking cheers and someone remarked that if it goes on till 6 we can all go home. All in good humor of course. Within a few mins services was restored. Meanwhile we were all eyeing the counter that showed the call queue and the time people had waited. Luckyily it was back up before anyone waited too long.
Oh yeah, dinner at Billy Bombers was rescheduled to Wed. After work I went to meet tak and we went to walk around Cine a while, and then Heeren. Waited quite a bit for Val to come. Then went up to Billy's to wait for her. Tak's friend was working there. Oh she met another friend on the MRT. And two more while we were dining. Val looks good with her new hair. Amazing what money can do. I'm kidding about the second part! =P
Anyway dinner was good. Ordered the sirloin steak. Like the fries. Val ordered a big fat juicy hotdog. TAK(=P) had the vegetarian pasta. Then I had the cookies and cream milkshake which was quite nice. Tak had a banana milkshake. Val ordered a drink called Sophia. After that we went home. Pretty tired. Called val a while then went to sleep.
Today appears to be ok. A lot of Singpass people not here. MC, and 2 on orientation. Lol. Trade not affected. Sit here waiting for the day to pass.Labels: holiday, work
Wednesday, February 20, 2008,
2/20/2008 02:53:00 PM
Work today is ok. Nothing special. Oh they blocked Facebook, so too bad for all the time wasting things some of us do there. Hopefully they don't block too much stuff. Lol. And things are ogingto geti nteresting. Soon there's going to be audits and inspections because we're supposed to be a secure area. Make that high-security area. =X
So far I haven't been assasinated, so I must be doing ok still. =D Yup. nothingi nteresting today. We were in an MSN mass convo when suddenly one person DCed, and then one my one, others got cut off. It was like someone was hunting us. I yelled that someone was killing us one by one and shouted at the rest to run. All on MSN. Raymond insisted we stay and fight. =\ Later the other were resurrected and logged back in again.
And now...there's nothing much interesting.Labels: holiday, work
Tuesday, February 19, 2008,
2/19/2008 10:20:00 AM
[UPDATE]
I'm going with tak to play more zombie shooting games at Compass Point later. Think of it as a belated Vday gift. Shooting dead and or dying zombies in an arcade for a Vday gift. How's that for originality? ;)
[SOME TIME LATER]
We came , we shot, we died after spending 3 credits each. But it was fun. I got farther than I ever did, and I saved her life once. Yay! Anyway work earlier on was quite ok, low traffic before I left. Thurs going out with them to Billy Bombers at Heeren because I got a $15 vouchers my colleague gave me. Hehs. Hmm...now nth to do...reading.
[/UPDATE]
Oh I think I forgot to blog about the later half of yesterday. Anyway I left work early (Yay!) and nearly got a seat on the shuttle bus (Boo!), though I feel bad for PSing my colleague. I got to HBfront and then to OTpark, just nice as tak was getting off work, so I have a new Travel Buddy everyday, and also makes me feel bad for leaving my colleague to go home alone.
We were both wearing white tops and black bottoms so we probably looked like we worked for the same company. Lol. We didn't take a picture. =[ I went with her to Kovan mall so she could buy her new shoes (cue squealing and highness). Also I think if I revert back to my old working time next month, I can just wake 10 mins earlier to meet tak on the way to work.
Anyway I went home, bathed, had a pretty good dinner and went online. Called the rest, talked till late then went to sleep. Woke up feeling pretty tired. The pain in my neck has not gone away. Today's calls are manageable. Whew. Think there's going to be some kind of audit/spotcheck later though. =X
Oh yeah, here are some poems that we temps at the Call Centre wrote for Vday. You may not understand, but well, I can read them again next time. Haha!
To users:
You make my heart pound when the phone rings,
a smile to my face your voice brings.
As TradeXchange faxes chatter from the printer
I calmly direct you to the singpass reset counter.
I talk to you on the phone every day,
I help you to import 5 tonnes of hay.
When your truck or ship is stuck at Customs,
Your permit is pending, you must learn.
I check if Java is installed on your com,
I tell you where to download it from.
You just go to javatester.com
No, you do not need a CD-ROM.
I help you to download your missing permit,
How to clear your cache, you must learn it.
If the server is having technical problems,
Please try again in half an hour.
Dearest Call Centre,
I call your number even when it’s already late.
You make me feel nervous when I have to wait.
You ask for my name, you ask for my number.
Your voice makes me melt, your reply makes me stumble.
You solve all my misery, how you make my heart beat.
When you download me all those permit, my life is complete.
Login to SingPass, I receive invalid till locked
You ask me go counter reset, so naughty.. I know you’ll be there to stalk.
My PC don’t have Java, I don’t know what to do.
You guide me through to install, even though im just a fool.
Everytime I complain, im sorry I couldn’t help it,
When I think about you talking to millions of others, I just hate it.
There are times we have it bad, there are times we have it good.
Sometimes it gets serious, I almost jump off the roof.
But most of the times I was unreasonable, you answer with a smile.
That’s why I keep calling you, coz u always go the extra mile.
My dear singpass, where are you
It was just a slip of my mind
And I have to reset you
The ways are classified into two kinds
Either at counter or online
I didn’t sign up for that immediate reset is
That is actually a brand new feature
Which asks for the birthday of your father
And other weird questions that boil your anger
Six chances only and the account was locked
The security system is as solid as a rock
Cursing the system was my first reaction
Then dialed that hotline which has many seven
The guy on the line was pleasant as I expected
But a busy man like me have no time for the counter
Asked if someone can reset on my behalf
As I really had no time to go
But my hopes were dashed with a straight no
Left with no choice but to apply online
The thought of four working days make me sigh
What can I do, I can’t make special requests
They are just Crimsonlogic
And not some people with magic
After submitting an online request
I waited day after day with full of zest
But what I received was just a notification letter
After a week, I called again
My heart was then feeling some kind of pain
The guy on the line checked the status
And told me that it was completed
But that is strange as I wonder
When will I ever receive my pin mailer
He just told me to apply again
Oh no, so I had just waited in vain!
So at the end of the day at the counter, I spared some time
My heart was already as sour as lime
Finally my dearest singpass
I won’t forget you anymore
Promise you, you’ll never be gone again
Let us be together on valentine day
(By Raymond)Labels: holiday, work
Monday, February 18, 2008,
2/18/2008 09:01:00 AM
[UPDATE]
AAAH! Saturday is packed!!! Oh noes. I'm going clubbing with the girls on Fri night! Woo~ Hahaha...BUT I have work from 9-1pm! BUT there's an NTU talk I signed up for! BUT there's a Mugalomaniac interview from 2pm! AND there's also a family BBQ. And I wanna have another movie marathon again! And we're going to the pool on Sun!
[/UPDATE]
Yet another week. =\ Well i got to work on time today, didn't miss the shuttle, so I hopefully can leave at 530. =] Go home and slack or something. Maybe run downstairs...go online..read...go on the phone...
[Some time later]
I'm hungry...very hungry. =[ I had 3 cookies only before going out. They were raye's cookies. haha. =] I koped one of Chuanxin's cookies just now. But she din't make them. Her aunt did. Oh now I'm rambling about girls' cookies. Haha! This is very random.
Never mind. I'm not so hungry after stelaing one of the cookies from the cookie jar now. Though the pack of Salsa Chilli Jack 'n' Jill potato chips on my colleague's desk looks very tempting. So light, so crispy, so TASTY. =[ There a a lot of calls today. Sigh...
I turned down the volume of my phone's ringing because it was just so SHRILL and PAINFUL and LOUD so early in the morning. I felt like flinching everytime I hear its sharp painful trilling stabbing into my ear. I feel like going to sleep. Sleepy. Sigh. I can't wait to go home today.
What THE #$%^???!!! I got a cookie from CX and just popped it into my mouth. Just as I did so I remember to divert my call for a few seconds, and just as I hit the AfterCall button...BOOM! Ring ring! WTSDFNHGM!!! Of all the times...that person is DAMN lucky and I was DAMN unlucky.
I only bit on the cookie once! So there i am with a (mostly) whole cookie in my mouth and I need to answer the phone within 3 rings or else the call gets dropped to someone else, which is NOT good. Without any other option except choke myself to death...out came the cookie. And back in again later. Dammit. How unlucky can you be....of all times...Labels: holiday, work
Sunday, February 17, 2008,
2/17/2008 09:27:00 PM
Today spent most of the day at home online...read a little. Left the house to meet tak at WS, walked around a little. Well, actually a lot because we had a lot of free time. Then ben came, and we sent him off again. I got cookies from raye! =] tak bought fererro rocher as a vday gift. And...tha was about it...lol.Labels: holiday
Saturday, February 16, 2008,
2/16/2008 10:44:00 PM
"How to Save a Life" by The Fray is playing on the radio. I remember I used to like that song a lot. I still do...
Today was quite fun. =] Went to meet Ben, Tak, and Raye at TM. Met up with Ben and Tak, and according to her blog, arrived just as tak did. Lol. Went up to the arcade to watch them play Silent Hill. (Looks fun. I wanna play.) And watch tak swear loudly at the monsters.
Went to watch Ah Long Pte Ltd, which was quite ok I guess. Simple and comedic, with a few light jabs at the government. Just plain ol' money-making entertainment to amuse and cater to the masses. Just go there, switch off, andenjoy the laughs...lol. I did enjoy it, though some parts were indeed too overblown and exaggerated.
Went for lunch, where I was planning to let tak share some of my kimchi because she didn't wanna buy lunch or dinner. She saw my kimchi and ended up buying her own kimchi ramen, so I did more than I intended...lol. Afterwards, we decided to go White Sands, so while ben sent raye home, tak and I walked to Pasir Ris to save on bus fare. HA! Take that SBS!
It was a nice walk. It's amazing what you can see when you actually get off your vehicle and leave the ordinary to go for a walk in directions you'd normally not take. I've walked this route before during MMM last year, but this time was better because it was evening and the scenery was nicer.
Double-yolked egg I had with my chicken rice the other day. Kinda cool and creepy. Nevermind, back to the pics.
CrimsonLogic's lo hei. Didn't go because was in second shift of lunch.
Tak walked into my picture.
Afterwards walked around WS, Challenger and Sportslink, then went to take the bus to Ikea. Had dinner there with ben's parents and his dad sent us back.
Labels: holiday, movie
Friday, February 15, 2008,
2/15/2008 09:36:00 AM
Well yesterday wasn't too bad. Watched the latest episode of Bleach, floated about online. Read my Stephen King novel, listened to music. Quite relaxing. Then, wonder of wonders, someone actually called me. At around 2330, tak gave me a missed call, so I returned it, and we talked till 1am I think, before going to sleep. Overall a pretty decent evening.
I'm in a fairly decent mood today and work appears to be ok. Need to wake up slightly earlier though, I missed the shuttle bus and had to wait 15 mins for another and there was an unusual jam so I ended up at work 30 mins late, 9AM. My usual time. =.=
[UPDATE]
Well work today was ok. Lesser calls. Dumb user hung onto me and refused to finish the convo after I told her to checkwith customs. Tok tok tok tok tok and same the same qns again. By the time I'd finished it was 540 already, and after logging in the case, 545 probably. SO I decided to heck and work till 6pm because I arrived late today.
Then I received a call from an importer enquiring on a circular sent out by Customs. He asked if it was correct. He said it would make Singapore a laughing stock. He said it would scare away the tourists and kill the nightlife. Furthermore, they're building an IR and trying to promote a vibrant city. BUT the odd thing is they've raised the tariffs on liquor amazing HIGH.
Check this out. The tariffs on liquor have all been increased to $70. From prices like $9.50, you see amazing stuff like:
Sparkling Juice tariff $9.50 to $70
Shandy tariff $0.80 to $70
So that bottle of red or white you bring in with 750ml inside is going to have an extra $52 slapped on it. 3 cans of shandy will cost $70 more to bring in. Import 500litres of liquor, and you have to pay $35,000. Wow. BUT...
"Last year, I announced that we would progressively move towards taxing liquors on the basis of alcoholic content, rather than on the basis of volume. We are now already taxing many liquors, including beer and stout, on the basis of their alcoholic strength. However, other liquors like wine, whisky, and brandy are still taxed based on volume. With effect from today, all alcoholic beverages will be taxed on the basis of their alcoholic content. Most liquors will see a slight reduction in duty rates. The rationalisation of the duty rates will be broadly revenue neutral."
-Singapore Budget Speech 2008
So I'm thinking that the $70 may be a maximum value. But from the way it was presented in the circular, the only new value was $70 and I don't recall any price tables. Odd. But this is a personal comment and I may be wrong in my intepretation. But after this came out everyone was talking nonstop. Oh and tomorrow is Daryl's birthday, so we opened a bottle of celebratory red of which I had a cup before leaving. Wine is expensive now.
I took shuttle bus to HBfornt and the journey took 10 mins longer now for osme reason, and perhaps thebus was late. Took mrt to Outram then to Tampines and then 27 to Ikea. SPent like 2 hours on the road. AND I dropped too early on 27 so I had to walk. AND I left my wallet in my office os I had to run back and take it before the bus came. ANd after leaving Ikea I left my wallet at the chir so I had to urn back and take it. I was so frightened. And today was CL's CNy celbration with a lion dance and catered buffet.
[UPDATE]
Well ok I'm wrong about the liquor but the way it was presented in the circular was very misleading. I mean, this importer was complaining to me, and my colleagues were talking about it. =\ But I'm just an uneducted observer so I can't be faulted right? Lol.
[/UPDATE]Labels: holiday, work
Thursday, February 14, 2008,
2/14/2008 10:28:00 AM
[UPDATE]
tak is out with MR. M.
val is out with Jason.
XW is out with Jin.
I am alone at home listeing to my songs.
And I'm perfectly happy.
I don't need anyone.
Sometimes I wish I could believe what I say.
And sometimes,
.
.
.
frankly, I don't give a shit.
Cheers.
[/UPDATE]
Happy Valentine's Day. A day of overpriced flowers and chocolate. Pfft. No matter. I shall move on. You shall see why I dismiss the importance of this date later.
Anyway I'm staying home today. Originally had something on but then I've been quite tired these few days, so after (quite) some deliberation, I've decided to do away with it. Been sleeping late and waking early. I come to work feeling like I just cried, with my eyes hurting in that way you feel after you have, well, just cried. I dunno why.
I need to wash my face. I've had a blocked nose for days, but I don't feel sick. Gah. Anyways, I'll be spending today after work alone simply because I don't feel like being with anyone.(I think. Sometimes I'm not even sure what I want. Ha-ha.) Unless of course I feel like going out with whoever also has nothing to do today. Either way, right now I don't foresee that I'll be taking part in the "festivities".
Since most everyone will be out I have absolutely no idea what to do at home alone. Perhaps what most guys do at home alone. Play computer games. Ha-ha. I installed Red alert 2 on the main com for kicks and only played it a little so far. Yet I don't feel in the mood for com games. Oh well.
I recall the running joke last year was "Happy Singles Awareness Day!" or "Happy SAD!" I wonder what it'll be this year. Either way I won't play along. I prefer my nick more. Defiant yet true.
"Valentine's Day is just a sham. If you truly love someone, everyday is Valentine's day."
- -=[K]=-
.
.
.
.
.
Side note: O praise the heavens! Such mercy! Thank you for sparing me! The "Block this application" button in Facebook is a godsend. I can finally block "Triumph" invitations, that bloody Facebook application named after a friggin' lingerie brand. Everytime I see it I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Laugh because of the connotations, and cry because a certain MARCUS SOH ZE and ADRIAN TAN have sent me multiple invites a day for multiple days. Seriously, GET A LIFE, dammit. Just because we were classmates for two years doesn't exempt you from being cursed by me okay? Do you know how friggin' ANNOYING IT IS???
I'm a usually level-headed cool person (at least to my friends) so you must understand what you have done is SO BLOODY ANNOYING that even I CANNOT STAND IT. And that I considered sending you BOTH a strongly worded messge on Facebook with a few choice words inside asking you two to STOP BEING SUCH IDIOTS.
Ha. There. I said it.Labels: holiday, musings, work
Wednesday, February 13, 2008,
2/13/2008 08:51:00 AM
Not much enthusiasm for work today. Was so tired yesterday. So tired. I still woke up at 7 okay. Boss asked me to come in from 830-530. Come in early, leave early. It's not too bad. My neck still hurts a little. My mum asked me did I eat dinner outside yesterday.I said yes, yes, fine I did. If you want to think so then think so. Dinner looked good. The flavourful leftover soup from the steamboat the previous night. Too bad I wasn't hungry.
This morning I got a pack of chocolate biscuits and put it on the plate in front of me. Not hungry. Tossed it aside. Drank some water and left. Read all the way to HBfront. Arrived at work, and the first 30 mins blew away. Now as I'm writing this, I would be just starting work.
Sometimes without work to occupy me, I feel like dying. But the page loads quick enough and after a short period of dying, I'm distracted by something else. Wonder what I'll do after ending work today.
You know what? I'm sorry for dragging you into this. Should never have opened my mouth. I'll get over it. I always have. I just have to learn to be a bastard from now on. So much for being "good" eh? Good gets you nowhere. Good guys finish last. Or dead. Wash your hands of me then. I don't want to be a burden. Sorry.
[UPDATE]
I'm better now I think. Haha. As of 12PM I realised that by skipping dinner and breakfast, I've not eaten for the past 23 hours. Damn, I should get depressed more often. Haha!
[/UPDATE]
[UPDATE]
Oh yes. Today our public transport system showed how expensive and "first world" it is by breaking down...what's that word? Oh, yet AGAIN. Whoopee. I took like 1 hour for a usually 30 minute MRT ride. YOu know why? I had to change 4 friggin' trains. Yes. 4. Even if its just 30 mins...4 trains?! HOw troublesome is that? At Outram park the train stopped and a distorted fuzzy voice informed us about passengers going to punggol...getting off...dhoby ghaut...to continue your journey to Punggol. WTF?
At HarbourFront, we waited very long for the train to come and all the while, people were piling into the station non-stop, leaving it about 50% packed full of people with little space in between. Then when the first train arrived, everyone piled in until the first train was full. Just nice. Then the Outram thing happened. So we had to go from Outram to City Hall and from CH to Dhoby Ghaut and DG back to the NEL again. It took us 30 mins, the same amount of time I would take to go home.
Then the strange thing was, there were NEL trains arriving at dhoby ghaut. No idea how they got there. Apparated, I suppose. Or maybe Floo powder. Har har. After we boarded the train, it stopped for very long at each station. =.= Wonder if i'll find out what happened in the news tomorrow.
[/UPDATE]Labels: emo, holiday, musings, work
Tuesday, February 12, 2008,
2/12/2008 08:58:00 PM
Work was a killer. Whole lotta crap. Was nearly overrun by all that work. Frigging user was unreasonable and a pain in the ass. A female canine if there ever was one. =.= I'm coming to work early the rest of the week. Boss asked me to work the 8.30-5.30 the rest of the week. Maybe I will see tak on the train. Didn't have appetite for dinner today. Good. I'll try that tomorrow lunch. Maybe I can lose weight before I go into the meatgrinder. Today I suddenly noticed I'm a little thinner. Wonder why.
Don't worry about me.
I'm okay.Labels: emo, holiday, work
Well. I'm back at work. And not exactly feeling better. I didn't sleep well last night. My nack and shoulderblades hurt like hell. Some new issues have cropped up. This is so troublesome. and unfair. Can't forget unfair. But who am I to go about crying foul, when I of all people should know how life can be like. But it hurts. I don't deny that. It hurts. Just. Like. Before. Do I have to walk down the same old path again? I hope not but think so. Sigh.
Do I really deserve this? Tell me. The cutting irony of the situation is indeed worthy of a bitter laugh, if there ever was one.Labels: emo, holiday, musings, work
Monday, February 11, 2008,
2/11/2008 09:03:00 PM
Went to work tired and sleepy. It progressed to being tired, bored and cranky. Felt like flaring, but was in fact too tired to do so. Kinda unresponsive and dead when my colleague talked to me. Brain was not running at full capacity. Talked to tak and shawn onlnie. Thank goodness for people to talk to. Calls were average today.
Internet was whacked today, and went on-off on-off. DCing from MSN, and prevented me from doing my work properly. Got me irritated, but it was ok after some time and I didn't kill any technical staff. Lol. Was so sleepy, I KO'ed after boarding the bus until cx nudged me. Just black dreamless oblivion.
Drowning myself in a tornado of music.
"So long, and good night..."
-My Chemical Romance, HelenaLabels: holiday, work
Sunday, February 10, 2008,
2/10/2008 11:41:00 PM
Went to Val's house. She picked me up at Hougang and then Jason at some ulu area in Aljunied. Damn I need a belt. The jeans I bought in Taiwan were of the wrong size. Saw one I wanted in River Island. Hmm. Got there kinda late. Saw M for the first time. Exchanged oranges and greetings with Val's dad, got a red packet and we went to get food at the buffet. We all (meaning ben, xw, val, jason, tak, m, and I) went up to Val's room to eat. Ben w/ xw, val w/ jason, tak w/ m,and I (goshifeelsoalone) sat at the foot of the bed while I related to them some stories.
Played this really random game called 99 which I lost first so I went to hide in a corner underneath val's table. Talked some more. We didn't wanna gamble with money so later we played Saboteur, this card game xw bought for val. It was pretty fun. Hehs. Oh and xw plays munchkin too! Cool. Haha.
Then later took some pictures with Xw that I can keep and bring to Planet Tekong. Tak had to go and make some silly ghost face in hers so I only got those with Xw and the 5 of us. Anyway, I still got the $12.50 pic we took at the Night Safari. Only it will be horrible if I lose it.
Went to parkway parade, where we sent Xw off. Ben, tak, m and I shuttle bussed to sk where I dropped off my stuff at home, including the crappy orange carrier my mum gave me which spilt a while after I stepped out of the house. =.= Brought tak and m to Ikea to meet ben and his family and raye. After dinner, took 58 with tak and m to pasir ris. Saw the Imperial Troopship fire up its thrusters and blast off to Planet Tekong once more. Went to Macs to get a drink cos I was thirsty. Tak was hungry.
Wanted to send raye home, but she insisted I not do so, so after I while I didn't. Walked back to my usual bus stop. Saw tak and m but decided not to intrude. (I've been doing that the whole day...in the cab with val, on the way to and from ikea...) Lingered outside in a dark corner of the busstop, using some other people to block me. Stared at the cracked strip of yellow paint on the curb. There was a hole in it that resembled a fish.
They never noticed me, not even when they boarded the bus right in front of me. Alas, my covert tactics are too good. Too bad my optical degrees restrict me from joining commando. Ha-ha. I moved to the windows outside them and waved at m when he looked in my direction. Then I realised that he probably couldn't see me cos of the reflection. So this is what it's like to be a ghost. Good. Right on cue, my bus arrived after theirs left so I boarded it for home.
It seems I have not lost my skills of fading into the background and staying quiet. But could I, when I've honed them for 16 years? The me you see today started forming just slightly more than 2 years ago. Before that, I was a totally different person. I was quiet, (hell, I looked quiet. And probably still do. Haha.)and hung around only with my all-guys gang only, and I only became livelier within my group.
Around others, zip, zero, zilch, nothing. Now, I open up easily and I've gotten to know a lot more people, and a lot more close friends. Sometimes, I don't know if this is the me I want to be, but I wouldn't exchange my friends for the world.
Sigh.
Just a random thought:
Humans are funny. When someone says: "I'm okay/fine.", 99% of the time they're NOT. Why? Because 99% of the time, they will have done something weird/strange/out of character enough to warrant some concerned(?) soul to ask them "Are you ok?" Since we can conclude that 99% of the time the answers is quite obviously NO, perhaps we should just do away with "Are you ok?" and go straight to "What's wrong?". Lol. Just something I was musing about. Ignore me.
People whom I usually call can tell my mood from what songs I play online, IF I'm online and IF I wanna play them. Right now, you'd probably find some of them pretty familiar.
I don't know how to handle this.
I can't handle this by myself.
I can't.
"O time, thou must untangle this, not I.
It is too hard a knot for me t’untie."
-William Shakespeare, Twelfth NightLabels: emo, holiday, musings
Going visiting at Val's house tomorrow. Supposed to meet her at 1230 at Hougang because I am not sure how to get there. Need to memorise the route. I'm proud of my spatial ability. I can confidently lead my friends through a maze of crowded alleyways in a foreign country (Taiwan) without fuss. =]
Tak going there with Mr. M
Ben going there with XW
Val (might be) going there with Jason, in which case I will be a darn big "lightbulb"
Maybe I should go alone.Labels: holiday, musings
Saturday, February 09, 2008,
2/09/2008 04:12:00 PM
Work was uneventful. Paid to sit there for 4 hours. Phone rang once only. Hehs. MSNed with val and tak and ben. Going to val's house tomorrow. I miss my friends. Now at home with nothing much to do. All alone. With nothing much to do. Yay.
Was supposed to meet Eliza for lunch but she forgot and she had relatives over. Went down to Hg to pass her my HP6 book. Lunch consisted of bubble tea and a packet of Shilin crispy chicken. The one I had in Taiwan was indeed nicer. Sat down alone at the "platform" of the ampitheatre outside Hg mall for my solitary meal. The music was provided by a group of disabled buskers at the other end, and my dining companions were the filipino maids and foreign workers also sitting there. Bon appetit?
By the way, the last sentence was not intended to be derogatory in any form...Labels: boredom, holiday, work
Friday, February 08, 2008,
2/08/2008 01:16:00 PM
Stayed over at my grandma's house yesterday. Went over after visiting my dad's side of the family. Wanted to go to ben's BBQ, but I was at Yew Tee. So I couldn't. Same as with the clubbing thing. I want to go out with my friends.
Afterwards had dinner and then stayed over with my family. Felt tired, so didn't sleep that late. Woke up late, had breakfast, went home. Rested a while, wen out to go watch movie with my cousins. The friggin' bus took damn long to come. Originally was supposed to meet at bishan, but venue changed to balestier cinema, and then my cousin's place. Swam a few hours, had pizza, stayed at their house till night, left for home. Got work tomorrow.
[UPDATE]
I feel so alone.
There is no one to talk to.
Only me and the shadows.
Nevermind.
I will go to sleep.
Or try to.
Only me and the shadows.
Shadows.
Who cares anyway?
Nobody, nobody, nobody.
Other people have lives to lead.Labels: boredom, emo, holiday, lame crap, misanthropic, musings, screw it all
Thursday, February 07, 2008,
2/07/2008 02:04:00 AM
Well, woke up early today. Miscalculated the time I'd need to wake up early. Cursed and thumped back into bed for 20 more mins. Woke up 20 mins earlier than usual because there's no ocmpany bus today. Journey was ok. Read Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. Then I got to the bus stop. I think that I was so engrossed that I went to the wrong side of the road and thought it was right. Ended up on a bus 20 mins into the wrong direction. When I noticed the scenery was oddly familiar, oh. That was it. Oh.
It was the exact same stop I realised my mistake on my ill-fated first attempt to come to CrimsonLogic on public transport. I had woken up 20 mins early to get to work on time, to end up 20 mins in the wrong direction. Oh. Oh oh oh oh. I see. Oh. I couldn't say anything else. No amount of curses could express the awful crushing feeling of WHAT-THE-HELL I was experiencing so I did away with them.
Arrived at work 35 mins late, but none of the execs were in. Sat in one corenr w/ Galvyn and Raymond. talked a little. Only 2 calls came in. Left with Raymond, took train home. Had lunch and read till it was time to go.
Played pool with my ocusins in the rec room until the food came. Wasn't too bad. Hehs. Had dinner, played with an abandoned frisbee we found, and left. Some people were getting testy by then. Perhaps they were tired, what with my great-grandma passing away so suddenly and then my grandmother dislocating her shoulder at the wake. =.=
I saw the accident. Some kid nudged/kicked the chair out of her path (accidentally or not, I don't know) and when my grandma tried to sit, she only sat on half the thing and fell back. It seemed to happened in slow-mo to me. Falling back, seemingly getting her balance, and then dipping some more. Her hand reached out to break her fall. I think I didn't even see it touch the floor. It just happened so slowly. Then my legs got the signal RUN DAMMIT and I ran over to help her up.
Maybe it was the speed at which I saw her fall, slow to my eyes, that made me think it wasn't that serious. But there you go. Dislocated shoulder. Sigh. The relative brought her child back to apologise and told the kid that old people should not fall, because they can easily break something. Look what happened now. I hope that family knows. =.=
Anyway, Val and tak went clubbing today. I was considering coming along just for the experience but then I felt quite tired after the dinner thing, so I didn't I agonized over the decision for several days, not knowing whether to go or not. In the end I just didn't feel like it. Maybe we can do it again another day. =]Labels: CNY, holiday
Wednesday, February 06, 2008,
2/06/2008 11:38:00 AM
Back in the office again. Apparently yesterday the CEO declared the whole day off for the company. Excpet, of course, for Call Centre (Thank you for using my service!) because we need to be operational 24/7. So because I didn't come on Tue i assume I was roped in to work too.
I went out in the evening to meet Calesta to watch Sweeney Todd. I liked the show. Its was just bloody. At times the singing did become monotonous i felt, but it was ok. Wouldn't mind watching again with tak. (Watch la! Its nice!!!) After that went out of vivo, sat outside and talked about stuff. Went home. Came back to the office. Low call volume. =)
Oh and I didn't know Tekong has boars. Interesting. Tak! How about I try to bring one baby boar back for u? And try not to get gored to death in the process. Or die from the deadly soil bacteria that attacks my puncture wounds from the boar tusks. Or maybe i'll just cough up blood and white froth from my mouth and die in the desolate jungle of Tekong far from home without my friends and relatives. Whee!
I find my ability to generate a variety of exotic and horrible deaths for myself in NS oddly amusing. Strange.Labels: holiday, work
Tuesday, February 05, 2008,
2/05/2008 03:17:00 PM
Took a day off work to attend my great grandma's wake. Woken up at 6 plus to change and go out. Cabbed down, $13 plus. =\ Went there, met up with my cousins. Watched as they proceeded through all the rituals. We passed the coffin a few times but I didn't really want to look in. Then they sent the coffin out. Followed it to the main road and took the bus. 2nd buddhist funeral I've attended. After the cremation, went back to the block for lunch. Then to the temple at Toa Payoh to pay respects to my grandfather, and then home. Watching Sweeney Todd with Calesta afterwards. For now, I've got nothing to do.Labels: holiday
Monday, February 04, 2008,
2/04/2008 10:29:00 AM
Spent yesterday reading at home. I almost forgot how much I enjoy it...considering how little I do it these days, regrettably. I am extremely thankful for the $50 Kino voucher I got for Xmas and also pleased at the fact I chose Stephen King's Misery over the other tempting titles there. It really is a good book, and the synopsis really drew me.
The premise of the novel is that a famous writer has just killed off the lead character in his series, and while driving between towns, he runs into a storm and crashes. A woman finds him and brings him back to her isolated house to nurse him back to health. She has a copy of his latest book, and when she finds that Misery (the protagonist) has died, she is not too happy about it. And it just so happens the man who killed her off is in her guest bedroom with two severely injured legs.
So begins her quest to "resurrect" Misery, and now the guy must write for his life. This is one of the, if not the most disturbing of the books I have read, and I believe it has potential for a movie. Particularly the scene in which she "hurts" him (and "hurt" is a colossal understatement here,) is very vivid and macabre. I spent practically the whole day on Misery.
Later in the evening, went down to my great-grandmother's funeral again. Tried to read but my cousins kept poking and hitting and tickling me. Annoyed, I upped and left to the next block and sat down on the concrete benches to read in peace. Went home at 11 plus, finished up the book while on the phone and went to sleep.
Today woke up feeling rather tired and sleepy. I have a feeling my job is going to get harder. They want me to say: "Thank you for using our service." every time I end the calls. Well, it's not exactly EASY to say that when you have an annoyed/royally pissed off user on the line. Especially when our site experienced "technical difficulties" 3 times already today, resulting in 3 floods of calls. Great way to start a Monday.
PLUS its just before the holidays so all the traders are trying to shift their stock before the let it sit in the warehouse and incur charges. So loads of people are using the website now. And yet on the bright side it's only a 2.5 day week. Half day on Wed =] and OH SHEEIT AAAUUGH THIS SITE IS DOWN THE SITE IS DOWN AGAIN NO PLEASE NO NO NOOOOO DONT PLEASE DONT well apparently the engineers are working on the site now to fix the earlier problems and i gotta reply this email and create this case for this user i forgot to create a case for wheee and trasfer this highly irate german guy i think over to my supervisor because he is FUCKING pissed and oh wait i gotta create a case for that too and call dat guy back mien gott oh no and now its lunch and half the staff is gone oh thank goodness i think half the users are gone also aaaaah wait i have nonstop calls and am I still supposed to say thank you for using our service?
Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.
GEORGE ORWELL, Nineteen Eighty-Four
[UPDATE]
The worst is over. Thank goodness. Sigh. I am so relieved. Just came back from lunch. No one is tagging. Ran out of blogs to read already. I saw I have 666 postsLabels: holiday, work
Saturday, February 02, 2008,
2/02/2008 07:24:00 PM
Friday at work. Periods of low traffic combined with period in which I was flooded with lots of stuff to do. Had staff lunch in the rec room. Some sort of company thing. After work, went to Vincent's Mariner's Corner Restaurant for dinner, which was quite good. I tried escargot for the first time in my life. The taste was quite...unique. It was kinda like mushrooms, but with a special spicy flavour within.
The scallop was fantastic, very nice and juicy and absolutely delicious. Tasty. I feel like eating it again. I ordered the ribeye, which was quite good, but it still can't beat the T-bone for size...mmm. Pics are with CX. =[
Today went off to MJ to meet XW. She din get her testimonial, but she passed on 3 huge trash bags of bottles to the councillors. Went to take pics of the new MJ Zen Garden. Its definitely for stressed out students to relax.
Wallpaper-style picture!
Tri-colour flag of nature.
Afterwards went to watch "Le scaphandre et le papillon", or The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Originally wanted to watch The Mist or something, but my colleague said it sucked, so we decided to change, and I'm glad we did. The Diving Bell was a really great and very touching movie. It's the 2nd time I've watched one of those, lower-profile, foreign language arthouse(?) movie. (No, Chinese does NOT count, as lousy as my Chinese is. =P)
I think the first was the Iranian film Children of Heaven. (Interestingly, there was an article on foreign films today.) The Diving Bell is well, about this journalist who suffered a serious stroke, which resulted in locked-in syndrome. He can only communicate by blinking one eyelid, and using that, he "dictates" a book from his viewpoint.
The film was very moving and sad, and it really proves that even lower profile films can be better than and pack even more meaning in them compared to big budget Hollywood blockbusters. Really makes you appreciate it. I loved it a lot. The film was done in French, the original language of the book was written in, which helped to bring out the story the way it was written. And I am a little tired so I'll stop here. Just WATCH it. Really good film.
Pics from the Night Safari.
Some early pics on our Sentosa trip.
An extremely rare photo, this is one of the last pictures of ben with hair.
We can sue Sentosa! Tak stepped on an exposed nail while wearing slippers.Labels: holiday, movie, work
Friday, February 01, 2008,
2/01/2008 09:28:00 AM
We are feeling the loneliness(?) Tak called me early ytd while she was walking XC, because of some odd lonely-like feeling. The night before was pretty quiet with noone to call also (for me). She went to take a bath and reappeared on MSN.
Silly girl was tired but insisted on checkin out uni courses. =P She says ben and I have the same response...we cannot handle her. Haha. I was watching Bleach. Missed like 8 weeks of it, or 8 episodes. I didn't realise how long since I watched it.
Finished up Bleach by 12AM and went to sleep. I found it amusing how all the wild "dates" for the A level results release has been spread and fueled by wild speculation. Highly intriguing. And pretty funny, seeing people screaming blue murder all over their MSN nicks.
Laughable, really. Why worry so much about it? It WILL come out after all, why speculate of the date like it's something to bet on? When when it does, you WILL know. All this jumping on the rumor mill simply amuses me. I've heard dates like 1/2/3 weeks after the O's, as a "tradition", or 1 week earlier than "before", or 14 Feb, 15th maybe? Even 1st of March.
This gives me an idea. Maybe I should start taking bets on which date the As will come out. I smell a profit.Labels: holiday, work
Wallpaper-style picture!
Tri-colour flag of nature.
Some early pics on our Sentosa trip.
An extremely rare photo, this is one of the last pictures of ben with hair.
