..:: 605. The One With Resolution ::..

forgot i have not made new year resolution. since i will be starting to work this year = more $, i can do more stuff!

-get a PSP Slim, able to mod, ruby red!
-travel to bangkok (anyone?)
-get one real item (bag/pants/shirt) from my favourite brand, D&G
-get A for at least 3 out of 5 of my modules
-get my driving license

gosh, that already look like it gonna cost a lot.

have you made urs?

..:: 604. The One With Shopping ::..

Again? haha i had a make-up class till 830pm yesterday and made a trip down town to catch a movie, the "highly anticipated" fann wong and christopher lee wedding show. i must say some scenes are quite "forced" but it was nice watching both of them fight. of cos the other key actor was the "hei ren" the tanned hunk who had to act as a feminine guy.

went to buy another shirt! somehow i cant resist once i tried it on and look good.



i looked at my course site and saw a deadline looming. the assignment is so -_-

"Submit a 500-800 word document (excluding references, graphics, etc.) in your respective SEM site. The paper should contain a discussion on your thoughts regarding HR metrics and Strategic HR. Draw on what you learnt from the G1 exercise, personal experiences & readings."

own feelings and thoughts? really make me feel its like forcing something out of nothing.

..:: 603. The One With Shopping ::..

today was out with my friend, eating and shopping. die i must resist the temptation to shop. spent about 100+ on these...



still quite high from my clubbing. havent had so much fun ... saw a lot of familiar faces, too bad had to leave early :( all my frens are flying to taiwan, bangkok, kl, for short trips except me :(

i told my fren about an idea that i have which was to let my class which has lots of exchange students to try "lou hei" or the tossing of yu sheng. i intended to buy a set for each group and decided to ask permission from the prof to do it. i didnt know another group was planning to do it so i got a surprise sms asking why i copy their idea? -_-

came home then got jio by my frens to go play left 4 dead. really nice and cool game shooting all the zombies. wonder whether i will have nightmares, especially when i saw some of the zombies faces up close when attacked. plus the sound they make :X

..:: 602. The One With CNY ::..

went clubbing on the first day of CNY and it was fabulous! though crowded but the music was great and so was the company. saw many of my friends and got to sip champagne, liquor, beer and madonna's give it to me sounded so good on remix.

then second day of new year started off with my module's experiential learning where we did house visiting.



the exchange students enjoying the new year goodies... and angpows! haha

then we had malay food for lunch. delicious! more interesting to see how they eat with their hands. it was really satisfying eating with your hand. there was so much food!



look at the spread. the 3-course dessert not up yet.



enjoy eating with hands and a really good tour guide Yash.



photo before we left.

so happy today, i visited my aunties whom i have not seen for 2 years. they were so excited when they saw me and said that i looked more handsome. haha. they really love my outfit today and i think its that they havent seen me for so long and they all got so excited knowing that i am going to graduate this year. they want to take studio pic with me when i am in my grad gown, or watever u call it.

and i have booked my flight to india! so exciting. looking for people to join me for grad trip. awesome deal for flight ticket. dun miss it~

..:: 601. The One With Cultural Intelligence Class ::..

the class gets more interesting... we were starting on this new topic on cultural intelligence, CQ. its like your IQ and EQ. so there was this class activity where you have to act according to certain verbal/non-verbal cues... so my partner who is a Norwegian dude had to first talk loudly about anything... as he was talking about his passion in football so i could sense his passion and he looked normal speaking loudly as he claimed he usually does.

then he had to speak while trying to move his lips as little as possible. that felt kinda weird like "he was coming on to me" (quote from another guy)... when i heard that comment, i almost flipped. hilarious! u can imagine a big guy pouting his lips.

mine was quite a challenge! i had to first look him in the eye when talking. i was so distracted that i could not speak properly. i guess he noticed and was laughing as well. you know how hard is it to look intensely into his blue eyes and talk? those eyes are killers! and i am not used to looking at guys in the eyes for that long. i wondered if others share the same experience.

next was to look at his neck while talking. that was so much easier but then i felt i wasnt communicating. i was just rattling off stuff i needed to say. if only it was a girl for a partner, that would have been different. HAHA.

my buddy mats (the same guy for class) was chatting with me on msn and he wanted to do a tatoo for his grandparents...

"hmm, I am considering a tatoo on my back shoulder, in chinese. It would be for/about my grandma and grandpa, so I need those two. Then i need "love" "courage""faith" and similar words...maybe 5-10 signs to describe them and honor them "

wow. and he shared with me whole loads of stuff which was amazing... really hope his gang would get to backpack with us to india. listening to their stories during train rides would be fun.

k more updates on my cross-cultural experiences... we will be doing house-visiting on tue as part of our experiential learning... hopefully we can eat at a malay restaurant.

..:: 600. The One With Grey's Anatomy ::..

gosh. cant believe i cried watching the latest episode 5x13. agree with yash that it is like the most intense episode ever. enough for the chief resident and the chief of surgery to cross the line. was watching on youtube. part 4/5 already had my tears welling up when izzie found out that her dead ex was "here for her", is she going to die? and the part where the mum told her son that he can go... then he went into coding. i think it really mirrors the real thing. like when my grandma was holding on in the hospital, i felt that she waited for all the people that she wanted to see before she passed on. When the last relative we expected flew over to see her, she coded. now the sound of coding reminded me of my grandma :( the part when dr. bailey was kind of praying for forgiveness was also touching...the last part where meredith went to watch the prisoner being executed was the defining moment. you guys should watch this episode even if you have never watch before cos the emotions protrayed are really universal.

lucky i am not watching this on chinese new year, imagine red eyes.

anyway, went to look for my career manager yesterday and i have decided to take officer coach as my first choice. hopefully i get it. there are other "tours" that i am gunning for like the battalion S1 doing manpower or even to mindef doing manpower. i adore my career manager, she was sensitive and understand the importance of career planning and knowing the possibility that we will be deluded if we were assigned to position that we are not prepared for.

*pray hard*

not really enjoying my hr metrics class though. i mean i have a great group and friends in class, but just the delivery of the class makes me unmotivated. i prefer modules that encourage us to read extensively to complete certain assignments. somehow we are given these readings and we will expect assignments from these readings. didnt get much insights, perhaps its still early in the course but i felt we had a lot of instructions and as expected lots of metrics telling us how to rate our peers and how we would be graded.

..:: 599. The One With Random Thots ::..

first off, just saw wiki for prison break, season 4 will be the last! :( kinda sad but expected it. the series cant hold for that long, last episode they played was in dec and the next will only be out in apr ??

was flipping through the newspaper and saw a section on ST today talking about budget day on thursday. 4 wrote in and 3 were from NUS and 1 from SMU. i didnt look at what they wrote first but where the writer came from. just gave me a feeling that ntu students either didnt care much or whose comments were not published. some asked for university fee freeze while others talked about subsidising bills and expenses for the lower income families. I think looking after the lower income families are more important, cant imagine families living on 30 dollars for a week.

there are also articles about raising funding opportunities for SMEs but i think the credit risk assessment and stuff made lending/borrowing even harder for them. justify sustainability for themselves in this uncertain period is already a challenge.

next, more civil service jobs are created. saw an article on 30,000 jobs openings to meet the influx of fresh grads and school leavers. minstry of home affairs and also health are increasing their hires! plus mindef too =) they are also looking for defence policy officers and more, i think they are having a mega fair next month at the ngee ann civic area.

join MINDEF! =)

was reading this article where mr teo critiscised one of the perm sect for his insensitivity in posting about his experience during his vacation spending big bucks to learn bakery and stuff in europe. ouch. kena so many arrows, public and own parliament members .

but i must agree, being a civil servant, one should conduct himself/herself with decorum and humility and not do things that stand in contrast to the values and ethos of the service. lol nobody says being a civil servant or a minister is easy. i guess the act of sharing his experience was a moment of folly...

shack. i need a break! had classes from 830am to 530pm and just got home and i am having an online meeting with my metrics group. arghz.

..:: 598. The One With School ::..

friday started off shaky. went to class and found myself sitting alone. luckily Valarie and kah yan came to sit with me. looking around to see if i could join any group but all of them looked so cohesive.

but happy that at the end of the day, i found a group! and one which i wanted to work with for a long time but no chance. hope sparks and As come. lol

second class was so much fun! cultural intelligence. started with introduction of ourselves and it was nice to see for the first and last time a class with 3/4 foreigners. eh like the prof pointed out, only singaporeans mentioned that they wanna get A for the module as a goal they want to achieve in this course.

hur hur... i was bitching to my friend but he shot me back "exchange students pass/fail of course not interested to get A"... true to a certain extent, not all are pass/fail. my rationale was of course who dont want an A but as a first impression and introduction, of all reasons, you mentioned you want an A. they are being practical, fine. i was still quite happy that most of the exchange students wanted to know more asians and asian culture. hope i can find travelling buddies among them, think some of them are really fun.

the way they shared their life experiences, some were so animated and there were so much laughter and prob the seminar where the students shared and talked more than the prof. though my fyp mate, yash, was sitting far away but we could still see each other and rolling our eyeballs lol (not at the exchange students of course)

then they have this game where we are supposed to get into project groups at the end of the game. i think its the chemistry... we ended up same group lol. after "trials and tribulations" lol... very happy with my group. all seemed nice except kah yan whom i quarrel a lot with but we are still best friends =)

we have this experiential learning activity... so looking forward to it. its like a group excursion, take photo and blog about it. really hope we can attend a malay wedding cos i think the exchange students would not have a chance to experience it. going to chinatown would be fun i guess.

and i went marina square to pop by my friend nicholas's shop but he was not in :(

bought a pair of berms for 18 BUCKS! from bodynits. how cheap! my friend got a tee from clubmarc for 19.90! didnt know they have such cheap stuff... was at bugis street and i tell you, the place should be on the list of weekend get-away. get away from that place! so freaking packed. the traffic lights between bugis street and bugis junction are scary. u see tons of people stuck while waiting for the traffic and when they start crossing, it feels like they are crawling.

i hate people who walk slowly in front of me. will step on them if i have to. arghz. some girls even stand outside the shop and look at the displays. HELLO, the corridor not very broad you know. funny sight was the boyfriends trying to drag the girls by their hands like cows!

the stuff there is cheap and so-so.

the upgrading of JP was a head-turner! gosh, i bought a really nice loafers that looked branded. maybe i make it look branded. lol my friends were asking me what brand. no brand man, i make it look expensive :P

anyway, so much to shop. and jp now has my fave thai express.. yummy noodles and tom yam soup. LUNCH anyone???

took a cab to school and this disgusting cab driver kept burping. loudly. was so irritated cos his belly was like full of gas and burped every other min. gross. i was afraid something might come out from his mouth other than the sound.

i love grey's latest episode. so touching esp the last part where meredith "advised" the prisoner at death row... u cant help but pity both of them. whatever makes you sleep better. that's how you should live your life huh... so happy that derek's mum accepted meredith and owen hunt is such an emo guy lol. bet girls are loving him, the cool hunk with a soft spot. we need more of such plots! i love the prisoner at death row.

..:: 597. The One With Hay ::..

just applied for a part-time position assisting consultant doing research work for hay group. gosh. my dream company, hopefully i get selected... can earn some money for my grad trip =)

think i caught flu again, had a nap but woke up feeling feverish.

but! later nicholas having sale 20%! though most stuff are for female but i think i shall go visit his store in marina square... do support too though the price might be a bit steep but i think the quality and design justify the price. =) if you going there to buy, can say i recommend too =)

happen to watch mobtv and they introduced some shops where you can buy nice clothes. they look affordable...

http://www.tangerinetofu.com/

saw my sports club frenz, lina and peisee... so happy. lina was so nice gave me a goodie bag from sports expose and she is still so active in sports club, organising vertical marathon for 3 times ! amaze. i missed my times in surf & sweat as well. minus the sandflies' bites.

and lina is taking 11 AU this sem! envy... i am taking 19AU, so much for being in the last sem. but all are my favourite modules and i am proud to say i have never exercise satisfactory/unsatisfactory (SU) option throughout my 3 yrs in nbs.. yea.

bh225 - hr research
bh227 - selection and assessment
bh331 - cultural intelligence at work
bh326 - hr metrics
hp329 - psychology in the asian context

just wondering why bh225 is 3 AUs but we are having 4 hrs each week...

..:: 596. The One With Groups ::..

dunno if this sem is really that 'suay'. first kena dropped out from my hr metrics group, then today at my hr research group, the prof wanted me to join another group of 3 girls cos they are under strength while my group has 3 guys. haiz. if i knew that i am not going to be with my frens for the group, i would have switched to take tue class for my hr metrics where my fyp mates are in.

then again, the topic for my hr research has been set so i dont think i should switch and make the class change plans again. haiz haiz.

my appeal for social psy was unsuccessful while my appeal for psy in asian context was approved. yeah. happy that i will be seeing my positive psy prof again, she is always so happy and positive. lol. just that this time will have 5 reports of 2 page to write and a closed-book exam. :( hopefully i can score as well. taking a level 3 module - challenging... but the prof is expert in research on psy in asian context so this is like her pet module showcasing all her previous researches etc.

i think i will be shifting out soon from hall, not used to staying in hall anymore. maybe never clean thoroughly, spent the whole night scratching. but waking up at 8am and still making it to class seem really appealling. then thinking of saving 900 (though reimbursed) for hostel fees would suffice at least 1 more week in india for grad trip.

talking abt it, my allowance haven come in. WHY? i received the read receipt, i am sure they saw my email asking about the allowance but no reply. what is this? i'm so going to blast their mail if i dont receive by tml.

also was watching the so-called final chapter 3 min of little nyonya. it was CRAP. having 2 leads standing in front of ur screen thanking you for watching the show? wth. they might as well dont play that. it was not even a closure or anything. lame.

..:: 595. The One With Red Cliff ::..

met with someone with my fyp grp. inspiring as usual... shed a different light on UniSIM and learnt a lot on doing qualitative research.

went to catch red cliff, totally rocked more than the first one. perhaps there were more fighting and less playing on guzheng, talking crap, all the "dancing" with swords.... as usual if u are the no nonsense kind, follow the history closely, you would not like the show as much cos the story plot was so twisted. i mean if u like it to be like what the history books depict, you might as well watch the drama series by tvb.

at last, i bought my ted baker vest at discounted price from 239... but need alteration. i was so desperate to get it even the last piece was slightly bigger, i still bought it to alter. now i am left with shoes... shall hunt for it on wed.

was watching the news and the golden globe updates... kate winslet got best actress and best supporting actress for 2 different movies??? and she almost forgot angelina jolie's name while thanking the rest of the nominees. u could see jolie's face turn sour.

this yr top student for o lvl came from st nick, 11 A1s. gosh. are the papers getting easier or the students mugging that hard or becoming smarter. 1/3 of cat high students got 9 distinction or something. lol.

anyway grey's getting kinda boring... the whole setting of the show was so depressing. meredith and christina quarreling and cold war; izzie talking to herself with her dead finance; only callie and sloan had sparks, the rest were such a bore to watch. haiz. no bloody accidents or trauma. whatever happened to the scriptwriters???

..:: 594. The One With B4 Sleep Thoughts ::..

yesterday couldnt get knocked out... had to toss and turn. was having random thoughts...

was thinking through which modules that I have taken that required the least effort to study... in the end it was HP310 - positive psychology.

why?

firstly the coursework does not have group work. i just need to submit 10-page essay, 2 2-page essays and the exam was open-book. my 10-page essay took me 2 days while i cramped my last minute 2 x 2-page essay in 5 hours. what's best was last sem i had modules that require serious mugging like accounting (had to practise), another psychology module (had to memorise), strategic management (case release before exam)... and the psychology paper was before accounting... hence i used the day before my psy paper to do some internet research.

on the day of the exam, i saw the psy majors having neatly documented files on their tables, while i only have a stack of white papers (my own research and lecture notes). i flipped open the exam paper and i was pleasantly surprised that my research hit the bull's eye. however, i was also a little sad that i could have done more research to cover a few questions. i had to answer 10/15 questions and each question is worth 10 marks.

shall list the questions here since we could not bring back the question paper so those who are taking this module can take reference:

1) Do you agree that happiness equate subjective well-being?
2) Is positive affect always good?
3) Does more choices lead to life satisfaction?
4) What is optimism in the asian context?
5) What is the difference between state and trait happiness and how do they affect stress coping
6) Describe the model of wisdom (Berlin i think)
7) What is the issue Cantor is trying to highlight in her article and what is the evidence she used?
8) Does malleable or fixed self contribute to subjective well-being
9) Which pattern of achievement is better for one's subjective wellbeing? your own or your parents' choice?
10) Is it always good to have control?
12) Describe the two kinds of coping.
13) How does psychological resilience differ in culture?
14) How do others in context contribute to wellbeing?
15) Do laugh therapy create happiness?

phew... such a long list. i was "complaining" to my friend that at every tutorial i kind of felt lost cos the style of the professor is more the american way whereby students are encouraged to speak up and be interactive. issues we talked about were like "name 3 good things that happen to you in life", etc, those sharing of life experiences so sometimes it felt weird talking about those with total strangers.

i still vividly remembered that my first few tutorials were traumatizing. the prof had me to define subjective wellbeing and after i had explained, she asked me, "you are not a psychology major right?"

ouch. ya and i was the only non-psy in the class. the prof always liked to pick me and she said it brought new perspective. however, after all the doubts and thoughts i was struggling, i got A for the module. so i was super happy with the amount of effort i put in and what some of my sec school frenz in that course told me "wah, why you choose this module? this prof is well-known for chim stuff and even psy major try to avoid this module"...

next issue was rather simple. i was thinking whether i should still stay in hall. esp since i would be only staying for 2 out of 7 days. doesnt make economical sense. i could save up to about 900 bucks which i think i can use for my grad trip even though i would be reimburse but reimbursement would only come in June which would be too late. haiz.

any advice?

..:: 593. The One With Shopping ::..

today shopping was great. spent the whole evening and night at taka. bought a shirt and pant from john curtis and brentwood plus a set of boxer bermudas. spent about 130+ today...

but i am still hunting for a vest. saw one from ted baker and armani exchange. gonna see which one is cheaper but at least 100+ after discount. haiz.

i still need loafers, maybe getting from pedro or aldo...

gosh, still worried for one of my modules that i still have not gotten... and another module where i have no group...

so much drama for my last sem. haiz...

..:: 592. The One With Club Hop ::..

yest mambo was sucky. dun understand why mambo can be so popular. everybody watching those self-claimed mambo king wannabes (MKW) standing on the platform and learning their steps like some kind of sign language. worse, it felt like a cult.

music was kinda trashy at the start, mix of hip hop. just couldnt get high. and those MKW stood at the platform looking disinterested, yawning, smsing whenever it is not their genre. such a turn off. dancing should be a form of self expression, do whatever you like and make it your own style.

then we went over to o bar. music was so much better. i think i will give up phuture or zouk soon. phuture actually has quota for number of girls. O_O girls are not allowed, not even to buy ticket to go into phuture. so you have a lot of guys and dwindling girls as they leave the club. wow how nice.

anyway paid 30 bucks to go o-bar for 1 hour plus lol. but it was worth it. some guy came to pick up our girls which was quite an amusing sight. then we went back to phuture again around 3am to claim our drinks. then only the music got better.

we clubbed till they close at about 5am. had drinks and supper at the nearby coffeeshop where i bumped into my secondary sch mates and the juniors.

oh about the little nyonya finale, i think only aunties like to have happily-ever-after ending... chen xi and yue niang get together... yawnz. watched too much tvb shows. everything turned out so well - unrealistic. then no need scriptwriters, everything end it well so expected. come on.

haha maybe its them trying to project themselves... hoping to find someone who loves them as much after going through so much suffering...

..:: 591. The One With First Day of Sch ::..

was late for first day of school. the exchange students in my class were so active in answering whatever the prof asked. must step up my game man, if not class participation sure "gone case".

had back to back classes from supposedly 830am to 430pm. during my hr research class we had to play this game which was to build a structure to protect the egg when it is dropped from a certain height. she wanted the egg to drop from 6 feet high. O_O

i suggested to her that maybe we should drop it at waist level so that aiming would not be an issue and that the experiment would really see whether our structures are sound and effective. in the end, she still wanted 6 feet high.

then as expected, no group had their egg intact. then with her extra egg (sounds wrong), she wanted to drop it at waist level instead to see if our structure were good. but the egg was broken at the second try.

now i'll never know whether our structure is good...

after class, was at town exploring. one vest from ted baker caught my eye. 229 bucks before 30% discount. i'm so going to get it once my pay comes in =)

then saw the pillow section having sales. didnt know that pillows had certain % down, certain % feathers. of cos the more down the better the pillow. i came across one 100% down made from hungary, it costs 237 bucks. but its the kind where your head just sinks in and you can immediately doze off and when you are awake, it goes back into its normal shape. but it wont be on my shopping list that soon.

i am also gunning for a psp, was thinking whether to get the ruby red for the attention or the metallic brown for the style. lol.

still got new year clothes to buy. haiz.

dinner had crayfish laksa at island cafe at TANGS. 16+ bucks for one. lol. more expensive laksa i have ever eaten.