..:: 627. The One With HRYF ::..

warning: lots of lashing out and if you are the unfortunate party mentioned, no offense. i know different people may have different ways of doing things but i just felt like penning down my feelings and how i would do it. maybe i have stepped on your toes or i sucked at some area of my job, you can skip the part about you if you are mentioned. no names will be mentioned and it is not hard to guess anyway.

working through the night was pleasant, though we were rushing last-min stuff like preparing name tags for the participants and facilitators, i enjoyed doing it with my fellow year 3s. however, i was doing up slides late last night which was not really my responsibility. sent questions out earlier but they were not included in the slides. when i requested for a copy of the slides so i could make changes to the questions, i had to sms 3 different people cos each one told me the other has it. greatness. blood pressure (BP) level 1.

slept at 5am and had to wake up at 6 cos we were meeting at 7. morning was not slow-moving which was unexpected. everyone did their part and participants started to stream in.

the problem came only during the arrival of guest-of-honour. he was there at the breakfast reception and we had to stall for time because one of the guest speakers was late. ridiculous right? how could you make the GOH wait for a guest? next thing was the person who will be sitting beside the GOH should be with the GOH and not doing some other things, right? BP Level 2.

In the end, the GOH had to go in and the seat beside him was empty -_-

everything was well until there was not enough plates and utensils for F&B but luckily someone noticed and we went to quad to buy more. there was quick thinking done to replace the rice that had been finished with leftover noodles from the breakfast reception. i was very happy with the initiatives. some facilitators were also interacting with their own groups which were commendable.

the second half was at LKC LT. luckily i pushed for it, it was initially changed without my consent, especially when i already told the judges that it will be LKC and also there will not be enough space for the games if it was not held in LKC. BP level 3.

when i was at lkc, i realised that there will be facilitators who will be joining us at LKC and hence i called for help to get the extra tee shirts from the previous LT. i received a curt reply "why dont u send some people over?". hello? my side only 4 people and there are tons of people at your side. when i ask whether you can help take the shirts over, i dont literally mean you. you can actually ask for help from others who are coming over from your side. BP level just raised to 4.

sorry for the sudden flare cos i was checking my mail and realised my 2 paragraphs i wrote for my project was deleted cos someone thought i was repeating myself. -_-. giving validity and reliability for selection tools is "too technical" for the client? i mean if you dont give the figures, you "bullshit" your way through for your recommendations? i mean come on, you know that the final product is assessed by the prof, dont you want to include things to show that you have learnt from the course? how can you see it as something extra? i just dont understand.

ok back to the forum, arghz.

at 345, one of my judges had not shown up. i was worried but i doubted he will back out. made a mistake, forgot to record his hp though i left my number with him. luckily he texted me at 355 that he made a wrong exit. requested the emcees to let the participants have a break while waiting for the judges. luckily he arrived at 405 and everything could continue.

i was very happy that 2 of the judges i invited gave very good comments and questions. grateful that they agree to spend their precious weekend to judge the competition. oh i should drop them an email.

during the break, i suggested that since there are spare questions left and we had lots of pens left over, why dont we ask the audience questions and give away the pens?

no, they look tired. anyway we are playing the video (showing slideshows of pictures taken)

fine. upset but i respect their decision. i could go up the stage to give but figured that it would be inappropriate to do that.

judges feedback and prize presentation. greatness. my bp level shot even higher. i told the emcees that the judges will give feedback and then someone will give tokens to them and then the prize presentation.

out of nowhere, someone suddenly came to announce the results. maybe its from my own experience in organising events in red cross, mostly involving prize presentations, that normally once you announce the results, no one will care (as much) about what you say later. hence, the usual practice is feedback, tokens, certificates of participation and then prize presentation.

so we had 3 judges standing behind while results were announced. the whole group who won came up and received the prize. then came the horrifying certificates of participation. announced team name but did not request whole team to come up and so we have 3 judges shaking one person's hand for the next 7 rounds.

since when do you see 3 award presenters except in the oscars and grammys. usually you rotate each person to give out different awards or stuff.

i saw the emcees standing there looking lost cos they have no "job" on stage.

once the event was over, everyone was just feeling happy and if i remember vividly, i wanted a shot of all the participants with the organisers in the earlier part of the programme but was TOLD it was inappropriate. i understand the difficulty in coordinating during the lunch break but after the event?

even though announcement was made, everyone started to stroll to the stage. i had to use the mike to get things going. had to wait for all to go up the stage before i invited the judges.

i felt bad while giving the debrief. lashing out my negative thoughts. i was disappointed, i could hide it by praising everyone but i know no one will say the bad things and in the end no improvements. i know i could sugar coat the negative so that they dont turn out harsh but i was tired and didnt want to prolong anyone's stay. our committee really had different views about certain issues and we were all insistent that our own way is better. we didnt want to step on each other's toes which have resulted a degree of confusion due to the frequent change of plans. there was a lack of a decision maker and hence boundaries were not drawn and authorities were not assigned. i didnt want to suddenly take charge cos i must admit i was not actively involved in the planning in the start. so i mostly gave advice.

but overall, i think everyone did their part and together we managed to pull off the event. i understand that things cannot always turn out perfect, just that when things go wrong and i know it should not have based on my experience. i get angry and frustrated with myself for not stepping in.

ok. done with ranting. couldnt talk about it cos had friends who had bigger issues to handle and i rather be their listening ears than to pour my feelings out to them.

..:: 626. The One With Sub-Standard ::..

dont you just hate it when people give you sub-standard work when you have such high expectations of them?

this is my Type A personality speaking and this is what is going to give me cardiovascular disease in the future.

arghz. where is the drive and motivation to do better? just satisfied to deliver the minimum or what was told?

..:: 625. The One With Project Meeting ::..

somehow somehow after fyp, my brain sort of cleared up and even though i am faced with 3 different project meetings, i feel that nothing can trump fyp in terms of difficulty. lol.

had 227 meeting (selection & assessment), all came to the meeting with their parts done, very efficient, meeting always lasted about an hour and we distribute tasks and get them done in just 2 days.

had 225 meeting (hr research), lasted about 2 hours but we were able to come up with the structure and hypotheses very smoothly. so now it is up to us to fill in the contents which i believe will turn out well as we did quite a good job for our literature review earlier.

had 326 meeting (hr metrics), lasted about 2.5 hours. struggled initially cos we had lots of content and lit review but just dunno how to make the report flow. pleased with my performance in the group, somehow managed to lead in working out the logical flow of the project. hope my group didnt find me too assertive. always wanted to work with my current group members cos in other modules, i feel that they have some kind of dynamics and really glad that i got a chance to work with them and get to know more people except chia yee and yashira. lol.

didnt have fyp meeting, which usually lasted more than 2.5 hours. we didnt talk most of the time but busy doing our stuff. occasionally questions were raised and very easily we find ourselves talking about stuff that is non-fyp related. sometimes i wondered if we deliberately do it so that we can have dinner together. haha.

which is in some way true. all my other projects, we didnt have dinner or any meal. perhaps not much bonding happened. maybe for our next meeting, i shall ask them to eat as a group. i think its through time that we spent talking about other things except the project that allow us to know each other better. just ask me what likes and dislikes, even attachment theory that my fyp mates belong to, i can rattle all day. lol.

ntu lifetime alumni membership at 100 bucks. anyone?

..:: 624. The One With NTU Open House ::..

was late today for quiz. i think it was that blood rushing to my heart cos i sprinted to class... forgot to reverse code one of the statement :( there goes my A+ ... haiz

open house was fun. took pictures and talked to a lot of people. but somehow more people interested in tourism though. next please. haha.

i would love to be a tour guide to bring the students ard ntu, think would be fun =) though most of the time i would be talking to myself.

thanks to dolly, she drove us out of school to avoid the crowd. didnt know she has so much "power", she is the one who chooses who to get into nbs. o_O wow. i would love to do that too. haha.

it's kinda weird to find that there were people who were scheduled for shifts but did not turn out. sick? got project? so is it to say that those who went had no project? mmm...

..:: 623. The One With Aftermath ::..

Still not getting enough sleep. had 830 class today and finally submitted the final copy to our prof. phew.

negotiation class was fun! i got more out of what i had expected. i thought my nego partner would not budge easily and might have to settle for in-between.

watched grey's episode 17 and started to tear a bit at the ending... sometimes the shocking news you have, you might not even want to share it with your closest friends... george offered a listening ear but izzie didnt want to tell him, at least not yet. if i were her, i wouldnt have told my best friends either. i wouldnt want them to get "hysterical" or worked up. i think the sudden "care and concern" will overwhelming and it will somehow make me go into self-pity and the whole emo cycle starts.

kept re-watching american idol top 13 performance especially adam lambert's black or white. really good. danny gokey's was a great one but adam's more catchy.

..: 622. The One With Partial Fulfillment ::..

somehow i love to see this line in my FYP...

Applied Research Project submitted to the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Business.

The end is yet to be. as much as i hate doing fyp but i really appreciate having great teammates who...

1. willing to watch america's next top model with me and dun judge me
2. get chased out by the security guard and bitch about it
3. buy food for each other, come to think, yash bought supper, jiayi bought breakfast and i bought lunch
4. enjoy korean guy singing touch my body or widely known as tuts my barreh
5. randomly think of names for our children
6. share movie reviews
7. are unique individuals and always bring something new to the table

3 cheers to the chemistry and many years of friendship.

now i miss doing fyp... lol.

was reading newspaper and shocked to hear two news.

the nus hostel dudes who ran naked. bravo to them. i think it takes more than alcohol to do that. who cares about acts of indecency. haha. reminds me of the band camp, the american pie series, running nude in school.

next, the auto transplantation. something i thought i saw in grey's anatomy really happened in real life. taking out numerous organs and then putting them back again. somemore a young child.

now left with 3 projects in my agenda before my final exams. gotta catch some sleep. spent 26 hours in the reading room is insane! started a facebook group to vote for chia yee (jiayi) for valedictorian for convo 2009 business !!

..:: 621. The One With Research ::..

adapted from some website... damn hilarious...

Business is all about GROWTH & PROFIT!

Ignore HR in your business and you get GROWT_ & P_OFIT. You will never get what you are in business for.

like yash said, that's why HR is never taken seriously. lol.

..:: 620. The One With Security Guard ::..

arghz. got chased out from the seminar room by a security guard. must be first day on his job, so enthu. came into the room...

"you all got make booking? misuse the system ar"

o_O how he define misuse of system? in the end, we found that he managed to chase everyone out from all the seminar rooms. wow. his performance appraisal must be really good. compensation not just based on hourly basis but also commission based on number of students chased.

we are using the room to do projects, not sniff drugs... how i wish we could put up some struggle... he actually waited outside for us to clear the room. very rude when he ended "switch off the lights"...

now i rather wish the security guards were dozing off at their desks...

..:: 619. The One With Open House ::..

This sat's NTU Open House will be a light-hearted event for me...

i would have submitted my FYP and completed my test (in that very morning).

But i am still looking at 3 project reports to complete. This sem though having 5 modules seems a little easier than the last sem... maybe it is because of the modules i am taking.

Do come down to the open house to find out more about degrees offered in NTU. Sports Science is a new one, i am also curious on what are the modules like... but of course, how you could miss Nanyang Business School, top-24 business school in the world. I will be manning booth for the afternoon shift.

..:: 618. The One With The Bus ::..

was on the smrt bus today. at the expressway, the long bus started to swerve uncontrollably. you can see the first half and the second half of the bus moving in staggering mode. the people at the back of the bus were screaming. gosh, i thought the bus was going to crash at some point. and the bus driver didnt bother to slow down. maybe he couldnt but it was running into 2 lanes. now that is scary.

i thought my experience working with year twos was already quite hilarious and mind boggling at times, but seems like i am not alone! i believe working with fellow clueless yr 3s can be exasperating (not for me at least)

felt happy today cos i finally got the products my sis ordered for me from her company boss... got a natural spray from Issey Miyake, a super big Ralph Lauren duffel bag, products from Shu Uemura, Biotherm Homme, Clinque... i feel my face being nourished and pampered. haha.

i bought books from kino! the reader (which got yash exclaiming 'what?') and revolutionary road.

..:: 617. The One With Excitement ::..

gee... today while in class received a sms from my career manager to ask me to call her asap. i got excited cos i was thinking whether she had secured a position for me... and she really did. she intro-ed me the job title and it sounded cool. huge learning curve and she mentioned i will be very suitable for the job, knowing my interests and strengths.

been gathering feedback from my previous bosses,and so far all favourable and supportive. i hope i wont disappoint them, especially since it is back to mindef. ranked with all the other scholars, i am worried but i look forward to the challenges and hopefully i am able to unleash my potential and increase my CEP.

..:: 616. The One With Departures ::..

it is oscar/academy award winner of best foreign film. a japanese one. i love the synopsis given and was intrigued to catch it. it was definitely worth it. it is about a guy who lost his job and looked at the advert and found one that had something to do with "departures". He went for the interview and soon found that he was actually going to dress, wash, and put makeup on the deceased before the funeral. not really embalming cos it will involve the three goals of embalming which are preservation, sanitization and presentation (or restoration) of a dead body.[wikipedia]

haha citations! arghz so FYP. (final year project)

It is a ritual i think only in japan where the person will "cleanse" the dead and help them change clothes and do make up. everything is done skilfully and precisely and done in front of the families. the person has to ensure minimal exposure of the skin or body to the families and friends.

It was through the boss, he knew that the ad was wrong, they were looking for someone to deal with the "departed" and not departures which the guy thought it was a job in a tour agency! lol.

it was quite a emotional rollercoaster, cos you laugh at some parts even though it was a serious ceremony. at times u cry when u see the family cries and family problems start to surface.

it is sort of like the HBO series - six feet under which i loved it.

it was a tough job. partly due to the nature of the job. an on-call one and also depend on the nature of death. but the most difficult part is having your family and dear ones know and accept your job. Firstly it is look down upon because you earn money from a dead person and also some cannot take the idea that the very hands touching you have actually been touching the dead.

spoiler alert

the story does not explicitly explain why the job is admirable. after each case and with the conversations from the boss, the guy learned something that kept him in the job despite having to choose to give up his wife who later came to understand why he was so "hooked" to the job.

i also went to buy dvds of little children and vicky christina barcelona. great films. one for kate winslet, the other for penelope cruz and javier bardem (who weirdly look like jeffrey dean morgan, the guy as the dead finance of izzie in grey's)

..:: 615. The One With The Reader & Milk ::..

kate winslet delivered yet another stellar performance. now i know why she got the best actress... the reader was really spectacular. i was so intrigued by kate's acting. in there, she plays a middle-age woman who has a secret. at first, i thought it would be those secret that she is having an affair with a young boy etc but it was not.

spoiler alert.

when she went on trial, there was the best part she exhibited her acting skills. you can literally tell all the emotions she was going through in her face. a mixture of innocence, helplessness, having to suppress herself to keep her darkest secret. in the end, she had to shoulder the "crime" and got life imprisonment. her response to the judge, "What would you have done?", really blew me away. it really reflected her simple mindedness (that was related to her secret). it was just that she was in the wrong situation that she could not get herself out.

the young boy (Michael)she had relationship with was feeling puzzled. there were girls that had to be sent to death in the gas chambers and kate (henna in the show) had the girls read to her (*hint). Michael was confused whether she wanted the girls to read to her so that the death will be more bearable or whether she had them killed because they knew her secret.

very haunting experience. left me feeling pity for her.

Little note about the setting of the story and the gas chamber thing from wikipedia:

Prisoners were transported from all over German-occupied Europe by rail, arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau in daily convoys. Arrivals at the complex were separated into two main groups - those marked for immediate extermination, and those to be registered as prisoners. The first group, about three-quarters of the total, went to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau within a few hours; they included all children, all women with children, all the elderly, and all those who appeared on brief and superficial inspection by an SS doctor not to be fully fit. SS personnel told the victims that they were to take a shower and undergo delousing. The victims would undress in an outer chamber and walk into the gas chamber, which was disguised as a shower facility, complete with dummy shower heads. After the doors were shut, SS men would dump in the cyanide pellets via (depending on which crematorium) holes in the roof or windows on the side. In the Auschwitz Birkenau camp more than 20,000 people could be gassed and cremated each day

Do you know?
Stephen Daldry's first choice for the lead role was Kate Winslet, who originally turned down the offer due to a scheduling conflict with Revolutionary Road (2008). When Nicole Kidman accepted the role, the producers built in a hiatus in order to allow her to finish filming Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008). However, by the time Kidman was set to begin her scenes on the film, she withdrew because of her pregnancy, vacating the role. Winslet, who was now available, agreed to replace Kidman. Imagine nicole kidman could have been in the oscars too.

i wondered how it felt to have a mature woman like kate naked with a 17 year old david kross... must be stressful for the guy to work with such an outstanding actress who bares all in the show. kate really aged gracefully.

Milk was great too... love the scenes where james franco had to kiss sean penn, disturbing but what can you expect from 2 hot dudes? the occasional spanking was funny. but franco looks like he lost his shape. anyway, i love the scenes where sean penn has to defend for gay rights, the witty conversations and debates were interesting. like one where the anti-gay minister wanted to sack all the homo teachers saying that since they cannot have children on their own, they want to "recruit" children. then sean asked "so how do you teach homosexuality? So you think homosexuality is like french?" haha. had great laughs.

kate winslet and sean penn, love them. you guys should watch the movies (think they are ending their run soon). wanna catch revolutionary road soon, the modern titanic. haha. where i can also see kate winslet again =)

FYP draft over! finally i can sleep well for at least one day.

watched american idol. round 3 so boring. only scott and lil' i think got chance.

but now hooked on david archuleta and david cook. gosh. two different styles and i love them. been spinning D.A's when you believe and crush (which yash absolutely abhors) and D.C's always be my baby and light on. didnt noe DA has vocal paralysis or some sort. but he still sounds so nice.

gosh now i hope i can play and sing "a thousand miles" like him.

..:: 614. The One With Marley & Me ::..

Marley and me was such a nice show... surprisingly not much humour from owen wilson. the firm sequence was jumbled up. can be quite confusing but i guess it is better than playing the whole life story. i think it is an interesting way to film... how they focus on the human elements and "downplay" the part that the dog has already been part of the family and present at every special moment - getting job, moving house, having children. the dog does not love u less when u have children. in fact, the dog loved the children.

why watch?
jennifer aniston! oh towards the end it was so touching... whenever i see her tear, it warms my heart... the children crying over the dog, that was when you can hear girls crying in the cinema. didnt quite expect that. i thought it would be like mr shaggy kind of laugh and forget show but it did leave a warm feeling after the show.

eric dane. the plastic surgeon on grey's anatomy. he was pretty much blabbering nonsense though :( would love if he had more screen time and he looked like he didnt train for quite some time. lol.

back to american idol, i was spot on! managed to rush back in time to catch adam got into the top 12.

oh, something i am irritated about. have you ever gone on public transport (bus, train) and have people playing mp3 through their phones loudly? i was thinking whether the next time i encounter it, i should step up and comment... dunno which approach is the best?

1. Do you mind using a earpiece? (when i am in a good mood and the person is good looking)

2. Your music sucks and we dont want to hear it (when i am pissed and the person is an ah beng or equivalent)

3. Your parents never teach you manners ar? (when i am faced with secondary schools kids)

4. Put on your f***in earpiece! (when i feel like getting into a fight or i am able to make a strategic exit)

lol maybe i am not that daring and vocal after all, i might just keep turning to look at the person with a frown and hope he/she gets the hint.

gosh some of the songs they play... really reflect their "class"...

..:: 613. The One With AI ::..

"adapted from my entry in one of my module blog"

I was watching the 9pm news today and they were showing this youtube video that was the most watched for this week. It involved a lady who became hysterical when she missed her flight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVw7entkxg

The whole issue was not about the individual missing the flight but more of stereotyping like how it was "typical" for a chinese to behave like this, etc. As many have mentioned, it was also a case of self-discrimination, "chinese bashing chinese". There are also subtle differences (probably arising from politics and history) in how Chinese view themselves, especially Chinese from China, Hongkong and Taiwan. So, beware of how you generalise Chinese in different countries.

Today's american idol is so entertaining =) wonder why ch 5 decided to insert the local live and loaded into the 11pm slot :( now i have to wait till tml to watch the remaining contestants.

the 16yo Allison Iraheta is amazing... she is a sure-in for top 12. red hair and great voice. her rendition of alone by heart was O_O and look at the way she worked her mike and stage... cant believe she is only 16.



Kris Allen. i hope he gets in. firstly, he is so handsome and cute to look at even from a guy's perspective. plus, he sure gets votes from the chicks cos he is great with those soulful and blue songs. he turned it on and did his version of michael jackson song (Man in the mirror) which simon cowell surprisingly loved. i like it towards the end where he got more comfortable.



Last contestant (which i havent watched the entire show) i hope will get in is Adam Lambert. He got such a unique and mysterious look. i think he could be a damn gd rocker like chris daughtry.

haha cant wait for tml, just happen to watch it on youtube. gosh i was right. amazing.

..:: 612. The One With I Want To Go BKK ::..

ok. i am desperate to go bkk. anyone??? haha. i wanna go on first week of april which is their new year and water festival. so fun. get splashed for free. no need to go big splash.

just ended another group assignment by my wonderful rubric-queen prof. but i guess many will miss her as after recess it will be another boring chinese prof. hopefully none of that fengshui thing. for hr metrics, imagine he teaches you which angle to put the lucky charm in your company so that you will have good financial performance. miss 1 angle, lose how much profit. lol.

project overload in this recess week. i have 2 project meetings every day. fyp last lap.

i love "he just not that into you" though its a chick flick and quite crappy but i still enjoy watching jennifer aniston on screen. marley and me next! anyone?

..:: 611. The One With My BirthdaY ::..

happy birthday to myself!

this year so happy. first time celebrate in singapore after 2007 in finland and 2008 in china.

first off, thanks to all the well wishes and presents...

jiejiun - red limited edition puma watch
jiexi - mr. bump pouch
jiayi and yash - airasia e voucher and very cute and sweet powerpoint



*hearts* and loves my fyp mates. when i checked my mail at 12mn, i got an email prompt to redeem my voucher, i almost thought it was a spam until i saw their names. interesting gift! and i so wanted to travel to bangkok.

dinner at merchant and birthday song! thanks so much.

..:: 610. The One With Touch My Body ::..

saw this damn funny youtube video of a korean guy singing my idol's song. watch it and have a good laugh. must cross check the lyrics then u will find it more funny how he pronounces.



just watched american idol group 1 performance. i hope Alexis Grace, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey get into top 12! they were awesome...

..:: 609. The One With Slumdog ::..

great show! i think it was better than benjamin button though. meaningful plot and reflect the "dark" side of india, especially with the children forced to beg on the streets. got me worried a little about my trip to india. more variation in the humor part, compared with benjamin button's old man being struck by lightning seven times scenes.

yest played mahjong, gosh bad luck man, never win anything. :( think its a sign to tell me to stop playing.

so happy bought my belt from vol.ta. unique belt.

cant wait to catch american idol later. bride wars anyone?

..:: 608. The One With Awesome Week ::..

so happy that i caught curious case of benjamin button. strangely i dont find it draggy or long-winded. perhaps i am busy anticipating how brad pitt turns out as he grows younger. wonder how much make-up they need to cover the mrt lines on his forehead. that is why at a certain stage when he was supposed to portray a teenager, he had headband on. even botox could not help. lol.

i want to watch slumdog! anyone?

spent monday afternoon in the hot blazing sun at gul road. going door-to-door to give surveys to the SMEs was freaking tiring. Poor yash has to go around in high heels and after we left the place, we smelt like metal rust, rotten banana and all the weird smell you get from warehouses.

went suntec to meet some ceo, wow, the view from the conference room is so nice. 33rd floor. see all the hotels and even marina bay. hope we managed our impressions well. =) had great phad thai thanks to yash's recommendation.

today i had an amazing psychology presentation. had to do it alone cos my group mates were psy majors and had to study for tests. So one-man show it was. i was glad i was the last one to present... save the best for the last :P

the prof's words "very good presentation" just sank in and fed my ego. for the learning points, she just had to read off my slides. was rather pleased with the slides cos i included frequency tables, defined every concept and drew correlations. my group mates said "no wonder you were from business". double ego-boost!

lastly, just when the class ended, another classmate came to me and requested whether i could send her my slides. o_O i was taken aback but agreed in the end, how could i say no right? triple ego-boost.

walked out of the classroom with a big head. haha.

birthday coming soon. no plans yet. should i do a shopping spree?

..:: 607. The One With V Day ::..

started the day volunteering with my red cross friends doing footdrill competition. was the competition official and it was fun. the poor cadets must be feeling stressed so i tried to be as nice as i could. the 7 teams i took were generally ok but perhaps the commanders were not exactly up to my expectations. how well the squad performs really depends on the commander's judgment as i believe all the schools have been training hard for this day. there were a few who gave wrong commands which sets themselves apart literally when the squads marched out of the boundaries.

made me reflect on the days when i was competing. the competition was so much tougher then. had a 2 day event rather than 1 now. Competed in the district level and the top 2 would enter the finals. During my time as a pioneer batch, we have so much drive. the first year we participated, we trained hard and you could see the teamwork and the desire to win in everyone's eyes. we had training twice a week and a training camp over the holidays. everyone pulled their weights, we spent little time settling individual differences and the product was a first runner up in our first attempt for a new school. Of course going into finals, we aimed to have our standards as close to the top schools. during my time, the CHIJ(TP), RGS and RI were the powerhouses. missed those times...

the final round this year was a fancy drill component. i dont understand why the first few teams had to count out loud while executing. maybe the echo from the music? but the main aim is to use the beat of the music to execute your drills right?

Also, i found another use for my 11B (green IC)! 1 for 1 buffet at holiday inn. surprised! anyway food is nice and so is the band.

you would have notice that there are a lot of singles during vday if you go lan-gaming. practically every lan shop is FULL! arghz. we went around hunting for one to play left 4 dead but couldnt :( in the end, we found one lan shop and played random games for near to 4 hours.

..:: 606. The One With Boredom ::..

two interesting encounters today.

first, one chinese student was trying to tap his matriculation card to board the bus. i guess you can forgive people for some moments when they slipped up.

second, something that i cannot stand. this girl waited for the bus to stop and dig in her bag to find her ez link card. in the end, the bus drove off cos she didnt sound off nor ring the bell in time. if you know you going to alight soon, get your damn card/wallet ready. dont make the whole bus wait for you. arghz.

managed to finish 4 essays in 1.5 days. quite a record for me not to mention mentally draining. the most useless essay i have ever done. reflection on role of hr metrics and strategic hr. to think my prof mention that she updates her contents every year but her lecture notes still dated 2005.

reflection should be straight to the point. dunno why would people want to even force an analogy in reflection when it doesnt make any sense. i squirmed while reading it.

did this 25 random things for my psychology module on self-construal.

1. my old name was TAN JIAN LIANG JOHN, got my new name from a fengshui master and hence I am known as CHEN XING TIAN JOHN now.

2. when i order mac, i always change my soft drink to milk.

3. i love travelling. i would spend my last penny on travelling.

4. i may do extreme things to make a person happy. when i see the person happy, i feel even happier.

5. i hate people walking slowly in front of me. maybe i am impatient.

6. i hate it when people tell me i should eat more. in fact, i eat a lot just that i dont grow fat.

7. i can be critical to the people close to me. it's a form of being frank and straightforward but somehow ended up offending people.

8. i am a super competitive person but of cos winning is not everything.

9. i try very hard to be tidy and i admire people who are neat.

10. i am a sensitive new age guy. i would end up thinking too much about how people think of me.

11. i immerse myself in fashion, at least i try. so i am willing to spend a lot on clothes.

12. i enjoy "bimbotic" and brainless shows like america's next top model and sex and the city.

13. dramas with hospital setting are must-watch for me like grey's anatomy and new heart (korean)

14. i love to dance. that is why i love to club as well. i am now into ballroom/social dancing.

15. i enjoy staying alone.

16. i dislike storerooms cos that is where i got the scar on my forehead.

17. i suppress my aggression very well. size is not in question.

18. i buy a shirt every month. cant wait for uniqlo

19. i love late night suppers.

20. i have been in red cross for 10 years and counting.

21. i would like to train up and have a try at modelling. (dont laugh). burberry uses lean guys.

22. i dont use wax. they spoil my hair.

23. i go for facial and use a variety of face products from scrub to cleanser to toner to hydrating gel to eye cream to moisturizer, etc.

24. i love to play volleyball - indoor or beach.

25. i love my friends, cannot do without them.

..:: 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.

..:: 590. The One With Year-End Summex ::..

So much have happened in the month of dec and i did not have time to update my blog. shall do a fast recollection.

30Nov - 5Dec

went to vietnam with my Nanyang Business School mates. signed up the trip knowing only 2 people in the group. i had so much fun that was beyond words. the morning parts where we spent visiting companies were fulfilling and the hanging out at night just topped the whole trip. the last night at ho chi minh city was the ultimate. we played quite a few games, getting to know each other really well. i'm glad i stayed up till 4am and went crazy, just that booze was missing!

mui ne was alright i guess, i felt the company and cam-whoring were more important than the places we visited. probably it was the hot weather and the only thing to see was the sand dunes. the exciting episode of the stolen slippers and the ultimate sabo where i had to dance on the bus for a forfeit during a game which led to my downfall.

when we reached the vietnam national university for a cultural exchange, the students there prepared a lot of performances for us while we had none. so i was at that instance, the representative for our school for a performance. my mind went blank when i heard my name. lucky they had the song sexyback by justin timberlake, if not i would be dancing to some folk songs.

i guess the dance clip can be found in youtube. thanks to steph leong. -_-. i felt like an animal in the zoo, while i was performing, all the cameras were recording and flashing... i think i hadnt done hip hop for very long, once i got down on the floor to do floor works, i couldnt get up in time so i had to dance on the floor for a while. but hey, all of them didnt spot it =)

next event i guess would be my VI Camp

i must say i always look forward to VI Camp. Firstly, it was the time i get to interact with youths and i am excited to share my experiences and see how i can help in developing their leadership.

the next great thing was that we had a great team. small but mighty, everyone had something to offer. i was impressed by the junior mentors, i missed those times where you get close to the trainees and you get to hang out and know them better. but when you are asst chief trainer, you will feel that gap.

oh... talking about being mentors, i am kinda excited cos i am in for the next batch again! but this time, the level has just gone up. AYO becomes the mentors. LOL. I am back to my mentoring days.

seeing what the trainees went through reminded me of the old days. nothing is new, the sleep deprivation that resulted from poor time management, the injury-prone exercises that were meant to stretch you mentally and physically. the old ones will always tell you that they had them worse. i was quite shocked to see 23 trainees had to struggle to carry 1 casualty. that made me reflect on the issue of safety vs reality training. during our time we had to carry our bags and at the same time evacuate casualties, there was no such thing as 'bag party'. times had changed. i still remember those days, we screamed our lungs out pushing one another. yelling (in good will) to push and encourage one another. even doing cheers to get our timing in sync to carry the casualties.

all in all, i think the camp went really well. the pace started slow and unpleasant but picked up when we decided to change our strategy. it was heartening to receive feedback from trainees so that we can improve our conduct of the programme. sadly, there were some who were not interested to give any comment. Given the benefit of doubt, i believe they had more important things to do like work and study.

i was thought to be sarcastic at times. well, i dont deny it. i could have tell some of them straight in the face, change this and that. in reality and in the working life, you can be the one who dont use them (sarcasm and criticism) but you can never avoid them. i have learnt to go around them in the hard way. when i say something, i always try to make it a point to deal with the matter rather than the person.

there was of course a lot of drama going on, but i feel that we should not take things too personally. there are many times where you are too angry that you let the emotions do all the talking or writing. that is when things just get worse. communication - talking things over calmly really helps. Putting across your message tactfully in writing or speech is equally important.

was reading through some of the blogs and i realised there were so much fun going on behind the scenes. mizael and i started this noose trend and seemed like it has created some stir.

blogging is a personal thing. you can write whatever you want in an open diary knowing that a lot of people will read. however, i do advocate blogging responsibly. yes, you can write to spite or diss someone but with some level of control, decency and maturity. especially if you are going 21, becoming an officer or what not, what you write reflects on you.

ha. so whats the point of blogging if you cant be yourself huh? i guess those password protected entries would come in handy.

VI Retreat

this year was my first time attending the retreat. had a great time with my batch mates and i was happy to see all of the trainees passing out and enjoying themselves. i think that is one of the most important part of being a VI, the friendships you made. I just enjoyed the times we sit down and play games with the juniors, getting to know them and hope we can exchange advice. I was quite amazed by my batch mates and some of the juniors who still managed to win the captain ball game without sleep the night before. we totally rocked. ha.

Results

on the sun night, i had to do fyp conference on the phone. my other half of my mind was thinking about the results that were going to be released at the stroke of midnight. all was well =) couple of As and Bs which i was happy with given the tremendous workload. Looking forward to my last semester with all my favourite modules.

happy for my friend who recently got a job =) now a civil servant like myself.

i will definitely miss schooling and my friends. i also cant wait to start work, earning my first official pay check. meanwhile i still wish to travel to bangkok and then india for my graduation trip.

every year it is compulsory to have new year resolution right?

-Get 2nd upper honours
-Get back IPPT (G)
-More involved in Red Cross
-Go for lasik
-Get PSP (deep red)
-Travel to Bangkok and India

..:: 589. The One With End of Exams ::..

blink of an eye, my exams are over. ab311 was definitely a killer which stunned many of us. didnt even ask about porter's forces which most of us took pains to discuss and memorise.

hp204 was relatively easier except that 5m question that asked about the characteristics of people who self-actualize. i mean, come on. what kind of question is that? Most stuff I studied came out, hope i can smell an A for that paper...

hp310 - positive psychology, one of my fearful paper, known for its unpredictability, turned out to be fine. i did research the day before the paper and was pleasantly surprised i made use of my research. if i havent done that research, i guess i might just flunk the paper so the lecture notes were definitely not enough. i could do much better if i had started earlier though, researching on the berlin model of wisdom and optimism in asians. this module i am also looking for an A after my 10-page mid term thesis turned out well, scoring quite a high 80.

the most frustrating paper have to say its aa102-accounting II. spent quite some time studying and practising the questions. made a few careless mistakes. especially the simple 12 mark question. i could have knock myself on the wall. 8m question, i remember i need to do some profitability analysis and i think due to the time pressure, i skipped it and forgot about it. haiz. hope my coursework can save me, but apparently a lot of groups got A- for their projects... :(

timetable for next sem is out and i have already planned what i wanna take. so happy i got a lot of afternoon papers and afternoon classes.

BH225 - HR Research
BH227- Selection and Assessment
BH326- HR Metrics
HP203- Social Psychology

last one i am still choosing between interesting (BH331-Cultural intelligence at work) or useful (BH324-Employment law)...

someone enlighten me ...

today had dinner at the coffeeshop and witnessed a fight. the guy who was sitting behind me was challenged by a group of teenagers. As he picked up a fork and headed towards them, someone came from behind him and used a glass bottle and smashed his head. the bottle shattered and he was bleeding. i dunno what he was thinking, probably he was drunk, he went to chase the group knowing he was outnumbered. he later retreated and the group chased him and he landed on the floor. one used a chair to whack him and the chair broke. they kicked him and fled after a while.

the drunkard then went back to his table and with his bloody hands, he 'stamped' his palm prints on the tables, and i dunno for what. he was so rowdy and i cant believe i could still eat with him behind me. come to think i was so worried that they might throw a chair at him and hit me instead.

so much drama, the police was fencing behind me and at that time i felt like taking a picture. lol.

..:: 588. The one With Exam ::..

the time of the year has come again. this time i am unusually nervous, especially after one semester of no exams, i am scared that i lost the flair in writing essays. this sem i am taking accounting module which i totally abhor and i need to take time to practise.

the other 3 papers are all essay-based. one of which is not my major, a level 3 positive psychology. no textbook, just as many journals you can read. though its open book but the prof warned us we wont have time to flip. it would be like 20 mini essays and questions that she will be asking would be 'what are the cognitive processes in positive emotions?'

o_O

Here goes my exam timetable. so stressed out. 2 days apart. and i just started studying... shall not lament that i have more modules to study than the rest.

14 Nov - 0900 - AB311: Strategic Management
17 Nov - 0900 - HP204: Personality and Individual Differences
19 Nov - 0900 - HP310: Positive Psychology (Open book)
21 Nov - 1430 - AA102: Accounting II

back to mugging...

..:: 587. The One With SMRT Challenge ::..

Sat i had hrc orientation for the yr 2s. enjoyed myself. having to know quite a few yr 2s. sentosa sun didnt disappoint us. ibiza the tri-uni beach event was not as grand as i have expected. maybe i am comparing with surf sweat which opened up to the public. this was a smaller affair involving the 3 universities business school. not sure whether it is difficult to get pple from SIM to be in the committee thats why they were not included.

daniel ong was the MC and he was damn good. cracked us up with his 'dirty' jokes. all the banana, nutella...

Sun exciting day for me and my team mates. woke up damn early to reach toa payoh hub at 8am. donned on the number tag, went to take a grp pic and we began to solve codes to lead us to the next station. we managed to solve that we will be travelling from khatib to bukit batok.

when the whistle went off, it was a mad dash to the train station. some fell as the floor was slippery. lol. comical sight, wanna snap pics but no time.

at khatib, everyone just ran towards the table to grab the clue to solve for the next 3 stations. we were quite fast cos we formed ally with another team and we had to head to sembawang.

once we are out the station, everyone sprinted like never before to the bus interchange for a game. we cant run in the train station cos we will get demerit points. but all hell broke loose at the bus interchange. there was this parked bus where each time only 3 people can go up. they tied raffia strings to form obstacles and we were supposed to send one rep to go thru it and jot down the messages beside each safety item on the bus.

then next stop was to woodlands. once there we were supposed to locate safety signs in the platform and their messages. it was easy as we just see groups of people copying stuff on a pillar. we just followed.

then it was to kranji. we had to watch a video with footage from the mrt. our task was to spot 5 unsafe acts in the video. the challenging thing was we had 2 screens, each screen with 6 footage playing at the same time.

then we went to gombak and we had to do some fishing for some clues which was super UNchallenging.

the last station to go was actually by chance. we received hints that yew tee might be one but my fren went and said they could not find anything. so we tried bukit batok and cck to no avail. then we formulated a strategy. we managed to locate yishun and to our delight, they had a station. if yishun was not, we will be screwed cos that left us with yew tee which was 30 mins away.
we had to do some obstacle course and board a cab and tell the taxi driver the 3 safety rules when taking a cab. i wondered whether the driver understood what we were saying.

after yishun, we were excited to run back to toa payoh. however in the train we were thinking 'ok, i guess we shld be in top ten'. sad that we went to 2 wrong stations. at the finishing line, we saw one team in front of us at the counter. while waiting, one of the guy turned back and told me, 'hey u guys are second'.

my eyeballs enlarged. lol. what?

that got us excited for a few mins that we forgot to say 'smrt challenge'. we were so close though. we then went to collect our goodie bags and found that the first team was also from NTU. they were CAC camp mates while we were GIP mates.

the prize presentation was quite an agonizing wait. they gave out 10 prizes for the children art competitions which had 3 categories. but when it was our turn to go up, it felt great. taking the big styrofoam fake cheque was my first. now it is in my hall as deco item. we also received a small trophy. nice.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150280&id=763130230&ref=mf

..:: 586. The One With Hectic ::..

first heave a sigh of relief. finally handed over to a new committee, load off my shoulders. but other stuff seems to be piling up.

been sleeping around 4am these days, rushing tutorials and projects. i guess i really cant play too much moo-moo (warcraft). I am staring at my schedules for the different modules and all of them seem to scream 'I'm coming'...

my laptop crashed due to my itchy finger to force it to shut down while it is updating window service pack, all thanks to the excitement of playing moo-moo. Now rushing for a presentation of internet articles... saw other group post their slides up and here we are: undone. screwed.

I feel like i am playing a losing table tennis game. I need to get back the lead... now i am feeling the lack of control of my time and having the modules the next day dictate what i should be doing.

finally just some thoughts about the olympics.

i never feel so empty before. now i have to resort to watching crappy ch 5 shows... and currently playing S-league. gulps.

the closing ceremony was average. leona lewis would be better off singing her own song. where is stefanie sun? i didnt get to see her though. interesting how mr. hu said 'one world, one dream' in english and the few words he uttered subsequently were incomprehensible.

poor huo liang and zhou luxin lost their gold in diving. =( but am happy that he chong got his.

COMEX this thur! so tempted to skip class to be the first few in the exhibition hall.

oh, the singapore table tennis saga. what's that hype about not renewing the manager's contract? why mention it before the celebration? new management, eager to appease the public? right the wrong? or is it doing more wrong? I hope we dont lose a good coach in the process. Affects the players' morale as well. haiz. should think of the bigger picture.

The Chinese national anthem has been ringing in my head. I even know how to sing it. lol.

起来！
不愿做奴隶的人们！
把我们的血肉，
筑成我们新的长城！
中华民族到了最危险的时候，
每个人被迫着发出最后的吼声。
起来！起来！起来！
我们万众一心，
冒着敌人的炮火，前进！
冒着敌人的炮火，前进！
前进！前进！进！

..:: 585. The One With Bronze Medal ::..

well, unexpectedly, li jia wei has to play against guo yue. tough match i guess. hope jia wei can really win the bronze =)

wang nan own her match owing to her experience. guo yue's quick momentum didnt distract her as much and towards the last 2 games, she was owning.

..:: 584. The One With So Close ::..

gosh. feng tianwei was so close. she really stretched the no.1 zhang yining in 4-2 (13:11 12:14 14:12 12:10 13:11). i hope the media would give her some encouragement. She didnt lose any set with a single digit point. I really admire her fighting spirit and tenacity. hope someone can do a wallpaper of her and i can download and put on my phone lol.

li jiawei is damn lucky to first scrape through to the semi-finals, having the USA player eliminating her rival Kim from Korea who took bronze at Athens. Secondly, Li managed to win the USA player 4-1. Now she faces Zhang Yining which will be tough to win. Li has never won Zhang in all her encounters. As such, Feng is the only Singaporean player who has beaten Zhang and in the history of table tennis, she will be remembered for breaking the unbeaten record of Zhang. So how Li fares against Zhang will be measured with Feng. Hope she can upset Zhang and secure another medal for Singapore.

Wang Nan (5th) VS Guo Yue (2nd)
If Li ever has to play against them, i am unsure who will be the easier opponent. Li has beaten both of them before but Wang Nan though seeded 5th has more experience.

There was another controversy of lack of coach support for the men single event. Poor Gao Ning had to play without the coach's supervision and went down 0-4 to croatia while Yang Zi defeated 7th seeded Chinese Taipei player. I can imagine after waiting for 4 yrs having to play an impt match without your coach and lose the match.... how depressing...

i think its due time we should recognize the men table tennis players as well.

..:: 583. The One With Gym ::..

been hooked on watching gymnastics finals. love to see the vault event where gymnasts flip and land. for the guys, i love the high bar, ring and floor. china male gymnasts darn good. my current idol is chen yibing. zou kai, 20yo is the new kid on the block who won gold in floor and high bar. he is also the first chinese to win gold in high bar. yang wei was all-round gold but i guess he will retire after this olympics. my fren jo was drooling over the jap gymnast, oh well.

for the female, i love the 'meaty' shawn johnson, power-packed american. the chinese didnt really leave deep impression. i like the beam event for the girls and the uneven bars.

oh liu xiang didnt manage to compete have drawn criticism and sympathy. poor thing.

wonder how the paddlers fare in the women singles table tennis...

i joined the dancesport academy and today had a taste of cha-cha, rumba... cant wait for the class to start next week =) made new frenz.

..: 582. The One With Mad About English ::..

went to watch the show with my GIP friends. initially i thought watching such a show is like watching money no enough 2 on a weekend price was not very worth it.

looking at the trailer, it is easy to think that the movie is actually poking fun at the Chinese people's inability to converse in English and also showing signboards full of spelling and grammar errors.

Some scenes are painful to watch, especially the ones with the taxi driver trying very hard to communicate with the foreigners. He could not deal with questions like 'What can we buy at the Silk Market?' or 'What else is there other than the Silk Market?'. Though he had received formal training from the company and also informal ones from the radio, he could only master the basic greetings but unable to hold a decent conversation.

After watching the movie, the olympics 2008 is not just another international sporting event. I feel that it is like a revival for the 10-yr cultural revolution, the whole nation has the common mission to show the world to watch out for them. You can see how relentless they are in their spirit to overcome obstacles and stigma, work together in tandem so that they can communicate with the foreigners.

The film features a few characters, a taxi driver, a physician, a young girl sent for english training camp, an 'angmo' as the grammar cop, a funny policeman, a english camp instructor/trainer, an interesting old man.

The Olympics is not just about the athletes. The old man who is 64 years old in 2001 where Beijing got the bid to host the olympics, his first thought was to learn English. He wanted to be part of this Olympic experience and to him is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He became a volunteer to assist in guiding the foreigners through the tourist attractions.

The film has portrayed an important message that learning has no age barriers. Through collective spirit, will and determination, they are motivated to master the language and show the world that impossible is nothing. just like the opening ceremony has proven, watch out for china. One of the speakers mentioned, to learn english, you must forget about losing face. when others see you try to communicate with them in their language (english), they will respect you rather than humiliate you.

I kinda like one of the trainers mentioned, "We learn English not because we look up to the foreigners, We learn English because we pity them not being able to pick up Chinese and understand us."

How effective is learning English from a recommended text and yelling phrases? I am not sure though.

The director of the film is a local Singaporean who was an award-winning journalist and the first Singaporean anchor to be hired by CNN. Her original name was Pek Siok Lian before she changed it to Pek Lian.

I am inspired by the Chinese to learn English. I met up with my exchange friend from Denmark and Mexico and they told me Spanish and Russian are the languages to learn. mmm... NTU allow me to overload pls.

..:: 581. The One With Medal ::..

YEAH i was sitting at the edge of my seat, didnt want to watch the show cos the last 2 games i watched, singapore didnt win.

finally. i thought feng tianwei was the star of today's game and it will be remembered in the history of singapore. 150808.

though jiawei tried her best, i felt it was quite disappointing. cos if she had won, the game would have ended at the doubles. then when yuegu went down 3-0, i though history would repeat itself. so pessimistic my fren called me a traitor. lol.

korea played really well in defence. seeing that PARK player in tears after losing the last set to FENG was sweet. lol. At times, the rally was long and painful. FENG was really calm and know how to play the patience game which i felt if the coach had fielded jiawei, she might not have performed as well as FENG. jiawei i thought was more of the gan-jiong spider, she dont play well with korean players but she is good at being aggressive towards chinese players.

applaud the coach's wise choice in the players line-up.

for finals, i hope to see the following line-up though,

1. LI
2. FENG
3. LI/WANG
4. FENG
5. WANG

I feel that jiawei needs to start the game, if you leave her to secure win for singapore at the end would add more stress to her. besides if she wins, it will motivate the team even more. From the semi, it was quite easy to see that yuegu was quite drained after the doubles, losing 3-0 to DANG whose style was not even a chopper.

it was funny to see in the last match that red cards were given to WANG to be sent out of the court and thenafter KIM from korea from excessive shouting (of advice). i guess when the match is that intense, they couldnt help it.

i think for the first time, the empire has to step in to 'end' the game early. the last serve by DANG missed the table would be the defining moment for Singapore.

i wondered if HKG will upset China, whatever it is, Singapore go for GOLD!

..:: 580. The One With Consolidation ::..

Time for some flashback, this week is agonizing. Being the Freshmen Welcome Week, got to man booth and do all the recruitment drives.

On the hectic 8th Aug, I had to print 3500 copies of flyers, run down to harbourfront to repair my camera lens. $ gone
then went back to school again to cut flyers. i was sweating like a hound dog cutting 3500 pieces of flyers into half. the lady was impressed with my speed. I cut them all within 30 mins. Then I have to carry all those back to my hall which was damn heavy. In the end, I took a cab to drop my stuff in hall first and continued back home.

On 9th Aug, I went down to Wheelock Place to fix my phone. It had a software problem which it was hard to describe. whenever a msg comes, the phone would register +65 xxxx xxxx. whenever a call comes, the phone would register xxxx xxxx. So if i store the number +65 xxxx xxxx, the name would be reflected when msg comes but not for incoming call. It is frustrating to store 2 same numbers in order for the name to appear in both cases.

I described the case to this foreign worker and i think he had some difficulty in understanding what i was saying. the report he typed was full of errors which i wondered whether the technician who reads it understand what is wrong with my phone.

I tried using back my old dopod phone which failed me in china. I thought it was a charger problem so when i went to buy it, it didnt work. so i wasted $. shld be the battery problem but I dont dare to buy. haha.

my camera is ready now and it costs 200 =(

i also signed up for a zero dollar plan since my plan with m1 expired. was quite pissed off that they promised that i could collect my nokia e51 on thursday and now they say i had to go down to collect on tue. i really need the smartphone to keep my calendar of events flashing on my phone. been missing appointments.

bought 100+ worth of textbooks and again angry with the army, who not only has not given me my allowance but also my overseas allowance and reimbursement for air ticket.

..:: 579. The One With Sch Reopens ::..

yea. sch finally started. let me recap what i have been busy with.

since i touched down, its back to army. having to write 3 papers as well as being involved in a vacation attachment research project. it was a new initiative of the army student network, giving us this platform for the army scholars to 'touch base', keep in touch with army while still studying.

caught in the FYP craze as well, esp with a tutor who can be quite pushy and demands a lot.

then involved in red cross current affairs competition as a chief tabulator. good to see my old friends.

had to help my friend take over the chairperson's role to organise the red cross recognition day. was quite exciting though, gathering a team and helpers in less than a month.

then came the VA camp at safti which i dreaded initially cos i thought 'attendance is compulsory' events do not turn out well. it was quite a pleasant surprise. i got to know fellow army scholars and some of them were also from NTU. more lunch/dinner/supper kakis! the dialogues sessions with the senior commanders were engaging and i enjoyed listening to their experiences.

preparing for the finals was quite nerve-wrecking. all the other teams looked promising, doing military strategy, effects on operation tempo, while our team was doing recruitment. We have fellow mates from SMU doing business admin as well as NUS and Warwick doing political science.

I would never forget the moment when my friend went to receive the 6th prize and he told me he took a peek at the results the MC was holding. lol. but in the end, our team got 1st! the prize was not the main thing, it was the recognition for all our efforts that mattered most.

1st week of school was relaxing, crashing lectures from computer engineering (damn technical and sian) and going to crash comms studies. met up my frenz for lunch, dinner and supper. feels gd. i felt energised after one sem of non-existence in singapore. this sem taking all my favourite modules except accounting. loved my textbooks so much that i am already reading them. *dont hate me*

i requested to overload this sem cos i wanna take MALAY! i look at the exam paper, damn cool la. got vocabulary. choose the correct word. still got composition of 70 words. lol. hopefully i get the appeal so u will see me reading malay newspaper.