i haven posted up pictures for very long.. i did take some photos last week, but they're still in my fren's camera so i have to wait for them..

here are some of my bday photos firsT!


me on my bday..



my bday cake

finally got my new passport.. the gap btw my front teeth are getting more and more prominent in passport photos.. i feel so nerdy! had to queue for a whole hour just to COLLECT the passport.. it was really inefficient.. the SIR building was so crowded, when i collected my queue number i was shocked to see that there were 300 people in the numbers ahead of me! .... some of the counters were like taking 10 min to serve each person.. how long does collecting a passport take?! i took mine, signed the papers and left the counter in less than a min.. wasted my OT time..

cheonging oT these few days.. sorry if i nv blog much..

just got back home.. went to collect a registered mail from Capcom today and it basically contained the schedule, the business strategy, some information about the program etc. I was shocked to see that the program was going to begin in Japan in mid-dec.. I'm so not ready!!!

originally i tot that i had until end dec, so i could stop working in starhub end nov and so on, but it turns out i now have 2 weeks less than i tot, so maybe i have to stop working in another 2 weeks.. else i have no time to spend with my family and friends and to prepare for the trip.

i was thinking bout last sunday, when i was playing naruto with the guys at zhiwen's place. after i was getting tired of playing, i was lying on the bed reading comics while the guys carried on their rowdy activities all around me. occasionally, i would be shouting excitedly cos of wat i was reading (I'm a noisy reader) and someone would poke me cos i was easy target. when i complained my back was aching, someone passed me a pillow almost immediately. i was so lucky to have these people as frens. At that moment, i just wanted to freeze time and let everything stay that way, where everyone was carefree and that would be a mental picture i wanted of the guys and me. been frens for almost 6 years now, i hope things would stay as close knit as they are now when i come back.

its a terrible fight at work for tables. not enuff tables to go around, people are having to first come first snatch. today we were all breathtakingly awaiting the reaction of our resident shouter and whiner when she came to work late to realise her usual seat had been taken. unfortunately, it was disappointing when she just showed a black face and took her things and stomped off to another desk. perhaps she only shouted at guys. i haven seen her in action yet, but its all hearsay. i have yet to actually meet someone who shouts at other people in the office for such things, wonder if it really is true. i hope not... cos that would really mean she's a terrible person.. yikes.. :P

i went phuture last nite! partly to spite my parents actually.. it was originally a ktv outing, i wanted to borrow the car so that i could be home by 12.. but since they refused to let me drive, i stayed out late and went drinking anyway, something i wouldn't have done if i had been driving.

we stayed out til 3+ and i had work at 8am today.. when i woke up today, my eyes were all bloodshot and i dunno how i managed to drag myself to work on time. at work surprisingly, the lethargy lifted and i didn't feel tired at all despite the long hours (8am-9pm). very unlike me.

turns out have to submit copy of my passport and everything next tues to the capcom people.. luckily i went to make the new one le..

wonder where ray went to.. been trying to get him the whole week.. he didn't reply emails, sms-es, his phone isn't even on.. i hope he's alright..

finally there was OT for booking at work today.. because all the mail from the public in response towards the price adjustment has suddenly arrived. u noe those singpost big brown bags? 6 of them arrived, fully filled! arghh.. since the public wants us to earn money, we earn lor.. :P so tomorrow, i'll be working 8-9, friday have jap so cannot OT, on saturday i'll be collecting my passport then go work.. and sunday also working 8-9pm.. no more life! but i figured, its my last few weeks, earn lotsa money so that can tide over next month without income lor..

am playing lotsa dynasty warrior on my ps2 nowadays.. figured i prolly can't bring it to japan due to the constraint on pirated games and the difference in the voltage and all that as well..

I'm still struggling in my translation!! help me somebody!!

sheesh.. i'm getting lazy.. i've never blogged so irregularly before.. blog one day skip 2 days.. * so ashamed of myself!*

anyway.. I'm having an off day today.. after much struggling, I finally managed to finish my first capcom essay assignment last night HALFWAY,. sianz.. and I only finished the English portion.. I could barely fill a A4 page on the title "My Favourite Games", cause I don't know the style of writing to use. What if I try to be humourous but they can't catch it? I can barely understand the English emails they send me.. argh.. and now i still have to translate my essay into Japanese.. hopefully it will be longer..

I found a map of where i'll be working..
that's in osaka..

yesterday was ok at work.. cos i did faxes more than i answered calls.. there were tons of faxes.. and once again, the company manages to prove its inefficiency by failing to write clearly the price increase for value package holders and these people bombarded us when we call them to inform them that they're not eligible for the discount. Telling people that they are "Not Eligible" for something is a very tricky issue. the moment u tell them that, they somehow feel insulted and start to hurl abuse at u before u can actually go on to tell them that there is only minimal difference in price in the package they holding now.. at least faxes can't yell at you..

after work.. my clique of colleagues went out for dinner at holland, the famous XO fish beehoon. it was not bad.. i didn't go out with them last week at all.. cos arnie drives and he's nice enuff to send us home after that despite living in bedok.. they're partly the reason why i didn't take up the offer to work in Agilent.. even though they were offering $2.1k to break my contract..

met xinhuan (my best fren since sec sch) today after lunch for a shopping trip.. i'm getting old.. i do not have stamina for walking around orchard anymore.. after like an hour, i was yawning and feeling the strain in my calves. we walked around without any aim & i bought her a cardigan jacket thingey that she liked so much from zara even though she had just bought a jacket herself.. heh.. i owe her many years of bday presents..

met the guys for dinner.. broke the news to them.. they were surprised.. and i felt a big twinge of sadness that i was not going to see them for so long.. dinner was once again full of crap and stomach-aching lame jokes.. i was glad to see them again and i realise how lucky i am that most of them are still unattached thats why we are still so close. we all sorta need one another still i suppose.. dinner was cheaper than i expected, and was very filling.. after that went to zw's place and it was a riot playing naruto together roundtable style on his ps2.. shouting tactics, taking sides, reading the comics at the same time.. haiz... i took some picts with them.. but still.. i'm very sad..

omg.. the sports thing started at work.. it was horrendous.. some called in frantically to cancel, some called to scold us for misleading them when they signed the contract... haiz.. u still got a discount rite? some people are just so stingy.. no money still wanna enjoy all the luxuries..

have been thinking bout wat i have to settle b4 leaving.. my insurance, suspend my phone lines, terminate my internet account.. buy my clothes.. & other necessities..like winter clothing.. I'm going to see snow for the first time in my life!!! hahaha.. i'm so excited.. getting a new digicam.. woohOO!!

ray asked me to go to his housemates' farewell bbq just now.. it was quite fun.. except everyone spoke cantonese except me.. !! well.. at least i'm picking up the understanding of it here and there.. it sounds so nice!! but i just can't speak it .. haha.. also bought a jacket (ZARA!) thats black and winter of cos.. its WARM!! so happy..

someone (actually hawx wants to claim for this) asked me to decipher this: agisyreuooenwwua . its a sentence sans the spaces, with the letters all jumbled up. can u do it? eh.. i will give the answer in a few days?

I'M GOING TO JAPAN!!!!!!

yes, everyone, i've been selected for the job of R&D manager in the EDB (Economic Development Board) training & Attachment program with CAPCOM.. !!! my whole year's wait for a job has finally paid off.. today, after i received the phone call.. i dunno why i was crying.. i was actually just welling up with tears at first.. then ed came by my desk and he was like "why ur eyes so red?" then i just burst out "i got the job! i got the joB!!!" and he shook my hand to congratulate me and i starting crying.. so weird & so embarrassing.. tears of joy i suppose but so relieved at finally getting this job and not letting my parents down..

i've been feeling like quite a failure, stuck in temp jobs while everyone seemed to be achieving things that i should have been doing.. getting consultant jobs and wat-nots.. i seemed to be the only one who have graduated so long yet achieved nothing.. but now its all OVER!!!!! i finally can earn some dough and save towards a car.. and contribute towards my family.. WOOHOO!!!

i'm ecstatic actually.. rowie at work was like.. "haha.. see u blur look, keep daydreaming.. dunno how come they hire u to be manager.. " :P i dunno how come.. seriously, i have no experience, i tot i didn't impress them at the interview.. but now, thats not impt, all that matters is that I WAS SELECTED!!!! MUAHAHAH

last nite was too tired to blog..

there was this horrendous caller yesterday.. she wasn't screaming at me, she didn't scold me, she was just so naggy and slow and managed to have a 2-hour phone call with me trying to explain her bill to her. !! but i have to thank her, cos when she finally ended the call, she thanked me for being so patient and my sup says she will listen to the compliment part and get me a commendation letter! haha.. so my efforts wasn't wasted!! :P

then today, finally i was briefed on wat our project was about. nothing special, but seems to have been delayed again. the press release was supposed to have been today, but er.. nothing seems to have happend yet. so.. we're all waiting.. one good thing is that the people downstairs have come up! ^ . ^ so happy! got more pple to chit chat with le.. :P

some of my colleagues jio me to go eat bak kut teh later in the night but i so tired now le.. haiz.. they have so many activities but working this shift is so hellish how to go out? always so tired at work.. and have to wake up at 6am.. boo...

the company is very cok up. they hire us urgently for a project that was delayed, they switched our shifts to begin a project that no one has any idea about, we are not briefed in any way, our frens have no seats allocated to them. haiz. wat a messed-up HR dept.. and apparently, when the project starts, we are going back to the old pay we were supposed to get even if we're answering calls. they're really exploiting us!!! fcuking hell.. i'm really pissed off at the admin of this company.

other than that, my day was ok. a very long-winded customer made me work overtime without pay but at least no one screamed at me. hmm.. i've started reading The Ringmaster's Daughter by Jostein Gaardner.. it's been lying in the house for ages and i haven touched it yet. until now. it's pretty interesting, even though i've only read the beginning. :) will finish it tomorrow..

Spoilers ahead!!
dun read if u actually want to watch 2046 (the movie)..

some advice:
1. dun watch when u're sleepy
2. dun watch the midnight show cos u might fall asleep.

i watched 2046 last nite. it was like chungKing express. abstract story . slow moving. immoral themes. it was a good movie, i actually liked most of it, just couldn't help cringing at how wanton the whole show seemed to be. everything revolved round the protagonist's relationships (& sex life) and how he had commitment issues. and then there was Kimura Takuya (who spoke jap in the show!! :) ) he's still delicious.. hoho.. but not much chance to express himself, really quite a cameo role.. the cinema was freezing cold.. i was shivering beneath my MNG jacket.. so it was easy to just switch off into hibernating mode..

hmm.. conclusion is that just catch the weekday show for that.. its not worth the weekend money despite the big names.

yupz, i'm still home, with a whole weekend free all cos i'm sick. apparently, u can't dive with ur respiratory system all clogged up cos it might cause lung overexpansion. and burst of cos. .. its better to be safe than sorry.

went jap lesson, after that hp met me. we haven't seen each other at all this week.. went to his place so that he can drive me back, in the end i fell asleep and only managed to wake up at 1am. it was a great nap, the kind that was dreamless and u can close ur eyes and black out immediately even if u wake up in between. i haven't had this kind of sleep in a long while. the nite b4, i dreamt that someone was spraying water at me from a hose. and i spent the whole dream trying to escape the person. TIRING!! and last night i kept dreaming of phones ringing.. seems like a job stress-related dream.. & obviously, that wasn't very restful sleep as well.

i've been meeting all sorts of weird people on the bus to work in the mornings recently. there was this auntie who was carrying a sign and shouting in the bus to complain bout some man who owes her rent. she actually purposefully changes bus and gets on the mrt to shout at people. luckily, i wasn't her target audience. she was stupid enuff to get into a near empty bus which only had me and another school boy and she just ranted at the bus drivers for a while. hiakz.. then today, there was this old man who kept coughing loudly into his towel and shouting at people who tried to sit near him that he was having fever and they should stay away. it's gd that he's so considerate, but he seemed crazed to me. and to everyone else, especially disgusting that he was coughing so much. yuck..

i'm actually grateful for customers who call in to ask me how to do things. explaining things to them actually makes time pass faster, like yesterday i was teaching this lady how to set hte parental lock function on their set-top box. it took me a whole half hour! haha.. and the worst people to encounter are secretaries.. they talk very rudely, in a very demanding and demeaning tone to us. i hate it when they talk thru their nose to me, excuse me, who's the idiot who can't understand a simple bill in the first place?? ..

that's all for my ranting today. :P

i can't believe i had to get sick today. there goes the dive trip. -_-!

the pool session was a killer. i think he crammed 2 days worth of lessons into one nite. i'm thankful tomorrow is finally a chance to rest though. there's water up my nose and in my ears and my throat is so dry from all the compressed air.

i think i just lost a fren today. not due to any misunderstandings or that we hate each other, just due to circumstances. doesn't he cherish his frens? or maybe its the stage where frens don't matter anymore to him, they are just passers-by in his life.

work dragged on today. made esp worse that the people i tok to were all on half day shift today. haiz. i'm just craving for some tom yam soup again..

today seemed like a long day. dunno why.. maybe cos i have to come back to work after a long weekend..

the 2nd lesson over, passed the written test easily. tomolo will have the pool training! :) excited!!

i can't believe i totally forgot bout tuition today.. until ray mentioned it in the midst of lesson. OMG!! i didn't even call.. haiz. this is not good.. :( hope they dun hate me..

have nothing much to blog about. feeling very empty inside..

hmm..the interview didn't go that well. we spoke for bout 45 min, i can't tell if they liked me cos the boss just kept smiling. haiz. they kept asking bout characteristics needed etc for the job. i have no idea wat i was toking about, just kept smiling. haiz.

it's confirmed.. i'll be going diving this weekend.. the divemaster is a fren's fren, the trip is to pulau aur, some island in malaysia. just came back from the theory course.. its tiring.. informative but tiring.. hopefully i'll get my level 1 beginner's licence/cert? very excited.. have nv tried anithing out of my comfort zone b4.. wakeboarding was a failure due to my lack of body coordination. :P hee hee.. so excited!

finally a unhectic sunday.

tuition (x2) ended at 3pm today, frens jio-ed me to watch movie in JB cos it was cheap.. so off we went, reached JB at 4+, turns out city square no Jackie Chan movie so we had to settle for Ladder 49.

it was awesome. action-packed and very sad at the end. its the show with john travolta and joaquin phoenix. i was sniffing at the end.. but of cos, the show really upped my impression of firemen. they are "the only people running into the fire when everyone else are running out" .. very very very courageous. but their family members worry all the time whether they would return home safely each day. go catch it!! (very worthwhile for 10RM)

then we shopped around and i bought 2 pairs of shorts/berms from OP, and NARUTO! the comic book cost like 4.50RM each.. so i bought like 5 books! haha.. always feel very rich in JB..

then.. due to SBS' inefficiency, we waited at the bus stop at the woodlands causeway for like an hour. there were throngs of pple. we actually walked over the causeway on foot cos it was faster. then.. for a whole hour, there were only 170s going to kranji mrt. in the end, we couldnt bear it anymore and we just got on one of them. else we would prolly be still at woodlands now.

so tired.. tomolo Capcom interview! wish me good luck!!

yesterday ..

was at work the whole day..
first call was an irate customer at stupid ESPN cricket. i agree with him, but he shouldn't take it out on me. and it was worse trying to understand him thru his thick indian acccent. ... i didn't have anithing to eat the whole, cos i didn't noe that all the canteens were closed so early on sat. in the end, asked ray to eat dinner with me at holland v since i had to call him for the diving details as well. he was really cool bout it, just ok on the phone since he had no one to eat with oso i suppose..

we had thai express at holland v (Finally!) .. and it was quite a gd dinner.. both of us were famished, and all the food we ate were quite delicious.. after that, he suggested dessert at NYDC, and we had grandma-goes-nuts mudpie. YUM@! he treated me of cos.. hehe..

after that on the way back, met hp halfway and we dapaoed supper to my place.. i was too tired to tok to him much, just fell asleep wif my head on his tummy on the couch after he sat down to watch tv. haiz.

i guess i have to learn to trust again. since he promised to improve.

i had a good off day today. :) treated ed to lunch at crystal jade while he bought me a belated bday present.. New beige pierre cardin wallet! thx man... at least this one won't pop open and take up lotsa space in my bag..

we walked ard whole of orchard scouting for a wallet i liked.. it was no easy task. the wallets we kept seeing were the same few brands. so in the end we ended up stoning at borders coffee bean.. and where we observed that wheelock place has really stupid auto doors that open outwards which almost hit many pple walking into the building. the sensor was too slow.. and we were holding our breath waiting for someone to run into the building to get hit by the doors. hiakz... we are so mean...

jap class later on, had a blur time trying to figure out what the teacher was saying. the teacher was new, she refused to speak english at all, i could make out her instructions barely.. our old teacher is feeling homesick and going back to japan!! :( its really sad, at least she should have finished this term with us.. haiz.. i hope we have a good new teacher..

went to kbox for the first time!!

apparently, most of us girls (the new pple) had off days tomolo (friday) .. so at dinner, we toked bout going out after work.. decided on kbox and so off we went after work in someone's vehicle..

cos there were oni 5 of us.. we got to sing our money's worth until 3am.. hee.. i got to sing ALOT.. now having a sore throat.. beer and cigs do not help singers.. but at least i got a chance to know the other new pple better oso.. apparently one of the girls lived with her bf, another one has a Traffic police as a bf.. there were 2 other guys.. they didn't say whether they had girlfrens.. :P but at least been to KTv to destress.. and its payday!! haha.. now at least i can mail out my cheques to pay my bills again :)

looking forward to my proper off day in a long time tomorrow...

it's horrifying.

he's harboured tots regarding that other girl and even discussed with her the possibility of breaking up with me. in August when i tot all was well and we were going to see fireworks every weekend. i'm seriously heartbroken. and he says he just makes idle chat with her? i'm really sorry, i'm not buying it again. wat a fool i've been taken for. has he forgotten wat i've done for him just before that? why did he hold on to me all the times i suggested breakups when he was really contemplating that himself (& with some other girl apparently)?

I dunno wat i should be feeling right now. has this whole r/s been a farce all this while?

finally got our IDs!! nothing to be excited about.. i had to key in the back log of all the calls i handled.. took me 3 hours to clear the past 3 days of work. this is why we should always do the recording of incidents at the same time! but at least i have the messenger to chat with my mates downstairs now muahahaha..

i sorta became the teacher to the newer batch pple. there's this guy in my group who keeps smiling at me. (ya he's quite cute and all the other teams' girls are all ogling at him..) but he's new, and he actualli got his ID first!!! so unfair. then i borrowed his id and let him watch me do the updating while he learns.. heh.. so we got to chatting and turns out he's from poly, 1981 batch, and apparently a smoker too.. oh well.. why all cute guys smoke?! pity..

the afternoon shift is slow... and i dun get to see the rest of the pple at all.. although it gave me a chance to bond with my teammates.. got to know them all abit better.. :) they're veri humourous, esp the guys.. hiakz..

i think i'm suffering from STM (short term memory). i can't remember wat i did friday and sat.

oh yah.. i already blogged bout friday.. *rolls eyes at my stupidity*

saturday was a full work day, had lunch at the JVC canteen. I dunno why i was stoning, i managed to pour my coke into the space on the table beside my glass instead of into the glass. & made a puddle of coke on the table. DUH. and then ed and lester laughed at my boo boo. haiz. so clumsy as usual. stupid ed was like "Wah! must u make do one duh thing a day?" ....

after lunch, time seemed to pass quite quickly.. realised too late i had the nite free. last min called up frens, no one wanted to have dinner with me.. *sobz* in the end i walked ard orchard by myself abit.

boring..!

waiting for the bus again.. its been a horrendous day.. 4 calls back to back of horrible customers who scolded me. they scolded me stupid! it makes me wonder why pple wan to put themselves in such dire debts cos of some stupid tv programmes. and then they call us to plead and beg for reconnection.. haiz.

going for jap again.. i think i feel a little better today.. have to clear my head abit bah...

had dinner with ed b4 jap.. thx for taking out time for me.. realli realli appreciate it knowing how it was big risk for u.. :) sorry i was so grouchy all the time..

going to zzz early (12am is very early for me..)..