off the beaten tracks

the great plan was...

1. to finally do something healthy together (all we ever do is to eat and gossip)
2. wake up sibeh early despite a public holiday
3. prepare healthy food for a breakfast picnic by the park
4. conquer MacRitchie Treetop Walk
5. SWEAT! and burn calories.

all of the above...did not happen. hahaha.

we all...overslept. forgot to prepare breakfast and didn't feel like sweating. so, obviously no more Treetop Walk nor healthy living/eating. But! it was still an awesome day for us as we took a road trip around Singapore to explore off the beaten tracks...which later extended all the way to JB for, what else, but SEAFOOD and PIRATED DVDS!!

the gang entrusted me to be their driver for the day. (well not like they had a choice) half blinded to road signs, i thought i did a pretty good job chauffering them around in the super duper heavy downpour halfway through our "discover.sg" trip.with only some lousy directions i got from my dad, we managed to find all the Kranji farm-farm thingy. our first destination in sight was Qianhu Fish Farm. i never gave too much credit to Qianhu's boss, that is until i saw a wall Full of his newspaper clippings and awards. and a wall mounted TV that was screening his Bloomberg interview on repeat mode...i must admit i'm impressed.



we unexpectedly found a dragon fruit farm and went in. i bet no one here knows how a dragon fruit tree look like lor! wasn't too excited about the actual fruit itself though. i hate it, i thought it tasted like a weird meat embedded with sesame seeds. nasty!















next up was Hay's goat dairy farm. if my memory didn't fail me, i must have been here when i was like in primary school! wow, must be at least 15 years ago. and yeah, it still smells pretty much the same.and since we were already at Kranji, we thought we'd just "pop by" JB to restock our pirated DVDs and to pump some cheap petrol home. haha. then car must eat, human also must eat mah. we already tried to exercise alot of discipline liao...three persons eat six dishes...only.i love mangosteens. my all time favourite favourite fruit!time to head back home...and it only means one thing - TRAFFIC JAM! so it's tailgating all the way past Woodlands checkpoint. with my superb lane cutting skills and my "don't-ever-signal-cos-people-won't-give-way-so-just-chup-into-their-lane-and-give-them-the-finger-if-they-horn" theory...we managed to get out of the mess in about 70minutes. btw the above theory only applies at the Causeway. in Singapore i am a "signal-early-drive-safely" kind of driver hor.

i love my friends. they are awesome friends. even when it was pouring outside, it never dampened our mood. not even for one second. this is real companionship.

kota tinggi waterfalls

inspired by Ian Wright's Globe Trekker series on Malaysia last night, i was up bright and early today and took a road trip down Kota Tinggi with DH. half the trip was surprisingly scenic as i drove further in, towards the waterfalls. there were some plantations and wild monkeys along the way too.after about 2 hours of driving, we finally arrived at our destination!i huffed and puffed all the way up those stone steps to get to the upper streams where the water was cooler and more importantly...cleaner.wow the water shiok shiok! it was quite cold, and it reminded me of the times where i had to do ice pool rehab at the Sports Council whenever i suffered an injury. haha. those were the times man. but the fishes were quite irritating, they kept poking. eee!


what a great way to spend a hot sunny afternoon. submerged in cold running water and to be embraced by nature. i felt happiness during the drive back home to Singapore. :) i hope i continue to find happiness in every little simple things in life. everyone should take some time off to smell the roses by the roadside. :) don't be too hard on yourself!












oh but one sad thing happened. i lost one side of my puma flip flops i bought in Taiwan!!! one monent i had it with me and then Poof! it was gone. i could only watch on helplessly as the water currents push it away...it disappeared right before my eyes almost instantly. grr...should have kept it tightly 'kiapped' in between my toes! so i was left barefooted for the rest of the trip. so paiseh lor, eating in a restaurant without shoes. hahaha. but ok lah, it was quite amusing. when i came out of the vehicle (barefooted) to open up the boot for the customs officer to check. he said: "wah what happened? you kena robbed ar?" :P what an experience indeed.

job agents are my new best friends

"when we wake up in the morning, we have two choices: go back to sleep and dream, or wake up and chase those dreams."

it's not hard to guess which choice was mine.

while i was still dreaming (and drooling) this morning an agent called. (sidetrack: WHY DO ALL THESE AGENTS HAVE TO CALL AT LIKE 915am?!?! THEY DUNNO I STILL SLEEPING MEH?!?! pls lor any normal Unemployed person will NOT be awake at this time!)

she told me about this job opportunity which i am really really quite keen on!! although it is one of those "controversial industries" but...i like the job function/scope enough to brush it off. in fact, this is the only job that truly interests me so far.

when other agents call, i will be like...*in super enthusiastic voice: yeah sure!! i am looking forward to your email!! and i will forward you my resume immediately!! i really appreciate your call this morning!! thanks!! you made my day!! so i hope you can have a nice day too!! goodbye!! *then...sian...hangs up phone and go back sleep.

so...i really hope i can be shortlisted to go for an interview. CROSS FINGERS!!!

you know it's not a good sign when....

the first programme you see on TV the moment you wake up is:
狮城六点半 (Chinese News@630pm)

15 hours of sleep today. unbelievable. the next time i'm like that...someone should just turn on the gas valves while i'm hibernating.

well, the good thing about this is that...since i spend most of my time unconscious in bed, i eat only once a day. hahaha. save money and can slim down. :P

SIA and their never-ending forms

UPDATED!

well, i really shouldn't be bitching about this now you know. afterall i have just sent in an application to be considered for a position with them. (NOT CABIN CREW...i know i CMI)

but SIA's job application form is really...sibeh long. tonight, 3 of us...me, enz (who loves trumpetz) and tang happened to be filling in the application form at the same time...

On MSN:

tang---->Finally... says: wah!!! i click submit then suddenly all the info disappear! now have to re type everything!

many many many minutes later...

tang---->Finally... says: tamade, finally finish typing everything liao!!!

in another MSN window...

hello, lily-of-the-valley says: WAH LAU...the SIA application must fill in again?! one at jobsfactory, one at their website itself...so sian lor.......

many many many minutes later...

hello, lily-of-the-valley says: WTH!!! i dunno wat i press and suddenly i have to fill in the SIA form again! SO frustrating!!! SIAAAAAN!
hello, lily-of-the-valley says: i am in quite a gek mood now
hello, lily-of-the-valley says: huh.............still got qn assessment...???
hello, lily-of-the-valley says: if need me to type out somemore stuff...im gonna be $%^&*(*$^%$#

they should have some sort of health hazard warning..."Filling in an SIA application form may cause mental discomfort, nauseousness or in some cases, death by frustration."

Update:

well, tonight one more friend tried to apply for SIA and....

Cosmo babe says: wa lao...really v v v v v v mafan lor!!!
Cosmo babe says: im thinking of quitting the filling up....

one minute later....

Cosmo babe says: ok i quit... i v lazy to fill in. :x

i have a delusive faith in myself

UPDATED!

i emailed this to my professor in NTU...

Hello XXX!

Whether you like it or not... I wrote your big name down as one of my character reference in my XXX application to XXX Organisation. So if they ever call you (which I seriously doubt they will)...don't be nervous, you can just tell them the truth ok? ie: I am the bestest, brightest student you have ever seen. and that i am a responsible, efficient, eloquent, analytical, well rounded individual.

Sounds easy enough right?

If I ever get the job...I will be sent to Dubai. And this is very important to me because I am so looking forward to hooking up with some Dubain oil rig prince there! This is career aspiration we're talking about here.

Cheers!
pq

--well i have no idea why he hasn't replied. maybe i should wait for a few more days before sending him another mail!

Update:

yes! my professor has finally replied! he said:

“….As for finding an oil rig prince, the one thing you should know about Dubai is that they have almost no oil. It's all gone...”

WHAT??? no oil??? sad leh!! nehmind… no more oil but surely still got Prince right.

“….FYI, the oil is in Abu Dhabi, which is another of the Emirates further south. The problem for you, with your flamboyant lifestyle, is that Abu Dhabi is far more conservative than Dubai and you'd have to dress accordingly almost everywhere.”

oh no? is he saying that i am going to have to look like this????NO!!! holy macaroni! or rather…holy pita bread…or holy camel meat? (man, what the hell does the Dubains eat?)

things that annoy me # 189

while filling in a job application:

Marital Status (please choose one):
Single
Married

*me clicked on Single then clicked >> Next

Please indicate:
1. Single (never married)
2. Single (divorced)
3. Single (widowed)

* what?!?! $#%&^*(@

Single is Single lah! why you so kaypo and want to know if i am single because i is an old spinster who is kena left on the shelf...or it's because my husband abandoned me for a younger, sexier china woman liao...or it's because my spouse died in a freak accident...for example: kena crushed by a fallen tree while walking in the park.

XYZ! waste my time. Singapore SUCKS. no privacy! no labour protection! no dignity! and lots of discrimination.

and this is just one of the many examples of why Singapore is so dumb. stupid gahmen.

other irrelevant questions on job applications include:

my father name
my father occupation
my mother name
my mother occupation
my sister name
my sister occupation

and the list goes on and on and on...

you want to know my forefather from TEOCHEW CHINA name and occupation or not? i don't know but i can imagine he is a farmer of some sort. happy?

GO EAT SHIT.

red white & pure.....and expensive

we visited this restaurant called red white & pure at Vivo City to celebrate Mother's day. we chose to eat there cos the theme of the restaurant fits my mum really well. it claims to serve "spa cuisine in a rustic dining space", whatever that means.

mum has always been a big fan of "healthy living" - she goes for yoga classes, spas and retreats to the mountains of some ulu part of malaysia for meditation sessions...and her latest craze is belly dancing. but then she will stay overnight to watch stupid korean dramas - so much for healthy living huh. and she likes "healthy eating"...always buying all the expensive organic stuffs...for example, she will buy organic tomatoes to put into her msg laden instant noodles. ^^"" oh well, let's just say she's a wannabe.

ooh...look, the food is so organic, so botanic and so therapeutic! it's so MUM.whatever! it just means...no salt no pepper and no taste.yup...all the 又贵又吃不饱 (expensive-and-can't-fill-u-up dishes)...aiyah...but she happy can liao lor! I LOVE U!

my first LOB

this is my first Live-On-Board (LOB) trip with MV Seaborne to Pulau Aur. and i loved every single thing about it. why? because basically you just sleep-dive-eat-sleep-dive-eat. and of course when i say eat, it also includes sea sick pills.

we were a big group...11 of us. 2 ang mohs who were also booked on this trip found out that they were the only 'outsiders' five minutes before we boarded the boat. haha. poor ang mohs...but ok lah, at least we never outcast them! we will always remember to jio them to eat when the meal is served.one of my diving kakis told me that this is a sea cucumber that has just vomitted. hmm...why do i have a feeling that they are pulling my leg?so happy! i took a photo with nemo!man look at this murray eel hiding under the coral, it is quite a big one! abit scary cos by the time i saw it, my face was one nose length away from the eel.well, we don't really know the name of this coral but T calls it the the Christmas Tree Coral cos it looked like small colourful christmas trees.the last time we spotted a sea turtle but forgot to bring camera down. so this time we were lucky enoughto see one again.all the meals on board were very delicious. everytime we come up from a dive we were presented with fruit platters, sandwiches and all sorts of snacks.this is the genius behind the magic wok! he is one of the boat crew who doubled up as the cook. a super multi tasker he is...can cook, charge tanks and pack our dive gears all at the same time. and no, his food has zilch chance of getting burnt.took this photo after lunch, so paiseh ah all my FATS coming out from my bikini, that's why must hide behind someone!we got to go on shore for a while cos the guys needed to re-stock their cigs. i didn't go though cos i fell asleep while tanning on the sundeck.JK the dive master! i was assigned to be his dive buddy this time. he is very good! i felt damn safe partnering him. he said: "don't worry you don't need to look for me cos i will look for you one lah"


come, tell me that i look more and more like a diver pro now. haha.

argh, no...i know i just look like a cambodian. or thai.

whatever!!

jobsdb.com.sg

sian sian sian...

despite having n number of job postings on their website, none of them seem appropriate for me. it is either i am not qualified enough for the job or the job description simply sucked. i swear i wasn't being picky alright!

last night mum came home and bitched about her bad day at work. and i felt really guilty after, because on this very day when mum was pissed at work...i slept till 130pm. then i stucked my butt into the sofa in front of the telly, watched dvds the entire day. i ordered Mac delivery for lunch because i had an ass too fat to move...i used my mobile phone (which was beside me) to call instead of the house phone (just 2 steps away) because it was too tedious for me to reach for it! boo!

and here is mum...all beaten from a hard day's work...having instant noodles for dinner (although it was a very expensive packet of instant noodles that i bought from a Japanese supermart) cos she had no mood to 'ta pao' food back... :s

one look at my mobile phone's calendar:

8 May: meet sis for Billy Bombs@7pm
9 May: meet BV gang for Annalakshimi@7pm (Indian cuisine)
10 May: meet WY for red star dim sum@1030am, meet scuba gang for Hawaiian BBQ@7pm
11 May: meet SE for coffee@8pm
12 May: meet Dr Lam for cantonese food@7pm

i am such an useless bum. thank you very much.

i know mum and dad worked very hard to give me the life i want. the kind of life i have been enjoying for the past quarter of a century. so what i wish for now, is to really get a good job, earn enough money...so that i can lead a good life. more importantly, provide mum and dad with a good life. i am not talking about luxury and stuff...but, well you know what i mean....

and it looks like i am not the only one with career woes...

on MSN...
Romeo Oscar Yankee says: haiz
Romeo Oscar Yankee says: so sianz
Romeo Oscar Yankee says: i wan to quit
Romeo Oscar Yankee says: i wan to strike toto

Roy...wake up. me too.

money...in exchange for an ass-wiping paper and 3 years of happy life

today a cab driver asked if i knew how much i spent on my university education. i said...i guess...few thousands? tens of thousand? not sure leh...they just deduct and deduct...that's the thing with GIRO, you lose track of the amount after some time...bla bla....

anyways, after getting off, i spent my entire day shopping...unbelievably, this session of retail therapy translates into more than $240 spent in just one afternoon! (buying totally unnecessary merchadises)...hmm, not mentioning the $380 i paid for the diving trip this coming weekend. and did i say i am unemployed? arghh...

well, all of a sudden, the issue on "how much does my education cost?" came back to mind. so i decided to find out for myself and i went into my dad's CPF account. i realised i sort of owe him (altho he never wanted me to pay) $20488.45 in total for my tertiary education!! *gasps* then a quick check with Studentlink for my E-bill, i realised stupid NTU charged me $870 ++ on miscellanous fees...for like shuttle bus services and stuffs...nabeh, i think i only took the stupid shuttle bus like less than 3 times! dad gives me an average of 700 bucks per month x 36 months = $ 25,200

so my entire NTU stint cost him like 47,000??!! (already a very conservative figure)...not forgetting the holiday trips that he sponsors me every now and then. and my credit card bills that i occasionally (........ok, frequently) conveniently forgets to pay...

wah............................

speechless. jaw drop.

damn, seriously i should have just gone to work after poly. argh....i feel so useless. i am like sibeh jiak liao bee! (eat and waste rice)

and so, i aspire to work hard and pay off these bills!! but first, i need a job. :(

final destination 2

UPDATED!

0257 hrs:
in just another 6 hours time (at 9am), i will sit for my last exam paper in NTU. i am excited cos i cannot wait to get it over and done with. yet, i feel a tingling of sadness... as much as i say i hate NTU and how CMI it is... i think i will miss my days there.

0525 hrs:
gosh i am still awake!!! in fact, wide awake! i feel so excited...over what i don't know?! should i catch the first train to Boon Lay now?? hmm...

2359 hrs:
yeap, i guess this is really final

my last time staying up through the night to study for an exammy last time taking the ever-so-crowded-with-kiasu-and-sometimes-smelly undergradsmy last time sitting in an examination hallmy last exam paper taken in NTUto be happy or sad? oh well, guess it doesn't matter anymore now?

i have good heart, so says Raven

was chatting with Raven on MSN other night...about his recent career move as a result of his passion (even if it meant a huge pay cut). he shared career insights with me since i'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed pretty soon ...bleah

RaVeN: after 5 years of being sensible... and trying to work and also keep my passion part-time..I thought..what the HECK...

RaVeN: money is impt. but hard to find a job with money + passion.
RaVeN: choose watever job u want. juz make sure u know what u want. then don't regret.
RaVeN: u seem like the sort who will be happier if u do the things u like...
RaVeN: u like to complain abt needing money..but I think..u'll complain a lot more abt other things.

qix: u can just be direct - ie: i like to complain about everything :P:P

RaVeN: no lar. after so many years...i know u...a bit.
RaVeN: u like to complain only. but u're a very easy-going person.
RaVeN: and accomodating.
RaVeN: and caring..

qix: woaahhh....i super gan dong. ahem. albeit a little shameless, i agree with what u say.

RaVeN: u are lar. some ppl say all the right things, never complain, but they have evil heart.
RaVeN: u got a good heart.

qix: but too bad i say all the wrong things right?!...boo

somehow i felt supremely happy after the conversation. well, you know how at times...when you self-reflect on your behaviours and how you treat people and stuffs? then you don't really know if you're doing things the right way, if you have been treating people well?...it is times like these you need a pat on your back and someone to tell you that you are indeed a nice person. :)

yay! i have good heart, so says Raven!

SCUBA

the dives started during the boat ride from Mersing to Tioman...we started off by snorkelling first and i thought that was very already quite fun, that is until i tried the real scuba diving!by the way, i just found out that SCUBA is actually an acronym, it stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus and was invented by a French; Jacques Cousteau. hahaha check out my ugly hair :P ready to take the plunge! the underwater world is really awesome. looking at the marine life through an aquarium and actually being inside the ocean is such an entirely different experience. everything just slows down and it is so quiet. i felt like i was in another dimension. i felt like i could just leave all my troubles (my exams haha) behind on land... and plunge right into the water.finding nemo? i found nemo... and found other stuffs too...i was so lucky to spot a sea turtle swimming beside me! and i saw a damn big cuttlefish...but i felt a bit guilty lah cos my first reaction was: wah...i think it will taste damn good with sambal belacan sia... "_"evil sea urchins! they are like everywhere! and very dangerous too... i kept my eyes wide open just to make sure i don't kena poked by them. anyways, scuba diving, highly recommended for all. but one very, very important thing to take note. be sure to go with people you like, cos the company makes a great difference. afterall you spend most of the time on the boat interacting/chatting and you want to do that with people whom you can relate to :)

mai siao siao!

now, who says my ah siao is fat?! he is nothing compared to this cat at the coffeeshop downstairs! i think i must start carbo-loading ah siao...cannot lose to other cats lor! especially since ah siao is domesticated...how can he be slimmer than strays who are supposedly very pitiful and hungry all the time?

some updates about my exam revisions: I AM GOING SCUBA DIVING THIS WEEKEND! now...you should know how much work i have done, so stop asking me, my NTU mates!

but seriously, i cannot believe i am studying for my diving theory test instead of my GMS exam!! i take my hat off myself. i siao liao.

hi-life

today's lunch at hotel miramar's ikoi retaurant was good. went with two of my ex TP lecturers, we talked about going there forever. before they left school they actually told their colleagues that they have a lunch appointment to "build" alumni...of course the alumni in this case is Yours Truly. and being very hardworking and responsible workers, they hurried back to show face work after (a 3 hour) lunch. hahaha....
after lunch Mel picked me up and we went to this Boat Asia launch at One°15 Sentosa Cove... i have never been there before but cannot help thinking that it bears a resemblance to the waterfront in NZ! (except that NZ is nicer) Singapore is so copy cat lor.

anyways, this is where all the rich people park their yatchs. this particular med sized boat costs a whooping $150,000! this is excluding all the maintainence/ petrol/ parking fees hor.

Ling and her daughter was on this house boat and according to an ang moh, who was the owner of the 150 grand boat above... this house boat costs a few million...walau. the season parking for this house boat sure also very siong.
sigh...how i wish i have the money to buy all these...but seriously if i have the money i also won't buy it lah. haha...but have the money first. sian.