I'm slowly warming up to the idea of having to drag myself out of bed when it's still dark, get out of the house at 6 plus, hop on a packed bus with (too many) students and other working adults.. rush to get on the lift with many others, and then plonk myself in front of the computer for hours and hours and hours, freezing in my seat and waiting rather impatiently for 6 o clock to strike.

My office's pantry has a really nice view! It overlooks the Singapore Polo Club so I see horses everytime I look down! :)

This is my first office job, and I'm so NOT loving the fact that I have to stare at the computer screen for what seem like decades, till my eyes tear, in a bid to complete my work. I now swear by the eye exercises taught to us in primary school. They were once thought to be really silly, but now these eye massages are my saviour!!As some of you may know about my spine/back condition, my back isn't coping so well with the heels and all the sitting around in the office for hours..

A few days before work, I opened my bursting closet and stared hard at my collection of clothes (which I've carefully colour-coded! yay)... And to my horror, I only found ONE shirt that could pass off as being formal.. Serious shopping needed..

Thank goodness This Fashion didn't close down and Cotton On has a super super sale... cos most of my formal clothes were picked off their racks with gusto. Its still feels weird to be wearing a buttoned shirt tucked into my high waisted silky pants or skirt and then strutting off to work, not in my beloved Charles and Keith Sandals, but in my heels! here's me on my first day of work! =) marco treated me to ajisen for dinner that day! hoorays!

Probably due of my limited collection of office wear, I actually have to use the weekends to try out all the outfits first, rate them out of ten, then plan what to wear for the following week.. a safeguard against being late for work every morning. Seriously dislike the attire restrictions!! Which is why I make it a point to deck out in shorts and casual stuff during weekends. Am I becoming one of those so-called sloppy singaporeans? heh.

I was on the brink of dozing off during the first week of work, just because I slept at 2am the nights before to watch my CSIs.... and what nots.. I was so terribly sleepy I had to resort to catching some sleep in the toilet a couple of times :( I think I'm old..

On the other hand, I like the feeling of working independently among the rest... listening to the conversations that go around the office, replying emails and public queries, I even like pretending to work when I'm really just slacking.. It's also quite cool to receive work-related emails when you check your mail the first thing in the morning. Suddenly, you feel important, with a sense of mission even!

I kinda have the "best" seat in the office- in front of all my big bosses (all thanks to the marvellous hexagonal structure of the building), which means it's a true challenge to find opportunities to slack (aka: MSN/ surf random sites like stomp.sg/ blog). And hotmail is disabled lah!

I'm missing my freedom!!! Office jobs are so not for me, and so not me... I can't talk loudly, I can't move around to much, I don't have any other form of entertainment other than my walkman (which is supposedly not a problem, cos I'm not supposed to be entertaining myself during work anyway). I really don't understand how one can sit in front of the computer and work and work for so long!! Which is why the best thing about work is 6pm- the end of all the boredom, cold (cos my office's freezing), and rigidness( i can't exactly prance around, sing and dance...)..I'll wait till like 6.10 (so that it won't be so obvious I'm desperate to leave) and then strut out of office quietly because I'm always the first to go! I feel kinda guilty and slack for leaving first all the time.. but Marco argued that interns shouldn't set the benchmark for leaving the office too late, cos the bosses are supposed to leave after me... But I don't have that much work to stay overtime la!

Quote of the day, by my boss to us, poor employees : " Enormous problem, fight fight fight!"

I think the most stressful thing about the job is not exactly the work that I'm doing, but social relations. Like how I'm always worried I won't make friends in school on the first week of every semester, I was a little apprehensive when I first stepped into the office..
I'm working in an all female department, with the exception of my big big boss and another male staff..Contrary to my expectations that my office would be full of mature, older employees, I was surprised to find that most of my colleagues are young and trendy 26-27 year olds! Colleagues are really nice and friendly people...But that doesn't really translate into me being able to really truly click with all of them. It's really times like these that I really appreciate all my good friends- and how we can easily be tuned to the same frequency when it comes to conversational topics, humour, activities..

I remember one lunch time topic with my colleagues was on the different types of cheese and how to cook tomatoes.Hmm...
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Things were ok initially I guess... Nothing really exciting or worth raving about... I went for lunch with a few fellow interns, but my days really got better when a fellow intern from my department came back from leave.

Her name's Melody. And it was REALLY REALLY coincidental that we share the same surname! Actually she's the first friend of mine to share my surname! She's a PSC scholar, studying medicine! Despite her being much smarter than me, we get along pretty well, and I'm really thankful she's around to brighten up my hours at the office! Everyone's so serious around here and seem like they got mountains of things to get done, it's almost difficult to find someone to lunch with cos everyone packs lunch back to the office! But I absolutely refuse to spend another minute in the office unless necessary! So, I get out of the office all the time with my ten million toilet/ slack breaks...

As I'm completing this entry, it's Melody's last day at work.. and i'm so gonna miss her..

P/s: Its kinda scary to know I'm leaving Singapore for Canada in less than a month...

Kockee

It's probably about time to dedicate an entry to a really really good friend of mine whom I've known for more than half my life - yenlin :)



I don't really remember when exactly in primary school did we start call each other "kockee"and where the nickname came about , but the name has stuck with us since, for 9 years and counting... And so the entry shall be dedicated to Kockee!

Beginnings

We first met in Primary 4, in a speech and drama class that our parents sent us to. I didn't really have tuition when I was in primary school, but I remember being sent to loads of enrichment classes- abacus, ballet, yoga, drawing, poetry..... Anyways, we two were randomly chosen to be a group (which we named, The Smarties) and tadah, memories of our friendship pretty much started ever since.


A Common Passion for Fine Arts

We were both in the Young Artists' Club for many years and so we met every Sunday for art lessons at Boon Lay Art Centre. She was really good at drawing and painting, and its really through her guidance that I've improved so much during the years.

I remember our teacher bringing us out to paint landscapes during the school holidays. He would have a list of dates and outing timings written down on the board, and we would choose any 3 to go to.. It was kinda like an exam for us, because our grades for these outdoor painting sessions determined if we could advance to the next level.

Me and kocke would choose our spot in a park, or at the void deck, roll out our picnic mats, lay out our painting stuff neatly in front of us and begin painting, while curious passerbys stare at the big crowd of us in our yellow shirts. Anxious parents would sit with their children, either to fan them or to buy snacks for them when they're hungry.

After completing our masterpieces, we would join the LOOOONG queue in front of the teacher, to let the teacher grade our pieces. The teacher has a habit of walking around the park/ void decks to check on us, and he's always not an a fixed place, and so you'll probably see us scrambling around the flats to look for him ...

"LONG SI TING! " My teacher would boom when it's my turn at the queue.His voice still brings shudders down my spine. He would stare at my painting for a while, while other kpo parents stand behind him to look..And the aunties would already begin to mumble comments behind me..

It's almost impossible to get the teacher to grade your painting at the first try. He'll probably scream comments like " why did you draw the ugly dustbin in?" or "why is this corner so empty", shove the painting back to us, (which is a cue that we must run back to edit it before bringing it back to him again, which means REJOINING THE LONG QUEUE). :P I remember cursing him again and again cos he made me run around back and forth all the time.. And it was then we started calling him " lao3 yao1 guai4" (old monster)..and we've referred to him as that ever since..

Sigh, so nostalgic..

Our 1 mark difference in PSLE score led us to different secondary schools. Luck was seldom on her side.. I got an A for Math despite struggling with the subject all year round, and her grades would have been straight A+s if not for her B in Maths, which was surprisingly unexpected. And so she ended in Nanhua, me in RV..

We made an effort to keep our friendship going and so wrote loads of letters to each other then.. and till date, I've kept hundreds and hundreds of them.. She's never forgotten my birthdays, and presents are always accompanied with a hand-drawn card, with long heartwarming messages.

We catch up once in a while now.. and most of the time, she's introducing me to good food, it's almost impossible to diet when out with her. Deserts after steamboat, ice-cream after buffets..

And the recent outing with her to swensens had a big nice chocolate fondue after dinner! To think I thought, for once I could be healthy and just eat my SALAD in swensens!

That probably sums up our long friendship....

Snapshots

A few random snapshots of my life.
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Father's Day :

Dad wanted to go to this Teochew Restaurant at Bukit Batok, but it was still packed at 8.30, so we headed straight to IMM! I was like secretly super happy that Dad chose to eat Aijisen cos I was so so so so so craving for the crayfish ramen there then!
Haha, its weird how I only eat the crayfish ramen at aijisen, the pure chocolate ice-blended in coffee bean, only the chicken mcnuggets meal in Mac, the sotongfish head in Old Chang Kee, the Chicken Royale Baked Pasta in Pizzahut and almost nothing else in these places.

Ordered this chestnut desert with vanila ice-cream there that was super yummy! But everyone agreed it looked kinda gross. haha =)
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Cousins

The cousins went out for a boardgames session at The Pitstop Cafe, and Marco came along! Really fun!It was difficult trying to find games to accomodate to my little cousin though!
Note Jonathan's hairstyle- his hair got chopped off when he went back to reservice, and let's just say its erm, controversial. hah =)

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Outing with Sharon

I went out with Sharon that day, for a simple meal in Toa Payoh...

Guess she enjoys the company and someone to really hear her talk about her life- a life so simple, she practically repeats the same thing to me everytime we talk.. And its been almost 2 years and nothing has really changed.

She'll talk about her school, how people not play with her sometimes, or about her Sundays at Church. And my response would somehow be the same,but it seems she enjoys telling me about them anyway..

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Swimming at JE Swimming Complex

Went swimming with Marco that day as part of my fitness plan! Haha, I wanted to act cute and young that day, so I plaited my hair! A little bimbotic, but who cares. haha.

My skin's becoming more tan, despite the sunblock! I think I like myself a little whiter.

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ANYWAYS!!!!! I'M SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER HAPPY, and i wanted to share my joy with you guys! =)

NUS sent me this letter to inform me I've received the Wee Mon Cheng Bronze Medal cos of my academic results for the past sem/year! =) So i'm due for a prize presentation before I leave for Canada! I'm super happy, cos its so unexpected! I'm thinking of what to wear.. hmmmmmm

Oh ya, I booked my air tickets already.. I'm leaving for Canada on 24th August and I'll prob be back on the 31st of December or something! =) Eeks, suddenly its down to 2 months before I leave Singapore..

The 21st

I haven't received my birthday party photos from Jason yet, but I thought I should actually pen an entry down to revive my quiet blog.. so maybe i'll post the photos when i get back from Bali.

Seriously, I never thought I'll have like a blast on my 21st birthday. Its totally beyond my expectationsI just thought it'll be just another one of those birthdays that slip away in a second.

But its amazing how wonderful and overwhelming my 21st has been. Truly made beautiful by Marco and all of my lovely friends and family! I feel so so loved !!! I think birthdays are so ego-boosting (haha)

After a long decision, I finally made the decision to have a birthday party (possibly inspired by Alvin's party).. And then i was thrown into the decision of churning out the invites list and then sending out sms invites. Its seriously not easy to be a host- i possibly discussed the invites list and who should come to talk to who, who would be left out and everything, and i'm really sorry if some of ya did not receive my sms (either due to my overlook or the screwed up sms service). But I really do love all my friends.=)

Then it was down to the location of the party. I can't emphasize how long i spent goggling and yahoo-ing every night on sites like yum.sg or hungrygowhere.com. I think I can easily name 100 restaurants and their reviews and what they're recommended for.. thanks to my research. I don't think I've even worked so hard for termpapers. heh.

Ask Marco and you'll know how many options i had, and how i eliminated them cos I wanted something special. The party was almost held at the MINT toy museum but due to the bad service and delay in sending me the proposal, I moved the party over to The Central. It was by a stroke of luck that I saw this restaurant, while surfing facebook and clicking at people's photos. I was attacted by the simple vintage deco! And it was also by a stroke of luck that I managed to recognise the background in the photo as Clarke Quay and ta dah, the venue was set.

Then came the task of coordinating the food, budget, drinks, games, decorations.And of course, I must look pretty too, so as expected, loads of brain cells died because of that. a few hours before the party, i went for this free makeup thing by sasa and i almost died cos the "professional" "painted" my face in so many shades I thought i looked like i was some mountain tribe in war paint. So there was a mad rush to buy makeup remover wipes. I loved how my hair looked that day, I totally need to re-perm my hair before i head for Canada!

And mavis being mavis, then spent hours everyday to create the little mini people, the letters and everything I've given to ya all, as well as the decorations on the wall. I added in the "21 facts I bet you didn't know about Mavis" at the last minute cos I think the wall was too bare, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed reading how weird I am..

I hope everyone that came enjoyed the party cos loads of effort and planning went into it. I must apologise for the lack of walking space or anything I've overlooked.. *hugs* I totally love the presents you guys gave me!!!!!!

(ps: cheeks and xuefen: the jumping rabbit made me laugh for super long, and the purple crocodile is now permanently in my bag so that i can show other pple! haha)

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I must really thank my parents, my lovely brother and all my relatives too.


Especially Dad!! who gave me a Visa card and treated all of us to Carnivore (sinful like anything!). awwwwwww... Its really difficult to describe this sense of bliss I have around me, even though my birthday its not here. but it does feel like I've been celebrating for ages cos I'm filled to the brim with loads of love and happiness.

_____________

To Marco:

Last but not least, I'll like to thank my special someone (I wonder if you'll be reading this). i think I've probably nagged at you for spending so much money on my birthday presents more than I've thanked you for making this 21st so memorable, but everything really wouldn't have been possible without you. The scale of your project was really beyond anything I imagined- you actually manage to contact friends that I haven't even said hello to in almost 8 years... and i still made you go through the torture of having to tell me one clue a day (and most of the time asking for more)..



And everyone has been telling me how sweet you are, so I'm glad all my friends love you too, because I can't be more glad that they do..




Thank you sweetheart! saya cinta pada mu =)




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Do visit http://www.happybirthdaymavis.sg/ if you haven't, to see the work of the crazily romantic boyfriend. And thanks for all your well-wishes my friends!!! Mavis Long can't be more happy to have friends like you all!!



ps: lala! i'm so happy to see your well-wishes!!! i miss you like crazy!



As part of my birthday surprise that the boyfriend has been hiding, I'm off to Bali for sweet escapade with him tomorrow! tata~

Cambodia

YOYOYO!
I'm BACK!!
it feels good to be back in modern civilisation, seriously.
though i must say cambodia is a lovely country - peaceful, serene and friendly.
its a place where people smile at you when you smile at them on the streets, where kids wave at passing cars, a place with simple pleasures, nice people.
i'll miss the tuk-tuks
the squeezy vans
the kids that clamour for your hugs, wave excitedly and say hello when you arrive and leave
the kids that cry when you say goodbye
the kids at are so easily contented with so little.
i cannot forget the mosquitos that dive ever so often into my food
the grasshoppers that jump around me as i sit in the hotel
the houseflies in the van
though i can't imagine myself living in cambodia for longer than i already have.
i miss singapore food, i miss modern entertainment, i miss technology!
photos coming up!!!

its the first time i alighted from a plane like that! i didn't even have this in mongolia! haha. so the whole group of us singaporeans were busy snapping away at this "rare experience".

can you believe this is the international airport?
Ooh, this is the room i shared with a friend! the boutique guesthouse was really pretty, much better than expected! its a project by the organisation we're helping, so we got the guesthouse at a special rate! the place's not fully renovated though..pictures of the lovely countryside...

and the things i love most about Cambodia- all the street kids, village kids...

its saddening when you learn about the stories behind these children- children who have been abused, sold for 100 US dollars, discarded.

this little kid i'm carrying is HIV positive..heard she only has a few more years to live and i couldn't help but grieve at the thought. left with a heavy heart.. :( i think i'll go back to Cambodia very soon to take more presents to the children, to give them more hugs, more love, and a little more attention..

i can't help but feel really blessed. and really fortunate.

joke of the day

i thought i might as well share a joke that i heard
wonder if you guys heard of this one before
(read this aloud to get the joke k :P)
the joke was abit racist so i modified it a bit . haha.

okay.. it goes something like this..
__________________________________

On one episode of NS outfield, a commander took 3 of his cadets out to the jungle..
so they reach their campsite and the commander said to his first cadet: " Cadet! you are responsible for pitching all the tents!"

and he said to the second cadet :" You! you're responsible for gathering food and water!"

and he said to the third cadet [Ah Beng]: " You in charge of the supplies okay!"

and they were given 2 hours to complete their tasks and were supposed to meet back at the same place..

after 2 hours, the commander only saw the first 2 cadets..
Puzzled, he asked them whether they seen Ah Beng..


Suddenly, Ah Beng jumped out and said: " SUPPLIES!"

( surprise)

_______________________________________________________
get it?? :) haha.
oops i hope making fun of someone's poor english doesn't give me bad karma. haha.

Silly Me

I've been laughing a lot at myself lately. Heh.
I wonder if people do more silly things when they're stressed..

Up my portfolio.. i introduce...

Case 1:

Was going to dance lessons with Marco on Sunday.
Typical day, crowded train, we board the train at Jurong East and grabbed ourselves a corner...
I really forgot what we were talking about that day, but we were really engrossed...
At one point, the train jerked and i grabbed ' his hand'...
But we were really engrossed right.. so i held on and on, putting all the weight of my bag on that hand..
Until, marco raised up both his hands enthusiastically to talk to me...
OH OH.....
dramatically, like they do in the shows...
My eyes opened wide in shock...and i lowered my vision slowly.........
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I saw myself holding a wrinkled arm..that was so not familiar
Silly me grabbed an auntie's arm and held that arm for minutes lah!
MALU LIKE HELL!!!!
oh my gosh
no wonder the auntie looked at me like once...
she must have thought i was damn weird!
but the auntie was really nice.. and she didn't even tell me i was holding the wrong arm.
haha!!!
i scrurried away of course~
feeling silly :P

Case 2:

just recently only, i was so bored from studying for hours at JE library so i immediately went off to JEC to catch a movie...
i was in the mood for some brainless chick flick, so i caught Bratz!
I miss watching movies alone!
haha.. that's beside the point..
anyway, JE cinema plays really nice music before the adverts and movies start..
and they were really hip, upbeat songs..
So i sat myself down, and just went along singing Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" ....
Got myself super high. haha
screaming " hey hey you you, i don't like your girlfriend....no way no way..."
Then thing, they suddenly cut the song off.
And i couldn't keep the last few words in my mouth..
So i think everyone in the cinema heard those last few words of lyrics...
damn loud lor.. -__-
Panic, instincts took over, started coughing, to pretend i was coughing and not singing...
On hindsight, that was damn lame lah..
but it got me laughing quite a bit. haha

i think i'm going crazy. i'm entertaining myself all the time!
haha

The Season

Its the breakup season...
It must be..
There has been so much breakups, tears, quarrels and separations these days... its almost scary..


What would make a woman have an affair 6 months after her marriage..
I seriously don't understand.
I've never thought affairs should be condemned ..but 6 months after the marriage? it makes me wonder if she understood what's marriage all about..
did she forget for that moment why she loved the man?
did she expect she'll lose her husband? the man that loves her so much?
No wonder, elders say we don't respect the institution of marriage anymore..


What would make a couple quarrel loudly over trivial issues in the public?
I witnessed a guy scolding his girlfriend for replying an sms to her guy friend.
They sat there at the food court and just screamed at each other for 2 hours.
Where's the love?


It saddens me when people don't take a step back and treasure what they have..

Even the TV programmes are all showing all these sappy drama serials...
7pm show, 9pm show..
:(
i think i'll stick to CSI..

Why Xuefen is scared of walking under trees...(with images)

=D Xuefen's gonna kill me for this but i decided to share a story about why Xuefen is afraid of walking under trees now. So guys, when you're out with her, remember not to walk under trees k !!

WHY?? Let me tell you a story...

The story goes like this...

One day, Xuefen and I were walking to Yew Tee Community Club cos we were supposed to work part-time at the student care centre there for one day
So off we went, from our office, towards Yew Tee CC, which was about say 15 minutes away if we stroll leisurely there..


The path we walked was lined by huge raintrees.. what to do..Singapore's a green country- there're trees and nice flowers everywhere.. So we took a nice shady leisurely stroll under those trees cos we were kinda early. (everything seems so nice and peaceful right?...but a nice story gotta have a climax...so read on!)

We were engrossed in our conversation, laughing away.Then Xuefen suddenly bent over and used her file to furiously scrap the back of her neck repeatedly. And i was like totally amused and bewildered cos she looked really funny and she kept saying " you3 dong1 xi1~~ you3 dong1 xi1"... I totally didn't know what was happening so i just stared at her lor.But after a while...something dropped with a thud on the ground..

A HUGE DUSTY-LOOKING LIZARD!!!! A GAZILLION TIMES MORE DISGUSTING THAN THE HOUSE LIZARD YOU FIND AT HOME!!!

Of course, I'm seriously too freaked out and disgusted to put up a picture of a real lizard, so make do with this erm, less scary one.

Just bear in mind that what dropped was bigger and a hell lot more disgusting..

Instinctively, me and Xuefen immediately stared in shock at each other for a few moments....

(less passionately than this image but aiya, we were just staring at each other okay..)

and what did we do??? RUN LAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN LIKE HELL!! AND ADD IN SOME HYSTERICAL SCREAMING.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

And when we were calm enough to stop..we realised... WE REACHED!!! =D haha. with Xuefen still freaked out and grumpy...

Lizard jokes became our conversation for the next few days, with me grossing her out of course. heh. I'm mean!!! I promise to love you more after this entry darling!! =D love me still k =) I feel like the producer of like Crime Watch of something...remind civilians to beware walking under trees =D haha!