Wandering Aloud

Geez... my last post on me blog was in Oct 2009! That means that I have not been blogging for a year...

Well, since it is the new year, I guess i shall do some resolutions:

1) Exercise regularly. At least 2 times a week

2) Bring my weight down by 10kg!

3) Have more discipline and focus for my new career

Shall keep it simple for now :)

Thought it would be interesting to reflect on how the past year has been and how accurate those CNY predictions are...

Year of the Tiger 2010

The Rooster

The Rooster is always popular, extravagant and creative.. They can be brutally honest and generally like being showered with attention. They are wonderfully loyal friends and also give advice freely – whether they are asked for it or not! Family means the world to the Rooster and they are fiercely loyal to those they care about. (I would like to think that 2nd half is true... I am not sure about the popular, extravagant and creative part though...)

Forecast for 2010
The Year of the Tiger will have mixed fortunes for the Rooster, but by staying calm, observant and flexible, the Rooster will glide through 2010 coming out much wiser, stronger and with great success behind him (Hmm... I am not sure about that...). He will be in much demand for his sage advice and experience and, at work, this will come to the notice of his employer (Well, i think this is partly true for my previous job. They did start to ask more of my opinions and trust me more). Many will also decide to go back to college this year or completely change the direction of their career (Hmm... wonder if this covers the bloody studying I had to do to qualify as a Financial Adviser?). Travel features quite strongly with the Rooster seeking out adventure, fun and new places to visit (Well, I did go to HK and Macau). A word of caution: all Roosters must ensure that they don’t overdo things – exhaustion and a depleted immune system will result if proper rest isn’t taken (This happens all the time). Home life will bring many joys and will be seen as a cosy sanctuary throughout the year (Err... nope...). The Spring months and November and December will be excellent for intimate romantic encounters (Err.... nope... unless Rick and Sylvia's wedding counts as a romantic encounter).. March and July to October will be the optimum time for making career decisions or to change jobs (Well, at least this was accurate).

So let's see how 2011 predictions fare. Cos it looks damn "cham". For those who are interested, I got it from:

http://www.wayangtimes.com/2011-year-of-the-rabbit-chinese-zodiac-horoscope-forecast.html

Rooster Fortune in 2011:

The rooster will encounter a lot of obstacles in work. Due to low popularity, you will be involved in verbal spats and will also be framed by others this year. Your work will not go well, money will be a major worry as well. It is recommended that you get to know more about financial management, be thrifty and do not break the law to earn quick money. Also, do not be a guarantor or lend money to others this year or you might get yourself involved in lawsuits. There will be a alot of ups and downs for your love life, expect some problems with your marriage. You will feel moody at times due to the pressure from work and you should seek medical advice if you are feeling unwell. Any delays will be bad for your health.

Rooster Career in 2011:

The overall fortune for the career of the rooster is bad. There will be a lot of right and wrong questions that will appear and you will suffer from a loss of mood due to poor human relations. As such, you should look towards having more group discussions and interactions during work to enhance interpersonal relationships. You should remain low key this year and do not be involved in disputes even if you do not agree with the others. Remain patient and calm when resolving any issues. Communicate more with your family and friends or take some time off to bring them out. Listening to their opinions and views is a great way to reduce stress and to calm yourself down.

Rooster Wealth in 2011:

There are signs that the rooster will suffer from financial loss this year. More often than not, you will spend excessively and your income and expenditure will be unbalanced. You must learn to manage your money well, try to cut costs and think twice before making any purchases. Self control is essential. Make an effort to save up on emergency funds. Also, you might be involved in a lawsuit due to money disputes so do not be a guarantor or lend money to others this year. It is also not recommended to make any investments or take part in any gambling activities this year.

Rooster Love in 2011:

As Rooster suffer from poor interpersonal relationships and frequent mood swings this year, it is easy for disputes to happy with your partner. Both parties must learn to be patient with each other, understand and care for each other to maintain the relationship. For those who are married, the marriage is prone to the intrusion of a third party, conflicts will happen and disputes will cause a breakdown of relationship. It is also recommended for the couple to understand and forgive each other, treasure the happy life that both of you are leading right now. For singles, it is better to think twice when choosing a partner, get to know the each other well to determine if he/she is your ideal partner. When in dilemma, seek opinions and views from the elders.

Rooster Health in 2011:

Health is not ideal this year, the poor fortune will result in major stress when facing life. It is important to maintain cheerful and calm during this testing time to solve the problem. You will be easily nervous this year and suffer from insomnia. If you are feeling unwell, seek medical treatment promptly and get plenty of rest.

A is for Apartment. A very tiny one at that! 2 rooms with 3 sofa beds and one foldable bed. The bathroom measures 2.5m (L) X 1m (W) and has a toilet, shower and sink in it! Amazing! More amazingly, 6 people were sharing it! How's that? Thankfully we were all quite disciplined!

B is for Bread. Urgh... bread bread and more bread throughout the whole trip... no more bread for the next 3 weeks!B is also for Butter.. the butter in Germany is so creamy and light... Mmm... Oh yah, B is also for Broke.... Time to eat grass for the next few months.

C is for Cheese! My goodness, the variety of cheese available there is amazing... not to mention the pungent smell... You really have to be prepared when you walk into a cheese shop. My cousin Chris bought us a variety of cheese to try when we were in Munich. In fact, it tickled him to no end that we actually love cheese. Hmm... Chinese people no like cheese?? C is also for Coke. It tastes really different in Germany, Austria and France. The verdict so far is that German Coke is the best cos its really refreshing and not too cloyingly sweet. And no... I am not being biased. It's by vote!

D is for Disneyland! We went to Parc Disneyland Paris! It was a day of fun, with lots of rollercoaster rides... ok ok, who am I kidding. I didn't ride the rides.. I became the bag jaga...

E is for Electricity Failure... At Charles de Gaulle airport. How the bloody hell can an international airport have a power failure? Because of that freakin 2.5 hour blackout, we missed our flight (we were early too!!!) That led to the whole adventure of missing planes and landing up in Hong Kong to get a flight back.... I smell a rat. It could well be the cause of a terrorist threat that they had to lock down the airport. Hell, that or Charles de Gaulle really suffers from frequent blackouts cos the Announcement was automated!!! And you heard me right.. Announcement.. that means they can choose what they want to be powered on... Conspiracy Theory!

F is for Foie Gras! Mmmm.. tried this Foi Gras sandwich at the fair at Montmarte. For 7 Euros, its not bad. But I still prefer the pan fried one. Surprisingly in France, the Foie Gras are usually served cold... Black Adder was very sad to not have had Pan fried Foie Gras...

G is for Glockenspiel. Or the pling plong, as my cousin Chris calls it. The famous landmark in Munich where people look up at the hot afternoon sun and burn their eyes to see the mechanical figures dance for 10 mins at 11am to off tune music (which up till now, even my cousin Chris can't make out what song it is)

H is for Heringer Sirbu. A Vineyard in Vienna.We had to ride a PIM (tram), then take a bus to the top of the mountain. We had a spectacular view of the city of Vienna... then had to walk down a long long long unlit windy road to reach the wineyard. Getting there was tough, but the view was nice and we were rewarded with nice and affordable wine with food. We were also introduced to Stum. Stum is grape juice that is unfermented or partly fermented. It's what you get before wine becomes wine. Quite tasty actually. The bad part was going all the way back, when it was pitch dark... We had to shine torches to find our way. That was a reallly looooooong way back to our hotel.... Blaire Witch anyone?

I is for intercontinental breakfast. Ok, close enough. Breakfast at my aunt's place is really a spread. I'm sure she normally does not have all of the items on a usual day but she specifically went to get it for us. Waffles, bread, butter, home made jams (for someone who does not eat jams, they were really good!), sausages, cheese, syrup, orange juice, coffee, tea, ham... I always love having breakfast at my aunt's place!

J is for ji3. Ok, I mean the Chinese word meaning squeeze. And we had to pack a whole lot of foodstuff for the wedding. Among 6 of us, we had to squeeze the following into our luggage: 250 sticks of Satay, 7 packets of Satay sauce, 1 tube of ketupat, 50 pcs of Mackeral Otah, 10 Nyonya Chang, 2 kg of Bak Kwa, 1 kg of Lup Cheong, 2 bags of dried mushrooms, 1 packet of salted vege, 6 packets of tea leaves, various pastes like Laksa, mee siam and chicken rice, Mooncakes, Sweet Beancurd Skin... going there, our luggage was already over the weight limit! They wanted to charge S$62 per kg!!!! Thankfully the counter staff were nice enough to waive it. More thankfully that the foodstuff survived the trip!

K is for Konig. Which means king. And we went to Konig Ludwigs castle on Chiemsee. He actually modelled it after the Versailles Palace in France. Such was his fixation with the French that the replica rooms were not to be used. However, he couldn't finish it due to monetary problems. What's more, he didn't even stay in it much. He died in myterious circumstances too. Of course he had his private quarters. The most memorable to me was his bathtub. It can hold 60,000 litres of water and looked like a swimming pool... no kidding.... we had to walk over the whole thing. I reckon it measures at least 10m in diameter.

L is for Lourve. The famous Lourve museum that houses the Mona Lisa. It's so huge that we go tired walking through it. That's only finishing one level of one wing... Apparently, if you stand in front of each and every painting/sculpture for 30 secs, it will take you 3 years to finish everything in the Lourve!

M is for Macaroons! Pierre Herme ones! My gosh, it's damn good! Nice and taut on the outside but just melts in your mouth when you bite it. We bought 6 different flavours to try. Caramel was my Fav! Other flavours were Macha, Lemon Chocolate, Rose, Blueberry and Pistachio

N is for Nonya. Nonya Kebaya that is. Aunt had requested that we wear Kebayas. We obliged and we really did stand out. Now I think the Germans may have the wrong idea that the Kebaya is our national dress... oh well... The only freaking thing was walking in heels and mind you, the sarongs do not allow for easy walking. i have never been this dainty in my entire life.... Urgh....

O is for Oktober Fest! It's HUGE!!! It's at a park over at Munich near the main train station. And the tents are HUMONGOUS! It's like a huge mess hall for soldiers (well, it could well be, considering how noisy and rowdy it can get). Food was great with Hendl (roasted chicken, only available at Oktoberfest. Crispy on the outside, nice and juicy on the inside), dumplings (made of bread with sauce), stewed pork and 1 litre beer! Yes, everything about Oktober Fest is huge! Even the ceremonial horses delivering the beer to Oktober fest (those were taller than a van!)

P is for pickpockets. Yup, unfortunately our "class fund" got pickpocketed. That occurred immediately once we got on the train from the airport on our way to the apartment. Lost about 80 Euro and our return tickets for the train back to the airport. So beware when in Paris!

Q is for Queue... Literally... Queue to get to the Eiffel Tower, queue to go on rides at Disneyland, queue to walk through Notre Dame, queue to change tickets, get tax refund, to check in blah blah... I think I have never been this patient in my entire life....

R is for rude. The parisian people. While it is easier to talk now since they do communicate in English, especially the younger Parisians, most of the people I have met are not friendly and some downright rude. But there are exceptions. The couple who runs Chez Gabriel near our apartment were a gem. Not only was the food fantastic, their service was top notch. They fussed over us and made sure we were comfortable. It helps that we are were the only people in the restaurant though ;p

S is for Seine. The River Seine. Though it was a cold night, to see the sunset along the River Seine was beautiful. What's more, you get to see the Eiffel Tower shimmer every hour. Best to take the 9.30pm boat ride for camera buffs.

T is for Terrine de Lapin. Which is Rabbit spread. Lapin means rabbit in French. We were looking to try Rabbit meat but unfortunately couldn't find it. So had to settle for Rabbit spread. Oh well, bo he hei mah ho.

U is for Umbrella... which I forgot to bring. It rained quite a bit when we were in Paris. Especially on the first day when we arrived at about 8pm? Couldn't find the bloody apartment and had to walk in the rain lugging luggage. Thank goodness for the Goretex jacket I bought... The next day, when we explored the area, the train station was actually very near by!

V is for Vienna. We were there for only 2 days, whereby 1 day was a full day. It is a very nice city and wish I had more time there to explore. We went by many nice landmarks such as the Parliament, the Opera House, the Gardens etc. It's really a very culturally rich city.

W is for Wedding. Yup, my cousin Stefan's wedding with Steffi! A pretty nice one that involves breaking plates and breaking concrete. They break plates to bring good luck (must be china ok?) and have to sweep it up. They also wore funny hats - the bride wore a veil, the groom had to wear something that looks like a slipper. This has something to do with not being cockolded. And they broke concrete - friends of the bride and groom made them break a block of concrete to find treasure. Basically, unlike us, they don't give ang pow. They incorporate the money into the gift. Other interesting gifts included flowers with birds with folded money as wings; beer mugs, a pot of charcoal, a wok... And they also have a huge tradition with cutting the wedding cake. First of all, the cake must be made by the bride's family. Then, when cutting the cake, who's hand is above the other is the one who wears the pants.. Hahaha!

X is for Xiao Ah! (For those who geddit... hahahahahaha)

Y is for Yawn. We actually didn't get much sleep while in Paris. First night there was a scream. 2nd night people tried to open our door. 3rd night people frantically running up the stairs. The last day in the morning, someone actually opened the door. A Lady (I think it was the apartment owner's wife) who probably got the wrong apartment as she was trying to check in another family. She opened the door and looked at the Cat, who stared back and then she closed the door... But I still have to qualify that the apartment is safe, with Electronic lock with contact card access. Plus, it's reasonable and very very central. It' also a plus that we have a Big Cat as bodyguard.

Z is for Zzzzz..... reached back SG at 2350h. Went home, bathed and crashed in bed. Only woke up at 3pm heh heh

Rented the movie The Bucket List over the weekend. Starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who as fate would have it, end up in the same ward. Both realize that they only have months to live and embark on a journey to complete their Bucket List: things to do before they kick the bucket. An unlikely friendship grows between these 2 men from very disparaging backgrounds: One a CEO of a chain of hospitals, wealthy enough to be drinking kopi luwak every day (and not even realizing how it is derived); the other a car mechanic who did not complete college due to parental responsibilities but has an impressive knowledge and voracious appetite for knowledge (he answers every damn question on Jeopardy correctly!!!)

So the 2 start to do things on their Bucket List (not in sequential order) and whatever came to mind, they wrote it down.

It was a pretty good movie and I was impressed with Morgan Freeman's acting as Carter, a poor, black grandfather who worked hard for 45 years to provide for the family. For the first time, I see Morgan Freeman playing a very vulnerable character, unlike his usual detective roles (Kiss the girls, Seven) or his enigmatic leader roles (Shawshank Redemption, Wanted). His portrayal of Carter was convincing and it struck a cord with me on many instances. I especially like the part where he rebukes his wife to go on an unknown journey with Edward, a stranger he only knew for a few weeks. His wife viewed it as him giving up on the family. He decided for once that after providing for 45 years, it was time to provide for himself. There was also a moment where he reflects on what happened between him and his wife: She didn't change, nor did he, but somehow, with all the responsibilities of bringing up the children, they somehow lost the spark somewhere along the way. This seems to be the case for most married couples these days.

Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Edward somehow gave me the impression that he was just playing himself: rich, arrogant, playboy pompous ass who finally realizes an unlikely friendship with the poor but knowledgeable Carter.

And of course, the movie sets you thinking. The first item on My Bucket List? To travel the world (Turkey, Maldives, Cambodia, Bhutan, Russia, Hawaii, Kerela, Japan... the list really goes on)

Ah... everyone is familiar with the Wedding March. It is played at every wedding without fail, every time. And for the next year, beginning this Dec 08 to next Dec 09, I will be hearing a lot of it. Suddenly I am flanked by a lot of people getting hitched. Don't get me wrong, it's a great thing that they have found their other halves and are ready to settle down. But it is interesting to see the different takes on marriage.

And interesting it has been. Some just want to keep it simple, others want it grand. Makes me wonder about mine when the time comes. Grand route or the simple route? I'm pretty sure my dad would want the simple route (he once commented that a simple dinner with family is sufficient. He hates attending weddings so I guess mine is no exception!). But then the simple route will depend on who my other half is and his family.

There are pros and cons on grand and simple. Some couples believe in not spending a lot for the wedding (after all, it seems that holding a wedding these days, you are definitely not going to make back in ang pow what you spent) and would rather spend it on the honeymoon or renovations for the roost. The wedding is about the couple, so the money should be spent by them, whatever way they wish.

The grand route (the whole she-bang with dinner etc) isn't all bad. In fact, by doing the planning of the event, it's actually the first major test on the compatibility of the couple: How do they settle disagreements between families (this aunt doesn't want to sit with that aunt); how your potential spouse is really like (easy going or nit picking on details? How supportive is the husband?); How well do they plan things and discuss things? I have heard countless stories of couples who decided to tie the knot but then call it off because of wedding preparations. But in a good way, you rather find out more about your other half before the wedding actually takes place. In addition, once you get over this test, you know that you can handle other issues as a duo.

It is also a good way of getting in touch with your traditions - waking up at 3am auspicious time! Dong dong chiang!; i give you a pigs leg for your daughter! (bloody hell.. traded like meat). One friend told me that holding a wedding is to give women status. In a sense that, you tell others that you have married her to be your lawfully wedded wife. Yes, traditional, I know.

But to me, the most important part of the wedding are the vows. I do take that seriously. In sickness or in health, till death do us part. Getting married is supposed to be a life time commitment. So one had better think real hard before settling down. No doubt, divorce is always an option, but perhaps, it is because it is such an easy option that many just get married for that sake, with the thought that if it doesn't work out, just divorce lor... But if you had that thinking in the first place, that means you didn't really make the commitment. And that's what marriage is about isn't it? To be committed to each other. If not, why get married in the first place? Hell, I am not one to say (esp since I am not married).

Me? I just know that I better start saving soon. The couples may be singing to the tune of the Wedding March: "Here comes the bride, all dressed in white.... ". My tune's gonna be "Save up alright? You'll be pok kai...."

Went for a 2D1N stay at Batam over the weekend. Overall it was a good getaway. Here are some memorable moments:

Most headache moment(s) - Whenever we were paying for something. My God... it was a math test everytime we had to convert the rupiah to SGD. SGD1 = 6300 rupiah... not easy when everything is in the ten thousand range and above!

Happiest Moment - eating A & W! Seeing it was like reaching the promised land. It was a pretty unanimous decision to dine there for lunch. Had rootbeer, chicken wings and curly fries! Bliss

Most confusing moment - Checking into the hotel. We were told to bring about S$100 which was to cover the spa, room and transport. The practice there is to pay first. So when they guy said "It's 385 in all with the extra bed" we were a bit stunned. Isn't it supposed to be max S$300?? We asked him that we were told it would amount to only S$300. He made a few calls and said apologetically that it was 385. Being in a foreign land, we didn't want to argue, so we took out the moolah. When we presented the SGD, the guy was stunned. That was when we realized that he meant 385,000 rupiah, which equates to S$62. We decided to pay first and had a mini conference in our hotel room - how come only S$62???? After a few phone calls to my friends sister, realized that S$100 each was an estimation. The room rate is correct, but the Spa and the transport will be paid seperately. Oooooor............

Most wu hua (best value) moment - generally if you buy the local stuff it is cheaper. Services are cheap too. here's a summary of what I bought and did: Manicure - S$12. Spa (3 hour package to make be nice and shiny) - S$48. Indo Mie Instant noodles - S$0.25 per packet. Toothbrush - S$0.25. Chewing Gum (bottle kind) - S$1.50. Import stuff are more expensive, but still relatively cheaper compared to SG. They have Breadtalk and the bread was about S$1 (still 40% cheaper); A&W was about S$4.50 for the meal. J.Co donuts and coffee was about S$5 for coffee and donut set

Most bo hua moment (poor value) moment - seafood dinner. It was still cheap - 3 people S$50 for 3 crabs, cereal prawns, fried squid, baby kailan, dou miao. But the size and portions were quite.... pathetic. Our initial order was only pepper crab, baby kailan, fried squid and cereal prawns. When the food came... we were like... huh? The crab was smaller than the kind you find at kopitiams. The cereal prawns... you might as well changed the name to cereal shrimp. I couldn've wiped out the baby kailan on my own! Not sure if it was due to the over emphasis on "kechil", meaning small portion... Hence we had to add on the order with chilli crab and dou miao. When it came, it was better. The crabs were nice, but i think its due to their species, the meat was quite nuah.. probably because they were quite small.

Most embarassing moment - Being totally naked in front of a stranger during the spa. It's just weird to have someone you don't even know see you warts and all... Worse still, she even helped me scrub my back... totally weird....

Spookiest moment - I dunno if its a figment of my imagination, but i woke up in the middle of the night to hear a conversation going on between my friend and my cousin. I peered at my friend, whose back was towards me. It seemed she was talking but i can't fanthom what she was saying. It was totally incomprehensible! And more interestingly, my cousin, whose back was also towards me (I slept in the centre), actually answered back. I was like... WTF??? ok ok... go back to sleep!!!! The next morning, I was telling them about it when my cousin said: "you know what? I woke up to hear you and hyena having a conversation! Hyena was saying some and you actually answered back!"...... Yikes

If you were rich, have you ever thought of giving back to the community? In my dreams of hitting the big time, where money is not an issue, I have thought about whom i wish to help - children & para-athletes

Why these 2 particular groups? Well, for children, I'm just a sucker for young kids. Somehow, I find that they should at least have a chance in this world. Kids are meant to be kids, to learn through play, make friends and hopefully grow up to be responsible adults. I hope every kid has the opportunity to be given a fair chance in life. So if I had the money, I hope that children all over the world, will be given proper food, shelter, clothes and more importantly education. There's something about a child's innocence which should remain that way. I find that they should enjoy their time as children while they can instead of being thrown to the harsh realities of life at such a tender age. But for those who survived their unfortunate circumstances and grow up to be responsible adults, I sincerely salute them.

The other group, para-athletes, are a group which I feel needs much more support. Right now, I don't see much being done for them. When the Team Singapore was sent for the Olympics, they had the support of the ministries, the sponsors, the nation. However, for the para-athletes, I don't see as much fan fare. Why is that? Aren't they athletes too? And they are the ones who have to work twice as hard to over come their disabilities, with the odds stacked up against them and they are capable of bringing home a gold medal. Its not easy to swim when you only have your hands to push yourself forward; it's not easy to play basketball when you are on wheels, especially when you need to dribble and maneuver at the same time. The Paralympics is after all where the best also come to compete, so I do not see why they do not get equal support. Or is it because getting a gold medal here is not as much worth? For this group, I hope to be able to support them in terms of training (you hear about Tao Li getting Altitude training, but have you heard the same being done for Teresa?) and sponsorship and also awareness for the group.

So if I had the money, these are the 2 groups I would like to help. What about you?

I recently updated my resume and to my surprise, I realized that I chalked up quite a lot of experience in my current company. My job responsibilities filled up almost 1 page (in bullet form). Not bad, considering I have been on the job for only 6 months.

I went for an interview with a telecoms company. Sad to say, I screwed up the interview by shooting myself in the foot. In fact, I felt like shooting myself in the head as i felt the words leave my mouth. You know, its the same feeling that you get just nanoseconds after you hit the "send" and your sms get sent to the wrong person. That's the exact same feeling I got, but of course 10 times worse in magnitude. There was no way to retract the sentence since it was already halfway out of my mouth.

Oh well, it just shows a couple of things - 1) I need more interview experience. 2) I need to lie better
But I must say that all is not lost. I learnt quite a few things from the interview. For one, I realized that you better have a very good reason why you want to leave a company after just 6 months. My interviewer was very persistent about that fact. And perhaps I didn't lie well enough and she saw through it? And I realized that they valued my 6 months in my current job more than the 3.5 years in my previous company. They didn't focus much on my past job, despite the fact that it was telco related.

I also learnt to trust my gut feel. I didn't like the vibe i was getting from the HR person and my interviewer. In fact, I didn't even feel a nice vibe coming from the receptionists, both of them. You might say that I am sour grapes since I did not fare well for the interview, but seriously, if my interviewer is going to be the person I will be working with, i think I will be in a worse off situation if i got the job. And the HR person didn't even give a smile, didn't even bother to properly introduce herself (I still don't know what is her exact designation). What's up the with uppity atitude? And I'm not the first to have the same feeling about the organization too. Another friend also had the same treatment. In his words, he felt that he was scrutinized even to the smallest detail. His interviewer even commented on his slightly torn shoe! I was like.... ok.... do I really want to work in a company which micromanages to that extent? Especially when I don't like the micromanaging I get in my cuurrent workplace?

And after much review, I realized that I don't really hate my job. I do enjoy what i am doing, its only 1 person which I don't like (which I have totally no respect for. How do you work for someone when you have no motivation?) and just how the organization works, especially in terms of approvals (which take forever due to the levels I have to go through, which is 3-4 levels btw). And also the fact that my manager does not know how to groom people (which is why my colleague is leaving). But on the flip side, i have to admit that the place has very little politics. So i guess it is still a good learning ground.

So I am still looking.... I will still try to hang on for 1 year, but at the same time i am looking around for opportunities... Anyone have lobang, do tell me!

Someone was telling me that it has been yonks since I updated my blog and that she was tired of seeing my feet being nibbled by fish.... oooook.... so here is a new entry!

Been a long time since I have written anything. Largely due to the fact that i have been working.

How is my new work environment? I have mixed feelings about it. I can't help but feel that everyone is damn pretentious. From the head honcho to my head of dept to some other people in other departments. My colleagues and peers are ok. I can get along well with them.

My head honcho? Well, initially I thought he was a nice guy. Especially on my first day where I was reading up on PR coverage. He seemed to be really concerned about other people's well being, sensitive (especially when he teared up in one interview about his late father) etc. But as I knew more about him, i really got more disgusted. He's actually a very scheming person. And looks like my PR company did a really good job. It's all just a facade. I got even more disgusted when I found out that he made the whole company work to organize his wedding. Can you imagine that? All the extra weekends burnt just to prep the wedding. My department had to man the reception and as such had to engage their own stylist & make up artiste etc, since it was at a very luxurious hotel with very important guests attending. AT THEIR OWN COST! And after all was done, they didn't even get a day off. They didn't even get a token ang pow. All they got was a "Thanks guys". Now that's seriously fucked up. Now you know why the rich keep getting richer? Because they just exploit the poor. Fucking Assholes.

My head of department. Where do I even begin? She's such a bitch. Ok, maybe not, but she's just like a typical female. The kind that whines and whines. Worse still, she doesn't have a sense of dignity. Imagine this: she is interviewing for new staff. After the interview, she can come to our department and lambast about the interviewee. I mean, it makes you wonder what she was thinking about you when she hired you doesn't it? What's more, she bitches about the other Asst managers to one of the asst manager, the one that she is close to. If that Asst manager were a total bitch, she could've taken the opportunity to stab the others in the back! But more importantly, how can you bitch to some one about their peers? It's just shows a lack of integrity and what kind of bloody leader are you??

Seriously not feeling motivated in this company and just waiting to get my 1 yr of experience before moving on. But others have told me to just move on. If it is something which I don't like, why even bother to torture myself?