And some updates...

I have unofficially graduated!! :D

My FYP report was handed in about a week ago and I have been chillaxing and having a ball of time since then.

Here's our final report and my lovely team-mates for FYP together with my supervising prof (he's freaking tall!! haha). We had disagreements and we did quibble once in a while. But it was still an awesome time doing this one whole crazy project with them. I believe all of us have improved our Excel skills tremendously, all thanks to this FYP which required us to deal with a spreadsheet with almost 1,000 columns.

There is this wall in UTown where students can write down their random thoughts on what they wanna do before/after they graduate. I think it's a pretty cool idea and we read a lot of crazy things written by students who were probably trying to de-stress during the reading week. Here's some examples:

 This is on the "before graduating, I want to..." side:

 And this is on the "after graduating, I want to..." side:

How cliche to end school like this but oh wells, there's gotta be some kinda proof that I've survived four years of uni life. ;)

And what have I been doing lately? Eating of course! Hahaha

First there was Durian Fiesta at Goodwook Park. The full review can be found at Gladys' blog. I'm too lazy to type anything. Here's just a picture of what we ordered:

From top to bottom: Durian Mousse Cake, Durian Tartlet with Nuts, Durian Strudel and Durian Crepe
Personally, I liked the Durian Strudel the most as there's a good mix of the crispy pastry and the fragrant durian. Mmmmmm~

And then there was Mia's birthday celebration at Saveur. They opened a new branch in Far East Plaza! :)

Then I finally got to try Ampang Yong Tau Foo along East Coast Road with Gladys. Again I'm not going to review this place. ieatishootipost (and perhaps loads of other reviews out there) did a pretty neat job of that. I am really being lazy. Haha. So here's just a photo of the pretty babe with the food :) Oh I do like their sour plum drink a lot though. Not too sweet and not too sour.

And then there is this Singapore style hoptpot, JPOT, at Tampines 1 that I tried with Mia. Their menu is pretty standard but they have a high tea set for $9.80+. It comes with a soup base, choice of rice/instant noodle/vermicelli/laksa noodle/pho, vege, crab stick, luncheon meat, choice of marinated beef/pork/chicken, two small cheese sausages and two prawns (which were really fresh). Oh and a tiny amount of Enoki mushroom!

I chose the JPOT Superior broth as the soup base while Mia chose Silky Porridge, which I have never seen in other hotpot places. Personally, I'm not a fan of porridge but surprisingly when I tried it, it was quite tasty. The downside however, is that it'll get really goo-ey after a while and it probably sticks to the base of the pot as it tasted burnt. Yucks..
Both Mia and I love meat! And as you can get from the photo above, the amount of meat given in the set is barely enough and so we ordered another plate of marinated pork. :) We also tried this thing called fish noodle. The name was interesting and we had no idea what it was and so we ordered it. It's that whitish, triangular thing on the plate. Turns out, it was just fish paste filled in a plastic bag, with a small hole that the tip for us to squeeze the paste out into our hotpot and form long strands like noodles. =.=
There was nothing exceptional about its taste but I have to give it to the restaurant for coming up with such a creative way of selling fish paste. But we realised that the hole at the tip was too small and it took us too much effort to squeeze out every bit of the fish paste. And so, we ended up opening the originally tied-up end of the plastic bag, scooped the fish paste out using our spoon and plopped them into our soup base. We had fish balls instead of fish noodle. Haha.

Another new place that I tried was Brussels Sprouts at Big Splash @ East Coast Parkway. It's a Belgian bar and bistro with pretty good mussels. :)
Their mussels come in small metal pots and there's a variety of gravy/soup that you can choose from in which the mussels are cooked. I tried Mariniere (onion, parsley, butter, celery, white wine, cream) and In Blanc (same as Mariniere less the cream) and it was awesome! No photos though as it was late at night. They have some special package prices from 10pm-12am for two buckets of mussels. And the fries is free flow!! So boys can definitely have a full meal here. Haha. Unfortunately I didn't get to try their wine or beer as the guys that I went with have work the following day. I would probably visit the place again and try mussel with their Belgian beer. :3

Happy Mothers' Day

Finally went out for a family lunch together with le parents after a few months of serious mugging. Lunch was at Crystal Jade at Parkway Parade and the parents liked it (duh...Chinese food)

As Papa is going back to Shanghai on long-term basis this August, there is this feeling that every moment we spend together is precious and I kinda feel like the clock is ticking and there wouldn't be much time left. Now that I am finally done with my studies and free, we have decided that we shall dine out every weekend. And oh, there's so many nice places to try out there and I don't think there's enough time to try out everything before Papa flies back. :(

Oh wells, shall just make do with whatever time we have left together as a family. I can't really imagine how life will be like with just me and Mama after that...

Mothers' Day 2013 is almost over with about ... 10 min left. I have yet to wish Mama "Happy Mother's Day" nor said "I love you" to her. I just feel so unnatural trying to squeeze those words outta my mouth. :/

Things I Do When I'm Bored

With only a few days left till the end of my final year project (report is due on Monday and it's 99% done!), I am very much in a care-free and going-to-paradise state of mind. And since most of the time-consuming work (i.e. data churning, report writing/editing/formatting (argh! the agony of formatting!)) are already completed, I have loads of time right now to do ... nothing ;)

I'm no longer playing Facebook games and 9gag is getting boring. The standard of those Taiwanese variety shows that I usually watch (e.g. 康熙来了，大学生了没，姐妹淘心话) also seem to be dropping and I'm not really in a mood to start any novels yet.

While pointlessly browsing through the web, I found a couple of websites/articles that are rather amusing/interesting and I spent quite a bit of time deriving joy from those websites. Haha

1. The Pregnant Husband
This is a blog done by then Dad-to-be Jeffrey Bausch to document his wife's pregnancy through GIFs and provide some entertainment for her while her pregnancy hormones are acting up. Many of them are right on the point. Here're some examples:

As we approach the third trimester, whenever I ask my pregnant wife how she’s feeling. She's like:

When my pregnant wife wants to go to sleep and I’m not tired yet. She's like:

When we go out with another pregnant couple and both wives say that we can get drinks and that they'll drive home. We're like:

 

The moment my pregnant wife decides I'm taking too much room in the bed. She's like:

And this is my favourite:

How my 9 month pregnant wife is feeling these days. She's like:

2. Daddy Newbie

This is another blog done by Jeffrey Bausch. His wife has given birth to a baby boy and Daddy Newbie will be a collection of GIFs relating to his son and new journey into parenthood.

The rate at which we are going through diapers right now. It’s like:

When people get to hold our son for the first time. They're like:

When the maternity wing is over-filled with patients and my wife has to share a room with someone else, I'm like:

3. 猫に逢いに行こう (Let's go and meet the cats)

This is more for the cat lovers. It's a collection of photographs by photographer Fubirai who has spent five years documenting the lives of semi-wild cats that roam an island called Cat Heaven Island (such an apt name) in Fukuoka, Japan. The cats are fed by local fishermen and wander freely through the streets, boatyards, porches, and houses of the city.

4. 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy

Many a times, we do things not because we genuinely wanted to but because we were subconsciously trying to fulfill others' expectations of us. And because others have imposed their expectations on us in a subtle manner, we failed to see that we can perhaps break out of the cycle and stop trying to fit into the mold that others think are befitting of us.  Many of the thing listed in this article are things that we do in order to fit into what society think is the social norm and some of them are really applicable to relationships:

- Give up your need to be always right

- Give up your need for control

- Give up the past 

- Give up attachment

This last point on attachment resonates strongly with me because I believe myself to be someone who is generally emotionally detached. I find this slightly unsettling because I kinda interpreted this conclusion as an inability/unwillingness to love. In fact, I always find the word 'love' too strong for my liking and I have never used it for anyone, not even my parents whom I know I dearly loved but never had the intention/courage to say it out loud to them.) And as I told my girlfriends, I am afraid to be attached to someone, because that would mean that I am increasing my reliance on that person, resulting in exposed vulnerability. And vulnerability is an issue that I do not know how to deal with yet. So I'd rather not put myself in a position of vulnerability in the first place. 

However, the author has a different take on the concept of attachment. Here's the excerpt from the article:

"This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another,  attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words."

Confusing much? 

I'm trying to digest this as well. Meanwhile, I shall continue partying~ ;)

Nice Movies to Look Forward to

I still have final year project which will only end on 3 May. But I have already switched on my holiday mood and planning out activities for the next few weeks. Of course there's all those overseas trips but I'm looking at the movies that are releasing in May and here's my list of movies that's coming out in the next couple of months and I sure hope they won't disappoint me:

1. Iron Man 3
Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Need I say anything more about this movie? Just sit back relax and enjoy! *starry-eyed*

Opening: 26 April 2013

2. The Great Gatsby
Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Trailer 3:

Looks like a pretty awesome adaption from a great classic! And I'm also looking forward to the OST. Just looking at the trailers, there seem to be an abundance of good music in the movie from artistes like Lana Del Rey and Florence And The Machine. Really looking forward to this movie :))

Opening: 16 May 2013

3. Great Expectations

I have to admit I really enjoyed reading classic novels when I was young. Little women, Phantom of the Opera, Jane Eyre etc. And so, I saw this on the upcoming movies list and hope that the movie would bring out the essence of the novel (movies often fall short of expectation when they're an adaptation of books).

Opening: 30 May 2013

4. Man of Steel

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! (I know this line is over-quoted but I just can't help it :P)
Well, another superhero story, which I never get tired of. :3

Opening: 13 June 2013

5. Despicable Me 2
Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

You just can't get tired of those cute minions!! Even if their BA-BA-BA-NA-NA song has irritated the hell outta you last year when it first came out. ;)

Opening: 3 July 2013

And lastly, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire! It's only gonna come out on 21 November but I'm sure loads of people are looking forward to it with high anticipation.

Alright, I think that's enough for the night. Tada~

Horoscopes

Sometimes, when I'm really bored and have nothing better to do (or rather, I'm just not in the mood to doing anything productive), I would start reading horoscope stuff. I would first like to put across the point that I am not someone who fervently believes that the alignment of the stars during my birth would have a huge impact on my life thereafter, but it is still interesting to read these stuff and see how they try to classify close to 7 billion people (according to Google Stats) into 12 distinct categories, in terms of personalities, preferences, yada yada. And surprisingly, some of them do seem rather accurate (at least based on what I observe in myself and the described horoscope. I'm a Virgo by the way.) So here's some stuff that I came across online (source unknown and therefore un-credited) which I found pretty accurate and interesting. They're in Chinese though. And I'm too lazy to do the translation. Google Translate should do the trick. Hahaha

Horoscope personality:
【雙魚座 Pisces】
1、喜歡吃，頂級吃貨。
2、霸道，有很強佔有欲。
3、懶，超級怕麻煩。
4、愛捉弄人，事後還經常自鳴得意。
5、超自戀，沒事就愛臭美。
6、容易害羞，遇到喜歡的人反而會疏遠。
7、外冷內熱，對陌生人視而不見。
8、固執，不善於變通。
9、過於溫柔，經常把愛人慣壞。

【水瓶座 Aquarius】
1、喜歡簡單，不喜歡麻煩和累的感覺。
2、健忘不記仇。只要沒碰他底線，一切都是過眼雲煙。
3、有鬥志愛拼搏，刻苦努力。
4、別人對他好定加倍奉還的代表。
5、天生的統籌規劃專家，計劃性強。
6、固執。明知是錯也要往前走，撞了南牆就把牆拆了繼續走。
7、討厭做決定。就算是顏色不同也會讓他們苦惱半天。
8、愛笑，一點小事就笑逐顏開，什麼都寫在臉上。
9、愛憎分明，不給自己不喜歡的人絲毫機會，對自己喜歡的人超級縱容。

【摩羯座 Capricorn】
1、吃軟不吃硬。
2、經常口是心非。
3、很樂觀又很悲觀。
4、安全感不多，有點感性。有些話即使害怕錯過也不說。
5、常常被人騙。有點小心軟、小敏感、小潔癖。
6、害怕受傷。總說自己不孤單，其實很寂寞。
7、在陌生人面前很冷淡，熟人面前很鬧騰。
8、總表現的很堅強，其實很軟弱。
9、總被人誤解，卻不願解釋。

【射手座 Sagittarius】
1、強迫症，神經質。每晚睡覺前都覺得窗沒關，門沒鎖。
2、專一。喜歡一個人時喜歡的要死，眼裡容不下一粒沙子。
3、小孤僻，小高傲。看不慣的東西超多。
4、戀舊。一首喜歡的歌可以聽N年。
5、害怕孤獨。人前總是嘻嘻哈哈。
6、對愛人很偏執在乎，有神經質傾向，不輕易放手。
7、霸道。跟人吵架表現強勢，事後放下架子來哄人。
8、愛裝堅強，讓人疼惜。
9、自我感覺良好，其實有點冒失讓人無語。

【天蠍座 Scorpio】
1、有魅力。個性張揚或內斂都對旁人很有吸引力。
2、記仇。別輕易得罪蝎子，他可能一輩子都記得。
3、生氣抓狂的蝎子不可怕，沉默的蝎子才最可怕。
4、神秘。總希望別人了解自己內心。
5、直覺敏銳。不要在蝎子面前玩花招。
6、執著且敢愛敢恨。不斷付出卻又容易走向悲憤。
7、被動。因碰不到心動得讓他願意主動出擊的獵物。
8、對失去興趣的人理性冷酷，對待愛人卻感情用事。
9、佔有欲強烈。喜歡獨占討厭和人分享。

【天秤座 Libra】
1、替他人著想，常試圖改變自己迎合對方。
2、外表親切熱情，內心追求安逸的環境。
3、對最親愛的人容易暴走脾氣，對外人和善常被說人好。
4、愛睡覺，對多數人和事不上心，不在意周圍太自我，忽冷忽熱。
5、超懶散，對任何事都抱隨遇而安的態度。
6、膽小害怕失敗，卻總表現出強悍的一面。
7、珍惜友誼，成為他死黨要很久經歷很多事。
8、很忍耐，什麼事都放在心裡自己承受。
9、不愛爭搶，認為屬於自己的是不需爭搶的。

【處女座 Virgo】
1、敏感多疑。喜歡胡思亂想，愛鑽牛角尖。
2、冷靜。即使內心起伏再大也十分理智冷靜。
3、害怕失去。總表現得不冷不熱讓人難以靠近。
4、死要面子愛逞強。即使傷心也表現得十分強勢。
5、缺乏耐心有點小自私。討厭等人自己又愛遲到。
6、傻傻愛著他、幫他做很多事，即使對方不愛自己。
7、追求完美。任何事情都希望做到最好。
8、愛較真。關鍵時刻敷衍了事，在他身上起不到任何作用。
9、內心溫和善良，會一直堅守在朋友愛人身邊。

【獅子座 Leo】
1、霸道且控制欲強，其實是沒安全感，喜歡占主導地位，被讚美。
2、愛整潔，即使是獅子男也十分愛整潔。
3、喜歡胡思亂想，性格較極端。
4、喜歡裸睡。
5、淚腺發達，易被感動。喜歡跟愛人身體接觸，恨不得把身體揉進去那種。
6、有些悲觀。有較強的依賴感。
7、偏執，苛求完美。具有雙重性格，很抗拒有人走近。
8、經常表現出不在乎，無所謂的態度，其實內心彆扭的很。
9、常表現強勢，其實內心十分脆弱孤獨。

【巨蟹座 Cancer】
1、喜歡裝堅強，裝冷酷，讓人捉摸不透。
2、隱藏悲傷。卻希望別人安慰他、給他安全感。
3、愛幻想。希望有人懂他、愛他、能給他所想要的。
4、浪漫體貼。細心關愛自己愛的人。
5、外表孩子氣，內心卻很成熟。
6、害怕被忽略，對人關心也不表露出來。
7、內心藏著無數秘密，只和最親密的人分享。
8、慢熱。陌生人面前十分文靜。遇見開心的事會說個不停，不開心會躲起來哭。
9、情緒化。愛撒嬌，超級黏人。喜歡賴床。

【雙子座 Gemini】
1、善忘。不論重不重要的事都容易忘記。不記仇。
2、偏執悲觀、追求完美，有輕微強迫症和潔癖。
3、熱愛暗戀，有點悶騷。
4、容易被感動。心思細膩，不願與人計較。
5、黑白分明。喜歡被肯定和信任，討厭耍心機。
6、玩心重。熱愛自由，討厭被束縛壓迫。喜歡挑戰。
7、雙重人格，性格較極端。有輕微自閉。
8、渴望被理解，卻不奢求理解。對別有用心之人一眼就能看穿，並視若無睹。
9、非常注重第一印象，幾乎一見定生死。

【金牛座 Taurus】
1、吃軟不吃硬，經常口是心非。
2、樂觀又悲觀。安全感不多，有點感性。
3、朋友求助常有求必應，所以易被騙。
4、害怕受傷。對陌生人冷冷的，熟悉後就嘻嘻哈哈。
5、故作堅強，其實很軟弱，被人誤解卻不願解釋。多愁善感，總為小事糾結。
6、自尊心暴強有點不自信。討厭和人打交道，常年宅在家。
7、超懶，最愛睡覺和發呆，擅長裝傻。
8、喜歡錢但不在乎，討厭幹沒有意義的事。
9、喜歡故意讓人抓狂，最怕被冷落和不在乎。

【牡羊座 Aries】
1、倔強。遇到討厭的人，寧可受罪也不向對方求助。
2、率真坦白，討厭被欺騙。
3、冷漠。對惹火他和糾纏不休的人表現得異常明顯。
4、不圓滑不世故不記仇。遇事常猶豫，難以選擇。
5、對繁瑣的事情沒耐心，容易放棄。
6、心地善良，樂於助人。即使不喜歡的也盡力完成。
7、心軟。即使受傷，一旦對方道歉便忍不住說沒關係。
8、陌生人面前很安靜很慢熱，熟了很鬧騰。
9、有點小脾氣但很隱忍。不輕易表露自己性情和內心。

【最會壓抑自己情緒的前五名星座】

第一名：水瓶座。
水瓶座太ㄍ一ㄥ了，他不喜歡讓人看出他的喜怒哀樂，也不希望自己的生命被人家視為如此淺薄，所以會長期的用自己的方式去處理事情，在不熟的人面前他永遠都以最完美的形象出現，即使熟的人他也有所保留。

第二名：天秤座。
天秤座內心深處非常情緒化，表面上的他大部分時間會告訴自己要有風度，要笑臉迎人，不能夠造成別人的困擾，也因為如此其實他可能早就想要哭，想要崩潰，只是為了怕人家擔心而壓抑住。

第三名：處女座。
處女座對自己要求太高，他常常會恨自己不完美、恨自己不夠堅強、不夠成熟…、等等，也因此自我期許太高的處女座常常會很不快樂，他的煩惱通常都是自找的，有時候在別人看來他的壓抑其實蠻多餘的。

第四名：金牛座。
金牛座不喜歡打擾別人，也不喜歡表現脆弱的樣子給別人看，而且當他情緒不佳時會覺得自己已經夠煩了還要應付人家的問題和關心更煩，所以他表面上會ㄧ副如如不動的樣子，但是實際上他非常煩惱。

第五名：魔羯座。
魔羯座覺得自己要當一個成熟的人，他認為成熟的人就要有成熟的態度，可是有時候他自己本身的修養以及對事情的理解度和忍耐度並不夠成熟，在顯性的壓抑之下，他隱性的想要發洩，有可能上班的時候正經八百把所有的責任扛下來，可是下班的時候卻放浪形骸或者喝兩三杯小酒。


So how how? True or not? :)

The end is near...

If this semester have been any longer, I would probably have died. But I'll die in good shape ;)

I only had three modules this semesters, but two of them were extremely intensive with assignments due every week. And because the due dates are Monday and Friday respectively, I find myself not sleeping at all (or at most an hour's sleep) on every Sunday night and Thursday night for about two-third of the semester. And because of my timetable, I'll sometimes just skip lunch on Mondays and Fridays.

Well guess what, my weight has finally reached the target (I am not going to reveal the number, but it is what I have always weighed back in Year 1 and 2). So now, I am going to aim for another 2-3kg loss and try to squeeze into this dress below without any sign of suffocation:

This dress was bought online quite a while back last year, when I was still delusional about my weight issue. I could barely fit into it and my tummy was bulging out! *gasp! runs and hides in corner* 

There was no way I could comfortably walk about in this without self-consciously sucking in my breath and trying to hide my tummy. So I would occasionally try to squeeze into this piece at home and use it as my motivation. Hahaha. I guess I'm on the way to conquer it! :D

Some updates relating to school:

My final semester is more or less over for me! Save for one more class on Friday and a final year project that is about 70-80% completed. There was supposed to be a quiz next Monday for one of the heavy workload modules but the professor decided that we have real done quite a lot over the whole semester so he cancelled the quiz! Woohoo~~

And so, I am pretty free now!!! Liberation (partial) at last!! No more burning midnight oil for the next few months before work start! :)

1st All Star Open Dance Championships 2013

On my way to WM's dance competition to help out now. Excited~
Don't know what to expect though.

And I have a pimple in the inner edge of my nostril. When I tried to squeeze it, it hurts so bad I cried. So the pimple is still there. I can feel it whenever I flare my nostril.

Updated (15 April):
I've only had time to update this now that most of my assignments and projects are over.

This was my first time attending a dance competition and it was pretty amazing. Especially the night events, which were definitely of excellent standard (something to work towards to, but I doubt I can ever reach that level).

Michelle gave me the easy task of collecting score sheets from the judges initially, so I get to watch part of the competition. I had to walk quite a lot of rounds around the competition area, but for the someone who is trying to be more physically active (and losing weight), it was pretty fun. And I have to admit there were a couple of cute judges (for the Latin events). *drools*

But no long into the role of score collector, Michelle realised that she was short-handed for ushers and I was given the task to usher the competitors. Basically I have to gather up the correct competitors for the correct item and get them ready before its their turn. I have to say this is a rather saikang job and conclusion of the day: 7 year old little kids are really really hard to manage. They'll probably be wandering all around the hall and it might be only one more event before it's their turn to shine and they are no where to be found! It would usually be the parents who would be more uncooperative and bring their kids to me once I start shouting out the event number.

The whole competition lasted till late into the night and I went back to my score collecting role again after my ushering job is done.

I have to say coming for this competition kind of motivated me to put in more effort for dance. I used to just attend the elementary and intermediate courses organised by SNB so after a while, my standard just stopped improving and I am just learning the same moves over and over again. And now, I have decided to start technique classes at Dance Dynamix together with Gladys in May once my FYP is over. Hopefully, I'll improve faster and be good enough to join Viva later this year. :3

Changes

After 4 years of uni life and tons of group projects, I've come to realize that my attitude towards group work and cooperation has changed drastically.

Hotmail has been recently upgraded to Outlook and I was sorting through all the project-related emails since year 1. Back in year 1 and year 2, I was the "enthusiastic" one, who'll blast emails to everyone in the group reminding them of the deadlines, what should be done, and when we should meet blah blah blah. And most of them were equally motivated and so there were not much issues getting projects done in an orderly manner back then.

And then, I met more people for various projects, I realized that different people has different working style, the most common would be procrastination until the last minute. And I came to understand that, sometimes, there's no need to be so kan-chiong and start on the project early, especially if most of your group mates are the procrastination kind. And human beings are lazy by nature, I procrastinate too. So as long as the project gets done eventually, I really have no issue if everyone just starts working on it one day before the deadline.

So now, with less than 2 months from graduation, I have become a serious last minute worker and most of my projects are finished in less than an hour from the submission deadline. And if my more "enthu" group mates tried to get the ball rolling, I just can't be bothered anymore. :p

Busy busy busy

School is getting more and more intense lately, as many deadlines draw near. There're 9 assignments/projects/presentations due in the coming 2 weeks. And I have been attending meeting after meeting for the past two days. Which is utterly crazy. In fact I'm in the way home now with another online meeting waiting for me. :(

It's pretty sad that we students (or maybe it's just me) get so caught up with school work and meeting deadlines that we've forgotten some of the little fun things that we used to enjoy as kids/teenagers. My prof uploaded an assignment this afternoon and it is due next Monday. Part of the instruction of the assignment is this:

"To improve your chances of getting a high score on this homework, please attach an envelope containing $100 SGD."

This is a really weird request! My first instinct was to check the assignment questions, thinking that the $100 might be something that is needed to do the questions. But nope! That wasn't the case.

I was so bewildered by this strange request that I sent my prof an enquiry. And here's his reply:

"Hi WenYi

Yes, you're right. $100 doesn't go very far these days but I thought I shouldn't ask for too much. And I'm not very fussy about whether it's in 10's or 20's :)

You know I'm only joking right? Monday next week is a special day .. :)"

That's when it finally dawned upon me that April Fools' Day is just around the corner!! To think that it used to be one of my favorite days of the year and now, it has completely slipped out of my mind because so many deadlines are breathing down my neck. Sighhhh.

But oh wells, once I pull through this two weeks things will be much more manageable. I'll only have to worry about my FYP and after that, it's gonna be 4 full months of pure bliss, happiness and laziness. :D

More updates about my vacation plans when I'm more free! :3

Sleep Disorder

Ok I think I might be suffering from Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPH), not insomnia. Have been sleeping at about 3am daily, and waking up at about 12noon, unless I have school.

From Wiki: 
"Delayed sleep-phase disorder (DSPD), also known as delayed sleep-phase syndrome (DSPS) or delayed sleep-phase type (DSPT), is acircadian rhythm sleep disorder affecting the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily rhythms, compared to the general population and relative to societal requirements. People with DSPD generally fall asleep some hours after midnight and have difficulty waking up in the morning. ... DSPD is a lifelong condition"

I am screwed. I think I will die young. There goes my dream of visiting Bermuda Triangles when I am at a ripe old age of 80. *poof* :/

Week of Ups and Downs

My mood has been going through a hell ride of roller-coaster lately and my menstrual cycle has been rather irregular, probably due to stress/my screwed-up sleep cycle/skipping meals etc.
(*note to self to go for a check-up soon*).

But I do have to admit that I have been losing my temper more often than usual to a particular person. Well, I had my reasons, but still, I have to sincerely apologize for my temperamental behavior. m(-.-)m

(start of rant...)
I lost my cool on Monday, when the deadline to submit an assignment pressed on me and you were still like, no idea what was going on. And you gave the wrong answer! :( The reason I got so worked up was because I felt that you could have easily understood and solved these questions because it wasn't out of your capability! You just didn't bother to pay attention in class (or at least that was what I thought then)!

As for today (Sunday), well, I got up on the wrong side of the bed to begin with. I was really unprepared for the meeting and my brain was just not functioning. (My sleep cycle is screwed. I am suspecting insomnia as the cause. I am seriously contemplating sleeping pills. But, I digress.) Anyway, so you settling down in Starbucks despite me already being in somewhere else in utown kinda ticked me off. And I guess, given your intelligence, you know what I meant when I said the meeting was unnecessary. I felt like we wasted each other's time. And your time is always oh-so-precious (I am not being sarcastic, this is what I truly felt). Given the way we had worked with each other in the past, an online meeting would really suffice, IMHO.

Perhaps, I did bear a little grudge towards you for not doing the assignment due on Monday when I really really needed your help to confirm whether my answers were correct. Guess you had more confidence in me than I had in myself. And my behavior today was kinda like, "revenge"? I don't know...

Whatever the case, I am truly sorry for being a bitch and I will try to curb my temper (and go for a check-up :p).  
(ok rant over)

I do notice my change of attitude towards the same particular person. And it's for the bad. I realize that I have the tendency to really display the foul side of myself once I feel that I am totally comfortable with someone. And then, they get pushed away by my bad behavior. Or at least this is what happened with my ex. But I really do not wish to lose such an important friend. I have to constantly remind myself that we will be friends for life. I have to constantly remind myself as well that I must not be overly reliant on others (which means, I should do everything myself. Any external help would just be a bonus, which I SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTING!)
My logic: Over reliance => exposing my weakness => vulnerability => I get hurt eventually.
Hence, this is why I repeatedly emphasize to myself that I don't want to depend on anyone. Nothing good happens whenever I start to have expectations for others. I can't even trust my own judgement (as illustrated by my last relationship). At the end of the day, 家是唯一的避风港。

OK DONE WITH THE DOWNS! NOW FOR THE HAPPY THINGS THAT HAPPENED OVER THE WEEK! WHEEEEE~

1. Went to Gladys' place for CNY house visiting last Sat. Pity didn't get to take a photo with the host. But here's a photo of me and Mia at her place when we were watching Running Man. Haha.

2. Dance!
Standard class started on Mon! Missed seeing Why Pong and Michelle! :)) And the layout of their WM DanceWorld studio changed, resulting in a larger dancing area. No more worrying about getting in the way of the pillar. Haha
And I'm loving Samba! Second time taking the elementary Samba at Dance Dynamix and I can catch on much better! :3

3. Shopping with Gladys.
Went (window-)shopping with Gladys on Wednesday before Latin class. Joys of being a girl! <3 br="" nbsp="">

4. Dinner with Yee Teng & Fenny on Thur!
Haven't met the girls for quite some time and setting a dinner with the working "adults" is soooooo difficult. The dinner was supposed to happen before CNY but OTs and CNY delayed it. And both of them were emphasizing how I should enjoy my long break before work starts! :O

5. My new dress arrived! :))
In view of the expenses required for the coming grad trips, I told myself to stop blog-shopping. But, oh wells, things happen! ;) Got this faux leather piece from Dressabelle and loving it loads! So gonna enjoy seeing the expression of all my friends if I'm wearing this out to meet them. Hohohoho.

(I sucked in my tummy while taking this photo. Shhhhh... :p) 

6. Going to Europe!! :)
Booked a tour package to Europe with parents. Flying in late May. Can't wait for it!

7. Cactus 2013: Emotions
Watched the performance to support Mia (oh she's SO HOT!!!).

And saw Paula as well. She's like sooooooo pretty! She should totally abandon her specs and just wear contact lens!

This post is way longer than expected! :3
Tada~~

Soulmate

Love this song by Natasha Bedingfield!

Does everyone really have a soulmate? What if mine is half a world apart from me?

But then again, I'm happy and contented with my life the way it is now. :)

My first homemade manicure!!

Tada~
NICE RIGHT??? :3

Did this in the spirit of CNY and Valentine's day, and I got the inspiration from Gladys' blog! :)

As you can see, I was being a little too ambitious and tried many new techniques! And I'm pretty satisfied with the result! Could be better of course, but given that this is my first time, I would rate it a 7! For the colourful-ness and cheerful vibe that this creates. Hehehe.




Here's the stuff I used just to do this manicure:

All of my nail-related stuff are from either Etude House or Face Shop. And yes, you'll need a band-aid, you'll see why. And because this is my first time doing such a manicure and with all those new techniques, I spent about 3hrs on it! But I guess it's worth the effort! :))

Anyways, here's what I tried (a youtube search would easily teach you how to do them effortlessly too!):
1) Hearts hearts~  

This is my favourite and most successful ones and. Koped from Gladys and here's the link to learn how to do it: DIY Nail Hearts. This is where the band-aid comes in handy. Really simple and fuss-free. And depending on the colour combi you choose, you can create really different looks! I tried pastel orange & white and it's oh-so-sweet! And bright orange & gold combi is really fitting for new year occasion!

2) Gradient!

This is less successful, I need to practice more. Heehee. Guess the colours I chose wasn't too different and the spread of colours were off so the gradient effect didn't come out as nicely as expected. I think this is really great tutorial on YouTube teaching you how to create the gradient effect using sponge.

3) And lastly french! This is the basic so won't show photos. Hehe.

My search for a part-time job (Part I)

NOTE: this is like a reaaaaaaaaally looooooooooong post! you have been warned! hehehe

Before I start my account of my (unsuccessful *sobs*) foray into the part-time job market, I would first like to conclude that looking for a part time job seems more difficult than looking for a full-time job (at least in my case). After all, I have restrictions that are unfavorable to any kind of job seekers: 1) flexible hours (since I'm still studying), 2) only able to commit for at most 3 months (since I may be going for my grad trips after graduation)

And so, here are the jobs that I considered/applied:

1) Tuition Teacher

Of course, I do know that being a tuition teacher requires long commitment terms and so I searched for part-time positions in tuition centers (at least they can find a replacement if I quit). Then I realized that despite my *ahem* rather good qualifications (well, I believe I can teach Chinese language, Mathematics and all Science subjects up to Secondary 4 level. buay paiseh, haha!), my lack of experience is much in my disfavor. :(

Then, opportunity came knocking at my door! Gladys has a senior who has recently opened a tuition center in Tampines (yay east!) and was looking for tutors. When I visited the tuition center on the day of its opening, it happens that there's already Chinese classes lined up so technically I can start teaching once the students are ready. YAY right? Well, no! Turns out the there's a 1 year commitment expected of me (which is totally reasonable) but because of my travel plans later in the year, I have to reject this position. And I felt so guilty and 不好意思, as I have already agreed to take on the Chinese class, then I had to email Gladys' senior to reject the position (and hopefully she finds a more eligible Chinese tutor >.<)

2) Recruitment Officer / Sales Coordinator

Well, this is a post that I found in many job search websites such as freelancezone.com and singapore.gumtree.sg. The pages are flooded with similarly worded advertisements with the following details:

"Job scope: Post ads online, arrange candidates for interviews, coordinate between company and client;
Work from home; Flexible working hours; No cold calls; No meeting clients; No experience required
Basic pay + Commission;
Earn 2K - 5K / mth!"

It's everything that I wish for! Minimum effort with good pay, sounds good right? Well, I learnt the hard way that all that sounds too good to be true are definitely not what it seems to be. :[

So, this is what happened (it's gonna be a long story so be prepared):
As there were numerous posts advertising similar jobs but by different 'recruiters', I applied for a number of them (about 4-5). The first one replied to my email. The recruiter, by the name of Abby Chew, whatsapp-ed me and she proceeded to arrange an interview slot with me. I asked what was the organisation and she replied that it's a property company. She did not reveal the name of the company then and on hindsight, this is definitely something fishy (but I guess I was too desperate for a PT job so I didn't think much of this). So anyway, an interview slot was then confirmed and I got the address of the company. Now, with the address, I could easily do a search on the Internet and realized that it is a real estate company by the name of ECG Property, which is a subsidiary of ECG Holdings. I did a rough research on the internet and all seems well. A pretty established firm with proper websites, contact channels yada yada. And so, I happily went for the "interview" at the stipulated date and time, thinking that this is probably gonna be a job in the HR department.

When I reached the office, I was led to a room that looked kinda like a training room (with white boards and screens in front, a projector hanging from the ceiling and rows of chairs). There were already about 8-9 other people sitting in the room. It was only then did I came to the full realization that I was probably conned into attending some kind of talk under the disguise of an interview. (Yeah I know, I'm slow. :( Oh wells, I guess I was just too shielded in my uni life and didn't get to experience these kind of marketing gimmicks. I digress.) I thought to myself, since I was there, might as well sit down and listen to what was on offer.

So this is the deal: there are several positions available,
1) Recruitment Officer/Recruiter (who posts those online recruiting adv that conned me into attending the "interview");
2) OJT (which I have no idea what it stands for as the speaker didn't elaborate but I shall just call it a 'Coordinator' role, who matches clients with the company's property agents according to client's requirement for a house; and
3) UREAP program (this is some certified training program giving you basic knowledge about the real estate industry, it's mainly for those who wish to be a property agent in the long-run, but note that there's another course and exam that you must take in order to be a property agent)

Those who attended the "interview" (it was actually a job briefing) were given a choice of (a) taking up all 3 positions; (b) taking only the double role of (1) & (2) or; (c) only a single role of (1) or (2). The speaker then proceeded to teach us how to calculate our earnings by simply being a recruitment officer-cum-OJT. I shall not bore you with the details but it's those kind where you draw commission based on how much you work (note: NO basic pay at all, contrary to what was posted in the online ad!!) And the motive was apparent: to show how easy it was to earn that stated "2K-5K/mth" and there's also a possibility of earning more than that! She also taught us tricks and gimmicks to get more viewership for the online advertisements and lure candidates to go for the "interview". This was when I really felt that the whole recruitment process is really deceitful.

What the speaker, Joey Tay, who is also some senior HR manager in the company) taught us (just a few of the things I could rmb):
1) Post online advertisements in popular categories such as part-time jobs / general / admin / Marketing / IT
(for those serious job seekers looking for a proper full-time job in say Marketing or IT, coming to this "interview" would be a total waste of their time!! And for those looking for a PT job in the first place, who would be seriously thinking about being a property agent? But apparently Joey Tay couldn't care less about that. All she wanted was more exposure of her online advertisements and hopefully con people into her system of recruiters and coordinators.)
2) Post in 6 categories in each of 16 job searching websites
(And imagine tens and hundreds of recruiters, each posting the same 6 advertisements in the same 16 websites!! So basically the whole website is flooded with the  same advertisements for the same company for the same job. This explains why I find so many similar advertisements when I was doing a job search despite different "recruiters" for each advertisement.)
3) Certain words are not allowed to be used in the advertisements: property, licence, the company name etc
(I couldn't rmb the list of words dis-allowed as the speaker just ramble them off not giving us a chance to note them down, when she had previously stressed to us we must absolutely note down how the commissions will be calculated. and then i realized why Abby did not reply me when I asked for the company name before I confirmed the interview with her. And of course, all these are done so that people will be conned into at least attending the "interview" and some of them might be persuaded to join them after hearing the briefing.)
4) Telling people that they are going for an "interview" and not a "job briefing"
(reason being that again, Joey want more people to listen to the "wonderful" prospects of earning big bucks and hence get conned into the system

Ok, so I've mentioned many times that this is a conning system. And readers might think, there's nothing to lose by joining as let's say, simply recruiters. We just invest in a few minutes posting ads online everyday, people respond to the ads and viola! You can now draw commission when those people referred by you joins the system. And the commission is quite substantial:
 - $125/pax (if candidate joins UREAP + OJT + Recruiter)
 - $100/pax (if candidate joins OJT + Recruiter)
 - $75/pax (if candidate joins OJT/Recruiter)
There's also a bonus of $800 if you manage to recruit 18-29 people per mth; $2,000 if you manage to recruit >29 people per mth.

BUT, here's the catch: there is a freaking JOINING FEE!!!
Never expected that huh?
Here's the joining fee rate if you are interested to join as:
1) UREAP + OJT + Recruiter: $700 ($499)
2) OJT + Recruiter: $600 ($400)
3) Recruiter/OFT: ($299)
The number in bracket is the discounted joining fee if we agree to join the company before 12am on the day of the briefing (and the briefing was from 7pm till 9pm plus, so we technically only have about 2.5hr to decide.) And that's NOT the only cost involved, everyone who joins must take a set of professional photos (with blazer and wearing the ECG tie). This costs another $29. The reason given by Joey was that she needed a face to match with our names or she wouldn't know who she's dealing with when she's paying us our commission. I snorted at this. This is such an apparent scheme to con us of our money!

At the end of the day, I have to admit the whole scheme was presented in a very appealing manner and Joey was a very convincing presenter (then again, she has been doing this for who knows how long), making the job seem like one that requires minimal effort with high pay. I ALMOST got tricked, almost! The 3rd option of joining as simply a recruiter seemed to promise a definite positive payout! I invest an initial amount of $328, and the minimum I should recruit would be just 5 recruiters/OJT. Easy huh?

Looking at the turnout of the briefing for the day I went, there were about 15 people in total. It seems that more than half of them were students looking for casual part-time jobs with no consideration of venturing into the real estate business (come on, who would look at the advertisements posted and imagine that that's the kick-start  of their career as a property agent right?!), so these people are probably wouldn't wanna fork out money before they see their payout (and I noticed that most of them sprinted out of the room the moment Joey ended the session. Haha). There's also a minority of serious job seekers who unfortunately wasted 2hrs of their time listening to bullshit. The potential is down to about 1/4 of the attendees. I don't know how many would actually join the company. And from the name list where I had to fill in my details and recruiter at the start of the briefing, I noticed that each recruiter managed to get about 2-3 people down to the briefing for the session I attended. Now, looking at how aggressively Joey is expanding her network of recruiters, I daresay the likelihood of getting enough people to join the company in order to cover our initial investment would be pretty low.

And the reason I would label this as a scam is because, Joey Tay, being the one right at the top would get all the benefits from the increased exposure of her ads (due to many many many recruiters). All new entrants to the company is considered to be recruited by her and she gets a large bonus/commission from ECG. Whereas for the many many many recruiters under her, it's practically a perfect competition where we are all posting the same ads and hoping that lady lucky would be on our side. Yeah sure, Joey promised the bonus and stuff, precisely because it's a bonus, this means that it's a difficult target to meet! So, not only does Joey gets the commission/bonus from ECG, she'll also be earning the Joining Fee from us. Yet, she made it sound like she provided a lot of opportunities for us to earn big bucks. Pooh! Yeah I'm pretty sure there'll be a couple who manged to earn a lot, but definitely not the majority!


3) Marketing Assistant (or some other irrelevant title that I can't recall now)

This is a story that guarantees another loooooong post by itself so I shall save it for another day.

Tada~