like.no.other

Because everytime I look at this, it hurts to know what I left behind.

1 Week More

Well, it's probably old news by now that I'd be leaving Sony this Sunday. What you may not know is that I received a job offer by Samuel to take over him while he settles into his Uni life. It's an office job at Paya Lebar, which will probably take me slightly more than an hour to get there from where I live. My main reasons for making the change are that they're giving me Tuesday off, my ankle's hurting so I can't stand for that long any more, the pay's higher, I want to try something new and I'd have my weekends free. Some reasons are probably more legitimate than others but it kills me to not be able to run when I want to because my legs ache like mad the moment I'm home. I'd like to go for something that has my shoulders and back aching instead. Not a pretty good trade off... but yeah.

Okay, this just came in. I don't know when I'm starting on the new job. It was supposed to be next Thursday. Oh well, I'm cool. A bit more time for me to bum around a guess.

I met up with Guo Fei and Samuel recently. We had a meal at Raffles City and chatted at Starbucks for quite awhile. A small gathering between good friends. I don't mind having a big one though, and I'm thinking of planning things, but relationships between people are... complicated. I mean, I could probably get everyone together, but I'm sure as hell that I won't be inviting you-know-who. And it just happens that everyone has someone that they dislike, or hate. I agree with Daniel - once you're out of there you're not obligated to see people you don't want to. So I'm sparing myself the pain.

I haven't talked about music in a long while, because I've been listening to a weird mix of stuff lately. The album that I can't stop playing on repeat has been Good Charlotte's Good Morning Revival. I know it's strange, totally unlike me, but I think it's brilliant. There's a strange connection between me and Good Charlotte. And I don't even like the genre that much! Maroon 5's Make Me Wonder has been on heavy rotation on MTV and it's shockingly good. Boogie and groove. Woah. Also, songs from the Grey's Anatomy OST are the shizzle. A shoutout to Samuel for alerting me to them. Last of all, I'd like to share a scary fact. I think I actually like Hillary Duff's With Love. Yes, I've lost my all my Dignity (pun intended. Is title of album.) by admitting I actually like this shit. The urgent beeping just drives me crazy. It sounds a bit like Lindsay Lohan's Rumours, and something Britney might actually have on her album. Britney Spears, come up with a new album already! I've been forced to like some wannabe trying desperately to act sexy in her vid and sound like you, in your freaking absence.

Whose fault is that, if not yours?

If you're wondering whether Brit even looks fit for the job (I've had it with people saying that she's never gonna get her body back), take a look here. Enough said.

Ooh, and did I mention Lindsay Lohan? Yeah, she's got a half-fucked career in music and movies but she's terrific. For something like this.



They're looking gorgeous.

New Schedule

Well for starters, instead of quitting the job at Sony, which most of you would've thrown me a party if I did, I'm working there 4 days instead of 6. As for tuition, I've currently got 3 students - a P6 student who lives in Yishun whom I've given 2 lessons to, a P5 student who postponed his first lesson today, and my P1 cousin who's having her first lesson tomorrow morning. So a typical week for me would be something like Monday - Sony, Tuesday - All 3 of them, Wednesday - Sony, free at night, Thursday - P5, free at night, Friday - P1, Sony, Saturday - Sony, Sunday - P6. The lessons are all over the place and I haven't got the chance to organise my days properly. I'm still trying to settle into the new schedule as it's only my first week, but sitting at home in front of the computer certainly beats standing. It doesn't help that I've got a colleague who keeps trumpeting the fact that I'm doing fewer days than before, I guess it'll just make everyone else think I'm lazy and hate me more.

I can't be bothered to curse and swear and take photos but it's raining. Again.

It's actually really cool being a teacher. A mentor. I haven't taken up this role since I've had juniors in Harmonica Orchestra, which was about 2 years ago. It's just the feeling of giving guidance and having people to learn something from you that just makes me feel proud that I actually have knowledge that's worth sharing. Another level up would be when they start looking up to you and giving you respect, which I feel has to be earned. I can't even begin to describe the feeling. It's like you've become from a stranger to someone they trust, and then someone they come to for advice and to hear about your experience and they rely on you. Having to live up to expectations sometimes makes a person stronger and more capable than they could ever imagine themselves to be.

I've lost a lot of naïveté ever since I took up that job. Yeah, I think I've surprised myself and probably even some of the friends that I've related my experiences to. It's really true that working makes you grow up faster. I had to face up to some nasty things in army, but working is really something else. The tricks are slightly sneakier, the drive to perform and be noticed is much more. Unlike some people, I don't like to stay stagnant and I try to improve myself constantly because this is who I am. However I don't think I've gotten very far and as a result I don't try so hard any more. The best thing I've ever heard was from a rather senior staff who said that I was a fast learner. And that's probably the only thing I've heard with regard to the standard of my work.

Which brings me back to expectations. I'm still a kid at heart. Immature. I need affirmation that my efforts make a difference. That brings expectations that I'd work to live up to. I'm not content with merely going through the motions in life.

Anyway, Guofei, Shawn and I met up yesterday. We talked about the current state of our lives, walked from Orchard to Dhoby Ghaut to look for Ivan at MDIS. He hadn't finished work yet and so we had our meal at Long John Silvers' while waiting for him. We discussed a lot of issues after not having met up for so long, and one of the things that came up was money, which seems to have become such a crucial aspect on our lives once we start working. First of all, despite it not being as important as family, friends and spending time doing things you actually enjoy, the time we spend persuing it actually takes up a lot of our lives. My colleague asked if you could give up your life for a million, would you? Me, being the live-for-the-day and enjoying-all-the-small-things kind of person rejected the idea straight away. It's 10 more years to see the sun rise in your face, 10 more years of being with your friends around, 10 more years to see your kids grow up... My colleague, on the other hand, felt that you've to work for 5/6 days a damn week - why not spend the rest of your life not working and actually living it for say, 30-40 years? You'll probably spend more than 10 years of your entire life working anyway.

I've gotten so out-of-point.

We went to Clarke Quay after that for a walk and it was very happening. The mall's already opened. But there was this place (which I have no idea what it's called) which houses The Clinic and Attica. It was amazingly posh (pardon me for my sua-ku-ness) and definitely the kind of place you'd like to chill out at after a day of work. But then again, it's not an option when you earn a measly 30,40 dollars a day. I was in awe most of the time and tempted to have a lifestyle like that, but I must say, I don't think I'd be able to support myself, or my family (yes dammit, I do give money to my parents). It makes me more motivated to earn money though, because wants can be satisfied by money.

See, what did I say before? The older you get, the more shallow and superficial you become.

Oh Yeah

I guess I'll have to agree with Mr Weetz's comment. The only problem is how I'm going to go about fixing it. I have a plan, but I'll have to see if the boss feels the same way about it. If not I'll have to take another choice of action seeing that I'm not feeling "happy" enough throughout my day. It's a pain in the arse.

I had my first tuition lesson 2 days ago and I was there early. I wanted to go for a swim, but the sky looked crappy. Anyway, I was welcomed by the thunderous barking of their dog, which unnerved me. Luckily, his parents weren't at home. I helped him with his schoolwork, went through a couple of topics, tripped and almost fell on a tesselation question, and gave him homework. Simple but fulfilling. At least I felt that I'd earned the money with some skill.

Yesterday I had a terribly snobbish customer who was filthy rich, but impolite and a fucking bitch. And so I didn't really give her a wide smile or anything like that. I just talked matter-of-factly. Well, she had the cheek to complain to my colleagues that I was unfriendly, when she was the one muttered audibly retarded remarks under her breath like, "No wonder Sony's going bankrupt!".

Change is hard, but I deserve so much better.

N. Fulfilling

What I did at yesterday:

1) Give directions to the Sony Service Centre
2) Give directions to the Sony Ericsson Service Centre
3) Inform customers that PSP was out of stock (to which a customer said that we should've put up a sign so they wouldn't have false hopes of getting one)

I could've put up a signboard right there and it would've been able to do all the above.

Hey You

One of the reasons why I took the job, despite all the standing and crappy hours, was that I'd get to interact with people from all walks of life.

There's was a Spanish couple who came in to buy a Vaio initially but got a T-50 as the Vaio was going for the same price in Spain. The guy exuded charm in his his newspaper boy cap, and looked like Orlando Bloom, while his other half had very pointy boobs. Will I get sued for writing that? Anyway, they were really polite and very nice.

There was also this Singaporean couple in their early twenties who dropped by to get a Vaio. The small 11" one that took forever to start up. At the time they bought it, the shop was about to closed, so they stayed on well after closing time. When it was done the girl actually said, "Thank you for your patience.". A small gesture, but the specificity of the comment actually meant a lot to a guy who had been standing for the past 10 hours and dying to end his work day!

Of course I've had my share of crappy experiences like this lady who bought a Vaio from me in the morning and banged it up a couple of hours later. I was stunned when she came back, instinctively knowing that it coudn't have been good news. Luckily we had the service centre and they were able to fix it for her almost instantly. That was awkward.

I've been watching a lot of TV dramas recently. I've finished off The OC, getting into Grey's Anatomy and trying to track down the rest of Desperate Housewives. On the musical front, I'm quite impressed with my self-proclaimed motherfucking princess Avril Lavigne. Her new single, Girlfriend, debuted at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and she's released the single with the chorus in 8 different languages. She does sound weird in Chinese, but listen for the hell of it!

So Superficial

Whoever thought of installments must be a freaking genius because he certainly know how to get people to part with large sums of money in the least painful way.

I got myself a T-10 yesterday. Not at the bleeding IT Fair I'll have you know! It's the best deal that I've ever seen. On top of that, we were lacking customers in the morning. The staff to customer ratio was overwhelming. And my colleagues didn't have anyone else to psycho, and so they did their salestalk on me! Being one of them, I was of course not that easily persuaded, but logic won out. A GPS system? A photo-printer? Another 10 bucks for a 1GB Memory Stick? The price of the camera fell by a hundred bucks and they've bundled it together with so many freebies to make the offer irresistible. Throw in the fact that they were willing to use their credit cards to pay for me in installments and I was sold. I got the black one.

Which of course means I'm in debt of 509.

I don't think I can ever trust myself with money.

In other news, I've been so bored with whatever I've been up to (working, mainly) that I dyed my hair with the help of my sister last night. I was out till late, so we did it from 1 to 2 AM. The pungent smell of ammonia filled the house, but it's so worth it. Okay, it was also for vanity reasons - now I don't see any white hair any more! There isn't any drastic change, just a slight tinge of brown if you look carefully enough. I love it!

I realise that the older I get, the more superficial I become. Despite being taught the right values and believing in them when I was younger, I'm caught up in the race of looking good and the importance of mere skin-deep beauty. It's the quickest way to judge and be judged, which is probably why I'm so obsessed about it.

Or I'd be wearing spectacles, going to the Malay barber and wearing my 1-year-old Nikes.

Ooh, dammit.

Empty

It's been kind of quiet at the battle front recently, and it's all due to the IT Fair. The top question currently is whether the promotion/prices that we are offering are the same as the ones in Suntec. To which I have to give some politically-correct answer. Nowadays I spend more time staring into space than talking because there are much fewer customers (I dread to go to work today) and those who actually come in are weird (if they were normal they'd go to the IT fair). The hype and excitement that's there makes me want to go over and do some real sales! If only the pace picked up a little! I haven't sold a Vaio in 3 days, when usually I manage at least one a day. Boring.

If there's one thing I've learned about myself through work it's how unsociable I am. I like the process of making new friends but I hate being the one to initiate. I've tried very hard to change but that's just the way I am! Everyone's first impression of me is that I'm some stuck up bastard until they try to talk to me, and they discover that I'm a different person altogether. I'm still trying to find out why I'm so unfriendly. From a selfish perspective I get to be the one doing the rejection, and choosing which friendships to accept, and whom I'd like to stay away from (nasty!). On the other hand, sometimes I'd be the one totally left out of everything.

And this is not the kind of attitude I'd like to take to NTU. Speaking of which, my medical is coming up on the 27th of March, and I'm going to get my student card soon! I really can't wait to go to school again, probably for the last time. To mingle with people of the same age and getting to know more people... Everything about it is cool. Staying hall as well!

Everything's looking fine and dandy, except that I've got some money issues to sort out. That sucks.

Swensons

"Teaming up with the distinguished Carl Zeiss lens, every details is reproduced with astonishing clarity."

Anyone who has laid eyes on that line and approved it should be sent back to Primary School.

I've got 15 minutes to finish this blog entry before I go for my run and meet Jie Yu for lunch, and then to work, so let's get it started.

On Monday Isetan was having Dinner and Dance at Sentosa and so the shop closed at 1730. We left the place at 6 and the full-timers had to attend something at Paragon and so we went to Ah Mei for a huge cup of coffee/tea each. We sat there for about half an hour while discussing how much we had to work to earn the money for a cup of tea (10 minutes of standing for a dollar's worth of tea), which was kind of frustrating. Money's kind of bothering me nowadays!



We went around shopped around Paragon before going out to take some photos! As you can tell we were really bored. Wee Hong brought his semi-professional camera, the Sony V1. I like the fact that the camera gives really good field of depth. We cam-whored a lot, but Wee Hong's not in the photos because he prefers taking them!



At 1930 we went in to Swensons to secure 14 seats while the rest of them were still at Paragon doing their stuff. We talked a lot of rubbish and I must've drank about 3 cups of water while waiting. I had to visit the toilet of the Crown Prince Hotel too! Not that I've never stayed over there though! I got quite tired of talking because that's what we've been doing the whole day during work, so after awhile I became quite stoned.



By 2000, we went from this, to that. I think I've never cam-whored more in my life, but I couldn't help it - I was bored. Everyone else was too! Luckily Cassandra came down and she told us a lot of stories about her office life since leaving the gallery and there's a hilarious video of her talking about the consequences of the guys coming down so late for dinner. It's kind of amazing how she can rattle on while forming her thoughts at that very moment.



Another hour passed.

Eventually we were starved and ordered some calamari rings and fries, which tasted damn good. Haha... They finally arrived and we took a group photo...



... before chomping down the food that was served. I think we left at about 2230 and coincidentally, I met my parents on the train, and we went home together.

Yesterday I went out with Sequeena and Si Hua, my closest Secondary School friends. We never fail to have fun when we're with each other. It's just that now the three of us are working, it's become really difficult for us to fit each other into our schedules. One's a nurse, the other sells liquor at Changi Airport and is something like a supervisor at Rocky Master.

I have a 6-day work week. Enough said.

Si Hua and I went to the airport to look for Sequeena and she looked astonishingly different. It was the first time that we've seen her since her 10+ kg weight loss. It makes me feel that I need more determination to work on my body. Gosh.



We went for a meal at this Jap/Korean restaurant before taking a bus down to Suntec where we shopped for awhile. We walked through Marina and rented a couple of umbrellas from Hang Ten which didn't come in to use as the rain stopped the moment we stepped out of the building. We took a long walk to Lau Pa Sat and had dinner for 3 hours. When you haven't met in 3 months, you've got a lot to catch up on. We talked about our love lives (for me, the lack of one), our jobs, and money.

I think I've become a little bit obsessed with the topic. The only other thing I ever think about as much is how to get back the bod I had in army.

We left the place at 11 or so, feeling really tired from an entire day of activities. The time passed incredibly fast though, which always happens when I'm with them.

After half day of work and another day of off, it's time to get back to work again!

Focus

I haven't been able to write anything interesting because I haven't gotten my focus right. Sometimes I sit down and I feel like jotting down some of my thoughts, but I've got absolutely no inspiration. When inspiration strikes, it's a very magical moment. Even during exams, I can spend half the time day dreaming till I get hit by that elusively exclusive idea and the other half rushing out the essay. More often than not, the moment when I put a full stop to the last sentence of the last paragraph, the invigilator announces that it's time to put the pen down.

I have no idea if it's due to me being tired most of the time or the monotony of life taking its toll on me. Either way, I don't feel inspired to write anything these days! Most of the things that I'm doing have been talked about. Most of those that I haven't mentioned aren't worth the time to do so.

If I have to be forced to talk about something though, I'd like to complain. How very Singaporean of me.

First of all, there's this line on the advertisement for Sony camera pouches which read, "No unsightly scratches. No unwanted damages. Just desired safety." I don't mean to insult the retard who wrote it, but what kind of damages can be described as "wanted"? Logically speaking, you can have scratches which are unnoticeable, and you can have scratches which are big and unsightly. Fine. But are there damages that are "wanted"? Including the word just for the sake of it doesn't make it sound professional nor poetic, it just sounds retarded. And it irks me to see such rubbish being printed on a huge, expensive-looking poster.

They could've paid me and I'd have come up with something better!

As terrible as it is, most of Sony's adverts are written in that tone of voice and resort to using equally cringe-worthy choice of words. I just need to gather more proof. I'm bringing that SDW course booklet home tomorrow.

People who come from countries with high population densities are usually (but not always) vulgar. I've been convince myself that it's not right to judge people from where they come from. It's only fair to approach customers without any preconceived notions and deal with who they are, and not their nationality. However that's all a bunch of bullshit and if you come into contact with enough of them you'll realise that they fit into that mould and it becomes only natural to categorise them as such.

Just like the fact that Indonesian Chinese, who almost always go for the most expensive SZ VAIO, are easy-going and polite.

This has got to be my bitchiest entry to date.

In the meantime, the titles of the library books I've borrowed today quite accrately reflects on what I've been pondering about.

1. Personal Finances for Dummies
2. Absolutely Perfect Plan for a Flatter Stomache (you're allowed to laugh if you have a 6-pack)
3. Toxin by Robin Cook

Random Stuff

In addition to all the weird questions I get asked during work like, "Where's the toilet?" and "Do you guys sell Ipods?", I got asked another question (twice!) that I hadn't heard before. And I've been there for 3 months already!

I was standing innocently at the TV section when a lady came up to me, pointed at the 60" Bravia SXRD TV and asked earnestly, "What movie is this?".

And I got it from another family later in the day. I was more stunned than frustrated, because they were easy one-liner answers. That's Hollywood - brilliantly manufactured and intense action sequences. iRobot and Too Fast Too Furious - Tokyo Drift were the movies that were guilty of making Singaporeans hang around like they didn't have enough money to go to the cinemas.

There was this little kid who came up to me and used his cute pleading voice and went, "Gooooooooooooooooooooor, this game cannot play already!". And I restarted the PS2 and shifted through the options till it became alright again. Basically I was brimming with delight that he called me gor, because I do look younger than my age and being 20 isn't an adult yet, and the last think I want to hear is parents telling their kids to address me as uncle.

That did happen a couple of times, much to my disgust.

In other randome stuff, David Choi is pretty good. Although he readily admits to using too much of his throat, but I like his voice. Ooh, and speaking of good music, Sophie Ellis Bextor's Catch You is brilliant. I can't stop playing it. Ahhh... we do need the veterans in the business to show those noobs how it's done!

A shoutout to my army friends whom I went out for dinner at Crystal Jade with, followed by a 930PM screening of Babel at Lido and a comfortable cab ride home. You guys are high maintenance! But I enjoyed myself thoroughly - it was amazing hanging out with them.

Curiously enough, Kenneth has asked me to join his band. I don't know how serious he is but that's what he said when he dropped by on Tuesday. He said he's heard me sing in bunk a couple of times and thought I was alright. This, coming from the guy who undid my bootlace and took out that round thing in his desperate attempts to stop me from singing along to Franz Ferdinand
at the back of the minibus when we were having night driving!

We'll see how it goes. Should be interesting.

KC

So on Sunday (I realise that it happened 4 days ago but I've been busy so there!) me and Madeline finished work and we headed over to Sony Paragon to see what was keeping Bernard. He was busy doing his redemption stuff and we hung around and did dumb stuff like playing DJ Max while waiting for him. When he finally got off work it was almost 1030PM. We took a train followed by a bus in the chilly night to our supper place in Bishan.



I was amazed at how a simple and ordinary dish like this tasted special because of the circumstances we were in - cold, tired after work, but in the company of great people.



Of course a couple of coffee shop uncles stared at us, but it was really rather deserted by the time we did this. Wee Hong also ordered a couple of fried chicken wings which Bernard couldn't eat because of his state of health! We chatted into the night but cut things short as it became late. It was by sheer luck that Bernard and I managed to catch the last train heading west!

Next week - Roti Prata!

All Good Things

Work has been really really weird recently. I've had the fun of selling stuff and people coming down to visit me. But after the Christmas/New Year season, it seems that people aren't keen on buying big-budget electronic stuff, despite the promotion being better than before. It was fantastic of Kenneth to stop by on Sunday and to buy earphones and speakers. He got A-list service. From yours truly. Well, he did walk out with 140 bucks worth of Sony stuff!



After that the few of us went to Bishan to enjoy Kuay Chap. More on that the next entry.

Ooh, and I've had my fair share of unpleasant encounters with customers. One who claimed that she will not talk to me because I didn't call her back. If only she knew how busy we were and the circumstances that we were in.

And another, who asked, "Which country am I in?"

Now that is freaky.

A New Year

I spent New Year's eve working. It was the end of the roadshow and we had a lot of KFC! After that I rushed down to Jie Yu's place, where there were games and drinks. I realise that alcohol really adds life to the party. Especially since/Even though I'm not the one drinking! I had a quick nap while Jie Yu's cousin played Mahjong with him, Yong Xiang and Timothy. I substituted for him at 3AM, due to his need for sleep for the day's activities. We played one round, and though I ended up losing, I think I played rather decently for a beginner! I need more sessions.

After that YX and Timothy left and Jie Yu and I went upstairs to get some food. Apparently there was no shortage of them, and we started with the crayfish. I was also having bee hoon, but my best friend decided that the highlight of the meal couldn't possibly be common so he just wanted me to emphasize that. I had 3 crayfishes. It was bloody good. The stingray and mutton soup was amazing as well. We talked about life in general and the year ahead. We're both looking forward to starting school so NTU/SMU - watch out!

I had a mere 2 hours of sleep before rushing out to work! I can't believe I made it through the entire 11 hours of work, and still had the energy to go out for supper after that. We celebrated the public holiday the same way we celebrated Christmas - cam-whoring.



It started with one. And then we just couldn't stop.



We used the T10 and the clarity was amazing. I did a bit of editting to the photos by blurring out the background and bringing the focus to us.



It seems that the only photos I take nowadays are at work! But not to worry - there're many 21st birthdays coming soon, and it definitely gives me the opportunity to cam-whore record precious memories in the form of photos!

Wen Xiong, Bernard, Wee Hong and I went to Newton for supper, and the food was good. I think I'll spend more money on good food instead of other stuff. Live to eat - yeah! Stingray, chicken wings, oyster omelette and sugar cane galore! Definitely memorable.

What a way to start the new year!

Arrival

And I've finally got the mp3 player. All thanks to Chris! You're the man! Hahaha... Really appreciate it. I had lunch with him a couple of days ago and he also said something that struck me as true. "It's not a sin to buy something you really like!" Arhm, whatever it is, I'll be waiting for an invitation for that trip to Taiwan! Haha! I haven't had the chance to enjoy all the cool stuff that the player can do (such as taking it for a run) but I'm slowly finding my way through the rather complicated controls. I mean, if you want something high-end, you can't expect it to be too easy to use. (Compare a DSLR with T10.)

I know people who enjoy seeing my chart are going to kill me for missing 2 weeks of action consecutively (yeah, I don't plan on doing this week's one either!), but I think I'll take a break till next week at least! Then the chart will start afresh. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make it better, I'd gladly accept it! I'm thinking of a new format for it. I know it's a lousy excuse, but work has been keeping me busy. And contrary to popular belief it does take more than 2 hours to get it done!

I'm getting fat. Send me back to NS! My fitness was really at its peak, but I hate to think that I would never be in that condition again.

A new year - new resolutions. I used to think it was wisdom that we shouldn't bother with them. But now, what's the point of kicking off another year without new hopes, dreams and goals? I'll think through mine and post them soon enough. I know it'll be thoroughly exciting - finally stepping into Uni (when my parents' have been nagging at me to do well enough to enter since P1), trying to be financially independent, exploring the world and maybe taking on a new job.

I've had much more of a social life this month as compared to when I first started the job! I've been meeting my friends after work (a big shoutout to Guo Fei, Ivan, Shawn, Samuel and Kenneth - Death Note 2 was good) and plan on attending a couple of parties like NYE at Jie Yu's, a secret party on the 3rd January and Terence's 21st birthday on the 13th! I'll finally get to do some cam-whoring! Hahaha!

I got Edison Chen's last album Hazy last night at Gramaphone for $2.95. Well, I can understand its lack of appeal - it's rap, it's in Cantonese, he's unlikeable. But despite my limited knowledge (and vision) of Asia's pop culture (no, I don't listen to BoA), he is someone who really stands out. If I'm not wrong he's headlining a concert for Kanye West in Hong Kong. I'm not a big fan of Kanye's music, but it could be really hot if he's producing stuff for Edison (as hinted on his blog). His new album is slated for release during the first quarter of 2007.

And if Britney doesn't come up with hers next year, I'm done.

My Only Wish

Oh yeah, so if you were wondering what I was doing on Christmas, there's your answer.

I'm not terribly resentful or anything like that. After all, the pay's good. And I think I've experienced a whole of stuff that I never would if I hadn't taken on this job. I'm constantly meeting new people, and I'm learning how to make a good first impression and at the same time being friendly and approachable. Just working to become the person I want to be is a huge thing.

Anyway without these couple of people, my job wouldn't be as fun as it is now. Wei Hong, Madeline and Bernard are really cool and played a big part in spicing up my working life! Just yesterday we (Mad, Bernard and I) were recounting the first time when we met each other. It's rather hilarious actually. The first time I met WH was when we were working together, obviously and he taught me a lot of stuff and looked out for me. Stuff like that. Without him I probably would't be half as capable nor motivated as I am now. Then there's Madeline whose first words to me was a "warning" not to punch my card because we weren't technically late! It would be a few hours after that that we started talking. We'd either be singing along to the songs played or watching her do her short segments of "ballet"! Then there's Bernard who's nicknamed Pooh Bear. I was thinking of dying my hair the same colour as his when I first saw him, and I found out his name through his other redemption buddy, Lynn. He told me he knew who I was because I would always say "thank you" when I got stuff from them. The first thing I ever asked him about was where there was good food to eat at Orchard Road! It's ridiculous, but cool.

It's amazing how our paths cross.

I'm grateful to be where I am, and I thought of sending a letter to Si Hua's sister to thank her. I'm in the company of people who are driven and serious about work, and at the same time fun to be around. Though I'd seriously like to complain about the working hours, but I suppose it's impossible to get the best of everything!

I guess my only wish this year (I haven't heard that Britney X'mas song this year till I went to the cinema today with Mak to watch Gong Li's papayas, but that's an entry for another time) is... to be a better person.

How cliche. But true.

I think I need to blog more. I've got so much to say.

Pages Will Burn, Now It's Your Turn

So this will be a brief rant about what happened yesterday. (It's funny how the bad things in life inspire more blog entries than the good!)

I got a call from Wei Hao when I went for work and it turns out that he's going to be around till Sunday to help out for the road show! We had a great time chatting and I think we might be staying in hall together.

In the evening David popped by to say hi before the class outing. And to ask for the location of the ATM! A few moments later, I got a huge surprise when Guo Fei, Ivan, Shawn and Samuel came by to say hi. It turns out that they were going to meet at City Hall initially but made the trip to Orchard to get me to go out to dinner! Apparently, I was going to meet Ryan for a movie. I felt really rotten about disappointing them. And before they even left, Fukang came! He's going to China to meet his girlfriend for a week or two.

Ryan and I walked to PS, and on the way (surprise, surprise) I met my class, but it all happened rather fast. And then when I checked my phone, I got a message from Wei Jie saying, "Fuck you". It was probably due to me not attending the class outing, but still, I'm sure there's a more civil way of putting it across. After all, it was initially set on the 19th, and I plan my activities for the week once my work schedule's released.

Having disappointed two groups of people really got to me. Although it isn't really my fault.

Ryan and I ate at the food court (where Guo Rui called and sounded scarily like he was going to get me to join MLM) before I went to the Starhub at PS to say hi to Sidney and Zhi Wei. After that we went to The Cathay to watch Eragon, which was entertaining. During the movie, Mitchell messaged me (and maybe other people because it was addressed to "guys") about how heartless I/we were because we proclaimed that we were buddies but we never met up, and that she was disappointed.

Ryan and I took the train home and I was kind of stunned when Ivan and Guo Fei stepped in at Orchard MRT station. Anyway, they decided to ask me out earlier rather than later (I have this one-week's-notice-in-advance with regards to going out, because I'm not spontaneous) and so we're going to watch Death Note II next Thursday.

After all that happened it shocked me to realise how many people I knew. It was awful to know that I've let people down. But it hurts to realise that they don't understand. I can't say I didn't see it coming, which is why I said before that I can't handle anymore friendships. I've always believed that it's much better to have a close group of friends than a humungous social circle but not having friends who'd be there for you when you need them. Because they are human tool; it's not about casting a net huge enough to tie them down to you, but rather reaching out to a chosen few that you'd be able to make a difference to, and vice versa.

Sometimes we make a conscious choice of who we want to hang out with, sometimes there's time to burn and we've got to find company. Emotions are complicated. Initiatives are sometimes not reciprocated. I'm really very touched by friends who have not given up on me despite my countless disappointments. I'm sure you can tell whether the feeling is mutual.

Way back, when I was younger and childish - just before I started my own music chart in 1999, I used to rank my friends. And show them to everyone. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking, but yeah, that was what I did. It was a double-edged sword - to show those I cherished that they meant a lot to me, and to show those lower down in the ranks that if they wanted to get into my good books (literally) they had to work at it.

Very fucked up I know, but that was when I was 13. Of course I soon realised that people were not meant to rank like songs, and we love our friends for their diversity, and the different persectives they bring to our lives as well as the variety of things that they can assist us with. And that they are special in their own, different ways.

At least I don't burn bridges on purpose (MLM). There are constraints and I'm trying my best to work around them.

But why would I bother explaining to those who don't understand my situation? We're obviously not that close anyway.

Inmotion

Decisions.

Tough things to make.

I'm going to decide between going to Uni in April or in August. I need a bit of advice from all you Uni peeps. Although there's a really good chance that I'll go in in August, because I've always thought the the idea of going in earlier is retarded. But then again, going in earlier means graduating earlier (does it?) and looking for a job earlier, which might probably mean earning more money compared to what I'll be getting if I continue with my current job till June.

I don't know if I've said this before but the Night Safari called me up with regards to the post of Show Presenter. I told them promptly (while having KFC) that I had a job already. I wish I had taken the time to find out more about it, but I was really disappointed at them getting back to me 3 weeks after I posted my resume. Nevertheless, I'm keeping my options open. I might just go work for them when I start Uni.

Work hasn't exactly been monotonous. I see and learn new stuff everyday. However it's tiring. It's so different from army (when there are times where you feel so exhausted that you're going to die, and there are times where you're so free that your brain rots) and school (where you don't put in effort when you don't want to). I don't have to put in effort to be tired - standing all day causes that. Coupled with somewhat forced enthusiasm and smiles... that's really mentally draining.

Of course I'm exaggerating. Slightly.

But I'm a guy who'd rather do my best and feel beat, than being present but not contributing. I've learned that much about myself in army.

Anyway, I've gotten myself a cologne called Inmotion, from Hugo Boss. Yeah, I bought the tester. I can't help but buy stuff to reward myself after all I've put in to earn the money - just to be assured that it's all worth it.

I'm getting that freaking mp3 player this weekend.

Popping By

Was yesterday a national holiday or something? Because I've been trying to find reasons as to why everyone was not working or schooling.

Which means there must be something very wrong because I was working yesterday.

On my way back from Bugis to transfer stock, the taxi driver expressed that he was shocked that there was such a queue at the taxi stand. In fact, I was shocked too! I mean - why the hell does it look as if it's the weekend? Or had it not ended? I have no idea.

When I returned from J8, I met David. And then Sequeena and Jimmy. And after that my aunt came with her Romanian boyfriend. Followed by Fukang. And Sidney. Most people visiting me in the shortest span of time. Well, I suppose it makes up for the lack of people stopping by in the past 2 weeks or so!

A shoutout to Edmund and Mak who popped by before too.

It's cool to feel the love... Haha! It makes work more interesting.

Ooh, and Sidney and Beryl who accompanied me home yesterday. The ride home's really a torture. And they just made the time fly past like it was nothing! Cool stuff.

Help!

I'm exhausted and turning into a wreck. Work's good but I think the initial thrill has worn off. I'm cool with my colleagues and all - they make working a breeze. The only problem is at the end of the day my tiredness hits me like a truck and I'm unable to do anything else. Yeah, I'm thinking of how I'm going to make the most of my life while working.

I've been wanting to get that mp3 player for too long. I'll get it once the next pay comes in.

The chart will be up on the morning that I'm doing the afternoon shift.

At the moment I'm kind of lost with what I'm supposed to do with my life in general. Help!