There is always an end for every beginning

It has been a month since I last updated this diary. Many things happened throughout this whole month. There have been ups and downs and I am still surviving till now. Outings with friends and family are those happy moments. Logging error are those nightmares I faced every now and then especially txn that give losses to the comp. Somehow, I am grateful to my cluster head for her kindness, for her understanding. When I was so upset in the office, her smile really made me want to carry on with my work despite all the pressures from left and right. And now, I can tell, I had learnt from my mistakes. I will not repeat it again. Family outing in Singapore was great. I hope all of them enjoyed. Well, we shall go for cruise next Dec. No promise, but I shall try to make it.

Congrats to my youngest sister for her excellent result in her PMR. We are so proud of you and I can tell that she will be the smartest among the 4 of us.

Year 2009, a year that rather bad for me as Oxen according to the Fehngshui. I shall do my best for the coming year.
**Shoutout> I want a Nikon D60!!!!!****

Weekend

Not really a boring weekend for me this week. Yesterday, I went to Expo, hoping to find a printer for myself since my old one which has followed me for more than 3 years finally can't stand me anymore when it generate sparks after i switched it on. Out of budget, I did not buy it. In stead, meeting up Min Fung and went down to Orchard. Oh yea, got some goodies from the credit card I signed up to0. I got an iron from Diners Club.

Had dinner in Seoul Garden. Min Fung's type, must buffet. Haha!! Had some sightseeing around Orchard. There is this event, where the MC will ask the "superlative" adjective to go on stage and who wins will get a prize. We were saying, if he called who has the biggest stomach, then we must go up. Hahah!!Yes! we bite our finger, he called!! but we did not go up since there's a guy who has a really big stomach which we can't compare ourselve to him.

Today, I went Tampines Mall to redeem Delifrance food from the remaining rebates. Saw some CC's event going on. How I wish I could spend my free time doing PA with a company. Argh!! just lazy to find out.

I watched back 7th Tech Crew flash individual assignment... LOL!!! Laugh till my jaw dropped. Funny ideas. But i guessed they had put in their fullest efforts.

Little Nyonya

Mediacorp is showing this drama now. I think they put a lot of effort to publicize this drama. Still i think that this show isn't that genuine to portray the livings of Baba and Nyonya. Maybe I stayed with the Peranakan family before, so I knew little or more about their lifestyle. Language was pronounced wrongly by the actress.. So i guess it won't be that interesting to me except that to see my hometown was being filmed in that show.

I had cleared all my leaves. My 3 days of leaves has been pretty boring. I stayed in Singapore for the entire weekend and 3 weekdays which happen to be my leaves.
Having errors while doing processing has been normal to me already. The weird part is, it seemed that I am entirely to be blamed for the error when there is adjustment to be done. Then what about the one doing the final check. I realized is my error due to my carelessness and I am trying to minimize it whenever possible.

On the first day to work after my leaves, I was pretty worry that when I reached, my supervisor or so will come and inform me to leave immediately due to a huge retrenchment that take place in the company. In the news was reported that in Singapore, there is only 300 out of the 9000 employees. Hardly to say, almost 1/3 out of the business groups of the company need to be retrenched. But luckily it has not happen to me. Still, all of us are in fear to see when the wave is hitting our department. Hopefully it will be stopped by the intelligence of the big boss to change the direction of the company. Imagine, the price of the share when I first joined was at 20+ has hit the lowest of 4.25 pershare.

And yesterday, there is a bazaar held by one of the committees in the company. The goods sold range form the colleagues used cosmetic to music cds. It is said that the proceeds will go to the charity. It is rather weird to see when the clothes you purchase are your colleagues' one.

I have gotten my PR. I did the formality on one of my off days. It took me only an hour as I had prepared all the needed documents and had them in order to be presented to the officer. I was given a temporary slip with my IC number and I am suppose to collect the card only on Wednesday. The number is pretty nice and easily I can remember it. The last 4 digits happen to be my friend's car plate number. How coincidence is it..

I am attending my colleague's wedding dinner today at Novo hotel at Clarke Quay. Will be going with Kelly who is staying at Pasir Ris too since she asked me in the afternoon. Rather awkward, when I am going with Kelly who is not the Kelly from my hall. Will be meeting the rest at the train station before going in together. Anyway, is my first time attending wedding dinner in Singapore. Pretty curious at the event setup. How is it going to be different than in Malacca? I will know it later.

I had watched Shrek and Kungfu Panda..Shall I watch Madagascar as well? But its only on weekend for me!! Argh!!

Meticulous, Accuracy and Speed

Time flies. That's all I could say. 3 years in NUS, 3months struggling for a job and it has been 3 months since i started my first office job. At this time of crisis, its really tough to secure for a job. I am thankful to secure it just before the storm hit the globe. I guess every jobs in the market will have the take away for the employee, be it marketing, sales or desk-bound. I admit, this job is rather desk-bound but it really depends how we look at it. It may be bored at a time, but it maybe also challenging especially if we keep going to a higher level. I do get nightmares too especially after what had happened recently where it involved the usage of the company's P&L. I could just asked myself sometimes, "what other mistakes I have not committed yet, please commit it once shot, once and for all." I admit, I am really careless sometimes, not meticulous. But i guess, all these make me grow. All I need is time and blessings from God.

I only manage to treat my family from my second pay due to some liabilities that I need to settle using all of my first month pay. How demoralize!!Argh!! Went home two weeks ago to clear my annual leave and I did alot of shopping. LOL!!

My last annual leave is coming soon. 17-19 of this month and I guess I am not home this time. My brother is having his STPM and I shall not give him extra pressure. Maybe, I shall do a short trip or so to Batam or Bintan. Depends, if I have any "kaki's" to go with me, if not, shall stay at home and shop in singapore.OMG!!! shop in Singapore!! I guess all the staff in that company like to travel when they have to take their long compliance leave. I shall have mine next year, planning to bring both my mum and dad to China.

And yes!!, my ultimate goal now is to clear my super-heavy loaded debts which suck almost half of my pay every month. How I wish there is a good soul who can pay for me a lump sum and I will repay the soul monthly with a flat interest rate which is higher than the time deposit and lower than my loan's interest. haha!!! Win-win situation isn't it??

Arghhhh!!! I missed doing bbq now.... suddenly feel like having bbq at ECP...

Someone asked me why I can talk to my female friend like how I talk to my other male friends.
Then I said, it is because we are so comfortable with each other that I can talk to her that way.

It was a pretty good Saturday I guessed for this week to relieve myself from work stress.Woke up in the morning and do some spring- cleaning for my room. Had lunch with my best friend and some crazy walk around in the east. Perhaps in the future, we can move to central and so on. LOL! Maybe I should consider to buy a bicycle so that I can do some cycling over the weekend too to places like JB, Mandai, etc.
Anyway, Monday gonna be a workday again. My PR application has been approved and I need to do some medical checkup again since the company does not borne the fee for me. Am gonna do it in my hometown for the sake of lower cost.
FX has been very much volatile nowadays, is it time to play in FX currencies? Who can tell me whats gonna happen and which one shd I buy? LOl!!

Hari Raya at home

It has been 2 weeks I left this diary. For the whole week of last week, I am glad to spend it at home with my family. It was in conjunction with China National Day that my department got a week of Public Holiday.

I was really nice to stay at home. Mummy will take care of me, cook nice food for me. I drove around the town, visited every shopping malls (there are 5 altogether I guessed) shopped for groceries that I wanted to bring out here. Thank you daddy for making such a nice cabinet for me to place my TV and radio.

Hari Raya celebration was quite good. I attended our CM's open house. It was my first time spending this festive season in Malacca since I came over to Singapore 4 years ago.

I went to the opticion to get a spectacle for myself since I need to stare at the computer for 14 hours a day. Work wise, I hope I will be a good banker one day. Am learning, learning and learning and hopefully it will have a stop for this process where I do not need to learn and be an expert.

I love my room very much now. Its like my own home. I feel so comfortable with it.
Got to sleep now. Bye world. Tomorrow is another working day or perhaps in another 10 hours..

Never ever put in any emotional feelings on the work we are doing, or else we are the one who will be suffering the most....

Hall Food + NUS

I went to Raffles Hall and have dinner with my best friend. Kinda miss hall food now though I once hated hall food. The feeling is so different when you get to eat with friends in hall and chit chat about things that we went through for the day. I missed those days too when I will always be the first one to pack food at 5.30pm, just to catch the channel 8 show which starts around this time. The best thing is, I get to choose the dishes I want since I know the caterer so well. (oops!! am I supposed to include this?) Anyway, it was really fun to stay in hall especially if you are a foreigner and you are able to call it your second home.

Yes! I had graduated, but it was my first time visiting Raffles hall. I realised they have a snooker table. I love that!! How come my hall oes not have that? sigh! It was my first time went around CFA though I have pretty much friends in there. Well, let's see where will I be going to places in NUS for the first time again. I saw people playing angklung too. It came across my mind that NUS people hold pretty much activities at night too. Sigh!! had a sense of regret again!

Week 2

Almost 2 weeks, and I realized that for now, I really like the people there. The environment is young and the people there are helpful. There are no political "turmoil" in the department. LOL what a strong word to use though I wish to experience it one day. What is the feeling and ways to handle this kind of environment. Haha.... Nevertheless, I am so thankful that I am in the good kind of working environment. Though the job nature can be sometimes taxing, but I like it at least for now. Working hours (11-8) is quite ideal for me as I can do a little bit of room keeping before going to work. Yeah, everything is FOR NOW because I can't see what can happen in the future. I hope to get my PR soon too so that I can plan, maybe some part time job on weekend?

Next year, the whole 6th to 9th floor of the bank will be shifted to Changi Business Park. Its gonna be quite costly for me compared to the current expenses. But it will be fun cos it is near the airport which I like. I enjoy seeing aircraft fly.. Thanks to Calvin's influence that keep telling me his flying experience whenever we meet.

I realized too that ever since working, I am able to control my money better and also a better disciplined person. I am quite surprise that I able to cap myself at 5 dollar perday and sometimes even lesser. Good way of saving money though the food that I eat are not so healthy but I have no choice at least for the first three years.

I hope I am able to persevere and be more persistent. Thank God for carrying me through that I am able to start my career.

To reflect back, for the past 3 months, I really had been to many interviews - MOE, SIA, Keppel, Recruit Express, DBS, Standard Chartered, OCBC, UMC. All of them had turned me down and I guessed is my fault too due to my inexperience in interview. I had really learnt alot from all my mistakes.

Well, tomorrow is Friday, I guess every working fellow will be looking forward this day because is gonna be weekend and I am not working on Monday because China is celebrating Mid Autumn festival and is a public holiday for them. Plan to go to NUS.

Things that happen in this week

1.One working week has gone. This week's salary is easily earned. Go to work at 11am, lunch at 12.30 and leave at 6.30pm. Its kinda relax for this week cos I am still in the learning phase. My username and password is here with me. But, the applications and program that I am supposed to use is still not installed in my computer, so, just gonna wait. At the same time, I feel so bad that I could not help the rest of the team mates. Adeline and Kristine have to "bao" everything when Brenda is on her 2 weeks of annual leave. How I wish I could pick up everything in one day and start to do work. This job is not difficult. It just requires some basic understanding of finance and econs knowledge..

2. At the same time, I just sent Calvin off for his one-week flight in Auckland and Melbourne. Human are always emotional, not to exclude the both of us. LOL!! Hope to see you bro..

3. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I had a hard time sleeping. My heart was so painful. I can't tell how does it feel to have a heart attack. It has been a while, this pain. Its on and off. One of these days, I was lying down on the bed and think what if I sleep and I can't wake up anymore the next day to work. I will be leaving behind so many things. The people whom I love, the things that I still don't have the chance to enjoy, the places that I still not have been to, the goals that I still yet to achieve. I will leave this world with thousand of regrets. I keep wondering, whats wrong with my heart. Due to obes? Must be!

OMG, i got a surprise from my team manager that I have to do some news briefing on the bank to the whole department via the intercom. Not one day but for the whole week!!! My goodness, is this a form of bully to the new one? Culture shock!!! Today I also got my user and password for various applications which means I am gonna start work tomorrow though I am still in a learning phase.

I can't blame anyone as I am the one requesting it to hands on on my own PC. Hope for the best to come everyday.

First Day at work

This is my first day at work, first day stepping into an office of a bank that in charge of transactions that cost millions of dollar. All I heard from colleagues are, life is very stressful, have to work long hours especially month end. Well, for me, I guess is fine since I have nothing to do also when I come home early.

Guess, a spectacle is needed for me since I need to sit in front of the comp for super long hours and the challenge that I give myself is the efficiency to complete the pile of transactions that coming in from the 6 branches in China namely Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Dalian on time and fast.

They used a lot of abbreviations which I need to pick up ata very fast pace.
The staffs here are nice. I was introduced to all the supervisors and managers as well as team leaders from other countries.

I was attached to a senior who has been here for a year. We seemed to talk about our background when we had lunch. And surprisingly, she was from NUS and ARTS fac too but majoring in SOC. She graduated in 2004.haha...All in all, a good start for me and hopefully I am able to type fast like the rest...

A great ending for myself as a student

Temasek Hall commencement dinner!! I went to my hall dinner on last Thursday. It was so cool and fun at the same time to go back as alumni to visit my fellow friends. I guessed it is a "must" or usual practice or so, people will be asking have you found a job? What are you doing now? People will be distributing name cards among themselves. We were served wine in Main TV lounge and watched Hall Life Video done by Tech Crew, my beloved committee that I joined since year one. This year, I supposed the turn out was slightly more compared to last year. Well in anyway, let the pictures show everything..LOL.. It was really fun to watch back convo video...to relfect the past.

Me and the caterer.. He always tell me (kah ki lai ahh!!!) 'help yourself with the food' LOL!!

Me and all my graduated friends

David, Nabeh and me

from the left, architect, pharmacist, banker, banker

Me and the future civi

Me and Alvin, 20th JCRC's president. Thanks for all the help during Tech Crew

Friends 4eva

SQ air stewardess and I

Finally, I received their call, asking me to go down and sign the LOA. Before this, I was so worried that I won't pass the pre-employment screening though I knew I will have 99% chances to pass it. Still, there is a 1% of being rejected though they had verbally confirmed you. God has really answered my call. I pray hard, let him to decide which direction should I be heading to. And he decided that I should take up the bank one rather than a recruitment agency. Well, I will have loads to learn. I will need to change my attitude, be more confident and work hard to strive for the best. All the best Raymond!!! You are now ready to embark on the next phase of your life. Be serious and focus in everything that you are doing.

Little things make me happy

Today is really a great day for me.. ha! I just pop into Best Denki at Compass Point and hope to meet someone kind from Osim that can let me sit on their massage chair since I have been suffering backache a week ago. Good enough, I met this woman in her 30s from Philippine. She was attending a customer when I asked her permission to sit on the U Yoyo. It was really comfortable and relaxing. She was asking me then what is my budget, and I just told her I had just graduated and is looking for a job. Ha! We then talked about her one year experience in Singapore. I was so surprised when got to know that she was a banker and human resource officer in her country. Having a husband who is a lawyer with three kids, she came all da way here to earn extra cash hoping to give her family a better life. I was so evil enough to ask her to switch job thinking that her status is not meant for Osim. But yeah, she has a contract to serve. Well, was really having a nice chat with her. She is friendly and ask me to pray hard for a better life. yeah, so coincidence she is a Cahtholic and we have the same surname too. Well, I hope she will find her way and earn big bucks too. Little things like this really makes me happy. Or perhaps, a life satisfaction..

1st after the 200th

And this is my 1st entry after the 200th entry.

On this day, I am glad because I finally got a job offer. For the past 3 months, I have been wondering what kind of company that I will work with. I have been mentally stressed and feeling so useless for not contributing to the society ever since graduation. And finally, I will be working with an IT manpower outsourcing company. This company is kinda new, just 2 years old and it is expanding. So, I hope I will be able to pick up fast and move on.

Upon signing the appointment letter, I went down to the Supreme Court in City Hall to translate my birth cert and O-Level cert. And so happen, I forgot to bring out my Swiss Army knife, and I thought the police officer there gonna confiscate it. But I managed to get it back after I passed my documents to the translator. And I got to pay SGD36 for this translation. Argh!!, my pocket got burnt again !!

I am going down to ICA to settle my PR application on Monday. Hopefully everything goes smooth sailing.

On this day, I also would like to thank God for carrying me through all the anxieties and I feel your blessings. Thank you to DD who has been supportive enough throughout this 3 months period. And of course to my best friend and my buddies, thank you for being there, thank you for your moral support that keep asking me not to give up. You know who you are.... :)

Thanks of course to the company that willing to give me the opportunity. I will work hard.

200th Post

And so I announced that I had reached my 200th post. Haha... And I wondered what craps I have written in this little e- diary. I guessed mostly were my complains and some of my sorrows.

And today, I finally signed a contract with the landlord in Pasir Ris with a minimum of one year contract. She is a Christian staying alone with her son who is about 30 years old. Staying next to me is Calvin, my secondary school classmate. Well, I guess, he will not have much time for me since he needs to fly often. While for the room, I think it is quite spacious, with a queen-sized bed, and some cabinets for me to put my lecture notes and texbooks.

All in all, I hope for the best to come along the way...

Mustafa Centre

For the very first time after so many years in Singapore, I finally bring myself to Mustafa Centre. I kinda hear about his story in Mobtv. This guy merely came from India and started off himself as a fabric seller with his father. Success after success and finally with his intelligence in doing wholesales, Mustafa Centre was his invention. I saw many tourists flooding into this centre. The 6- level-building comprises of many products, ranging from our daily grocerries to D.I.Y products. Indeed, it is true that it is a one-stop centre that provides many of the consumers' needs.

Getai

I went to this Getai at Jurong West yesterday. I must say that this is the first time I went for this kind of event. It was really different with the Getai in my residency in Malacca. In my place, they only show movie screening and of course the burning of those big big candles (hope I say it correctly) in the basketball court.
While in Singapore, is really ddifferent when we can see artiste from the 80s and 90s to come up and perform with a good audio and lighting system. I guessed, the CCs here have more budget to organise this kind of event.
Anyway, the objective is the same, is to appreciate and perform for the "VIPs" that only come out in7th month of the Chinese Calendar.

Friendship

I realized that in life, there are two kinds of friendships. Firstly, one that will understand you, one that will share his happiness and sadness with you and one that will lend his shoulder to you when you need it. To be more precisely, this kind of friendship involves some emotional reaction.

Secondly, a touch and go kind of friendship. Today he meets with you and have fun with you, tomorrow, he gonna go and lose touch with you. And some days later, he comes back, he will look for you again.

So which kind of friendship that you prefer? Both may last long...

I knew this day will come, as I had told DD long long time before. I told you before, money is everything, money is king, money is also evil that can spoil a relationship. It may be just a childish story but when you experienced it, you will feel how painful it is just like a needle being poke directly into your heart. You told me you will not let money spoil everything and you don't believe what I had told you before my experience. It is the same. It will repeat again, for human nature, human reactions are the same towards money. Money do not care either educated or non educated person. It will harm you if it wants. Don't worry, I will repay what I had owe. I know and understand what is called "there is no free lunch in this world"
People really show their honesty when they are angry. This is where they tell out everything what has been kept in their heart all this while.

Sad.. sad.. sad..

I will choose the hard way...

Journey of life

Sometimes, I feel so alone while walking this journey of life. Just can't explain it... How I wish I could just stay with my family. Family is the most important after all. They will stay by your side no matter what happen to you.. I just can't imagine how am I gonna stay alone in Pasir Ris.. Some how I still gonna find a way and I'll just let the time comes and do accordingly.

:(

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

A young nation, Singapore celebrated its 43rd Self Independent. I am watching the NDP live from channel 8. I guess only on this day, the Singaporeans feel they are Singaporean :) Anyway, Happy Birthday Singapore!!

Things that happen today

1. I went down to Fujitsu headquarter at Henderson Road. Along the way to the company, I saw what everyone is saying now about the Henderson Wave. I guess it is interesting that I would want to go there one day. I did not manage to change the lower casing for my laptop. They told me that I have to pay SGD200 for it. But I managed to change the battery due to its low life span. The customer officer who served me was very sweet and nice. Dianah was her name, from ITE and she is undergoing attachment in that company.

2. Then I went to NIE to watch their project runway. I saw many VXes and speakers setup around that remind me about those time in hall. I saw Huilin too, my hallmate who is in NIE now. Their project run way is just like my hall's DnD except that their costume was made out of items that symbolizes Singapore in conjunction with National Day.

3. Rag day this year was not too bad for my hall, Temasek Hall. We won "creativity and originality award" Not too bad, at least we won something. Congrats raggers..

4. Finally, to rap up my day, I went with DD and her sister to Cycle and Carriage to collect their car. It is a nice car though. But just now, we found out that the heater button can't be disabled. It will cause the solar film to get melted.

You know what, I went to watch 2 movies today.. Fuh!! Mommy and Money Not Enough 2. Both are nice shows...Sometimes, I think I am really a boring guy..LOL!! I am not a gootd host.. Whoever go out with me, hmm. prepare to not to have a good moment...But I will try to improve myself.. LOL :)

I went to see my new room at Pasir Ris. It is 3 stops away from White Sands. Quite far though if were to walk. But good thing is, the landlord is good and the room is big too. Almost like a master room in any new housing estate. Got a queen size bed. LOL:) And Calvin will be my housemate, so not so bad because when he is not flying, he can be my companion. Okla, God really has his plan for me...

I believe there is a day for everyone. Today may not be my day, but definitely I will have that day to come. And its only time that can prove everything. God has his plan for everyone. Everything happens for a reason. Be kind hearted and humble.

Good Nite world!!!!

Things happening during the weekend

On Saturday, I went to this place called "well of fortune" It is located at about 20km from the town of Malacca. People who visit the well usually will take a bath and to wash their car for good luck.

REFLECTIONS ON LIFE: NUS President Prof Shih Choon Fong delivering his last Commencement address to the 2008 cohort at the first ceremony.

"It's very good to want something, but you mustn't want something so much that you can't bear to live without it. To go far, be ready to give up what you already have. "It taught me to be passionate, but not obsessed; to be determined, but not define myself by either my successes or my failures. I have learned that non-attachment gives the mental and emotional resilience to get beyond failures and setbacks. You can also enjoy your successes without taking yourself too seriously. I take comfort in knowing that ultimately, my decisions at each of the crossroads (in his life) were not held back by the familiar, the comfortable, or attachment to what I might have accomplished

Singapore Zoological Garden

Went to Singapore Zoo today. Hmm.. to be frank, the zoo in Malacca is better, at least it is more natural. But it is still interesting because some of the animals like the polar bear, you will never see it in Malacca.

poser

the "tapir", sleeping so soundly

Welcome to Singapore Zoo

Please be more environmental friendly k?

Mr Polar Bear, trying to show off his height

See its butt

Kangaroo from Australia

Ah Meng and I.

Don't even try to trespass our territory.. Otherwise, you will face the consequences