Fairy tales are more than true: not because
they tell us that dragons exist, but because
they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
- G. K. Chesterton
.Chii.
23rd March (same as Minekura Kazuya-sensei)
21. Dragon. Aries. Atheist. Cynic. Lamer. Perfectionist. Packrat. Ngee Ann Pri. School choir.
Tanjong Katong Sec. School choir. Temasek Poly. Logistics & Ops Mgmt. · · ·
The University of Newcastle (PSB Academy, Singapore campus). BA of Communication.
.Wishlist.
48 hours each day.
iPod nano 2nd gen skin and pouch.
Am attempting to freak WY out with my knowledge on yaoi.
Have attempted to write a drabble (100 words fiction) but failed, because WY (who proof-read for me this one time) says it's erotic. I failed to see where it is erotic, but after he blatantly pointed out some parts that could be taken some other way, I began to see innuendoes everywhere. Apparently, my perverse brain has ways to assert it's presence without me knowing.
Did a hundred of July's Excel sales report while listening to music online. I had painstakenly built up my playlist last night, filled with L'Arc~en~Ciel songs that I don't have and a some other Japanese songs so that they could tide me over the few hours that I had to turn up for my internship every Saturday (why work on a Saturday? Huh? HUH?!) but hey- Murphy's Law came up yet again.
I find it strangely coincidental that it's always the bimbos who have a liking for the same kind of artistes:
Meager talents, songs with barely passable tunes, lyrics that are worst than what I can come up with, and good only for their looks (which are quite generic, seeing that most guys sport only one kind of short but long-fringed hairstyle)...
It was a relief when the internet in the office got so slow that no songs could be loaded completely to listen to.
Remember that sales report that I had to sort out in Microsoft Excel by Saturday? I managed to mug through 99% of August's sales today. With all that scrolling left and right of the worksheet and staring at over 400 invoices in the MPS (some are quite confusing for me to calculate the unit price the sales people quoted for their customers), I had successfully killed half of my remaining brain cells by lunch.
It was when I happily thought that I was half done through August (before lunch) that the staff who taught me how to do that sales report said that there's July's report to complete too.
Wow. That would equal to a fornight of daily work. Ugh.
Today, I was given a heavy task to be completed by Saturday. It's a complicating Microsoft Excel file of sales reports. Bottom line: must show unit price by floorboard range of each job correctly. It was confusing to learn and remember, added to it the little condition that I have to finish all the invoices in August. Hundreds of them. A LOT. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it. I was very close to becoming mental, with the crazy laughter and maniacal gleam in my eyes, too.
We're having a company dinner next Tuesday at Toa Payoh's Sakura. It's for the boss's birthday and a "leaving party" of sorts for the sales person (who intimidates me). I felt a little happier at the prospect of a free dinner. Easy to please, I am. After all, simple pleasures makes life seems easier to live.
Didn't do/learn anything new today. Was calling up customers to confirm delivery and installation dates before I got called by Jessie because the boss wanted a "chat" with us. It turned out to be regarding the motivational book he wanted to write using the experiences he had through the setting up of the company and stuff he read in other motivational books. After that, it was almost time for lunch and when we came back, Jessie and I continued our work on the proposal about inventory tracking that we had somewhat abandoned last week due to the crazy workload the boss's brother gave her, and because staring at Excel spreadsheets all day long compels me to give in to slumber.
Isn't it irritating that guys will always have something about their girlfriends to complain about (weight, lack of high-heels collection, etc) while the girls will go all out to make themselves more special? Wearing high-heels for a date, start wearing heeled shoes just because the guy said that she wears flats too often, attempt slimming just because he said she looks "fit"... It gets on my nerves, the way female empowerment is somewhat undermined and that the girls don't really mind. And I don't like it that Jessie can't see for herself how unnecessary her actions are. I mean, there is a limit to the things one does to make her boyfriend happy. Not to mention the way she gets all sparkly-eyes and squeally when she talks about how they managed to meet up when he couldn't contact her (it's just instinct to wait at the place familiar to him, not some telepathic connection to decide on the location together). The near bimbo-ness of it all goes against every rule I have about girls needing to be more intelligent than the guys who think that they are.
Anyway, I found a long list of Harry Potter fanfiction recommendations, and I've just finished reading one of the fiction-verse half an hour ago. It's very good. Very, very good. There are the twists (twists are good), un-clichéd answers to questions (hate it when I can predict what the characters will say, especially if it's ugh-clichéd), angst (have I mentioned my love for angst?), unravelling of what happened in the past (suspense? Cool!) and UST*. The story kept my attention throughout, which is no simple feat as I have now developed the skill to skip over words that are redundant and I'm sure karma will strike when in the future people tell me that they've overlooked some parts of my story. Plus, I like reading the quotes (from poems and song lyrics) at the beginning of each chapter. They really fit in and prepare you for whatever is to come.
( Tomorrow ) Is a prequel to 3T, and should be read after finishing 3T. I wonder if there are people out there who have no idea how to read a prequel. Reading it after will fill in the background behind the small details mentioned in 3T, and also gives the story more depth.
( Daybreak ) And if you, like me, prefer a confirmed ending rather than one that is concluded but still have space for imagination, that's the official ending to 3T.
For the best results of racing hearts and breath-taking angst, read the above fanfictions in that order, all in one sitting. It's intrguingly sad enough to steal the bottom of your guts along with your attention, but the ending is good enough that you feel relieved enough for the boys.
Well, I wasn't as tired this week as the last, for starters. Although, there are still four more days before I can proclaim that stand to be correct.
Wrote more job slips today over at the operations department, updated the installers' Over-Time record and wrote some release orders (had to write really hard because they are all carbon paper and all information has to be clearly seen down to the forth and last piece of them). Time passed more quickly today, perhaps because there were more things to be done at the operations department.
And... Although I said I wasn't as tired this week, energy still seemed to be sapped out of me by late afternoon and around 4pm, I was operation on auto-pilot. My mind felt blank, all senses seemed to be dulled ten-fold... and I can't quite remember what else I've done today.
Oh well.
And I've posted the fortnightly e-journal on my LiveJournal. I actually got a reply. A short one, but still unexpected.
Did more filing and stuffing of invoices to be mailed this morning. Helped the operations department fill out some job slips for touch-up jobs and learned how to key in Over-Time hours for installation workers.
One of the sales personnel who intimidate me (not because she was unfriendly. Just... those kind of people who makes you fear doing something wrong in front of) is leaving. Not sure when though, but it seems that she found a job with a much better pay. Oh well, not really my business to know.
Was talking to Julia on MSN messenger earlier tonight and somehow I started talking about Hui Ling to her. About the major fight we had and I ignored that best friend for two years before realising how stupid the reason that I was standing my ground for was, then the blur incoherent apology I gave after ambushing Hui Ling back in Secondary One, which ended in a mess of hugs and laughs (she had a much better temper than I those years back), with me in a bigger mess of tears of relief.
And I told Julia that I regretted not apologising to Hui Ling much earlier. If I had, I'd have more time then to stay by her side through her illness instead of receiving a teary announcement from Kimberly that she had already left us in the night.
It's been such a long time since I've mentioned Hui Ling and our past together. As saddening as it was that I was stupid enough then to let my stubborn streak lead me away from her, it's nice to talk about the friend who was somewhat a sister to me. As much as the reminder that she's not here anymore is enough to stop my heart a few beats and clench my lungs of the oxygen in them and bring almost-tears to the surface, thinking of how she was before her illness took her still allowed some unconscious smile to come unbidden. Being such a child then, it was virtually impossible to realise it but now, with her grinning face still imprinted clearly in my mind (from a photograph taken during our Primary Four trip to Changi Airport. Don't ask me why I chose that picture. It's the one I always see when I think of her), it's not difficult to say that she really was beautiful. Both on the outside and on the inside. After all, how does an eleven-year-old go through chemotherapy, drop all her near-waist-length hair, get restricted for most parts of the day and still managed to come to school as if nothing was wrong?
I think I didn't really come to grasp with her death back then. All that had registered was shock and disbelief. Now, only less than two years away from adulthood and that much more aware of life and death, the pain starts to seep in, five years after she had left us. But still, the memories are bittersweet. And at least she had lived a little. Perhaps dying young has its advantages. You still think of the world as a beautiful place. Wars are a thing of a long-ago past. Politics are a game for grown-ups that won't involve you in any way. Betrayal, mind games, backstabbing occurs only because someone won't share a toy.
Anyway, I'm straying from the point. The thing is, I know I've told you before, you, yes you (not sure if you're reading my blog now). But just like a dance that needs someone to lead, someone has to take step to apologise. Regardless of how you think the responsibility lie, the only important thing is the first step, that first "I'm sorry". Those are the hardest two words, what comes after, if it gets as incoherent as I was when I apologised or planned with precision and flourish, can only get easier with each word said.
And you. The other you. How important a friend is, isn't measured by whether he/she bothers to take the first step to apologise, and it's unfair to just let things be when you have a shared past, no matter how distorted the present is. From my previous analogy, someone has to take the second step. You can't just stand back and let the first person do all the work.
All right, I know what I say doesn't matter much if you still won't be bothered about it. But, think on it, okay? It's tiring to handle the both of you, preventing bloodshed while being as neutral as possible. This is as far as I'll get involved so whatever happens, don't drag me into any catfights.
The new version's colours are just so much more appealing than the current version's. Even the Rose Pink is comfortable to look at. Plus there's no ugly Gold colour this time around. Another aesthetic plus? The buttons on the d-pad are transparent. The letters and the arrows are printed on the bottom and the buttons are see-through. Pretty!
Still, I don't think I'll ever get one. I just like to look are pretty things. Especially pretty gadgets. And what with my life being so busy these days that I can't even complete Final Fantasy X yet, getting a PSP will just add number of not-yet-completed games to my already long list.
Although, there is a possibility that I may want to get a Nintendo DSlite in the future. Why? You see, older Final Fantasy games are being remade, and the new graphics are (pardon my repetition) pretty. Of course there're the new Pokémon games Diamond and Pearl. Yes, Pokémon, because I'm old-fashioned that way.
Speaking of my now busy life, thanks to my internship, there isn't enough time for me to edit and upload Aki Kitsune for the time being. So, here's me announcing yet another hiatus. But no worries! I'm still writing the chapters from time to time (including sacrificing early sleep on weeknights to churn out some words. Have I mentioned that AK chapter25 is half done?) so just check back here for updates.
Look at that! No, not the PSP Slim & Lite. The laptop in the background! The mouse pad looks so cool!
Hmm... nothing much happened today, actually. Helped the administration staff here and there, watched her print out reports of legal cases and bad debts, stuffed some invoices into envelopes to be mailed, stoned some and made myself look occupied whenever someone walks pass, went over the operations department to help one of them search for a job slip, picked up some calls for them, then it's 1pm, ie. knock off time!
Ugh. That boring, huh.
Oh and I played the Final Fantasy IV from where I left off near the end last time. There wasn't any save point before the final battle and so when I got killed off, I was too lazy to start again from my save point. The Nintendo DSlite version of FFIV is coming out in December this year!
*Yawn* I'm so looking forward to waking up extremely late tomorrow morning. Finally, one night of quality sleep.
I had planned to sleep for the remainder of my lunch break after finishing my food but I forgot to because Jessie and I ended up chatting with some of the other staff about sms alert ringtones.
Today, however, I didn't fall asleep when the clock hit 2pm. Reason? I had more things to do today as compared to the previous days so the work helped curb (somewhat) the temptation to doze off. Although, the effort taken to stay awake brought me a horrible side effect of a headache. I must be some kind of headache magnet or something, but this time it's not those pounding headaches. It was instead, a quite irritating ache that never ceased it's pressing force against the knot of flesh between my eyes.
I was so tired (all that need to sleep accumulating throughout the day) that I was blanking out during dinner. It was strange, eating in a half-asleep state, and feeling guilty because I wanted to at least look appreciative at what my grandmother had cooked. Not that I usually don't, mind you. She's a great cook, and I'm just too tired to summon the appetite I normally have whenever she cooked.
Anyway, poor me was still doing mundane clerk tasks today at work. I typed out a quotation (by just changing the data from an older file and saved it as a newer one, actually) and faxed it, photocopied the checked invoices, stuffed the original copy to be mailed out and kept the copied version for filing, got "molested" by the boss's brother's wife (says she likes to touch people. Was ticklish really) and was filing namecards in the hour before we knocked off from work.
Never thought I'd say this, but I really miss Polytechnic life. It seemed like a whole era since I've seen anyone from my school other than Jessie. My reluctance to work when nothing I'm doing is logistical was so strong that I found myself dreading the faux-cheerful tone of the MRT train announcemnt and wishing with every fibre of my being that The Voice wouldn't say "Next stop, Sembawang!"
And of course, The Voice just had to disappoint me every morning.
This was the fourth consecutive day that I had to stop myself from falling asleep after lunch break. Was yawning in intervals of less than 3 seconds. I'm really pathetic.
I fear that for the rest of my SIP period I'd be just picking up calls for people everyday, helping the one-and-only administration staff file documents and occasionally helping the operations staffs make phone calls instead of doing anything logistically productive.
And I was so worried about other staff thinking that I'm not doing enough that I got so paranoid, every whisper felt like they talking about me negatively.
There wasn't a large difference between what I did today and what I've already done thus far. I've called a few customers to ask if their cheques are ready for us to collect, filled in today's delivery schedule for the operations staff (just copying from jobs slips, really) and did more filing.
And boy, does that sound bland.
I am really surviving on insufficient sleep this week. The coffee no longer helps. You see, caffeine has no wakening effects on one who is fully intend on sleeping, or one so tired that it overrides the effects of caffeine.
On a more cheerful note, it's Friday tmr! Casual-wear! Jeans! No more heeled-shoes!
Some of the staff said that we don't really have to wear office-attire, just no jeans until Friday and Saturday, which was why I got to wear a polo tee-shirt today. Hahaha. Shooo~ comfy!!
For the past few days, I've been working on the inventory checking system and all the scrolling up and down rapidly through six Microsoft Excel files (multiply that by 30 worksheets on average for each day of the month in each file) made me extremely nauseous on yesterday and today. When Jessie joined me today for the editing, she finally understood why I've been feeling giddy since yesterday.
I get self-deface-ish when I'm past the point of extreme lethargic-ness.
[Quote what I said to her (in Chinese)]
"I feel so giddy right now. I feel so tired right now. And I don't know whether I'm more giddy or more tired right now. Trying to make up my mind just made me even more giddy and more tired."
[/Quote]
I always managed to find ways to deface myself. I always do. The more frustrated i get, the more ruthless I get with myself. I'm strange like that. Then again, everyone knows that. It's a publicly known secret by now.
Anyway, before Jessie joined me with dealing with the Excel files, I helped the administration staff with documentation filing (she was terribly swamped today by all the sales person- 10 or 11 or them- while the boss wanted her to do his stuff first. Refer to previous post: the boss's words are ABSOLUTE), then checked through my Excel files (thanks to Murphy's Law, just when you think everything's checked and okayed, something will need to be edited again. Throughout every worksheet of three of the files. Thus explains Jessie editing it with me after lunch), after which I went over to the operations department on the other side of the cubicle wall to sit because one of the sales person (the boss's brother's wife. The company is a family business of sorts. The father helps in the warehouse while the mother is somewhat like the cleaner in the office. Strange, I know) needs to use a computer and there're no computers available so what do you do at times like that? Use the intern's, of course.
There was nothing to do at the operations department so while waiting for phone calls to pick up, I took down more notes and edited past inspirations I had noted down for Aki Kitsune.
Lunch came, and after that, I went over to Jessie's side so that we could work on the company improvement projects together. But of course, there's always the boss's brother's tasks to do. We typed out a new table of price packages for 3-bedroom HDB flats and a list of advantages of using the new product that they're adopting now for one of the sales personnel before getting to the Excel files when we got interrupted by a phone call from the boss's brother (he doth appear too many times) after a while because he wanted Jessie to help him send a quotation through his company email.
After getting that out of the way, we proceeded to stretch the time all the way to 6pm by slowing down everything we were doing on the improvement projects.
Another unproductive day. And might I repeat, not very logistical. I'm boring myself with the number of times I need to mention that.
Sly ol' me managed to skive off proper work today. And why would I do that? Well, if I didn't, the work that I'll be doing wouldn't be related to logistics at all. So why waste time learning things I'm not supposed to?
Anyway, how exactly did i skive off? Herein lies my skill at avoiding tasks.
It's simple, really. Just casually mention that I'm helping the boss with a project (which the rest of the staff don't have to know that it's something that the school already suggested/wanted us to do) and they'll let us off with everything because the boss's words are like, absolute.
Woohoo~
Which is why I've ended up creating the materials tracking "system" thingy on Microsoft Excel for almost the whole day.
Copy-pasting cells/Excel worksheets are the absolute cure for insomnia, by the way. If there's any extensive typing, at least I'd get to use my brains. Copy-pasting is something even trained monkeys can do, thus explains my less than lucid state in front of a computer screen. Rare, that is; me near slumbering before a computer. Still, I'm satisfied with what I came up with. Perhaps it won't be as centralised as Microsoft Access (which I suck horribly at) but it'll work, seeing that the other staff there should know enough about Excel to maintain it.
Earlier in the morning (pardon my jumps in chronological order. Tired. Brain not functioning), I helped Jessie with the presentation that we did yesterday. Apparently, the music we had inserted wasn't able to play on the burnt-into-CD copy and some parts were supposed to be edited out of the slides that we weren't told of yesterday. Thus, I proceeded to edited it while Jessie printed out labels for floor board samples. Twenty-one in all, if i'm not wrong. Both the samples and the presentation slides had to be done in time for the boss's brother's presentation 20mins away. Hence mad cutting and pasting of double-sided tapes.
Is it just me, or is SIP becoming more and more boring? It's only just the sixth day and Jessie and I are already getting more and more weary with each passing day. I wonder how I will survive two months more of this.
Ugh. I'm super tired. Like, eyes-about-to-drop-out-of-their-sockets-tired. Falling-asleep-anytime-soon-tired. Give-me-any-surface-and-I'll-fall-asleep-tired. Feeling-like-a-sack-of-lead-balls-from-waist-down-tired.
TIRED.
My plaster-on-my-feet-count has decreased from five (three on the left and two on the right) to three (two on the left and one on the right). However, me thinks it'll go up by one tomorrow for my right foot.
Last night, my uncle drove us around to look at the mid-autumn festival lights and for supper (KFC). On the way there, we drove through Bukit Batok Road, if I'm not wrong. Have I mentioned that I like long rides on any sort of vehicles? The sights are amazing, no matter how normal you may think they look.
Tall yellow lamps outlining the long lonely roads, undeveloped areas filled with all sorts of tall vegetation, the trees growing to fill whatever space they could find, slowly lumbering heights of not-yet-levelled mountains... It makes you think again about how small you might have thought Singapore is.
And the HDB flats! It's a different kind of attractiveness, when u drive pass rows of flats that fanned out one behind the other, white house lights inlayed between the rows of amber corridor lamps... It has a comforting and familiar sort of beauty to it. Who says HDB flats are not as "high-classed" as condominiums?
Have you realised that even when people live in condos, they still have the HDB flat mentality? They hang their clothes out to dry right outside their windows, sun-drying their mattresses by leaving them to hang over the window sills... Something one will only see in HDB flat areas.
Fifth day of internship:
Did the usual stuff. Called customers to confirm delivery and installation dates, answered phone calls... But I didn't do any filing today. Haha... finally! Something different! And I was bored enough to start on the improvement project/proposal for the company. But I got called away by Jessie when I began typing into the computer. The boss and his brother (who is in charge of sales and operations, I think) needed a new powerpoint file for their presentation of the new product and Jessie was freaking out about it. Everyone knows that powerpoint slides are difficult to handle, and she was given just two hours to complete it. Yeah, well, not that it's impossible, but she's all stressed out by it so she got me to help her with it.
So... that's like the only new thing that I've done today. Oh, and I was taught how and who to call to "demand" for payments. [sarcasm] Ah. How logistical. [/sarcasm]
I watched High School Musical 2 just tonight! Haha... Julia is so going to hate me. There are like, so many renditions of the songs in the movie (yes, never underestimate Disney's ability to make any of its shows burst into sudden songs)! I think "You Are The Music in Me" is performed by Malaysian artistes (correct me if I'm wrong), then "Bet On It" is of course by Show Luo (Chinese version) and "Everyday" is in Cantonese. Weird, I know.
Fourth day of internship:
Didn't do anything new today. Half working days are one of the worst things anyone could inflict upon any employee; can't sleep in, can't have the morning to myself for personal things and four hours of basically doing what wasn't done the previous day.
Got called in by the boss at around one hour left to knock off time. More briefing, blahblahblah... Then some talk about being a successful company or something. He says he wants to publish a book on that, for internal use and for customers and partners, but he will publish to the public if it turns out to be good enough. And I'm supposed to be his shadow writer and will be paid separately from my internship allowance.
The thing is, it can easily stretch six months from now. I'll have lesser time for everything else, including my own stories and personal projects. However, there is that extra pay thing...
How exactly are shadow writers paid? I have next to no clue about it and from what the boss said, professional ones easily earn thousands to 5-digits salaries. You know what? Perhaps I'll just be a shadow writer when I finish my education. Hello, easy money!
Four days down, sixty-six more days to go. Go, me!
*This is copied and pasted from elsewhere because I'm too lazy to type all over again*
Did more filing of documents that I didn't complete on Wednesday, then transferred the older documents to other files (because there's only a fixed number of hardback ring-files available so those are being rotated around for the latest documents). The bad thing is that it takes time to transfer the papers. On the positive end, however, the more recent documents can be readily found in one place (which is what I should convince myself about).
Still, I have a feeling that I'm not going to be paid $1600 (if I really do get a job right out of polytechnic, and if I don't further my studies in a university) a month just to file documents and transfer them here and there.
I reallyreallyreally want to try a hand at their MPS (Master Production Scheduling) system. As daunting and confusing as computer laboratory lessons are, I'm veryveryvery sure that even if it's not as fun as Julia and YL's bio-chemical logistics (which is what they are sort of doing, those lucky arses), it beats filing, hands down.
The only "un-filing" thing I did (other than lunch and escaping to the toilet with Jessie a few times in one day) was to check the returned materials (stuff that turned out to be not used in the end) receipt and re-order (when the floorboard installers realise they don't have enough material to finish the job) receipts. After that, I printed out new labels for the hardback ring-files (for the filed documents, yeah?). Definitely looks neater. Although, it doesn't seem very logistical. It's more like something that a part-time clerk will be paid $5 per hour each day to do.
And one of our internship specifications for the company was "office wear, Monday to Thursday, no jeans", yet the rest of the staff was dressed quite casually.
Like, WTH?!
What's the point of making us wear office attire when everyone else is in tee-shirts and jeans?
* * *
Third day of internship (14/09/2007):
*This is the original copy of my 3rd day journal*
I started my day in the operations department.
Although they say "department", it's actually just on the other side of the cubicle wall.
Anyway, I was sort of in charge of picking up phone calls and directing them to other people. Then I had to run out to one of the parking spaces to pick up an envelope for the boss's wife (who is one of the sales personnel) from her car. It wasn't until I walked out that I realise it was raining (no wonder it was so cold today) and thanks to my luck (note sarcasm), her car wasn't parked under any shelter. So. I braved the rain (not heavy rain, thank goodness, but it's not a drizzle either), got the envelope, and dashed back inside. It was kind of boring this morning, so I was rather thankful for the impromptu errand, regardless of the rain.
Let's see... What else have I done today?
Oh, I've learned how to use those huge photocopying/fax machines. It was actually quite simple, and I wonder why I didn't know how to use it until today. Photocopied some delivery orders so that all the necessary department (plus the drivers) will have a copy, then learned how they type out their quotations and faxed some out, called some people up today to confirm delivery and installation dates, and my day ended with more filing because there wasn't much to do today and it was the only thing left to do.
I'm beginning to think that this isn't a good company for logistics students to complete their internship in. You see, their operation department is kind of like a one-man-show. Three people are in charge of confirming dates, organising delivery schedules, and customer service. Isn't customer service supposed to be one department by itself? I mean, why would logisticians need to have specific knowledge about the company's product? Their area of expertise is in scheduling and management, not effing customer service.
I abhor customer service, by the way. I don't have the patience and good-nature to handle all sorts of customers. It'll take every atom of self-control I have to prevent myself from retorting or throwing sarcasm back at the asshole who ruins my day with a brainless complaint. Yes, I know that to be a good employee, you must know how to handle your customer, which is why I'll never be a truly excellent staff. For my future job, either there won't be one (rich guys! I'm available!), or I'd look for one that (a) doesn't need me to wear formal attire, (b) doesn't need to see any customer or talk to any of them, or (c) I can be as sarcastic as I like and the customer won't have the right to stop me, because not every customer is correct. Most of them are quite dumb and are just acting smart because for once, they have someone else to order around.
I really wish there'll be something more useful to do tomorrow. At least it'll seem as if I am doing/learning something instead of doing things that are common sense. And maybe there'll be more things to appraise me by. This stupid internship is still graded, you know.
Or perhaps my half working day for Saturdays will pass really quickly. *Crosses fingers*
By the way, for some reason, I can't view my tagboard with my uncle's internet. So don't tag me. The "comments" link is usable, just so you know.
Pwned by my high-heels. Seriously, women, why did you people come up with self-torturing objects and label them as "fashion", assuming that beauty is worth the pain. NOT. To be safe, Jessie and I went in really formal wear, ie, presentation attire. And when we stepped in, we realised that it's not necessary to be that nicely-dressed. Like, MEH.
Was bored to the point of almost falling asleep. I did administration stuff first before swapping with Jessie halfway through our SIP to try out her... whatever her task was supposed to be. She ended up making calls the whole day getting people to make appointments with the sales head so that he can make a presentation about their new product. Jessie refilled her waterbottle like, two, three times in six hours.
Me? I was filing Delivery Orders and Invoices the whole day. I could practically feel the ink stuck in the ridges of my fingerprint because of all the handling of those two documents. PILES of those documents. The admin staff was too busy to files those papers and there were loose invoices dated back to February this year. In my opinion, documents dated two months back is the latest I can tolerate, despite my nature as a messy person. Well, a company and my room are different stories.
Oh, and I finally knew what the company deals with. Apparently, the company is the largest wooden floor lamination company in Singapore (or so we were told). Most of the staff are Malaysians (which is obvious and didn't need telling, considering their accent) and there are just SO many names to remember.
I am veryveryvery intimidated by the work process. It just seemed so simple in theory; all the different documents and their flow with each order. But it's so difficult to remember! I always had trouble even with the theory of the documents, especially about which abbreviation is for which documents and- ARGH! I wished I had something more fun like Julia and YL, who are in some company related to the biochemics. Bio-chemical logistics is so much more interesting!
Damn, I just knew I'm a G33K at heart.
My daily and weekly SIP journals are going to look so bland.
P.S.
I got back my semester examination results today. It pulled down my GPA this time round. And to think that I foolishly thought that the A from Business Calculus last semester would keep my GPA afloat.
Materials Management: D (this totally sucked. Big time) Quality Management: B Transport Management: C+ Logistics & Operations Management: B Bio-Chemical Logistics: B
Company Supreme Lion Marketing Pte Ltd Don't ask me what it does. I have no idea myself.
Work hours 09 00 ~ 18 00 (weekdays) 09 00 ~ 13 00 (Saturdays) Well, there goes my Saturdays.
Company location North Link Buildings (Admiralty Street) Nearest MRT station? SEMBAWANG. Hah. Just my luck.
Company transport None.
Dress code Office attire, Monday ~ Thursday Casual, Friday Saturday: ? What. The. Friggin. HELL. FOUR FRIGGIN DAYS OF FORMAL WEAR. And Saturdays' are still unknown.
I should have just went with the internship to Popular warehouse at Clementi. At least they have company transport, which is available at Bedok Mrt station though. But still. Was feeling downright stupid and depressed about SIP today. Most of my conversations today involved ranting and raving at every single person who asked me about where I was posted and every single person who I asked about where they were posted, which technically, meant everyone I saw and had a conversation with today.
Julia told me to "be positive about it", like that video about SIP we watched today during our briefing said. So I told her I'll be positive and I'll look forward to the last day of my SIP. She meant to countdown week by week, actually. But you see, desperate times calls for extreme sarcasm and morbid amusement at reminding myself of how unfortunate I was. Well, along with the few others who were posted darn far from where they lived (poor YW; from Pasir Ris to Jurong? Absolute nightmare).
Then I went to YM's place after LOM Day (which was held after our SIP briefing) so I could borrow one set of her formal wear, just in case if I could not buy some before SIP starts this Wednesday. And man, did her dog grow fast. Quite hyper too. But it's so adorable! *Ahem* Back to the topic on hand, I ABHOR formal wear. I have no idea how I am going to survive my adulthood of formal wear for every single working day of my life until I retire. The other thing I hate about formal wear is that I look weird in it, and I hate (HATEHATEHATE) shopping for formal clothes. So I told YM that I'll look forward to every Friday when I could just wear casual. Yeah, I'm fickle. But still, that last day of SIP feels more enticing to me.
Oh, I've bought two pairs of formal pants today. Went to Parkway with my mother right after dinner, so technically, she bought the pants since it's her money that was spent. Couldn't find a decent blouse that's budget enough though. I saw one that's really nice but it costs $69. Can you imagine that? $69 for A BLOUSE? It's more expensive than any single piece of clothing I've ever had! Let's see, the manufacturing cost of one blouse, material costs, overhead costs, administration costs, transport costs, overhead costs of retail outlet... I'd say that the blouse will still earn the final seller at least $20~$30. Got a cheaper (and thus fittingly less attractive) blouse at Bossini afterwards.
Anyway, to minimise the stress of travelling from the south to the north and back again every single day, I'm going to bunk at my aunt's place at Yew Tee until my SIP ends. Which effectively means I'm a temporary tenant at her house for two and a half months. I am so going to miss my bed, my pillow, my room... ARGH. And I need to rip my CDs into my external hard drive so I won't need to bring them over to my aunt's place. Which reminds me, I've got lots to pack. Clothes, shoes (ok, maybe not a lot of shoes. I don't have that many pairs of shoes), laptop, laptop adapter, handphone charger, notesbooks (for when inspiration strikes), sketchbooks (ditto), foolscape pad... Damn, is it ever going to be heavy.
Well, friends, guess I won't be available for any dinner dates since I'll be in the north while the rest of you are still in the east, so... I'll miss you guys. *Sniffle*
And Pauline, I'll find a way to meet up with you for Hairspray, don't worry. It isn't everyday that a friend comes back to Singapore from the States.
MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM is already out. Go search for it's pv because it's really very pretty and it reminds me of the pv done for winter fall. I'm hoping that I have enough savings for the L'Anniversary Live DVD when the normal edition comes out. If only I could have the limited edition but... for the sake of my miniscule savings... *sob* October's single, November's single, and then there's the new album that's coming out after a 2year and 5months wait since their AWAKE album!
Went to this Thai restaurant at Parkway for lunch. Event? Early celebration for my paternal grandmother's birthday. She's still young, ok! Haha... Before my mother came back from Taiwan to live with us, everyone else used to mistake my grandmother for my mother.
Anyway, it was after we came back from lunch that I continued my mad AK editing session so that the chapter can be uploaded today. Guess I succeeded!
Found this absolutely amazing L'Arc live performance of Dive to Blue from 2000. Apparently, HYDE-sama hurt his rib before this, which explains the strange leather binding thing around his torso. However, it seems as if nothing can stop HYDE-sama from prancing about on the stage. And what's with Tetsu and his obsession with throwing out bananas in every concert? Nevertheless, he's still adorable. I just love how L'Arc dominates the stage in this performance, and the way HYDE asserts his stage presence.
I have just read the one of the most amazing Harry Potter fanfictions. Really. It had me crying through the second half of the whole fanfic when I started reading it in one sitting this noon.
Well, the English wasn't without fault and I found myself automatically correcting sentences while reading it (strange habit that I've developed after reading tons of fanfics). Brace yourselves for some typos, repetitive words and strange sentence structures, because beneath the mistakes, the story is heartbreakingly beautiful. The plot isn't senseless, and there are such subtleness between the lines that holds you to the sentence until it stays imprinted in your mind.
Um, it's Harry/Draco slash, by the way, but you shouldn't let slash pairings deter you from a good story. And there's some sort of violence in one of the chapters, I mean, what can you expect from those two characters? A normal happy romance? Try a crack!fic, if that's what you want. You have to persevere through the violence of that chapter because it affects the chapters that follow after. Oh and if some chapters don't show up (chapter19: Part 18 and the Epilogue, by the way), just select it from the dropdown list. Can't believe how stupid some of the readers are, to complain about missing chapters in the reviews without trying to work out the gliches themselves first.
And yes, I'm using fanfictions to help me forget about the stupid Epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Harry ended up with Ginny. Ginny! Of all people! It should have been Draco! But of course, slash isn't mainstream for children's literature.
For the lack of blog posts... Well... I was really maximising my short break catching up with manga and movies. Oh- and revamping my LiveJournal, which I'm not going to "unveil" until it's fully done.
Speaking of movies, here's the list of movies I haven't watched yet, but am planning to watch.
13 Going On 30 50 First Dates Amadeus Big Fish Bring It On: All or Nothing Brother Bear Chicago City of Angels Edward Scissorhands Finding Neverland Kill Bill Vol.1 Lilo & Stitch Mecury Rising Music and Lyrics Must Love Dogs Prime Princess Diaries 2 School of Rock Scooby Doo 2 Sleepy Hollow Stranger than Fiction Sweet Home Alabama The Breakup The Devil Wears Prada The Forgotten The Sixth Sense The Wedding Singer
Anyone has DVDs or VCDs of those titles? Oh and since my exams ended, I've watched Cars, The Terminal, Just Like Heaven (really nice movie, by the way), just finished Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and finished Kill Bill Vol.2 this morning.
What's with the "There's no Kill Bill Vol.1 because there's a scene where a head's choped/sliced off and so the movie can't be found in Singapore"? Like, hello? Final Destination has a scene where the head got sliced off and last I remembered it was showed in Singapore. Not a very... nice movie if you compare it to the others and the action sequence in KB Vol.1?
WOOTS
I'm pissed. And I want KB Vol.1.
Oh, and HTML on LJ, is a real pain in the interior of the exterior posterior.
Singapore IT Fair 2007: Survival Skills & Tips 101
1. Know What You're Looking For You're not actually going to an IT fair just because you want to "shop", are you? If you are, then you have no idea what you've signed yourself up for. Back to the topic on hand, you must have a list of the gadgets that you want to get, or maybe an idea of the things that you may want to get, or those that you're lacking because, obviously, the prices are way lower than usual. Almost every stall has the name or type of the product that they sell pasted at the top of their booth so just skim through until you're eyes catch on the thing or brand that you're looking for, and you don't have to walk all the way up just to ask about it.
2. Take Only What You Need Since you already know what you want, ignore everyone who wants to give you a flyer except for the ones who have what you're looking for. Makes it easier for you to hold onto the things in your hand and you won't end up with lots of unnecessary catalogues.
3. Must Take Catalogues Prices. It's all about paying the minimum for the best you can get. All the information are displayed at the top of the booth but why waste your memory remembering everything? Why waste your time copying those down? Ask for a catalogue, and fold it so that only the information you want is folded up facing you. Easy reference, no?
4. Below The Age Of 12 And The Women Above the Age of 35 See the above age limit? Never bring those people along. There will be lots of jostling and bumping into people. Kids are hard to take along and watch out for at the same time, while women at that age are like kids at age 5- attracted to anything and everything- only worse, because they have the "auntie" mentality. "Oh look, what's that?" "Hey, that's so cheap!" Even my sister follows me closer than my mother did. Had to resort to pulling her along the same way I did for my sister just so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Oh and please don't bring your pregnant wife along. IT fairs are never safe for them.
5. Be Considerate When people knock into you, don't get pissed. When people step on you, don't get pissed. When someone smells strange, don't give the evil eye. Despite what they say about the 4 metres aisle width, it gets pwned by the half of Singapore's population that somehow made it in. Let me repeat myself: There will be lots of jostling and bumping into people. So if you see little kids and pregnant women, just give them enough space so they don't get hurt. And although it's air-conditioned, it is still a contained area. Odours don't get to escape that easily. Just bear with it; you're not window-shopping anyway.
6. NEVER Be Considerate I'm contradicting myself? Pish-posh. I am doing no such thing. You don't want to stay in that sardine-can-impersonation of a crowd, do you? So be rude. It's a necessity. You see a space in front of you? Walk fast and cover it before anyone else who walks slower than you does. You see a gap between the two people in front of you? Chances are, they walk slower than you. Squeeze through and overtake them. You see a gap between the two people in front of you that's only 80% of your body width? Who cares about knocking other people? Chances are, they walk slower than you. Just step through and overtake them. You see a gap between the two people in front of you that's only 90% of your body width measured from the side? Repeat above suggestion. I'm sure anyone can do it. I did it while carrying my crumpler. And everyone knows that a crumpler ain't the smallest sling bags around.
7. Walk Fast If you master skill 6, walking fast will get you through just fine. Remember, don't run, don't walk. Brisk walk. Please appreciate the subtleness in that.
8. Don't Stay Inside After mastering skill 6 and 7, it shouldn't take you long to breeze through the whole place with only the catalogues that you need. When you have all that, move out to analyse your finds and pick the one you want. You don't want to stand there in the middle of the aisle and let everyone else knock you left, right and centre, do you?
9. Be Prepared For Every Type of Payment You won't know which booth accepts what and doesn't accept what. Bring every credit card you have and withdraw enough money if you dare to carry cash around like that.
10. Freebies and Luck Draw For every S$100 you spend or deposit, there's one chance for the lucky draw. Remember to bring a pen to fill out your particulars. For DBS card holders, there's free coffee outside the furthest entrance at the 6th floor. I'm not sure if there's one at the 4th floor though.
Well, granted there isn't 101 tips, the above 10 should be enough to get you through. The IT fair is there until Sunday (tomorrow) so if you want to get a good deal on gadgets, there's only one day left. It's held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention And Exhibition Centre, lots of Sony stuff on the 3rd floor, computer and laptops on the 4th and other equipment on the 6th.
This is what I braved the crowd, my crowd-panic, my crowd-anxiety and a possible crowd-headache for. A Sumsung Prezmate SATA 120gb external hard drive. It's difficult to see from the photograph but it comes with a black velvet pouch. Lovely. Cost me $129. WY managed to snag one at $121 though.
Anyway~ I had a great night yesterday! I slept for 11 hours until waking up at a little past 9 this morning. I'll just go take a shower now and then pop in the next DVD. Perhaps I'll watch The Terminal. I watched Disney and Pixar's Cars yesterday afternoon, by the way. Now I finally understand why JT used to say that Cars was very cute. It really is. And there's the little but heartfelt lesson inside as well. It pays to be a Disney fanatic.
