Friendship

In friendship, you have this thing called 义气, or something to do with a loyalty and faith for your friend and you are willing to give up things for him or her, while hoping that he or she is appreciative of what you sacrificed. That's what friends are for. But alas, sometimes things just don't turn out to be the way that you wished for and you get disappointed.

Of course, you wouldn't want some unappreciative person to be around you... I don't know, just felt angry for the victim, and at the same time, don't know how to go about things because of 义气. Sigh.

Hope things turn out for the better quick.

Bought bedsheets!

Just thought that I ought to rely on myself for my needs and I went to buy two sets of bedsheets and a pillow. I'm actually hoping to find somewhere for a set with tuba prints. If you got any idea where I can get them do tell me!

The price tag indicated usual price is $38, promotion is at $17, further 20% discount, $13.60
U.P. $39.90, promo price $20
U.P. $40, promo price $28. Further discount, $22.40

Spent a total of $56 when I was supposed to chalk up $117.90. That's around 47.5% off. Not bad already. Heh. And I used my own lifelong savings. Ouch.

Continued

Oh back from the wedding already. It was at this Chinese restaurant at Yishun Safra Country Club. And you know what, the food was horrible. The cold dish had stale overcooked prawns. The sharks' fin was gluey, to the extent that there were lumps of yet-dispersed starch in the soup. Roasted pork wasn't crispy. Overall was the worse banquet I had ever tasted in my entire life. Best is at Grand Copthorne Hotel.

But anyway, because we were at Yishun Safra quite early, my dad decided to bring me to the fruit machine room (a.k.a. jackpot) to let me have an experience. Started out with $20. And guess what? Left the room with about 15 times of that so balance up. Heh. I won most of the money. And I didn't get a single cent of the winnings. T_T But you guys must really be careful when you go gambling. Can get very addictive.

I look like a giant beside the bride. I like her gown though
The petals that I was supposed to throw as the bride and groom marches to the stage
Me, my brother
Mine and dad's glasses. Added the cherries and pineapples from the cold dish
Shared a table with this cute cousin

Nothing much la, can't really voice out my opinions about the groom openly here anyway. Doesn't matter la haha.

Tired

Ever since I started work I've never had a real good sleep. Off days are usually spent outside, today too. A cousin of mine is getting wedded today, so had to wake up quite early and trot down to Yishun.

While the bride is away at her in-law's it was so boring at her place. Zzz. So I read my novel and entertained their dog. And this little cousin entertained me for a while.

AAhhhh------! The newly weds serving my dad tea

Tea ceremony's over, now I'm back at home waiting for time to pass before I go prepare for the dinner tonight. So tired.

At least there was a Mercedes Benz to drive me home.

Woah
It's a white one
With an extra thing on the roof. That's my dad

Yea, a Mercedes Taxi, that is.

Some photos

This is the brownie Jie Ying gave me for Valentine's
The yusheng my family and I had. From Sakae also. L size.

Gasp!

Went to work rather late today, reached at around 1115 when I'm supposed to reach fifteen minutes earlier. But usually I'll be late by 5 minutes plus. But usually no one cares about my punctuality la.

However, today, I'm so unlucky.

Reached the shop to see the boss there. With two other men, suspected to be contractors. Scary! My supervisor came to me and hinted. Hinted what...well, not that convenient to publish. But anyway, the boss came and asked me what time I was supposed to reach, I said 11 or 1130, quite flexible as long as I work at least 8.5 hours a day. =P Told him I went back to my old school to return instrument.（信不信由你） Then he asked me whether I have anywhere to sign in and out, told him I have a timesheet that my supervisor takes charge of. And he was like, OK.

Phew.

=D

Gotta wake up early tomorrow, a cousin is getting married. There goes my off-day.

Just FYI

Bet many of you know about the Motorola RAZR phone. The hot pink model is pretty hot. Saw this other pink one available in the USA if I'm not wrong.


There it's this pink, not as dark or hot as the Singapore version.

Also don't know why I mentioned this. Just FYI lo. Ha.

Today

Went to work as usual. What else? Sigh. More and more that I am sick and tired of this job. And got to know that my feelings are being toyed with again. Bloody hell.

This auntie came into the shop and spoke in Hokkien. I can understand her but my speech is not fluent at all. Talked like a rat and a mouse communicating. She said that her phone was dropped into the rubbish bin, I think that's her line of job la. Then she was telling me that she didn't switch off her phone, but when she called she couldn't get through. So the first thought that came to me was someone took her phone and switched it off, however she said that it was dropped into the rubbish bin. Ok lo. I called her number and heard 'The Singtel mobile customer blah blah'. I asked her when she lost her phone. It was like, before the Chinese New Year. So if the phone is still 'on', the battery would have died by then. Never mind la hor the lady is not young. And she asked if the value in her prepaid card can be recovered. I told her to go to the hello! shop at the other end to consult the officers there I don't have a single clue to Singtel's prepaid hotline or whatsoever. Finally convinced the auntie that I really cannot help her in any way. Don't want to anyhow say things later the auntie go there and anyhow talk. You know how people can exaggerate.

I seriously wants to switch jobs.


Sometimes if there are people who are not quite bothered about your presence...then learn not to bother about them! They're not worth it, even if they said they are your friends. This is my fate...no choices that I can choose from.


When I start to put pictures from sites like the ST I wonder if I'll get sued for infringing copyrights. Any idea?

iPods - to the servicing centres!

Bet many of you here know how fragile iPods are, no matter Nano or not. I didn't get an MP3 player for myself, not so much of a earpiece listener. Quite paranoid about the harmful effects to my ears haha.

Saw in The Straits Times that the company iPodResQ, a company in New York, receives 1,200 iPods for repairs every week. See, like that how are you going to take real good care of your gadget? Tsk tsk.

And with the article I got these photos, very cute. Haha. Credits to ST.

Poor things!

Bird flu

How long have this Bird flu thing been going on? It seems that almost everyday in the news there will be information about bird flu and where some bird was caught dead whatsoever. Watching the whole bird flu episode (which seems to be far from ending) is more agonising than SARS. It is taking sooooooooooo long I am irritated!! How I wish I can do something to eliminate this avian virus forever. What's the name of the virus again? H5N1? Haha somewhere along that line. Oh and I think there's a mutation of this virus or something. Then can spread between human beans.

Authorities are always highlighting the fact that the flu can cause a worldwide epidemic. It is pretty scary, but hope that it just luckily won't come to Singapore!

Aaaaa---choo! Bless you

A divide deepened II

Ah..this is what I'm looking for. Peaceful protests! At least!

Good one

But still, I read that the Danish newspaper which first started printing the cartoon of Prophet Mohammed made a big apology on the front page of their newspapers, however, they were more focusing on the turmoil that erupted after the publication rather than apologising for printing the cartoon openly. Hmmph.

Free speech or not, when you are going to publicise about something, especially offending issues, be prepared to account for the consequences, even if you are 'speaking freely'. Don't let 'free speech' be an excuse to your offensive actions. It is a poor excuse. And even though I'm for free speech, I'm for democracy, it is only right that the press apologise more for the publication of the cartoon and be less stubborn. They started the cartoon first, they're wrong. Even if you say that Muslims sparked hatred between themselves and the West first, you can choose not to let the spark become an even greater and invincible fire.

It is heartening, however, to see that there are Muslims who are able to control themselves and make peaceful protests instead =) , instead of resorting to violence which is almost rife now.

MJ alumni band practice

Another MJ alumni band pract today. Ju Ling is so nice, bought pizza as a treat for some of us! Ha let's not talk about the food.

Band pract was fine la, though I keep making mistakes. Mononoke was ok, Anastasia I'm still very blur, and the Sing Sing Sing is crazy. It's a very very nice song I like it, however the tempo is 208. Crazy. Haha. A swing piece. My sight reading is horrible anyway...

Had dinner with Hong Wei, and told him some of my problems while he updated me with things going on in MJ main band. Sigh. Some people really problematic. I dunno what to comment lo. Not in the position to comment anyway.

Looking forward to Hai Sing band practice this coming Saturday!

See you soon...

MaxOnline

Using the MaxOnline that my brother newly subscribed to. I previously was using Pacific Internet. My brother told me that the MaxOnline connection will be faster than the PacNet one. I think otherwise. Everything's taking so long to load! Hope this is only the beginning and the modem needs to warm up. Haha.

那就是答案！ － 评语（二）

读着读着，觉得这本书还蛮有性格的。不错。

Bill sorrows

Bill sorrows
I have never had this huge bill coming my way. Usually my phone bill is around $30-$40+. Sometimes exceed also not that bad. Received a bill today. It's $76+. Can someone kill me?

DIE! 1229 smses. I got 900 free. Not enough! Haha. Die.

At work
Crazy lo. Things went fairly well until near closing. You see, this very middle-aged couple came in and was looking for the Samsung SGH X640C. So I told them I was promoting those i-mode series of phones, I can't help much and they have to check with the counter. Nevertheless I continued talking about i-mode to them la, and they looked at the promotions, not bad. I dunno why, but as I speak they get more interested but the auntie forgot to bring her IC. Sad they had to go.

They came back! And when my colleague told them no more $200 Takashimaya voucher, they went mad. The uncle flared up and accused my colleague of cheating them. Please lo, my colleague haven't start the paperwork yet if really bluffing we confirm finish everything then tell you right? Wah. I was serving a customer and didn't notice them raising their voices. Then the uncle told his wife to leave then they started to argue outside the shop. The uncle was telling my colleague why didn't I tell them beforehand. I've never in my life seen the voucher in the shop and it slipped off my mind! I have never talked about the voucher to any customers lo. I didn't dare leave the shop for quite a while.

Home
Had a tiff with my dad and sister this morning before I went to work. Won't say why, but I remembered myself being very kiddy and cried like whatever! My mum even had to 'orh la orh la' to me and wipe my tears off. But really la the stupid call woke me up early in the morning of course I'd be unhappy. Haha. So pampered! However it's been an awfully long time since I remembered myself being this disgusting. But I was very angry!

Contract ending soon
I can upgrade my phone soon! I think I want a not too small or too slim phone. A candy bar phone with 3G functions. Wanted the N70 in ivory/auburn but I heard complains about the model and also a lot of people have it. Eyeing other brands other than Nokia. But I've come to like N80 and 6280 white.

Sony Ericsson...the 3G phone W900i (if I didn't get the model wrong) is too expensive and I don't need those walkman sort of functions. Don't wanna harm my ears. Not many other phones that I fancy, so this is it.

Samsung...almost all the phones are clamshells if not the phone will be black in colour. Not for me.

LG...I don't know LG well. Star5 don't carry too much of its models I heard.

Motorola...I seriously don't fancy slim phones.

So why is it Nokia again? Can I have other choices? Don't say NEC to me, they're clamshells.

Girlfriend.

I'm for Josh Groban

Some of you should know that Josh Groban sang 'You Raise Me Up' ...you can hear from here. Just click play on the top right corner and make sure it is showing 'You Raise Me Up'. It's a really beautiful song! Mesmerised. Haha. And you can go on listening to his other songs ya. Haha.

And then I heard the Westlife version of the song. Well...maybe it's a biased viewpoint but I find JG's nicer! The instrumentation and the arrangement is superb, whereas WL's is like quite empty and not as full and not as climatique. Did I use the vocabulary correctly?

But anyway, Josh Groban is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo charming!

为何我有一种绝望的感觉？

WAH Hiao really hiao hiao liao! *hints*

I'm really afraid to hurt and lose this friend. What if I say the wrong things?

那就是答案！ － 评语（一）

在下在盛港图书馆借了几本华文与英文小说，尤其是这几本“日本电视小说系列” or JAPAN TV NOVEL SERIES.

《那就是答案！》是１９９７年在日本富士电视台播映的一个连续剧。其实我还没读完啦，只是想要说说而已。

内 容简介：鸣濑望从小即拥有过人的音乐天赋，在热爱音乐的父亲廉太郎悉心的栽培下，成为一位世界知名的指挥家。但在一次正式演出中，乐团团员联合抵制他， 中断演奏，他因而遭到解聘，黯然退居山村。鸣濑失去了舞台，却意外地成为国中的音乐老师。他在与学生的互动中，慢慢引发出内在的阵性情，为自己的人生找到 答案！

一 开始读的时候，在下看见几句想要和大家，尤其是在band“混”的朋友分享，是鸣濑望的感想，就是：“解释音乐是指挥家的职责，而演奏家或歌唱家则只需忠 实地将它表现出来即可。正因为在整个乐团之中，指挥对于乐曲有最深的理解力，对音乐的所有构成要素也有最佳的平衡感，所以演奏家不该对其心存怀疑。否则， 曲调将会因此而瓦解。至于不同的乐器之间虽然难免有所对立，但是经有指挥家的指示，这些对立不再只是音律的冲突，其所衍生的紧张感反而能为听众带来感动。 演奏家只需拼命地跟上指挥就行了。因为指挥家的感觉是绝对的，所以才叫指挥家。如果不喜欢被指挥，就干脆辞去乐团，自弹自娱算了。再不然，去当指挥家也 行。跟不上指挥家的构想的人，绝对无法深入理解整首乐曲。”

在下是在巴士车程的时候读到的。就觉得，望说得蛮正确。因为象我们这些演奏家，真的要跟着指挥。你说呢？

洁莹请不要criticise我的华语。哈哈。都不知道有没有把你的名字拼对。嘿。

Case closed

Called the in-charge this morning, she was very nice. She contacted the management of Star5 and so settled the whole episode. 大结局！OK la. Still a bit traumatised though. And I'm surely black marked by the management! So scary... Don't really want them to know me though. Haha. I'm fine with my colleagues at the shop.

Thanks for your love, everyone~! =D

First time I got into such a trouble

I'm so sad. And so bothered by today! T_T Got into trouble just now, with a customer. Almost wanted to cry lo, like why am I so stupid.

The customer was the family who bought the phone on Sunday. What I know is that the i-mode phones have got Bluetooth, and MP3s for ringtones. The downside is, I don't know that the Bluetooth part means the headset device only, and not the Bluetooth data sharing; and that the ringtones are actually True Tones, so even if you put MP3 into the phone you can't put it as ringtones. I didn't know all along.

So the problem (a rather big problem actually) is that the customer wants a clamshell phone with Bluetooth data sharing and MP3s for ringtones. And I happily recommended her the phones but in the end I am soooooooooooooooooo wrong. Then she came down to the shop today, I don't know if she did complain, but then I was sooo scared. First time such a thing happened to me I find it quite hard to handle..

I checked the phone and realised that I was wrong lo. A colleague at the shop also told me before the customer came in about the Bluetooth thing. So in deep shit now. Called my trainer from StarHub and I think I somewhat got a scolding from him lo. Still say it should be covered in product training. In the end I found out later that he also didn't know about it well lo. I don't remember being told about such features of the phones during training. Called Tsz Ching and she told me that she only knew about these after she called NEC Customer Service. See? Now like everything's my fault. The trainer said that I should call the in-charge of us i-mode 'ambassadors' aka i-mode promoters to apologise to her and tell her the situation and see how the customer can be compensated. Now things will get super complicated because I'm situated at a dealer and the customer bought her phone from here. So how compensation can be made I don't know. Tried calling the in-charge but she didn't answer. Will try again next morning. So the management of Star5 the dealer will get to know about this stupid i-mode promoter causing a mess and they may be on the losing end. How? T_T I don't really want them to know me. I'm like blacklisted by them now lo. Bloody hell. How to find jobs next time? Ya though I quite want to get out of this job but I don't want them to terminate me instead I terminate myself.

I'm rather worried about this whole episode. Have to get back to the customer by tomorrow night. Won't be able to sleep properly liao lo. What if the in-charge gonna ignore me for the whole of tomorrow? T_T

At first I thought last year's Valentine's Day was already horrible because I had to spend it studying for a Chemistry test the next day. This year's the worse ever that I'd encountered. Really leh. I'm super stressed up now and I feel as if I will just break down anytime. What a hard sale to close. Never mind la. 谁叫我又呆又傻又愚蠢。Like who can really help me tide over this?

I need a boyfriend now. Need a big shouldered guy to cry to. Just need for this moment actually. Forget it.

Can someone tell me what will happen to poor me tomorrow? I'm like spending everyday pitying myself. 唉，谁叫我那么白痴。I won't want to cry in front of my colleagues tomorrow lo. ARGH!!!

Shopped

Yi Xin wanted to look for jeans so we went to Bugis on a jeans search. Nothing much really pleased her. She went back with tops instead. I went back with blisters T_T poor me. Haha. It's the shoes la.

It's 1am plus now...It's Valentine's Day. A day of the celebration of love. Why don't I be happier about it. Yeay. It's Valentine's. Yeay. Yeay.

Sigh.

So sad. Still gotta work (since I got no one to occupy my time with). And I think all those I'm working with later at the shop are all married and living in bliss already! T_T Haha. Erina's at it again. So lonely. Haha. What a poor thing I am!

Never mind la. Think I'm going to live through some more VDays alone. Siggghhhhh. Just moaning to myself la. Actually you all can just ignore this post, you know. =P

Videos for your appetite

Was reading The Sunday Times on i-mode today and came across some sites which you can view. They're gimmicks of popular movies. I only got two here out of the many, because I don't have QuickTime on my PC so can't watch.

Harry Potter video
This is pretty long-winded, but for those who knows the story, it can get quite funny. The voices of the characters are so alike!

Memoirs of a Geisha video
This is nicer to watch that the HP one, though short. Nicer as in funnier.

Enjoy! =D

A divide deepened

Oh well. Another trouble has arised. From where? The Danish newspaper which published the cartoon offending a lot of Muslims. The cartoonist drew the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as his headdress or something like that. This IS very offending, but whatever I see and read now, the West is fighting for free speech.

One thing I would like to emphasise is that, it is wrong if Muslims have to react in a violent way.

However.

By how things are about the terrorism issues, I guess there are no other ways that the Muslims can react. Peace talks? Nah. If such meetings could work, there is no need for terrorists. One thing is if the Danish press did not publish such a cartoon, all these wouldn't happen. To add on, European newspapers republished the cartoon.

I think living in Singapore made me rather afraid of living in distress actually. Distress as in those political instability and everywhere is so unsafe and hectic. I'm not sure if the way I put it is correct, and I don't want to offend anyone of any country. Another part about living in Singapore made me cherish the harmony here all the more. So I wouldn't want to get into problems with the other religions or races.

Free speech is what the West thinks of. Well, I think on the news, in the papers etc reporters seem to write in a way that, Muslims do not allow free speech that's why they're rioting that way. It is that the Muslims are hurt that their faith is being insulted. Something that you really believe in. You won't feel good if people were to comment about it offensively. Towards the Middle-east, or Asia, people are more conservative. I doubt the media of these areas are as open as that in the West. The West has opinions that the Muslims are exaggerating, but I think, they were the ones who were rude and offensive in the first place. Yes, you want to talk about free speech and you can say whatever you like. I don't oppose to free speech at all, but I seriously think that you hurt others. It just comes to me that this whole 'free speech' thing is a reason, or even an excuse to defend for the cartoon.

But on the other hand, Muslims also have to get used to this 'free speech' idea. Well, if you want the West to respect you, you also have to respect them back. It's a come and go thing, isn't it? And also, the West have got to do more to make the relationships between the two sides better. If not, rioting and boycotting of Danish products will just go worse. You see Muslims burning the piece of red cloth with a white cross everywhere. Except in Singapore. Really, both sides have got mistakes to themselves.

I don't understand the situation too much myself, who am I to say all these but ya...somewhere along that line. I'm not taking sides too. Hope this matter can be resolved and whoever who can lend a good helping hand in this issue must come out quick.

Sales? On-off.

Haven't been blogging for the weekend, and just going to summarise things up la. May be a long summary though.

Beginning to be able to talk more to my colleagues at the shop la...so time passes much easier these days.

When I had my off day on Wednesday, no i-mode phones were sold. Then on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I think I didn't close any sales. Oh the guy up there (read: oh my god). But had 2 sales today la. Already quite disappointed (no offence to Yi Xin) because there were actually 5 who were interested yet only 2 phones were sold. And the Valentine's promotion wasn't as attractive. I don't think I saw anyone getting the other pair phones.

I want to remember the customers I had today. So, (in order of appearance)
Customer No. 1: A Chinese family. Dad likes clamshell phones, yet Mum was the decision-maker. So I was convincing the Mum instead. Time for them to rush somewhere else but they came back after an hour plus nevertheless. Closed this sale.

Customer No. 2: A Malay middle-aged couple. The Husband is a very funny man, very dramatic. They came in around the early afternoon. Came back when the shop was going to close, at 8pm plus. Closed this sale. The Husband said that he came back because the way I told him bout the sales thing is very good. Really? I hadn't told him enough. Haha. But he's a great customer honestly. Just that if the phone doesn't go well for him, I'll be afraid if he flares up. The Wife was only laughing and commenting a bit the whole time.

Customer No. 3: A Chinese man nearing retirement age. He came to check how to enter iOCBC through i-mode. It's OCBC Securities, more of a stock market thing. I thought that the whole thing went well for him already. He said he'll consider. But he didn't come back.

Customer No. 4: A Chinese mother-son pair. The Son had requested for the NEC N411i before coming in. The Mother came in to say that they paid their bills at the S.A.M. machine but it didn't puke out the receipt. So had to go the extra trouble of calling 1633 blah blah blah, and all of a sudden, the Son changed his mind and said he didn't want to change the phone anymore. Cheat my feelings.

Customer No. 5: A young Chinese couple who dropped by and asked for the pair phones. In the end they didn't get. Were like so interested lo. Cheat my feelings.

And several other customers who approached my colleagues for the i-mode phones on promotion, but didn't buy.

T_T

For Saturday and today there is this part-timer whom I had never met before but she had been working for quite some time already. Got a full-time job somewhere else. Clicked well with her. Sad she only came for work on these two days. Won't be seeing her anymore..till then. And on Saturday she and the 'uncle colleague' kept suaning me and Sam. And Sam's skin can get pretty thick. Ha. Her character is funny la, like lightens up the mood in the shop. Makes me feel happier while working too. =)

Tomorrow's off day! Going to town with Yi Xin for shopping. Going to Bugis, may drop by Suntec. See how things go la. We're supposed to watch Memoirs of a Geisha...but Golden Village disappointed me. How can Chronicles of Narnia be showing for a month plus yet Geisha is only showing at Yishun and Tiong Bahru for tomorrow? Feel so cheated. Ha. Neverrr mind. Sigh.

Valentine's is coming. And I feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooo awfullllllllly loneely!!! This stupid thought kept coming to me, telling me that I'm not supposed to be alone. But I am! Sigh. Life's difficult.

They said the results for the A levels will be out next week. So scary. I'm so worried. Soooo worried.

A birthday

Happy 19th birthday Joan!

Soon it'll be my turn too. 19. Then I'll be 20. Then 30. 40. 50. 60. ... ...

Scary. We'll talk about it when the time comes. Sigh.

Random

Showing the stickman on er-hu I bought for my brother, and I haven't got the tuba one yet. And the spoiled can of coke.

七姐妹 gathered for Chinese New Year

The girls came to my place today! So happy!

Met everyone at 7pm, went to my place. Collected the yusheng from Sakae and Joan bought New Moon abalone and white wine and Shun Wei bought sparkling water!

When they reached my place Joan sliced the abalone to add to the yusheng. The yusheng has got the typical ingredients, including jellyfish! Our sashimi is salmon. Quite thick slices though.

This is the yusheng I got from Sakae Sushi
Lo-hei! Hopes and wishes! Straight A's! Good results! Good health! And a lot more!
The 7 of us, lo-ing! 捞啊捞！

Jing Yi is as wacky as ever. Can even pose for the camera while everyone is busy. Haha
The 7 of us (from left): Yi Xin, Hui Ying, Shi Hui, Shun Wei, Joan, Jing Yi, Erina
Finished! Joan said you must finish eating your yusheng and your dreams and wishes will come true!
Yi Xin and Joan. Me and Jing Yi in the background. Whatever we were trying to do. Haha
Shi H...no. Siew Hoon (whaha) and Shun Wei
See! Joan can just go join the SuperStar now lo! So pretty and can sing!

Watched a bit of The Maid at my place, I didn't really watch it la. Can't stand horror movies. Can haunt me for days! The last proper horror show I watched was The Ring 1. In primary 6. And I haven't went into the cinema for such shows thereafter. I'm that lousy. Haha.

Yi Xin and Shi Hui covering their ears while watching The Maid

Had steamboat for near 2 hours? Heh. Like fun. Had wine to go with, and you can see Joan and Jing Yi going red. And we were suaning Jing Yi for quite some time, aheM. bLeH.

Long Live Our Friendships!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....... (we yam-ed for quite a while) SENGG!!!
The feast
Drunk. See how red they are
Nothing can stop them

The soup was nice! Too bad I was too full to go on lo.

And after everything Yi Xin and I cleared the table and washed the dishes. I'm bullied. No la I'm host ma so it's ok.

See the poor Lionerella clearing up
So much to wash!
Poor old hunched maid. Please be nice to her to make her happier
7 of us! Formal (don't look at Jing Yi though)
7 of us! Crazy!

Watched TV, talked, joked around...spent most of our time in front of the television sets. Presented Joan with the birthday present - hamsters - that I went to get for her this morning with my brother. Didn't notice that one of them had a swollen foot. Sigh. Felt so bad. Like kuku never check properly.

The hamsters

They left at 11pm plus, after we settled some accounting stuff. Heh. You know? O$P$.

Love y'all! Muacks!

A disappointment

Sometimes when you think about the amount of effort you'd put in for the past years that you hope to rear and culture a new talent, a new hope...you'll get really disappointed by what is happening, and what is going to happen.

I saw Tsz Shan at Century Square after catching a movie today, she wasn't at band sectionals. Then she told me everything, yes, I should let her have her choice la. At first I was envious that the enrolment for my section is good, now, it's not a good thing after all. I don't know what is really going on at MJ band now, but I guess, many of the J1s don't feel like they're in the band or something like that. Things are missing la.

Moreover, TS also never really made a lot of effort to go to the practices promptly. I can't say that she is irresponsible la. But she didn't give the band more chances to show itself. I didn't feel belonged to MJ band last time, when I first started. But as days passed, yes, band can get fun.

Band is not Tsz Shan's passion though. I just feel sad la. Sigh. Like back in Hai Sing, I wasn't worrying about things like that. Though when TS first came I didn't expect her to join band, but since she joined I think I already have certain expectations la. All dashed lo. I'm not going to blame anyone, but I do wonder if things will be better if I'm still around in the section. I heard from Hong Wei that there is only one J1 who went for practice, out of the dunno six or seven or whatever.

I wonder if I should go down for practices all the time, check things, see if the present SL has a character that makes people want to stay. I'm not trying to boast, Kai Yan, but I don't seem to remember that I had such a problem. But of course, it all boils down to the rest of the people too. Not having their own instruments is already a problem and I don't want to keep going down, the section is no longer my responsibility. Back in Hai Sing, juniors who thought they cannot make the mark either chose to quit quick, or you can see them more active in the band as time passed.

My player is playing Utada Hikaru's First Love now. I'm not talking about interpersonal relationships here, but the tuba can be considered my first love, something I found in life that I really treasured. I even want to quit my job for it. I remember loving art and craft when I was in primary school too. But it has been time since I last touched the clay and paint brush.

Sigh. So disappointed. But I also cannot stop TS from making her own choices ma. It's her life lo. I chose my life to be engaged in band, in the tuba, in music. She didn't choose this life. Moreover, I also find myself at fault because I didn't put in enough effort to make my juniors treasure this organisation called band. Things seemed that I failed. Failed horribly.

I Not Stupid Too

It's a good show! Really. A nice movie to catch. Where there are funny parts, there are very sad and touching parts too! Watched with Yi Xin, Joan and Ju Ling.

Saw an MJ girl acting in the show as calafare. Don't wanna comment.


The funny parts were hilarious, I don't know if I'm exaggerating because I remembered laughing very hard. It's not those typical J Team varieties that you can't be bothered to even look at.

The sad parts were really...so touching! Was tearing but didn't cry la. But they were really touching.

A good storyline to tell you about parents in Singapore lo, even though it was quite typical. But the way the story is portrayed is good, though can get a bit too comical sometimes.

I hate to admit this, but Shawn Lee and Joshua Ang really grew up! They're more manly and are more handsome now.

You guys should try watching if you haven't!

A birthday

Happy 18th Birthday Jie Ying!

Due to work I couldn't join them for a dinner celebration at Tampines Mall's Fish & Co. Not very nice to insist that they come to Compass Point because CP has got not so many restaurants that students/youngsters are familiar with. Sigh. Felt so out. Never mind la. I still joined them after that but like very odd because I wasn't in the mood. Working for something you don't really like is like that one la.

Sold two NEC N411i today. Many customers thought I was Malay or mixed. But there was an equal share of nice customers too.

Desperate Housewives!

My favourite drama serial is back!


I remember when I watched it last year I put aside my work. Tutorials, tests, everything. Whaha. Just to catch the Desperate Housewives. Woohoo.

And they're back with more fun!

Watched the premiere of Desperate Housewives II just now, it was good. The same type as DH part I, mystery from episode 1. Really just want to keep watching. For those of you who didn't catch DH I, well, I don't know what to say, it may be hard to catch the story lo. Quite complicated with a lot of connections.

DH II is on every Monday at 10pm, on Channel 5. Catch it! =D

Bad day.

Felt extremely awful today. Sigh. Work was bad. I think I'm quite an attention seeker, but I don't ask for it, and when I am in a place with people but still all by myself I feel very down. Very very down. Like no one to pay attention to me or even care about me. Feel so much like an outsider.

Went out for a break, bought sushi and shopped around the mall. Dropped by a music school and saw a stickman figurine playing the tuba. I want that! And behind that display was a stickman playing an er-hu. Bought that for my brother as he plays the er-hu (duH) but didn't buy the tuba one. Yet.

Visited Yi Xin at her shop and Joan came down too. Three of us ate together at a kopitiam and chatted but since I needed to get home and Joan had got to give tuition, we left after a while. We talked about getting yu-sheng when they come to my place for steamboat tomorrow... And Joan suggested the Sakae Sushi one. Heh. So I'm going to try call and order it.

The top one is the yu-sheng we are getting

Went home and things only got worse. Sigh. Don't wish to talk about it. Sigh...

So horrible. I want to get out of this job.

I miss a lot of people, including you who are reading this. Missing a lot of people I miss. Sigh.

Busy day

It's the first time that I saw the shop being so busy. Like every second will have at least a group of customers in the shop. I had the chance to do a FEW presentations, however... ah never mind. Anyway sold an NEC N411i and a Samsung S410i today. Quite ok la, almost sold one more of the 411i. Need to think of ways to clear stock for these both models also.

The shop was so busy that there was even a loooooooooong queue! Till nearly the outside of the shop. And guess who was at the queue? BENEDICT GOH! Doesn't ring a bell? Remember that Wheel of Fortune Singapore host? He approached me! And asked some stuff about phonebook memory that I couldn't help. Haha. He's so charming up front. As in face to face. Really. Oh my. Then people kept turning to look at him bet they were envious that I got to talk to him! =D Hahahaa 臭美啦 Erina Lim! And he approached me (I repeat)! The sad thing is, when I talked to him I was quite flustered and my hair was ultra messy. My flower horn hairstyle was hilly instead. Hahaa.

Lost count of how many customers who thought I couldn't speak Chinese.

Jing Yi came to visit in the evening. Zat came later in the night. So nice.

People actually come to me and tell me 'StarHUT' or 'StarHARK' or somewhere along that line. Please close your mouth after 'hut' or 'hark'. HUBB. HUBBBBBBB.

I feel ultra useless when I'm at this job lo seriously. Like it's hard to talk to people who will raise their hand to your face to stop you from talking. Some also 勉强 let you talk talk talk. Tell you I talk about the i-mode thing can talk for very long one. Haha. Then now when I see people around I'll feel even more useless because usually they come in with a purpose. I want an office job. Any offers?

I honestly miss Sam la. Like his company is so nice, makes me feel more secure at work in a way that someone will always be there. And he can make me laugh whole heartedly. Now it's like, who? Hope I'll get to know another good friend at work, hopefully is a girl this time. Heh.

Hazel said yes to Ju Ling about leaving early for MJ alumni band practice. So most probably I can too, but I don't know how to make up for the hours you see. It's like probably I'll have to work for a few hours on my off days which is quite obliging. Need to clarify a lot of things la. Wait. Wait. Zzz.

General knowledge I learnt from my brother

Well this Erina can get super ignorant sometimes. Because I was looking for a can of cold drink, and I saw the half dozen cans of Vanilla Coke bloated up already I wasn't sure if I could really drink them. And my brother just told me that when you see the can bloated up it means that bacteria are growing inside the can and as they grow they give out air (carbon dioxide). So the same logic goes for milk cartons. Yes. A new knowledge today.

I've never experienced such cans also ma. So only got to know today. Heh.

Erina is smarter today. Yea right.

Made it to MJ alumni band practice!

Heh. I made it to the practice. Don't ask me how. =)

Quite enjoyed the practice! Heh. We played Mononoke and Anastasia. Not that Anastasia is a bad song la, but I seriously can't get used to it because it feels so secondary school. Haha. And when I played that I felt so... so back in Hai Sing haha. 'Cos Hai Sing a lot of such things one. Bo bian, not good ma. And the band was not good. The sound was super rusty, can hear that a lot of them haven't been playing for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. Haha. Anything la, enjoyed it nevertheless. First ever band practice of MJ alumni! Sadly no photos were taken to 'commemorate' this day. I brought a camera though. Felt no obligation to take a photo just now.

Anyway, felt odd when I left the shop slightly early just now, because that will be the last time I'll see Sam! More or less the last time la, won't see him as often anymore lo. And I'm feeling so sad about it. Sigh. Why him of all people?! Yi Xin just told me that her friend is stationed at the Suntec City outlet where Sam will be at permanently. So good lo, I know that Sam will be a good friend to her more or less la. Sigh. Feeling so odd. And sad actually. Hope got new people behind the counter then.

Hope I'll be more hardworking tomorrow, like whoever I see just chiong for them! Though I know I won't la. Haha. Because customer flow very weird, when there are people there will be a lot of people. When there are none there really is no customer in the shop. Ha. And I don't like to talk to people with kids lo. 'Mummy! Mummy! I want to see! I want to see!!!' So irritating sometimes they'll just take the phone and like split it apart. I can't give them my demo phone of course. I'll need to compensate if there are damages, as said in the contract.

By the way, made a sale this morning. But actually the guy already know that he want the NEC N411i phone la, just that he was happy with the i-mode service. He doesn't have a lot of questions la, and seemed like he liked the service so let him have it, duH. Haha. He's a nice customer also la. =D

Sigh. Hope tomorrow will be better!

Just another day

Chey I got cheated. Sam came after all today, there was a change in schedule. Didn't expect to see him at the shop but recognised him by the hair before I even saw him.

Anyway, I didn't do any presentation today. See how lazy I am? A couple of reasons to go with it though, not excuses FYI, because it's either no one comes into the shop, or I don't know what to introduce to them (I have to see what they wear and pop out a question or something), or when customer flow is 'intense', they usually already know what they want. Sigh. So, zero sales today. One customer called me and studied me for a moment and still said nothing so I said I could speak Mandarin.

There was this uncle quite cute. He's rich I guess. He bought the Nokia 7260 if I didn't get the model wrong. He chose a number that has three digit 8s in it, so he will huat ma. Well, this uncle carries a pure gold (no silver at all, everything is gold) Rolex watch, 'Five matchsticks' you'd say. Yes. He also has a bundle of cash full of those bigger notes, not just a couple, but you'd say a stack. And he was saying if he wins the 4D lottery tomorrow he won't forget us because of his phone number. And when I was standing beside him while my colleague is attending to him, something caught my eye. 23 06 19XX. This uncle has the same birthdate as me! So I was like, 'Uncle, ler eh seh jit ka wa sio siang leh!' meaning 'Uncle, your birthdate is the same as mine!' YeP. And I added on, 'Uncle ler jin eh huat liao! Huat liao!' i.e. 'Uncle you really strike a fortune already!' Heh. And I hope my parents and this uncle tio 4D tomorrow. Haha.

There's MJ alumni band practice tomorrow... How to go sia? Got to work! Ahem.

And moreover, if I really want to work in an office, then let's say it's a 5.5 days a week thing, how am I going to go about it? Because, HSC alumni band pract may be on Saturday mornings, and if I get to go to the MJ band pract, then Hai Sing how? Zzzz. So many things. So so so many things.

CNY mood is fading. Here comes the Big V

In less than two weeks we'll meet the 14th day of February, a.k.a. Valentine's Day. What a sad day it'll be for me! I arranged for myself to work on that day, but when I think of the couples I'll see... Sian. Heh. People lonely ma.

Was sms-ing Sam today, he said he won't be coming to the Compass Point outlet anymore... Like he's sent to some other outlets, further north. I'm so sad to hear that! Like he's my only true companion at the shop lo... I can't really communicate properly with the others. Sigh. How am I going to pass my days at the shop man. Never mind la. Try.

Got introduced to this funny video. It's really funny, not those cold or irritating jokes that I usually crack. Serious. The host talks a bit too fast though, but the recording is of most importance. Go see it! Really can make you laugh.

Yi Xin emailed this test on Tickle.com. It's a test to find out your lucky charm. Mine is a four-leaf clover. Anyone wants to get me one?

AiYa. I really don't want to work anymore liao. No life at all lo. Retail hours... This is telling me a lot. Like what I'll choose for my future permanent job. Yea. Sigh. I only complain about my job and nothing else eh? Like no topics to talk about. Moreover 7 more of the sold-out NEC N411i came today. Sigh. More to sell! The biggest boss of the shop came down and asked me how are the i-mode sales, like average daily. I said some days can be zero. And he said must try to push the sales. Sigh so stressed.

Do elixirs really exist?

I'm not trying to insult Yi Xin here or whatsoever la, but I'm just mentioning that she went to a doctor about her skin condition today. On her way there she sms-ed me and told me that she'll be a ravishing beauty when she comes out. Like funny eh? Must be thinking the clinic or whatsoever has got some elixirs. She was just joking anyway la.

'You think the doctor got 仙丹 ah?' I asked.

And I was thinking, you can try asking the doctor for 咸蛋. Salted egg. And you'll really look cool. Like Ultraman. Why?

咸蛋超人 saves the day! By fighting off the bad skin monster

No Yi Xin I'm not trying to mock you la. Just... Thought of it. A laugh, in fact. If it is funny.

So do elixirs really exist? In the past perhaps. Now... Nah. Don't think so. The world would be a perfect place then. Like those who insist that they sing in tune and at the correct pitch going to participate in the American Idol auditions. They need elixirs to correct their vocals.

By the way, when is SuperBand on Channel U starting? I like teamwork.

No no no!

'No no no!' What an annoying phrase. No no no! ARGHH. Some customers haven't got any... Uh. I don't know what vocabulary I can put there in order not to be rude. Anyway.

I have a problem with waking up on time. And always late by 5 - 10 minutes. But I'm early or late also no one cares la.

Was quite energetic in the day, talked to customers, answered their questions, and the like. There was this customer who was super irritating. Ok guys, when you all subscribe to a service, you obviously have to pay right? i-mode is a Value-added Service, like Caller Number Display, VoiceMail, etc. So, you can subscribe to it at $5.25 incl. GST. Next. When you go onto the Internet, no matter using i-mode or not, and you want to subscribe to the news, you of course have to pay right? If you want to read The Straits Times through i-mode of course you have to pay ST to give you the news! i-mode is a service by StarHub! Grr. If this is the case, we'd see either ST or SH toppling down! You think you can have the best of everything? Come on la! You're on this world longer than I am!

I was telling this customer that if you want to subscribe to i-mode, there will be charges involved. And so on. And I came to the point where if you want to subscribe to ST, it'll only be $3 a month, charged to your bill. Pure news, no Classifieds, no Recruits, no advertisements. Only pure news. Just for $3. Compared to your hard copy subscription which can amount to at least $24 a month! $25 to include delivery charges!

No no no!

10 cents a day for news is considered cheap, I told him.

No no no!!!

How to talk sense into Singaporeans like that?

The press has got to earn in some way or the other, i-mode is a mobile Internet service, not a newspaper service!

No no no!!!

Ok, thank you.

I actually slammed the clamshell shut. Felt awful because I've got some feelings for the NEC N411i already. My handy i-mode partner.

No no no!!!

That customer seemed to be some educated uncle you know, English-speaking and the sort. I don't know if my perception is right la.

No no no!!!

Piss me off with this man.

No no no!!!

I'm only pissing myself off.

No no no!!!

Whatever.

I should make a daily count of how many customers mistaking me for being of another race. There were around 3 today already.

Almost made a sale of the Samsung S410i today. But apparently the customer's processing can't get approved because of some outstanding bill or something. It's the phone plus i-mode subscription lo. Sad. So disappointing! Hope he comes back tomorrow and not go elsewhere.

Anyway, MJ alumni band practice is starting this Saturday. Doubt I can make it lo. Sigh. And I really want to go. See how Ju Ling settles her side first, then I try to copy her. Ultimately she's not going to work for Star5, so need to compromise at my side too. You get the idea. They're going to play Mononoke and Anastasia. MONONOKE!! I'm not trying to say that my presence for the band practice is important, but Mononoke Hime will sound extremely bland and empty without the tuba part. Hope that Elroy does go for band pract man. I miss my tuba. My loyal husband (it forced me to be with it at first but currently it's the other way round). I've lost touch I guess. It has been like, two weeks since I last touched it. Ok la not that bad, but it's bad enough! I miss tuba, miss band, miss the music and everything that revolves around it.

How am I going to take part in the so many things when work is hindering me? Should have waited for an office job instead. Sigh. This i-mode thing is pulling me away from my life! I no longer have time to go home and have dinner with my family. Off days are usually planned already. Sighhhhhhh.

A transport 'accident', again

I've already had a lot of wrong directions etc during my transport journeys. It happened again today. Not again! I remembered a few times when I got onto the wrong direction.

A few times I took the East-West Line on the MRT past City Hall where I was alighting and the next thing I knew it was Tanjong Pagar. Sometimes even Outram Park. Happened with friends. Exactly who, can't remember.

Last Christmas Eve, with Yi Xin. That poor thing. Told her we could take the train from Dhoby Ghaut to Marina Bay and to the East. How can? It's the North-South Line, I'll go back to the north. And both of us were at Ang Mo Kio before we knew it when we wanted to go to Tampines. My fault.

Chinese New Year Eve, another eve of big public holidays. Misguided YX that she could take bus no. 31 on the same direction as me when in fact she had to go the other way. I didn't know, that's one thing. The other thing is... Well I actually stopped her from calling her dad to reconfirm and she really could take the same direction as me. Sigh. Sorry.

And today, not an eve of any event whatsoever, I got into another transport 'accident'. Borrowed two books from Sengkang library today and was reading one of it on the bus during the journey home. It had a funny beginning and I happily read it. No no. The atmosphere isn't right. I missed my stop. Argh. Realised that only when I stopped at the next stop, thankfully. Trotted down and walked a short distance home. Haa.