A Mind of My Own

I truly wonder how the current economy in Singapore. My attempts to find jobs of similar positions have failed. Not that I am surprised. They prefer certified professionals rather than the supposedly degree. Sadly, that’s the case for IT. A degree just help you get that first step. It’s the IT certifications that help you broaden your prospects.

I can whine about their lack of experience. However, I was inexperienced once. I can whine about being unable to climb up the corporate ladder. However, I have never thought of climbing up such a ladder. I like what I was doing until I slowed down. I have never ventured out to seek other areas despite my ability to pick up skills fast.

I have been too comfortable in my zone that I like the stability and yet hate the routine. I got bored. I got angry at how bad life is and how stuck in the rut I was. I was blaming everything else but myself. I stopped learning. I wonder why. Was it because of the chase for that degree I was so desperate to get that time 4 years ago?

Was it because I was no longer studying that my brain cells have stopped functioning? Was I just obsessed with something else, that money can’t solve everything? I’m not so sure but I am sure of one thing now. I am finding my purpose in life.

During the chase and the aftermath of it, I lost my energy for everything. I just wanted to be out of that routine. I wanted to be my own boss and dreamed of it ever since I realised that the corporate world is cruel. Even if I have dealt with it.

I want too many things but I have yet to start on it except now. Now I am tired of trying to send out my resumes as I know I am not ready to go back to a 9-to-6 work. I want to slog it out. I want to force myself to take up the things I have been meaning to take instead of saying “I don’t think I am up to it.”

I am still learning how to take such challenges and changes. It’s a huge change from my previous roles. Something that not everyone will agree with.

So, how is the current situation with the economy in Singapore?

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Friday nights are for partying. Thus, ES called for a last minute night out. We had dinner at Sakae Sushi. My craving, apologies. After dinner, the four of us went to Ink Bar but it was closed off for a private function till 9.30pm. Since it was just an hour’s wait, we made ourselves comfortably at the entrance.

The lady serving the drinks didn’t even give us a menu or asked if we would like to drink anything. Within 2 minutes after JC had returned from the restroom, we went to Introbar. Goodbye to poor service. We made ourselves comfortable at one corner of the club, the door where ES attempted to open but failed to try the other unlocked door. A really face palm moment.

We ordered our drinks and enjoyed the ambiance at the place. Poured our work woes and about the cruel world of why working and looking for jobs can be horrible for women at certain ages. The obnoxious people who refused to understand a problem at work and people who sing different tunes in meetings when a problem is still unresolved and why budget seems to be bugging everyone.

Mainly, we shared our stories of how to overcome them and releasing the stress. CD arrived nearly 10pm. This was where the fun started because she was all raring to go dancing her heart out. She spoke of her dancing experience in Boat Quay or was it Clarke Quay; this guy is a dancing instructor and asked her for a dance. She agreed after the bar owner said he is a dancing instructor. She twirled around in Salsa style half the night. Getting giddy was the end result.

Since she wanted to dance her stress away, HF accompanied her and they went to Equinox. At 12.30am, they returned to the table and spoke of this guy dancing near CD and unbuttoning his jeans. He was dancing very close and was really excited about CD. His friend started to dance in front of CD and got pushed away.

I didn’t realise that guys just got hot under while dancing and needed to strip. I would have crushed the balls so that he can’t use them to bang any more. CD said her hands would have been dirtied. How unfortunate, it would have been good to crush those balls.

It is unfortunate that discos and dance clubs can’t screen people for stripping-compulsive-disorders-in-public. If anyone can come up with a clamp device for crushing balls, do share.

We were young once. We want to show the world that we are no longer kids and want them to acknowledge our presence. In our own ways, we wore Armani, Burberry or Moschino apparel, carried Issey Miyaki or Guess bags, and even perfume to school. We wanted to show them that we are capable of making decisions for ourselves and didn’t need any babysitter every minute.

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The boys would show off their powers by joining the big brothers who would say, “I look after you. Nobody bully my brother one!” They would often skip classes and sit at the coffeeshops or void decks and check out the pretty girls by wolf-whistling.

As time went by, they would get bolder, from stealing food to money. Each time, they weren’t caught, they broaden their “rewards”. The boys would also go to discos and Fire Disco was a popular place for seeing them dancing and playing with the girls.

The girls, on the other hand, would dress up and try to wear the shortest skirt that is allowed to school. Some would pull down the tucked in blouses as tight as possible into the skirt to show off their curves. Others would attempt to hide their hair highlights.

Yet other girls would continue wearing that threadbare blouse to show off what they were wearing inside. Or maybe it wasn’t to show off what they were wearing inside.

Those were The Days. I had the pleasure of viewing a Boi Kwong film made just for remembering those days. It is based on a true story about himself and his younger brother. It was a misguided attempt to ensure that his beloved brother would be protected that he pulled him into his world.

The movie captured the vulnerability of teenage years and their impression of being protected by the big brothers. Fighting and staring were often part of their lives. During the 1980s and early 90s, carrying parangs was part of protecting one’s life and to attack the enemy.

The Days opens on 11 Sept, 2008. The movie is just 100 minutes long due to cuts as it contains vulgar languages that were limited to the famous “Your father”. It’s a pity as I have heard far more colourful words being sprouted during my teenage years.

Stay tuned after the credits have rolled. To catch that handsome Zi Long a.k.a. Tai Zi, the cast will be at the stated places.

I have only one question for the director. How come Tai Zi wasn’t at the Cinema Europa one?

PS: This was made possible by GV Blog Aloud session. Thanks!

I went to Sengkang Swimming Complex last month. This is a long delayed post. Oh my. Well, DD wanted to go swimming, so, we went to this newly opened pool. It was raining heavily from 9am. I was so antsy as it may mean that I won’t have the chance to take a look around the new complex!

Thankfully, the Sun God decided that he had to take over and the sun shined from 11.30am onwards. On weekday, it is a good place to be with since the pools won’t be too crowded until you can’t do a thing despite paying the entry fees just to get in.

Indoor pool for swimming and teaching.

Kids playpool. Most of them love to play with the water pipes.

A round pool that I don’t understand what its purpose is. Yet.

The water slides. Way smaller than in Wild Wild Wet and other pools where space is bigger.

What I noticed is that the lifeguards were very busy with people who run around despite the floors being slippery, mothers who attempt to let their kids with arm floats or belly floats go into the adult pools, adults attempting to step upon the kids slides, etc.

My lifeguard friend said it is because of serious accidents that have occurred in other places, kids running despite being told not to and ended up with gashes on faces, some with bones seen after getting deep cuts even when told not to do dangerous stunts and more.

Overall, the swimming pool slides are for fun, thus, use common sense. If the recommended usage of the given float is pasted on the boards all over the pool, use. You don’t want to be sent to the hospital just because you didn’t listen.

I have been very happy to stay at home to find out what it feels like to do what I have been meaning to do. I may not be earning what I used to when I had a stable income but I feel way much happier. Although, my dear parents will nag at me to find a “stable” job. After having gone through unhappiness while working the same routine for years, I do wonder if a stable job is what I have in mind.

Yes, it does provide the money to buy things without having to worry about whether I still have enough for the rest of the month. During my younger years, I have learned to keep track of where my money goes to. I may buy things on the impulse but how often do I do that? I used to buy new mobiles every year but after the slate of disappointment with the mobile phones not performing to my expectations, I have since stopped that.

I want to try working from home but parents don’t understand and I keep hearing them telling me about Chines New Year is coming. Well, for a fact, it is coming every single year. So, what is the difference? Perhaps I may not think so after I have to be the one giving out the ang baos.

It is only a month. I have to prove to them that what I have always wanted to try is working. However, they want fast results. Will they ever understand that such things take time? I want to give it time. Those who have done it have may have spent 3 years just for the initial inputs to break even.

Money makes the world go round but it can’t buy happiness.

It is unfortunate that my neighbour whom I hope not to meet is “deaf”. He/She loves to play the dramas DVDs or VCDs from 10pm till Lord knows what time loudly every Saturday. I think he/she just moved in since the other time, there were some renovations going out.

I wonder

Why the dramas can’t be watched in the day time.

Why he/she can’t use the headphones.

Why he/she is a night owl.

Why he/she loves to repeat watching that noisy drama.

Finally, if I ever know who that noisy person is, I might just strangle him/her on the spot due to my lack of sleep as the logical mind doesn’t reason very well. Let’s pray that I won’t know who that fxxker is.

Image by daniboi1977 via Flickr

I have loved to buy jewellery and have tons of earrings. DD will attest to that since he sees me wearing different ones every time I like earrings as it’s easier to change them than necklaces. With some encouragement from Endoh and a few friends including DD, I decided to make my own pair by mixing and matching the ones that I have.

My first attempt was to create a pair of mismatched earrings. It turned out to be rather nice. Since then, I have made a few more pairs. The rest are matching earrings. I hope to be selling them off once I get my site settled in.

Currently, I am in love with wire wrapping and have been sourcing Etsy for inspirations. There is a huge collection of wire-wrapped necklaces, pendants, earrings and bracelets. I hope to find some materials that are suitable for sensitive skin too. Therefore, my preference is to silver since I have sensitive skin for non-pure elements.

At this moment, sterling silver is expensive to buy and I can’t find any shops that sell silver wire for my wire wrapping purposes. I have gone to Chinatown and Arab Street based on recommendations. I do understand that Spotlight sells such stuff but in small packets that I feel is too expensive.

When I was in Arab Street, I saw Xiaxue. The owner told me after he asked if it was my first time there and out of curiosity, I was wonder who the blond girl was and realised that it was her.

I decided to try Coastal Scents for my virgin retractable Kabuki brush. I received it and tested one of the brushes. I combined the purchase with Xtralicious. To my horror, I found that one of the brushes was “rusty” inside. I had great difficulty pulling the inner brush out.

So, I decided to check the other brush, it works smoothly. Therefore, my conclusion is that one of the brushes was spoilt. As this package was not sent directly to me, I received it late. I sent an email to Kathay on either 19 or 20 Aug but yet to receive her replies.

I just wanted to know the rectification to this order. Unfortunately, no replies as to whether I can exchange it or get a refund of some sort was known. I even checked the foundation and found that the sample jar had foundation powder all over it. Just a scotch tape was used to secure it.

The package didn’t feel like it was done with care. I never had this problem with my purchases from Pure Luxe.

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This is a call out for Royston Tan and Eric Khoo fans. GV has an event called “Local Producer’s Acclaimed Films”. One is the screening of Eric Khoo’s past movies (Be With Me and Mee Pok Man) on Friday, 22 August 2008, 7pm and the other are Roystan Tan’s past movies (881 and 4:30) on Friday, 29 August 2008, 7pm. Both sessions are priced at $18 each with free flow of popcorn and drink. Tickets can be purchased on the GV website or at the box office at GV Grand, Plaza Singapura.

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Remember

Venue: GV Grand and GV Plaza

Date: 22 Aug 2008
Time: 7pm
Movie: Be With Me and Mee Pok Man

Date: 29 Aug 2008
Time: 7pm
Movie: 881 and 4:30

This is long overdue. It slipped my mind somehow. I have to name 5 scary childhood terrors I had as a child.

1. I had to switch on every light in the house at night if I had to take a leak. I hated walking in the dark while returning to bed. Apparently, it’s a problem for most kids.
2. The sound of chalk being scrapped on the blackboard was enough to let me know that the teacher was very unhappy about something.
3. I had my exercise book being thrown onto the floor in front of 40 classmates once and was terrified of having it done again.
4. That scary female teacher with huge eyes that looked as if they would bore a hole into my head. She was always in a bad mood.
5. That boy who punched me in the chest. I still can’t recall what made that bully do that.

And now, it’s my turn to make these people remember their childhood terrors: Krisandro, Chillycraps, Rinaz, Nicole and Clauds.