My Lousiest Interview.

I went for my intern interview at Weber Shandwick this morning. It went pretty badly.

First, CAO screw me up. The lady who helped me set up the interview for me didn't know anything about the company. She told me the company was doing events planning. And when I asked her about the job scope, she said she had no idea.

Anyway, I was asked why I decided to apply to the company (expected). I couldn't say that SIA withdrew and I desperately need an internship, right? So I told him that I was interested in PR and communications and would like to gain more knowledge about the industry (which is true).

Guess what the interviewer said? We are not about communication. Or marketing. Did you read about our company before coming? But that was what written on your website! Well, that's how I interpret it. Never mind. Maybe it's my fault.

Then he looked at my resume and said, "So you got distinction for your Chinese in O'levels and A'levels. Can you write in English? I don't like people with lousy grammars and vocabulary."

Excuse me! I may be good in my Chinese but that doesn't mean I am lousy in my English, okay? Why are you questioning my ability to write in English?! And aren't I conversing in English with you?

Interviewer: "Tell me your strengths."

I rattled on about how I am conscientious, pay attention to detail and blah blah blah. And he went, "That's what everybody says." And I am like FINE! So, I gave him an example and he gave those expression that says that he thinks I am making those examples up.

Interviewer: "Tell me your weaknesses."

I told him that I am a perfectionist. Sometimes too much. To the point where I like to pull all nighters to do my work and then used the subsequent time leading up to the deadline covering loopholes. And then he told me, " It shows that you have lousy time management."

I also told him that I am impatient. That's very true, right?! I like things done my way and as quickly as possible. And when things are not done properly, I get frustrated with myself because I think that I didn't communicate the information well to my group mates.

He just gave me those, "I think you are crap look."

Interviewer: "Are you good in doing research and giving presentations?"

I told him that I have taken 2 research modules and actually conducted a research from scratch. I did rather well for those research modules. And I also told him that I have received positive feedbacks from tutors, professors and friends about my presentations.

He just looked at me and smirked.

Then the interviewer asked me, "If you are interested in PR, why are you majoring in Finance?" It's an expected question.

My answer, "I am interested in Finance but I don't see myself working long term in the industry. Because it's highly competitive and stressful with little...."

Before I can finish my answer, he asked, "Are you saying that PR industry is not competitive and not stressful?"

I wanted to explain that it's not the competition or stressful situation that is putting me off Finance industry but it's the lack of interaction and communication with the clients that is putting me off. I know there's interaction too but as compared to PR, the interaction in the Finance industry is peanuts. And if you have known me for a very long time, I am a people person 90% of the time!

But I couldn't explain myself because he kept lecturing me. And saying that I am wasting his time and tarnishing the name of NTU. And he made it clear from the start that he thinks that my "explanations" are all excuses.

Throughout the whole interview, he didn't give me a chance to explain my answers. He likes to cut me off and shut me up. And he kept lecturing me. Going on and on and on and on about how he knows that I think that I am very smart and blah blah blah.

In the end, he made me sound like I am some arrogant bitch and some simple minded idiot at the same time. If that's even possible.

I have been through bad interviews and tough interviews.

But never have I been to an interview where I was attacked personally.

Anyways, the result of the interview will be out on Monday. Haa. What are the chances that I will get in? But here's to hoping?

I held back tears while talking to KL and scotchey about it but when Juan called, I just started crying. I am not worried about not getting the internship. But never in my life have I been reprimanded and told that I have single-handedly brought down the name of NTU.

And even though KL, scotchey and Juan said that it has nothing to do with me and it's totally the interviewer's problem, I can't shake the naggy feeling that it's my fault. And what he said is true. That maybe subconsciously I AM an arrogant bitch and a simple minded idiot.

I'm strong. I will hold back those tears and go for tuition. But comforting words are welcomed. If you can, bring me Ice Blended Sour Plum:(

But maybe I should grow up and learn to suck it all in and let it pass.

I never knew it existed.

I never knew (know?) that I have the nervous genes in me.

I was not nervous when I went on-stage to perform. I was not nervous when I went on-stage to receive awards. I was not nervous when I made announcements to the entire school every morning. I was not nervous when I read the "Thinking Day" speech to the entire school with my scratchy guides uniform. I was not nervous when I give presentations.

I was not nervous when I took my O'levels. I was not nervous when I took my A'levels. I was not nervous when I take any exams.

But I am nervous over BF323 now. I am nervous about my interview at 10.30am.

It does not feel good. It feels like something is sitting on top of me. I feel like I am going to puke anytime. It makes me feel like burying myself in bed and hiding myself until it's all over. And worse of all, it makes me want to give up.

I do not like this new thing call "nerves". No, siree. I do not like it at all. I am going to return it right this moment. Wish me luck!

Social Networking War.

Got to know about this from@uniquefrequency.

"..(myspace) is a webcam porn site..."

"...i just don't want to end up like some pathetic digital castaway desperately hanging on to my former popularity(ie. Friendster)..."

Friendster is so over. Myspace is a perfect place to be "narcissistic" (guilty guilty guilty). Facebook is all "posh".

But the only thing that I am still signing in is Facebook. Myspace is those once in a blue moon thing.

My funny theory.

I have this theory.

Internet helps to connect people. Social media helps to connect people. But it's not all jolly-holly and happily-ever-after with cherubs throwing confetti everywhere.

I think sometimes, the internet and social media (like Twitter and Facebook) can serve to make people feel more isolated and miserable.

Instead of connecting people, it makes people feel more isolated.

Don't you ever have those kind of days where coming online is just too "overwhelming"?

Don't you ever feel pathetic while looking at your friends' photos and comments? Kind of like, "Darn. They are getting closer and having fun. Here I am stuck at home, mugging my guts out".

Don't you ever have the itch to come online all the time to check check you RSS feed/Twitter/Facebook/MSN so that you won't be left out of the loop of what's happening in your friends' lives? (I think I mentioned this point in my Twitter presentation.)

Don't you ever wish that the social networks will just shut up?!

Today is one of those days. Well, not quite. I am just staying away from Twitter and Facebook because I don't have the energy to keep up. I am anti-social and grumpy (everyone, say hello to grumpy!).

Off to bed and hopefully, I will be back to wishing that Twitter won't shut up(: I was just thinking last night that Twitter is getting a tad boring these days!

Grouchy shans, signing off.

exhausted.

Went to school and the first thing Juan asked me was, "Why you look so unhappy?". Today is those quiet kind of days where smiling is rare ba.

Anyways, we have Mr Bean at Boon Lay MRT station(: *faints from happiness* Even though it's not in NTU, but it's close enough. We are not as lucky as SMU people lahs. YEAH!!! It almost make up for the fact that I can't make it in time to apply for local exchange. Almost.

Terence and ber have started their internship already (How was it, how was it?). And here I am still worrying about getting one. But Jasmine from CAO was pretty nice when she called in the morning? *shrugs*

Scotchey, I miss you! Hahas. Thanks for your sms-es about my internship(:

I'm tired and words are not coming out easily. Bed. Earliest ever. Waking up early to study tomorrow.

Today is one of those days where social media is too sociable for me. SHUT UP, TWITTER!

The view that I will never give up(:

Before the renovation, I was choose to ask if I want to have the new room or the smaller room. I picked the smaller one.

Because I love the view from my window(: It's a good thing that I have my table next to the window(:

I may not live in a condominium or a private housing. But the view from my room is nice enough(:

In the day, here's how it looks like -

If I am lucky and the sky is clear, I can see the DHL balloon and all the way to City Hall (or is it Raffles Place). Look -



Here's how it looks like at night. I had to use the "Night Scenery" function in my camera and it requires me to hold still for a while. But I have shaky hands so the image isn't very nice -



The blurry blue and red lights are the buildings in town(: I can see them pretty clearly(:

In these deep city lights, a girl could get lost tonight.

Interesting Events.

Read and Comment Day.

Got to know about it from here . Event initiated by Chris Brogan.

Interesting, no? Read and comment away, me darlings?

The Real Singapore Freeze.

It's a Facebook Event. No idea where I first saw it but here's the event page - The REAL Singapore Freeze.

Interesting! And it's happening on Mabel's birthday!

Anyone wants to go down and take a look/take part? Let me know! Cause I want to go! Leave a comment or something! Hahas. It IS read and comment day! -.- ABUSE ABUSE!

But I think the organisers are going to have a headache organising. I mean, it IS a gathering of more than 10 people so they might need to get some permit or something so that it won't be an illegal gathering no?

Interesting Facts about yourself.

I am going to start something myself. Hahas.

It might be pointless to most people but I guess, it's interesting to me and it helps to add dimension to a person?

So every Sunday/Monday, I will post one interesting habit/fact/quirk about myself(:

I mean, it's probably useless for friends who see me in real life but it might be useful for people who don't know me online!

Besides, the key to decoding and reading my blog is that you really need to know me online! So that you can imagine my actions and tone while reading. And, it can serve to "enhance" the experience ! Personify a person and all those crap(:

So here goes -

Fact #1 : Do you know that I drank from a milk bottle till I was in Primary 4?

Facebook Chat - Will it work?

Facebook Chat have been launched here for around a week now. For those of you who don't know yet, you will find a little toolbar at the bottom of your web browser when you log in to Facebook.

I can't show you a screenshot cause none of my friends are online now-.-

Read more about it The Facebook Blog. They have a really tiny screenshot there. For a more detailed and dissected explanation/tour, go to Inside Facebook.

Is Facebook Chat a complementary product to other applications? Or a competitive product? And, is it really necessary to have Facebook Chat?

I don't know (I always start my discussion this way eh?). But personally, I think Facebook Chat is kind of pointless.

If I need to talk to my friends in real time, I have MSN and sms! So why would I use Facebook Chat? Unless you have a large number of friends who are on Facebook but not in your MSN. Then maybe, perhaps it will work?

But somehow, I think eventually, you will add those friends in MSN. I mean, Facebook Chat is not really that convenient is it?

You have to keep the browser open so as to remain online! So say, you are waiting for one of your friends to come online, you have to constantly keep the browser open so that you will always be online and not miss each other.

Are chat history saved? If not, what if I accidentally close the browser before I read what my friends sent me? Oh no! How? Important point, no? Especially for gundus like me who have the tendency to close browsers "accidentally".

Add on at 1.42am: Okay, chat history is saved. But it's not logged permanently. So that means, I can have a "opps" moment? But I can't look back on conversations that happen eons ago!:(

Someone somewhere Unique Frequency mentioned that Facebook Chat is good for working on weaker friend links (who said this? let me know!). I guess? You can use Facebook Chat to test the water? To see if the person has the chat potential before "promoting" the person to MSN. Other than that, I really can't see how it will help to improve the weaker friend links.

(I'm drifting off topic)

Anyways, if that's really the case, I am a goner. Because I talked better with new friends via e-mail or in person as compared to MSN or any form of chat. I'm serious! I think a few of my friends have experienced that first hand. I am gibbering non-stop via email and when we see each other on MSN, I shut up. Heh.

(Back to the topic)

If Facebook Chat do catch on, I think applications like The Wall or Inbox might become obsolete? When a friend post a picture that you want to comment on and he/she is online, you'll probably prompt the person via chat and tell him/her the comment? My friends are like that. That's why I seldom have comments on my post-.- They msn me their comment.

Then again, Facebook Chat might be a compliment product to the other applications? I can't really think of an example now.

Alright, I am have thought-congestion again. I think we just have to wait and see if Facebook Chat will be successful or not eh?

What do you think?

Add me on Facebook - Wu Huishan

Stress.

I'm feeling a little stress.

I really should have just taken BF323 as an elective and S/U it away.

I can't do a single question. I understand the concept better than anyone else. But when it comes to working it out, I blank out. It's a case of the Economics-syndrome again, no? I was like that with my Econs paper back in JC. *sigh*

And the week is turning out to be rather hectic. Where the hell am I going to find the time to study? Monday is gone because I am heading to school then tuition. Tuesday nothing on. Wednesday is gone because of the interview in the morning and then tuition again. Thursday blank. Then it's Friday. Doomsday and independence day! *sigh*

Then there's the little problem with my internship. AHHHHHHHHH!!! I don't even want to think about it. People's Association accepted me but I rather like the one I am going for interview for on Wednesday. But there's the probability that I can't accept it if they accept me because of People's Association. Come on, man!

SCREW IT!

I'm officially in a lousy mood.

Proposal Presentation.

I lost my mojo :( But this is one of the more acceptable presentation after the mojo decided to go away *sigh*

Till I get my mojo back again! Youtube won't let me upload my video because it's longer than 10 minutes. How crap.

And I realised, my best presentations are those that are unrecorded-.-

I love Piers Morgan!

For those of you who don't know, he is the British judge from "America's Got Talent!". I think.

I am not going to google for his name because I don't want to risk the chance of getting the result to this season of "The Apprentice"!

Episode 10 was absolutely hilarious!

Everyone should catch it! Go on! I love it. Utterly hilarious and bitchy(:

Anyways, I just spent my Saturday sleeping and lazing in bed. The book I borrowed turned out to be a pretty good read(:

The Brother's Complaint.

My younger brother just got into Singapore Polytechnic (SP) - Business Administration recently.Kudos to him because apparently his course is rather difficult to get in.

Anyways, so school just started for him and he got to make new friends and all. We were sitting and stoning in front of the TV after dinner last week and I asked him about school (I mean, my parents don't ask about such stuff. So, I have to!).

He made this comment, " I blame you and 大姐. Growing up with 2 sisters has really screw me up. I can't seem to connect with my guy friends! They don't find my jokes funny and I don't find their jokes funny!"

HEH?!

Firstly, my sister and I were never those kind of girly-girls. We run around in the neighborhood, play sports, fell down, get hurt and dirty! We play fighting games on (the very ancient) Sega and (the very retired) Playstation!

Anyways, I get along perfectly well with my guy friends! I joke with them and they joke with me! I find them funny and they find me funny (I hope).

My brother replied, "But you're a girl! It's different."

Excuse me, dear brother. If you think the guys are just nice to me because I'm pretty or whatnot, you're wrong. I'm not! And they're are definitely not interested in me!

Somehow I think he feels stupid (but don't dare to say it out) because all his guy friends are using vulgarities that he doesn't really get. And he feels kind of left out when a)he don't understand it and b) he don't use it in every other sentence he speaks. Of course, there's also the whole genre of dirty jokes which I think he don't get as well.

I mean, okay, I can tell him all the dirty jokes/vulgarities that I know (trust me, I know a handful. Not that I am proud of it.) and dissect them for him. But, is it really necessary?

I get along perfectly fine with my guy friends without using vulgarities! And we really don't talk about dirty jokes all the time. Only as and when we are really bored! So erm..yeah?

Okay, so how? How can I help my brother? What do boys really talk about? There must be some ways to help him! Something is wrong.

Whatever it is. It is not because he grew up with two sisters.

But then again, I am more boy than he is. Occasionally. Sometimes. Frequently. OEI! Okay! I am just more decisive okay?! And I watch soccer! HAA!

The Forbidden Kingdom.

The bestie and I were (was?) dragged out by the guys to catch a late night movie. I was already nuar-ing at home and really didn't want to go. But I couldn't pang-seh bestie, right? So threw on a pair of jeans and top and off to Cine.

Once the bestie and I were (was?) there, we felt severely under-dressed. Despite it being 10.30pm, every single girl we saw was dressed up to the nines. Their fake lashes are so thick and firm, I swear I can hang things on them.

These girls are just trying too hard. I'm serious. There's pretty and there's trying too hard. They are the trying too hard kind. More on this topic on another day.

Cineleisure is a place for the wannabes and the couples. PDA galore, me darlings. So yes, I will avoid it at all cost. Maybe except to go to Shokodu to makan.

Nothing nice was showing, so we watched -

The Forbidden Kingdom

The opening credit was way too long. And there were too many fighting scenes (but they were rather good).

Of course, hearing kung-fu names in english is just plain weird. Drunken Fist, No Shadow Kick and yada yada.

Took a look at the subtitles and realised, they are rather incorrect. Direct translation was okay. But it doesn't really express the emotion the movie was trying to express. Oh wells.

The conversation sounds a little fake. It sounds like they are just regurgitating their lines. Except for Jackie Chan and that American actor. Storyline not excellent. A little bit of humor.

They used the weirdest combination of words? "Orphan bitch" was one of them. I'm like HEH?

Overall rating - 2.7 stars out of 5. Wait for someone to buy the DVD and then borrow it.

Random.

Stayed at the shop to help out after coming back from tuition today. Quite interesting.

1. A lady came into the shop and bought a packet of sanitary napkins. I put it in a normal yellow plastic bag and the lady left. One minute later, she came back and request that I wrap the packet in newspaper and put it in a not-so-transparent bag. Erm...Lady? It's just pads! *sigh*

2. This little kid came in wearing a mask and raa-ing all the way. I tried to take a picture and he came running towards me -

3. Since my hp was already out, I sneaked a picture of my dad -

4. And then, this little boy with really big eyes came in. His mum made him choose from a variety of lollipop. He took those big lollipop for his siblings and then a small blue one for himself(: Cute! -

5. Apparently, last week, the police came to raid the "Little Vegas" downstairs. A bunch of uncles/gamblers tried to escape and some even jumped down from the 2nd floor and hurt their back-.- So, "Little Vegas" is finally closed! And guess what? "Little Geylang" next door to closed too! Whee~ I can finally go home without old uncles staring at my legs.

Hahas. Yeah. The neighbours are having BBQ outside/in the corridor to send their maid off(: The smell of satay is so nice *drools*

My brother is going clubbing tonight! Apparently it's organised by SP (I think). Happening! -.-

Okies, going off(:

Just to feel in the gap(:

I'm tired *rub eyes*

I realised that I am afraid of things with spots or holes. Just thinking about it and typing it out is making my scalp contract? 头皮缩起来. I will cringe. When I see images of such stuff, they remain in my head and haunts me.

It doesn't help that when they are talking about HFMD on the news, they will show pictures of the spots on the kids' hands. AHHH! I should really stop thinking about this.

I was trying to sleep last night when suddenly my brain keep flashing pictures of stuff with many many holes in it really quickly. And then there's that image of a million red eyes and I woke up. Freaked out. Not allowing myself to close my eyes again.

Guess how I lure myself back to sleep? I started revising the cause of sub-prime crisis-.- Because I used pictures of houses and people to memorise it. So by revising it, it conjures up those pictures. Eventually, it worked *phew*

Bedtime, silly me(:

Interesting happenings during today's paper.

Erm…The paper was rather okay. According to my standards at least. As usual I didn’t complete all the questions. So out of 5 questions, I did around 3.75 questions. 2 out of which I am rather confident. When I saw the 3^rd questions, I was so excited! I was prepared! The marketing and pricing strategies of hire purchaser.

Some interesting things happened –

I arrived on time for my paper so when I sat down, the paper was about to start. I turned around and guess who was sitting next to me? AH LUN! My 114 not so eye-candy eye-candy. He was looking at me and I gave him an awkward smile-.-

I placed my packet of strawberry mentos on my table for easy access. So when Kiap walked passed, guess what he did? He stopped at my table and then took some for himself. He went, “Give me some okay? Don’t be selfish.” Hahas. I kept writing and laughing-.-

Then halfway through my paper, some guy walked by the auditorium (my exam venue) and shouted, "EXAMS OVER LE! YES!". Sheesh.

Halfway through the paper, an examiner suddenly came to me and asked, “You have a question?” Erm..No? I didn’t even look up! -.-

Oh wells(:

One more paper to go!! 8 days to study!

War Cry 2!

Tomorrow is my second paper. Second last as well. It's ridiculous because I have 3 papers over 3 weeks. But, I have had small holidays in between. So yeah. Can't complain, eh?

I am hoping that what I've done is enough for BF221. This is the first module that really needs you to pay attention to every single thing our government is doing. Their budget and policies. *sigh* Oh, give me a good grade to show me that I have potential in this area of finance! Then again, the grade may not be a very good judge since the exams is about memory work and real life is not. The internet and books are always around for reference.

I realised that when I am tired from writing, I will actually use drawings to replace the word or write them in Chinese-.- I was so sick of writing the word "value of home" that I drew little houses to replace the word. And I am so tired of writing "middle income group", I wrote, 夹心族。Oh, I wrote 夹 wrongly! My Chinese writing ability is diminishing like nobody's business-.-

So, this is it. Afternoon paper tomorrow! Wish me luck, folks!!

GO, MAN U! Half time is over and we are still not scoring! Hello?!?!

Tweets for the day -

• andrew msged and invited us to go out for celebratory lunch after paper tmr. but i cant! i have one more paper after tomms! >:| about 11 hours ago

• @paperbell minor in psych! i love love psych(: i can lend you my HP101 notes and you can see if you like it :D or maths! i <3 style="font-style: italic;">about 11 hours ago

• potential kbox session with the wealth planning people tmr! omg. i am so excited!! :D about 10 hours ago

• watching my brother preparing for his first presentation. his slides are not fantabulous but he is rather slides-smart. about 5 hours ago

• GO, MAN U!! *fingers crossed* about 1 hour ago
  

• GO, MAN U! I will support them in my dreams! less than 5 seconds ago

My little problem.

Walking these few days has been a pain. Somehow or another, I have the habit of doing this when I a studying -

Putting my feet on chair's stand instead of on the floor.

Because of this weird habit, the back of my right foot (ie the right heel) is causing me pain. Especially when I walk around the house-.-

I told my mum about my problem and she came into my room and did this -

Plastered two huge plaster of koyok to my feet and threw a pillow for me to step on-.-

No use! I am still stepping the stand of my chair but this time, in this way -

Using my left foot as the base! And guess what? The left heel is starting to feel the ache too:(

Help!!!!

Names. Be careful of what you choose!

Another interesting fact from Quirkology!

According to one study, researchers discovered that men with positive initials lived around 4.5 years longer than average, whereas those with negative initials died about 3 years earlier. Conversely, negative initials have no effect on woman but woman with positive initials live 3 years longer!

Interesting? I am only halfway through that section but since Blogger is refusing to let me upload pictures, I had to postpone my long and windy update about my life. Heh.

But yes, so maybe name does have an effect on a person's life! Maybe not life expectancy, but I'm sure it does have some effect on the quality of life of a person.

While having lunch with ber yesterday, we came across (upon?) the topic of names. And I was telling her that my daughter is so going to hate me next time because her name will be December.

Why? Because I was born in December. I like winter. December is Christmas month! (: Not a normal name in Singapore and she'll probably get teased. My poor kid is so going to hate me even more if I ever have a son. Because his name will either be -

1. Kai
2. Daryl
3. Bruno (no longer an option).

Totally normal names.

And no, I did not choose the names Daryl and Bruno after my friends. I just happen to like those names and then got to know friends with these names. Anyways, Bruno is no longer an option because the friend with the name is like total EWWW (nice ass though). So friends with the remaining two names, BEHAVE! -.- ||||| *major gust of cold wind*

I have never really given much thought to names until Luyi forced me to come up with a list in Secondary 4 during one of those looonnng breaks we have. And of course, when my cousin got pregnant, we were all on a lookout for good names(: And the list has just kind of stuck with me ever since. I don't think about it anymore. UNLESS! My cousin gets pregnant again. Whooo~

Anyways, I realized that parents should never give their kids long names. Because what if they need to shade their names on OTAS paper? My baby niece is Chloe Danielle Ong Rui En. Nice eh? But can you imagine her furiously shading away during exams? -.- ber thought the name Maxmillion Alexandra sounded nice. And I went, "He is going to hate you. It's looooonnnnggg!"

Hahas. Enough bimbotic moments!

So, have you ever thought about names for your future kid? Or names that you rather like? What are some lousy combination of names?

i must be mad tonight.

sub-prime crisis is actually sounding interesting to me.

i have 60 pages of report to read *yawns* hopefully this is better than the previous one.

oh yeah. SIA withdrew their internship project *sigh*

Are you complaining? Or are you just whining about poor services?

I'm a good girl today *dry laughs* After dinner, I sat in front of the TV and *drum rolls* read the newspaper!

Anyways, I came across this article in ST. Read about it here. I think it's only available for a week. After that, payment is required. Geez.

Apparently, only 6% of Singaporeans are willing to lodge a formal, proper complaint while the rest prefer to whine or complain privately. What are the reasons behind this?

Is it because we have very little consumer rights? We are too lazy to complain? We are non-confrontation in general? We are nice people? OR! Have we learnt our lesson and know that complaining don't work?

Personally, I think it's because of a combination of reasons. Mainly -

1. We feel that complaining doesn't work. So why bother?
Sometimes, complaining really doesn't work. I have been in the service industry and have also worked in one government agency.

When we receive a complain or "suggestion" from say, a caller, we record it down on any piece of paper that we can find and then pass it on to our supervisors who will proceed to stash that piece of paper somewhere and then promptly forget about it.

That was the government agency.

In the company I worked for, I guess complains does work to a certain extent. Especially since we are such a small company. Complains received are reported to HQ and then it will be mentioned in the next staff meeting. That's about it.

2. The Social Stigma Associated with "Complaining".
What do you think of when someone says, "I want to complain!"?

I am pretty sure it's something negative. Possible thoughts that crosses your mind, "She's such a complaint queen", "She's a difficult customers" and "Wah lao eh!".

Complaining has been given a bad name. By people who abuses it and complain about every little thing that irritates them. Hence, we tend to place a negative tag on people who complain. We view complaining as bad.

And let's face it. We are pretty affected by how people look at us. Social stigma is actually preventing people from giving up seats in trains (according to my AB213 research)!

3. Anonymity
I guess more people will be willing to complain if anonymity is guaranteed? Like you don't have to do it face to face? It kind of helps remove the social stigma associated with complaining and let's face it, not everyone dares to march up to the counter, take a form and fill it in.

Social desirability bias? Demand characteristics? And all that might set in.

Perhaps, it could be done online?

So yeah.

Of course, we need to differentiate between a good quality complaint and a random, stupid complaint.

A good quality complaint will briefly describe what happened, what are the things he/she feels that needs to improve, what are the things that the company/person is doing nicely, some feedback and suggestions.

A random, stupid complaint will be emotionally charged ("You are the worst shop in the ENTIRE universe!"), ranting about everything and anything, threatening and expects compensation ("Give me my money back!").

Personally, I do complain. Oh no, am I going to be labelled? Hahas. Nono. I don't complain just for complain sake. I have probably like done it 3 times? Once to MacDonalds (rude staff who took the wrong order and yelled at me before walking off), BK at Changi and SBS (accuse me of not tapping my EZ-link. Yell at me and when it showed that I tapped, didn't apologise and continue to yell at me).

But of course, I am a chicken! I went to their website to complain. Hahas. Oh wells.

I praise good service as well, okay?! (:

I don't know. As a service staff myself, I have rather high standards/requirements for service. But at the same time, I am more tolerant of lousy services?

Anyways, why are we making a big fuss about the low percent of people who complain ah? *maniac laughter* Do you realised I just went on and on and on about a topic without knowing the real reason why we are trying to increase the number of complaints?

Okay, last paragraph in the article -

"The Government should do much more to promote good service and consumer rights. If it can do this, we can make Singapore into a more successful country."

Erm...More complaints = Better service standard??

What do you think? Why are the complaint rate so low in Singapore? Do you complain or are you just whining?(:

Sports Media in Singapore 2 - Red Sports

I have checked out Red Sports.

Pretty interesting? I rather like the "Sports Calendar" with all the dates of the sports events in Singapore. I am not much of a sports person (ok, I am a once-in-a-blue-moon sports person), but I think my brother might find it interesting since he is the one with the "athletic gene" and has been whining about missing out on events like National Vertical Marathon and etc.

The "Fixtures + Results" is pretty nice too(: With the scores updates about the various inter-school competition. Hmm.. You know, when I was in Deyi or NYJC, I don't really get updates about certain sports CCA like netball! Why? Because we are not well known for that sport so the school just kind of silence it and even if we really like to, we are unable to go down to support or school cause we don't know the date of competition! So maybe, with "Fixtures + Results", supporters of not-so-well-known sports will be informed(:

Currently, it's more of a volunteer base thing. So, unless someone provides them with information they won't be able to update the site. Hmm.. Maybe they can engage the help of the media club in the JCs? Like asking CNNY (Channel News Nanyang) from NY to cover the sporting event. It's good experience for the members in the club and it benefits the website(:

But, I still think the survival of sports media in Singapore is pretty low.

Then again, sports is a exclusive thing. You will only care or read about it IF you are interested it? Kind of like Finance? You won't read the Finance reports unless you are interested in Finance, right?

Okay, that point is still under development.

Back to Wealth Management *sigh*

(me to brother)

me: eh! let's save to get a new gaming console! Our PS1 is long dead! I want to play RockBand/Guitar Hero! Imagine suan-ing 大姐 about her lousy gaming skills again!

brother: no, cannot! I don't want to get hooked on another game. DOTA is enough.

-.-|||

But imagine how nice it will be to have a new gaming console in the house! We can rob everyone in to play(:

Conditioning and Labels.

Can human beings be conditioned into someone better? Like how we condition a dog to salivate whenever it hears a bell, can we condition a person's personality in the same way?

Was reading Quirkology last night when I stumbled upon this sentence, "...many people who were well aware of the personality traits associated with their signs, had developed into the person that astrologer predicted..."

It's something like conditioning, isn't it? Except without the stimuli?

Classical conditioning -

Before: Dog --> Bell ---> Food ---> Salivate

After: Dog --> Bell --> Salivate

Conditioning of a personality =

Before: Human --> Star Sign --> List of traits --> Personality

After: Human --> Star Sign --> Personality

I mean, if you have been told all your life that you are outgoing outgoing outgoing outgoing, you will eventually be conditioned to think that you are outgoing and start being outgoing, yes?

Maybe it's not conditioning. I am sure there is a psychology term to explain this or something.

Self-fulfilling prophecy? That you think you are suppose to be like these so you act in ways that are like these and then you get described as that.

I am gibberish. Tired and having gastric pain.

ANYWAYS! Reading "Quirkology" has helped me decide on my last psychology module. My 300 module to be exact and that is HP320 - Learning and Behavorial Analysis(:

So I'll probably know more after I take my modules! But! What if the module is only available in Semester 1?! I am so going to die! Oh no! It is a Semester 1 module from what I see-.- This is dumb. But there's still hope! They might just offer it in Semester 2 in AY08/09?

So here's the psychology modules I need to clear for my minor -

HP 204 Personality and Individual Differences
The study of human personality is central to psychology. This course surveys the major approaches, covering classical and contemporary themes such as psychodynamic theories, behavioural models, humanistic theories, trait theories, social learning theories as well as personality perspectives indigenous to cultures in the Asian region.

HP 2o7 Abnormal Psychology
This course aims to build a broad foundation for the study of psychopathology by covering a whole range of abnormality described in the DSM-IV. The main aim is to acquaint students with the etiology and treatment of psychological disorders through the major paradigms of abnormal behaviour. Students learn to appreciate the multifarious factors that lead to mental illnesses.

HP 320 Learning and Behavioral Analysis
Major theories of learning have developed from psychological research. This course covers ideas from classical and operant conditioning, including reinforcement, punishment, habituation, shaping, desensitization, spontaneous recovery and extinction. The course also considers contemporary learning models such as cognitive learning including cognitive maps, discovery and insight.

Whooo~ Exciting(: But actually, most psychology modules are exciting! EXCEPT motivation stuff. I don't like!

I have one more module to clear for BAF as well. I am thinking of Portfolio Management since I rather like the Wealth Management track(: Then, there's KOREAN! Yeah!! And I have one more prescribed AHSS module to clear and I am rather interested in the module that requires singing!(: Hahas. Whee~

And, I am most probably going for one-on-one career discussion next semester. Yes, with my lousy GPA and all. I need some career direction!

Sports Media in Singapore.

Okay, I don't study media (even though I wish I am:) but I heard on the radio that the Singapore government is set to inject $1 million to develop the sports media in Singapore.

Read the article here.

The government is hoping that the sports media industry will contribute $2 billion to our GDP and create 20 000 jobs by 2015. Will it work?

I have my doubts. What will we report on?

I know F1 races are coming to Singapore and so is the Youth Olympic. We will probably need coverage there. But what about on other non-F1, non-Youth-Olympic days?

The S-League? Inter-school netball games? o.O How large will their audience be?

I think Singaporeans are generally more interested in foreign sports scene.

So unless the sports media thingy is not restricted to local sports scenes only, then maybe it will work. If not, *shrugs*.

What do you think?

This could be it.

There's something about blogging that soothes the inner bitch/whiner in me. I can blog about something that totally bothers me and then after that it kinds of make me feel better.

You may have heard about my family situation before. Or maybe you are new to this.

Here's the story. My dad runs a small provision shop 8 floors below my house. It was passed on from my grandpa and my dad has been running the shop all his life. I'm serious. Ever since his teenage days, he has been helping out in the shop while the rest of my uncles and aunties head off to school.

The shop is not earning enough money. Not profitable. I think it's probably enough to cover most of the expenses but at times, the father has to go around borrowing. One of my uncle works in the shop as well. Work being sleeping, watching cable tv, thinking about the next set of 4D numbers to buy, chasing customers away and the occasional stacking of goods, domino-style.

He draws a really ridiculous amount of "salary". Basically taking whatever he likes from the cashier. He "bought" a car but the father pays the installment and maintenance. To be fair, my dad uses to drive me to the MRT station in the morning and uses to go to church with my grams every Saturday.

Because of the shop, the father is in debt. Off the top of my head, here are the things that he needs to pay every month - the bank loan he took to buy the shop, the car installments, our living expenses, the money he borrows from relatives, the renovation loan (the shop underwent renovation 4 years ago), my brother's education fee and my university fee.

And recently, the father realized that this cannot go on and perhaps it might be better to sell the shop off. Lo and behold, before he even discussed it with the family, he has already approach someone to help.

This time, he is really going to sell the shop. I think.

It scares me. It scares me that my dad is not thinking probably. I know by selling the shop, we will stop accumulating debts. Anything is better than continuing with the shop. But is it the best time?

I don't know. My dad is an optimist. If his optimism can be used as electricity, I tell you, it will be enough for my house to use for a month. He is also very skilled at avoidance. He really lives by the principal, "Live one day at a time."

I'm sure he has thought things through before he came to such a decision. But, what I am afraid of is that he is only thinking in the very short term.

From my very brief conversation with my brother and him just now, I realized what the father is focused on now is just how much his burden will be reduced IF he closes the shop. He has only given minimal thought as to what are the extra expenses that will be incurred if the shop goes. To them, closing the shop is equal to the end of problems.

But that's not true, is it? When the shop closes, there are many new expenses that we have to take care. Food and grocery expense for example. When the shop closes, it doesn't mean that you don't have to pay all those loans anymore. You still have to.

Will we be able to do that? Will the rental income be enough to do that? Will the income from his new job (helping out in my aunt's shop) be enough? Are we going to be in more shit than we already are?

A rough calculation shows that if rental income is $4000 and my dad's income is $1000. After paying off everything and giving some to my uncle as income, we will have less than $800 to get by every month.

My mum said that she will go out to work if we can't make ends meet. But I won't allow her to do that. I really won't. I am protective of my mum. After her operation 5 years ago, I realized how important she is to me. To the family. She needs someone to keep her in check. She needs her rest. For many many reasons, she cannot go out to work.

I don't know. There are just so many scary thoughts in my head right now. I am mentally doing all the calculations and estimations. Thinking about how it is going to impact the way my family works. How it is going to impact everyone in my family. The morales. The stress.

My brother told me that everything will be okay. But he's too young to know that. He has not been slapped in the face by reality.

I have. I have tried surviving on an income of $2000 per month. I know how hard it is. If it's hard for me on a salary of $2000, imagine how hard it will be for us?

I know closing the shop is the best choice. But is it the right time? Why not just wait? Wait for me to graduate next year. At least by then, I have my own source of income . I can contribute to the family and it will be less taxing on everyone.

Why now?

What can I do now?

I know what Juan will tell. I can imagine her tone and her expression, "Shan. Everything will be okay in the end de. Just let your parents worry. Concentrate on your studies now, ok?"

I know that too. But I can't.

I am the planner in my family. Whereas the whole family is willing to dive right in without a clear plan, I can't.

Sometimes I wish I am like my sister. Happy-go-lucky. Sometimes I wish I am like my brother. Able to turn off and be selfish.

Why is it that I am always thinking so far ahead? Urgh.

Okay, I'm done ranting.

I don't need you to pity me. Don't let this affect how you talk or communicate with me.

My family will get through this.

I will get through this. Why? Because I am a strong girl(: *flex muscles*

There. I feel much better and things seem less dire than it was before.

i love vera wang(:

since J1!

but i don't like her choice of models. WAY too skinny.

"...for 4 ugly blokes to take on some glamorous women and omarosa and a challenge, it's not easy..."
- Piers from The Celebrity Apprentice

Quirkology.

I have FINALLY started reading "Quirkology" (: I love hard cover books!

Okay, I am going to try and predict your personality. Just follow my instructions(:

1. Make sure you are in a quiet or conducive place.
2. Clear your mind of all interruptive thoughts.
3. Take a deep breath.

Done? Cool! I'm done too! Ready? :D Alright, click Okay, I can't think of way to generate a unique URL for everyone-.-|| So my "trick" won't work. I'll probably trick the village women (namely, Mabel and Sivan) and Scotchey only. *runs away before I get killed*

But if you have the Quirkology book, look at the little experiment/study on page 15(:

I seriously thought the description was about me! And then I read the rest of the study and when "ERM....".

Astrology readings are usually accurate as they are really general and they play on flattery. Besides, there's no way of proving them wrong because they are so general!

Even seemingly specific statements from astrology readings can be true for a large percentage of people, such as "You have someone in your family name Jack!". A study conducted by psychologist Susan Blackmore of 6000 people found that a fifth of the population had a "Jack" in their family and a tenth had spent the previous night dreaming about someone they hadn't see for a long time! (An excerpt from the book)

Here's another little interesting information-

Imagine that your favorite soccer team (Arsenal, Man U, etc) won a match. What will you say?

How about if that same team lost the match?

Did you say, "We won!" and "They lost!" ? (:

Here, we have "Basking in Reflected Gory", a psychological phenomenon taking place! Most people are subjected to this so no worries, it doesn't mean you are selfish/have a huge ego/hate losers or anything.

(FYI, I never say "They lost!". I always say, "We LOST?!?!?!" )

This book contains quite a lot of weird and funny psychology experiments that are probably left out by journals. But they are really interesting! I am only at the first chapter and some experiments/study that really caught my attention was the one on financial astrology, human ability to control the time of our death and chronopsychology!

I would recommend it to anyone!(: Buy it or borrow it from me!! (:

If you know more books like this, RECOMMEND IT TO ME!

Off to read chapter 2(:

Baby One More Time - Britney Spears

After such a long long long time, I am still such a Britney fan *shakes head*

I was pretty unmotivated yesterday but when I heard her song, "Crazy (You Drive Me)" on the radio, I perked up a little (and thereafter, return back to unmotivated land).

Which is probably the reason why I dug out her first album (before my mugging spree) today-

Tracks include -

1. ..Baby One More Time
This song is classic. Who could forget the video? Her in a school uniform, tapping her pencil and staring at the clock.

2. (You Drive Me) Crazy
Ditto. I love the "Stop" remix better though(:

3. Sometimes
Just a really happy kind of girlish song.

4. Soda Pop

5. Born to Make You Happy
I think this song is crap. Because it's such a "desperate" song. I mean, wth! Born to make someone happy? I believe I am born to do something better than that. Like to drive a VW Beetle or Vespa! :D

6. From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
I love this song because it just so heartbreaking. Awww~

7. I Will Be There

8. I Will Still Love You (feat Don Philip)
Nice duet(: Whatever happened to Don Philip? Remember his song, "You Make Me Love You More"? VERY poppy(:

9. Deep in My Heart
10. Thinkin' About You
Erm...This song is a little *gags* Thinking about a person 24/7? Spare me the agony. But for love birds, this might be a good song?

11. E-Mail My Heart
I remember listening and singing this song over the phone with Keying on countless occasion. Ahhh. The good old days of being a teenager. -.-|||

12. Beat Goes On
"...drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain..."

13. I'll Never Stop Loving You
This is a sometime rarely song.

14. Autumn Goodbye
Haha. This song is really cheery? I remember plugging my earphones, pressing "Play" on my huge discman and singing this song. Over and over and over and over and over again. Seriously.

But then again, maybe part of the reason why I like this album so much is because I associate happy memories with this album(: Listening to it during my cousin's VERY long wedding ceremony. Listening to it while the kids all got chucked into a room while the tea ceremony goes on. Learning the dance moves with my sister (I still remember them!). And of course, this album was with me when I first entered Deyi(: Sivan and Jingwen used to call me, "Britney Spears" because I am FOREVER singing these songs.

Yups(: This is one of my favorite album of all times. If I ever lose it, I am most definitely going out to look for another copy(:

PMS. Menses. Do you know?

Yeah! After an hour of lightning and thunder, it is finally raining! (: Okay, I hear sound of rain. I better check. *looks out of window* Yups, it is! Good night to sleep(:

Been feeling down the whole day. Okay, maybe not down. Just unmotivated and a general disinterest to anything. Work, coming online or even talking. Blehs~! But I controlled it. Emo thoughts were killed the very moment they start sprouting! *victorious cheer*

Do you know that PMS is most prominent in your 20s-30s?And that if it's really serious, it is similar to depression? Eeeks! I didn't! No wonder! Darn. Been reading up on PMS because I've been having the worst case of PMS ever. If I know how to double-underline that, I will. But, yes. Knowledge is the first step to cure (or something along that line).

I am suppose to reduce salt intake and exercise. *shifty look* Orh. Oh and, reducing stress and getting enough sleep is part of the "cure" as well. ha.ha.ha.

I think curing food cravings is a good way to kick the PMS monster in the ass as well.

Anyways, do you know that the week (or is it 2 weeks?) before the start of your menses is the golden period for diet and slimming? I heard it on some Taiwan show called, "身体密码". Girls, get your PE shorts and sport shoes out and exercise away! By exercising, you get to fight the PMS monster and slim down! 双喜临门, no? Okay, wrong usage of 成语.

I should listen to my own advice-.-|||

To all the girls out there, click here to track when the PMS monster will strike. They send reminders as well.

Actually, boyfriends should check it out as well. So as to get extra points from the girlfriends. Knowing when PMS will strike means you are pre-warned to their mood swings and you can surprise the girlfriend by showing up with her favorite food or whatever she is craving for at that moment!

On the side, to you know that the "safe" period is also the week before the start of menses? Okay, I know you guys probably don't need to know that. But I thought it was interesting to share. Because I know there are misconceptions that the "safe" period was AFTER menses. So yeah.

Seriously, by looking at this entry, I think I can safely conclude that the week before menses is the magic week? Well, other than the re-appearance of our friendly PMS monsters. And the (occasional) yearn for physical comfort o.O

Anyways, I can't seem to listen to the 91.3 online :( So I am stuck with Class 95! Perfect 10 is a little to rocky on weekends for me. *sigh*

Celebrity Apprentice then bed!

pms.

sure sign i am having pms.

i am gibberish and blog posts increase by alot.

Plastic Surgery Book for Kids.

Ohmy. Plastic surgery is getting so common that now we need to have a book to explain things to kids?

You can read the article here -

My Beautiful Mommy

Truemors:: Plastic Surgery Book for Kids

Somehow, I feel that the book is sending out the wrong message! What are we telling the kids? That they can never be pretty until they go for plastic surgery? What happened to self-esteem? Hmm..

I would like to get my hands on that book though. Hees(:

Social Media - Adding Value? Connecting people? Or both?

I am not "mentally sound" at this point in time because I got sidetracked by several things (refer to my tweets on Twitter). I am probably on the offensive mode. So, apologies to anyone that I might unintentionally offend.

What is the real objective of social media? Adding value to other people? Or just plainly connecting people and updating friends about your life? Or is it both? Connecting people WHILE adding value at the same time? Is it possible to achieve that? Will it be easy?

I need some help here.

I don't think social media is purely about adding value to people. Because like I said, if it's just purely about adding value, then what is the difference between social media and say, an online newspaper? Where's the personal factor?

All along, I believed that social media is only about connecting with people and updating friends about your life. More of the latter, perhaps. I still believe that.

I like how social media has reconnected me with people that I have not seen in eons. I like the gossip factor of social media. I like how social media lets me "spy" on other people's conversation. I like how social media makes a person you know online seem more real to you. How it adds dimension to a person. The person is not longer just 2D and real during emails but 3D and interactive (excuse the weird analogy).

But yeah, it's the whole 2D to 3D thing that works for me. I like Twitter especially(: It works rather well in the whole adding dimension area. (Anyways, I lost my train of thoughts again. Improvising. I swear I have Dory's memory sometimes.)

Then there's the intersecting area. The balance between connecting with people and adding value to others at the same time. Is it possible?

Personally, I have been reading a few blogs that are achieving this balance pretty well. But, somehow I still feel that it's less personal?

Like, sometimes, I might want to add a comment or just leave my thoughts about a certain topic. But then, I always hold back because I feel dumb? What if what I said is BLAH? What if my POV is not as knowledgeable? What if I am just stating the obvious? I am pretty sure there are people out there who feels the same as I do.

Which then brings me to my next question, "Are blogs really that effective a tool in receiving feedback from customers?"

I am not saying that they are not receiving any feedbacks, I'm sure they are. But are they getting feedbacks from all types of consumers? Sometimes, I feel that those feedbacks that they are getting via their blogs are from people who are more vocal and confident. But what about those people who are not? Who reserves their feedback because they are shy? How about people who feel the way I feel? That maybe my opinion is not as important as those vocal people? What about these people then?

Okay, I have no conclusion for this post-.- My train of thoughts have seriously run away.

What's your opinion? How do you view social media? And why? Convince me.

I can't wait to start my FYP and gain more information about social media in Singapore(:

Random-Bandon Post.

I've finally started watching "The Celebrity Apprentice". 2 episodes in and I am quite impressed. Different from the usual version.

I like Ivanka Trump! She's pretty and smart(:

The women's team are pretty hopeless at this point in time. But I don't like the men's team because of Gene Simmons. Especially that comment he made to Ivanka *gags*

Pretty tired. Thursday has been a funny sort of day. Woke up with thoughts about Twitter. Super focused when I was studying. And an assortment of different things. Now, I'm tired *yawns*

Anyone noticed the "People You Might Know"application in Facebook? I was reading about it in the newspaper last month and now *tada* It's out!

Kind of cool, eh?(: I know I am probably lagging. But I am suffering from Facebook Fatigue at this moment. Hahas.

I re-discovered the reason and arguments for keeping a lock blog. But more on that another day. It will most probably be a whole blog post by itself.

Other blog posts to look out for (coming to a Tweet near you!) -

• Emo - 要不要？: My take on emo people and the likes. Spur by @plaktoz tweet about emo girlfriends a long time ago.

• Definition of beauty: Article from TNP 2 Saturdays ago mentioned that during the recent "Singapore Fashion Festival 2008", the same flaws that the girls were criticised for were cheered on on males models. Erm, fairness?!

• Feminist - 大男人 v.s. 大女人
  

Yups. These topics are still floating around in my head. No solid idea or arguments. Just a few funny analogy and point of view.

I realised I am exhibiting more of a Type A personality these days. Less empathetic and hot-headed. I don't need anger management. I need Type A personality management.

Like San said, "Sometimes, you just want things done right now right here. You tend to say offensive things or things that can get misinterpreted. You don't mean any harm. But, people will take it the wrong way. You can yell at someone and then forget it the very next moment. It doesn't affect the way you think about the person. No hard feelings. But not everyone gets that."

Yeah. Summed up pretty nicely (:

Okay, bedtime!

Using Twitter like mIRC = abuse?

This blog post is probably not "mentally sound" because I just woke up and I think I woke up on the wrong side of bed today. *sheepish grin* My sprain ankle kept me awake the whole night.

Oh and there will be no links or whatsoever. Any reference made will just be stated and not linked, okay? (add on: okay, I lied. I decided to add the links afterall.)

Unique-Frequency made an addition to list of mistakes bloggers make while using Twitter (Original List: "Eight Mistakes Bloggers Make While Using Twitter" ). The mistake he thinks that most people are making is, "#9: Twitter gives you great mIRC-like benefits, but it doesn’t mean you should use it like IRC."

Which I find is not right/correct. Why? Okay, let me try to get my POV down as accurately as possible because I am prone to having mental jam and thereafter, losing my train of thoughts.

In Twitter, people choose to follow you. No forcing. What does that means?

It means that these followers are interested in what you have to say, what you are saying, what you are doing or what you are discussing with your friends. It means that even if you are just having a cup of coffee, they WANT to know. Or if you are just debating with your friends, whether to it will rain tomorrow, they WANT to know.

That's the whole purpose of Twitter, no? To keep your friends in the loop of your life. Even if you are not actively talking to them. By reading what you are saying to your other friends, they are updated of what's happening, be entertained and can even drop in a Tweet or two of their own.

Besides, @reply do not appear on the followers homepage, no? *checks* Nope. It does not show on mine. And if they find that there is no more "value" in following you or that you are just plain flooding/abusing Twitter, they have the option of removing you from their list.

In other words, personally, I think it is okay for us to use Twitter like mIRC.

And there is a difference between mIRC and Twitter.

In mIRC, the moment you join a chatroom, you get bombarded with messages. Even if the (okay, I lost this train of thought. Have to improvise.) message is targeted at you, there's a high probability that you will miss it because the message stream do not stop! And you do not want to DM the person, because you still want to take part in the general discussion and still want people to hear what you have to say.

In Twitter, it's like a more controlled version of mIRC. The "chatroom" is the profile page of a person. You can jump in and join in the conversation if you like. If not, you can just stay at your own homepage, discuss the whatever topic/things and wait for the person to @reply to you. In this way, people still get to see what you have to say but you don't get disturbed by all those other messages.

Conclusion: If you think you should stop using Twitter to communicate with your friends, or that every thing you Tweet has to be of value to your followers, then I think you are losing the whole point and purpose of Twitter.

Sometimes, I feel that people are abusing social media/social networks. They keep emphasizing the need for quality things to be blogged/tweeted/published. Things that will be of value to your readers. If that's the case, I think they are trying to be too hard and abusing the social effect of social media.

Of course, I agree that if a blog is made up of purely "meepok" post, then it is kind of pointless. But if you go to the extreme and only blog about things that are of value or that are all serious, it is kind of dull and pointless too, don't you think? You are basically taking the "human" effect out of blogs/tweets/whatnot.

Okay, that's it from me. What do you think?

Off for lunch! My mum made 雷茶 (traditional Hakka dish)!! *yums* Here's how the dish looks like (picture kop from sampat king):

Wednesday. Working style.

Wednesday is over! Sometimes I don't want the days to pass quite so quickly but then again, the quicker it passes, the sooner the end of exams will arrive! :D

Looking at my old blog, I saw pictures taken during AA102 lecture last semester. I miss having lectures with the sampat family!

sampat king

sampat princess and sampat queen mother

With the end of exams, comes the end of my second year. One more year till I graduate! Eeeks! End of year 2 also mark the end of lecture days (well, except for my psychology modules). From now on, it'll be seminar seminar seminar. No more sleeping in class! I think MacDonald's is going to earn alot of money from me next semester. Food to keep me awake-.-

Have you notice? Today marks the 40th day of my days without chocolate! Hees. Time for me to tear open a bar of chocolate to celebrate. NOT!

I used to crave for chocolates during PMS. But now, I just crave for bubble tea. Ice Blended Sour Plum to be exact. Such a weird weird craving eh? But! It's a good thing because the nearest bubble tea shop is 4 blocks away and I am a lazy woman. Small marie biscuits, ice cubes, yakult and Fruitips will have to do:D

Don't tell me that you are concerned about FYP and I am NOT worried about FYP. Words are just that words. Show it! Take more initiative or something. For now, just get that book from me and start reading, yah? I need to return it to NLB eventually de.

My mum thinks that I am a difficult person to work with? With all my crazy quirks and all my strict ass 'rules'/standards.

But seriously, I am not that hard to work with. I just think that it is necessary for everyone to work at the same pace and exert the same amount of effort. Which, in my case, means that you work at the pace of the fastest group mate in your group. If you think it's too fast, it doesn't mean that you can lag behind. NO! You either ask your group to slow down or work your ass off to catch up.

And saying that you have a helluva week is NOT ALWAYS a good excuse. Everyone has issues and problems that they need to deal with. So suck it up and get going.

Opps. I make myself sound like a slave driver o.O Honestly, I am a friendly, kind and understanding person/group mate/leader. *vomits* You can ask Sivan!

越苗越黑 lah. I better shut up, take the last medicine and go befriend the snooze monster(:

Who says girls are neat? I'm not!

Tuitee cancelled tuition today so I have the afternoon off. In the end, I fell sick too :( Down with cold.

Was looking through the old dated pictures in my HDD and found this. The state of my table during exam period last October -

it's a war zone.

I think it was a war zone because my papers were spaced 3 to 4 days apart. Which means I'll just dump whatever notes and paper on the table. No filing system or whatsoever. I dig for whatever notes that is needed for the next paper.

This is how my table looks like now -

uber neat and tidy. no books!

notes and textbook for my next paper placed neatly aside.

Why is my table so neat and tidy? Because! My papers are so faaaaar apart, I can have time for a little holiday and tidying before the next mugging spree comes about! -.-|||

And I realised, having a wall cabinet is a wonderful wonderful thing. I have been dumping whatever notes and tutorials I have every week into my wall cabinet and then file them as and when I feel like it. Best thing is, I don't have to worry about the mess because I'll just close the cupboard and nobody has any idea!

Here's the picture of my 2 wall cabinets -

the school cabinet.
much neater after my paper yesterday.

the makeup/CD storage cabinet.
It's not big enough for me to put my book collections:(

See those plastic folders in my school cabinet? Each folder represents one week of school. Each folder contains tutorials and notes for every subject for THAT week. Hahas. At the end of every week, I'll just dump them into the cupboard. Makes for easy referencing and searching(:

I find that my new system of filing is much better than my old system where I just dump whatever papers I have into a box and then file them before exams-.-

Here's my corkboard -
Pinned up neatly are the course outline for each of my paper. After the end of each paper, the outline is removed.

So here's how it looks now -

One down. Two to go! Two papers over a span of 16 days *faint*

Congrats, BERNICE CHUA! YOUR EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!!

Off for a little nap.

Random.

3rd post for the night. This is something lighter than the 2nd post.

AB213 paper was hmmm. All I'll say is, "I STILL CAN'T DO WRITTEN EXAMS! FLOOD ME WITH PROJECTS, PLEASE!!!" *ahem* Yes. No worries, I am not sad about the paper or something. I never let my papers affect my mood. Thank god, for this 'ability' or I will be one HUGE emo-monster now!

On my way back, I saw that the step-on-the-ground-and-the-images-move thing was unoccupied!!! Don't know what it is? Here -

Ohmygod! So I discreetly walked over the 'screen' and see the popcorn scatter :D Heh.

Then when I was about to leave, that little girl came and started running about and stomppingg her feet. She reminds me of Baby Chloe. So I took a picture:D

Yups(:

From JPod by Douglas Coupland,

"How to create your name if you become a stripper?"

Ans: Just figure out the least expensive form of sugar or sweetness you ate today.

Mine? 旺旺 Cola Chews. *anime sweat drop* How sexy eh? What's yours?

Reflections. Not emo-ing. Note to FYP people.

Was talking to Terence some time last week?

And one of us mentioned that we need friends or in this case, schoolmates that are supportive of us so that we can have the motivation and support to do what we want/live our university life to the fullest.

True eh?

I used to have such a huge group of friends in Deyi who will always be there. Urging me to do things. Motivating me. Helping me push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Maybe that's why I was involved in some many activities in Deyi. My secondary school life was nothing short of colorful.

Back then, we help each other to build our self-confidence.

Somehow, I can't seem to find a group of such "supportive" friends in NYJC or NTU. In these two places, all I got was "No! You can't!", "No, you shouldn't" and rejections/letdowns in all forms and types. Verbal or non-verbal. Expressed or not expressed. In these two places, whenever I am motivated, taking the initiative and just being the old me, I find myself in a situation where I end up doing all the work or being used/taken advantage of.

Now, it seems like people use your confidence as a stepping stone. They squash it to boost theirs.

The result? A very diluted me.

I know I can still be the old me but it needs to be modified. Like what Juan said, "Don't let your groupmates feel too comfortable to the point whereby they think it is okay for them to dump their work on you".

But how do I do that? 我不会. Does that mean that I should never give my 100% in everything I do? That by not giving my 100%, my groupmates will then give theirs? If that's the case, I can't do it. 办不到.

I don't know how to let these squash-ers not affect me. Because of reasons that I don't even know how to explain.

I'm a perfectionist. If I set my mind on doing something, I will give my everything. I do not tolerate moderate effort or minimal effort. From myself or ANY of my group mates.

Yeah. That's me. What you see is what you get.

The conclusion is abit abrupt because I lost my train of thoughts-.-

Will I ever find these supportive group of friends before I graduate? Frankly, at this point in time, I really don't care. One more year and it's BYE BYE, NTU!

--

To: FYP mates

Please check your hotmail/yahoo mail. I have sent something to you guys.

If you have yet to collect the "Naked Conversation" book from me, please do so asap. I do not care if you have to travel down all the way from the West to my place. Get the freaking book from me, read it and at least get some ideas about how corporations (big and small) are using blogs.

Reminder - Keep as many days as possible free for the week starting 5th May. We are going to meet and set down a general guideline and structure for our frigging FYP and then pitch it to Ulrike. Yes, in the same week. If there are SPECIFIC days that you cannot make it, please let all of us know beforehand.

Note - Almost everything comes AFTER FYP meetings. Unless you are giving tuition or some family-related stuff, you cannot be excused from the meeting.

Am I a little pissed? Yes, I am. And don't even try to pacify me with some lame jokes or some stupid smiley face. Not going to work. GAIN. MY. TRUST. Let me trust that you guys can work.

At stake: EIGHT FREAKING AUS. (I'm sure I don't need to remind you that).

Album Review - Little Voice by Sara Bareilles

I don't know how you guys find "Love Song" but it took 3 weeks of listening on 91.3fm before I actually start to like it. I think some of the songs in the album are like that too.

But, I was pretty impressed with her performance on The Ellen Degeneres Show so I decided to give her a album a listen.
Not too bad, I guess. So far, this is the second time I am listening to the album. Something to play in the middle of the night when rock/punk/pop musics seem to be getting on your nerves, I guess.

One thing though. She can't really reach the high notes. When she tries to do a Mariah Carey or Christina, it's piercing and not easy on the ears. Especially in the song, "Come Round Soon".

But some pretty catch phrases in her album -

"....I miss you like you are mine..." - Come Round Soon

"...in these deep city lights, a girl could get lost tonight..." - City

"...I rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming..." - Fairytale

Some recommend songs - Love Songs, City and Fairytale

Yups(:

Overall ratings (no fancy pictures this time): 3 out 5 iPods.

Reformatted.

I just got back my reformatted laptop.

I think they changed the Fujitsu guy at 8flags. Last time I was there, the guy was super hostile and unfriendly. This time? The guy is much friendly and he actually "tried" to customise my windows for me. Look -
He typed my name (albeit in the wrong way) and instead of the standard duckie picture, he changed it to a karate girl picture. Hee.

Yups. I have installed Adobe and iTunes !! *claps and dances around*

But now, I seem to have forgotten how to customise my Foxkeh theme Firefox :(

The War Cry? Nah.

First paper tomorrow (Tuesday)! Yeah! Let the exams start! Because once it starts, it means I'm closer to the end. IF that makes sense.

Bringing my laptop to 8Flags tomorrow for reformatting. Seems like everyone will be heading home for a serious bout of mugging after AB213 tomorrow. So, I'll be heading to 8Flags alone. It's scary. Don't ask me why. 8Flags is probably the only place that I will try to avoid going when I am on my own. *shrinks away*

How's my preparation for exams? I am literally taking one paper at a time. 3 papers in 3 weeks. This means that I can a) have a FULL day of rest after each paper and b) still have more than enough time to study. BUT! I do envy people from SMU:( *sigh*

Application for local exchange is on again. Should I?

Tweets for the day (excluding replies) -

• can't wait for next sem. i'll no longer be a finance student! i'll be a psych student! GO, MINOR! for now, die finance, die!!! about 22 hours ago

• TRYING to fix my windows problem. I cant install Adobe Reader or iTunes! URGH. HELP!!!!! about 8 hours ago

• okay, using Foxit for now. will get the computer reformatted tmr. any advice related to backing up files? about 7 hours ago

• i hereby conclude that I am down on tech luck these days! everything sucks from fireworks to windows problem to googling! about 6 hours ago

• i know i sound like a broken record. but! i really cant wait for the reformat tomorrow. about 4 hours ago

My twitter activity rate is still not very high. Basically, I am actively "talking" to 2 people. Following 7 people, out of which 4 do not use Twitter at all and 1 whom I am just plainly following and vice versa. Hahas. See! I don't even need fancy tools/application to do my analysis for me(:

I need to set up a Google Doc account for my fyp project to facilitate sharing of articles/files/whatnot. I'll probably need to teach them how to use it as well?

Okay, enough of crapping. Bedtime. Please don't rain tomorrow.

Oh yeah, here's my war cry. Ready? AIYA, HUAT LAH! -.-|||

I bet you guys can imagine my actions, tone and expressions just by looking at that phrase right?! It's amazing how unglam I can be even when I am online :D