Talking & Analyzing

A fellow friend came to chat with me on msn. First I told him I was not exactly in the mood to talk, but then again, some talking might make me feel better. We chatted. I spoke about my interview, the questions and how I tackled them. We analyzed it and I didn't do that badly afterall. I did think before I spoke, and my answers probably had some deeper meaning to them. But how the interviewers looked at it, I'm not sure.

But for sure, I did okay, not as bad as I thought I was. I was placing overly high expectations on myself, and that was the source of frustration. I had real-life experience to speak of, in addition to only what I do in school. Of course, every question could be further improved, but seeing how I performed, not too badly, it was okay! (:

Still Thinkin'

A large part of my mind is still on the interview. I was given a chance, and I think I didn't do as well. Sucky feeling. I feel so down that I just want to curl up and do nothing for the whole day. Or at least I'll feel better if a reply comes in - am I in, or am I not? It's just not easy to think of it as an experience and move on. BLEAH.

It actually feels worse than receiving my 'A' level results. Now how bad can that be, right? Much worse.

SAVE ME.

My Very First Job Interview

It went funny. I will not divulge the prospective employer, but something very different from what you would expect in a typical job interview. There was an interview offer, I didn't apply for the job, neither did I send out my resume or cover letter. The date and venue set, I did my research, my homework, and prepared enough to be able to answer questions.

No typical interview questions - that was something that freaked me out. First came job descriptions from the interviewer, and that was it. I had no questions to ask, nothing to say. In the end, I asked if the interviewer had questions for me. They had, and I didn't think through enough before I answered. A blunder on that few questions. After some reflections, I realized that I answered the questions, but not to what the interviewer wanted to hear about. Yes, now I understand the power of listening and clarification.

Out of the half an hour, the interviewer spoke for about 20 minutes. I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, since they were telling me more about the position, and in fact in a lot of detail, and left me with nothing to ask about.

Lessons learnt:
- Learn to expand on what they had to say.
- Listen carefully and clarify when they ask a certain type of question.
- Learn from every interview experience.

What's With The "Then You Will Know"

Enough with the advice, enough with the "then you will know" or "you will know when..." It's sickening. I TRY TO appreciate the advice without me asking for them, but put it in a nicer way will you? Don't make it come across as a lecture. It's just like GOLDEN GLITTERING advice coming when I didn't put out a welcome mat.

If you guessed it right, I don't like people to tell me what to do, you can give suggestions, but phrase them in a nice way, not in a lecture style, geddit? If you ask me how, I can't help you with that. Try that to working people, and see what you get in return. How much do I know about it? Just about enough.

I know what I'm doing, and when I NEED some suggestions, I WILL ASK. I don't have gold in my mouth, and sometimes advice is NOT WELCOME.

I KNOW what to do when it comes, I KNOW when I get to those things. JUST SHUT UP!

Listening Without Prejudice

It's getting harder, it's getting even more difficult than ever. I just can't help but have disappointing, angry and frustrating thoughts when I listen to you talk about that particular topic. I try to listen, but the emotions just dominate: don't look at her in the eye when she talks, don't give any reactions to that.

Isn't it enough to go through tough times once? Why do I have to go through it again? I'm not even responsible for it. I'm not even related to the tiniest bit. Why must it affect me? Seriously, it's not even my problem.

As I've said before, "I've never wanted somebody to die in my life before." I wonder how such thoughts can even appear - in my mind...

I'm Missing School!

Just now I dug out my Fit & Well Textbook for a flip, and as I was flipping and glancing through the facts and stuff that we learnt, suddenly I miss school. I'm done with my final exams, no more lectures, no more assignments, no more readings, no more studying, for the time being. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school, and study somemore.

Well, Rene Descartes' Mediations on First Philosophy is beside me now. I did not understand one thing when I read it during Philosophy classes, so now I'm attempting to read and understand it. This is also where the famous quote came from : I think, therefore I am. If I do manage to finish it, I'll try to decipher the deep thoughts of the Philosopher and post it here.

Meanwhile, can I go back to OCU for lectures? I won't complain if I have to wake up early...

Night At The Museum 2

The tour was superb. Except for one live character who scared me to death... There was this tie-up event between Golden Village and Sentosa where we'll first have a tour of Images of Singapore Museum in Sentosa, where the characters come alive, before watching the show back at Vivocity. The package included taking Sentosa Express (the monorail) from Vivocity to and back from Sentosa, admission to Sentosa and Images of Singapore and the movie ticket and a regular popcorn combo. Not a bad deal for $24. Not to mention we had to take a cab back after the show since it only started at 10pm.

The show was great, worth a second watch if you have extra cash to spare. In fact, I'll recommend buying the DVD instead. In any case, it was a well-spent Friday night.

Next movie to catch in the theatres - Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D...

A Lil' Too Much Romance

Not that I'm in a romantic relationship but...

Yesterday night I was watching New in Town, the movie released in February this year. Pretty good show, since I like romantic comedies. Good storyline with a couple laugh-out-loud humour in between. Looking at the snow just reminds me of Oklahoma. Oh well.

I think I've been watching a lil' too much stuff on the genre of love. So Night at the Museum 2 will serve as a change to that. Next movie to catch thereafter - Hotel for Dogs.

Finally, I'm done with my first cover letter. Woo hoo. Now I just need comments, editing and I'm ready for interviews!

Movies Mood

Recently I think I've been in the mood for movies. Over this week, I've watched:

- Bed Time Stories
- The Pursuit of Happyness
- Twilight
- Bee Movie

They are pretty old movies, but I didn't catch them then. So far, the movies were pretty good. Not disappointing, didn't waste my 1.5 or 2 hours of time. And next movie to watch - Night at the Museum 2!

Twilight

I was just watching Twilight and now I understand why girls are swooned by Edward Cullen. 'Cause I am too. He's really a cool character in the show, and probably the guy almost every girl would like. Plus, the kissing scene - I was kinda waiting for them to kiss.

Having said these, the mass media is once again plonking thoughts into my head. I'll never be able to find a boyfriend like that (besides the point that he's a vampire). I mean, my boyfriend might become like that if they pay him the same amount to Robert Pattinson to do that.

I'm looking forward to the sequel of Twilight - New Moon or something like that. Meanwhile, some Edward Cullen in my head is pretty entertaining...

The Girl

I remember my very first day in Pioneer JC. I went up to this girl who was standing alone, whom I bet did not know anyone else, just like me, and talked to her. I said something to the extent of, "Hi, my name is Esther, you?"

That was the very first classmate I spoke to. Her name is Janice. Since then, we sat together, ate together and were partners for group work, for lab work, until one day she broke news that she will leave halfway overseas to study. I shared my locker with her, since it wouldn't be worthwhile for her to rent a locker for the year.

She left for the UK, and once in a while, she'd leave messages on my Facebook. Recently we were messaging more since she tagged me on a note. As such, it inspired me to blog about her.

Well, until now, my impression of Janice is this quiet demure girl who has neat handwriting. She even walks gently. She's coming back to Singapore, for good. I hope to meet her, after a good 5 years.

Do you remember the first person you talked when you were in a new school? I do.

A Night View From Lift Landing & Day-to-Day Stuff

One evening I was going somewhere when I looked into the sky and saw this. Nice view of the full moon, although not very clear from the photo. Didn't know such views can be seen from odd places along the corridor.
















My aunt and uncle has gone back to Malaysia, so everything is back to normal. This week is sorta rest week since exams ended last week for the tutees. Life goes on, with the sprucing up of my resume...

Peace Within Crazy Times

It all started since yesterday, when there was a class BBQ. Since I got home late, and couldn't fall asleep until late, the tiredness set in. This morning, there was this compulsory Interview Skills & Image Essential Workshop so I had to wake up early. After a useful session, at least, I got home, gobbled down some food and went to snooze.

Right now, I'm babysitting. I asked if I could access their wireless connection and managed to get it connected. The kids have gone to their rooms, after watching Bedtime Stories together and racing on our Nintendo DS with Mario Karts. There, there, between all these, my uncle and aunt is in Singapore now, for some reason, all of a sudden and I don't exactly have time for them.

Actually I'm glad I'm this busy since then I don't have to entertain their numerous questions and things that could potentially make me lose my sanity. Yay-ness to busy-ness. Sometimes being busy is a good thing.

The BBQ, the babysitting and the tuition to come over the next few days = PEACE.

A Break!

Barbecue. Yay! Grilled stuff, unhealthy stuff and more smoked stuff. Finally some unhealthy food to keep me going.

The 93/68 blood pressure can shoot up a little from the BBQ. (:

A Reply from SMRT!

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Without Prejudice

Our Ref: BS-CT-0905-0098

Dear Ms Lim

Thank you for your feedback on service 855.

We wish to share that when a bus break down, affected passengers will be given a complimentary ticket each. On top of that, the Service Leader has to cancel the ride for ez-link card users. However, if the ez-link machine breakdown, no complimentary ticket will be issued. We have since counselled the Service Leader involved and reminded her to follow the standard operation procedures. We have stressed to Service Leader concerned that such incident need to be manage in a more professional and tactful manner.

We also like to seek your understanding that when accident happen bus service will be disrupted. Please be assured that SMRT takes all feedback seriously and when it involves a complaint against our staff, a thorough investigation is conducted and if the staff has indeed committed a service lapse, we will take the necessary corrective or disciplinary action. The necessary disciplinary actions will be taken against drivers who flout rules and feedback against drivers will be recorded and taken into consideration during their performance review with SMRT Buses. We will continue to monitor the service leader performance closely to ensure that this service leader meets our service standards.

Ms Lim, we sincerely apologize for your experience and thank you for highlighting the incident to us.

Yours sincerely,

Corporate Marketing and Communication

SMRT Corporation Ltd
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Oh? That is all, no complimentary one month's ride. Why is our bus system monopolized by SMRT? WHY?!

Things Falling at the Right Place.

When I thought the whole world was against me, things started to fall in the right places.

- I was rushing to finish my presidential opening address for Toastmasters chapter meeting at home. I figured out that I would not have enough time to take the train there, so I stayed home, finished my stuff till about 6.45pm and took a cab instead. Thank god for the tuition before that. The train actually broke down along the north-south line. I was one of those who were not stuck in the trains and I was early for the meeting. The rest of the Toastmasters who took the trains were late.

- Thoroughly enjoyed Toastmasters yesterday. I met an Indonesian, an Indian and a Japanese who's an image consultant and gave me some tips on what to do with my hair. A very nice lady.

- The back-to-back tuition is finally off now that exams are almost over for the kids. Only 2 tuition sessions next weekdays. Yipee!

- I was quite broke last month but this month's a change. More babysitting this month, more tuition sessions which means more money.

Sometimes things don't seem so bad afterall.

One of Those Days (Again).

It's one of those days when you wake up at 11.30am and hope that you can have the entire day to yourself, nothing to do, nothing to worry about, nothing to think about. But there's still tuition later, and Toastmasters (I'm getting sick of it.) too.

The back-to-back tuition from last week has been making me dread tuition, since it almost totally takes up full concentration and I just feel exhausted mentally after I reach home. The power bar drops from the already 70% to <10%. Still, Toastmasters is today. Can I skip the meeting? I'm supposed to prepare my Toastmaster of the Evening script but I do not have the energy nor mood to do it.

I'll probably take a break from the tuition next week since exams end this week. And what's with the skip of meat for meals? It's not like avoiding meat at all costs is a good thing. As long as we aren't eating processed meat 7 times a week, 3 times a day, we won't die so soon. We employ healthy cooking methods - stir fry, olive oil, sea salt, no MSG, no processed meat as far as possible. You can survive on just vegetables, I can't. Chances are, I'll be hungry in 2 hours after dinner or so. Darn.

Sometimes, I just feel like the whole world's against me. Let me be against the whole world too! Muahahahaha... You guys watch out.

Question & Answer

Q: How does it feel like to have lunch with someone who talks a lot?

Him: My ... ... ...

Him: I ... ... ...

Him: My ... ... ...

Me: (Turns to look at him and continues eating.)

Him: I ... ... ...

Him: Today, I ... ... ...

Me: Why?

Him: 'Cause ... ... ...

Me: Orh... (Continues eating.)

Answer: Pretty okay if you can stand the self-centered-ness. I could just concentrate on eating. Since after a tuition, I didn't feel like talking much anyway. (:

Nice Dinner (not-so-nice food though)

Today after two back-to-back tuition and slacking at home for a while, I went out on a dinner date. No wild guesses, just dinner. A nice quaint place in the central area, I ordered the kitsune udon, but turned out to be a wrong choice since it was not a Japanese restaurant. The standard was probably worse than the Japanese restaurant we went to in Oklahoma City opposite where we stayed.

But the company was nice, so not as bad. The conversations were great. And of course a gentleman's a gentleman, sent me home. I truly felt like a lady. (:

What's in it next right? Just like that I guess.

Right Way of Cooking Instant Noodles

I was just feeling bored and surfing around until I read this. This has been copied and pasted in many other websites, so to the person who had written this, thank you for the information!

This is something we might want to take note of.
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Normally, how we cook the instant noodles is to put the noodles into a pot with water, throw in the powder and let it cook for around 3 minutes around and it's ready to eat.

This is the WRONG method of cooking the instant noodles.

By doing this, when we actually boil the ingredients in the powder, normally with MSG, it will change the molecular structures of the MSG causing it to be toxic.

The other thing that you may or may not have realized is that, the noodles are coated with wax and it will take around 4 to 5 days for the body to excrete the wax after you have eaten the noodles.

The CORRECT method, which you may or may not know, is to cook the noodles this way:

1. Boil the noodles in a pot with water.

2. Once the noodles is cooked, take out the noodles and throw away the water which contains wax.

3. Boil another pot of water and put the noodles into the hot boiling water and then shut the fire.

4. Only at this stage when the fire is off, and while the water is very hot, put the ingredients with the powder into the water, to make the noodle soup.

5. However, if you need dry noodles, do steps #1 & 2, take out the noodles and then add the ingredients with the powder and toss it to get dry noodles.

Weekend Getaway!

I need a getaway. A short one will do. I'm tired of the fast-paced life. Just one event to take my mind off things will be nice. Be it:

- A trip to neighbouring countries like Bintan, Batam, Tioman or whatever
- A weekend to Sentosa

It will make me very happy. Well, when you are restricted to a budget, there's really not much to choose from. Having said that, I just need to get away.

The Things About Relationships

I specifically refer to boy-girl relationships. How messy and confusing can it get? The getting together then the breaking up. The miscommunication and the misunderstandings. Suddenly the 'I love you' becomes 'Let's break up.' No, don't get me wrong, I'm not in a relationship, or at least not in the past 7 months or so (I think I forgot the recent one that wasn't really a relationship anyway.), and perhaps not getting into one anytime soon since there's no one anyway.

If everything was just as easy, and as simplified as possible without the mind games, the guessing work, and everything else people use to test people. In the end, what do we hope to achieve from a relationship? Mutual understanding? Marriage? Kids? Life long partnership/? Friends and soul mates? The man who will hold your hand for the rest of your life? It depends, really.

If I could find an answer to the things I think about at times, I wouldn't be blogging about it. (:

Not-As-Friendly...

As I was expecting, a more "senior" dentist ain't as friendly and chatty. But what's there to chat since he should be concentrating on my teeth, right? But a little chat makes it nicer. Too bad the dentist I usually see is on long term medical leave. I just hope the next time I'm back, he will be back too.

Ok, missing one regular visit is no joke. First my filling fell off, needed some work on that. Second, my teeth aren't that clean at the hard-to-reach areas - more sensitivity while scaling. Third, as usual, my gums bleed. Now my tooth still feels numb. :(

Got nagged at, to brush the hard-to-reach areas better, watch the acidic foods, drinks and fruits and the hard foods, like peanuts. A seat on the dentist's chair for about 35 to 40 minutes made me $123 poorer, and a few ml of blood poorer. With that, advice comes: you will need to be more regular in your dental visits.

Conclusion: more bleeding, more sensitivity and more money to be spent on dental bills, for a nice healthy toothy grin.

Something I Almost Never Bothered To Look At

One morning, after being dragged out of bed to go for breakfast... I was dragging myself along the corridor to the lift lobby when I saw this...
















Suddenly I saw flowers, yellow flowers. Ok, they are not the best looking flowers, but something like that from the corridor is a pretty nice sight. Or at least they brightened up my day. Sometimes, it just takes a longer look.

Living One Day At A Time

School is unofficially over and done with. I'm back to living one day at a time, waking up, see if I have anything for the day, then go on to do what I need to do, and then the rest, decide later. It is considered one form of bliss since I'm not tied down to anything, with the exception of tuition students, that is.

Surfing the net when I'm free, picking up the Nintendo to poke, watching teevee, or just plain slacking on the bed. Well, life like this will come to an end. It's just another transition periods. Meanwhile, I should be beefing up the resume, and be on a higher lookout for jobs. I want the money.

Anyway, I think RP is back in Singapore. RP, I missed you leh. Meet up soon leh. (Then I can get my birthday present air flown from Taiwan. Hee hee hee.)
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No reply from SMRT yet.

Last Exam Paper Saga

To celebrate my last exam paper, I had to take a cab to school, in style. In response, this was what I did...
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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in to express my monetary loss and displeasure in the way the SMRT bus employees have handled a situation that occurred on 2 June 2009, at 7.25am. I boarded bus 855 from Yishun Bus Interchange at about 7.15am. At the first bus stop near to Yishun Town Park, an accident happened. A man was hit by a part of the bus on his forehead as he was standing at the yellow line of the bus stop. At first I was oblivious to the incident until the bus driver came to the back of the bus to check if the man was alright. The man said yes, yet the driver insisted on informing her supervisor about the matter, which I felt was the right thing to do.

However, what she did not do, was to address the passengers on the bus and to inform us the duration of the wait. Since I reckon that the wait would take less than 5 minutes, I decided to wait. When the "supervisors" arrived, all they did was to stand around, speak to the bus driver, and left us - the passengers - stranded in the bus, with no idea what was going to happen next. After a 10-minute wait, without any address or apology, the "supervisor" gave us complimentary tickets. I asked if he was arranging another bus for us, he bluntly answered no, and said we could use the tickets to take any other buses we want.

In a situation like this, what the "supervisors" could have done was to immediately arrange another bus for us. Having waited for 15 minutes for the bus, I have allocated sufficient time to reach my destination. However, if I were to wait for the next bus, with 855's frequency of 15 to 20 minutes, I would have been late for my appointment. Or if I could have taken another bus service, I would. As such, I had to take a taxi to my destination, costing me S$16.60, 10 times the amount compated to taking the bus. Alternatively, the "supervisors" could have brought the man to a clinic nearby, and allow the driver to drive off, and allow the driver to only report the incident after she has completed her bus route. I am sure the driver would not run away.

I am extremely disappointed and unhappy with the way SMRT employees have handled the situation this morning. Your website states that "We [SMRT] closely monitor our services and in the event of service disruptions, take immediate actions such as replacement of buses or adjustment of timings. This is so as to minimise inconvenience to passengers." However, the poor handling of this situation is nowhere near what you have cited. It has caused great inconvenience to me and the other passengers.

Therefore, I suggest that SMRT sends all their employees and employees-to-be for training on "Dealing with Crises" to ensure that any unfortunate accidents that happen again can be dealt in a proper manner. I believe that it will also aid Singapore in dealing with the swine flu issues to come, and upgrade your employees' skills at the same time. Lastly, I would like you to get back to me on how SMRT will deal with this matter and any other similar matters to come in future.

I trust SMRT to be able to deal with this matter quickly, promptly and swiftly.

Yours Faithfully,
Esther Lim
A Member of the Public and a Frequent Passenger of SMRT Buses
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A complaint letter to SMRT. Let's see how QUICKLY they will reply.