Today is HP Day. *smilez* finally a break and time to sit down and reflect upon the many many weeks that have passed and how hectic life has been.

there are just too many too many memories created over the few weeks that i can't put down everything. wii session, marina barrage, night scene @ changi village and clarke quay, mangroove walk, tree top walk, shopping, gown trying etc etc.

Marina Barrage with the gals. the gals who never fail to brighten up my days and accommodate to everyone's schedule, meeting on a sunday which is traditionally our family day.

*smilez* picnic kakis :) with each chipping in to help in preparation and not forgetting our production line.

almost full attendance except xiu who can't make it last min. our last all in photo was a long time back, at least a few yrs ago...

our kite-flying session. though unsuccessful, we had a really good laugh then :)

stayed on till the night turns dark to catch the night view of the barrage using stacy's nikon camera which is superb!

lastly, thank you gals. grocery shopping, picnic, phototaking, kite-flying, german bridge and catching up

really random photos that i almost forgot! our mini excusion to little india for some indian fare. nice food, nice experience.

Trip to tree top. quite a random thought cos i really wanted some nature, away from the hustle and bustle of life.

thought this photo was professionally taken. continue walking on, towards the path of light.

totally ill-prepared. bathed before entering the trail, carrying the same bag i carried to work and wearing slippers not knowing having to walk mud. lol.

trapped.

tree top.

washing myself over a stream, something i've not done since climbing and odac days.

some backdated old photos which i've just seen recently and particularly enjoyed the trip during exam period.
Judge GH Ong
prosecuting the line of suspects.

4 weeks, some mini incidences of blurness to brighten up the day and bring some laughter.

1) on the first day of work, i almost spoilt my laptop, stunned my boss when i told me..."eh boss i think i just spoilt my laptop..." he gave me an unbelievably stunned look and a big HUH.

2) flying wallet on the bus when this guy pushed my bag from behind and i lost my grip on my wallet. haha my wallet went woohoo tossing and fliping in the air, landed on someone's lap before landing on the floor. uh oh. stuck out my tongue in pure embarrassment, wanted to hide in the hole then.

thankfully to the few friends who had popped over to lunches and catching up, the weeks passed exceptionally fast. just when i've found company in office to lunch with, it was time to bid them goodbye and was shifted to raffles place. surprisingly, though only 3.5 weeks at plaza, i had a tinge of reluctance to say goodbye and would miss the people there. wellz, have to start accommodating and adapt the the raffles place crowd now. at least, i have an excellent boss.

been a super hectic 4 weeks and almost not having any rest over the tuitions and catching up on weekday nights and weekends, each time coming home to bath and sleep before the nxt day begins. there was a point in time in the first 2 weeks, i was so exhausted i almost wanted to call quits to my temp job, but i hang on knowing that i need the additional income to help clear the uni fees before the interest start kicking in. plus, seeing how those closest to me work so hard, leaves me with no complains. *smilez* nothing beats the catching up with friends and darling every week to bring me back to sanity. finally a super long update :)

temp @ standard chartered.

an experience. work-wise is quite boring. haha. learnt a few things when taking my time to flip through the contracts but after a while, to speed up the productivity, practically jumped straight to the page i know i ought to look at. must keep reminding myself to be contented! afterall i m being paid per hour. lol.

despite knowing that i m sitting right now at a very strategic location if i wanna network with the people there, i don't know how to start a proper conversation esp when my work doesn't require me to talk to them. cos i m sitting where the analysts at a global level are. practically sitting in my dream position if i wanna be in banking.

mm well at least they are starting to be warmer than the first few days. yet on the general level, there is quite limited conversation among the people. haiz. i think i've lots more to learn more about dealing with people too. thank goodness i've a really good boss, very friendly, very patient, very nice. always asked if i wanted to join them for lunches and even afternoon tea. haiz, unfortunately he isn't based in that office and seen him is quite a rarity. hence, the only other person i talk to and is required to speak to is a fresh nus business grad. with the few lunch sessions i had with him so far, at least he is a company. i learnt quite a bit from him indeed. a very self-motivated individual pursuing his dreams headstrong. putting me side by side with him seriously put my own achievements pale in comparison. with his previous internship experiences in fordes, in IBM and almost getting a job in jpmorgan, i can't say he is not zhai. we brought up conversations and he kept me thinking about issues of the uni eduation in singapore that i didn't consider before. double degrees, 3 yr direct honors degree, are they really as good as it seems. nus/ntu/smu business schools. being part of nbs for 3 yrs, somehow i couldn't defend my own school and its quality, putting myself to shame. i can't deny i learnt to look at different perspectives chatting with him.

i realize each and everyone beside me is of high calibre and qualities banks would look at. i wonder if i fall in that category, but i realize currently i m still far from there, not in terms of paper qualifications but in other aspects. somehow all the big bosses intimidate me cos frankly it's the first time i see so many americans and foreign talents around, a well diversed culture. i can't say i haven't learn anything, cos it is the time to brush up on many things here, an excellent opportunity to learn, to test and try. i may nv get to step into the office again, but at least i hope to walk out with experiences. i tried very hard to wake up each morning fresh, happy and smiling when i reach office. it has been tiring, but i wanna continue trying cos i promised to walk away from this job learning as much as i can. gambatte! gambatte to my 3 nights of tuition on top of work too! I CAN DO IT! MUAHAHA:)

A long long backdated grad trip photos. haha a few photos seem to unjustly show the entire trip, yet it summarizes it. *smilez* let the memories of the trip be duly remembered in our hearts instead :)
the first and best milk tea we had!
a memorial arch and indeed memorable. esp with the words written there would be forever gone soon. hence, we were there at a significant time to capture the short lifetime of the 4 words.

Yeliu! one of my fav places :) *beams* partly amused partly amazed by the natural yet unique formation of rocks.

jiu fen. with very nice beef noodles and shaved peanut ice-cream :)

along the journey, we passed by a farm. somehow thought this collage was really nice

hot spring in and near our hotel and one of the highlight of the night was fireworks! yeah! really a good first time experience. yeah imagine setting our own mini fireworks into the sky and watching it explode a few steps away! pretty pretty...haah the shopkeeper seemed really wary of us and supervised us as we set the fireworks at the empty space right beside his shop but his dog sure was braved to watch from right beside the box.

part of day 4 was spent at this village where we tasted some "thunder sth tea". unique was the word to describe, not nice. haha.

wells, looking at the quantity of photos, there are just so many, slowly slowly ba. admittedly i totally dislike taking planes, but still wish to see more of the countries around the world.

the last few days passed really quickly, wrapping dumpling, catching up, looking for temp jobs and having an excusion to an island etc etc. dislike the feeling of waiting and dislike the feeling of rejecting too. contradictory. got a good temp job at standard chartered as analyst. wells, when i got that offer initially, i was excited cos it used to be more dream job in my dream bank but the aftermath was so-so ba. i actu preferred trying an accounting job cos i wanna learn more about accounting. nvm nvm. maybe i shld take the opportunity to learn more about analyst...:) it may afterall come in useful nxt time, plus if i want to be an accountant, there is no lack of opportunities. lol.

on a spur of a moment, went on a short walking excusion to southern ridge this afternoon alone. it is so convenient that my journey actu begins from home where i walked up mt faber. despite being noon when i started, the weather was good and windy. met some wild monkeys along the way and had the whole of henderson waves to myself for at least half an hr. the feeling was unbelievably nice, lying in one of the archs and thinking with the wind blowing against my face, not bothered by anything or anyone. then, i considered many options and cleared my mind. *smilez* a relaxed mind right now :)