Very proud Chinese lady at the bank

Today I went out to the DBS bank at Clementi to bank my cheque. After I had filled up the forms, I joined the queue. In front of me was this Chinese aunty who I assume to be in her early 50s. She turned around, saw me and exclaimed "Wah, so tall ah you!". As usual, the expected question that comes after that is - "Do you play basketball?". Haha.. unfortunately, my height has nothing to do with me playing basketball. I didn't really play basketball until after I came to Singapore.

Anyway, back to the point. After asking about my height, she starts to talk about America - Las Vegas. She continued to critise Batam as stupid because they have just banned the casinos there. Her rational was that countries that have casinos prosper well and that casinos earn a lot of money. In my mind, I thought - "Wah, she very support S'pore gov't on the casino". Before long, she went to say - "S'pore now then start have casino. Way too late liao lah. How to compete. You see: Macau, KL (isn't it suppose to be Genting?) all so rich now". I just nodded and didn't really care what she said.

After she stopped talking about casinos, she started to rant about Chinese overseas - how united they were. The way she describe it, I think if I put it on this blog, you might see my name in the newspaper tomorrow for causing some discontent in racial harmony. I was shocked when she started to explain how in countries like America, Chinese overseas are very united and "white" people see color. She went on to explain that see color makes the Chinese people strong and that it forces them to stick together and earn a lot of money. Furthermore, she was virtually attacking any non-Chinese. Everyone in the bank could hear her. I looked around nervously and wondered if there would be someone to protest. People around didn't really bother or as how I would feel if I was one of them - "Seesh, who is this person talking a lot of crap". As she continued, I felt like saying "Lady, please stop. Keep the opinion to yourself."

After talking about "color", she went on to brag about overseas Chinese as super rich. Sugar King, Timber King, Flour King, etc. She said to me "You know Robert Kuok - Sugar King... you see so rich." In my mind I thought - "Heh...Lady, if I was still studying in NUS this year, I would take up the opportunity to have lunch with him in Hong Kong this December." The queue for the bank counter felt like eternity as she continued. It was torturous. I've never met someone who can say so much to a stranger other than the taxi drivers. Taxi driver coffee-shop talk I'm used to but bank customers having coffee-shop talk, this is my first experience. Anyone else had similar experiences before?

First Day of Work

This morning I went off to the company very early. First day mah, so wanna make a good impression. As expected when I arrived at the office at 850am, there were not many people around and the lights were not all switched on yet. I looked around to see if I can find someone to report myself. A moment later, one of the admin staff came and asked. I told her that it was my first day and waiting for the admin officer in-charge. She asked me to sit and wait. While waiting there, I found out that the office itself is separated into two sections. One is TCS and the other is Tata Technologies. TCS people come into the office only around 910~930.

During the wait, I met two others who would be going off to India with me. There's suppose to be another guy but he didn't go to the office today. Anyway, there wasn't much to do at the office today. It was mainly brief abit about when we might be leaving. The exact date I'll be leaveing for India is not yet known. According to the HR manager, we could be off this weekend or middle of next week. We were all abit shocked at the dates set although I was abit prepared as I knew we were suppose to be in India early October.

The best part of working for TCS at the moment is ~ we were all sent back home by 12pm after we settled the administrative stuff and need not report to the office till 30th Sept. This is because TCS Singapore is just a recruitment office/hub. The office here does not have servers or high-tech computer equipments. I suppose those based in Singapore are outsourced to work in projects of clients. My colleagues who would be going to India with me were bragging to their friends that they were on a "paid-leave". This is abit melampau but I suppose it is a good thing that I'm paid to stay at home and sleep till before I fly. =P

Isolation stunts creativity

The more I stay in, the less I feel like blogging. These days I can't seem to think of a good topic to blog about. There are a few issues in my mind but I can't develop my thoughts into a blog post. What to do? I need inspiration! lol~

中秋节快乐

Today's moon was very beautiful. Here's some pics which I took with my new camera. Unfortunately, my camera does not do any justice to the actual view of the moon.

Blur Image of the moon - looks like a light bulb (Taken without flash - my hands are too shaky)

The moon (Taken with flash)

Moon with clouds on the side (not very clear ~ need better camera, SLR?)

I like this picture - looks as if a cosmic explosion just occured. Of course, it's only the moon's light through the clouds. (Again, the fault of my camera.. hahaha.... viewing it through our eyes is much much better than through the camera lens)

My new camera!

After I found out that I would be having my job trainings in India, I realised that I needed a camera. To make things unfavourable, the COMEX held in Suntec City was over. I didn't know what to do as I am not a good shopper. I don't know how to compare prices and bargain. I ended up searching online on how to buy cameras from Sim Lim. Guess what! I found a wonderful site where tourist discuss in the forums on how to get the best camera deals from Sim Lim Square. These 'ang mohs' ah, you always think they go Sim Lim to be 'tang1' (Direct translation - Slaughtered). The forum teaches them how not to be fooled by the shopkeeper's 'special price only for you my fren'.
Step 1: Go Mustafa center check out the prices and the freebies
Step 2: Go Sim Lim check prices
Step 3: Negotiate for a price lower than Mustafa and get them to throw in freebies e.g. memory card.

So, I did follow those steps except for the bargaining part. I'm not very good at it. This is my experience:
1. Went into shop, ask about price for Panasonic & Canon camera. ~Get price liao~
2. Was hesitating as price was abit high so asked if have promotion. ~Salesman say no, over liao~
3. Turned around abit sad thinking "Oklah, maybe I don't really need a camera"
4. Salesman quickly say "What you like? I give you free memory card - 128Mb!"
5. My eyes glimmered. I think he sensed that. But I still hesitated, I was like "er... 128 ah.. too small ler..." Turned around again preparing to leave.
6. Salesman say "Ok ok! I give you 256! You like?" ~BINGO!
7. "Ok... I think I will wan to buy"
8. He then intro me his Konica Minolta camera (according to HF, this shop is the authorized dealer of KM cameras, so they'll hard sell it to you, anyway...)
9. I liked the camera, he gave an offer price of $599. I was like er... I must bargain but how? I am still very naive.. and nice to the salesman so I asked for $580. He was like "Hey.. $19, also wanna bargain meh? Ok lah.. I give u 590".. I accepted.
10. Then he suggested I get 2nd battery - special price for today is $55 compare to usual $75. So total is suppose to be $645. I bargain again.. ask for $640. He was again like "Hey... $5 also wanna bargain." I replied "Yah.. easy mah.. round off". Despite his reply, he gave me what I asked for. I suppose it was a small bargain. He must be laughing inside that he has a weak bargaining customer.

Anyway, overall, I am quite satisfied with the salesman's service. At least he was trying to service me and ensured that the camera was all in good order. I will look towards the positive side of this and prevent myself from suffering 'post-purchase dissonance' syndrome (Besides, this syndrome is common so no need to feel bad). Here's a pic of my camera :D

Cool morning yesterday

Actually I wanted to blog this post yesterday night but was busy until quite late. Why was yesterday cool? Well, to start off, I actually forced myself into bed early the night before. This was to ensure that I could wake up early yesterday. I hate the feeling of getting up from bed tired and stretching all over. It spoils my mood. The best way to start of the day is when I get up feeling fresh and energetic. So... trying to lead a healthy lifestyle - Got up -> wash up. After that, turned on Channel News Asia to catch Prime Time Morning while drinking my cup of tomato juice (Vitamin C is good for body u noe?). Ah~ This is the life.

After that, I spent another hour watching the news. It got abit boring when the same news are repeated over and over again. I decided that I should get out of my chair and do some exercise. So.......... I prepared myself and went out to swim! This is my 2nd time in the pool after being here in S'pore for 3years. I didn't swim far as I got tired very easily. I can't swim 50m without resting. I remembered the first time I went to the pool here in S'pore, I was abit over-ambitious - recalling the days when I represented my district swimming team to compete in the nationals back home in Brunei (which was like 10years ago). I swam half-way realised that I was too tired to swim further, I struggled to the ledge at the side. I thought for a moment there I was going to drown. Scary... After that incident last year, I only swim near the sides. I dare not swim far from support liao. I suppose I need to swim more frequently to get my body used to the water as well as building up stamina. After the swim yesterday, I'm planning to go to the pool again soon.

我的汉字很不ok

我发觉到原来我很久没写汉字了，所以我想试试看用电脑打汉字。我知道我自己的华文grammar一定有错。我差不多有一年没有学华文了。很多汉字我已经忘了怎么写也有很多我忘了怎么念。如果陈老师和林老师知道，他们一定会觉得 disappointed。
因为我已经找到工作，工作还没开始所以天天很得空。从明天起，我得天天学写汉字。(要不然到了台湾会给弄笑话) 在 interview 的时候,我说我会说华语可是我会一点儿汉字。。。。哇，我觉得很累打这个 post。我需要很多时间来打这么短的 post。好吧，这次我就打这么的 post 吧，改天才打一个有意思的 post。

The new NLB at Bugis

From the outside, this building looks very futuristic and cool. Many people have complain that the design is out of place because Bugis is filled with heritage buildings. I went to the National Library yesterday after a frustrating window shopping experience at Sim Lim. I was totally not in the mood to shop so I left Sim Lim before I even properly started.

I took the glass elevator up to the highest level - 14th floor. As the lift moved upwards, I started to feel afraid because I have a fear of heights (more specifically - falling). I could feel cold sweat running down my forehead and my legs are weak. I tried to control my fear by telling myself that it was all in the mind. At the 14th floor, I marvelled at the view. It was quite good but abit limited. One can vaguely see familiar landmarks at Orchard road. The view of the city is completely blocked or maybe only when they properly open all sections in the library then can one see the city.

The library has gardens on located on various levels in the building. I only manage to visit the Level 5 courtyard. The place is interesting but again - view is terrible. There isn't anything special to see from here except maybe chiobu walking around Parco hahahaa.....

From my visit, I only like the exhibitions such as Singapore's history as well as on the development projects for Marina Bay. The Marina prject looks very ambitious but if the project is successful, that place so poshy. I would also wanna buy a home there if I have enough S11.

Coffee Bean, Starbucks and so on

These days I've been travelling around Singapore's CBD and shopping centers. Mostly because I need to go for interviews at the offices there. As the title suggest, Coffee Beans, Starbucks, etc catch my attention each time I pass by. The alluring smell of coffee leaves one craving to have a cup of ice-blended coffee with whip cream. But then ar, a cup of it will leave me eating rice with soya-sauce (Labi style - Labi is a rural farming area in Brunei where my father grew up. He likes to intro this dish to us if my siblings and I were to complain about mom's cooking so that we should be grateful... hahaha... :P) or tomato sauce (like the girl who gathers free ketchup from fastfood restaurants so that she could buy expensive fashion labels) for a few meals.

Despite my wallet burning deep these days and I can see butterflies coming out of it, I could not resist the temptation. :S ... I try to give excuse to my guilty conscience by thinking: "It's alright. I'll be earning my own income soon. Once I have my income, it will be alright." True no? Of course, after attending the financial advisory courses, I learnt that this is what most people think and it leads to unsatisfactory results. Majority of people spend first, save later. There are also many who spend future income (like what I'm doing..... eeee.. guilty ler...).

ANYWAY, let's not talk about finance. The more I talk about it, the more sad I am. Boh lui liao~ I realise there are many wants/needs that I want/need to fulfill before leaving for India. I'll make another post on this another day. Back to topic - Coffee Bean, Starbucks & others like Secret Recipe.

I wonder what the secret is in all these Ice-blended coffee. Can one get the same taste and texture from 40cents coffee mix with ice throw into blender? As I blog this, I'm starting to crave for a cup. Maybe I'm just a frap·pé-addict. For now, I will have to control my cravings. See no frap·pé, Smell no frap·pé, Drink no frap·pé.

Offer Concluded

Yesterday morning I went to Tata Consultancy Services, supposedly just to collect the contract then return home to read it thoroughly. Instead, the HR manager led me to another room to read the contract first so that I can clarify some of the terms in the contract. At the meeting room, I joined another potential joinee who was already reading his contract. I happily started to read my first employment contract. The contract seemed alright to me. I quickly flipped to the salary section to check if they are paying me what I requested for and...... THEY ARE. So I was very happy and could just sign without reading on. But of course, it would be foolish of me. What if there are some clauses that suddenly prevent me from doing something? So I continued.

When the guy beside me finished reading his contract, he started to ask me some questions regarding the job scope and length of time we'll be out of the country. In addition, he said that the salary was low. I asked him how much he was paid. He answered S$30k annually. I was like "You are a fresh grad also, you will be getting more than me and still not happy?? -.-" " He then explained about the potential salary he might get if in KPMG ($2k but will reach $3.5k in 1.5year) or PSA ($2.8k). Ok lor... I told him that the opportunity to go overseas is different mah and we'll be paid for our stay overseas. He wanted to make sure that the allowance package was high if he were to join. He went over to the HR to try and negotiate for a higher salary. The HR manager didn't give in. Anyway, he took his contract back to reconsider.

For me, I went to clarify some of the unclear terms in the contract and what the 13th month salary meant. I just found out that it is a common practice here in Singapore that most firms will pay 1 month's worth of salary at the end of every year completed. After clarifying my doubts, without any hesitation, I signed the contract. Voila~ CY is now "Trainee Engineer" at Tata Consultancy Services.

Tired day

I got up yesterday in a half-awake-half-asleep state. I was not very sure why I was like that. All I know was that I felt irritated because daylight had not break and I was already awake. I felt very tired while feeling my entire body being sore. I had interview at 10am so I forced myself up and prepare for the interview.

The interview yesterday was at CSA. Before the interview commenced, I had to take 2 tests - one on Java2 and the other on Servlets. During the test, I find myself being very restless. I could not sit still on the chair because my whole body was feeling uncomfortable sittting up straight. I ended up sitting as if I had no backbone. I spent about 45mins for the test. Most of the questions I do not have an answer to it although it was MCQ (tikam lor). The result -> 28% for Java2 and 30% for Servlet. Of course with such a result, the interviewer is bound to ask. She asked how I felt about the test. I told her that it was very difficult and that many concepts I was not familiar with. Java was suppose to be my forte but I've no knowledge on threading which was asked very often during the test. I suppose the job is more suited to CS students. Her comment: "Oh, this is the type of questions for Sun certified Java programmers".. Hmmm... ok. That means I'm not qualified then. Anyway, abit 不耐烦 already because I was feeling very tired. In addition, at the back of my head, I already know that I'm going to take up the TCS offer so abit bochup also.

After the interview, I was considering whether to or not to go for my lessons at the Prudential Training Center. It was nearing lunch time but I didn't feel hungry. Instead, there was a weird sensation in the stomach - no pain though. Just plain weird - like no appetite to eat. In the end, I went to Boon Keng mrt to help my uncle settle some payment and then went to Dhoby Ghaut for lunch. After that, I decided not to go for lessons. I went back to try and get some sleep. I didn't manage to sleep but I had loose bowels for quite some time. Later in the evening when it stopped, all I felt was my stomach aching. I'm still feeling this ache this morning. It is only when I lie down to rest, the aching stops. Food poisoning?

Another job offer

Today I went to the 2nd interview at Tata Consultancy Services. The result -> I have been extended the offer to work with them. It came as a sudden surprise as I thought that my previous written test and interview didn't go well. I called my parents to tell them about it. The first reaction was: "Huh? India again? The pay very low one wor... Go choose some other company". Not only my parents, I have another friend was also very concerned about the pay that I might be getting from this company. Fortunately, the HR manager clarified that I'll be receiving my salary in Singapore dollars plus additional living allowances when I'm in India. I've not confirmed my salary with the HR manager as I was not sure whether it was the right moment to ask. I'll ask her when I meet her again to get the contract.

At the moment, my heart is more or less set for this job offer. If all goes according to plan, I'll leave for India in early October. The trainings session is for about 3 months and after that I am very likely to be posted to Taiwan to work for a period of time OR I could be posted back to Singapore depending on their needs. I'm very excited. :D

@XP

@XP -> AIESEC Experience

Today I went for an AIESEC exchange simulation session at NTU. During the session, a presentation clip was shown. The clip was full of questions on why AIESECers are in AIESEC. I was able to relate to feelings asked by most of the questions.

Out of all the questions, this one was stuck in my head - 'Have you ever wondered why your friends could never understand why you are so involved in AIESEC?'. Everytime I tell my friends that I'm going out for an AIESEC event, some would respond negatively by giving disapproving looks while others would just question why? I discussed this issue with another AIESEC friend. He was also saying that he complains about the workload in AIESEC to his other friends and he gets no sympathy from them. Cruel?

Just to share with all my blog readers whether you know what AIESEC is or not, AIESEC has changed my life. This is why I'm still so involved in AIESEC. When I started my final year in university, I was quite lost. The thought of graduating from university was terrifying. I was reluctant to move on to an unknown place. I joined AIESEC that semester and was quite involved in the training sessions initially and backed out in the middle. I was starting to think why am I so involved in AIESEC for? Then came NLDS 2004 (National Leadership Development Seminar). I participated in the camp with the intention of just wanting to enjoy not bothering about other stuff.

NLDS 2004..... the turning point of my life. On the first day of NLDS, I had the opportunity to meet some delegates from Indonesia and Malaysia. The meeting to me was the first of its kind. These people are so energetic and passionate to do things. During group discussions, the passion of these delegates in sharing their ideas was refreshing and pulled me along. During dances, they would dance passionately and not care if there are no one else following them. This is proof of working hard and playing hard.

During the evening session, an external coach was invited to train us. He asked a simple question - What is your passion in life?. He made us think about it carefully. When I thought about it, I was like "Hey, yea o... what's my passion in life? er... start business? er... why? er... playing computer games? er... I don't know". He asked for volunteers to share what their passion in life is. I was one of the people called to share. I started by saying "I want to start a business". He looked unconvinced and probed, "What business? Sell what?". I continued with "er...Sel...." *"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR PASSION IS! Think carefully again then answer me next time"*, he exclaimed and smiled. It felt like a large slap on the face and a strong wake up call. It was true what he said. I searched deep inside me to the answer.... and I have none. 2nd evening, another slap on the face - different coach, same question. I began to think about it seriously but till today, I have not reached a conclusion what my passion in life is. Nonetheless, through that experience, it has served as a wakeup call to me.

After NLDS 2004, I am more keen in pursuing my final academic semester in NUS. In addition, I was more open to the idea of graduation and going out into the unknown. Of course, this is my personal experience. Others might have other experiences which differ from mine completely. Anyway.... so, what is your passion in life? I strongly suggest that you think about it.

Ups and Downs

I was up last night till about 1am doing some last minute mugging on Module 9. I set my alarm to ring at 830am this morning. I woke up at 8 this morning feeling fresh and good - ready to mug some more for M9. I was in a very good mood. Joyfully I went to have my breakfast and left early for Suntec City. I arrived at Suntec City at about 1030am. Not many shops are open yet and the atmosphere was interesting. To be able to see shop owners getting ready for the new day makes one feel ready to tackle the challenges of the day.

Since I was early, my intention was to sit at one of the benches in Suntec Tropics Atrium (located between Tower 1 and Tower 2). Happily I opened my M9 '10-year series' and tried out questions. There were still a lot of concepts that I didn't understand. Suddenly, I realised that I had totally forgotten to bring my passport for identification! That got me panicking. The time then was 11am. I didn't know what to do. I considered taking the mrt back but that would take way too much time and I won't be back in time. So, feeling annoyed, I took a cab back - paid $8 for the trip just to take my passport. I cursed myself for being so absent minded. The more I think about it then the more I felt irritated. I mean I paid $105 to sit for the exam and now I've paid an extra $8 for something that I have considered pulling out from....

I mugged on cab unhappily. It was a horrible experience to read on a cab. As soon as I got down the cab, I felt nauseous. I quickly grabbed my passport and other important documents just in case then took the bus back to Suntec City. Fortunately I returned to Suntec City Tropics Atrium just in time. I had 15minutes before the exam started. In addition to this, I passed my M9... Yay! Don't really know why I celebrate though. I still have to attend product training sessions next week.

In other news, I got a call from CSA regarding an interview with them. This is the first time the person asked me what grade I got for the Information Systems Development project I did in my 3rd year. I told her "C+" and her reaction was like "Wah! Why so bad?". In my mind I was like "What the??? How can you be so straight forward one? Sh**.... S'pore kiasuism......". I had to explain what went wrong in the project and how we could've improved on it. She was not fully convinced but arranged an interview for me anyway. Hai~ Although I'm only in the process of getting employed, I experienced some office politics even in the training sessions. There was one guy who brags that he's from the top agency in the field. I mean "Duh!"... Don't need to brag all these leh. When talking, he speaks as if he is a level higher than the rest of us. Do I have to be like them to survive this cruel dog-eat-dog world?