My perfect Saturday

It's been a long time since I had a super good day, so I thought I'd quit my blog fast and write about it. I'm still not quite sure why I abstained from blogging, but there just didn't seem to be anything worth writing about, for a long while. Anyway, back to my perfect Saturday - the first part was spent with family, and the second with a bunch of people I met for the first time that night.

Family - Went for the yearly pilgrimage to Kusu Island with my family. We're not religious; I'm quite certain none of us is quite sure who we're praying to after all this while, but we do it to continue the tradition that my grandmother started. Over time, the yearly trips became an excuse for us to spend quality time together as a family, since we hardly ever get all 5 of us in one place anymore. We have a photo album devoted to Kusu Island trips, and its pretty amazing to see how we've grown individually and as part of the family over the years.

The older I get, the more youthful my parents become. Dad's taken to wearing this soccer jersey (bought by me, too big to fit anybody else), and is secretly pleased when we oohh-and-ahhh over how young he looks dressed as such. He's mightily troubled by his bald pate though, and does his best to fluff his hair with limited success for each photo shoot. Mum is handling stress from work better with experience, and amazingly looks younger and younger. Sister is doing well in school, abit upset with how boring her hall life is but she'll live. Brother just scored ABCC in his promos with only 2 weeks of preparation (I swear the smart gene in my family just passed right over me, wassup man!!), and is looking forward to his Cambodia trip in December.

A spot of stationary Frisbee - the weather was too hot to move around much, and we gave up trying to run around to engage in our modified version instead.

My only successful attempt at capturing a mid-jump shot! Turned out quite well too, if I do say so myself :D

New friends - It was 2 days before Halloween, but that didn't stop us from getting all dressed up for the occasion. There were about 15 of us in various costumes, but the guys' costumes were by far more attractive than the girls'. We planned to go to DBL O, but were not granted free entry at the entrance. None of us would have minded paying, except for the fact that we took pains to dress up, and somehow to have to pay didn't sound..reasonable? Anyway, we walked to Clarke Quay, where we did a mini street parade and were stopped every 10 metres for photo-taking with gaggles of tourists (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration).

Actually, my main reason for joining this whole bunch of people I don't know to play dress-up was that I had this fantasic hat I bought from Venice, and no where to wear it to. It has been sitting in a corner of my room untouched since June this year, and each time I catch sight of it I promised myself I'll wear it soon, somehow. So, I went as a witch. Boring I know, especially when I didn't even get a broomstick or cauldron. But I was a witch on a budget (somehow my money always seems to disappear within 1 week of my paycheck), and I'm proud to inform that my outfit came from everything I already owned. Due to the fact that we were only going to places that offered free entry to us, I didn't spend a single cent that night, except for cab fare! Very pleased about fact.

It was the first time I went out with such a sporting bunch of people. Almost all the guys were in full makeup (with eyeliner applied much more expertly than me, damnit), with costumes rented for an average of $70. The girls were the more cheapskate ones, opting for cost-free outfits like mine. The guys were the ones who really epitomised 'ai swee mai mia' - all of them were in heavy wigs or headgear, which must have been killing them when we walked from MS to Clarke Quay, paraded up and down Clarke Quay and walked back to MS.

Just as we thought we were the only ones out in Halloween outfits, guess what we saw! We were really excited to see real spooky characters, unlike us who were just playing dress-up. This couple must have done this a number of times - they managed to look forlorn and ghoulish the whole time they were on the dance floor can! Immensely impressed by the dedication they displayed in playing their role, pei fu!

I wonder when I'll come by a perfect day again?

"Anybody can get a job, but not everybody has infitnite patience" said the boyfriend in response to my comment about the disparity between his current skill set and that of a person engaged in gainful employment.

I had a Major Talk with him after meeting up with my 32/99 friends (I love the way they understand, and put my insecurities into words so that I can convey it to him. I never thought that I'm inept at expressing my feelings, but I suppose there always will be exceptions). The Major Talk went as expected: he told me he understood all of what I felt, that it is reasonable and logical - and nothing changed. He still has not put in any extra time to do his tutorials at home, he still thinks lectures and tutorials are to be attended at his leisure, and he still has no inkling of what he wants in life.

As a rule I try not to bitch about him because most of the people who read my blog are his friends first, then mine. I've tried talking to him; now I'll try putting everything down and hope that it provides sufficient motivation. I do appreciate his good-naturedness and humour, indeed that's what set him apart from the rest. I admit I'm trying, and he gives in to me more often than he should. But these are 2 separate things, and they don't cancel each other out because I cannot ignore the fact that he cannot provide for me in future just because he lets me have my way. I'm at my wits end, I can only nag so much, and I'm running out of steam. Elgin: The ultimatum stands.

Elgin's coming back later at 2350, kind of looking forward to it. It must be a bad thing, to miss nagging at him so much. 

Today, I had my first test out of 5 for the entire duration of my training, got 19/20. I made a silly careless mistake, kind of disappointed that I didn't manage to score full marks but I shan't be finicky about it. Had a whole ton of information about DBS credit cards shovelled down my throat, struggled to keep up as I battled to keep my eyes open. I grandly proclaim to everybody that I have a 'short consciousness span' (I came up with that ridiculous phrase!), but truly I'm ashamed that I can't keep awake even though I'm paid to pay attention.

My mama has been lamenting the quality of local drama serials recently, in particular "Tong Xin Yuan". To provide abit of background information, Ma's one-of-a-kind politically correct; she's wonderfully apathetic about the media and never fails to tell us off when we bitch and gossip about celebrities. She must have been too repressed after holding her silence for years, she now unleashes her tirade against the drama serials in full force. From what I gathered, Tong Xin Yuan's characters have no development, and the script writer might have been one of her mentally-challenged students for all the development in the plot he offered. Apparently, everybody falls over in the show and suffers the same fate, with the good characters doubling as the weakest ones, and the conniving ones the strongest. And to think that they are filming Tong Xin Yuan 2!

It's really sad that as you grow older, your friends drift further and further away. A few of us from SMU were discussing over a late night kopi last week, that friends who claim to be too busy to meet up are not all that busy as they make themselves out to be. Often, its just a matter of how much effort they want to put into turning up for the meeting, and it hurts those who bother to turn up when they say "I have to bring work home to do on Sunday. It's better if we meet up on Fridays, actually". The rational voice in my head says "Why can't you do your work on Friday, and meet us on Sunday?", but I quietened it in exasperation. It sucks when I love my friends so much that I make every first Sunday of the month free, as we agreed upon a long time ago, only to be the only one (or only 1 out of 2) who can make it. I feel very cheap, almost in the prostitute kind of way. Why is my time so un-precious, while everybody else has better things to do with their time? Don't they remember how we used to be there for each other, for better or worse? Is it really that hard to meet up for 2 hours a month?

Started my first day of work at DBS on a bad note: I was late and spent $7.20 on taxi fare! Can't believe that it costs $7.20 just from Simei to Bedok, now I have very real motivation to wake up early for work.

The first day of work was good, it was only training after all. The colleagues in my batch are generally chirpy, good-natured people, and I do look forward to getting to know some of them better. The trainer is a youngish, 26-year-old boy, with appalling English to boot but cute in a cheeky manner. My Operations Manager loudly proclaimed today "The working hours here are very erotic (we can only hope that he meant erratic)", but I really like him for his brash and straightforward ways ("The men in this company gave up a toilet unit because you women take so damn long to pee, please appreciate us")

I can't believe that I'm working in a bank! I'll be dealing with unsecured loans, whatever that means. That's the extent of my financial illiteracy; I graduated from business school without the least bit of financial acumen. At least I can build it up in DBS, and hopefully move on to other departments.

Not that I'm dying to leave the Contact Centre, there is heaps to learn there! Other than unsecured loans, Customer Service Officers are also required for the Consumer Banking side, the Corporate side, and some Fulfillment division. I can also apply for internal transfers to Resource Planning (to plan the roster for the shiftwork), or Training and Development if I'm good enough. There really is alot for me to learn, if I put my heart to it.

Oh well, I know better than to declare my undying devotion to my job on the first day, look at what happened to the last one. I suspect once I get tired of sitting on my butt the whole time listening to frustrated customers vent their anger on me, I'd crave the excitment of an Events Planner. My last boss and I parted on a very positive note, she mentioned that she might enlist my help on an ad-hoc basis and pay me accordingly. Woohoo, sideline here I come! She gave me a $200 voucher too, so I can't accuse her of being a bad boss. It really just is the nature of the job, as well as the nature of the industry. I wished her the best, and gave her a card in return. Managed to hold the tears back

Elgin's enjoying himself in Hong Kong, feels weird to not have him around to share my day with. He'll be back soon enough, he deserves the break from my nagging, I suppose. He'd better study hard when he comes back, though..

Look at the wonders of photoshop! I'll never look at models the same again.

Money well spent, won't you say?