Sunday, Apr. 20, 2003

Yours

Met up with Nazmi in the evening in the pouring rain just now at Orchard. Had already taken my dinner at home so I accompanied him take his at KFC Takashimaya. Been awhile since I've seen him , so we chatted about a lot of stuff. Told him abt the recent things that happened to me.

Md Noor was supposed to come too, but he backed out at the last minute cuz he wanted to meet his girlfriend. Aiyah, should have told earlier, if not I can also meet mine. Cuz Ina asked whether I was free to meet up for dinner, but I had to decline cuz I already made prior appointment with them. I actually asked her to join me and Nazmi for dinner, but she didn't want to.

Went from Taka to Starbuck's opposite Orchard Cineleisure to continue updating each other about our lives. Nazmi and Md Noor are planning to go on a budget trip to Kuala Lumpur and stay over at Nazmi's relatives. And they asked me along. But I really can't confirm now man. Cuz firstly I'm very very broke. I'm not even working, so I'm not even sure whether I have money to go overseas.

Plus, I still have to save up for Mariah's concert, buying her merchandise at her concert and travel expenses of "stalking" her. And I also need to save up to go to Tioman with the SIM gang, which by the way, is up in the air, with regards to the date. And with this SARS situation, I'm not even sure whether it's advisable to leave the country. And if I get a job, I'm not even sure whether I'll be able to take off...sigh! My future is so uncertain now...

Went to HMV to check out the new CDs and DVDs. Then we walk all the way to Dhoby Ghaut to take the train and went home.

*By the way, Mona just confess something to me on ICQ...shame on you Mona, haha*

Had a good long talk with Ina just now. Sigh, havn't seen her for a few days, and from the looks of it, might not even get to see her anytime soon. Don't know when man! I miss her so. Ok, diabetes alert, diabetes alert!

To hell with diabetes, I just want to dedicate one song to her. One of my favourite and sweetest songs from my ultimate idol, Mariah Carey. A great smooth, mid-tempo groove. Most importantly, the lyrics in this song are so meaningful and sweet...it's from her latest album, Charmbracelet. The song is sung from a perspective of a girl (duh, Mariah is one), so I changed the word 'boy' to 'girl' italicised to indicate that it's from a guy's or my perspective.

The original version on the album has her singing solo, but actually she has recorded a duet version with Justin Timberlake, but the moron's record company, Jive, is recently rumoured to have refused to let Mariah release that version as a single. Don't know why...Anyway, I can't imagine this song with Justin's voice. He'll probably ruin it. Mariah's solo version is just perfect enough.

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YOURS

(performed by Mariah Carey, written by Mariah Carey, James Harris III, Terry Lewis and James "Big Jim" Wright)

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

Tender love's what you're giving me and / You surpass all my fantasies and / I keep thanking the Lord above for / Blessing me with oh so much

Cause I know how it feels to be / part of you girl / Everyday of my life's so abundant with joy / And I honestly never thought love could be real / Until the angels guided you to me

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

Lying with you so natural / I never knew this was possible / And it finally feels like my life has begun / Now that I can share it with someone

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

Baby our love will always persevere / Anything you ever need, / You know I'll be right here and / You don't have to worry girl / I won't betray your trust / Because I'm so much in love / Every time your lips meet mine / It still feels like the first time / And if you lost everything / I'd keep on standing by your side / And girl it seems like everyday / I fall deeper in love / Because I can't get enough

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

Yours / Yours / Yours / Yours / Everything that you do's so amazing / Everything that you do's so amazing / Everything that you do's so amazing / Everything that you do's so amazing to me / Girl

You brighten up the moon and stars at night / You keep me seeing rainbows in the sky / You bring new meaning to my life, now / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours, yours

Baby I believe in miracles because I'm baby I'm forever yours / I believe in miracles baby I'm forever yours

posted at 3:05 a.m.

Saturday, Apr. 19, 2003

Sleep

Was raining the whole freaking afternoon.

Initially planned to meet up with Ina to spend time with her. But had to back out at the last minute due to family committments. Oh well...

Nat came over to my void deck around 1 plus to get her Survivor: The Amazon tape, so she also sent me to the mosque for my Friday prayers. Thanks a bunch Nat! Then by the time I came home, it rained so heavily. My whole big extended family was there, my older brothers and sisters, my nephews and nieces. It was a riot man. Watched tv with them, but it got too crowded and dizzy in my bedroom, that I decided to take short nap in the afternoon.

Did you guys know that I get very cranky and unpleasant when I'm sleeping and people try to wake me up. Well, mark my words, I AM not really a morning person and that I AM cranky when my sleep is disturbed. Just ask Kok Yong or my army friends, who have tried to wake me up. Or my mother...

Oh well, was trying hard to take a nap, but my nephews and nieces were so noisy. And my brother-in-law had to disturb, asking me to let him use my computer or internet to do some stuff. So I was annoyed, so I just told him not to use it cuz I've been using it for very long and my computer needs its rest. So then him, my 3rd sister (his wife) and both my parents, became upset and started scolding me for being "selfish" and "spoilt" and claiming that I have issues with my brother-in-law. Puh-lease!

I don't have issues with him. He's like one of my only two brother-in-laws now. I get along fine with him, it's just that sometimes I find him rather childish for a man his age. But still I respect him as my brother-in-law. It's just that he disturbed me at the wrong time. Sickening! I'm also alright with my eldest brother-in-law what!!.

I do have issues with another brother-in-law though, make that ex-brother-in-law, who is now estranged from my family! That fucking bastard cheated on my 2nd sister, broke her heart and my nieces' and made their lives miserable. I will never forgive him. Fucking loser!

Oh well...argued with my parents till the late freaking hours. Oh well, they just don't believe or get my side of the story. Whatever!

Tonight's Survivor: The Amazon was the lame-ass recap episode. Nothing new about the episode, they recapped the first 27 days of the show...so nothing much to update on that now. I just can't wait for next week's episode.

And yeah, was feeling frustrated and bored at the same time just now with my family, so I re-watched the 9th episodes of Survivor: Pulau Tiga, Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: Africa, the first three seasons. Was just feeling nostalgic. This is what I do whenever the Survivor season is on. Wanted to prep myself up for the finale of Survivor: The Amazon coming up approximately 4 wks' time.

I have yet to re-watch the 9th episodes of Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: The Amazon. But it's kinda late now and I'm tired, so I shall do that tomorrow...

----------------------------

Ok, for you fans of Jeff Probst, Survivor's host, here's a treat...

posted at 3:35 a.m.

Friday, Apr. 18, 2003

Adios Amigos

posted at 4:05 p.m.

---------------------------------

I had class today, but seriously I didn't feel like going to it at all. Though it's our last class of our course, I don't know, just don't like all these goodbyes and farewells...

Didn't really feel good the whole day. But I was definitely perked up in the afternoon, when I received a card all the way from Perth. Mona, thanks for the card, I'm really touched and absolutely appreciate your effort and wishes. That's really so sweet of you. And don't you be ashamed, you really are one of my closest and very good friends. You know and I know, good enough.

Now, I feel bad, cuz I havn't been sending anything to the girls there. Emails, yes, but I havn't had the money to send 8Days and Her World mags to Mona, Lauren and Susan, let alone cards. So it's really touching to get one from them.

On the way to class, I got a call from JSR International. Ryan said that I'm one of the 20 people accepted to be their advertising executives. And they would like me to come down tomorrow for an observation process. Remembering my agreement with Kok Yong regarding accepting or rejecting the job, I told Ryan, that I would get back to him soon.

Immediately called Kok Yong, after a few tries, finally got through. Asked him whether he also received the phonecall. He did, but unfortunately, he rejected the offer on the spot, without calling me to find out whether I got it too. You see, our agreement is that, considering the unfavourable responsibilities and job descriptions, we decided to take it up only if both of us got it. But now that we both got it, he rejected it without telling me or bothering to find out whether I was accepted.

So much for honouring our agreement. Sigh. To be frank, I was a bit disappointed and peeved. I had to call Ryan back and reject the job offer. Felt unsure if it was wise of us to reject the job. Thought we could have at least tried it out first for a few days and see how it goes. I mean, this kind of relevant job doesn't come that often, especially in this economic climate, even though the pay is sucky!

But Kok Yong said that he had confided in his friends about the job, and that they said to reject it. Could have at least told me first right? And also he told me that his plan as for now, is to find a temp job to tide him over the next few mths and only start looking for a proper relevant one when our graduation date comes nearer. Hello!! That has been my plan all this while too, in case you didn't register. Never mind, honestly, I still respect your decision bro. Sigh. Oh well, now we can only wait for the recruitment agency to call us on admin jobs.

I don't know why I'm peeved. I guess the pressure is building up too much for me. Being unemployed sucks, and it doesn't help that the people around me sometimes made me feel like a loser. Anyway, both of us thought that we would not get the job since Ryan since it has been two days. Gosh, anyway, in the end, even if we have tried for this job offer, most probably we might just quit after a few days. So note to myself: Quit being so whiny!

All of us in the red team of the forum wore red tops today. Well all, except for the spoilers, Liping, who forgot about wearing red and wore pink instead, and Raqesh, who wore black. The assessed forum was quite interesting, very informative. Three guest speakers, all big-shots, from Starhub Ad & Sales Department, Mediacorp Radio and Neopets Singapore came to speak to us.

Overall the forum was fun. During the break my classmate, Tona, shared her amazing brownies and chocolate cake with us. And a lot of my classmates brought digital cameras, so there was a lot of photo-taking with everyone, including Pamela Wildheart, our lecturer. All I was thinking was finally this module is over and done with. Aiyah, was feeling a bit cranky at that time.

The five of us, me, Liping, Kok Yong, Naz and Liz walked down to King Albert Park's McDonald's to have our supper. Liping who scored the highest among us in the recent module, treated us to some fries, filet, and chocomint mcflurry for me. We just hung out for awhile, talking cock, talking mostly about sex and which celebrities we wanna do it with during our sweet or sexy or urgent moods. Haha, damn hilarious.

Left the place around 11.45pm, frantically trying to catch our last buses. But the girls were delaying the time cuz they wanted to take so many photos. But I did manage to catch my 989 home. That's why I don't like all these farewell and goodbyes. It's our last class together for this degree course, and I sure as hell know that I'm gonna miss everyone of them dearly. Sob!

Watched American Idol 2 just now when I reached home. Kimberley Caldwell is out. She's got great stage presence, but unfortunately her voice is not as good as the rest. But I really think that Carmen Rasmusen should be the one to go. These two were the bottom two. Carmen's performance and song choice was horrendous. The only reason she is still there is because she's very popular.

I mean, I myself find Carmen very cute, but I really can't stand her voice. It should be her turn to go next week, if not it will be grave injustice to the rest of the contestants. My top two favourites are still Clay Aiken and Kimberley Locke, and add in Ruben Studdard and Trenyce and that's my pick for final 4.

---------------------------------

Okay, I have put the photos of the contestants before. This time around let me put the photos of the host and the judges. From left clockwise, the host, Ryan Seacrest, and judges, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.

--------------------------------

Was chatting to Mona on ICQ just now. Been awhile since I did that. She has always been my comfort zone. Anyway, okaylah, time to go to bed. Very late liao.

posted at 5:10 a.m.

Thursday, Apr. 17, 2003

Dub Dub

Well, havn't heard from yesterday's job interview for Advertising Executive at JSR International, so I'm guessing that is out of the question.

Neither have I heard from NUS for the MSO position, so thanks for asking Lauren. So now, have to resort to recruitment angenices. Oh well, just to tide me over these next few months. To do something in my free time, and at least before I graduate around September.

It's good to actually have Kok Yong to motivate me to sign up at the recruitment agency, at least I have company. If not I'll still be lazing at home, satisfied with just sending resumes on the net.

Met up with him at 3.30pm at Jurong Entertainment Centre. Went straight to Jurong East Central to the short building where they have all these small offices and a sprinkling of employment/recruitment agencies. We went to the most presentable one and registered on the spot by filling up forms. They said that there's no mass comm related job available at the moment, but we told them we're fine with temporary admin jobs. So expecting to maybe get some calls for the next few days from them.

Kok Yong was in a dilemma. His ex-colleagues at Mindef during his NS was trying to help him get a DXO job there. So he was talking to his boss on the handphone and asking my opinion whether he should take up the offer. Up to you bro, the pay maybe good, but is this really what you want to do? Plus they're expecting him to stay at the offered job for more than a year, but I'm not sure whether it's worth it to be working for Mindef in an irrelevant position. Whatever it is, just think properly man, before making your decision...

Don't know why, Kok Yong was quite demoralised just now, so his mood kinda rubbed on me. So both of us were just feeling down for awhile. But somehow I have no idea whose 'brilliant' idea to suggest going to the library as our therapy. Cuz that's where we ended up. After leaving the recruitment agency, we went to Jurong Entertainment Centre and then decided to visit the nearby Jurong East Library.

Checked out some books and magazines there, but I only borrowed an Entertainment Weekly magazine, under Kok Yong's name. I then accompanied him to Delifrance where he had some deli-potato, before walking to somewhere near his housing estate, where I took 188 bus home.

By the way, Mona, I already have the MP3 to Beautiful from Snoop Dogg featuring Pharell, for quite long already. I love the song, but I prefer another current new hit also featuring Pharell. Since you seem to like him, you should check out, Excuse Me Miss by Jay-Z feat Pharell. This is way more catchy and melodic!

Watched and recorded C.S.I. on AXN Asia just now. Did the same for an old episode of Charmed Season 4 which I missed when it was first aired on Ch 5. Talked to Ina for awhile on the phone before watching the Season 6 premiere of Buffy The Vampire Slayer at 12 midnite. Damn Ch 5 for showing it at that late hour! But the episode was awesome!

Whoopsee, look at the time now. I'm actually doing some dubbing of the previous Survivor: The Amazon episode, using Nat's tape. And also dubbing an old stray episode of C.S.I. So my room is in a mess now, with 2 vcrs and all my tapes sprawled on the floor...

Okay, I shall take a short nap now, let the vcr run and dub the shows...

posted at 4:13 a.m.

Wedmesday, Apr. 16, 2003

"...Cuz You're There For Me Too..."

Was awaken by Kok Yong's phonecall at 10am. He was rambling about finding a job vacancy on Straits Times Recruit section. But I wasn't really paying attention cuz I was still in a daze and half-asleep. So I told him that I needed to go back to sleep and went off to do that.

An hour later, finally fully awake. Apparently, Kok Yong found a job offer and he got the job interview by calling the person who advertised it. It was for an advertising company, and Kok Yong told me to call that same person so that I could have the interview around the same time as him.

Initially our plan was to go to a recruitment centre at Jurong East to get some temporary admin job, but he found this job offer at the last minute. After arranging my own job interview, I prepared my resume to be brought over there, emailed it to Kok Yong for printing, took a shower and got ready to go for the interview.

It was at Kallang Pudding Road, Golden Wheel Building, this small company called JSR International. Kok Yong's interview was scheduled at 2.45pm, while mine was supposed to be at 4pm. But cuz I was waiting outside during his interview time, they asked me to go in and was interviewed immediately after him.

The interview went fine, but I felt like I didn't do really well selling myself. Was rather apprehensive cuz the company seemed dubious to us. The interviewer, Ryan, even told me lighten up and smile cuz I seemed stiff. Basically we applied for Advertising Executive position and if we were to be selected, our jobs include collecting advertising fees from the company's clients. It will give me a lot of relevant experience I agree.

But the downside to it was that the basic salary is $850 per mth, including transport allowance, and if I am hardworking, I can get up to $2000 per mth with bonuses. And it's around 26 days per mth of work. So that's the problem. This payment scheme sounds almost exactly like the talent scout job I had in February (well, maybe slightly better). But it still feels unstable. I want a job that can pay at least $1400 per mth, no commissions but with benefits. Need that stability!

Ryan said that he will call me by the end of the day should I get accepted for the job. Honestly I don't think I have the chance, cuz I think I suck at the interview process, and he didn't seem impressed. Oh well, I think Kok Yong has a higher chance of getting it, cuz he spent a longer time in the interview room.

We went down to Sim Lim Square after that. He wanted to buy some CD-Rs for his ex-colleagues and check out the prices for the pen drives, while I wanted to find any shops there that sell the Survivor Ultimate Edition PC game, but to no avail. From Sim Lim Sq, we then went over to Bugis to do some window-shopping. Felt a bit shiverish and weak then. I skipped breakfast and had only bread with jam for lunch, so my stomach was pretty empty.

We both grabbed a bite at the Old Chang Kee there and I actually felt better. Don't know why, maybe cuz were walking around wearing smart shirt and pants, lugging around our black briefcases/bags. And the afternoon was pretty scorching, so that's why we both felt uneasy.

Left Bugis around 5 plus, with the peak hour crowd in tow. Me and Kok Yong discussed about whether to accept the job if JSR International calls us. We both agreed that, considering the undesirable job description and pay, we would not try the job if only one of us is accepted. We would only accept if both are accepted. So the plan is that if Ryan calls one of us, we would tell him that we would get back to him, and find out from each other if both of us are accepted. What to do, we both need a job now...

But so far, we had no phonecalls whatsoever from Ryan, so I figured that we were not up to it and too inexperienced for the job. Oh well, we'll just go to the recruitment agency tomorrow, and see our chances there...

Oh yar, managed to catch Friends just now. Recorded it yesterday nite, but I was too tired to watch it then. Funny like hell. Rachel and Ross's baby is Emma. My favourite scene was the so-called showdown between Ross and Joey at the coffeeplace. If I were Joey, I would also gladly persuade a good friend of mine to punch and hit me, just to make him feel better.

But the best lines in the episode for me was of course, from Phoebe...

Phoebe: This proves that no good can come from having sex with Ross (hinting to Rachel, when Emma still couldn't stop crying)

Phoebe: Have I gone deaf?! (When Emma who, was comforted by Monica, finally stopped crying and being noisy after so many hours)

Phoebe: I can hear the birds. I can hear the voices in my head. (when Emma was finally quiet)

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Realised that I have never posted a photo of my favourite sitcom ever, so here it is, Friends!

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Tuesday night TV is getting pretty boring for me now, since Weakest Link has ended it current season...

posted at 2:08 a.m.

Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2003

Megabites

As you can see from the time I'm posting this, I actually just woke up from my short nap just now. Reached home around 11 plus just now, but was too tired, that I actually fell asleep once I reached my bed. Here's what happened today...

Woke up around 9 odd to email Nat the PR report to be printed. Nat had already printed it before going to work, but alas, there were still some adjustments to be made according to our CEO, Naz...so because Nat had to be at work the whole afternoon, Naz printed and bound our report together.

Met up with Ina around 4 odd at City Hall MRT. Checked out the new CDs at HMV Citylink, then walked around Marina Square, before taking train to school.

Ina wanted to meet my SIM gang, just for the fun of it, and I figured why not. She already met them before, but this time the situation is different. Had arranged last week for the girls to join me and Ina for dinner at Megabites, the restaurant at SIM. Both of us were there by 6pm already, while Naz, Lips, Liz and Nat came from 6.30pm onwards. Kok Yong didn't join us cuz he took dinner a home.

Hope that she didn't feel awkward cuz I'm really good friends with the SIM gang, and our interaction and banter is no-holds-barred. Plus they were all discussing about our new grades, so I was anxious about that too. She had laksa, while I had char siew chicken flavoured noodles (dry). Both cost $2 each, quite tasty and very affordable.

The highly anticipated and long overdue results for our previous module, New Communication Technology was out today. Our lecturer, Vincent, took such a bloody long time to release it. And surprisingly for the first time in my studies in SIM/RMIT, I got a High Distinction. But the mother of all distinctions is still Liping who got higher than me.

The reason why I'm surprised is cuz I was the lone one out of the gang to get a Credit for the module before that, Contemporary Pop Culture. They all achieved Distinction or higher. The essay for that module, according to Vincent wasn't up to par, so I was very demoralised back then when we found out that he would be teaching us for another module. I figured how could I score if the same person is marking my essay again. So the fact that I got High D this time around still sound bogus!

The course doesn't offer Honours, but we need 5 distinctions out of 8 modules to graduate with a Degree with Distinction. I have no hope for that, considering I have only one other distinction in our first module. My other grades have been rather disappointing, 3 Credits and 2 Passes. Sigh, kinda out of luck when it comes to grades here. Come to think of it, I never had good luck when it comes to my studies' grades...

Ina had to leave earlier cuz she had another appointment, so sent her to the elevator first, before joining back with the gang and going up to class. We were supposed to have a forum, but turns out the guest speakers chose not to attend tonight cuz of the SARS fear. Plus the fact that our school was closed for the whole of last week.

Instead they would be coming for Thursday's class, our final class in our course. Once again Pamela grouped us up, this time around following our own choices. Me, Kok Yong, Liz, Liping and Naz are sticking together for this final 10% assessed forum, and joining us are another 3 classmates, Raqesh, Tona and Kin Hoe. Nat had to take a separate quiz cuz she wouldn't be attending Thursday's class.

After class, we all handed in our PR report together at the BAMC pigeonhole. I then accompanied Kok Yong buy his supper at McDonald's at Bukit Batok Interchange for awhile before heading home.

Tomorrow, we'll be going to a recruitment agency to get some temporary admin job, to earn some extra money and tide us over before we get our proper permanent jobs. What to do, both of us still can't find a proper job.... Hmm, my VCR did record Friends just now, but nah, I'm too tired to watch it now...

posted at 2:05 a.m.

Monday, Apr. 14, 2003

Round The Clock

Damn!

Spent the whole day in front of my computer. Round the clock. From the minute I wake up at 11am, to just now at 3am. Only managed to take a break to have my showers. I even skipped lunch and took a heavy dinner instead.

I volunteered to do the formatting and compiling of the report. So I received an onslaught of emails from them. So besides doing my usual surfing of the net, my head was plastered on my computer screen. Retrieving emails. Completing my own parts. Then copy-pasting their parts into the main report. Then emailing Naz to proofread the whole damn report.

I volunteered cuz I figured I have broadband so it would take lesser time for me to retrieve their large emails, unlike them who have dial-up. Plus most of them had committments today, but I didn't. Was supposed to my Sunday household chore, vacuuming my house, but was so busy with the report, that my father was angry I didn't vacuum today. Hello, can't you understand I'm busy! Shout at me for what!?

Initially, there were some mistakes in my compilation, so Naz decided to amend them and use her amended copy to email Nat for printing and binding. But in the end, Naz called me just now cuz she had problems formatting the report, so I had to do it again and email both her and Nat. That's why you can see that it's 3 odd and I have not slept yet.

Okay, now that the report's finally done, a burden has been lifted off our shoulders. Hope noone screws up the printing and binding part tomorrow...

posted at 3:52 a.m.

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